For four years of my life, Zonko's Joke Shop in Hogsmeade had been a staple in my life. Fred and George first dragged me through its doors that third year of school to show me all of the supposedly wonderful things this store had. I spent most of that first trip looking over my shoulder, convinced that my mother had followed us to Hogsmeade and was ready to leap out from behind a display to drag me back to school for even being inside a joke store. I could even hear her voice in my head, lecturing me on how a prank-gone-wrong could explode in my face (not to mention land me in detention).

Once I learned that my mother actually had no intention of venturing to Hogsmeade, I loosened up in the shop. I still felt like the boys were just looking at rows upon rows of doom, but I could at least tolerate being in there. They did have a section of fairly tame candies, much like we now had, that Angie, Katie, Alicia, and I would look at while Fred, George, and Lee went gaga for the more ridiculous things.

I had many memories of this old building, from hiding behind George when Fred and Lee dropped the first Filibusters Firework I ever saw to standing in the corner with Angie as we giggled at the boys' childish enthusiasm. Seeing it boarded up like this actually physically hurt my heart. The book had closed on that part of my life, and I found, much to my surprise, that I rather missed it. Somehow, this building looked so much quainter now that it was empty. I never noticed all of the unpainted wood, the carvings around the doorways, the sloped ceiling. In fact, it hardly felt like a joke store; if someone told me I stood in an extension of the Burrow I had never wandered into before, I would believe them. Funny how displays of terrifying pranks could change a room's appearance.

Fred and George, rather shockingly, viewed the hollow shell of the shut-up shop as quite the business opportunity. Business was absolutely booming, and now that Hogwarts was back in session and the first student visit had already come and gone, the boys were looking at expansion. Angie and I could not quite see how the business could expand when the four of us and Verity could barely handle one store, but Fred and George were never ones to let logistics get in the way of their plans.

That was how we found ourselves out that rainy day in early October, Angie and I sporting the matching trench coats we purchased courtesy of the boys' hard earned galleons. Rain pelted down in sheets, splattering against the windows and beating against the doors. I could barely see the beams supporting the store's awning as I looked outside, and Angie softly bemoaned her sopping wet braids. My hair had not fared any better, and my curls were plastered to the back of my neck and around my cheeks. A quick drying spell could have fixed it, but why bother when we would be back outside so quickly?

For as long as I could remember, I had hated storms. It was not the storm, per se, but the noise. I actually loved rain, but when it came down so fast that gutters overflowed and came accompanied by crashes of thunder that made the room shake, I feared what the storm could hide. Think of all the things using the distraction of a thunderstorm to mask their movements and breathing and plotting.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, and I braced myself against the windowsill for the inevitable ba-ba-BAROOM that followed. When I opened my eyes, George had wandered to my side, and I jumped at his sudden appearance. This was a prime example of why I hated storms. Any other day, I would have heard him coming a mile off; no one had ever or would ever describe George as 'stealthy'. In a storm, though, he could easily get the upper hand. I did not like being that vulnerable.

"Don't sneak up on me!" I scolded him, and George offered a sheepish grin as an apology.

"We're done here, I think, if you want to go home," he told me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders to give a reassuring squeeze.

"Actually, I thought, y'know, since we're out this way already, that we might swing by Hogwarts? I left so quickly that I think I left some of my stuff in Snape's ingredient cabinet, and I'd rather not have the students getting into them."

George made a face, but another clap of thunder interrupted whatever he might have said. He used his other arm to completely encircle me, and I turned my face into his chest with fright. Quite the impression to make on the property agent.

Once the rumbling passed, I pulled away and continued. "Look, I know it's not your favorite place, but some of that stuff is hard to get, and with all the attacks lately, shops are closing left and right. I may not be able to just go out and buy more."

"Right, yeah." George ran his hand through his hair and peered wide-eyed at the ran outside. "I know. I just wish you would've said something earlier."

"I told you three days ago," I reminded him. George gave me a sideways look, and Fred noticed it as he wandered over and decided he should probably divert course and instead opted to stand by Angie rather than his brother. "You didn't listen, did you? You never listen, George."

"I listen very well, thank you!" he protested. "I just need reminded sometimes. You don't remember everything, either!"

