Harry Potter and the Slayerette
A/N
Spuffy: Killing the Weasley's is sad or I'm sad? *smiles*
Majin Gojira: Thank you! *grins delightedly*
X-Lander: Ha ha! Gotcha! Expect the unexpected. I'm evil. I'm glad you like the interaction between Willow and Darcy. There should be more of it in the next chapter to come. Also, in upcoming chapters you'll learn more about exactly who Darcy is!!
Witchy: What more do you want to know? Killing the Weasley's was one of the hardest things I've ever had to write. I love the Weasley's! However, I had to be ruthless. It took me about three days to narrow the list of 'Who Can Voldemort Kill That Will Create a Big Impact, Damage Dumbledore's side And Announce That He's Back' down. Other shortlisted people were Fudge, Sirius, Pettigrew (imagine the wizarding world's shock at realising who it was that was dead!) and Remus Lupin. But it had to be the Weasley's. It's said that you don't truly love your characters until you make them suffer unbearably then kill them. And I love the Weasley's. *sobs*
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In that single moment, Harry's world was turned upside down, shaken and righted. Only it was now missing a few components.
"W-what?" Hermione stuttered.
Harry was shell-shocked. Mr and Mrs Weasley couldn't be dead. Why, Ron had given him stuff from Mrs Weasley only yesterday.
"How?" He asked hoarsely.
"It was after they took the others to the Hogwarts Train." Bill explained. "From what Dumbledore's managed to put together, it looks as though they arrived home to find the Death Mark over the house. They rushed inside, intending to send an owl to Dumbledore, asking him what had happened. They thought it was intended for one of us. Mum managed to get the first line off before You-Know-Who attacked."
In Harry's arms, Ginny sobbed all the harder. Harry gently steered her to a couch and sat down with her.
Hermione tentatively stepped forward and touched Ron's shoulder. Ron jumped and stopped staring into space. He glanced around him and noticed Hermione for the first time. He made a sound like a muffled sob and buried his head in Hermione's shoulder.
Bill was still speaking. "He tortured them for a while. Dumbledore thinks he was trying to get the names of Dumbledore's associates from them. We don't know if they told him anything."
"Of course they didn't!" Percy snapped.
"We don't know that."
"Mum and Dad wouldn't say anything to him."
Ginny wriggled in Harry's arms to face the two bickering sibling. "Stop arguing!" She screamed at them. "Do you think that no matter what they may or may not have done, mum and dad would want us to fight? No! It doesn't matter what happened. They're dead, Percy. Yes, dead. And nothing will ever bring them back. Let's not ruin the precious memories we have of them by picking fights with each other." Bill and Percy backed off.
Ginny burst into noisy sobs again and Harry hugged her to him, rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
Bill started to explain again. "Then You-Know-Who killed them." He said simply, and collapsed onto the couch beside Ginny and Harry.
Across the room, Charlie used his wand to blow up a small vase. Hermione looked over, pulled out her wand and put it together again.
"It's more satisfying if you break it by hand." She explained to him and nodded for him to do it again.
Tentatively, Charlie picked up the vase and threw it at the wall. It shattered. He grinned, then seemed to realise what he was doing and stopped.
Hermione and Harry stayed with the Weasley's throughout the night. When the morning came, Percy returned to London and his post in the Ministry. He and Dumbledore believed that he could continue to act as Dumbledore's go-between within the Ministry and he carried with him several message for other members of the Ministry.
Bill and Charlie remained behind with the twins, Ron and Ginny. The remaining Weasley's stayed in the room for the rest of that day, whilst Harry and Hermione were forced to go to classes.
The story of the Mr and Mrs Weasley's deaths had hit The Daily Prophet and the two of them found it difficult to get to their classes as fellow students kept coming up to them to talk to them about it. One thing, which they were grateful for, was that they didn't see Malfoy once that day. They didn't have any classes with Slytherin that day and they took their meals with the Weasley's.
They returned to their dormitories late that night in an effort to avoid the other Gryffindors. However it was a futile exercise. The entire Gryffindor House was waiting silently in their common room for them to come in. When they arrived, the house began shouting questions at them. Harry and Hermione answered their questions as best they could and then fought their way to their bedrooms.
The next morning, Bill and Charlie left and Fred, George, Ron and Ginny returned to a select few classes. Mr and Mrs Weasley's funerals were to be held the following day and they, Hermione and Harry had been given the day off so that they might attend. Consequently, after Transfiguration, the six of them gathered in the Great Hall to await the teacher that would be escorting them there and back.
To their surprise, it wasn't one teacher, but two. Professors Rosenburg and Regan descended down the stairs and lead them outside to where a massive coach, much larger than the normal ones, was waiting for them. In silence, the group travelled down to the Hogsmeade Station, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting to convey them to London.