A.N. This story used to be called Christmas at the Weasley house but as Christmas is only in Chapter 1, I thought I'd change it.  Hogwart's Place is a reference to Melrose Place, since the characters are currently bed-hopping as much as the TV show characters were!! 

Be warned this story now contains SLASH!!  For those who don't like that I made this story slashy – Hey, come on, even Melrose Place had the resident gay guy!! 

Christmas at the Weasley house

George stared across the Gryffindor table at Hermione.  His eyes had glazed over, like he wasn't really seeing anything.  Hermione was chatting to Ron about the upcoming Christmas break and hadn't noticed George's stare.

George felt like he was seeing her for the first time.  He'd known Hermione for years, four and a half to be exact, and now in her fifth year, he was finally beginning to see her for the beautiful young woman that she was becoming.  Her long hair was a shiny dark brown and her brown eyes held a warmth and compassion that he found irresistible.  Her perfect nose was brushed with freckles.  George wondered if she had freckles anywhere else on her body.  His body reacted strongly as he thought about how much he would enjoy kissing each and every freckle. 

George was surprised at how much he wanted to hold her in his arms.  He wasn't used to feeling this way about anyone.  He had thought Angelina was cute, but this was different.  That was just a crush, this was…. what was this?  George wasn't sure but he definitely wanted to find out.

~*~

Harry and Hermione had been invited to the Weasley's for the Christmas break.  All six of them (Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Harry, and Hermione) were packed and about to board the Hogwarts Express. 

All of them entered the one compartment.  The twins' friend Lee Jordan was staying at Hogwart's for Christmas, so they decided to stay with the other four on the train. 

Ginny, Harry and Fred sat on one side of the compartment and Ron, Hermione and George sat on the other side.  George could hardly believe his luck at getting to sit next to Hermione, however joy soon turned to despair as he realised that she hardly noticed him.  She obviously just thought of him as Ron's older brother.

They played exploding snap and ate chocolate frogs and every flavour beans and laughed at Fred and George's jokes and in no time they were back at the station.

Hermione was grateful to be off the train at last.  She didn't know how much longer she could have ignored George sitting next to her.  She wasn't totally ignoring him - that would have been rude.  But she was trying so hard to talk to him as little as possible, because that would mean noticing how close he sat next to her.  She knew he just thought of her as his little brother's friend.

~*~

When they got back to the Burrow, they found that Bill and Charlie were home for the holidays as well.  Percy and Mr Weasley were still at the Ministry of Magic and wouldn't be home until 6 that evening.  Ron went upstairs to make sure his Chudley Cannons memorabilia hadn't been touched, and Bill and Charlie were wrapping presents upstairs.  Fred had gone into the room he shared with George and locked the door, so he could call his girlfriend, Angelina, in private.  Ginny and Harry were outside walking in the garden.

Hermione stood at the window, watching Harry and Ginny, but not really seeing them.  When she saw Harry tentatively take Ginny's hand in his own, she sighed.  Why wouldn't someone hold her hand like that?  Ginny smiled up at Harry and they continued to walk. 

George walked into the living room and stopped as he realised Hermione was in there.  He saw her staring out the window and quietly crossed over to stand behind her.  He followed her gaze and saw Ginny and Harry walking and holding hands, they stopped under a big oak tree.  Harry brushed Ginny's hair behind her ear, caressed her cheek and leaned in to kiss her.  His arm slid around her back as he pulled her closer.  George heard a sad sigh come from Hermione and realised that she wanted something like that.  He stepped closer behind her, so their bodies were touching and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.  He closed his eyes and absorbed the pleasurable feeling that holding her so close brought.

Hermione jumped when someone stood behind her and put his arms around her.  Then she recognised those arms – George.  She had tried hard to put him out of her mind but now she knew it was impossible.  She relaxed back into his chest and realised that she loved him.  She always would, and now she had reason to hope that maybe he felt the same way as she did.  Hermione pulled slightly away from George and turned around to face him.  His arms were still around her and she put her arms around his waist and hugged him.  He hugged her back and then his fingers were guiding her face up towards his and they kissed.  Neither of them had ever felt anything like it.  It was soft and gentle at first and then became more passionate and fiery.   They clung to one another, oblivious to their surroundings, and to the people now entering the room.

Ginny and Harry were back from their walk.  They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw George and Hermione kissing.  Ron was coming down the stairs and Harry signalled to him to be quiet.  Ron gaped, unable to believe what he was seeing.  He tiptoed back upstairs to get Fred, Bill and Charlie.  The four of them came downstairs and all of them stared in amazement. 

