Chapter 27.

Oh, Lara.

Lara awoke several hours later in an unfamiliar bed. Her eyes still half-closed, she lifted her head, glancing around the room. It was only a small place, the walls painted blue with mysterious black stains here and there. The whole place was filled with cardboard boxes and random potions bottles. There was also another bed in the room, only a foot away from the one Lara was laid in.

She guessed she was probably at The Burrow in the twins' bedroom. Fred had mentioned he and George used the room for storage now, though they had to clean it out when their mum had guests over. Not only that, but she could tell by the smell; floral with a hint of spiced aftershave, just like the twins.

Groaning, Lara slowly threw back the covers of the bed and sat up, rubbing her face with her hands. She no longer felt light-headed, but she could feel an ache in her arm where the knife had sunk into her flesh earlier. Looking down at the wound, Lara saw it had been covered in a bandage. A small smile came to her face as she dared to stand, her legs wobbly and numb.

She padded out of the bedroom, then down the hallway and stairs. It was beginning to darken outside, just a slight hint of grey and dark blue in the sky. That meant it had to be mid-evening, probably about six PM, which meant she'd slept for at least four hours. She felt bad knowing she'd been upstairs napping while the others dealt with the aftermath of Ollivander and Fortescue's disappearance, but she'd needed to recover. Bill's healing spells had completely knocked her off balance.

Coming to the bottom of the stairs, Lara found herself in the Weasley's rather full kitchen. The more social members of the Order were still here, including Tonks and Remus, though others like Moody and Emmeline Vance were nowhere to be seen. Bill and the twins were here, as was Fleur, who sat at Bill's side with her arm wrapped around his waist. And, to Lara's shock, her friends were here; Erin, Omar and Stan sat at the kitchen table cradling a mug of tea each.

"Lara!" she heard someone cry, just before she was engulfed into a hug. Lara returned the familiar embrace. "Merlin, woman. Do you have a death wish?"

"And leave you alone? I don't think so."

Walter scoffed as he pulled away. "Excuse you. I'm the older one here. I look after you."

"Says the man that almost burnt down our house…twice."

"You can't hold that against me—"

"I'll always hold it against you," she grinned, pushing him gently in the chest. Walter rolled his eyes, though he had a fond smile on his face. Lara sniggered and turned towards the rest of the group. "What'd I miss?"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE." Omar screamed, making everyone in the room jump in surprise. "Sorry—that's basically the whole two hour meeting summed up."

"He's not even kidding," sighed Erin. "I felt like I was back in school."

"But that wasn't the real Moody," Stan said, pointing accusingly at Erin.

"Well, that Crouch dude was a bloody good actor—"

"You know about that?" Lara interrupted, staring at her friends wide-eyed.

"We know everything," Omar replied.

Erin nodded. "Including the Order—which, by the way, I'm annoyed that you didn't tell us about."

"Yeah, you should know we're ready to kiss arse," Stan grinned and made held up his fists in front of his face. "Remember when I broke Brentford's nose? I was bornready to fuck some pricks up—oops, my bad," he added hastily as Molly turned away from her sink to thump him in the back of the head. "Sorry, sorry! Won't happen again—Molly doesn't like swearing."

"I'm aware," Lara smirked, peering at her three friends. "So…you've joined the Order?"

"Of course," Erin scoffed.

"Stan's very excited about it," Omar said as Stan pretended to punch someone in the face. "I think he's a tad bored at his job."

"There's only so many potions a man can make before he wants to smash one of the bottles over his head," huffed Stan. "And I am well past it."

"You do realise you'll have to use your wand to fight the Death Eaters, right?" smirked Bill. "Not just punch them in the face?"

"I know. But my ultimate dream is to get one of them in a headlock and fart in their mouth," Stan said, earning dubious looks from everyone but the Weasley boys, who all nodded understandingly.

"This is why I don't talk to my siblings," Omar whispered to Lara, who snorted amusedly.

