Paper Walls
Disclaimer- The obvious stuff isn't mine, and all the unfamiliar stuff is.
Summary-After George leaves Hogwarts with his brother in their moment of glory, Alicia doesn't hear from him for several months. The war is beginning to rage, bringing all of her friends into madness, but when something unbelievably tragic happens to Alicia, it shatters her world. She embarks upon a mission for revenge, bringing those she loves dearest to her side to embark with her. When someone she didn't expect to see again, returns wanting to help, it sends Alicia onto the scariest ride of her life.
Author Note- I'm not sure how this story will do..but if it does well I've already got a few chapters written up and I'll keep going.
"You're a complete mess." I whispered to the sad reflection in the mirror. The girl staring back at me had a nest of brown hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in centuries and eyes fit for a Visine commercial.
"You could at least shave your legs." My reflection said. I sighed and threw my hands in the air.
"My own reflection isn't even on my side..." The other Alicia rolled her eyes and I returned the gesture. I turned back around and my eyes took in the disastrous room.
My queen sized bed that had once been covered in huge pillows and ragged stuffed animals was now bare, the covers beside the bed, thrown down in a nightmare. The shades were pulled down over my two large bay windows, making the warm yellow of the room appear to be a dark gold. My books were a towering pile in the corner, covered by dust.
Tugging slightly at the hem of my worn out nightgown, I frowned when a string popped loose and unraveled to my knee.
"I knew it would come undone at some point. You have been wearing that gown every night for five years, after all." I turned around and saw my mom leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed; a smile across her face. I squinted from the light that the now opened door let in and put a hand above my eyes as a shield.
"Mommm..please shut the door!" I said; a whining hint to my voice. She laughed loudly and the sound filled my room.
"There's that beautiful Karen Spinnet laugh that I'm so fond of!" My dad appeared behind my mom and kissed the top of her head. (We Spinnet women seem to lack in height.)
"Hi dad." I said, smiling at the sight of my always chipper father.
"Mornin' Al. What are your plans for this glorious Saturday morning?"
The tone of my dad's voice sounded like a newscaster and it caused me to laugh.
"One thing I've always been happy about with you Al, is that you inherited my dashing good looks.." He flexed and went to kiss his muscles. ".. and your mom's rowdy laugh."
"Oh William stop that, you're so goofy." My mom swatted his chest and I rolled my eyes.
"Would you two please flirt elsewhere, I was busy-" My mom interrupted.
"You were busy sulking about that George Woosel as we all know." She exchanged looks with my dad.
I opened my mouth to protest but was once again interrupted, this time by my dad.
"He seemed like a nice boy when you brought him by for the Christmas before last, but he isn't worth shutting yourself up in your room for this long."
"I am not shutting myself up in my room because of that sorry boy! I don't care that he flew off with Fred in the middle of our N.E.W.T exams or that he forgot to say goodbye to me or contact me for what has now been two months. It's not like we were DATING FOR SIX MONTHS OR ANYTHING.." I starting to get heated up and my mom came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay to be upset dear, but you know that he told you before he left, that after Hogwarts he wouldn't be able to contact you for awhile due to the position that the Order was putting him in." She moved her hand to my back and began to rub it.
"I know, but when he told me that, I thought I would have till graduation with him, and then the next thing I know he's flying out of Hogwarts, setting off fireworks at Professor Umbridge." Those last few words helped a chuckle escape from me.
"Well don't worry sweetheart, it's going to get better, you just wait." My dad said, coming over to sit on the other side of me.
"I know, I know." My mom continued to rub my back for a few minutes and then my dad glanced at his watch.
"Okay Al, go get ready, I bet you forgot that we were picking your brother up at the train station today." I slapped my forehead, I had forgotten! I suddenly got a rush of excitement at the thought of my brother finally coming home.
"Okay, thanks. I'll be down in a half hour."
"Better make it twenty minutes; you slept until midday again. I swear, it's like you're nocturnal sometimes.." My dad said, walking out.
