I sighed as I watched the sun set behind the castle. My home. I would never feel this way about any other other place. I had nowhere else to go. And I had only a few months left here. My sister still had five years here, so I wasn't worried about her. I knew that she would be happier in life than I ever was. I silently walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, but something caught my eye. Two red-heads were crouched next to a small girl, who was clutching her hand.
"It's all right, Emily, it fades eventually. Everything will be okay."
When I heard the girl's name, I stopped in my tracks, frozen.
"Em? Em!" I cried, walking quickly to my sister's side. I hadn't recognized her in the fading light. My little sister raised her head and sniffled slightly, but smiled nonetheless.
"Hey, Care," she said, her tiny voice wavering. Ignoring the two boys around us, I crouched next to her.
"Are you all right, Em?" I asked calmly.
"I'm fine, Care, don't worry," Emily said, trying to hide her small white hands. I slowly took them in my larger ones and looked at the back of them. There, cut open, were the words 'I must not tell lies'. Sighing, I looked at Emily. Her bright blue eyes were brimming with tears.
"Oh, Emily..." I quickly took her in my arms, and she started sobbing.
"She kept saying how much of a pity it was that 'such a respectable family ends with you'!" she cried out. My arms tightened.
"Such... A...Respectable... Family?" I repeated slowly. Emily nodded. "She dared to say that they are respectable?"
At that moment, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. Turning, I saw one of the Weasley twins.
"We have to go up to the Tower, it's nearly curfew," he warned me.
"Oh, so now, you're the voice of reason?" I said, smirking, but with more harshness than I intended. Fred smiled. I'd always liked him and his twin, George, when I'd dated their brother Percy briefly. We'd barely lasted a month; I wasn't hard-working enough for Percy. We'd stayed friends, until Potter came back from the Tri-Wizard Tournament claiming that You-Know-Who was back. I'd chosen to stick by Dumbledore, at my family's horror, and he'd chosen to stick with the Ministry of Magic. "Yeah, ironic, isn't it? But we aren't keener to get more detentions with Umbridge than you are." I nodded.
"Yeah, I see your point." Looking back at Emily, I stood up, pulling her with me. "C'mon, Em, we have to get back." Emily nodded and walked in front of us, with the other twin. Fred, who had been kind enough to warn me about curfew, stayed back with me.
"Hey, what was that all about?" he asked me.
"What are you talking about?" I frowned.
"All the "respectable family" stuff you got so angry about."
"I'm from a pureblood family, you see. Except they're all about 'pure-bloods are more important, pure-bloods should rule the world' and I'm like 'everyone is equal, Muggles and Wizards alike'. And then, I get Sorted into Gryffindor. My parents went into a fit there. They sent me letter after letter saying that I had brought shame on our family, that I wasn't worthy of being a Selwyn, yadda yadda yadda. Point is, I told them to stuff it, they disowned me, end of story." I took a deep breath. "Except not: four years later, Emily arrives and she, too, gets Sorted into Gryffindor. Oh, the hate mail she and I got from our parents! 'Carolyn, how dare you get your sister landed in Gryffindor!' 'Emily, shame on you! You are not a worthy Selwyn!' Blah, blah, blah. They didn't have a lot of imagination: they told her the same stuff they told me four years before, except I took all the blame. And happily, mind you," I added. "If that stopped them from yelling at Emily, I would gladly take the blame. But then, Em goes and tells them to stuff it too. There, our parents actually stopped sending us mail, but when we got home, they were waiting for us. They made Em witness-" I stopped short. I couldn't go there. Wouldn't go there.
"Witness what?" said Fred, alarmed. Gasping for breath, I leaned against a pillar. "Carolyn, talk to me!"
"I can't say – it hurts too much – can't tell you." I gasped.
"You have to." He came closer to me and took me in his arms. His warm, strong body soothed me.
"They made her witness them casting the Cruciatus Curse on me. They tortured me to get to her," I whispered. I felt Fred's biceps tighten around me. Looking up, I watched as he clenched his jaw. Reaching up, I put a soothing palm against his cheek.
