Starry Eyed by WeasleyForMe
"Your secret is safe with me," she promised, but the mischievous glint in her eye made him a little nervous. She raised her voice a little bit and said, "It's not as if I would turn to everyone and say 'George is a nerd!'" George/Hermione
Written for the Twin Exchange August Challenge! Prompts: cookies, procrastinating, Back to school, "school isn't all bad", "I don't mean to brag", "are you even listening?"
Hermione watched George out of the corner of her eye. He was on the far side of the Astronomy tower, laughing with the other seventh year Gryffindors in the moonlight. When she tried to steal a second look, she was surprised to find his green eyes already focused on her.
"Hermione, are you even listening to us?" Ron griped, shaking her shoulder and reminding her where she was. She quickly forced herself to look at Ron and Harry.
"Of course I'm listening, Ronald. Now, um, what did you say?" she asked guiltily giving him an apologetic smile.
Ron rolled his eyes and asked, "Are we supposed to finish our star charts tonight, or can we just enjoy ourselves?" He was looking from Hermione to where Lavender was standing, hoping Hermione would give him permission to enjoy other pursuits.
"Honestly, it's not my problem if you don't finish your homework," Hermione replied, folding her completed star chart and putting it in her pocket.
The fifth, sixth and seventh year Gryffindors had been invited to a back-to-school stargazing party for Astronomy class. Sure, there was an assignment involved, but the professor was trying to make it fun. Hermione however had a difficult time goofing off when there was work to be done, so she had finished her assignment upon arriving to the party.
"I've already finished mine, so I can actually enjoy the rest of the evening," Hermione added, sipping a glass of pumpkin juice and catching sight of George once again in the near darkness of the tower. The night was perfect; the late summer warmth was punctuated by the fairy lights and snacks the teachers had brought up for them to enjoy.
"Whatever. I'll work on it later," Ron muttered, flattening his hair down as he made his way over to Lavender to try his hand at flirtation.
Hermione turned toward Harry who said with a grin, "You know, I think I'll just go back to the common room." She watched him sneak away, knowing he would be going to see Ginny.
Suddenly, the laughter surrounding her only caused her shoulders to slump, knowing she would spend the remainder of the party alone. As she stared past the edge of the tower into the Forbidden Forest, she felt a warm presence at her side.
"Why so glum, sugar plum?" George asked biting the head off of a Scorpio shaped cookie.
Hermione nearly blushed when she realized who was talking to her. "Sugar plum?" she asked with a laugh. "That's 'Madam Prefect', to you."
George held his hands up in surrender, turning to face Hermione. Her eyes shone with laughter in the moonlight. Mission 'make Hermione laugh' accomplished.
"I'm so sorry, your highness. I meant no disrespect," he said giving Hermione a wink and finishing his cookie. He turned to look out into the moonlit darkness. "So why do you look so sad?" he asked her.
She felt her heart pounding, elation rising in her. "I'm not sad," she promised, neglecting to add the fact that his presence had cheered her almost immediately. "Just a little lonely."
"What happened to my gem of a baby brother?" George asked, gesturing toward Ron over his shoulder. "You got sick of him too? Had to send him packing, huh?"
Hermione laughed and shook her head. "Not quite. He seemed to think I was cramping his style, because I'm the only one who finished the star chart assignment early."
"No, you're not. I finished mine too," he told her, pulling the edge of the assignment out of his jeans pocket before replacing it once more.
Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "Is that really your star chart?" she asked skeptically. He turned to face her, and his perpetually messy hair fell across his forehead.
He grinned at her. "Of course it is. I always try to get my homework finished early so I can spend more time misbehaving later. Fred and I don't have everything in common," he said pointing to his twin who was frantically trying to copy Angelina's homework as she held it just out of his reach.
"I didn't really take you for the academic type," Hermione murmured as George picked up a few more constellation shaped cookies from a nearby table.
"School isn't all bad," George told her sincerely. "After all, there are a lot of girls here," he added with a smirk.
