Still don't own anything, I hope that you enjoy the story. I am enjoying writing this one. Please let me know if you like it.
Walking inside the burrow listening to all of the commotion "George, I need to speak with you outside, now." Arthur by nature is a very laid back and caring person but by his tone everyone knew that he meant business but his children being the way they are all started at once.
"Is she okay?" from Ginny.
"What did you do now George?" from Bill and Charlie who just got there.
"Can we come too? we want to talk to Hermione." Ron and Harry.
And just general noise that always came from the kitchen. Holding up his hand and saying "Hold it! I said George! Everyone else will just have to wait. We will be back in soon and then everyone will find out what's going on but right now, he is coming outside with me." Normally Arthur doesn't say much but for once today everyone took him seriously and shut up.
George got up from the table saying "Well it's been nice knowing you all; don't cry too much when I am gone." Laughing and getting smacked by several people sitting close to him.
Walking with his dad "Really dad, what did I do? I swear I didn't do anything, well not that I can remember." questioning him, then he saw her and picks up his pace to get to her faster "why is Hermione crying?" he throws his arm around her, "I don't know what I did or who did it but Meenie stop crying, you know I hate seeing you cry." He says quietly.
"Meenie!?" Both Arthur and Molly look at each other with a perplexed look.
"You haven't called me Meenie in a long time." She sniffles and hugs him back "You didn't make me cry that's something else but you did worry me. Why didn't you tell me, you petitioned for me under the new marriage law? It would have been nice to know."
"Yes, George, why didn't you tell any of us you were petitioning for Hermione's hand…?" Arthur gets cut off by George.
"Did you get your letter, who are they pairing you with? It better be someone good, I tried, I did but I guess they figured they had someone better for you….." He shuts up as Hermione shoves her letter in his face. His eyes go wide and then slowly a big grin creeps across his face, "Why didn't you just say so?" picking her up in a big hug and swinging her around like he used to do at school. "Meenie, you are going to be a Weasley, you won't have to go anywhere but here." putting her back down.
All three are staring at him, like he has gone crazy. "George, I am happy that you are acting this way but why?" Demands Molly. "You two have never been involved to our knowledge. We are all happy Hermione is going to be with us but shouldn't you have at least talked with her about it?"
George sighs "I am not going to get out of telling you am I?" looking back and forth between the two witches.
"Nope." They said in unison.
He looks at his dad "I want to know as well" Arthur states, shaking his head and crossing his arms.
"Under one condition, you have to let me tell the whole story and don't interrupt, ok? That's for all of you. Because there will be a few things I know you will not be happy about mum."
"Fine, I will not interrupt." Molly grumbles.
"Just tell us why George." Hermione smiles "I am happy, trust me but just confused."
"Well, here goes, you know you have always talked in your sleep," sighing and bracing for a smack on the head from one of his parents "when we were at Hogwarts it was mostly about homework or whatever Ron the git had said to you but that changed last summer after you came home and the war was over. When you couldn't sleep and you came down to talk with me. Then you started come down every other night and you would end up sleeping there for a few hours?"
"George! You have been sleeping with her?"
"Mom I said no interrupting, nothing ever happened, you can think what you want about me but you know Hermione she wouldn't do something like that." Staring his mom down and looking back at the young blushing woman grabbing her face with both hands and looking into her eyes "I never asked you about them but you started having nightmares, do you remember? Woke Fred up one night, so I started putting up a silencing charm so if you did have one, you wouldn't wake anyone. You would start talking and muttering why? Why? Why couldn't I help them, why did I do it? Most of the time, that is all you said, so I would just hold you close and talk to you and you would stop and go back to sleep. Then one night, you sat straight up and with your eyes open real wide and looked at me, you said I obliviated my parents memories of me, they will never remember who I am, I will be all alone, forever. Then you lay back down and went right back to sleep. You didn't remember anything the next day and I wasn't going to push it." Tucking a lock of her air behind one of her ears, "I figured you would tell me if you wanted me to know. I made a decision that night, that I was going to make sure that you were never alone, that you had a family. I tried to make sure you always came here for holidays but I couldn't let you know, that I knew." He smiles at her, bring her head up as she keeps hanging it lower and lower "Then when the news of this marriage law came out, and that purebloods could petition for the spouse of their choice I knew what I had to do. What I wanted to do. I wanted to make sure you stayed with this family, with me. I didn't want the chance of you being paired with someone who didn't care for you or whose family didn't love for you like we do. Okay?"
