"...Ginny faked a drop, but then Ally swooped down, caught it, and scored. Dear Gwenog, I have never seen a play like that. Even some Pros couldn't have pulled it off," Slughorn said.

"Well, we have an excellent captain," I said, shoving Harry into the limelight.

That match had happened on the Twentieth of November. It was now Slughorn's Christmas party, and he was still going on about it.
I do admit it was an amazing play and it did prove to people that I was not just on the team for my connections, but he didn't need to go on and on.

I quickly excused myself and went to find Seamus who was standing with Dean looking very bored.

"Hi," he said unenthusiastically.
"Seriously cheer up. You're making me wish I would have taken Ron to this stupid thing."

"I'm sorry, it's just really boring."
I took two glasses of Champagne from a passing waiter and handed it to them.

"So get drunk. Or talk to someone, there's loads of interesting people here." I gestured around the room and saw the weird ill looking man still staring at me.
"I'll be right back," I told Seamus before marching over to the man.

"Hi, I'm Ally," I said holding out my hand. He ignored it.
"Sanguini," he said. His voice was very quiet and if he wasn't staring directly into my eyes, I would have said he was shy.

"So Sanguini, would you mind telling me why you have been staring at me for the past hour?"
"You smell," he answered quietly.

"What?" I asked. I was ready to hit this ignorant man.
"You smell of Charles. Your scent is very different from the other students."

"I don't understand. Wait, you're a vampire aren't you?" i suddenly remembered that he was a friend of an author. Sanguini nodded.
"Who's Charles?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. He pointed to the faded scar on my neck.

"He does not stop when hunting his prey. I'm surprised you have lasted this long."

A pickle of goose bumps sprung up on the back of my neck.
"I don't understand. Do you know him?" I needed this information. If that psycho was coming back, I needed to be ready.

"He turned my wife and then had the others kill her."
"Who are the others?" this dude was making no sense.

"When a vampire turns someone, they become loyal to them. And then who ever kills the leader, they gain the follows."

"So he has like an army?" I asked extremely worried.
"Yes, in a sense. He used to work with Death Eaters. But then he went rogue."

Suddenly things seemed to slot into place.

"How does one become a vampire?" I asked. It varied throughout the different stories, so I needed to know for definite.

"Feeding of blood or a bite. Although it didn't seem to work on you." Sanguini stared at my neck again.

So probably, only probably, that Charles dude was sent to that Alley way. Bellatrix said I was called and that I would join their ranks. They were going to make me a part of their vampire army. Thank god Tonks and Remus found me when they did.

"He is a vile creature, Charles," Sanguini said, finally opening up. "He preys on young women. Charms them, sleeps with them and then drains them."

"I was a lucky one then," I muttered.
"No, he will come back for you. He wanted to change you before, but he won't now. He is the hunter and you are his prey."

"Sanguini!" a deep voice called from behind us. I turned around and saw the author he was with. "What stories are you frightening this poor girl with?" He slung an arm around Sanguini which he didn't seem to like.

"It's nothing, it was rather interesting," I said, my voice quivering slightly. "Thank you," I said looking into his eyes. "So much."

I dashed out of the cramped office and leant up against the wall around the corner. I tried to calm my breathing as I placed my cheek against the cool stone.

How long did I have until he found me? For all I knew, he could be standing outside the gate, trying to break the enchantments.
I was getting my black dress dusting by sitting on the floor, but I didn't care.

I don't know how long I was sitting there until Harry found me.
He was under his clock so I didn't know he was there until he gasped loudly and threw it off him.

"Ally, are you ok?" he asked, trying to pull me up.
"I don't know," I sighed. "Can we go see Dumbledore?"
"I was actually just on my way up there."

We walked there in silence. I knew he was desperate to ask questions, but he had the courtesy not too.

"Ahh Alyssa," Dumbledore greeted kindly. "What excuse is there this time?"

Every week I would go up to his office with a reason why I couldn't be prefect. I was serious at first but after a few weeks it became a bit of a joke. When I couldn't be bothered to go to a lesson, I would go to Dumbledore's office and talk mindlessly.

"Professor, I found her outside Dumbledore's party, she was pretty upset," Harry said. I suddenly zoned back into the conversation.
"Could I talk to you please?" I asked Dumbledore, hinting for us to be alone.

Once Harry was gone I told him everything Sanguini told me. I felt the pressure on my chest ease a little as I spoke. Dumbledore listened carefully and once I was finished, he smiled kindly.

