Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sacrifice of Love

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As Draco and I were on the way back to Hogwarts, we stopped in our tracks to see three trails of black smoke whistle past above us towards Diagon Alley. Draco and I knew better. And knew that that was.

"Draco, Draco, Fred and George," I grabbed his arm. "Please."

Draco was way ahead of me and didn't give me a verbal answer to my pleas. Instead he grabbed my arm and apparated us to Diagon Alley the second those wisps of black smoke smashed into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Fred!! George!!" I pushed away from Draco towards the collapsing building and burst through the front door.

"Hazel!! The place is gonna fall!! Get out of there!!"

"Hazel?!" I heard a weak voice from inside the shop. I ran up the actively falling apart stairs and found George trying to pull Fred out from under a large, heavy wooden beam. "My wand broke! I can't lift it!"

I levitated the beam while George pulled an unconscious and bleeding Fred out from under it. Then he slung him over his shoulder and ran out of the building just before the roof collapsed.

"Fred... Freddie, please," George was on his knees next to Fred lying motionless on the cobblestone. Draco was in shock. But was soon snapped out of it when those wisps of black smoke came circling back around and started shooting curses at us.

"George! George, come on!" I grabbed his hand. "Get Fred! We've gotta go!"

In tears, George lifted his unconscious brother up over his shoulder and just before he apparated away, he glared at me. "This is your fault! It's all your fault!"

In a snap he was gone but I didn't have even a second to process what he had said before one of those three wisps of smoke swooped down over me and whisked me away. Then apparated in thin air and I landed hard on cold tile.
I wanted to stand and fight but the image of Fred bleeding and bruised and motionless was burned into my brain. It sent waves of tears to my eyes. George is right. All of this is my fault. All of this destruction. Loss. It's my fault.

"You stupid girl!" Voldemort's voice spoke through the darkness. Almost as if he was in my head. "You thought you could outsmart me?! Crucio! You will die like your parents!!"

My body surged with pain and I felt the pain of a thousand knives piercing my skin. The feeling of my bones breaking slowly one by one. I writhed on the floor, screaming and sobbing in pain. Willing someone to come save me but I don't deserve it. I don't deserve any of it. I don't deserve life.

-3rd pov-

"Potter!" Draco sprinted into the Gryffindor common room to find the trio seated at the couch smiling and laughing about something.

Their happy expressions disappeared instantly when they saw Draco nearly in tears.

"Draco? Oh my god, what happened?" Hermione stood up, followed by Harry and Ron.

"Malfoy, where's Hazel?" Harry's worry was growing by the millisecond. "Where's my girlfriend?!"

"They have her! They have her and I don't know where! I've checked everywhere!" The blonde angrily groaned. "It's my fault! I should have fought back but they were gone before I could react!"

"Draco, Draco, hey, listen," Hermione collected his attention. "You and Ron go to the Weasleys. Tell them what happened. From there you'll find Remus and he'll contact everyone else," Draco nodded and he and Ron apparate away in a snap. Hermione turned to Harry. "Harry, you and I will go to Twelve Grimmauld place. We need to find Sirius."

"Hermione we can't apparate!"

"You can't!" Hermione scoffed. "I... have a textbook education for it but I've never tried. No better time than now. Come on! We don't have time!"

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