Chapter 8: January 2017 –The Accident
Harry felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. He'd received an urgent patronus to come into the office late on the dreary January Friday night. When he'd arrived at the ministry, he'd learned from his muggle police liaison aurors that there had been a car accident that night which had killed not only Fiona, but her husband and his parents as well. Hugo had not been in the car at the time and Harry wasn't sure if he yet knew about it. Fiona had been working at reduced hours for a couple weeks, supposedly on desk duty but Harry knew her better than that. Ron was still out on medical leave, but was scheduled to come back Monday, finally recovered from the curse he'd taken before Christmas. By the time he had pulled together all of the actual information from the police liaisons, it was still the middle of the night, but Harry knew he had to find Ron right away.
Ron woke up to a loud knocking at the door to his flat. Only a few people could get past the wards that protected the residential space above the WWW shop on Diagon Alley, so he knew it could only be one of a few people at 430 am. He stumbled out of his bed and down the hall to the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Harry, mate. I need to talk to you."
"What did you spill on my face when I was in a coma?"
"Christmas dinner – potatoes and gravy I believe."
"Right," Ron said as he opened the door to see his friend. "You look like shite. What's going on?" he asked as he ushered Harry into the sitting room. Harry sat down, looking grim.
"Harry, you're scaring me – say something."
"Sit down, Ron."
"Is it Ginny?"
"No, she's fine. Please sit, and I promise I will tell you."
Ron sat wearily down, not letting his eyes move from Harry.
"It's Fi, Ron," Harry swallowed. "She was in a car accident."
"Stupid muggle technology. Is she in a muggle hospital or at St. Mungo's?"
"Ron – I am so sorry - she's dead. And, that's not all. She was in the car with Dennis and his parents, and all four of them are dead. Hugo wasn't with them."
"WHAT?"
"From what I've gathered so far, it was the Creeveys' anniversary dinner. The four of them went to a fancy restaurant, and Mr. Creevey was driving them home when a drunk driver hit them. Fi, Dennis and Mr. Creevey were killed instantly, and Mrs. Creevey died in hospital about an hour later having never regained consciousness. The drunk driver was killed as well. He was the only one in his car."
Ron ran down the hall and vomited into the toilet. He was rinsing his mouth out in the sink while Harry stood in the door frame.
Ron just stared into the sink while he almost whispered, "do you know where Hugo is?"
"He was spending the night with Dennis' friend and neighbor." Pulling out his notebook, he flipped to a page that listed her name and address. "Hermione Granger, 719 Westfield Lane. I think that is just a block or two from Fi and Dennis' house."
"Seriously? Hermione?"
"Do you know her? I couldn't place the name but it seemed familiar."
"That's the muggle woman I fell for at Fi's wedding and then saw with her daughter at Hugo's baptism. But the kicker is that is the same muggle woman who walked through the muggle repelling charms during the blow up last month."
"Shite."
"Yeah."
Ron splashed water onto his face, stalling for a moment to figure out what to do next.
"Harry – does Hermione know? It's almost 5. I don't know if I should go to her house now or wait 'til morning."
"Smith and Southern are the muggle police liaison aurors on tonight. I'll find out if any next of kin were notified from the muggle end. Let me pop back to the office for a minute and see if they know. You okay here for half an hour or do you want to come with me back to the office?"
"Um – I'll stay here. I am assuming Hugo will want to stay at his house and not come here, so I need to throw together some clothes and things I'll need before we go tell him…." Ron's voice cracked as he spoke. "What the hell were they thinking making me godfather? I'm a thirty five year old bachelor. I am not what Hugo needs right now."
"Ron – I think I am fairy qualified to speak on this topic as someone who adored my godfather and practically raised my godson. Fi and Dennis knew exactly what they were doing. As did Ginny and I when we asked you to do the same for our kids. What Hugo needs now is someone who loves him and who knew and loved his family. And he needs someone who won't try to replace his parents but will be there for him as family none the less. And there is no one more loving, self-sacrificing and dedicated to those he loves than you are. Hugo is the same age as Lily I think. Kids at that age are old enough to understand what is going on, but young enough to still need to be held and comforted. You will be exactly what he needs." Harry embraced Ron tightly as Ron sniffed in his tears.
