Part 6

Hermione, Gideon met Fabian at the Burrow, but they kept the news about their engagement to themselves, which wasn't easy, as Hermione had trouble hiding the ring at least long enough for them to eat dinner, because she refused take it off for any reason.

Finally dinner was over and everybody gathered in the living room.

"We three have an announcement," Fabian told the other Weasleys.

"We've been dating for several months," Hermione said. "And both Fabian and Gideon just proposed yesterday."

Molly squealed excitedly at that. "I suspected you would get engaged eventually," Molly admitted. "I could see how much you cared for each other, even if Mia didn't want to see that at first.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Arthur asked curiously. He was happy for them, as he'd always thought it was time for Molly's bothers to settle down, even though they were only in their early 20s. Neither one of them had seemed interested in doing so until they had met Hermione Granger from the future, even if her name was officially Mia Granger now. Arthur could definitely understand the need for the name change considering that her past self had just been born less than a year ago. It seemed rather a strange concept to have two of the same person present in the same time but since one was just a baby and the other was a 24-year-old woman, Arthur supposed that it wouldn't cause any trouble for the timeline. By the time that the baby Hermione Granger grew up, Mia would be over 20 years older and the similarities while present wouldn't be obvious. They would probably look like cousins, instead of the same person.

"Because I didn't want anybody trying to butt into our relationship with the best of intentions. Besides, Voldemort is still out there so the quieter we keep our relationship the better, as he's vindictive enough to come after Fabian and Gideon, since they've already escaped him once before and managed to take out four of his top level Death Eaters with help from the Order. Voldemort would simply love killing me to get revenge on them, as he would consider it a great treat to see how broken up they were at my death. He would take great delight at their grief over my murder I promise you. Mostly though, it was simply to new and I at least wanted a chance to explore our relationship without any outside interference. I never had a relationship in my own timeline, as I simply didn't have the time, not between my studies, helping keep Harry alive and fighting a war."

"A war that shouldn't have been fought by children," Molly said not for the first time.

"You already know I agree with you on that. Your future self actually said something similar on numerous occasions. The thing was that we were involved whether we wanted to be or not, because Voldemort doesn't care what age you are," Hermione said simply. "If he sees you as a threat he's going to do his best to eliminate that threat. He doesn't care if you're just a kid trying to survive."

"I now understand why you kept it from us for so long," Arthur said not looking at his wife knowing who Mia was referring to, when she'd said she didn't want anybody interfering in their relationship. Molly could be a bit of a busybody and probably would have tried to help them out whether they wanted her to or not, even if that was just by giving them advice they hadn't asked for.

"I'm so happy that you're going to officially be part of the family, Mia," Molly said, as she rose to give the young woman a hug. "You were part of the family unofficially of course, in your own time, but this time you're going to truly be apart of the Weasleys, even if you'll technically be a Prewett."

"We were practically your children Harry and I in my time. I thought of you as a second mother, even though mine was wonderful. My parents don't know me in this time, so would you walk me down the aisle?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, I'd be happy to," Arthur said beaming.

"However, the wedding will not be taking place until after Voldemort is defeated as is just too dangerous," Fabian said.

"We can't afford to be distracted right now and Mia definitely doesn't need to get pregnant until after that monster is no more."

"But it might be a long time before he's gone," Molly protested.

"Voldemort would take great delight in torturing me until I lost the baby and then killing me afterwards," Hermione told Arthur and Molly bluntly. "He's a monster that we need to destroy before we can all live our lives in peace."

Molly started to cry and Arthur comforted her. He understood why Mia had been so blunt, even though it had made Molly cry, because Molly just wanted everyone to be happy and while he could understand that, now was not the time to hold a wedding. It was quite possible that Voldemort's Death Eaters would try to disrupt it, just to get at his brothers-in-law.

Losing Mia would devastate both of them and make it almost impossible for them to fight and survive, because they'd either be too busy grieving or so lost in anger and rage that they wouldn't be as careful as they should be, when facing such capable opponents. All it would take was one Killing Curse hitting one of the twins and he would be dead, which would devastate the other one since twins always shared a special connection in the magical world particularly identical ones.

