Disclaimer (because I'm pretty sure it's been a while): No matter how many times I type it, I can never get the name of Fred and George's shop right. I always have to look it up. I'm pretty sure JKRowling wouldn't forget something like that.
--
St. Mungo's:
I've never understood why St. Mungo's is so loud. When I was practically living here during my seventh year, they had to put a silencing charm on the hallway outside of my room because the noise gave me a constant headache.
One of the Healers that was working with me back then explained it to me. She said that the noise gave people more of a reason to live. It showed them what they could do once they got better. Apparently, that's one of the flaws in muggle hospitals. The absence of life convinces people that there's nothing to live for.
So, St. Mungo's gives their patients no noise restrictions which is how I find myself sitting in the waiting room, listening to some old man singing "Odo the Hero" at the top of his voice.
I really hate that song.
And it's all made worse by the fact that Oliver isn't here. He's way too selfless—didn't want to come and upset Fred anymore than necessary. Well, Fred's pretty upset without his help…
Angelina's sitting in the corner explaining the whole ordeal to Alicia's family, although I'm not so sure she's going to be very convincing considering the fact that we weren't given much information on what happened.
We haven't even seen George yet and Fred's not talking. All he told us on the way over here was that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was attacked and that Alicia got hit with one too many Cruciatus Curses.
Deciding to try my powers of persuasion on Fred, I slowly walk over and sit down next to him. "Fred?" He doesn't respond. Tears of fear and frustration are already welling in my eyes. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" I beg.
"No," he responds harshly. I roll my eyes as the tears start to fall. I brush them roughly off of my face, angry at myself for being unable to control them. Without thinking much about it, I stand up and begin climbing the stairs. I'm pretty sure that there's a lounge here somewhere.
Several wayward Healers offer me condoling glances as I climb the stairs, but none stop me. When I finally get to the lounge, I'm thankful to find it empty. I collapse onto a couch in the corner and bury my head in my hands. I take deep breaths to try to calm myself down, but I end up sounding like I'm hyperventilating.
"Excuse me, Miss?" I hear a kind voice say. I lift my head up and find myself looking into the face of the woman who saved my life last year.
"Healer Meadows?" I cry.
"Katie Bell," she muses. "I thought that that was you. What are you doing here, honey?"
Healer Meadows is a relatively young woman and I really admired her when I was here, but I haven't actually seen her since. She comes over and takes a seat next to me.
"A friend of mine's here," I admit, rubbing my face self-consciously, making sure I've gotten all traces of tears off. "Actually, you might know her; she works here. Her name's Alicia—Alicia Spinnet."
"Ah, yes, I know Alicia. We're giving her top priority and I promise that we have all of our best healers working on her."
"You were in there?" I ask, shocked. "Oh my God, please tell me what's going on. I know that you're not really supposed to, but I can't find her boyfriend and Fred's being an ass—"
"Katie, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you much. She is stable, though."
"She is?" a relieved voice asks from the doorway. I turn to find George standing there, his face abnormally red and blotchy.
"She is," Meadows assures him.
"So," George continues, trying to sort out facts," she's going to be okay?"
"She's going to live," she corrects him. A relieved smile comes over George's face, but I can't be completely happy about the tone of her voice. The Cruciatus Curse is known to cause brain damage; sometimes it's just better to die.
"Well, I need to get back to work. The best to both of you." Healer Meadows leaves the room and George steps forward to take her seat next to me.
"You don't looks so good," he notes.
"Yeah, well, you're not looking so hot either." He actually laughs at that and it lifts my spirits quite a bit. There's just something about George that always convinces me that everything's going to be okay. The hole in his head where his ear used to be serves as a constant reminder of what we can fight through. If he can get through that, then we can get through anything.
"Are you okay?" I ask. He just nods.
"As good as I can be. What are you doing up here, anyway? I didn't think Fred would let you out of his sight after what happened."
"Let me out of his sight?" I scoff. "He wouldn't even talk to me. I can't get him to tell me what happened."
"You couldn't?" George asks. "Is he okay? I haven't even talked to him since we got here."
"I have no clue. I think he's just scared…or something. George, can you please tell me what happened?" He looks at me somberly, but I can tell that he doesn't mind talking about it. Maybe him and Fred just deal with their pain in very different ways.
"Are you sure you want to know?" he asks.
"Yes!"
"Okay… Fred's probably going to kill me for this." He sighs deeply and then begins the story. "We'd just opened the shop, so there thankfully weren't that many customers there when the men walked in. I honestly don't know if they were Death Eaters or not, but they weren't wearing masks and I didn't recognize any of them."
"The Death Eaters have subordinates doing their dirty work now?" I question.
