Summers at The Burrow - Fred Weasley

Chapter Twenty-one - The Family Scandal

the front door was thrown open in front of me and my mother walked in leaving me on the ground. i was perplexed by the way my mother entered the house and it stopped me from moving. my mother walked through the door with heavy turned out feet which was anything but the way my mother carried herself. an honorable mention was that her robes were getting progressively shorter revealing a mans legs. last time i checked my mother was a witch not a wizard.

i scrambled to my feet while i still could and quickly ran to my trunk but the unidentified man behind me in my mothers robes shouted Incarcerous and two thick ropes wrapped themselves around my ankles and lurched me backwards dragging me into the house. my trunk flew off into the distance with the contents spilling out. my hands were outstretched in a futile effort to reclaim my belongings but it was pointless.

i crumpled to the ground as the door slammed and locked and the ropes retracted from my ankles. when i turned around to get a look at the figure i almost laughed. the man before me looked ridiculous in my mothers robes.

"on your feet." the man spoke in a snarling tone as he took my mothers cloak off and replaced it with a large sagging trench coat that hung off his frail bones.

"no. i like the floor." i replied with an equally disgusted sneer as i pressed myself against the door.

instead of replying the man lifted is left coat sleeve and showed me something i hoped i would never have to look at. the mans veins ran beneath the tattoo making it move slightly as the blood rushed through his arm. his knuckles were white and it was not long after i realized what he intended to do if i did not comply and get onto my feet. i would rather not let it come to that so i stood as fast as i could and ended my antics.

"your mother is in the kitchen." the man said dropping his sleeve.

"who are you?" i asked as i passed the man walking down the long hall that led to the family room.

"does my fathers noble name not give it away. Bartemius Crouch Sr. i never thought he was a noble man myself. sort of a neglectful father ill have you know."  

"your Barty crouch jr." i spoke in almost a whisper.

"i said to the kitchen. don't you know your own home?" he said directly behind me pressing his wand tip into my spine sending shivers down my vertebrae.

"I'm taking the scenic route." i said melodramatically as i turned around and opened the door to the kitchen. i glanced back at Barty before stepping over the threshold taking in the less than pleasant smell of a decomposing body.

"i told you your mother was in the kitchen." 

there was my mother, lying over the kitchen table, dead. her long hair was covering any sunken flesh but her hand was outstretched over the table gripping a thin black wand in her cold dead hands. this was the one person a death eater could have killed and i wouldn't care. nice try Crouch. 

i lunged towards my mother and began to fake cry. it was all a rouse but hanging out with the Weasley twins really improved my acting skills and it was fooling him. while i fake sobbed and fell to my knees over my mothers dead body i pried her wand out of her hand and held it tightly in my own.

the heavy footsteps grew louder behind me and i turned around quickly pressing my mothers wand against Barty's chin. his face was inches from mine and i was about to utter the knockback jinx when a short holly colored wand pressed against my own chin. 

"He wants me dead doesn't he, just like the potter boy. i must be really special if he's coming after me. I'm only thirteen. what kind of a threat does he think i am? does he tell you? do you know all his sad little aspirations? tell me this, how high am i on his hit list? go on... tell me."