Thinking Out Loud, 15+, Hermione/George, Oneshot
Category: Harry Potter
Genre: Friendship/Romance/Humor
Ship: Hermione/George
Rating: 15+
Warning(s): Mild Language, Scenes of a Mild Sexual Nature, Contains Spoilers
Summary: George smiled broadly down at her as she gave an uninhibited squeal of laughter at the sudden movement. Her eyes crinkled and her nose scrunched up joyfully, her free hand clutching the fabric of his robes. She looked so radiant in that moment that he was sure he loved her even more then than he had before.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me and I am making no profit in the creation of this story. The lyrics belong to Ed Sheeran.
AN: Thank you to my beta for this story, Amanda!
Thinking Out Loud
A soft melody rose across the moonlit clearing which had been transformed into a dancefloor. The clearing was set aflame by the light of thousands of candles floating magically through the orchard overhead, dimming the area around it. There was a quiet murmur of wonder through the crowd of family and friends that looked on. The murmur escalated into a chorus of delighted gasps as the candlelight illuminated a beautiful figure standing alone in the center of the field.
The dress she wore was simple and elegant with a skirt of flowing white tulle. She looked like an angel sent down from heaven to redeem them all as she hovered in the gentle brightness of her surroundings. She was absolute perfection. George couldn't help but stare at her as if under a spell from where he stood off to the side, his mind clearing of all conscious thought beyond her loveliness. The fact that he was meant to join her in the middle of the floor for a dance escaped him. His wife was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.
His wife. His heart clenched tightly in his chest as the thought overwhelmed him. This angel had miraculously agreed to marry him; somehow she was now his, forever.
Left alone for several moments longer than planned, Hermione seemed to grow nervous under the eyes of their many guests. George watched as her cheeks reddened enough to be seen through the distance and dim lighting that separated them from each other. She bit her lip, fiddling with the floral belt that was cinched at the waist of her gown. Finally remembering himself, he rushed out to meet her.
Her eyes lit with happiness when he stepped out of the darkness of the crowd and into the beam of light that drew everyone's attention to them with ease. Hermione's smile glowed brightly enough to rival the stars that shone above them as her gaze burned into his and the world dropped away. It only took a few long strides before he was close enough to touch her, reaching out to sweep her off her feet and into his arms for a loving kiss just as their song began.
When your legs don't work like they used to before
And I can't sweep you off of your feet
Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?
Her arms closed tightly around him in a warm embrace before he slowly lowered her feet back to the ground. She loosened her hold on him to compensate for their height difference, momentarily playing with the hair at the nape of his neck before sliding her hands to his shoulders so she wouldn't be standing on her tip-toes for the duration of their first dance. George kissed her cheek, running his nose along the curve of her jaw before standing up straight and returning her smile.
"For a minute there, I thought you'd run off on me," she murmured, her golden brown eyes sparkling in soft affection.
"For a minute there, I thought you'd given me a bloody heart attack," he replied, reaching up to take one of her hands from his shoulders. He entwined their fingers together before holding the combined grasp out to the side properly. Then he began to guide her across the floor. "I almost died just looking at how beautiful you are. That's the second time of the day too. I almost passed out when I saw you coming down the aisle at the ceremony."
"Did the surprise make the week apart before the wedding worth it?" she asked.
George scoffed, shattering the soft romanticism of their moment. "Nothing's worth going a week without shagging you."
Hermione swatted him with her free hand. "You're incorrigible!"
"You're the one who married me," he reminded her with a roguish chuckle. "At the very least, you should be thankful I'm here dancing like the gentleman you beg me to be when we're in public."
"I think 'gentleman' is a bit of a stretch for you," she teased him, rolling her eyes lightheartedly. "You left me out here by myself. Those are minutes of our marriage I'll never get back."
"I was in awe of how breathtakingly beautiful my wife is," George reassured her charmingly, giving her a wink for good measure. "I couldn't think straight."
"And here I was, by myself, thinking that you'd already decided the idea of spending forever with me was too unbearable," Hermione said, her laugh turning into a gasp as his hand dropped to the small of her back. He tugged her passionately against his body until there was no space separating them. His thumb ran gently over the exposed skin just above her waist as her chest molded to his.
"Quite the opposite, baby," he admonished, stopping the dance by playfully dipping her backwards and pressing a lingering kiss to the palm of her hand. "Forever doesn't seem like enough."
