"If I do marry, I want it to be for love."

–Jasmine (Aladdin)

At dinner, Scarlett met a few other members of the Order. Her old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin was there, who insisted she now call him Remus. She also met a woman named Nymphadora Tonks, who insisted everyone call her Tonks. She was a Metamorphmagus, currently had pink hair, and Scarlett liked her right away. Tonks spent five minutes changing her appearance for Scarlett when they were first introduced and Scarlett found herself wishing she was a Metamorphmagus as well.

Besides Remus and Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody was there (the real one this time), and two seconds after noticing Scarlett and her mother, he turned to Mrs. Weasley.

"Molly, are you going to tell us why you invited them to headquarters?"

"Yes," she sighed. "And I trust them. They aren't going to run and give Death Eaters all our information. I've almost got Jenna convinced to actually join the Order."

Mad-Eye looked back at Scarlett and her mother before sighing and sitting down.

"Don't take any offense," Fred whispered. "Mad-Eye's a good guy, but he doesn't trust right away and he's a little paranoid."

"I heard that, Weasley," Mad-Eye said, "and when Death Eaters knock down this door, we'll see what you have to say."

"The Death Eaters are not going to knock down the door," Lupin said calmly. "That's why we're here. It's secret and it's safe."

"Let's just sit down and eat dinner," Mrs. Weasley said.

Scarlett sat down between Ginny and Fred. Everyone was already trying to get food on their plates as if they'd never seen such a thing before. It kind of reminded Scarlett of the welcoming feast at Hogwarts, but all the same it was so different from anything Scarlett had ever known. Her dinners at home were quiet with only her mother as company.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ron asked from across the table. He already had a bite of bread in his mouth.

"Disgusting," Ginny muttered.

"What?" Ron asked defensively.

Ginny just rolled her eyes and Ron shrugged.

"So, are you going to eat or just stare at the food?" Ron asked, giving Scarlett an amused look.

"Eat, of course, but-,"

"Here," Fred said, taking her plate, putting food on it and passing it back. "Done."

Once everyone had finished eating, Mad-Eye sat back in his chair. "So, Molly, why are they here?"

"So you don't know either?" Scarlett asked.

"You mean you don't even know why you're here?" Mad-Eye looked surprised.

Scarlett shook her head. "No. My mother knows, but I have no idea."

"Well, Molly, I think you should tell us," Sirius said, looking interested.

Mrs. Weasley looked at her husband, then at Scarlett's mother. "Okay," she said, taking a deep breath, "about a week ago, my son Charlie came to visit."

"I knew it had to do with what he told you!" Fred exclaimed.

"He told us something that he should have told us as soon as it happened." Mrs. Weasley turned to Scarlett and Fred. "When you two were nine, Charlie took Bill's school textbooks and decided he wanted to practice more advanced magic."

"What does that have to do with us?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow. Scarlett almost smirked. So this did have to do with him as well. Looked like his theory from earlier was about to be proved wrong.

"I'm getting there," Mrs. Weasley said. "You two were playing hide and seek with George and while you were looking for him, Charlie grabbed you to practice the magic on."

"I'm impressed," Fred said. "Charlie didn't blow us up."

"No…" Mrs. Weasley said, "but-,"

"How come I don't remember this?" Scarlett asked. She looked at Fred. "Do you remember?"

He thought for a moment. "No," he finally said. "It's odd. I can remember a lot of the stuff we did together, but not this."

"Bill caught Charlie doing magic. Of course, it didn't matter that he was underage at the time because most people around were legally allowed to use magic or too young to control it. It wouldn't have gotten picked up by the Ministry. Besides, it was the Christmas holidays and they aren't as strict since a lot of kids stay at school anyway. But getting back on track, by the time Bill found out, the damage was done. For some reason, he modified your memories so we could 'ease you into' the news, but I think it would have been better if-,"

"Mum, stop," Fred said. "What exactly did Charlie do to us?"

"Yeah, what did he do?" Scarlett echoed. "You're making me nervous."

"It really could have been a lot worse," Mrs. Weasley said. "Charlie said you chose—and he—he went ahead and-." She couldn't even get the words out.

Mr. Weasley took a deep breath. "You know what an Unbreakable Vow is, don't you?"

"An Unbreakable vow? Like George and I tried to do with Ron when we were toddlers?" Fred asked.

"Yes, and you remember how angry I was, don't you?"

"Yeah, it was one of the only times I've ever seen you that angry," Fred said. "It's probably smart that I never got involved with one again."

"Well, that's just it," Mr. Weasley said. "Charlie performed an Unbreakable Vow on you and Scarlett."

"What?" Scarlett asked, her mouth dropping open. The room was silent and everyone was looking at her and Fred.

"Personally, I don't know what you were thinking. I really thought..." Mr. Weasley sighed, "it seemed as if I had gotten through to you the first time. I never thought you'd want to make another vow, but I guess we'll never know what you were thinking seeing as your memories were modified."

"Dad," Fred said, his voice shaking slightly. "What was the vow?"

"Charlie said you two chose it," Mrs. Weasley said. "He thought you chose this because you were so close and you didn't think there would ever be any question about breaking it. You really thought it would happen. Not that we're trying to blame you, but-,"

"Mum," Fred said, his voice low. "Just tell us what happened. Tell us what we have to do."

"Go ahead," Scarlett's mother said gently.

Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath. "You two have to get married in two and a half years. You have to be married by the time you both turn twenty, which technically means that, since Scarlett's a month younger than Fred, you have to be married by Scarlett's twentieth birthday and no later."

