Chapter 7

Disclaimer: JKR owns everything, and I don't make any money with this story. The idea of the Marriage Law originated at WIKTT, I believe. I'm just borrowing...

a/n: AU since DH.

Chapter 7

The few short days between Christmas and New Year were over quickly. Hermione and Fred had gotten used to living together surprisingly fast and, despite their families still being angry at them, found they could somewhat enjoy the remaining days of Hermione's Christmas break.

Fred and George closed the shop early on New Year's Eve. They had told Hermione hat they were going to a small party that Angelina Johnson was throwing. Hermione soon realized that 'they' meant all three of them and 'small' at least 50 people.

She had spent an uncharacteristically long time on trying to decide on an outfit before feeling disgustingly like a girly-girl. Therefore, she decided to just wear some black cargo pants and one of her nicer tops. Leaving her hair down and applying only a minimal amount of make-up, Hermione left the bathroom quickly, lest she look into the mirror and see Lavender Brown looking back at her.

When she exited the bedroom, Fred seemed to like what he saw at any rate.

They arrived at the house fashionably late...the twins had insisted...and the place was already packed. Hermione, feeling quite nervous all of a sudden, took Fred's hand, and he squeezed it reassuringly.

"You're going to be fine," he told her before pulling her behind him inside the house.

The first person they encountered was Angelina herself, who stood in the entrance hall close to the door, greeting her guests.

"George, Fred," she yelled over the loud music that came from the living room. "I'm glad you made it." She pulled each of them into an one-armed hug.

"And Hermione." Angelina gave Hermione an enthusiastic hug as well. "We have to talk later," Angelina told the perplexed girl looking pointedly at Fred.

Hermione was spared the obligation to reply by the arrival of yet another couple of guests. George took off immediately in search of 'someone to kiss at midnight,' as he told his brother and Hermione before leaving.

Hermione let Fred pull her along and soon found herself in the huge living-room. There were a few tables with chips and other snacks and a vast supply of beverages...most of them alcoholic. The music was even louder than in the entrance hall, and since Hermione couldn't see a stereo, she correctly guessed that the source of the music was magical.

A few people were dancing already, whereas most of them were sitting on a mismatched ensemble of couches and armchairs, which were scattered all over the room.

As they moved around the room, Hermione noticed quite a few people staring in their direction and pointing. She squirmed uncomfortably.

"Gossip certainly spread fast, considering it's the holidays," Fred commented, handing Hermione a drink before taking one for himself.

"I noticed. Angelina didn't seem surprised at all that we showed up together." Hermione carefully sipped at her drink and, deciding that it was too strong, made a face.

"I expected that. She's currently dating Lee Jordan. According to George, she was there too when he showed up at Lee's a couple of days ago, telling him that he needed a place to crash so we wouldn't be disturbed. I would have loved to see their faces."

Wordlessly he took Hermione's drink from her and took a large gulp from it, emptying the cup by a third. Then he refilled the cup with more coke.

"Here, try if that's better."

Hermione accepted the cup back and took another experimental sip. The coke sufficiently diluted the drink, and she found she actually like it now. She gratefully smiled up at him.

"Thanks," she said.

Soon they were joined by several of Fred's friends, who, although they refrained from asking them directly how they got together, shot curious glances towards Hermione.

Hermione didn't like the attention she was receiving from standing by Fred's side. Although she wasn't overly shy, she had never been one for the spotlight, unless maybe it was due to academic achievement. Hence, she didn't appreciate being the main attraction of the evening. A sideways glance to Fred only served to tell Hermione what she already knew: Fred liked the attention. That revelation came hardly as a surprise since the twins had practically been famous at Hogwarts.

Fred seemed to be aware, though, that Hermione was uncomfortable and did his best to insure that she could enjoy the party as well. He made sure she was supplied with drinks (Hermione was grateful to have something to occupy her hands), and he stayed close, careful not to leave her alone at a party where she didn't know many people.

