It was the day after each of the Weasley family members had been paired up and every occupant of the Burrow was either cowering in their bedrooms, or creeping around the house, attempting to carry out their morning routine as best as possible. This was exceedingly difficult given the performance that Hermione was giving in the Burrow's cramped kitchen.
"To think I let her go! Should have carted her off to Azkaban still in the jar!" she muttered the last part underneath her breath, pacing from one end of the room to the other.
From the ranting that was going on, Fred gathered that this was the handiwork of Rita Skeeter.
"WHAT BUSINESS DOES SHE HAVE GOING ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE? JUST BECAUSE FRED OWNS A JOKE-SHOP, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT MY WEDDING WILL BE A JOKE!"
He surmised that it was about the Marriage Law, or rather, more specifically about himself and Hermione getting hitched because of it.
From the confines of his and George's old bedroom, Fred was just about able to make out the mumbling of Harry, who was endeavouring to calm Hermione down. So far he had not been successful, but Fred had other worries.
He was at a loss about what to do. He felt that he should at least try to talk to her about it, not least because the article partly concerned him as well.
At the end of his internal debate, he decided that the best course of action would be to actually read the article in question. Then he would be able to ascertain his own feelings towards the subject.
He snuck down the wooden stairs, being careful not to make them creak too much, and alert the others to his presence.
Luckily for him, a copy of that morning's 'Prophet' was lying on the sofa, waiting for him. He picked it up and sat on the aforementioned sofa, thumbing through the pages until he found the one that held the offending article.
WAR HERO FALLS FOR PRANKSTER
In the wake of the recent Marriage Law, many of-age witches and wizards have been left incensed that the Ministry of Magic would ever feel the need to evoke such a controversial piece of legislation.
War-hero, Hermione Granger, is sure to be one of those people, for more reasons than one. Side-kick to The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, she has in recent days become engaged to none other than Frederick Weasley, owner of the insanely popular 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes' joke shop located in Diagon Alley.
Many seem to be amazed that Granger has fancied herself such a practical joker, with Warty Harris saying that if she 'lightened up anymore, she would fly away'.
This even would have come as a low blow to Potter's other crony, Ronald Weasley, who had reportedly been holding a flame for the Gryffindor Princess since their relatively carefree school-days.
No word yet as to how the brothers are dealing with the sordid-love triangle, or whether the Golden Trio's friendship will be able to weather and withstand this latest storm.
Fred had reached the end of the article.
To say that he was furious would have been an understatement of the highest order. He was absolutely livid, and he finally understood why Hermione was serenading the others thusly. He, himself, wanted to blast the corkscrew curls from Rita Skeeter's babbling, blonde head.
Fred rose from his seat, ready to attack, however, at that precise moment, Ron walked into the room.
"Oh no, not you too!" he cried in exasperation, just as Fred began to open his mouth.
A blush crept up Fred's neck and he calmed down enough to be able to sit back down on the sofa, albeit calmer, but still fuming.
"We know that she is the vilest woman to ever inhabit the Earth, but for once, just let her be. Think! This is only the worst that she can do."
The skin on Fred's neck began to fade as his anger dissipated. Ron was right, it was indeed the worst that Rita could do, apart from banging on the door of their home, coercing quotes out of them with her acid-green quill. However, these thoughts did not completely assuage Fred. He did not like the thought of that woman vilifying Hermione about something that ought not to be in the newspaper at all, no matter how famous being Harry's friend made her.
It was not Hermione's fault that she was being forced to marry him. Well, she was not really forced, but they still had no choice.
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Both Hermione and Fred spent the day in a bit of a huff, with Hermione being the more frustrating of the two to be around. She would go around slamming down books, picking them up again, muttering under her breath. Her attention could never be held for very long.
This was directly contrary to Fred who had completely fixated his brain on himself. Not even George was able to rouse him from his stupor.
These attitudes had not changed around the time of dinner. This would have been alright, except for the fact that this was not a normal family dinner. Tonight's dinner would include all of the future spouses. Everyone would be sleeping over tonight, then, in the morning the girls would all get up early and head off for dress shopping.
Percy and Audrey were planning to be married first, considering that they were the first ones to get engaged, before the law. There was a lot of preparation to attend to in that miniscule amount of time.
As was the case before the Quidditch World Cup in the summer of 1994, the Burrow's kitchen was ill-equipped to deal with such a volume of people. Mrs Weasley had ordered her husband, and her sons, to set up tables outside, and smother in area in heating charms to keep the cold, February weather at bay. Even with the new configuration, everyone was still forced to sit elbow-to-elbow, and make whatever conversation they could with those sitting nearest.
Each couple was purposely placed together, and for most this was not an issue. Hermione, on the other hand, had Fred on her right, and Audrey on her other side.
"You must be Percy's fiancée, Audrey. I'm Fred's fiancée, Hermione."
Hermione had almost choked on the words 'Fred's fiancée' as they left her lips, however, Audrey, thankfully, did not seem to notice this.
"Yes, I am, but please, call me Dee. Audrey sounds so serious and stuffy."
Hermione had to force herself to suppress a giggle. She did not know how Percy had managed to snag this fun-loving and beautiful girl.
The waves of her long, golden hair shone, and her blue eyes sparkled under the soft light that was streaming through the windows of the house, lighting up their scrumptious meal.
Hermione looked down at her lap, thinking of her own hair. It was bushy and a muddy brown colour. It was not luminescent and golden. Her eyes were an equally muddy brown, not a beautiful blue. She had nothing to offer Fred in terms of her physical appearance. Come to think of it, she had very little to offer to Fred at all.
Dee continued speaking about her wedding plans in her bright and bubbly voice, while Hermione quietly listened, occasionally making sounds of agreement.
