She finished the course alone. There was something liberating about doing it on her own without anyone else to turn to for help. But she couldn't stop glancing back toward the maze. Fred never appeared from it. The time spent inching across a balance beam calmed her enough to form a plan. It was time to take the course's lesson to heart she decided, which meant she wouldn't run from this.

She headed for the house. By the time she reached it no one else was home as far as she could tell. Maybe Fred was still hiding in the maze or maybe he'd gone elsewhere. Knowing George he was getting groceries and wandering Diagon Alley to look at the window displays of the other shops. While Fred could be anal retentive about the layout of the shop, George had taken responsibility over the window displays and liked roaming up and down the road looking for inspiration.

No matter, this gave her a chance to set a trap for Fred. She curled up on her favorite arm chair and then with a wave of her wand turned the lights off. Then she waited, rehearsing over and over what she wanted to say. A few times her growling stomach tempted her to get a snack, but she reined her thoughts back in.

Half an hour later the door finally opened and a miserable looking Fred stepped inside, Sparky darting around his feet before running for the kitchen. Fred turned on the lights and jumped when he spotted her, letting out a curse. He turned for the door

"Oh no you don't!" She pushed past him to press herself against the door. "You are staying and we are having a talk." She fixed her best stern look on him.

He scowled. "Look, I'm not expecting or even going to ask you to leave George for me or anything like that. I just needed to get it off my shoulders so you can both understand why I need to move out and have some space." He shoved his hands into his pockets and slinked over to the other chair.

His explanation left her gaping at nothing in surprise. This wasn't how she had their talk planned. She'd already come up with reasons why it would be a bad idea to do anything, namely George, George, and George. She pushed off the door. "What?"

"You make George happy and the last thing I want to do is screw that up." He held up his hands defensively.

"You could have clarified that earlier."

"Hard to think straight when you panic." He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. "This has been weighing on me for far too long. I needed to get it out because George seems to have gotten it into his head that I need to tell you."

"George knows?" Suddenly all those time he looked as if he wanted to say something and didn't made sense. His own turmoil over keeping secrets between those he loved.

"Yes, but don't be mad at him for it. I begged him not to tell you. I think he is right that I needed to get it off my shoulders. I've been spending too much time working lately and my therapist calls it an unhealthy coping mechanism." His forehead wrinkled as he considered his therapist's words. "That's why I took off early to do the obstacle course to give myself time to breathe and relax."

Ouch. Now she felt guilty for listening to George and letting herself be roped in. "I take it I wasn't supposed to go."

"No. That was George's idea in case you didn't notice. Sometimes he is too helpful for his own good and it turns him into a nosy busy body."

"Hey, that's my nosy busy body you're insulting." She crossed her arms, feeling defensive over George.

He clicked his tongue. "Please, he was mine long before he was yours. That means I get to say whatever I want. Next time I see him I'm telling him you know and that he can back off. All I ask is that you can vouch for knowing if he brings it up."

"I will." She rubbed at her arms as she considered the implications of George having known. "Did he—" her voice cracked and she took a deep breath to steady her thoughts. "Did he think I'd leave him for you?" Her voice rose at the end, unable to keep her emotions in check. She squeezed her arms.

Fred's eyes widened as he took in her distress. "No, he never thought of you in those terms. In fact his idea was for you to date both of us."

She stared at him, her mind struggling to process the idea. "That sounds like a terrible idea." She didn't know how she could keep up with both of them. She worried enough over keeping George happy. Making Fred happy too felt impossible. After all their ups and downs, she didn't understand why he could have any interest in her at all. She couldn't compete with fierce women like Angelina who were practically ready to tear off a limb in Quidditch.

"Exactly. Think of all the problems it could cause."

"I wouldn't know how to go about such a thing either."

"And I don't want to feel like someone's second choice or the bonus boyfriend." Sadness colored his words.

"You deserve to have someone who loves you." She thought back to her earlier moments of attraction toward him. Had she felt that way because he looked so much like George? That would be unfair to him. Sure, letting him challenge her at duels and other physical events was fun and had helped her push past her own limits and fears, but that didn't mean they'd be a good couple. And even if they would be, she wasn't going to risk her relationship with George. "I'm not even your type," she mumbled to quiet down the butterflies eager to take off in her stomach at the thought of Fred liking her.

"Well you did almost just beat me at your obstacle course bet."

"Almost? Excuse me but I did beat you." She sat on the arm of the chair. This all felt a bit like a dream. It seemed the only way Fred of all people might have an interest in her.

"It wasn't a fair battle seeing as how I wasn't ready and distracted."

