The Alcove
1996
He fidgets with the tiny button in his hands as Harry goes over the next spell they’ll be working on. He’s standing next to George, who keeps throwing him looks like he’s nervous Fred will take the pin part of the button and gouge his eyes out. He huffs and elbows his twin to knock it off, his hand twinging when the material of his jumper brushes over the flayed skin. Umbridge had caught him out after dark two nights ago as he made his way back from the kitchens. The little toad had given him detention. He glances down at the new brand on his skin, the jagged lines of “I must follow the rules” that will forever sit on his hand. So many of the Gryffindors, especially those she suspects of being in their little club, have similar etchings in their skin. The additional downside of the pink bitch making them mutilate themselves? A distinct depletion of Essence of Murtlap that can go around to those caught for whatever infraction they committed.
He looks up, just in time to catch Hermione’s eye as she stares at him, wrinkle between her brows and everything. She’s clearly seen the raw skin by now and he can see her fuming at another student being maimed in the confines of a school. Her gaze is steady, something that brings him a little bit of comfort.
“Ok, so make sure that you hold yourself steady. You need to be grounded or the spell could shoot off in the wrong direction, or completely misfire in general. Hold your ground, connect yourself with the things around you. We don’t need to send someone to the infirmary because another group misfired and the person hit didn’t have time to react.” Harry finishes, turning in circles so he has a chance to address everyone.
Members start splitting off into groups of four, allowing for plenty of room between each group. Fred faces Lee, George, and Angelina. He catches sight of Hermione’s riotous curls from over George’s shoulder. She’s already paired up with his little sister, Looney, and Ron. Angelina offers to go first, allowing each of them to take rapid turns casting Stupefy so she can cast her Protego . He can see a bead of sweat make its way down her neck, a testament to how hard they’re throwing their spells. They’re older than most of the other students, something that gives them a little more leeway with how fast and hard they can be with one another. Angelina finishes up after a couple more minutes and they start the process all over again with Lee. Fred takes a special kind of glee in getting the one that breaks the boy's shield. Lee had eaten his last chocolate frog.
Harry calls them back to the center of the room to demonstrate common issues that he’s seeing. Fred keeps his eyes seemingly focused on Harry, but he’s really watching as Hermione shifts her weight between her feet. The wrinkle between her brows is back again and George lightly kicks him and he blinks back into focus. Harry is staring at him, eyebrows raised like he’s waiting for an answer.
He clears his throat. “Mhm, uh, sorry, what was that Harry?”
He can see Harry’s eye twitch before he repeats his question. “I asked what altered angle helps get more power behind Stupefy . You have a really good one that isn't textbook.”
“‘Course I do mate, I get to watch myself in real time.” He gestures at his twin and the group chuckles quietly. “Right, instead of holding your wand like you normally would, I recommend moving your forefinger forward a little bit. Have it still curled over with the rest, but almost like you’re holding a knife instead. Gives you more control over the movement.” He finishes with a shrug.
Harry claps and sends them back to work. His group huddles up and George is on defense this round. The three of them are trading off on rapid fire when he hears a telltale bang and the sound of someone cursing. The room gets quiet and he twists around to see his sister and brother standing in shock by the slumped form of Hermione. He takes a half step forward but stops when he feels the penetrating gaze of his twin. Harry rushes over just as Looney, who has now become his new favorite person, revives her. Hermione groans and clutches at her nose that’s bleeding from the fall. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem broken. Lovegood vanishes the blood next, kneeling next to the Gryffindor witch as Harry does the same. He can’t hear what the group is saying, but he does release a breath when all three of them stand. Hermione has a blush across her face from everyone staring at her. Harry squeezes her shoulder and instructs everyone to keep going as he makes his way over to a peaky looking third year that must have misfired their spell.
George shuffles over, his turn being deemed as sufficient. Fred takes his place and has an unobstructed view of the quartet containing the injured witch. He’s so focused on watching her allow Ginny to go that he’s completely caught off guard by Angelina’s Stupefy , not even having a semblance of a shield in place. He blinks awake to George hovering over him with worried eyes. Fred groans and takes the proffered hand to help him up. He rubs at the back of his head and swats away the other set of hands trying to do the same.
“‘M’fine. I just got a little distracted.”
He watches George puff up in annoyance. “What could you possibly have been distracted by?” But he says it like he already knows the answer.
