Study Breaks

Chapter Eight

Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room the Sunday after her first date with George. The weather outside had developed from a balmy spring into early summer, and while the students of Hogwarts ought to have been studying and preparing for their final exams, which were barely a month away, they were almost without exception all outside releasing their pent-up energy from being cooped up all winter. As she had been the day she first started working with George, Hermione was reveling in the peace and quiet of having the common room to herself. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be able to concentrate on the stack of books and parchment on the table in front of her; her mind kept slipping back to Friday night and the wonderful time she had spent under the stars with George.
“Earth to Hermione!”
A voice broke her reverie, and Hermione looked up into the face of her friend Lavender. Lavender was dressed in her own personal version of the Hogwarts uniform, but with no tights under her skirt and a white tee-shirt instead of the blouse.
“Hey Mione,” she continued, “a bunch of us are going for a hike along the lakeshore. Just to enjoy the weather, y’know? Wanna come with?”
“Umm…” Hermione stalled, glancing towards the window through which she could see the members of the quidditch team playing some sort of game of monkey in the middle with a frustrated Angelina attempting to get the Quaffle.
“George is coming,” Lavender added quickly, with a badly hidden grin. “We’re going as soon as practice is over.”
Hermione blushed slightly. “Uh, okay. Just let me get these books upstairs and I’ll change into something more practical,” she added gesturing at her long robes.
“Let me help,” Lavender said, bending down to grab a stack of books. “I wanted to talk to you for a sec, anyway. Before we meet up with everyone else.”
“Okay,” Hermione agreed, looking at her friend questioningly.
Once they had collected all of Hermione’s things and moved towards the stairs, Lavender broke the silence.
“Well, um, what I wanted to ask you was about Ron,” she said. “I was wondering if he’d talked about me at all. Because we studied together Friday and yesterday and I thought we were getting along really well and I was hoping that maybe he’d said something about me and I figured since you were one of his best friends…”
“Woah, woah, slow down and take a breath, you’re going to hyperventilate there,” Hermione interrupted, smiling. “And the answer is, I’ve barely talked to Ron since Friday, except about school work. Maybe he’s talked to Harry, you should ask him.”
“Okay,” Lavender sighed. “I was just hoping…” she trailed off, staring at her feet as they climbed the stairs.
“I know,” Hermione said, and the other girl’s head shot up. “Well, I figured you were interested in him. That maybe you liked him a little.”
“Yeah, I do,” Lavender confessed. “I mean, I know he’s not a big brain or a famous hero or anything but he’s funny, and pretty smart, plus he said some really nice things to me yesterday, really understanding things about what it’s like to be on the sidelines.”
“Plus he’s cute, right?” Hermione added mischievously. “I must admit that there’s something about red hair and freckles…”
Lavender grinned, then giggled as they entered their dormitory room.
“So speaking of red hair and freckles,” she said moving to dump Hermione’s books on a table, “exactly what’s going on with you and George? You said that date the other night was pretty amazing, star gazing and everything. So are you guys serious?”
Hermione looked down at the clothes she had pulled from her trunk.
“I don’t know. I mean, I know that I like him a fair bit, and I like spending time with him. But I don’t know how he feels, whether he’s serious or not. He’s a Weasley Twin. Are they ever serious?”
“Oh I don’t know,” said Lavender, ignoring Hermione’s attempt to joke her way out of the discussion. “Fred and Angelina have been an item for over a year now. And I think George is probably even more likely to make a serious commitment. I mean he hasn’t dated anyone that I know of until now. I don’t think he’s taking this lightly.”
“Well, I don’t want to fuss about it too much,” Hermione said, her voice muffled as she pulled a tee shirt over her head. “Some problems just can’t be figured out, even with hours of thought. And boys are definitely in that category.”
“Agreed,” said Lavender with a laugh. “So let’s go be confused. If you like, I’ll distract Ron so you can sneak off with George for a while.”
“Gosh, you’re so selfless, what a sacrifice,” mocked Hermione, grinning. “Well, if you think you could bring yourself to spending time with Ron, I’d appreciate it.”
“No trouble,” replied Lavender as the two girls headed down the stairs. “No trouble at all.”

