How Long Before We Fall?
If I owned anything of any import you'd have heard of me. Since you have no idea who I am, I quite obviously own neither harry potter nor buffy the vampire slayer.
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Buffy Willow and Xander couldn't help it. They stood staring at the strange house in a kind of confused wonder. It had to be magic. That was the only possible explanation for the construction miracle standing in front of them. Though even with magic it was amazing that it was standing tall and ... well not exactly straight. Though many claimed that it was all part of the charm when it came to the Burrow. The other three in their sad little group didn't even know how to be amused by this, their laughter was hollow and their smiles wan. Dawn knew she should drag everyone into the house, see Molly and the guys and huddle in a mass of group tears and embarrassing stories ... but she couldn't seem to bring herself to force everyone to move. It was no longer because Fred's death wasn't real ... now it was because she was simply too drained. Her own pain seemed to be dragging her down so much is was hard to even lift her feet to walk ... but add everyone else's. She didn't know when it was that she had become so selfish, but she just couldn't be the first one to go forward to the Burrow. She pulled the hood of Fred's favorite sweatshirt up over her head and wrapped her arms around herself, breathing in his scent and wishing he it was really him surrounding her. A door to the burrow opened and a familiar shape stepped out into the night air, her bushy hair in wild disarray around her body. It had grown out and Hermione hadn't bothered to cut it. Willow seemed to snap out of her daze and grabbed Xander and Buffy, physically pushing them toward the house.
"Will it stay standing?" Buffy asked quietly as she went forward.
"I assure you there are enough spells to make this house stay standing if a nuclear bomb were to fall directly on top of it," Hermione informed them. She stepped to the side and ushered them in, waiting for all 6 of them to pass her before shutting it firmly, as though she were afraid someone would run away if she weren't keeping an eye on them. George wondered idly if she had been watching them stand outside in the dark, no one wanting to join the party. He watched his family, all of them tucked together for tactile comfort, touching each others arms or legs. They had always been like that, they were a hugging family. Molly's influence of course. No one seemed to want to hug him though. They hadn't after the initial breakdown he'd had in the Great Hall. It was like he was broken or infectious or something. His mother sat ensconced in the center of the couch, Bill and Fleur to one side of her, Ginny on the other side. His brothers arrayed near them. Friends of the family were wedged in everywhere they could find a place. They weren't there grieving just for Fred either. Tonks, Remus, Colin Creevey to name a few others.
Introductions were made so that everyone knew who Dawn's family were. Dawn felt another slice of pain rip through her as she wished that it had been her wedding that they had all met. She shoved the thoughts out of her head and tried to focus on everyone else instead. Molly wasn't looking well, actually she looked as though she were still heavily sedated. She was sitting in the living room, but she wasn't actually there. She rocked gently back and forth and stared at nothing. Dawn looked at everyone dispassionately. So morose, so ... why were they all refusing to look at George? She watched their arms tuck into other peoples arms, their hands comfort each other and their eyes not looking at George, but managing to look guilty anyway. Dawn turned and looked at Lee and George herself. They could see it too. What was wrong with these people? Lee took a step closer to George, solidarity in numbers, but they were still guys so they couldn't link arms if it was only the two of them. Men. Dawn could almost feel amused by it. Almost. The room was to silent. The silence was almost like a force trying to drown them all, keep them from speaking or doing anything other than crying quietly.
"I don't know what to say tomorrow," George said, breaking the awful silence. People jumped, as though his voice were a whip cracking over them. "What do you say at those things?" He looked around at everyone. Molly didn't seem to notice anything had changed, no one else would catch his gaze, though it seemed like Percy couldn't because he was still crying. By himself. In a corner behind the others. Dawn hadn't noticed him before.
"You say whatever feels right," Buffy offered. After all, the scoobies had a lot of practice over the years. Dawn could often be called bitter when remembering things about the scoobies, but at the moment she was cold.
