Dark AIAOY 5

No one had escaped, Rebecca realised after a quick look around Dumbledore's office.  From the oldest to the youngest member, every one of those they had been trying to teach to defend themselves had been caught.

Cedric was in the worst shape, that was certain.  He was between two students of the Inquisitorial Squad in the corner and had to be held up.  Umbridge, with the help of her toadies, had them all in front of the Minister of Magic within the hour.

"I've been watching them for weeks!"  Umbridge explained to Cornelius, practically glowing with pride.  "And look, 'Dumbledore's Army,' exactly what I've been telling you from the very beginning, Cornelius!"

Percy stared at Rebecca, his disapproval muted but clear.  He only looked away from the center of his blame when a low sound--animalistic and defensive--escaped Fred as he yanked his arm free from who was holding him.  He reached for Rebecca and brought her closer to him, making his position clear.

Percy's eyes widened at Fred's expression and he had to look away from his younger brother, rattled.

"All your fear mongering about You-Know-Who never fooled us, not even for a minute."  Umbridge declared, staring up at Dumbledore who looked down at her emotionless.  He had yet to even stand from behind his desk, his work interrupted.  "Nothing but a smokescreen for your bid to seize control of the ministry!"

"Naturally."  Dumbledore intoned, raising an eyebrow.

"No, professor!"  Harry pulled his shoulder out from Crabbe's grip and stepped forward to address Dumbledore's accusers.  "He had nothing to do with this!"

Rebecca tried to step forward too, but Draco's grip on her robes tightened and kept her in place roughly.  "It was us, our idea all along!"

"It was me."  Dumbledore shook his head at the two of them, a glimmer in his eye that was both foreign and recognisable shining.  "Most noble of you both to try and shield me.  But, as it has been pointed out, the parchment clearly says Dumbledore's Army, not Potters' Army."  Dumbledore turned and spoke to the adults in the room.  "I instructed the formation of this organisation and I, I alone, am responsible for its activities."

Cornelius took a triumphant breath, announcing his next orders loudly.  "Dispatch an owl to the Prophet!  If we hurry, we should still make the morning edition.  Dawlish, Shacklebolt, you will escort Dumbledore to Azkaban to away trial for conspiracy and sedition."

"Because you've had such luck keeping people in there recently!"  Fred snapped, pulling against his captors as Rebecca was jerked violently to keep her from making a comment.  He wasn't able to enjoy the way Umbridge's face reddened with anger or how Percy went white in shock, too closely watching for Draco to loosen his hold on his Rebecca.

"Ah," Dumbledore stood and raised a finger, walking around his desk.  "I thought we might hit this little snag.  You seem to be labouring under the delusion that I'm going to--what's the phrase?--Come quietly."  Umbridge stepped closer to the desk.  "I can tell you this: I have no intention of going to Azkaban."

"Enough of this, seize him!"  Umbridge hissed, motioning for Dawlish and Shacklebolt to move forward.

Fawkes let out a screech and launched himself from his perch, hovering over Dumbledore just long enough for the headmaster to raise his hands and clap them above his head.  Dumbledore's departure sent a shockwave of energy through the room, sending more to the floor than not.

"You may not like him, Minister," Shacklebolt spoke as the students around the room made their way back to their feet or were dragged up.  "But you can't deny...Dumbledore's got style."  

Dawlish nodded.  "What shall happen now?"

Umbridge looked to Cornelius for indication that the final step in her study of Hogwarts was cleared.  The minster nodded once.  "Now, Hogwarts has a new head teacher and there are children in need of punishment."

*******************************************

Rebecca was dragged out of Dumbledore's office by the Inquisitorial Squad who had just received orders from the "headbastard," as Rebecca spat on their exit.  They were going to be brought directly back to their common rooms and their detentions would begin immediately the next night.

"Rebecca!"  Harry hissed.  Crabbe's hold tightened once more and Harry knew that there would be a bruise matching the pudgy fingers digging into him.  "Don't cause any more trouble!"  He pleaded.

Crabbe looked to Draco, wanting to know if they would be designating additional detentions for Rebecca's insolence and Harry's refusal to stay silent.  Draco shook his head, sending the other students off towards their houses under the control of Inquisitorial members.

"What'd you do to Cedric?"  Rebecca demanded as soon as the last Gryffindor had been released.  The question had been burning inside of her, but she didn't dare ask when the others were still in the grasps of those who enjoyed seeming them suffer.  "You did something to him--held something over him o-or I don't know.  He never would have given us up on his own.  Never."

Draco froze and turned back towards them, gesturing for Crabbe and the others to stay down where they were.  He turned back and walked to where she had moved forward, meeting her halfway.  "How can you be certain?"  Draco asked, curious.  He didn't raise his voice to a shout as the Inquisitorial Squad members were expecting.  "Maybe everyone isn't as good as you've deluded yourself into thinking."

"No, I know he didn't.  He wouldn't have."

"Tell me how you can know and I'll consider telling you."  Draco stared at her, internally desperate for the answer but outwardly as collected as he had been.

