A:N/ Link to song for this chapter: www[]youtube[]com/watch?v=eKZsZkH_MJc
Take out the closed brackets and replace with full stops.
To Be By Your Side
Chapter 2
Wedding Bells?
"We're a different pair
Do something out of step
Throw a stranger an unexpected smile
With big intention."
Headlock - Imogen Heap
"Hermione, am I correct in thinking that your parents are muggles?" Arthur questioned, at the dinner table. He sat at the head of the table, with Molly at the other end and Hermione right next to him. Fred and George sat opposite Hermione and gave eachother an amused look before digging into their steak and kidney pies. Ginny groaned and took a large gulp of pumpkin juice. Ron continued ravaging into his pie, not hearing his father.
"Yes, they are." Hermione answered, and Ron looked up. He saw the looks on the rest of the Weasley's faces and instantly knew what the topic of conversation was.
"Dad, don't." Ginny begged, while Molly nervously glanced up at the family clock. Bill was due to arrive at any moment with his latest girlfriend and considering they were over an hour late, Molly was beyond restless. She had finally given into the family's demands of letting them start dinner without them, but she still had hope they would be arriving soon.
"I see. What Muggle profession do they have? May I ask?" Arthur asked politely, before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.
"Sevioubsly bon't ansder im!" Ron exclaimed, as Hermione looked over at him. She grimaced slightly, seeing him talk with his mouth full, currently wide open for the world to see the contents inside. "Voo'll be dere for bays till e's jud ub aboud id."
"Chew with your mouth closed and wait till you've finished eating to speak Ronald! How many times do I have to tell you?" Molly snapped, continuing to eat irritably.
It took Hermione a minute to understand his warning but she ignored it anyway, not wishing to appear rude.
"They're dentists. They tend to people's teeth." Hermione said, cutting up her pie into smaller pieces.
"Fascinating." Arthur gushed, and Ron snorted.
"No dad, it's really not." Fred started.
"Really, really not." George continued.
"Really, really, really, not."
"Really, really, really, really, not."
"We get the bloody idea already." Ron snapped, spooning out a second helping of mashed potatoes.
"Ron-" Molly began in a warning tone, but a distinctly loud crack from outside the front door made her rush over to open it. "Bill!"
Her arms flung around him and he grinned, wrapping his arms back around his mother.
"Hello mum. Sorry we're late; Fleur couldn't decide what to wear." Bill excused, pulling away as the blond half veela came into view. Fred and George's face positively beamed and they both looked at Ron, who had stopped eating the moment he heard her name.
"I wanted to make a good eempression." Fleur argued, and saw Molly's eyes go into a harsh look. She clearly did not think Fleur getting ready was a good enough reason to be over an hour late for a family dinner.
"Seems like she's already made a good impression on Ronniekins." Fred said, as Ron's ears turned the brightest shade of red known to man.
"You would have anyway darling. Fleur this is my mother, Molly. Otherwise known as the most amazing woman in the world." Bill introduced, which seemed to make up slightly for how late they had been.
Hermione however did notice that Molly preferred to shake Fleur's hand rather than engulf her into a hug like she would have given to anyone else. Bill, Fleur and Molly made their way to the table where Molly started setting up two extra places.
"Fleur this is Arthur, my dad. Fred and George, don't worry no one can tell the difference. Ginny, my sister. Ron and…I don't think I've met-" Bill acquainted, pointing to everyone and when he got to Hermione she turned her head back, about to introduce herself.
"'Ermione Granger!" Fleur exclaimed, as Hermione blinked several times perplexed. Everyone's eyes now turned to the two females.
"I'm sorry, have we-" Hermione started, distinctly remembering never meeting Fleur in her fourth year because of her mild hatred towards the girl and the effect she had on men.
"No, my good friend Viktor Krum has told me great zings about you!" Fleur continued, as Ron started coughing on his pumpkin juice.
"You know Viktor Krum!" He shouted excitedly at Hermione, and she looked at him like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Well I-not really. I spoke to him a few times but that was it." Hermione said, turning red.