Suddenly Mrs Weasley came into the room, carrying a stack dinner plates.  She saw George and Hermione and dropped the plates in shock.  They landed with a tremendous crash.  Everyone jumped, but especially George and Hermione who blushed bright red when they realised they had an audience. 

Charlie pulled out his wand and muttered "Reparo!" and the pieces of the plates flew back together into a pile.  Everyone was still just standing there when Ron realised that Ginny and Harry were still holding hands.  He pointed at them and said furiously "Is everyone a couple here?!!"  He turned and stormed up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut.

Percy and Mr Weasley arrived home then and wandered into the living room.  "Hi everyone" they said.  Both of them couldn't help but feel the tension in the room.  "What's going on?" asked Mr Weasley as he kissed his wife on the forehead.  Mrs Weasley had recovered from the shock and informed him of what his son and daughter had been up to.  "That's great," replied Mr Weasley, "what's for dinner?"

~*~

Later that night, after dinner, George met up with Hermione outside down near a small pond.  He had handed her a note during dinner to meet him down here so they could talk about what happened.  She was sitting on a rock beside the pond when he arrived and in the moonlight, looked even more beautiful if that were possible.  He sat down on a rock opposite her, concerned that if he got too close, they might not get any talking done and he wanted to know where things stood with them.

"Hermione, I…I really like you, actually I think I might love you…" Idiot, thought George, don't scare her away!  George looked up at her and was surprised to see her smiling.  "I think I might love you too," she said, smiling mischievously.  He smiled back at her, "Actually I know I love you," he said gently.  "I love you too George," replied Hermione.  George pulled her up off her rock and into his arms. His arms tightened around her and he kissed her. 

~*~

All too soon the Christmas break was over and they had to go back to school.  Hermione for once was not eager to return to study.  She had cherished the uninterrupted time she and George had spent together and she didn't want it to end.  After dinner they had fallen into the habit of meeting down by the pond to talk and kiss and generally have fun together.  She would miss those times. 

On the train, Fred went off to find Angelina and Ron left to find someone who wasn't "permanently attached to someone else".  Harry and Ginny were quietly talking and George held Hermione in his arms and kissed her.

"Eww! Kissing a Mudblood, how gross is that!!"  George jumped up and charged out of the compartment.  He knew that voice, unfortunately everyone at Hogwarts knew that voice – Draco.  Hermione jumped up and was about to run after George when Harry pulled her back.  "Let him go, maybe he'll be able to sort Draco out once and for all".  Hermione sat back down, a sad, worried look on her face. 

Fred saw George charge past the compartment he was sharing with Angelina.  He stuck his head out the door to find out what the commotion was all about.  Harry was looking out to see what George was doing.  "What's happening Harry?" asked Fred.  "Draco said it was gross to kiss a Mudblood," replied Harry.  Fred looked just as furious as George and started off down the corridor after him.  Angelina came over wait for the twins to come back with Hermione, Harry and Ginny. 

Further down the corridor, the twins had caught up with Draco.  Crabbe and Goyle had seen the two furious redheads charging down the corridor and had fled to another compartment, leaving Draco alone.  The twins were now 16 years old and had grown into big, strong young men while Draco was still a skinny little boy.  Draco was cowering in the corner of the corridor, blustering on about reporting them to his father if they so much as touched him. 

George got as close as he could to Draco without touching him and stared menacingly at him, "You so much as look at Hermione again and I will come after you."  Fred nodded, "Me too."  George stared at him, "Got it?  You do anything to upset her and you will have both of us after you, and believe me, after that, you won't be able to tell your father what happened."  With that, Fred and George turned around and strode back down the corridor to their girlfriends. 

As soon as Hermione saw George she pulled him into a hug.  He held her tightly, not wanting to let her go.  It was almost scary how much he loved her after such a short time together.  He wanted to make sure nothing ever made her unhappy.  He kissed her on the lips and smiled into her eyes, "You never have to worry about that bastard again," he said.  "Thank you," Hermione replied, "but you shouldn't have gone after him like that."  Fred looked incredulous, "he insulted my brother's girlfriend, of course we're going to have something to say about that."  Angelina took his hand and pulled him down to sit next to her, "Hermione was just worried about George," she said softly. 

~*~

Back at school, everyone was amazed at what had happened over the Christmas break.  Conversations were breaking out all over the Great Hall about it during the evening feast.

"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley?  Are you sure?"

"Hermione Granger with a guy?  Who would have thought!"

"What do you mean George isn't single anymore?"

Draco Malfoy was staring down at his plate, too scared to even look up.  His brain was working overtime trying to think of a way to get back at the Weasley twins for humiliating him.

Ron was sitting down at the opposite end of the table, upset that his two best friends now had something better to do than hang out with him. 

To be continued……