Chapter 21: Once Upon a Time
[August 8-9, 1998]

--- --- ---

"--And that is why you never pick a fight with a midget in a bunny costume," Tracy said as everybody sat around the living room of Tracy's house.

After picking up Hermione from the Ministry of Magic after she had finished the last of her NEWTs, they had explained the situation to her. She looked to be rather perturbed at Fred being stuck in Ryou's body, and Tracy being stuck in Fred's body. From there they went to Tracy's house, where they had to explain the situation to Janice, who seemed highly amused by the idea, and decided to follow them around with something Tracy called a 'camcorder'.

It wasn't that late in the evening -- only eight or so -- but the group was getting on each other's nerves. To prevent a fight from breaking out, they told scary stories as they waited for their food to arrive from the Golden Dragon, a Chinese restaurant that the twins and Tracy agreed was the best one around.

"That's supposed to be scary?" Hermione asked, giving Tracy an odd look.

Tracy shrugged. "Well, I think midgets are scary. And midgets in bunny costumes are even scarier. It's a demon thing."

"I'm not afraid of midgets in bunny costumes," Ryou said, glaring at George. Ryou had been goading George practically all night, trying to get George to lose his temper and attack him. Fred suspected that Ryou was doing that purely for the amusement value. He had to admit that he did think it would be rather funny to watch George attack himself. He also had to admit that he was a bit curious as to who would win in a fight between George in Tracy's body and Ryou in George's body. He took some satisfaction in knowing that Tracy in his body beat Ryou in George's body in their earlier fight.

Tracy glanced to Ryou. "Yes, but you always have been rather odd."

"Says the woman who admitted to be willing to have sex with herself," Fred muttered under his breath.

Tracy paused. "I see your point on how it might be better to refrain from doing so. I don't trust that George's spirit energy would raise instinctively while in my body -- as he has limited control over such matters -- and I would rather not impregnate myself while in your body."

George glanced to her. "That's what you're most concerned about? Not the fact that it would be incredibly weird on so many levels?"

Tracy waved him off. "You humans really do need to loosen up. A situation like this is perfect for experimentation."

"No," Fred said. "Not in my body it's not." He was still rather upset that his planned date with Hermione didn't happen, although he could understand why it didn't. Both he and Hermione figured it would be just too weird while he was in Ryou's body.

"George, sit like a lady," Hermione admonished. "Or at least put on some pants."

"I'm wearing underwear," George protested as he shifted positions. Nobody had changed out of the clothes the owners of their bodies had been wearing prior to the switch, so George was wearing the short skirt and low-cut top that Tracy had been wearing earlier. "I never realized how uncomfortable thongs were," he muttered.

Fred rolled his eyes and glanced to Hermione. "How did your NEWTs go? No more problems with morning sickness?"

Hermione sighed. "Whoever came up with the term 'morning sickness' should be hexed, as they're a filthy liar for implying that it only happens in the morning. I have been taking a potion that helps, though."

Tracy nodded sympathetically. "When my mother was pregnant with Janice, she would eat a cracker before getting out of bed or standing up. She swore that it helped with her morning sickness." The doorbell rang, and Tracy got up to answer it. "A little bit of help here?" she called out after a brief conversation with the delivery boy.

Half a dozen bags of Chinese food later, everybody had once more taken their seats on the living room floor. Wooden chopsticks were passed around as everyone grabbed a carton, or in the case of Fred's spirit beast Moonshine, a bowl.

As they ate, Fred thought it was the perfect opportunity to clear up many questions he had about what happened at Arkayos. George wasn't distracting Tracy like he had before when Fred tried to question her in the shop, and Ryou might be able to supply a few answers as well.

Before he could ask anything, George beat him to the punch. "Have you guys figured out names for my niece and nephew yet?" he asked, glancing between Fred and Hermione.

Hermione's eye twitched. "For the last time, I am not having twins!"

George smirked. "Care to make a wager on it?"

Fred glanced to him. "Why are you so convinced we're having twins?"

George shrugged. "Instinct. What do you say? Anyone want to start a betting pool?"

Hermione glared at George. "I have a prenatal appointment on Monday at nine in the morning. After I get back from my appointment, I will wave the results that say I'm not having twins in your face."

