𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫 | n. tonks

xxxvii

George walked outside and found Hadley sitting on a fallen pillar, her legs hugged to her chest as she sobbed quietly into her knees. He sat down beside her and put a comforting arm around her. She turned to hug him, burying her face in his shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, Haddie," George whispered, holding her tight. "We still have each other. We...We'll get through this." His voice broke as he spoke. As much as he wanted to stay strong for her, he wasn't able to.

"I...I didn't even get to-to say goodbye, o-or tell him I loved him, or...or anything! A-And Remus...Remus is dead, too. And where was I?! I...I–"

"You were fighting to protect the students of Hogwarts," George cut her off. "Don't for one moment think that it's your fault they died."

"I should've been there, George!" Hadley cried.

"You were there. You are here. You could've gone home, or stayed in the Room of Requirement, or evacuated to Hogsmeade with the younger kids, but you stayed." George wiped a tear off of his twin sister's cheek. "None of us could've controlled what happened tonight. It's not anyone's fault that Fred and Remus are gone...No one's but the Death Eaters."

Hadley sniffled and leaned her head onto George's shoulder. "I don't want to just be twins..." she whispered, shutting her eyes tight. "We...We're not complete without him. It's never been just Fred, o-or just George, or just Hadley...I-It's always been Fred and George and Hadley...A-And now..."

She couldn't say it. Saying it would make it real. Saying it would make it true. She'd never thought about what it would be like if she ever lost one of her triplets.

She remembered their first train ride to Hogwarts. When they traveled across the lake in the boats, they'd taken turns trying to shove each other into the water. She remembered how nervous she was during the sorting ceremony that they wouldn't be sorted into the same house – Fred and George kept teasing her about how she'd be the first Weasley in Slytherin – and the relief she felt when the Sorting Hat cried out "GRYFFINDOR." She remembered feeling jealous when Fred and George befriended Lee Jordan and how she'd become friends with Angelina Johnson to try and make them jealous.

The three of them had done nearly everything together. They were born together. They would always end up in detention together. They would sneak out together, study together, make jokes, schemes, and pull pranks together. Every time they were seen by students or faculty, they were seen together.

She never thought about what it would be like dying apart...Having to keep going when one third of herself was gone.

"And now it's just George and Hadley," George whispered, his heart breaking along with his sister's as he said it.