A.N.: Hey everybody! I hope you had a good week and still enjoy this story. I am working at the ending at the moment and I am planning for about 25 chapters in total at the moment. But it could be more because this story kept growing and growing as the characters developed a life of their own.
Chapter 19: Uncomfortable truths
The rest of the evening seemed like a blur to Hermione and she couldn't even remember who was at the Burrow when they finally released the news of being pregnant with magical twins. She was sure to have seen Ron somewhere and Ginny of course. But was Harry also there? Or Neville? Or maybe even Bill and Fleur? Hermione really didn't know, but in a way she also didn't care. Molly's words still rang in her ears and kept rolling through her head. Could it be that the pregnancy was just messing with her brain and she wasn't really in love with her husbands? She was eight weeks along after all and when had she started to feel more attached to them? That must have been around this time or even later. What if her feelings were not her own but the ones the babies projected into her? God, this situation was all so messed up and Hermione had the feeling that as soon as things started to look better for her again, fate just threw another stone at her. And she was just so tired of it!
"Hermione? Love? What's wrong?" she suddenly heard George's voice behind her and a moment later his arms had encircled her from behind. "You've been staring at the same spot on the wall for ages and well… I can't shake the feeling that something is off." He was right. She'd been standing in the middle of the living room and staring at a spot right next to the fireplace for at least two minutes now. In fact, she couldn't remember having moved at all, after coming back from the Burrow. No wonder that George had gotten suspicious.
She sighed tiredly and realized that Fred too was watching her with worried eyes. "I…" Hermione groaned. She really didn't want to tell them. Things had just gotten better between the three of them and she really didn't want to ruin the mood. But on the other hand, she also didn't want to be alone with these thoughts. Wasn't it just fair to tell them and not give them any false hopes? After all, she promised herself that she wouldn't lead them on intentionally. It just wasn't fair for any of them. "It's something your mum said earlier on," she finally confessed and turned around to face the two of them. "…about the babies influencing our feeling for each other." She swallowed heavily as she saw the confusion in their eyes. God, they really didn't understand, did they? She'd really have to spell this out for them. Why was this so difficult for her? Hermione could feel the tears forming behind her eyes, but she refused to cast her eyes down to avoid looking at the twins. They deserved to look her in the eyes when she told them. "I…" she swallowed heavily again. "I love you," she finally confessed, and a sob escaped her lips. "Both of you."
They stared at her mutely for a moment, before they leaped towards her and pulled her close so that she was sandwiched between the two of them. "Hey Hermione… but that's nothing to cry about. It's… that's wonderful actually." George soothed her and stroked her hair.
"Because… we do too, you know?" Fred continued to murmur into her ear. But this only wrenched another sob from her. Merlin, what a mess!
"But do you? Are you sure? Because suddenly I'm not. Haven't you heard what your mum said? It could all just be this pregnancy, the babies' magical cores making us believe we do…"
At that, they just pulled her closer, Fred to her left, George to her right. They seemed to steady her between the two of them and Hermione was thankful they hadn't pulled away from her after her confession.
"No love," George said to her gently and tucked a curl behind her ear. "I'm quite sure that what I feel for you is not just some baby-induced love-drunkeness or whatever you fear."
"Nope," Fred agreed smilingly. "We're sure we're quite smitten with you." At that, he gently cupped her face and turned it slightly so that she faced him. He locked eyes with her, and she realized how trusting and vulnerable he looked for a moment. But then the impression changed to something else and before Hermione was able to analyse what it was, he had pulled her into a gentle kiss. His lips felt wonderful as they kissed her ever so slowly while his thumb caressed her face. "Does this feel unreal to you?" he finally asked her after he'd pulled away. But before she could answer George was suddenly in front of her, kissing her, while Fred had moved behind her like he had sensed his twin's move. Well, probably he had. I love you, George's kisses on her mouth said silently, while Fred pulled her close from behind and started nibbling at her throat. And suddenly Hermione didn't care any longer, because she wanted those feelings within her to be true. She wanted to love them and to be loved in return.
"I love you." she gasped as George's lips ended the kiss and she could feel her heart picking up pace.