A hard look entered Rebecca's eyes as he seemed to toy with her.  "I know he didn't turn us in on his own free-will because, as strange as this might be for you, some people choose to do the right thing."  She scoffed.  "No one just is bad, they choose to be.  You're an example of that yourself."

Draco stared at her for a moment, wondering if she was actually implying he wasn't bad.  "I considered it, the answer is no--I won't tell you."  He turned on his heel and joined the rest of the squad, ignoring their questions as to what she wanted and hurrying them back.

Rebecca slowly turned back to the others, joining them and taking up the back as they began the climb up Gryffindor Tower.  Her mind was going over every possibility, every fact of the Cedric she knew.  No matter how she looked at it, she only grew more certain that he never would have betrayed them.  "He's a bloody Hufflepuff!"  She muttered.

"What?"  Fred asked, startling her.  She had been so deep in her thoughts she hadn't noticed him take her side.

"Nothing."

"Wait!"  As if he had heard her thoughts, Cedric's voice called up the stairs to them.  He was struggling, but following them as quickly as he could.  "I didn't-I would never have said anything!"

Harry sent the younger students in, only those in their immediate group remaining outside the common room.  "How did this happen?"  Harry demanded, not cruelly but in need of the truth.  "How did she figure it out?"

"Crabbe and Goyle-"  Cedric winced and held a hand to his side, leaning on the side of the stairs.  "She had them bloody me up.  When she finally stopped them, she tied me to a chair and forced me to drink Veritaserum, a-"

"Truth-telling potion."  Rebecca finished, shaking her head at how obvious the answer had been.  "Obviously."

Cedric looked up at them, his eyes shining with tears he tried to keep from falling.  His body hurt horribly, but it would be nothing compared to how his heart would break if his friends didn't believe him.  "I-I never would have, not willingly.  Please, you have to have known that."

Their answers were immediate and overlapping, all in the affirmative.  The bonds they had formed within their group were deep and not going to be shaken so easily.  Cedric's relief was as clear as his pain.

Hermione looked down the stairs, making sure no one had followed him.  "You shouldn't have come.  It wasn't worth the risk."

Cedric shook his head, managing a weak smile.  "The truth is always worth the risk."

Harry worked his way through the others and nodded to Rebecca, he knew she would make sure the younger students inside the safety of the common room already were alright while he made sure Cedric made it back safely.  "Ron?  Help me get him back without getting caught."

"The rest of us will head in and make sure everyone gets to bed."  Rebecca felt a chill creep up her spine.  "We'll need our rest for tomorrow."  She moved in front of Cedric and looked up at him, lowering her voice.  "You too, Ced.  Rest."

Cedric nodded, closing his eyes as she hugged him gently.  Careful to avoid touching her anywhere not clothed, Cedric hugged her back and was grateful for the comfort of keeping his mind to himself.

They collectively paled at the thought, knowing they would need to appear strong for the others but able to express their fear with each other.  "One month of detentions...bloody fucking hell."  Rebecca thought, turning back to the flights of stairs above them as the three boys went off in the direction they had just come from.

Fred reassured her, once again as if he knew her thoughts.  "We can worry about that tomorrow, okay?  Let's get everyone okay first."

Out in the corridors, Cedric, Ron, and Harry made their way back to the Hufflepuff corridor in complete silence.  Ron or Harry would look down the hall they needed to go down first, creeping ahead to make sure the coast was clear at every intersection to make sure there was no patrol nearing.

When the boys finally made it to the doorway only Cedric would go through, the oldest boy looked down at them.  Though he could only see out of one eye as his other hadn't stopped swelling yet, they could see his sadness.  "I can't tell you how sorry I am or how badly I feel."

Harry didn't know what to say at first, this wasn't his expertise.  Rebecca was the one who comforted, usually him.  That's where he found the words, actually.  In memories of things she had said to him when he had been in Cedric's position.  "Don't."  Harry said strongly, making it clear that he didn't want to hear anything else on the subject.  "You couldn't have not said anything, not with that potion.  If it's anyone's fault, it's mine.  I chose to meet tonight."

Ron's voice joined their whispers.  "Hermione and I, we're the ones that talked you into this.  It's our fault."

Cedric brought the back of his hand to his lip, wiping away the blood that had beaded and threatened to drip down his chin.  "If the blame isn't mine, then it's certainly not either of yours."

Harry and Ron waited for Cedric to enter the safety of the Hufflepuff quarters before turning back, walking back far slower than they had made their journey originally.  Ron could feel the words growing in Harry, but also knew in the irritating-Potter way that if he pushed, he wouldn't get anything.

"I tried so hard to help and all it's done is make things worse."

Ron scoffed, trying to tell himself to be a good listener but unable to listen to such stupidity.  "How do you figure?"

Harry ignored the question, letting what had built up inside of him pour out.  "I don't-I don't want to care anymore.  The more you care, the more you have to lose.  I just-I think it would be better..."  

Harry's thought went unfinished until Ron made him finish it.  "Better to what?"

