Charged. The atmosphere felt charged. Following my request, Fred went and spoke to George and George promptly refused to meet with me. It took a lot of cajoling and convincing on Fred's behalf before George finally came to the table, so to speak.

That's how we got to this point, four days after, with me and Cedric on one side and George and Fred on the other.

I could tell Fred was nervous, he shifted in his seat and knotted his fingers in his lap. It was one of the ways I could tell the twins apart, I filed that information away for later.

Cedric leaned inwards, towards me, almost as if protecting me from an unprovoked strike.

Ordinarily, I would have considered that to be a bit much, but George had this hard look in his eyes, even though his face was neutral. Seeing the tall Third-Year bearing down on me, I was grateful to have Cedric by my side. George was no basilisk, but if he was the one behind the pig's blood prank, I wanted to get out of his crosshairs as cleanly as possible.

George cleared his throat. "What's this about then?"

I blinked. "I wanted to ask you, face to face, if you were the one who did the prank on me a few weeks ago. If you tell me honestly, I won't- I promise not to go to the Professors with this. We can sort it out between ourselves."

My peace said, I breathed out, cursing myself for feeling nervous even though I shouldn't, not in this situation. For his part, George leaned back in his chair, his hands crossed over his chest. He chewed the inside of his cheek and then answered.

"Let's say this mysterious prankster was me, which I'm not saying it was, but say it was-"

Cedric clenched his jaw next to me and eyed George like he was an unenviable toad. I never felt more kinship with him than in that moment. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but I appreciated Cedric's support nonetheless.

"Do you have any proof to pin this on me?"

I sighed and shook my head in the negative. "I don't, no. But it won't be hard to bring my suspicions to the Professors. Especially when I mention that you might be a Truthsayer."

Fred's twisting of his fingers stopped and he glared at me, but he held his tongue.

George shrugged. "You should have been a Slytherin, Potter." He chuckled. "Then again, the most Slytherin thing a Slytherin could do is hide in Hufflepuff clothing. So there's that."

Cedric rolled his eyes. "Spoken like a Truthsayer. Layers upon layers of nonsense."

George looked like he was about to retort, but he thought better of it. He considered what to say next and then sighed. "They want to pin the prank on someone, so it doesn't even matter if I'm innocent, if you say you think it's me, they'll fall down on me like a house of bricks."

I stayed still. Not reacting.

George looked annoyed at my lack of response. "Nothing to say?"

"I asked you a question, if you answer it truthfully, I'm willing to drop it."

"Does it even matter what I say?"

"It does."

George puffed out some air and looked around the room. Finally, he turned back to me. "It was me, alright?"

I blinked. I expected to feel some joy, righteous indignation, maybe even anger. I expected to feel something. So when I found myself nodding and getting up, nobody was more surprised by my emotionless non-response. Not even George himself.

I began to walk out.

The other three boys got up too. Fred was the first to speak up. "Is that it then?"

I turned as I placed my hand to the door and looked back. "I said if he answered me, I won't report that it was him, so I'm holding up my end. I don't expect you to change your mind about me, Weasley. I don't care to change your mind either. I've got bigger problems. But if you do something like this again, I won't- I won't let it pass. Okay?"

A moment and George nodded in return. There was something unreadable in his eyes.

Cedric was following me out, glaring at George the whole way. We left as a unit, with Cedric slamming the door behind us.

He breathed out, some of the tension escaping him. "Well, that could have gone a lot worse. Want to head back to Common Room?"

"I'll catch up with you."

Cedric looked like he wanted to protest, but he backed off and let me be. I was glad. I was unsure about what I was about to do next when George first sat down opposite me. But after that conversation, I knew this was necessary. Like I said, I had bigger problems and getting pranked by a vicious prankster was too much of an unnecessary distraction.

My feet led me down the corridors and towards the Grand Staircase. I made my way to the second floor and before I knew it, I was knocking on a door.

The smiling face of Professor Flitwick greeted me on the other side.

"Harry, is everything alright?"

"There is a Truthsayer in the school, Professor, and I don't feel safe with him here."

I kept my end of the bargain. I never told Professor Flitwick that George pulled the prank. But I never said anything about his Truthsayer beliefs. If the Professors chose to draw conclusions about his involvement in the prank based on that, well, that was their choice.

If George happened to admit to the Professors that he did pull the prank when confronted by them about his Truthsaying, well, that was his recklessness.

I felt something oily roil inside of me and for a moment, I hated myself for what I did. It felt sly. I didn't like it. At all. But I hardened myself a moment after. I was all I had to protect myself. I had bigger problems.

