A.N.: Thank you, Multilingualism, for betaing another chapter.

Chapter 28: The confession

The girl was a genius, Fred thought as he wrote the first line using Umbridge's Blood Quill. The red writing appeared on the paper in front of him, as it appeared on the back of his hand, but Fred didn't feel a thing. But Hogwarts' dear High Inquisitor was watching him with her beady eyes glinting with anticipation and so he tried to not let the smugness show on his face. Instead, he pressed his lips together and hoped that she would interpret it as a gesture of being in pain before he wrote on. And with every finished sentence, his thoughts shifted back to Hermione – kind, brilliant Hermione Granger. God, how much he wanted her to be more than a friend. Why hadn't he found the time going through Sirius' books by now? There had been time after he had finished the analysis of their knowledge on the Open Link for Dumbledore and what had they done with it? They had used it for selling joke items. Not that it wasn't a good cause too, but right now he wished he had set his priorities differently so that he could just run to Hermione, swoop her into his arms and snog her until she no longer knew her own name. But who said he couldn't? He was pretty hopeful that Hermione still felt the same about him. Fred wasn't an idiot after all and he prided himself to be able to read witches pretty well. And his antennas told him that Hermione was interested in him – in them – and wasn't that incentive enough? He wasn't sure, but with every new sentence he wrote, the idea of just kissing her seemed more and more tempting. And through their twin bond he sensed that George felt pretty much the same.

ssssssss

"I love brewing with you," Hermione confessed after they bottled the last bit of their potion. It had taken them until almost midnight to finish their batch of Severus' healing potion but now they had 13 little phials full of it and Hermione could proudly say that she had learned to brew a new potion – one that couldn't be found in any book. "Well, at least when we're alone in your lab. Not so much in class though."

Severus snorted. "No? Can't imagine why."

Hermione giggled. A few weeks ago it would have seemed impossible to her, that Professor Snape would make a joke in her presence. But here they were, giggling together like there weren't almost 20 years between them in age and they had been friends for ages. Sometimes fate took strange paths.

"And you're sure I can keep two more bottles?" she asked after they finally had calmed down.

Her friend nodded with a smile. "I now have more than enough of them. Well, at least until Umbridge decides to make using Blood Quills her preferred punishment. And I wouldn't put that past her."

"The woman is evil," Hermione agreed with a serious nod. "Not like him, but there's something lurking behind this façade of fluff and pink which makes my skin crawl. She's the last person I would have ever told my secret."

Severus' mouth twitched. "Yeah, instead you told me. I bet I have much the same effect on most of the other students."

"You're not evil," Hermione replied with a shake of her head.

"I'm not good either, Hermione," Severus warned her and sought out her eyes. "Don't romanticise me as a tragic hero or something. I'm a very selfish man."

"…that is trying to survive in a very impossible situation," Hermione added to his words. "No one can fault you for that, least of all me. Before long I'll be trying to do much of the same thing."

Severus nodded with knowing eyes. "That, you will. And it's possible people will hate you for that."

"Not you," Hermione said with a small smile. "You'll understand."

"I will, Hermione because I've done it all." He sent her a humourless grin. "Which is why I was such a lonely bastard before you stumbled into my life."

sssssssss

It was after midnight when Hermione stumbled back into the common room. She had disillusioned herself for her way back through the castle again, but now that the portrait of the Fat Lady swung in place behind her, she cancelled the spell and prepared herself to finally stumble into her bed. But it wasn't to be, as suddenly two redheads rose from the sofa by the fireplace and looked at her with a wide smile.

Hermione looked at them in surprise. Had they been waiting for her?

"There you are," George said and in five strides he was right in front of her. "We started wondering if we may have missed you."

"That sounds like you've been waiting up for me," Hermione said with an uncertain smile. "Which is lovely, but totally unnecessary as Professor Snape only has me brewing potions and scrubbing cauldrons for him."

They looked at her with shining eyes. Fred said: "We weren't waiting for you, because we were worried. Georgie and I want to thank you."

"The potions worked then?" she asked with a happy smile. With a grin, they showed her their hands. The skin there was unblemished and smooth and one wouldn't have been able to tell that some hours ago deep red marks covered it. "We didn't feel a thing," George answered with a smile and his brother, who was standing at his side, nodded.

"Maybe you could show us, how to make those potions? Then we could make some more, for tomorrow, you know? There's enough of the numbing one, but the healing potion is gone now." Fred said and looked down at her with a hopeful expression.

Hermione smiled and reached into her robe. For her, it was never a question that she would give Severus' potion to the twins again. "Maybe I can teach you one day. But for now, I have those." She opened her hand and showed the boys the two vials inside. "They're my last ones. So please, try not to get in any more trouble."