"To go it alone."  Harry murmured softly.

"That's the problem--with you both, actually."  Ron said with a voice uncharacteristically sharp.  "You are both so selfish.  As soon as there's trouble, you and Rebecca think you can just cut everyone off.  That you're 'protecting' us."

"Aren't we?"  Harry asked.  "We bring this trouble to you all, this danger!"

"When we need protecting, we'll tell you!"  Ron raised his voice, far too loud for their surroundings but unable to force himself quiet.  "Until then, stop pushing us away!  You're not protecting us by doing that, you're hurting us!"

Harry and Ron finished their walk back quietly, the Fat Lady rushing them in quickly.  Harry didn't speak again until they were in bed, both lying on their backs and staring up at the ceiling with their thoughts going over how quickly the day had turned.  

"I'll try."  Harry said into the darkness of their room.

Ron looked at his friend, his best friend, and couldn't help but smile a little.  "You'd bloody better."

*******************************************

"Rebecca!"  Hermione groaned into her pillow.  "Shut up already!"

"I'm just saying...if we stuck a rod up her arse and slapped some plastic on her head, we'd have an Um-brella!"

Hermione rolled over, smothering herself with her pillow so her pleading for an end came out muffled.  "I'm begging you for mercy, begging you!"

Ginny, on the other hand, cackled as she got into her bed.  "You should sell those!"

That sent Hermione sitting up, a scowl on her face.  "They should not!  Don't put any meddlesome ideas out for her to pass on!"

Rebecca peered out into the darkness towards Ginny's bed, knowing that though she couldn't see her, Ginny would be able to see her nod in approval.  "I have yet to hear any 'meddlesome' ideas, only strokes of pure genius.  Thank you, Ginny!"

"Now you've done it."  Hermione replaced her pillow over her face, wondering how she ended up with such best friends.

Rebecca laid back in her bed, her mind going over all of the potential incorporations they could get Umbridge in.  "So much to ponder...so much..."

*******************************************

The hall of orbs flickered into view around her.  Whispers called out from them, blurring and overlapping, ebbing and rising as if they were alive and speaking to her.

"Seventh month dies..."

"Thrice defied them..."

"Wand with a past, history shall run its course..."

A figure turned at the end of the hall, shrouded in darkness so its person remained unknown.  A tune whistled floated down the hall, haunting and slow.  Jane's lullaby.

Fear began to rise in her, threatening to over take her as it seemed to reverberate in her very soul.  The whistling ended only when the figure raised its wand.  

"CRUCIO!"

*******************************************

Rebecca's eyes shot open.  The pain in her head made itself known instantly, forcing her to close her eyes a moment to collect herself.  The early morning light filled their room with a softness Rebecca especially appreciated as her head throbbed.  "Hardly a premonition at all."  She thought to herself angrily, holding a hand to her temple as she slipped her spectacles on.

The images she had seen were set aside, to be thought about later when she had a moment with Harry, perhaps.  Slowly but surely, her headache faded to a manageable-level and she prepared for the day ahead.

The common room was awash with whispers despite the early hour and so few students awake.  The news of Umbridge's ascension was already beginning to make its way through the students and the reactions varied: some grew angry, others grew quiet.  

Rebecca was grateful for her timing because, for once, she managed to not be late.  She caught Nigel exactly as he made his way down the boys' stairs with a glint in his eyes that Rebecca knew would mean trouble in one form or another.  In fact, she thought that he was most likely heading out this early for a meeting with Louis and Yara to coordinate.

"Nigel," Rebecca said softly, but without asking.  "Can we chat a moment?"

His eyes widened at her tone and he sensed that he shouldn't stop.  "I've got a pressing appointment and, as much as I'd like to, can't delay."

"Your appointment has been cancelled."

Nigel shook his head, raising his voice angrily as he understood her meaning.  "No, it hasn't!  The fight is still on!  We'll buckle down, get more students, more pranks-"

"No, you won't!"  Rebecca lowered her voice from the shout she let match his.  She not only didn't want to yell at him, her head wouldn't allow her to.  "Nigel, Dumbledore isn't here anymore.  There's no one to protect you.  These pranks?  This fight we've been fighting?  It ended last night--you hear me?"  Rebecca waited for him to acknowledge that he had.  "I had better not hear a single work of you or Louis or Yara planning anything else; anything at all."

Nigel glowered up at her, disbelief and disappointment warring across his face.  "If someone had ever told me you would be the one to give up, I would have told them they were mad.  I can't believe this.  Who needs Dumbledore to protect us?  You've been just fine!"

Rebecca grabbed his shoulders and held him against the wall roughly.  "Listen to me, carefully and entirely."  Her eyes racked his face, showing an alarming level of ferocity that silenced his arguments.  "Do you see this?"  She took his hand and lifted it to the light, hating how red and angry the skin from his detention injuries were.  "This right here proves that I am not protecting you.  I won't watch you waste your talents needlessly."

Nigel looked at his hand and tried to block the image from his mind.  It was easier to tell himself it wasn't that bad--that it didn't hurt that badly--as long as he didn't look at it.