Hermione snorted. "Is that the only redeeming quality?"
"No, I actually really do enjoy Transfiguration class, but don't spread that information around! I've got a rotten reputation to uphold."
"Your secret is safe with me," she promised, but the mischievous glint in her eye made him a little nervous. She raised her voice a little bit and said, "It's not as if I would turn to everyone and say 'George is a nerd!'"
He deftly stuck a Leo cooking into her mouth. "Shh! You'll ruin me, Hermione!"
Hermione's eyes went wide as she sputtered on the cookie crumbs and quickly chewed it up. "Very crafty, Weasley," she managed to say as he laughed at her.
Her breath caught in her throat as George reached out and ran his fingers across her lips. "Crumbs," he murmured, his fingertips lingering a little longer than even he expected.
Their eyes remained on each other's even after he dropped his hand to his side. George imagined he saw her blushing in the moon glow, and her teeth took the place his fingers vacated. She nervously chewed on her lip, and George was so close, she could feel the warmth from his body.
"Thanks," she whispered, but their private moment was suddenly broken as the Astronomy Tower was filled with light as the door to the stairwell was opened.
Professor McGonagall appeared in the doorway. "It's nearly midnight," she announced to her students. "Please return to Gryffindor tower in a quiet, orderly fashion."
George and Hermione watched their housemates hurry loudly toward the exit. "Ready to go?" Hermione asked when she realized George was still looking at her, making no move to leave.
"No, let's wait until they all clear out," he replied, nonchalantly taking another cookie. Just as he bit into it, the refreshment tables vanished. "Bugger! I was going to eat those."
"You've probably had enough," Hermione replied. "I watched you eat at least ten. Let's go before Professor McGonagall notices we're the last ones." She was starting to get apprehensive. She didn't want to show up late and get a detention. But even more nerve-wracking than that was the fact that she was now completely alone with George.
"Whatever you say, Madam Prefect," he said with a wink, and the pair headed for the door.
When Hermione reached for the knob, the door wouldn't budge. "George, help me," she said, pulling as hard as she could.
He yanked on the door as well, but nothing happened. "Alohamora," he commanded, but the wooden door stood firm. "Hmm, looks like we're stuck up here," he said casually as he walked back over to the edge of the tower.
Frantically, Hermione pulled and pulled until her arms were exhausted. "No, no, there has to be a way out." She paused, looked over to George and gasped, remembering something she read in Hogwarts: A History. "You're right. We're stuck up here until morning. The stupid door automatically locks until eight in the morning, for the purpose of keeping students out of the tower! What are we going to do?" She paced around, wracking her brain to figure out how to escape.
George just laughed. "Calm down, Hermione. We'll just spend the night up here."
"Up here? We can't spend the night here!" she wailed, looking around at the dark tower and the fairy lights. The scene was borderline romantic, and she would probably end up doing something embarrassing! She tried to fish for something logical to say. "It's going to get cold soon."
George conjured up an oversized red sleeping bag and pillow, and set them on the stone floor. "Problem solved. We can keep warm together."
Hermione glanced around, suddenly more nervous about being alone with George than about being stuck on the tower. "But guys and girls aren't allowed to sleep in the same dormitory."
"This isn't a dormitory," George disputed as he fluffed the large sleeping bag and climbed into it.
Hermione chewed her lip again. "But, it's immodest," she protested, her heart pounded as a slew of very immodest thoughts about George poured through her mind.
"Hermione, I'm not going to touch you," he promised, looking up at her innocently from the floor. "Unless you want me to," he added with a saucy wink, and Hermione's eyes grew wide.
Laughing sarcastically to cover her embarrassment, she said, "That's the furthest thing from my mind, Weasley. Try anything, and I'll hex your bollocks off."
George smiled happily and made room for her inside the sleeping bag. "See, this isn't so bad, right?" he asked as she snuggled next to him and zipped herself in.