George chuckled. "And I will be saying 'I told you so' when you see that you are."

Hermione looked over at Tracy. "Do you mind if I slap him? Hard?"

"Go ahead," Tracy said, watching on in amusement.

Fred stabbed at his food with his chopsticks, trying to ignore them. He glanced to Tracy after Hermione sat back down. "Hiru and Yoru. I've asked about them before, but we keep getting interrupted." He glanced to George, who was glaring at Hermione as he rubbed his cheek. Or rather, Tracy's cheek. He turned back to Tracy. "Tell me about them," he said.

"What do you wish to know?" Tracy asked, lowering her chopsticks.

There were many things that Fred wanted to know, but he'd start with the basics. "Why would I have a dream about Hiru? Is that some sort of power of his?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Tracy said as she caught some rice between her chopsticks. "I'm afraid I don't know why you would dream about him. I could come up with a few theories, but that won't do you much good."

George glanced to Fred. "Who were you dreaming about?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "A rival of Tracy's from back in the old days. I had a dream about him during my battle with Nanka at Arkayos. I tried to ask Tracy about my dream earlier, but you kept trying to get her to go upstairs with you."

George rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away."

Tracy smiled slightly. "No complaints here. You are a rather quick learner."

George chuckled and glanced to Fred. "When did you have time to have a dream, though? You never passed out or anything like that. Not during the battle, at least."

Fred gave him a startled look.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Ryou said, "the idiot's right."

Fred glanced between them. "It happened after she broke my arm and hit me with her flaming arrows but before she tried to stomp on my throat. I passed out, remember?"

George shook his head. "No, you didn't. You closed your eyes for a second or so. I mean, I thought I passed out during my battle, but Ryou told me I didn't. I just figured I imagined it."

"Imagined what?" Tracy asked, looking to George.

George shrugged. "I had a weird dream, too. Some demon with a silver-colored fox tail and ears. He had me stand in a field and get struck by lightning. He was an arse."

Tracy made a thoughtful face. "Did he say what his name was?"

George shrugged. "If he did, I forgot it. He was a tosser."

Tracy glanced to Ryou. "And neither of them passed out?"

Ryou shook his head. "Strangely, their eyes did glow briefly during battle, and they both used techniques no human should be capable of using. I know what you're getting at, Kuroi, but neither of them radiated Youki."

Fred glanced between them. "What's she getting at?"

Tracy sighed. "It's nothing. I don't know why the two of you received visions of the fox brothers, but then I don't know everything they were capable of. As I told you before, they were rivals of mine. Back in the day, I was a thief for hire. I wish I could claim to be the best, but I know there were several demons greater than I was. While I preferred to dismantle security systems, Yoru and Hiru were con artists. There had come a time when we had the same target. While I painstakingly broke my way in to steal an item, they were working on conning the owner into giving them the very same object."

George chuckled. "The kind of blokes that could talk their way out of anything, right?"

Tracy smiled slightly. "Well, they needed to learn how to talk themselves out of trouble, as they often found themselves talking themselves into trouble. But situations like that happened a few more times. I think they planned it on purpose. They were a lot like the two of you in many ways. I've seen how the two of you would double team a person occasionally."

"Not occasionally," Hermione said. "Far too often."

Tracy chuckled. "After a while, I tried to lay a trap for them. Yoru saw right through it, and that was when I really got to know of their differences. Both of them were slightly clairvoyant, but while Yoru instinctively knew things that had yet to happen, Hiru instinctively knew things that he should have no way of knowing, often related to the past or present." She glanced to Fred. "Just like how you knew the name of the sword I carry, and that they were the rivals I had followed to the human realm."

Fred shrugged. "Yoru was the demon you were courting, right? The kitsune with the silver fur?"

Tracy gave him a funny look. "Yes, he was. And I don't recall using the term 'kitsune' at any point. That is what the fox brothers were, and that is precisely what I was talking about before."

George frowned and looked to her. "You were courting this Yoru demon? But he was a complete tosser! He had me get struck by lightning!"

Tracy watched him briefly for a few seconds before glancing to Ryou. "The techniques you mentioned--"

"Did not contain any Youki," Ryou interrupted. "I've never detected any Youki emitted by either of them."

