Forever and always, until the end (Fred Weasley&Anertha Diggory) WattyAwards2013

Anertha's struggle

Written 10/9/2013

{Anertha's struggle}

She had managed to make it through the last couple of weeks of school. She had managed to cope with the looks and the comments. Her brother's death had rocked the whole school. She laughed when someone told her they had been deeply affected by his passing. She remembered just standing empty thinking 'oh really? Have you lost a twin before? No? Then shut up you know nothing, you feel nothing compared to what I am going through.' But she didn't have the energy to say it. Fred was stood by her side the whole time and as if he had read her thoughts told the person to shove off and pulled Anertha away.

She stood at the entrance to her house. She couldn't walk in. Her mother threw the doors open and flung her arms around her remaining child. 'Oh my sweetheart!' She hadn't seen her mother since Cedric's death over 2 weeks ago. She clung to her, her hand digging in to her back. The two cried lightly whilst they held each other. Fred stood back, giving them space. Amos appeared, tired, in the doorway. He nodded to Fred and the pair took Anertha's things inside. Eventually the Diggory women came inside. Mrs Diggory wiped her tears with a tissue, her husband comforted her.

Anertha slowly crept upstairs. She paused when she reached the landing. Down the hall and to the left was her room but directly opposite was his. They would often wake up at the same time and end up walking into each in the hallway first thing in the morning, they would always laugh. She loved opening the door and seeing his face smiling back at her. She also loved that when they had a fight they would slam their doors at the same moment, the argument ended when they laughed uncontrollably after the doors were closed. She moved slowly to her room, Fred followed. She sat on the bed and looked through her open door, his door was open. She looked straight into his bedroom, his bed placed exactly opposite hers. When a thunderstorm hit he would leave their doors open so she could see him if she got scared. Sometimes he would notice her shaking under her covers and leave his bed to come comfort her. A tear strolled down her face when she remembered this. Fred sat next to her and held her hand. He didn't know what to do but just being there was enough for her. She noticed something on Cedric's bed. She stood and walked into his room, Fred sat watching her closely. On his bed was his school scarf and Hufflepuff robe. Anertha picked up his robe and sniffed it. It still smelt like him. She began to cry as she collapsed onto the floor next to his bed, the robe clutched tightly in her hand. Fred was next to her in seconds, he threw himself onto the floor and cradled her. She cried so hard her body shook as she struggled to breathe, she let out an agonising scream. It got the attention of her parents. They could be heard racing up the stairs and down the hallway. They first looked into her room but she wasn't there, her mother gasped when she saw her in Cedric's room.

'My darling!' Her mother knelt down in front of her, tears forming in her eyes. 'Oh my baby. Come on.' But she couldn't stop herself from crying. Amos joined them on the floor and tried his best to comfort them both, he was grateful for Fred right now. Between the pair of them they managed to calm Anertha and her mother. Anertha still couldn't breathe normally. Fred stroked her hair and whispered into her ear. When he finally managed to get her off the floor, he and Amos led her back to her own room. She laid down on the bed, tears still dripping onto the pillow. She still had hold of Cedric's robe. Amos tried to take it from her but her mother shook her head violently. 'She needs it.' Her mother kissed her and left the room sniffing, when she had made her way downstairs Amos turned away and shut Cedric's door. Anertha sat up immediately. 'Leave it open!' She cried. Her and her father stared at each other for a while before he sighed and opened the door. He walked away to find his wife. Anertha laid back down, Fred sat beside her with his hand on her side. She fell asleep wrapped in Cedric's robe. Fred fetched his school scarf from the other room and placed it in Anertha's hand. He kissed her lightly before leaving her to sleep. As he walked home he worried she wouldn't cope with Cedric's funeral in a few days.