Three Hallows, Two Weasleys and One Broken Girl

Chapter 26: Dinner and Discussion

Boop!!

———

Dinner was interesting.
Delphi had hoped to spend some time actually talking to the twins, but strangely enough Bill and Charlie seemed determined to spend the whole meal with her.
She had no idea what they were up to, but both of them had strangely serious eyes.

It was late into the evening when the Lovegoods made an exit. Her father disapparated with Luna, and mysteriously most of the Weasley clan vanished into the house, leaving her and the twins alone in the hallway.
"You have a nice time?" Mustered Fred in the awkward silence.
She smiled uncertainly, "yeah...it was fun."
"You look...you look really nice." George wouldn't meet her eyes but Delphi had absolutely no objections as she also examined the floorboards closely.
"Uh...thanks...see you tomorrow?"
The pair visibly relaxed and grinned, "sure Delphi."
Their smiles were the last thing she saw as she spun on her heel and disapparated.

When she arrived in the kitchen, her father was still there though Luna had left.
"Nice boys." He murmured.
His tone wasn't as lost as usual, his eyes actually seeing her for the first time in a while.
"They are." She agreed, cautious under his sharp gaze.
"Dora dated twins."
Delphi startled. It was the first time she'd heard her father mention her mother since it happened.
Xenophilius fidgeted with a mug in his hands. "She actually dated the Prewitt twins - Fred and George's uncles - before we fell in love."

His eyes unfocused again and he wandered out the room.
Delphi fell against the kitchen counter, fingers clenched as she was left alone with hot tears trickling down her cheeks and the closest thing to parental acceptance she could expect from the broken man.

———

Fred and George left the hall to find their entire, snickering family bar Percy waiting for them in the living room.
"What?" Asked Fred, willing the flush from his cheeks.
Charlie grinned, "she's a great girl."
George watched as Arthur patted his twin's shoulder. "Definitely a keeper son."
"Reckon she's gotta be nuts to like you." Added Ron, "but a total ten!"
That earned him a hit from Ginny and a scowl from their mother.
"Well dear," said Molly, smiling proudly at Fred, "she seems just about perfect. Don't mess up, you hear me?"
Bill chortled at Fred's indignant look.
"Now, off to bed!" Demanded their mother and off they went.

As they trudged up the stairs, the eldest Weasley boys pulled them aside and led them into their shared room.
Bill and Charlie settled on one bed and Fred and George mirrored them on the other.
"Okay." Bill took a breath and George quirked an eyebrow in sync with his twin.
Charlie seemed to realise Bill was was struggling, so took the lead. "We aren't assuming anything, and because of that we're asking instead. You both like her right?"
They nodded reluctantly.
Charlie smiled, though it was slightly nervous, "is this a competing thing? Or a sharing thing?"
They answered immediately. "Up to her of course."
Charlie looked fairly surprised and shared a nervous glance with Bill.
The eldest Weasley swallowed, shifting position before speaking, "Erm, Fred, George...you've always been close...you aren't..." He trailed off.
"What do you mean?" George asked.
Charlie grimaced as Bill tried to work out how to say something tactfully, before giving up, "you guys aren't...sleeping together?"
George choked on air and Fred snorted, "I know we're the handsomest sons in this family, but neither of us swing that way."
"And ours is very much a brotherly bond." Stressed George weakly.

The four sat in embarrassed silence for easily too long.
Eventually Charlie spoke up, "sorry Fred, George, we had to ask...Delphi's great and we want to know what she'd be getting into."
"She's interested, we know. But none of us have talked about it out loud." Muttered George.
Fred sighed under the knowing gaze of their older brothers, "and if she only likes one of us, I don't know what we'll do..."
That was a bit of a lie. Only one of them would survive the incoming war. The winner takes all.
If 'all' wants to be taken naturally.

Bill laughed at the pair of them, "merlin, I've never seen you two nervous before."
"Me neither." Charlie agreed, "Can still remember you walking into the Great Hall like you owned it in your first year. Mind you it seems girls can make anyone nervous."
"Except you." Bill teased and Charlie grinned, his heart had always belonged to his dragons.
"So," Bill turned attention back to them, "tell us about her."
"You talked to her all through dinner." Pointed out Fred, trying not to blush.
Bill shrugged, "she seemed nice enough but obviously whatever makes her special to you two wasn't something she was showing in her role as perfect future daughter in law to mum."
"And I haven't really talked to her properly since we were kids." Added Charlie.

George shared a look with Fred.
But this was Bill and Charlie, the closest siblings they had, and the pair they trusted the most.
"She can tell us apart." George muttered quietly, "that...was what caught our attention at any rate."
Charlie looked a little saddened, "I'm not surprised, I suspect I only get it right half the time."
Fred smiled, "we don't exactly make an effort to behave differently. But she knew even with that. And I don't mean just noticing I had a scar or something, we are genuinely different people to her."
"So you tried to catch her out." Said Bill, smirking at them.
"She helped me out of a tight corner..." Said George.
"And is never caught in our pranks..."
"...she never cares what anyone thinks of her..."
"...she can hold out in our verbal sparring matches..."
"...dresses in the coolest outfits..."
It swiftly deteriorated into a competition between him and Fred who would run out of things first, embarrassment forgotten until eventually Bill and Charlie stopped them, and sent the pair to their room with approving looks.

"Why did we tell them all that?" Fred asked bemusedly, flopping onto George's bed.
"They already have so much blackmail material it didn't matter." He replied, tugging off his shirt and extracting his pyjamas from the mass of clothes scattered across their room.
"Why do I feel so warm?" Muttered Fred.
George hummed, "Bill's always been more of a parent to us than mum and dad, Charlie too. They just gave us the okay...I didn't even realise how much it mattered to me what they thought."
Fred sent him one of those rare soft smiles he only gave when they were alone, "turning soft Georgie?"
George rolled his eyes and threw his twin's pyjamas at his face.