This chapter was supposed to have a very different tone, but the story wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to. I struggled writing the chapter, and then I came across a video of the real life George and Hermione - Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, and it inspired a fairly strong change in the story. In addition to the two songs I quoted in the chapter, "Wild" and "Ooh Lah," are great listening for the chapter, both also by John Legend.
As usual, I appreciate the reviews. Feedback has helped me refine the story and just motivates me to do more. I saw two people review my story on TikTok (!) so I started an account - unchartedfic, so if you review there, tag me, and I'll follow you!
Thanks again! 3
"I will never try to change you,
I will always want the same you,
Swear on everything I pray to
That I won't break your heart.
I'll be there when you get lonely,
Keep the secrets that you told me, told me
And your love is all you owe me
And I won't break your heart."
"Conversations in the Dark," John Legend
February 20th, 2004
Knightsbridge
George would swear to the day he died that the most beautiful sight he ever saw was Hermione's eyes when they first opened after sixteen days in a coma. After a day in St Mungo's, she insisted that she wanted to recover at home. The Healers had protested - she was incredibly weak and struggling to walk, but Harry, in the end, made the decision. While with another Auror doing a security sweep, he remembered Broderick Bode. Bode, an Unspeakable, was murdered by a Devil's Snare (mistaken for a Flitterbloom) sent by the Death Eaters as a revenge plot, and so Harry decided that the security risk of Hermione remaining in St Mungo's was simply too high. Several Order members volunteered to stand watch over her flat while the danger was still being assessed.
Recovery was slow. George would catch tears of frustration in her eyes as she attempted to walk from her bathroom sink to her bed. Exhaustion consumed her small frame, she had little appetite, and seemed listless and despondent. In an attempt to distract her, he asked for the scheduled Order meeting to take place at Hermione's flat (Shacklebolt happily acquiesced), and Ginny suggested the Weasley siblings (including Harry, Violet, and Fleur) stay after for dinner to cheer her up, which George gratefully accepted.
Raucous laughter filled Hermione's sitting room after the Order meeting as the siblings bickered over what to order, and George noted that while Hermione looked weak, she also was engaged and seemed to be having a good time. By the time Charlie got back with the takeway, Hermione was making quiet conversation with Fleur and Harry.
"Charlie, mate, how much of that is for you?" Bill eyed the bags of food Charlie was holding. "Are you planning on leaving anything for us?"
Charlie laughed. "I got myself a chicken bhuna, lamb bhuna and prawn bhuna, mushroom rice, bag of chips, keema naan and 9 poppadoms. You lot can split a saag aloo."
"So not a lot of food at all," Ginny said sarcastically. "Or are you hiding a dragon in your coat and you're feeding him?"
"Do you really think I'd hide a dragon, Ginny?" Charlie shot back.
"Can you carry a dragon around in your coat?" Violet asked curiously, aiding Charlie with the takeaway containers.
"Some, when they're babies. Welsh Greens can be very cuddly and like hanging out in your pockets," said Charlie.
"Cuddly? Explains why he and Hagrid get on so well," Ron said under his breath to Hermione and Harry, who laughed. They began to pass around plates, and to George's great relief, he watched Hermione nibble slightly on a pakora. George wondered if Pepper Up Potion would help her appetite return, and made a mental note to research it after dinner. Conversation was, as usual, lively, and slowly George felt that both he and Hermione were relaxing.
"So, Perce," Ron began as he tore off a piece of naan, "rumour has it that you've been seeing a Quidditch player. Who is it?"
Percy flushed a shade of deep red to match his hair and tried to hide himself into his butter chicken, but the seeds of damage had already been sown.
"Oh really," George said mordaciously "Because I remember a specific former Ministry official telling Hermione she could do better than Quidditch players."
"She can, not sure why she's slumming it with you," Harry chuckled.
"Oh really? You better take that back before I regret all the Bludgers I saved you from," George retorted.
"You barely-" Harry began, but Ginny cut him off with a wave of her hand.
"Please tell me it's not that dreadful Mildred Selwyn," she grimaced, her disgust apparent. Mildred (of the Wimbourne Wasps) and Ginny had maintained a bitter rivalry for the past three seasons. After Ginny preformed poorly in a match, Mildred had told a reporter that Ginny was still on the Harpies because George was a partial owner. This led to Ginny decking her (accidentally, she maintained) in the middle of their next match, and the rivalry became instant tabloid fodder.
