Chapter 70
It hasn't even been an hour yet, Hermione thought, glancing at Harry's wrist and reading the time off his watch. How can that be right?
It certainly felt like the four of them had been back in Gryffindor Tower longer than an hour. In fact, it felt like they'd been sitting in the common room half the night. And yet despite the way it felt, time hadn't really progressed to a point where it could be measured in hours yet. It was still slowly dragging by in minutes.
Minutes. That's all it's been. Forty-seven minutes since we left the Burrow.
Of course a lot could happen in forty-seven minutes, especially when Dementors, Death Eaters, and possible even Voldemort himself, was involved. Forty-seven minutes was more than enough time for them to reek havoc. Several people had probably lost their lives by now. Some of them might have even lost their souls, which was even worse when you really stopped to think about it. But the worst thing by far, was knowing that there was a chance that some of the victims could be members of the Weasley family. Most of them were bound to be on Diagon Alley by now and anything could happen to them there.
It was a fear that Hermione knew they all shared, and yet none of them seemed to be willing to voice it. It was almost as if they were all afraid that if they said the words out loud that would somehow make it happen. So rather than risk accidentally blurting the wrong thing out, all four of them seemed to come to some sort of silent consensus and refrained from speaking as much as possible. In fact, there hadn't been more than a handful of words spoken since they'd materialized in the common room, all of which the girls had directed at Harry when he unexpectedly kicked the discarded portkey into a corner and spun around to storm up the stairwell leading up to his dorm.
In the end, the girls' words must have sunk in somewhat because Harry had stayed in the common room, although Hermione had no doubt that he would have preferred to lock himself in his room and brood alone rather than side by side with the rest of them. That was just the way Harry was. He'd rather suffer on his own as some sort of self imposed penance, than in the company of friends. But Ron and Ginny were his friends, and it was their family that was in danger at the moment, so despite what he might have wanted to do, Harry had put their needs before his own and stayed with them as a show of support.
Ron at least, had taken it that way and Hermione knew for a fact that even though he hadn't acknowledged the gesture verbally, he was grateful for it. She knew this of course, because she could sense it through their connection. In fact, she'd sensed pretty much everything that Ron had felt since this whole mess started; his anxiety, his anger, the frustration he experienced and the shame that went along with hiding at Hogwarts while the rest of his family was out there trying to make a difference.
Hermione hadn't been fooled by the fact that the boys had voluntarily returned to school. She knew full well that neither of them had come back because they'd wanted to. Harry had only given in because he realized that if he didn't, the Order was going to focus the majority of their efforts on protecting him, rather than aiding the people who really needed help. And Ron? Well Ron had come back without argument for an entirely different reason and it was eating him up inside.
Yes, Ron was worried. They were all worried of course, but the anxiety that Ron was experiencing was more intense than what his sister or Harry was feeling at the moment because he wasn't simply concerned about his family, or the other members of the Order, or even the innocent people caught up in the latest attack. He also had Hermione's anxieties to contend with thanks to their connection, which made it twice as bad. She was worried about Harry, who'd been staring morosely into the fire ever since he sat down beside Ginny on the sofa, which meant that he was worried about Harry, as well as himself, which was more than a little disconcerting, and Ginny. And to top it all off, he was worried about Hermione too, or more precisely, what being connected to him meant for her.
Hermione, of course, knew that Ron was fretting about their connection. It was the only explanation for the guilt and desolation that kept surging into her own body. She knew what Ron was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing herself. The only reason they'd taken the Coupling Potion in the first place was to protect one another, and while they had accomplished that to a certain extent, they'd also unwittingly put one another at risk, at least where Dementors were concerned. And while that knowledge unnerved them both, in many respects it was worse for Ron, because he was finally starting to realize the extent of the sacrifices he was going to have to make if they continued to maintain their link.
For starters, he was going to have to be less impulsive, which might pose a bit of a problem because it was against his nature. He was used to acting first and dealing with the consequences after the fact. It was easier that way and it worked for him. But now Ron realized that he couldn't just run off half cocked with Harry, nor could he dive headfirst into a dangerous situation without at least considering what it might mean for Hermione. It wasn't simply his own life he'd be risking; it could be hers as well. If he did something stupid, and there was a fairly good chance that he would; if messed up the same way he had in the Department of Mysteries while there were Dementors nearby, Hermione would likely suffer the consequences right along with him. So either he was going to have to bow out of the fight when Dementors were present, or he was going to have to sever his link with Hermione, neither of which he wanted to do.
