A Double Date

Leah and Fred were working on her veggie lasagne together in her kitchen, and the kitchen was messy with sauce and flour everywhere. Leah had fallen into a laughing fit when Fred tried to make fresh pasta noodles. She had tucked away his wand, so he had to make it the muggle way. The floo roared and Hermione and George stepped out of the fireplace together, hand in hand. They turned to the kitchen when they heard Leah's laugh booming through the house. When they entered the kitchen, Leah was doubled over laughing while Fred glared at her, holding pieces of noodle in his hands.

"What's going on in here?" George grinned, leaning on the counter, his eyes going back and forward between the two. Hermione in mean while hopped on the barstool and looked at the destroyed kitchen, eyes wide.

Fred's head whipped to his brother, surprised to see him sitting there. Neither Leah nor Fred had heard them come in.

"He... wanted... to... help." Leah managed to say between laughs, pointing at the messed-up pasta in his hands and on the counter, her laugh starting to get down.

"I guess he needs to work on that." Hermione snickered, picking up a piece of noodle and examining it close. Leah looked to Hermione before she fell back into a fit of laughter.

"I hate you." Fred grumbled. Leah stopped laughing and smiled at him wide.

"No, you don't." She said licking her lips. She took out her wand from her back pocket and waved it making the mess clear up. "I'll just finish, you sit down." She waved him off with a grin. George and Fred crossed paths as he sat down next to Hermione and George came up next to her. "Hi, Georgie." Leah kissed his cheek.

"I'll help." He stated, rolling up his sleeves. Leah gave him a pointed look, making him chuckle. "I know, I know. No magic." He said and started rolling the dough. "I'm a much better cook that Fred, or Hermione for that matter." He winked at Hermione, who gave him a glare. "Am I lying?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"No." She stuck out her tongue to him.

He turned back to Leah grinning. "Maybe we should get them some cooking lessons."

"Why?" Fred asked, making Leah and George look to him. "We have you two to cook for us." He grinned wide.

"Don't think I'll be cooking every day, Weasley."

"We can get take-out once in a while." Fred clicked his tongue behind his grin. Leah shook her head before turning to George and whispered something in his ear, making him laugh loudly. Fred glared at the two, but they ignored him as they finished the noodles, laughing.

"Why don't you two make yourself useful and set the table." George nudged his head to the dining room. Hermione jumped off the barstool and pulled Fred with her. George turned to her as the two of them headed to the dining table. "Leah... uhm." George rubbed his neck nervously. She had started stirring the sauce and stopped to look at him. "I just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?"

"What not?" He chuckled. "For Fred, for convincing me, for being one of my best friends, for... for Hermione."

"No, need to thank me, George. You know that."

"I'm just so glad to have you in my life." He took one large step towards her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She was surprised at first before bringing her arms around his waist. They stood there for a moment, just letting the last few months sink in. The pulled back slightly when they heard someone clear their throat.

"Problem, brother?" George grinned pulling Leah close to him.

"You got your own girl now, so leave mine alone." Fred grumbled, the corners of his lips in a slight lift.

"Maybe I want two."

"Oh, really?" Hermione's voice came from behind Fred, before she appeared next to him. "Maybe I want Leah for myself." Hermione teased. George's and Fred's mouth fell open and Leah walked up to Hermione pulling her close, just like George did to her.

"I like the sound of that." She gave the girl a wink.

Fred recovered first, shaking his head. "I like this Hermione." He grinned.

"George, snap out of it." Leah called to him, her arm still around Hermione. "Finish the lasagne and put it in the oven, it's already on." George finally came out of it and finished the dish and placed it in the oven. Leah waved her wand and put an alarm to let her know when the food is ready. "Let's go to the living room, I've set up a movie."

She pulled Hermione with her, and the twins followed behind. Leah put on the movie and turned to the twins who already made themselves comfortable on the couch. "This is one of Fred's favourites." She said as she pressed play, the tittle of Willy Wonka came into full view. Leah and Hermione were on their way to the library when the twins looked over the couch.

"Where are you two going?"

