InsaneJournal

Who: Hermione Granger and Fred Weasley
When: 2/10
Where: For the Lulz
What: Talking about magic and dreams
Rating: Low
Status: Complete



Hermione headed to the joke shop to have a conversation with Fred. She hadn’t been spending as much time as she’d like with the rest of the Weasleys, she’d only seen Ginny recently, really. She hadn’t seen much of Ron since her relationship with Jim grew serious, and their contact had ended almost completely after the New Year.

Hermione was enjoying being a newlywed, though. Her life with Jim was fantastic. A bit of a distraction from her schooling, but she was willing to make that sacrifice for him.

The dreams were coming less frequently recently, but she still had a lot of knowledge about them. And she had her wand and a lot of skill when it came to magic. So she went into For The Lulz to see Fred and talk to him about it. Or whatever. She decided it was time.

Fred wasn’t really working today -- it was George and Verity’s shift -- but he did live above the shop, and rarely had anything better to do anyway. And he was free labor.
He was making himself useful, by cleaning the inside window of the shop -- so he’d spotted Hermione quickly when she walked by and then came in. “Hey!” He said, pleased as a peach to see her. They had talked about meeting up recently, but Fred was (admittedly) a little bit of a flake when it came to meeting up with people.

“Hi, Fred!” Hermione said, coming into the shop a little further and giving him a smile. “How are you? It’s been a while.” She added. She wanted him to show off all the new wares in the shop, actually. She hoped she wouldn’t be too much of a distraction from work.

Fred gave a quick smile and stowed away his windex and paper towels behind the counter register. “It has been a while. I’m good. I’ve been doing...oh, you know, the usual. Work, some play, dreaming about being a Wizard.”

“Yeah? You’ve finally joined the rest of us in dreaming about Hogwarts?” Hermione asked, grinning at him. “Well, go on then. Tell me everything.”

“Sure,” Fred said, but then gave a slight pause, looking around the shop for his brother or Verity. “Actually, can we just -- uh. Walk? While I tell you?” George hadn’t said anything about the dreams yet, and he felt kind of weird talking about them around him when his twin wasn’t having the same experiences. “Just down the strip, really.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Hermione said, giving him a little smile. She turned to move with him wherever it was he wanted to go, glancing around the shop for Verity and George. The blonde was with a customer, moving toward the register, and Hermione couldn’t see George anywhere.

George was an elusive sort. Sometimes he was there, sometimes he wasn’t. Sometimes, he was just Waiting. Because, well, he was George. Fred appreciated it greatly.

“Perfect,” said Fred, opening the shop door for her to go through first. “I appreciate it like burning.”

Hermione stepped through the door. She wondered for a moment why Fred was being secretive, then figured it probably had to do with awkwardness. Because the dreams were awkward.

She started down the street and looked over at him. “Well?”

The dreams were awkward. And when Fred thought something was awkward, it really, really was. “Well,” he said after a moment , falling into a comfortable pace with her and sticking his hands into his pockets. “My whole family is made up of wizards. Is that weird?” he looked up at the sky, curiously. “And … I’m in Gryffindor? Whatever that means.”

“Gryffindor. One of the four houses of Hogwarts.” Hermione said with a nod. It may have been awkward for him, but she had more than three years of memories of the place. She knew all about him and his family, too. “My family are muggles. But I go to Hogwarts in my dreams, too. I’m in Ron’s year.”

“Muggles,” he repeated, thinking it was an odd word, even if he was sure he’d heard it in his dreams. “And are you also in Gryffindor?” He paused. “Are we friends? I haven’t met you yet in my dreams.”

“Yes.” Hermione grinned. “And yes. Well, you’re obviously a lot closer with Ron, and with Harry...” She hated that her dream self had such a bunk sense of humor. “But you and George have always been entertaining to all of Gryffindor Tower. As long as I’ve been there.” She paused.

“Have you dreamed about Quidditch yet?”

Fred hadn’t met Harry in his dreams yet, either. But he honestly wasn’t surprised that he was there too. It seemed like all of the people he really knew here were... well. There too. He gave a nod, thinking over that, because this was totally a time for seriousness. Or something. “Seems like I’m nearly the same there as I am here,” he said, and seemed a bit relieved over it. “But no, no Quidditch yet. What is it?”

