Heart (100quills Prompt 41)
TITLE: Heart
AUTHOR: Myself
DISCLAIMER: JKR owns all HP.
PAIRING: Fred/Hermione
RATING: G
PROMPT # 41: Heart
“Hermione?”
“Hmm?” At the sound of her name, the girl looked up from her book with slightly unfocused eyes. Fred chuckled. “Love, it’s past midnight. The rest of that book can wait for morning.”
“But this is very important-there’s crucial information in here about house-elf history-”
“Accio Book!”
Hermione made a half-hearted grab for the tome as it sailed out of her fingers, but a giant yawn overpowered her mid-reach. Fred set the book on the desk and crossed to the couch, slipping his arms underneath her slim frame. Hermione protested in a vague way as he lifted her up, but was overwhelmed by another yawn.
He carried her up the stairs and into their bedroom, laying her carefully down on the bed. She watched him from beneath drooping eyelids, too exhausted to say anything as he began to remove her clothes. When he got down to her underwear, he grabbed her nightshirt off the floor and pulled her into a sitting position. She sleepily held up her arms as he slipped the nightshirt over her head and he fought a smile. Were she awake, she would never let him treat her as if she was a doll, something to be taken care of.
But he didn’t mind. In fact, he enjoyed it, these times when he could get away with behaving as if she was a princess in the tower and he a knight come to rescue her. It only happened when she was either sick, exhausted or at that time of the month, so he relished those moments.
There’d been more of those moments lately, because she had begun staying up late into the night, reading up on everything she could find about house-elves, in preparation for the case she was about to fight before the Wizengamot. He smiled as he remembered the first night she’d come home after being assigned the case, brimming with excitement and lugging an enormous satchel of books behind her.
She stirred, yawning massively again. He brushed a strand of hair out her face and gazed down at her. Sometimes he couldn’t quite believe she was his, she was too beautiful, too smart, too good for him-
“Don’t even think it, Fred Weasley,” she said drowsily. “I love you.”
-And she could read him like one of her books. He bent and kissed her forehead, then pulled the covers back and over her.
“I know. I love you too,” he whispered, sliding into bed beside her. He was already in his pajamas, having gone to bed an hour ago. But he hadn’t been able to sleep, never could sleep without her next to him. He reached out a long arm and pulled her close to him, and she wound her fingers through his.
“Goodnight, ‘Mione,” he whispered.
“Sweet dreams,” she replied.
“I’m sure they will be-you’ll be in them,” he murmured.
She squeezed his hand, and then sleep overtook them.