AN: Sorry guys. Life caught up with me and (as those who follow me on Tumblr know) I went on an unexpected vacation to a place with no internet connection and so I didn't even bother with my laptop much. For those of you who messaged me saying that you didn't have an account and checked back every day- I am SO SORRY to have kept you checking daily. I really recommend following my Tumblr because then you could check on my progress if I haven't updated in a little while.

It's 'allyouholdonto' followed by the usual tumblr nonsense.

I'm glad everyone liked the way the last chapter ended, and I value your reviews so much. How you react really helps me to figure certain things out and I will never tire of your input.

Also, the offer is still up for someone to make some type of art or graphic or something because I am completely inept with Photoshop.

Here's to hoping that I've finally gotten my act together and can go back to posting on time.

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, but the situations I drag them through are.

October 11, Head's Dorm

Draco:

He woke up panting, his throat burning and eyes aching. Sweat clung to his clothes and the nightmares slowly drifted away from him, as if they were holding on to him for as long as they possibly could before allowing his desperate escape. Would that they could leave behind some idea of just what his nightmare had been, but no. That would be far too simple and nothing in Draco's life was allowed to be simple, it seemed.

Eager to wash away the sense of foreboding that still clung to him, Draco pulled himself from his bed and went through the standard procedures for a Saturday morning: shower, dress, and groan. It wasn't until he reached the 'groaning' part of the procedure that he realized his throat was still burning from held back screams- nothing a warm cup of tea couldn't fix. Since calling for a house elf would have required speaking, and that was something which Draco wanted nothing to do with at the moment, he decided to finally make use of the small kitchenette his living quarters were blessed with.

Barefoot and still a bit groggy he left his room and made it about halfway down the stairs before he noticed the ghost that was pacing and muttering in his living room.

Draco reached up and rubbed his eyes, briefly wondering whether he'd fallen back asleep and was dreaming all of this, before continuing his journey for a cup of tea.

And that's when he realized that the ghost was that of Fred Weasley.

He decided that denial was going to be his very best friend until he could get back up into his room with a steaming bit of tea and possibly be able to make sense of what was going on. There had been no whispers anywhere of there being a new ghost in the castle or outside of it, and he knew for a fact that the Weasley's couldn't possibly know of this… but that was not the point. The point was not to be caught in a conversation with a ghost, one who despised him, while he was unable to speak. His only choice was to edge around the room quietly and hope that he could slip through the door before he was noticed. He was almost there but then he heard the muttering stop and when Draco looked up it was to find a terror stricken ghost in his face, demanding his opinion.

"Well? You have opinions on everything, don't you? Mouth always going off about one thing or another, stupid prat, why don't you use it for good this time and help out a wee little ghostie?" Fred demanded. There was a slightly manic glint in his eyes when he accosted Draco, floating just inches away from his face.

Draco's mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped it. Not only did he not have the slightest clue what the hell the ghost was talking about, but his throat was still so raw that he wouldn't be able to speak anyway. In efforts to try to communicate in some form, Draco jerked his head to the side a bit in a shocked grimace and emitted a sort of pained squeak.

This beacon of eloquence seemed to be enough of an acknowledgement, though, because it sent Fred off into a frenzied rant that nearly made his head spin.

"I mean what could I possibly have been thinking? There is no way I could have honestly believed this to be a good idea… not that it was my idea to die in the first place, or that I honestly had much a thought to coming back again it was mostly a twin-like bonding thing, but how did I feel it would be a grand idea, exactly? Either I live out the rest of my existence hiding from any redhead I see on the off chance that they might recognize me as family, or I show myself to them and not only do I have to explain why it was I hid in the first place but I'll be a constant reminder of the fact that I am dead! They'll never move on from it, it would kill my mother- how much of their healing would I undo by showing myself? How much worse will I make it for everyone?"

Draco had no idea of what he was supposed to do in this situation. The only thing he knew was that that morning tea was most likely going to be nothing more than a delirium dream. With a wave of his wand he accio'd a foul tasting vial of potion that would end up doing the same job as several cups of tea and tossed it back, trying to figure out exactly what the ghost needed from him all the while.

