Hey hey hey there! A new one, a little shorter than the last few, but we're getting through things! It's getting closer to the end of the year and I'll be away for a week around Christmas, so I'm hoping to just post a lot before and after! Hope you enjoy this speedy update.
As always, reviews are welcome, but I'd just like to let you all know that I do take them incredibly to heart, it's a lot to do with my personality and a little to do with my mental health. I dedicate many hours into the research and writing of this fanfic and if you have a negative comment that isn't explained or non-constructive, I take it very personally. I wasn't even sure I wanted to post this chapter or any more of this fic just due to a single review that made me feel as though perhaps this wasn't a good story and not worth it. I truly appreciate all forms of criticism, I just wish that people would explain themselves so I could better understand why. Thank you to those who post positive reviews, I genuinely do get incredibly happy when I see them come through. No need for you all to worry though, I'll continue as long as there are people enjoying this story and I'll try and get through the negativity.
Disclaimer: All is JKR's I do not profit.
Chapter Eleven: Projecting
The following day, Hermione awoke in Fred's bed in the flat, shimmying into a skater dress that she had spare in her bag and dancing around the room with a smile. She looked around at everything, running her hands across his clothes hung in the wardrobe, and picking up photos of his family on his bedside table. She fixed up the bed sheets and replaced the stasis charm over the room before she closed the door and breathed a contented sigh. George met her in the hallway and headed out to the living room with her, flooing to her house together. When she got through, she put the kettle on and flicked her wand towards her CD player, shimmying to the music as she grabbed out some eggs, bacon and fruit. George moved to help her with the tea and together they made breakfast. Once they sat down, Hermione grabbed the papers and unfolded them. She read the headlines of the Prophet, finding a glaring photo of Ron and Lavender making out on the cover and feeling herself transported back to fifth year, however unlike her fifth year, she found it didn't bother her as much as she thought it should have. The speculation in the article was that Ron had moved on so quickly because Hermione had been unfaithful, which she was unhappy about, but the slander that she was faced with didn't diminish her mood. Having the weight of her secret about Fred finally being revealed to George, along with her long talk with Fred the night before was enough to keep her spirits lifted. She passed the paper to George, who took one look at the cover and almost spat out his tea.
"Blimey Hermione! That's not something I want to see while I'm eating breakfast." George coughed out.
"Sorry, thought you'd like to read the latest news about my scandalous affair." Hermione replied while giving George a good whack on his back to clear his airways.
"Oh, you're having an affair now? Lovely. I thought the papers couldn't get any less credible." George replied, taking the newspaper and reading through the article.
"Guess we can't be seen together in public or they'll think you're my mystery lover." Hermione laughed.
"I'm sure Angie would have a field day with that one." George responded, throwing the paper to the side and laughing along with her.
Hermione sensed that Fred had read the article when she felt a sense of anger that didn't belong to her. Taking out their compatibility potion, she took a sip and offered some to George.
"Don't be mad, Fred. I'm completely not phased by anything the papers say about me anyway. I know the truth and it doesn't bother me." She said, turning to look at him and address him properly.
"Besides, today's not about Hermione's relationships, it's about experiments and explosions!" George continued.
Hermione shot him a look, "If you set off any explosions in this house, George Weasley, you are buying me dinner for a week."
"Might give the press the wrong idea." George winked at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Alright, while I tidy up, why don't you explain this brilliant plan of yours to me and we can see if we need to head out to grab ingredients or anything." Hermione suggested.
George's face lit up and he bounced in his chair, "So you told me that you created this mind space where you can talk to Fred and meet him, right?"
"Yes, it's a place where we're both able to meet and talk, but it only happens when I sleep." Hermione responded.
"I've been thinking of new products lately and thought this one might be able to potentially be modified." George continued, "You know our Daydream Charms? I wanted to create ones for couples or groups, where they could all experience the same daydream, or even better, enter someone's daydream."
"I see where you're going with this!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, "Also, brilliant idea on the extension of those daydream charms."
"Thanks," George grinned, "So basically, all we'd have to do is modify it so I can enter your mind while you sleep. Then maybe I'd be able to see Fred too."
