A/N: Here's chapter two! Yay! I hope you enjoy it. It's PG-13 for suggested things in later chapters.
Chapter Two
A week later, Hermione was at the Burrow. It was a Saturday and she and the Weasley's, along with Harry, were going to spend the day moving her belongs into her new flat. It was, in fact, the flat she had lived in before she had left. In respect, and possibly hope that she would one day return, they had not touched the flat, leaving it exactly as it was before Hermione's departure, minus her belongings.
"Are we going to leave or what?" asked an impatient Hermione. "I want to go!"
"We'll be ready in a minute, Hermione," Harry told her. "We just have to wait for Ginny."
A collective groan arose from everyone. Ginny was notorious for taking a long time to get ready to go anywhere. Ginny had turned into one of those people who despised leaving the house with no make-up on. "Do we have to wait for her?" asked Hermione.
"I'll stay and wait for her," said Ron. "She'll only be another... hour or so."
"I'm ready!" said Ginny, appearing in the kitchen doorway. She looked no different from normal, even though she had spent at least twice as long getting ready. Fred pretended to faint at the shock of her being ready. "Funny, Fred, really funny," she told him. She looked at everyone expectantly. "So? Are we going or what?"
"We're going!" said Hermione. Together the group Apparated to Hermione's flat. "It's just how I remember it," breathed Hermione.
"We didn't change anything," Harry told her. "We knew you'd come back one day and you wouldn't like it if the twins had moved in here and turned it into a bachelor pad."
"They were going to do that?" asked Hermione.
"Of course," said George. "Black and leather. The girls would love it!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "They would, would they? Anyway, this place is mine and you're not having it!" She glanced at the big pile of boxes. "I never realised I had so much stuff!" she groaned, sitting down on the large, comfortable sofa. A cloud of dust arose when she made contact with it and she sneezed three times before saying. "I think I need a couple of good cleaning spells!"
She looked around at the living room/dining room where they were and smiled. It was all exactly how she remembered it, with its sunny yellow and sky blue walls and orange furniture. It had been decorated with magic, so the colours showed no sign of fading. There was a thin layer of dust covering everything, but that, Hermione decided, would only take a couple of seconds to sort out.
"I don't want to interrupt your daydream or anything, Hermione, but should we start unpacking?" asked George, waving a hand in front of Hermione's face. Hermione snapped out of her 'glad to be back' trance and grinned.
"Of course! I'll start with my clothes and stuff in the bedroom. Can you guys start to unpack my books?" she asked sweetly.
"Okay," said Ron shrugging. "Where are they?"
Hermione pointed to a large pile of boxes. "Over there," she said, and Ron's freckled face paled.
"All of them?" he croaked.
"All of them," Hermione confirmed. "Just put them on those shelves." She indicated to a large built-in bookcase. She cast a spell to levitate some boxes and took them into her bedroom. Slowly the others began to unpack the other boxes, Ron beginning on the books.
It turned out that Hermione had exactly 217 books on magic. Ron counted them as he unpacked them, and he was finished in a surprisingly short time. This could have been something to do with the speed spell that George placed upon him as a joke.
Hermione took a role as a sort of general - informing people where to put things and how to position them. By the time they had finished just a couple of hours later it looked as though Hermione had never been away. Exhausted they all collapsed into the various chairs in the living room.
"So do you regret coming back?" asked George. Hermione shook her head.
"No. I thought I would, but I don't. I feel as if I've never been away!"
"Do you ever wish you hadn't gone away?" asked Ron, seriously. Everyone turned to Hermione to see her answer. Her voice was soft as she spoke.
"Again, I have to say no. Travelling was a great experience. So was having that other life. I think it made me appreciate this life even more." She smiled as she spoke, and stroked the fabric of the armchair she was sat in. She stared at it's pattern then snapped her focus back to her friends who were still watching her. "It'll take a while to adjust," she admitted, "but I already feel happier than I have in a long time."
"Speaking of adjusting," said Fred, with a sly smile playing upon his face. "I think you need a boyfriend."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. She ran her fingers through her hair which was back to its normal brown colour, though still curly. "A boyfriend?" she asked sceptically.
"Yes," stated Fred. "Boyfriend, beau, lover..." He waved his hand dismissvely. "Whatever you want to call it. You need a boyfriend. You're lonely."
"I am?" asked Hermione. 'I suppose he's right,' she thought. 'I am lonely. Then again, I don't want Fred Weasley setting me up with anyone.' "Like who?" she asked.
"I'm sure me and George can find someone," said Fred, grinning like a maniac. Though one glance at George told Hermione he wasn't too keen on the idea. He took another swig of his drink. Suspicious, Hermione summoned his glass, ignoring his protests. She sniffed it gingerly.
"Malibu and coke?" she asked him. "At this time of the morning?"
"How the heck did you know what it was?" he asked.
