"Hey," said Hermione sitting up in bed and staring at George, happiness evident in her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly waking up, noticing she was wrapped in his sheets. He spread his arm out and pulled her down so that she was lying against his body. Warmth radiated from her body to his, his ice cold heart finally beginning to warm up again. "Did you sleep well?" He queried, rubbing her elbow with his thumb. She sighed and nodded in response.

"I should brush my teeth," she said softly.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"Early," she said, "7."

"Bloody hell, why are you up?" He asked.

"I'm always up at 6:30," she said.

"How long have you been up, really?"

"Three hours," she said. He sat up and leaned against the headboard, as she sat up with him. He pulled her close to his chest and she leaned back into him again.

"Three hours," He asked. "Seriously?"

"Yep."

"And you've been staring at me for that long—well I guess that's believable," George winked. Hermione punched his chest lightly and laughed. She stood up and took the sheet with her as she did.

"You don't have to," said George with a mischievous grin. Hermione turned around and raised her eyebrow.

"I don't have to what?" She asked. George folded his arms over his chest and smirked.

"I mean its not like I haven't seen everything," he said, sitting up in the bed, hugging the covers left closer to himself.

"It's cold," she pouted, and proceeded to head towards the door she thought was his bathroom. It opened to reveal his closet. She turned around and looked at him.

"Bathroom?" She asked. He was in the midst of choking of laughter, his head buried in his comforter as he pointed to the other side of the room. She turned her nose up and walked into his bedroom confidently. He laughed and got out of bed, pulling his boxers up as he did. He then went into his closet, pulled out a bathrobe and headed towards where Hermione was standing.

"Here," he said, "It's probably long, but it's cold and those sheets are pretty flimsy." He smiled. Hermione tried to give him a glare, but she couldn't help but grin a little bit.

"Thanks," she said. "Turn around." George stared at her incredulously.

"Seriously?" He asked. She nodded. He rolled his eyes and turned his back to her. Hoping to catch her re—

"And away from the mirror," she added, moving him towards the door of the bathroom so he couldn't see anything.

"Are you quite serious?" He asked.

"Quite," she replied, pulling her arms through the robe and wrapping the rope tightly around her waist. She walked up behind him and turned him around, and wrapped her arms around his waist. She looked him straight in the eyes and he had both eyes closed.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"You didn't tell me if I can look," said George.

"You can look," she said grinning. He opened his eyes and his hazel stared down at her coffee brown.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hey," she replied.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Bloody fantastic," said George, smiling as he stared into her eyes. He rubbed her cheek softly with the back of his hand, and then moved it down to her chin where he lifted it up to capture her lips in a very soft kiss. She placed her hands in his hair and deepened the kiss wanting more, feeling butterflies in her stomach flutter higher and higher, lifting the both of them up into the clouds.

"George," Hermione whispered after a few blissful moments.

"Yes?" He asked, drawing her into her arms so her head lay on his chest.

"Can I have a toothbrush?" She asked. George leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He leaned down and opened one of his drawers and handed her an unopened toothbrush. At her hesitation, he realized how it looked, for him to keep a drawer full of toothbrushes.

"You don't have to explain," said Hermione opening the pack and furiously brushing her teeth. George noticed a change in her demeanor and sighed inwardly. His onslaught of women only led him to keep this drawer so that he could at least seem like the gentleman type, but unfortunately brought hints of the person he had become rather than the person that he was, and wanted to be once more. In love.

He exited the bathroom and headed to his closet where he put on some clothes and then went to the kitchen, intent on at least making some breakfast, so that he wouldn't seem so callous. Around ten minutes later when he had a pancake cooking on the stove, and a stack by his side. Hermione came in wearing her clothes from the previous night, but she looked freshly showered. She placed the pager on her belt and looked over at George who smiled at her. He pointed through the kitchen window at a barstool. She sat down and placed her elbows on the barstool leaning forward watching him cook.

"You can do that?" She asked. He smiled and looked up as he flipped a pancake over artfully and it did several rotations in the air before he caught it on a plate.

"I try," he said, handing her a plate. "How do you like your eggs?" He asked, cracking one into a bowl and beginning to stir furiously.

