HIS RIDDLE | JASPER HALE

Forks

We had been separated into groups, battling death eaters one by one. I was grouped with Fred and Percy. We had been going at it for a while. Percy was dueling a man when suddenly his hood slipped off revealing the Minister.

"Hello, Minister!" Percy exclaimed while sending a jinx at him, successfully making him drop his wand, "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

Fred and I laughed, "You're joking, Perce!" Fred shouted while firing stunning spells at his opponent, "You actually are joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were..."

It all happened so fast. One second, Fred was teasing his brother. The next, all hell broke loose.

There was a loud explosion, sending me flying through the air, crashing into a wall opposite from me. My ears were ringing, I could barely make out the groans from the others involved. It was a horrible pain. But nothing could prepare me for the pain I was about to experience. 

There he was, lying on the ground surrounded by rubble. Percy was kneeling by him, shaking his shoulders, begging for him to wake up. Ron was also beside him, weeping for his brother. Fred's eyes stared open without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched on his face.

I fell to my knees, all of my breath knocked out of me. "NO! NOOOOO!" I screamed, tearing running down my cheeks, "FREDDIE!"

I got up and ran toward him, cradling his dead body in my arms, "Please don't leave me. Don't leave me, Fred!" I begged, "You can't leave me. I can't do this without you." I began shaking, "You promised! YOU PROMISED!" I bawled. I let go of him and backed into a corner, rocking back and forth, knees to my chest. "No, no, no, no. He's not dead," I whispered, staring into space "He can't be dead. He just can't be."

"FREDDIE!" I yelled, waking up. Sweat pouring down my face. My clothes were clinging to my body. I moved my legs off of my bed and cradled my face in my hands. The nightmares had been getting worse lately. I had one every night. 

I got up from my bed and went to shower. I slowly peeled my clothes off, jumping in the ice-cold shower. I let the water wash over my head, fully waking me up. I bathed and cleaned off the sweat that covered my body. 

I got out and grabbed a towel, shaking my dark brown locks dry. I rarely looked in the mirror anymore. I looked too much like my father, well before he turned into that creature. My appearance reminded me of the man that killed my best friend. The man that caused the war that killed my Freddie. 

I went back to my room and dressed into some black leggings and a red jumper that had a large F on it. It was Fred's, the one he left in my trunk. It still smelled like him.

I walked out of my room and down the stairs. I went to the kitchen, grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and filled it up with water.

I had arrived in Forks yesterday, Saturday, January 15th. Turns out, I have a neighbor. His name is Charlie Swan. We met yesterday also, he welcomed me to Forks. 

We spent all of last night getting to know one another. He told me that his daughter, Bella, was coming home today. She would be in the same grade as me.

I decided that I wanted to go to muggle school to retain any sense of normalcy that I could. I was going into my junior year of high school. I had gotten Kingsley to send over paperwork, registering me into the local high school. 

I told Charlie the cover story that I had made before I left London. It was that my parents had recently passed in a car accident and I was sent here to live in Forks by my uncle. He lived in Seattle but he couldn't take care of me so now I live in the small town of Forks.