George and Angelina arrived within the hour. Moonlight streamed through the windows that dotted the walls of the hospital wing, casting a silver shade over everything it touched. Victoire held one of Fred's hands in between her own, her gaze fixed on his face. His eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed. Every so often, he would make a small noise, and both Victoire and Roxy would start in their seats, only to sit back when he didn't wake. Teddy stood a short distance away, and Victoire could feel it as his eyes traveled from her back to Fred's face and then to scan the room. He was silent, but his presence was obvious, and it was a comforting weight for both Victoire and Roxy.

Footsteps echoed throughout the hospital wing as the doors opened and George and Angelina entered. Victoire tore her gaze from Fred's face to look at her aunt and uncle. Angelina's face was drawn and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. George had his arm wrapped around her. His own face was wan, his expression haunted. Victoire rose from her chair to hug both of them. She gestured for Angelina to take a seat.

"No, Vic, it's fine," Angelina said. "I've been sitting all day."

Victoire shook her head. "No, Aunt Angelina, take it. I've been with him almost since it happened. He's your son, you deserve the time with him more than I do."

Angelina nodded after a moment and took the seat Victoire had offered. George watched his wife for a moment, and then turned to Victoire. "Thank you."

"For what?" Victoire asked.

"Being a good kid," George said. His eyes were heavy and sad, but he still smiled as he clapped her on the shoulder. "We're lucky to have you."

She gave him a small smile, and he stared at her for a long moment before turning his gaze to Roxy. "Hey there, kiddo. How are you holding up?"

Roxy jumped out of her seat to hug him. Victoire watched them for a moment and then turned, running her hands through her hair as she did. Teddy caught her eye as she started to walk towards the doors, and he followed her out into the corridor.

"Where are you going?" he asked. "I thought you were going to stay the night with Fred."

"I'm just getting in the way when I'm in there," Victoire said. "They need to be together. They're family. I'm his cousin, but they need each other right now and they don't need me, so I'm going to go get some sleep and hope that this whole thing was a terrible dream that will vanish when I wake up in the morning."

He gazed at her for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Victoire said. "I don't need to be there, and I do think it would be better for everyone if I was at least semi-functional tomorrow. You do realize I'm going to be on the lookout constantly now? I'm going to have to make James and that lot check in with me periodically so that I can make sure that they're okay."

Teddy sighed. "Okay. Let me walk you back up to your dormitory."

"What? No," Victoire said. "They need you down here to keep an eye on things."

"There are Aurors stationed at every corridor from the entrance hall to the Hospital Wing," Teddy said. "They'll be fine. I'm not letting you wander the halls alone at night. You're mad if you think I would."

She shrugged once. "If you insist."

He walked beside her as they made their way up to the seventh floor. The moonlight that streamed through the windows in the corridors caused the statues and suits of armor to cast eerie shadows over the walls, which were only made worse with the addition of flickering candlelight. Every noise caused Victoire to start, only to keep her gaze trained on the ground in front of her as Teddy looked at her in concern. She said nothing as they walked upstairs, and they stopped outside of the portrait hole, just as they had not that long ago. Victoire crossed her arms and glanced at the wall to the right of Teddy's face. She busied herself counting the veins in the stone as Teddy sighed.

"It's going to be okay, Tori," he said. "I promise."

She swallowed. "Yeah."

He sighed again. "I'll let you get some sleep."

She nodded. He reached out as though he was going to embrace her, but then placed his hand on her shoulder. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and they stood there for a moment before she turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady, whispered the password, and disappeared into the Gryffindor common room. Her shoulders fell as the portrait closed, and she took no notice of anything in the darkened common room as she walked towards the staircases.

She paused at the foot of the stairs when the sound of a quiet cough echoed through the room.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice soft.

"What time is it?"

She turned around to see somebody sitting up on one of the couches. He lifted his hand to his face and rubbed his eyes as she walked closer, and eventually, she was able to make out Will's face.

"Past midnight," Victoire said. "Why? What are you doing down here?"

"I fell asleep doing the reading for Arithmancy," Will said. "Why are you up?"

Victoire shook her head. "It's... Nothing."

Will rolled his eyes. "I may be a member of a generally oblivious sex, but I know when something's going on, Vic." He patted the armchair across from him. "Come on, tell me. I'm hardly going to say anything to anybody."

Victoire glanced around the common room and then settled herself into the armchair. Will leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin in his hands.

"So?"

"I..." Victoire paused. "Fred was... They found him, unconscious, and he's not waking up. Madam Pomfrey did what she could, but..."

