As soon as the despicable man had left, Hermione let out a sigh of relief that she did not even know she had been holding. Fred did the same, and finally extricated his arm from around her waist. It had comfortably remained there all throughout the ministry inspection, and Fred had even managed to write with it still there when they were filling out their individual questionnaires.
Now that he had let go, Hermione felt a little lopsided, a little naked even. It was like something was missing.
This feeling both startled and confused her as she went around setting things straight once more (the ministry official had decided that looking at their belongings had not been enough).
"Well, I guess I'd better head back to the shop," said Fred, his voice breaking through the silence like shards of glass.
Hermione began to say something, but was cut off by Fred's kiss on her cheek.
"I'll see you tonight," he said as he walked out the door, hardly stopping to grab his jacket.
Hermione stood there for a few moments, feeling completely stupefied. Her cheek, where he had kissed her, was still tingling as though the imprint of his lips had been burned onto her face.
Slowly she gathered her senses and began to move again. She abandoned the pretence of restoring her home. She did the one thing that she had always been able to count on, and that was to bury her feelings in work.
She jogged over to her bedroom and collected her handbag before grabbing a pinch of Floo powder and whisking herself away to work. She hoped that all she was feeling would have blown over by dinnertime.
Йой! Нажаль, це зображення не відповідає нашим правилам. Щоб продовжити публікацію, будь ласка, видаліть його або завантажте інше.
Hermione decided to work late that day, thinking perhaps that Fred might have wanted to do the same considering that they had both missed a good chunk of the day with the inspection. It was therefore a slight shock to her to arrive home to the hearty, warm smell of stewing meat and vegetables.
Fred was already setting the table, ready for dinner.
"Smells good," said Hermione, smiling as she put down her work things.
"You can thank Mum the next time we see her. I think she must've come over on her own because I found it on the table next to a piece of parchment with heating instructions."
He handed to Hermione a note scribbled with Mrs Weasley's love, and indeed heating instructions. Neither herself nor Fred were that inept in the kitchen, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.
Hermione chuckled lightly to herself before fetching two wine glasses. She had not realised how hungry she was until she smelled the good food.
The unlikely couple made their usual small talk throughout the meal, helped by a generous measure of elf-made wine. There was an unspoken, mutual agreement that it had been a long day, and they really needed it.
