Part 4
Hermione couldn't get Molly's words out of her head and she cursed silently. Damn that woman for putting such an idea in her head. She knew that Molly had her best interest at heart, but that didn't mean it wasn't annoying. It had been so long since she had been attracted to a male around her own age, or any male for that matter. She'd always been attracted to redheads which was why she'd had that crush on George. Unfortunately, for her, George was still a small child at this point and she was nearly 20 years older than him. She knew that she wasn't that attractive no matter what Molly had implied and she was cursing the fact that the older woman had put such an idea into her skull in the first place.
The Prewett twins had plenty of females to date or do whatever they wanted with, so why would they give her a second look. She was sure that too them she was nothing more than a friend who had prevented their deaths at the hands of half a dozen Death Eaters which had happened just a few short weeks ago.
Thanks to Hermione they had managed to survive with only mild injuries and take all but one of the Death Eaters into custody. Molly was very grateful to her for saving her brothers and so she was welcome anytime at the Burrow and was considered a part of the family.
Voldemort would retaliate at some point they all knew, so they were all tense and on their guard. Also thanks to her all the Horcruxes had been disposed of, including the ring that she and the twins had dealt with without Dumbledore's knowledge, and she wouldn't allow Voldemort to make a new one if she had her way. The Dark Lord was now mortal and would soon be permanently dead if they were very lucky.
Still, life went on and Hermione tried her best not to think about Molly words, but it was extremely difficult. They had somehow gotten stuck in brain and refused to leave no matter what she did.
Unfortunately, she had been unable to conceal her reaction from Fabian and Gideon sister when she had asked if she was attracted to them, so now unfortunately, Molly knew that she was indeed attracted to her brothers, not that she believed anything would ever come of it.
Molly had mentioned a triad and Hermione knew about such things, but didn't see herself involved in one. For one thing she wasn't a classic beauty and she figured she'd be lucky if she found a teacher to fall in love with at some point, someone that was considerably older than her. Most of the boys around her own age bored her to tears with the Prewett twins and Remus being the exceptions. Remus was off limits because of what she knew of his future unfortunately, because otherwise she would've had no qualms about getting close to him romantically.
Sirius and Kingsley had flirted a little with her, but it was just casual and she knew this, but still, she had to admit she enjoyed the attention. While she liked both those wizards she didn't like them romantically.
Hermione didn't realize that she had an inner beauty and sense of peace that made her outer self glow so it made her even more beautiful than she always had been despite some peoples opinions in her own time. She had been teased so often about her bushy hair and her buck teeth, that she truly believed that she wasn't beautiful at all, just merely pretty at best. Hermione had yet to realize that those taunts that had been made by others were false and the others had just been jealous of her beauty and her inner goodness. She was gorgeous, even more so since she had tamed her hair with a charm she had invented for the purpose and had her teeth magically fixed. She also had a strong inner core of goodness that just added to her already strong appeal. If you knew what to look for you would realize that this was somebody that would never turn her back on her principles no matter the provocation, but would also do things to protect those she cared for. Things that others would look down on her for.
It was now nearing the time of Harry's birth, as it was only a few months to go and Hermione was looking forward to it with quiet anticipation. She knew that she would be no more than an aunt to Harry in this time instead of his best friend, but at least he would have a happy childhood, hopefully, with the brothers and sisters in a few years.
Just like the Weasleys the Potters had sort of adopted her for she had saved their lives after all, as she was the one that had warned them about Peter's true allegiance, an allegiance that would have led to their deaths leaving their son an orphan, even if the son hadn't bee born yet.
There was no way that they would allow themselves to be set up at Godric's Hollow like had happened in the original timestream. After they had discovered one of their supposed best friends intent to betray them if he could, they decided that they'd rather be free and take their chances, Still, the Order was considering some kind of trap so that hopefully Voldemort could be taken out permanently.
Once he was killed this time there would be no coming back because all five Horcruxes were gone, though they didn't want Voldemort to learn of this, as he would just create another if he knew. Hermione was pretty sure that no more than six could be created at all, with the last portion remaining in the body and since Dumbledore agreed with her the Order knew that the Dark Lord couldn't create more than one other.
