A/N: Quick warning for explicit content towards the latter half of this chapter. Now you know, so proceed with caution. Enjoy!
The moment Fudge had disappeared, Dumbledore turned to look at the rest of them, a severe look on his lined face. "There is work to be done," he said bracingly, and Winona knew nothing had ever been more true.
They'd gone over the precipice Winona had foreseen, and now they were on the other side of things. They were now, and would for evermore be, living in the after.
"Molly, am I right in thinking that I can count on you and Arthur?" Dumbledore asked Mrs Weasley, blue eyes both intent and hopeful.
"Of course you can," she said immediately. "We know what Fudge is. It's Arthur's fondness for Muggles that has held him back at the Ministry all these years. Fudge thinks he lacks proper wizarding pride."
"Then I need to send a message to Arthur," said Dumbledore. "All those that we can persuade of the truth must be notified immediately, and he is well placed to contact those at the Ministry who are not as shortsighted as Cornelius."
"I'll go to Dad," offered Bill, speaking for the first time since Winona had woken up, standing to his feet and meeting Dumbledore's eye. "I'll go now."
"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Tell him what has happened. Tell him I will be in direct contact with him shortly. He will need to be discreet, however. If Fudge thinks I am interfering at the Ministry-"
"Leave it to me," said Bill.
He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder and kissed his mother on the cheek. He waved to Winona and his brothers, and while Winona wanted to leave her place beside Fred and pull the eldest Weasley sibling into the tightest damn hug he'd ever been given in his life, she was still too weak, so she settled for pinning him with her most imploring stare. "Be safe, Bill," she begged him.
"Of course I will," he replied cheerfully. "I've got a wedding to get to, remember?"
Nobody else understood what that meant, and Mrs Weasley made a sound of frustrated confusion, but to Winona it was loud and clear. She smiled at him with as much strength as she could muster, then watched as he left the room without looking back.
"Minerva," said Dumbledore, "I want to see Hagrid in my office as soon as possible. Also – if she will consent to come – Madame Maxime."
Professor McGonagall nodded and left without a word.
"Poppy," Dumbledore said, turning to their school's medi-witch, "would you be very kind and go down to Professor Moody's office, where I think you will find a house-elf called Winky in considerable distress? Do what you can for her, and take her back to the kitchens. I think Dobby will look after her for us."
"Very – very well," Madam Pomfrey seemed startled, but she too did as she was told.
Once the door was closed, sealing them all inside the privacy of the hospital wing, Dumbledore turned to the dog still half-hidden beneath Harry's bed. "And now it is time for two of our number to recognise each other for what they are. Sirius … if you could resume your usual form."
Sirius went from dog to person in the blink of an eye. Winona flinched when Mrs Weasley suddenly shrieked, "Sirius Black!" in a voice of stark terror.
"Mrs Weasley, it's okay," Winona assured her. "He's not going to hurt anyone."
"Him!" snarled Snape before Mrs Weasley could ask any of the thousand or so questions sitting ready on her tongue. "What is he doing here?"
"He is here at my invitation," said Dumbledore, looking between them sternly, "as are you, Severus. I trust you both. It is time for you to lay aside your old differences and trust each other."
Judging by the looks of utter loathing on their faces, Dumbledore was asking the impossible. But if anyone could pull off a miracle, Winona decided it would probably be Dumbledore.
"I will settle, in the short term," said Dumbledore impatiently, "for a lack of open hostility. You will shake hands. You are on the same side now. Time is short, and unless the few of us who know the truth do not stand united, there is no hope for any of us."
Sirius and Snape very reluctantly shook hands, letting go after the shortest possible amount of time. Winona nearly smirked when Sirius wiped his hand on his trousers. She wasn't sure what their issues were, but she could tell they ran deep.
"That will do to be going on with. Now, I have work for each of you. Fudge's attitude, though not unexpected, changes everything. Severus," said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, "you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready … if you are prepared…"
"I am," said Snape, steely and hard.
All Dumbledore did was nod. "Then good luck."
Snape left the room at once, robes billowing out behind him. Winona didn't know what his task was to be, but she hoped whatever it was meant she wouldn't have to see him for a very long, long time.
"Sirius," Dumbledore continued, businesslike, "I need you to set off at once. You are to alert Remus Lupin, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher – the old crowd. Lie low at Lupin's for a while; I will contact you there."
"But-" argued Harry and Winona at the same time. They'd only just got him back – Winona wanted to talk with him more. About what had happened tonight, about the distant past, about what great plans Voldemort seemed to be cooking up that included, for some reason, her.
But when Sirius turned to look at them it was with regret in his eyes, and Winona knew he was going to be leaving them again no matter what they said to try and sway him otherwise. Only hopefully, she thought, not for so long this time. "You'll both see me very soon," Sirius assured them. "I promise. But I must do what I can. You understand, don't you?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Yeah … of course I do."
He turned to his daughter expectantly, and Winona was horrified to find her eyes stinging with tears again. When would they stop? "I wanted more time… I thought that over this summer…" she trailed off, the words too painful to say.
Sirius took her hands in his, holding tight. His warm, rough skin was grounding, helping her keep the tears at bay. "I have a plan," he promised her again. "I have to do this first – I must – but we'll be reunited soon."
"What plan?" she asked around the traitorous lump in her throat.
Sirius smiled. "You'll see," he said, bringing her in for a quick embrace. She clung to him tightly, wondering if this was how it always made you feel to be hugged by your dad – small and safe and completely protected. "Soon, Pup," he promised her, pulling back to brush a kiss to her forehead before stepping away and transforming back into his Animagus form at once.
He ran the length of the room to the door, turning the handle with a skilled paw. Then he was gone, disappeared like smoke in the wind. And Winona felt unexpectedly empty. Just as she was sure she was going to cry again, her hand was swept up in another's and she looked over to see Fred beside her, sweet concern on his face.
"I must go downstairs," said Dumbledore quietly. "I must see the Diggorys. Harry, take the rest of your potion. I will see all of you later."
Then he left them, too, and the four Weasleys, Harry, Winona and Hermione were left alone in the hospital wing. Mrs Weasley cleared her throat. "You've got to take the rest of your potion, Harry," she said softly. Her hand nudged the sack of gold on his bedside cabinet as she reached for the bottle and the goblet. "You have a good long sleep. Try and think about something else for a while … think about what you're going to buy with your winnings!" she was trying so hard to sound cheerful, but she wasn't fooling any of them, least of all Harry.
"I don't want that gold," her cousin said flatly. "You have it. Anyone can have it. I shouldn't have won it. It should've been Cedric's."
Winona watched, silent, as Harry's eyes turned glassy and crinkled with pain. "It wasn't your fault, Harry," Mrs Weasley whispered.
But Harry wasn't listening. "I told him to take the cup with me," was all he said, but it was all he needed to say. Mrs Weasley pulled him into a tight hug.
Winona looked at Fred and George, both of them looking concerned. She opened her mouth to speak, but she had no idea what she was going to say. She couldn't be bothered pretending she was okay, but she was too broken to talk about how broken she felt. It was a disconcerting irony.
There was a loud slamming noise and Winona gave a violent flinch. Hermione was stood by the window, holding something tight in her hand.
"Sorry," she whispered, cheeks pink.
