Chapter 48: The Christmas Party (PT 3)

The other's quickly surrounded Fred, as they all stood idle and stared at the exit to the pavillion.

Confused, James tapped Fred's shoulder, who in return whisked his body around to face the other seven of them.

" She was..crying. " he said, both agitated and upset, " She was crying! Why? Why was she in tears?! " he said, frantically looking at the other's. Harry and Ginny had made their way over, and were looking at the students with confused expressions

" Can someone explain why Rachel seemed so distressed? " Ginny pleaded, scanning the room for any sign as to why she'd taken off like that

" indeed, if any of you did anything, I'm not going to tolerate it, she's a very close friend, I've been telling her stories about her parent's since she was an infant, and seeing her in so much pain like this- " Harry paused, taking a deep breath, " It's like seeing one of my own when they're upset, so please, if any of you know what may have caused this, speak out, loud and clear, for us all to hear. " he stated, rather sternly at that

I know what happened, I do, but what would happen if I told Harry? How would he react? How would Rhea and Sid react? Ash pondered the thought in her head for a moment.

" One of you must know! " Fred exclaimed, he looked rather distraught, it was clear that he cared for her, regardless of the fact that they had only just met.

" Yeah, c'mon guys, own up, if it was any of you, please tell us. " James announced, Albus and Hugo agreed, " Yeah! " they said in unison.

" I know why she's distressed. " the voice wasn't from any of the others, but from Sherlock, who had placed himself on one of the tables, his eyes shot daggers as he hissed out the words;

" It was her. " and with a flick of his tail, he motioned towards Rhea, who held her hands up defensively.

" Rhea? What have you done? " Harry questioned, he didn't sound impressed, nor did he look it, to be honest, it felt like everyone was against her, even Sid felt rather uncomfortable about the ordeal.

" Me? " she chuckled nervously, " I didn't do anything, did I Sid? " she asked, giving him a look that said:

If you tell them, you'll regret it.

" Didn't do anything?! " Ash shouted, she couldn't stand how arrogant Rhea was being, how could she try and get out of something she's clearly done?

" You disrespected her, you disrespected one of the sweetest people I know, and for what? For the fact that you can't stand to take a harmless joke! " Ash was angry, and everyone could tell, especially James, he was worried she'd lash out, so instinctively, he held her hand and said,

" It's alright, Ash, just tell us what she did, nice and easy now. " he tried to sound as calm as possible, but frankly he agreed with Ash that being unable to take a harmless joke, shouldn't make you hate the person, not at all.

Ash looked up at him and blushed slightly, but let out a sigh and continued.

" In Rhea's own words, she said ' She's nothing but a stray dog who's lost it's way, just like her father. ' " Ginny and Harry looked mortified, so did the other's, Rose gasped as she started murmuring something to Albus and Hugo, who were whispering between themselves, Rhea stood there, unsure of what to do.

" Fine! So maybe I did say that, but you know what? I don't care. I can't stand her and neither should you, Let's go Sid! " she stormed off, dragging Sid along with her, who mouthed the words ' I'm Sorry ' to the others, until he was slowly out of site.

Harry sighed. " What are we going to do, love? I mean, I don't think we should all go out there, one of us should be alright, but who? "

" hmm, I suppose it could be- " Ginny cut off her sentence for a moment, " Wait, where is Fred? " she questioned, until her eyes caught sight of him heading out of the pavilion.

" Fred, wait! " shouted James, who aimlessly started to go after him, however he was stopped by his father, who simply shook his head.

" Let Fred go, he obviously cares about her, and I think he's the perfect person to go and see her right now. " . Harry had words of wisdom, and so James nodded, and took Hugo and Albus away and back to the table they were sitting at, Rosie had already made her way back to Victorie, and Ash stood next to Harry and Ginny.

He is the perfect person to go and see her, I just hope she's ok. She thought.

Fred ran out into the courtyard, he had know idea where Rachel was, instinctively, he started shouting, aimlessly wandering around the woodland area in which surrounded the pavilion.

" Rachel? " He shouted, peering around every corner, in the hopes that she would be there.

" Rachel! " He shouted again, he hoped she was alright, it was pretty dark.

" Lumos. " He whispered, his wand flickered as a light grew from the tip, it wasn't fantastic, but at least he could navigate his way around now.

Fred searched for around fifteen minutes without any luck, he was around ready to give up, that is, until he heard sobbing just in front of him.

Cautiously, he edged closer and closer to the noise, he ended up at this big willow tree, one that was on the outskirts of the woodland, it's woven bark seemed to shine like a torch in the moonlight, a charm, perhaps?

He peered around the oak, to find Rachel, sat with her head in her hands, and she was shaking like a leaf, Damn, she must be freezing. He thought.

Without thinking, he took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders, she flinched at first, whisking her head around so that her eyes met with his, she was like a startled deer in the headlights of a speeding car.

When her eyes met with his, they softened, maintaining their evident glow as she forced a smile.

He'd never realized how beautiful she looked up close, especially her eyes, they shone just like an emerald, and her hair suited her to an extent in which it contrasted the green from her eyes perfectly. She had pale skin, I guess you could say she was like a porcelain doll, fragile, yet beautiful, a marvel to look at. That's what Fred though, anyway.

