Later that afternoon, Kestrel asked Remus about staying with the Weasleys, and he agreed to let her spend the week before school started with the Weasley family. Kestrel excitedly wrote a short note to the twins about the news.

Dear Fred and George,

Remus said that I can come over the week before school! Tell everyone I said hi, and tell your mother thank you again for me!

Love,

Kestrel

She ran to find Daisy, their barn owl. She found the owl in the family room, and smiled excitedly, giving her the letter. "Here, Daisy," she said. "Can you take this to Fred and George, please?"

Daisy hooted, lifting her wings and flying out the open window. Kestrel settled down in her bedroom to finish the last of her summer homework, not wanting to do it at the Burrow. She gotten through nearly all of it when there came a tapping at her window. Kestrel jumped up excitedly, opening the window for Daisy, who flew in and settled on Kestrel's bed, a letter clasped in her beak. Kestrel took the letter, petting Daisy on the head.

Dear Kestrel,

We'll tell everyone you said hi except Percy the Prefect (who we'd rather not willingly start a conversation with... and honestly, we know you're just being nice by including him). And we refuse to tell Mum thank you again because really, Kes, four times is quite enough.

See you soon,

Fred and George

"Kestrel, dear, I can't believe how big you've grown!" Kestrel saw Fred and George roll their eyes behind Mrs. Weasley, who was hugging her so tight that Kestrel thought she might break a bone.

"Mum," Fred huffed. "We just saw her two weeks ago- she hasn't grown at all."

"She hasn't grown more than an inch in all the years we've known her," George said. "Let alone in two weeks." Kestrel flushed in embarrassment. Of course, she had grown since she had been six, but with that being said, the twins still towered over her, and took every opportunity to remind her.

Mrs. Weasley let go of Kestrel, turning to scold the twins, but Kestrel quickly interrupted her. "Mrs. Weasley, do you mind if I go ahead and unpack my things?"

"Oh, that reminds me! I have something to discuss with you three," the woman said, motioning for them to sit down. "Arthur, can you come here a moment?"

Kestrel and the twins shared a confused look but pulled out chairs from the kitchen table and slid into them. Mr. Weasley seemed to know exactly what the conversation was to be about, because the look on his face was nothing short of reluctant when he came into the room. Ron trailed after him curiously, but Mrs. Weasley shook her head and pointed at the door. "Ronald, dear, this is just about the twins and Kestrel."

Ron looked put out, but shuffled back out the door with a scowl on his face, mumbling under his breath. "Nobody ever tells me anything."

"Mum, what's this about?" George questioned.

Mrs. Weasley glanced pointedly at her husband, and Mr. Weasley sighed before he began. "Children, the three of you are thirteen years old-"

"What?" George spluttered, putting on a shocked look.

"Why didn't anyone tell us this before!" Fred cried in mock outrage.

"Boys," Mrs. Weasley said sternly, and they quieted down.

Mr. Weasley continued, "As you know, when a person is around this age, they start to, er, change…" His face flushed as he trailed off uncertainly, clearly out of his element.

"Er, Dad," Fred began, shifting in his seat.

"You really don't have to have that talk with us," George said.

Kestrel glanced at the twins and saw that they looked just as uncomfortable as she felt. "If it's alright, I think I already know all I need to, Mr. Weasley."

"The point is," Mrs. Weasley said. "You're teenagers now. Your father and I have held off telling you this as long as possible, but… We just don't think it's appropriate for Kestrel to sleep in your room anymore."

"That's what this is about?" Kestrel questioned, her brow creasing.

"Mum," Fred groaned, his ears turning red.

"Kestrel's always slept in our room," George said, equally embarrassed.

Kestrel had always slept in the twins' room, ever since they had been six years old. For a long time after her mother's death, the twins had been the only people she had been able to connect with on an emotional level, and she had adamantly refused to sleep in any other room while staying at the Burrow. She usually slept in one of the twins' beds while the other two shared, but sometimes, if she arrived late at night, she would just crawl into bed with one of them. She hadn't realized that there was anything wrong about it.

