Study Breaks

~Chapter Ten~

May moved towards June, and talk of Draco’s humiliation died away as the school turned towards finals. Soon even the most reluctant scholars had their heads buried in books. Hermione claimed a table in the corner of the common room and could be seen there morning, noon, and night, working through sheaves of parchment and stacks of books as she prepared for her OWLs. The other seats at the table were almost always filled, with Harry, Ron, and other fifth years coming by for study advice. When her classmates weren’t begging for hints and help, George could be seen sitting with his girlfriend, exchanging advice and asking for help on obscure points of History of Magic.
One evening in late May, Hermione sat with her Herbology notes and texts in front of her. She was, for once, alone. These days Ron studied Herbology with Lavender, and Harry often worked with them, leaving Hermione in peace. She was contentedly running through the listings of medicinal qualities of the plants the class had covered that term when a pair of hands covered her eyes.
“Guess who,” a familiar voice spoke.
“Can I have a hint?” she asked.
“Someone close to your heart.”
“Um… Minister Fudge?” she guessed.
“Nope.”
“Uh… Professor Lockhart?”
“Try again.”
“Well, I guess that just leaves Colin Creevey.”
The hands pulled away as Hermione turned her head. George was crouching behind her chair, grinning. When she turned in her chair to face him, he took her hands in his.
“Wanna run away with me?” he asked.
“What?”
“To Inner Mongolia. Or at least somewhere we can see the stars. Whatever you want.”
“Well, I don’t really have time for Mongolia right now, with the OWL examinations starting in a week,” Hermione pointed out. “But I suppose I could spare some time to go star gazing.”
“Great,” George stood up, still holding her hands. He pulled her to her feet. “Shall we?”
“Let me just put this stuff away and we can go.”
Hermione tucked her Herbology notes into the appropriate section of her bag, then slid the bag under the table. She closed the texts she’d been using and stacked them, putting them with the rest of the Herbology pile. As she finished tidying everything away, she saw George grinning down at the table, shaking his head.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just the pickiness of how you’re sorting everything,” he explained. “It’s cute, in an obsessive way.”
“Well, it’s organized. Makes for more effective studying. This way I can find everything easily. And I’ve got my notes colour coded by importance and which subjects are more likely to be on the exams. What?”
George’s grin had widened, and at her last sentence he had given a snort. Under his girlfriend’s glare, however, he tried to look more serious.
“Really, nothing. I think it’s great,” he said, his lips twitching as he tried not to smile. “Very efficient. And studious. I’m impressed.”
“If you’re making fun of me, George Weasley…” she began, with a threatening look.
“Never,” he cut in, his expression truly serious now. “I’d never make fun of your studying. I know how important doing well in school is to you. Really, I’m laughing with you.”
“I’m not laughing,” Hermione grumped, but she began to smile.
“Well, that’s good, because Herbology is no laughing matter. Have you seen the attitude on those Mandrakes? And Bubotubers. Vicious.”
By this point, Hermione was grinning as much as George. She linked her arm through his.
“Where shall we go, then?” she asked as they walked to the common room door.
“Well, I was thinking we could try the Astronomy Tower. I’m sure that the last of the sunset would be amazing from there and then we could star gaze to our hearts’ content.”
“Sounds lovely.”

Half an hour later, Hermione and George rounded the corner of the stairs leading to the Great Hall. Both were laughing so hard tears streamed out of their eyes. As they approached the door of the Hall, Hermione put her hand of George’s arm.
“Just let me catch my breath,” she pleaded.
“Not a problem,” George replied, leaning back against the banister. “Oh wow, wasn’t that the funniest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“The look on Ron’s face…” Hermione started laughing again.
“He was absolutely shocked, wasn’t he? I don’t know what was worse for him, being caught or realizing that we were probably in the Tower for the same purpose.”
“Oh yeah,” Hermione took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “I’ll never forget him scrambling to get his shirt back on, inside out and backwards.”
“Good look for our Ronnie, his tag sticking up and tickling his chin,” George said thoughtfully. “And the attractive purple colour of his face… Great contrast with Lavender, who was as calm as you please.”
“Well, why should she get upset?” Hermione asked. “It’s not like it was a surprise that they would be snogging in the tower. They’re kinda famous for their public displays of affection these days.”
“Practically Siamese twins, aren’t they?”
“Pretty much. Oh well, whatever works for them.”
“Yeah, well, at least they spend time together,” George said.
“We spend time together,” Hermione said, feeling defensive.
