Forth Book

Mid-November, 1994
Sixth Year

Ara smiled and greeted people as she made her way into the Slytherin common room. She was in a good mood, her and Fred had just had a good laugh.

Upon seeing her little brother sitting by the fireplace, alone, she couldn't help but laugh. Detouring from the route to her dorm, Ara walked up to her brother and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Hey, Drake," Ara kissed the top of Draco's head, "-What are you doing alone?"

She pulled back only to see the boy practically scowling at her.

Ara raised an eyebrow; her smile fell.

"I need to talk to you," Draco muttered while quickly standing up and then very forcefullygrabbing his sister by the arm.

He pulled her out of the common room so aggressively that people couldn't help but stare.

"Draco, cut it out," Ara hissed, "-Wouldyou just tell me what's wrong? Merlin,"

"Are you insane?" Draco asked angrily once he and his sister were somewhat alone.

Ara's eyebrows knit together, she tried to ignore the tightening hand around her arm.

"Draco, you're hurting me, let go of my arm and let's talk about whatever this in a civilized manner," Ara tried to reason, she was very confused by the scenario unfolding.

"This hurts?" Draco tightened his grip, "-If this hurts, imagine how much pain you'd be in if father were to find out about you and Weaselbee,"

Ara's eyes widened.

"Drake-" The blonde began in a hushed tone, only to be cut off.

"Don't Drake me! Just— explain yourself!" Draco snarled, shaking his sister around by the arm.

Something in Ara snapped. Draco was reminding her all too much of their father.

Without thinking, the blonde grabbed her brothers jaw in one hand, rather tightly, and forced him to bend down to her height as she glared at him.

Draco, realizing that he'd royally messed up, quickly dropped his sisters arm.

"Listen to me, little boy, you are fourteen, you are a child, do not pretend like you have any authority over me," Ara hissed, tightening her grip on Draco's jaw, "-I don't know what you think you saw, but I can assure you that nothing justifies your behaviour,"

Ara practically threw Draco's head away from her, and watched as he stumbled back while rubbing his jaw. She matched his angry glare.

"What were you and Weasley doing together by the library?" The boy asked in a low, angry, tone. He knew better than to try grabbing her again.

"We're working on a history project together," Ara said simply, not lying.

Draco chuckled under his breath and shook his head.

"Which class requires you to hide in corners together? Pressing yourself up against the worthless blood traitor like a-"

"Shut up," Ara said lowly, "-You grew a few inches and think you have some say in what I do? If I say it was for a project, it was for a project,"

Draco was a very tall boy now, and suddenly gaining a physical advantage over his older sister had definitely encouraged his already huge superiority complex.

What're you gonna do Ari? Jump to pull on my ear?

"What would father think about this research project?"

"I don't know, but he can take it up with Professor Binns, that is, if his dear son plans on telling him,"

Professor Binns was the Magical History teacher, if worse came to worse, Ara could easily trick the ancient man into believing that he'd given out a project on the Triwizard Tournament.

The class would hate her, but she didn't care.

Draco eyed his sister.

"Ara," He began before sighed deeply and looking away, "-I'm not going to tell him,"

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

"Because I want you to come to your senses!" Draco nearly yelled, "Can't you see how idiotic you are being? Weasley is nothing compared to you! He's not worth the risk with father-"

Ara rolled her eyes.

"I don't care about Lucius, and honestly, neither should you,"

"The ginger fuck is making you stupider by the day,"

Ara said nothing for long time, choosing to glare at her brother instead.

"Do you think it's normal? To be frightened of your own father, Draco?"

"Ara-"

"Because it's not," The blonde shook her head, "-And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll be better off,"

Having had enough of the conversation, Ara turned her heel and stormed off towards the girl dormitories.

Draco was left to contemplate her words alone.

Fred found himself staring at the ceiling above his bed.

She's so cute, fuck.

He was in the dorm, alone.

Fucking Abbot, Flint, and Wood had managed to snag Ara, lucky gits.

Lee was in the common room, entertaining Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet, Fred had seen them when he'd walked in. George was nowhere to be found, which was not unusual as of late.

Ron and Harry were still arguing.

Shit, Ar' wanted me to tell Harry about the tasks.

Fred gently slammed the back of his head against his pillow. He did not feel like looking for the boy.

Perhaps he could tell Ginny to do it? She'd be over the moon about an excuse to talk to Harry.

But I've got to find Gin in order to tell her to find Harry.

Fred groaned and rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face into his pillow.

