A/N: I have no excuses. Please accept my offering of a new chapter and lack of promise of a timeline for the next update. College is no joke you guys.
Fred was in trouble. He supposed it ran in his family. Ginny has loved Harry since she could walk. Their mum and dad were married right out of Hogwarts. Bill and Fleur wasted no time tying the knot. Even his own twin was utterly besotted with Angelina. He cursed his family.
As soon as he had the small thought that he found Granger even remotely attractive, his feelings took off without him. He started to notice every little thing about her. How her hair frizzed when she brewed a potion for them, and no matter what she did, it would always be in her way. The way her mouth pressed tight when they told a horrible joke as if she wasn't sure whether to scold or laugh. The way her nose crinkles when she first opens a book trying to hide that she actually loves the smell.
He also noticed how in the few weeks since she'd been here, that she'd begun to smile more and had more life in her eyes. He tried not to feel too responsible.
He quite liked the bubble they'd created for themselves. He and George would crack jokes and Hermione would laugh. Hermione would look over their instructions for products and work through the mechanics of it, he and George would read books and research for their new products and Hermione would pretend she doesn't see them actually reading a book even though her smirk would give away that she's actually amused, Hermione would make dinner sometimes and he and George would tell her it was amazing even if it was the worst thing they'd ever had (how it was possible to ruin a simple can of beans Fred would never know). But Fred knew that the good times had a time limit. Hermione already shared the timeline of events that will happen over the next week.
A week from now, the war will be over, and he might not live to see it.
Hermione had made promises in hushed whispers in the dark of his room at night where George can't hear that she would do everything in her power to save him. He'd tried to tell her once that he would be fine and that as long as she and George made it through the battle alive, he'd be fine if it was his time to die. Then he looked into her eyes and saw such a raw pain in the moonlight streaming across her face, and he thought maybe she wouldn't be fine.
"Do you feel anything?" Hermione shouted from the other side of the flat.
"Nothing at all!" He shouted back.
They were currently doing their daily testing of the distance the bond will allow them. In the two weeks since they'd started, they'd come to the conclusion that when they are getting along they have a nice radius to work around and whenever they have a meaningful conversation or get a better understanding of the other, that radius increases.
Hermione came racing through the flat, curls flying in a wild tangle behind her, and practically slammed into Fred wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Fred barely had enough time to wrap his own arms around her before she was pulling back with a laugh and looking up at him eyes shining with elation.
The last time Fred saw her this happy about anything to do with the bond was the day she found out the distance allowed her to go to the loo without Fred having to sit by the door.
"Brilliant! Do you know what this means?" She exclaimed. And Fred didn't have enough time to respond before she continued on. "It means we don't have to be glued at the hip over the next week." She laughed again and sighed still beaming with all her white straight teeth.
Fred couldn't help but smile back. He knew she was worrying over going into the battle with having to be so close together. Truthfully, he worried a bit as well, but it also allowed him to see that she was okay and unharmed. A tall order for battle in the middle of a war to be sure, but Fred decided to be a little selfish in his requests.
"Now all you have to do is not have a row for another seven days." George teased from his position on the couch where he was sorting through a fresh batch of owl orders.
Instantly their cheeks turned pink and they put distance between them, Hermione going to sit on the couch next to George picking up some order forms and thumbing through them and Fred going to the bookshelf across from them picking up a stack of Hermione's finished choices on his way and putting them in their proper place.
During their trials of testing their allotted distance, Hermione and Fred realized that if they argued, that distance shrank. One rather large row over the theoretical testing of "perfectly safe" products on consenting house elves led to Hermione hitting Fred with a "mild" stinging hex and storming out of the room only to swiftly come back into the room holding her stomach and in tears. Which led to George finding them an hour later sitting on the floor with their backs to each other holding hands with identical pouts on their faces. For three days, they had to be in the same room as the other until they both apologized. This led to awkward shower situations that George still continues to tease them about.
Hermione, for her part, while elated at the information on how the bond worked, was still increasingly wary of the bond's intentions. During her fifth year, when Harry began to have problems with his connection to Voldemort, she researched different bonds as much as she could with Hogwarts's extensive (but limited) library. While not really finding anything useful for Harry, she does remember a specific martial spell that is cast on the bride and groom in arranged marriages that conditions the couple through punishment and reward to enjoy being around each other enough to have an heir. Once an heir was guaranteed, whether by conception or likelihood of future conception, the bond would gradually dissolve. She found this spell to be barbaric and blatantly manipulative in causing pain with disagreements and distance and warm feelings with closeness both physical and metaphorical. Ignoring that it's already an arranged marriage with no choice, the bond doesn't give the couple an actual choice in their feelings toward one another.
