my favorite comment from the last chapter is a poem, by the beautiful ssouders :

Ch. 19: West Bound

Song For The Chapter: Hallelujah -- Leonard Cohen [something about the emotion in his voice really brings this song home for me.]

LANA'S POV :

I yawned, slouching further down in my seat on the train. There wasn't very many people at Hogwarts this year, and with good reason, so Jenna and I managed to find ourselves rather comfortable in a compartment by ourselves. Luna and Neville had travelled to find Ginny and never returned.

It was dark outside the window, but the landscape was powdered in fresh snow, reflecting the moon's light in an almost menacing manner.

Smiling lightly at me, Jenna distracted me from my landscape watching and asked about my holiday plans.

"I haven't really thought too much about what I'll be doing." I turned my eyes to her, noticing that the black eye had finally faded and she seemed almost her old self once more. "I'll be staying with my cousin and her husband for the holidays. It should be... interesting."

"You know what I just realised," Jenna perked up at the mention on my cousin, actually excited for once, "once Elle and Fred actually seal the deal, you'll be related to each other."

I smirked at the thought, shaking my head. "I guess that I should marry your younger brother then, Jenna. Then we would all be related and it would be officially an awesome family tree."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "You're totally in love with Seamus -- so, I don't think that will work. Besides, Magnus is only two. You'd be better off try to woo my gay brother."

"I bet I could," I shrugged, "I mean, I am a veela."

"Quarter veela," Jenna interjected, "and, he's met you already and isn't impressed." Before I could act hurt by the words Jenna had spit at me, she breezed over the topic with a quick change, turning rather serious despite how comical the words seemed. "So, tell me: do you love Seamus?"

I sighed and turned to watch the night roll past my window, resting a cheek on my palm as I did. "You know what? I really think I do. I've never really been interested men, and romance was never something I thought about."

"Pfft, tell me about it."

"But, I don't know. With him,... it's," I internally cringed as my lips formed the words, "natural."

"Would you bang him?"

"Oh, hell yeah."

I grinned at her, thankful that she was able to ignore all the parts that I was uncomfortable about saying. If Elle were here, she'd be cackling, rolling on the floor and gasping for air. She wouldn't have believed the words coming out of my mouth. But, Jenna was more of a helpless romantic, and didn't need to be convinced of how I felt.

"Ha!" Jenna giggled. "Okay, then it must be true. You've got to like them physically and personally for it to be love, you know."

"Oh really? And, what would you know about that?" I didn't mean for the question to be as serious or as hurtful as it sounded. I wished I could take it back as Jenna ducked her head, her attention on her hands as a blush stained her cheeks.

"You're right. I'm still waiting for someone to come 'sweep me off my feet'."

I brushed off the comment, not wanting Jenna to feel worse by apologizing. "Do you like anyone this year? I noticed you haven't really been fawning over any boys lately."

Jenna tucked a curtain of blonde waves behind her ear and spared a small, thought-filled simper. "With everything going on," she laughed wryly, "I haven't had much time to really think about it." As if to assure me, she waved a hand in the air, shooing away any negative thoughts I may have been thinking. "I'm not worried; it'll happen one day."

"Mhm." I crossed my arms over my chest, straightening out my back as I shot her a serious look. "Elle and I will have to make sure that the guy who does come along is actually worth your time though. So, don't get your hopes up when he does arrive."

She parted her lips to retort as the train slammed to a stop, rocketing us around the compartment. Jenna and I frowned at one another as we stood, making our way to the door opening it to peer out into the empty train hall.

Next door, the group across from us did the same thing. I met my eyes with a Hufflepuff who seemed as lost as I did. I could feel a sense of sickness in the pit of my stomach as the train continued to remain stalled. Something bad was about to happen.

As if hearing my thoughts, Death Eaters began stalking down the hall, their black cloaks trailing behind them like wisps of smoke. Heart racing, I ushered Jenna back into our compartment and slid the door shut, locking it tight as a Death Eater passed. The coal black eyes of a man with wheat yellow hair glared into our empty room before moving on, as if we weren't really there at all.

