My Brother's Girl

George Knows

"So?" George asked when he was sure that they were alone.

When the Twins were first years, they had been wandering the corridors when they had discovered an incredible room; it was behind a portrait and as far as they could tell they were the only two people in the school that knew about it. It wasn't even on the Marauders map.

"Its nothing, just a crush." Fred said, leaning against the wall. As the words left his mouth, he saw an image of Hermione. He knew it wasnt real, just his imagination, but he couldnt help but smile at it; she looked gorgeous as always, her bushy hair let down and her usual face of concentration. Every time she concentrated hard enough she looked like she was chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Ow." Fred complained, rubbing his arm where George had thrown something at him. Looking at the space next to him he saw it was a bottle of WizzPop. Opening the bottle, Fred sat back and let George speak. "Fred Weasley, how long have we been twins?" Rolling his eyes, Fred tried to get the image of Hermione to come back, but sadly he couldnt.

"Fine. Last year at the Ball, I saw her in a new light. She looked stunningly beautiful."

"Lets not play the pronoun game. Whats her name? Does she know how you feel? All girls loooove a qudditch player." He said, throwing himself down next to his brother and taking a sip of his drink.

Taking a deep breath, Fred replied "Hermione."

George sat up, completely gobsmacked. "As in Granger? As in our BROTHER'S crush?"

Nodding, Fred closed his eyes and imagined Ron's face if he knew. Even though Fred teased Ron to no end, there was no way he could hurt his baby brother like that. "I'm not going to do anything. She's younger and Ron likes her. Its just a crush; I'll get over her."

Studying his brothers expression, George put his hand on Fred's shoulder. "No you wont. I cant believe I didnt notice; what kind of twin am I? You always get a stupid smirk on your face when she's around."

For the first time, Fred thought, in his life he was blushing. "So is that why you've been avoiding Ron? Guilt?"

Once again, Fred nodded sadly. "I cant stop thinking about her Georgie; the way she smiles, the way she looks when she's reading a good book. The way she tells us off for mucking around too much."

It wasnt hard to see; Fred clearly was in love. The only problem, was that he was in love with a girl he was positive his brother at the very least fancied.

"Wait - what about Harry? Do you think he likes her as well?" Fred said, suddenly remembering all the times he had seen Harry and Hermione together and finding his throat felt like it was closing. "Nah theyre too much like brother/sister; theyd fight till the end of the Earth for each other, but theres no way they LIKE each other. Anyone can see that."

Standing up and stretching, Fred got ready to leave. "Come on George. We've got quidditch practice; its fine. I'll get over her. Just a crush." Fred repeated, hoping more than anything for it to be true.

But as the twins made their way across the school, out of the corner of his eye Fred saw Hermione standing there with Ron and Harry. It looked like her and Ron were arguing about something; nothing new there.

Fred thought he was the only one to see the Golden Trio, and he was. However, George didnt miss that smirk on his twins face as they passed them. Even though George didnt see the Trio, he knew his brother had seen Hermione. He also knew there was no way Fred would be able to get over Hermione; he was clearly in too deep.

Walking down to practice, George kept an eye on Fred. He'd never seen his twin in this much pain before, and Fred had broken more bones than George was sure he had. George knew Fred would never risk hurting Ron. Given the choice, Fred would take the broken heart, rather than give his little brother one.