"The past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."

-Rafiki (The Lion King)


"No," Fred hissed the next day in Herbology. Scarlett had just tried to ask him if he would tell Angelina the truth. Angelina wasn't taking Herbology and Justin wasn't in their class, so it was really the only time Scarlett and Fred could talk about the subject. Their group members were George and Erica, who both knew about the situation, so Fred and Scarlett could talk freely.

"Why not?" Scarlett huffed.

"I'm not telling her. I just started dating her a few weeks ago. Can't I even enjoy it before I ruin it?"

"It might not be ruined," Scarlett said halfheartedly.

"Oh, yeah, Ange will be skipping merrily around the castle when she finds out I have to marry another girl," Fred snorted. "And Justin, too, right? That's why you've talked to him already, isn't it? Oh, wait, you haven't, so don't tell me what to do about Angelina, okay?" The words came out harsher than he intended and he sighed. "Look, Scarlett-,"

"If you're still mad at me for the other day,-"

"What are you talking about?"

"What I said to you about understanding why Justin doesn't exactly like you wasn't very nice."

"Are you kidding? I should be the one apologizing to you! I'm not mad about what you said because it was true. I acted like a jerk and I'm sorry."

"Well, like I said, it's not me you should be apologizing to."

Fred snorted. "But the thing is that I don't care if Justin doesn't like me. You, on the other hand…well, you matter."

"Do I?" Scarlett asked vaguely.

"Of course. You're my friend and despite our current love lives, we do have to get married and I don't want to marry a girl whose whole image of me is that of a heartless jerk."

Scarlett looked up at him. "I know you're not a heartless jerk."

"But you're worried that I can be."

Scarlett didn't answer right away. "No, actually, I'm not. You're not capable of being a real jerk."

"No?" Fred asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow

"No," Scarlett answered. "I think I know you pretty well. Or at least I used to. And you really haven't changed that much, so…." She shrugged. "Sometimes I think you say things without thinking, but you're no heartless jerk, Fred Weasley. In fact," she smirked, "I'd say you actually have a sensitive side."

"Do I?" he asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow again.

Scarlett nodded and smirked down at their work.

"Are you going to elaborate?" Fred finally asked.

Scarlett looked up at him. Finally, she tilted her head and smiled. "The summer just after we turned seven. Mean anything to you?"

Fred looked up at the greenhouse roof, straight through to the sky as he scrunched his face up in thought. Finally, he looked back at Scarlett, his eyes wide. "Toby."

George burst out laughing as Scarlett smiled and nodded.

"Who's Toby?" Erica asked.

"He was a turtle that Fred, George and I rescued from the pond in their backyard," Scarlett explained. "We took turns taking care of him. Fred and George would get him one week and I would get him the next. We loved that turtle. None of us had ever had our own personal pet before and Toby was the closest we could get. One week, when Fred and George had him, he got loose and crawled into their pile of dirty laundry. When Mrs. Weasley went to take care of it, she saw his head poking out and thought it was a snake or something." Scarlett shrugged. "She didn't realize it was Toby. Anyway, she freaked, instinctively fired a few spells, and that was the end of Toby the turtle. I'd never seen Fred cry so much. Actually, I'd never seen him cry before at all." Scarlett glanced at a now blushing Fred and smiled. "I didn't know what to make of it. We never cried around each other."

"Yeah, I still haven't seen you cry," Fred said, nudging her.

"Maybe I'm just not as wimpy as you are," she teased.

"Or maybe you're just insensitive," Fred teased back.

Scarlett smiled and shook her head as she looked down at her hands. "I don't like to let people see me cry."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I've always been that way. I guess I don't like to let people see me struggling. Even when my dad died…my mother wasn't doing too well with holding it together, so I thought maybe I should. I mean, at least in front of her and all the relatives. Even at the funeral, I tried so hard to keep it together and I did it. I don't know how….When I got home, though, I locked myself in my room and cried for what felt like hours…." She stopped and looked up, feeling as if she had said too much. Fred, George, and Erica were staring at her and Scarlett knew why. She never talked about her dad's death. Not in depth at least. Even with her mother, any talk about her dad involved looking through old photos or talking about memories. They never talked about the time after his death and what it was like for them.

