"Yes." Hermione expected joy. She expected questions as to whether she'd found a way. She didn't expect the look of deep betrayal on their faces as they sank down on George's bed.

"Why?"

She hastened to explain. "This bond is messing with your minds. It's making you feel things that aren't there. You wouldn't be this over baring and protective as you are right now if it wasn't affecting you."

Fred flung the book into a corner so he wouldn't have to look at it and Hermione jumped.

"Is it so hard for you to believe that we just want to look after you?" George asked. He looked angry but she didn't understand why.

"Yes." She told them honestly.

They seemed to deflate with that answer. Leaping forward they grabbed her and held her close between them. She frowned.

"See this is what I mean. It's the bond's doing." She was aware she probably sounded hysterical, but she was too far gone to care.

"We forget..."

"That you're muggleborn sometimes..."

"What with all the books you digest and the spells you know."

Fred reached out and smoothed her hair back from her face. "There is so much culture you learn growing up in a pureblood family that we take it for granted."

"Soul bonds are a gift. But they don't force you to feel things."

"If we want to look after you, then it's because we want to look after you. It has nothing to do with this." They tugged their gloves off and pulled Hermione's off as well. Linking their hands so the tattoos twisted together, they breathed out a sigh of relief. The barely noticeable tug which had been pulling at the three lessened.

"Little Amazon you won't be able to find a way to break this. It's a life thing."

"And we don't want you to."

She frowned again.

"You don't?"

"Of course not."

"Oh." Hermione's voice was very small and very quiet. George sighed and glanced at his brother over her head.

"Do you think the Library will have a copy of Grim's Fairy Tails?"

"Unlikely. I doubt Madam Pince would put much store by children's books."

"We could ask Mum for ours."

"She'd want to know why. And we can't tell her about the bond."

Hermione glanced up, knocking her head into Fred's chin.

"Ow. I thought you two would have told her."

Fred rubbed his chin with his free hand and shook his head.

"We can't. Our Mum is lovely but she'd tell everyone."

"Seeing as we already have to share you with each other, we don't want to have to do it with the rest of the world. Soul bonds are rare."

"Really rare."

"We would be famous overnight..."

"And we know you hate being the centre of attention."

"Why are you two doing that?" She demanded, suddenly.

They leaned down so they were at eye level with her.

"Doing what?"

"Talking out loud." She insisted. "You normally have these discussions in your head. I've seen you do it."

"We were trying to include you," Fred informed her, sniffing in mock indignation.

"But however, if our efforts are wasted upon you then we shall leave."

Hermione giggled as they stood in unison, bowed slightly and moved towards the door.

"Oh, almighty Fred and George I apologise." Hermione curtsied low like she'd seen on television and adopted a simpering expression. "I overlooked your gift, but now I recognise it for the joyous offering that it was." They stared at her over their shoulders, two pairs of deep blue eyes boring into her. She increased her smile by a few kilowatts and they started laughing, beaming happily at her in their glee.

They did get some work done. The Twins were now two weeks ahead of their homework and swore to Hermione that they had learned more in one day of studying with her than they had in four months of classes. Something about her, they said, gave them the ability to concentrate without wanting to throw fireworks at people. They appeared in the Great Hall for meals, where Harry handed over the homework for the classes they'd missed.

"Snape wasn't even completely awful today," Harry shook his head in amusement. "I know the only reason he's remotely nice to me is because of my last name."

Hermione raised her eyes from her soup.

"What do you mean?"

"Ah. Well, the Black family had a reputation for being..."

"Evil."

Harry glared at Fred.

"I was going to say dark. Many of the family used to follow You-Know-Who. Sirius didn't obviously. In fact, his mother disowned him because of it. Anyway, I think Snape believes I'm descended from another part of the family and I am not the spawn of his most hated enemy Sirius Black."

Hermione giggled and Harry stared at her in shock.

"I don't think I will ever get used to you doing that. Are you packed?"

"Yes..."

"I believe we are..."

"Except for presents."

Harry frowned.

