A/N: You guys are hilarious. Your reviews make me very happy!
I know you're all aching for Fred and Juliet to get together. I agree, I think it's time. I know it kind of seems a little soon for Juliet to be over Cedric, but she's not really. Not entirely. But remember, she has been in love with Fred for quite some time now—longer than she loved Cedric. So even though she's still upset about him, all of her Fred-feelings are starting to surface properly.
I wanted to give a shout out to gunsANDroses. Yes, I do receive your reviews (despite the fact that you don't have an account) and I enjoy reading them! Thanks for taking the time to send me your thoughts! =)
Enjoy. And remember to review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my character and my plotline. Everything you recognize, including characters, plot developments, settings, and certain scenes and lines from the Harry Potter series, belong to JK Rowling.
--- CHAPTER SEVEN ---
Loyalties
Juliet Christie
As the days passed, I continued to grow more and more uneasy about Fred. I was becoming more aware of the fact that I did truly want to be with him, and yet, I was completely unsure how to go about doing it. I wasn't certain if it was really the right time. I was feeling horribly guilty. It somehow felt like I was betraying Cedric.
Several times I came close to telling Fred outright what was going on, but I always chickened out at the last minute. It was especially difficult with George continuously eyeing me suggestively as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
Unfortunately, he did know what I was thinking. And he was waiting for me to make a move. He had approached me several times since our talk asking if I had made up my mind yet. I had a feeling his concern had more to do with the bet he had going against Lee than wanting me and Fred to be happy.
Stupid George.
My mind was momentarily taken off of Fred when a surprise arrived at breakfast one morning. The post came like usual, and I was shell-shocked to see I had received a letter…from my mother.
I was positive I didn't want to discuss my mother with any of my friends, so I stuffed the envelope into my bag to read later.
I didn't open it until I was seated in class alone.
While Professor Flitwick was explaining the lesson for the day, I unfolded the parchment and looked down at my mother's writing. I was wary of Fred seated directly behind me, and hoped he wouldn't notice the way my head was bent low over the page.
Ensuring Professor Flitwick was well into his lesson, I started to read.
Juliet—
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to contact you. As you know, your father and I have had a disagreement. It's been difficult to keep the lines of communication open over the past several weeks.
I snickered. It wasn't like she had tried very hard to contact me. Perhaps she wasn't able to send owls to Headquarters over the summer, but I had been at school for nearly three weeks now. Letters could easily be delivered to me here.
I'm writing firstly to apologize for the things that were said between your dad and me. From what I understand, you overheard me making some pretty awful statements.
I snickered again. She had that right.
I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I want to assure you that I do not think you were lying about Cedric Diggory or the events that occurred that day. It was wrong for me to make assumptions.
I won't claim to understand the position you're in right now. I can't imagine what you must be going through. You've kept yourself together beautifully. You are a much stronger person than I am, and I'm proud of you. But I do want to urge you to be careful. Whatever it is you choose to believe is up to you. I don't hold anything against you or your father. You are old enough to make your own decisions about where your loyalties lie. But it is important for you to understand the dangers you are getting yourself into.
That leads me to the second reason for writing. Your father and I have decided to take some time away from each other.
My eyes widened. I read the sentence over again twice more to make sure I had seen correctly. They were separating? I continued on in shock.
We've talked it out, and I understand his position. He needs to do what he thinks is right. I am not going to stand in the way of him doing that, but I don't agree with the position he's put you in. You are far too young to get involved in such things.
However, as I've said before, I do believe you are old enough to make your own decisions. Should you choose to join your father at the end of the year, I won't stand in your way. You are legally an adult, and I have no right to hold you back. But, I am requesting that you don't follow in his footsteps. Despite the fact that you are legally of age, you are still very young. I am writing in hopes that you'll step back and look at this logically. There are places in this world that are unsuitable for a young, beautiful witch like you. I don't want you getting yourself into a dangerous situation.
I suddenly felt very out of breath. Not only did my mother appear to be leaving my father…but she wanted me to choose between the two of them? I read on in absolute disbelief.
My final reason for writing is to request that you remain quiet with your position. Whatever is going on has got the wizarding world on edge. I want you to be careful. Wherever your loyalties lie, it is important that you keep your opinions to yourself. I would hate to see my only child fall into trouble for speaking her mind.