"I shouldn't worry too much. Hogwarts is protected, The Country House is protected and so is The Burrow. You're safe, and we'll deal with the problem when it comes. But I don't want you wandering off Alyssa. And if you learn anything else, please come straight to me.
Now off to bed, it's getting late. Please call Harry in."

I said goodnight and then went to bed for a night of restless sleep.

:-:

I woke up on Christmas morning with a large prodding sensation on my cheek. I quickly grabbed the person's hand, causing them to slap me in the face.

"Oww," I groaned, opening my eyes. Sirius was hovering over my bed looking like a complete kid.
"It's Christmas morning," he said in a singing voice. I went to sit up, but then groaned when i saw it was seven am.

"No, an hour longer," I moaned, pulling the quilt over my head. He yanked it back quickly.

"We are expected at The Burrow at ten. What's wrong with you? It's Christmas!" he said again.

To be honest, my perfect Christmas present was the gift of sleep. I wasn't really bothered about presents. I already had everything I needed, except rest.

I heard him stomp away and go into Tonks room next door. I was just falling back to sleep when:

"Get lost Sirius. It's too early I've been at work all week!"
Their thundering footsteps shook my bed.

"It looks like I'm not going back to sleep," I muttered, feeling extremely awake and lively. Well, my brain did anyway, my body was screaming for me to get back into bed.

I padded across the room and grabbed my Gryffindor hoodie that was hung up on my chair.

Sirius was standing outside Remus door, ready to attack. He motioned for me to join him.
"I'd rather not get involved," I said going downstairs. I flopped down on to the couch and drifted for a bit.

I woke back up with the sound of voices twenty minutes later.
"Let's get this show on the road," Sirius said, throwing a box at Remus. His eyes were tired and had large bags under them.

It was kind of mean of Sirius to wake him up. It was only a full moon two days ago and the poor guy hadn't even recovered. But all Sirius saw was that it was his first free Christmas, bless him.

Remus opened up the box and smiled slight. "Thanks Padfoot," he said, admiring his new pair of shoes.
We spent the next half hour passing presents around.

I had new clothes (hallelujah!) new shoes, some muggle novels that I had mentioned I liked and a TV. It would go in the Living Room and was for all of us, but it was still my favourite present. I hadn't watched TV in almost two years. I nearly fainted when I realises this fact. But the truth was, I hadn't needed it. It would be nice though to watch the good old nineties shows like Dawson's Creek and Friends. Even though I had seen the re-runs a million times.

Harry had brought me a book on Quidditch and also some black and silver dangly earrings that would match my birthday present off Luna.

I had the usual haul of WWW products, sweets, socks off Dobbie and a Weasley Cardigan this year. It was blue, oversized and had a yellow A in the bottom left pocket. Mrs Weasley had really outdone herself.

At 9:30 I rushed to get changed. I put on jeans, a beige shirt and my new Cardigan. We had to make an apparating detour to pick up Seamus. The Weasley's had invited him to dinner. Great.

It wasn't that I didn't want him to be there, I really did, it was just now I had to spend new year's with his family.

I really didn't understand how Mrs Weasley was going to manage it. She would be cooking for all her kids, Fleur, Verity, Harry, Hermione, Seamus, me, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Mad Eye and other order members that had decided to make an appearance. I don't know how her kitchen would accommodate us all.

Sirius had offered to have dinner at our house, but she strongly refused.
"I've only ever cook dinner here and that shall never change," she said firmly.

When we arrived at The Burrow, Ron and Hermione were having a hushed argument.

"What's going on with those two?" George asked me and Seamus as soon as we walked through the door.
"Well, they both love each other but Ron doesn't know it yet. Hermione does and is mad at him for dating Lavender. Also," I said dramatically. "Tonks loves Remus, but he's like I'm a werewolf, no. And Harry finally loves Ginny but she's with Dean."

"Harry loves Ginny?" Seamus asked. I really shouldn't have said that fact in front of Dean's best friend.
"Yeah, but please don't say anything." I gave him my pouting sad face.

Eventually, he nodded. "I feel of bad for them," I continued, looking at their crestfallen faces. "It's Christmas. It's a shame there isn't some spell to make them realise. Do you happen to have any products?" I joked to George.

"Maybe," he grinned, dashing away. I rolled my eyes at him.

We went and sat down on the very cramped sofa next to Verity. She was a nice enough girl and was really making the effort to talk to everyone especially Sirius. Normally strangers avoided him like the Dragon Pox, but she was being quite talkative.

