Chapter Twenty Two

Hermione blinked owlishly at the pair. From on top of his uncle's shoulders, Freddie Jr smiled down at her.

"Hi, Miss Mione!" the nearly four year old said. "Guess what? I'm gonna be a big brother tonight!"

Hermione finally snapped out of her stupor and stepped aside to allow the two entrances into her flat. George took Freddie off his shoulders and set him on the ground. Freddie spotted Crookshanks still sitting on the couch and laughed excitedly before running over and pouncing on the giant cat with a big hug. Crookshanks was at first unsure he appreciated this, but the small biped was now scratching his ears rather nicely so he guess he'd allow it for now.

George closed the door behind him and sheepish looked at the obviously confused witch. Hermione for her part blushed rather ashamedly.

"So that's why you're so late," she said, almost to herself. "You went to get Freddie because Angelina went into labor."

George nodded, "I meant to send you a patronus but I wasn't sure if that'd be ok since you live in a muggle building, and I don't have a mo-bell like Ginny and Harry do."

Hermione chuckled, "I think you mean mobile."

"Whatever it's called, I'm sorry I didn't find a way to tell you I'd be late."

"It's alright," Hermione said, before looking embarrassed. "Truthfully I was beginning to think you had… well…"

"You thought I had stood you up, huh?" he smiled softly.

Hermione nodded and looked back at her feet.

George pulled her close to himself and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I've pulled a lot of pranks on people over my life, but I'd never make a date with some bird only to purposefully stand them up. Especially you. I'm really sorry. I'll send a patronus next time."

"I guess you're forgiven," the brunette witch teased.

George gave Hermione's sides a few tickles in retaliation but put his arm around her shoulder as they wandered into the living room where little Freddie had Crookshanks draped across his lap purring loudly.

The curly haired boy looked up at his uncle with a wide grin. "Lookit the kitty, Unca George! Isn't he pretty?"

George grimaced but forced a smile, "Yeah… he's pretty alright, Squirt." Pretty horrifying, he thought.

"Unca George, I'm hungry."

"Have either of you had supper?" Hermione asked. George shook his head.

"No, and it's a bit too late to cook I'm afraid," George frowned. "This one should have been to bed half an hour ago but with the excitement for getting Angelina and Fred to St Mungo's, dinner time and bed time sort of got over looked trying to get here."

Hermione thought about this for a moment before disentangling herself from George's arm and reaching for her phone. She quickly dialed a number and waited for a moment until someone on the other end picked up.

"Yes, hello. I'd like to place a delivery order please..."

…

Hermione giggled as George eagerly reached for a fourth slice of pizza. The circular shaped food had been met with a bit of distrust at first from the two males currently curled up on her sofa but after a bit of debate she was able to get them to at least try some. Hermione would later be grateful she had ordered two pizzas instead of just one.

Little Freddie was nestled between Hermione and George, snuggling up as close to both adults as he could get. The small boy gleefully chewed on the crust from his demolished slice while his eyes stayed glued to flickering screen of Hermione's telly. The curly haired witch had selected The Sword and the Stone from her neglected stack of DVDs to play while they ate. It seemed to be the right choice because both little Freddie and George had yet to take their eyes off the old animated movie.

The small boy laughed wildly as the cartoon depicted wizard turned himself and his apprentice into a fish.

"Unca George, look at the funny fishies!"

George smiled lovingly down at his nephew. "I see them, they are funny."

Hermione felt a wonderful warmth spread through her chest as she watched the two of them interact. George clearly adored his nephew almost as much as Freddie clearly adored his uncle. The little boy snuggled up to her after he had finished eating and Hermione was surprised to find that she had been absentmindedly stroking his beautiful hair. Most of Freddie's features had been inherited from his mother. Cocoa colored skin, dark eyes and beautiful curly hair that went in every direction. But his nose and grin were one hundred percent Fred. Hermione continued stroking his baby soft hair and went back to watching the movie. It wasn't long before she felt the small boy go completely slack and with gentle snores following. George looked down at Freddie and chuckled.

"I should probably take him home," he said with a sigh. "I left a note for Fred in case he came back tonight and we were gone but still…"

"You could just lay him down in my room," Hermione offered as her cheeks turned red. "And we could… ya know… finish the film. Together."

George grinned widely and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek before scooping the passed out child into his arms. Hermione got up and led him towards her bedroom. With more gentleness then she had ever seen anyone exhibit, George laid the sleeping boy on her bed. Hermione came up behind him with an afghan and tucked it around Freddie. The child squirmed in his sleep for a moment trying to get comfortable. He soon rolled to his side and began sucking his thumb before going still.

Hermione smiled as George leaned down and kissed the boy's head. He whispered goodnight and the two adults tip toed out of the room.

"You're a natural," Hermione remarked once they were safely back in the living room where Freddie wouldn't hear them and wake up.

"You're not too bad yourself," George winked. "You'd make a great mum."

Hermione muttered a thank you before plopping back down on her sofa. George flopped down next to her before unceremoniously pulling the witch into his lap. Hermione squeaked and looked up at the crazy gingered man with bewilderment.

"George, what on earth…!"

He just grinned, "Well when you said 'together', I assumed from the amount of blushing you did that you meant together in the snuggly sense."

Hermione honestly had no come back for that one. She had meant in the snuggly sense but she didn't want HIM to know that! The man was annoying intuitive about what she was thinking. Still, his arms were very warm wrapped around her like that and his chest was a lot more comfortable of resting place for her head than her fist had been. She may as well stay where she was.

