One Young Heart
Chapter 27: George
Geroge was exhausted, George was lost, and George was dying. Always with his brother in his life, always together, brilliant, cheerful, taking nothing seriously, irritating the grownups who had seen hardship and difficulty by never letting anything touch them. Sneaking into secret meetings, benefiting, winning galleons from Harry Potter and the Dark Lord, they had set out to play the game of life for fun. They had promised each other, lost in the forest, with Ginny asleep beside them and Death Eaters dangling muggles far above, that they would not be terrified, not be afraid. When the Dark Lord touched their lives, they would fight him off. They would never give in, and so they would never be hurt like their parents.
But there were so many of them. Twenty, thirty, easily, wands out, striking with magic and with their bare hands, doing their duty, but taking their pleasure from it too, from two boys who should have known enough to be afraid. A ring of faceless assassins.
Outside the ring, within sight but worlds away, in the open, in safety, two men apparated, discovered that they had not found the Dark Lord, but only one of his raiding parties. Severus Snape was distracted, nervous. He did not look, merely swearing vaguely and vanishing again.
But Lucius Malfoy did stop to look. Wearied with travelling, disinterested in the extreme, he paused to look into the face of the two boys. A hooded man inquired about the trip; Lucius answered. Casual pleasantries, nothing more. Casual pleasantries as George realized that his brother would not live to leave that clearing again.
And it was that thought that carried him with rare force through the ring, bestial force and beater-trained muscles that slammed him past his assailants and into the night.
It was that thought that carried him to his feet, into an attack on Draco Malfoy, who looked so remarkably like his father. They said Harry looked just like James, but Draco wasn't just similar to his father; he was identical. Only the look of shock on his face was his mother's; Lucius would never have let his guard down long enough to reveal his surprise.
Chapter 27: George
Geroge was exhausted, George was lost, and George was dying. Always with his brother in his life, always together, brilliant, cheerful, taking nothing seriously, irritating the grownups who had seen hardship and difficulty by never letting anything touch them. Sneaking into secret meetings, benefiting, winning galleons from Harry Potter and the Dark Lord, they had set out to play the game of life for fun. They had promised each other, lost in the forest, with Ginny asleep beside them and Death Eaters dangling muggles far above, that they would not be terrified, not be afraid. When the Dark Lord touched their lives, they would fight him off. They would never give in, and so they would never be hurt like their parents.
But there were so many of them. Twenty, thirty, easily, wands out, striking with magic and with their bare hands, doing their duty, but taking their pleasure from it too, from two boys who should have known enough to be afraid. A ring of faceless assassins.
Outside the ring, within sight but worlds away, in the open, in safety, two men apparated, discovered that they had not found the Dark Lord, but only one of his raiding parties. Severus Snape was distracted, nervous. He did not look, merely swearing vaguely and vanishing again.
But Lucius Malfoy did stop to look. Wearied with travelling, disinterested in the extreme, he paused to look into the face of the two boys. A hooded man inquired about the trip; Lucius answered. Casual pleasantries, nothing more. Casual pleasantries as George realized that his brother would not live to leave that clearing again.
And it was that thought that carried him with rare force through the ring, bestial force and beater-trained muscles that slammed him past his assailants and into the night.
It was that thought that carried him to his feet, into an attack on Draco Malfoy, who looked so remarkably like his father. They said Harry looked just like James, but Draco wasn't just similar to his father; he was identical. Only the look of shock on his face was his mother's; Lucius would never have let his guard down long enough to reveal his surprise.