"Sounds like sore loser excuses to me. I can kick your ass in the maze all over again if it would make you feel better. That'll teach you to underestimate me."

The corners of his mouth twitched as he fought down a smile. "I think we are starting to get off topic."

"Oh, right."

Sparky jumped up onto the arm of Fred's chair, bumping his head against his arm. Fred reached out and absent mindedly pet the cat.

"Should I quit working at the shop?" She'd have to start sending out job applications again. She'd all but given up on publishing and the thought of going back to an uncertain career made her stomach tangle up in knots of dread. Her passion for books was no excuse to run herself ragged. What used to be a dream career was now a career nightmare.

"Do you want to quit?"

"No. I like the shop. It's warm and cozy and…" she searched for the right words. The shop made her feel the way books used to make her feel before the stress of actually working in a cutthroat industry that was constantly shifting got in the way. In publishing no position was safe.

"You don't need to quit. It's my problem, not yours and quite frankly you've been doing good work. Replacing you would be difficult."

"Are you sure? That doesn't seem fair to you." She tilted her head, squinting at him. "This better not be some elaborate ruse to get me away from George."

"I told you I don't want to hurt George. Now I'm just offended you think I'm aiming to be the villain." He stopped petting Sparky who batted at his arm in protest and chewed on his shirt until he resumed the pets.

"It's just hard to wrap my head around you having any sort of interest in me."

"Is it really? You did seduce innocent Georgie like some siren."

"More like he seduced me."

"That's not the way I heard it." His head tilted as he regarded her. "When you look at me it feels like you are seeing me, not George." She hadn't even found the confidence to approach him all those times she saw him at The Leaky Cauldron.

"Well George has certainly never given me a reason to steal his wand before. A girl has to stay on her guard with you." She tried to keep her voice light, but the way he looked at her made her heart pound and her palms sweat. It felt strange to have Fred looking at her with that heated gaze instead of George. But it felt exciting too and that came with a clash of warring guilt and desire.

Fred smirked. "At least I don't bore you."

She snorted. "I can think of a lot of words that describe you, but boring isn't one of them."

"Oh?" His smirk grew. "Is handsome one of them?"

"Here's three for you, 'full of himself'." She reached over to poke him in the chest. Noticing her hand, Sparky head butted it to weasel a quick rub out of her.

"Did you hear her, Sparky? Here you are letting the traitor insulting me pet you. Shameful." He shook his head.

"Not my fault you make it so easy. Besides, looking at you and realizing your Fred, not George, isn't necessarily the best basis for anything."

"It's more complicated than that. When I say you see me, I mean you expect to me to act like me, not George. You don't make assumptions about us being twins, probably because you spend your time being too starry-eyed over George. And despite all my problems and poor choices, you've handled me rather well."

"That sounds more like friendship than a crush to me."

"Well there are other aspects, but it doesn't feel polite to say. Besides, my therapist says I might get attached to people I know I can't have because liking them feels safe since nothing can truly happen."

Sparky stretched and then jumped off Fred's lap to patter back into the kitchen.

"That sounds downright ominous. What couldn't be polite to say?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but the door swung open, revealing George. He spotted them and held up the grocery bag in his hand as if in victory. "I got avocados to go with our chicken salads. Are you staying?" he asked as he crossed the room to kiss her on the head.

"Am I invited?"

"Of course. How'd the course go?" His gaze flicked between her and Fred. Fred had turned his attention to the broken cat toy on the coffee table.

"I kicked Fred's ass and it hurt his pride," she said, unable to resist the chance to annoy him.

"Did not," Fred muttered. "She totally cheated." He climbed to his feet. "I'm heading to the club. I'll be back by seven."

George watched him leave, one eyebrow quirked. "Certainly seems like the course went well."

She reached for the bag he was carrying, needing something to busy herself. The topic made her feel guilty over having an attraction toward Fred when she was happy with George. "Let me help you with dinner."

"Sure, thanks. I planned to boil up some eggs to add if you'd like to take care of those."

Sparky climbed onto a chair and watched as she boiled eggs and George roasted some chicken. They chatted about their next window display instead of Fred and she was grateful George didn't push the topic. She didn't feel ready for that conversation.

Her week ended up busy planning not only a new window display, but dealing with the business owners coming from Germany to visit the shop. They wanted to stock some of the shop's products and instead of Fred and Lucy visiting them to pitch the products, they'd opted to see the shop for themselves. Fred coached her through what to expect, the awkward pauses in between making her want to disappear into a hole somewhere. Despite that the meeting went well and she retreated as soon as her part was over to let the twins do their best wowing.

