Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a figment of my imagination
Chapter twenty: TruthHe kept looking at her hands in her lap. She tried to get him to look at her, but nothing seemed to be able to draw his atttention to her face.
"Come on...you could at least look at me...Why did you come here if you didn't want to speak to me or look at me."
He said nothing and bit his lip, keeping his eyes fixed on her hands.
'Why am I here.' he wondered.
He shouldn't have come after the way he had acted the last time he had visited her. But he couldn't help himself and when he had seen Vivian and his brother in their kitchen, bent over something supposedly for the shop, he had felt there was nothing else for him to do but visit Hermione in George's place.
As long as he acted like George, she would never know. But although he felt sure that that was the only way to solve this problem, the things Tess had said to him seemed to echo through his mind involuntarily. He lifted his head and smiled at her, the way he thought George would.
"Sorry." he said, surprised to heard his own voice sound so awkward. "My mind's just been a little occupied lately, what with everything that's been going on..."
"You mean with your lovely lawyer." she said with a hint of disgust.
"No!" he said hastily. "Vivian's got nothing to do with it. She annoys me actually."
Hermione looked away. She couldn't help but wonder why suddenly he had called that woman by her full name in stead of that nickname George always used for her.
"You haven't been too busy to make time for her. You hardly came to see me." she said testily.
He stood up from his chair and sat down on her bed. "I'm sorry. I know I've only come to see you a few times. And I don't expect flowers or fruit to make up for it. I just want to let you know that I love you. And I'm sorry if you have been feeling neglected."
She smiled uncertainly. She did have a few thoughts that crossed her mind right now, but she couldn't tell whether she was right.
"You were rather harsh to me the last time you came by." Again, her words came out testily.
He lowered his eyes for a moment, only to look back up at her a second later with determination. "I didn't mean to be. Please...will you forget about that? I can't bear the thought of you being cross with me."
She smiled and, after a moment of hesitation, placed her hands in his neck.
"Well...kiss me and I'll think about it." she said with a wink.
He hesitated, but could only comply when he saw the look in her eyes.
'And I'm supposed to be George anyway'. he thought vaguely when he leaned in.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"That will be two Galleons, sir."
He shoved the money across the counter and held out his hand to receive the small plastic bag holding the present he had just bought. He tried not to remember the feeling of a certain set of fingers working his shoulders or that soft whisper in his ear.
He walked out of the small shop and leaned against the wall and shook his head. He knew that he had been placing himself in situations he shouldn't have, but he came out on top in the end every time, knowing when to restrain himself.
Looking at the present in his hand, a feeling of guilt washed over him. He knew he had been spending more time with Viv than with Hermione. He could still hear Ginny scream at him the way she had done the last time had run in to her, because it had only been his second visit to Hermione.
Hermione didn't deserve that. Nor did she deserve him trying to push this cheap necklace from the hospital giftshop on her as a way to make up. She didn't deserve crappy gifts, because he knew there was nothing that could make up for the way he had acted.
He wondered though, why Hemione hadn't complained about him coming by so little. Apart from that grumpy face when he mentioned work with Viv, she never seemed to mind. But that didn't make his lack of attention any better.
He tightened his hands into fists with determination and headed towards the large set of stairs. He would barge into her room and shower her with attention as soon as he would get there. This determination almost made him laugh. He felt strange to realise and register all the thoughts that seemed to be flying around in his head.
He turned left as he had reached the top of the stairs and headed into the corridor ahead. There was a small group of elderly wizards standing around a notice board who looked at his concentrated face with curiosity, but he simply smiled at them and walked on.
Just as he reached the door to Hermione's room, he halted and straightened his jacket and robes, wanting to look as smart as possible. As he bent down to zip up the zipper of his left dragon hide boot, he was surprised to hear the sound of people talking from within the room.
He peeked around the corner, wanting to see who was there before bursting inside to surprise her with his gift in his hand.
"I can't bear the thought of you being cross with me." George heard a male voice say.
"Well... kiss me and I'll think about it." he heard Hermione reply playfully.
Just as George stepped inside, flourishing his gift in the air, he saw how Hermione was in liplock with someone else. With his brother.
He tightened his hands into fists, biting his lip forcefully. No sound came from his throat and without saying another word he turned around and thrust the giftbag onto the floor. The two people on the bed were too engrossed in each other to even notice.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"No, I don't want to hear excuses! I want things getting done around here!"
"Y- yes miss."
She watched as the young boy hastily withdrew from her office and she leaned down on her desk with her hands. She wanted nothing more than to be out of this office and over at her place where she could let her mind wander to more pleasant and appealing thoughts than lawsuits and courtcases.
She was thinking about that with such concentration that she hardly even noticed her walking towards the coatstand, getting her coat and bag. When she found herself staring at her cloaked mirror image in the window, she was momentarily taken aback.
With a self-complatent smile, she suddenly decided she was going to nip out of the office to indulge herself in one of those more appealing thoughts of hers. With the swish of her wand, she found herself in front of a door she recognised rather well.
