As the months went on, things at Hogwarts were becoming strange. Hermione had written to you, like she did every few days, to tell you that Katie Bell in the year below you had been cursed by a necklace after leaving the Three Broomsticks and that Harry suspected Draco Malfoy of hexing her.
Hermione also told you that Ron was doing well at Quidditch, and that she was happy to see his confidence growing as a Keeper. She told you that she was hoping to bring him to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. You noticed that her letters had been mentioning Ron a lot recently and you really hoped that the two of them would finally get their heads straight and get together. But before you could even reply to Hermione's letter about Slughorn's party, another one arrived telling you that Ron now had a girlfriend. It was Lavender Brown, in their year, who you didn't know at all, which was a good thing by the sound of Hermione's possibly biased description of her.
Your heart broke for Hermione, and you told Fred and George the news over breakfast. "What a stupid git," George said in exasperation and Fred just sighed, "I don't think there was enough brain left in the Weasley family tree after you and me, George. Excluding Ginny, of course. So just Ron missed out, clearly."
You put your face in your hands and sighed loudly, wishing you could be there for your closest friend aside from the twins, to comfort her while she was going through this heartbreak like you had after the Yule Ball two years ago. Harry had written to you as well, and similarly to Hermione's letters, you noticed how he was mentioning Ginny a lot. You didn't tell the twins this though.
You wouldn't have to see the results of the multiple teenage heartbreaks until you spent Christmas at the Burrow. You and Ron helped Molly with Christmas dessert while the twins and Ginny messed around and pulled enchanted Christmas crackers. Tonks and Remus followed Harry and Mr Weasley into the room and Tonks caught your eye and discreetly nodded her head in their direction, gesturing for you to follow.
You looked over at Molly in question and she nodded knowingly and you excused yourself, walking past Fred, who was holding out another Christmas cracker to Ron, and you leaned up to kiss his cheek as you made your way into the living room. Tonks moved over on the seat she was on so you sat between her and Arthur, and the rest of them nodded in greeting, welcoming you to the conversation.
"Consider this part of your training," Tonks whispered and she winked at you as Remus started speaking.
"So you think that Voldemort has chosen Draco Malfoy for a mission?" he asked Harry, and you could tell that he was sceptical.
Harry shuffled anxiously on the couch opposite Remus' chair and nodded, "I know it sounds mad-"
"Has it occurred to you, Harry, that Snape was simply pretending to offer Draco help so he could find out what he was up to?"
"That's not what it sounded like!" Harry protested straight away.
Tonks cleared her throat, "perhaps Harry's right, Remus. I mean, to make an Unbreakable Vow, it's-"
"It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgement!" Remus countered, "Dumbledore trusts Snape, therefore I do."
"Dumbledore can make mistakes, he said so himself!" Harry said loudly.
"You are blinded by hatred!" Remus snapped.
"I'm not-"
"Yes you are!" Remus said and then he sighed and his voice was softer when he spoke again, "people are disappearing, Harry, daily. We can only place our trust in a handful of people, and if we start fighting amongst ourselves, we're doomed." He ran his hand down his face and you saw Tonks giving Harry a shake of her head, as if telling him to leave it alone.
She smiled softly at Remus and nodded her head towards the door and he gave her a single nod as she stood up and squeezed his shoulder when she walked past, and he got up to follow her, leaving you, Harry and Arthur in the living room.
Ginny walked in then with a plate of Christmas pies and sat closely beside Harry on the couch and he smiled shyly at her. You and Mr Weasley shared a smirk and you both stood up to leave them to it, and you glanced over your shoulder just in time to see Ron walking through the other door and seating himself between them with a large serving platter. You groaned internally at how oblivious that boy was sometimes.
You walked back into the kitchen and Fred intercepted you with a smile on his face, "hello, love." You tugged on his tie and gently pulled him down for a kiss in the doorway and he grinned against your mouth before lifting his hand to cup your face and kissing you back lovingly.
"Oh you two!" Molly chuckled fondly as she walked back into the kitchen and you pulled apart, instead wrapping your arms around Fred's middle and blushing slightly. It was so easy to forget about everyone else when you were kissing Fred, and sometimes when you were dragged back to reality you were a little bit flustered.
Fred grinned down at you and kissed your forehead, "thanks for dinner, Mum," he said over your head to his mother and then he looked back at you, "I've something for you."
