I woke up the next morning with a clear head and was hell-bent on talking to Fred.

Every time I looked at the ring, I was reminded of how weird things still were between us, and while it was a beautiful gift and a lovely gesture, it still didn't change anything. If he was going to give me a gift and I was going to keep it, we needed to resolve things. We at least needed to try.

I pulled on my dressing gown and wandered over to the door to head down for breakfast. When I flung it open, Fred was already standing there. His hair was sticking up in a million places and he wore his green Weasley jumper that his mother made him for Christmas. He rarely wore green, but he really did look brilliant in it.

"Er, hi," he said. "You sleep okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, pushing my hair out of my face with my ring-adorned hand. "Did you?"

"I did," he said, his eyes darting over to my hand and to the ring. "I see you saw the, er, the box I left?"

I looked down at my hands, realizing that he'd seen the ring on me already. I nodded, then opened the door wider to invite him in. He did and crossed the room to sit on my unmade bed gingerly. I turned on my heel to face him and leaned against the door, cocking my head.

"Cass, I- "

"Freddie, it's beautiful," I began. It was the truth. "It's probably one of the nicest things anyone's ever gotten me. But not for anything, a nice gift isn't a substitute for an apology and a real conversation."

"That's not why I did it," he said quickly, running his hands through his hair exasperatedly. "I wasn't even planning on giving it to you last night. I just…I wanted it to be a surprise, but after I said I didn't get you anything, I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten you."

"That's a nice thought, but you not getting me a Christmas gift isn't why I thought you'd forgotten me," I snapped.

"Cass, I'm really, really sorry!" he pleaded. "Look, this really hasn't been an easy two weeks. With Dad and everything going on with us and Percy at Christmas and- "

"And Daniel?" I asked. That was probably a petty thing to do, bringing up our exchange in the hospital, but I didn't even think about it in the moment. Fred's expression changed – almost softened – at the mention of his name. He shook his head fervently.

"No, not Daniel," he said finally. "I don't care about that. I know he helped save Dad and he…well, I know he means a lot to you. I know that. I just…yesterday wasn't just Christmas, you know?"

"What does that mean?" I snapped again. I felt guilty for doing it, but I couldn't stop. Fred was not going to weasel his way out of making things right with a gift, no matter how perfect it was. He looked around the room wildly, and his eyes finally landed on the dresser, where the photograph was sitting neatly inside the box. He picked it up and turned it over, handing it to me as he stood up.

"I'm guessing that means you didn't read the back," he said. I took the image from his hands and flipped it over to the back, where Fred's messy handwriting in black ink was smudged across the white film.

Cass –

When I first saw this photograph, I thought about how I wanted to live in it forever. After every minute I've spent with you, I now know that I always have been.

Happy one year anniversary.

Love,

Freddie

My eyes involuntarily welled up when I remembered that exactly one year ago, we were at the Yule Ball. Seeing each other from across the crowded entrance hall, waltzing in front of my scowling brother; dancing in the Astronomy Tower and saying those three perfect, terrifying words; how the next morning we woke up in each other's arms after eight hours of rest, blissfully unaware of the course our lives would take in the next year.

"I couldn't help it," he said quietly. "I was going to wait until we'd made up, but then when I was getting dressed yesterday, out of nowhere, I remembered where we were a year ago, and…well, I dunno, it seemed like the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do?" I said, my voice growing louder. "THE RIGHT THING TO DO?!"

"Cass, please- "

"Fred, like everything else you do for me, it's bloody perfect," I said, wiping my eyes and throwing my hands up in the air exasperatedly. "I really thought you forgot about me, though. I thought you decided you didn't love me anymore and were just…ignoring me until I insisted on a declaration of hate. The least you could do is not deny me the way that I've been feeling."

"Of course not! I know, Cass, and I feel awful about it!" he exclaimed. "Believe me when I tell you that there wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't thinking about you and missing you and worrying about you, among other bloody things. I just…"

I stood there and studied his face. Clearly, we were getting nowhere, but probably because there was nowhere left to go. I couldn't possibly imagine what he was going through at Hogwarts, but he also couldn't imagine how I felt when his letters went unanswered and returned. The answer was simple, though; six months ago, he begged me to open up to him after Cedric's death. Now, it seemed that I was fated to do the same.

