I couldn't believe when Filch snagged Harry, but I was thrilled minutes later when I heard a boom come from somewhere out in the hall. It was so loud that even the dishes on the table rattled. Everything grew painfully quiet for a moment, and then a thousand smaller booms filled the air. The doors to the great hall burst open and the show began. Someone (I didn't need to guess who) had set off an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks. But they were far better than any others I had seen before. The colors were far more vivid, and the shapes far wilder. Dragons made of gold and green sparks were soaring all around the hall; phoenixes made of gold and orange, and red flaming sparks twirled around the corridors; neon pink Catherine wheels that were bigger than me were whizzing around the air like flying saucers; a Gryffindor lion made of streams of red and gold sparks charged down the hall; a Raven of sparks swooped down and singed heads; a badger scampered along the floor, leaving trails of fires in its wake; rockets with tails of silver were ricocheting off walls. Sparklers were writing words in the air, most of which were swear words; firecrackers were exploding everywhere in brilliant flashes of color. The most incredible part, though, was that none of them were fading. They just kept on getting wilder in their flights. They also weren't hurting any students, only the ones wearing the Inquisitorial Squad badges. It was brilliant and beautiful, perfectly executed. From the hall I could hear Umbridge screaming wildly at Filch. I got up from my seat, smiling at Ginny and Ron who also got up, and we ran to the hall to see what was happening.
Umbridge was running around in a panic, casting spells at the fireworks, and then promptly screaming at Filch not to use the spell-as though he could have cast them. The man was a Squib! He was chasing them with a flaming broom, a look of utter rage on his gnarled face. I broke down laughing, running towards my next class in an attempt not to be caught laughing in the halls by Umbridge. I'd have to praise George for these, they were brilliant.
I ran towards Transfiguration, a huge grin on my face when I got stopped by a beautiful purple firecracker. It sparkled happily in front of me, growing larger and larger, until with a loud pop it transformed into a beautiful, sparkling rose. It floated gracefully to the ground where I promptly grabbed it. It was still cracking, small explosions happening on the petals, causing it to flash brilliantly. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and caused me to nearly cry with happiness. I promptly stuck it in my hair, thanking Merlin that I didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts today.
I'd have to give George a very long kiss tonight; the rose was beautiful. He'd truly outdone himself with all of this. I knew Fred had helped, but I only thought of George as I sat through class, laughing happily when McGonagall sent Susan Brown to get Umbridge. The teachers were having just as much fun with the fireworks as the students. Classes didn't seem near as long with the beautiful explosions occurring every few minutes, and the teachers had Umbridge running around in a panic all day, making her get rid of all the fireworks. By the time we were headed back to the common room that night, I was far happier than I'd been in weeks, months really. The fireworks had been better than all the DA meetings. The rage on Umbridge's face was great, and it made me want to skip with glee.
I entered the common room to find Fred and George surrounded by throngs of fans. They were being cheered and questioned and congratulated by everyone. I fought my way through the crowduntil I finally came up next to George. He smiled happily when he saw me but I spoke first, needing to tell him how awesome he was.
"They were wonderful fireworks, with really great magic."
"Thanks," he said, looking surprised and pleased. "We named them Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs." I smiled appreciatively at the name, smiling even larger when he led me away from the others. "Only thing is, we used our whole stock. We're going to have to start again from scratch."
I smiled, grabbing him in a fierce hug. "Let me know if you need any help," I said quietly, giving him a quick kiss. He widened his eyes in surprise, smiling brilliantly a minute later.
"Wow!" he gasped. "Hermione Granger offering to break rules and create prank items. What has this world come to?"
I smiled, fighting a laugh. "Desperate times Mr. Weasley," I said, trying to look solemn. He laughed at that and just shook his head, raising a hand to finger my hair. His fingers brushed the rose and he smiled, almost shyly.
"Thanks George, that was beautiful magic," I said, pulling it from my hair and staring at it in wonder again.
"Wow, two compliments in a day, it really must be desperate times."
"George!" Fred called, interrupting our moment. "I need your help!" George smiled sheepishly at me before giving me a quick peck on the lips and turning back to Fred. My eyes caught a glimpse of Ron and Harry in the corner of the room and I walked over to them. They were pulling their homework out of the bag with looks of distinct dislike.
"Oh," I said, walking up to them, "why don't we have a night off?" I sat down beside them, pulling out a deck of cards as a silver tailed rocket zoomed past the window. "After all, the Easter holidays start on Friday. We'll have plenty of time then." I smiled pleasantly at them and began to deal the cards.
"Are you feeling all right?" Ron asked me in disbelief as he picked up his cards. I laid the stack down and smiled wickedly.
"Now you mention it, d'you know . . . I think I'm feeling a bit . . . rebellious." They both laughed at that and grabbed the cards, happy just to let the homework stay undone.
