Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters.

Note: So, the next few chapters will probably have a lot of grammatical errors since I was trying to correct it really really early in the morning. I apologize many times over in advance.

Coins with Feelings

"How could you possibly know her?" I asked, looking at the spot where lady once stood. "Melinda?" I said, looking back at her, but she was still staring off.

"We need to go, now," she said reaching for my arm.

"I still have to get presents for the Malfoys" I said trying to twist out of her grip. "It will only be a second" I told her finally pulling away. I quickly purchased an emerald colored necklace for Mrs. Malfoy, a new cane, wand holder for Mr. Malfoy. I spotted an oval shaped pocket watch, I near ripped it from it's stand in my excitement. Draco mentioned he wanted a new watch.

"Alright, we can leave now" I said as we walked out. "So, what do you mean you saw her before?" I said as we started back toward the house.

"Just wait until we get back to The Burrow" she said as we made our way out of Diagon Alley.

We never got the chance to talk when we got back though, Bill had showed up, he was early, or at least I thought he was, I didn't know anyone else was expecting him. Mrs. Weasley was certainly delighted though. She brought tea into the living room. We sat around drinking the tea, laughing, joking, it seemed like that morning was just a blur, or bad dream. I sat at Fred's feet and absently wrapped the presents. Occasionally he'd put his feet so closes to my nose and wave them but then quickly recoil if I tried to punch him.

At one point Melinda and Fred went, talking but I didn't know what they talked about, when they came back they showed no sign of anything. "Mum, it's okay, we'll just say at the Inn or the Leaky Cauldron" Charlie was saying but Mrs. Weasley waved him away. Though I knew she was concerned about the rooming.

"Oh stop it Charlie, we're the guest, we'll stay at the Leaky Caldron if you need us to" I told Mrs. Weasley, ignoring the sight of Melinda wrinkling nose behind me. Mrs. Weasley sighed but then waved a hand.

"Not that you need to Tammie, but, you know you can go the Manor…" I winched, that was the last place I wanted to be. "But it will be alright, we'll all do just fine" she quickly patted me on the shoulder and hurried off to check the clock.

"You could stay there Tam, I would safer if you stayed there than the Inn" Fred started but I had a feeling he was holding back something, his sly smile said it. "But, like mum said, she'll figure it out" he said with a shrug, trying to get me whiff his shoes again. I swatted his foot away with one of the bags.

"We can always sleep in the attic" Melinda said, coming over and sitting next to me. I wondered if she was trying to hint that we should talk up in the attic, but her look of discomfort was more so to sleeping at an Inn.

"Well, it's just that there's that ghoul up there again, and we've tried everything, he just never wants to leave, unless it's on his own accord" Ron explained looking up at the ceiling. I looked up too. I had seen the ghoul once; it was big and annoying and did absolutely nothing; that was the most annoying part of it. He also looked bored out his mind, which got me to feel a bit bad but my sympathy disappeared when he didn't budge for three straight days.

"Oh hello, hello!" Mrs. Weasley was shouting to her husband and Percy. I raised an eyebrow at Fred; his mum seemed to be in an awful good mood. Too good of a mood actually. Fred didn't look back at me, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. Thankfully, Percy and Mr. Weasley joined the large group in conversation as Mrs. Weasley finished cooking dinner.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I was on my third bowl of the large ravioli shaped dumplings Mrs. Weasley had made. "Slow down" Fred said who was sitting on the floor next to me. Mrs. Weasley decided it was just better for us to just eat where we like, as long as it was near the kitchen. It seemed to take twice as long to serve, and twice as dangerous; Mrs. Weasley who had the pot carry itself tipped several times, once just missing Ginny who dashed out of the way.

With full bellies it seemed a lot less easy to concentrate on sleeping arrangement. Originally, Bill, who was already exhausted, said Melinda I could sleep in his and Charlie's old room and they'd cram in with Percy, much to Percy dissatisfaction. Mrs. Weasley seemed only partly satisfied. I couldn't understand why until we headed off to bed, she was watching Melinda say goodnight to George, her eyes narrow, her expression half-annoyed, half-disappointed. I didn't think George had told his mum anything, but certain parts could've been relieved while we were gone. Clearly she now felt if Melinda wanted to be with Draco she should go off and be with him, and it was best I went to, just in case.