Though she had gone to school with most of the guests, they had almost exclusively been in the years above her. Therefore, Hermione recognized many of them by sight, but was hazy on the names and certainly hadn't spoken to most of them before.

Hermione had been less than enthusiastic whenever they had talked about the upcoming party, though she had had to agree with Fred that this was the perfect opportunity for people to find out about them. After all, that was what they wanted: public recognition, so they could convince their friends and family that they were in fact together.

Silently, Hermione had thought that convincing their friends, or for that matter Fred's friends, would be a lot more difficult than convincing their families. The Weasleys had only seen them snogging once and from then on were focused exclusively on their anger. They never stopped to look at the couple closely. Her parents had never even seen Fred, but relied on what Mrs. Weasley's letter and Hermione herself had told them.

Fred, who was developing a rather disturbing talent for reading her mind whenever she was worrying too much, had told her that if they were able to convince his twin, who actually lived with them and saw them every day, they could convince everybody. Hermione felt calmer after that.

"You want to dance?" Fred asked her when his friends moved away to join the growing crowd on the makeshift dance floor. Hermione shook her head vigorously.

"No. I told you..."

"You sure?" Fred asked laughing. Hermione glared at him, though she was not exactly mad. She had told him beforehand that she didn't like dancing too much.

"If you could dance with Krum in front of the whole school, you surly can manage one small dance with me in Angelina's cosy living room," Fred teased.

"I almost died of embarrassment when I had to dance in the Great Hall. I didn't know there would be public dancing when Viktor asked me out. Anyhow, Angelina's living room isn't cosy. It's so huge; you could fit the whole school in here."

"Now that's exaggerating," Fred answered, and the playful grin on his face told Hermione quite clearly to be on her guard.

"Let's make this a bet," he suggested. Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"What kind of bet?"

"Well, I bet you that I will get you to dance with me today and, furthermore, that you will like it."

Hermione shook her head. "That will never happen."

"So where's the harm in betting then? You're bound to win, according to yourself," Fred said triumphantly.

There were alarm bells going off in her head...loudly.

To no avail.

Later on, Hermione blamed the drinks (though she had only had two, both of them mixed with coke, at that point) and the atmosphere of the party. Whatever the reason, she let Fred convince her that it was a good idea to make this bet.

"What are the terms?"

He gave her a victorious smile, and Hermione had the ominous feeling that betting with Fred Weasley wasn't the smartest idea she had ever had.

"How about the loser gives the winner a massage?" Fred suggested innocently.

Hermione swallowed; nevertheless, she found she couldn't back out now. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks.

"Okay." They shook on it.

"So would you like to dance with me?"

"No."

"Didn't think it would be that easy." Fred gave her a lopsided grin, and together they went over to a group of couches were Angelina, Katie, Lee, Oliver and some other people were talking about Quidditch. They sat down, and Fred immediately joined the conversation, whereas Hermione choose to listen to the music instead. She never understood what people found so interesting in sports anyway.

They had sat down for less than a minute when Angelina suddenly jumped up.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she announced, and Katie immediately got up to join her.

"You need to go too!" Angelina informed Hermione, and the two older girls pulled her off the couch.

"No, actually..." Hermione tried to defend herself from the ambush. At that moment she wouldn't have voluntarily gone to the bathroom if she had drunk a barrel of tea beforehand. But the other girls ignored her protests and dragged her with them. Hermione looked desperately over her shoulder, hoping Fred might save her. He just smiled and waved. Bastard.

Once they reached an upstairs bathroom, Hermione was pulled inside, and Angelina locked the door before sitting down on the edge of the tub. Katie leaned against the sink.

"Spill!"

"What?" Hermione, staying close to the door, asked in order to buy some time. This very much felt like the interrogation it was.

"You and Fred, of course. When did that happen? How?"

Hermione relented and told them the whole fabricated story about her and Fred really getting to know each other during the last summer when she stayed with the Weasleys at Harry's house and how they continued writing to each other once she was back at school.

"And when we saw each other after Christmas again, we just knew we wanted to be together," Hermione ended. Both girls were starring misty eyed and with goofy smiles at her.