I frowned down at the page. She sounded like Professor McGonagall—keep your head down, and your mouth closed. It seemed that was a popular opinion, lately. I wondered if my mother knew about the Ministry sending Professor Umbridge in to spy on Dumbledore. If she was aware of that fact, then her warning may be directed toward the situation with the Ministry of Magic in particular.
For that reason, I request that you rethink your current friendships.
I did a double-take.
I know how important your friends are to you, but I also know how open they are to speaking their minds—in particular Fred and George Weasley. I know they have been your greatest friends for ages, but I truly believe your relationship could put you in a very dangerous position. With things in their current state, my top priority is keeping you safe. I hope you understand.
I hope you'll take everything I said into consideration. Don't be worried about your father and I—we will sort things out in good time. Just be worried about yourself. Think about all that I've said.
And please, keep yourself safe.
—Mum
My mouth was agape as I stared down at my mother's letter.
My head was spinning.
What did any of it mean?
At some points it sounded as though she was telling me she had changed her mind—that she believed what had happened during the Triwizard Tournament. But then she said her and Dad were spending some time apart…and I should stay away from Fred and George. What?!
I read the letter over a second time, trying to make sense of what she was trying to say.
It was during my second read-through that I understood.
My mother did believe You-Know-Who had returned. She understood that Cedric had been murdered the day of the third task, and she knew the Ministry of Magic was ignoring the evidence.
Because she understood what was going on, she wanted me to stay quiet. She didn't want me to have a target on my back. With so many people thinking Harry's story was a crock, she didn't want me to be labelled as a Ministry betrayer. It was unsafe to openly admit that I was in support of Dumbledore…especially with Umbridge in the picture. I could get into serious trouble.
She was trying to keep me safe.
'I request that you rethink your current friendships.'
I scowled down at the words.
Sure, she was trying to look out for me. She wanted me to keep my mouth shut to save myself from the dangers of going against the Ministry. But in order to do it, I would have to turn against my greatest friends in the world.
My mother realized she had been wrong. She knew Harry Potter was telling the truth. But, unlike me and my father, she was unwilling to stand up for what was right.
Realization hit me.
That's why she wasn't speaking to Dad. It wasn't because she thought he was wrong. It was because she thought he was being reckless. By taking a stand and joining the Order, he was putting himself in the line of fire. He was openly placing his life—and mine—in danger. Once You-Know-Who made a move, he would certainly attack the Order of the Phoenix. If we were known members, we'd be on the Death Eaters' hit list. That was certain.
My mother was afraid for my safety, but instead of joining her friends and family to fight, she wanted to lay low and keep her head down. Stay out of the spotlight.
She didn't have the courage.
She didn't have the courage that my father had…that I had.
My mind once again flitted to Fred.
Did I have the courage for that?
My eye was caught suddenly, as foreign writing started to appear on my page of Charms notes. It took me a moment to recognize the writing, but when I did, I frowned.
The clock is ticking, Juliet.
I rolled my eyes.
George.
If you don't act soon, Lee will win the bet. Do you really want that weight on your shoulders?
I didn't dignify George's teasing with an answer. But that didn't stop him.
Maybe that's the wrong way to convince you. But one look at Fred should. He's crazy about you.
I frowned down at George's writing, then lifted my head to meet his eyes staring at me from the seat to my right. He raised his eyebrows at me and nodded in Fred's direction.
I looked over my shoulder. Fred lifted his gaze to meet mine and gave me a lopsided grin. I forced a smile and turned back around in my seat before he could read the frightened look in my eyes.
You should do it.
I pursed my lips and felt my stomach filling with butterflies.
I couldn't help but think that George was right.
It looks like I was going to have to find the courage.
-------
Our very first Quidditch practice was upon us, and Angelina was adamant that we all do our part to help Ron develop his skills. She was sure that being part of a team would bring out the best of his abilities. I hoped she was right. I had a feeling it was going to be more difficult than that. Ron had a terrible time trying to calm his nerves.
Harry insisted Ron was better when no one was watching. Of course, that didn't help at all considering we would be playing games with the entire school staring at us. At the moment, Ron was uncomfortable catching a Quaffle when anyone was facing his direction.
Sigh.
We had a lot of work to do.