“Studying. That’s not exactly romantic.”
“Well, what do you call this, then?” she asked.
“Our first date in a week,” he shot back.
“Sorry I’ve been so busy,” she said, with a sarcastic edge to her voice. “I’ve got this little thing called OWLs looming over me.”
“I know that, Mione, and I’ve already said I understand how important school is to you. But I was hoping that maybe I could have some time with my girlfriend now and then. It’s not like taking an hour or two away from your books is going to make you fail,” he pointed out with a smile.
“I suppose. Well, here we are, taking an hour or two. We can go watch the stars in the Great Hall and not talk about school at all. Okay?”
“Alright, let’s give it a try,” George said, taking her hand.
“Why don’t we make some sort of schedule?” Hermione asked as they slipped into the Hall. “We could set aside a couple specific times every week, just for us. That way you can’t complain about never seeing me.”
“Okay, that makes some sense,” George replied. “How ‘bout a weekly date for star gazing?”
“That would be nice. Every Friday night then?”
“Sounds great. I didn’t mean to fight with you about this, or anything,” George said as he conjured a blanket and some pillows for them to sit on. “It’s just that I miss spending time with you. Just the two of us, no books.”
“Yeah, it is nice, isn’t it?” she said with a smile.
Hermione sat on the blanket, leaning back on her elbows to look at the stars. George lay down beside her, tucking a pillow under his head. After a few moments, Hermione rolled onto her side and put her head on George’s chest. He moved his arms to wrap them around her, cuddling her gently with his chin against her hair as they lay in silence. Eventually Hermione spoke.
“I’m glad you convinced me to take time away from studying. Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome, Stargirl.”
“Why don’t we go for a picnic on Sunday? We could go down to the cove, just the two of us. We haven’t been there in a few weeks.”
“I’d like that. Sunday picnics could be another weekly date, don’t you think? That way you can spend the week focused on school and relax a bit with me on the weekends.”
“That works for me,” Hermione agreed contentedly. “Now why don’t you tell me another one of your ‘growing up Weasley’ stories. Nothing like a good fairy tale to relax me.”
“Fairy tale!” George exclaimed, feigning indignation. “I’ll have you know that every word of my stories are true.”
“Really?” Hermione said with a laugh. “Even the one where you and Fred battled a mummy on your trip to Egypt?” She turned her head to look up at George’s face.
“So I embellished the stories a little bit,” he admitted. Hermione snorted. “But it adds drama.”
“Mmm-hmm. Sure. Well, I’d love to hear the rest of your Egypt tales, then. And I promise to believe every single word.”
George smiled down at her and leaned his head so he could kiss her hair. Hermione snuggled tighter against him and planted a kiss on his chest, then rested her head so she could listen to his heartbeat while he spun tales of beautiful Egyptian princesses, evil mummies, and the heroic deeds of the dashing Weasley brothers.

As the weather warmed into full summer, the weeks of June flying by, the students of Hogwarts struggled through their final exams. Much whining and moaning could be heard in common rooms around the school as exams continued and people realized that they’d managed to study the wrong parts of the text, or that every piece of knowledge seemed to have flown from their heads. Especially unhappy were the fifth and seventh years, with their OWLs and NEWTs. The usually exuberant and unflappable Fred Weasley had been seen standing pale and shaken outside of the History of Magic classroom after his examination. Not even the combined efforts of his girlfriend and his closest friends could cheer him up that evening. Another story making the rounds was that Neville Longbottom had become so flustered during his Potions OWL that he spilled shrinking potion on himself; and it was only quick thinking on the part of his desk partner that had prevented Neville from ending up two feet tall.
The last week of exams was light for Hermione: having dropped Divination, she only had one OWL to write that week. She spent much of Saturday preparing for the charms exam, getting her notes in order, and reviewing everything they’d covered over the year. When she woke up on Sunday, she looked out the window by her bed and was thrilled to see a cloudless sky. Over the morning, she fidgeted and fussed with her books, answering the other fifth years’ frantic questions and watching the clock. After a quick lunch, she rushed up to her dormitory and changed into a tee-shirt and a pair of light shorts, then hurried down into the common room, looking for George.
She found him sitting with the rest of the Quidditch team, laughing loudly at something Angelina had said. Putting her hand on his shoulder she asked:
“Ready?” she asked.
George looked up at her with a slightly guilty expression on his face.
“Uh… I can’t make it this afternoon. I’ve made plans to fly with the team today.”
“But our Sunday picnic. Four weeks in a row we’ve done this. And this is the second last Sunday of the year!”