"Mia? Are you busy?" Came the voice of one of the twins pulling Hermione from her thoughts.
"Yes, Gideon? What can I do for you?" Hermione asked immediately once the twin's heads popped through the doorway. Like Fred and George she could tell Gideon and Fabian apart even though they were supposedly identical and while several people had asked her how she did it she couldn't really give them a reply because she wasn't entirely sure how she could tell them apart, just that she could.
Gideon shook his head still stunned that this woman from the future could tell him and his brother apart, but then she apparently, could tell Fred and George apart, his sisters identical twin sons as well.
"Fabian and I want to see you out in the living area," Gideon reported.
Hermione and immediately headed for the bedroom door, trying not to worry about what the twins wanted. Finally, she entered the living area after walking down the short hallway and presented herself to the twins who were waiting trying to look confidence.
"Why don't you sit down," Fabian suggested.
"What's this about?" Hermione asked. "If you want me to move out all you have to do is say so."
Both twins looked stunned and Hermione immediately felt a little guilty for assuming that's what this was about. She had figured that Fabian and Gideon had just gotten tired of hosting the strange girl from the future and she wasn't exactly sure why that idea had popped into her head as the twins had done nothing to make her think that they wanted her to leave. She supposed it had a lot to do with the war that had been raging in her own time.
She, Harry and Ron had camped out a lot, so that they wouldn't place anybody in to much danger and also because it was hard to trust that they wouldn't be betrayed. This was a totally different situation, but Hermione was still operating on the instincts that had been honed over the years until she expected to be asked to leave wherever she was because she put peoples lives in danger by her very presence. She suspected she'd be operating on those learned instincts until after Voldemort was defeated, because they had saved her life and warned her of danger more than once.
"What made you think that was what we wanted?" Fabian almost yelled, but controlled himself at the last possible second.
Hermione shrugged trying not to look embarrassed that she had blurted out the first thing that came to mind as she had been walking down the short hallway that lead to the living area.
"I'm truly sorry that I said that," Hermione said. "I'm still operating on instincts that were honed during the war in my time and I thought that was what you were going to tell me. That was the only reason I could think of actually as to the reason you both requested to see me."
Fabian's temper deflated at that explanation. "I guess you never really had a chance to be just a child, did you."
"I was never really a child even before I turned 11," Hermione shrugged. "I was always extremely intelligent, so intelligent, that the other kids around my age games bored me and even if I had wanted to join them they often ignored me, that or teased me until I decided that it just wasn't worth it. Even after I entered Hogwarts, as you know I thought about asking to leave before Halloween, because it wasn't any better than my normal school. I was teased and bullied just as much, the only difference really is the kids had magic and could hex me instead of just verbally insulting me or using their fists to let me know I wasn't wanted.
"I found that children were the same anywhere and although the kids at Hogwarts reasons for bullying me were different from my former classmates I found out that bigotry was the same in the magical world. At least the mundane world was familiar, since I had grown up there and I mostly knew what was coming and how people would act, while the magical one was weird and strange and totally different from my own."
Gideon and Fabian looked at each and a silent message seemed to pass between them. Finally, Gideon who seemed to be the current spokesman for them both.
"We never thought how hard it was for Muggle-borns to fit into our society, how they had to leave their families, their friends just to be part of our world."
"No, it's not exactly encouraged for a Muggle-born to keep in contact with their families and least in my time. It seems to me that the parents of a Muggle-born are expected to put their children on the train and basically forget about them after that, which is really unfair, not that those in charge care about that. While some magicals from mundane families manage to remain in contact with the Muggle world and their family, a lot do not, as they just get sucked into a world that operates totally different from their own. My parents and I were always really close and there is no way I could have ever broken off contact with them like seems to be expected. Unfortunately, so many Muggle-born lose their ability to think for themselves and instead just follow along with the crowd. Independent thought isn't exactly encouraged in the magical world as the magical's in my time are basically sheep."
"Sheep?" Fabian asked.
