The seven of them were standing in a circle, facing outward, their wands pointed at the approaching Death Eaters, who were coming from every direction. Harry was facing Lucius Malfoy, Auden standing on his left, and Neville on his right.
"If you do anything to us, I'll break it," Harry said, holding up the prophecy held tightly in his hand.
Just then, they heard a cackle from the darkness behind Malfoy. "He knows how to play," a woman said as she appeared at Malfoy's shoulder.
Auden couldn't help but cringe when she saw the woman. She had lots of curly black hair and heavily lidded eyes. She was terrifying to say the least and made even more so by the sneer she was wearing and the threatening way she was twirling her wand.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Neville whispered. Auden glanced at him. She knew what Bellatrix had done to his parents. She had accidentally come across them at St. Mungo's over the Christmas holidays. And the woman standing in front of them had been the cause for that. She could only imagine what it must have been like for Neville to come face to face with her.
"Neville Longbottom, isn't it?" Bellatrix sneered. "How's mum and dad?"
"Better now that they're about to be avenged," Neville said, raising his wand. Harry pushed his arm down at once, and Auden was glad he did. While she understood that Neville wanted to hex Bellatrix into oblivion, they couldn't afford to do anything rash just yet.
"Everyone calm down," Lucius Malfoy said quietly. "All we want is that prophecy."
"Then why did Voldemort send me to come get it?" Harry asked.
As Malfoy began to answer, Harry turned his head slightly towards Auden and nudged her with his elbow. "When I say to," he said out of the corner of his mouth, "break the prophecies on the shelves. Pass it on."
Auden turned to Ginny who was on her left and whispered Harry's message into her ear. The message had no sooner reached Neville, when Harry yelled "Now!"
Everyone began running in different directions as they cast spells at the shelves of prophecies. Auden was running as fast as she could. Prophecies were falling, shelves were breaking, and she didn't know where any of the others were. Suddenly, a Death Eater appeared at the end of the aisle she was running in. Auden stupefied him and quickly turned left.
She almost ran into Harry as she raced towards the door they had come through. He was with Neville and Hermione. The four of them ran through the door and slammed it shut.
"Where are the others?" Harry asked, gasping for breath.
"I don't know," Auden answered, clutching her side.
There was suddenly pounding on the door. "I think they're in here!" yelled a voice.
They for cover under tables and chairs as a few Death Eaters blasted through the door into the room.
Harry began crawling out from one of the desks, but Auden saw Hermione silently wave her wand and Stupefied one of the Death Eaters. The other two, turned and saw Harry on the ground. Before they could make a move, both Auden and Harry had yelled each Stupefied one of them.
"This way!" Harry yelled, racing towards the next room. Before Hermione could shut the door, it was thrown open by two more Death Eaters.
"Impedimenta!" they both yelled and Harry, Hermione, Neville, and Auden were thrown backwards. Auden and Neville both flew over a table and hit the floor. Auden heard Hermione cast the silencing charm at one Death Eater and Harry use Petrificus Totalus on the other. He collapsed to the floor, unable to move.
Auden crawled out from behind the table just in time to see the Death Eater who had been charmed silent flick his wand at Hermione, who collapsed, unconscious. Auden let out a scream as Harry crawled quickly to Hermione's side.
Neville was attempting to crawl towards Hermione as well, but in his hurry, he hit Auden's wand out of her hand with his knee and it rolled across the floor. She flung herself forwards onto her stomach to get it, her right hand outstretched. Her fingers were inches away from grabbing it when the foot of one of the Death Eaters came down on her wrist. Auden heard a crack and seconds later, she felt pain shooting up her arm. She bit back a scream of pain and looked up to see the Death Eater smirking above her. She quickly rolled over and grabbed her wand with her other hand. "Stupefy!" she yelled, but since she was using her left hand, her aim wasn't as good and the spell sailed over the Death Eaters shoulder. Auden began sliding herself backwards using her legs, since one wrist was broken and the other hand was pointing her wand at the Death Eater. She backed up until she was in front of Neville, Harry, and the unconscious Hermione. The Death Eater aimed a kick at her, but she ducked. Neville wasn't so lucky. The Death Eaters foot sailed through Neville's wand, breaking it in half, before hitting his face.
Neville let out a yell, grabbing his nose in pain. Blood was dripping past his hands and down to his chin.
"Oh, Neville, that was my fault, I didn't know you were right behind me," Auden said, clutching her wrist in her other hand.
"It's okay," Neville said, moving his hand away to reveal his broken nose.
