A.N.: Hey guys, I couldn't help myself. I needed some more fluff and so this is what you're getting for the next chapter. But I hope you don't mind. ;-)

I hope you're all still healthy. To those who're isolated like me: I hope this chapter helps to entertain you for a little while. It's my greeting to all of you. We can do this, guys!

This chapter was betaed by the amazing multilingualism.

Chapter 22: Heart to heart

When Hermione awoke the next morning, she felt as well-rested as she hadn't felt in a long time. Ever since the discovery of Harry's connection to You-Know-Who her nights had been restless and full of worry and it only got worse since she discovered she was the Open Link herself. During the last days, when the knowledge of what would have to happen to her parents weighed on her conscience, she had barely slept at all and so it was no wonder that her body finally crashed and she slept for ten hours straight. But it wasn't until she felt somebody shift next to her in bed, that she realized this probably wasn't the only reason for her restful night. Because there were two more, very good and red-headed reasons in her bed, one of them currently spooning her from behind. She could feel his warm breath tickle her neck, as he exhaled in small puffs, which most likely meant that he was still asleep. But no matter how good it felt to be held like that, Hermione really needed the loo.

With a sigh, she started to wiggle downwards on the bed, because as she was surrounded by them from both sides, there was no other way for her to go. She didn't even manage 10 centimetres though before the arms around her tightened again and pulled her close with a sleepy grumble.

"Stay here; you're comfy," George mumbled from behind and a moment later she could feel his nose in her hair. " 'N you smell nice."

Hermione blinked in surprise. Did he really just say that? Well, he was probably still half asleep. But a moment later she realized that he probably wasn't, as one part of him was most definitely starting to wake up. And this part was currently pressed against her bum.

Hermione swallowed heavily. "George, please, I need the loo," she murmured embarrassedly and tried to wiggle away. It seemed to take a moment for him to get her message, but finally, he let go of her with a sigh and turned to his back. This gave her some more centimetres of space which were enough for her to push herself out of bed on the foot end. "Thanks," Hermione whispered before she padded towards the door on socked feet. Right, yesterday evening she hadn't even bothered to change into her sleepwear but now this gave her the bonus of not having to change right away. Because she really didn't feel like going through her clothes, especially her underwear, with the twins in her room.

Hermione took her time in the bathroom, but when she hoped that the twins would be gone from her bed when she returned to her room, she was disappointed. Both of them were wide awake though and looked at her with a matching grin while lying on their backs.

"Morning, love," Fred greeted her with his arms crossed behind his head. "Guess we weren't snoring too much for your pretty ears then, as we're still here." He winked at her.

She shrugged. "To be honest with you: I have no idea. I was pretty much dead to the world."

Fred grinned. "Sounds good. Do you feel better now? Or do you need another cuddle?" He opened his arms in invitation, but Hermione just stared at him with pink cheeks.

"No, I'm good, thanks," she said with an awkward smile. Merlin, if she allowed herself to rest in their arms again, then she would probably never let go of them again. Because just the thought of it made her heart start beating wildly in her chest.

"Alright," George said and stretched himself. Then he slipped his bare feet out of the bed and got up. Just now she realized that his red hair was totally tousled by sleep. He looked adorable and Hermione would have loved to just step in front of him and run her fingers through it. She'd probably make his bed-head worse but in her imagination, that willingly supplied her with the fitting images, George didn't care. But real George flicked his wand and his chequered pyjamas transformed into jeans and a green sweater, while his hair straightened itself. "We'll be going then," he said and looked at her with a sunny smile. "Fred? You coming?"

"Right behind you, twin 'o mine," Fred said and swung himself out of Hermione's bed. But instead of transfiguring his clothes, he stepped next to Hermione, put a hand on her shoulder and said: "Let us know if you want us to stay with you in the evening again. We're right next door, if you need us, alright?" His brown eyes sought out hers and when she didn't immediately reply, he leaned down and touched her forehead with his. "No false shyness or anything equally stupid. We're here for you, you hear me?"

She nodded awkwardly. "Alright, thank you. I'll let you know if I need a Weasley-cuddle again."

"Perfect," he said and after another moment he finally let go of her. When he and George left her room some moments later, she could still feel his touch on her forehead and she could swear that their scent still lingered in the room. Her heart definitely didn't feel like it would calm down anytime soon. But Hermione didn't care, because her feelings right now were worlds better than the heavy sadness she had felt mere hours ago.

ssssssss

"I loved holding her," George confessed towards his brother an hour later. Both of them had used the first chance to retreat to their favourite place, the roof garden, right after breakfast.

