George sat beside me the whole time, and before I knew it, I was leaving my last class.
"Turn right up ahead." George directed me softly from my side. I nodded my head and broke off from the others, turning down the abandoned corridor. We walked a little ways down it, until I felt George pull me into an empty classroom.
"We have twenty minutes until dinner." He said, pulling the cloak off his shoulders. I smiled happily up at him, thinking of the ways I'd like to spend those minutes. I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck.
It was a very pleasant twenty minutes.
We ran into the great hall for dinner, George back under the cloak. I ate as quickly as I could, wondering what it was that George had planned for later.
"You finished?" He asked when I put my fork down. I nodded my head excitedly and turned towards him. "Okay, head towards the entrance." I nodded my head before standing up and leaving the table. He led med towards the entrance hall before stopping at the great doors that led outside.
"What are we doing?" I asked once we stopped, curiosity overwhelming me. He lifted the cloak up and pulled me under it with him. A wicked, mischievous grin lit his handsome face as he pulled me into a hug.
"We are sneaking out."
He took me out to the black lake. It was getting dark and the lake reflected beautifully in night light. It was incredibly like my dream, and it made me instantly feel excited.
"Hold on just a minute." He said quietly. He pulled the cloak off and laid it at the base of a tree so that he could still see it.
"Okay," he said after he laid it down. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the lake, an irresistible grin lighting his handsome face. I found myself smiling goofily at the sight of his smile. He stopped right at the lakes edge. He made a gesture with his wand and suddenly three more figures emerged from the shadows of the trees.
I noticed who they were and ran forward with a squeal. "Angelina, Fleur!" I cried as I ran up to my friends. Fred was by Angelina's side, laughing happily as he held his girl friend. George walked up to us as I hugged Angelina, chuckling as I rammed into the girl with a back breaking hug. I went to Fleur next, chatting excitedly in French as she grabbed me in a hug too.
"What are you all doing here?" I asked as I let go of Fleur and hugged Fred. George had reached us by now and was openly laughing at my excitement.
"Well, we have a party to start." He exclaimed. I giggled excitedly and grabbed him in a hug.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Dean, and Seamus all showed up about ten minutes later. George and Fred had nicked some butterbeers from the kitchen, along with a huge cake and candy. Fleur started some music, and we started to dance.
I claimed George immediately and started to twirl to the music with him.
"Mmm." I said after our first song, snuggling into his chest as he gently swung us around to the music's beat. "This reminds me of our first date." He chuckled softly, the sound radiating through his chest, making me smile.
"How did you do this?" I asked, pulling back a little so I could look him in the eyes. He smiled down at me before answering.
"It wasn't that hard. I simply told Dumbledore that I'd be coming here for your birthday, and he told me that I could bring a few friends along with me. Well, as long as they were in the order." His eyes sparkled with mischief as he spoke. "I think he knew I'd sneak in with or without permission, so he just decided to go ahead and give it."
"He has experience with you two." I said, an equally mischievous grin lighting my face. I reached my hand up and gently stroked his face, fingering his hair before settling my hand against his chin.
"yes, he knows you'd have done it anyway. It's one of the things I love about you." He froze momentarily before continuing with the dance.
"Time to open presents!" Fred called from the corner of the lake. I sighed against George before putting a smile back on. I had come so close to telling him, he didn't seem to have gotten my hint though. Men are impossibly bad at getting hints, Fleur's words echoed in my mind as I walked towards the blanket they had laid out for me to open my presents on and it caused me to smile wryly. Apparently George wasn't any better at getting hints than Bill.
I sat down on the corner with George right next to me. Fred was by his side, Angelina next to him, Fleur by her, Luna beside her holding Ron's hands, he sat next to Harry, Neville, Dean, and Seamus by him, and then Ginny by them completing the circle.
"Here, open mine first!" Fred said, grinning goofily as he handed me a package. I narrowed my eyes and shook it, looking at it suspiciously. "Don't worry, 'Mione. Nothing will happen, it's harmless."
I nodded my head, and gripped the package more firmly. I carefully peeled the red paper off the white box before removing its lid. It was filled with Day Dreams Charm. A smile lit my face and I leaned over to give Fred a hug.
"Thanks!" I exclaimed, settling back down into my eat. He grinned happily and winked.
"Someone told me your supply was running low." I blushed at that statement as I heard George laugh by my side.
"'Ere 'Ermione, open mine next!" Fleur said, rolling her eyes at Fred and handing me a pretty silver package. It was a beautiful new robe, silver in color and very silky. Harry got me a book I'd been asking for, Ron got me a box of Chocolate Frogs, Ginny gave me a special hairbrush enchanted to help de-friz hair, Dean and Seamus gave me a spell check quill, Neville gave me a new homework organizer, and Angelina gave me a scrapbook of last year, complete with lots of pictures of George and me.
