black and white ✰ g.w.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

David, Henry, Jade, Lindsay, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, Harry, Faustus, and Ginny all stumbled out of the field moments later, joining the rest in staring at the Burrow as it burned, unable to do anything out of pure shock.

It seemed Helena was the only one who was able to think clearly in the situation. She turned first to her husband. "David, we've got to do something, we can't just let their home burn to the ground!" she said to him.

"No, of course not," he responded, coming to his senses. He turned to Henry and Amelia. "You two, come with me."

Helena then turned to the rest of her family. "Get them to the Village," was all she needed to say, and they all nodded and went to the members of the Weasley family. She then turned to Molly, who was still staring as if transfixed at the home in which she had raised her children as it burned. "Molly, dear, I need you to go to the Village, all right? Someone will take care of you and the kids there, you'll be safe. We've got it under control here, it'll be like nothing ever happened."

It appeared as if Molly had not heard a single word Helena had just said. Helena turned to Arthur, who had been at his wife's side since returning from the field, and he nodded and then Disapparated with her.

Back at the Village, Olivia, Catrina, and Oliver had just Apparated next to the sycamore tree with Fred and George.

"Come on, let's go inside," Olivia said to the twins. "It's freezing out here."

"Yes, I'll make us a nice, warm cup of tea and then it's off to bed, okay?" said Catrina.

In the house, they all sat at the kitchen table in silence, the only sounds being the occasional sipping of tea until George spoke.

"Where are the others?" he asked Catrina.

"I'm not sure. But I'll go find out for you," she said, rising from her seat and leaving the home.

There was another few moments of silence, this time broken by Fred sniggering.

"What?" Olivia asked him.

Fred tilted his head at something behind her, grinning. "Cute."

Oliver and Olivia turned around in their seats to see a framed photo of themselves as children, no older than 6 and 8. Oliver shot an annoyed look at Fred before getting up and turning the photo around so that they could no longer see it.

"Thank you," Olivia muttered as Oliver sat back down.

"Mhm," he responded. He saw Fred open his mouth to say something more but cut him off. "Not another word, Weasley."

A few minutes later, Catrina came back. "Your sisters are with my aunt Elizabeth," she told the twins, "Ron and Harry are with Blair and Abi, and your parents are in Henry and Amelia's house with Sarah. And I wouldn't worry about your house, Mum and Dad are very good at this kind of thing. We set the house on fire all the time as kids-"

"You what?" Oliver interrupted.

"Mum, you say that like it's a normal occurrence that happens in every household," Olivia said.

"It was a normal occurrence in ours," Catrina said.

"Why?" Oliver asked.

"Well, there were seven of us, see, and most of us had to share rooms... it was very chaotic... we were chaotic. Henry was really the only one who had his wits about him and Ana mostly kept to herself. The rest of us were always causing trouble."

"There are eight of us and we've never set the house on fire," Fred said.

"Granted, we have had plenty of close calls-" George reasoned.

"-between us and our invention process

"-and our sisters when they were first learning to bake-"

"-but until tonight, our house has always remained intact."

"And it's going to be completely intact when you go back tomorrow," Catrina repeated. "Now, I'm going to go set up a camp bed in Livi's room and then it's off to bed for you all."

"Mum, we're adults, you can't just tell us when to go to bed," Oliver told her.

"You may be adults, but you're still living in my house. Besides, I usually wouldn't tell you when to go to bed, but I happen to know that you're all exhausted and that you have work tomorrow."

The young adults all exchanged looks, knowing that Catrina was right and they had no argument against her.

[word count: 752]
[written: 9/15/20]
[published: 9/15/20]
i have a presentation due tomorrow afternoon and i'm procrastinating on it