When I arrive at King's Cross Station, and I spot the twins waiting by the barrier to platform 9 ¾, I've never felt more relieved in my entire life. I've not seen them since the last time I was here, not even to go school shopping. I made excuses to get out of that. I couldn't let them see me before it was too late for them to do anything about it.

"C'mon, Audrey!" Fred shouts. "We've only got five minutes to get on the train!"

I run to them, tears welling up in my eyes. Immediately, George notices.

"What's wrong, Love?" he asks, his eyes scanning my face. He's probably taking in the bags under my eyes and my messy hair. I tried to make myself look decent this morning, but nothing worked. I just shake my head no in response to his question. Taking my hand, he pulls me after him through the barrier without saying a word. Fred follows after, unsure what's happening.

Boarding the train, Lee comes up to us. "Hey, guys. I-," he starts.

"Not now, Lee. We'll join you in a bit," George interrupts sternly. Lee backs off quickly, heading back where he came from.

"C'mon, Rey. Let's find a compartment," George murmurs, pulling me after him in the opposite direction. Finding one, he pulls me in, Fred following behind. "Now, what's the matter, sweetheart?"

All of a sudden, I break out into heavy, salty tears. "Rey? Rey, what's wrong?" Fred asks. I don't answer, just roll up my sleeves, revealing a row of bruises on each. Fred gasps.

"What happened to you?" George asks firmly. I don't answer. I can't. "Was it that filthy Muggle uncle of yours?" he recalls. I nod, sniffling.

"Are there more bruises?" Fred asks, eyes soft. I nod. Then, slowly, I lift my shirt up over my head, stretching my arms to the ceiling painfully. At first, both boys are just wide-eyed, uncomfortable with me taking my shirt off. At that, I manage to comment.

"Oh, grow up. You've seen me in a bikini. Same thing," I growl playfully, managing a small chuckle. Looking down, I see the large, splotchy bruises, and I flashback to the fists landing on my stomach and back, feeling the impact all over again.

"Oh, I'm gonna kick his Muggle arse," Fred mutters deeply, keeping his voice low to disguise emotion, and I can see tears in his eyes.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us?" George growls, trying not to yell.

"I couldn't take my dad's brother away from him, which is what would have happened if he'd found out," I whimper.

"But this is not okay!" he cries. "I couldn't care less whether or not your uncle's disowned!"

Suddenly, his eyes go soft, and he takes the shirt from my hands, gently pulling it back over me, making sure he doesn't hurt my tender skin. Then, he pulls me into an embrace, trying his hardest not to hurt me. "Don't leave our sight. We're gonna take care of you," he sighs, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "You okay to join the others?"

I nod, and Fred grabs my hand, gently pulling me out of the compartment and towards the one where Lee, Angelina, and Katie wait.

Arriving inside the familiar doors of the Hogwarts castle, I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. The twins and I head to the Great Hall, where they lead me to our spots at the Gryffindor table to wait for the Sorting Ceremony. I'm already feeling ten times better. When Ginny gets sorted into Gryffindor, I even manage to cheer with the boys.

When the feast starts, I manage to talk some. That's when we find out that Harry and Ron crashed Arthur's flying car into the ginormous Whomping Willow outside. "I'm awful jealous, actually," Fred groans.

"Me, too. We taught Ronald bloody well," George grins at the thought.

I tune them out, in favor of focusing on the food on my plate. It looks delicious, after all. I just wish I could manage to eat some, instead of just pushing it around my plate.

Heading upstairs, the twins convince everyone to wait for Harry and Ron to come up so they can congratulate him. While everyone cheers them on, I curl up on the couch, hypnotized by the fire flickering in the hearth.

Everyone eventually files out of the Common Room and up to the dorms but the boys and I. I can hear their whispers.

"Go on up to bed, Freddie. I'll talk to her."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Go to bed."

"Okay. Take care of her."

Then there's just the shuffling of Fred's feet up the spiral stairs to his dorm. Then there's George's voice.

"Are you okay, Love?"

"I'm fine," I whisper.

He makes his way over to me, taking a seat beside me on the couch. I whimper as I bury myself in his shoulder.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asks.

"Never," I whimper.

"Let's go to bed, okay? My dorm," he offers.

"I need pajamas," I remind him.

"Don't bother. I have a Chudley Cannons shirt and sweatpants with your name on them," he murmurs into my hair, I can feel him smiling, knowing how that appeals to me,

"Mm," I hum. Then, he takes my hand and pulls me up, leading me up to the dorm. There, he hands me a shirt and sweatpants and has me change behind the curtains of his four-poster bed, while he changes just outside.

From outside, he asks, "Hey, Rey?"

"Yeah?" I reply.

"I noticed Phoenix wasn't with you… Where is she?"

"Oh… Um, my uncle made me get rid of her. He said she was 'annoying'."

"Every time you tell me something new about him, I dislike him more and more. So, you really were alone, huh?"

I can't muster a response.

When we've both finished changing, he crawls into bed with me. Gently, he wraps long, skinny arms around me, letting my bury myself in him, stroking my hair. I let out a choked sob, realizing how long it's been since I've felt this safe.

Hello, boys and girls! :D

I'm baaaaack!
Did ya miss me?

Anyways, yeah. I'm startin' it off sad.

Fight me.

Super excited to be postin' again.

Love ya'll!
- Alex xxx