"Your potion, Harry," said Mrs Weasley as she wiped the tears from her face.
Harry took the rest of his potion and was out for the count, slumped against his pillows in an instant. Winona envied him; she doubted sleep would come as easy for her. Mrs Weasley smiled at Harry's slumbering form and Winona leaned back against her pillows, taking a moment to just breathe.
They sat in silence a few minutes, the weight of this new world sinking into them all. But Winona had questions, one in particular that was itching relentlessly beneath her skin.
"What did he mean?" she asked those who remained, looking around at them all expectantly.
"Who, dear?" Mrs Weasley asked.
"Fudge," she said. "Something about an article by Skeeter – but I don't think he meant the one from a few months ago, about me being a Seer."
Ron, Hermione, George and Fred all glanced at one another, something like dread in their eyes. Whatever it was, it was bad, and none of them wanted to be the one to break the news. Finally, Fred spoke up. "Well, it's just – and try not to freak out – but yesterday morning, there was an article in the paper…"
Hermione produced a copy of the previous day's Prophet, handing it to Winona, who smoothed it out and stared at the picture of herself on the front cover. It appeared to have been taken in Hogsmeade. She was looking at something in a store window, then glanced at the photographer taking the photo with a dark scowl before turning back to her browsing. It didn't exactly paint her to be a very sweet sort of a person, which could only mean bad news would follow.
Fred fell silent, letting her read.
Daughter of a Murderer
Black Heiress Found at Hogwarts
Since that fateful day renowned Death Eater Sirius Black was apprehended by Aurors, it has
been believed the Black line ended with him. Today, the Daily Prophet exclusively reveals
that his heir, Winona Black (daughter of the mass-murderer himself and the late Jessica Potter),
was not, in fact, killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's followers along with her mother in 1978, as the reports would have you believe.
Winona Black has long gone undetected under the pseudonym of Winona Andrews, hiding away from public scrutiny at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An insider at the Ministry of Magic had this to say about Miss Black's true identity.
"After the tragic death of Winona Black's mother and the subsequent imprisonment of her father, the administration of 1981, under the rule of Minister Millicent Bagnold, came to the conclusion that it was in the best interests of the child to have her given up for Muggle adoption. Miss Black has since lived in the care of Muggles, and to our knowledge, knows nothing of her true parentage. The Ministry apologises for misleading the people in this matter, and hopes they might understand that what they did, they did in the name of sheltering a child from the shadow of the unspeakable crimes her father had cast. The Ministry asks you to respect Miss Black's privacy at this time."
With this revelation also comes to light Miss Black's connection with Harry Potter, whose alarming behaviour has recently been cause for great concern (see page 4 for details). With Miss Black's mother being Mr Potter's aunt, this familial connection makes unstable fourth-year and the would-be Seer known now to be first cousins. Harry Potter was not available for a statement on the matter. The Daily Prophet, however, has it on good authority that Miss Black had recently been in contact with her estranged father. With Miss Black being a well-known Seer – the first of genuine pedigree in many years – it is supposed she may have Seen where Sirius Black has been hiding and has contacted him, perhaps to learn more about her heritage, or perhaps to aid her father in avoiding the Ministry's authorities.
Sirius Black is currently on the run from the Ministry of Magic, after escaping Azkaban Prison late last year. Black was imprisoned for life on thirteen counts of murder and conspiracy with those on the Dark Side in the war. The Prophet would like to urge anybody with any information on where Sirius Black may be hiding to come forwards immediately and help put this infamous mass-murderer back in Azkaban, where he belongs.
Winona stared at the article, wondering if, by some miracle, this were all some terrible nightmare. But the paper looked and felt real in her hands, and the ache of the mottled bruising down her left side told her it was all horribly genuine.
"Win?" asked Fred, after she'd been silent for far too long, no doubt making the others nervous.
"I'm okay," she said it like a reflex even as she stared down at the paper like she were trying to set it on fire with her mind. "How in the hell did she find out?"
"I've no idea," said George with a sympathetic grimace. "What're we going to do about it?"
"There's nothing to do," she replied, suddenly very tired. "It's been printed now. This is one cat we can't stuff back into its bag."
Fred sighed against her temple. "Everyone's going to think you're related to a murderer."
"Yeah, but we all know I'm not, so it's fine," she said, but nobody looked convinced. "I'll admit, this will make things difficult, for awhile, at least."
"You'll be okay," said Hermione from where she was still sat at Harry's bedside. "The buzz will die down quickly, if it's even there at all. With everything that went down at the final task, I think this will be the last thing on everyone's mind."
She was probably right, and Winona was grateful for her cool logic.
"Well, the whole school already thinks I'm some sort of pariah. Might as well give them an actual reason to, right?" she asked with a huff. "Merlin, could this day get any worse?"
Everybody winced, and Winona scowled.
"That was a rhetorical question, guys."
Fred just took the paper back and began to flip through the pages. "You're not the only one Skeeter seems to have it out for," he said mildly, handing it back with another sigh.
Harry Potter
"Disturbed and Dangerous"
Winona skimmed the article quickly, her fury growing to dangerous levels. George snatched the copy of the Prophet from her hands before she could actually – literally – set it on fire.
"I'm going to kill her," Winona said with terrifying calm. "What a bloody cow!"
Mrs Weasley looked rather nervous, and immediately Winona felt bad for reacting so harshly.
"Sorry," she said meekly. Mrs Weasley managed a small smile. She looked pale – almost frightfully so – but Winona supposed it had been a difficult day for them all.
"No matter, dear," Mrs Weasley said softly, reaching forwards to place her warm, motherly hand over the top of Winona's. The touch was comforting, and she relaxed by a few small degrees. "Why don't we focus on the good news, instead?"
Winona's brow pinched in confusion. "Good news?" she asked warily. Did she miss something?
"Well, that you and Fred are an item now, of course!" Mrs Weasley chimed, her expression going from fraught to downright giddy. Winona realised this was the first she was seeing of Mrs Weasley since she and Fred had started dating, and she blushed. "Oh, I was so pleased to get Fred's letter," Fred's mother continued on brightly.
"Um, yeah," Winona said lamely, ignoring the way Fred looked entirely too pleased from beside her. "He and I – we're sort of, um…"
"Together?" Mrs Weasley finished for her. Inexplicably nervous, Winona just nodded her head. Mrs Weasley didn't seem unsupportive or disapproving. If anything, she looked thrilled, smiling widely and bringing Winona in for yet another hug. Her bruises ached, but she ignored them. "Oh, my dear," Mrs Weasley said, the words muffled by Winona's hair. "I'm so happy for the two of you. I knew it was only a matter of time."
Winona's cheeks went from pink to red, and she pinched Fred sharply on the thigh in retaliation for his snickers. She sent a warning look at George, who quickly wiped the smirk off his face, because he knew better than to make her cross.
"Oh, don't be shy, dear," said Mrs Weasley. "You know that you and Harry have always been a part of our family. Now it just makes it official."
Now Fred was the one to look embarrassed. "Mum," he groaned, the tips of his ears flushing pink. "It's not like we're getting married."
His mother wagged a finger in his face. "Never say never, Fred Weasley."
And despite her exhaustion, despite the turmoil and uncertainty and all the trauma she'd been through tonight. Despite knowing with unwavering certainty that this was the beginning of the end, Winona still managed to laugh.