"I'll tell him later. Ara won't mind, and if she does, who cares?" Fred was thinking out loud.

You care.

"No, I don't,"

Well, at least she'll look extra cute when she gets annoyed with you.

"No! Shut up!"

It's only true.

Fred was quiet for a moment, before beginning to laugh to himself.

I'm really talking to myself, if someone were to hear me I'd have a one way ticket to St. Mungo's.

Fred smiled to himself once more before jumping out of his bed and walking towards his closet.

"I bet she'd visit me if I got sent to St. Mungo's," Fred muttered to himself as he began to pull his Gryffindor sweater off.

Even if daddy dearest said no?

"Especially if daddy dearest said no,"

Fred was pulled back to reality by the sound of shriek-like laughter. He spun around to see who it was coming from.

Ginny stood at the door to his dorm, doubled over in laughter.

"Gin..." Fred said slowly.

"You lot won't believe what I walked in on Fred doing!" The boys little sister yelled, running in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.

"Ginny! Shut up!" Fred screamed, turning a bright shade of red as he ran after her.

"He was talking to himself about being sent to St. Mungo's! And about a girl visiting him! And about-"

"Ginevra, by Godric, if you don't shut up!" Fred yelled, chasing her around the common room shirtless.

"Who's the girl, Fred? Who's got you so in love that you're willing to go to St. Mungo's?" Ginny teased before laughing loudly once more, "-Wait till mum hears!"

Fred managed to tackle his sister, she screamed loudly and continued laughing.

"Do not tell mum, or I'll tell Harry that you're definitely not over your crush on him,"

"Hardly a threat!" Ginny managed to say, "-Besides, anything is worth hearing what mum will say about you getting admitted to St. Mungo's, for a girl!"

Fred did not notice that George was in the common room now, watching the scene while chuckling and exchanging glances with Angelina Johnson.

"-He's such a prick!" Ara ranted, pacing back and forth in front of Fred as he sat at their usual table in the library.

It was Saturday. Which meant no classes and an abnormally empty library.

"-Can you believe him? He's got no right to boss me around! I'm the big sister, after all!"

Fred laughed, watching the girl with a smile.

Ara had avoided telling him about how Draco had manhandled her, otherwise the conversation would be going very differently.

"I guess you'll just have to never speak to me again," Fred shrugged, he pretended to look relieved. The thought did scare him terribly though.

"You wish, Weasley," Ara rolled her eyes at him, Fred shook his head.

"Sit down, Ara," Fred chuckled while patting the chair next to him, "-And try to relax, Malfoy just had a stick up his arse-"

"Hey!" Ara gasped, "-Only I get to say that! And he had much more than a stick up his arse,"

Fred chuckled under his breath and nodded. Ara plopped down beside him and crossed her arms.

"Want me to go get us some breakfast before we continue with our history project?" Fred asked softly, recognizing that Ara was definitely too riled up to have remembered to eat.

"No," Ara pouted, staring ahead and refusing to meet Fred's gaze.

The redhead laughed and reached out to tug a lock of her hair, she snapped her head over to him and glared.

"What should we do then? Because I don't think you're fit to calculate any Arithmetic patterns at the moment," Fred whispered, he pushed the hair he'd pulled back to its place behind Ara's ear.

The blonde eyed him for a moment being sighing and shockingly resting her head on his shoulder.

Fred tried to remain calm.

"I'm not," She admitted, "-But we don't have much time before the first task and I've got to figure out the animal, for Cedric's sake,"

"I think Cedric would much rather you relax for a little,"

Fred could be very convincing when he wanted to be. And due to his convincing nature, Ara and he found themselves wrapped up Harry's invisibility cloak, making their way out of Hogwarts.

"Could you slow down?" Ara whispered softly as they walked towards Hogsmeade, Fred smirked.

"Can't keep up?"

"Considering your one step is like- three of mine, no, I can't," Ara grumbled, Fred laughed and then felt an elbow collide with his stomach.

"Hush, someone will hear us,"

Hogwarts students were allowed to visit Hogsmeade on designated days. Today was not a designated day.

That was why Fred and Ara had to get to Diagon Alley, where it'd be too crowded to notice two out-of-place teenagers.

The only way to get to Diagon Alley from Hogsmeade was with the public Floo in the Three Broomsticks, so Ara and Fred were, as quietly as they could, making their way towards the pub.

"Relax, we're basically out of here," Fred mumbled into the girls ear, Ara smiled softly and rolled her eyes.

