A/N: I'M BACK! W/A WHOLE CHAPTER! Okay, I won't make this too long. Woo-hoo! On w/the chapter! I love hockey! Friedrich's an ASS!!!
George acts very OOC, but I wanted to show him as being serious, w/o Fred, w/o having romantic intentions. I don't think it came across very well.
PS: Minor plot-hole-I'm not sure Hermione's learned about the kitchens by now, but oh well.
Drops of Jupiter
I avoided pretty much everyone for the rest of the day. I told McGonagall that I felt sick again, and then wandered the halls looking for somewhere to go. I couldn't go to the library, because I knew that would be the first place anyone would come to look for me. I couldn't go to the common room, because that would be the second place. Finally, I headed for a place I hadn't been for a while.
"Hello, miss, can I be getting you anything? Tea, cakes, anything?" I was mobbed by house-elves as I set foot in the kitchens.
"No, not today, I'd like to be left alone for a while, thank you though." I said, carefully wading through the small green mass towards the fire.
I sat down in front of it and brought my knees to my chest and stared into the fire. I felt so depressed, and I wasn't exactly sure why.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't see him until he practically crashed into me.
"Why, Ms. Granger! Whatever are you doing here?" A high falsetto cut through the clatter of the house elves. I looked up and saw the one person I really, really didn't want to see.
"Hullo Fred." I said sullenly. I looked back at the fire, hoping he'd take the hint. Of course, he didn't.
"I'm George. So what's the matter?" He asked, settling down next to me. "You can always tell us apart." He was chewing on a carrot, and offered me some.
"No thanks, I might choke on it." I said for no particular reason.
"Real ray of sunshine you are." He looked at me again. "Seriously, what's wrong?"
"Everything." I stood up and turned for the door.
He caught my arm, looking serious for once. "So tell me about it."
"I don't feel like talking." I said, wrenching my arm out of his grasp.
We stood there in silence for a while, staring at each other.
"Well then," George asked. "What do you feel like doing?"
"Crying." I sobbed, throwing myself against him. He dropped the carrot and steadied himself before we both went tumbling into the fire.
I waited for the "Don't cry, Hermione." "Smart girls don't cry." A stupid joke or something about how I won't be able to see my 100%'s if I'm crying.
He didn't say anything.
He just held me.
And that's just what I needed.
When I finally stopped crying, or at least reduced it to the occasional sniffle, he sat me down near the fire and said, "Do you want to tell me about it, or do you just want to sit here some more?"
"No, I want to talk."
Half an hour later, I finished with "And I think I'm in love with him, and you're the only one who knows."
George looked slightly jaded. Whatever he was expecting, this hadn't been it.
I looked at him impatiently. "Well?"
He sighed, looking at the fire, and asked, "What's the world to do when the level-headed go crazy?"
I smacked him upside the head. "I'm serious."
George looked at me. "So this whole thing started because Harry and Ron ignored you at the Yule Ball?"
I nodded.
"That's it, I'm signing them up for charm school." He sighed, pushing hair out of his eyes. When I gave him a dirty look, he shrugged. "Look, Hermione, what do you want me to say? I'm still processing the information. You should have talked to Fred, at least he's had romantic experience."
"I don't want relationship help!" I screamed. "I want to know how to fix this so I can go back to being level headed! Before all this I would never have screamed at you in the kitchens! I wouldn't have told you any of this before! And now suddenly I'm spilling my guts to the guy who's twin fouled things up in the first place! You'll probably go tell him now, and he'll find it so amusing he'll have to tell Ron, Ron'll tell Harry, everyone else will find out from one of you, it'll be all over the school, and there will be a whole big mess and it'll all be Fred's fault! If he would've just let us dance!" Whew. That felt good.
The house-elves were frozen, staring at me.
George sat there patiently, watching me. "Are you finished?"
"And exhausted." I swayed precariously. He caught me in his arms before I fell.
"Look, Hermione," George said. "The best advice I can give you, is come clean. It's like pulling a band-aid off. It only hurts for a second."
"Unless you pull it off too early, then you get an infection, which hurts a lot more than the band-aid ever did."
"Well, sometimes the infection sounds worse than it is."
"Sometimes all you needed to do was put some neosporin on it in the first place."
"Are we still talking metaphorically?"
"I'm not sure. Can you take me to Gryffindor tower? I'm tired."
(I fell asleep on the way there, so this next part is told by George.)
She was asleep before we even got out of the kitchens. I was amazed. I'd seen her go days without sleep studying for final exams, but suddenly she's falling asleep standing up.
So I did the only thing I could.
I picked her up princess style and headed for Gryffindor tower.
It never seemed like such a long way before, but suddenly I've gained a hundred-something pounds, so that does make it slightly harder.
Staircases were the hardest. Halfway up the third one, I was so exhausted, I sat down right in the middle of it, still holding her.
I looked down at her. More specifically, her lips. They had touched Draco Malfoy's. Twice. Once voulintarily.
Creepy.
I once heard mum and dad talking, about Ginny's crush on Harry. Dad said "I don't understand it. The boy's not even that handsome." and then mum said, "Love is blind to all those not in it."