"Oh, but you're happy, aren't you?" Mrs Weasley asked, hands clasped together hopefully.
Winona chanced a glance up at Fred, who glanced back down at her, a familiar, lazy sort of smile on his face. "Yeah, mum," he said, looking back up with a wider smile. Winona nodded in vehement agreement.
Ron made a sound of disgust from where he was still sat next to a slumbering Harry. Mrs Weasley turned on him with fire in her eyes. "Just you wait, Ronald Weasley," she said sternly. "One day it'll be your turn."
Ron flushed scarlet and fell silent, staring out the window like the sunrise fascinated him. Winona giggled, leaning back against Fred and rolling her eyes along with George.
But all too soon their laughter faded, the darkness of reality closing back around them as the smiles slowly melted from their faces.
"Well, I'd best get on," sighed Mrs Weasley. "Arthur will be looking for me after speaking with Bill," she told Winona, Hermione, Ron and the twins, the only people still left lingering in the room apart from the real Mad Eye Moody, who slumbered on in a bed across the room.
She gave the twins a kiss each on the cheek, then hugged Ron to her tightly before doing the same to Hermione and finally Winona. Mrs Weasley's touch was gentle and maternal in the way Winona had only ever known from her. It filled her with warmth, and she squeezed her back with maybe just a touch too much strength, giving away how much she needed it.
When she pulled back, Mrs Weasley was smiling sadly. "You look after that cousin of yours," she said, smoothing Winona's hair away from her face.
"I'll never stop," Winona vowed.
"I'm going to stop by Dumbledore's office on my way out and speak to him about what will happen over the summer," she revealed. "I'm going to request that you and Harry come straight to us after the end of term. How does that sound, dear?"
A lump in her throat, Winona could only nod even despite her personal concerns. Something deep in her gut told her the Burrow wasn't where she was going to be spending the summer, but she didn't feel like acknowledging the future right then, so instead she shoved it away and watched as Mrs Weasley slipped quietly from the room, like one sound too loud might shatter them all to pieces.
Then it was just the five of them left around Harry's beside. Harry slumbered away peacefully, blissfully unaware in the depths of his dreamless sleep. Winona envied him only a little.
Now that nobody else was around, there was nothing to stop her friends from asking for the answers they were so desperate for. Dumbledore's urge to keep their questions to themselves for now wasn't enough to keep them silent, and she might have been irked, were it not so pleasantly predictable.
"What happened?" Ron asked eagerly.
Winona collapsed back against her pillows, head tossed back over the bulge of Fred's upper arm, and sighed. "I wasn't even there for most of it, Ron," she sniped. "In case you've already forgotten, I've been locked in a trunk since yesterday evening."
Ron winced, but he was stubborn as his brothers, pressing on. "But you know what happened," he said, ignoring the way Fred and George glared. "You always know."
This time, the look she sent him was stern. "What I do or don't know doesn't matter. It's Harry's story to tell. Not mine."
There was a beat. "Well, without all the bits about You-Know-Who, can you tell us what happened that you were actually there for?" Hermione asked, rational as always.
And Winona thought that couldn't do any harm. Besides, it would be good to get a few things off her chest.
Fred settled into place beside her once again, a strong and reassuring presence, and she began from when she'd gotten the premonition in the halls on her way to dinner the night before. She told them how Moody (really Barty Crouch Jr) had found her, kept her from going straight to Dumbledore and instead tortured her for information on what she'd Seen.
She didn't spend too long on those parts, particularly when Fred went tense against her, his fingertips nearly bruising as he dug them into her side, tension like a coiled snake under his skin. Winona took his hand without breaking the stride of her story, threading their fingers together and doing her best to soothe him as she spoke.
"You had the Crutiatus Curse performed on you?" Ron asked in an echoing whisper of horror. Winona nodded briskly. "What'd it feel like?"
Her stare was flat. "Like the worst sort of pain you can even imagine, multiplied by about a thousand."
She pressed on then, telling about how she'd been locked in the trunk. How it was so dark she thought she'd gone blind, and how she'd screamed for help until her voice went hoarse. Fred and George looked uncharacteristically grim, but she powered on, telling them how Dumbledore had arrived and rescued her, before adding in all the details she'd heard later.
How Crouch had confessed to being the one to put Harry's name in the goblet of fire after all, and being the one to guide him secretly through all the tasks, ensuring that Harry would find himself in that graveyard at the exact moment Voldemort wanted him there.
Hermione and Ron were horrified, and for once the twins had nothing to say, sat silently as they listened to Winona's recount with stormy expressions on their faces. She told them what she'd heard straight from Crouch Jr's mouth, ending with the very last thing he'd told them, evil eyes narrowed in on hers, hatred and a hunger for power in their dark depths.
"Voldemort's after you?" Ron asked loudly.
"I wouldn't say he's after me," Winona said after shushing him with a pointed glance at a slumbering Harry. "I'm not his main target… I'm just sort of an added extra, I s'pose."
"Now, why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Fred mused, tapping the dimple in his chin.
Winona rolled her eyes. "So he wants my Inner Eye all to himself – what's new about that? So does half the population of wizarding Britain. All I've gotta do is keep my head low and my wits about me, and I'll be fine."
Nobody looked convinced. "I think you really ought take this more seriously, Winnie," Hermione said sternly. "You were kidnapped."
"Yeah, but only for like a day. It barely even counts."
Hermione was unimpressed. "What do you plan to do over the summer?"
The question twisted her insides into knots – not because she was afraid, but because up until an hour ago she'd been so sure she'd be carving out her place in the world with Sirius at her side. But now Sirius was on his way across the country to alert all of Dumbledore's closest allies to the new threat, and she was alone. Again.
"I dunno," she said quietly, slumping where she sat.
Fred's arm settled over her shoulders and she didn't hesitate to lean into his body. He was so warm in this cold world they suddenly existed in. She soaked up his heat like he were a campfire, resting her temple on his shoulder and breathing in his scent.
"It's like Mum said. You'll stay with us," Fred said, sounding so sure of himself that Winona even almost believed him. "Nothing will happen to you at the Burrow."
Winona mustered a weak smile that he couldn't see. "We'll see," she said calmly, and then they faded into silence, the ticking of a distant clock and their quiet breaths the only sounds filling the big, empty room as one by one, they let sleep claim them.
The next day dawned and Winona knew she couldn't stay in the Hospital Wing forever – no matter how appealing the thought may have been.
But fairly early on, Harry was called away by Dumbledore to attend a meeting with Cedric's parents, to give them an account of what had actually happened in the graveyard with Voldemort. If anyone deserved to know how and why Cedric really died, it was them.
Once Harry was gone, Hermione and Ron made their way back to the common room to shower and change before lunch, leaving Winona and the twins alone.
She found excuses to linger until lunchtime, but by then even Madam Pomfrey was trying to shoo her out, so Winona reluctantly left with the twins, heading down to the Great Hall just as lunch was kicking off.
"So, now that everyone knows Sirius is my biological father, how d'you suppose I should handle it?" she asked them casually as they made their way through the halls at a leisurely pace. George had disappeared at dawn and returned with Sugar Quills for the lot of them, and Winona sucked on a raspberry one as they walked.