"We haven't even gotten into the pub yet,"

"It's literally right there," He was right, the pub was across the street from them, "-We've just got to walk in now,"

Fred could practically feel Ara's giggling vibrate through him; the invisibility cloak, which had nearly awed the blonde into unconsciousness when she first saw it, had them pressed up against each other very tightly.

"You make that sound so easy, Freddie,"

"Because it is, Ar',"

Ara and Fred both knew not to say another word as they stepped into the pub.

It was a busy day, which put them both at ease. They assumed that Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the Three Broomsticks, was less likely to notice something off in her pub that way.

"You've got your Floo Powder?" Fred asked softly.

Ara did not answer, but Fred felt the girl grab his hand and put a small velvet pouch in it.

"Hey!"

The two teenagers froze.

Madam Rosmerta stared at them, as if she could see them.

Ara's breathing hitched.

"Who's there?"

Fred, very slowly, wrapped his hand around Ara's mouth.

Just in case she forgets we aren't supposed to answer.

"Ros, what're ya doin'?" The accented voice of Hagrid, the Care of Magical Creature's professor at Hogwarts, rang through the pub "-There's no one there,"

"My arse there isn't," Rosmerta muttered sarcastically, practically glaring at the two invisible teens.

Ara's hand wrapped around Fred's, so that she was also covering her mouth.

"Have ya lost yur marbles?" Hagrid shook his head, "-I'm still waitin' on my pint, quit starin' at nothin' and serve yur costumers!"

Rosmerta glanced at Hagrid before shaking her head.

"Impatient wanker,"

"Your customer service is shite," Hagrid tsked and the two of them laughed.

Realizing that the pub owner was no longer eyeing them, Fred and Ara quickly made their way towards the Floo.

"Can we do it with the invisibility cloak on?" Ara asked softly, Fred pondered the question for a moment.

"I can't see why not, but we've got to be quick," He whispered into her ear, "-I don't think she'll be as willing to ignore a Floo starting up by itself,"

"Throw the powder in then. I'm ready,"

Fred rolled his eyes and then, with a smile, opened the velvet pouch Ara had previously given him, he quickly threw the silvery powder in it towards the Floo.

"Diagon Alley," The two teens whispered, before throwing themselves into the emerald-green flames of the Floo.

The last thing they heard was Madam Rosmerta's yelling.

Fred had instinctively wrapped his arms around Ara, he held onto her tightly as they travelled through the British Floo Network.

Ara began to feel the cloak slip off of them, Fred was too preoccupied making sure she didn't fly away from him to notice.

What an inconvenience.

While just barely opening her eyes, Ara grabbed the cloak before it slid off her and Fred.

Nearly immediately afterwards, the two teens fell out of the Floo Network.

Breathing heavily, they eyed the area.

They were in the middle of a bustling street in Diagon Alley, next to the public Floo. No one batted an eye at the two teenagers as they passed them.

"Merlin," Ara mumbled, before glancing at Fred, who was smiling widely.

"We did it," The boy said, he looked down at Ara and then the two began laughing.

"Where do you want to go first?" Ara asked happily while folding the invisibility cloak into Fred's school bag.

"Zonko's?" Fred offered, a child-like look on his face.

Ara laughed and nodded. Together, the pair quickly made their way towards the Zonko's location in Diagon Alley.

Zonko's Joke Shop was one of Fred's favourite places, although in recent years he couldn't help but notice the lack of creativity, and quality, coming from the shop.

"Ara, take a look," Fred's outraged voice pulled Ara away from the products hanging off the wall at Zonko's, she had a basket of products Fred had handed to her hanging from her forearm, "-How's a young wizard supposed to get a knack for pranking if they're selling faulty products?"

Ara eyed the lollipop in Fred's hands, and then looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"How's it faulty?" The blonde whispered, Fred's jaw dropped.

"It's an acid pop," Ara gave him a blank look, Fred groaned, "-They're supposed to be lime green, this ones barely forest!"

Ara bit back her smile while listening to the boy whine.

"-I bet it won't even burn a hole through my tongue," Fred pulled off the wrapper and, without warning, shoved the lollipop into his mouth.

Acid pops were, unsurprisingly, veryacidic. So much so that they would usually damage the inside of ones mouth.

"Freddie, stop," Ara gasped, going to grab his hand, "-What if the colour is just wrong? I can't have you walking around with a burned through tongue!"

Fred shook his head and refused to remove the lollipop from his mouth, despite Ara pulling on the stick.

"We haven't even paid for it yet, Fred," Ara whined quietly.