"Yeah, the movie just started."

"Or are you really planning on stealing my girl, Granger?"

Leah and Hermione looked over their shoulders to the two pouting twins, making them roll their eyes. "We're just going to plan our time at Hogwarts."

"As long that's it." Fred grinned before turning back to the screen.

While Leah and Hermione were working on a schedule, she could hear Fred explain the movie to his brother, laughter booming from the living room. Hermione was writing down the workload and her eyes drifted to her.

"Hermione?" She asked, Hermione hummed that she was listening as she continued writing everything down. "Can you tell me about Harry, about his parents?"

Hermione looked up in surprise and put down her pen. "Uhm, what do you want to know?"

"Fred told me what happened to them, I can't believe what he must've gone through. Why didn't they look further in the family?"

"I don't know. Dumbledore had many secrets, maybe he had a reason."

"Hm." Leah hummed as she frowned, looking down at the desk.

"I can probably guess you're not a fan of him." Leah snorted at that. "You're not the only one, the things he kept from Harry, the things he had to endure... I think Harry will never forgive him for that."

It was quiet for a moment before Hermione pulled out a picture from her pocket. "I actually made a copy from the photo from Harry's parents. I thought you might like to see it. Harry's mum, Lily was your..."

"Second cousin once removed, making Harry my third cousin." She said as she accepted the picture from her. "Oh my god!"

"What is it?" Hermione asked as the twins burst in at her cry, looking around worried.

"I saw her."

"Lily?" Hermione asked surprised. Fred came to sit on Leah's armchair while George stood behind Hermione looking at her with confusion.

"Yes, when I went to Olivander's to get my wand, I saw spirits; some I knew, some I didn't. I saw her, I saw Lilly standing next to my Nan." She said, tracing her thumb on the photo. Leah looked over her shoulder up to Fred next to her. "I think I'm going to try and talk to her, before I try with Harry."

"You already tried it?" George asked.

"Yeah, yesterday. I saw my Nan." Fred took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze. "Fred met her too."

"How?"

"When I summoned her, I could see her, talk to her, like she was sitting really there. When I took Fred's hand, he could see and talk to her too."

"Wow." Hermione and George breathed, looking at her in amazement.

"But she needs to be careful." Fred looked from Leah to the others in front of them. "The further away the bond is between her and a spirit, the harder it will be on her. After she saw her Nan, she was out cold for an hour. We don't know what others will do to her." Fred's voice laced with worry.

"I'll be fine." Leah started, intertwining her fingers with his. "Nan just said the recovery could be longer."

"I am just worried... I don't want to lose you again."

"Correction." George said seriously, pointing his up. "We don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise." And just then her wand started to vibrate, telling her dinner is ready. "Oh, dinner is ready. You three go sit in the dining room, I'll bring out the lasagne."

Leah was just taking the dish out of the oven and when she put it on the counter, two large arms wrapped around her waist. Fred's head resting in the crook of her neck. She leaned back leaning into him, her head falling on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Hi." She whispered.

"Hey."

When she heard the tone of his voice, she turned in his arms with a frown and looked up to him. "Are you okay?" Fred lowered his head, leaning it against her, letting out a trembling breath. "Hey, if this is about earlier. I'm here." She cupped his cheek, tracing her thumb slightly over it.

"I know I'm being silly, but I can't get the image out of my head of you lying unconscious in the hospital bed, and then again last night."

"No, not silly." She shook her head. "I'm afraid to lose you too. I'm afraid for your family to lose you again. I'm still afraid that this is just temporary, that you'll be gone in the morning."

Fred let out a dry chuckle. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"

Leah managed to smile up at him. "Yeah, we are. But Fred, if this is too hard for you... if seeing me after I've used my sight... I could ask George."

"No, no. I think it would be worse. If I'm with you, at least I'll know what's going on."

"Are you sure-"

"I'M HUNGRY!" George's voice boomed through the house.

"George!" Hermione yelled. Leah and Fred looked from the hall back to each other laughing. Leah turned and picked up the dish and walked to the whining twin, Fred walking behind her with a grin.

