Because I have no real life.

Prompt:

Kittens

Pairing:

Hermione/George

Quotes:

"Only if you've got a monkey in your pocket"

Hermione Granger didn't know why she agreed to this nonsense. And she'd claimed to be in the right state of mind when she did, too, so she couldn't say she was insane when she accepted the invitation.

In company of others, she'd wonder why she did so and they'd think up different reasons as to why she did. When alone, she knew exactly the reason she'd agreed to work at Weasley Wizard Wheezes as a salesgirl. It wasn't the outfit, as the hem to the magenta dress barely reached her finger tips, and she felt as if she should have a poncho over her any time someone of the opposite gender turned to look at her. It wasn't the pay – although she did get paid very well for what she suffered, she didn't care about the money.

It was because of George.

George freaking Weasley.

She'd rip out her hair because of him if it wouldn't hurt so much.

He'd asked her to work for them in the field out by the Burrow, interrupting her reading as he looked at her pleadingly with those eyes – an insane color of blue that she was sure Crayola couldn't name – and going on about how worried he was about the shop because Verity had moved to Romania with Charlie and it was just Fred and him now and they really really really needed the help and please oh please oh please, he'd love her forever and not prank her for a year – alright a month – and even when he did prank her it wouldn't be that bad and he'd really owe her one –

And then came the "whoop!" of celebration as she agreed.

So she completely blamed him for – err – swaying her judgment to get her to work for his shop.

And no matter what Fleur said, she did not have a crush on George.

She frowned as her alarm clock beeped louder, angrily telling her to get her arse up out of bed and go to work. She sighed, opening her eyes and pouting a bit as she sat up.

Okay, so maybe she did.

But just a little one.

"Hey Granger!" George called from the backroom, "Come here a second!"

Hermione sighed, taking off her bag from around her shoulders and walking into the backroom, standing in the doorway as Fred twirled around in a swivel chair as George looked on worriedly.

"Okay, Fred ate something – I don't know what – and now he's acting like a loon," George explained, "I don't know what to do."

"Take him to Mungo's," she shrugged, "At least there someone will know what they're doing."

George frowned, staring at his twin as he debated on whether to follow her advice or not, while Fred popped up and began to sniff Hermione's hair. "Do you really think I should? I mean, wouldn't it wear off or…?"

"Granger!" Fred grinned happily, picking her up off her feet and making her scream, "Does a water buffalo go 'moo'?"

"What?" she exclaimed, "Fred, are you high or something?"

"Only if there's a monkey in your pocket!" he said gleefully. He set her down on her feet and dashed up the staircase that led to their flat, screaming out "I'm a kitty!" as he did so.

George blinked up after him before wincing at Hermione, "Help me, please."

She sighed and led the way up the staircase, refusing to tell him that she was helping him out enough as it was. Once she opened the door, she blinked down at a little ragdoll kitten brushing up against her legs. Her eyes widened in horror as she thought that Fred had somehow turned himself into a cat, but she was reassured when Fred peeked out from behind the counter and quickly ducked back down.

George came up behind her and frowned at what was holding her up before smiling, "Huh, she likes you."

The cat let out an agreeing mew and purred louder as she rubbed against Hermione's legs.

"Err – sorry kitty, we have to go help Fred now," Hermione said, only managing a few steps before the cat tangled itself in her legs, meowing louder. Hermione sighed, glancing over at George to see that he was grinning at the exchange, before picking up the little cat, watching it go limp in her arms happily before settling it up closer to her neck. The cat purred and nestled closer to her, making her absentmindedly run her nails down her little spine.

"Freddie, it's time to go to school!" George called out, slowly making his way towards the counter.

Fred popped up with a gasp, his eyes wide as he looked at his twin, "Hogwarts?"

"Uh-huh," George nodded, rolling his shoulders, getting ready to tackle him if that were the case.

"Don't wanna!" he pouted, "Meanie Ol' Toad's there!"

George grinned, "Umbridge left Hogwarts, remember Freddie? We drove her away from there, remember?"

Fred brightened again, "So Hogwarts is clean now?"

"Yes," George was on the verge of laughing, "Hogwarts is clean now."

"HUZZAH!" Hermione let out a scream as Fred tackled her to the floor, the cat jumping off onto the counter at the last possible second, scrambling to heave herself up there with her little legs kicking and sitting there patiently, sharing a look with George as he winced.

"Fred Weasley, get off of me!" she commanded, pinned to the ground by the groggy Fred.

