I heard the knock on the door from the kitchen and quickly went to answer it. When I opened the door I saw Angelina, supporting a nearly unconscious George.
"Come in." I said somberly, though I knew that only Angelina could hear me. "The pub?" I inquired. She nodded and carefully set George down on the couch.
"Old Tom at the Leaky Cauldron gave him a free night." She responded, "It's a wonder he didn't kill himself"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying." I replied quite honestly
"That's what scares me." Angelina admitted. She looked down at George with a look of genuine concern on her face. George stirred and she knelt down beside him, gently stroking his hair and speaking softly to him. I went back into the kitchen to give them some privacy. It was the third night this week that George had come home drunk. He didn't smile anymore, and it seemed he woke up screaming almost every night. Part of him died that night, and it isn't coming back.
I came back from the kitchen with some tea, and noticed Harry standing by the couch. My eyes lit up but the grave expression on his face told me that he was here for something much more serious.
"We need to talk." He said flatly. " You, Angelina, and me, and it would be best to do so before George wakes up" I lead him into the kitchen and we all sat down at the table.
"What is it?" I asked, while nervously brushing a stray hair from my face.
Silently, Harry pulled a small pouch from around his neck, reached in, and pulled out two items. One was a small, black stone with markings on one side, the other appeared to be a shard of mirror.
"The two objects I am holding are of immense power, and great importance. This," He raised the mirror fragment " is one of the few remaining pieces of the mirror of Erised. The mirror itself was shattered and mostly destroyed during the battle at Hogwarts. As you may or may not know, the mirror of Erised shows, or at least used to show the deepest desire of the person who looks into it."
"What use is knowing your deepest desire?" Angelina snapped "We're trying to keep his mind away from the whole thing."
"I'm getting there. The second item is something much more impossible." He carefully set the stone down on the table for us to see. "This stone was at one time, one of the three Deathly Hallows. It had the ability to, or so legend says, bring back those from the dead to the world of the living."
"What!" I exclaimed "You can't! We've all heard the story, Fred would feel tortured from being brought back to a world which he no longer belongs."
Harry continued on as if he simply had not heard me. "Unfortunately, around 50 years ago it was tainted with dark magic by Voldemort when he made it his Horcrux. It's power is all but gone." Angelina and I both fell silent at this, but then I realized something.
"You say all but gone, as if there is some left?"
Harry nodded. "It might have enough power to pull one last person from the dead, and it would only have a chance of working if it was truly the user's deepest desire. That's why I brought the fragment of the mirror but..." He trailed off.
"But what?" Angelina asked.
He picked up the stone "The stone wouldn't have enough power to return a person entirely on its own. It would need a jump start, especially if we want it to bring the person back without all of the drawbacks like the three brothers in the Tales of Beedle the Bard."
"What do you mean by a jump start?" I questioned.
He sighed painfully before continuing "Goerge would need to die himself in order to bring the power of the stone to Fred, with no guarantee that any of it would actually work. However, it isn't known to do half-jobs, either they both come back, or neither. All or nothing."
"Absolutely not!" Angelina exclaimed, her voice going shrill at the thought "We can't just let him kill himself on the off-chance that any of this is actually true and he can bring back Fred. We can't just lose them both!"
"I completely agree with Angelina," I reply tears welling up in my eyes at the thought of my other brother dying as well, "I've lost Fred already, I just can't stand the thought of losing George as well."
"I don't believe that the decision is yours, Angelina, nor yours Ginny" said a gruff voice from behind us. We turned to see George, standing in the doorway, with wand drawn and hand open, "Harry, the stone"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked, handing him the stone, "I cannot Guarantee your life, nor Fred's. And even if you both return, you may never be the same."
"I would do it in a heartbeat, Fred means more to me than any of you could understand, and I would risk anything to bring him back, for the life that he deserves." George replied, tears running down his face as he raised his wand to his throat.
"NO!" Angelina and I both cried, but it was too late. There was a green flash, and I saw the last of the light drain from my brother's eyes.