AN and story warnings: this story technically contains sex scenes between a minor and an adult. It's all consensual just so you know, but if age gaps are not your thing, don't read. Please don't post harsh reviews. It's just a complete work of fiction based on more fiction. And a note on Fleur Delacour - no relationship exists between her and Bill prior to this story save for what I've actually typed out. She is also painted in a slightly bad light in the very end, so major Fleur lovers be warned of the upcoming epilogue in many chapters.

This work is finished and a prequel to a story idea I had but have not yet written. It's not a one shot, and there are 11 chapters. I will be posting chapters of this part in a timely fashion. Please review with your thoughts on this work even though I won't be editing this story - maybe any suggestions made can be put into the following parts. Thank you and enjoy!

Chapter 1

In the pitch black of night, Hermione knew that it was far too early to be awake. And yet, she was, lying in bed as the ideal of sleep was forfeited to the awake part of her. Weighed down with exhaustion, she got up from bed. It was two, according to the clock, and she left her room slowly.

Appropriate with the hour, The Burrow was as silent as could be. As everyone and everything slept around her, Hermione's nearly silent footsteps may as well have been stomps and still nobody would wake for her. She was downstairs in the kitchen before she knew what she wanted to do for her night awake. The past few nights, in fact, she had been left restless.

Automatically going to the fridge to sort through left overs, she completely skipped over looking about the room. Therefore, she missed that there was somebody else painfully awake this night. She hadn't been able to find anything before she was shocked by a low voice talking to her.

"There's cake on the bottom shelf."

Hermione jumped with a quiet, childish squeal in fright. She whipped around to see Bill Weasley, suppressing his laughter, and failing. His chuckle was deep a light, but oh-so mocking. He was sat at the table with his own slice of left over cake. It hadn't been what she wanted, so she closed the fridge and slowly sat with him.

"You woke up this early for cake?" She questioned lightly, watching his handsome face.

He gave a slight smile. "At two? This cake isn't that good." He responded in a voice just above a whisper. "I've been awake, studying for work."

Hermione could appreciate that work ethic, but at the moment, all she cared was that he was there. Something about Bill, since last year, seemed to have him stuck in her head. She smiled at his joke on the cake, and smiled wider when he finished speaking. After a few seconds of silence he took in her expression with a slight, calculating smile of his own.

"What? Have I got something on my face?" He questioned jokingly.

Brought back to the present rather than her thoughts, she shook her head. "No, not a thing." She swore. "If you did, it'd be too dark to know anyway."

"I don't know, I think there's enough starlight." He said with a glance to the kitchen windows. It was a very bright night, the moon having been full about three nights prior, and it was bright enough to see his face. Not that there was anything on it. "So, why are you up if not for cake?"

Hermione shrugged slightly, loose night shirt slipping off one shoulder. "I just wake up sometimes, and thought I may be hungry. I wasn't."

"You going back to bed?" He asked.

Honestly, she wasn't sure she could sleep, and rather the company. Maybe she'd linger downstairs until Bill went off. "Maybe later."

"Want to look over my boring work? That's sure to knock you out." He spoke with a grin.

She found herself agreeing, and he carried his plate with him while taking her out to the family room. They sank to the floor in front of the coffee table, looking at Gringotts paperwork. He droned on about curses and runes in an attempt to make her bored and tired. But even though he thought it wasn't interesting to anyone but himself, the way he spoke like he enjoyed it had her intensive. Hermione found herself caring about his job.

He spoke vigorously of an eventual expedition to Poland and she was grinning. "I think that sounds amazing." She told him.

"Amazing?" He asked with casual charm. He was the most laid back Weasley, rivalling the twins, but he did it with more calm than them, and did have some order. He was, after all, probably the brightest of the Weasley children as well. "You're supposed to find this boring and trot off to bed. I didn't mean to make you interested."

She gave a small laugh, looking down at the paperwork. "I think your job's wonderful." Hermione confessed, then caught his eye in the dim light.

"Well." He said, jokingly haughty as he leaned back against the foot of the couch. His long hair fell out of his face at the tilt of his chin and slight slouch. "Since we're apparently just chatting, how are you handling your short summer? Sixth year in the near future, seventeen so many months away?"

