Filch's detention had been pretty horrible. He made us clean all the toilets in the dungeons which were mostly frequented by the Slytherins. George told me afterwards that the boys' washroom smelt like a troll had been hibernating in there. Fred on the other hand had been uncharacteristically quiet, only talking with George for the rest of the week. He seemed angry, but none of the rest of us had any idea of what was setting him off. It wasn't like it was their first- or probably their last- detention at Hogwarts.

It was now a week after the detention had taken place and I was sitting in the library with Angelina studying for our upcoming Herbology test. The book I was reading was explaining the 212 uses of foxglove when I felt Angelina kick me from under the desk.

I looked up with an incredulous expression before noticing the twins slowly approaching our table. Well, more accurately, George was pushing Fred towards the table while the two were obviously having a whispered disagreement.

"Marnie, Freddie here has something he would like to share," George exclaimed with a smile on his face.

He then looked back at Fred who looked like he was contemplating turning back. This forced George to grab his elbow and shove him forward.

Fred let out an exasperated sigh when he saw his twin was not budging on his decision to force Fred to say whatever it was they had initially discussed. I was at a loss for what Fred could possibly have to say, especially after all of this effort.

"So, uh, Hare…. The thing is…." He paused while looking back at George who gave him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. "Hare, I'm sorry I failed you." Fred finished with a dejected look and stared down at his feet.

I looked back at him in shock, not knowing what to say or even make of the situation. I quickly looked over to George for guidance who just nodded towards Fred in response.

"Fred, how could you possibly think you failed me? You and George are my best friends." I responded at once, still trying to rack my brain for some sort of sensical explanation as to why Fred was feeling this way.

"Unless, you did something behind my back?' I suggested, already doubting Fred would ever do that.

"NO! Oh Merlin! No!" Fred sputtered as if the insinuation itself was preposterous. "No, the detention!" He explained frantically, still horrified at the idea of doing anything behind my back.

"The detention? That's what this is about. That's why you have been avoiding all of us for the past week?" I asked in an incredulous tone.

"Well yea," Fred said matter-of-factly. "I swore to protect you. And that includes from slimy gits like Filch." Fred explained more confidently.

I shook my head in bafflement. "Fred you idiot! Being your best friend makes me a fellow prankster by extension. Plus, I do recall that we…" as I pointed between myself and Angelina,"… started the pranking wars anyway. You can't beat yourself up about getting detention. I mean, we were all caught red handed." I finished.

Fred took a moment before he looked back up at me.

"So, you forgive me?" Fred asked in a surprised tone.

"You git, I was never mad at you in the first place. Just glad to have my best friend back. Brooding is not a good look for you mate," I added while smiling at him.

"You two are hopeless," Angelina said looking between the two of us while shaking her head.

"Ain't that the truth," George added also smiling in relief. "Glad to have that wrapped up." He added as both he and Fred sat down to join us, with absolutely no intention of studying.

XXX

After our so-called incident was wrapped up, our group dynamic thankfully returned to normal. I found it extremely odd at how seriously Fred was taking this whole protecting thing. I even asked George about it, since he was always the more grounded of the two. But George had just shrugged it off, telling me that I knew how Fred was. After that, I let it go deciding it wasn't necessary to give it much more thought.

The only thing any of my friends seemed interested in discussing now was the first quidditch game of the year which was quickly approaching. It was to take place in the middle of October, between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Our prefect, who was also the twins' brother Charlie, was also due to play in the game as Gryffindor's captain and seeker. He was also reportedly very good as per the twins and seeing as how they talked about Percy and Ron, I didn't think they were just talking Charlie up for the sake of family.

I knew it was the morning of game even before I opened my eyes. I could sense all three girls hovering over my bed before they decidedly started jostling me in an attempt to wake me up.

"Geroff me," I grumbled, causing them to laugh and toss me my robes.

"Get up Marnie! We have to be able to get good seats to watch the game." Katie said.

I could hear her walk away towards the washroom presumably to finish getting ready.

