"Hermione?" a familiar, sleepy voice came from the seemingly empty common room. A mess of fiery red hair appeared over the back of the couch, sitting up from a nap.
"Fred," she sighed, making her way to the couch and wrapping her arms around his neck. He was exactly the person she needed to see again right now. They needed to figure all this out.
He grabbed her arms, laughing and put them down at her sides. "Not Fred. George," he corrected. Hermione tensed up and turned the other way. "I'm so sorry, George! I just…" she didn't finish her sentence. In reality, the tears in her eyes and all her emotions hadn't even made her consider the fact that the wrong twin might be the one on the couch—even though she knew Fred was in class.
"Are you sure you're ready to be marrying my brother, woman? You're as bad as mum at telling us apart," he laughed again, but stopped as soon as he noticed the look on her face. "Is everything okay, Hermione?" His tone had shifted dramatically—sometimes it still surprised her how serious the twins could be when they needed to. He turned his body so that he was facing her, ready to listen to whatever she had to say.
"Not really," she began, but paused immediately, regretting opening her mouth. She couldn't exactly complain to George about everything—he was part of the problem. Well, problem wasn't even the right word. She didn't know what to think. George looked confused. "I don't know, George. I'm just worried about making the wrong decision." She looked around the room to make sure they were alone before continuing. "I'm don't want to be marrying Fred in less than 2 months just because you'll be gone…do you know what people will think of us? Of me?" She felt a whole new wave of emotion course through her. "Does he even want to do this? I mean, I know we've got our soul bond, but what if it's only one sided? Or what if it wears off and he doesn't want me anymore after we get married? What if—"
"Hermione, Fred loves you. He always will. Hell, I can hardly get him to shut up about you—you're putting quite the strain on our relationship," he teased. "And I know he doesn't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to—if you don't want people to think you're having a shotgun wedding in preparation for the newest addition to the Weasley family, he'll understand. But trust me, nobody will think that…about you anyway. Maybe if it was another girl, but not you," he added with a wink.
How was potions, love? Hermione heard in the back of her mind suddenly. It startled her—having Fred in her head was still something she had to get used to.
With George now, I left potions early, she replied somberly. He said nothing in reply.
"Thank you George," she mumbled, giving him a real, future-brother-in-law appropriate hug.
"Anytime," he replied.
"I don't suppose I need to keep an eye on the two of you, do I?" Fred's voice suddenly filled the room. Hermione stood up and scurried over to him, burying her face in his chest.
I love you, she thought to him.
"I love you too," he whispered aloud into her hair. "Let's go upstairs, yeah?" He grabbed her hand and led her into the empty 7th year boy's dormitory. "We can finish up the conversation from earlier."