"Don't," Hermione said quietly, as she rose out of the chair she'd been sitting in, crossed to Ron's chair, settled down in his lap, and threw her arms around his neck. Ron needed a hug, or maybe she was the one that really needed it, she wasn't exactly sure which one of them needed the physical contact more at this point. All she knew for certain was that the maelstrom of emotions bombarding her had finally reached a point where it had become unbearable. "Whatever you're thinking about, stop," she groaned miserably.
"He was right," Ron said softly after a few moments of silence had elapsed, not realizing that Harry and Ginny had picked up on the anguish in Hermione's voice and were both watching them now, because his face was buried in Hermione's hair.
"Who?" Hermione whispered against his neck.
"Snape." The smug-arsed, condescending, two-faced git, he added in his head. But cursing the Potions Master wasn't going to make him any less right and Ron had no choice but to admit the truth to himself now. He was dependent on their connection, just like Snape said he would be. Hell, dependent wasn't even a strong enough word to describe it. He was addicted to it. So much so that he couldn't stand the thought of severing his link to Hermione, despite the fact that he knew it could put her at risk.
What does that say about me? he wondered in his head. Am I seriously going to jeopardize her soul just because I can't stand the thought of cutting myself off from the emotional feedback she provides?
Yes, apparently I am, Ron decided, after taking a moment to contemplate what it would be like to go back to the way things had been before they'd forged the connection. Hermione was part of him now, that was all there was to it. If he cut her off, it would be like cutting out half his heart or intentionally ripping away part of his soul, and somehow the thought of doing that to himself seemed worse than the risk of a Dementor doing it for him. Besides, Ron told himself, desperate to justify his decision as the guilt started to consume him again, it's not as if she'll be at risk all the time. We'll just have to steer clear of Dementors, that's all and it's not like they're going to attack us here. Not while Dumbledore is around.
"Stop beating yourself up," Hermione snapped, when the shame Ron was feeling flooded into her yet again. "You're driving me mad. And I'm not severing the link, so you can stop..."
"I never said I wanted to," Ron replied defensively.
"You were thinking about it though," she shot back without missing a beat, shoving Ron's hands away from herself and springing off his lap. "Were you even going to bother discussing it with me?" she asked, placing one hand on her hip and scowling at him. "Or did you expect me to just sit here and wait with baited breath until you made the decision for me?"
"Here we go," Ginny whispered to Harry, as the two of them watched Ron bristle.
"How's that any different than what you're doing?" Ron shouted back.
"Don't give me that, rubbish."
"Did you or did you not just tell me that we weren't severing the link without discussing it with me? Yeah, that's what I thought," Ron said, more to himself than to Hermione, who didn't seem to know how to respond. "And that's what's really bothering you, isn't it? The fact that you know you can't force me to maintain the link if I don't want to."
"Fine," Hermione said weakly, shrinking away from Ron as if she'd just been slapped. "If you don't want to be with me anymore," she said, blinking back her tears as she continued to inch towards the stairwell leading up to the girls' dorms, "I'm certainly not going to waste my time trying to change your mind."
"What the hell did you say that for?" Ginny shouted at her brother, when Hermione spun around and ran up the stairs.
"Shut up Ginny!" Ron snapped, pressing the palm of his hands against his eyes, which were burning, while flopping against the back of his chair with enough force to rock it backwards. "FUCK!" he shouted, kicking the table in front of himself as the heartache that Hermione was feeling ripped through his body and constricted his heart.
He hadn't meant to hurt her. All he'd wanted to do was point out how hypocritical she was being and somehow he'd buggered everything up. Big surprise.
"What are you still sitting here for, you gigantic arse?" Ginny said reproachfully. "Get up there and fix things before it's too late."
"What do you mean too late?" Ron asked, his stomach plummeting as he repeated his sister's words. "She knows that's not what I meant. She'll get over ..."
