SIXTY NINE
RORY HELD HER WAND TIGHTLY in her hand as it began. Midnight. They had come into the castle. Slowly breaking every protection spell placed on it. She was ready though. Ready to fight, ready to avenge her brother, ready to win. They had set up students and adults at each of the several passageways and had just secured one on sixth floor with Marina, Angelina and Lee holding down the fort.
"You three stay here, we're going up to the seventh floor!" Rory said loudly over the noise around them.
"You two go," George said, "I'll stay down here." He glanced at Marina.
Fred gave a strange look to his brother, "Everything alright with you, Georgie?"
George nodded firmly, "Yeah. You?"
"Just peachy." Fred smiled, "See you in a bit. C'mon, Ror, let's go."
Rory nodded and turned around towards the staircase. She ran up to the first landing where she then froze. A pair of golden eyes met her with a devilish smirk.
"You," she said with coldness. She held her wand so tight she thought it might break. The man just snickered.
"Nice to see you again, pretty," he said. McDowell had looked more evil than ever. She wasn't afraid though. His wand was out, right below her chin and she could feel the curse rising up this throat.
Before she could do anything, a voice came next to them, causing his demeanor to change completely.
"Hey, Dad!" Cleo shouted, approaching them with her brother beside her.
He seemed slightly shocked to see his children, "Cleo? Zane? What are you —"
"Save it, you sick fuck," Zane spat.
Cleo smirked, walking towards her father, now that his back was against the bannister, "Get away from my friends."
And then, she punched her dad square in the face and he fell backwards, losing his balance, and tumbling down the path of twisted staircases. The girl looked pleased with herself, staring at her fist like it was made of gold.
"Wow," Fred said with an approving nod.
Zane held out a hand to his twin and she gave him a low high five with a smile. The two then ran down the steps and continued fighting. The stairway was now practically empty. Fred looked at Rory and Rory looked at him.
Then, she grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him like the world was ending, which it pretty much was.
Rory took a deep breath and whispered the childish words, "Made you look."
"I love you, Rory," Fred smiled, "C'mon, let's go."
"I love you too," she nodded and grabbed his hand, leading him up the rest of the steps that led to the seventh floor. They saw a head of flaming red hair at the end of the corridor and ran towards it. The image of Percy fighting off two Death Eaters became clear.
"Need some help, Perce?" Fred asked, holding his wand out and joining his brother.
Percy nodded, dodging a flash of purple light, "Just a bit!"
Rory's heart dropped. She clutched her wand even harder and prepared herself to fight. It was three against two, that wouldn't be a challenge right?
The duel began. Rory wasn't sure if any lesson had prepared her for the fear she felt, but she kept fighting. It was like a lion was inside her chest, roaring as she fought against the two hooded figures in front of her. Flashes of all sorts of light were flying around and she felt her body take control, carefully dodging and deflecting each curse or hex. In her peripheral, she saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione coming to help.
"Hello, Minister!" Percy spat, sending a crisp jinx as the hood slipped off one of the men revealing who was underneath, "did I mention I'm resigning?"
Rory backed away slightly to avoid being struck and began shooting her spells from an off angle, making it more difficult for both men to fight the three at once, even harder with the help of the younger trio joining them.
"You're joking, Perce!" Fred shouted casting another curse at the Death Eater while smiling at his brother. "You actually are joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were—"
Boom.
Rory felt herself collapse. Her arms were instinctively over her head to protect it. There had been an explosion. The gust of air and debris knocked her off her feet and she hit the ground with a soft thud. All she saw was darkness. It took a moment, for her eyes to adjust. She opened them and got up, realizing she had fallen right next to Percy who had let out a terrible cry.
Rory couldn't move. She was frozen.
Pain overtook her body and suddenly she felt screams of agony escape her chapped lips. She couldn't breathe, but cries continued to leave her stiff body.
When she was seventeen, she saw Cedric Diggory's corpse lying on fresh grass in front of her. The one feeling in the world that was real and safe in that moment were Fred Weasley's arms around her petrified frame.
And now she was twenty years old. The same numb feeling travelled through her, but this time there was no safety. Just screams.
Percy was shaking his brother and shouting, "No - no - no! No! Fred! No!"
Rory threw herself over Fred's body, with Percy beside her, clutching on like it was the only thing keeping her alive. A fierce ringing hit her ears and she couldn't even hear her own screams.
It was the unimaginable.
In her arms, was Fred Weasley, dead. His eyes still open and the phantom of his laughter etched on his lifeless face. She felt a pair of arms try and pull her away, but with all her strength, she pulled herself forward and kept close to Fred's body.
"Percy! Rory!" Harry shouted. "You can't do anything for him! We're going to– "
"RORY!" A voice shouted and the ringing in her ears faded. The arms around her won and she stumbled back, letting go of Fred's body.
It was her dad. He was still alive.
"Rory, c'mon we can't leave you here!" He said.
The girl seethed, almost like a child having a temper tantrum, "I'm not leaving his body —"
Harry seemed to agree and together, him and Percy propped up his body and found a place to hide it as Rory just watched, still processing all of it. Rory ran, away from the spot where he died and followed them. Andrew stayed close to her as they rounded a corner and Percy darted towards a Death Eater with a roar, "ROOKWOOD" he shouted. Rory felt her wand still in her hand and knew what she needed to do.
