Disclaimer: Seamus, Hermione, Ron, the Burrow, and Firewhiskey all belong to JK Rowling, not to me. This is a very depressing concept to accept...
Lucky Charms
It is nearly two in the morning at the crowded Burrow. A puffy, blood-shot eyed Hermione Granger sits at the large table in her dressing gown and slippers with a supportive, bleary-eyed Seamus Finnegan in the dark kitchen. A bowl of cereal and mug of hot chocolate sits before each of them, a sly shot of Irish Firewhiskey residing in Hermione's, unbeknownst to her.
"It's fer the best, Hermie," Seamus is saying. "Next time, jus' try an' find someone… better," he advises, a mischevious smile appearing on his face, eyes twinkling. "Shouldn' be tha' hard, gorgeous and smart girl like yeh, to find a good boy."
Hermione glares at him, giving him a playful swat on the arm and pulling his bowl of cereal away from him. "Very funny, Shay."
"You'll fall fer me charms one of these days, Hermie, yeh jus' wait."
She gives him a look, raising her eyebrow. "Don't hold your breath."
"Well, if yeh aren't gon' fall fer me charms yet, can yeh at least give me back me Lucky ones?"
She rolls her eyes at his joke and gives the Muggle cereal back to him.
"Thank yeh kindly," he says, smiling in that impish way of his that showed the dimple in his left cheek. Suddenly, his face falls, leaving him looking perfectly serious. "But really, Hermie. 'M sorry Ron's such an arse. He's not good 'nuff fer yeh, anyways. I mean it, yeh can do better than him."
"You say it like you've already got someone in mind," she points out.
"How abou' me?" he asks, still smiling that lopsided grin.
She raises an eyebrow. "Right."
He laughs. "It was a long shot, I know… I dunno, jus' someone better fer yeh. Yeh deserve the best, Hermie, and if I got a say in it, I'll see to it tha' yeh get it." He reaches out across the table and squeezes her hand.
"Thank you, Shay. That's sweet of you," she says, smiling sadly.
"'S the truth. I will."
She grins, squeezing his hand back before pulling away. "I know."
The clock chimes two and Hermione yawns impressively wide. "I'm tired," she grumbles. "I'm sorry I kept you up so late."
"No problem," replies Seamus, stifling a yawn of his own.
"No, really, I shouldn't have bothered you. I just-"
"It's fine, Hermie. No, I'm gon' finish me cereal an' I'd be much obliged if yeh'd be quiet talkin' 'bout it and to the same. I told yeh, it's no problem. 'M here fer yeh."
She smiles slightly, though it comes across as more of a grimace, and scoops up another spoonful of both her and Seamus' favorite muggle cereal.
She downs the rest of her hot chocolate in one, wincing at the slight burn as it goes down, and wonders just how hot Seamus had charmed the water to be.
"I suppose I'd better get some rest," she sighs, standing and stretching. She stops by Seamus as she passes him, leaning down to give him a hug. "Thank you for putting up with all that. With me."
He presses a soft, friendly kiss on her temple. "Anytime. 'M jus' glad I was here fer yeh. G'night. I'll be sure to tell Ron what a right foul git he is fer treatin' yeh like tha'. A lady such as yourself should be treated like the princess yeh are."
She smiles and pulls away, muttering a pointed, "Goodnight, Seamus," as she starts to leave.
"One o' these days, Hermie! One o' these days yer gon' fall for me charms! Yeh mark me words, yeh hear?" he calls after her.
She shakes her head, smiling. "Goodnight, Seamus," she repeats, walking up the stairs to the room she has always shared with Ginny, leaving Seamus smiling at the sight of her pink fluffy slippers climbing up and out of sight.
A/N: My unhealthy obsession with Irish accents prompted this one a few months ago, during my "Let's Experiment With Present Tense" phase, and I just found it floating around in my computer, so I decided to put out a fluffy one-shot in between updates for The Wolf and the Doe… Sorry to any and all readers for whom English isn't their native language; I was trying to write Seamus' dialogue in a way that would show off his amazing accent, and I'm just now realizing this may make understanding him problematic to some readers. My apologies… Thank you to all of you for reading and please review - Constructive criticism = love See that button? Clicky-clicky :-P Have a totally awesome day!