Falling for a redhead

Chapter 2

Hermione arrived at the Black's house right the day before Christmas after she heard what happened to Arthur Weasley. She came there fast and worried not just about Arthur, but also about the rest of his family. She kept wondering how they must be feeling, which always lead to wondering what Fred was doing and that made Hermione want to put her head through a wall. She tried stopping these thoughts about him, but she didn't succeed.

That day they didn't even got to talk to each other. Since she came, she went to Harry, worrying about his miserable condition after he stayed most of the time in his room. And after that, Hermione spent her day with Ginny, trying not to get in the Order's way. Each time she saw Fred and George, they were with their mother and Hermione didn't want to get between them. Fred waved at her and winced when he saw her first time, which made her laugh.

The next day she woke up and observed the pile of presents from next to her bed. It was Christmas, her favorite holiday. She got up and checked her presents. Hermione liked most of them, especially the book Harry bought for her. However, she felt disappointed that there was no gift from Fred, only a box with their silly candies. Again, she tried to stop her mind from thinking that way, while she got up and got dressed.

After that, she walked out of the room and decided to go to Ron and Harry. She met with them on the hallway, followed by the twins.

'Merry Christmas!' she said, smiling and the four boys answered to her, smiling too. They three stepped on the stairs and started going down to eat, but Fred remained there. The girl turned around to face him.

'Aren't you coming?' she asked.

'Wait. I just wanted to talk with you.'

Her heart slowly jumped when he made a step closer to her. 'What about?'. He smiled to her and she returned the gesture.

'I wanted to thank you for that quidditch book you gave me for Christmas. I wanted to buy it when I went on the Diagon Alley, but it was pretty expensive and I decided to use those moneys on something else,' he explained. Fred took out of his pocket a dark blue box and handed it to her. She took it into her hands and opened it. A beautiful, silver necklace with a feather on it was shining in it. Hermione didn't know what to say and looked at him with her mouth opened a little.

'I said I should give it to you personally,' the boy continued.

'Y-You used your money to buy me this? It is so...beautiful. Fred, I don't know what to say. Thank you,' she managed to form a few sentences. She raised herself on her tiptoes and hugged him tight.

'Merry Christmas, Hermione!' he whispered to her year while they were hugging.

He helped her put it around her neck and she was still in shock. He actually bought her something and it was so pretty. They walked downstairs and sat at the table, next to their friends.

'What took you so long? We started believing you got lost,' Ron spoke with his mouth full of scrambled eggs.

'Shut up and eat like a gentleman, little brother,' Fred said, laughing, avoiding the question.

Molly came at the table and put food on their plates, when she noticed Hermione's necklace. She stopped and looked at it.

'This necklace is very beautiful. Where did you get it?' she asked, impressed.

'A Christmas present. And thank you, miss Weasley.'

'The person who sent it to you must really like you,' she said, smiling to her and moving on to Fred's plate. Hermione glanced at him, hiding a chuckle and saw him chocking with water.