Usual disclaimer, I am not JK Rowling, these are my imaginings with her wonderful world and the characters who live in it. Thank you Rowling for giving us all so much inspiration.
"Hermione Granger and the Seventh Year"
a fanfic by Cerys Dewar
Chapter Twenty-Five
Through that first, glorious summer together, Hermione and George were totally engrossed in getting the Hogsmeade shop up and running, making the house above a home, and adjusting to life together. George and Hermione were both, thankfully, tidy by nature, so there were very few squabbles over keeping their home clean, but George would often leave the toilet seat up (until Hermione spelled it shut for an entire day while she was doing classroom prep at Hogwarts and George had to keep using the toilet at the Three Broomsticks) and Hermione was occasionally quite grumbly in the morning if she'd stayed up too late reading or researching. For the most part, living together was wonderful for both of them. Hermione had lived with Harry and Ron in the tent during the war, and George had already lived on his own with roommates, so living with another human wasn't anything new to them, and they made an effort right from the beginning to communicate with eachother as much as possible.
George liked to walk to Hogwarts before dinner every night to bring Hermione home; he always took a roundabout way to get to the Transfiguration classroom, going by the library to place a hand on the wall near Fred's plaque and just remember for a moment, then leaving little stashes of Weasley's products in hidden nooks and crannies, with notes telling Fred and George's story. It was his own unique way of honouring Fred's memory and also as if he and his twin were playing an enormous prank on Hermione and Minerva. George still dreamt of having coffee and catching up with his brother now and then, but only teared up occasionally; he had finally discovered how to celebrate, rather than grieve. He missed Fred with every fiber of his being, and thought of him constantly, but he played and developed pranks and lived his life the happiest he possibly could.
Hermione loved her life with George. She loved waking up with him and discussing their daily goals over breakfast, she loved the kiss they shared before she walked to the castle, she thought of him often through the day as she worked, and then, at the end of the working day, her heart still fluttered when she'd leave Minerva's office and find him leaning on the doorway, waiting for her with a big hug and a gentle kiss and their usual walk home. They would prepare and eat dinner together, discussing their days, and then read, or play a game, or go straight to the bedroom and make love. It was a busy life, with Sunday dinner at the Burrow with all the family, the occasional Saturday lunch at Hogwarts with Minerva or Draco, and friends coming and going, but they were both happy and successful, and the love that had surprised them so much grew and developed into something so calming and strengthening for both of them.
Summer faded into Autumn's glorious reds and golds, and George walked Hermione to Hogwarts before her first official day as an apprentice teacher. The new students had all arrived the night before, and Hermione, Draco, Neville (apprenticing with Sprout), and Luna (apprenticing with Pomfrey) were introduced and seated at the staff table for the first time. Hermione had been surprised at how young the first-years looked, and was somewhat relieved but also a little sad to realize that there were now no familiar faces at the student tables. During the walk, Hermione held onto George's arm nervously. George chuckled and patted her hand proudly and reassured her almost constantly.
"I don't believe my eyes. Hermione Granger, nervous about the first day of school," he teased, "Not even a student anymore and she's still worrying about messing up."
"I am still a student though, George, and I'm learning to be a teacher. If I mess up, my students will do poorly and it'll be all my fault. What if they don't like me? I don't have a way with people."
"Hermione. Love. People love you. My family all adores you, McGonagall would adopt you if she had the chance, your colleagues all practically worship you, and you are quite literally the brightest witch of our age, in case the 800 times you're called that in a single day hasn't managed to let that fact sink in. You are kind, and patient, and most importantly, you love magical theory and technique so much. You are passionate about doing magic correctly, and I know that your passion will rub off on the students." As they arrived at the gates, George hugged her tightly and then kissed her forehead. Hermione smiled up at him bravely.
"Thank you, George."
