Chapter 62: Cleaning the wounds

"Sirius! What in the world happened to you?" Lucy asked with her eyebrows raised and her eyes reading concern. She placed her quill down and ran up to the injured Black. The closer she got the clearer Sirius' injuries became. Lucy stopped right in front of him, stopping him from advancing, and placed a tender hand on his shoulder. She quickly retracted it when Sirius winced at her touch. Lucy's brows furrowed.

"What happened?" she asked him, studying his wounds. Sirius had a black circle forming around his right eye and a bleeding lip. His left arm had deep gash while his right hand was covered with blood from covering the gash. Lucy looked over at the shoulder she touched and saw that the cloth of the shirt on top of it was ripped and drenched in blood.

"It's nothing," Sirius groaned and walked away from Lucy and towards the table she was previously sitting on. He pulled up a chair and slumped on it, wincing during the process.

Lucy shook her head. "Nothing," she breathed out in disbelief before following Sirius and sitting beside him, "You look like you've been attacked by a Hippogriff," she paused, "Go to Madam Pomfrey"

"What?"

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Lucy repeated, "Your injuries, they could get infected"

Sirius scoffed. "It's just a scratch. They're nothing to worry about. Look, they could be no bigger than a paper cut"

"A paper cut? Are you mental?" Lucy's eyes widened, "What kind of demon paper were you using?"

"Luce, you're getting too overworked on the matter. Can't you just let it slip?" Sirius asked with a grin

"Sirius Orion Black! If you don't go to Madam Pomfrey right now I'll –"

"You'll what? Drag me there yourself?" Sirius glared, "You've said all that before, Luce, face it, you won't do it."

Lucy sighed. "You're right. I can't possible drag you not can I use a spell to bring you to her," Lucy paused, looking at the at Sirius' smug look before smirking, "But… I could always heal them myself"

Sirius' smug smile washed away and was replaced by a look of panic. "Maybe I should just go to Ma –"

"Nonsense," Lucy took hold of Sirius before he could even get up from his chair, "You wouldn't want to disturb the poor woman –"

"It's her job!"

"So, I'll just heal them for you," Lucy ended, ignoring Sirius, and brought her wand out and gripped it tightly. She scrutinized his wounds before biting her lip and pointing her wand at his black eye. She took a breath and the tip of her wand began to glow a cooling blue before Sirius took hold of her hand, stopping her.

"Have you ever done this before?" Sirius asked seriously.

"Of course not," Lucy scoffed, "I'm not striving to be a healer. Why in the world would I know this?"

"Then do you think it's a good idea to start with the minor injuries seeing as I'm still losing a bit of blood as we speak?" Sirius paused, "Better question: Do you think it's a good idea to even be doing this?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "What happened to the daredevil Sirius I once knew? Come one, remember what you always say? 'What's life without a little risk?'" Lucy pointed her wand back to his eye, "This is a risk and your life depends on it"

"That's not what the saying meant!" Sirius pushed her wand away.

"Talk – talk – talk. Would you just let me heal it?"

"What exactly are you planning to do?"

"I'm planning to heal the minor injuries first because I couldn't possible mess them up. If I go straight on to healing you wounds, I might make a mistake and cause all your blood to gush out," Lucy stated like it was the most professional way to sooth a patient into letting you heal them and flicked her wand at Sirius' eye before he could protest. She casted the spell in her mind and the cooling blue glow shot out and attached itself to Sirius' right eye.

Lucy watched as the glow outlined the bruise and slowly began to make its way to the center until the black-ish purple color was gone. She smiled in relief before patting Sirius' shoulder, telling him that it worked. Sirius opened his eyes and blinked them several times before touching his right eye, giving a sigh of relief when it didn't sting. He opened his mouth to say something but Zoey quickly shot another spell at him, healing his cut lip.

Sirius let out a surprised gasp and fell out of his chair and onto his back. Lucy's eyes widened and quickly went to his aid, helping him back up. Sirius rubbed the back of his head. "Warn me before doing that," he gave her a crooked smile. Lucy blushed.

