A/N: I'm back! 2020 was a crazy, crazy year, huh? Updates will be sporadic from now on as I have my final assignment due (as if being out of university for over a year and working in my field wasn't enough!) but the story is definitely not abandoned. Thank god each chapter already has a draft/idea, otherwise I'd be lost!

I've re-read the story before I started working on this chapter. Since this story is aligned with the canon story wherever possible, I read the actual plot alongside writing this. After six months away I've realised that it's a tad confusing to read, especially since I don't like putting direct quotes from the book in, but…sometimes I guess they're needed. Forgive me for some confusing chapters, and I'll try to keep my own constructive critiscm in mind. Anything from the original series will be underlined

Their haul was good this year. Turning eighteen didn't have the same amount of flair in the wizarding world as he knew it did in the Muggle world, but they'd still done alright for themselves. Being a twin meant that many of Fred and George's possessions were shared, however their birthday was one of the few days where they were acknowledged as being two separate people.

The moment they had awoken on the first of April (the moment George started jumping on him yelling about presents, more like it) they had begun to rip into the substantial pile of gifts waiting at the foot of their beds. Tradition of years past meant they opened presents from parents first, then from siblings in order from eldest to youngest. From their parents, they'd each received a card with an attached drawstring bag with five Galleons inside, as well as the customary clothing a mother would always buy for their children.

Bill had sent each of them a book, and while Fred wasn't particularly interested in the gift before it was unwrapped, he felt a sense of gratitude towards his eldest brother once he'd read the title. George had simply grinned at Fred's copy of Goblins and Gold: How to Negotiate within Gringotts, while Fred nodded thoughtfully at George's copy of Money -Making for the Young Wizard and Witch. Two books that would help them get their brick and mortar store off the ground, and both under one hundred and fifty pages. Bill certainly knew them well.

Charlie had sent them the first twelve issues of the comics, Darius: Îmblânzitorul Dragonului, giving George the odd-numbered issues and Fred the even-numbered. A note was attached to each bundle of comics explaining that Bill had told him all about the twins' endeavours into their business and his expectation that they'd find a way to translate the most popular wizarding comic from Romania if they put their heads together. If not, the note had said, they'd have some pretty pictures of Darius: the Tamer of the Dragons to look at. George had laughed at the note and placed his set of comics to the growing pile around him.

Shocking to nobody, Percy hadn't sent a gift. No gift was better than anything he could've sent, anyway.

Ron and Ginny had apparently decided to team up on their presents to the twins, with both of them receiving a new set of Beater's gloves. While the irony of not being able to use them for their final year of schooling was not lost on either of the pair, Ginny's cheeky note of "protection for your hands in case anything (or anyone) needs to be Beaten outside of Quidditch!" made the pair smirk to each other. Fred would've bet to anyone else in the room that George was picturing the same lovely image as him - wearing a set of dashing new gloves as they stole their Beater's bats back from where they'd been locked up and using them on a toad-like creature.

Harry had been given explicit instruction by the twins themselves to never buy them a gift right after he'd donated his Triwizard Tournament earnings to them. In keeping up with his penchant for breaking rules, Harry had given each of them a Muggle book, with Fred's focusing on "foolproof" magic tricks and George's concentrating on the fine art of Muggle pranks. Fred flicked through the book quickly before finding an inscription from The-Boy-Who-Refused-To-Conk-It, stating "Dear Fred, here's a peek of the competition from the other side of Diagon Alley. From, Harry." Short, but to the point.

George looked at his twin from the middle of the present and wrapping paper heap he'd created in his excitement to open everything. "Is it just me, or did we get a lot more reading material this year than we usually get?"

"We should've never let anyone knew we could read," Fred said as he looked at the stack of reading materials he'd amassed next to him in a slightly neater pile than George's whirlwind of gifts. "I guess this is what happens to a bloke as he gets older".

"Right, all the fun stuff to celebrate turning seventeen and then you get to spend the rest of eternity with a book pressed to your nose." George joked as he began to Vanish bits of wrapping paper. "At least the books we got are useful, yeah?"

"Too right," Fred agreed as he looked over the book Bill had gotten them again. Even though they'd gotten the building in Diagon Alley for their business, it'd still be handy to have some tips about how to deal with the goblins at Gringotts in case they were ever in need of expanding whatever it is they were getting into.

"Oi, what's this one, Gred?" George asked, snapping Fred out of his reading.