"We're not giving up anything."  Rebecca said more gently than she had before, letting him go.  "What we're going is making sure that when we do strike, it'll be big enough to do more than just inconvenience.  We're making sure it'll do some damage."

Nigel regretted the harshness of what he had said.  He knew that she was mostly right but had to make sure she wasn't just pacifying him.  "How do I know you're telling the truth?  What if you're just lying to me so that I call the others off?"

Rebecca looked at him warily.  He saw how tired she was underneath everything.  "Have I ever lied to you?"  Nigel shook his head.  "Then there's your answer."

Nigel returned to the portrait hole, but turned back to her before he could leave.  "You're wrong about one thing though."

"What?"  Rebecca looked at him a moment before taking her glasses off and cleaning them with the bottom of her tie.  She couldn't tell if the speckles she had been seeing were from the spike in her pain at the conflict or simply dirt; but since they didn't leave when she had her glasses off, she knew her answer.  

"You said that there's no one to protect us and that you haven't been.  You have though, you and Harry and Fred and Hermione and the D.A., we all protect each other--no matter what.  This?"  Nigel held his hand up again, but didn't look at it.  "This is nothing."

"Oh, go on."  Rebecca slid her glasses on and walked to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.  "Go tell the others, okay?  Watch for patrols and-"

"And be careful."  Nigel finished as he knew she would have before continuing on his way.

Rebecca wandered around the common room, too tired to consider much more but too restless to consider sitting.  Fred, George, and Lee were the first to trickle down the boys' stairs, two of three faces heavy with sleep while one perked up as soon as Rebecca was in sight.

George shoved Fred towards Rebecca roughly from the last step, scowling.  "I swear to Merlin, if I have to listen to him go on one more night, I'm throwing myself off the Astronomy tower!"

"What's he talking about, Fred?"

"Worrying!"  Lee cried out.  "Incessantly!"

George mimicked Fred.  "I hope she sleeps alright!  It's so cold out, hope she isn't."

Lee joined in.  "Maybe I should see if she's in the common room?  I feel like I heard her!"

George laughed loudly, forgetting his anger for a moment.  "Oh no, we forgot the best one!  'Did I say goodnight?  Did I tell her I love her?'"

Fred looked down at her, feeling how hot his ears were at their teasing.  "I was thinking about you."  He defended.  "A little worried, obviously."

"Don't be."  Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his jaw, below his ear so no one else could hear her next words.  "Everything has to work out in the end, darling."

*******************************************

"Things have to work out in the end."  Fred thought to himself, writing his punishment for what felt like the thousandth time.  "We'll be okay in the end."  Only half way through their month of detentions, every night brought about a fresh hell.

Rebecca wasn't unaccustomed to hiding her pain, just out of practise.  She took the seat closest to Umbridge every night in the detention-modified Great Hall.  The new headmaster cleared the floor and had row after row of single-student desks adorned with a torturous quill and parchment on every single one.  Umbridge then sat at the very front, sipping from a cup of tea and smiling over them.

Umbridge leaned forward, as if she were sharing a secret with them.  "Ten more minutes!"

Rebecca clenched her jaw, continuing to write.  For Harry--the majority of the students, really--the pain created a fog over their minds that they had to fight to get a thought through.  For Rebecca, the sharp pains brought with it a clarity.  "Dumbledore's gone, the professors can't do anything, Voldemort is still out there getting stronger...what are we going to do?"

No answer came, not that she expected one.  What was there to do?  A heavy damp had settled over the students at Hogwarts; what was once their place of learning had become their place of pain, misery, and mistreatment.  Dennis Creevey was their youngest first year and one of the bravest eleven year olds Rebecca had ever met for staying as strong as he had been.

But every strength eventually ran out.

Rebecca always lingered after their punishments ended, taking the minute to lay her quill beside her parchment and straighten her desk, push in her chair, and then walk out slowly.  It upset Umbridge and she found a comfort in knowing that the others were out of her reach already.

"Rebecca!"  Harry hissed in one of the corridors away that they were grouping in that night.  "Do something!"  He dragged her to where Dennis was sitting on a bench, crying.

"I want to go home."  Dennis whimpered, wiping at his cheeks uselessly; any tear wiped away was replaced instantly.  "I miss my mum.  I want to go home."  His weeping grew to broken sobs as he voiced his greatest want aloud, his little shoulders shook harshly.

"Go get Colin."  Rebecca told Harry, kneeling in front of Dennis and laying her hands on either side of him.  He moved forward in an instant, putting himself in the notch of her shoulder and crying against her.  It hurt, but she brought her hand to the back of his head and smoothed his hair gently.  "I know, mate."  Rebecca spoke softly, using her other hand to rub his back.  "We all want to go home.  But do you know why we can't?"

Dennis lifted his head up slightly, looking her in the eyes.  "Because Umbridge won't let us?"

