- 11 - 

I learnt pretty quickly that unlike myself, Fred hadn't packed his class schedule full. It meant that anytime I had a free period, so did he. With the weather slowly warming, we spent a lot of time outdoors. Often we would be together, and slowly our friends would join us. Somehow our two friendship groups had joined together into a rowdy cliche of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors.

"Hey, Fred and George, what're you guys planning for your birthday tomorrow?" Angelina called. She stood about a meter away, throwing a Quaffle back and forth between her self and Cedric. Fred was sitting against a tree, and I sat in between his legs with my back leaning against his chest. At Angelina's question, I shoot forward and turn around to look at Fred properly.

"It's your birthday tomorrow?" I question, "Why didn't you tell me?" I hear someone mutter 'ooh he's in trouble.'

"Uh, I didn't really think it was that important?" Fred chuckles slightly, his answer coming more like a question.

"Wait, you two were born on April first, as in April fools?" Dillon laughs.

"Yeah, I don't know why mum didn't expect us to turn out like we did considering our date of birth," George says as he dives in between Angelina and Cedric, successful stealing the quaffle away from them.

"Don't worry, I wasn't expecting any presents or anything." Fred smiles sweetly at me.

"Hey don't tell her that!" George scoffs humorously, stopping to look back at me with the quaffle under his arm. "Just so you're aware Ellie Darling, I'm expecting an expensive and meaningful gi-- ooft" George gets caught off by Angelina, who tackles him to the ground in an attempt to steal the quaffle back.

"Hey, idea! Seeing as we haven't been able to play Quidditch this year, why don't we organize a midnight Quidditch game?" Lee supplies, sitting up properly from where he had been laying on his back soaking up the sun.

"It'd probably be better to do that Saturday night, seeing as we have class on Friday morning still," Kelby says, barely even looking up from the book he's reading. He's lying on his stomach with Eli laying his head on his back. I can't help but laugh at the two of them and Jamie, whos resting her own head on Eli's stomach. They've made an odd 'U' shape.

"Ah, Kelby, what would we do without your logical ideas," Eli jokes, he swings his hand around the tap Kelby's arm but instead hits the book. With one hand holding his place in his book, his other arm reaches back and slaps Eli's side. Making Eli yelp in pain. After a mutter of agreement and a promise to spread the word to a few other trusted students, (also agreeing that only sixth and seventh year students should be invited) we all return to relaxing in the sun.

"Meet me out front of your common room tonight, around 11 o'clock," Fred says quietly to me, ensuring no one else hers. I turn to look at him in confusion. "I've got something planned, you'll love it. Hopefully." With a small smile on my face, I lean back into his chest.

Five minutes to 11 o'clock I was waiting for Fred in front of the Hufflepuff entrance. I kept my gaze alert, scanning down the hallway for any sign of a patrolling Filch, Miss Norris, or any other person of authority. I wasn't too worried about prefects, mostly because Cedric was patrolling tonight and knew I was meeting Fred. If any other prefect came around the corner, I'm more to sure I'd be able to convince them I was out for a legitimate reason. Other than meeting the guy I was seeing. At 11 o'clock on the dot, Fred appeared out of the portrait that led to the kitchens carrying a picnic basket.

"You did not organize a picnic." I gap in disbelief, "Fred that's so sweet."

"Don't you going telling anyone about this, it'd ruin my street cred." He says seriously, though the corners of his mouth twitch into a smile. He opens up a piece of parchment that was resting on top of the basket. "Did Harry ever tell you about the marauders' map?" He mutters a phrase quickly, and the blank page quickly fills with ink, too fast for me to properly read.

"I heard about it, but never got a proper explanation as to what it actually was." I think back to the night Sirius' innocence was made known. His freedom just insight but cruelly ripped away.

"Well, this is it. If you know the passphrase it shows you a map of the castle and all of its secret passageways." Fred takes my hand and leads me down the hallway. "George and I gave it to Harry last year, but before that, the marauders taught us everything we needed to know about Hogwarts."

"So who are the marauders?" I smirk, already knowing the answer.