"It's disturbing enough when Fred and George speak in tandem, Hermione. When you join in is just terrifying." He received three disturbingly similar mischievous grins. "Urgh stop it. It's a good thing Ron hangs around with Seamus and Dean. I don't think I could cope with the four of you. Presents?"
Hermione nodded.

"For Sirius. It's polite to get your host a gift, especially at Christmas."

"So she says" was muttered from Hermione's left. But not very loudly.

Harry tucked his head to one side and crinkled his nose in thought. "If the Twins did a run to Honeydukes you could bring him some fudge. He'd like that. And chocolate for Uncle Remi."
Hermione nodded in satisfaction and they went back to their lunch.

Hermione had spent the rest of the day in the Gryffindor common room. When it finally emptied after dinner, the Twins sent her to get her pyjamas and she ended up in George's bed.

"Ginny used to do this when she was little." Fred muttered as he watched Hermione curl up on the edge of George's bed. "Bill was always waking up to find she'd snuck in there in the middle of the night and curled up next to him. I don't think he ever minded though." The Twins dressed in the bathroom in their pyjamas and stood at the foot of their beds. It was strange contemplating sharing a room with a girl. But it wasn't really a girl, was it? Fred thought about this. It was Hermione and she didn't really count.

"I can sleep on the floor if you like." She offered irritably.

"No."

"We thought you were asleep."

"Nope." Hermione yawned and curled the duvet around her. "I have nightmares."

The Twins sighed and clambered into their respective beds. Lee was already asleep and George felt Hermione relax slightly as he drifted off to sleep.

The plan had been to wake at about three but they overslept and didn't wake up until about four. George frowned slightly as he felt the unfamiliar sensation of holding someone in his arms as he slept. He must have moved over in his sleep.

"Hermione."

"..."

George sat up and glanced over to see his brother pulling on his jumper. Fred shrugged.

"She's in your bed. You wake her up."

"Hermione?"

"What?" The reply was muffled and low, as though he was talking to a sleepy tiger. Her hair had come loose in her sleep and had curled around her head obscuring her features.

"Time to go."

"Oh."

Quiet as a ghost Hermione got to her feet, pulling on the only jumper she'd brought with her to Hogwarts from the Orphanage. George got dressed and soon they were creeping down the dormitory stairs, the Marauders Map held in front of them. The Twins had borrowed it back from Harry, who was now the official owner. They made it down to the first floor without incident and Hermione was dragged into a passageway which deposited her in a part of the castle completely unfamiliar to her.

"Here we are." Fred murmured. They were standing in front of a door, belonging to a long-forgotten classroom.

"Don't you think it's strange that Hogwarts has so many empty classrooms?" Hermione asked randomly.

The Twins looked at her.

"Not really. When the Founders built the castle, the magical population was much greater, especially in comparison to muggles."

"They died from things we had cures for, like a lack of soap."

"So originally all of these classrooms were filled. We had multiple teachers for each subjects and much larger classes."

She stared at them.

"Why isn't this mentioned in any books I've ever read?" She whispered.

Fred winced slightly.

"Well, wizards don't like talking about it. It worries people that our population is dying out. More and more pureblood families produce squibs."

"People from magical families with no magic," George explained.

"It's because of the inbreeding."

Hermione was aware that a deserted corridor in the middle of the night was not the best place to discuss genetics but she was curious.

"Inbreeding?"

"Families..."

"Purebloods like us and the Malfoys and the Blacks."

"Have intermarried for years. It causes squibs. The Weasleys haven't been too bad as we don't tend to marry within the family. Mum and Dad aren't related at all. But the Black's married cousins for years. Probably why they were so mad."

"So muggleborns can't marry purebloods?"

"Oh no. You can. It's just many would disapprove of it. Anyway. Get the door Fred."

Fred pushed the door open and George tugged Hermione into the empty classroom. Everything was dusty, with the exception of a large ornate mirror which stood in the corner.

"We found this last night. It was just standing here."

