A.N.: This chapter was kindly betaed by Multilingualism. Thank you, my friend!

Chapter 12: The perfect solution

„Well Freddy, how do we want to do this?" George asked his twin while they were readying themselves for their trip to Hogsmead. The weekend was finally there and as Hermione had to be back for her detentions with Snape in time, she had agreed to already meet them at 10 to start their trip to the village early. "Should we split up and divide the time with Hermione equally between us? Or should we just go all together?"

It was the question that had been in his head for days but George had to realize, that he himself simply couldn't find an answer to it.

"Good question, Georgie," Fred answered while he pulled one of their mum's knitted jumpers over his head. The brothers didn't mind wearing them at all, even though Ron always pulled a face when he received another one. But George always saw how much time their mum invested in making them and when one had six other siblings, then each minute his mum invested in him was a special gift. And so he wore his sweaters with pride, as did Fred. "I think the question is, what we want from this date. Do we just want her to get to know us better? Or do we hope for a snog or a cuddle?"

George snorted. "Oh, I really wouldn't mind a good snog. The question is if we wouldn't scare Hermione away if we attempted something like that today."

Fred hummed in agreeance. "Yeah, she's been kind of skittish around us, hasn't she? It's like she's about to bolt from the room any second, but then she never does."

George combed his hair with his hands and nodded. "Yeah. We're probably a bit much for her. So what do we do? Should we just test the waters and give her some more time to get to know us?"

His brother shrugged. "Couldn't hurt, I guess. And it's not like we're in a hurry, right? Luckily the rest of the school are idiots that can't see what they are missing out."

He chuckled. "Good for us, I guess. Well then, in this case, I suppose we can as well stay together. Didn't feel like going without you anyway."

Fred answered him with a clap on the back. "Awwww Georgie, one day you'll have to get used to leaving me alone with a girl, at least from time to time." He winked at him.

"Yeah right," George replied with a snort. "The day you'll marry will be the darkest day of my life, brother mine. But this day is not today." With that, he gave his brother a slight shove towards the door. "And now out with you. I'm almost sure there's a pretty girl waiting for you."

"And for you, brother," Fred replied with a wide grin. "And for you."

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Hermione didn't feel like going out at all. The week had been a brutal one and with brewing Harry's potion, spending an afternoon in Dumbledore's office and having detention with Snape every evening from there on, there hadn't been much time left for her homework. And Hermione's fingers and brain itched to get started with this, but of course, she had to keep the promise she had given George and Fred, even if it meant that she would have to do a nightshift if he wanted to be able to finish everything until Monday.

Fred and George had agreed to meet her in the entrance hall and much to her surprise both of them were already there and waited for her with a wide smile.

"Hello, Hermione," George greeted her casually while he kept his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. "I'm glad you could make it. I'm sure you're awfully busy with all those detentions but you also look like you really need a break."

Hermione nodded wistfully and halted in front of them. "Yeah, I'm so much behind in my homework. I'll probably have to do some of it tonight after I finished my detention, but that's alright. I can survive with a little less sleep for a while." She smiled weakly at them.

"We'll worry about your homework later, Hermione. Come, let's go, then we'll have the village almost to ourselves." Fred offered her his hand and wiggled his fingers in invitation. A moment later George did the same on her other side and smiled encouragingly. For a moment she just stared at them and she could already feel her heartbeat speed up with something that felt like panic, but finally, she forced herself to take a calming breath and took the offered hands into hers. And promptly she was awarded a happy smile and an encouraging squeeze of her hand from her redheads.

"Alright, you two, where do we want to go first?" Fred asked and started walking. Hermione easily fell into step with him and it was just a moment before the fresh autumn breeze welcomed her outside.

"I don't know, boys. It was your idea to drag me along," Hermione replied with a shrug. "As long as I can stock up on some writing materials and look through the bookstore I'm alright."

Fred snorted before he looked at her with twinkling eyes and a smile. "Don't worry. We'll go there first and afterwards Georgie and I need to make a quick stop at Zonko's. But don't worry Hermione, it will only be a few minutes."

She laughed. "You really don't need to stress yourself. If I was with Harry and Ron I'd at least spent half an hour in there. And I really don't mind…"

"We know you don't," George assured her and stroked the knuckles of her hand with his thumb. "But today is about having fun and fun we'll have. Fred and I are so-called experts in that area."

"Which means that you are in capable hands," Fred finished for him and grinned. Hermione blushed. Why did her mind convert almost everything they said into something else? She knew what they meant, so why did she suddenly have to think about them and their hands in a totally different context? Fred could bury them into her hair and play with her curls while he… no, stop… she really needed to focus.

"I never doubted your talent for having fun, boys, quite the contrary actually," Hermione hastily replied and smiled.

"Don't tell us you're afraid of having too much fun," Fred grinned just as they had reached the small footpath, which would lead them down to the village. "Because there isn't such a thing as too much fun." Hermione smiled. She always enjoyed the view she had from this spot, but especially today. Autumn was already in full swing by now and so the sun painted the forest around them in vibrant yellow, orange and red. It was beautiful! And suddenly she was happy that the twins had forced her to go outside today, even though she would probably regret that decision later.

