TIME AND TIME AGAIN

♡

struggles to leave Briar's mind, as Boxing Day rolls into the strange gap at the end of December, between Christmas and the new year. The full moon falls on the twenty-eighth, which Briar deals with fine — she leaves dinner early, her friends give her a hug, Fred kisses her, and she spends the night in the Shrieking Shack, where the floors are icy in parts, from the way the windows have shattered and the elements have started to take back the building. But Briar doesn't mind. It's not an issue once she's turned, and it's not like she's going to hang out there any longer. For the first time she's grateful for the full moon, because at least it means she won't be worrying about her uncle's letter for that night.

Things start to get easier... Or, at least, Briar finds it easier to forget about the letter. She has it hidden under her mattress, so there's no way anyone can stumble across it, and because of it's hiding spot, it's too difficult for her to fish out when Fleur's in the shower, so she hasn't seen it since Boxing Day. But she still remembers it. Every word haunts her in her sleep. It could be your friends that pay the price. She doesn't know how he knows her friends, maybe he overheard when he was in that room at her grandparents' house, but it scares her. She knows she doesn't need to protect him, but it worries her that her named Fred. She doesn't want Fred to get hurt because of her...

On the day after the full moon, there's a special Hogsmeade trip. Not so much because it's a Saturday, but rather because everyone's been cooped up the castle for so long, the teachers think it'll do the students some good. Briar spends the day with Livvy and their dad, making up for not spending Christmas with him. And it's nice. They spend most of it in The Three Broomsticks, of course, and when Briar arrives with the twins and Lee, they all thought her dad hadn't arrived yet, so George and Lee walked off to get themselves a table. Fred stayed with Briar, and he kissed her, asking if they could meet up later on — and then, Briar realised her dad was not only in the pub, but he watched someone snog his daughter. Which was fun, to say the least, when Briar sat down, her cheeks red, and Remus goes, "So Fred...?"

"How do you know it's Fred, anyway?" she had said.

Livvy was already sitting down, and he had scoffed.

"Because you've been in love with each other since you first met," he said.

"I remember, actually, during the war, we'd take you to the meetings and you'd play with the twins, and at one point you told Sirius you were going to marry Fred," Remus had said. "Sirius thought it was very funny...."

Livvy grinned at Briar. "Do you think that was one of her first visions...?"

Remus had started to laugh. Briar, sitting opposite to the two of them, could feel her cheeks burning, blushing. She had looked past them, where Fred was sitting with George and Lee, and he winked at her, which only made things worse. Briar ended up slouching in the booth, so she couldn't see her boyfriend, blissfully unaware of the fact that him winking was making her blush even more.

"You know, I never thought my grandchildren would be ginger..." her dad had said, putting on a frown, before he started to laugh again. Livvy laughed with him, and Briar crossed her arms.

"This isn't funny," she told them.

Livvy shook his head. "Uh, yeah, it's hilarious."

"If anything I think Sirius was relieved it wasn't Mia telling him that," says Remus, and Briar frowns. She hasn't heard this before. "She didn't play with you much, because she normally sat on Sirius' lap, but sometimes we'd sort of encourage you to play with her... Laurel said, one time, she found Mia forcing George to play dolls with her..."

"Maybe that's why they hate each other," Briar had said, beginning to laugh. She looks up, where Fred and George are trying to speak to Ludo Bagman, and she thinks, I'll ask about that later...?

When she gets back from Hogsmeade, she has her shower, fixes her hair a little, before she walks back up to the castle with Fleur. Only, instead of walking into the hall with her, Briar walks past and into the hallway, leading towards the Hufflepuff common room — and, past that, the kitchens. She has her hands in her pockets, realising she's five minutes late.

"Ced, for the love of Merlin—"

As she turns the corner she sees Cedric and Mia, walking together, her voice raised. It's not exactly in a nasty way, more amused. A massive smile's across her face, and as the two of them see Briar, Mia stops herself, the smile remaining across her face.

"Oh, hi, Briar," says Cedric.

Briar smiles at him. "Hey... How's the tournament going?"

"All right, I guess," he says. "I think I've figured out the next task."

"That's good!" says Briar.

The secret entrance to the kitchens is about to open, Briar's inner eye tells her, and as she looks up, she sees George appearing. He sees Briar and smiles at her, ignoring the two people she's talking to.

"Livvy told us you predicted you'd marry Fred?" says George, grinning at her. Briar can already see Cedric covering his mouth, stifling a laugh. Mia looks as if she wants to laugh, but she doesn't want to because of who said it.

Briar glares at George. "I was two!"

"Your kids are gonna be ginger?" says Mia, who by this point is unable to hold back laughter, and she's leaning onto Cedric, giggling.

George gives her a look. "What's wrong with that?"

"What's right with that?" says Mia, giving him an equally nasty look.

Briar looks at George. "Actually, you know what I learnt earlier?"

