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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
There was a knock on the door of Hermione’s bedroom. She sighed, still lying on her back, looking up at the ceiling. Why wouldn’t they all just leave her in peace? It hadn’t even been ten minutes since the twins had disturbed her.
‘Hermione, you need to come out. It’s time to open the presents,’ George told her through the closed door.
Already? It was too soon.
Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath and sat up. She wasn’t ready to face what she knew was coming and she really didn’t want to go downstairs to join the others but knew she had no choice. Present opening was a family participation sport at the Burrow and there was no way they would allow her to stay up here on her own while it happened. In fact, knowing Mrs Weasley, she probably wouldn’t even let any of them touch the presents until they were all in the lounge together.
If she continued to refuse to open the door and go downstairs she would ruin everyone’s Christmas, and whilst a small part of her didn’t care because her Christmas and her entire life, come to that, had been ruined, she really wasn’t that selfish; despite her own heartbreak she didn’t want to make anyone else unhappy.
With another sigh she used her wand to remove the wards on the door as she stood up, preparing to leave. A second later it burst open and Fred and George came charging into the room, seeming almost hyperactive. Hermione stared at them, still trying to force herself into moving. Fred pushed the door shut with his foot.
‘Percy isn’t marrying the Pig,’ George blurted.
Hermione stared at him in shock, not seeming able to get her mind around what he was saying.
‘It’s all a big misunderstanding,’ Fred continued.
Hermione shook her head, looking sad. ‘No, it’s not. Penny told us she found the engagement ring.’
‘Weelll . . . she found an engagement ring . . . but it isn’t hers,’ Fred said.
‘Percy bought it for you,’ George finished.
Hermione sat back down on the bed, not really able to believe what she was being told. The twins rushed over to sit either side of her.
‘Percy’s in love with you, Hermione, not the Pig,’ Fred told her as he took hold of one of her hands.
‘Yeah, he told us that he bought the ring for you. That’s the special present he keeps banging on about,’ George confided. He had taken hold of her other hand and was patting it in what he hoped was a soothing manner.
Hermione shook her head again. ‘But that’s not possible, we’ve only spent one night together. He’s Penny boyfriend. He can’t ask me to marry him while he’s still going out with her. It’s not right. Anyway, she was so sure he was going to ask her. She’s got it all planned and everything. She told us it’s going to be next summer.’
‘Well, she might have planned it but she was wasting her time. He definitely isn’t going to propose to her because we asked him about it,’ Fred insisted. ‘I know he’s made a complete mess of everything, Hermione, but Perce really does love you, and it’s you he wants to marry.’
‘Oh god, this is all such a mess, isn’t it?’ Hermione said miserably. She had started crying again.
Fred released her hand to wrap his arms around her, instead.
‘Yes,’ he admitted honestly. ‘But at least Percy’s finally going to talk to the Pig and tell her the truth.’
‘Don’t call Penny that,’ Hermione chided wetly.
Fred chuckled and shook his head as he stared at Hermione. ‘Even now you’re still thinking about her feelings. You really are the better person, Hermione. Percy’s lucky to have you, although I’m still not sure he deserves you.’
‘He’s still Penny’s boyfriend so nothing’s changed,’ Hermione pointed out, pulling away from Fred as she dried her tears.
‘Not for long,’ George prophesied. ‘Percy’s going to have to tell her because she’s waiting for a proposal that’s never going to come and her mood is only going to deteriorate the longer she has to wait. Also, he knows he can’t ask you until she’s gone.
‘Come on, dry your eyes. We’ve got presents to open and everyone will be getting antsy waiting for us. We’re holding everyone up. Even Mum’s ready before us for the first time ever.’
Hermione wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then stood up.
‘Come on then. Let’s go and get this over and done with.’
‘It’s supposed to be fun,’ Fred reminded her as they walked out the door. ‘It’s Christmas, remember?’
Hermione tried to smile as she walked into the lounge and saw everyone else assembled and ready for the presents. She noticed that Penny was having as much trouble as she was and the woman kept giving Percy sidelong glances, which he was steadfastly ignoring. Instead he was gazing at Hermione, looking anxious.
‘There you are, finally,’ Arthur said jovially as George entered the room last. He passed the three of them full glasses of something that Hermione strongly suspected was sherry. He looked at Hermione in concern. ‘Are you feeling a bit better now, Hermione? Ginny said you weren’t feeling too good earlier.’
‘I just had too much to eat and it made me feel sick,’ Hermione told him with a shrug. ‘I feel much better after a lie-down, though, thank you, Mr Weasley.’
