"You're mad, bonkers, off your head. But I'll tell you a secret; all the best people are."

-Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

As it turned out, Binky did snore. Well, it was more of a whistling sound, but it was snoring none the less. It wouldn't have been a problem for Scarlett seeing as she had originally fallen asleep before Binky's snores started up, but then Ginny and Hermione had come into the room to go to bed. Ginny, annoyed at being unable to fall asleep, had tossed a pillow at Scarlett.

"Can't you go return him to Fred?" she asked.

"What?" Scarlett mumbled sleepily, raising her head off of her arms. She had been sleeping on her stomach with her head buried into the crook of her elbow.

Ginny pointed to Binky while Hermione covered her head with her pillow to block out the whistling sound.

"I can't bring him back. Fred insisted that I 'babysit'. Besides, the snoring's not that bad."

"No, I suppose not," Ginny said. "It's better than Fred's anyway. Good luck dealing with that once you're married."

Scarlett groaned and pressed her forehead into her arms. "Please tell me you're exaggerating."

Ginny smiled. "Maybe a little. It's actually Ron you have to watch out for."

"Well, I don't see myself ever sharing a room with Ron, thankfully," Scarlett answered. She raised her head and steared at Ginny blearily.

"Ugh," Ginny groaned as Binky let out another whistle, "he sounds like a tea kettle."

"Fred warned me that he snored," Scarlett said, rolling over, sitting up, and leaning back on her hands as she gestured to Binky. "I didn't really believe it, though. I thought Fred was just messing with me."

"He was pretty upset earlier after you ran out of the room," Ginny said, propping herself up on her elbow, apparently giving up on sleeping for now.

"We talked it over. Everything's okay now," Scarlett shrugged.

Ginny just smirked at her. "That's not what I was getting at."

"Then what were you—oh." Scarlett shook her head and blushed. "No, just because he was upset about insulting me doesn't mean that he likes me. You've got it all wrong, Ginny."

"Do I?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Scarlett answered defiantly.

"He likes you," Ginny insisted.

"Please, Ginny, not this again."

"He doesn't realize it either, of course," Ginny plowed on, ignoring Scarlett's protests, "but-,"

"Ginny, I'm serious." Scarlett flopped back down on her bed and pressed her pillow over her face.

"Why can't you see it? The way he looks at you…it changed slightly."

"Since when?" Scarlett gave Ginny a confused look from under her pillow, instantly thinking of what Sirius had said earlier. "And changed how?"

"I don't know exactly," Ginny said, tapping her chin. "On both accounts. But it definitely changed since the summer. I'm pretty sure it was very recent, though. And like I said, it was only slightly. Maybe that's why you didn't pick up on it…."

"You've been reading too many magazines," Scarlett groaned, removing the pillow from her face. "You've gone completely mad. Bonkers, even."

"Of course, you're probably too stubborn to just believe me. You'll have to figure it out on your own..."

"Ginny," Scarlett said, "I know what you want to happen, but Fred and I will be just fine if things don't go in that direction."

There was a pause. "Look," Ginny said finally, "I like Angelina, I really do, but it's pointless for Fred to be dating her when he's only going to end up with you in a few years anyway. I only want him to be happy."

"I understand, but I also understand where Fred's coming from. He's happier with Angelina and I'm happier with Justin. If there's going to be a change, I don't think anyone can force it to happen. And if Fred liked me, I would know. Erica, my best friend, says almost the same things you do. Maybe people just want me and Fred to fall in love so it'll be all neat and happy and…fairy tale like. And the thing is, I'm not sure if those fairy tales are real."

Ginny looked as if she deflated a little.

"Look, I'm sorry if I upset you, but Fred and I will be happy together. Not thrilled, but we'll manage. We won't be ready to kill each other every day. At least, I hope not."

Ginny smiled a tiny smile and glanced over at Hermione's bed. "I don't believe it. She managed to fall asleep."

"We should probably attempt sleeping, too," Scarlett sighed, yawning.