Will nodded. "He'll be okay, Vic. Madam Pomfrey knows a lot, and if they need to, they'll transfer him to Mungo's. What matters is that he was found."

"But what if they can't wake him up?" Victoire asked. "What then? He's just a kid, Will. He didn't deserve to be dragged into this. Although I suppose at least one good thing has come out of this."

"What's that?" Will asked.

"Well, it can't all be Patrick's fault, can it?" Victoire said. "He's not here, so someone else has to be up to something. It might not have even been him, anyway."

"He confessed under Veritaserum," Will said, his face falling. "There's no way he'll get out of this."

"How do you know that?" Victoire asked.

"His mum has been keeping us updated," Will said. "She says we should know, since he was our best mate and all."

"I'm really sorry," Victoire said.

"Likewise," Will said. "It'll be fine, though. Fred's a strong kid, and you Weasleys are hard to get rid of."

"It runs in the family, I guess," Victoire said. "I just... I feel so bad for Uncle George. First his brother, and now this."

"You lot will get through this together," Will said. "You're a family, and if there's anything that can be said about yours, you're all damn close and difficult to split up. Nobody's going to let him go without a fight, especially considering that he's the nephew of the Golden Trio. He'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," Victoire said. "I should probably get some sleep, I guess."

"Me too," Will said. He reached out and patted her hand. "If you need to talk to somebody about it, I'm here. I'll probably understand better than most."

Victoire nodded. "Thanks."

He smiled slightly, though his eyes were sad. "No problem, Vic. Night."

"Night," she said.

She made her way up the spiral staircase to the dormitory. The stone steps were reassuringly solid underneath her feet, a reminder that while the goings-on in the castle might have been unusual, the structure itself was as firm as it had ever been.

When she pushed open the door to the dormitory, she was greeted with the darkness and the sounds of quiet, even breathing. It was with memorization that came with years of experience that she successfully navigated her way around the trunks and beds to gather her pajamas. She went into the bathroom and turned the lights on. It wasn't until she had changed into her pajamas that she looked in the mirror. The sight forced her to reach for the sink, her elbows locking to brace her as she took in her appearance. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail around her face, and her eyes were ringed with dark circles. Her face was thin, and she touched her cheekbones with quivering fingers. She sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Alexa found her in the same position an hour later when she entered the bathroom to get a glass of water. She knelt down on the floor and laid her hand on Victoire's shoulder. "Vic?"

Victoire jolted. "Merlin, I..." She trailed off and bit her lip.

"What happened?" Alexa asked. "You didn't come back from patrol, we were worried."

"M-Molly," Victoire said. "Get Molly, an-and..."

"How about I just get everyone?" Alexa asked, her voice soft. "Just stay here. I'll be right back."

When she returned a few moments later, she held a blanket in her arms. Molly, Monica, and Jade filed into the bathroom behind her. They shut the door and sat down on the floor, forming a circle with Victoire at its head. Alexa wrapped the blanket around Victoire's shoulders and took a seat to her right.

"Okay, what is it?" Alexa asked.

"Fred was at-attacked," Victoire said. "I d-don't know what ha-happened. I was in the ho-hospital wing w-with him."

"Easy," Alexa said. "Take a deep breath, Vic."

She passed Victoire a glass of water. Victoire took a few shuddering breaths and then sipped from the glass.

"Thank you," Victoire said as she handed the glass back to Alexa. "That's better." She took another breath. "We don't know what happened to him, but he was attacked while he was with Mara Elburn. She has no idea what happened either. I just... What are we going to do?"

"Is that why you're so upset?" Alexa asked. "I mean, obviously it's not an easy thing to deal with, but finding you curled up on the bathroom floor is a really abnormal thing for you, Vic." When the others gaped at her, she shrugged. "What? I'm not going to get anything out of her if I'm not frank about it."

"She's got a point," Monica said.

Molly shook her head. "You're both mad. Is there anything else, Vic?"

"I just..." Victoire paused. "I've been so stressed out about everything that's been happening, but I only just noticed how much it's affected me. I haven't really been eating or sleeping normally, but that only just hit me. It was a shock, especially on top of everything else."

"Do you want one of us to go get Teddy?" Jade asked. "We can, if you need him."

"No," Victoire said. "I can't be around him right now. I just want to sleep."

"Well, come on then," Alexa said. "You'll feel a bit better in the morning after you've had a chance to sleep for a while. I don't think Professor McGonagall would mind if you skipped your morning classes. She knows you've had a bit of a shock. I'll make your excuses to the teachers if you'd like."