My tongue was heavy in my skull, weighing every breath with the threat of choking. I tried to swallow, but struggled. A few minutes passed in absolute silence before the train moved once more.

Jenna's wide gaze fell on me. We both didn't know what, or why, they had been on board, but we knew that something had happened. Something terrible.

It wasn't long before Neville burst into our compartment, sweating and eyes flashing as a mad man's would. I sized him up as Jenna hopped to her feet, reaching out to grab his arm and ask if he was alright.

"They've taken her!"

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"Luna! The Death Eaters' have taken Luna!"

ELLE'S POV :

The days were passing at an incredibly slow rate. When Fred and George told me that they were going to be 'going into hiding', I had imagined something... different. The Weasleys were in Romania with Charlie, the wild man -- which sounded really interesting.

However, Fred and George still wanted to be near the shop, and near Hogwarts, to give people the news. I hadn't called that plot twist, but as it turned out, our 'safe place' was the Hog's Head Inn. Fred mentioned to me that they felt that the shop would be under speculation during the holidays, so they closed temporarily. They'd be back to the 'game' after the New Year.

I didn't particularly like the fact that they called this a 'game' between them and the Death Eaters of the community.

I had to admit, I found it a bit silly that we were simply staying in the hot spot of the activity, just hidden in a dirty old pub that no one cared about, except for the owner, Aberforth.

Part of me knew that it was also a compromise between George and Blake. We would travel to a meeting spot with the Weasley's for Christmas and the new year, but after that, they would be right back in London, back to life and the reality of everything. Blake was strongly devoted to her duty as a Healer, and it really impressed me.

She didn't want to be too far away from St. Mungo's, just incase something truly traumatic happened.

Meanwhile, I was beginning to get cabin fever.

There was a perfectly logical reason for the torture I was being subjected to, unfortunately. As a Muggle borne gal with a twin sister who happened to run with the most 'hated' man in the wizarding world, it was in my 'best interest' to stay stuck in the hotel room all the time, as it was important I wasn't spotted.

Thinking about Harry as some sort of badass, mob boss made it a bit more amusing. However, it wasn't enough to make the cabin fever any better. I was restless.

Rolling out of my bed sometime around noon, I trotted down the stairs for lunch... or breakfast; I wasn't entirely sure on the time. Guessing by the way Aberforth eyed me and rolled his eyes, tossing me a bowl of grey mush and a hunk of bread, I assumed it was lunch time.

I played with the grey mush, using my spoon to clump up the odd consistency. I imagined it tasted like the color grey as well. It wasn't a color I wanted to experience.

Showing Aberforth a perfectly decent smile, I pleasantly greeted him with a : "You wouldn't happen to have coffee, would you?"

There was no response from the old man. He simply met my gaze with his own hard, unwavering one.

"No? Really?"

Aberforth wiped his hands on a brown stained towel and simply turned back to the bar without a word.

Fred chuckled, shaking his head as he sat down at a bar stool beside me. "Don't be so pushy towards him. He's doing us a kindness."

"That we're paying him through the nose for," George mentioned, sitting in a table beside the window that was coated in a thick layer of white sow. In his hand, he held a couple cards as Blake asked if he had any Queen suits.

Blake smirked, rubbing at one of her eyes with her empty fist. She noticed the way I eyed her hickie on the base of her neck. She cocked a brow at me, but I merely stifled a smile as I turned back to my food.

Stirring the grey mush around, I sighed and dropped my spoon. "Ugh, I'm sorry, but when can I get out? I've been in here nearly three days and I am begining to lose it. Are we meeting with your family soon, or not?"

Fred took a sip of his cup of tea, sending me a casual look. "It's Christmas Eve, so tomorrow we will be meeting with Mum and Dad at Bill and Fleur's safe place for a proper gathering. They're willing to meet us in the middle because someone," Blake winked at Fred's directed tone, "is unwilling to go too far from London."

"Fun!" I cheered, hardly able to contain my excitement. I needed to breath air outside of this dust bin of an inn. Testing my waters, I nudged Fred's arm coyly. "Fred, can we go somewhere today? I could use a good stretch."

Fred pretended to ignore my comment by taking a long, unresponsive drink of his tea. I hoped it burnt his tongue.

