Chapter Text
George looked around the party he’d been dragged to with his twin brother and sighed quietly. While Fred was off being the life of the party, as usual, George was happy to hang back and observe.
In the past, he would have been right in the thick of things with his twin, but something had changed. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, maybe it had just been growing up. Maybe there was something else behind it that he would need a psychologist’s help to figure out, but he supposed it really didn’t matter. They were in the middle of their senior year at Cambridge and graduation was only a few months away.
As he surveyed the assembled crowd of partygoers his eyes fell on a particular head of curly hair. He smiled as he realized it was his little brother Ron’s ex-girlfriend, Hermione Granger. He’d actually known her for years, first as Ron’s friend, then later as his girlfriend, and now as his ex.
According to Fred, Hermione had caught Ron in bed with another woman. Personally, George couldn’t believe his brother had been so stupid.
It didn’t look like Hermione was suffering too badly from the breakup, though. She was dressed in a red tank top and black mini-skirt which offered a generous view of her legs. Her hair was down around her shoulders and there was a smile on her face as she chatted with her roommate Lavender.
He’d never admitted it out loud, but he’d harbored a crush on Hermione since she arrived at Cambridge. Once he learned she and Ron were together, he’d deemed her off-limits and that had been that. But now, since learning they’d broken up, maybe her being here tonight was a sign for him to make a move.
Before making his way through the crowd to greet her, he stopped to refill his drink from the keg in one corner of the room. Cup full now, he turned and found her easily. Lavender had disappeared along with the smile that had been on her face. George couldn’t be certain, but he guessed her dour expression was because she’d apparently been cornered by one of the biggest prats in the school, Cormac McLaggen.
Deciding now was the time for action, he made his way over to where Hermione was glaring at Cormac with a look that should have sent him running for the hills. George knew that if he’d been fixed with a look like that he’d either be crying in a corner or unconscious. But the bloke just kept talking.
“Come on, Hermione. You and Weasley have been broken up for weeks now. What’s one date?”
“No, Cormac. Like I said, I’m flattered but I’m not interested.”
“But you are flattered. That means you’re at least a little bit attracted to me. Most girls are, you know.”
“Hey, babe,” George pushed Cormac out of the way and pulled Hermione close. He set his beer down on a nearby table and leaned in to gently kiss her cheek. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Oh, I think you were just in time.” She smiled, leaning into him as her arms wrapped around his neck.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Cormac actually had the nerve to sound offended. “I thought you broke up with Weasley!”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she stated, eyes narrowing. “But I broke up with Ron Weasley. This is his brother, George.”
“Nice to meet you, mate. Thanks for keeping my girl company but we’re good now.” George didn’t hold out his hand to shake nor did Cormac. Instead, the blonde man stared at the supposed new couple in front of him like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
At some point, Hermione must have decided to ignore him and leaned her head into George’s chest. He took the opportunity to kiss her hair and didn’t miss the citrusy scent of her shampoo.
“So how was your day?” she asked, fingers toying with the hair on the back of his head.
“Eh, it was alright. Much better now I’m here though. What about you?”
Before she could respond they both heard a muttered swear and realized that Cormac had slunk away, likely to go bother some other unfortunate girl.
“It was alright. I’m just glad it’s Friday mostly. Even though I’ve got a ton of homework it’ll be nice to sleep in tomorrow.”
He agreed about seeping in, and had to stop himself from inviting her to spend the night. They were just pretending to be a couple after all.
But he would be lying if he claimed he’d never thought about spending the night with her. Even now, the idea of having her soft, warm body pressed against his all night was enough to drive him mad. And if they were in the same bed together, maybe that would lead to talking, which would lead to kissing —
“By the way, thanks for the save,” Her voice cut into his thoughts that were quickly turning dirty. “Cormac just came up and started talking. I couldn’t figure out how to make him go away and was starting to think I was going to need to hit him.”
“Well we can’t have that. I’m glad I was able to step in before violence occurred.”
She giggled and they passed the next few hours pretending to be a couple. They talked quietly, giggled like they were in on some joke and not keen to share with anyone else, and George even got bold enough to reach up and play with the ends of Hermione’s hair. She didn’t object, either, rather she seemed to lean into the gesture, maybe even enjoyed it.
Eventually, the hour grew late and Lavender appeared again.
“Hey, Hermione. I’m ready to go when you are.” She just seemed to notice that George was still wrapped around her friend and roommate. “You’re welcome to come with us, George.”
***
Hermione was caught off-guard when Lavender invited George back to their dorm. Had they really been that convincing as a couple?
