"And you think your family has the monopoly on that, do you?" She didn't look up at Fred as she spoke. "You're blocking my light."

"You've probably not got anything on to protect your skin, do you?" He walked around her and knelt down behind, his knees pressed against her, the wisps of denim at the legs of his cut off shorts brushed against the exposed skin of her back. "You're already red."

"I'm fine, Fred. I cast a shading spell. That's all you're seeing."

"Oh?" He pressed his finger hard to the tip of her spine then pulled it away, leaning in until his face was in her peripheral vision before smirking. "Then why'd I leave a lovely white mark?" He reached into her bag, freeing a bottle. "Spell's not going to keep you safe from the sun long if you sit out in it all day, you daft girl."

"I can do this on my own." She reached behind her to grab the bottle from his hand, turning slightly, stopping as she realized how close they were. "Give me the bottle, Fred."

"Can you put the lotion on your back, Hermione?" His voice changed, shifted, lowered. "That's where you need it, all hunched over your book like that." He poured some of the lotion, warmed by the sun, into his hand then set the bottle down. He rubbed his hands together, holding her gaze all the while. "Turn around."

She swallowed visibly and did as he said, her eyes not leaving his until the last moment. She bent her head forward, reaching up to pull her hair away from it. Fred let out a soft sound that was lost in her quiet gasp as his hands spread over her shoulders and neck, tracing the edges of the tank top she wore.

"It's hot."

"Yes," she agreed softly.

His thumbs brushed beneath the straps of the top and curved up over her shoulders. "You've freckles on your shoulders."

"Your family doesn't have a monopoly on those either." She started to say more, stopping as his lips brushed her shoulder. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "Fred."

"You'll put lotion on my back as well?"

She eased away from his hands and turned as he pulled his t-shirt off. Hermione's eyes traveled along his torso, taking in the sprinkling of ginger hair and the Quidditch honed muscles. "No."

"No?"

"No." She smiled and pushed him onto the blanket as she straddled him, her hands resting on his abdomen just above the waistband of his jeans. "You won't be needing it there."