Whispers in the dark
Chapter 21: Spilling the beans
A/N: I own nothing except my mistakes. Also, a little author's rant… I just finished writing Year 5 (which is crazy, I know, because all of you just started reading it), and when I started this story I was dreading to write Year 6 soo much, because obviously Fred won't be at school anymore. But lately I came up with so many fun ideas (at least, I think they'll be fun haha), and now I'm so excited! So whilst you all enjoy Year 5 for the time being, I'm going to try and smash Year 6. Anyway, thank you all so much for your support, and please keep on sharing your thoughts with me!
Hermione groaned as she stretched out her limbs, feeling the end of her bed with her toes as she stretched her arms above her head until they came in contact with the wall behind her. So far she had been at Grimmauld for five days, and her body was already knackered from all the chores that Molly made them do.
"What is going on with you and Fred?" That was the first thing Hermione woke up to, and she had to try really hard to not pretend like she was still sleeping. That witch was too smart to believe in that lie. She also knew that telling Ginny again that there was nothing going on wouldn't help her out. She had told that lie way too many times already.
But what was actually going on between her and Fred?
Turning her head to the side, she saw Ginny laying on her side as well, holding an intense gaze at her, ignoring the piece of hair that was crossed against her face.
"We're just friends, Gin." Hermione sighed, but Ginny did not look convinced. "Oh blimey, is my little sister interrogating you again?" She heard Fred ask, but could not answer right now. "Yes, I can very well see that. But how in Merlin's beard did you two become friends?" Ginny insisted, then, on second thought, added: "No offence to either of you, but you two have never really talked. Considering your disagreement with their way of living and all that."
Hermione couldn't help but smile at that. She knew it must be weird for others to see this sudden development. It was true indeed. In all the years of knowing the twins, she had kind of neglected them, simply because she didn't approve of all their pranking. Especially the harmful ones.
Knowing that Ginny was still waiting for an answer, she hoped she could shake off the girl if she simply shrugged. The only thing it did do, however, was earn her an irritated groan as she threw off her blanket, hopped into some slippers and put on her bath robe.
"Fine, if you will not answer me, I'll find my answers elsewhere." Ginny said, and with that she opened the door, being gone out of sight before Hermione could stop her.
Groaning, she slipped into her own slippers as well and hurried downstairs after Ginny, only to find her standing in the living room with her hands on her hips as she stared at the twins. "-wouldn't tell me, you two are going to have to spill the beans yourselves." Was all Hermione heard as she came in.
Fred shot a quick glance at Hermione, but she threateningly shook her head. Yes, she was debating on telling others, but she hadn't made up her mind yet, and nor had she discussed it with Fred. Until then, she refused for anyone else to know.
When Fred and Hermione remained silent, George was the one to speak up, a wicked glimmer in his eyes. "They can hear each other."
Well, if Ginny was expecting an answer, then this surely wasn't one of them. "W-what?" She spluttered, momentarily flabbergasted as she dropped her hands of her hips.
At this Fred slapped George on the back of his head, but George kept him at an arms-distance as he continued his story. "Yeah, last year we failed a prank, got their minds all connected, you know."
"George, I swear to Merlin, if you don't shu-" but Fred was cut short as George clapped a hand over his brothers mouth, escaping his reaching arms by standing up. "They can pretty much hear each other speak wherever they are." And then with a stretched out grin he added, "Quite kinky if you ask me."
Hermione hoped that when George made eye contact with her, he could feel the daggers that she was shooting through them. This was not his secret to spill. "Well, was nice chatting with y'all, but I think I just heard Mom call." And with that he shot out of the living room and escaped to the kitchen, even though they all knew that Mrs Weasley did not just call him out.
"I swear I'll off that little bugger." Fred grumbled under his breath, ready to storm after his twin brother, but Hermione took a sprint to stop him, knowing that this secret was not worth a quarrel between the two brothers. "Leave him," Hermione said, sighing in defeat as she looked at Ginny.
"I- I'm not sure as what to say." She confessed, but she didn't need to, because at that moment Ron came barging in through the living room. "Who the bloody hell is fighting this early in the morning?" He grumbled, his hair disarranged as he clearly just got out of bed.
Nobody said a thing, leaving Ron to take them all in: Ginny supporting herself against the back of the couch, looking curiously at Fred and Hermione. Hermione, on the other hand, was still grabbing onto Fred's arms, and Fred's chest was heaving with unshaken breaths.
"Okay, well, is anyone going to tell me what I missed?" Ron asked in confusion.
It was Ginny who spoke first. "Fred and Hermione just spilled their little secret." At this Fred snapped his head to his sister, "George did, in fact." He corrected her, but she just rolled her eyes in return.
Ron looked even more confused as she said that, but fixed his eyes upon Hermione. "What is she talking about, Hermione? What secret?" Hermione bit her lip, furrowing her eyebrows together in contemplation as she slowly released her grip on Fred.