"Actually," Mr. Weasley jumped in, "you have to be married by the exact time Scarlett turns twenty." He glanced at Scarlett's mother. "Scarlett was born at 3:07 in the morning on May 2nd, so you'll have to married by then. If you don't, then the Vow is considered to not be fulfilled."

Scarlett could have sworn that she stopped breathing at that moment. She had to get married to Fred? In two and a half years?

"You can't be serious!" Fred yelled, standing up.

"Fred, please sit down," Mrs. Weasley begged.

"You just told me I have to marry Scarlett in three years and you want me to sit?"

"Fred," George said gently, tugging on his brother's sleeve.

No one else was saying anything, so Fred sat and squeezed his eyes shut.

Scarlett couldn't help but feel slightly offended. She was just as upset about the situation as Fred was, but in the back of her mind, she thought Fred was making it sound as if she wasn't worth getting married to; as if she was gross or diseased.

"He was going to ask Angelina out once we got back to school," George said, looking at Fred, whose eyes were still shut.

"And I was hoping that Justin would ask me out," Scarlett said. "Mum, you knew that."

"I do and I'm so sorry, dear," her mother said. "I just found out last week at the same time Molly and Arthur did. We would have told you sooner than this, but we couldn't. We didn't know either and there's nothing any of us can do."

"Wait, Justin who?"

Scarlett looked at Fred, who had opened his eyes and was looking at her curiously.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley?" George asked, a smirk playing across his face.

"You like Justin Finch-Fletchley?" Fred asked, now clearly on the verge of laugher.

"So what if I do? I didn't question the fact that you like Angelina!" Scarlett felt herself blush.

"Yeah, but Justin?"

"Why, what's wrong with him?" Scarlett asked.

"Nothing! It's just that…" Fred stopped talking and laughed.

"What?" Scarlett asked, folding his arms.

"First of all, he talks funny," Fred said. "As if he's got some weird lisp or cotton in his mouth."

"He does not! And who cares?"

"I can never understand him, but if you can, then that's great. Secondly-,"

"That's mean, Fred," Scarlett said. "Just leave him alone."

"Secondly," Fred continued, smirking and ignoring Scarlett, "his name is a laughing matter all on its own."

"Stop it," Scarlett said. "Do you want me to find things about Angelina to pick on?"

"Don't," Fred said, giving her a stern look.

"Then stop," she said.

"Justin's nice," Hermione jumped in. "Harry, Ron and I have Herbology with him. He's smart."

"Thank you, Hermione," Scarlett said defiantly.

"What's your point?" Fred shrugged, looking at Hermione. "I don't care who Scarlett likes."

"Well you should," Ginny said. "You're going to be marrying her."

"Shut up, Ginny," Fred snapped.

"What happens if we don't make it through this war?" Scarlett asked. "Everyone thinks one's coming, don't they? What if one of us dies? We can't control that."

"If one of you doesn't make it…" her mother began. Her eyes filled with tears. "Sorry, I just don't like to think about it."

"If one of you doesn't make it," Mad-Eye said gruffly, "then the other one won't either. The Vow will make sure of that. In addition, if you don't get married by Scarlett's birthday, the same rule applies. That's how Unbreakable Vows work."

"That's bloody stupid," Ron said.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Well, he's right," Fred said. "It's more than stupid. It's ridiculous. I mean, who came up with that idea?"

"That part of the vow was created so that-," Hermione started.

"It was a rhetorical question, Hermione," Fred sighed.

"Unbreakable Vows are really useful in a lot of ways," Hermione continued.

"Yeah, but they're also a real pain in the-,"

"Fred," Mrs. Weasley warned.

Fred sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I hate Charlie."

"You told him what you wanted," Ginny said.

"I was nine! He actually did the magic!"

"You let him."

"Don't blame me and Scarlett for this," Fred said angrily. "It's not our fault we were little kids and it's not our fault that Charlie is an idiot." With that, he stood up again, knocking his chair over. He stormed upstairs without a backwards glance.

"Don't go up just yet," Mrs. Weasley said as George made a move to stand as well. She turned to look at Ginny. "Why did you taunt him like that?"

"Sorry," Ginny said, looking down at her hands.

Scarlett sat in her chair, looking down at her empty plate. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and she tried not to cry. Of course, like Mrs. Weasley had said earlier, it could have been a lot worse, but when she had thought of getting engaged and married, it hadn't been like this at all.

"Why don't you go upstairs, honey?" her mother suggested. "I think you and Fred both need some time alone."

With a tiny nod, Scarlett stood up and headed for the stairs. As she left, she heard Sirius break the silence.

"You know, whenever I was stressed out as a kid, I would go up to the roof. The stairs are behind the door right next to my room. The stars look so close from up there…"

Scarlett glanced over her shoulder and she could have sworn she saw Sirius discreetly wink at her. Nearly smiling, she made it to her room and collapsed onto the bed. She knew why her mother and Mrs. Weasley had told her and Fred now, shortly after they had found out and when the vow only had to be carried out in three years. They wanted her and Fred to actually fall in love, which she supposed was fair, but she couldn't make herself love him. What if it never happened? At least now she knew what her mother and Mrs. Weasley had been discussing in the kitchen earlier.

Sighing, Scarlett rolled onto her stomach. She was thinking too much and she knew that because of this, she wouldn't be getting much sleep that night. Maybe she should go check out the roof of 12 Grimmauld Place after all.

A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review!