"Not if you don't go after her, she won't," his sister said in a disgusted tone of voice.
"But... she's in the girls' dorm."
"So?" Harry asked, staring at Ron incredulously. "It's not like that's going to be a problem for you."
"Oh, right," Ron said, glancing over at the girls' stairwell uncomfortable and then focusing on his best mate again. "So you... um... think I should... you know, go up there and..."
"Yeah," Harry answered, despite the fact Ron had left his question unfinished. "Yeah, I do."
"But, what if she throws me out or curses me or something?"
"It's no less than you deserve," Ginny said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring at her brother. "I'd have done it myself if Hermione wasn't still connected to you. But just because I can't jinx you without jinxing her, doesn't mean I can't make you miserable."
"All right, I'm going," he said with a sigh, taking a deep breath before standing upright. "But not because you're threatening me," he added, as he shuffled towards the staircase Hermione had used. You couldn't possibly make me feel any worse than I already do.
¤
"Looks like it's just going to be the two of us for the rest of the night," Harry said, as he watched Ron reach the top of the stairs without a problem and disappear from view.
"Provided she forgives him."
"She'll forgive him," Harry said confidently. "Sooner or later she always does and it's not as if she can seriously doubt his feeling for her, seeing as how they're connected and all."
"That doesn't stop him from being a prat though. She might not be ready to forgive him for that."
"Oh come on," Harry said in his best friend's defense. "You wouldn't want her dictating what you could think about any more than I would."
True, but still... "He could have handled it better."
"Probably, but this is Ron we're talking about."
"Uh huh," Ginny retorted without thinking. "I've seen the way you deal with Parvati and you're not much better." It was only after she'd said it that Ginny realized she'd all but admitted that she'd been keeping tabs on Harry's love life.
"The difference being," Harry said unabashedly, "that I'm actually trying to put her off me."
"You are?" the young redhead asked, shocked by the fact that Harry would admit something like that so freely to her. "You mean you've been all cranky and acting like rude prat on purpose? Why don't you just come right out and break up with her then? Wouldn't that be easier?"
"Well, for starters," Harry replied, "I never asked her to go out with me in the first place. She just assumed that we were, when we're not."
"Oh please," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. That had to be just about the lamest excuse she'd ever heard. He'd been snogging Parvati for months now. It didn't matter if he officially asked her out of not, his actions spoke louder than his words.
"We're not," Harry insisted. "Have you ever seen me take her anywhere."
"You took her to the Room of Requirement."
"No I didn't," he protested. "She followed me."
"And you tripped while trying to chuck her out and she broke you're fall with her lips?"
"It's not like I planned that," Harry said, shifting on the couch uncomfortable. He hadn't forgotten the look on Ginny's face when she caught the two of them together. "She kissed me."
"You didn't seem to be objecting all that much when I walked in," Ginny stated.
He didn't object when you kissed him either, she reminded herself. And if what he's saying is true and Parvati really doesn't mean anything to him after all this time, then that kiss we shared tonight means even less. That's just great. WONDERFUL! At least I didn't get my hopes up. Ok, so maybe that's not exactly true, but I didn't act on it and make a fool out of my self. That's something at least.
Unfortunately, it was a hollow victory. Yes, Ginny still had her pride, but that didn't seem like very much at the moment.
Why are we even talking about this? she wondered. Can't he just go back to staring at the fire in silence? At least then I can pretend that I'm upset about everything else that's going on and not him and everything else.
"Ginny?"
"What?"
"Are you... all right?"
"Oh yeah, I'm great," she said sarcastically. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you didn't answer my question for one."
"What question?"
"It doesn't matter," Harry said, feeling a bit foolish now.
Are you all right? he repeated his words in his head, silently admonished himself. Half her family is out there fending off Dementors and Merlin knows what else. Of course she's not all right.
"No, seriously. What was the question?"
"Nothing," Harry said uncomfortably. It had been hard enough for him to ask the first time. The problem was, he really wanted to know the answer. But in order to find out, he was going to have to ask her again. Ah, to hell with it. "I just asked how things were going with you and...," that wanker, "...what's his name? Daniel?"