"Handle it?" Fred asked, their joined hands swinging between them.
"Well, do I own it like the Black heiress I am, or do I act unbothered and cool?" she wondered.
"Holy shit," said Fred suddenly, nearly tripping over his own feet. "You're an heiress," he whispered, as though it were some great revelation.
Winona snorted. "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. I'm not going to suddenly change just because of a fancy new title."
"Yeah, but I mean…" he trailed off.
George spoke up before his brother could tie himself up into knots trying to funnel his thoughts into a comprehensible sentence. "What he means is, you're filthy rich now, Win."
"Oh," she muttered. That hadn't occurred to her yet. Her eyes turned dreamy. "Maybe now I can buy real, proper canvas to work on," she said, a renewed skip in her step.
Fred eyed her contemplatively. "You're awfully chipper for someone who was the victim of a kidnapping not even twenty-four hours ago."
"Yes, but considering I also survived a kidnaping not twenty-four hours ago, I'd say my cheer is justified."
"Hey, I'm not complaining, you know how much I love your smile."
"Oh, shut up."
"I'm serious, I really do," he grinned cheekily.
She rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."
"Only for you."
"No, you're impossible for everyone," said George, a look of disgust on his face.
"Get your own conversation," Fred sniped at his brother.
George hooked an arm around Winona's shoulders, tugging her out of Fred's reach. "Why don't you get your own best friend?" he retorted childishly.
Winona giggled at their pointless bickering. All felt right in the world. At least, it did until they made their way into the Great Hall.
While quieter than usual, the Great Hall was still filled with chatter that came to a roaring, screeching halt as Winona stepped into the room. Everyone stared at her, some looking terribly pale and concerned, while others were sneering like she were nothing better than something they found in a drain.
Winona shifted her weight from foot to foot. Fred swept up beside her while George walked ahead, glowering at anyone who dared sneer her way, promising violence if they spoke out of turn.
The rest of their friends were in the middle of their House table, and none of them said a single word as Winona dropped onto the bench opposite them, a Weasley twin on either side. Winona had never felt more alienated, but she tried to smile through the pain. "Wotcher," she greeted them cheerfully. Nobody looked convinced.
Lee's eyebrows were etched high on his brow, and Angelina, Alicia and Katie were all staring at her from across the table with a sting of betrayal in their eyes. Winona said nothing, wondering who would be first to break the silence.
In the end, it was Alicia who spoke up. "First of all, is it true you were kidnapped by that raving lunatic who was pretending to be Moody all year?"
Winona made an exaggerated grimace. "Is nothing in this castle sacred?" she wondered with a small, forced laugh. Nobody else even bothered to try, and so Winona just sighed. "Yeah, it's true."
Lee leant forwards, reaching for her shoulder and squeezing. "You all right, mate?" he asked, sincerely worried.
Winona shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle."
"That's good," Alicia said bracingly, and Winona knew she wasn't anywhere near out of the woods. "And – don't get me wrong, we'll definitely be cycling back to that later for details – but for now, we need to know… Are we going to have to send curses to Rita Skeeter in the mail, or is all of this rubbish printed in the other day's Prophet actually true?"
It occurred to Winona then that she could lie; she could deny it all. But what was the point? She'd have to come clean eventually, once they'd figured out a way to clear Sirius' name and all. So why should she put it off? If not Skeeter, it was only a matter of time before somebody else would have discovered the secret. Nothing stayed hidden for long in a castle like Hogwarts.
"It's true," she said, her voice low to keep eavesdroppers from overhearing. "Sirius Black's my father."
The girls fell silent again, and judging by the surprise on their faces, Winona guessed they'd been expecting her to tell them it was all fake. Guilt hit her like a punch to the gut, and she busied herself with pulling some egg sandwich squares onto her plate and taking a deep gulp of pumpkin juice.
"And how long have you known?" Katie finally asked, voice carefully emotionless, giving Winona not hint as to what was brewing underneath.
Well, the truth was the truth no matter how unpleasant, and she knew her friends deserved it. She took a deep breath, Fred's hand pressed against her thigh for support, and replied, "About a year now."
Her friends all glanced at one another. "Is it true you're in contact with him?" Alicia pressed.
At this Winona paused. She didn't want to lie, but sometimes the truth could be a dangerous thing. "It might be better if I didn't say…" she began awkwardly; after all, innocent though he may have been, Sirius was still a fugitive from the Ministry. "Y'know, what with plausible deniability and all."
"Winona," Katie hissed, disapproval cold in her voice. "He's a murderer. You can't just go about owling him because you found out you're related. You could get into serious trouble."
Winona tried to smile. "Would it help matters if I told you he's innocent?"
At that Katie and Alicia just looked pitying, and the force of it twisted uncomfortably in Winona's stomach. "I'm sure you'd like to believe that…" Alicia began delicately. Winona didn't need to be a Seer to see how that conversation was going to end.
"It's fine," she interjected, not wanting to listen to their pity. She didn't want to hear them tell her she was crazy, or stupid, or naïve. She just wanted all of this to go away; maybe crawl into a nice hole somewhere, where she knew she wouldn't be disturbed.
"Did you know?"
It was Angelina who spoke, but when Winona looked over to ask what she meant, she found Angelina wasn't speaking to her at all. Instead her eyes were locked onto Fred, who shrank back a little at the fire in her gaze. He looked over at George as if hoping for help, but his twin lifted his hands in the universal sign of, You're on your own, buddy.
"Yeah," Fred admitted. "Winnie told George and I when she found out."
Angelina sighed. "Of course she did."
"What, is that a crime, now?" Winona demanded hotly. The grasp she had on her temper was already waning, and she didn't need Angelina bringing up old shit just because she was in the mood for a fight. If she was going to be petty and cruel, Winona wasn't going to take it lying down. "They're my best friends, Ange. I'm free to tell them whatever I damn well please."
"Yeah? Well, we have a right to know who we're sharing a dorm with," Angelina sniped back. Stunned, Winona's jaw dropped open.
"Ange," said Fred reproachfully. "That's out of line."
Angelina opened her mouth – either to apologise or make things worse – but either way, Winona didn't give her the chance. "You can't seriously think that the fact my biological father's a wanted criminal has anything to do with whether or not you can trust me."
Angelina's expression crumbled with indecision, then guilt. She felt bad, Winona could tell, but that didn't make any of it okay. "I just mean we had a right to know," Angelina mumbled, the self-righteousness disappeared from her voice, leaving weak uncertainty in its place.
"No, actually, you didn't," Winona snapped back, because now the fire had been stoked and there was no stopping it from burning down everything in its path. "It's actually not even slightly any of your goddamn business."
"Winnie," murmured Katie, looking around nervously. "You're kind of making a scene."
"Am I?" she demanded hotly, blinded by her rage. "Am I making a scene, Katie?"
"Okay," said Fred loudly, holding out his hands between the two girls, caution on his face. "I think we all just need to take a deep breath and relax."
"Don't you dare tell me to relax," Winona snarled at him. Eyes wide, he smartly shrank away from her burning ire.
"Winnie," came an unexpected voice. Winona turned to see Hermione stood awkwardly in the middle of the aisle. "Um, I was wondering if I could borrow you for something?"
