"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
-Winnie the Pooh
Scarlett sat at a table in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron, nervously playing with the locket Justin had given her. Today was the day she was going to tell him the truth and she wasn't going to find any more excuses to put it off.
"Hey, you seem to be pretty lost in thought."
Scarlett looked up to see Justin standing beside the table, grinning.
"Hey, yeah, I was thinking pretty hard, I guess," Scarlett replied as Justin leaned down and gave her a kiss before taking a seat across from her.
"About me I hope," he teased.
"Actually, I was," Scarlett said, managing a tiny smile.
"Yeah?" Justin asked.
"Look, Justin, I wanted to—"
Scarlett was interrupted by a waitress coming by to take their drink orders.
"Butterbeer," Justin said. He looked at Scarlett. "What about you?"
"The same," she said, glancing at the waitress, who nodded and walked away.
"So," Justin began with a grin, clearly having forgotten Scarlett had been about to say something a moment ago. "How's work? Are you officially the best Healer St. Mungo's has ever had?"
Scarlett blushed and snorted. "Hardly."
"I beg to differ."
"Oh, please," Scarlett said, blushing even more.
"And what about shopping with my mother? How did that go?"
Scarlett shrugged. "Fine. I mean, she bought me some really nice things and it really was so incredibly generous. You'll have to thank her again for me."
"You can thank her yourself," Justin said as their drinks were brought over, "because I was thinking we could—"
"Justin, wait," Scarlett interrupted. She took a deep breath. "There's something I have to tell you."
"What is it?" he asked, his expression immediately changing to one of concern. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes…well, no, not exactly," Scarlett sighed.
"Scar, what is it?" Justin asked gently. "If you need me to do anything—"
"No, it's just that…I haven't been all that truthful with you."
Justin was quiet for a few seconds. "Okay," he finally replied slowly.
"Firstly," Scarlett began as her heart hammered in her chest. "I think you should know some things about the accident I was in with my dad."
Confusion flickered across Justin's face. "Okay," he said again, "only if you want to tell me, though."
Scarlett nodded. "It has to do with what I need to tell you and besides, I think you really need to know." She took another deep breath. "I was in the accident when I was nine years old. On January 12th, to be exact. The accident happened across from Kensington Gardens." She looked down at her hands, unable to look at Justin anymore. "My dad fell asleep and drove through a stoplight and that's when the accident happened. My mother never told me anything about the other car involved. She doesn't know much herself because the other family took care of the medical bills and the two families never had to meet."
Her story was met with complete and total silence. Scarlett risked glancing up at Justin and when she did, he was staring back at her, wide eyed and pale.
"So," he whispered, "so you think…you think your dad—"
Scarlett shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I'm just telling you what I know."
"Did you put all this together last weekend? Is that why you were acting so odd and in such a hurry to leave?"
Scarlett nodded. "I was terrified of what you told me might mean, but I didn't want to say anything to you right away just in case I was wrong. I went to talk to my mother the next day after I went shopping with your mother. She told me the little she knew about the other car involved which kind of confirmed things. I mean, technically, no, it doesn't confirm things for sure, but I think it all fits and I'm so, so sorry."
"But we really don't know for sure," Justin said shakily. "No matter how much sense it makes."
"No, you're right, but it does all fit."
"It's a coincidence."
"But what if it's not?"
Justin took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. He looked confused and upset.
"Justin," Scarlett whispered, "I really am so sorry. I can't even put into words how sorry I am."
"It's not your fault," Justin whispered, staring at a point just over Scarlett's head as he processed the information. "It's just that…I never knew anything about the other car involved either. For so long I knew nothing and I was okay with not knowing. I didn't want to know. And now I'm not only finding out who it was, but that it was my girlfriend and her dad. I just don't know what to feel."
"Angry? Upset? It's understandable if that's what you feel and I wouldn't blame you."
"But that's just it. I am angry and upset, but at the same time I'm not. I can't blame you or your father for what happened and I can't be angry at either of you."