Which makes her blooming attraction (she definitely wouldn't go as far as to say crush) on Fred that much more unsettling.
Not to mention the possibility that they could already be married.
In a guilty way, she sometimes enjoyed the bond they shared. The feeling of contentment and belonging, however artificial, was something Hermione could revel in. She hadn't felt that in a long time.
Not to mention the lack of nightmares. Once, about a week ago, Hermione was crying out again, only this time Fred couldn't wake her. So he stopped trying to and just held her, wrapped his arms around her and shushed and whispered nothings to her. According to him, she calmed down alarmingly fast, but when he tried to leave to go back to his cot, she whimpered. So he stayed. To protect what boundary there was, he lain on top of the covers with her tucked back in them and he held her hand. When they woke, they had gravitated toward each other in the night and were properly cuddled. Amidst the awkwardness, Hermione realized it was the best sleep she'd had in a while.
They don't speak of it, but the cot against the wall was transfigured back into an old slipper and every night Fred wraps his arms around her and she hides a smile she thinks Fred can't see. George doesn't mention the lack of screams in the night (he was very firm about the no silencing charm rule from the very beginning), but he and Fred shared a look of understanding that both made sense and completely went over Hermione's head at the same time.
She was never as close with them as she could have been, and if it wasn't for Dumbledore's Army, they might not have been close at all. She was still closer to them than any other of Ron's siblings (including Ginny who, despite growing up with six brothers and playing on a sports team, was a level of feminine Hermione couldn't hope to relate to). Fred and George remained an enigma of pranks, quidditch, and business until Hermione appeared in their flat and lived with them for three weeks.
Hermione enjoyed her stay with the twins far more than she ever would have thought. It was the small things that made her happy. Like catching a twin with a book and seeing the self-conscious flush rise to their cheeks so she pretends she doesn't see, or when she cooks for them and they complement her "culinary expertise" and she knows they're lying because Harry and Ron told her multiple times she's abominable at cooking but she lets them lie because it's endearing. And when they're making products and she witnesses the way the boys work in tandem as if they share one brain, but then they argue back and forth in a circle as if they share one brain cell. Or when George complains loudly and extensively over taking inventory, but smiles anyway because it's all for show and he secretly enjoys seeing evidence that they have a business doing what they enjoy.
It was also small things that endeared her to Fred. When he'd mumble inaudibly to himself when he's working through something. Seeing the way his eyes light up when he's explaining an idea for a product and those crackles of gold flash through his coffee colored irises sparking in his excitement. And when he's working over a potion and steam collects in his bangs making it turn to a drooping auburn and he pulls up the hem of his shirt to wipe the steam off his face.
She doesn't think she can blame those things on their bond. They're just utterly Fred.
By now Fred had joined them in looking over orders. It was a bit crowded with all three of them on the couch and Fred running a frustrated hand through his hair making it stick up, George was grumbling about a lack of boomslang skin, and Hermione was frowning and chewing her lip in concentration. It was like any other day in the flat. Except that this was the last order they were filling before the final battle. They were leaving that night. And no one mentioned the undercurrent of fear they all felt.
Fred moved his knee to where it bumped Hermione's then quickly moved it back.
She looked over at him, eyebrows raised. When he didn't look over at her, she frowned and looked back to the forms in her lap guessing it was an accident.
A couple minutes later she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over at George to see what he wanted. When he noticed her staring, he looked at her in question.
"What?" He asked. By now Fred was looking their way, and George's eyes flickered between the two of them.
"Don't ask me, you're the one that tapped me on the shoulder." Hermione looked at him expectantly. George knew what was going on. He decided to play along with whatever his brother was up to.
He shook his head with a huff of a laugh and went back to looking at the forms. "You're imagining things, Granger."
Hermione frowned harder and went back to her stack of papers. She paused for a moment, then shook her head slightly.
Moments later, Fred, while looking completely unconcerned and occupied with his forms, bumped his shoe with Hermione's.
Hermione turned to look at Fred.
George was becoming increasingly amused and found it harder to concentrate on his stack.
When she realized Fred was not going to look at her, she huffed and went back to looking at her papers. Her hair had started to frizz a bit.
When he was sure Hermione was completely engrossed in her stack of forms, George tapped her on the shoulder.