For a moment both of them stared at the potions with unblinking eyes, before they silently turned to each other. It was like there was again a silent conversation going on between them because a moment later Fred nodded and turned back to her. With a quick motion, he took the phials out of her hand and handed them over to his twin, before his hands suddenly cupped her cheeks and his lips connected with hers a second later. And then Fred Weasely was kissing her, while his hands held her face and his thumbs caressed her cheeks. His lips were soft and warm and she could feel a bit of stubble on his chin that rasped over her skin. She didn't care though as it felt simply glorious to her. Before she knew what she was doing, she opened her mouth for him with a happy sigh. Fred smiled against her mouth, brushing his tongue against the seam of her lips but pulling back a moment later. Before Hermione could mouth a complaint though, his brother was suddenly in front of her. George looked at her with kind, brown eyes and a happy smile, but she only had a moment to register it, as his lips were on hers a second later. His hands didn't find their way to her cheeks and instead buried themselves into her hair. There his fingers carefully played with her curls, while his lips kissed her mouth over and over again until her lips tingled and were red and swollen. Only then he pulled back and looked at her with a dazed and happy expression.

"Please be our girlfriend, Hermione," he said and sought out her eyes.

A moment later Fred was right at his side, standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother and continued: "We still want you, Hermione and we realized that we don't mind sharing you. We just want to be with you and we don't care how unusual this arrangement might sound to others."

George nodded. "You're brilliant and kind and brave and so much more… and I know we agreed to just be friends, but Merlin that's not what I want. So would you… could you give us a try?"

Hermione stared at them with wide eyes and a heavily beating heart. And just now, when her endorphin-induced daze cleared, she realized what they had just done and what they were asking of her. They wanted her to try being with them, to see if it worked but there was no trying for her without the risk of exposure. And then there was the small fact of her needing a permanent linking partner sooner or later, one linking partner, not two. Which led her to the same answer she had given them a few weeks ago during their date in Hogsmeade. "I can't," she finally said in a silent voice and closed her eyes, to not see their faces. Because she could only imagine how hurt they would be when she first kissed them back only to reject them a moment later. "I wish I could boys, really, but I can't."

None of them said a word at first and Hermione was just about to ask herself, if they had a silent conversation again, when she suddenly felt a pair of hands on her cheeks again. "You're not making any sense, love," George said and when she finally opened her eyes she saw that he stared at her with confused, sad eyes. "We're not asking for a definite answer or a long-term commitment. We just want to try out if this…" he motioned between the three of them "could work for us. We could even keep it secret for now, if you're afraid the others will judge you."

With his words, he was breaking her heart in tiny little pieces and he didn't even realize what he was doing. It wasn't that she didn't want a long-term commitment, more that she really needed one and there wasn't any room for experimenting for her. But how could she ever explain that to them without giving her secret away? It was impossible and totally unfair, for all of them. Because no matter what she said to get out of this impossible situation, she'd hurt them and probably lose them as a consequence. Was that how Severus had become such a grumpy and closed off man? He too had lied to protect his many secrets and keep himself alive and lost all his friends and loved ones as a consequence. And she realized that she'd have to do the same.

Hermione sighed and before she realized what happened, she could feel the first tear escape her eyes. Before she could stop it, it ran down her cheeks where Fred caught it with his thumb and wiped it away. He looked at her with concerned eyes. "What is it, love? Why can't you be with us?" he asked and touched her forehead with his. "Just tell us. Remember? George and I won't judge, whatever it is."

She swallowed heavily and for a moment she considered just pulling away and fleeing to her dorm, but then she realized that she couldn't do it – any of it. She couldn't lie to them, couldn't lose them, even if that meant to go against everything her mind and Severus were telling her.

Hermione closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. She would most likely regret this decision one day, but right now she didn't care. She needed them, if not as lovers then at least as friends. With a quick nod, she came to a decision and pulled out her wand. A quick succession of privacy spells flew from her lips and she could see Fred and George stare at her in surprise and confusion.

"What's… Hermione… what are you doing?" George asked her and looked around. But when she looked at Fred she could see a flicker of understanding in his eyes. She nodded towards him with a sad smile.

"I need your magical oath that you will not repeat this conversation to anyone," she said and stared at them with a serious expression.

George blinked at her in surprise. "You need an oath? Why?"

She didn't need to answer, because Fred gripped his brother's arm and said: "She's the Link, Georgie. That's why she needs an oath, isn't that right, love?"

Hermione pressed her lips together, looked at them with a pained expression and nodded. "Yeah, it's me. I… you can't tell anyone, please. I need you to swear it."