It was teasing and light. But so many months was inaccurate. "Actually, not even two whole months." She told him. "September nineteenth."

"I never knew. Many happy returns." He told her, despite the extremely earliness of it.

"Why, thank you." She spoke a bit proudly, hiding how flattered she felt. "And I'm looking forward to sixth year. Typical, isn't it? I'm a bookworm."

He nudged her. "Same, but don't tell anyone." He winked. As if they didn't all know – he was a prefect and head boy in school.

They just talked. A bit about school, but they drifted off from the subject of classes and books to personal things. Embarrassing moments, bad jokes they loved, their equally but differently frustrating families. Hermione couldn't help laughing and had to shush herself because she was afraid of waking up anyone else. Bill seemed the same, chuckling hard before he had to stifle it, though she doubted his reason was the same as hers.

Hermione just didn't want anyone else a part of this. It was selfish, but it was also private.

At some point they missed the clicking of the clock the first time the hour rolled over, because suddenly it was four in the morning and there were four distinct thunks from the time keeping device. At its noise Bill let out a low whistle, propping his elbows back behind him on the cushion like one would put their arms on the back of a bench instead.

"We've stayed up far too long." He commented with a grin.

"You mean you've stayed up. I've just woken up." She pointed out.

There was a slight head tilt in appreciation of the truth in that statement. "Well, either way, I think both of us will be sleeping in when we finally get to bed."

She didn't feel quite tired enough for bed when she rather talk with him, but Bill must have been exhausted so Hermione nodded along. "You're right. We should get to bed – I hardly want Ginny thinking I've snuck out if she happens to wake."

When she got up, the older man put both his hands out with a silly look. Hermione just complied with a light laugh and pulled him up to his feet. She knew he did most of the work by how lightly she had to pull to get him up. Bill then took his wand from the table, flicked it, and all his work went into one easy pile to pick up.

They walked up to the first floor together, until they were outside Ginny's room. Hermione oscillated before opening the door, deciding to turn to Bill. "Goodnight." She told him. "I enjoyed our chat."

He smiled, having stopped. "Goodnight, Hermione." He told her, then leaned down and just kissed her cheek in kind, just like that.

She disappeared into the room with a hot blush that she prayed he didn't see in the dark. She heard him continue up the stairs, waiting until he was a floor above before slipping into her burrowed bed. Just as she settled, there was a slight groan from Ginny, who appeared to be just barely awake.

"Who were you talking to?" The tired, half-sleeping girl whispered.

"Nobody." Hermione fibbed. Tired, Ginny accepted it and went back to sleep.

It felt nearly impossible to get back to sleep. She was sure she heard the single thunk of the clock hitting four-thirty before she drifted off.

Bill was just stepping out of the third floor bathroom late at night when he heard a door click below. It couldn't be any later than three, and nobody should be awake. He wasn't even up, just having stepped out of bed for a restroom break after hours of sleep. The sound, therefore, was intriguing. Maybe Ginny off to snog Harry, he thought jokingly – they fancied each other and so far nothing came of it, but he enjoyed teasing even if silently.

Pursuing an answer, he went down stairs instead of back to bed. The answer didn't come before he found that a lantern was on in the kitchen. He rounded to catch whoever was sneaking about, only to find Hermione sitting with a warm cup of milk cradled in both hands, staring off as she leaned back on the counter.

It didn't occur to him that her comment of 'sometimes waking up' meant being up so early so often. It was only two days since they spent more than an hour talking together. Bill took a moment, appreciating her sleep clothes. A saggy shirt that was too short, ripped somewhere in the midsection so there was a visible few inches of stomach, and shorts. Clearly nobody knew these were her sleep clothes – she always seemed to throw on long bottoms and a jumper before breakfast, at the least.

This was the same thing she'd worn two night ago, and Bill was surprised she hadn't caught him staring. Even now she didn't seem to notice him, so he knocked on the wood doorframe like he was entering her personal space. It cut into whatever thought she was having, because she quickly looked over.

"Ah, Bill. Were you working again?" She asked in a soft voice, maybe not melodic but smooth and quiet.