"You are most welcome. Now, go on and get that junior McGonagall face of yours on, and go see if young Master Pasty has practiced his imitation of his godfather enough, and you two go and teach the hell out of those young minds!" George twirled and marched away, leaving Hermione laughing as she made her way to the school, where Draco was waiting for her, wearing robes that did indeed look suspiciously Snape-like. Hermione looked him up and down and then raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh come on, Granger. I'm a former death eater and 'one of those awful Malfoys'. I need to get some enjoyment from it." Hermione laughed and they went in to join their mentors and begin their days. Hermione was to begin the day in Charms with Filius, and then join Minerva after lunch for Transfiguration.
Filius had her demonstrate charms and help him correct student's wand holds, waving, and pronunciation, which gave Hermione a few emotional moments remembering that first Charms class with Harry and Ron, and then again whenever a student got it right and their face lit up and glowed with pride and excitement, as well as wonder on the muggle-born students' faces. When the older students came in, Hermione got to demonstrate some of her more difficult and intricate bits of wand work, and Filius praised her often on her ability to explain smaller steps to reach the more difficult goals. The first half of the day passed by quickly, and then it was lunch time, and Hermione sat once again with her fellow apprentices, and they discussed the strangeness of being among the adults now rather than being seated at their house tables. Draco in particular was having a bit of a strange day, as the new Slytherin students had all apparently decided that he was a sort of unofficial head of house now, and had made many attempts to introduce themselves to him.
"They actually like me, Hermione, not just toadying up out of fear, they actually want to be associated with me." Hermione smiled and bumped his shoulder gently as she sipped her tea.
"Draco, you're nineteen and cooler than they are, and you're also brilliant. Of course they want to be associated with you. Just watch, you'll be the cool Slytherin professor and you'll bring about a change in how everyone perceives the house system and how it labels personalities..."
"Whoa, Granger. You could've stopped at cool and brilliant and that would've been ok."
The whole table laughed, and then Minerva and Hermione walked to the Transfiguration classroom together and commenced on the last half of the day. All afternoon, they worked with the first, second, third, and fourth year students, performing transfigurations ranging from quills to walking sticks to turning familiars into water goblets, Minerva's particular favourite. Minerva and Hermione hardly needed to confer with eachother at all through the lesson, as they had trained and discussed all through the summer (Minerva being equally passionate about exact technique) and could work almost seamlessly together. Students leaving their classes were exhausted, as they often got carried away with the lesson and drilled the students until they could have performed the spells in their sleep. Like Minerva, Hermione was deemed by the students to be fairly no-nonsense, but in her youth they found a much softer instructor, and they weren't in the least bit afraid to ask her for help.
When the last student filed out, Minerva and Filius and Hermione enjoyed tea together and discussed the day's work happily. The day had been long and exhausting, but their tea refreshed them, as well as the older professors' enjoyment at having someone as skilled as Hermione to work with and mentor. All three excitedly discussed future lesson plans and methods, and their favourite and least favourite students, and their own hopes for the year. When Hermione left the castle, she was tired but exhilarated, especially as she saw the familiar shape of George waiting out in the hallway for her.
George was surrounded by a small mob of students, all excitedly talking and laughing, as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was a legend among the students, and George himself a minor celebrity to them. They dispersed, still laughing and chattering, as Hermione approached, a few of them wishing her a good evening, and she and George walked out of the castle to a chorus of 'see you tomorrow, miss Granger' and 'thanks for the help today', and even, 'we'll go do our homework right now before dinner, miss Granger!' George chuckled and draped an arm over her shoulders, and they walked home happily, Hermione glowing with the energy of the day, and George proudly listening as his girl told him about the day she'd enjoyed.
All through making dinner, and through dinner itself, George and Hermione talked about their days, and then they washed the dishes together. It was a somewhat odd habit for a wizarding couple such as them, considering they could've washed, dried, and put away all the dishes magically without a single word, but they had decided mutually that they would share the task every single evening after dinner. When they finished, George sent the dish towels flying into a hamper to wash, and then scooped a laughing Hermione up, carrying her off to the bedroom over his shoulder like a cave man.
Afterwards, they cuddled, and Hermione reflected as she ran her thumb over his chest that it had been a perfect day. George held her tightly and kissed the top of her head, often, thinking about how lucky he was to get to share his life with her, and how when the time was right, he really needed to start planning how he was going to ask her to marry him.