"Of course you haven't," Tracy said. "I would have sensed as a human for years until I regained my power and learned to re-master it." She turned back to George. "Yoru had you struck by lightning. Why?"

George shrugged. "Because he's a wanker. He was saying crap like I needed to get used to it or some bull like that."

"And then you did that Lightning Rain technique," Fred said.

Tracy froze and slowly looked to Fred. "What did you just call it?"

"Lightning Rain," Fred said. "That's what George called it. He had bolts of lightning rain down on the Hokuto guy."

Tracy went silent with contemplation for a while. "Once we have our own bodies back…" she began after a long pause. "Once everyone's back to who they should be, I would like to test something. I'll let you know right now that if I'm wrong in my suspicions, it could kill you."

"You think we're them, don't you?" Fred asked. "Wouldn't I have remembered or something when I died, though? Wouldn't the Underworld have known?"

Tracy shook her head. "There's no way of knowing or detecting where a demon's spirit ends up, or who it attaches to. I know that they lost their memories when they came to the human realm, which makes finding them almost impossible."

George sighed and looked over to her. "Tracy, I know you're hoping that we're them, but I really don't think I'm anything like that Yoru guy. Sure, I can be arrogant at times, but nowhere near as bad as him. I wouldn't want to be him. Don't take any offense, but I think you just want to relive your demon days, and want us to be them so things can be the way they were back then. But they're not. Just forget them."

"Stop that," Ryou said, glaring at George. At George's questioning look, he clarified, "Stop saying things that I agree with."

Fred looked to Tracy. "How certain are you?"

Tracy hesitated. "Not certain enough to risk it without good reason. All I have right now is mere suspicion and plenty of coincidences."

"Didn't you say once before that a demon who enters a human body too quickly will forget who they were?" Hermione asked, a deeply thoughtful look on her face.

Tracy nodded. "It exhausts their energy, yes."

Hermione nodded. "What happens if a demon tries to possess the body of an unborn child who had already developed their soul?"

Tracy paused. "I imagine that would be an even greater shock to their system and even more exhausting. I'm not certain as to whether the human and demon souls would merge together, or if the demon soul would simply force the human soul out. Either way, they'd forget. A demon would have to be rather stupid to try something like that, though."

"Or desperate," Hermione said. "Do you think that Yoru and Hiru would try to be born at the same time?"

"Yoru didn't want to escape to the human realm without Hiru," Fred said, trying to get some noodles to cooperate and stay between his chopsticks. "The only way they'd be born in the human realm was together."

Hermione glanced to him. "Didn't you once tell me that George was originally thought to be stillborn until you were born a few minutes later?"

Fred nodded. "He didn't let out his first cry until I did."

Tracy picked at her food. "Lightning Rain," she said after a long pause, "was one of Yoru's techniques." She chuckled. "What am I saying? It's probably nothing at all."

As the rest of the meal continued in relative silence, Fred couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't nothing after all.

--- --- ---

Fred walked through the darkness, knowing that if he made one false step he would never reach his destination. He had no idea where he was exactly, if he was even anywhere at all. He didn't even know quite where his destination was, as it wasn't so much a place he was looking for so much as it was a demon he wanted to find.

In the far distance up ahead, he could see a faint orange glow that broke the darkness. It was like a distant star, but he knew that he was on the right track.

After what felt like an eternity of traveling through the darkness, he came to the glowing campfire that was producing the orange glow. He sat down across from Hiru, the fox demon with the golden-colored tail and ears. The kitsune said nothing, as if waiting for Fred to speak.

"Am I you?" Fred asked, breaking the silence.

Hiru chuckled. "That's the wrong question, Fred. No, you're not me. You are you."

Fred nodded slowly. He wasn't sure whether he was disappointed or not. After everything that was said…

"I'm nothing more than a figment of your imagination," Hiru continued. "How could you possibly be me?"

"But Tracy remembers you," Fred said. "That means you're not just made up."

Hiru smirked. "Ask yourself. Who is Tracy exactly? Is she the demon Kuroi, or is Kuroi now the human known as Tracy?"

Fred tilted his head. "I'm not sure I understand."

"You're human, Fred," Hiru said, leaning forward. "Your mate is human, and your children will be human. Don't chase after ghosts. You wouldn't want to be me, anyway."

