Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Chapter 20: Not Exactly What Hermione Was ExpectingHermione sat on George's lap in an overstuffed easy chair in the living room of the Burrow. He was playing with her hair, tying it up in "braids," though they were really just knots, and occasionally giving little kisses to the back of her shoulders. Hermione smiled and nodded as politely as she could as she listened to Penelope tell the story (for, perhaps, the twentieth time that night) of Carter's crush on a little witch down the street. It really was cute the first three or four or eight times she told it, but Hermione was getting sort of annoyed by it. In all actuality, Hermione was really ready to go home. She and George had shared a lovely Christmas day with the Weasley family, but all she could think about was the surprise George had warned her about as they were leaving Hermione's flat, which they pretty much shared these days. She was hoping her Christmas surprise would come in a tiny velvet box and involve something shiny and ring-finger sized. However, she was horribly afraid that it was nothing of the sort, seeing as how she'd stumbled across a rather large, garishly decorated box with her name on it in his linen closet the other day when she was searching for some clean bath towels. Unless there was a VERY large diamond ring lying in that box, she was out of luck as far as a Christmas marriage proposal went. Still, she was just dying to get home and find out. Finally, after several hours of telekinetically begging George to take her home, he got the picture. They excused themselves politely, hugging everyone once, and some even twice, and gathered up their presents to leave. Hermione headed towards the fireplace, knowing she could hardly apparate properly with the two glasses of red wine in her and an armful of presents, and George followed. He stopped her though as she reached into the pot of floo powder and whispered into her ear, "your place or mine?" in his most seductive voice. She laughed it off, despite the chill it sent down her spine.
"Erm, mine, I think. I've got some chocolate pie in the refrigerator to still finish off," she explained, though the real reason was that she preferred her own clean, nicely made bed to his, where the sheets had probably gone weeks without being washed and all his covers and pillows were thrown into a huge jumble in the middle. She did not say this out loud though, preferring that not all the Weasley's know just how well they knew each other. In essence, though, his place was really no place to be sleeping the night after getting engaged. Hermione's cheeks warmed up unconsciously at the thought, reminding her that she was not yet engaged.
"Alright, I've got to run by my place and grab something, but I'll be right over," George insisted as he nudged her towards the fireplace. As Hermione whirled home in the green flames, she repeated over and over in her head not to be disappointed if he didn't propose tonight at all. A minute later she heard the sound of him apparating into her living room and she knew she would absolutely be heartbroken if he didn't do it sometime.
"Hermione? Love?" He asked, looking around her empty living room. He peeked a head into the kitchen, where she was standing with a sort of forlorn expression on her face. "Ah, here you are. Getting some chocolate pie?" He asked, coming in and placing a kiss on her forehead.
"Well, that was sort of just a front for the sake of your family," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and smiling up at him coyly. She suddenly felt very pretty in the new navy blue dress she was wearing, which hugged her hips and swished just above her knees, and the confidence spilled out through her sparkling eyes. She hoped she looked irresistible and very marry-able.
"Oh, I know, but I've been thinking about it ever since, and don't you think we could have a little bit?" The PIE? He'd been thinking about the PIE ever since. Hermione sighed, but nodded her head and moved to retrieve the pie from the refrigerator. "Maybe we could play a game of Scrabble while we eat?" He suggested, almost nervously. Hermione stiffened up. SCRABBLE? He wanted to play Scrabble instead of propose? What the hell was wrong with her? Here she was in the very expensive dress she'd allowed Grace to pick out which showed way too much cleavage and leg for her taste and probably was horribly obscene for Christmas day with the family all in a not-so-subtle ploy to get George to propose to her and here he was-proposing all right- proposing a nice game of Scrabble! Hermione gulped and tried to hide the hurt expression on her face and she turned around, pie in hand. She was disappointed to find George having already bounded into the living room to get the board ready.
