Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! PS. Regarding the names of the kids of other Weasley's: I just went with names I liked. I kept Victoire the same because I really like that name. Just a warning...this story almost entirely disregards the epilogue and most of what JK has said about the future of her characters [Some is the same [Harry/Ginny; Harry and Ron being Auror's…but I'm changing most. Obviously, because than Fred would be dead and Hermione/George wouldn't even be a possibility.] Hope that clarifies any questions/complaints!

Also, just a reminder…if you have any other questions, if I'm not making anything clear, or if there's anything you'd like me to address or include in my story, just let me know!

"Mione! Mione!" Hermione rushed out of her bedroom upon hearing the voice in her living area. Radiating out of her large, brick fireplace, she noticed the slowly subsiding vibrant, green smoke and saw Holly stepping out of the grate and into her flat. Uncharacteristically, Holly was early. Several days after receiving the invitation to George's New Year's gathering, Hermione had sent Holly an owl, seeing if her friend wanted to accompany her to the party. Surprisingly, Holly had accepted the last-minute invitation.

"Ahh..you're here…you look awesome!" Hermione complimented her friend's silvery, sequined dress. Even with the narrow straps, on most women, the dress would be conservative. On the remarkably tall Holly, the skirt was strikingly short. However, New Year's, Hermione had to admit, was as good of an excuse as any to wear flashy outfits. Her own dress was also rather short and strapless.

"So do you! Granger! You look hot!" Holly shrieked excitedly. After some deliberation, Hermione had decided to wear a dress that she had bought for Angelina's Hen party and had never worn since. The dress boasted a tight white bodice, and a black, bell-shaped skirt, hemmed at Hermione's mid-thigh. The dress's fabric shimmered in a way that Hermione thought made it appropriately festive. When she had bought it, she had liked the way the dress's skirt started high on her waist and was cinched in by a wide elastic belt; she still figured that the style exceptionally flattered her.

"Thanks, Hol" – Hermione smiled gratefully, appreciating her friend's overabundant compliment – "Do you mind just sitting tight? I'm not quite ready."

"Of course. Sorry I'm early…I'm quite excited for this party," Holly's enthusiastic tone rendered her comment redundant. Hermione hurried to her room and quickly piled her slightly damp hair on the top of her head, securing it with pins in an intentionally-messy knot. She left several tendrils out, appreciating the way the loose curls framed her face. She applied a touch of mascara and looped a series of black and white beads around her neck. Sliding on her highest heeled shoes, a cherry-red pair of pumps, she raced back to her living area, to Holly who was lounging on the couch.

"Ready to go, Hol?"

"Almost, one sec, you need a final touch," Holly replied. "Pucker up,"

"Er, you're not going to snog me, are you?" Hermione asked, momentarily startled.

"No, sweetie. Although you look so gorgeous, I might." Holly laughed. Hermione complied with her friend's request, allowing Holly to apply some sort of lipstick on her mouth. When she was finished, Hermione glanced towards the oval mirror on her wall. Holly had painted her lips a bright, shining red. Hermione smiled; the colour really did compliment her colouring and her outfit and made her lips look plump and alluring. It was a detail that felt appropriate for the night.

"Ok, Mione. Now we're ready."

Holly eagerly climbed into Hermione's fireplace, stooping to fit into the grate. Hermione grinned and joined her friend. She called out their intended location and the pair instantly disappeared in a flash of green.

-o-O-o-

George had ensured that his fireplace was connected by the Floo powder network to the fireplaces of all his guests, so Hermione and Holly had no difficulties in arriving at his flat. Peering out of the hearth at the unfamiliar room, Hermione saw that it was filled predominantly with people she didn't recognize. She groaned; mixing and mingling was never her strongest skill. She hoped that coming wasn't a bad idea. There was nothing wrong with spending New Year's on her own. However, one glance at Holly made her feel immediately more comfortable with her decision to come to George's party: Holly was smiling lively and looked excited for the night.

"Come on, let's go, Mione!" Holly encouraged, taking Hermione by the hand and pulling her out of the fireplace. George's living room looked as though he had only recently started occupying the flat. There were still boxes stacked in the corner and the couches were merely pushed up against the stark-white walls rather than set up around the fireplace as one might expect. The only indication of his personality that George had added was a huge, bright red banner adorned with the Puddlemore United logo that was tacked up on one of the walls. Hermione smiled impulsively, finding humour in the fact that George had decided to host a party before he was completely settled. It seemed very much in line with his fun-loving personality.

