dedicated to VixenMoonlight for the cover :) thank you!

Ch. 36: Relationship Reset

Song For This Chapter: Old Money - Lana Del Rey

"I'm sorry about last night," I breathed out as my tired eyes lifted open, meeting the sleeping frame of Frederick Weasley beside me, feeling embarassed.

Fred stirred a bit, and for a moment I wondered if he'd even heard me. Slowly, he denied my suspicions by lightly taking my hand into his, cracking one eye half open to peer at me. "S'okay, honestly I didn't expect you to have a panic attack."

"Well," I blushed, holding his hand tighter, "It was a little sudden of you," I teased, feeling a true smile spread on my lips. "I didn't really have time to mentally prepare myself."

Fred yawned and proped his head up on his arm, nestled on his side as he watched me with a sad smile. "You're right, Letter. However, you didn't even let me finish in my 'grand proposal'," he reached out his other hand and moved a stay hair from my eyes. "I wasn't able to tell you what I'd wanted to accomplish by asking you to marry me."

"Get in my pants?"

"Ha ha," Fred winked at me, "That too," I shoved him lightly, but he merely shook his head. "Look, Elizabeth, I don't care about whether or not you can have kids. I love you for the way you are now - crazy, yes, but you're you. Besides, children are the last thing on my mind at the moment."

I sighed, glancing towards my hand as he took it once more, leaving my hair alone. "What's on your mind, then? Why marriage anyway - I mean, we're just teenagers."

"Remember what I said?" Fred asked me, watching me with a small, unsure smile as I shook my head bashfully. I could hardly remember anything before sobbing my eyes out to Fred.

" 'Elle, don't worry. I get it, you're nervous. Bloody hell, I'm scared out of my wits right now too, but don't think of this as set in stone for immediately after your birthday. I just want you to know... I'm trying to say...,'," Fred repeated, sitting up on the mattress that I'd occupied for the night. "I was trying to ask you to marry me in the future - I couldn't remember the word for it, however."

"What?" I blurted out, confused.

"You know," he chuckled, "It's a promise that when we are ready, we'll seal the deal."

"Have I ever told you that you have a way with words?" I replied, sarcasm dripping from my words as I sat up as well. "The word is 'promise' ring, and it's different than proposing, Frederick Gideon Weasley." I wasn't sure why, but I was suddenly furious by the mistake; it had caused me a lot of distress.

"Can you blame me for wanting to keep you around forever?" He smirked, flopping back down onto his pillows, arms behind his head. I shot him a small glare, reading his mind before he even said it, "How was that for a way with words, Letter?"

"Better," I offered him, shoving him from the bed with a satisfied smirk as he hit the wooden floor beneath him. I slid out of the bed and stretched myself out, watching Fred merely laying on the ground, staring up at me. Sighing, I offered him a hand.

Fred took it, but instead of pulling himself up, he yanked me down to the floor, so I was laying next to him. I groaned as my elbow smacked against the wood, painfully. "S'rry," he snickered, earning a glare from me.

I rubbed my elbow for a minute before slowly peering over to him, a frown etching over my lips. "Fred," I started, not sure how to say what I wanted, but feeling an uncomfortable twist in my stomach. "I'm sorry your proposal was such a disaster."

The smile dropped from his face, and as he sat up from his spot on the ground, he scratched the back of his neck. "It was pretty bloody terrific, wasn't it?"

I chuckled, "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry, L," Fred offered me a small, encouraging smile that caused confusion to crop into my mind.

"Worry about what?"

"About saying yes," he grunted, getting up from the hardwood flooring, offering me a sturdy hand up. Gingerly, I eyed him with a withering glance, but took the offer, allowing him to pull me up onto my feet. "I'll wait for a better opportunity."

A blush seeped over my cheeks as I moved my gaze down to my toes. I was still wearing my rubber boots. "Fred, I-"

The door to Fred and George's bedroom slammed open, causing Fred and I to jump at the sound, turning to face the distraught appearance of George. "Georgie?" Fred offered, noting how afraid his twin seemed. "What's happened?"

"The Burrow," George breathed out, face ashen. "Death Eaters attacked Mum and Dad."

"It's so easy for them to get to him," Hermione shifted around in her seat for the thousandth time, sighing for the hundreth time while re-reading the Daily Prophet for, at least, the tenth time. The title on today's paper was bold and ominous, 'Ministery Disappearances Continue'. "He's bloody lucky he wasn't killed," she huffed, adjusting herself on the bench inside the Great Hall.

Lana and I spared each other small looks over our lunches. She was right, of course. However, Hermione had been repeating herself all day, and we just wanted some peace of mind before heading back to class. Vacation had ended far too soon.

