You Were On My Mind by WeasleyForMe
Happy Valentine's Day! George has Hermione on his mind. Does she feel the same way he does about the kisses they shared?
Thanks to remuslives (a fellow Weasley twin enthusiast and fantastic author) for beta-reading this for me!
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Chapter One
George sat staring out the front window of his joke shop at the snow that swirled around Diagon Alley. He seemed to be the only person who wasn't excited that it was Friday. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day, and she was the only thing he could think about. He had been reasoning with himself for weeks that he should just move on, but he couldn't forget her.
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Everything started the previous summer. Harry and Hermione were staying at the Burrow for a few days before they returned to Hogwarts for their sixth year. Fred and George had still been living at home while renovating the apartment above their store and apparating to work each day. On one particularly hot, boring night, Ginny challenged everyone to a game of Truth or Dare.
"Come on, it will be fun!" she said as she coaxed everyone into a circle. "I'll choose someone first, ok? Ron…truth or dare?"
George was barely paying any attention to the game until he heard Harry call his name. He answered on his turn with his usual "Dare".
Harry replied with, "Hmmm…. I dare you to snog Hermione."
Everyone in the circle cracked up while Hermione looked scandalized. George just rolled his eyes. He was never the one to turn down a dare, so he leaned toward Hermione who was seated next to him. "I won't bite, I promise," he said with a smile. She proceeded to cross her arms over her chest and glare at him. It was obvious neither of them was too interested in this particular kiss. With a deep sigh, George pressed his lips to Hermione's.
At first George only concentrated on getting his dare over with. But after a few seconds, he was beginning to appreciate the strawberry lip gloss Hermione was wearing and the way her soft breathing sounded. George then realized that he was actually enjoying the kiss. Who knew that a nerdy bookworm like Hermione Granger knew how to snog this well? She had begun to part her lips, and George was more than happy to comply by parting his as well. Then George realized that Hermione had uncrossed her arms and had them draped invitingly around his neck. George was about to pull her against him when Fred cleared his throat.
They pulled apart and looked at the others. Fred was examining George and Hermione with a thoughtful look. Harry's eyes were huge, and he was laughing a little bit. Ron looked extremely upset, and Ginny looked pleased.
"I told you to snog her," Harry began, "But I didn't know the two of you would end up sucking face!"
Hermione blushed, which prompted George to go red. Neither of them brought this kiss up for awhile.
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Now George was watching the snow lay on the street and felt miserable. Tomorrow would be the holiday for lovers, and he couldn't even tell Hermione what she meant to him. George turned as he heard Fred walking over to him.
"Hey," Fred called to George. "Why don't you just head up to the flat while I clean up the store? You look completely morbid, and you've been scaring away the customers," his twin joked.
"No, you should be the one to take off early. I'm sure Angelina can't wait for your Valentine's date tomorrow, and you should have the night to finalize your plans," George responded.
"I insist," was Fred responded. George slowly stood and made his way to the stairs that led to the flat.
"You should just tell her how you feel. After the incident at Christmas, I'll bet she feels the same way," Fred said as George walked upstairs. When George reached the top, he cursed his bad sense for ever telling Fred about the second kiss. George slumped down into a chair in the living room as another memory flooded his brain.
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It was Christmas Eve and the Burrow was filled with family and friends. Many Order members were present as well as Hermione. George hadn't seen her since the day after their kiss in August, but this evening, she looked amazing. Ron had finally started to take note of this, and he had been chasing her all over the house with mistletoe. George was having a hard time focusing on the other guests while she was around, but he managed to hold a decent conversation with Tonks.
Suddenly, George felt someone creep up behind him, and they dragged him into the hallway. He turned to find it was Hermione. She was wearing a satiny red dress, and her curls fell past her shoulders. He wanted to kiss her again to find out if it would feel as perfect as the last time.
"What's going on?" he asked her.
"Please, hide me from Ron," she said urgently as she pulled them further away from the guests in the living room.
George shook his head as he responded. "Don't tell me you're already tired of your boyfriend. There's mistletoe floating all over the house. The two of you should be enjoying this." For some reason, he felt slightly jealous. He felt something for this girl… something that could definitely turn into much more, given the chance. She was different, and George usually didn't prefer things that were ordinary.