"I'll have what you're having," she said. He smiled and cracked another egg into his bowl and began to stir even more furiously.

"You know you can use magic," she said.

"Just because I'm allowed to use my magic, I don't have to whip out my want for every tiny little thing," he said pouring one half of the mixed eggs into the frying pan, "Even if it saves a bit of time," he winked. Hermione smiled, and then began to laugh as she remembered the night Molly Weasley had used the same line on both of the boys. Her laugh turned into a guffaw and pretty soon, she clenched her side as she remembered the sheer ridiculousness of that year. She thought of the swamp and the fireworks, the skiving snackboxes, and most of all, the exit that the two of them had made from school. George watched her completely fall over in fits of hysterics.

"I wasn't aware I was so humorous," he said, "anymore." He added hastily. Hermione shook her head and stood up, laughing even harder and trying to compose herself. George began to giggle, at first out of confusion only.

"That horrid woman," said Hermione, "The hell you drove her through that year." She began to pretty much go into a fit of hysteria as she laughed even harder. George soon joined her as memories of that year came tumbling back to him as well.

"The ban from Quidditch! To teach us a lesson!" George exclaimed after placing her plate in front of her and sitting next to her.

"The educational decrees," said Hermione, placing her hand on his knee to try to sit up straight.

"Some year," said George with a smile. "I'll never forget the sheer exhilaration of getting onto my broomstick and riding away to Diagon Alley." Hermione smiled at him and wiped her tears away with a napkin she pulled out of the napkin canister to her side.

"Do you still think about him?" She asked.

"It's hard not to," said George, his face beginning to show a hint of seriousness, "Merlin, he would have hated me."

"That's not possible," said Hermione.

"Not possible?" George asked, "I'm a suit! The very thing that we both swore on each other's lives we would not become. Yet here I am, a member of corporate America, working on Wall Street. I have a corner office overlooking the Hudson, my own stocked mini-bar, a secretary, people working under me, 40 percent of which I've had to fire. And now I'm being made CEO." George looked down at his plate. "How could Fred like me, if I don't like me?"

"I like you," said Hermione, "I don't think you've changed at all. You're still the same George I knew and loved, the same one whom I still love." She said. George looked up.

"What?" He asked, placing his fork down, noticing Hermione's hand was shaking and she bit her lip in embarrassment. She felt her stomach rise up to her throat as the inevitable hit her suddenly. She'd have to say it, but she'd been holding it in for over ten years.

"If you were really different, you wouldn't have forgiven me as easily. If you were a "suit" you would not have been as proactive in Anna's life as you have been. If you were any different, I don't think I could have so easily fallen back in love with you, or in love with you at all," she said, her breath shaky and her heart beating so fast that she thought she was going to explode. She noticed her fork clattering against the plate as she held it. The clinking of metal to ceramic continued as she waited for a response.

A hand placed itself over hers, keeping it still. She looked down at the plate, afraid to look into the eyes of the man she just admitted her love to. She felt her face grow warm and small tears began to form in her eyes, although she did not remember feeling like crying. She felt a hand under her cheek, lifting it up. Her eyes remained downcast as George lifted her face off. She noticed he was no longer sitting on his barstool but standing up in front of her. She noticed that she was no longer sitting either, somehow she had gone from sitting to standing and then just as quickly fell into his arms as he held onto her tightly, gripping the back of her head. She clung to his waist, as a child clings onto a security blanket, and felt his hands moving through her hair.

Yes, they had been intimate, but this felt more personal, like she was finally giving into him, finally being more honest than she had ever been for herself. She felt her spine tingle as he caressed her back slowly. All they listened to was each other's breathing, taking everything in getting to know everything about each other.

"Hermione," he whispered under his breath as he separated himself slightly from her while still maintaining contact.

"Mm?" She asked, unable to form any sort of coherent reply. Instead relishing in his hold.

"I love you," he said softly. She felt his hands stop as he cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. She found herself beginning to cry, her body wracked with sobs that were both violent and sudden. She felt herself crumbling into his arms, seeking strength and comfort, feeling both a sense of belonging and a sense of fear. Fear was soon overwhelmed with regret and she felt herself falling deeper and deeper until she felt his arms grip her tightly pulling her out of the hole she was falling into.

