Arthur was lucky if he had gotten about forty-five minutes worth of sleep that night as he woke up and groggily walked across his bedroom when he suddenly heard a tapping at the window. Rubbing his eyes, Arthur looked over and saw that it was Hermes, the owl that he and Molly had bought for Percy. He opened the window and took the letter it was carrying.
Father, I visited Fleur and alerted her of the situation. She informed me that she would be going to see Bill at St. Mungo's as soon as possible. She more than likely has already arrived by the time you receive this.
Percy.
Breathing a sigh of relief that Percy had come through on that, Arthur changed out of his pajamas and headed downstairs to discover that Molly had cooked up a storm. It was always something she did when she was stressed out or needed to take her mind off of something. Despite the winter break being over Ron and Ginny were still at the house. At the beginning of the school year, he had to fight with Molly to get her to agree to let the two of them attend Hogwarts. Now, he might have to admit that it was too dangerous out there and they needed to be home.
The two youngest Weasleys had just finished their breakfast when their dad walked into the room.
"Good morning." He greeted, trying to act like he normally did. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not really." Ron muttered.
"Me neither." Arthur admitted.
"Okay dears, go up and get changed." Molly then instructed. "We're going to go see your older brother."
Ron and Ginny headed upstairs as Arthur got himself a cup of coffee and a small plate of food. He knew he should try to eat something even if he didn't have much of appetite.
"How are you doing?" Arthur then asked his wife.
"I feel a little bit better," Molly responded, "Now that I know that Bill is going to be alright. I just want to take him home."
"Molly, we can't rush his recovery. Let him heal, they'll take good care of him at St. Mungo's."
After a couple of minutes, Ron and Ginny were dressed and ready. The four of them headed to the fireplace and used the Floo network to travel. Upon entering the lobby of St. Mungo's, the Weasleys were immediately greeted by a healer.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. I'm afraid you just missed Ms. Delacour."
"I wouldn't say we missed her," Ginny spoke just loud enough for Ron to hear which caused him to grin just a little.
"I'll take you to your son." The healer then began to walk the Weasleys down the hallway to Bill's room.
"Has there been any change with Bill?" Arthur asked.
"He was asleep when I took Ms. Delacour in to see him. She didn't stay for very long. I have to say, she was very upset when I informed her about Bill's condition." They then arrived at the door which the healer opened for them. "Take all the time you need."
Molly was the first to walk in, but as soon as she saw her oldest son she froze. Bill looked awfully pale, much more than he did last night. She then noticed that his chest…it wasn't raising up and down. It looked like he wasn't breathing. A sharp pain then hit her stomach.
"Arthur…?"
Arthur's brows furrowed when he heard the scared tone in his wife's voice. Molly slowly approached Bill and put a hand on his cheek. His skin was ice cold.
"Bill?" Molly whispered. "Can you hear me?"
"What is it?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Bill? Bill what's wrong honey?" Molly then gently shook his shoulder and asked again in a louder voice; "Bill, what's wrong honey?"
Arthur walked over to them. He gently lifted Bill's eyelid with his index finger. There was nothing there. At that moment, he could feel his heart begin to beat faster as panic slowly overtook him.
"Bill wake up." Molly shook him harder. "Bill wake up! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"
Ron and Ginny stuck their heads in the room, looking confused after they heard their mother yell.
"What's going on?" Ron asked.
"Go get a healer!" Molly screamed to Arthur. "RIGHT NOW! GO GET A HEALER!"
Arthur spun around and ran out into the hallway, grabbing the first healer that he could get to. "MY SON ISN"T BREATHING!" He yelled. Molly didn't even bother to wait. She tore open Bill's shirt and pulled out her wand.
"RENNERVATE!"
The most terrible ache suddenly hit Arthur as he put both of his hands on either side of his head. Everything around him started spinning and things started turning black. He stumbled and lost his balance, collapsing to the floor. He heard voices around him yelling but couldn't make anything out clearly. The last thing he saw was the sight of his wife standing over Bill, screaming the reviving spell over and over again before the blackness finally overcame him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop located at Number 93 Diagon Alley was always a joyful place for people to come visit. All the products were always on display, new things were being developed all the time. It was always such a place of happiness and fun...until now. For the first time, the shop was closed. There wasn't one customer in the store. Not a sound was coming out of it. Inside, Fred and George sat in chairs right next to each other, both of them were stone-faced. At any time, any situation, one or both of them could make a joke or pull a prank to make somebody laugh. They couldn't do that this time around.
Nothing was funny.
There was nothing to joke about. Two of their brothers were now dead. When they left the Burrow, their mother was asleep in her room, as she was being kept on heavy calming droughts. Their father had drunk himself until he passed out on the couch. They promised Ron and Ginny they would be back as soon as they locked down the store.