"Never figured it out, but if I did I'd probably bow down to Moony, Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs."

"Can I let you in on a secret?" I grin, and he looks at me with a questioning look. "I know who they are."

"You're kidding!" He exclaims, and I quickly shush him. He eyes the map, but when we can't see anybody near us he keeps talking. "Who are they then?"

"Well you met one of them last year, and you have connections to two others." He looks at me blankly. "Professor Lupin is Moony, Prongs was Harry's dad, and Padfoot is my uncle."

"You mean to tell me," He begins with a bewildered look on his face. "Georgie and I have been taking advice from our Defense teacher, our little brother's best friend's dad, and the girl I'm dating's mass-murdering uncle?" I'm caught between wincing and blushing over his comment about Sirius and me. For a moment I had forgotten that Fred still didn't know of Sirius' innocence, but I couldn't deny it felt good to hear the words 'dating' and have it be in reference to me and him. "Do you know who Wormtail is as well?" I frown.

"Just some git they use to be friends with, I'll explain when we get to wherever you're taking me."

"Well, we don't have to wait much longer, cause here we are!" He cheers and before I can shush him again I see where we are. Fred has spread a blanket out on the floor of the astronomy tower, along with cushions and a few candles scattered around to light up the darkroom.

"I'm sorry Fred but I think your reputation has been ruined, you are officially the sweetest person I've ever met." He places the picnic basket in the middle of the blankets and takes a seat next to it, gesturing for me to sit as well.

"It's not too much?" He questions with an uneasy look on his face, "I wanted to spend time with you tomorrow, but George and I haven't ever spent our birthday apart so..."

"It's amazing Fred," I reassure him, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "And of course your spending your birthday with George, I wouldn't expect anything different." I lean across and kiss his cheek. "I love it, though I feel like since it's your birthday in less than an hour, I should've been the one to put all this together. What made you think of all this anyway?"

"Well I promise I'm not a stalker, but I remember back when we both still took astronomy how amazed you were about stars and the night sky," as he mentions it, I look up and at the night sky. Immediately find the Leo constellation, but more importantly the star I now know to be the origin of my father's name. I couldn't count the number of times I had seen this star, even before I knew its name, without realizing the connection I had to it. "Neither of us takes astronomy anymore, so I thought it would be nice to spend some time up here."

"Fred Weasley, have you been watching me?" I joke accusingly.

"Even eleven-year-old me knew you were beautiful," Fred winks, making me laugh and blush. He starts emptying the picnic basket. I laugh again as dessert after dessert gets pulled out.

"Honestly I didn't ask for this much food, but then I mentioned your name and this house-elf jumped up out of nowhere and nearly squealed my ear off. She seriously wouldn't let me leave without this much stuff." He laughs, finally pulling the last dish out of the basket.

"That would be Keekly," I groan, "she's my house elf and is very eager."

"You have a house-elf? Why is she at Hogwarts?" Fred asks, making me realize how much I hadn't told him.

"It's a long story and it connects to the Wormtail thing, and my uncle so I should probably start there." I sigh, running my hand through my hair. Fred listens intently as I explain everything that happened last year, my past, and the things I had inherited. He gapes at the insanity of Sirius' innocence and Ron's involvement in almost proving it last year.

"Well that explains the plot holes in Ron's version of last year's events,' Fred states after a moment of silence. "I still can't believe I'm dating someone that's related to one of the marauders."

"Who said we were dating?" I tease.

"Oh I.. I uh... just thought..." Fred's face turns as red as his hair as he tries to stammer out a response.

"Fred I was joking!" I exclaim, laughing that he actually believed me for a second. He lets out a sigh of relief, "though you never officially asked me..." I joke again, and he sends a fake glare in my direction before sighing dramatically.

"Fine then," He rotates himself so he's kneeling in front of me and grabs both my hands in his. "Elora Adhara Black, daughter of Regulus and..."

