The world stopped moving all at once. She could no longer feel everyone around her, the fighting, the yelling. As Jessica and Fred ran over to Harry, time slowed so much that she couldn't feel her limbs moving in time. One of her worst fears had come to life, she knew someone had been hurt.
"What's happened?" Fred asked Remus as Jessica bent down to Harry who was still crying silently. She tried to put her arm around him but he shook her off immediately, not wanting to be touched. She understood.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Remus panted, "she cast at Sirius and well, he fell into the veil." There was a crackle in Remus's voice. One that only one hears in heartbreak. It was in that moment Jessica realised that perhaps Sirius had meant more than just a friend to him. He was grieving hard but had to do his job in protecting Harry.
"Her own cousin?" Fred asked.
"Never his favourite," Remus replied, trying to convince himself happy with an anecdote.
Jessica tried again to comfort Harry. He let her this time. His heart beat was pounding throughout his body and Jessica felt like she was lying her head on a set of drums. It was then, when she leant against his shoulder, that she allowed herself to grieve. She had not known Sirius as long as Harry had, but they had both lost one of the only relatives that could get them totally as themselves. Jessica let out a tear, reminding herself that he would now never know that Regulus could be alive. If he had known, would his death have been that little bit less painful?
No, it definitely wouldn't have. She decided she would mention it to Harry later, but only when he could be strong enough to hear it.
"I've got to go to her," Harry sniffled angrily, his hands clutching into fists, "she needs to pay for what she did to him."
He stood up, his hand gripped to his stomach, and left Jessica crouched over on the floor. She could not escape the raging guilt consuming her body. If only she was there, if she had left Pansy and Theo quicker, she could have saved Sirius. Her necklace was more powerful than any wand.
"Harry mate you can't," said Fred sympathetically, "it's what she wants."
"Imagine if she killed George," said Harry, "or Jess, how would you feel then?"
There was a pause where Fred thought for a moment. "I...I'd probably be feeling the same as you," he replied, "I'd torture the living daylights out of her, no matter if they killed me for it."
That was all he had to say. She needed to end this. There needed to be a way out to Theo and Pansy, it was a large enough building, and this was the only chance she was going to get. The space was crawling with Death Eaters so she needed to know what was going to happen next.
Jessica grabbed Harry's sweaty hand and concentrated really hard. She focused on producing a vision, something, anything that could help her. Eventually, after nearly using all the force she had, a vision appeared. They were in the room they were now, so it could only be a couple of minutes into the future. Harry was running into the tunnels and Jessica was right behind him following. Harry was determined, running at fast pace and not looking anywhere else but forward until he reached the end and into the main hall of the ministry of magic. Emerald green tiles surrounded them from the walls to the floor, and rows of fireplaces led up to a large water fountain. No one was following them, but there was only one person in the room; a woman in a long black netted dress with wild curly black hair.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Crucio!" Said Harry and red sparks through out of his wand, hitting the woman down to her knees. Jessica was shocked that those words had come from Harry's mouth, but it didn't appear as though the spell had taken any real affect. Bellatrix started to taunt Harry, giggling at the fact that he hadn't been able to gather up the power to torture her fully. Jessica could see Harry struggling between what his heart wanted and what his brain was advising him, but soon enough it didn't matter. A figure appeared in black, a ghostly figure that swam around him. Emerging out of the smoke was Voldemort, a sneer plastered upon his snake-like face. He was about to speak, probably to give a speech about Harry was going to die at the hands of the dark lord, but a roaring flame behind him interrupted his performance. Dumbledore stepped coolly out of the nearest fireplace and greeted Voldemort so non-chalent that there was no flicker of fear detected.
"How foolish of you to come tonight Tom."
Tom, Tom Riddle. He dared to even use his real name. For once Jessica didn't despise Dumbledore, she almost found his actions...brave.
"The Aurors are on there way."
Voldemort smirked with a terrifying aura.
"At which time I will be gone, and you will be dead."
With that declaration, a duel between the two most powerful wizards of their time broke out. Jessica witnessed the humongous battle straight through to the end behind the water fountain, watching Harry just cower next to the fireplaces, unable to get up. Eventually Voldemort gave up and attempted another approach. He evaporated and possessed Harry, scarily entering his body and causing Harry to twitch like an evil entity Jessica had watched in a film only just two summers ago. Dumbledore was pleading with Harry to block him out but it wasn't working. Harry was losing.
That. Now that was her chance.
