Okay, last chapter for this one! The chaos is about to begin. As always, the first chapter of the next fic is posted as well. Again, thanks to everyone who has stuck around this long! Three installments done. That's insanity.

Gi-L-Ha: Oh, no, I'm sorry you weren't feeling well! I hope it's cleared up by now. I appreciate your review as always! I've had a lingering cough for at least a month, so I get it! Feel better soon if you don't already!

DJ Scales: Crouch is, in fact, insane. But he's fun to write. Nessa is a year above Harry so this was her fifth year.

Bookcozy: Thank you! I'm feeling better now, I appreciate it! I don't work weekends so once that hits, my stress goes with it. Writing Nessa's reaction to Cedric….I think I might be ill because it was fun. I just love the relationship of her, the twins, and Tori when everything goes sideways. Plus having her behave in a morally gray fashion with Crouch? I enjoy that too. The next book is going to be so much fun!

Chapter Forty Seven

She had no idea what happened in the days following. Her memories were scattered at best, and the ones she did remember were painful and overwhelming.

The worst of which had been meeting with the Diggorys the day after Cedric had died.

They did not blame Harry for what had happened, which she was grateful for. Instead, they thanked Harry for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory had sobbed through the entire meeting, but Mrs. Diggory's grief appeared to be beyond tears.

"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry told her how he had died. "And after all, Amos…he died just when he'd won the tournament…he must have been very happy."

Nessa wished she could find that sort of silver lining in the situation. Instead, she'd been prone to thinking about everything she could have done to prevent the entire thing.

It was her job to protect Harry, and she'd failed in that. And Cedric had died because she'd been too busy arguing with him instead of talking to him about what was really going on behind the scenes.

Who cared if he would've thought her crazy for saying that Voldemort was out to get her brother? He would have been prepared for what happened next, even if he'd thought her insane.

She wished she could find it within herself to think that he'd at least been happy when he'd died. That it hadn't hurt. But she didn't have it in her at the moment. Mr. Diggory didn't appear to have it in him either, and they'd risen to their feet shortly after.

"You take care of yourself now," Mrs. Diggory said to Harry. Turning to Nessa, she dug in her bag and extracted the set of books that Cedric had gotten her for Christmas that she had returned. "I know this caused some issues between you two, but — well, I hope you'll take them. You were important to him and he got them for you."

And how in the hell was she supposed to say no to that?

She couldn't.

So, she'd taken them despite wanting to recoil, and when they'd offered them the gold that Harry had been given for winning, Mrs. Diggory told them to keep it.

It hasn't gone as planned at all and her entire heart felt like it was cracking down the middle.

She'd left Harry with Ron and Hermione, who seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about what had happened in the maze or in the graveyard he'd been transported to.

He hadn't given her many details and she didn't ask. The specifics were unnecessary.

Instead, she'd gone in search of George, carrying the stupid books around without being able to look at them. Finding him had been relatively easy — he'd only left the hospital wing on her insistence when the Diggorys had shown up, and he'd returned to his dorm to get ready for the day before returning to the hospital wing.

She'd found him there, just as he'd been about to step out of the room. He'd taken one look at her and the books she was carrying and sighed heavily, pulling her into a hug that threatened to send her over the edge of tears again.

He'd taken the books, set them on his bedside table, gathered her up and sat down on his bed, leaning against the headboard.

She didn't cry at least because she didn't have it within her anymore she didn't think. But everything in her ached and she'd replayed the entire evening over and over again in her head, replaying everything that had been said and how many times this entire chain of events could have been stopped.

The biggest one was Crouch breaking out his son. He'd started the whole thing and she hated him for that.

If Bertha Jorkins had pretended she hadn't heard anything until she'd left their home that night.

If Nessa had beaten Crouch in that duel. If she'd only told Cedric that she was afraid Harry's name coming out of the goblet had something to do with Voldemort. If she'd told Dumbledore about her dreams.

Everything was such a mess in her head and not a whole lot of it made much sense. Dumbledore had spoken to the school at breakfast, but it had merely been to tell them all to leave Harry alone and not ask too many questions as he'd been through an incredible ordeal. Whether that would hurt or help, Nessa had yet to figure out because whispers followed her everywhere she went in the castle.