"You don't talk about his death often, do you?" Fred whispered.

"No," Scarlett answered.

"Look at it this way," Erica chimed in. "I'm her best friend and that was the first time I ever heard all of that." She gave Scarlett a sad look. "How come you don't talk about it? There are a lot of people who would have gladly listened."

"I never wanted to and it was hard for me to open up about it. I kind of wanted to show people I was okay. Besides, I was almost scared. But I'm realizing that talking about it can help and it's not so bad after all." She looked up at Fred. "That night over the summer when we were on the roof….That was the first time I ever really talked about it to anyone."

"Are you serious?" Fred whispered, staring at her intently.

She nodded. "And it felt pretty good. It helped. I never really got to thank you for that."

"I didn't even know I was helping you," Fred said, shaking his head and blinking. Finally, he smiled warmly at her. "But you are very welcome."

Scarlett smiled back and took a deep breath, feeling desperate to get back to the topic they had originally been discussing. "Anyway, the longer we wait to tell Angelina and Justin about the vow, the angrier they'll be when we actually do manage to tell them. At least I'm pretty sure Justin will be angry."

"So tell him," Fred said. He looked at his twin. "Honestly, George, this one's incredibly indecisive."

"So are all girls," George muttered. Erica and Scarlett each tossed a handful of soil at him.

"I can deal with Angelina and how she'll react," Fred said. "It's not really for you to worry about, is it?" He dusted some soil off the edge of the pot.

"No, I suppose not," Scarlett sighed. She looked up. "I'm afraid to tell Justin, though."

"Not my fault," Fred laughed.

"Stop laughing! This is serious!" Scarlett paused. "He already isn't very fond of you."

"Really? I had no idea," Fred snorted.

"Sounds like he's jealous from what I've heard," George said.

"I can't see what there is to be jealous of," Erica teased. George rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, why do you keep pressuring me to tell Angelina?" Fred asked curiously.

"If you can tell Angelina, maybe it'll be easier for me to tell Justin. Plus, it's the right thing to do. And besides all of that, it wouldn't be fair if one of them knew but not the other. They both have the right to know."

"You can tell Justin whenever you want. You don't need me to tell Angelina first."

"I thought you were worried about Angelina finding out through other people before you could tell her. You didn't want me to tell Justin so that she wouldn't find out."

"I thought you said Justin wouldn't tell a soul," Fred answered. "I believe you, so if you want to tell him then tell him."

"He won't tell anyone but-,"

"Okay, okay, enough," Erica interrupted, holding up her hands. "I think you both need to tell the people you are currently dating that you are unwillingly engaged to someone else. It happened a long time ago and there's nothing you can do about it. End of story."

"It's not that simple," Scarlett said.

"Yeah, easier said than done," Fred muttered.

"George," Erica said in an official tone, "what's your opinion on the matter?"

"Fred and Scarlett should do what they want," George said, looking as if he wanted to stay out of the whole ordeal as much as possible.

"Oh, you're no help," Erica sighed. She turned back to Scarlett and Fred. "Telling Angelina and Justin is the right thing to do."

"I want to enjoy having a girlfriend first," Fred argued. "One that I actually chose at least."

"Hey, what's wrong with Scarlett?" Erica asked, her hands on her hips.

"Nothing," Fred said quickly. "I didn't say there was anything wrong with her. I just-,"

"It seems to me that you did choose her, Fred," Erica interrupted.

"You know what I meant," Fred argued.

"Maybe you could actually like her if you gave her a chance. Isn't that why you were told about the vow when you were? So that you would have a chance to fall in love? And here you both are wasting your time with other people."

Scarlett shared a look with Fred and George. They looked ready to burst into laughter. "Don't laugh," she warned them, but even she couldn't stop the grin spreading over her own face.

"I'm serious," Erica said, unfazed by how lightly her words had been taken. She ran her hand through the soil in the pot in front of them.

