'i will squeeze the life out of you you will make me laugh and make me cry'
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There was one word to explain the morose feeling settling into the groves and corners of two tents on the edge of the wood: fear.
George was crouched on the floor of one tent, his arms resting on his knees which were pulled up to his chest. Though it was dark, he appeared to be staring at something.
Her wand.
It sat atop their bed, broken in two pieces. He'd pulled it from her pocket before the Healers took her away. George knew they'd throw it out if left in their hands. At least now, with it in his possession, she can say goodbye to her wand.
Silence filled his ears. The rest of the group had returned to their beds to get a few more hours of sleep before they leave, but George couldn't sleep with everything on his mind.
Was Lyra okay? Who cast the Dark Mark? Was He really coming back? What did this mean for them, for Lyra?
He wanted to be holding her. Telling her that everything will be fine. He'd read that people placed under the Cruciatus Curse for long periods of time were highly likely to lose their grip on sanity; slipping into a world created falsely by their mind.
George didn't know if he could survive in a world where Lyra couldn't recognise his face.
Something creaked, disrupting the silence he'd surrounded himself in. Reaching for his wand, he muttered a quiet Lumos, and his eyes adjusted to the figure standing in the door frame.
"You need to sleep," Fred sighed, sounding similar to their mother.
George scoffed. How was he supposed to sleep?
Fred walked further into the room, crouching beside his twin. "George," he tried again. "It will make you feel better. I promise."
"I don't care."
He wanted to scream and throw everything in sight to the floor. He wanted to show everyone how far he'd go to get justice for Lyra, but most of all, he wanted to cry. All of his tears had been used up only hours prior at the moment of her departure, but he still had so much to let out.
"They're taking good care of her." Fred's eyes were soft as he looked at his brother. "She's okay."
"For Merlin's sake, Fred, she's not okay!" George seethed, his voice a sharp whisper. "It was the Cruciatus Curse. Heaven knows whether she'll even recognise herself."
Fred swallowed the lump in his throat. George hadn't meant to be so harsh, but no one seemed to understand that everything was not, in fact, okay. The Death Eaters have returned, Lyra was attacked, Harry was accused of summoning the Dark Mark, and he was beginning to think Cedric was a nice guy.