His confession made her feel embarrassed because how could he not be embarrassed when he came to his senses? She stared out at the shop floor, amazement at the turn her life had taken. Sometimes it felt too good to be true, like she'd wake up and realized it'd been a dream and really she was in a coma from getting hit with a stray bludger or something. Maybe she got hit at the first game she watched George play in and invented everything in her mind. Ugh, it felt like just her luck that the mere thought of it made her feel embarrassed for herself. If that nightmare ended up being true, she'd be too mortified to ever show her face in England again.

But it felt good to feel this happy, to have so many good things to hold on to. Part of the allure of England had been to chase down Oli, to try to have part of the family she used to dream of. She'd found far more, but the thought of Fred moving elsewhere filled her with a hollow sadness. She liked the noise of their house, even when it was just Fred singing poorly to the cat. And George, he'd never lived apart from Fred before. How would he handle it?

She blinked, realizing she'd been staring at Fred the whole time. Luckily he was too busy seeing off their potential new business partners to notice. His smile didn't look genuine for reasons she struggled to pinpoint. It was his eyes and the way it fell a smidge whenever he looked away from their visitors.

The part-time employee at the counter turned her way and she ducked away from the door, trotting over to the small office. In a few hours the shop would fill with kids and create enough noise to carry into the office, but until then the back rooms remained quiet. She couldn't concentrate. How had the meeting gone? Would the business be stocking their products?

The plan for the next release of new Wonder Witch products lay forgotten on the desk. She'd already signed them up as a sponsorship for the biggest Wizarding World fashion show, which happened to fall a few days before the release of the new products, making the timing perfect for marketing. As part of the sponsorship some of the models would even wear Wonder Witch products. It was an opportunity that had her salivating a few days ago, but she couldn't shake Fred out of her mind.

"How's it going?" George leaned over her shoulder.

She yelped in surprise, jerking straight up in her chair and knocking her hand into her latte. George caught the cup just in time to keep it from spilling off the desk.

"That good, huh?"

"You are too good at sneaking up on me."

"I might enjoy it a little." He held up his fingers pressing them together to make his point. "It's adorable when you are lost in your work. I can only manage to sneak up on you when you're distracted though. Let me guess." He stuck a finger in the air. "This is because Fred told you how he feels."

"Yes!" She threw her hands up. "Doesn't it bother you?"

He shrugged. "No? I mean, it's easy for me to understand why he would take an interest in you."

"Well why on earth did you want him to tell me?"

"I thought it'd be good for him to finally get it off his shoulders."

"Well according to him he seems to think you'd be all right with me dating both of you." She watched him for any sign of emotion.

He shrugged against and stuck his hands in his pockets. "If you aren't interested that's that. I'm not going to pressure you and neither is Fred."

He backtracked out of the small office, the teapot and cups clinking as he put on a pot of tea. She followed him out, stretching her stiff shoulders.

"Can I know why though? Even you can't be as blasé about it as it seems."

He hummed. "Selfish reasons mostly." He poured himself a cup of water.

"What exactly is selfish about letting your brother fuck your girlfriend?"

He spluttered, water flying from his mouth as he set the cup down. "It sounds awful when you put it that way." He piled the teapot and cups onto a tray and gestured for her to follow him. He moved to the sofa, sitting everything down on the small coffee table. "There are a lot of reasons and if it were anyone else I wouldn't even consider the idea. I admit I was mad when I first realized what was going on, but being away at the ministry gave me time to think it over." He ran a hand through his hair as he thought.

"Growing up Fred was the most important person to me. He was the one I could always count on to be there. I mean he saved my life at Hogwarts at the expense of his own trauma." He blew out a breath and flopped backward against the sofa. "Finding someone for him is only going to get harder, or at least harder to find someone who has pure intentions. Last week an ex from his school days contacted him waiting to go on a date. She broke up with him after six months back then but now she thinks he is filthy rich because of the shop and is suddenly interested." He shook his head in disbelief. "Women like that will keep hurting him. But you…you've been good for him already. He needs someone like you."

"Wouldn't sharing me bother you? I'm not even sure how that would work."

George mulled the question over. "Let me put it this way, Fred is already packing to move out and plans on taking the cat with him. I've never lived away from him and the thought of him leaving makes me anxious and terrified. I like the thought of living with the two of you, the people closest to me. It's…" He sighed. "This is all hard to explain. When I think of who would be good for Fred, I think of you, but I don't want to give you up either. That leaves the question of what Fred and I are supposed to do when we fall for the same woman. I'd rather learn to share than watch him suffer."

She poured the tea as she took in his words. It was typical sweet George not wanting someone close to him to hurt if he could help it. "When you explain it that way it sounds good in theory, but the reality wouldn't be easy."

