The past few hours have become a blur to me. One moment I was sitting with an old friend of mine, Alicia Spinnet, and the next, we're both off apparating to another safe-house. The old coins we had received only two years ago in the meetings held within the confines of the Room of Requirement—the meetinghouse of the DA—had signaled that we were needed.

Today was the day that would we were needed to fight back at Hogwarts.

Today was the day that would determine the future of the Wizarding World.

Today was the day that we would make history.

As I round another corner of the castle, one that had hex marks and part of it missing, I dodged a jet of green blasted my way. I skillfully throw my own attack back and hope to hit my target. A disgruntled cry from behind let me know that I succeeded.

I'm currently running down the familiar halls of the third floor corridor at the moment, trying not to exert myself more than what was needed. Not too long ago our protection charms that were cast around the school had been broken through, and the castle was infiltrated. Death Eaters, giants, and allies of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had poured in by the handful, taking out students, members of the DA, and the Order alike. To us, we were indispensable. Just another thing in the way of what he wanted most.

Harry Potter. Fellow Quidditch teammate, Gryffindor, and friend. He had taught me how to cast a Patronus charm at the meetings, played Quidditch with me, been a distant friend who could be relied on, and saved my life from the cursed necklace in my sixth year.

He was the one they were after, and here we all are, defending him, the castle, and our lives as we fight against the dark forces.

"Katie Bell! Fancy seeing you here!" Familiarity surged through me, and I whipped my head around to match a face with the voice.

"Cormac." I breathed. I knew I recognized that voice. I had dated him for a whole of two weeks in my sixth year at Hogwarts. Our relationship had ended, but another more meaningful had started up in place of it for me.

He was bleeding lightly from a cut on his temple and panting a bit heavier than should be considered normal, but other than that he seemed well. He shot a disarming spell on a passing Death Eater, hit him, and turned back to me. I received a toothy grin and couldn't help but feel relieved that he was alive. Despite his cockiness, self-importance, and our ended relationship, he was an old friend. I had seen too many people tonight who did not deserve to die. Not today—not here—like this.

"I'm surprised to see you here, actually. Thought you'd be off with Weasley." If he had been speaking to anyone else, you might wonder which of the nine members of the Weasley family he could mean. But the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes told me that I knew which one of the red heads he was speaking of.

Fred.

I nodded, and my mind became jumbled again. Right, I had been looking for him when I had run into Cormac just now. I was heading back from Gryffindor tower when someone had told me they had seen Fred on the third floor. Naturally I had apparated there before they could finish speaking, eager to find him. We had been separated after meeting up to cast charms around the castle. Remus Lupin, an old professor of mine, had pulled me along with him in an area I was needed in. Fred was first to object, but I told him that I would be fine and that I would only be gone for a short while. He had told me not to die on him. I told him I wouldn't be that stupid.

"I was—am—actually. Someone told me that had seen him down here not too long ago, and instead I found you."

We had positioned ourselves behind a half-blasted wall now, firing spells at unsuspecting Death Eaters.

I pushed Cormac aside to stun another Death Eater when I heard Cormac let out a strange garbling noise. I whipped around to see that his hand had received a large cut and it was bleeding profusely now.

I shoved him aside once more to hex whoever had done this, and missed my target. Whoever had done it was gone now, so I returned my attention back to Cormac. I muttered a spell that Alicia had taught me a few months back and mended Cormac's hand right up.

"Thanks." His voice was low and scruffy, and I nodded to acknowledge I had heard him. "I saw Fred and George in the courtyard before I headed up here. Thought I should let you know."

I was already running before I could finish hearing what he was saying. By the time I was on the stairs, almost at the Great Hall, a small explosion had sounded nearby, shaking the stairs. I slipped down the remaining few steps, but quickly regained my balance.

Come on, Bell, pull yourself together. If you could stay on your broom during Wood's practices from hell, you can make it down to the courtyard in one piece.

