A/N: ButtButtDoodle: I got the idea for this chapter from your review. I saw it and decided to have a character go into Ron's room and ask why he didn't help Hermione. Hope this explained that!

"Hey, Ickle Ronniekins," said Fred. He had just walked into Ron's room. His younger brother was on his bed, reading a book called "The Hobbit". "Is that a Muggle book?"

"Yeah, Hermione told me it's a good book," said Ron. "She bought it for me at a Muggle bookstore before we went to the pool."

"I was wondering why she'd went in and come back out," said Fred, smiling to himself.

"What'd you need, George?" asked Ron. Fred laughed.

"I'm not George, I'm Fred," he told his brother. "Seriously, I am! Did you not see that I have both ears?"

"Oh, sorry," said Ron, smiling. "Anyway, why'd you come in here?"

"I need you to explain something," said Fred.

"Fire away," said Ron. Fred took out his wand. "Not literally! I mean, ask what you need to ask, haven't you heard of figurative meaning?"

"I know," said Fred, laughing. He put his wand in his pocket. "When you saw that Hermione was going to get taken in for slavery, why didn't you try to stop the Death Eaters from taking her? I mean, you could've gotten them to leave her, couldn't you?"

"I was going to tell them she's a pureblood." He paused, sighing. "You haven't seen her scar, have you?"

"She showed George and I last night. She told us she has nightmares about the manor," said Fred, frowning. Tears were threatening to pour from both his and Ron's eyes.

"I would've told them, I really would've, but the pain of thinking you were dead, you know, because you were still knocked out, and nobody bothered checking for a pulse, plus the scar, they would've found out anyway, because of it," said Ron. Both redheads were fighting back tears. "And the Ministry was controlled by Death Eaters, they could've looked at her files," continued Ron.

"When did they start getting Muggle-borns for slaves?" Fred asked. Tears were falling from his eyes now. It hurt him to know even if they convinced the Death Eaters that Hermione was a pureblood, her files would say otherwise.

"Directly after- after Harry-" Ron started, but broke down into sobs and tears. Fred hugged him, trying to comfort him. He knew it would be hard for Ron to lose his best friend, because George had told him what it had felt like when the whole Weasley family thought half of their troublemaking duo was dead. Finally, Ron calmed down enough to talk.

"Directly after Harry was killed," Ron managed. He laid down on his pillow, crying into it. Fred started rubbing his back, one way he used to get his younger siblings to calm down when he and George were on babysitting duty. He picked up the book Hermione had bought, closed it, and put it on Ron's nightstand. He left.

"Are you okay?" asked Hermione and George in unison.

"I'm fine," said Fred, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Are you sure?" said George, tilting his head to the side while holding a post on his bed for balance. His ear still affected his balance.

"Yes, I'm sure, I just need to think," said Fred. "Just for a little bit. Don't go in Ron's room for a while, he's still trying not to cry about what happened during the war," he added. When his twin and who he though of as a good friend staying in his room gave him a confused face, he continued, "Just don't go in Ron's room. Let him calm down. George, that means no pranks."

"I had a good idea, though!" said George.

"Well, then, write it down and we'll pull it after he's calmed down!" replied Fred, smiling slightly at his brother's enthusiasm for pranking people. "I need to relax, too."

Fred walked over to his bed, thinking. Just because she had a scar on her arm that literally said "Mudblood" and her files, Ron had given up hope on helping the girl he loved? Because his best friend had died while trying to save their world? He needed more information, but decided to let Ron calm down some more.

"Hey, Hermione?" he said. "Can you c'mere for a minute?"

"Yeah," said Hermione, walking over to sit on the end of Fred's bed.

"Do- do you think the Death Eaters would've believed anyone who said you were pureblood?"

Hermione was silent for a minute. Her brown eyes widened. Eventually, she told Fred, "Probably not. I would've told them the truth anyway, to be honest."

"Why?"

"I don't mind slavery," said Hermione. "I like helping and not being payed, which is basically what slavery is. Well, it's what they've made me do, anyway."

