Author's Note: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did Dean and Seamus would have dated.

The Hard Stuff

"Phoenix."

I glanced up from the textbook I was reading, fully prepared to endure yet another interruption from my studying. I was relieved to see that it was just Mum, Aunt Fleur, and Aunt Hermione, for I knew that, if they were bothering me, at least it would be something important.

I had woken up the morning after our New Year's celebrations and realized, in a complete panic, that my OWLs were approaching rapidly. The rest of the family had grumbled and groaned when they realized that I had gone into panic mode, but they had learned after my Charms OWL last year that it was best to just let me be.

"We're sorry to bother you mon chère," My Godmother began, "But we all had a few things we wanted to ask you about and we wanted to catch you before you went back off to school."

I smiled at them, glancing at the page number before closing my book. "No, that's fine. I needed a break anyways."

I slid into the back corner of the bed that I had been sitting on, carefully pulling Circe along with me despite her loud protests, and they all joined me without hesitating. Aunt Hermione sat on the edge of the bed, while Aunt Fleur moved to sit next to me, her feet crossed neatly in Aunt 'Mione's lap. She immediately gave Aunt Fleur a mock glare and mimed shoving her feet off. I giggled as the French woman pretended to be offended. My Mum, meanwhile, had climbed onto the end of the bed, where she leaned her head against the wall and smiled softly at me.

"I wanted to give you this," My Aunt Hermione began, holding a booklet out to me. "It's a study planner, for your OWLs. I gave them to your father and uncle back when we were in Hogwarts and I'm fairly certain they were used as fuel for the fire in the Common Room. But I found mine extremely useful, and I think you may as well. When I took my OWLs I absolutely filled it, but when I went back to take my NEWTs I actually used it to make sure I didn't overwork myself. I, believe it or not, found my NEWTs were easier to take than my OWLs-purely because I was better rested, and I was in a good mindset to take them. The planner is charmed so that it won't let you over study. Give it a try love."

I thanked her, flipping through the leaflet with a slight smile. She brushed a hand over my hair, dumped Aunt Fleur's feet from where she had replaced them on her lap with a smirk, and made her way out of the room. She closed the door behind her.

I met my mother's eyes for a long moment. Then my Aunt's hand brushed my hair, and I turned to look at her.

"What we're asking you to do is going to be hard for you," She said simply. I frowned at her.

"We want you to apologize to George for the things that you said to him," My mother told me.

"No."

"Annie-"

"I said no," I ground out, setting my jaw and folding my arms. Circe batted my Mum's hand away as she reached for my hand.

I watched my mother, waiting for her to mimic my posture, for I knew that this would surely end in a fiery argument…but she simply passed a hand over her eyes. She looked tired, and it was enough to make my pose sag in defeat.

"Fred and George were…they were inseparable. I know we say that all the time, we talk about they were each other's halves, but I don't think you understand. After Fred died, George was inconsolable. He didn't eat, sleep, or speak. It went on for weeks. The only reason he didn't starve to death was because my mum-your grandmother-would get down on her knees and beg him to eat a meal here or there. I was the one who finally snapped. I woke up in the middle of the night and went down for a glass of water. He was just sitting there, gazing at a wall, just a blank wall. I lost it."

My mother had tears running down her face, as did my Aunt. I was barely fighting them off. Circe had stood from her place in my lap and was now making her way between the three of us, her arched back letting on how concerned she was.

"I screamed at him, so loudly that the whole house should have come running, but I guess he cast a Muffliato because no one else heard. When I was finished he looked me in the eyes and said, 'I have been one half of a whole for so long. Now I'm half gone and I don't know how to cope with that. I don't know how to look in the mirror when all I can see is him.' Then he broke down and he cried. He dyed his hair brown for a while. He started seeing Angelina, and things got better. But then they had Freddy and Rox, and everything was wonderful, he was the most doting father you could imagine. Then they started getting older, and Fred pulled his first prank. After that, George had a hard time distinguishing between son and brother. And I know that's no excuse. George knows that too. But he's trying love, and this is so hard on him."

"It's hard on Freddy too!" I defended loyally.

"Yes Annie, and we all know that. But what you said hurt your uncle, and you need to apologize," Aunt Fleur said firmly.

"I-" I began, fully prepared to be stubborn, but a voice from the doorway cut me off.

"Nix," My best friend said. I fell silent as he crossed the room, lifting my feet to sit under them on my bed. "I appreciate what you did for me. I do. And I would ask you to do it again in a heartbeat. But instead I'm going to ask you to do something even more selfish. I need you to apologize to my dad."

I frowned. "That's not fair Fred. I got angry with him because of you, and I'm not sorry about it. He needed to be set straight, I'm not going to apologize for that."

He smiled a bit. "Stubborn. Don't you see though? You set him straight. He's trying now more than ever. He called me into his room earlier and talked things out. I wouldn't ask you to apologize if it were anyone else. But he's hurting, and sometimes we have to swallow our pride and apologize-even if we don't mean it-to take pain away from people we love. He's family Nix."

I sighed. "Fine."

They all opened their mouths, but I didn't want to hear it. I knew that they were right, but I was still irritated that Freddy was asking me to apologize when he had been the one to ask me to be angry in the first place. I did feel guilty that I had hurt my uncle, however, so I knew my apology would probably wind up being more genuine than I had led them to believe.

"Grandmother?" I asked as I entered the kitchen.

"Yes dear?"

