I wrote the letter to Rita as fast as I could before running for my dorm. I saw the one girl I needed more than anything on the way out and grabbed her.
"Merlin, 'Mione!" Ginny exclaimed as I latched onto her arm. "What's up?"
"I am in serious need of your help. I'm going on my first date with George and I want to look really nice."
She got a really big grin on her face and stopped standing in the middle of the portrait hole, turning and dragging me inside the Gryffindor common room.
"Ooh! That calls for pulling out all the stops! Hair, clothing, shoes, makeup," she listed off, running up the stairs.
"Makeup?" I questioned as we neared my room. She paused and turned towards me. "You know how I feel about makeup." I hated wearing the stuff. I wanted to be liked for what I really looked like.
She flashed a smile before turning and continuing up the stairs. "Alright, no makeup." We reached my roomand I thanked Merlin that neither Lavender nor Parvarti were there. Ginny instantly headed towards the closet. She pulled out a red shirt with a Gryffindor emblem on it and smiled softly.
"Wear this, George loves red." I put it on quickly and Ginny gave it a critical eye before shrinking it a little. It was form fitting now, but not uncomfortable. She then handed me a pair of Muggle jeans. I put them on and she nodded her head, apparently satisfied with the way it looked.
"Here, wear this jacket. George couldn't take his eyes off it at Christmas," she said, smiling brightly.
"Really?" I questioned, grabbing the proffered jacket. She laughed before going to my hair.
"Yes 'Mione, he loved it." She studied my hair for a moment before casting some sort of spell on it. I felt it grow smaller and quickly turned towards the mirror. My hair, though still frizzy, was no where near as bad as before.
"How on Earth did you do that?" I asked, rounding on Ginny. She laughed and showed me how.
"Hermione!" a voice called from downstairs. It was George.
My eyes grew comically large and she just smiled at me. "Go on, you look great!" I thanked her before heading downstairs. He was standing at the foot of the stairs, and he smiled widely when he saw me.
"Merlin, Hermione! You look beautiful!" I reached himand he offered me his arm, which I took, smiling happily.
"So," I asked as we left the common room. "where are we headed today my good sir?"
He laughed happily before answering me. "We are headed to Hogsmeade."
"Really?" I said, scrunching my nose in annoyance. "I sort of gathered that much for myself."
He smiled, turning his head towards me before answering. "The rest is a surprise, Hermione." His grin grew bigger as he saw my annoyance.
Darn it, I hated surprises. I guess I was going to have to get over that if I was dating George Weasley. He led us out to Hogsmeade, taking his time in getting there. He asked me how my studies were going, if I was having fun being back at Hogwarts. I answered all his questions, asking my own in return. When we actually reached Hogsmeade I found myself feeling slightly sad. It was a lot harder to have personal conversations when there were a ton of people around. I was still a shy person and I didn't like people staring at me. Being best friends with Harry Potter had just made the whole thing a lot worse. Especially after the whole Rita Skeeter story last year.
He led me into the Three Broomsticks, which was extremely overcrowded. He walked up to the counter and Madame Rosmerta came up to serve him. He kept his eyes on her eyes the whole time and that thrilled me. I always felt extremely self conscious in her presence; she was exceptionally pretty and always made me feel ugly. I wasn't extremely pretty, and I knew it. It didn't help that Ron had always ogled her either. Then again, I was roommate to Lavender and Parvarti, both of whom were knockouts. So I was used to feeling ugly.
That was another reason I liked George: he always acted like I was the only witch in the room. It thrilled me and made me feel beautiful. Madame Rosemerta nodded at whatever he said and went to the back counter before returning with a bag. George thanked her and paid her a few galleons before turning back to me.
"Let's go," he said, smiling and grabbing my hand. I held it tight and smiled at the feel of his calloused, warm hand in mine. It was worn from years of quidditch, and amazingly strong feeling.
I followed him out of the restaurant, smiling happily despite the looks we were receiving. He led me down the snowy path towards a clearing Harry, Ron and I used to go to for chats. It was a beautiful spot and usually really secluded. It was away from the road by about a quarter mile and overlooked the Shrieking Shack. It was surrounded by trees which made it feel like it was blocked. There was a table cloth spread on the ground near the center of the clearing and a wizard radio sat in the corner. I looked at George curiously but he just smiled before settling down on the cloth. After a moment's hesitation I joined him. He served me a plate of food, which I was grateful for because I hadn't really eaten any breakfast. We had chicken sandwiches and butterbeer, with chocolate brownies for desert. The food was unbelievably good, and I practically moaned at the taste of it. We chatted lightly about school, their joke shop, and what I wanted to go into. We finished eating before I knew it and I was feeling comfortably full.
George summoned the radio and fiddled with the knobs until a romantic tune issued from the speakers. A triumphant smile lit his face and he stood up, offering me his hand as he did so. I smiled and took it, placing my hand in his. He pulled me to my feet and didn't release my hand as he led me away from the table cloth to a cleared spot a few feet away. He wrapped his arm around me, and I reveled in the warmth of his hand on my lower back. I placed my hand on his shoulder and let him take the lead, as he slowly twirled us around the ground. I felt safe and secure in his strong, yet loose hold and didn't even think before I laid my head on his shoulder. He sighed happily as he pulled me closer and tightened his grip on my waist. As we danced I let my hand slip up his shoulder so that I now had my hand around his neck and I wove my fingers through his ginger locks, playing gently with his hair. He rested his head on the top of mine, as the music switched to a softer beat. It was some song I'd never heard, but George must have known it because he started singing it softly. He had a wonderful voice and I felt myself fall a little harder for him as he slowly twirled me around, singing a love song to me.