Hermione curled her fingers into her gloves and wished she'd worn shoes. It was cold in that classroom. Although the dust was thick, there was no lamps light nor any warmth provided by the Victorian style radiators, with their thick copper pipes. Fred gave her a push and Hermione wandered in front of the mirror. There she stood, tiny in her pyjamas, jumper and bare feet but without her gloves and beside her stood...

She twisted around and saw the twins standing by the door, well out of sight of the mirror. But in the mirror they stood right next to her, each holding a tattooed hand. They look happy and each smiled slightly as though being in the same presence as the other brought contentment.

"How...?"

"It tells you your hearts desire. Says so in the inscription across the top. We thought you ought to see it."

"What do you two see?"

They stepped forward and stood next to her, a hand on each shoulder. At thirteen they towered over her and Hermione had to crane her neck to look up at them.

"We see you."

The Hogwarts Express had less carriages than it did at the start of term. Many students had elected to stay at school over the holidays including Ron and Percy Weasley because their parents were going to see Charlie in Romania. The Twins had taken Percy aside and made him promise to spend Christmas with his brother.

"Christmas is for family." They had insisted.

Percy had tactfully not reminded them that they weren't spending Christmas with their family either. For one thing, the Twins always had family because they were always together. For another...Percy approved of Hermione. She was quiet, didn't cause a fuss and had never been caught breaking the rules. He was certain she did break several (she was friends with the Twins after all) but she did it in a fashion that meant she caused no extra grief for anyone, something Percy approved of. He'd also checked in with the Twins' Professors, something he'd done periodically since their arrival in first year. He was their big brother after all. His way of looking after his siblings was just slightly more academic. Their marks had increased from Acceptable to Exceed Expectations, with seemingly no extra effort.

Hermione curled up in the corner of the compartment. Fred and George had wandered off in search of the trolley lady, leaving her in peace to read. Harry by comparison to her quiet acceptance, was virtually bouncing in his seat.

"Why are you so excited?" Harry smirked. By now he was used to Hermione's perpetual sense of calm. To others she sounded cruel and empty, almost cold. The Twins brother, Ron had tried to talk to her once. Hermione had merely glared at him until his ears had turned pink and he'd backed away. Harry had laughed over that for days.

"Well, I don't know about you but for me, Christmas is a time to be jolly, with mistletoe and holly..." Harry scratched his head. "And other things ending in olly." He trailed off and grinned sheepishly. Harry leaned back in the seat and his gaze caught on the luggage rack above her head. There was a large school trunk filled with the twins' muggle clothing, and one small, slightly battered satchel.
"Is that all you're taking with you?"

Hermione blushed slightly "I pack small."

He frowned at her. "You do know we're going for two weeks don't you?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Harry ruffled his hair and closed his eyes. "Wake me up when we arrive will you?"

"Of course, sleeping beauty."

One eye was cracked open. "You know I'm gorgeous."

Hermione chuckled quietly. "I know you're an idiot."

Harry smiled and went to sleep.

Hermione and the Twins trailed after Harry. He was dragging his trunk behind him. Fred and George had their's between them and Hermione followed on behind, her satchel looped over one shoulder. Sirius Black leaned against the wall. He was in his early thirties, handsome and arrogant, dressed in rich clothes. His black hair was just long enough to touch his collar. He looked like a much older Harry. From the ring on his finger to the arrogant tilt to his head he was every inch Lord Black. He spread his arms wide and Harry leapt into them, regardless of the amused grins he received from passing students.
"Missed you Prongslet." Hermione barely made out the words Sirius whispered into Harry's shoulder. Harry was dangling from the tall man's arms, his feet only just skimming the tarmac of the platform. Her normally suave friend had been reduced to the little boy he really was. The Twins grinned happily on either side of her. When they saw their own parents after a long year away from them for the first time their reaction was the same. For that first day back there were no arguments, no pranks, no teasing. Everyone was just happy to be home and together. Sirius Black eventually lowered his son to the ground and turned to the trio. Fred and George, in perfect synchronisation, flourished flowery bows low to the ground, until their fringes almost touched the paving stones.

"Oh great Padfoot, we mere pranksters are not worthy to stand in the presence of a Marauder."