"Arianna"

"Daughter of Regulus and Arianna Black, the favorite niece of Padfoot, aka falsely accused murderer Sirius Black, Hufflepuff chaser and prefect, will you please.... Be my girlfriend." He's grinning widely at me, and though I mentally scold myself I think back to when Anthony asked me the same question. Thinking back, even the way we got together was wrong. We had argued, about Fred, ironically, and he asked me out basically to claim me rather than because he liked me. Our whole relationship he tried to control me and prevent me from being with my friends.

Fred though, had set up this incredible date for me, because he wanted to spend time with me. Not with his friends and me sitting silently by his side.

"Wait what's the time?" I said quickly, grabbing his wrist I knew had a watch on it. 11:59 pm. "Give me a second..."

"El what are you-" I watched the seconds tick by. 12 am.

"Yes Fred what-ever-your-middle-name-is Weasley, I will be your girlfriend."

"Okay first, my middle names Gideon and second, why did you wait a minute before answering?" Fred laughs.

"Huh Gideon, that's a nice name," I state, before grinning slyly. "Sirius had a bet with Remus that we'd start dating before April first, so by waiting a minute to say yes, I made Sirius lose. Payback for betting on my relationship."

"That's my girl," he grins, sitting back down next to me. He's closer than before, and I can feel his leg against mine. His arm rests behind my back, supporting both of our weight as I lean into him. He's warm, and I can smell the same faint smell of Apples. I'm still not able to figure out how, and why he smells that way.

"Thank you again, for setting this all up," I say, my voice is barely louder than a whisper. I look at him and see he's already looking at me. Our close proximity means our faces are even closer, so close that I can feel his warm breath ripple across my skin. With the hand that isn't behind my back, he brushes my hair gently out of my face. I stare shamelessly at his face, his freckles making up their own constellations across his cheeks. Slowly we're leaning closer, our breath mingling together, our lips almost touching. It takes everything I have to not rush forwards, longing to know what his lips would feel like on my own. Our lips are moments away from touching when a sound alerts me of something, on someone's presence to our right.

It's the familiar sound of a cat's meow. Both mine and Fred's head's jerk away at the noise. Miss Norris' retreating figure skips down the stone steps of the tower, out of our sight.

"Shit." The words slip from my mouth, paired with a curse of Fred's own. Quickly we scrambled upwards, the idea of what could've been long gone from our minds. Fred flicks his wand, the remnants of our picnic shooting back into the basket. He mutters a shrinking charm, and slips the now miniature basket into his pocket. With one last look at the astronomy tower, I grab Fred's hand and we rush down the steps. Praying for an easy escape, and I'm suddenly thankful for Viktor and his incessant need to make me run with him every Saturday. As we run quietly down a hallway on the seventh floor, Fred glances at the map, finding out quickly that we're trapped. Filch is thundering up the way we came, and a Slytherin Prefect seems to be waiting at the other end.

"El, here quick." Fred pulls open the door of a broom cupboard- one I swear wasn't there a moment ago -sliding in and pulling me in after him. The sudden change in direction makes me stumble on my feet and I collide with Fred. The small cupboard is barely big enough for the supplies that are inside, let alone the two of us. Fred has his back against the wall and I'm facing him with my chest pressed right against his, though my arms separate us. My palms rested on his chest. The broom cupboard, though a tight squeeze seems to be the answer to our prayers as we hear Filch's loud footsteps pass us by. Only after the fear of Filch passes do I realize how close Fred and I actually are. We're standing so close that if we were the same height, our foreheads would be touching. I suddenly became exceedingly aware of his hands on my upper arms, holding me steadily in place. I look up at him, knowing he's already looking down at me. My eyes swept his face once more before settling, involuntarily on his lips. My heart skips a beat.

"We should probably..." He whispers. As he spoke his breath washed across my cheeks. I interrupt him.

"No, no more talking," I state, raising my hands from his chest and wrapping them around his neck. I pull him towards me, lips finally meeting. For a moment, I thought I had misread the situation, that he hadn't been holding out for this moment as I had. But as I pulled away again, he gripped my waist tightly pulling me back into him. A giddy feeling spreads over my chest as we kissed, and all I wanted was to be closer to him. To kiss him longer, to show him how much I was beginning to care for him. I felt the hem of my shirt rise slightly, Fred's hands finding their way underneath the material. His hands gently caressing my waist and the small of my back. His touch was hot and spread goosebumps across my skin, I resisted the urge to shiver.