"You mean David."
"Yeah, him," Harry replied, trying not to let the disdain he felt come through in his voice.
"Why do you ask?" Ginny said, looking at Harry suspiciously.
He wasn't going to pull the big brother act with her, was he? She had enough brothers already, most of whom were far too willing to do that. She didn't need another over-protective git breathing down her neck for her own good.
"Just curious," he replied. "He's treating you ok, though, right. Cause if he's not..."
Harry never did get a chance to finish his statement however, because Ginny's hand had somehow come to rest on his thigh as she threw herself away from the fire and gasped. It was then that Harry noticed that the flames had flared up and taken on a green tinge that could only mean one thing; someone was trying to use the floo network to gain access to Gryffindor Tower.
¤
"Well, isn't this cozy?" George said, as he stepped out of the fireplace and brushed himself off. "You're not exactly the couple I expected to find snogging in front of the fire."
"We were talking," Harry said, denying the accusation immediately.
"Talking, huh?" George asked, his eyes locked on his sister's hand, which was still clutching Harry's thigh. "And I suppose Ron and Hermione are 'talking' up there?" he said, motioning towards the boys' dorm with a tilt of his head.
"Actually," Ginny said, her cheeks taking on a pink hue as she yanked her hand away from Harry and used it to point to the girls' dormitory instead, "They're up there, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've finished rowing and progressed to making up by now."
"Yeah, right," George scoffed.
"Fine, don't believe me then."
"Not to change the subject or anything," Harry said, sitting up straighter as he stared at George, "but what are you doing here? Did Dumbledore send you? Why? What's been going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, mate," George said resentfully. "Mum did her level best to keep us out of it. Well, me and Fred anyway," he amended. "Bill and Charlie apparated straight to Diagon Alley with Dad and Dumbledore, so she wasn't able to waylay them or keep them busy performing menial tasks. Speaking of which, where's Fred? He's bound to be finished with his little job in Hogsmeade by now. You didn't change the password, did you? Because he might have trouble getting into the tower if you did. Maybe you ought to check the map."
"Er..." Harry stammered. "That's...um... going to be kind of hard to do, because I sorta loaned it to..."
"You gave our map to someone else?" George asked incredulously. "Who?"
"Hermione, of course," Ginny replied.
"Hermione? What would she want with... Wait a minute," George said, his eyes going wide with horror, "she's not..."
"Using it on her prefect rounds?" Ginny finished the statement for him. "Oh yeah. But look on the bright side," she added, when her brother's mouth fell open. "She caught Malfoy with it and McGonagall confiscated his invisibility cloak."
"All right!" Fred shouted, as the portrait hole swung opened and he stormed into the common room. "What gives? Why couldn't I get through the bloody tunnel? I had to go all the way back to Honeydukes and walk here in plain sight. It's a good thing Filch is incompetent, but I had a narrow escape with Peeves."
"I thought you were going to warn them not to use that tunnel," Harry said to Ginny.
"Me? I thought Ron was going to do it. It's his fault," Ginny stated. "He's the one that took her down there."
"You can't use that tunnel anymore," Harry said with a sigh. "Hermione got it into her head that Death Eaters were going to use it to sneak into the school, so she's cursed it. But the good news is..."
"Oh did you hear that?" George said sarcastically to his brother. "Little Miss Power trip has been using the Marauder's Map to catch rule breakers and now she's sealing off perfectly good secret tunnels, but there's good news. Isn't that a relief? Well," he demanded, when Harry remained silent. "Let's have it. What's the good news?"
"According to Ron, she used some spell that Bill taught her over the summer, so if you can get him down there, he can perform the counter-curse and..."
"Not likely," Fred groaned. "He'll just side with her. Those head-git types all think alike. Speaking of which," he said, flopping down in the chair Ron had left vacant and throwing his feet up on the table. "Where are the perfect prefects anyway? If they're out patrolling the corridors they aren't doing a very good job of it, are they?"
"Especially if they have the map with them," George added bitterly.
"The map is upstairs," Ginny answered. "As are Ron and Hermione."
"In the girls' dorm, don't you know?" George said to his brother sardonically. "Seriously," he asked Harry. "Where are they really?"
