"You know, you don't have to go if you're not feeling up for it." 

"Of course I have to go, it's my best friend's engagement party, and I'm his maid of honour." 

"He's right, baby, if you're too unwell..." 

"I'm fine." I insisted as I worked the potion through my hair with a comb, admiring myself in the mirror as my black curls sat perfectly on my shoulders. I'd chopped a huge chunk off of my hair, taken to it with the scissors as soon as I'd gotten back to the flat after the Battle of Hogwarts, and it now sat just below my collarbones - which was the shortest I'd ever had it. "Can someone zip me up instead of encouraging me to ditch my bestie?" 

I heard a chuckle behind me, and Fred's hands landed on me, tracing up my sides, and slowly tugging at the zip on my short, floral summer dress. I made to put on my lip balm, but George appeared at my other side, taking it from me with a cheeky grin. 

I raised an eyebrow at him, and the redhead said, with a hint of seduction in his voice, "Let me." 

I tried to keep myself composed as Fred's hands remained on me, and as George scooped a tiny amount of balm onto his thumb and brought it up to my lips, gently but firmly smearing it across my top, then bottom lip. I gazed at his face as his eyes fixated on my lips, his warm chocolate eyes, the concentration in them. 

Those eyes then glanced up to mine, and crinkled as he smiled. Fuck. I leaned in ever so slightly, sucking his thumb in between my lips, and flicked my tongue over it. His eyes widened. 

"Princess..." George said in a strangled voice. 

"What's she doing now?" Fred said in an amused voice behind me. 

"Using her... her talented tongue." George's eyes didn't move from mine. 

"And you can't keep it in your pants, can you?" Fred appeared in my vision, nodding down at George's crotch, smirking. His hands ran across my ass, down to the end of my dress, and his fingers toyed with the hem. 

"It's not my fault she's so..." George breathed, gazing down at my lips again, "fucking... hot..." 

I let his thumb go, giggling. "C'mon, guys, I'm just messing around. We're gonna be late." 

I made to turn around, but Fred tugged at the hem of my dress, and George groaned in frustration. 

I glanced back at the two, my eyebrows raised again. Fred was grinning mischievously at me, and George was biting his lip, looking anywhere but at me. 

"Are you sure, baby girl? Not even just a quickie?" 

"Fred, it's not that I don't want to," I said, my eyes drifting down his body, then George's, taking in their summer button-ups, the top buttons undone as usual, their gelled and tousled flaming hair, their tight-fitting jeans... "it's that we're gonna be late if we don't leave now." 

"Well." Fred shrugged, letting go of me. "If that's what you want." 

"I'll give you one - ONE - kiss, then we're leaving." I told him firmly, and leaned in. 

Our lips connected, and Fred's hands snaked back around me, pulling me in close to him. His warm lips slid smoothly over mine, and I let out a breathy moan into his mouth as his tongue teased at my bottom lip. 

"Mm. You taste good." Fred smacked his lips as we pulled apart, and I laughed. 

"It's lip balm, dummy. C'mon - oh, sorry, Georgie, I didn't give you one -" 

I planted my lips on George's, and I was pressed up close to him, feeling and trying to ignore his bulge against me. But then Fred's hands were brushing my hair away from my neck, and his mouth was on my skin, sucking softly. 

I let George slip his tongue into my mouth as I sighed in pleasure into his, Fred biting down gently. His hands moved down the back of my thighs, slipping underneath my skirt, teasing at my skin with his fingers. George tugged me closer, his tongue flicking against mine, a deep little groan releasing into my mouth. 

"Guys..." I breathed, lust slowly winning over my logic, "don't tease me... we gotta go..." 

At the word 'don't,' the twins immediately removed their mouths from me. 

"Sorry, baby, we'll stop -" 

"Ughhh." I threw my head back onto Fred's chest, then lowered my voice to a murmur. "I consent, but I don't want to be late. But make me be late." 

"Oh." I could practically hear the cheeky grin coming back onto Fred's face. "Right." 

And I was flipped around. Fred's mouth descended on mine again, and George was pushing us back onto the bed. Fred fell first, tugging me into his lap as he lounged on the side of the bed, OUR bed, belonging to all three of us. I rocked against his crotch, losing myself in the sensation of his tongue sweeping around my mouth, then I cried out as hands flipped my dress up, shoving the two of us back onto the bed so that Fred was laying down, me on top of him, and George's head was under the skirt of my dress, kissing up my inner thighs... 

"Oh... oh - OH!" 

I squirmed on George's tongue and fingers as Fred moaned deep into my mouth, his tongue gliding over mine, his hands palming my breasts. 