And, darling, I will be loving you 'til we're 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just the touch of a hand
Well, me-I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
George smiled broadly down at her as she gave an uninhibited squeal of laughter at the sudden movement. Her eyes crinkled and her nose scrunched up joyfully, her free hand clutching the fabric of his robes. She looked so radiant in that moment that he was sure he loved her even more then than he had before. He hadn't thought it was possible, but the pure happiness he felt in his heart while gazing at the woman in his arms made him think he'd fall further in love with her every day of his life. He folded her back up before taking her hand once again. He gave her a little swirl under their arms before drawing her lovingly back into the cradle of his body.
"You're very quick on your feet, Mr. Weasley," Hermione observed over the sound of the applause that had broken out after their romantic gesture. She jerked her gaze over to their loved ones as if seeing them for the first time. She nodded her head graciously at them over his shoulder, smiling.
He did the same, grinning as he spotted little Teddy Lupin tugging on his niece Victoire's hair. "I'm sure you'll be able to keep up with me, Mrs. Weasley."
"I intend to in all things," she assured him.
George had no doubt that Hermione was his equal in every way. He'd known it years before he'd ever come to fancy her. In school they'd been worthy opponents in passionate rows that'd happened frequently regarding the testing of the twins' products. Many times George had found himself picking a fight with her simply because he was bored and her feisty rage fascinated him.
Then they'd grown closer after the war due to her surprising knack for creating ingenious pranks, once she'd gotten over her initial annoyance towards them. On Fred and George's twenty-third birthday, she'd blown them away quite literally. Somehow she'd managed to create a gigantic whirlwind behind the door to the loo in their flat without them realizing it. When George had went to take his morning shower clad in only a towel, he'd opened the door and been blown backwards against the opposing wall. His towel had lasted only a few seconds before flying away, leaving him naked and trapped behind the force of the wind until Fred found a way to stop it two hours later.
"Does it feel weird to you?" Hermione asked him now, drawing his eyes back to hers. "Being married to me, that is."
He shook his head, leaning down to give her a slow and thorough kiss. He thought he distinctly heard a catcall from the direction of Fred and Charlie but wasn't positive. With his lips still close to hers, he ran the back of his fingers over her cheek in adoration. As they swayed under the infinite stars and candles, he didn't think he'd ever get enough of her. Being married to her wasn't weird at all; in fact, it felt like he'd finally found something he'd spent his entire life looking for.
He gave a contented sigh. "No, it feels right. I love you and I want to keep loving you until we're old and wrinkly."
So honey now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
"Good, because you're stuck with me now," she whispered slyly, her head falling to rest against his chest. "It's too late to back out."
George laughed and kissed her forehead. "I was thinking it was the other way around and you're the one who's stuck."
"You just think that because I've been on my best behavior up until now so I wouldn't scare you off," Hermione argued in faux seriousness. "Know how I told you I like that your mother brings you dinner every Wednesday night still? I lied. I think it's strange."
"Wow, I just married a complete stranger," George declared, pushing her out and away from him only to spin her towards him so that her back rested against his chest. "Maybe we should reconsider this whole arrangement."
Hermione turned her head to grin at him over her shoulder. "Nope, it's too late. I could be a cross-dresser for all you knew and you'd just have to find a way to deal."
"So this is what love gets me?" he asked, his hand falling to rest against her belly as they continued to move to the gentle rhythm of the song.
"Don't worry, I'll only wear the clothes in your wardrobe that you don't like," she said, patting his hand reassuringly.
George gave a quick bark of laughter, casting her out and away from him again before swirling her back into the proper hold. "I think I'd pay to see that. You're more than welcome to try on my work robes."
Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "Even if I was a cross-dresser, you'd still have to pay me to wear those monstrosities."
"You told me I look handsome in them."
"Remember what I said about being on my best behavior and lying?" she replied innocently.
George tucked a hand behind her head, drawing her to him for another kiss as he brought their intertwined hands to rest against his heart. He loved this side of Hermione; this playfully funny version of her who'd charmed him so easily when they'd started dating. Her quick wit and brilliant mind had been what he'd first fallen in love with. She was an inventor and genius bound in the most gorgeous wrappings one could imagine. Falling in love with her had been like taking a Patented Daydream Charm. One that he'd never woken up from.
When my hair's all but gone and my memory fades
And the crowds don't remember my name
When my hands don't play the strings the same way
I know you will still love me the same
The melody around them drifted to a sudden stop. Their guests erupted into cheers throughout the orchard, their excited applause echoing off into the night. Hermione leaned back from George with a blissful sigh. She went to take a step away from him then, no doubt to face the obligatory meet-and-greet portion of any wedding. George caught her around the waist before she could move any further though. He drew her back to him without a word, wrapping his arms firmly around her smaller frame before he began to sway once more.
