FALLING IN LOVE

As time went on, Hermione and Bill became closer. They spent almost every evening together, and their friends and colleagues in Egypt smiled on the relationship. To their minds, Hermione and Bill were very much a couple and it was only a matter of time before the couple announced their engagement. The problem was that Hermione and Bill had yet to clarify their relationship; Bill was still determined not to rush Hermione, while she had so little confidence in her desirability as a woman that she had convinced herself that Bill could never be romantically interested in a bushy-haired bookworm such as herself.

"So, what's happening with you and Mr Strong, Tall and Hunky?" asked her friend, Leyla, an Egyptian witch who was apprenticing at the Ancient Magical Library of Alexandria alongside Hermione. Leyla, Hermione and three of the Gringotts curse breakers, Mireille, Grace and Padma Patil, the latter of whom had been at school with Hermione, were gathered together in Hermione's flat for a girls' night. Alcohol was flowing freely, as were some tangy soft drinks for those who did not partake of alcohol.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione in surprise.

"Oh, come on, 'Ermione. You and Beel," said Mireille with a roll of her eyes.

"Bill and me?" Hermione squeaked. "Nothing! He's not interested in me."

At that, the other girls all burst out laughing, leaving Hermione looking at them in astonishment. "He's not," she insisted in high dudgeon.

"Merlin, you're serious!" said Padma in amazement. "Hermione, the man is crazy about you. You spend almost all your free time together, and Bill's never happier than when he's with you."

Hermione was unconvinced. 'It's not like any of the boys ever chased after me in Hogwarts, except perhaps Cormac McLaggen, and he was only interested in me because he wanted Harry to put him on the Quidditch team and he thought I'd persuade Harry for him. None of the boys in school ever regarded me as being desirable or pretty. I made so much effort to dress up and look good for the Yule Ball but no one complimented me on my appearance—not even Viktor and he was my date. Bill is very handsome, and he has women turning to look at him whenever we're out. He was married to Fleur and she's a quarter-Veela. He could have anyone he wants. Why would he want me?' Hermione ruminated sadly.

Padma, the only one there that night who had been in school with Hermione, understood the bushy-haired witch's reluctance to believe that Bill could have feelings for her. The Indian witch remembered how none of the boys had ever shown an interest in Hermione—in fact, many of them had spent their schooldays making fun of her—and Padma also knew that sharing a dorm with her own twin, Parvati, and Parvati's best friend, Lavender, could not have done much for Hermione's self-confidence. Even though she did not like speaking ill of her sister, Padma knew that Parvati and Lavender were two of the most shallow girls to have been in Hogwarts during their years at school. As long as she was clean, neat and tidy, Hermione had not cared much about her appearance, while Parvati and Lavender had cared about little else. Hermione was not unattractive, but she could never compete with the other two girls in the looks department and the bushy-haired witch knew it.

Padma seemed to remember hearing a story about Ron only even bothering to notice that Hermione was female when he had desperately needed a date for the Yule Ball. Apparently, Ron had quite insultingly refused to believe Hermione when she said she already had a date and and had then been furious when he subsequently discovered Hermione's date was Viktor Krum and not the embarrassing loser—to use Ron's words—the red-headed wizard had expected. Padma had actually ended up being Ron's date to the Yule Ball that night and she had not been at all impressed with either his attitude or his behaviour.

'If that's what Hermione had to put up with for seven years, it's hardly surprising she doesn't have much self-esteem,' Padma mused.

'Hermione," said Padma gently. "The next time you're together, look at Bill properly. He just lights up around you."

"And the expression in his eyes," cooed Grace.

"His eyes?" queried Hermione in bewilderment.

"They just melt when they look at you," answered Grace dreamily, much to the other girls' amusement.

Hermione merely shook her head in denial and changed the subject. At a warning look from Padma, the other girls let the matter rest. "We've planted the idea; give it time," the Indian witch whispered when Hermione had disappeared to the kitchen for more supplies.

