Lyra Potter

The rings.

         I lie awake staring at the insides of my eye lids, hopelessly trying to sleep while Hermione and Ginny were fast asleep. It didn't matter anyways because what worries me, I can't talk to them about anyways. It feels wrong. Not being able to talk to two of my most trusted friends about this is frustrating, but, how would I start that conversation. "Hey, Ginny, I'm madly I love with your bother, but I'm engaged to the one we hate the most in school." Yeah, that will be a fantastic conversation.
        I need some air.
        Quietly I slip over to the window and slowly slide it open. With out a sound, I climb out and use the ledges to skirt myself over to the roof that hung over the side porch. Laying on my back, I look up into the clear starry sky. I heard a creak in the wood and I looked up to my left and saw a tall redhead in light blue night apparel climbing down towards me.
        "What are you doing out here beautiful?"
        I smiled at him as he laid down beside me. "Fred, what are you still doing up?"
        "I suppose same as you, too much of me on our minds." He smiled at me, with his golden brown eyes and his ginger hair all a mess.
        I couldn't help but smile back. "Yes. Too much of you on my mind" I lied. I hate lying, but I can't tell him.
        "Good. Because that's all you need to be bothering you. You'll be starting you second to last year of Hogwarts then you'll be home free to come and work with us at the shop. Oh! And speaking of the shop!" He pulled something out of his pocket. It looked like a necklace and he magically detached the the back and reattached it around my neck. I let my fingers grace over it.
        "What is it?" I asked, confused at to what the shop had anything to do with this necklace.
        "Well," he rubbed the back of his head. "That's not the form you talked about it being in, but it's that Artemis Rod you talked about trying to make. I had it be a necklace to give to you, but - go ahead and try it out."
        I looked down at it and it was now a mist of a grey liquid that formed into a small silver rod about the length of a roll of parchment paper. I twirled it between my fingers and it turned into a quill. Then I twirled it again and it was what seemed a wand, but when I tried to use it, it didn't work.
        "Well I didn't think it would do that." He said with a matter-of-fact look upon his face.
        "I didn't either, but it was worth a shot. Thank you." I formed it back to the silver Artemis Rod and looked at it.
        "I had you initials engraved at the end there." He pointed to the end closest to me. I looked and it had LP at the end. I smiled. "Now, if something ever happens, you can use this to protect yourself and also be able to safely conceal it." He smiled at me, I forgot all about Draco.
        "Oh! And! If you ever need my help, press your initials. It's a button." I tilted my head and looked at my Rod. I pressed in on my initials and a beeping sound emitted from my Rod. It beeped only thrice then stopped. "Now, if I had mine, it would be glowing red. I left it in my room." He gave me a half smile and slid his fingers over my right ear tucking a pice of my thick greasy black hair behind my ear. Slowly and gingerly, he kissed my forehead and laid back down. I rested my head on his chest with one hand laid on his chest in front of my face and the other around my stomach. I wanted to be with him. Not Draco. Never Draco. I despise him as he despises me. Fred slid his fingers under mine, lifting my hand just a few inches from his chest and entwined his fingers with mine.
        Moments of silence passed and our fingers danced within each other as the night got cooler by the minute.
        "Ly?"
        "Yes Fred?"
        "What's bothering you? You know you can tell me anything."
        "Anything?"
        "No matter what, I will always love you. Even if you were to leave me." His fingers kept dancing but mine froze. What do I say. I don't want to leave him but what do I say as an excuse?
        "It's not you or anything that has to do with you. It's..." Think Lyra... My fingers danced with his as the gears in my head turned. "Just what happened at the Ministry."
        "You mean with-"
        "Yes. With Sirius. If she wouldn't have done it, then we would have been able to spend more time with him!"
        "Not to mention he was the only other family member you and Harry have left." My fingers hesitated.
        "Exactly."
        "But you still have us at least, right. We are family too. I know mum veiws you and Harry as her own."
        "Yeah, I suppose. It's just different. We may feel like family, but it's still different."
        "Well, what if it wasn't. What if you had a chance to become part of the family? Would you take that chance?"
        I got up half way and leaned on my elbow to look at him. "You know well I would." I smiled at him, thinking 'if only things were different.'
        He got up on his elbow, leaning on his side, he pulled something else out of his pocket. "Then," he opened a small box quickly to reveal a gold ring with three diamonds, the middle one being a bit bigger that the other two that flanked it. My heart sank. What am I going to do? I sat there, unconsciously raising my free hand over my awe'ed lips as his high pitched shrinking voice ran through my head: 'if you engage in a relationship other than with Draco, that boy will die.'
        "I can't." I said under my breath as I tilted my head down so my hair would fall in my face, hiding my tears. "I can't. I'm sorry." I slowly got up but he stood up quickly and caught me before I could run.
        "What!? Why can't you!? You just said you would!"
        "Exactly! I would." I looked at him, tears cascading over my cheek bones, glistening in the moon light above. "But I.... I just can't." I shook myself free. I just couldn't look at his hurt face anymore and I climbed back into the window before he could catch me again.
        I laid down in my bed again and tried sleep and ended up crying myself to sleep.