Thank you to The souless ones, Dalonega Noquisi, Guest #1 (never really thought about that, really. And don't worry, you weren't rude.), Guest #2, caring 16, MArineAstriella, MamaNanaJane63, UlimateFangurl1 and HT188.

I'm keeping quite on this chapter. But you'll all love it. Take that, as you will.


"And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat, I tried to find the sound, but then it stopped, and I was in the darkness, so darkness I became." - Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine


Chapter 53: Weasley Jumpers

"Selene!" Ginny called, rushing over to Selene's bed and jumping to sit next to her. "Merry Christmas!"

Selene laughed, feeling more light and carefree than she had in possibly years, and hugged Ginny tightly. "Merry Christmas too."

"GROUP HUG!" Lily yelled, dive-bombing Selene and Ginny, tugging Hermione along with her. She miscalculated her mad leap, which sent the four of them, plus Selene's covers, spiralling onto the floor.

"Merry Christmas too, you three." Hermione giggled, picking herself up off the floor and helping Ginny and Selene up themselves. "Lily, maybe next time, don't be quite so…"

"Violent?" Lily suggested, with a mad grin.

"NO!" Selene yelled unexpectedly, remembering just how affected Lily had been by the one glass of wine yesterday and hoping that the after-affects hadn't subsided into this morning as well. "Lily, come on, um…"

"Presents!" Ginny called, as a distraction for a plotting Lily, who was only the merest of steps away from becoming a mad, moustache-twirling Muggle-movie style evil villain. The younger girl raced over towards the extensive pile at the foot of her bed, leaving Hermione and Selene blinking in her wake.

"Presents!" Lily repeated, sounding just as hyped as Ginny, doing another mad leap towards her pile.

Selene gave Hermione a hug, then brushed her hair out of her face and smiled. "You're going to say hello to Ron and Harry?" Selene guessed, watching Hermione walk towards the door.

"Yeah." Hermione explained, cracking open the door. "I won't be long, they're probably still asleep anyway. I got them Homework Diaries."

"AWESOME!" Lily called, from over in the corner, tucking into a box of Chocolate Frogs.

Hermione muttered something about Ron and food before leaving, and Selene giggled behind her hand before turning to her pile of presents.

It was much, much larger than she had ever hoped it could be, and Ginny practically threw a present at Selene. "This one first!" She exclaimed, waiting expectantly.

Selene dug her fingernails under the Spellotape fastening the wrapping paper up, and peeled it off with a slight ripping sound. A slip of parchment fell out, and Selene turned it over to read what was written on it.

Dear Selene,

Christmas is a time that we all must be grateful for, gratefulness for our families and gratefulness for our friends. I know that you must be grateful for so many things in your life dear, and I would like you to know just how grateful we are of you.

I must admit, when George did write to me telling me how Fred had finally decided to settle down and get a steady girlfriend (he didn't put it quite so eloquently) I was initially dubious. Arthur and I were often regaled with many tales of how 'girls were stupid' when Fred first started Hogwarts, and then his refusal to keep anyone for more than a month after that.

If I am to be brutally honest, I was also worried when George told me your name. Those worries and fears have been changed and warped since, but back then I thought of you as a miniature of your mother. I remember your mother vaguely from when I was in school, only as a small first-year when I was a seventh-year.

But those worries aside, I have a great deal to be grateful for this year. Firstly, for the circumstances that have kept my family alive and healthy, and have granted me my wish of Arthur's safe recovery.

Secondly for Harry, and his refusal to back down after the horrors of last year. That boy does more than I had ever realised, and I can barely picture him as the shy young boy that asked for help to get onto Platform 9 and ¾ the first day of his and Ron's first year.

Thirdly for Hermione, a great friend for Ron, Harry and Ginny. I have been unfair to her in the past, and I know that she is an amazing witch and is, truly, the brightest witch of her age.

And for you. Selene, you put yourself down so much, but you are amazing in lots of simple ways. I have known you for less than six months, and I love you like my own daughter. Ginny admires you tremendously, and I know that Fred has met someone that is truly right for him, and that is something that Arthur and I have previously been afraid would never happen.