"You should blame us. You were blaming the mystery family for years, and again, it's understandable that you would."
Justin swallowed and closed his eyes. "It's just a lot to think about."
Scarlett's stomach twisted unpleasantly as her next words poured out of her mouth. "I think we should just break up."
Justin's eyes snapped open. "What? Scar, I'm not about to break up with you over this. I just need to process it all."
Scarlett sighed. "There's more that I haven't told you."
"More?" Justin asked quietly.
"It's not related to the accident at all," Scarlett said.
"Okay," Justin replied after a moment. "Tell me."
Scarlett looked down again and began tracing the rim of her butterbeer glass with her finger. "Well, something else really crazy happened when I was nine."
"What was it?" Justin asked, almost bracingly.
"Well, uh, you know I was good friends with Fred back then, right?"
Justin stared at her. "Yeah," he said curtly. "Why, did he do something to you? If he did, I might actually punch him."
"No," Scarlett said quickly.
"What happened, then?" Justin asked.
Knowing she had to get to the point, Scarlett explained the rest as quickly as she could, the words practically tumbling out of her mouth. "One Christmas I was over at Fred's house. His older brother, Charlie, wanted to practice advanced magic, so he borrowed Bill's textbooks and he decided to use me and Fred to practice on. Fred and I made an Unbreakabale Vow. Then Bill found out and erased our memories so we didn't know what happened until recently, but Fred and I, well, we have to…get married." The last two words came out in a whisper and Scarlett practically winced as she waited for Justin's reaction. She glanced up to see him blinking at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
"Justin, please say something," she whispered.
"How long have you known?" he finally managed to ask, his voice low.
"Since August," Scarlett answered, biting her lip and looking down again. "Fred and I have to get married by my twentieth birthday and no later," she added.
"Eleven months," Justin said, ignoring the last bit of Scarlett's answer. "You knew for eleven whole months and didn't tell me."
"I feel terribly about it. I really do. It was wrong of me and I don't deserve you or any of the nice things you or your mother did for me. I let it go too far, which is why I think I should give you these things back." She reached down into her bag and took out a box before sliding it across the table to Justin. "The bracelet and the earrings are in there." Lastly, she removed the locket and set it on top of the box. "This too," she sighed, staring longingly at it. It was her favorite piece of jewelry that Justin had given her. "I took the pictures out. Oh, and one more thing." She reached into her bag again and pulled out an envelope. "It's money to cover what your mother paid when she took me shopping. It's my entire first paycheck from St. Mungo's and some of my savings. I would have given back the actual clothes, but I thought the money would be better."
"Keep the clothes," Justin said, his voice distant as he slowly took the envelope. "Eleven months," he said quietly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know how!"
"Oh, please, Scar," Justin scoffed, leaning back in his seat. "Why didn't you say something before I asked you out instead of letting me make a fool of myself?"
"I really liked you! I still really like you. I never wanted to make a fool out of you. I just—I just wanted you to ask me out." Scarlett sighed as she realized how dumb that sounded.
Justin scoffed again. "Really, how selfish can a person get?"
"I wanted to tell you. Really, I did. You have to believe me."
"You just said you wanted me to ask you out. Besides that, you waited eleven months. Clearly, you didn't want to tell me that badly. You were probably just going around and enjoying our relationship—or not—and then laughing at how oblivious I was behind my back."
"Trust me, I was never laughing and I did enjoy dating you. As I said, I like you. A lot. You've been extremely nice to me and I—"
"You told me you loved me. Now you just like me? Were you lying about that, too? Were you trying to make me look dumber than I already do?"
"No! Justin, you're not seeing my point!"
"I'm not? Well, I'm seeing that you lied to me for nearly a year. You kept the secret of a lifetime from me and let me believe we actually had a future together."
"I wasn't enjoying myself at all. It bothered me that I was letting days, weeks and months go by without telling you, but it was hard! You would do or say something so incredibly sweet and I lost any and all willpower I had. I knew I was lucky to have you, and if things had been different-"
"Do you like him? Fred?" Justin wrinkled his nose and practically spat out Fred's name.