"Thanks, mate. I, uh, needed that. Um, let me throw some things together here and I'll see you back here in a few."
Half an hour later, Harry returned through the floo in the living room. Ron simply looked up at him. He looked so broken that it took Harry's breath away.
"Southern told me that the muggle who hit them had a record of drunk driving and didn't have a current license. Initial blood reports show he was extremely drunk and tried to run a red light, hitting the Creevey car and knocking them into a lamp post. Fi, Dennis and Dennis' dad died immediately. Mrs. Creevey was unconscious when the muggle rescue ambulance arrived, but died shortly thereafter. Hugo was spending the night at Hermione's house, and we have an auror watching her residence now. They reported that a muggle couple came to the house and seemed to have known about the accident. We found out the wife and Mrs. Creevey were childhood friends, and apparently the Grangers were informed by hospital staff. Given the timing, we are assuming they have not told Hugo, but we don't have a way to know for sure."
Ron just nodded again.
Harry sighed. "Well, it's 630 am now. Still too early to go knocking on a door. Hopefully Hugo is asleep and is still blissfully unaware of everything. Why don't you and I go together to her house at 7 and wait until we see a light come on to knock on the door?" Ron nodded again, so Harry made him some tea.
Half an hour later, Harry and Ron apparated to the location where an auror was watching the Granger home.
"Morning, Matthew. Any signs of movement in the home yet?"
"No sir. The lights went out around 3, and they haven't come on yet."
The three wizards looked up at the sky of the cold winter night. It was that time about an hour before sunrise when the sky was just starting to turn form dark to navy as light slowly crept towards dawn. It was only a few minutes later when they saw a light click on in an upstairs room Harry and Ron waited about 15 more minutes, and then went to knock on the door.
In a few minutes, a tired and confused looking Hermione answered the door wrapped in a dressing gown.
Harry started, "Ms. Granger? Hello, my name is Harry Potter. I think we met at Dennis and Fiona's wedding. You may remember their friend Ron Weasley, Hugo's godfather? May we come in?"
Hermione had not slept more than an hour the night before. Her eyes were swollen from crying, and her head was not thinking clearly. But she quickly understood who the men were and ushered them into the kitchen.
"We were so sorry and shocked to hear about the accident," Harry continued. "Whenever we lose a member of our force, we are saddened. But, Ron and I both considered Fiona and Dennis to be dear friends."
Hermione nodded, trying not to cry again. "My mum was told by the nurses last night, as they found a card listing her as the emergency contact for Mrs. Creevey. Those two had been best friends since they were little girls," Hermione sniffed. "Hugo was going to spend the night last night anyway, and he was asleep before I heard the news. He's still upstairs asleep, and I haven't told him yet. I have no idea how to do that," she said as she broke down and started to cry again.
Ron handed her a hankie, and tried to control the tears that were welling up in his own eyes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself before speaking. "I can talk to him if you would prefer. Or we could do it together." Ron looked at the crying muggle woman and didn't know what to do. All of them women in his life were strong witches. An emotional, crying muggle woman was most assuredly outside of his realm of expertise. He looked at Harry in desperation.
Sensing his unease, Harry put his arm around Hermione, and patted her back gently. "I know you are close with Hugo, as is Ron. I know Hugo, as he's the same age as my youngest child, but you two know him better. I can talk to him, but I think at least one of you should be there as well."
Hermione nodded quickly. "Ron, I think you and I should do it together. But, what are we going to say? He's going to want to know what will happen to him."
Ron nodded. "Obviously this is a shock to all of us. I guessed that Hugo would be most comfortable in his own home, so I thought I would stay there with him for the time being. But, I have a flat in London if he would prefer not to go home quite yet."
"He may want to stay here," Hermione added. "And that would be more than ok if that is his preference. Oh, God…."she sighed as she started crying again. She busied herself with making tea as a distraction.
As Hermione put on the kettle, Harry shared that Dennis and Fiona had their savings through a bank associated with their office, so that ensuring Hugo had access to anything he would need would be easy. Ron and Harry asked about the school Hugo attended, and Hermione assured them she was quite familiar with his schedule and routine as he and Rose attended the same school, and they usually came home together afterschool already. The details of his new life were swirling in Ron's mind, and he was feeling as if he was going to vomit again.