Fred rolled his eyes at her and smirked while refusing to let her take the sucker out of his mouth.

Eventually, Ara's pulling on the lollipop stick had forced Fred's head down beside hers, despite their height difference.

"For Salazar's sake, Freddie, would you please stop sucking on it?" Ara begged softly, Fred chuckled and shook his head.

"Definitely not for Salazar," The boy mumbled through clenched teeth.

"For Godric, then?" Ara offered, Fred, with his mouth still closed, smirked and shook his head.

"For me?"

The boy looked taken aback for a moment, while Ara gave him a pleading look.

Fred opened his mouth, and Ara quickly pulled the lollipop out of it. She gently held the boys chin and looked into his mouth, searching for any acidic burns.

"I told you, no damage done," Fred smirked, Ara rolled her eyes and let his chin go, she then eyed the lollipop in her hand.

Without thinking about it too much, Ara placed the sucker into her own mouth and went back to looking through the rest of the Zonko's products. Her back was turned to the redhead she'd taken the sweet from.

The action left Fred shocked.

What does that mean? Does it mean anything at-

"How old are you two?"

Before Fred could do anything about the blonde taking his candy as her own, one of the employees at Zonko's demanded their attention.

Ara quickly turned around, she and Fred locked eyes.

"Nineteen," They both lied at the same time, praying that the employee would believe them.

"Could I see some identification?"

Ara and Fred snapped their heads over to one another.

"We don't have any on us," The Slytherin of the two said awkwardly, slowly lowering the basket of pranks she'd been holding to the ground.

The employee eyed the two of them suspiciously, Fred slowly edged closer to Ara and grabbed her hand.

"I'm going to have to ask you two to wait-"

Without warning, Fred booked it towards the shop exit, dragging Ara along with him. The employee ran after them.

"Wait," Ara gasped as Fred attempted to pull her away.

"Wait?" Fred hissed, turning his head to see her place a single galleon onto one of the shelves.

"Sorry about the acid pop!" Ara yelled over her shoulder as she allowed Fred to pull her away again.

"Was that really necessary?" The redhead asked, running through the crowds in Diagon Alley.

"We're not thieves, Freddie, I thought Gryffindor's were supposed to be honourable,"

Fred couldn't help but laugh as he pulled Ara into a very small alley, so small that his chest was forced to press against hers. Looking down at the blonde, Fred noticed that she was still sucking on his lollipop.

"Give me that," The boy whispered jokingly, quickly taking the faulty acid pop, which tasted like a normal candy, out of Ara's mouth and plopping it into his own.

The blonde eyed him, unsure as to why the act had been so... intriguing.

Fred was unaware of the near hungry look Ara was giving him as he peered out of the alley cautiously.

What if I just-

"No way," The boy gasped, quickly pulling the girl across from him deeper into the alley, and back to reality, "-They called the Law Enforcement Patrol on us!"

Ara's eyes widened and she quickly expelled the thoughts about how good Fred looked from her mind.

"What?!"

"Hush," Fred snapped, covering the girl's mouth and looking towards the main road from their secluded spot.

Ara glared at the boy in front of her, but turned her head slightly to watch with him.

In that moment, about three Patrol Officers ran past the alleyway, yelling to each other about 'two teenagers'.

Fred waited a few more moments before removing his hand from Ara's mouth, he continued to eye the main road.

"We can't get arrested," He mumbled, "-Mum'll kill me,"

"You don't say?" Ara asked sarcastically, to which the redhead in front of her smiled sheepishly.

"I assume daddy dearest wouldn't be too happy either?"

Ara rolled her eyes and smiled.

"What do we do now?"

Fred weighed out their options in his head.

"We can't stay here, they're looking for us, can't hang around Hogsmeade either, so it's either back to Hogwarts, or..."

He trailed off, and then glanced down at Ara, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Or?"

"Muggle London,"

Ara was quiet for a moment.

"I've never been to muggle London,"

Fred smiled down at the blonde smugly.

"I've been loads of times,"

"So, you won't get us lost then?" Ara asked, nearly mischievously.

"Wouldn't dream of it,"

as you guys have probably already heard, Helen McRory, or in other words Narcissa Malfoy, passed away this friday. im usually not very affected by celebrity deaths because im just not that type of person, but something about Helen's passing really hit me. she was so talented and the portrayed all her roles perfectly, may she rest in peace.

on a lighter note, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter. it is incisively long, sorry about that lol! anyway, leave a review if you'd like (means the world to me) and have an amazing day! i love you all so much, bye!