"Because I have a message for them," Fred added.
"From who?" Ginny asked, clearly skeptical.
"McGonagall," her brother replied, with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Who do you think gave me the password to the tower. I'm supposed to tell all three of you, the prefects that is," he said, glancing at Harry, "that if all goes according to plan, the Hogwarts Express will be coming back early. You're supposed to meet Hagrid in the Entrance Hall tomorrow afternoon and he'll escort you down to Hogsmeade Station so you can help with ...well, whatever it is you prefects do."
"What about Harry?" Ginny asked.
"McGonagall didn't say," Fred replied, with another shrug, "so I guess that means you can tag along with the rest of us if you like."
"So you're going too?" Harry asked.
"Yup," George said. "Mum volunteered us to help Lupin and Tonks mind the ickle students on the platform. She's so transparent," he complained. "As if there's going to be any action there."
"Exactly," Fred agreed. "The only reason she pawned us off on Lupin, is because she knows Hogwarts is safe."
"So safe we have to spend all night patrolling the corridors," George complained.
"Not necessarily," Fred said with a smirk. "I think Hermione might have been on to something actually. No wait," he said, when George looked at him as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Just think about it for a minute. Why should we spend all night traipsing down deserted hallways and freezing our arses off, when we can sit here in front of a nice warm fire and monitor the entire castle. If anyone that's not supposed to be here shows up, we'll know immediately. It's brilliant. Even if they're polyjuiced, we'll still know who they really are."
"That's how Ron caught Lestrange, isn't it?" George asked, finally finding an explanation to explain that conundrum.
"Be a dear, Ginny," Fred said affectionately. "Pop upstairs and get it for us, would ya?"
"No bloody way," his sister retorted. "I'm not going up there. It's bad enough knowing that they've shagged in my room, which is entirely your fault by the way. If you two hadn't been apparating into Ron's room unannounced every other second," she ranted. "I'll never be able to sleep in there again without having nightmares. The mental images are bad enough, thanks. There's no way in hell I'm going up there and getting an eyeful of the real thing. You want the map, go get it yourself."
"You're taking the piss out of us, right?" George scoffed, clearly not buying a word of it. It might be plausible that Ron's relationship had progressed that far, but if it had, and that was a big if in George's mind, there was no way Hermione would consent to do something like that at the Burrow. Not when his mother had expressly forbidden them from being alone together in a room if the door was closed. Ron might routinely disregard their mother's rules, or attempt to find ways around them, but Hermione wouldn't dare. "Is this payback for what we did to Harry or something?" he asked Ginny suspiciously. "You won't go get the map because you want us to spend the rest of the night wandering around in the cold to get even."
"Fine, be that way," Fred said, drawing his wand out of the inside pocket of the cloak he was wearing and pointing it at the stairwell leading up to the girls' dorm. "Accio Marauder's Map."
"She must have imperturbed her room," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders when Fred tried to summon the map a second time and nothing happened. "Looks like you're out of luck."
"You can't be serious?" George said in disbelief. "There's no way Ron could get up there. It can't be done."
"If you say so," Ginny said, rising up off the sofa and stretching like a cat that had been curled up in the same position for too long. "But now that I know it's safe, I'm going to bed. Night," she said, leaving Harry to deal with any additional questions brothers might have.
¤
The twins were in a rather foul mood by the time the sun finally came up. The not sleeping part hadn't been so bad, but wandering aimlessly through a drafty old castle in the dead of winter was not the way either of them really wanted to spend the night. Especially when there had been a better option that they hadn't been able to utilize.
It was rather hard not to be a little resentful of the fact that the others were all snug in their beds. Although to be honest, most of their animosity was directed at Ron, who they'd spent the better part of the night silently cursing. If there was even the slightest bit of truth to what Harry and Ginny had claimed, and the fact that Ron hadn't been in the boys' dorm when Harry dragged them upstairs strongly suggested that there was, then it was his fault they'd froze their bollocks off. And the fact that Harry had loaned them Ron's invisibility cloak along with his own, was not going to get him off the hook.
