I loved writing this chapter. It was so much fun! I'm going to dedicate this chapter to Wizards-Pupil, in celebration of completing the final (113th!) chapter of her greatest story to date (and my all-time favorite fanfic!), Snipe. If you haven't read that story yet, DO IT. Actually, do it even if you've already read it once. It's just as good the second time. You won't be disappointed, I promise. I don't know if you're reading this, Mya, but you (and your story) are super fantastic :)
One day in late November, the twins were bundled up under blankets on the couch, Hermione nestled between them. They had just finished watching a documentary on giraffes on the telly, and were discussing the finer points of the show.
Craning his neck out as far as he could, George climbed off the couch and got on all fours, and started lumbering around the sitting room. "Look at me, I'm a giraffe!" he exclaimed.
"George!" Hermione shouted, laughing. "Get back over here, you just let out all the warmth! I'm freezing!"
"No worries, Granger," Fred shot back, "I can think of a much better way for the two of us to keep warm that doesn't involve him. Or, well, it can, if you're into that sort of thing," he finished with a wink.
Hermione froze in place with a scandalized look on her face, and then burst out laughing again. Smacking him on the arm, she smiled widely. "Oh Fred, whatever will I do with you?"
"Shag me senseless?" he replied with a cheeky grin. George fell over onto his side, clutching his stomach as he laughed, while Hermione's face turned a bright red. "Just kidding, Granger. Angie would hex my bollocks off if I so much as suggested shagging someone else. Though if you're still interested, I bet George wouldn't say no..."
FWAP
Fred was hit in the face by a pillow thrown by George. "FRED!" he exclaimed. All of a sudden, he sat bolt upright and put his finger up to his mouth to silence his flatmates. "Ssh, do you hear that?" Fred looked up from tickling Hermione and locked eyes with his brother. "Is it just me, or does it sound like the wards have been breached?"
"I think you're right," Fred replied, with a serious expression washing over his features. "Hermione. Get in your safe room, and don't make a sound. George, you sweep through the flat and make sure there are no signs of a third person living here. I'll go down to the shop to check for intruders."
"Please be safe, Fred," Hermione said with a worried look on her face. She grabbed up her book from the table and quickly made her way into the safe room, George right behind her. Once he had the entrance to the safe room concealed, he went back into the living room.
"Careful, Forge. First sign of trouble, send up a patronus," he told his brother, a fierce look of determination set on his face. Fred nodded, and then made his way down the stairs to the shop.
-oOo-
As he made his way to the front of the shop, Fred could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. There was clearly someone trying to get in.
He tightened his grip on his wand and walked over to the door. Peering through the blinds, he saw a few burly men in cloaks standing on the other side of the entrance. He recognized one of them as Goyle, Sr., and another as Yaxley, but couldn't identify the third. "Brilliant," he groaned quietly to himself. "This won't be pretty." He took down some of the wards and unlocked the door. Opening it, he greeted the men in as civil a manner as he could. "Evening, gentlemen. The shop's closed. Was there something you needed?"
"Actually, there is. Someone gave us a tip that you and your clone might be able to lead us to Potter's mudblood," Yaxley declared, stepping forward.
"Oh, you mean his mum?" he replied with a straight face, proud of himself for thinking so quickly on his feet. "She's been dead for years; thought you lot would've known that."
Yaxley growled, and the other two thugs stepped up closer behind him. "Don't be smart with us, Weasley. You know we meant Granger."
"Oh, you mean Hermione Granger? Yeah, we don't really know her that well, she's actually friends with our younger brother, Ron."
"Well, she's a wanted fugitive, and we need to bring her in for the Muggleborn Registration. Since you say you don't know where she is, I'm sure you won't mind us checking the place for clues. That is, unless you have something to hide."
"No sir, we've got nothing to hide. Just give me one moment to get my brother." Fred closed the door and sent off a patronus up the stairs. A moment later, George came down into the shop and joined his brother at the front. Opening the door back up, Fred waved the three men inside.
"Evening, gents. Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," George said with a small bow.
Goyle grunted, and they continued searching the shop for any signs of the witch. Once they finished, Yaxley approached the twins. "We need to check the flat, too."
George beckoned them toward the stairs. "No problem, gentlemen. Let me escort you upstairs to our living quarters." He led the men up the stairs, and they immediately started looking around.
The third man walked over to the kitchen and eyed the vase sitting on the table. "Why are there flowers?"
"They're for my girlfriend," Fred replied. "I was supposed to go to her flat for dinner tonight, but she wasn't feeling well, so I haven't gotten to give them to her yet."
Yaxley walked into the sitting room and immediately spotted the television. "What is that thing?"
"It's a muggle television, sir. It shows moving pictures with sound," George replied.
Yaxley looked at him suspiciously. "Why would two pureblooded wizards have a muggle object like this?"
George just smiled. "Surely, working for the Ministry, you must know our father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department. He's obsessed with all things muggle, and I will admit, a bit of his fascination has rubbed off on us. Watching the telly is a nice way to unwind after a long day in the shop."
Yaxley just eyed him warily, and went to search Fred's bedroom. A few minutes later, the three men convened in the entryway to the apartment. "Well, you got lucky this time, Weasleys. If we ever find out that you know where the mudblood is, though, you'll regret having lied to us."
"We'll keep that in mind if we ever hear from her," Fred replied with a casual air. "Here, let me show you out." He led the three men down to the shop and back out into Diagon Alley, and then made his way back up into the flat after locking up and resetting the wards.
Meanwhile, George was crouched down in his closet, whispering through a small gap in the false wall to Hermione. "The coast is clear, Granger, though I think you should probably stay in there for the rest of the night, just in case they come back. I'll come let you out in the morning. Sleep well."
"Goodnight, George."
