𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫 | n. tonks

xxx

cw: mentions of death

It was too quiet.

Suspiciously quiet.

And, sure enough, Hadley's suspicions proved correct when a couple dozen Death Eaters flew up from the clouds and started to attack. She reacted quickly with a defensive spell to block the curse one of them threw at her.

"Oi, it's not nice to attack a woman, you big dummy!" she shouted.

"Hadley, don't anger them!" Mad-Eye yelled, casting an offensive spell that blasted a couple Death Eaters away.

"What difference does it make? Stupefy! They're gonna try to kill us either way!" Hadley ducked down to dodge a jet of green light, her heart hammering in her chest. There was a second flash of green light, and Hadley screamed.

─── ⋆·✧·⋆ ───

Tonks was anxiously watching the sky. Mad-Eye and Hadley should've been back by now.

There was a loud crack as Arthur and Fred appeared.

"Are we the last back?" Arthur asked. "Where's George and Hadley?"

"George is inside. He got hurt. His ear..." Tonks sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Hadley's not back yet," she whispered.

"I'm sure she's okay." Fred looked up at the dark sky, his heart sinking with worry that something might have happened. "She...She's tough...A-And Mad-Eye...He wouldn't have let anything happen to her, right?"

All was quiet except for the rustle of the overgrown field surrounding the Burrow. A few moments passed, and nothing happened. Just as Arthur was about to suggest that they go inside and wait, he caught sight of someone flying down on a broomstick.

Tonks ran out and wrapped Hadley tightly in her arms. The redhead tucked her face into the crook of her neck, her body trembling. She wanted to tell her what had happened, but she couldn't get any words to form.

"Are you all right?" Tonks asked, gently using the pad of her thumb to wipe the tears off of Hadley's cheeks.

Hadley nodded, sniffling. "Where's George?"

They went inside the Burrow. The other kids and Order members stepped out of the way so that Fred and Hadley could get to their triplet, who was lying on the couch, one side of his face covered in blood.

"Oh, George..." Hadley's hand flew to her mouth, tears filling her eyes again.

"How you feeling, Georgie?" Fred asked as he kneeled down in front of his twin.

"Saint-like," George whispered.

Hadley stared at him in horror. "Oh, no! Those Death Eaters made him religious!" She kneeled down next to Fred and took George's hand. "What's wrong with you, Georgie? Is your mind affected?"

"Saint-like," George repeated. "I'm holy...I'm holey, Fred, Hadley. Get it?" He chuckled weakly and pointed to his ear.

"If you weren't hurt, I'd hit you," Hadley grumbled.

Fred shook his head, a small smile spreading across his lips. "The whole wide world of ear related humour, and you go for I'm holey. That's pathetic."

"Recon I'm still better looking than you." George grinned.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, you both look the same." Hadley chuckled. She wiped away a tear and looked to Molly. "On the bright side, at least you'll be able to tell them apart now, Mum."

Molly managed a weak smile through her tears. Bill walked into the room, his face solemn.

"Mad-Eye's dead," he told them. Nobody said anything. Hadley started crying again and buried her face in Fred's shoulder. He hugged her tight. "Fleur and I saw it happen...Hadley managed to dodge the first Killing Curse, but...but she didn't see the second one...Mad-Eye took it for her."

"I should've done more," Hadley whispered, her voice breaking. "I-I can't believe I didn't think of something to protect us more...T-To protect him."

"There was nothing you could've done, Hadley," Remus said sadly. "The Death Eaters were on us right from the start. Voldemort knew Harry was being moved tonight...We didn't stand a chance."

Hadley hugged Fred tighter. "I-I can't believe I was being such a pain in the ass tonight!" she sobbed. "The last thing he heard from me was some snarky comment...Th-That's all he got from me all night! I...I should've been nicer! I-If I'd have known..."

Her sentence trailed off. Fred shifted so that his back was against the couch, and he pulled Hadley into his lap as she continued to cry into her shoulder.

Once everyone had let the news sink in, Bill poured out thirteen glasses of firewhisky, raising a toast to Mad-Eye as they all drank.