Everything felt like a mess at the moment, and she felt like she'd merely been going through the motions as the days progressed, and it was with a heavy heart that she packed the rest of her things to go back to Privet Drive. She was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, but tonight would just be a reminder of an empty seat in the Great Hall. She hadn't eaten much in the last several days, the grief swallowing her whole, and she and Harry had silently agreed to avoid the Great Hall when it was full in order to avoid the stares (and possibly avoid Nessa getting pissed off about the stares at her brother, although she'd not have said so). Hexing people who irritated her had lost its edge.

When she entered the Hall that evening, she noticed immediately that the decorations were missing. Tonight, there were black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table, and Nessa knew without asking that they were there as a mark of respect of Cedric. There was a sharp twist in her chest, and she spent most of dinner with her eyes trained on her plate and hardly spoke, trying to keep her musings about what would come next to a minimum because there was nothing she could about it now.

Eventually, Professor Dumbledore stood. The Great Hall, which had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.

"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."

He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Huffelpuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.

"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."

They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."

Nessa's face remained dry, but her hand shook and she whispered his name more than spoke it. She sincerely wished that what was in her goblet was distinctly stronger than pumpkin juice. They all sat down again, and George curled his hand around hers, squeezing tightly.

"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff House," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."

Nessa raised her head to meet her brother's eyes. How many people would believe it when they heard it anyway? How many people would choose to deny the truth, like Fudge, simply because the alternative was too scary to consider?

But Dumbledore preceded anyway.

"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."

A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.

"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so — either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."

Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now. George's thumb was making slow, controlled circles over the back of her hand, but even still, she felt next to nothing.

"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric's death," Dumbledore went on. Nessa tensed finally, looking up at Dumbledore. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."

A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.

"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric's body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."

Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry, who sat next to her, and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had Cedric's, and drank to him. It was not lost on her that many Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats. Dumbledore had his backs to them, and did not notice.

When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened — of Lord Voldemort's return — such ties are more important than ever before."

Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour and her fellow Beauxbatons students, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table.

"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open. It is my belief — and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken — that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst. Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort."

The weather coming back to King's Cross was much different than the weather they'd experienced when leaving in September. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Nessa had taken to sitting with her brother rather than the twins and Lee. She wasn't particularly in the mood to pretend to be happy about their return after everything, and she was a little nervous to leave Harry alone for reasons she knew were irrational.

Tori joined her, looking more subdued than she usually did. She hadn't known Cedric well, but she'd liked him, and Voldemort's return (a man who had inadvertently had a hand in her mother's death) and Sirius' task from Dumbledore, she hadn't been her usual careless and carefree self.

Their O.W.L.s had been canceled due to Cedric's death, so they'd really only had time to think and analyze and mope, with McGonagall's promises that they would need to retake their exams some point over the summer. The Ministry would reach out.

Nessa wished she cared about that, and based on Tori's diminished attitude, she hardly cared either. They hardly spoke as they curled into a corner of the compartment nearest the windows. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spoke very casually, as if entirely ignoring everything that had happened over the last week. Tori stared out the window as if she expected it to give her all of the answers to her woes.

Nessa had tried that several times, and it hadn't done much good.

"What are you looking for?" she said quietly.

Tori barely looked at her when she answered.

"Everything is going to change now," she said, morosely. "I haven't heard from Sirius in a week. He was sending me daily owls before."

"It's probably a good thing," Nessa said calmly. "It means he hasn't been caught."

"Or it means that he's dead," Tori said monotonously. "Voldemort killed him and there's another one of my parents just…murdered. What kind of odds do you think that would be?"

Nessa gave her a deadpan look.

"Are you really going to ask me that?"

Tori snorted for the first time in several days.

"Right," she said, waving the question away. "And anyway, we'd have known if he were dead, right? The papers would have reported it. I'm sure Fudge would be just chuffed to report that."

Nessa tried to tamp down on the rage that ignited in her chest at every mention of Cornelius Fudge. She had never hated a soul quite as much as she hated him. But she didn't mention to Tori that that would only be if Voldemort left behind a body to find to begin with.

Adding to their anxiety likely wasn't the best direction to take this.

"You're worried about him," she said instead, watching her best friend carefully. "Have you been talking to him more?"

Tori gave her an exasperated expression.

"You know I hate when you try to psychoanalyze me," she said.

"I'll take that as a yes," she snorted with a roll of her eyes.

Tori huffed at her.

