Summary: The development of one Hermione Granger's crush on Bill Weasley. Moments from her Hogwarts years, both humorous and not.
Rated: T (language and implied attraction)
Disclaimer: I own nothing but being a bad sleeper.
A/N: Prequel of sorts to Shifting Tides! Still rewriting the next chapter there, but Hermione won't stop blushing, Bill's being moody and Charlie keeps trying to run off to make a bigger fool of himself.
A Drop in the Ocean: 4th Year
Burrow, Summer
"Oooh! He's here!" Ginny squealed and Hermione peeked up from her book to peer out the window and got a glimpse of a strikingly handsome face as he glanced up to the window they were spying from and waved at Ginny. Hermione felt something in her stomach flip, then scolded herself, guys that looked like that always knew it and were always jerks. Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and drug her from the bed, down the stairs and out the door before letting go to launch herself at her older brother, who caught her with a laugh.
"Good to see you too, Ginny! Look how grown up you are." He squeezed her and set her down, before straightening and giving her a glance before offering his hand, "Who is your friend Ginny? I'm Bill Weasley."
"That's Hermione, Bill! You knew Ron and I were having her!" Ginny scolded, "I've written you tons about her."
Hermione found herself unable to speak under the scrutiny of his ocean eyes, blushed furiously and managed to reach out for his hand. He seemed amused by her reaction and winked, "Tongue tied, our queen? Speak you."
"You've read Shakespeare?" It tumbled out shocked, "Umm, I mean it's nice to meet you."
He kissed her hand and let it drop and she flushed, "Read pretty much everything I can get my hands on."
"Bill's a giant nerd, tries to make up for it with his cool clothes, but don't be fooled." Ginny said and was grabbed by her brother and her hair ruffled for her teasing. Hermione tried not to stare at him as Ron and the twins came out, she couldn't reconcile the young man with a fang earring and clothes like he belonged in a rock band with her image of someone who had gotten twelve O.W.L.s. How on earth did someone with a ponytail and skull ring ever be a Head Boy? Godric, he was taller than Percy, but with a bigger build and the tight shirt was doing nothing to hide the muscles there. A thought flashed in her mind of what it would be like to be hugged by him and she swallowed.
He caught her staring and winked again and she mumbled something about getting tea for everyone and fled, heart hammering in her chest. He's a grown up, Hermione, he's not going to look at a fourteen year old. You're just embarrassing yourself.
Burrow, Summer
Her crush got worse as the visit went on and she found him to be kind, without pitying, or even making it seem like he was trying. She was pulling a book out and he offered her a broom, "What do you play?"
"She doesn't." Ron snickered, "She's the smartest in our year and had to take remedial flying lessons. Only class she's ever almost failed. The broom won't even come up for her most of the time."
Bill hit his brother with the broom and she tried not to flush in embarrassment, "Not everyone has to like flying, Ron. Sometimes if you've got a fear of heights, it just doesn't work." He gave her a half smile, "Half the school brooms are rubbish anyway, I used to get thrown all of the time."
"Bill, you want shirts or skins?" Charlie cut in.
Bill just took his shirt off in response and Hermione tried not to glance at the defined muscles from shoulders to hips, but got fascinated by the rune tattoo peeking out from his denims. "You'll burn, freckle face, keep your shirt."
"Excellent, this means I get Ginny. Chase and seek, Gin?" Charlie seemed pleased at the prospect.
Bill was talking to her again since she'd just kept oogling him as the teams were picked, "Are you sure you don't want to fly double with someone?"
She was trying to stop from blurting 'You', when Fred cut in, tossing his shirt to the ground and she glanced at him noting the stockier, burlier, though less filled out build of a still growing boy. "You can ride with me, Granger, safest place to be if you don't want to get hit by a bludger."
Ron scowled at Fred then Bill, "The way you play you'll just hit her with the bat or throw her. Are we going to play or not? She's got a book with her, she's fine."
Yet Ron hadn't offered her his broom. Charlie set his broom to mount. "Manners, ickle Ronniekins. She's a guest. Eldest, go grab Ginny's old broom harness, I think it'll fit her, she's so small."
She shook her head and muttered why did Ron always have to create situations like this by being rude then force her into being the polite one. "I'm ok, I'll just watch. It's what I usually do."
"That's just no fun." Charlie told her and Bill had already headed for the shed and when he came back out with it on the back of his broom, she really had no choice unless she wanted to be impolite at the effort taken to include her. Ginny showed her how to strap in with very knowing eyes whispering, "Fred owes me chocolate frogs, I knew it would be Bill."
"What?" Hermione hissed back, but the boys were farther away discussing the upcoming game.
"We bet on whether you'd go gaga over Bill or Charlie." Ginny whispered matter of factly and tightened the strap. "Try not to drool on his back."
Only her moderate fear of flying kept her from drooling as she hung on, arms wrapped around his waist. He just smelled so good, a mix of Eastern spices and man. She surprised even herself when she felt safe enough to let go and catch a poorly thrown quaffle from the other team. He grinned over his shoulder at her, blue eyes exhilarated at the game.
She promptly dropped the quaffle in response.
Quidditch World Cup, Girl's Tent
She laid awake and kept rustling, Ginny was fast asleep and she knew Bill was just sitting there, staring into a mug of tea. He'd been promptly dispatched to stay with them in case something else happened. Finally, she gave up and went to sit next to him, whispering, "Is there more on the kettle?"
He nodded and motioned for her to stay and brought her back some, she clutched at the mug, until her knuckles were white. He noticed, "Are you doing ok?"