Angelina shook her head. "We're actually in the middle of-"
"Sure, Hermione," said Winona, voice hard as a diamond, and just as pretty. She pushed away from the table, following Hermione out of the hall without looking back.
It wasn't until they were halfway out to the courtyard that Winona realised Hermione had a small basket full of food held in one arm and a blanket tucked under the other.
"We're going on a picnic?" Winona asked in confusion.
"Harry didn't want to eat in the Hall," Hermione told her. "I was getting food when I heard the fight with your friends. I figured you might want an escape."
They stepped out into the sunshine and Winona inhaled a lungful of the crisp air into her lungs, letting it fill every nook and cranny in her whole body. And when she exhaled, the anger went with it. "Thanks, 'Mione," she said gratefully. "I don't know why I snapped like that…I just…"
"You've been through a trauma, Winnie," said Hermione quietly, so much understanding in her voice that Winona thought she just might burst into tears at the sound of it.
Harry and Ron were already sat on another blanket out in the far corner of the courtyard. Winona guessed Ron had transfigured a chair into the blanket, because it was plain white with the image of a chair still knitted into the fabric, and she knew Hermione would never have done such a haphazard job.
"Hey," Winona greeted him, dropping down beside Harry, setting her satchel to the side. Dumbledore had brought it to her early in the morning, and she was relieved to have it at her side again. "How'd this morning go?"
"Terrible," said Harry without any emotion in his voice. Winona watched him in concern as Hermione began to hand out sandwiches and cups that she filled with the Aguamenti Charm.
Ron began to talk about their upcoming exams, seeming to sense Harry needed a distraction. But seeing as Harry was exempt from the exams because of the tournament, he had nothing to add. He just sat there, barely nibbling at his lunch, eyes distant and foggy.
"I don't blame you for wanting some space," Winona murmured to him as Ron and Hermione's conversation devolved into petty bickering about the worth of History of Magic as a subject.
("It's vital to our education, Ron! If we don't learn about the past, we're only doomed to repeat the same mistakes!"
"Hermione, knowing the first Goblin Rebellion took place in 1612 isn't going to save me when I'm face-to-face with a Death Eater, is it?!")
"Was it bad in there?" Harry asked, just as quiet, staring unseeingly at his bickering friends. Winona popped another sandwich square into her mouth, chewing as she considered her answer.
"It wasn't great," she confessed once her mouth was empty. "I think Hermione might have oversold the whole 'it'll blow over' thing. Merlin, Harry, everyone was staring at me… Again."
"Yeah," he whispered. "I know the feeling."
Winona felt bad for not offering up some words of comfort instead. Surely her complaints weren't helping any. "It'll get better, Harry," she tried.
"How do you know?"
She pursed her lips, eyes trailing over her frowning cousin. "Because everything gets better, in the end."
Harry looked unconvinced, and when she smiled, it was rueful.
"You'll see," she told him gently.
Harry's frown deepened. "Are you saying that as a Seer?"
She wasn't – because as far as her Sight went, she hadn't Seen anything that had told her everything would end happily. She hadn't Seen the light at the end of this tunnel, but she supposed that was probably because the bad was so much more demanding than the good. It wouldn't allow her to skip over it. It demanded to be seen.
But that didn't mean she didn't believe good was coming at the end of all of this. That didn't mean she thought the darkness would last forever. She had to believe there was happiness coming at the end of all this; because if there wasn't, then what was the point of it all? What was even the point of being alive?
"I'm saying that," she told Harry softly, "as someone who loves you."
Harry attempted a smile that was more a grimace than anything else, and Winona swooped in to kiss his cheek affectionately before leaping into Hermione and Ron's argument with gusto, because any distraction at this point was certainly a welcome one.
She apologised to Fred for snapping at him later that night. He waved it off. "Don't worry about it," he told her with a careless grin. "You're under a lot of stress, so I've decided you're allowed a maximum of three snaps at me, per day."
She lifted just one of her eyebrows. "Three?"
He nodded sombrely. "I've considered this carefully. I can take it."
"Uh-huh," she hummed. "And how many times a day do you get to snap at me?"
"Oh, only once a month at the most," he said seriously. "I'm not a heathen."
The last half month of school was absolutely, completely and totally terrible. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were still cold to Winona over her keeping her real name a secret, so things there were tense. They weren't ignoring her completely, or even being blatantly hostile, but they were colder than they usually were and Winona was left on the outs, no one but the twins and Lee left for her to hang out with.
(Lee didn't care; he was way more easy-going than the others. That and she thought he might have been a tiny bit afraid of her. But it worked out well enough.)
The whole school was treating her like some kind of pariah over her newly discovered heritage. And to make things worse, Winona didn't hear from Sirius at all. Not even once.
She was tired and on edge all the time. What she'd told the others was true – she was safe in Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's protection. But that protection would very soon come to an end when she had to leave the school and fend for herself during the summer.
She wasn't an adult yet by Muggle standards, so as far as the Muggle government was concerned she was stuck at her foster house for at least another year. She figured she could get out of that one by staying in the wizarding world instead, maybe getting someone at the Ministry to inform the Muggle authorities that she was under their care.
She didn't have the whole plan worked out yet, but she knew she had to do something. Despite what she might have told everyone, Crouch's attempt to kidnap her wasn't so easy to stomach. He'd kidnapped her from within Hogwarts' walls, right under Dumbledore's nose. That was likely the only reason she'd made it out of that situation alive.
If it happened again, this time far away from Dumbledore and the protection he offered. Well, she wasn't so sure she'd get lucky twice. She was glad she'd earned her Apparition license during the school year – it would help greatly, particularly if she needed to make a quick getaway.
The twins kept saying they wanted her to come stay with them, but Winona didn't want to put them in danger. Besides, the Weasley's could barely afford to feed their own kids, let alone adding her on top of it all.
By now she had a price on her head; Dumbledore made that very clear. Voldemort was out there, and he wanted her on his side. She didn't doubt that there was nothing he wouldn't do to try and force her to serve him. And that just about scared her half to death.
Exams were finished and over with, and so classes were now little more than a formality. The twins spent most of their time working on the joke products, and Winona would sketch lazily as she watched them work, letting the days trickle by, trying not to think about their terrifying new reality.
"They'll come round eventually, Win," said George optimistically, watching her stare at the girls where they were stood across the courtyard during lunch break. Half the school had decided to eat outside in the rare Scottish sun. Angelina, Alicia and Katie were across from them, playing cards over sandwiches and very pointedly not looking in Winona's direction. "I think they're just to prideful to admit they were wrong."
"I was wrong too," she sighed. "I should have told them."
"Bollocks," said Fred. "You're allowed to have secrets."
She arched a brow. "Except from you?"
"Well, that goes without saying."
The sun was beating down on them, almost too hot against her skin, and Winona decided to head to the library to sketch in the comfort of the shade. "I'll see you later," she began, climbing to her feet, only for a hard body to slam into hers.
With a very uncool yelp, Winona fell to the stones below, blinking up at the blue sky in shock. Her bruises had long since healed from Crouch's attack, but the blow made a memory flicker before her eyes – the feeling of flying through the air and smacking into that wall. She could still hear the click of her hipbone and the crack of her skull as they hit stone.
The memory dispersed like a fog, leaving only reality in its place, a burly seventh-year Hufflepuff glowering down at her hatefully. "Watch it, murder-spawn," snapped the Hufflepuff – Bellamy, if Winona remembered correctly. "What, you didn't See that coming?"
