Falling For

We climbed through the portrait hole after a long walk down a cramped stony passage way. The old man that let us through did not seem too pleased to see us, his gruff groans making me snort in some sort of angst. Like he, I did not care much for our untimely visit. But Noël powered on, dragging the trunk like a small child and his blanket. I just followed quietly behind him.

But as soon as we fell through that hole I was swooped up by, what I assumed to be, my boyfriend.

“Mignon, what are you doing here?” George put me down, letting me take a look at what I thought to be a joint dormitory. “How did you even know what was going on?”

“Noël had one of those DA galleons, like the ones you have.” He stole a kiss between my sentences. “We’re going to help Madam Pomfrey. I told you I was practising medicinal spells-“

“And here I was thinking you were going to be safe at home.” He folded his arms, looking over his shoulder at his mother, probably asking for some disciplinary help. Her beautiful eyes, which looked tired but ready, scanned over Noël and I before suddenly warming. I shot her a smile - I had already won.

“Let the girl help,” she chimed at her son “can’t hide her away from the world any more. Who’s your friend, Mignon?”

“Oh, oh! I keep forgetting no one knows him—Molly, this is Noël Molyneux. I’ve been staying at his house for a while now.” Noel took a step forward to shake her hand. “He’s a healer at St. Mungos. Fixed my fingers back on when I splinched myself a while ago.” I glanced over her shoulder to see Ginny. She grinned at me and I stood on my toes to wave at her. If the circumstances weren’t so dire I would have been happy to be there. “But from what he’s been telling me, he’s a good friend of Madam Pomfrey’s and he’s volunteered to help in the hospital wing. I’m just here for the ride, I suppose.”

“I’ll put you to good work.” Noël sighed and pushed his hair off of his face. Molly looked at Noël for a second with an appraising look, her eyes skittering off to George after only a millisecond. But her smile stayed on her face the entire time, making me slightly uneasy.

“How did you get a DA galleon?” Fred quizzed Noël, who in turn dropped his trunk to the ground, fishing it out of his pocket.

“I treated a girl at the hospital a few months back. She gave me this as some sort of tip. Probably thought it a regular galleon.” He handed it to Fred, who scanned over it quickly, putting it in his own pocket. Noël didn’t even flinch. “I promise I’ve never really looked at it. It was only a month ago that I noticed it whirring with words. It’s been keeping me up to date on little things, like well wishes and good news. I just wish I got into the thing when I was at school.” His eyes darted around the room. “If you’d like me to leave, I can. I was just going to lend a hand to the efforts, you know?”

“No, stay.” Fred tapped a hand on his shoulder, threw his arm around him and began chatting avidly. It was about time that Fred warmed up to Noël. Suddenly George took my hand, tugging me back into his own little conversation bubble.

“Did you want to come?” He quizzed me. “Noël didn’t drag you here, did he?”

“No.” My eyes must have flashed with some sort of guilt because his face twisted slightly. “I wanted to come.”

“If you’re sure,” he gripped my hand and I turned to take a swing glance at the rest of the room. I knew a few people from the halls back at school but no one really interested me, other than Fleur and Ginny. On the way through the crowd, I said my ‘hello’s to Angelina and Katie before stopping right in front of the blonde counterpart of mine. She threw her arms around me and kissed both my cheeks.

“I am so glad you decided to fight, Mignon. I am very proud.” Her hands gripped the back of my head like a loving mother and Ginny just rolled her eyes.

“I—uh, I don’t think I’ll be fighting today, Fleur. I’ll be helping Noël out in the hospital wing. I’m sure I will be more suited to help than fight. I’d probably hurt more people than I originally intended… heh… heh.” I shifted my gaze awkwardly as she let go of me to tutt over Noël (who, as I had mentioned before, was constantly surrounded by Beauxbaton girls in our sixth year, one of them being Fleur). I nodded at Ginny and George reappeared by my side, like a worried mother. I rubbed his lower back to comfort him. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We don’t know yet.” George mumbled at me, scratching the scarred skin of his ear. His sister frumped and crossed her arms. “Mum won’t let her stay though.” He cocked his finger at his sister. She rolled her eyes again at me and I shrugged.

“If I had anyway to control my mouth right now, I’d say something for you but I somehow don’t think that’s a good idea.” I grinned sheepishly and she shook her head.

“Nothing will change her mind.”

The door to the room burst open and Harry Potter skidded in, slipping down the steps before taking a big glance at the room. Everyone went quiet. Professor Lupin rushed to his feet. The poor boy looked so shocked to see everyone staring back at him. I’d never seen such a tired face in my entire lifetime.

“Harry, what’s happening?”

“Voldemort’s on his way, they’re barricading the school. Snape’s run for it—what are you doing here? How did you know?”

"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred told the weedy boy. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the DA let the Order know, and it all kind of snowballed."

"What first, Harry?" George asked from my side. "What's going on?"

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," Harry rubbed the back of his head. "We're fighting."

Everyone in the room cheered and surged towards the door. George looked down at me and I nodded. He looked back at his mother, who was arguing with Ginny.

