The Ending or the Beginning of It All
Ginny never expected the spell to work, she never expected the rush to fill her being, only exiting her wand in a rush of pain and shock. Her wand arm was burning her from the inside out as the sickly green light jetted forwards in a rush. As much as Ginny wanted to drop her wand, she couldn’t; that thing had to die. She had to kill it and whatever Ron was.
Molly wanted to laugh; this chit thought that a single spell could kill her? A dark curse could do nothing against a creature made from fear itself, the first fears of humanity. The loneliness and deseparation of surviving, the fear of the dark, the fear of teeth ganshing at your insides.The fear of fire, the fear of the most primarl constructs they’d forgotten. She’d watched as the green light sped towards her-not bad for a child-she wouldn’t move, but she certainly wasn’t going to die. She would give that inspid little child something to break her. Then, she’d kill them all.
Bill groaned, coughing up blood and tried to move-every single nerve in his body was on fire. He felt terrible and wondered if dying was worth the pain at this point. His body was shaking with exertion, willing some part of him to move. There was a flash of something coming towards them and he wondered if someone had fired off a patronous for help. Maybe Charlie had cast something? What about Dad and Ginny?
Maybe it was the twins or Percy?
Bill felt weightless for a moment as he was lifted in the air, that creature pulling his hair back, forcing him to look.
‘’Say goodnight, William,’’
Bill had no time to react as his eyes focused enough to see a shocked Ginny, her partially burned arm and the tell tale green light of the killing curse coming towards him. Bill was sure Ginny screamed but he heard nothing more as the curse hit and he was gone, his body dropping to the floor in a useless heap.
‘’BILL!’’
—--------------------------------------------------------------
“”AHHH!!”
Severus rushed into the bedroom the twins had claimed as their own upon their arrival; their screams still ringing through his very core. He blasted the wooden door right off the hinges, making his way into the room, however neither twin was there.
Had they apparated so quickly? He scanned the room, searching for any signs of an intruder. He knew his warding abilities, none could dismantle his wards. They had been infused with his blood and required his blood to enter, unless it was the Dark Lord. The man hardly left Grimmauld Place.
“They’re at their old home-I’ll take ye there, Severus,”
Severus spun around to face the Grim Reaper himself, Grimmsby. The skeletal man looked unimpressed and simply gestured to the swirling mass of inky blackness behind him. “Yer choice, but I’d hurry if I were ye,”
Severus sighed, wondering if he should’ve been a potions master and left it at that instead of being conned into teaching. Life would’ve been much more simple, he mulled as he stepped into the portal.
—————————————————————
Percy Weasley had never wanted to do anything else except bring his family back to glory. He’d work night and day if he had to, read every book and have no social life if it meant that his family’s honor was restored. So far he had done everything he could to get into Fudge’s good books.
The man had been talking about looking for a new assistant for some time and Percy knew that position was his. He just had to keep going. He could do it. He could make them all proud.
No one owled Percy, unless it was Penelope and even then, her last letter had not been promising of a continuation between them. His family hadn’t bothered to owl him since his graduation and his move to his own flat.
They thought he betrayed them. Percy would set everything right soon enough. He would prove them all wrong.
Percy was expecting a regal ministry owl or at best, Penelope’s small fluffy owl, but what came in through the window of his office was a panicked brown owl, the feathers partially burned. Upon closer inspection, Percy realized the owl wasn’t brown, it was covered in soot and dust and the creature was a dull grey.
“Errol?! For goodness sake, what are you doing here?!”
Errol gave a small hoot before collapsing, a scrap of parchment tied messily to his leg. Percy quickly banished the dust and grime from his owl, making it comfortable with some fresh water and treats before attending to the parchment.
If Errol planned on dying in the next hour, he’d be comfortable.
At Mungo’s, come at once
F+G
Percy was through the floo network before the parchment hit the floor.
He knew that while Fred and George were pranksters, they would never joke about being in St. Mungo’s. They had always been upfront when they’d gotten hurt. Perhaps it was an experiment that had gone wrong and they didn’t want to alert Molly.