"Weasley! Spinnet, Bell! This isn't time for fooling around!"

Irritated, I shot our captain a nasty look. "We have names, Oliver."

Oliver looked ready to snap back with some witty insult he's probably been waiting for the right time to use, but instead he shakes his head and throws me the Quaffle with more force than necessary.

"Do the drill again, Bell, and this time, stop flirting with Weasley, will you?"

I sat there on my broom not knowing whether to be more angry at Oliver, George, or at Fred, who was currently laughing so hard I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. Instead, I sat there spluttering like a fish out of water until I became too angry at Fred and threw the Quaffle at his head. It met with a loud smack, and he shook his head, letting the Quaffle fall. Angelina flew below, caught it, and tried to keep from laughing herself. Fred sat there swaying on his broom, holding his head. He looked uneasy, and a wave of guilt had washed over me.

"Bell!" Wood snarled, flying over to me. "Take Fred to the hospital wing and get him fixed up. We're going to need him if we stand any chance at Ravenclaw next match.

I grunted to show that I heard him and flew over to Fred, looking apologetic. He flashed me a grin, but swayed again, so I took a hold of his broom, guiding us down to the ground. Practice continued on up ahead as I landed both of us on the ground easily.

"You know, Katesy, that wasn't too nice of you to throw the Quaffle at me like that."

I sighed agitatedly, grabbed our brooms, and led him up to the castle. "I know, Fred."

He stumbled forward a bit, and leaned against me heavily. He seemed drunk, not like he had a concussion, which he probably did, thanks to me. I made another agitated noise, but didn't say anything. Instead I continued to lead us up to the castle in silence, until he spoke up again.

"I don't even know why you got so mad, Katie dearest." His eyes twinkled mischievously, but I could tell he was trying to divert the attention from his head.

"You know why."

"Ah, but I do not. Enlighten me, then, won't you?"

We had stopped now, just outside the castle doors. I folded my arms across my chest and tried to play up being annoyed. "Wood got mad at me because he thought I was flirting with you."

Fred barked out a loud laugh. "That's why?" He continued to laugh at my expense, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to not hit him over the head.

"It's not funny, Fred."

"Of course it is, Kates! I mean, no one can blame you, I am very hard not to like and all—"

"—Wait, you think I fancy you?! That's absurd!"

Fred continued to laugh even more now, and I reminded myself that I could do some serious harm if I were to hit him over the head with a possible concussion. Breathe slowly, count backwards. Ten, nine, eight, seven...

"C'mon Kates, I know that you've fancied me for forever. I think the whole castle knows."

This caused me to blush a bright pink, and I stamped my foot like a small child. "I do not!"

Fred sobered up some from his fit of laughter. "Well then, prove it."

"Prove it? How am I supposed to—"

"Kiss me, Kat."

His words came as a shock to me then. Kiss my best friend? I didn't even fancy him. This conversation became awkward very fast.

"I—"

But Fred cut me off. "Look, if it doesn't mean anything, then you don't fancy me. But, if you kiss me and it does—"

It was my turn to cut Fred off. I had kissed him, square on the mouth, successfully catching him off guard. When we broke apart, I could tell I was turning ten different shades of red, and for the first time ever, I think Fred Weasley was speechless.

I found myself smiling at memories of Quidditch practices long ago. That had been our first kiss. Shaking my head, I continued onward, jumping over bodies of fallen Death Eaters and friends alike. Now was not the time to stop and mourn the fallen—no, that time would come later. Now was the time to show what you were made up of, to fight back with all you had left.

By the time I had reached the courtyard, avoiding jets of green and sending my own stream of hexes and stunning spells along blindly ahead, I heard another explosion. This one seemed to come from close by, and I poked my head over the rubble I was hiding behind. I saw a few heads of ginger across the courtyard. Percy, bless his soul, had come back. He was fighting alongside someone, battling who I found out to be the Minister himself.