When Hermione and Lavender walked out onto the lawn, they were greeted by an amusing sight. The male members of the Gryffindor quidditch team were gathered together in a struggling mass while their female counterparts flew above their heads shouting insults. The boys were unable to come up with any decent rebuttals as they had been tied in a large clump and gagged. Surrounding the unfortunate players was a crowd of Gryffindor students, laughing and contributing their own mockery. As they approached the group, Lavender called out:
“Parvati, what on earth is going on?”
The dark haired girl spun around and moved away from the crowd to her dorm mates.
“Well, Fred made a stupid remark about girls playing professional quidditch,” she explained. “So Angelina threw the Quaffle at him. He, being Fred, didn’t wise up but said something even more stupid, so Angelina hexed him. Then George started to protest, something about women being overly emotional. So Katie hexed him. Then Harry and the other guys started protesting, which caused the girls to turn on them and eventually they all got tied up together, and someone, I think it was Katie, gagged them. It’s been really funny, since the guys are being seriously mocked for being unable to out fly a simple hex.”
“Well, we should probably get them out of that before someone gets in trouble,” Hermione pointed out practically.
“I suppose,” Parvati said, “but you have to admit, it’s a sight to see.”
“Well,” Hermione said, attempting to still look serious, “It’s a serious infraction… Ah whatever, they do look silly, don’t they?”
“Absolutely ridiculous,” agreed Lavender with a snort of laughter.
After a few minutes, the female players decided that their teammates had been humiliated enough and landed beside the red-faced boys. Before the girls ended their incantations, Angelina gave a short lecture about underestimating the abilities of girls and when the shamefaced boys all nodded in agreement, they were released. The crowd moved towards the quidditch pitch so the team could store its gear, then broke into small groups, most of which headed in the direction of the lakeshore.
Harry waved to Hermione, but didn’t move to greet her. Instead he grabbed Ron’s arm and began talking about something Hermione couldn’t hear. From Ron’s response, though, it seemed to be a topic the red-head felt fairly passionate about. Within a minute, he was gesturing wildly and completely oblivious to anyone around him. Hermione caught Harry’s eyes briefly and gave him the thumbs up. Just as she turned to enter Lavender and Parvati’s discussion, she heard a voice from behind her.
“Hey Stargirl, wait up.”
Lavender looked at Hermione with a small smile and then dragged Parvati away to join a group of fourth and fifth years. Hermione turned to face George with a grin on her face.
“So, is that the secret to keeping you quiet?” she asked as he fell in step beside her.
“Hey,” he said defensively, “it was a misunderstanding.”
“Oh really, Mr. Weasley? Parvati told me what happened, so don’t play coy with me.”
“It was all said in the heat of battle. I take no responsibility.”
“Nice excuse, George,” she said, grinning. “Temporary insanity. Although I’d argue the temporary…”
“Ouch,” George said, grinning down at her. “Y’know that would hurt if I didn’t know you were kidding.”
“Who said I’m kidding?” she asked, then relented at the hurt expression on his face. “Just joking, really. I know you, George. You’re not completely insane.”
“Well thanks for that vote of confidence,” he grumped.
At her snort, he looked down with a grin and reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers.
“Anyway,” he continued, “how are you? I didn’t see you much yesterday.”
“Oh, I’m good. I’ve been trying to get some advance school work done, but for some reason all I can think about is astronomy.”
“Astronomy? I didn’t think you were taking… Oh. Oh! Yeah, me too. Friday night was wonderful. You wanna do it again sometime soon?” he asked lightly, looking down at her.
“Yeah, I think I’d like that,” she replied quietly, looking at her feet so he wouldn’t see her blush. In doing so she missed the look of relief that crossed George’s face.
“Well,” he said after a few moments, “I know of this little cove a few minutes from here…”
“Oh can we?” Hermione asked eagerly. “ I’d love to go back.”
“I think it should be deserted,” George said thoughtfully. “I don’t have anything for a picnic, though.”
“Well, that’s okay. I’m sure I can survive without a sugar rush for a few hours.”
“Ah, but can I?” he asked dramatically
“Scary thought, Weasley,” Hermione said jokingly. “If I took away all your sugar d’you think you’d act… normal!?”
