Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize.
First Love, First Heartbreak:
Hermione watched in disgust at the boy sitting across the table from her. He had rapidly made his way through his first plate of dinner and was busy shoveling in his second helping of kidney pie. The sight was making Hermione altogether nauseous. She pushed her plate away from her, realizing that she could not eat another bite of anything with Ron eating like some sort of ravenous beast right in front of her.
"Hey 'Mione, are you gonna eat that?" Ron asked, through a mouthful of brussel sprouts. Her stomach turned over and she shook her head weakly.
"Excuse me," she mumbled to no one in particular, "I'm not feeling very well, I think I'm going to go lie down." She waited for some sort of reply, from anyone really, but they all seemed quite wrapped up in their own conversations around the table. Ron, her so-called "boyfriend" for the last month, did not so much as give her a second glance, so she left the table and headed for the room she shared with Ginny upstairs.
Perched on the nightstand between the two beds was a brightly colored toucan, whistling merrily. Hermione's face broke into an unbidden smile. A bird so unusual could only belong to one person. Sure enough, the hurried note was in Luna's cramped handwriting. It explained that she was finally back from her snorkack tracking adventure and her father had given her permission to come to the Burrow. It was not long ago that Hermione would have dreaded spending the rest of the summer with Loony Luna. However, Hermione absolutely could not wait to have another female around the house, for there was entirely too much testosterone in the Burrow. Even Ginny, who was usually good for late night girly chats, was spending every possible second with Harry out on the makeshift Quidditch pitch, talking strategy and trying out risky moves.
Satisfied that she would soon have a companion while everyone else spent their time talking Quidditch, Hermione settled on her bed with a smile, Hogwarts, A History in hand.
Forty-five minutes later, George knocked on the door to Ginny and Hermione's room. When no one responded he pushed it open attentively. Hermione was asleep in her bed, Hogwarts, A History open on her stomach. George couldn't help but smile at the darling picture his youngest brother's little girlfriend made.
"Hey Hermione," he said, approaching the side of her bed. Her eyelids fluttered a bit, but she stayed asleep. "Hermione," he said a little louder. He reached down and shook her shoulder a little. Suddenly she jumped to life, screaming bloody murder. He clamped a hand quickly over her mouth. "Shh, shh, it's just me." He said. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkened room and the familiar voice of George Weasley, Hermione stopped shrieking and flailing about. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just trying to wake you up. Mum's cutting the pie now and she didn't want you to miss out."
"Oh, thanks George," she said appreciatively. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said as she rubbed the sleep from her and tried, to no avail, to smooth some of her rambunctious hair.
"Oh it's ok," he responded as he picked the book up from the floor where it'd landed when she started her kicking and screaming, "this would put me to sleep too." He gave her one of his winning smiles, and she couldn't help the blush that was creeping up her cheeks.
"Hey, there are some really interesting parts," she cried, indignantly as she snatched the book back.
"Right sure," he said, rolling his eyes and heading towards the door. Hermione followed him, but stopped at the top of the steps.
"Hey George?" She asked. He stopped and turned to look at her. "How come Ron didn't come fetch me?"
"Oh, something about wanting to be the first to get a piece of pie, I think," George responded, feeling uncomfortable.
"Oh," Hermione said, a little disappointed. "Yeah, that sounds like Ron." She shrugged and continued her descent of the steps. However, George stayed at the top, watching her crestfallen form fake nonchalance.
xxx
When Luna arrived, three days later, Hermione rushed to the door, nearly knocking her down in a giant hug. Harry and Ginny exchanged curious looks with each other. Last they knew, Hermione still could just barely tolerate Luna. What happened in the Department of Mysteries had had an effect on all their relationships, but this was still quite bizarre. Ron, on the other hand, was too busy devouring his ice cream cone before anymore could drip down his arms or onto his mother newly scrubbed floor. He glanced up at Luna briefly and managed a chocolatey smile.
"Why hello Ronald," she replied in that floating voice of hers, eyelashes all aflutter, "You look very nice today."
Hermione's face iced over for a moment, before she plastered a happy face on and dashed to Ron's side.