As we climbed the stairs I wonder why it was different this time, Mrs. Weasley had to know about their other breakups. I was just saying night to Fred when I peeked and saw George; he was just sitting on his bed, for once, the sight of him made me want to cry. Poor George. I thought to myself.

"Can we talk about those ladies tomorrow?" I asked Melinda as I finally plopped into bed. I waited for to answer but she didn't. "Melinda?" I called, slight confused, she was in the newly made bed. I looked closer, she was sleep. I laid back; there was no way I was going to be able to get to sleep right away. The attic I was used to, Ginny's room, I was used to too. This room, not so much. I looked around at the decorations, I couldn't make out most of them in this candle light and my wand was over at the dresser. I could see the picture of Bill's old Quidditch Team, they were shoving each other playful.

I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up, Melinda was already dressed and making her bed. "Good morning" she said brightly. I rubbed my eyes; I could just make out falling snow outside.

"It's Christmas Eve, isn't it?" I asked, feeling myself smile. She didn't have to nod for me to know. I hurried and got dressed, when I returned Melinda was making my bed too. "Scared to downstairs?" I asked, only half joking. Sometimes I was scared to face Mrs. Weasley; her motherly looks terrified me sometimes.

"Well, no, I mean, it's not really that. I just wanted to ask if you if we should be discussing this as a group? You know, with the others?" she asked, fluffing the pillows for a second time. I watched as she moved around, something about her was off, she looked, too rigid, too focused, too busy.

"Melinda, what's wrong? Did Draco say anything, or get anything?" I paused to think about it. "I mean, you know, himself" there that sounded better.

"No it's just—" she cut herself off, whatever was bothering her she didn't want to tell me, but I knew she needed to. "It's about those Fates isn't it? C'mon, it's not so bad" I said trying to sound lighthearted, but this only seemed to turn her toward annoyance, she fluffed the pillow again, this time a little rougher.

"Damnit, can't you take this seriously? This is serious!" I stopped smiling, her eyes, her blue eyes looked serious. They looked kind of scared too.

"What are the fates?" I asked, a little firm, a little low.

"Tammie, Melinda, c'mon and help with the rest of this tree!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. I looked at Melinda who looked back at me. Neither one of us wanted to help with any tree; we just needed to get through one serious conversation.

By time we finished the tree it was time to send out my owl. The snow had stopped so all seemed safe. Just as he was leaving another large barn owl came in. I started to walk away, back into the living room with everyone else, expecting the owl to follow Mrs. Weasley, but it didn't. It hooted until I took the package from its peak, trying to find a gallon or treat to give. Fred gave him a piece of a toast and he was off again, too quick to wait for any change. "Who's it from?" Fred asked casually, swinging an arm around me. I looked at the package.

"That's odd…" I said turning it so Fred could get a better a lot. He looked more surprised than intrigued.

"What happened?" Melinda asked making her way over to us.

"It's a package addressed to you, me, the twins and Draco, from school" I told her handing her up the box. Mrs. Weasley had walked in by now and was at Melinda's side in seconds. I wondered if she'd let us have the box at all.

"Can we open that one? Since it's a joint gift and it won't really be fair in the morning?" George asked his eyes on the box. Mrs. Weasley took it from Melinda, turning it over in her hands and finally she agreed, using her wand to cut the strings on either end. In the large package there were five individual boxes, small, much smaller. The box that caught my eye almost instantly was the neon pink; it was so bright, so beautiful. I grabbed for it.

"Purple one is mine!" Melinda said happily reaching for the box. I made a face at her box. "What?" she asked.

"How is that purple? It's white…" she stared at me, her face looked like it wanted to laugh but she wasn't. It was if she was caught between laughing and figuring out a puzzle.