"Look, Fred," I began, rubbing my temple with one hand and gingerly reaching out to take his other one, the scarred one. "I don't want there to be any secrets with us. We'll find a way to stay in touch when you're back at school, but I don't want you keeping things from me. We already know how that ends up. 'You've got to let me all the way in', remember?"

I squeezed his hand and rubbed my thumb over his scar as I finished speaking. His shoulders dropped, relief washing over him as he squeezed my hand back. Whatever happened, we would find our way. I was going to take him at his word for now, but it was going to take some work on both our parts to make things completely right again.

I squeezed his hand one more time, then brought it to my lips and giving his knuckles a quick kiss. He smirked, his freckled nose and cheeks turned pink. I gave another small smile and dropped his hand.

"You better go down, they're going to wonder where you are," I said, walking over to the door to grab my dressing gown and let him out of my room. "I'll be out in a minute."

He nodded, striding forward to go. Before he was completely out the door, standing in the threshold between my room and the hallway outside, he turned to me and really looked at me, his eyes locked on mine, the lights of my room dancing in his golden-brown irises.

God, those eyes.

"Me, not love you anymore?" he whispered softly, shaking his head slightly and smirking. "You know that's bloody impossible, don't you, Malfoy?"

While the day after Christmas was the Muggle bank holiday, the tradition of having the day off trickled down into the wizarding world as the population of half-blood and Muggle-born families grew. While everyone else, Mrs. Weasley included, was having a relaxing afternoon, followed by an evening visit to Mr. Weasley, I was going into Diagon Alley to exchange Christmas gifts with Clo and Francis.

When I reached the Leaky Cauldron (one of the only shops open in Diagon Alley that day), I saw my friends huddled in our usual corner table, right next to the bar. Clo waved wildly to me, her smile bright, maroon jumper looking pristine, and curly hair pinned back with a moonstone pin. Next to her, Francis, who was clearly nursing a hangover, leaned back in their chair, their ring-laden, tattooed hands running through their hair lazily.

"Ah, you're finally here!" Clo said, getting up to give me a hug and kiss on the cheek in greeting. "Francis is still barely in the land of the living, and I must admit, I'm surprised you are, too."

"Yeah, well, I haven't had much time for wild parties like some of us," I chided, handing Clo a small, rectangular package wrapped in red paper. I handed Francis another one, this one wrapped in gold and green. "You have a good holiday, Frans?"

"Julius and I spent the day together," they said, leaning forward and wincing. "We started drinking around noon – we broke into a special batch of elf-made wine from Italy – then had Christmas lunch, then ended the night at the Gray Room, with a whole manner of Christmas cocktails and drugs to intoxicate the entire wizarding population."

"Oh, so you had a good Christmas, then?" I asked, laughing between words. Francis rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, I'd say so. What about yours? How's your family? Did you see Andy and Ted at all?" Francis asked, tearing into the package I'd only just given them. Their eyes widened as the paper fell off and the contents revealed.

"Blimey, Cass! This is…god, it's beautiful! Thank you so much!"

I beamed as Francis admired "Ode to Aphrodite," which I'd paid a Muggle artist to hand-letter in forest green ink onto a piece of parchment, which I then laid in a gold frame. While Francis's specialty was magical history, they did love ancient Greek and Roman poetry, and could even read quite a bit of ancient Greek too.

"I know the poem's lost for the most part, so those are the bits that were…well, not lost," I said, leaning down to give my friend a hug. "I'm really glad you love it, Frans."

"It'll look perfect on your walls, Frans," Clo added, admiring the moon shaped, blue topaz encrusted hairpin I'd picked out for her. "Cass, you really have outdone yourself. I'm a bit nervous about what I got, aren't you, Frans?"

"Clo, your gift is beyond perfect. I, however, have been put to shame," Francis joked, sliding a small velvet pouch across the table to me, along with a box from Clo. I picked up the velvet pouch from Francis and thrust my hand inside, pulling out a thin gold necklace with an almost W-shape across the middle, inlaid with tiny blue stones.

"It's goblin-made," Francis explained. "Julius helped me pick it out. It's- "

"It's Cassiopeia," I said, recognizing my celestial namesake immediately. "It's me. And it's stunning. Francis, it's…Merlin, I think I might cry, thank you so much!"

