Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Worth the Wait	By : Dazzlious Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 8249 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from J K Rowling's fantastic books or films, I'm just borrowing and playing with them for a little while and get no monetary reward for doing so.

Chapter List
- 1-Prologue
- 2-One
- 3-Two
- 4-Three
- 5-Four
- 6-Five
- 7-Six
- 8-Seven
- 9-Eight
- 10-Nine
- 4
- 5
- 6
Hermione was feeling extremely fed up and needed some time on her own. Percy and Penny’s continued joint presence along with the twins’ non-stop snide and cryptic comments about her desire for Percy were really beginning to grate on her nerves. She finally finished peeling the Brussels sprouts and stood to leave, knowing she had done more than her fair share of the work as she had already prepared the chestnuts, the parsnips, the carrots and the cranberries.
She wandered through to the lounge, looking at the Christmas tree with its interesting decorations before sitting on the sofa, enjoying the silence. She had been there for about ten minutes when Percy joined her. He, too, looked at the Christmas tree for a few minutes before moving to sit in a chair a respectable distance away from her. For another few minutes the two of them sat there not speaking.
‘What’s the matter, Hermione?’ Percy asked worriedly. He was now staring at her avidly.
Hermione shook her head and, trying to keep her voice neutral said, ‘There’s nothing wrong.’
‘Yes, there is, I can tell,’ Percy said. ‘Please, talk to me. I want to know.’
Hermione considered for a moment before sighing loudly. ‘Fred and George saw us in the barn this morning.’
Percy stared at her in horror. ‘What? How the hell do you know that?’
‘Because they tried to blackmail me over it when I went out for a walk earlier today. They tried to get me to have sex with them both in return for keeping quiet about what they saw us doing. They were talking about bringing it up over lunch. That’s what all those snide comments were about in the kitchen. That’s why I had to get out.’
Percy’s face went red, anger clearly showing on his face. ‘They did what?’
‘Don’t worry about it. I turned them down flat and pointed out that as I’m not going out with Ron any longer I didn’t care what they said. I don’t think they were keen to go up against you, though, so they backed down.’
Still angry, Percy said, ‘I shall have a word with them about that.’
Hermione shook her head. ‘There’s no point. You know what the twins are like; it’ll just make things worse. The best thing to do is just ignore them and hope they get bored with us.’
Percy got up from his chair and moved closer. Hermione looked around with a faint sense of panic for a moment but it seemed Percy didn’t care. He sat down next to her and took hold of her hand.
‘I don’t care what the twins saw,’ he said seriously. ‘It’s rather annoying as I haven’t had a chance to talk to Penny yet, but I suppose it would sort the problem out if they told her.’
Hermione studied him with distaste. ‘That’s a really nasty thing to say, Percy,’ she chided. ‘Whatever you may think of her, Penny’s still your girlfriend at the moment and she deserves better than to hear from your brothers what you and I were doing in the barn. Don’t be such a coward. Talk to her . . . and tell her the truth.’
‘I’m going to,’ Percy said. He sounded a touch sullen, clearly not happy that Hermione had berated him. ‘But not now. It’ll cause too much drama. I told you, I’ll tell her after the holiday.’
‘Then I suggest you don’t do anything to annoy Fred and George in the meantime, otherwise they will tell her for you, and everyone else, too, probably,’ Hermione warned.
‘I already try not to talk to them if I can help it,’ Percy retorted.
Hermione sighed. ‘I know that, but you know how they like to wind you up and this gives them the perfect excuse; so whatever you do, don’t lose your temper with them.’
Percy looked morose. ‘I can’t stop them, can I?’
He fell silent then, and for a couple of minutes the two of them sat in silence.
Eventually he said, ‘Will you meet me again tonight . . . after everyone’s gone to bed?’
‘Everyone but Fred and George, you mean. I’m sure they’ll still be busy spying,’ Hermione pointed out tersely.
Percy sighed. ‘Oh, sod them. They know about us now so why should it stop us being together?’
‘I think that’s a really bad idea, Percy,’ Hermione said. ‘We can’t keep meeting up when you’re still going out with Penny. I told you it’s not fair to her . . . or to me, for that matter.’
Percy looked disgruntled. ‘Please, Hermione. I really want us to spend some time together.’ He gazed at her hopefully. ‘Anyway, I’ve got a special present for you and I can’t give it to you in front of everyone else.’
Hermione stared at him archly. ‘I’ve already had your special present, Percy. That’s how we got caught by Fred and George. I think we should leave any more “presents” until you’re single.’
‘Please, Hermione, this is really important,’ Percy said adamantly.
He leant closer as the door flew open.