"So are we," Fred said, gesturing to himself and Scarlett. "I'm sure it'll all work out in the end."

"I keep making it worse. I have to keep reassuring Justin that you and I are just friends," Scarlett said quietly. "And that's the truth and a lie at the same time. Has Angelina acted suspicious of anything at all?"

Fred shrugged. "No, not really. She asked a few questions after the Shrieking Shack incident, but I just told her that you and I are friends and that Justin is simply jealous and paranoid which is why he thinks I'm 'showing an interest' in you."

"And she dropped it? Just like that?" Scarlett asked, surprised.

Fred shrugged again. "Yeah, has Justin?"

"Sort of," Scarlett sighed. "I managed to calm him down and he hasn't brought it up again, but I don't know how long we can keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Keeping it a secret, Fred. They're going to find out eventually. That's what you were worried about, right? Or was it only Justin you were worried about and didn't want to trust?"

Fred sighed. "Scarlett, if no one but the four of us know, Angelina and Justin can't find out. If we start telling people, it'll go all around the school, which is really what I'm not ready for yet."

"We really just need to tell Angelina and Justin. Nobody else needs to know and I'm sure they won't go around telling people," Scarlett said.

"Scar, I just don't want the whole school to find out. You know how it is. Everything that's supposed to stay secret goes around the whole school faster than a Firebolt can fly. As it is, I'm barely able to process what's going on and I can't deal with everyone else knowing as well."

"Fine," Scarlett answered. She looked down at the soil filled pot and Fred's hands resting on the edge. "Fred, what happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Fred hastily removed his hands from the edge of the pot and tried to hide them behind his back.

"I'm talking about your hand." She reached over and grabbed Fred's left hand, examining the back of it. "It's full of...scratches or something."

"It was from Herbology the other day," Fred said, glancing at George. "Remember? That plant attacked me." He tried to snatch his hand away but Scarlett held on.

"You didn't get attacked by a plant," Erica said accusingly.

"And these scratches look like words," Scarlett added. She brought Fred's hand closer to her face and squinted. "'I must not break rules.' Fred, what is this?"

"Tell her," George said. "It really won't do any good to lie now that she's seen it."

Fred sighed and finally managed to slide his hand out of Scarlett's grasp. "It was from a detention with Umbridge."

"A detention?" Scarlett asked as Erica's eyes widened. "What did she do? Carve words into your hand?"

"Sort of," Fred answered. "She didn't exactly do anything. I had to do it myself. I had to write lines with a special quill she gave me. I had to write 'I must not break rules' over and over again for hours."

"Into your own hand," Scarlett prompted in disbelief.

"No, on a piece of parchment. The quill writes with the user's blood. Haven't you seen Harry's hand?"

"No, I hardly ever see Harry in the first place," Scarlett said.

"Don't look so angry, Scar," Fred said with a smile. "It's not a big deal."

"How can you say that? It is a big deal! This is completely wrong!" she answered furiously. "She can't harm students as a way to punish them."

"They've done it before," George said. "Ages ago. Filch talks about it all the time. They used to hang students in the dungeons and stuff like that."

"Plus," Fred added, "Umbridge isn't making it seem like she's the one hurting us. We're the ones writing and causing the cuts."

"But she made you do it," Scarlett answered. "If you refused, she probably would have just given you more detentions."

"What did you do to get a detention anyway?" Erica asked. "And why doesn't George have a mark on his hand?"

Scarlett raised her eyebrows. "You broke rules on your own? I thought you two always worked together."

"We do always work together when we're breaking rules," Fred smirked and looked at George, but then his smirk faded and he looked down, "but I didn't know what I did to get this detention was breaking the rules."

"What did you do?" Scarlett asked gently.

Fred looked up at her. "I got detention for flying you out of that classroom you were locked in. I met Umbridge on my way back to the common room and somehow she knew I rescued you. She probably heard from Filch that you weren't in there anymore. You said Mrs. Norris was in there with you, so Filch probably knew from her. I swear, he can communicate with that cat."

"I don't understand. Why would Umbridge care?" Scarlett asked.

