Chapter 1
"We have to tell them sometime."
Fred agreed. "This problem isn't simple I know that," It wasn't a small lie, they were married. "I think we need to tell them but let's wait until Bill's divorce is finalized. That isn't exactly helping mum's view on love right now."
Hermione nodded and squeezed her husband's hand before walking into the kitchen.
It was right after the war, the Weasley's were mourning the death of Percy who had not only just apologized to everyone for being a prat, but had also been crushed by a falling wall after pushing Fred away from it. Hermione and Harry had been invited (although it was more like forced) to stay at the Burrow until Molly and Arthur believed it was safe enough for everyone to live normally again.
Since Bill and Charlie no long lived in the Burrow Hermione and Harry were given their own room instead of sharing with Ron and Ginny. They both also got jobs at the ministry, Harry as an auror and Hermione in the misuse of magical artefacts department with Arthur. Being a muggleborn helped immensely with how to handle situations where muggles are watching and what kind of items are just for muggles.
It wasn't much, but it was something that Hermione enjoyed. Sometimes on her off days she stopped by Weasley Wizard Wheezes to help the twins out. Of course, that was how she had gotten herself into this mess.
At first the ministry job seemed too structured to Hermione who had spent the past year running around the country living in a tent and not eating a real meal for weeks at a time. But as soon as she started going on actual missions it got better. But for a while she felt boxed in, so she took to working part time at the twins joke shop on the weekends. It helped her relax and spend more time out of the house.
Hermione loved Molly, but she couldn't exactly handle the crying.
"Anything interesting happen this week, Mione?" George asked as she walked through the door Friday night.
"Murderous tea kettle in Kensington, other than that nothing out of the ordinary."
She had been put to work stocking the shelves of Wonder Witch products that had sold out when Fred silently walked up to her. "Can I ask you something?" Nodding, Hermione opened another box. "How's mum doing? We know that she puts on a brave face when everyone is around but I can see how she looks at me sometimes. It's heart breaking knowing that her screw up son is what she got in return for the most perfect person she ever raised. I just hope that she's getting better."
"You think you're a screw up?"
"That wasn't exactly what I wanted you to take from that."
"Fred Gideon Weasley, how dare you think you're a screw up!" In that moment Fred was thankful that the store was empty. "You began your own business in a time where almost the entire alley was closing down, you are a household name and your products sell out every week, and you helped save the world. Don't you ever think that you're a screw up just because of your joking."
"But Percy-"
"Percy made the choice to push you out of the way, he knew what would happen. He sacrificed himself for you. Don't throw that away by calling yourself worthless."
It made Hermione angry that Fred felt his life wasn't the same as Percy's simply because of his career. He was extremely successful and shared the wealth he and George acquired with the rest of the family. In the first year of the store being open for business, the twins bought each of their siblings a big gift that each of them had needed or wanted for a long while, they also gave Bill an extremely expensive gift for his wedding (even if it was late).
She hadn't always agreed with the pranks and jokes those two pulled, but it was something they did amazingly well and it gave them an outlet for all their ideas.
"Hermione, wait," Fred ran after her into the back room. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."
"Yes you did. It's how you feel, and that's normal but I just wanted you to realize that none of it is true. I mean look at how successful this entire business is. You need to realize that you are loved and no one blames you, just because you think that when your mum looks at you she sees Percy doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. She's still grieving and I imagine she will be for quite some time, but she's not blaming you at all. When she looks at you what I see is her remembering what Percy saved, what he did to make sure that his little brother lived because in a world with only one Weasley twin everyone suffers."
Fred kept silent, it seemed like everything was sinking in.
"Do you remember when we were cleaning out Grimmuald Place, and the boggart came out for your mother, how it kept transforming into one of her children dead on the floor?" Fred nodded. "Do you remember that she saw you and George together, because she couldn't bear for one of you to die and leave the other alone?"
"I didn't know."
"Oi, Fred we need more fever fudge made. We're completely out." Having such a deep discussion made both forget that George was in what they called the 'creation room' working on inventory for what needed made.
"Right, I'll get on it." It was almost time to close up anyhow and with no customers in the store five minutes wouldn't hurt business. "Why don't you head home for the night Mione, we'll see you tomorrow."
Putting away the rest of the boxes Hermione said good night and went for the fireplace.
