Midnight Interlude

Standard disclaimers apply.

Summary:

Fred and George sleep in the same bed everywhere, at Hogwarts or at the Burrow or anywhere else. Just some plotless, little twincest ficcy.

-X-

"Hey, George, aren't you finished yet?" Fred called out, knocking loudly on the bathroom door.

There was a soft hissing sound from inside, then a minute later the door opened and out came George, his red hair damp and sticking to his face and wearing blue, worn-out smiley pajamas.

"What took you so long?" Fred muttered irately, grabbing the towel slung over the nearby chair. "You take as much time as a woman in the bathroom," he teased his twin, ruffling the damp hair on George's empty – as Fred sees it – head.

George rolled his eyes as Fred walked inside the bathroom. He couldn't resist though. George snapped his own towel against Fred's bum, making the other redhead yelp in surprise. Before his brother could retaliate though, George pushed Fred inside the bathroom and closed the door quickly, leaning against it so the boy couldn't get out.

"George, you ass! Lemme out! Wait till I get my hands on you!" Fred's voice called from inside, sounding pretty much exasperated. But George could've sworn he heard amusement too. When he heard the soft click that signified the bathroom was locked, George stepped away from it, grinning.

Lee Jordan was shaking his head, dreadlocks flying all over his face. "You guys are so immature." But he was smiling as he got on his own bed, stretching his arms up. "Then again, I guess all twins are just immature," Lee added with a shrug, eyes twinkling.

George threw the towel over the same chair Fred had his towel slung over moments ago and climbed on the bed beside Lee's. "Just say it. You're jealous that I have a twin."

"Ha, like I'm jealous of someone who's exactly just like me." Lee pulled the blankets tight around him and gave a small shake of his head. "Whatever. You gotta admit though, you and Fred are like carbon copies of one another. Like you're just one person." Lee yawned and his eyes were half-lidded. "Anyway, s'cool. Twins s'cool. G'night," Lee muttered before falling to sleep.

George smiled. Lee was always a fast sleeper.

Then, the redhead heard the shower turning off, and some soft rustling noises, very loud in the quiet, cool dormitory. The bathroom door opened, letting light flood into the already dark dormitory. George watched, with hooded eyes, as Fred stepped out and closed the door, basking the room in darkness again, except for the silvery moonlight streaming through the window. Fred was rubbing his hair dry with the towel, wearing blue, smiley pajamas exactly like his twin's.

Fred approached the bed and George immediately closed his eyes, mock sleeping. The twins shared only one bed. They didn't know why, but neither could sleep without the other. This surfaced during one summer when the twins were younger and Mrs. Weasley had forced George to go with her to Diagon Alley for one week for some little business. For those seven days, neither boy slept peacefully, always turning and tossing and thinking about the other. Since then, the two had always shared the same bed.

He felt the mattress dip down at his twin's weight, feeling Fred crawl to his side. Warms hands touched his face gently, tugging at his red hair. It took all of George's willpower not to crack a smile but not for one second did he think Fred believed he was really asleep.

"Stop pretending, you git, you're smiling," Fred told him softly in an amused voice, not so gently pushing at his shoulder. George opened both his eyes and peered at his twin; the same, exact face peered back down at him, blue eyes dancing and lips curved in a grin.

"How'd you know I was still awake?" George asked teasingly, grabbing Fred's hand and lacing their fingers. His twin was propped on one elbow, looking down at him. George noticed the curtains were already undone, covering them from the rest of the world. It was only him and his twin.

Fred grinned cheekily. "Because."

George arched an eyebrow. "Because…what?"

"Just because…" Fred smirked. "I know you can't sleep without me."

George pretended to look shocked, as if that had never occurred to him. "Really? Gosh, I never knew that about myself!" He slapped his free hand against his forehead.

"You're such a schmuck, George," Fred teased him, slapping his twin's shoulder playfully and leaned down, gently brushing his lips against his twin's in a wordless apology. He pulled away and smiled fondly down at George. The other wrapped an arm around Fred's waist and pulled his slightly muscular frame down beside him, burying his face against his twin's neck.

Twins were known for their closeness and bond, and Fred and George were no exception. From the moment they came into the world, the two had always done the same things together, went everywhere together, had the same stuff and almost had the same thoughts. It was freaky, in a way, when George knew exactly what his twin was thinking before saying it out loud or when Fred would just complete something that George was doing or saying without being told about it.

And since the twins were incredibly close, even closer than twin standards, it was perfectly normal for the two to show more affection towards each other than to other people.

It didn't confuse George and Fred why they needed to share the same bed. The answer was simple, one that even the twins knew and just didn't say it out loud: They wanted to feel the other during sleep, to know that even when slumbering, they're not alone, literally and figuratively.