Sirius, keeping his face perfectly straight, returned the gesture managing to get slightly lower.

"I accept your praise and bask in your adoration, I the most mighty of Marauders."

Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes. Harry coughed and all three straightened up.

"I believe introductions are in order. Sirius, this is Fred and George Weasley." The twins bowed again. "And the girl rolling her eyes at the back would be Twist. I am under orders not to tell you her name."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Hermione mirrored the gesture. They stared at each other in silence for almost five seconds, before Sirius' face cracked into a massive smile.

"Well met Lady Twist." Hermione nodded as though the title was expected. The Twins cracked up.

Sirius glanced around the rapidly emptying platform.

"We'd better shift. We'll fly home. Easier than involving a port key or taking the night bus. Harry tells me you're all decent fliers."

The Twins were pulling their brooms out of their trunks and Hermione winced.

"Erm, I haven't got a broom with me, Mr Black. Mine belongs to the school."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully.

"That's okay. I brought a spare in case." From his pocket Sirius produced two miniature broomsticks almost three inches long. Hermione gazed at them in amazement. The detail on them was amazing. It was almost as though...

"You've shrunk them." She realised joyfully.

Sirius nodded happily.

"Well spotted." Retrieving his wand from another pocket he tapped the brooms gently. Slowly they began to grow. It took almost ten seconds for them to reach full size. Sirius handed one to Hermione. "I'll shrink your trunks too, boys. Just so it's easier to fly."

That done Sirius led them through the barrier and back into the muggle world. Once they were out of Kings Cross Station, Sirius wandered through the streets until he came to a secluded back ally. It was dark and dingy and looked as though no human had wandered down here in five years. Sirius nodded as though satisfied and turned back to them, wand raised.

"Because it's night time we should be fine with brooms. Twist why don't you have a coat?"

Hermione shrugged and didn't answer. How could she tell someone she simply didn't own one?

"It's a good thing your broom has built-in warming charms. You three are wearing cloaks so we should be fine. Mount up."

Hermione accepted the broom Sirius tossed to her. She swung her leg over, glad she wasn't wearing a skirt. At Sirius' signal they kicked off shooting quickly into the sky. Whatever this broom was, and Hermione cursed herself for not checking, it was considerably better than the one she rode at school. The one at school had a predisposition for turning left, a fault Hermione spent a lot of time correcting. If she didn't she simply flew in smaller and smaller circles until she fell off due to dizziness, something her fellow chasers found hilarious.

They flew in formation. Sirius and Harry in front, with Hermione Fred and George flying in tandem behind them. As the cold air of the nights sky hit her, Hermione felt the warming charms on her broomstick begin to work. The handle heated up slowly until it was a comfortable room temperature, spreading warmth along her hands and arms. When she got really cold she could lay herself flat out along the brooms stick. But with the wind blowing her hair back as they moved with considerable speed, Hermione grinned happily. On either side of her the twins whooped in glee as they soared through the air like a pair of red haired bullets. Harry flew in circles around Sirius, showing off. Hermione could just make out the deep chuckle of Sirius' laughter as the wind snatched it from the air.

They flew for almost an hour. The novelty had worn off and eventually they flew out of growing determination for warmth. Fred almost cried with relief when Sirius angled his broomstick for the ground. He and George were used to the cold, and they had their cloaks on to keep the worst of it out. But even with that they were both frozen. But it wasn't himself he was worried about. Warming charms only work so far. Hermione didn't have a jacket, she was stuck in her jumper and jeans. He glanced at his brother. George looked as worried as he did. In fact if he focused hard enough, Fred could feel the worry coming off his brother in waves. But from Hermione he could feel...nothing. Fred edged his broom closer to her, until he could lay a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even jump. When she turned to look at him sleepily, he could see her features were pale. George grabbed hold of her broom from the other side and together they angled her to follow Sirius. They couldn't land soon enough. The empty dirt lane had a set of ornate gates at the end which Fred barely noticed. He hauled Hermione off her broomstick and into his arms. George grabbed the brooms and they turned, glaring, towards Sirius. Harry's eyes widened when he saw her and he ran on ahead to open the gates.

