Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.
Chapter 5: Exploding DaisiesWhen George woke up the next morning, he was still pondering Hermione. He could not believe that they had both been living in the same city for years now and had never bumped into each other before. As he showered and got dressed he wondered what his mother would say if she knew he was meeting Hermione for lunch. Mrs. Weasley had been distraught when Hermione had left. It was not about the proposal either, though everyone did expect Hermione and Ron to end up together. Instead, Molly Weasley felt like she was losing one of her own children. It was like the situation with Percy all over again, except she knew where Percy was the whole time. George sighed as he pulled on some khaki pants and a light blue polo shirt, realizing that he could not hide Hermione forever. Eventually he would have to convince her to come home with him.
At 12 o'clock sharp Hermione heard a knock at her front door. She had been pacing around her kitchen, wringing her hands, for the last half an hour. She took a deep breath before swinging the door open. There stood George, grinning like a fool with a bouquet of daisies in his hands.
"I brought these for you," he said bashfully. Hermione looked at the daisies suspiciously as he held them out for her to take.
"Are they going to explode?" She asked cautiously. He looked taken aback.
"Um, no."
"Turn in to creatures of any sort?"
"No."
"Strangle me in my sleep?"
"No!" He cried indignantly, though he had a smile on his face.
"Ok, I guess I'll take them," Hermione said with a smile as she accepted the flowers. "I'll just put them in some water. Why don't you sit down in here while I bring out some tea and sandwiches." She nervously hurried from the room while George took a seat on the couch, looking around curiously at her apartment. The first thing he noticed was how sterile it appeared. It barely looked lived in. The cleanliness was making him uneasy so he messed up the perfectly straight stacks of magazines on her coffee table.
"Well, I suppose it's a start," George said to himself. Suddenly Hermione entered the living room with an overloaded tray. She smiled nervously as she put it down on her small breakfast table. George left the couch, where he'd been awkwardly perched trying not to get anything dirty and joined Hermione at the table. His eyes widened at the selection she'd made up.
"I didn't know how you liked your tea, so I got some honey, milk, lemon, and sugar," Hermione babbled nervously, "and here are little cucumber sandwiches, liverwurst sandwiches, and some peanut butter in case you don't like the others." She pointed to the various triangle-shaped sandwiches on the platter. When she looked up to gauge George's reaction to the meal, she saw him laughing. "What?" She asked, scared she'd done something wrong.
"Hermione, it's just me. You didn't have to go to all this trouble. I would have been fine with bread and water. Seriously."
"Well, I just didn't know. I don't do a lot of, well, entertaining," Hermione reasoned.
"I can sort of tell. It looks like you barely spend your time here, let alone anyone else," George said laughing.
"Hey I like things clean," Hermione said surveying her immaculate flat, "you messed up my magazines didn't you?" She asked, turning to glare at him with her hands on her hips. George just laughed and started helping himself to sandwiches.
"Hey Hermione?" George asked through a mouth full of food, which painfully reminded Hermione of Ron back in their school days. "Where's Crookshanks?"
"He, um, died, last year." She said quietly before sipping some tea.
"What?" George exclaimed, spraying food across the table.
"Yes, George, all cats do eventually die," Hermione said in a play voice, like she was talking to a very small child.
"Even cats that are part kneazle?" He asked mischievously. Hermione gasped.
"How did you know that? No one else ever figured it out!"
"Hey, I am much smarter than anyone ever gave me credit for!" George exclaimed.
"Well, I guess some of your inventions are a tiny bit clever," she said, smiling despite herself. George grinned proudly. "But it could have just been Fred's intelligence all along and none of yours," Hermione added, with an evil little look in her eye.
"Hey!" He exclaimed. Hermione laughed aloud, something she'd been doing an awful lot since George Weasley had come back into her life.
"Can I ask you something?" Hermione asked tentatively. George looked at her through narrowed eyes but nodded anyways. "What's everyone doing now? I mean like jobs? Did Harry get into Auror training? And the Ginny and Ron…" She trailed off.
"Well Harry did get into the Auror training program, though he never actually took his N.E.W.T.'s. I think they figured they owed him after he brought down Voldemort and everything. They offered Ron a position as well, but he decided to take a little less dangerous route. He works as a Junior Financial Advisor for the Chudley Cannons. It's basically his dream job. He talks about Quidditch all day and gets tickets to all the matches. It took Ginny a while to decide what she really wanted to do after graduating Hogwarts, what with all the turmoil following the Final Battle, but she is nearly finished training as a Healer. She's already been offered a position at St. Mungo's in the Creature-Induced Injuries Department. I imagine once she's finished with her training Harry will probably propose to her." George paused, for a sip of tea, before continuing, somewhat cautiously. "Hopefully when they do get married, you'll be there too." He braced himself for another explosion from Hermione, but it didn't come. Instead she just whispered, mostly into her cup of tea,
"I hope so too."
A/N: I know this is a little short, sorry about that. I hope you like it though! Please read and review! Thanks so much!