Percy hoped they had just made themselves sick.
—————————————————————
Severus sighed as he conjured a white sheet to lay over Bill Wealsey’s cooling body. He had been a good student and an upstanding employee of Gringotts. He’d written his letters of recommendation when he’d graduated. In his opinion, the boy was worth a hundred letters. It was a shame to lose a life so young.
Grimmsby and Severus had arrived not ten minutes ago; the twins had come and gone. The Burrow was nothing more than a pile of smoldering wood and scraps of fabric. The air stunk of iron and blood-scents Severus knew to signify a battle.
“How many?”
“Here? Only two-I’ve got to find the other one, don’t think it knows it died.”
Grimmsby stood still for a moment, before sighing, “Listen, we’ve got to head towards Mungo’s, now. Leave this to your people,”
Aurors were on their way, no doubt one of the neighbors had called. Severus nodded, turning on his heels and followed the Reaper into the swirling portal once again.
—————————————————————
Ginny was floating; she thought she saw the twins for a moment but that had been wrong. The twins wouldn’t have come. They wanted nothing to do with her or their family. She wanted to cry but the pain and the sick realization that she had killed Bill made her heart stop. She knew that once it came out-what she had done-she would be thrown into Azkaban. She hadn’t meant to kill her big brother. She hadn’t meant to kill anyone. She was just a little girl!
Little girls didn’t belong in wars. She was just trying to…be like Harry Potter. Be the hero her family needed.
The medi-witches came in again; she knew because they smelled like potions.
“You foolish child! Look at what you’ve done!” Severus Snape filtered into the room, critical eyes examining her burnt wand arm. He followed the flaking spell-burned skin up until it disappeared between her medical gown. He had seen enough to know that Ginvera Weasley would be dead by morning if she lived that long.
“She’ll be gone by midnight, best ye ask what ye need.”
“She can’t see you?”
“Not until her time comes closer, until then” Grimmsby disappeared out the door, presumably to go collect the rest of the Weasleys.
“Please…c-c-could you stay, P-p-Professor? ‘M scared,”
Severus closed his eyes as he took a seat opposite of the bed and sighed. This foolish child was just a little girl and no one deserved to die alone. Gingerly, he took her small hand in his, stroking the paper thin skin.
By midnight her wand arm would disintegrate into nothing. Her body would seize up and burn from the inside out; her magickal core would die. She would die.
Ginvera Weasley would be nothing more than another casualty of war. A war that for once, had nothing to do with the wizarding world and everything to do with it. He had no idea what would happen after this. If she was the final Weasley to die or if any of them had survived, save the twins. Who had been at the Burrow?
Rapid footsteps approached the door, but Severus remained where he was. He could conduct no magick around Miss Weasley-it would kill her faster. Percy Weasley flew in through the door, hair a mess and glasses askew. His work robes were wrinkled and there was a spot of ink on his tie. In Severus’ humble opinion, Percy had never looked worse.
‘’Wh-Wh-What happened to her? Ginny! What?’’
‘’Calm yourself, Mister Weasley,’’
Percy whirled around to see Severus sitting next to his sister’s bed, her hand in his. Percy breathed harshly, his hands shaking as he collapsed in the chair on the other side. He couldn’t bring himself to stay still, his leg bouncing. Severus had never been one to mince his words nor hold his tongue, but he knew that Percy deserved the truth. ‘’Mister Weasley,’’ he waited until Percy inclined his head to indicate he’d heard him, ‘’you must remain calm. You must accept that Miss Weasley will die-“
Percy looked at Severus, hollow red rimmed eyes-eyes that had seen death. Suddenly the man understood why the twins were not here and why it had taken Percy so long. “Who else?”
“Dad..Bill…Charlie might not make it-they don’t know..”
“Molly?”
“Gone, she and Bill were at the house,”
“A fine family, I am….deeply sorry for your loss,”
If Percy heard him, he didn’t say anything. Severus understood and didn’t press him. “What’ll happen?”
