Arianna sleeps soundly in the large bed tucked away in the darkest room of her apartment. She rolls over after several minutes and sighs softly, snuggling back down into the soft warmth of her blankets… until she hears a strangled cry. Immediately she bolts up and rushes to the second bedroom. Without turning on the light, she makes her way across the floor and crawls into the bed, pulling the thrashing form against her body in a tight hug.
"George, wake up!" He doesn't wake… not at first. Nights are the worst by far. He flails about in her grip, occasionally coming very close to shaking free of her grip, but still, she holds onto him.
"George, open your eyes!"
She speaks as loudly as she dares and shakes him gently a few times without ever releasing her grip. Soon his eyes snap open as he gasps and bolts up, prepared to jump out of bed as he yells for his brother. "FRED! Watch out!"
His expression changes from one of fear to one of confusion as he slowly lets his gaze travel around the room. "… Fred?"
Arianna reaches out and touches his arm, face filled with a weary sadness. "George…"
The redhead's gaze whips around, his wide, fear-filled eyes landing on the girl next to him. "A-Ari…? What are you doing here?"
"George, calm down." Arianna speaks softly, knowing exactly what's coming. It's what happens every night… but just because she expects it, doesn't make it any easier to handle.
"No, I won't calm down! Tell me where Fred is, Arianna!" George grows tense, a muscle in his temple twitching slightly as his eyes widen, hand automatically reaching toward his wand.
"George, you know where Fred is." Her eyes sting as she forms the familiar words, voice growing slightly hoarse as her throat tightens.
"No! Tell me where he is!" The male grows agitated and angry toward her, glaring as he starts to rise. "Tell me! RIGHT NOW!"
"Fred's gone, George." He won't believe them… not this time.
"No, he's not!" George bellows at her and lands on his feet with a thud against the carpeted floor. "You're a liar!"
"No, I'm not." Arianna slowly sits up in the bed, sighing as she forces back her own need to cry to take care of him, her best friend since he and his brother decided to "adopt" her at Hogwarts.
"Yes, you are!" George clenches his jaw against the burning sensation in his eyes and throat. "You have to be! Fred wouldn't leave me! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?!"
Arianna waits until only his angry, shallow breathing fills the tense silence throbbing between them. Only then does she speak.
"… Fred's gone, George." She says it softly, as gently as possible, even though she knows he'll always have the same reaction to the news. His face goes through a wild range of emotions, including everything from anger to disbelief and back again, always denying it, always wanting desperately to believe it just isn't true, that Fred is going to walk in through that door and laugh because he's pulled such an extensive and successful – albeit cruel – prank on his twin, his other half.
But just like always, he finally accepts the girl's words just crumples to the floor from heartache and starts to sob. A gut-wrenching howl of pain erupts from his throat and overtakes him like a wild beast, not unlike that of Lupin's transformation into a werewolf at the full moon. George wraps his arms around his stomach as he dry heaves, each upward thrust of his stomach forcing out another desolate howl, the grief ripping forth like a living beast from within.
Ari moves quickly and scoots out of the bed, letting herself fall to the floor so she can reach out and catch him, just like always, holding him together while he falls apart once more.