"Yeah, well, what are friends for, if not wild nights and lavish gifts?" Francis proclaimed, leaning in to give me another hug. "Happy Christmas, Cass."

"Alright, now do mine!" Clo exclaimed again, her smile stretching across her whole face as I tore the paper off the box. I lifted the top of the box to reveal a dress that Clo no doubt made herself. It was almost identical to the dress she'd lent me on our night out – a minidress with a flared skirt and cutouts around the neck – but it was baby blue and made from a crushed velvet that looked and felt expensive.

"Well, are you going to pick your jaw up off the floor?" Clo joked when she saw my expression upon opening the box. "The dress you wore that fateful night fit you like a glove. I took the measurements from that and…well, here you are! I know dark green and black are your colors, but when it turns to spring, you'll want some lighter colors in the mix, no?"

I was still speechless. Over the last year, my wardrobe consisted of clothes I'd nicked from the shops in the summer and anything I thrifted on my nightly adventures with Tonks. This was, aside from my Yule Ball gown, the only nice thing I owned. I was stunned and grateful and completely in awe of my friend's raw talent and kindness that all I could do was get up and wrap her in a very tight hug.

"Thank you, Clo," I whispered. "It's perfect and so are you."

"Don't I know it," she said playfully. "Merry Christmas, mon amie."

"Now before we actually get to the drinking bit of this visit, there are more pressing matters at hand," Francis cut in, leaning back in the booth and staring me down for a moment or two. "Did he get you anything?"

In response, I simply stuck my middle finger up at them to show off the gold snake ring. Francis's jaw dropped, feigning anger at the seemingly rude gesture I was making, but Clo quickly saw what adorned my finger and snatched my hand, bringing it close to her face to examine the ring.

"He got this for you?!" she exclaimed. "But I thought you said- "

"He and his brother came into some money last July," I explained, keeping the details of Harry's gift to them to a minimum. "They're using part of it to possibly buy a vacant storefront in Diagon Alley for their joke shop, but I guess he used the rest to buy the ring? I dunno. All I know is that it's gorgeous and that we talked today and…well, we're trying, I guess. He's trying."

Clo and Francis exchanged looks, then Clo grabbed my hand again to look at the ring. Francis grabbed my hand from her to look, their eyebrows raised at the ornate details and emerald eye of the snake.

"Did he saw why he chose an expensive piece of jewelry as a Christmas gift?" they prodded. "Was it an alternative to an actual apology?"

"No! No, Godrick, no…Christmas is, well, it's technically our anniversary, I reckon. At the Yule Ball, if you went to that, Clo? That's the night we...well, it's when we first said we loved each other. It was more an anniversary gift than a Christmas gift. And besides, I completely forgot about it, so it was a complete surprise, and it really was sweet! Like I said, we talked and we're trying to get through all this. It's probably going to be hard, but I think we can do it."

I could tell they were skeptical, considering how upset I was when I thought he was ignoring me, but I tried my best to explain what was going on without giving too much away. While they were my best friends, Clo and Francis didn't know I was in the Order, they didn't know about the nature of Arthur's attack, and they were also blithely unaware that I was living with my accused mass murderer cousin this entire time. No matter how close we were, there were certain things about me that they couldn't know. I hoped that one day, some day in the not so far future, that could change.

For now, however, it meant we could do what we did best: fawn over our Christmas gifts, talk about boys (and girls), and act like normal teenagers, for however long this world allowed us to.

Since most of the student body was still at home for the holidays around New Year's Eve, it was never really a big deal at Hogwarts. My parents had parties when I was very small with their Death Eater friends, then more intimate gatherings with what remained of those friends as I got older. Last year, Fred and I just drank Ogden's in my room, listened to music, and fell asleep before midnight. No big deal.

This year was, of course, a bit different. Everyone was staying at Number Twelve until the start of school, and Mr. Weasley had just come back from the hospital, so the celebration would probably be a bit more exciting than if it was just Sirius, Remus, and I. Mrs. Weasley and I both insisted on having another small party of sorts to celebrate both happy occasions, hence the pies, tarts, and plenty of wine and firewhiskey that flowed through the house.

