Harry Potter was screaming as he leaned over Cedric Diggory's dead body. His face looked shiny and wet with tears. "He's back! He's back! Voldemort's back! Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him, not there!"

Lacey couldn't move. She couldn't breath. She felt her breath constrict in her throat. She was going to be sick, violently sick. She was too late. Ivy immediately turned in the stands and vomited down the bleachers.

Lacey was silently crying now. She couldn't watch this scene. Dumbledore had descended upon the two young men. She vaguely registered Cornelius Fudge yelling toward Professor McGonagall, "Keep everybody in their seats, a boy has just been killed!"

The next thing she saw sent her following after Ivy as she too became sick along with the other students around her. Amos Diggory was crying and screaming as he launched himself onto the grass. "Let me through! That's my son! That's my boy!"

Riley encased her in his large arms and she relished in the warmth. They had been seeing each other, unofficially, since the Yule Ball, but right now she barely felt his touch. She was numb and cold at the same time. Ivy was shaking like a leaf next to her while Sadie cried into Michael's shoulder. Lacey didn't move. She didn't speak. She stared as the scene unfolded in front of her and strangely, she wondered if George was okay.

"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, infinitely fair-minded, and most importantly, a fierce, fierce friend. Therefore, I feel you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered, by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I feel would be an insult to his memory. Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me, and, reminds us, that though we may come from different countries and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of the recent events, the bonds of friendship made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that, and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain. You remember that, and we'll celebrate a boy who was kind, and honest, and brave, and true. Right to the very end."

The past two days had been nothing short of terrible. Lacey longed for this tragic event to pass so she could return to her carefree days with her friends. No one spoke as Dumbledore remembered the life of Cedric Diggory. Ivy gripped her hand so hard it was turning white. They may not have known Cedric, but the Dark Lord was a threat to them all.

Lacey still felt numb. She had not been in contact with Riley since he had held her on the night of Cedric's murder. She felt drained and anxious. She needed to check on Finn. She needed to do so many things and all she could think about was crying. She felt the smallest waive of relief when she realized she would be on a train home tomorrow.

"You okay Lace? You look a little pale." Ellis whispered as he took hold of her hand. Ivy was leaning on him and Sadie was sitting stiff and upright.

"I think I just need to lay down. I need to be alone." She answered. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and tried to relax. She needed to pack for home. She needed to do something.

"Do you want me to get Riley for you?" Michael asked as he moved to make soothing circles on Sadie's back.

"No. Thank you. I just really need a minute to myself." She answered in the same numb, unfeeling tone before sneaking out of the Great Hall.

Alicia was nothing short of hysterical as she bawled into George's waiting embrace. Angelina was wiping the sick off of her mouth and Katie was nearly catatonic. Students were reacting to Amos as he flung himself onto Cedric's unmoving form.

Fred was gripping Angelina's hand and Lee was sitting with his head in his hands. No one knew how to react.

George quickly scanned the crowd for the object of his obsession and found her typically emotionless body crying into the arms of Riley O'Neil. As inappropriate as the time might have been, George felt a pang of what he assumed to be jealously at the thought that he could not wrap his arms around Lacey and comfort her as she cried. He felt a bizarre need to check on her, but quickly squashed it as students started being ushered into the Great Hall.

A mere two days later George felt that same unfamiliar pang to check on Lacey as he watched her sneak out of Cedric's memorial service. This was uncharted territory for him. All he wanted from her was a decent fuck, right? He needed to get himself together. Alicia gave him a knowing look and a slight push toward the door and he took it without question. He would later blame it on the high volume of emotions coursing through Hogwarts.

After a quick scan of the Marauder's Map, he found her leaning against a wall in a deserted corner of the castle, just between the Slytherin dungeons and the old washrooms he and Fred used for product experimentation.

She looked sexy even when she cried. Her eyes were wide and incredibly blue and her lips were red and swollen from her tears. Her wavy hair was pulled back, showing off the delicate skin of her neck and collarbone.

"Alright Clarke?" George said as he leaned against the wall, pushing his shaggy hair out of his dark green eyes. Lacey nearly jumped out of her skin, but she didn't answer. Instead she just stared at him. He stared right back.

"Well, alright then." He said with a shrug before shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers and made a move to turn away.

"Wait." She squeaked out so quietly he almost didn't hear her. He scanned her face and felt himself get aggravated. Still zero emotion. What was with her? A person had died, and mass murderer had returned, yet Lacey looked about as ambivalent as a person ready to discuss the weather.

"I don't think I want to be alone." She said as she continued to look over at him with her enormous blue eyes.

For the first time since he had been thirteen, George felt himself get weak in the knees. Her eyes were digging through his soul and he was having trouble breathing. Nothing about this encounter was normal, even for them, no, especially not for them. He was torn between hugging her and fucking her and as a result he just stood there awkwardly.

"I-um, I was worried about you. You're alright?" She said with a quirk of her perfect eyebrow. She bit down on her lip. He continued to stare at her. What the fuck was happening.

"I'm fine." He said as he moved forward. He hadn't noticed he was inching toward her body, which was leaning against the cold wall. She bit her lip again and he almost groaned. This was the world's most inappropriate timing.

He leaned his hands on either side of her head and she took a moment to evaluate him. He really was dangerously attractive. He was incredibly tall and his ginger hair hung perfectly in his smoldering green eyes. His muscles rippled through his school shirt as he moved his arms up to cage her head against the wall. He awkwardly pushed his hair back again, causing his shirt to ride up and expose tight, hard muscle and a faint red trail of hair leading to the top of his pants.

"Good." Was all she could manage to say and she moved her eyes up from his carved abdomen toward his eyes. They had not spoken much since the Yule Ball. Of course he continued to flirt and ask her out, but it had become less frequent. In fact, it was pretty much reduced to class and not nearly as often now that Riley was a fairly constant fixture in her life.