Hermione worried about how much they had had to drink.

"Wow."

"That's such a romantic story."

"Well..." Hermione would have begged to differ, were she able to tell the truth. She supposed that nobody would think it to be romantic, were they to know that the whole story was just a scam so she wouldn't have to marry some disgusting Death Eater. Obviously, Hermione hadn't read enough romance novels (none, to be exact) to know that the hero sweeping in to save the damsel in distress from having to marry the evil villain was the epitome of romance.

"What did the Weasleys say?" Katie asked.

"I heard from Lee that they are angry?" Angelina asked slyly. Hermione suspected the girl knew most of the story already and just wanted to hear the gossip first hand.

"They were angry indeed. We hadn't told them..."

"Because of Ron? I always thought he carried a torch for you," Katie interrupted.

"Yeah. Mostly. He was pretty mad when he walked in on us."

"Ron Weasley walked in on you having sex with his brother?" Katie almost shouted.

"Noooo," Hermione assured the other girl quickly. If Katie kept screaming stuff like that, the whole party would be standing on the other side of the bathroom door, trying to listen in to their conversation. Hermione considered casting an Imperturbable Charm on the door, just to be safe.

"We weren't having sex... just kissing... on his bed." The blush she had fought so far, won, and coloured her face.

"What happened then?"

So Hermione was stuck telling them everything that had happened the last couple of days, too. As it turned out, the girls had heard from Lee that Hermione was currently living in the twins' flat, but had refused to believe him.

"You're parents really kicked you out?"

"It's more like me running away before they got the chance, but in essence, yes."

"Wow."

Hermione just nodded. She had no intention of discussing her parents with the girls.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Well, I'm going back to Hogwarts in two days..."

"We know that. I meant, are you going to keep living with Fred after school? How serious..."

Angelina's questions were interrupted by loud pounding on the door and some drunken party guest shouting that if they didn't let him into the bathroom soon, he would be peeing into the next flower pod. Angelina forgot all about Hermione and Fred's relationship and hurried out of the room, yelling at the drunk that she would personally hold him responsible if any of her mother's prized flowers were spoilt during the party.

Hermione used the opportunity to escape the interrogation. She went back downstairs and into the living room, trying to find Fred. She spotted him on the same couch where she had left him, still talking to Lee and Oliver. Although, when she sat down besides him, she had a feeling that the guys hadn't been talking about Quidditch anymore.

"About time," Fred told her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I was considering sending out a search party for you."

"I can see you were worried sick about me," Hermione retorted, eying several empty shot glasses, which hadn't been around when she had left.

Fred just grinned.

****************

The next few hours passed rather quickly, and Hermione was surprised to see that once she got over her nervousness, she was able to enjoy herself. After several drinks though (it had occurred to her at some point that she wasn't even sure what exactly she was drinking, but that whatever it was tasted good when mixed with enough coke) her head was spinning slightly. Although not exactly drunk, Hermione nevertheless came to the conclusion that some fresh air would do her good.

As Fred was talking rather animatedly to some boy who seemed only vaguely familiar to Hermione, she went onto the porch alone. It was a clear night, and she was immediately chilled when she stepped outside. Wrapping her arms around herself to get some warmth, Hermione leaned against the banister, which separated the porch from the backyard, and watched the clouds her breath made in the cold air. She enjoyed the silence for a while.

A few minutes later the door behind her was opened, and the music sounded overly loud against her ears. Someone stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind them. Instantly the music was muffled again. Hermione didn't need to turn around to know it was Fred who had joined her outside. She was proven right when he wrapped his arms around her from behind. His body was warm and, leaning back against him, Hermione enjoyed the closeness.

"Will you dance with me?"

Hermione just laughed. He had already asked her a dozen times throughout the evening, hoping to catch her off guard. Each time she had declined.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" she asked him.

"No, 'fraid not," Fred replied. They were standing so close she could feel his breath on her neck.

"Good." She turned around and gave him a kiss on his cheek before going back inside. He followed close behind.

