Briefly standing outside the Burrow, Ron reminisced the strongest memories those walls enclosed. Returning home for the first time since the wedding felt uncanny. Each room was filled with a thick air like a ghost of what was before the war.
The first change he noticed was a black velvet cloth draped over the family clock. As promised, Hermione arrived earlier to the Burrow to hide any sensitive items to the family. Ron fought the knots in his stomach and removed the cloth.
As he spotted Fred's frame, he felt a heavy blow to his chest. It was deformed as if thrown into a fire. Ron traced the hand to where Fred's name once read. Now it was a hole with the metal melted onto the carpet. Did the damage reflect how he died? The hand was pointed to the word "lost", along with George's. The rest of the family was indicated to be home.
Confused, Ron turned around to see George slumped in a chair behind him. George was frozen with a blank stare, lost. Fred was also... lost to them.
George mumbled low and fiercely. Ron responded by placing the cloth back onto the clock and silently moved to the next room.
...xXx...
Hermione found Ron peering into the nearby room. His fists were clenched and his body was stiff. She gently approached him and took his hand. Following his gaze, she caught a glimpse of George fuming in grief.
She gave him a kind nudge forward for Ron to lead Hermione to the aching twin. Together they came to each side of George and held him. George softened to a quiet sob.
Author's Note
Word count: 272
Word Count Game Challenge Prompts:
Character- Ron
Word- heavy
"Did the damage reflect how he died?" was added in to clarify that it was not a reflection of where Fred could have gone to in the afterlife. I am not big on writing thoughts in italics. I chose this method due to my restriction on the word count. Please give suggestions for writing out that idea better.
Please give critiques in reviews or PMs. Thank you.