𝐉𝐈𝐆𝐒𝐀𝐖

Chapter 26

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Chapter Twenty-Six:

Smiling at the Crocodile

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They arrived in front of the Burrow and Snape promptly passed out. Harry looked back and saw the man lying in a heap, his face gray and his breathing ragged.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked, glancing back at the Burrow. It was very quiet.

"This is the second Portkey from Canada to England that he's made today. He'll be fine," Contessa said, bending down to check on him. She looked worried, however.

Sirius conjured a floating stretcher for him and then headed towards the Burrow. Harry ran to catch up to him. Draco was right behind him, though Lupin was limping along slowly and painfully.

As they got closer, Sirius and Harry gasped. The house looked like a corpse, all gray and dark. The doors were wide open and the insides looked either burned or torn apart. As they approached the front door, Harry noticed that blood stained the threshold.

"Oh no," Harry moaned.

"Who's there?" demanded a high-pitched voice. After a moment, Rufus Tiberius stepped out of the shadows, pointing his wand at them. He relaxed when he saw it was Sirius and Harry.

"Oh, you're alive. Thank the Goddess," he breathed, smiling weakly at Harry.

"What happened?" Sirius asked. Harry hadn't quite recovered his powers of speech. They couldn't be--no, not the Weasleys . . .

Harry realized Rufus's face was wet, his eyes were red, and his nose was puffy. He sat down on the threshold and looked glum. "I came back for clues. There's nothing. Tonks, Kingsley, Dawlish--we've been over this place a hundred times," he said.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WEASLEYS?" Harry exploded, feeling his heart burst. Rufus slowly looked up at him.

"It's been, what four days? You-Know-Who and a large group Death Eaters finally struck. They've only been doing piddling, wee things. A small attack here, a break-in there. They've been waiting. They hit the Burrow the day after they hit you, Harry," Rufus said numbly.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Harry roared, grabbing Rufus by the shoulders and shaking him. Rufus burst into tears. This man was nearly a decade older than Harry but he was crying like a child.

"Bill's missing. He's probably dead," Rufus's voice broke as he spoke. "We've looked everywhere, but we can't find him. Bill, Percy, and the twins were here, having Sunday dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. They're all at St. Mungo's. Percy's lost an arm. The twins--the twins are all right, though they were hurt badly. Fought like nesting dragons, Mr. Weasley said. Mr. Weasley's okay now--though it was a close call. One of the Death Eaters had tried to use the Imperius Curse on him, but he threw himself out of the second story window to stop himself from hurting George. But Mrs. Weasley--"

"No," Harry said, fighting off the tears. "She can't be--"

"She won't wake up. We don't know what they did to her," Rufus said tearfully. "They almost killed her, but Percy saved her. That's when he lost his arm. Rodolphus Lestrange cursed it so badly that the Healers had to amputate to save him. They're going to try and re-grow it, but it will take time. Mrs. Weasley just won't wake up. Bill's probably dead, but he managed to call me before he went missing. When I got a group of Aurors together to help and arrived, the Death Eaters had already Disapparated. The Weasleys would all be dead if it weren't for Bill's quick thinking. You-Know-Who and the rest of them left once they got Bill."