Okay guys this chapter came to me just as I wrote it so it all just flowed out. I was actually planning on writing a completely different chapter but I thought I needed a filler and a proper explanation of the whole "I appear when it's safe to appear, and when it's not…" So here we are and I thought it would be nice to shove a cute mother/son moment in there.

I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 4

Fred shot up in bed, sweat streaking down his face and coating his slim frame. Tears were streaming down his face and he gasped, blinking to try and clear his blurry vision. He pushed his hair back off his forehead breathing heavily as the details of his nightmare came tearing back to him.

Screaming; there was so much screaming. She had been laughing before it happened; laughing beautifully as they walked hand-in-hand down by the snow covered bank of the frozen river.

Talking; that was all they were doing when a large shadowy figure fell from a tree, landing mere feet away from them.

Slowly its head rose to look at them. The light of the moon finally fell on its face.

She instantly screamed, trying to backtrack quickly. The figure cocked its mangled head to the side like a dog; it watched them with wide, unwavering, blood-red eyes.

It remained motionless.

She was yelling, tugging and begging a motionless Fred to run.

But he couldn't.

But she didn't leave him; she continued to tug on his arm calling his name.

But he didn't stir.

Even when the creature's hackles rose, he didn't shift; and she didn't run but her pleas froze in her throat.

He was frozen as its inhuman eyes narrowed and with a teeth-jarring screech it jumped.

He watched with a warped sense of fascination as its body hunched in mid-air, arms extended and ivory claws stretched from its human fingers; ready to strike.

A shadow flashed across his vision and he heard the screams as the creature's claws found purchase in the body that had thrown itself in front of him.

Creature and saviour fell to the ground.

She writhed and howled in agony, body arching off the ground.

Her cries were painful to hear. Her angelic beauty was horrific to watch being destroyed.

Her sacrifice was the worst to bear.

Fred watched the fire in her eyes die as her heart stopped.

The creature lifted its head once more and its gaze fixed on Fred.

Its blood smeared mouth broke out into a sickeningly wide grin showing the sharp blood stained teeth.

Samantha's blood.

Then it lunged.

That was when Fred had woken.

He buried his head in his shaking hands trying to even out his breathing.

Casting a quick glance over to where George lay, he saw that his twin had not woken and he sighed in relief. There had been more than one occasion when they had shared dreams and Fred was thankful that this hadn't been one of those instances.

He swung his legs over the side of his bed and gently eased his weight onto his unsteady legs as he stood.

He quietly exited the bedroom and made his way downstairs, making sure not to wake the portrait of Mrs. Black up a he passed it; Kreacher was curled up under it snoozing quietly.

When he finally made it to the kitchen he saw that there was someone already seated by the fire.

"Mum?" He asked as he walked towards her.

Molly jumped in her seat, quickly tearing her gaze from the flames.

"Freddie darling, what are you doing up?" She questioned as she stood, but after scrutinising him more closely she spoke again. "Merlin's Beard, are you alright?" She reached up on her tiptoes and put the back of her hand against her son's forehead.

"Mum I'm not ill." Fred assured her mother pulling her hand from his face and putting it back down by her side.

"But you're boiling and you're sweating like crazy." She eyed her son curiously, releasing her arms from his hold and pressing her fingers to his neck, finding his pulse which was still racing.

"Mum!" Fred said exasperatedly.

"Freddie your pulse is frantic." She put her hands on her hips and gave her son the 'no nonsense' look.

"It was just a bad dream." He muttered as he stalked past her, sinking onto the dusty floor by the fire.

Molly returned to her seat and after a moment of silence she placed a hand on Fred's shoulder.

"What was it about?" She asked him kindly.

"Mum, I'm not a child anymore; I don't need to tell you about my nightmares." He said as he stared desolately into the fire.

"You may be growing up but you are still my son and I am still your mother and it is my duty to look after you no matter what, so spill the beans."

Fred rolled his eyes at the Muggle saying, it was clear that Arthur was rubbing off on her, but after looking up into his mother's eyes he knew he had to vent; he wouldn't escape otherwise.

"I was with," he paused for a moment turning to look away from his mother, hoping to hide his blush, "a girl. We were just walking and talking when something tried to attack me. She jumped in the way and it killed her. I woke up just as it was going for me again." He said hurriedly looking down at the floor.

Molly frowned worriedly and knelt next to her son. She pulled him into her arms and listened with relief as she heard him let out a long breath before relaxing into her side.

"Who was this girl? Does she – uh – mean something to you?" Fred winced; he knew that she was going to ask that

"I guess I kind of like her." He admitted quietly.

Molly watched as Fred's hand went to rest on his shoulder.

Precisely where Samantha had lightly cuffed him. But Molly didn't know that.

She sighed and ran her hands through his wet hair.

"Fred?" Her apprehensive tone made Fred tense.

He made a small noise in reply and tried to calm his heartbeat.

"Is it Hermione?" Fred froze for a second before beginning to howl with laughter, completely collapsing into his mother's side much like he had with Samantha earlier. That thought slowly stopped his laughter.

"No Mum, it's not Hermione. That's just too wrong to fathom." He said, a little humour tingeing his tone.

Molly was shocked at the sudden change in mood but she put it down to the fact that he was tired.

"Then who is it?"

Fred swallowed before an idea popped into his head; he just hoped that his mum didn't see through it.

"Someone from school; I haven't really thought about them for ages." Fred bit his lower lip, waiting to see what his next move should be.

"Hmm. Well what do you think made you think of her?"

Fred did a mental victory dance.