"Hey," cried Fred, leaping to his feet and shoving himself between them. Winona quickly climbed back up to her feet, rubbing the spot where her hip had slammed against the stones below. "Watch your mouth."
"Or what?" Bellamy sneered, jeering at Winona over Fred's shoulder. "Your little attack dogs are gonna go for me?"
"You don't want to know what we'll do," Fred snarled back.
"Fred," said Winona, gripping his elbow and trying to pull him out of the irate Hufflepuff's path. "Leave it."
"Yeah, Fred," Bellamy sniped sarcastically. "Why don't you and your little piece run back to whatever hole you crawled out of?"
The Hufflepuffs, in particular, were holding a grudge against Winona. Nobody had ever said it out loud, but she knew it was because they thought she should have found a way to save Diggory. They thought it was her fault he was dead. Her and her crazy cousin. They were to blame. Not the psychopathic murderer who cast the dark curse that actually killed Cedric.
Never mind that she'd been abducted and held against her will by Crouch. Never mind that she'd done everything in her power to help Cedric. Never mind that the guilt of her failure now kept her awake at night, staring at the dark ceiling wondering what, if anything, she could have done differently.
The world was full of injustice.
Fred took a menacing step forwards, and this time it was George who stopped him, stepping between them and shoving Fred back a step. "Keep walking, Bellamy," he said firmly, turning to the staring sea of students and growling, "Nothing to see here."
Seeming to realise he was one against three – and that two of those three were the Weasley twins, who had taken down far worse than him in their time, and that the other was Winona, a student most well-known for flaunting her fist fighting skills and recently revealed daughter of an infamous mass murderer – Bellamy bared his teeth a final time before turning on his heel and striding back through the courtyard.
"Blimey," muttered George, turning back towards them. "Tensions certainly are high, aren't they?"
But Winona wasn't listening. She was so goddamn sick of being treated like a pariah. What had she done that was so bad? Failed to stop something she had no physical control over? Dared to be the child of a man who would later get himself arrested for a murder he didn't even commit? None of this was her fault, and she was sick to death of everyone acting like it was!
Without so much as a word to the twins or anyone else, Winona shouldered the strap of her bag and stormed from the courtyard, ignoring the jeers from another group of bitter Hufflepuffs as she went.
She was halfway down the Charms corridor when she finally heard Fred calling her name past the furious rushing of blood in her ears. She turned, finding him jogging after her, his own bag hanging lazily off his shoulder.
"Ignore them," he said once he'd caught up to her. "They'll get what's coming to him."
Winona said nothing, scared that once she started talking, she might not be able to stop. That all the anxiety and frustration and pain would just bubble and boil over, pouring out of her like sick.
"Win?" he asked, stepping into her personal space, tilting her chin up to try to get her to look in his eyes. "It'll pass. They'll realise they're just being pricks. You've just gotta wait it out."
"I don't want to wait it out, Fred," Winona exploded, hair crackling with magic. Fred's eyes went wide but he didn't move out of her space. "I'm so sick of having no control over anything. I'm sick of being at the whim of that goddamn aether. I just want to be a normal witch. Is that too much to ask for?"
"But you're not a normal witch, Win," he said gently, a hint of a fond smile flickering at his lips. "Sorry to say it, love, but you're exceptional. Nothing to be done about it."
She wanted to laugh. She really, really did. But the feeling in her chest wouldn't let her. It was growing, swelling until it pushed against her bones and her arteries, until it filled her throat, making it hard to breathe. The tension in her climbed and climbed until she was sure it would consume her.
Then Fred kissed her. His hands on her shoulders, he drew her against him and kissed her for a long, drawn out moment. It distracted her from her outrage, and when he pulled back she blinked up at him in surprise.
He looked a tad sheepish. "Did that help? I don't know why, but I thought it might."
Winona didn't respond with words. To her left was an old classroom, one she knew hadn't been used in years, and she all but kicked the door open to throw Fred inside. He let out a yelp, stumbling into the room, confused by her actions until she locked the door with a flick of her wand and then slammed him hard against the dusty blackboard.
"Win?" he asked, sounding wary.
"Don't talk," she mumbled, dropping her bag to the floor, forgotten. She gripped the front of his robes, balling the fabric in her fists and using it as leverage to pull him against her. He let out a sound of surprise that was muffled by her mouth as she kissed him.
She was much more thorough than he had been out in the hall, holding him steady, one hand gripping his robes, the other tangled in his hair, kissing him with teeth and tongue. It was wet and filthy and Fred's hands automatically anchored themselves on her waist, holding her against him as she snogged him within an inch of his life.
When she finally pulled back, at least a good five minutes later, Fred's lips were swollen and he looked like he'd just been thumped over the head with something heavy.
"Um," he said, blinking his hooded eyes. She'd be willing to bet his blood was rushing in the opposite direction to his brain, making it difficult to think clearly. She didn't bother giving him time to string together some words, she just gripped the robes covering him and yanked, pulling them clumsily but stubbornly off his body.
He let her manipulate him as she wished, leaving him stood in a Weird Sisters teeshirt and an old pair of holey jeans. She hastily ripped off her own robes, revealing the jean shorts and teeshirt she was wearing underneath, then gripped his hair again to bring him into another kiss.
"Not that I'm not completely loving what's happening right now," Fred began, muttering it around her feverish kisses. "But um, what is happening right now?"
"I'm having my way with you," she told him, beginning to kiss down the long column of his throat.
"Right," he murmured, voice a mere rasp. "Um, why?"
She pulled back from his neck, hands still tangled up in his ginger hair, bowing her body into his so that they were pressed along the lines of each other. "Because I need you," she confessed, staring up into his eyes hopefully. "I really, really need you."
She rocked her hips against the hard line of him in his jeans and his eyes fluttered shut. Taking advantage of his distraction, Winona yanked off his shirt, leaving him bare from the waist up, then began kissing her way down the centre of his chest, pausing to nibble every few inches.
The noises Fred made were intoxicating, and they only grew more desperate the lower she got, until finally she was on her knees before him, unzipping his jeans and pulling him out of the slit in his boxers. He tried to grip the wall for traction, but there was nothing but blackboard for him to grab.
"Win," he breathed, head tilted back as she licked a stripe up the long length of him. The groan he gave zinged through her body and settled like molten heat in her core.
She nibbled delicately at the sharp jut of his hip. "Want me to stop?" she whispered against his skin.
"Merlin, no," he breathed.
"I prefer Winona," she replied before taking his head in her mouth and lightly sucking. He made a sound like he were being strangled, and she looked up at him from under her lashes to find him staring down at her with rapture in his eyes.
Working her hand on the section of his shaft she couldn't fit into her mouth, she bobbed along his head, sucking lightly and rubbing her tongue along the sensitive underside. One hand tangled itself in her hair but he made no move to control the speed at which she moved.
This was good – this was better than good – because in that moment, Winona felt more in control than she had the entire last month. She was the one who got the say in what she did, how she moved. Someone else was the one at her mercy. It was intoxicating.
