Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

105.

Harry leaped out of Hagrid's arms and fell to the ground with an obvious thud. Voldemort and the rest of his followers shot their heads around quicker than the speed of light and let out cries of surprise at the boy's livelihood. The opposite side of students and dear friends of Harry cried out in happiness and started to retreat back into the Great Hall for another battle. While Harry dodged curses sent by Voldemort and disappeared into the corridors, Sophia yanked Fred's hand and led him back into the Great Hall hurriedly.

Fred and Sophia wordlessly decided to stay close to George, Remus and Tonks' bodies in order to protect them from being trampled in the midst. It was a form of respect and a final attempt to keep them alive in their hearts and peaceful during their passing. With the three lined behind them, unaware of their bravery, Sophia and Fred brought out their wands and fought against anyone who dare come near them and their family.

Sophia performed her best protection charms while Fred took advantage of his hex-specialised wand. He was turning Death Eaters into ferrets, plants, mice, anything you could think of. He momentarily pushed down the urge to sob and continue grieving over his twin and focused on protecting the last thing he ultimately cared for.

"Protego!" Sophia cried as she leaned in front of Fred and blocked the curse that was hurtling towards him. Fred returned the favour by sending a Stunning curse to the man who tried sneaking unsuspected behind Sophia. No thank you's were exchanged as they knew their reactions were from the pure instinct of protecting each other.

"How touching," the tone of mocking flowed from Bellatrix Lestrange as she walked towards the two. She had appeared in the hall moments before and had spotted the people she had been searching for since the start of the battle. The woman grinned and swished her wand back and forth in front of her as her heeled boots clacked against the tiled floor.

"Good thing you're together now. It'll make this so much more satisfying," she cackled. Sophia stepped back with rising fear and bumped into Fred's chest, who went to grab her shoulders and push her behind him. But he barely got the chance as Bellatrix shot a spell towards the two and occupied him with casting the protection charm in front of them.

"Cute! Really cute!" Bellatrix cheered and menacingly smirked at Sophia in particular. "Thank you for the tip off of the ambush in Diagon Alley by the way. Didn't have any trouble, so we destroyed your weasel shop instead. Nasty eyesore that was."

Fred's jaw clenched at the mention of the shop and felt anger surge inside of him. Not only was it for the shop, but it was for George as well. Merlin knows that it was probably her that killed him. He could picture her spotting him by his painfully identical face and cast her curse without even letting him turn to face her. She probably even laughed and did a little dance around his body, singing about how she killed a Weasley twin in mere seconds.

Sending yellow sparks towards her, Bellatrix didn't hesitate to engage in a duel with a crazed laugh. Sophia took it upon herself to keep a constant protection charm around her and Fred, putting the woman at a disadvantage. Bellatrix didn't like this and for a moment, lost her crazy and joking façade. Seeing her spells and lethal curses bounce off the field while Fred stood unharmed behind Sophia with a hope in actually winning the duel made her fume.

"Confringo Maxima!" the woman screamed and the barrier around the two shattered like glass. Sophia was astonished and stood there with wide eyes, barely having time to stop the next curse leaving Bellatrix's lips. "Stupefy!"

Fred flew backwards and collided with the hall's wall with a loud thud, dropping to the floor in frozen state. Sophia gulped at the sight and turned around, now facing Bellatrix completely solo. The woman seemed ecstatic at this and wasted no time in dragging her into a duel. Sophia forced her wand to perform strong curses and hexes as Bellatrix mercilessly sent the most lethal of spells hurting towards her.