"Banned for life?!" Blair shouted, the Gryffindor room not even flinching at the volume of her voice. Fred, George and Harry laid over the armchairs beside the fire with sullen faces, the fire flickering across their otherwise lifeless skin. Still dressed in their Quidditch robes, the rest of the Gryffindor team stood around the three, looking just as sullen.

"Umbridge gave Crabbe lines, even though it should have been Professor Snape's job as head of Slytherin," Ginny added, looking at her brothers and Harry while biting her lip. "But I'd doubt he'd get any worse of a punishment from him."

"We're over. No Beaters and no Seeker; Gryffindor is done for," Angelina dropped into the chair that sat at the table with her head in her hands.

The game between Gryffindor and Slytherin had seemed like a success up until a point. Gryffindor had been able to get ahead and finish the game with a fair win. However, with Slytherin being the way that they were, the game ended in a massive headache for Harry, a bruised lip for George and a life time ban from playing Quidditch for them and Fred. Crabbe hit a bludger towards Harry's head after the game had finished, causing an outburst from the Gryffindor team. Draco Malfoy then decided to come along and start taking constant jabs at a majority of the team. Blair hadn't been able to hear specifically what had been said, but it caused George and Harry to lash out and beat Malfoy to a pulp. The two were then taken to Professor McGonagall's office where they would have received detention for a month, only to have Professor Umbridge walk in. She issued a ban for both George and Harry, but then decided that since Fred was so closely related to George, that he might as well be banned too.

"I wish I could have knocked that slimy git further into the ground," Fred mumbled, his legs hanging over the arm of the chair. "Our last year at Hogwarts and we can't even play Quidditch for it."

"Well it can't be helped now," Hermione's clipped tone was evident. "At least now Harry and I can focus primarily on the DA lessons."

"I suppose," Harry mumbled before pushing his body up from the armchair. "I'm going to bed."

Harry sulked as he climbed the stairs to the boy's dormitory, causing Ron to follow and Hermione and Ginny to head up to theirs. The room started to clear out and it left Fred, George and Blair. Blair was ready to head back to her common room, when she was stopped by Fred's hand. He had just gotten up from his chair and was heading for the stairs, when he caught Blair's arm and stopped both of them on their pursuits. Blair went to question him but stopped when he gave her a hard look, glancing over his shoulder before pushing her towards a corner of the room.

"You need to talk to him," Fred said in a hushed voice.

"Why? What happened?" Blair asked and looked over Fred's shoulder, seeing George sunken low into the chair with his feet over the arm and his gaze solely on the fire. She found it odd at first that he hadn't spoken a word since being issued the lifetime ban, but Blair thought that he might have just been extra bummed from the punishment. She thought nothing of it until now.

"Malfoy said some things about you. It was why Georgie was the one who got the ban with Harry," he replied. "I've tried to reassure him the best I could, but I think he needs to hear it from you."

"What did Malfoy say?"

"Well it started with being about our family," Fred rolled his eyes at the memory. "That was already riling the both of us up. But then one of the Beaters of the team said something to him and they started cackling amongst themselves. They must have been talking to Potts."

"Oh no," she put her hand over her eyes, thinking of the many things that Fletcher could have said or made up.

"I've seen him walking around with a wad of bandages around his fingers. Care to explain that?" Fred tried with a smile but Blair wasn't in the mood to tell him about what had happened on their night of patrolling. She gave him a tight frown and Fred cleared his throat, choosing to go on with his explanation instead.

"Malfoy was obviously trying to get a reaction out of all of us. And when he saw that we were all about to walk away, he said about... Potts and you snogging."

"We never-"

"I know you didn't. And I'm sure Georgie knows you didn't as well. But at the time, he was ready to kill Malfoy. I could see that he was gonna to let Malfoy have it, and he eventually did when Harry jumped forward when his mum was mentioned," Fred scratched the back of his neck, reminding Blair strongly of George. "So, work your depressing magic and fix my brother."

"B-But-"

Fred turned around and rushed up the stairs to the boy's dormitory, leaving Blair alone with George. She swallowed and changed her gaze from the stairs to the last ginger, seeing that he hadn't moved from his spot in the armchair. Blair shifted her weight from foot to foot, eventually finding the courage to step towards the circle of chairs. She lowered herself on to the rug that was in front of George's armchair, putting her hands in her lap and looking up at him through her eyelashes. His attention hadn't swayed from the blaring fire and his frown was deeply etched into his face.

"Georgie? You okay?" she decided to ask, her tone as soft as she could manage. She was desperate to know what was going on inside his head. Even though Fred thought that George didn't believe that she and Fletcher had snogged, she basically gagged at the idea, there was the sliver of doubt from Blair's conscience. What if George believed that she had cheated on him during their patrols? What if he thought that they had been snogging behind his back but chose to nod mindlessly when asked by Fred?