Sirius scowled.

"What happened to her?"

"She's frozen." George snarled. Sirius blinked at the tone of voice before he handed them a scrap of parchment.
"Read it. Quickly." He stood impatiently and waited.

Fred roused Hermione enough for her to read the words written in ink.

The address for Potter Manor is;

Potter Manor,

No' 1

Beech Lane

Hereford

England.

Fred started slightly as the massive house seemingly jumped into view behind the gates. Walls grew and ivy dangled as Potter Manor made itself known to its guests.

They were up the drive in no time at all. The main door was ignored as Sirius led them around the house to a side entrance.

"Warmest room available." He muttered to Harry.

Hermione had fallen asleep. There is something about a person which ensures that when they fall into unconsciousness they become twice as heavy as usual. Luckily for Fred Hermione didn't weigh very much to begin with. George was almost crackling with fury. Hermione was their friend and it was their job to keep her safe. If they couldn't manage that on one stupid broom ride...

The door was small. At least in comparison to the rest of the house. Sirius led them into a warm kitchen with cream walls, glinting copper pans and seemed to scream the phrase "Hearth and Home."

Sirius sat them down at the table.

"Is she asleep?" Harry asked breaking the silence. Fred nodded and Harry blinked in understanding.

He explained to his confused godfather.

"Hermione doesn't sleep. In fact, I reckon she'd be classed as a chronic insomniac. She only sleeps when she's truly exhausted, ill or with the Twins."

"She got frozen up there." George murmured.

Sirius stared at the trio, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he snapped his fingers. A house elf appeared, dressed in a clean dress, with a pinafore wrapped around her tiny waist. The three teenagers barely blinked.

"Could you fetch us a blanket and some hot chocolate Filly?"

The elf nodded and clicked her own fingers. A blanket appeared around Hermione, tucked in tight around her body. She didn't even stir. The tiny elf padded over to the range and began to make the hot chocolate.

"I'm sorry about this, boys." Sirius frowned. "The warming charms should have been enough."

"Not for someone as light as Twist." For the first time, Sirius noticed how small the girl was. It wasn't her height, for she had grown since she'd come to Hogwarts. It was the lack of padding on her bones. That wasn't to say she was anorexic. In Sirius' job he'd seen more than a few women, starving themselves to death. He'd even had to have one hospitalised. She was just so very slight.

Hermione stirred when the smell of hot chocolate began to permeate the room. Sirius suspected Filly had added her own magic to the blanket to warm the girl, as the blue tinge to her face had receded almost immediately. Sirius coughed and the girl woke with a start. The Twins relaxed slightly and breathed out. Sirius doubted they were even aware of it.

"Fred?"

"Yes, Amazon?"

"Put me down."

Fred, reluctantly let her sit on the bench next to him. Hermione glanced around with interest.

"This is a very nice kitchen." She announced.

The Twins smirked slightly.

"Polite as always Lady Twist."

"Shut up. What time is it?"

Sirius answered.

"Almost seven o clock. We're having hot chocolate before dinner." Sirius' words were punctuated by the arrival of five mugs of steaming chocolate. "Twist this is Filly our house elf."

The elf curtsied deeply and Hermione stood from her seat and moved to stand in front of the elf.

"Pleased to meet you Filly." And she curtsied back. For those that don't know, being able to curtsey in jeans is a hard skill. The elf turned pink and beamed at the girl.

"Mistress Twist has shown me a great honour. It will be Filly's pleasure to serve Mistress."

Hermione frowned and sat down again. Fred could almost see her planning to look up House Elves.

"Sirius?" Harry asked. "Where is Remus?"

Sirius made a general gesture which meant around and sprang to his feet.

"Come on." Picking up their mugs and making sure Hermione was still wrapped in her blanket they followed the eccentric prankster. They wandered along a dark hallway until they emerged into a brightly lit sitting room. Sirius vaulted onto a sofa, dangling his feet off the end as he did so, before stretching out completely on the cushions.

"MOONY!"