They came back just in time to hear Angelina start chanting the countdown.

"10,"

The others joined in.

"9, 8, 7,"

Fred snaked a hand around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him again.

"6, 5, 4,"

The guest screamed in unison. With the exception of Hermione, who was busy feeling Fred's body against hers, and therefore, currently unable to master the challenge of counting backwards.

"3, 2, 1"

Hermione felt Fred turning her so she would stand in front of him, pulling her even closer.

"Happy New Year!"

Everyone was shouting around them when Fred leaned in to kiss Hermione. He brushed her lips with his briefly, then slipped his tongue inside her mouth. Hermione brought her arms up around his neck and opened her mouth to him. Fred led his hands roam around her back.

They were lost in their kiss, forgetting the singing and kissing people around them for a moment.

"Happy News Year, George!" a rather inebriated Oliver Wood shouted, patting Fred on the back. Fred broke away from Hermione.

"You too," Fred told his former captain, obviously unhappy about being interrupted and not even bothering to correct his drunken friend.

"And Happy Years New to you!" Oliver shouted drunkenly at Hermione before throwing himself at the utterly astonished girl. Hermione hugged him back awkwardly, shooting a helpless look at Fred over Oliver's shoulder.

"That's enough, Wood," Fred said, pulling his friend away from his girlfriend. Supposed girlfriend, he had to remind himself, because he very much wanted to hit Oliver at the moment.

"How about you go and get yourself a nice cup of coffee?"

"But's New Happy Years. I have to kiss people!" Oliver slurred, and Fred took a step back, just in case. However, Oliver had already found another victim and threw himself at a passing girl, who, by the looks of it, didn't even know him.

Fred and Hermione laughed. Then Fred leaned towards Hermione again, obviously intending to resume their kiss. Alas, he was once again interrupted by some of his friends, only slightly less drunk than Oliver Wood, who wished the couple a 'Happy New Year.'

"Fred, have you seen George?" Angelina came rushing towards them. "He's supposed to do the fireworks together with Lee, but he didn't show up."

"Happy New Year to you, too. Now that you mentioned it, I haven't seen my dear brother since we got here." Fred raised his eyebrows, but didn't seem overly concerned. He left to help Lee with the fireworks instead, and the party-guests, including Angelina and Hermione, went outside to enjoy the show.

"I saw you and Fred kiss just now," Angelina said in between 'ooooooooohs' and 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahs' for a rain of golden stars and a gigantic purple shooting star. "I was wondering whether I would be forced to conjure up a bucket with cold water."

Hermione blushed for the umpteenth time that night and was at a loss for words.

She had dreaded the party out of fear people wouldn't believe their act, but had soon come to realise that she had no problem convincing people. The problem was reminding herself that she wasn't dating Fred for real.

When the fireworks were over, people went back inside. Those who hadn't been smart enough to bring their alcohol with them, in an effort to thwart the cold, immediately went to the tables with the drinks to rectify their mistake. The others went to refill their drinks.

Hermione went to a nearby table with drinks, too, desperately feeling that she needed something to get her mind off of the heated kiss she had shared with Fred at midnight. She rarely drank and consequently wasn't well versed in the assortment of long-drinks, which were covering the table. She picked a cup whose contents looked somewhat like the drink that Fred had supplied her with all evening and tasted it. It wasn't the same, but she found that she liked it, regardless.

Hermione had already emptied half the cup when Fred joined her, rubbing his hands together in an effort to warm them.

"What are you having?" he asked, peering into her cup.

"No idea," Hermione answered truthfully. "But it tastes good."

Fred laughed at this.

"I see, I have successfully corrupted you." He took a sip from her drink.

"Whisky-cola," he told her. "You might wanna be careful with the stuff."

"What was the other drink?" Hermione asked.

"Rum and coke."

They took more drinks and joined Lee and Angelina on one of the couches. Space was a bit rare, as most of the guests had chosen to sit down at this point, and Hermione ended up sitting on Fred's lap. He didn't mind.