"Give me a break! I've only been out of school for hardly a month..what do you expect.." I watched suspiciously as my mom went to the windows and opened the blinds. The sunlight poured in and made me gasp.
"Mother of God, mom!" I said, staggering backwards. I was temporarily blinded for a few more minutes, and I could hear my mother's distinctive laugh as they left the room.
"You better hurry up! It should take you days to make you presentable.." My reflection said.
"You're so obnoxious!" I said as I threw my duvet cover on top of it. I heard protests but I just laughed.
Rummaging through my clothes, I found my favorite pair of worn out jeans and slipped them on. I grabbed a brown tank top, found my oldest pair of flip flops, and put on the only pair of earrings I had, a pair of diamond studs that Katie, Angelina, Fred, and Lee had all chipped in and bought me for my seventeenth birthday. George had bought me a locket that I had refused to take off so far, even though it made me sad every time I opened it and saw the picture of us on the broom he had received for his own seventeenth birthday.
I knew how my hair looked before I even looked in the mirror. The curls were bushy and frizzy, and I knew that only something magical would calm them. I picked up my wand and muttered a very well known spell. Tugging the duvet cover off the mirror, I was satisfied to see that the frizzy curls were now tamer curls, although not losing all of it's frizziness, that came down to just below my shoulders.
"That'll do.."
I pocketed my wand but then took it out when I remembered that we were going to King's Cross, but the muggle part of it.
I was almost out my door before I went back and grabbed my wand, slipped it into a purse, and walked back out.
No one could be too careful these days.
"Alicia! Follow me! Stop wandering off! The last thing I need is for you to get lost in a train station.." My mom said hurriedly, trying to keep up with the long strides of my father.
I rolled my eyes and replied, " Mom, I'm seventeen years old! Graduate of Hogwarts!" I got swatted by my mom when I mentioned the name, but I continued. "Prefect of the Gryffindor House ! Soon to be Auror of the Dark Arts!" My mom swatted me harder this time.
"Alicia Stephanie Spinnet! You know better then to mention those things in the open!" My mom said in a rushed whisper. I laughed and I heard my dad laugh up front. He knew better than my mom that nobody was listening to the three insignificant people weaving through the crowded train station.
I saw my dad stop ahead before my mom did, and I laughed loudly when she ran into his back because of her head being turned around, talking to me. She couldn't hide the embarrassed smile and it made me laugh even harder.
"I could have heard that laugh from Italy! I swear it's a good thing that I inherited ma's good looks and dad's tame laugh." I turned around at the familiar voice and squealed.
"WILL!" Before I even had time to fling myself at my older brother, he had come at me and hugged me so hard that my feet lifted off the ground.
"Hey Al, missed your big bro, aye?" He gave me a tight squeeze and I buried my head into the side of his neck.
"Okay you two! 'Licia you gotta let the rest of us get a turn at Will!" I heard my mom's voice and I reluctantly let go. Will hugged both of our parents and I felt a burst of happiness towards them all.
"I didn't think you guys would be this happy to see your trouble maker of a son!" He said as he swung his bags onto his shoulders and we started making our way through the crowds.
"We haven't seen you since Christmas! Of course we're ecstatic to see you." My mom said and squeezed his arm lightly.
"Speak for yourselves! I haven't seen dear Will for a year and I didn't miss him one bit!" I smiled at Will and he laughed and tousled my hair. I grimaced and fixed it.
"Oh please Al! You know you missed me, and you would've seen me for Christmas if you hadn't been at Georgie's for the holiday..which I think was very wrong by the way, considering that your dear brother is all the way in Italy for college, but does he get any attention? No.. I think not…Okay what did I say wrong, because Alicia's got that look like she's about to throttle something..and that never turns out well.." He looked suspiciously at me.
"Well me and Georgie, as you so endearingly call him, are no longer dating, but I'm sure you like that, you never did like him much." I crossed my arms and scowled at Will. He smiled brightly.