She pulled herself out of her vision to see Harry struggling out of Remus's grasp with the same determination she had seen only moments before. He broke free and started running for the tunnels. Jessica began to follow him, but was pulled back abruptly.
"What do you think you're doing?" Fred asked as he gripped her wrist.
"Saving his life," Jessica replied and she vigorously shook her arm out of Fred's grasp. She made a run for it but this time she was held back by Remus.
"You are to be kept out of harms way," said Remus, "you stay here I'll get him."
Jessica had reached her boiling point. This whole year she had been asked to protect them, and then whenever she tried too her methods were always questioned. She was the spare part, she was always going to be the spare part. She had finally come to terms with that, and they needed to let her go.
"You all need to get out of here," Jessica told him, "he's coming, he only wants me and Harry and we can look after ourselves."
"Who's he?" asked Fred.
"You know who," Remus answered. He was not naive, he must have also been aware that Voldemort wouldn't miss a chance at getting his hands on Harry.
"Then Jess we have to leave," Fred panicked, "I'll get George and we can leave with you,we can be out of here in minutes."
"No," Jessica told him firmly, which he was very taken aback by, "I need to go after Harry, you and George get everyone else out."
"But-"
"You promised," Jessica reminded him, starting to see death eaters flee the scene out the corner of her eye, "you promised that if it came down to them or me you would choose them. This me saving them, you need to get everyone out of here, now."
Fred didn't fight her on it, he knew he had said it, but he wasn't budging either. The stubbornness she first found attractive in him was working against her in the worst way possible. So, she turned to Remus, hoping he would see logic.
"Listen," she said calmly, "this is the moment, this is what you trained me for. I'm ready, if he wants me then he can come get me. He can't kill me with this."
She lifted her necklace up to prove her point. Her and Harry both had protection above what all the other members of the order had, Remus knew that, and as the fighting stopped an Death Eaters left - all the attention was now being turned onto them.
"What's going on" Ginny called out as her and Hermione walked from the back, her eyes surveyed the room and she turned her head, "where's Harry."
Jessica knew that once they all got to where they were she would be surrounded, she would never be able to get to Theo and Pansy then, nor help Harry. She pleaded with Remus one last time, her eyes begging him to let her through.
"Please," she whispered.
Remus considered, took a breath, and saw Fred's hopeful face. Jessica thought for sure he was going to shut her down and make her go back to Grimmauld Place forever, just as Fred wanted. She had almost begun to think of another excuse when he mouthed to her, "run."
Not wanting to waste a second, Jessica leapt for it and ran straight passed Remus, barely escaping an attempt of Fred to stop her. It was unbelievable that Remus had even said yes. She left behind a trail of questions and murmurs as she entered the tunnels in search for Harry, desperately running as fast a she could so that she could get there in time for her vision to play out in front of her. A few moments later she could hear hurried footsteps behind her, and something told her that it unfortunately wasn't death eaters.
"Levicorpus!"
A spell hit Jessica in her back and she was lifted off of her feet. Next thing she knew she was dangling upside down in the air. Thank merlin she wasn't wearing a skirt.
"What the fuck!"
"Sorry," said Fred as he came running up behind her, relieved to see her face, "I had to do something."
Her heart fluttered at seeing him again but it quickly turned into a stomach ache. "And you thought this was the best idea?" she snapped.
"Remus was building a forcefield so we couldn't chase after you," Fred explained as he got her back on her feet, "I was able to jump through though."
Her clothes were all over the place now, and she brushed her top down to cover her torso again. "Fred you need to leave," she told him, "why didn't you stay with the others."
"Look I'm not just going to let Voldemort hurt you, we'll fight him together," Fred said encouragingly, a confident grin on his face, "otherwise you never know what weapons he has, he could take you back to his evil lair and like brainwash you or something."
Jessica looked down sheepishly to the side. He really didn't seem to be getting it. Yes, phrased like that her plan did sound mad, but these were mad times, only a year ago her main worry was which shade of lipstick suited her skin tone. Now she was choosing to be kidnapped by a dark wizard in order to save her make-shift family and find her actual dad (if he was alive of course). Nothing seemed weird anymore, anything was possible. He taught her that.
"Except..." Fred stuttered, his smile drooping into serious concern when seeing Jessica's behaviour, "...that's what you want isn't it?...For him to actually take you."
"It's for the best," was all Jessica could say in response. Thinking it had been easy, but telling Fred made her plan so much harder. She couldn't help but be cold.
