Raven (Fred x oc)

88. The Dragon Takes His Firsts Steps on the Fire

As the weeks at school progressed, I began to fall into a kind of schedule. I only had to teach Monday mornings and the bulk of my responsibilities were in the afternoon watching over Quidditch practices. For this reason, I only got up early on Mondays. Every other day, I woke around eight or nine. I had also started eating breakfast in my office and had a tray of tea, eggs, sausage, and a scone waiting on my desk every morning. On Saturday, I had practices to supervise all morning and usually until about four o'clock.

After that, I took over the watch for one of the Aurors and kept watch around the campus until midnight. Sunday was my day off, so I left campus to visit Fred and my friends after breakfast and stayed until late in the night. I repeated this schedule until mid-October when the school had its first Hogsmead visit. I had invited Fred and was planning on meeting him for a butterbeer.

"Hi," I said happily, smiling as he quickly kissed me. We sat down and Fred handed over one of the butterbeers he had gotten.

As we were sitting, I heard an all-too-familiar voice burst out, "He was nicking Sirius' stuff!"

"I know, Harry," Hermione replied. "But, please, don't shout, people are staring. If you're really worried about it, go talk to Valerie. It's her house, after all." I shared a confused look with Fred as Harry came over.

"Who supposedly took Dad's stuff?" I asked, frowning.

"Mudungus," he replied, clearly still angry.

"He must still have access to the house, somehow," I said, glancing at Fred. "All of Dad's old stuff that wasn't in his room is in the basement. That must be where he got it all. I can handle it tomorrow when I have my day off."

"I can take care of it if you need me to, Luv," Fred said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"No, it's fine," I replied. "Was there anything else, Harry?"

"No," he replied. "See you later." I nodded and we were left alone again.

"Mum has been bugging me about what our wedding plans are," Fred remarked, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"Is it strange I haven't really thought about it?" I asked, letting out a small laugh. "Well, I mean beyond that I plan to marry you." Fred chuckled, kissing me gently. I smiled into the kiss before pulling away to take a drink.

"Ah, Madam Black," Professor Slughorn said, approaching us.

"Horace," I replied. "This is my fiance, Fred Weasley. Ron Weasley's older brother. Fred, this is Horace Slughorn, the new potions master."

"Pleasure," Fred said, shaking hands with Horace.

"The pleasure is all mine," he replied. "I was wondering if you would join me and some of the students for a little get together Monday night."

"Oh, I can't," I replied. "I'm supervising Quidditch practice. Thank you for the invitation." Once he had gone, I asked, "Fred, could you help me secure the house tomorrow?"

"Of course," he replied. "I can come by around noon, but I need to work in the morning."

"Of course," I replied. "You want to walk around a bit?"

"Sure," he replied. As we were walking, a scream sounded.

I barely glanced at Fred before sprinting towards the noise. "KATIE!" I screamed, seeing her fall to the ground. "Bloody hell, wha-what happened?"

She writhed and screamed on the ground as I collapsed next to her, shouting, "Katie! Katie! Fred, help me!" He crouched down as well and helped me lift her, even as she screamed and thrashed around. "Don't touch that!" I shouted as Harry moved to pick up a package. He grabbed his scarf and picked it up that way and followed behind us.

We rushed her into the castle and to the hospital wing as I shouted, "Madam Pomfrey!" She appeared, hearing Katie's screams and my shouts. Fred and I lowered her onto one of the beds as McGonagall sprinted toward us.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"I don't know," I replied, trying to calm Katie down. "Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Leanne saw the whole thing, but I don't know anything more." She rushed away as Madam Pomfrey poured something into Katie's mouth, causing her to quiet. I sat shakily in a chair next to her as Fred sat down next to me, gripping my trembling hand. Snape appeared next, doing what he could. After a bit, McGonagall appeared again and started talking quietly to Madam Pomfrey.

"Ms. Black," she said quietly. "Mr. Weasley. I must ask you both to leave while this matter is handled." I nodded and Fred helped me to my feet.

"Please, keep me updated," I said. She nodded and as I left.

Once we were in the hall, Fred said, "I should probably go." I nodded, wrapping my arms around him tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Okay," I replied. He gently kissed my forehead before leaving the grounds. Very pale and shaky, I went down to the kitchens and asked for a strong pot of tea to be delivered to my office. By the time I got there, the tea and Harry had arrived. I sat down with my tea and offered, "Tea, Harry?"

"No thank you," he replied. "I need to talk to you."

"So I assumed," I replied, attempting to pour myself a cup, but my hands were trembling so badly Harry ended up doing so for me. "Thank you," I said, picking up the cup and taking a long sip.

Harry waited until I'd finished one cup and started on my second to say, "I think I know who did it." I raised my eyebrows but didn't speak, waiting to hear what he had to say. "I think Malfoy had something to do with it."

"Harry, he had detention today," I countered. "I know because I was supposed to be his supervising teacher for it, but McGonagall cancelled her plans to go to Hogsmead on account of the weather. He wasn't there."

"No, but he could've had something to do with it still," Harry said. "Leanne said she was supposed to deliver it to someone. It would've killed whoever that person was."

"Harry, why would Draco want to kill anyone?" I sighed, finishing off my second cup and starting my third.

"Because...I think he's a Death Eater," Harry said. I rubbed my eyes tiredly.

"Harry, please, can we talk about this later?" I said. "My friend's life is in danger I can't do this right now."

"Right, sorry," Harry said, sounding slightly ashamed of himself. "Later then. I'm sorry about Katie." I nodded and soon had drunk my way through the entire teapot. It did little for my nerves. There was another knock on my door.

"Come in," I said weakly. A house-elf opened the door and came towards me.

"Hello, Miss," it said. "Madam Pomfrey sent this for you."

"Thank you," I replied, taking the potion from her. After I had downed it, I finally felt less shaken.