Author's Note: Thanks for all the reads, reviews, follows and favorites! Still not Rowling.

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Hermione sat at the kitchen table, clutching her pounding head. She heard the water from the shower stop. A few minutes later, she heard footsteps approaching her, but she made no move to see why George was there. She thought the motion might make her sick.

"Hermione?"

She turned her head slowly and squinted at the man in front of her, who was again clad in nothing but a towel.

"George, is this really the time? My head feels like they're a bludger inside trying to fight its way out."

George chuckled and came up behind her, rubbing her neck and shoulders.

"Okay, you can stay," Hermione mumbled as she closed her eyes. She heard George laugh softly, then his breath was suddenly on her ear.

"The green vial in the bathroom cabinet is a hangover potion. Take one gulp and take a hot shower. You'll feel a lot better." She smiled gratefully, but whimpered slightly as he removed his hands from her shoulders.

"Don't worry," George said, smiling. "I'll continue when you're out of the shower. Merlin knows you need to relax." She smiled and shoved him as she walked past, hearing an "Oof!" as she headed to the bathroom. She flicked on the bathroom lights without thinking and immediately, her eyes felt like they were on fire. "Aaaahhh!" she yelled, shielding her eyes.

"You okay?" she heard from the kitchen.

"Yeah," she yelled back, regretting doing so as the noise had made her head throb worse than ever. With a flick of her wand, she submerged the room into darkness as she fumbled around to find the potion. She found it, sat down on the cold bathroom floor, head resting against the wall, and took a generous gulp. In a matter of seconds, her headache was lessening and after a minute, she was feeling back to normal. 'Thank you, Fred and George,' she mumbled to herself. She then proceeded to turn the lights back on and step into a steamy shower. As she shampooed her hair, she thought of last night and of George.

'Did I actually say those things to him while I was drunk? That's so embarrassing. I mean, they were true, but still quite embarrassing.'

'Does he really think I'm beautiful?'

'And last night…'

'HERMIONE! Do not get yourself all hot and bothered. Not appropriate timing.'

'And this morning, he tried to kiss me. Does he not care about morning breath? Did he not care I was naked? Well, that was probably a plus for him.'

'This morning he acted like we've been together forever. Well, I mean we have been together, but not together, as in romantically. Does this mean he really fancies me?'

'Oh, that's stupid. He obviously does. I mean look at the dates, and how we've kissed, and last night…'

'That's not the point. He obviously cares about me, but what's more pressing is how I am feeling about him. How do I feel about George?'

'I mean he's absolutely hilarious, kind, sweet, and handsome to boot. Especially just now, with the towel…'

'HERMIONE! Snap out of it! What do I think about this?'

'Well, I… I think I fancy him. Quite a bit actually.'

'But what am I going to do now? I mean, we did seem to skip a few steps last night. Will that make things awkward? Will he not want to be with me after what happened?'

'Wait, when did I switch to being with me?'

'I guess that's what I want. No, no, I do want that. I suppose I have for a while.'

'So what should I do? Should I tell him how I feel? Will that sound too needy? Will he think I'm completely ridiculous?'

'No, I am going to tell him. If he doesn't like it, he can go marry someone else.'

'Figuratively speaking…'

As she turned off the faucet and dried herself off, she made her decision. She was going to tell George up front what she felt and if he didn't like it, well… he better like it.

She dried herself and padded quietly down to her room, where she pulled on a t-shirt and some yoga pants. After having dried her hair and made sure it curled rather than frizzed out, she walked out to find George. She found him sprawled across the couch, apparently reading the Daily Prophet. As she walked closer, she realized he was reading the sections, the removing the pages and turning them into paper airplanes, which he then charmed to fly about the room. She ducked as one tried to dive-bomb her head and walked up to him. "George?" she asked hesitantly.

He laid down the paper and smiled up at her. "Pleased to meet you."

"Funny," she replied wryly. He grinned up at her, then pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking at her expectantly. Hermione looked at him and took a deep breath, steeling herself.

"Is something wrong?" George asked worriedly.

"Ifancyyou," Hermione blurted out.

"Gesundheit?" George said, confused.

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Maybe this would be easier if she couldn't see him. "I fancy you. A lot. And I don't know if last night meant something to you, but if it didn't, I'd like to know so I don't go wasting my time falling for you. I know that you're always nice to me and you've kissed me a number of times and you massaged my neck and you're always sweet but I don't know what you think and I just want to know because it will hurt too much when I fall for you and you don't want me and I don't want this to be something that passes as though nothing happened because something did happen and I just think that th-"

Hermione was stopped mid-word as George grabbed her upper arms and pulled her to him, kissing her firmly on the mouth. Hermione's knees went a bit weak, but she pulled away after a few seconds, looking at George with a little frown on her face.

"So does this mean that-"

"Shut up," George said matter-of-factly, then captured her lips again. Hermione got lost in the kiss, and after what felt like an eternity and no time at all, they broke apart. George rested his forehead on hers and chuckled. "What it takes to shut you up."

Hermione looked scandalized, but George laughed and pulled her to his chest in a tight hug. "Of course I fancy you, but you're too busy speaking in rambling run-on sentences to notice."

Hermione blushed embarrassedly. "Sorry," she mumbled into his chest.

"No need to apologize. But we do have a problem. You realize we are going to turn into another one of those mushy romantic newlywed type of couples?"

Hermione looked up at him, seeing the mirth in his eyes. "Ugh! Disgusting! I hate those people!" she said, a hint of laughter shining through the disgust that filled her voice.

"Me too!" said George with bravado. "We should never turn into them."

"Agreed."

"You realize what they would do in such a situation?"

"And what's that?" asked Hermione quizzically.

"This!" And without warning, he scooped Hermione up bridal style and began to carry her to her room.

"George!"

He laughed and set her down on the bed lightly. He walked away and suddenly ran at her, jumping into the air and belly-flopping onto the bed next to her. Hermione shrieked and tried to escape, but he pulled her back down to the bed by her waist. Laughing, Hermione grabbed her pillow and began smacking George with it.

"THIS MEANS WAR!" George yelled delightedly as he grabbed her other pillow. Their pillow war lasted a good ten minutes and involved much running around Hermione's room. Exhausted, they flopped down on the bed, lying next to each other as feathers drifted down slowly around them. George grabbed her hand, which had been lying next to his, and entwined his fingers with hers. She turned her head, smiling, to see George watching her quietly with a small smile on his face.

"What?"

He smiled at her and tucked a stray curl behind her ear with his free hand. "You're just wonderful."

She blushed and turned, burying her face into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her, and they lay there, happily ensconced in each other's arms. They didn't know how long they stayed like that, but soon they had drifted off to sleep, their chests rising and falling in time.