"Fred, what color is this?" she asked holding up the box Fred had on his lap.

"Blue" he said, although he said with a smile, he knew what we were going to say. "And I bet anything George has a green one" he added looking over at his brother who didn't look mildly surprised by this guess.

"Right you are Freddie" he said with a smile. I looked at Melinda again, waiting for her to let me on the joke, or solve the puzzle, but her smile at vanished completely, now looked between discomfort and embarrassed.

"I'll open my first if we're going to be like that" I said looking at the others who were just staring at their boxes. When no one replied I tore off the lid, half expecting to find a note, or at least a signature. I frowned as I looked down at the coin. At least, I think it was a coin. I didn't touch it, just walked straight to Bill; he was more than happy to look it over.

After half an hour of arguing, laughing and deciphering Mrs. Weasley decided it was okay if we went ahead with the coins, they were safe. "Never back down when you know it's good, stay strong" was written on side. Funny, Bill didn't mention that, I turned to ask Bill, but something else told me that he didn't even see it. No, he couldn't see it. On the other side it said Love. I looked over at Melinda who was flipping her coin over and over, she looked like she couldn't believe it, her expression was now pained with something I couldn't tell. I went over to her. "What does yours say?" I whispered, even though I don't have to, the room full of conversation, only Bill and Ron are looking on with slight interest.

"You're devoted as ever, forever, stay on course' and then the other side just says 'believe.'" I couldn't figure out what, but something about these coins, not just who they were from, I figured that out already, so did Melinda, probably when she saw the boxes with no names. "What about yours?" she asked looking at my coin. I sneaked a peek at hers; as I expected, it was bare, just an odd gold color.

"'Never back down when it's know it's good, stay strong' and then, um, the word 'love' on the other side" I looked over at the twins, George was silently turning his coin over in palm staring at it. Fred had gone slightly pale. I instantly went over. "Hey, what does your say?" I asked; he starts to hand it over but I push it back. "I can't read it…I mean, it's bare, we can't see each other" I explained. He took it back, looked down; his expression was still grim when he spoke.

"'Always trust the one you love' and then," he paused to turn it over. "On the other side it says 'faith.' What's Matt playing at?" Fred asked.

George moved over, he was sitting on the floor, showing me his coin but I shook my head as Melinda joined us. He looked at, his cheeks bright pink. "C'mon George, share with the group" Fred teased giving his brother a light kick.

"'Remember to let go and there's no struggle' and on the back, or front, whichever, it says 'Peace.'" Either Matt had exact detail on our lives or he already knew this was going to happen. "What about you girls?" George said, suddenly perking up completely. I hesitated because I was so shocked by George.

"Tammie's says 'Never back down it's good, stay strong and the word 'love'" she paused at the sight of Fred who had gone pale again. I momentarily forgotten the word association would be awkward, but then a new association came to mind, the one Fred was probably thinking of. Matt. "And mine says 'You're devoted, forever, always, stay on course' and then the other side just says 'believe.'" Melinda rushed on, purposely because she didn't want Fred and I to keep thinking and because hers had to be just as difficult for George to hear. I could only imagine what he was thinking; probably something like if they were still together she would already know everything is believable.

"There's a note" George said aloud, his voice a bit strained. "It says: Happy Christmas, thank you for not hurting my sister, I owe you all much more but these shall do; think of them in times of need. Matthew." I wasn't looking forward to that part. Those last words. That wasn't good. These coins didn't just apply to our current situation, no, they applied to something bigger, something further way. It certainly wasn't fair that he didn't give us any more than coins to go on. Maybe if I sent him a letter thanking him, and suggested he explain what he meant. I reached for the box, but Fred's hand was lightly around my wrist. George handed the box to Melinda who engulfed in flames before it turned into ashes. It was all very quick, all very sudden, all very planned. I looked around at my friends. They didn't trust me. No, they're protecting me. I slowly pulled out of Fred's grip, to show I wasn't quite mad but I didn't want him touching me at the moment. We continued our day as if nothing happened.