''Can't believe our boy's almost comin', can yeh?'' asked Hagrid.
''It's been a long time, hasn't it?'' Emmeline grinned at him sadly. ''Do you think he'll recognize me?''
''Hm...'' Hagrid paused for a moment and looked down at Fang. ''Wish I could tell yeh he will, but he was jus' a little boy. Probably don' remember his parents''
''You think so?'' she frowned, ''I mean, I know he was very young- too young to-'' Fred had stepped on a twig making a sharp breaking noise. Emmeline stood up quickly and looked out the window, ''What was that?'' she whispered hurriedly to Hagrid, who had also heard it and looked at her alarmed.
''Thousands o' creatures righ' behind us in that forest; musta been one of 'em, nothin' to worry about-'' Before Hagrid had the chance Emmeline stood up and ran out of the hut and into the forest. ''Emmy!'' he shouted and stood up, grabbing a lamp from the table and, along with Fang, he walked out of the hut and into the forest. Fred took one look at the dark forest and, considering how little he could sees, he managed to see Emmeline's long brown hair bouncing into the unknown, and without thinking he ran after her.
Why he had gone after her when she left the library was something he began to wonder even more with every step he took into the forest.
Soon enough, every single curious thought of how the forest might look like turned into nothing. It was much more than he thought he was capable of taking in. His heavy panting, his footsteps and the ones he heard all around, the wind slamming the leaves and branches to the same direction Fred took; were all the sounds that surrounded him. As he ran deeper into the forest, the trees seemed to be coming down upon him. The branches getting thicker, and the wind blowing less but each time colder. He kept his focus on Emmeline's hair, which, for some odd reason, started to look darker and shorter. Fred squint his eyes and started to slow down. Each second that passed, the figure that he thought had been Emmeline ran after looked like anyone or anything but Emmeline. Fred came to a stop and let his gaze follow the dark figure up to the point of not being able to see no more. A feeling of persecution made him dart forward, regretting letting the person he had been following go. He heard galloping not so far ahead, but it only made him run faster.
Fred's foot met with an arched branch on the floor and he flew a few almost nine feet in the air. He landed on his face, dirt running up his nostrils, a loud cracking noise came from his shoulder, and a sharp pain filtrating deep into his head and still he found the strenght to mumble an 'Ow' against the ground. He tried to roll onto his side, but it only seemed to have been another one of the worst decisions he had made so far. To his most unfortunate luck, someone turned him around by the shoulder he broke and the pain was almost unbearable. A mix of relief and embarrassment washed over him when he heard Emmeline shout, ''WEASLEY!''. But confusion hit him twice as hard when he heard a loud bang that crashed against whoever had turned him around and sent that person flying against a tree not so far behind Fred. He heard a gasp when the wind swirled to where Emmeline must've been standing at, everything suddenly feeling very hot-
Then it all felt as though winter had come sooner, and Fred could've sworn the branch next to him had turned into cold hard ice. The wind blew to the opposite direction and towards whoever else was there with them. Fred frowned and tried to open his eyes. There were groans and screams, but he wasn't able to recognize whose it was. He was even more confused when it had all suddenly ended. Just as fast as it had started. He opened his eyes and with confusion he looked up at Emmeline, who was already kneeling down beside him.
''Have you gone mad? You could've gotten yourself killed!'' said Emmeline as she helped him sit up.
''Me? It was you who ran all the way in here! You could've gotten yourself killed!'' said Fred.
''Don't be ridiculous!'' She placed her hand on top of his shoulder, but stopped herself immediately and took her wand out of her cloak. ''Don't move, I'll try and fix you-''
''NO! You'll kill me! Or get me worst! You're no healer, Warmsley! J-Just take me to Madame Po-''
''Shut up!'' she snapped at him, concentrating on the shoulder he could not see. ''What were you thinking? Or where you thinking at all? Oh, but wait a minute, do you ever really think things through?''
''Oi!''
''Don't fake to be offended, Weasley, you know you never do,'' said Emmeline.
''What happened? All those booms and bangs,'' But instead of getting an answer, she granted him silence. He looked up at her curiously. Emmeline's lips moved but no sound came out through them. Fred sighed and looked around without turning his head, fearing that she might just break his neck if he moved again. He noticed just how dark and silent the Forbidden Forest really was. He could only imagine how the creatures that lived on those ground's life could be like. He could only guess.