Despite his lack of preparedness, it was obvious that – either from playing professional Quidditch or owning an extremely successful joke shop – that George was doing very well for himself. The main room of his flat was large and cavernous. Hermione figured that would have been able to fit her entire flat into his living room at least three times. The room boasted luxurious, dark oak, hardwood floors and Hermione noticed that the couches against the wall were all of fine, burgundy leather. A substantial chandelier hung in the centre of the high ceiling. It appeared to be made of bronze and consisted of an intricate pattern of delicate, white candles.

"Hmm…should we go find George?" Hermione asked, closing her mouth that had fallen agape at the sight of the abode.

"Yah, ok," – Holly offered absentmindedly – "Say, Mione, have you ever considered scooping up George? This place is incredible."

"No, I have not," Hermione laughed. "Let's go look for George," She and Holly wandered past groups of guests. Hermione thought she may have recognized a few of the young men as members from George's team who she had seen at the Leaky Cauldron, but she wasn't positive. They passed through the living room and into an adjacent kitchen. The kitchen was also substantial in size and quite elegant. The countertops were a dark blue, marble pattern and the floor was finely tiled. More importantly, to Hermione, it was filled with familiar faces.

"Mione!" Ginny exclaimed, rushing over to greet her friend with an energetic hug. Ginny was dressed in a vibrant pink, party dress. The colour should have looked horrible next to her bright red hair, but the petite girl pulled it off with a lively smile and aplomb.

"Gin!" Hermione echoed her friend's welcome.

"Hey Mione," George said from his spot next to the counter where he was slicing limes. Hermione waved to George who dried off his hands with a checkered towel and strode over to the girls. "You're looking awfully gorgeous, love," He complemented, reaching down to give Hermione a quick embrace.

"Er, thanks, George. You look very nice, yourself." Hermione replied. He did. George was wearing dark slacks with a matching jacket over a royal blue dress shirt. The blue in the shirt accentuated the blue of his eyes in an undeniably attractive way, making them look deep and vivid. George had even put on an ivory tie for the occasion. While getting ready, Hermione hadn't been sure how formal his party was going to be and she felt relieved that she had opted for her shimmering cocktail dress rather than something more casual. Despite his fancy outfit though, George's hair still looked tousled and relaxed. "Thanks for having us," Hermione added, ceasing her admiring of her host. "Ah…your place is fantastic."

"Oh, thanks. Would you care for a bit of a tour?" He shrugged humbly. "I was just about to take these guys," George said, gesturing to the others in the kitchen. Hermione nodded a quick hello to Harry and to Ron. Ron was standing next to Lavender Brown. Hermione felt momentarily confused; she hadn't been aware that Lavender and Ron had maintained correspondence since leaving Hogwarts.

"Sure, that would be great, George…hey, you remember Holly, right?" She chided herself for forgetting to introduce her friend. George and Holly shook hands quickly and exchanged greetings. Hermione and her friends followed George out the kitchen and down a hall, also with sterile white walls.

"Er, this is the den…I guess." George pointed into a slightly smaller room than his living room. It was completely bare accept for a large, brick fireplace. "Ah...there's a dining room down the hall…bathroom, bedroom…that's not exciting."

"None of us want to see your bedroom, George," Ginny teased, walking beside her older brother. Hermione noticed a flight of stairs, so steep they were almost a ladder, at the end of the hall.

"Do you have an upstairs, George?" She questioned incredulously, shocked that any of her peers would be able to live in a place so impressive.

"Oh, no…not at all" – George laughed – "Those lead to the roof." He stopped walking. "And you've already seen the living room….so, that's about it," He lamely concluded. Hermione fought a chuckle. It was probably the worst home tour she'd ever been on.

"How long have you lived here, George?" She asked from down the hall.

"Just two weeks," He looked over his shoulder and replied. "I really ought to get settled…I just haven't gotten around to it." Based on his crooked smiled, Hermione assumed that nesting wasn't much of a priority for George. The tour had wrapped around back to the kitchen, so the group of young witches and wizards stood around an island counter in the middle of the kitchen and started to make easygoing conversation.

