Extendable Eyes
By: politely cynical
Disclaimer: The characters in this story in no way belong to the above mentioned author. She is merely living vicariously through fictional entities. She asks you kindly to refrain from suing her.
Hermione arrived in the meadow near the Burrow with enthusiastic CRACK.
She was excited. She hadn't seen him in what felt like forever. She had been clinging to the moments that they had spent together. She had spent the first month of summer vacation reliving the flashes of their passionate, secret affair. The dark corridors at night. The whispers that just barely grazed her ears in the library. His fingertips ghosting up the front of her thighs, easing her standard issue uniform out of his way. They were all fleeting memories that she was tempted to experience once again.
She sighed and tried to keep the lopsided grin off of her face. She started her trek up the hill towards the Burrow.
George Weasley.
It was confusing at first. There would be a flutter in her stomach when he would meet her eyes. She would feel breathless when he would plop down next to her on the couches in the common room. His warm leg would brush up against hers, and he would toss his arm over her shoulders and offer her that trademark Weasley twin wink. She would feel dizzy from the contact and keep her eyes on her books. At first, she didn't know if he knew quiet the effect that he was having on her. And then one day, one wonderful, glorious, amazing day—He had kissed her soundly and pulled her body close to his. And she knew without a doubt, unequivocally that she wanted to be his and only his.
His departure from the school had been heart breaking. She had barely had time to think of it before she had been pulled deeper into the struggles that always seemed to surround her dear friend Harry Potter. After the assault on the Department of Mysteries, Hermione had a spent the rest of the year in the hospital wing. She had wished that he was there with her, and only had his letters to comfort her as she mourned the loss of Sirius Black. She had spent yet another stint of her life staring at the vaulted ceilings of Hogwarts' infirmary while she healed from her encounter with Antonin Dolohov, who had literally left a gaping hole in her chest with a well-aimed curse.
At the end of the year, the twins had been with Molly and Arthur to pick up the rest of the Weasley children. With the ease that only the twins seemed to possess, he had pulled her away unnoticed and kissed the daylights out of her in Kings Cross.
And after that short, fleeting reprieve, she had been sent back to her home with her parents and missed him terribly for the first month of summer vacation.
She smiled as the Burrow began to appear on her horizon. Finally she would see him again. She would be his again.
Molly's wind chimed tinkered cheerily as Hermione walked into the open doorway of the Weasley's kitchen. The room was basking in an afternoon glow. She could see brooms darting around the sky in the distance. She smiled and let her gaze sweep across the chaotic harmony that seemed to encompass the Weasley household.
Her eyes landed on the very familiar broad shoulders of her very own George Weasley. He was facing the sink and had mounds of dishes and pots surrounding him. His head was hung in shame and his shoulders slumped. She furrowed her brow when she heard a loud sigh pour out of him.
"You know that you're a wizard, right?" She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms.
He lifted his head and smiled, not turning around. Hermione watched as a very satisfying blush crept up the back of his neck. "Yeah. I'm in trouble. This is the punishment. I have to do all the cleaning like a muggle for a month." He called out over his shoulder.
Hermione whistles. "Poor boy." She crossed the room and leaned up against the counter beside him. He smiled warmly at her. His eyes swept across her face before trailing down her body. "You couldn't talk your way out of it?" She asked, trying to hide the fact that one glance from him had set her on fire.
"Not this time." He shook his head, looking guilty.
"It'll be okay." She glanced around the kitchen secretly, assuring that they were alone before she stood up on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. "I missed you."
His smile was intoxicating. "I missed you, too, Granger." She bit her lip and watched him continue to half-heartedly scrub dishes.
"Do you want help?" She asked, grabbing a dish towel from the counter.
"No, no, it's fine. I can do it myself." He insisted.
She looked at him pointedly before taking a plate off of the drying rack rebelliously.