After some tea, Hermione had pulled herself together. It suddenly occurred to her that Ron had only very recently been in a coma.
"Sorry, this is all rather overwhelming and clearly unexpected," Hermione said. "I just put two and two together and remembered you were hurt recently. Are you recovered? I think Dennis had said you were in a coma at Christmas. Are you – I mean, are you okay to handle all of this right now?"
Ron nodded his head, "Yeah. Well, yes – I was in a coma, but I woke up Christmas Day. I've been out on leave but was medically cleared last week, and I was supposed to go back to work Monday. Obviously," Ron looked at Harry, "I'll need to adjust that."
"Oh, of course – don't even think about it. We will figure things out and talk in a few weeks about what will work for you. There are some benefits of being the boss, and the least I can do is make that concern a non-issue."
The three sat nervously and waited as the morning crept forward. Around 8, they heard noise coming from the kids' bedrooms upstairs. Ron and Hermione looked at each other and took deep breaths. Hermione heard Rose bounding down the stairs, and she halted abruptly at the sight of the two strangers in the kitchen.
"What's going on, Mum?"
"Good morning Rose," Hermione said as she hugged her daughter extremely tightly. "I promise I will tell you everything shortly, but can you please go into the TV room for a few minutes? I'll be in shortly." Rose looked warily at her mum, as she slowly left the room.
Hugo came slowly stumbling down the stairs a few minutes later in his pajamas and slippers, and looked as if he had not quite woken up yet. Momentarily confused, he smiled as he saw the men in the kitchen. He came over to hug Ron, "Hi Ron! I didn't know you knew Hermione. Hi, Mr. Potter."
"Yes, your parents introduced us a several times," Hermione said in a forced light tone. "Can you sit for a moment, Hugo?"
"Ok," he said. Hugo pulled up a chair at the kitchen table as Harry excused himself and stepped out to give them privacy.
Ron looked at Hermione and saw that her eyes were closed. He gulped quickly and turned to Hugo. "Hugo, we have some important news to share with you. I need you to be very brave this morning ok?"
"Like a Gryffindor?" Hugo said weakly.
Hermione gave Ron a confused look, but Ron simply smiled, totally focused on Hugo. "Yes, Hugo. Exactly like that. I need you to be a very brave Gryffindor just like your Dad and your Uncle Collin right now. Do you think you can do that?"
Hugo nodded and sat up as straight as his 8 year old self could do.
"Hugo," Ron said, "we found out this morning that on the way home from the restaurant last night, there was a bad car accident, and both of your parents and your grandparents – well, they died in the accident, Hugo. We are-"
"What? What are you talking about? What do you mean they died?"
"I am so sorry, Hugo," continued Ron. "The car accident was very bad, and they each died and they aren't alive anymore. We know it was quick so they didn't hurt at all. But, they aren't coming back, Hugo. I am so, so sorry."
"They went to be with Uncle Collin in heaven?"
"Yes, love," Hermione interjected as she put her arms around him. "They are with Collin now. They didn't want to leave you. They wanted to stay here with you and watch you grow up, but they had made a backup plan that if anything were to ever happen to them that your godfather, Ron, would take very good care of you. And you know I will always be here, and Rose will always be here. We are so very sorry, darling."
Hugo just sat dumbly now, absorbing everything that was being said. Tears started pouring down his cheeks, and Ron and Hermione couldn't hold theirs back anymore.
"Couldn't they fix it with magic?" Hugo whispered, looking meekly at Ron.
Hermione crinkled her forehead while Ron quickly said, "I'm sorry, Hugo. There is no magic in the world than can bring people back once they have died. I wish there was, but there just isn't."
Without warning, Hugo lept up from the table and darted out of the kitchen and bolted out of the front door. Hermione and Ron both stood up immediately. They both went to run after him, but Ron said, "May I?"
"Oh. Um – of course. Here – he'll need his coat. I think he had on his slippers."