"Of course I didn't like him! He had that air about him.. I always felt like he was going to fight me or curse me..whatever you wiz kids do. " That made me laugh out loud.
"Will! That's one thing that George wouldn't do, is fight or curse my twenty year old brother!" I kept laughing and I noticed that my mom and my dad had fallen behind and were now in conversation with each other.
"Oh please! He was a confrontational little bloke, I could tell. And anyway, I like him fine now that you aren't dating him." He put an arm around my shoulder and squeezed.
"I'm glad you're home Will. Angelina has been asking about you, you know." I said, winking at him and then laughing when he blushed.
"I knew she couldn't get enough of me! It's this dazzling smile, see?" He smiled brightly, showing his straight white teeth.
"That dazzling smile cost us loads of money." My dad said, interjecting his loud voice into our conversation.
"..not to mention the cost of those horrible school photos of Will in grammar school.." I said, making him smile sarcastically at me.
"At least I didn't have an Afro for fifteen years." He retorted. I yelped and hit him.
"That was low.." I said, chuckling a bit.
We reached the car and through Will's stuff in the trunk. Piling in the car, I realized as I watched my family interact that this was the first time in two months that George wasn't in the front of my mind, and I loved it.
Later that night after Will had unpacked and I had finished cleaning my room, against my free will, Will and I sat down in the living room before dinner.
For the first time that day, I realized how much Will had changed. My once nerdy brother was no longer nerdy, and very much handsome.
His glasses that had been perched on his nose for a good nineteen years were now missing, only making his impossibly light blue eyes stand out even more. He still stood at six foot one, but now filled out his lanky figure. A rugged tan covered him, and his dirty blonde hair fell just below his ears.
What had happened to the scrawny genius that I had grown up with? In his place was a very attractive genius, and I can't say that I liked it. Wait until my two best girl friends got a look at him, they would go crazy..and that's never good. Especially when one of them, Angelina, already had a crush on him for what seemed like forever.
"Will, why are you so tan?" I asked, and was shocked at how accusatory my tone was.
"I didn't know it was a crime to be tan Alicia Spinnet. I'm sorry if I've inconvenienced you in someway." He laughed at himself and I smirked.
"I had a job on a vineyard helping an old couple keep it going while I was at school." He explained.
I nodded curtly and then asked something else. "Where are your glasses? What's happened to them?" It was in the same accusatory tone and he raised an eyebrow.
"Well Your Honor, they snapped one day in the fields and Rob, who I work for, suggested contacts because glasses don't last long with manual labor. So I took his advice, and voila!" I didn't smile and opened my mouth to ask him another question.
"What.." I began, only to be interrupted by my dad.
"Sorry to interrupt this interrogation, but dinner is ready." Will raised his eyebrow at me again and I crossed my arms as we walked to the dinner table.
"What's your deal Al?" He asked.
"I don't like you being handsome. It irks me." He stopped in his tracks and I kept walking and took my seat. He sat down a few minutes later, looked at me, and chuckled under his breath.
We small talked while we ate for awhile before my dad groaned.
"I have to go to work tomorrow.." He dreaded work. He worked at the Ministry and he said that things were getting shadier and shadier everyday.
"Well can't you do some sort of spell so you don't have to go?" Will asked, his mouth full of potatoes.
"You know I can't.. I swear Will, you'd think you'd know something about magic considering you've been around it for twenty years." My dad laughed and Will smiled sheepishly.
"Oh William, you have to be patient with Will and I, you know even I don't grasp everything and I've been married to you for twenty-two years." My mom said, patting my dad's arm.
"Oh please mom, you hardly ever cook your meals normally now..you use those ready made recipes from the magical cook book. Just because you aren't a witch doesn't mean you can't use magic, and you know it!" I laughed as my mom also smiled sheepishly.
"I, for one, pride myself in being the only normal one in this family!" Will said, holding his fork in the air.