"Did anyone come up with a theory about why he wants Fortescue and Ollivander?" Lara asked as she sank into a chair beside George.

"They must have done something to make the Death Eaters angry," Bill shrugged. "Maybe Fortescue and Ollivander said something rude about them, or one of the Death Eaters overheard them calling You-Know-Who so they decided to set an example."

"As opposed to kidnapping Fred and George, who have a U-No-Poo sign in their window?" Lara replied, raising her eyebrows unsurely. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe it was just for fun," Tonks said slowly, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "They tend to do that, sometimes."

Lara's nose wrinkled. "That's disgusting."

"Yeah," murmured Remus. "They did it in the First War, too."

The kitchen lapsed into a contemplative silence. Although Lara didn't want to disagree with two of the most distinguished members of the Order, she couldn't help but feel like there was something off about Fortescue and Ollivanders kidnapping. Bill's theory didn't make sense, as there were plenty of people much more outspoken about their hatred of Voldemort and his followers, including Fred and George, who'd been only a few shops down from the attack.

And Remus' theory, while there was no evidence against it, didn't settle right. Fortescue and Ollivander seemed a little too high-profile to be random kidnaps; they both owned popular shops in Diagon Alley and were well-known across Wizarding Britain. If the Death Eaters truly did just want to 'have fun', why hadn't they picked someone easier? Why had they chosen to risk their safety and expose themselves in Diagon Alley, where Order and Ministry workers could be waiting to arrest them?

None of it added up, but Lara couldn't think of a reasonable explanation, either. So, feeling uneasy, Lara stayed silent and hoped she wouldn't live to regret it.

Only a few days after the kidnapping in Diagon Alley, the Order was hit with more bad news; Emmeline Vance and Amelia Bones were killed. Both women were big influences within the Order of the Phoenix. Emmeline spent her time in the field, patrolling and protecting, while Amelia worked behind the scenes, keeping the Order up to date with the inner workings of the Ministry.

It was a massive blow. The older members of the Order were devastated, with even Moody taking the time to attend their funerals. The younger members, although less sure of Emmeline and Amelia's places within the hierarchy, understood that losing them left enormous holes within the Order. There was one less person protecting the streets, and one less person in the Ministry on their side at a time they needed all the information they could get. Molly said they could overcome it; she said their deaths were tragic, but the Order was strong. Tonks readily agreed with her. However, there was something about their panicked eyes and shaky hands that didn't quite make their statements resonate.

For Lara, their deaths were confusing. Although she knew they were both very important within the Order, she'd never spent much time with either of the woman. In fact, she'd never even met Amelia Bones, who preferred not to attend Order meetings and was instead fed the information by Arthur Weasley at work. She'd met Emmeline, but only briefly. The woman never stayed after meetings were over and she spoke rarely, though her opinion had always been held in high regard.

Losing the women was tragic and sad, yes, but Lara was left more terrified than upset. She felt horrendously guilty about it, but she couldn't bring herself to mourn the women like she had Cedric and Sirius. Cedric, who'd given her crooked smiles in hallways and she'd watched grow from an eleven-year-old kid to a seventeen-year-old man, with his whole life ahead of him, with goodness flowing through his veins. Sirius, who'd welcomed her with open arms into the Order, who'd never once looked at her like she didn't belong, and who lost everything for nothing, only for his life to be taken away before it could ever really begin again.

Her connection to the woman wasn't strong enough for her to mourn. But knowing they were both defeated, knowing their positions in the Order were impossible to refill, scared Lara beyond belief. Their deaths were the beginning of the end, the start of the world falling apart. Death Eaters were coming out in droves to kill Order members and terrify people. Voldemort was personally murdering people that he thought were a threat.

They weren't just background threats anymore, something to worry about in the future. They were around now, planning, waiting, hunting, killing—more powerful than Lara had ever expected them to be. She'd convinced herself that Death Eaters were a stupid annoyance, like a wasp or a bee. They could bother you for a while, maybe give you a little sting, but they were ultimately too weak to cause real damage (unless, of course, you were allergic). But Death Eaters were strong, they were powerful. Some of them were at the top of their class, with skills and wand work that Lara could only dream of.

