I'm sitting at the dining table with Julian and Allie and Lee eating breakfast before class when George and Fred enter the dining hall. I catch George's eyes and wave, and then I turn to Fred just to see him blanch under my gaze and turn away, whispering something to George over his shoulder before leaving quickly. George's eyes widen in understanding of Fred's words, but by the time he arrives at our table his expression is neutral.

"Where's your other half?" Lee says confusedly, glancing around. I guess he's expecting to see Fred hiding behind something, ready to scare him, because he visibly relaxes when George replies.

"Smells like raspberries," George explains vaguely, leaning over the table to grab a box of cereal and pour a mountain into his bowl.

Lee nods in understanding, but Jullian, Allie and I look between them with confused expressions on our faces. Seeing this, Lee fills us in. "Raspberries in general make Fred feel sick, but the smell is really what gets him. Dunno why, but he's had the problem since I met him. They made raspberry tarts this morning, so he'll be spewing his guts out by now."

"That's terrible," Allie says, scrunching up her nose.

"Gross," Julian mumbles, not really listening. He's too busy staring at a Ravenclaw girl intensely.

"Dude," I say, smacking his arm to jolt him out of his reverie. "Do you even know her name? Or are you just going to eye-fuck her from afar?"

Julian snorts unattractively. "Of course I know her name," he replies smoothly. "Okay, munchkins. I'm gonna go flirt. See you in Charms!" And with that, he starts to saunter away towards his latest conquest, but he turns back and leans over our table. "Her name is Cho Chang."

Allie hisses through her teeth, shaking her head as she takes a bite of her scrambled eggs.

"What is it?" George says.

"Cho is... unavailable. Not that she knows it. I guarantee that he's here," she says, scanning the room for someone. She grins when she's found him. "There he is. This should be good."

"Who's here? What?" Lee says, furrowing his brows.

Allie points, and we follow her finger. I burst out laughing when I see who it is, because Julian is so dead. Cedric Diggory is sitting at the Hufflepuff table, clenching his fists and glaring at Julian, who is leaning against the Ravenclaw table and shooting Cho his most dazzling smile. It's hard not to know who Cedric is- not only is he in my Potions class, but he's immensely popular. Everyone knows that he has eyes for Cho, and Ben Finkle had a black eye for days after Cedric saw him staring up Cho's skirt in the library.

Cedric stands up, and Julian immediately sees and pales a little. He murmurs a few words to Cho, who blushes and looks at the ground, and then he makes his way... towards Cedric?

They stand very close to each other and talk quickly, and I'm almost certain that Cedric is about to punch him but then Julian says something short and they're both laughing together. Boys.

When Julian comes and sits back down at our table, we're all staring at him incredulously. Fred and Lee poke his cheeks a few times to make sure he's really here, and he laughs. "Dude! What happened?" Lee says excitedly.

"We were all sure you were gonna die, mate," George adds.

"First of all, thanks for the vote of confidence," Julian says, chuckling. "And second of all, we talked, and I realized I was overstepping. I thought she was fair game, but Ced called dibs, so..."

I spit out my pumpkin juice and it sprays all over my food. I ignore it and stare wide eyed at Julian, and I see that Allie is doing the same. "I'm sorry, what? He called dibs?" I say.

"Yeah," Julian shrugs. "Bro code."

I blink a few times, unable to say anything, and Allie cuts in. "Bro code! You can't call dibs on a person, Julian. Cho is a human being, not the last slice of pizza or the passenger seat of a car."

Julian thinks for a moment, before he shakes his head. "That's not what I meant," he says sheepishly. "I know she's a person, obviously. I meant dibs like 'he's liked her for longer, he's been trying for longer.' I gotta give him a bit of time."

Allie eye rolls so hard that only the whites of her eyes are visible. "You're off the hook this time. But if I ever catch you suggesting that women are objects again mister, me and Vee and the rest of the female student body will rip off you balls and feed them to you. Capiche?"

For such an innocent looking person, Allie is vicious. Julian can only nod his head shakily in response, and Allie just grins and props her head on her hands. "So, what class do you guys have next?"