"Do not go back to sleep Marnie!" Ange yelled warningly. "I will jump on you!"

"Oo, that's how I get my brother out of bed at home. I can still outrun him, so that's how I still get away with it." Alicia laughed before she followed Katie.

"Alight, alright, I'm up," I said groggily, lifting myself out of bed.

I started almost blindly putting on my robes after having removed my sleeping clothes. Once I had my uniform on haphazardly, I heard what sounded like a pelting sound at the door. Since the other three were in the washroom, I hesitantly went to the door and opened it, but was confused when there was nobody there. Dazed, I stuck my head out to look around the staircase only to see a small rock whizzing through the air aimed directly at my head. In a sobering instant I quickly ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding the flying object.

"Who is sending rocks to our door?" I yelled down the staircase, not wanting to enter the common room before I washed up a little or tamed my hair.

"Hurry up you lot, we need to eat before we head out to the pitch and we need to be able get good seats!" Fred explained in an exasperated tone.

"Oi, you gits almost hit me!" I yelled back, knowing Lee and George must also be there.

"Well we can't see where you are," explained George.

"And we just wanted you lot to hurry up," added Lee.

I groaned at them exasperatingly and slammed the door having no energy to argue with them. But as I walked towards the washroom I could have sworn I heard Lee say 'Ow' and at least one of the twins speaking in an annoyed tone.

Twenty minutes later we all headed out to the pitch after having hastily scarfed down some food. As we walked by, both twins patted Charlie on the shoulder while the rest of us smiled and wished him good luck. I also noticed the full plate of food in front of him which still looked untouched.

We were indeed some of the first few people to make it to the pitch much to the delight of my friends. We found our seats located in the front-center of the stands, although slightly more towards the Gryffindor side to avoid enemy territory. The twins were telling me how they thought Hufflepuff's weren't all that good at playing quidditch although I suspected they were probably just biased. On the other had I had never seen an actual quidditch game while I knew the twins played in their back yard. So they definitely knew more than I did.

"I can't wait til it's us out there Georgie," Fred said thrillingly.

"I couldn't agree with you more Freddie! We'll make Gryffindor proud," George returned triumphantly.

"You guys are going to try-out for the quidditch team?" I asked, this being the first time I had heard the twins mention it.

"Of course Marnie, quidditch is one of our favourite things. It's one of the main reasons we were looking forward to coming to Hogwarts in the first place," George answered with Fred smiling in agreeance.

"We are going to be beaters," Fred said as I remembered those were the two positions who hit the balls called bludgers at other players from the opposing team.

"Yea, well you're looking at your chaser team right here," Katie piped in as she indicated to Alicia and Ange.

I knew there were three chasers on a team who scored points by throwing the quaffle through either of the three hoops on the opposite team's end. Seriously, this is all any of them would talk about for weeks. Plus, I had read my mom's book about the intricacies of the game more times than I could count.

Fred and George smiled in approval to what Katie said while Lee explained that he had an interest in announcing the games. When they all stopped talking about their dreams of entering the quidditch team they all looked at me.

"Marnie, you should be the seeker!" Alicia exclaimed with the others nodding enthusiastically.

"Way better than the keeper!" Fred added.

"Plus, you're small so you can speed to the snitch faster. Seekers are usually small for that reason," Angelina explained.

I looked up at all of them who were all decisively set on playing quidditch, and probably had been long before they started school.

"I don't think I want to," I answered calmly.

Sure, I loved flying lessons but I had never once thought about joining the team, even when I was waiting to start school. It wasn't just because I thought my dad would avidly forbid me from playing, but I had never had a passion for it like my friends surely had. And I thought that was probably a very important aspect for the team.

"But you know," I interrupted before they could all start questioning me, "you will have a number one fan in the stands, which is a very important commodity," I explained coolly.