"I wonder if you'll glow and float, or just me because I'd be a conduit." Hermione mused, "Also we'd better be incredibly careful with this. The space in my mind is only open because I've left myself open to the spirit world. I don't want you dying because of this."
"Don't worry, Mi. We're two incredible brains, we can figure this out together." George replied.
The two of them had a plan for the day, besides the idea of testing out how Fred could manipulate the bond with George around, they mainly wanted to focus on creating the product for George to dream walk. George returned to the shop to grab his journal and a few of their existing products as well as his prototypes of the multi-daydream charms.
"So, what we have to do is not create a dream, but still use the portion of this charm which allows another user to enter the dream." Hermione stated as she read over his notes.
A notepad and pen appeared next to her and she began to write down equations based upon the notes that George already had. Occasionally George would input a wand movement or rune here or there, but Hermione was more of an expert in the spirit realm and George didn't want this messed up.
"In the meantime, would you like to test your twin bond? You two have been in close proximity for a while but nothing seems too different." Hermione said without looking up, scribbling furiously.
Fred smiled wistfully at Hermione as she continued to research and formulate. Turning to George, he tried to concentrate on the twin bond. It was difficult, as he could barely discern the bond that he had with Hermione, let alone trying to find the twin bond as well.
George also had a look of concentration on his face, trying to remember how it felt years ago when he had his other half. He sat and tried to reach out with his magic, feeling the space between himself and Fred, feeling the occasional flicker of magic touching his own but nothing as strong as it used to be.
"Reach your magic out to me, Fred. Concentrate on only me and my magical signature." George suggested.
Fred concentrated, thinking only of George and closing his eyes to feel his magic reaching out to his brother. When he felt it, he was happily surprised.
"You found me!" George exclaimed, "You're happy!"
Hermione paused and looked up from her notes, "The fact that you can feel each other's' magic makes it only more solid in my mind that Fred isn't truly a spirit. Spirits don't have magic. The magic returns to the Earth when a witch or wizard dies. This only confirms to me that Fred isn't truly dead. I'm definitely going to have to discuss this with Domenico."
George looked stunned and hopeful for a moment before he shook his head and went back to the task at hand, "Okay, that obviously took a lot of effort, but before, when I felt your influence, not that I knew it was you at the time, it was a force that took me over, like a compulsion, and it was really strong. What triggered it?"
Fred thought for a moment. The only times he had projected his emotions to Hermione were when they were strong, perhaps it was the same with George but to a greater extent. The only strong emotions he had when he was with George was when he wanted Hermione to live. He was so scared for her, he wanted to take care of her himself. The intent must have forced itself through to the twin bond and made George take her to his bed. Fred knew what it was. It was easier to communicate with George when he had strong emotions about Hermione. He turned to his brother and pointed at the girl who had her head bowed again over her notes.
"I see." George smiled knowingly, "You really need to have a chat about that, you know."
Hermione looked up, having missed Fred's earlier gesture, asking, "What do we need to chat about?"
"Not my place to say, my dear Hermione." George patted her on the shoulder and then peered at her notes, "Done already?"
"Almost. I think I have a protection rune to put in but I'm not sure where it needs to go." Hermione replied, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.
"Here." George pointed to a place about a third down her work.
"Yes! Perfect!" Hermione grinned up at George.
"I know I am." George winked at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Are you sure you want to do this? I know you two would love to talk and see each other, but I'm worried that you'll be brushing with death." Hermione turned sombre and looked at George seriously.
"I'm sure Hermione." George nodded resolutely, "Besides, we're about 80% sure he's not really dead, right? I'm not really brushing with death then."
Hermione had expected his answer and reasoning, so she'd already taken the liberty to create a pair of the charms for them to test that night.
"I'm not tired enough to sleep now, and passing out or Dreamless Sleep Draught doesn't allow me to see him, so we're going to have to wait until tonight to experiment, if you're okay with that." Hermione explained.
"I'm sure I can wait an afternoon more to see my twin." George replied with a hopeful smile.
"Lunch?" Hermione asked as her stomach growled.
"There's a new place in Diagon that just opened up, we could head there if you'd like?" George suggested.
