Not Alone After All

Chapter XII

Laura walked through the halls and she had the feeling everyone was staring at her. She was starting to feel paranoid after all that happened. How could a twelve years old girl live with such burden? First her parents were killed by the Dark Lord when she was still in her mother's womb. She gets separated from her brother, her only family, and they grow apart. Now, her foster family, murdered in a fire. And they were blaming Sirius Black, her dead father's best friend. And she's going to get to live a whole summer, maybe more with the Dursleys, her muggle family that raised her brother. Great. Just great.

She arrived at the Great Hall and slowly walked to the Slytherin table, besides the Gryffindor's, and sat back to back to George Weasley, one of Ginny's brothers. After she sat, she placed her arms on the table and let her head fall over them. Fred and George seemed to notice that she was sad. They both sat down besides her, one each side, their legs still turned to the Gryffindor table.

"What's wrong, little Potter?" Asked George in a soft but mockingly way. "By the way, I'm George." George said, making sure that Laurie knew which one was which. Fred reached worryingly, since Laurie didn't even bother to move.

"Laurie. What happened?" He asked, turning around and placing his legs under the table and sitting like everybody else. Fred placed a hand on her shoulder and she suddenly raised her head, her eyes red from crying and tears falling through her cheeks. She looked at Fred, his warm eyes looking at her sadly. "What is it?" He asked. Laurie frowned. She had never seen this side of the twins. They were always making jokes and pranks, laughing at everybody. And now they were there, talking to her. That's an evolution.

"You know, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to," George said. "But we would appreciate it," he quickly added.

"Yeah, yeah, you know? We are very good at keeping secrets," said Fred goofly. Laurie saw what they were trying to do. They were trying to make her laugh.

"I'm very good at keeping secrets," George corrected. Fred was about to correct him himself, but decided he was right.

"I--yeah... He's good at keeping secrets." Whatever they were doing, it was working. Laurie smiled, chuckling softly.

"If I tell you two, you can't tell Harry, Ron nor Hermione," Laurie told them. The twins stared at each other, then nodded, as if they had telepathically communicated.

"Cross our hearts," they said at the same time, drawing a cross over their hearts with their fingers.

Laura wiped away the tears form her face and turned to Fred, laying her head on her arm.

"My parents, the adoptive ones, they were murdered," she said, almost like a whisper. As she said that, Laurie could feel the emotions burning through her throat as she tried not to cry. Fred's expression, the only one she had eyes on, turned quickly from a smile to somewhat of pity. He had imagined everything but this. Another set of parents, people who love her, dead. George passed an am around her shoulders, trying to comfort her, but only making her tears come back.

Fred wiped them away, taking her hand.

"You know," Fred said softly. "We might not be the best poeple to talk to, to give you advice. But when you need someone to make you laugh, you can come to us," he smiled. Laurie smiled a sad smile too. "And by the way," he added. "I'm Fred." Laurie chuckled faintly. Fred and George smiled for they had made her laugh.

"I know," Laurie responded, sitting up straight. Fred ang George smiled, daringly.

"Do you?" They said at the same time.

"Yeah. You two look alike, but you are completely different," she explained.

"You know, you and Harry are the only ones who can actually tell us apart," George started.

"Even our own mother can't!" Continued Fred. "How is that acceptable?"

Some Slytherin boys, along with Draco Malfoy, were staring at them; two Gryffindors sitting at the Slytherin table. They decided it was time to go. George got up and sat on the Gryffindor table, besides Oliver Wood, a quidditch player for Gryffindor. Before getting up, Fred grabbed Laurie's hand on the table.

"I am serious," Fred said, lowering his voice so the Slytherins wouldn't hear him. "I'm guessing Dumbledore asked you not to tell Harry. So if you need someone to talk to, or just to be with, we're here for you," he repeated, his warm brown eyes staring at her sweet green ones. Laurie slowly nodded, thanking him silently.

As Fred walked away from the table and sat with his brother George, Draco Malfoy sat besides Laurie. She rolled her eyes and sighed, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" She asked, annoyed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, to her surprise. Laurie then realised that her eyes were red, so Malfoy knew she was crying.

"Why do you care?" She snapped.

"I care about every Slytherin," Draco admitted, though Laurie detected the lie in his voice.

"Sure."

There was an unsettling silence between them. Laurie thought Draco was finally giving up.

"So.." Draco restarted. "What is it?"

"Let it go, Draco," she said, looking to the Hufflepuff table, where Cedric Diggory was sitting with his friends. Cedric was the seeker of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. It wasn't a big competition, since the Hufflepuff house wasn't as competitive as Griffindor or Slytherin, but Cedric was good.

The tables were getting all filled up. If Laura wanted to change the place where she was sitting, it was now or never. Laurie spotted the perfect place. She got up on her feet, and walked towards her new place, leaving Draco all alone, staring at her.