"They follow along with the strongest leader and are basically told what to do without thinking about whether what they're doing is legal or not and it doesn't matter whether that leader is Dumbledore the minister or Voldemort. I haven't been in this time long enough to see if things are different, but I doubt it, because Hogwarts School doesn't have any classes that encourage the students to think for themselves. Do you know that a lot of schools in my time have mundane courses so that students can get their A-levels as well as their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s? A-levels are the equivalent of the N.E.W.T.s. Taking your A-levels allows you to go to college to get a further education for whatever career you choose. It seems that people like me are just expected to abandon their heritage at least here in England. The British Ministry of Magic does absolutely nothing to integrate the Muggle-born into their society and its either sing or swim."
"We never thought about it like that," Fabian admitted.
"Most magicals don't, because they know absolutely nothing about the way that the mundane world operates. Things need to change gentlemen, though whether that will happen in my lifetime I have no idea. Even if I pointed out the problem to those in power like the Minister of Magic I know very well I wouldn't be listened to not only because I'm not a pureblood, but because I don't have the money or the prestige to be heard and believed."
The twins had to admit that Hermione had a point.
"As interesting as this is we're kind of getting off track. Yes, we definitely agree with what you're saying, even if we never really thought about how unfair our society is for those who are not at least half bloods," Gideon agreed.
"Really, even half bloods aren't treated very well unless you are a half blood with considerable wealth in the bank and come from an influential family," Hermione said shaking her head. "Do you know the Muggle world has laws against discrimination, whether you're British, American, Japanese or any other nationality, everybody has equal opportunities to succeed. In most businesses, jobs just aren't handed to you because you're a certain color or a certain nationality. People have to work for it, though I won't claim that nepotism doesn't happen sometimes it's just not as widespread as it seems to be here in the English magical world."
"Mia, we've known each other for months now," Fabian said began while he could get a word in edgewise before Hermione could get started again. He had a feeling that she was feeding them all this information in order to distract them from what they had called her in here for, but on the other hand, she was really passionate about equality. Neither twin could blame her for that, because as she had just pointed out the magical world wasn't really fair to those who weren't pureblooded. The bigotry might not be his blatant in this time, but it was still present particularly at the ministry.
"And we wanted to ask if you would be willing to date both of us, with the goal of seeing if we are as compatible as Fabian and I believe we are," Gideon continued.
"If we are as compatible as both Gideon and I believe, then our final goal would be to get married and make a triad."
"Did your sister put you up to this?" Hermione asked her tone scolding. "I will not be played with and then thrown aside."
"Why do you think that Molly put us up to this?" Fabian asked confused.
"And why do you think we would throw you aside or play with your feelings for that matter?" asked Gideon just as confused.
Hermione blushed realizing she had made a wrong assumption, but the conversation with Molly was still playing on mind.
"Because we had a conversation about dating awhile back," Hermione explained. "She happened to bring up the idea of marriage and asked me if I was interested in anyone in this time. Your names happened to be mentioned along with a few others that aren't much older or younger than I am. I just assumed she put you up to it."
"Why would you assume something like that?" Fabian asked.
"Because your sister like to meddle as I know very well and because nobody ever wants me for myself. They want me to help them with their homework, sometimes trying to force me to do it for them, because they're are too lazy to do it themselves, as if I didn't have my own to do. It's not that I have any problem helping someone find what they're looking for in the library or answering a question if they're confused, but I expect them to do their own work. I was teased so often about my looks in both the Muggle and wizarding world that I'm not used to being paid attention to for my looks."
"Well, whoever teased you are idiots," Gideon said passionately. "That you haven't let people's cruelty turn you into someone you're not says a lot about your strength of will."
"Both Gideon and I think you're very beautiful, though I at least can see you don't think that way about yourself."
"You have an inner the goodness that just shines from inside you," Fabian added. "We know that you'll never turn into someone that would be deliberately cruel to someone who is different. In fact, you would help rescue someone like that from bullies."
"Also, the fact, that you survived a war without letting it turn you bitter or hateful says a lot about how strong you are mentally and emotionally anyway," Gideon added
"You really don't realize how special you are Mia, mostly I suspect because you think so little of yourself, because of people's cruel words and action," Fabian added.
