Fred enjoyed the walk to the coffee shop. It gave him time to get some light exercise in and most importantly, time to think. Getting outside helped chase away the feeling of being cooped up that spending all day in the shop gave him during nice weather. He'd been meeting Lucy at the coffee shop after work all week, giving him a convenient place to meet her and get a caffeine boost to get him through the evening. Usually he only drank coffee with his breakfast, but this week had left him exhausted. Without another coffee he feared he'd pass out on the sofa, which had already led to Sparky trying to curl up on his face in an assassination attempt earlier in the week.

He knew Lucy was a grown woman who could get herself home perfectly fine, but he couldn't stop worrying. At Hogwarts he had been there to save George, but if something happened at the Ministry he wouldn't be able to step in. And since his hands were tied with George, he turned all his over-protective worrying on Lucy who for some odd reason had yet to complain. Dropping her off and picking her up every day helped him feel like he could keep her safe even if he couldn't protect George. Truth be told he'd expected Lucy to get mad at him by now for his insistence, yet for some reason he couldn't figure out she'd stayed quiet on the matter.

The coffee shop was packed when he entered, the dull roar of voices one step away from being too loud. He scanned the shop, catching sight of Lucy waving to him from a table tucked against the wall. Two drinks sat in front of her. When he got to the table she held the second drink out to him, beaming all the while.

"I got you your drink. You always get the same thing and the line has been crazy since I got here. Figured I'd get yours so you wouldn't need to wait."

She wasn't wrong. The line was six people long and a woman with bleached blond hair was holding it up by loudly complaining that her drink only had one shot of caramel, not two. "Thanks." He accepted the drink and sat down, not meeting Lucy's gaze. She'd taken to killing him with kindness lately, intent on them being best friends or something, and he didn't have the heart to tell her he couldn't accept.

She launched right into telling him about her day. "I made some notes from what the workers and other vendors told me. I found out about a few great promotion ideas as well as ones that the store workers said a lot of companies try, but never work well. I thought it could be good info to have if you plan to do any holiday promotions down the road." She tapped her notebook for emphasis.

"Sounds great." His voice came out flat, but her smile didn't waver. She was doing a great job and he was looking forward to getting hard sales figures soon, but his mind kept wandering back to George. Fred didn't like the secrecy surrounding the Ministry position, even if he understood it. Being able to hear from his brother would put his mind at ease. At times like this he wished the twin telepathy myth was real just so he knew George was okay. Knowing George he wouldn't be nearly as worried. He put too much faith in Fred.

Once George got back on shop duty they could review the sales figures coming out of the first beauty shops stocking their products and make a longer-term game plan. The WonderWitch line had been a surprise bestseller for them and the one with the most expansion potential, but they'd stalled in how to do it. No one trusted men to properly pitch products aimed at women, but Lucy could represent the line and expanding into specialty shops would give them a wider reach. He'd worried George was too in love to think clearly when he begged to pull her on, but Fred had been pleasantly surprised so far. She also looked great in their products, something he wished he could stop noticing. It was right for him to ogle his brother's girlfriend.

A pencil tapped his nose and he jolted.

"Are you back with me or still in la-la land?"

"What?" He blinked.

"I've been talking for the past five minutes while you stared at that brunette over there." She jerked a thumb to the right.

He followed her motion, spotting his first ex. Well, more like almost ex. They never got around to making it official. On second thought, he wasn't even sure if it was her. He hadn't spoken to her since their school days. "Sorry. We should get home. Today was a rough one." He took a long sip of coffee.

Lucy happily chatted away about her day on the way home. He tuned in and out, trying hard to pay attention, but never seeming to be able to listen for more than a few minutes without his mind disappearing back into his worries. He didn't want to keep secrets from George anymore, which meant he needed to fess up on way he couldn't be trusted around Lucy. However, admitting to his brother that he'd almost come undone during his last duel with Lucy felt too far. He didn't want George to feel betrayed and Fred was trying so hard to keep himself out of trouble with her.

His gaze wandered to her. She happily chattered on, her hands moving in the air in front of her as she spoke. She wasn't his usual type, but he'd seen hints of his type in her when they dueled, mainly her passion and refusal to give up easily. And he could talk to her. The last woman he'd been able to open up so much to was Angelina, at least until she threw it all back in his face. He'd been an ass plenty of times and yet here Lucy was, giving him every last detail of the beauty shop. He knew she was probably only trying because he was George's brother and that made it hard for him to tell if she would be so willing to try and accept him otherwise.

"They give the top-selling brands the best floor space because they bring the most people in the door," Lucy finished as they stepped up to the house's walkway. Fred gave her a hum of acknowledgment.

Sparky waited on the doorstep for them. When he spotted them he stretched, arching his back and letting out a meow in greeting. The cat insisted on sleeping curled up at the foot of Fred's bed every night. Once in a while he was a traitor and joined Lucy instead.

"Ah, there's the cute fluff ball." Lucy bent down to scratch under the cat's chin and Sparky let out a content purr.