George watched her closely. Just having her stand beside him was by far the best part of his day, his whole summer really. Today had been a god-awful mess. Even though he had taken every precaution against being discovered while he was setting up his newly invented device, he had been caught. His mother had yelled at him for half the morning, accused him of horrible atrocities, cried about where she had went wrong, and finally made him scrub pots until he thought his hands were going to bleed.
But now Hermione was here, and he hoped that he could breathe a little easier. The smell of her perfume filled his nostrils. He basked in the warmth of having her near him again. He had been feeling the void of her absence ever since he and Fred had blown up fireworks and flew off into the distance earlier that year. But it didn't matter now.
She was here.
"And now you've conned the poor girl into helping you. Honestly, George." His mother's voice seemed to sink into his bones. Surely, she wouldn't..
Hermione spun around, smiling brightly at his mother. "Hello, Molly!"
"Hello, dear." His mother pulled Hermione into a tight hug.
"Please don't be mad at George. He didn't want me to help. I insisted." He let his head fall back down in disgrace, and continued scrubbing. He didn't dare cast another look at his mother. Maybe she would have pity on him. She wouldn't want Hermione to know either. She would just let it go, let him finish out his punishment without making a big fuss over it. Maybe? He hoped and prayed for her to have mercy on him.
"And did my son tell you why he is in trouble?"
Or maybe she would just ruin his whole fucking life.
Hermione shook her head and glanced at George, who met her eyes cautiously.
"Would you like to be the one to tell her, George?"
"Mum, can I talk to you for a second?"
"You're not getting out of this one."
"I just don't think that Hermione needs to hear about –"
Mrs. Weasley reached into her apron and pulled out a tangled up mess of cords. It was obviously of George's creation. "I caught George putting this gizmo up near the bed you sleep in, Hermione."
George paled and brought a soapy hand up to cover his mouth in horror.
Hermione glanced at him warily before taking a step towards his mother. She took it from Molly's outstretched hand. She unwound the tangles and inspected it. It was a very long filament. On one end, there was a picture frame that seemed to display an image. The other was a very large non-blinking eyeball. Hermione pointed the eye towards her hand and saw an image of it appear in the photo frame.
She felt hot tears coming to her eyes. "It's like an extendable ear." She spat out.
She slowly turned to look at him. "Except it's an eye." She whispered harshly.
George met her gaze and nodded forlornly.
"And what do you call it, George?" Her tone was icy. She knew her nostrils were flaring and that if she were to cry, then her makeup would run. But at that moment she didn't give a damn about anything other than getting answers.
"It's an extendable eye." He told her plainly. He was terrified.
"Original." Her face was hard and stony.
"Hermione, I'm really sorr—"
She quickly cut him off. "What exactly were you going to use this for?"
He took a small glance towards his mother, who raised her eyebrows at him. She seemed to be daring him to try to lie his way out of it.
He racked his brain trying to think up some kind of plausible excuse. Anything. Anything to explain what he had intended. There had to be some believable answer that would put him in a better light in Hermione's eyes. Some kind of reasonable justification that would make her stop looking at him like he was a monster. He came up with nothing.
His silence was deafening.
"George Weasley, you are an undeniable assho…" Hermione trailed off quickly and glanced at Molly. "You're a stupid git." She finished lamely.
"Say whatever you'd like, dear." Molly said as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
"You're such an asshole!" She yelled at him. "I can't believe you!"
"Hermione, please, just listen." He reached his hand towards her. If his mother wasn't in the room, he could explain. It wouldn't be such a big deal. If it had been Hermione that had caught him, and, mind you, he had actually expected to get caught, then he could talk his way out of it. She would be mad, but she would get over it. But he could see it on her face. She was mortified at the implications. She was furious with him.
She jerked her hand away from him. "Don't touch me." She warned him. "I can't even look at you right now." She shook her head at him before storming out of the room.
"Fuck." He hissed under his breath as he watched her leave. He sat his elbows down on the counter and rubbed his eyes. They burned as soap got in them. "Fuck. FUCK." He yelled, grabbing at hand towel and rubbing it out of his eyes.
"Language." Mrs. Weasley admonished him.
