A/N: Thank you so much for all of the reviews, it means a lot! It has been a few years since I've dabbled in fanfiction, so I apologize if there are a few inconsistencies. I'm trying to keep the pace steady without rushing the plot, that was always a flaw of mine - I get so excited with my ideas that I rush through them. I'm trying to update a chapter a day, but I'm happy with the progress thus and thank you so much for all the feedback! I have a few ideas on how I want the story to play out, but I'm open to suggestions/ideas!

Hermione Granger was not a quitter. She viewed this as a mere setback after much calculation regarding her failed attempt at retrieving George from his room. At first, she had been too stunned to speak, angry even at his absurd behavior towards her. If anyone else in the Burrow had heard her spat with George, no one said anything. "I'm going to get going," she had informed Molly when she reappeared in the kitchen from upstairs. "Lots of unpacking and settling in to do," she mumbled an excuse as she hugged Molly, thanking her for the breakfast and hospitality. Molly hugged her harder than usual and patted her on the back, blinking away tears. She turned towards the sink and started scrubbing the pile of dishes from her many children.

Hermione apparated back to her flat before any of the other Weasleys could question her on why she was leaving so soon. While she was away traveling, Hermione had put the down payment on a flat not too far from Hogsmeade. She had hired an interior designer to aid her in decorating the inside. Whenever she purchased a new piece of furniture, she would send it to the designer who would then rearrange the entire apartment to be able to fit the new piece in. Her interior designer was none other than Neville Longbottom who always had a knack for arranging things just so. She had refrained from telling her friends of her flat and her partnership with Neville in decorating the apartment as she had wanted her privacy. She did not want her friends to have access just yet to pop in and out whenever they pleased. In due time, she told herself, she would share the information with them. She still needed time to herself to settle in and analyze what it meant to be back in the London wizarding community.

Waving her wand, she continued the unpacking she had started before she left for breakfast at the Burrow. As she was waving her wand, she let her mind wander. George had never spoken so aggressively towards her, she had always thought of him as a gentle, intimate person. Then again, how much did she really know about him other than their few conversations and few encounters. She had not had any contact with him for over eight months, perhaps he was a different person than she had kissed back at Hogwarts. She collapsed on her couch, suddenly exhausted from the emotional ordeal she had experienced in her morning at the Burrow.

Back at the Burrow, Molly was furiously scrubbing the dishes thinking about what she had heard transpire just upstairs. She knew that Hermione would be the one to storm upstairs and drag George downstairs by his one good ear if she had to. She loved Hermione as a daughter and had missed her terribly, but she would be lying if she said she hadn't been hoping Hermione would come and force George to join them. She had whipped Ron and Harry into shape, she had faith that she would have a similar impact on her older son, the sole remaining twin. She had not expected him to scream at her, demanding that she leave his room or else he would hex her. The entire Burrow had heard that last bit. They silently exchanged glances, no one sure exactly how to respond to what they had just heard. Molly understood Hermione needing to get out of there as fast as she could.

"I'm not giving him a plate of food anymore," Molly announced to Ginny who was only one who had come into the kitchen to help her mother clean up. "If he's hungry, he can come get the food himself," she decided. Ginny knew better than to verbally comment on what her mother had said, so she silently nodded in agreement. Molly had been silently enabling George and encouraging him to continue his isolation by making it too easy for him. It was about time that she give her son the tough love she was known for.

Lunch came too soon for Molly as she was nervous for her decision to not give George a plate of food. She went about her usual business, preparing the food for the Weasley clan. She took a seat at the head of the table and began to take a bite of a roll. The others seated at the table stared incredulously at their mother, the matriarch of their family, as she had always personally bought up a plate of food to George before anyone else ate, especially herself. Ron, of course, would be the only one oblivious enough to comment on it. "What about George's plate of food?" Harry and Ginny simultaneously whipped their heads towards Ron, glaring daggers at him. Ginny attempted to kick Ron under the table but accidentally kicked Arthur instead. He groaned and raised an eyebrow at Ginny, but didn't say anything out loud. Molly ignored Ron's comment and asked him to pass the butter for her roll.

"It was lovely seeing Hermione, I do hope she comes around more often now that she's local again," Arthur offered conversation to which Molly smiled at him, thankful for her husband. And just like that, Ron's comment went ignored and the Weasleys began their usual round of conversation minus George.