"An understatement! 'e adored you." Fleur said smiling, only increasing the amount of red in Hermione's cheeks.
"Oh I umm," Hermione really didn't know how to respond so she continued blushing and looked over at George. She expected to see him looking like Fred was, holding back a laugh thinking of a million different things he could now mock her with. Instead he was staring down at his plate of food gripping his fork so tightly his knuckles were turning white. She gave him a confused look before turning back to Fleur. "I haven't spoken to him in years. I'm surprised he still remembers me."
"Ha! He spent virtually the entire year following you around like a lost puppy trying to get some attention! Then he proceeded to try and steal you from me at the Yule Ball! Stupid idiot."
Everyone seemed to have the same jaw dropped expression at George's outburst. Despite him saying it in a joking manner it was clear he was jealous.
"George, are you quite all right dear?" Molly asked him, concerned as he continued chuckling to himself. Hermione shrunk in her seat.
"Never better. Can't believe that prat still thinks he could get my girlfriend." He joked, and Hermione let out a silent groan. When he agreed to tell his parents of their relationship, she had hoped it would be in a way where they could do it together. They could have had a conversation about it until Molly and Arthur gave them their blessing and Hermione would no longer worry about their acceptance. She should have known that nothing would be so simple.
Fred started chuckling quietly, something George chose to ignore as Arthur and Molly looked at eachother just as clueless as the other. Ron looked like he was having a difficult time to stop from bursting out into fits of laughter, similar to Ginny. Bill looked pleasantly surprised and Fleur stood with furrowed eyebrows, not entirely sure what was going on.
"Urr George, correct me if I'm wrong but are you telling us that Hermione is-" Arthur began, after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"-Yes. I am. I'm terribly sorry Mr Weasley for you to find out like this. I was hoping we could have had a conversation about it after dinner but-" Hermione apologised frantically, but stopped hearing Molly burst out into tears. Molly hurried over to Hermione and took her in her arms sobbing into her shoulder. Ron and Ginny had now given up on holding their laughter in and were roaring with laughter in their chairs. Fred soon joined in with them and George looked considerably less angered now.
"I'm just so happy for Georgie! I was so worried he'd never settle down with his immature behaviour and become another Charlie. But no! He's found a wonderful intelligent girl that can set him on the right path. Thank you dear!" Molly was holding Hermione so tight that she was finding it difficult to breathe, let alone take in the words of praise she was being given.
"Why thank you Mrs Weasley. I'm glad you're so happy for us." Hermione said, patting her back looking hesitantly at George who was smirking giving her an expression that read 'I told you so'.
"Oh you'll make the most perfect daughter in law! Let me go upstairs and find my old wedding photos." She flew upstairs leaving a shocked Hermione standing up with seven pairs of eyes on her.
"Bill, why didn't your mother respond like zat weeth me?" Fleur asked, slightly hurt.
"Hermione and I are not getting married." George stated, for the tenth time an hour later. The Weasley's, Fleur and Hermione were now all sat in the living room. Bill had an arm around Fleur's shoulders, who still looked upset that Molly was far more interested in George and Hermione's relationship. Arthur was reading the Daily Prophet in the armchair drifting in and out of sleep. Ron and Ginny were at the coffee table playing a game of Wizard's Chess that Ron was already winning, five minutes into playing. Fred and George sat opposite Hermione and Molly, who had been showing Hermione wedding photos for the past half an hour.
"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley but it hasn't even crossed our minds. I'm still underage and to be honest I always wanted to start a career before getting married." Hermione explained, not wanting to hurt Molly's feelings too much.
"Nonsense dear, you'll be of age next month. I've been told." Molly said, brushing her off and turned to the next page. Hermione chewed her bottom lip before deciding to take a more firm approach.
"Mrs Weasley please, we're not even engaged. We haven't even discussed marriage. And we won't be having that talk for at least another few years. That's if we're even together by then."
"Why? What has he done?" Molly snapped, and Hermione blinked.
