Chapter 22

'It's not that easy, mate' Ron said, giving a slightly sympathetic smile towards George
'We have no idea where she is' Ginny added,
'Well then find her!' George shouted, before sinking into a chair
'George, we're going to find her' Charlie said, sitting next to him and placing a hand on his back 'I swear'
'You have too' he said 'I can't - I can't lose her as well'
'You won't have too' Ginny said,
'Yeah, I mean, we found Horcruxes, and they were impossible. So I'm sure we can find a normal sized girl' Ron said, smiling slightly
'Where was she staying?' George asked
'Err - The Leaky Cauldron' Ginny said
'I have to go' George said, standing up quickly
'Don't do anything stupid, George' Charlie said, raising his eyebrows at his younger brother
'And when have I ever done anything stupid?' George said, before walking out
'… Did those words just come from the mouth of George Weasley, or am I hearing things?' Hermione asked, frowning at all the others in the room
'No … you're not hearing things … the words 'When have I ever done anything stupid' did just come from the man who makes a living from making products to prank people with, the man who is the most immature person I've ever met and the man who makes a fool out of himself daily' Charlie said slowly, frowning
'Well … this could be an eventful few weeks' Ginny said.

-oOo-

George apparated to The Leaky Cauldron, walking into the main room and stopping a few moments to speak to Tom, as he had no idea at all what room Ashley had been in.
'Tom, I have a question' he asked, tapping his fingers on one of the tables
'Which is?'
'When was the last time you saw Ashley?'
'Ah, no idea … few days ago, she hasn't been down in days, think she's gone somewhere else if I'm honest'
'What room was she in?' George asked
'11 … why do you ask?'
'Just wanted to drop by and see her' George said, 'Thanks, Tom' he added, before walking off towards Room 11.
'Please be in here. Please be in here. Please be in here.' he repeated to himself whilst walking down the corridor, once he reached the door 'pleasepleaseplease' he took a deep breath and swung the door open, being greeted by the view of a completely empty room that simply contained a bed, wardrobe and the remains of a dresser. 'Fuck'.

George's P.O.V

She's not here. That means he has her. Shit.
What if he kills her? I can't live without her. She's the only good thing in my life right now.
She can't go. I need to find her, but how? I can't exactly trace her, she's way over 17. And I'm completely sure that Rookwood git is too by the look of his face.
Okay, so he'll probably take her somewhere that means a lot to her
So that could be Hogwarts? No, I doubt he'd be that stupid.
I definitely would have noticed if they were at home.
The Orchard? He doesn't know that means anything to her … at least I don't think he does …
Where's Remus buried? Is he even buried?…
Shell cottage? No … that's where the Order were… and Bill's still there now …
Her house? No way, her parents are there.
Her old house … it's empty, dark, in the middle of nowhere and it means something...

Worth a shot I suppose.

Normal P.O.V

'HE HAS DONE WHAT?!' Mrs Weasley yelled at her children, Harry, and Hermione
'Well … he kinda erm - left' Ron said, looking down at the floor
'AND YOU LET HIM!?'
'Well, we didn't really know what else to do' Charlie said
'Charlie, you're the oldest here! You tell him not to go!' Mrs Weasley said
'It's not as if he can do anything when he's there, mum' Ginny said 'I think he just wanted to check if she was actually gone'
'Well, let's hope he comes back' Mrs Weasley said, turning the opposite way and walking out
'What if he doesn't come back … ?' Ginny asked
'What do you mean?' Ron said
'Well, Fred's gone … and now Ashley' Ginny said, looking worried
'He wouldn't … least I don't think he would-' Ron said.
'Let's hope not' Harry said

