My sleeping habits did not improve upon our return to Hogwarts. If anything, they worsened, as did other "aspects" of my life. A Feeling in the Room of Requirement nearly doubled me over (which upset dear, brave Neville) during an Army meeting. Another hit me on the way to the dungeons for Potions one day, but, with this one, there was no Fred to catch me, no Angelina to shield me and hide my fear from the crowd that gathered around, no Lee to wipe the sweat from my brow, no George to wrap his arms around me and naively tell me that everything would be just fine. Instead, I had Bradley and Chambers, who didn't notice I had stopped walking, and Roger, who suggested I skip class and go to the Hospital Wing (he never did quite get how these things work). Needless to say, these events did not help me find comfort in the darkness of night.

On the bright side, I found that I could get a lot of work done since I no longer had to waste precious time with something as trivial as sleep. After deciding that taking potions to help me sleep would only become habit forming and would not solve my problems in the long run, I took to getting my homework done in those wee hours of the morning. Considering I was a Ravenclaw, after all, this meant getting future homework done. By the second week back, I was nearly two months ahead. I work fast. I had to do something, though, because I could not help but imagine the worst in the darkness; every bump and creak of the ancient castle was a beast on the loose in my mind.

My friends did notice, of course. Katie was the first to point out that I had bags under my eyes, and Alicia was quick to add that I yawned a lot. Angie then took to scrutinizing my every move and asked why I was so sluggish, to which I responded so maturely by asking why she was so fat. Thankfully, our friendship could withstand these trials.

My relationship with George, on the other hand, was not quite so tried-and-true. He was worried about me, and everyone could see it. He wouldn't question me, as I made it quite clear over through a rather uncalled-for outburst over breakfast one Saturday that I was fed up with their concern, but he gave me every opportunity to open up to him. Sentences left hanging, hints dropped, knowing looks. I just never took him up on the offer.

Which is probably why Fred got involved. Well, as involved as Fred ever would.

"Alright," Fred grunted, plopping down next to me in the library. I admit it, I screamed at the sight of him. No, it was not my proudest moment, but if you saw Fred in the library, you would probably have a fit, too. "You know people can hear you, right?"

"Well, don't…attack me!" I insisted, pulling my herbology book out from under his elbow gruffly. "You know I hate it when you sneak up on me!"

"So, you screamed. Makes perfect sense," he rolled his eyes. "Why are you making George act like a girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"Georgie. He's moping around about you. All the time, he's talking about what your problem is or why you aren't talking to him or 'Mel this', 'Mel that', and it's driving me bonkers."

"Well, you can assure him that I am perfectly fine," I grunted, propping my head on my hand so the back of my head was to the eldest Weasley twin. Fred growled in frustration.

"I'm not telling him a thing. You two sort it out. Or, better yet, just get over yourself. Look," he held his hands up so that when I whirled on him with my death glare he already had some form of protection, "I know you Know things and it's a lot to deal with. You have all these things in your head, and I'm sure you don't tell us even half of them. I understand that, I'm fine with that, and I'm even glad. I don't want to know those things. It's just that George does. You don't have to bear the world's secrets on your own shoulders anymore. Give him a chance, yeah?"

The resolve melted almost instantly at the softness on Fred's face. He watched my anger subside and allowed me to throw my arms around him in a hug that probably caught him off guard. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around me in return.

"I wish I could tell him everything, Fred. I really do."

"I know," he murmured. "Just do what you can."

Presumably, their twin telepathy was working at the height of its power that day, because my conversation with Fred came not a day too soon. It was as if he knew that his brother planned to talk to me that night, though I know this was the one thing they would not discuss. They liked to talk about girls, sure, but not the serious parts of relationships. Boys will be boys, after all. So, it was pure coincidence that brought George to me only hours after his brother.