"Oh nothing, I was speaking in hypo-"
"Has he been pressuring you? George! How dare you try to take this girl's purity!" Molly stood up now and pointed an accusing finger at George who remained grinning. Ron and Ginny started sniggering as Arthur woke up abruptly.
"No! He hasn't! We haven't done anything!" Hermione exclaimed, not entirely sure what Molly could resort to if she suspected her son doing anything (apart from kissing) outside of marriage.
"Poor Georgie. An eighteen year old charming wizard not getting any from his girlfriend? Tragic!" Fred shouted dramatically, as Ginny laughed and Ron remained quiet with his ears turning pink.
"And you better hope the same is happening with you Fred before I castrate you!" Molly virtually bellowed, instantly silencing everyone else in the house. Even Fred knew not to push it any further if he wanted to keep his manhood safely intact.
"Well, even though George isn't getting married mum, one of your son's is." Bill announced, standing up with his hand interlaced with Fleur's. She held up her left hand where a small, pretty engagement ring rested on her finger.
All the men stood up congratulating Bill with a one armed hug or a pat on the back. They then gave Fleur a friendly hug and a peck on the cheek (aside from Ron who chose to sit back down before he did anything embarrassing). The women remained exactly how they were, all thinking the same thought, 'What on Godric's grave was Bill thinking?'
After that, Bill's announcement lead to a discussion about his wedding rather than George's. Molly started showing Fleur the same wedding photos that she had shown Hermione but with visible less enthusiasm. Hermione was sat on the sofa with Ginny talking about how immaculate and grand the wedding would be. George plopped down beside Hermione and rested his hand on her knee which went unnoticed.
"Do you reckon she'll have the vows in French? That way we might be able to understand her if she had a translator." Ginny said, and Hermione sniggered, as George's hand drifted up her leg a few inches. Ron, who had remained rather quiet since the wedding announcement, looked up from reading his Quidditch magazine.
"Doubt it. She'll probably have the vows sung by a famous French singer we've never heard of." Hermione answered, and Ginny giggled. George's hand was now dangerously high up so Hermione swatted it away not giving him a glance, making Ron chuckle.
"Problem Hermione?" George asked, and she turned to look at him.
"George, don't. Your parents are only a foot away and not to mention the fact I'm having a conversation with your sister. How would you like it if I started straddling you while you were having a conversation?" She realised once she asked the question it was painfully obvious that he actually wouldn't mind in the slightest. "Ugh forget it. You're just trying to prove a point to Fred anyway."
"She's caught you out George." Ron said joyfully.
"Oh Ronnie. You're just jealous that by your age I had already had sex when you still haven't had the opportunity to snog a girl." George said, as Ron's face, neck and ears turned a beetroot red. Hermione glanced between George and Ron before speaking up.
"That's not something to be proud of George."
George looked back at Hermione with raised eyebrows and Ginny thought it best to join in the conversation her parents were having with Bill and Fleur. Even a conversation with Fleur was better than having to listen to her brother's sex lives.
"How?" George asked, genuinely curious about her answer. The colour in Ron's face, neck and ears had died down slightly now.
"Well, you chose to do something at the first opportunity you'd been given, rather than waiting for the right person at the right time. It's been proven that sex is better if it's with a person you're in love with. I don't want to offend you but I doubt your experience was all that amazing considering you felt nothing more for this girl then lust. I happen to think it's nice you're brother wants to wait for the right person." Hermione explained, feeling a slight twinge of hurt that George wasn't more sensitive about the issue.
"Yes but Ronnie is waiting out of no option, not by choice." George said, and Hermione looked at Ron who had turned red again.
"Just because that's how you perceive it to be doesn't mean it's true. But I'm glad to have found out how meaningless sex is for you George." Hermione snapped, and stood up. She abruptly stormed upstairs and went into Ginny's room.
It only took a few minutes for George to appear with a guilty expression. He sat down next to her as she started twiddling her thumbs in her lap.