The other girls nodded and dropped the subject—for now. They would all like to see Hermione happy, and were determined to help bring it about, but knew that it would not be a good idea to push too hard too soon.

However, it was not necessary for the girls to take steps. After a night's reflection, Hermione had rejected what the girls had said. 'Bill would never be interested in me,' she scoffed to herself as she went to sleep that night. 'I only wish he would be. I'll miss him if one of us moves away from Egypt.' Hermione was honest enough with herself to admit that Bill had become very important to her, she just could not believe that her feelings for him would be reciprocated.

However, the thought continued to simmer in her head and Hermione could not help looking at the handsome curse-breaker with new eyes; she soon saw for herself just what the girls had meant. Instead of reassuring her though, it only served to make her even more flustered around this man with whom she had fallen in love. Realising that she could not continue in a state of continual agitation, Hermione eventually plucked up the courage to talk to Bill one night when they had opted for a quiet night in together in Hermione's flat.

"Bill?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"Hmm?" he asked warmly, smiling down at the petite witch who was curled up next to him on the sofa.

"What are we?" she asked, biting her lip anxiously.

Bill reached out and gently thumbed her lip out from under her teeth. "We're friends," he started, only to be interrupted by Hermione.

"Is that all we are?" Hermione asked tremulously, looking at him with big, brown, spaniel eyes.

"I hope not," he replied slowly. "Would you like to be more?"

Hermione nodded her head. "Yes, I would. I'd like that very much."

Bill smiled brightly and gently caressed Hermione's cheek. Sliding his hand down, he cupped her chin and tilted it upwards. Hermione's eyelids fluttered and closed as Bill kissed her. The kiss was sweet and tender and very loving. It spoke of promises and a future untold.

Hermione mewled in disappointment when Bill reluctantly ended the kiss and pulled back to smile at her. "Is everything all right?" Hermione asked hesitantly, worried that he had ended the kiss because she had disappointed him.

"Of course, love," said Bill, reaching out to tuck an unruly curl behind her ear.

"Really?" asked Hermione, hardly daring to believe her ears.

"Of course. Why wouldn't it be?" asked Bill, wondering why she would be so worried.

"I didn't know… I wasn't sure… I thought maybe I didn't do it right," the bushy haired witch admitted reluctantly, looking downwards in embarrassment and hiding her face in her mass of curls.

"Do what right, Hermione?" Bill slipped a finger her chin and gently but firmly brought her face up so that she was looking at him.

"Kiss you. I didn't kiss you right," Hermione whispered, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment.

Bill's mouth gaped open in shock. "What? Why would you think that, Hermione?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders indifferently, trying not to let the hurt show. "No one has ever been interested in me. Viktor only asked me to the Yule Ball during the Triwizard Tournament because I was the only girl in the entire school—including the guests from Beauxbatons—who wasn't drooling over him. He wasn't interested in me as more than a friend, though. I was too young for him at the time, I'd only just turned fifteen. The nicest thing that Harry or Ron ever said about me was when Harry said he didn't think I was ugly¹, and even then he wasn't actually giving me a compliment, he was just making an observation. And Ron… we kissed during the Final Battle, and then he turned around and got back together with Lavender straight after. I must have done something badly wrong when I kissed him, because he wouldn't even look at me afterwards. And then you pulled away from me…"

"Not because you did anything wrong, Hermione!" Bill interrupted. "I just didn't want to rush you. I promise you, Hermione Granger, that I enjoyed every moment of that kiss. What's more, I'm going to kiss you again."

And Bill did just that. Hermione melted against him happily as she responded to him. Bill gathered her in his arms and pulled her onto his lap, deepening the kiss further. This time, when the handsome wizard finally pulled away, Hermione had been so thoroughly kissed that she was not sure she even knew her own name. From the very gratified grin on his face, she was in no doubt that Bill had enjoyed that kiss every bit as much as she had.

