"Hermione!" Molly Weasley looked just as happy as ever to see her, and the lack of one particular redhead had her easing comfortably into the matron's embrace, tears in her eyes as she realized she had been afraid since reading the letter that she would have lost what she had come to consider her wizard family. "I'm so glad you decided to stay here after all, dear."
"You're sure you don't mind two extra people around the house, Molly?" Hermione questioned, only to have the woman brush the thought away impatiently as she ushered her into the kitchen, where the table was literally groaning under the weight of the food upon it.
"Of course not. To be honest, the house has been feeling rather empty since all the boys left, and Ginny's to be gone by the summer..." This Hermione knew already – she had been helping Ginny plan the wedding all the previous summer, after all – but she was surprised at the speed of things. From what she understood, Ginny and Harry were to be married in August. "She's accepted an apprenticeship at St. Mungo's, and it starts a few weeks after she graduates, so they'll be getting married the weekend after her graduation ceremony."
"Really?" Hermione looked incredibly surprised, and frowned a bit. "I won't be able to attend the wedding – that's right in the middle of the final weeks of private training with the clan."
"Yeah, Harry said one of the twins mentioned it." Ginny told her, plopping into the chair beside her with a faint sigh. "It's the worst part about it, but if I wait, we won't get any honeymoon at all. And Harry assumed you'd be home before my graduation, so he already took the time off from work for the honeymoon, and they won't let him change it. He tried this morning. Who are these twins, anyway?"
"You'll meet them soon enough, Gin." Hermione grinned, before completely baffling the family and holding true to form. "Itadakimasu."
"Er...praying?" The glare her mother shot her would have quailed one of the boys, but Ginny took no mind of it, arching a brow in Hermione's direction. "That's new."
"Not...praying, really." Hermione explained, dragging her focus from the delicious taste of Molly's cooking. "It's simply giving thanks. You know, to the labor that went into the meal from all involved...though I suppose you could consider it a prayer."
The rest of the lunch was a fairly silent one, no one quite sure what to say or do now that Hermione had finally returned. Finally, midway through dessert, Molly decided she had had enough of the awkward silence.
"I've already cleaned up and aired out Percy's old room, and when Harry mentioned the twins I just set to work doing the same for Fred and George's old room, but I was wondering when they would be arriving, dear."
"Oh. Eriko and Akiko had a few things they wanted to go over with Professor McGonagall before they left. They said they'd be along not long after lunchtime." Hermione told her easily, taking no notice of the strange looks being cast her way.
"Will they be coming by Floo? I want to make sure the fire is nice and steady if that's the case, you know. Do they know how to get here otherwise? Dobby already brought their things, and I doubt anyone will really have enough time to bring them here side-along."
"No, they'll be fine on their own – but they don't relish traveling by floo, so they'll be...apparating on their own." Hermione wasn't sure what to call the travel that the girls seemed so proficient in using, since she had already been informed that it was not apparation. "Eriko said they'd be arriving at around three, which translates to three on the dot."
"Punctual, is she?" Ginny questioned, a grin back on her lips. "Bet the two of you are the best of friends already."
"Not...exactly." Hermione winced a bit, rising to help magic the dishes away, only to have the fright of her life as a voice spoke up from the door behind her.
"Immediately after lunch. I told you it would be fine, Akiko." Eriko had arrived, just as Hermione predicted, immediately upon the clock beginning to strike three. "I apologize for simply...entering as we have, but Hermione assured us you would not mind."
"Oh, no dears, it's no problem at all." Molly beamed at the two girls, though she was a little taken aback by their silent arrival. Akiko, ever the exuberant one, immediately bounced into the kitchen from behind her sister, beaming happily.
"I'm Akiko!" The chipper tone won the Weasley matriarch's heart in an instant, though she still felt a little unsure over the brooding other. "This is my twin sister, Eriko. Thanks so much for letting us stay here too! I've gotten so used to having someone other than an ice cube around that I'd go mad with loneliness if Hermione weren't around!"
"You survived eighteen years before this, Akiko, I am certain you would survive the holidays as well..." Eriko drawled, but there was something about her tone that had the family chuckling. "I was wondering if we could borrow Hermione for a few hours – she has not been well enough to continue the private training the clan has arranged for her since her arrival in England, and I know she has been worried about it."
"Ever the studious one." Ginny snorted with laughter, but there was a bit of a sadness in her eyes as she watched Hermione walk out the door with the identical women on each side. "...Mum...I feel like we've lost her already."