The Death Eater was now staring down at Harry, pointing his wand in his face. He gestured at the prophecy Harry was miraculously still holding.
"Whaddever you do, don't gib it to him," Neville said.
Before Harry could do anything, a crash came from the other room, distracting the Death Eater.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry yelled, taking the opportunity. The Death Eater fell to the floor, unable to move an inch.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked Auden.
"Fine," she managed to get out through gritted teeth. The pain in her wrist throbbing now, and the obviously broken bone was making her queasy, so she forced herself to look away and try to ignore the pain. "What's wrong with Hermione?"
Neville scooted over to Hermione and grabbed her wrist. "She has a pulse."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked.
"Positive," Neville answered, wiping his bleeding nose with his sleeve.
"Neville, I want you and Auden to take Hermione to the exit. We aren't too far away. Get out of here before any more Death Eaters come."
"What about you?" Auden asked.
"I'm going to find the others," said Harry.
"We're going to find dem wid you," Neville said.
"Yeah, Harry, we're not leaving you to fight off everyone alone," Auden added.
"Your wrist is broken, and Hermione-,"
"I have another wrist that's working perfectly," Auden said, holding up her good arm. Honestly, she was more than capable of contributing something to this battle. The way she saw it, as long as she was conscious, she could help and that was exactly what she planned to do, no matter what Harry said.
"And we can carry Hermione," Neville said. "I'll do it." He was already lifting Hermione onto his shoulders.
Harry led the way into the circular room with all the doors leading off of it.
"Which way?" asked Auden.
Before Harry could answer, one of the doors opened and Ron, Ginny, and Luna ran out, slamming the door shut behind them.
"Thank goodness," Auden sighed. "What happened?" She noticed Ginny sliding to the ground, clutching her ankle and Ron crawling on the ground, looking zoned out. Luna was the only one looking unhurt.
"I think Ginny broke her ankle," Luna reported. "We were in a room full of planets. It was very strange. There were Death Eaters behind us and we've lost them now, I think, but Ron...I don't know what they hit him with." She gazed down at Ron in confusion.
Suddenly, Ron crawled forward and grabbed Harry's robes. "Harry, we saw Uranus up close!" Ron was giggling oddly and he had blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Get it, Harry? We saw Uranus!" Harry just looked at him in alarm.
"What about you four?" Luna asked, gazing around at Neville carrying Hermione and Auden's crooked wrist that she was holding in her other hand.
"Auden broke her wrist, I broke my nose, and Hermione, well, we don't know what happened," Neville explained quickly.
"We need to get out of here," Harry said. "I'll grab Ron. Luna, can you get Ginny?"
Luna nodded and helped Ginny up.
"Pick a door," Harry said to Auden, as Ron poked one of Auden's earrings and giggled weakly as it dangled back and forth.
"That one," Auden said, pointing at a door straight ahead of them. They had almost reached it when Bellatrix Lestrange barged through a door behind them.
Before Bellatrix could take another step, Harry pulled everyone into the room, slammed the door, and locked it. They were in a room where a large glass tub held things that looked like human brains. The room also had doors lining the walls.
Auden, Harry, Luna and Neville ran around, sealing the doors. As Luna approached the last one, it was thrown open by a Death Eater and Luna was thrown backwards. She slid across a table and fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Luna!" Auden yelled.
"Hey, there are brains in here!" Ron cried, standing up shakily. "Isn't that weird? Ha ha, brains!"
"Yes, Ron, brains," Auden said, as Harry dove out of the way of Bellatrix's outstretched hand as she lunged forward to grab him.
"Can I have one?" Ron asked, taking Auden's hand with both of his own. Auden winced. He had grabbed her hand with the broken wrist.
"No, Ron, you can't have one, although, heaven knows, you do need one sometimes."
Ron raised his wand. "I want one, they look cool." And before Auden could stop him, he yelled "Accio brain!"
It seemed like everything was in slow motion. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch as one of the brains flew from the tank before gliding towards Ron.
"Ooh, how weird," Ron said, holding out his hands and grabbing the brain. At once, the tentacles attached to the brain began to wrap themselves around Ron's arms.
"Ron, drop the brain!" Auden yelled. Ron did as she said, but the brain didn't go anywhere. It just hung there as the tentacles made their way up to Ron's chest.
"Get it off, I don't like this!" Ron said.
Harry began yelling different spells but none worked. Ron was now on the floor, trying to break free.