Unwillingly we pull away, though hovering quietly with our lips millimeters apart.

"I've been wanting to do that all night," Fred whispers, a wide smile spreading across his face. With my arms still wrapped around his neck, I rest my head on his shoulder and giggle quietly. Reluctantly I lean away from him, though the size of the cupboard means we're still relatively close together.

"Check the map, we need to get back to our common rooms." Fred nods and pulls the map out of his pocket, studying it carefully. "We're not too far from your common room, and it's probably better you don't risk going all the way to the ground floor and back up again, I'll be fine walking back on my own."

"Are you sure? I don't mind walking you back." He questions, folding the map back up after seeing the coast is clear. We stumble out of the cupboard and into the corridor.

"If I get caught it's probably better I'm alone, then I can say I'm on Prefect business or needed to visit Caelin. If I'm with you, I can't exactly use that excuse." I explain, and he nods in understanding. "I'll see you in the morning then." As I turn to walk away he catches my hand, spinning me around and back into him. He kisses me quickly and sweetly, though the giddy feeling I felt earlier returns.

"See you in the morning," He smirks and this time I turn around and successfully walk down the corridor. Before I turn the corner I glance back, seeing Fred smiling and leaning against the wall. A cheeky grin spreads across his face. "Sorry El, just enjoying the view."

*

The twins' birthday came and went. On April first, everywhere you looked were pranks set by the twins. I was pretty sure the two of them would be in detention for the rest of the term, at least. The Saturday after their birthday I'm sneaking out after curfew once again. This time for the midnight Quidditch match we had planned earlier. Cedric and I had snuck out of the common room at 11:30, the others deciding to stay behind and sleep. The plan was to meet the others at the Quidditch pitch at midnight, though we weren't sure who we were even meeting anymore.

Fred and George were already at the pitch when Cedric and I arrived. They weren't alone either, a few other sixth and seventh year students were scattered around the pitch including Cho Chang who seemed to be the only exception to our 'sixth and seventh years only' rule. I roll my eyes at Cedric, who has a cheesy, smitten grin on his face as he walks over to where she's standing with another Ravenclaw student.

"Cedric broke our rule, huh?" Fred laughs as I approach, leaning his arm around my shoulders and kissing the side of my head. "Not that I'm complaining, means I can stare at your arse all night without him glaring at me all night." He winks at me and I scoff.

"Alright!" George exclaims, "I'm happy you two are finally dating but can we keep the comments to a minimum while I'm around?" He fake gags and I can't help but laugh. I scan around the pitch and notice Viktor making his way into view. He's accompanied by a Slytherin student I've seen in classes, but never actually spoken to.

"I'll be back guys," I say, ducking under Fred's arm and making my way over to the two boys. "Viktor! Hey! Glad you were able to make it."

"I vouldn't have missed it Elora," He grins, "I hope you don't mind but I brought a friend. I assumed you'd be preoccupied with the Veasley boy for most of the night." I roll my eyes at his teasing comment and turn to the other boy.

"Hey, I'm Elora." I introduce myself, offering my hand for him to shake. "We have Potions together right?" He nods his head and accepts my hand.

"And Herbology, though I doubt you noticed me seeing as you're always with one of the Weasley twins." The boy smirks at me, and my eyes widen in surprise at the way he's already teasing me. "Sebastian, but most people call me Seb."

"I'd say it's nice to properly meet you but you're already teasing me about my boyfriend so that wouldn't be truthful." I joke, and he smirks in amusement. "Well I think everyone who's coming is here, so we'll start the game soon." The two boys nod and follow me back towards where Fred and George are still standing.

"Alright everyone!" Lees voice calls over the quiet discussions of the other students. "I'm gonna be the referee, but first the rest of you need to get into teams. Seeing as there's only ten of you, I'm thinking, three chasers, one beater, one seeker? "