I let go of my wand, my whole body started trembling, and I felt like there was no air left in the room to breathe as I stared down at Fred's body.
"No, no, no, no..." I muttered under my breath shakily as my knees gave in and I fell on the ground, tears rushing down my cheeks. "Please don't be dead... please no..."
But then I clapped a hand to my when I realized that he wasn't breathing and I started screaming as I cried my eyes out.
But moments later, I heard footsteps rushing up the stairs toward where I was and then I felt hands wrap around me, trying to get me to stand up, but I screamed even louder.
"Lexi! Calm down!" The person was saying as they tried to help me up.
"NO! LET GO OF ME!"
"Lexi! It's me!" I was still crying but I recognized the voice.
It belonged to Fred.
But I still couldn't believe my ears until I turned around and saw Fred right behind me, with his arms holding onto me as he helped me up.
George was there as well, staring down at the body in horror and just then Aunt Muriel rushed into the room as well, in her old nightgown.
With that, George immediately took out his wand and pointed it at the dead body on the floor, shouting, "Riddikulus!"
"It — it was a Boggart..." I said in a hollow voice, still crying out of the shock.
"It's fine," Fred whispered before bringing me into an embrace, stroking my hair to calm me down as I cried against his chest. "Everything's okay. It was just a Boggart."
"What the bloody hell is going on here!?" I heard Aunt Muriel say.
"I-I was asleep on th-the couch," I said between sobs. "I woke up when I heard s-someone Apparating outside, but then I-I heard a noise upstairs. S-so I came here and — and —" I couldn't go on anymore.
"Fred and I had just arrived," George explained. "But when we got into the house, we heard screaming and so we ran upstairs."
"What took you two so long!?" Aunt Muriel scolded them.
"There were Death Eaters nearby. We had to wait for them to leave before Dissaparating, otherwise they might've been able to track us down," said George.
"Well, you could've given all of us a heart attack!" Aunt Muriel pointed a warning finger at them, and to the answer Fred and George only rolled their eyes, yet decided not to make a witty comeback. "Now go to bed! All of you!"
"But —" Fred tried to argue, but Aunt Muriel broke him off.
"No, 'but'! And no sneaking off to her room tonight, Fredrick! Don't think I haven't noticed you go there all the time!"
That finally managed to shut Fred up as he looked away awkwardly and his ears went red, but George's grin only widened.
"Now off to bed!"
We didn't have to be told another time. So muttering a small 'goodnight', we made our way toward our separate rooms, not in the mood to argue with Muriel any further.
Fred sent me a half smile, as if to tell me not to worry, and then disappeared into his room and closed the door.
I still felt shaken after what I had seen. This was my biggest fear; losing him.
I tried to hold back my tears, but they kept streaming down my eyes as I walked into my room and sat down on the bed, my body still slightly shaking.
"How are you feeling?" My head snapped up at Aunt Muriel's voice and when I looked up, I saw her standing by the door.
"Fine," I mumbled, but no matter how hard I tried, it was obvious in my voice that I wasn't feeling fine.
"I was meaning to get rid of that Boggart for ages," said Muriel, walking into the room with a sigh. "I was never in the mood."
I said nothing and looked away, wiping away my tears with the back of my hand.
"Don't cry, girl! Strong women don't shed tears!" she said, but that only made me sob harder.
So she huffed to herself and took out her wand, casting a spell and conjuring a handkerchiefs out of thin air, handing it to me.
"Listen here. What's supposed to happen, will happen," said Aunt Muriel. "Why cry over something you can't control? There's nothing you can do to change the things going on around you."
The words hit me like a bucket of ice. I was suddenly reminded of all those years ago when I had visited King's Cross station with my friend, Kiara, before I was sent to the past with the portal inside the wall between platform 9 and 10.
I remembered how we were joking around and saying who we would've saved from death if we had the power. I kept naming everyone, but Kiara laughed and told me that I couldn't save everyone, and I just smilrd arrogantly, saying that 'you can't stop me from trying.'
But here I was, sitting in a house where I never thought I would step in — even for when I used to daydream about the Wizarding world — and I was as helpless as everyone else. People were dying and disappearing every day, and there was nothing I could do but to mourn.
"I-I just can't watch the people I l-love get hurt," I said between my sobs, mostly talking to myself.
"Well, I understand why you worry. I would too, if I were in your shoes."
I blinked up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"You're a Muggle-born, aren't you? The Death Eaters are mostly after you, more than anyone else in this house," said Muriel. "If I were you and knew that I was the reason the people I loved were in danger... I wouldn't even bother staying in their lives anymore, if that's what it took to keep them safe."
I remained silent. I had stopped crying, but my head was still hurting and my lips were trembling as I looked away.
"Now go to sleep. You must rest," she said, making her way over the door. "Goodnight." And with that, she was gone and the door was closed.
I felt the silence of the room haunting me. My mind was a mess. My heartbeat still hadn't slowed down. I kept repeating Muriel's words in my head.
She was right. As long as I was in their lives, I would only put them in more danger.
Sighing to myself miserably, I then stood up and left the room to go to the yard for a bit of fresh air, hoping that pacing around would calm my mind.
But I was so drowned in my own thoughts that I didn't notice I was being watched.