"Fred, it's all right. I'm over it," I told him half-heartedly. He smirked, seeing past my defenses.
"To hell you are. You almost broke down before even telling me." He sighed, the smile fading from his handsome face. "You are not going near them ever again, I swear. Not you nor Emily. Not while I'm still living," he said. I sighed, starting to walk once more.
"I've never gone back to them more than I ever had to. And even when I went back to their house, I always went outside, never staying in their company if I could help it."
Fred took my hand. His face was set in a dark mask; I knew he would help me if ever I needed him.
Fred looked at me. "Do you know about the DA?" he asked me as we followed our siblings, hand in hand.
"No, what is it?" I asked, frowning slightly.
"Its actual name is Dumbledore's Army, the DA for short..." he trailed off.
"What is it?" I repeated.
"It's a Defence Against the Dark Arts group. Harry Potter is teaching us spells in order to defend ourselves."
"Can I join?" I asked immediately.
"Of course. You just have to ask Hermione, Ron or Harry, I suppose. Tell them I sent you."
"Will do," I smiled.
The next day was a Saturday. Yawning, I walked down the stairs. I'd spent the whole night (or what felt like the whole night) chatting with Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson about Fred and George, and trying to decipher each and every one of his sentences and trying to understand what he meant by what he'd said. My friends had been ecstatic to find out that we'd held hands. ("What? Fred took your hand? Oh Merlin, I think he likes you!" had squealed Katie when I'd told her. The other two had simply burst into giggles.) I walked into the common room to find Hermione sitting there, waiting for her friends. I walked over to her, clearing my throat so as to warn her of my presence. She turned.
"Oh, hi Carolyn!"
"Good morning, Hermione. Can I have a word?" I said kindly.
"Of course, what is it?" she said.
"Look," I lowered my voice. "Fred told me about the DA."
Hermione blanched. I waved my hands soothingly in front of her.
"Whoa, don't worry, 'Mione, I just want to join. But," I added, "just promise me that if my sister wants to join, just don't show any evidence that she's part of it. I don't want her to get in trouble. At all." Hermione let go of the breath she'd been holding. Her body relaxed, and I chuckled.
"Oh, well in that case, of course you can join. And, I will do what I can to hide your sister's evidence if she joins," smiled the bushy-haired girl. I thanked her warmly and made for the common room door, which opened before I even reached it and in came George, Lee, and finally Fred. I stopped short, surprised by the sudden hitch in my breath and the slight skip that my heart made. Grinning like the Cheshire cat (Hermione had introduced me a few years before to Disney's Alice in Wonderland and I had loved it), I walked over to the three boys.
"Hi guys, how are you?" I said, like I had not just spent my whole night talking about the guy in front of me. Fred grinned.
"Oh, we're fine," he said. "How about you?"
"Great, great." I trailed off. Looking at my watch, I fake-gasped. It was getting way too awkward here. "Oh, I gotta go eat breakfast. See you later!" Skirting between the boys, I finally made my way to the Fat Lady's portrait and climbed out. A few moments later, I was joined by none other than the red-head that had caused me to make things awkward in the common room, Fred.
"It was awkward there," he stated. I nodded, as my cheeks started to burn. "Why was it so awkward?" he said. I shrugged, unable to get a word through my severely constricted throat. It was like a boa constrictor was planning on feasting on my vocal cords. Fred grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, stopping my silent march.
"Why aren't you speaking to me?" he frowned down at me. I shook my head.
"Throat... Can't talk," I croaked. The boa was really loving my vocal cords. Fred smiled.
"Maybe this will help," he said, clearly planning something. He then wound his two arms around my waist, making any escape impossible, and pulled me brusquely closer to him, so close that the top of my head tickled his chin.
"What – what -" I stammered, before he brought his head down and kissed me on the lips. It was a very short kiss, more like a peck than a real kiss, but it did its job. My eyes widened and I froze to the spot. Fred stared me in the eye, grinning smugly.