"We already exchanged Christmas presents, Fred," you said, confused, as he pulled you by the hand and upstairs. After a lot of convincing on Fred's part, Molly had finally relented and let you both share Charlie's old room, refusing the initial suggestion of Percy's room on the top floor as she still held out hope that he'd come home.
She was still devastated that her son hadn't reached out at all since walking out on the family, even after Mr Weasley's attack, in fact that year he'd sent back the Christmas jumper she'd sent him which broke her heart. Even after Fudge resigned after being proven wrong about Voldemort's return, Percy had yet to make contact with his family. You and the twins presumed he was too ashamed to show his face, and while you felt bad for their parents who clearly missed him, the twins insisted it was good riddance.
Fred pulled you into the bedroom and shut the door, he led you over to the bed and you both sat down. He kept holding your hand with both of his, tracing shapes on the back of it with one of his thumbs, "love, there's something I want to talk to you about."
Your mind instantly assumed the worst and you widened your eyes at him in horror, but he smiled at you reassuringly and lifted your hand to his lips, kissing the back of it. "Nothing bad, don't worry. The opposite in fact."
You relaxed at his easy tone and he smiled at you again, but you could see in his eyes that he was thinking very carefully about something. "Is everything alright, Fred?" you asked him quietly and he grinned at you, "everything is perfect, Y/N. Which is actually why I wanted to talk to you."
You raised your eyebrows at him curiously and he huffed a laugh and then just looked at you adoringly for a moment. He took a deep breath and spoke, "this is something I've known for a while, and you know how much I love you," he looked at you fondly and you smiled lovingly back at him.
He cleared his throat and kissed the back of your hand again before he continued speaking, "I wanted to tell you that you're it for me, darling. Even though we're not ready to make it completely official just yet, I wanted to give you something to symbolise that I want to spend forever with you."
You raised your hand to your mouth as he reached down and pulled a small, dainty ring from his pocket. "It's not an engagement ring yet, don't worry," he chuckled and you wiped a stray tear from your eye as he continued, "it's more of a promise ring. I just want to show you what my intentions are, and that I promise to spend the rest of my life with you, if you'll have me."
You burst into tears and threw your arms around his neck, almost sending you both toppling off the bed. He hugged you tightly and you pulled back, seeing that his eyes were teary too. You beamed at him and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with the pad of your thumb, "I want to spend forever with you too, Fred."
He cupped your cheek with one hand and kissed you with so much love and tenderness, and you held the back of his neck as you kissed him back, pouring all of your feelings into such a soft and slow kiss. He pulled back and held the ring between you, and you held up your right hand to him, leaving your left hand free for the future. He took it in his and slowly slid the promise ring onto your right ring finger and then kissed each of your fingers before kissing your lips once again.
You looked down to admire the ring for the first time and it was so beautiful you couldn't stop the grin that split your face. There was one small diamond in the centre with tiny diamonds on either side of it, it was so beautiful and dainty that you stared down at it and wiggled your fingers to see it glitter in the low light of the room. Then you grinned at Fred as he wrapped you in his arms and kissed your forehead adoringly.
"I love you," you told him as you both stared down at the ring on your right hand, and he kissed your hair again, "I love you, darling. So much."
You held each other for a while and exchanged sweet, loving kisses before standing up from the bed and making your way back downstairs to the others. Fred went to talk to George and Ron in the sitting room while you went to find Tonks and Remus, and saw them talking with Molly and Arthur by the front door.
"There she is! My star pupil!" Tonks announced proudly as she grinned at you and slung an arm over your shoulder.
"You're making us all very proud, Y/N," Arthur said and he gave your shoulder a squeeze and Molly agreed and patted your cheek fondly, "you really are, dear. An Auror in the family, how exciting!"
"Slow down, darling, they're still young," Arthur said to his wife as he smiled endearingly at her, clearly recognising the implications of her words as she winked at you.
You looked at Tonks and she squeezed you fondly with her arm still around your shoulders, and you saw her looking at Remus who was being very quiet, more so than usual. She caught your eye and smiled sadly, "we should get going, the first night of the cycle is always the worst," she nodded at Remus who was staring intently out at the surrounding fields.
"Are you sure you won't stay?" Molly asked her and Tonks took her arm from your shoulders to squeeze her hand, "no, we should go. But thank you for dinner, it was delicious."
Your attention was drawn to Remus as he stepped forward on the porch, still surveying the fields as if he could sense something. "Remus?" Arthur asked him and you stepped nearer to the table at the front door to where your bag was and cautiously pulled your wand out of the front pocket. Then you stepped back out onto the porch and followed Remus' gaze.