"Sorry about that," she muttered before checking his shoulder. She gently ripped of the rest of his bloody shirt and looked over at the wound. The bleeding had stopped had a scab forming. Lucy shivered before conjuring a small basin and towel. "Aguamenti," she muttered, filling the basin. She dipped the towel in it and wrung it before moving to Sirius' shoulder and gently began to clean it.

Sirius relaxed under the cool temperature and closed his eyes. Lucy glanced at him before looking back at the towel. "Will you tell me what happened to you now?" she quietly asked him, dipping the towel back into the water.

"I was harmed in battle," Sirius said with a warrior tone, "Defending the weak against the dark side. Protecting the poor mothers and children who cowered in fear –"

Lucy rolled her eyes."Tell me what really happened. Did you fall down a hill or got pushed into a thorn bush or something?"

"I did tell you what happened!" Sirius looked at her and grumbled when she gave him a look, "I also fell into something… pointy… BUT I was also defending someone"

"Really? Who?" Lucy moved to his arm and began to clean the dry blood there as well.

"You"

Lucy dropped the towel into the basin making water droplets spray out. She looked at Sirius with wide eyes as a blush crawled onto her cheeks. "M – Me?"she asked, blinking several times.

"Yes, you," Sirius dunked his bloody hand into the basin, pulling it back out, making a face and dunking it back in. Lucy took his hand out and held it in her own while getting her wand and replacing the bloody water with new, fresh water. She cleaned the towel with a wave of her wand and dunk it in the new water before cleaning Sirius' hand properly.

"But why?" she whispered, "How did it all happen?"

"Long story short. A couple of Slytherin's should watch their mouth and their eyes," Sirius took his hand away from her, taking a good look at it and cracking his knuckles. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at the sound.

"Oh," Lucy side glanced at the basin, "Did you have your wand with you?" She was used to him being involved in fights with Slytherins.

Sirius scoffed. "Of course I did"

"Then how did you end up this bad?" she gestured to his now healing injuries.

"Well, I tend to fight physically during these, yeah. I guess you could say I threw in a punch or too," Sirius scratched the back of his head.

Lucy laughed. "I see," she then moved a bit to kiss him on the cheek, "Thank you for going through the trouble of teaching those Slytherin's a lesson"

"No problem," Sirius grinned at her before standing back up. "So how do I look? I'm still breathtakingly handsome right?"

"Absolutely," Lucy said with a role of her eyes and made the basin and towel vanish.

Zoey sat on the Ravenclaw table, beside Echo, watching Fred from a distance. It was now the day before the Yule Ball and it seemed like Fred got over Zoey rejecting him. It's either that or he was really good at hiding the depression. It must be the latter. Zoey bit her lip as Fred joked around with George and Lee, talking about who knows what. Zoey wished she was there with them, laughing with them and just having a good time. She looked over to the Hufflepuff table and saw Cedric talking with his own friends. She knew that she should probably sit at her own house table but figured it was not wise to associate with Cedric just yet, frightened that Fred would just get angry again.

She let out a defeated sigh and looked over at Bridgit who sat at the far end of the Ravenclaw table. "–but maybe you should think…if…maybe Fred deserves an explanation," Bridgit's voice echoed in her head. Zoey glanced back at the Gryffindor table. "Deserves an explanation…," she muttered.

"Who deserves one?" Echo suddenly muttered aloud from her breakfast.

"Fred," Zoey breathed out, realizing that Echo had no idea of what happened the other night.

"Why would he need one?" Echo popped a piece of toast in her mouth.

Zoey shook her head and pushed away her empty plate. "Tell me, Echo, how did you fell when you found out George was going with… you know…her?"

"You mean it," Echo corrected her, "and since when did you start questioning these type of things? Don't answer 'just now'."

"Since… since…since, well, more like because, I think that if I understood how you felt I might be able to understand how Fred felt when – I just might understand certain things," Zoey bit her lip.