"It looks like it. There were about five of them. One of 'em came up to the desk and told Fred and I to kick everyone out. Fred calmly told everyone that we were closing and they left, no problem. The thing was that Alicia was asleep upstairs. I knew it was too risky to go get her to tell her to leave, so I just prayed she'd stay asleep until they left."
"She didn't?" I ask, already knowing the answer. He shakes his head.
"They took our wands and asked us about pretty much every resistance movement going on in our world right now. Stuff I haven't even heard about. They asked about Lee and Potterwatch, but I honestly don't know where he's been. They asked about Harry, but I don't know anything there either. I mean, I know the rumors, but everyone knows those. It was ridiculous and they kept getting madder with every answer we didn't know.
"Then, they force fed us Veritaserum and started the whole process over again. That's about the time that Alicia woke up. They heard her moving around up there and two of the guys went up to check it out.
"It's kind of a blur after that, but they tortured her, trying to get information out of us that they may have missed. It was horrible, Katie," he says, misery evident in every timbre of his voice.
"It's going to be okay…"
"It's just sickening. There was no reason for them to do that. And the one thing that we actually knew something about, they didn't even ask us. They were amateurs. Their idiot ring leader said that they were sent by Yaxley—that man really hates Fred. I think we were just practice for them because they pretty much fled when they thought that they had killed her."
"Oh my God." I hadn't realized that it was that bad.
"I just had to sit there and watch her dying. I couldn't do anything! And they were laughing, Katie. They were holding me and Fred back and laughing. I just…I can't even comprehend that."
We sit in silence for a few seconds as I reflect on what George had said.
"Ron's with him, isn't he?" I ask, warily. "Harry? He's with Harry?" George nods.
"I'm so scared," George continues. "Every day. He's my kid brother and he's out there doing Merlin knows what. It's bad enough that I have to worry about Ginny at that school."
"I'm so sorry, George." We sit in silence for a few minutes. "So, how are you holding up?" I finally ask.
"I don't really know—I'm doing okay. Just worried. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again. I just don't know how I can stop it."
"Alicia's a strong girl…"
"That's just the thing! She's not and you know it. She's been off for months. It's just...this isn't what's best for her—I'm not what's best for her."
"George…"
"Don't argue, Katie, you know it's true. I'm doing Order crap every other week and I can't even tell her about it because it throws her into a panic. One of these days I'm not going to come back and then what's going to happen?"
"Don't say that," I beg. "You love her, right?"
"Of course I do," he answers and my heart breaks as I see tears welling in his eyes. "But sometimes loving someone means letting them go in order to protect them."
"I don't think that you believe that."
"No, but I'm going to pretend like I do."
--
George and I sit in the lounge for about an hour talking about anything and everything that comes to our minds. I told him about me and Oliver and he laughed for about three minutes straight. I just rolled my eyes and he warned me that I may want to wait a few days before breaking that news to Fred.
We build off of each other's strengths and make our way back down to the lobby together.
When we get there, I spot Angelina chatting with Alicia's brother while Fred sits across the room talking to some scrawny teenager that I don't recognize.
"Who's—?" I start, but George interrupts me.
"It's Lee—Polyjuice."
"Katie!" Lee greets, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. Even though I'm just as excited as he is, I keep it masked for Alicia's family's sake. I hug him gently as I take a seat.
Thankfully, it's only a few minutes later when Healer Meadows walks into the room. Upon seeing her, George and I both rise to our feet. Everyone else does likewise.
"Mr. and Mrs. Spinnet?" Meadows asks. Alicia's parents worriedly step forward and we all follow them until we've formed a giant semi-circle around the Healer. Her parents don't ask us to leave.
"We've run test after test," Healer Meadows begins, "but we can't find anything wrong with your daughter. The extended use of the Cruciatus Curse causes the brain to try to protect itself by shutting down, but we were able to catch it in time. Your daughter's mental well-being is fine. Emotionally, I'm not sure, but—"
"Thank you very much, Healer," Mrs. Spinnet interrupts. "Now can I please see my daughter?"
"The immediate family can. Everyone else will be allowed in tomorrow." The Spinnets turn to follow Meadows, but Alicia's mom stops before they reach the door.
"Come on, George," she says calmly and, although stunned, George rushes after them.
"I guess we should probably leave, then," Angelina says after we all stand there in silence for a few seconds. "I want to get some sleep so I can be over here early tomorrow."
"You're not going anywhere alone," Fred mutters. "I'll go with you. Lee can stay with George." Angelina nods gratefully and then both leave without a word to me.
"So," Lee says as we exit the hospital, "are you still living with Oliver or do you need someone to stay with?"
"No, I'm still with Oliver. My trial's at the end of January so we'll see what happens after that."
"Is living with him working out okay?" Lee questions. I turn to face him, but have to turn away because I'm not used to seeing some skinny white kid where Lee's supposed to be.
"Yeah, it is. We're, um, actually kind of dating again."