"I'm really sorry I upset you Molly, but I know how Voldemort thinks from my own time and he's no better in this one. Don't you worry about him he'll be gone soon," Hermione added. "Dumbledore and I are developing a plan and I won't say anymore than that. Too dangerous."

Molly and Arthur nodded Molly's tears having dried. Molly now had a dangerous glint in her eyes and Hermione knew that she was ready to fight for peace, and for her family, but Hermione didn't want the Weasleys to be involved, because their children were still young right now and it wouldn't do for one of them to be killed.

"I promise you this Molly. As soon as that monster is gone I'll be pregnant soon afterwards. You'll soon have another little one to look after along with your own kids."

Molly perked up at that as she would like nothing more then to have her brothers kids to look after sometimes.

"I also plan on having more than one, though I don't know I want as many as you have."

"I have to admit that six kids is a lot," Arthur said.

"Still, you love them and that's all that matters," Hermione said. "They'll all grow up and you'll be proud of all of them."

Eventually anyway when it came to Fred and George, Hermione added in her thoughts.

"I think it's time we retire for the night," Gideon suggested.

"You go ahead I want a word with your sister right quick," Hermione told the twins. "It's nothing bad I promise I just want to ask her couple of things."

The twins took that to mean that it was something to do with womanly concerns and left.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Mia?" Molly said once Arthur had left.

"I was just wondering if you would like to have twins again even though in my timeline your daughter was a singleton."

"You can guarantee that?" Molly asked time not to get excited.

"If I could not I wouldn't have said anything," Hermione said.

"How?" Molly asked.

"There's a potion in the future that speeds up a woman's ovulation. It's used mostly for purebloods who have trouble conceiving and it nearly guarantees that they'll have at least one healthy child. In your case, it's a little different, because you don't have any trouble getting pregnant or carrying your children to term, so the potion will almost certainly guarantee you have at least two. Of course, it's possible that it would be more than that, but that's not a certainty or anything. I know that it's around the time that you get pregnant with your daughter, as she's a bit more then a year older than Ron. If you don't want this then I don't have to fix you that potion and we can just forget it. The reason I'm mentioning this is that twin girls are the most common type, so the likelihood is that you'll have two girls though there's no guarantees. I know you'll love whatever you get, whether that's two girls or a boy and a girl."

"So at least one girl is guaranteed," Molly said and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, so long as you check to make sure you're pregnant first. Do it every day. All the potion does really is guarantee that you'll release more than one egg, because it speeds up a woman's ovulation. The egg that's released is good for 72 hours before the quality starts to degrade. You'll likely end up with at least fraternal twins instead of identical like Fabian and Gideon or Fred and George. Even if this doesn't work the potion won't do you any harm, but it should because you're already fertile, especially for a pureblooded woman, which tells me that you and Arthur are extremely compatible."

"How do you know all this?" Molly asked.

"Because Muggles have done research in the area of a woman's fertility and witches are no different really, not in that regard. As for how I know about the potion, let's just say I like to read and I ran across it in a recent edition of the Potioneer, well, recent in my time. I bought almost my whole life back with me when I was thrown back in time as it was all in my beaded bag, which came with me. I probably have well over 2000 books including the newest edition of the periodical I mentioned. It gives very precise directions on how to prepare the potion, so I'll have no problems as potions was one of my best subject. My only demand is that you tell no one you took a potion in order to get twins again. Not even your husband is to know. He'll likely just put it down to luck if you do have twins again and if he asks you can tell him that it's because twins run in your family and since you already had one set it was likely that you'd have another. Also you can mention to Arthur that I know of some good companies that he can invest in that will make him a tidy return so that he can support you and his children better."

"Is it what you doing kind of dishonest?" Molly asked.

"I suppose," Hermione admitted, "It would be considered insider trading at the very least. However, I know how much Arthur struggles just to support you and the six children he has and so long as we don't go overboard, make just enough, so that he no longer has trouble supporting his family I can live with a little guilt on my conscience. This way your children won't have to go to Hogwarts in secondhand robes and old family wands. I know for fact, that Ron's wasn't a very good match for him, which is one of the reasons he struggled so much with his spellwork in my time. I believe that buying him a new wand once he reaches school age will help his confidence immensely. He had a real problem with his spellwork and a giant chip on his shoulder in my time, always trying to measure up to his older brothers who all turned out to be very talented. He actually broke his wand in second year, so you would've ended up buying him a new one anyway and this time you won't have to struggle for the money."