"It's hard when you fall for someone and you somehow know that they didn't fall for you," Echo started fiddling with her fingers on her lap, "That's how it feels"

"But, but what if that person felt the same way but there were certain things that stops them from… you know… doing so?" Zoey paused, "Like, what if George had no choice but to go with Mary Sue…"

"No choice? There's always a choice, Zoey, you know that," said Echo, "George had a choice, Zwei, he had"

Zoey shook her head. "What about the Imperius Curse? You don't have a choice there, the victim I mean"

"You're smarter than I let you on," Echo smirked, "But I guess not, the Imperius Curse has no counter"

"Powers that are almost like the Imperius Curse and the like! It's amazing really," Hermione's words swirled in Zoey's mind and her eyes widened at the realization. She looked over at where Mary Sue was seated and her eyebrows furrowed. "Can it be…?" she whispered to herself with suspicion. There was a fifty-fifty chance where it could. Zoey looked back at Echo. "Let's continue this in your Common Room," she said quickly to the Veela.

"Alright," Echo replied, getting up from the table and walking out the Great Hall. Zoey trailed behind her, but looked back at the Gryffindor Table. She saw a couple of Slytherins walking away from the twins and George looking angry. Zoey's eyebrows shot up. "Hey, Echo?" she called over, "I – I'll catch up with you later"

Echo raised an eyebrow but proceeded walking to the Ravenclaw Tower. Zoey watched quietly until her friend was out of sight before turning back to the Great Hall and walking to Mary Sue. She stood behind the girl, panicked in the inside, and tapped the girl's shoulder. Mary Sue turned around, her hair whipping Zoey at the process, and looked at the Emeraude with large doe eyes before giving her sweet smile.

"Well, Zoey, this is a surprise. What can I help you with?" she asked conversationally.

Zoey gulped. "Hey, Mary Sue, I was wondering if we – we could have a little chat?" Zoey forced a smile of her own.

Mary Sue blinked and looked back at her friends, excusing herself before standing from the table and smiling at Zoey. "Lead the way," she said in a honey laced voice. Zoey nodded slowly before walking out of the Great Hall, Mary Sue in tow. Zoey led the girl through the halls, passing students, who took the time to stare at Mary Sue, and paintings. She rounded corners and walked down stairs until they were out of the castle and into the field. Zoey only stopped when they reached the Quidditch Pitch which suspiciously has very tall grass. She raised a brow at it before looking back at Mary Sue.

"So, where to begin?" Zoey said awkwardly, "I was thinking if I could ask you something…"

"If you were just going to ask, why did you lead me all the way out here?' Mary Sue wrinkled her nose at the sight of the grass.

"Well, you see, it isn't a question that I could ask in front of our peers," Zoey wrapped her arms around herself, wondering why she led Mary Sue to the Quidditch Pitch in the first place. If Mary Sue were to attack, no one would come and save her.

"Alright," Mary Sue nodded with understanding, causing Zoey to raise a suspicious brow, "What's the question. Let's hear it"

Zoey nodded. "I was wondering what you were doing at the Emeraude Suburb," Zoey struggled with words, "You know, before school began and all"

Mary Sue tilted her head. "What was I doing there? I was invited," she said simply.

"Invited? Invited by who?" asked Zoey.

"Well by your Aunt Damiana of course!" Mary Sue giggled, "Wonderful woman she is! What I would give to have an aunt like her"

Zoey felt her heart skip a beat and her breath get lodged in her throat. She felt a sweat form at her brow and her legs shake in fear. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself but she knew that it wouldn't help anyway. Zoey blinked a couple of time and looked to the ground. She couldn't bear to see Mary Sue now. She was associated with Damiana, she couldn't be good.

"But I couldn't see why she had to invite me in the first place," Mary Sue went on, not noticing or ignoring Zoey's panicked state, "I mean it was a lovely gesture but I could have entered the Emeraude Suburb no problem even without her invitation"

"What?" Zoey's eyes widened, "But no non-Emeraude is allowed in!" she looked up at Mary Sue, "They won't let you through the gates," she paused, "Did you floo there?"

"Floo? Of course not!" Mary Sue laughed, "And why wouldn't they let me through? After all, I do have some Emeraude blood in me"

Zoey's mouth hung open in shock. "Y – you do?" she squeaked out.

