Work Text:
He just needed to get away for a little while. He loved Georgie, but he was busying himself with work and honestly, Fred didn’t feel at all like working.
People often thought they were alike in nearly every aspect just because they were twins and maybe before the war, they were. Well, in most of them. But the differences between them had become more prominent, the war had changed them, like it did to so many others. Little things: Fred slept less, sometimes pulling all-nighters because he didn’t want to or wasn’t able to sleep, whilst George slept more, finding relief from his thoughts in his dreamless slumber. George calmed his nerves working on new products for the shop, but Fred couldn’t focus only on work, having to change activities every once in a while. Fred preferred being alone, but didn’t mind company (though George hardly counted as company) while George preferred the company and liked to visit their family and friends whenever he could.
In spite of these changes, the twins had been able to find balance between them and didn’t have a hard time living together. But tonight was different, the atmosphere was tense and gloomy for some reason. Maybe it was because it was Sunday. Sundays had always been a bit gloomy when they were back at Hogwarts
No. Fred remembered. Today was May 2nd and he had forgotten entirely. He suddenly felt trapped within the walls of the tiny flat and he couldn’t stand it.
“Georgie, I’m going out. Don’t wait up.” He managed to mumble before shooting out the door and down the stairs to the street.
He thought about going to the cemetery and paying his respects to Lupin, Sirius, Tonks and Mad Eye, but it was late and he didn’t feel like he could bare it anyway. Instead, he walked aimlessly through the streets of muggle London for over an hour. He saw faces pass him by, but his mind couldn’t process any of them. It’s like he wasn’t even in his own body anymore. He tried to pay attention to where he was going, what he was going to do, but his thoughts failed him and preferred oblivion. Finally he just called it a night and entered a little pub.
As he sat at a table near the window, taking long sips from his beer his mind wandered back to Hogwarts, before everything got hectic. He smiled as he remembered their first attempt at the Skiving Snackboxes and how much Lee Jordan had puked when he first tried a Puking Pastille, how scared the first years looked when their candy gave them nosebleeds and fever. “Good old days”, he said with a laugh. He recalled a certain little witch giving them a hard time about their products, bloody hell, she’d even threatened them, said she’d tell their mum.
He smiled at the thought of her and ran through the memories he had of her. Hermione curled up reading a book, Hermione playing with Crookshanks, Hermione sneaking around with Harry and Ron looking for a classroom to practice spells in, Hermione smiling at him when he pocketed a Doxy they were trying to get rid of, Hermione red in the face while telling them off for their innocent candy, Hermione beating Ron in a duel while they were in the DA. He continued smiling goofily at himself, with no one but his reflection in the window to judge him.
He was well through his fourth beer when he heard a bell ring, and a figure in blue entered the pub.
“A glass of Chardonnay, please”, said the woman in blue. Fred’s heart skipped a beat and his cheeks went red because, surely enough, when he turned around, there she was.
“Oi, Hermione!” He managed to slur as he waved at her. She turned around and smiled at him.
“Fred!” She answered in happy surprise, and moved towards his table, leaping into him for a friendly hug. “I haven’t seen you in months, what happened? George came to see us last week and said you couldn’t come! Is something wrong?” Honest concern written in her features as she sat down in the chair opposite him. He smiled in embarrassment, it had been a long time since he’d seen anyone.
“Sorry, Hermione. I just haven’t felt up to it lately.” He said, scratching the nape of his neck with a regretful frown, which quickly turned into a devious smile. “Missed me, haven’t you?” She looked like she was going to keep pushing, but decided to let it go and play along.
“Of course, you idiot!” She said, with a smile, and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “And to prove how much I have missed you, Fred Weasley, the next one’s on me.”
Fred smiled at her, but then looked at the bottle in his hand, painfully aware that he didn’t even know where he was anymore. “I don’t know, Mione, I’ve had quite a lot to drink already” He said, wincing.
“Oh, come on. Please?” She said, pulling the most adorable face she could muster. “Don’t leave me hanging, Fred! Not going to let a lady drink alone, are you?” He smiled at her.
“Of course I’ll stay, Hermione. But you’re not paying!” He said sternly. She smiled and nodded, sipping from her glass.
They talked for hours. Fred told her about the new products they were thinking of with George and shared the problems they had for making some of them work properly. Hermione enthusiastically listed everything that might be wrong as Fred tried to remember it all. He then asked her how the job hunting was going, and she chatted away happily about deciding to finish her last year at Hogwarts before looking for a job.