"You're right," I stated, voice dead-panned.

"He needs to remember who he is."

"You're right," Lana voiced, voice monotone as well.

Our conversation had been this way for half an hour now, and only recently had Hermione begun to catch onto the fact that Lana and I just did not care about her ranting.

My gaze flickered towards the opposite end of the table where Ron and Lavender were sitting. He seemed rather uncomfortable as she slipped a necklace around his neck.

"You'll wear it, right?" She asked, high-pitched 'love tone' grating my nerves.

Ron refrained from rolling his eyes, but he offered her a limp, pale smile. "O-Of course I'll wear it, Lav."

"Awe!" She shrieked, causing Lana to flinch beside me, knuckles cracking as she tightened her fist. The longer Jenna was gone, the shorter Lana's fuse was. It was funny to me how drastically different Jenna's influence on Lana and I had. We really needed her back soon. "That's my Won-Won!"

I made a retching sound, earning Lavender's curious gaze, but I merely sent her a small wave, as if nothing had happened. Hermione's nose crinkled in distaste, the scene disturbed her as much as Lana and I.

"Excuse me," she lowered her voice, backing away, "I have to go and vomit."

"We'll come with you!" Lana and I practically shouted to her at the same time. I swung my bag around my shoulder as I jumped from the bench, leaving Won-Won and Lav to their puke-fest.

The first day passed with an excruciatingly long presence. Every hour felt like a decade and I'd even threatened Pansy Parkinson when she had merely tossed me a sour look in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Look at me like that again, Pansy, and I'll tear your bloody, crossed eyes out!"

Pansy's mouth had popped open in surprise while Lana snickered in the background and Hermione elbowed me, lightly. "I didn't do anything to you, Mud-Blood!"

"You want to go?! Let's take this outside!" I tossed my arms up into the air, flailing them around towards the exit.

The sound of a rather large, old book snapping shut at Snape's desk silenced the jeering Gryffindors and defensive Slytherins. "What is this disruption in my classroom, Granger? Ten points from Gryffindor."

Seamus muttered a groan and a curse under his breath, earning a small, reassuring pat on the shoulder from Lana. Snape heard whatever he'd said, which scared me because I was closer to the Irish lad and hadn't made out the words myself.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor, for Mr. Finnigan's tongue." Snape paused, standing up from his desk and shooting each and every one of the hundreds, if not five, potential Gryffindors a glare. "Any more of you feel brave? I'll take all of your points. Now, get to work."

"Toss pot."

"Detention!"

"Wanker."

Lana and I sent Seamus small looks of apologies as we scrubbed the cobblestones of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, one of the last chores on our list before Snape would free us from our night detention.

"Perhaps I went a bit too far."

"Ya think?" Lana sighed, flexing out her fingers, causing the joints to pop from the cramps that had grown inside them. My hands were sore too, and I felt bad that I'd caused Seamus to miss Quidditch practice.

"You're the one who said 'toss-pot'; I had to be a good friend and join you...," I trailed off, thinking about how Seamus had been caught in the cross-fires due to the fact that he was the first to mutter an insult.

"S'rry, Finnigan," I shot him a small, placid frown. "I know you have better things to be doing."

Seamus shrugged, twisting the rings on his fingers as we all took a short break to loosen up our tense muscles. "Eh, it's bet'er company than those boys I'd have to work with an'way. Besides, I like you lot."

Lana smirked and nudged him, and I awkwardly watched on the sidelines, suddenly feeling as a fifth wheel on a car would. Useless.

I dunked my scrub brush in the lukewarm, magical soap that Filch had provided us with. The product was supposed to magically lift away tough grout and stains, but something told me that Filch had laced the soap with Muggle product as well, just so we'd be forced to work longer. Sneaky Filch...

"Ah, lookie," a decrepit voice echoed throughout the room as the sound of something that was rather close to liquid sloshed overhead. "Little bitty Gryffins cleaning."

Seamus glanced above the three of us, a scowl on his face as he noticed the ghost hovering over us, holding a bucket of mystery liquid. "Peeves."

I slowly inched myself away from the sight of the poltergeist, remembering all the pranks that he'd pulled when Fred and George had left. The twins and Peeves had a... special relationship.

"Now," Peeves jested, black eyes sizing the three of us up as he seemed to hop joyfully up and down in mid-air, causing his bucket to sway dangerously. "What is it this time, my wee Gryffin friends? Put tacks on Snape's chair, toss a bottle of shampoo at 'im?"

"That's a good one," I voiced with a grin. Peeves faltered a bit at my agreement, giving me a small look-over as if he was trying to recognize me. I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't. I was one of the fortunate ones to not have faced too much of the poltergeist's wrath.