"Harry, he'll suffocate!" yelled Ginny, from the floor. The room was silent for a minute, before a Death Eater shot a Stunning spell at Ginny, knocking her unconscious.
"And then there were three," Harry said, sighing, as he dodged another Stunning spell.
"Stupefy!" Auden yelled, sending a jet of red light towards a Death Eater, but it missed him. She wished she could have at least broken her other wrist so that her aim could have been better. She was honestly beginning to feel more panicked than she had all night. The Death Eaters were taking her friends down one by one and Auden was scared that soon she would be next.
Harry was darting through another door, and Auden followed him, Neville right behind her. They both stopped short, as they saw Harry, surrounded by Death Eaters, including Bellatrix and Lucius. They were standing by a huge veil in the center of the room.
"It's ten against one, Potter," Lucius was saying.
"No, it's not," Neville yelled, making his way towards them. Auden followed him. Despite all of her fear, she would do anything for Harry, and apparently that included walking into a group of Death Eaters with a broken wrist.
When she and Neville got close enough, one of the Death Eaters grabbed Neville and pinned his arms to his sides as another grabbed Auden. She screamed in pain as he roughly grabbed her broken wrist.
"Hmm, let's play a little game, shall we?" Bellatrix said, circling around Neville and Auden. "Let's see how long he'll last," she pointed at Neville, "before he cracks like his parents. And just so the girl won't be left out, we can include her. Whoever cracks first, gets a lifetime spot in the St. Mungo's mental ward! Unless Potter will give us the prophecy."
Auden saw Harry's hand, the one holding the prophecy, twitch towards Malfoy.
"Don't, Harry!" Neville warned.
Bellatrix turned her wand on Neville. "Crucio!" Neville screamed and squeezed his eyes shut. The Death Eater holding him dropped him and he fell to the ground. Auden glared at Bellatrix angrily as her insides squirmed. Belletrix was probably one of the sickest people she had ever met.
"Your turn," Bellatrix sneered as she pointed her wand at Auden. "Unless Potter's changed his mind about that prophecy, of course."
"Don't hand it over, Harry," Auden ordered him. "Don't do it."
Despite Auden's warning, Harry was holding the prophecy out towards Malfoy, who reached out to grab it, but before he could, the door burst open and Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley were there. Auden fell to the ground as the Death Eater dropped her. Whether it was intentional or an accident, she didn't know, but as Bellatrix tried to spring into action, her foot connected with Auden's ribs and from the pain, she figured one of them had cracked. Wonderful. And, honestly, who was she kidding? Knowing Bellatrix, it was completely on purpose.
"Auden, you have to get out of here," Sirius said, kneeling beside her and helping her up. "We've got this under control. You need to help round up the others and go back to school."
"I can't leave," Auden whimpered. "Are you mental? We came all this way, and-"
"I know, and you've all done brilliantly," Sirius assured her. He gave her a half-smile. "Go," he said, pushing her gently before running to duel one of the Death Eaters.
Auden wasn't leaving. There was no way. Clutching her bad hand around her cracked rib, she ran to help Tonks. She was distracted in the middle of the duel by two things that happened at once. Dumbledore arrived, and ran towards Harry, and Lupin was diving towards Sirius. He tackled him to the floor just as Bellatix's Killing Curse sailed over their heads.
"How did you know that would happen?" Sirius asked, breathlessly.
"Instincts, I guess," Lupin breathed, standing and helping Sirius to his feet as well. "I knew she was aiming to kill and I acted fast."
Auden took the sudden end to the fighting to lower herself to the ground. She felt like everything hurt and helping Tonks in the duel probably hadn't helped much. She noticed that the Aurors were making sure the Death Eaters couldn't escape and that Harry and Dumbledore were leaving the room. The worst was over, and she assumed they were going to talk, but instinct told her to follow them. So before anyone could stop her, Auden was following Harry and Dumbledore from the room, her arm still clutching her ribs and her breathing coming in gasps.
She stopped in the Atrium. Harry and Dumbledore were there, but they weren't alone. Voldemort was there as well. Auden had never seen Voldemort before, and she couldn't stop herself from staring. He was terrifying, with small, slit-like, red eyes, and slits for nostrils.
"I have alerted the Aurors and the members of the Order. They're coming now," Dumbledore was saying.
"By then, I will be gone, and you, dead," Voldemort said, his voice nothing more than a hiss.
Dumbledore pushed Harry aside, behind a pillar. Automatically, Auden crawled to sit beside him as Dumbledore and Voldemort began to duel. Once, Harry moved forward as if to try and help, but Auden pulled him back. There was no way any magic Harry knew could measure up to the kind of magic Dumbledore and Voldemort were performing.