"It turns out," Fred said, "that she locked you in there, not Peeves."

Scarlett was silent for a minute. She looked Erica, who looked as shocked as Scarlett felt. "What?" she finally managed to ask. "Why would she do that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Fred shrugged. "All I know is that I saw Peeves as I was leaving my detention and I asked him about it. He saw the whole thing. It was Umbridge the whole time."

"Why didn't you say something to me right away?" Scarlett asked.

Fred shrugged one shoulder. "I probably should have, but I didn't know how. Besides, I didn't see much of you after that day. Except for the time in the Shrieking Shack of course, but that didn't seem like a good time to tell you." He smirked at her.

"No, it wasn't, and besides, you looked a little busy yourself," Scarlett retaliated.

A blush actually started to creep up Fred's face, but he covered it quickly with a smile. "Yeah, I might've been just a little busy."

Scarlett shook her head and sighed. "Maybe you shouldn't have even come to get me out of that classroom. I'm sure I would've been let out eventually. Umbridge couldn't keep me locked in there forever."

"Scar, neither one of us knew that me getting you out would get me in trouble and I would have done it even if I had known."

"But look at your hand!"

"It'll heal," Fred told her seriously. "I wasn't going to stand around knowing you were up there and not do anything about it."

"What did Angelina say about it?"

"She thinks it was completely unfair of Umbridge. She thought I did the right thing by going to get you. Umbridge is evil. Angelina isn't going to hate you or suspect anything because we're helping each other."

"You know," Erica chimed in, "what if Peeves is lying? It doesn't make sense that Umbridge would lock a student in a classroom."

"She makes us write in our own blood," Fred said, holding up his hand.

"Besides," George added, "Peeves doesn't lie to me and Fred. He hardly gives us any trouble at all, actually."

"Why's that?" Erica asked.

Fred and George smirked at each other before Fred finally answered Erica's question. "We figure it's because we're the only ones who cause as much mayhem as he does."

"If not more," Scarlett added.

Fred gently whacked her on the head with his rolled up Herbology notes. "Anyway, I guess Peeves considers us worth being nice to because he thinks we're on the same level."

"Are you?" Scarlett asked. "On the same level, I mean."

"Sort of," Fred answered. "I don't think George and I are as obnoxious as Peeves, though."

"I beg to differ," Scarlett said with a snort. Fred tried to whack her with his notes again, but she quickly grabbed his wrist.

"Nice reflexes, Callaway," Fred said, looking impressed. Scarlett smiled, before releasing his wrist.

"Fred, stop flirting with my best friend," Erica teased, smirking at them.

"What? I'm not flirting with her," Fred protested with a laugh.

"Shut it, Erica," Scarlett added. "Haven't you been listening to anything we've discussed? Fred and I like other people. Just because we have to get married does not mean that-,"

"But wouldn't liking each other make things so much easier?" Erica asked. "You wouldn't have to lie to anyone anymore or feel awkward after you get married."

"There's nothing there, Erica. We can't force ourselves to love each other."

"Okay, okay, fine," Erica huffed. "I was just joking about the flirting, you know." She glanced at Scarlett and smirked. "Partly."

Scarlett groaned. "Please don't make things any more complicated than they already are."

"Why, are you afraid of a few of life's complications?" Fred teased.

"No," Scarlett replied defiantly.

"Well, in that case, why don't I just flirt with you a little more?" Fred threw a smirk Erica's way before attacking Scarlett with his Herbology notes again. Scarlett kept trying to grab his wrist, but he changed direction too quickly each time.

"What happened to those reflexes, Scarlett?" Fred teased.

"I'd like to know what happened to doing your work."

Fred and Scarlett froze and turned around. Professor Sprout was right behind them, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

"Sorry, Professor," Scarlett mumbled. "We'll get back to work right now."

"Yes, I think that would best," Professor Sprout said, turning to walk away.

Fred and Scarlett looked at each other before Fred smirked and gave Scarlett one last whack with his notes. Scarlett brushed his hand away and rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.


A/N: I hope everyone likes the chapter! Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!