Disclaimer: Alas, I still don't own Harry Potter, though my boyfriend is bringing me an adorable Harry Potter poster for my 21st birthday tomorrow:)
Chapter 18: A Long Walk Home
Hermione and George meandered through the streets of Ottery St. Catchpole slowly, not particularly wanting to return to the Burrow where they had to keep up their lies and deception. At the moment George was tracing patterns on Hermione's bare upper arm and she really didn't want him to stop. She wanted to sit on the couch in front of the fireplace surrounded by his family leaning slightly on his shoulder while he wound some of her long curls around his fingers, not hiding in the slightest bit their relationship.
"Do you think we should tell them?" She asked, looking up sweetly into his blue eyes. The expression on her face was so angelic that he wanted to kiss her, and he did.
"Tell who?" He asked, batting his eyelashes a little, playing dumb. She groaned.
"You know," she insisted.
"Don't they already know?" George asked. He did sort of have a point. Fred knew. Ginny definitely knew, which meant Harry probably did as well. Fleur had been beaming at Hermione suspiciously the whole weekend and even Penelope had winked at Hermione as they were heading out the door to the zoo. And if Hermione's suspicions were correct, Ginny definitely could not have let the day go by without gossiping about the situation to her mother. That really only left one person.
"Should we tell him?" She asked.
"I really don't see why we should. We could pretty much do whatever we wanted and he wouldn't even notice. I don't think you realize just how dense he can really be," George pointed out. Hermione stopped walking and put her hands, resolutely, on her hips.
"George Weasley, we have got to tell him sometime. And I, for one, think the sooner the better." She insisted.
"But we don't even really have time today," he pointed out, "We've got to leave on the train in two hours." He did have a point there, she conceded to herself. Though he usually met with the Hogsmeade division of the company on Mondays with Fred, he had agreed to escort Hermione back to London, while Fred stayed behind for the meeting.
"Why can't we just floo?" She asked, "Or apparate even?"
"Hermione, have you ever tried to apparating three hours away? I think you'd be pretty upset if either of us left any vital body parts behind," he said with a cheeky grin. Hermione blushed at the insinuation.
"Ok, ok, you win. But you have completely avoided the real issue at hand. Ron." Hermione stated. They had resumed walking and were getting dangerously close to the Burrow. She wanted to have this resolved before they got there and missed their opportunity.
"Well what are we supposed to say? 'Hey Ron, I'm screwing your best friend and the girl you wanted to marry. Now we've got to go before we miss our train. See ya around.'"
"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Ron, we've got to talk' and then maybe sit him down at the table and just explain that you and are seeing each other and we wanted to let him know because we respect him, but we'd like respect in return and the acceptance of our relationship," Hermione suggested.
"You've been planning that out from the very second we arrived, haven't you?" George said with a smile down at Hermione who was looking up hopefully at him.
"Erm, yeah," she admitted. He only chuckled at her and nuzzled his chin against her head.
"Stoppp," she whined, "you're making my hair frizzy." She tried to tidy it up, but she could feel the curls going out of control. He only laughed harder at her, which made her angry in a joking sort of way. She gave him a little push so he would stop messing her hair up further. Plus, they were coming up the walk now, and it wouldn't do for them to be seen with their arms around each other. Provoked by her playful shove, George scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder, and ran up the walk before depositing her onto the front step. She could not help but laugh a little at that, especially since being upside down had made her a little dizzy. The look of her standing there with her cheeks so flushed, her eyes dancing, and her hair wild was just too much for him to bear. He kissed her passionately, arms tight around her back to keep her from escaping. There was really no chance of that though, he realized after a moment, as she kissed him back deeply. They really were too wrapped up in each other to hear the tale-tell creak of the front door opening.
"What the BLOODY HELL is going on?" Ron screamed, standing there bewildered, obviously on his way to take the trash out before coming across his newly acquainted best friend and older brother snogging on the front step.
"Um, Ron? We have to talk," George said, looking at his brother worriedly. Ron turned around mutely, garbage bag still in his hand, and headed for the kitchen. George and Hermione followed. She was feeling quite sick to her stomach at the moment and she was completely livid.
"You stole my line!" Hermione hissed. It was quite an irrational thing to be saying at that particular instant, but it was the first thing to pop into her head. George gave her a worried smile, eyes wide with uncertainty, but didn't respond.
The little entourage, led by a red-faced Ron and followed by two very bashful lovebirds, burst into the kitchen where, it seemed, everyone was already gathered. One look at the situation told everyone else in the room what was going on and they all cringed inwardly.
"George and Hermione! Snogging!" Ron shouted, apparently not cognizant enough to form a complete sentence. The kitchen was perfectly silent for a moment as everyone else in the family tried to muster a surprised expression on their face. Suddenly Fred leapt up from the table.
"No" He gasped in a very good imitation of utter shock, "you bastard!" And with that he slapped his twin across the face. There was a sharp intake of air as everyone in the room watched the scene unfold. A slightly triumphant look spread over Ron's face. Suddenly, Hermione burst out laughing. She really had not meant it. She really wanted to take the whole thing seriously, but she could not help it. Everyone's faces. Fred's outburst. It really was too much to bear.
"Hermione," Ron scolded, still utterly serious, "you have changed." The statement was so severe, so overdramatic, so like a soap opera, that Hermione just laughed harder. She was laughing so hard now that she was crying, and then the laughing stopped and it was just crying, and she was being hugged tightly and warmly by the arms that were becoming so familiar. She wanted to disappear into them. She was tempted to just apparate away with George, and no one would know where they had gone, and they could live happily ever after. However, practically speaking, the only pair of shoes that she owned that Grace would admit were quite adorable was upstairs in her overnight bag and she just couldn't give them up.
"Ron, we really have to talk," George repeated as he rubbed Hermione's trembling back. Hermione looked up at Ron desperately and relaxed further into George's arms when he nodded his head.
Arthur quickly conjured up a couple extra chairs and Ron, George, and Hermione sat down stiffly around the table. The rest of the family members sort of wondered if they should be present for the conversation, but they were all dying to hear the explanation first hand. In a trembling voice Hermione told the story of how her and George had met. This time though, she added all the details they had conveniently "forgotten" before: the daisies, the Raspberry Tearoom where she and FRED had had their first kiss, the kitten, and yes, even the infamous Cosmopolitan a mere week before. When she was finished, she looked around the table to see 4 dreamy eyed women staring back at her, having 'oooh'd and 'aww'd throughout the tale, they were completely elated. Then Hermione's eyes landed on Ron. He still looked dumbfounded. Everyone waited for Ron to speak first, to see how he would react. Clearing his throat deliberately, he finally managed some words,
"Well, are you in love?" He asked. Hermione's chin dropped and George's face flared up in the Weasley blush. Neither really knew what to say.
A/N: You are all lucky that I have a Greek Poetry midterm tomorrow and want to avoid studying for it at all costs! Thus, I have written a new chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one. I really appreciate all your encouragement and support. The reviews I received last time I updated were lovely, they really were. I'm sorry for those of you were less than happy with me for taking so long to update, or those of you who were disappointed by the last chapter. I hope this one (and the next) provide a little more excitement. As always, please read and review! Thanks!