"Did that help your throat?" he said huskily. Coming back to my senses, I smugly shook my head. Fred's smile grew. "I guess I'll have to do it again," he said, bringing his face down on mine once more. This time, he deepened the kiss and I gladly let him. I wound my arms around his neck, and dragged my fingers through his ginger hair. His lips were moulded to mine, as if we had been made for each other. Fred stopped the kiss, gasping for air.
"I thought you had to go eat," he said cheekily. I smiled.
"I do," I said, the boa having abandoned my vocal cords as a bad job. I was starving. Fred nodded. "I guess I'm going to go down again too, then," he said. He took one arm off my waist but the other stayed put. I started walking towards the stairs, and he was by my side the whole time, and I knew he'd be there my whole life too.
I walked down to the Transfiguration classroom, smiling faintly. Transfiguration was one of my favourite subjects, and McGonnagall was the best teacher I'd ever had. The weekend had flown past me; I had hardly seen Fred, other than on Saturday morning, but I'd caught glimpses of him training on the Quidditch pitch. Gryffindor against Slytherin was coming up fast, and thanks to Professor McGonnagall, the Gryffindor team had been allowed to re-form. Good thing, too, or else Gryffindor House would have been out of the championship. I was a hard Quidditch fan, but I hadn't made the House team. At first, I'd been a bit disappointed, but when I'd seen how well Katie, Angelina, and Alicia flew, all I could do was cheer louder than anyone for my three best friends.
"Miss Selwyn?" said a crisp voice from what seemed to be far, far away.
Startled, I gasped loudly. I came back to my senses to find Professor McGonnagall staring at me, tapping her foot. I cringed. "Sorry Professor... I was lost in my thoughts." Not waiting to be scolded, I quickly entered the classroom and found the seat next to mine to be taken by Frederick Weasley. The young man smirked at me and tapped the seat next to his lightly with his hand, indicating me to sit there. I rapidly obliged and took a roll of parchment out. Fred nudged my thigh with his. Taking my quill out of my bag, along with my bottle of ink, I looked at him.
"I wish you'd come to see me on the Quidditch pitch this weekend," he whispered. I chuckled under my breath.
"I could see you from my dorm," I whispered back. "I didn't go because I didn't want to distract you; Angie would have killed me." Fred looked at Angelina. The dark-skinned girl was shooting glances at us, and I winked at her as she directed a thumbs-up at me. She grinned.
"Now, Mr Weasley and Miss Selwyn, do you want a cup of tea?" said Professor McGonnagall sternly. Refraining myself from giggling, I shook my head. Fred, however, grinned at the teacher.
"Oh, Professor, how did you guess?" he said sassily. Professor McGonnagall shot him a dark look and turned away. She started her lesson, and I took many notes. But I was sometimes distracted by Fred's staring. His blue eyes never left my face, making my cheeks burn. At the end of the hour, as we walked out of the room, Fred wound his arm around my waist, making Alicia, Katie and Angie giggle as they passed me by, winking at me. I stuck my tongue out at them, making Fred chuckle.
"Your friends sure are happy about this," he said, indicating the two of us.
"Yeah, they are," I said happily, "they were cheering and squealing when I told them."
"Did you tell them I was your boyfriend?" he asked.
"Well, not exactly. I did tell them that we'd kissed and held hands, though," I said, a bit defensively. Fred frowned. "Why didn't you tell them I was your boyfriend?" he asked.
"Because you didn't ask me to be your girlfriend," I said.
"Oh, that's how it works," he mumbled. Then, just before we reached the Charms classroom, he pulled me into a small room I'd never noticed before.
"Carolyn Selwyn, will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, all humour gone from his handsome face. I giggled.
"Hm..." I said, as though I had to think it through, even though I had my answer absolutely ready. "Yes, I think so," I laughed. Fred grinned and kissed me. After that, we sprinted to Charms and arrived just before Flitwick closed the doors.
Ron nudged my elbow as I lounged on the couch in the common room.
"Oi, Carolyn," he said, "here's your Galleon." Lowering his voice, he added, "it'll tell you when the next DA meeting is." I nodded, getting his drift.