Amelia Bones was one of the best witches of her age. Emmeline Vance was one of the strongest and bravest women Lara had ever heard of. And these women, these impressive, tough, good women that Lara and many others had thought were invincible and ones they didn't have to worry about…were dead. Dead at the hands of bees and wasps that weren't so weak after all.

Lara couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop thinking about what their deaths meant in the grand scheme of things, about how powerful the Death Eaters must be, which meant Voldemort was more powerful than she thought and—

"Lara."

Lara blinked, looking towards the voice. Fred was back from the bar and was handing her a butterbeer, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Oh, thanks," she murmured, grabbing the drink quickly.

"Are you alright?" Erin whispered at her side.

"Fine."

Erin looked like she wanted to push the subject, but knew it wasn't the right setting. They were, after all, at a wake. Amelia Bones' funeral had been three days before, the service held at a cathedral and the wake at a hotel in London. Emmeline Vance's was today; this-morning, Lara had found herself in a small room at the back of a Wizarding Funeral Home, followed by a wake at The Leaky Cauldron.

People chatted around her, their voices quiet and dull. Every member of the Order was here, along with Ministry officials and a few members of Emmeline's family. For Lara, who had never really understood funerals anyway, it all seemed rather trivial for a woman that had done the things Emmeline had, and she'd thought the same about Amelia's funeral, too. Funerals were the same thing over and over again, except a different body was buried each time. If the deceased were here, would they be happy with the arrangements? Or would they want fireworks and stories of their amazing adventures and their achievements and pictures of their life spread across the walls and—

Lara sighed; she was being far too judgemental. The families of Amelia and Emmeline had done the best they could. Their deaths, after all, had been quite sudden and unexpected. Maybe a run-in-the-mill funeral was all they could plan, all they could afford or all they could bring themselves to endure? Maybe when someone close to you dies, you can't think of anything but your grief and planning a funeral seems tedious and silly?

Lara didn't know. She'd lost both of her paternal grandparents—her grandpa at seven, her grandma at fourteen—but she hadn't planned their funerals. She remembered her grandpa had a unicorn-drawn carriage and a wake in a fancy hotel, as her grandma had pulled out all the stops. Her grandma's funeral had been very traditional, just as she would have liked. Her parents had planned both of the funerals, so Lara had no idea what emotions went into it.

Sighing, Lara bit her tongue and bowed her head. Maybe she was over-thinking the situation, which wouldn't be out of character. She over thought everything these days.

Lara found herself at the wake for another couple of hours. Suddenly, late in the afternoon, Moody apparated away and the Order took this as their cue to leave. People began disappearing one-by-one, then in small groups and couples. Fred reached for Lara's hand soon after his parents had left together. Pulling herself out of the booth, Lara took his palm and allowed herself to be apparated away.

She landed heavily in Fred's bedroom at his flat, her ankles almost giving way in her black heels. Stumbling to the bed, Lara collapsed onto the mattress and pulled off her shoes, throwing them to the floor. She'd picked out a flowy black dress this-morning given the July heat, but she suddenly felt stuffy and suffocated. Reaching down, she pulled off the clothing, disregarding it along with her shoes.

"Here," Fred said, nudging her side. He was offering her one of his old t-shirts, having stripped of his dress robes and changed into a t-shirt and boxers himself.

"Thanks," Lara sighed, pulling on the clothing. "I felt a little warm in the dress."

"Not surprised, it's boiling out," he replied, falling back onto the bed himself.

"Where's George?"

"Lee's having a get-together tonight, to keep the morale going or something," Fred said and Lara could almost hear him roll his eyes. "George is going early—said he wants to get drunk. We're invited, if you want to go. It doesn't actually start until six."

"Who's going?"