“They’re going to reopen the school?” He asked, surprised. Hogwarts felt like a dream, well, more like a nightmare. It felt haunted to him. But he understood her enthusiasm; looking back, Hogwarts had been his home too.
“Yes! I can’t wait until the school year starts! I’ve been reading a lot of old school books, but I don’t know which ones they’re going to use for lessons this year, though. Considering everything that happened…” She stopped talking abruptly and silence hung between them. Avoiding his gaze, she started fidgeting with the napkin that was on the table, folding it and unfolding it until it was full of creases.
“Are you okay, Hermione?” Fred whispered, leaning closer to her, trying not to disrupt the silence that had enveloped them both.
She looked at him and suddenly looked older, wiser, tortured. Her cheeks were flushed because of the wine, but her eyes were harboring tears she was trying to push back. “I think so.” She whispered back. “It’s just something I can’t forget. It doesn’t matter how much I try. I’m scared to go back to Hogwarts. I don’t know how to feel about it.”
She was fiddling with her hands on the table and he took them into his own.
“Hey, look at me.” He said softly. “Do you trust me?”
Hermione looked up at him and saw his brown eyes melting into hers. She nodded.
“It’ll be okay. I promise you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next year. But it will be, someday. I can promise you that.” He said, holding her hands tightly, his eyes not moving an inch.
She smiled and sighed with relief. “Thank you, Fred. I really needed to hear that.”
He smiled and held up his beer. “Cheers to everything getting better.” She smiled and clinked her glass to his bottle. “There’s nowhere to go but up.” She countered.
The subjects got lighter after that, until there were no more customers at the pub, until they had nothing more to say. They watched the sun come up through the window, but Fred didn’t want to leave. Everything felt well, like it hadn’t felt for what seemed like a long time. He suspected Hermione felt the same way, since she didn’t make a move to leave. He smiled at the idea and felt at peace with himself. Maybe it was the beer, maybe it was the sunrise. But he was sure that it was because of her.
After a while of staring at the sun, Hermione spoke again. “It’s getting late, Fred. Shall we go?” He frowned a bit, but nodded anyway. Ginny was probably worried about her.
They paid the tab and left the empty bar. Hermione was a bit tipsy, but Fred couldn’t even stand up straight.
“I’m sorry, Hermione.” He muttered, as she supported half of his weight. All she did was smile. “It’s okay, Fred.”
They walked into an alley and Hermione apparated them both to the flat she shared with Ginny. Fred looked surprised, but didn’t comment about it until they got inside.
“You seem unfit to apparate by yourself, let me have a cup of coffee and I’ll take you home.” She said, sounding a lot like Molly Weasley. He chuckled and nodded, propping himself on the couch and closing his eyes, resting them (he had said to himself) while Hermione made her coffee.
Ten minutes later she woke him with a mug in her hand. “Fred, wake up.” She whispered, nudging his arm. He opened his eyes, barely awake, dazed and groggy. “Hmione?” He managed to mumble.
“Yes, Fred?” She asked with a smile. He looked kind of adorable with his disheveled hair and droopy eyes.
“Can I stay here? I don’t want to be alone, I don’t want to miss you…” He managed to whisper, still totally dazed. Hermione thought he hadn’t a clue of what he was saying, but couldn’t stop the blush that was showing on her cheeks.
“Yes, you can, but not on that couch. Come on, sleepy.” She whispered, grinning broadly, heaving Fred up and taking him to her bed. She opened the covers for him and made sure he was comfortable. “You okay, hun?” she asked dearly.
“Mhm…” She smiled, and sat on the bed with him, stroking his hair absentmindedly. His features looked gentle, serene, lovely. She couldn’t’ve been happier when she bumped into Fred earlier. As she watched him sleep soundly, all she could do was smile. This day had gone much better than she had thought. Exhaustion caught up with her and she finally fell asleep beside him.
Fred woke up in the middle of the morning and found himself in a strange bed. Oh, what had he done last night? He closed his eyes and focused until he finally remembered. He cracked a huge smile, realizing that the lump beside him was Hermione. He got closer to her until they were face to face and caressed her cheek softly. She opened her eyes lazily. “Good morning.” she said with a smile.
“Good morning, Lovely.” He replied and before he could stop himself, he kissed her softly on the lips.
She looked surprised, and after a few minutes chuckled.
“Thanks for taking care of me last night, Hermione.”
“Don’t mention it, Fred.”