Round 3: Challenge 3 Drabbles and Voting
Here are the drabbles for the second challenge of the third round.
Prompt: Summer Nights & Magical Get-Away
Please vote for your favourite and your least favourite drabble in a comment to this entry (will be screened). Voting ends Saturday, July 18th 2009 at 11.59pm (EDT, New York). CLOSED!
1)
Title: Hot Nights
Author: lily_pearl
Rating: PG
Word Count: 748
A/N(optional): AU, of course :)
Hermione scrutinized her reflection in the bathroom mirror and made a face when she saw that her wet hair was drying fast and already beginning to frizz in the heat. She sighed and pulled it back into a messy bun. She was absolutely boiling despite the fact that it was now early evening and she was only wearing a light sun-dress. Hermione, not for the first time, wondered whether letting Ginny choose their holiday destination had been a good idea. The brochure had promised a 'magical getaway' which on arrival seemed to mostly involve sweltering heat and annoying insects.
Hermione gave her reflection a last glance before heading down to the hotel lobby to meet Ginny. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, Hermione saw that Ginny was already in the lobby. This was unusual for two reasons. Firstly, Ginny was always at least twenty minutes late for everything. Secondly, Ginny was having a hushed but obviously heated argument with two very familiar red-haired men.
"Hello, trouble," Hermione said as she approached.
The twins took the opportunity to avoid conflict with their little sister gratefully and greeted Hermione with overwhelming exuberance. She smiled as she struggled free from their joint embrace.
"So, what are you two doing here?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, you know," George said, shrugging in a non-committal fashion.
"Actually," Ginny said pointedly, "we don't know. If we had wanted a family holiday, we'd have invited you."
Fred and George made simultaneous 'backing off' gestures which did absolutely nothing to placate their sister. In an attempt to diffuse the situation, Hermione laid her hand on Ginny's arm.
"We'd better get going - we don't want to lose our reservation," she said cheerfully. Turning to the twins, she added "You two can explain yourselves later."
As she led Ginny away, Hermione couldn't help but wonder what the twins had said or done to wind Ginny up so much. She knew better than to ask, of course. Listening to Ginny rant about her siblings all night was not Hermione's idea of a pleasant evening.
~~~~~~~
Three hours later, Hermione found herself sitting alone at the bar watching Ginny dance with an attractive stranger. She sipped her wine and reflected that it was a good thing she and Ginny had booked separate rooms.
"Penny for them," said a soft voice to her left.
Hermione turned to find Fred sitting next to her, nursing his pint.
"Where's your shadow?" she asked mockingly, regretting it the minute the words were out.
Fred nodded towards the dance floor where George was feeling up a pretty blonde. Hermione offered Fred a wry smile. To her relief, Fred didn't seem to have noticed what his sister was up to and was content to sit with her and drink his beer. He was strangely quiet. Hermione was at a loss as to what to say - the twins usually did all the talking and she was merely required to put in a token effort. She gulped the last of her wine in an unladylike fashion and nudged her companion. Fred looked at her quizzically.
"Dance with me," she said.
Fred drained the last of his pint and slid from his bar stool. He followed her to join the moving throng on the dance floor. Hermione felt more comfortable dancing than she had sitting in relative silence at the bar, which was unusual as she wasn't usually a fan of dancing. She moved in time to the pounding bass and was pleased to find that Fred was an excellent dancer. She had seen him dance before, but not in this sort of setting. It was family parties and that awful ball at school where he had flailed around like a maniac.
The next song was much slower. Much to Hermione's surprise, Fred pulled her close rather than employing humour as a tactic to get away. Her heart rate quickened as she automatically slid her arms round his waist and leaned in. She was suddenly very aware of Fred in a way she never had been before. Hermione told herself that it was probably the alcohol, but then his breath ghosted across her cheek and all rational thought went out the window. Fred kissed her neck, working his way up towards her mouth. When he reached her lips, Hermione kissed him passionately. After a few moments, Hermione remembered that she was in a crowded bar and broke away.
"Your place or mine?" Fred whispered in her ear.
2)
Title: A Reason I Married You
Author: tamatersweet
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 542
A/N(optional):
They laid on the chaise, with her curly head resting on his pale chest. The view from their patio was beautiful, and the sweet, Irish summer air danced around them, filling their nostrils with the enticing scents of the ocean’s spray and fresh thyme. The pad of her finger traced the trail of freckles that spattered his chest as his warmth breath ruffled her curls. As the sun set over the ocean, and the sky was painted with colors reminiscent of a bouquet; bright oranges, vivid purples and rosy pinks decorated the fading scene and set a calming scene for the lounging couple.
