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"DO YOU WANT ALICE
TO DIE OR NOT?"
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Some people may find parts upsetting.
"Where's Alice?" asked Ron.
"Hang on, Alice is here?!" asked Harry excitedly.
"Yes, she's been here all summer" replied Ron but he didn't seem at all enthusiastic.
Harry was still beaming, but Ron gave him a look that suggested that he lose the grin.
"What happened to her?" he asked, setting down his knife and fork.
"Mum found her crying and hugging a ratty scarf in the Department of Mysteries. We took her in. She hasn't spoken a word since then"
Harry looked down at his food, losing all his hunger within those three seconds.
At least she wasn't at the Cell.
"Where is she now?" Harry managed to ask, seeing that Ron was looking at Hermione.
"She was still in the room when I left" she said, biting into some toast. "She wouldn't come when I asked"
"I'll bring her up some toast" he said, standing up. "I'll be back in a second"
Hermione and Harry chatted amongst themselves while Ron headed up to where Alice was supposed to be.
"Alice?" he called. "I have some breakfast for you"
He opened the door, knowing he would still see her, sitting at the edge of the bed staring out the window.
But this time it wasn't like that.
Alice was gone, and no trace that she had ever been there.
~*~
Alice crashed to the floor, but jumped up as quickly as she fell and started running, knowing the blinds were never pulled up at this time.
She looked out the window, not to see the stars, but to find the best escape route.
Each night when she was positive everyone was asleep, she crept downstairs, knowing every creaky stair.
Alice loved the Weasleys.
She loved the house.
But the guilt was over powering, and sadness was creeping in.
She couldn't get over the fact that she was the cause for Henry's pain.
We all know that it wasn't her fault, that he made the choice to come back in, but Alice didn't believe that.
The only thing that was ever on her mind was that this was her fault.
She needed to escape that, and the only way to do that was to die.
The woods was nearby.
The perfect place.
A flick of her wand and she was gone.
No more pain.
No more problems.
No more guilt.
~*~
Ron dropped the tray, his mouth open wide in shock, and then screamed, waking everyone up and everyone came rushing to the small bedroom.
"Ron what's wrong?!" asked Hermione, trying to calm Ron down.
"Alice is gone!" he said. "Alice is gone"
Hermione gasped and Harry looked terror stricken.
"Where...How?" Hermione asked, completely baffled.
"I came in and she was gone"
Harry wandered in, looking for any clues that might suggest where she went.
The dinner from the previous night was still there, but the water was gone.
He headed over to the window, and that's when he saw her.
Tired, weak and struggling to keep her legs moving.
She was a fair distance away, but they could make it.
He didn't know what she had planned, but he knew that people don't run towards forests to pick flowers.
He knew she was going to do something unforgivable, and he needed to get there before he did.
"Follow me" he said quickly to Ron and Hermione.
"What?"
"Do you want Alice to die or not?"
They glanced at each other before following him down the stairs, Ron promising his mother that he won't die and would be home soon.
~*~
Alice had been running for about an hour, her legs cramping up and her heart pounding.
Finally her legs gave in and she crashed to the floor, her head spinning.
She knew it wouldn't be long before someone caught on.
It wouldn't be long before someone noticed.
She had to do it quick.
Fast, so nobody would reach her in time.
She got back up, her body feeling like a log.
She was now very grateful she was wearing one of Ron's old t-shirts, well when I say t-shirt, I mean a dress on Alice.
If she were still wearing the dress, I bet you she wouldn't be able to run as fast.
She continued running.
The forest was coming up ahead, and that's when she heard the first cry.
"ALICE?!" shouted Harry. "ALICE?!"
She sped up, knowing he knew exactly where she was going.
She could hear the others calling her, and the tears dared to fall.
Alice had been sick for six months now.
It started off as a cold, but now, it was much more.
She was losing consciousness, she had regular coughing fits and a high fever most days.
She wasn't well, and if she went on any longer like this, she wouldn't have to use a spell to die, the sickness would engulf her.
Alice fell to the ground again, the world making circles around her.
She was breathing heavily, and her face was red with a fever.
The trio were getting closer.
She needed to end it now.
She took out her wand, her hand trembling and her whole body in pain.
She held it up to her head, ready for it all to go dark, when someone grabbed a hold of her.
It was Hermione.
"Alice don't do it" she said, trying to bring down the wand, but despite the fact that Alice looked weak, she was strong and was determined to do what she came out here to do.
"I have to do this" she croaked, a tear falling down her cheek.
"No you don't"
"Its all my fault"
Hermione looked at the other two for some help, but they wanted to leave it up to her.
"What's all your fault?"
"He's gone, he's gone"
This was the first time she had talked in over a month, so it came as a shock to Ron.
She was spilling everything at that moment.
"Alice, lower your wand" said Hermione calmly.
"I need to do this" she answered, her hand still in the same place.
Hermione had tears in her eyes.
She was watching a small girl wanting to end her life, and she needed to stop it.
"Alice, listen to me" she said. "You don't have to do this"
"Its all my fault, he's gone and it's all my fault"
Alice kept muttering this over and over again.
Tears were slowly dropping one by one as Hermione tried to lower the wand, even if it meant breaking it in two.
Alice suddenly stopped and looked behind her.
There was Henry.
A blue light around him, his smile still the same.
He had his arms open, and Alice struggled against Hermione.
"Let me go!" she shouted. "Look! He's over there!"
Hermione and the boys looked where she was pionting and they couldn't see anything but open land.
"Alice no one is there" said Ron softly, sitting beside her, taking Hermione's place.
"No look!" she said. "He's there, he's alive and he came back for me!"
Alice tried her best to push Ron off her but he wasn't letting go.
"Tell him to let me go!" she shouted to Henry, but he didn't move. "Look, he's over there. It's me Alice!"
Finally he moved, he waved goodbye, and he disappeared into thin air.
Henry was nothing but a memory.
A mirage.
A vision.
Alice howled as if she had just been stabbed, and began to cry.
She grabbed her wand again, and held it to her head.
"Alice, don't do it!" cried Ron.
"I need to be with him, it's all my fault"
With the help of Harry and Hermione, Ron managed to take the wand off Alice.
She stared off into the distance where she remembered seeing Henry.
She turned to Ron and hugged him, and she buried her head in his chest and she cried.
If she had seen Henry as a vision, it must only mean on thing.
Henry was dead.
"Its okay" hushed Ron, helping her to her feet, but she didn't stay like that for very long.
As soon as he let go, Alice was on the floor.
She stayed there, her eyes still blurred by tears, and everything sunk in.
"He's dead" she said in disbelief. "I actually killed him"
"What are you talking about Alice?" asked Harry kneeling down beside Ron and Hermione did the same.
"I killed him, and I must pay"
Before Alice could reach the wand, Harry grabbed it and tucked it behind his ear.
She screamed a deafening scream and cried again.
She put Henry in danger and now he was no more.
But no one ever gave proof he died, that's only what Alice believed.
He was still alive.
"Alice what's happening?" asked Ron, holding her shoulders.
"I killed him" she sobbed.
"Killed who Alice?"asked Harry. "Killed who?"
She couldn't answer.
She wouldn't answer.
She became still, her mouth closed and the tears stopped.
The trio didn't know what happened, and they never would.
"Alice?" asked Ron, shaking her.
Alice looked over at him and smiled weakly before collapsing and her world went dark.