I know, I know, and I'm sorry. I am not the most consistent updater, but I do hope you'll think this has been worth the wait :)

DISCLAIMER: I have never profitted from anything I have written - all rights go to Rowling; I'm just messin' around with her characters! :D

Chapter 11

Hermione Jean Granger had a difficult time concentrating. She was sat at her desk, leafing through the folder in front of her. She saw the words, but somehow they got all jumbled up and made no sense. She knew she was reading about Centaurs, but in all honesty, she had no idea what the folder said. Her mind kept drifting back to the kiss in the Quidditch clearing near the Burrow. They had stayed out there nearly until dinner, kissing and whispering soft words to each other. Hermione had never felt so close with anyone in her entire life. They had shared secrets, and Hermione had to admit that she had told him some things she hadn't even told Ron and Harry. Normally, Hermione would tell those two everything, but after the war they'd become rather protective of her; more so than they were in the heat of the battle. They sometimes worked extra hours if they got a lead on a wayward Death Eater, afraid that Hermione (or Ginny, or Luna, or Lisa) would be targeted – Hermione because she was a Muggle-Born, and because she was their best friend, the other girls because everybody knew they were close with them. For example, she hadn't told them that her new boss gave her the creeps. She hadn't worked there long – only a few months actually – and in the first few weeks, she had just been annoyed with his behaviour and manners. But as time wore on, she started to notice that he sometimes sent her lewd glances, and it made her uncomfortable. She knew that if she told Ron and Harry they'd be furious – probably start an investigation to see if others had complained and filed for sexual harassment and whatnot. And though George was not pleased – actually, Hermione would have sworn she heard him growl – he also knew that this was a battle she could fight on her own. Harry and Ron did too, but Hermione was still afraid they'd make something bigger out of it than it really was. They truly were the older brothers she'd never had – even though they were both younger than she was.
In the end, Hermione had enough and threw down the folder. 'Damn this marriage law, making me fall in love and not be able to concentrate' her thoughts jumbled together, all trying to come forth to the front of her mind. She amused herself for a little while thinking of her thoughts as people standing in a line, waiting to get an autograph or something; pushing and pulling, creating a chaotic mess in her mind. Eventually she realised she could get no work done today, and so she packed up her things and went home with the excuse of having a headache, and forgotten to take any potions to relieve the tension with her.

When she finally got home, Hermione quickly pulled down her hair and changed into some more comfortable clothes than her smart dress-suit-ish robes. She sighed in relief and went to draw herself a bath. She needed to relax and think all of this through. Her wedding was soon after all, and she still needed to find a suitable living-place for her and George, that wasn't too far away from Fred.
As she slipped into the hot water with sigh, she thought further about living accommodations. She ran through areas near the Burrow that would be good to raise a family in; they would want to be close to the Burrow, but not too close, and they wanted to live near Fred and Angelina… Just then, an idea hit her. She grinned to herself as she got out of the tub and went to get dressed comfortably, in sweats and a big t-shirt – which she had nicked from George.
Going over to her fireplace, she stuck her head in and called for Angelina. The two had gotten closer, so the social-call wasn't that much of a surprise. When the older girl answered, Hermione asked her to come through; she had something she wanted to talk about.
"'Course, Hermione, I'll be right there." She said. Hermione went out into the kitchen to make tea as Angelina tumbled through the fireplace.
"Angelina, I've been thinking about living arrangements. We both know that neither Fred nor George is willing to be apart since what happened at the Final Battle. But I also know that the two of us would like some privacy to raise a family and such." Hermione paused, as Angelina nodded.
"Then I came up with the idea that maybe we could buy a piece of land with either a big house on, so that we'll each have a wing, or two smaller houses beside each other. That way they wouldn't be apart, and we'll have privacy as well." Hermione smiled as she finished speaking; she thought it was a rather great idea, if she did say so herself.
"Hermione, that's absolutely brilliant. I think we should go for two houses; but maybe build a small lab for them to experiment in. Then our houses won't be destroyed if anything goes wrong. Merlin knows Fred tells me about some of their mishaps; I won't have it happen in my house I tell you." Angelina said, and Hermione couldn't help but grin. As much as both the women hated this law, it was incredible how Angelina sounded so much like a housewife already. They chatted a bit about where to live and how to protect it and such, before decided they would go looking for houses the next day. They also agreed not to tell Fred and George just yet.
"What a brilliant surprise it will be fore them!" Angelina said, and Hermione couldn't help but agree.
Angelina and Fred were going to be married at the 27th of September as it was well within the first term of Hogwarts, and Fred and George needed a little time to stock up on everything again, as the summer-holiday madness had emptied their storages quite a bit already. The left Hermione and Angelina precisely 31 days to find somewhere they could live, that they both liked and though could work out. So early morning of the 27th of August, Hermione and Angelina sat down to make a plan; lists of what had to be in the houses, where they wanted it to be, how remote, how much space, their budget – everything they could think of when faced with buying such a specific place.
"There must be space for a Quidditch field Hermione. I know you're not happy about brooms, but Fred, George and I all love it, and I'm sure neither of them will allow their kids not to love Quidditch." Angelina said, and Hermione was inclined to agree. She had heard the Weasley boys – and Ginny and Harry of course – rave on and on about Quidditch for hours, and she was quite sure that any kid of George Weasley was likely to be able to fly before he or she could walk.

