Chapter 1

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Fred asked Lily as he walked her to the Slytherin common room.

"Fred, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." she said with a warm smile.

"Sweetie, I do worry about, as your boyfriend, it's kinda my job." he said.

"I know," she said standing on her toes to reach his lips, "I love it."

"I love you."

"Yeah, you're not bad." she taunted. They stopped outside the Slytherin common room. Lily took a deep breath and Fred gave her hand a squeeze.

"Lily, if you wanna spend the night in my dorm, you know that's okay. We don't mind." he said, once more trying to convince her not to go step into the common room.

"Fred, I've been there the last three nights, I can't keep hiding." she said looking towards the portrait.

"Okay love." he leaned down and kissed her forehead, knowing that he would miss her warmth tonight.

They had only been back to Hogwarts for one week and it hadn't been easy. It seemed like there were only about ten people supporting their relationship.

All conversation turned to soft whispers as Lily stepped into the common room. They were talking about her again. They weren't even trying to be discreet about it anymore. She ignored them and went straight to her dorm.

"Hey." Cassidy said to her.

"Hi Cass." she replied.

"Is it getting to you?" Cassidy asked.

"What?" Lily asked, sitting on her bed.

"The whispers, the glares, what people are saying about you?" she said.

"Oh, well, no. Not really, I mean, it pisses me off sometimes, but then I remember that I have Fred, and then I just don't give a shit." she shrugged.

"But...Fred is the reason people are saying these things." said Cass.

"I know, but I chose him." Lily said sincerely.

Fred walked back to the Gryffindor common room slowly. He wanted to take his time getting there, because he knew what awaited him when he did. They'd only been back for a week, and Fred had been called possibly every offensive word in the English language, even by his own house. He didn't care though, he would do anything to be able to call Lily his.

He stumbled into the common room and was greeted by "Oh, hi there traitor." by Seamus Finnegan. Fred rolled his eyes and walked to George.

"Don't worry about them mate; they're just jealous." he reassured his twin.

Fred didn't have time to reply, because he heard a seventh Gryffindor boy say "Jealous of what? Your pathetic Slytherin girlfriend? Please, even her family doesn't want her, why would anyone else?" he said followed by laughs and a few quiet applauds from the rest of the room. Fred gripped his wand in his pocket.

"Take that back you prat." Fred said through clenched teeth.

"Why should I?" he retorted "she's a good for nothing, waste of space!"

Fred stormed up to him and pushed him against the wall. The smirk on the boy's face disappeared when Fred pulled out his wand and held it to his throat.

"Take it back." he growled slowly. The bronze haired and the red haired boys said nothing to each other for a few seconds.

"Alright, fine! I'm sorry." said the older boy. Fred pulled his wand away and went to his dorm.

"Fred, are you okay?" he heard George's voice behind him.

"I don't really wanna talk about it Georgie." Fred said and pulled the covers over his head and drifted slowly to sleep.

The next morning, Fred walked to the dungeons to wait for Lily in front of her common room. When he saw Lily step out of the portrait, his heart skipped a beat, as it did every time he saw her. He took her hand and walked happily to the breakfast banquet.

"You ready?" Fred asked her, stopping just outside the entrance to the great hall.

"Yeah, I'm ready." she nodded. Fred was still worried, but he dismissed it and placed a lingering kiss on his girlfriend's cheek. They let their hands go and walked in. They looked across at each other as they went their separate ways to the house tables.

"Why are you here?" Brady Hankins asked her bitterly.

"Excuse me? I'm still a Slytherin." she said.

"A pretty poor excuse for one." he said.

"Oh, leave her alone Hankins." Said a deep voice. Lily turned to see Mason taking place at the table next to her.

"Mason," she said, "hi."

"Hey Lil." he said with a lopsided smile. Lily didn't say anything; she just put some toast on her plate and looked up at Fred. He didn't look back though, he had a death glare fixed on Mason.