"Sounds perfect!" Hermione replied, grabbing a cardigan from her room and trying her hair up in a high ponytail as it seemed slightly windy, yet the sun was still shining nicely.
The two flooed to George's office and greeted the customers and staff as they headed out to lunch, walking the short distance down the alley to the new bistro. They entered and were greeted by the staff, opting to sit outside in the lovely summer weather, opening their menus to peruse and ordering some butterbeer while they looked.
"Ooh, they have beef bourguignon here, it's my favourite!" Hermione exclaimed happily.
"It's kind of funny." George began and shook his head, "Fred's favourite too."
"If it's good, maybe I'll bring him some for our spirit trip to the in-between room. If we can drink tea, I'm sure we can eat food too." Hermione mused and felt an elation in her heart that made her chuckle at Fred's enthusiasm towards food.
"I'm thinking of the coq au vin, it sounds delicious." George decided on, then waved the waitress over.
After their orders were taken, they lapsed into comfortable conversation. Hermione realised that, outside of Harry and Ginny, she hadn't really socialised much lately and to be out to lunch with a friend was lovely. She smiled to herself but was suddenly broken out of her reverie with a loud snap.
"Miss Granger, is this the man that you've been cheating on Ronald Weasley with?" A nosey reporter whom she assumed must have been the one writing the slanderous articles about her asked.
Hermione angered immediately and turned to the snooty reporter, "Ronald Weasley and I had a mutual breakup. We're both still friends and I wish him well with Lavender, they dated while we were in school and I'm unsurprised that they've reconnected now. I, however, have always been faithful towards him and will be single for the foreseeable future." Hermione paused for a breath, "I don't know where you got the ridiculous notion that I was cheating from, nor that I was the one that initiated the breakup. So no, this is not the man that I have been cheating with, this is Ron's brother, George, who I have been working with at his shop in my spare time."
"So you've hopped from one Weasley to the next then?" continued the reporter, completely ignoring Hermione's claims.
"I have a girlfriend, thank you very much, and it certainly isn't Hermione. She's practically my sister." George replied for her, equally annoyed.
"Whatever takes your fancy." The reporter shrugged with a disgusted look.
"I thought Ronald came to clear this all up yesterday. He told me he'd take care of it." Hermione questioned.
"We've only been in contact with one source so far, and they were more than willing to provide the sordid details of your horrible relationship, if that's what you can even call it." The reporter replied, clearly judging Hermione.
"I'd say two years of faithfulness to each other constitutes a relationship, the last time I checked." Hermione retorted, "But I will have a talk to Ron about this entire situation and he'll get it sorted, as you clearly have some sort of blatant disregard for the truth."
Just then, the waitress brought their lunches, awkwardly coughing to ask the reporter to move.
"I think you should leave ma'am. Our guests should be able to dine in peace here." The waitress addressed the reporter.
"Oh I've got everything I needed here, I'll leave. Ta-ta!" She waved with her fingers and sauntered off.
"Might want to warn Angie about tomorrow's article." Hermione grumbled.
"I'll let her know after this. I'll head back to the flat, maybe get in a bit of work. You should find Ron. It sounds like he has some explaining to do." George replied.
They looked down at their meals and both sets of eyes widened, mouths watering at the delicious looking food.
"Oh this looks amazing!" George exclaimed as Hermione tucked into a bite and moaned at the flavour.
"I'm so bringing you some of this, Fred." Hermione said quietly to her glowing companion.
Fred, for his part, was more hung up on the moan that escaped Hermione's lips before, wondering if he would be able to make her moan like that one day. Heat rose in his body and he felt overwhelmingly wanton of the girl he was in love with.
Hermione felt a strange warmth in her, as though she really wanted someone, needing someone. She turned to look at Fred but blushed and looked away immediately. As far as George could tell, Fred was in love with her too, so perhaps the feelings that she was getting from him were about her.
George rolled his eyes as he felt a small amount of residual love through his own bond and hoped that the two of them would finally confess their feelings soon.