"I'm sorry Hermione. I didn't mean it to sound like that." He said, hesitantly taking one of her hands in his. "I just sometimes forget how much younger you are than me because of your intelligence and maturity. It makes me forget that you haven't experienced these things yet. I mean, I'm not going to lie. It used to be just a bit of meaningless fun for me. But I really care about you and I don't want to mess this up."
She sniffed looking up at him as his thumb started stroking the back of her palm.
"You know George. Sometimes I wonder why we're even together, but then you go and say stuff like that. It makes it very difficult for me to be angry at you when I know I should be." She disclosed. He grinned cheekily and brushed the hair out of her eyes.
"It's the good old Weasley twin charm." He winked and she smiled despite her protests. He leant forward placing his lips on hers in a tender way before Ginny's door was opened. They broke apart to see Arthur with a relieved expression on his features, from only walking in on some kissing.
"Your mother's set up a new rule that whenever you two are in a room together alone, the door's got to be open." Arthur declared, and Hermione blushed shifting further away from George.
"Seriously, dad. I'm not fifteen anymore, me and Fred could move out any day now." George threatened, only making Arthur chuckle.
"George, don't be unfair. This is your parent's house and they're perfectly within their rights to set up, in my opinion, a very reasonable rule . Would you be thinking differently if this rule was concerning Ginny?" She smiled seeing him give her an annoyed look but remained silent.
"No wonder Molly loves you already Hermione. You've managed to keep him silent." Arthur said, and Hermione laughed standing up.
"Believe me; it's taken all this time to do it."
When Arthur later spoke to Molly about what he had walked in upon, Molly made sure that George and Hermione barely spent ten seconds with each other before giving them a chore to keep them preoccupied. It was for this reason that Hermione found herself walking out into the Burrow's back garden to help Ron de-gnome it, the next day. She discovered him throwing the last gnome into a nearby field and was glad since she'd never come across a gnome before.
"Let me guess, mum sent you out here to de-gnome the garden forgetting she already asked me an hour ago?" Ron asked, as Hermione approached him and she nodded. He sniggered and she smiled. "Yeah. She doesn't seem to like the idea of you and George being alone much."
"Clearly. I can't say I blame her though, no doubt my mother would do the same." She replied, and Ron sat down on the grass to lean against the fence. There were a few moments of silence before Hermione spoke up, "Shouldn't we be getting back inside?"
"What? And get another chore? I don't think so." Ron said. Any other time, Hermione would have reprimanded him about how he should have been helping his mum. However, Hermione herself was starting to get sick of it and thought she deserved a five minute break. She sat down on the grass next to Ron cross legged, figuring this would be a good opportunity to get to know George's most mysterious brother.
The only problem being she had no idea where to begin. No doubt he didn't want to talk about his being put in Slytherin which essentially was all she knew about him.
"So if you don't mind me asking, how did you and George get together? You don't seem to be a match made in heaven, no offence." Ron said, and Hermione held back in correcting his grammar mistakes.
"I suppose we were together when he asked me to the Yule Ball. It wasn't official though until last year." She answered dully, having been asked that question more times than she cared for.
"Why'd he ask you?"
Hermione thought his question was rather rude but held her tongue again.
"I'd like to say because he wanted to. It was actually a bet." She said, with a small smile knowing the reaction she was about to receive.
"What?" Ron said, blatantly not hearing this story before.
"Fred and George were going through their 'Guess which of us is Fred or George' phase. I said I could tell the difference between them. They bet if I got it right, George would take me to the ball, if I got it wrong, I would write their Potions essays. I was correct so that was that. I actually can't remember why I even agreed to the bet."
She opted not to tell Ron that the real reason she accepted was that she had a mild crush on George. When she had admitted to George that was the reason, he had embarrassed her endlessly for it and she wasn't sure if Ron would do the same.
"Huh. You're probably one of the only people I know who can tell the difference between them. How'd you do it?" Ron asked, genuinely impressed.