"At least you got about twenty minutes in earlier," Ginny grumbled.

"Yeah, before you came and woke me up," Scarlett giggled.

Ginny grinned and snuggled under her covers. Scarlett did the same and there was a moment of complete silence. Scarlett held her breath, hoping that it meant Binky had stopped snoring, but apparently luck wasn't on her side. A loud whistle sounded throughout the room. If Scarlett hadn't been there to witness it, she wouldn't have believed the noise came from such a small creature.

"Tea's ready," Ginny mumbled, turning over onto her stomach. Scarlett let out a dry laugh and pulled the blankets almost all the way over her head. Fred was definitely going to be rooming with Binky from now on. At least until they got married. Then, it looked like Scarlett would have to invest in some earplugs.

"Oh, good, you're already back."

Scarlett turned from her spot on the Hufflepuff common room couch to see Justin entering the room. She grinned and hopped out of her seat before tossing the book she was reading onto the table and running to hug her boyfriend. "Hey," she said happily. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he answered. He glanced around the room. "Where's Erica?"

"She should be here soon. Why, did you miss her, too?"

Justin smirked and nodded. "Way more than I missed you, actually."

Scarlett swatted him and returned to the couch, flopping down onto the black leather cushions. "So, how was your holiday?"

Justin sat down next to her and shrugged. "It was alright, but it would've been so much better with you there." He paused. "Erica gave me your note."

Scarlett bit her lip and looked down at her hands. "Are you mad?" she whispered.

Justin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, I'm not mad. I thought a lot during the holiday about this whole Fred issue and I decided that how I feel about Fred is my business. You shouldn't feel guilty for having to spend the holidays with him. Besides, you didn't really have a choice."

Scarlett looked over at him. "Fred and I are pretty good friends. I like being around him and I'm not going to dislike him because you do," she said honestly. "I just want you to understand that."

Justin nodded. "I think you hanging around him is something I'll just have to get used to. I'll certainly try, like I said."

"Thanks," Scarlett answered with a smile.

"But I want you to know that the way I feel about him is something I can't always help. It's just—it's just there and it comes out sometimes even though I hate it. It's childish."

Scarlett smiled. "At least you can admit you have a problem. It's the first step to recovery."

Justin let out a breath of laughter and rolled his eyes. "Hey, I have something for you," he said after a pause. He began rummaging in his trunk, which he had placed at the end of the couch when he had come in. "I want to give it to you before Erica comes back and steals you away to catch up on all the talking you missed out on in two weeks." He rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Justin, you already sent me a Christmas gift, which I love by the way." Scarlett smiled as she remembered opening the picture frame that changed pictures every few minutes so that a new one was showing. It was filled with bunches of pictures of Scarlett. Scarlett and her parents before her father died, Scarlett with her mother, Scarlett and Erica, and even Scarlett with Justin. "Where'd you get all those photos?"

"I had a few," Justin admitted, "and for the rest I wrote to your mum and Erica." He pulled a box out of his trunk and handed it to her excitedly. "I wanted to wait until I saw you again to give you this part of your Christmas gift, though. I wanted to see your face when you opened it."

Scarlett smiled and took the box from him. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you," Justin laughed. "That would ruin it."

"Fine," Scarlett mock-pouted. She carefully unwrapped the box and opened it to reveal a glittering bracelet made up of a crisscross pattern with an emerald in each rounded opening.

"Do you like it?" Justin asked. "I remember reading that emeralds were the birthstone for the month of May, so I thought this would be perfect for you."

"It's gorgeous!" Scarlett gasped, holding the bracelet up so that it sparkled in the firelight. "This must have cost a fortune, though!"

Justin shrugged and grinned. "You're definitely worth it. Go ahead, put it on."

Scarlett fastened the bracelet around her wrist and held her hand up so that Justin could admire the shiny piece of jewelry. "How does it look?"

"Even better than it did in the box," Justin smirked.

