Chapter 2

"So then what happened?" asked Brina, as Fred recounted the tale of moving Harry from Number 4 Privet Drive to the Burrow.

"Well they thought Harry was with Mad-Eye originally, but they figured out he was with Hagrid. It was just all chaos, and George's ear..." Fred trailed off staring blankly.

They sat for a while silently in the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. George remained at home at the Burrow for further recovery from his injury. It seemed that without George quiet moments were easier to come by.

"You know you'd better be careful selling those protection products to the Ministry right now. As much as I hate to say it..."

"I know. You-Know-Who's definitely got some guys on the inside by now," Fred said, in a tone of defeated acceptance.

He hung his head. Brina sat quietly watching him, not sure what to say to Fred who acted far out of character. Fred's hand rested by his almost empty plate. Naturally, Brina reached over to grab his hand. Her sudden gesture caused his head to pop up. Judging by his startled reaction, Brina simply rested her hand lightly upon his instead of grasping his hand fully.

"Sorry...I just figured..." she began attempting to justify her action or find the right words to comfort him.

Thinking about her own family, she could not fathom losing neither brothers or little sister nor her mother or father.

"Your family's gonna be okay. It's like this for everyone right now, and that's why we all need to value and appreciate everyone we care about more than ever."

After a moment of no movement, Fred met Brina's gaze, his brown eyes connecting with her hazel-green ones, and instead of separating his freckled hand from hers, he turned his palm upward and squeezed his long fingers around her small, pale palm. She glanced down at their hands, curling her shorter fingers slightly around the side of his hand.

Thoughts of gratitude swarmed her mind. She was lucky to have a full family unlike many of her school-mates. She felt lucky sitting safely with Fred, happy that his family was alright. Color rose to her normally pale, freckled cheeks. Comfortable as she was sitting with Fred, she feared the horrible war that raged on.

Squeezing her hand gently once more, Fred rose from the table tossing some Galleons to the middle. Brina opened her mouth to protest, but Fred walked to the exit.

"I'm getting it next time," Brina told Fred upon entering the shop.

"Wouldn't be right of me to make you pay. Mother taught me to always treat a lady," he replied with a small smile, flicking on the shop lights.

"So chivalrous, Weasley. No wonder you have all the witches in Britain swooning," Brina said with a chuckle.

"All of them?" he asked, raising one eye-brow while he staring intently at Brina who fiddled with re-opening the register.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was again at a loss for words. Fred, who stood at least a head taller than Brina continued to peer down upon her, as if waiting for the verdict of an important court trial.

Nervous to say the wrong thing, Brina preferred to keep quiet. She neither wanted to give Fred the wrong idea nor encourage him to discontinue his occasional flirtations. During her silence, she considered the reasons she found Fred so intriguing. Remembering him in his Hogwarts years, Brina always found his thirst for attention and ability to claim that attention with ease a rare gift. George shared the same talent, but went about gaining attention differently. Fred was blunt, never covert or secretive in his quest for recognition. For instance, in Brina's third year - Fred's sixth - he constantly ranted on about finding ways to enter the Triwizard Tournament. Even then, she found his ambition attractive.

Years ago, Brina admitted, at first silently, that she had a slight crush on one of her best friend's brothers. At Hogwarts, other witches went through similar phases. Still, other girls preferred George. Either twin - both tall, lean, and unbelievably able to wear ugly clothing like it was the latest trend - was physically attractive to many girls, but for some reason Fred's personality captivated Brina even more. Many times, she shrugged off her child-hood crush, but her attraction toward him never waned all together. For this reason, Brina sometimes turned from a naturally extroverted, outspoken witch to a slightly guarded and fearful girl, especially when Fred initiated the harmless, flirtatious banter.

Brina knew Fred to be a naturally friendly guy, so she usually brushed off his words since he acted similarly with so many others. Plus, the reasonable age gap prevented her from thinking he meant any of it seriously. Again, Brina's ability to overanalyze situations irritated her.

Finally after what seemed like an eon of deliberation, Brina responded, "Maybe." She smirked up slightly at Fred through shy eyes, and he let out a soft chuckle.

"I'll take it," he replied.

She was thankful, yet somewhat confused by his vague remark.

Later that evening, Brina sat beside Ginny in the sitting room of the Burrow. After a long day of preparation and cleaning for Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mrs. Weasley decided, despite her anxiety, to allow the group some down time. Ginny and Brina browsed a Quidditch catalog, the twins played a game of Exploding Snap in the corner, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere to be found.