Molly nodded at what Hermione was saying and agreed to talk to Arthur.

"I'll give you the name of the companies I'm thinking about when you ask or I can talk to the goblins for you if you want me to as your representative or Arthur can do it himself. The goblins will be happy to invest for anyone, so long as you're polite to them, as they have a real thing about rudeness. Most witches and wizards here in Britain are so rude to them that they don't go out of their way to help them. A little politeness goes a long way."

Molly nodded again for it did make sense. Nobody liked somebody who was rude to them all the time just because they were different, like in the case of the goblins who were a totally different species.

"I'll talk to Arthur about the money," Molly promised.

"I'm even willing to loan you some and he can pay me back once he has a nice return," Hermione offered.

"But it's your money," Molly protested.

"Yes, it is, but it's only going to be a loan. I do expect to be paid back. I know these companies I'm mentioning do very well in this time and the people who invested in them and became shareholders did very well, well enough that they lived comfortably with their families. They weren't rich, but they were comfortable enough that they didn't have to worry about putting their children through university. That's where you go for a higher education once you finish high school. You take your A-levels, which is the equivalent of taking your N.E.W.T.s in the magical world. There are also plenty of scholarship programs out there as some families can't afford to send their children to university without one. University cost tens of thousands of pounds for a full education. Trust me they are very expensive. Of course, it also depends on which one you get into, as some are more prestigious than others and therefore, more expensive."

"And you said that these people didn't have to worry about sending their children to one of these universities for a higher education?" Molly wanted to confirm what Hermione had said. "Not even if they had more than one child?"

"Most Muggles have at least two or sometimes three children, but their parents were able to send all of them to universities with no problem if they didn't get scholarships, though there is a test to get into whichever one they choose. It's to make sure they can handle the coursework. Becoming a lawyer for example is a very hard thing to do and you have to be really intelligent. It takes at least most of a year just to remember all the legal terms."

Hermione knew that Molly would recognize that an attorney, while different in the Muggle world was similar enough that she could make a decent comparison.

"Scholarship are much sought after, especially for those who can't send their children to get a higher education without one," Hermione added.

"Yes, Hogwarts used to have a scholarship program to, but I'm afraid they don't anymore," said Molly.

"Sometimes, they only give out partial scholarships, enough for books and their tuition, but it doesn't include taking summer courses or lab time if they're taking something like chemistry which requires it. Some college age students have to get a job in order to pay for anything the scholarship doesn't cover. Don't worry about the money Molly I have more than I'll ever need due to the returns from the carcass of that basilisk. Even if Fabian, Gideon and I had 15 children I still wouldn't have any trouble supporting them by myself."

"Wow that's a lot," Molly said blinking.

"Don't get any ideas I'm not going to have that many," Hermione laughed. "I was just trying to get you to understand that I have more Galleons to my name than I ever I thought I would. Basilisk parts can be used in many potions and they are extremely rare and hard to come by. Only an idiot breeds a monster that can kill you with a look. The one we killed was at least 60 feet long and worth many millions of Galleons. The twins didn't want any part of that because they were afraid the ministry might check into their accounts sometime and be suspicious of where the money came from. They didn't want to have to explain about how they had come into so much money as we tried to keep the fact that a monster, a basilisk no less, existed under Hogwarts quiet. The ministry is filled with spies for the Dark Lord and we definitely don't want him hearing about the death of his pet. James and Sirius who also helped have family fortunes of their own, so they didn't want any of the proceeds either. However, I am an unknown and I was also as poor as a church mouse, before this because the Muggle pounds I have are not usable in this time, as they have dates on the bills. It was agreed that I get a portion of the proceeds because I'm the one that not only told Dumbledore where the Chamber of Secrets was I figured out how to avoid the ancient enchantment that requires a password that is in Parseltongue. The enchantment is still going strong and we would've destroyed the bathroom trying to get the entrance to open when I came up with a much simpler solution."

"What solution was that?" Molly asked curiously.

