Jenni's POV

The twins approached Jane and I as we attempted to make normal conversation.

"Hey guys!" Jane said very enthusiastically.

"Hey!" George said, almost matching her enthusiasm. Fred and I both looked at them weirdly and then at each other, smiling a little.

"So, should we find somewhere to sit and make plans?" I asked. They grinned at me.

"Jane, you coming?" Fred asked. Jane hesitated.

"I don't know, I've never really done anything like this before," She said.

"That's alright, we'll show you how professionals do it," George said. She smiled at them and we all walked over to a spot and sat down. This was a less known courtyard so no one else was here except the occasional person passing by.

We exchanged ideas and built upon each other, Jane even contributed a little.

"We sure have missed having your brain," George said. I grinned.

"I'm not a Slytherin for nothing," I said, shrugging.

"Fair point, and I'm a little surprised Jane. You sure you've never done this before?" George asked her. She smiled and blushed a little.

"I mean I haven't, but my brothers back home get a little crazy sometimes," She said.

"You have brothers?" I asked. She nodded.

"I have a fairly big family. Three brothers, three sisters, me, my mom, and my dad," She said. I smiled.

"That sounds nice," I said, wishing I had a family that large.

"What about you?" She asked. I looked at the ground and felt the twins looking at me nervously.

"I had a brother but he died when I was four. And my dad just died two years ago so it's just me and my mom now. My aunt moved in with us to keep my mom company while I'm here," I said, my voice cracking a little. It had been a while since I talked about my brother. Kiana wasn't exactly one for emotional discussions. And I hadn't talked to anyone about my dad properly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Jane said, touching my arm. I shrugged.

"It's okay, my mom and I are doing fine," I said. They could all tell that it was clearly not fine.

"Hey Jane, could you go with me to the Owlery? I have to send a letter out," George said. She looked confused but got the hint.

"Oh yeah, I actually have to send something too," She said. They got up and left.

Fred was always the best at comforting me, so I supposed that's why George left us alone.

"I'm really sorry about your dad, Jen. I wish I could have been there for you when it happened," Fred said. I felt a tear roll down my check and wiped it away quickly.

"It's not your fault. It's not like I would have let you be there for me," I said. He moved closer to me and put an arm around me.

"I'm here now though if you want to talk about it," He said. I took a deep breath.

"I've never talked about it. Not really, anyway. Not even with my mom," I said. He squeezed my shoulder.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," He said. I blinked back a few tears.

"No, I think I should. It's been too long," I said. I pulled away from him a bit and looked him in the eyes.

"My dad and I had gone out to get me an owl because my last one liked my mom so much and it hated when it had to leave her. On the way there, we ran into some people. I don't know who they were, they had on black hooded robes and masks. They started yelling at us to get down and give them our money. One of them grabbed me and put their wand to my head, threatening to kill me. I started crying and tried to escape but it only angered him. He started saying the words and my dad threw himself at me to knock me out of the way and everything that happened next was a blur. There was a green flash of light and my dad's body fell to the ground. The guys fled and I was left there with his body. He died saving me. It's all my fault he's dead," I said, sobbing. Fred held me close.

"Jen, this is not your fault," He said. I just shook my head.

"Yes it is. I begged him to take me to get that owl. He wanted to go the next day but I insisted. He wanted to take a different way but I didn't want to feel sick so I insisted we do it more old fashioned. If I had just listened to him, he'd still be alive. He didn't deserve that, it should have been me. I should be the one that died," I said, still sobbing.

"That's not true, don't say that. Your dad wouldn't blame you and neither should you. There's nothing you could have done," Fred said. I just sat there and cried while Fred held me in his arms. I calmed down after a while and pulled away from Fred.

"Looks like the tables have turned," I said, still sniffling a little. Fred chuckled but then looked at me seriously.

"I was there, you know. At your dad's funeral. George and I both were," He said. I smiled softly.

"Yeah, I saw you," I said. He grabbed my hand.

"I wanted more than anything to run up to you and just hold you like I just did. It was so hard not to, you looked so sad. I just want you to know how much I care about you. If you ever need anything, I'm here," Fred said. I smiled and felt my eyes tear up a bit again.

"I know you are," I said at almost a whisper. I leaned over and kissed Fred on the cheek. He blushed a little and looked up at me. We didn't move for a bit until we heard George and Jane heading back.

"Hey guys, it's about dinner time let's go," George said, sounding quite eager to get eating. I smiled at Fred and we got up and walked over to our friends. Fred and George ran ahead for the food as Jane and I walked a little behind them.

"I hope you were okay with me leaving you with Fred. They made it seem like he knew what he was doing so I just hoped for the best and went along with it," Jane said.

"It's okay, Fred has always had a gift at making me feel better," I said. Jane smiled and gave a quick hug. We walked to the dining hall and went our separate ways. I sat next to the same group of people as this morning.

"Hey, I was just telling everyone how good you are at transfiguration," Heather said as I sat down.

"I'm not that good," I said, shrugging.

"Oh come on. You got everything on the first try," She said, rolling her eyes. I got to know the others around me a little more during dinner and then went back to the common room with them. When we got in there I saw Kiana sitting in a chair next to the fire with puffy eyes. I sighed.

"I should probably go check on her," I said. They looked at her and then me, shrugged and let me go. I walked over to Kiana.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked. She looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"As if you care," She responded, looking away from me.

"I do care. As manipulative and evil as you are, we were still friends for years," I said. She sighed.

"Ever since you told me off, all of my other friends are making fun of me and dumping me," She said.

"Why would I effect that?" I asked.

"I guess they all agree with you, doesn't make sense to me either," She said, clearly annoyed. I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Have you tried apologizing?" I asked.

"For what? Making them popular?" She asked. I laughed a little.

"If you're ever willing to change, you know where to find me," I said. I got up and walked to my dorm. I laid on my bed and found myself thinking about Fred.

I didn't think I would ever have the twins back. Kiana was unlikely to change and I never thought I'd stop being friends with her. I had dreamt about it a couple times. But any time I seriously thought about it, I thought they would for sure reject me and I would be without the twins or Kiana.

But here I am. The twins are my friends again, I have Jane, I have some other Slytherins. And above all that, Fred likes me. Things were finally starting to look up for me.

Hope you guys enjoy! Honestly not sure how I feel about my writing but I'm just writing to enjoy the story :)