"Yeah, I get it!" He yelled at his mother. "I'm awful. I already know!"
"You deserved to have her yell at you like that. Poor girl must be horrified. You were going to spy on her, George. What the hell were you thinking?" Mrs. Weasley glared at him.
He had heard it all morning. He didn't need to hear it again.
George shook his head and turned back to the sink and jammed his hands into the water roughly. Soap slashed all over the front of his shirt and trousers. He barely noticed. "Just- don't worry about it. Don't fucking worry about it." George muttered.
"I heard that, mister." Mrs. Weasley smacked him on the back of the head. "You keep that up and I will wash your mouth out with soap. Do not you test me."
"Fine." George clenched his jaw and held his tongue. He wanted to scream at her. To tell her that she had ruined everything. To tell her that it wasn't even that creepy because he had already seen Hermione naked and that Hermione hadn't minded at the time, and he thought it would be fun to see how long it took her find the eyeball.
And he wasn't even going to look at it! .. that much. And that it was none of her fucking business if he wanted to look at his girlfriend because he was a fucking adult already and she couldn't control him.
But he didn't say any of that, because his whole fucking family didn't know that he was dating Hermione and they didn't know that the two of them were really happy and they didn't know that he had already seen her naked… and they didn't know any of it.
He shook his head and stared into the water. His reflection stared back up at him. It was horribly disfigured by the soap suds that floated on the water.
Because his little brother was a jealous git. He hadn't ever made any kind of move on Hermione, but absolutely every time Hermione showed interest in anyone, at all, Ron made it his personal business to treat her like she was some kind of tramp. And there was no way that Ron would ever understand that George and Hermione being together had nothing to do with him. It wasn't a personal attack on Ron. It had everything to do with the fact that they had fallen in love during the Ministry's occupation of Hogwarts.
He scrubbed the dirty pot with more hostility than was probably necessary. He could feel angry tears building up behind his eyes, but he tried to ignore them.
His stack of pots were finally getting smaller. He had spent the better part of an hour trying to get baked on apple crumble from a casserole dish. He had a feeling that his mother had personally overcooked it just to make it more difficult to clean.
He heard the bottom step creak. He didn't need to turn around to know that it was the bane of his existence. He and his favorite brother had long since charmed that step to only creak for Mrs. Weasley. No one else ever seemed to notice that she was the only one that it effected. It had been their warning signal for years.
He felt tense again. He wished she would just get away from him.
"Are you going to sulk for the rest of the month over having to do a few chores?" Her voice was grating to him.
"…"
"Are you ignoring me now?"
He sighed loudly. "I'm not sulking, mum. I could care less if I had to stand here and do the damn dishes."
"Then what, George? If you're not mad about being caught, then why are so mad?"
He could feel it bubbling up to the surface. He had been trying to deny it all day, but it suddenly came tumbling out him. "I'm mad because she's going to break up with me now!" He yelled, turning around to glare at his mum.
She froze. Realization suddenly filled her eyes. "You and Hermione are dating?"
"Yeah. And until earlier, we were really happy." He couldn't stop rambling. The dam that the two of them had built to protect their secrets had broken. It all came pouring out of him. "And she's obviously not happy now. It's going to happen." He didn't have the energy to be mad anymore. As he admitted everything aloud, it became more and more real. He could feel depression seeping into him. "She's going to stay up stairs brooding over it and then she's going to come down here and rip my heart out. And I'm going to deserve it too. Because I'm a fucking moron." He finished solemnly.
Molly stayed quiet.
George sighed, wiped his hands on his soapy apron, and took a seat at the kitchen island. "I'm sorry, Mum. I'm so sorry. I know how it looked." He held his head in his hands. "But it wasn't like that. I just thought it would be funny when she found it, because she would flip out, but then she would think it was cool that I could have made something like that. And then she would realize that it was harmless.. And I'm so sorry about all of it, Mum." George wiped his eyes angrily. There was something about telling his mom he was sorry that always turned him into a sniveling child again. "And I'm sorry for saying the 'F' word again. I'm just upset." He muttered as an afterthought.