Fred sighs and shoots him his own annoyed look. “Nothing, I just was dis-”
The rest of what he wants to say is cut off by the cracking sound of someone apparating into their room. Which should be impossible given that no one can apparate on school grounds. However, he sees the small form of Dobby and relaxes. Until the little elf opens his mouth and warns them that Umbridge is coming. Just as he’s done pleading with them, an odd rumbling noise starts that has the light fixture in the middle of the room shaking. He looks around and sees everyone else throwing confused glances. Harry is in the center of the room with his head cocked to one side in disbelief. Another rumble shakes the room harder, almost like someone is casting a Bombardo . He doesn’t see anyone with their wands raised, so he’s entirely caught off guard when a literal wall explodes . He stumbles from the shock and force of it. That’s when all hell breaks loose.
“What are you all waiting for? RUN!” The raven haired boy yells the last part.
He can see the dust from the gaping hole in the wall start to settle and the green robes of Slytherins start to dart forward. He just barely glimpses the self satisfied smile on the fugly pink bitch as he runs past a group of members. He feels George right at his back as they skirt around piles of rubble. He ducks through the wall and starts sprinting down the hallway. He hears the yells of Slytherins behind him, a Petrificus hitting a student ahead of them. He quickly casts the reversal as they near her.
“Split up!” He yells to his twin as they near a bisection in the hallway.
He skids right as George skids left. He keeps sprinting, thanking all the spirits in the world that Oliver Wood was an insanely obsessive man that made them condition like the muggle foot runners that Harry told them about. He skids down another hallway and finds Hermione darting to the left that leads to a staircase. He can hear someone running behind him and prays that it’s another DA member and not one of the Inquisitorial Squad members. He dashes after her and follows her down a staircase that spits them out on the sixth floor.
She looks behind her and sees him, the relief painting her face. He catches up and veers her off to one side that he knows has an alcove in it. Thank Merlin he made it his and George’s mission to find every nook and cranny in this castle. She makes a confused noise when he shoves her into the alcove.
“Fred, what ar-”
“Shh, shh. This alcove is really hard to see unless you’re right in front of it.” He pants as quietly as he can.
“We can’t just hide here like sitting ducks!” She hisses back.
The alcove really is well hidden. Half of what makes it well hidden though is the fact that it’s barely enough room for one average sized person to stand in, let alone two. He shifts and grips her waist in order to get her thigh away from between his legs. He doesn’t fancy her getting scared by something and accidentally jamming it up. Her hands fly to his chest and shoulder as he moves her.
“We aren’t. We aren’t ducks to begin with, unless it’s some kind of muggle saying. They might not even know we’re here.”
“I could have sworn that I heard another set of footsteps running behind you.” She whispers.
He frowns and strains his hearing. He doesn’t hear anything for a few beats. “They may have veered off to another hallway inst-”
He cuts himself off as he hears fast and loud steps enter their hallway. He fumbles in his pocket for the pin he was playing with earlier and yanks it out. He jams it onto her jumper as she makes a panicked noise at the footsteps thundering down the hall. He gets the pin closed and prays he can do this part without his wand, which is unfortunately in his back pocket. He mutters the words and the pin glows, changing Hermione's hair instantly. Her brown curls are replaced with pin straight black hair. He mutters a Crinus Muto for himself.
“New plan, please don’t hex me.” He says quickly.
“Wha-”
She’s cut off as he fists a hand in her hair and yanks her head up so he has easier access to move forward and down to meet her lips with his. He can hear the person getting closer and closer, almost to their little alcove. She gasps in surprise, which works in his favor if they’re really going to sell it. His tongue sweeps into her mouth and she makes a noise, having finally caught on. Her hands fist his jumper and pull him more forcefully against her. The hand not fisted in her now straight hair slides down to grab her bum. He slides her skirt up and grabs the globe of flesh to bring her hips closer to his and get her to lift her leg to his hip. She bites his lip in warning just as he hears a person stop before the lip of their alcove. He lets out an intentional soft moan, alerting the person to their presence.
A couple beats pass before he hears the disgusted clearing of someone's throat. He breaks apart from her and she gasps in fake surprise. He looks up into Millicent Bullstrodes repulsed face. He thanks every deity he can think of that it isn’t Malfoy or Parkinson. His charmwork is good, but he doubts it would fool either of them.
He slowly releases his hold on Hermione’s hair and bum, making sure to put on a sheepish look as he does so. Hermione is blushing bright red, either from the snogging or the perceived involuntary exhibition. She smooths her straight hair and then her jumper.
“Twenty points from Ravenclaw. You know it’s past curfew, right? And per Educational Decree number nineteen, you are in violation of conduct unbecoming of underage students in an educational facility. You’ll have to serve detention tomorrow with Professor Umbridge.” She rattles off with a grimace at the circumstance.
“I-yes, yes, of course. We, erm, we’ll just be on our way?” Hermione stutters out
Bullstrode sneers and haughtily turns away. “Make sure that you do.”