"My lot. And probably your lot. Maybe a few others, like Oliver and stuff. Nobody younger is invited, everyone wants to drink."

"Okay, sure. It'll be nice to see Angelia and Alicia," Lara said, for she hadn't seen the two girls for over a year.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Lara stared at the ceiling, her mind swirling with thoughts and emotions. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears, steady and strong. It was almost a comfort, knowing she was so alive after two funerals in one week.

"What're you thinking about?" Fred asked quietly.

Lara hummed. "A lot."

"Do share."

"I think I want my funeral to be different," Lara murmured quietly. "I want everyone in pink and wearing cherry blossoms in their hair. And I want photos everywhere, of me young and old with all my friends and family, so people understand who I was. And I want a charity box for an animal shelter or something. And instead of people saying I was perfect and the nicest person ever, I want someone to say the truth. I want them to say that I was a pain in the arse and I cared too much about animals and I could be a moody cow when I wanted to be, but they loved me anyway. I want my wake to be in the back garden of wherever I lived at the time, because it was home and it was where I felt most comfortable."

Fred was silent for a moment and then; "Wow, that was a lot."

"You asked."

"I did," he agreed. "And I'm glad I did, because I've been thinking the same thing all day. Not about your funeral, obviously, but about mine."

Lara turned her head slightly. "What would you want?"

"I want everyone in red and gold—Gryffindor till the end—and I want fireworks to go off while I'm being settled into the ground, maybe a few wheels, too. People better tell funny stories about me, I swear to Merlin. And I want the wake at The Burrow, 'cause it'll always be home. I'd want some of my mum's treacle tart and I'd just want all my friends and family there, laughing together and loving each other, y'know? People can get drunk, obviously. The drunker the better. And I hope someone hooks up at the end of the night or something, two complete randomers…like Filch and Madame Maxime."

"Why would Filch be at your funeral?" Lara snorted.

"He secretly loves me, I know it. He'd be devastated if I died."

"Well, if he's going to hook up with anyone, it'll be Mrs Norris not Madame Maxime."

Fred laughed brightly. "Very true, but I'm not one for condoning bestiality."

"Do you think your parents will ever sell The Burrow?" Lara asked softly, turning on her side to face Fred fully.

"Maybe when they're really old, I guess. Why?"

"I can imagine you living there, is all," Lara shrugged. "With your brood of children."

"Brood? How many kids do you think I'm gunna have?"

"Oh, four at least," grinned Lara. "At least three will be an accident, of course. Then again, you might want to match your parents and have seven. That's a full Quidditch side."

Fred opened his mouth quickly, then he slowly nodded as his face relaxed, "Well, it would be cool to have a Quidditch team…"

"Little George the second, Georgie, Georgia, Georgina…then maybe a Fred, an Arthur and a Molly?"

"Maybe if George gets his way," snickered Fred, turning towards her. He reached forward to gently tickle her side and she giggled, inching closer to him. "But George can name his own kids after himself, and I'm sure my parents will have namesakes from the rest of their litter. I think I'm gunna do something different."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he admitted quietly, not quite meeting her eyes. "I think…I think I'll name my kids after people who don't have anyone to remember them, y'know? People who everyone will eventually forget."

"Like who?"

"Fabien and Gideon," he answered instantly. "They were my Uncle's. They died in the First War. Marlene McKinnon…Moody told me about her and her family…they were slaughtered by You-Know-Who, the whole lot of them…and Dorcas Meadowes. She was killed by You-Know-Who himself, yet we don't know anything about her. Imagine being so important, so kick-arse, that You-Know-Who himself has to kill you, just to make sure you're dead…doesn't it make you think of who she was? What she did?"

"Yeah," Lara replied and tried to think of Dorcas Meadowes, but she couldn't form a picture in her head. She was sure someone had mentioned her before, maybe Remus or Sirius…wasn't she friends with Lily and James Potter, Harry's parents? She went to their wedding and ended up breaking a bone or something like that. "Yeah, it does."