"No," Scarlett replied. "We're friends and had feelings for other people. I just told you I wanted you to ask me out. If I really liked Fred right from the start, this whole thing would have been so much easier. But it's not easy. It's difficult for us. And the fact that you hate Fred didn't make it any easier to tell you."
"I thought relationships were supposed to be built on trust," Justin said, shaking his head, "and ours was one big lie. No wonder you and Fred were always sneaking around. I'm guessing there were more times that you were together than that one I found out not from you, but from Erica."
Scarlett blushed. "All we were doing was trying to become friends again so that our marriage wouldn't be a complete disaster. We never did anything! I've told you this before. I may have put off telling you about the vow and, yes, it was wrong, but I would never cheat on you."
"How am I supposed to believe that?"
"You can't be serious."
"After we argued back at school, you came back with this big apology," Justin said with a laugh of disbelief, "and I was stupid enough to fall for it."
"Justin, you can't really think I was seriously cheating on you," Scarlett whispered. "I'm admitting that I hung out with Fred but that's it! We just spent time with each other. I told you there are no feelings between us."
"I don't know what to think," Justin snapped. "But you know what? I think you do like him! It would explain everything!"
"No, it wouldn't!"
"I think it would."
"All we wanted to do was become friends again," Scarlett whispered.
"Merlin, Scarlett," Justin sighed angrily. "It doesn't matter what you wanted to do. The real point is that you went behind my back for eleven months and I have no idea what to believe anymore. I suppose Fred thought it was funny that I was so clueless."
"No," Scarlett snapped, her patience beginning to wear thin. "He couldn't have cared less. Besides, he hasn't told Angelina yet either, so laughing at you would be pretty hypocritical anyway."
"Wow, that's just fantastic. I'm glad you made your decisions on the matter based on what the useless, careless prankster was doing." In a huff, Justin stood up and headed for the back of the Leaky Cauldron and the entrance to Diagon Alley.
"Justin!" Scarlett cried angrily. She threw some money down on the table and followed him into Diagon Alley. He was a little ways ahead of her, walking at an incredible speed and she had to jog to keep up. "I can make my own decisions, you know! Fred wasn't influencing anything!"
"Oh, good, so you're just moronic on your own, then."
"How dare you!" Without even knowing how she had moved so fast, Scarlett managed to cut Justin off. She glared up at him. "Why can't you just understand that I never wanted to hurt you?"
"Because you ended up doing just that," Justin said, brushing past her.
"I know I didn't make the best decisions," Scarlett said, jogging after him, "but if you know anything about me at all, then you know that I'm not the person you're making me out to be. You'll know that I agonized over just how and when to tell you the truth. You'll know that I would never, ever cheat on you. That's not the kind of person I am! I mean, this whole vow thing was tearing me apart. Just ask Erica or even Fred for that matter if you can bear to talk to him for two seconds!"
"Oh, I'm planning on paying Fred a visit, but I don't want to talk to him," Justin said.
"What?" Scarlett stopped short in momentary confusion. Suddenly, the location they were in and the direction Justin was headed clicked into place. "Justin, no!" she cried, hurrying after him again.
He was walking too fast for her to catch up before he entered Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Although the shop was crowded, he seemed to locate Fred right away, helping a customer by a display of trick wands near the window.
Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. Justin headed straight for Fred, who only had time to glance up before Justin punched him in the face. Fred staggered back a few steps, knocking over the display of trick wands. Customers screamed, including Scarlett, whose hands flew to her mouth in shock.
"Are you mental?" Fred asked, glaring at Justin. His nose was bleeding and he was trying to stop it with his hand.
"Maybe, but it's loads better than what you are," Justin snapped.
"What is going on over here?" George had forced his way through the now gathered crowd. His mouth dropped open as he took in the fallen display, Fred's bloody nose, Justin's angry expression, and Scarlett standing there in shock.