"Oh, and what have I forgotten recently?"

"Apparently, some potion ingredients."

Touché. I had to give him that one. Of course, being the woman in the relationship, I could not let him off that easily. So, even though he had made me grin, I ruffled his hair and pointed out, "I need someone to go with me. I don't much fancy going by myself."

George winced. "You know Hogwarts and I aren't on the best of terms. What if they drag me back and make me take N.E. or something, Mellie?"

"They won't do that," Angie snorted. "Honestly, get over yourself, George. Umbridge is gone, Dumbledore's back, and everyone's joyful again."

"I don't waaaaaant toooooooo!" he whined. Knowing he sounded childish, he played it up by stamping his feet and spinning his torso so his arms flapped from side to side. "Don't make meeeee gooooooo!"

Fred growled and took my arm. "Blimey, I'll go with her if you're going to be a twat."

"You don't want to go, either," I reminded Fred, wrinkling my nose at the hand wrapped around my elbow.

"Oh, Merlin, no!" Fred insisted. "Of course I don't. But, if it'll shove it to George, I'll do it!"

Angie found this hilarious and had to throw a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. We all still heard it, of course, and Fred glowered at her. This, however, only sent her further into hysterics. "I…I could…" she stopped to laugh some more. "Could…go with…"

"NO!" Fred insisted. "I have this! You two go home. Spend quality time. I don't see nearly enough of Mel now, anyway, what with George all over her."

"Oy!" George exclaimed. "I'm allowed to be all over her."

"You hog her!" Fred demanded. "I don't hog Angie!"

"I'm not your girlfriend," Angie pointed out.

Fred waved her off. Details, details. As Fred dragged me towards the door, because I clearly had no say in this anymore, I shot Angie a devilish grin. Her eyes widened in horror, and she lunged for us. She knew exactly what my quality time with Fred would entail now, and she would stop it if she had her way. Fred, however, was much too quick for her, and before she could get out more than an incoherent garble of protest, we were out the door.

The grounds of Hogwarts were extremely difficult to access for non-students for protection, something I supported fully. However, it made Fred and my journey in that fine British weather rather unpleasant, as we had to apparate just outside of the grounds and walk the rest of the way. The rain made it particularly unpleasant, but Fred looped his arm through mine, we ducked our heads, and off we trudged towards the looming castle.

"So, Fred," I started, and he looked at my warily. He knew that tone.

"You're going to meddle, aren't you? You've got your meddling face on."

"I'm not going to…I do not have a meddling face!" I insisted. All right, fine, so I was going to meddle, and I probably did have a meddling look on my face, but he did not have to call me out on it. "I just have a question for you, and this really is the first time we've been alone in a while for me to ask it." Fred heaved a sigh and nodded for me to go on. "Last time I saw you in this old place, you were rather locked at the lips with a certain hotheaded friend of ours. What happens to be the progress in that department?"

"Oh, honestly, Mel," he grumbled. Keeping our arms linked, he pulled his body away from mine to sidestep a puddle, and we pulled back together once we passed it. "Have you been thinking about that this whole time?"

"Not the whole time, no. Just a large portion of it. Look, I know her opinion on the matter, but I don't know yours. Besides, she's rubbish at telling me what you two talk about; I only just found out before last Christmas that you two got all…" I made a face, "snoggy at the Yule Ball."

Fred groaned and rolled his head back in exasperation, earning himself a face full of rain. That only made him growl, frustrated, and shake his head like a wet dog. "She really told you about that?"

"Only in abstract terms," I assured him. "Details would have made me sick." He shot me a dark look. "Kidding! Cor, lighten up! I mean, you two joke around all the time, and you do all these little things that make me think there's something there; touches, little looks, always standing together, and all of that. But neither one of you ever makes any kind of move except for when you two left this daft place and you snogged her, but, from what I can tell, nothing ever came of that!"

Fred and I stopped walking at this point because we had reached the castle gates. While I desperately wanted some answers from Fred, there were more pressing matters. Although I had sent Wooster earlier in the week to inform both Dumbledore and Snape that I would be stopping by to collect my things sometime in the future, they could hardly be expected to wait anxiously at the gates for my arrival. Essentially, we were locked out.