Shaking her head "Okay, I just wish you would have said something." Sheepishly she smiles. "You big dork you." Hugging him tightly around his middle, not being very tall she only come up to his chest.
"But we are lucky, we have something better, we are friends first, always have been. I know that we don't have feelings like that for each other but we will make this work. I care deeply for you, have always, even when you would rip me a new one for a prank I pulled at school. Do you think we can try and work at this together?"
"Yes, George, we can do this. You are wonderful; who knew you could be so sweet." Hermione laughed.
"George that was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. Who knew you could be that way." His mom gushes and throws her arms around him. Then backs up and smacks him in the head.
"Oi mum!"
"That's for letting her suffer, I will look past her sleeping in your room. Is there anything else we need to know?"
"I promise Mrs. Weasley, nothing ever happened. I was normally just upset or scared. George befriended me that first night, when I was sorted into Gryffindor. " Ever so quietly Hermione said.
With a long heavy sigh, "What am I going to do with you girl, Molly, not Mrs. Weasley, you started using it I expect you to keep using it or mum, no more Mrs. Weasley. We will ignore the so called late night sneaking around. Like I said from here on out, no secrets, now let's go tell the others as I am sure they are all gossiping with what they think is going on. I give you two, two minutes to follow. Okay?" looking at George and Hermione.
Watching his parents walk away, "That went better than I expected. Oi Meenie, why did you hit me." Rubbing his arm where she just punched him.
"Because you could have told me, that you knew and that you wanted to petition for me. I am sorry that I didn't tell you about my parents, I should have, you have been just as good of a friend to me and sometimes better than Ron or Harry but they didn't even know." She hugs him tightly, "We can talk more later. Let's go tell the noisy bunch you call a family."
"Your family now too, Meenie." Walking back arms around each other. With a deep breath she opens the kitchen door to see all of them staring at them.
"Hi Hermione." Bill and Charlie chime as they were not there when she first arrived. Both older than all of her mates, one works with Goblins and the other Dragons but both just as laid back as the other men of the Weasley family but both very special to her as well. They helped her heal after the war, more mentally than physically.
"Hi, boys" she winks at them "Well, I have something I want to tell all of you. I need to tell you."
"You don't have to tell anyone else if you don't want too." George says quietly, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I have to, bad news then good news." Smiling and patting his hand, sitting down across from Bill and next to Charlie, who puts his arm around her to squeeze her before she starts. "Before the War started, I went home to see my parent's and to get some things. I wanted to tell them to be safe and not to worry. While there, I learned of one of the first Death Eater attacks and then I knew what I had to do. I packed up as much of my stuff as I could and had tea with them. I excused myself to get something. I told them I loved them and left the room. I could hear them talking with each other, so happy, so content. That's when it happened." She cries silently, staring just past Bill like she is reliving it. Wiping the tears away from her face, Molly comes around behind her and puts both of her hands on the small woman's shoulders, everyone can see that she has been crying too. "Obliviate." she whispered and pointed her finger like she was holding her wand. There as an audible gasp from around the table. "It came out so easy, it was the best thing for them I kept telling myself, we all knew what would have happened if they were found by anyone wanting information on me or Harry or anything they thought they might know. I wanted to keep them safe. I knew it was the only way. I loved them so very much. I miss them so very much. I read in the paper, that I have a baby sister, Emma Angelique, they looked very happy." She hangs her head, waiting for the barrage of questions. Still wiping her face, she looks up at everyone; there is not a person who isn't touched by this. "I am sorry I lied to you all." Her voice cracks one more time. Molly leans down and wraps her arms around the shaking girl and whispers in her ear and kisses her cheek.
"I am so sorry Hermione, I wish there was somethng I could do for you." Ginny is the first to say anything "I wish there was something I could say but I know this does not change how I feel about you. You did what you thought was best, we were at war and knew you couldn't protect them." She gets up walks around the table and throws her arms around her best friend and kisses her on the cheek just as her mother did. Everyone in the kitchen gets up and does the same thing.
But of course when it gets to Bill and Charlie, they have to be different. They both come in from opposite sides picking her up and kissing her and throwing her up in the air until she is laughing so hard she is crying happy tears. Ginny says "you said you had good news as well, don't keep us guessing.'"
"My letter came today before I Flooed here" they all look at her as she stands up "I hope you all want to keep me around, meet my future husband." The room falls silent as she motions to George.
How is everyone going to react to this? Will they all be as happy as Molly and Arthur are for them.