"I simply suggested that we heft up one of the stones that make up the floor with magic and go through the hole. The enchantment is only around the sinks in the girls bathroom where Moaning Myrtle was killed," Hermione explained.

"That's simple and brilliant, Mia," Molly said a little awed, that the solution was so simple.

"Dumbledore certainly thought so," Hermione smirked. "As I've said before most magicals don't have an ounce of logic. They either never had it in the first place or they use magic so much that they lose their ability to think of solutions for themselves. Don't worry about the money and tell Arthur that the profits from the basilisk are more then enough to support many children, even splitting the profits three ways. The profits were split between me, Hogwarts and Snape, because he's the one that did the rendering."

"I'll talk to him in the morning," Molly promised again, "and I'll also think about taking that potion. I would love to have twins again, especially if they both turned out to be girls."

"That's why I suggested it as I knew you would," Hermione said. "I knew you quite well in my time. Just let me know if you want to do it, because it's not long before you'll get pregnant with your last child, as the timing will be correct in just a few months, so take as long as you want to make a decision. Your daughter was originally born in May so that means you likely got pregnant sometime in September."

"I'll let you know as soon as Arthur and I reach a decision," Molly promised.

"I had better be getting home then, as I'm sure the twins will start to worry, before too much longer as it's getting late," Hermione said rising to her feet immediately heading the front door.

"Thank you so much for all you've done for my family," Molly said, as she hugged Mia around her waist.

"Believe me, you're quite welcome," Hermione said warmly. "You were just as much of a mother to me in my time as my own was. I just wanted to do something for you in return for all the love and care that you gave me."