"Well, I think that Sam reminded me of her slightly." He said, trying to sound casual.

"Well then that explains it." Molly seemed completely oblivious to Fred's racing mind.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while before Fred decided to take the lunge.

"Mum?" He finally spoke.

"Mmm?"

"Something Sam said confused me slightly."

"And what was that darling?" She asked curiously.

"She said that she 'appears when it is safe to appear' I just don't get why it wouldn't be safe for her to 'appear'." He asked with a frown, watching the flames dance around each other.

"Well, she is a very powerful witch. A lot of people are jealous of her abilities and believe that no one should wield her amount of power." Molly thought for a while of the way to put the next bit delicately. "There have been many attempts to end her life." Another pause. "Jealousy makes people do terrible things."

Fred was shocked into silence.

"Is that why Snape had to escort her home? To protect her?" He asked eventually, his voice wavered slightly.

"Yes. It is crucial to the Order that she stays safe. If all else fails, she is our only hope."

"So does she have a person with her all of the time?" Fred sat up straight and gazed questioningly at his mother

"Yes. However, when she was younger she used to have rotating guards, so that no one could predict where she was if she was with the same guard at all times." Molly stood and dusted off her dressing gown before sinking into her chair once more. "But as she grew older, she grew lonely, her guards were changed so often she never had the chance to grow close to any of them; even if she did they would be gone within the month and she would never see them again. She never had the same guard twice and once their time was up, their memory was wiped and they never even remembered the few months they spent with her. She never met any children, no other people, she was very isolated."

Fred suddenly realised why she had sounded so passionate when she was talking in the meeting about Harry's loneliness.

"So, she was put with a permanent guard who for ¾ of the year would be undetectable and who was capable of protecting her if it was needed."

"Professor Snape." Fred finished.

"Yes; Severus spends ¾ of the year within Hogwarts grounds so he is protected and during those months, Samantha goes into hiding. Were she goes however," Molly shrugged, "no one knows. In many ways he is the perfect guardian for her. As you observed, they have formed a bond they both needed. Samantha needed a protector who would act as her guardian. But most of all, they both needed a friend." Molly smiled fondly.

"He seems so comfortable with her." Fred marvelled.

"Indeed he does." Molly agreed with a nod of her head.

"And he laughed!"

Molly chuckled at her son's amusement.

"Yes he did." Yet again Molly sighed. "I must say that it is nice to know that he is not completely alone. No one deserves to be alone."

Something began to nag at Fred's mind.

"What about her parents?"

His mother smiled sadly.

"Oh." Was Fred's response. "How—?"

When she was thinking her answer through she frowned.

"It's actually much like Harry's story but much more sadistic." She puzzled over the details before beginning. "You-Know-Who had heard of the Harlow's and he feared that they would be a threat to him. If only he knew." She chuckled darkly. "Her parents, you see, were part of the old Order; they were exceptionally talented, wonderful, kind people. Her father however, was one of the only people to face You-Know-Who and live to tell the tale and that did not go without its punishment. You-Know-Who doesn't take defeat easily, so when he killed Samantha's parents, it wasn't due to any fear against his life; it was cold-blooded revenge."

"Dumbledore found her at the scene of the death, sitting in a car seat, without any knowledge that her parents were lying dead just outside of the vehicle. He brought her to the Order and she was entrusted into the care of a certain Minerva McGonagall."

Fred's eyes grew wide with every sentence but with that particular piece of information Fred's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"McGonagall?" He sputtered but Molly only smiled.

"The very same; and she took fantastic care of the little girl." Molly sighed unhappily. "That was until Voldemort discovered her existence, he hasn't stopped pursuing her ever since. Well," She amended, "maybe not as directly as he has Harry. Still, there are Death Eaters who have been wondering the world for years with the sole purpose of ending her life. We have only lately concluded that Pettigrew must have been behind the reveal." Molly spat the name as if it was poison on her tongue and Fred felt anger bubble within him. A little girl, he had given a little girl a death sentence and he had condemned Harry to a life of terror.

"It was then, that they placed her in a Muggle, Ummm, what's the word?" Molly puzzled for a while before snapping her fingers, "orphanage! A Muggle orphanage, of course many Witches and Wizards were employed there for her protection. She was kept there until one day she did something no Witch or Wizard has ever been able to do at the tender age of seven."

Molly paused and smirked at the enrapture look on Fred's face.

"Secrets are hard to keep and needless to say, You-Know-Who found out where she was and attacked the orphanage. So she escaped in he only way that was available to her. She apparated. Right out of the orphanage and ended up right on the front steps of Hogwarts."

"But, you can't apparate into Hogwarts!" Fred objected.

"Exactly. The fact that she apparated, at age seven, piled upon the fact that she apparated into somewhere that is supposedly impenetrable and all without a wand, just proved how powerful she was. That was when she began to have a constant guard. I was only at age eleven when she voiced her loneliness and Severus has had her under his care ever since."

"She's been with him for six years?" Fred questioned.

"Yes. Indeed." She spoke, grinning as she watched Fred stifle a yawn. "I think you need to go to bed."

Instead of arguing Fred nodded.

"Mmkay." He mumbled as he stood up.

Molly kissed her son on the cheek and watched with a sigh as he trudged up the stairs.

With a flick of her wand the fire was extinguished and she headed off to bed leaving the dark kitchen behind her.

WHOOF! So that actually took me yonks to pull out and my keyboard is playing up, choosing random keys not to work at one moment and then the next they'll work again. FUN FUN!

So please review, I always love to hear what you think.

Lots of love from

Alicia

xxxx