Essential Hope

“Shhh! Get down!” I hissed to Ron, tugging on his sleeve. Ron landed with a muted thud beside me, glancing over his shoulder. Just between the massive branches of the trees, you could see Lavender trotting by, looking around for Ron.

“Won-won?” She called, heading off towards the doors.

Ron slumped down and let out a relieved sigh.

“Thanks, Kels. She’s driving me mad!”

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

Ron and I had been playing the ‘avoid Lavender at all costs’ game for the past two days. Let me tell you, it was freakin’ hard. What, with Lavender seeming to know everywhere Ron might possibly be able to hide, we had to get creative.

Ron stood up and helped me to my feet.

“At least we didn’t need to climb into and suits of armor this time,” I laughed, dusting off my jeans. Ron laughed too.

“Yeah, that was-“

“Won-won?!”

Ron and I groaned; I shook my head and muttered,

“Oh for the love of Merlin… doesn’t she have anything better to do??”

Lavender practically flew down the aisle and launched herself onto Ron. She looked like a magnet.

“Oh Won-Won! I haven’t seen you in so long!” She squealed, kissing his face. Ron grimaced over Lavender’s shoulder to me and said weakly,

“Yeah, funny, isn’t it…”

I rolled my eyes and mouthed man up to Ron, who flipped me off.

Chuckling, I grabbed my bags from beside the tree and headed off to find Hermione; Fred and George had left two days ago to tend to their ever-growing business, so I would be taking the train home this year instead of apparating.

I spotted Hermione, accompanied by Harry, heading down the staircase, deep in conversation.

But just as they reached the hallway, Ron and Lavender came flouncing out of the Great Hall. Hermione made a face, told Harry goodbye, and waved to me as she hurried out towards the train.

Harry and I exchanged an exasperated glance; we were both sick of this stupid avoidance game.

Harry and I fell into step beside one another, and silently followed Ron and Lavender down the walkway to the train.

It wasn’t a pleasant walk, let me tell you.

All Harry and I could hear was Lavender squealing about how much she’d miss her lovey-cakes. Ah man, I was so using that against Ron.

I could tell Harry had something on his mind, but I decided to wait until we sat down on the train, because I couldn’t take anything seriously with Lavender sobbing up ahead.

The train ride proved to be useless, and rather obnoxious, seeing as Lavender refused to be parted from her wonnie-kins.

I sat with Harry until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I ended up bailing and finding Hermione to chat with the rest of the way to the Weasley’s.

The first few days of Christmas break had been relaxing; Fred and George worked most of the day, so Hermione, Ginny and I spent most of the time playing wizards chess, or watching Ron and Harry play scrimmage Quidditch games in the backyard.

The morning of Christmas Eve, Mrs. Weasley had woken Harry, Ron and I up early to help her prepare dinner.

Ron, Harry and I were bent over the sink, peeling sprouts by hand, since we couldn’t use magic outside of school.

That really sucked.

I found it to be the perfect time to talk about what was bothering Harry.

“So, what’s on your mind?” I asked, scraping the last of the skin off of a sprout and tossing it into the pile.

“The other night, at Slughorn’s party-“ Harry began.

“How did that go, by the way?” Ron chimed in.

“Shh!” I hissed, frowning at him.

“Anyways, when Snape took Malfoy out, I followed them.”

“Ah, that’s why Hermione and I never found you… mind telling us you’re leaving before we think you’ve apparated?”

Harry rolled his eyes as he continued.

“I heard Snape and Draco talking, about something called the Unbreakable Vow. What is that, exactly?” Harry asked. I shrugged, and we both looked at Ron.

“Well, you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow.”

“Yeah, I’d worked that much out for myself, thanks. I meant, what happens exactly, if you do break it?”

“Simple. You die.”

We were quiet for a second, and Ron asked Harry,

“You still think Draco’s a Death Eater?”

“I know he is,” Harry said determinedly.

“Well, I sure believe it,” I said, shrugging.

“So how do you know about the Unbreakable Vow?” Harry asked.

“Fred and George almost talked me into making an Unbreakable Vow once.”

“I’m sure you weren’t hard to persuade,” I said with a grin.

Ron ignored the comment and continued with his story.

“Dad walked in on us just in time. We were holding hands, and Fred was waving his wand. I’ve never seen dad so mad. Fred reckons his left buttock has never been the same.”

“Yeah, well, passing over Fred’s left buttock,” Harry said.

“I beg your pardon?” Fred asked, walking into the kitchen with George right behind him. I laughed as Fred came up behind me, hugging me, and said to Harry,

“My left buttock shouldn’t concern you as much as my left. Nasty scar on that one. I can tell you the story-“

“That’s enough!” Ron said loudly, scooting away from his brother. I laughed harder as Fred asked,

“Ah, peeling sprouts without magic? That’s loads of fun.”

“Shut it,” Harry and Ron muttered.

“Well, I’m going to need to borrow Kelsey, if you don’t mind,” Fred said, pulling me away from the sink.

“No! Uh uh! I don’t think so!” Ron protested, spinning around. “She has to finish her pile just like the rest of us!”

Fred grinned, and, lifting his wand from his pocket, he gave a lazy flick, and the remaining sprouts in my pile peeled before my eyes, and dropped into the finished pile.

Gaping, Ron dropped a sprout and moaned,

“Can’t you do that for Harry and I?”

“Ooh, sorry, just ran out of magic. Come back next week,” Fred said, snickering as he pulled me away.

Ron, turning pink in the face, lifted his knife and flung it at Fred just as Mrs. Weasely came in. Fred flicked his wand and it turned into a harmless paper plane, which he sent back to hit Ron in the side of the head.

“Ronald Weasley!” Molly shrieked, marching past him and smacking his head.

Fred and I laughed as George disappeared into the backyard, shovel in hand.

“He’s actually shoveling?” I asked, surprised.

“Nah, he’s gnome hunting.”

“Ah,” I said; then, the actual sentence hit me and I realized that really didn’t make sense. I didn’t question it though.

“So what did you need me for?”

“Oh, nothing,” Fred said, smirking at me.

We walked upstairs in silence; as we made our way to Fred’s bedroom, he suddenly lifted me up, kissing me intensely.

Surprised, I kissed back, closing my eyes and wrapping my arms around his neck.

Fred kicked the door closed, and pulled away from our kiss long enough to mutter a silencing spell on the door.

I raised an eyebrow as Fred laid me onto his bed.

“Now, where did we leave off from last time?”

I grinned as Fred pressed his lips to my neck, hands trailing down my body.

He grabbed the bottom of my shirt, pulling it slowly up my body.

Once my shirt was off, Fred pulled my pants off in one swift motion as I began to undo his pants.

“Do you think we’re moving too fast?” Fred whispered in my ears, sending shivers down my spine.

“Not fast enough,” I breathed back, and Fred grinned.

I tossed his pants to the side, and got his shirt off quicker than he had with mine.

I leaned my head back and let him kiss a trail down my neck, to my collar bone, and finally coming to a stop between my boobs.

As I moaned softly, Fred continued down my body, trailing kisses down my stomach, and stopping at the top of my jeans.

Slowly, he undid the button, and slid them down my hips and legs, tossing them to the side. Fred kissed me softly at the hem of my panties, and then slid back up my body, kissing me passionately on the mouth.

“I love you,” he said, smiling down at me.

“You better,” I teased, playing with the hem of his boxers.

Smirking into my neck, I slid Fred’s boxers off, and let the fun begin.