Hermione could hear herself getting louder. The other students were looking at anything but her and George. George stood and took her hand, but she shook him off and stalked towards a quiet corner.
“Mione, don’t be mad. Please,” he begged, following her. “It’s just that this is the last chance we’re all going to have to fly together. The team is important to me.”
“And I’m not?” she asked. “You were the one who was on about us not spending enough time together. I crammed like crazy yesterday so that I could have this afternoon free. I think that I deserve a little time with you.”
“Well, we can get together after I hang out with the team. C’mon Mione, it’s only a few hours. What’s the problem?”
“The problem? The problem is that I’ve rearranged my life to suit you, George Weasley, and I don’t appreciate being tossed aside because you think spending time with that bunch is more important.”
“Look, Hermione, calm down,” George said, trying to be reasonable. “It’s just one afternoon. Nothing to get all upset about.”
“One afternoon? Yeah, well it’s the one afternoon that I set aside to spend time with you,” she raged, unwilling to give in. “And if you can’t be bother to give me the same consideration, maybe we shouldn’t bother spending any time together at all.”
“What?! Where is this coming from? This is not worth breaking up over, Hermione! I’m not even going to bother answering that. We’ll talk about this later.”
George turned away and hurried towards the rest of the team, who were trying to look as though they hadn’t been following the whole exchange. Hermione glared at him for a few more moments, then at the other students. Suddenly she whirled on her heel and rushed from the room. Harry looked at George, who was staring after her.
“What was that about?” he asked the redhead.
“I have no idea,” George said, still looking at the doorway Hermione had run through. “I really don’t. C’mon guys. Lets go flying.”
The rest of the team stood and started moving towards the door. Harry headed in the other direction, towards the dormitory stairs. When the others turned back to him, he waved them on.
“I’ll catch up in just a moment. Forgot something in my room.”
As the others left, Harry ran up the stairs, stopping when he reached the fifth year girls’ room. He knocked politely, then opened the door. Parvati was sitting in one of the window ledges, reading a magazine. She glanced up when Harry walked into the room.
“What’s up, Harry?” she asked. “I thought you were going flying.”
“I am. But there’s a problem,” he said urgently. “Hermione just totally blew up at George for coming flying with us. I’m sure there’s a lot more going on besides the broken date thing. Could you and Lav go talk to her. I’d go to her, but I have a feeling she’s kinda hating the whole team right now.”
“Sure,” Parvati said, swinging her legs out of the window seat. “I’ll grab Lav and track her down. Any idea where she could have gone?”
“I don’t really know. She ran out of the common room, so that means pretty much anywhere.”
“Well, knowing Hermione, she’s gone somewhere where she feels really comfortable. Leave this to me, Harry. I’m an expert at mending broken hearts,” Parvati grinned, waving the glossy Muggle magazine in his direction. “Or at least I ought to be after all this reading.”
Harry rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Oh no. I’m sending you after Mione armed with advice from a women’s magazine. Even I know those things are garbage. My aunt’s always going on about them,” he explained when he saw Parvati’s questioning look.
“Anyway, thank you,” he continued. “Once you talk to Hermione, let me know what she said and I’ll have a chat with George. We can’t let these two break up over a stupid fight like this.”
“You’re such a romantic Harry.”
“Nah. Just don’t feel like cleaning up after two broken hearts.”
“Cynic,” Parvati mocked.
“Nah, just a realist,” Harry shot back.
The pair headed out of the dormitory, exchanging insults all the way.

Hermione was sitting curled up on the floor in the very back corner of the library. She’d originally headed to her favourite study desk, but as she reached it, she realized that that was where she had first kissed George. Sniffling to herself, she had moved deeper and deeper into the library, until she had ended up in this dark, musty corner. It seemed as if who ever charmed the candles to burn had forgotten about this section. And the anti-dust enchantments had run out several decades before. Hermione had never even realized that this area existed. And hopefully, no one else had either. All she wanted was to be alone.
Her hopes were dashed when she heard a none-too-quiet whisper.
“Hermione,” the person called out.
“Are you back here?” another voice asked.
Hermione groaned. It was Parvati and Lavender. The last two people she wanted to see today, with the exception of George and possibly Harry. She pulled her legs in tighter into herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her head in them; but it seemed that the other girls had heard her groan, and within moments they were standing in front of her.
“Hi Hermione. We heard about…” Lavender trailed off uncertainly.