"I'm sorry," Scarlett whispered, tearing her eyes away from Fred to look at George.
"Yeah, go ahead and apologize to them," Justin snapped.
"Well, unless you're going to, then I should," Scarlett replied.
"No, I'm not going to apologize. I'm not sorry for what I did. The only thing I'm sorry for is ever meeting you. I'm done." With that, Justin pushed past Scarlett and left. The bell above the door jingled loudly in the silence and the sound was entirely too cheerful in light of what had just happened. Scarlett stood frozen in place with her mouth hanging open, feeling as if Justin had stabbed her.
"Are you okay?" George asked gently, his voice low. Not as if he needed to make an effort. The shop was so silent that everyone would be able to hear a pin drop.
"I really am so, so sorry," Scarlett whispered, looking from George to Fred and backing towards the door. She was willing herself not to burst into tears right then and there, but she didn't know how much longer that would last. She was upset, angry and humiliated.
"Scar," Fred began, his tone almost an order for her to stay and answer George's question.
She shook her head. "I have to go." She quickly turned and ran outside before Apparating to the one place she thought the twins wouldn't find her if and when they came after her.
"Okay, everyone, back to what you were doing. There's nothing to see here anymore!" George began shooing the crowd away from the fallen display and his bloodied brother.
Fred made his way over to George, still trying to wipe blood from his nose. "I'm guessing she told him about the vow," he said in an undertone.
"Sure seems that way," George answered. He waved his wand at Fred's face, stopping the blood flow and clearing it away.
"Thanks," Fred said. He paused. "So, where do you think she went?"
George shrugged. "No idea. Why? Thinking of going after her?"
Fred smiled slightly and nodded. "I have to. She's probably a wreck right now."
"Go," George told him. "I'll clean up here. Verity and I will be able to manage for the rest of the day."
Fred broke into a grin. "Thanks, George. But first I have to find out where she went. I don't think she'd go back to her flat."
"Try her mother's house," George suggested. "Even if she's not there, her mum probably knows her well enough to tell you where she might be."
"Good idea. I'll try there." He paused as he thought for a second. "The only thing is that I don't know where her mother lives either. We had no idea where Scarlett grew up after she moved away, remember?"
"Then go to her flat and ask Erica."
"I'm guessing that's my only option," Fred said. "Thanks, George, really."
"Don't mention it. Just go find her and make sure she's okay."
"Do you think she'll talk to me?" Fred asked.
"I don't think it matters," George shrugged. "Even if she doesn't want to talk to you, I don't think you'd take no for an answer."
Fred smiled. "You're right, I wouldn't."
George smiled back. "Let me know what happens."
"Okay," Fred nodded. He took a deep breath before turning and walking outside , Apparating immediately to Scarlett's flat. Once there, he hurried up to the door and knocked impatiently. After a few seconds, Erica answered.
"Fred?" She looked surprised to see him.
"Is Scarlett here?" he asked, wasting no time in getting right to the point.
"No, she, uh, actually went to tell Justin the truth about the vow."
"I know. Justin came tearing into the shop and punched me. Scarlett was right behind him and after he left, she ran out. I don't know where she is. I was going to go ask her mother if she had any ideas where Scar could have gone, but then I realized I don't know where she lives. I was hoping you could tell me."
Erica gaped at him. "So she actually told Justin?"
"Yes."
"She went through with it?"
"Yes."
"And he punched you?"
"Yes, he punched me," Fred sighed.
"Did he say anything?"
"Yeah, a few things, but right now I'd really like to find Scar. She can tell you the story in detail later. Do you know anything about where she would have gone?"
Erica thought for a moment. "Do you think she could actually be at her mother's house?"
"I don't know. I suppose it's possible, but I really don't think that's where she went. She's most likely really upset. She looked on the verge of tears when she ran out of the shop. Knowing her, she'd want to be alone."
"You're right."
"Do you have any other ideas?" Fred asked hopefully.
"No, but I'll write down her mother's address for you."