As the clock inched closer to midnight, it became time to get a little dressed up and get ready to celebrate. From my bedroom on the fourth floor, I could hear Ginny and Ron's laughter and Hermione's lilting giggle all the way down in the drawing room, followed by Mrs. Weasley imploring Ron to stop stuffing his face with biscuits.

I stood in front of the mirror and admired the dress Clotilde had made for me; the velvet was incredibly soft, and the color looked nicer on me than I expected. I'd also impulsively cut my own hair an hour ago, and the new fringe across my forehead billowed down into soft, curtain-like bangs of black and blonde around my eyes and cheekbones. As I was arranging my hair hastily, I heard a quick knock at the door.

"Come in!" I said brightly, too focused on my hair to notice Fred standing in the doorframe. When he saw me, I could see that he stopped short, his mouth slightly agape.

"Hi," I breathed, turning ever so slightly to look at him, my cheeks burning when our eyes finally met. He wore a black button-down shirt with short sleeves, black trousers, and his hair was pushed away from his face, the wavy bits sticking out around the nape of his neck. I'd said before and it rang even more true now than it did then: Fred Weasley was born to wear Muggle clothes. He looked…well, he looked perfect.

"I reckon you look better in all-black ensembles than I do, Weasley," I said playfully, walking across the room to grab the serpent ring from my nightstand.

"I don't think you're right about that," he countered, his eye glued to the dress. "You look beautiful, Cass. You really do."

"Thanks, Freddie," I said, not meeting his gaze. I walked back over to the mirror, but he grabbed my hand and caught me completely off-guard before I could make it there. His eyes twinkled and the freckles across his face were even more prominent than usual. He was, right here and now, the most beautiful person in the world. Everything else simply melted away.

"I actually just wanted to come get you," he said quickly. "I think they're going to be counting down soon."

I blinked, slightly taken aback. I was hoping he was coming up here to talk about us; about the year ahead, about what we were going to do, but maybe he was saving that for some secret talk later. Maybe.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," I said, fluffing my hair one final time in the mirror. "Let's head down, shall we?"

He nodded, holding the door open for me as we both jogged down the stairs. Suddenly, Fred stopped short behind me, just a few steps from the bottom and before the drawing room. He beckoned for me to walk back up and stand next to him. I did so, then leaned over the bannister and listened to the conversations happening in the drawing room. I heard Remus and Sirius bickering playfully, the sounds of leftover Christmas crackers being pulled, and the record player spinning The Beach Boys throughout the house.

"It's nice, isn't it?" I asked casually. "Having a big celebration and all. Not just for the new year, but for your dad?"

Fred nodded, a few flame-colored hairs bouncing down onto his forehead. I smirked slightly as he tried to push them away, but I reached up to smooth them back with my index finger carefully. He smiled in relief, his face softening and his eyes twinkling as he looked down at me. The way he was looking at me sent that fiery feeling I always got in my stomach flooding back, the same feeling I always used to get when we first got together.

"You know," he muttered, "I really didn't think you'd actually wear it. The ring, I mean."

"Why not? It's beautiful and I love it," I whispered incredulously. "It reminds me of the pin you wore on your jacket at the Yule Ball."

He smirked, reminiscing on that night and what it meant for us.

"I just thought…I just thought you wouldn't want to wear it because of me, and I didn't get it as a way of apologizing. I know we already talked about it, and I know it's going to take a lot more than that for you to forgive me for going silent on you, but I…I wanted you to have something nice from me. You deserve it. Blimey, I'd buy you a million serpent rings if I could."

I closed my eyes and bit my lip, stifling a giggle. When I opened them, his face was still hard and focused on me. Below us, we heard Mrs. Weasley's above the rest of the noise in the house.

"Alright, it's almost midnight!" she exclaimed.

"Want to go ring it in with them?" I asked. I didn't want to be alone right now. Not with things still completely unresolved still. He nodded, and we scurried down the stairs to find everyone – Molly, Arthur, Sirius, Remus, and the rest – counting down in the drawing room. Fred and I leaned over the bannister and joined in with them.

"TEN!"

"NINE!"

"EIGHT!"

"SEVEN!"

"SIX!"

"FIVE!"

"FOUR!"