"Brilliant." she could hear Fred from behind, before he kissed her earlobe and murmured, "Fancy a snog on the sofa? Because Georgie and I would really like to show you just how much we love you."
She could have sworn her heart just skipped a beat but then she saw George's brown, hopeful eyes waiting for her reply. But the prospect of being with both of the twins at the same time made her feel overwhelmed at the very least.
"Just a snog, yeah? Promise?" she asked nervously, but George instantly nodded and grinned happily at her.
"Nothing more, don't panic." Fred whispered into her ear from behind and she could feel the goose bumps spread on her skin. "On the other hand you should know by now that with the two of us it's never just a snog." He laughed and before she could process his words, he had scooped her up from behind and carried her to the sofa bridal style. George was close behind with a giddy smile on his face and Hermione couldn't help but release a happy giggle herself, "Well then, do your worst, you two." she challenged and earned herself a wide grin from Fred. "Never that, love, never that." Suddenly his lips were back at hers again and she didn't even feel it when he finally put her down onto the sofa. She was too occupied by the two redheads that thoroughly ravished her mouth for the rest of the evening.
For the next days, George lived in a happy bubble. His girl had confessed her love for him and his twin and even though there was still some uneasiness in her, George saw that she was more and more accepting her feelings towards them. And it made him unbelievably happy.
On Thursday, Hermione's next training session with Flitwick was scheduled and as they promised to their wife, George and his brother Fred came along for that. They were determined to learn to protect her from whatever was waiting for her, and how could they expect her to step down, if nobody stepped up in return? Yes, there was Harry now and Neville, too. But as he knew Hermione, she wouldn't leave it to their friends to fight for her. And so it was up to them to ensure she was as safe as she could be.
"Well…" George said and looked at their Charms Master nervously, "How are we going to do this? We can't duel you all at the same time now, can we?"
The little Professor giggled. "No, that wouldn't really help you that much, would it? What about you two duel each other first and show me, what you are capable of?"
Fred shrugged grinningly. "Sure, nothing we haven't done before." And so it began. He and Fred were like a well-oiled machine and fights between the two of them could go on for ages, as their skills were well-matched, and the twin-bond helped sensing and countering each twin's attacks.
"Well, alright, alright." Professor shouted after watching them for about five minutes. "No more pairing the two of you. You're better off as a team I guess." They grinned at him. "Course we are."
Hermione chuckled from behind and it didn't take long for their Professor to join in.
"Well, what should we do then?" George asked after a minute. "Duel the two of you?"
The Professor chuckled. "Not until the very end of your training I'm afraid. Just go against Hermione at first."
George couldn't help his eyes bulging out at the thought. "Are you sure? The both of us? What if we hurt her or… or the babies?"
But their Professor seemed totally unconcerned. "In a friendly duel? Quite unlikely. Refrain from using lethal spells or spells that could drain her magical core, also no physical impact with her midsection." George nodded unconvinced. "Are you sure?" He asked towards his wife. Hermione nodded smilingly towards them.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She moved proudly towards the training area and positioned herself elegantly with her wand in hand. "Well, do your worst then," she grinned, and Fred chuckled next to him.
"Oh Hermione, you should know by now, that we are physically incapable of doing our worst."
Hermione snorted amusedly at that. "Well then do your best instead."
"God Hermione, you're really scary if you hand us our arses like that. I swear my ribcage still hurts from that spell you were using earlier on."
Hermione chuckled. "Well, what did you think I was doing with Filius and Snape all the time? Drinking tea and eating biscuits?"
Fred laughed. "Well, no. But it was two of us against you. And we were two years above you in school." It almost sounded like he was pouting which she found amusing to no end. "You've no idea how much this wounds my pride."
"Don't worry. We'll get you in shape in no time. Today you didn't know what to expect, but I'm sure the two of you will come up with something brilliant. It's not only about knowing the right spells, you know? The element of surprise is sometimes even more important. That's how I did it with Bellatrix."
Suddenly the twin's eyes were fixed on her, and she could see them study her carefully. She probably shouldn't have brought that topic up.
