"Mum, I refuse to go buy a slave. We are not better than Muggle-borns!" Fred Weasley shouted at his mother. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Voldemort had killed Harry Potter. He now ruled their world, forcing Muggle-borns to be slaves and purebloods to be Death Eaters. "You know what? Maybe I should've died from that wall explosion! I never wanted to be a Death Eater, but now what am I? A Death Eater!"

"Fred-"

"I'm going to talk to George." He left, leaving his mother in the kitchen. When he got to his and his twin's room, the almost identical copy of him on the other bed had a confused look on his face.

"What was that about, Fred?" asked George. "I heard something about Muggle-borns, but that's it."

"Mum's forcing me to buy a slave."

"Fred, You-Know-Who is forcing pureblood families to have slaves, you know that! If he finds out that we don't have one, he'll kill the whole family!" George reminded him.

"Yeah, well, better that than being a Death Eater," mumbled Fred. "I wish I would've died from the wall, then I wouldn't have to be a Death Eater."

"Don't say that," said George. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Help Mum, go get a slave. We have the money, the joke shop's still cranking money in by the Galleons." He gave his twin a few golden coins. "I'll go with you."

Both twins left their room, telling Mrs. Weasley where they were going. They left, Apparating to Diagon Alley, where there was now a slave market. They started looking at the slaves, trying to find one they knew. Eventually, George looked over at Fred.

"Fred, I found another Gryffindor." Fred walked over to him, and he recognized the Muggle-born almost immediately. She had familiar brown hair and brown eyes, almost the same shade of brown as theirs. She was brave, and had dropped out of school in her seventh year to look for things to help defeat Voldemort.

"Hermione?" said Fred, looking through her cell bars.

"Fred? George?" she replied, looking up at them. "What-"

"We're forced to have slaves. So, you come here often?" joked Fred, looking at her. George rolled his eyes, but Hermione laughed, probably for the first time in months. "Be right back." He and George went over to the guy selling the slaves, then gave them their money. George showed him the one they wanted, and he took her out of the cell. They left, taking her home. When they got back to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley gasped.

"Hermione?" she said, looking at her. Hermione looked like she hadn't eaten for weeks.

"Hey, Mrs. Weasley," she said, smiling slightly. Fred and George looked at each other, grinning widely.

"Oh, that slave trading place in Diagon Alley never fed you properly, did they?" said Mrs. Weasley, starting to cook dinner. Fred rolled his eyes. His mother always fussed when Harry visited and was underfed, so he'd expected this. "Don't worry, Hermione. We'll treat you like family, we aren't that mean," he told her. "Besides, I wouldn't let anyone treat you like they're worth more than you." Both George and Mrs. Weasley stared at him in surprise. He had his arm on her shoulder, like an arm rest.

"What?" he asked them.

"What are you doing?" said George, looking at Fred's arm.

"Come on, you know I joke around all the time. Of course I'm going to joke around, and this is one way," explained Fred, pointing to his arm on Hermione's shoulder. George rolled his eyes. "Mum, can I talk to these two alone?" asked Fred.

"Why don't you just go to your room?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Right, we'll do that," said George. He followed Fred to their room, Hermione following close behind. When they got to the twins' room, Fred closed the door.

"Alright, you both know why we're here," said Fred. Hermione had to smile. It reminded her of when she put together the D.A. with Ron and Harry, because the first thing she'd said was, "Hi. You all know why we're here." George interrupted her thoughts by saying, "Freddie, we aren't at a press conference."

"Yeah, well, anyway," Fred continued, "I didn't just help Hermione out of what looked like a dinky little jail cell in the middle of war because I felt like it." Hermione and George looked at each other. "It also probably looked suspicious when I was using your shoulder as an arm rest, Hermione."

"Probably? You were bloody lucky Ron wasn't in the kitchen!" said George. "His ears would be brighter than his hair! Maybe redder than the Gryffindor red!"

"George, calm down and let me speak," said Fred, laughing. "Hermione, I've thought about you everyday. I was really worried. I'm glad you're okay. I love you."

