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The bag of marshmallows that Hermione had tucked under her arm was her peace offering, or at least her attempt at a peace offering. She had no idea what she was about to walk into, just that she was about to tell Fred and George something that was life-changing, something that was definitely going to change her life if not their lives as well. Fred knew, or at least he had to have an inkling after the last conversation that they had had. He had respected Hermione's wishes and left her alone over the last couple of days, but Hermione had sort of wished that he had at least tried to contact her - and it was worrying that George hadn't tried to talk to her either. She knew that Fred didn't like to keep things from George, but surely he wouldn't have told him about this?
She swallowed thickly before she knocked on the door to the flat, remembering the last time she had been there and even though she still felt sick, at least now she knew the reason as to why that was. She shuffled from foot to foot, not sure if she was just impatient, cold, or uncomfortable, but she couldn't stand for long.
Luckily it wasn't long before the door opened and Fred stood in the doorway. He looked her up and down before wrapping his arms around her tightly and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. If he knew then at least he was shunning her or completely repulsed by her.
"I was hoping you'd come by." He whispered, his words washing some of her worries away. She let herself hide her face against his chest and breathe him in before she pulled back and looked up at him.
"I'm sorry about the other day." She whispered back, knowing that she couldn't ever fully apologise for snapping at him like she had when all he had wanted to do was make her feel better. "Is George home? We - um - we all need to talk…"
"Yeah, he's here. We just closed up the shop." Fred told her, though he gave her another squeeze before he let her go. They headed into the flat, Hermione's heart racing even though she had been here hundreds of times before. She felt sick again, but she was hopeful that this time it wouldn't amount to anything.
"Hey." George's smile when he greeted her made it all too clear that Fred hadn't told him anything about their conversation the other day. Hermione let herself drink in his smile, let herself drink in just how happy he was to see her, just in case the next words out of her mouth were the ones that drove him away from her.
"Hi." She said quietly. She wished that she could share in his joy, but her own happiness over seeing him again we're drowned out by the worries that filled her head. It was time just to get it over and done with. "You two might want to sit down."
George looked from Hermione to Fred and back again. "Is everything okay?" He asked slowly, the smile was now long gone from his lips; not a trace of it was left.
"Just please, let's sit down." Hermione avoided eye contact with him as she took a seat herself, making sure to sit on the armchair so that she would be facing both twins and not sitting too close to either of them.
They did as they were asked though George had gone pale, his eyes now fixed on her shoes and Hermione couldn't blame him though she doubted he had guessed what she wanted to tell him. Fred had gone quiet too, though he was sat on the edge of the sofa, his eyes flickering across her features as she took a slow breath.
"As you know, I wasn't feeling great at the weekend. I actually haven't been feeling well for a while now, but I've been ignoring it because, well, I don't have time to be sick but - uh -Ginny suggested I see a healer on Monday so I did and I - I…" She trailed off, swallowing down a sob that she didn't know where it came from that was rising up in her throat. "It turns out I'm pregnant. It's - um - it's Ron's baby. I talked to him already, but I don't know if he wants to be involved or anything yet. Not that I expect either of you to be involved, I just wanted to let you know. And I wanted to do it right this time because I want a future with both of you. I know that this… well this complicates an already complicated situation. This baby would be your niece or nephew and that… Even saying that aloud is enough to show me how screwed up that is. I should - I should -"
She was stopped in her rambling by a pair of hands clasping around hers. "Hermione."
It was George, his face now only inches from hers and he took the opportunity to press a kiss to her nose before he glanced over his shoulder at his twin. "I try not to talk for Fred, but I can safely do so today when I say that we're here with you, no matter what. We knew that you and Ron we're together before last week so it's not as if that part is a shock. Okay, a baby might not have been on the cards, immediately, but a baby isn't a bad thing either and it will be another you to love."
Hermione managed to meet his gaze as he spoke, her eyes staying fixed on his and widening with every word that came out of his mouth. "You - what?" Hermione had hoped that they wouldn't send her packing when she told them about the baby but that didn't mean that she was expecting this reaction. She had expected to be told that this wasn't going to work and that was what she had prepared for.
"George is right. I'm not going anywhere. Neither of us is." He paused for a moment before he continued, "I mean, sure, we are still in the casting stage, the getting to know stage, but then we've known each other for years so I suppose it makes sense that we should skip that…"
Hermione looked between the twins and forced herself to take a slow breath and at least try to slow her heartbeat down. She managed a relieved laugh and squeezed George's hands. "Thank you." She said softly. "Both of you. Honestly, the idea of co-parenting with Harry and Ginny was not one I was looking forward to."
George kissed her nose again and moved to sit on the arm of the armchair, though he did let go of her hands. "Don't get me wrong, I love the air of them, but I can't see them being the easiest to work with. You'd never be allowed any time with your own baby if Harry got his way."
Hermione smiled a little as she shook her head. "No, probably not." She looked over to Fred where he was still sat on the arm of the sofa before she asked "You two are sure you're in? Because Ron still might be and so might Neville if that's the case and it's only going to get more complicated from here on out…"
"We're sure." Fred promised her, a smile ghosting across his lips. "You can rest assured that this baby is going to be the most loved child that there is."
Hermione gave a slow nod as she realised that he was right. If Ron and Neville wanted to be a part of their life, then they would have five parents. She slowly pulled herself to her feet though, feeling awkward to be just sat there even though they had both reassured her that everything was okay. She could feel them both watching her, staring at her. She didn't exactly know where she was going either, she didn't want to leave just yet, not when she had just got there and honestly this was her favourite to be at the moment.
"Do you want a drink or something to eat?" George offered as he got up as well, and Hermione realised that he probably thought that it was because of him.
She wanted to assure him that it wasn't but she didn't know how to do that so instead she just asked for a cup of tea and let herself look out of the window and down into Diagon Alley below. She let out a soft sigh before she felt a pair of arms wrapping around her waist. She let herself relax back against whoever it was, her eyes closing for a moment as she tried to let herself relax. She knew that it wasn't going to be easy, but if life were meant to be easy then it wouldn't be life, would it?