“Hey, ow! You’re in a mood today, Mione.”
“No. Or yes. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve got spring fever today too.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that. As long as you promise that if you hurt me, you’ll kiss it better.”
“Absolutely,” Hermione said, with a fake serious look on her face.
“In that case, I think you owe me three kisses already,” he said, grinning down at her. “C’mon, let’s get to the cove, I’m starting to feel weak from my injuries.”
He turned off the path abruptly and pulled her after him. Lavender watched the couple head off towards the shore and sighed enviously. Quickly looking forward, she checked that Ron was still oblivious. It seemed that he had reached an impasse in his discussion with Harry and was staring straight ahead muttering and waving his arms. Fortunately, in his preoccupation he had completely missed George and Hermione’s departure.
“C’mon Lavender,” Parvati interrupted her friend’s thoughts. “I need to talk to Harry for a moment. Let’s try to catch up to them.”
Allowing the other girl to tug her along the path, Lavender asked “Why do you need to talk to Harry? About what? Parvati?”
But before she could get answers, Parvati had released her arm and caught Harry’s shoulder.
“Harry,” she said, pulling him to a stop. “I need to talk to you about that project we were working on. Y’know, the, uh,…”
“The extra-curricular one?” Harry interrupted sharply as Parvati floundered.
“Yeah, that one,” she agreed. “So can we talk? Now.”
“Sure,” he said curtly. Catching Ron staring at him, Harry continued. “Sorry Ron, we’ll continue this discussion another time. Keep Lavender company, why don’t you?” And he allowed himself to be dragged several steps away from his bewildered friend.
Lavender stared at Ron nervously. The red-headed boy seemed lost in thought.
“Shall we keep walking?” she finally asked to break the silence.
“Huh? Oh, yeah sure,” Ron said distractedly. After a moment he burst out “Discussion. That wasn’t a discussion. It was a bloody lecture! Grief he’s annoying sometimes!”
“Um, Ron?” Lavender interrupted. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, sorry Lavender.” He seemed to finally realize who it was walking beside him. “Just Harry lecturing me on not being possessive of my friends. I’m not possessive! I mean really. Do you think I’m possessive?”
“Uh… I don’t really know what you’re talking about, Ron,” Lavender hedged. “If you mean Hermione, well, yeah, I think you are little weird there. I mean, you’re not even dating the girl, yet you growl at anyone who comes near her. Last year you completely freaked Victor Krum out, besides pissing off Padma by ignoring her at the ball. And then you never even asked her out.”
“Hey,” said Ron defensively, “I didn’t ask for a lecture. I get those enough from Hermione and Harry.”
“Well, you asked my opinion, didn’t you? So I gave it to you.” Lavender glared up at the red head. “If you didn’t want to hear it, why ask?”
“Wait, why are you so mad?” he asked, confused.
“Cuz I don’t like getting snapped at for stating my opinion. Why are you in such a bad mood about this?” she shot back.
“Cuz I don’t…” he huffed for a moment. “Cuz… Oh I don’t even know. Good grief.” Ron laughed. “I’m sorry if I snapped at you Lavender. This isn’t your problem.”
“Well, it kinda is,” Lavender said. Ron looked at her quizzically. “I mean,” she continued quickly, “because Hermione’s my friend and I don’t want you messing up her chance at romance cuz your being pointlessly possessive.”
“Okay,” Ron agreed slowly, “I get it. I think. But I’m not interested in her like that, she’s just a friend.”
“Well, we know that Ron,” Lavender agreed, “but the problem is everyone thinks you’ll make a big fuss if Hermione starts to date anyone, even though you’re not interested, and that’s why we’re all on your case about it.”
“Okay. So if I promise not to make a fuss, then people will get off my back, right?”
Lavender nodded, so Ron continued. “Well, I promise. You can be my witness. So that’s that, right? Let’s talk about something else. Like you.”
“Um, me?” asked Lavender. “Why me? I’m not very interesting.”