Fred nodded with an understanding smile and a moment later George followed his example with a grim expression. "Of course," he finally said and pulled out his wand.

He and Fred spoke their oaths without hesitation and their words, which they spoke together, bounced back from the wards she had set up around them. Hermione took in and weighed every one of their words and when they were finished, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was probably still a mistake to have them know, but at the same time, it felt good to finally have them on her side.

"So you're the Open Link," George repeated and studied her face with a serious expression. "Does anyone except us know?"

Hermione shook her head. She hated lying to them but she could only imagine what Severus would say if she let them in on the other part of her secret. "No. And I don't intend to tell anyone, not even Harry and Ron. And I probably shouldn't have told you either."

Fred sighed. "That's why you obliviated your parents, isn't it?" he asked and gently took her hands into his. "Merlin, how long are you already carrying this weight alone?"

"A while," Hermione replied vaguely and looked at both of them. "Which is fine, really, but I didn't want to lie to you. I just … couldn't. But I hope now you'll understand that there is no try and error for me. I can't just casually date, let alone two guys. I need to find one person to connect myself to, permanently. And even though I have no idea who that should be or how to go about it without having to fear that I am just dated because of my condition…"

At that, George pulled her into his arms. "Oh Merlin, Hermione… I don't know what to say, or how to help you."

She smiled sadly. "That's alright. Just… don't make this situation any more difficult, will you? Being friends is all we can be, no matter how much we wished things could be different. So please, no more kisses that let my knees go weak and make this even more painful than it already is, okay?"

For a moment they looked like they wanted to protest, but after a moment of hesitation, George sighed and nodded. But Fred stepped in front of her with a determined expression on his face. He said: "Alright Hermione, we will talk of this no more just…" with that he pulled her close and into another kiss. This one felt more desperate and messy and it made her heart ache in a very different way than the kisses before. When he pulled away a moment later and stormed out of the room, Hermione realized why: this last kiss was Fred's goodbye.

"So friends, huh?" George said awkwardly and buried his hands into the pockets of his robes.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, friends. It's not what we want, but it's all we have," she said with a resigned sigh.

Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms. "It's alright love, you'll be alright. I'm sure there's a lovely young man out there that just waits to be found by you. And as long as you're still looking for him, Fred and I will protect you. Will you let us do this?"

She looked at him in confusion. "Protect me? How?"

"In any way that is required and if it's just by driving away unwanted suitors, totally unselfishly of course," George said and even though his eyes twinkled Hermione could tell, that he was deadly serious.

sssssss

„It's her, of course, it's her," Fred murmured as soon as he and George crawled in bed together. "We've been idiots to not realize it sooner."

George nodded with a dark expression. "Yeah, suddenly everything fits into the picture. I mean, she took on Snape during a Potions lesson and earned herself a week of detention, which is so unlike her. But her feelings must be running wild at the moment which makes it hard for her to control them."

"Yeah," Fred mumbled and turned to his brother. "Merlin, this sucks. Because there's no way we could ignore this or discuss it away. She can't help what she is or what she needs – and that's not us right now."

George shook his head with an eye roll. "And that's where you're wrong, Freddy. Of course, she needs us, just not the way we want her to. The girl needs every help she can get if she wants to survive the war. Everyone is out to find her right now and I don't want to know what the toad is planning to do next. How long do you think she will manage on her own?"

"Dunno," his brother shrugged and George could tell that his twin had problems to get over his wounded feelings. "She did alright so far. And there's not much we can do for her right now anyway."

George sighed. "We can be there for her if she needs somebody to talk to. And we can try to protect her when the time comes because when you ask me it's only a matter of weeks or months until shit comes knocking on her door."

Fred buried his face in his hands with a heavy sigh. "Yeah. But still, can you imagine seeing her with somebody else? I just can't… not when I'm feeling like this, Georgie. Don't tell me it wouldn't be the same for you…"

"I'd hate it, this much is sure. But the day will come and then we'll need to be ready. I don't know how we'll manage to do that but going out with someone else probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Not to start something serious, but to finally get our minds off her. We'll have to make the first step to show her we've taken her plea to heart and are giving her some space," George whispered and turned on his back.

His brother snorted in disbelief. "You want us to go on a date? Seriously? Merlin, we just kissed the girl and I'm pretty sure she liked it. I say we lay low for a few weeks and then we can still go on a date if that's what you want. I for my part don't feel like dating at the moment."

George sighed. "Alright. But try to pull yourself together, Freddy. It's not her fault, you know?"

His brother hummed in agreeance and even though there was still a deep scowl on his face, George could feel that his twin knew he was right. It'd just take him some time to admit it.