"And then when your kids ask how you named them, you can explain that their namesake died a hero and someone needed to honour that. Someone needed to make sure they weren't completely forgotten and they didn't die in vain, because this new kid, this new life, is named after them. The future all these people died to protect has happened and this kid named after them is proof of it."

Lara bit the insides of her cheeks as she stared at Fred, who was idly playing with the fingers of her right hand. Merlin, he could be such an immature idiot sometimes…but then he came out with things like this, things that made her heart feel too big for her chest and her whole body break out in goose bumps. The passion and care he showed towards people blew her mind, especially people that others forgot about, people others overlooked and ridiculed. Sure, he was oblivious sometimes and some people might find him a little too much, but when you were on his good side…when you earned his respect…he was amazing.

He was one of those people that you knew had your back. He was loyal and trustworthy, willing to die for the good things, for a little orphaned boy who his family had brought into their fold, for members of the Order that he'd never met, for a future where kids could be proud of their names and never have to be scared.

"Oh Fred," Lara whispered, propelling herself forward and crushing their lips together.

He seemed shocked, though not opposed. After a moment, he quickly grappled for her waist and pulled her on top of him, their legs tangling together as her hands reached to pull off his t-shirt.

"What'd I say?" he murmured as her hands ran over his chest. "Just so I know for future reference."

"Don't ruin the moment," Lara replied.

He grinned that goofy grin of his as he said, "Right, back on track…"

They were late for Lee's party.

Very, very late.

"We're not that late," Fred said as they stepped towards the twins' floo network.

"It's nine o'clock," replied Lara flatly. "The party started at six."

"…yeah, we're late."

Lara sighed and pushed him into the fireplace. Once he was gone, she followed straight after, landing in a rather modern-looking living room. It was filled with people, some Lara didn't know, while others she recognised from school. Sitting in some seats by the back window, she could see Angelina and Alicia with Lee and George. Fred had just gotten to them and, as far as Lara could tell, was being scolded by Alicia.

"…why are you so late, anyway? What the hell have you been doing that's so important that you miss quality time with your friends?" Alicia was ranting as Lara walked over.

"Not what, but who," Lee grinned, nodding towards Lara as she arrived. "Hey La!"

"Hi Lee," she replied. "And it's whom."

George laughed loudly as Alicia let out a squeal, jumping to her feet to bring Lara into a hug. Angelina followed suit with a giant smile on her face before leading Lara to the seat beside her. Just as she settled, someone hugged her from behind.

"You're finally here," Erin beamed, appearing at her side with Stan and Omar. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Napping."

"Yeah, sure," Omar smirked, having noticed Fred had also joined the group. "Napping."

"Is that what you call it these days?" asked Stan, collapsing onto the floor by Angelina's legs. "I call it bonking. Or, at the very least, rumpy-pumpy."

"Rumpy-pumpy?" Fred repeated dubiously.

"That's what my Nan calls it," Stan shrugged. "It's catchy."

"Or you could just, you know, call it sex, like the adults we are," said Erin.

"What happened to shagging?" questioned Lee. "Is that not a thing now?"

"Or fucking, if we want to be informal," Alicia added.

"And if we want to be formal, coitus," Angelina said.

"How about we change the subject?" said Lara. "How is everyone?"

There was a beat of silence, and then:

"Screwing," George said proudly, holding his fire-whiskey up for a toast. "That's a good one."

Lara rolled her eyes.

When Fred joined in, suggesting 'sexual relations' in a rather creepy voice and a wink, Lara determined it was time for her first drink. Since the night of Sirius' death, she hadn't been intoxicated once and vowed not to be until the War was over. She never wanted to be that powerless again, so heading into the kitchen, she decided she'd have one butterbeer and then stick to diet coke for the rest of the night.

The kitchen had a small group of people in, stood talking and laughing. Intent on getting herself a drink, Lara didn't look up until someone said her name.