Aurors had investigated the crime. A healer they interviewed had told them that Fleur Delacour was the last person to visit Bill. He was alive before she had arrived, he was dead after she left. The healer had stated that Fleur was very distraught when told about Bill's attack. How he would have werewolf characteristics from now on, that she wondered how it might effect any children the two of them would have. When aurors arrived at the apartment that Fleur shared with Bill, they found her dead as well. They examined her wand and used 'Prior Incantato' to see the last spell she had cast. It was the killing curse. They ruled her and Bill to be a murder-suicide. Things got even crazier because amongst her jewelry they had found a dragon pendant that had once belonged to Charlie Weasley. That linked her to his murder as well.
This didn't make sense. This just didn't make any sense.
Fleur was the last person who would commit suicide. If Fleur was that upset about the state of Bill, she would have never had murdered Bill, she just would have left him. And Charlie? What reason could Fleur possibly have for wanting to kill Charlie? Appearances could be deceiving, things go on behind closed doors that others don't get to see the aurors had said. The couple could have been having problems, Fleur could have been having problems. They really couldn't explain why Fleur did what she did, only that the evidence pointed to her.
They just continued to sit in silence as if they knew what each other were thinking. Fred and George both suddenly jumped when they heard the sound of the bell jingle as the door to the shop opened. They both jumped up, wands in hand only to see that it was a young woman.
"Excuse me, we're closed." George stated.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to talk to you." Penelope responded. "I don't know if you remember me, but my name is Penelope Clearwater, I'm Percy's girlfriend."
George looked at her closer. "Oh yeah." He then sat his wand down on the small table that stood between the chairs. Fred did the same. "Does he know?"
"Know what?"
"It's nothing." George shook his head as he didn't want to tell her about Bill's death if she didn't know and tried to remain as cool as possible. "Do you need something?"
"No, not me. It's Percy..."
The twins looked at each other as they immediately thought the worst.
"Is he okay?"
"Well..."
"Is he okay?" Fred demanded.
"I don't know." Penelope cried. "He's really been acting strange over the last few months. Then I took him to my parents' house for New Years and he just left in the middle of the night after we went to sleep without waking me up to tell me he was leaving. I haven't seen him since. I've been to his apartment but he won't answer the door."
"He hasn't been talking to any of us." George responded.
"I don't know what it is, but-" Penelope then stopped as she felt a tear drip down her left cheek. "There's something wrong, and I'm really worried about him."
The twins approached her.
"Don't worry," Fred tried to comfort her as he put a hand on her arm. "Percy's going to be fine."
The twins then assured her that they would check on Percy right away. Penelope thanked the both of them and left the shop. Immediately, Fred and George started talking about what to do. They decided that they would check the Ministry first. If Percy wasn't working, they would go to his flat. Fred stated that they would beat the piss out of the door if that's what it took to get him to answer. They all needed to be together at the Burrow. Unbeknownst to them, the whole time they had been talking, an odorless, colorless gas was pouring out of the vents in the shop.
"Fred, we need to be calm about this." George said.
"CALM!" Fred yelled. "Bill and Charlie are dead! I don't care what those aurors said, Fleur didn't do it! Somebody is after us!" After he yelled that, Fred began coughing. George exhaled heavily before rubbing his eyes as they started to sting. He hated to admit it but maybe Fred was right. Even if he wasn't, their parents were an emotional wreak. They all needed to be around for them. They all needed to be around for each other.
Fred then rubbed his forehead. Suddenly, he didn't feel so good.
"George...I feel...weird..."
George then realized how dry his throat had become.
"Me too. Let's get some air." George went to the door and tried to open it but couldn't. He used more force but still couldn't get it open. It was if it was locked from the outside. "What the hell?" He asked himself.
"Stand back!" Fred yelled as he took a deep breath. "I'll blast the damn door off!" Fred then spun around and headed to get his wand from the table but midway, stumbled and hit the floor with one knee.
"Fred!" George coughed as he moved towards his twin. What was going on? He too then fell to his knees. "Are you alright?"
The two of them began coughing uncontrollably. Fred managed to say;
"No...I feel sick."
George did as well. He felt like he was going to vomit. His sight was becoming hazy and he felt like he was going to pass out when to his relief he saw the door being opened by somebody.
"Look!" He pointed towards it. "Someone got the door open!"
He was about to yell out for help but the figure rapidly approached them, and that person was wearing a gas mask. Once he was standing over the twins, Percy pulled off the mask. Fred and George looked up at him in shock before Percy pulled out his wand and nailed them both with stunners, knocking the twins unconscious.
