George Weasley

Hermione snarled as she scrubbed the desk. She could not believe George had been testing joke products in between classes and that it had blown up when she had tried to simply vanish it. Now she and George were stuck in detention. Worse, they had been arguing about each other's culpability when McGonagall stormed back in and scolded them for being loud. George had taken pride in being a nuisance, which ticked Hermione off. She scolded George for his sass, but he just shrugged it off.

"Now can we just call a truce?" he asked, holding out his hands to surrender.

Hermione eyed him suspiciously. "Why so you can feed me Canary Creams when I least expect it? Or jinx me when my back is turned?"

"I'm never going to be good enough for you, am I?" George asked, turning back to the stepladder and slimy window.

Hermione watched him return to his task. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing. Just forget about it and let's finish up here for the night."

Hermione was never one to let an interesting conversation drop. "I'm the one who isn't good enough for you," she protested.

George turned and looked down at her as she went into "full-on Prefect mode," as he liked to call it. "How exactly do you mean?" he asked.

She paced back and forth with her arms crossed. "Just because I like to study and read, you and Fred always make fun of me. And you test out your products right in front of me! You know I'm a Prefect; I can't just allow you to do that with no consequences!"

"Make fun of you? Hermione, we only want to loosen you up a little! Join the dark side and have a little fun!" he teased with a wink.

Hermione glared. "I'm only tying to get you to behave once in a while. Aren't you at all concerned about your future?"

George jumped down from the ladder, accepting the challenge she posed. "Honestly? Yes. We spent weeks making and perfecting the potions we needed to ensure that there would be no harmful lingering effects after the Puking Pastiles are used. I even joined Snape's extra-curricular Potions club to have access to the ingredients we needed. And I really hate to admit to you that I'm actually enjoying it, and I currently have an O in Potions. So, yes, I am in fact pretty concerned about that you blew up our supply of Puking Pastiles that we needed to have to open our own shop."

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, I am sorry that I ruined them, but can't you find another place to hand them out, other than right in front of me?"

George smiled. "Can't you just overlook our antics occasionally?"

"Can't you just behave occasionally?"

"Can't you just admit that our products are brilliant?" he asked with a grin.

"Can't you just admit that I'm being a good Prefect?" she asked with a smirk.

"Can't we just kiss and make up?"

Before Hermione could process his meaning, George kissed her gently, eliciting from her a startled misstep backward. George grabbed her around the waist to steady her, and Hermione involuntarily deepened the kiss as she grasped his shoulders for stability.

Sweet Merlin! She was snogging George! Hermione kissed him back with fervor, and George smiled against her lips as she parted them. He felt her fingers creep into his hair as he slid his tongue along hers. Neither of them could have guessed their pent up aggression for each other would end quite this way.

"Okay, you win," George gasped as he took a breath. "I'll try to behave," he promised with a wink, and Hermione pulled him back for one more kiss.

Eventually, Hermione breathlessly replied, "I'm going to hold you to that. Now let's get this done so we can get back to the Common Room."

George took her hand and headed for the door. "Let's just leave now."

"And ditch detention?"

"If I'm going to behave, it will have to start tomorrow. We have more snogging to do tonight, which may just convince you that misbehaving is more fun."

The rest of the week in detention wasn't so bad for either of them, once they came to an understanding.