"No, not really.  Well, sort of."  Rebecca spoke on, using her sleeves to wipe at the trails of tears on his cheeks.  "We can't go because if we're not here to protect the others, who will?  We're Gryffindors, we're brave and courageous and we fight for those who need it."

"I'm not a good Gryffindor."  Dennis whispered, tears welling in his eyes again.  "I don't want to fight.  I-I'm scared."

"I didn't say that Gryffindors like to fight, I said that we do fight."  Rebecca looked over Dennis' shoulder at Draco and Goyle as they turned the corner.  Rebecca pushed at Ron's leg gently, making it so he stood in front of Dennis and shielded him from sight.  She moved the young boy back onto the bench and stood up, holding her wand tightly.  "And we're all afraid, Dennis.  Bravery is acting while you are afraid, not acting without being afraid."

"You're afraid?"  Dennis asked, standing and holding his wand too.  Goyle met the first of their group, pushing them apart roughly.  They could see his mouth moving, but couldn't make out the words he was saying yet.

"Every day."  Rebecca stepped further in front of Dennis as Ron sprang into action as Draco laid his hands on Nigel.  "But do you know why it's okay that we're afraid?"

Fred looked over his shoulder, making sure Rebecca wasn't in the midst of the chaos growing.  His heart settled as he saw her far from it, though the sight of the Creevey brother teary seemed to tear his heart in two.

"Why?"  Dennis blinked away his last tears, jutting his chin out defiantly as more Inquisitorial Squad members appeared.  

Before extra detentions could be assigned to those that had been singled out, McGonagall appeared at the end of the corridor and marched through the path that opened in the students that had made up Dumbledore's Army.  "You will leave these students alone!"  McGonagall stared down at those who had been threatening her students.

Draco narrowed his eyes.  "The Inquisitorial Squad answers to the headmaster and the headmaster alone."

McGonagall gave him a curt smile.  "Well, Mr Malfoy, your marks answer to me and me alone.  Do you want to play this game?"

Draco stared at her a moment longer before leaving with the others with him.

"Why is being afraid okay?"  Dennis repeated when they were safe once more.

"Because we're afraid because we know that this is wrong."  Rebecca wiped his face one more time, the tears slowing at last.  "It means that we are still good, Dennis."  Colin laid his hand on Rebecca's shoulder and took his brother into his arms, whispering the comforts only family can give.

McGonagall surveyed the students in front of her, shaking her head at the sight of them--pale, bleeding, eyes wide.  "Students, children..."

Ginny squared her shoulders and spoke for them all.  "Your students don't need pity, professor."

A sad smile crossed McGonagall's face.  "No, no they do not.  Let's get a move on, the hour is late."  McGonagall herded the collection of Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws down a few corridors to where Professor Sprout waited.

"I'll take mine from here, Minerva.  Trouble?"  The women exchanged brief words, Professor Sprout waiting for Professor Flitwick to arrive to take his students.  

The students separated into their houses, making their goodbyes quietly.

George watched Cedric leave, his eyes following the back of his brown-haired friend.  "I've been meaning to ask you something."  Rebecca nodded for him to ask away.  "What happened the meeting before the Army fell?  Something happened with Cedric, remember?"

Rebecca sighed.  She had been waiting for him to ask, and she had been trying to explain it to herself too.  "A connection is made."  Rebecca looked around and lowered her voice so that it was hardly audible even to George right beside her.  "When I bring them back, something's formed between us."

"So you saw into his head?"  George clarified just as quiet.

"Exactly."

George bit his lip, mulling over his next question and trying to decide if he should ask it or not.  "What did you see?  Anything interesting?"  Rebecca gave him a small smile, but said nothing.  "What?  You're not going to tell me?"

"George..."   Rebecca said with a warning tone.

George raised his hands and stepped away from her, making room for Fred who was making his way to them anyway.  "Fine, keep your secrets.  I'll keep all of mine too."

"What secrets?"  Fred asked her softly as he hugged her tightly.

"He's nagging about what I saw from Cedric."

Fred released her from his arms, but stayed just as close to her.  "I was wondering, too, if I'm honest."

"Well, I'm not saying a word!  It's not my place and I won't-"  Fred leaned down and kissed her quickly, interrupting her scolding before it could really take off.  He grinned at her expression.  "I won't be persuaded."  She finished, looking away from him.

"Fine with me, love."  Fred stood up straight and brought his hand to hers.  "We both know who Cedric was thinking about anyway."  He smirked at how her jaw dropped and ignored her motions for him to bend back down.  "You won't be persuaded, remember?"

Rebecca smiled and laid her head against his arm, she had forgotten how good it felt to smile.

Harry pushed his way through the crowd in front of them, stopping in front of Rebecca and ignoring Fred entirely.  "We have to talk, tonight."

Professor Sprout looked up as Flitwick joined them, the time for separating now here.  "Mr Longbottom, I expect to see you reigning in those-"

"Yes, professor!"  Neville said quickly.  "I'll do that tomorrow, first thing!"

