A/N: I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. :)
And I'm sorry if anyone had any double updates. I got a little confused the first time. xD
Hermione made to stand but when George broke out of his daze he gently tugged her back down by her arm. She looked at him, her eyes filled with worry for her best friend Harry. George pulled her in a one-armed hug and she put her head on his shoulder. Even a time as shocking as this, George noted that he rather liked having her on his arm.
George glanced over at Harry as he sat there, aware that every head in the Great Hall had turned to look at him. Harry looked stunned, numb.
There was no applause. A buzzing, as though of angry bees, was starting to fill the Hall; some students were standing up to get a better look at Harry as he sat, frozen, in his seat.
Up at the top table, Professor McGonagall had got to her feet and swept past Ludo Bagman and Karkaroff to whisper urgently to Dumbledore, who bent his ear toward her, frowning slightly. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione, beyond them, he saw the long Gryffindor table all watching him openmouthed.
Hermione lifted her head off George's shoulder, but he kept his arm wrapped securely around her. She turned to look at Harry.
"I didn't put my name in," Harry said firmly. "You know I didn't." Hermione and Ron stared back blankly. At the top table, Dumbledore had straightened up, nodding to McGonagall.
"Harry Potter!" he called again. "Harry! Up here, if you please!"
"Go on," Hermione whispered, giving Harry a slight push.
Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly. He set off up the gap between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.
Hermione reached across the table, not caring who was watching, and grabbed George's hand. He was surprised, but pleased; he squeezed her hand and her mouth twitched into a half-almost-ish smiled.
"He'll be fine," George murmured. She nodded uncertainly. "You can question him later." He added gently. Hermione nodded more firmly this time and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
Professor McGonagall, appearing rather flustered, cleared her throat loudly. "Yes, well... as eventful as that was... you may all return to your Houses."
Ron wasted no time, as he dashed away from the table, a look of confusion and slight anger definite on his freckled face.
"Come on, 'Mione," George said. "Let's go." Hermione nodded. She almost let go of his hand, but he squeezed it tighter, showing her he didn't mind. She tried to smile at him, but part of her was still a worried mess.
Hermione swung her legs over the bench and stood, George doing the same. Together, they walked back to the common room. George noticed Hermione was mostly silent, probably with worry, so he tried making her laugh.
She would laugh occasionally, but half-heartedly. Soon they fell in a silence. It might have been uncomfortable, had both not been too absorbed in their thoughts.
Hermione was worried for Harry. He always has a way of getting himself into trouble. She was also partly worried about Ron; he seemed really upset when he ran out of the Great Hall.
George was confused. Perhaps a little jealous.
She's too busy worrying about Harry to think about you, a little voice in the back of his mind seemed to tell him.
Harry's her friend. Her best friend… I'm worried about him too, George argued back. She won't even pay attention to you…, it taunted.
She will once she finds out he's alright, he mentally yelled at the voice.
Exactly. You'll always come second to the Boy-Who-Lived…
He forcefully shook his head, as if to rid himself of the small voice, still the thoughts made him worry.
They stopped in front of the Fat Lady and she was gossiping with her rude friend Violet.
"Balderdash," Hermione whispered, distractedly.
"Proceed," said the Fat Lady, sounding annoyed that they had interrupted her and her friend.
As soon as they entered, Hermione and George were thrown back by the force of the shouts and cheers that filled the common room as its inhabitants celebrated. As the rowdy Gryffindors chanted "Pot-ter!" Hermione felt George tightened his grip on her hand slightly and she saw his teeth clench but she didn't think much of it at the time.
George led her to the couch that was thankfully not occupied. Hermione took a deep breath, threw her hands up and said, "You see?"
George looked at her curiously.
"See what?" he questioned.
"If your name had come out of the Goblet, I would have been much worse. Ron probably would have carted me off to Hospital Wing the moment you disappeared into that little room." She said sounding exasperated. George blinked, in shock.
"Really?" Maybe he wasn't second to Harry at all!