"I'll see how I feel in the morning," Victoire said. "I'll just come up and sleep after classes, probably. It won't do me any good to get behind on work, because then I'll have to worry about that too."

"Fair enough," Alexa said. "I think it's time we all went to sleep though."

"Agreed," Molly said. "Come on, Vic."

They each went to their beds. Victoire opened her trunk and removed a tiny stuffed hippogriff from within it before she got under the blankets. She had owned the little creature since she was barely a year old, and it was a comfort to have it even though she knew that Sam and Teddy would have taken the mickey if they knew she still brought it to school with her.

She woke up with just enough time to put her uniform on before she grabbed her bag and rushed down to breakfast. Teddy patted the seat beside him, but she took the seat between Molly and Alexa instead. He raised his eyebrows, but she kept her gaze trained on her plate rather than respond. Alexa watched Victoire for a moment, and when she received no response, she turned her attention to Liam, who sat across the table from the three of them. Victoire listened to their conversation intermittently, instead maintaining her focus on her meal and not meeting Teddy's eyes.

They were halfway through the meal when Professor McGonagall stood up from her chair and put her wand to her throat. When she spoke, her voice rang out across the Great Hall, the magical amplification meaning that even the loudest groups could hear her, but everyone still fell silent as she began to speak.

"Unfortunately, an attack occurred last night," she said. "Second-year Fred Weasley was found unconscious in a corridor late last night by two Aurors, along with Miss Mara Elburn, who was in shock and unable to tell us anything. Mister Weasley is still in the Hospital Wing and has not yet regained consciousness, so visiting is restricted to family and close friends. Please do not go anywhere on your own, and be sure to keep your wands at the ready at all times. The Aurors are doing their best to find and apprehend the perpetrator, so do what you can to ease their search. Activities will continue as normal. Thank you."

Alexa turned to face Victoire as Professor McGonagall sat down. "Activities will continue as normal? Is she mad?"

"It's the last match before the Cup," Victoire said. "It'll just stress everyone out more if we have to worry about that being different too. I don't blame her for choosing to keep things going, and anyway, if the stories Uncle George tells are true, he'd rather leave Hogwarts than see Quidditch canceled."

"We'll just train hard and hope to Merlin that Fred wakes up soon, I guess," Alexa said.

"That's what we'll have to do," Victoire said. "We'll manage."

"I hope so," Alexa said.

"Looks like the game is still on for tomorrow, then," Liam said. "I understand if it's too difficult for you to play, Vic, so just let me know."

Victoire shook her head. "I'm playing in that game. I can't do anything for Fred now, so the best I can do is play hard for him and hope that he'll wake up."

"That's the spirit," Liam said.

"I'm glad you think so," Victoire said. She glanced at her watch. "Shall we head to class, girls?"

In one synchronized motion created by years of practice, Molly, Monica, and Alexa glanced down at their watches and rose from their seats. Jade followed suit, and once they had shouldered their bags, they left the Great Hall and made their way to Transfiguration. Victoire pulled out a piece of parchment and began to doodle on it once they sat down. She only stopped when she became conscious of someone standing in front of her.

She looked up. "Oh, hey Will."

"Hey," Will said. "You doing okay?"

"Okay, yeah," she said. "Thanks for asking."

"No problem," Will said. "I just wanted to check, after last night."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'm all right. You?"

"Been better, but you know," Will said.

"Yeah," Victoire said. "I do."

He tapped his fingers on the table in front of her and nodded. "Let me know if anything happens, if you wouldn't mind."

"Will do," Victoire said.

He nodded again and then walked off to join Josh on the opposite side of the room. Alexa, Jade, Molly, and Monica looked at her.

"What was that about?" Alexa asked.

"He was in the common room when I got back last night," Victoire said. "Fell asleep while he was studying. We ended up talking for a little while, that's all. He just wanted to know if I was okay."

"That's nice of him," Jade said.

"Yeah, it is," Victoire said. "Nothing's really changed since last night though, so..."

"Understandable," Molly said. "We'll get through it."

The rest of the day passed in much the same fashion. Will continued to check in with Victoire, but her response never grew more positive. Instead, she became increasingly exasperated. By the time they made it to dinner, she was clenching and unclenching her fists as she walked. Molly and Alexa trailed behind her, exchanging worried looks.

"You okay, Vic?" Monica asked after they sat down. "You look a little peeved."

"Would it kill people to stop asking me that?" Victoire asked. "Honestly. I'm fine. I'm worried. I'm fine."

