A/N: Sorry this is long, skip if you wish-
Okay i owe everybody an absolute HUGE apology! i can't even believe myself i left it this long to update , i have all sorts of exuses but I wont bore you with the majority of them- for part of my 'absence' i visited london :D and i saw GRINGOTTS how cool is that?
Anyways more to the point I will try to never leave it that long again but it's easier said than done i'm very busy as of late but i hope you can find it in your heart's to forgive me and enjoy the chapter.
It's a bit angsty and well roughish but please let me know your thoughts on it?
And before we begin i'd finally like to dedicate this chapter to Lillirox (check out her amazing cedric/oc story you won't regret it!) and all those amazing people kind enough to review, thankyou! x
Faye's mind began to venture far into her past, delving deep into the painful memories that she knew had to surface sooner or later and with a ragged deep breath attempting to gain some sort of composure, she remembered.
It had been a bright summer's day, the best summer yet in all of her 11 years Faye had decided. She had just received her Hogwarts acceptance letter and soon would be joining Elliot (who was now going into his third year there) in the magnificent castle.
Although Faye had grown up with magic, as well as a mixture of muggle traditions and belongings in her home she felt she'd finally be joining a place where she belonged.
School had never been such an amazing prospect before but now, especially after visiting Diagon Alley early that morning she yearned to start already.
She'd bought an adorable miniature owl, which she promised to send home every week with a letter to her parents and seven year old brother Evan who sulked constantly now at the thoughts of being left at home with out his siblings, a wide range of spell books, her very own wand- willow and dragon heart-string 10inches, a large book called 'The history of Harry Potter and his struggle with the dark arts' which was certainly not on the Hogwarts curriculum but she thought it looked interesting and managed to slip into her cauldron without her mother noticing, but most importantly in her eyes- a new broomstick.
Her parents deemed it to be an early birthday present but Faye knew they were teasing, they were a fairly wealthy family due to her rich Muggle grandparents who had worked as 'bankers' their whole life and so travelled a lot living in various different mansions across Europe, not that the Millars saw them too often.
She already owned an old comet broom but from the moment she'd set eyes on the pristine bristles and felt the polished wood of this Cleansweep Seven Faye fell instantly in love with it. Quiddich was her life at that stage and it pained her to realise that she couldn't bring this beauty to school with her as first years were never allowed their own brooms- that was certainly the only downside to Hogwarts.
To make up for the lost time, Faye resolved to spend as much of the holidays possible flying it and practising so that when second year came around she'd make the house team for sure.
Speaking of houses, Faye had been unsure of where she was going to be put and she didn't even know which she'd be prefer either.
More than likely it would be Ravenclaw she presumed as her mother's family had been placed there for generations but they'd already had a break of tradition in the form of her older brother Elliot the Hufflepuff. She remembered him telling her the sorting hat was on his head so long he began to think he was a squib or something- poor boy but really he was just a varied character. Faye ashamedly admitted that she preferred her younger brother though, there was just something irritating about the fact Elliot constantly teased her but would turn to her instantly with any problem he had- wasn't he meant to be the older responsible one? Apparently not.
He also had to be hands down the most forgetful person she knew, Evan on the other hand was just a bundle of energy and radiated joy like the sun did heat.
He charmed the heart of every adult he crossed and children too at the mere age of seven he had flocks of people gathering around him that hung on to every word he said.
Faye couldn't blame them either he always had something funny or intelligent to say and put a smile on her face every day with his eager bubbly ways, the only fault she could pick out was his curiosity which she honestly didn't find as a problem but often her mother did. Faye almost wished as much as he did that he could go to Hogwarts with her as she couldn't wait to see where he'd be sorted with his brave yet brainy and loveable personality. His determination may have even landed him in Slytherin for all she knew.
So it was to Faye's delight when her parents announced with a sigh that Elliot had forgotten to show them half of his booklist and so they'd have to pop back into flourish and blots with him to buy the remainder leaving her at home to take care of Evan for an hour. Minding Evan was a breeze; he never complained and always found a new way to keep himself busy, thankfully.
She was supposed to be packing her trunk but with her parents gone she'd have the perfect opportunity to have a go on her cleansweep, she was beaming excitedly as she almost shoved them into the fireplace to travel by Floo powder and soon they were out of sight.
"Okay Ev , you stay up here while I go and have a super quick fly outside alright? " She decided her brother would be well capable of keeping himself occupied here sitting on her bedroom floor amidst the pile of clutter which was her new school stuff that he seemed pretty fascinated by, and with that and a fleeting kiss on his forehead just beneath his unruly fluffy black curls, she dashed outside.