They all smiled at me and agreed before turning their attention to the pitch where the teams were entering from opposite sides. I could see Charlie walking towards the center where he met a girl with her brown hair tied back into pigtails in front of Madam Hooch. The girl looked to be about Charlie's age. They shook hands and then returned to their respective teams before mounting their brooms. Madam Hooch mounted her own broom shortly after before magically releasing the balls from their case. After a moment the flying teacher blew her whistle and the players were off.

During the game I quickly looked back and forth between all of the players, trying to decipher what was going on. Lee, who was sitting beside me, started to commentate the game to our group which became immensely helpful. Fifteen minutes after the game had started Charlie caught the snitch. Gryffindor won 230-60.

XXX

Over the next few months we all became busier as classes came into full swing and teachers seemingly wanted to cram our young brains with as much knowledge as they could before Christmas break. I was excited at the thought of seeing my father whom I had been writing to almost every day. I had obviously told him about being sorted into Gryffindor and meeting most of my friends on the train; just like mum! I also explained my classes to him, telling him my favourite was Herbology, as well as flying lessons. I also assured him that I had been safe but had then left out the pranks I pulled and the detentions I had received; mostly with the twins. The detention I had received on my birthday had not been my first and I later drilled it into Fred's head that it was not his fault if I was ever with him when I got punished. He had begrudgingly agreed.

All of my friends were also getting excited to return home to their families. Angelina explained that her family always went to her granny's cottage in order to go skiing. Lee's family typically went to his uncle's place in the city where his entire family got together and where he would hang around with his cousins. Alicia on the other hand typically had a quieter, family Christmas with her brother, same as Katie, who stayed at home with her parents and grandpa. The twins also explained to me what their Christmas's consisted of; like how their mother spent all year knitting each of them a personalized sweater and the big feast she prepared for their entire family. The only thing the twins didn't seem to like was that their mother played Celestina Warbeck who apparently was a witch who only sang sappy love songs to which their mother cherished. After hearing the twins' stories, even despite the questionable music, the Weasley Christmas sounded pretty spectacular. For my own Christmas I knew Remus would come over and spend the night Christmas Eve, barring it wasn't a full moon, and the three of us would wake up early the next morning to exchange gifts. Dad would also cook us a full breakfast, much like the one he had made on September first and we would then spend the day lounging around. I would usually spend it reading since I always got a new book, and then we settle in to eat a large roast at the end of the day. I was always in charge of the dessert, which had been chocolate pudding when I was younger, but last year I managed to make a pumpkin pie. I hadn't ever thought that I needed anything else than what I had with my family, but the chaos and craze of the Weasley holidays sounded like something that I curiously wanted to experience.

A week later we were finally boarding the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays. The seven of us all crammed into a compartment and excitedly talked about our studies being temporarily on hiatus. Currently, I was talking to Lee about which class we were most thankful to be over; Potions or History of Magic.

"Excuse us for a moment," George interrupted as he and Fred stood up and opened the sliding door.

I noticed Fred trying to inconspicuously rub his sleeve over the glass before slipping out.

"We have some business to attend to, be back soon," Fred answered, already making his way down the hall.

I stared after them inquisitively before turning back to Lee.

Ten minutes later the twins returned with the slight smell of gunpowder following in their wake. I looked at them quizzically but they just smiled and started talking to Ange about how they were bound to go skating on the pond behind their house. Moments later though a very angry Marcus Flint came stomping down the hallway before stopping outside our door and glaring into our compartment. It was obvious there had been some kind of small explosion since his face had gray ash all over it and his hair was standing straight up. It also looked like his eyebrows were singed. Lee was trying to hold back his obvious laughter while I saw the girls snicker at his appearance.

After a glaring moment he went to open our compartment before the twins stood up defiantly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," George told him tauntingly.

"Yea, that thing is rigged to blow," Fred added with his hands crossed over his chest.

Flint looked as if he was contemplating whether their words were true or not before hesitantly reaching to open the door; deciding that the twins were lying.

"Look at you Flint, greasier than normal, and a face that's already blown up," George interrupted causing Flint to pause in his movement.