Hermione nodded and swallowed. "Of course. I mean, Harry has definitely proven he can take care of himself. But I'm still worried about him because he's my best friend. Then again he's brave and has all of us to help him. Yes, you're brave as well and would have had all of your friends helping you, but I would have been in hysterics before the first task!" Hermione blurted out the words that she was certain didn't make a bit of sense. She turned red and muttered something too low for George to hear.
"I'm sorry?" he said.
She glared at him but answered, "I said I c-care about you too much." Hermione lowered her eyes to her hands, which were still intertwined with George's. He grinned like a nutter.
Summoning all his courage and swallowing his pride, bracing himself for rejection, George said, "Hermione?"
She lifted her head about half an inch, showing him she was listening, but still unbearably embarrassed.
George cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, something he did when he was nervous. "Okay, I really need you to be patient because this is really hard for me and I was just, you know… hoping you would-"
Hermione looked up, her eyebrows pushing together, trying to figure out what he was getting at now that she was fully intrigued by his nervousness and red ears. Without meaning to, she blurted out a very fast, "Will-you-go-to-Hogsmeade-with-me?"
George stopped his stuttering and looked at her. "What did you say?" Hermione blushed and lowered her eyes again.
"I-I asked if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me… Can't you hear?" George blinked at her. His face broke into a wide, toothy grin.
"Really?"
"You don't have to have to if you don't want to! I was just…" Hermione trailed off lamely.
George quickly shook his head and said, "No! I want to!" Hermione's eyes widened. "I was just about to ask you the same thing!"
"Really?" Hermione face lit up and she blushed again. "I've been meaning to ask you for days now, but I couldn't wait any longer." Her blush deepened, but she kept a smile on her face.
"So have I!" George said excitedly. Hermione smiled at him. He grinned back just as Harry burst through the portrait hole, reminding them of recent events.
"I'll be right back, Fred and I want to ask Harry something." he said. Hermione nodded her head, looking ecstatic and sick with worry all at the same time. George made his way over to Fred and together they approached Harry.
"You should have told us you entered!" Hermione heard Fred bellow over the noise of the common room. He sounded half annoyed, half deeply impressed.
"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" roared George. Hermione laughed loudly in spite of herself.
"I- I didn't," Harry said. "I don't know how-"
But Angelina had now swooped down upon him; "Oh well if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor-"
"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch match, Harry!" shrieked Katie Bell, another one of the Gryffindor Chasers. Hermione couldn't help notice that Katie's eyes lingered on George a little longer than necessary.
People swarmed around Harry, shoving food in his hands and forcing a banner over his shoulders. Nobody wanted to hear that he wasn't hungry. Nobody wanted to hear that he didn't put his name in the goblet. Not one single person seemed to have noticed he wasn't at all in the mood to celebrate.
Except of course Hermione.
The morning of Hermione's date with George couldn't come fast enough. However, when it finally did, she found herself panicked and unprepared.
When she realized she could hardly dress herself, Hermione begrudgingly asked for help. Reluctantly trudging to the third year dormitories, she quietly knocked on the door.
Ginny Weasley answered.
"Hey, 'Mione," she said. "What are you doing here?" Hermione hesitated before answering.
"I-I have a date…" Ginny's eyes widened comically and she jerked Hermione's arm and pulled her into the room.
"With who?" she screeched. Hermione then realized that she had asked the completely wrong person for help.
"Um… it's a surprise," Hermione stuttered. "Anyways, I'm not here to giggle. I need… help." Asking for help was something she hated doing. But this was an emergency. Ginny's smirk didn't help.
"Okay, I'll help you, but how do you want to look?"
"I want to dress casually, but look nice," Hermione answered uncertainly.
"Can we use make up?"
"I'd really rather not. You know how I feel about it." Hermione hated wearing make up. She always felt she was wearing a mask when she wore it.
"Alright," Ginny said reluctantly. "No make up. But am I allowed to touch the nest?"
"Of course," Hermione laughed, knowing she was joking.
"How long do we have?"
"Maybe an hour?" Hermione guessed. George had suggested they leave shortly after breakfast so they could stay as long as they please. Hermione had skipped breakfast, too busy getting ready to be hungry.