Molly nodded. "You never told me that the two of you were together, why did you not tell me? How long has this been going on?" She sat down next to him slowly.
"We didn't tell anyone." He threw his hands up. "Except Fred, but we swore him to secrecy."
Molly looked at him pointedly, waiting for her other question to be answered.
"Six months." George grumbled.
"Why would you go to all this trouble to keep it a secret though?" Molly looked confused.
"Because of Ron." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"And?" Molly raised her eyebrows at him.
"And he always acts like a creep whenever Hermione's with anyone, so we figured he was in love with her and would freak out if he knew we were together. And then you guys would get mad because it would look like we didn't care about hurting Ron, but it's not like it started like that, you know?"
Molly poured him some tea out of the kettle. "Then tell me how it did start."
"Mum.." George whined.
Molly suddenly froze and looked at him warily. "Unless it's something that you would not normally tell your mother." Molly deadpanned at him.
George smiled. "No, it's not like that. Merlin." He covered his face and blushed dark red at what his mother had insinuated and laughed a little. "It hardly matters now anyways. It's going to be over now." His smile melted off of his face.
"Just tell me, Georgie."
He tried to think of the best way to tell his story.
"Hermione was the one that inspired all of us to start Dumbledore's Army." He started. His blush remained scarlet. Molly smiled at him for the first time that day. She listened intently.
"She was amazing." He paused and swallowed the lump in his throat. "A lot of people joined because of Harry, but the whole thing was Hermione's idea. She knew that we needed to be trained and she found a way to make it happen. And I just—" George sighed. "I couldn't keep my eyes off of her." He admitted to his mother.
Molly's eyes watered. She took a tissue from a nearby box and dabbed her eyes, gesturing for him to continue.
"She knew that Umbridge was a fat cow. She pointed it out, actually. She even encouraged us to be a on our worst behavior, just to mess with Umbridge, you know? She was just so different from how she had always been." George smiled and shook his head, remembering. "I don't know if you knew about this, but Hermione has always really been on me and Fred about doing better in school and not playing so very many pranks. She's always tried to keep us out of trouble, you know?"
"I didn't know."
"And we had all of these—" George continued, before pausing suddenly and looking confused. "Wait, you didn't know? She told us that she was going to tell on us."
Molly smiled. "She's never told me anything about the two of you."
"Then why were we in so much trouble during Winter Break last year? How did you know about the Skivving Snackboxes?"
"I received a letter from the school, George."
George laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe she didn't tell on us. She threatened us with that for weeks last year." He smiled into his hand. "It's like my whole life is a lie." Molly laughed at him and patted his hand. He continued his story. "Well, like I was saying. We had all of these meetings for DA. And Harry wasn't the only one teaching, Hermione taught plenty too. She would stay there for hours and help us all get the spells right, and she would spend weekends making lesson plans for all of us. And we were really learning." He took a sip of his tea, trying to think of how to continue. "I.. I just started coming in to the meetings earlier. And then she started staying later. And before I knew it, I wasn't pulling pranks for the sheer joy of pulling a prank, but instead I was trying to impress her by pissing off Umbridge with something new every week."
George wiped a rogue tear that had rolled down his cheek hastily. "And she was just so kind, Mum. She was so brave and so pretty, and so kind to me. And I knew that I loved her." He looked at his mother earnestly. "And that there was no going back, or wondering what Ron was going to say. Because I couldn't stop the way that I felt about her."
Molly stirred her tea pensively. "Did she like you back?"
He smiled. "Yeah. She did." He paused and ran his hand through his hair. "We would always pair off on our way back to the tower. Everyone would sneak out and go a different route so that we wouldn't get caught. One night, Fred helped me arrange it so that Hermione and I were in the very last group. And I went for it."
"And..?" Molly was hanging onto his every word with a smile on her face.
"I kissed her." George said, looking awkward. "I didn't know how to tell her how I felt, so I just kissed her."
"Then what happened?"