Fred, George, Angelina, Katie and I headed down to practice together. The twins were giddy with anticipation. The two of them were muttering conspiratorially to themselves as we headed down to the change rooms. That put Angelina in a bad mood. She didn't want to have to deal with containing Fred and George on top of leading practices. I commended her for taking on the role of captain. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle the responsibility.
"I'd appreciate it if you two took it easy on Ron tonight," she pleaded with the twins.
Katie snickered.
"You might as well save your breath, Ange," she said. "You're going to need it later when you're yelling at them to untie Ron from the goal posts."
I laughed, and Angelina scowled. The twins smirked evilly.
"Ron's our baby brother," George said.
"Like it or not, we have a right to tear him to shreds," Fred added.
"It's just part of life," George finished with a shrug.
When we reached the change rooms, Angelina left us and headed for the captain's quarters. Katie and I hurried off to the girls' change room and yanked our Quidditch gear on. It felt good to be back at practice again.
The boys were still getting dressed when we re-entered the main room. Ron and Harry were the last to get there, arriving just as Katie and I took a seat on the bench.
"All right, Ron?" George asked with a wink.
"Yeah," Ron said quietly, embarrassed. He placed his bag on the ground and began pulling his equipment out.
"Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?" Fred asked, tugging his Quidditch robes over his head and emerging tousle-haired. I felt my stomach flip-flop at the sight. I squashed it down as Fred grinned maliciously at his brother.
"Shut up," Ron said. He was pulling on Oliver's old Quidditch robes. Surprisingly they seemed to fit him quite well, considering Oliver was much more broad-shouldered than Ron was. I would have expected him to be swimming in the previous captain's old stuff.
Angelina emerged from the captain's area and looked round at all of us.
"Okay, everyone," she said authoritatively. "Let's get to it; Juliet and Fred, if you can just bring out the ball crate for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all right?"
My eyebrows rose, and I immediately picked up on the would-be casual tone of her voice. I frowned. The spectators surely weren't going to be welcome guests.
"Slytherins," I muttered to Fred, as we each grabbed hold of a handle on the crate. He nodded grimly in response.
Sure enough, when we exited the change rooms we were met with the catcalls of the Slytherin Quidditch team and company. I groaned. This was going to be one hell of a practice.
Fred and I sat the balls down, and mounted our brooms with the others. In an instant we were up in the air.
"What's that Weasley's riding?" Draco Malfoy called from halfway up the near-empty stands. "Why would anyone put a flying charm on a mouldy old log like that?"
Laughter echoed through the stadium, and I watched as Ron's ears turned red with embarrassment. I cast a glance at Fred and George. They were both frowning, eyeing Ron with looks of contemplation on their faces. They kept their mouths shut.
We all hovered as a group in the air and listened to Angelina's instructions.
"OK, everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please—"
"Hey, Johnson, what's with the hairstyle, anyway?" Pansy Parkinson shrieked. "Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"
Angelina ignored her with extraordinary calm, and continued. "Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do…"
The team spread out, Angelina starting with the Quaffle. She threw it hard to Fred, who tossed it across to George, and then to Harry, then to Ron…and Ron dropped it.
The Slytherins roared with laughter as Ron dove untidily to grab the Quaffle before it reached the ground. When he reclaimed his spot in the circle, he was blushing profusely.
I watched as Fred and George exchanged glances, but neither of them said anything.
"Pass it on, Ron," Angelina said.
Ron threw the Quaffle to me, and I back to Harry, then again to George.
"Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?" Malfoy called from the stands. "Sure you don't need a lie down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?"
The play continued, George passing to Angelina, then a reverse-pass to Harry—who just barely caught it—and back to Ron, who missed it by only a couple of inches.
"Come on now, Ron," Angelina said as he dove once again for the Quaffle. "Pay attention."
Things only got worse from there. The next time the Quaffle was passed to Ron, he was so happy to catch it that he nearly knocked Katie off of her broom with his next pass. The Quaffle hit her squarely in the face and her nose started to bleed.
Fred and George handed her a Nosebleed Nougat to stop the bleeding, and Angelina called a stop to the passing drill.
"All right," she said, sounding slightly irritated. "Fred, George, go get your bats and a Bludger. Ron, get up to the goalposts. Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We're going to aim for Ron's goal, obviously."
The twins and Harry flew off to gather their equipment, while I idly tossed the Quaffle up into the air, zooming around to catch it again.