At 1pm we were called into the Kitchen for dinner. Someone had cast an expansion spell on the room, so we all fit quite comfortably.

"Mum, there's no eggs for the cakes," Fred said whist inspecting the work tops. "Ron, Hermione, you're near the door, go get some."
"No sit down dears," Mrs Weasley shuffled. "Fred you can get them, you're standing."

"But it's Christmas, I can't go alone. Which is why those two should go," he whined. Considering he was a prankster, he really needed to work on his excuses.

I stood up and made my way over to the door. "I'll go with you," I said loftily.
"But - "

I was already half way out the door. I began to tease him for a race and soon enough he began to run to keep up with me.

I ran into the barn but suddenly stopped just inside the door. Fred who was about half a second behind me stopped too.
I tried to move forward, then back, but it was like there was some invisible force blocking us.

"Damn it," Fred muttered. He tried to step free but could only shuffle around slightly to face me. He pointed up at a small sprig of mistletoe that was attached to a beam above our heads.

"What's going on?" I asked.
"George put it there. You are trapped until the two people kiss; it's a prototype. The plan was to lure Ron and Hermione here, they would kiss and then they would admit their love."

"That's a stupid idea," I muttered.
"It was your idea!"
"No it wasn't, I joked to find a spell. I mentioned nothing about mutant mistletoe."

He sighed heavily. "So what do we do?"
"There's only one thing we can do," I said. I leant up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"It has to be a proper one," he pointed out awkwardly.
I looked up at him. God, he was tall. He leant down and slowly pressed his lips to mine. It was soft and sweet but all too soon we had to pull away. But I couldn't. For some reason, I wanted more.

I could see the fire in his eyes that was currently forming in my stomach.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his face down to mine. His hands pushed into my lower back as I kissed him fiercely. He was the only thing in my mind at that moment. Why hadn't we done this before.

I felt his tongue graze my top lip so I let him in.
The bonds holding us under the mistletoe suddenly broke, but we didn't stop. Fred backed me up into the wall and hoisted me up on to the table without even breaking the kiss.

I made a space in between my legs for him to stand so we could get nearer. My hands moved from his neck and found their way into his soft hair.

I felt a shiver of delight as he trailed his hands up my side and began to undo the buttons of my shirt. Thankfully, he was wearing a button up to, so I started to work on his. I felt a cold breeze as he ripped it off and threw it on the floor but I didn't care. His fingers tickled my stomach as he grabbed my waist.

When I finally pulled his shirt off, we stopped for a quick gasp of air. I saw in his eyes that he wanted this too.
I moved my hand down his Beater toned stomach to his jeans buttons when a voice called out in the distance.

"Fred, Ally!" Mr Weasley called.

We quickly pulled apart and I froze, the realisation of my actions suddenly setting in.
I jumped off the table and grabbed my shirt, being extra careful to button it up right. I could barely look at him, but I saw Fred doing the same.

"Ally, Fred," Mr Weasley called, his voice a lot near. I ran to the coup and grabbed three random eggs.
He suddenly appeared around the corner.

"The Ministers here, with Percy."

Fred's eyes went wide before racing back up to the house.
"Here Ally, I'll take those," Mr Weasley said. He grabbed the eggs and then ran back up to the house after Fred.

I stood in shock trying to comprehend what had just happened. What had just happened?

One minute we were bantering on and the next we were almost having sex, in a barn. It was a terrible thing to say but I liked it, a lot. Fred had always been just a friend but now...

Did I like him? Yes. Did I like him, like him? Yes. Was the only thing I could think about was him shirtless and kissing me? Oh god, I had it bad.

I tried to compose myself and went back up to the house. I would be more than happy to sit in the barn all day contemplating my feelings, but they would grow suspicious if I was gone too long.

Just as I was going through the back door, the minister and Harry stepped out.

"Merry Christmas, Minister." I gave them a polite smile.
"Merry Christmas to you too dear," he nodded. He grabbed Harrys shoulder and guided him around the corner.

I took a deep breath and went through the door. The Weasley clan were all sitting in an uncomfortable silence, staring at Percy.

I looked over to Fred who was looking everywhere but me. He was sitting next to Verity and she had her vicious claws around him. I never did like her.

"Oh Percy, this is Ally. You've never met her before, have you?" Mrs Weasley asked. She was so happy and excited, I felt really bad for her.

"No, I haven't," Percy said, sounding very strained. "Next to meet you."
"You too," I said quietly. I scurried back to my seat and almost cried when I saw who was next to me. Seamus.