“We heard you blew up at George,” Parvati said as she sat down on the floor. Lavender followed the dark-haired girl’s example, sitting cross-legged in front of Hermione.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Hermione said, her voice muffled.
“Well, you don’t have to talk about it, we’re just here to give you any support you need,” Parvati said.
“I need to be alone, is what I need,” Hermione said, lifting her head.
Lavender looked at her friend and silently handed her a handkerchief. Hermione took the cloth and wiped her eyes. She folded the square up and twisted it tightly between her hands. After a few moments, she looked up at the two concerned faces in front of her.
“I just thought we had something special,” she mumbled.
“You do,” Lavender said quietly. “You guys are great together.”
“Yeah, you two compliment each other so well,” Parvati added. “It’s kinda freaky how well you fit together, as total opposites.”
“Exactly,” Lavender continued. “It’s opposites attract. Which means that there are going to be weird parts, right?”
“This isn’t a weird part. This is a sign,” Hermione said.
“A sign of what?” Parvati asked.
“A sign that he doesn’t care about me the way I care about him. That he’s not as serious.”
“Well, we always knew George wasn’t as serious as you,” Lavender pointed out.
Hermione looked at her, hurt. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Oh, no. Hermione, I didn’t mean that George’s feelings are less serious than yours. I just meant that his personality is less serious than yours. I’m sure he feels just as strongly about you as you do about him. He’s just not going to show it in the same ways.”
“I agree. I think that George is really smitten with you,” Parvati said. “I mean, he’s always watching you when you’re not looking.”
Hermione gave a weak laugh.
“I know it sounds like a romance novel,” Parvati said defensively, “but it’s true. He really does watch you. Like when you’re studying. He’ll be on the couches with Lee and Fred and them, but instead of talking with them, he’s just staring at you.”
“And with the sweetest look on his face,” Lavender put in. “Like he’s looking at the most beautiful, calming thing he’s ever seen. And as if he’s surprised by you.”
“Surprised by me?” Hermione asked, doubtfully. “That doesn’t exactly sound romantic.”
“Sod romantic!” Parvati exclaimed. “He likes you. Accept this. Now tell us what you think of him. What was it that made you so mad today.”
“It was lots of things,” Hermione said slowly. “He had been bugging me about spending time with him, so we made these arrangement for specific times we spent together, all alone, not studying, just time for us. And they’re wonderful…”
She sniffed and looked down at the floor. Lavender and Parvati exchanged glances.
“So you were supposed to spend time together today?” Lavender asked.
“Yeah. It’s our Sunday picnic. We go to this cove on the lakeshore and eat cookies and sweets from the kitchen. It’s where we first started spending time together, so it’s pretty special. And I love spending time with George, just the two of us. We talk about everything.” She smiled to herself. “We have these long rambling conversations about all sorts of strange things and when Harry asks me what the conversations were about, I can’t explain. But it’s so good.
“It’s like he’s becoming my best friend. I mean, I know that Harry’s my best friend, but I can talk to him like I talk to Harry, and I get to snuggle with him.”
“Sounds like a really good relationship,” Lavender said. “You’ve got your romantic interest, and you’re developing a friendship. That’s kinda the same thing as what happened with me and Ron, just backwards.”
Hermione looked up at her friend, puzzled by that logic.
“Well, with me and Ron,” Lavender explained, “we’ve been buddies for years. Not close friends, but someone to talk to or study with. And I just started to get a crush on him. Then when he returned the feelings, we went from friends to being a couple. And our friendship has gotten stronger and stronger ever since.
“Now you and George, you guys didn’t really know each other outside of him being Ron’s brother and you being Ron’s friend until, like, two months ago, and then you found that there was this attraction, right?” When Hermione nodded, the other girl continued. “So you started spending time together, and then started dating, and during this you two became really good friends. Which is great.”
“Yeah, great,” Hermione said sadly. “But it’s not working. It’s like George is taking all of this for granted. I rearranged my day for him, and he didn’t even warn me that he was going to break our plans.”
“That doesn’t me he doesn’t care about you. It’s his last year and his last few days with the team,” Parvati pointed out. “They’ve been playing together for ages, of course he’d want to spend some time with them.”
“Well it’s his last few days with me too!” Hermione snapped. “Shouldn’t he want to spend time with me?”
She buried her head in her arms again. “I can’t believe this,” came her muffled voice. “I never wanted to be the over-possessive girlfriend. I don’t like it. But I can’t help feeling hurt that he wanted to spend the afternoon with them and not me.”