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" we all bellowed. Before us, Sirius and Remus embraced, Remus pressing a kiss to Sirius's temple and Arthur lightly kissing his wife's pink cheek. Ginny hugged Harry tightly, then pulled away quickly, hiding her blushing face. Next to them, Hermione threw her arms around Ron's neck jovially, and the look on his face was of pure teenage happiness and surprise. After a few minutes, I heard the piano and saw Mrs. Weasley sitting at it, hands on the keys playing "Auld Lang Syne" and singing aloud.

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?"

As Mrs. Weasley sang, Hermione slid in next to her and started to play a harmony, singing along with her. Sirius and Arthur turned to one another and shook hands, which turned into a very awkward hug, which turned into them raising their glasses and beginning to sing the chorus, the smiles on their faces so wide I thought they might split open.

"For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet
For days of auld lang syne"

After a few minutes, everyone was singing, even Harry. I turned to Fred, who was laughing at his siblings, bellowing the lyrics across the hall to ring in the new year. I looked at him – my golden, glowing boy – and immediately wanted to leave behind my anger and my hurt in the year 1995. Days ago, we agreed that we would find a way to make things work, that everything would be okay. I was determined to follow through on that, to trust him, and to make things different this time. And I wanted to let him know right from the start. Right now.

And so, for the first time in the new year, I turned Fred Weasley's face toward mine and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips. He was shocked, but leaned into the kiss, hands resting ever so lightly on my hips. I could feel him smiling into the kiss, which only made me grin wider and kiss him harder.

"Happy New Year, my darling," I whispered.

"Happy New Year, Cass," he whispered back. "Merlin, I love you so much. You know that don't you?"

I nodded, and it was completely true. He smiled again, another smile of relief and adoration, wrapped his arm tightly around my waist, and led me down the stairs of Grimmauld Place so that we could celebrate the new year together among those we loved most.

"Believe it or not, I really don't want to go back to Hogwarts," Fred said offhandedly. "I mean, what's there for George and me? We bought the storefront, and now we're just biding our time until we can leave and open. Besides, it's not like we have Quidditch or anything else to look forward to."

"You've got the D.A.," I countered, tracing the lines on his palm with my index finger as we lounged around in my room. This became our routine; I would go to work, come back, and after dinner or Order meetings, Fred would Apparate up to my room where we could catch up and have some alone time together. Since tonight was the last night before everyone went back to school, we were savoring out time together more than usual.

"Yeah, I guess that's something," he said listlessly. "That and…well, it's really just that. That and exams. But who cares about those?"

I giggled, continuing to trace his palm and resting my head on his chest. Suddenly, I heard the front door slam and Sirius yelling at someone. I didn't think much of it; as the days went on and everyone's last day at Number Twelve was drawing near, he reverted to the sullen man I knew before Arthur's attack. I knew he would miss the newfound life in the house, but he would probably miss having Harry around the most.

"Who's he screaming at this time?" Fred muttered, hopping up from his spot to press his ear up against the door. I followed and sidled up next to him, bumping him slightly with my hip.

"It might be Order stuff," I said, opening the door ever so slightly to let myself out. "I'll be back in a few. Wait for me, alright?"

"Done," he whispered, leaning back on the bed and wiggling his brows at me. I jogged down to the third-floor landing before the stairs to the second floor and leaning over as far as I could without falling. After a few minutes, I heard voices again.

"You know, I'd much prefer if you didn't give me orders in my own house, Snape," Sirius snapped. Judging from the squeaking sound that followed, I could tell he was leaning the chair back on two legs, a thing he did whenever he was feeling particularly rebellious or indifferent to whomever was speaking to him.

"I was supposed to see you alone, Potter," Snape drawled in his usual monotone, "But given that your godfather insisted on being here…"

"What the bloody hell does Snape want with Harry?" I muttered to myself. Remembering my last standoff with Snape in the kitchen, it took everything in me not to race down there and ask what the hell was going on. Harry didn't need to be terrorized more than normal when he got back to school, especially not by Snape.

"Sirius, I am sure you feel – ah – frustrated, shall we say, that you can do nothing…useful, for the Order," Snape continued. I almost tore down the stairs when I heard that, but remained at the top of the stairs, merely listening and out of sight.