"Come on, let's go on a date. We never go out," I tacked a whine onto my tone, sealing in the guilt trip.

Fred seemed to actually mull the statement over. "You're right, actually, we never go on dates."

It was almost too easy to twist Fred's words around on him. We'd been together long enough that I had begun to know all the weak points in his arguments. "Yes! So, I'll plan it out, give me an hour and --"

"-- Elle, I don't think that it's a good idea." Fred said, as I predicted he would.

"No, no, you can't take it back now."

George nodded, setting down his hand of twos. "She's right, mate. You already agreed, so you've got to follow through." Fred stared at his brother in disbelief. George spared me a sly wink while Blake chuckled, shaking her head as she leafed through her hand of cards, in search of threes.

"Cocky bastard," Fred sighed, "ha, all right, okay, but it's got to be somewhere safe."

"Obviously, Weasley. Who do you think I am?"

"Mhm..."

Aberforth approached my side of the bar and placed a large mug of black sludge in front of me, eyeing my reaction with a careful look behind his half-moon spectacles.

My brow crumpled as I reached for the hot mug, sniffing the stench of coffee in surprise. "Holy shit, Aberforth. You're the man! Thank you."

He arched a winter brow at my comment, confused due to the fact that the coffee was clearly made with little effort and didn't seem as if it was going to taste very good. However, he nodded to me anyway, a twinkle in his eye as he backed away.

'Score one for Elle.'

Due to the excitement of the very near actuality of leaving tonight, I proceeded to throw back the sludge of coffee and the mush of porridge, gulping everything down as fast as possible, to the astonishment of everyone in my midst.

My stomach lurched in disgust at my own actions, but I fought it back with a prideful swallow, setting my spoon and bowl down. Noticing the eye that everyone was shooting me, I took a dramatic bow and rushed to the stairs, taking them two at a time while hollering over my shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a thingy to plan."

Once I was at the top of the stairs, I could hear George and Blake laughing at Fred.

"Why is it so bloody hot out?"

I ignored Fred's immediate complaint as we Apparated in a back alley, where luckily there were no Muggles watching in shock. The sun was weakly shining through the thick layer of clouds, but Fred was right about the warmth.

"This is where I liked to go when I was younger," I told him, taking his hand as we walked out from the alley and into the busy street. It was noon here, despite being eight at night back in England, and last minute Christmas shoppers were filtering in and out of the place, grins on their faces as quiet music played in the distance.

"It's the end of December. It has to be at least ten degrees out right now."

"It's never been ten degrees here, Fred." I chuckled, shaking my head as he gawked at the people shivering in the cold.

"Ten degrees  Celsius."

"Yeah, I don't understand that degree language yet." I brushed off his comment, busy looking around the little mall area. It had been so long since I had been here, and I was happy to be back, even if it was the busiest time of year.

"It's fifty degrees in American."

"I love you," I snickered at his antics.

"Uh-huh."

Christmas lights were hanging from palm trees, and a chilly breeze was coming in. Even though we were far from the ocean, I swore I could taste sea in the back of my throat. It was absolutely amazing.

"Where are we?" Fred finally asked, hooking an arm around my waist with a small smile, curious about the surroundings. Something told me he had never seen lights on a palm tree by the way he was staring at the decorations.

"Home," I breathed out. "Or, more commonly referred to as, California."

Fred tugged at his jacket and fanned himself. "It's absolutely warm. How did you survive the summers if it's that bad in the winter?"

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes at him. "I honestly don't know how I survive the winters in England. It's satanic how cold it is there."

Leaning against his side, we walked down the rain slicked side walk, and I pointed out all the places that Lana, Jenna, and I messed around during our childhood summers. I tried, and failed, not to laugh at how Fred balked at the girls rushing past, bundled in parkas and thick boots, shivering to themselves. "How?!"

"Let it go," I sung.

Fred ran a hand through his fire hair and swept it to the side. "I'm sweating."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic."

"Me? Me be dramatic?"

I laughed and shook my head, as there was really nothing I could say about the matter. Pulling away from him, I pointed to the spot that I had been aiming for all along. "Here we are!"

