Yay! The next chapter is here! I hope you're as happy as I am. I also hope you like this chapter, cuz I'm a little skeptical. Well, on with it!

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, don't own anything, blah, blah, blah.

George and Fred were in the dormitory much later that night, George sitting on his four poster playing with the strings of the robe he was wearing. Fred was standing, having an intense discussion with another boy across the room. Lee Jordan stood before his open trunk, hands up holding a toothbrush in an expression of surrender.

"Look, Fred, I'm sorry, I just…I dunno." Lee stated.

"What don't you know?" Fred demanded.

"Oh, just leave it alone, Fred." George mumbled.

"No! This is our best friend. I can't just have him leave us without a proper explanation." Fred said to his twin, George shook his head.

"Yeah, but I recognize a lost cause when I see one." George said under his breath. Fred ignored him, turning back to Lee.

"Come on, Lee." Fred said quietly, looking deeply into his best friend's eyes. "This can't be the end."

"I just…" Lee groaned. "It's just that…"

"We are the same people you've been friends with for the past five years. Nothing has changed."

"How can you say nothing has changed!" Lee retorted.

"Because it hasn't." George stood now, taking his brother's side in the discussion. "Just because you didn't know doesn't mean anything."

Lee shuddered visibly. "But…"

"But what Lee? What else is there to say?"

"I know you're the same people. It's just…I've gotta wrap my mind around this, you know?" Lee shook his head. "But you're right. I can't just stop talking to you two. You're my best friends. You know, in love or not. I should have come to expect the unexpected with you two." He reached out and ruffled the brothers' hair. They smiled.

"Good! I knew you'd come around." Fred said.

"Now if only the rest of the school would." George said.

"I'm sure they will. Just a matter of time." Lee said. The three of them climbed into their beds. "I just wish I had heard it from you." Lee whispered before he fell asleep.

---

Ever since Malfoy had outed them to the whole of Hogwarts, things had been different for the Weasley twins. They had to deal with the sneers, glares and stares that followed them down the crowded corridors. Snickers and whispered providing a newly found soundtrack to their daily routine. Sometimes Fred offered words back at them, sometimes in the form of simple hexes. Sometimes he grabbed George around the waist and blatantly kissed him in front of the crowd. But most times, he just pushed through the crowds ushering George in front of him, telling him not to listen, not to mind their words, that they were just jealous that they were off the market.

Day by day the jeers got worse and the pair of them began to wonder why no teachers intervened. It wasn't like the crowds were quiet about their insults. And the things they were yelling were far past "mudblood" on the list of things you weren't supposed to say. But they endured them, brushing off the harsh callous words. They just didn't understand, and wouldn't take the time to try.

Ron still wouldn't talk to them, he was taking every possible action to avoid them entirely. Ginny didn't talk to them much either, but when she did see them she was at civil. She told them she'd convinced Ron not to tell their mother. The twins were thankful for that, but they missed feeling like they belonged to their own family. They missed that warm cozy feeling of being a Weasley. Even though they had the trademark red hair, and wore their signature Weasley sweaters, they felt like outsiders to their own bloodline.

While their siblings wouldn't spare them a second glance, Harry and Hermione still talked to them almost as much as Lee. Harry had always been accepting, and Hermione believed everyone had a right to do what they pleased. If only she'd take some time from her S.P.E.W. campaign and start advocating that.

But by and by, the Weasley twins were coping. They knew this was probably, hopefully, as bad as things were going to get. And no matter what happened, as Fred had promised George millions of times, they would always have each other, no matter what happened involving anyone else. George swam in Fred's words. If it wasn't for him; his words, his hands, his mouth…well, George wasn't sure he would be able to take this alone. Whenever he was feeling like his life was at a dead end, whenever he was afraid he wasn't going to let himself see a new day, there were Fred's hands, sliding gently over his back. There was his tongue, not so gently finding his own. Fred wasn't going to let his brother slip through the cracks. He needed George as much as he needed him.

"Freddie." George said, throwing things into his trunk. "I don't wanna go home for Christmas. Can we just stay here?"

"I think that would arouse suspicions in our dear mother." Fred said, tossing a bundle of parchment into his trunk.

"I know. I just don't want to face them. It's going to be awkward. We both know it."

"I know, but we have to just play it off, or else we'll be subject to one of those torturous 'family talks', and you know how painful those are." Fred answered.

"Yeah." George said quietly, staring intently at a pair of socks he was shifting around in his hands. "This sucks. I want things back how they were."

"Why? Then I couldn't do this in public without worrying about who might see." Fred said, and wrapped his arms around George's neck, planting his lips against his brother's. He sucked on his bottom lip, nibbling and biting down a bit harder than was necessary. George moaned, and lashed back, clamping his mouth around Fred's tongue. The socks fell to the floor, forgotten. They rolled under a bed, trying to get out of the way, feeling awkward, not wanting to intrude in the moment of intimacy being shared, not wanting be a third wheel. Fred's hungry lips moved toward George's neck. George placed his hands on Fred's shoulders, curving in against the gesture. Fred finished and laid his head against George's shoulder. "See? I love being able to just take you and do what I want, whenever I want now."

"Not whatever you want. I don't think there would be anything left of me if you did whatever you wanted." George smiled, kissing his brother lightly once more. "C'mon, we better get down there, or the train will leave without us."

---

Arthur Weasley was walking briskly down the hall in the Ministry of Magic. He needed his copy of the muggle newspaper to continue his assigned research on something the muggles called videogames. This particular paper was said to have a review of the best videogames of the year. The Minister would be proud of him, if he got his research done right.

As he was walking back to his office, he heard the snatch of a conversation that one Lucius Malfoy was having with another person, whose face was hidden in the shadow of the hallway. Normally, he would have walked on and not paid any mind to the shallow musings of this pompous man, but he heard the names of his twin sons pass through his mouth.

"..hear of the Weasley twins? Fred and George?" Lucius whispered, casting a sideways glance along the hall.

"No, I haven't. Why? What's going on with them?" the other person asked interestedly.

"Well, my boy found them engaging in appalling sexual activities outside in the halls of Hogwarts."

"No!" the person said, shocked. "With each other!"

"Yes with each other, you stupid man. Why else would I be telling you?" Lucius said. "Anyhow, my Draco told the whole school and has practically everyone turned against them."

"Good, that muggle-loving family needed to be taken down a peg. Glad to see they finally got theirs."

"Yes, it is." Lucius agreed. "I just can't wait until the parents find out. Imagine the look on that freak Arthur's face…" they both started laughing and Arthur backed away from the scene and into his office. He sat there, staring at the immobile pictures on the muggle newspaper for the rest of his shift, his mind mulling over what he had just heard about his sons. He didn't want to believe him, it was Lucius after all. Malfoys loved to gossip. But the thought was still nagging at the back of his brain the entire way home, and even as he walked through the door and Molly reminded him that their children were on their way home from Hogwarts for the holidays.

"Are you alright, Arthur?" she asked him, noting her husband's distracted facial expression.

"You'll never guess what I heard at work today, Molly."

Oh, cliffy! Kinda. Aha. I hope you enjoyed this. I know its not the most exciting chapter, but I was just trying to work through some writer's block I was having, and I think that I may have done it. But only trying the next chapter will tell. As always, reviews are so appreciated! :D