"What?" Ginny shrieked. Hermione really wished she would stop doing that; her ears were starting to hurt. "I only have an hour to make you look pretty?"
"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed, slightly offended.
"Sorry," Ginny muttered. "Come on, I have a sweater that will be perfect for you."
A long fifty-eight minutes later, Hermione had semi-flat hair and a simple yet pretty ensemble.
"Well?" she said to Ginny, nervously pulling at her hair and smoothing invisible wrinkles. Ginny stared at her with a small smile, looking at her from head to toe.
"You look amazing, 'Mione," she said.
"Thanks, Gin." Hermione smiled back at her nervously.
"Are you going to tell me who your date is now?" Ginny asked her. Hermione only kept smiling.
"It's a surprise," she repeated. Ginny rolled her eyes while Hermione chuckled quietly.
A familiar deep voice broke their momentary silence.
"Hermione?" it called from the common room. Hermione's eyes grew comically large as her nerves from that morning came floating back.
"Fred?" Ginny screamed. And then quietly, "Fred is your date?"
"No," Hermione said simply. "He's not my date." Ginny looked confused but nodded. "I have to go." Hermione sounded unsure, scratching her arm up and down.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Ginny laughed again before Hermione hugged her tightly.
"Thanks a lot, Ginny," she said. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Don't mention it." Ginny smiled. "Let's go." Both girls left the dormitory and entered the common room.
George was standing by the couch, talking to Ron and Harry. Well, trying to anyways. Harry kept sending nervous glances towards Ron, while the latter was pointedly ignoring Harry completely. All three boys looked up when Hermione and Ginny descended the stairs.
"It is Fred!" Ginny said the same time Harry and Ron said, "Hermione?" Said girl wasn't paying much attention to her friends as she looked at George.
He was wearing dark jeans and a green button down shirt that surprisingly didn't clash horribly with his hair but flattered it immensely. The little grin he offered his sister grew once his eyes landed on Hermione.
Her simple blue sweater and jeans complimented her nicely, but her natural beauty took his breath away. George then turned to Ginny once more after giving Hermione a playful wink.
"No, dear sister," he said. "I'm George. And yes, boys," he said to Harry and Ron, "That is Hermione." Harry smiled at her while Ron just looked as if he was in a foul mood. He moved away from Harry slightly and gave Hermione a small smile. He then trudged up the stairs sulkily. Harry looked sad and worried, but Hermione merely shrugged and decided to enjoy this moment and interrogate Ron tomorrow.
"May I escort the lovely lady to Hogsmeade?" George asked, offering her his arm. She smiled and nodded. They waved to their friends and disappeared out the portrait hole.
"You really do look amazing, Hermione," George said as they entered Hogsmeade. She blushed.
"Thank you," she muttered. "You look dashing as well."
"Oh, I know," he said, dramatically shaking his shaggy hair. Hermione laughed. Summoning all of her Gryffindor courage, she interlaced their fingers. He smiled sweetly at her, his vivid blue eyes sparkling with happiness. She sighed contently as she leaned her body slightly against his.
"What are you thinking about?" George asked her.
"Nothing really," she replied.
Just as he was about to question her further, they noticed a sign that read TOMES AND SCROLLS (est. 1768). Hermione eyes visibly lit up and she hurried inside the store. She took a moment to just look at the different books surrounding her. She enjoyed being somewhere she could finally be herself. Hermione then ran off so fast George didn't know what direction she went in. He chuckled to himself before trying to find her.
After walking blindly through the bookstore for at least five minutes, George finally found her. She was reading a very old, very big book that probably weighed more than her. She was in the smallest corner of the store, where all the hundred year old books sat in dust. The smell made him want to sneeze… which he ended up doing quite nosily.
Hermione jumped at the sound and squealed in surprise before seeing George with an amused smile on his face. She blushed and smiled at him before returning to the enormous book.
Does anyone have anyone have any suggestions to what year I should stop this at? I was planning on continuing the story for fourth year through seventh year but it all depends on you guys. Reviews make me smile. :)