"Sweetheart?" Tonks asked as she stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his arm, and you moved past Molly and Arthur to stand right beside Tonks, seeing her hand lingering by her wand in her belt.
Suddenly black shapes flew through the air and huge flames erupted across the dried grass, scorching it in a large fiery ring around the house. Molly gasped and grabbed her husband's arm and you raised your wand as the flying smokey shapes landed and Bellatrix Lestrange and three other darkly clothed figures stood in front of the flames ahead of you.
You raised your wand and Bellatrix grinned at you with her rotted teeth and crazed eyes as her wild black curly hair flew in the breeze. And she cackled and ran away just as Harry pushed through your small group and ran after her. "Harry, no!" Molly shrieked as he chased her and Tonks called Remus' name as he tried to follow, but the fire roared high and stopped him.
Remus and Tonks battled the flames and then someone else pushed past and you watched in horror as Ginny ran after Harry while Molly screamed after her. You didn't even hesitate as you sprinted after the younger girl, not able to bear the thought of something happening to her.
You could hear Arthur running somewhere behind you but you were much faster and gained on Ginny quickly. She leapt over the fire as it momentarily dimmed and it shot up again as you approached it, but you whipped an extinguishing spell at it and it evaporated temporarily as you crossed the circle of flames.
"Ginny!" you called after her and she looked over her shoulder in surprise but didn't stop as you caught up to her. You both raised your wands and came to a stop in the middle of the dark and marshy field that used to be the lake you swam in, the grass towering above your heads, and the only sound being your panting from the exertion of your running.
"I killed Sirius Black! I killed Sirius Black!" you heard Bellatrix cackle from somewhere to your right and you felt your blood boil with rage as she continued taunting Harry. You and Ginny shared a look and sprinted towards the sound of Harry's voice as he cast spells at her. You pushed through the tall grass blindly, not wanting to use the lights of your wands and subsequently give your location away to the other Death Eaters who'd accompanied Bellatrix.
The noises stopped and you pulled Ginny to a stop as a deafening silence surrounded you, you couldn't hear any running or voices and you had no idea where you were or how far from the house you were.
She slipped her trembling hand into yours as you both looked around to try and get your bearings, and she saw an opening in the grass and pulled you towards it, both of you stepping down into shin-high mucky water as you made your way over. You suddenly heard the cracking of a twig and you both spun around in alarm as someone approached you through the grass.
"Harry?" you asked quietly but the man that emerged from the grass with a cruel smile on his wild face was most definitely not Harry, and you instantly recognised him from the 'wanted' posters around Diagon Alley as Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who had killed Florean Fortescue and then abducted Ollivander right before your eyes.
You both backed away and raised your wands, still gripping tightly onto each other's hands as Ginny stumbled in the uneven terrain. Greyback had to be at least six and a half feet tall and his pointed canines were visible as he smiled sadistically at you. Jagged scars littered his face, neck and his exposed chest, that were far more numerous than those on Remus' face.
You pulled Ginny behind you just as you raised your wand, "Stupefy!" you cast but he easily blocked it and raised his wand at you. "Crucio!" he hissed in a gravelly voice but you blocked the curse. "Protego!" you yelled, shielding both you and Ginny from it. Harry ran into the clearing and attempted to stun the werewolf as well but he blocked it and then took off in a cloud of thick black smoke, disappearing from view.
The three of you stood with your backs to each other and with wands raised as movement sounded from all around you in the grass. You backed onto a higher part of the ground that wasn't submerged in water and then a stream of spells blasted from all directions, all of which the three of you managed to block.
You blocked with more ease than the other two, grateful for your months of combat training at the Auror's Office and you sent spells back in the general direction they were coming from. Your Duelling in the Dark lessons gave you a practical advantage as you hit your mark and heard a thud as someone collapsed somewhere in the field nearby.
"Harry!" you heard Remus shouting from nearby and you heard Mr Weasley calling out as well, "Ginny! Y/N!" The two men and Tonks burst into the marshy clearing and the six of you stood back to back with your wands at the ready, preparing for the next attack. It never came though, and four jets of smoke flew into the air and your heart leapt in your throat as you saw them flying directly towards the Burrow.
"Fred," you whispered in horror just as Arthur went pale and said Molly's name.
You sprinted as fast as your legs could carry you and you ran towards the house and saw Fred being physically restrained by George and Ron as he tried to charge in the direction of where you'd initially run after Ginny. When they saw you they let him go and Fred's face fell slack in relief as he ran towards you and you ran straight into his arms.