"She kissed me back."
"That's so great, Georgie," Molly gushed, and hugged him. Her eyes were watering. "It's all so very romantic."
George smiled. "I know." His eyes watered again. "But it doesn't matter now."
"Oh, don't be silly, you don't know that she's going to break up with you."
"You don't understand, Mum. She's never looked at me that way before. She hates me. It's all over now." George stared at his teacup grimly. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers.
Molly sighed. "Finish your tea, take off your apron, and go talk to her. I'm springing you from dishes duty."
George looked surprised at his mother. It was very rare for her to ease up on punishments. "Really?" He asked hopefully.
"Just for tonight." Molly amended. "Get your affairs in order before I have you scrubbing the floors tomorrow."
George winced.
"Girlfriend or not, George Fabian Weasley, you do not- I repeat DO NOT set up devices to watch someone take off their clothes." She scolded him sternly. "I didn't raise you to be some kind of pervert."
"It wasn't like—"
Molly glared at him. "You treat her like you are a gentleman, George. Don't hurt her by acting stupid." She spat at him very pointedly.
George nodded. "I promise. Nothing like this will ever happen again, Mum." He took his apron off, sat it down on the table, and walked towards the staircase. He tried to prepare himself. Before he could take the first step up, his mother called him back.
"Yes, Mum?"
"If she does break up with you, you'll tell me, won't you?"
George looked lost for a moment.
Molly's eyes watered. "I just don't want you to suddenly be all grown up and me not know a single thing about you anymore. I want to know you, George."
"I'll tell you." He hugged his mom around her middle. He had to hunch over uncomfortably to hug her like he wasn't a foot taller than her, but he made the sacrifice. It reminded him of being little, wrapped up in his mum's arms.
"You can tell me things, George." Molly said when she pulled back from him.
"Are you going to tell the rest of the family about us?" George asked.
"I'll just wait for you to tell them." Molly said wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Your secret is safe with me."
George smiled. "Thank you."
"Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes, okay? Will you round every up after you're done talking?" She started clattering around the kitchen with pots and pans.
"Yeah. Unless, of course, Hermione kicks my ass to the curb." George joked. "Then you're on your own."
He heard his mom snort. "Language, George."
"I know, Mum." He called back over his shoulder as he ascended the stairs.
Molly stared after him after he left, holding her hand to her heart. She wiped her eyes one last time and fixed dinner. "What a sweet boy."
Ginny's door was closed. George glanced out the window at the end of the hallway to see brooms jetting back and forth across the sky. He hoped Ginny was with the others. He didn't want an audience for whatever was about to happen. He knocked lightly on the door and waited.
"Yes?"
He took a deep breath and opened the door. Hermione was sitting on her bed flipping through a book. Ginny's shelves, which normally held an assortment of stuffed animals looked wrong somehow.
He sighed when the answer dawned on him. She had went through all of Ginny's shelves to make sure there weren't any more Extendable Eyes scattered around.
She looked up from her book and stared a hole through him.
"Can I come in and sit down?" George asked, his voice shaking only slightly.
Hermione laughed wryly. George flinched at the sound of it. "Asking my permission, are you? It's almost as if you care about my privacy." She spat at him. "Imagine that."
He gulped. "So I can't come in?"
"Come on in, George. But please leave the door open if you don't mind." She glared at him.
"You're mad." He stated obviously.
"So, so mad." She confirmed.
He nodded and took a seat on Ginny's bed, keeping his distance from Hermione. "Do you mind if I explain?"
"I don't want to hear it." She wouldn't meet his eyes.
"Hermione, please. Just let me explain, and then if you want to end our relationship, then ... that's fine."
Her eyes snapped up to him. She was shocked. She quickly regained the furious momentum she had been brandishing and composed herself. "Fine."
His chest ached.
"I know that you're pissed." Hermione nodded in confirmation. "And I know that I deserve it." He picked a stuffed frog up off of Ginny's bed, holding it between his hands. "The thing is… I wasn't ever going to leave that thing there."