"Seems a bit stupid now," she muttered. "Here I am…opening myself up to somebody who's going to run off and fight Voldemort and end up dead. That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"You don't know any of that," Nessa said. "He can hardly step outside to fight when the Ministry refuses to believe he's innocent. I doubt he'll be able to do much in terms of fighting unless he wants to end up back in Azkaban."

Though, truthfully, if he was anything like Tori, those things would hardly deter him at all. Dumbledore himself could bind him to a tree and it wouldn't make much difference, but she hoped for Tori and Harry's sakes that he did try to stay out of trouble.

"We should have killed him," Tori said quietly. Nessa didn't need her to clarify, but she did anyway, "Peter."

Another of the things that she'd been thinking she'd failed on. She'd stopped Tori, and she hadn't let anyone else do it either, and Peter had gone off and done the unthinkable for the sake of protecting himself against a trip to Azkaban if anyone ever found out that he'd been the one to betray her parents.

And because she didn't have a way to deny that that option would have saved them a bunch of grief in the long run, she just sighed heavily. Fortunately, Hermione returned from the trolley with a copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry looked at it apprehensively, but Hermione said, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying that you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. If you ask me, Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."

Nessa ground her molars together. Cedric deserved so much more than to be ignored for the sake of keeping Fudge in office.

It disgusted her.

"He'll never keep Rita quiet," Harry said. "Not on a story like this."

"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," Hermione said in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."

"What are you talking about?" said Ron.

Nessa and Tori shared a glance before sitting up to listen to her.

"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush. Nessa had the impression that she'd been wanting to tell them all for awhile, but had waited to do so in light of everything else that had happened.

"Well, don't leave us in suspense then, Granger," Tori drawled, crossing her legs. "Give us something to be happy about at this point."

"Well it was Harry that gave me the idea," Hermione said.

"Did I?" said Harry, perplexed. "How?"

"Bugging," said Hermione happily.

"But that doesn't work —" Nessa began in confusion.

"Oh not electronic bugs," said Hermione. "No, you see…Rita Skeeter" — Hermione's voice trembled with quiet triumph — "is an unregistered Animagus. She can turn —" Hermione pulled a small sealed glass jar out of her bag. " — into a beetle."

"You're kidding," Ron said. "You haven't…she's not…"

"Oh yes she is," said Hermione happily, brandishing the jar at them.

Inside were a few twigs and leaves, and one large, fat beetle. Tori burst out laughing.

"Oh Merlin, you trapped her!" she said, happily.

"I caught her on the windowsill in the hospital wing," Hermione said, beaming. "Look very closely, and you'll notice the markings around her antennae are exactly like those foul glasses she wears."

Nessa was eyeing the jar with a spark of anger. She held out her hand for the jar.

"Can I see that?" she said casually. Ron, who had been inspecting it in disbelief, handed it to her without question.

Nessa brought the jar up to her face and grinned at the beetle maliciously.

"Suppose it makes sense that someone as vile as her would be a beetle," she said. And then, without warning, she started shaking the jar viciously. Hermione covered her mouth in horror, Ron gaped, and Harry snorted.

"Okay, okay," Tori said, laughing lightly, and taking the jar back. The beetle inside had tumbled onto its back and was having a difficult time re-righting itself. Tori handed it back to Hermione. "We get it. Let's try not to kill her though, yeah? I don't need that on my conscience."

Nessa wouldn't mind having it on her conscience at all, but Hermione still took the jar and placed it as far away from Nessa as she could.

"There was a beetle on the statue the night we heard Hagrid telling Madame Maxime about his mum!" Harry said suddenly.

"Exactly," said Hermione before looking at Nessa. "And Viktor pulled a beetle of my hair after you'd gotten upset with Cedric at the lake. And unless I'm very much mistaken, Rita was perched on the windowsill of the Divination class the day your scar hurt, Harry. She's been buzzing around for stories all year."

"And when we saw Malfoy talking to his hand under that tree…" Ron said slowly.

"He was holding her in his hand," said Hermione. "He knew, of course. That's how she's been getting all those nice little interviews with the Slytherins. They wouldn't care that she was doing something illegal, as long as they were giving her horrible lies about you two and Hagrid."

Hermione picked up the glass jar again and smiled at the beetle, which buzzed angrily against the glass. Nessa almost grinned.

"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."