"Yup, my grandmother was one, but my mother had none of the Emeraude Gift, a shame," Mary Sue pouted.

"W – what about you?" Zoey asked, "Do you ha – happen to have it?"

"But of course," Mary Sue squealed with glee, "Grandmother was so pleased to know!"

"And what might that be? Your gift I mean," Zoey furrowed her brows. She wanted to know what Mary Sue was capable of. Why Damiana took the time to know such a girl. What Mary Sue can do. What Zoey was put up against at that very moment. Zoey took a step back, watching Mary Sue's sweet smile turn to one of malice. She, Mary Sue, now held an uncanny resemblance to that of Damiana.

"Hmm? It's called, 'Hypnosis' Charm'," Mary Sue giggled as she stared into Zoey's eyes.

Zoey's eyes widened at the sight of Mary Sue's. The blue eyes Mary Sue had, turned brighter and seemed to almost swirl with a very odd pattern. Zoey felt herself lose mind, she tried to look away but couldn't. Zoey felt her mind go fuzzy and her vision misty. It was almost as if she was put under Tom Riddle's spell once more.

Suddenly, a voice called causing Mary Sue to look away and the charm to break. Zoey felt a bit dazed and took a step back to regain her balance. Mary Sue was irked at the disruption but the ugly expression was soon replaced when she saw who had disturbed them. Mary Sue gave a side glance glare at Zoey before running up to George. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek. Zoey blinked several times before looking away in discuss.

"Mary Sue, get off me," George said in a strained voice, pushing the girl away before trudging towards Zoey. Zoey looked over at him in confusion before looking at Mary Sue who was glaring and huffed before leaving them. She, Zoey, returned her attention back to George.

"What's up? You look a little troubled," Zoey told him after getting a good look at his current state. His muscles were tense and his hair standing on end, looking like his hand ran through it more times than one can count. He was also breathing heavily and looked very irritated, like he needed to get something off his chest. Zoey took a step back, slightly frightened. "George… what's wrong?"

"I need your help," George told her, getting a hold of her hand and dragging her back to the castle, not waiting for her to answer.

"What? Why?" Zoey stumbled a bit but was able to match her pace with his, "What's happening?"

George didn't answer her for a while. All he did was walk. Zoey's brows knitted in worry and continued to follow George as he led her to the west side of Hogwarts. They entered the castle and he quickly brought her to the staircases and trudged up to the fifth floor. Zoey was beginning to sense her panic rise once more as they began to climb up a spiral staircase. When they reached the top, Zoey saw Fred standing in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room, scratching his head. He most likely didn't get the riddle right.

"No luck?" George asked, letting go of Zoey and approaching his twin.

"No, I got it right," Fred said sarcastically, "I just felt like closing the door again and answering another riddle" he looked over at George, "Did you find someone who can answer it?" George nodded and jabbed his thumb towards Zoey. Zoey's eyes widened when Fred's gaze met hers. He seemed to tense at her presence before looking back at George.

"I thought you were going to get a Ravenclaw?" Fred asked.

"I couldn't find Bridgit anywhere," George replied, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Zoey would be able to answer the riddle"

"But she's a Hufflepuff!"

"A Hufflepuff who was in the Ravenclaw Tower the other night," Zoey spoke up, tired of watching them speak like it wasn't rude that she was standing right there, "What's the riddle?"

"My first is double twenty-one but twice of twenty-two, Decipher it and you will see that statement is quite true.

My next two are just three apart, or, looking at the link, You'll have the answer easily and will not have to think.

My fourth is so more ways than one, so long as you can spell, While my fifth splits first and second, so what is it? Can you tell?

It may seem like these words of rhyme are nonsense things to say, Though the five together are right here (two ways) so what are they?"

Fred said from a piece of parchment that he held in his hands. Zoey bit her lip and thought of an answer. This was rather tricky and if George and Fred couldn't answer it and she got it wrong then they wouldn't be able to enter until someone else passed by. After a few seconds passed Zoey looked over at the twins.