Needless to say, the twins made a beeline for Gryffindor Tower when their shift ended at first light. Not simply to get warm, or to get some much needed sleep before the Hogwarts Express arrived later that evening, but because they wanted to be there to catch their brother when he came back from wherever it was he'd been. Whether that was the girls' dorm, or some cozy snog spot he and Hermione snuck off to when they didn't want to be disturbed, still remained to be seen, however. And the truth was, part of them still expected to see Ron amble through the portrait hole with Hermione in tow, despite the fact they'd searched all the better known hidey-holes and quite a few of the lesser known spots as well, including the one behind the mirror on the fourth floor.
But as it was the crack of dawn, and everyone with any sense was still in bed, they had nothing to do but stoke the fire, kick back on the sofa, and wait.
¤
"Mmmm, not yet," Ron groaned, tightening his grip on the body he'd spent the better part of the night clinging to when it tried to move away from him and he felt the blankets shift. "It's too early to get up yet," he mumbled, hauling Hermione back until she was flush against his chest once more.
"Ron," she protested, placing one hand on his shoulder and trying to shove him away.
"No," he whined, burrowing down under the covers, intent on using her bare chest as a pillow. "It's nice and warm here," he said, a smile of contentment covering his face when he felt Hermione stop fighting him and bury her hand in his hair. "And I'm exhausted. I know you must be too, because you certainly didn't get much sleep."
"Whose fault is that?"
"Yours," Ron retorted, before darting his tongue out and leisurely running it over the swell of one breast. "See," he said, when his actions elicited a soft moan of pleasure from her. "You're insatiable. The smallest touch and you're all but ready for another go."
"You're one to talk," Hermione shot back, intentionally moving so her thigh slid against the rigid length of flesh that had been pressing against her. "Didn't you just claim you were tired."
"I am," he sighed happily. "But there's no rule that says I can't be tired and still want you at the same time."
"Maybe if we go downstairs and get something to eat, we'll have the strength to do something about this," she teased, rubbing her thigh against him again.
"Or we could just take care of it now," Ron said rolling them both over, covering her body with his own, and kissing her soundly before she had a chance to object. "And then we can go downstairs," he murmured against her neck, before dropping a few feather light kisses there, "and you can spend the rest of the morning scrutinizing the Daily Prophet for information about last night."
"Deal," Hermione said, closing her eyes and allowing her hands to roam down Ron's body as he continued to feast on her flesh.
¤
"Aw, come on love, it's still early," the twins heard their brother whine before he even came into view. "Harry and Ginny won't even be up yet. Let's go back and have a quick shower before..."
"...we allow the cold realities of war intrude on our morning," Hermione finished for him as she came into view at the top of the girls' staircase. "To late," she said, feeling Ron emotionally recoil as she put an abrupt halt to the more enjoyable thoughts they'd been distracting themselves with. "A deal is a deal."
"You certainly know how to ruin the mood," Ron grumbled to himself, as he began to follow Hermione down to the common room.
"NO BLOODY WAY!" George shouted, taking the couple completely by surprise when he jumped off the sofa and jerked off the invisibility cloak he'd been hiding under so he could confront his startled brother.
"How the hell did you turn these things off?" Fred demanding, whipping Harry's cloak off and materializing at the base of the staircase they were descending.
"No, don't," Hermione shouted after Fred had already mounted the stairs himself to test them out. Unfortunately for all of them, it took her too long to react, and by the time the warning was out, it was already too late. With an earsplitting wail, the staircase collapsed in upon itself and all three of them ended up in a jumbled pile at the bottom.
It took less than a minute for both Harry and Ginny to appear at the top of their respective staircases to investigate what had set off the alarm.
"Idiots," Ginny said crossly, scowling at her brothers as Ron intentionally placed his knee in the middle of Fred's back and shoved him to the ground again while he leaned forward to helped Hermione up.
"Can't you shut that thing off?" Harry shouted, lowering his wand, as he watched Ginny glide down the stone slide, despite the fact she was still wearing her nightgown.
"It'll shut itself off as soon as this pillock steps away from it," she said, shoving Fred into the middle of the room the instant she was upright again.
"If she didn't cast some sort of spell to counteract the stairs," Fred demanded, as he pointed at Hermione, "then how did he get up there?"