He was smiling at me with warm eyes. Why was I such a bitch? How could I have done this too him? He was such a sweet guy and always put up with my crap. He put me up on some pedestal that I definitely did not deserve.
I sighed sadly and began to play with my food.

"So Perce, why the change of heart?" Bill asked, glaring at his brother. "And why did you leave in the first place?"

"Well - I - I didn't agree with your motives," He spluttered.
"They're still the same," George butted in. Mrs Weasley was trying to calm things down but was failing miserably.

"I just don't like that hanging around with the likes of these people," he motioned to my, Harry (when he was here) Sirius and Remus' side of the room. "Is any good."

"Hey!" Sirius and I said shooting up.
"I am a prefect, I'll have you know," I said superiorly.

"And I don't know why you think you're so high and mighty," Sirius said angrily. "At least we know the meaning of Family, and decency and loyalty."

Percy scoffed slightly. "I left my family because of their affiliation with riff raff like you. I would gladly return if they were to realise the error of their ways."

"Our ways?" Bill shouted, jumping up too. "You're the one who got all big headed and abandoned us. But don't worry Perce, we don't want you back."

"No," Mrs Weasley hopped up. "He doesn't mean that do you Bill."
"Every bloody word," he muttered darkly. Fleur looked up at him with huge admiring eyes. I almost gagged.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Percy said diplomatically. "But I cannot be a part of your anti-ministry campaign and your association with criminals."

"Sirius was cleared, you were there you idiot," Fred shouted, finally speaking up. God, he was so hot.

"I wasn't talking about Sirius," Percy muttered. He stared pointedly at me.
"What have I done?" I asked defensively. Sure I was a slacker, a liar, a cheater, daughter of a mass murderer, really a muggle from a different world; but I hadn't done anything illegal.

"You use unforgivables," he said simply. The room gasped.

"No I didn't. Ok I did, kind of. It was a onetime thing, in self defence," I argued. "I'd just been hit with the killing curse!"
"That's how she got off," he said in his obnoxious superior voice.

"How come I didn't know about this trial?" I asked. Surely I would have been questioned during Sirius' trial.

"It was a very backhanded affair," Percy answered. I spun around to Sirius on my left.

"You," I said, smiling slightly. He shrugged.
"Yeah, it was one of my bribes and conditions." I hugged him sweetly around the middle. As if he had done that for me.

"Well anyway I must go. As I said before, these people are riff raff, no good. I don't want to be infected any longer."

The remaining Weasley's sitting down quickly stood up. I picked up a piece of broccoli and threw it at Percy's head.
"Broccoli Bombardment." I said angrily, throwing another piece at him.

As he scrambled for his wand Fred and George began to catapult mash potato at him using their spoons.

Harry re-entered the room and stared at the scene with wide eyes.
"Weasley!" The minister said firmly, coming up behind Harry. All of the Weasley's turned to look at him. Except for Fred who jumped up in shock and accidently sent another piece of potato crashing into Percy's eye. I snickered loudly. Fred turned to me and grinned before quickly composing himself and looking down. I needed to talk to him ASAP.

"Well - erm - thank you for having us," the minister said sharply.
"Merry Christmas." He stalked out the house with Percy hot on his heels.

The rest of dinner was very tense. Mrs Weasley kept breaking out into sobs, Bill was shaking with anger, and the people who didn't know the 'Cruicio' story were staring at me with wide eyes.

But I barely noticed as I was glancing at Fred constantly. I just couldn't believe what had happened. An hour ago, he was my friend who I wouldn't give a second look at. Now we were, well I don't know what we were. I needed to speak to him, but there was something that needed to be done first.

I glanced sadly to Seamus on my left sadly. What would I do?
Would I be the bitch who cheated, or the bitch who broke up with her boyfriend on Christmas day?

Chapter Dedicated to PossimpiblyPossimpible – 100th Reviewer.

Well, it only took twenty chapters for it to happy but we're finally there. Kind of. Lots of drama will follow.
A few people have asked if this is coming to an end. Sorry, but not yet : ) we still have to solve the whole Bellatrix mystery, the vampire, fred, the whole muggle world thing… There's still quite a lot to go, so please bear with the confusing-ness.
I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed: gottalovefredweasley, 2featherbraids, sethechelon, writer. Of. The. Gods, chaygracedaya, fruityloops156 and xxxfredweasleyforeverxxx.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think : )