Chéri || Fred Weasley

iv

I was completely snapped from my state when I felt two witches which I assumed were from the morgue department trying to move dad's body. With all of my strength I managed to form words and as soon as they left my mouth they turned into screams. "NO! NO! DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY! I WILL KILL YOU DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!", I threw myself at dad's body who was still on the floor and grabbed his shirt as hard as I could, stopping the witches from moving him. A pair of arms were lifting me up gently from dad and holding me tight and pressing my arms so that I couldn't escape the grip. The witches were now able to move dad's body and I was still being held by a pair of arms that I knew too well.

"LET ME GO! NO! NO! DAD! NATHAN I SWEAR TO MERLIN THAT I WILL MURDER YOU LET ME GO!" I screamed as hard as I could, I tried fighting back but he was too strong. He let me go and I was about to run downstairs when my mother stood in front of the door, preventing me to do so. She took my face into her hands, as she spoke gently "it's okay Maddie it's going to be okay, he's okay now". She pulled me into a hug and gently stroked my hair.

I was unable to cry, the shock was way too much but what I knew for sure is that my dad was dead and there was nothing in the world that could bring him back. Mum took me to the living room where I saw Clotilde sleeping on the couch, Tim was sitting there with an empty glass on his hand. Nathan was behind me and mum and the door opened back again. There I saw Andromeda, Ted and Dora.

Dora rushed to where I was standing and pulled me into a hug, I could see that she was talking but I couldn't hear a single word, I felt as if I had gone deaf. Aunt Andromeda took my face into her hands the same way that mum does and kissed my forehead the same ways that dad did before the light was taken from his eyes. Suddenly I felt how everything went blurry and then  the world had gone blank.

I woke up feeling complete disoriented, 'maybe it was just a dream' I thought, but deep inside I knew it wasn't. I got up from the sofa and saw Clotilde sleeping on the other one and Nathan and Tim sleeping on the floor. I heard noises coming from the kitchen and there were my mother, uncle Ted, aunt Andromeda and Dora. I stood there, feeling petrified. I felt like I couldn't even move but that's when mum got up and helped me sit down on a chair.

"Chérie do you want a cup of tea?", mum asked. I couldn't form any words so I just nodded. I was still in shock from seeing what that man had done to my father, every time I closed my eyes I could still hear the screams of pain that he let out while being tortured. I was snapped from my thoughts when I felt my brother's hand on my shoulder. Everyone looked fucked up, but in a way not as much as me. It took all the courage and strength that I had in me to finally form words.

"It was a man" I said almost whispering. All head turned to face me but I didn't lift my eyes from my tea. "Love I know that this is really hard but I need you to tell me what happened" mum said taking my hand. I let out a shaky sigh and began speaking. "I was getting ready for dinner and dad came into my room. He looked upset", I took a deep breath before continuing. "He told me to hide in my wardrobe and to be quiet, and when I was hiding that's when the man came into my room", I felt a couple of tears escape my eyes as Tim placed his hand on top of my own. "He was pointing his wand at dad and was asking for some kind of information but dad didn't say. And then he used the cruciatus curse and then he killed him" I finished my voice sounding almost like a whisper.

"So you saw it all Mads?" Timothee asked me and I could simply nod. I felt mum's arms wrapping me into a hug but I couldn't hug her. I felt that all of my limbs were numb and even though I tried I couldn't move. She pulled away to face us all before saying "The service is tomorrow in Papie and Mamie's château. After that we're moving to England, we're no longer safe here".

"I don't wanna move to England, I want to stay here" I said before finally being able to get up. "It's not up for discussion Madeleine, your father and I had a plan in case anything like this happened and we will stick to that plan. I already lost a husband and I refuse to lose any of my children". I could sense the pain in her voice, mum was absolutely broken but kept a strong facade for Timothee, Clotilde and I. "What about school mum? Are we staying in Beauxbatons?" asked Tim. "No, I already contacted Hogwarts' headmaster and he agreed to let you three transfer".

"So we're moving out of the country and we're transferring to a new school, brilliant!" I said sarcastically. I got up from the table and began walking up the stairs when I felt my wrist being grabbed. I turned to see Nate, pain evident in his face, even though he wasn't blood family he was still family. He pulled me into a hug and my face was pressed against his chest, "I'm so so so sorry Maddie" he said before letting me go. I stood on the entrance of my room unable to get in, I saw broke picture frames and glass on the floor and then I saw the spot where he died. I sat on the floor with my arms hugging my knees. I didn't notice that the window had opened but then I saw a huge black dog making its way to me.

I could recognize that dog anywhere. I stood up and closed the door to my room before muttering a silencing charm. I turned to see uncle Sirius sitting on my bed, I ran up to him and tackled him into a hug. "What are you doing here? What if you get caught?!" I told him. "Cress sent me a patronus and I couldn't bear to let you go through this by yourselves. I'm really sorry Mads, you're dad was a good man" he said looking into my eyes.

"I saw it all, how he was tortured and killed" I said and he pulled me into another hug, tighter than the first one. He didn't say anything but being in his arms reminded me of when I was little. Before he was sent to Azkaban, he visited us often. He used to play with me all the time, and switched into Padfoot so that I could pet him and hug him. I was four when he was imprisoned but I always knew he was innocent. "The ones that love us never really leave us Maddie, they always live in our hearts" he said. "Everyone's downstairs if you wanna go say hi". "Maybe later but Andromeda is downstairs and she doesn't know I'm innocent, I'm sure Cress will fill her in" he said chuckling.

"I heard you're moving to England and going to Hogwarts" he said looking into my eyes. "I'm not really excited though, I like my school and I have friends there and the weather in England is absolutely horrible". He laughed before saying "well I know that you'll like Hogwarts, just try and get sorted into Gryffindor". "I'll try then" I replied shaking my head.