"I worked as a barmaid in Italy. You're not having any more - its too early!"
"Awww!" moaned Fred, but Hermione wouldn't let him have any more alcohol.
A couple of weeks later, Hermione was feeling very hyper, and she suspected that this wasn't completely natural. More like supernatural. She Apparated to a shop in Diagon Alley where she knew she'd find the culprit. Or rather, culprits.
"Hey, Hermione - what are you doing here?" asked Fred Weasley as Hermione opened the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The shop was a rather bright and clean place, and the walls, and even part of the ceiling were covered with practical jokes and thing 'to aid mischief makers' as the sign outside proudly proclaimed. A couple of small boys, who looked barely old enough to go to Hogwarts were looking through the shelves, occasionally exclaiming and calling out to each other what they had found. Several loud bangs emitted from the back of the shop, dust even falling from the ceiling.
"I haven't got anything to do!" said Hermione. She had quit her job at the Muggle newspaper when she had moved into her new house, and was currently looking for work. "Plus," she added, "I'm feeling very hyper this morning, and I think you might have something to do with it!" The night before, Fred, George, Harry and Ron had taken Hermione out to the Leaky Cauldron for no apparent reason.
"Why would you think that?" asked George, emerging from the back room, his face covered in soot, apart from where goggles had been protecting his eyes.
"Because I know you too well!" said Hermione.
"Ah," said George. "Okay then. I can't chat, Hermione - I'm working on a new project - A-Bonbons!"
"Is that meant to be some sort of bad pun on the Muggle A-bomb?" asked Hermione.
"It's not a bad pun!" said Fred. "We spent ages thinking up the name!"
"Really?" asked Hermione. "I'd never had guessed. Anyway, they um, sound... interesting. Can I have a look?" George shrugged and led Hermione into the back room. A large table was set up and several new products were being tested, or were halfway through manufacturing. "So what are you doing?" asked Hermione.
"Trying to get it so that the Bonbon doesn't blow a whole in the roof of your mouth," said George with a wry smile. He added a strange ingredient to a cauldron and then extracted a blob of the gloopy mixture from it. He used a spell to set the mixture and studied the sweet for a second before dropping it into a large glass container, which was full of a clear substance. The moment the Bonbon touched the substance, it exploded, sending purple smoke into the air.
"You need less sugar," commented Hermione. George looked at her, a puzzled expression. "In the sweet," she elaborated. "With less sugar in the A-Bonbon, not only will it be healthier, but the explosion won't be so violent."
"And how would you know?"
"My parents were dentists."
"No, about the explosion."
"Oh. That's easy. I love stuff like that. I used to make stuff like that all the time for my fried Anna. She loves practical jokes and once declared me the Queen of Jokers. A title which I resented, might I add." While she spoke, Hermione had made some adjustments to the mixture, meaning there was less sugar than before. She created another Bonbon and dropped it into another glass container containing the same clear substance as before. Like Hermione had said, the explosion was smaller, much smaller. In fact, it was...
"Perfect!" exclaimed George. "You're a genius, Hermione!"
"I know," said Hermione with a grin, and George called to Fred to come in there. Fred appeared in the doorway, his face slightly flushed.
"What?" he asked. George didn't say anything but just tossed him a sweet and motioned for him to eat it. He looked sceptically at it for a second before popping it into his mouth. About a second later, there was a surprised look on his face as the A-Bonbon exploded, filling his mouth with sherbet. "Brilliant!" he said after swallowing. "That was great George!"
"Don't thank me - thank Hermione," said George, gesturing towards a blushing Hermione.
"Hermione?" asked Fred, his eyes bulging. "You did this?" he asked her and she shrugged modestly. He turned to George. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Possibly," said George. "Are you thinking about the latest swimsuit calendar they've got at Flourish and Blotts?"
"No."
"Well neither am I, so we must be thinking the same thing!" said George. Hermione smiled. It was amazing how little the twins had changed since leaving school almost ten years previously.
Fred and George both looked at Hermione. "Do you want a job?" they asked in unison.
Hermione was shocked. The Weasley twins were offering her, Hermione Granger, a job at their joke shop? "Are you serious?" she spluttered.
"No, I'm Fred and this is George. Sirius lives in Dorset."
"That is so cliché," said Hermione. Her tone softened. "Are you really offering me a job?"
"We need someone with your brains, Hermione," said George.
"Just think how much fun you'll have: you can work on potions and junk and tell us what not to do - it'll be just like school!"
Hermione grinned. "All right then - when do I start?"
"Is Monday all right?" asked the twins, once more speaking together.
"Fine by me!" said Hermione.
After spending some of her spare time shopping (and trying to get rid of her perkiness), Hermione returned home at around six p.m. She pushed open the door to her flat and almost dropped her bags in surprise. "George?" she asked. "What are you doing here?" She looked at the door that she had just unlocked then lanced at the keys in her hand. "And how did you get in? I thought the door was locked?"
