Disclaimer: Not mine.

Meet me in the common room at eleven-thirty.

Fred

That was what the note had said anyway.

And so that was how I found myself heading down for the common room at eleven twenty-five in a blue nightgown with matching robe and house slippers.

I had everything I needed already supplied for me, I found. Robes, muggle cloths, extra uniforms, money, books, parchment, quills, a wand . . . everything I needed was inside this beautiful designed trunk waiting for me. I wondered just how they (whoever they were) had gotten all this for me and how they were going about "rewriting" me and just how Fred was going to meet me in the common room when he couldn't possibly get into the school could he?

"Psst."

I quickly looked over my shoulder, but no one was in sight. My heart was beating fast, though because I knew wasn't alone.

"Marlow, over here."

My eyes widening, I moved to the floor on my hands and knees in front of the fireplace, where Fred Weasley's head had appeared smiling up at me. "Hi," he said.

"Hi," I told him, still in shock.

We were both silent for a moment before Fred said, "It's really nice to have you back Marlow."

This was amazing. . . . It was imposibble for any of this to be real, it had to be. . . .

When I didn't say anything, he looked a little sad. "You don't remember me."

"No, I do," I said, quickly. "I'm just – I'm still trying to understand how all this works."

Fred smiled again. "It gets a little easier to understand as the days go by I guess."

I sat back, wrapping my arms around my knees. "So you know about me?"

His head bobbed. "They told most of us, you know, the ones that you're always with. Everyone else, the generic members of Gryffindor, teachers that you don't really know, all of them think that you've been here the whole time. You were kind of just gone, one day. We had been going over all that we were supposed to do before the book was published and you were no where in sight. Little by little our memory of you slowly started to fade but now that you're back, we all remember everything."

I nodded though I still didn't understand the whole concept of how characters could rewrite a book like this. "How long have we –?"

"Since last year, or we were supposed to have going out since last year. . . . Technially, though, I guess it has been since last year and would have still been if you hadn't disappeared. Sorry, I don't want to make things too confusing for you."

"It's fine. . . . I'm sorry I don't remember anything."

Fred smiled at me sympthatically. "You will. . . . It might take a couple of days though, considering you've been gone from the book for so long. You get used to it though, what with the random adding of characters every once in a while to keep the story flowing smoothly."

"You do realize that none of this makes any sens to me, right?"

"Like I said, it takes time."

"Do we date in the books or in the 'Void'."

"Both."

I gazed at him for a moment. "Is any of this awkward for you?"

"How so?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Well, I mean, one second you're a single guy living free and the next you've got a girlfriend that you've never even met."

"It was a bit odd at first but . . . when I started to remember all the stuff we've done together, it makes sense why we would end up together. Hopefully you'll feel the same way."

I found that I did want to care about Fred. . . . He was a very sweet guy to be so patient with me. "Do I have family?"

For the first time, Fred's head looked away from me for a moment before looking back, sad. "Do you know who you are?"

"Not really," I answered truthfully.

"Marlow Chase is from a very old, very prominent wizarding family of purebloods. All of them are Slytherins and all of them big supporters of You-Know-Who."

Whoa. "So that means. . . ?"

"You are the first person in your family to become a Gryffindor. We think that's why Ms. Rowling had you get along so well with Sirius when we knew him because you both lived the same situation."

I looked down at my hands. "I don't live with them, do I."

". . . . No. You stay with my family but, you love it there, I promise. Your living with us is kind of the reason we had so much time to get to know each other. Your mum though, your mum still takes care of you. When your dad made you leave the house, your mum set up this secret account for you at Gringotts so that you have so money."

"Do I talk to her?"

"I don't know, you never really mention her to me and I never ask." Fred smiled. "I've learned how to read things about you pretty well."

"What am I like?"

Fred grinned. "Generally or what I think about you?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Either or, I guess."

"Well, I think you're funny, sweet, and beautiful. Someone who always has a lot on their mind, probably the reason why you hardly talk during chapters but who's really wild and crazy during the Voids. I think you're one of the most interesting girls I've ever met but in a good way."

I was blushing I knew, an embarresed smile on my face. "You fgured all that out from twenty minutes."

"From five books, actually, but yeah."

I tilted my head to the side. "Why don't I talk?"

It looked like Fred's head shrugged. "Seriously I think it's just because you know when you need to say something and when you don't. You don't find it necessary to talk constantly like some girls do which makes you so different. But you do talk when you're with your friends, at home, and when you're with me. It's just the way you are, I guess. And I like the way you are."

I smiled. "You've been really sweet to me, Fred. Thank you. And I'm sorry I ask so many questions."

"Anytime. . . . Can I ask you a question?"

"Where did you go?"

"The Outer World, I guess."

"Whoa, really? Is it really like it is here?"

And so I spent the rest of the night in front of the fireplace with Fred, talking about my life in the Outer World. . . .

Or as much as I remembered anyway.

"Marlow. Marlow, come on, wake up."

I had had a lot of strange dreams last night, all of them weird and confusing. But when I woke up in the Common room to see Hermione and see her watching me with concern, I smiled. "I remember. I remember everything, Herms."

She smiled back. "Good. So you'll remember that I hate that nickname."

"And you'll remember how much I loved to bug you with it."

Hermione laughed, offering her hand to me. "Come on, we've got to go before Harry comes down with Ron so he can tell us later about what happened on the train."

"But we already know don't we?" I asked as she pulled me up the stairs.

"Of course."

And you know, I think I was starting to understand.

A/N: So what do you think? I hope you liked it and I'll see you next time.