“You're underage!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked at her daughter, causing Fred and George to stir awkwardly "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

"I won't!" she pulled herself out of her mother’s grasp.

"She's sixteen!" whined Mrs. Weasley. "She's not old enough! What were you two were thinking bringing her with you?!” She whipped around to her identical sons. Their faces were clouded over in silent shame.

"Mum's right, Ginny," Bill quietly sighed at his sister. "You can't do this. Everyone underage will have to leave, it's only right."


"I can't go home!” The youngest told them firmly, her eyes beginning to water. The whole situation became uneasy for me and I met Noël’s glance across the room. He took the chance to hover over to hide behind me. “My whole family's here, I can't stand waiting there alone and not knowing and—“ she paused, looking for the support of which no one was offering “Fine! Fine! I’ll just say goodbye now and-“

By this time there had been a loud crash as someone staggered through the open portrait. Everyone’s eyes followed the noise to a gangly, ginger-haired fellow that had picked himself up on an armchair, fixing his lopsided glasses. "Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I—I--…” Silence filled the room as he realised just who he was staring at. Another Weasley, I squinted, where do they all come from?. It wasn’t Charlie, I could confirm that by the skinny body. The other Weasley… the other one, what was his name…? I met him at Christmas a few years before hand… P… P…

“So how is little Teddy?” Fleur distracted Lupin, as well as Noël, Harry Potter and I. We crowded around the awkward looking man as the Weasley’s all stared at each other for Merlin knows how long.

“Oh, yes, he’s fine!” The room stayed completely silent and we all shot each other looks, Harry Potter’s face something between brain-dead and really interested. “Tonks is with him. At her mother’s… Here, I have a photo,” Lupin rustled around, fishing out a wallet-sized picture of a baby with turquoise hair that was throwing his chubby arms around. My heart seized in my chest and I smiled at the man, the future suddenly looking brighter. That baby was my latest beacon of hope.

I grinned at Lupin “He’s gorgeous-“

“I was a fool!” Percy (yes, Percy!) screeched from the other side of the room, making Lupin fluster around a little more. Fleur’s eyes shot up to the front as her husband almost lurched back at the sudden noise from his brother. The silence that once sat so strong shattered completely and Fred and George began to mumble hurriedly under their breath. “I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I was a-… a-…”


"Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron," said Fred. 


“Yes, I was!" Percy agreed whole-heartedly. The look on the twin’s faces after that turned from shocked to overjoyed. George never really spoke of Percy, and when he did it was just to call him a pompous twat.

"Well… you can't say fairer than that," shrugged Fred, offering his hand to Percy. Mrs Weasley, by this time, had burst into tears and enveloped her estranged son in a wide-armed hug. I turned back to Fleur who had clutched my arm. She smiled at me and I smiled back, touching her hand reassuringly. Everything seemed to be running better than I had expected – it was as if the night just wanted to run smoothly.

“What made you see sense, Perce?” George finally piped up and his skittish brother blathered on about the Ministry. George’s face was absolutely delighted and my heart lit up at the very idea. It wasn’t often I saw that face anymore. "Well, we do look to our prefects to take a lead at times such as these," said George in the snootiest voice I’d ever heard. He nudged me, then his newly arrived brother and threw his arms over the both of us. "Now let's get upstairs and fight, or all the good Death Eaters'll be taken."

Noël levitated his trunk behind him and I smiled, hiding under George’s arm as I took advantage of the last couple of seconds in his grasp. “So you’re my sister-in-law now?” Percy asked Fleur. She reached out and took his hand, shaking it and introducing herself. Instead of listening on, I stared at the cobble stone steps as we all attempted to stay together in our group. “And you?” Percy looked directly at me, snapping me out of my little thought circle. “You’re my father’s secretary.”

“Also my girlfriend going on five years, Perce.” George corrected him and I smiled politely.

“My name’s Mignon Fidere.”

“Derrick Fidere's daughter?” He asked.

“Yes. Yes I am.” I offered my hand and he shook it.

“Well, pleasure to meet you, Mignon. I’m sorry I’ve been of absence lately.”


“These things happen.” I assured him as we reached the door. George took out his wand and I swallowed deeply, looking back at Noël who simply nodded. George, who was now ready for battle, leant down and kissed me quickly, once on the forehead and once on the lips. I gripped his shoulder and he patted me on the bum for good luck. “Be safe.” I whispered to him and he kissed my forehead again.

“Double to you.” He leant to my ear and I softened as his lips brushed the cold cartilage. “I love you.”

“I love you too, George.” I patted his scarred side, leaning away to stare at his other twin. “You too, Fred. Please be safe.”


“You know me, Mignon, all I ever am is safe.”

The door opened and that’s when I knew that even though I had hoped and prayed so fervently, things were definitely not going to run smoothly. George dropped my hand and rushed out with his brothers and Fleur, the latter giving me a fleeting look and wishing me luck. Noël took my abandoned fingers, the ones he had attached himself, and tugged me out into the hall.


“Just follow me.” He whispered. “Everything will be okay.”