Fred awoke early the next morning and rushed out the door and straight to the girl's dormitory. Despite the fact that it was still dark outside, he pounded his fist against the door. There were a few groans from inside and eventually somebody managed to roll out of bed and open the door. It was Hermione. She stared at him with half lidded eyes, leaning heavily against the door.

"What do you want at this ungodly hour?" She asked, rubbing her eyes of any sleep. Fred eagerly tried to peer past her to try and see into the dorm room.

"I need to talk to Emerald." He said quickly. Hermione let out a loud yawn, fanning it away.

"She's not here."

"What?" Hermione nodded, slowly waking up.

"Yeah, she left last night, some time around midnight, didn't you hear all the commotion while they were moving her out?" Fred quickly shook his head, running a hand over his face. At midnight he had been in the hospital wing getting a firm scolding from his mother and father. Apparently they hadn't taken too kindly to the fact that he had tried to kill his brother.

"Did they say where she was going?" He asked eagerly. Hermione stepped out of the girl's dormitory, shutting the door behind her.

"No…she just mentioned that she wasn't worth all the fighting and was going away to solve the problem."

"And she didn't leave an address or tell you even the country that she was going to?" Hermione hesitated for a moment.

"She didn't tell you?"

"Of course not! Would I be asking if she had!" Hermione furrowed her brow together, staring up at Fred.

"You know how upset she was, right?"

"Yes, how could you not be after having been…?"

"No, that's not why she was upset." She quickly explained. "Emerald saw how much you and George fought and it was starting to get to her. He's your twin and it bothered her that she was separating you two."

"But I told her that it didn't matter…"

"She knew that you were lying. She didn't want to tear you away from your brother or your family."

"But she would never…"

"Fred, stop it." Hermione said firmly. "What it comes down to is that Emerald didn't want everybody to hate you for choosing her so…she made the decision for you and she left." Fred's heart dropped into his stomach.

"So…she's really gone?" He asked, his throat clenching tightly. Hermione sadly nodded.

"I'm afraid so…" She watched him as he did his best to appear manly and hold back his tears. She suddenly gasped, a thought popping into her mind. "Hold on, she left something for you." Fred instantly perked up as Hermione disappeared into the room and reappeared moments later with a large leather bound book. "She said that she wanted you to finish it without her."

Fred gingerly touched the cover of the leather book, his hands shaking slightly.

"Hamlet…" He murmured.

"She said that you were almost done…but she couldn't finish it with you."

"Yeah…I know." Fred sighed, turning to the page that they had left off at. It was Ophelia's scene, after having been rejected by Hamlet she went mad before committing suicide in the river. Fred sighed, finding this strangely suited to the situation.

"Can I do anything for you?" She asked, gently touching his arm. Fred shook his head, finally letting his head drop and a few lone tears escape.

"No…there's nothing either of us can do."

Fred darted from the room, heading down the stairs and into the main entrance hallway. Nobody was awake yet and there wasn't even the slightest movement from any creature in the castle. He shivered as he leaned against the huge doorway. His entire body was shaking as his body slowly sunk down to the ground. Had he been the one to force Emerald away? Why had she doubted that she wasn't worth everything that he had? Of course she was worth the constant fighting with his brother. He loved her and nobody else. It hurt him that he would ever doubt the love that he had for her, but what good did that pain do him now? Emerald was gone and there was no way to explain what had happened.

"You're up early, Mr. Weasley."

Fred looked up to see Dubmledore slowly descending the staircase, wearing a long purple velvet robe with his hands crossed behind his back. Fred quickly scrambled to his feet and smoothed down his pajama bottoms.

"Good morning sir." He muttered. Dumbledore nodded to Fred with a kind smile on his face.

"I assume that your early waking means that you've heard about Ms. Shepherd's hasty departure?" Fred slowly nodded.

"Yeah…I didn't even know that she had gone until this morning when Hermione told me." Dumbledore nodded, coming to stand in front of him.

"Yes, strange, she wouldn't tell her parents or me what her reasons were for leaving, but she just insisted that she needed to leave immediately and that she refused to be a burden any longer." Fred bit his lower lip. "I told her that this was impossible because she wasn't a burden on any of us…at least, that was my impression."

"She thought that she was making George and I fight…but that wasn't the case. Just because we were fighting didn't mean that it was her fault." Dumbledore shook his head.

"Women are…complicated, Mr. Weasley. You may tell them one thing, but there's no guarantee that they will believe you. You may have told Ms. Shepherd that she had nothing to do with you and your brother fighting, but what she saw told her that she was the problem." Fred shook his head.

"But I told her…"

"Mr. Weasley, sometimes actions speak far louder than words." He explained. "If she saw you fighting with your brother, she knew that there had to be a cause…and she assumed that she was that cause. Perhaps, Mr. Weasley, some words should have been spoken much sooner then they were said." Fred nodded.

"I guess you're right…but it's too late to use any of that advice now." Fred muttered as he thought of how far away Emerald could be by now. For all he knew, she could be halfway across the pond on her way back to America. Dumbledore instantly shook his finger with a knowing smile on his face.

"If you learn one thing from Hogwarts, Mr. Weasley, I hope it is this: it is never too late to fix your problems." Fred nodded with a slight smirk.

"Thank you sir…"