-o-O-o-

"Hey, Mione…You remember Lavender…right?" Ron asked shyly, motioning between Hermione and the young woman who was standing tightly next to him.

"Oh yah, of course," Hermione said, nodding in recognition at the other woman.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lavender replied politely.

"I'm fine you look lovely, Lavender." Hermione said, complimenting her former classmate's striking royal blue dress. The colour matched her honey blonde curls and was surprisingly subdued for her normally outgoing personality.

"Thanks, you two," The two young woman paused, unsure whether to continue in conversation.

"Lavender and I ran into each other the other week at Seamus' party….we hadn't seen each other in years…not since…" Ron added. Hermione wasn't surprised that he had stopped before mentioning the battle at Hogwarts. It wasn't an event they liked to discuss, especially not during enjoyable occasions.

"That's lovely," Hermione replied absentmindedly. She hadn't been invited to Seamus' party. Ron's explanation failed to answer Hermione's real questions. Hermione wasn't sure of the nature of his relationship with their former classmate. They weren't holding hands, nor did they have their arms around each other, but were standing closer than one might expect from mere acquaintances. Ron hadn't mentioned at Christmas whether or not he was seeing anyone. Of course, Hermione recalled, that could be because she and Lavender had never been close at Hogwarts. During their sixth-year they had even had the hint of a rivalry over Ron's affections. Hermione figured that it was best not to ask Ron for clarification directly in front of Lavender incase their relationship status was still ambiguous.

"Hey…I hope you don't mind…we brought champagne," Holly turned to George and motioned to the bottle she had been carrying. "Do you have any glasses or anything?"

"Ahh…" George hesitated, "I haven't really picked all that up yet. What I do have is on the table." He pointed at a sturdy, dark brown table that was covered with tumblers, mugs, tea cups, an Erlenmeyer flask, several jars, and a few mismatched wineglasses.

"Here, Mione," Holly had wandered over to the table and picked out two of the wineglasses. She filled both almost to the brim with the bubbly beverage and handed one to Hermione.

"Hmm…hey…where are Fred and Ang?" Hermione asked George, who was standing across the counter from her, after taking a quick sip of her champagne. While, she wasn't generally fond of alcohol, she had to admit that the sweet drink was appealing.

"Oh" – George grimaced slightly – "They have to get the twins settled with Ang's folks. When I spoke to Fred earlier he said they might be late. And they won't be able to stay until midnight either." His tone was jovial, but Hermione couldn't help but wonder how George was adjusting to having his best friend and twin become a father. She imagined that Fred was no longer able to participate in their old antics, now that he had the responsibility of his infant twins. Hermione figured that it must have been difficult for George to return from Egypt only to have his relationship with Fred be necessarily different.

"Well…I'll look forward to them," Hermione offered. "Ang is always a laugh." She thought back to Angelina's Hen party before the wedding and how much fun she and Ginny had engaging in revelry with the older girl and her friends.

"Yah, I hope they make it," George said, not sounding completely convinced that they would. At that moment, a group that Hermione did recognize as George's Quidditch teammates, including Oliver Wood, wandered into the kitchen.

"Weasley!" The all yelled out in low, loud voices at the sight of George. George welcomed his teammates with energetic hand slaps and pats on the back. Figuring that his team wanted a bit of George's time, Hermione turned to her other friends. Holly – she observed with a wry smile – had already introduced herself to Oliver and the pair was chatting affably.

Hermione turned to the rest of her group to join them in conversation. As they talked, Hermione couldn't help but notice the way that Ginny was draped over Harry, who was dressed smartly in his best grey suit. She smiled while listening to Harry and Ron discuss their work; Harry and Ginny always were a couple that made her feel better about the state of love in the world. Hermione was so absorbed in the talk that she barely noticed when Holly reached over her shoulder to refill her now-empty wineglass with another healthy serving of their champagne.

"Want to check out the living room? See what else is going on here?" Holly asked, tapping Hermione gently on the shoulder. Hermione would have been content to stay and talk with her closest friends, but the glass of champagne made her feel adventurous and made exploring the rest of the party sound appealing. Saying farewell to her friends, she and Holly left the kitchen, Hermione walking very carefully to prevent falling in her cherry-red pumps or spilling her drink.