"No, it can't be," Violet interjected. "Those she is awful, she called me La Ghastly Grenouille two weeks ago when we beat the Wasps."
"A frog, because what, you're partly French?" Fleur asked. "Elle n'est pas très créative."
"J'espère qu'elle tombera de son balai," Violet responded to Fleur, before turning back to Ginny. "She can't, because she's apparently dating someone in the Ministry."
"Is it someone we know?" Bill asked curiously. "Did you go to Hogwarts together?"
Percy reddened further, sinking into his seat.
"Aha!" George exclaimed, pointing his fork at Percy. "So it is someone who went to school with us. Spit it out." Percy shook his head.
"If there's one thing I've learned after being married to Bill for six years," Fleur said, giving Percy a sympathetic glance, "they won't stop until you tell them."
"Smart woman," Bill murmured as he kissed her cheek before she eventually swatted him away.
"You all are unbelievable," Percy muttered. "I'm never going to live this one down. Fine, it's Oliver Wood." Percy sank further into his chair.
"Sorry, I think I misheard," Ron interjected. "Oliver Wood? Like Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood who was your roommate for seven years?"
"Oliver Wood, the bloke who tried to drown himself in the showers after we lost to Hufflepuff?" George added, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.
Percy didn't bother answering, and there was dead silence around the table for a moment. Harry and George exchanged glances, and then simultaneously broke into howls of laughter, which prompted the whole table to laugh uncontrollably.
"And I thought you and Hermione were the most bizarre couple," Ron chortled, holding on to George's shoulder to steady himself. Hermione cracked a weak grin.
"Have to hand it to you, Perce," George said, raising his glass to toast Percy, "you pulled off a prank that would rival anything that I did at school. I have never wished Fred was alive more than in this moment."
"So how is she actually doing?" Harry asked, rummaging around Hermione's cabinets for mugs as George put the kettle on. Hermione had excused herself to go to bed shortly after the siblings departed, but Harry opted to stay behind to talk to George.
George shrugged. "The healers said it would take time, and not to get discouraged — but this is Hermione, y'know? She gets so annoyed when she can't do something perfectly."
Harry set the mugs on the large wooden kitchen island and sat down at the kitchen table. "When are you going back to work?"
"I'm working from home right now," said George, "I don't feel comfortable leaving her at home alone - she's still struggling and they're still out there."
"Well, about that," Harry began slowly, "I managed to get the Prophet to hold off on reporting that Hermione and Ron were injured in the blast - security concerns and all - but now that Hermione's awake and home, they're going to run the story tomorrow."
"And you're about to tell me that you don't think Lestrange and company knew that they had gotten Hermione and Ron, two out of three of the best revenge targets, and this will encourage them and they're going to attack again," George said grimly.
"How did you figure all of that out?" Harry asked, surprised. "New product at the store where you can predict my thoughts?"
"I'm not a legilimens if that's what you're asking," George chuckled despite himself, pouring water from the kettle into the waiting mugs. "But I've known you since 1991 so I've gotten kind of good at figuring out where your head is at. Sugar, no cream, right?"
Harry nodded, and George put a mug in front of him. "Can't you do something to get it off the front page, like - and I'm just spitballing here - propose to my sister?" He sat down in the chair facing Harry, spooning sugar into their mugs.
"It sounds like you're approving of the union finally," smirked Harry.
"No, far be it to think you're worthy of my precious and only sister, but what is taking you this long?"
Harry looked mildly uncomfortable and shifted in his seat. "I don't know how to tell you this, but ever since the explosion, Ginny's been… thinking about Fred more. After he died - because of everything going on - she never really got to process it. She was so busy taking care of everyone else, helping me with Teddy - and I think its only really hitting her now. And I was going to do this whole big proposal before, but now it seems inappropriate."
"This is precisely the time, then," George said firmly. "She's in a world of pain of her own - this is the time to remind her that you're there and that you've built a beautiful family together and you'll be there no matter what the circumstance is."
Harry took a sip of tea. "I know you and Fred made fun of me for not being the most observant bloke-" George snorted, but Harry continued on, "But I'm really glad it's you and Hermione."
"So am I, mate. So am I," George responded, smiling at the younger wizard.