As soon as Fred opened the door Sparky darted inside. Fred dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out the modified snitch toy. He tossed it to the cat and Sparky went crazy chasing the snitch and batting it out of the air, the toy never getting too high for the cat's reach.

"Did you make that?" Lucy asked as she tugged her shoes off.

"It just took a few simple modifications during my lunch break. I thought it would tire the little asshole out so he wouldn't run circles in my room in the middle of the night again." He let out a sigh. "I begged for a pet dragon growing up, not a cat."

"In that case I don't blame your parents for not giving in. I'd rather wake up to an energetic cat than a dragon burning the house down." She frowned, her bubbliness popped just like that. "I didn't have any pets growing up."

"We had garden gnomes if you count those. Annoying buggers."

She gave him a weak smile. She tucked the hair falling out of her crown braid behind her ear. He'd come to see it as one of her nervous habits, specifically something she did when she didn't know what to say.

"I think I'm going to go take a nap." Fred kicked his shoes off and made for his room. The coffee wasn't enough and it was just his body that felt exhausted and weighed down. All his worrying was taking a toll on him.

No more. When George got back he would fess up and move out. And if George wanted Lucy to work as their brand representative he could deal with her. Fred's nerves were too frayed to keep this up much longer. He'd always been the one more willing to take risks, pushing George to keep taking the business a step farther ever since their school days when they started a mail order business. But he didn't want to take any risks when it came to Lucy. He'd rather get the truth off his chest now and step away before he did something George could never forgive him for.

Fred collapsed onto his bed, face first. The soft mattress felt like heaven as he sank into it. A moment later a weight settled onto the small of back and began purring. "Sparky." His voice came out muffled by the pillow. He didn't have the energy to bother trying to move the cat. He closed his eyes and considered the best way to break the news to George. He had to be the worst brother in the world and it hurt to imagine what George might think.

Tears pricked at his eyes. George would never betray him in such a way and Fred hated feeling like the fucked up twin. No, he wouldn't let his problems keep dragging him down. He would tell George everything and try harder at following his therapist's advice. Maybe he could follow up some business prospects in Germany or America for a few weeks. Get away for a bit to clear his head focus on himself without Lucy distracting him. The idea was tantalizing and he fell asleep imagining the feeling of freedom a long trip would give him.

His mind refused to shut down despite how tired his body felt. It darted between Lucy and George to Angelina. It felt like a lifetime ago when he pictured himself married to her. He used to dream about leaving the shop to go home to her. He'd been head over heels and desperate to hold on to her. The familiar ache didn't invade his chest anymore when he thought of her. Instead loneliness slithered through him.

Fred tried to ask out a girl like Lucy once, back at Hogwarts. The memory was still seared into his mind, as was the burn and embarrassment of her rejection. He'd asked the girl out in the library, one of her favorite haunts. It'd been raining that evening, a steady pattering of drops against the windows that blurred her reflection in the window. When he asked her how she was doing, his crush had told him she found the sound of the rain soothing and the way she'd smiled at him when she said it made his heart beat like crazy.

After he asked her out for a walk around the lake the next day, the words tumbling from him in a nervous rush, she'd hugged her thick book to her chest, her gaze turning from him to the ground. The silence stretched between them, the sound of the rain the death toll for his hopes. Then she darted past him and was gone. He'd waited an hour in her seat to see if she would come back. She didn't.

The next day her friends found him after breakfast to tell him his crush thought him too intimidating. That she was simply a good girl was all, as if to imply Fred wasn't a good boy. That had been the moment he realized he had developed a certain reputation as a rebellious bad boy. He ended up with the competitive girls who liked to knock him around on the Quidditch pitch instead. Like Angelina. She'd enjoyed turning everything into a competition, whether he knew it or not and in the end, he lost to her new lover. Now he wanted to leave the competition on the Quidditch pitch and at the dueling club, to not have to compete to be loved.

With a groan he sat up, wanting to leave Hogwarts and his broken heart in the past where they belonged. Sparkly tumbled off his back and onto the bed. A run sounded nice but he didn't have the energy for it. Sparky plopped the toy snitch onto his lap, the fluttering wings too bent to fly properly. Fred straightened the wings and tossed the toy off the bed. Sparky jumped off after the snitch and chased it across the room. Fred fished around the top of his messy desk for his sketchbook. Once he figured out his Quidditch themed line, maybe he could work on some cat toys as his own little personal project. He was willing to bet Sparky wouldn't mind being his test subject again and lord knew he would need the distraction.

By the time he emerged from his room an hour later, the air smelled like rosemary and garlic. Lucy. She was too sweet for her own good and had insisted on taking over dinner, even if in this case Fred got the feeling she didn't trust him to handle the cooking outside of breakfast. To be fair, he did tend to stick to the same few meals. So much of his time had always gone to the shop that he'd always been too tired by the time he got home to experiment in the kitchen or learn new recipes. In the early days of the shop Fred would often keep working while George cooked or fetched them food from a nearby restaurant. George was good at pacing himself with work. Fred wasn't.

