And then you say
I want you for worse or for better

And that's how it works
That's how you get the girl, girl

"DO YOU REALIZE THAT IF I WANTED TO, I could just invoke the agreement and make you tell me who you like, don't you?" Less than a week had passed since Fred had started following Amalie's plan, still only having reached the first step. But, Amalie's words, if he went too fast in following the plan, it could become very obvious to the girl.

Fred doubted that.

"But you wouldn't do it, am I right?" Frederick smiled, knowing full well that what he was saying was true.

Amalie could very well threaten that she would do it, but she would never do it. Being almost as much a Hufflepuff as a Gryffindor, Amalie would never force Fred to tell her who he was in love with, knowing that if he felt comfortable with it, he would do it.

"I could do it!" She defended, crossing her arms.

The Weasley looked at her skeptically. "Lie."

"Ok, you're right." Stone sighed in surrender. "But if I really wanted to know, I'd find a way for you to tell me."

"I'm sure you would, Lie." He shook off the thought that if she asked him that, he would tell her right away, being incapable of lying to her or even omitting something like that. "Well, what's the second step?"

Amalie's face lit up with delight, and, putting one arm into her pocket, she fumbled in the space inside her skirt, pulling out a notepad. Fred leaned close to her to see what she was writing there, but was waved away by Lie.

"Step two" she read. ", reassurance."

"Have you been reading dictionaries with Hermione again?"

"That only happened once, and it doesn't come to the point. It's more worrying that you don't know what that means than that I'm reading dictionaries — not that I still do."

"Of course, you pretend you don't do it and I'll pretend to believe you."

"Oh, shut up, Frederick." She complained, smiling. "Any girl likes to feel reassured, whether it's in a friendship or a relationship. Now, I assume you two are already friends, at least for you to be so in love. Try to start by reassuring her about your friendship."

"Forgive me for my ignorance, but how do I do that?" The redhead listened attentively, or at least that was what Stone thought, holding on to that hope as motivation to continue explaining everything to the boy, word for word.

"I don't know, you can tell her that you'll never abandon her, that you'll always be there, and that your friendship is very important to you." She shrugged. "I can't just give you everything so easily, can I?"

"Of course not." As if you ever would, Fred thought, but didn't say it. "Oh, and I know what 'reassurance' means, I just wanted to see you explain everything, it's more interesting."

"Go fuck yourself, Weasley."

"Always so kind, Stone."

.

"Why are girls so complicated?"

"Are you asking me? I don't know."

"Who else would I ask?"

"Good point, Freddie."

Last meal of the day and, therefore, time to complain about everything possible: boring classes, such as History of Magic with Binns, traumatic classes, such as Defense Against the Dark Arts with Umbridge, the new Hogwarts teacher who had already shown who she really was, or just less good moments throughout the day. This time could also be used to spread news that had been heard during the day — such as who was caught with whom in Myrtle's bathroom —, or just to comment on trivial matters of no importance whatsoever.

Sitting right in the middle of the long wooden table in the Great Hall, Fred and George ate slowly, facing each other, taking advantage of the time to plan pranks on the new teacher, pausing only to say a few sentences.

"Some kid in Ron's year said we could put frogs all over her office!" George said excitedly. "Seamus, almost certainly. Or was it Dean? Dean wasn't the kid who—"

"Do you think she likes me?" George was interrupted by Fred, who was staring into space with his eyes half closed, looking thoughtful.

"What?" George asked, caught off guard. "Who?"

The older twin, as he liked to remember, leaned forward for just a few seconds, making the other do the same. Frederick patted George lightly on the bottom of the head before whispering his name.

"Who would it be, idiot?"

"Hey! Why would you do that? You could have just said it." George rolled his eyes as he saw Fred look around at everyone around them, implying that anyone could hear. "Man, everyone knows you like her, it's not a big surprise to anyone."

"Not everyone, George." Fred rolled his eyes before touching the uneaten meat on his plate with his fork, annoyed. "If everyone knew, she would know."

"Not everything can be easy."

"You already sound like Lie when you talk." Fred smiled, remembering the conversation they had had that morning.

"Mentioning Lie" started Georgie. ", where is she?"

Fred looked around, standing up to observe the entire table. When he saw no sign of her, he raised his eyebrows in concern.

"Did Umbridge punish her for something?" Concern overflowed from his speech. "She would told us, no?"

George quickly reassured him. "It wasn't that pink cow, Umbridge is right over there." He pointed with his chin to the woman dressed entirely in pink, short in stature and with a forced smile on her face. George turned to the back of the table. "Hermione!" He called, making the youngest turn to face him. "Have you seen Amalie?"

Sitting next to the twins' younger brother, Ron, and Harry Potter, the wavy-haired girl frowned before turning to her two friends. Leaving the boys, Hermione Granger walked over to the twins.

"Merlin, don't you know how to be discreet?" The only girl from the golden trio of Hogwarts complained, sitting down next to them. "If Professor Umbridge realizes that Amalie isn't here, she might give her detention." The two boys apologized to the girl, waiting anxiously for an answer. "I don't know, but Harry said he saw Amalie heading to the Astronomy Tower, perhaps she's there."

"Now, if you want my advice, don't go there. Some teacher will notice that you're not in the..."