After dinner Hermione volunteered to do the dishes and dragged Fred with her since she and George cooked. Fred tried to argue that he did cook, or at least tried to, but Hermione didn't want to hear any of it as she dragged him to the kitchen. So, Leah and George went outside to the garden with a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. The patio was large, on one side was a large dining table with ten chairs around it. On the other side, where they were headed to, had a light wooden lounge set with light grey pillows and a table in the middle. They took a seat on the four-seater as they looked at the sunset. They were just talking about their plans for the summer when Leah started to fidget in her seat.

"What's up with you?" George asked with a cocked brow.

"Uhm, I want to try and talk to your mum." Both of George's eyebrows shot up high. "I was wondering if you could be there. I don't want Fred to know in case it goes... wrong."

"Alright, I'll set something up." He refilled their glasses. "I'm sure it will be fine, but I'll keep my mouth shut until then."

"Thanks, George." She took a sip from her glass and grinned at him. "So, how did it go with Hermione yesterday?"

"I'm a gentleman, I don't kiss and tell."

Leah snorted in her drink. "Yeah right, I'm guessing Freddie knows all about it already."

"Actually no." George glanced over his shoulder to the house, when he saw they were still inside he turned back. "I'm not sure if Fred likes me being with Hermione."

"What?! Why would you think that?" Leah asked astonished, putting her glass down.

"Well, I wanted to tell him earlier about what happened, but he said he didn't want to know about me and Granger."

"Hm..." Leah pondered over the statement. "He never said anything about it to me. Did something happen between the two of them?"

"Back in school, we never saw eye to eye. She was a prefect and was always down our necks when we tested or sold our products. We were never really friends."

"That must be it then."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Fred was gone for almost a year. And then he's back and suddenly you're making lovesick eyes to a previous bossy prefect. I think it's hard for him to wrap his head around it, at how it happened." She placed her hand on George's. "Talk to him about it. I'm sure he wants to know."

George turned his hand so he could clasp hers. "Thanks, Leah."

"You already have a boyfriend!" Fred's voice called as he and Hermione stepped out of the house. "And a far more handsome one, I might add."

"Debatable." George winked at Leah before realising her hand and wrapped it around Hermione as she sat down next to him.

A few hours and a couple of bottles of wine later, they went back inside, and George stumbled drunkenly to the fireplace. Leah stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You two can stay here. I have plenty of room."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, holding George who was already half asleep.

"Yes." Leah chuckled. "You can stay together, or you can get your own room." Leah looked from George to Hermione. "I suggest you take your own."

The girls laughed as Fred took George over and lifted him to the stairs. Fred placed George in the guest bedroom, transfiguring his clothes in fluffy pink pyjamas with hopping bunnies on it. Hermione decided to sleep separate from George, due to his horrid snoring, so Leah led her to her old room and softly pushed the door open.

"I got you something to sleep in." Leah handed over a light blue plated pyjama.

"Thanks, is this your old room?" Hermione asked looking around as she placed the pyjama on the bed.

"Yeah, I haven't had the time to change it."

"No, I like it." Hermione smiled, still glancing around.

"I'll leave you to it then." Leah said with a smile as she looked at her old room. "I won't tell if you decide to sneak in with George later."

"Gods no! That won't happen."

"And why's that?" Leah asked curiously.

"First, he's pissed and snores worse than a bear. And second, we're not quite there yet. We're taking it slow." Hermione turned to pick up her pyjamas, her cheeks red. "I don't have much experience with boys."

"I'm jealous, I wish I had waited." She simply said, already turning to the door. "Besides George will wait for you. And if you ever want to talk, I'm here Hermione."

Hermione turned back from the bed to look at her, her red cheeks flaming on her skin but a smile on her lips. "I know we don't really know each other yet. But from what George has told me, the way Fred is around you, I'm guessing we're going to get along great."

"I think so too. Well, we'll figure it out this summer, won't we?" Leah chuckled and Hermione joined in. "Good night, Hermione."

"Good night, Leah."