"Nothing about this feels right," George said quietly. Buffy walked up to him, staring at him for a few moments as he looked down at her with eyes full of raw pain. She wrapped her arms around his waist and after a moment he collapsed to his knees sobbing, his shoulders heaving. Buffy knelt and pulled him tight against her, his head bowed down against her shoulder. Dawn knew she should go to him as well ... but she couldn't. It was as though walking through the door to the burrow had moved her to a cold analytical place where she could see the details and note the pain but she couldn't really feel it. She knew though, that if she touched anyone, the pain would come roaring back with a vengeance. Yes, she had cried a lot, but she knew her tears weren't dried out yet. She watched Percy sniff back his own tears and come around the group of people to kneel beside his brother. He didn't touch George, just watched him.
"I'm going to say that everyone in the world will miss him, even if they don't know it yet." He said softly. He reached out and took Georges hand in his own.
"I wish I'd met him. Everything I've heard about him sounds amazing," Xander offered a few moments later. The rules of Post-Apocolyptic Care; 1 - Greive, 2 - Reminisce, 3 - Accept, 4 - Go On Living. Simple rules that could be tweaked depending on the circumstances but fit just about every serious fight they'd gone through. They were obviously on step 2 from Xander's careful prodding.
"He'd agree that he was amazing," Dawn said quietly, hoping others would begin to speak as well. The sounds of sobbing were grating on her, making her want to lash out and tell them all to stop it. Her comment brought a sad smile to some peoples faces. Hermione came back into the room, a huge floating tray of tea and empty glasses following her. She had them stop on the table and the walked over to George, sitting down and leaning against his side.
"Then he'd probably strike a pose and try to look suave," Lee added.
"He was like that even as a child," Arthur said, a strained tone to his voice. Through the pain and sorrow there was a hint of pride.
"He was a sneaky little bugger though. Cheeky as all else," Bill told them. They watched as Charlie stood up from the arm of the couch he was sitting on and walked over to his still sobbing brother. He knelt beside Buffy and looked at her for a moment before taking his brother and pulling him in closer, cradling his little brother like he had long ago, when skinned knees meant you were dying and a lost toy was the end of the world.
"It was funny though, he always knew what he wanted right away, never had to think twice about it," Arthur said after a few moments. They all thought of Fred, how he had been as a child and teen. He hadn't really made it into adulthood by most peoples standards, but Dawn and Fred thought they were grown up enough.
"That's why he wanted to marry you. He knew you were his the moment he saw you, he just had to wait for you to realize it as well," Ginny told Dawn sadly. Dawn nodded a little. That sounded like Fred alright. He knew what he liked, what he wanted, what he didn't want.
"I remember the first time we met you," Lee started. Dawns eyes widened a little and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You were at Gringotts, arguing with a Goblin. You were yelling at him because he wasn't upset that you'd killed his brother. You thought he should have been at least a little upset about it, but instead he brushed it off. Another Goblin went over to ask you to be quiet and you flicked your fingers at him and his mouth shut and a red christmas bow appeared on it. Fred turned to me and George and said 'I have found my soulmate'" Lee stopped talking, but he was still smiling. Dawn laughed softly.
"He came over and told me if I put a ribbon on him he'd expect me to unwrap the whole package. Ucknar bid me good day and then Fred asked me to join him for ice cream," Dawn reminisced. Her happiest memories for the past few years all involved Fred.
"He sounds a lot smarter all of a sudden," Buffy commented.
"That's just because he took Dawn for Ice Cream," Xander teased.
"Ice Cream is the way to a womans heart," Willow informed him.
"Very true," Fleur agreed. The other women around the room nodded and made noises of assent as well. Most of the men just looked amused.
"I took Molly for Ice Cream on our first date," Arthur told Dawn. They shared a small smile and Dawn backed up to lean against the wall. She still didn't want anyone to touch her, but listening to stories was nice. George's sobbing and died down. Maybe it was nice for him as well.
"Fred was certifiable. We all knew it, but it was part of his charm. His and George's. They were just cheeky enough to make you stop and think, maybe it's genius. Sometimes it would take awhile. You'd be sitting and suddenly you'd remember something that had happened and you'd realize why they did it. Fred and George always had a reason," Ron told everyone, a bit of wonder in his voice.