''Up you go,'' Emmeline broke his train of thoughts and helped him stand up, but he failed to stand correctly on both feet and stumbled. ''Easy. You were right, I'm no healer, but I made that thing on your collarbone look less terrible. Keep the thanking for later''
''I wasn't really going to thank you either way,'' Fred glared at her and watched as her weak grin turned into a deep frown and scowl. She let go of his arm and let him drop back to the ground.
''Then good luck hopping your way back to the castle, Weasley. I'm off to Hagrid's, he's probably worried''
She started walking away and Fred sighed and hopped once, falling forward once again. ''Uh, Warmsley?''
''You can't live with or without me, can you?'' She had already been by his side. Emmeline took off her scarf and wrapped it around his neck and his arm, holding it right up. ''What would you rather, Weasley; hop your way up to the castle with me helping you, or being levitated by magic without having to be near me at all?''
''Will that spell hurt in any way?''
''Unless you want it to,'' she smirked. Before Fred said anything, he was hanging upside down from his own ankle. ''Move your butt, Weasley, I don't have all night'' she joked.
''Not funny'' he turned his face and glared at her. ''What spell is this?''
''You've never heard of that jinx?'' she tilted her head to a side and he shook his head.
''Not that I know of... What's it called?''
''Levicorpus'' said Emmeline casually; letting the tips of her fingers linger against the trees she walked by. Fred struggled trying to turn his whole body to face her. Seeing his attempt, she helped him and turned him around with a lazy swish of her wand and a grin on her lips.
''I know I don't pay much attention, but.. they haven't taught us that yet, have they?'' asked Fred, turning curious suddenly. ''Is it advanced magic?''
''I wouldn't call that advanced. But no, they haven't taught us that'' said Emmeline.
''How did you learn it then?''
She sighed and said, ''There's a life before Hogwarts, Weasley. And there's also summer and thousands of books. I get bored''
''So, you spend all your time learning things that probably not even seventh years know?'' he raised an eyebrow.
''I spend my time thinking and reading a lot, if you haven't noticed,'' she paused and her gaze lowered. ''I know a couple of things Dumbledore only dreams of finding out''
Fred's eyes widened and he whispered loudly, ''You're joking!''
''Why do I even try to joke around with you'' Emmeline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, looking far ahead and moving faster.
''It's funny how much we hate each other and I don't even know your birthday''
Emmeline stayed silent, not daring to glance sideways to look at him. She only waved her wand tiredly to avoid making him crash against a few branches.
''I'm sorry, I'm just-''
''Injured. You're just injured, Weasley,'' she whispered. The rest of the way to the castle was rather silent and diligent. There was absolutely no one wandering around. It was a very unreasonable hour to be outside, so they were careful enough not to wake the whole castle. They reached the hospital wing and Fred sat gently on a soft bed with white linen sheets. Emmeline had gone to fetch Madame Pompfrey, who hadn't awoken at the sudden visit from the two of them.
She walked back inside and stood a good three foot away from the bed where Fred lay and said, ''She's looking for some potions and will be here soon'' She turned to leave, but stopped and walked closer to Fred. He looked up at her confused. The discussion they had had before coming in there seemed to him that it had affected her more than he thought it would. Sure, many of their arguments and fights affected one or the other in one way or another. But Fred noticed the gloominess that now surrounded Emmeline, who spoke in a soft tone to him, and said, ''The Winter Solstice''
Fred frowned and asked, ''What?''
''My mother never told me the exact date. Only that it was on December and it was during the coldest day of winter. The Winter Solstice. And I'm thirteen, just like you and George. May the first, isn't it?'' she asked him and Fred couldn't bring himself to nod from how surprised he was that she knew that bit about him. She grinned a bit wider, but the sadness was still noticeable, and she said, ''April's Fool was probably the best day to have you both, don't you think it convenient? Bet your mum and dad thought so too since-''
''Don't talk about my-''
''Sorry. I-I didn't mean to sound rude or anything. Not that I thought I sounded that way, but I understand... You're too used to be on the defensive when I'm around, and I rarely am on the offensive. You should keep that in mind and you'll see things differently, Weasley''
''You hate my family. That's enough reason for me to defend them, don't you think?''
''I don't hate your family. I could never hate any of you even if I wanted to'' Fred frowned up at her, confused. All this time he was so used to seeing her as the enemy. He always though Emmeline felt repulsed at the thought of a Weasley. He was absolutely sure she despised every fibre of his being. He watched her curiously as she walked back to the door, opening and moving her head slightly to the right. She glanced up at him and said, ''Goodnight, Weasley''. Madame Pompfrey entered not so long after, but even after she left, about an hour later, Fred couldn't get his mind off of what she had just said. Especially after he realized that wasn't the first night he stayed up to think about her.