“Well, Hermione, maybe he didn’t look at it like that,” Lavender said reasonably. “I’m sure he’s planning on spending lots of other time with you. Exams are almost over, and we’ve got a week and a half until end of term. There’ll be lots of free afternoons for you.”
“But this was our afternoon,” Hermione wailed. “I know I’m being irrational, but…”
“But you have a lot of emotion tied up in this guy,” Parvati said. “Of course you’re going to respond strongly to his actions. It only makes sense. If you didn’t care about him that much, this wouldn’t be bothering you so much.” She noticed Lavender and Hermione looking at her strangely. “What? I read it in a book.”
Lavender chuckled. “Well, I know that nothing’s going to be solved until you get together with George and talk. But until then, there is nothing like chocolate to cure all ills. If it can make you feel better after a dementor, it’ll definitely work after a fight with your boyfriend.”
She stood up, brushing herself off, and Parvati followed suit. Hermione remained seated for a few seconds longer, then sighed deeply and let the other girls help her rise.
“So how did you two become so wise in the ways of relationships?” Hermione asked. “Neither of you ever had boyfriends, until Lavender started dating Ron. And you guys don’t fight.”
“We fight all the time, actually,” Lavender admitted, with a hint of a smirk. “Sometimes I think we do it just so we can apologize and make up.”
“You mean make out,” Parvati said with a laugh.
“Wee-ell…” Lavender blushed.
The three girls made their way out from the rear corner of the library giggling, earning a glare from Madame Pince which only made them laugh harder.

When Hermione, Parvati and Lavender returned to Gryffindor tower, Hermione headed up to their room to wash her face and read for a while. Parvati and Lavender sat at the corner table studying for their Divination exam. When the Quidditch team and their fans returned from the field, Harry and Ron dropped into the other seats at the table.
“How’s the studying going?” Ron asked, kissing Lavender on the cheek. “Not that you two need to.”
“It’s coming along,” Parvati replied, looking up from her star charts. “How was the flying?”
“Great,” Harry said. “We had a lot of fun. I’m really going to miss everyone next year. Although some of the lower years jumped on their brooms and we played a mock game. I don’t think we’re going to have any problems forming a top notch team next year.”
“That’s good,” Parvati said. “I really wasn’t looking forward to the whining that would have happened otherwise. ‘If only our chasers were as good as Katie and Angelina’ or ‘the new beaters couldn’t block a Bludger with their heads.’ Even with a winning team it feels like every other conversation you guys have is about improving your game. Can you imagine how bad it would be if you sucked?”
Lavender laughed. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Harry and Ron pretended to glare at the girls, but eventually they exchanged grimaces and laughed along with them.
“So did you two talk with Hermione?” Harry asked after a few moments.
“Yep. And there’s something going on about this being their last time together. She probably thinks that everything’s going to be over when he leaves Hogwarts,” Lavender replied. “And I think she’s just worried about whether George cares for her as much as she cares for him.”
“Of course he does,” Harry said. “He’s crazy about her.”
“Yeah, he was flying badly all afternoon,” Ron added.
Parvati snorted. “Well there’s a sign of a broken heart,” she said sarcastically. “Did he at least say anything about her?”
“Actually, yeah,” Harry admitted. “But it was just that he’s really confused by her actions, and has no idea what he did wrong. But he’s sorry for whatever it was.”
“Which makes no sense, unless you’re dealing with a girl,” Ron said. Lavender hit her boyfriend on the arm. “Ow! What!? It’s true.”
“Oh, and boys are so logical when it comes to relationships.” Lavender laughed. “I don’t think so.”
“This is beside the point,” Parvati cut in. “What is important is that you should tell George to go talk with Hermione. I don’t think she’s really mad anymore, just upset. And he needs to reassure her that he does care about her and that everything’s okay.”
“Alright,” said Harry. “I’ll talk to him after dinner. See if they can sort everything out. For now, though, I need you two to explain to me this stupid conjunctions stuff. I’m never going to be an astrologer, but I still have to pass this exam.”

The fire was burning low in the common room late that evening as Harry sat staring into it’s flames. The sound of fabric rustling caused him to raise his head, and he watched as Parvati slipped into the room in her robe and crossed to the couch.
“Saw you talking with George at dinner,” she said. “Is everything on track?”
“Yeah, he’s going to try to talk with her tomorrow. Sort things out and make sure she knows how he feels. I think he’s really upset at the thought that Hermione doesn’t realize how much he cares about her. But if they talk, I’m sure they’ll work it out.”
