I Know The End {Fred Weasley, ACT I}

Chapter 29- Four

If Eleanor could read a clock, she would have known it was 11:56 PM. But she couldn't read a clock, especially not in the dark. She needed her dad to wake up and light the candles for her. She really needed him to wake up and quiet Harry. Harry hadn't stopped crying since the bad man came. It was getting annoying. She clasped her hands upon her ears to drown him out.

She was sitting on the cold tile floor in the hallway that led from the front door to the kitchen, staring ahead at the stairwell. Their home in Godric's Hollow was a very open living space. The dining room, with a window seat the perfect size for Eleanor, sat to the left of the front door. To the right was the living room, decorated in a forest green by the previous owners. Between the two rooms was the stairwell and the hallway leading into the large kitchen that took up the entire backside of the first floor. Every room on that ground floor led into the other, or at least they had not too long ago. The ceiling had caved in over the dining room so that Eleanor's perfect window seat was crushed. It was okay though, she was sure daddy could fix it. Daddy always fixed everything.

She hoped she'd see her mom walk down the stairs at any moment. Mommy would ask her why they were sitting in the dark and calm Harry down. But something was wrong with mommy. Very wrong. She'd fallen funny when the bad man used his magic on her. Her head hit the side of Harry's crib and now looked... scary. She was sleeping, twisted in a very uncomfortable way. And her head was...

Once daddy woke up, he could help mommy. But Eleanor wasn't going back upstairs to look at Mommy. It scared her too much. So, she'd picked up Harry from his crib, which took forever because he was so heavy, and stepped over her mother. Mommy needed to rest. Eleanor would go bother daddy. She'd put Harry in her lap and slid down the steps in a sitting position. Bump, bump, bump, all the way down. Harry's crying amplified with each step.

She didn't understand why daddy wasn't waking up to help with Harry. She nudged him in the side with her foot, but he continued to lay still. Green flashes replayed in her mind. Maybe daddy just needed a little bit of rest too. Maybe mommy and daddy both thought Harry was being annoying and wouldn't wake up until he stopped crying.

"Stop it," she yelled out, turning to stare at where her brother sat, crying beside her. In the light reflecting from the streetlights through the open door, Eleanor noticed Harry was still bleeding. The magic had hurt him, left a booboo on his head. She wiped it off with the sleeve of her pajamas quickly while he screamed out in pain.

"STOP!" Eleanor screamed back and finally he did. Although his mouth was still wide open in imitations of screams and tears were still pouring down his small, red face, no sound was coming out.

She looked to her father to see if the abrupt change had stirred him, but he continued to lay motionless on the floor. It had been a long time now and Eleanor was becoming impatient. She gave him a much harder kick in the ribs, feeling guilty as she did it, but becoming desperate for someone to do something. Still nothing.

She was hungry. And tired. And very scared that the bad man would return. She rocked back and forth where she sat, huddling for warmth as wind continued to blow through the open door. She wasn't allowed to touch the door, that was Mommy and Daddy's rule, and she was definitely not allowed to go outside. She'd wait for them to close it so as not to get in trouble. Again.

Last month she'd been woken by Harry's crying. She waited and waited, yet no one came to get him. Irritated, she'd dragged him down the stairs and left him outside on the front stoop so the whole family could get some uninterrupted sleep for once. His crying was just so loud. Mommy and daddy had been furious with her when they went to check on Harry in the morning only to find he was not in his crib. We do NOT go outside! If he's crying, just come get us.

Well, he was crying now, and they weren't waking up. At least he'd finally quieted down.

Crash!

Eleanor screamed at the sudden noise, clamping her eyes shut. The chandelier collapsed upon the kitchen table, chunks of plaster from the ceiling falling with it. She whimpered, huddling closer to her father. The upper story of the house was slowly coming undone around them. She didn't understand why. Must have been some magic the bad man had done. Or whatever had happened when he tried to get to Harry.

She shivered, her eyelids heavy with exhaustion. She glanced at Harry. His mouth was still wide in silent screams. She scooped him up, plopping him down next to daddy's arm while she curled up on her father's free shoulder. She rested her head there for a minute, confused as to why he felt so cold, so stiff, so unlike her father.

He'd wake up soon and fix the house and Harry and mommy. It was okay.

If Eleanor could read a clock, she'd have known it was 12:03 AM. November first. She was four. But she couldn't, so she let her eyes close slowly, her knees pulled tightly into her chest. Sleep crept in and her anxieties faded with it. She'd done her best. She tried to protect Harry, even if he was loud and annoying.

Eleanor was awoken suddenly. She felt as though no time had passed at all, although the clock now read 1:37 AM. A hand was shaking her fervently as her name was repeated desperately in her ear. She craned her neck from her father's shoulder slowly. She was too groggy to initially survey her surroundings. The green light emitting from the dark mark cast above their house cast shadows around the figure crouching above her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make out the face.

"Uncle Wormy?"