"We're gonna be SO late..." I moaned, my eyes fluttering shut as the pleasure overwhelmed me. 

~~~ 

"Hi guys, you're finally fucking here!" Terry beamed at us as we approached the party in the garden, raising a champagne flute in the air. "What took you so long?" 

"Er -" 

"We were just eating out somewhere and lost track of time." George said hurriedly. 

Fred snorted, throwing him a smirk. 

"Yeah," I tried to restrain the grin threatening to unfurl on my face, wanting to join in on the dirty jokes, "and I think I drank too much." 

George smirked too, but went a bit pink, and Fred's smirk widened. Terry stared at me, a hand on his hip. 

"Oops." I shrugged, letting the grin unfurl. 

"And her seat was too hard," Fred said, "so she's walking a bit funny now." 

"You disgust me." Terry said as I sniggered, snatching the champagne flute from him, dipping my fingernail in and seeing it not change colour, then taking a sip. "C'mon, I've got to keep up appearances with Draco's parents; and fix your hair while you're at it, all three of you." 

And I thought I heard him mutter as he walked away, "Sluts." 

The twins and I high-fived, then made a beeline for the mirror propped on an easel beside the drinks table. Fred and George smoothed their gelled hair back down as I combed the messy knot at the back of my head, patting it back into place; I caught sight of my bare collarbones from my low-cut dress, and frowned. 

The heart-shaped scars that Tom Riddle had given me had faded so much that they were only visible if a lot of blood was pounding through the area - like if I was angry, or full of adrenaline. But where I'd been hit with the second Killing Curse, in the forest, had a small scar just as prominent as the lightning bolt on my forehead. Its shape was curiously similar to a heart with a jagged line through it. 

"Daisy-flower!" 

I jumped, spinning around. Draco was striding towards us, in a white t-shirt with a black blazer thrown over the top, and he was smiling widely. I shook the negative thoughts from my head and grinned at him, opening my arms and capturing him in them. 

"It's good to see you, Dragon." 

"Likewise. I missed you, even though it's only been a few weeks." Draco said. "How's the shop?" 

"It's good, yeah." I said, very aware that many of the partygoers were staring and whispering, but I ignored them. "Been selling a lot of merchandise. Business has been booming ever since I, y'know, saved the wizarding world and all that." 

"No doubt." Draco grinned. "And how's the flat?" 

I blushed, thinking back to the apartment that the Insurgents owned over the shop. We'd gotten a professional in to make the place magically bigger, since we could afford it, and it was now bright and airy with lots of natural light and rustic brickwork, and there were only two bedrooms now. Because we only needed two... 

"Um, never mind that. How's you and Hopper? Been making any more decisions yet?" 

"It's been pretty hectic over here." Draco gestured behind him at his parents' manor, where he and Terry had been staying the past few weeks to plan. "We've gotten our grooms' party proposals sorted -" 

I grinned, thinking back to when Terry had proposed to me and the twins to be his maid of honour and his best men. He'd told us that if we didn't agree, he'd marry Draco and use his fortune to buy out our shares in the business and take the shop for himself. But obviously the three of us were thrilled and we didn't need Terry's joke-threat to convince us. 

"- And we've set a date - sending the save the dates was stressful as hell." 

"Oohhh!" I squealed, and more people turned our way. "When is it, when is it?" 

"Next June!" 

"Only a year..." I beamed. "Oh my Godric. You're gonna be so stressed, but that's okay, because I'm here to help! That's my job after all. Oohhh - I'm so excited!" 

Draco beamed back at me. 

Fred, George, and I stuck close together throughout the party at Malfoy Manor; this was something that we'd been doing subconsciously since the Battle of Hogwarts. They didn't seem to want to let me out of their sight for very long, and while I appreciated their concern and actually found it quite cute, it meant that I couldn't ever get any alone time. 

I caught sight of Mrs Weasley chatting with Aaron and Morgan Boot by a rose bush, then of Snape passing them, talking with Cynthia Malfoy, dressed in black robes very unsuitable for the weather. 

The sight of those two in the same place sent my mind reeling back to three weeks ago. Mrs Weasley had referred to me as a daughter. She'd been so furious that I'd been killed by Riddle... furious enough that she'd confessed to the whole crowd of fighters that she saw me as family. 

Then, later on, Snape had turned up - to a whole group of wands pointing straight at him - and had confessed that he was a double-agent, spying on Riddle and protecting me from behind the scenes. He had been met with disbelief, so he showed a select few of us his memories to prove that he'd been acting on Dumbledore's orders to ensure my survival and the success of our side. 

"Oh, Godric, bro." I'd gasped as I had surfaced from the Pensieve. "You were totally whipped for my mum." 

Professor McGonagall had replaced him as Hogwarts Headmistress, but he'd been demoted to his old Defence Against the Dark Arts post. He didn't complain. 

Other memories of that fateful day ran through my head; going to the bathrooms and wiping all the black gunk off of my face - it had been streaming down from my eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, looking like a strange nosebleed, weird tears, remnants of the Horcrux that had been living inside me; the twins' Patronuses being of me, my Patronus being of the twins; taking my wedding ring off for the first time, feeling my finger freed, wondering what the hell to do with it. 

And I still wondered that now. I took it out of my pocket, turning it over in my fingers. I knew I was going to destroy it, but I wanted the moment to be right. I wanted to feel the moment completely. 

A burst of clapping and cheering came from an archway near the manor, and I jumped, my heart pounding. I still wasn't used to loud noises. I didn't know if I ever would be used to them again. 

Terry and Draco were giving a speech. I moved closer with Fred and George on either side of me, my fourth champagne flute in my hand, slipping the ring back into my pocket, and George took my free hand while Fred wrapped an arm around my waist. 

I took a sip as I watched the happy couple speak to the crowd. Then my eyes wandered. I had the funny feeling I was being watched, but none of the partygoers had their eyes on me anymore; they were all fixated on the two boys. 

My eyes moved along the treeline at the back of the Malfoy's garden. The hairs on the back of my neck raised; I thought I saw a shadow shift, and peered closer. 

Nothing. I shook my head, turning back to the front, and took a long sip of the bubbling alcohol. My mind was playing tricks on me again... again, because lately I had felt as if someone, or something, was watching me all the time.