Mr. Weasley, seeing the twins begin to protest more, held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "Yes, and that was fine when you three were little, but now that you're growing up, we just think it would be more appropriate for Kestrel to stay in Ginny's room."

Kestrel could feel her face fall. She didn't have anything against Ginny- she actually quite liked the younger girl. But she knew very well she wouldn't be able to talk to her as easily as she could Fred and George.

Mrs. Weasley patted Kestrel's hand, and when she spoke her voice was gentle. "We aren't doing this to be mean," she said.

Fred and George were scowling now. "But this isn't fair," Fred said angrily.

"What do you think would happen?" George asked, crossing his arms.

"She's our best friend," they said together.

"I expect you'll understand when you're a bit older," Mr. Weasley said.

The twins opened their mouths to say more, but Mrs. Weasley held up her hand. "Boys, your father and I have spoken, and I don't want to hear anything more about it. Now, be good boys and help Kestrel carry her things up to Ginny's room."

Kestrel went to follow her grumbling friends out of the kitchen, but Mrs. Weasley stopped her. "Kestrel, I hope you understand that we don't have anything against you," she said kindly. "I've always thought of you as a daughter, and it would make me feel better to know that the twins won't have the chance to take advantage of you."

Kestrel blushed furiously, smiling as reassuringly as she could. "No, I understand," she said. "But for the record, I don't think they would."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at her. "We know, dear, it's just better if they don't have the chance."

Kestrel hurried out of the kitchen, and Fred and George were waiting for her by her trunk. "Take advantage of you?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Does she know the meaning of best friend?" George muttered, lifting her trunk with a grunt.

Ron saw them going up the stairs with Kestrel's trunk and ran after them. "What did they talk to you about?" he asked when he had caught up to them.

"None of your business," the twins snapped, still mad.

"Come on," Ron wheedled. "Nobody tells me anything."

"They just told us that I couldn't stay in Fred and George's room anymore," Kestrel told him, taking pity on the younger boy.

Ron's face creased in confusion. "Why not? You always stay in Fred and George's room."

"They think we'll-" Fred said.

"-'take advantage of her,'" George sneered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron questioned, no less confused than before.

"You wouldn't understand," Kestrel told him, patting his head.

Ron scowled at her. "Yes I would!"

"Alright," Fred told him, stopping in front of them all and turning back to look at his younger brother. "They think we're going to start doing sexual things with her."

"You understand that, right?" George said, smirking as Ron's face immediately turned so red it almost matched his hair.

"Guys," Kestrel said, her own face slightly flushed as she pushed their backs to make them move again. "I don't think they actually believe that."

"Well why else would they make you move into Ginny's room?" George asked.

On the floor above them, they heard Ginny's door open, and the ten-year-old stuck her head over the banister. "Kestrel's moving into my room?" she asked, smiling down at them happily.

"Until we break Mum and she lets her come back to our room," the twins said mischievously, grinning at Kestrel.

Kestrel rolled her eyes, but her lips curled into a smile. "Don't be so hard on her," she told them. "She's just looking out for us."

"No," Fred stressed. "She's looking out for you."

"And she doesn't have to," George said.

"Because we would never do anything to you," they said together.

Kestrel's smile became more prominent. "I know."

"Besides, you're basically a boy anyway, once you get past the long hair- OW!" Fred rubbed his arm gingerly where Kestrel had pinched him. "That was a compliment!"

The week before the start of term passed in a blur of jokes, games, and delicious home-cooked meals. Nearly everyday, the twins dragged her outside for Quidditch. Since there was only four of them, they let Ron play too. Ron wasn't very good, and the twins would have replaced him with Ginny if Mrs. Weasley would let them. As it was, she thought Ginny was too young to play with her rough older brothers. Kestrel wasn't very good at Quidditch either, so to make it even, the twins split themselves up so that one was on a team with Ron and the other on a team with Kestrel. This didn't do much good for Kestrel or Ron, though, because the twin on one team would often pretend to be the other so they would pass him the quaffle. It worked nearly every time because it was difficult for both Kestrel and Ron to recognize which twin was which while they were up in the air and moving quickly.