George had pushed over a large box wrapped in unassuming gift wrap. The envelope on top simply stated "Fred and George" in unfamiliar but neat handwriting. Fred gestured for George to open the envelope, seeing as he was the one that actually spotted the box. With little grace, he opened the envelope and began to read out loud.

"Dear Fred and George;

Happy eighteenth birthday! I know we've never really exchanged gifts before, but seeing as it's your last year at Hogwarts I figured there was little harm in giving you something small. I appreciate that it may be frustrating to receive shared gifts being twins and all, but hopefully there's enough in the box to keep you both entertained until the end of the school year - and so that I won't have to dock House Points from my own house. I asked my Mum to go to the local Poundland (a cheap Muggle store that has heaps of different items) and spend my allowance on the most mundane and weirdest things she could find, so please forgive me if there's anything a bit too strange in there. Fingers crossed you can come up with some ideas for products based on what's in there. Enjoy!

Love;

Hermione.

P.S: I've included some of the glue Harry was talking about a few weeks ago. Please don't use it near me, I don't need the memories."

Fred laughed as he recalled Hermione's queasiness when telling everyone about the glue volcano. George grinned back, clearly remembering the same thing. "Shall we?"

"," said Fred, ripping the neat grey wrapping paper with abandon before using a Slicing Charm on the tape keeping the box shut. The box, which Fred guessed would fit around twelve of their Skiving Snackboxes, was filled to its brim with wonderfully Muggle products. Many of the items he had never seen or heard of before, but there were a couple of things he could only guess were the Muggle equivalent of wizard's inventions.

They spent the next five minutes pulling out each item one at a time and laughing at the things Muggles came up with without magic. Fred deemed the scented pens odd but appreciated not having to dip a quill in ink every sentence or spending an extra three sickles on a self-inking quill. George spent nearly a full minute scratching his head with what looked like a terrible wire Christmas Tree but was described on the box as a scalp massager. He couldn't fathom why Muggles would want jokes written on their toilet paper, however George was too busy slipping on socks designed (poorly) to look like a dog's paws on them to listen to his concerns. Fred reached for the Laughs Log as George slapped a novelty bandage on his forehead, writing down "branded bandages in dangerous packs" with a strawberry-scented pen. The Log was snatched out of his hand by George after picking up a packet of colourful straws bent in strange directions, but Fred was too busy examining something called a "Carry Cup" to care. Soon there were only fifteen minutes left to get breakfast before class. Knowing that Lee preferred to put on a grand show rather than giving them a physical gift, they quickly but carefully attempted to cram their gifts from Hermione back into the box before racing to put on their robes and rushing to the Great Hall.

Fred found himself standing in the Room of Requirement on the night of his eighteenth birthday, holding out his wand and calling out one of the hardest spells to master known to wizardkind. It wasn't that he didn't believe in himself enough to cast a Patronus, it just…wasn't working at that moment. Unfortunately for him, George was able to conjure small gusts of translucent blue magic out of his wand by calling Expecto Patronum, and while it wasn't enough to form a corporeal Patronus, it was enough for him and Lee to begin ribbing Fred with.

"C'mon mate, you've got to do better on your birthday!" Lee said from his stance a few metres away. "Just think about how early I had to be up to enchant all those candles!"

"Yeah, and you've been an ugly grouch all day," Fred retorted, feeling the mildest of frustrations that he wasn't matching George's skill. "I don't think missing three hours of your beauty sleep was necessarily for the best."

"Maybe I was making sure the birds would have their eyes on you two for a change, did you think about that?" Lee quipped before he chanted the Patronus charm again. A single puff of blue crept out from his wand, but by the state of Lee's grin, anyone would've thought a corporal Patronus was flying through the air.

The truth was, while Fred was as happy as he usually was, there was a persistent undercurrent of stress running through him. There had been since Christmas, truth be told. He was still being kept up at night thinking about whether he was doing the right thing by Granger and not telling her about the letter. That train of thought inevitably left him chugging down the tracks of any and all possible reactions a fifteen-year-old girl might have when finding out they had a magical Link to someone. It was a justifiable enough excuse for not producing a Patronus in his head, but unfortunately not able to explain to anyone except George.