"Why do you even want to go in?" she couldn't help but ask, "You need Echo?"

"Just answer the riddle," George said, his patience wearing thin, "Please," he added after taking a few deep breaths.

Zoey licked her lips and took the piece of parchment away from Fred, pretending to ignore his blush when their hands grazed, and reread the riddle, biting her lip as she did.

"It may seem like these words of rhyme are nonsense things to say, though the five together are right here (two ways) so what are they?" Zoey read the last line and her brows furrowed, "What are they?"

"Believe me, we've asked," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "But all we got were these nonsense words –"

"That's it!" Zoey's eyes widened, "Words! The answer is Words!"

"Incredible wit," the door opened revealing the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Zoey and the twins stepped into the Common Room and looked around. It was empty except for the one person who was taking a seat on one of the sofas with a large pocket book in hand, Echo. Zoey stepped forward to great her but stopped when Echo turned to them with an indifferent look in her eyes.

Zoey and the twins stepped into the Common Room and looked around. It was empty except for the one person who was taking a seat on one of the sofas with a large pocket book in hand, Echo. Zoey stepped forward to great her but stopped when Echo turned to them with an indifferent look in her eyes. George looked towards Fred and Zoey and sighed.

"Thanks for the help, Zoey, but you and Fred can go now," he told them, "This is between Echo and I"

"What?" Fred asked in disbelief, never would he have thought that George would ask him to leave a scene that involved him. Zoey simply looked at him, and then at Echo with questioning eyes.

"Whatever you have to say, she can listen," Echo said, putting her pocketbook down.

George looked over at the Ravenclaw. "She and Fred can listen but what about the rest of your house?" he asked with a glare.

"Bother do they not," Echo monotonously spoke, "We only care on our own business here. What do you even want?"

"What I want?" George's voice raised a little and Zoey quickly placed a silencing spell around the room. She didn't know if it would work but it was at least a try. "What I want to know is when you were going to tell me you were going to the ball with a Slytherin!" George asked, "I know I don't have control on who you say yes to but a Slytherin who is two years younger than you, might I add. Are you mental?"

"What? Am I supposed to say 'no' to him?" Echo snarled, "George, I accepted because he was the first one to ask me. He mustered up the courage to ask me," She shrieked, "Why do you even care?"

Zoey flinched at the pitch of Echo's voice and was surprised that neither George nor Fred did. She gulped and straightened up, though backed a bit behind Fred.

"Slytherins have no courage. That's for Gryffindors," George said, "And why do I care? Cause he's a Slytherin! No Slytherin is good for anyone."

"So what? I barely even knew there were people out there who can even notice the likes of me!" Echo was now standing up to George, fist clenched at her sides, "Besides," she started in a sickeningly softer tone, but was still filled with malice, "You've got Mary Sue, don't you? Why not just frolic with her in a flower filled hillside?"

"Flower filled –" George began but shook his head, "That's stupid! I wouldn't be caught dead doing that with her."

"That's believable," Echo growled, "Believable like you're going with her to the ball!" she threw her arms up in the air.

"What do you want from me, Echo? The truth?" George's brows furrowed in anger.

Echo let out a dry laugh before continuing. "The truth? What else is there? That you've already done Mary Sue?"

"No," George's glare hardened, "The truth is that I don't want you to go with a Slytherin is because I want to go with you – No, I know I have Mary Sue but believe me when I say that I don't even remember asking her," George paused, "And no, I was not drunk. I was completely sober when she cornered me. I heard Fred's warning so I tried to distance myself but before I knew it; people were telling me I was going with her. There was like a memory I was missing, like asking her but I don't know any more so with no real proof and not wanting to hurt her feelings seeing as I don't want to turn out as an arse I went with it! I like you, not her"

Zoey's eyes widened and she didn't even know she was clutching onto Fred's arm out of suspense. She slowly released her hold on him and looked at him with wide eyes. She watched as Fred's eyes were wide but held knowing. He knew this, he told her this but Zoey did not know this. She looked over to the two and gulped. What was going to happen next?