"Me, too," Fred admitted with a dark chuckle. "And I want to do it again. Merlin, does it make me a bad person to hope that she'll need us again?"

George didn't answer and just stared into the distance. "I can't believe she obliviated her parents. Merlin, she's the bravest girl I know."

"And she smells like coconut," Fred said with a dreamy sigh.

They were interrupted by a snort from behind and when Fred and George hastily turned around they could see Sirius standing in the door with a wide grin on his face. "Coconut, huh?" he said and stalked closer. "Where have the two of you been last night?"

George looked at him with a neutral expression. "In bed, obviously."

But the black-haired man only snorted in amusement. "That much is obvious. The question is: whose bed?"

Fred's mouth twitched. Nosy bastard. Didn't the man have anywhere else to be? Well, there probably wasn't that much excitement in Sirius Black's life at the moment and even though Grimmauld Place was a big house it must get small after spending months of time locked inside. "None of your business, mate. We're gentlemen which means our lips are sealed."

Sirius Black snorted. "Unfortunately for you I have a very good nose. But as I know for a fact that the two of you haven't left the house and next to your sister there's only one other woman your age around…" He looked at them with raised eyebrows.

George groaned inwardly. This really wasn't how he imagined his morning when he came up here with his brother. But apparently, they were in for the next inquisition. "What are you implying, Sirius?"

The man's lips twitched. "Nothing."

Fred nodded. "Good. Because we didn't do anything."

"But you wish you had," Sirius said with a knowing grin. "Don't look at me like that. It's quite obvious looking at the two of you."

George stared back at him in shock, but much to his dismay he didn't find the words for denying his feelings. Because Sirius was right. He looked at him with a sigh.

" 'S not like we could act on it. We both want her, which leaves us with quite a complicated situation," Fred said in his stead and turned around to look into the distance again. George followed his example and only a moment later their host stepped between them and did the same.

"Don't feel like sharing the girl, then?" he asked casually without looking at them. But his words were enough that the twin's heads turned towards him almost immediately, while they gaped at him with an open mouth. The man snorted. "What? You think I haven't done that, sharing a girl? I've done and seen it all guys and as long as it's with a person you like and respect there's nothing against it."

"Seriously?" Fred asked in disbelief. "But… is that even legal?"

Sirius studied them with an inclined head. "Are we talking about a one-time-thing or something more serious?" he asked and looked at them with raised brows.

Fred and George looked at each other for a moment, before George said: "If you're implying that we're just looking for a quick shag, then it's not just a one-time-thing."

"Nope," Fred added with a nod. "I'd shag this girl as often as she'd let me."

Sirius looked at them with a knowing grin. "Ah. So we're talking more down the line of your uncles Fabian and Gideon then. They shared a girlfriend as far as I know."

"They did?" both redheads asked in unison and looked at the man in front of them in disbelief.

"Yeah. I think her name was Jenny, or Jenna, or something like that. Beautiful, blonde bird with large… legs," Sirius said and grinned. "Your mum never told you about her? They were quite close, I think."

George sighed. "Obviously, there're a lot of things mum didn't tell us about. She doesn't talk about her brothers, at all. Which is quite a pity, as they seem to have led an interesting life."

Their host grinned. "Well, I can't tell you much about them, as we weren't close at the time, but there're lots of interesting books in the Black Library. I didn't read many of them, as I prefer a more practical approach, but somewhere there's definitely one about magical twin bonds and another one on bonding rituals in general. Maybe you should take a look."

"Can't hurt," Fred replied with a shrug. "Even though the theoretical possibility still might not help us very much. Because let's be honest: if we suggested it to her, she might simply take us for a bunch of perverts or something."

Sirius snorted. "Who knows? The girl might actually surprise you. She's a tough one, that much I can tell."

George nodded in agreement. Yeah, Hermione was tough, much tougher than even Sirius might have realized.

sssssss

Except for mealtimes George didn't see much of Hermione that day. It wasn't that he was directly looking for her, but when he entered one of the many rooms of Sirius Black's house he always hoped to find her. But he never did. It was like the girl was invisible or something, or could disillusion herself. Smart as Hermione was, she probably could, even though the spell was unfortunately not taught at school.