So, at a loss for what to do, Fred and I stood at the iron gates to our former school in the downpour and shouted as loudly as we could in hopes that someone passing by would hear us. Occasionally, we cupped our hands around our mouths to funnel the sound and get it to carry farther. I even tried bouncing on the balls of my feet, like maybe that would make me louder.

Needless to say, those plans proved unsuccessful.

Frustrated, Fred grabbed the gates and shook them, which only succeeded in splattering even more water on my face. I yelped and jumped back to avoid taking any more splatters in the eye, so he stopped and held his hands up to show he was finished taking out his anger on the gate.

"Look, it's not that nothing ever came of it. It's just that…well, you know! It was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Angie and I aren't like you and George. I like her, sure – she's loads better than most girls – and I certainly like snogging her, but we're not going to be anything more than that. Every time I try…it just never quite works. Some people are just meant to be friends."

"Oh, please!" I snorted. "Frederick Gideon Weasley and Angelina Danielle Johnson are not some people. Normally, I wouldn't encourage you to seek romantic involvement with anyone, knowing what a dunderhead you are." And that you're going to die like me. But, of course, I kept that part to myself and thanked whoever may be listening that Fred occupied himself peering through the gates rather than looking at me when that dark thought flashed in my mind. "But, you two are clearly already very much emotionally tied already. There's no avoiding it at this point. You need to ask her on a proper date."

"I don't need to do anything," he corrected sharply, still looking inside the grounds for someone, anyone, to end his agony. "Since when are you the queen of relationships, anyway? All you and George seem to do lately is argue."

Ouch. That one actually hurt, mostly because it seemed to be true. I knew exactly why we kept irritating each other like we had at the shop, although it must seem like such a mystery to everyone else. Especially George. When I looked at him, all I could think of was the look on his face when my potion effectively erased all memory he had of my telling him Fred and I would die in the oncoming war. It still made me sick to think about it. He always told me that, when the burden of what I Knew got to be too much, he would be there. And I always held him at arm's length, trying to protect him from the burden of Knowing things you cannot change, until it really did get to be too much. The one person who I should go to with any problem, big or small, and I betrayed his trust so badly that he didn't even know I did it.

"Every couple fights," I mumbled, tightening my jacket around me as if it was a shield to keep out his words. "It's normal."

"Oh, yeah," he agreed. "It is. It's just not normal for you two. You and George don't fight."

"Well, we do now. You know who does fight? You and Angie. Because of all your unaddressed sexual tension."

Fred grinned at my deflection. "Look, I like her. I do. I just don't know if dating her is the best idea."

"Why not?"

"I…" Fred stopped, frowned, and cocked his head to the side. "Well…erm…I don't…" He rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air, finally giving up. Point to me. "Well, what if she doesn't like me all that much?"

"Aw!" My face broke out in a grin, and I threw my arms around Fred in a bear hug that caught him off-balance and sent us staggering back several steps. "Freddie, you're adorable!"

Fred obligingly squeezed back, but still looked horrendously confused when I pulled away. "I strive for that, yeah. What did I do this time?"

I giggled as movement caught my eye. Professor Sprout's herbology class was letting out. Perfect. "Oh, Freddie. I love you, you know that, yeah?"

"Erm…yeah, I do," he agreed. "I love you, too, Mel. …What just happened?"

I ignored that, of course, and frantically stuck my wand-hand between the bars. Before I could send off a flare to get Sprout's attention, though, she saw us and let us in. Thank-you's and greetings were brief, as she apparently had quite a mess to clean up from the first years and we were really very soaked from being in the rain for so long, so we parted with our former professor quickly and ducked inside. Two quick drying spells later, we headed through the throngs of students for the dungeons, pausing only when my former Ravenclaw quidditch teammates attacked to tell me they had yet to find a decent keeper to replace me. Apparently, no one wanted to fill the shoes of the girl who willingly flew into the path of a bludger to protect the goal. And I thought I was the scaredy cat.