"We'll lay off a bit," Jade said. "We're just worried, that's all."

"I know, I'm worried too, but it's not doing anyone any good to keep asking," Victoire said. "I'm sure the school will know the instant he wakes up, the way the rumour mill works in this place."

"Someone's a bit testy," Alexa said. She grinned when Victoire threw a napkin at her. "You gave me the opening, come on."

Victoire sighed, and then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I did." She looked down at her watch and made a face. "I need to eat fast. I haven't even started our Herbology essay yet and I don't see how I'm going to have much time this weekend, so I need to try to get somewhere with it tonight."

"You'll be fine," Molly said. "You always are."

"I know, but I'd rather get it out of the way," Victoire said.

"Understandable," Jade said. "Who wants to have work hanging over them during a weekend?"

"Exactly," Victoire said.

She didn't partake in much conversation for the rest of dinner, choosing to eat her dinner as quickly as possible instead. As she rose from her seat, she nodded at her friends and shouldered her bag. They nodded back, and she left the Great Hall to go up to the common room.

She was nearly to the portrait hole when she heard someone call her name. Her shoes scraped against the stone as she turned, and she crossed her arms as she saw Teddy hurrying down the corridor toward her.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you mad at me or something?" he asked.

"Or something," she said.

He ran his hand through his hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. His eyes were wide and pleading as he looked at her, but she merely adjusted her footing and continued to watch him. "Look, if I did something, just tell me, and I'll try to fix it, okay? If it's just that you're worried, don't be, it's going to be fine. Please don't go running around by yourself like this."

She uncrossed her arms. "That right there is the problem."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Victoire laughed. He stepped back as her eyes narrowed. "You keep saying that it's going to be fine, and you won't let me go places by myself. I know you're worried about me, but I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter. We've talked about this before, remember? I thought we'd clarified that you don't need to keep an eye on me all the time. I'm perfectly capable. As for whether or not it's going to be okay, you can't promise that, and I wish everyone would stop trying to. It's hard enough as it is knowing that there's not really anything I can do to help Fred. I don't need everyone saying that he's definitely going to be all right. We don't know that."

"We have to say it," Teddy said. "If only for ourselves."

"Well, it's not helpful to some of us," Victoire said. "And that doesn't address the problem of you not trusting me to stand on my own. I don't need you protecting me all the time."

He shifted from foot to foot, twirling his wand between his fingers as he did. "I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, Tori, I do, I just... Sorry."

"You just what?" she asked.

"I just worry about you, that's all," he said. "Not just you, even. I worry about the whole lot of you, but I worry about you the most. I do trust you, I just don't trust everyone else. We don't know who's doing this, we don't know how people can go about protecting themselves, and I don't want to see you hurt when I might be able to prevent it."

She uncrossed her arms, her expression softening, but her gaze did not waver. "I understand that, but that doesn't mean that it's okay. I'm my own person. I need you to let me stand on my own."

"I know," he said. "I do. I'm sorry. I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

He turned to walk away. She bit her lip for a moment. "Teddy?"

He turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"Want to help me with my Herbology essay?"

He smiled. "I can't think of a better way to spend a Friday night."

When the girls came up from dinner half an hour later, it was to see Victoire and Teddy sitting on one of the couches by the fire, her notes spread all around them. Her quill moved quickly across her paper, producing a rhythmic scratching noise, and every so often, she would pause and look at Teddy for confirmation as to one piece of information or another.

"Well, this is a change," Alexa said as she sat down on the couch across from them.

"Hmm?" Victoire asked.

"Well, you're not giving Teddy the cold shoulder anymore," Monica said. "It's a change."

Victoire nodded, her attention fixed on her essay. Teddy chuckled. "We had a talk, it's all fine. I agreed to help with her Herbology essay."

"How far are you, Vic?" Jade asked. "I need to know how behind I am."

Victoire looked up. "Huh?"

"She asked how far you were on your essay," Teddy said. "Good to know you're so focused you can't pay attention to what anyone else says."

Victoire stuck her tongue out at him and then looked at Jade. "Three inches, approximately."

"Make that five, since her handwriting is absolutely tiny," Alexa said. "You have to add in the conversion factor."

Victoire rolled her eyes. "My handwriting is a perfectly normal size, thank you very much."

"If by perfectly normal you mean miniscule, then yes, it is," Molly said.

"You're all just jealous," Victoire said.

"Why would we be jealous?" Jade asked. "It means you write almost twice as much as we do for every assignment."

"I can make my handwriting larger if I try," Victoire said.

