Fred's Secret
And he lay there, in his brother's arms, among the wood and rubble of that collapsed side of the castle. "No, Fred, No!" cried Percy Weasley, his wails ringing throughout the corridor. All she could do was pray, and pray hard at that, that her greatest fear did not just happen at the other end of that hall. Jets of green and red continued to fly all around her, ricocheting off walls and ceilings, blasting craters at every surface. She couldn't find Katie or Alicia anywhere. If she could just get to him… She heard Percy's voice again, shouting "ROOKWOOD!" whose echo eventually drowned by the blasts and screams engulfing the castle when it hit her: She had to find Fred.
She got to her feet. A Death Eater was shooting curses and hexes at her direction, hence she was slightly distracted by repetitive "Protego"s followed by shooting red jets preceded by loud "Stupefy"s. Her robes were already torn and the blast had particles of ash and dust covering her face. "Incendio!" she shouted at the Death Eater's direction, and his robes caught fire. Angelina continued to move in the direction of the blast, hoping to find Fred, but there were a bunch of Slytherins, who had most likely gone off to You-Know-Who's side who followed after the Death Eaters' pattern, shooting red and green jets of light everywhere. Pansy Parkinson, the annoying pigfaced Slytherin girl who always stuck close to Malfoy, shot a Cruciatus Curse that missed Angelina by an inch. "Petrificus Totalus," exclaimed someone from behind Angelina, and Pansy froze to the ground. Angelina continued in the direction of the blast when she heard someone cry "Stupefy!" from behind her, knocking her off her feet.
Angelina did not regain consciousness until several moments later. Her legs were battered after being trampled over by the massive crowd running through the blasted corridor. She regained her strength and trudged in the direction that they passed. She was right; they were all headed toward the Great Hall. There were no jets of red or green now, no Death Eaters in sight. There were bits of rubble scattered everywhere, including the emeralds that were once in the hourglass of the Slytherin House. Once in a while there was a motionless body lying on the ground. It was hard to distinguish friend from foe. As she had expected, everyone else was huddled in the Great Hall. Most of the people there were battered, injured, frightened. They weren't just the members of the D.A. but also other students, teachers, parents, and members of the Order of the Phoenix. Draco Malfoy was the only Slytherin in her sight, alone in a corner without any of those blokes she used to see him with. She could see Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell sobbing in a corner, being comforted by Oliver Wood. Alicia had a huge gash on her leg and was bleeding terribly while waiting to be treated by Madame Pomfrey. Angelina resisted moving towards them. She had to find Fred. Where the ruddy hell was he--?
In the middle of the Great Hall, several bodies were arranged in a line. She caught a glimpse of Colin Creevey, a sixth year, lying lifeless against the marble, and a soft tear grazed the grime on her left cheek, he was still so young, and then there he was. Surrounded by his flame-haired family was Fred Weasley, nothing but a lifeless body amidst several others. She placed her hand over her stomach, unable to take it in. Angelina saw George kneeling by him, his mother sobbing continuously. She fought with herself as to whether or not she should join them. But she hesitated; the Weasleys needed their time. It was only a few moments later when she saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger enter the Great Hall. All fell silent at the sight of the three, but Angelina didn't even bother to go near them. Instead she approached Alicia, who was already recovering in a corner. She was in a conversation with Oliver and Katie. Angelina knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Guess I could be better," replied Alicia, who then nodded towards Fred. "Why aren't you with him? Don't say you haven't told them…" Angelina shot her an angry look.
"Well they don't have to know just yet, do they?" she snapped. "I don't want to make things worse for the Weasleys than they already are." Again she clutched her stomach, which seemed to jump for a fraction of a second. Angelina gulped, reminding herself not to attract any more negative energy than had already come. Out of the corner eye she saw Harry sprint out of the Great Hall, when she looked back at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, devastated at the loss of their son. And suddenly their grief was her grief, their tears were her tears. Katie and Oliver, who (Angelina had forgotten) had been there the whole time, gave her a confused look, clearly not knowing exactly what was going on. Angelina shrugged. She noticed George finally get up and leave the Great Hall, the same way that Harry Potter had done. But he did not run, as he did not seem like he was in a hurry, but he merely staggered off as if just to catch a breath after everything.
"D'you think you could shed some ligh' on sum'in for us, Angelina?" Oliver had asked. Angelina shook her head, refusing to answer his question. She excused herself from her friends, who soon returned to their fearful conversation about You-Know-Who and Harry Potter, and followed George outside.
He was simply leaning on the wall right outside the Great Hall, every trace of his usual cheer erased from his face. When he had caught sight of her on his side, he muttered a cold "Oh, it's you." Angelina bit her lower lip and leaned on the wall next to Fred's twin brother. They looked almost exactly the same, Fred and George, except that George had lost an ear a few months back. It was a moment of silence; neither George nor Angelina said a single word. And it remained so for a few moments, until Angelina broke the silence by taking George in a tight hug. Yet he remained limp, as if he had died along with his twin brother. She released him soon after, realising that there was nothing she could do at the moment that could appease him. He remained standing, petrified against the wall, his expressionless face as dead as ever. "Oh come off it," Angelina growled. She knew that she shouldn't be saying it, that his twin brother had just died minutes ago, that George, who was Fred's best friend in the universe, needed this time to grieve for his brother. But he was George Weasley, who had always been there to paint a smile on everyone's face, whose business (with his brother) had been skyrocketing, who was, until now, one of the cheeriest sods she had ever come across in her life.
He finally spoke, which came to Angelina's surprise, causing her to jump slightly. "I can't believe it," he stammered. Those had been the only words that escaped his mouth for quite some time. Of course, she couldn't believe it either, that Fred was gone. She knew that whatever she was feeling could not even come close to what George was feeling, and if she told him now it could only make things worse. "You want to go outside a while, catch a breath?" Angelina said, but the Weasley twin shrugged, shaking his head like a child who had lost a toy. He clutched her hand, squeezing it tight, hoping that it was all just a dream, and that he would wake up and see Fred again. But Angelina knew better, and that Fred was gone, gone and he wasn't coming back. For the first time ever, she saw a tear roll down George's face, and he crumbled to the floor, drowning in his tears.
Although Angelina had a feeling that George didn't want her to see him that way, he tilted his face toward her and paused. "You told Mum yet?" he said. His eyes were now swollen and puffy, a state in which no one had ever seen him before. The thought took a second to finally register in Angelina's head; for a moment she had almost forgotten about it. Coming to her senses she shook her head.
"I don't think it's the right time, tha'sall," she replied with a heavy sigh. "I mean, Fred just… didn't he? Can't even imagine what the look on your Mum's face would be like if I told her that Fred and I actually got married."