Looking deeply into Bill's eyes, Hermione's breath hitched at the possessive look in them. If she had any lingering doubts about Bill's feelings for her, that one look was sufficient to dispel them all. With a happy sigh, Hermione reached up to capture Bill's lips again.

Later, much later, Bill and Hermione were stretched out on the couch together. Clothes had not yet been discarded but it had been a close thing. Bill was determined not to rush Hermione, and it was purely due to his desire to make sure that his mate felt safe and happy in his presence that he had been able to exercise any degree of control. With something that looked perilously close to a pout, Bill reluctantly disentangled himself from Hermione and stood up. "I should go home," he said, pecking her on the lips.

"Don't go, Bill. Please stay," Hermione whispered, standing up and looking up at the tall wizard beseechingly.

Bill swooped down for another kiss. "Hermione, you'd barely been kissed before tonight. Are you sure you're ready to take things further?" he asked dubiously, concerned that Hermione was moving too fast, too soon.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I'm not ready for more yet. I was just thinking perhaps we could sleep together. Sleep, nothing else," she explained hopefully. "I'd like to sleep in your arms tonight."

Bill smiled. That sounded good to him, too. It had been a long time since he had had a truly restful night's sleep, and he was fairly sure it was because of his mate's absence. "I'd like that, too," he agreed warmly.

Hermione took Bill's hand and led him in the direction of her bedroom. Hermione handed Bill a spare toothbrush and a towel, and they each took turns in the bathroom. When she had finished her nightly ritual, Hermione nervously climbed into bed beside Bill, who had stripped down to his boxers. The wizard with whom Hermione had fallen in love tugged her back towards him and spooned around her.

"All right?" Bill asked.

"Mmm hmm," Hermione replied, taking a deep breath and forcing her body to relax. Bill's heart beating strongly up against her back lulled Hermione into a drowsy state. "Bill? Am I your mate?" Hermione mumbled, just before she fell asleep.

"Yes." In the dark, Bill's voice came whispering around her as he replied.

"Good." Hermione snuggled back further into Bill, whose arms tightened around her possessively as she surrendered to her tiredness and let sleep take her.

From that time on, Hermione and Bill were inseparable. They spent all their free time together, either with mutual friends or on their own, and they slept every night in each other's arms. They still had not taken their relationship that step further but both were happy with the status quo for now. Indeed, Hermione was blissfully happy and spent her days with a goofy smile on her face that made her friends tease her unmercifully whenever they saw that grin. Unlike her experiences with Ron while at school, the teasing was good-natured and did not make fun of her, and so Hermione never minded it, merely smiling sweetly at her friends and going on about her business.

Bill, in the meantime, was worrying about other things. He owned a large and generously sized apartment and wanted to invite Hermione to give up her lease and move in with him, however, he had not yet shared his relationship with Hermione with his family, other than two of his brothers. Charlie was the brother to whom Bill was closest and, as a magical creatures expert, Charlie understood better than the rest of his family the concept of a mating bond, therefore, Bill had not hesitated to confide in him. George was the only member of the family who was still in touch with Hermione and it was she who had informed George of her relationship with his eldest brother. Both brothers fully supported the relationship but were not sure if the rest of the family would be accepting. Charlie was particularly sympathetic as the second Weasley brother knew that his mother would never accept his own relationship with one of his fellow dragon tamers, a handsome Irishman named Aidan. Charlie and Aidan had been a couple for a few years now but Charlie had never breathed a word about Aidan to the Weasley family in general; only Bill was aware of Charlie's life-partner.

For the first time in his life, Bill was procrastinating and, as long as he was avoiding telling his family about Hermione, he did not feel he could invite Hermione to move in with him—the ruckus that would inevitably ensue when the Weasleys learned about the relationship would be even worse if his family found out by accident.

.o.O.o.

¹ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 26, by JK Rowling.