"Why do you cry?" He asked, rubbing her tears away.

"I suppose this is what happiness feels like," she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. She looked up at him and noticed a few tears streaming down his face as well. She reached up and wiped his tears away with her hand.

"Why are you crying?" She asked. He merely said nothing but he leaned down and kissed her. This was not a kiss of passion, neither was it a kiss of desire, but it was full of love and gentle and soft. This was not a kiss Hermione had ever been familiar with, in fact, she wished she was standing in a meadow full of flowers with the wind gracefully moving around them and the only sound accompanying this was the rustle of leaves. Unfortunately it was not, they were standing in a high rise apartment in the middle of New York City while the soundtrack they had was the faint sound of honking cars and yelling pedestrians.

She found herself lost in the moment, her senses heightened. Time had halted to a standstill and she felt utter happiness work its way through her body. She had not remembered what it felt like to be in his arms, and now she realized what she had been missing.

"I'm sorry," she said as the two of them lay together on the couch, holding each other and staring into each other's eyes.

"For?" George asked kissing her forehead.

"Everything," Hermione said again.

"Hermione, relax, nothing you say is going to change what happened. And what happened showed me how impossible it is to live without you. Somehow you became a part of me and replaced a lot of the empty wound that was left after Fred died. I realized I needed you more than anything, but I also needed time to become my own person. I needed to be independent so that I could realize how much I needed to be with you out of love and not just necessity."

"I love you," she said. He returned by holding her even more tightly and kissing the top of her head. Moments later, she felt something close to her hip vibrating and she leaned back to pick it up.

"Buzzkill," he commented. Hermione laughed.

"I need to take this," she said apologetically pulling out her phone and stepping away.

"Go to the study," he said, "third door on the left." Hermione nodded thankfully as she made the call. He leaned back on the sofa, his arms outstretched a smile of contentment washing over his face. He thought about his future, what he would do tomorrow and the day after with his life. He realized that he would have to make a decision about work and New York, but he also knew that he wanted to begin the next phase of his life, and this phase would indeed include Hermione.

His musings then worriedly travelled over to Hermione's side of the story. Would she be willing to return to the magical way of life she had grown up with, or would she want to remain in the muggle world she had grown accustomed to? Surely they would make an arrangement, and the most important thing would be that Georgiana was in both of their lives.

He liked the sound of her name, Georgiana. It was quite beautiful and literate while maintaining a certain feel, he thought. There was something intellectual yet sexy about that name. He chuckled a little to himself as Hermione walked back in. She headed directly towards him again and lay down on the couch.

"I asked Emma to pick Anna up, she has a lot of homework to do anyway, and I took the day off from work since they asked me to come in on my day off yesterday. The attendings love me," she admitted, snuggling closer to him. He pulled up a blanket and wrapped both of them around it.

"Georgiana?" He asked softly while playing with her hair, twisting it around his finger contently.

"I read Pride and Prejudice while I was pregnant, and I would read it aloud to the baby because, I was guessing that she would like to read. And every time I mentioned Georgiana Darcy, she kicked or would turn over, and well I guess I always was sympathetic to her character. And there's the obvious," she said holding his hand and lightly stroking his palm. George kissed her softly and held her even more tightly.

"They're making me CEO," he said after a while. "One of the largest corporations in the wizarding world, and I'm going to be running it. Hermione sat down and looked down at him. He sat up as well.

"Wow," she said. "That's, amazing. Congratulations George." George smiled and took her hand in his.

"I'd like so much for you to come to the Christmas party next weekend. They'll announce it there. I mean I know its short notice, but I'll take care of anything you need, it would just really mean a lot to me if you were there to share it with me," he said holding both of her hands in his. Hermione looked up at him with warm honey eyes and he felt his hands start to shake.

"I would love to," she said throwing her arms around his neck tightly. He held her tightly as well holding on for several more moments. He parted from her slowly and moved a piece of her hair from her face to behind her ear and smiled. He brought her face closer to his and kissed her lips gently.

"I should go," said Hermione after a few tender moments of holding each other. "I have some major dictations I have to get done." George rolled his eyes and smiled holding her hand tightly pulling her close to his chest. She kissed his forehead and then got back up laughing as she did.