"I suspect those people were just jealous as they likely saw just how beautiful you would become when you grew up and so they teased you just to make themselves feel better," Gideon said.
Hermione stared at them in astonishment for a few seconds then relaxed, seeing they were sincere. "Nobody has ever said anything like that before to me."
"That's probably because you scared them senseless with your intelligence and your drive, so they likely never got up the courage to ask you out," Fabian said firmly.
"And no insult intended, but you can also be rather intense sometimes. Not everybody has your thirst for knowledge, so I have no doubt that you intimidated a lot of potential boyfriends. A lot of boys don't like to be shown up by a girl and I'm sure this is true even in your time as males have their pride."
"Well, you already know I did used to be something of a know-it-all and was always raising my hand in class instead of allowing other students to possibly answer," Hermione said her lips twitching. "I was so determined to prove that I was just as good as the others who had grown up in magical families that I suppose I came off as intimidating. I guess I didn't really know how to interact with other children my age back then."
"That's true of a lot of kids you know," Gideon pointed out. "Not every kid is outgoing and popular or has good social skills."
"I suppose," Hermione agreed. "I know that my bushy hair and teeth didn't help. I had my buck teeth fixed doing my third year and finally found a way to tame my hair. I suppose I had too many strikes against me to be popular. I was an insufferable know-it-all and I wasn't a pureblood, and I did my best in all my classes unlike a lot of kids. I suppose I came off as unapproachable to a lot of people. I didn't have very good people skills back then, though I should have considering that my normal companions were adults."
"But adults are different from kids who are just learning about the world around them," Fabian pointed out. "I bet you knew how to act with adult just not with someone your own age."
"That's true enough," Hermione decided.
"So about that date," Fabian asked.
"I don't know," Hermione said. "I'm not sure I should get too involved in this time. They're are technically two Hermione Granger's now. It might be better if I keep mostly to myself."
"Mia, you shouldn't be alone for the rest of your life, as it will only make you lonely and bitter," Gideon said.
"Especially not out of a misplaced sense that you shouldn't get too involved in this time just because you come from the future," Fabian added. "I mean you're stuck in this time now with no way back and it wouldn't be healthy for you to remain alone for the rest of your life."
"I mean seriously do you know how long that magicals can live? We can live for several centuries depending on the size of our magical cores and general health of course. Do you want to be alone for the next three or four hundred years? I would think that would be the route to insanity."
"But I do have friends," Hermione pointed out already wavering.
"While that's true and having friends is good, it's totally different than having somebody to come home to. You're not stupid Mia, so I know you know this. I doubt that whatever sent you back in time wanted you to be alone for the rest of your life out of a misplaced sense of duty or because you believed that you should just fade into obscurity," Gideon said.
"I think that you're just afraid of taking a chance of actually falling in love and having it last for the rest of your life," Fabian added.
Wizarding marriages were such that there was no divorce if it was done magically. Witches and wizards that got married in a magical ceremony were bound magically and their magic combined, so they could never get married again unless one of them died although they could separate and have sex with other people with or without the consent of their spouse. Still, technically, that would be considered cheating because that witch or wizard would still be married. It did happen though.
"At least agree to date us for awhile and if you feel it won't work out then we'll accept that. However, it has to be how you really feel and not because you're afraid," Fabian suggested.
"If you're against triads tell us now and we'll let you decide which one of us you want to date or if you don't want to date either us," Gideon added.
"Don't lie to us either because we'll know," Fabian added seeing Hermione was about to say something. "You're a crappy liar and we can always tell, so don't try to tell us you're not interested unless it's the truth."
Hermione closed her mouth with a snap at that and blushed mostly because it was true she was a crappy liar. Gideon and Fabian didn't have to point it out though, Hermione added in her thoughts feeling just a little resentful. She had to be honest with herself though and had to admit that she never had been able to lie well. She just didn't like her faults pointed out to her and tended to resent anyone that did so. A weakness in her character she supposed.