With plans in hand the two sisters-in-law went in search of a wizarding real-estate agent. They explained their situation to the helpful witch that would be their realtor. The witch – Alexandria Channel – was more than understanding of it; her baby-sisters had been almost inseparable after the war. They explained what they wanted; two houses on the same land, preferably right next to each other, with enough space for the kids to fly around and play, but not very far from the Burrow or civilisation. They wanted people to be able to come over, but not unannounced so to say.

They spent most of the day looking at places, Alexandria giving them every detail of the houses they went through. As both Angelina and Hermione knew they would have to get Fred and George to agree to the places too, they wrote down the addresses and details of the places they liked, to come back and look at it again with them later.
The last place they went to though seemed to trump them all. Hermione looked at Angelina and found her looking back at her. Both their eyes were wide, and they seemed to have the same thought: 'This is the place'.

In between hills, a fairly large ground stretched out. It was remote, Muggles wouldn't easily come by it, but it was still close to the little village, Ottery St. Catchpole, and the Burrow. There were two small houses build down there, on the outskirts of the land, front porches facing the grounds. It wasn't so big it would become hard to manage with everyone working full-time jobs, but it was large enough that 8 kids could run around, growing up playing Quidditch and all sorts of other games. There was a small pond not unlike the one at the Burrow, and in between the two houses there was a shed of some sort.
"This was owned by an elderly couple. They got sick though, so their son and his wife came to look after them, but then wanted their own space. So they build the second house, a replica of the original, and moved in. When the elderly couple died, the son didn't want to stay anymore, too many memories I think, and so they moved out again." Alexandria explained. Hermione nodded, writing the things down Alexandria said, as Angelina asked questions.
They went inside to see the houses, and Hermione and Angelina immediately fell in love with them. They were both two stories high; the ground floor held a combined kitchen/dining room; taking after the muggle version of an isle in the middle so that the kitchen was open, a living room, a laundry room, the master bedroom and master bathroom. Both houses had a front and back porch. When you went inside from the front, you entered a small entry-hall. Right ahead there was the staircase to the upper floor, and through a door on the right, you entered the master bedroom. Another door on the right led to the master bathroom, which was also joined to the bedroom. An archway to the left led one into the living room. Big windows overviewed the yard and a fireplace was positioned directly across the archway. To Hermione's delight, there was a grand piano located to the left of the arch when you entered; she's always loved to play when she was home on vacation, and when she wasn't off to Hogwarts yet. The piano seemed to create a form of wall, and as such the couches and coffee table seemed to be settled in a little nook of the room. The walls were a light sandy colour, warm and inviting, and the floors were wood. In front of the fireplace there was a patch of marble flooring, probably to save the wood from soot and ash when flooing. At the left wall there were bookcases that Hermione could just see herself filling with all her books, and knick-knacks and pictures. To the right of the cases, a door led through to a laundry room. To the left, another archway led to the combined kitchen/dining room. The kitchen part of the room had a tiled floor, while the dining room part again was wood. The place was quite empty, most of the furniture having been moved out, but Hermione could see the possibilities. She turned to Angelina before they were even on the second floor: "Angelina, if we end up buying this place, I would very much like this house." She said. Angelina smiled at her and nodded.
"That would be fine. I can't see myself or Fred at the grand piano anyway." She winked at the younger woman and they laughed as they moved up stairs. The second floor had 5 rooms and a bathroom. The wheels in Hermione's head were already spinning; they had to have four kids, which would mean that she could turn one of the rooms into a study, and each of their kids would still be able to have their own room. The rooms were larger than what hers had been when she lived with her parents, but she could easily see them all becoming very cosy and habitable for excitable kids.