"If you like it, maybe you'll be able to comfort Ron. I tried to the way George and I did when we had to watch Ron and Ginny but I didn't work, so I left," said Fred, looking at Hermione from his pillow.

"Okay," said Hermione. She left for Ron's room. George went to sit where Hermione had just been sitting.

"Yes, my dear twin?" said Fred, grinning at George.

"What'd Hermione go to do?" he asked.

"Comfort Ickle Ronniekins," replied Fred.

"Why'd you go talk to Ron?" asked George, confusion showing in his face.

"Because- wait, you didn't notice him not trying to help Hermione when the Muggle-borns were being taken?"

"Of course I noticed!" argued George, putting his legs across the gap between his and Fred's bed and relaxing his feet on his bed.

"He did it because there were too many things that proved Hermione's Muggle-born," said Fred, shoving his brother off the bed. He landed on his face.

"Yeah, well, still," said George, glaring at his twin. "You'd think he'd help her!"

"It must've been the loss, and the physical pain, and the exhaustion, and her scar, and her files-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" said George, getting on his bed and leaning against one of the posts.

"I would've tried and tried," Fred told his twin. "Even if I actually died in the process."

"It was painful enough to think I lost you! But if I actually lost you, I'd die!" said George.

"Chill," said Fred. "The worst they would've done is torture me. So the worst they would've done is drive me into insanity."

"Still, I would've lost you."

At that moment, Hermione walked in. She had a smiling Ron behind her.

"What'd you do?" asked Fred, and he could here an almost angry tone in his voice.

"Whoa, Freddie, relax," said Ron. "I was told I'd be fine. And that Harry wouldn't want me crying."

"Are you-" started George.

"No," said Ron, laughing. "I'm a hundred percent straight, he was only like a brother to me," explained Ron. Fred and George sighed exaggerated sighs of relief. Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes. Hermione walked over to the twins. She sat down on the end of Fred's bed.

"Hey, Ronniekins, you're welcome, I sent the comfort," said Fred, grinning like he was in Honeydukes.

"Thanks," said Ron, "I really needed it."

"Just don't steal her." Ron stared at Fred in confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"As far as we know I'm the only one that can comfort her." Ron looked at the younger of his two older brothers.

"We haven't tried it with me yet, but when Fred's laying with her she doesn't have the nightmares," said George.

"Nor are we going to try it, are we?"

"Nope," said Hermione and George.

"Alright, well, lunch is ready," said Ron. The group went down to the dining area, where the rest of the Weasleys were losing patience.

"How do you do that?" asked Fred.

"I have a thing for food," said Ron, winking at his brother.

"Of course you do," said Fred and George, rolling their eyes.

Hermione sat between Fred and Ginny. She tried to comfort her best friend; she'd become less and less social every month. The time at the pool seemed to have taken her mind off of Harry for a while.

"He wouldn't want this," said Hermione, wiping tears from Ginny's face. "He still loves you."

"I know," said Ginny. "He left the Cloak with me, he wouldn't do that unless he really loved me."

"You going to eat?" asked Fred. "We don't want the two most beautiful women in the house to starve, now do we?" Mrs. Weasley glared at him. "Only jokin', Mum," said Fred, smiling. "No, I'm not," he added to the two girls on his left side. They both giggled.

"You never fail to cheer me up, Fred," said Ginny, smiling at her brother. "I'm not saying you're a joke!" she added to George, who had given her a very disappointed look, and the whole room laughed.

"You're just saying that," said George, laughing.

"No, I'm not," said Ginny.

"How about I tell you a joke and you try to keep a straight face?" suggested George. His sister nodded. "So, on the first day of school, the teacher asked all the troublemakers to stand up. After a few moments, a shy little girl stood up. 'Are you a troublemaker?' the teacher asked. 'No,' replied the girl, 'I just hate to see you standing there all by yourself.'"

"Why do I have a twin?" Fred asked himself while the table erupted in laughter. He buried his face in his hands. While George wasn't looking, Fred threw a piece of bread at him. By the end of lunch, everyone needed a shower.