‘Oh ho, what’s going on here, then?’ Fred asked cheerily.
George followed him through the door, closing it behind him. Percy and Hermione tried to move apart but found they couldn’t move. Hermione looked up as she saw the twins’ grinning faces and felt her heart sink when she saw the mistletoe holding her and Percy in place.
‘You did this,’ she growled accusingly at the twins.
Fred gave her a low bow. ‘Just trying to be helpful, Hermione.’
‘And how on earth does this help?’ Hermione asked crossly.
‘It’s what you want, isn’t it?’ George asked. He looked at Percy. ‘So are you going to give Hermione a real kiss then, Perce? The tension in here is almost unbearable with all that pent-up emotion.’
‘And you can get away with doing it in here with that mistletoe,’ Fred added.
Percy scowled at the twins. ‘I don’t know what you think you’re playing at but it’s not funny and it’s certainly not clever. Release us immediately.’
‘All you have to do is give the lady a kiss,’ Fred said. ‘What’s not to like about that? Go on, Percy, you know you want to.’
‘I’m sorry about my brothers, Hermione,’ Percy said. He smiled at her. ‘Looks like there’s only one way out.’
Hermione gazed back at him, her heart beating faster at the thought of kissing him here in the house in full view of other people. It was a scary prospect even if Fred and George had seen them earlier and despite the mistletoe, which meant they had no choice but to kiss if they wanted to get free. It still felt illicit, knowing Penny was somewhere around.
‘Shall I free you, Hermione?’ Percy asked seriously, his arms snaking around Hermione’s body as he spoke.
Hermione continued to stare at him. Part of her wanted the kiss to happen purely so this somewhat awkward and scary moment would be over, although a bigger part, one she was trying desperately to keep under control, had the urge to turn the kiss into a major snogging session. Silently she cursed the twins for putting them in this position.
‘Well, are you going to kiss the girl or not, Percy?’ George asked.
‘Do it,’ Fred urged. ‘But make it count. Give her a proper snog, not just a wimpy old peck on the cheek.’
Percy stared at Hermione as he debated what to do. He wanted to kiss her so much it hurt, but he didn’t really want the twins causing any more trouble and he didn’t want to upset Hermione any more than he already had. He wished she would say something to him so he would know what to do.
The door opened again and Penny walked into the lounge and looked at the scene in front of her with horror. Percy immediately released Hermione, cursing under his breath at having stalled. If only he had just kissed her immediately—
‘What the hell’s going on?’ Penny asked angrily. She glared at Hermione. ‘Where’s Ron?’
Fred put an arm around her and said conspiratorially, ‘It’s all right, Penny, we’re just giving Percy the opportunity to have a bit of fun for once in his life.’ He winked.
‘They make a nice-looking couple, don’t you think?’ George added.
‘Will you two stop it?’ Hermione said, sounding indignant. ‘For Merlin’s sake, just leave Penny alone, and while you’re at it, you can release Percy and me from this mistletoe you’ve trapped us under.’
‘No can do,’ Fred said, shaking his head.
‘You know what you’ve got to do, Hermione,’ George said with a grin. He puckered up and started making loud kissing noises. ‘Go on, give Percy a good snog. You know you want to.’
‘Why is my boyfriend trapped under mistletoe with Hermione?’ Penny asked coldly. ‘Can someone explain that to me?’
‘That’s a really good question,’ George said. He grinned again. ‘Perhaps he wants to kiss her.’
‘Don’t be so childish,’ Penny snapped. ‘I suppose you two thought it would be funny, did you?’
She walked over to the sofa. ‘Don’t worry, Percy darling, I’ll free you,’ she told him then bent to give him a brief kiss on the lips.
Hermione closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the couple kissing, especially at such close quarters. Fred and George looked disappointed, as did Percy. As soon as he was free he rose from the sofa. Penny took hold of his arm possessively.
‘Come on, let’s go and find the others and get away from these idiots and their jokes,’ she said sharply, pulling him towards the door as she glared at everyone else.
Percy glanced at Hermione for a moment but she refused to meet his eyes. Reluctantly he allowed Penny to lead him out of the door.
‘Well, that was a bit disappointing,’ Fred said, sounding annoyed as he watched the couple leave.
‘You should be ashamed of yourselves,’ Hermione told them.
Fred turned to look at her. ‘You might want to remember that you’re still stuck under the mistletoe, Hermione.’
‘It would probably pay you to be a bit nicer to us,’ George added.
‘Either release me or go away,’ Hermione said icily.
‘Well, if that’s how you feel. . . .’ George said, and he began to walk towards the door. Fred shot Hermione a smirk, then went to follow him.