"Goodbye, Hermione! Thank you!" Even before Hermione could finish her sentence, they were already heading towards the doors of the Hall, leaving the girl huffing at being ignored.

❦

AMALIE WAS WHERE HARRY HAD SAID when the twins found her. Lost in her thoughts, Amalie stared at the stars above her. Her blond hair was tied in a long, half-undone braid, shining in the moonlight.

Fred and George arrived silently, seeing her only shaking her head from side to side in a steady rhythm.

The boys exchanged a look, wondering what was wrong with the girl they had known for almost their entire lives.

Amalie was so focused that she didn't notice Fred and George's presence until they sat down next to her, one on each side, but Amalie still didn't move.

They remained in silence.

For anyone, it would have been unusual to watch the Weasley twins remain silent for so long; usually, the pair were seen causing terror throughout Hogwarts, receiving in return laughter or desperate screams. It was their way of getting attention when they didn't have it at home. They ended up not hurting anyone, the opposite was rare, and they thanked Amalie for that, she was the one who kept them in check so that they didn't cross the line beyond what was pleasant.

Unfortunately, as the years passed and as maturity caught up with them, Fred and George learned that silence was sometimes important for survival.

The years passed, people died, the Wizarding World changed, but silence still meant only one thing to them: a break.

A break from all the evils that the world they knew had been suffering; Cedric Diggory's death, their sister falling victim to You-Know-Who, attacks by the same throughout their reality. A break from the pain and the lamentations, an escape from reality that they could only achieve together or with Amalie.

Suddenly, Amalie broke the silence.

"Hogwarts is coming to an end." Her voice was hoarse, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. "In a few months, everyone is going to leave Hogwarts and everything's going to change." Her eyes were filled with tears that refused to flow.

"Everything comes to an end, Lie." George said, smiling apologetically.

They noticed, really. But they also chose to ignore it. The trio's final year wasn't going as they'd expected — Umbridge was evil, pure evil; she tortured students who got detention, she didn't really teach them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts in the real world—and Hogwarts was coming to an end.

"I know that, I swear I do, but I never thought it would be that fast." She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "One moment we're at the Sorting ceremony and the next we're saying goodbye to everything we've ever known and heading out into the real world."

» And then..." She shook her head."Then you're going to open the shop in Diagon Alley and live the adult lives you've always dreamed of, and I don't even know what I want for myself! I always thought, my parents always told me, that when the time came I would know, but I don't know anything. And I focus on doing all the exams and getting the best grades but I don't even know why. What if I never know, what if I stay like this forever, stuck in this insecurity?" Amalie looked up at her two best friends, alternating between one and the other before slowly falling back onto the stone floor, letting out a groan.

Fred and George exchanged a look filled with meaning that no one would ever understand from the outside.

"It's normal that you don't know what you want to do after Hogwarts, so many people don't! And," George continued before Stone could open her mouth. "yes, Fred and I know what we want to do, but only because it's something that's always been with us."

"Everything is changing, are you aware of that? You-Know-Who has been back for a year, Merlin!" Amalie's eyebrows were furrowed, and neither of them recognized themselves.

Maybe that was what maturity brings, the inability to recognize who they once were.

"The last time he was alive, a Wizarding War took place, hundreds of people died, and what now?" She laughed bitterly. "Now, it could be you, it could be me or even our family. We don't know, and I'm so scared."

The silence was now heavy, a testimony to the fears and misgivings they all had. The silence stopped being a break from real life, now even it had contaminated the only escape they had.

It was Fred's turn to speak, his voice thick and firm. "If that happens, if war comes, we will protect each other, whatever the cost. How long have we been together? Too much, but I still don't think it's enough. We will live."

With the older redhead's last words, Amalie took a deep breath, smiling in gratitude.

"I am so grateful to Molly for making us meet."

"Remember that next time we prank you." George said, making his brother smile and Amalie punch him lightly.

"Let's go." The blonde said, pulling them both by their hands.

With George walking in front of them both, he didn't even notice when Fred pulled Amalie back a little, encircling her in his arms.

Amalie laughed, still a little unsteady from the previous conversation. "What was that for?"

"You know I'll always be here, don't you? For better or for worse, for Umbridge's pranks and arrests or even..." he lost his voice for a moment. "or even to war."

Amalie allowed her head to sink into the chest of the boy she always considered her best friend. In that moment, she forgot everything around them, too immersed in the two of them to remember George, who looked at them with a smile on his face and his arms crossed, Umbridge, the war or even their agreement and the girl mysterious woman who had won her best friend's heart without even knowing it.

"I would wait for you even if mom has never introduced us, until I found you. Even if it took a while."

"You're becoming soft, Gideon." She laughed lightly before breaking the hug. "That girl has to work hard to reach your level, Freddie. If she breaks your heart, Georgie and I will take care of her."

Fred rolled his eyes at her. "If she breaks my heart, you'll fix it."

"Yes, that works too." The smile Fred gave Amalie made her realize that Fred was stable in her life. Regardless of the future that lay ahead, Fred was there.

"Let's go, before George goes ahead without us." Said the redhead, and the girl agreed.

Georgie was there too, and she was quite grateful for the two of them.