Lub-dub. Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
Fred lay abandoned in the Great Hall as his friends and family were outside.
Madame Pomfrey walked over to him to check his status. She slipped out her wand and waved it over him, uttering an unfamiliar spell. If the tip of her wand glowed red, he was dead. If it glowed green, he was (barely) still alive.
She examined her wand when it suddenly glowed bright green. Her eyes popped out like a goldfish's for a brief moment before calling for another healer to carry Fred and apparating with them both to St. Mungo's.
Fred Weasley was taken up in St. Mungo's and as soon as he did, Madame Pomfrey returned to Hogwarts and continued dealing with the rest of the injured and dead.
She bumped into Hermione Granger going into the Great Hall.
"Where is Fred? He was here a couple minutes ago." The matron put both her hands on Hermione's shoulders and whispered,
"He's alive. We just finished getting him to St. Mungo's." An instant smile appeared on her face.
"Is he alright? We should go tell his family right away!"
"Please, you must understand. I can't. Those poor people have suffered enough. It's still a mystery if he'll ever wake up again. He might be in a coma and if he dies…" Hermione's smile faded and she nodded solemnly.
"I understand. I won't tell them about any of this. But please tell me if his condition changes."
"You will be the first to know, Miss Granger." Madame Pomfrey walked away as Hermione absorbed the words she said.
It felt so wrong that she would be the first to know if anything happened with Fred instead of his actual family. ...Instead of… George.
What would she tell them when they ask where he went? She could lie and feign ignorance, but she was so awful at lying.
Ron was motioning her to come over there where his older brother was supposed to be. She took in a deep breath and walked.
"Fred's gone! Where is he? Do you know anything about this, Hermione? I mean, he's supposed to be…" Ron left out the last word for George's sake.
She shook her head and hoped that was satisfactory enough for an answer.
His parents were inquiring about Fred to the matron, wanting to know where their son went, if he could go anywhere.
Madame Pomfrey feigned ignorance as well. Percy was saying that there was no doubt he was dead as he saw his younger brother die in front of him, which helped Madame Pomfrey's and Hermione's cause.
They began to insinuate that someone stole his body, as if anyone was that insane. George became enraged, vowing to kill the person who would dare do such a thing.
Eventually, they all returned to the Burrow, except for George, and continued to discuss why and who would steal Fred's corpse. Hermione didn't want to join in as she was afraid that the information Madame Pomfrey had leaked to her would spill, feigning ignorance every time they asked her opinion concerning Fred.
She stood up, attracting everyone's attention in the living room. "Can I please excuse myself? I can't think about this anymore." They obligated and she ran upstairs to the bedroom the Weasleys allowed her to use.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Hermione Granger. This will most definitely not end up well." She muttered to herself before throwing herself on the bed and closing her eyes immediately.