“I’ll walk you ladies back but then I should probably come back here and get Fred.” He motioned to where his twin brother was currently playing beer pong in another room.
The girls agreed quickly and before long the three of them had left the party and were heading back towards the dorms.
“So how long has this been going on?” Lavender asked as they walked. She didn’t sound angry or accusatory, just curious.
“It hasn’t — or it’s not. Cormac was hitting on me earlier and wouldn’t stop until George swooped in and pretended to be my boyfriend.”
“Just trying to be a good friend, honestly.” He shrugged, like it had never occurred to him to do anything else.
Lavender nodded but didn’t reply otherwise. Hermione had a feeling her friend had some opinions of her own but was grateful she was keeping them to herself for now.
As they walked, talk shifted into gossip about various people who had been at the party. At least, Lavender gossiped. Hermione listened and hummed occasionally but it was more to keep her friend talking than anything else. She was afraid if Lavender fell quiet for too long then she would focus back on Hermione and George.
It had been unexpected but also very enjoyable to pretend to be part of a couple with him tonight. She’d always found him handsome and being pressed up close to him was thrilling. A reckless part of her debated asking him to spend the night but she quickly quashed the idea. They were just friends. She didn’t even know if he fancied her for god’s sake! Odds are he had just come to her rescue and stayed with her throughout the night because he was a good friend. And she had no interest in ruining their friendship by pushing for something he might not even want.
Thankfully, the walk to their dorm didn’t take terribly long and Lavender was quick to disappear upstairs. Hermione turned to George with a grateful smile.
“Thanks again for tonight. It was fun pretending to be part of a couple with you.” The last sentence left her mouth before her brain could catch up and she cringed internally.
“Glad I could help. You’ve got my number if you ever need a fake boyfriend again.”
She nodded, still smiling. “Text me once you and Fred make it home, yeah?”
“I will. Have a good night, Hermione.”
They hugged once more, briefly, and he turned, walking back in the direction they had just come from.
Still smiling to herself, Hermione went inside and headed up to the second floor. Before opening the door to her dorm, she braced herself for Lavender’s inevitable interrogation.
“So you and George then?” Her roommate’s voice floated over as she removed her makeup.
“No, Lav. It’s like we told you on the walk home. He did me a favor tonight because of Cormac. We’re just friends.”
Across the small dorm room, Lavender threw her blonde hair into a messy bun before fixing Hermione with a look that said “who do you think you’re kidding?”.
“You can keep telling yourselves that but from where I was standing it certainly didn’t look like either of you was just pretending.”
“Either of us?”
“Yep. He may not have realized it yet, but he likes you.”
Hermione had just pulled a sleep top out of her drawer and froze at Lavender’s words. “You think so?”
“I know so. He was looking at you like you hung the bloody moon and couldn’t believe that he was lucky enough to be in your presence.”
“Oh…wow, I-I never thought—” Whatever she was going to say got cut off at that point as her phone beeped loudly from the bed. She unblocked it to see a new text from George.
Got Fred and we made it back in one piece. Great to see you tonight, gorgeous.
Her eyes caught on the last word. While he’d previously complimented her appearance, he’d never called her gorgeous before. It made her stomach feel all fluttery and caused her to bite her lower lip. Perhaps Lavender was onto something.
“Is that from him?” The friend in question had crossed the room and was looking over Hermione’s shoulder. “See? I told you he likes you.”
“Yeah, I-I guess so.” She sent a heart reaction to the text and returned the phone to her bed to finish changing before finally climbing beneath the covers.
Lavender looked over and smiled encouragingly but didn’t say anything else. Hermione was grateful for her friend’s ability to know when she needed to talk and when she needed to process quietly. This was definitely one of those moments she needed to process before discussing with anyone.
George liked her. But did he want her just because she was Ron’s ex and he wanted to stick it to his little brother? No, he wasn’t like that. Maybe he just wanted her for an easy lay and would move on after they slept together. But that didn’t seem like him either. Was it possible — did he actually want to be her boyfriend instead of just pretending? What would it be like to walk around campus with him holding hands? Or to share meals together, just the two of them? Or to maybe spend the night together, entwined in one of their beds? Thousands of possibilities were suddenly open to her, but she would need to leap off the proverbial cliff and let him know she was interested.
While it was a terrifying prospect, there was also something exciting about it. Ron had pursued her throughout school so when she finally accepted a date it had felt more like giving in than anything else. But this time, it would be on her terms. She just had to be brave enough to get things started.