They viewed the other house as well, which was very much identical to the first, except that everything was backwards – the master bedroom and bathroom were to the left – and the living room didn't have a grand piano.
"We'll very much like to come back and look at this house again; maybe in a week? Fred and George have much to do now, with it being the last few days before term and all." Hermione said. Alexandria nodded, very happy with today's goings.
"That's great; I've been having trouble selling this place because of the second house, but you're just perfect for this place." She said as they made their way back toward her office.

When they got home, Hermione and Angelina were both tired, but happy with the events of the day.
"I say we just throw the notes from the other houses away, and take the Twins to look at that last place. It was gorgeous; perfect for what we need, and it even lines up with everything on the lists we made!" Angelina said, and Hermione agreed, though she wasn't about to throw the notes out; what if the Twins didn't like the place? Highly unlikely, but still…

Hermione was freaking out. She wanted to take the Twins out to see the houses as quickly as possible, because Fred and Angelina's wedding was drawing closer and closer, and they still hadn't finished the deal. But they were just so busy; all of them, that Angelina and Hermione were still keeping it a secret. To top it all off, Hermione's boss was being an ass and she felt like she was going to explode. So when George came to visit her apartment one Thursday evening, she was just about to blow up.
She threw open the door, hair standing every which way with a murderous look in her eyes, until she saw George standing there with an innocent smile, a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers. Her expression softened, and she invited her future husband inside.
"You look tense, Angel," He commented after he had greeted her with a gentle kiss. She sighed, eyes closed as she leaned against his shoulder. They had become a lot more intimate after their first kiss; they didn't shy away from affection, and often hugged.
"It's been a stressful week. By Merlin, my boss is driving me absolutely crazy! He keeps asking after reports I gave him a week ago! Honestly! Either that man is not fit for being Head of the Department, or he's just an imbecile jerk!" She concluded, working herself into a rage again. George led her to her couch, gently pushing her down onto it, while making reassuring noises in her ear.
"Relax, Angel. Sit down, close your eyes. I'll pour some wine," he got up and entered her kitchen. He was still not very used to where everything was, not being over all that often. But he managed to find to wine glasses.
Hermione revelled in the bitter-sweet taste of the wine as she relaxed further into the couch.
"I mean, not only is he asking for reports I've already given him; it's like he purposely gives me more work than I can possibly manage in my office-hours so that I have to stay late! I've worked late four days this week, four! And the work he's giving me, he's already given me once. I mean, does the man have no sense of organisation in his office!" She was ranting and she knew it, but she couldn't help it.
"Have you considered telling him that you don't appreciate being loaded down with work?" George asked her. She glared at him.
"Honestly George, I'm not looking for a solution right now. I've already told him this, twice, but that man's selectively deaf! I just need to rant right now!" What was it with men, and always coming with solutions for everything? Honestly!
"Woah, slow down! Don't bite my head off!" He said with an impish grin. Hermione sighed, aware that she was being unfair.
"I'm sorry Goofy, it's just been a stressful week, that's all." He just smiled at her.
"You sound tense. Lay down, I'll give you a massage," Hermione was about to ask him how one 'sounds tense' but decided she didn't much care at the moment. Instead she lay down as he asked, and let his fingers do the magic. She groaned as she felt that he was right; all the work this week had really made her tense.
"This is really good, George, thank you," She whispered. She hadn't felt so relaxed in forever.
"Don't worry about it, Angel," He told her softly. Hermione sat up when he finished working wonders for her muscles, and leaned into him. She softly told him about her work, and even if she felt that she could make a difference there, it was taking too long for her liking.
"Angel, you haven't even been there a month! He shouldn't be loading you down like this. I know you're very much capable of all this, but this is ridiculous!" He told her. She sighed.
"I know George, but it's this damn law! There's so many in my department that's getting married and taking time off for honeymoons, and wedding preparations and what do I know! It is very frustrating," her hand instinctively found her temple and started massaging it. George took her hand, and gently held it with his. Hermione sighed again, and breathed in the smell of him; so comforting and nice.
"George, would you like to sleep over? I mean it's late and," She trailed off, slightly horrified that she had asked him that. She could feel him stiffen beside her and sighed; he probably didn't want to.
"That'd be great, Angelina's visiting Fred, and I don't want to be there for that!" He grinned as Hermione grimaced. She was relieved that he hadn't just told her 'no', though.
"Okay then. Would you like to go and get some of your stuff? Like an overnight bag or something?" George nodded and told her he'd be back in half an hour tops.
He had just left, when she started freaking out.

You like? Personally, I'd like a place like that :D