"Hermione?" George's voice asked her, while he slowly took her hand and pulled her towards him. "Do you… do you want to talk about it? The duel with her I mean."
She looked at him with inquiring eyes. "Do you really want to know George? Do you, Fred? Because I'm not sure if you do."
But Fred smiled encouragingly at her. "Don't worry Mione, we won't judge you. You know, I'm thankful that you had the skills and the guts to do, what had to be done - whatever that was. It's fine if you don't want to tell us though."
Hermione looked at them for a long moment. Did she want to tell them? She didn't know. But she'd have to tell someone, just to get it all out. She sighed. Those two had shown her over and over again that she could trust them and now it was time for her to do so.
"I think I surprised her," she admitted with a smile. "Death Eaters like Bellatrix are used to having the upper hand in a fight as their victims are mostly defending themselves and using non-lethal spells. They on the other hand mostly throw around Unforgivables in a fight." She shrugged and finally sat down on the sofa next to Fred, pulling George who had taken hold of her hand with her. "When they expect to face a stronger enemy, they also try other things and start to get creative. I've been told You-Know-Who's duel in the Department of Mysteries was quite spectacular. But with enemies like us they usually don't use anything out of the ordinary." She started playing with her hair. "Don't get me wrong. when they hit you with one of these curses you are still screwed. But it helps, when you can prepare yourself for what you are facing."
They looked at her in astonishment. "Well, what did you do to surprise her?"
Hermione smiled. "The unexpected. I wasn't Hermione Granger, the schoolgirl throwing around stunners and disarming spells. I was Hermione Weasley, veteran of a war, daughter of two medical professionals with a fondness of medical textbooks and a knack for charms and transfigurations. You don't have to use the killing curse to kill somebody. There're hundreds of ways to do it."
George gulped but she could tell that he was hanging on her lips waiting for her to continue her explanation. Fred on the other hand just nodded understandingly and asked, "So you what? Please Hermione, just tell us. Because my mind is supplying me with lots of ways you could have done it and I don't really like what I see."
She nodded and straightened her back. "I stopped her heart in the end. It's quite simple actually. All you need is a surge of electric energy to the right spot on the chest. It didn't look dangerous when I cast it and Bellatrix didn't even make an effort to block it as it wasn't a curse but a charm I cast."
Fred laughed. "Well, too bad that most wizards don't have on ounce of medical knowledge. Do you think you could teach us some of those things?"
Hermione looked at him in astonishment. "Are you serious? You want me to explain to you how to… how to kill?"
But he just shrugged at her unconcernedly and took her hand. "I will learn anything that helps me to protect you from the bad guys, love. I don't want you to feel alone in this any longer, because you're not. I'll do anything it takes to keep our family safe. And if I have to learn how to stop hearts or… I don't know… pull teeth then so be it."
She looked at him for a long moment, but finally she nodded. "Alright. There might be a thing or two you could easily learn." Her eyes drifted towards George for confirmation. But he was studying her with an unreadable expression.
"George? Are you alright?"
He sighed. "I… that wasn't everything you did, right Hermione? There… they didn't find her body until now, you know?"
She nodded grimly. "And they won't, ever. I…" she swallowed heavily but forced herself to look him in the eyes. "I burned her, afterwards. I burned her with Fiendfire."
He sputtered. "You what? You cast Fiendfire? That's dangerous, Hermione. You could have lost control and…"
She nodded solemnly. "I know, believe me. Did I ever tell you that I was almost killed by this spell during the war in the Room of Requirement? I didn't cast it back then myself, but I've experienced the danger of it firsthand. Even though I didn't want to leave anything behind for the Death Eaters to find: not her body or your blood or anything… What if they tracked us by a hair or something?"
George nodded. "That's how you drained your magical core, isn't it? It wasn't the fight with Bellatrix, it was the Fiendfire right?"
"Yeah, it was," she confirmed sadly and hung her head. "I… almost didn't make it out."
Fred gasped and a moment later he pulled her close. George wasn't far behind and wrapped himself around her from the other side. None of them spoke a word for a long time, and Hermione allowed herself to simply bathe in their affections.