"I don't think that's possible," Scarlett laughed, looking down as she felt herself blush.

"Trust me, it is," Justin answered.

"Thank you so much," Scarlett whispered, turning the bracelet around on her wrist. "I love it. You really didn't have to do this."

"But I did," Justin said stubbornly. "And there's nothing you can do about it." He smirked and folded his arms.

Scarlett smiled and slid closer to him. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. "I missed you."

"You said that already," Scarlett pointed out with a smirk.

"Did I?" he laughed.

"Mhm," she nodded.

"Well, I thought I should say it again, because it's true."

"I missed you, too," she whispered, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Now what I would like to know," Fred said the next day in Herbology, "is why a typical Hufflepuff such as yourself would wear a bracelet consisting of Slytherin colors."

Scarlett glared up at him. She had just taken off her bracelet and slipped it into her bag in order to keep it clean when Fred had commented on it. "It's my birthstone," she told him. "It has nothing to do with Slytherin."

"Why are you wearing it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I just mean that it looks pretty fancy. Like something you'd wear out to someplace nice, not during your Herbology class. Or to any class for that matter."

"Well, I suppose, but it's pretty and I wanted to show Justin that I really like it and appreciate it."

"The Finch got that for you?" Fred let out an impressed whistle. "Must've cost him an arm and a leg."

"I've heard his family's pretty well off," George said, shaking his head. "Both of his parents work in high-paying Muggle jobs. Doctors, I believe."

"The Muggle equivalent of a Healer," Scarlett nodded.

"How did you know that?" Fred asked, sounding taken aback.

"Justin told me," Scarlett replied slowly, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"No, I meant how did George know all that about the Finch's parents?"

George shrugged. "Just from people talking."

Fred was silent as he stared into the dirt-filled pot in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Scarlett asked. "Did you want a birthstone bracelet as well?" She nudged Fred jokingly, but he didn't even smile.

He shook his head. When he spoke his voice was hardly above a whisper. "It's just, well, I—never mind. Forget it. It's stupid."

"No, tell me," Scarlett said gently. Fred rapidly shook his head.

"It's nothing."

"Will you tell me later?"

"Doubt it," he said, "it's not important."

Scarlett was silent. She was taken aback by Fred's sudden strange mood, and she found she didn't know what else to say. "I just thought you'd want to tell me. Are you sure you're okay? If you want to talk alone-,"

"I have George for that," Fred interrupted.

"Okay, sorry," Scarlett whispered. She felt guilty and she didn't exactly know why. She didn't want to pressure Fred, but she wanted to know what it was that had suddenly made him so upset. Despite the long gap of time where they hadn't talked, she still considered him a friend and she cared about him.

"I'm fine, really," Fred continued. "It was nothing. I didn't mean to snap at you." He smiled at her as if to prove his point.

Scarlett nodded, but she found that she didn't believe Fred for a second.

"What was that for?" George glanced at Scarlett somewhat irritably as he bent to pick up the books she had knocked out of his hands.

"Sorry, George, I'll help you with those." Scarlett knelt down beside him and began helping him collect his things. Professor Sprout had just dismissed the class and Scarlett was executing the plan she had spent the remainder of class formulating. That plan was to talk to George about Fred, but in order to do that, she needed to get George alone. "I need to talk to you. Alone," she hissed.

"Okay," he answered slowly. "Is this about-,"

"Fred, yes," she whispered, handing him the last of his books and standing up. She glanced at Fred, to make sure he was still packing up. When she saw that he was, she turned to Erica. "Distract Fred. Walk ahead of us with him so that I can talk to George."

"What do I even say?" Erica muttered.

"I don't know. Start chewing his ear off about the last book you read."

"He'll get bored."

"Good point. Start asking him about Quidditch. Or pranks. Or even his pygmy puff, Binky. Just go do it. Please?"

"Fine, but you owe me," Erica teased as she made her way over to Fred and started talking to him. Which topic she had picked, Scarlett didn't know, because she had immediately turned to George.