Though her nights were somewhat sleepless at first, Ginny's sense of humor reminded Kestrel a little of the twins, and it comforted her, knowing she had someone to talk to late at night.

Unfortunately, Ginny didn't know about Kestrel's nightmares. She had them nearly every night, but there had been two nights when she had woken up screaming, which inevitably woke Ginny too. The poor girl had been quite frightened the first time it had happened, and it had taken Kestrel a good fifteen minutes to reassure her that, no, she didn't need Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come in there, and yes, she was fine. The second time she had woken Ginny up, she got nearly the same response. She noticed that Ginny would stare at her strangely the next day, when she was exhausted from lack of restful sleep.

On the last night of her stay, the night before they were to board the Hogwarts Express for their third year, Kestrel had one of her more horrible nightmares. It started out like many of her other nightmares: she was a small child, and she was in her old house, the one she'd lived in before she had been put with Remus.

She was sitting in the bedroom she and her mother shared, drawing in an old, blank notebook she had found, when she smelt something gross. She wrinkled her nose and dropped the crayon she was holding, sitting up on the bed and breathing in more deeply. It smelled like nasty sewer water. She rolled over onto her stomach and slid off the big bed.

"Mummy?" she called out, convinced that she would be able to get rid of the horrible smell. But no one answered her. The house was silent, and Kestrel noticed for the first time that it was rather dark.

Suddenly she heard a grating sort of noise, coming from another room. Kestrel crept into the hallway, calling out again. "Mummy?"

Again, no one answered her, but the grating sound grew louder. She came to the end of the hall, where her old room was, and paused nervously, for the sound seemed to be coming from in there. She took a deep breath and opened the door, peering into the darkness.

"Mummy?"

Suddenly, a crazed man lunged out of the room and made a grab for her. Kestrel screamed and ran back down the hall, the man behind her. She sprinted into her mother's room, slamming the door behind her, and crawled underneath the bed. Frightened, she watched as the door swung open slowly, and she saw his feet walk into the room, the ball and chain around his ankle grating against the hard wood floors. She shuffled back further under the bed, and her foot touched something. Pulling her foot away, she turned around slowly.

Her mother's eyes stared back at her, unblinking, her limp body angled strangely. She was dead. Kestrel screamed before she could stop herself, and the man stopped in front of the bed. She was shaking in fear as he slowly kneeled down on the floor.

There was a moment of silence.

Then his face appeared before her, so suddenly that it was inhuman, and his arms were pulling her out of her hiding place.

Kestrel woke up with her face buried in her pillow, covered in sweat. She sat up quickly, gasping for breath as she realized that it hadn't been real. After a few minutes, she laid back down reluctantly, staring at the ceiling. It was always impossible to go back to sleep when her nightmares were that bad, and she laid there for a few more minutes before she sat back up, feeling restless.

She glanced over at Ginny's bed; the young girl was asleep underneath her blanket, her red hair the only part of her that was visible. Her eyes went to the door. Almost without thinking, she got out of bed and crept to the door, pushing it open quietly and peeking out. Finding no one, she snuck out of Ginny's room and made her way to the twins' room.

She slipped inside and closed the door behind her, then stood before George's bed. He would be the least grumpy of the two if she accidentally woke him. She carefully peeled back his covers, slipping in beside him. He had been facing the wall, but groggily turned over when she tugged his blanket over a little more so it would cover them both. He opened his eyes blearily, running his hand over his face.

"Kes?" he whispered, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"I had a nightmare," she said quietly.

"Oh," he responded, waking up a little more. "Want to talk about it?"

"No," Kestrel mumbled, picturing her mother's empty eyes and shivering.

"Okay," he murmured.

They didn't talk a lot after that because he fell back asleep, but Kestrel didn't care- she felt better just knowing he and Fred were close. She slept peacefully the rest of the night.

AN: So what did you guys think? I would love to hear your opinion on the chapter! :)