"I miss that," he said.

"What?" She asked.

"Your laughter."

"I'll send it to you on a tape," Hermione said, "That way you'll never be without it."

"Ha ha," said George standing up and following her as she left his apartment.

"Good bye," said Hermione as she turned around and kissed him. He lifted her up a little and spun her around.

"Good-bye my darling," he said. She finally left the apartment and George shut it softly, leaning back on the door while clutching his chest happily. He knew that this was insanely fast, but it just felt so right, he wanted to be with her forever. He had already waited ten years for this, why wait a day later? If he were willing to forgive her for keeping such a huge secret from him, wouldn't the little things be a whole lot easier? He shook his head with a smile as he walked back towards his bedroom. For the first time in his life, he truly started seeing things around him.

It was like that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps out into Oz and everything is suddenly in color and bright instead of the dreadful monotony of her life. He realized that his apartment looked like the Kansas scenes in the movie, and with Hermione being in his life, it was like opening his eyes to a world of bright color and joy. Of course there's no wicked witch trying to kill them, and they're both not trying to find their way home, although he felt like he could really use some of that courage at this point as he was nervous in really telling her how he felt.

He laughed as he suddenly realized he was comparing his life to a PG movie, and one that Georgiana was spending ages talking about only a few days prior. He then realized it had been days since he had gone to work. Everyone was probably wondering where he was and if he was alive. With the old George, weekends did not exist, but he had taken a half day Friday, a full day Saturday, and now it was almost 3 and he was still at home. Chuckling to himself, he walked towards his bathroom in order to shower, and then he would head in to work.

"So you two are back together now?" Jenny asked as they both filed charts Monday morning. Hermione shrugged.

"I mean I guess," she said, "It is what it is, and I wouldn't want it to be anything that it isn't, I guess," she rationalized. Jenny stared at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" She asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said beginning to giggle. Jenny smiled.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you laugh," said Jenny. "I'm sorry I blew up with you last week."

"Don't worry about it," said Hermione. She placed a comforting hand on the sad brunette. "You were upset about a lot of things, I understand." She smiled. Jenny smiled in return and then both of their pagers buzzed simultaneously. Hermione groaned and ran towards the emergency room, followed closely by Jenny. They finally reached the ambulance bay and were automatically greeted by stretchers and orderlies telling them background and trauma attendings barking out orders. Hermione groaned inwardly as she began to check up on patients.

"Natasha?" George said, pressing his wand to his desk.

"Yes George?" She asked in a simpering baby like voice, while charming and adorable when he first met her, only managed to grate on his last nerve this morning.

"Can you bring me a cup of coffee, and also the forms for the upcoming merger?" He asked.

"Of course Georgie," she said as he thumped his head against his desk. True she was hot, but other than that, there wasn't much else going for her. She was one of those, all the lights are on, but nobody is home types. He sighed and leaned back in his swivel chair, turning to face the window staring outside at the New York skyline. He closed his eyes and was back in bed with Hermione, holding her, kissing her lightly freckled shoulder, running his hands over her—

"Coffee, and Blake Sheldon called, he wants to set up a phone conference for next week after the announcement," said Natasha to the back of his chair. He turned around and nodded as she gave him that information. She handed him the folder of the papers and as she did she managed to bend over, showing him a gratuitous amount of cleavage. He raised his eyebrow, thoroughly uninterested, and kind of disgusted with himself that he would have reacted to that merely three weeks before. She seemed disappointed as she took back the other forms and headed back to her desk out front.

He never thought that he would see Hermione again, and that realization tormented him and threw him into a slump he never thought he would get out of. Relationships were out of the question, but he had needs as well and since he knew he would never feel something towards anyone as he did the only two people he had ever loved, he did not mind being a heartbreaker. He just wished that he hadn't lost so much faith in himself. Suddenly the door flew open.

"You have a daughter?" Natasha yelled as she re-entered the room, not even bothering to announce herself prematurely. George felt his stomach drop, so he did forget to mention this to someone.

"Natasha," he said, standing up. The ginger-haired bombshell was enraged as she strutted over to his desk and stood, waiting for an explanation while crossing her arms and looking over at him poutingly.