I could sense the emotions crossing Fred's face because they were the same exact emotions that I had been through when Lana had first taken me to this very place. It didn't look like much, to be fair. And, it really wasn't much at all.

The place was a little, hole in the wall in every literal sense.

Fred eyed it wearily. "What is this? Is this the date?"

"Yup! Come in, it's great," I told him, taking his arm. We pulled open the chipped, blue door and made our way into the place, me smiling the whole time while Fred remained cautious.

"What is this place," he whispers, eyeing the people standing in line at a counter while Hispanic music plays loudly from some speakers tucked in inconspicuous places around the small seating area.

Proudly, I waved my arms around the tiny place, as if it was the most grand treasure I had ever seen. "It's a Mexican stand -- one of the best places to get Mexican food in, like, fifty miles. I've been craving Mexican food forever."

"We've got Mexican food in England, you know."

"Ha!"

Fred frowned. "There's one in London that's really good, it's --"

"--you've never had Mexican food. Trust me."

Once we got our food, we walked around the square. I told Fred things that I had never told him before, as I had never thought of sharing these odd experiences until now. The place brought back so many memories, and it was nice that I was back.

"This is so good." Fred mentioned for the fifth time, in between mouthfuls of food. I nodded, tossing my empty wrapper, as I had practically inhaled my portion. Fred had been a bit weary of the food at first, but not anymore.

I motioned to a yogurt stand at the edge of the square, getting Fred's attention. "That's the place that Jenna was asked out for the third time by this guy that had the biggest thing for her. But, Lana convinced her that he was a creep. Thinking about it now, it was kinda mean, but it was funny at the time."

"Do you miss it?"

"Sometimes, but... not as much as I would if Lana and Jenna hadn't decided to stalk me to Hogwarts. If we weren't so co-dependant, I'm sure I would miss this place a lot more." I admitted, feeling nostalgic as we finished walking around the area.

We talked a bit more about past things, and we took turns deciding what it would have been like if our paths had somehow crossed sooner. Time passed rather quickly and before we knew it, a couple hours had passed before we finally decided to go back to reality.

When we got back to Hog's Head, it was rather late and we decided to retire to our room.

I flopped down onto the mattress and stripped off my shoes and the leggings I was wearing under my white dress, shooting Fred a beam. "It's been a really nice day. Christmas Eve has always been my favorite."

"And, it's our technical anniversary." Fred told me, "I wanted you to have fun, and that's why I agreed to go out. I'm a sucker for you."

I stuck out my tongue, but smiled softly. "I still don't agree with that anniversary logic, but," I shrugged, "I guess you can claim it, if you really like the date."

Fred smiled and motioned for me to come closer to him. Delicately, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he flicked his wand at the music box in the corner. It sputtered to life with a wheeze and began to play some old, Christmas songs. The witch on the radio isn't one that I recognized, but she was pleasant to the ear.

"You remember the Yule Ball?" Fred asked.

Part of me didn't really want to remember it. "It feels like such a long time ago, to be honest."

Fred took me into his arms and we began to sway to the music, out of tune. "It does, I agree."

I blushed, thinking of my first year at Hogwarts. It seemed so odd -- as if none of it really happened. But, of course it had to of, or nothing would have been the same. "I remember feeling very mad at you because you didn't ask me to the dance, Fred."

"I thought you weren't interested in me."

"I was."

"I know that now." Fred turned our bodies as we continued to sway, rocking to a new, faster Christmas tune.

I leant my head on his chest and peered up at him, genuinely curious as a thought popped in my mind that I had never asked him before. "When did you first think you liked me?"

"When I first met you."

"Ha," I retorted, knowing that his answer was a lie, "no really."

Fred chuckled, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he stared down into my eyes, our bodies moving slowly to a fast song. "Oh alright, to be perfectly clear, it was when you lied to dad for George and I. Do you remember?"

"Lied? That doesn't sound like me."

Fred ignored the joke in my tone. "You did," he turned me around in a circle, swaying off the beat, but we didn't mind, "George and I were bothering you with a root that we dug up, back when we only had our toffee creations. We knew dad was angry at us for it, so we asked you to hide the plant."