"So," Auden said, grimacing as she leaned back against the pillar, "that's Voldemort."
Harry nodded, a sickened expression on his face as he watched the dual between the two powerful wizards in front of them. "That's him."
Auden turned her head and looked at her friend. She studied the exhausted expression on his face that was mixed with another expression. Sadness. If it wasn't for Voldemort, the terrifying, snake-like man in front of them, Harry would have parents. He would have a warm home and a family. He, as well as a lot of other people, had lost so much becauses of this wizard, and now it looked as if that was going to continue. Auden was terrified, but mostly, her heart went out to Harry. He was only nearly sixteen years old and had already fought Voldemort off four times.
After a moment of watching her friend, she reached over with her good hand and gave Harry's hand a squeeze. He jolted out of his thoughts and looked at her before smiling in appreciation.
"We did pretty good today, George," Fred said, smiling happily, as he and George closed the shop. Running their own business was still a pretty new concept, but the twins were getting used to it. They were also getting used to the crowds of customers, which seemed to grow every day. Quite frankly, despite things taking time to get used to, they absolutely loved running the shop. It felt completely right and completely natural.
"I have to agree, Fred," George answered, locking the door. "And now, I think some Exploding Snap would be a great, relaxing end to the day."
"Excellent," Fred replied. "Let's go."
As they reached their flat, there was a pop as Mr. Weasley appeared directly into their living room, looking nervous.
"Ah, dad, we just closed for today," Fred said.
"But, don't worry, since you're family we can bend the rules a little," George said. "You don't have to look so worried. You have connections, after all." He gestured to himself and Fred. "We can go back downstairs, you can browse, and then we'll come back here to the flat and we'll give you the grand tour." George spread his arms dramatically to show off the flat.
"That's not why I'm worried," Mr. Weasley said, waving his hand dismissively.
"What's up?" George asked, realizing something was seriously wrong. The realization dawned on Fred at the same time, actually, and he felt his stomach sink. Awful things had been happening lately, like the mass breakout from Azkaban, which were only more signs that You-Know-Who was back and nowadays, everyone was dreading receiving any news, especially if the person giving it to them looked nervous.
"Death Eaters are at the Ministry," Mr. Weasley explained. "They were trying to steal a prophecy and the word is that You-Know-Who is there as well," Mr. Weasley said, sitting down on the couch.
"That's terrible," George said, as he and Fred sat down as well. Fred agreed. He didn't know what the prophecy said, but if You-Know-Who was after it, he couldn't have had a good plan for it.
"There's more," Mr. Weasley said, inspecting his thumb before looking up at the twins. "Harry's there. He was under the impression that You-Know-Who was holding Sirius captive so he went to save him. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Auden went with him."
"Auden's there?" Fred asked, his eyes widening as Mr. Weasley nodded. "Is she okay? Is she alive? What about Ron? And Ginny? Are they safe?" Merlin, this was ridiculous. He wouldn't trade Ron and Auden's friendship with Harry for anything, and he considered Harry a brother himself, but Auden and his two younger siblings sure ended up in a lot of dangerous situations by helping Harry. Not that the kid could help being in dangerous situations, though. It kind of came with being The Boy Who Lived and all that. Essentially, Fred couldn't blame Harry for getting himself into tricky situations, despite his initial instinct to do just that, but he just wished these scenarios didn't have to happen. But then again, didn't everyone these days?
"We don't know," Mr. Weasley whispered. "Snape contacted a few of the Aurors that were in the Order and they went down immediately to help. Dumbledore wrote to the rest of the Order a little bit later explaining what was happening and saying he was going over there himself to sort it out."
"When was this?" asked George.
"Almost two hours ago," Mr. Weasley answered, checking his watch. "Dumbledore said he'd write when he got everything sorted out to let us know what the outcome is."
"You're just telling us now?" Fred asked angrily, as he stood up to pace. "George and I could have helped. We could have gone down there and been two extra sets of hands!"
"No," Mr. Weasley shook his head. "I didn't want you to panic. You have a business to run, anyway."
"The fact that my brother, my sister and my girlfriend are fighting Death Eaters at the Ministry and may or may not be dead is more important right now!" Fred exclaimed.
"Fred," George started.
"It's Ron and Ginny, George," Fred said. "And if Katie were there..." He trailed off and shook his head.