After lunch, Hermione walked George back to his shop and left him on the floor, where she moved into the office and took the floo to the Ministry. Once here, she took the elevator up to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and walked through the cubicles, greeting almost everyone as she made her way towards Ron's desk. Harry pulled her aside first though, crushing her into a hug that told her he'd read the papers this morning.
"It's absolute rubbish if you ask me. The wizarding world needs a new, less corrupt paper, and perhaps to relegate things like this to the gossip columns." Harry mumbled.
"It doesn't faze me so much; except I was accosted at lunchtime with George and I'm almost certain tomorrow's article will be about my sordid love affair with the next Weasley on my tally." Hermione groaned.
"If this gets any more out of hand, or impacts you further, I'd say you should sue for slander. Theo Nott's a pretty good lawyer nowadays, I'm sure he'd take your case on." Harry replied shuffling around on his desk before he found Theo's card and handed it to Hermione.
"Ron at his desk?" Hermione asked, accepting the card.
"I think so. Head over there, at least he can't escape whatever conversation this ends up being. If you need me, you know where to find me." Harry replied.
Hermione strode confidently towards Ron's desk, rounding the corner to see Lavender straddling her ex-boyfriend in a way quite unbecoming of a lady. She coughed to announce herself and the pair looked up at her guiltily.
"Ron, Lavender." Hermione greeted through clenched teeth.
"Lav, you should probably get going anyway. I have to get back to work soon, my break's almost over." Ron said to his girlfriend who pouted back at him with sickening puppy dog eyes.
"I'll see you later though?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course." He replied and she launched herself at his mouth for a final kiss before she hopped up and straightened herself out.
"Told you we were destined." Lavender whispered harshly as she passed Hermione.
"Wait I thought you were…" Hermione turned, and Lavender winked with a cruel smirk on her face.
"You're here about the papers?" Ron asked as he withdrew his own copy of the Prophet, oblivious to what had just gone on between the girls.
"I definitely was, but now I'm not so sure." Hermione replied, anger sparking in her eyes.
"What do you mean, Mi?" Ron asked.
"How long have you been seeing Lavender, Ron? Or wait, should I call you David?" Hermione asked icily.
"I… No, I can explain." Ron pleaded, "The day after our fight I went to get a drink and she was there, and she listened to me. She told me that you didn't deserve me. You were obviously cheating on me and that even if you weren't, she said I deserved someone who put more time and effort into the relationship than you who forgot about me for your work. At the time, I was angry, I believed her. She kept buying me drinks, I don't even remember what they were, but the next day I woke up in her house. I was horrified, I didn't ever think I could cheat on you, but she told me what we'd done the night before. I didn't remember at all, but I believed her. I couldn't show my face to you or to Harry, I was so ashamed. I didn't know what to do, I just hid."
"And when you accused me and George of cheating, you just projected your own guilt onto us." Hermione seethed.
"I suppose so, yeah. I hoped that you were cheating too, so it didn't feel so wrong about what I'd done. I didn't want to be seen in public with Lavender while we were still dating, so I glamoured myself and she called me David that day when you met us." Ron paused, "I don't even know if I still like her, I think I might just still feel guilty."
Hermione sighed, "I think she's manipulating you, Ron. She's always wanted you, and she's finally got you by targeting you in a moment of weakness. Maybe you should get her memories of the night you can't remember. See if you really did sleep with her."
"You still care about me." Ron responded sadly, "I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have-"
"No, you certainly shouldn't have. Whether or not you slept with her that night, you continued to stay with her and have a relationship even while we were together. No matter how you put it, you cheated on me, Ron. You were always so loyal and I thought our trust was the strongest part of our relationship. You betrayed me." Hermione cut him off, "I'm honestly not as broken up about this as I feel I should be. I think our relationship was ending naturally anyway, but I wish we'd had that final conversation before you stooped so low as to seek comfort in Lavender."
"I know Hermione. I'm truly sorry. I'll make it up to you one day." Ron replied, knowing he was fully in the wrong here and understanding Hermione's frustrations.
"I'll still be over to Grimmauld. It'll take me a while to fully trust you again, but we're still friends, even though I'm not sure how long it will take me to forgive you." Hermione said, turning to leave. Before she took a step though, she looked back at Ron, "Oh, and tell Lavender to never contact me again. That conniving bitch is no friend of mine."