"Win," he croaked out hurriedly, and she got the message, pulling off him with an obscene popping sound. She crawled back up the length of his body, stopping to lick briefly at his nipples before he drew her up the rest of the way to press a filthy kiss to her lips. "Where the hell did you learn that?" he wondered, but just as suddenly realised his mistake, pulling back with a blink.
Winona's control disappeared, and suddenly she felt small under his stare. He knew exactly where she'd learnt it, and they both knew it. The knowledge sat like sludge in her veins, making her feel dirty, and not in the fun way. But Fred's reaction took her by surprise. Instead of pulling back or turning sour, he flipped their positions.
In a flash her shirt was tugged over her head and the surface of the chalkboard was cold and smooth against her back, Fred kissing his way clumsily down her neck. He bit down and sucked over her pulse point until she made a keening noise that had him thrusting himself against her helplessly.
"I hate the thought that he ever got to touch you like this," Fred said against her throat, fingers shakily undoing the button of her shorts and then shoving them down her legs. "I hate the thought that anyone other than me ever heard you make these noises."
She whimpered as she hooked a leg over his hip, feeling the hard length of him press against her so intimately. His hands groped at her arse, keeping her held to him, only her underwear serving as a barrier.
"I want to make you forget you were ever his," he said against her mouth, coaxing her into another thorough kiss that had her toes curling with pleasure.
"Fred," she breathed, biting down on his lower lip and tugging until it dragged slowly out from between her teeth. "I was never his."
Fred groaned again and without hesitation she pulled aside her underwear so he could push inside of her. They both sighed at the feeling, and Winona rocked against him. She was plenty wet enough, more than ready for him, but her body was still fraught with tension, making her tighter than usual.
But Fred was patient, he thumbed at her clit, kissing her leisurely, helping her begin to unwind. He slid further in and they let out a matching noise of satisfaction. Fred's arms were strong around her, holding her up between him and the wall with an ease that took her breath away. He lavished kisses on her collarbone and she wrapped her arms around his head, keening when he thrust at a particularly delicious angle.
"More," she growled. "Harder."
Fred bit down on her shoulder as he did as he was told. Winona whimpered, fingers searching for purchase in the smooth expanse of his back. Her short nails raked down his skin just the way he liked and Fred stopped moving, pressing his forehead against her clavicle and holding her close.
"Fred," she complained, rocking her hips and making Fred shudder against her.
"I'm just…" he trailed off, unable to find words. Winona put her hands on either side of his head, pulling him off her chest, tipping his head up to face hers.
"Hey," she whispered, brushing the shaggy hair from his face. "Stay with me."
Fred gave a low laugh in the back of his throat. "Believe me," he breathed. "I'm with you."
She tugged gently at his hair. "Prove it," she said, quiet and playful and meaning more in the simple two words than what met the eye.
She clenched around him and Fred exhaled sharply against her cleavage as he got moving again, this time with a vengeance. Winona moaned, head tipping back onto the blackboard she was pressed up against. Both his hands were too busy holding her up at the right angle to be any help, so she reached between them herself and began to rub persistently at her clit.
Her pleasure built quickly, speeding onwards with all the force of a train. She shut her eyes tight, feeling Fred's sweat-slicked skin against hers, the feeling of him hot and hard inside of her. She'd fucked Jeremiah against the wall before, but that had felt dirty, like she's been doing something shameful. Like she were nothing more than some whore he'd found on the street. But this, with Fred, it just felt intimate; hot.
"Please, Fred," she begged, beginning to flutter around him.
Fingers gripping her thighs with enough force to leave bruises, Fred groaned against her and with a final thrust fell still. She was flooded with warmth, and quickly pushed herself that little bit further over the edge, spurred on with the knowledge that she'd brought Fred to this point. She was the reason he was panting, eyes shut, head hanging back with pleasure. She came hard, mewling into Fred's hair as she rode out the waves of pleasure.
Fred abruptly went weak, and together they sank to the floor where their discarded clothes lay, slumped against one another, boneless.
Fred's head stayed rested on her clavicle, and she pet her hand down his hair, feeling his warm breath in the cleavage created by her bra, still attached to her body. She began to chuckle, and Fred lifted his head from her breasts to squint at her. "What's funny?"
She laughed some more, dragging her thumb against the tiniest hint of stubble at his jaw. "I just really needed this," she told him honestly.
Fred's eyes softened. "I know you feel like everyone's against you," he said softly. "But they aren't. At least, not the people who matter most."
And it was exactly what she needed to hear. "As long as I have you, I'm going to be okay," she said, needing to hear herself say it out loud.
Fred smiled, a little tired, but mostly just fond. "Sounds like you're going to be okay forever, then," he said in the tone of somebody settling an argument. It was such a simple thing to say, but the meaning behind it was impossible to ignore, and Winona answered him by drawing him into a deep, languid kiss.
Dressed once again in their clothes, the evidence of their activities – the smudges on the blackboard and the wetness on their thighs – was vanished from existence, and Winona watched as Fred cracked open the door to peer outside.
"All clear," he announced, opening it wider and tugging her out by their linked hands. "Never thought I'd be one for shagging in empty classrooms," he continued conversationally, their hands swinging between them, both in a considerably better mood than when they'd entered the room. "But I think I could get used to it."
Winona shook her head with a smile. "Emergencies only," she said sternly. "I'd prefer a bed any day of the week."
"Sex can be an emergency?" Fred wondered. Winona only chuckled.
That night was the last night before the end of the term, and they had a sombre dinner in the Great Hall. All the decorations were black in honour of Cedric, and Winona toasted to Cedric and Harry both when Dumbledore prompted them to.
After eating – sitting with Harry, Ron and Hermione, rather than their other friends – Winona and the twins made their way up to the common room, George and Fred talking quietly about something or other while Winona wandered after them, linked to Fred by the hand.
The solemn, mournful air of the evening carried over into even Fred and George. While they usually spent the last night of the year by pulling out all the stops – games, fireworks, illegal gambling rings – that night they were quiet, sitting in the corner with Winona and Lee, chatting quietly.
"We all have secrets," Lee had shrugged when she'd seen him after the Skeeter's article had been published. "If you guys knew all of mine, you probably wouldn't even want to be friends with me."
The twins had since taken to a game of trying to guess his great, dark secret. Tonight was obviously no exception.
"Does your mum still cut your sandwiches up into funny shapes for you to eat when you're at home?" Fred guessed, his head in Winona's lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. It was still far too long, but she'd gotten used to it over the year, shaggy though it may have been.
"No," sighed Lee, who had tired of their little game rather quickly, and by now looked about ready to bash his head against the wall until he passed out, just so he didn't have to listen to them anymore.
"Are you part Flemish?" George asked. "That would make sense. Nobody likes people from Flanders."
"Fuck's sake, guys," Lee shook his head like he was greatly disappointed in them both.
"Nah, I bet he's got a third nipple," Winona spoke up. Fred and George cackled, and Lee sent her a dark look that only made her grin.
Their game was interrupted by the approach of a trio of girls, and it took Winona a rather long moment to realise it was her so-called friends. Angelina, Katie and Alicia were stood before them, all looking rather sheepish.
"Hi," Winona said cautiously. Were they here to pick a fight? Because she absolutely wasn't in the mood.
"Winnie," said Alicia, apparently their chosen spokesperson. "Can we talk?"