"So that's why you were acting weird in our third year," teased George. Hermione had turned almost as red as the twins' hair.

"Oh, shut up, before I call you weasel," said Fred. He walked over to Hermione and kissed her, causing George to close his eyes. "Oh, you're so immature," said Fred after breaking the kiss. "Because you totally haven't seen Mum and Dad snogging."

"Yeah, but at least you weren't snogging," said George, hitting Fred across the face with a pillow.

"Oi!" shouted Fred, hitting George with a pillow.

"Hey, that hurt!" said George, jumping on Fred and hitting him.

"This does, too!"

"It'll hurt worse when you hit your ginger head on the bedpost!"

"It'll be your fault if I do!"

Fred and George continued to fight, and didn't notice when a younger redhead walked in.

"Hermione!" said their younger brother, Ron. He ran over to Hermione and hugged her. "Are you alright? I've heard the guys that watch the slaves while they're waiting to be bought are rough."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little on the hungry side," said Hermione. "Your mum's cooking dinner."

"So that's why it smells like chicken," said Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes. He'd been like this in school, too. He looked at Fred and George. "What are you two doing?"

"What's it- ow- look like- ouch- we're doing?" said George.

"Fighting to the death," said Ron. He rolled his eyes. "You two better stop before I go get Mum."

Almost immediately, they threw their last punches at each other. Then they got up; Fred had a black eye.

"Ickle Ronniekins, if you wouldn't mind leaving, we were talking to Miss Granger, here," he said, shooing Ron from the room.

"But-"

"Go play Exploding Snap with Perce."

"I'm-"

"Go play Muggle chess with Dad." This got Ron running. From the floor below, they could hear Ron say, "Hey, Dad, want to play Muggle chess?" Hermione, Fred, and George smiled.

"Here," said Fred, handing Hermione better clothes than she had on. "You know where the bathroom is, you need a shower."

"Thanks," said Hermione. She left, heading for the bathroom.

"We should really talk about keeping your crush a secret from your twin," said George.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Fred was still looking at the spot where Hermione had been.

"At least I didn't keep my crush on Angelina a secret, right, Freddie?"

"You what?!"

Dinner started before Hermione had finished her shower. When the twins went down for dinner, their mother asked where she was.

"She spent three months in a dinky jail cell, you can't expect me not to tell her to take a shower," said Fred. "I'm not going to treat her as a slave, and I won't let George either."

"I'm happy you care about her," said Mrs. Weasley. Then she saw Fred had saved Hermione a seat, and she kept working on the food. It was five minutes later that dinner was ready, and Hermione came down just in time. She was wearing t-shirt that said "Weird Sisters" on it and a pair of Fred's black jeans that he'd grown out of.

"See, I told you it'd be worth it to keep those," he told his mother. She laughed. George put his face in his hands. Hermione could faintly hear him say, "Fred..." through his hands. She giggled, and he looked up from his hands, glaring at her

playfully.

"Hey, 'Mione, I saved you a seat," said Fred, letting her sit next to him.

"Thanks," Hermione told him. Almost the second she sat down, Fred started running his hands through her hair. George looked like he was about to bang his head on the closest wall.

"At least they're not snogging, George," said Mrs. Weasley. "Yes, I know, Fred. I didn't overhear you, I promise. I knew the minute I saw her come through the door, why else would you choose her, and then tell her to take a shower and let her borrow clothes you've grown out of?"

George walked over to the wall and banged his head against it. Fred hugged Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley started putting food on the plates.

"Hey, Mum, is din-" said Percy, walking into the room, but stopped when he saw George. "George, why-"

He didn't take his head off the wall, but instead pointed at Fred and Hermione.

"Is that- Fred, are those-"

"Yes, Perce, it's Hermione, and yes, she's in one of my old shirts and an outgrown pair of my jeans," said Fred, looking at Percy.

"What-" started Percy. He was interrupted by Ron running into the room. They were silent the rest of the night, and that night Fred and George let Hermione sleep in their room. Fred had let her sleep on his bed. He Transfigured a mattress, pillow, and blanket from things laying around the room. He didn't know Hermione's plan for waking him up she'd arranged with George.