Fred's hand sat on the doorknob, ears straining to hear any sign of what was going on outside.

A firm knock came once more.

"Who's there?" he called out.

"It's Roman," a familiar voice answered back.

Fred took a deep breath, looked back at his brother, then faced the door once again. He swung it open, wand at the ready.

Roman stood on the other side in the same manner, wand drawn in expectation of a duel. When he saw that there were only friendly faces to be seen, he immediately relaxed.

Fred thought he looked terrible. Roman had a few new scars on his face and his expression was an exhausted one. It must have been a very rushed trip back from Romania for him to already be here.

"Well, come in Roman!" Molly exclaimed from behind the men. "You look hungry. We've got enough to go around."

Clara jogged downstairs when she didn't hear any chaos. Seeing Roman walk through the Weasleys was a relief for her. Rushing to her brother, she embraced him tightly and let out a deep breath.

"You didn't need to get here that quickly."

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Clara looked up at her brother for a moment, trying to read between the lines of his expressions and his words.

"Oh, and by the way," Roman remembered, turning to the Weasley twins. "Happy birthday, you two."

They both nodded with small smiles in acknowledgement.

Roman brought his things inside, a few bags with his clothes and a few knick knacks for Michael, then joined Clara and the Weasleys at the table. He offered to eat last as he knew his appetite would be larger than most.

Clara watched her brother with relief, a part of her feeling relaxed now that he was here. It wasn't that the Weasleys didn't make her feel safe, but the comfort of her family being around was something that always made her feel like her load was so much lighter. With Roman around, he could help guide decisions or just make them entirely, although sometimes she disagreed with him.

Taking another bite, Clara looked around the table and caught a familiar pair of eyes gazing at her.

Fred had been checking on her throughout dinner, trying to make sure that she was alright. He had noticed how much stress seemed to melt away from her now that Roman was there, and he was forever thankful for it. It was another pair of eyes to watch her, and another person to help protect her.

When he realized that now she was staring right back at him, he panicked. He turned his head back down to his food quickly, hoping that she wouldn't have seen his wanting eyes. He tried to cover his embarrassment and was doing a very poor job.

Clara smiled to herself as she finished her meal, joining Molly in the kitchen to clean up the dishes.

The Weasleys moved to the parlor next, Molly going upstairs to grab Fred and George's gifts.

"You been alright?" Roman asked Clara as he grabbed his mug freshly filled with coffee from the dinner table.

"I've been better, but Fred and George have been taking good care of me."

Roman nodded. "How's Michael?"

"Alright. He knew something was going on...he put two and two together when I told him I had to stay with Fred for a while."

"Fred and George, you mean," Roman corrected.

"What? Oh, yes," Clara realized. She caught the side eye from her brother as he shook his head at her. "What is the matter with you?"

"More like what is the matter with you?"

Clara rolled her eyes as she leaned against the kitchen counter. "I've been under a lot of stress, alright?"

"Stress. Is that what it's called nowadays? You and Fred are under 'stress'?" he teased.

"Shut up," Clara sharply retorted.

It was Roman's turn to roll his eyes. "What is going on between you two anyhow? Last time I was here I was sure you two would be dating by the next time I saw you. Now I'm here, and you two aren't a couple."

"It's been a little more complicated than that these past few months."

Roman walked over to his sister and peered into the parlor where Fred and George were both talking to Arthur. "Listen, I know you have a lot to handle with taking care of Michael, and I know that this whole thing with mum has put you in a hard place. Don't take away your own happiness when it comes along, alright?"

Clara looked up at Roman. "You and Michael bring me plenty of happiness."

Roman laughed as he sipped his coffee. "Not as much as when I've seen you with that Weasley boy. Trust me Clara, you're easier to read than an open book."

Clara folded her arms and stayed silent.

"I'm just saying that you can't go on like this forever. You two know you like each other, so don't miss this opportunity before it's too late, alright?"

Roman walked into the parlor and set down his coffee, leaving Clara in the kitchen on her own.

He walked over to one of his bags and shuffled around, searching until he found two identically wrapped gifts. He gave one each to the twins. Roman had got them each beautiful, thick coats similar to the ones that Roman himself used when he would go traveling. They'd stand up to the coldest of cold and were nearly impenetrable. Roman invited the twins to join him and Charlie one of these days and that the coats would be of great use.

The twins were thankful, but very hesitant to accept his invitation. Roman simply chuckled.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

A few days turned into a few weeks. There was still no sign of Griffin and Ms. Caxton. Clara had been helping Molly around the house with cleaning. The twins felt that it was more important for Clara to stay home where it was safe rather than being at the shop, but in reality they had other things to worry about.

It was an unfortunate decision, but Fred and George had decided to close the shop until further notice. Diagon Alley was nearly deserted, barely anyone coming into the shop anymore. It hurt them to do it, but given the circumstances and what their dad feared would be upcoming, they thought it would be better to stay home and prepare themselves.

In their spare time, the twins, Roman, and Clara would practice different defensive spells. Fred and George taught what they knew from when they were in Dumbledore's Army, Roman would teach things that were useful when handling magical creatures, and Clara filled in what she could remember from school.

It was late after dinner one night when Clara was staying up to read a book on healing while the fire crackled and popped beside her. Roman had gone to bed and George and Fred were concocting some strange potion for the shop. A few explosions and hollers from upstairs told her that it had either gone really well or it had been disastrous. Whichever the case, Clara couldn't help but smirk to herself as she turned another page.

She could hear footsteps coming down the stairs to the kitchen, the rummaging of glasses, and the water start to run.

After a few moments of silence, she heard, "You wouldn't happen to know how to get rid of this, would you?"

She looked up from her book and saw Fred standing with a gigantic purple mark around his right eye, sipping from a glass of water.