Winona eyed them, wary. "I'm not stopping you," she finally said, and Fred sat upright to throw an arm around her shoulders, eyeing the three girls with the same suspicion as her. Winona might have smiled at his steadfast loyalty were her racing heart not making it so hard to breathe.
"Er – we, we wanted to apologise," Alicia told her, looking uncomfortable. As a blanket rule, Gryffindors weren't generally so great with apologies. It was one of the things that bound them all together as a House. Terrible with apologies and too brash for their own good. That was the Gryffindor way.
"You did?" Winona asked, still suspicious. For weeks it had been all but stony silence in the dorm – or worse, happy chatter until she walked into the room, then an immediate, suffocating silence that was more awkward than anything else. It made her feel alienated and alone, and most nights she just spent up in the boys' dorm until she knew they were all asleep and could sneak in without any of the awkwardness.
"We've realised, recently, that perhaps we've been a bit…" Alicia trailed off uncertainly.
"Cruel? Spiteful? Bitchy?" Fred finished for her.
Alicia's eyes flashed, but she couldn't exactly deny it. She shot him a smile that was really more a baring of her teeth. "If you like," she grit out.
Winona swooped in before it could get any worse. "I get that you were mad I lied," she said reasonably.
"Again," said Angelina, reminding them of the other news story that Skeeter had broken that year – the one revealing Winona's status as a confirmed Seer.
"Yes," Winona murmured, eyes narrowed into pins. "Again."
"It's not just that you lied," said Alicia, struggling to keep thing cool. "It's that all three of you knew, and didn't say anything. I think, sometimes, that the rest of us can feel kind of distanced from the three of you."
Winona and the twins stared at her blankly. "What?" George was the one to ask, brow furrowed.
"It's like, we know that we're all friends, but you three, you're on this other level. Like a club within a club that the rest of us don't know how to join," Alicia explained slowly. "We've let it get to us, and we're sorry. Once we'd already gotten so angry…we didn't want to admit we were wrong, so we just stayed angry for the sake of it."
That made sense, and Winona couldn't fault them for it. It was stupid and immature, but even if the Ministry considered them adults at seventeen, the truth was that they were all still just kids. They were allowed to be stupid and immature.
"Why're you apologising it now?" Winona asked slowly.
The girls exchanged a look, and it was Katie who spoke up. "We realised that we didn't want to go on holiday with things still so broken between us all. We want to be friends again, and we want to put all this behind us."
Winona hesitated, because as lovely as the offer was, she couldn't help but see the strings attached. "If you guys are going to get like this every time I keep a secret, I don't know if we can. The things I See…sometimes I can't tell anyone – not even Fred and George," she hurried to add at their skeptical looks. "There are just some things I have to keep to myself, sometimes even for the sake of the greater good. And I think I have a right to that level of privacy."
The girls nodded slowly. "Okay," Angelina said, drawing out the word as she thought. "If that's the cost of being friends with you, we can deal with that."
She was surprised Angelina was the one to say as much, but when Angelina smiled tentatively, Winona remembered why they were such good friends in the first place. "I'd really like to be friends again," Winona told them honestly.
Katie sighed with relief. "Merlin, us too," she said. "Do you have any idea how difficult it's been not to talk to you like normal? I have so much to tell you!"
Winona smiled, standing to her feet to pull Katie into a tight hug. "Me too."
Pulling back, she looked at Alicia and Angelina, both of whom still looked a little wary. "If it's a secret directly to do with you – like the Sirius Black thing – will you tell us?" Alicia asked hopefully.
Winona hesitated. "I don't want to make a promise I can't keep, Leesh."
Alicia twiddled her thumbs, thinking it through. "Can you promise to try?" she finally asked.
Winona smiled. "Yeah," she said warmly. "I can promise to try."
And Alicia brought her in for a hug, too. Katie had bounded over to George, taking a seat at his feet, and Alicia took a seat on Fred's other side. That just left Angelina. Their relationship was the most complicated, so it made sense she'd be the last to come round.
"We said we'd try to be better friends," said Angelina sadly, taking Winona by surprise. And it was true, they had said that.
"I know," she nodded, guilt cold and uncomfortable in her gut.
"I'm sorry," Angelina added, surprising her again.
"Me too."
Angelina opened her arms for a hug, and Winona squeezed her gratefully, ignoring the way her arsehole friends gave overdramatic 'aw' noises from behind them. Rolling their eyes, the girls reclaimed their seats, and Winona threw her legs over Fred's lap, smiling at him as he rested his hand on her knees.
"In the spirit of complete and total honesty," said Alicia to the group. "Is there anything else anyone wants to share? Just to get things out into the open?"
Everyone was silent for a long, tense moment, before George abruptly blurted, "Winona shagged Jeremiah Nott!"
The group gasped as one, the girls immediately talking over one another, demanding answers, and Winona turned to George with fire in her eyes. "A long time ago," she bit out, warning him with her eyes that there was going to be absolute hell to pay for this.
He shrugged sheepishly. "I thought now that you're happy with Fred, enough time had passed that we can finally laugh about it," he explained. "Plus – I hate secrets. They make me feel dirty."
"You're right, George," she said, deceptively cool. "We can laugh about it now."
Fred made a noise of playful sympathy. "Nice knowing you, Georgie," he said, smirk sitting on his kissable lips. "Say hi to Uncle Fabian in the afterlife."
George went pale, and Winona decided to let him sweat it out. She'd get him back eventually, and when she did, it was going to devastate him.
"But you shagged Jeremiah Nott?" Alicia demanded impatiently. "When was this?"
"Last time was at the beginning of the year," Winona admitted. "So, way before Fred and I were a thing."
The girls exchanged a long glance. "…Was he any good?" Angelina finally asked.
The twins immediately lifted their hands to their ears and began to hum obnoxiously. Winona laughed, ignoring them as she made a so-so motion with her hand. Alicia leant forwards, "Was he better than Fred?"
"Alicia!" Fred squawked, staring at her in horror.
"What?" she asked. "I thought we were trying for complete and total honesty?"
The tips of his ears had turned bright red. "Not that honest," he mumbled, but Winona couldn't help but notice the intrigue in his eyes. Now he was curious.
Biting down on a smirk, Winona slid a hand up his chest and leaned right up to his ear. "For the record, you're a thousand times better in bed than he ever was," she whispered, lips brushing the shell of his ear. "You're also bigger, just in case you were wondering."
Although his face had turned a bright, blotchy red, the satisfaction in his eyes couldn't be denied.
"What did you say?!" Katie asked impatiently.
"That's only for me, Fred, and his penis to know," she replied. Fred groaned in embarrassment, and as the others broke out into bright laughter, all was right in the world.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed. Next chapter is the final one for Goblet of Fire, and then we'll be moving onto Order of the Phoenix. Wanted to say a quick thank you to those of you who have been reading from the beginning and reviewing as you go – there's been a lot more of you recently and you make me excited to wake up every day just to see the notifications and read what you guys had to say. You're the best, and I love you.
Spotlight review goes to barucyc – thanks for reviewing! When I read that your friend sent you this fic to read, my first thought was shock. It always takes me by surprise to realise this story has a whole life outside of me; that once I press publish, it becomes something for you all to share and talk about and lose sleep to read. It means the world, and I'm so pleased you like it. Hope you liked this chapter!