Through All the Pain // N. Longbottom

Fifth Year // Chapter 12

"Ri Ri! Ri Ri!" I felt a person shaking me awake. I groaned and looked over at Hermione's alarm clock and noticed it was only 2 in the bloody morning. I pulled the cover over my head trying to show I wasn't getting up but that was when they leaned over and talked very loudly into my ear. "Lorrinda Maye Weasley! Wake your arse up!"

I moaned as I rolled over and saw Fred sitting on the edge of my bed. Instantly I felt a zing of concern roll through my body. I sat straight up and could just see the concern dripping off of Fred. 

"Fred? What's wrong?" I asked, my voice already beginning to shake.

"C'mon, Ri Ri. Harry saw something ... something to do with Dad! McGonagall said we needed to all head up there and join him, and quickly!" I jumped out of my bed and grabbed a coat at the foot of my bed before running out after Fred. I wouldn't have been so worried but ... the fear and concern in Fred's eyes ... I'd never ever seen that before. 

McGonagall rushed George, Fred, Ginny, and myself through the castle to Dumbledore's office. As we ran I noticed Ginny was also petrified, and it showed true once we got into his office and Ginny ran straight over to Harry.

"Harry, what happened?! McGonagall said you -"

"Your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Pheonix," Dumbledore spoke calmly. I got very dizzy and leaned onto Fred for some support he wrapped an arm around me while George instinctively wrapped Ginny. "He has been taken to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I am sending you all back to Grimmauld Place. You will meet your mother there."

"How're we going?" asked Fred, who was starting to shake a teeny bit. "Floo powder?"

"No," said Dumbledore rapidly, "Floo powder is not safe at the moment, the Network is being watched. You will be taking a Portkey." He pointed to an old kettle lying on the desk, waiting to be used. Suddenly with a flash of light, a golden feather floated gently to the floor in front of us. 

"It is Fawke's warning," said Dumbledore, picking up the feather and placing it on his desk. "She must know you're out of your beds ... Minerva, go and head her off - tell her any story -" As McGonagall tore away at a sprint, a voice came from a portrait.

"He says he'll be delighted," said the bored voice. "My great-great-grandson has always had an odd taste in houseguests ..."

"Alright, quickly everyone, gather round the Portkey." We all clambered around the pot. Ron fought his way in between me and Fred just as the Portkey was about to leave. As I felt the awful feeling of the Protkey go through my body, I just closed my eyes and begged Merlin for this all to be a dream. 

"Back again, the blood traitor brats, is it true their father's dying ...?"

"OUT!" roared a voice followed by the slamming of a door. I got helped up to my feet by Fred and Ron who placed me down in one of the kitchen chairs as they practically scared Harry into telling us what happened. 

"Is Mum here?" said Fred, once Harry was finished.

"She probably doesn't even know what's happened yet," said Sirius. "The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know now."

"We've got to go to St. Mungo's," said Ginny urgently. "Sirius, can you lead us cloaks or anything -?"

"Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St. Mungo's!" said Sirius.

"'Course we can go to St. Mungo's if we want," said George with a mulish expression, "he's our dad!"

"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"

"What does that matter?" said Fred hotly. The three of them kept bickering and bickering getting louder and louder until I couldn't take another second of it and sprinted out of the room. 

"Lori!"

"Ri Ri!"

"Lorrinda!" 

Their shouts after me didn't make me stop, all I wanted to do was get somewhere away from the shouting, the noise, the ... the reality. I remembered finding a ladder to the roof of the house over the summer and sneaking up there at night to look at the starry night sky. The only person who knew about the ladder was Ron, but I bet he was too busy ripping it to Fred and George for shouting so loudly. 

Once I got up to the roof, I crawled over to the chimney stack and leaned my back into it, just to give myself some leverage so I wouldn't slip off and fall to the ground. Granted it was covered in snow so it was cold and slippery already, but I just had to get out of there. 

"Lori?" I looked over to see Ron's head peek out over the trap door. I curled my lips up at a smile for a second before retreating back into my mind. I barely remember Ron crawling up on the roof and inching his way over beside me cautiously. I do remember him interlocking his hand with mine and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"They all feel awful for yelling, Lori. They really do," said Ron as he tightened his hold on my hand. "Ginny is down there right now making sure they don't Avada themselves for yelling so loudly. They really didn't mean to -"

"That's not the whole reason I ran out, Ronald." I spat suddenly yanking my hand out of his grasp. As I did this, Ron looked over at me with concern flaring in his eyes. He looked at me and it felt like he just knew I was dealing with something other than how loud they were. 

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, Lori," Ron said, breaking the silence that grew between us. Ron reached over and grabbed my hand again. "I may not be the best sibling to open up to about things but ... I'm your twin and that's got to count for something, right?" I couldn't help but snicker as he nudged my shoulder repeatedly. 

"Alright! Alright! You annoying Prefect." I joked back, it cause Ron to smile (even though I said he was an annoying Prefect). After we were doing giggling at my comment, I took a deep breath and got ready to tell Ron what was really bugging me. Finally, after another few moments of silence, I muttered my fear.

"What if Dad dies thinking I hate him?" My voice, extremely faint and shakey. Ron just sighed and pulled me closer to him. I placed my head on his chest as he spoke.

"He won't die, Lori. He-he can't die." Ron stuttered out, unsure if the words he was saying were true or not.

"What if he does, Ron? My last words to him were 'I hate you'!" I sat up and looked directly into his eyes. "If those are the last words I ever told him ... I don't know if I could live with that." My voice got more and more shakey as I got more and more upset. Dad attempted many a time to contact me and apologize for what he did, but each and every time I just ignored him. I don't know what I'd do if I never got the chance to say I loved him.

My cheeks burned as the tears that started to fall started to freeze to my skin. Ron reached down and wiped them away before they could get frozen to my cheeks. As he did he tickled my cheeks in an attempt to get me to laugh. Not gonna lie ... it worked. I giggled and slapped his hand away before sitting back up and leaning against the chimney.

"Listen, Dad knows you love him. You just inherited the stubbornness and temper that come from his side of the family. Dad won't take those words to heart, because he's got millions and millions of 'I love you's' from fourteen years of your life to prove that you truly do love him." reasoned Ron as he gripped my hands tightly. "Now, let's get off this bloody roof before we both slip off and break our bloody necks, shall we?" 

"Alright, you first," I said giving him a little shove.

"Oi! I'm going! I'm going! No need to shove!"