“So now that you’ve fixed that, you’re just thinking about your good deeds?” she asked.
“Something like that,” he replied vaguely, returning his gaze to the flames.
“Mind if I join you?”
Not waiting for a reply, she sat on the couch beside him. After a few moments of silence, she snuggled closer to his side and leaned her head on his shoulder. Harry froze. Feeling his sudden stiffness, Parvati looked up inquiringly. Harry continued staring into the fire, and eventually spoke.
“Parvati,” he began, “I’m not entirely sure how to say this without offending you.” He took a deep breath and turned to look at her. “I think you’re really lovely, and I’ve enjoyed spending time with you these past few weeks, but…”
“You’re not interested,” she finished with a half smile on her face.
“I know this sounds cliché,” Harry said quickly, “but it’s nothing to do with you. I really do think you’re great, it’s just that I’m not in any state to have a relationship past friendship with anyone. My life’s a pretty crazy place, and I don’t know if I could handle that complication as well.”
Parvati smiled up into his worried face. “Harry, I wasn’t expecting much. I mean, we all figured you were either gay or just not looking for romance, or both. It wasn’t as though I figured I’d end up being the girl you fell for truly, madly, deeply. Just thought I’d give it a try. Unlike you, I plan on having a few dates before graduation.
“By the way,” she continued, with an impish grin, “are you gay? Cuz I’ve got five sickles riding on ‘confused or straight’ and I’d love to claim it.”
Harry laughed.
“Go right ahead, money’s all yours. But,” he said quickly as she opened her mouth to speak, “that’s all I’m going to say. You guys’ll have to start a new pool on which one it is.”
Parvati poked him in the ribs teasingly. “You know this is just going to drive everyone mad, right? All the people you’ve paired up are going to want to get you a match. It’s some sort of weird sickness that comes over the recently smitten. I don’t get it, but I know we’ll have to watch out.”
“Well, I’m sure that once I get you your ‘match’ you’ll completely understand it. And if I point it out to you, I expect to back down gracefully,” Harry added.
“I’ll try. Hey, wait…” she looked up at him suspiciously. “My match? Are you trying to matchmake me? Because I’m not falling for your tricks, mister!”
“Sure, Parvati. You’ve seen me work my magic, do you really think you’re immune?” Harry grinned down at his friend. “So before you get swept away in my spell, any requests. You can name names if you like”
Parvati mock-glared at him for a moment, then turned to face the fire. Snuggling down into the couch, she tapped her chin with one finger.
“Hmmm… Well, let’s see. I like them tall… and I’m partial to a good dancer… Someone who can talk about more than Quidditch and dungbombs would be nice…”

The next day, Hermione rushed through breakfast and returned to her studies in the common room. She was still upset that George hadn’t even approached her at dinner the night before. He had sat with Harry instead, and though the pair of them looked over at her several times, George never approached her, nor did he come see her during the evening. All the fears that had swamped her the day before had come back with a vengeance, and this time not even Parvati and Lavender could distract her. At this point, Hermione thought, she didn’t want to even think about George Weasley, since all it took was the memory of him laughing as they waded in the lake to make her completely forget everything she’d been studying for the past month.
A familiar laugh rang through the room and Hermione’s head shot up. She felt a twinge in her chest when she realized that it was Fred laughing at something Lee had said. She couldn’t see George anywhere in the common room. When she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him at breakfast either. A horrible thought occurred to her, could he be avoiding her after her outburst yesterday? Maybe he’d decided that she was being too irrational for him to even try to talk to her and now he was never going to even come near her again. Tears sprung into Hermione’s eyes, and she rubbed them away with the back of her hand.
“Hey Mione, can you give me a hand with something?” Ron had come up to stand beside her.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked as she stared down at her books, hoping he wouldn’t see the traitorous pinkness of her eyes.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just tired. What do you want?”
“Um… It’s okay, I’ll go find Lavender.”
“No, Ron, what do you want?” Hermione snapped.
“It’s nothing important, really. Don’t worry about it.” He sat down beside her. “Why don’t you go find George. I think you two need to get things sorted out. You look awfully upset. At this rate you might only get ninety-five on your OWL,” he joked.
Hermione smiled weakly, then turned away to wipe her eyes again. It was stupid and embarrassing, she thought, to be crying over something like this when she had an exam to worry about.
“I don’t think George wants to talk to me. I haven’t seen him since yesterday, and he didn’t even come near me at dinner.”