"If you say so," she finally said to Fred with a little smile.

"Absolutely," he replied, let go of her hand and put his arm around her back instead. "And George and I are going to prove it to you today. You'll see."

Not even an hour later the three of them were finished with all the errands they had to run in the village. The twins had made quick work at Zonko's and only purchased a few items each, which totally surprised her. But when she asked them after it, they just smiled and said that they preferred using their own products by now and that the things they purchased were only meant for research. Hermione could already imagine how those two would retreat into their little secret lab and do just that. And for a moment she wanted nothing more than being at her side and doing just that. But of course, the thought was ridiculous. Why should she do such a thing? She didn't even like pranking people. But the emotion was there, she could almost see herself at their side tinkering with one of their products when she closed her eyes, and the thought of doing so warmed her chest and made her heart beat with happiness. She could only blame the crush she had developed on the twins for it.

"What's next?" she asked in the hope to distract herself from those thoughts. George's hand was back in hers before she knew it and he pulled her towards the border of the village with a promising smile.

"I'd say we eat something. I don't know how it's for you Hermione, but I'm starving," he said and his brother grinned with a nod.

She slowed her steps in confusion. "But shouldn't we head in this direction, then? I told you I'm not setting a foot into Madam Puddifoots with the two of you…"

Fred grinned. "Then it's good that this is not where we are going. George and I thought something a bit more private might be better."

Hermione blushed, of course she did. She should have gotten used to her overactive imagination by now, but obviously, that was just a hopeless wish. "What's wrong with the Three Broomsticks?" she asked hastily and realized that her voice sounded a bit high and funny while doing so. The twins didn't seem to mind though and instead just looked at her with a happy smile.

"Nothing in particular. But usually, it's full and noisy at this time of the day and I at least feel like I'd prefer a chance to rest and talk for a bit," George answered and pulled her around a corner and past Madam Puddifoot's. Suddenly they were in a part of the village Hermione hadn't been to before. Somewhere to her left was the Hog's Head, a dingy, dirty pub that Hermione and her friends had always avoided and then, a few minutes of walking further, they suddenly left the last houses of the village behind them.

"Errr, boys? Are we even allowed to be here?" she asked them and slowed her steps down uneasily. But the redheads didn't seem worried in the least and just grinned at her.

"Don't worry Mione, we're still in Hogsmeade and it's just around this corner," Fred promised and pulled her closer against him. Somehow his arm was now permanently draped around her back and after a while, Hermione had slowly gotten used to the feeling and started to enjoy this show of affection. And so she let him pull her with him, even though the nervous flutter was back in her chest. But it was forgotten, when they followed the little footpath around a corner and a little meadow that was surrounded with beautiful autumn trees appeared ahead of them.

"That's beautiful," she said and stared at the spot in awe. "Do you… is this where we're going?"

"Yupp," Fred confirmed with a grin and a wave of his wand later a large blanket appeared in front of them in the grass. "Sit down, love. You look like you could use a little break."

He didn't need to tell her twice. It was only a moment until she let herself fall on the back and stared into the sky with a happy sigh. There were only a few clouds and even though temperatures had slowly started to drop it was a brilliant, sunny day. Almost perfect for a…

"Did you guys really bring a picnic basket?" she asked with wide eyes, as she saw the two of them unpack several sandwiches, butterbeer and fruits in front of her. "How?"

"The Hogwarts house-elves have a soft spot for us and with the help of some shrinking and stasis charms, it wasn't a big deal at all," Fred replied with a shrug before he pulled a plate of biscuits out of the basket that had somehow appeared to her left. And somehow this plate of biscuits and the look on Fred's face as he placed it next to her just made her realize that for them, this really was some sort of date.

Hermione panicked and hastily pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Why did you two invite me on a date?" she asked and fixed the plate with biscuits with her eyes like they could provide the answer instead. "I… I mean I do have an idea why just… what do you expect me to do? It's… you're two and obviously…" she gesticulated wildly through the air, as the right words simply refused to come. But Hermione hoped Fred and George would be able to understand her anyway.

It was George who caught one of her hands first and grabbed them with both of his hands. "We don't expect anything from you today, Hermione. There's really no reason for you to panic right now," he assured her and looked at her with warm, brown eyes. Fred suddenly appeared next to him sitting on his legs and stared at her with a reassuring smile on his lips.

"Yeah. We know that only one of us can have you if you'll even agree to that, but don't worry Hermione. It's fine, we talked about it. We told you we don't fight and we meant it."

George nodded. "Today is just about getting to know each other a bit better and who knows? Maybe you won't like any of us at the end of the day and we'll just continue being friends or whatever…"

Hermione stared at them in disbelief. For a moment the panic that had started taking hold of her, was totally forgotten as her mind comprehended, what they were just saying. "But you both want to … date me? In the end, you want me to decide, right?"

They nodded eagerly and somehow Hermione had to close her eyes to keep her emotions in check.