"Positions Juliet, Katie," Angelina said. She didn't seem to notice that Katie's nosebleed hadn't yet stopped.
"You okay?" I asked her, concerned for her well-being.
"George said it would stop," she said. Her voice was muffled by her hand as she tried to stop the bleeding.
Ron didn't improve much after that. Harry zoomed around the pitch after the Snitch, while Fred and George whacked the Bludger around trying to get in our way. We Chasers passed back and forth, easily managing to get past Ron several times. It was a little disconcerting.
"Stop—stop—STOP!" Angelina bellowed, bringing us all to a halt. "Ron—you're not covering your middle post!"
"Oh…sorry…" Ron replied feebly.
"You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers!" she said. "Either stay in centre position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!"
"Sorry…" Ron repeated, his face and ears burning bright red.
"And Katie, can't you do something about that nosebleed?"
"It's just getting worse!" Katie replied, holding her nose with the sleeve of her robes.
I watched as Fred pulled the Nosebleed Nougat out of his pocket. He stared at it, horror-struck.
A chant of 'Gryffindor are losers' had broken out in the stands below us, but Angelina pressed on, trying to ignore them. She was so absorbed in the practice, that she didn't notice the looks of horror on Fred, George, and my own face as we raced toward Katie. She had gone white and was covered in blood.
"She needs the hospital wing," Angelina said hurriedly.
"We'll take her," Fred offered. "She—er—might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake—"
"Well, there's no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone," Angelina said glumly as we watched Fred and George zoom off toward the castle, supporting Katie between them. "Come on, let's go and get changed."
Angelina, Ron, Harry and me trudged back to the change room feeling glum. The Slytherins continued to chant as we slumped our shoulders and scowled at the ground.
Harry stuffed the Bludger back into the crate along with the Quaffle and the Snitch.
"Give me a hand, Juliet?" he asked.
I grabbed hold of a handle and watched as Angelina tried to give Ron a few words of wisdom. They were several steps ahead of us, and I couldn't make out any more than mumbles from their conversation. Ron was grumbling, and his ears were still red. I could only imagine how embarrassed he was.
"Poor Ron," I commented, more to myself than to Harry.
He grunted in response.
"Hope Katie is okay," he said idly.
"She'll be fine," I assured him.
"Why didn't Fred and George say anything?" Harry asked, referring to Ron's performance at practice. "Did you…?"
"No," I said, a little bit surprised that Harry would ask me such a question. "I didn't say anything. Even Fred and George can show a little restraint when necessary."
He snickered a little bit.
"I've never seen that side of them."
I laughed in response.
"It doesn't surface very often, I'll admit, but it is there," I responded.
"They're fairly serious about you," Harry said, readjusting his grip on the crate between us. "Or at least Fred is, anyway."
I scowled.
"Not you as well," I said with a sigh.
Harry eyed me curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I don't need another you-should-be-with-Fred speech," I told him.
Harry tried and failed to suppress a laugh as we neared the change rooms. Ron and Angelina had already disappeared inside.
"Well I won't bore you with another one, then," he said with a laugh.
"Thanks," I said.
"But if you're trying to avoid those conversations, I'd steer clear of Ginny," he said with a chuckle. "She's been going on about it for ages."
I scowled to myself as we reached the door to the change room.
"Well, maybe I'll have to give everyone a reason to stop."
-------
Fred Weasley
Katie's bleeding didn't stop all the way up to the hospital wing. Explaining exactly what happened to Pomfrey was a little difficult. She wasn't impressed.
"How many more of these injuries am I going to have to treat before people realize?" she was muttering angrily.
George and I were supporting Katie's weight between us. She was just barely conscious as we lay her down on one of the small hospital beds.
Pomfrey pushed us swiftly out of the way with surprising strength for a woman only half as tall as us.
"Quidditch can be such a foul game," she said angrily to herself. "Placing young children out there—especially girls—the danger involved! I've told Albus hundreds of times that it shouldn't be allowed."
George and I exchanged looks as Katie's head flopped over onto one of her shoulders. Her eyes were rolling around, drooping almost shut. It made my next words sound pretty stupid.
"It's not dangerous," I denied as Pomfrey went to work suppressing the bleeding.
She gave me a look that clearly stated she believed otherwise.
"It's not!" George agreed. "This was an accident. Our little brother—inexperienced as he is—hit her in the face with a Quaffle. It's no harm done, really."