Upstairs, George's stomach growled and he groaned. Where was his mother with his lunch? He knew the routine by now - he would hear footsteps coming up the stairs and a clink of the plate as she set it down at his door. She would take a deep breath or two and then proceed back down the stairs to join the rest of the family. He would wait approximately three minutes just to make sure she was gone before slowly opening the door and sliding the plate into his room. He would then lock the door and proceed to eat his food at his desk. He would put a roll on the side for a late afternoon snack before dinner and pop the empty plate back outside of his door. When she bought him dinner, she would exchange the empty plate for a plate full of dinner food. But today she was late with his food.

His stomach's growling only got louder to the point where he began thinking that his mother had been eaten by a lizard. That must be what had happened - she would never willingly let her child starve. What could he do? He could walk downstairs and take his own plate of food but that would mean interacting with his family. He could wait until dinner in a few hours to see if she bought him dinner, but that meant starving for a few more hours. He could wait until it was quiet and sneak downstairs to get food to avoid running into them. That sounded like the best option.

He waited thirty seven minutes precisely before he broke. He couldn't take it anymore, he was drooling at the thought of what could have been in his mouth half an hour ago. He opened the door just to make sure there was not a plate of food waiting for him. Disappointed at the absence of food and his typical self-help book from his father, he decided it was time to venture downstairs to investigate. Deciding that apparating would be easier than trying to descend the stairs without making a sound, he quickly apparated into the kitchen.

Immediately, he regretted his decision as the 'pop' from his entrance caused his mother to screech, dropping the plate she was holding onto Ginny's foot. Ginny howled in pain to which Harry, who had been trying to sneak another roll behind Ginny's back winced at her high pitched squeal. Her howl sent Arthur and Ron running into the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. And just like that George found himself the center of attention with most of his family there staring at him in shock. "George!" Ron exclaimed. "Mom finally starved you out of your room," began before his sister whacked him in the back of the head with the palm of her hand. "OW, bloody hell Gin," he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head in pain. "What was that for," he demanded.

George nodded towards his mother, "I just wanted a plate of food," he offered sheepishly. "I'm working on something, want to get back to it," he lied. Maybe if his mother thought he had been working on things for the joke shop, she would go back to leaving him food outside of his door. Ginny rolled her eyes at his comment, "We all know what it sounds like when you're working on your experiments with Fr-" she stopped speaking before she said his name. She hadn't even realized that she almost said Fred. Everyone looked from Ginny back to George who's eyes darkened at the name of his twin. "Yes well it's just me working on them," he grumbled, beginning to throw food on a plate to quickly get out of there. He would apparate downstairs in the middle of the night to avoid this if she wouldn't leave him food. He would go flat searching if she refused to feed him, there were ways around this. His mind soared as he flicked his wand and returned to his safe haven with food.

"Ginny!" She rolled her eyes, "At least he came out of his room, that's the first time any of us have actually physically seen him in months. It's a start," to which they all nodded in agreement. "He just needs time," Harry offered Molly who looked as if she were about to cry. "He's had enough time," Arthur responded for his wife who did not seem able to speak. "He needs to start joining the family again. Fred wouldn't want this," Ginny commented. Ginny grabbed a bit of parchment and a quill when a sudden idea came into her head. Hermione had to be the answer. For eight months George wouldn't even come out of his room. Within hours, Hermione had barged her way in and gotten him to speak followed by him actually showing his face in their kitchen. Granted, he had been hoping to avoid them, but he had actually exited his room while they were all conscious.

Ginny wrote a short, sweet note to Hermione explaining what had happened. Perhaps Hermione was the key to pushing George's buttons to get him to the point of socialization. It was worth a shot. Ginny was also not an idiot - she had seen the way her brother looked at Hermione whenever she was over. His eyes had followed her every move, his eyes saddened whenever Ron would sit next to her or speak with her. She had kept silent for a long time, trying to figure out what the look George had on his face whenever Hermione was around. When she started dating Harry, she recognized the look on her brother's face because it was the look she had on her face whenever Harry was around - longing. She was unsure if Hermione was aware of the looks that George would give her and she wasn't sure if Hermione had given George the same looks. But one thing was for certain - Hermione was back and she was having an impact on George.