"Oh really? Is that so?"
He winced and stood up.
Hermione leaned away from him. He crossed over to the shelves near her bed. He put Ginny's frog in an empty section at eye level. "I was going to put it right here."
Hermione scrunched her eyes together. "There? That's idiotic, that's not hidden at all."
George looked at her insistently. "I know. That's the point." Hermione's face softened a little. Good. He was a least gaining ground. "Hermione… It was a giant creepy eyeball. There's no way in hell you weren't going to find it. You would have seen it instantly. At the most, you would have changed clothes like once in front of it." He could see her weighing out how bad it was in her head. "And I would have told you about it if for some ungodly reason you didn't happen to find it."
She stayed quiet.
"I could have made it smaller. I could have made it look like just another one of Ginny's stupid toys. I didn't." George insisted. "I'm not a creep."
"Why bother with it at all, then?"
"What?"
"Why put it up if you knew that I would just find it as soon as I got here?"
George smiled a little. "Because I thought it would be funny." He threw his arms up, exasperated.
He could see her smile sneaking its way onto her face. She was trying her best to still look stern, but she was failing horribly. "I guess… that's not so bad then."
George nodded and took a seat a respectful distance away from her on her bed. "So, are we over?"
Hermione turned towards him. He could swear he saw her stop breathing. "I don't want us to be." She said hopefully.
"I don't either."
She scooted closer to him, reaching up and placing her hands on either side of his face. He smiled warmly at her, his eyes searching hers, hoping this matter would be forgotten and forgiven.
Her lips timidly rose to meet his. He sighed against her. He was so thankful to be in her arms again, to feel her heartbeat next to his again. He eased his hand up into her hair, keeping it at the base of her neck. His other arm pulled her to him by her slim waist.
His body was on fire. He had spent the past couple of hours thinking that it would be all over. He was undeniably happy. He caressed her tongue slowly with his and ran his hand down her thigh. She moaned into his mouth. He smiled against her and slowly pulled away.
Her cheeks were pink, her hair was a mess, and she was breathing raggedly. She licked her lips as she watched him.
They both smiled at each other.
Oh right. He thought.
"Also, while I have you in such a good mood. There's something else that you should know."
"What did you do?" She groaned.
"I kind of… told my mother that we were dating."
"Oh."
"Is that okay?" He took her hand.
"Is she mad?" She looked uncertain.
"She seemed to be happy about it." Another smile melted across her face. "She said that she wouldn't blab to the rest of the family. And that I would be damn lucky if I could stop myself from messing it all up."
"Good." She licked her lips and started to move up to her lips. "You are lucky, Mr. Weasley." She whispered as she drew nearer.
George nodded, suddenly feeling shy. "One more thing." He started.
"What?" She said dramatically.
He ran his hand down the side of her face. His gaze was earnest. Her breath hitched. "I'm in love with you." He said resolutely.
Hermione beamed at him. "I already knew that."
"You know everything." George teased. "Why should I be surprised? I figured you might like to hear it though."
"I love you too."
He felt every dread, every unhappy thought that had ever graze his mind leave him immediately.
It was his best day ever.
Ohmygodomgomg.
Words: 5073.
It's over 5000! I am a champion. I have been binge reading Fred/Hermione and George/Hermione stories for like a month now. It's ridiculous how into these pairs I am. I have a giant file on my computer full of story ideas. I cried so much while I wrote this. I hope that you guys agree that George's conversation with Molly is just about the sweetest thing ever. I have a soft spot for that kind of thing. By the way, if this story is cliché… then I'm just cliché. I'm just going to accept it.
On a different note, if you find yourself uninspired to write a story, in need of some inspiration to jazz up your flirty dialogue, or are just suffering from a literary block, try this—Watch every chick flick dvd that you own. I've been taking notes. Really.
Also, thank you to Courbeau for writing lots of great George and Hermione fanfiction. I just read The Injunction and could not put it down for a whole day and a half.
As always, if you find any typos, or if you have any kind of problem with this story, let me know.