"For the best?" Fred asked her, now brazenly showing signs of hurt, "what for you or for us Jess because i'm telling you we can't make it losing someone else, dad will never forgive himself for it for bringing you here and Harry hasn't even dealt with the guilt of Cedric yet alone you putting this on him!"
Jessica could not stand him being upset with her, especially not now. He had every idea what she had been through, so why didn't he understand?
"Fred this was the mission all along, from the minute Dumbledore came to see me in the hospital!" she spoke, "If I let him take me I can take him down from the inside, none of you will need to get hurt in a war. I can stop it before it starts and it will be like he never existed."
Fred opened his mouth stunned. "These are dangerous people Jess, you can't be that naive!" he argued, "a necklace isn't going to stop them giving you months and months of torture to wear you down, how the hell do you think you'l be able to take him down yourself?"
"I won't be alone," Jessica argued back, "I'll have Pansy and Theo...they're turning they want to be good."
"Oh so you're just trusting them on that?" Fred asked in disbelief.
"I can't afford not too," Jessica answered, "plus you said yourself not everything is black and white with them."
Fred cringed and shook his head, getting increasingly frustrated that she wasn't giving in to him.
"So that's it then," he said finally, "you'd rather go off with them then stay here with us. With me. Are we not exciting enough for you by trying to keep you safe?"
They had not argued like this for a while, however this time was the worst Jessica could think of. Worse than when she kissed Lee, worse than when she became part of the Slytherin's with Umbridge, worse than every single time they had disagreed. It was an argument neither wanted to have, and it was only happening because both were trying to love the other harder.
"It's not like I want to go," Jessica retorted, "I didn't ask for this, but this is quite literally my birthright, I have to do this, and if it means not seeing you dead on the floor at my hands then it will be bloody worth it."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean dead at your hands?" said Fred, now completely distracted from his original point, "you've seen yourself kill me? Since when?"
Jessica rolled her eyes at having to answer this. She knew this would make him freak out, well, it would freak most people out hearing about their potential murder wouldn't it. "It was just earlier when you passed out, I saw myself as Voldemort's side kick or something but the main thing was that everyone was dead, including you, i'm sorry that i'm not going to let that happen."
His facial expression had gone from hurt to totally flabbergasted. Even for Fred that was insane. "But Jess have you thought perhaps your getting those types of visions because of the decision you're about to make?" he asked, "he has the power to read and manipulate minds, who knows what he could do to you?"
"I am willing to risk it if it keeps you all safe, plus i'm strong minded you know that.," Jessica said. She stepped forward and placed both of her hands on each his arms, holding him still in place with her wand on her right side. This stopped him from fidgeting, but he still wouldn't look her in the eye. "I'll be gone for a few months, that's it, then when it's done i'll come straight back to you."
He didn't take this as the reassurance she meant it to be. "Yeah if you come back!" he said sarcastically, "so what you expect me to keep living my life mundanely whilst feeling sick to my stomach everyday at the thought of you being tortured and killed?"
"I expect you to trust and love me enough to let me do what's right," she stated.
Fred stumbled on what to say next and just forgot it, throwing away the potentially harsh words he was about to use against her. He and Jess had argued many times before, and just like the other times he refused to give up on her. "I will never be okay with this," he said as he looked down directly at her in the eye, "we were meant to do this together, I was meant to protect you."
Come on this way!
No Hermione I swear they went this way!
Your both blind, they went this way you idiots, that's what my eyes for!
The Order. They all must have convinced Remus to come after her. She had to leave now, and leave Fred behind. It was the only way. Tonks was right, and so was Pansy, he was never going to let her go and be who she needed to be. He would always care for her just as much as she cared about him, however he didn't realise how needed he was. He had a whole family who would mourn him, friends, teachers. The world could afford to miss a girl who had only been there a year.
"That was never the story for me," she told him honestly, reflecting his gaze with teary eyes, "I'll always be the anomaly, your protector. I've been it ever since I met you and that's all I'll ever be unless I can defeat him. I'm hope you understand that what i'm about to do is because I love you and someday I want to be together without all of this...Petrificus Totalus!"
Fred froze instantly, like a statue in ancient Greece, beautiful and proud. She barely stopped him from falling to the tiles below and caught him just in time to perch him against the wall. Jessica didn't know if he could hear her, see her, but she hoped it was neither. She didn't want him to watch her walk away.
"I'm sorry," she whispered and ran as fast as she could in the other direction to the voices.
She ran without looking back, for if she did she knew she would break down in tears. She could not appear weak for what she was about to do.
If these were her final moments, the end of her story, she needed to make them count.