Chapter 3: Taking it all in
Disclaimer: I own the plot, The rest is J.K. Rowling's design.
When they had made it down to the Great Hall, breakfast was already in full swing, and his twin was already stuffing his face. George just shook his head at Fred, watching him continue to place one spoonful of eggs after another into his mouth. It was times like these, that he understood where his little brother Ron got all of his eating habits. At one point he had lost her in a crowd, so when he scanned the rest of the hall, George found her sitting in between Harry and his little brother. Trying to keep the usual routine, he sat across from Ron and said morning to all three of them. He neither lingered on her good morning, nor treated her any differently then before, so Hermione remained clueless to the fact that he was the one who gave her the book that was currently sticking out of her bag.
As Breakfast progressed, the usual questions popped up between them both, leaving her in the dark, until he almost gave it away with the question he always asked her before they went to class, "What is the latest book your reading?" Without hesitation she replied, "The Book of Truth," and thankfully she looked down when shock covered his face at her blatantly announcing it. If she had been sitting with Ravenclaws, they would have been down her throat trying to get her to allow them to read it next, but with the two she hung out with, his secret was still safe.
The bell finally rang and they all hurried off to class in different directions. Throughout the day he couldn't get her out of his head, and wondered how far she had gotten in the book. When lunch finally came around, Harry was sitting in George's normal spot, so he had to sit next to her. It was the perfect opportunity to read the Table of Contents, but it could still give him away if he was caught. He knew the book said nothing about what another person would see if they tried to read it, but she might get suspicious if he just randomly took it out of her bag. Finally he got up the nerve to ask her to see the book, which she handed over enthusiastically. He flipped to the Table of Contents and was shocked to see she had only read one chapter so far.
"Wow Hermione, this is the shortest book I've ever seen you read," he joked with her. "It's not short, it's magical because I can only read one chapter at a time." "And you have only read one chapter so far? I would have thought you would have finished it by now." She turned to look at him before answering, "A good book is worth patience and understanding." He tried not to get lost in her warm eyes as she looked into his, but for some reason he was compelled to. She was the one to finally turn away and that's when he snapped back into reality.
Separating again until dinner, he made his way to Potions while she walked up to DADA with Umbridge. He wished he could go with her, because he knew how beastly the woman could be, but had to resign himself to the fact that he needed to be in class with the Bat. About halfway through though, Snape was called away for something, and Dumbledor took over the class. The twins looked at each other knowingly, and figured he had been called by the Dark Lord.
Dinner that night was uneventful, Hermione had been there long enough to grab a roll before she headed off to the Library for some research. When he went up there later, he found her secluded in a corner, the book in front of her and she had about a dozen other books scattered around her. He could tell from his spot that she was cross referencing everything she had found out so far. Finally, she leaned back and put her hands up to her face, covering her eyes. George longed to walk over and kiss her, but knew it wasn't the right time yet, not until she had finished the book. When she had, he would then be able to face her.