Mudblood • Fred Weasley

o9. the yule ball

FRED HELPED WILLA IMMENSELY. He helped her cope with the death of her mother and with her new isolation from all of her Slytherin "friends". Honestly, were they even her friends to begin with? Willa had realized than any friendship you have to lie and change who you are for is no friendship at all.

That's why she loved being friends with the twins so much: she could be completely herself. The twins and Willa had been inseparable since they were born, aside from the incident last year when she was too far up Raven Wilkins' bum.

"What do you think about Harry being fourth champion?" Fred asked, leaning over the edge of the astronomy tower. The Goblet had spit out a fourth name: Harry Potter. Fred and Willa had now made up, but there was a new rift in the Weasley family: Ron was furious with Harry.

"I think someone is setting him up." Willa sighed, watching the leaves fall on the courtyard below. There was no way possible Harry had put his own name in the Goblet; not after what happened to Fred and George when they tried to sneak their name in. "I see how the rest of the family felt when we were fighting though." Willa chuckled, resting her chin in her hand. It was definitely awkward that Ron and Harry were feuding. Willa felt sorry for Hermione, who was caught directly in the middle.

Fred and Willa met regularly in the astronomy tower. They called it their "therapy" sessions. Willa always vented to Fred here; she felt slightly guilty for not letting George in on her secret, but she felt as if it was for his own safety. The less people who knew her paternity the better. Willa felt horrible that Fred had even been drug into it, but it was by chance and now he was involved.

"I wish sometimes I had been sorted into Gryffindor." Willa sighed, watching a group of Slytherin boys follow Raven across the courtyard below.

"Slytherin isn't all bad. They just have a bad reputation because of people like her." Fred nodded down to the girl who had a sly grin on her face as the boys crowded around her.

"I never thought I'd hear that come out of your mouth." Willa laughed.

"Hey, my best friend is Slytherin." He joked, ruffling up Willa's blonde hair.

"I thought George was your best friend." She giggled.

" 'sides George." Fred smiled.

The two set in peaceful silence for a moment. "So, who are you asking to the ball?" Fred asked.

"I was going to go with Blaise, but I assume that's down the drain." Willa laughed, tossing a pebble off the ledge.

"Blaise? Blaise Zabini?" Fred snarled his nose. "You can do better."

"Oh, come on. Let's hear who you have in mind." Willa playfully punched his shoulder.

"I thought about Angelina Johnson." Fred said quietly, looking off.

Willa stared at him for a second, making him sweat. "I approve. She's a nice girl." Willa rubbed his arm, "just don't like her in a quidditch match. Any other time, she's lovely." Fred smiled, happy to get his friend's approval. Willa did approve of Angelina; she was a sweet girl and a very good quidditch player.

As Willa and Fred walked back to their respected common rooms, a feeling of nausea crept up into Willa's stomach. She dreaded walking to the dungeons. She tried to stay focused on the ball. Maybe someone would ask her? She hoped so, because she was an outcast in Slytherin now.

"Hi." She said quietly as she entered the common room. Pansy had already taken Willa's spot next to Raven. Willa rolled her eyes.

"Problem, Bishop?" Pansy hissed.