Pushing it, she found it was open and so she entered, walking straight ahead to head up the set of stairs behind the door in the back. A sound coming from behind her on the landing startled her as the door to George's bedroom opened.
She turned around and didn't notice how her leafy green cloak slipped off her shoulders and to the ground in that movement.
"Viv..." George said surprised.
She looked at him and saw his face was red with anger...or tears, she didn't know which.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Nothin in particular...Just found myself outside your door, thought I'd come in."
She stepped closer and rested her hands on his shoulders, turning her somewhat vacant and complacent look into the more luring look she usually wore. George looked at her, trying to recall what he had seen that afternoon in the hospital.
But the mere thought of seeing Hermione kissing someone else...her kissing Fred, made him grind his teeth with a thirst for revenge he couldn't explain with logic. Vivian sensed he was confused and licked her lips temptingly.
Suddenly he rushed forward, pressing his mouth down on hers hard. Vivian immediately clasped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss passionately. Whether it was her walking forward, pushing him in, or him walking backwards, pulling her along, somehow they found themselves stumbling onto the bed as they tripped on the rim of the bed seconds later.
Her hands found their way to the button of his trousers, as an almost vindictive smile crossed her face. She hadn't expected to get to this point at all with him this soon. Not with Goody Granger in the background.
She looked at his face and smirked. By the look in his eyes he was confused. She liked them confused. Slowly she pulled down his zipper and slipped her hand underneath the denim fabric of his jeans.
He opened his eyes in shock for a second, realising this was something he shouldn't do. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair. But that same image of Hermione and Fred made him push logic to the side. He hardly cared about doing the right thing right now.
He kissed her again, almost violently this time, as he tried to dismiss the mental picture he kept seeing from that afternoon. He allowed himself to be absorbed in the moment too much to care. He wrestled Vivian's blouse off and grabbed her firmly, pulling her body close to his. She smiled again and grazed his neck with her teeth.
He moaned softly and grabbed her even tighter as his shirt seemed to vanish into thin air. She pulled at the legs of his jeans and he didn't try to hold her back. Now, only thin layers of fabric remained between them, acting as the last boundary.
She eyed him hungrily and pushed him down onto the bed. He complied willingly and dismissed any feelings of guilt or remorse as her hand slipped under the elastic band of his last item of clothing. He closed his eyes as a soft 'oh' escaped his lips.
She smirked and placed a peck on his lips, on his chest, on his stomach...
With a quick and nimble movement she tugged his last remaining piece of clothing down to place another light peck on the newly revealed skin.
Suddenly he whipped his arms around her, undid her bra and then pushed her down onto the bed instead as he kissed her pationately before slowly starting to grind his hips against hers.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He pulled away slowly. She didn't open her eyes at first, savouring the burning feeling on her lips. He cast his eyes down and waited.
"That...was amazing." she whispered softly.
He didn't know why but she sounded confused and almost surprised. He would have liked to ask her what she was thinking, but he felt it wasn't his place. After all, she was George's girlfriend and he was only pretending to be him, to be George. He was thankful that she still didn't seem to know who he really was.
She reached out and placed her hand to his cheek.
"I didn't really understand at first." she said. "But every kiss I share with you...is mindblowing. You make me feel whole...special...I wanted you to know that before I-"
She was interrupted by a nurse who bustled inside. "Hello dear!"
"Good afternoon, mrs. Medlycott." she said, quickly letting her hand drop into her lap.
"I came to remind you that you're free to go today." the nurse said with a merry smile. "Oh, hello mr. Weasley. Come to pick her up, then?"
He smiled. "Now that she's free to leave, I can hardly think of anything else but taking her home."
Hermione smiled softly but looked away. She wasn't quite sure what was crossing her mind right now, but it all seemed too confusing at the moment.
But before she had the opportunity to say something, her bags had been packed by a quick swish of a wand, she was asked to fill in a form and before she knew it, she was standing outside the hospital doors with her luggage by her feet.
She looked back up to see mrs. Medlycott wave at her from a window on the third floor. She waved back at her and then turned back to her companion.
"...Are you walking me home?" Hermione asked.
He nodded. "If you'd like me to. Why don't we drink a relaxing cup of tea at the shop first. It'll be nice and quiet..."
She stood on her toes and kissed him. When he looked at her, he saw there was a tear glistening in the corner of her eye. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but she cut him off and kissed him again so passionately that it felt like a goodbye.
He wrapped his arms around her, letting himself drown in this feeling he knew would never be his. When she let go, he took her hand and started to walk. She looked at him the entire walk to Diagon Alley. There burned something inside her and she didn't know how to handle it. It made her sad and yet very happy.
"Well...Here we are." he said suddenly and halted.
They had reached the shop sooner than either of them had expected. He reached out for the doorhandle but she stopped him.
"Wait..." she said quietly, taking his hand. "There is something...I need to say."
He looked at her curiously and tried to hold himself the way he thought George would.
"I think...that I'm in love with you..." she said even quieter.
Nervously he started to grin. "Well, that's a silly thing to say."
She shook her head and opened the shop door herself. Trying to keep her voice from breaking, she wiped away a tear.
"I don't think it is...Fred."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------