What I am trying to say that you are always welcome with us Selene. The war is taking a great toll on us all, and I can tell that you will want to fight alongside my sons and the rest of the Order. I can't do anything to dissuade you dear, although I would like you to bear in mind the dangers, and the great risk you will be putting yourself in.

As the year draws to a close, I can't help but wonder what will be left of our world next year, and the years after that. A mother worries for her children, as I know your mother is doing as I write these words in the small hours of the morning, and as such I worry for you as well Selene. We worry so no one else has to, I worry for Bill, and Charlie, and Percy especially.

I am grateful for life, and I am grateful for my family, which includes you, Hermione and Harry as well.

With love,

Arthur and Molly Weasley

Selene swallowed, and felt a tear drip down her cheek. She placed the letter carefully to one side, and pulled the last of the wrapping paper apart. Taking a sharp intake of breath, Selene pulled out what was inside.

The letter slowly began to make perfect sense, as Ginny grinned and pulled her own Weasley sweater over her head. Ginny's was red and gold, just as Fred and George's always were, with a shiny gold 'G' on the front. "Put it on!" She pressed, gathering the wrapping paper up and grinning broadly. "I think the twins are right, Mum makes the best sweaters for people who aren't family."

Selene looked up at Ginny, who was assimilating her 'get-on-with-it' pose, and pulled the Weasley jumper on the same way as Ginny had. Hers wasn't red and gold (quite appropriately, as she wasn't a Gryffindor), but a deep-sea blue colour with a light green 'S'. Ginny nodded approvingly, and reached over to give Selene another hug.

"Don't just stand there!" She protested, gesturing to the rest of Selene's presents. "Get a move on, or it'll be next year before you finish."

Laughing through her tears, Selene wiped furiously at her eyes and grabbed the nearest present in reach; that said that it was from Hermione.

"Another Homework Diary?" Ginny queried, holding up an identical diary. "I think Hermione's got a theme this year, don't you?"

Lily tried to say something, but as her mouth was full of chocolate frog, it only came out as a muffled protesting noise. "Swallow first." Ginny imitated her mother, and Selene giggled.

"Oh, look!" Hermione gushed, coming into the room at that moment and pointing at Selene. "You've got a Weasley jumper!"

"I know." Selene admitted, looking down at herself in slight fascination. Ginny presented Hermione with another, slightly squishy package. Instead of reading the letter first, like Selene did, Hermione folded it up and pulled her own sweater over her head.

Hermione's was a pastel-blue colour, with a scarlet 'H'. "We could be sisters!" Ginny gushed, ignoring the fact that, although Selene and Hermione looked slightly similar to one another, Ginny was very different. "Oh, Lily…"

Lily grinned, holding up a slightly lumpy jumper made out of rainbow-coloured wool. "Dora took up knitting!" She explained. "She got lessons from Mrs Weasley, apparently."

"Thanks for the diary Hermione." Selene thanked Hermione, who went rather pink. "It'll be really helpful-"

She was cut off by Ginny, who was experimentally opening her diary, which shouted 'A SPELL IN TIME SAVES NINE!'. Ginny slammed it shut almost immediately, and Hermione smiled.

"It has helpful additions like that." Hermione explained, in answer to Ginny, Selene and Lily's curious looks. "Harry and Ron have one too."

"Did you get one for Fred and George as well?" Ginny rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what would happen is she did.

"No!" Hermione said hotly. "I got them some Muggle tricks, like buzzers-" Lily smirked, before quickly pressing another chocolate frog in her mouth. "-and fake blood, things like that."

Ginny blanched. "Do you know how bad that will turn out?" She asked Hermione, who shrugged. "Oh, Hermione…"

"BACON!" Someone yelled from the top floor, and the four girls exchanged glances, before Lily disappeared with a 'crack'.

"What?" Hermione asked, blinking at the place where Lily had disappeared. "Lily… but, I thought…"

Lily reappeared, in peals of laughter. "Oh…" She gasped, shaking her head. "You actually thought that I'd apparated, didn't you?"