"Plus, I don't think no eye-brows would be a good look for you, they're already half gone," Fred continued causing Flint to pull his hands up to his brow line as if trying to confirm Fred's words.

At this point I tried to hold back my laughter at Flint's appearance and skiddish behavior.

Flint looked down at me with malice.

"You dirty squib, you can't hide behind these weasels forever," Flint sneered but then stormed off in the same direction he had come from.

At once Lee and the girls started applauding which caused George to take a bow. Fred however sat down beside me and put his hand over mine which was resting on my knee.

"I'll always protect you Marnie, no one will ever hurt you. I won't let them," he said solemnly and hugged me.

I was still surprised at how serious Fred could be when someone even slightly tried to offend me. But, as my head looked over his shoulder during our embrace it was then that I saw the words Dirty Squib scrawled in someone's breath on the compartment door, haphazardly erased.

When we exited the train a few hours later the others ran off to their families after giving their hurried good-byes. I remained with the twins as we surveyed the crowd looking for our parents. The twins smiled when they saw a woman come bustling through the crowd with a warm smile and matching red hair.

"Fred! George!" the woman shouted, waving her hand and hurrying over to our location. I also saw a young boy and girl, both with red hair, following closely behind the woman. They must be Ron and Ginny.

The woman approached the twins and pulled them into a hug before letting go and glancing over at me.

"Oh dear, you must be Marnie! The twins have told me so much about you!" the woman smiled before she hugged me in greeting. I was taken aback at the outward motherly affection which made me frown slightly.

"Mrs. Weasley," I said when the woman let me go, "it's nice to meet you too!"

"Oh dearie, call me Molly! And this is Ron and Ginny," she added, gesturing down to the two young children.

Before I could say anything else I saw my dad approaching from the crowd. In response I ran up to him and jumped into his open arms.

"Dad! I've missed you so much!" I said as I buried myself into his chest. "Come, you have to meet my best friends!" I added and led him by the hand a few feet over to where the Weasleys stood. But before I could introduce my dad, Mrs. Weasley was already extending her hand towards my father.

"Joss, I hadn't realized you were Marnie's father," Mrs. Weasley said as my father took her outstretched hand and clasped his other hand on top.

"It's good to see you again, Molly. I am glad to confirm that my daughter's decidedly best friends are indeed your sons," my father added as the twins and I looked between them in bewilderment.

"How do you know Mrs. Weasley?" I asked as the twins asked their mother how she knew my father.

"Oh, we know each other from years ago," dad said with a tint of sadness in his voice which was almost imperceptible. I knew this to mean that they had known each other from the war.

Because of this I didn't press the matter further since I was fairly confident in my assumption. I noticed the twins had stopped their own line of questioning, maybe also knowing of the underlying insinuation of the war.

"Joss, you are welcome at the Burrow anytime you know, if you feel up to it I mean," Mrs. Weasley said knowingly. I became intrigued with the level of which Mrs. Weasley apparently knew my father.

"Thank-you Molly, I appreciate the invitation. We will have to take you up on that offer one day," my father said with a smile on his face. I was actually surprised and elated at the prospect of my father going anywhere that wasn't Remus' or Mr. Lovegood's. I did often worry at the amount of friends my father seemingly lacked, especially with me at school.

"Well we better get going Marnie, your uncle is waiting for you at home," my father said as I hugged the twins and went to leave, but not without Mrs. Weasley giving me another hug.

I waved back at the Weasley's seeing that Percy and Charlie had caught up with their family as we left the platform. I couldn't help thinking that the twin's mother was even more amazing than I had anticipated.

XXX

I woke up Christmas day to the smell of waffles and bacon. Feeling the chilled air of my room I almost wanted to stay under my warm covers but my stomach growled in protest. I was also sure that our small fireplace would have a fire going since it was typical for my dad to light one during the winter months. Decidedly, with trepidation, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my ratty cloak and slippers before rushing out of my bedroom and cascaded down the stairs into the front entryway. Turning around to head towards the kitchen I saw that my dad and Remus were already there, both with a cup of tea in hand. My dad was still preparing the food while my uncle sat at our small counter on a stool. I couldn't quite hear what they were talking about due to the crackling fire and they went quiet when Remus saw me approaching.

