Best of You

Fred wasn’t typically the type to lay in bed after waking up. Mischief and pranks didn’t sleep in, so neither did the Weasley twins. People were often shocked at the amount of work and hours that would go into a prank. The boys had always been hard workers, just not working hard at the traditional things. This particular Sunday morning however found Fred still in bed well past the time he usually woke up, staring at the ceiling and stewing.

After Hermione had fled his office on Monday, Fred had spent the week beating himself up. It was clear he had scared her and come on too strong. He had probably crossed some serious boundaries too, touching her scar. She had even told him no one else really knew about the scar and then he had gone and touched it again. Like an ass. He had thought about sending her an owl apologizing but somehow that seemed both an overstep and like not enough. So much for wooing the girl, he may well have just destroyed their friendship!

A crash from the living room pulled Fred from his thoughts and coaxed him to finally get out of bed and amble out of the room. He found the source of the crash quickly as George was in his living room guiltily holding the base of a now very broken lamp. George threw his brother an apologetic shrug as he noticed him enter the room and quickly repaired the lamp with a wave of his wand.

“Morning!” He said cheerily, setting the lamp back down and moving to the kitchen. “Did I interrupt your morning?” He sent Fred a salacious eyebrow wiggle.
Fred snorted. “Who in the hell would I be with for you to interrupt anything?” He followed George into the kitchen and the two started making breakfast seamlessly around each other. Even though it had been years since the two had lived together it was still like stepping into a very comfy old pair of shoes working together like this.
George shrugged. “Perhaps a certain bushy haired professor?”

Fred rolled his eyes. Since the last Sunday dinner he hadn’t seen much of his dear twin (the joys of being a new parent) but George had still managed to drop him a few notes with all kinds of hints at something between him and Hermione. Fred was feeling far too defeated by the whole situation to joke back at his brother though.

“No one’s here.” He simply said, trying to keep the gloom out of his voice.
“Oh.”
Clearly he had failed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” George’s voice was gentle.

Fred knew if he said no George would respect it and back off. Fred had never been an overly calm person but he had definitely struggled more with his anger since the war and sadly George had largely been the one to bear the brunt of his bad moods. Therapy was definitely helping Fred get a better handle on his explosive anger outbursts, but that didn’t mean they were gone. He sighed as the two of them sat at the kitchen table, bowls of cereal and coffee in front of them.

“I probably should.” He shrugged and looked up to find George grinning at him.
“Good! I’ve been wanting to talk about this since last Sunday!”
Fred laughed. “Your notes kind of gave that away dear brother.”
George waved him away. “Anyway! What’s going on there? You couldn’t take your eyes off her all day Sunday. It was like our seventh year all over again.”
Fred shrugged and poked at his cereal with his spoon. “I don’t think there is anything going on there.”
George set his coffee down with a heavy thunk and Fred looked up to find a very serious, and tired, look on his face. “Fred. You’ve been crazy about her for years. What do you mean “nothing going on”?”
Fred sighed and ran his hands through his hair. “I just.. I don’t know if she thinks of me that way. She’s also Ron’s ex-girlfriend and I know he’s a git but that doesn’t feel very brotherly…”
George snorted. “If the way she looked at you after you thumped Ron is anything to go off she’s definitely got some feelings about you.”
Fred’s eyebrows lifted at that.
“And fuck Ron. Honestly. I know he’s our brother and we love him, and he’s gotten loads better in a lot of ways over the years, but the way he treats Hermione is not on at all and in my opinion negates any brotherly ‘don’t mess with my ex’ bullshit.”
“Fair enough.” Fred conceded. Ron really never had been all that good to Hermione. “But even if she enjoyed me defending her honor, so to speak, that doesn’t mean she has feelings for me.”
“Possibly not,” George conceded with a nod, “but the fact that she spent most of Sunday staring at you as well probably does.”
Fred choked on his cereal a bit at that.
“Honestly it’s some level of magic that the two of you never catch each other with the amount of staring going on between you.”

Fred had to sit back and think about that for a minute. Was it possible that she had feelings for him too? He had suspected his crush wasn’t one sided in school, but then in her eighth year she had been with Ron and he put all of their interactions squarely in the “brothers girlfriend” box and hadn’t allowed himself to look for any hidden meanings or flirtations. Thinking about their afternoons in his workshop during her eighth year brought back thoughts of Monday though, and Fred realized that it didn’t really matter.