“Oh, I’m sure he wants to talk to you. He probably just doesn’t know what to say. It’s not like George has ever had a girlfriend before. My mum has been complaining about that ever since Fred started dating Angelina. I think she thought he was scared of girls,” Ron said with a grin. “Anyway, I think that he’s just worried about not knowing how to fix this. I mean, he could barely fly in a straight line yesterday.”
“I don’t care if he fell of his broom. He was supposed to spend yesterday with me and instead he went to hang out with his friends. He probably never had a girlfriend before because he never took the time away from pranks and flying to get one,’ she said sourly. “The only reason we got together was that he needed someone to study with. Otherwise he wouldn’t have noticed me if I hit him with a broom.”
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t happy that he did notice you. He’s crazy about you, Mione.”
“Sure. Everyone keeps saying that. But then why did he blow me off yesterday? And why hasn’t he tried to talk to me?”
“I don’t know. But I do know that he’s not just playing with you,” Ron said with a serious look on his face. “He really does care.”
“I can’t deal with this anymore. Everyone just wants to tell me how much George likes me and that I should give him a chance. I don’t want to think about George Weasley any more. I have studying to do. Obviously I’m not going to get it done here.”
Hermione pushed her chair back and stood up. She pulled her bag onto the table and started stuffing books and papers into it.
“What are you doing?” Ron asked.
“I’m going somewhere that no one’s going to bother me. Somewhere I can be alone and study without everybody coming by to dissect my love life. I just want to be alone, and since no one will let me do that here, I’m going to go somewhere where no one will bother me.”
Hermione slung her bag over her shoulder and stomped out of the room, leaving a gaping Ron staring after her.

Late that afternoon, Ron was sitting at Hermione’s table with Lavender and Harry, working through their Divination notes. The two boys were struggling with their star charts when the portrait guarding the entrance swung away and several of the seventh years came into the common room. George was talking with Fred and Lee, but when he saw Harry and Ron sitting at the table, he moved towards them.
“Where’s Hermione?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Harry answered. “No one’s seen her since this morning.”
“She wasn’t at lunch and she hasn’t been in here,” Lavender added.
“She went to be alone,” Ron said. “That’s what she told me this morning, that she went to somewhere where no one could bother her.”
“She’s probably hiding at the back of the library,” Parvati guessed. “That’s where we found her yesterday.”
“That doesn’t work,” Ron pointed out. “If she didn’t want to be bothered, why would she go to a place where people have found her.”
“Good point,” Lavender said. “I guess she must have gone somewhere that not many people know about, or that not many people go to.”
“Oh no!” Parvati exclaimed. “She’s gone into the forest!”
“Parvati, use your head,” Harry said. “Hermione’s upset, not stupid. She’s just gone somewhere quiet and safe. Maybe to that abandoned girls bathroom.”
“That’s not exactly quiet,” Ron said. “Not with Myrtle whining all the time.”
“Okay, I guess we don’t know where she is, George,” Harry said, looking up. “George? Where’d he go?”
The others looked around the room, but the older boy was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh well,” Lavender said. “I’m sure he knows where he’s going. Let’s get back to this. Ron, how’re you doing with finding the ascendant?”

George stopped to catch his breath as he reached the path leading to the cove. He was fairly sure that Hermione would be here, but whether she’d be happy to see him was another question. Starting down the rocky path, he tried to collect his thoughts and come up with something to say if Hermione was still angry with him.
As he came around the final curve in the path, George saw Hermione sitting on a blanket with her books spread around her. She had a book in her lap, but instead of looking at the pages, she was staring out over the waters of the lake. Quietly, so as not to scare her, George walked across the sand to where she was seated.
“Hermione?” he said quietly.
Hermione started, the book sliding out of her lap as she turned to look up at him. When she saw who had disturbed her, her face went red and she looked away, biting her lip. George had seen tears in her eyes in the few moments before she glanced down. His chest tightened at the thought that it was his behavior that had caused those tears.
“Hermione,” he began again. “I was hoping that we could talk. I want to apologize for not telling you about yesterday afternoon. I’m sorry I didn’t think about how much it would upset you.”
Hermione kept her head turned away from him, so George crouched down and reached out to touch her shoulder. When his hand touched her, Hermione twitched away from him. Hurt, George pulled his arm back and spoke quietly.
“I did want to spend time with you yesterday. I love our dates, and just hanging out with you. I care about you a lot and I never meant to hurt you. That’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”
“Well, you managed it,” Hermione said crossly.
“Why are you so mad, exactly?” George asked, sitting down at the edge of the blanket.
