The evening was marked by a small celebration of George's birthday. Ever since the loss of his twin, George had refused any mention of birthday celebrations. He had since relaxed that somewhat, to allow Molly to cook for him and for people wish him a happy birthday. He still refused parties and presents, never mentioning how much it hurt not to have Fred. But anyone who knew him, really knew him, could see it just under the surface.
Hermione was ever so glad that someone had cooked for her. She could, in all honesty, get used to not having to run a household. Dinner was delicious and Rose went to bed without a fuss. When she didn't wake as she normally did, Hermione was excited for a new milestone in her daughter's life. However, the circumstance, it was still a great achievement. She wanted nothing more than to tell Ron all about it, however, as soon as she thought about it, the thought left her mind. Ron wouldn't care.
She climbed the stairs at about 10pm looking for the one person who perhaps would think it's a big deal. She knocked on George's door and entered as he said, 'come in'.
"I don't want to talk about my…" he started.
"Rose didn't wake" she said, interrupting him.
"At all?" he asked, a smile on his face now.
"At all. She stayed asleep" she said.
"Well, that's a milestone isn't it?" he asked.
"It certainly is" she said, producing two glasses of mead from behind her back with a smile.
"Oh, good Godric Hermione you read my mind" he said, reaching for one of the glasses.
"To milestones… and…" Hermione said, holding her glass up, wishing to say something, anything, about Fred. George knew though. He knew how much everyone wanted so badly to honour him. It was just too hard.
"To Rose Weasley, the most incredible child to have ever walked this great planet" he said as they clinked glasses, and both took a long sip.
"Seriously?" she asked.
"Absolutely. Surely you know by now how smitten I am with that girl?" he asked.
"Yes, but… Playing favourites among your nieces and nephews?" she asked with a wink.
"Well if you don't tell anyone, I won't" he said, sitting on the edge of his bed and patting the mattress beside him for her to sit.
"You see Ron today?" she asked sitting on the soft mattress. It was far softer and much more comfortable than it looked.
"Yeah, he didn't give much away" he said.
"Bloody bastard" she said, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankle.
"Right you are. I could strangle him, honestly" George said.
"Please do" she said, looking around the room at the things he had hanging on the walls. It suddenly struck her that she hadn't ever been in Georges room before. And then, once that thought struck her, another thought struck her. She was in George's room. The same George, who, last time they were alone together, drinking, their lips attracted each other like magnets.
"I uh… I think, its not a good idea for me to be in here, alone, with the door shut" she said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Well, people might get the wrong idea" she said.
"There's no one here Hermione. Besides, we're just talking, right?" he asked.
"Talking? Of course. What else would we possible be doing?" she asked.
"I can think of loads" he said with a smile that she returned. In fact, she had already thought of what they could be doing whilst alone in a room with the door shut. She had thought about it, considered it and wondered if he was still a good kisser.
"You still think I'm smart?" she asked.
"Of course" he said.
"And funny… and… attractive?" she asked as he nodded.
"Absolutely" he said.
"So, if I wanted to be… not smart, just once, what would you say to that?" she asked.
"I'd say that sometimes we need to act on what we feel is right, rather than what we know" he said, looking to her face. His voice was husky, fuelled by, what? She had no idea. She saw his eyes glance down at her lips and knew he was feeling it too. The thing that always drew them close together. The magnetism. Like a string that was attached to them both at one end, that somehow, like an elastic, pulled her to him. She had had a school-girl crush on George in their Hogwarts days but when she and Ron became an item at the end of the war, she brushed it off, with the exception of the one drunken passionate kiss they once shared. Now that she and Ron had, for all she knew, broken up, she found herself wondering, wanting, eager to feel that spark. Eager to feel something.
She turned her body slightly and bent her knees so the foot of the leg closest to him was tucked under the knee of the other leg, whose foot remained on the floor.
Without giving herself time to second guess her choice, she moved forward and brushed her lips against Georges. Her hands had been bracing her against the mattress, unwilling to move, not reaching out to touch him, because if she did, it might make this more real. If she just kept her eyes closed and allowed herself to kiss him, just once, it may just be ok.
But of course it wasn't. As soon as she opened her eyes, she realised what she had done. As quick as it had begun, it was over.
"Oh Merlin, that wasn't supposed to happen" she said, pulling away.
"No, but it was nice" he said.
"I, uh, I should go" she said, getting up.
"No, Godric, Hermione, stay" he said, reaching out to place a hand on her arm.
"I think… Its probably best if I go. And we shouldn't be alone together anymore. Happy birthday George" she said, hesitating at the door, before she left.
"Fuck, shit, buggering fuck" she whispered to herself as she crept back to the room that was once Ginny's. 'Cursing, now am I?' She asked herself, feeling slightly manic.
Her heart was beating hard and fast in her chest and her mind was reeling. She could easily have stayed there, allowed their slight brush of the lips to build and grow and become something more. Could have allowed herself to re-immerse herself in the passion she knew George to be capable of. Could have felt his fingertips brush against her skin…
She stopped at the door to the bedroom on the third floor and looked down at her feet. She went to open the door, then stopped, removing her hand and turning back, walking to the landing of the stairs before chastising herself and bolting back into her bedroom.
The night was long as she laid there, unable to sleep, wondering if she had just made the smartest or possibly the stupidest decision ever.
AN - smart or dumb? Who saw this coming? What could this lead to?