At the back of my mind, far away and pushed down and suppressed, I hoped Fred would forgive me.

#

"Expelled!?"

I stared in horror at Cedric, who looked back at me with a mixture of shock and disappointment. I finally found a look I hated more than pity. I wanted to wipe that look of Cedric's face. I never wanted him to direct it at me ever again.

"You promised, Harry. How could you then-"

I was out of my seat before he could finish. It was a testament to how much he loathed me that he didn't stop me, or ask where I was headed, or even offer to accompany me. He let me go. And I felt a pang of fear that I had finally done something that would end our friendship.

I raced out of the Hufflepuff Common Room, heedless of the fact that it was past curfew. They still hadn't hired a new caretaker and Mrs. Norris had died shortly after Flich's funeral. A broken heart, the Hogwarts Rumour Mill had hypothesised.

I didn't care. I ran to Flitwick's office and in short order, I was sat opposite him at his desk, while he tightened his robe around himself, his face sad, regretting.

"There's nothing I can do about this, Mr. Potter."

"But Professor, it was just a prank and I was fine. I thought, I thought at most he'd get a few detentions and then leave me alone. I didn't think-"

"Mr. Potter, your security is of utmost concern to the school, particularly considering everything you have gone through within these halls. But. But you are not wrong. I spoke to the other Heads of House and we agreed detentions every day until the end of the Year would be an appropriate punishment." He paused. With a sharp intake of breath, he went on. "However, in the absence of a Headmaster, severe punishments are to be approved by the Board. Given the gravity of the threat of a Truthsayer, they deemed it fit to expel Mr. Weasley, heedless of the opinions of the staff."

The world spun around me. No, no this was not what I had in mind. "But Professor, George is…an expulsion is-"

"Mr. Weasley's father has been informed. He will be present here tonight when the Head of the Board snaps Mr. Weasley's wand and sends him home."

My breath caught. The Head of the Board. Snapping his wand. Tonight. There was still time.

"Is she here then? Mrs. Malfoy, can I speak with her?"

Flitwick looked at me with raised eyebrows. "I would advise against it. Narcissa Malfoy has charms that can befuddle the minds of the most disciplined wizards, I doubt you would be able to strike a bargain with her that would see you better off and I will not expose you to her if I can help it. Mr. Weasley has made his bed, now he must lie in it."

I shook my head. No. No. No. No. No. "Professor please, I- I didn't think- If I knew I wouldn't have-"

Flitwick placed his hand over mine, leaning forward at his desk. "Mr. Potter, Harry, don't let this get to you. You have nothing to regret here. Mr. Weasley is in the wrong and you did the right thing to bring this to me."

I breathed deeply. "If I did the right thing, Professor, why doesn't it feel like it?" I held his hand in my own and looked him in the eye.

Flitwick was conflicted, or so I hoped. He looked left and right and finally planted his gaze on me. He sighed and sagged and rubbed the bridge of his nose as his spectacles fell down a few centimetres.

"Very well, but be careful, Harry."

#

The moon was out and I sat with my only leg shaking up and down. Cissy moved around the room like she hadn't a care in the world. Nearby, a kettle whistled into the quiet night and she poured steaming tea into two matching pretty little teacups.

"I find that eucalyptus tea is wonderfully calming at night. The benefit of a hot beverage with none of the caffeine to ruin one's sleep." She smiled as she raised her cup to her lips and took a long sip, her gaze never wavered from me.

I didn't touch my cup. As I stared back at her, I felt the stirrings of strange emotions within me. Emotions that formed into instincts that wanted me to do whatever would make her happy, to let her handle things and lean back and simply give in. I ruthlessly pushed those feelings aside.

"Please don't expel George Weasley."

Cissy slowly pulled the cup away from her lips, letting it rest on its designated saucer as she dabbed a napkin to her mouth. It seemed like an age had passed before she finally spoke.

"The decision was made by the Board after much debate with the staff. This felt like an appropriate response to a known Truthsayer. After everything you have been through, Harry, we must protect you." Her tone was sad, almost apologetic, but firm.

"It was a nasty prank, nothing more, Mrs. Malfoy. Expulsion is…it's too much. That's not- If I knew that-"

I was shaking. I was shaking at the unfairness of it all. I was shaking because how could I be so stupid? I was shaking because I knew Fred and Alicia would never, ever forgive me and maybe, maybe Cedric wouldn't either.

"Call me Cissy, Harry."

I gulped. "Cissy, I need you to reverse the decision of the Board. George apologised. It's done."

She smiled at my use of her chosen name. For a moment, she seemed to consider my words. "This is a big request, Harry. But it's too late. I wish I could do more."

