She couldn't breath. He couldn't be gone, he couldn't! She ran past flying bodies and streaks of light coming from wands. It had to be a dream...
How could two little frightened words send her into a state of fear and hatred? She ran toward the direction of Percy's voice, longing to find Fred alive. She wouldn't believe anyone. She needed to get to him.
As she finally approached the wall, her eyes automatically moved to a redhead lying on the ground, his head cradled in another's lap.
"Please, please just let it be anyone but Fred!" She whispered her short prayer as she started to recognize the boy lying lifelessly on the ground. Her eyes widened in disbelief and horror as she saw Ginny look up at her with sympathetic and wet eyes.
"Angelina..." Ginny started to walk toward her. But Ginny never finished her sentence. Angelina shook her head at the body, not believing what she was seeing. Fred's glassy eyes were staring up at his twin, seeing nothing. She tried to step toward him, but her legs were like jello, her feet like stones. She couldn't hold herself up. Her breath stopped. She couldn't even blink. After what seemed like forever, she finally stumbled backwards. That one step was all it took. Her legs and feet finally found themselves, and they started to move.
All of the sudden, nothing could stop her.
Angelina ran. She ran until her muscles burned and she couldn't breath. She kept going, without a care or a clue as to where she was going. Her feet led her in every direction. She didn't stop. Her legs were flying beneath her, taking her to places she barely recognized. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she did not allow them to flow. When she finally did stop, she found herself in Hogsmeade. She could feel her insides churning, and dashed to a trash can. As she stood, bent over the garbage can, she was able to calm herself. She cleared her eyes, and looked up. But this was the last place she expected to be.
Fred and George's store
had always been her favorite place. She could go there whenever she
wanted to see Fred. They spent hours together sitting in the flat
above the store, simply talking. She had poured her soul into Fred,
and he knew everything about her. He knew what she was thinking,
making it easier for her to be understood. But he was gone now. Her
lifeline, her love, her life. It had died in a split second. It had
been crushed. She
couldn't have him back.
She whispered the unlocking spell and tapped the doorknob with her wand. She quietly slipped her way into the deathly quiet and dark store. As she looked around, memories flowed into her head. Watching him tend to customers, or listening to him tell George to keep the shelves stocked. She slowly made her way to the back of the store, touching the shelves and products lining them. She walked up the stairs leading to the flat, and remembered Fred carrying her down these same steps. She had leaned toward him their noses touching, and he had kissed her forehead, making her burst with happiness, smiling up at him.
When she reached the
door to the flat, her hand hesitated at the doorknob. Could she face
the room they had spent so much time in together? She could. She had
opened that door many times. As she walked into the opening room, she
could almost see the bedroom door opening and Fred walking out. How
many times had that happened? But
this time, she was the one that
opened the door. She slowly walked over to Fred's bed, staring at his
rumpled blankets and pillow. She remembered lying there with him many
times. She lifted his sheets and curled up into a ball on his bed,
hugging his pillow. It smelled just like him...
She finally let herself cry. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She couldn't. Her tears soaked the pillow. He was gone. Forever. Angelina cried.