𝙿𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚔𝚒𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦 | ✔︎

Chapter 64

Both the newlywed couples had decided to stay behind at the Burrow, as Order work and Auror work meant that they couldn't leave the country. Natasha didn't care, as it meant she could catch up with Harry and his friends without any ears prying onto their conversations.

"Harry, Draco is family, no matter how messed up the tree is. And I hate to disagree with you, but the kid has more heart than you realise. So, it's possible he has been inducted, but I don't think he's doing anything alone. I can try check in with Dumbledore to see if I can roam the grounds, but I doubt I'd find anything."

"He's one of them, I'm sure of it," Harry said determinedly, and Natasha sighed, realising none of her words would get through to the boy. He was as stubborn as James and Lily, and Natasha knew that even her father couldn't change his mind.

"Even if he is, legally you can't do anything. If you so much as harm a single hair on his head, I'll be sent down there with other aurors and you'll be collected, especially since he's the son of Lucius and Narcissa. Sure, his father may be in jail, but money means everything in our world."

Harry turned away from Natasha, looking out of the window, but before Natasha could try to sway him once more, his body became alert.

"Someone's here," he muttered urgently. Natasha at first couldn't comprehend a single word that left his mouth and opened her mouth in protest as he shoved her aside. But she shut her mouth as soon as she saw the first flame.

"Fred!" she cried, and she ran out of the living room to the garden, where a circle of fire now burned, creeping towards the house. Harry spotted Bellatrix dancing behind the flames, and just as the rest of the household came outside, he ran through the flames, followed closely by Ginny.

"Natasha, don't you dare," Molly seethed, trying to hold back Ron and Hermione.

"Sorry Molls, but what can you expect from a product of my parents!" Natasha apologised, before she too ran into the flames, Remus and Tonks following.

"NATASHA!" Fred cried out, and he tried to run, only to be held back by Arthur.

"She's an Auror son, just as Remus and Tonks are. She'll be okay," he promised, though he too was concerned for his only daughter-in-law, especially since he had promised Aurelia and Sirius to keep an eye on her whilst she was staying under their roof.

"Dad, I can't lose her. She's the only person that keeps me grounded. Dad, I'm scared," Fred whispered hoarsely, and for the first time in years, Fred Weasley began to cry. Arthur wrapped his arms around his son comfortingly, though he was marginally smaller than him, but nonetheless, he wished only to comfort Fred.

Another flame sprung up, this time reaching the house, and Molly shoved Ron and Hermione behind her, as Charlie and Bill ran into the fire. Penny held onto George, and Molly started rambling instructions to Penny and George, telling them to get the children to safety.

But she couldn't finish.

Molly Weasley was forced to watch with tired eyes as her beloved home went up in flames, reflected in the irises of everyone's eyes. She sobbed only once, before breaking down, her knees hitting the floor and her back jerking as Ron and Ginny looked to each other concerned.

"We got them!" Natasha yelled out, as she ran past the flames, extinguishing them with her wand. "Harry and Ginny are..."

Natasha paused, as her childhood burnt to the ground. She looked over to where Molly was sobbing on her knees, and over to Fred, who Arthur finally released. "No," she uttered, before she too fell, only to be caught by Fred at the last second.

"Fred! My camera! It has our wedding photos inside!" she cried.

"It's okay Nat, I got them out in time," Hermione said, just before the girl could run inside. Natasha smiled weakly as the Burrow began to topple under itself, and Fred shielded her from it with his body, hugging her as tightly as he had ever done.

"It's all gone Freddie. The place where we created some of the greatest memories. The place where I was born. The place where the three of us planned out our lives as children. It's all gone up in flames."

~.~

The following days were slow, as Molly, Arthur, Remus, Sirius and any other magic user available from the Order helped to rebuild the Burrow. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were staying with Sirius and Aurelia, and Molly and Arthur were using Oliver's flat, whilst Bill, Charlie, Fleur and Penny stayed together at Remus and Tonks' cottage.

The process was slow, as the fire had been magical, and Molly was restoring what she could alongside Natasha and Fleur, who were skilled with repairing charms. Sirius and Aurelia had rushed over as soon as news hit them, but even their magic could not fully restore the home.

Which meant renovations were in tow.

The only thing any person could smile about.

Bigger rooms, larger floors and touch ups here and there. Penny made potions for everyone, ensuring no cuts or burns were anywhere, and Charlie enlisted a few of his workmates to send down supplies, including new light fixtures.

But as soon as the Burrow had burnt down, it was promptly rebuilt, just in time for the remaining Hogwarts students to head back to school. Natasha's stomach curled as she looked at Harry, but she couldn't quite decipher why.

Neither could Aurelia, whose head was pounding from the pain of an unknown premonition.

Her head was that bad that one day, just hours before the departure of the Hogwarts Express, she dragged Natasha to a dark corner of London, to a flat only she and a few select others knew the path to.

"Sev! I need help!" she said quietly, the urgency in her tone matching the pain both she and Natasha felt. Something fell from the interior of the flat, before the door swung, open, revealing a surprised Severus.

"Aurelia? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, his joy for seeing his cousin for the first time in years overruled by concern. He hadn't seen her since Natasha's first year, when she had asked for him to watch over her child.

"My head, Natasha's stomach. Something dark is coming and the pain won't stop," she breathed, as Severus led her inside. It was gloomy inside, much like the dungeon of an abandoned castle.

Severus helped the two women sit down, before grabbing two vials from a cloaked cabinet; ones he hadn't had to use since the day before Lily and James perished. Inside these vials were two of the strongest potions known to Seers, and it was the only thing that could remove their trademark feelings, whether it was a sore stomach, an ache in a joint, or even just the whispering of the mind.

"You're lucky I have these in stock. Sybil's been using my vials lately for her own potions, so I only have these few ones left," Severus said quietly as he sat beside Aurelia. She leant back against him as she finished taking her potion, his arm curling around her shoulders protectively, as it had done many times before.

"I've missed you Uncle Sev," Natasha said with a short smile. Aurelia snorted once, before looking at her cousin, setting her off in a fit of giggles.

"I told you she'd call you that Sev," she choked through her giggles, her childlike nature emerging from the defensive layers she always held high. Severus smiled back, one of a true and genuine nature, before kissing the top of her head, ruffling her pin straight hair.

"To be fair, you also promised me when we were five that we were both never going to have children, and it seems I'm the only one upholding our bargain cousin," he drawled, his normally smooth and deep voice now sweeter and almost cheerful.

The similarities between the two cousins were a lot clearer as Natasha observed them, gently sipping on some tea Severus had brewed. Both sat with their backs up straight, their chins sharp and their hair dead straight.

It was certain that the two were close, as Aurelia stayed close to Severus' side, whilst he leant his head on hers, inspecting the new ring Aurelia had purchased a few weeks before. "Looks an awful lot like old Miss Prudence's ring," he murmured, and Aurelia looked at it closely once more before nodding in agreement.

"Maybe that's why it struck me. I saw it in a premonition years ago, just a few months after Natasha was born, and when I found it at this muggle flea shop, I just knew it was mine now."

The two caught up eagerly for a few hours, as Natasha leant back in her seat to get some more shut eye, and before she knew it, she had fallen fast asleep, watched over by her mother and her favourite cousin.