‘Are we ready to open the presents, then?’ Arthur asked the room at large, apparently satisfied with Hermione’s answer.
There was a general chorus of yeses.
‘I said, are we ready to open the presents?’ Arthur repeated more loudly. ‘Come on, you can be a bit more excited than that.’
With a laugh, everyone responded with a loud yes.
‘Will you do the honours, Mummy?’ he asked Molly who was already seated on the ground by the tree.
She beamed and picked up the first present and studied the label as Hermione took a sip of the sherry, trying to ignore Percy who she knew was trying to catch her eye.
‘The first present is for Bill,’ Molly announced, waving the parcel in the air as Bill stepped forward to claim it to a round of applause from most of the room.
Hermione moved towards Harry and Ron, wanting to get as far away from Percy as she could.
‘Are you okay?’ Ron asked quietly as he and Harry stared at her worriedly. ‘Ginny told us you weren’t feeling very well.’
‘I’m fine,’ she assured him with a smile. ‘It was my own fault for eating so much at lunchtime. I felt really sick and bloated afterwards but a couple of hours’ sleep has helped it to go down.’
‘I’m actually feeling quite peckish now,’ Ron admitted.
Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes at him. ‘You’re always hungry, Ron. I don’t know where you put it all.’
‘I’m a growing boy,’ he replied, smiling too.
‘Yeah, outwards as well as upwards,’ Hermione retorted, and she patted his stomach.
A few seconds later she passed Harry a present that had been handed to her, then turned back towards the tree.
‘Here’s one for Hermione,’ Molly said happily, and Hermione stepped forward to take the large parcel. She knew without even looking at the label that it was from Mr and Mrs Weasley and was going to be something knitted.
Fifteen minutes later everyone had a nice big pile of presents and was busy unwrapping them, comparing their hauls to others in the family and just generally chatting about the presents they had received. Fred and George were busy going through their piles to see if either of them had received anything the other one hadn’t. So far their presents had all been identical.
Hermione watched them all, feeling more content now. She was glad that she had joined everyone else for this as it had cheered her up considerably, although she was aware that it helped that she now knew for certain that Percy wasn’t going to be marrying Penny.
For a moment a small feeling of excitement ran through her at the thought that the engagement ring was intended for her rather than her love rival and she wondered what it looked like; but then she remembered that Percy and Penny were still a couple – for the time being, at least, and until that changed there was still going to be nothing between her and Percy whether there was an engagement ring or not.
‘What did you get?’ Ginny asked as she sat down next to Hermione, dumping a pile of presents on the floor in front of her.
She looked over at Hermione’s pile and spotted a pink leather stationery set containing a filing tray and a holder for quill and inks. There was also a bottle of ink and a quill with a matching pink feather. She snorted.
‘Percy bought you that, didn’t he?’ she said with a grin and an eye roll. ‘Imagine, stationery for a Christmas present.’
‘I quite like it,’ Hermione said loyally.
‘Nice colour,’ Ginny said, ‘although I prefer mine.’ She lifted up most of the pile to show that she had exactly the same set although it was navy blue.
‘Ah, I take it there wasn’t much thought going into this year’s gifts, then,’ Hermione answered with a grin.
‘You’ve been keeping secrets from me,’ Ginny said suddenly, staring intently at Hermione.
Hermione blushed and looked around hurriedly to see who was listening, then gave a subtle shake of her head.
‘Not here,’ she whispered. ‘There’s too many people around.’
Ginny smiled and stood up. She grabbed Hermione’s arm and began to drag her up, too.
‘Hermione and I are going to make snowballs for everyone. Who wants one?’ she asked, counting the numbers as people indicated their interest. Ginny turned towards Penny, who was still looking miserable. ‘Do you want one, Penny?’
Penny shook her head, her lips tight and thin. She looked meaningfully towards Percy.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Percy offered as Penny glared at him.
‘No!’ Hermione retorted, then realising how harsh she sounded she smiled and added, ‘Ginny and I will be fine, thanks, Percy.’ She hurried out of the room before she had to say anything more, certain she was blushing furiously.
Percy looked a little crestfallen. Ginny patted his arm soothingly.
‘We’re having a girly chat, no boys allowed,’ she told him as if in explanation. ‘Anyway, don’t you have something you need to do?’ She indicated towards Penny with her eyes.
Percy seemed to pale at this, understanding that Ginny, too, now knew about his relationship with Hermione. He looked unhappily after the woman he loved for a second but then gave the briefest of nods.