We did eventually make it to the dungeons, where I expected to find Professor Snape in his classroom preparing for his next class. Not the case. Instead, Fred and I stopped dead in the doorway at the sight of a rather old, rather bald, dreadfully fat man with a silvery moustache.

"Who are you?" I burst out. This was wrong. This man was not Snape! He turned towards us sharply, and immediately broke out into a wide smile at the sight of us.

"Oh! Hello. I didn't realize it was time for class already. My goodness, I'm not even set up yet." He looked at us more closely, though, and frowned. "But, I thought it was only third year…"

"No, no we're not here for class," I corrected. "I'm looking for Professor Snape. Er, I graduated last year and left some things behind."

The strange little man's eyes grew wide as saucers. "Oh. Oh. You must be Melbecka Harper. Yes, yes, they told me you were coming!" He shuffled towards us quickly, waddling due to his weight. Fred took a half step in front of me, which I found myself extremely grateful for, but the man thrust a hand around Fred for me to shake. "Professor Horace Slughorn, potions master."

"You can't be the potions master," I frowned, ignoring his offer at shaking hands. "Professor Snape is..."

"Teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," Slughorn explained quickly, not the least bit perturbed by my rudeness. "Miss Harper, I have heard all about you. Yes, oh, if you were still a student, I would be quite honored to teach you. I have heard you are quite proficient in potion making."

Fred stiffened and took a short, firm step forward to force Slughorn away from me. "Yeah, she's bloody wonderful. Where's Snape?"

Slughorn's smile vanished, the light extinguished from his eyes, and his nose wrinkled at an unpleasant scent Fred and I could not detect. I suspected, however, that it was the scent of an overprotective big brother. "Ah, yes," he stated flatly, "you must be Mr. Weasley."

"I am."

"Your sister, Ginerva, is extremely talented."

"And Ron's crap, thanks, yeah, I know how my family operates," Fred finished. "We're looking for Snape."

"Of course, yes, you did say that." He pursed his lips in distaste and then turned to me with a pleasant smile. "Miss Harper, I believe you will find Professor Snape in his usual office with your belongings. As soon as we realized we had too much stock, he set them aside. Knew right away they had to be yours." His smile faltered momentarily as he muttered, "Said something about miscreants, too, I think."

"Thank you," Fred hissed, accenting both words. I lightly brushed his elbow to call him off of the attack; this man clearly meant us no harm. He was just passionate. We could not fault him for being excitable about potioneering talent. Even if it was overbearing.

"We'll just be off then," I offered with the sweetest smile I could muster in the cloud of testosterone coming off of Fred. "Thank you." With that, I grabbed Fred and yanked him back out of the classroom.

"Oh, of course, he may be in the hospital wing with the girl!" Slughorn called after us. "If you can't find him anywhere else, check there."

"Right, hospital wing, thanks," Fred saluted, ready to continue away. Something about the comment, though, made me stop. Or, rather, something made me feel like I needed to know more about this; call it my half-assed Sight kicking in, call it intuition, call it a terrible habit of assuming my friends are always the ones in harm's way.

"What girl? What happened?"

"Oh, haven't you heard? Well, it happened quite a while ago…" Slughorn frowned, and muttered to himself, "S'pose they wanted to protect her privacy." He shrugged and looked back at me. "A girl was cursed in Hogsmeade nearly a month ago now. Rather odd, really, something to do with an amulet. No one is quite sure who was behind it. She was quite lucky, really; it should have killed her. They'll be taking her to St. Mungo's in a day or two; Professor Snape's been keeping a steady supply of pain relieving potions for her. Of course, I wasn't the one to tell you any of that."

He had Fred's attention now, and my friend and I shared a worried look. This sounded serious. Student's being cursed? In Hogsmeade, no less. No wonder Zonko's was shut up and the streets seemed so desolate. And we had thought it all tied back to the Diagon Alley attack.

"What student?" Fred asked. "What's her name?"

Slughorn screwed up his face as he thought. "Lovely girl, Gryffindor…Katie? Yes, that's it. Katie Bell."

I really had fun writing the bit with Fred and Mel, but the rest of it took me a while to get just right. I hope you enjoy even though there was a bit of a delay in posting! Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, reading, following, and favoriting!

Next Chapter: A New Recruit