"I suppose it will work for the night," she confirmed and looked up at the constellations she had studied for her school assignment. "The stars look so bright in the darkness," she whispered.
"Yes, they do," George murmured, stretching his arm out and sliding it underneath Hermione's head.
"What are you doing?" she asked sharply.
George turned his head to look at her, and their noses almost touched. "Getting comfortable," he replied, giving her that cocky look that never failed to rile her up.
"Well what makes you think I'm going to be comfortable lying on your arm?" she challenged, trying not to notice that her left leg was rubbing against George's right one.
"Oh, are my muscles too big then?" he asked with a glint of humour in his eyes that she could barely see in the fairy lights. "I would invite you to lay on my chest, but it's hard as a rock as well."
She glared at him, trying so hard to be annoyed, but she broke into a smile. "Actually, it may be because of your complete lack of muscles, but your arm is quite comfy," she informed him trying not to laugh.
George scoffed. "Oh please, Hermione. I don't mean to brag, but I have the body of an athletic god, thanks to years of Quidditch."
Rolling her eyes, Hermione poked the side of George's belly beneath the sleeping bag. "I'm not so sure. It looks like you've been enjoying quite a few home cooked meals over the summer. Not to mention about two dozen cookies tonight."
"Hey, that's not nice," George scolded, trying not to laugh. Hermione was every bit as witty as he was, and teasing her was fast becoming one of his favourite things to do. He grabbed her small hand in his as she laughed, and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. "I can't help it that you've been looking at my body so much that you actually know I've gained five pounds since June."
Hermione blushed and shook her head. "I don't have any choice but to look at you and Fred all the time, since I'm constantly handing out detentions to the pair of you!" she said, hoping he wouldn't examine her pink cheeks in the darkness.
"I would probably behave a lot better if someone else were Prefect. But as it goes, I wouldn't want anyone else assigning my punishments," he whispered next to her ear, and she turned her head to look at the sincerity in his eyes.
"You wouldn't?" she asked quietly, barely able to hear her own words over the pounding of her heart.
"Most certainly not. And there's absolutely nobody else I would have planned to be locked on the Astronomy tower with overnight," he promised before he closed the distance between them and kissed her lips.
Hermione froze for a moment as George kissed her tentatively, awaiting a response from her. She returned the welcome pressure of his lips, and she almost screamed when he moved closer until their bodies were flush against each other. He wrapped his arms around her back, and she felt his fingers slide into her hair.
She fumbled through the first round of kisses, and then grew more confident when she touched his cheek and George sighed against her mouth. When she felt George's tongue slide over her lower lip, she parted her lips for him. She let her hand trail between them to his shoulder, and George softly nibbled her lips before he felt Hermione push him away from her.
"Wait, did you say you planned this?" she asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
George grinned at her. "Yes..."
Glaring at him, she asked, "Why, Geroge Weasley? Why in the name of Merlin would you intentionally wait for us to be trapped up here for the night? I don't think this prank is very funny."
George looked surprised. "It's not a prank, Hermione. I just wanted a reason to be alone with you."
"Why?" she demanded.
He looked at her eyes and he could just barely make out the curve of her cheek in the starlight. "Because I wanted to kiss you, and I didn't think you would appreciate a public display of affection, at least not for our first time," he replied with a grin, and he was rewarded with Hermione's lips on his once more.
After some serious snogging, Hermione curled up with her head on George's chest, and she was pleased to find that it was neither too muscular nor too squishy. "What do we do now?" she asked, as her eyes started to close.
George pushed her hair away from her face and said, "We will wait until morning, and then I will cause a diversion so you can get safely back to the dormitories."
"Well shouldn't I do something to help?" she asked before she yawned.
George grinned up at the stars. "You can say yes when I ask you out."
Hermione squeezed him tighter as she drifted to sleep. "Yes," she whispered, and George knew his plan had worked.
Thanks for reading! I wrote this for a Twin Exchange Challenge. Make sure you read all the entries and vote for your fave!
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