A Weasley Thing

She lay in his arms, her head on his chest, rising and falling with each breath. She could hear the pounding of his heart, too, as his body struggled to calm itself, each beat perfectly matching the thudding pulse she felt against her arm as it lay against his temple. Hermione forced herself breathe deeply, knowing that he could still feel her heart racing even now, several minutes after their physical exertions had come to a peak and they'd collapsed together, tangled in a cocoon of warm blankets and soft skin.

Minutes passed. The silence echoed throughout the bedroom, but it was a comfortable one, marred only by their combined breathing and the occasional muffled sounds of the world outside her flat, as it went about its everyday business of existing. In unspoken mutual agreement, they remained together– she didn't excuse herself and hurry to the loo, he didn't reach for his robes and spectacles and mutter a hasty excuse about needing to get back to the office. They simply rested, limbs entwined, and allowed their contentment to take precedent over the dozens of other tasks they'd set for themselves that day.

With a fingertip, Hermione lightly traced a pattern on the soft inner skin of his right forearm. Like the rest of his brothers, Percy was covered in freckles from head to toe; however, the marks were surprisingly sparse in this particular spot, and his skin was milky white, causing the handful of freckles that hadn't fled to greener pastures to stand out even more than usual against the paleness. If she closed her left eye and tilted her head slightly, the pattern looked almost like a miniature version of the Big Dipper....

She pressed a soft kiss to the almost-constellation, and snuggled further into the blankets. Listening to his slow, even breathing, satisfied that he was asleep at last, she murmured the words that had been on the tip of her tongue ever since she'd first realized the depth of her feelings for Percy, all those months ago. She'd not yet managed to speak those three little words, however – despite the success of their relationship thus far, both Hermione and Percy were fairly reserved individuals, and she wasn't quite sure he was ready for such declarations. To be honest, she wasn't quite sure she was ready to make such a declaration – and then they'd made love, for the first time, and now she found that she couldn't hold the words in any longer.

"Love you..." she whispered, her voice barely audible even in such a quiet room.

His response was immediate, his voice steady. "I love you too, you know."

She gasped, startled from her half-asleep state into full awareness upon hearing her words repeated. She'd thought he was asleep, judging from the evenness of his breath and the slow rhythm of his heartbeat. Perhaps he was merely talking in his sleep? The Weasleys were rather famous for sleep-talking – she'd certainly heard enough stories from Harry about the ridiculous conversations that he'd had with a seemingly-awake Ron in the middle of the night. Something about tap-dancing spiders? Shaking her head slightly, she schooled her features into a blank expression and raised her head to face him.

He wasn't asleep. His eyes were open, clear and blue, watching her, and his full mouth curved into a gentle smile. He dropped a kiss on her nose as she lay there, frozen, finally processing his statement.

"You love me? Really? You're not just saying that?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she cringed in embarrassment. How utterly ridiculous she sounded!

Percy laughed softly, and she stiffened – but then he dropped a kiss on her nose, and she began to relax, and allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. Pulling her closer, he smoothed several particularly unruly tendrils of hair away from her forehead, and pressed a kiss to that spot before speaking. "Of course I mean it. I love you, Hermione. Did you really think I'd have just done what I just did with you if I didn't?"

Hermione giggled. “You do realize that sentence makes virtually no sense, don't you?”

He swatted at her, playfully. "You know what I'm trying to say. You're important to me, Hermione. You've become a big part of my life, and I'd be crazy if I didn't love you by now, after all we've been through." He paused. "Even if we hadn't known each other for more than eleven years – even if we'd met at the Ministry – I think I still would have fallen in love with you, eventually."

She blushed, and kissed his cheek. “You're awfully sweet sometimes, you know that, Percy?"

He grinned. "It's a Weasley thing. We're complete and utter gits most of the time, but every once in a while...." Whatever he'd planned to say was cut off as Hermione snaked her left arm around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers, kissing him thoroughly.

Hmmm...wonder if being fabulous at snogging is "a Weasley thing," too? she thought fleetingly, before all rational thought was chased from her mind once more.