She gave a strangled groan and turned to Fred.
"Fred Weasley!"
"What?" He looked at her with a startled expression on his face.
"You know exactly what!" Her hair was sparking now.
He made a gesture with his free hand that meant he had no clue what she was talking about and Hermione took the stack of papers she had and smacked him on the shoulder.
George couldn't help it anymore and started laughing.
Fred was quick to join him and Hermione looked back and forth between the two of them before dissolving into giggles.
The earlier tension from before was not forgotten, but the air was lighter.
Sometime in the late afternoon, Hermione was stirring a potion while simultaneously going over a checklist of supplies they'd need for the coming week. It was quite a sight that Fred walked into. Hermione sitting cross legged on the floor in the middle of the room with her hair twice its normal size, one arm stirring a caldron and the other holding a rapidly moving quill while piles of stuff surrounded her as if her beaded bag had exploded.
"I thought we already went through everything we'll need." Fred said crossing his arms.
"Just making sure." She mumbled distractedly, marking something down.
Fred sighed. "You said that last time." He tiptoed around piles of clothing and various potion bottles and crouched down next to where she was sitting.
She went to add another ingredient into the caldron and his hand caught hers pausing the motion. Her entire body was taught like a violin string, betraying her calm facade. His thumb started to rub circles on the back of her hand.
"We'll be okay, Hermione. You don't have to take full responsibility here."
Her entire body seemed to deflate with his words.
"If I don't then who will?" Her voice was soft and her eyes were glassy. She looked to him hoping he had an answer.
"No one. It'll be how it's meant to be."
She sighed heavily and pulled her hand out of his grasp. He didn't give her the answer she wanted to hear. She turned back to the caldron and dropped the powdery substance in.
"I need to finish this potion." It was a defeated dismissal, but Fred wasn't letting up this easy.
"What's this potion for?"
"It's antivenom."
"For who?"
"Someone who gets bit by Nagini."
It was Fred's turn to sigh. He truly thought it was noble of her to try and save everyone she could, and he knew she knew the risks of meddling and making these decisions. He just wished she wasn't so preoccupied with fixing everything. He wished she'd let someone take the world off her shoulders.
He was coming to realize it wasn't a battle he could win, he'd just be there to pick her back up when it crushes her.
"I'm going to kip on the couch for a while." And before he could think too hard about it, he leaned over and lightly kissed her temple. He stood up and walked out trying not to feel pleased at the hitch in her stirring.
After Hermione's brain finished short circuiting, she let out a sigh and thought about Fred's words (and pushing that kiss to the back of her mind). She knew he was worried, George was too for that matter. They don't want her taking responsibility for what's to come. But what they don't understand is that bad things are going to happen and she has the power to change them, and if she doesn't, then that's on her. Right?
Why else would she have been sent back? The Sands of Purpose. From what she understands, it's the purpose of whoever is wearing the time turner. That's why Rookwood's idea didn't work, because Hermione's purpose was to avenge and make everything better. So now she's back in time to make this future better. Then why the connection to Fred? It was true that she was specifically avenging Fred at the time, but why connect the two of them?
Hermione groaned and put her head in her hands. She'd thought this issue through over and over in circles the past few weeks and she's no closer to a definite answer than she was when she arrived here.
She'd come to the conclusion to save everyone she could along the main path. She would continue along with Harry and Ron through the castle finding the horcruxes like she did before only this time she'd do everything she could to save people as she went. Her grieving heart tugged because she knew so many lives that could not be saved that way. But it was the only thing she could do. Harry will need her. And Fred and George will be with her. It will have to be enough.
She heaved a shaky sigh and bottled the antivenom. At least she is practically guaranteed to save Snape. She remembered watching him die. His final words. Final mission for Harry.
She pulled out her wand and magically packed everything away into her bag once more. She didn't make it all the way through her checklist, but Fred was right, they'd checked and she'd triple checked before. It's all there.
Tiredly, she walked out of the room and crept down the hallway. The late afternoon sun was casting a golden glow through the flat. She thought it was rather ethereal and not at all reflective of the emotions of the flat's inhabitants.
She heard pans clanking and containers opening as she rounded the opening to the kitchen. She paused there, leaning against the mull, and watched George. She took in the tense set to his shoulders and his jerky movements, the unsteady way he poured tomato sauce into the pot and muscle jumping in his jaw. The way he'd occasionally look over at a photo on the wall of a redhead and a dark skinned girl laughing.