Ron nodded in thanks, and dashed out the door after Hugo. With his long legs and auror training, he could have caught him quickly. But, he remembered that when Fred had died, the physical exertion of running away had helped him, however briefly. So, he simply jogged behind Hugo without the boy noticing. After 10 minutes or so, Hugo collapsed against a tree in a playground, curled up on the ground and sobbed. Ron slowly made his way to the boy and knelt down at his side. He didn't say anything, but simply covered Hugo in his jacket, and cast privacy and warming charms around them. After a while, Hugo crawled up into Ron's lap and sobbed more. Ron simply held him, rocked him and rubbed his back soothingly. Eventually Hugo stilled somewhat. He took deep, shuddering breaths as he tried to calm himself down.
"Shall we go get you some warm milk?" Ron finally said.
Hugo nodded. "Where?"
"We can go anywhere you want. We can go back to Hermione's house. We can go to your house or my flat. What would you prefer?"
"Is it still my house?"
"Yes, Love. It is your house. We can go there if you want. Or not. It is entirely up to you."
"But they won't be there, will they?"
"No."
"They're really never coming back?"
"No. They're not."
"Let's go to Hermione's house for a little bit. I left my, well, I have this bear that Mummy gave me. And it's still at Hermione's house. I would like to go get that first if that's ok."
"Of course. I had a bear when I was your age," Ron said as he stood up. Taking Hugo's hand, they started walking back towards Hermione's house.
"You did? What was his name?"
"I had named him Bearkins. But do you know what my naughty brothers did?"
"No. What did they do?"
"They turned him into a spider! Isn't that awful? To this day I am still scared of spiders because of that. And I still miss my Bearkins sometimes. He helped me feel safe and like it would all be ok."
"That's what my Simon does."
"I like the name Simon."
"Mummy gave him to me when I was a little boy. She said Simon would be like hugging her when she was off on a mission and couldn't hug me in person."
"Your mummy was very smart to give you Simon. And Simon will still be able to make you feel like your hugging your mum you know. Especially now."
"Magic really can't bring them back?"
"I am so sorry, Hugo. It can't. I lost my brother Fred the same day your Uncle Collin died. If I could have found magic to bring him back I probably would have done it. But, there are things magic just can't do."
"Hermione and Rose don't know about magic."
"I know."
"But they are like my family. Rose and I go to the same school, and we go home after school together a lot. Mrs. Granger would watch us a lot of times when our parents were working."
"That shouldn't have to change, you know."
"Am I going to have to live at your flat?"
"No. Obviously this is all really sudden for both of us. So, I am still working out the plan."
"Mummy said you were good at plans. Better than she was."
Ron chuckled. "Your mummy and I were work partners. I was better at planning. She was better at doing. So we made a good team."
"Do you think you and I will make a good team?"
Ron stopped walking and squatted down to be at Hugo's level so he could look him in the eye. "Hugo, I am absolutely certain you and I will make an excellent team. I will never replace your parents. And I will probably make some silly mistakes. But I promise you that I will always be on your side and that you and I will be a great team. Ok?"
Hugo nodded and hugged Ron tightly. Ron held the hug and when Hugo didn't let go, he simply picked him still embracing him and walked the rest of the way back to Hermione's house.
Hermione opened the door for them as Ron came up the walk with Hugo still in his arms. Before she could say anything, Ron said, "We came to find Simon and some warm milk."
"Brilliant plan," Hermione said as she patted Hugo's back gently. "I'll pop up to the bedroom and get him and bring him down to the sitting room, ok? Then we'll make some warm milk."
Harry was still in the kitchen when Ron came into the house. He walked Hugo into the sitting room and sat on the sofa with Hugo still in his arms. Rose was standing there and had clearly been crying.
"Mummy told me, Hugo. I am so sorry. And she came up and hugged him too."
Hugo started to squirm a bit in her arms, so Ron said, "Rose can you help your mummy find Simon for Hugo?"
Rose nodded solemnly and headed upstairs. Soon the two were back with the bear, and Hugo clutched him as if his life depended on it. Hermione headed to the kitchen to make some warm milk with Rose as her shadow. They were soon back with some warm milk, bread and butter for him.
"Hugo, honey," Hermione said gently. "Do you want to sit here with Ron, or do you want to lie down and snuggle under blankets and watch a show with Rose for a few minutes?"