‘You’re right. I need to sort this out first.’
Leaving him, Ginny followed Hermione out to the kitchen. She was already getting the required number of glasses from the cupboard, counting them as she put them on the table.
‘Come on then, spill,’ Ginny said. ‘What’s this I hear about you and Percy being in love?’
Hermione stared at her for a moment, then continued with the glasses.
‘Snogging in the barn and all sorts, apparently,’ Ginny continued.
Hermione slammed the glasses she was carrying down on the table, her eyes flashing with fury.
‘I’m going to kill those two when I get hold of them,’ she said.
Ginny chuckled. ‘As I understand it, Fred and George were playing cupid and keeping the two of you safe from the Pig.’
Hermione shook her head and sighed wearily. ‘We really ought to stop calling her that, you know.’
‘Why? It’s the perfect name for her,’ Ginny insisted as she retrieved various bottles from the cupboard. ‘Anyway, stop trying to change the subject, Hermione. What’s going on with you and Percy?’
‘Nothing is going on,’ Hermione insisted. ‘He’s going out with Penny, remember?’
‘Yes, and I know how badly you took it when she told us they were getting married. Let’s face it: you weren’t really feeling ill, Hermione, you were just a bit bloated after the large lunch. Then Fred and George tell me that the engagement ring the Pig found is for you, not her, and that Percy’s in love with you. How the hell did that happen?’
Hermione sighed, unscrewing the bottle of Advocaat and measuring it into a small glass before pouring into one of the larger glasses on the table. She followed suit with the others.
‘I know I was in love with Ron for years, but to be honest I’ve always had a bit of a thing about Percy. He’s so—’
‘Boring?’ Ginny suggested blithely.
‘Sensible . . . and hard-working,’ Hermione retorted. ‘But I always knew he was unattainable. He and Penny . . . well, they were the unbreakable couple, weren’t they?’
‘When did you first realise you fancied him?’ Ginny asked interestedly. She was putting a dash of lime cordial into each of the glasses.
Hermione put down the bottle of Advocaat and picked up the lemonade. ‘Probably the first time I was at the Burrow and he complained about everyone making too much noise for him to get his homework done,’ she admitted with a faint smile. Her cheeks were turning pink. ‘I think I realised he was my ideal man.’
‘So you’ve fancied him all this time, but when did you and he – hold on a second, I’m going to put some vodka in this.’ Ginny picked up the vodka bottle and added a splash to each glass.
‘About a month before Christmas,’ Hermione admitted, wanting to get the conversation over and done with as soon as possible without going too in-depth. ‘It was a stupid thing that should never have happened, but it did. Percy told me he was going to end his relationship with Penny afterwards so that we could be together but, well, you saw what happened. They turned up here . . . still a couple.’
‘I have to admit I’m amazed,’ Ginny said after a few seconds of thought.
Hermione looked confused. ‘Why? Weren’t you the one who was suggesting only this morning that I should go out with Percy?’
‘Oh yeah, and I was sort of serious about that . . . but I dunno, I never really expected it to happen, if you know what I mean.’
‘Well, I’m sorry if I’ve upset your expectations,’ Hermione said, her voice a shade cooler now.
‘I didn’t mean it like that. I think it’s bloody brilliant,’ Ginny assured her soothingly.
Hermione poured the lemonade into the glasses. Ginny picked up a twizzle stick and gave each completed drink a quick stir to mix the ingredients, then selected one of the glasses and took a sip. She held the glass up looking at it admiringly.
‘That’s really good! What I mean is, I never thought Percy had the sense or the gumption to go for it, although as I said he has changed since leaving home.’
‘More than you know,’ Hermione told her.
Ginny raised her eyebrows. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It’s not for me to tell you,’ Hermione said smugly, ‘but let’s just say that your brother isn’t anywhere near as boring as you all think he is.’
‘Really?’ Ginny grinned wickedly at her friend.
Hermione blushed again. ‘I’m not saying anything else but yes, I admit I’m in love with Percy and yes, I was upset when Penny mentioned them getting engaged. But it’s all up to your brother now. He and I can’t be a couple while he’s still with Penny, and whatever he may have said about the engagement ring that’s not happening either unless he gets rid of her.’ She started loading the glasses onto a tray that Ginny had retrieved from the cupboard. Her voice darkened a little as she continued, ‘Unfortunately, that’s where it all falls down. Percy doesn’t seem to be able to do that most important part, so here we are.’ She picked up the tray.