"So, what really got Fred all upset earlier?" she asked as they left the greenhouses and made their way up to the castle. She made sure to keep her voice low so that Fred wouldn't hear.

"You certainly get straight to the point," George observed, raising his eyebrows.

Scarlett shrugged. "Something I've learned is necessary on certain occasions."

"Why is it necessary this time?"

"Because I need to know what's bothering Fred."

"Why?"

"Because he's my friend and I care about him and I just—why are you so curious anyway? Can't you just tell me or do you not even know?"

George sighed and looked at Fred and Erica walking a few feet ahead. Fred was waving his hands wildly while Erica looked only partially interested. The remainder of her attention was probably going towards avoiding Fred's arms.

"Well," George began, not breaking his gaze from Fred, "the bracelet Justin bought you is really nice and expensive, too. I just think he doesn't like that he—our whole family, really—never had that kind of money to spend. He can't afford gifts like that bracelet."

"I'm sure Angelina doesn't mind," Scarlett answered. "I mean, it really is the thought that counts and I never pegged her as someone who's incredibly materialistic."

"She's not, but it bothers Fred anyway. It would bother me, too, actually. Anyway, I don't think he's only worried about Angelina."

"Who else would he be worried about?"

"You, of course."

"Me? Why me?"

"Eventually you're going to be his wife and no matter how either of you feels about the entire situation, the truth of the matter is that he's going to have to provide for you. He'd hate himself if he couldn't, no matter who his wife was. I can completely understand. Like I said, I'd feel the same way."

Scarlett frowned slightly. That was oddly sweet and so incredibly Fred and George. It kind of made her sad to think about it. "But you two want to open a joke shop, don't you? You're almost there, too, from what I understand."

"Yeah, but there's no guarantee that it'll make us a lot of money, or even an average amount of money. It might completely flop for all we know."

Scarlett snorted. "Yeah, I don't believe that for a second."

"You don't," George repeated, looking at her amusedly.

Scarlett shook her head. "I haven't seen all of your inventions, but the Extendable Ears are incredible and breeding the pygmy puffs to sell was a great idea. And you could even sell Muggle magic tricks like the ones Fred gave me. Loads of people would buy them. People familiar with them would know how to use them and people from all wizard families would find them fascinating. I just—sorry." Scarlett stopped abruptly and blushed. "I don't want to tell you how to run your business."

"No, I think you're on to something," George said, sounding impressed. "We never thought of selling the Muggle tricks. We just liked them. I'll have to mention it to Fred."

"Make sure you give credit to the person who gave you the idea," Scarlett smirked.

"Of course," George said with a slight bow.

Scarlett smiled. "So back on the topic of Fred," she said slowly.

"He'll be over it soon enough. It wasn't something you did, so don't worry about it."

"How are things going with him and Angelina?"

"Fine," George said with a smile and a slight shrug. "They seem to be really happy. What about things between you and Justin?"

"We're doing very well," Scarlett said. She paused. "You called him Justin."

George didn't answer for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose I did, but if you remember correctly, I never called him any bird-related names in the first place."

"That's true, I'll give you that," Scarlett nodded.

"Don't tell Fred, though. He'll be disappointed that I didn't use the opportunity."

Scarlett giggled. "Alright, sounds good. By the way, why is it that Fred does make such a point to tease Justin?"

George looked as if he were debating whether or not to answer her. "I think you should ask Fred that question."

"I have! He won't tell me."

"Ask him in a few years once you're a lawfully wedded couple."

"Will he answer me then?"

"Perhaps."

Scarlett gave George a playful shove. "So vague."

"Just like those fortune cookies of yours."

"Scarlett groaned. "Maybe those are silly, but I like them, so hush."

"You did not just tell me to hush," George laughed.

"I did," she answered smugly.

George just grinned.

"What are you grinning at?" she giggled.

"Nothing, it's just…you haven't changed that much. You're still the same girl Fred and I loved to be around as kids."