Professor Sprout shook her head and turned away, laughing softly at his enthusiasm.  She shooed her students ahead of her, speaking with the older students that walked beside her.  The same happened with the Ravenclaw students and Professor Flitwick.

The moods of the Gryffindor students heightened as they got closer and closer to one of the few places in the castle not yet ruined by Umbridge.  Professor McGonagall walked them directly to the door, looking over the group of oldest students that lingered behind the younger ones already in the safety of the common room.

"To bed, children."  McGonagall directed gently.  "The morrow will bring its duties with it."

Once the last of her students was inside and the portrait hole was closed behind them, only then, did McGonagall begin her walk back.

Angelina had the quidditch team ready with salves ready every single night after the returning Gryffindors got back.  Fred, George, and Rebecca had hidden a box behind one of the bookshelves charmed to appear full.  In it was their stock of salve for their house, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw having a box as well.

Rebecca sucked in a sharp breath and pulled her hand back as the replacement chaser brushed against her cuts too roughly.  

"I'm sorry."  He whispered, looking around quickly.  It was too late.  Fred's head shot up from where Angelina had his hand at the sound of Rebecca's pain.  Fred crossed the room darkly, his face masked by a dangerous scowl.  He took the salve from the chaser without a word until he saw the look Rebecca was giving him.  Fred couldn't convince himself to take his eyes off of her, but he did speak softer than he would have originally to the boy.  "I'll take it from here."

The chaser all but ran away, making his way to the opposite end of the common room to try and appear helpful.

"What was it you said on the train, something about not overreacting?"  Rebecca asked, not giving him her hand yet.

Fred sighed.  "My love..."  Rebecca rolled her eyes and brought her hand up for him, not forgetting the hypocrisy of his sigh.  Fred's hand could hold hers perfectly, one of his favourite things to recognise.  He took a fingerful from the jar and passed it onto the student beside him.  "I have yet to overreact.  But, when I do, I'll listen to my wisdom."  Fred's eyes were set in concentration, sliding over her skin more delicately than she would have thought possible.

"Thank you for at least saying 'when' you do and not 'if.'"  Rebecca turned his hand over, looking at it closely.  "Did Angelina get you?"  Fred nodded, but Rebecca still smoothed it out better than it had been--making sure the angriest parts of his cuts were well covered.

"Yes, I'm set."  Fred wasn't one to rush their time together, but he at least had a reason.  "Harry sounded urgent and--I know it's hard to believe--but I don't particularly love his newfound dislike for me.  Let's not make it worse by me holding you up."  Fred leaned down to her and kissed her gently.  "I'll see you in the morning?"

Rebecca smiled again.  "Of course, I'm not going anywhere."

Fred's eyes widened before he kissed her once more quickly, leaving his hand against her cheek tenderly.  "I love you."

"I love you, too."  Rebecca brought her hand to the outside of his, confused by the change in his demeanor.  "Is something wrong?"

Fred shook his head, taking his hand from her cheek and pushing his hair back as he did when he was nervous.  "Nothing.  I'll see you in the morning."  He repeated himself and left for his room, quickly excusing himself from anyone who tried to stop him for conversation before hurrying up the stairs.

Rebecca filed all of his oddity away and went to the corner where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were speaking in hushed tones.

Harry looked up when Rebecca joined them, bringing her up to speed quickly.  "We're not done for the night."  He reached into his pocket and pulled a note with Hagrid's large, block-like letters on it.  "Hagrid's asked us to go see him at midnight, he said it's important."

"You think it's news from the Order?"  Rebecca asked, handing the note towards Hermione in case she hadn't read it yet.

"I don't know."  Harry sighed impatiently.

"It's not."  Ron answered them both surely.  "He would have said something if it was."

Rebecca nodded, finding Ron to be surprisingly mature in his comforting.  "You're right.  Let's not worry before we have a reason."

Harry scoffed.  "Isn't that hypocritical?"

Rebecca's eyes flickered to Harry's.  "Does that come with an explanation or do I pull one out of-"

"If you watched Fred go up to bed any harder right now, your eyes would have fallen out.  Tell me that isn't worrying without reason."

"That made absolutely no sense."  Hermione said, looking from Rebecca to Harry with a warning in her eyes.  She felt like she knew where Harry was going with this and it was a bad idea.

"Thank you!"  Rebecca looked at Harry angrily.  "I wouldn't have anything to worry about if you weren't being such a..."  She struggled for the words.  "Such an arse to him all of a sudden!  Why are you so cross with him?"

"I think you're both moving too fast!"  Harry snapped.  Ron looked up from his shoes and quickly returned his eyes back to where they were as Harry continued.  "You're fifteen years old--we all saw how you two disappeared on New Years!  How could you act so irresponsibly?  With a mounting war, at that!"

Hermione shook her head, unhappy to be right.  She had already told Harry that this issue would bring about a massive row if he didn't mind his nosing about.