"Oh!" Lee says after taking it in for a few seconds. "Does Fred know? Because that would explain why he's being so rude to you."
"No he doesn't—not yet. I don't know what he's so peeved about."
"He's probably just stressed…but you do know that Fred doesn't really hate Oliver, right? He just doesn't like him liking you."
"Then why was he fine with you liking me?" I counter.
"Well…um…I guess that's just Fred for you."
--
"Oliver?" I call tentatively as I step into the flat. "Ben?"
"Ben's not here," Oliver says coming in from the kitchen. "How's Alicia?"
"She's going to be fine," I say, sitting down on my unmade bed. "You should come with me tomorrow—to visit. Screw what Fred thinks; I can't go back there alone."
"If you want me to come, I'll be there."
"I want you to come."
"Then I'll be there," Oliver says with a laugh. "Did you tell him about us yet?"
"No, he was being an arse, but I did tell Angelina, Lee, and George. They don't seem to have a problem with it."
"Yeah, well, Fred's going to," he says and falls down onto my bed next to me. He pulls me close to him so that my head rests on his shoulder and we just sit there for a while, staring at the ceiling.
"Where's Ben?" I ask.
"Embracing his freedom. I think he's at Mallory's."
"Lucky us," I whisper.
The next thing I know, Oliver leans over me and he kisses me gently. There are very few things in this world that are more enjoyable than snogging Oliver Wood. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but by the time we broke apart my head was spinning.
"I love you, Katie Bell," he whispers into my neck.
"I love you, too," I reply.
"It's almost midnight," he says, pulling back. I sit up. "You've had a long day—why don't you try to go to bed?"
"I won't be able to sleep." He kisses that top of my head and hops up.
"Please try, Katie. We'll go see Alicia tomorrow. Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep? Because I will."
"No, Oliver, I'm fine," I assure him. "Goodnight." I lean up and give him a quick kiss before lying back down on my bed.
"Night," he agrees. "I'll see you in the morning."
--
Several hours later, I lie awake in bed, unable to calm myself down enough to sleep. Thoughts of Alicia being tortured flood my mind full force and I can't stop them from coming. Every sound makes me jump and every movement convinces me that the Death Eaters are coming for me next.
To make matters worse, the world decides to insult me. One word: thunderstorm. As paranoia reaches an all time high and a loud crack of thunder sounds through the flat, I hop up from my bed and run to Oliver's room. I'm all the way to the door before common sense stops me.
I can't go in there! It's Oliver's bedroom. We only just started dating—I can't rush to him every time a bump in the night frightens me.
I don't know the damn protocol for this stuff. I mean, I know that he would gladly let me sleep in his bed just to make me feel better, but is it to early in the relationship to be doing stuff like that?
Another thunder clap sounds and I barge into the room out of sheer terror.
His room's pitch black and I can't even see two feet in front of my own face. Like a little kid, I just stand there at the edge of his bed, scared of saying anything in case it wakes him up and I get scolded. My fear of the dark, however, overwhelms me.
"Oliver?" I whisper. "Are you awake?" He doesn't answer, so I step closer in the general direction of the bed. I stub my toe on something on the way over, but stop myself from falling and even manage to not make a sound. I stand still for a few seconds, trying to gauge whether the noise had woken him.
I walk forward until I feel his bed under my hands.
"Oliver?" I ask again when I get near enough. Thunder rocks the night and I whimper to myself. "Oliver?" I ask, reaching out to shake him gently awake. "Oliver?"
"Katie?" he finally asks groggily, moving slightly under my hand.
"I'm scared," I say simply. I hear him scoot over a little bit.
"Get in," he says gently and I get into bed next to him. He lowers the covers over me and pulls me closer so that my back is against his chest.
"Thank you," I whisper.
"You don't have to thank me, Katie. Just try to sleep. Everything's going to be all right." I nod against him and close my eyes.
I try to keep my mind off of the events of the day and instead focus on how great Oliver's being to me, but I can't. Thunder sounds again and I nearly jump out of my skin.
"Sorry," I apologize quickly, immediately regretting coming in here.
"It's fine," he says with a gentle laugh. "Just calm down." We lay there for several minutes and I do feel my nerves leaving, but only slightly. "Katie, are you okay?" he asks, kissing the top of my head.
"I've just freaked myself out. I'll be fine," I assure him.
"You're shaking," he says, pulling me to him tighter.
The next time it thunders, I turn so that I can bury my head in his chest, trying to drown out the sound. He lets me.
The next time it thunders, I don't jump at all, knowing that Oliver's there to protect me.
And the next time it thunders, I'm fast asleep.
--
A/N: I love hurricanes. That may sound horrible, but it's true. I don't like the damage, of course, but they're so beautiful. I like listening to the rain. Anyway, review please!
Next time on Love and War: Visiting Alicia and a marriage proposal.