"Do you know where Uncle George is?"

"He's out de-gnoming the garden for me."

I thanked her, crossing the house and exiting through the back door. I was rather amused to find my uncle sitting on a bench, not a gnome in sight.

"Aren't you supposed to be ridding us of gnomes?" I asked.

He smiled slightly. "I finished 15 minutes ago. I've invented a device that spins smoke that rids the garden of gnomes for a year, but she still believes that the old-fashioned way is the only way that works, so I'll sit out here for a while longer to give her peace of mind. I felt like a right tosser, booting all those gnomes out in the middle of winter though."

I laughed despite myself, and that seemed to be what he was looking for.

"Come sit," He invited. I took him up on his offer, trudging through the snow to join him on the bench.

We sat in silence for several minutes, until I finally figured out what I wanted to say.

"I wanted to apologize for what I said about Freddy. It's not that I didn't mean it, and it's not that it wasn't true. But I told you those things cruelly, with the intent of making you feel part of what you made Fred feel, and I am sorry for that. It wasn't my place to lecture you, and I did it in a way that was utterly malicious. I hope that you can forgive me for that."

I knew it probably wasn't the apology that anyone else had been hoping I would deliver, but it was the best I could give. Despite how much I cared for my family, I believed every word I had said to my Uncle over the summer, and I refused to back down from that.

He smiled. "I forgave you as soon as the words were spoken. I will admit that what you said to me hurt, but it was the kick that I needed for fix my relationship with my son before it was broken forever. You are forgiven."

I nodded, then, hesitating for just a moment, surged forward to give him a hug. We both glanced up at a shutter sound, and saw Freddy standing in the doorway with an old camera.

His face lit up as his dad waved him over. I laughed as he sprinted (as best as he could with the snow) straight for me and leapt on me so hard we would have fallen off the bench if it weren't for the hand on my back. I smiled at my uncle in thanks, but he was far to busy laughing to notice. The grin on Freddy's face as his dad finally took notice of his antics was-in my mind-priceless.

We sat out in the garden and described some of our better pranks to a very impressed Uncle George. It wasn't completely perfect; he excused himself after a while and was, though he tried to hide it, still hurting as Fred relayed prank after prank. Still, he was trying, and I knew that meant the world to Fred.

After he left, Fred hugged me. "Thank you Nix."

I shook my head. "I didn't give him the apology you wanted. I'm not sorry for what I said. But I am sorry for how I said it."

He nodded. "That's enough for me."

"Love?"

I glanced up to see my mum.

"I apologized," I told her.

"I know, and I thank you for that. I just wanted to say though…if you ever need anyone to talk to about anything, I'm here."

"Thanks Mum. I appreciate that," I said, offering her a smile before turning back to my book.

"I know I'm no Harry Potter, but I was possessed by Tom for my entire first year…just know you don't have to do everything alone," She said casually.

I froze, before whipping my head up to stare at her in shock.

But she had already gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I woke up late one evening and realized that I had to go. I was itching to get up and move. All of the studying I had been doing lately had made me stir crazy, and I could hardly sleep with the thoughts that were running through my head.

There was a floorboard outside of the room that my parents always slept in that, should Ted, James, Al, Lily or I step on it, woke my mum up. I hadn't the foggiest how she always knew, but it had worked for as long as I could remember. When we were younger, she used it to catch us sneaking down to the kitchens, or outside. Now we used it when we needed her for something and we didn't want to wake anyone else up.

I stepped on the floorboard, and a few moments later my mum exited the room, her wand in hand.

"Hey baby," She whispered sleepily.

"Hi Mum." I smiled at the mop of hair that was hanging down in her face. "Is it okay if I go for a fly? I won't go far, just out towards the old apple orchard. I can't sleep and I've been going mad to go out."

I could tell she was thinking about it. "I want to let you, but, as good of a flyer as I know you are, I don't know that I want you going out on a broom right now. Especially if you haven't been sleeping."

I decided there and then to tell my mother one of my secrets. "When we were in Egypt Luna bought me a flying carpet. I know they're not legal here, but mine comes with all sorts of anti-muggle and invisibility charms."

I watched a smile bloom across my mother's face. "As long as you promise to take me out on it sometime, you may go."

I grinned, babbling out a joyful, "Thanks Mum!" Before turning to go.

"Phoe," She whispered after me. I turned to face her again. "Thank you for checking with me before leaving. And for telling me about your carpet."

"Of course Mum."

I decided to leave from the roof. Vic had told me over breakfast that she hadn't been sleeping well the past few nights, so I knew Ted would be with her tonight, and I would have the roof to myself.

This fic will NOT BE ABANDONED. That being said:

As some of you may know, this is my first fanfiction. As such, writing it has been a learning experience. I am completely in love with this story, but I have no motivation to finish it.

Don't be upset yet.

I have no motivation to finish is because, when I began this fiction, I made the mistake of deciding to write it as I went. This was a mistake simply because I didn't plan it out in the slightest. Now, reading through the story, I realize how many loose ends I have. There are so many things that I wrote into this story, planning wonderful things for, only to forget about them. Now it's too late in the story to tie them back in without ruining it all.

In order to finish this story, I need to take the time to re-write and plan this story better. I love it so much that I want to do it justice, and I can't do that without restructuring and writing.

I will update and finish this story in the future, but it may be a while.

Thank you as always for the support. TFOTP is officially on hiatus until further notice.