What we have here is a failure to communicate. –Cool Hand Luke

I stood perfectly still, trying to figure out what to do as more villagers joined the others. They were starting to form a group, and they didn't look happy. Not to mention the fact that they were still pointing and gesturing towards me. Fred and George hadn't noticed yet either. I was getting worried, very worried.

I took a breath and decided to react the way I wanted to. I kept my arms limp at my side and raised my head, looking at them straight in the eyes. If they were going to point and stare, then I was going to make sure they knew that I was aware of how rude they were being.

Fred and George nodded their heads at whatever the man they were talking to was saying and smiled at him before turning and heading back towards me. I found myself tensing up unthinkingly as they neared. The group of people that were talking about me had stopped pointing, they were now walking towards us.

I noticed, for the first time, that they all had something in their hands, whether it was a rake or hoe, they all had some sort of farm equipment. In other words, they were all armed, and headed towards us.

"Fred," I called, trying to get them to speed up without alerting the others to the fact that I realized they were getting nearer. "George."

They looked at me with wider eyes, cocking their heads to the side to let me know they didn't get what I was asking. I swallowed and gave my head a quick jerk to the right, the direction that the men were at. Fred glanced over his shoulder before turning back towards me with very wide, worried eyes. The men were about a hundred meters from us now. Fred and George rushed towards me, each stepping to either side of me. Fred gripped my hand in his and I gladly took it, preparing myself to draw my wand at a moment's notice.

The closest man yelled something out in gaelic, and I had no idea what the words were, but the message was quite clear. We, or I at least, were no longer welcome here.

"Guys, I think we're about to be in trouble here." George mumbled, reaching for his back pocket as the villagers began to run towards us.

"Do you not speak gaelic?" I asked, stepping backwards and reaching into my sleeve for my wand.

"No, missed that class." They said together.

"Yea are nae welcome here. Tae witch is a murderer!" What? I was a murderer? I'd never even seen these people before! I wasn't from this bloody time, I hadn't done anything!

"What are they talking about, 'Mione?" Fred asked as he withdrew his wand. I pulled my own out and cast a shield charm in front of us.

"I think it's time to make an exit." George called out over the roar of the now charging crowd. They were bouncing off my shield charm, but it was about to buckle under the sheer weight of the people charging it.

"Yea, come on!" Fred called as I began to tremble from the strain of keeping the shield charm up. Fred grabbed my arm and pulled me away as George ran ahead of us, clearing the way.

"After em!" Someone yelled behind us. I sped up and grabbed George's arm, maintain my hold on my wand while I did so. I twisted into the air and focused on the spot I had left Harry. We reappeared a moment later, right next to a sitting Harry.

"What happened?" He asked, hopping up and staring at us with wide eyes. Fred and George were both still standing still with their wands raised and aimed at Harry. They blinked and then lowered their wands, looking distinctly of kilter.

"I'm not really sure." I said, letting go of them and dusting my dress off. "

"You look like you were in a fight!" Harry said, stepping towards us.

"It wasn't a fight so much as a riot." I said with a frown.

"A riot?" Harry yelped. He'd reached me by now and grabbed me in his arms, giving me a once over before turning and glaring at the twins. "How could you let her get in a riot? You're supposed to be keeping her safe!"

"Okay," Fred said, holding up his hand defensively. "Two things, first, it wasn't a riot so much as a difference of opinions with a risk of injuries. Two, we didn't 'let' her get in a riot."

"Stop it! Harry, we were just trying to get directions. They started accusing me of being a murderer and attacked us. We got out of there and reappeared here. Nothing happened, we didn't get hurt, and they got the directions."

I took a calming breath and gave Harry a hug, he still hadn't let go of my arms. "I'm really alright, Harry." I stepped back from him and turned towards Fred. He was looking at me with wide, equally worried eyes. I stepped towards him and into his hug, he seemed tense suddenly. Had that 'riot' worried him too? He wrapped his arms around me in a strong hug and I leaned into it, taking a deep breath and breathing in his scent. It was an intoxicating woodsy scent with just a scent of cinnamon. It was becoming my absolute favorite smell. He'd already claimed my favorite color. (His eyes if I were to be honest, that was my favorite color.)

"Thanks for coming to try and protect me." I looked over and stared at George too. "Thanks both of you." I didn't need them to protect me, but they knew that. Everyone here knew I didn't need any help to defend myself. Still, it was nice to know that someone was there to pick up the slack if I did need help.