The two women parted ways quite content with how the conversation had gone.

~~~Gideon, Hermione, Fabian~~~

"So what took so long?" Fabian immediately asked as Hermione entered the apartment.

"We were about to get worried," Gideon added.

"Sit down and I'll explain," Hermione promised. "Good, you've already fixed tea," Hermione added looking pleased, pouring herself a cup and then heating it up with the tap of her wand.

"I wanted to talk to Molly alone, because I had a couple of suggestions for her that I didn't want anybody else to overhear until I knew how she would react."

"What kind of suggestions?" Fabian asked not suspiciously just curiously.

"Well, I know of several Muggle companies that make decent profits in this time and so I suggested to Molly that Arthur could invest in them. I know how much Arthur struggles to provide for his family and I can't blame him for not wanting to leave a job he loves. I wanted to see how she would react before I told you what I've been thinking. The businesses I have in mind make enough of a profit that he'd be able to send his children to Hogwarts with new robes, wands and books instead of secondhand and they'd be able to pay school fees without any trouble instead of him struggling to do so. I also said that I would loan him the money initially and he could pay me back over time. Molly promised to mention it to Arthur in the morning."

"That's very generous of you, Mia," Fabian said warmly.

"I just know them in my time and how much Arthur struggled to pay Hogwarts fees for all seven of his children. I know how much Ron at least got teased for his lack of family money and for his secondhand clothes and secondhand books. Even his wand belonged to a relative and I believe it was a very poor match for him because he struggled with his spellwork, except Charms, which he was really good at. The wand that was handed down just wasn't very suitable for him that's all. I'm hoping that if he goes to school with new clothes, books and wand that he won't have such a giant chip on his shoulder like he did in my time. Ron had very little self-confidence and Draco Malfoy's taunting always got to him. I'm hoping this will help him do better in his classes and that he'll learn to control his temper as Ron's always had a thing about being poor."

"So Molly and Arthur will no longer have to struggle to pay the bills," Gideon said and Hermione nodded.

"They won't be wealthy like the Potters or the Malfoys, but they'll have financial security and that's all they would want," Hermione confirmed taking a sip of tea. "They would never accept I know if they were going to have to much gold in their vault, as that could lead to their children being too spoiled, or if not their children, their grandchildren. I won't have them turn into the equivalent of Draco Malfoy, which is why I suggested a few companies I know that do moderately well. Well enough, to provide a comfortable life for those that invest in them, but not enough to be too extravagant. The Weasleys that survive the war are well grounded in reality. I know Bill and Charlie at least made comfortable lives for themselves."

"You sure do know a lot," Fabian said his lips twitching.

"I read a lot including the Financial Times, in my own time," Hermione said. "The Financial Times is different from the regular Times in the fact, that it gives more financial information. It happened to mention several companies that were started around now and how well they did."

"Did you talk about anything else because you were gone a long time, much longer than a simple conversation like that should take."

"If I tell you you must swear to never mention it to anyone, because I'm kind of meddling when I really shouldn't, but I owe the Weasleys a lot in my time as Arthur and Molly were practically my parents in the magical world at least. Mostly, I'm doing it because they took in Harry, who had never known love in his whole life, without a qualm, despite knowing how much danger that could place them in because of Voldemort. They did it because Ron was Harry's best friend and for no other reason. Being purebloods wouldn't necessarily have protected them because their views were well known."

"Alright then, we promise," Fabian said that Gideon repeated it immediately.

"If you need a wand oath we can do that," Gideon added.

"No your promises good enough for now, though I suggest you avoid Dumbledore for awhile, as he can't seem help but use Legilimency on people," Hermione told them.

"We know..." Gideon said sounding disgusted.

"...And we are still rather upset about that," Fabian added.

Hermione's lips twitched in amusement, but all she said was, "I don't blame you for being disgusted or upset because it is illegal, but he can't seem to help himself. He's one of those people that have to know everything and instead of requiring information honestly he does it illegally, even if most people never know it. I can teach you how to block him out, but he'll know instantly that you've acquired the skill and he'll know who taught you, as he'll recognize my magical signature. He already knows that I practice Occlumency, so he shouldn't be surprised if I taught you how to keep him out of your heads, especially since we're engaged now."

"It's a useful skill to know," Fabian acknowledged.

"So whenever we have time we'll let you teach us," Gideon said.

"He can't be the only Legilimens out there that tries to read people illegally," Fabian said.

"No, I know at least one more and that is my former Potions Teacher Snape," Hermione said, "but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have the skill and use it on a regular basis to give themselves an advantage. I'm thinking mostly of the purebloods of course, as I wouldn't be surprised if the adults from the darker pureblood families in particular teach the skill to their children."

"So about this other thing that you want to talk to our sister about," Gideon said finally.

"I told her about a potion I knew from the future, one that will allow her to have at least twins instead of the singleton she had before. The reason I did this is the odds are high that she'll have two girls instead of a girl and a boy, because girl twins are the most common kind, at least in the Muggle world. They are much more common then two boys. All this potion does is allow a woman to drop more than one egg, which increases the chances of having more than one. I offered to brew it for her if she wanted to have more than a single girl like she did in my timeline.

"Won't this mess up the timeline?" Fabian asked awed at what his and his brother, Mia was offering their sister.

"The other timeline no longer exists," Hermione said. "It ceased to exist the minute I started changing things. This is one of the reasons I offered to invest some money into a few Muggle businesses as they will bring in more than enough for Molly and Arthur to provide for their children and themselves."

