TIME SEEMED TO MOVE FASTER AS THE SCHOOL YEAR NEARED ITS END. The new development of Fred's  good dream assuring sleeping draught had effectively left Dev much more well-rested. She no longer passed out in random corridors, but rather slept fully every night in her bed. The potion kept the nightmares at bay, and she was relieved to find she had yet to have another vision.

Still, despite no signs of her gift resurfacing, she knew it wasn't truly gone. Some part of her felt as if it was bubbling underneath the surface, lying in wait to show her something else. Plus, she still had these unexplainable feelings pooling in her gut. Some part of her knew something bad was to come, but with no concrete clues, she tried to simply push it away.

Fred and her never spoke about the position they had woken up in the day after his birthday. Still, it didn't prevent George and May from teasing them relentlessly about it. Even Lee had caught on, occasionally throwing in his own jests about the two. In response, Dev would simply blush and roll her eyes, while Fred would turn it into a joke. Although it hurt Dev somewhat to hear him write it off, she pushed the situation to the back of her mind and forced herself to focus on just being his friend. After nearly losing the twins months before, she couldn't risk being in that situation again.

Now, the four of them, as well as Lee, stood and waited as the champions entered the third and final task. While the students had been encouraged to sit with their houses, everyone had ignored that wish and mixed together. This wasn't a house competition, but rather a competition amongst schools, and thus all of the students were pooling together.

"We can't even see anything." Fred groaned, rocking back and forth on his heels. He had far too much energy to sit still and watch nothingness, waiting for the competitors to return.

"What do you think is in the maze?" May thought aloud, narrowing her eyes. "The task makers clearly felt students were capable of going against dragons and potentially drowning, I'd hate to imagine what they're dealing with now."

"Fred or I should be in there." George huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Bloody age limit."

"I can't believe you'd want to be in this tournament!" May threw her hands up before gesturing out at the arena in front of them. "It's barbaric, having kids fight dragons or put their loved ones at the bottom of a bloody lake."

May continued babbling on for a few more moments, not at all deterred by the groans Fred and George let out. When she began talking about protections and rules at muggle schools and how Dumbledore could learn a thing or two from them, Dev tuned her out. To her right, Fred caught her eye as he gazed at her with a lazy grin, raising his eye brows as if to say 'does she ever stop?' and Dev giggled in response.

After some time, May, Fred, George, and Lee were in a heated argument over muggle sports versus magical ones. There was clearly not going to be any winning, seeing as the twins and Lee knew little about muggle sports compared to May, so Dev tuned them out. Eventually, Fred tore his attention away from the discussion as well, letting his eyes fall on the girl beside him.

"Have you still been sleeping alright?" His voice was low as he spoke directly to her, nudging her lightly with his elbow.

"Yeah, I have." Dev beamed up at him as she nudged him back. "I can't thank you enough, you know."

"No need to thank me." Fred shook his head. "It's what friends do."

Right. Friends.

Dev bit her lip in response and nodded, doing her best to conceal the disappointment flowing through her. It was strange, though. She had spent so much time at the beginning of the school year wallowing and heartbroken over the state of their platonic relationship. Now, months later, she was much more content accepting what they had, but a new little voice lingered in her head. Something had changed between them during that time, or so she thought. Fred was no longer the boy cluelessly breaking her heart by asking another a girl to the Yule ball. No, now they had shared a handful of moments that felt just a tad too intimate to be friendly, and it gnawed at her trying to just forget them.

"Freddie," A thought sprung to the forefront of her mind as she tried to distract herself from his words. "How have you been affording to make these potions? The ingredients must cost an arm and a leg."

Fred turned sheepish at her question, slowly tearing his gaze from her. His arm raised up and scratched at the back of his neck, which Dev knew was a telltale sign he was nervous.

"Er, just been using some of our profits from the bets and products and such." He mumbled, almost as if he didn't want her to hear him properly.

"What?" Dev exclaimed, turning to fully face him now. "Fred, you must be joking. You're supposed to be saving up for the shop!" When he didn't respond, she let out a small sigh. Of course she wasn't truly cross with him, but guilt had begun to pool in her stomach. Money was always a sore subject with them, and she knew they had been saving for ages to one day make their dream a reality. Him wasting any of the money on her made her feel lousy. "I'll pay you back, I hadn't thought about it. I'm sorry."