Hermione jumped, not used to such loud noises, although being friends with the twins she probably should have been. They waited quietly in the room for a while until she was able to pick up footsteps coming closer. Eventually a door opened and a tall man with sandy hair stuck his head around the door.

"Honestly Sirius." He berated "These nice people will think you're not house trained." He strode in and smiled rather sheepishly at them. "Hello Harry, nice to see you again," Harry repeated his earlier display and leapt at the man. While her friend impersonated a human limpet Hermione smiled tentatively at him, unconsciously linking hands with Fred's free hand whilst George rested his on her shoulder. The steam from their mugs rose in spirals and the quiet was interrupted by the strangers deep chuckling.

"Harry let me go please."

The raven-haired teen dropped the ground and blushed as he caught the amused expressions on his friends faces.

"As I strongly suspect Sirius has been too uncouth to introduce me. I am Remus Lupin. Feel free to call me Remus." The trio smiled in response. "And you three must be Fred, George and Twist?"

Hermione nodded. Remus frowned. "Why are you wearing a blanket?"

"A slight case of hypothermia on the flight here." Hermione murmured.

Remus simply shook his head in disbelief.

"Only Sirius Black would be irresponsible enough to fly children that far in December." Remus glared at the offending Marauder. Hermione smiled slightly when she noticed that at some point during Remus' introduction he had fallen asleep himself.

"Ignore him." Harry chuckled. "He does that. C'mon we'll show you to your room."

Normally Remus would have had a problem with housing three people in the same room. The two brothers were fine, but the young first year was a girl and even were-wolves know where to draw the limit of propriety. However, Harry had owled him earlier that week to explain that Hermione had to sleep in the same room as the Twins. Remus had passed the letter to Sirius, who'd shrugged.

"They're only thirteen. It'll be fine."

So Remus, against his better judgement, led the three guests to their bedroom. He stood and watched as they looked around the opulent room with awe and no small amount of disbelief. He knew the Weasley family barely got by. Everyone did. So he wasn't surprised by them. It was the little girl. The little girl who bore all the signs of mistreatment and neglect that he knew so well. Harry nudged him out of his reverie.

"Uncle Remi, could you un-shrink the Twins trunk?" Harry offered him the maroon luggage in the palm of his hand. A wand wave later and the heavy trunk banged onto the floor.

"Doesn't Twist have a trunk?" He asked. The girl shook her head silently and dropped her satchel onto the second of the three beds.

"I pack light." She stood in front of him with one eyebrow raised. Remus stared back at her and guessed she knew that he knew what that meant. He nodded once.

"Well, then it's time for dinner. Who wants to wake Sirius?"

Dinner was a happy affair, once they woke Sirius from his nap. Hermione laughed quietly to herself as she dragged herself up the staircase. She'd never met anyone who barked in their sleep. The twins had spent dinner being happily regaled of the tales of the Marauders. No one had commented on their gloves. In this house of oddments, they didn't seem out of place. The tall raggedy man, the aristocratic playboy, the boy with two names, a pair of daft twins and the orphan. In a strange sort of way, they fitted together. She was exhausted though and she sat down on the step, pondering the rest of the flight.

"Up you get little Amazon." An arm on each side and Hermione almost flew up the staircase. She wasn't even sure they let her feet touch the ground. The twins had been slightly overprotective tonight, but she could hardly blame them after the broom incident. They put her down once they reached their room and the three of them stood surveying the scene.

"Do you think Sirius would mind if we moved the beds together?"

She glanced at George in surprise.

"Why?"

"Well they're a bit small for two people and you need to get to sleep tonight." Fred nodded in agreement and the two boys began to shove the beds together, one on either side of Hermione's. She shrugged.

She would sleep better with them there and really she preferred it. She wandered off to the bathroom to get changed. Eventually, she emerged and clambered into the middle of the now giant bed. She crawled under the duvet, trying not to disturb Fred who was already curled up on her left. She tugged her gloves off, happy to free her hands. She tucked the gloves under her pillow and lay down. It wasn't until the light went out and George curled up on her right that she began to drift off.

Updated 2019