"Just because you don't use magic doesn't mean you're normal..you're the most abnormal thing I've ever met..and you should see the attendance at Hogwarts!" I retorted. He flung a pea at me and I ducked.
"Okay you two, that's enough!" My dad said, beginning to laugh, but catching the look on my mom's face, stopped.
Will and I kept laughing, but then a loud thump from above caused everyone to quiet down.
"Oh I bet it's nothing.." Mom said, smiling too widely.
"Yeah, nothing." I said, even though something didn't feel right. I felt for my wand and realized I didn't have it. I was just being paranoid though, right?
Another thump, louder this time, occurred. My brother stood up with my dad and my dad motioned for Will to stay put. Will ignored this and followed my dad as he went upstairs.
I looked at my mom and she tried to smile reassuringly at me.
"I'm just going to go get my wand mom, it's in the living-.." I heard a yell and then something that sounded like it was being thrown down the stairs.
"Stay there!" I yelled to my mom and then ran to the living room to grab my wand.
I muttered a spell, and watched as a silver lion emerged from the end of my wand.
"Go to the burrow and tell the order members that my family and I are being attacked and we need immediate assistance!" The lion bounded off and I raced back into the dinning room, only to find my mother's chair empty.
I sprinted upstairs, but then was stopped as I saw my brother's body in the stairwell. I felt for a pulse, found one, and then sprinted past him.
My father was dueling with a large wizard. My dad dodged the killing curse and I joined into the fray.
"Expelliarmus!" I shouted and watched the wand fly out of the unsuspecting death eater's hand. He then noticed I was in the room, and smiled.
Fear filled me, but I stayed calm. My dad backed towards me, and came to stand in front of me.
"Stupefy!" I screamed, sending a jet of light towards the man. He dodged it and dived towards something. He grabbed his wand and stood up. I saw he had my mother pulled to his chest, a wand pointed at her heart.
"Oh I will, don't doubt it for a second." He snarled in his deep voice. A tear slid down my mom's face as she stared at both of us.
"William, don't you see what you've done? Screwing around at the ministry has caused this to happen..you'll watch your entire family die tonight all because of your supposed bravery towards the Dark Lord..This is what you get.."
"Crucio!" He screamed as I made a break for my mom, but stopped as I felt the most excruciating pain I've ever felt. The pain filled every limb, pulling me apart, making me scream. I couldn't rise, the pain kept coming and I felt tied to the ground. My dad tried to make a move for me and my mom screamed.
"This is all your fault William, if you had just done what you were told to do Avada Kedavra!" Through my pain I watched my mother fall limp to the ground and my father scream in anger and sadness.
"YOU BASTARD!" He roared and raised his wand. The killing curse was on his lips and then like lightening, the death eater shouted "Expelliarmus!" and my dad's wand flew down the steps.
The death eater came towards me and my dad leaped in front of him. "You will NOT touch my daughter!" The death eater pushed him out of the way but my dad wouldn't budge.
"William, I didn't want to kill you yet. I wanted you to suffer and watch as your family suffers. But if you don't move, then I'm afraid I can't play with you, and I'll have to kill you next." He noticed that I was beginning to recover and get up. He shouted "Crucio!" once more and the pain returned.
"NO! TAKE ME! STOP HURTING HER!" My dad screamed, his eyes filling with fury.
I heard loud pops downstairs and angry familiar voices. The death eater heard them too and then sighed.
"Looks like I'll have to go ahead and kill you, The Dark Lord would punish me if I didn't." And before my dad had anytime to react, he shouted the killing spell and I watched as my dad fell to the floor, his eyes almost apologetic towards me.
People stormed up the stairs and popped in from all around. The death eater grinned and looking straight into my eyes said, "Crucio," before disapparating. The pain filled me worse this time. Maybe it was the combination of the death of both of my parents and the fury and the spell, but the pain was too much to take.
I heard someone screaming my name and then I saw nothing.
