Fred
How things could have been cocked up so badly he didn’t know. He’d had her there, he’d taken his dad’s advice and made the leap of faith, and landed hard on the ice. He had the bruises on his bum to show for it. Bloody hell, he’d nearly kissed the witch of his dreams, only to be sabotaged by a dead branch. And to make things worse, Hermione had been avoiding him since.
Maybe avoiding him was a stretch, they had gone back to the house after the fall and she had been swept up by his mum, then flooed straight to Shell Cottage to talk to Fleur. But he’d waited up til we’ll past midnight and she hadn’t returned. When he’d arrived back at the burrow this morning she was knee deep in boxes of decorations with his dad preparing for the tree decorating.
He hadn’t been able to get more than a word in with her all morning. It seemed every member of his bloody family needed her attention for one thing or another.
Fred was muttering to himself, untangling a bit of garland when Ron came to sit beside him.
“Get that other end and get the knit out would you?” Fred said when Ron remained silent next to him.
“I think you should ask Hermione out. Like on a proper date,” Ron said in a rush.
“How’s that now?” Fred asked, rather confused.
“I mean to say, if you wanted to date Hermione, I think you should ask her. She likes that muggle museum in London or maybe a book shop. Not my idea of a date, but it makes her happy. Just don’t try to get her on a broom, she hates flying.”
“Where the bloody hell is this coming from?” Fred asked, thoroughly confused.
“Well George said you fancy Hermione, and that she fancies you. Said that you were concerned about how I’d feel about it, so I’m just saying, ya know, I’m fine with it. If you wanted to date her. As long as she wants to date you too.”
Fred stared at Ron for a moment, a long line of jokes at the tip of his tongue. But he had been worried about hurting Ron, if he were being honest. And he could see how uncomfortable his little brother was with this conversation so he let it go.
“Thanks, Ron, that actually means a lot.”
“Alright then,” Ron said briskly, then pointed his wand at the garland which set about untangling itself. “You really do spend too much time with her.”
Fred stared at the garland for a moment with a smile. He looked up to see Charlie had now taken his turn to steal his witches attention. He was showing Hermione pictures of his dragons and Fred couldn’t help the jealous feeling when he saw her laugh at whatever Charlie was saying.
The feeling melted when she caught his eye across the room and smiled at him. Hopefully things hadn’t been cocked up as bad as he thought.