“Where did he go?”
“I think he’s hiding in the bushes.” Bill pointed to a large expanse of waist high bushes bordering the garden. Looking at Hermione, he grinned, “You go that way and I’ll go this way. He’s just a puppy. Surely we can catch him without too much difficulty.”
“Just a puppy he says,” Hermione muttered though her lips curved into a smile. It was Christmas at Ron and Pansy’s and they had given their eldest son a puppy. The five year old had been delighted with the gift, of course, but it had only taken a matter of moments and a forgotten open door for him to escape into the massive grounds surrounding Pansy’s family home. She and Bill had been dispatched to find the puppy with the excuse that they were good at locating missing items, though a blind man would have been able to see the blatant matchmaking that the family was attempting.
Since she had arrived a week earlier to spend time with her best friend, his wife, and her godchildren, she had heard nothing but praise for the oldest Weasley son. He was getting too old to be single, according to Arthur. He needed to settle down with the perfect witch and have children, according to Molly, who had given Hermione a motherly smile when she said ‘perfect‘. He needed someone to look after him and make sure he didn’t work too much, according to Charlie and Percy.
He needed a right good shag and some kinky sex, according to Fred and George respectively. He needed someone that could be his friend as well as his lover, according to Ron and Pansy who believed themselves the perfect example of wedded bliss. He had fancied her for years but was too nervous to approach her for fear she’d not feel the same way, according to Harry, who knew of Hermione‘s feelings for the oldest Weasley child. He needed her, according to Ginny, who was simple and straight to the point.
As for Bill, well, it would seem that he was completely oblivious to his family’s attempts at playing matchmaker. He treated her just the same way he had since she was a teen, like a little sister with whom he would never even contemplate having a snog much less the kinky shagging his twin brothers were encouraging. She tried to ignore the transparent efforts of her friends to set her up with the man she’d been infatuated with for nearly a decade, treating them with amusement even as she wished that Bill had suddenly realized that she was a woman and no longer the bratty schoolgirl he had first met.
“Get ready to grab him, Hermione. I’ll send him your way,” Bill said as he began to shake the bushes to scare the puppy out.
“Oh, I see him,” she said excitedly, leaning over to catch the puppy. With a startled yelp, she found herself falling forward when her foot slipped on a patch of ice she had not previously noticed. Landing face first in the snow, she heard Bill’s laughter as he moved towards her.
“Need some help?” Bill did his best to control his laughter when he saw her laying in the snow, but it was no use. She looked adorable with snow dripping from her hair and the tight scowl on her lips. His eyes lingered on her lips longer than was appropriate before he shook his head, pushing those thoughts from his mind. His feelings for her were rather obvious and she had never shown any sign of reciprocation so it was useless to dwell on something he would never have.
Holding out his hand to her, he couldn’t ignore the tremor of awareness that passed through him when she touched him. They’d been ushered out of the house to find the puppy before they’d had a chance to put on gloves, barely protected from the cold by their coats, and her hand was cold but was sending heat throughout his body. Bloody hell, the twins were right. He was pathetic. Before he could consider doing something stupid like kissing her, he felt her pull sharply, causing him to fall into the snow beside her.
“Not so funny now is it Bill Weasley?” She smiled smugly as she put a handful of snow on the top of his head for good measure. Of course, she then noticed the way his hair darkened to a lovely auburn when wet, which caused her brilliant mind to all too easily imagine him fresh from a shower with droplets of water drifting down a chest she knew was rather muscular. Nervously licking her lips, her eyes caught his, widening when she saw the intense way he was looking at her.
“Bugger it all,” he cursed softly before leaning forward and catching her lips in a heated kiss. She moaned as he pushed back against the snow, her hands pulling him closer as their clothes became wet. They’d surely catch a cold but it would be worth it, neither wanting to break the passionate kiss.
Pansy smirked as she looked away from the window, a triumphant gleam in her eyes as she looked at the group in the sitting room. “They’re kissing.”
There were several laughs, a few “it’s about bloody time”s, and the twins began to place wagers on when the wedding would be while also plotting their oldest brother’s bachelor party. Ron picked up the puppy that had just returned inside, scratching it behind the ears as he looked out the window where Hermione and Bill were snogging. Smiling, he turned back to his family, letting Hermione and Bill have some privacy while they had a chance.