"And Hermione, thank you."
With a nod she threw the powder into the grate and left for the Burrow.
Fred worked late into the night on the fever fudge and other products that needed restocked, but his heart wasn't in it and after only one batch made he went to bed.
When Hermione arrived at the Burrow she found everyone in the sitting room.
"Did you have a nice night dear?" Molly asked standing from her chair and leading Hermione to the kitchen. "I'll bet you're hungry, those boys of mine hardly eat themselves how can they feed someone else. Let me make you a plate."
While Molly's eyes were pink and puffy, they weren't as bad looking as they had been. It seemed as though she was starting to understand that crying was not going to bring Percy back, instead she threw all of her love into the remaining children she had.
Hermione ate the food that was set out for her and cleaned the plates before heading to her room for the night. While she was still angry she couldn't forget the look in Fred's eyes when he confided in her how he felt. The twins weren't known for showing their real emotions but when they did the emotions were raw and deep.
Fred was in real agony over the fact that Percy had died to save him, and everyone knew it but he had tried so hard to keep it from showing to the rest of his family. She could see all of that now, Hermione was probably the only person he trusted enough besides George to hear the truth. George, and the rest of his family would always be glad that he was alive but they would also miss Percy, Hermione wasn't conflicted with those emotions and could give him the truth he needed to hear.
She was glad that he trusted her so much. And now she would try to show him that he was important too.
"What did Hermione seem so angry about? I could hear her through the walls she was talking so loud."
"Just something I said that upset her, she was telling me off."
George had walked into Fred's room, they could always tell when something was wrong with the other, but since the war it seemed like there was always something the matter with Fred.
"What did you say?"
"I asked how mum was, and told her that I knew how mum looked at me."
"Bloody hell Fred, how many times do I have to tell you that mum still loves you and is happy that you're alive!"
"You don't anymore, I was being stupid. Hermione helped me see that."
"So we've been telling you this for months and you don't believe it, Hermione says it once and suddenly you're reformed?"
"George, I think we both know how things would have gone if I had died instead of Percy, you're my twin and literally the other half of myself, but Percy was also your brother so you're not sure if you should feel guilty for being glad that I'm alive. And no one else would say that because no one is as close to me as you are." George sighed; it made sense because it had come from Hermione. "She's not blinded by everyone's love for Percy, she barely knew him, but she pointed out all the good that I've done and to not waste it on feeling bad that Percy saved me."
"Well, I'm glad that you've finally decided to snap out of it. You always knew that what Percy did was selfless and to not ruin the gift he gave you. Good night Fred."
"Good night George."
Saturday morning arrived and Fred rolled out of bed with enough time to shower and get dressed to open the shop. George had made breakfast for them and brought it downstairs to eat. There weren't any customers at eight in the morning except for Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas so it was always a safe bet to eat breakfast.
Hermione flooed through the fireplace in the back room and joined them at the counter, pulling a stool up she tucked into the food George had prepared.
"How was your night Mione?"
"I just went home had dinner, and went to bed. Not much else to do when everyone is falling asleep in the sitting room."
"We should go to the pub tonight."
It seemed like an odd thing to say at eight in the morning, but things had been so down that a night out would do them good. Agreeing that they would all go to the new pub down the alley after closing, the rest of the day seemed to drag on.
George had sent an owl to his girlfriend Angelina inviting her out and was fliting around the store all day making sure everything looked good to impress her. They had only been dating for a few weeks and they were still in the honeymoon stage.
"Well I plan on getting pissed tonight," There were only a few customers that afternoon and George was so worked up that he helped all of them leaving Fred and Hermione to restock the shelves. "What about you?"
"I'm not a big drinker but I suppose a few won't hurt."
"I wanted to say thank you Mione, for what you said last night. It really stuck with me and I'm going to start living my life with more purpose, it's what Percy would have wanted."
They looked at each other for a moment all of their unspoken thanks and advice sitting between them silently. Hermione had never been close with the twins, threatening to give them detention or tell their mum when they experimented on the first years but she had always respected and admired their ingenuity.
"Tonight's going to be fun I can feel it." Fred winked and went down the aisle some to restock another product.
Finally it was time to close up the store. The day had been steady with customers and the three were glad to see the day end. Angelina met up with them outside and they made their way to the pub.
A/N: New FreMione fic!