"It doesn't need to be today Hermione or even next month. You can take as much time as you need," Fred assured her calmly. "I know it's not easy to…"

But he didn't get any further, because suddenly the words just wanted out. "To what? Tell you apart? Don't be ridiculous, you know I can always tell who's who. I know you two are different, that's totally not the point."

She slowly opened her eyes, as she felt a hand on her chin and she saw that Fred had taken hold of it to tilt it up. Then he stared at her with an intensity that made her heart beat in her throat. "Then what is the point, Hermione? Just tell us, love."

Hermione stared at him for a long moment, but no matter how hard she thought, there was no easy or not embarrassing way of saying this. "I do like you already, both of you. I know it's ridiculous and I'm not sure how it happened but the fact is, I could never decide, I don't want to. But of course, I know that I can't have you both. It's not fair to you and most likely not even legal."

Fred and George looked at her with a dumbstruck look in their faces and for a moment the three of them just stared at each other in silence. But finally, George started moving again and scratched his head with a sheepish look on his face. "Well, that isn't what I expected," he admitted and smiled.

"Yeah," Fred agreed with a disbelieving laugh. "I know we are both charming, but…"

Hermione couldn't help but silence him with a mild slap on his leg. "Oh stop it, Fred. It's really not funny, not for me. I'm kind of freaking out a bit, to be honest." She rubbed her face. "For me, this has been going on for weeks and I just couldn't make it stop and I know it's not normal but… arrrgh!"

"Alright, sorry," Fred apologized with a chastised voice. "I didn't know that it bothers you like this." He sighed and somehow this sound made her sadder than anything else could have.

"It's alright, sorry. I really didn't want to freak out in front of you. And I'm sorry if I kind of ruined the mood," she looked at the large assembly of food in front of them with a grimace. "I just thought that I really needed to clear things up, because leading both of you on like this just isn't fair."

They nodded solemnly.

"I guess not," George admitted and carefully took her hand. "So what shall we do? Toss a coin?" Hermione knew that he was probably trying to pull a joke to make her smile, but she really didn't feel like it at all at the moment. Instead, she sighed and gently pressed his hand.

"No, because this still would leave one of you hurt as he'd be forced to see the other two of us together. And I just don't want to do that." Hermione looked at them with pleading eyes.

"Then what?" Fred asked and looked at her with an expression that told her, he already knew what was coming next. Still, she took his right hand with her unoccupied one and looked at him with a sad smile.

"We forget about this," she said and it felt like her heart broke at her own words. Hopefully, theirs wasn't hurting as much as hers. "Let's just try to be friends instead, Okay? I know it's not what you wanted but there's really nothing else we can do."

For a moment they didn't answer but Hermione could have sworn that there was some sort of silent communication going on between them. She waited in patience while her eyes drifted back and forth between them and she took in all of the details of their faces because it was probably the last chance for her to do so. There was a freckle behind Fred's left ear that she hadn't noticed until now and George's hair just started to curl ever so slightly in his neck, now that he started wearing it longer.

"I can't believe we've just been turned down, Georgie," Fred finally said with a humoured smile on his lips. "But I guess there's always a first time." He grinned at her before he pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace. When he let go of her again a moment later, George stared at her with warm, brown eyes.

"You're not losing us over this, Hermione. But I guess you're right. Every other path would just bring sorrow and heartbreak, for at least one of us. And I must confess that it makes me like you even more, that you're refusing to do that to us. Freddie 's got a tender heart, even though he'd never admit it."

It only took a moment, before Fred delivered a friendly punch on his arm as an answer. "Oh, stop it, brother. We don't want our Hermione to get a false impression of us." With that, he winked at her before he positioned himself more casually on the blanket and offered her the plate with biscuits with a grin.

"Take one, Hermione. Because I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

She blinked at him in confusion. "You… want to continue the picnic? You're not mad or something?"

But Fred just looked at her with a boyish smile in his eyes. "Nope. We're still friends and that's great, isn't it? And as friends, we are going to have a picnic now. We promised that you'd enjoy that day, right? So take one and then let's relax."

George nodded encouragingly and snatched himself a sandwich before he lied down next to her and started to eat. "Sounds like a brilliant idea, brother."

Hermione looked at them for a moment longer, before she finally shook her head with a smile of disbelief. It really looked like they were okay with her suggestion to just be friends. She should feel relieved now, shouldn't she? So why didn't she? Stopping this nonsense, before one of them got hurt, really was the best idea, because otherwise there would only be more heartbreak and pain in front of them. So why didn't she feel relieved that they had finally come clear? She could move on now and these ridiculous feelings could finally come to an end, which was a good thing right? But it totally didn't feel like it.

"Yeah, absolutely brilliant," Hermione finally agreed and took a biscuit for herself. She guessed she'd just have to get used to this new relationship with them. Because being friends was a good thing, it was, in fact, the perfect solution, her heart just needed to realize that, too.

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A.N.: I know you don't like this. But think about it. They're all so young and the won't simply start a triad. If they really go that way, then they all need a bit more tie to realize, that this is what they want.