"Not that any of that actually matters anymore, of course. No, because I had to go and be a world-class idiot and show myself to Hermione Granger accidently-on-purpose and basically make it so that she has to do the hard decision making because I am a complete and total coward. Which if you think about it doesn't really make much of any sense at all because my accidently-on-purpose showing myself to Hermione actually is me making the decision, because if I truly was decisive then I would have still been hiding away in the castle… but is my hiding this whole time been my decision or an act out cowardice or- urgh! I just don't know anymore but Georgie is almost here, I can feel him, and what am I supposed to say when he actually gets here? 'OH hello there, George! Fancy seeing you here, especially when I'm supposed to be dead and nonexistent and yes okay I was hiding from the family and possibly causing you much worse grief that you might not have really needed to go through because I'm still here, kind of, and thus you have someone around to make up for your horrid sense of humor'? No! There is nothing I can say to fix this, and nothing I can do, and I just… I just… All I really want to do right now is hit something but I'm dead so my bloody fist just goes straight through everything!"

Draco was at a loss for what to do. He may have basically despised Fred Weasley while they were living, but even before the little 'transformation' he was going through, Draco wasn't heartless. He honestly wanted to help the poor sod. But what was he supposed to say? Sorry that your death is worse than your life? But as Fred reached the end of his brokenhearted rant, Draco remembered that there actually was something that he could do. He may not have the emotional range to handle this, but at least his hand wouldn't go through whatever hit it.

"Well, uhm, just use mine then."

Fred stopped in his tracks and stared at Draco with large eyes for what felt like hours- he was definitely squirming under the intense scrutiny.

"What?" Fred squawked.

"You did know that you can do that, right? Y-you just, step inside me and stay there. Use my limbs as your own…" Draco stated lamely. Fred was looking at him as if he had gone starkers. Which couldn't really blame him but there was only so long before Draco's common sense and horrid personality caught up with him, this opportunity wouldn't last forever. "Well, you said you wanted to hit something. So… do it."

If it was even possible, Fred's ghostly eyes widened even more before he was suddenly flying at Draco's face- it took everything Draco had not to fight the invasion. Not to mention the cold chill that came along with the possession.

And then, his body was moving without Draco telling it to and he had to focus on all of the lessons that his thrice-cursed aunt had taught him a few summers ago, and allowed his consciousness to drip from the control seat. This way, he didn't have to watch himself running around destroying things or feel the pain that came from it; he didn't even have to run the risk of fighting for the control of his body. It was Fred's for the taking.

If anyone had told him that at any point in his life he would be allowing the ghost of a Weasley full control over his own person, he would have set them up with the Lovegood's and Obliviated the thought from his own mind to avoid the horror it brought.

He blamed Granger.

"Oi! Snap out of it! He's here he's here he's here I can feel him IN THE BLOODY CASTLE MALFOY! So I need you to wake the bloody fuck up!"

Draco blinked. Apparently abandoning your consciousness was a bit more disorienting in practice than it was in theory- either way it was creepy as hell and there was no sodding way that he was going to do it again anytime soon.

Fred was having a nervous breakdown right before his eyes and if he had been human Draco would have hexed him or slapped him just to keep the bloke from moving.

"Relax, alright? Even if he is in the castle, he can't get down here. In case you hadn't noticed you're in the Slytherin dormitories? You'll be able to go to him, he's not just going to pop up out of the blue," Draco explained in a tone of voice that was supposed to be comforting, but he was worried that it had come out as a bored drawl instead. He wasn't expecting the ghost to start laughing in his face.

"Malfoy, my brother and I have made our way into Slytherin House exactly 12 times over the years- he will have no problem whatsoever making it here."

"Is there anyone in Gryffindor who hasn't come down here? Anyone at all?" Draco exclaimed, a small rage flowing through his veins.

"Well, if you had asked me a year ago I would've said Hermione, but that's been shot all to hell now, hasn't it?"

Draco really wanted to hit the bloody ghost. The ghost who, now that the momentary distraction had dissipated, was once again pacing about the room muttering the same phrase over and over again.

"What do I say, what do I say, what do I say, what do I say-"

"Fred."

"Hngmph?"

"He's your twin, what makes you think that you'll actually have to say something?"