Peeves sloshed his bucket some more, getting closer. "You're Crackpot's friend, right? How is Potty these days? I never get visits you see. Dumbledore's really cracked down after the whole 'Umbridge' beast."

Potty?He must mean Harry... "I guess you could say that," I shrugged, subtly hoping that if I distracted the malicious ghost enough, he'd forget about dropping the contents of his bucket on our newly cleaned floor. "I'm Elle Granger."

"Never heard of you."

I pulled my wand from my cardigan pocket, bracing myself as the ghost began to whistle a tune. It was too cheerful, and that only meant one thing. He was going to dump the bucket.

Seamus scratched the back of his neck, glancing from Lana to me, trying to figure out how to get Peeves to back off. "You know her boyfriend," Finnigan stated, distracting Peeves slightly, "Fred Weasley."

I practically smacked myself in the forehead. That was possibly the worst thing Finnigan could have said. He quickly caught on to that fact as soon as Peeves's face broke out into a wicked, gleaming grin.

"You're ickle Freddie-kin's girlie?"

"No," I shook my head quickly, "No - I don't know who you're talking about." I grit my teeth, practically hissing at Seamus as he mouthed a feeble 'I'm sorry'.

Peeves cackled a chilling laugh and then sent us all a curt nod. "Say hello from me," and then, Peeves disappeared with a loud 'crack', toppling the bucket mid-air.

My heart kept up into my throat as I watched the sticky, purple hued liquid fall, and I aimed my wand at it, squeaking out, "Arresto Momentum!" Luckily, the syrup froze in the air and I managed to scramble onto my feet, grabbing the bucket Peeves had been using to collect all the slow moving sludge into.

'Evil creature....'

"Quick thinking, Elle," Lana snickered. Then, she turned to Seamus, shaking her head. "Bad thinking, Finnigan."

"S'rry. I thought it would help."

I sighed and offered him a small smile. "The first thing you should know about dating a prankster, always expect to be pranked. The second thing: never tell another prankster that you are affiliated with the Weasleys."

"Duly noted," Lana nodded, grabbing the bucket from me. "What should we do with this?"

I smirked, knowing that Lana and I were thinking something along the same lines. A little prank of our own would be fun. "I'm thinking Ronald Weasley, in the Common Room, with a bucket of sludge."

"I don't get that reference," Finnigan muttered between out maniacal laughter. Lana offered him a simple shrug, informing him that it was just a Muggle, murder mystery game.

I balanced the bucket in my hands as Seamus and Lana picked up the brushes and tub of magical soap, or... alleged magical soap - that was how little I trusted Filch.

Almost right on point, Snape came into his classroom, eyeing the three of us with utter disgust. He took one glance around the room and then pointed towards the door. "Get. Out."

I chewed the inside of my cheek, attempting to keep myself from saying a single word. One thing could set him off at this point. He'd let us work from after dinner until ten thirty at night, eleven being curfew. I was almost shocked he didn't work up until morning.

The three of us nodded and silently made our way towards the Gryffindor Common Rooms, talking lightly as we made our way. In my head, I thought about bringing up the awkward vacation I'd had to Lana, but the better side of myself kept it inside. Now was probably not the time.

"So, Liza," Lana grinned, turning to me as we ascended the stairs to the Fat Lady's portrait. "How was your seventeenth birthday? You're now a wizarding adult."

'I was proposed to - isn't that great?'

"It was fun, pretty basic. How was your vacation?"

Lana proceeded to tell me about Fleur and Bill's romantic and utterly 'annoying' stay at her parent's home in England, recounting how exceptionally prideful Fleur is about her Weasley boyfriend.

"That sounds.... great," I chuckled, stifling a yawn. The Fat Lady gave the three of us a small glance of annoyance, opening her mouth to ask us for the password, but she was practically slammed open as two boys started to make their way out of the Gryffindor Tower.

Ron giggled a bit as he clung to Harry, who seemed to be trying to to laugh. "Where are we going, Harry?" Ron asked, sounding oddly giddy.

Lana and Finnigan spared each other a small glance before saying goodnight and walking into the common room, not wanting to get involved with anything that Harry was involved in.

Harry eyed me warily as the Gryffindor portrait swung closed. Ron glanced around, eyes wide and glossy. Cocking my head to the side, I eyed him with a withering glance.

"A-Are you," I turned to Harry, pointing at his best friend. "Is he high?"

"Where's Romilda?" Ron asked, breathing out as if he was in a dream. His breath fanned my face, filling my nose with a familiar scent.

"Oh, Godric - really Ronald?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yup - y'all know what's next XD sorry for the long wait. Do you guys know the show Parks and Rec?

Well, I just started watching it, and apparently everyone says I'm just like April in it.

Well.... It's true.