Immediately, Clara held the book over her mouth and nose as she stifled a laugh. Fred could see the smile in her eyes as he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, laugh all you want. This is what you call the results of a terrific experiment," he explained, walking around to sit on the couch with her. He set the glass down and leaned back, closing both of his eyes.

Clara giggled as she put the book down and leaned over Fred. She pressed around the area a few times, Fred's face sometimes twitching in reaction. There was one spot that she pressed that caused Fred to hiss, his hand immediately jumping to her thigh and gripping it in pain.

Clara tried to ignore it, but internally she was exploding with nervousness and shock. "Should be a simple fix. I just read about it in my book...how hard could it be?"

Fred's head snapped around. "You mean you haven't fixed anything like this before?" His tone was unintentionally panicked, which elicited a large smile from Clara.

"It will be great practice!" She hopped over the back of the couch and stood over where Fred had leaned back. She took the sides of his head gently in both of her small hands and set his head on the back of the couch. "Just relax."

"Blimey, I better be back to my old, good-looking self again," Fred teased with a smile.

Clara shrugged. "No matter how this turns out, it's not a big loss. George was the better looking twin anyway."

Fred's hand immediately caught Clara's in one quick movement, their eyes locking as they both shot smirks at one another.

"Is that so?" he asked, an eyebrow raised over his black eye.

Clara stood with her free hand on her hip. "Are you going to let me heal you or not?"

Fred slowly let go of Clara's hand, his gaze unwavering.

She leaned over the couch to grab her book and look over how to heal the bruise once again. After practicing the motion a few times, she set the book down and held her wand over Fred.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

He waited a few silent moments which seemed to last hours. "Is it done?"

"I...I think so?"

Fred pressed around his eye, not feeling any more pain or swelling. "Feels okay."

"Looks okay."

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed, turning around to face Clara. "A natural Healer."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Clara excused, walking back around the couch to sit next to Fred. "Lucky is all."

He rolled his eyes as he looked over the girl who was sitting next to him. She was wearing an oversized shirt, shorts that showed more of her legs than she usually did, and her dark hair was up in a bun of sorts, loose locks falling around her shoulders. He enjoyed this look on her: sloppy yet comfortable.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" Clara called to him.

Fred shook off his day dream. "No reason. So, now that I'm all fixed, you reckon George is still the better looking twin?"

Clara pursed her lips together in fake thought as she brought her hand to her mouth in a thinking pose. "Hmmm..." She reached over and ruffled Fred's hair a bit, then cocked her head to one side. "Yeah, I reckon so."

"The git," he grumbled.

Clara laughed as she tucked her legs under herself. "So concerned with what people think of you Mr. Weasley?" she teased as she opened her book once again.

Fred didn't answer immediately. "Not anyone. Just a few."

Clara raised her eyebrow at him before continuing to read, the corners of her mouth not resisting themselves in turning upwards.

Fred smirked as he pushed a few hairs out of Clara's face, her blush starting to rush to her cheeks.

Looking back at Fred, her smile had started to grow wider.

"So what are you reading about?" Fred asked, peering into the book.

Clara turned the book so that both of them would be able to read it. "Just how to heal wounds and get rid of scarring. I was going to ask Roman if he'd let me practice on him but..."

"...that'd be a sight for sore eyes if you were to mess that one up," Fred chuckled.

"Exactly," Clara laughed.

"Mind teaching me a few things?" he asked softly.

Clara looked up at Fred, the light of the fireplace dancing across his face. His eyes seemed to be overflowing with life the longer she looked.

"Sure," she agreed.

Fred watched as Clara started to explain some of the basics about wounds and what the most common spells were, although to be honest he was only half listening. He was more admiring how much passion she put into explaining the details. He could hear the joy in her tones and could feel the energy she brought to the table. It was something he loved to watch her do with customers when she'd explain the products to them.

It was what had caught his attention about her when he first saw her a year ago.

And he was happy for it.

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Clara stood on the platform as a multitude of Hogwarts students rushed past her. They were eager to get home to their families and loved ones, especially after the loss the school had taken. It wasn't easy for the school, it wasn't easy for the wizarding world, and she certainly knew it would be tough on Harry.

He was the first person she saw come off of the platform. It seemed that as soon as he made eye contact with her, he tensed up for a moment. She knew that he had seen her brother with the group of death eaters after Dumbledore had been killed. When he had told Arthur about the attack, the only person Harry couldn't identify was Griffin. After he had explained what Griffin looked like, Clara confirmed that it was indeed her brother, and from there things in their lives started to turn.

Harry walked towards her with slight caution, his eyes tired and troubled. Immediately Clara brought him into a warm embrace.

"I'm sorry," was the only words she could utter.

She felt him nod in understanding. He pulled away and offered a weak smile as he scanned the crowd and saw his uncle standing near the entrance to the station. Harry gathered his things and walked away without saying another word to Clara.

She took a deep breath and returned her focus to the flurries of students that were getting off of the Hogwarts Express. The next batch she saw included Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. She waved at them and hugged each of them in greeting.

"I hear you're going to be staying with us this summer," Ron commented. "And did you get shorter?"

Clara punched him in the arm. "Only a few nights. And no, I didn't get shorter, you prat."

Ron laughed and Ginny rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him."

Clara chuckled as she watched Michael step off of the train.

"Mikey!" Clara called out with a wave.

Michael looked at her with a relieved smile as he jogged over to his sister. He hugged her tightly, his embrace conveying many nights of fear and worry that he had faced these past few months.

"Time to get you home."

"Home?" Michael questioned.

Clara shrugged as she started to reach for Michael's trunk. "Home. The Burrow. Practically synonymous."

Ron and Ginny laughed as they walked with the duo to their mother, awaiting the nice journey ahead.