"Yeah," Echo scoffed, "'I like you not her!' he says," Echo put her fingers in the air and made quotes while imitating George mockingly.

George looked both hurt and angry at what she said. "Fine, don't believe me. Just go off with that slime ball for all I care," he said to her before turning his back on her and leaving the Common Room. Zoey followed George with her eyes and felt Fred move from beside her, calling for his twin.

"Fred," Zoey said to him, grabbing a hold of his shirt, stopping him from following his brother.

"I need to go," he told her gently and took her hands off of his shirt, "Meet me in Honeydukes, you know the way" and with that, he too left the Common Room. Zoey bit her lip in worry and turned back at Echo.

"Are you going to make me go with them by force and apologize to George and be friends with him again?" Echo crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do you want me to?" Zoey asked in a quiet voice.

"You're going to force me to," Echo replied, "Face it, you're tired of me being like this and not fun-loving and carefree like that one time before."

Zoey shook her head. "I'm not the forceful type," she told her, "Why didn't you believe George when he told you he likes you?"

"Hard to believe when you see Mary Sue in all her perfectness"

"But remember when I told you that he might not have had the choice?" Zoey asked.

"He was put under the Imperius Curse?" She breathed out.

"Or something like that," Zoey said worriedly, "He could have been… hypnotized, but it just wasn't strong enough… Echo, I'm going to lend you some books tomorrow"

"Thanks," Echo spoke silently, "You're still going to make me be friends with George, aren't you?"

"That depends… do you want me to?" Zoey asked, with a small encouraging smile.

"Fine," Echo sighed, "I'll go get dressed"

Zoey merely smiled and watched as the Veela went up to her dorm.


"Broken hearts
Broken dreams
They're just some things that love brings
When you learn that it's all been a lie
You cry
You find that"

Zoey then sang the chorus of the song,

"Nothing
Nothing
Nothing hurts like love
Nothing brings your heart so much pain
And you'll never learn
Till you get burned
Till you're burned by the flame
Nothing hurts so bad
Nothing hurts so much
No nothing hurts like love"

Zoey sang as she trudged in front of Honeydukes. She was dressed in her winter robes and wore a hat that had panda ears on the top. She had her hands in her pockets and paused every once in a while to look down the path of Hogwarts. Fred was still nowhere to be seen. She felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't know why she even came. Sure, Bridgit had said that she would avoid Fred and truth be told Zoey was thinking about it as an option but Zoey also thought about giving Fred an explanation. He did deserve one right? Zoey began to trudge again.

"So you gave all you had
How the story turned so sad
Nothing left but the tears in your eyes
You die inside cus"

She sang the sad song's chorus once more, closing her eyes as she did so. She didn't know why she was singing it, she knew it didn't help her mood but the song just came up and she simply had to voice her heart's feelings.

"So dry your eyes
It's just your turn to learn
The time to find that nothing
Nothing"

Zoey bit her lip as she played the instrumentals in her head. Where was Fred? Was he able to catch up with George? More importantly, was Echo able to catch up with the youngest Weasley Twin? Zoey did not know, she hoped she did. It would have made life a whole lot easier if she was the only one with the problems. She wanted everyone to be happy. Zoey looked down to the ground, that's why she rejected him. She knew it wasn't going to make him, or her, happy but it would make things easy. She took a deep breath and sang the last line.

"Nothing hurts like love
Nothing brings your heart so much pain
And you'll never learn
Till you get burned
Till you're burned by the flame
Nothing hurts so bad
Nothing hurts so much
No nothing hurts like love"

There was clapping. Zoey felt herself jump in surprise and whirled around to see Fred standing a few feet behind her, clapping. She felt her blush, from the cold, deepen with embarrassment. She played with her sleeves and blinked at Fred. Her heart was beating faster and faster. She couldn't avoid or run away from him, not now. Not when he was standing right there with her scarf wrapped around his hand. Zoey held a laugh. He was going to give her the scarf.

"Hey," Zoey breathed out as a greeting, shivering as a cold winter breeze blew by. Fred returned her greeting.