"Thanks, Ron." I looked at the Galleon; on the side was written DA meeting tonight 8:00 pm RoR. I frowned. What did 'RoR' mean? Getting up from the couch, I groaned. My back didn't agree with that particular movement. Searching the room, my eyes fell upon Fred. My eyes always seemed to 'fall upon Fred'. Smiling stupidly, I walked over to him. He was talking with his twin and Lee Jordan, and when I arrived at his side, without looking at me, he scooped me up onto his lap and sat me there. During that action, I'd squealed and my hair had fallen in my face. I could hear George and Lee roaring with laughter in my back, but Fred didn't care. He brushed my hair out of my eyes and smiled at me.
"Hi there," he said. I huffed, unable to conceal my grin.
"Hi," I whispered.
"So, did Ron give you your Galleon?" he asked.
"Yeah, and I wanted to ask you something," I said.
"What is it?"
"Well... What does RoR mean?" I told him.
"It stands for the Room of Requirement. I'll take you there tonight." Surprisingly, his face closed, even though I was expecting a cheeky grin.
"What is it?" I asked in a small voice.
"It's just... It's nothing." He sighed.
"It's not nothing, not if you've got that look on your face," I pointed out.
"Well... I'm not sure it's a good idea that you join the DA," he mumbled, his dark face looking away. I gaped at him. "What? Why do you say that? You're the one that wanted me to join," I cried out. Good thing there were only friendly people in the room around us, I thought.
He grimaced. "I know... It's just that I don't want anything to happen to you." I exhaled.
"I can take care of myself, you know," I told him, waving my index in his face. I loved him, he loved me, but I wasn't the damsel in distress that books always portrayed.
"I know, but it's in my blood to protect the ones I love. It's how I was brought up," he shrugged. "Talking about how I was brought up, you have to meet my parents," he said, his face lighting up like a Christmas tree. "This vacation, how about you and your sister come to the Burrow? Ginny has always wanted to invite Emily, and I'm sure she can squeeze in with my sister and maybe Hermione. You can stick with me," he winked. I smiled.
"I'd love to. I managed to have Emily put under my responsibility, so I don't even have to ask my parents' permission!"
Later that night, just before my first DA meeting, I was waiting in front of the common room portrait for Fred. The young man arrived in a hurry from his dormitory, holding his nose and laughing to death. I cocked my head to the side, wondering what he'd been up to. Stifling his laughs, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the common room.
"Hey Fred, what did you just do?" I asked. Fred just shook his head, unable to answer me. He led the way up to the seventh floor, and walked past the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls how to dance. I was laughing under my breath, expecting nothing to happen, but was cut short when a wooden door appeared out of thin air on the wall. Fred, still chuckling, motioned me to go in. I hesitantly opened the door, and found about twenty students, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor alike, chattering away in a huge room, whose walls were covered with shelves. On the closest shelf, I spotted books like The Dark Arts outsmarted, Self-Defensive Spellwork, and Jinxes for the Jinxed. My jaw fell open and I sprinted to the bookshelf and grabbed one book. Opening it, I slumped down on a cushion that I could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago, but I didn't give it any more thought as I dived into the history of the Dark Arts and how to defend oneself against them.
Fred grinned as he watched Carolyn start reading some DADA book. She was, truly, an incredible young woman, and he knew that inside, she was more than a little broken. Fred had set his goal for the girl he loved; to fix her and make her happy. Funnily enough, without any link, his thoughts went back to the prank he'd just pulled on his dormitory mates.
Fred snuck up the stairs. He held an orange cardboard box at arm's length. Wrinkling his nose, he grinned devilishly.
"Oi, Fred, what's that you're holding?" called out George. Lee nodded.
"Yeah, it looks like something cool," added the dark-skinned young man, agitating his dreadlocks.
"Why don't you open it?" said Fred, concealing his grin. Lee, the unsuspecting innocent young man and trusting as he was, retrieved the box from Fred's hands and without waiting an instant, opened it. A wave of dark smoke, smelling worse than anything anyone had ever smelled before in their life, spread through the room.
"FRED!" hollered George. Fred sprinted out of the room and down the stairs, finding Carolyn waiting for him.