"Good morning Marnie, Happy Christmas!" Remus exclaimed, setting his cup down to give me a hug.

Dad put the last waffle onto the stacked plate and set it down on the table before turning to me and giving me a hug as well.

"Happy Christmas Love," dad said as he kissed my forehead.

He released me moments later so we could all sit down at the table. It was always our tradition to eat breakfast before presents since my dad said he preferred to see my reaction to the gifts, which he wouldn't be able to if they were left at the foot of my bed.

Uncle Remus asked me all about my classes and was especially interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I told him we were learning about merpeople and that my favourite class was Herbology which I saw made my dad smile. I also told him about my flying lesson and how I hadn't gotten it right away before Angelina had helped me.

"Oh Marnie, don't worry. You seem to have picked it up well!" Remus said encouragingly before he started to chuckle.

"James and Sirius were pros much like you say your friends are, but I struggled a bit. It was James who had to encourage me that I could fly. I think it was about the third or fourth time that the broom went into my hand. And poor Peter…" Remus added, "…. His broom didn't even move the first couple of times he commanded. I think he finally got it around his twelfth time." He paused as if caught in his own memories.

"But nothing beats that first feeling of flying through the air," Remus added wistfully.

We continued talking about school and what I thought of Hogwarts in general while we finished breakfast. Remus magically cleared the dishes once we were done and I dashed for the tree. I knew dad cut it down from the forest that surrounds the meadow around our yard. It had always been our tradition to go out into the woods on December first to select a tree. When I was younger my dad would bundle me in a snowsuit before setting me on a ramshackle sled and pulling me out into the woods. I would always choose a tree much too tall for our cottage and my dad would have to convince me on another one. It made me sad that my dad had done it alone this year.

"This one's for you Marnie," Remus held out a gift wrapped in brown packing paper.

I opened it to reveal a book called The Lesser Known Uses for Magical Herbs and Where to Find Them.

I looked up at Uncle Remus and gave him a huge bearlike hug.

"Thank-you so much uncle!" I exclaimed, already wanting to read it.

"You're very welcome Marnie, I gathered you were really enjoying Herbology from the letters you sent me," he responded.

We then started opening the rest of the presents. I gave Remus a Gryffindor coloured scarf and dad a magic mug which kept your tea continually warm since he was always leaving it around the house and forgetting about it until hours later.

We continued until there was only one present left under the tree which my dad reached for and handed over to me.

I opened the small gift to uncover a small velvet box. Inside was a gold chain necklace with an empty pendant.

"It belonged to your mother. We had agreed that once you attended your first year at Hogwarts we would give it you. Why don't you try it on?" dad suggested as he took it from me and placed it around my neck.

I looked down to admire the necklace and saw that the once empty pendant had changed to a red ruby. I looked up to my dad in astonishment.

"It changes to whatever house you're sorted into. When your mother had it, it had been amber to represent Hufflepuff," dad explained before I even asked the question.

"What beautiful magic," Remus said as he inspected the necklace.

I was speechless at the thought that my mother had worn the necklace when she attended Hogwarts. I also couldn't fathom the form of magic which recognized her as a Hufflepuff and myself as a Gryffindor.

"Thank-you," I whispered as I buried my head in my dad's chest and gave him a hug. I felt tears pang my eyes and willed them to go away. I didn't want my dad to think I was upset when I was quite the opposite.

"I have an idea Marnie," my dad said as he gently pulled me away from him so he could look at me. "Why don't we go visit your mother? You haven't seen her since the end of summer."

I nodded fervently still not trusting my voice from breaking. I hurried up the stairs to get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later I came bustling down the stairs. Remus agreed to apparate us individually to save time from the long drive to see where my mother was. He decided to take my father first so he would be waiting for my arrival. Once Remus apparated with me, he left us and agreed to return in a couple of hours so he could prepare the feast for tonight.