"Glad you came," he said to her, "I thought you would avoid me, actually"

Zoey gave a small laugh. "Bridgit thought I would too," she looked around and spotted a bench not too far away, "Want to take a seat?"

"Sure," Fred grinned before moving to the bench and waiting for Zoey to take a seat before her did. When they were finally seated and awkward silence hung over their heads. Zoey bit her lip and swung her legs, waiting for Fred to say something. She looked up at him and saw that he wasn't looking at her, instead he looked like he was trying to muster up the words to say.

She cleared her throat.

"May I have my scarf back?" she gave a sheepish smile, "It's getting rather cold now"

"What?" Fred looked at her and blushed, "Sure, here" he gave her the scarf. Zoey happily accepted it but her eyes widened when her hand grazed the cloth.

"Fred!" Zoey exclaimed, "It's still giving out a cold temperature"

"Yeah, it really worked. You know, cooling my head and all," Fred said, scratching the back of his head.

Zoey shook her head. "That's not what I mean," she threw her scarf to the side, "Fred, were you holding onto it the whole trip here?"

"Yeah," he said to her slowly.

"But it's freezing!" she told him

"I know, it was rather hard to do it at first but after a while I sort of lost feeling anyway," Fred raised a brow.

"You could have gotten frostbitten or something," Zoey said worriedly, quickly taking Fred's hand in hers and scrutinizing it. His hand was cold to touch and when she tried to move his fingers they were rather stiff, the skin was white and seemed to have a slight change in color near the tip.

"I don't know any warming spells," she whispered trailing a finger down his palm.

"What? Am I going to lose my hand?" Fred asked panicked, "I loved this hand!"

Zoey gave a soft laugh at his reaction. "It isn't that serious," she told him and held the frozen hand in between hers, hoping that she could warm them. After a while of rubbing it she breathed on it with a warm breath.

Fred looked down at the Emeraude and felt slightly uncomfortable at the position they were in. She was very close to his body and holding his hand, sure he couldn't really feel her touch at the moment but it still made his heart skip a beat. He sighed inwardly. He might as well start questioning now; he might never get the chance again.

"Zoe?" he began. Zoey hummed in response, not looking at him. "I need to ask you something"

"Sure, what is it?" Zoey asked, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a thick pair of gloves. She placed both on Fred's frozen hand before looking up at him with a bashful smile, embarrassed at what she had done as a substitute for a warming spell.

Fred took a breath and looked at his glove covered hand. "I was wondering about what happened the other day," he began, "I feel like… I didn't fully understand it."

"W – what didn't you fully understand?" Zoey stuttered out.

"Why you said no"

Zoey swatted his arm. "That's a pretty big ego you have," Zoey forced a joke, "Not every girl would say 'yes' to you, you know"

"I'm being serious here," Fred looked in her eyes, seeing right through her defense mechanism.

"I know," Zoey sighed, "I – I just don't think we'll be happy together"

"Why? Don't you like me?" Fred asked.

"I do, I really do like you, Fred it's just it's not easy," Zoey's lip quivered.

"What makes it hard?" Fred turned to her, looking her in the eye.

Zoey licked her lips. "Because, Fred, I want a relationship that will last. No problems in the way –"

"Every couple has their fights," Fred interrupted, "You know that"

"I do know that but that's not what I meant by problems… Fred, how long do you think we'll last? As a couple, I mean?"

"I can't predict those kinds of things"

"How long do you want us to last?" Zoey felt tears forming and blinked them away.

Fred furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I would like us to last a very long time," he said honestly, "Even after Hogwarts"

"And that's why we can't be," Zoey said sadly.

"We'll still be in touch after Hogwarts," Fred told her, "Just because school ends doesn't mean our friendship or whatever relationship will have by then would end too"

"It will, Fred," Zoey told him.

"Why?"

"Because," Zoey took in a shaky breath, "Because, I made a promise"

Fred opened his mouth to ask but was stopped when Zoey gave out a sob and wrapped her arms around him, crying on his shoulder. He felt no tears but her shuddering breaths told him she was holding them back, afraid that she had shed too many tears on the matter and didn't want to waste anymore. Fred, used to comforting her, soothingly patted her back, whispering kind nothings into her ear. After a while, Zoey calmed down but didn't release her hold on him.