**

I'm on my way to Transfiguration after a very long and boring Charms class when I realize I forgot my textbook in my room. "Shit," I breathe, dashing up the stairs all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. I'm panting when I get to the top of the stairs and after I heave out the password to the Fat Lady, the door swings open and I rush inside.

I take a moment to breathe and lean over, putting my hands on my knees and ducking my head before straightening up and running up the stairs to my dorm. I open my trunk and rummage through it, breathing a string of curse words to myself before I finally find the worn book.

Right before I leave the common room, I notice someone out of the corner of my eye hunched over on the couch. I turn back and with a start, I realize that it's Fred. There's no sign that he's seen me when I come closer- he's curled around a bucket in front of the fire, and he's gotten changed out of his robes and into checkered pajama pants and a large sweater with a G on the front of it. He finally sees me and looks up, and I take a deep breath in when I see how terrible he looks.

Sweat beads on his forehead, and he looks positively green. His eyes are glazed, but they focus when he sees me and he manages a small smile in greeting. I sit down beside him on the couch, and he untangles himself from the bucket and turns to me. "How are you?" I ask, putting my elbow on the top of the sofa and propping my head on my hand.

"Better now that you're here," he mumbles. I'm not entirely sure that he knows what he's saying- he looks exhausted.

"Okaay, Fred. Can I get you anything?" I ask, putting my hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He's beginning to drift off to sleep, and I shake him awake.

He stares sleepily at my hand on his shoulder before replying. "M'okay," he says softly.

"Why are you so tired all of a sudden?"

"Dunno... I think it's 'cos I threw up a bunch of times and I had a really late night last night anyways. Also-" he stops talking abruptly and sneezes a few times before looking back at me. "I think I may be getting a cold."

"Alright then," I say, and then I have an idea. "Stay right here, Fred." He looks at me pointedly. "Right. Okay, well, try not to die while I'm gone, I'll be back in a few minutes."

I've never run so fast in my life. I sprint all the way to the kitchens, thankful that classes are already in session because the corridors are empty, but I'm also worried, because I'm missing transfiguration. Hopefully Allie will cover for me (she's in my class)- and besides, Fred is more important than turning a mouse into a water goblet.

I skid to a stop in front of the kitchens and push the door open. Not many of the house elves look up, but I spot the one I'm looking for and she spots me. "Mi- Venus!" Nimmy exclaims, darting towards me and wrapping me up in a tight hug. "Nimmy has missed you," she says shyly.

"I've missed you too, Nimmy!" I reply, making her blush. "I was actually wondering if you could do me a favour."

"Yes, Venus, of course!" she replies, clapping her hands together a little. "What would you like me to do?"

"Well, Fred is actually sick today with a cold. He isn't feeling well at all, so I was thinking- maybe you could whip up a soup or hot chocolate or something to warm him up and make him feel better? If it's not too much trouble, of course."

"That's a brilliant idea, Venus! Nimmy and her friend, Leonardo, will make soup and hot chocolate for Mr. Fred, and he can have one now and one later!" she says, clapping her hands again and dashing off to find Leonardo, who is a stocky, kind looking elf with violet eyes.

I sit down on one of the crates and watch Nimmy and Leonardo race around, grabbing ingredients and stirring things in pots excitedly. At one point, Nimmy is struggling to reach garlic from one of the top shelves, and Leonardo just bounces over and crouches a little. Without blinking an eye, Nimmy scrambles nimbly up his back and grabs the garlic before climbing back down, shooting a warm smile at Leonardo before rushing over to a cutting board and chopping the garlic with lightning speed. She explains while she's working that she can use magic to speed things along, but she's not particularly good and ends up spilling things a lot.

In almost no time I am being presented with two flasks, each with a tag on the cap, reading: 'hot chocolate' with a smiley face and 'chicken and mushroom soup' with a heart in neat writing. I'm also informed that the flasks are both charmed so that the liquids inside will stay warm all the time. I thank Leonardo and Nimmy profusely before I'm on my way.