We went to bed about an hour later, and the next day was much as the others had been, long, dull, and full of work, though slightly more boring because of the lack of fireworks. I went to the library after my last class, deciding to do some reading before the Easter break. I had been reading for about an hour when I sensed someone come up from behind me. He covered my eyes and I stiffened until I caught a familiar scent.
"Guess who!" George said cheerfully, and much too loudly for a library. After a moment of debating I decided to tease him.
"Is it Terry?" I asked, smiling to myself.
"What?" he yelped, spinning me around.
"Oh!" I said, sounding surprised. "Hi Fred!" His mouth dropped open and he looked stricken. I broke down laughing, earning myself a very disapproving look from Madam Pince. George finally realized I was teasing him and actually managed to speak.
"That was not funny Hermione," he said, pretending to pout. I had pity on him and reached up, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I lowered myself back down. He was smiling broadly now, completely having forgotten my teasing. "I didn't expect to see you until dinner."
He grabbed my bag and looped it over his shoulder before taking my hand and pulling me up out of the chair. He tugged my hand and led me down the aisle, stopping at Madam Pince's desk. "You might want to put a water proof charm on the books sometime soon," he said, giving her a wink before he pulled me out into the halls.
"Where are you taking me?" I questioned. "And what did you mean by 'water proof charm'?"
He smiled and slowed down, walking casually through the halls. "We warned her about the fireworks last time, I was just giving her a heads up on our next prank."
"That's really sweet," I said softly, my voice suddenly constricted. Not many people would have thought about the danger the fireworks would pose to the books. "Wait a minute," I said, realizing where we were. "This is the room of requirements."
George smiled down at me nodding his head. "Yep, you and I are going on a date," he said, pushing the door open.
"Really?" I asked, staring up at him.
"Yep. Tonight, you're all mine." The way he said it, his voice all low and husky caused a shiver to go down my back, not at all unpleasantly either.
I stepped through the door into the room of requirements, gasping when I realized we were by the lake at the Burrow. It was late at night, and the sky was full of stars. George walked in behind me, a smile playing on his face.
"Oh, this is wonderful," I breathed. He grabbed my hand, pulling me along beside him, right up to the edge of the water. He spread a blanket out, a quilt that looked hand made. He sat down on it, pulling me down beside him. He reached into his pocket, pulling a small basket out of his pocket. He waved his wand at it and it grew into a full sized picnic basket. He pulled out several sandwichesand a plate of brownies.
He smiled sheepishly when he saw me eying them. "I remembered how much you enjoyed them last time." I smiled brightly, grabbing a brownie as I intertwined our fingers. He laughed at my eagerness, scolding me playfully. "Those are for dessert."
We ate and talkedabout everything from OWL's, Harry, muggle movies, to their joke shop. There was clearly something he wanted to talk about, but he was too worried to say whatever it was. I decided it was best not to push him, knowing he'd tell me whenever he was ready.
"Hermione?" he finally said, his voice low and even. We'd been watching the sky quietly for a few moments. He'd grabbed a blanket we weren't sitting on, and wrapped it around our shoulders. I was sitting right next to him, leaning into his side. He had his arm wrapped around my shoulders, and it made me feel safe and warm.
"Yes?" I questioned.
He turned towards me, his vivid eyes capturing my own. He wasn't smiling, and the loss of his grin worried me. He didn't look himself without a smile. "Fred and I aren't finishing the year," he said quietly, dropping his eyes from mine. "We don't need our NEWTs for what we're doing, and we've already got the shop. We're just waiting for the right time to pull our last prank." He grinned. It was a small one and didn't quite reach his eyes, but it was a grin nonetheless. "It'll be our best ever. We're going out with a bang."
I smiled softly up at him, hiding the terror that I felt. My heart was beating erratically in my chest, and tears threatened to fall from my eyes. He was breaking up with me. He was leaving school and leaving me. I couldn't breathe anymore; my chest was threatening to break from the pain each beat of my heart was causing me as I looked up into his eyes, knowing he wouldn't look at me again. I'd go back to just being Ron's friend. The room suddenly felt cold, despite the warm blanket and George.
It was all over. The blissful happiness, the ability to forget my stress, the simple pleasure of laughter, all done. Without George I wouldn't have it anymore.
He'd turned his head from me, not noticing my impending breakdown. "I was wondering, see, I'd still like to date you." His voice had grown very quiet, and I knew I had to have misheard that last bit.
"Excuse me?" I said, my voice cracking.
"Would you still like to keep dating me?" he asked, turning towards me, but not lifting his eyes.
An exuberant smile lifted my lips as I sat up on my haunches. "Yes, I'd like that." And then I kissed him firmly on the lips. After all, words didn't cover this sort of thing nearly as well as actions.
A/N: Thanks to Ninja Goldfish who beta read this.