I could have danced like that for hours. It was by far better than dancing with Krum had been, but my stupid wand went off in an alarm. I jumped, squealing at the feel of its vibe, causing George to laugh as he held me still.
"I guess it's time to meet with Skeeter, huh?" he asked. I nodded my head sadly and bent down to help him clear up the mess. He stopped me with a light hand on my arm and pointed his wand at the mess. I still forgot I could use magic to clean stuff up. It packed itself up into a small bag, which he then shrunk and stuck in his pocket. He then offered me his arm again.
"Milady," he said.
I laughed at his exaggerated bow before returning it with an overdone curtsy and grabbing his hand. "Of course, Milord," I said smiling.
"Where am I to escort the fine lady?" he asked, a smile lifting his lips.
"Why, to the Three Broomsticks my good Sir," I said, fighting not to laugh. He nodded his head primly before galloping down the road. I laughed as I ran to keep up with him. Once we reached the road he slowed down to a walk, laughing good naturedly at my flushed expression.
We arrived at the Three Broomsticks a minute later, laughing happily. It was far less busy now and I could see Rita Skeeter sitting at a table at the far corner, a cold look on her face. I headed towards her booth, George following me with a small smirk on his face. Rita was terrible looking; her hair was mussed, her nails were chipped, her glasses were missing gems, and her crocodile handbag was ripped.
The meeting was long and painful, but it worked. Rita wrote the story the way I wanted, and Luna agreed to publish it. I could tell it hurt Harry to talk about the night, but that he also found it a relief. Everyone would finally know what happened, they would finally know the truth. After the meeting, the four of us made our way back to Hogwarts. It wasn't long until dinner.
Harry was quietand oddly distant. I think he was just trying to get over the shock of finally having spoken. I walked beside George, holding his hand as we walked back. Dinner was somewhat awkward. Harry was still upset about Cho, and that would have been bad enough if Ron and Ginny hadn't come in obviously upset about their practice. George and I retreated to the common room early, but it was already full so we just decided to do some studying. He'd found a few books on nonverbal spells, and given them to me. We were sitting on the couch together-he had his arm around me and I was leaning into his side as we read. He was playing with my hair and we were both reading the book together, occasionally making a comment.
On the couch across from us sat Fred and Angelina-she had his head in her lap and was running her fingers through his hair as she read her charms book. Fred was reading some magazine, his hand rubbing the skin on her calf absentmindedly as he flipped the page. They were really cute together and it made me pause momentarily when I watched them. What did George see in me? Angelina was tall, athletic, beautiful, funny, and smart. I was really just smart. What made him want to date me? I pushed the thought away quickly and told myself to just enjoy it, whatever the reason.
We all read for a long time, just enjoying each others' company in the overcrowded room, until Fred sat up. He gave Angelina a kiss on the cheek and then she took her book and went to her dormitory. Fred stood up and walked over to us, plopping himself down on my other side with a mischievous grin.
"Hey 'Mione."
"What?" I asked, tensing up at the sight of him. George laughed at my response, gently rubbing my hair between his fingers.
Fred smiled at my obvious wariness and patted my foot playfully. "I need to borrow my twin. We have a project that needs our attention." He gave George a significant wink and I felt the prefect in me panic.
"What are you two doing?" I asked warily, sitting up.
"Nothing you need to worry about 'Mione," George said, squeezing me in a quick hug. He got up with his twin and they both turned towards me. "We solemnly swear that we will not hurt any students with what we are planning." They then both ran upstairs.
Merlin save who ever they were pranking.
The next weeks flew by. Homework got more intense, but I wasn't as tense as I had been before. George started taking me out to unused classrooms and secret passages, giving me a few brief hours of peaceful oblivion. He was becoming my constant, and I couldn't figure out how I had gotten through school before I had him. He made everything seem easier to bear somehow; he helped me to laugh off my stress and to not worry over every single detail.
Before I knew it February faded into March, and there were only three and half months left of school.
I headed downstairs for breakfast to start my regular routine. I normally walked out with George and sat next to him and Harry. But this morning George was nowhere to be seen so I joined Harry and Ron, walking with them out of the portrait hole. Ron gave Harry a significant look before slowing down while Harry sped up. The result was that I was walking by Ron alone and Harry was walking about five feet in front of us. I got very tense very quickly, my mind replaying everything he had said to me before I'd left Grimmauld place.
"I want to apologize 'Mione," Ron said slowly and quietly. I almost faltered in my walking but managed to continue. "I was a huge prat at Grimmauld place-I didn't really mean anything I said either."
I looked over at him and was surprised to see that his eyes were watery. "It's okay Ron," I said softly, realizing with slight surprise that it really was. "You don't have to apologize. I said some awful things too. Is it okay if we can just be friends again?"
He smiled gratefully at what I said and nodded his head. "I'd like that, 'Mione. I want to be friends again." I gave him a suspicious look before he grinned, guessing what I was thinking. "Don't worry, 'Mione, I just want to be friends, nothing more. I don't think anything more would have worked between us. You probably would have killed me before our first kiss." He laughed at my expressions before continuing. "Plus, I have my eyes on someone else."
I was going to ask him who, but we'd reached the great halland I had a different problem. Terry Boot was walking towards me.
Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for beating this chapter!