Puzzled, I thought back, mustering up a fuzzy, old memory to my mind. "I remember now." The correct part of that encounter seemed skewed when hearing it from Fred's perspective. "I wanted to make a good first impression, so I lied to your dad because I wanted him to like me."

Fred shook his head. "I knew it." I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, either way, that was when I decided that you were someone I could appreciate."

"Appreciate, huh."

"What can I say? Do I wish I had been quicker to sweep you up? Perhaps." He ran his fingers down the sides of my torso, sending chills up my spine. There was something to the moment, something that clung to my breath and sputtered my heart against my ribs as I watched Fred's face. There was a lust to our movements now.

All I could think about was how much I wanted him in that moment, as if my bones ached for him. My met his eyes, and I was sure that we were thinking the same thoughts.

I suddenly was blushing hard, but felt more confident than ever in his arms. I had never really thought too much about physical attraction and I had usually been good about behaving myself around Fred. But, this moment was almost too perfect.

I found myself very self conscious in that moment. How does one initiate that they want sex, I mean really? I'd never done it before. In movies, the people always happen to just know and it's just a process that happens on its own.

Fred could sense my change in mood. "Elle?"

"Uh, Fred?" I whispered, though it was quiet in the room. My pulse was in my ears.

Fred cocked his head to the side. "Hey, are you all right?" I noticed that we'd stopped dancing.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Doo you want to have sex?"

I peeked up at him to see a surprised expression on his face, but he was also trying to fight a smile, failing too. "Uh," he chuckled, "I mean, well yeah, that'd be --"

"--oh, for God's sake, you're making it more awkward than it needs to be." I blurted out, getting the okay was enough for me as I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hoisted my lips onto his.

We fumbled around for a moment, then knocked over onto the bed.

I think my cheeks were permanently stained pink as we both stared that the flames flickering in the fireplace in the opposite side of the room. "I love you."

"I love you too, Letter." Fred held me close, smiling softly.

My mind was like sludge. I was thinking of all these things I would like to say, and yet nothing could make coherent sense as I lay there, holding on to him. "Fred, let's get married."

"I'd like that. When were you thinking?" Fred turned to look at me, an arm slung around my bare waist.

"Tomorrow." I said, a mile wide smile.

Fred nodded. "O-kay, well, I'll have to give notice to Mum. And, what about your friends, would you like to invite them to tomorrow's nuptials?" There was a hint of a joke in both of our tones, but I could tell that we were both being very serious at the same time.

"We can have a bigger wedding once the summer comes, but, for now... I want to be with you. As an official Weasley."

Fred stirred in our bed at that, turning his body to the side to face me. "You'll be taking my name then?"

That caught me by surprise and I rose a brow while slinking under the duvet to cover my naked torso from the cold. I was still blushing. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I was thinking you would joint name us," Fred smirked, "then our kids would have joint names and their kids would have joint, joint names and so on and so forth until there was just an impossibly long line of last names."

I shook my head. "Call it old fashioned, but I'd rather cut the crap and just take the new name. Besides, Granger-Weasley isn't my style. That sounds terrible."

"What, kids?" Fred was joking, poking fun at my choice of words, but my face fell despite it, and I knew that he could tell I was bothered. I couldn't help but think about the kids that we would probably never have, and it immediately wiped the happiness out from that moment.

Fred cupped my cheek with a soft hand and offered me a knowing gaze. "Elle, don't worry about kids. I love you no matter what, it's not something that we should be troubled by."

With a resilient sigh, I turned back to stare the flames. "I'd never really cared, or wanted, to have children until I found out that I couldn't have them. Now, they are all I want when I think about my future. I mean, my doctor at St. Mungo's says that... maybe one day..."

Fred pulled me into his chest, settling the fear in my heart and calming me down as he kissed the top of my head lightly. "I know, Elle. We're going to be fine. Believe me."

"I know, Fred."

And, I believed it.

Happy delayed Christmas Eve [AND HANUKKAH, BITCHES] + Christmas Around the World!

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LOOL I joke, I joke.

[not edited, lol sorry]

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