"Quite simple really. Fred is more of the joker out of the two. More often than not, he'll cross the line of joking to where it actually hurts someone's feelings. He also seems to get more girlfriends then George which I never understood. George is the slightly more caring one and you can see that if you look hard enough. I guess I was the first girl who really tried." Hermione felt a slight blush appear in her cheeks at her admission, momentarily forgetting this was George's brother she was speaking too.
"I can see why people say you're the smartest witch at Hogwarts. It took me years to work that out." Ron said, and Hermione looked over at him. He was staring off into the distance and she took the time to study him.
It was clear that Ron resembled his father more than his mother, unlike George. His hair was longer, reaching his ears and had more of a red tinge to the ginger colour. His freckles, while noticeable, weren't too prominent against his pale white skin and appeared in clusters rather than being all over. He was incredibly tall, Hermione had noticed that he was virtually Bill's height. He hadn't lost that boyish look about him though so he was a bit lanky. What Hermione noticed most about him were his eyes. It was strange that she should notice them when he had other much more noticeable features. His eyes were the brightest blue she'd ever seen. They seemed to absorb all the colour around him and radiate this cerulean colour in return. She saw them blink slowly and then they looked into hers.
She swallowed and smiled at him, unaware of her staring. She asked, "Why did it take you years?"
Ron swallowed and straightened up his sitting position against the fence.
"Well, since I'm the youngest brother, Fred and George tended to pick on me a lot. I was about seven, and Fred went a bit too far. George apologised for him and explained it was a big brother kind of thing, that they never would intentionally hurt me as much as they did. It sort of stuck with me ever since." Ron stared down at his lap with a gentle smile before clearing his throat uncomfortably. It was obvious he felt awkward about sharing so much with someone he barely knew.
"Sounds like George. I don't know why he doesn't like showing how caring he can be." Hermione said, sounding irritated about it.
"Probably because Fred would never let him live it down." Ron replied, and Hermione laughed in agreement. He looked over at her and smiled. She uncrossed her legs and laid them out in front of her, straightening out her crinkled jeans.
They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Hermione looked out at the endless amount of green fields feeling incredibly serene. She cherished the feeling, knowing there wouldn't be many moments like it in the future. The wind picked up, rustling the leaves in the trees and she sat up straight pulling a few hair bands out her pocket. She quickly put her hair up in a messy bun, knowing if she let it remain out it'd turn into an inconceivable amount of knots and tangles.
Once done, she let her hands fall into her lap and gazed around her.
"I do love it here." She admitted, her eyes lingering on the Burrow.
"Really? I always thought there wasn't much to it." Ron argued, looking at the house trying to see it in a way that would make her say something like that.
"It's got such warmth to it. Something of a rarity these days." She commented, looking down at the grass feeling a dull ache in her chest. This feeling had almost been permanent in Hermione ever since the Department of Mysteries. When Dolohov's curse hit her in the chest, it had been excruciatingly painful at the time so it was inevitable it should scar. The scar was visible but it seemed to have an after effect that left a pain within her that wouldn't leave.
She unconsciously pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, like she was trying to hold herself together.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so pessimistic." She apologised, not wanting to ruin the mood.
"It's fine. I mean, it's not. But you know, I guess your life must be harder than it seems." Ron replied, and she looked over at him mildly surprised.
"What makes you think that?" She asked, wondering what his answer would be rather than wanting to see if it was correct. He awkwardly scratched behind his ear and swallowed, trying to think of a good explanation.
"Like, the papers glamorize it a bit saying how wonderful it must be to be Harry Potter's best friend. But I doubt it's as brilliant as they make it out to be. I've heard he's got no one apart from you. Sure that's hard on him, but to be the only person that holds another together. It must get tough." Ron explained. He had spent the past few years with a lot of time alone with his thoughts. He knew at school he was not who he was at home and didn't have any friends. After all, who would want to get to know a blood traitor in a house where they took their blood purity in their stride? Over the years, he had become well aware of how depressed he was. It was for that reason he didn't attempt to make friends. He didn't know anyone personally with much depression in their lives but had worked out Harry Potter must have, with all of his history.
