I knew my body should have felt like the Knight Bus or one of those silly Muggle Double-deckers had hit it. All my natural instincts where telling me that I should be in loads of pain and being nursed by the loving hand of Angelina, the motherly hand of mum, or at the very least, a disgruntled Madame Pomfrey muttering something about how long could George and I keep cheating death.
Instead, I still felt nothing. Nothing immediately to my body. I flexed my toes and felt as though I was lying in an extremely soft cot. Obvious Madame Pomfrey had headed George and I's request and ordered new cots.
"Looks like he's coming too—" a mysterious voice said from my left.
Ah, so we're going for choice number four of nursing hands—a Healer Trainee fresh from the Ministry Medical Center.
"He look's a little peaky—" a second voice said from the right. His was very similar to the first yet at the same time different. They voices where definitely related—How cute, cousins that went to Med School together. Mummy must be so proud.
"Well wouldn't you look a little peaky if you just got avalanched by stone?"
"Don't they teach kids anything anymore? Back when MacMandel taught Defense Against the Dark Arts Day One they always said to fight in the open to avoid collapsing or collapsible structures—" The second chimed, sounding rather annoyed with this fact.
Well, Obviously that piece of curriculum didn't make it to the new textbooks now did they? I thought, wondering how long I should fake my slumber.
"Whatever you do don't bring this up when Sirius comes. You know how touchy his about the whole curtain episode…"
You must be a rather slow Healer—Sirius died years ago…
"Oh Gid, that's half the fun—"
"Molly's not going to like this," The voice called Gid said with melancholy.
That bad doc? A sickening feeling began to sink in my stomach. If mum isn't going to like my situation, will Angelina?
"No one's going to like this Gid—D'you know if George knows yet?"
George, Where's George—He was on the otherside of the hall when the wall went down, chasing someone through a broken window. He was moving; he could've gotten away…
"I don't think so, Just Percy, Ron and Potter—Lord, I didn't even think of how that's going to go over—"
"So Potter's still alright?" Gid answered with relief evident in his low voice, relief that faded quickly as his companion's voice spoke "Lily, James, Lupin and Sirius just left. I don't think he's going to make it this time…and if Potter shows up you can bet we'll see a lot more people than Fred here…"
Ginny.
I could either keep my eyes and wait for more optimistic healers to come by, or I could open my eyes and meet my fate, composing myself for when Angelina came to visit. Composing myself so I could be there to help comfort Ginny—wait, Lily, James, Lupin and Sirius— they were all dead, they couldn't leave St. Mungo's—unless perhaps they had a painting near by….
My eyes flew open as I looked at the two identical, freckled faced red hair men sitting on opposite sides at the foot of my bed in the Hospital Wing. Both of them appeared more familiar in appearance then their voices had. They had to be related each other had a faint resemblance to mum in the eyes.
"Told you he was faking it—"the unknown voice said as a smile broke across his face.
"Good Morning little Freddie—course your not all that little anymore," Gid said, rising to stand up and pat my shoulder. He was tall, probably George and I's height—maybe up with Ron—
"Gideon, easy on the kid. He's had a rough afterlife already listening to the two of us," the stranger warned. "It's good to see you again Fred, just wish it could've been later. You came a little earlier than we expected."
"Came where? Who are you two?" I said flabbergasted. Wondering what sort of healers these people where. Obviously the kind with a sick, sick sense of humor. If "afterlife humor" was the new St. Mungo treatment I was worried what the purposes where.
"I guess Molly took our picture down in their room—remind me the next time we see her…" Gideon started.
"She took it down after Bill and Charlie started having nightmares about us, only natural—still you'd think he'd know his heroic Uncles—I guess we didn't make it on the Chocolate Frog cards after all."
"Damn ministry—I bet we didn't get Order of Merlin either," Gideon muttered under his breath.
"My Uncles—" I looked at the two again for a minute. It was defiantly not Bilius, this mysterious stranger. Bilius was many things, but only Heroic at weddings . . . Gideon…
"You're Gideon and Fabian," I answered, staring at the two living faces of my mum's dead brothers. "Am I hallucinating or have you lot been in hiding for 18 years?"
"You want to tell him or do you want me to?" Gideon asked, looking at his brother. "Be my guest—I had to tell the last one and he nearly conjured me into a tea cozy."
"Right—we'll Fred, are you comfortable?" He asked, "If you'd prefer we could talk at the Quidditch Pitch—I've never been a fan of the Hospital Wing."
"Shouldn't there be more people in here?" I asked looking at the vacant beds. Day light was streaming through the windows. "There was a bloody war going on, where are they keeping those that need to be treated? Why do I have a private ward?"
"Just get it over with Gid—" Fabian muttered as he got up to look out one of the windows facing the black lake. Well Uncle Fabe is more irritable then I remember mum saying… Percy must take after him…
"Well Fred—first off, you're not in your own private ward. And you're not in the Hospital Wing either, yo—'
'Well where the bloody hell am I?" I started, my blood slowly beginning to boil. "Where's my family? Where's Angelina?"
"You're on the other side Fred. I'm sorry but you experienced very severe head trauma when the wall came down. You're dead," Gideon said, placing his hand on my shoulder as though it would help.
"I'm not dead, I can't be. If I was dead—"
"Careful what you say," Fabian started, "Gid and I had the same issue when we came here. We said something about feeling pain and our guide was kind enough to hit us both on the side of the head with a two by four… sure could feel that and didn't make us any deader."
"If I was dead, George would be dead. You can't kill just one of us—"
"Last time I checked you have two ear's and George only has one . . . "
I looked around the room, starting to feel lightheaded. Dead. Dead at 20. George, Angelina—the sinking pit in my stomach began to grow deeper, as a stone seemed to sink in my heart.
"Would you like to see Hogwarts at Present? Like I said, never been a fan of the Hospital Wing," Gideon asked, "We could see how your brothers and sister and doing—maybe see if we can find any friend's your worried about— "
"Yeah—I suppose that's alright— "
Fabian joined me by his brother's side as we walked out of the wing and down the stairs, curses mistaken for thunder growing louder as we came closer to the front of the castle. "Don't worry kid. Acceptance is the hardest step. The Afterlife isn't all that bad…"
My eyes found the girl I had wanted to see most. Black residue from the outdoors smeared on her shirt, grime covered her ebony skin. Ange—her brown eyes still full of life, even amongst the tears beginning to flood them.
I broke from my uncle's side and began running towards her, trying to see if she was completely all right. She had what seemed like a limp on her right foot, it was to my relief her shoe was missing but a foot remain— I was just a few feet from her and then her voice let out a horrific scream never before heard on the Qudditch Pitch.
"No, No, please let it be—" she ran towards something I had when I walked over to her. Something that had been laid in a niche usually housing a suit of armor. She was hunched over something and she was kissing that something, and then holding it close to her as she shook.
Tears flowing dripped on a mop of red hair. Her gentle hands carefully cradling lifeless arms.
I had always told her that I was always more whole when I was with her. I told her that I felt that I was invincible with her by my side. With haunting eyes, I looked as she held me. My face stone, as if I had turned into one after the wall. A small trickle of blood like a teardrop went down from my ear down my neck. I tried not to look at me as much as the one I loved who was left to hold the empty shadow.
"Fred, take me too. Please come back and take me with you— I want to go with you, come back for me, take me too" she pleaded into the lifeless ear, which echoed into my mind.
For that moment, as I joined with her in her sobs, I wished I could grant both of us our wishes.