settle down inside my love
Pairing: Bill Weasley/Hermione Granger
For: @phoenix-173
Prompt: December 30 - "Kiss me so my ex thinks I’ve moved on..."
Rating: T
Word Count: 1236
[Ao3 Link]
Other Tags: Past Relationship(s), Past Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Past Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum - Freeform, Past Bill Weasley/Fleur Delacour - Freeform, Minor Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Minor Fleur Delacour/Viktor Krum, Minor Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley, Not Epilogue Compliant, Fake/Pretend Relationship, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Kissing, Fade to Black, Implied Sexual Content, Flirting, Banter, Snark
Hermione's evening was only getting worse as the clock ticked closer to midnight. And it wasn't exactly something she was going to record in the annals of smashing evenings to begin with.
To start, she'd come alone to Ginny and Harry's New Year's Eve party. While this wasn't new territory she was treading upon, it was made all the worse because Ron was there as well, with Lavender. And while she certainly didn't begrudge her friend for moving on from their failed relationship, it stung just a little more when she was so very alone.
Ginny told her it was a normal reaction, but that didn't make her feel any better.
She was just getting used to the idea that she was to be the singleton in her group of friends, but then there was a flutter of activity and a whisper of hushed voices as Fleur Delacour arrived. Or made her entrance, Hermione supposed she should say. Fleur wasn't the type to simply 'arrive'. This time, she made her entrance on the arm of Viktor Krum, no less.
Two of her exes in one night. Both sporting lovely arm candy and looking so much more like they'd moved on than she did.
She certainly wasn't harbouring any lingering feelings or resentment for either Ron or Viktor… but it would have been nice to have a man to hang off of.
She'd spent the last few years getting her bearings in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. And while one couldn't exactly bring their career to a New Year's Eve party, she didn't regret any of the decisions had had gotten her here.
She reached for her glass of wine, taking a longer sip than was strictly necessary and gulping it down.
"I'll refresh that for you…" a low voice said. She looked up into the deep blue eyes of Bill Weasley and suddenly realized that there was at least one person in this room knew what she was going through.
"Hello, Bill…" she said, handing over her glass as he summoned more wine with a flick of his wand. "How are things?"
"About as well as yours are, I'd assume…" he said, nodding towards Krum and Fleur. "Fancy granting me a truly depressing favor?"
"Anything for you," she replied.
"Pretend to be my companion for the evening… just until Fleur and Krum leave? I was the one who ended things, but I don't think I could stomach any of her 'pauvre Beel' nonsense tonight…"
Hermione met his gaze and nodded once. "Only if you'll grant me the same safety net. I've two former paramours here, you see."
He sniffed out a short laugh. "One of whom is my brother. This plan is already falling apart… wouldn't he have noticed we weren't together before tonight?"
Hermione shot him a look and they both laughed. The odds of Ron noticing anything like that were slim to none. She and Bill could have been snogging three feet from Ron and he wouldn't have noticed a thing. The only one who would notice and was in attendance tonight was Ginny. And she was smooth as silk. She'd roll with whatever punches were thrown her way. Worry wasn't even a blip in Hermione's mind.
Bill's hand reached over to cover hers. "Midnight's only a few minutes away, you won't mind kissing me, will you?" He ran his hand over his face, smirking slightly. "The facial hair is a bit daunting, I'm told.
Hermione actually fancied facial hair on a man, but felt it wasn't prudent to share that little bit of information with him at that precise moment. Instead, she shrugged. "I'm sure I'll manage. Not my first snog, Bill."
"We're snogging now? I thought it was a single kiss?"
"We have to snog if we're going to sell this story," Hermione reminded him.
"Ah. Yes. I understand completely. Snogging sounds lovely, anyway." He laced his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand, coughing slightly.
She looked up just in time to smile at Viktor and Fleur as they approached them.
"Hello there…" she said warmly, tugging Bill's hand behind her until he rested it on the small of her back. "Fancy seeing the two of you here!"
She accepted a small hug and cheek kiss from Fleur. And Viktor of course kissed her hand in greeting.
She and Bill slipped into the personae of two people in a fledgling relationship. It wasn't all acting on her part. Standing this close to Bill and resting her head on his shoulder and whatnot was a relatively new development in their otherwise platonic relationship.
"You do not mind if we remain here to toast the new year with you?" Viktor asked, holding his mug of ale up to mime a toast.
"Not at all," Hermione replied.
Bill pulled her closer as the countdown began, raising his eyebrows once to indicate that the moment was upon them. She appreciated the warning, but he really needn't have bothered.
"Still time to back out, 'Mione…" he whispered in her ear.
She shook her head. "I would never back out on you, Bill."
A chorus of 'Happy New Year's' rang out around them and she stepped that much closer to him. He tilted his head down, his hand moving through her curls and catching a bit in one of the more unruly ones.
"Sorry…" she mumbled. She really should have taken the time to put her hair up. Or at least braid it.
He chuckled in response. "I adore your hair, Hermione…" he murmured just before his lips touched hers.
It was softer than she'd been expecting. Or perhaps he was going easy on her because of his beard. It scratched at her lips and chin, she tilted her head to better find his mouth, her hands sliding up his chest to cup his jaw on either side of his face.
The cheers were dying down, as should their kiss, but for whatever reason, he kept kissing her. And she him.
The only thing that did stop them was the nervous cough from their immediate right.
Hermione blushed a little at the realization that they were decidedly not alone.
Their lips popped upon releasing and she scrambled for her wine glass. She giggled nervously. "Sorry about that…"
Viktor's lips were pressed together to contain his mirth as Fleur toasted the new year.
Hermione's eyes kept traveling back to Bill's face, lingering on his lips.
He leaned down once Fleur and Viktor had moved on to mingle with someone else. "Want to… get out of here? We could go get a coffee, if you'd like… I'm sure there's somewhere open that sells it."
"Or we could go back to my place and shag each other rotten because that's what I'd rather do…" she said bluntly, causing Bill to choke as they walked towards the front door.
"I was… attempting to phrase it a bit more delicately than that…" he said, laughing a bit as they made their way out of Potters' home. Hermione would send an owl to Ginny in the morning explaining most of everything.
"I'm a fan of being blunt. I've misunderstood what I thought to be delicate phrasing before…" she explained, a hot flush coming to her cheeks at the admission.
Bill squeezed her hand. "Bluntness should be a virtue. Because thank Merlin I know exactly what you're thinking…"
"Not exactly…" she said with a small smile.
"Sickle for your thoughts, Hermione?"
She giggled. "I'm trying to remember which knickers I wore tonight…"
"I'll be sure to let you know," he said with a smirk.
"Good, good. Inquiring minds and all that."