‘Fine,’ Hermione huffed. ‘I’m perfectly happy sitting here. I don’t need help from you two, thank you. I’ve no doubt someone else will free me soon enough.’
‘All right, you’ve got us,’ George said, and the twins returned, going either side of Hermione and each giving her a kiss on the cheek at the same time.
‘We need to talk . . . and not in here,’ Hermione hissed as she stood up, finally free of the mistletoe.
‘Back in the barn?’ Fred suggested casually.
Hermione looked distastefully at the twins for a moment before nodding. ‘Okay. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes.’
She walked out of the lounge, leaving the two grinning men behind her, high-fiving each other.

*

‘I want you two to knock it off with all the wisecracks about me and Percy,’ Hermione told the twins coldly once she joined them in the barn, having made sure they were alone.
‘But you’re both so much fun to wind up,’ Fred admitted.
Hermione glared at him. ‘Why do the pair of you always have to be such arseholes? It’s Christmas day, for Merlin’s sake, so just do us all a favour and give it a rest.’
‘I would have though us being “arseholes”, as you call us, is helping you and Percy,’ George said. ‘You don’t want him being with Penny, do you? Not after what we saw this morning.’
Hermione groaned. ‘You weren’t supposed to see anything this morning and I’d rather you forgot all about it. I’m certainly trying to.’
‘It’s a little difficult to forget,’ George pointed out. ‘You and Perce were very passionate.’
‘Yeah, you were magnificent,’ Fred added.
Hermione sighed unhappily. ‘It doesn’t really matter what we were. Percy’s still in a relationship with Penny and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon — at least not while we’re here — so I’d rather just forget the whole thing and put this morning down to a moment of madness on my part.’
‘You really are in love with him,’ George said, sounding surprised. ‘I don’t know what he’s done to get so lucky but Percy really is a prize prat if he’s going to remain stuck with that boring bitch and miss out on the chance to be with you.’
‘Don’t be so rude,’ Hermione snapped. ‘Penny isn’t boring, she’s just a bit staid, and I’m sure you both thought the same about Percy until this morning.’
The twins both looked a little sheepish at this comment.
‘Look, whatever Percy is or isn’t going to do isn’t going to happen until after the Christmas break is over, so until then we all have to live happily together, and that includes Penny, too,’ Hermione pointed out. ‘As much as you think you’re helping, you’re really not. All you’re going to do in the long run is make things difficult for me and Percy, you’re going to really upset Penny, and you’ll probably ruin everyone’s Christmas into the bargain. So please, I’m begging you, leave the wisecracks alone . . . and no more mistletoe!’
‘What, like that?’ Fred asked, pointing above Hermione’s head where a large clump had just appeared.
Hermione gave a weary sigh and rolled her eyes. ‘You have got to be kidding me. Come on, guys, let me go. It’s not funny.’
‘It’s not meant to be funny,’ George told her.
‘No, not funny at all,’ Fred agreed with his twin. ‘But George and I can help to ease your broken heart, Hermione.’
‘I haven’t got a broken heart,’ Hermione insisted, her temper rising as she struggled to get free of the mistletoe.
‘No? Well, maybe it’s not completely broken but we saw how upset you were when Penny pitched up in the lounge and stopped you and Percy from kissing,’ Fred said. ‘Percy was unhappy, too,’ he added.
‘The thing is, Hermione, you look sort of devastated every time you see Penny, especially when she’s with Percy, so we know you’re unhappy. We don’t want you to be unhappy, we like you. But Penny’s the one walking around with a grin like a hyena. Why should she be so happy? It’s not fair,’ George said.
Hermione sighed again. ‘Look, I really appreciate that you prefer me to Penny, honestly I do, but you’re not helping to make anything better — and making Penny unhappy isn’t going to help. It’s up to Percy, not you two, to explain things and end it with her, and he won’t do that until after Christmas because despite what you think he’s sensitive to other people’s feelings and he doesn’t want to upset her during what should be a happy time.’
‘But what about you? Fred asked with a frown. ‘You’re not happy, Hermione. You have to watch Percy with Penny and it must be tearing you apart. Mind you, I don’t know how he can do it when he’s in love with you.’
Hermione blinked back tears that were forming in her eyes at Fred’s words. He was right, she was finding it hard, harder than they realised. She stared at the twins. She would never normally consider them as confidantes as it would give them too much ammunition they could use against her and others, but she really needed to talk about it to someone other than Percy and there was no one else she could turn to.
‘I’m not even sure he’s going to finish with her,’ Hermione admitted sadly, the worry she had been keeping locked up inside finally spilling free.
