Complete and Utter Poppycock

Chapter 2: Fallen Warrior

I sobbed hard. It felt just like Cedric all over again. Canaan saved my life, and in return he died. It wasn't fair. I just want my family. . .

Everyone was nearly here except for Bill and Fleur. I couldn't imagine Bill's face when he hears about my brother. There was a general outcry and a thestral landed a few feet in front of us. They got off its back unhurt.

Bill looked at me in shock as same for Fluer but she seemed more horrified.

"Bill! Thank God, thank God!"

Mrs. Weasley ran towards them to hug him but it was perfunctory. Looking forward at his father, he said, "Mad-Eye's dead."

No one spoke or moved. I still haven't told them anything about my brother yet. They don't know.

"We saw it," said Bill; Fleur nodded. "It happened just after we broke out of the circle: Mad-Eye and Dung were close by us, they were heading north too. Voldemort — he can fly — went straight for them. Dung panicked, I heard him cry out, Mad-Eye tried to stop him, but he Disapparated. Voldemort's curse hit Mad-Eye in the face, he fell backward off his broom and — there was nothing we could do, nothing, we had half a dozen of them on our own tail —"

Bill's voice broke.

"Of course you couldn't have done anything," said Lupin.

"Canaan's dead too," I added. Bill looked at me, his mouth slightly open, then his face scrunched up as he looked away, as if he couldn't bare  his best friend being dead. Everyone looked at me in grief and in pity.

We knew there was no point in waiting anymore. In silence, we followed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley back inside, into the living room where Fred and George were laughing. I hadn't even seen Fred yet and when he saw me, he shot up out of the seat to ran over to me.

"Babe, what's wrong? What happened?" asked Fred, gaping at the blood that stained my hair and clothes.

"What happened?" he asked again but to everyone. "Who's — ?"

"Mad-Eye and Canaan," said Mr. Weasley. "Dead."

Nobody seemed to know what to do. Tonks was crying silently in her handkerchief. I sobbed loudly in Fred's arms. Hagrid sat down in a corner where he had the most space and was dabbing at his eyes with a table-cloth sized handkerchief.

Bill walked over to the sideboard and pulled out a bottle of fire-whiskey and some glasses.

"Here," he said, and with a wave of his wand he sent thirteen full glasses soaring through the room to each of us, holding the fourteenth aloft. "Mad-Eye and Canaan."

"Mad-Eye and Canaan," we all said and drank. Hagrid said it a little late with a hiccup. I drained the glass in one gulp, knowing I would need it the most out of anyone here. It burned my throat.

My brother is dead. . .

I leaned my head against Fred's shoulder. I was still soaked in my brothers blood. I didn't even want to wash it off.

"So Mundungus disappeared?" Lupin asked.

"I know what you're thinking," said Bill, "and I wondered that too, on the way back there, because they seemed to be expecting us, didn't they? But Mundungus can't have betrayed us. They didn't know there would be seven Harrys, that confused them the moment we appeared, and in case you've forgotten, it was Mundungus who suggested that little bit of skullduggery. Why wouldn't he have told them the essential point? I think Dung panicked, it's as simple as that. He didn't want to come in the first place, but Mad-Eye made him, You-Know-Who went straight for them. It was enough to make anyone panic."

"You-Know-Who acted exactly as Mad-Eye expected him to," sniffed Tonks. "Mad-Eye said he'd expect the real Harry to be with the toughest, most skilled Aurors. He chased Mad-Eye first, and when Mundungus gave them away he switched to Kingsley. . ."

"And then they targeted towards us then, I suppose. I'm have the same exact Firebolt Harry's got since it came from Sirius." I added. "I said the Disarm Charm that Harry says a lot while in battle and it gave me away that I was Harry. . . And then he. . . he read my mind because I kept saying "I'm not him. I'm not him." And he went away."

"But still eet does not explain 'ow zey knew we were moving 'Arry tonight, does eet?" said Fleur. "Somebody must 'ave been careless. Somebody let slip ze date to an outsider. It ze only explanation for zem knowing ze date but not ze 'ole plan."

She glared around us all, silently daring anyone to contradict her. Nobody did.

"No," said Harry aloud. We all looked at him surprised. "I mean. . . if somebody made a mistake, and let something slip, I know they didn't mean to do it. It's not they're fault. We've got to trust each other. I trust all of you, I don't think anyone in this room would ever sell me to Voldemort."

More silence followed his words. We were all looking at him. He drank again of his fire-whiskey. I instantly regretted drinking so much on the first go for the first time.

"Well said, Harry," said Fred unexpectedly.

"Yeah, 'ear, 'ear," said George. I smiled at him at his corny pun.

"You think I'm a fool?" demanded Harry. Lupin was looking at him with pity. I didn't know what was going on.

"No, I think you're like James," said Lupin, "who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends." Lupin then turned to Bill. "There's work to do. I can ask Kingsley whether —"

"No," said Bill at once. "I'll do it, I'll come."

"Where are you going?" said Tonks and Fleur together.

"Mad-Eye and Canaan's body," said Lupin. "We need to recover it."

"Can't it —?" began Mrs. Weasley with an appealing look at Bill.

"Wait?" said Bill. "Not unless you'd rather the Death Eaters took them?"

Nobody spoke. Lupin and Bill said goodbye and left. The rest of us dropped into chairs except Harry. Mrs. Weasley directed me to a bathroom so I could wash all the blood and dried up muddy water off of me.

While showering, I watched all the dried up blood wash away from me as it went through the drain. This was my brother's blood, his dead, cold blood. . . I slipped to the bottom of the shower and sat on my butt with my knees to my chest as I loudly cried in the bathroom, knowing the whole house could hear me, but I honestly didn't care. My sobs continued, growing loud and faint, the more or less I thought of him. He was close to me. Canaan was gone from my life. Just like everyone else. I hated myself for it.