Essential Hope

“We need to go back for them!” Mr. Weasley proclaimed again, jumping up from the couch. Mrs. Weasley had her face buried in her hands, with Ron and Ginny on either side of her, trying to cheer her up. Hermione, you and Harry sat on the loveseat. Harry had his arm around you, pulling you into him. You and Hermione held hands, and every now and then she’d glance out the window.

It had been nearly two hours since you’d all arrived back, and so far, no sign of Fred
and George.

“We can’t,” Harry sighed, shaking his head. “We’d just be attacked. Death eaters were
obviously looking for me, and we led them right to-“

“Please don’t finish that sentence,” you said quietly, shutting your eyes to try and block
out the images. It didn’t work. You kept seeing the cloaked figures shooting spell after spell
at your defenseless brothers. “I shouldn’t have gone to see them. I should have just stayed
away.” Waves of guilt washed over you. Had you condemned your brothers to death?

“We can’t just sit around doing nothing!” Ron put in, looking around. “We could try to
help them!”

“Do you really think we’d help?” Hermione asked. “Or would we just get in the way?”

Ron glared at her, but didn’t say anything. Mrs. Weasley sniffled and continued crying.

“Well, I’m going after them!” Ginny announced, jumping up. Harry was instantaneously
on his feet, and rushed to grab her.

“You can’t!” He begged, pulling her back. “You might get hurt!” Ginny snatched her arm
away from him and took a step back.

“You’re the last person on this earth to be worried about me getting hurt!” She spat,
turning to leave again. Harry grabbed her back and held her tight.

“I can’t let you leave.”

His voice was gentle, and Ginny stared at his face for a long time. You didn’t seem to
notice, as you were still hunched over in remorse.

Ginny’s face crumpled and she wrapped her arms around Harry. He held her tight and
said softly,

“It’s okay, Gin. They’ll be fine.” As Ginny seemed to settle down, Harry returned back to
you and wrapped his arm around you again. You caught the skeptical frown Hermione gave
him as you looked up.

“Maybe Ginny’s right,” you began, ignoring the tightening of Harry’s arm around your
shoulder. “We can’t just-“

“Oh my god, look!” Hermione exclaimed, jumping up and running to the window. You
were right next to her in a flash, along with the others.

Fred and George were sailing towards the burrow, their hands over their heads in a
sign of victory. You sprinted to the door, and were halfway across the yard by the time they
landed.

As Fred’s feet hit the ground, he dropped his broom and began to run towards you too.
As your arms wrapped around his neck, he picked you up and spun you around. As he set
you back down, more arms wrapped around him. Mrs. Weasley had managed to pull
George over to you two, and she hugged her boys at the same time, squishing you in
between them. The others joined in a little bit later, with Harry hanging on the edge of the
group hug, looking uncertain.

As everyone pulled away, you asked,

“What happened?”

As you all walked back to the burrow, Fred began.

“Well, after you all left, it was pretty simple to take them out. They were clearly after
Harry, and when he left they were distracted with trying to go after you all.”

“We just hit ‘em with a few stunning spells,” George put in, grinning. “Then took them
over and tied them in the forest and broke their wands.”

You laughed at the thought, and then asked,”

“What about Carson and Lakey?”

“We took them out of there and over to a new apartment. Somewhere on the outskirts of
town. I gave ‘em the address to write here when they got settled down.” Fred assured you,
pulling you into a side hug. It was a little awkward, what with Harry still holding onto you. But
you didn’t care. You were so relieved that they were all okay, you could have danced.

As you walked back into the Burrow, the scene was as it should have been when you
arrived. Mrs. Weasley hurried off to the kitchen to make you some breakfast, while Mr.
Weasley disappeared for work. Everyone was in an ecstatic mood, and even Harry didn’t
seem too upset when Fred held you longer than he should have. Everything was alright
again.

After breakfast, the lot of you ran into the backyard to relax and wait for lunch to come
around.

“How about a good ole game of tag?” George suggested, grinning at everyone. You
laughed and spread out from George.

“You’re it, mate!” Fred laughed, and George took off after him. You backed away from
Fred, and laughed as you watched George sprint after him. He veered off course a few
times, lunging for Harry or Ginny. Finally, his fingers brushed against Ron, and he took off.
Ron made a beeline for you, and you laughed and darted away from him, leading him right
to Harry. He had been so busy laughing with Ginny he didn’t notice you breeze by him until
Ron smacked his arm and yelled,

“Tag!”

Harry laughed, and you half expected him to turn and run after you, and you began to
step away. That is, until, Harry spun and grinned at Ginny, who laughed and took off. Harry
caught her easily. I mean, literally caught her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled
her back, right into him. You stared for a moment at the two of them, but tried to push your
uneasy feeling away. It was just a game.

Ginny managed to tag Hermione, who just barely got Fred. And then he turned to you.
He grinned mischievously at you, and then sprinted full out in your direction. You shrieked in
surprise at how fast he was, and you spun around to run the opposite direction. You only
made it a few feet when Fred slammed into you. You gasped as you began to hurtle to the
ground, but Fred grabbed you and pulled you to the side. His foot caught on the root of the
tree, and he tumbled to the side, pulling you down on top of him. You tried to catch your
breath as you rested on Fred. You expected Harry to burst out into an angry tirade, until you
noticed he was playing his own game of tag. With Ginny. With only Ginny. And suddenly,
you didn’t mind laying on Fred.