Fred nodded. "That would be great."
Erica gestured for him to follow her inside. He did so and stood by the door, shifting from one foot to the other while Erica went into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a small slip of paper in her hand. "Here," she said, passing it to Fred. "I wish I could help you more. I'm probably the worst best friend ever."
"You're not. Trust me."
"Do you want me to come with you and help you look for her?"
"No, I think Scarlett and I need to talk alone about what happened."
"Good point. Besides, she likes talking to you. You can make her feel better. She tells you things."
"She still can't talk to me like she talks to you. You're her best friend and believe me, you're so important to her."
Erica smiled. "Keep me updated?"
Fred nodded. "I'll probably bring her back here later anyway. Don't worry about a thing."
"Okay," Erica said quietly. "Fred?"
"Yeah?" he asked, turning on his way out the door.
"Do you think she's alright?"
"I think she will be," Fred replied.
Erica nodded. "Okay, well, don't waste any more time. Go find her and make sure she's okay."
Fred smiled. "Will do." He disapparated and reappeared at the address Erica had given him. He glanced up at the house before knocking on the door. After what felt like an eternity, it swung open to reveal Scarlett's mother.
"Fred, what a surprise! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"It's a long story. Is Scarlett here?"
"No, she's not. Have you tried her flat?"
"Yeah, she's not there either."
"Is something wrong, Fred?"
"Scarlett finally told Justin the truth about the vow. Basically, she ran off upset and I want to talk to her but I don't know where she is."
"What do you mean she ran off? Ran off from where?"
Fred took a deep breath and, as quickly as he could, explained what had happened.
"Oh, my goodness. Are you okay? How's your nose?"
"Fine. It didn't break and George stopped the blood flow before I left. Anyway, do you have any idea where Scarlett could have gone?"
Mrs. Callaway bit her lip. "Come in," she finally said.
Fred followed her into the kitchen and they both took seats at the table.
"There is one place that I can think of where Scarlett may have gone," Mrs. Callaway said.
"Where?" Fred asked.
"I'm guessing she's upset and embarrassed about what happened at the shop. You know her. She doesn't like anyone to see her upset. She would have wanted to go somewhere you didn't know about or wouldn't think of looking."
"Okay, and you know where that place is?" Fred asked.
"Scarlett passed her Apparition class just over a year ago. Once she was able to travel on her own, she would visit her father's grave whenever she was upset or wanted to be alone. This went on for the few months before we left for Grimmauld Place. After that, she couldn't go at all. The first time she went, she mentioned it to me briefly after she came home, but after that, never said a word about it. I knew she was going, though. It became the spot she went to on the rare occasions we got into arguments or on those days when she was really missing her father, or just whenever she wanted to be alone. I think I'm the only person who knows she likes to go there, though."
Fred nodded. "That makes sense. I'll check there."
"Here, let me give you the exact location where my husband is buried." Mrs. Callaway quickly scribbled something down on a piece of paper and gave it to Fred. "Keep in mind that it is a Muggle cemetery, so it might be best to Apparate somewhere outside the gates, just in case."
"Got it," Fred said. "Thanks again, really."
"Don't mention it," Mrs. Callaway said as she walked Fred to the front door. "And once Scarlett's calmed down, tell her to write me and let me know she's okay. Or you can write me. Either one. I just want to know she's alright."
"Of course."
"Take care of her, okay?"
Fred smiled. "Was there ever any doubt that I wouldn't?"
"Of course not," Scarlett's mother replied, returning the smile.
"I appreciate that," Fred said with a smile. "I'll keep you updated, though. Erica and George are expecting me to do the same."
"As they should," Mrs. Callaway said with a smile. "Now, hurry up and get going. Time's ticking."
Fred smiled wider and saluted her before disapparating, hoping that he would find Scarlett exactly where her mother had said she'd be.
A/N: I know, I know, FINALLY. *pulls out party hat* I was so excited to post this chapter and I know how anxious you all were for the break up to happen, so thank you for your patience, really :)