Zoey kept quiet and thought to herself. What has she become? She was weak. All she ever did was flinch away from things that scared her and cried when she felt upset and angry. She hated it. Sure, she was showing feelings and it was healthy for her not to keep them bottled up and she was tired of it. Why was she this way? Zoey mentally shook her head. She knew why she was this way. It was her Aunt's fault. Zoey was mentally and physically scarred by that woman. The abuse she had to endure took a toll on her personality. Zoey knew that there were some things she can never change in herself. She could try but after some time she would always revert back to her timid self.

She didn't like that.

She knew that there was no stopping it. It was in her blood. The people in the Hospital she went to all those years ago told her.

She would remain this way no matter what she did.

Zoey took a breath. If she was going to always revert back to her timid self, why not at least try to break it? It was hopeless but it was worth a try.

The Emeraude knew she was always painfully shy. Afraid to say what's on her mind at times but now she would be different. By tomorrow she would once again be shy but just at this moment, at this very hour she was going to say what's on her mind. She didn't care that she would be embarrassed the next day, no, she had to tell Fred what she needed to say, before it was too late.

I have to do this, Zoey thought to herself, feeling her brain force the words to form in her mouth. It was painful but it had to be done.

"I'm sorry for asking," Fred whispered to her, "I know there are still demons in your past that you still can't share and I respect that. I won't bother you about it anymore"

"No, bother me about," Zoey said against his neck, "Not forcefully but give me a reason"

"What?"

Zoey shook her head. "You're right. There are still things I need to tell you and I want to tell you but it's not that easy," she took a breath, "I know I'll be very embarrassed to say this tomorrow but please hear me out."

"I – I really lo –" she felt an electric shock in her head and bit back a scream. Her body, it was fighting back. It was trying to bring her back to who she was once more. Zoey fought against it. "I really like you, Fred and I want you to convince me to stay with you, be with you," she paused, "It's a lot to ask but if you don't want to –"

"I'll do it," Fred pushed her from his shoulder and looked at her in the eye, determination in his, "What do you want me to do?"

Zoey gave a smile, the electric shocks becoming more painful. "I want you to be yourself again," she told him, "All this drama. It's changed you a bit. I want you to be joking and carefree with George and Lee. I miss out talks and the trouble you nearly drag me in like the one with Filch. I want that," Zoey inwardly winced, "Can you prank the Slytherins?"

"I'd love to," Fred grinned, a twinkle in his eyes.


There's still more to Zoey that we don't know yet. More will be revealed soon. Most likely during their final year so please bear with me.

This is a rather long chapter filled with a bit of Drama and such.

I'm hoping to get rid of that in the next chapter.

Also, I miss the joking twins so we'll be seeing them again in the next chapter~

YEY~

Thank you HayleyParadox for helping me out.

Also, thank you to all of you who reviewed~

I have like 400 now and I'm so happy! I never thought this could happen but it did.

I really love you guys.

Now, hmm... what more do you want me to say?

Fred and Zoey now know how they feel about each other but now their only problem is that there are things that keep them from being together.

WHY?

OH WHY?

Oh well... Let's see what happens in the next chapter...

THE YULE BALL!

YEP, We finally reached that part of the story~

FINALLY.

You can go to my profile and check out the links to their dresses... sadly you can't just simply click the link... you have to copy paste it... guuurrgglllee :P

Meh, nothing more to say except for

I hope you enjoyed the chapter

Sorry for any typos and the like

and if anyone was OOC

like maybe Fred and George... I really miss their joking side D:

Please tell me what you think

I'm open to suggestions

Don't forget to review and the like

and

I only own what I own

Oh~ And Also, the song Zoey sang is "Nothing hurts like love," by Daniel Bedingfield. I feel like she hasn't sang in so long and I felt "What the heck" So yeah...

TOO MUCH DRAMA~