I heard his voice, and smiled. Fred was with Percy, of course he was.

We were at the Burrow one February night when a small snow storm had blown in, bringing Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Angelina, and I into the living room. There was a fire going, and everyone was warming up from the game of Quidditch we had been playing before the snow had started. It was cold out, but that had never stopped us when we were all back at Hogwarts.

Charlie had coerced Angelina into a game of Wizard's Chess, much to George's chagrin. He had been trying to get Angelina alone for the majority of the day, only to find her preoccupied with someone else. He begrudingly followed her over to the table, deciding to become the commentator of their match. Knowing how well Charlie was at the game and how competitive Angelina was, I'm sure that he wouldn't be bored.

Fred and I had sunk into the couch in front of the fire, and Percy had set himself up in the armchair adjacent to us. He had recently started being on better terms with his family, and thus, the air felt a little tense and the atmosphere a tad awkward.

I could tell that none of us really knew what to talk about. Percy would open his mouth, shut it, and then look around, seemingly for a book to read or comment on. Fred was bouncing his leg impatiently and playing with our intertwined fingers, and I was staring at the designs in the couch.

Finally Fred spoke up, and I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

"So, Perce, are you and the Clearwater girl still dating?"

Percy had gone wide-eyed at that, and I presumed that he would have choked on his tea, had he been drinking any.

"No, no, we—well, she ended things with me when I started at the Ministry."

I glanced up at Fred and could see that while he was trying not to laugh, he also looked a little concerned for his brother. I smiled, and turned to Percy.

"Any other women in your life then, Percy?"

Fred snorted and jumped in before Percy could respond. "I doubt that, Kates, he was practically married to his work anyway."

I laughed and looked over to Percy, hoping he wasn't offended by Fred's joke. No need for them to stop talking to one another so quickly after they had started.

Percy looked a little put out at Fred's comment, but offered a genuine smile and shrugged. "He's right, you know. But enough about that, what about you two?" He nodded towards our entwined hands. "Did my brother finally get the nerve and ask you out properly?"

I felt myself grow hot and I looked up at Fred, whose ears had turned a bright pink. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Whadya mean, Perce?" Fred asked through gritted teeth.

Percy had shifted in his seat, but straightened up and smiled at the two of us.

"You know my brother's fancied you for forever now, haven't you, Katie?"

I turned my back to them, knowing where Fred was, and I began fighting a Death Eater of my own. I heard a shout from behind, and then laughter: Fred's.

That's when I heard it. Another explosion, this one across the courtyard. I heard someone shouting—Percy—and I had jinxed whomever I was fighting to turn to see what had happened.

A pile of rubble and stone lay haphazardly over someone all too familiar to me.

Fred.

No! I could feel my heart race, pounding against my chest, trying to break free. My head began to throb, and I pushed my legs forward, running at him as fast as as my legs would allow.

"No!"

Something on my back began to sting and spread what felt like fire across my back. The pain was indescribable, but I willed my aching legs forward.

Percy continued to shout at Fred, pulling bits of rubble and stone off of him.

No! I knew before I was even with him that Fred had left. He was gone. Dead. Murdered.

Whether it was these thoughts that ran through my head or some fire inside of me had finally been released, giving me new willpower to push forward, I found my legs pushing harder, and I felt like the wind. This must be how people feel when they have all of their will and fire pushing forward to help them.

Leaving the Death Eater behind me, I flung myself across Fred's lifeless body, willing him to wake up and help me fight. My fists grabbed his shirt, twisting it in my hands. I was crying, gasping for air. I knew that no amount of my willing him would bring him back.

I sat up, looking at him, and felt my heart break over and over again.

Percy was leaning against a wall now, sitting on the ground, holding his hands over his ears as if trying to block out the world around him. He was crying, and muttering uncontrollably about Fred, about how he had just gotten his brother back—his family back, how he could have stopped the wall from falling on his now dead brother.

