Alaiya panted as the smell filled her nose and flooded her senses until she felt giddy. As soon as the adults could hear the doors being shut upstairs, Dumbledore continued, "Alaiya is a very special case. She has a very rare trait from an ancient bloodline. It makes her, in a sense, part animal."
"What like a dog or cat?" Fred snickered.
They heard a snort and he looked down to see a pair of ruby golden slit irises staring up at him that made his breath catch in his throat as they were finally able to see her face completely in the light. She took another deep breath and the others watched as her eyes seemed to glow slightly, "Dragon."
"Then why did she almost fall over when she smelt him?" Mr. Weasley asked curiously.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and seemed to try and find the right words, "I had an idea this might happen if I brought her here. Arthur, do you remember the letter I sent you last week warning you of this?" Mr. Weasley sent a knowing look to his wife and nodded. "Her senses are more heightened and has the instincts of dragons."
"So what does this have to do with us?" Fred asked as he shared a glance with his brother then looked between his parents.
The Headmaster looked between him and the girl, "You see, that's because she has made a bond with you."
"Huh?" the twins looked confused as the girl lifted her head up and locked eyes with Fred.
"Mates."
George looked at his brother and choked up laughing until he was doubled over, leaving his brother to support the full weight of the girl, not that she weighed much, and with a dumbfounded look on his face as their parents shared a look.
"She's going to need help and someone to watch over her during Hogwarts. I was hoping since she's the same age as you both, she would feel more comfortable being around you," Dumbledore began as he took a seat. "You see, to Alaiya, bonds are the strongest thing to her and once you have a bond with her, she will never go back on it. Isn't that right my dear?"
Alaiya lifted her head and looked over to Professor Dumbledore with slightly clearer eyes, "It is, you of all people should know that when you saved me."
Her voice seemed to float around the room making the twins feel lightheaded. The others seemed to notice this as she talked. Dumbledore smiled when he noticed the smile sent between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "And it seems that a small bond has already started," he continued then looked back at the girl.
"But why would she bond to us?" George asked as he looked between everyone, voicing his brother's silent question.
Dumbledore looked over to Mr. Weasley, "You may want to call the rest of your family here and call them down from upstairs."
The parents both nodded and within the hour Bill, Percy, and Charlie, who was fascinated with this new girl's eyes came in from the portkey as the younger kids came running down the stairs.
"Everyone's here, now why would she make a bond with Fred and George?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Dumbledore sighed as Alaiya sent the older man a look and growled out, "Either you tell them, or I will," then in a softer voice, "They have a right to know what could have happened within the next few years if I had failed, Albus."
He nodded, "You all should sit for this." He waited as they all sat next to eachother worriedly around the table and looked between the Headmaster and the girl.
Fred chuckled, "You two are acting like one of us dies." Dumbledore watched as Alaiya clenched her eyes shut and turned her head away making the chuckle stop and a stuttered question replace it, "Who?"
Alaiya waited, but when no one spoke, she began, "Out of all the different oracle reports of the deaths, this was the one that I was the most determined to stop from happening." Her eyes hardened and clenched her fists as she stared off into space, "Albus is right, bonds mean the world to me."
"The report said that, within the next few years, there was going to be another great wizard war that would take over Hogwarts," she started slowly to make sure she had their attention, "By the time this happens, Albus would have already been killed by Death Eaters and the Ministry would have worked their way in the school. It wouldn't be long after this that Voldemort would have infiltrated and taken over Hogwarts with his Death Eaters. Several students from the different houses would group together to fight them along with those from the Order."
She paused as the Weasleys seemed to take everything in, "This group would turn against all the Death Eaters and fight them in the school while Voldemort marched on the school grounds with a large army of followers. This is where your family comes in."
Mrs. Weasley had a tight grip on her husband's hands as Fred clenched George's arm, Ginny held onto both Harry and Ron's hands as the three older sons stood behind their parents.
Alaiya gave Albus a sad look until he motioned for her to continue. She sighed but nodded, "Everyone in your family would be in different parts of the school fighting the Death Eaters. One of them would send a curse at a wall while two of your family would be distracted by other Death Eaters, it would fall and kill one of you."
There was a sob from Mrs. Weasley as they watched tears fall down Alaiya's face, "This was something I wanted to prevent more than anything, more than any other death, even if it cost me my life."
"Who?" Mr. Weasley asked worriedly as he glanced at his sons.
"You must know, that since I killed Voldemort, none of this will happen now. His followers are dead and he has no way of coming back." She felt more tears fall as she looked at the twins with sorrowful eyes, making the others tense, "Bonds are dear to me. But the bond of twins is the strongest and the most precious."
Fred and George looked at eachother and choked back a sob as they held eachother closer. Fred tried to swallow the lump in the back of his throat as he looked back at the girl that saved his family from a sad fate, "W-Which one of us?"
She gave them a sad look, "You, Fred."
Fred looked at his brother as tears fell from their eyes and hugged eachother tightly with their parents hugging them too.
"Once I found out what would happen and how it would affect your family, your twin, I couldn't let that happen and trained as hard as I could to keep it from becoming reality. You all had the right to know," she looked down, "and I felt it wasn't my place to keep it to myself but he's dead now." She glared at the floor as he lip curled, "That snake will never be coming back." She closed her eyes as a few more tears fell, "I'm sorry to have made you all upset but I couldn't keep this from you when it would cause your family so much grief if I didn't succeed."
Dumbledore watched as she cried silently with her head down and fists clenched then looked to the family. Arthur was watching his sons hug eachother as his wife kissed their heads several times.
"I," her voice cracked as she continued to keep her head down, "I couldn't let," she bit her lip as her body shook and gained the others' attention, "I couldn't let their bond be destroyed. Not if I could stop it," she seemed to mumble something like, "not again," but they weren't sure.