"Do you think she'll need us tonight?" George whispered to his brother when they made their way upstairs after dinner. Usually, they stayed with their family a bit longer, but as they hoped to see a certain witch again soon, they excused themselves and trotted to their shared room.

"Dunno. She looked fine enough during mealtimes, but also she did yesterday. And considering the girl just lost her parents…" Fred frowned. "I think she needs us, no matter if she seeks out our help or not. Sometimes the girl can be as stubborn as hell."

George sighed. "True. But I kind of like that about her, that and her hair."

"So? What do we do if she doesn't ask us for help after she goes to her room?" Fred asked, but didn't wait for his brother's answer though. "I say we check on her anyway. If she's fine we can still leave, right?"

"Absolutely. But I hope we won't have to. Because I definitely want to hold her again. Does that make me a bad person, Freddy?"

His brother grinned. "No, just a bed-person. And that's not a bad thing at all."

ssssssss

Hermione spent as much time with Harry, the Weasleys and Sirius as possible. She dreaded going back to her room, as it would mean being surrounded by silence again. And that would be the point, when reality caught up with her again, which she wanted to postpone as long as possible. Still, it was like somebody was watching her. Her neck had started to constantly prickle over the day and it was the worst when she was surrounded by the others in the evening. Harry and Ron chatted almost nonstop over some Quidditch strategies which was probably due to the fact that Harry would be allowed to resume his position as Quidditch seeker soon. It wasn't them, Hermione thought, but somebody was watching her. She just didn't know who and why.

"I'm going to bed," she finally announced when she couldn't bear the feeling any longer. When she looked at the others all of them just nodded in understanding or wished her good night, but when she looked at Sirius it was like there was a strange flicker in his eyes that she couldn't place. But then the man winked at her and she nodded towards him with an awkward smile, before she left the room. She really needed to stop being this paranoid. He was probably just happy to have some company over the holidays. Or did he know something? No, she had only told the twins what happened to her parents and she trusted them not to tell her secret. So she was probably just seeing ghosts.

Should she go to the twins and ask them to spend the night with her again? They had offered her some cuddles after all. But should she accept them if she was trying to get over her crush on them? Not that she did a very good job with that anyway. After last night she realized that she wanted them just as much as she had before.

Hermione sighed. She really shouldn't call on them tonight. It would make getting over them so much harder in the future.

With another sigh, she changed into her pyjamas. But just as she was about to turn off the lights, there was a soft knock at her door.

"Come in," she said and a moment later two freckled, smiling redheads tiptoed into her room. Both of them were already in their pyjamas too and looked at her with wide eyes and a wide Weasley-twin-grin.

"Thought we'd check on you," Fred explained and stepped closer. "Just in case you were uncomfortable knocking on our room or something."

She nodded with a thankful smile. "That's very thoughtful of you."

Both of them smiled.

"So?" George finally asked and looked at her with a small smile. "Need a Weasley-cuddle again?"

Hermione sighed. She really shouldn't, today she was feeling better after all. But god, she wanted to be held by them again. "I errr…. Alright," she finally said and both of them looked at her with a wide, happy grin.

"Brilliant!" George said and stepped to her bed. There he transfigured her blanket into a huge, fluffy one and held it up for her. "After you," he said with a grin. And Hermione looked at him with a happy smile. She really shouldn't get used to their company too much, she told herself as she slipped below the covers. But then George crawled into bed right after her and pulled her into his arms like it was the most natural thing on earth.

"That okay?" he asked silently and looked down at her with large, kind eyes.

"Yeah," Hermione admitted with a happy sigh and leaned her head against his chest. That was when she felt the mattress dip, as Fred crawled into bed behind her. It was only a moment before his arms closed around her from behind and he leaned against her. And it felt glorious. " 's nice," she mumbled just as she saw the lights darken in the room. It was right in time, as she felt her cheeks heat up again.

"Good, because we intend to come here every night until we have to go back to the castle," George murmured into her hair. "We want to help you through this, Hermione, even if it is just through giving you some comfort while falling asleep. Will you let us do this for you?"

God, yes, she thought before her doubts had time to resurface again. Just this once she wanted to enjoy her life again, consequences be damned. Because who knew how many happy nights and days there were left for any of them. "Alright, yeah," she finally said and immediately she felt two sets of arms tighten around her. And she could have sworn that she felt George smile into her hair, but that was probably just her overactive imagination.