"Perhaps it wouldn't be, had you two not been there to administer your own brand of medical attention on her," she said unpleasantly.
"We were only trying to help," I protested bitterly.
Katie's nose had stopped bleeding, but she was looking exceptionally pale from the blood loss.
"Well, it's a good thing she made it here before anything worse happened," Pomfrey said.
"Is practice over?" Katie asked sounding groggy.
"For you it is," George commented with a smirk.
"It wasn't much of a practice anyway," I said. "Ron made sure of that."
Katie groaned in response, and her head lolled over to her shoulder once more. I couldn't help but be a little amused, despite the fact that we had caused her injury.
Pomfrey must have noticed my amusement, because she turned on me with an unpleasant scowl.
"Mr. Weasley," she said sternly, "I believe Miss Bell is in good hands with me, you are both free to go back to your tower."
"I'll stay," George said. "One of us should make sure she gets back alright. You go on ahead, mate."
"Alright," I agreed. "I'll spread the word that you're still alive, shall I?" I asked, grinning down at Katie.
She smiled lopsidedly up at me, looking only mildly amused.
"Get out of my face, Fred," she said in good humour.
I laughed, and did as she said, heading out into the cool air of the corridor.
The hallways were dark, as the sky outside had changed from a bright blue to a dark indigo. I wondered if the others were still out at practice, or if they had called it quits.
I decided against going back out to the Quidditch pitch. Even if they were out there, I wasn't much in the mood to watch Ron make an idiot out of himself. The Slytherins' chant of Gryffindor are losers was already stuck in my head. I wasn't a fan of having it ringing in my ears for the entire night. It was bad enough that I was humming it to myself as I strolled along the stone corridor with my broom over my shoulder.
Despite the chant, however, my mind wasn't anywhere near being focussed on Gryffindor pride.
Predictably, my mind had once again wandered to Juliet.
I was growing quite annoyed with myself, actually. I was constantly finding it difficult to focus on anything around me, because Juliet was continuously occupying my thoughts. Too many times George had kicked me hard in the shins to refocus my attention on the real world. I was sure everyone else was just as annoyed with it as well.
Juliet was well aware of how I felt about her. Surprisingly, it didn't make me feel much better about the situation. I thought having her know would be a relief…but that wasn't the case at all. Instead of feeling a weight off of my shoulders, I felt myself growing anxious and nervous every time I was around her.
Waiting for something to happen proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated.
Lee and George had strung up a bet, trying to determine when Juliet would decide to make a move. It made me feel stupid to know they were placing a wager on our relationship, especially because there was nothing I could do about it.
I would gladly be the one to ask her to be with me—right here and now—but I knew I couldn't. She needed time to figure things out for herself…to sort out her thoughts. I had screwed up enough in the past. I didn't want to screw it up again.
This time the ball was completely in her court.
I just had to deal with it.
When I made it to the common room, I knew immediately that Quidditch practice hadn't continued. Harry was chatting with Hermione in the corner. They both wore glum expressions, and Ron was nowhere to be found. There was no doubt in my mind Harry was describing the awful practice to Hermione. I only hoped we wouldn't have a repeat occurrence.
I felt myself frowning at the thought of our first Quidditch match. The entire Gryffindor house was going to be embarrassed. Despite the fact that we had only had one practice, I was certain our team wouldn't be prepared to play. It put a lot more pressure on Harry. He would have to catch the Snitch as fast as possible to prevent Ron blowing our chances.
I almost felt bad for placing the blame on him—especially prematurely…but then I remembered how bad he was.
Sigh.
The common room was nearly empty aside from Harry and Hermione, but my eye was immediately caught as I spotted a familiar auburn head situated on the sofa by the fire.
"How's Katie?" Juliet asked, craning her neck to look at me as I came scrambling in through the portrait door.
"She's alright," I told her, ignoring the all-too familiar twist in my stomach I got when I looked at her. Merlin, when had I turned into such a girl?! "George is bringing her back as soon as Pomfrey's done with her."
She nodded thoughtfully, and I flopped down on the sofa next to her. I was still in my Quidditch robes, but aside from that I didn't feel like I had been at practice at all. We had been there for so short a time, that none of us had managed to get a real work-out out of it. It was quite pathetic really.