‘He’s going to have to tell her, otherwise everyone’s going to be unhappy,’ Ginny pointed out as she took the tray off Hermione and said with a wink, ‘You carry our glasses. I might have put a bit more vodka in them than in the others.’ Then, returning to the original subject, ‘The Pig’s unhappy because she’s waiting for Percy to propose, you’re unhappy because you could be with Percy and he’s still stuck with the Pig, and Percy’s unhappy because he wants to be with you and you won’t go near him until he gets rid of the Pig. What a mess.’
‘He should have done what he said he was going to do, then, shouldn’t he?’ Hermione said, trying not to get upset again. ‘It’s Percy’s fault we’re in this mess and only he can sort it out.’
‘And if he doesn’t?’ Ginny asked worriedly.
‘I’ll leave tomorrow,’ Hermione told her. ‘I can go to my parents. To be honest, Gin, it’s been really hard seeing the two of them together, especially after everything he told me . . . everything he promised me. I stayed for Christmas Day because I knew it would cause problems and wasn’t fair to your parents after everything they had arranged, but I can’t put up with seeing them together for another few days. I’d rather be on my own.’
‘Percy needs to sort this out as soon as possible, then. Maybe he needs a little help from the twins,’ Ginny said.
Hermione gave a bitter chuckle. ‘Yes, he does, but whether he will or not is another matter. I really don’t think the twins will help. I think they’ll just make things worse. Come on, Ginny, let’s go and give these out.’

*

Back in the lounge, Percy realised that Fred and George were staring at him. Both of them gave him a double thumbs-up sign, then nodded towards Penny. He scowled back at them, annoyed at how obvious they were being, but it seemed that she hadn’t spotted them. Her gaze was fixed only on him.
He took a deep breath as he girded himself to talk to her. He really wished he had managed to get this out of the way before the Christmas holiday because then he would have been with Hermione by now. Percy knew that cowardice was one of the reasons he had put off talking to Penny until it was too late; although he had been every bit as busy as he had told Hermione he was, he could have found the time – but it was so difficult. The two of them had been a couple since their fifth year at Hogwarts and had been through a lot together.
It was hard to break things off even though he wasn’t in love with Penny, but now it was being forced upon him. In some ways that made it even more difficult because he was going to completely ruin Penny’s Christmas without meaning to. If only she hadn’t found the ring he could have put it off until later, but now she knew about it and he could feel her anger with him from where he was standing beside her and knew it was because he hadn’t proposed as she had been expecting.
For a moment he considered waiting until Hermione and Ginny came back with the drinks, but Percy knew that was just cowardice again. A snowball wasn’t going to give him much in the way of Dutch courage; all he would gain was another two people wondering why he wasn’t talking to Penny, which would stress him out even more and might lead to him saying the wrong thing.
He touched Penny’s arm gently.
‘I want to talk to you. Do you think we can go for a walk or something?’ Percy was pleased to hear his voice sounded as strong as it always did.
A smile lit up Penny’s face as the anger she had been carrying around waiting for Percy to do his duty lifted and she nodded enthusiastically. This was it. It was finally going to happen. She had been waiting for this moment for such a long time.
If she was honest, there was a little part of her that was disappointed that after making her wait so long Percy wasn’t going to get down on one knee and propose to her in front of all his family as she had hoped he would. She wanted them all to see how much he loved her. She knew the twins and Ginny talked about her behind her back and had never really believed that they would get married – hadn’t Ginny said as much only this afternoon?
But she knew Percy was a private man, and more so since his split from his family, and this obviously wasn’t something he wanted to share with them – presumably because it was too precious a moment to waste on the family that had let him down when he needed them most. At least she could take comfort in the fact that it meant the twins wouldn’t ruin the moment by taking the piss when he knelt down.
‘Of course, Percy,’ she said, and she took his arm and waited for him to lead her out of the room.
He debated where to go, knowing the kitchen was occupied and not wanting to go near any of the bedrooms. There was nothing for it: they were going to have to go outside, despite it being bloody freezing.
‘Shall we get our coats and go for a walk?’ he suggested.
Penny’s smile faltered a little. ‘It’s cold out there, and isn’t it a bit late for a walk? It’s dark now.’
Percy gave a small shrug, trying to appear insouciant. ‘I’d really like us to spend a bit of time alone, and wherever we go in here we’re in danger of bumping into someone, especially with the twins playing their tricks all over the place.’
Remembering what they had done with the mistletoe that morning, Penny scowled, but then her face cleared. She had to remember that Percy was just about to propose to her. What was a bit of cold weather compared to that?