"Due to a failed experiment of the twins, Fred and I can hear each other speak wherever we are." Hermione explained, although be it quite reluctantly. "It's been a year now." At the latter Ron's eyebrows shot up so far that she was almost convinced that they'd disappear in his hair.
Clearly at loss at words, he spluttered with some failed sentences, but was immediately shut up as Mr Weasley came in through the kitchen door, looking mildly surprised at the silence in the living room, even though it held so many people, but carried on regardless.
"We have a way to get Harry here," Arthur said, then cleared his throat before continuing. "The Dursleys are keeping him locked up, but tonight myself and some others from the Aurors are planning on heading there by broom. Retrieve him and get him safely to Grimmauld."
Nobody said a thing, but Hermione figured it was good to break the silence. "That's great news, Mr Weasley." Arthur nodded as he smiled. "Be good to Molly, all of you," He said, making a point of it to look at all of his children.
They each gave a small nod, and with that he left the room.
Wanting to avoid any further awkwardness, she herself made her way to the door. "I'm going to make myself decent." She said, and disappeared from the room before anyone else could say a word.
- x-
It had been a long day of avoiding all people, but luckily Molly had found a way to keep them separate. She wanted a thorough cleaning of the house before Harry would be coming, and so each of them had been put in separate rooms. Much to Hermione's relieve.
The only time they spoke again was when Hermione entered Ron's and Harry's room, wanting to have a word with Ron before Harry would come and find out as well.
Knocking on the door, she waited until she heard a "Come in" before entering. Looking sheepishly around, she found him hunched over a chair as he tried to clean behind it.
Looking up to see who it was, he quickly diverted his eyes as he saw it was her. "Look, Ron, I'm sorry you had to find out like that." At this Ron scoffed, giving up on the cleaning as he couldn't seem to reach the spot. "That I found out through Ginny, or that I even found out at all?"
Hermione frowned at his anger, but insisted on the conversation anyway. "Surely you can understand why I kept it hidden, can't you?" She asked, and finally got his attention as he threw his cleaning supplies on the ground.
"No, Hermione, I cannot. We're supposed to tell each other everything, aren't we? I thought that was what friends were for." Ron spat, barely able to look at her as his lips curled up in disgust.
Taken aback by his sudden outburst, she had to swallow her uprising anger before she could reply. Surely it wasn't this big of a deal. "I'm sorry that you feel hurt, but I was simply too embarrassed to share this. Besides, we were hoping to fix the problem before anyone even had to find out."
Ron let out a humourless laugh. "And you didn't think that after half a year you at least had to contemplate the fact that it was about time to share it anyway?"
"Don't pretend you and everyone else wouldn't have teased Merlin's beard out of us if we had done so." Hermione said accusingly, and got him to partially shut up. "Yeah, well, whatever."
Hermione huffed in anger, feeling that she did not deserve this kind of a response. Sure, she could understand why he felt hurt that he had been kept in the dark, but be this angry?
As if sent by the Heavens above, the door opened on just the right time, and there in came Harry, his hair ruffled from the wind. "Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, throwing herself into him without a second thought. She hoped that by expressing her enthusiasm that she could diminish the guilt she felt by having kept so many things hidden from him.
It did not help, however, as Harry began to interrogate them about why they had been shutting them out this Summer. It took a while to explain, but before they could even finish, he began with another question, which was why Ron and her were so tense around them.
Well, Ron was the first to agitatedly spill the beans, and right at that time Fred and George apparated into their rooms, scaring Harry.
"We thought we heard some commotion," Fred said, a grin on his face as he looked in satisfaction at Harry's shocked face. "Could hear it all the way from our rooms," George added, matching his brother's grin.
"Glad to see you two made it up." Hermione said bitterly as she looked accusingly at George. He simply shrugged as he gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry about spilling your secret, 'Mione. Couldn't help myself."
Hermione faked a smile, but did it so dramatically that he knew it was fake, which made him laugh in turn.
"Right, well, if you two are done fighting, I've got something that will actually be worth listening to." Fred said, holding up some disturbing looking ears hanging onto strings. Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and with an intrigued look from Hermione, they made their way to the hallway as they dropped it down to the kitchen door.
Well, the fun was over before it began as Crookshanks ate the ears, but they sure did get a bit of an interesting snippet of conversation, leaving Harry more contemplated before he came in.
"Look, I'm sorry my dumb witted brother told the rest without our permission." Fred said when the others had been called down for dinner. Hermione heaved a sigh, leaning against the railing as she looked Fred in the eye, observing how the lines around his mouth seemed to be engraved as if they always carried a smile.
"Oh, it's all right, I guess. They had to find out at some point." Hermione gave in, but then looked rather conflicted as she shot a look at the kitchen door downstairs. "I just hope it doesn't ensue in a big fight with Ron and Harry."
Fred grinned, closing the gap as he clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Surely they can't stay mad if they see how happy we are, can they?" Hermione squinted her eyes at him in curiosity. "What are you hinting at, Weasley?" Hermione taunted, earning her a smirk. "I think it's time to give them a good show again. You know, welcome Harry home." Fred said, and with a laugh he walked down the staircase.