Smiling serenely, Hermione put the jar with the beetle back in her schoolbag. Nessa was looking at Hermione with an all new respect for her. She appreciated her for always sticking by her brother's side, but at the moment, she found she rather liked her a lot. Tori was eyeing her in much the same way, as if she'd never really taken notice of the girl before now.

Before either of them could commend her for her skill in manipulating the vapid reporter, the door to the compartment slid open. She'd expected it to be Fred and George, finally coming to badger her and Tori into better moods, but she scowled at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.

"Very clever, Granger," said Malfoy.

Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him, and, despite their words, all three of them looked rather pleased with themselves. They were more arrogant and clearly attempting to be more menacing than she'd ever seen them. She snorted, sharing an eye roll with Tori.

"So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal."

"Not to you," Nessa snapped. "But I suppose you're so used to daddy's disappointment, you wouldn't know what it felt like to be someone's favorite."

It was cruel, but she was in no mood for this. Malfoy didn't even react the way he normally did. He merely smirked at her. Crabbe and Goyle leered.

"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"

She tried very hard not to flinch.

"Get out," Harry said, his hand gripping his wand under his robes.

"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron, Hermione, and Tori, who looked bored again. "Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well — second — Diggory was the f —"

They all moved to hex him at once, Nessa's rage exploding out of her at the "joke" he'd been about to utter. It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, it took Nessa several long moments before she managed to see what had happened.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were lying unconscious in the doorway. All five of them in the compartment had their wands out, all having flung a different hex. And they weren't the only ones to have done so.

"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.

"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," George said lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor."

Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the unconscious Slytherins — all of whom looked worse for wear with the jumble of hexes they'd been hit with — out into the corridor, then came back into the compartment and rolled the door shut.

"My love," George said in greeting, pulling her into his lap and kissing her on the cheek.

"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.

Nessa watched instead of participating. They were five rounds in when Harry asked the twins to tell them who they'd been blackmailing. Nessa listened to the explanation again as George dealt another round of cards without moving her from his lap.

"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he was giving us nothing."

"So we asked for our money back," said George, glowering.

"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.

"Course he did," Tori snorted from next to Fred. "Smarmy bastard."

Nessa felt a bit badly because she hadn't really asked much about what had happened with Bagman once they'd started helping Harry train for the task. Everything else had sort of fallen to the wayside. George didn't appear to mind though.

"Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee Jordan's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together —"

"Good," Nessa griped. "I hope they take everything he's got."

George grinned at her, nuzzling her neck.

"I like you feisty," he said, grinning at her when she blushed. Harry gagged, and Fred snorted.

"At least some things never change, eh?" Fred said, nodding toward Nessa and George. "Still as disgusting as ever — bloody hell!"

Nessa smirked as he rubbed the shin she'd kicked, and Tori hid her laugh under a cough. George diffused the situation before it could start.

"Anyway, guess how the idiot tried to pay the goblins back," he said to the compartment.

"How?" said Harry, effectively distracted.

"He put a bet on you, mate," said Fred. "Put a big bet on you to win the tournament. Bet against the goblins."

"So that's why he kept trying to help me win!" said Harry to Nessa, who grumbled. She didn't care what the reason was, she didn't like it. George chuckled behind her, brushing her hair to one side so that he could see the cards in front of him. Even though she wasn't playing, she pointed at the card he had in the middle. "Well — I did win, didn't I? So he can pay you your gold!"

"Nope," said George, shaking his head and playing the card she'd pointed at. Ron swore when his eyebrows nearly went up in smoke. "The goblins play as dirty as him. They say you drew with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright. So Bagman had to run for it right after the third task."

George sighed deeply and started dealing the cards again.

Nessa wished either of the twins would accept her help in starting the shop, but they wanted nothing to do with her — or Tori's — money. Nevermind the fact that they had too much of it to begin with, and certainly more than they would ever use. There was admiration there that they were working so hard for their dream, but she wished there was some way to help them.

Instead of dwelling on that fact, she sank back into George's chest and watched them play Exploding Snap for the entire ride back to King's Cross. It was not lost on her that the twins and Tori seemed to win more often than not, and she wondered idly if they were cheating, trying to figure out exactly how they were doing it.

She didn't manage it by the time they arrived at King's Cross, and she wished that whatever bubble they were in in this compartment would last forever, but she'd learned over the course of the last year that time didn't slow down just for her. On the contrary, it seemed to speed up even more.

