If Ever Two Were One, Then Surely We

"If Ever Two Were One, Then Surely We"

She couldn't stand it. She hated hearing Mrs. Weasley yelling at Fred and George. It was especially aggravating when the yelling was over their Wheezes. Hermione thought that the fake wands were especially brilliant. She worked quickly for a plausible excuse to leave the room and the scene which would, inevitably, exasperate her beyond her limit.

"What have they done this time?" said Mrs. Weasley, "If it's got anything to do with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes--"

"Why don't you show Harry where he's sleeping, Ron?" said Hermione from the doorway.

"He knows where he's sleeping," said Ron, "in my room, he slept there last--"

"We can all go," said Hermione pointedly.

"Oh," said Ron, cottoning on. "Right."

She and Ginny shuffled Harry and Ron out of the kitchen of the Burrow and upstairs to Ron's personal shrine to the Chudley Cannons, his bedroom.

"What are Weasleys's Wizarding Wheezes?" Harry asked.

Ron and Ginny both laughed, although Hermione didn't. Hermione watched Ginny and Ron explain to Harry the uproar occurring downstairs with an expression that showed interest. Her mind, however, was still downstairs. She wanted to be down there now, between Fred and George and their parents, shielding them from the verbal lashing they were no doubt receiving from their parents--or, more correctly, Mrs. Weasley. She wanted to stand valiantly in the middle of the melee and tell Mrs. Weasley that she is wrong; Fred and George are brilliant and their inventions are brilliant to boot.

Hermione thinks Fred and George are so smart. Not like she is smart--Hermione learns from books and uses applied logic and reasoning. When faced with any situation, she mentally rifles through all that she has read to find the right answer. Fred and George are different, though. They are smart from somewhere inside--somewhere baser and more guttural. There was something about magic they just understand. They can create things--not like her portable, water-proof fires from second year. The fires were an obscure, old trick she had learned form an even more obscure, old book. She used the fires to show off; Fred and George create things to make people--mainly themselves--laugh.

And now, Harry, Ron and Ginny are laughing--but the laughter is at Fred and George, not their creations. Hermione was tempted to say something. She thought momentarily about giving her friends the imaginary speech extolling Fred's and George's virtues that she would have given Mrs. Weasley. Instead, she opened her mouth to speak and closed it in the same instant. Percy had just poked his head in the door to fuss at them all. She silently thanked him for saving her from a potentially embarrassing scene. She thought better of her Fred and George defense strategy when she realized how her reaction might seem.

She looked quickly at Ginny, and her mind flipped back to second year when Ginny defended Harry to Draco Malfoy in Flourish and Blotts, and Malfoy chided her for it. Ginny had later confided to Hermione how embarrassed and ridiculous she had felt when Malfoy had seen right through to the marrow of her, and he had attacked it. Hermione swallowed deeply at the thought that Harry or Ron might do the same thing to her if she defended Fred and George to them. She couldn't imagine how she would make it through the next few days--much less the next four years--with them if they knew how she truly felt. Ron had said enough about Ginny and her crush on Harry for Hermione to deduce the amount of hazing to which she would most definitely be subjected. Ron would never cease to tease her for, one, having a crush, two, having a crush on his older brothers, and three, having a crush on his older brothers Fred and George, who personify everything against which Hermione stands.

Fred and George are rule-breakers; Hermione is a rule follower. Fred and George are reckless; Hermione follows the directions. Fred and George are carefree; Hermione is...less carefree. Hermione knows she has less then a zero percent chance with either Fred or George because of the differences in personality.

Fred and George also exist in a world all their own, and she doubts that they are even vaguely interested in letting any outsiders into their private existence. She hated to think about the day someone would infiltrate the carefully guarded barriers of her, Ron's and Harry's precious and unique friendship. She knows the borders protecting the bond between Fred and George would be even stronger.

But...it sure is fun to just look at them and think about the mischievous grin that semi-permanently lit their faces.

Hermione noticed a quiet coming from downstairs in the same moment Ron almost mistakenly asked about Sirius in front of the still-clueless Ginny. She seized the moment to sidetrack the conversation and suggest they go downstairs to help with dinner. This suggestion also offered the opportunity to be around Fred and George again.

Hermione had heard hormones would change her. She had heard Lavender and Parvati giggling over boys before, but Hermione never though it would happen to her. However, here she is: clambering to be in Fred's and George's presences. She inwardly tingled with every innocent brush of the hand or smile that came her way from them. She gingerly made her way downstairs, anxiously anticipating the innocent way her fingers might touch Fred's or George's when passing napkins down the dinner table.

Maybe tonight she would let herself smile at them longer, allow herself to lock eyes and actually hold her gaze for just a moment--just to see what would be the reaction.

What would they do? Would they just turn away, oblivious? Would they crinkle their noses in disgust? Would they smile mischievously--and perhaps, gaze back?

Mrs. Weasley doled out their dinner preparation assignments. When she and Ginny took the plates outside to the table set up in the garden, they were confronted by the sight of Bill and Charlie entertaining the others. Bill and Charlie both had their wands out, and were making two battered old tables fly high above the lawn, smashing into each other, each attempting to knock the other's out of the air. Fred and George were cheering, Ginny was laughing, and Hermione was hovering near the hedge, apparently torn between amusement and anxiety. Her mind was torn in half at the sight. Her books and self-balance told her to run inside and get Mrs. Weasley--or, at least, tell Bill and Charlie to stop. However, Fred and George laughing made her reluctantly concede to the humor of the situation. She couldn't look like a bore--or worse, like Percy. The twins despised Percy and his demeanor--a demeanor not unstrikingly like her own.

Finally, they all sat down to eat and to enjoy themselves in the garden. She half listened to a conversation between Fred, George and Charlie about the next day's Quidditch World Cup. Mr. Weasley conjured up candles to light the darkening garden before they had their homemade strawberry ice cream, and by the time they had finished, moths were fluttering low over the table, and the warm air was perfumed with the smells of grass and honeysuckle.

In the candlelight, Fred turned and reached for another scoop of strawberry ice cream when something caught his eye. He looked across the table and saw Hermione absently looking his way. She realized that he was looking at her and came to. Hermione half smiled at Fred, and he half-smiled back. He though that he saw something like surprise pass behind her eyes, but she just blinked and never moved her gaze. The candlelight warmed her face and played off her hair, highlighting the lighter strands in the massive quantity of it. He half-smiled once more, turned back to Charlie, but peeked back at Hermione one last time before attempting to refocus on Charlie and nodding enthusiastically as George recapped the final moments of the England versus Transylvania Quidditch match. He absently gave a hearty "Yeah!" in agreement with Charlie's appraisal of Transylvania's beaters, but something flip-flopped in his stomach as he thought about smiling at Hermione--his youngest brother's best friend and know-it-all of Hogwarts.

Fred helped gather dishes and clear the table after Mrs. Weasley announced that it was time for bed. He rolled the thought of momentarily locking eyes with Hermione over in his mind that night as he lay in the dark of Ron's room. He listened as George quietly snored, and he thought to himself how it might be nicer if Hermione were laying there, instead.

Across the hall, Hermione lay wide-eyed and staring at the ceiling of Ginny's room. She smiled to herself. She had done it. She smiled at Fred...and he smiled back! She looked right at him, and he looked back! He even peeked back at her before rejoining his conversation with his brothers. He had forgotten all about the ice cream for which he had originally been reaching because they smiled at each other. They smiled at each other!