Muggles & Spark Plugs - Arthur Weasley

26: Morte

"Wake up, Fred, wake up, please just wake up, dammit." It was the first time Ivory Everson had swore and it was the last time she would see Frederick again. She just did not know it, though Professor Trelawney did.

"Child, he's long gone."

"No, he's sleeping, he has to be. Oh, I've got it - he fell unconscious after the window broke. Yeah."

"Miss Everson, there is nothing you can do for him now." That was the nurse. If it really was her saying that than it was true, the truth was inevitable.

"I'm sorry, dear," Professor Trelawney said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No, he's alive - he has to be."

"Does she need a Peace Draught?" someone asked. Ivory did not hear the answer because her vision dimmed.

She awoke to voices, voices of both high and low pitch, whispers and even a shout or two. She heard crying and yelling. What had happened?

Then she remembered. A shudder ran through her. She had been there when the Weasleys had ran down the corridor and when George Weasley had met eyes with Frederick. His eyes had glazed over and he had said the words he could never take back, the words that had taken Frederick himself away from them all: Aveda Kedavra.

She squeezed her eyes shut. That could not have been what had happened, but it had happened. For some reason, George had drawn his wand on the boy and freaked out for reasons Ivory could only imagine and had killed him whether he meant it or not. George Weasley himself was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room, his head in his hands. He looked terrible, miserable even, and it could have only been a few hours at the most since the death of Frederick Andrew Jefferson Weasley.

"Why?" Ivory's voice cracked, but she managed to turn her head to look at him.

"Why? I don't know, I really don't. It all happened too quick."

"No, I think you know, deep down in that heart of yours, Mr. Weasley."

"Please don't call me that's, it is odd." He smiled despite himself. "It sounds like the way my dad's boss addresses him."

"So? I want to know why you killed him."

"I don't think you'd understand at your age."

"Believe me, I'm pretty sure I will."

"You are a kid."

"I am a kid who has faced a lot in the last few months."

"Fine." His mouth relaxed into a grimace. "I-I thought I saw Fred."

"That was Fred."

"I mean my brother, Frederick Fabian Weasley, the one who has been dead for years now. I saw his face in Andrew's for a moment and I was scared - I panicked and remembered how he had died. That spell that came out of my mouth faster than I could stop it. It happened all too quick. I lost them both, oh heavens, I lost them both." His face crumbled and the tears flowed out. It was only then did the two of them realize he was not coming back.

"He's gone, oh my, he's gone. He's dead, George, don't you get it?"

Only in George's mind, Ivory was not talking about the Fred who had died that day. He was thinking of his brother, his twin.

"Stop it just stop!" George yelled suddenly. The child jumped back, but he went on. "I know he's not coming back - he's dead. Why do people think I don't know that? I understand it fine, perfectly fine!" He stood up and ran out of the Hospital Wing, but he returned a moment later with Auror Potter.

Harry Potter looked at Ivory. "I am about as confused as you are. George, would you mind telling the story again of why you - why you murdered Frederick Andrew?"

George told the story again, not much calmer than the first time. The tears slipped out of his eyes in an unsteady manner, but he continued talking until the story was over.

"V-very interesting," the Auror said at last. "I cannot believe I am saying this and I'm sorry but you will have a trial on the 22nd of June to determine your presence regarding the death of this child."

"Alright." There was no humor in the situation, not even some that George Weasley could find.

Ivory met eyes with the Auror. "Is it true - did he really?"

"Unfortunately, yes. The wand's last spell was indeed the Killing Curse."

"That's terrible!"

"It is."

"I cannot believe it to be true."

"Neither can his mother." Harry Potter seemed to be seeing something other than a hospital room full of three grievers. He blinked and wished the child speedy recovery and used the nearby fireplace to travel by Floo Powder, George following.

What sounded like several pairs of echoing footsteps sounded into the hospital. From where she was lying, Ivory could make out men and women with the same color of hair of George.

"I'm sorry, he's gone already."

Their faces relaxed and the eldest man burst into tears. His wife held onto his arm, telling him it was alright when both of them knew it was anything but. Besides, she had tears on her face, too.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't believe it either." Ivory was crying now. Fred was dead, gone, never to return. She lied like that, tears streaking paths down her face, long after the Weasleys had left.

Sometime later in the evening, Sybil Trelawney came. "Dear, not even the stars could have seen it coming."

"I - I know, but there never really was an eagle, was there?"

Professor Trelawney did not answer. She pulled out a book from the bag at her hip and handed it to Ivory. "I was going to return it, but heaven knows it'll never be returned now."

Ivory thanked her and looked down at the cover. She felt the tears well up in her eyes as she read the title: Of Sight and of Fortune. She cracked open the book and turned to the now familiar page of the Aquila morte. She began reading about how it killed in Sight, but it had not killed in Sight because the eagle itself did not exist, she knew that now. Very swiftly and quietly, she stepped out of the bed and carried the textbook over to the fireplace. The flames had long lost its green burning and were returning to their usual combinations of hues of orange and red with tips of a bluish white. She took one last look at the Aquila morte and closed the book before throwing it into the flames where it burned and darkened to a deep black the flames consumed. She could hear one last squawk as the book was consumed completely and she crawled back into bed. She was sound asleep by the time the nurse came back.