"Well, some little bimbo called saying your daughter needs you to pick her up from school because the slut is in surgery and she has a 104 degree fever," she said clenching her jaw and spitting out slut and she. George looked down guiltily. He really did not think through the five million repercussions.

"She's not a bimbo," he said, the all-too-familiar Weasley redness turning his ear warm, and he knew his face was red.

"Whatever," said Natasha, "Care to explain?" Suddenly the implications and message of what she actually said had hit her. Georgiana was sick and she needed him. He picked up his briefcase.

"Well, I promise I will later," he said touching her shoulder tenderly, "But I honestly should go and pick her up from school, tell Adam I will set up my meeting and conference in today. Also call back Hermione at this number," he handed her Hermione's business card, "And tell the hospital receptionist that I am picking up Anna," he said putting his blazer on. Natasha stared down at the ground angrily. He stopped for a second and put his hand on her shoulder and another under her chin and lifted her face to meet his eyes.

"Tasha," he said softly. She stared up at him defiantly. "You know that woman I'd speak of, the one who'd broken my heart?"

"The one who's name I never knew?"

"Yes, she's the one, it's her, Hermione. I love her, and I'm so sorry, I never realized I'd hurt you. Plus, you're such a young bright girl," he said with a small smile, "You deserve someone less grumpy—less old."

Natasha knew he was speaking the truth and sighed somewhat understandingly.

"Now come on dear, I've seen the looks between you and my head of the financing department, Milo, I don't deserve you," he said, kissing her forehead gently. "Now I have to go, hang in there okay?" George asked staring straight into Natasha's eyes. He squeezed her arm reassuringly and then ran out the door, practically rushing to make it into the subway so that he could get to his daughter.

He regretted stopping and talking to Natasha all that time, but a part of him knew it was absolutely necessary. After allowing himself a brief moment of self-pity, his thoughts turned to Anna. How much she had taken over her life had been unexpected. Merely within a few weeks, she was his life and carried his heart. He had fallen in love with the little girl and he saw so much of himself inside her as well as Fred. A smile crossed his face as he imagined a future with Anna and Hermione. Kissing Hermione every morning when he woke up, Anna coming in and interrupting them on Sunday, insisting that they do something. His smile broke into a full out grin as he left the subway station and images of a potential future flashed through his mind. He finally made it to her school and found the nurse's office. She was laying there in the dark, coughing and sneezing. He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her feverish head.

"Are you her father?" The nurse asked. George nodded, picking her up and holding her in his arms.

"I am," he said.

"Okay, just sign the form and I will have you two on your way," said the Nurse. After signing and as he was walking out of the building, he felt Anna's small arms wrap around his neck.

"It'll be alright," he said softly into her ear, "You're going to be fine." She replied only by coughing. He hailed a taxi while she shivered feverishly. He was confused, never actually having had experience in caring for someone when they were sick. As soon as they got into the taxi, George called Hermione.

"Hey," he said as she picked up the phone.

"George?" An unfamiliar voice asked. "It's Melanie, Hermione is still in surgery, and this one is going to be a long one unfortunately."

"I see," said George, "So I'll just take her back to my apartment, let Hermione know she's with me. I think it's just a cold."

"Okay, Hermione called in an antibiotic at the pharmacy nearest your apartment, I think it's the CVS right next to it? So if you could just pick up the medicine there, she says she'll reimburse you for—"

"No need for that," said George, "I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks!" She said, obviously distractedly, while quickly hanging up the phone. George clicked his small mobile closed, thankful that he had invested in one to begin with. Anna snuggled close to him, trying to take in some of his warmth as she shivered; her body heat was unbearably high. He stroked her arm comfortingly as she whimpered in obvious discomfort, periodically coughing and sneezing.

He left the cab driver a rather large tip as he picked Anna up again ready to take her upstairs. He couldn't believe she had fallen so ill so quickly, he had heard from the nurse that her teacher said she looked fine in the morning but suddenly succumbed as the day went on. He finally found his wand in his pocket and opened the door to his apartment.

"Where's mommy?" She asked as he lay her down in his bedroom, tucking her in under the covers. He placed a hand on her forehead and knelt beside the bed. Her large chocolate brown eyes stared back at her.