"Why not?" Fred asked.

"I'm not a nice person, Fred," Hiru sneered. "It doesn't do you any good to dwell on a past that doesn't exist any more. Look to your future, and live in your present. You would do well to follow your brother in that regard. I no longer exist, but you do."

Fred looked at the crackling fire. "How is it that you're in my mind?"

Hiru smirked. "You're getting closer to asking the right question. Do you want to try again?"

"The right question?" Fred paused, looking up at the fox demon. Just as he'd noticed in the dream he'd had during his battle with Nanka, Hiru seemed to be extremely familiar, like someone he knew long ago but had forgotten. "I'm still not--"

"Let me ask you something. Are you the same boy you were when you were five years old? Or ten? Or fifteen, even?" Hiru asked. "You've grown, Fred. You're not them."

"But they're me," Fred said. He contemplated the demon's earlier words about asking the right question. "Does that mean… Are you me?"

Hiru smiled broadly. "Once upon a time. But does it really matter?"

Fred paused in thought. Knowing what he once was -- while it did answer a number of questions he didn't even know he had -- it didn't really change anything. "How, though? I mean, how did nobody notice that I wasn't human?"

"You are human," Hiru said. "You were born human, you live as a human, and you'll someday die as a human. When a demon reverts to a spirit form, they become just like any other spirit, aside from maybe having a stronger will. When a demon's spirit is born into a human body, they become human. Maybe they'll have their memories, and become shells of what they once were. Their demonic power will return to them eventually, but it will be but a mere shadow of what it once was. But the demon will still be human, unless they choose not to be."

"So does that mean Tracy's human?" Fred asked.

Hiru hesitated. "She is, but she can't quite let go of Kuroi enough to move on with her life as a human now. Remembering isn't always a good thing. She misses what she once was, and it holds her back from making the choice she knows she one day will have to make."

"Whether to stay human or not," Fred said, looking at the fire.

Hiru smiled. "And you've already made your choice, so there's no reason to chase after me. You don't remember me, because you have no need to. You are you, and that's all you need to know. I'm no different than your five year old self."

"Will I ever turn into you?" Fred asked. "Like Tracy sometimes turns into Kuroi?"

"How should I know?" Hiru chuckled. "I can't see the future or anything. If you do, though, you'll still be you."

"And I'll turn back into me," Fred said, standing up. "I would say something like 'I'll see you around', but we both know I won't." He paused. "When I was born, though… What happened to the human soul that would have been me?"

"That's you, too," Hiru said. "What comprises a soul can't be explained easily, and I'm not going to try. All that matters is that you are you. There's nobody else you can be."

Fred nodded. "I am me." He turned away from the campfire. There wasn't anything else he really needed to know. Without another word, he walked away.

--- --- ---

When Fred woke up, he was still in Ryou's body. He had been expecting it, but was a bit disappointed. He had hoped that everyone would go back to their rightful bodies while they'd slept. Apparently they had not.

It was still dark outside, although he couldn't tell how late it was. There was probably a clock around somewhere, but he hadn't paid enough attention and didn't feel like exploring in the dark. Glancing around the moonlit living room, he could see George was snoring loudly off to one side of the room. Well, since Ryou was currently in George's body, he supposed it was him. Janice slept by the stairs, her camcorder nearby. Curled up on the couch was Hermione, who looked like she was having a good dream. Fred hoped she was dreaming of him. Moonshine was sprawled out on the other end of the couch, sleeping in a most un-catlike position.

George in Tracy's body looked to be having a dream as well, although Fred couldn't tell if it was good or bad. Sometime through the course of the night, George had kicked off the blanket that had been over him. As nobody had changed out of their clothes, Fred really doubted that Tracy would appreciate George's sleeping position.

Careful not to wake anyone, Fred crept over to where his twin slept and placed the blanket back over him. Since Tracy was kind enough to let them stay in her house overnight, protecting her modesty was the least he could do.

Speaking of Tracy, Fred didn't see her. Since she was currently in his body, that wasn't a good thing. He could see that the sliding door to the patio was open slightly, though, so went over to investigate.

"I really hope you're not smoking in my body," Fred said as he stepped onto the patio, where Tracy was leaning against the railing, holding a lit cigarette in her hand.