"Luna, have you heard?" Hermione asked in a tight voice, "Ronald and I are dating." She said pointedly, leaning over to kiss Ron's cheek. There was something greenish and sticky there which nearly caused her to grimace, but she forced her smile wider. "We're very happy together." Ron gave a lazy, oafish smile and went back to his ice cream. Ginny had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Hermione was acting so possessive that it was downright hilarious. To break the unbearable tension in the room, Harry finally spoke up.
"Anyone feel like a game of Quidditch?" Two red heads bobbed up and down in enthusiasm.
"Oh Luna, why don't you sit out with me. We can chat about your summer with those erm, snorkittles," Hermione said with a charming smile, apparently secure now that she'd informed Luna of her relationship with Ron.
"Actually I'd rather play if you don't mind," Luna replied dreamily. Everyone's head snapped back to look at her.
"But Luna, they're playing Quidditch. You do know what that is right?" Hermione asked, rather rudely. Of course, Luna was un-phased by the comment, she always was.
"Of course I do Hermione. I happen to be a very big Quidditch fan," Luna said placidly. The sight of Luna with a rather ugly Lion hat upon her head popped into Hermione's mind. Before Hermione could say anything though, Luna had piped up again. "I was at the Chudley Cannons game against the Holyhead Harpies. Wow, you should have seen the Wronski Feint Gudgeon pulled off at the end."
A lump was rising in Hermione's throat. There was something terribly wrong here. Luna was talking about Quidditch, and it seemed like she actually knew what she was talking about. And there was Ron, looking at Luna like she had two heads, two extremely attractive heads. He was staring so hard in amazement at Luna that he did not notice a great chunk of his ice cream slide sideways off the cone and onto the top of his right trainer.
"This is great!" Ginny exclaimed. "We can play two on two now…we've been waiting all summer for a fourth!" Hermione glared at Ginny. She had been there the whole time; it was just that she really couldn't play well enough for a game, persay. Ginny either didn't catch Hermione's death stare, or she chose to ignore it. Either way, the happy foursome made their way out to the grassy knoll they used as a pitch.
The second they were out of earshot (more or less) Hermione started screaming and stomping. At first it was incoherent but it began to sound a lot like "That delusional, no good piece of filth, bloody Ravenclaw know-it-all wench with her god damn airy voice and wispy hair, I wish she'd fall off her broom and just-"
She was interrupted by a shout from one of the Weasley twins from the kitchen. He stuck his head through the door into the living room; it was George it turned out.
"What in Merlin's name are you screaming about?" He asked.
"What's so BLOODY GREAT about Quidditch anyways?" She yelled at him.
"Well, where to begin? First of all, the feeling of-" He began.
"Would you just SHUT UP!" She snapped, marching towards him with hands on her hips and a menacing look on her face. He gulped.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, retreating back into the kitchen as she advanced.
"No, everything is just dandy George," she retorted. He gulped again.
"Then why are you yelling?" He asked meekly. She was beginning to scare him.
"Why are you even here?" was her clever response.
"Food," he responded quite logically, holding up the piece bread in his hand, "it's bloody expensive so we nick as much as possible from Mum." Hermione nodded, a little bit of calm-mindedness coming back to her. "So what's really going on?" George asked, the expression on his face softening a bit. He saw her glance out the window where he could still see the retreating backs of her four friends. She lowered her eyes quickly and bit her lip.
"Is this about Luna?" He asked, taking a step towards her, obviously concerned. Hermione nodded mutely, eyes still averted. "But I thought you were so excited for her coming," he pointed out. Her head snapped up showing dark eyes and furrowed brows.
"Where would you get that idea?" She growled.
"Um, you made her a cake" George noted. Hermione blushed. Oh yeah, she had made a cake.
"Well that was different," Hermione stammered, "that was before."
"Before what?" He prompted her. He was standing next to her now, ready to catch the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes.
"Before she got here and knew all about Quidditch, and, and," she hiccupped a little. The tears started slipping down her cheeks and George was running his thumbs over her cheeks to wiping them away. It was quite distracting.
"And what?" He whispered.