He continued to practice his casting of the spell, recalling the joys of having their rental application for the shop accepted, their excitement for finding an antidote to the Puking Pastille that worked 100% of the time, and the prospect of being able to move out of the Burrow and beginning to live their own lives. Harry, Ron, and Hermione wandered around the room offering support and guidance to those who were struggling, and Fred found it amusing how Ron never seemed to make his way to the twins' corner of the room. Harry nodded darkly when Fred gave the barest excuse of "stressed", and he was glad that Harry's Quidditch-focused mind was able to connect its own dots. "Make sure you take breaks, even if it seems like it's not working. You don't want to overdo yourself."

"I'm surprised Potter can still cast a Patronus with the way this year is going," Lee stated as Harry wandered over to the next group. "Poor bloke's being attacked by Umbridge every chance she gets.

George snorted. "With the life that kid's had? I'm surprised he could cast one in the first place."

"Especially one powerful enough to do its job against a proper Dementor," Fred noted as he watched Harry assist Seamus in his first D.A meeting.

"Especially with Ickle Ronnikins as a best mate."

Fred looked at George with slightly furrowed brows. "You do realise that between him and our sister, they've probably spent most of their allowance from the past three months on our birthday gift today?"

"Who am I to resist the low hanging fruit?" George said with a smirk.

An unanticipated flash of joy felt like it was about to burst out of Fred's chest. Without a moment of hesitation in his voice, he called out "Expecto Patronum" in a fierce voice.

He nearly had to hold his wand in two hands to gain control of the magic coming out of it. Corporal wasn't the word he'd use for the Patronus, but there was definitely something coming out of the wand. George and Lee had dropped their wand hands down by that point and were gaping at Fred's apparent instant ability. Fred barely noticed, however, as he was watching the spell shoot only a metre from his wand before making a sudden ninety-degree turn to the right and heading - no, flying- towards the group of students there. Without warning, the trail of magic stopped erupting from Fred's wand and he dropped his hand instantly, enthralled by the magic that remained.

Fred, like every other student who could see the Patronus, was fixated on its erratic movement. Fred had never cast a Patronus before and had no idea how to control the damn thing, and considering his wand wasn't actually doing anything at the moment, staring was the only thing he could do. If he didn't know any better, he would've said it was heading towards something, but he hadn't directed it to, so why…

Oh, that's why.

Of course. He should have known.

Granger.

Hermione's face had broken out into a pleased smile as she watched her fully corporal Patronus dart and weave around her. He couldn't exactly tell what it was from his position across the room, but it was a small creature, definitely not as big as Harry's stag he'd demonstrated at the start of the class. Whatever it was, it sensed Fred's incorporeal mess heading towards it, but instead of darting away, it began to bound towards it. Fred barely looked away enough from the spectacle to gauge Hermione's reaction, but all he could see on her face was intense curiosity.

The two Patronuses followed each other in circles, with Fred's staying high enough to remain out of reach of Hermione's…otter, was it? Huh. The two continued to spiral up towards the roof, almost playfully, until Hermione's otter caught Fred's spell. The otter continued to dive around it in tight circles until it plunged through the cloudlike substance. Gasps were heard from many of the girls in the room (including Hermione, Fred couldn't help but notice), but the otter, now brighter than ever, continued to circle towards the top of the room.

Excited whispers sprang up throughout the room as the otter dived back down towards its owner as it weaved and bobbed through her legs and around her arms. Even more chatter descended upon the room as the otter headed towards Fred, mimicking its previous movements with Hermione just a moment ago.

Fred tried to take it in stride, he really did. Unfortunately, anxious thoughts about Hermione made themselves at home within his head as the otter began to swim lazy circles around Fred's chest. Luckily for him, the Patronus decided to head back to its rightful owner after a few laps around his body, but the dark thoughts (now including Ron, who was gawking at Fred like he'd grown an extra nose on his forehead).

Fred barely registered hearing the door open and shut quietly to his left. Instead, he watched as the otter rubbed up against Hermione, still shining as bright as it did when it collided with Fred's swirl of blue and white. Hermione muttered something to it before it circled her one last time and popped silently out of existence. Hermione smiled, pleased with her work, before turning to Ron and engaging him in conversation.

George nudged Fred in the ribs, pulling him away from his hope of having an Extendable Ear in his pocket to hear their conversation. "Isn't that Dobby? The strange house-elf from the kitchens?"

Fred followed George's line of sight to where Harry was standing. Sure enough, the house-elf covered in Hermione's knitted hats and socks was pulling on Harry's robes with urgency. "Hi, Dobby! What are you - what's wrong?"