"And you say that you're not worth it
And get hung up on your flaws
But in my eyes you are perfect
As you are"
February 21st, 2004
Knightsbridge
George stood in the blue and white striped kitchen, attempting to decipher a recipe from a well worn cookbook he discovered in the kitchen the night before. He had noticed violet ink scrawled in the margins next to a recipe for cottage pie that it was Hermione's favourite (he assumed her mum had written it) and he was intent on replicating the recipe. As he sliced onions, he heard a small thud, and then a whimper, and he set off to investigate.
Hermione was slumped on the floor of the hallway. Evidently, she had stumbled on her way from her bedroom to the kitchen, and she was unable to get up. George extended his hand to help her up, but she didn't take it.
"I can't do this," she said in a small voice.
George's brow creased, and he sat down next to her. "Can't do what? Walk?"
Hermione was silent for a while. She was clearly exhausted and frustrated with the situation, and sitting in the cold and dark hallway wasn't helping her sour mood. "Do you ever have doubts?" She asked finally.
"What kind of doubts are you having, Hermione?" He asked concernedly.
"I don't know - if I'm ever going to walk again, if we're ever going to catch them," she paused, taking a breath, and then continued, "us."
The last word felt like a cold knife driving through George's heart. "I have a lot of doubts about things - I think that's part of being human, but I don't have doubts about us. I love you, and you've told me you love me, and that's enough for me."
"But what if I can't walk again?"
"I don't love you because of your ability to put one foot in front of the other, just like you're not dating me because I have all of my ears," he said, "and you're already taking steps. Yes, its going to be difficult, but you're making such good progress." He laced his fingers through hers, and she leaned against his shoulder.
"So you're not afraid of whatever comes next?" Hermione asked, her tone almost pleading.
"No," George said. "I'm not afraid. Whatever happens, we're together, and that's all I need to know. Whatever danger comes, we will go and greet it together, we will fight it together."
She stayed quiet, and so George continued. "Do you remember anything from when you were in your coma?"
"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close," she recalled, smiling wistfully. "You read to me. I heard some things - Jane Eyre…"
"Reading to you was like falling in love with you all over again, because when I read those declarations of love I wasn't seeing Elizabeth Bennett or Fermina Daza, I was seeing you, and I thought about all the reasons why I fell in love with you for the first time. And this time, it was even more magical, because I know how your nose wrinkles when I tease you, and the look in your eyes when I tell you how beautiful you are. Falling in love with you the first time was a solitary exercise. The second time was a glorious revelation."
Hermione looked at him in wonder. "But are you fine with this? Because right now I'm such a burden and-"
"You are not a burden," George said firmly. "There's nothing that you can say that can scare me, that will cause me to run off. I have seen the worst parts, but you're the only one who can make this decision. Do you love me?"
Hermione paused, and then nodded.
"Do you want to be with me?" He asked, and once again, she nodded.
His breath hitched, and then all thought escaped his brain. The dark hallway became a kaleidoscope of bright colours, and he heard himself saying, "then marry me."
"What?" Hermione asked, startled, and George repeated himself.
"Then marry me. This has to be the worst part, and we still love each other, we still want to be with each other. I was going to wait another month - but I see no point in waiting. What was that quote from that film we watched the other night? 'When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.' Yeah, that. I want the rest of my life to start right now."
"When Harry met Sally," Hermione smiled. "You're mad."
"You knew that the day you met me," he countered, "and you still chose to kiss me right over on those steps."
She laughed - a real laugh, the first time he had heard that laugh in weeks. It was welcome music to his anxious ears.
"This is absolutely insane," she said.
"The most insane," he agreed.
"We should be sectioned," she continued.
"Oh, absolutely. We're right dangers to society."
She shook her head. "This is probably unhinged, but ok."
George let out a cautious breath. "Ok?"
"Ok," Hermione said, still shaking her head, "I'll marry you."
George's eyes opened wide, his stopped breathing for a second, and then his world erupted into sounds and colours that would put his Whiz-Bangs to shame.
"I'm not worried about us
And I've never been
We know how the story ends
We will never break
Built on a foundation
Strong enough to stay
We will never break
As the water rises
And the mountains shake
Our love will remain
It's more than a good sensation
It's more than a passing fling
You are the explanation
Of what love really means
It's bigger than you and me
It's one plus one equals three
When we talk about forever
Then forever's what we mean."
- "Never Break," John Legend