"Have you found George?" Fred asked Angelina.

"No, and I can't find Alicia either. I haven't seen both of them since they arrived."

Fred grinned, but stayed silent.

"You don't think...?" Angelina jumped up and down in her seat. As her seat happened to be Lee Jordan's lap, her jumping caused the boy some considerable pain.

"Would you desist," he snapped, trying to hold the excited girl on his lap still. "It's not that exciting anyways. It was bound to happen."

"It was?" Hermione asked.

"They have liked each other for ages," Fred confirmed. The four kept talking, all the while consuming their respective drinks copiously.

After getting them fresh supplies, Hermione came back to sit on Fred's lap. She wriggled around to find a comfortable spot, just like she had done during their lunch in the staff room. Maybe a bit more.

His hands shot to her hips, halting her movement.

"If you keep this up," Fred all but whispered into her ear, "I won't be held responsible for my actions."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat, but she didn't back down. She leaned back and rested her head onto his shoulders. Fred didn't remove his hand from around her hips. Angelina and Lee had abandoned their conversation in favour of a rather public make-out session, so Hermione and Fred were free to sit in silence, enjoying each other's company.

Hermione's top had risen up slightly during her wriggling, and unconsciously Fred was drawing patterns with his thumb on her bare skin. It drove Hermione crazy. She inhaled deeply, and her nostrils were filled with the by now familiar scent of Fred's aftershave. If possible, she pressed herself even closer into his body.

"Will you dance with me?" Fred asked, more in an effort to keep his sanity while refraining from ravishing the girl in his lap on the spot than trying to win the bet.

Failing to remember the bet, Hermione actually forgot to refuse. She got to her feet, stumbling slightly, and once Fred had gotten up too, the couple went on the dance floor. The fast and upbeat songs from earlier in the evening had long stopped in favour of slower numbers.

Fred pulled Hermione into an embrace, listening to the drawn out rhythm of a love song, and together the couple swayed to the music. The heat coming off their bodies was intense and soon had them panting slightly, even though they weren't moving fast at all. Hermione raised her cheek from that comfortable spot on Fred's chest and tilted her head up towards him. Fred complied with her unspoken request and bent down to kiss her.

The heat between them intensified as their hands roamed freely around their bodies and their tongues duelled for dominance. All thoughts about the people around them had left their heads as they gave into the tension that had been building between them all evening.

Funnily enough, it was Oliver again, who was green faced and rushing towards the bathroom thereby bumping into Fred, who brought them back to reality.

"Maybe we should go home," Fred suggested. Hermione only nodded. Together the two made their way to the fireplace in the entrance hall, which was connected to the Floo network. Hermione took some Floo powder from the jar on the mantelpiece and threw it into the fire. As the flames turned emerald, they stepped inside and Fred intoned 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' as clearly as he could in his current state.

They were jostled about quite a bit, but managed to get off at the right fireplace, stumbling into the living room of the flat. Hermione would have fallen to the floor had it not been for Fred's arms around her waist. The bumpy ride did not serve to mix well with the uncharacteristically large amounts of alcohol she had consumed during the party.

"Are you alright?" Fred asked when Hermione kept clutching his arms, trying to steady herself.

"Stupid world's spinn´ng..." Hermione mumbled.

"Let's get you to bed then." He helped Hermione to the bathroom where she luckily was able to change herself into her night-wear (his boxers and shirt, of course). By the time she stumbled out of the bathroom, Fred had been to the kitchen and gotten her a glass of water.

"Drink that. You will thank me in the morning."

Too exhausted to argue, Hermione gulped down the water and then let herself fall into the bed. She was asleep in an instant, and Fred actually needed to cover her with the sheets since she seemed to have forgotten to do so.

He sighed and changed, too. He lay down next to her and counted 1567 Snapes jumping over the cauldron before he was able to fall asleep.

tbc

a/n: This chapter was a bit longer than the other ones. I hope you still liked it.

Thanks, as always, to my two awesome betas Katia and Joey and to all my reviewers. Keep them coming.