"Harry Potter, sir…Harry Potter, sir… Dobby has come to warn you…but the house-elves have been warned not to tell…"

Fred's eyes darted between Lee and George. Lee was staring at the quirky elf but didn't have to strain to listen to the conversation. The entire D.A. was silent as they listened in. George looked towards Fred gravely, then recentered on Dobby as he ran into a wall, avoiding Harry's clutches. A pang of sympathy made him breathe in deep, but the subtle noise was lost in the gasps and small shrieks of girls unfamiliar with a house-elves form of self-punishment.

Thankfully, Dobby seemed unharmed due to his hats, and Fred wanted to throw a small smile Hermione's way but managed to keep it in.

"Who's "she", Dobby?" Harry asked, interrupting his thoughts on Hermione. Harry's face turned into a look of alarmed terror. "Umbridge?"

Dobby only nodded once before trying to inflict his self-punishment on Harry's knees.

"What about her? Dobby-she hasn't found out about this-about us-about the D.A?" Harry asked, panic rising with each word.

Noting that Harry's eyes were as wide as saucers behind his glasses, Fred was paralysed with dread as fear filled the room.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

George found Fred's eyes this time, but Fred was still too busy watching Dobby try to harm himself to move. Hermione might have a point with her S.P.E.W business if this was how they reacted.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed. "RUN!"

Lee, George, and Fred, all the closest to the door out of the group, managed to make it before the students caused a bottleneck at the only exit. George held the door open for Lee, who bolted down the corridor towards Gryffindor tower as if he was riding an invisible broom. George motioned for Fred to go but he refused. "We've got to make sure the young ones get out first."

George nodded swiftly as he held the door open against the strain of students trying to run to freedom. Fred, on the opposite side of George inside the doorway, helped Dennis Creevey back onto his feet after getting caught in the stampede and pushed him closer towards the exit. He was also able to help Neville get Luna off the floor quickly and get them out the door, leaving only Harry, Hermione, Ron, and George.

Without a word, Hermione and Ron ran out the door still held open by George. Harry quickly turned to make sure no student was left behind in their former safe space, then ran out the door as well. "Go anywhere, but don't get caught!" Harry shouted as the door to the room slammed closed behind them as the three of them dashed along the corridor.

"That's what we do best!" George called out, him and Fred already being several paces in front of the much shorter Harry.

The twins turned the corner at breakneck speed, and fortunately for them didn't crash into the suit of armour just at the corner of the hallway. They continued running down the long passageway, deciding together without speaking that the quicker they got to the Common Room, the better. Fred quickly checked behind him - both for danger and for Harry - but couldn't spot anyone.

They made it to the end of the corridor and ran down the flight of stairs as quickly as humanly possible without breaking their necks, dashing into the next corridor to get out of the open. Unfortunately, a Fourth Year Slytherin (that had given Ginny trouble at the start of her very first year) was standing in the middle of the passageway.

Thinking quickly, Fred reached into his back pocket without breaking stride. "I'm gonna throw it at him, George!"

"Do it! Now!" George said as he shielded his eyes. Fred lifted his fist into the air and took aim at the Fourth Year, who let out a most unmanly shriek of horror and darted into an alcove a few steps away. The twins continued to run past, ignoring the quivering boy.

Although his lungs felt like they were going to start a fire at any given moment, he couldn't help but laugh as he rounded the next corner, the one that would finally lead them to the Fat Lady's portrait. Fortunately for them, there were no more pesky Slytherin's waiting for runaway Gryffindors, so they managed to slip through the portrait after panting "Gibblerish" and sending a breathless wink to the Fat Lady.

Ron was standing next to the couches near the fireplace, staring at the door while gasping for breath with his hands on his knees. Hermione and Ginny didn't look too much better, both collapsed onto the same couch and red in the face as they tried to regain control of their lungs. George, quickly noting all the comfortable seating was taken, slid down the nearest wall and sat with his head bent and legs sticking out in a V shape.

"Every…one…back?" Fred painfully asked, noting that the pain was increasing now that he'd stopped running. The castle was simply too large to go sprinting through when being chased by Death Eater wannabes.

"Harry…" Ron managed to squeeze out between gasps for air. "and Neville."

"Nev was with…Luna…" Ginny added, not bothering to turn from her place on the couch to face her brothers. "Making sure she got back safely."

Hermione had the common decency to pop her head out from behind the couch before addressing the twins. "Weren't you with Harry?"