"Fred and George were amazing like that," Harry agreed.
"Their first year of school, I thought I'd go insane hearing everything they were getting into and up to," Bill agreed, "They had professors up in arms and other students wondering what they'd do next. Everything was this big game and then intended to win it," Dawn frowned as she realized the direction the conversation was taking. She looked over at George and watched his shoulders tense again through the thin t-shirt he was wearing. Fred and George - because they were a pair, a unit, everything they did was done together ... until Dawn had come along, and then it had been Fred and George and Dawn, or Fred and Dawn. But Fred was the only one gone, and they were speaking past tense about George as well. She didn't even hear the words of the next few stories, all she heard was Fred and George WERE, Fred and George USED TO ...
"They used to sneak up to the head boys room and tamper with the bathroom. They always knew the passwords and they were always making up new charms or potions to screw with my head," Percy said with a laugh. His girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, was across the room, laughing softly as well.
"Stop it," Dawn barked as Arthur began his own story. Fred and George used to ... Everyone froze and stared at her. She glared around the room before stepping closer to George.
"Stop what?" Ron asked a moment later. Dawn shook her head.
"What the hell are you all doing? Who do you think you are? This is George," She pointed to the young man cradled against his brother. Charlie seemed to know what she was talking about. "George is sitting her, in pain, while you talk about him as though he's gone too. He's here. He's right here where you all can see him. He's not invisible and he's not dead, so don't talk about him like he isn't here." She stopped and took a deep breath, trying to stop her voice from wobbling. She had hoped someone else would protect George tonight, someone who wasn't feeling as fragile as she was.
"We didn't mean to," Arthur started. Dawn tightened her hands into fists and tried to breathe calmly. He sounded so guilt ridden ... but he stayed back, away from his son.
"You didn't mean to ..." She said softly, looking around at them all. Buffy Xander and Willow stayed out of it, this wasn't their fight and they didn't know anyone well enough to take a side without following Dawn's lead. She knew they would back her though. "That's a poor excuse. He's your son, your brother, your friend. He is sitting here in pain, so much pain that he can't think, or speak, or even stand," She was trying desperately not to give in to the tears she could feel welling up in her eyes, the sobs that were rising in her throat. "You're speaking as though he died too ... but he hasn't. He's here and he's hurting, at least as much as you all, probably more. Because Fred was his other half. You all are standing there, comforting each other, taking solace in the knowledge that you are a family and you care for each other. But you wont come near George? You've closed ranks around Molly because she can't think she hurts so much, how do you think George is feeling? That's his partner, his brother, his twin!" She wasn't sure when she'd started yelling, but she suddenly was, "He loved Fred more than any of you can begin to imagine, they have been together there whole lives, they came into existence at the same time, they took care of each other, and now Fred is gone. Fred, not George. FRED is dead. Fred," She frozed, a look of shock on her face. "Oh god, Fred is dead ... he'll never come back," She started sobbing, her arms wrapped around her stomach, bent over at the waist, her hair a curtain.
"I am so sorry George," Ron said quietly as Xander moved to take hold of Dawn. His fingers grazed her arm and she lashed out at him.
"Don't Touch Me!" She shrieked, shrinking away from him and falling on her ass. She scuttled backwards from him, ending up in the center of the room,her arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. "I want him back," Dawn moaned, rocking back and forth. "I want to feel safe and I want to get married with all of our family around us and I want to watch to see who ends up with the trick candies that turn them into storks, and I want to wake up to burnt eggs because he still hasn't figured out how to cook breakfast. And I can't have it." She shoved her forehead into her knees and didn't bother shoving away George as he came over to her, the both of them crying together again. Maybe it was pathetic, but shared pain seemed a little easier than lonely pain, and who else but George could really share her pain? Everyone else had echoes, almost as strong, but not quite, tapering out to the barest twinge. She felt more people gather around her, but didn't bother to look up.
Xander watched as Fleur scooted closer to Molly while everyone else closed ranks around the two sobbing messes in the center of the room. The two that weren't sure if life could go on with Fred Weasley, because he really was their world.