“It’s a sport. A magical sport and it looks absolutely amazing.” Hermione said, beaming. “I’m a bit more uptight in the dreams. I don’t think I’d be nearly so...” She frowned slightly. There were differences. She was still as studious, and as brave, but she didn’t mind bending the rules a bit. And her sense of humor here was a lot stronger. “Stick in the mud? About everything.”

Fred liked playing sports here, but not as much watching them. Maybe this one would be cool, though. Apparently he would just have to wait and see. Patience was not one of his strong suits.

“Are you?” he asked, a laugh bubbling out of him. She was funny here, but he supposed he didn’t know her exceptionally well to say whether or not she was uptight.

“Well, I don’t like to think I’m like that here. But in the dreams, I’m such a stickler for rules. I don’t think I have a good sense of humor there.” She frowned a little. “Doesn’t sound like me at all, does it? The studying part is true. and my work ethic. Those are the same.”

“Well, you know,” said Fred, hands in pockets, even as he looked up at the sky beyond all the buildings. “Maybe things are different there. Like you have to be.” It was hard to think up a reason for anyone to be uptight. He grinned. “Some people seem a lot the same though, you know? All my family, really.”

“I’ve got quite a bit of a different background here. Living in California has made a huge change on my life.” She said, giving a gentle nod. “Yes, your family. Ginny, Ron, you and George... Percy.” She said his name hesitantly. Hermione had always been fond of Ron’s older, studious brother, though the family drama surrounding his leaving and returning was none of her business.

Fred rolled his eyes at the mention of Percy, but said nothing. Fred might have been a bit rude sometimes, but he wasn’t stupid -- Hermione had obviously said his brothers’ name a little hesitantly. He wouldn’t start anything.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, then -- almost surprised. “You’re actually quite American. I don’t know why I never thought to notice.”

Hermione gave a little laugh. “Bite your tongue.” She scolded him, playfully. “Though I have lived here almost as long as I lived in Britain.” She added after a moment of thought. She’d moved to California with her parents when she was 10, so she’d spent half of her life here. “I’ll have to travel back there. I wouldn’t want to lose touch with my roots completely.”

He honestly, had nearly the same living arrangement -- it was just that he had so many family members that his accent had kept up so well. “Yeah,” he said, almost a little wistfully. “I’d hate to forget it all completely too. I miss it now and then.”

“I wonder if I’d get really homesick for my mother and father.” Fred probably knew how they’d moved to Australia after Hermione graduated from High School. She’d spent nearly a week at The Burrow, transitioning from her parents’ home to her new apartment. “Probably. So, tell me more about your dream. If I’m not there, it’s probably your first year?”

“Yes,” he agreed, easily. He was always kind of easy. (But not like that. Ladies. Gentlemen.)
“First year -- My dream ended after I’d been sorted into Gryffindor.”

(Oh, come on. He was that kind of easy, too.) “Oh, so you haven’t been to classes or anything at the school yet?” She asked, grinning even more brightly than before. “You haven’t even had a chance to explore the castle!”

(Okay, yeah, there was that.) “Not yet,” Fred said, raising his eyebrows at her and grinning almost madly. “But dream George and I did seem very excited at the prospect.” He was going to be trouble. He knew it, and he liked it.

“I don’t blame you.” Hermione beamed. “By the time I got to school, you two had made yourselves kings, really. Knew the place upside down and inside out. Of course, you’d had a little help,” she said, hinting at the map but not mentioning it--he could find it out on his own--”but you two were absolutely brilliant.” They were, too. As much as stick-in-the-mud Hermione was uptight about the rule bending, she couldn’t deny they were absolutely brilliant and talented.

Fred puffed up a little bit, never one to turn down a compliment. His ego was bursting even at the very worst of times. He couldn't help it. Who could, when everything you did was doubly good? "I'm not even surprised," he said. Because he was absolutely brilliant and talented even here. "But it's nice to know for certain from someone else's mouth anyway."

“Well, so far you’ll get nothing but praise from me.” Hermione said, giving him a nod and a smile. She continued walking alongside him, keeping up with his pace. “Do keep me posted when you have more dreams.” She was looking forward to hearing from him more as they came.