"Nah…got separated…early on -"

"- boy's got tiny legs -"

"absolute…stick -" Fred said before collapsing next to his brother on the floor. Riding a broom and distance running worked very different muscles, believe it or not.

"If he's not back in ten minutes I'm going to look for him," Ron stated bravely, regaining enough breath to finally stand up without support.

Fred saw the top of Ginny's head shake against the back of the couch. "Don't… be an idiot. We need…players on the Quidditch team."

"That's my girl!" Fred called out in agreement at the same time Hermione glared at Ginny.

"Quidditch or not -" Hermione stated, glaring at Fred before looking back to Ron and Ginny, "I'm not letting you wander around the castle looking for him. If he's caught, then…we deal with it."

Fred's heart felt like it went for a small dive at Hermione's pause. Harry couldn't get caught, not with Umbridge. Wasn't the kid's life messed up enough already?"

"Well if you're not going to let me go," Ron said, dropping into an armchair vacated by a second year, "I'm going to wait for him down here."

Hermione nodded sharply in agreement and rearranged herself on the couch. Ginny shuffled over, tucking her knees under her and staring at the fire.

The clock tip-toed its way from nine o'clock to ten o'clock, and Fred half-believed it must've been hit with a weak stunning spell at the way it was moving so slowly. Lee had come down to check on the twins, who had moved to the other double sofa surrounding the fireplace and had decided to go upstairs and get a kip in with the promise that Fred and George would wake him to tell him the news.

Ginny had started to drift off against the back of the couch by 10:15, and Fred couldn't blame her. Trying to cast a Patronus was hard enough for an adult, but for a Fourth Year? He would've taken on a bet to say it was impossible if he didn't know of Harry's little adventures back in his third year. George had gone upstairs into their dormitory for a moment, returning with both his and Fred's worn hand-knit blankets their mum had made them years ago. Carefully draping his own over Ginny to prevent waking her up, he then offered Fred's to Hermione. With a weak smile she accepted the offer and draped it across her crossed legs as she sat on the couch, continuing to turn and look at the Portrait Hole any time there was a noise.

It was the one time Hermione didn't turn her head to a nose that the Portrait Hole admitted Harry in, ironically enough.

"Harry!" Ron all but bellowed as he ran towards his best mate. Fred, George, and Hermione all stood and turned to face him, with Hermione darting over and throwing her arms around him before checking him over for signs of injury. Ginny woke up and threw George's blanket off of her to join the twins standing to the side of the couches.

"Oh, Harry, where have you been? We've been worried sick!" Hermione fretted as Harry walked towards the couch, obviously exhausted.

He collapsed into the maroon armchair vacated by Ron, taking a deep breath before staring into the fire. "Dumbledore's gone."

"Gone?" scoffed Ron, sitting next to Harry in Hermione's old spot. Ginny returned to her seat and wrapped herself back up in the discarded blanket, all traces of tiredness gone from her eyes. Fred and George returned to their couch, while Hermione sat next to Ron on the floor, and if Fred were to move his leg just slightly to the left, he would've grazed her back with his knee. Not that he had a reason to do that, no Sir.

"Gone," Harry repeated in the same monotone voice. "Told me to listen to Sna- him, and to keep up with what I've been trying to do all year."

Obviously Potter had something going on that he and George weren't privy to, but that didn't explain where or why Dumbledore had gone.

"But where has Dumbledore gone?" asked Ginny. There we go, thought Fred.

"And maybe start from the beginning?" Hermione suggested quietly from her place on the floor. She'd covered herself with Fred's blanket again, and he felt (for no good reason) incredibly pleased with himself.

Harry heaved a great sigh, as if in disbelief that the day could get any longer. "Malfoy caught me a few seconds after Fred and George rounded the corner when we left the Room -"

"He did?" George asked in surprise. "We didn't see him."

Harry snorted, but there was no humour to be found on his features. "He probably Disillusioned himself knowing he couldn't take on both of you at once," Fred smirked at that, but Harry continued.

"He Jinxed me and I tripped, and then Umbridge was dragging me to Dumbledore's office. Fudge was there, too, and Kingsley. McGonagall looked furious, oh..." Harry paused awkwardly, looking at each of the Weasleys briefly. "Percy was there too."

"Fucking git," Fred muttered under his breath with Ron and George nodding their agreement.