Fred shook his head in glee as he watched his brother and their friend walk in the Room of Requirement. George and Lee were covered in black, their hair and their faces the only part of their bodies to be clean (in comparison to the rest, at least). Matching frowns were set on both their faces, and they made to go straight for Fred, but before they could, Harry blew his whistle. Everyone turned to the raven-haired bespectacled boy.
"All right everyone, let's get down to business," said Harry. Hermione and Carolyn giggled, and Fred raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. She'd set down her book and had come to his side. She shook her head, listening avidly to what Harry was saying.
"Today, we're going to work on the Binding Spell, which you will need if you have to attach an enemy. The incantation is Incarcerous, and the movement is a large swoosh directed at your opponent. The counter-curse in Liberous, with the same wand movement. Divide into pairs, guys, and get to work!"
Fred looked at Carolyn. She smiled at him and, before Fred could say 'Quaffle', she was raising her wand and swooshing it in his direction, incanting loudly, "Incarcerous!"
Thin ropes flew out of her wand and wound themselves around Fred's ankles, wrists and legs, making him fall to his knees. Fred groaned.
I grinned. I'd managed to get Fred off guard, something I'd never thought possible. I walked toward him and said, "Liberous." The ropes vanished from Fred's body and he smirked.
"Pretty good spellmanship, miss Selwyn," he said, an odd twinkle in his eye. "But I've got better. Incarcerous!" he suddenly whispered, and ropes flew out from his wand, winding themselves around my legs, arms, wrists and ankles. I grunted and fell head first to the ground, but before I reached the floor, strong arms caught me. Everyone else was falling around too, so no one noticed me in particular.
"You look... nice," grinned Fred. If looks could kill, I reckon Fred would have been long, long gone after the look I shot him. He set me swiftly on the floor, and muttered, "Liberous!"
I got up, still glaring at him. After a few turns of that, Harry blew his whistle. "Guys, that was great. Now, we're going to practice the Disarming Spell a little more, just so you get the knack of it."
I looked at Fred, who flashed me a smile. "Expelliar-"
Without waiting for him to finish, I blocked his spell with a quickly thought Protego! Fred's spell ricocheted off my shield, and disarmed a Hufflepuff named Zacharias Smith. I smirked at Fred's awed face.
"I didn't know you could use speechless spells," said my boyfriend. I blushed.
"Well, yeah, it was always practical to know that so I could trip my dad in the stairs," I mumbled. Fred nodded. "Of course!"
A few weeks later, came the first Quidditch match of the year, played between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I, of course, would be cheering for Gryffindor. I grinned as Luna Lovegood, from Ravenclaw, made the Lion on top of her head roar (extremely resemblant of a real lion, I had to admit). Fred squeezed my hand.
"I can't wait to play," he said. I squeezed his hand in return.
"You're going to squash them," I said knowingly. Fred grinned.
"I had a hunch that you were going to say that."
Fred, Ron, George, Harry, Angelina, Katie and Alicia went down to the Quidditch pitch early in order to practice before the match started. Ginny, Emily and I went back up to our dorms in order to get dressed, and I was now stuck in front of my bed, trying to decide what outfit looked better, the short, red skirt with the dark yellow, almost golden long-sleeve shirt, accompanied by my Gryffindor scarf, or the same shirt but with a pair of jeans? I hurtled out of my dorm and fell upon Hermione.
"Oi, Hermione, can you come, please?" I called out to her. The bushy-haired witch turned around and looked at me.
"Sure, Carolyn, what do you need?" she smiled.
"Well," I said as we walked to my dorm room, "I need some advice." I pointed to the clothes laid out on my bed. Hermione thought for a moment before asking, "Are you aiming to please or just to be warm?"
"To please, I guess," I said.
"Well, wear the skirt!" she grinned, winking at me. I sighed, smiling. Of course. Always wear a skirt if you dress to impress. I shook my head. I usually wasn't this shallow, I thought.
A/N: all that is written in bold text is from the books. I haven't done this before, and I should have, but disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter but my own plot and my characters. If I had written Harry Potter, it wouldn't be half as good as it is already, thanks to the one and only irreplaceable Joanne Kathleen Rowling. That woman is truly our Queen.