"I'm checking which way the wind is blowing," Tracy replied.

Fred sighed and stood next to her. "Just don't get me addicted." After a long pause, he asked, "Why do you want us to be the kitsune brothers?"

Tracy took a drag off the cigarette. "I don't. Or maybe I do. Either way, I'm tired of the chase. I came here because of them. Because of Yoru." She glanced to Fred. "If, for whatever reason, someone you loved was reincarnated in some other world, wouldn't you try to find them?"

Fred nodded. "Probably."

Tracy looked off into the distance. "There are times when I feel like I'm betraying him. We made no promises to be together, but I still loved him. And then I came here. I met you guys, and… It's just easier if they're the same person." She took a drag off the cigarette.

He leaned against the railing next to her, looking out into the moonlit yard. "Even if George is Yoru's reincarnation, they wouldn't be the same person." Tracy glanced over at him, and he continued. "Before I came out here, I had another dream about Hiru. He told me that no matter what I might have been once upon a time, I am myself now. Whether I was him or not doesn't matter. Hiru no longer exists. I've grown up. Just as you have. But you need to let go of the past."

"You're him," Tracy said.

"No," Fred replied. "I'm me. Just like you're Tracy, not Kuroi. We're not the same as we were back then. We've all changed."

Tracy looked back into the distance, taking a drag off the cigarette.

Fred glanced to her. "Do you love George?"

"I don't know," Tracy said after a long pause. "Love has always been a rather complex emotion, and at times indistinguishable from others. I think that if I didn't hold my emotions back so much, I might be able to provide an answer." She smiled slightly. "Some of the crazy suggestions he makes don't sound all that bad."

Fred chuckled. "That's a lot of words for 'you're not sure, but you think you might be falling for him'."

Tracy smiled. "And how often do I give a straightforward answer?"

Fred laughed and stood up straight. "I don't know whether it was just a dream or not. If it wasn't, we are their reincarnations, but we're not them. And if you're going to fall in love with George, fall for George, not who he might have been once upon a time. He's not Yoru." He gestured to the sliding door. "I'm heading back to catch some sleep. You should, too. I don't want my body to be completely sleep deprived when I get it back."

Tracy nodded. "I'll head inside in a few minutes."

Fred went back inside. When he fell back asleep, he didn't have any further dreams of any golden-tailed fox demons, but he hadn't expected to.

--- --- ---

All things considered, Fred was very glad to have his own body back. Early in the morning, Tracy's raven Kara woke everybody up and led them to the alley where Vallum was lurking. They were able to corner him, subdue him, and arrest him. And Fred learned just how downright evil he could look when Tracy calmly described various methods of torture they would use on the demon if they weren't placed in their rightful bodies.

Ryou was still grumbling various curses under his breath as they walked back to Tracy's house -- all in their rightful bodies. Even under the threat of torture, Vallum remained steadfast in his claim that he didn't know how to reverse Ryou's curse, as he was merely subcontracted to design it. Vallum didn't even know who it was that wanted to curse Ryou. He had only spoken with a middleman, and never asked clients questions about why they wanted him to create the things he did.

"My hand is never going to be clean again," George said, looking in disgust at his bloodied right hand. He glared at Ryou. "You couldn't have waited until after you had your body back before gouging his eye out?"

While they were still trapped in one another's bodies, Ryou had attempted to torture Vallum into reversing the curse on him. He was obviously displeased with the demon's answers, so had pulled one of Vallum's eyes out of its socket, squishing it between his fingers. Mercifully, Tracy stopped him from doing any further damage, and had placed the Spirit Cuffs around Vallum's wrists, sending him to the Underworld for booking and medical attention.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," Fred said, looking warily over at Ryou.

"I have no gripe with you," Ryou said. He paused. "Well, unless I discover you had some part in placing this curse upon me."

Fred shook his head. "As I said before, we could probably find out a way to cure you. We have his notes. I'm sure we can figure it out."

Ryou was silent for a while as they walked down the street. As they approached an intersection, he turned to them. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm not your friend. I can find a cure on my own." He turned to walk away from them, but paused. "I'll see you around." He walked off, quickly disappearing in the crowd.