He stepped into the kitchen, giving her a light grin. "Nah, just heard a noise while I was up." Bill commented, leaning opposite her against the old, large dinner table. "Can't sleep?"

Maybe it was his imagination, but it seemed like her eyes flicked down to his shirtless chest. "Mostly." She murmured and sipped the milk that was nearly steaming.

"Does warm milk actually do the trick, because I've never had luck." He wondered aloud, just between them.

He felt compelled to talk to her. She arrive for the summer a couple weeks ago and despite having his own place, Bill was staying. There was just something about how she'd grown up and what she found funny. Or that she never put up with anyone and she had a great smile. It was just him being ridiculous, he thought, until they talked for so long the other night.

There was something, some part of him, that wanted to love Hermione.

"You know, it bloody doesn't, but it's habit." She agreed with him.

They shared a small laugh and Bill crossed his arms to push away the slight cold. He should get a shirt. "Well, since my work isn't boring, I could hardly put you to sleep even if I was doing it."

"Trying to get rid of me? I was here first." She poked fun at him.

"No, I'd never get rid of you." Bill shook his head. She gave a small, coy look as their eyes met, then looked down and sipped the milk again. He had a small, probably improper idea. "Hey, how awake are you?"

"Um, very." She answered.

He nodded to the back door. "We can talk a walk? A once through the orchard and back would tire you out."

"We?"

"Well, I'm up too, aren't I?" Bill gestured to all of himself, to prove he was in fact physically there. Though, he was tired and would probably go right to sleep if he tried, not that he wanted to anymore.

Hermione glanced out the window, hesitating. "It's a bit cold." She said. "Neither of us are even fully dressed."

He trotted off to the living room, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch before returning. It was large and he draped part over him, holding out the rest the easily fit around her. "Problem solved."

Her eyes were on the open blanket for seconds before she put the glass down. Letting go of inhibitions, she slipped into the other half of the blanket and Bill closed it around them. He knew all the paths well enough that their bare feet wouldn't be hurt, and led the way out the door. The lantern in the kitchen dimmed until it turned itself off at the lack of people.

They got out to the trees and Hermione sucked in a breath. "I've never been out here at night." She said, head tipped back to catch the starlight between the leaves. "It's nice."

"Never?" Bill wondered. "Ron's not stolen you out to the broom shed for a snog?"

Her head whipped around to look at him in utter horror so quickly he was laughing. "Repulsive! Ronald and me? Snogging? Never, no, no way."

He was still laughing when relief washed over him. There was always a suspicion between the entire family that they may fancy each other. Ron's flushed refusal was always hard to read, whether he was telling the truth or not, but Bill could tell Hermione meant what she said.

"It's not funny!" She complained, but her face was cracked into a smile. "Stop laughing!"

When he didn't somewhere under the blanket she turned her arm around and tickled her fingers over her bare side. Bill leaned away, but was thrilled she was comfortable enough to touch him. "Alright, it's not funny." He caved, but a chuckle was still in his voice.

"Really, me and Ron? That would be like… Well, I can't come up with a more preposterous pairing." Hermione added.

"Sorry. We could just never tell if he had a crush on you or just had trouble identifying you as female." Bill fibbed.

"Likely the latter. I think he only noticed I was female in fourth year."

It just slipped out his mouth in his good mood. "Well, if he saw you in your sleep clothes, he'd most definitely know you were female."

"I-" She stuttered, then stopped. He looked down to catch that she may have been blushing. "I should have dressed. Only Ginny's really seen what I sleep in."

"It's fine. It's the same thing you were wearing the other night. I'm not wearing a shirt." He consoled, opening the blanket slightly to flash her teasingly. The chill made him pull it shut quickly. "You look lovely."

Hermione bit her lip, turning her eyes front. There were a few seconds where nothing was said, then, "You look, you know, good. As well. Not lovely, but maybe the male equivalent. Um… fit." She stumbled out.

"Thank you." He said simply, warmed by her flattery even if it was tumbling out nervously.

They spoke lightly, not as long as before but laughing as much, as they walked. Then Bill saw her to Ginny's door and said goodnight with an impulsive kiss to her cheek. He wondered how often Hermione was up early, because he wouldn't mind loosing sleep to make a habit of this.