"No!" Fred was a little too quick to reply. He turned and faced her as well, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Dev, please, don't worry about it. I want to do this."

Dev wanted to argue further, but she knew it would fall on deaf ears. Fred was stubborn, which was something she normally found endearing about him, but in this moment, it frustrated her. Silently, she decided she'd force George to take money from her and promise not to tell Fred later. Fred let a smile spread across his face when Dev finally nodded, clearly glad she wouldn't be arguing with him further.

"Oi, love birds, I think someones back!" Lee swatted at Fred's shoulder, effectively pulling his attention away from Dev and back out towards the maze. In the time that the others had been arguing, Fleur and Krum had already been taken out of the maze, but hadn't won. Now, they were just waiting for the two Hogwarts students.

The entire crowd of students seemed to lean in closer, deafening cheers beginning to ring all around as people realized both students were back with the trophy. A smile spread on Dev's face and she let out a cheer along with the others. She found herself looking around for Cho, knowing the girl would be ecstatic by her boyfriend's success.

Dev wasn't sure how it happened, because everything seemed like a flurry of loud sounds and chaos. The first thing she noticed was the cheerful victors music cutting out, but the cheers remained. As she squinted closer, her eyebrows knit together as she realized the sporadic movements of Harry didn't seem to be from him celebrating. And Cedric, well, he wasn't moving at all.

The cheers slowly began to quiet as a loud feminine cry rung through the crowd. It was a pained, awful kind of shouting that made Dev's knees buckle. At some point, May's hand had snaked down and clutched Dev's, both of their eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"He's back! He's back, Voldemort's back!" Harry sobbed.

The name alone sent a chill down Dev's spine, and the crowd collectively seemed to stiffen in fear.

"Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him." His sobs grew louder, and Dev felt her breath hitch in her throat. Beside her, May squeezed her hand tightly, though neither dared to pull their eyes away.

How could this be happening? How could Dev witness the lifeless body of a 17-year-old boy again, not even 6 months later? Cedric couldn't be dead, he simply he couldn't. No, Dev felt like she should have known. Surely, this is something she should have been shown, isn't that what her blasted gift was for?

Perhaps if she hadn't spent so many months trying to push it away, she would have seen this coming. She couldn't let herself dwell on that worry too much, though, because some part of her knew that if death aimed to hold Cedric in its clutches, no matter how young or how good he was, then she could not stop it. Not without the repercussions.

Everyone seemed paralyzed in confusion, fear, or a mix of the two. Surely, everyone had heard what Harry had just exclaimed, but no one could fathom it being real. Time seemed frozen for a moment, until Dev sensed movement somewhere far to her right. As she tore her eyes away, she saw the crowd parting down the line, muffled yells coming from someone.

"That's my son!"

Dev's heart shattered as she realized what was happening. While she had never met Cedric's father, the man now in view hurrying towards the scene was surely him. She let out a whimper, raising her free hand to cover her mouth and stifle her incoming sobs.

While she expected the tears to begin to pool and fall any moment, they didn't. No, her surroundings seemed to go hazy, the only thing in clear view being Cedric's body and those surrounding it. Her mouth ran dry as the familiar sensation began to wash over her, but she found she didn't have the energy to fight it. Her hand went slack in May's, drawing the girl's attention to her.

"Dev?" May spoke quietly, her voice laced with concern. Realization seemed to wash over her, as she let go of her hand to grip Dev's shoulder. The last thing Dev heard before everything went blank was May's desperate pleas; "No, not here. Not now."

Dev was in the halls of Hogwarts, she was certain of that, but everything seemed to be in ruins. There were shouts all around her, spells whizzing by and people fleeing in various directions. It was a war zone, the only way she could explain it.

Dev spun on her heels, searching desperately for anything familiar. The school no longer held the warmth and comfort she was used to, the sight alone making her stomach drop. Could this really be the future that lie ahead for them?