Fred stretched as he readied himself to go on the pitch. George looked over at his twin, grinning. Fred arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"Your girlfriend is there," he winked. Fred looked out on to the stands and, sure enough, Carolyn was there. And - Fred did a double-take - she looked stupendous. She was dressed in Gryffindor colors, a red skirt barely reaching her mid-thighs, and a golden shirt that hugged her forms tightly. Fred had to stop himself from gawking.
"Yeah - she - she - wow -" he trailed off. George guffawed.
"Stop howling, mate!" he cried out between laughs. Fred aimed a kick at his brother, who dodged, wiping stray tears from his face. Suddenly, Madam Hooch's whistle was blown, and Fred found himself mounting his broom, as if in a daze.
"Captains shake hands," called out the white-haired woman. Fred watched as Angelina had her fingers crushed by Montague, and resisted the urge to pound the Slytherin. Madam Hooch blew her whistle once more, and Fred was airborne once more, feeling the air rush past his ears, and he grinned. He loved flying, more than anything else, except Carolyn. Especially when she was dressed like that. Fred was glad to have his broom between his legs, so that he couldn't feel anything else, or else he would have been extremely embarassed.
"And it's Johnson, Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"
"JORDAN!" yelled Professor McGonagall.
"Just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest - and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's - ouch - been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe... Montague catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and - nice bludger from George Weasley-"
Fred cheered his twin, who raised his bat and grinned at Fred.
"- that's a bludger to the head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away -"
Fred grinned as he listened to Lee's commentary. Lee was a great commentator, but he sometimes - and for the crowd's greatest amusement - was sometimes biaised and was told off by McGonagall. Fred listened through the wind and yelling of the crowd -
"-dodges Warrington, dodges a Bludger - close call, Alicia - and the crowd are loving this, just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"
And suddenly, Fred heard singing. Looking around, he caught a glimpse of Ron's red face, and then, the words sank in.
Weasley cannot save a thing,
He cannot block a single ring,
That's why Slytherins all sing,
Weasley is our King.
Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.
Fred's knuckles tightened around his Beater's bat. If only he could pelt a thousand Bludgers towards the Slytherins... How dare they attack his little brother. Ron might be a pain in the arse from time to time, but he was his pain in the arse. No one else had the right to take the mickey out of him. No one.
"- And Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Lee shouted. "Come on now, Angelina - looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat! - SHE SHOOTS - SHE - aaaah..."
Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, had saved the goal; he threw the Quaffle to Warrington. Fred groaned and resumed his circling of the pitch, looking for a Bludger to aim at. He heard Lee comment again, but drowned him out. He heard cheering, but it came from the Slytherin end. He could hear more singing, but continued to drown everything out. Fred looked around, and saw Harry zoom around the pitch in search of the Snitch, and prayed silently that he'd catch it before Gryffindor was slaughtered. But twenty-nil was nothing, there was still time for Gryffindor to catch up or catch the Snitch, a few goals and they would be in the lead as usual, Fred assured himself. Fred heard the Gryffindor end cheer, and saw Carolyn jump up and down - he assumed that they'd finally scored - and then, he saw, all sound returning to his ears, Harry catch the Snitch. Gryffindor had won, and he hadn't even got to land a Bludger on anyone... What a waste of muscles... And then, when he'd gotten down from his broom and safely onto the ground, he saw a flash of gold and red and then -
Carolyn was kissing him, hard, harder than anytime before, and he was kissing her back, one hand on her waist, holding her close, the other rubbing her back, he had dropped his broom and he did not care, what he cared about was never ending that kiss, or terrible, terrible things would happen, and Fred didn't want that to happen, he didn't want it to stop -
"- we couldn't fit in useless loser either - for his father, you know -"
Fred reluctantly ended the kiss, and looked over at Malfoy. Carolyn blanched. Angeline grabbed Fred's arm at once, saying, "leave it, leave it Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he's lost, the jumped-up little -"
"- But you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" said Malfoy, sneering. "Spend holidays with them and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles even the Weasleys' hovel smells okay -"
I had to be helped by Angie, Katie and Alicia to stop Fred from pounding Malfoy to a pulp, and even I had a hard time stopping myself from punching him. Malfoy was laughing, laughing so hard that I wanted to break every bone in his body. Fred grabbed my wrist, attempting to push me away.