“Even if she was watching me last Sunday and maybe had feelings going on then, I’m sure she doesn’t anymore.” He admitted to George. “I went and royally cocked things up with her on Monday.”
“What happened Monday?”
“I…” Fred paused for a moment, thinking through what he could say to make sure he didn’t further violate Hermione’s privacy by revealing her scar to George, “I violated her trust.”
George stared at him shrewdly for a moment, his gaze somewhat hard. “Did you…?” He didn’t finish the thought but the intention of his question was clear.
“No!” Fred threw his hands up momentarily before running them both through his hair and holding them behind his head. “No. I stumbled on a secret she wasn’t planning on sharing. I wasn’t looking for it or anything, she was helping me troubleshoot the Fairweather Umbrella and it just kind of happened.”
George nodded, his gaze softening. “Was she upset?”
“No?” Fred shrugged and dropped his hands to the table. “I’m not sure to be honest. She didn’t seem too upset to begin with but then in the middle of our conversation about it she kind of ran out.”
“I don’t suppose you want to - “
“Tell you her secret and violate her trust even further?” Fred felt an edge of anger enter his tone at his brother. “Absolutely not.”
It was George’s turn to put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Only trying to help.”
“It’s not mine to share.” His tone softened a bit, but still not quite back to normal.

At that Fred got up and took his dishes to place them in the sink.
“At any rate, what are you doing here?” He questioned George. “Shouldn’t you be helping Ange with little Fred Jr?”
George grinned at the mention of his wife and son. “She’s doing alright. Her mum’s over this morning for some time with them so she told me to come check on you. Knew I wanted to talk this through with you.”

Fred grinned back at the happy look on his twins face. He had always thought that these stages of life, husband and fatherhood, would be something they did together. Just like everything else. There was an odd sting to the fact that George was doing it without him, but Fred was also outrageously happy for his brother. He would catch up when he found the right witch. Or he wouldn’t. He had started to reach a small sense of peace that as they grew up his and George’s lives wouldn’t be identical.

“Well what time are you needed back?”
“Not really needed back anytime. Angie told me to meet her at the Burrow for Sunday dinner.” George got up and joined Fred at the sink, setting his bowl and mug inside. “Wondered if you maybe wanted to head over there early and muck around on the quidditch pitch?”
Fred set the dishes to washing with a flick of his wrist and took a deep breath.
“I don’t think I’m going to Sunday dinner today.”
George’s eyebrows lifted. Since the end of the war, none of the Weasley children had been brave enough to upset their mother by missing a Sunday dinner. “Why not?”
“Hermione just got back,” Fred shrugged, “She needs the family and to feel comfortable. I don’t want to encroach on that space and make her feel uncomfortable after Monday.”

George’s face went almost fully annoyed. “Seriously? If you start acting weird and distant and making shit weird now it’s just going to make it worse! Go to dinner, if Hermione comes, go and apologize to her, and just act freaking normal!”
“I just-”
George cut him off by smacking him gently on the forehead. “Shut up. Get dressed. Let’s go.”

_________

George had been right, of course. A few hours of flying with his twin had set Fred’s mood back to rights, and now he saw Hermione on the lawn as he came in for a landing. She was wearing jeans and a tank top today but she still looked just as ravishing as she had in the yellow dress last week. As he took her in Fred couldn’t help but let his gaze linger briefly on her left forearm, completely scar free.

Shameful secrets aside, he really hoped she’d let him get a close look at her arm with the cream. It opened up a whole new world of applications for their creation.

He had been going over his plan in his head while they had been flying. He had even gone over it out loud to George. He was going to be cool. He was going to apologize and then back off a bit. Return to his plans to woo when he knew he was on better footing with Hermione. Take things slow and make sure she was comfortable.

As he & George approached where she stood chatting with Harry, George called out a greeting.
“Hiya Harry, Hermione!”
She turned to wave at George, smiling. As she turned Fred’s eyes locked with hers and the soft smile gracing her mouth turned to a bright and beautiful grin. Fred tripped as he was hit with the full force of it.

Screw the plan.