"It was," admitted George. He held up a key. "You gave this to me years ago and I kinda kept it. You can have it back if you want." He held it out her, but Hermione shook her head.
"Keep it," she told him. "I can still trust you with it, can't I?"
"Of course!" said George standing up from where he had been sat on the sofa.
Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I asked myself the same question," said George, shrugging slightly. He ran his fingers through his red hair in an oh so familiar fashion. "I think I just came to talk. I can always leave if you want."
"You can stay," said Hermione. "Why are you so edgy? You're like a nervous teenager who's talking to world famous actress whose know for her... assets, rather than her acting!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!" Hermione collapsed into an armchair and sank into the soft cushions. "So... do you have a girlfriend?" she asked. Even though she had been back in his life for the last few weeks, Hermione felt that George had hardly spoken to her.
George blushed slightly. "Yeah. Her name is Madison and she works at the Ministry."
"In the same department as Harry?" asked Hermione, interested. Harry had worked for the Ministry of Magic for several years - since leaving Hogwarts, in fact, slowly working his way up the ranks in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement.
"No, she works in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," said George. "Beast Division," he added, as if it made her sound more important.
"So when am I going to meet her?"
"When me and Seamus take you out for a drink this evening to celebrate your new job at WWW."
"Seamus?" asked Hermione. "As in Seamus Finnigan?" Harry nodded.
"I've been working with him lately - did you know his mothers family own Zonko's? Anyway, he wants to see you again. Lot's of people do." Hermione was about to asked when they were leaving, but the doorbell rang at that precise moment.
"Let me guess," said Hermione. "That's Seamus and Madison right now?" George grinned, and, shaking her head, Hermione answered the doorbell.
At the Three Broomsticks where they went for their drinks, Madison was perfectly civil to Hermione when George and Seamus were around, but when the two went to get the drinks her friendly persona changed dramatically. "So you're Hermione Granger," she drawled.
To Hermione it was remarkable how much Madison reminded her of Draco Malfoy, with her bleached blonde hair and cold eyes. "I was wondering when you'd come back. You know, they used to talk about you all the time. Even George. It was 'Hermione this' and 'Hermione that'. You have no idea how sick it made me. Now that I've met you it makes me even more sick - you're not even that pretty." Madison twisted a lock of her silvery hair around her fingers, then examined the ends of her hair.
Hermione resisted the temptation to open her mouth and gawk at her, but she kept her mouth closed. She resisted her other instinctive response - to hit Madison. Hard. Instead, Hermione sat there, listening to Madison, staring at the table. It was amazing how interesting the wooden table top could become.
"I could swear that they all love you, mostly in a sisterly way, though I'm not too sure about a couple of them. And I do include George in that sentiment. Personally, I can see what anybody would see in you. You're smart, sure, and you probably have a half-decent sense of humour - but who wants a girlfriend who's clever and spends all their time making jokes?"
Hermione snapped her head up. "Do you ever listen yourself?" she asked. "I mean, have you ever actually heard yourself speak? It's all blah, blah, blah. Me, me, me, me, me. You talk a load of nonsense." Hermione lowered her voice to a dangerous whisper. "I'm not going to pretend I like you, because I don't. I can't stand you. Just being in the same room as you makes my skin crawl."
Madison smirked. "Wow. The girl's got bite." She removed the olive from the drink she had just finished and popped it into her mouth. "You've actually got a backbone. I'm surprised. I thought..."
But Madison didn't get a chance to tell Hermione what exactly it was she thought as George and Seamus rejoined them. "What have you two been talking about?" asked George setting down the drinks then taking a seat next to Madison.
"Nothing, sweetie," Madison told him. "You know - just girl talk!" After casting a menacing glance in Hermione's direction, Madison pulled George close to her and kissed him passionately. George looked surprised by this, as if he wasn't used to such public displays of affection.
Hermione tried to ignore them, but as they kissed, Hermione felt this horrible feeling at the bottom of her stomach. Was it jealousy? "I have to go," she said quickly standing up and almost spilling her drink in the process. "I'm sorry, but I remembered that I have to... I've just got to go!"
"Hermione!" called Seamus as she tried to walk away. He threw a piece of paper towards her. Hermione opened it the paper up. Written on it was a Muggle telephone number. "Call me?" he asked. Hermione cast a smug glance at Madison who looked angry.
"Of course," said Hermione with a smile, and she quickly left the crowded pub.
A few weeks later Hermione was on another double date with George and Madison. She had started dating Seamus, but, to be honest, she didn't really see the relationship going anywhere. Seamus hadn't changed much from Hogwarts, though obviously he was older, and even a bit better looking.