"Ow," he sat up, rubbing his head before shaking the pain away, "Hermione! When'd you get here?" He blinked around at his flat, "On second thought, the better question is when did I get here?"

"You ate something," George explained, "We were trying to get you to go to Mungo's, but then you tackled Hermione and snapped out of it."

"What'd I eat?" he questioned, still pinning Hermione to the floor absentmindedly.

"No idea," he shrugged.

Fred hummed before wincing, heaving himself to his feet, "Right. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go hurl whatever it was into the toilet."

"Lovely," Hermione said briskly, frowning at him as he retreated, slamming the bathroom door shut. She sighed and heaved herself up onto her feet, rolling her eyes and frowning as she dusted off her dress.

"Everything all right, Granger?" George questioned, petting the kitten as it wondered how to get down.

"It's," she sighed again, shaking her head, "It's nothing." She put on a feeble smile, "I'll go start setting up downstairs."

George opened his mouth, but she turned and walked down the steps, making him sigh, smile and shake his head.

Hermione was washing lettuce in her sink, letting her mind wander as her eyes did the same around the kitchen, then through the little window and into the living room when that'd been glanced over.

She knew she'd acted funny at work that day, but it couldn't really be helped. She'd nearly toppled a shelf over, and it would've fallen if not for George. A little girl had been asking where to find something, and Hermione had stared blankly at her for several moments before snapping out of it and leading her towards it. George and Fred had confronted her about it at lunch, asking her kindly what was wrong. She'd shrugged it off, told them "nothing" very sharply and continued about working with the customers while the twins ate.

This was all a big fat lie, of course. Several things were plaguing her, and as the day had progressed, she only felt herself being pulled lower and lower down, like a piece of lead was sinking her to the bottom of a pool and anchoring her there to wallow in her…well, it couldn't really be pinned as one thing, but it was relatively melancholy.

She looked up from her watery lettuce and blinked as the redhead tumbled through her fireplace, grinning happily at her before pulling something out of his jacket. Out popped the little kitten that had tried to escape several times to see Hermione when she was in the shop. Luckily, Fred or George would swoop down and grab her and put her back in their apartment before something could happen to her, or Hermione would catch her and play with her for a few moments before setting her back upstairs.

Hermione felt herself smiling at George as he stepped through the flaps to her kitchen and set the kitten on the counter. She automatically zoomed to Hermione, mewing and purring loudly as she rubbed against her arm.

She smiled and set the cat up on her shoulder, her cheek pressed to its tiny little body as if she were a cell phone.

George laughed as Hermione looked around for the bowl to set the lettuce in, handing it over to her so she could hold the cat properly, "She's really crazy about you."

"Can't imagine why," she held the little body tighter, smiling a little more sadly down at her. "But I don't mind."

"So," George leaned against the counter, the lettuce pushed aside, "Care to tell me what's really going on?"

She frowned at him, "Nothing, George, honestly."

"The biggest, fattest lie ever told in the history of the world," he frowned back before softening and stepping up to her, "Hermione, please, just tell me."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, stepping away from him and carrying the cat into her living room, "Honestly, George, you wouldn't care either way."

"Try me!" he followed.

She looked darkly at the wall ahead of her, wondering why she bloody liked this man, "No."

"Hermione, come on!" he pleaded, popping up in front of her and startling her a bit, "Please? I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to! I won't even tell Fred!"

She bit her lip, looking down at the little eyes on her shoulder, staring up at her curiously before looking at the blue ones trained on hers. She sighed, flopping into the couch and curling the cat against her chest with her knees, "It's…you'll think it's stupid."

He sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to make her flush the faintest bit before he gave her a pointed look, "Hello, I'm George Weasley, I willingly create explosive potions every day."

She whimpered, hiding her face with her hands, "Which part?"

"What?" he blinked, edging in closer to attempt to see her eyes again.

"There are too many parts that are bringing me down," she admitted, running her hands through the short little fur.

"All of them," he decided, "I want to hear all of it."

She sighed and settled into his chest, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "Well, there's this post war stress that I feel everybody has, for starters. My parents in Australia with no idea who I am. Fred nearly dying, which – I'll admit – still freaks me out. The fact that everybody is getting married left and right has got my internal clock thinking it's slow. Crookshanks dying," she smiled softly down at the loudly purring cat before frowning, "Getting fired at the Ministry for something I didn't do, but rather somebody else. Trying to make sure you and Fred don't break your necks when you're working on something new. And," she sighed and fidgeted with her fingers, "I can't say."

