Fred
“This is lovely,” Hermione said as Fred helped her out of her coat.
“It is,” he agreed as they settled into the booth. Grabbing the wine menu for something to distract him from the lovely shade of pink covering her cheeks and nose he continued. “Will it be a glass or bottle night, love?”
“Bottle, I think,” she said with a smile.
“That bad then?” Fred asked, his tone laced with concern.
The server arrived just then with a bright smile. “Hello, I hope you’re having a lovely evening, I’m Melinda. Now, I don’t want to rush you, but the kitchen will be closing soon. If you know what you want I can put it in before it closes.”
“Oh, so sorry, I didn't realise quite how late it is. Can we get a large half veggie, half pepperoni and pineapple. Extra cheese on his disgusting pineapple side please,” Hermione said without looking at the menu, smiling when Fred grunted his disapproval. She turned to him and added, “I have a nice bottle of wine at home, we can take it to go if you’d like.”
“Sounds great,” Fred answered. “We’ll take two glasses of the house red while we wait, if that’s alright.”
“You two have been together a while, yeah. I can always tell,” Melinda said with a grin before scooping up the menus and rushing off to put their order in.
“People always assume that,” Hermione said with a laugh.
“Mental,” Fred agreed, though there was a curious lump in his throat at the way she laughed it off. “Just because you have that swotty need to know everything about everything, including my pizza preferences.”
“It certainly served you well, me popping in with pizza and wine to save you from your mum’s well intentioned hovering.”
“More times than I can thank you for, for sure,” Fred grinned.
“Alright, loves, here’s your wine. And we had some extra bread in the back. Fresh out of the oven, it’s on the house,” Melinda said as she set everything on the table.
“Oh, those smell wonderful,” Hermione said, immediately reaching for a piece.
“Thank you,” Fred said, smiling softly at the way Hermione tore into the bread.
Melinda smiled with a knowing look before walking back toward the kitchen.
“So, how bad was it then?” Fred asked, taking a sip of his wine.
“Oh, only as bad as I expected it to be,” Hermione answered after swallowing her food. “They are definitely not coming back for Christmas, perhaps not ever. I know what I did was unforgivable, but I was still holding out hope.”
“We’ve been over this, it wasn’t unforgivable. It was necessary. I’m sorry they can’t see that.”
“Yes, well, it doesn’t really matter anymore. I can’t change their minds, and honestly, I have no place trying.”
“If it matters to you, then it matters. But let’s talk about something else, if you’d like. Something happier? How’s the big decision process going? Getting any closer?”
Hermione moaned dramatically, pushing forward to lay her head on the table. She lifted up to rest her head on her hand, setting him with a glare, though she couldn’t help the smile. “That’s hardly a happier subject, and you know it, Fred Weasley. No, it’s still down to the final six. Who knew helping save the world would come with so many bloody job offers?”
Fred loved it most when she was like this; relaxed, joking.
“Don’t be thick, you would have gotten just as many offers without saving the magical community from a life of tyranny.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, taking another sip from her glass. “Perhaps only a dozen or so. Anyway, since you’ve been no help whatsoever, Fleur is coming round in the morning to try and narrow the choices down further.”
“No help whatsoever?” Fred asked in mock offence. “Who stayed up all night writing out your pro and con list when you were too sleep deprived to even hold a quill? Who forced your stubborn arse into bed when you finally got the number down to eight. Bloody hell, woman.”
“Fair enough, though if we’d stayed at it for a bit longer I still think we would be down to four.”
“Hello, there, I’m going to set this just here,” Melinda said as she approached the table. She set the pizza box on the corner of the table with the bill on top. “Take your time.”
Fred snached the bill before Hermione had the chance and stuck his tongue out at her. He chuckled at the murmured ‘child’ that came from the opposite side of the table as he removed the muggle wallet from his pocket and counted out the bills.
“I hope you have a lovely rest of your evening, Melinda, and we will be sure to make it earlier next time,” Fred said as he handed her the bills. He stood and held out his hand to Hermione and helped her back into her coat.
Together Fred and Hermione walked through the sleepy village until they were just out of view and apparated to Hermione’s flat.
Upon arrival they quickly discarded their coats and shoes and made their way to the coffee table. As they had done a number of times, they divided without words. Fred began pulling the pillows from her sofa and arranged them in a nest of sorts while Hermione went to the kitchen to retrieve the wine and glasses.
Fred was perusing her collection of movies as she entered and they settled on what to watch. It was quite domestic indeed, the way they snuggled in next to each other and dug into the pizza. Covered with piles of blankets, teasing and joking and pouring just one more glass until the bottle was empty.
He couldn’t help thinking he could do this forever as halfway through the movie Hermione had leaned her head on his shoulder, snoring lightly with her empty glass still in her hand.