The Letter to Fred

Harry didn't show up until after the Sorting Hat finished his song. As if nothing was wrong, Ron was stuffing his face with anything he could get his hands on. Hermione was worried sick, and I could tell that Ginny was too. I gave her a wry smile, making her blush.

"Don't worry. He'll be 'long soon 'nuff." Said Ron, accidentally spitting some pudding back onto his plate. Hermione immediately started hitting him with her book.

"Will. You. Stop. Eating! Your best friend is missing!"

"Oy! Turn around, you lunatic!" Ron said, and sure enough, when we all spun around in our seats, there he was. And he was all bloody.

"He's covered in blood again. Why is it he's always covered in blood?" Said Ginny.

"Looks like it's his own, this time." I said to her.

"Where have you been, Harry? And what happened to your face?" Hermione asked him as soon as he sat down.

"Later. What've I missed?" He asked us.

"Sorting hat urged us all to be brave and strong in these trying times. Easy for it to say, though. It's a hat, isn't it? First years seemed to enjoy it, though. Wankers." Ron told him. I watched with amusement as Ginny took a damp napkin and started awkwardly dabbing Harry's face. She saw me watching, then handed the napkin to Harry so he could dab his own face. I shook my head, quietly chuckling to myself.

The first few days of school went by relatively smoothly. We got our schedules the next morning at breakfast, and I had almost all my classes with my friends. Unfortunately, Hermione and I had Potions with the Slytherins. Thankfully, Professor Snape was no longer the teacher of that class. Now it was this guy by the name of Horace Slughorn. Apparently Harry met him before arriving at the Burrow. But, that meant that Snape was now teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts. Like that wasn't a train wreck waiting to happen. But, oh well. Somehow, I managed to stay off his REALLY bad list, unlike Harry and Ron and Hermione, and stayed on the normal bad list, along with everyone else. Except the Slytherins. I arrived to potions that day, with Hermione, to find that it was a relatively small class this year. I was extremely excited to see Seamus Finnigan in that class. I always looked forward to him blowing shit up every week. But then my eyes found Draco Malfoy, and my stomach turned a little bit. What a Freaking joy it was to be in the same class as him.

"Oh, wonderful. We share this class with the great Slytherin prince. Once again." I said over to Hermione.

"Oh, we probably won't even have to interact with him at all."

"Sure we won't. But you know he's still going to find a way to bring up the M-word, or call me a Weasley-Wanna-Be, like he always does."

"I don't know. Haven't you noticed, he's a little different? I mean, more closed off somehow."

"I don't know." Harry and Ron walked into class late. Funny, I didn't think they even had this class. They ended up having to get used books from the closet, and Harry's was a bit dinged up. We had to brew a Draught of Living Death, in order to win a tiny vial of Felix Felicis. For some reason, I kept on noticing Malfoy eyeing that little vial every once in a while. He'd glance at it, and his grey-ish blue eyes would sparkle just a little bit more than usual, and then he'd work a little bit more hard on his potion. He'd get a little frustrated, and then run his hand through his soft, blonde hair, and then glance at the Felix Felicis all over again. And that's when I realized I'd been staring at Malfoy this whole time instead of working on my potion. What? Why was I even bothering to look at him? Whatever. I guess I wasn't going to win that potion today.

….

I had the nightmare again. Running, and then falling, Voldemort, my parents, Darkness, memories, and then silence. And when I woke up, I didn't have a Fred's shoulder to cry on. I didn't know how I was going to survive school without those two. I got up and went to the common room, to sit on the couch by the fire. But I was too restless, I had to get out and go somewhere. I snuck up to the boys' room to steal Harry's cloak, and then I left the Gryffindor common room.

I didn't know where my feet were leading me. I didn't even know where I wanted them to go. I just needed to walk. Eventually, I found myself walking up stairs. A LOT of stairs. Then I realized I was heading for the Astronomy Tower, and I decided that some fresh air would be good. I really hoped this wouldn't have to happen every night, though. I sat there, Right next to the railing, with my feet hanging off the edge. It was nice, until I realized that I wasn't going to be getting any sleep the rest of the night. I was going to be miserable the next day at school. And just the thought of that, and every day after that, made me start to cry. It wasn't the snotty, blubbering cry that I usually do, just quiet sobs and constant tears.