‘What do you mean?’ Fred asked, looking confused.
‘Release me from the mistletoe and I’ll tell you,’ Hermione bargained.
The twins looked shiftily at each other but made no move to release her.
‘We thought the mistletoe might help to make you feel more inclined to—’ George began.
‘I’m sorry, but I don’t fancy either of you.’ Hermione cut him off bluntly. ‘I think of you more as annoying big brothers. I like you but not in that way and I never will, so there’s no point in you keeping me trapped because I’m not going to fall for your dubious charms, whatever you do.’
Realising the truth of Hermione’s statement, Fred moved forward, kissing her on the cheek to release her from the mistletoe. She gave him a small smile of gratitude.
‘What did you mean when you said Percy wasn’t going to get rid of Penny?’ George reminded her.
Hermione wrapped her arms around herself, both to keep out the chill of the barn and as a defensive gesture. Then with a sigh she told them, ‘I’ve fancied Percy for a long time – yes, Fred, I know you can’t understand why but he’s my type of person: sensible, studious and hard-working; what you would probably call boring although I discovered he’s actually anything but — but I thought he was in love with Penny so would never have done anything about it.
‘Then about a month ago we were at some boring work conference together and the two of us began chatting, as you do; trying to make the event more bearable by taking the piss out of the other people attending and stuff. Once it had finished, Percy asked me to go for a drink with him so I agreed. I didn’t think much of it, to be honest; after all, you Weasleys are all almost like family, and Percy and Penny had been together for so long it didn’t occur to me that he might be interested in me as anything other than a friend, otherwise I might have said no.
‘I went for the drink with him and we had a really good evening, and I mean really good. It made me realise that not only did I fancy Percy more than ever but that I couldn’t continue my relationship with Ron. I love him but just not enough, or in the way I need to for us to be a couple.’
‘I always thought it was a bit weird you and Ron getting together, you’re so completely different,’ Fred said.
Hermione nodded. ‘We are. I tried to make it work because I’d fancied him for so long, but I think I knew before I even realised I still fancied Percy that we weren’t likely to stay as a couple for long. I think Ron knew it, too. He wasn’t particularly disappointed when I called it a day.
‘I got a bit drunk that night and it made me reckless. When Percy invited me back to his flat I said yes when I should have said no and gone home. Instead, I went with Percy and ended up in bed with him. Even then I knew what we were doing was wrong, but I honestly didn’t care. I just wanted to spend the night with Percy, wanted to wake up in his arms as if we were a real couple.
‘Of course, it was always going to be awkward once we both sobered up, but by then Percy had told me that he was in love with me, too; that he had fancied me for years but had never been brave enough to do anything about it.
‘That drunken evening gave us both the opportunity to admit our feelings for each other, and although I still felt guilty about what we were doing — more because of Penny than Ron, I’ll be honest — it didn’t stop us and by the time we parted the following morning I was convinced that we were on the verge of a relationship that was going to be so much better than anything I had ever had with Ron.
‘I was so happy when I went to work, convinced that Percy would contact me soon, that we would be together again, so I went to see Ron straight away and explained that I wanted to end our relationship. As I said, he was cool about it so I was still feeling good, waiting for Percy to contact me . . . but he never did.’
‘What?’ Fred said, looking surprised.
Hermione shook her head. ‘I waited and then I waited some more because Percy had told me he would contact me as soon as he had ended his relationship with Penny, and I realised that might take a little while to achieve, however much I may have wanted to be with him again, but it never happened.
‘I didn’t contact him because I was too scared to find out that he’d lied to me, and at least not knowing for sure gave me a little hope that there was still something between us. Then Ron told me that your mum had been asking whether I wanted to come to the Burrow for Christmas. I thought about saying no but Ron told me he’d already said yes on my behalf, so here I am and, unfortunately, so are Percy and Penny as well.’
‘But what was all that with you and Percy in here this morning, then?’ George asked.
‘I thought — no, I hoped that when Percy arrived I would be able to talk to him to find out why he hadn’t contacted me. But then he brought Penny with him and I knew the truth — that he never had any intention of leaving her for me. I had just been a drunken one-night stand for him whilst Penny wasn’t around. I’ll admit I was heartbroken and seriously thought about leaving the Burrow immediately, but then I decided I wasn’t going to let him force me away from my friends, so I stayed.
‘Just before I went to bed last night, Percy asked me to meet him. He said he wanted to explain why he hadn’t contacted me and why Penny was with him. I wasn’t inclined to listen to any excuses to begin with, but the truth is that I’m still in love with him despite what he did, so eventually I agreed to meet him and we came here to talk so that no one would catch us.’