Tracy smiled apologetically. "He's not used to people offering help. I suppose that's his way of saying 'thanks for the offer', and 'he'll have to think it over'."

"Why can't anyone say what they really mean?" George grumbled.

"Because nobody ever does," Fred replied.

Once they returned to Tracy's house, Fred found that Moonshine had somehow gotten into the refrigerator and pulled out some leftover cartons of the Chinese food from the night before. Empty cartons and spilled food littered the floor. "Dammit, Moonshine," he grumbled. He turned to Tracy. "I'll clean it up."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it. I've heard that Moonshine can make quite the mess when left alone."

Fred glared at his spirit beast that was curled up on the kitchen counter as they worked on cleaning up the kitchen.

"Do you have to work tomorrow night?" George asked Tracy as he tossed a carton into the garbage.

Tracy nodded. "You know I do."

George paused and took in a breath. "Call in sick. I'd like it if you came with me to tomorrow night's family dinner."

Tracy glanced at him as she dumped some cleanser into a mop bucket. "Why?"

Fred glanced to George, who shifted from one foot to the other nervously. "I just do," George said. "And if you're worried about the money, I'm sure Fred would let you work some extra hours. We're in one of the busiest times of the year, after all."

Tracy paused, and then nodded. "Very well. I'll go with you." There was a shout from upstairs from Janice. Tracy glanced up at the ceiling. "I'll be back." She left the kitchen, leaving Fred and George alone to continue cleaning up.

Fred turned to George once Tracy was out of earshot. "You want to introduce her to the family?"

George nodded. "I'm getting a ring for her today." He held up a hand to stop Fred from protesting. "I'm not going to ask her in front of everyone. That would just put her on the spot, and I know how she hates drawing attention to herself. Well, when she's not in control of the attention she gets, at least. She's rather complex that way."

Fred sighed. "You've barely been together with her a week. Don't you think you're moving a bit too fast?"

"She's the one, Fred," George said as he tossed away more empty cartons. "I had a dream about her. About us." He smiled. "I'd just come home from work, and our oldest daughter shows me that she'd just received her letter from Hogwarts. Tracy greets me and tells me that our seven-year-old son somehow managed to turn the bathroom into a swamp while she was trying to nap after chasing the triplets all over the house. They're an utter nightmare. Worse than we were. Tracy's pregnant again, looking like she's going to pop at any time." He turned to Fred. "You and Hermione come over for dinner with your kids. Your oldest two just received their letters, too. A boy and a girl. The twins Hermione is carrying now. And don't try to argue with me about that, deep down you know it's true."

Fred tilted his head. "How do you know that's not just wishful thinking?"

George shrugged. "I don't." He paused. "Have either of you come up with any names? I mean real names, not the whole 'Taco Supreme' stuff."

Fred chuckled. "Nothing conclusive. Hermione's got a few names she likes, but it's still a bit soon."

George nodded. "I would tell you what your kids' names are, but that might influence it. I could write them down and place it in a sealed envelope."

Fred sighed. "Don't you think you should wait before asking Tracy, though? You might scare her off. I mean, aren't you afraid that she might be hung up on Yoru?" He wanted to tread carefully here. He already knew that his twin didn't believe that they were the reincarnations of the fox brothers, and didn't want to say anything that implied that they were.

"Maybe," George said. "But he's gone. I'm not."

"What if he comes back?" Fred asked. He knew it wasn't really all that possible, but would still pretend that George and Yoru were two separate people.

George chuckled. "That's just it. He won't. He was an arrogant and egotistical tosser. Why in the world would I want him to come back?"

"It might not be about what you want," Fred said.

George sighed and gave him a serious look. "Look, Fred. I'm not going to help her relive her days as 'Kuroi'. I don't want to be like that. She's slowly letting go of her past, and I've already let go of mine. I'm going to live my life, and I'm not going to let something like knowing who I may or may not have been in the past change who I am now."

Comprehension dawned on Fred's face. "You knew? What was that all about last night?"

"I'm not like him," George said. "And I don't want to be like him. Just like I'd rather Tracy just be like Tracy, and not like Kuroi. None of us were nice people back in the day. So she should forget about Yoru, because he's gone. But I'm not."