"She'll be fine, you know." She whispered trying not to startle him.
It didn't work and he jumped, nearly flinging sauce everywhere.
"Granger!" He exclaimed.
"Shh. Fred is sleeping." She shushed and leaned back enough so she could see the other redheaded prankster currently dead to world on the couch. His mouth was open a little and his hair was a mess. It reminded her of the mornings she woke up before him and could trace his features with her eyes.
"…off to the stars and no one would ever think to look for us! What do you say, Granger?"
Hermione turned back to George and frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Our elopement of course! You and Fred have loosened the leash, and now we can run away together. I can be devastatingly romantic when I want to be. We can do it, you and I-"
"Don't you already have a girl to run away with?" She interrupted, amused by his outlandish proclamation.
At the mention of Angelina, his grin faltered slightly. He tried to laugh, but it was a hard sound.
"Ah, Granger, you know you're the only one for me. I-"
"She'll be fine, George, she makes it." Hermione soothed.
"You can't know that." He finally dropped his act and turned back to making dinner.
"I do because I lived it-"
"Yes, I know. You're from the future and in that future Angelina survived the battle. But you can't guarantee that she'll live this time."
"But I can-"
"Nope. That's not how life works, Hermione. You can't decide that she'll live. You could save her from one thing while putting her in the way of something else."
Hermione realized that while George is speaking of Angelina, he's also warning her about everyone else.
"Then what do I do?" She asked tiredly. The prospect of saving people and the consequences that follow always seems to gnaw at her, no matter the decisions she makes.
"We hope." The voice startled her. She turned around to face the sleepy twin who had a sad smile.
"It's all we really can do."
After dinner, the three of them packed up everything that wasn't already in Hermione's bag and got ready to head out into the night.
The twins put on their dragon hide coats that they'd charmed black to offer cover from the night.
Hermione dawned her auror uniform that she'd arrived in and strapped on her thigh holster.
Wordlessly, they apperated to a muggle park and then to the Forrest of Dean and then to somewhere on the coast.
It was cold being so close to the water in April, but they didn't set up a fire. Lee Jordan was already waiting for them. Fred had sent a patronus letting him know where to meet up and who their guest would be. George reached into Hermione's bag and pulled out an ancient looking radio that had what looked like small satellite dishes on it. He whispered a code word into one of them and a light blinked on casting a red hue on their faces. They sat in a circle around the device and Fred waved his wand over it and a quiet tuning hum sounded.
Lee Jordan started the broadcast with an enthusiastic introduction thanking listeners for joining them.
Hermione had to close her eyes for the next section. She felt Fred take her hand. She remembered all those nights sitting in the tent with Harry and Ron in silence as the list of names was read off. Sometimes it was longer than others.
This night was a long list.
Fred squeezed her hand and then he spoke his part.
"Thank you, River. Now tonight, we don't have Royal for an update on the muggle world, and we don't have Romulus to introduce our Pal of Potter. So that honor goes to me. She's a new guest, but you all know her. She's got something important for all of us. So we'll do our best to welcome Retrospect."
Hermione cleared her throat. "Thank you, Rapier." She took a deep breath.
Originally, when Fred and George asked her to say something on Potterwatch, she thought about refusing. Harry was the one who could give an inspiring speech, not her. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized, she has something they all need to hear. It won't matter what she says because they'll hear the certainty in her voice. A certainty that's there because she knows. Which goes with George's very amusing (in his opinion) codename for her.
"Not too long ago, I was in your position. Listening to this broadcast, worrying and not knowing. And I know how that uncertainty can affect us."
She thought of Ron and Harry arguing in a tent. Xenophillius after his daughter was taken.
"But this is it. It's almost over. The fear. The worry. The doubt. We've all lost. All of us. Friends, family, o-ourselves." Her voice cracked and she squeezed Fred's hand harder.
"But we're not done yet. There's still hope. And we're ready; we're taking the fight to them. We're not asking you to join us. But you'll know. Be careful. Look out for each other. You'll see the sign. It'll be hard to miss." She gave a wry grin to the boys sitting with her. They grinned back.
"This is the fight of our lives. And we're going to win."
A/N: *Foreshadows with vindictive pleasure and a Grinch smile*
Don't expect another update for a while. As I've said before: college. I have finally figured out where to go with this story though, if that helps. It doesn't help me though because I actually have to write it.
Once again thanks for reading and sticking with me. We'll get there eventually. And next time, I'll finish the story before I start posting so we don't have this problem.