At those words, Sirius abruptly stood off the piano seat and ran downstairs. Everyone else was coming out of their rooms, going to see what Mr. Weasley was saying.

     I was the only one who calmly walked downstairs, knowing that no extreme trouble was going to take place.

    "What do you mean, Arthur!?" Mrs. Weasley rushed out of the kitchen and asked. "What happened!?"

     "They say that he has used magic outside school again. He's already had his first warning, and for the second time, they expel students."

     "What!? He's done magic!?" Sirius asked with panic. "Why?"

     "He used a Patronus Charm, apparently."

     "But – but Harry would never use magic if it wasn't absolutely necessary!" Hermione retorted. "I know he wouldn't!"

     "I know this, Hermione," Mr. Weasley nodded impatiently. "But the ministry wouldn't believe that dementors were there without their order."

     "Well, what now!?" said Mrs. Weasley anxiously. "They can't just expel him!"

     "Dumbledore's now at the ministry," said Mr. Weasley. "He's trying to convince them to give Harry a chance for a hearing before they expel him. We'll just have to wait and hear the end of this."

     Everyone went their separate ways, writing to Harry and telling him to stay put and to look out for himself and not to act rashly.

Not too long after, the good news arrived that Dumbledore had convinced the ministry to form a hearing for Harry.

     There was a small gathering that same night to see who would volunteer to go after Harry the following day.

***

It was late at night that Ginny and Hermione had sneaked into Ron's room to discuss Harry's state anxiously.

     Yet I remained alone in our room, worried that I would let something slip if I joined them.

So I laid there motionless on my bed, staring at the ceiling as I let my mind wonder away.

I couldn't ask Sirius about our conversation anymore now that his thoughts were messed up enough already. I could never allow myself to be selfish and make it worse on him.

I tried to shake the thought away, telling myself that it wasn't an important matter even if he knew my mum. So what? It's a free country. People meet each other and there's no reason to make such a fuss about it.

I was deep inside my thought as silence haunted the shadowy room. But not a second later, a crack sound erupted the place and next moment, Fred appeared next to me on the bed, grinning as he laid there.

I gave a loud yelp at the sudden shock, pushing myself away in a quick motion that I almost fell off the bed.

"Woah, careful there!" said Fred, grabbing my hand and pushing me back on the bed as he laughed.

"Weasley, you git!" I smacked him playfully on the arm. "Why do you keep doing that!?"

"Cause it's fun," he said, chuckling.

"Well, one of these days you'll kill me by giving me a heart attack," I said. "And I promise you that I'll come back to haunt you and then I'll show you fun."

"Well, you can show me fun now," Fred's grin widened and I smacked him on the arm again. "Ouch! Just kidding!"

I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. "Is that why you're here?" I said jokingly.

"How dare you accuse me of such sin, madam?" he gasped dramatically. "Honestly, Lexi, you don't give me enough credit. I'm a true gentleman."

"Then what is it?" I grinned.

"I came here because I wanted to talk to you," he said, but then added with a grin, "I mean, other than wanting the fun."

I glared at him teasingly, but before I could even move, he brought his hands up defensively and said quickly, "Please don't hurt me!"

I shook my head again and giggled, laying back down next to him on the bed on my back, staring up.

"Did you talk to him? Sirius, I mean," he said.

"Err – yeah, I guess – we certainly talked." I said awkwardly.

"Alright. What did he say?"

"Uh – that he – err – likes to play piano."

Fred blinked at me a few times. "And...?"

"And that he used to play as a child."

"And...?"

"And that's it."

"What?" Fred exclaimed, sitting half way up by supporting himself on his elbow. "Then what the heck were you doing there? Getting piano lessons?"

I looked away awkwardly, not answering. Fred's eyes widened and he was about to retort but I beat him into it,

"Look, we only had time to talk for ten minutes. He was about to say something, but then Mr. Weasley came saying that Harry was in trouble."

"What was Sirius going to say, do you suppose?" Fred mused.

"Dunno," I shrugged, turning on my side to face him. "Something about my mum."

"So he knew her, then?"

"Well, he certainly didn't deny it."

"Ugh, you know what? I say forget it!" Fred huffed. "So what if he knows your mum? It's not like he's–"

He stopped himself in mid-sentence and looked away awkwardly.

"It's not like he what?" I urged him to go on, but he just shook his head.

"Never mind."

"Tell me!" I insisted, laughing.

"NEVER!" he yelled back dramatically and so I sat up, trying to tickle him, but failed miserably as he just stared up blankly at me. "Yeah... sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not ticklish."

"Darn it," I sighed, pulling away.

"You better apologize," he said warningly.

"No, thank you." I said stubbornly.

"I'll count to three," he said with a grin. "One,"

"Oh, like what're you gonna do?"

"Two,"

"Oh, no have mercy on me! I'm so scared!" I said sarcastically.

But then I regretted it as soon as Fred counted 'three' and then crawled on top of me, starting to tickle me.

I smiled at him sweetly and he took aback. "Yeah, I'm not ticklish either."

"Damn it," he said under his breath, shaking his head.

But when we both realized that Fred was still straddling me, my face flushed and his ears went red.

"Well," he broke the silence, "now that I'm here..." but his voice trailed away as he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. But when we finally pulled back, we were now both fully red on the face.

     "I love your kisses, Hooper," said Fred, grinning broadly.

I giggled up at him, shaking my head, "You're an idiot, Weasley."

"Yeah, I know. I'm constantly reminded by you," he chuckled. "You've said that like a hundred times."

"Yes, well," I shrugged and smiled. "I guess that's just my weird way of saying I like you."

"Oh, yeah?" Fred grinned mischievously.

     I shrugged and then smiled shyly. "Is that weird?"

     "No. But even if it was, then we would be weird together," he simpered down at me.

     "I'll take it," I smiled back, my eyes roaming into his.

     By that, Fred was just about to lean down again, but he stopped in his tracks when we heard Ginny's and Hermione's voices nearing the door.

     "Goodnight," he whispered, and with one last peck goodbye, he Disapparted out of the room, leaving me a smiling fool.