‘Apart from us,’ Fred said with a grin. Hermione glared at him and his smile waned.
‘Percy told me that he had been too busy at work to talk to Penny and that he hadn’t wanted to contact me until she was out of the way because he knew I wouldn’t want to see him until then. But as time went on and because I hadn’t contacted him either, he began to think I wasn’t interested in him and no longer wanted a relationship so still he said nothing to Penny.
‘According to Percy, by the time he did confront her about it, your mother had already invited her to stay for Christmas and she had said yes. Not knowing what to do for the best, and apparently still thinking I wasn’t interested, Percy kept quiet and brought her with him to the Burrow as his girlfriend.
‘I don’t know how much you saw earlier, but I was really upset and not ready to accept his apology; but once again, being in love with him and being in such close proximity to him tore down all my defences. When Percy assured me he was in love with me and would definitely get rid of Penny after Christmas I chose to believe him . . . I wanted to believe so desperately that he hadn’t just used me, and then we were making love again, even though I knew I shouldn’t even be talking to him while he’s still with Penny. The problem is that now I don’t know what to believe; I can’t help but worry that Percy was just using me again this morning as well.’
‘I don’t believe that,’ George said staunchly.
‘Neither do I,’ Fred agreed.’ He was far too upset when Penny came and ruined your kiss under the mistletoe. He really wanted to kiss you, Hermione.’
‘And this morning — there was no way he’d have been that loving with you if he was just using you,’ George said. ‘There was definitely more than just sex between you.’
Hermione stared at them miserably. ‘Thank you both for trying to cheer me up, but I don’t think any of us can really be sure what Percy’s up to. I mean, he could have contacted me even if it was just to tell me he was too busy to talk to Penny and that it would have to wait. Sure, it would have annoyed me, but I would have understood — and at least I’d have known what was happening. Now I have no idea.’
‘Well, what do you expect? It’s because Percy’s such a prat that he’s cocked up on this. Typical of him to consider his work as more serious than his relationships,’ Fred snorted.
‘I tell you what, Hermione. We’ll ask him for you,’ George suggested brightly.
‘No, you mustn’t do that,’ Hermione answered, her voice suddenly anxious. ‘If he is intending to end it with Penny then he’ll be annoyed that I didn’t believe him and that I’ve got you involved. And if he isn’t, then he’ll be annoyed at us trying to catch him out. All we can do is wait and see what happens after Christmas.’
‘I still don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about,’ Fred said soothingly.
‘I wish I was so sure.’ Hermione sighed.
‘Percy’s really changed since he left home,’ Fred said.
More than you’ll ever know, Hermione thought.
‘Yeah, he used to just be a pompous prig,’ George continued, ‘and he and Penny were both as boring as each other. They used to drive us mad, didn’t they, Fred?’
Fred nodded. ‘They did. But he’s changed loads since he got his own place. He’s got much better — he can even be funny occasionally, and I don’t think Penny suits him as a girlfriend any longer.’
Hermione thought back to Ginny’s comment earlier in the day that had basically said the same thing.
‘I have to admit that just before Christmas I thought he was seeing someone else; of course, that would have been you,’ Fred said, looking pensive. ‘But he seemed happier somehow, and I was sure Penny wasn’t a part of that.’
‘So what you’re telling me is not to worry?’ Hermione asked.
Fred grinned. ‘Well, you can worry if you want but it’s not going to help, is it?’
‘Don’t worry about Percy, he’s not a complete idiot so he’ll come through eventually,’ George told her soothingly.
‘I’m going to go back to the house now, I’m getting cold,’ Hermione told them.
‘We’re stopping here for a bit so we’ll see you later, Hermione,’ George said.
The twins watched her walk away.
‘Do you think Percy was just using Hermione?’ George asked.
Fred shook his head. ‘He can be a twit sometimes but he’s not that much of an idiot. He’d be crazy to turn down Hermione in favour of boring Penny.’
‘But she’s in love with him so he doesn’t need to do anything, does he?’ George pointed out. ‘She still has sex with him even though she’s not even sure he really wants her. I feel sorry for Hermione, actually. It’s not a very nice position to be in.’
‘Well, there’s one way we can find out,’ Fred said with a grin. ‘We can ask him.’
‘But Hermione said not to,’ George warned.
‘We’re not asking on her behalf,’ Fred said smirking. ‘Anyway, I’m sure we can be more subtle than asking him outright.’
‘You’ve got a plan,’ George said.
Fred nodded. ‘Yep, but if I’m right I think we’re probably going to need to get Hermione back here at some point.’
- 4
- 5
- 6
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Worth the Wait