Riverdale Parent Oneshots

#2 Fremione

Fred woke up at three in the morning to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He groaned as he walked downstairs and opened the door. He froze when he saw Hermione Lodge rush past him and into the lounge without waiting to be invited in.

"Uh, Hermione, what are you doing here?" Fred followed her into the lounge and realised that she must be drunk, because she had stumbled and fallen into a chair and now couldn't get up.

"Fred," Hermione finally managed to push herself out of the chair and faced him. "I just wanted to let you know." She paused after she managed to slur out those words. "How sorry I am, for... well, for everything." Fred reached out to steady her and looked at her with concern.

"Hermione, you're drunk," Fred declared. He tried to steer her towards the couch but she broke free of his grip.

"Fred, listen to me." She started to get slightly irritated. "I'm sorry for everything I ever did to hurt you, I'm sorry for being part of the reason Archie left Riverdale, and mostly I'm sorry for ever leaving you. And that-" Hermione took a breath and Fred spoke before she could say anything else.

"Hermione, you're drunk," he repeated. "You can say whatever you want to me in the morning when you're thinking straight. I don't want you to say anything you regret. You can stay in my room, since I am not letting you go home like this. Come." He picked her up bridal style and walked her up the stairs. After a while she stopped trying to worm out of his strong grip and melted into his arms.

"Fred, please-" Hermione started again but Fred stopped her with a look.

"No complaints, you can say whatever it is you want to say in the morning. Right now you need to sleep, and not get into a car crash."

He laid her down on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He started walking out of the room to sleep on the couch when she stopped him.

"Fred," she called softly. "Could you stay with me?" He turned around with a slight smile, she looked so small and fragile lying in the midst of all the covers.

He slipped under the covers and she lay her head on his chest, falling asleep to the sound of his breathing.

"Always," he whispered once she was asleep, and he kissed her hair. He fell asleep watching her chest rise and fall rhythmically.

*

Hermione woke up to a roof that seemed vaguely familiar, but definitely wasn't hers. She quickly sat up, causing her to feel the intense thudding in her head. Her breathing started to quicken when she recognised where she was. She was at Fred's house, with a hangover, that could only spell bad news. Her thoughts were interrupted by Fred pushing open the door, holding a tray of food in front of him.

"Morning sleeping beauty," Fred teased and placed the tray on Hermione's lap as she stared at him.

"Uhh," she stammered, trying to remember what had happened the night before. "Did we..." She trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud, not that she hadn't imagined it before.

"No," Fred shook his head with a slight smile. "You arrived here drunk and stormed into the place. You were saying something about wanting to tell me something, but I made you sleep so that you could decide if you wanted to tell me with a clear head." He chuckled at her look of confusion and frustration. "You need to eat something."

Hermione slowly put some food in her mouth, while trying to remember what it was that she had wanted to tell Fred. It could have been a multitude of things, she wanted to say a lot of things to him, she could just never work up the courage to actually say them. She tried to remember what had caused her to drink the night before. Then it hit her. She had come home to find Veronica packing a bag full of clothes and some necessities. She had said that Archie was gone and possibly never coming back, all because of Hiram and his stupid games. After that, she left Hermione standing there staring at her daughter's empty room. Then her mind went to Fred, poor Fred, what he must be going through, how horrible it must be for him, and it was her husband who had caused him all that pain. She had mindlessly reached for a bottle and started trying to drown her sorrow.

"Now, if you want to tell me whatever it was you can," Fred said once Hermione had eaten something. "If you don't want to that's also fine. I'll be downstairs in the kitchen, yell if you need anything."

Once Fred had left, Hermione stared down at her food and considered her options. Once she made her decision she slowly headed down the stairs.

"Fred," Hermione declared her presence and steeled herself. Fred looked up from the blueprints he was studying and smiled.

"Morning, want anything to drink?" Fred offered as he watched Hermione hesitate at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Uh, no thank you. I don't exactly know whether you'll want me here once I've told you this." Fred narrowed his eyes for a second and turned to face Hermione fully.

"Okay..." Fred gestured for Hermione to start talking.

"Please let me say everything I want to before you speak," Hermione started nervously. "Okay... I am so, so sorry for everything I've done. For working with Hiram, for lying to you, for leaving you, for being part of the reason Archie left Riverdale-"

"That wasn't-" Fred started to interrupt her but she held up her hand to stop him.

"No interruptions," Hermione continued. "I'm not asking for forgiveness, because I definitely don't deserve it, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I'm divorcing Hiram, I'm going to try to start over." Hermione was just barely holding back tears at this point, and finally worked up the courage to say what she had wanted to say and do for years.

"I love you." She said it so softly and half hoped that Fred hadn't heard it, but his face proved otherwise. Hermione turned around to hide her tears and moved to leave.

"Where are you going?" Fred's voice was quiet and Hermione turned around. Fred noticed the tears that were now freely streaming down her face and rushed over to her. He pulled her into an embrace and rubbed her back soothingly.

"You're not angry with me?" Hermione whispered in disbelief, and turned her head to look at him.

"Why would I be angry?!" Fred smiled at her. "The girl I've loved for over two decades just told me she loves me, I couldn't be happier." He chuckled at the big smile that crept onto Hermione's face at his words.

"Are you sure?" she asked sounding slightly doubtful. "Because, I'm letting you know now, if you commit you're stuck with me forever." She grinned at him.

"I wouldn't rather be stuck with anyone else," he laughed. He leant down and captured her lips in a kiss. When they broke apart they were both breathless but grinning like little kids.

"God I love you," Hermione breathed out. "But my head is really killing me." Fred laughed and picked her up in his arms, causing her to giggle.

"Let's get you up to bed, princess." He carried Hermione into his room and placed her on the bed. After tucking her in, he picked up the tray of food that was still on the bed and started heading towards the door.

"Where're you going?" Hermione groaned from the pillows. She lifted her head to look at Fred.

"I'm just taking your food downstairs," Fred laughed at her pouty expression and leant down to kiss it away. "I'll be back as soon as possible, beautiful." He smiled at her as he left the room.

Hermione buried her head in the pillows until she heard Fred quietly open the door.

"I missed you," she mumbled, grinning.

"I was downstairs for like two minutes," he laughed as he climbed onto the bed.

"I know, but we missed 20 years, I want to spend as much time together as possible." Hermione pulled the covers over Fred and put her arms around his waist.

"I agree, but right now you need to sleep." Fred put an arm around Hermione's shoulders. She moved so that she was curled up next to him and turned her head up to face Fred.

"I love you, never forget that," she whispered, looking a lot happier than she had in years.

"I love you too." Fred lightly kissed her nose, making her smile. "Now sleep."

"Mmm, fine," Hermione mumbled and placed her head on Fred's chest.

"Sleep tight sweetheart," Fred wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and buried his face in her hair. They both fell asleep curled up in each other's arms.