"And before, before she called him "Ronald" in that flirtacious hussy voice of hers," she let out with a wail. She pressed herself into George's arms, wetting the front of his shirt with her tears.
"Oh," George murmured. He was quite speechless. Hermione sniffled once, twice, then gave a little hiccup. "I didn't realize you liked him so much."
"It's just that, that, he never even pays attention to me anymore," she murmured into his shirt.
"Oh Hermione." He couldn't say anything else. There just weren't words. He pulled her head away from his chest and lifted her chin up a little. He intended to say more, to tell her something to make her feel better, but she didn't give him the chance. Within an instant her lips were pressing, quite insistently, upon his lips. He certainly did not intend to kiss her back, and yet that was precisely what he did. He just couldn't help it. She was so soft, and her lips were wet from where the tears had fallen, and she smelled like cake, and she was altogether quite irresistible.
Almost as quickly as she started the kiss, she ended it, and George found himself slightly disappointed. She stared up at him with surprise and a slight accusation in her eyes. She kicked him hard in the shin and ran out of the kitchen shouting "you prat!" behind her.
"Hey!" He shouted after her, "You kissed me!" That was probably not the best thing to say just then, he realized a moment later, because she only cried harder and ran faster up the steps and into her room.
xxx
Hermione collapsed onto the bed in the room she shared with Ginny (and now Luna) and cried until she wore herself out. She fell into a restless sleep in which she was kissing Ron and then George and then Ron again. It was all so confusing, especially considering how much she enjoyed kissing George. When she finally woke up (right in the middle of an especially juicy part about George) she startled to find she was not alone in the room. Lying in Ginny's bed was George, deeply engrossed in Hogwarts, A History. She thought of screaming at him to get out, but he seemed pretty harmless reading over there.
"I told you there were some interesting parts," she mumbled, trying to look mad at him despite the smile on her face.
"Yeah, I admit, there are a couple good bits," he said with a smile, glad she was acting civil again.
"Listen," she began, looking down at the intricate quilt on her bed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…attack you like that."
"Attack me with the kissing or attack me with the shouting?" He asked with a devilish grin, which caused her to blush.
"Both," she mumbled. He left Ginny's bed and sat next to Hermione.
"Hey, I'm not sorry it happened. It was good for me," he laughed. She glared at him. "Really Hermione, you shouldn't let him walk all over you like this. You were right, he never pays attention to you, and you deserve better than that." He was holding her hand now and rubbing the space between her thumb and forefinger in the most delicious way. "I'm not saying that you and I-I mean-I'm certainly intrigued after that kiss down there-but I'm not trying to get you to break up with Ron because I want-although I wouldn't mind-" Lucky for him, Hermione managed to stop his rambling again, with another of those mind-shattering kisses. This time, though, it was George who stopped it. "You have got to stop doing that. You're gonna drive me insane." Hermione smiled mischievously. " Ron has no idea what he's missing you know," he whispered, rubbing his nose against Hermione's. It was a more intimate gesture than she and Ron had ever shared and that thought alone brought a fresh round of tears to Hermione's eyes. George felt horrible and gathered her up again in his arms. She was so small and soft and vulnerable that it nearly broke his heart.
"I'm sorry George," Hermione whispered. "Would you mind leaving me alone? I need awhile to think." Leaving her was the last thing George wanted, but he nodded anyways and left to go.
"Hermione, I just want you to know though, that no matter what happens between you and Ron, this family is always here for you. And if you no longer feel comfortable here, you're always welcome at me and Fred's place." The thought brought a final smile to Hermione's face before she turned to the difficult task before her.
She took up a fresh piece of parchment and a quill and began scribbling away.
"Dear Ron, I'm sorry I had to tell you this way, but I just can't do this anymore…"
Fifteen minutes later a tear-stained Hermione came out of Ginny's room, carrying her suitcase and an equally tear-stained parchment. She leaned against Ron's door for a moment, not sure she should go through with it. Finally she bent down, slipped the parchment under the crack in the door and straightened up.
"I'm sorry Ron," she murmured against the door. With her mind made up, she turned on her heel, walked down the steps and out the front door, heading for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.