"You promised me you wouldn't die on me, Kat." There was hidden laughter in the voice that sounded from behind me. The voice of Fred Weasley.

I whipped around to face him, my face stained with tears, wounds bloody, and body aching. He was leaning against a stone pillar, arms folded, looking down at me. I must look pathetic to him, sitting here crying over his body with his brother.

Wait a minute.

Was it possible that he could be here, like this? I couldn't be sitting next to his dead body, carrying on a conversation with him, now could I?

I tried to find my voice. "Fred?" I choked out. "B-but, how?"

He shrugged his shoulders lazily and smiled lightly. "Beats me. One minute I was with Perce, and the next..." But his voice trailed off as his eyes locked onto his brother's broken form. He was still crying over Fred's body.

I looked over to Percy, too, to see if he could see Fred right now. He didn't. Maybe he was crying too loudly to hear his brother speak.

"Percy!" I called, but no answer. I decided to try a little louder. "Percy! It's Fred, he's—"

Fred laughed again. There was a touch of lightness about it, but it sounded out of pity. Like I was missing in on some big joke.

"Katie, he can't hear you."

This frustrated me. "Probably because he's crying so bloody loud—"

But Fred just shook his head and walked over to where I was sitting. He gave me his hand, pulling me up. I took it, and found myself standing face to face with a very much dead Fred Weasley.

"Kates," He sighed heavily, almost apologetically. "I meant to say that he can't hear you because you're dead."

My mind seemed to blank out. I couldn't be dead. No, he was wrong.

I was shaking my head, backing away from him. "You're wrong, I..." But words escaped me. It felt like walls were closing in on me, and I needed to get out.

When I looked at Fred, my heart broke. He looked so distraught, so unable to help. Is this how he felt? He was dead. There was no going back for him. His family, friends, shop, George...

I turned around to look around. I spotted the Death Eater I had been fighting, killing off a small girl from Hufflepuff.

I turned again to see my body, splayed out on the floor, face first on the stone.

I made some kind of choking sound and turned to Fred for confirmation. He had been right. I was dead.

His arms were around me in seconds, and I clutched to his shirt like I had when I thought he was dead. His head rested on top of mine, and I nuzzled in further to his chest. I wanted to disappear here, forever. I wanted to block out the pain and suffering around me and stay here with Fred.

Finally, I found my voice.

"So, we're..."

"Dead." Fred finished for me. How could he accept his death so freely? So openly? How could he embrace something so cold... So damaging?

I nodded my head, trying to wrap my head around that thought. It seemed easier, somehow, to accept. I had Fred with me. I wasn't alone in this.

Looking up at him, I searched his face for some sort of sign that showed that this was all some big joke. Or a nightmare. Something. But I found nothing.

A thought donned on me, and I grinned up at him. "You know, you died before me. So I beat you!"

Fred twisted up his face, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "Yeah, well, I thought I told you to stay safe. But I guess that didn't work. You were never one to listen to instructions."

I shrugged. "S'pose not, but I still beat you."

Fred poked at my sides and it tickled. "Barely."

"Still!" I gloated, poking at him, smiling like a little kid. "At least I didn't get blasted by some ruddy wall... I died in battle!"

Rolling his eyes at me, I could tell he was trying not to laugh. "Right, with your back turned, not even bothering to remember you had a wand on you..." Laughter ebbed at his voice, but he didn't crack. I let out an exasperated sound and hit him lightly in the chest.

"I was trying to get to you, you great big git!" We were both laughing now, poking fun at one another.

Fred pulled me into his arms once again, and planted a firm kiss on my lips. This kiss felt different, now that we were both dead. It felt a thousand times greater than any other one we had shared while we were still in our bodies.

"Yes," Fred agreed, slinging an arm around me. "but I'm your git."

"Forever." I mused.

"Forever." Fred echoed, and grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together.

I smiled brightly up at him, pecking him on the cheek as we walked towards a bright light at the end of the courtyard, towards our own forever.