"Oh, that reminds me," Mr. Weasley said slowly. "Dumbledore wrote me another letter, shortly after you two left school. He said Katie and Auden didn't want to tell you, but I think you should know."
"Know what?" George asked.
Fred felt himself tense. He could tell from his father's tone that this wasn't going to be good. And the fact that it involved Auden made it worse. But what could have happened that she didn't want to tell him? They rarely ever kept anything from each other. And in all the times he'd talked to her since he left, she had never mentioned anything out of the ordinary.
"After you left," Mr. Weasley began, "Umbridge wanted to find information about where you were. She also thought Auden and Katie were in on your plan and the swamp prank."
"They were," Fred said. "Well, they knew about it, but they didn't help plan it or anything."
"Still, she thought she should punish them," Mr. Weasley said.
"They're used to writing lines with that quill," George said. "That doesn't make it any better, but Katie and Auden can handle it."
"She didn't make them use the quill. She hung them from their wrists in the dungeons."
"She what?" Fred and George yelled at once. This time, George stood up and overturned his chair in the process.
"Please, sit down, they're both fine," Mr. Weasley said. "Ron, Harry and Hermione ran to get Professor McGonagall who got them out after only half an hour."
"Only half an hour?" Fred cried. "Only?" This was utterly insane. "Besides, that's not the point," he yelled furiously. "Why didn't they tell us? I would've gone down there and hexed that old toad!"
"I expect that's why they didn't say anything," Mr. Weasley said. "Now, please sit down."
Fred and George were both breathing heavily, but they sat down. Fred ran his hands over his face as his blood pounded in his ears. "I can't believe she punished them because of us," he whispered. "I had no idea leaving would put them in danger. If I had known that, I wouldn't have left so soon, or I would've brought Auden with me."
"Please," Mr. Weasley scoffed. "Auden couldn't have come with you and as much as part of me wishes you'd have finished school, another part of me sees your success here and doesn't think it matters anymore. You were done there. You made your choice and it shouldn't have put anyone else in danger, but it did. Luckily, Auden and Katie are both fine. Actually, writing with that quill for hours on end seems more painful than being hung in the dungeons for thirty minutes. I expect that was still uncomfortable, but-"
"I don't know for sure if Auden's safe, though," Fred interrupted, lost in his own thoughts. "If she went off to the Ministry like you said..." He trailed off and groaned before burying his head in his hands.
"There's actually one more thing," Mr. Weasley said, clearing his throat. "The necklace you gave Auden for Christmas? Umbridge broke it."
"What?" Fred said menacingly. He looked up at his father as he got angry all over again.
"Katie went back later and got the parts to it," Mr. Weasley added quickly. "She sent them to me and told me to give them to you in hopes that you could fix it. She found out I was going to come here tonight to update you on the Ministry situation, so she hurried to the Owlery to send the necklace to me. According to her letter, Umbridge just ripped it right off Auden's neck while they were hanging in the dungeons. Naturally, Auden was pretty distraught about it. She doesn't know about Katie going back for the pieces or sending them to me, though, so you should surprise her." Mr. Weasley half smiled as he produced the pieces of Auden's necklace and gave them to Fred. He felt his throat constricting as he took them. He hoped Umbridge suffered terribly for what she did.
Just then, an owl flew through the window and dropped a letter on the table. Mr. Weasley got to it first and read it quickly.
"What does it say?" George asked eagerly.
Mr. Weasley sighed with relief. "Everyone's alive. The prophecy You-Know-Who was after got smashed. The Minister arrived just in time to see You-Know-Who before he vanished. He knows the truth now, there's no way he can deny his return any longer."
Fred and George had both sighed with relief at the news that everyone was alive, but Mr. Weasley was still speaking.
"It says here that Hermione, Tonks and Luna are all unconscious, but are expected to be fine, Ginny has a broken ankle, Neville a broken nose, Ron was attacked by…brains? And Auden has a broken wrist and a cracked rib, but other than that she's fine. Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix her up in no time at all."
Fred nodded and leaned back in his chair once more. "Can we go visit her?"
"I don't think so," Mr. Weasley said. "Things are crazy enough at Hogwarts with term ending and everything, and it's going to be more hectic for them after what just happened. You can meet us at the train station in two days."
Fred and George both nodded. "We'll be there," they said together.
As Auden stepped off the Hogwarts Express two days later, she couldn't have felt more excited. Even though things were bound to get worse now that the Minister knew that Voldemort was back, she couldn't wait to see Fred. It had been almost three months since she had seen him in person and she missed him terribly.
