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"Perseus, wait up," Fred called after his best friend, if he could still call him that. They were still on shaky terms after their fight several weeks ago.
"What do you want, Weasley?" Perseus' words caused Fred to internally wince at the use of his last name as he truly realized how mad Perseus was at him.
"Listen, I don't exactly know what's going on right now with Maria and everything," Fred started only for Perseus to scoff at him.
"Obviously," Perseus muttered as he turned to leave only for Fred to block his path.
"I know I messed up, Perseus," Fred was begging at this point, desperate to have his best friend back. "But you're still my best friend."
Perseus' face softened at Fred's words before he let out a sigh.
"Alright fine, you know I can't stay mad at you forever," Perseus grinned as Fred let out a loud whoop, causing most of the students in the Great Hall to stare at them. He was even more shocked when Fred pulled him in for a giant hug. Perseus hesitated a few seconds before returning it.
"Okay," Perseus laughed as he shoved Fred away playfully. "Let's get out of here."
The two boys slung their arms over each other as they exited the Great Hall.
"One more thing," Perseus started as Fred glanced at him. "I know you have this thing for my sister or whatever, but if you hurt her, I will kill you."
"Duley noted," Fred replied, simply happy to be with his best friend. He couldn't, however, stop the question that had been on his mind since the night before. "Uh, where is she by the way?"
The question caused Perseus to roll his eyes at the question, however, he didn't seem angry about Fred asking about his sister anymore.
"She's been in the library since Wednesday," Perseus reluctantly told him, figuring they had to find a middle ground somewhere. "Trying to find something that she's probably never going to find."
"Oh, I assumed she had found what she was looking for," Fred furrowed his eyebrows as the two boys walked towards the Gryffindor common room together. "I ran into her last night and she was very adamant of going to Dumbledore immediately."
"What?" Perseus pulled away from Fred as they came to a sudden halt in the middle of the corridor.
"She didn't tell you?" Fred asked as he watched the different emotions flicker across Perseus' face, and none of them were good. "I just assume she told you-"
"We need to find her," Perseus rushed as he ran towards their common room. Fred was hot on his heels as he followed after Perseus, wondering why he was so worried.
"Ginny!" Perseus called out to the young redhead when they reached to common room. The young first-year jumped at her name and paled when she realized it was Perseus and her brother. "Do you know where Maria is?"
"I haven't seen her," Ginny squeaked as she hid her shaking hands behind her back so the two boys couldn't see, however, they were too worried about Maria to notice Ginny's odd behavior. "She hasn't been in her dorm since Wednesday."
"She should've came back last night," Perseus muttered as he turned away from the young redhead. "I knew I should've stayed with her."
"It's not your fault," Fred reassured his friend, although he too was becoming increasingly worried about Maria. "Let's just go talk to Dumbledore. He must've seen her last night."
Perseus nodded his head frantically and didn't waste any time dragging Fred with him as they hurried to Dumbledore's office. They shoved past students and slid around corners as until they finally made it to Dumbledore's office.
"Acid pops!" both boys exclaimed at the same time, not caring if Dumbledore found out they knew his secret password to his office. The stone statue moved and the boys sprinted up the stairs without wasting a single breath.
"Professor Dumbledore!" Perseus exclaimed as he rushed through the headmaster's door with Fred hot on his heels. They halted, however, when they realized they weren't the only ones there as every single professor gathered around Dumbledore. Fred's stomach sank as his eyes grazed over each of the professor's solemn faces, even Professor Snape seemed quite down.
"Perseus, Fred," Dumbledore's grave voice echoed against the stone walls of his office as he gestured to the two seats in front of his desk. "Please sit. I'm afraid I have some terrible news."