I think that's what's going on here. There must be something more to Malfoy that Hermione sees but no one else in their right mind does. Or more specifically, she's going to see.
Uh-oh, I hear voices.
I tried to stand up as quickly as possible without waking Hermione. Quickly, I ducked behind a suit of armor, trying to become as small as I could.
"...and I swear, I saw him pull her into a broom closet."
Pansy Parkinson. The amazing dog-girl. Who's she talking about now?
"That's nothing. Blaise reckons she saw them dancing, then he kissed her in the Greenhouse during detention, only it was really cold that night, but hot in the greenhouses, so the windows were all fogged up."
Milicent Bullstrode. Damn her. And damn Blaise, whichever one she was.
"Like he would ever go near that buck toothed frizzy haired book worm."
I clenched my teeth to keep from shouting out something about their looks.
They walked on, talking about Fred and Angelina now. God, don't those stupid girls have anything on their minds but Gryffindor gossip?
Somehow I made it all the way back to Gryffindor tower without stopping again.
"Password?" The fat lady asked.
"Uh...sugar quills."
"Sorry, sweetie, they changed it a few minutes ago."
"Damn!" Why does this always happen to me?
Suddenly the portrait swung open. It was Fred.
"George! Where have you been? I was looking all..." He trailed off as he noticed Hermione. Then he grinned at me. "What have you two been doing all afternoon?"
"Shut up and help me get her into bed." I snapped.
"And will you be joining her after that?" He asked innocently. Really, he may be my twin, but sometimes I just want to kill him.
"Just grab her feet."
I refused to say another word until Hermione was safely tucked into her bed. Luckily, the common room and her dorm was empty, so no one else bothered us.
"So? What were you two doing all afternoon?"
(I woke up around here.)
"So, what were you two doing all afternoon?" Fred asked.
"None of your business." George snapped.
It took me a minute to figure out what they were talking about. I lay still, hoping they wouldn't realize I was awake.
"My, my, seems someone's a little sensitive about his new girlfriend." I could just hear Fred grinning.
"Look, Fred, I'm begging you, lay off. Nothing's going on between me and Hermione."
The door closed before I could hear Fred's reply. I hope for once he listens and forgets about this. The last thing I need right now is a rumor about me and George being together.
Just as I was falling asleep again, Parvati and Lavender burst into the room and jumped on my bed.
"Hermione, Hermione!" Parvati screeched in my ear. "Are you really going out with George?"
Any lawyers out there, I've got a question. Is there such a thing as justifiable murder?
A/N: You didn't think I was going to make things easy for Hermione, did you? '^_^' BTW, totally off-topic: Does anyone else think fondling is a really weird word?
George acts very OOC, but I wanted to show him as being serious, w/o Fred, w/o having romantic intentions. I don't think it came across very well.
PS: Minor plot-hole-I'm not sure Hermione's learned about the kitchens by now, but oh well.
Drops of Jupiter
I avoided pretty much everyone for the rest of the day. I told McGonagall that I felt sick again, and then wandered the halls looking for somewhere to go. I couldn't go to the library, because I knew that would be the first place anyone would come to look for me. I couldn't go to the common room, because that would be the second place. Finally, I headed for a place I hadn't been for a while.
"Hello, miss, can I be getting you anything? Tea, cakes, anything?" I was mobbed by house-elves as I set foot in the kitchens.
"No, not today, I'd like to be left alone for a while, thank you though." I said, carefully wading through the small green mass towards the fire.
I sat down in front of it and brought my knees to my chest and stared into the fire. I felt so depressed, and I wasn't exactly sure why.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't see him until he practically crashed into me.
"Why, Ms. Granger! Whatever are you doing here?" A high falsetto cut through the clatter of the house elves. I looked up and saw the one person I really, really didn't want to see.
"Hullo Fred." I said sullenly. I looked back at the fire, hoping he'd take the hint. Of course, he didn't.
"I'm George. So what's the matter?" He asked, settling down next to me. "You can always tell us apart." He was chewing on a carrot, and offered me some.
"No thanks, I might choke on it." I said for no particular reason.
"Real ray of sunshine you are." He looked at me again. "Seriously, what's wrong?"
"Everything." I stood up and turned for the door.
He caught my arm, looking serious for once. "So tell me about it."
"I don't feel like talking." I said, wrenching my arm out of his grasp.
We stood there in silence for a while, staring at each other.
"Well then," George asked. "What do you feel like doing?"
"Crying." I sobbed, throwing myself against him. He dropped the carrot and steadied himself before we both went tumbling into the fire.
I waited for the "Don't cry, Hermione." "Smart girls don't cry." A stupid joke or something about how I won't be able to see my 100%'s if I'm crying.
He didn't say anything.
He just held me.
And that's just what I needed.
When I finally stopped crying, or at least reduced it to the occasional sniffle, he sat me down near the fire and said, "Do you want to tell me about it, or do you just want to sit here some more?"
"No, I want to talk."
Half an hour later, I finished with "And I think I'm in love with him, and you're the only one who knows."
George looked slightly jaded. Whatever he was expecting, this hadn't been it.