"Hey Fred," George said softly against his twin's neck. He was staring at the shadowed canopy through the corners of his eyes, shivers racing up his spine as he felt his twin drawing caressing circles on his palm.

Fred mumbled, signaling he heard his brother.

George turned and gazed into Fred's eyes, not at all surprised to find the same blue eyes trained on him. "Do you mind us being twins?" he asked all of a sudden, face a perfect imitation of seriousness.

A surprised look fell over Fred's face before turning thoughtful. "Why are you asking? Are you?" The boy looked just as serious as his twin. He had stopped caressing George's palm, fingers laxly gripping the other's hand.

"No. But…" George trailed off uncertainly. "You see," he continued after a nudge from his twin, "I guess I thought that by being twins, you feel like…you don't have your own identity. You'll always be known as one-half of a whole, George's twin, the less good-looking one and never just plainly 'Fred.'"

Fred shook his head at his twin. "Silly git. How did I become the less good-looking one?" he lightly asked, a quick grin spreading over his face, and his mirror image mimicking the action perfectly. But the identical grins gradually disappeared as George awaited his brother's answer.

"If you want to know the truth, I guess I'm a little bothered by it," Fred admitted gently and George lifted his face to look his twin straight in the face, head cradled by a propped hand. A surprised expression was on George's face but he didn't interrupt. "Especially when, a month ago, perhaps," Fred said, "I heard a few third year Ravenclaws talking 'bout you and me. They were asking how to tell us apart since we have no telling marks or differences. Then they just said to see us as twins because we don't do anything by ourselves anyway." A small shrug. "It's kinda weird being referred to as 'The Mischievous Twins' rather than 'that gorgeous Fred' you know?"

He gave a weak chuckle but George remained quiet, searching his twin's face for something. Fred saw the troubled look on his twin's face and gave a slight squeeze to their intertwined fingers.

"But hey, it stopped bothering me when I realized," Fred leaned down and pressed a fond kiss to George's cheek, "how I love being a twin. Your twin to be exact. I realized that I'd rather be just your twin than be an individual Fred." A teasing smile alighted Fred's lips as he said, "'Course, it has already been established that I'm the good-looking one while you're the brains behind this entire operation."

George snorted, the troubled look ebbing away under the radiance of his twin's grin and the heat melting into him. "I beg to differ. I'm both the gorgeous one and the brains, you dolt. You're just the instrument."

Fred, relieved that his twin wasn't as serious as before, rolled his eyes before devilment sparked in them. George noticed this and frowned, knowing exactly what his twin was going to do.

"Don't you dare, Fred."

"Why, whatever do you mean?"

"I know what you're going to do."

"I'm an innocent angel, Georgey."

"Innocent my arse!"

Fred then chuckled evilly before pulling his hand away from his twin's and ghosting them down the other boy's sides and front, fingers tickling the most sensitive spots. George's shoulders shook with delighted laughter, eyes crinkling at the sides. In retribution, George tickled his twin as well, knowing all the ticklish spots on Fred's body just as the other knew all of his.

The twins rolled over the massive bed, their laughter ringing loudly in their ears, but outside the silky curtains, it was as silent as a tomb, with only Lee's gentle snoring breaking the quiet. They had placed a silencing charm on the bed since both boys were prone to wrestling with the other or talking nonstop for hours. It was bad manners, of course, to keep their other roommates awake just so the twins could do what they wanted. Thus, the silencing charm had been done during their third year.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the redheads stopped tickling one another, Fred lying on top of his twin, both breathing heavily and tears of hilarity wetting their spiky lashes.

Fred pulled back somewhat to look down at his twin, only to find blue eyes staring up at him already. Their gazes were adoring and their smiles were just plain sweet.

The moment was light and sweet, both boys in equally good moods but there was something else. Something Fred couldn't put into words. But he knew. Maybe George did too. The way the other's eyes darkened with something, probably just like his.

He leaned down and pressed his lips fully against his twin's and George opened, though tentatively, his mouth.

It was actually their first real kiss. And it was…perfect. No other word c could describe it, though others came close. And it was, as if, what they had always wanted to give and receive and it probably was. The kiss was sloppy and sweet, all tongues and teeth. Fists clenched as the kiss deepened more passionately, hidden desires blooming into surface and mingled gasps swallowed by both.

An eternity later, they pulled apart, faces close, noses touching and quick breaths mingling together. They clung selfishly to one another and for a moment, both were tongue-tied, unsure of what to say.

Finally…

"I love you, Fred," George whispered.

"I love you, George," Fred whispered back.

And it was different. The other knew exactly what the other meant and accepted it with a burst of intense joy. Because, secretly, wordlessly, it was what both wanted. They wanted no one else, thought of no one else and loved no one else but each other.

"I want you forever," said Fred.

"And longer," said George.

And everything was perfect.