"I know, but I think we can manage it."

"But…wouldn't it bother you to share? I mean think of all those other women who wanted both of you."

He stirred a few drops of honey into his tea. "The fact that Fred and I are initiating this makes all the difference. We trust you. You see as us individuals, not toys to have fun with. As long as neither of us finds reason to worry about being left behind or forgotten, I think we could make it work. I know Fred calls me the optimist, but the battle at Hogwarts changed my perspective on a lot of things. I just want to be happy and for those I love to be happy. It'd be a relief for Fred to settle down with someone who is good for him. And I'd still have what we already have, nothing would change there. But it is your decision to make and we will respect whatever you decide."

"It is an easy thing to agree Fred has had plenty of romantic troubles. I don't want to see him wind up in another bad relationship either, but I don't know if I'm the right person for him."

"I think you underestimate yourself. I think he's also had his own impact on you." He leaned toward her, making her feel like he was looking into her very soul as their eyes met. "He's taught you to duel and pushed you to try new things, like the obstacle course. You once told me you love books because of the adventures, and he can help you have plenty of adventures."

"So can you."

"Fair, but I don't have quite the same thirst for them that Fred does. He loves to travel for work and be on the move, whereas I don't like to be gone from home for too long." His gaze fell to his cup and he lowered his voice. "He can protect you better than me." Sadness coated the words.

She leaned against him. "Don't tell me you blame yourself for anything the Death Eaters did. Fred has told me you're a good fighter too."

"But I wasn't with you when I should have been."

"You had no way of knowing." She wrapped an arm around him to give him a squeeze. "Don't focus on what could have happened." She didn't want to admit it to him, but some nights she woke from nightmares terrified. Living alone no longer felt safe. The nights George stayed made her feel safer knowing he would be there to fight at her side if something happened, that she wouldn't be alone.

"Promise me you won't focus on anything but what feels right." He checked his watch. "And unfortunately I can't keep exploring this with you right now. Ron and Hermione had another fight and Harry and I are supposed to go over and have a drink with him. Fred won't be happy about it since it's my night to cook."

"What's that about it being your night to cook? Are you escaping on me?" Fred stepped into the room as he loosened his tie.

"I'm going to Ron's tonight."

Fred groaned. "I was looking forward to your chicken piccata."

"Tomorrow. Or you could try making it for once."

"No way that's one of your specialties. But this explains why Harry is out there asking for you." He jabbed a finger over his shoulder. "The businessmen are gone. Said we'd hear from them next week."

"Great. I need to go pick out a good bottle of something for Ron to cry over with Harry." He grabbed his coat and gave them both a salute. He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Lucy's head.

Fred pouted. "Oh so she gets a kiss and not me. Now you're just playing favorites."

George made a dramatic show of blowing him a kiss. "Save it and keep it for a rainy day. Time for me to go rescue Ron from his self-pity."

Fred eyed up Lucy's cup of tea and she snatched it up as soon as she saw him reaching for it.

"Don't think I didn't just see you trying to steal my tea."

Fred pouted. "No one asked me if I wanted any."

"There's more left in the pot."

"Score." He plopped onto George's vacated spot and poured himself the rest of the tea, using George's cup.

She stared at him.

He paused, cup halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"Get dinner with me tonight. We can get a high tea course at the tea shop." The familiar surroundings felt like a safe bet. "I saw a sign advertising their new salmon and cream cheese wraps that sound amazing." She wasn't entirely sure what had gotten into her, but it felt right.

"Why do I suddenly feel like George and you were in here plotting without me?"

Her mouth twitched and she forced the smile away. "I have no idea why you would think such a thing."

His eyes narrowed. "That only makes me more suspicious."

"Yes or no? Either way you aren't getting George's chicken piccata tonight." She finished off her tea.

"Are you trying to blackmail me into a date?"

"No, but I could if it will work. I mean do you know how awkward it would be to do a high tea alone?" Everyone would probably assume her date stood her up.

"Ah, so you are asking me to be your knight in shining armor and rescue you from getting a three-tiered platter full of food all to yourself."

"Well since you put it that way, maybe I don't need rescuing after all." She could eat her worries away until she couldn't managed another bite.

"No, no." He rested a hand on her shoulder and the other over his heart. "I can never turn down a chance to be the gallant hero. I will rescue you from eating all that food by yourself, especially if it also saves me from cooking tonight."

"How generous of you." She smiled. Now if only she could figure out what to ask or say before dinner. George said to do what felt right, so maybe she'd be better off winging their dinner together. Less pressure that way and a chance to explore what dating him might feel like.

She was willing to bet her stomach would love those new salmon wraps at the very least.