“Thank you, Fred,” she said.
“For what, ‘Mione?” he questioned as he placed his hand on her head and lovingly stroked her wild mane.
“For everything; for loving me, for being there for me, for being my friend, for being you, for this trip. I thought for sure there was something you were going to be working on; some new invention for the shop or some catch. But there isn’t. You just wanted to take me on a nice, magical get-a-way. I can’t thank you enough for that. I don’t think you know how much it means to me, to simply relax and spend time with you,” she said as she rested her chin on his chest and looked into his eyes. She moved up his chest and gently kissed him on the lips. Her eyes closed in satisfaction as she rested her head in the crook of his shoulder.
“Do you want a chocolate?” he questioned, holding out a platter of delicious looking candies.
She had learned to be hesitant when accepting food of any kind from Fred or George. Though she loved him dearly, and George was like a brother to her, she still didn’t trust them. But she let her guard down, taking a chocolate from the shiny silver tray. She placed the round candy into her mouth and felt the soothing flavor of sweet chocolate melt over her tongue.
He gave her a sly smile as she lay there with a content look on her face. When she opened her eyes she looked into the smiling face of her husband and knew something was up.
“Fred, out with it. What did you do?” she questioned as she sat up, resting her arm on his chest, and pressing her elbow down to try and get him to talk. The cool wind danced on her skin and she looked down to find herself bare to the world. “Fred Weasley! What could you possibly be thinking? A chocolate that makes people naked? What is wrong with you?” she yelled at him, chastising him in her best know-it-all voice.
He slouched down on the chaise, attempting to hide from the irate figure of his naked wife. He was mildly distracted by her shaking in magnificent anger, causing her delicious parts to move in delightful ways.
“Why didn’t you come up with this sooner?” she questioned, causing him to drop his jaw in shock at her statement and allowing her the opportunity to toss a chocolate into his mouth.
“I knew there was a reason I married you,” Fred said around a mouthful of chocolate.
“Same here, Fred. Same here.”
3)
Title: That Time When…
Author: teenage_hustler
Rating: PG
Word Count: It nearly killed me, but 749
A/N(optional): none that I can think of.
“Fred!” Hermione gasped, “This is ridiculous!”
“How ridiculous are we talking?” Fred asked.
“More ridiculous than that time when you and George magicked Percy’s house to that French village near the Riviera.”
“OK, first, that village is called Antibes,” Fred said, “And second, I disagree, because this isn’t ridiculous at all. It’s our anniversary; I want to surprise you.”
“I don’t like surprises!”
“Sure you do. You liked it enough when Harry surprised you with that 10,000 galleon donation to your House Elf causes.”
“That was different,” Hermione argued. “That didn’t involve me being blindfolded and led around by my sadistic husband at midnight.”
Fred came to a sudden halt and Hermione crashed into him.
“Why are we stopping?”
“Because we’ve arrived.”
“Finally!” She tried to pull the blindfold off, but Fred turned around and caught her hand before it touched the black material.
“Not yet,” he said.
“Come on!”
“Say please.”
“Please,” Hermione muttered.
“Not like that.” Fred released her offending hand and raked his fingers along the top of her forehead, before tangling them in her wild hair. Hermione’s sulk turned into a smile.
He leaned in, and she felt his breath against her ear. “Say please,” he repeated.
Thinking that this was more intense than when Fred, Harry and she had been against everybody else in last Christmas’ epic snowball battle, Hermione pulled Fred closer and pressed her lips against his. She wound her arms around his neck as his hands gravitated to her hips.
Hermione broke the kiss and murmured a breathy “please” against Fred’s mouth.
Fred leaned his forehead carefully against hers. He closed his eyes, breathed in her intoxicating scent of vanilla and rose, and whispered an equally breathy “no”.
“Git.” Hermione pried his hands off her hips and lurched angrily forward.
“Merlin, you’re stubborn,” Fred commented.
“I’d have thought you’d learnt that that time when Ginny stole my flip-flop and I went without sleep prying it out of her embrace. Who knew she slept with other people’s shoes?” Hermione’s foot caught on a loose stone and she fell over with a loud “oof”.
“I’d always suspected it.” Fred caught up to her and, just as Hermione was about to stand up, removed the blindfold.
Hermione looked around. It was too dark for her to see much, but she could make out the vague outlines of trees.
“Are we in a forest?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Fred answered. “But I’ve done a little altering.”