Hermione finally looked up at him. She met his gaze briefly before looking out over the lake again. George waited patiently.
“I guess I’m upset that you thought seeing them was more important that spending time with me,” she said eventually. “We only have a few more days together, and I wanted to spend my time with you.”
“What do you mean, we only have a few more days together?”
“School ends soon,” Hermione pointed out. “And then you’re finished. That means you won’t be here next year. So we only have a few more days to be together. I just wanted to enjoy that time.”
“What, I’m not allowed to visit you this summer?” George asked.
Hermione looked at him blankly.
“Hadn’t you thought of that?” he continued with a smile. “I just spent the entire morning going through paperwork and stressing out so that I could pass my apparition test.”
“Did you?” Hermione asked, distracted from her sadness. When George nodded, she grinned and moved to throw her arms around him. “Congratulations! I knew you would.”
She suddenly realized that she was hugging him even though she was supposed to be mad at him, and let go. George caught her before she could move to the other side of the blanket.
“Well, do you know why I was so eager to pass that exam?” he asked.
“Um… so you can Apparate and never have to walk anywhere again?” Hermione said.
“No, silly. I wanted to get certified before the summer so that I could promise to keep our Friday stargazing and Sunday picnic dates.”
Hermione stared at George.
“You went through all of that just so that we could keep seeing each other?” she asked, finally. “You mean you want to keep dating?”
“Of course I want to keep dating,” he said. “This wasn’t just a spring fling, Hermione. I really like you. I mean, I don’t torture the whole school with the sight of Malfoy singing for just anyone.”
She grinned at the memory. “Well, when you put it like that…”
“No, seriously,” George said, taking her hands. “I’m crazy about you. I know that we’ve only been dating for two months, but I, um, well… I think I might be falling in love with you.
“I know that it’s too early,” he said, cutting off her response. “And I know that you probably don’t feel the same way. But I hope that maybe some day you might. I know that right now you’re furious with me and probably don’t want to even talk to me, but I want you to know how I feel. I want to keep seeing you, this summer and next year and for as long as you’ll put up with me. Please tell me that that’s what you want, because I don’t…”
Hermione cut him off with a kiss. When she drew back, the look on George’s face was priceless, she thought. He was simultaneously confused and overjoyed. She smiled at him, and as he tried to read her face, he tentatively smiled back.
“Look George,” she said, “I plan on dating you for as long as you’ll have me. I was mad at you, but much as it’s weird to say that Parvati was right about something, she was. I wouldn’t have been so mad if I didn’t care about you so much. I think I might just feel the same way that you do. Right now I feel more comfortable with you that with anyone else in my life. And I know that I want to spend my days talking with you and my evenings watching the stars. And I expect you to come by and visit more often than just Friday and Sunday.”
“Well, actually, Stargirl, I don’t know if I’ll be able to,” he admitted. “I’ve signed on for this job that I think is going to take up a lot of my time.”
“You got a job?” Hermione asked. “What? Where? You never told me you were applying for work.”
“Well, I didn’t want to get people’s hopes up, or anything. And we didn’t want to tell anyone until it was for sure going to happen.”
“We? Who’s we? And what happened?” Hermione glared at George. “Stop grinning and tell me what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve heard all about Fred and my plans for a practical joke catalogue, right?” Hermione nodded, so George continued. “Well, I guess that Zonko and Honeydukes both heard about all the stuff that we make. So they offered us both positions as apprentices. We get to learn about candy making and joke manufacturing and Zonko’s going to teach me all of the business side of the store so that at some point we can either start our own shop, or…”
He trailed off with a huge grin. Hermione waited for him to continue, then squeezed his hands.
“Or what?” she asked impatiently.
“Or we might take over the shop from Zonko. He’s been running it for decades and he mentioned that if we seemed capable enough, perhaps he’d turn the shop over to us. At the very least he’s promised that he’ll put us in charge of all of the development of new tricks. Isn’t that amazing?”
“That’s incredible, George!” Hermione pulled her hands from him and hugged him tightly. “I’m so proud of you.”
“And the best part is that I’ll be close to you. I can fly over from Hogsmeade every weekend during the school year. I don’t plan on losing you, Stargirl.”
“Good, cuz I have no plans of letting you go.”
George wrapped his arms around Hermione and held her tightly. The giant squid waved it’s tentacles, setting in motion wavelets which were crested golden by the afternoon sun. A gentle breeze blew over the couple as they sat staring out over the water, dreaming about what the future might bring.

End