Harry then explained how Fudge had tried to weasel information about the night's meeting out of him, along with Harry's own stubborn refusal to give any solid evidence. When he'd reached the part about Marietta Edgecombe being led in by The Umbitch and revealing sickly-looking purple pustules all over her face, Fred's whoop of triumph and excitement that mingled in with his siblings' own celebrations was promptly cut off by feeling Hermione go rigid against his leg. George, who was the only one who'd noticed Fred's abrupt end to the celebration, glanced in the direction he was looking at and smirked with glee.

"Oh, Miss Granger! What did you do?!"

Tendrils of guilt began to curl around Fred's upper chest as Hermione lent forward and dropped her head into her hands, cutting off contact between their two bodies. He didn't feel a shred of guilt for the Edgecombe girl being so blatantly declared a sneak, but…

Well, he didn't exactly know what he felt guilty about. A realisation began to slowly dawn on him -

"I didn't…it, it - the parchment did it!" Hermione exclaimed as she dug her head even further into her hands.

Ron looked confused. "What parchment?"

Harry clarified to Ron, "The Defense Association list. Parkinson ran in and grabbed it after we'd left, Umbridge had it."

"Hermione Granger, you cheeky bint," Ginny said as she looked to her friend with awe written all over her expression. "That parchment we signed in the pub, you didn't tell us it was enchanted!"

"I didn't want everyone to know!" Hermione wailed into her hands, her voice muffled by the angle she was pointing her head at. "I didn't actually think that someone would betray our group!"

"Nevermind that," Ron said, absently patting Hermione on the back. "So, Fudge kicked Dumbledore out?".

Harry eventually got through the rest of the night's tale, including how Edgecombe was placed under a Memory charm by Kingsley and then Dumbledore's subsequent "confession". The poor bloke barely made it through to the end of the story before emotional exhaustion took over his features. Fred felt a pang of sympathy for the kid.

They all sat around the dying fire in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. There was no noise between the group, only the distant crackling of the fire and muffled footsteps on the girl's dormitory staircase, yet no one emerged. Dumbledore was gone, no doubt to be replaced by Umbridge. Percy the Useless Twat was still incapacitated by the stiff broom-handle shoved up his arse many months ago, and there was little hope that the D.A would be able to hold another meeting.

It was almost enough to make a man abandon his tenacious hold on his schooling altogether.

Ron was the first to break the silence. "So, Hermione. The parchment. How in Merlin's buggered wand did you manage to do that?"

"Technically, it wasn't the parchment, not really," Hermione said slowly, tensing as she continued to look into the fire as the Weasley children (and adoptee Harry) looked towards her for answers. "It was the quill. I Charmed it to reveal if anyone had dobbed us in but…"

"In for a Knut, in for a Galleon, hey Granger?" George laughed as Hermione's head fell back into her hands in shame. While the Weasley brood laughed and Harry let a narrow smirk slip, Fred instead elbowed George none too kindly in the ribs, effectively cutting off his laughter. George winced and looked to his twin in confusion, but Fred nodded in Hermione's obviously distressed direction. After a quick glance at the rest of the group, Fred noted that only Ginny had seen the off-exchange and quickly reverted his gaze to the fireplace rather than on Hermione's hunched shoulders.

"Oh, chin up, Hermione - she knew what she was getting into," Ron said as he looked down towards his best friend.

Hermione shook her head slowly, as if not moving or looking up meant that the situation couldn't get any worse. "I didn't exactly spell out what would happen if anyone revealed the D.A though, did I?"

Ginny snorted. "Marietta is a big girl, Hermione. She went to the Hog's Head knowing it was about a secret defence group - of course there'd be repercussions for not keeping it secret. A slap on the wrist won't do it."

"Plus," George added, and Fred wanted to slap a hand over his mouth before he made the problem worse, "No one in their right mind will second guess you again now, will they?"

A small whimper escaped from the girl on the floor and Fred found it oddly charming that she cared so much about a girl she barely knew. "That wasn't the intention behind it, though!'

"So?" Harry said, a glint of passion reflected in his eyes. "She deserved it for all the hell she's put us through! She made Dumbledore leave Hogwarts, Hermione. What if one of the younger kids got hauled up into Dumbledore's office? We've been outed in a second!"

"Still no excuse for being an absolute twat of a -"

"Ron, enough," Fred started, allowing his control of the conversation to lessen the claws of guilt currently digging into his lungs. "Hermione, Ginny is right. Edgecombe decided to come to the Hogs Head that day. She decided to listen to you and Harry, she decided to sign the parchment -"

Hermione had turned her body slightly so she could interrupt. "She only came because of Cho!"