Her footsteps recede down the hall, much less fast than they were as she arrived. He feels his lips quivering to suppress a smile and his shoulders start shaking at the effort to contain his laughter. Hermione snaps her gaze to him and hits his shoulder lightly.
“Fred!” She hisses.
He leans forward and wraps an arm around her shoulders to help him keep upright.
“Merlin!” He gasps. “Did you see her face? She looked at us like she’d stepped in kneazle shit.” He quietly laughs.
He can feel her shaking against where their hips and chest are still connected. He’s momentarily afraid that she’s finally going to hex him, both for snogging her wildly and then laughing at breaking the rules upon being caught. His fear vanishes when he feels her gasp in a breath and let out an unrestrained laugh.
“Oh my god, I just know she’s going to talk about this when all the snakes slither back to their common room.”
She glances up at him and her laughter is renewed when she takes in his appearance. He frowns down at her and grimaces when he tries to run a hand through his hair.
“How bad is it?”
She’s still laughing as her own hand joins his. “Honestly? Not that bad. It definitely doesn’t look good, but it did the job.”
He groans. “All that was going through my head was ‘do the opposite of what it is now’. Which, apparently, is a blond afro. I can’t even get my fingers through it!”
Her eyes are sparkling with mirth when he looks back down at her. “Would you like me to fix it?”
He shakes his head and pushes away from the wall and out into the hallway. “No, ‘specially not if there are more of Umbridge’s little squad patrolling around. Might as well wait ‘til we get back to the common room.”
She nods and steps out next to him. They start down the hallway towards the direction of Gryffindor tower. She’s playing with her black hair, looking at the straight strands in curiosity.
“How did you do this? Was it this little pin you jammed on my jumper?”
“Yeah. George and I have been working on a prototype.” Her head whips up to face him and her hand drops from the pin like it’s been burned. He laughs and loops an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry ‘Mione, we test all our products on ourselves before handing them out. It’s still in development because it only works once. We want it to have a bit more uses in it before we start selling it. Nothing dangerous can happen.”
She holds his gaze and brings her hand back up to fiddle with it. She blushes lightly before glancing back down.
“It is quite remarkable. The magic, I mean. It’s impressive that it changes hair color and type.”
He hums. “That’s not all it does though. It also changes your other physical attributes a bit. Not much, but enough to fool people I ‘spose.”
She looks so enthralled in the magic that he doesn’t bother to tell her that it isn’t that advanced. Just the part about getting it to have multiple uses is the real advanced part. They walk quietly back to the tower, making sure to not arouse any suspicion on their way. They come up the hall to their portrait and he takes his spellwork off, Hermione plucking the pin off and handing it to him. Her curls spring back and her nose and eye color go back to normal.
“That was quick thinking in the alcove.” She murmurs, not quite meeting his gaze.
He stops them and she glances up. “‘M mostly just happy you didn’t hex my bullocks off.”
She snorts and meets his gaze. The light blush is back and he can see the trace of vulnerability in her eyes.
“I definitely thought about it before I caught on. I wasn’t quite expecting someone's mouth to be part of the getaway plan. I also didn’t expect to have a tongue in my throat either.” She jokes and turns to the portrait, muttering the password.
He steps in behind her and grabs her wrist before she can get into the actual common room. She looks at him in confusion, clearly expecting him to make a beeline for his twin and friends that are anxiously glancing at where they’re slightly visible.
“That’s not how I thought it’d go.”
“What?”
“That kiss. That wasn’t how I envisioned I’d kiss you.” He holds her eye so she knows he’s serious.
“What do you mean?”
He takes a deep breath. “I thought I’d do it properly. Not just snog you against a wall to get out of Umbridge’s wrath. Not yet at least.” He lightly jokes. “It wasn’t meant to be fast and desperate like that, or for you to look different.”
Her eyes hold his and she lets out a shaky breath. She gently pulls her wrist and he can feel the rejection start to take root before she surprises him and grabs his hand. She squeezes and never breaks eye contact.
“I suppose,” She says slowly and with intent, “that you’ll just have to do it ‘properly’ another time.” Her lips tick up in a soft smile.
She squeezes his hand one last time before letting it drop between them and taking a step back before breaking their gaze and heading into the din of the buzzing common room. He watches her head over to Ron, Ginny, and Neville before taking his own strides forward. He looks up and sees that George’s probing eyes have been on him. Probably for longer than the handful of steps he took. He shakes his head and George frowns. Fred tips his head in the direction of their dorm and his twin gets the message. He sighs and wets his kiss-swollen lips. Leaving the school is starting to seem less and less enticing.