Before anyone could say anything else, she ran out of the room, yelling a strange war cry that seemed to consist entirely of the word 'BACON'.


"Thank you Mrs Weasley." Selene said quietly, hugging the older woman tightly. Tears began to prick at her eyes again, but she pushed them away. "It… It…"

"I know dear." Mrs Weasley whispered, squeezing Selene before letting go. "You look lovely in that colour, it really brings out your eyes."

"Merry Christmas love." Fred said, seizing Selene around the waist and spinning her around to face him. "Like the jumper."

Selene blushed, but laughed to disguise it and leaned up to kiss him, to most people's displeasure, but Mrs Weasley, Hermione, Ginny and Andromeda all smiled, Hermione and Ginny sharing a look. "Keep the PDA down." Sirius groaned, who looked like hell. There was a Santa hat affixed to his head, and a Christmas tie tied around his neck.

"Vetoed by me as well." Ted added, glaring at Fred with as much venom as he could muster, which wasn't much at all. Lily dissolved into more helpless laughter at the look on Fred's face at being threatened by a guy that was perhaps twice his size, Dora joining in after a few more moments.

"Christmas." Ginny coughed, ignoring George's glare. "What?" She asked innocently, smiling at Selene as she took a seat between Fred and Dora. "Um… Mum?"

Mrs Weasley looked up from the bacon, and nodded, sending a spell at the frying pan and coming to stand at the head of the table. "I know Arthur would like to be here… but…"

She didn't finish the sentence, and Sirius nodded encouragingly. "Anyway." Mrs Weasley said brightly, all sorrow gone from her voice. "Harry, Hermione, Selene." She said, sending a smile at each person as she said their name. "We've discussed this for a long, long time. And all of us agree…" She paused, and gestured to herself, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny. "That this is the right thing to do."

Mrs Weasley exhaled, and walked over to the stovetop, picking up three long shaped presents that were lying just to one side. Selene looked around at Fred, who gave her a grin and absent-mindedly slipped one arm around her waist. As Mrs Weasley brought the three parcels over, she noticed that one of the parcels was bright emerald green, the same shade in fact as Harry's jumper, one of them was dark blue, like her own, and the third was pastel-blue, just like Hermione's jumper.

"Go on, open them!" Mrs Weasley prompted, smiling and passing them each the coloured parcel that corresponded to the colour of their jumpers. "George, feet-"

George rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Finally Hermione took the initiative and tore the paper apart, Harry and Selene following just after the loud ripping noise cut through the air. "What?" Harry said slowly, peeling the last of the Spellotape off the package.

The letter Selene had got with her jumper started to make sense now. One glance at Harry and Hermione told her all she needed to know – that they had the same type of letters as she had, and it made sense to them now to boot. After a little elbow in the side from her boyfriend, Selene picked up the small strip of bronze-coloured metal between two fingers, and carefully laid it in the palm of her hand. Hermione did the same, then Harry. "Oh…" She whispered, her mind flicking back to the Burrow's kitchen, and the clock she had been so amazed by on the wall.

It was quite clearly a clock hand, but it shimmered with a kind of glow that you wouldn't find on a standard hand. Also, her name was written, prettily but clearly on it. Not 'Selene Malfoy' though, just 'Selene'. She looked quickly across to see Hermione's silver one, with 'Hermione Granger' written on it, and Harry's gold, with 'Harry Potter'. "Oh…" Hermione echoed, as it set in with her exactly what was the meaning of this gift. "Mrs Weasley… um… thank…"

"Oh, it's quite alright." Mrs Weasley said breezily. Selene couldn't really care anymore, she handed the clock hand to Fred, who took it without question, stood up and hugged the older witch, trying to put as many unspoken feelings into it as she could. After a moment, Hermione did the same, and Harry just sat there, staring at the clock hand like it might disappear if given the chance.

As Selene sat back down, Fred handed the hand back to her, moving his lips to her ear momentarily. "There's room for a surname too." He said quietly, before pulling back and grinning at her like he hadn't said a single word.