"Okay, she came because of Cho to the Hogs Head. She probably only signed it because of Cho. But do you really believe that she came to every single meeting you organised for Cho, or because she wanted to learn to defend herself? She's a Ravenclaw, so I'm sure if Harry lesson's were such a waste of her time she wouldn't have come; hell, she probably wouldn't have kept her D.A Galleon on her to find out when they were!" Hermione looked less like she was about to cry and more like she wanted an argument to get her point across, but he persevered.

"There's no way a Ravenclaw would let themselves be dragged around for nearly half a school year without getting something out of it themselves, so she obviously wanted to be there. Yes, she was probably persuaded by outside forces - to an extent - "Fred added hastily as Hermione opened her mouth to retaliate, "but there are probably quite a few D.A members that could've dobbed us in to get in Umbridge's good books or save their family's reputation. But she was the only one in six months who admitted to anything, so it's fair to say she deserved what she got."

Hermione took her time to mull over his words. It didn't stop her from training her narrowed eyes onto his, though. Nor did it make her move her arm away from where it was now brushing against his leg in multiple places. Fred found himself unable to look away from the dark hazelnut coloured eyes watching his every move. The temptation to look at his siblings for guidance was damn near tangible, but he fought the urge.

The grip of guilt that had claimed his lungs started to ease in sync with Hermione's deep breath in. His realisation from before started to come back to him as he watched her eyes slowly return to their naturally wide shape, but his thoughts were interrupted again.

"When you phrase it like that…I guess it doesn't seem as bad," Hermione said quietly, twisting herself back into her previous position and again staring into the fire.

"How long will the pustules last?" George asked.

Hermione again turned around, looking at Fred for a split second before scrunching her face slightly, considering the question. "A few days, maybe? A week? I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will have an antidote anyway, so…"

"Well I damn well hope they scar her permanently," Ginny said with a huff.

"They won't!" Hermione exclaimed loudly, and to Fred the noise sounded oddly piercing in the quiet of Common Room. As all eyes returned to her again, she repeated herself much quieter. "They won't, I made sure of it. As Harry said, if Colin or Dennis was blackmailed or tricked into revealing the D.A, it would be terrible for them to have a lifelong reminder of a mistake they made at thirteen or fourteen years old."

"You're starting to sound like Fred, Granger," George said with a wink. While it was true that Fred would often have the more outlandish or crazier ideas for jokes or tricks, George could rarely throw a question about safety at him that he couldn't answer within thirty seconds. A good prankster always had limits to the effect their antics would have on the "victim's" body, soul, magic, and mind. If he or George couldn't come up with a justification for something they wanted to create, they wouldn't create it - simple as that.

Unfortunately, Hermione seemed to take George's astute observation as a personal insult. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means," George replied somewhat warily of the upset witch in front of him, "that we need to think about the lasting effects of our products, too. Can you imagine the strife we'd be in if a kid permanently hurt themselves with something they'd ordered from us?"

"Shop closed before it even opens -"

"- Howlers flying in on the hour every hour -"

" - every parent this side of the country trying to wring our necks!" Fred finished with a dramatic flourish. Hermione's eyes darted between the twins during the interaction, but whatever she was looking for mustn't have appeared. A deep sigh erupted from her petite frame and her shoulders slumped yet (to Fred, at least) she didn't seem quite as guilty about her actions as before. Good.

He flashed her a genuine smile from his seat on the sofa, and his heart damn near stopped beating in his chest when she sent a tentative raise of her own lips back near immediately. The once roaring fire was halfway through its descent into embers, and the softly flickering flames made her irises shine with an array of browns and flecks of honey golds. A feeling of peace eased its way through his bloodstream as Hermione turned back to face the fire, replacing that pesky feeling of guilt that never felt like it was his to begin with. The urge to reach out and play with the loose strands of hair emerging from her two thick braids was startlingly strong, but he admonished the thought before his hands could react. George would have a fucking field day if he could hear these stupid thoughts.

"What, so that's it?" asked Ron incredulously, looking between Fred and Hermione in shock.

Fred was genuinely confused. "What's it?"

Ron flung his arm out and gestured between the two of them with his large hand, like a Quidditch player indicating a foul to a referee.

"No argument, no yelling? How come he gets off scot-free?!"