"She's not kidding," Teddy said. "When I was twelve, she sent me a letter with words so big that she could only fit ten per page."

"See," Victoire said.

"That's a bit larger than normal," Monica said.

"What can I say?" Victoire asked. "I have to go above and beyond for everything. Most of the time."

"Good addition there," Molly said. "Glad to know you're policing your own superiority."

"Someone has to do it," Victoire said. She looked down at her essay and groaned. "Only another fifteen inches to go."

"If you had normal person handwriting, it would only be thirteen inches," Alexa said. "This is your own fault."

"You could just use a charm to make your writing bigger once you've finished, you know," Teddy said.

"Yeah, but that would be cheating, and I'm not about to do that," Victoire said.

"Fair enough," Teddy said.

"Shame you skipped out on dessert," Alexa said. "You missed the treacle tart."

"Oh, damn it," Victoire said. "You know that's my favorite."

"We can sneak down to the kitchens later and get some," Teddy said.

"Good idea," Victoire said.

"I've been known to have them every now and then," Teddy said.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Ridiculous."

"Your favorites," Victoire said.

"True," Molly said. "But still. Ridiculous."

Teddy grinned. "Would you have us any other way?"

"Probably not," Molly said.

There was a round of laughter at that, and the happy mood continued through the evening, despite the issue of Fred's health weighing heavily at the back of Victoire's mind.

She woke up to a hand on her shoulder early the next morning. Her hand went to her mouth as she yawned, and she blinked slowly. It took a few moments before Roxy's face came into focus, but when it did, Victoire tensed and sat up.

"Roxy, what is it? Did something happen to Fred?"

"He's awake," Roxy said, a wide smile on her face. "Come see him."

It was that statement that resulted in the two girls running through the corridors, Victoire still clothed in her pajamas. They came to a skidding halt outside the doors to the Hospital Wing, and Roxy led the way inside. George and Angelina were seated beside Fred's bed, with Dom perched on the end of it. Fred was propped up against the pillows. He was pale, but there was a smile on his face that only widened when he saw Roxy and Victoire.

"Vic," he said.

Victoire sat down on the edge of the bed and hugged him. "Hey there, kid. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Fred said. "A bit like I got hit with a Bludger too."

"Sorry," Victoire said. "I'm just glad you're awake. Do you remember anything?"

Fred's face fell, and he shook his head. "No, I don't. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't."

Victoire covered his hands with her own. "It's okay. You're awake, and that's what matters. I love you, you know."

He smiled. "Love you too, Vic."

They stayed like that for the remainder of the morning.

A/N:

Am I the worst author ever?

Why yes. Yes I am.

I'm so unbelievably sorry about the lack of updates for the last (bloody hell) two months. Time got away from me and I was so busy with the musical that I didn't even think about it. I didn't want to wait until Monday to post the new chapter, so here it is. I've missed updating you guys on lots of stuff other than the story, actually, so here's the run down:

- I got a scholarship for my university and while it isn't huge, any little bit helps. I have applications for three more scholarships due early next week, so I have to finish those, but hopefully I'll get one of those/some money from the state. Tuition's free for me thanks to my dad working there, but I still have around $13,000 of other expenses every year that I need to cover, so this is important.

- Boys are dumb, especially green-eyed boys, and I don't really know what's going on right now but it is causing me great amounts of angst.

- I'm going to New York over spring break (Just like last year!) but only for a weekend instead of for five or six days.

- Less than 90 days until I graduate from high school!

- I'm doing a senior project and horseback riding a lot every week and only taking two classes so I have lots of free time which means more writing time!

- My last day of class until April is this Friday (3/14).

- I plotted out the rest of the story (Well, this story, anyway). There are five more chapters and an epilogue in the future. Once those are posted, I'm going to plot out a Scorpius/Rose story that will feature some Lorcan/Lily Luna because I ship it, and it will be set in the same world as this one is, so everything that's happened in this story happened in that one too. I want to write two different James/Lily stories as well, but one is an AU and will take a good deal of planning, but expect it in the future.

- I have started a Twitter account where I will be posting story updates and stuff. It's completely anonymous and I don't follow my personal Twitter on there, but if you want to follow me to know how the next update is looking and stuff, the handle is ACStarFighter. My profile picture is a picture of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, but yeah. That's me. I am also working on a Tumblr where I might post snippets of chapters I'm working on, answer questions, and possibly give you guys extra pieces of information or whatever, and the url for that is the same as my username on here (unicornstarfighter). Hope to see you there!

I hope you guys like the update, and again, I'm realllllly sorry.

Peace and love x

~AC