"Plus," I said, turning around to face Harry. Fred still had his arms on my shoulders and I liked the feel of them. "We do now have the directions." Harry's eyes widened and he looked surprised.

"Oh, you got them?"

"Didn't we already say that?" George asked from behind us. I'd forgotten he was there.

"Yea, seems like there's an echo in here." Fred quipped, flashing a grin at his twin.

"Come on," I said, grinning at the twins before turning back to Harry. "Let's eat some lunch and then follow the directions. I don't know about you two," I continued, turning back to the twins with an easy smile, "But running for my life has me famished."

"Ditto." They said together with a big grin. Harry moved behind me, probably unpacking our lunch and George stepped over to help him. I stayed by Fred and wrapped my arms around his waist before leaning my head against his chest. He lowered his head and rested it against the top of my head, nuzzling his cheek against my wild curls. I sighed happily and closed my eyes, allowing myself to enjoy the moment. It wouldn't last long, and it would be a while until I could get another alone with him. I was looking forward to my night watches because of that, it was the only time I really got to spend alone with him. Sad that I had to get up at one to get any alone time. Poor Fred wasn't getting any sleep at night.

"Food's ready." George called over, his voice bemused. I sighed and opened my eyes, letting my arms drop from Fred's body. I made to turn around but I was stopped by his hands on my shoulders. He pulled me back to his chest and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, his hand moving to gently finger my hair as he held me tightly. I pressed up into him, enjoying the kiss for a blissful moment.

He let his arms drop and grabbed my hand in his, breaking the kiss before turning towards the others. They were pointedly looking away. Harry was frowning but George was grinning mischievously.

We ate a quick lunch and then set out riding once again. Fred and George led the way this time, and I stayed in the back with Harry. He was getting much better at riding now, he didn't look near as scared or uncomfortable as he had. His form wasn't bad either, though it wasn't really surprising. We had been riding for nearly three solid days non stop. He'd ridden his first horse when we went to Camelot, but you would never guess that now. He wasn't as smooth as Fred, George, or myself, but he was getting to be an accomplished rider.

Fred and George slowed down before coming to a complete stop near the ocean. They dismounted their horses and I did the same. Harry climbed off his horse last and stepped towards the twins with me.

"Is this it?" I asked, looking out at the water. I couldn't see and island and there wasn't anything extremely distinguishing about this bit of land other than a rock that was sitting about five meters from us.

"Yep, according to our Scott, the Island of Drear is about a thousand meters that way." George answered, pointing towards the ocean directly in front of us.

"So how do we want to get there?" Harry asked, frowning at the innocent looking water. He didn't care for swimming too much, I think it was because of the lake task in fourth year. He'd been mistrusting of water ever since. He always found it odd that I didn't mind water, I had been frozen and left down there after all. I didn't remember any of it though, so why let that bother me?

"I think we could just apparate." Fred said, staring at the water thoughtfully.

"My thoughts as well. We should just be able to apparate to a spot a thousand meters away-" I got cut off by a slightly panicky Harry before I could finish.

"But what if we miss the island?"

"Than we'll just apparate to the island." George said casually, pulling his pack from the horse.

"Yeah, it's not hard to apparate in water." I said in a calming tone. Harry nodded his head stiffly and grabbed his pack off his horse as well. I turned towards my horse and grabbed my pack, rubbing her noise as I did. I didn't want to send her away, but it was too dangerous to take her with us to the island, and we were going to apparate back to the castle.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, slinging the pack over my back and turning towards the others. They all nodded their heads, tying their own packs around their backs. I nodded my head determinedly and pulled my wand from my sleeve. I cast the spell that would return the horses and then stepped towards Fred. We were alone on the beach now, ready to go to the island.

Fred and Harry both grabbed my hand, and George grabbed theirs, completing the circle. I closed my eyes and twisted into the air, concentrating on where we needed to go. A moment later I let out a hiss as my body landed in the frigid water of the ocean. Harry's grip on my hand slackened, and I tightened it nervously as I opened my eyes. Fred, George, and Harry surfaced around me as the water lapped around me. I couldn't see any island where I was so I tried to twist, but I couldn't.

"I see it, hold on!" Fred yelled, I nodded my head and he twisted. I felt the awful crushing sense of apparition, and then I was on the sandy ground of a beach.

I opened my eyes and dropped the others hands, dropping my wand out of my pocket and into my open hand. I aimed it at the beach and did a quick look around. I didn't see anything on the beach. A forest stretched out in front of us, covering the entire center of the island.

That's where our task a waited us. We had made it to the Island of Drear.