Ron and Hermione struggled past Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle with their trunks, but Harry stayed put. She gave him a curious look as the twins worked to get Nessa and Tori's trunks down.

"Fred — George — wait a moment."

The twins turned. Harry opened his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.

"Take it," he said, thrusting it into George's hands.

Tori and Nessa froze in shock, though neither looked quite so flabbergasted as Fred, who, for the first time in his entire life, appeared to be gaping like a fish. He seemed to find the words eventually.

"What?" he said, sounding as flabbergasted as he looked.

"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."

"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry.

"No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."

Nessa's eyes watered. She could have cried right there. She hadn't even thought to suggest that the twins take the money. It wasn't theirs — not really. And neither of them wanted something that felt disgusting to take when Cedric should have gotten half. Giving it to someone who really needed it…that felt like the right thing to do. That felt like something Cedric would have been proud to do.

And God, she loved her brother. He'd done it without prompting from her, and not because of her, but because he liked the twins enough to do so.

She could have hugged him to death right there.

"He is mental," said Fred, sounding almost awed.

"Listen," said Harry firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

"Nessa," George said weakly, looking at her to put Harry in line.

She shook her head, her eyes watering.

"It's Harry's choice," she said. "I don't want it anymore than he does."

"Yeah, so, take it," Harry said firmly. "Just don't tell your mum where you got it…although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it…"

"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.

"Look," he said flatly, "take it or I'll hex you. I know some good ones now, thanks to you lot. Just do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."

Tori laughed. Harry left the compartment before either of them could say another word, and Nessa bustled after him, grinning from ear to ear despite the tears on her face. She threw an arm around his neck, and pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"I love you more than anything, do you know that?" she said, happily. "That was very sweet of you."

Harry shrugged, his cheeks pink.

"They need it more than we do," he said. "And I really don't want to keep it, considering…"

Neither did she. She kissed him on the cheek, wiping at her eyes before they came up to Mrs. Weasley. She hugged each of them, promising to keep them for the summer whenever Dumbledore allowed it. Uncle Vernon watched the entire thing with a scowl, his expression deepening upon Tori and the twins appearing.

She supposed he'd never forgive them for convincing Dudley to eat a Ton-Tongue Toffee.

"Bye, Ness," Tori said, squeezing her tightly. "We'll steal you away as soon as we can."

"I believe that," Nessa laughed, hugging her tightly. She was almost afraid to let go of her, but she had no idea why.

When Tori released her, she pulled Harry into a hug so tight that she nearly lifted him from his feet. Harry spluttered, clearly embarrassed, but when Tori set him down, she kissed him on the cheek and his entire face went red.

"I'd kiss you for real, but I think Fred might get jealous," she said quietly, grinning at him widely, clearly as happy for the twins as Nessa was. Harry snorted.

"Is Fred even capable of that emotion?" Harry said sarcastically. Tori grinned at him conspiratorially, and Harry blanched. "No, please don't tell me. I don't know why I even asked."

Nessa was bent over laughing when the twins managed to escape their mother's hugs to come near them.

"Harry — thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side. Harry merely winked at them, careful to avoid Mrs. Weasley's attention.

George pulled her up to meet him, kissing her hard. She laughed against him for what felt like the first time in days. Harry groaned behind them.

"Maybe I should have told you to stop snogging my sister in front of me too," he said, sounding annoyed.

George pulled away from her, kissing her on the cheek, and grinning over her shoulder.

"No can do, mate," he said happily. "It's a proper goodbye, see —"

"Perhaps I ought to snog Harry then —"

Harry took an alarmed step back, holding his hand out at Fred, and Nessa laughed, looking back at George.

"I've got to go before Uncle Vernon pops a blood vessel," she said, smiling up at him.

He sighed heavily, leaning down to kiss her once more, softer and sweeter this time. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, "I'll see you soon. I love you."

"I love you too, George," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Fred ruffled her hair as she hugged him quickly, much to her annoyance.

"See you soon, munchkin!" he shouted after her, grinning widely when Uncle Vernon gave him a look of distaste.

She followed her moody uncle out of the station, looping her arm through Harry's and trying to bask in what was left of her carefree happiness. It wouldn't last long, she knew, but for the moment it served her fine. Whatever was coming would come whether she was ready for it or not, and she would merely have to be prepared when it did.