Her attention was pulled further down the corridor by the sound of the familiar laugh she loved so much. She almost wanted to smile, the idea that Fred could joke in the middle of a battle bringing some comfort to her. But, any affection she held was fleeting as she tore down the hall towards the sound.

She found Fred with Percy, blasting spells at what Dev could only assume were death eaters. She walked through one, coming to face Fred head on as he shouted another spell with a grin plastered on his face. He was clearly aged from when she saw him in real time, but she couldn't tell by how much. The thought scared her, not knowing how far in the future this premonition lie.

"You're joking, Perce!" Fred shouted after successfully stunning the death eater. He turned his attention to his older brother, a gleeful expression on his face. "You're actually joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were—"

Before Fred could finish, he was cut off by the air exploding around him. Dev cried out as rubble flew through her, bracing herself despite knowing she couldn't actually be harmed. When the rocks began to settle and only dust rose through the air, the realization of what had happened hit her.

Fred lie there beneath the debris, unmoving. His eyes were still open, his signature grin still on his face, but it was all lifeless. Perhaps there was shouting, but Dev couldn't hear it over the sound of her own shrieks. She dropped to her knees, desperately clawing at the crumbled wall that confined him to no avail. Her hands simply sank right through them, nothing budging even an inch. Eventually, she resigned to just cup his face, although she could not truly feel it beneath her finger tips. Ron was now kneeling beside her and Percy was shaking Fred in front of her.

"No." Dev breathed out, unable to fathom the scene before her.

Dev half expected the battle to come to a screeching halt. It had to, right? If Fred died, then the world had ended. Her world had ended.

Unable to look at his lifeless face any longer, Dev forced herself to stand and turn away from the scene. She saw Harry and Hermione, looking speechless as they gazed upon the Weasley brothers. The looks on their faces made her knees weak, and she wondered if she were going to collapse altogether.

Then, her anger came. An excruciating kind of anger. The kind that should make anyone fearful to come across her.

The universe had forced her to witness the loss of the two of the people closest to her. It dangled tragedies before her eyes, laughing at her mortal helplessness. In a fit of frustration, Devora screamed out with all of her fury and sadness. Then, she squeezed her eyes shut, and forced herself back to the present.

When her eyes began to see again, she was no longer in the stands. Instead, it seemed her friends had whisked her away from the scene, effectively escaping the crowd Dev could hear in the distance. Students seemed to be returning to the castle, being ushered along by professors, but the four friends were hidden in a blanket of darkness some feet away. May was squeezing her hand to the point of pain, while Fred and George kneeled beside her. Lee must have disappeared in the chaos.

They hadn't seem to notice that she had come to, and she was far too traumatized to produce words. Her eyes flickered ever so slightly to her friends' faces, noticing the pain in May's eyes as she sobbed—probably both from Cedric's death and from Dev's visions returning. She noticed that George looked terrified and lost, never having experienced this with Dev before. Finally, her eyes flickered to Fred, who was racked with concern and pain, but had a look of remembrance gracing his features as well.

"Bee?" Fred was the first to notice the hazy, far-off look in her eyes disappear. He exhaled a sigh of relief when her eyes flickered towards him. The sight of him brought a pool of emotions to flood through her, and she found herself desperately pulling him into an embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder, her grip on him tight as if he could slip away any moment.

"I saw..." She sputtered as she pulled back, trying to find the words. Her mind was too flooded with the horrors of her vision to think rationally, to try and conceal what had just happened. "I saw it. Everything was chaos. T-there were people fighting, and spells were flying by and—" Her eyes drifted to May, unable to speak the words to Fred himself. "And he died."

"Hey, hey," Fred began trying to soothe her, pulling her into him once more. "It's over. Whatever you saw, you're here now. There's nothing we can do now."

"What is she talking about?" George spoke next, leaning in closer to Dev. "Cedric? How could you have seen it?"

Dev pulled back once more, letting her eyes return to May. Dev took in the way that tears streaked down her face as she silently cried. Only May realized that Dev wasn't talking about Cedric, because she had never seen the past before. No, May knew the raw pain in her best friend's voice, she noticed the way she couldn't look at Fred when she spoke those words. May knew Dev had seen Fred's death.