When I get back to the common room, Fred is trying (and failing) to stay awake. I quietly enter without him noticing and watch as he drops his head every few seconds before awakening with a start. Chuckling a little to myself, I walk over and sit beside him. He grins widely when he sees me, and then a little brighter when he sees the flasks in my hand.

"I have two gifts for you: hot chocolate and chicken and mushroom soup, courtesy of Nimmy and Leonardo."

"Nimmy and Leo made this for me?" he repeats, smiling like a Cheshire cat as he looks at the flasks happily.

"They did. Now, which one do you want first?" I ask.

"hmmm," Fred hums, furrowing his brows. "Soup."

I hand the flask to him and he unscrews the cap, taking a sip. It instantly brings a little colour to his startlingly pale face, and he lies back happily. He sits up, sneezes, and then settles back down, curling into the corner of the couch and taking another gulp of the soup. Despite the warmth of the liquid, he still shivers a little, crossing his arms and bringing his knees up to his chest.

I lean over him to take the blanket off of the arm of the couch, and as I return to my previous position, I take notice of how wide Fred's eyes are, and how his breathing is shallow. My heart beats fast in my chest, and I can feel a blush creeping up my neck as I cross my legs underneath me. I unfold the blanket and put it over him and he murmurs his appreciation and closes his eyes.

Not long after that, his breathing slows, signifying that he's asleep. Quietly I get up and pull the blanket over his chest and begin tip-toeing carefully away. When I do this, Fred's hand shoots out from under the blanket and gently clutches my wrist. His fingers are like icicles, but I can ignore it due to the fact that holy shit my heart has stopped, and then Fred murmurs, "stay," and it's like I'm falling off a very tall cliff.

With shaky hands, I sit down and lift the blanker up, covering part of my legs. I can see why Fred is cold- being so high up, it can get pretty drafty in the tower sometimes and today is one of those days. Fred groggily opens one eye and catches me shivering. He wiggles closer to me, and I'm happy now because a little more of the blanket is covering me. Stretching his legs out so they're on my lap, he sighs contentedly. I lean over and gently pry the flask of soup out of his hands, putting it down gently on the table in front of us beside the other flask.

"Hey, Aphrodite?" Fred says quietly, his eyes still closed.

Since there's no one else here, I assume he's speaking to me, and I blush a little at the nickname. "Yes?"

"Can you sing to me?"

My eyes widen a little at the request, but I find myself nodding. Realizing he can't see me with his eyes closed, I open my mouth to reply. "O-okay," I stutter.

Shit, what songs do I know? I know a lot of classic rock since my uncle was a big fan, but that's not really a good lullaby song. Suddenly, a flashback to when I was younger comes into my head, and I smile. It's the perfect song.

"Are you gonna sing?" Fred says hopefully.

"I wouldn't sound so happy about it, Weasley. I'm a terrible singer."

"I'll let my ears be the judge of that," he replies softly, shifting his legs over on my lap to get comfortable.

"Okay, um, this is a song my mom used to sing to Lee when he was younger."

"Why didn't she sing it to you?"

"Because I'm three minutes older than Lee, I insisted that I was a 'big girl' and didn't need a song to go to sleep. That was a lie- I couldn't go to sleep without hearing the song. It worked out fine though, because me and Lee shared a room and my mom would sing it louder on purpose so I could hear it."

"What happened-"

Already knowing the ending to his question, I cut him off. "Do you want me to sing or not?"

Fred nods vigorously, and then winces at the pain the motion gives him.

"Okay. Here goes:

Hold me close and hold me fast

This magic spell you cast

This is la vie en rose.

When you kiss me, heaven sighs

And though I close my eyes

I see la vie en rose.

When you press me to your heart

I'm in a world apart

A world where roses bloom.

And when you speak angels sing from above

Every day words

Seem to turn into love songs.

Give your heart and soul to me

And life will always be

La vie en rose."

Fred lets out a long sigh, and then he's dead to the world. I manage to slip away quickly up to my dorm and grab a book, and then I sit down and lift Fred's legs and slide back into my original position.