This dance was sweetly different. There was no music, just the sound of the reception starting around them as everyone dispersed to discuss the day at their perspective tables. In the midst of the chatter, as the crowd moved away from the dancefloor, George held Hermione tighter in order to take a moment to themselves. He ignored all proper dance technique, and instead he allowed himself to truly feel how thankful he was to have her.
He buried his face into her shoulder and breathed in deeply, reveling the feel of his wife as she rose up onto her tip-toes. She wrapped her arms around his neck so that she could be as close as possible. George nuzzled her neck as she gently ran the tips of her fingers over his bad ear. She'd always been the one person he allowed to touch it. She'd always been the one.
"I love you and I like you," he murmured against her skin. "You're my best friend… I can't believe I got to marry my best friend today."
"I love you and I like you," she repeated against his jaw. "Forever."
'Cause honey your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen
And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory
I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes
Hoping that you'll understand
George blinked the daydream of the past from his eyes. The rows and rows of wedding guests disappeared to be replaced by the chaotic sight of smoking cauldrons. His beautiful bride was replaced by a list of inventory he'd been looking over. He was alone in the old, worn backroom of the joke shop. He gave a gravelly chortle, the memory leaving him feeling happy and wistful. It'd been seventy years since the day of his wedding; and despite hair loss, hearing loss, and the loss of some eyesight, he still remembered every detail like it was yesterday.
Leaning back from his work, he ran a tired hand over his wrinkled face. His glasses went flying as he forgot their presence on the bridge of his nose. He was always doing that. He'd put the frames on and then forget about them altogether. He seemed to go through a pair a day. George gave a cantankerous snort before reaching for them again, only to stop when his eyes fell on the series of photographs that he always kept on the windowsill between his and Fred's desks.
The glasses had landed in front of a few pictures of his wife. The first showed her laughing while trying to yell at him for throwing a snowball in her face. It'd been taken around the time that they'd started dating, and it showed George in the process of apologetically wiping flakes from her eyes. The second photo showed the pair of them smiling and waving together on the day of their fiftieth anniversary. The family had thrown them a surprise party, and George had faked a heart attack after everyone jumped out at them. He'd only dropped the act when the grandchildren had started to get upset and Hermione'd threatened to really kill him.
The last photograph was his favorite. It was a photograph taken by Fred while they'd danced together at their wedding. It wasn't of their first dance as a married couple, instead it was of the intimate moment they'd shared together afterwards. The photograph was of the dance that had been just for the two of them rather than for the crowd around them. It had been the first of a long life of absolutely blissful memories they'd shared together while married.
"Are you ready to go?" Hermione asked, coming into the workroom then. She was standing with her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed as if ready for an argument. He was always insisting that he stay at the shop longer than she wanted him to. Fred and George had allowed James and Hugo to take over most of their business about fifteen years ago, but both were constantly stopping by to help out despite their age. It was too difficult for them to let go of their legacy, even in the safe hands of their family.
George smiled brightly at his wife as he spun to face her. "I was just thinking about you."
Hermione's eyes immediately softened. "What about me? All good things, I hope."
"About how beautiful you looked at our wedding," he told her, standing slowly on his weakened legs before making his way over to her. He pointed at their wedding photograph before he reached for her hands to take them in his. The caress was comfortingly familiar, despite how worn their skin had become over the years of their marriage. Time could change what was on the outside, but it couldn't touch what was on the inside.
"You were thinking about how different I look now," she surmised wearily, looking up at him.
"Of course not," he corrected immediately, cupping her cheek with genuine reassurance. "I was thinking about how you're even more beautiful now than you were then."
Hermione beamed, the creases around her eyes not taking away from the happiness that shimmered within their depth. She placed her hands on his wrists where he held her. "You're such a charmer. Does that mean you're enjoying your forever with me, Mr. Weasley?"
George kissed her lightly, his insides warming just like when he'd kissed her beneath thousands of stars and candles on their wedding day. He let his forehead fall to rest on hers and closed his eyes before vowing, "Forever still doesn't seem like enough."
But, baby, now
Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Place your head on my beating heart
Thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are
AN: This was a little plot bunny that popped into my head after watching Ed Sheeran's music video for his song Thinking Out Loud. Review and let me know what you think!
Amanda