Although Selene managed to keep her blushing down, George smirked at the two of them knowingly, before mockingly raising his goblet of pumpkin juice towards the pair of them.

He wasn't smirking when Fred transfigured his goblet into a spider.


The Welcome Wing of St. Mungo's seemed even more crowded than usual, if such a thing could be possible. There was a wizard with a Satsuma jammed up his left nostril (Selene had to forcefully pull George away from the poor man), a woman who was speaking entirely in rhyme (Fred grinned at this and stroked an imaginary beard thoughtfully) and another wizard who was dancing about like a thousand tiny little ants were biting his toes.

Verity the Welcome Witch seemed even more irate than usual – probably due to having to work on Christmas Day – so Mrs Weasley and the rest of them squeezed past the line, George giving Verity a wink as he passed. Selene looked back a couple of moments later to see her slightly pink, but just as stony-faced as ever.

"I think you have a looker there." Fred joked, as the three of them climbed the numerous stairs needed to get to the floor they needed.

"Don't you dare." Selene murmured, a mental picture of Angelina appearing in her mind.

"Yes I do." Fred said simply, before shrugging and holding her hand. "I dare at everything, didn't you know that by now?"

Selene chose not to comment. "Ah, Harry, Hermione, Selene!" Mr Weasley greeted, as the three in question walked into his ward. "How are you three, yes, hello Fred, George."

"Thank you Mr Weasley." Harry began, but Mr Weasley waved his hand before he could get further.

"No need to thank us." He said warmly. "We were going to wait until now, but Ginny said she couldn't wait longer than breakfast."

Ginny grinned, beaming when Selene, Hermione and Harry turned to look at her. "You're really part of the family now!" She said cheerily, sending a meaningful but short look to Selene. "Mum'll put them in when she gets home."

As the conversation drifted to different topics, Fred and George pulled Selene to one side. "What do you think about-"

"Seeing something no one but us and Lee have?" George finished, moving one eyebrow up and down a few times for added effect.

"What do you mean?" Selene said carefully, looking from one twin to the other quickly, sensing that they were definitely up to something. "Fred, George, what do you mean?"

Fred glanced at his mother, making sure that she was safely engaged in conversation with their father before continuing. "Well." He continued. "We've been a bit-"

"-Sneaky, you see." George added. "In short, we've-"

"Bought a premises." Fred completed, looking directly at Selene to wait for the result of this information.

Her expressions cycling through confusion, to annoyance, and finally to realisation, Selene eventually smiled. "Well done!" She said, somewhat weakly. "Um… congratulations! What was it, Hogsmede or Diagon Alley?"

"Diagon Alley." The twins chorused.

"That's where we've been sneaking off to." George explained, opening his mouth to say something else but being silenced by his mother.

"MUGGLE TREATMENTS?" She shrieked, and even Selene, who had no clue about the conversation, decided that this environment was perhaps not the best one to be in.

"Um, I'm just going to…" Charlie began, looking across at Fred, George and Selene quickly, a 'help me!' plea in his eyes.

"Yeah, us too." Fred said eagerly, backing towards the door, keeping one eye on his mother at all times. "Come on George, Selene…"

"Us as well!" Ron cut in, running through to the room outside without a second glance.

"THEY DID WHAT?" Mrs Weasley shrieked again as the door swung shut behind them all.


No one paid attention to the three people, all around Hogwarts age, who were walking directly up the middle of Diagon Alley street, heading straight for one of the more run-down buildings at the other end, slightly closer to Knockturn Alley.

They passed Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, Flourish and Blotts, the London branch of Honeydukes, Whizz-Hard Books, the old antiques shop, the Apothecary, even Gringotts, before they got to 93 Diagon Alley.

It was tall, crumbling and painted a disgusting off-white colour, which was streaked with soot. "It's been empty since the First War." George explained, looking up at the paintwork with a beady eye. "No one else wanted to live here, the last owner died inside, killed by Death Eaters."