"You are the most generous, nicest, sweetest person I have ever known," Gideon said, as he picked her up and swung around, causing Hermione to laugh.

"It's no wonder we fell in love with you you've done so much for our family," Fabian said. "You not only saved Gideon and myself from dying you're making it easier on my sister and her husband to provide for their children."

"I owed them for taking Harry and myself in," Hermione shrugged nonchalantly, even while she blushed. "They might turn me down, you know."

"That's possible, but since Arthur knows it's only a loan he probably won't," Fabian said who knew his brother-in-law. "You suggested your idea in the right way and knew that both of them had a lot of pride, pride that would never accept a handout. A loan on the other hand is an entirely different matter. Since Arthur will know that it isn't a gift, he'll probably take you up on your generous offer."

"I hope so, because providing for seven children on Arthur's salary wasn't easy and I saw how much they struggled in my time. If Molly accepts my idea about taking that potion, she'll have at least eight children to deal with, with inadequate funds," Hermione explained.

"What do you mean at least eight children?" Gideon asked catching on to that one one phrase.

"It's possible that she'll have triplets," Hermione explained. "Most pureblood women have trouble conceiving even now, especially if they're married to a pureblood man. Arthur and Molly are the exception to the rule, which means two things. One: your sister is extremely fertile for a pureblood and two: she and Arthur are extremely compatible. The fact that they actually love each other and married for love might also have something to do with it, as love is a powerful force all on it's own."

Which was something that Hermione knew from experience.

"So you're saying because of these factors she might have three instead of two," Fabian said.

"Exactly," Hermione agreed. "It's just a possibility, I'm not saying it's going to happen."

"No, you didn't say that, but you suspect it will," Gideon said shrewdly.

Hermione shrugged, but didn't answer at first. Finally, she said, "It's a possibility only. I'll tell you one thing they'll be the envy of most purebloods who are lucky to have even one child due to inbreeding, as I explained awhile ago. Of course, the fact that those pureblood arranged marriages usually don't involve love may also have something to do with it."

"Neither of us can wait to make you ours completely, but we also know that's not wise at present," Fabian said looking wistful.

"We really want to get you pregnant just like you promised our sister you would be soon after our wedding," Gideon added smiling smugly, as he thought all about Mia plump with his or Fabian's child.

"I want that too, so much," Hermione said softly, even while she blushed at Gideon's smug expression. She could imagine what he was thinking very easily. "I've never wanted anything so much in my life. I promise as soon as Voldemonkey is history we'll get married and start producing those children we all want. I'll agree to get pregnant twice by each of you and after that will be it."

"So that's at least four children, two for each of us," Gideon said with glee in his expression.

"We're likely to have at least one set of twins, considering twins run strongly in our family, so that will be at least five children," Fabian said

"I can assure we do have at least one set of twins if you like," Hermione offered.

"We'll think about it," Fabian said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we're not even married yet," Gideon added.

"I can at least see why you don't want us to mention anything about that potion," Fabian said finally after the lengthy silence.

"Yes, so can I," Gideon agreed. "Not only are you interfering with the future, since the potion hasn't been invented yet, you're also changing how many children our sister had originally."

"Which is why I want you to keep it a secret. If Dumbledore found out I used a potion from the future he would at least scold me for it. We've been getting along so well, I don't want to wreck our relationship, because of his habit of meddling in other people's lives or scolding them for things he has no right too scold them for. I'm only using the potion to help out somebody I consider family and I have no plans to supposedly steal the potion and sell it as my own invention. I will not have women flocking to my door wanting me to do the potion for them so they can conceive. I do not plan on ever using the potion again, at least not until it's been officially invented in a few years. No one ever has to know," Hermione explained.

"We agree to keep your secret," the twins said together.

There was suddenly a magical flash after the oath was given that meant that neither twin could talk about it, except with their future mate, which was fine.

"Thank you," Hermione said.

"You're welcome," Gideon said, as he kissed Hermione on the cheek.

"It's not like you're really doing anything wrong and in fact, you're helping our sister possibly have at least girl twins instead of the singleton she had in the original timeline," Fabian added.

"We know the headmaster would likely disagree with your actions, but you're not doing anything illegal or against your conscience," Gideon said.

"Besides, he has no room to talk since he uses Legilimency on people on a regular basis and that is definitely illegal," Fabian added.

"He probably justifies it to himself as being for the greater good," Gideon added.

"I have to agree. As much as I like this headmaster better than the one from my time he's still a meddling old coot," Hermione said.

"We've come to realize that over the last year or so," Fabian admitted. "You helped us see that he really might have our best interest at heart, but he goes about it in the wrong way."

"Definitely," Hermione agreed. "Why don't we go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Are you implying what I think you are?" Gideon asked.

"If you don't want to then I can go back to my own room," Hermione suggested in a calm tone. "I know that women who sleep with a man outside of marriage are looked down on in this time, but nobody has to know and I've already taken a potion so I won't get pregnant, as that's not something we need until after old Voldie is gone. Losing my virginity to the two of you considering I'm going to marry you anyway is really nothing."

Both twins grinned and said, "Sounds good," the twins echoed each other, making Hermione smile.

"We're not about to turn down an offer like that," Fabian added.

"But you're right Molly would go insane and hex us into oblivion, so we won't be telling anyone," Gideon added.

Both twins theatrically shuddered as they imagined their sister's reaction if she learned that they had taken Mia's virginity before they were married, causing Hermione to chuckle, mostly because she knew they were right.

~~~Gideon, Hermione, Fabian~~~