Scarlett smiled. "Good to know I still act like a nine year old."

"You know that's not exactly what I meant," George said. "It's a good thing, anyway. Fred and I really liked you when we were kids. We were both pretty upset when you moved. You were a good person then and you're a good person now."

"Good in general or good for Fred?" Scarlett asked.

George smiled. "Both," he answered honestly.

"I figured that's what you'd say," she muttered. "Please don't go all matchmaker on me. Ginny and Erica are already doing that."

"Don't worry," George said. "I'm not trying to make you and Fred have any feelings that neither of you have. I just think…well, speaking as his brother…I know you'll be good to him."

Scarlett looked at George and smiled softly. "Of course I will." She paused, unsure if she should say what else was on her mind.

"You look like you still have something else to say," George smirked.

Scarlett glanced up at him. "I know you said Fred and Angelina are doing great, but have you…well, do you think…."

"Just spit it out, Scar," George laughed.

"Ginny said Fred looks at me differently," Scarlett said quickly. "She said it's only a slight difference and she also said she thinks Fred and I like each other, but doesn't realize it. I just wanted to know if that's total rubbish or not."

"How should I know?"

"You're his twin."

"Yeah, and I'm not studying the way he looks at you. Besides, if Fred himself doesn't realize he likes you, how would I?"

"Yeah, it's stupid," Scarlett said. "I keep telling Ginny to stop saying all that stuff, but she won't. I think she just really wants us to love each other."

"You know her," George shrugged. "She loves happy endings."

"Most people do, I expect."

George nodded. "True. Look, I haven't noticed anything different in Fred. I mean, he talks about you a lot and he likes being around you, but then again, he always has."

"He talks about me a lot?"

"Well, specifically the night we found out about dad getting attacked. He went on about how easy you were to talk to and something about debating…."

Scarlett smiled. "Yeah, we had a huge discussion about whether or not we'd want to stay little kids forever."

"Well, you really helped him. I think it took his mind off of things for a bit."

Scarlett nodded. "That's what Sirius said on Christmas when you were all at St. Mungo's."

"It's true. For some reason, he didn't even want to talk to me. But he talked to you."

Scarlett shrugged. "I could sort of relate, you know, to what he was feeling—to what all of you were feeling. I never really talked to anyone about how I was feeling, but sometimes talking helps. And not even about the actual situation, but just about anything. I didn't plan for that discussion to start, but it certainly did seem to help Fred."

"It did," George replied with a small smile.

"So you really think he'll be okay about this eventually?"

"Like I said," George shrugged, "he'll be over it soon enough. Fred never stays upset for long. He's one of those people whose anger or sadness occurs in the moment but fades away fairly quickly."

Scarlett nodded. "I wish I could be like that. Not that I stay angry for long periods of time or anything, but you and Fred...you're just so good at letting things go and not letting anything bother you for too long. I'm not always like that."

"Like with the accident?" George guessed hesitantly, his voice a whisper.

Scarlett nodded. "Exactly."

"Well that's a big thing to experience," George said reasonably. "Nobody could expect you to let that go easily, or even at all."

"I think I'm learning to, though. Somewhat, at least. I am talking about it more."

"To Fred," George smirked.

"Yeah," Scarlett sighed. "To Fred."

"I think that's how he's actually helping you," George smiled.

Scarlett smiled. "I know. Now I really regret not rekindling this friendship sooner. I could have had the answer to all my problems so much earlier." She nudged George jokingly.

He laughed. "I think you and Fred are going to be just fine, Scar, so I'd stop worrying if I were you."

Scarlett nodded. "That's easier said than done, though."

George shrugged. "Maybe...but it's not impossible."

A/N: I hope everyone liked the chapter and I hope the conversation between George and Scarlett at the end wasn't too odd/awkward. I really wanted them to have some sort of talk, but I had to rewrite it so many times until I was satisfied.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe new year! Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to leave a review!