Yellow - {Fred Weasley}

Chapter 16

*July 3,  1997*

I silently fell into the seat in between Ginny and Kate. Harry sat on the other side of Ginny, staring mutely at the coffin before us. Kate stared blankly ahead, her eyes slightly puffy but otherwise nothing else was amiss. Anyone else would've chalked it up to Dumbledore's death. But I knew it was because Draco was one of the top suspects. And that he had been missing since Dumbledore died.

This year had been horrible. It was already bad enough without Fred, George, and Lee being there. And on top of that, it was Chandler's last year with us. The only highlight at the time was that we'd started talking. Then Harry kept trying to prove Draco's membership with the Death Eaters, which caused a huge rift between him and Kate. Draco got to where he'd barely speak to either of us and Kate was extremely upset because of that. Then he got tore into by something that Harry did, which upset Kate even more. We'd both sat in the hospital wing with him for days. I may not have liked my cousin very much, but we were trying to be better to each other. 

It'd been working, so that put me at odds with Harry. Then he and Dumbledore went missing. Lisa had come running into the dorm, pale and eyes wide with fear. "What is it?" I asked, abandoning my work and standing to meet her in the doorway. "It's Dumbledore..." she said, shaking her head slowly. She was in shock - that much was obvious. "What? What's happened?" I asked again, frantically searching her face for answers. 

"He's dead," she replied in a horrified whisper. I wanted so badly to fall to the floor in shock, but all I did was lean against the wall for support. "H-how?" I shook my head. "I mean, he was fine earlier this morning."

Lisa shook her head. "MJ, he's really gone. His body is lying outside the Astronomy tower." I sighed heavily and dropped my head. "But they have a couple of suspects..." she began, wringing her hands nervously as she met my gaze. "Who?" 

She bit her lip and avoided my eyes. "Well... they suspect Draco..." 

"HOW?!" I shouted incredulously. She jumped at the volume of my voice but shrugged. "I dunno. They also suspect Snape. He was up there too. Harry witnessed it all, but he's too broken up to say anything. But... there's something else you should know..."

"What?" I asked warily, wondering how much worse this could get. "The Death Eaters stormed the castle tonight." My eyes widened and I felt faint. "I don't know how none of us noticed anything. No one was harmed in Ravenclaw tower. Not sure about the others..." I struggled to catch my breath as I shoved away from the wall.

"Where're you going?" Lisa called after me, jogging to catch up. "To find Kate and the others," I replied stonily. "It's too dangerous, MJ," Lisa warned, trying to stop me. I rounded on her. "Lisa, I love you but I perfectly understand how dangerous this is. We were both in the D.A. last year. Look who my dad is. I understand danger better than most. I've got to make sure my friends are okay."

She stared at me, wide-eyed. She didn't think I'd lose my cool with her like that. I sighed. "Lise, I'm sorry. But I can't just sit by and wonder how they are when I can go see for myself. You can go back to the dorms if you want."

Lisa shook her head, some curls shaking loose from the messy bun on top of her head. "No, I'm coming with you. They're my friends too." I nodded and we set off in silence.

I snapped out of the memory as -Ginny stood and she and Harry slid down at seat. I looked up in time to see Fred taking the seat where his sister had just been. I smiled sadly at him and turned back to the coffin. Things had been weird between the two of us lately. Ever since he'd heard I was "talking" to Chandler, he was being standoffish. But things didn't feel right between Chandler and I either. I don't know why, but I just feel... wrong.