What was the harm in a little innocent snuggling?

… ~ … ~ …

Viktor flopped onto his bed with a groan of exhaustion. After a long day of scouting new players for his team, the worn out Bulgarian was finally able to retire back to the room he had rented at the Leaky Cauldron with no other thought then that of a hot meal and shower. A few flashes of Sally had crossed his mind when thinking about needing a shower but he dismissed them as quickly as he could. It was less than two days since he'd seen her last and already he craved the taste of her lips on his again. This was going to be a very long fight. The longer it took to obtain his precious boys, the longer Viktor would be forced to be separated from Sally. He couldn't afford to pine over her right now, it would just make the road ahead seem even worse. Damned if it wasn't hard though.

A sharp knock on his room door had Viktor glaring at the large plank of wood separating him and whoever it was. The hulking wizard pushed himself up off the bed before shuffling his aching body over to the door. He opened it just a crack to make sure whoever was disturbing him was not a nosy reporter wanting an interview, or a crazed fan wanting an autograph. Viktor frowned in confusion and opened the door all the way to find the hall way empty. He went to take a step into the hall way when his feet made contact with something on the ground. Viktor frowned and picked up the thick yellow envelope before stepping back inside his room and closing the door behind him.

Viktor was not foolish enough to just open the blasted thing so he laid it on a near by table and pointed his wand at the small package. There were no curses or jinxes that he could detect, so Viktor just shrugged and tore open the top of the envelope before pulling out its contents. With a horrified gasp he dropped what turned out to be a small stake of photographs.

Moving wizard photographs of he and Sally making love.

There was no note, no threatening letter or howler but the message was clear. Either he drops the custody battle for his boys, or Helga's attorney was going to use these in the case.

Viktor sat down in a chair and put his head in his hands. Oh god, what had he done…

… ~ … ~ …

Hermione sat up and stretched a bit as the movie credits began to roll. She smiled over at George, asking what he'd thought of it.

"Loved it!" he exclaimed. "That was brilliant. You sure it's a kids show?"

"Pretty sure," she chuckled and stood up. She picked up the dirtied plates and abandoned cups before making her way towards the kitchen. George followed her with the left over pizza and put it in the fridge as Hermione began washing the plates. George watched her for a moment, just taking in how adorably domestic she was. Most witches, including his own mother, preferred to have their magic do mundane chores like that, but for some reason Hermione preferred to do things by hand. He assumed it must be because of her muggle heritage.

Hermione finished the dishes quickly and turned around to find George staring at her rather dreamily. She shifted uncomfortably and giggled nervously.

"What?" she asked.

George shook his head and pushed off the wall he'd been leaning on.

"Nothing," he replied, tucking a curl of her hair behind her ear. "You're just… beautiful."

Hermione blushed and mumbled an embarrassed thank you. George just smiled and put his arms back around her.

"So I was wondering," he started to say. "Want to spend New Years with me?"

Hermione laughed, "George, it's barely December 2 nd. Asking a bit early don't you think?"

"Well I just wanted to make sure I got to you before anyone else did," George said casually. "Don't want you giving away any of my kissed to other blokes."

"Any of your kisses?" she laughed. "And what makes you think they are 'your' kisses to have?"

George grinned and tilted her head upwards, "Because I want them to be mine, that's why."

Hermione gulped silently and felt her cheeks go aflame again. She hadn't realized how close his face was to hers. George stroked her cheek with his thumb tenderly.

"Only if you want them of course," George continued.

The blushing witch couldn't think up of an intelligent answer so she just nodded. The red haired wizard grinned from ear to ear as he slowly leaned down to capture Hermione's lips with his.

Hermione's heart was pounding in her ears as George's mouth collided with her own. Her very toes curled with the sheer intensity of the kiss. It was warm and sensual and she opened her mouth as his tongue began to dance with hers.

George felt slightly dizzy. He's never imagined kissing Bookworm Granger would be so… so hot! Her lips were like velvet, soft and silky. He hadn't expected her to deepen the kiss so quickly, and had been pleasantly surprised when she'd parted her lips for him and allowed his tongue to explore her mouth. Hermione had at some point snaked her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. George's hands began exploring her body. When a low moan escaped the witch in his arms, George felt like he could probably die a happy man at this point.

However a sudden frantic pounding on the front door broke the spell and had Hermione jumping away from him in a panic. George cursed under his breath and hoped that whoever just interrupted what could have been the start of something amazing, had a damn good reason for doing so.

Hermione flashed an apologetic smile at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying to the front door. She adjusted her slightly askew clothes before opening the door. Her eye brows disappeared quickly into her hairline though when the witch was suddenly confronted with a glowering Viktor and a red eyed shaking Sally. Hermione couldn't help but immediately open her arms to the clearly distort young woman. Sally fell into her arms and began to cry all over again. Hermione stared at Viktor in alarm.

"What on earth in going on?" she demanded.

Viktor sighed and ran a large hand through his hair.

"Iz long story, Herm-own-ninny," he said.

"Well we have time to hear it."

Hermione looked over her shoulder to find George behind her, looking just as concerned at Sally's state as she was. They ushered the two inside quickly and closed the door. This was really not what Hermione had in mind for a second date but at least no one had vomited on her shoes… yet

TBC

A/N: I swear I will try and get better about posting new chapters in a timely fashion. R&R, my dears.

~Chupip