Harry, Hermione, Auden, Ron, and Ginny stepped off the train together and searched the crowd. Ginny spotted their families first and they all squeezed through the crowd to get to them. Tonks, Sirius, Lupin, and Moody were there as well. Auden was able to notice that Fred and George weren't there yet before her mother pulled her into a tight hug.
"Hello, mum, good to see you, too," Auden said.
"I was so worried when I heard," her mother gasped. "I nearly insisted on coming to the Ministry, but Dumbledore told us not to. He made Molly and Arthur stay behind, too, so that didn't make me feel so bad, but I-""
"Now, Renee, give the girl some air," Mr. Parker said with a slight smile.
"Thanks dad," Auden smiled.
Her dad grinned before he finished his sentence. "So I can hug her, too." Then, he was hugging Auden as hard as he could.
Auden had to endure crushing hugs from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley as well. She really wasn't complaining, though. It was good to see them again.
"Move out of the way, coming through!" Auden heard a familiar voice yell as she let go of Mrs. Weasley. She looked up to see Fred and George running towards them, jumping over carts and suitcases.
Auden laughed and ran towards Fred as fast as she could. When she reached him, she flung herself into his arms, throwing her legs around his waist. He spun her around and she giggled into his ear. People were staring, but she didn't care. She pulled back slightly before giving Fred a kiss. Truthfully, she wanted to snog him senseless right there and then, but they were in a public train station, where everyone was already watching them, including their parents.
"Hi, George," she said, smiling, when Fred finally put her down.
"Hi, Aud," he said, giving her a big hug. "Are you alright?"
"Perfectly fine," Auden said, giving them a twirl to show that she wasn't hurt.
"Good," George smiled. "I'll leave you two alone to catch up. Meanwhile, I see Katie over there and I think I'm going to go see if she still remembers me after all this time." He winked and Auden laughed as he jogged off towards Katie.
"So, you're sure you're okay?" Fred asked, taking Auden's hand and staring at her as if he expected to see her covered in gaping wounds.
"I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey can mend bones in a second," Auden said.
"Well, she did a wonderful job," Fred grinned. Then his smile faltered. "Aud?"
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Why didn't you tell me about what Umbridge did to you after I left?"
Auden looked down and began twirling the ring her mother had given here four years ago around her finger. Fred knew what that meant. She was nervous. "You weren't around," she whispered.
"Auden," Fred said sternly. He reached out and tilted her chin up. "You could've easily contacted me. There was no excuse. All those times afterwards when we talked on our mirrors...you never said a word. You acted as if everything was fine and-"
"Everything was fine after that," Auden insisted. "As fine as it could get anyway."
"I just can't believe you kept that from me," he said, shaking his head.
"You're angry," Auden whispered.
Fred's expression softened. "No," he said quietly. "I just wish you would have told me. I had to hear it from my dad that Umbridge hung you from your wrists in the dungeon."
"I didn't want you to come back and be in danger. Umbridge was furious. If I told you what she did, you would have come right back."
"Yeah, I would have," Fred answered. "I would have come back in a heartbeat."
"I couldn't risk you getting in trouble."
"You're more important."
Auden opened her mouth to protest, but Fred silenced her with a kiss.
"I've missed you," she whispered when they broke apart.
Fred smiled at her affectionately. "I've missed you too. So, so much. Oh, and by the way," he added, "I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out Auden's necklace, as good as new.
"You got me a new one?" Auden asked in surprise.
"No, it's the same one as before," Fred grinned. "Katie snuck back to get the pieces and she sent them to my dad who gave them to me. I fixed it for you."
Auden was speechless as she turned around and allowed Fred to put the necklace around her neck. She touched it gingerly before turning around and hugging Fred as tightly as she could. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he answered, kissing her forehead.
"How's the shop going?" Auden asked as they walked back to their families.
"Great," Fred said. "Our assistant, Verity's in charge today. She's very good at handling everything. I could take you back for a visit today if you'd like."
"Really, would you?" Auden asked eagerly.
"Now, Auden, don't you want to go home, unpack and rest?" her mother asked.
Auden pretended to consider it. "No," she said, smiling.
Her mother sighed. "Well, I tried," she said. "I'll take your trunk home for you."
Auden grinned as she grabbed Fred's arm. "Let's go," she said excitedly.
"Tell George to meet me at the shop," Fred said to his mother, who nodded.
Fred looked down at Auden and smiled before turning on the spot and whisking her away to number ninety three Diagon Alley.
A/N: The title of this chapter is the song Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar.