George held the crying witch in front of him and thought back over the last 24 hours. Somehow, somehow, he'd gotten away from that luncheon without much of a fuss. Aside from chewing out his brother for a good few minutes that is. Angelina was off somewhere sulking and wouldn't return his owls but that was hardly anything new if truth be told.
He shook Hermione gently. "Hermione? You alright?"
"Mmhmmm," she murmured, eyes closed.
He sighed. The witch was falling asleep at the most random times lately. Shifting the witch to lie on the couch so he could stand, George tiptoed into her small kitchen.
Books covered every flat surface, ranging from cookbooks to arcane magics he wasn't sure was safe to even touch. But that was Hermione for you, he thought with a shrug. Casually learning battle magic and spells the Ministry had forbid long ago, then cooking and cleaning and working in a small Ministry department as if she were a normal house witch.
George snorted and reached for the firewhiskey above the stove. Pouring a glass he pulled out a stool and sat down.
"What're you researching so much Hermione?" he murmured, grabbing the nearest pile of spell books. "Necromancy For Beginners? What the fuck?" George frowned, glancing at the other titles. Theories Behind The Veil,Necromancy, A Guide to the Fouler Arts, and a few others in foreign languages filled out the rest of the pile of books. A nasty feeling settled down George's spine as he carefully opened Necromancy For Beginners.
"Animate the dead...Astral Projection...Beltane rituals...breath of life?" George slammed the book shut, trying to forget the illustrations that ran alongside the index. He shivered. Behind him the fireplace flickered and spat, turning to an acid green instantly and casting long shadows against the apartment. In a heartbeat George had his wand drawn as he carefully moved back to the living room where Hermione lay sleeping.
"MMffgghhh...Granger you really ought to upgrade this. Does comfort mean nothing to you?" a voice echoed out of the floo where a figure spun into sight and elegantly stepped onto the carpet, shaking dust from his suit. George's hand stiffened on his wand.
"Malfoy," he drew the name out warily, "Why are you flooing into Hermione's apartment and how did you get her floo grate?"
Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "I see I'm not the only person Granger has yet to trust."
He strode over to where George stood still in a defensive stance, and settled into an armchair. A wave of his wand and a mug of tea was floating towards him from the kitchen.
"Granger," Malfoy said with a long suffering air, "Came to me with questions and I answered them. Bit more difficult than how to prank somebody, you see." He said arrogantly. "Possibly why she clearly hasn't informed you of our partnership."
George sank into another armchair, taking in what Malfoy was implying. Dark Arts books, forbidden spells, necromancy, a Malfoy...he shook his head, then prodded Hermione till she woke.
"Oi. Mind explaining this?"
Hermione yawned. Stretching, she slowly sat up and looked around. George saw her understand the question when she looked at Malfoy and the books now spread out across her coffee table.
"Malfoy and I were going to try and bring Fred back from the dead."
There was a sharp intake of breath. Of course they were, George thought. He just hadn't expected her to say it so bluntly. There's Hermione for you, he thought sarcastically.
Malfoy, meanwhile, was watching the two interact with a bored expression. He waved his wand again. This time a bottle of firewhiskey came flying out of the kitchen.
"Since some of us are clearly in need of a drink," he said dryly. George stared at him.
After a long swig, or three, George turned back to Hermione.
"Mind explaining why the hell you're being this stupid?"
Malfoy snorted, ignoring Hermione's death stare. With a flounce she faced George again and sighed.
"I...already know enough of blood magic to know that there's probably something out there that can bring Fred back. Between your being his twin and my carrying his offspring, we have the two most important ingredients that most spells would require."
"Well when you put it that way!" George said sarcastically. "Are you crazy? Were either of you ever planning on letting me know about this? Or am I going to be some occult sacrifice here?"
Malfoy rolled his eyes.
"Such drama, Weasley." he said.
George snorted and took another drink. "Hang on a moment before you lot try to explain. Let me just get myself horribly drunk first."
Hermione stared for a moment before whipping her wand at the bottle of alcohol. It exploded loudly, glass and firewhiskey flying everywhere. Silence. Both men stared at her in horror.
"Could either of you try to be the least bit helpful?" She asked shrilly. George shrank into his seat in shame. Hermione rounded on him in an instant. "Don't you think I loved your brother as you did? And what are you doing about it? Nothing! You're doing nothing save getting yourself drunk every night when I'm asleep or when you're alone and crying about it. Are you a wizard or aren't you?" she hissed. Across from them, Malfoy snickered. Immediately Hermione turned to the other man in the room.
"And you! Don't think you've been anything other than horrid this evening!"
Malfoy stared, eyes wide in surprise and quite possibly fear. Hermione continued.
"Ever since you flooed over here, without owling me I might add, I'm quite sure you've been a right ass from the start! Sitting there making snarky comments and letting George pin all his anger and blame on me when you're just as invested in this project! Do you understand the concept of common decency and manners or shall I need to tutor you on that as well?" Hermione was standing now, shaking with pent up rage. And wisely, neither man said a word during or after her tirade. Sighing, Hermione pointed vaguely at the two still sitting.
"You, you two are going to sit here until both of you understand everything that is going on. I'm going to bed."
Hermione turned and padded down the hall as if nothing had happened, silence echoing in her wake.
George stared for a moment, then turned back to Malfoy who was looking rather shell shocked.
"You'd better start explaining. I don't doubt Hermione's warded this room against us until we've explained enough," he said wearily.
A/N: Here you go. Thanks for the encouragement to continue this. It did start as a one-shot ironically. If y'all liked this or have any suggestions let me know because I don't have a specific plot aside from going with the flow for this one.