Selene shuddered at the thought, but didn't say anything as Fred continued. "We're going to paint it, obviously." He nodded, at George, who agreed. "And inside needs a hell of a lot of work done too, but we got it cheap, so we're not complaining. The last owner was the son of the guy who died, wanted nothing more to do with it."

He produced a jangling set of keys from his pocket, and stepped forward to slip the oldest, rustiest key in the equally rusty lock. "We're starting on the back rooms." George said, as Fred wrenched and pulled at the door. "It's not quite as bad as Grimmauld, but it's close. Had to nick some of Mum's cleaning products."

Finally Fred managed to yank the door open with a loud creak, and flamboyantly bowed, holding the door open. "Inside, Milady." He said pompously, Selene stifling a giggle and stepping through.

"Thank you kind sir." She said, just as pompously, giggling again as the door swung shut in George's face, leaving him to wrench and pull at it like his twin had done before.

The interior of the soon-to-be shop was dusty, completely covered in cobwebs. A spider scuttled around in one of the corners, and Selene had to tiptoe over some rotten floorboards, but otherwise it was better than she could have expected from the twin's description. There was more than enough space for loads of shelves, and the twins had already put in something that would presumably be the till-counter.

Fred fumbled with another key for the next door, one in the back of the room, only having to push at it once to open it. "Now, here." He said, turning around to wink at Selene. "This is where the magic happens."

"Not literally." He said quickly, as Selene walked past him to see the back of the shop. "There's a basement for all the really dangerous experiments."

In contrast to the front, the back was almost completely clean, with no rotten floorboards, also painted a fluorescent green and orange pattern that made her head hurt just to look at it. "I credit Lee for the paintwork." George added, having evidently managed to finally get into the shop. "He got the Muggle paint from his Mum."

"That's not all." Fred grinned, as Selene whirled around to look at him. "Did we mention?"

"Three bedroom flat." George pointed to the ceiling above him, whistling through his teeth. "That's a little burnt, nothing drastic. Just a bit of magic and it'll be done before you can say 'Mischief Managed'!"

"You've done all this, by yourself?" Selene asked, blinking before taking a little time to look around again. "Wow. Um… just…"

"We're amazing, aren't we?" Fred smirked, walking over to slip his hand into hers again. "I mean, I am, George is just second-hand to me, I am the definite Weasley twin."

George looked at the two of them for a minute, before smiling and closing the door to the back room. He shut it a little more forcefully than he perhaps meant to, and Selene jumped.

Then there were two. Fred smiled again, dissolving into silence and lifting his other hand to rub the back of his neck gingerly. Selene smiled back, trying to disguise her awkwardness by looking around again. "I didn't know what to get you." She admitted, after a pregnant pause.

"Neither did I." Fred grinned. "Um… but yeah. I talked to Angelina, and Alicia, and Katie, even Cho, and then Ginny gave me some ideas and Hermione told me what type of things girls like you like getting for Christmas, then Mum gave me this idea and I thought maybe that would be better than what I had in mind and-"

"Fred?" Selene asked, biting her lip to disguise her smile. "You're rambling."

"Oh, I am." Fred laughed, biting his own lip whist running his hand through his hair. "Okay. Well, you see, I had this idea and…" He trailed off, realising that his sentence was going in no foreseeable direction and shook his head. "Okay."

"I'll go first." Selene offered, and Fred sagged in relief. "I… um, wasn't sure either, but… yeah."

She passed him a parcel, which Fred tore open rather eagerly. His jaw hit the ground.

"No. Way." He said, staring at the contents of the box in excitement. "How did you get this? There hasn't been one of these made for-"

"219 years." Selene supplemented easily, exhaling and looking at it with slight trepidation. "I made it myself, actually, from a book in the library. Hermione helped with some of the components, but it was mostly me, I guess."

Fred shook his head, and looked down at the small trinket in the seemingly miniscule box. It was a small eyepiece, used for seeing things that weren't there. As far as he knew, it was made in a similar way to Mad-Eye's eye, but the last person who could make them had died 220 years ago. "You're amazing." He said simply, flicking the box lid closed and sliding it into his pocket.