How much longer does she have to suffer?
“Judging by the burning, perhaps midnight? No child should have had to cast an unforgivable.”
Percy nodded slowly, content to hold Ginny’s other hand. She was so small. Percy knew why Ginny had been placed away from her family-magick would’ve sped up her death. There was no magick around them, only muggle IV’s feeding her a hydrating solution. It was all they could do, keeping her hydrated so she wouldn’t feel the burning. The medi-witch had said that Ginny’s burns were so terrible she felt nothing. She wouldn’t feel when her arm fell off and by the time her organs burned away, Ginny would be dead. The tiny bones of her hands were already exposed in some areas, the charred skin flaking away into the air. Percy tried to look elsewhere, but the sight was sickening.
Ginny’s face remained impassive. Perhaps the nerves in her eyes had burned?
“G-George? Fre’?” She rasped, coughing up a few flakes of burned skin. She didn’t notice.
“They…came to see you, they’re with Charlie,”
Percy had made the decision to not leave either of their siblings alone. He’d made the twins stay with Charlie. He wouldn’t let them see Ginny like this, and didn't want them to see her die like this either. He’d seen Charlie, he’d been mangled with pieces of his skin hanging on by threads. Not even in his years as a Dragon Tamer had he ever been so hurt. They weren’t sure if Charlie would succumb to his wounds, but he’d give his instructions-save him.
The doctor wasn’t sure if Charlie would have any feeling left. Percy wasn’t willing to let anyone else die. He couldn’t.
He wasn’t ready to take the title.
Ron had been burned alive. Percy had seen the Aurors place his little brother in a magickal transport bag. Bill had been hit by the killing curse, from Ginny’s wand. Molly had been partially burned and eaten. They’d found pieces of her everywhere. Arthur had been torn apart and most of him had been found among his shed.
No one had any answers for him. Percy hoped that Charlie had an answer at least.
He needed to know why Ginny had cast the unforgivable, knowing what it would do to her. It was why that class had been taken after a child’s magickal core settled. The backlash was too much.
The life you take is the life you lose.
It was a saying all purebloods taught their children. They all knew it. Ginny must’ve been desperate to cast such a terrible curse. Desperation breeds disaster. It was as simple as that. He couldn’t do anything else at the moment, except wait. Ginny could die in peace.
She wouldn’t be alone.
—————————————————————
Severus wanted to leave, but how could he leave when his students needed him? He was certain that the twins were with Charlie. He wished he could say more to the young man opposite him, but there was nothing to say. He had no proper experience with death.
His father had killed his own mother and then died later on. His best friend had died because he’d held a grudge and attempted to defy fate. She’d died due to his own selfishness. He had killed in service to the Dark Lord and in protection of himself.
Severus did not know what it was like to have someone die because there was nothing else to be done. A peaceful death was something he had no understanding of.
All the death that surrounded him was useless and violent and selfish. He couldn’t look properly at Ginny as all he saw was his best friend, the life gone from her body. He held her hand and wished that he were anywhere else but here. He could not bear this a moment longer.
He had no idea when the world turned to such a terrible time but it had. Something was wrong and this time, there was no Bunnymund, no guardians, just a feeble plan at best for in case.
North and Tooth were on look out. Ombric said nothing and it reminded him too much of Albus at times. The children were all training, for what he did not know.
Even Fenrir felt the change. Fenrir had taken it upon himself to teach the children the woods-what was safe to eat and how to survive. Draco hated every moment of it but he couldn’t deny the information. Marcus had been thrilled.
The Dark Lord had begun to search for himself, going away for days at a time. Severus had an idea but preferred to remain quiet.
Alastor for his part, traveled and worked, gathering information for the war. Alastor was sure that the signs were there.
It was a matter of time.
Severus knew that eventually he would have to fulfill his promise to Aster. He only hoped it would not be for some time. Sandy had opted to remain close by, only leaving when absolutely necessary.
All Severus knew was that something was coming and he needed to prepare. Still something told him that the Weasley death was only the beginning of something much darker.