When he heard Harry Potter's best friend was becoming a regular topic with Fred and George, he learnt a lot about Hermione, without her knowledge. One of these things was that George occasionally worried if she carried too much on her shoulders. He never spent long caring about this though, referring to her work load rather than her friendship with Harry. However, when Ron misinterpreted it, he thought it over and came to the conclusion he had just voiced. Through this conclusion, he knew he would never want to be that kind of burden to someone. If that meant he had to suffer a few years then so be it.
Hermione wasn't sure how to react. It was strange. She'd only known this boy for a day, yet she felt like he had understood her better than anyone else had in a long time. She selfishly wished in her mind for Harry to be as close to her with someone else as well, so she would have time to herself every once in awhile. It was for that reason she was so thankful he accepted her relationship with George. It gave her that little bit of freedom to focus on herself. Everyone needed some time to themselves and she had been at her breaking point by her fourth year.
She swallowed down the lump in her throat and moistened her dry lips.
"I don't think George gives you enough credit." Hermione proclaimed, and Ron's head snapped in her direction with a baffled expression. "All he's said to me is you're his slightly unintelligent immature younger brother. You must have some maturity to be able to tell all that about me in a few minutes of talking to me."
The tips of Ron's ears turned red at her compliment and he grinned lopsidedly. He didn't think his observation was that brilliant. He noticed her smile at him.
"Well, he's right. Most of the time I'm a complete idiot." He said.
"I highly doubt that." She said with disapproval, sensing his low opinion of himself.
"Yeah well, you're catching Ron Weasley on one of his rare, deep, emotional days. You should count yourself lucky." He remarked jokily, and she laughed.
"Believe me, I do." She commented, sincerely. They looked at eachother both laughing softly and held each other's gaze a second too long. She broke the stare first and looked ahead again.
"Hey, you're a prefect right?" He asked, out of the blue.
"Yes, why'd you ask?" She answered, and looked back at him.
"Well I am as well, and in our Hogwarts letters it said they were pairing us up with people in different houses to promote 'inter-house community' or some bullshit."
She frowned hearing his language and he chuckled.
"Oh yeah. George told me about your dislike of bad language." He remembered, looking at her with an amused expression.
"I don't see the need for it. There's a wide range of vocabulary perfectly acceptable to use instead to emphasize a point." She said in a bored tone, sounding as if she'd given her side of this argument many times before.
"It'd probably take twice as long though." He defended back.
"I suppose it could but it's not a very pleasant use of language." She retorted.
"It's not like it's a crime." He grumbled.
"I'm well aware of that fact. It's rather pointless, that's all I'm saying." She snapped, not liking his tone.
"That's half my dictionary falling off a broom then." He attempted to joke, earning nothing but a slightly cold look.
"Maybe you should consider using a proper dictionary to prevent a thing like that from happening." She muttered.
"Now where's the fun in that?" This second attempt of a joke proved just as unsuccessful as the first. It was possibly more of a failure since she glared at him now.
"If life was meant to revolve around the idea of 'fun' then people would be accomplishing very little in their lives."
"Let me guess your idea of fun, could it be reading a dictionary?" He snapped sarcastically. She was starting to get on his nerves now and he wondered if he should have been so sympathetic towards her.
"I'm beginning to see what George meant now by your immaturity."
"He's not exactly the most mature person in the world." He grunted childishly.
"I admit he might not be, but that doesn't mean you have to be like that." She insinuated.
"There you are!" George announced, and their heads flashed in his direction. He strode over towards them and grinned at Hermione before collapsing next to her on his back, pulling her on top of him.
"George!" She snapped angrily, and swatted him on the chest in an attempt to unwrap his arms. He only laughed and wrapped them tighter around her oblivious to Ron's bemused expression. She felt her anger gradually slip away and sighed. "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes, because thanks to mine and Ronniekin's mother she won't allow me within ten feet of you." George replied, and pecked her nose. She attempted to push herself off him but his arms were holding her in a vice like grip.