Rebecca looked at Harry a long moment before lowering his voice and stepping closer to him.  "I'll say this again since, as you've made it clear, the message hasn't sunken in."  Ron winced at her tone and was grateful it wasn't directed at him.  "I am more than capable of watching over my actions myself.  The line between caring and controlling?  You've crossed it, again.  It's none of your business what Fred and I do.  It's none of your business how far we go.  Essentially, Fred and I are simply not your business!  And age, Harry?  really?"  She shook her head, still not believing what he had said to her.  "We've got the same bloody birthday!"

"I-"

"You always could have just asked me."  Rebecca said, less angry than before--her anger was replaced with a sadness that seemed above her age.  "Instead of this little game you've played--making Fred feel bad, acting like a prick, trying to keep us apart--you could have asked.  'Hey, are you and Fred having sex?'"  Harry grimaced.  "What?  That's what you've assumed!  That's what has you acting like an arse."

"I wasn't so crude."  Harry pleaded, aware of the hole he was digging himself but unable to stop talking.  "You have to understand, I-"

"I don't have to understand shite."  Rebecca laughed.  "'Crude?'  You and Ron sit and talk; whisper and watch about tits and arses, who's hot and who's not, but 'sex' is crude?"

"Why am I being dragged into this?"  Ron whinged.

"Rebecca," Harry began.

"No, Harry."  Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment.  "Not tonight.  I'm heading up to bed.  My head-"

"Your head hurts?"  Harry switched straight to concerned-Harry.  "From what?"

"From you."  Rebecca answered plainly.  "You cannot flip from controlling to concerned, that's not okay."  Rebecca turned to Hermione and Ron.  "Please make sure Hagrid knows how sorry I am to not be there tonight."

Hermione nodded.  "We'll make sure and I'll catch you up."

Rebecca thanked her and tried to look at Harry without rolling her eyes and failed before turning to the stairs.

"Good one, mate."  Ron sniggered.  

"I told you to mind your own, didn't I?"  Hermione could hardly feel the rush of vindication at his admittance to her correctness when she knew the tension that would follow the Potter twins for days.

"Yes, you did Hermione."  Harry intoned.  "Come on, we've got to get the cloak and go."

"If he had asked, I would have been honest."  Rebecca thought to the empty room she found waiting for her.  "He didn't have to be so horrible, I would have answered!  Why would he do this this way instead?"

Across the tower, Fred was thinking to himself as well--trying to find answers to his own questions and failing to.  "Bloody hell, what am I doing?  What am I thinking?"  Neither got into their beds looking forward to the next day and both wished that the other was beside them.

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Rebecca woke up the next morning only feeling slightly refreshed.  She had managed to sleep through the night without a nightmare or a premonition--two qualities that should have sent her into an ecstatic mood but didn't.  Sitting up in her bed, she was happy to find that Ginny was still asleep and Hermione had already left.  Getting ready for the day was a somber affair.

"Harry never would have treated a brother like this."  She tied her tie begrudgingly.  A lot of Hogwarts had lost its appeal, including her game of seeing how long she could get away with an unkempt appearance before Hermione noticed.  

The only thing that had brightened her mood that morning had been Fred descending the boys' stairs as she did the girls'.  Their worries melted away when the other came into view, their steps filled with a renewed vigor.  "Good morn-"  Rebecca's voice was cut off as he pulled her into his arms roughly, holding her against his chest.  "Fred?"

"I need another minute."  He said softly.  When he was ready, he stood beside her and took her hand.  Fred began towards the portrait hole without explanation.

"Aren't we waiting for the others?"  Rebecca asked confused, following slowly.

"George is going to tell them we're off early."  Fred cleared his throat.  "I-I have to talk to you."

Rebecca's heart jumped at his words.  His tone sent thoughts of anxiety and worry roaring violently.  "Okay, of course."  Fred led her faster and faster down the stairs and through the halls, stopping at an intersection abruptly and ducking back behind the wall before.  He pushed her behind him and held her there as Umbridge crossed the corridor ahead of them, her heels clicking sinisterly as she barked orders to Filch without pause.

"What did I tell you to do first?"  Umbridge asked when she was done, knowing that Filch didn't remember.

"Uh, yo-you asked me-asked me to..."  Filch stammered and failed to come up with an answer.

"One thing Hogwarts is in desperate need of is adequate help."

Fred leaned forward after their voices disappeared.  He continued his fast paced walk out of the castle and didn't stop until they were down by the Black Lake--at their table.  The snow gleamed under the winter sun, the frozen surface of the Black Lake twinkling like were layered in diamonds.

Fred waved his wand at their table, clearing it of snow instantly.  He didn't sit though, instead, he walked to the lake's edge and stared out at it.  

Rebecca watched him, she could practically see the mess that was inside of him and she wanted nothing more than to know what had caused it so she could never do it again.  "Did I do something wrong?"

Fred turned at her words, his face coated in surprise.  "You-Of course not!"  Fred walked to her, taking her hands in his and shaking his head.  "No, never."

"Something's going on Fred, something that's upset you."  Rebecca looked up at him.  "I don't...I don't know what could have you like this, but it's something."

"I..."  Fred was ashamed to find that tears were growing in his eyes.  He wiped them angrily.  