Fred wondered if maybe it was a bit messed up that despite George not wanting to have much to do with his former self, that he would still try to get back with an old flame of his from back in the day. Still, Fred figured it wasn't any of his business, and that they could work it out however they wanted.

"For your sake, I hope she's not too hung up on Yoru to see you for you," Fred said in resignation. "But be honest with her. Keeping secrets from her won't do either of you any good."

George smiled and nodded as the kitchen door opened. "Is Janice all right?" he asked.

Tracy nodded. "She's just frustrated about not being able to defeat the final boss on her game. I recommended leveling up at least ten levels."

George smiled and walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her. "Now that we have our own bodies back, is there anything you want to do with them? Perhaps something involving whipped cream?"

Fred sighed in annoyance. "I'm going to head to work and see how Hermione's doing."

--- --- ---

As his bishop was practically decapitated by Ron's queen, Fred remembered why he hated playing wizard's chess with his younger brother.

"Spill, Fred," Ginny said as she sat down in a nearby chair. "Why's George acting so strange tonight?"

"Because he's strange," Fred muttered in response, contemplating his next move. After dinner ended, George asked Tracy to go for a walk with him in the garden. Fred had no doubt that George intended to propose to her there, otherwise he wouldn't have been acting so nervous.

"He's not planning on doing anything to the dessert, is he?" Ron asked. "Mum will kill him if he does. I'll kill him if he does."

"Not that I'm aware of," Fred said, moving his knight.

"He's planning on proposing to my sister," Janice said from a nearby couch, where she was talking to Charlie about dragons.

Fred looked over to her in shock. "He told you that?" he asked in surprise. He knew that Janice didn't really like George much, as she was afraid that he was taking Tracy away from her.

Janice shrugged. "He told me last night. I think he wanted to make sure I was all right with it or something."

"And are you?" Fred asked cautiously as Ron's knight beat one of his pawns.

"She could do worse," Janice said, shrugging. "She could do better, but I guess if he's who she wants, then I can deal with it." She turned back to Charlie. "So what made you decide to spend your life playing with dragons, anyway?"

Fred turned back to his game. The previous night, George had shown him the ring he'd picked out, which Fred thought must have cost quite a bit. It had a large diamond surrounded on either side by two small sapphires -- her birthstone -- and the band was made out of silver. George had told Fred that Tracy preferred silver to gold. Fred still thought that George was rushing things, but would try to support his twin if that's what he wanted.

"They haven't been together for that long, have they?" Ginny asked, turning to Fred.

He shook his head. "I've told George that he's moving way too fast, but he doesn't want to listen." He had pretty much given up on any hope of beating Ron, but moved one of his pawns anyway.

Ron nodded. "I thought you and Hermione moved way too fast, but at least you knew each other for years. And you oddly seem to be well matched."

"I thought we moved a bit fast, too," Fred admitted. "I wouldn't change it though, because I'm still amazed at times that she puts up with me. I love her like crazy, though. I guess it just took a swift kick in the arse to get me to realize it and pull myself together."

Hermione came into the sitting room from where she'd been helping in the kitchen. "Dessert's ready," she said.

Dessert was usually held an hour or so after dinner to give their dinner a bit of time to settle. Those gathered in the sitting room once more filed into the dining room, Ron leading the way.

As dessert was passed around, Fred noticed that George wasn't back yet from his walk with Tracy. He was rather curious as to how it went, because he did not want to see his twin get hurt if she rejected him. It was a few minutes after everyone had settled in and broke into various conversations that George came back in with Tracy, holding her hand.

As George took his seat at the table, Fred gave him a questioning look. George ignored him as he dished himself up a slice of freshly baked pie. After about a minute of being ignored, Fred nudged his twin. "Well?" Fred asked when he finally had George's attention.

George smiled. "This winter," he said in a low voice so as not to be overheard.

Fred's eyes widened. "She said yes?" he asked.

George nodded, turning back to his plate.

Fred glanced past George toward Tracy. Sure enough, she was wearing the engagement ring George got her. Fred was pretty sure that he wasn't the only one who noticed the new ring on her finger, as those who had been in the sitting room slowly ended their conversations. Remembering the semi-disastrous family dinner two weeks previously, Fred did not envy his twin when he had to make the announcement. Fred just really hoped that both of them knew what they were getting themselves into.