"Where's O'Neil?" He asked her, trying to sound indifferent rather than bitter.

"He's not my boyfriend." Was her only reply. She mentally kicked herself. Why had she even said that? Why did she feel a need for him to know what she was single? Why didn't she just say she wanted to be alone? Or that he was busy?

"Good." It was his turn to reply with a one-word answer and he moved to brush a stray piece of chocolate hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

"Good." She said back, parroting him as she has nothing better to say. She was staring at his mouth and he knew it. She bit her lip again and he inched even closer to her. He could smell her perfume, he wanted her so badly in this moment.

"You two shouldn't be here!" Filch barked at them as he stormed around the corner. George backed himself away from Lacey who promptly moved as far as humanly possible away from him.

"Back upstairs now, before I get creative with punishments." He said as he looked back and forth between the two.

Lacey choked out something incoherent before hightailing it up the stairs without a look back at George. He wasn't sure how he should feel. He was disappointed they had been interrupted, but more importantly, he was annoyed with himself. He had so badly wanted to comfort her, wanted to kiss her pain away. This was completely new for him. George Weasley did not care about any girl that way, aside from his mother, sister, and friends.

He trudged up after her, quietly sneaking back into his Gryffindor dorm room and into his shower in order to avoid Lee and Fred. He needed to think and he needed to sleep. What in the hell was happening to him?

Lacey reflected back on the train ride home and she drove to her part time summer job. It was the most uncomfortable ride on the Hogwarts Express that she had experienced, not even her first year had been so bad. Her patrols were uneventful as most students sat calmly and quietly with their friends. No one seemed to be in the mood for excited chatter and exploding snap. She desperately hoped that the summer had healed the students of Hogwarts the way it had healed her and her friends. Time away with loved ones seem to mend the fear and pain they had all been feeling and they were ready to start their seventh year together. They were determined to make it their best yet.

The summer had been long and relatively average. Lacey and Ivy spent most of their free time working at the same muggle restaurant waiting tables. Sadie was, as usual, off on a transcontinental vacation with her family and they received post from her every few weeks with pictures of the amazing places she was visiting.

Ivy's youngest brother had received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts and was running around fully charged with excitement. Lacey's oldest brother had gotten engaged to his girlfriend Macey and they had set a date for this upcoming spring. Other than those events there wasn't much to speak of. As for her and Riley's odd relationship they were still somewhat together. They both figured they would take it as it came due to the fact that she was still in school and he was thrust into the real world working for a Wizarding law firm that mostly dealt major clientele , namely Quidditch players.

She hadn't heard much from George this summer which initially had been a relief, but she was starting to miss their sexually charge banter. She had run into him once in Diagon Alley in mid-June.

She heard a low whistle from behind her and turned so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash.

"Clarke. Don't you know how to tempt a man." George Weasley said as he leaned casually against the wall of the ice cream shop she has just vacated. He gave her a once over and almost groaned. She was extremely tan and wearing a dress that should rightfully be illegal. It was strapless and light blue with tiny flower patterns and it barely reached mid-thigh. It made her deliciously curvy body look undeniably innocent, the kind of innocent that made a man want to yank her down and claim her as his. It was all very primal.

"Don't you know how to ruin a girl's a day off." She said with one of those horribly cold, sexy smiles. She too looked him up and down. He seemed broader since she had last seen him. He was tanned and had cut his hair short, which made him look older, more sophisticated, sexy even? She bit her lip when she noticed the muscles of his arms in the tight black t-shirt he was wearing. They seemed to be more defined. She wasn't sure but it looked as if his flat stomach was now a result of training as opposed to being a naturally thin male.

"I know several ways to remedy that if you want…and several different positions." He winked at her as she bit her lip in an almost reflexive fashion.

"What a waste of three minutes." She said as she raised that infamous eyebrow at him before turning once more to meet Ivy at the Apothecary as they had planned.

"You wound me." He shouted at her, but she didn't look back. She swung her hips side to side and he prayed for a breeze. That tiny woman in that equally tiny dress would be the death of him.

She rolled her eyes as she remembered the encounter. She parked her car and looked down at the cell phone she used while she was home with her family. Her father would never be caught dead with such an "infuriatingly difficult invention" because "that's what there are owls for", but her mother used one almost constantly, the plight of being a surgeon. Lacey made a note in her calendar to remind her to start packing. September 1st was only a week away and she smiled all over again at the thought of her seventh year.

"If I have to hear about Lacey Clarke's arse in that dress one more time George I swear…" Alicia started from her position on the couch in the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place. She, Katie, and Lee had spent the past few days visiting with the twins and they were going to head over to platform 9 ¾ together tomorrow morning. Angelina and Oliver had decided to take a small vacation before she had to return to school and was going to be meeting them there.

"Listen Alicia, if you want to be included in the game all you have to do is ask. All right gents, best thing Alicia has ever worn that made you at least half-mast. Go!" George yelled as she chucked a pillow at him.

"I feel as though I tell you daily, but you really are all disgusting." Katie said as she wrinkled her nose at her three male friends.

"Which reminds me! Shall we renew bets on Feorge's pathetic life?" Fred asked as he received a rather hard punch on the arm from his brother.

"I'll put up 10 galleons that he's head over arse by Christmas." Katie said with a smirk at George who only glared at her.

"You're crazy." Lee said looked at her as if he was scandalized. This earned a smile from George. "I say 20 and by Halloween." The others roared with laughter.

A/N: Well hi. It only took me 3 years to update..awkward..but here you have it. I recently decided to get back into writing fanfiction and I've always loved the idea of this story. More to come soon! Reviews are always motivational ;)

NO FLAMES.

xo,

Violet-lights.