"D'you reckon Ron'll get any better at Keeping?" Juliet asked, as if reading my thoughts.
I threw my broomstick down on the floor in front of us.
"He'd better," I replied with a sigh, running my hands through my dishevelled hair. I didn't want to think about what would happen if Ron didn't improve in the Quidditch department. We wouldn't stand a chance against any of the other teams.
I could feel Juliet's gaze on me, and I turned to eye her thoughtfully for a moment. I quirked my eyebrow at her questioningly.
"What's up?" I asked, sensing there was something she wanted to talk about aside from Quidditch.
Her eyes snapped away from mine quickly, leaving me highly suspicious.
Something wasn't right with her.
"It was nice of you and George not to say anything during practice," she said, trying too hard to sound casual.
She didn't fool me, but I played along.
"Yeah, well," I shrugged, "with the lousy Slytherins running their mouths, we can't very well take the mickey out of him, too."
She nodded and slumped down in her seat.
I frowned.
"How are you holding up?" I asked, ignoring the impulse I had to pull her to me. I knew if I did it, it would be my undoing. And at this point, I wasn't sure she was ready for that.
She shook her head solemnly.
"Not great, to be perfectly honest."
I cleared my throat uncomfortably. I was lousy at the whole comforting thing. As much as I wanted to make her feel better, I wasn't sure how to go about doing it without upsetting her. I was well aware of the fact that things were a little strained between us. The fact that there were feelings there was no secret to either of us. It made regular interactions a little difficult.
So, I stayed quiet, waiting for her to open up to me, no matter how strenuous it was. I hated leaving things up to her. It felt weird for me, not being the leader of the situation. I'll tell you this: the waiting game is the worst game I've ever played.
She sighed again.
"I got a letter from my mum today."
I was taken aback, and my eyes widened in shock.
"You did?" I asked, letting surprise colour my voice.
She let out a short, humourless laugh.
"Yeah. Quite heartfelt, too," she said darkly.
"What did it say?" I asked. I was confused. I would have thought a letter from Juliet's mum would be a good thing. It had been ages since she'd last spoken with her. It was beginning to take its toll on her.
She cleared her throat.
"She said she's sorry for what she said…that she doesn't believe I would lie about Cedric."
"Well that's good," I said optimistically, still unsure why she sounded so bitter about it.
"That's not all," she continued. "Her and my dad are separating."
My eyes widened in surprise and I eyed her warily. Juliet refused to look me in the eye.
"Are you sure?" I asked, again feeling stupid. Obviously if her mother wrote it in a letter then she would be fairly certain.
She nodded, but still wouldn't look at me. I almost reached out to turn her face toward me, but I restrained myself.
"Are you okay?" I asked tentatively, immediately becoming uncomfortable.
She shrugged.
"She claims it'll be temporary," she said. "Told me they'll work it out in time."
"Maybe they will," I said optimistically.
She shrugged again. She didn't look hopeful. Before I managed to say anything else, though, she spoke again.
"She also thinks it'd be for the best if I quit seeing you and George."
I pursed my lips and frowned deeply. A thousand things ran through my head at once:
What the bloody hell is she thinking?
Who does she think she is?
I'd like to slip her a Blood Blisterpod.
But I held my tongue. I was certain none of my thoughts about Juliet's mother would make her feel any better about the situation. Although her mother's line of thinking wasn't altogether surprising, it was still unsettling. I didn't want Juliet to even consider leaving George and me.
"Dare I ask why?" I said, trying to hide my shock.
She sighed and ran a hand through her long, dark hair, messing it up.
"You're a bad influence…you're going to get me into trouble with the Ministry…the list goes on," she said.
I was quiet—feeling very anxious—so she kept going.
"She says I can believe Harry's story without going against Fudge, and that I'm making a mistake standing up against the Ministry. She thinks it's dangerous," the frown on her face deepened. "Reckons you and George are too apt to speak your minds—she doesn't want your loud mouths getting me into trouble."
I was silent for a long moment, afraid to speak up. Juliet was so tense lately. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. The whole feud with her mother wasn't making things any easier, and she rarely ever talked to me or George about how she was feeling. If Juliet's mother wanted her to stay away from us, it was hard to say whether she'd go along with it or not. If it helped relieve some of her pain perhaps she would consider it.
"Do you reckon you'll listen to her?" I asked carefully.
