6

Tick tick tick. It was 2:55 and the clock was still ticking. Samantha sat in a great padded chair in the Hut that Hagrid called home. "So I said to Dumbledore, I said…" chortled Hagrid, his face full of cake. Harry and Ron were laughing hysterically at the joke that was about to come but Hermione looked quite disgusted at it all. Samantha however was looking up at the Gryffindor common room wondering whether she should attempt the unthinkable. 'You're just being stupid Samantha,' she thought. 'He didn't even tell you where to meet.' She was in such a daze that she had completely missed the joke and it was soon picked up on by Ron.

"Didn't you hear that Samantha," he said almost choking on his cake.

"What? Oh. Um. Yes I heard it…."

"But she realised that it was rude and that we should no better," interrupted Hermione, who was now smirking at Ron.

Tick tick, it was now 2:58 and time was running out for her choice. But just as she went to open her mouth the door of Hagrid's hut flew open and the none other than Fred Weasley came running in. "Hey Hagrid you haven't seen.. Oh there you are," he said grabbing Samantha by the arm and taking her outside. "Cheers Hagrid," he said.

"Um yes Thank-you Hagrid for the lovely meal," Samantha tried to seem apologetic for leaving the hut with such a force but she was deeply glad she had. She had just enough time to hear Ron pipe in "He has barely talked to me all week, yet he wants her. I'm only his bloody brother."

Fred didn't say a word to her until he had lead her to the top of an old hill near Hogwarts. "What do'ya think," he said opening a relatively small picnic basket and pulling out loads of food, a blanket and some Butterbeer. Samantha couldn't get words out. How did he know she was in Hagrid's and why wasn't he mad? Just as if Fred could read her mind he began to explain, "Oh you're probably wondering how I knew where you were, well you see George and I saw this map in Filch's office in first year and we thought we'd take it off his hands for a whiles, if you know what I mean." He winked cheekily at her which made her blush. "Look there is footprints for everyone on the Hogwarts grounds and they MOVE!" he said emphasising the move.

When Samantha finally got words out she knew she had asked the wrong question. All she had to do was smile and say "Wow, that's amazing." But instead she said, "Why aren't you mad that I was at Hagrids when I was supposed to meet you?" she had expected Fred to throw a hissy fit and storm off but he just laughed and said, "I didn't give you much of a choice for lunch, did I? And you probably had other arrangements, so no, I'm not mad. Only a fool would be."

'He was so understanding to me,' thought Samantha. 'OH God, please don't say that I've developed my first crush on Fred Weasley!' she couldn't help but think about all of this.

"You O.K," asked Fred.

"What? Oh yeah. This food looks great," returned Samantha. "Where'd you get all of the food?"

"Oh that, well I know some of the house elves quite well in the kitchen and they sometimes make me special requests," he began to smirk, which accentuated his eyes greatly to Samantha. She carried on talking; it had never been this easy before. Yes, it was hard to get the ball rolling but once she was started she couldn't be stopped. "Tell me more about this Map," she said grabbing a chicken drumstick.

"ah ah ah," said Fred. "Remember we're here to hear about this dream of yours."

"Oh, yeah," Samantha frowned, she had never been this open with anyone, not even Remus but she carried on and told Fred everything about her dream. About the box, the hooded man, the woman in the mirror and seeing her dad. She only stopped to hear an "ooh," or an "ah," from Fred. When she had finished she sat back and grabbed a ham sandwich and poured herself another glass of butterbeer awaiting Fred's reply.

"So this dream made you burn your hand because you dreamt it," he said sounding doubtful but he never denied the accuracy of her story which made Samantha feel reassured.

"Maybe we should tell Trelawney," he inquired. "She knows all about that sort of stuff." "And that weird language that came out of the box, I'm sure one teacher should know what it was and…." But he was cut short by Samantha. "No, it was just a dream and nothing more," she stated. "It's just coincidence that I hurt my hand in my sleep."

"It seems a bit more than coincidence," said Fred, sounding worried. The pair sat on top of the empty hill looking out onto the great lake for many minutes afterwards, and then finally when the sun began to set, they left. Fred walked Samantha to the kitchens and hugged her goodbye. She felt a deep despair when his tight embrace left hers but she needed to think. This dream wasn't just a dream, even though she told Fred that. This was scary.

Samantha awoke the next morning reasonably early, the sunlight was streaming through her dormitory windows and it gave her a reason to get out of bed. It was a Sunday and she decided to go for a walk considering that she didn't have any lessons today. Normally, a walk consists of one leg in front of the other and the swinging of the arms but Samantha always got the bad luck. She was about halfway down the main corridor when she bumped into the none other than Angelina Johnson.

"Oh look who it is," Angelina snarled.

"Do you have something against me," Samantha asked smiling sweetly.

"Yes, yes I do actually. I saw you with Fed the other day and don't even think that he'll go out with you because he loves ME," she threw out hints of jealousy but Samantha didn't care because although she did have a minor crush on Fred, she wasn't in love with him and had no intention of stealing him from Angelina. What Samantha came as a shock to even herself. She defended her honour.

"I don't love Fred," Sam said coolly. "But I think you're jealous of a loser like me," she smirked.

"I don't have time for this," Angelina barked and she left. 'Helga would be proud' thought Samantha.

"Wait a minute," Samantha said aloud. "HELGA!"