"Nonsense!" Molly retorted sharply, though Ginny could tell a part of her mother felt the same way, from the way the dishes rattled as she placed the leftovers into the fridge. The twins would be coming in half an hour, and their stomachs were as bottomless as ever, and she wanted to be sure they got a good lunch. They didn't take much time away from their inventing for meals, and ever since that Angelina had broken up with Fred last Christmas, she knew there had been no feminine insistance other than her own to encourage them to take care of themselves. "She's just busy, Ginny. You know how she is – why would you expect that to change just because she's at a different school?"
"What training could they possibly have that has them outside, though?" Ginny questioned in confusion, but her mother was too busy to respond. The house was not tidy, and there was no time for depressed wonderings. With a sigh, Ginny headed out to the living room to Floo into Diagon Alley. Harry would be off work in a few hours, and with her mother on a cleaning rampage, the young redhead had no desire to get dragged into it.
Hermione was thrilled to be out and about again, her hands reaching out on either side to clasp the nearest hand of each twin. It was a sign of her improvement that Eriko did not pull her hand away, though she did not exactly return the grasp.
"You did very well with your wandless magic yesterday, Hermione." Eriko said quietly. "I think we can skip the extra meditation – I know you do that on your own every night regardless – and go straight into training your magic."
"No sparring?" Akiko perked up as she asked this, Hermione looking a bit excited by the prospect as well. When she caught the glare from her sister however, her shoulders slumped. "...of course we're sparring. We always spar after we practice our magic..."
"Akiko, you know if we do not, we risk building up dangerous excess magical energy, and no one has found anyone capable of absorbing it since Minerva." Eriko paused at that thought, pulling away to start stretching as she pondered the idea. "...Hermione, you do share eerie similarities with Minerva. Your magic is stronger, and a bit different, but there is something within it that has an echo of your former professor. ...perhaps you share some of her abilities. We should test you for the possibility of your being a magical well."
"...I...suppose I could do that." She blinked a bit, stretching as well, before dropping to sit in front of Eriko, Akiko joining them so they were in a triangle formation. "When would you like to check, Eriko?"
"Not today. It could be dangerous if you have not yet regained magical balance in yourself. Our training today will help you get back to that point if you are not, so tomorrow would be best." So saying, Eriko held her hands out before her, palms facing one another roughly a foot apart, and began to focus her magic within it. Hermione and Akiko mimicked her movement, after Akiko whispered the basic idea of what they were doing.
When a brightly glowing ball had been created in the space between their hands, the white light faded into a gentle blue glow, and continued to change colors until they had quite covered most of the hues and shades of the spectrum. Eriko, still leading them, then began to change the shape.
"...what does this do, exactly?" Hermione questioned.
"It allows you to feel your own magic. The shift and the flow. When you want such a reaction, it feels in such a way. It helps you bind yourself to it more fully." Eriko explained, her body relaxed as they continued to move through various patterns and colors. "...unfortunately, because you are using your magic but not sending it away beyond recall, when we finish it must be reabsorbed – and your body is already replacing what you expend here. That is where a human well of magic comes into play, if one is available. They can store vast amounts of power without ever being damaged by it – as Akiko or I would be."
"That's why Aunt Minnie was holding Eriko after she made her stop attacking Ron yesterday. Because she was startled into stopping, all of her as yet unspent magic that was outside of her body snapped back into it. And what she was doing takes a lot of magic." Akiko murmured, her head cocked to the side as she continued to stare at her own magic, almost sending herself into a trance.
"...what..." Hermione hesitated a moment, before continuing. "...what happens if...you don't burn off the magic?"
"Typically?" Eriko let out a faint sigh. "...you become very ill for a time. Go mad. Or die. Depending on the amount of magic you absorb and the strength of your body."
"...we're sparring after this." Hermione said it so quickly Eriko couldn't help the smirk that jumped to her lips – though she did successfully fight back the laugh that demanded to be heard.
"I thought you'd agree."
Author's Note:
Hermione and Eriko have interesting by-play once in a while. I'm sorry I didn't bring the catastrophic meeting in yet, but the twins demanded I explain -why- they're always beating on Hermione and each other. Well, Akiko did – Eriko was quite content to be considered mean. Hopefully next chapter will be the meeting. And oh, the plans these lunatic twins have, they've been suggesting all sorts of interesting "first sight" situations...Title is from a Static-X song, and it just made me giggle, because I'm sure Eriko would wear that shirt and ensure she was standing beside her twin all day.