He stood staring at the closed door, unsure if he should knock or just leave. His palms were sweating. His brain was telling him to walk away, but his feet wouldn't budge. And he hated it when that happens.

"What on earth are you doing, standing there?" a female voice startled him from behind. He could only let a small, nervous laugh escape him. The girl standing before him was carrying a bag of groceries, of which he already knew the contents. He had known her for nearly 8 years now.

He remembered that he still needed to answer her question but his mouth was dry. "Unn…" he started, scratching his head. She was already fitting the keys into the doorknob, opening the door for him. "Come in!" she motioned with an amused face. "You look…distraught," she commented while ripping a bar of chocolate. "Want some?"

He grabbed the choc bar while giving her the 'what-would-I-do-without-you' look. "Thanks," he mouthed before gobbling up the delicacy. She smiled to herself, thinking that he had come to the right place at the right time. He would cheer her up just by doing the smallest favor – by just being there.

Suddenly, he leapt onto the fluffy sofa next to her. "It's been a week since I last saw you. You didn't reply to my letters. Neither did you ever visit my shop, nor the Burrow anymore, not since Ron went for his Auror training…" he earnestly pointed out. She wanted to open her mouth to explain, but he cut her off. "No, no…I know…you're busy," he flailed his hands comically, which made her chuckle.

"As I've said," she took a deep breath, "you look distraught. What's wrong?" She was genuinely and extremely worried that he had fallen into some kind of trouble.

"Uh, how do I say this?" he said sheepishly. He was fiddling with his wand – something he would do when he gets nervous. "It's kind of embarrassing," he confessed.

"What? What is it??" she nudged him anxiously.

"Guess what?" went his excited voice. "I've just discovered something today!"

"Uh-huh," her eyes narrowed, "and that something…is…what?"

"Hermione Granger…"

"Yes…?"

"I miss you."

There. He'd said it. Silence filled the air as she tried to comprehend what he'd just told her. It was in the way he'd said it. If she hadn't known better, it would sound like a little boy telling her, "Hermione…there's a book sale downtown," or "Hermione…let's go get some ice-cream!". It was bizarrely high-pitched and monotonous, yet cheery at the same time. If she hadn't known better, she'd think that he was just fooling around. He was a refined prankster, after all. But there was that unquestionable twinkle in his eyes, which proved his honesty.

"Err…umm…" were all the words she could gather while trying to hide her blush at the same time. "You came here just to say that?"

He nodded. "Yep, just that. Oh, but there's another thing…" this time with a deadpan expression. She quietly thanked Merlin in her heart. At least he did come here for a more serious, more important matter than just to make her heart flutter.

"Eh? What is it?" she posed casually.

He smiled. "I miss you!"

This time, she just had to face away from him. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stop herself from grinning or smother her giggles. When she finally regained a fracture of her composure's leftovers, she turned to him.

"Shut up, George." she forced herself to say as solemn as possible.

"I'll do just that," he said with a cheeky smirk and leaned forward to kiss her.

She kissed him back.