I sat like that for a while, just letting the tears go, until I found out that I wasn't alone anymore. I heard some shuffling behind me, and I turned to find Draco Malfoy standing there, in front of the open door as if he had just come in.

"What are YOU doing here?" I asked him, with much snark in my voice.

"I could ask YOU the same question." He said in the exact same tone.

I wiped my face, so he wouldn't see the tears. "I just needed some air. Bad dream. Whatever."

"Were you crying?" Shit.

"No! And why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't."

"Well, fine then." And he stood there, watching me, as if he expected me to do something. "What?"

"Aren't you going to leave?"

"Um, No? I was here first, you bloody git!"

"So? I shouldn't have to be the one to leave!"

"That's just too damn bad, Malfoy. I could sit here ALL night. In fact, I plan on it." And with that, I turned back around and stared out at the sky. And after about ten seconds…

"UGH! Fine, you stupid muggle loving bimbo!" And he left. It was very satisfying.

When I actually found myself drifting off to sleep, I decided to go back to bed. And when I woke up the next morning, from a deep, dreamless sleep, I knew something was up.

Dear Fred,

How's the shop doing? I bet you're completely dead and alone without me there to keep you company. I don't know how I'm going to get through school without my two favorite pranksters. You should totally send me some stuff from your shop so I can get some pranking in myself.

I had the nightmare again last night. I really didn't expect to get back to sleep without you here, so I swiped Harry's cloak and went on a walk. I went up to the Astronomy tower, hoping that the fresh air would help clear my head, and you'll never believe who was up there too. Malfoy! He got there a little bit after me, and HE expected ME to leave! Can you believe him? Ugh. One of these days he's going to push me too far, and I'm going too… Well, it won't be good, I can tell you that.

But the thing is, after that, I actually SLEPT. Like, through the night. I even almost missed my first class this morning. What's the deal? I've never been able to sleep after a nightmare, unless I was with you. Well, sometimes George too, but I have to pretend he's you. Don't tell him.

Well, lunch is almost over, and I haven't eaten anything yet. So, please write me back soon.

Talia.

And I slept through the night for the next five nights. I had no idea what was going on, but heck. I wasn't complaining. School was going well; I'd always somehow managed to keep my grades up. When I got Fred's reply I practically sprinted up to my room. I needed to get to the bottom of this weird stuff that was happening inside my head. First, I caught myself gazing at Malfoy during class. Then, we ran into each other at the astronomy tower, and I was magically able to sleep for almost a week. And now, I keep on having to stop my thoughts from drifting to him. I even started to sing in the shower yesterday! I don't sing! When I got up to my room, I ripped open the envelope and read Fred's word, hoping for an answer.

Talia,

Of COURSE we're dead without you. Sometimes, George doesn't even bother getting up in the morning. The shop's good, we're developing some new products that I'll have to send you to test out for us.

So, you ran into Malfoy? That sucks. That boy has got a lot coming to him. But, hey! At least you've been sleeping! You'll be getting rid of that nightmare in no time, and you don't even need me.

Hey, I gotta go, some little toss pot is trying to shop lift some candy. I wonder if he realizes it's the puking pastilles.

Fred

I read his letter in complete disbelief. "THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY NO BLOODY HELP AT ALL FRED GIDEON WEASLEY!"

"You ok, Talia?"

"Ginny! Uh, yeah, I'm good. Uh, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough for you to call Fred by his full name, without him even being here. You sure you're good?"

"Yeah. But thanks!"

"Yep."

I tried my best to avoid both Malfoy, and the astronomy tower, but somehow it just didn't work. I sat as far away from him as I could in all our classes, and I still managed to find the back of his head and focus on it instead of the work. I hate him. I even dreaded going to Astronomy classes, even though I didn't even have that class with him. It was ridiculous.

Then, after a few weeks, I had the nightmare again. And when I woke up, sweating and crying, I was determined not to go up to the tower. But for some insane reason, I went anyway. What was wrong with me? Well, maybe he wouldn't be there this time. He was probably avoiding the tower as well, anyway.

He wasn't. When I got up there, he was standing there, both hands on the railing. I didn't think he noticed I had walked in.

"Oh, bloody hell." I yelled. That got his attention.

"Are you kidding me? What are you doing here now? And I was here first this time, so don't even THINK about making me leave!" He yelled back at me. I hated that boy.

"Wouldn't even dream of it, Malfoy." And I walked back out.