"Could we watch Fireman Sam?"
"Sure. I'll put on Fireman Sam for a bit while you have your milk and bread. Here is the snuggly blanket, alright?"
Hugo nodded and crawled off Ron's lap and into the pile of blankets. Once he was settled, Ron said, "I'm going to pop into the kitchen for a minute and get some tea, Hugo. You can just yell for me and I'll be right back, OK?" Hugo nodded again, and Ron got up.
Walking into the kitchen, he took the warm mug of tea gratefully from Harry.
"How's he doing?" Harry asked quietly as Ron sat down at the kitchen table. Hermione bustled in the kitchen, blatantly listening for the answer.
"About as good as could be expected. I let him run it off for a while and then he collapsed at the playground and sobbed for a bit. Then he told me he wanted to come back and get his bear so I carried him home. He's watching some show on the tele for a bit."
"Now what?" Harry asked.
"I got the feeling he wants to go home. But, I don't know how he'll take it. I told him we could stay there, here or at my flat that it was up to him. We'll try his house first and just take it from there I suppose."
"Do you have a key to their house?"
"Uh, no. I guess I don't."
"Ok. I have one, so we can run by the hardware store and get a copy made."
"Right," Ron nodded.
"Why don't we swap cell phone numbers so we can keep in touch about everything."
"Right. Uh. I don't have one at the moment."
"You don't have a cell phone? Seriously?"
"What Ron means," cut in Harry, "is he had one but it got destroyed when he was injured in December. He just hasn't gotten a new one yet. Ron, I'll run out this morning and get a new one for you and bring it by in a bit."
"Yeah, right – uh, thanks, Harry. Great idea, mate."
"They were going to take the Creeveys' car to dinner last night, so Dennis' car should still be in the garage. The keys are usually in the junk drawer in the kitchen, but I have a spare set as well if you need them. I didn't see your car outside, how did you get here this morning?"
"I drove," Harry quickly offered. "Parked around the corner as I didn't want to wake the house up with my headlights if Hugo was still asleep."
"Oh. Alright," responded Hermione. "The other thing we need to talk about is funeral arrangements."
"Oh, I hadn't really thought of that," said Ron.
"I would think having one funeral for all four of them would be ok. My mum and Mrs. Creevey were best friends since they were little girls. I know she would very much like to be involved with organizing the funeral."
Harry added, "I know we can arrange for Dennis and Fi's friends from school and Fi's colleagues to be there. Would you want to have one eulogy or have something said about each one?"
"I think the shorter the better if only for Hugo's sake," said Ron in a quiet voice. "As much as I would love to talk about how amazing Fi was for the whole world to hear, it will be hell for him, and we need to keep it short."
"Maybe I can work with Hermione and her mum on the arrangements so you can focus on Hugo?" offered Harry.
"Alright, that's good. Maybe later this week sometime? Give him a few days to adjust, but get it over with too. I remember with Fred's funeral no one could even start to heal until it was over."
"I think we'll aim for Wednesday or Thursday, but I'll contact the vicar and see what he says is open at the church. And I'll stop in at the school Monday morning and let his teacher and the principal know what's happened. I'll tell them he'll be out this week and then we'll touch base with them next week and let them know where things stand. Rose can collect his work as they are the same school, so if he feels up to it he can keep up with his studies."
"Is there anyone else we need to tell? I knew Fi very well, and obviously her work knows, but shouldn't we contact the dairy where Dennis and his dad worked?"
"Oh goodness. You're right. I'll have my dad do that. He and Mr. Creevey were friends, and I will talk to my parents to see who else needs to know. I am sure my parents will handle their house and everything. But, I'll find out and let you know. There are some benefits to being a solicitor I suppose."
"Right," Ron replied.
At that, Hugo walked in clutching Simon. "I want to go home now," he said quietly.
"Alright. I think that's a good plan."
"Here, let me jot down my numbers. Then when Harry gets a phone you can reach me. Rose and I will pop by this afternoon alright?"
Ron nodded. They packed up Hugo's overnight bag and soon he and Ron were headed out. With a large hug from both Rose and Hermione, Hugo left the house with Ron and Harry. They walked the few blocks to Hugo's home silently.