But too soon it seemed, Fred was helping you up. You saw him staring intently at Harry
and Ginny, and you almost thought you heard him mutter something about cheating. It took
you a moment to clear your head from all the accusing thoughts. Harry would never
cheat on you, especially not with your best friend. No way.

The game continued well until lunch time, when you all took a break and wolfed down
the sandwiches Mrs. Weasley had made. After lunch, everyone had a little bit of down time.
Ron and Hermione started up a game of cards, while Harry, Ginny and George set up a
board game. Harry invited you to play, but you really weren’t interested. You settled down on
the couch and grabbed your book, letting yourself be absorbed in the pages.

“Kelso!” Fred hissed just a few inches away from your ear. You gasped and dropped
the book, which landed on your face. Fred began laughing as you sat up, and you chucked
the book at him. It harmlessly smacked his arm and fell to the floor.

“Was there a point to that?” You snapped, doing your best to glare at him. You really
weren’t mad, but you didn’t want him to know. He seemed to see through your angry
charade, because he laughed and said,

“Actually, yeah! Though I might do that again just for fun…”

“What do you need?” you asked, letting a little smile cross your face.

“George is too busy with the game to help me with the inventions, could you give me a
hand?” You sighed. You wanted to continue reading, but now you weren’t relaxed enough to
just sit around and do nothing.

“Oh fine,” you mumbled, standing up.

Harry was too absorbed in the game, and Ginny’s funny joke, to notice you disappear
up the stairs with Fred.

He opened his door and let you in first. A pile of random gags and tricks were in the
middle of the floor, and Fred took a seat on one side. You began to sit down across from
him, but he patted the floor beside him, so you settled down next to him.

“Here, hold this,” he said, shoving a handful of random contraptions into your arms.
You held them as he asked, and you said,

“I really appreciate what you did for my brothers.”

“Anytime, love.” He said, leaning forward to examine the things you held.

“But, please don’t sacrifice yourself again.” You tried to sound stern, but you knew it
didn’t work when Fred chuckled, and asked jokingly,

“Why? Did I worry you?”

You bit your lip and said softly,

“Yeah, you did.”

Fred’s hands paused momentarily as you said this, but then began working again. He
didn’t look at you as he said,

“I had to make sure you were safe.”

You felt yourself blush.

“Harry would have kept me safe.” You felt you needed to say this. Fred’s hand tightened
for a second as he muttered,

“He didn’t do anything. I’m the one who saved you. What is that, like three times
now?”

You sighed and nodded.

“Doesn’t that tell you anything?”

The tone of the conversation took on a new turn. You began to feel a little uneasy as you
said,

“Harry would have done the same.”

“So, if death eaters broke into the house and came after you, who would stand in front
of you? Who would block all the spells? Who would keep you safe?”

“Harry wou-“

“No, Harry wouldn’t. He’s too absorbed in my sister to notice you were even gone.”

His words stung more than you thought they would.

“He isn’t absorbed! They’re friends! Best friends! He doesn’t like her like that!”

“Yes, he does! Can’t you see that? He’s liked her all along!” You opened your mouth to
defend him, but he pressed his hand to your mouth. “Kels, Harry’s liked Ginny since
practically they first met. Didn’t you notice how they acted all year? You were at Diagon Alley,
you saw them! Ginny started going out with Dean, and he settled for second best.”

You sat there, hurt by what he said.

“I’m second best to him?”

“To Harry,” Fred said softly. He shifted himself so he was facing you. His hand rested
on your cheek. “Not to me. You’re never second best to me.”

And suddenly, everything in your mind seemed to disappear. All your thoughts just
vanished as Fred began to lean forward.

But you couldn’t kiss Fred. You were with Harry. You couldn’t hurt him like that. Gently,
as gently as you could, you pressed your fingers to Fred’s lips and pushed him back. He
opened his eyes, surprised, and you saw hurt begin to develop on his face.

“Fred… I’m with Harry. I can’t do that to him. You know I love him.”

“I know you love me more.”

“You don’t know that."
Fred pulled away and turned back to his work. You felt bad for hurting him, but it was
the right thing to do. Even if Harry did have feelings for Ginny, you couldn’t bring yourself to
cheat on Harry. You gently laid all Fred’s things back on the pile and stood up.

“I’m sorry, Fred.”

“Not sorry enough.” Fred whispered, more to himself than you. He didn’t look up as you
walked out.

As you made your way down the stairs, you found that the board game had come to an end.
Ginny and George were now involved in a game of Wizards Chess, and Harry was watching
Hermione and Ron play their card game. He looked up as you came into the room, and he
grinned.

“There you are!” He said, patting the seat next to him. You smiled and dropped down on the
couch, snuggling up next to him. “I was beginning to get worried.” He told you, leaning down
to kiss your cheek. You turned your head and kissed him properly, with a little more passion
than you had intended. He was beaming as he pulled away, and asked,

“Any particular reason for that? Not that I mind…”

You shrugged and smiled up at him.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Kelsey,” Harry replied, kissing the top of your head.

This felt right, to be in Harry’s arms again. You did love Fred too. But… you couldn’t leave
Harry, because you loved him too. If only Fred could understand.