A/N: Hello! This story has been planned out over the New Year and I am very excited to be able to finally share it with the world. Hopefully this concept - while definitely thought of before - has enough of its own unique story to capture and captivates interest. It is a Fred/Hermione story beginning just before Harry Potter's 5th year at Hogwarts, meaning Fred and George are still at Hogwarts for now. According to my drafts this will be just over 50 chapters long and its completely planned out. Who knows if it will stay that way, though!
"But we read this last night!" a young voice cried out in the candlelight.
"Only half!" another voice called over the quiet hushing.
"Ron, you chose to read The Beetle and the Bardfive nights ago and we read it until we finished all the stories. Ginny chose The Link Between Gnomeslast night and we only got halfway though, so it's only fair that we finish it, isn't it?"
The young boy groaned and threw his bed covers over his head. "The book sucks, Mum! Gnomes don't even love, they just bite you!"
"Nuh-uh!" the little girl in the bed across the room cried loudly. "These gnomes love each other, don't they Mummy!"
"They do, Ginny, they do. Don't let Ronald tease you like that - if he doesn't want to listen, he can go straight to sleep."
"But I'm not tired!" Ron whined. "How come Fred and George get to stay up late and I don't?"
"Fred and George are going straight to bed once you two are asleep, Ronald. They're nine years old anyway, they can stay up a little bit later. Once you're nine, you can stay up late too."
"No fair!"
"Then roll over and go to sleep if you don't want to listen!"
Ron rolled over to face the wall and closed his eyes tightly. What a dumb story anyway. He was right, he knew it. Gnomes don't love each other, they just stole your vegetables and ruin the garden with holes? But now he was stuck wasting his night listening to the dumb story Ginny loved so much, about two gnomes that hadto love each other because their gnome magic was Linked. How silly could Ginny be? Didn't she know that only wizards and witches had Linked magic? He'd listened to Charlie when he'd explained it to her after he caught her looking for a wishbone marking on her wrist one night, so she had to know. He'd told her that only witches and wizards that decided to finish combining their Linked magic through a Bonding ceremony had the silly looking bracelet thing stuck on them forever.
He did think that the rest of Charlie's explanation sounded pretty cool, though, and Charlie didn't even need to read it from a book, he just knew it from people talking at Hogwarts! He said they'd told him that people that were Bonded could do special tricks that normal witches and wizards couldn't do, like fly without a broom or know where the other person was without being told - they could just feel it. He nearly turned around to ask his Mum if Fred and George were Bonded because they alwaysknew where the other one was and they could both talk like they knew what the other one would say next, but he stopped himself. His mum was reading the gross part about the gnomes kissing. Honestly, how girly!
He hated sharing a room with Ginny, it was awful. He wished he had his own room so Mum would read whatever story he wanted each night, and then he wouldn't have to have silly pink walls and fluffy toys everywhere. He wouldn't have to hear about how the gnomes spent the rest of their lives fixing gardens instead of ruining them and helping witches and wizards keep their house clean. What a load of rubbish.
He woke as he rolled over into a more comfortable position. He opened his eyes groggily to see who was whispering in his room and saw the outline of his mum stroking Ginny's hair. He closed his eyes again and listened to their conversation as he tried to fall back asleep.
"Is it really real, Mummy?"
"Is what real, dear?"
"All that special magic - Charlie said it was."
"Yes, dear, it is real, but I don't think Gnomes can be Bonded."
"Can witches really fly?"
"Fly? Well, I'm not sure about flying, but I've heard that they can feel the other person's feelings even when they're far away, and they love each other forever and ever."
Ginny let out a huge yawn. "Are you and Daddy Bonded?"
Their Mum let out a quiet giggle. "No, dear, we're not Bonded. We just love each other very, very much."
"When are you going to get Bonded?"
"We cant, my sweet. We never got a special letter to say we can."
"Like the…the…the gnomes did?" Ginny said, stuttering as she yawned again.
"Like the gnomes did, yes." their Mum said. "I think it's time for you to sleep now, dear."
"Mkay" Ginny said, and Ron heard her nestle deeper into her covers. "Will I be Linked?"
"I don't think so, Ginny. Only a few people ever get a Link, and even less people choose to Bond."
"Mmm…kay" Ginny said with a final sigh, and their Mum stood up after placing a gentle kiss on her head. She walked over to Ron's bed, satisfied that he was asleep. She gave him a soft kiss to his temple and pulled his covers around him snugly. "I love you both so much" she whispered, and left the room with barely a sound. With a sigh, Ron drifted back to sleep.