“Hey, let me be the judge of that,” Ron said. “I don’t know much about you at all, but I want to. Like, how’d you get so good at Herbology and Charms?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Lavender said with a shrug. “I don’t think they’re very difficult. And I like them, so that makes them easier.”
“Okay then. Can you explain to me about those fertilizing charms we were learning last week, cuz they flew right over my head.”
“Well, for one thing, they weren’t fertilizing charms, they were simply a variation on engorgement charms to help a plant grow…”
As they strolled along the shoreline, Lavender happily lectured Ron on the Herbology lessons from the previous weeks. The couple were so engrossed in their conversation they never noticed their two best friends walking twenty paces behind them.
“So, that seemed to have worked out well,” said Parvati smugly.
“Yeah, a miracle considering how un-subtle it was,” Harry pointed out.
“Hey, don’t get on my case about that. I needed to do something and there really wasn’t much other choice.”
“You two could have just joined us and then after a few minutes we could have wandered off and left them alone,” he suggested.
“Yeah, and then they’d be asking all sorts of questions about us maybe being a couple or what was going on between us.”
“We could have avoided that. And now they’re going to wonder what this project is we’re working on together.”
“Hopefully, if they get along well enough, they won’t even remember about the project at all.”
“I hope so. If not, you’re going to have to do some fast lying.”
“C’mon Harry, I can do that. How d’you think I made it through so many divination lessons?”
Harry stared at Parvati, amazed. “You lie during those lessons? I thought you loved divination.”
“Of course I love divination. But I don’t have the right feel for a lot it,” she admitted. “So most of the stuff I make up. About the only things I’m good at are the cards and tea leaves.”
“But you and Lavender worship Professor Trelawney.”
“I don’t worship her. I just think that she can help me with my abilities. I mean, half of her stuff is crud anyway, isn’t it?” Harry gaped at her she continued, “but I can’t let her know I know that or she’d never teach me. As far as I know, the only way she communicates with the future is in trances and that’s not even a controllable gift. I plan on being better than that.”
“Okay, this is stuff I never thought I’d hear from you,” Harry admitted. “I thought you were…”
“An empty headed ditz who likes boys and rainbows and believes in crystal ball readings? Yeah, I like boys and clothes and make-up. So sue me. But I’m not a complete airhead.”
“Well, I figured that,” Harry said grumpily, “I just really thought you believed that divination stuff.”
“Look at it this way,” Parvati explained with mocking patience. “If I were a Muggle, I’d be a psychia-whatsit. One of the people who figure out people’s minds and emotions. That’s how I use the cards. That’s why I like to make matches. I know I’m not a book genius like my sister or even someone with the sight. I just have this talent. So I do what I can to get training so I’ll be really really good at it.”
“Okay, okay,” Harry said, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender, “I give in. I never meant to upset you. Sorry.”
“S’okay Harry. Just wanted to get that off my chest, I guess.” Parvati smiled up at him, then turned to look up the path. “The happy couple seems to be hitting it off.”
Harry followed her gaze and saw Lavender speaking passionately, gesturing with her hands, while Ron stared down at her barely watching where he was going. The red headed boy had a mixture of amazement and confusion on his face.
“So,” Parvati said, “Five knuts says he trips in the next two minutes.”
Harry looked down at her mock serious face and burst into howls of laughter.

“What was that?” Hermione asked sitting up slightly, pulling away from George.
George reached up with the arm that had been cuddling her against his side and pulled her back down to lie on the blanket again.
“Nothing, Mione, just someone on the path above. They’ll never see us from there unless they decided to go rock climbing.”
“Okay. Just jumpy I guess.” She snuggled against his side and turned her face to his. “Sorry about that. So where were we?”
George leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose. “Nowhere we can’t go back to later. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Oh dear,” Hermione said with a dramatic shudder, “You sound serious. Are you ill?”
George fended off the hand she’d moved towards his forehead, eventually capturing it in his and pulling it against his chest.
“No I’m not sick, Mione, just wondering something.”
“Okay,” she said warily, pulling her hand free and propping herself up on her elbows, “what?”
Rather than trying to pull her back down, George sat all the way up and turned to face the girl beside him.
“Well, I guess I wanted to ask what you thought us being together was. Does that sentence make any sense?”