George rolled his eyes as a response, "Hermione, really, if you don't tell me, I'm going to start guessing."

She felt that him guessing was the best option, as he would never guess it, so she zipped her lips, smiled at him, and waited for him to begin guessing.

He smirked at her, tugging her chin to have her look at him, and got incredibly in her face and forced her to blush as he smirked wider at her.

"You like me," he whispered to her, her mouth popping open as she blushed even more.

Her eyebrows came down a little and she glanced away from him, ready to lie, "I – "

The rest of her sentence was muffled as his lips crashed onto hers, making her freeze against him before sheepishly kissing him back. Once they pulled away, he grinned at her and her blush, "Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong now."

She bit her lip and looked away before smiling a little at him, "You're not wrong…."

He grinned wider.

"But…"

The grin left in a flash.

"That's not what I meant for you to guess," she laughed a little, "Today's my birthday, George, and everybody rather…forgot."

"No I didn't," he frowned, "Why else would I bring you a cat and attempt to force you to go to your surprise party at our flat?" At her gaping, he winced playfully, "Ooh, wasn't supposed to say that. Just be sure to act really surprised when you see – well, let's see who's all coming…." He pulled his arm back to him, ticking off the names on his fingers, "Let's see, there's Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Bill, Fleur, Verity, Charlie, your mum and dad, Angelina – "

"What?" she asked excitedly as he grinned wider.

"Well, you're very lucky that McGonagall, Flitwick and Pomfrey like you so much and are excellent at these types of things."

The cat gave a yowl of disapproval again as the two squashed faces again, upset that she wasn't being petted for being such a good and lovable kitty. However, she supposed she should get used to it. It didn't seem like it was going to stop any time soon…or, ever, really.

Hermione hugged George, pecking him on the cheek, "Thank you for the cat."

"What are you going to name her?" he asked as she settled in his arm once more and the cat purred louder as she received her new mummy's attentions again.

Hermione hummed, pursing her lips before smiling, "Tabitha. Tabby for short."

"Why?"

Hermione grinned, "There was this old Muggle TV show, Bewitched, about a witch marrying a Muggle. They had a daughter and named her Tabitha."

He nodded, "Perfect name." After a few moments of silence, during which Hermione discovered that Tabby loved batting the string on her hoodie with her back feet, George sighed, "We should get going."

Hermione smiled and nodded, popping up and holding the tiny cat in her arms, making her way to the fireplace. Once she left, George let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"I could've sworn they said the nineteenth," he murmured before following her through, letting out another breath of relief when he saw everybody pop out from their hiding places and hug Hermione tightly.

Fred slid next to his twin as Hermione was reunited with her parents, "So I don't have to deal with that damned cat anymore?"

George rolled his eyes and shook his head, "No, Freddie."

"Oh good," he sighed before smiling, "Do you?"

George grinned wider, letting that stand for his answer.

Fred laughed and clapped him on the back, "Good job, Georgie. Although, I really didn't need to ask, as you've got bright red lipstick on your face."

"What?" George checked a nearby mirror, scrutinizing his face before he remembered that Hermione doesn't even own a bright red shade of anything, and turned to half-glare half-grin at his twin. Fred smirked back before Tabitha tried to climb up his leg, making him panic and yell at Hermione to come and get her cat.

It was one of those moments she really wished she could smirk up at him. George frowned back down at her before rolling his eyes and shaking his head, being careful to step over his shoe this night, and left the room, only to return with a little bundle in his arms. He sat at the edge of the bed, being careful not to disturb the sleeping form next to him as she crept over to look at the bundle.

George smiled as Tabby sniffed his daughter's forehead, licking it lightly once she made sure it was alright. Kat calmed noticeably, staring up in wonder at the furred thing that had just done something to her facial regions.

Hermione appeared next to him, her hair still disheveled and her clothes still rumpled from sleep, but smiled at her family all the same, "I just realized something."

George pecked his wife's forehead, "Whassat?"

"We have a cat named Tabitha," she pet behind her kitty's ears, smiling when she purred, "And a daughter named Kat."

"To be fair, her first name's Katarina." But at Hermione's smirk, he huffed, "I'm not calling her Kitty Kat." She laughed lightly and pecked him on the cheek before swooping down and pecking her daughter's little nose.

Tabby couldn't see anything wrong with this arrangement. After all, she was here first; the little thing should be named after her. It was only fair.

I kinda like this one. :) Review, please, and…uhh…go read more stories on the Twin Exchange, and vote for your favorite! (Advertising, woo-hoo!)

Love,

Ava