Promised [F.W.]

Chapter 22

Train ride and the Leaky Cauldron

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It was the end of the year and, as always, the five sat together in a compartment and talked about the summer to come and the past school year. But even with good times, there have been annoying bad times, mostly involving an annoying blonde Slytherin.

Between their conversation on the twins best prank yet, they were interrupted by the sliding compartment door opening. "Looks like this compartment is taken," the annoying voice squeaked, his two bodyguards nodded in agreement, "as well as needing a little bit of cleaning." Aster glared at him and growled, preparing herself, clutching her wand in her pocket, "surprised you didn't get attacked, a filthy mud-"

"Shut up," Aster stood up and pointed her wand at him, frightened, he took a step back but still held ground. "I won't hesitate."

"Oh yeah? And what would you," before he could say any more. He was growing slugs out of his ears and his eyelids became swollen. His goonies squeaked, startled they ran back to the back of the train, with Malfoy running blindly behind him. "My father will hear about this," his voice echoed as Aster closed the door and yelled a swear at him before shutting it completely.

"Wicked," the twins smiled as she turned back to them.

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(since the Weasleys went to Egypt for this holiday, I'm just skipping to when they arrive at the Leaky Cauldron)

"Guys stop bickering about them, they're just animals having a bit of fun," Aster scowled as she walked to walk up to her room she shared with Ginny in the Leaky Cauldron. "Harry!" She squealed as she saw the messy haired boy smiling down at the three. "When did you get here?"

"I've been here, when did you guys arrive?" he questioned, hugging her.

"We just got here," Hermione told him with a hug.

"I'll leave you three to talk," Aster kindly smiled and walked up the stairs, ruffling Harry's hair more than it's already is messy. He had already grown taller than her, the other two included, she was now shorter than Ginny, the youngest Weasley of the family. "Ginny," Aster sang as she entered the room, "Harry is back," she smiled seeing the girl reading once again on her bed.

"Really?" She hoped, Aster nodded and watched as Ginny excitedly closed the book and bounced on the bed.

"You still like him, don't you?" Aster softly said sitting down with her on the bed. Ginny was silenced the moment she said that and that gave her the answer, "it takes time, he'll come around and stop being an idiot." She smiled making Ginny grin with a tint on her cheeks.

Later that evening Mr Weasley pulled Aster over to talk to her about Harry and the current events. "Do you understand, you need to keep Harry and yourself safe," Mr Weasley ordered the girl, "Hogwarts is a very safe place to be, but with him on the loose, you never know."

"I understand Mr Weasley," she nodded with no questions, "protect him."

"And yourself," he added, Aster held out her small finger and he twisted his pinkie around it.

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"Oh hey Crookshanks," Aster cooed as the orange cat jumped on her lap, "having a good day?" The cat purred and meowed quietly as she stroked the cat's head. "What have you been up to, getting into trouble?" Aster asked the cat with an amused smile as the cat rolled on her lap and began to take a nap.

"Hey, Aster, let's talk," Fred said suddenly, making Aster's heart drop down. "Nothing bad, don't worry, just about life," he said as he lounged on the chair next to her.

"What do you mean?" Aster asked as she turned to him and questioned, "we talk about life all the time."

"But," Fred whined, then quieted his voice, "George is still asleep and we finally have time alone," he said glancing down at the cat who looked up at him, "well, we have him, but that's not the point," he called her attention back to the conversation. "I want to know more about you," he mused and grabbed her hand.

"Well, what do you want to know?" her voice shying as they continued the conversation, "ask me anything."

"Anything?" Aster nodded making Fred smile. He thought for a second before smiling, "who is your favourite Weasley?" Aster looked at him amused, first, she laughed then just smiled widely.

"Is that even a question?" Aster said with a soft voice, "of course it's Charlie," she said in a smart voice. Fred looked at her wildly with wide eyes. "I'm just kidding," she laughed, "of course it's you."

"Good," he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, still holding her hand.

"Next question?" Aster pushed.

"Are you going to keep your hair mahogany red like this?" He asked, "please say yes," he muttered after, almost like he was praying.

"Yeah, I like it like this," she smiled combing a hand through her hair.

"What's your favourite colour?" He asked next.

"Purple, yellow and red," she answered without hesitation.

"Do you want a pet?" He asked a lighter question.

"Yea, maybe an owl or cat, I'm not sure," she shrugged.

"Do you like joining on George's and my pranks?"

"Yeah, they're actually pretty fun," she laughed.

"What career are you going into?"

"I'm not sure, maybe something with music or becoming a Healer, I've never thought about it." She smiled, then she looked away from Fred to see who was around, which was barely anyone. Then she felt something heavy on her shoulders. "Can I ask a serious question," Fred nodded. "Why do you," she took a breath and looked at the cat, "Why do you, you know."

"I don't understand," he furrowed his brows and tried to look at her properly.

"Nevermind, Fred," she smiled forcefully at him but felt something tick in her heart. Fred saw something in her eyes and knew that it wasn't good for her to keep it to herself.

But then something clicked in his mind. He let out a small noise of realization and caused her to coil in her seat like she was guilty. "Aster," he said in an unusually quiet voice for him, "you know I love you, right?" She nodded, her mind said otherwise. "You know you're the most interesting and beautiful girl I know," he continued.

Aster didn't like this when all her feelings came at her at once. She felt loved but even then, her mind always thought differently then what she heard, and Fred knew this. So every time he saw something different, he'd tell her what was on her mind, and it was always her. Or pranking.

Aster looked away and started to pet the cat again. Crookshanks was now sitting on her lap and looking up at her like he knew what was going on. As Aster looked away, she felt something fall down her face. She wanted to say something but when she did, she felt as if she was going to cry.

"Aster," Fred started to say, but instead, he moved his chair closer to her and let her rest her head on his shoulder. He shifted a bit and took out a bar of chocolate, something he now usually carried since Aster was either giving him some or she wanted some.

"I'm sorry," she quietly said as she took a bit of chocolate.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, love," he muttered to her.

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