"I'm home." It was Ron, home from work. That's what he always said as soon as he walked in the door, then he would hang up his robes, and follow his nose to the food. Always, without fail.
"Kitchen!" Hermione called as she turned off the stove, satisfied with the meal she'd made them. It had taken her a while to get used to cooking nearly every night, but with a woman like Mrs. Weasley around, she could now do it quite well.
"How was work?" And that's how their night would be. He would tell her all about what happened at work and then he would ask her. Meaningless conversation would flow, she'd clean up, they'd listen to the Quidditch game, and then go to bed. Always, without fail. The mundanity of it all never bothered Hermione, she liked things neat and orderly without surprises, but that only lasted until a simple comment from Fred Weasley.
It was the usual Sunday dinner at the Burrow, everyone was there: she and Ron, Harry and Ginny with their son James, Bill and Fleur and their children, Percy and his fiancé, and the twins. Everyone was mucking about in the backyard while Mrs. Weasley finished cooking.
"So, Hermione." Said a twin in her ear as the other appeared over her opposite shoulder.
She turned around so she could look at them clearly; she still was unable to tell them apart. "So, boys." They chuckled.
"George." Said the one on her right.
"Fred." The left.
"We have a question for you." George continued.
"About law and legality and such, since you work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and all." Fred finished.
"Oh do you? That doesn't worry me at all. If you two are worried about getting arrested, then I can only imagine what this might be about." Hermione laughed.
"You done?" Fred asked, a little miffed.
"Yes, continue." Hermione folded her arms across her chest, preparing for what she was about to hear.
George began slowly, "Well, if we were to make, hmm…" he paused looking for the correct word.
"Say a sweet." Fred offered with a wave of his hand.
"Yes, yes, a sweet. And this sweet would be something you might give someone you don't particularly care for. Would we have to legally supply the buyer with an antidote?" George asked with a look Hermione quite couldn't distinguish from pure evil or simply mischievous.
"Well, morally—" Hermione was cut off.
"Even if the effects wore off in a few days or so?" Fred was pleading. What was so wrong with giving an antidote? Hermione gave them a look, much like the one Molly used frequently.
"Legally and morally, I would say, the buyer would have to at least know the counter curse. If not, you two could be in a bit of trouble, not just with the law, but from parents of children who had been— What's it supposed to do again?"
Fred's eyes lit up. "Well, it'll turn your enemy into a—"
"Dinner!" Molly Weasley yelled from the kitchen window.
"You know what? I didn't really want to know anyway." Hermione gave them a fleeting glance as she walked inside, shaking her head as she took a seat next to Ron. The things Fred and George invented never ceased to surprise her; she imagined their jobs being new adventures everyday.
Oh, Merlin. Hermione thought as she looked at the roast sitting in front of her. Ron's favorite, that means I'll need to use that ridiculous stain-removing spell just to get it all out of his clothes. Hermione had gotten used to the way Ron ate, but she'd never be happy about doing his laundry. So, to lessen the load, Hermione placed Ron's napkin in his lap. When she looked up, she saw Fred staring at her oddly from across the table, but discarded it as Fred being Fred.
They finished dinner with only mild casualties to Ron's clothing; Hermione took it as an accomplishment.
"And treacle pudding for dessert!" Molly sounded so pleased with herself.
"This is great, mum!" Ron yelled across the table with a mouthful of pudding. "I wish yours was this good, Hermione."
"Thanks, Ron." Hermione said sardonically. "You've got a little something on your face, dear."
"Wut?" he said through more food.
"Just there," she pointed to splotch of pudding on his cheek. He wiped at it and made it worse. "Goodness me, let me do it." She took her own napkin and wiped it on her boyfriend's face like a mother would her own child. She looked up and once again found Fred staring at her with that same, odd look. She stared back with a questioning one of her own; he smirked and went back to eating.
When they'd all had their fill of dessert and coffee, most of them went to the living room to listen to the Chudley Cannons/Foulmouth Falcons quidditch match. Everyone left, except Hermione, who stayed to help Mrs. Weasley clear the table. She made it all the way to the kitchen with a stack of plates before Molly stopped her.
"No, no." She took the stack out of Hermione's hands. "You have years of this waiting for you. Go back to the living room, dear." And with that she shut the kitchen door in the girl's face.
"Years of this waiting for me? What does that even mean?" Hermione muttered to herself as she walked straight into a twin. "Oh, sorry, Frehh-george-d?" She stammered trying to find the correct name. He smiled.
"Well, what mum meant was that you're the new her." He said, not telling her who he was.
"What?" Hermione looked at him skeptically.
"You are the new Molly Weasley, Hermione love. Having a gaggle of children, cooking the big dinners, cleaning the house, washing up the clothes, just taking care of the homestead, of course." He said with a kind of sad look in his eyes. "What happened to brightest witch of her age?"
"Excuse me? I work for the Ministry of Magic, thank you very much. I have no children yet. Merlin, I'm not even married!" Hermione was surprised by her sudden anger.
"Oh, but my dear little Hermione-Homemaker, you will be. It's not a bad thing, though I for one didn't expect one of the Golden Trio to turn out like that."
"You don't know that I will." Hermione said indignantly.
"Love, did you see yourself tonight. Putting the napkin in Ron's lap, talking about your cooking, wiping the food off his face, you can't tell me those aren't Molly Weasley characteristics."
"Ohhhhh!" A loud yell came from the living room, they were missing the game. He turned to go join his family.
"Wait! We were talking." He stopped in the doorway leading out of the dining room. "I don't even know which twin you are."
He smirked at her over his shoulder. "Fred." And with that, he walked out of the room, leaving Hermione to ponder her new future on her own.