She wanted to ask and didn't, she'd read books on the last Rise and Fall, but they wouldn't sell her anything adult. Bill had been alive during last war, had grown up during it. She finally squeaked it out, "What happened to people... to witches and wizards... like me last time? What they were doing to those poor muggles."
He seemed to be debating how much to tell her and she prompted him, "Don't sugar coat it."
He glanced back at Ginny to make sure she was asleep, his voice dripped with derision, "Pretty much every bad thing you can imagine. There was deaths, muggleborn sport, they weren't allowed certain jobs. My first year at Hogwarts no kids from non-magical families were allowed to attend until He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named fell. Dumbledore had them hidden away still learning, though."
She swallowed heavily and he placed a big hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. To be magical, to get that letter and finally find a world where you belong only to find it hates you and doesn't want you? "They called me mudblood second year and I didn't know it what it meant. The twins had to be restrained from hitting someone."
"I'm not surprised, we've always been blood traitors and always will be." Bill's whisper was fierce.
"Why does it matter though?" She asked more rhetorically than not.
"Reasons differ, Dad thinks it's because we went into hiding after muggles hunted us during witch trials. I think it's much more base, we can walk in both worlds, muggles can't. They can't understand magic or use it, while we can drive cars and use their technology. It creates a hierarchy that's seen in the natural predatory order. A hierarchy you so correctly assessed in how we treat other magical creatures, we have wands. They don't." Bill shook his head and seemed like he would go on, but Ginny let out a little snore and rolled over. "You should get some sleep, Hermione."
Instead she didn't move, she sat there next to his comforting promise of safety, contemplating on his words, on the ugliness of this world until she finally did doze off. Ginny groggily kicked her awake and she'd been tucked back into her bed, wondering if it had been a dream. As they got ready to leave she blushed at the idea Bill had carried her and she'd missed it. Then promptly told herself there was people out there that wanted to torture her and kill her and to stop being a silly little girl. She had house elves to save.
Triwizard Tournament, Aftermath
She was clinging to Bill's arm in the crowd to try and avoid being jostled, failing miserably, his wand hand was drawn and Ron was clinging to her, his mother hanging onto him as Bill moved them forcibly out of the crowd. She was hysterical, screaming directions at him on repeat, as if he didn't know where they needed to go. "Hospital Wing! To the hospital wing!"
"Hermione, I can hear you. Stop yelling you're misdirecting the crowd." He told her sharply as he steadied her from a Slytherin that had slammed into her dislodging Ron from her and Ron fell. The sharpness of his voice shut her up, like a cold slap in the face. He was right, her shrieks had been far higher and louder than the mayhem of people trying to get to their dormitories or just away from the pitch.
She got slammed into again and he abruptly just threw her over his shoulder. Yelling over the crowd. "Mum, take Ron. It's too dangerous for her, I'll bring her."
He moved them sideways, she thought, batting at her hair, before covering her head to avoid the jostling. They went through what appeared to be a solid hill and into a passageway she'd never seen. She was shaking, but silent as he put her down. He took one look at her, grabbed her hand and started to walk her. His voice was softer, though he kept his wand arm up. "You've got to calm down. Harry's going to need one of you to be calm and strong for him, I understand that's you usually, not Ron."
Yes, she could do that, that was what she did. She was there for Harry when things got rough, she was the anchor when situations got hard. She made the plan. She took a few deep breaths. Bill was still talking though, "I'm sure Viktor will be fine as well, pet. Just focus on Harry."
She squeezed his hand, she'd completely forgotten about Viktor. "Thank you." Her voice was small, "Sorry, I panicked."
"It's completely alright." He didn't sound bothered by it at all.
"Where are we? Why aren't Ron and Mrs. Weasley behind us?" She kept looking back over her shoulder, but they seemed to be the only two people who had ended up in the passage.
"Mum can't get in here and I needed to get you out of the crowd because you're muggleborn." Bill said and paused to shove hair out of his face, "I'll tell you why when you're older, but we're technically not at Hogwarts right now. We'll pop out on the second floor though."
She flushed, she'd heard rumors, they all had, of places around the castle like this. Ways to skirt chastity restrictions imposed, each with a specific requirement from their maker. Bill had brought her to one of them. She didn't let go of his hand, but couldn't meet his eyes. Something like tense amusement flickered in his voice, "Relax, Hermione. Head Boys pass down a list of known ones to check in case of emergency, or if someone's worried about another student. I wasn't a casanova."
"I knew that." She huffed at him, but she really didn't believe him. He was just too good looking to have been well behaved. She scolded, "How can you tease at a time like this? You're being completely inappropriate, William."
"Harry's with Dumbledore, no harm will come to him now." She relaxed more fully, pushing the rest of the panic from her brain, he winked, "See, you're feeling more like yourself, scolding me like I'm Ron."
"But Ron and -"
"Will get there just fine, Mum's not above just slamming a hallway of people into stasis if she needs to. Fred and George will have gotten Ginny back to the dorm." He paused looking around, "Damn, I don't remember if it's right or left. Someone's added more tunnels to virgin's hill."
She let out a gasp and just flushed down to her toes. Bill just shook his head, "Mum would have given you a thrashing if I hadn't been able to get you in here. Now, let's try right."
It was starting to glow green and told him, "I think we're heading for the lake."
She fumbled for her wand and did the direction charm she and Harry had practiced, watching it pop up. "Slick. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you panicked." She told him archly, if he was going to tease her while Harry was hurt somewhere she was going to be rude right back.
His tense smile was rather grim, but he nodded, glanced at her compass and began to drag her the rest of the way safely, tossing theories about what happened back and forth.
A/N: Little Hermione and Big Bill moments are cute, you like them or you find them completely bizarre, but you like to give feedback!