"Your mum must be thrilled that those three have some down time together," Brina said, gesturing to the stairs, mentally assuming that they sat floors above the rest of the gang in a heated discussion on the current state of affairs.

"Oh I'd bet," Ginny said her intense eyes focused on the magazine on her lap.

"Must be hard Gin- you know- with not knowing what they're up to really. And in the midst of all these deaths and chaos," Brina said, trying to fill a rare moment of strange silence.

"Yea," Ginny responded, her voice in a higher pitch than usual.

"You're doing spectacularly though," Brina reassured Ginny, whose ginger hair now masked the sides of her face.

Attributing Ginny's sullen mood to the sudden absence of Harry, Brina racked her brain for something more active to do. She knew Ginny almost always held herself together, but the current circumstances excused normal behavior.

Brina walked cautiously toward Fred and George, careful not to distract either twin. Glancing at her for a split second, George's cards exploded.

"Ha! That's game your holeyness!" Fred exclaimed.

"Come on, mate! If I didn't take my eye off of my cards," George retorted, speaking to Fred, but looking at Brina.

"Not my fault Bri distracted you," Fred said with a shrug, collecting the cards.

George looked at Brina in protest.

"I dunno Fred. If you were sitting over there you'd be stunned by my veela-like beauty, too," she joked.

"Not sure if your dark features and near midget height really fit that description, sorry to say," George responded.

"Not to mention the freckles, although we do appreciate them in this family," Fred added, standing up to offer Brina his seat.

George wore a small smirk on his lips, and rolled his eyes at his twin. Over on the couch, Ginny cracked a smile and walked over to her brothers and Brina.

"So what do you think they're on about up there?" George questioned, glancing at the ceiling.

"I think some secret mission Dumbledore left them," Ginny declared calmly.

"They're really going then, eh?" George asked, already knowing the answer. Silence followed before he spoke again. "I know Ron had no doubt in his mind that he'd be going with him."

"Yeah, we even helped Dad transform the ghoul in the attic to look like Ron with spattergoit. Nasty sight, even nastier smell," Fred said to no one in particular.

"But what if they don't find what they're looking for?" Brina asked quietly looking down at the rug.

"We just have to trust that Dumbledore knew what he was getting Harry into," Ginny answered.

"And we all know we could trust Dumbledore," Brina responded with conviction.

They nodded.

After another round of Exploding Snap, Mrs. Weasley shooed them all to bed. Pulling Brina into her room, Ginny closed the door behind her with purpose.

"I have to ask you something," she said.

Brina laughed and nodded. Ginny was on a mission.

"So Harry's birthday is tomorrow, and I haven't exactly gotten him anything, but I was thinking..." she trailed off looking past her desk out the window.

Cocking an eyebrow at Ginny, Brina stood with her arms crossed. "I think I know what your thinking, and I'm not sure if that's the most beneficial way of coping with all this."

"Okay, I know that this whole slightly love-sick act is way out there for me. But you know me Brina, and I can't just stand by and not do anything about it at all," Ginny explained.

"Well I've only shared a dormitory with you for the past five years. You act like I'm new at this."

Ginny laughed. "Obviously. But I'm not sure how I should go about the whole thing. I want him to know just that I support him and understand that he needs to do this right now."

"I dunno, you could always just grab him and fiercely snog the daylights out of him," Brina suggested, waggling her eyebrows.

When Ginny pondered her suggestion for longer than necessary, Brina furrowed her brow. "You know, that was a joke, right?" she asked slowly.

"A joke with quite the brilliant idea attached. You know actions do speak louder than words," she said, reaching over to turn out the lights.

Brina knew Ginny's mind was made up as she turned over to go to sleep. This was more like Ginny, to make up her mind on a whim and forge forward without a care in the world.

"By the way Brina," Ginny whispered.

"Yea?" Brina responded even more quietly.

"Mention this emotional laps to Fred and George and I may have to kick you out of my room."

"Come on, Gin. Despite spending more time with those two lately I'd never sell one of my best friend's to her own, devious brothers."

"Even if you are a bit too fond of one of them," Ginny said, causing Brina to laugh.

"Not gonna deny that you people just have good genes."

"Not gonna deny that Fred is starting to scare me."

"What.."

"Goodnight, Bri!" Ginny chimed, more upbeat than she had been all evening.

Calling it quits, Brina turned on her side and stared at the darkness, happy to know that joy could still exist among the chaos.