-oOo-

'So I'm guessing all first years cross the lake by using the boats, Hagrid?' George asked
'Course' he replied, 'Like to make a good impression and everythin' 'ere'
'Well it's working' Ashley said, 'It's really pretty'
'You're such a girl' Fred smirked
'Wonder why that is, Fred?' Ashley said, rolling her eyes 'Perhaps you've only just noticed but I am in fact a girl'
'Trust me, George noticed a while ago' Fred sniggered, causing George to smack him over the back of his head again 'Stop hitting me!'
'Stop saying stuff like that then!' George argued
'Well it's true! You did notice she was a girl!' Fred said, 'Unless you're gay' he said quietly to himself,
'I heard that' George growled
'Good for you' Fred smirked, whilst he, George, Ashley and Lee climbed into one of the boats, which immediately started moving across the black water
'This is kinda weird' Ashley said, looking over the edge of the boat and running her fingers across the top of the water
'Why?' George frowned
'I don't know, I guess I still feel weird about the fact that the boat is moving by itself – I mean, I know it's magic that's making it move – but it's just curious'
'Yeah, you're going to be a Ravenclaw' Fred spoke up from the front of the boat 'Just like when you were five'
'I'm fine with Ravenclaw' Ashley murmured, looking down into the lake still 'At least I'll be around intelligent people instead of you two'
'I resent that' Fred smirked 'We are smart, just not focused enough'
'Sure, sure' Ashley smirked, whilst the boats glided across the surface of the water until they reached the castle.
'It's huge' Fred muttered, looking up at the castle
'I'm kinda nervous now' Ashley said, 'We have to walk into the hall, which is full of students from every house and every year'
'You'll be fine' George muttered, looking up at the castle the same as Fred
'Righ' suppose we 'ad better make a move' Hagrid said, then directed the children towards the castle, where they were greeted by a tall, thin woman in green robes
'Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now, while you're here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup. So, make a single line and we will make our way into the Great Hall and you will be sorted' McGonagall said, causing the students to immediately shuffle into a straight line – or as straight as they could make it. A few seconds later the doors slowly swung open and they began to walk into the hall, there were candles floating around 10 feet above the tables, and a single stool with a hat at the end of the hall. On the way towards the front, Ashley saw Fred and George's older brother, Percy, sitting at the Gryffindor table – he practically ignored her, as she got closer to the hat she saw their other brother, Charlie, he smiled at her, Fred and George and made a move to show he was crossing his fingers, eventually they stopped moving and Professor McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment,
'Broklehurst, Mandy' after she said this, a small girl made her way towards the front, the hat immediately shouted Ravenclaw.
'Bletchley, Miles' he was sorted into Slytherin.
'Davies, Roger' another Ravenclaw
'Diggory, Cedric' the hat seemed to take a longer time making it's decision, until eventually it decided on Hufflepuff
'Eastchurch, Felicity' Ravenclaw. Slowly the line got smaller until someone was sorted into Gryffindor, it was a girl named Angelina Johnson, who Fred winked at as she walked past, causing Ashley to slap his arm
'Jordan, Lee' McGonagall called, the boy from the train made his way to the front and sat down, almost immediately the hat yelled Gryffindor, Lee grinned and hopped off the seat, walking towards the Gryffindor table.
'Montague, Heidi' Hufflepuff. After this Ashley zoned out for a while, until she heard her own name being called
'Redford, Ashley' she took a deep breath and slowly made her way towards the stool, climbing onto it
'Hmm' the hat said into her ear 'You are a tricky one to place … the intelligence of a Ravenclaw – though I wouldn't necessarily say you value knowledge over loyalty – meaning you could be a Hufflepuff – however, you're much too cunning to be a Hufflepuff … Slytherin perhaps? No … you don't have the right – attributes, too daring … suppose it had better be GRYFFINDOR' Ashley's eyes widened as she got off the stool and made her way towards the Gryffindor table, where Charlie Weasley was grinning, she turned to Fred and George who had identical grins spread across their faces,
'Congratulations' Charlie whispered in her ear as she sat down
'I'm almost positive the hats wrong,' she smirked
'The hats never wrong' Charlie smiled,
'So, Lee, looks like you'll have to deal with me a bit longer' she said to the boy
'I'm sure I can deal with it' he grinned, they then turned their attention back to the sorting, until eventually there were only a few people left
'Weasley, Fred' McGonagall called, Fred made his way to the front and sat down on the stool, it seemed to take a while to sort him and he looked as if he was arguing with the hat about something, until he finally smiled as the hat yelled
'GRYFFINDOR', with a smirk Fred jumped off the stool and ran towards Ashley, hugging her
'Get off me!' she said, smirking as she said it
'The bloody hat tried to convince me I was a Slytherin' Fred groaned, plonking himself between Ashley and Charlie
'Seriously?' Charlie asked, a smirk threatening to appear on his face
'Yes' Fred groaned, he was about to continued before McGonagall spoke
'Weasley, George', George slowly made his way to the hat and sat down, he, like Fred, seemed to be arguing with the hat over something,
'GRYFFINDOR' the hat yelled a few seconds later, whilst George smirked and made his way over to the table, sitting on the other side of Ashley
'What happened?' Fred asked 'You looked like you were going to kill the hat'
'Tried to tell me I was a Slytherin, then it said I was a Hufflepuff' he muttered darkly
'Me too!' Fred said 'Well, other than the Hufflepuff part …'
'I think I beat you all' Ashley smirked 'Apparently I'm all four'
'Can't believe you're a Gryffindor' Fred smirked
'Yeah, you're stuck with us for 7 years now' George grinned
'I'm sure I'll make some new friends, so I'm good' Ashley smiled
'Nope, you're not allowed to ditch us now, it's the rules' George smirked, wrapping an arm over her shoulder.

'Interrupted something, have I?' Rookwood said, appearing from nowhere
'Not really' Ashley said, through gritted teeth
'Well what's wrong, sweetheart?'
'Don't call me that' she growled 'and let me go or kill me'
'Like I said before, love' he began 'I'm coming up with a plan'
'Maybe you should think about it more often then, it seems like your brain isn't able to function unless you're thinking about a certain task all the time'
'I'm close to coming up with something' he sneered 'just be patient'
'I don't need to be patient! It's my life, I should get to control it!' she hissed
'Well, soon you won't have a life' he said smirking, before disapparating.
'You don't say' she muttered to the open space.

So, I'm uploading this at 1:00 A.M because All Time Low have kept me awake (and Slenderman, but let's not get into that :L)

Okay, so you should all review because Alex Gaskarth and Ben Bruce say you should :3

Thanks for reaaaaaading this far :) (i promise it's almost over...sort of...not really)