George raises his eyebrows at his best friend. Next to him — well not exactly next to him, a good few feet away from him — stands Mia, who's hands have fallen to her side. She sees Cedric hold onto Mia's hand, and he sees her looking, and he smiles softly. They're going out now...? Well, I guess she did look super hot at the ball...

But she thinks about her vision, about George and Mia. Then what's going to happen with Cedric...?

"What, then?" says George.

Briar thinks. "That... Dad's gonna let me have a birthday party in the summer," she says. Immediately she thinks, you fucking idiot. Because here's the thing: for ages Briar's been telling her friends how much she would love a big party for her seventeenth birthday, because she'll be an adult. And by big she means just a house party, but with lots of people from school, and like the best muggle music playing. So, when Briar says this, George's mouth grows into a grin, because he thinks of that.

"Really?"

Briar nods. "... Yep."

Cedric smiles at her. "Well, I hope we're invited—!"

"Definitely!" says Briar, forcing a smile.

Mia looks at the watch on her wrist. In the light the gold face glimmers, and Briar quickly realises that she's never seen Mia's normal clothes before. Right now she's in jeans, with a black cardigan that shows off the majority of her chest, including the lace of her bra and the tank underneath, both black. The cardigan's got these pretty gold buttons, which match the four pairs of earrings she's wearing, all gold, most likely taken from the hand-me-down jewellery collections of both her parents' families... It's safe to say that Briar thinks Mia dresses pretty.

"Shit, Ced, I need to send this to Mum before it's eight," she says. She's still holding onto his hand, and Briar can't help but be confused. She knows what's going to happen, she knows that the discontent George and Mia have for each other will erode away soon... But what about Cedric?

Cedric smiles at Briar, and then George — only not so much, most likely because it's the twins' rudeness towards him last year that's made Mia hate them so much. "I'll see you around," he says.

The two of them walk away, Briar stepping to the side to allow them to move past. George looks unimpressed, and Briar rolls her eyes at him.

"You know you used to be friends with her, right?" says Briar. "You don't have to be a dick about it."

"When did I—?"

"When we were toddlers," says Briar, crossing her arms. "One time my mum found Mia making you play dolls with her."

"Is that what you found out?" he says, frowning.

Briar nods. "I just thought it might be awkward for her boyfriend to hear..."

Because you're meant to be her boyfriend soon...?

"So no party?" says George.

Briar gives him a look. "... I haven't asked yet."

"Brilliant," says George, looking happy again. Now it's Briar's turn to feel unimpressed with him. "Oh, Fred's waiting for you in there."

"I know," says Briar. She says her farewell quickly, before she walks the rest of the distance down the hallway, to the kitchens. She glances over her shoulder before she goes into the kitchen, where George is walking the other direction. Briar's still confused, but she tries to think past it, as she lets herself into the kitchens.

As soon as Briar walks in, Winky appears to hug her. Fred, who's sitting at one of the tables, smirks at her as the house-elf launches herself onto Briar, her arms wrapped around Briar's hips and her little legs dangling in the air. Briar makes her let go, and she crouches down for a minute, to give Winky a proper hug. She looks over Winky's shoulder, where Fred's still smirking.

"Hi, Winky..." says Briar, weakly.

"Mr Weasley—" As she says this, Fred sits up straight, looking pleased with being called Mr Weasley. Fuckin' loser. "—said that you were coming here! Do you want anything to eat? I can make it for you, happily! It would be my greatest honour to serve a Crouch again, Briar!"

Briar blinks, taken aback. Winky's gotten a lot more enthusiastic.

"Uh..." says Briar, and she looks at Fred. "Do you want anything to eat?"

He grins at her, and her inner eye tells her what he's about to say.

"You are disgusting," says Briar. "What food do you want?"

"I don't mind," says Fred.

Briar turns back to Winky. "Can you just plate up two portions of roast, please?" she asks her. "Can you put lots of broccoli on one, and lots of roast potatoes on the other, as well — and can you salt the potatoes on that plate, too..." It's sad that she knows this about him, how he likes his roast dinner.

Winky nods. "Will do!"

And she runs off, looking happy with herself. Briar stands back up, and walks over to Fred, where she sits next to him. They're sitting away from the table, their backs against the table's edge, and Fred puts an arm around her.

"So," says Fred, a grin across his face. "A little birdie told me—"

"Oh my God, I know that Livvy told you that I said when we were three that I wanted to marry you, George has already told me," says Briar, rolling her eyes. "I was a toddler, all right, it's not that big of a deal."

Fred still looks happy with himself. Maybe it's because this keeps on getting her frustrated, in the way that she's actually embarrassed, in the way that she's actually in denial... Whatever. Two years ago Briar wanted to marry Cedric, this is what she does when she has a crush, all right? (And OK, maybe she also loves Fred but that is beside the point...)

Winky arrives back after a while, and Briar's inner eye gives her enough notice to break away from Fred before her old house-elf appears. After a while, when it's nearing curfew, they leave the kitchens. Briar holds onto his hand, as they walk down the hallway.

"Why did you wanna go to the kitchens, anyway?" says Briar.