Hermione stomped her foot. "Ron is not my boyfriend, but he is annoying me," she replied. "I would rather kiss anyone else at this party instead of Ron."
"Are you kidding me? Anyone? Even Mad-Eye?" George joked sarcastically. "Or how about Professor McGonagall?"
Hermione blushed as she whispered, "Well, maybe not anyone. But there issomeone." She took a deep breath and summoned some mistletoe and carefully positioned it above their heads.
Just as George glanced up and realized what was going on, Hermione pulled him down toward her by his shoulders. George's eyes snapped back to hers, and he had a bewildered look on his face.
Hermione mumbled, "It's now or never." She took a deep breath before she kissed George. He was shocked, but extremely pleased to find that this kiss was even better than the last one. She was wearing that same strawberry lip gloss, and she once again draped her arms invitingly around his neck. This time he even ventured as far as to pull Hermione against his body. He was smack up against the wall with Hermione pressing into him. George's entire body was on fire as his finger wound through her curls. Hermione sighed against his lips as her tongue found his.
Everything was perfect, until they were interrupted by an irate Ron.
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George chuckled from his slumped position in his apartment. He recalled how funny it was when Ron had interrupted them, and Hermione explained to him in very small words that Ron was not her boyfriend. This didn't sit well with Ron, who then dragged Hermione away to talk about "them".
George didn't get a chance to see her again for a few weeks after that night. In fact, Ron had flipped out at him, and demanded to know what he was doing with Hermione. George insisted that the kisses didn't mean anything, in order to appease Ron. He didn't want to upset his own brother.
A few days after Christmas, George received a letter from Hermione. She apologized for Ron's obnoxious behavior concerning her. She also told him that she explained to Ron that she didn't care to date him. But George's favorite part of the letter was when Hermione told him that she thoroughly enjoyed their kisses and hoped they could do it again another time.
Now George felt sick as he recalled his response to her letter. He didn't want to upset his little brother, so he told Hermione that perhaps they should just pretend the kisses had never happened. He explained that Ron would never talk to either of them again if they let this continue.
But now, one day before Valentine's Day, George was quite upset with himself for having told her that. The feeling was worsened as he remembered seeing Hermione with Ginny a few days ago.
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It was a regular Saturday morning at work for George as he assisted customers in his joke shop. The cold February wind seemed to creep in the door each time it was opened. When he looked up from the counter, he saw the familiar face of his sister.
"Hey, Gin," he called to her.
"George, there you are," she answered. "I need some fireworks, and we came to pick some out."
George glanced past his sister and saw Hermione. His heart began to ache as he remembered the sweet letter that she had sent him, and the response that he was beginning to regret. She casually waved to him, but didn't smile.
"Right," George told Ginny as he led them over to the fireworks display.
He glanced at Hermione as she helped Ginny pick out some items. He watched as she tucked her hair behind her ear and licked her lips. He couldn't stop staring at her.
"Hermione, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked while Ginny was engrossed in a box of Wildfire Whiz-bangs. George really wanted to find the letter he sent her and promptly eat it. Hermione just casually nodded and followed him around a row of shelves. George turned to her and said, "Hermione, I just really wanted to tell you that-"
But Hermione cut him off, "I know, you made it clear that you don't want to upset Ron. I won't bother you anymore. I mean, what happened is kind of silly when you look at it now, right? It's fine George, really." Then she turned and walked back to Ginny. George was left with nothing else to say.
Suddenly Fred appeared next to him. "You need to get back over there and just snog some sense into her." George merely shook his head and wandered into the stock room.
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Tomorrow was Valentine's Day, and Hermione was the only Valentine he wanted. At this point, George was left with two options. He could go back to pretending that Hermione's kisses meant nothing to him, or he could go out on a limb and try to convince her that she should give him a shot. He needed to stop taking Ron's feelings into consideration; Hermione already made it clear that she didn't want to be with Ron.
He decided to do something about it. He got some parchment and a quill and wrote a quick letter to Ginny.
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AN: We'll find out in the second part what Hermione is up to. I hope you liked the first part... I'll post the second half shortly if I get reviews!! If you read it and liked it, please review!