" Hey. " He said, giving her a hearty grin as he placed himself next to her, instinctively reaching his left hand into the grass and pulling it out.

" Hey. " She sniffed, returning the smile, she was holding a locket in her hand, and kept glancing up at the moon.

" I'm sorry about before, I don't know what came over me, I jus- " Fred cut her off by placing a finger to her lips, she blushed a little and looked towards the ground in an instant.

" Don't apologize, what Rhea said was un called for, besides, don't you think it's a beautiful night tonight? " Fred knew he sounded cheesy, but heck, at least he was trying, right?

Rachel giggled, Fred found it adorable when she did, as she'd cover her face out of embarrassment and look away.

" You sound really cheesy, . " she replied, raising her eyebrows at him.

He shrugged, and raise a hand over his shoulder and started rubbing the back of his neck;

" What can I say, I ain't no flirt! " he piped, chuckling as he met eyes with her's.

" I guess not! " she exclaimed, " But we'll roll with it, uh huh. " she kept fumbling around with the locket she was wearing, obviously this sparked up Fred's curiosity, and instead of making the silence even more awkward, he decided to ask what significance it held for her.

" So, what about that locket of yours? " he questioned, his head lingering over hers as he looked down at it, it was silver, he assumed, an emerald in the middle, she looked at him and sighed.

" It's holds a picture of my parent's, it's the only I have left.." she drifted off, aimlessly taking off the locket and handing it to Fred, he looked a little confused.

She giggled, " Open it, idiot! " she said, fake punching his arm.

He pretended to be hurt and fake cried, causing her to laugh even more, absent mindedly, he opened the locket, and sure enough, there was a picture of Remus and Tonks.

They were stood in a courtyard, and they both looked so full of joy, it was a bright sunny day and they were laughing amongst themselves, Fred smiled, closing the locket.

" They look happy. " he said, motioning for Rachel to stand up, she tilted her head to the side in confusion, but stood up anyway, a smile forming on her lips.

" They were happy, and I'm glad, that's how I wanted them to be. " she whispered, looking into the distance.

" Whenever I feel alone, which is quite often, I tend to look at this locket, and it cheers me up, because I know they'll always be with me, regardless of where I am. " she chuckled, facing Fred again, who was just happy to see he'd put a smile on her face.

" So.." she paused, shuffling her feet, " what did I need to stand up for anyway? " she asked, motioning to the fact that they were both stood up now.

" Oh, yeah! " Fred piped, " I got to put this back on for you! " he chimed, motioning for her to step forwards a little.

She hesitated, but stepped forward anyway, they were rather close now, and both of them were blushing madly, she silently chuckled at how flustered he looked.

Reaching around her neck, he clipped the locket into place, then, taking both of her hands in his, he said;

" You're beautiful, you know that right? " he tried to put on a serious tone, but he wasn't getting very far, regardless, he carried on.

" Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! " he cheered, squeezing her hands tightly as she giggled at his stupid tone of voice.

In seconds flat, Rachel embraced him in a hug, and planted a kiss on his cheek, flustered, Fred cautiously hugged back, hoping he wasn't acting like a fool around her.

" Thanks Fred, I owe you. " she whispered, placing her head onto his shoulder.

Rachel, your parents can't be here for you now, but I can, and I swear, I will protect you. I'll protect you as if my life depended on it.

Back in the pavilion Ash was staring out of the window, as she waited for Rachel and Fred to come back…

"Ash…' Rhea tapped Ash's shoulder

"Yeah?' Ash turned around and saw Rhea

"I'm sorry" Rhea sighed

"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault, I guess there are some people we like and there are some people we don't like, and I don't think Rachel is a person you really like" Ash smiled

"I can't help it, but I guess everything I said… Must've been because of anger… You know why" Rhea looked down

"I guess we have to get used to it?" Ash smiled

"I'm sorry" A tear rolled down Rhea's cheek

"Come on Rhea, it's not even 9pm yet and so much has happened it's fine" Ash smiled and hugged Rhea

"Thank you Ash" Rhea hugged Ash back and smiled

"Now you go and have fun and talk with everyone okay?" Smiled Ash

"Okay, I'll see you late then" Rhea walked away and left Ash sitting on the table again

James on the other hand was talking to Hugo and Albus who were all waiting for Fred, when they were looking at the entrance and they saw someone with brown hair come in, he didn't recognize the woman but then recognized the person behind, it was Fi. Her ginger hair was curled a little and she was wearing a sea green dress, James assumed that the woman in front was her mother.

"HEY!" Fi waved at James

"Hi" James smiled

"Where are your parents?" Asked Fi

"I don't know, somewhere round here, why?" James asked

"Because my mum needs to go and she can't stay so she'll pick me up at like late night" Fi smiled

"No it's fine, your mum can go, I'll let them know" James smiled

"Thanks!" Fi smiled before she ran off to Rose to talk

James smiled at Fi's mum, who then went away and back home, so James turned back and was going to go back to his friend when he saw Ash sitting by herself, he knew she was waiting for Rachel, as much as he wanted to go up to her and be there for her, he knew he couldn't, he didn't want too much to happen, that would remind her of everything, that would remind her of the bracelet and the snow incident which happened in the first year.

Maybe she's thinking about the snow incident but isn't saying anything, I don't know if she remembers anything, but it's been 4 years and I haven't even told her.