Dev drew in a shaky breath, knowing this was finally it. She finally had to tell the twins the truth, the entire truth. May recognized the decision she was coming to, giving her a reassuring nod and squeezing her hand lightly before letting out another sob.

"I'm going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me." Dev worked to control her breathing. Gently, she removed her hand from May's. She sat up on her knees and wiped at her eyes, but every old tear she brushed away was replaced by new ones. Looking firmly between both boys, she drew in all of her strength and continued. "I-I, I get these visions. From time to time. I s-see things."

The air was painfully silent as the boys took in her words. George seemed hesitant, or confused, but he leaned into her nonetheless as he waited for her to continue. Dev let her eyes wander to Fred, expecting him to look at her like she was out of her mind. Instead, she found he was looking at her softly, no shock in his expression.

"Y-you," The realization hit her all at once. "You knew?"

"Well, yeah." Fred reached out and gently tamed some of her messy hair, tucking it behind her ear. George was looking between the two like they were insane, half-expecting that they were pranking him. But, he seemed to calm down when he saw the seriousness in Dev's eyes.

"How?" Her voice was soft as she basked in the comfort of his touch. After what she saw, she was certain she never wanted to leave his side again.

"After that night, at the fair..." Fred trailed off, knowing bringing up the subject may just be too much for the group to handle. He drew in a deep breath, then he continued. "Then I thought back to the weird textbooks you've been lugging around all year, and you dropped Divination, so I knew they weren't for school. And, well, I checked some of them out myself. Kind of just put it together."

"The fair..." George seemed caught on the earlier part of Fred's confession, his expression dropping. "That's why you did it, isn't it? You saw something happening to..." He trailed off, letting his eyes wander to May. Dev saw him gulp before he slowly rose and pulled the still crying girl into a tight embrace.

Dev watched them for a moment before letting her attention return to Fred, a flurry of questions racing through her mind. Her world felt like it was spinning, too much had happened in one night and she couldn't possibly keep up.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Dev searched his eyes, her body growing warm as she took in the way he was looking at her. Somewhat bashfully, he looked away, letting his hand drop down on top of hers. He began rubbing soothing circles on the back of it, but he couldn't meet her eyes.

"I would do anything for you, Bee." His voice was soft, just loud enough for her to hear it. "I wanted you to be comfortable. I trust you, I knew you'd tell me eventually, when you were ready."

Words were lost on her as she took in the boy in front of her. So, instead, she pulled him into another embrace.

And so they stayed like that, the group alternating between holding one another and sobbing. Although none of them had been particularly close to Cedric, the night's events brought back a trauma they had been trying to get past. And no one should die so young. Once they were finally ready, they stalked back to the castle silently, parting ways despite wanting nothing more than to remain together.

When Dev was finally under the covers of her bed, staring absently at the ceiling above her, she realized she was out of tears. She could hear her other two roommates sobbing in their beds, but May was silent as well. At some point, her bed shifted from the weight of someone pressing down on it, and Dev lifted her comforter to allow May to wriggle in.

"You didn't see Cedric's death tonight, did you?" May whispered into the dark, although she already knew the answer.

"No." Was all Dev could muster to reply.

"When?" May let out a shaky breath. "When is it going to happen?"

"I don't know." Dev admitted, and it terrified her. "But I know I'm going to stop it."

"Dev..." May trailed off, but she knew there was no arguing with her. The two fell into silence once more, neither looking at the other.

Fred's words continued to replay in Dev's mind. How he knew, how he had paid attention to even the books she carried around, how he'd do anything for her, how he trusted her. The last part sent a knife through Dev's heart, knowing that he trusted her when she didn't feel she deserved it. She had kept so much from him.

As she continued to gaze into nothingness, she decided that she had to speak with him. She had to tell him what she was keeping from him.

Maybe then, she would be worthy of the boy who would do anything for her.

author's note!

I've been WAITING for this one.

very much heartbreaking. a lot going on. very long.

I hope you enjoy, this chapter is just about one of the biggest turning points of the story. It's titular, and it's what I've been waiting to come to for awhile. Let me know your thoughts!

rose <3