“It scares me when you say that.” Hermione knew that ‘a little altering’ in Fred’s world probably included but was not limited to turning all of the forest leaves fluorescent pink and having the animals turn somersaults.
“Relax,” Fred said. “Watch this.”
Fred pulled out his wand and waved it in the air. One by one the surrounding trees lit up with hundreds of tiny lights, until every tree in sight was twinkling. The effect was spectacular.
“How long did this take you to organise?” Hermione asked in amazement.
“A few days,” Fred shrugged.
“This wasn’t what I’d expected when you said you had a surprise.”
“Hence the ‘surprise’ part. It’s been a while since I checked, but I think surprises are supposed to be unexpected.”
Hermione smacked him lightly. “Point taken. But seriously; out of all the places we could have gone, why a forest?”
Fred thought for a moment before answering. “Remember that time at your parent’s house when I brought the canary creams instead of the custard ones?”
Hermione grimaced. “Yes.” She was unlikely to ever forget that episode. She couldn’t even look at a canary these days without remembering the six-foot bespeckled version that had been her father.
“Well, after dinner you took me for a walk to the edge of a forest,” Fred continued. “You told me that when you were little you would go into the forest whenever you wanted to get away. You pretended that the trees were full of fairies that only came out at night, lighting the forest with their magic. So I thought that I’d recreate that for you.” Fred wrapped an arm around her. “Happy anniversary.”
Hermione didn’t know what to say. Fred had done something amazing for her, and she hadn’t even understood the reference. Either she was losing her mind or Fred was much more romantic than she thought.
“So, what do you think?” Fred asked.
Hermione smiled at him and leaned into his shoulder.
“I think there’s never been a more magical time,” she said.
4)
Title: Holiday?
Author: elegantsundance
Rating: PG
Word Count: 463
A/N(optional):
"We're going on holiday." Fred announced at breakfast on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," he replied, "we're going on holiday."
Hermione blinked, temporarily stupified. As usual, it didn't last very long.
"No."
"No?"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"No, not yes to holiday, yes to no holiday." Fred blinked in confusion. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"So, no holiday?"
"Ye - Correct. No holiday."
"Oh. Well, too bad."
"Why did I marry you?" Hermione asked in a huff. "What do you mean, too bad?"
"Well, I've already booked and paid for the holiday."
"Fred, you know I have work."
"Well, you have approximately three weeks of time off that you've stored up, aren't I correct?"
"That's for emergencies! You get gravely injured, I get pregnant -"
"I believe you have prego leave for that, dear. That's seperate."
"Fred! Prego? I don't want you to ever use that term if I should get pregnant, do you hear me!"
"Yep. So, holiday then? Your bags are packed."
"But I have to go to work! Nope. Called your boss, told him to bugger off for the rest of the week, I was kidnapping you."
Hermione buried her head in her arms resting on the table. "Oh, Fred. Please tell me you haven't."
"Well, more or less, anyway. I might have worded it a bit more.. diplomatically.. but, ya know, the meaning was still there."
"Right, well, there's only one way to find out for sure, I guess." she said as she walked over to her desk in the next room and opened her calendar. Seven days, starting today - Tuesday - and ending next week - Monday - were flashing cheerily up at her with the word "HOLIDAY" blinking brightly. She supposed if her work calendar said holiday, she really was on holiday. Usually it read something to the effect of "WHY BOTHER?" or "DON'T BOTHER PLANNING ANYTHING ELSE." The latter of which had to be in very small print, since it took up so much space per square.
Hermione walked back into the room to face Fred, cheerily cleaning up breakfast.
"So, holiday?" she shrugged as Fred grinned at her.
*
That night, Hermione found herself relaxing in the arms of her husband for what seemed like the first time in years. He had, unbeknownst to her, booked a room at a beautiful Wizarding hotel in Italy. One of her dreams was to see the Mediterranean Ocean and here it was, right outside her bedroom window. Hermione placed a kiss on Fred's head as the warm summer breeze caressed them.
"Thank you." she said, no other words needed.
"Anytime dear, anytime."
"No, not anytime. I only have two weeks of leave time left. But, you know.." she was silenced with a kiss.
"Yeah, whatever, love."
5)
Title: Surprises
Author: ceirdwenfc
Rating: G
Word Count: 272
A/N(optional): None
The night air was welcoming and wonderful. July on the coast of Wales couldn't have been more spectacular. The sun had just set and the warm glow as it played off the water only added to this romantic spot. This was the first place, at the end of the war, that Fred and Hermione knew that they were actually in love and not just recovering from their losses.