‘Okay, that sounds good to me,’ she told him, trying to sound more eager than she felt. She wanted Percy to know he was marrying someone who wanted to do things he wanted, who was supportive of him and wasn’t an argumentative naysayer.
As they walked towards the door it opened and Hermione and Ginny came through. Ginny was carrying a tray full of glasses and Hermione was carrying the extra. Percy’s eyes caught Hermione’s for a moment and she stared at him, seeming unhappy, but then realising what he was doing she gave him a small smile.
Ginny appeared in front of them. ‘Snowball, Percy? Penny, I know you said you didn’t want one but there’s a spare if you’ve changed your mind.’
Percy took a glass and took a sip, giving a little cough as he tasted much more alcohol than he had expected.
Ginny waggled her eyebrows at him as she grinned wickedly. ‘It’s got a special ingredient in it.’
Penny, who had been about to take a glass, put hers back.
Ginny stared at her disgustedly for a second then said, ‘It’s only a bit of vodka, Penny. Don’t worry, we’re not trying to poison you.’
Penny, feeling embarrassed, picked up the glass and pushed at Percy’s arm, indicating she wanted to leave.
Four sets of eyes watched them go.
Fred and George scurried over to join the girls, taking their own glasses from the tray. Ginny left them to hand out the other drinks.
‘Finally,’ Fred said.
‘I thought he was never going to do it,’ George added.
‘They’ve only left the room,’ Hermione pointed out. ‘It doesn’t mean he’ll tell her.’’
‘Of course he will. He doesn’t have any choice,’ George said.
‘No, ‘cos we’ll kill him otherwise,’ Fred told her.
‘That wasn’t exactly what I meant, although I do agree with the sentiment,’ George admitted. ‘I meant that now they’ve gone off the Pig’s going to be expecting him to propose, so even if he doesn’t want to do it she’ll force the issue.’
‘Stop calling Penny that,’ Hermione said automatically.
The twins both rolled their eyes are her.
‘You are too nice, Hermione,’ Fred said. ‘You need to toughen up and kick that boyfriend of yours—’
‘He’s not my boyfriend, he’s Penny’s boyfriend,’ she cut in.
Fred growled. ‘All right, your soon-to-be-boyfriend, then. You need to force him to make decisions because he’ll never do it for himself, and you need to stop being so bloody submissive.’
Hermione stared at him in surprise, willing herself not to blush. Surely the twins didn’t know about the bondage, did they? She had never mentioned it, she was sure.
Fred sighed in the face of her stare. ‘I’m not sure I used the right word there, but you know what I mean. You should have stopped worrying about whether Percy was serious and forced him to tell her. Or when they turned up here you should have made him go and sort it out with her straight away, not mooch around unhappily because you were trying to keep the Pig happy.’
Relieved that her secret wasn’t common knowledge, she admitted, ‘You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, Fred, but I’m just not that sort of person. I understand why Percy wouldn’t want to hurt Penny by dumping her over Christmas – it’s not like they’ve only been together for a few months. It’s been almost eight years and you just don’t do that to someone even if you don’t like them much anymore.’
Fred raised his hands, gesturing in frustration. ‘I give up. Perhaps you and Percy do deserve each other.’
Hermione, aware that their conversation was getting louder and that there were plenty of people around who might listen in if it got any more audible, put her hand on Fred’s arm, calming him down.
Quietly she said, ‘I know you’re thinking about me and I’m really grateful for that, but everything’s happening the way it must now and we can only wait.’ She raised her finger to stop him from speaking. ‘Percy will talk to her or he won’t. Only he can make that decision, but I have told him that I won’t have anything more to do with him until he’s single, so the choice is his.
‘I know you think he loves me – I think he does too, but it’s not up to us to fight his battles for him. When, and only when, he’s ended the relationship with Penny he can ask me out or whatever it is he wants to do, but only he can decide when that will be. Only he knows how important or otherwise it is to him, however frustrating it seems to us.’
‘So what, are you saying you’ll be okay if they come back from wherever it is they’ve gone and he hasn’t told her?’ Fred asked sceptically.
‘No, I’ll be absolutely bloody furious,’ Hermione admitted. ‘But then I won’t be talking to him again until he does tell her, so I’m sure he’ll pretty quickly get the idea.’
Fred didn’t look convinced. ‘Maybe, but I still reckon you’re too soft on him.’
‘It doesn’t matter. He’s going to have dumped her by the time they come back,’ George predicted merrily. ‘You wait and see.’
- 7
- 8
- 9
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Worth the Wait