"What are you two doing here?" Ron demanded.
"Stop trying to change the subject," George shot back.
"HEY! That's my invisibility cloak," Ron barked.
"You are so busted," Fred sniggered. "McGonagall might just decide to strip you of your badges when she finds out about this..."
"...flagrant violation of the rules," George finished for him, as Ron wrenched the invisibility cloak out of his hands.
"Yes," Fred agrees. "Just think about all those ickle students that look to you to set the example."
"And a fine example it is," George said. "Honestly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed. I didn't think either of you had it in you."
"Of course if you tell us how you did it," Fred said cavalierly, despite the fact Hermione had arched one eyebrow and didn't look nearly as panicked as he'd have liked, "We might be willing for forget to mention what we've just seen."
"You bloody..."
"Go ahead," Hermione said, calling Fred's bluff before Ron could start making threats of his own. "It'll be worth it just to see the look on your face when she doesn't react."
"Nice try," Fred scoffed. "But I'm not buying it. You're good, but you're still new to the game and I'm better at it then you are."
"You know what," Hermione said, after taking a moment to weigh her options. "You're right and I'm sick of playing games. It's only a matter of time before you find out so I might as well save myself the trouble of trying to put you off. You want to know how Ron got up those stairs, I'll tell you. Better yet," she said, jerking her jumper off over her head, "I'll show you. There," she said, unbuttoning the top two buttons of her shirt and pulling it open just enough to reveal the silver charm hanging around her neck. "This is how he did it."
For several long moments there was nothing but silence as both Fred and George gaped at the talisman hanging around Hermione's neck and everyone else stared at them, waiting for their reaction. The wide eyes and open mouths were expected, the laughter however, was not.
"I take it back," Fred chortled, standing upright once more and taking in all the startled faces around him. "You're far better at this than I thought. You even had me going there for a minute."
"Top-notch distraction," George added. "It certainly looks like the real thing. I'll give you that. A very nice bit of transfiguration. Unfortunately for you, we know what Ron gave you for your birthday."
"We did pick it up for him, after all."
"What about this one?" Hermione asked, grabbing the hem of Ron's jumper and shoving it up to reveal his talisman as well. "Did you pick this one up too? And what about the engraving?" she asked, smacking Ron's hand out of the way when he tried to yank his jumper back down. "Did you have this added?" she asked, flipping the charm over so the words 'Toujours pur' became visible. "I see you do recognize the crest," she said triumphantly, when the twins glanced at the charm again and their eyes nearly bugged out of their heads. "So you know where they came from and that they are, in fact, real."
"No way you two are married," George said, but he sounded far less sure of that fact than he had moments before.
"Way," Ginny said, sounding almost bored.
"Not even Ron would be daft enough to use a real Lànain talisman."
"Haven't you been paying attention?" Ginny asked. "They didn't just use one, they used two. But If you still need convincing, Harry can describe the ceremony for you. He witnessed the whole thing."
"Not the entire thing," Ron said instantly, his face and ears beet red. "Just the binding ceremony."
"So you're betrothed?" George asked.
"Why in the world did you tell them?" Ron asked Hermione, rather than answer his brother's question.
"They were going to figure it out," she replied. "They've been suspicious ever since Charlie found out. It was only a matter of time before..."
"Charlie knows?" Fred said, clearly taken aback by this information, and yet things now made a lot more sense. "And Bill too," he added, as the pieces started sliding into place. "And that's why Ron's room was imperturbed and why Hermione kept blushing every time they were in the same room."
"But, this is excellent," George interjected, a huge smile plastered across his face. "I mean it was going to happen sooner or later anyway," he added, when Ginny and Ron both spun around and gaped at him as if he'd sprouted a second head. "Even Trelawney could see it coming. But sooner is definitely better than later. I can see why you'd keep it from Mum and Dad, but does Lupin know yet?"
"What?" Ron asked in disbelief.
"Of course not," Hermione said at nearly the same time.
"Why do you even care?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
"You don't know?" George replied. "They don't know," he added, glancing at his twin bother, who was clearly on the same page now.
"Know what?" Ron asked warily.