There was a hush that had fallen over the assembled group as Fred stared into Hermione's eyes with a look of pure adoration on his face. The presiding Minister had to repeat himself twice until finally George thumped Fred on his back and the entire group chorused with the Minister.
"Kiss your wife!"
Fred leaned down, brushing his nose against hers and kissed Hermione on the lips taking great care not to smudge her carefully applied makeup. She had mentioned, more than once, that she did not want her lipstick smeared across her face, and despite his assurances about that special GlamWitch line of mascara that had failed miserably on that wet March day, the Luscious Lips would be fine.
Almost immediately, the area was transformed into a clear dance floor floating above the sand. Fred smiled into Hermione's hair as she laughed at one of his jokes, but immediately became serious again.
"So which magical getaway apart from this one did you choose for our honeymoon?"
"I'm not telling. It's a surprise."
"I hate your surprises."
"I thought you loved my surprises."
She shook her head. "I love you. I put up with your surprises."
Hermione stepped up on her toes and kissed her husband.
6)
Title: Truly Magical
Author: thesteppyone
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 732
A/N(optional): None
She had to admit it was quite ingenious, really. Fred did not agree.
Well, he was coming round to the idea that after he'd adjusted to not using his wand, this holiday could be the relaxing week he really needed.
She had been a little surprised when Fred had arrived home from work in a past-it's-best 1972 Mini, which he had borrowed from a supplier and announced they were driving to their holiday destination. After he had reassured her that they would, of course, fit in the car with their luggage as he had enlarge the interior, she had simply nodded and accepted this as a fun way to start their holiday.
When she asked why they weren't apparating or taking a portkey, he had informed her that there were no official apparition points or portkey stations anywhere near where they were going. She did think this fact a little strange, but when they arrived at the holiday resort just outside Llanmaes it all became clear.
'Why does that sign say 'no magic allowed'? Fred asked her, the horror etched on his face.
'I'm guessing because you aren't allowed to use magic. And surely you knew this before you booked a week's holiday here, Fred?'
'Of course I didn't bloody know! I can't go without magic for a week, Hermione, I'll explode!'
'Oh, don't be so melodramatic! It could be fun. Oh! they've got camping pods! I've never been in one of those before, they're supposed to be very comfortable.'
'Hermione, I am not camping the Muggle way for a whole week!'
'Don't be such a misery! It'll be fun and different and something we've never done together before. Surely that's worth staying for?'
He turned and looked at her. 'That's emotional blackmail, that is!'
'Correct! It is! Look, come on, we're holding up the car behind us and the owner is wondering why we're still sitting here. Just give it a try, Fred, you might enjoy it.'
Fred sighed and slowly moved the car through the gates of the resort.
They traded in their magical tent for two sleeping bags and a cooking kit and chose the camping pod nearest to the pond. They organised their things as best they could in the small space and she watched as Fred looked around at the couples in their vans and tents, the families playing games on the grass and she knew that he was coming around to Muggle camping.
On their last night they went for a walk down to the pond and lay down on the jetty with their feet dangling in the water.
'It wasn't so bad, then?' she asked him as she took his hand and entwined their fingers.
'Actually, this is probably the best holiday I've been on, and not just because I was accompanied by a gorgeous woman.'
She blushed and giggled.
'I dunno why, but there's something relaxing about having to do things by hand and not use spells to do mundane tasks. Tires you out more too, which means you don't notice that the floor is a little less comfortable than you're used to. I suppose it makes you realise what you take for granted.'
'So it turned out to be magical in a totally different way than expected, then?' she asked, a grin spreading across her face.
'Wow, that was the cheesiest line ever! But, yeah, it was. Truly magical.'
'Good, I'm glad.'
She sat up and looked down into the water. The light was fading and she couldn't see a great deal but she didn't care.
'We managed to dry out the towels we used yesterday, didn't we?' she asked Fred. He nodded.
'Good.'
She stood up, took a few steps back and took a running leap into the pond.
When she resurfaced she turned to look at Fred and laughed at the look of shock on his face.
'Hermione! You'll freeze!'
'No I won't, you'll warm me up.'
He stood up. 'As the lady wishes.' He leapt into the water and Hermione grinned. He swam up to her and with one hand pulled her body to his. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they bobbed up and down as Fred kept them afloat.
'So, another new thing we've done together then!' he said with a smile.
She nodded and leant into him and kissed him.
Yep, she thought, truly magical!
Participant(s) using their skip: drcjsnider, thebigdisaster, Umedakyabajo