Faye could still remember the soaring sensation of being on her broomstick that day as the wind whipped through her hair behind her and she felt free, elated and excited inside. Her life couldn't be better what with starting Hogwarts soon but when she was flying it was literally all she could think as she gripped the handles tightly and did a few loop-de loops of Joy in the cool crisp air raising higher and higher until the Green moors of the Welsh mountains surrounding her became clearly visible.
She then had lost track of time and flew lower so she was on par with the top floor of their countryside home, as she zoomed past her bedroom window and took a quick peek inside her whole world changed in a split second.
X
Evan Millar was eager to impress as he held his sister's new wand tightly in his little hand. (Unknowingly the wrong way around)
Surely if he managed to do a bit of magic now they would have to send him to Hogwarts early with his siblings. He flicked through one of her new books which was apparently about some famous boy called Harry Potter, looking for some sort of spell word he could try, he chanted a few incantations but failed.
He concentrated harder and chose a new one from the page and said it loudly and clearly willing with all his might for the spell to work,
"Avada Kedavra!"
X
Faye saw his face freeze, silent and unmoving like some sort of wax doll, before he fell backwards with a thud onto the wooden bedroom floor. It was unmistakable that her baby brother, her pride and joy was now dead.
Her body went numb, her grip on the broomstick handle went slack, her heart sank to a pit of despair and with the huge shock emerging inside her Faye fell from her position in the air onto the grass below with an unforgettable horrid 'crack' as her feeble bones made contact with the ground.
Xxx
Faye's face was covered in tears as she came to end of her story, explaining to Ginny the aftermath of that day's tragic events, how she woke up in Mungo's and under her absolute distraught parent's demands had to see a special sort of healer whom she had many counselling sessions with as they worked to recover not her broken bones but her lost memory that had resulted from head injury as well as severe emotional trauma.
She was forced to reconstruct the happenings so as they could get a proper understanding on what really happened.
At first their was the absurd conclusion she herself had inflicted the damage on Evan , her parents had tried to hide this from her but of course after the long stay in hospital she became accustomed to listening in on hushed conversations in the corridors.
Eventually a specialist decided that it was in fact possible he had done it himself and that the spell had not only backfired but worked efficiently due to his absolute determination, an unusual trait in young wizards.
It was then labelled as a 'freak accident' but 11 year old Faye knew better, deep down she was one hundred and ten percent certain that she had been the cause of his death. It was her carelessness of leaving that book and her wand lying around , it was her slyness of defying her parents and buying the book in the first place but most importantly it was her undeniable selfishness that made her abandon him in the house so she could go outside and enjoy herself on her broom. She then decided her love of Quiddich was clearly a curse and vowed to herself never to let herself be sucked into the thrills of it ever again for fear that in the wizarding world, lightning could probably strike twice.
She was certainly a terrible person but she was going to work to change that this year she would be kind, friendly and giving when she got to Hogwarts, she would be like a new impressive person that caused happiness not heartbreak anymore and most importantly she would never talk about what happened to anybody if she could help it.
Her way of coping, was denial.
X
Ginny let a few tears of her own escape and roll down her cheeks at that point, she had no idea Faye had ever suffered through all this. Yes Fred and George once mentioned she had lost a brother but she never imagined it could have happened in such a cruel way and she certainly never imagined happy, strong and light hearted Faye had ever felt such guilt.
She patted her on the back trying to be as comforting as possible.
"It's going to be okay, it's not your fault" she whispered soothingly.
Xxx
"It's going to be okay, it's not your fault" said Bill to George, the next morning.
He had arrived back at Shell Cottage earlier in a right state after sobering up and realising what he had said and done.
"She's never going to forgive me" George groaned and rested his head against his brother's kitchen table sighing angrily "I'm never going to forgive myself either…"
Bill frowned and patted his younger brother's arm consolingly, "Look George, you know as well as I do Faye is the least selfish person you know, yes she'll be hurt and yes there will be plenty of grovelling to be done but come on you need to cop on , grow a pair and go apologise because there is no way she would stay mad at you for something done in a drunken state, she's not just going to abandon you now after the first proper fight you have ever had"
George reasoned this, yes Bill's words were wise indeed and they made perfect sense but there was no way he, George Weasley could be lucky enough for her to forgive him was there?
He wouldn't be forgiving if it was said to him after all and that was where the problem lay. It was clear that Faye was ten times a better person than he was and yes even if that did mean she'd accept his apology is that the way he wanted it to go? If he truly respected her he should probably just get out of her life, she deserved so much more than horrific insults after petty arguments, So much more than him, a weeping, grieving, drunken mess.
Faye was beautiful, kind, witty and all kinds of good- his light after the dark really , the one person who could make him laugh while he was in the middle of crying, the most loyal friend who became but was always, so much more.
George came to a realisation that should have been realised so long ago- he loved her, and so, because of that he came to a temporary decision
"Bill can I stay on your couch tonight?"