"Carolyn, get out of the way, I'm telling you, I'm warning you -" snarled Fred in my face. I couldn't believe that this man was the same as the one I'd just been kissing-
"Or perhaps," said Malfoy, leering as he backed away, "you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it-"
I saw Harry let George go, and both boys ran towards Malfoy and started punching, kicking, and hurting the little scumbag as much as possible. I made to go stop them, or at least try to, but Fred hadn't released his grip on my wrist.
"If you go," he growled, "I will rip Malfoy limb - from - limb. You're the only thing that can keep me together," he said while Katie, Angie and Alicia howled "Harry! HARRY! GEORGE! NO!"
I put my forehead against Fred's and put my free hand around his waist. Grunting, he pulled me closer to him, stil not letting go of my wrist. Suddenly, someone shot a spell at Harry and George, and I tried to look at them but Fred finally let go of my wrist and used his freed hand to grabbed my chin and make me look at him.
A few weeks passed, easily, and happily, until a few days before the Christmas holidays. Emily and I stayed, of course, at Hogwarts, but when I woke up on Saturday, my sister came hurtling into my room, sobbing. I sprung up from my bed, catching her in my arms.
"Em! Em! What's wrong?" I gasped, as she hugged my midsection tightly.
"Ginny's gone! She's gone!" said Emily. My eyes widened.
"What do you mean, she's gone?"
"She left during the night, she didn't know for what reason. But I looked in the boy's dorm, and Ron, Harry, Fred and George are also gone!"
My breathing stopped. Fred, gone? I couldn't live with that. Fred and Emily were the only people who kept me alive. I shuddered.
"I suppose there was an emergency," I said, my brain whirring. Emily nodded, her face full of tears. I wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of my pyjamas, and slowly turned my sister towards the wooden door that she had left ajar earlier. We quietly walked down to breakfast, and sat down at the wooden table next to Angelina and Alicia.
"What's wrong?" asked Alicia. I grimaced.
"Looks like the Weasleys and Harry left early for the holidays," I said.
Angelina stared at me."How are you coping?"
"Oh, you know, I'm surviving," I shrugged. But Angie could see past my defences almost as well as Fred. Shaking her head, she reached out to me and hugged me tight, making soothing sounds. Behind us, Alicia hugged Emily as tightly as she could. It was a very hugging moment.
We'd finished eating quite early, but Emily and I had decided to stay at the table as long as possible. And I'd done well to do so, for a small, round ball of fluff flew down toward me, and held out its leg to which was attached a letter. That was when I understood that the ball of feathers was actually an owl. I quickly took the letter off the owl and opened it.
Dearest Carolyn,
Don't worry, I'm fine. Harry, George, and Ginny are also dad is in St Mungo's, so Professor Dumbledore sent us quickly to one of our friend's house who lives near the hospital. I'll try and talk my mum and our friend into having you and Emily come spend Christmas with you. I can't bear being away from you, but my dad is kind of between life and death, so I can't leave. I wish I could, though. You know I do. Listen, if you can't come over, I'll try and come back to Hogwarts as soon as possible.
I love you so much, Carolyn. I've never felt this way about anyone, trust me.
Frederick Gideon Weasley.
I sighed. I hoped Mr. Weasley was going to recover. I quickly turned the letter over and, Transfiguring my fork into a quill, I started scribbling an answer.
Dear, dear Fred,
I'm relieved. Emily came crying into my room this morning, because Ginny was gone. I hope your dad recovers rapidly, because even though I never met him, he sodeserves to live. And do you know why? Because he made you. I love you, Fred, you have no idea how much. I hope I can come over to your friend's house with Emily.
Yours now and forever more,
Carolyn Thalia Selwyn.
I quickly fastened the letter to the bird's leg and sent him off to wherever Fred was. I missed him dearly.