I looked at him impatiently. "Well?"
He sighed, looking at the fire, and asked, "What's the world to do when the level-headed go crazy?"
I smacked him upside the head. "I'm serious."
George looked at me. "So this whole thing started because Harry and Ron ignored you at the Yule Ball?"
I nodded.
"That's it, I'm signing them up for charm school." He sighed, pushing hair out of his eyes. When I gave him a dirty look, he shrugged. "Look, Hermione, what do you want me to say? I'm still processing the information. You should have talked to Fred, at least he's had romantic experience."
"I don't want relationship help!" I screamed. "I want to know how to fix this so I can go back to being level headed! Before all this I would never have screamed at you in the kitchens! I wouldn't have told you any of this before! And now suddenly I'm spilling my guts to the guy who's twin fouled things up in the first place! You'll probably go tell him now, and he'll find it so amusing he'll have to tell Ron, Ron'll tell Harry, everyone else will find out from one of you, it'll be all over the school, and there will be a whole big mess and it'll all be Fred's fault! If he would've just let us dance!" Whew. That felt good.
The house-elves were frozen, staring at me.
George sat there patiently, watching me. "Are you finished?"
"And exhausted." I swayed precariously. He caught me in his arms before I fell.
"Look, Hermione," George said. "The best advice I can give you, is come clean. It's like pulling a band-aid off. It only hurts for a second."
"Unless you pull it off too early, then you get an infection, which hurts a lot more than the band-aid ever did."
"Well, sometimes the infection sounds worse than it is."
"Sometimes all you needed to do was put some neosporin on it in the first place."
"Are we still talking metaphorically?"
"I'm not sure. Can you take me to Gryffindor tower? I'm tired."
(I fell asleep on the way there, so this next part is told by George.)
She was asleep before we even got out of the kitchens. I was amazed. I'd seen her go days without sleep studying for final exams, but suddenly she's falling asleep standing up.
So I did the only thing I could.
I picked her up princess style and headed for Gryffindor tower.
It never seemed like such a long way before, but suddenly I've gained a hundred-something pounds, so that does make it slightly harder.
Staircases were the hardest. Halfway up the third one, I was so exhausted, I sat down right in the middle of it, still holding her.
I looked down at her. More specifically, her lips. They had touched Draco Malfoy's. Twice. Once voulintarily.
Creepy.
I once heard mum and dad talking, about Ginny's crush on Harry. Dad said "I don't understand it. The boy's not even that handsome." and then mum said, "Love is blind to all those not in it."
I think that's what's going on here. There must be something more to Malfoy that Hermione sees but no one else in their right mind does. Or more specifically, she's going to see.
Uh-oh, I hear voices.
I tried to stand up as quickly as possible without waking Hermione. Quickly, I ducked behind a suit of armor, trying to become as small as I could.
"...and I swear, I saw him pull her into a broom closet."
Pansy Parkinson. The amazing dog-girl. Who's she talking about now?
"That's nothing. Blaise reckons she saw them dancing, then he kissed her in the Greenhouse during detention, only it was really cold that night, but hot in the greenhouses, so the windows were all fogged up."
Milicent Bullstrode. Damn her. And damn Blaise, whichever one she was.
"Like he would ever go near that buck toothed frizzy haired book worm."
I clenched my teeth to keep from shouting out something about their looks.
They walked on, talking about Fred and Angelina now. God, don't those stupid girls have anything on their minds but Gryffindor gossip?
Somehow I made it all the way back to Gryffindor tower without stopping again.
"Password?" The fat lady asked.
"Uh...sugar quills."
"Sorry, sweetie, they changed it a few minutes ago."
"Damn!" Why does this always happen to me?
Suddenly the portrait swung open. It was Fred.
"George! Where have you been? I was looking all..." He trailed off as he noticed Hermione. Then he grinned at me. "What have you two been doing all afternoon?"
"Shut up and help me get her into bed." I snapped.
"And will you be joining her after that?" He asked innocently. Really, he may be my twin, but sometimes I just want to kill him.
"Just grab her feet."
I refused to say another word until Hermione was safely tucked into her bed. Luckily, the common room and her dorm was empty, so no one else bothered us.
"So? What were you two doing all afternoon?"
(I woke up around here.)
"So, what were you two doing all afternoon?" Fred asked.
"None of your business." George snapped.
It took me a minute to figure out what they were talking about. I lay still, hoping they wouldn't realize I was awake.
"My, my, seems someone's a little sensitive about his new girlfriend." I could just hear Fred grinning.
"Look, Fred, I'm begging you, lay off. Nothing's going on between me and Hermione."
The door closed before I could hear Fred's reply. I hope for once he listens and forgets about this. The last thing I need right now is a rumor about me and George being together.
Just as I was falling asleep again, Parvati and Lavender burst into the room and jumped on my bed.
"Hermione, Hermione!" Parvati screeched in my ear. "Are you really going out with George?"
Any lawyers out there, I've got a question. Is there such a thing as justifiable murder?
A/N: You didn't think I was going to make things easy for Hermione, did you? '^_^' BTW, totally off-topic: Does anyone else think fondling is a really weird word?