I wasn't even aware that I'd been staring in to the fire, mind completely blank, until the common room door swung open. I gasped at the noise and whirled around, ready to ream into one of my friends for being out so late (because only my friends would be wandering around past curfew), but the sight of my George beaming at the common room silenced me.

"You were right," he breathed at the star-filled sky outside our window, a breathtaking sight that I had long ago learned to ignore. "The answer is always darkness."

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here, George?"

He shrugged and casually sank down next to me on the window seat. "What're you making?" I frowned at him, so he rolled his eyes and motioned to my cauldron. "Your bubbling blue concoction?"

"Oh, yeah," I muttered, shaking my head at my forgetfulness. "Trying to recreate a potion I made earlier this year. Snape made some brew-time changes, and I wanted to see if it would work out for me."

"You decided to do this at 3 am?"

I crossed my arms defensively across my chest. "You decided to criticize my 3 am activities at 3 am?"

"Excellent point," George nodded. "Why don't you sleep anymore?"

"I sleep," I muttered, tossing in a porcupine quill with a bit too much vigor. "Who says I don't sleep?"

"I have my sources," George shrugged noncommittally. "Including my eyes, which see you awake right now. Mel," he lowered his head to force eye contact between us, "what's going on in there?"

"You mean in my head?" I wrinkled my nose to show that I thought he was being ridiculous, even though he was doing exactly the type of thing that made me care so much about him. "The same things that are always going on."

"Which is what?"

I half-laughed and gave my potion a half-hearted stir. I would have to restart this brew anyway, so this was now just an excuse to look away from George. "You don't want to know."

"I do. I asked."

"George," I turned back to him, "you don't understand. The Feelings I get, the-the things I Know, it's not a game. I don't just Feel like it's going to snow tomorrow or that you're keeping a big secret from me. I mean, I get things like that, but there are things so much bigger than that. I get these Feelings about people a-and events and places and they are so…so big, George. So powerful. And I can't tell you those. I want to tell you, and I know you want to be told, but I can only handle them because I have to handle them. If I didn't, if they were just unloaded on me all of a sudden, I couldn't do that. And George, no matter how prepared you think you are, there are things you won't be ready for, either. You won't be able to look at people the same way, and you won't be able to stop trying to figure out the mystery that these things create. It'll drive you mad, and I can't do that to you."

"Mel…" George started, but I silenced him by taking his face in my hands and staring straight into his eyes to show just how serious this was.

"If I really mean something to you, then that means that you must trust me at least a bit. If you trust me at all, then I need you to trust me right now. I'm the only one that really understands this thing."

George turned his face towards my hand and nuzzled his nose against the side of my palm, eyes close. When he stopped, I rested my forehead against his and allowed him to gently brush his lips against mine.

"I do trust you. I do care about you, Mel. That's why I want you to know that you can tell me whatever you need to tell me. If there's ever that…thing…that you can't hold on your own, well, I'm sure you'll be able to find me."

"You're upset."

"Yeah," he admitted. "But, I understand. You do whatever you think is best. Just do me a favor, yeah?" I nodded. "Go to bed. Get some sleep." He pulled back to ruffle my hair, which made me grumble involuntarily. "You need your beauty rest."

I gaped in mock offense. "And you, dunderhead, need to leave my common room before I report you."

"Report me?" George raised his eyebrows. "You wouldn't dare."

"Don't try me," I pointed menacingly. George laughed, grabbed my hand and held on as he dropped it down to my lap, and pressed his lips against mine in a dizzying kiss.

"Goodnight, luv. Sleep well."

I smiled and waved good-bye, careful not to let the façade drop until the common room door was firmly shut behind him.

Thanks for reading! If you've got any thoughts/suggestions/comments/whatever, leave a review. I love seeing what you think.

I don't have a title for the next chapter yet because I may combine two things that I originally planned on dividing into two chapters. I'm rethinking bits of this, including how I want it to end (which is awhile away, and I may have to ask your opinion about that…). But, it'll be up soon. My week is actually pretty open with a fair amount of writing time!