"I suppose we can give it a try," Hermione said finally giving into her heart for a change instead of listening to her brain that was telling her this was a bad idea. The logical side of her was arguing with her heart, but Hermione wanted to give love a chance. Besides, she couldn't deny that she was very attracted to the Prewett twins and she would never be able to choose between them. Luckily, triads while not common were legal. They were even legal in her time not that she knew anybody involved in a triad. Still, it was an intriguing idea and one that gave her lots of naughty ideas that she was hoping she was keeping from her body language.
"Good! We'll go on our first date tomorrow before you have a chance to change your mind," Fabian said, but Gideon was nodding in agreement.
"I'm not going change my mind. I agreed to give it a try so I will," Hermione said. "It might not lead anywhere, but I'm tired of always telling myself I don't have time for love, that I have to much to do to even consider trying to find a boyfriend."
"You need time to relax or you'll do yourself harm," Gideon said and Hermione nodded in agreement.
Hermione's problem was she had trouble relaxing always feeling like she was goofing off and that she should be busy with her homework, studying, prefect duties or just reading to possibly learn something useful. She supposed that she had compensated in her childhood with hard work to make up for lack of friends to spend time with. It was going to be a hard habit to break she knew.
"My only request is that we keep it to ourselves for now no telling anyone including your sister, until we know if things are going to work out. Also we know that Voldemort is still out there and hates Muggle-borns with a passion. If he or one of his Death Eater happen to find out that two purebloods are dating a Muggle-born I don't like to think of the consequences. As it is you are already targets. You've already escaped from some of his best Death Eaters once and he won't like that. I won't be surprised if the two of you have become priority targets, so make sure you watch your backs."
"But nobody knows your Muggle-born in this time. In fact, Dumbledore listed you as a half-blood remember," Gideon reminded Hermione.
"I believe he thought it would make things easier for you if it wasn't known that you had parents without magic," Fabian added.
"I had forgotten that, but you're right nobody knows other then very few that I'm a Muggle-born. I'm just so well-known in my own time due to several factors that they'd be no point of hiding the fact that my parents don't have magic," Hermione admitted.
"People will assume that you're a pureblood unless told otherwise. According to your records you came from France and went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. So even if they look closely into your background they won't be able to find much," Gideon said.
"Except that I've only existed for a short amount of time," Hermione said.
"That's a point," Fabian admitted. "Still, you live pretty quietly, so that should give you a great deal of protection."
"Alright, fine, I'll try to quit worrying," Hermione said. "What I need to find me a job, but I think that can wait until after Voldemort is gone, but after that, I need something productive to do. I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life as I'm not going to be just a housewife thank you very much and if that's what you want then the deal is off."
"I admit in a lot of pureblood families the wife doesn't work so they can look after the kids," Fabian admitted.
"But we don't have any objections if you want to do something other than be a stay-at-home wife. I think Fabian and I know you well enough to know that you'd be driven insane in no time," Gideon said.
"Boy would I," Hermione said with genuine feeling. "I was raised in the modern world gentleman where a woman did not just stay at home and look after the kids unless that's what they wanted. Some women didn't mind being stay-at-home moms. They are called soccer moms in my time, because they get their kids to all their activities, as well as other kids that were friends with theirs. Muggle kids are much more active the the ones that are magical. They are often part of sports teams that are geared towards the younger people. We have a lot more sports then the magicals do. Soccer, baseball, basketball, football, are just some of the more popular. They're are also all kinds of clubs for kids, chess clubs, book clubs, music clubs and so forth."
"So the parents have to transport their kids to all their activities," Gideon said.
He understood the concept, but it was certainly an unusual one in the magical world.
"Not necessarily, that kids parents often carpool, which means they have several people's children all going to the same place. This means they share transportation if somebody else's kid is in the same club and they happen to be friends with another child doing the same activity. It saves on gas which is what makes a car run and that cuts down the cost. Gas is not cheap, though the cost does tend go up and down depending on availability."
"That's weird," Fabian admitted.