She exhaled, blowing stray strands of hair out of her face.
"Bloody hell," she said.
I frowned, eyeing her with worry. I waited for her to say something more, but she didn't.
Had she heard me?
"Do you?" I asked, feeling my voice quake a little with fear. Had anyone else been around, I would have been embarrassed to admit I felt scared. But this was Juliet we were talking about. If she decided to stay away from me, there was no way I'd manage.
I cast a wary look around the room. Hermione and Harry were still lingering in the corner, but neither of them was paying attention. The room was otherwise empty. I hoped it stayed that way—especially if this ended badly. I didn't need anyone to be breathing down my neck.
"My mother is trying to look out for me," she said.
She had closed her eyes and the expression on her face was one of pain. Her head was leaning back against the sofa.
My mouth dropped open a little. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought my eyes had bulged out of their sockets. My heartbeat had sped up, and I tried to find my tongue to say something to her.
Was she serious? I hadn't actually expected she would take her mother's advice. She needed me just as much as I needed her…didn't she?
"She's mad at my dad for putting ideas in my head," she said, lifting her head again and rolling her eyes. "And she wants me to stay away from the two of you because she's afraid I'm going to get myself hurt."
I frowned deeply, pursing my lips in thought. She still hadn't made her thoughts clear. Was she going to take her mother's advice? Merlin, if there was one thing I hated about Juliet, it was the fact that she was so bloody hard to read. She should know by now that I'm no good with this kind of thing. She needed to help me out a bit and let me know what she was thinking.
I cleared my throat, hoping I wouldn't regret my next words.
"You didn't answer my question," I said carefully.
She turned to me suddenly with a look of surprise on her face.
"No," she said quickly, looking at me as though she was just realizing I was there.
I quirked my eyebrow at her.
"No what?"
"No, I'm not going to listen to her," she said. She sounded strangely defiant.
I felt the air come flying back out of my lungs. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. A laugh escaped my lips, and I threw my head back momentarily, feeling intensely relieved.
"Good," I said. "Because everything your mother said is absolute rubbish…no offence."
I sent her a lopsided grin, and she smirked back at me. My heartbeat began to slow back down to a normal pace. The atmosphere in the room was still tense, but I was no longer feeling smothered.
"I know," she agreed. "She can't honestly expect Dad and I to sit back like nothing is going on."
I nodded in response, feeling the tension ebb away from me. It seemed I was on edge a lot with Juliet nowadays. The energy between us was so strong that it felt like one wrong move would cause everything to breakdown. I didn't want that to happen.
"And you and George," she continued, shaking her head in disbelief, "she honestly expects me to stop seeing you?"
"Like I said, rubbish," I responded, eyeing her in good humour.
The smirk on my face fell a little bit as I stared at her. There was something not quite right with her today. Of course, it could just be due to the letter she received from her mother. That would clearly upset her on some level…but I had a feeling there was more to it than that. All day she had seemed a little off—like she was fighting with herself.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked her, my voice filled with concern.
She stared down at her hands, and I watched her curiously. I had never found it altogether difficult to understand Juliet. She and I generally knew things about each other without having to say anything. But with everything going on, I had a suspicion there was a lot going on with her that she wasn't telling me. I sincerely hoped that would change soon. I have never been able to stand being distanced from her in any way.
I opened my mouth to ask if something was wrong, but she cut me off again.
"No," she said.
"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up straighter in my seat. I was worried, and felt suddenly very useless. What was with me and comforting people? I watched in embarrassment as my hands fluttered uselessly around her, hoping to help. They fell once more to my sides, and instead I waited for her to speak.
Merlin, I was bad at this.
As I waited, she laughed, which confused me even further. I thought she had been upset?
Why was she always so cryptic?
"You," she said.
My eyebrows knitted together, and I eyed her in confusion, momentarily forgetting what we had been talking about.
Maybe that could be a new invention for the shop—some sort of sweet that helps you understand women. I bet that would be a huge seller.
I shook the idea from my mind and tried to refocus.
"What…me what?" I asked.
"You are what's wrong," she told me, shaking her head and running a hand through her hair in frustration.
I frowned and felt my heart start to sink.
Uh oh…
"And I think it's about time I get over myself and say what I should have said two years ago."
Wait…what?!