"About Sirius's will," Fred answered. "He left practically everything to Harry, of course, including Grimmauld Place, but you two were mentioned as well. He left you 5000 galleons."
"Apiece," George added, as both Harry and Ron's mouth fell open in surprise. "We overheard Lupin and Dad talking about it. Only it's in trust until you turn 20 or..."
"...until you get married," Fred finished in a cheery voice. "Which you are, right? So that means that money is now yours free and clear. Do you have any idea what you could do with 10,000 galleons?" he asked Ron.
"Absolutely not!" Hermione scolded, the instant she felt Ron's excitement surge into herself. "You are not going to squander that money away on frivolous things like racing brooms and chocolate frog card."
"Didn't take you long to start bossing him around like a real wife," George said to Hermione accusingly.
"She's been doing that since they met," Fred reminded his brother.
"Yeah, but now she's telling him how to spend his money."
"That's just because he didn't have two sickles to rub together before now."
"True," George added. "But can you imagine? Spending the rest of your life with someone that sounds just like Mum? Here's a thought," he said to Hermione. "You can save your half of the money if that's what you want and let Ron do what he wants with his half. "
"As in invest it in your joke shop?" Hermione shot back shrewdly. "And what happens if your father gets hurt again while working for the Order and we need that money to help support the rest of your family? Ginny still has two more years of school left to finish after this one. And you still have one," she said to Ron. "Not to mention three years of..."
"All right, I get it," he sighed, trying to cut her off before she really got rolling with her lecture. He'd already heard it once before after all. He didn't really need to hear it again with an audience present.
"Oh my god!" George moaned.
"She IS Mum," Fred added.
"That's just wrong."
"On so many levels."
"You're one sick puppy," George said to his younger brother. "You do realize that, right?"
"Shut up," Ron moaned, his ears still a lovely shade of red.
"Yeah," Ginny agreed, touched by the fact that Hermione was prepared to use her own money to help out their family if it ever became necessary. "You're just jealous because you don't have anyone else around to help you warm your bed. Unless you count that prat," she added, nodding her head in Fred's direction.
"We have separate beds, thank you very much," Fred shot back.
"And we're more than capable of finding girls to ..."
"You know what," Ginny cut in before George had a chance to finish. "I really don't want to hear the rest of that statement. Unless you're prepared to hear about me and..."
"NO!" George, Ron and Harry all objected at the same time, although Harry's voice had definitely been the loudest.
"So," the young redhead said to change the subject. "We can tell them about the potion now, right? Maybe even have them try it out?"
"GINNY!"
"What?" she asked, completely unabashed as she focus on Hermione's startled face. "You were going to tell them, right? I mean why wouldn't you now that they know you're married an all."
"Potion?"
"What potion?"
"Wait, maybe we don't really want to know."
"Unless it's something we can use for the shop. Like a love potion or something to enhance..."
"Is that all blokes ever think about," Ginny wondered out loud.
"Yes," Hermione answered straight away. "It's unrelenting. The only time he ever stops is when he's playing Quidditch. And I'm not exaggerating."
"Yes you are," Ron disagreed. "I think about loads of other things."
"Like what?" Hermione shot back.
"If you're so smart, why don't you just tell me?"
"He's going to be thinking about it a lot more now," George said quietly to his twin and the pair of them startled sniggering.
"You mean once she goes all 'wife' on his arse again and cuts him off?" Fred whispered back. "Lucky for him, he has his own bed and won't be forced to sleep down here on this lumpy old sofa."
"That just goes to show what you know," Ron said confidently. "She's not even mad at me. She was a little miffed at Ginny, but now she's mostly just irritated with you two. Crack a few more jokes, and she'll likely let you know that herself."
"How could you possibly know that?" George asked.
"The same way she knows how often blokes think about girls," Ginny answered.
"They're connected," Harry explained, when Hermione made a show of giving into the inevitable with a sigh and let him know it was ok to explain. "By a Coupling Potion."
"Seriously?"
"Wicked!"
"You do realize what this means?" Fred asked his twin.
"There actually is bloke out there that knows how girls think. If we could harness that knowledge and sell it somehow, we'd make a killing."
"Speaking of killing," Ron said with a smirk, "I'd start running if I were you."