"To you I know it probably is," Hermione shrugged. "But Muggles don't have means of transportation that gets them from one place to another in a few seconds. It may take Muggles longer to get around, but they still get to where they're going. I need to go shopping. I don't have any suitable clothes for a date. I have mostly jeans and comfortable T-shirts and blouses as it wasn't like I was going to be attending any fancy functions while I was fighting for my life."
"I think we can agree to not to tell Molly until we see if it works out. Unfortunately, you're right, Molly is a busybody and would try to interfere with everybody's supposed best interest in mind," Gideon said.
"She also has a habit of planning somebody's wedding before they're even know if they're suitable to be married," Hermione said her lips twitching. "As much as I love your sister, I think it's better we keep our relationship from her for awhile at least. She was so sure in my time that I would end up marrying Ron and there was no way that was going to happen. I would've murdered Ron within a year or two at the very most, as his laziness and other faults would've driven me insane and there's no way I could have lived with him on a permanent basis. I don't think Molly wanted to see that we were just friends and that's all we would ever be. He was obsessed with Quidditch for one thing and while I like to watch it as much as the next person he would go on and on about it, as if it was the most important thing in the universe."
"There's nothing wrong with liking Quidditch," Gideon protested with laughter in his eyes.
"Did I ever say that there was anything wrong with liking it? It's the way he obsessed over it that drove me insane. He often talked about it when he should've been studying or doing his homework. Fun and games are well good, but you also need good grades to get anywhere in life," Hermione explained.
The twins had to agree with that last statement as there was a time to relax and have fun and a time to study hard so they would get good grades.
"So why don't we relax for the rest of the night?" Gideon said.
"Well, if we are going to relax I don't see why I can't go to a nearby restaurant and pick up some dinner," Hermione said. "While I do have some Muggle money the bills have dates on them, so I'll have to stop by Gringotts and exchange some Galleons."
Hermione had emptied her Gringotts account in her time and while she had changed some of it to pounds she had kept the rest of it in Galleons. The money from her own time were useless in the past because they had dates on them, so she wouldn't be able to use them until those dates came around in a decade or so. Galleons, however, didn't have dates on them and could be used anytime.
"Sounds good," Fabian said eagerly.
Much too Hermione's surprise at the time she had learned that the twins didn't stick strictly to the magical world. They had tried some of the restaurants that were nearby and so really liked Muggle food. This pleased Hermione immensely because it told her that unlike a lot of wizarding folks they weren't against trying Muggle things, even if that was something as simple as food from the mundane world. If she married the twins she didn't want to give up her Muggle heritage completely, even if they stuck mostly to the magical world. She would like to eat out in fine restaurants, go to museums or an amusement park. She would like any kids to be comfortable in both worlds as well. Playing in the park with those that didn't have magic for example. There were so many more things to do in the Muggle world, much more then the magical one that there was no way she could give up her heritage. She couldn't see why it shouldn't be possible to combine some of the best aspects of both worlds. She knew that many magicals in our own time didn't think like she did, but she was determined to have feet both worlds and if that wasn't okay with the twins then their relationship with her was over before it even began. However, considering that Gideon and Fabian loved Muggle restaurants she didn't see them having a problem with other things related to the regular world.
"That sounds really good," Fabian said. "Why don't you stop by the Italian place that's just a block away, once you return from Gringotts. I think you know what we like by now."
"I do," Hermione said amused. "It's nice to know that you don't avoid the Muggle world completely, even if it's just because you like the food."
"We're not as stuck up as most other purebloods," Fabian protested teasingly.
"Believe me, I've noticed. If you were as stuck up as say someone like Lucius Malfoy I never would have agreed to date you at all or even live with you," Hermione said. "People like that make me just want to hex them and believe me his son is just as bad, though I have to admit that Draco Malfoy has none of the subtly of his father. In my time he's just a loudmouth braggart, though he does change considerably over the years I knew him."
Hermione gathered up her beaded bag before heading out the door. "I'll be back soon. Set the table if you would please."
Neither twin realized it, but they immediately obeyed the command as soon as the door latched shut behind the woman they hoped would be their future wife.
~~~Gideon, Hermione, Fabian~~~