The ghost stopped for a moment, pondering the question. Just then there was a sharp rap on the portrait and Pansy's voice was floating through.

"Erm, Draco? Hermione? I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but there is an irate Weasley demanding to get into your rooms… Which is really quite odd because before I mentioned what this portrait led to he didn't have a clue- all he told me was that he had to get in. He says he isn't here to kill you, for some reason I believe him, and I'd love to let the lad in but since someone hasn't given me his password I can't!"

Fred squawked and ran to hide inside the kitchen- Draco fought the urge to slam his head against the wall. How had he gotten mixed up in this? All he had wanted was a cup of tea…

Draco marched over to the portrait, threw it open, and grabbed the other Weasley by the front of his cloak dragged him inside and closed the portrait again saying:

"Hello there Pansy thanks for the delivery got to go talk to you later bye!"

The look on her face had been brilliant, he thought, as he leaned up against the frame to catch his breath. When Draco looked up he saw that George was marching directly into the kitchen with a determined look upon his face. This time it was Draco who did the squawking as he raced to drag the other man back into the sitting room and force him onto the couch.

"Sorry, kitchen's off limits."

George glared at him. "I need in that kitchen, Malfoy. I swear to Merlin if you try to keep me out I'll-"

The threat ended abruptly, and Draco thought he might had an idea as to why- the expression on George's face confirmed it. Draco moved to get out of the way so that the brothers would be able to reunite in peace. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to leave the room, though, because there was something inside him practically ordering him to stay.

Draco had never experienced a more complete silence than the one that filled that room. Tears streamed down both of the twins faces, though while one twins' face was full of terror and panic the other was a mixture of joy/horror/and above all else- pain.

If anyone had ever asked him about it, Draco would have lied, but at the expression on George's face Draco's eyes filled with moisture and a drop escaped down his cheek. It was ridiculous, he thought, because he had hated these people. Had once yearned to make them break, to make their lives a living hell. But now that he was here watching, seeing their own hell playing out before them, the only thing Draco wanted to do was to try and make things better. Because the pain on those faces? No one deserved that.

For a moment, Draco thought about an entire clan of Weasley's, all wearing the same look as George was wearing now. And in the next second Draco imagined that it was his own family in the place of the Weasley's- that the look of pain was being worn by his own mum. This image caused a stroke of inspiration inside Draco and he ran up to his room.

He dug around in his chest for the small box that he had prepared before he came back to school- he had also been replenishing the contents as they expired during the year- and grabbed every vial he had and stuffing all but one inside the pockets of his robes.

When he came back downstairs, he could hear the conversation that the twins were having.

"I'd thought you'd left me," George had sobbed. He was reaching out as if to try and touch his brother, who was mirroring the action.

"Don't be stupid Georgie; I'd never leave you… I- just couldn't. And I'm… I'm so sorry that I- that I waited this long to tell you I'm here but I just- I was scared and I just.. Georgie I-"

"Shuttup Freddie, I knew you weren't gone. I knew. You don't have to explain, I'm just- I'm glad you're back. That you're here, even though you're not, and I. I love you Freddie but don't you ever scare me like that again!"

The twins moved forward, as if they had wanted to hug, and that was when Draco lunged forward to rip out a few of George Weasley's hairs. While they cursed, he moved out of George's reach, dropped the hairs into the vial, and tossed it back- grimacing at the taste. Then he felt his body distorting and heard the twin's gasp- Fred at least must have realized what he was doing. Draco held his hands up and spoke in a voice that was not his own.

"I've plenty of vials in my pockets- enough to give you a full day, at least. What do you say? You up for it?"

In answer, Fred flew directly towards him (almost as if he was afraid that Draco would change his mind) and the last thing Draco acknowledged before he shut off his consciousness was his body running forward and embracing someone else's in a fierce hug.

AN: Okay, so I wanted to give you guys a really long chapter as an apology of sorts, but if I did that I was afraid of making you all having to wait for too long. So instead I decided to split it in two and just update again in a few days. I am so sorry for how long I took, but I have a hard time writing the scenes between Fred and his family.

Next chapter we get Fred to the Burrow, have some Hermione and The Fat Lady, and the contents of the letter sent to Arthur!