I took my dad's hand as he led me down the familiar way to where my mother was. I always got sad coming here for obvious reasons but was also happy to have this connection to her.

When we arrived in her wing I saw a familiar boy walking towards us.

"Hi Neville, happy Christmas," I said rushing over to hug the younger boy. I had known Neville for years and had grown quite fond of the timid boy. I had promised him that I would look out for him once he entered Hogwarts in a couple years. I had also written him a couple letters assuring him there was nothing to be scared of, except maybe the Potions master.

"Oh hi Marnie," Neville replied as he happily returned the embrace. "I've stopped in to see your mum briefly this morning, she's looking quite well," Neville said giving me an encouraging smile.

It was difficult being two young children who bonded over the torture of their parents at the hands of Death Eaters. I waved at him, promising to say good-bye to him and his gran before leaving.

We continued down the hall before turning into the familiar room that was now my mother's home. My dad was first to enter with me close behind. I surveyed the walls which were covered in drawings I had made for her over the years. There were also pictures of me everywhere from different stages of my life plus some of the letters I had written to my dad while at Hogwarts.

"Good morning Lena," dad said quietly once my mother noticed our arrival.

She was shuffling around her room, tinkering with the trinkets on the shelf at the far end. Most of the items were odd bits and rubbish she found around the hospital but some were actual objects dad would bring her to keep her occupied. I saw the sad smile on his face that he always got when seeing her.

She started waving energetically once she noticed us without saying anything. She was often very quiet, not saying much. But she always had a happy demeanor and would show us around her room. Today was no different as she noticed me and took my hand to guide me over to her shelf. She started showing me her collection as I picked up a dried flower which dad must have brought her over the summer. I went to show her the flower when I caught her looking down at me and pointing to my necklace.

"Yellow," she said still looking at my ruby red necklace.

I looked at my mother with an astonished gaze.

"That's right Lena, yours used to be yellow," my dad responded to the rare utterance of my mother speaking.

At my dad's words she nodded her head vigorously before turning back to her collection. For the rest of our visit my mother only mumbled to herself on occasion and didn't say anything else to us. We had taken her down to the cafeteria where we all ate Christmas cakes and pudding. Watching my mother, it always looked as if she were in a childish daze. It was difficult to comprehend, although I loved my mother with all my heart, I had never known her as anything different. She had been tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange near the same time as Neville's parents. My mother had been on a special mission for the Order of the Phoenix and had gotten captured by the Death Eater before she could report back to the others. Apparently, my mother had been trying to protect Lily and James after discovering Frank and Alice. The details were fuzzy and despite how honest me and my dad were with each other, the torture of my mother was definitely not a topic he liked to explain, especially to his eleven-year-old daughter.

I had never been angry at my mother or felt abandoned by her. I was actually quite proud of her for fighting for our family and friends. For a better world, without dark magic. But looking into my mother's eyes and not seeing any recognition or even essence of being an adult woman was cruel. My deepest most secret place in my heart almost wished she had died. There seemed to be much crueler fates than death. But every time I pictured visiting my mother's grave instead of hospital bed made me feel anguish, despair, and reluctance. This is why I sometimes doubted that I wasn't a coward; that I even belonged in Gryffindor, because I couldn't picture this kindness for my mother.

A couple hours later, when my mother was falling asleep in her bed, we bid her good-bye. I hugged my mum, putting a smile on her face before leaving for the next room to see Neville.

"Your baby is a Gryffindor Lena," Joss whispered to his wife before he bent down to kiss the top of her head and pulled the blankets over her.

He stood up and exited the room to find his daughter which meant he didn't hear the whisper from his wife.

"Red."

XXXXXXXX

I am super happy with this chapter and hope everyone liked the ending. I know this is a sad reveal about the mother but I've known this was the case since I started the story. More chapters to come!