George was rather intrigued by his brothers inattentive face, and faux attentive voice. At first, he barely noticed because he was explaining a theory about a new product and interpreted Fred's silence as awe. After awhile, though, the silence became worrisome. George finally lifted his eyes from the notebook and saw how distracted Fred truly was. He was nodding and grunting in agreement, showing only half interest in their conversation. The rest of his attention was directed at the back of a girl sitting at a private corner of the common room. George had stopped talking, but Fred's eyebrows only furrowed in concentration even more fiercely, as if trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.

"Fred?" George tested.

"Its a brilliant idea, George, and we should began as soon as we can," Fred replied, refraining from moving his head back to his brothers line of sight.

"I suppose you also enjoyed my suggestion of using you as the first product tester, without my assistance?" George teased.

"Of course! Anything for the shop."

George finally gave in to a fit of laughter, forcing him to lean forward as the jollity of the occasion hit him with full force. At least, he finally had his attention.

"You'd seriously enjoy testing a mind-swapping charm with someone other than me?" George taunted.

"Mind swapping? Blimey, how would we come up with such a thing!" Fred declared.

"If you were listening, then you would know," George scolded.

Fred's neck reddened and he looked away slightly at being discovered. He managed to fool Lee and his teammates into thinking they had his attention, but his brother must be a different case. He didn't let an embarrassed smile touch his lips until George laughed once more.

"I'm just messing with you, Fred. I was only discussing an object-swapping charm. Simply testing to see if you were listening."

"Sorry, I got a little distracted. Would you like to run that idea by me again?" Fred asked apologetically, still red in the face.

George raised two fingers from each hand in the air and enunciated Fred's "little" in air quotations. Rolling his eyes, Fred let out a fake yawn and gathered his books to leave.

"Where are you going?" George grabbed Fred's books and held them hostage in his arms. "I'd like to see which girl was keeping my brothers priorities out of order."

"Girl?" He quickly asked, astonishment tainting his voice. He managed to gather himself and waved off the silly idea. "Nothing of that sort, lad. I simply noticed my vision was blurring from exhaustion, and wanted to see if I could fix it," he smoothly said, attempting to avoid his brothers peering eyes.

"And could you?"

"Could I what?" He glanced up in confusion. George raised an eyebrow, until Fred's mouth formed an 'O' in realization.

"Come on then," George finally said, gathering the rest of the books. "Off to bed we go."

Halfway up to their dorms, he glanced back down at the common room to confirm a suspicion. Unsurprisingly, he was greeted with the sight of a messy brunette flipping through a large tome while simultaneously scrawling on a piece of parchment. He smirked at the lack of surprise washing over him.

The boys were in bed, prolonging their curfew as much as they could, until Fred and George were the last ones with eyes open for a mindless task. George was concentrating on the distinct ripples in his curtains, realizing how much he'd mess the creases once he leaves. Fred was flipping through a book, somewhat mindlessly and attentive at once. He'd flip the same pages over and over, until moving on and staring at a page a little while before continuing his flipping routine. George somehow found the rippling sounds to be oddly comforting and dared to let it drift him to sleep, until a decision came to him. Turning on his side to face his brother, he tossed a ball of paper form his night stand at him, hitting Fred in the face. George stifled a small chuckle.

Fred closed his book and grabbed the ball. "I'm sorry, brother, but was I keeping you up?" He asked sarcastically.

"You're always keeping me up," George said before catching the ball Fred threw back. "I just thought I should let you know that your girl was doing the same thing downstairs."

Fred couldn't deny that his stomach dropped so far down, the house elves probably wouldn't have been able to catch it. He turned fully on his side, attempting to face George. Luckily, he held up his hand to save his brother from embarrassment.

"I'm not sure why you haven't told me," he began. "Especially considering how obvious you've been." Fred's eyes widened at Georges comment. "At least to your twin brother you are."

"Perhaps because this isn't like your date with Angelina, or any other girl who unfortunately had to deal with the less handsomer twin. Perhaps you're still conflicted?" George asked. He decided to tread carefully. Usually, there would be no safety precautions in these discussions. Usually Fred would have been straight with him by now. Then again, this isn't the usual situation.

"Actually, I am not," Fred said slightly above a whisper before planting himself back on his back. "Sorry I didn't tell you beforehand. I was pretty embarrassed at first, then I realized there's no way out. It is nice to realize I still have shame though." George laughed, easing Fred back into comfort.

"Don't worry about it," he said as he lied onto his back again. "If I was in love with the same prefect that nags at our testing methods, I'd probably be embarrassed too. Then again, you were into her long before the nagging, right?"

Fred nodded, before realizing his brother couldn't see him. "We spent a lot of time with each other at Grimmauld Place."

"Figures," George paused. "Mum would be proud her cleaning schedule will bring her a new Weasley." Before laughing, he felt the force of a pillow being thrown at his face.

"Anyways," George began. "When I said conflicted, I didn't mean your feelings. I meant about her best friend."

"Her best friend? I thought we loved Harry," Fred smiled, hoping to dodge the question. That was, until George threw his own pillow at him. With a deep sigh, Fred began. "I am, actually. I know Ron has his own issues when it comes to expressing his feelings, and even if there aren't any, he's one of the last people I would care to put in an uncomfortable position. I don't want to step on his toes no matter the situation, because I think he may have a chance with her if he just paid more attention. Besides, I doubt she's looking my way more than his. Then again, I can't avoid this forever, now can I? So yes, I am conflicted." Fred suddenly felt a lightweight breeze wash over him, once he finally was able to admit these things.

"Don't be," George piped. Fred was taken aback by his brothers easy suggestion. "Apparently, I am the only sibling who picks up on things, so let me rest you assured. Don't be conflicted. Ron would only be a temporary, but weak barrier once you act on your feelings," George proudly stated. "Besides, she's a hard book to read. So don't gamble on a false assumption."

Fred hesitated in his bed, slightly uncomfortable by Georges straightforwardness. Somehow, he picked up on this. "Trust me," George asserted. Finally, Fred nodded, deciding a little hope would not hurt.

"Now that that's settled, when are you going to ask her out for a butterbeer? Or a walk down Hogsmeade? You could even just offer to carry her books, to start off simple. Actually, I'd suggest against that one. You might just break something," George said.

Fred laughed. "Actually, I won't be asking her to do any of that."

George raised an eyebrow, but Fred somehow heard his gesture. "You'll see. Right now, lets go to bed. I have a long day ahead of me."

Smiling, somewhat shyly, Fred closed his eyes and quickly snored into Georges pillow. Confusedly, George contemplated into Fred's pillow, wondering if his brother accidentally consumed a love potion.