He grasped her arm and apperated them to a place that Selene had never seen before, a cliff-top judging by the faint roar of the sea and the smell of salt on the breeze. Selene jumped backwards when she realised where they were, much like she had done that night on the roof, but Fred caught her again, holding her tightly to him.

"I screwed it up." He said simply. "I wasn't going to apparate here, I promise, but I got distracted."

"It's okay." Selene said quietly, moving her head away to look at Fred. "And there's nothing to screw up Fred."

Fred sighed again, running a hand through his hair and absent-mindedly looking out at the horizon. "I have no idea why I brought you here." He admitted. "I think its somewhere up north, but I'm not sure. I had it all planned out, I'd take you for a meal and everything, Mum agreed to it, everything. So yes, I've screwed it up."

"What do you mean?" Selene asked curiously, moving far enough away so she could kiss him. "Fred, what do you mean?"

"I love you." Fred said suddenly, smashing his lips to hers with such force that Selene's knees gave way. When he pulled away, she was dazed and confused, blinking with wide eyes.

"I love you too." She said slowly, thanking every celestial being that they were completely alone. "But what do you mean? You had it all planned out, what do you mean by that?"

Fred sighed, biting his lip and dropping her hand. "Look." He said simply, his eyes flicking to the horizon. "I'm not often this… jumpy, I guess. But, the simple fact is, there is going to be a war."

"And we might die." Selene finished, in a small voice.

"Oh, you know me!" Fred laughed. "I'm not afraid of death in the slightest. What's the worst it can do? Kill me?"

Selene laughed openly, feeling a little more at ease. "That's not funny." She insisted, shaking her head.

"I'm more worried about… other things." Fred decided upon, ignoring her comment except for a small smile. "Like you, for instance. You'll be joining the Order, right?"

"Only if you don't mind." Selene added in, looking at him quickly. "I know you don't like me walking into the face of danger that much at all."

"I don't mean you can't!" Fred corrected hastily. "Just… be careful, okay? I'm allowed to be worried about you if you do. Is that okay?"

Selene nodded slowly. "Fred, what's the matter?" She asked cautiously, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

Fred looked down at their intertwined hands and nodded, almost to himself, steeling the courage a Gryffindor should have. "Selene." He said, his voice a little higher than he would have preferred. "Look, don't freak out on me. I guess it's good we're on a cliff-top, do feel free to jump off if the need arises."

Selene squeaked at the thought. "That's really not funny." She insisted, going pink. "And I'm not going to freak out on you. What's the matter?"

He pushed one hand into his pocket, finding the small box he'd had on his person since the very beginning of the school year, just there, in his pocket. Waiting. It wasn't the first time the question had been on his tongue, but it was definitely the best time out of the ones he could have gone for. Especially as asking this in the middle of a DA lesson definitely wouldn't be good in the long term. "Selene Narcissa Malfoy." He said slowly, pulling the box out and keeping it covered by his hand. "From the moment I met you, I knew you weren't just like any other girl I'd met. For one thing, I hated you more than I probably should have."

Selene laughed nervously, pushing her hair out of her face. "Won't George be worried?" She asked quickly.

"He knows." Fred said quickly, taking her aback. "We've been planning this since September, but it's been on my mind since Cedric died. But anyway. Selene, I have no idea why you love me, and I'm amazingly lucky to have you. You've supported me through everything, from our joke shop to just normal, everyday life. I know you trust me a whole lot more than you should do, and that you're probably clever enough to have worked out exactly what I'm asking of you and just ignoring my every word."

"Fred?"

Fred looked up. "Yes?"

"You're rambling again." Selene smiled, a little confused but pleased all the same.

"Okay." Fred realised, and shook his head. "I'll cut to the chase then."

He got down on one knee, and Selene's hands went to her mouth. No. He wasn't… surely, no…

"Selene Narcissa Malfoy." He said, his face a mask of perfect sincerity. "Would you please do me the utmost pleasure of marrying me and becoming my wife?"

There was silence. Then Selene opened her mouth, and quietly, but surely, said the word, the only one that mattered.

"…Yes."