Blood Bound | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [5]

𝘃 | 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱

They had packed up most of their possessions by the time Mrs Weasley had returned at six o'clock that evening. It was strange how widely their belongings had managed to spread all over the house; Gwen ended up searching for her cauldron for over forty minutes before she had found it tucked behind a curtain in the drawing room. When Mrs Weasley came back, arms laden with books and supplies, Ron dashed over immediately and took the wrapped package in the unmistakable shape of a broomstick, his face pulled into a look of fervent admiration.

During dinner, Mrs Weasley had them all toast to Ron and Hermione for making prefects, and they settled into their meals with ambient chatter. Gwen listened into the several conversations; Fred, George, and Mundungus Fletcher were making some sort of deal under the table, Hermione was sincerely telling Remus about her views on house elves, Mrs Weasley was, once again, complaining about Bill's long hair...

Gwen and Harry seemed to be the only two not engaged in conversation. Harry was avoiding her eyes, looking straight down into his plate so as not to make eye contact with her, despite Gwen's efforts to get him to at least smile. He did not appear as miserable as he had all day, at least, but Gwen couldn't understand why he had acted so strangely about Ron getting prefect. Gwen hadn't become a prefect either, which was no surprise to her; she did have an awfully bad habit of breaking the rules. And out of her, Eddie, and Felix, only Eddie had become a prefect. She had to admit, she was secretly glad that she had not received the shiny crimson badge; responsibility wasn't exactly her forté.

As the meal came to an end, Mrs Weasley excused herself early to tackle the boggart. Everyone was sitting around the table, leaning back in their chairs, jolly and full from the delicious meal. The conversation had turned into idle, sleepy chatter; Fred, George, and Bill were talking about the joke shop, Ron was telling Tonks about his new broom, and Mad Eye Moody was showing Harry a photograph. One by one, they began to excuse themselves from the table. Gwen pulled herself to her feet, bade the others goodnight, and, with a yawn, ascended the stairs to the ground floor.

She was craving her bed, wanting nothing more than to collapse in the comfort of the sheets and let sleep take over. She climbed the stairs in the hall, passed the stuffed elf head, and, as she approached the drawing room, she heard something. Someone was sobbing.

'Hello?' she said.

There was no answer, but the sobbing continued. She listened for a second longer, then pushed open the drawing room door.

Someone was cowering against the dark wall, her wand in her hand, her whole body shaking with sobs. Sprawled on the dusty old carpet in a patch of moonlight, clearly dead, was Ron.

The air in Gwen's lungs instantly vanished; she felt as though she were falling into an abyss; her body turned icy cold-- Ron dead-- no--

But it couldn't be-- Ron was downstairs--

'Mrs Weasley?' Gwen said, her voice hoarse.

'R-Riddikulus!' Mrs Weasley sobbed, pointing her shaking wand at Ron's body.