"The headmaster has sent me, Potter, to tell you that it is his wish that you study Occlumency this year."

My stomach dropped as Snape said the words. Occlumency was an intense and highly difficult form of magic, a defense of your mind against external forces. It was obscure and difficult to master, but I'd managed to do it by the time I was fifteen – the circumstances under which I lived made it essential for my own sanity and the safety of those I knew. If Harry had to study it, it was probably because he – or his thoughts, rather – were in grave danger.

"Who's going to be teaching me?" Harry said, his voice low and slow and nervous.

"Me," Snape drawled. In my mind's eye, I could see his thick brows arching as he looked down at Harry like he was nothing more than a bug on the carpet he wanted to crush.

"Hang on just one minute," Sirius cut in, his tone cutting through the silence like a knife. "If I hear you're giving these lessons just so you can give Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."

"How very touching of you, Sirius. Surely you've noticed Potter is quite like his father?" Snape countered.

"I have," said Sirius.

"Well, then you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off of him," Snape said simply.

That was it. I sprinted down the stairs as fast as my feet would carry me, my hand on my wand, ready to have it out with Snape again, but I stopped short at the foot of the stairs. Sirius, who was standing up and squared up to fight, saw me at the end of the hall and locked eyes with me, his gaze telling me to stay put. Cooler heads head to prevail, and it seemed that mine had been singled out as the coolest of all.

"I've warned you, Snivellus," yelled Sirius. "I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better —"

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" whispered Snape. "Or are you afraid he might not take the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months very seriously?"

"How is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he? Told him anything else about his daughter lately?"

"Speaking of dogs, you know that Lucius Malfoy recognized you and the girl last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform…gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in future, didn't it?"

Sirius raised his wand and I raised mine at the other end of the hall. To hell with cooler heads.

"NO!" Harry yelled, trying to get between them "Sirius, don't!"

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A COWARD?!" Sirius spat in Snape's face.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," Snape said coolly, almost mockingly.

"HARRY – STAY – OUT – OF IT!" Sirius said through gritted teeth, trying to push Harry out of the way. Before anyone could cast a spell, the Weasley parents, kids, and Hermione, all wandered in from the drawing room, happily chatting until they saw Sirius and Snape with their wands raised and Harry trying to get between them.

"Merlin's beard," said Mr. Weasley, the smile sliding off his face, "what's going on here?"

Snape put his wand down and turned back to Harry, glaring at him once more.

"Six o'clock Monday, Potter," he growled.

And with that, he turned on his heel, pushed past the completely befuddled Weasley's, and was out of sight.

During dinner, it was like no one had even witnessed the awkward, almost violent, exchange between Snape and Sirius. Between giggling with the twins and trying to chat with Sirius (who was brooding nonstop at the table), we were trying to act as normal as possible. Even though I wasn't supposed to know about Harry's Occlumency lessons, I wanted to talk to him about it and give him a few tips and words of warning. Occlumency could be draining and incredibly invasive to learn; he needed to be prepared for what he was up against, especially if Snape was to be his teacher.

After dinner, I ended up following Harry up to his room, having convinced Ron to stay out of the way for just a few minutes. I knocked on the door softly and opened it ever so slightly, peering in at Harry packing his trunk.

"Can I have a word?" I asked carefully.

He nodded, and I invited myself in, giving a small, sympathetic smile. He looked nervous, more nervous than usual, his face pale and the back of his right hand the same angry red as Fred's. Poor kid.

"I know I wasn't supposed to hear what happened down there- "

"You can't tell anyone," he said quickly. "I told Ron and Hermione, but Snape can't know I told you."

"Your secret's safe with me, Potter," I said, making a zipping motion over my lips. "But I wanted to tell you a bit about Occlumency before you get into the practice of it. I've learned it, and it's difficult work. It can be invasive, and it can be…well, it can be traumatic."

"Good thing I'm familiar with 'invasive and traumatic,' then, I guess," he muttered. I rolled my eyes but continued.

"All I'm saying is that if Snape's going to be invading your thoughts under the guise of helping you, you need to be prepared," I explained. "I'm with Sirius; I don't care how many times Snape says he's reformed, I don't believe it. Neither should you.