Rebecca led him to the bench and sat beside him, taking his hands back in hers tightly.  "Darling, you can tell me anything--anything at all.  We can solve anything, I know it.  But I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

"We have an opportunity."  Fred said after a long moment, taking a breath before continuing.  "There's going to be an opening in Diagon Alley.  Corner shop front with discounted rent, at that."

"I don't understand, that sounds brilliant.  You only have another year of-Oh!"  Rebecca realised at once what he was saying.  "Oh."

"We can back out though!  I can tell George the second we get back and we can cancel it all.  I can stay here with you, protecting you, and we'll continue to sell as we have been."

"Fred!"  A smile grew across her face, and she had pull him back to his feet just to wrap her arms as tightly as she could around him.  "Don't be absurd!  The shop!"  Rebecca froze.  "Molly's absolutely going to kill you two."

Fred ignored her, sitting back down and shaking his head.  "RJ, how can I leave?  Umbridge gets worse everyday and...and I don't know how to be apart from you."

Rebecca's smile dimmed a second before returning to its former brilliance with a more forced quality.  "We will have to be able to function apart from each other at some point or another, Fred.  It won't be easy, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that at all.  But we'll-"

"Owl?"  Fred interrupted.  "Umbridge intercepts all the mail."

"So don't write me any sandwich notes!"  Rebecca laughed, shaking her head.  "I can't believe it--the shop."

Fred turned his gaze down to their hands.  "I didn't think you'd be so happy to be rid of me."

"Happy?"  Rebecca lifted his hands to her lips, kissing the back them sweetly.  "I will be positively heartbroken.  I'll count the minutes, the seconds even, until I get to see you again.  But this is your future!  Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes has been in the works for years.  Years, Fred!  You would be a fool to give an opportunity like this up."

Fred's heart swelled with emotion, her support deciding for him.  "Then I'll tell George that we're moving forward.  But it's not my future--it's ours.  That will be the only way I can justify leaving you."

Rebecca lowered her head in acknowledgement of his correction.  "You'll be waiting until after your birthdays to leave, so that you're both seventeen?"

"Yes, and we had a little idea.  Something we wanted your help with, actually."  Fred explained to her their proposed grand-exit and Rebecca grinned madly.

"That works out perfectly then, doesn't it?"

"What does?"  Fred couldn't help but match her grin at the devious, mischievous tone he was all too familiar with coming from her.

"Well, let's just say you'll be shelving RJ's Rockets upon opening."  Rebecca stood and bowed for him.

"You solved it?"  Fred asked, standing up.

"Yes!"  Rebecca answered happily, linking her hands behind his neck as he spun the two of them in a slow circle.  He bent down and kissed her, passionately, sadly, lovingly.  He raised a hand and set it on the back of her neck, the other resting on her hip.  Fred rest his forehead against hers when he had to pull away from her.

"We could always meet at Hogsmeade when there's an outing, if you're not too busy setting things up."

"Love," Fred shook his head, tilting her chin up so that she was looking at him directly.  "There's nothing in the world that could keep me from you, certainly not 'being busy.'"  Rebecca smiled and closed her eyes, pulling him into another kiss.

They walked back up to the castle slowly, Fred holding her against his side to shield her from the growing winter wind.  "Harry ever say anything?"  He wondered aloud.  "He's been so off lately."

Rebecca sighed.  "He's worried we're moving too fast."

"What?  We haven't done anything!"  Fred smirked and corrected himself.  "Nothing he'd know about at least."

"New Years."  Rebecca gave as an explanation, hoping it would be all he needed.

Fred narrowed his eyes.  "I can't seem to remember.  What're you doing tonight?  Perhaps we should...jog my memory?"

Rebecca laughed.  "That's what's caused all this trouble, sneaking away!  Besides, I have a stupid Snape lesson after detention."

"Blast!"  Fred groaned before growing more serious.  "He's your brother, not your keeper.  Have I ever pushed you to do something you didn't want to do or that you didn't feel comfortable with?"

"Of course not!"  Rebecca's answer was immediate.  "You would never!"

"Then Harry can just keep on his act then."

Rebecca stepped away from Fred as they entered the castle, though she didn't move so far that her fingers couldn't brush against his.  "Would you feel the same if it were Ginny and a bloke?"

Fred thought about his answer before giving it, but only to make sure that it was how he really felt.  "If he was a good lad, good reputation, well-behaved--Why should I intervene?"  Fred looked at Rebecca with a little smile.  "If there's one thing you and Ginny and Hermione can all do, it's manage yourselves."  He paused, having to make a single addition.  "Now, if someone were to hurt her?  Any of you, actually, that's an entirely different story."

Rebecca patted his arm gently.  "Alright, alright.  Let's not get ready for a fight before breakfast, my big, strong saviour."

Fred puffed his chest out, drawing a laugh out of her.  Instantly, he knew the worst part of this year at school--the state of the castle had made it so he wasn't able to hear her laugh as often as other years and that was a crime, at least in his mind.  "After breakfast then."

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