"Do you ever get the feeling they're paying more attention to each other than to us?" asked George in a whisper to Hermione, indicating towards Seamus and Madison who were engrossed in a conversation that made no sense to anyone how was listening in.
"All the time," said Hermione with a sigh. "Sometimes I don't know what I see in Seamus."
"Me neither," said George.
"Excuse me?" asked Hermione.
"I mean, I wonder what I see in Madison," George said quickly, blushing, but Hermione gave him a strange look.
"Okay, then," she said slowly.
"Are you enjoying working at WWW?" asked George, ignoring Madison who was flirting heavily with Seamus.
Hermione nodded. "It's great. I never pictured myself working at WWW - I mean, this is me, Hermione!"
George laughed. "Why not? You're a great addition to the team! We enjoy having you around." Hermione blushed when he said that.
"Thanks. It's fun. The pay's not bad either. And there are some other good things about working there."
"Like what?"
Hermione raised her eyebrows mischievously. "Wouldn't you like to know!" she said with a glint in her eye.
Seamus turned around to face Hermione. "Hermione, I hate to do this, but would you hate me if I left now? I'm not feeling too good." He gave her a sweet little smile which made Hermione roll her eyes in her mind. 'What a pathetic excuse,' she thought.
"Okay," she agreed. 'What the hell am I doing?' she asked herself. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Count on it," said Seamus, and he kissed her quickly on the cheek. "Bye." He left quickly as though there was somewhere else that he had to be.
After a couple of minutes, Madison said: "I'm just going to go outside for some fresh air. It's a bit stuffy in here, don't you think?" She walked briskly from the room and Hermione noticed that she took her bag with her.
The bill for their meal came and George and Hermione split the cost, seeing as their partners had disappeared. Chatting about work, George and Hermione left the restaurant, but just outside, they stopped at what they saw. Seamus and Madison were in a passionate clinch, oblivious to the fact that they had been caught.
George cleared his throat and the two illicit lovers broke apart. "Having fun?" he asked.
"George," stammered Madison. "I, uh, I..."
"Don't worry, Madison," said George softly, though Hermione was slightly scared by the tone of voice he was using. It wasn't a comforting soft voice - it was much more menacing. "Now you'll have someone to comfort you now we've broken up." George turned to Hermione. "Are you coming?"
Hermione cast a sidelong glance at Seamus. "Yes," she said curtly and nodded. The two Disapparated and appeared in George's house that he shared with Fred. Hermione collapsed onto the sofa and started to cry. "Why me?" she asked George. "What is it about me? What have I done to get on Cupid's bad side? Does he hate me or something?"
"Maybe it was for the best?" suggested George, sitting down beside her and putting a comforting arm around her. "Maybe Seamus wasn't right for you? Maybe Seamus was right for Madison?"
"You're probably right," said Hermione, wiping her eyes. She yawned. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"Do you want a cup of coffee?" asked George, standing up. Hermione nodded.
When George reappeared from the kitchen, he found Hermione asleep on the sofa. Not wanting to wake her, he set the coffee's down and pulled out his wand. He levitated her and led her to his bedroom where he set her down gently on the bed and covered her with a spare blanket.
He looked down at her sleeping form. 'She looks so peaceful,' he thought. 'And gorgeous. Wait - what am I thinking? She's my friend. My friend. My incredibly intelligent and pretty friend with a great sense of humour.' He groaned inwardly. 'Damn it - why did I have to fall in love with you, Hermione?'
When Hermione awoke in the morning, George was already awake. Fred had already left for work as he had to go to a business meeting without George. In fact, Fred hadn't even known Hermione was there.
"Good morning, sleepy," said George as Hermione appeared in the kitchen, still slightly bleary-eyed.
"Morning," said Hermione, and she yawned. "What am I doing at your house?"
George pretended to look hurt. "Hermione - you don't remember? After that night of passion..."
Hermione placed her hands on her hips and glared at George, who quickly changed his story. "Okay, okay, well, after that 'incident' with Seamus and Madison we came back here. I went to get you a cup of coffee and when I went back into the living room you were asleep. I thought you'd be a little uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa, because, you can trust me on this, it is, so I put you in my bed."
Hermione smiled. "Thanks. That was sweet of you." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Yikes. Look at the time! We have work in half an hour. I'd better go home and get changed." She walked over to George and placed a kiss upon his cheek. "Thanks," she repeated, then she Disapparated.
Back at her flat, Hermione was inwardly kicking herself. 'Why did I just do that?' she asked herself. 'I kissed him!' Then another part of her said 'But it was only on the cheek!', then the first part said 'What if I give him the wrong idea?' 'What wrong idea - you like him, don't you?' 'Of course, he's sweet and funny and good looking and... oh my God, I'm in love with him.'
Hermione sank onto her sofa and put her head in her hand. "I really hope I know what I'm doing..." she said aloud.
I hope you liked this chapter - please read and review - I like to hear people's views. :)