"Maybe I wanted to spend some time alone with you," says Fred, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe I missed hanging out, just us two..."

"Well, you're gonna have to get used to not seeing me, when I go back to Beauxbatons next year," says Briar.

Fred glances across at her. "You're gonna go back, then?"

"I think I prefer it there, anyway," says Briar. "But we'll be able to Apparate by then, won't we? So I'm sure we can still see each other at weekends — besides, you would love the town near Beauxbatons, it's the best... It's more like Diagon Alley than Hogsmeade, and in the owlery in the town there are Portkeys to different European cities, so we could go to, like, Paris, or Venice, or maybe even Berlin..." She pauses, and she looks up at him. "You're not annoyed, are you? That I'm going back...?"

"Nah," he says. "You're too good for this place, anyway."

Briar smiles softly at him. God, she loves him.

"Does this mean, then, when I visit I'll be mysterious boyfriend no one really knows about—?"

Boyfriend. A smile grows across Briar's face. It makes sense, but it still catches her off-guard. The idea that they're together.

Briar doesn't know what to make of herself. It feels weird to think about. For so long they've been best friends. It makes sense, them two being together, because it's always been them two, connected in a way that's different to how Briar's close with George and Lee. Maybe she's always had an inkling... But that's beside the point. It just feels surreal to her.

Fred must've seen the smile across her face, because he called himself her boyfriend, and he looks even happier with himself. He stops walking, pulling slightly on her hand so she'll do the same.

"You know what?" says Fred, and he lets go of her hand, placing his hands on her waist, moving her close to him. He kisses her, Briar resting her hands on his chest, and as they pull apart, he smiles at her. "Because we've been best friends for so long, I remember everything you've said about what you think would be romantic..."

"Oh, yeah? Like what?"

"Well..."

♡

JANUARY IS FAIRLY QUIET, MINUS the attempt made by Briar, to read the letter again — before she could, Fleur was waking up, meaning Briar had to pretend she was rummaging around her mattress for an earring back, not a threat from her uncle. February seems like it's going to be the same, when Briar reads her tarot cards at the start of the month. As she packs the cards away, she ends up going up to Gryffindor Tower, to see her friends. They're sitting on the sofas next to the fireplace, and as she arrives, Briar sits on Fred's lap, as he grins at her.

"You're free on the fourteenth, yeah?" he says.

"Valentine's Day?" says Briar. "... Yeah?"

Fred nods, looking pleased with himself. It's an expression that causes Briar great concern.

"Well, that's brilliant, because that means I can take you out," he says.

"To where?" says Briar.

"It's a surprise," he tells her. He glances over at Harry, who's frowning at them, and Fred looks at him triumphantly. "See, Harry, that's how you ask a girl out."

Briar frowns. "Yeah, only if you're already going out."

"Erm, right..."

Briar turns to Harry, her brows furrowing. He's got this look on his face, as if he's contemplating something... And, considering Fred's just mentioned asking girls out to him, Briar guesses this is about Holly. "You all right, then?" she says.

"I'm fine," says Harry, but quickly he begins to tell her the opposite; how he's dead convinced that there's no point in ever asking Holly out, which he supposedly doesn't mind because he still likes her as a friend, but everyone else is convinced that something could happen, if he plucked up the courage to ask her out. He looks at Briar, as if hoping she'll come out with some prediction of the future, but she has nothing specifically. Just them together.

"It'll happen eventually," says Briar. "That's the Seer in me talking, so it's got to be right."

She catches a grin appearing across Fred's face, and already she knows what he's going to bring up. "Did you know—?"

"I swear to God, Freddie," says Briar, grimacing. She rests her elbow on his shoulder, propping her head up with her hand.

Ron looks from Fred to George. He still looks weirded out by the fact that Briar's going out with his brother, but then, he was weirded out when Fred told them he was going to the ball with her. Apparently Ron thinks Briar could do better than his brother, which she finds funny. "So how come you were talking to Bagman earlier?" he asks his older brothers. "We saw you in the Three Broomsticks earlier..."

"You were talking to him again?" says Briar, remembering when she saw them speaking to him, just after Christmas.

"You, Ron, can get your nose out of it," says George.

Fred turns to Briar, and smirks, mostly because he knows this will wind up his younger brother. "I'll tell you later."

"How come she can know?" says Ron.

Fred and George look at Ron, as if to say, surely it's obvious?

"Because we've been best friends for years, you git," says Fred.

George nods. "You didn't tell us Harry could speak Parseltongue."

Fred adds, "Or that thing with Nicholas Flamel—"

"I think he gets it," says Briar, interrupting Fred. He pauses for a minute and, as Ron begins speaking to Harry about what is being known as 'The Holly Situation,' Fred mentions the joke products to George. They start to talk about that instead, filling Briar in with their new ideas for their products.

Briar waves goodbye when Harry, Ron, and Hermione get up to go to dinner. She waits until they're out of earshot to turn around to Fred and George, and smile as sweetly as possible. "So you were saying, about Bagman...?"