As she settled down to another round of their favorite game, Hermione tried to remind herself that this was Christmas and she was spending it with the love of her life and diamond rings were nothing compared to the love she felt in her heart, but she was, all in all, having a hard time convincing herself. George was not oblivious, either, and he was becoming more and more nervous about giving Hermione her surprise. She seemed flustered, a little lackadaisical, and almost sad. For instance, she was not putting up nearly as much of a fight as usual about his array of made up words, which was beginning to worry him. Usually she insisted on using words that someone other than Fred and George had ever used before, though he always insisted he learned his entire vocabulary from Dumbledore himself. Rather than fighting back energetically, she was consenting to let him use whatever word he wanted. Was she falling out of love with him? Was he about to make a big mistake?
"Hot chocolate," George croaked suddenly. Hermione looked up in surprise from where she was adding the 124 points she'd just received for some word George had hardly heard of and could never use properly in a sentence. It was, in all truth, words like this that made him love her so desperately, though he'd never tell her that and risk sounding so ridiculous. However, he did manage to sound like a dying man in the desert begging for water with his plea for hot chocolate, which was little better.
"Excuse me?" She asked, looking perturbed. Why was he acting this way?
"Can you get me some hot chocolate, please?" He begged.
"Right now?" He nodded eagerly. "But we're in the middle of a game, George." But the look on his face was so…so, well she didn't know what it was, but it was irresistible so she picked herself up from the floor, where the board was set up,and headed to the kitchen.
"I'll just think of a word for when you get back ok?" George called to her retreating back and she nodded in response. As soon as her back disappeared completely into the kitchen, George set to work.
Meanwhile, Hermione took her time preparing the hot chocolate, making sure the temperature was just right, that there was just enough chocolate evenly distributed throughout, and even adding a candy cane to the side so it would melt and make it minty, just the way George liked it. Doing this made Hermione feel very domestic and calm and happy and she realized even without a ring on her finger, she could still act like George's wife and make him hot cocoa just the way he liked it. When the cocoa was finally perfect, she carried them into the living room, eyes carefully poised on the steaming mugs so as not to spill anything on her beige carpets. When she finally looked up to meet George's eye she was surprised to see him red-faced and looking quite guilty. She gave him a quizzical look.
"Did you cheat while I was away?" She asked him suspiciously, eyes lighting up a little. George breathed a little sigh of relief, this was theHermione he knew. "Did you move the letters or change the numbers?" He shook his head resolutely but there was something so impish and mischievous in his eye that she knew something was up. "Well, did you play then? What'd you spell out? If it's whuzzit again, I'll not have it. I've asked everyone I know and none of them have ever heard of—" suddenly she was cut off from her mock tirade when she saw what he actually had spelled out. "Oh, my." She whispered. There, in those wonderfully romantic wooden tiles, George had spelled out "Will you marry me." Hermione's heart nearly stopped. All the time she'd been in a horrible grumpy mood and he had been planning this! She nearly attacked him with kisses and a moment later he had to push her away and a troubled look crossed her face.
"Is that a yes then?" He asked and she wanted to slap him and kiss him all at the same time. She broke into the biggest smile he'd ever seen and nodded her answer, though she fully intended on answering with her lips. He pushed her away again, much to Hermione's frustration. "I suppose I ought to give you this then?" He slipped something from his jacket pocket and with trembling fingers pushed a ring up her finger. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, just to make sure it was real. Holding him tight in a fierce hug she whispered into his ear "Take me to bed." He pulled back in surprise.
"But what about the hot chocolate?" Her eyes clouded over and he laughed happily to see the pouty look on her face.
"George Weasley, you are insufferable!" She exclaimed.
"Ok, ok, if you insist," he said with a wink, scooping her up in his arms and taking her to the bedroom.
A/N: Well darling readers, here is another update for you. The next chapter will be THE END. Please prepare yourselves now for an INTENSE last chapter. Hehe. It really could be made into about 7 little chapters but I'm keeping it as one for a very good reason, which I will probably explain at the beginning of the next chapter. I really appreciate your dedication, support, and encouragement throughout this story. I'll try to get the next (and last) chapter up soon, as I'm just doing some tweaking of it. Please review! See you all very soon!