"Please," I said, leaning forward. I held her hand in mind and-

-A burst of colour. Joy and elation and sadness at her sadness. You were held against her breast and pressed to her bosom, she cradled your head as she sang.

'Twinkle Twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a dragon in the sky-'

I pulled my hand back, sweat collected on my brow and my breath hitched for a briefest of moments.

Cissy was staring at me. I didn't know when her eyes grew misty and tears fell freely from her eyes. She seemed frozen in time. Unable to speak. All her composure, all her sureness burnt away. There was only the husk of a witch. Empty. Broken. Yearning.

"D-Dray-"

"Cissy, please do this for me."

She blinked rapidly, almost as if reminding herself of who and where she was. She pulled her hands back and rested them on her lap. If she knew she was crying or that her voice had broken, she made no comment of it. Almost naturally, she used the napkin to swipe away her tears.

Silence reigned and she stared at me like I was a textbook to be opened and pulled apart and studied. I shifted in my seat, looking anywhere but at her.

"I will speak to the Board." She enunciated every word methodically, as if ringing them out was the sole focus of her entire being. "I'm sure they will listen. But in return, I require something of you, Harry."

I looked at her lap. I shrugged.

"Tea, once a week. Where you can-you can tell me about your times and how you're getting on. I would like to do this on behalf of the Board, to make sure you're well taken care of. Does that seem fair to you?" She leaned forward and pressed her thumb under my chin, gently nudging my head up to look at her-

-Green and silver, royal arms of dragons, golden hair and loving blue eyes stared down at you with nothing short of adoration and love. Mother-

She gasped and pulled her hand away. I didn't flinch.

"You have a deal."

I got up and left before anything more happened. I had no intention of honouring my bargain. I felt sly again for what I did, was about to do…but this, this time I held no guilt.

#

The sun was high in the noon sky and reflected rainbow colours through the window. I was in Professor McGonagall's office sat opposite a sullen-looking George and an older, tired redhead I assumed to be his father.

"Mr. Potter, I would like to sincerely apologise on behalf of my son's actions. I understand that you have forgiven him already, but given the circumstances…I'm grateful for what you did with the Board, you didn't have to-"

"It's alright, Mr. Weasley. I- It was the right thing to do." I hadn't slept, not a wink. The tiredness of the day was catching up to me and with every word Mr. Weasley spoke, my gut twisted. I nodded at him.

Mr. Weasley seemed equally relieved to have the moment pass. He got up and dusted his old-looking robes. With a nod at me and a glare that screamed 'be good' at George, he went to the fireplace and threw the floo powder in. He was gone in a whirl of green fire.

That left George and me, alone. Unlike last time, I didn't feel like I had the upper hand. It didn't matter who was right and who was wrong because all I felt was overwhelming guilt.

"George, listen. I didn't mean for-"

George held his hand up and I stopped. "You went back on your word."

There was no two ways about that. I nodded and looked to the floor.

After a long moment, he too sighed. "I don't blame you, Potter. I was the one who started this. I was angry before, but now that it's all worked out…" He shrugged.

"I didn't want you to hate me. More than you already do."

Silence reigned and George finally spoke. "Merlin. Gods. Potter, I- It's hard to hate you when you act like- like a kid."

I looked up at him, his words cut me for reasons I couldn't place. "What else am I supposed to be? I'm just Harry. I don't know if the Truthsayers are right or wrong, I don't know anything. Okay? Even if they are right, I didn't do anything. I was a baby when it happened and I lost my parents to the Purge like you lost your brother. Why do you- just- I don't want to fight with you!"

The words exploded out of me. They were what I wanted to say from the very beginning, before this whole mess blew itself out of proportion. When I was rested and aware and prepared, I could hold it all in, I could be better, but I was tired and drained and scared and just tired.

For his part, George stared at me, he let me speak and didn't interrupt. When I was done, he stood up. "I'll leave you alone and you leave me alone. Let's- water under the bridge, okay?" He held out his hand for me to shake.

I stared at his offered hand with suspicion.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I mean it, Potter. Harry."

Tentatively, I stood up to meet him. Almost as an afterthought, I saw burnt, knotted skin moving up in a line from the base of George's palm and into his robe sleeve. I extended my hand and met his-

-He was chasing you as you laughed and laughed and laughed. You tried your best to run on your stubby little legs, but you fell over and crawled instead. He came behind you and caught you, picking you up. The water was shiny and you liked the way he threw you in the air.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" You whooped as the air blew past you.

Small arms circled around you when everything became hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot hot-

I yanked my hand back as quickly as George did the same. He glared at me, his breath uneven.

Not again.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" He bellowed.