"I understand, but you know I don't like public displays of affection. They're unnecessary and impersonal."
"Fine. Ron, bugger off."
"George!"
"It's all right. I was going to go in anyways." Ron said, standing up and brushed his clothes off.
"Now, look what you did George. Your brother and I were having a perfectly nice conversation." She snapped, and gave Ron a look that meant he would pay if he said differently. He gave her that lopsided grin again and shook his head in disbelief, before strolling towards the house.
"Sounded like you were arguing about a dictionary, if you ask me." George said sniggering, and she gave him an accusing look, wondering how much of their conversation he had heard.
"Well, that wasn't the entire conversation. We weren't arguing either. It was more of a quarrel." She replied hotly.
"Who cares? Oh look we're alone now."
He tilted his head up, trying to kiss her but she used the opportunity to push herself up onto her feet.
"Now that was uncalled for." He moaned, and she twiddled her fingers at him in a wave before dashing into the Burrow, laughing away. He quickly ran after her and caught up as she burst through the front door. He grabbed the back of her shirt pulling her back to him and wrapped his arms around her waist lifting her up.
"George! Put me down!" Hermione screamed, still laughing, squirming in his grip.
"Explain to me why I should and I may consider it." He replied, only making her squirm even more.
"George! I'm serious, put me down!" She snapped, sounding serious.
"I'm not falling for it Hermione." He replied, still sniggering.
"George. Your entire family is staring at us."
That made him drop her. Literally. She stumbled slightly from the fall but managed to steady her feet. Sure enough, the entire Weasley clan (as well as Fleur) were staring at them all with a similar amused expression. Hermione smiled shyly, her cheeks turning pink and was about to go upstairs into Ginny's room only to have George's arm wrap around her shoulders. He pulled her against him and kissed her sloppily on the cheek. She grimaced and pushed him away annoyed.
"George, stop it! I told you two minutes ago! I don't like public displays of affection!" She snapped, crossing her arms.
"Come on, you're only saying that because you're embarrassed. Trust me, they've seen worse." He replied, chuckling.
"That's not the point and you know it. The point is you completely disregarded my feelings on the subject."
"Alright, okay, I'm sorry. We good now?"
She sighed angrily, forgetting they weren't alone and nearly shouted, "Don't do that!"
"Do what?" He asked, feigning innocence which resulted in her getting even more riled up.
"Apologise without meaning it!" She was shouting now and the Weasley's looked at each other awkwardly. "You do that all the time and I'm sick of it!"
"Merlin, where's this coming from all of a sudden? Ten seconds ago you were fine." He snapped, getting annoyed now. Molly, Fleur and Ginny exchanged a look that they all knew this was not a good answer.
"Well ten seconds ago you didn't disregard my values!"
Bill, Fred and Ron shared a mutual expression and they hastily went upstairs into Bill's room. Most people would have thought this was to give George and Hermione some privacy. However, they stopped in Fred and George's room on the way and were putting the Extendable Ears to good use.
"And having a dislike for public displays of affection is a serious value?" George argued, and Bill shook his head.
"What's wrong with saying that?" Ron asked confused. George's comment didn't sound that bad.
"Take this from a guy who's been in many relationships. In an argument, never question their motives unless you want a death wish." Bill explained.
"This may be a shock to you George, but just because you don't think of something as being serious doesn't mean I don't! Like many people would view their final exams as being important but you decided they clearly weren't!" They heard her shout so loud they probably could have heard her without the aid of the ear.
"Ouch. Sounds like George has hit a sensitive spot." Ron commented, as the other two boys nodded slowly. They heard multiple footsteps on the staircase and assumed Ginny, Fleur, Molly and Arthur had managed to escape discreetly.
"Don't pull that on me, I'm repeating the year to take them. You know that!" George shouted, back at an equal level to her.
"Wait, what? George is voluntarily going back to school?" Bill asked, evidently not hearing about this before.