When he reached the kitchen he was too focused on the tantalizing smell of food to notice Sparky dart between his feet until it was too late. He stumbled over the cat and caught himself against the doorway.

Lucy looked up at all the commotion from her spot at the table. She pointed her fork toward the stove. "The chicken and veggies should still be warm."

Fred held his hands out in exasperation. "Do you think Sparky has a grudge against me? He seems eager to kill me."

She giggled. "I think you're his favorite and he simply can't contain himself. So maybe death by too much love?"

He grabbed a plate and hesitated before taking his food to the table. He considered eating in his room, but that would raise too many questions and get Lucy more eager to smother him in suffocating kindness. As soon as he sat down Sparky sprawled across his feet, happily purring away.

Beauty magazines were spread out on the table around Lucy, taking up her half of the table. She tapped the one she was currently reading. A glitzy model sat in front of a vanity mirror putting on mascara. "You should consider getting the WonderWitch line in this one. It's the premier beauty magazine of the wizarding world. It's published all over Europe and North America. One of your biggest competitors had a spotlight on their new eyeshadow line this month." She found the page and slid it across the table for him to get a look.

"You are really taking this seriously, aren't you?"

She chewed on her bottom lip a moment. "I wouldn't mind getting to continue in this position. I've been debating a career change for over a year. But… well publishing was always the dream and giving up on it feels a lot like failure. There isn't enough stability in the business and it has sucked the magic out of books for me. The work for your shop has been…nice." She pushed around the last carrot on her plate, her frown completing her sullen expression. "The marketing feels similar enough to what I did in publishing to not be overwhelming, but it's enough of a change of pace to feel right.

"Making a career change for the better isn't failure. Even Oli had a backup plan in case Quidditch didn't work out."

She gave him a half smile. "You make a great big brother, even if you are over protective."

"Big brother?" He stared at her, his mind fizzing out on the word. Sure there'd been women who saw him as nothing more than a friend, but getting brother-zoned was a new one.

The doorbell rang and Sparky darted beneath a cupboard to hide. "I'll get it." It was the perfect opportunity to escape the awkwardness creeping over him. Sparky yowled in protest as he rolled off Fred's feet. Then the little traitor jumped onto Lucy's lap, knocking off the magazine on her thighs. Sparky batted at her arm, demanding pets.

He peered through the peephole. George stood on the sidewalk, his hands shoved into his pockets and his back braced against the chilly wind. Fred's hand shot toward the knob before he changed his mind. Part of him wanted to yank the door open and pull his brother into a hug, but the other half felt uneasy. Something was wrong. There was no reason for George to be ringing the doorbell.

"Fred? Can you let me in?" George called as he surveyed the windows.

Hearing the voice, Lucy rushed in from the dining room. "George is home?" Her face was all bliss and envy slithered through Fred. He used to picture that same expression on Angelina's face when he imagined coming home to her.

Fred shook his head at her and held a lip to his fingers. It couldn't be George. He'd use his magic to get in. He'd left his spare key behind just in case too. Fred had let him, not wanting to discuss what could happen if things went south at the Ministry. It was easier to pretend it was just a quick job and nothing more. That there were minimal risks involved and the Ministry wasn't worried about the Death Eaters gaining steam as they found support abroad.

He took stock of the room. All the curtains were closed. He and George enchanted the windows when Fred first moved in to keep any light from being visible outside. Anything to make pinpointing when they were home to make surprise attacks harder. After Hogwarts they agreed they'd rather go overboard than do nothing and have it bite them.

"Go check the back door. See if you can see anyone hiding."

Lucy's happiness turned to fearful confusion. Okay," she said, drawing the word out. A minute later she came rushing back, eyes wide as saucers. "There's a man trying to hide back there beside the door."

"Death Eaters."

"What?" She paled.

"I don't know who is out there, but it's not George. I'd bet on a Poly Juice potion. They may not have a big enough force to attack, so they are trying to trick me into letting the Trojan horse into my house."

"But…then what's happened to George?" Her face creased in pain.

Fred swallowed. "I don't know. Nothing maybe. They would only need some hair. I'll send a message to the Ministry. Assuming they haven't been compromised they'll send someone."

"If they have been compromised, are we on our own?"

"Probably." And if the Ministry had been compromised, there could soon be far greater issues. Death Eaters were cockroaches too good at hiding in the shadows to evade capture. Like so many others he'd once hoped Hogwarts would be the end of the troubles, but instead the Death Eaters continued drawing their dying breaths out, sowing as much chaos and terror as they could.

Lucy's grip tightened on her wand and her jaw tensed. "We can take care of them together. Right?"

Pride bloomed in Fred's chest. "Right. If they messed with George we'll avenge him." If they had hurt him, Fred would kill them. He'd kill every Death Eater if that was what it took to keep his family safe.

The faux George knocked again, the sound fast and insistent.

"Please tell me you have a plan." Her hand trembled as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Of course I do."

She trained her anxious gaze on him. "Then tell me what to do. I want to help."