I read for a little while- I'm not quite sure how long it is, but the fire has almost died out by the time I finish my book. Not wanting to wake Fred (and also secretly being very content here), I just sit and watch Fred. It sounds really creepy, but I promise it's not like that. I realize I haven't really had a chance to really look at Fred- ever since I met him, everything has been so busy that I never really observed him properly.

His flaming hair sticks up messily all around his head, and his face is peaceful as he sleeps. Long, dark eye lashes fan out over his cheekbones, and his cheeks are tinged with a little colour now. He has pink, full lips and they pout slightly as he exhales.

It suddenly occurs to me that I probably should've taken Fred to see the nurse, but it's too late now. He's sleeping it off, which I am glad for, and he's already looking a little better. Besides, I kind of like taking care of him. I used to play doctor on Lee when we were little, and then when the accident happened, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't play doctor on them.

*FLASHBACK*-

"Mummy, can me and Lee have ice cream when we get to the park?" I asked, playing with the sleeve of my winter jacket and swinging my legs up and down in my car seat.

My entire family was going on an outing to our local park to build snowmen and go ice skating.

"I think so, darling. If you both are good," my mum replied, twisting around to smile at us.

"ICE CREAM!" Lee squealed, wiggling in his seat.

"I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!" Lee and I chorused, clapping our hands together.

My dad winced a little at our volume, and my mum turned around to look at us. "Try and be quiet, alright guys? Daddy is trying to drive and it's very icy here."

Lee and I nodded, giggling a little to each other, and then when my mum twisted around to face the front again, we sang again. "I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!"

"Shhh," my mum replied.

"I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!"

"KIDS!"

"I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!"

It happened quickly, but it felt so slow.

My dad twisted around.

"I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM WE ALL SC-"

The car skidded.

We hit a post.

We rolled off the road and down a hill into a ravine.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six times we rolled.

We came to a stop upsidedown. I could hear Lee screaming loudly, struggling to unclip his seatbelt. I felt something trickle up my face and into my head, and I could taste something metallic in my mouth. Lee finally freed himself from his seat and crawled over to me, cutting himself on the broken glass of the windows as he reached me. With fumbling hands, he managed to unclip my seatbelt and I tumbled down, hitting my back hard on the glass. I let out a small yelp, but I gathered my determination and helped Lee free the door off of it's almost-broken hinges. Lee lay on his back, and after three hard kicks, the door was off. I got out first, and I hissed at the cold snow on my hands and knees. I sat back and wiped my face of the salty tears that I didn't realize I was crying. When my hands came away from my face, I gasped at the amount of blood on them. Frantically, my fingers moved around my face and located two gashes- one small one on my forehead which was bleeding a lot, and then a large wound below my left eyebrow that was deep. My fingers curled around the large piece of glass imbedded in it, and I screamed at the sudden searing pain.

I clenched my fists to stop my hands from shaking and shuffled over to the front of the car, maneuvering myself over the driver seat door which was torn off its hinges with the force of impact. My heart was beating so hard in my chest that I was sure it would burst as I slowly leant down and peered into the wreck for a sign of my parents.

What I saw stunned me.

The airbag in the driver's seat hadn't deployed properly, so my dad had a ton of abrasions on his head from slamming into the steering wheel, as well as wounds where he'd slammed against his seatbelt. When I looked at him, my blood ran cold. He had no other visible injuries, except for a nosebleed, which had stopped trickling blood. He wasn't breathing, and I knew somehow in my seven-year-old brain that he wouldn't wake up. I wanted so badly to shut down, to just curl into a ball and cry until the end of time, but I didn't. I wasn't aware of this at the time, but I was slowly beginning to go into shock and would soon be hysterical. Oblivious to my broken rib and other injuries, all I could focus on for some reason was getting my dad out of the car. I leaned over him and bit back a sob as my hand brushed his and felt how cold it was. I jerked the seatbelt and my dad slammed down onto the roof of the car.

"Lee," I yelled