"Ollie!" Lara beamed, noticing her fellow Gryffindor across the kitchen island. "I haven't seen you for ages! How've you been?"

Oliver Wood grinned as he pulled her into a quick hug. "Been as good as I can be, I suppose. How about you?"

"About the same," Lara sighed lightly, reaching for one of the beer bottles. "Been a hard year."

Oliver smiled understandingly before he asked, "Is Walt here? I haven't seen him since Christmas."

"He's on a, eh…work trip," Lara replied. He was actually doing something for the Order with Bill Weasley, but she wasn't sure she was allowed to tell anyone that. "The twins and that are here, though."

"Which means Johnson must be here, too, right? I wanted to ask her about the team…"

Lara took Oliver back to her friends, who greeted the older Gryffindor warmly as he sat on the floor beside Lee's chair. As Lara talked with Angelina, Alicia and Erin, more and more people joined the circle. When someone stood on her foot, Lara glanced around the group; she could see some familiar faces, such as Glenn Chan, Alexa Dawn and Allison Sky, and the twins seemed to be talking to their old dorm mates.

"Merlin, Stuart," Angelia cried across the room an hour later, her voice loud and slightly slurred. "What's with the beard? You look like a young Santa."

Jordan Stuart grinned smugly and reached up to stroke his long, bushy facial hair. "Do you like? I used some of the products from Fred and George's shop."

"Doesn't it tickle?" asked Alicia.

"Not me," Jordan replied. "Might other people, though. Why, wanna give it a try?"

"In your dreams, Stuart."

"I'll look forward to them," he winked and Alicia rolled her eyes. "Who're your friends?"

"Erin and Lara," said Angelina, motioning to each girl.

"Oh, yeah," Jordan's mouth stretched into a slow grin. "You're Fred's girl."

"Who, me?"

"Well, it's obviously not me, is it?" smirked Erin, giving Lara a flat look.

"Oh, well, eh…I guess," Lara shrugged, for she could feel several people staring at her, anticipating her response. "Never mind that I went to school with you for six years, mind. I'm just the girl snogging Fred."

The group laughed and the growing tension eased. Fred, who'd been staring at Lara rather intently from the corner of his eye, almost choked on his drink in surprise at her blunt answer.

"Only 'cause these three losers spent our whole sixth and seventh year talking about you," said Jordan. "Fred, why don't you just kiss Lara? Fred, why don't you just ask Lara out? Fred, Lara's super into you, just snog her already!"

"My personal favourite was Fred, with how much you stare at her, she has to like you otherwise she would've slapped you already," Frank Copper, another one of the dorm mates, grinned.

Lee beamed proudly. "I said that!"

"And then seventh year was I miss Lara and Lara would make everything better," Kenneth Tower sniggered, earning an eye roll from Fred, who was blushing from the roots of his hair to the tip of his ears. "And that song George used to sing."

"There's a song?" Erin asked enthusiastically.

Together, all the old dorm mates, minus Fred, began to sing:

"Love has flown, all alone,

I sit and wonder why,

Oh, why you left me,

Oh, Lara!"

The boys fell into rambunctious laughter, while Erin repeated the song at Lara's side.

"Grease," Erin nodded approvingly.

"You lot are the worst," Fred grumbled, shoving his brother in the arm. "And it's not George's song. It's a muggle thing and he just changed the name."

"It was the dance that was the best part," laughed Lee. "George, show them the dance."

George got to his feet and began to do what Lara could only describe as breakdancing gone wrong, finished off by an example of the Hippogriff dance routine. Everyone made a show of enjoying it at Fred's expense, clapping and cheering, while some even joined in. Lara was smiling, so much that her cheeks ached, but she wasn't looking at the dancing boys; she was looking at Fred, who was stretched across the back of the couch, shaking his head with a fond grin on his face. Knowing he'd missed her so much gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling all over her body…he was adorable, one of the best people she'd ever met…

And maybe, just maybe…she was falling a tiny bit in love with him…

RIP Olivia Newton-John