"Alright, then what do I need to know?" Harry asked. His face was expressionless, but by the tone of his voice, I could tell he was desperate and thankful that someone was offering him tangible help. I sat down on his bed next to him and began rattling off things that helped me when I was a teen and trying to close my mind off from my mother and father, who insisted on using the practice to get me to spill my teenage secrets.

I never told anyone this, not even Fred, but it was my inability to effectively close my mind that led to my father's discovery of Daniel and me. My mother first tried to read my thoughts and I let my guard slip for a second; she saw a memory of our first kiss and him saying 'I love you' to me on the platform. She told me that she wouldn't tell him, but she did. Days later, he intercepted my letter…and here we were.

"You can't let your emotions give you away when you're in there. You've got to be a stone wall. That's the most important part. Once you get better, you'll be able to suppress your thoughts, memories, and other things, but it's the emotions that are key. He can't get to you if you put up an impenetrable mental wall."

"Right, stone wall. Got it," Harry said with a quick nod. I held up my hand. I wasn't done.

"I'm sure you've got a lot going on back at school," I continued. "With being banned from Quidditch and dealing with the D.A. and that…woman, and other things. But you have to leave all that at the door. Snape doesn't really care about seeing all that stuff, but if someone else…someone more dangerous, can see the people and things you care about, and that you care about them, that's where the danger lies. Does that make sense?"

He blinked, then nodded. That was the nice thing about talking to Harry; we didn't need to say much to each other, but we usually understood one another perfectly. When we first met, part of me wanted to be kind to him as a way of making up for all Draco's cruelty. Now, I just wanted to help the kid out. He really needed it.

"Cass?" he asked as I stood up to go. I whipped around, eyebrows raised and waiting for a response.

"Thanks," he said softly. "Means a lot."

My face softened into a smile. I knew he meant it.

"Stone wall, Potter. Stone. Wall."

As I shut the door to his room, I managed to catch Sirius going up the stairs. I spent dinner thinking about ways that Fred and I could stay in touch during these last few months of school since letters were out of the question when I remembered a secret Sirius had told me a few weeks back.

"It's a two-way mirror," he explained, turning the silver hand mirror over in his hands. "I had this one, and Harry's dad had the other one when we were his age. We'd use them when we were in separate detentions. Figured this might be a safer means of communicating with Harry when he's at school since the post and fireplaces are being watched and all."

"SIRIUS!" I hissed. He turned around, black hair flying behind him. I stepped up on the stairs next to him, leaning back on the bannister and checking to make sure Harry's door was shut. "You haven't given him your gift yet, have you? The mirror?"

"No, not yet" he said quietly, looking around just as I had. "I'll give it to him before he leaves tomorrow, hopefully I can catch him alone."

"Great, er, I've actually got a question about that," I said quickly. "How'd you come by it? Did you, like, buy it somewhere? Was it an heirloom? How'd you manage it?"

"Back then, we could just buy them, I believe," he said, furrowing his brow at me as we wandered up the stairs. "I think I probably stole both at the old Diagon Alley Junk Shop. They'd sort of already fallen out of fashion by that time, so I don't know where you'd be able to buy one."

"That's alright," I said, trying not to sound deflated. "I found two at the charity shop, and I was hoping I could find a way to charm them so that Fred and I could talk while he's at school…"

"Well, I believe they're charmed with some kind of variation of a Protean Charm," Sirius continued. "I take it you know how to perform one of those? If you can do that, I think you might be able to make it work."

Before he could say anything else, I took off to my bedroom to grab the two matching gold hand mirrors I'd bought at the shops the day after Christmas. I hadn't done a Protean Charm in years, but thankfully, I knew someone in the house who had plenty of experience with them.

I ran back down to the first floor and hastily knocked on the door right next to the drawing room. All of a sudden, it flew open and a few locks of coily dark hair nearly hit me in the face.

"Hermione!" I said brightly, trying my best to hide my desperation. "Got a few minutes?"

After staying up almost all night working on the Protean Charm with Hermione, we successfully charmed both mirrors. All I had to do was give Fred his and pray that they worked when we needed them to. Since I wasn't going to be able to escort them to the platform this time, Fred and I would hopefully be saying goodbye here, alone.

As I was getting dressed for work, I heard a brief knock on the door, and Fred appeared, clad in his forest green Christmas jumper. Melancholy washed over me as I remembered that he was here to say goodbye.