I saved George's present for last. It was a small box, no bigger than the palm of my hand. I peeled the purple paper off it carefully, feeling nervous with everyone's eyes on me. I opened the white box carefully, feeling confused when I saw a tiny little book in it. George grabbed hold of it and held it in his open palm.
"Okay, this is a new invention." He said, smiling broadly. "You open it up and it expands like this," he demonstrated by opening the front cover, and the book expanded so that it was the size of a standard novel. "Close the lid again, and think of which book you want to read of the three on the cover, and then open it again to read that book." I looked at the cover and saw my three favorite books, Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, and Wuthering Heights. I clutched the book to my chest before smothering George in a hug. He couldn't have got me a better, more perfect present.
"I love it." I whispered in his ear as he hugged me back, he actually shivered against my hold before letting go of me and smiling.
"Game time!" Fred announced, smiling excitedly. He pulled out a huge deck of cards and started setting up a group game of exploding snap. We played a few rounds, most of which George and I won, before I noticed Angelina and Fleur whispering about something in the corner of the blanket. Before I got a chance to ask them about it though they had stopped talking. Music started playing again and Fred stood up from the blanket, walking over to Angelina and bowing before offering her hand.
"Might I have this dance?" She nodded her head before hopping up and joining him. Ron asked Luna and the two of them started doing an interesting dance before Dean and Ginny joined them. Harry grabbed Fleur, leaving Neville and Seamus with George and Me. They both got up with a grin and started dancing some wild dance.
"Just you and me again." George said softly. I smiled at him and nodded my head, feeling shy suddenly. The song changed from weird sisters to one I hadn't heard since I was younger. It was 'Here There and Everywhere' by the Beatles. My parents used to play it when I was a kid, it had been the first song they ever danced to, and was my absolute favorite love song. The only person here who knew how much I loved it was Fleur. I suddenly got a suspicion that I knew what they were whispering about in the corner. I grabbed George's hand excitedly and pulled him up.
"Come dance with me!" I said excitedly, already moving to the beat. He grinned at me and stood up, grabbing my waist and moving to the music. He pulled me closer to him and I pressed my face up against his chest, listening to his heart as we moved to the music.
"Happy Birthday, Hermione." He whispered in my ear. I shivered against him before looking up at him.
"Thanks for making it perfect by coming." I said, staring into his brilliant blue eyes.
"I have something I've been wanting to say, but I keep get interrupted before I can say it. So I'm going to try and say it now before something happens or I lose my nerve." He took a deep breath and tried to smile, but he just look worried. I was beginning to feel worried myself, had something happened?
He pulled my waist closer to him and stopped moving to the music. He raised his hands to my cheek and gently rubbed his thumb against my cheek, causing me to smile at the feel of it.
"I'm madly in love with you, Hermione Granger." He said softly, his face sincere and full of emotion. My heart gave a painful lurch and I moved without further thought. I grabbed his shirt in fistfuls and pulled him to me, claiming his lips in a tender kiss. I put all the emotion and love I had into it and felt tears falling down my cheeks.
George Weasley loved me, me, Hermione bookworm Granger. He loved me and I loved him and things couldn't have been more perfect.
He pulled me closer to him, the dance forgotten as we savored our first kiss after his confession of love. It was soft and tender, full of love and hope and promise. His hand found its way into my hair while the other wrapped itself around my waist. I finally broke the kiss, breathing heavily, my heart thudding excitedly in my chest. I took a deep gulp of air and looked into George's eyes, letting the love and excitement I felt fill my eyes and face.
"I love you too George." I said softly, my voice wavering with emotion. His eyes grew comically large and a huge grin split his face.
"Really?" he exclaimed. I laughed at his expression and nodded my head, tears of excitement and joy falling down my face.
"Yes George, I love you desperately." I replied, feeling as though I would burst from the new found knowledge that George loved me too. He grinned even wider and pulled me back into a heated kiss, leaving me breathless and light headed. I heard a sound coming from behind me and I realized the music had stopped. I took a deep breath and my head cleared a little. Clapping sounded all around me and I found myself blushing at the sound of it.
"Way to go Georgie!" Fred exclaimed, a huge grin lighting his face. Angelina laughed beside him, smacking him in the back of the head. Everyone else was laughing and clapping as well. George was still grinning a huge toothy grin, he pulled me to his side and bowed to everyone before pulling me closer.
He waved his wand and fireworks flew up into the air, lighting the night sky in brilliant flashes of red, gold, purple, and blue. The words, 'Happy 17th Hermione' were slowly written out, before the exploded in a thousand different flashes of color.
I couldn't have had a better birthday.
A/n: Sorry about the delay, hope you all enjoy!