My eyes widened in shock, and my breathing hitched. I could feel my heart start to race, and I tried to calm myself, thinking perhaps I was jumping to unreasonable conclusions.
She couldn't possibly…
"So, I'm just going to come out and say it, because enough things have gone wrong in my life…and I know I can change it," she said.
She took a deep breath and stared me straight in the eye, looking at me properly for the first time all night.
I held my breath, hoping…
"I like you," she said simply, and I felt myself freeze. I don't know what kind of tactic that is—freezing in place, but I felt like moving might scare her off, or make her change her mind. Makes absolutely no sense, I know.
"I fancy you, and I have since fifth year," she continued, paying no attention to me and the fact that I had stopped breathing. "I should have said something ages ago, but I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. I know now that it was stupid, because I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the moment I realized how I felt. I was stupid, and I was scared…and I'm sorry."
My mouth was hanging ever-so-slightly open, and my heart was swelling. For a moment I felt like screaming out in delight, but I settled instead on a grin. Suddenly all of my worries about Juliet's well-being and the problems with her mother seemed insignificant. Perhaps I was being selfish, but what she was saying to me now trumped everything else that was going on.
"And I know you've been waiting for me to make the first move…because my life has been so horribly scrambled these past few months," she continued, having failed to notice that I was now sitting on top of the world. "So now I've done it. I fancy you. And I no longer have to feel guilty about never vocalizing it."
She closed her eyes and threw her hands up into the air as if to toss her problems away.
"It's in your hands now," she said with relief. "Because I'm done."
I stared at her in wild disbelief as I let her words sink in. Was she serious? Was she actually putting it all out into the open like that? Was she really willing to truly be with me?
The thought seemed impossible.
"Have I fallen asleep?"
Her eyes snapped open, and her gaze met mine.
"What?" she asked.
"Is this a dream?" I questioned. "Because it certainly doesn't feel like real life," I snickered. "It's not like us to have everything out in the open…I'm sure this can't be real."
I sent her a lopsided smile, feeling my muscles relax as I teased her.
She grinned back at me, then reached over and playfully pinched my arm.
"Ow!" I objected loudly, rubbing my skin gingerly.
"Believe it now?" She asked, smirking mischievously as a red mark began to appear on my pinched skin.
She gave me a smug grin, and I stared at her in awed disbelief.
"Come here," I demanded, holding my hand out for her to take. I was feeling much bolder about touching her now. Maybe she wouldn't run away, and all would be well.
She took my hand, and I pulled her over to my side. I draped my arm casually across her shoulders and played with the ends of her hair.
"So it's in my hands now, is it?" I asked with a lazy smile on my face.
She eyed me suspiciously.
"That's what I said," she agreed.
"So if I were to just sit here like you had said nothing at all…" I said mischievously, "you'd just pretend like nothing was different?"
She pursed her lips in a frown.
"Not funny, Fred."
"No, seriously," I said with a grin, twirling her auburn hair in my fingers, "if you leave things in my hands…I could theoretically act like nothing happened. And then…when you least expected it—"
She rolled her eyes at me, and cut me off again, this time by promptly pressing her lips to mine. My heart leapt idiotically in my chest as she kissed me firmly, pulling away only moments after. When she leaned back there was a smirk tugging at the ends of her lips.
"All right, Fred?" She teased, watching in amusement as I fumbled trying to unscramble my thoughts.
I grinned widely at her, suddenly finding my tongue.
I tugged her toward me, holding both sides of her face in my hands firmly. She looked up at me, her brown eyes dancing with newfound happiness that made my heart swell in my chest.
I knew I had to do this right, this time. After all of the messed up things that had occurred between us…I wasn't going to screw it up again like the ponce I had grown to be. As I stared at her, all traces of the usual idiotic, teasing Fred Weasley were gone. I looked down at her with pure seriousness.
"I am not letting you get away from me this time," I said firmly, my eyes locking with hers.
She stared up at me for another moment, her eyes searching mine for sincerity. She must have found it, because moments later her face lit up with a smile that made my heart leap into my throat.
"Good," she said simply.
I grinned.
Good.
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A/N: Wow. Do not expect another ridiculously fast update like this again. I just got on a roll with these last few chapters. I can tell you right now that the next one will not be up as quickly. I just didn't have it in me to make you guys wait for this one.
So now it's time to pay me back by leaving me more of your kind words! They've kept me smiling, so thank you!