Fred vaguely heard Ginny mutter something about "Ronald" and "idiotic git", but was too focused on Hermione's reaction to his youngest brother. She'd whipped around so fast that her braids smacked her cheek lightly, but the anger rolling off of her probably stopped her from feeling any stinging pain from it.

"Scot-free?" Hermione asked, dangerously close to yelling at her best friend and waking up the sleeping Gryffindors in their dormitories. "What do you mean, scot-free?"

"If I'd said any of that shite you'd be jumping down my neck!" Ron shouted back, clearly having listened to everything Fred had said to Hermione and developing a chip on his shoulder because of it. "But he didn't get an earful from you, did he? What's that all about?"

"He had some good points, whereas you often blubber out the first thing that comes to your head without thinking!" Hermione cried out, sleepers apparently be damned.

Ron's face finally matched the brilliant shade of red the tips of his ears had turned. If Fred didn't know any better, he'd say that Ron had been out playing Quidditch all day in Australia without a Sun Protecting charm. Recognising that he'd never be able to win the argument with Hermione, Ron directed his anger to Fred. "How come you're being so nice to her recently?"

"Because she's best mates with my two youngest siblings?" Fred answered without hesitation. Thank Merlin that he'd been kept awake by the blasted Letter of Notice to have that answer prepared for the inevitable questioning arrived.

"And we've always been polite to Granger," George stated simply. "Sure, she does mess with our pranks and mischief a bit, but she's a Prefect. You, on the other hand, are her best friend and you've started yelling at her -"

"- for no reason at all -" Fred interjected.

" - and you claim to be one of her best mates." George shrugged his shoulders and looked at Ron glumly, as if he doubted the fact that Hermione and Ron were friends.

"You three aren't even friends!"

Hermione stood then, and Fred's blanket fell from her lap in a heap as her hands clenched into fists. "You have absolutely no right to decide who I am or am not friends with, Ronald Weasley. I don't know what's gotten into you at the moment, but I for one am glad that these two could listen to my problems and help me feel a bit better about them."

Ginny reached out to tug Ron back down to the couch, but he shrugged her feeble grasp off of him as he too stood. "I bet they're just trying to get something out of you, Hermione. Maybe they want to test on first years again? Or maybe they just want to use the enchantment on the quill to make another product?"

Hermione stared at Ron, and although Fred couldn't see her face, he could tell by watching the movements of her body that she was close to tears. Her hands unclenched from her side as her shoulders fell, and her voice sounded far from her own as she stood. "I give up for today. Harry, thank you for the productive lesson tonight. Ginny, thanks for tripping up that Slytherin in the hallway for me. Fred, George, thank you for making sure the younger students got out safely. Goodnight."

Her eyes didn't meet his as she handed Fred back his blanket before heading up the stairs to her dormitory. He stared at the handcrafted item for a moment, desperately (and unsuccessfully) attempting to work out if she knew it was his or simply handed it back to the wrong twin in her haste to escape his stupid youngest brother. He glared angrily at Ron for ruining a perfectly good moment between them, secrecy be damned for the moment. Fred stood from the couch as Ron glared back, clearly still unimpressed by their recent developing friendship.

"I didn't know you liked the taste of your own toes, Ronald." George leered as he stood at the same time as Fred.

"Fucking…what?!" Ron spluttered.

"Well, from how far you've shoved your own foot in your mouth in a matter of seconds, it's gotta be for the taste, right? No other bloody reason for you to say something so utterly stupid when she was starting to feel better!"

Ron attempted to stammer out a reply to his brother's quick wit, but whether or not something understandable came out Fred would never know, as he was already halfway up the stairs to his dormitory.

As he lay in bed that night he could feel a strange mixture of embarrassment, light-heartedness, anger, and…well, satisfaction? It was an odd, swirling mess of emotions that he couldn't necessarily link back to the nights' events. Well, not his own version of events.

The door slamming behind George as he joined his twin in the dormitory made Fred jump out of his thoughts, effectively spooking away the realisation that had been nagging him at the back of his mind throughout the night. He threw back the covers of his bed to give George some privacy while getting changed into his pyjamas and reminisced on the day it had been. Presents galore, boring classes, a show of hundreds of coloured candle flames and party hats that only stopped singing Happy Birthday when worn from Lee over breakfast, disastrous D.A meeting, and Hermione looking near irresistible in the light of the dying fire.

Overall? Not actually his worst birthday.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! I'm also half-looking for a beta if anyone is interested?