He concealed the entrance to her safe room and walked out into the hallway to meet his brother. "They leave with no trouble, Fred?"
"Yeah. Close call, though...I noticed on the way out that we still had one of her scarves hanging by the door. Good thing she's not girly enough for them to realize it wasn't one of ours," he replied.
-oOo-
"Hermione, good news," Fred announced as he walked into the flat on Christmas Eve. Her head popped up from where she was bent over the oven, removing biscuits, and glanced at him curiously. "Fleur talked to her 'seester' – you remember Gabrielle, right? - and she said she's chosen not to come visit us this year, but that she wouldn't mind if someone posed as her using Polyjuice. You get to spend Christmas at the Burrow with us!"
Hermione beamed at him and, after removing her oven mitts, ran over to hug him. Throwing her arms around his waist, she tried to suppress a squeal. "Oh Fred, that's so exciting! I get to leave the house! I get to see your family! I GET TO SEE GINNY!"
Fred chuckled. "That you do. She's actually over the moon that you'll be there tomorrow, she couldn't stop talking about it. I reckon she's more excited than Mum."
Hermione blushed and pulled away from him. "I didn't realize I meant that much to them..."
Fred just looked at her, dumbfounded. "Of course you mean a lot to them, Hermione! Mum considers you her other daughter, and Ginny sees you as the sister she never had! You've been an unofficial member of our family for years."
"Really?" she asked. When he nodded, her face lit up brighter than their Christmas tree. "That's wonderful. I love your family like they were my very own, it's nice to know the feeling is reciprocated." She made her way back into the kitchen and scooped up two of her freshly-baked candy cane biscuits, and carried them back over to Fred. "Now, these were supposed to be saved for you two to bring to the Burrow tomorrow, but I think we could spare two to celebrate the good news. As it is, I might have to bake another batch to send to Gabrielle. I wonder what kind of biscuits she likes..."
"What kind of biscuits who likes?" George asked, striding into the flat.
"Gabrielle," Fred started.
"I get to spend Christmas at the Burrow with you guys thanks to her!" Hermione exclaimed, interrupting Fred.
George let out a loud whoop, and rushed over to Hermione. Picking her up in a bear hug, he spun her around with a large grin on his face. Setting her back down, he started towards the kitchen. "I say we make her an assortment, and we can send it tomorrow with Pig. I'll help you; what'll we start with?"
"Let's start with butter drop." Making her way into the kitchen, she paused and smiled warmly at her identical flatmates. "You two are the greatest, you know? I don't know how I ever smiled before I started spending time with you."
-oOo-
It was Christmas day, and all the excitement at the Burrow was winding down. The presents had been opened, dinner devoured, pudding decimated, and everyone was paired up in the sitting room, enjoying each others company and the occasional candy cane. Arthur and Molly were relaxing together on the love seat, Fred and Angelina on the rug by the fire, Fleur perched on Bill's lap on the overstuffed armchair, Ginny and George playing exploding snap near the Christmas tree, and Charlie dozing on the couch. Hermione – disguised as Gabrielle – stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall and just observing her adopted family with a gleam of sadness in her eyes. It was obvious she was thinking about the two missing faces in the room, and wondering where they were and if they were alright.
All of a sudden, George's cards exploded, causing him to rock backwards in laughter and look up. In doing so, he happened to noticed Hermione off in her own little world, and recognized the sadness in her eyes. Looking over at Fred, he locked eyes with his brother and had a silent conversation. He turned to Ginny and whispered, "be right back." She nodded, and he stood up.
Taking slow, quiet steps towards his bushy-haired flatmate, he started to sing softly. "If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten."
Fred stood up off the couch and followed his brother's lead, singing a little bit louder. "And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing."
George picked back up where his twin left off. "When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly chumps!" he sang, rapidly approaching Hermione.
Fred finished with the last two lines of the verse. "Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing." He trailed off as he and George reached their target, and the two began to sing the chorus in unison, complete with whistling.
"AAAAAAAAND, always look on the bright side of life!" they sang, getting continually louder as they saw the smile start to form on her face. They each threw an arm around her shoulder and sang to her face, attempting to start a kick line. She started to laugh, and wide grins grew on their identical faces.
"There's that lovely smile," George whispered to her, and she blushed. "You feeling a bit better, Mione?"
She nodded. "I think I am; thanks, boys. I was just thinking about how much I miss Harry and Ron."
Fred pulled her into a hug, and dragged her into the kitchen. A few moments later, the two returned to the sitting room with a tray full of eggnog and passed the goblets out to the family.
"A toast!" Fred shouted. "To our two little brothers – real and adopted – and their mission being a success!"
Everyone raised their glasses to that, and called out, "hear, hear!" before taking a sip of their drinks.
-oOo-
"Grandma got run over by a reindeer!" Fred belted out, as he waltzed through their flat later that night, putting up his coat and scarf by the door.
Hermione smiled at him and laughed, heading towards George's room to put her gifts in her safe room. Once she returned, George grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down into the couch to cuddle between himself and his brother. "Did you enjoy your Christmas, Hermione?" he asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I really did, thank you to both of you. I had a lovely time, especially when the two of you took it upon yourselves to cheer me up when I got to thinking about the boys."
Fred ruffled her hair, and pulled her close into his side. "Hermione, we'll always be around to cheer you up. You're too adorable for us not to," he said with a wink and a grin.
She laughed and swatted his chest, before snuggling deeper into his side. "Thanks, Fred. You're pretty adorable yourself."
"Hear that, Gred?" he asked, grinning impishly at his brother. "She thinks I'm adorable!"
"That's nice, Freddy. At least someone does," he replied.
Hermione just chuckled and smiled. "However did I live before I knew you two?"
Posted: January 2012
Word Count: 2,445