"Yeah, they wouldn't let us just take the exams, said we had to repeat the year." Fred quickly explained, wanting to hear the rest of the screaming match.
"Why doesn't he not do them then?" Ron asked, confounded.
"Only because I practically had to force you to go back!" She roared, answering Ron's question for him.
"Which I still have trouble understanding. You know what my plans are and that I don't need them for it!" He yelled furious.
"Excuse me for wanting you to have a bit of a back up option George. And you are well aware that I want you to go back so I can be with you more as well as for you to take your exams!"
"Why have you brought all of this up? Do you want to have a go at me for doing something for you?"
"How dare you! It's hardly doing something for me when I begged you to do it!"
"It's not like you're returning the favour, is it?"
"That's a lie!"
"Please explain to me then, what you have done for me?"
"Fine! How about the fact last year, I let you get away with breaking a thousand school rules? Or that I covered for you a million times with teachers! Or that I gave up being a friend to Viktor for you! What about me going to every single one of your Quidditch matches even though I don't like it? What about the endless amounts of teasing and mocking from you I put up with? And let's not forget the most recent event, where I came to your house to stay for two weeks in the summer, so I've only seen my parents for a month this year! Then you even had the nerve not to tell me that we would have to keep our relationship a secret! I had to learn about it from your sister!" Hermione screamed all of this so loud she felt her throat ache and swallowed, taking a few deep breaths. She looked at him with glassy eyes to see a guilty shocked expression that made her sigh. "And what hurts me the most about all of those things is not because I've done them for you. I'd never regret that. It's because you hadn't even noticed till this moment I pointed them out."
She looked down at the ground trying to hide the tears falling from her eyes. He noticed anyway and took a step towards her.
"Hermione-" He started softly, and she took a step back glaring at him.
"Don't!" She snapped, and backed away till she hit the back door. "Just…leave me alone."
Fred, Bill and Ron all shared a similar guilty expression, small parts of them wishing they left their curiosity alone.
A:N/ Oh yes, your eyes don't deceive you! This is a week earlier than planned, but thanks to vlaovic's review they pointed out how long it would be for the story to finish if I updated every two weeks so I've changed my mind and am going to update weekly instead :P
So a bit of a fight. I thought George could get quite angry; he's got the same Weasley temper as the rest of them hasn't he?
And of course Ron and Hermione's first conversation would involve a slight bickering! They would not be R/Hr otherwise.
I think I managed to thank everyone singularly who reviewed last time. Also thanks to KING, Romione4ever, person (genius name by the way :P) and Sandrinha!
Sandrinha actually raised a few good points I thought I'd address here since I expect a fair few other people were wondering about.
-The first is relating to George's and Hermione's physical relationship. Now, have no fear my dear Ron/Hermione fans, you'll never have to read much about it. There should only be two other situations where you read about that aspect of their relationship, BUT these are sort of Ron/Hermione moments. Obviously, it'll make more sense when you read it but I just didn't want anyone to worry about those moments coming up in the future.
-The second is about making Ron seem immature and childish compared to Hermione. You have no reason to fear here. I am a fierce, dedicated Ron lover. He is my absolute favourite character in literature, not just in Harry Potter. I constantly defend him and I'd never resort to the tactics that some people do of making Hermione seem completely perfect compared to him. I absolutely adore the bloke! And this story would have been in his POV but it wouldn't have worked the way I wanted.
-SANDRINHA, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'm sorry but I was so happy to find that someone was glad that I kept Ron's personality the same. I actually got this idea after the vast amount of fics there are of Ron being in Slytherin but having his personality completely altered. I just never saw the point in it since you could make an equally interesting story with him in Slytherin without him becoming a Malfoy wannabe.
-Hopefully this chapter touched on it but Ron is still going to be an insecure guy. Obviously I'll go into greater detail why as the story continues so your assumption about that wasn't correct :P
That's all I wanted to say really. But if any of you wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday in a review that'd be great :P It's tomorrow (22nd) woo!
Thanks for reading and reviewing!