"Is this it?" he asked sadly. I got up to greet him, adjusting my work robes as I walked.

"Seems that way," I said. "I do have something for you, though."

"Finally got me a Christmas present, eh?" he asked playfully, snaking his arm around my waist as I wandered over to my dresser where the mirrors lay. I picked both up and handed his to him. His brows furrowed as he ran his fingers over the gold handle and stared at his reflection within.

"I charmed these last night," I explained. "With a bit of help from Sirius and Hermione, if you can believe such a thing. If you say my name into that mirror, I'll appear in yours. This way, we can talk to each other without that ghoulish woman at Hogwarts finding out. It's bound to be safer than the post, I reckon."

"Bloody hell, Malfoy, you did this for me?" he asked, genuinely impressed. I rolled my eyes and kissed his hand quickly.

"I'd do anything for you, and you know it. Now, let's try it out. Say my name into yours and see what happens."

He nodded and held his mirror up at eye level. He cleared his throat and eyed it carefully.

"Cassiopeia Malfoy," he said proudly. Suddenly, I saw his eyebrows shoot up, his eyes darting from the mirror over to me and back again. "Cass, I can see you in this!"

I laughed out loud as his freckled face appeared in my mirror. We did it, I thought. It worked. We're going to be alright.

"There! Now you have no excuse not to talk to me these next few months," I chided playfully. His face hardened when I brought that up. Even after we'd made up, he still felt guilty about the whole thing.

"Cass, I'm not going to make the same mistakes this time," he said. "I'll have you in my pocket all the time, and I'll be able to talk to you any chance I get. I promise you won't feel forgotten, not again. Not ever."

"Well, I wouldn't suggest having me 'in your pocket,' as you said, I'd actually suggest hiding it somewhere that it can't slip out and be found," I suggested. "Just keep it safe, alright? As clever as it is and as happy I am that it works, we don't want it falling into the wrong hands."

He nodded, gripping the mirror in his right hand and wrapping his left behind my head to kiss me. I was going to miss Fred's kisses; over the last few weeks, they'd simultaneously gotten softer and stronger, like he really didn't want to let me know. This time, I didn't have to worry about him not loving me. I was certain that he did.

"Alright, you've got to go and I'm going to be late for work," I said. "Meet me at the bottom in ten seconds? For old time's sake?"

He smirked, swopped down to plant a fleeting kiss on my cheek, then turned on his heel and vanished into thin air. I grabbed my cloak and did the same, bumping into him at the foot of the stairs, along with everyone else.

"Alright, this is where I leave you all!" I exclaimed, making my rounds across the breakfast table to give George, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry hugs goodbye. When I wrapped my arms around Harry, I made sure to whisper 'stone wall' in his ear, which he slightly smirked at, giving me a knowing glance. I gave Remus and Tonks, who were escorting the group to the train, hugs goodbye, then said my farewells to Molly and Arthur.

"You stay out of trouble, alright?" Molly said, helping me pin a hair back behind my hair.

"I promise I will, Mrs. Weasley," I said. "I'll see you soon!"

As I dashed toward the door, I saw Fred waiting for me. Even in the low lights of the foyer at nine in the morning, he still glowed. That golden, glowing boy.

"You be safe this term, alright?" I whispered, trying my best to hold back tears. "Try and stay out of trouble. And tell me everything that happens. Even if you're scared and feel like you're alone, you're not alone because- "

"Because I have you," he finished, reaching up to hold my face in his hands. "Now you really are always with me, Cass. That's all I'll ever need. Besides, in a few months, I'll be done with school and running the shop and…well, we can start our lives together. That's more than enough to keep me going, don't you think?"

I nodded, reaching up one more time to kiss him goodbye, just as we had on Platform 9 ¾ in September. It was very much the same kiss; my hands tangled in his hair, his thumbs stuck in my belt loops, our lips refusing to part. He was right; in a few short months, we would be starting our lives together, and while things were difficult right now, that thought alone was more than enough to keep me going.

Right now, more than ever, it all became clear: the thought of a life with Fred was everything I needed and more, and I chose right then and there to cling to it, to hold on tight to that thought, that dream, until the day it finally came true.