Poison Ivy - G.W

THIRTY TWO

Nobody was in the best of moods for the following weeks, a dark chill had settled over the school, and laughter that was heard seemed shrill and out of place. Everyone knew deep down that the school wasn't going to be open for much longer, the laughter quickly died in the school suffocated by the overwhelming sadness that filled every section of the castle. The common rooms were very busy, now with no one being allowed out after six, they sat in huddled groups not really saying much. Recently Liv had been spending most nights sleeping in the boy's dorm curled up in Georges bed, no one really commented on it, it was clear that Olivia had been affected more than most she barely spoke to anybody and she always looked so pale. She'd gotten very ill, she had lost her appetite, the loss of her oldest friend was really getting to her, she spent most of her time being ushered to the hospital wing by George or curled up asleep on his chest as he tried to pump her with vegetables and medicine.

There would be days where she only spoke to George, not on purpose, of course, she just didn't have anything of value to input in the conversations around her. She would disappear for hours on end to write in her diary, secretly George wondered what she was writing about he was desperate to read it but knew it was a massive breach of privacy. He wanted her to tell him all of the things she was writing, he wanted her to know that she could tell him anything and everything, but clearly, she didn't feel as comfortable with him as he had thought.

The fourth years were escorted to Charms by a rather grumpy looking Snape, who's temper was bordering on abusive, the hour of wand work dragged on and Liv spent the entire class feeling as if something wasn't quite right. Her mind was fuzzy like she didn't have a strong grasp on reality, everything kept going out of focus, she held onto George's leg gripping it tighter the more she felt that reality was slipping away from her. A warm hand placed itself on top of hers instantly making her feel calmer, he squeezed her hand gently and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Weasley, this is a place of learning, not a brothel." Professor Flitwick squeaked from the front of the classroom, causing laughter to ring out and fill the room. A sensation that hadn't been experienced in quite some time. The silence that followed however felt even thicker, choking the students who tried to work, pretending that they didn't feel so empty, ignoring the empty seats and the nagging feeling in the back of their minds.

Charms was the groups last class of the day, they collapsed on the sofa and played a game of exploding snap, one of the only things they did nowadays, it took their minds of things yet still the explosions would sometimes cause the people around them to flinch, the loud noise shocking them to their core in the face of things.

"Go to bed," George told the girl kindly who had started to shiver despite being in his warmest Weasley sweater and was wrapped up in a blanket next to him. "You don't look well, go sleep for a few hours and if you still feel rough, I'll sneak you some pepper up potion." He told Olivia gently, stroking her hair. She nodded and dragged herself to bed her blanket flowing like a cape making her boyfriend smile fondly as he realised, she looked quite a lot like a caterpillar.

A few hours later Ron and Harry came stumbling into the common room their faces pale, they sat down slowly and told the others what had happened.

"Ginny and Liv are gone" Harry croaked out, "the heir of Slytherins got them, they're in the chamber."

Everybody's faces dropped George looked like he was about to be sick, Fred placed a firm hand on his shoulder giving him a squeeze. "Georgie," he whispered not really knowing what else to say.

Harry and Ron finished their story everyone sat in silence at a loss for words the Weasleys crumpled on the sofa. "No," George said, "Ginny's in potions and Livy's sleeping upstairs." He said more to himself than anyone else, getting up he ran upstairs bursting into his dorm room crumbling into heart-wrenching sobs at the sight of his green jumper strewn haphazardly on the bed, still warm from where she had been wearing it.

"I'll deal with him," Fred said to the others that had followed him up, ushering them downstairs and walking over to him carefully. "Come here," he pulled him onto the bed and sat with him crying into his shoulder. Fred's eyes began to leak, he couldn't even imagine how his brother was feeling, Fred himself felt completely numb at the thought of having lost his sister and friend, but George had lost the first girl he'd ever had true feelings for. All he wanted to do was stop his twins suffering, take away his pain but he didn't know how to. They stayed like this for a while before Fred decided that this wasn't helping anything. "Georgie, we're gonna go downstairs but I need you to be strong for Ron, okay, I know he doesn't act like it but he's still only a baby. Can you do that for me, Georgie?" The boy nodded weakly and with the assistance of Fred they made their way downstairs only to find Ron and Harry had gone.