Ron looked taken aback, but after their conversation, he wasn't going to defend his current girlfriend. He knew she'd been the one spreading the lies about Hermione to the Daily Prophet and potentially manipulating him. He'd actually have to go the Prophet later on today, without being waylaid by Lavender this time. He couldn't stand seeing Hermione's name so sullied, knowing she didn't deserve it.
Hermione was exhausted by the time she got back to her house, putting a mini chicken roast and some potatoes into the oven, as well as steaming some broccoli on the stove. Once the broccoli was done, she let it sit and while the roast cooked, she took a quick shower. Dressed in fluffy pyjamas, she shuffled into her kitchen to take out her dinner. After serving herself some, she took a tray into the living room and opened her book, levitating it in front of her so she could read and eat. Suddenly the floo roared to life and George stepped through.
"Oh, I didn't expect you, George!" Hermione stated, looking down at her worn out pyjamas.
"Sorry, I thought it would be faster for me to come over here and let you know that Angie is perfectly understanding of tomorrow's Daily Prophet article, and to double check what time you normally sleep?" George replied with a smile.
"Angie is honestly such an understanding partner." Hermione commented, "Thank her for me."
"Of course. You'll see her on the weekend, I'm sure you two can catch up then." George responded.
"I'm quite tired tonight, I was thinking of eating my dinner, probably reading a little with some tea and then heading to bed. Maybe 10pm?" Hermione said, indicating her plate of food and book.
"Perfect, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't sleep before you." George nodded, "I'm a night owl, I'll probably sleep around midnight, maybe a little earlier but it depends how excited I get waiting in anticipation."
"It might not work, you know." Hermione reminded him.
"Hermione, you worked on it, and it was really only modifying something that already worked. I have no doubt it'll work." George beamed, fully optimistic.
"Alright, well in that case, I'll see you later tonight, and so will Fred." Hermione smiled up at him.
"I can't wait!" George replied, stepping back into the floo and leaving to his flat again.
Hermione smiled, looking over at her green invisible man, "I'm sure you're excited to be able to be with your brother."
"I am incredibly excited," Fred paused, "But honestly, I hope he doesn't come by every night. I enjoy our time alone together, and I think I might finally be ready to tell you how I feel about you."
Hermione tried to calm her emotions to get a read on what Fred was feeling, but there was a jumble of something she didn't quite understand, though excitement still shone through.
"I'll take that as a yes." Hermione grinned and continued her dinner and reading.
After her tea, she tucked herself into bed. She cast the charm over herself and stuck the paper with the runes above her on the headboard. She was exhausted after the emotional rollercoaster of the day and drifted to sleep easily.
"Welcome back, love." Fred smiled down at her as he pulled her into a long hug.
"It's always nice to see you." Hermione replied into his chest, breathing him in as she compared his scent to that of his bedroom last night.
"My bond to you is definitely stronger than my twin bond now." Fred explained as they walked to the couch, "It has to be incredibly intense emotions that he feels, similar to you, but the influence that I had over him was related to something specific."
"Oh, what would that-" Hermione began.
"Fred!" George exclaimed, tears streaming down his face as he started towards his twin, both of them meeting in a drawn-out hug in the middle of Hermione's living room. Fred cried too, as did Hermione who watched the scene from her position on the couch.
"You're here, it worked." Fred whispered, then added a little louder with a chuckle, "Of course it worked, my Hermione worked on it."
Hermione's heart stuttered at him calling her his Hermione but knew it wasn't the time for that conversation. Soon though, she vowed to tell him how she felt about him.
George didn't want to stop touching Fred and Fred refused to not sit next to Hermione, so Hermione enlarged her couch to accommodate the trio and they had a long night of catching up together. Hermione was touched by the concern that both twins showed each other, and the way they treated each other after not being together for so long. She cried for most of the night, with Fred brushing her tears away each time a fresh wave would appear. It was a happy night, full of reminiscing and tears of joy. Hermione was glad that she could share Fred with his twin, although she selfishly hoped that she'd have him all back to herself in the future.
Love as always to you all xx