Chapter 2
Althea's pov:
"Breathe," I said, paralyzed. I couldn't even think about breathing at that moment. Everything is going to be fine; just breathe."
The room went dark.
I wake up in a bed.
What was happening? How did I get here?
This wasn't my room. The sheets-they were different; they felt weird in my hands. My heart was beating too fast.
Then, I looked over to see a familiar face sitting at my bedside.
It was Molly, with one of the brightest smiles out of the Weasleys. Except something was different; her face was sullen yet so plain.
"molly? what's going on?" I asked, trying to take my mind off the feeling of the nonstop squeezing in my gut. My head was spinning, making it hard for me to sit up properly.
"Althea, I'm so glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" She placed a hand on my forehead, caressing it with her thumb as though she were checking my temperature.
"What are you talking about? I'm feeling fine." I moved her hand away softly enough that she didn't feel like I was pushing her off.
"The twins and everyone have been waiting downstairs," she sighed. She looked worried, but she tried not to show it. How's your head? You fell pretty hard. Does your head hurt?" She kept asking about my head and whether I was feeling okay.
"Thank you, but I've already said that my head feels fine. But, um—waiting? I'm confused- Waiting for what? What's going on? Are my parents here? And fell? What do you mean that I fell? When did I fall? How did I fall?"
"I'm so sorry. We tried to tell you earlier, but you collapsed."
"Tell me? Tried to tell me what? What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
"Hey, kiddo." Arthur poked his head in the door and gave a faint smile. He looked just as sullen as Molly. I looked at the door to see if my parents were going to enter any minute, but it was only him.
"Where's Mom and Dad? " I called out for them, but I didn't get a response. "Where are they?"Molly and Arthur frowned at each other for a while before telling me.
"There's been an accident," he spoke, interlocking fingers with Molly.
I was confused. Why were they telling me this?
"Your parents were involved. There were death eaters, and they caught up to them while they were getting off the boat." Arthur spoke.
"What are you saying?" I shot further up, ignoring the pounding at my head as I blinked a few times to set myself straight. "Is this some kind of cruel joke?" I was in complete disbelief for a minute before I put all the pieces together. "Oh god. They killed them, didn't they?" I started to giggle. "They're dead!" I couldn't help but laugh, not being able to possibly grasp the truth. This all seemed so surreal. I felt utterly hysterical.
Molly and Arthur just watched me; I was falling apart. There was a knock at the door. Fred poked his head in, scanning the room. Molly gestured her hand, and the twins, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, walked in. She gestured for them to say nothing. They all just stared at me. That's probably all they knew to do. I couldn't help but laugh. They probably thought I was crazy at that point--some sort of freak show. I finally looked around and saw that everyone had this pitiful frown on their faces. Then, it all hit me at once. It felt like my lungs had just collapsed.
"Oh my god. They're really gone," I choked out, feeling my heart sink. There was this ball in the back of my throat. It felt like I was choking. Like I was struggling to get any air into my lungs. And my eyes-- my eyes felt this horrible sting. They were filling with tears no matter how hard I tried to fight the feeling.
This isn't fair. My life would never be the same; I could feel my world crashing in. The tears in my eyes began to fall, and Molly sat down on the bed, reaching in to hold me.
"NO!" I resisted her hug, pushing her away in denial. "Please don't do this! You don't understand! They were supposed to be here!" I gave in, and I burst into tears. Molly grabbed me and held me tightly. My screams and cries were hoarse as I tried my hardest to force that ball out of the back of my throat.
"I'm here, I'm here for you. We all are." Molly caressed the back of my head, whispering words of reassurance into my ear. In the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny grab Hermione's hand. Hermione tucked her head into Ron's shoulder. It was only fair that she couldn't bear to see me like this.