Day 1: Holding Hands

"George, where are you taking me?"

"Oh hush. We'll be there in a minute."

"Seriously, where are we going?"

"Don't you trust me, Hermione?" There was a beat of pure silence and George gave Hermione an offended look even though she was blindfolded. "That hurts, Granger. That really hurts me."

Hermione giggled and continued to walk forward, George's hand on her shoulder guiding her. Finally they stopped and her hands shot to the blindfold, but George batted them away.

"No! You have to let me ramp up the moment!" he cried.

"Oh honestly. This is just getting ridiculous," Hermione huffed.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist. Alright, I have brought you to a place few people have ventured. It's very dangerous, and very mysterious, but I think you'll like it." George smiled and untied the kerchief from around her eyes. He watched as her eyes blinked and she looked around, a beaming smile on her face. It slid off her face and was replaced by a look of bemusement.

"Your workshop," she said in a monotone. "You begged me for weeks, hyped up this entire night, blindfold me and walk me to a 'secret location,' and it's the workshop of your store?" She looked up at him, a small disbelieving smile playing on her lips. "You're joking, right?"

He felt more than a little put out by her reactions but hoped for a solid recovery. "Actually, that's the idea. You, my darling–" He got a look for that but just grinned and continued. " –get to create your very own, personalized, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product."

She burst into laughter. "You're kidding! You want me making one? After all the times I nagged you about them at school?"

"Hermione, that was three years ago. I've forgiven your bad behavior," he said with a wink, which he was pleased to see made her blush slightly and laugh.

"Alright then," she said with a smile, dropping her bag by the door and setting herself down on the stool sitting in front of the already-prepared work surface.

There was a long moment of silence as Hermione's gaze roved over the potion ingredients, bottles of brightly-colored fluid, and sparkling piles of powders that covered the table, and George's gaze roved over Hermione. He smiled as he watched her hands snake back and start twisting her perfectly-curled hair (that he knew she would never admit to spending time on) into a messy bun and tie it off before her fingers started dancing around, touching every possible ingredient, familiarizing herself with them. She was beaming, lit from within with excitement that seemed to radiate from her and make the room brighter, warmer. He had been fighting for this night to happen for forever; three months, two weeks, and four days to be exact. Not that he'd been counting or anything. It wasn't like he was desperate. He had just somehow picked the one girl who stubbornly refused to say "yes." This night was what he had been working towards and it was going to go perfectly.

He heard a wobble of unsteady chair legs, the shattering of glass, a sizzling sound, and a yelp of pain.

Shite.

.

.

.

"The burns were pretty bad. It was good you brought her in so quickly or else it could have gotten much worse," said the Healer quietly to George just outside the hospital room. "I've taken care of it as much as I could, but some of it needs to heal on its own a little. Needless to say, that particular mix of ingredients should never be put together again." George hung his head and tapped his toe as he fidgeted with a loose string on his shirt. The Healer, noticing his clear guilt and nerves, gave him a sympathetic smile. "She needs to keep those dressings on her arm for the next few days, then she can come back in for a check-up. You can go in and see her now, but she's going to be a bit off from all the medicine."

George nodded gratefully and stepped inside the room. Hermione was lying on a hospital bed looking drowsy, her entire left forearm and hand bandaged. He walked up to her side and she slowly turned her head to face him.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he said, his voice shaking slightly. Damn it all, he was supposed to be the one with it all together here. "I really cocked things up this time, didn't I?"

She chuckled, much to his surprise. "One hell of a memorable first date," she said.

He started slightly as he felt her undamaged fingertips brush his. She chuckled again as she weaved her fingers in with his, just smiling at him and shaking her head.