Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Harry Potter. It is the property of JK Rowling and her associates. No monetary or material profit was gained from this story.

Chapter 11

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Thunder crashed and rolled overhead. Hermione stared at the ceiling of Ginny's room. Why did this have to happen? Why did Harry have to do this to them? Everything was going to be perfect! He was supposed to marry Ginny and she was going to marry Ron. Why did he have to ruin everything?! No one would take her seriously in the ministry now.

She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. Her eyes watered. All her plans were in ruin now. As a muggle-born there was no way she would have advanced in the ministry if she was not the friends with the Boy-Who-Lived. If she was married to a light pureblood man who was brother-in-law/best friend to the Boy-Who-lived, Hermione could reach heights never achieved by a muggle-born.

As she thought more about all the plans that might not come true if Harry stayed with the twins. It solidified the plan in her mind. Maybe it wasn't right to fork the twins over to the Dark Lord, but with Fred and George out of the way then Harry could be convinced to mate with Ginny like he was supposed to and defeat Voldemort.

Hermione didn't believe in fate or destiny, but she did believe that some things held certainties. Ginny and Harry were perfectly suited to one another, and magic couldn't possibly abide by things like homosexuality could it? It just wasn't natural! And Harry had defeated Voldemort several times already. He could do it again (and not screw it up this time hopefully).

Slightly reassured with her plan, Hermione rolled over to try and sleep. She couldn't wait for this to be over with already.

OoOoO

Harry woke feeling warm, comfortable, and safe. He never wanted to move again. As he basked in the warmth of his sleeping space, he realized that he was not alone. Soft breath puffed against his neck, warm arms were wrapped around his waist, calloused feet tangled with his own. He slowly tried to get up. His progress was halted when the arms around him gripped and pulled tighter.

He knew that the bodies that were pressed against him were the twins. There was no way he would let anyone else sleep like this with him. But he couldn't remember how they got like this.

Slowly the events of the day before floated into his mind. He had nearly given himself away yesterday. But he couldn't help it! Harry had nearly lost them. And it wasn't the thought that he would lose one or both of them, that had been so scary. It had been the thought that Fred might have to go through life without George or vice versa. One of the twins without the other was so wrong that it was almost a crime against nature.

Harry looked around, barely acknowledging the bubble of magic that surrounded them. Not noticing anything that would cause alarm, he gently snuggled back into the arms of his mates and contentedly basked in their affectionate embrace.

OoOoO

An hour or so later, George woke. By this time, the bubble had dissolved and the house elves had brought them a plate of sandwiches under a spell to keep them fresh. Carefully he leaned over Harry to poke Fred in the ribs. He jolted slightly as he woke. George gestured to the couch and then to Harry. Slowly they maneuvered Harry and themselves so that they were sitting on the couch with Harry was laying across their laps.

It was silent for a long moment.

"Yesterday was …"

"Scary? Insane?"

"Yeah."

Both of the gave a slight jump when Nimbus and the others walked in.

"Is everything okay?" Nuvain kept her distance, but it was clear that she wanted to rush over a wake up Harry and give him a giant hug.

"Yeah everything's fine. But what happened?"

George watched as the elves all looked at each other before changing the subject.

"So, you all hungry? The house elves made this huge breakfast!" Kylan's loud voice broke through the haze of sleep and woke Harry up.

"Did they make blueberry pancakes?" came the sleepy voice from George's lap. Everyone's eyes were drawn to Harry; they all started to laugh at his wild mop of hair.

"What?"

OoOoO

After breakfast they relaxed, decompressing after the excitement of the day before. Kama watched them goof off to make Harry laugh; He was concerned though, soon the Dark Lord would make his move and soon they would have to start training. It was hard to believe that it had barely been a week or two since this had all started.

It was nice, though to watch the three of them together. Kama was jolted out of his thoughts by a ball that flew his way. Laughing, he joined in the fun. Harry needed this carefree time after what happened yesterday. What harm could it do?

OoOoO

As Harry and his guests had a untroubled afternoon to recover from the scare of the day before, Hermione and Ginny worked. They sewed the crude likenesses of the twins slowly and painstakingly.

Ron had stood guard while the dolls soaked in a mixture of potions for hours on end, stopping them from floating to close too the top or sinking too far down. The potion had to be evenly distributed through the dolls.

Ginny helped him set them on the racks to dry, letting the excess of the compulsion and sensory potions drain away from the fabric.

When they were, at last, finished, Hermione settled them into individual boxes, tied up with twine and spelled tight. She would have to send the package by owl as it was too late to try and meet in person. Just to certain that he wouldn't toss the containers thinking that they were trying to pull one over on him, she sent a letter ahead with Pig before using a commandeered Order owl to take the parcel to Malfoy.

Together they all let out a breath. It was out of their hands now.

OoOoO

That night the cottage residents all went to bed exhausted. They had all hugged and said their goodnights and retreated to their beds. But halfway across the country in an abandoned Manor home, Voldemort cackled. Hermione had given Draco, and by extension the Dark Lord, the tools that would allow them to bring down the Boy-Who-Lived.

Back at the home, the twins rolled out of bed. They made their way out of the house silently, creeping out the squeaky side door towards the garden. Once they reached the edges of the wards that Nimbus had put up, the Deatheaters were able to locate them using the dolls. The Deatheaters apparated to them. They stunned the House elves that had followed the twins into the garden, rolling them under the bushes. In another blink they were gone, taking the unresisting twins back to their master.

Harry woke with a bad feeling. It wasn't something he could put his finger on. It was that twist of foreboding his stomach, that light-headed feeling of horror. Tossing the covers off, he raced out of his room, down the hall, and into the twins room. They were gone…

"NO!"

A/N: Frau, you made an excellent point when you commented on Hermione's willingness to go against Harry. I tried to give a little insight to her thoughts. (I do not share Hermione's views, and I'm sure canon Hermione would be appalled at my characterization of her. But needs must.)