Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

She Laughed

The first time George Weasley noticed one Hermione Granger was the Christmas after the war. She was helping Ginny decorate the tree while the rest of the family was gathered around the room enjoying each other's company and the fact that this was the first time in years that they could be together without worrying about a group of Death Eaters barging in to ruin everything. It was all very pleasant.

But, back to the topic at hand.

Hermione was decorating the tree with Ginny, and then, she did the unthinkable.

She laughed.

George couldn't help thinking it was the most beautiful laugh he had ever heard, but tried not to think anything beyond that.

The second time he noticed her was the very next morning. She was opening a Christmas present from Harry and there was something about the childish glee that overcame her as she saw it was a book. So much ado about a book. Such simplicity made her so happy. Suddenly, George was extremely jealous of his future brother-in-law. He wanted to be the one to make her smile like that.

And that was how it all began. A laugh and some happiness over a book…it was enough.

From then on, George's thoughts were consumed with Hermione, but he tried to ignore it. Encouraging affection for one's little brother's girlfriend is never the best idea, but he couldn't help it.

In an attempt to stop his growing affection for her, George sat down and talked to her. He was hoping it would bring back his annoyance over her know-it-all attitude and bore him out of liking the girl.

Instead, he found her intelligence astounding, her humor catching, and her odd ideals and projects, such as S.P.E.W., endearing.

And then there was her laugh. No matter how many times he heard it, George was always enchanted by its sound.

After a while, George had a new hobby: making Hermione laugh. He always did everything he could to make her enjoy life in ways she had never experienced before. It was his daily goal, and he succeeded more often than not.

Fred found the entire thing both incredibly amusing and rather disheartening. He had two brothers falling for the same girl. He was, of course, rooting for George, but Ron already had Hermione in his pocket. Then, after some time spent watching on in complete dismay, Fred noticed something: Hermione and Ron were drifting apart. They hardly even spoke to each other anymore. George would forever remember the day his twin approached him with a Cheshire grin to tell him he thought it would be alright to subtly pursue Hermione. To help his twin out, Fred created every opportunity possible to get the two some alone time. It seemed to be working, too. George was spending more time with Hermione than Ron ever had, and she didn't seem to mind, much to George's delight.

George was thrilled to discover that Hermione was going to be living at the Burrow until she could afford her own place. The twins no longer lived at the Burrow, but they had every excuse to make daily trips to the Burrow.

Didn't want to miss those family dinners now, did they.

Over the months, Hermione and George became close. At first, Hermione saw him as a friend and nothing more. But she soon began harboring strong emotions for her boyfriend's charming, intelligent, and comical older brother. She had no clue what to do about it at first so she decided to try ignoring it. Maybe it would go away.

It didn't go away.

She and Ron were drifting apart and she was spending more and more time with George.

Hermione realized it was time to break things off with Ron when she made the connection that her bad days were the ones that didn't include George.

It was one day near the end of August when everything changed for George. He and Hermione were sitting on the couch in the living room of The Burrow. The same room where she had first been called to his attention by an innocent laugh. She was laughing now, too, while he tried to catch the popcorn she was throwing at him in his mouth.

He wasn't very successful.

It was when one peace of popcorn hit him in the eye that he took the popcorn away from her. Hermione gave him a nervous smile and looked at him. Very suddenly, she was quite serious.

"Spit it out, Hermione. You have your 'I have something to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to react' face on."

She laughed a little bit before looking away. "Ron and I broke up last night." George's internal organs did a happy dance but he tried to keep it off of his face.

"Was there any particular reason for it?"

"We just weren't right for each other. Our relationship was awkward at best. I missed just being his friend." She laughed again and George caught his breath. "He felt the same. He just wasn't sure how to tell me. So, we're over and that crush we had for years was pointless."

"So, there's no hard feeling then? You can be with who you want with no awkwardness?" George's excitement was threatening to spill over into his face. So far, it was just evident in his voice.

Hermione looked at him curiously and nodded. "Yeah, actually, we both admitted to liking someone else." She snorted and George smiled. It was so cute. "You'll never guess who caught his eye."

George's gut clenched. She liked someone else. Could he possibly hope it was him? "I don't have to guess. You know you want to tell me."

She rolled her eyes and grinned. "Luna Lovegood. Do you remember that barmy girl with the blonde hair and big blue eyes? It's her."

"Looney Lovegood?" George was successfully distracted. "The one whose always on about Gnargels and Crumple Horned Snorcacks? Merlin, Ron is an idiot, giving you up for her." He flushed. Hermione raised an eyebrow. He'd said too much.

"Is he?"

"Well, yeah. So, um, who was this guy you had your eye on? Do I…by any chance… know him?" Real Smooth. That's it George, just make it even more obvious.

"You might. I'll give you a hint." She gulped. "He has red hair and brown eyes. Lots of freckles. He can always make me laugh no matter what mood I'm in, and I really like eating popcorn with him." Hermione looked down, waiting for the inevitable rejection that would come her way.

Instead, she felt two warm fingers under her chin, lifting her face to George's own smiling countenance. "I was hoping it was him."

And he kissed her.

AN: This was one of my very first fanfiction pieces. I wrote it a while ago and decided it was time I posted it. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review. A few simple words can make my day, or crush my soul, either way I want to know what you think.

Thanks for reading!