“Not grammatically,” Hermione teased gently, “but I know what you mean. You’re wondering how serious I am about you, right?”
George nodded silently, then kept his head down, his eyes focused on the fingers of his right hand plucking at a loose thread in the blanket. Hermione watched him for a few moments then sat up and put her hand on his, stilling the restless movement.
“Um, George, I’m not really sure what to say here. I mean I like spending time with you. And I’ve had fun studying with you. And I like kissing you…” she trailed off.
“But?” George asked, trying to pull his hand out from under hers. “But you don’t think of me that way? But you’re really in love with my brother? But what?”
“Ah yes,” Hermione sighed, “I’m madly in love with Percy.”
George stopped trying to pull his hand away and stared into Hermione’s laughing eyes.
“I’m kidding George,” she pointed out, “I would have thought you of all people would have figured that out.”
“Well, sorry,” he said defensively, “but this isn’t something I’m joking about.”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” said Hermione. “I guess I’m just nervous. I’ve never really dated anyone, or thought about dating anyone before. Not seriously. But I think I am pretty serious about dating you.”
George let out a deep sigh of relief and took Hermione’s hands in his.
“I’m so glad you said that. I was really worried,” he admitted. “I mean, I know that I’m not the serious type, but I feel like I care for you a lot, and that you understand me really well. More than most people, that’s for sure. And I feel really comfortable with you, like I don’t have to be all hyper and jokey if I don’t want to and that you aren’t going to freak out on me.”
“I know what you mean,” Hermione said, looking down at their joined hands. “I feel like I can be myself with you too. That you don’t have all sorts of expectations for me to be perfect and always know what to do. And I really like that.” She paused and then looked up. “I really like you.”
Hermione watched George’s eyes widen. He stared at her intently for a moment, then right before Hermione was about to look away from embarrassment, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips, his eyes on hers the entire time. Hermione blinked suddenly, the intensity of his gaze too much for her. As her eyes closed, George moved back, taking his lips from hers. They sat in silence for a moment.
“Wow,” she said finally, “So I guess this is mutual, right?”
“Yeah,” George agreed, squeezing her hands, “mutual admiration society happening right here.” His voice became serious again. “Hermione, I don’t want to sneak around any more. I want to tell everyone that you’re my girlfriend.”
“And I want to let the world know that I’m dating George Weasley,” she admitted.
“And why shouldn’t I?” she asked suddenly. “If Ron doesn’t like it, he can go jump in the lake. I don’t want to hide this anymore. And I won’t”
“Now there’s the fiery fighter I fell for,” George said admiringly before frowning. “Fiery fighter I fell for? That just sounds stupid. Too many “f’s” I think. Bit of a tongue twister, as well. Let’s see, um…”
“George, shut up,” Hermione ordered. He looked up sheepishly.
“I like your compliments,” she continued, “no matter how bizarre or tongue twist-y. Because they always come from the heart.”
“Yeah, well, someday I’ll get that filter between my brain and my mouth,” George joked.”
“Nah, don’t bother,” Hermione said affectionately, “I like you the way you are now, malapropisms and all.”
“Mala-whats?”
“Never mind,” Hermione said, shaking her head before cutting off George’s next remark with a kiss.
George jokingly struggled for a moment, but when Hermione’s hand came up to tangle in his hair, he stopped. Lifting his own hand to her cheek, he ran a finger along her jaw. Hermione shivered against his mouth and George stopped suddenly, pulling back with a question in his eyes.
“Cold?” he asked. “Or…”
“No, nothing like that,” Hermione said, leaning in to kiss his neck beneath his right ear.
“Just goose bumps,” she whispered before nipping at his earlobe.
George shivered suddenly and turned his head to softly kiss the side of jaw, marking a trail down her neck and across her collar bone. Hermione’s hands came up to clutch the back of his head as he placed kisses along the scooped neckline of her shirt, pausing occasionally to nip and suck at the base of her neck. George looked up as she let out a quiet moan.
“Like that?” he asked with a teasing smile.
“You’re evil, George Weasley,” she replied, pulling his head up so she could kiss him. “Absolutely evil,” she whispered against his lips before deepening the kiss.