"I know you didn't do anything with Potts," his voice made her jump. She watched as he sighed aloud and finally turned his attention away from the fireplace, looking down at her with tired and clouded eyes. "I think you're mad to even be able to stand the bloke. But when Malfoy mentioned it, I just..."

The tips of his ears reddened and Blair could see that he was clenching his teeth by the sudden sharpness of his jaw-line. Blair only made it down from the stands and on to pitch when Malfoy was knocked to the floor with George and Harry on top of him, so she hadn't heard or seen the build up from the Slytherin's insults. But she could imagine George's figure freezing after he had moved to walk away, before whipping around with fire in his eyes. She had seen a similar flare when he saw Umbridge putting some poor second year through a torturous detention one Thursday evening. But for a majority of the time, George never got wound up or angry.

"I liked the trick you did with the Murtlap," Blair tried with a cautious smile, which then relaxed into a genuine one when George grinned lazily back at her.

"It was pretty brilliant," he said, pushing his slouched figure up from the armchair. "I was thinking of sneaking a Niffler in there so that Potts could have his golden fillings pulled right out of his mouth, but I thought the Murtlap was more fitting considering you use its essence for your healing potion."

"Well I think we're done with Potts now. I just want you to know that I'd never do anything with him. Never in any universe or reality."

"I know, baby. I just loss my cool for a second when that ferret opened his mouth about you," George sat up completely and smirked at his reference to Malfoy. He then leaned forward and threaded his fingers together, staring down at Blair with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I'm feeling real down about being banned from Quidditch. I think I need some cheering up."

"Do you want to pull my hair while I 'cheer you up'?"

"It would be an honour."

---

Three days before the start of the Christmas break, Blair headed to the Great Hall to start her dreaded day. She had double Defence Against the Dark Arts first, which she was ready to pull her out over, before having double Potions. But she'd at least have someone to get through it with. In Umbridge's class, she was sure to have George constantly putting the feather of his quill against her cheek and into her ear.

"Did you finally shoo away the entire Weasley clan with your gloominess?" Nancy asked as soon as Blair sat down at the Ravenclaw table.

"Sorry?" Blair replied with a raised eyebrow. Nancy motioned her head over her shoulder and made Blair look towards the Gryffindor table.

There was a severe lack of redheads and a lonesome Hermione sitting in the middle of the table. The Gryffindor looked as confused as everyone else, as the benches surrounding her were empty and bare. What also was odd was the fact that the dishes of pancakes, waffles and French toast had been left untouched. Usually, Ron would hover up any sign of sweetness from the silvery plates. But since there was no sign of the Weasley family, the plates were full and ready to be sent back to the kitchens.

"Have they been to breakfast already?" Blair asked while she turned back to Nancy who was shovelling cereal into her mouth.

"Nope. Haven't seen them at all today."

Luckily, Blair had been able to sit with Poppy for the double session. Both George and Fred didn't turn up to the lesson and Professor Umbridge looked pleased about it. It was the first class this year that went by uninterrupted by a spontaneous firework or a hearty laugh from the twins from their own private joke. But it's not like Blair gained any knowledge from the lesson anyway. They were still on the third chapter of the Basics for Beginners text book. It was outrageously boring and Blair found her mind wondering about where on earth the Weasleys were. They had never all missed a day of classes simultaneously.

Walking to the dungeons for her Potions class, Blair caught the back profile of a bushy haired fifth year. Hermione was marching towards her History of Magic lesson with her exercise book tucked under her arm.

"Hermione! Wait up!"

Blair hurried to catch her and was relieved when the girl turned around, revealing her freckles and soft brown eyes. Hermione waited for Blair to stop in front of her and tried to hide her impatience on not being on her way to Professor Binns' class.

"I noticed the Weasleys weren't at breakfast and the twins weren't in class either," Blair explained. "Do you know if something happened?"

"Professor McGonagall said that there had been a family emergency," Hermione replied and looked around the corridors, making sure there was no one potentially eavesdropping. "She told me that they were back at headquarters."

It wasn't hard to know that Hermione was hinting towards Grimmauld Place. But the mention of a family emergency in George's family set Blair on edge. It could be relating to Molly, Arthur, Bill or even Charlie. With the Ministry on the watch for any sign of treason, any 'emergency' could be code for something severe and life threatening. Although it wasn't any of Blair's business, she couldn't help but worry.

"Look, I'm going to be going home for Christmas this year," Hermione spoke again. "I know that Padfoot offered for you to stay with him and the others for the holidays. If you do go, would you mind sending me a letter about what's going on? I'm rather worried."

"Me too. I'll be sure to write to you."

Hermione nodded with a grateful smile. Politely and almost awkwardly, she turned around and continued on her march to her next class. Blair watched her leave before turning to follow the stairs down to the dungeons. She would only have to wait two more days, and then her worries would hopefully dissolve when she knew that everything was okay with the Weasleys.