"Take a nap, I'm having someone get some medicine for you, but just go to sleep," he said softly, "Is there anything you want to eat particularly? Something for dinner?" She shook her head unhappily, tears cascading down her cheeks. He wiped some away softly.

"I want my mommy," she said, much to his chagrin. He knew that it had only been a short while since he had met her and that Hermione and others had been her entire support system. But unfortunately Hermione's parents had left after Thanksgiving to go on their month-long vacation in the Caribbean and Emma was in classes all day. He wanted to be there for her, but he knew that even though she knew who he was, he was never quite her father, biologically speaking he was, but otherwise, he felt somewhat cheated.

Of course he wasn't angry, he was more upset, and wished that he had the chance to really be more there for her. He should have actually sought Hermione out, but instead he threw himself into a life where he no longer was rejected or left alone, he decided when people were important to him and when they were not. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt and leaned against the doorjamb. He pulled out his mobile trying to think of someone he could call to go and pick up her medicine when his doorbell rang. He sighed and walked over to the door, beginning to dial the number of Emma, maybe she'd be free he thought desperately, opening the door.

"George," said Percy Weasley standing at the door, hand up, and ready to ring the doorbell again.

"Perce," said George, shocked he was here. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"It's the 16th of December, I haven't heard back from you about coming to see my son being born, so I thought I would actually check and see if you're alive, and well you are," he said angrily about to turn around and leave.

"Percy wait," said George, an idea beginning to formulate in his head.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I need you to do me a huge favor," said George, putting on his coat and scarf and checking his coat pocket to make sure his wallet was there.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Will you please stay here for 15 minutes while I get something from the pharmacy downstairs? I will explain when I get back, but my daughter currently has something that seems like the flu or something and she's in my bedroom trying to sleep at least, and I will be right back and will explain everything to you. It will all make sense," he said.

"What?" Percy asked again. "I feel like a parrot," he added to himself. "George, I didn't know you were seeing someone, let alone with a daughter," he said rushing inside.

"I will explain when I get back," George said tiredly, leaving a very stunned Percy standing in the apartment.

"Well I never," Percy said to himself.

"And you're sure she's yours?" Percy asked after George had finished recounting most of the story. George nodded with a smile.

"Yeah," he said, checking his watch. "I'm just going to go see how she's doing." He said heading towards his bedroom. Anna was finally asleep for the past few hours. He had gone crazy at the CVS, he had never been in one of those before but anything that said children's or had something that could help her, he bought. Percy had read the instructions out loud as he gave her antibiotics and then a little bit of the cold medicine so that she could sleep in relative comfort and peace.

"Hey dad," she said softly as he knelt by the bed. He pulled out the thermometer that he had bought earlier.

"Hey sweetheart," He said touching her forehead. Although she was sweating profusely, her forehead did not signal something that was entirely too warm. Maybe the fever had broken. He placed the thermometer under her tongue and waited for the digital face to beep.

"99.6," George read, "Okay, your fever is down. How do you feel?" He asked.

"Icky," Anna responded. George laughed a little. He looked up and saw Percy smiling proudly, leaning on the doorjamb.

"Anna, I want you to meet someone very important to me," he said. "This is my brother Percy, your Uncle Percy, if you will." He beckoned Percy to approach. Percy knelt down beside George and waved towards Anna.

"Hey," he said.

"I have an uncle?" Anna asked.

"Oh, many," replied Percy with a grin. "Also aunts, you have a lot of those, but one biological one." He said. At Anna's confused expression he added, "Never mind."

"Where's mommy?" She asked.

"Well, she'll be by soon," said George, "You know how busy surgery can get. And I think today is the day where Emma is in class the longest."

"I hope I wasn't too disruptive," she said. George shook his head.

"No, you weren't," George said sternly, "And I never want you to think that you're being disruptive, I love having you around." He said honestly. "Now go try to get some more sleep." He got up and headed towards the door, followed by Percy. He turned off the light and left the room, feelings of rejection beginning to dissipate.

000000

(A/N) I know awkward place to stop. I am also aware that this story is taking an obscenely long time to update, but I promise those who stick with it will be well rewarded :- ). Remember once again to review! And I love you guys all very much! :D