"You idiot, Y/N! What were you thinking!?" He exclaimed exasperatedly into your hair, but you could tell how relieved he really was.
"It was Ginny, I couldn't just-" your next words fell into a sharp intake of breath as the black smokey shapes that had been circling in the air above dove close to the house, and bright orange blasts of light filled the air.
You all stumbled back in shock and watched in horror as the Burrow became engulfed in flames as the Death Eaters fled. You instantly reacted and shot a large jet of water from your wand towards the burning house while everyone who was of age did the same, with either jets of water or Extinguishing Charms.
Fortunately, the damage to the structure was minimal and you all walked back into the house to make internal repairs, which thankfully weren't urgent. The fire damage was mainly on the outer walls which would be easily fixed, while the protective enchantments prevented further damage to the rest of the house.
A number of hours later, you all gathered in the kitchen after making sure the house was safe to inhabit once again and after airing out the lingering smoke through the windows. You were all thoroughly exhausted, and you stood leaning back against Fred's chest while the others conversed in agitated tones.
"But what was the point of coming after us here?" Ron demanded angrily and Ginny kicked over an empty bucket in the corner in frustration.
"It's an intimidation tactic," Remus answered him, wearily rubbing his face, "they want to show us that nowhere is safe."
"I should go," Harry said immediately, "in case they come back."
Molly instantly protested, telling him that they wouldn't come back now that they knew he was well protected. She also convinced Tonks and Remus to stay the night, as Remus was visibly shaken having faced the werewolf who had attacked him as a small child and had cursed him with lycanthropy.
Later that night you lay in bed with Fred as he carded his fingers through your hair and held you close to his chest. He was very quiet and hadn't said much since coming back to the house, you propped yourself up on one elbow to look down at him as he stared straight up at the ceiling.
"You alright, Freddie?" you asked him quietly and he continued staring up at the ceiling and he took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, his hand that had been combing through your hair now rested on the arm you were holding yourself up on.
"I was so scared that something was going to happen to you and that there was nothing I'd be able to do about it," he admitted and you stayed quiet to allow him to continue speaking. "I was in the sitting room with George and Ron and then we saw the flames and I-" he cleared his throat, "-I couldn't find you anywhere and then I heard Mum screaming after you and Ginny and I saw you running after my little sister without any hesitation and I just..." He brought his hand to his face and covered his eyes, visibly trying to hold back tears and you moved closer to him, rubbing his arm gently.
He took his hand from his face and tangled his fingers with yours on his chest, he looked you in the eyes for the first time then, his eyes were rimmed with red but he pushed on, "I couldn't bear it if you'd gotten hurt without me there to keep you safe."
"We can't always be there with each other though, that's just the world we live in," you told him, tracing shapes on the back of his hand with your thumb.
"I know that, it's just sometimes..." he chuckled at himself, "sometimes I wish I could just wrap you up and keep you somewhere safe where I know nothing could ever hurt you, but I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."
"We both know that's never going to happen," you told him, amused.
He feigned a scowl and ran his fingers through your hair, "I still stand by what I said though. You were being an idiot, putting yourself in danger like that."
It was your turn to scowl then, though it was half-hearted. "It was Ginny, Fred. You know she's like a sister to me," you told him sternly and he ran a hand down his face in resignation.
"I know, but still. I don't want to lose you," his tone was less irritated now, and more concerned.
You chuckled fondly at him, "I'm not going anywhere, love. It's me and you forever, remember?" you untangled your hand from his and wiggled your fingers at him, showing off your promise ring.
He grinned and took your hand in his, kissing your fingers just above the ring, "forever hm? What ever are we going to do with all that time?" He grinned wickedly and pulled you on top of him. You giggled and he smiled up at you, his worries pushed aside for now as he held you close and you pressed a searing kiss to his mouth before replying.
"I can think of a few ideas," you whispered against his lips and his signature cheeky expression lit up his face as he eagerly pulled you back in. He rolled you over until he was on top of you and you giggled into his hair while he kissed your neck, and then he lifted his head to look down at you.
"I really can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," he said as he pressed a tender kiss to your lips. "I love you. And I love you even more when you're not being stupid and jumping into literal flames," he smirked down at you.
"I love you too, Fred," you said with a laugh and then you wrapped your arms around him to pull him closer, both of you getting lost in the sensations of each other in the dim light of the bedroom.