Fred's life might have been over, but the war wasn't. She had to make sure something good came from his death. So she didn't give up, she fought.
A Death Eater appeared in front of her and Andrew causing her father to hold out a protective arm in front of his daughter.
Together, the two took on the Death Eater. The cloaked figure seemed to dodge every spell and the duel was almost amusing to the evil before them.
"Harrison isn't it? I know you... tell me, how's your son?" The masked figure laughed with a tone so vial Rory knew he had been the one to kill Aaron.
Rory gasped as without hesitation, a flash of green light exited Andrew's wand and the words "Avada Kedavra" exited his lips... and the Death Eater fell to the ground, dead.
"Dad!" Rory shrieked, "You killed him!"
Andrew didn't look fazed, "He killed my son. I'd say we're even."
Rory slowly nodded in agreement and followed her father, throwing any spells she knew at dark cloaked figures. She had to keep fighting.
"Tonks!" Andy shouted, running towards the woman who appeared as they turned the corner. "Where's Cory —"
"Right here!" The blonde said, revealing herself behind Tonks. Rory sighed in relief at the sight of the two woman alive in front of her.
"Thank God," Andrew said, throwing his arms around his wife, he said something quietly to her, Rory knew it was something along the lines of "Fred didn't make it" because after he said it, Cordelia pulled away and hugged Rory. She accepted it and for a small moment, felt a smallest bit of comfort.
Tonks looked at Rory and took a deep breath, "Remus... he..."
More tears stung in Rory's eyes and she nodded, trying to blink them away.
This was a war. People died, people made sacrifices. Remus' death was tragic, but Rory held on to the glimmer of hope that he was with his friends again and was truly happy.
She had to come to terms with it, all the death around her. It just didn't seem fair. She was Andrew's child as much as Aaron, so why didn't they take her? The corridor collapsed on her too, so why was Fred the only one who caught a fatal blow?
She had her dad, Cory, and Tonks at least but... what about George? Marina? Lee? Angelina? The McDowells and Kirsty? Any of the other Weasleys? She needed to know they were safe and alive too.
"C'mon! I just saw Arthur heading to the Great Hall!" Tonks said, "That's where they're taking the wounded, they need you Andy." It seemed the chaos around her was slowing down as the four headed to the Great Hall.
As she entered the Hall, immediately, the grief hit her. All around her, people were solemn and mourning. Across the Hall, she saw the Weasleys. She ran towards them, seeing Fred's lifeless but barley visible body. Bill pulled her in for a hug as George and Molly cried over Fred's body.
Bill was the Weasley Rory had known the least, out of those present, yet in that moment, he was the most perfect person to bring her solace. In his arms, she let out the most painful cry. Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground. Bill knelt beside her and softly rubbed circles on her back.
It had hit her, truly. It was not some sick prank. He wasn't just knocked out, he was dead.
"You have fought," said the high, cold voice, interrupting her grief. "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.
"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.
"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me.
One hour."
There was an odd silence. The fighting had stopped. But they hadn't won, not yet.
More people came into the Great Hall. Rory's stomach dropped as she saw Oliver Wood carrying the body of a lifeless Colin Creevy in his arms. Then there was Lupin, dead on the ground with Tonks weeping the loss of her friend beside him.
What was most disturbing was the sight of Angelina and Lee holding up Marina's bloody body, ending the Hall as the girl weakly coughed, her brown eyes struggling to stay open.
Andrew ran towards the girl and set her down.
Still crying, Rory left Bill's side and went to her father.
"What happened?" Andrew asked Angelina.
"She... she was fighting off a Death Eater, it was going quite well and then a curse hit her. I dunno which one, it was non verbal but she fell to the ground and started coughing up blood and..." Angelina explained.
Andrew was sifting through a bag of remedies that was probably taken from the Hospital Wing sometime during the battle.
"Rory," Marina smiled weakly, "Where's Fred?"
Rory knelt beside her and shook his head softly. The girl understood. Words weren't needed.
"Is she going to be okay?" Rory asked her father who gave her a look. A look that said a million things at once.
She knew. She knew Dark Magic didn't have simple cures.
"Angelina... Lee... anyone... you've got to get her out of here and to St. Mungos, understood?" Andrew said slowly.
Lee nodded, "I'll take her."
"Good. Go through the tunnel and Aberforth should be able to help you. You'll most likely need to use Floo if that's okay?"
Lee nodded and together him and Angelina helped carry the girl out of the Hall and to somewhere safer for her. Rory went back to Fred, because she just couldn't stay away. She needed to be with people who understood and only the Weasleys did. She hugged Ginny, and then Hermione. Rory knelt next to George and when he realized she was there, he hugged her and they cried together. It seemed to go on forever, crying in George's arms. Feeling the comfort that they were the only two people on earth who felt the same pain.
She wanted to stay in his embrace for the rest of her life, but she couldn't.
They hadn't won yet.
A/N:
i'm sorry :/ pls don't leave death threats on me or yourselves though. this also applies to telling me my writing made you go into a depressive episode or you're going to cry for weeks now... do you think hearing that makes me happy?? i don't like feeling responsible for things like that so please stop
at least i saved tonks though <3