A piece of parchment

Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

"Was there something you would like to ask Angelina?" asked Mum, sounding hopeful. The room abruptly fell silent, everyone's eyes fixed upon my embarrassed face.

"Yeah. I mean no... I mean..."

I looked down at my plate of steaming hot food, I wasn't in the mood for eating. I felt sick.

"Will you excuse me for a minute, please?" I said.

I stood up from the table, walked towards the back door and stepped into the garden.

The sky looked like an oil painting; pink, orange and yellow streaks lined the sky, the dazzling sun burning against my bare arms.

It was such a nice, peaceful evening for such a sad and lonely boy like me.

Could I stay out here forever? Did I really have to go back inside and face Angelina? Let's face it, I'm never going to have the courage to ask her out.

I'm never going to be able to be happy again.

What a nightmare. I've tried three times to ask her that one question, but I'm just too stupid... too pathetic... too scared...

Maybe I should go back inside, I thought. They'll be worrying about me.

I started walking towards the house, gazing at the beautiful sky above me.

But I suddenly stopped. I heard something rustling among the grass.

Oh, it's probably just the garden gnomes trying to play tricks on me again. How pathetic.

"Idiots." I mumbled to myself.

When I was about to walk back to the house again, another pair of feet came rustling through the grass. These weren't garden gnomes...

My heart instantly became pumping hard against my chest, my insides churning. Was it just my imagination, or did I just see a man running through the grass?

"Who's there?" I demanded, expecting someone to jump out of the grass.

No one came.

The garden was silent again; all I could hear were the chirping birds singing around me.

"Come on. This isn't funny, you know. I come out here for a bit of fresh air, but what do I-"

But I was rudely interrupted by a cold voice. Dreading what I was about to see, I spun around to see an evil-looking face glaring at me.

His long messy hair swept across his filthy face, his scruffy looking beard hanging down. A pair of jet black eyes lay upon my alerted face... his voice sending an uncomfortable shiver down my spine...

"Well, well, well... You're Fred Weasley, am I right in thinking?"

Why did he mistaken me for Fred? Does he know he's dead?

The corners of his mouth twitched into a little smirk.

"Well?" he demanded.

"No. I'm not Fred." I answered bluntly, ignoring his evil appearance.

"Who are you then?" he snarled.

"George Weasley."

"Where's your brother now?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.

There was something wrong about his tone of voice; he sounded somehow happy, as if my answers were amusing him... as if he were mocking me...

"He's..." I was about to say the word 'dead', but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"He's where?"

The man was now chuckling... his laugh ringing in my ears...

What would Fred say if he saw me acting like this? He'd want me to tell the truth to this strangely frightening man...

He'd want me to defend myself. He wouldn't want me to look weak and scared.

Come on, I thought to myself, do it for Fred. Tell the man straight. Fred is dead.

"My brother is dead. He died in the Battle of Hogwarts, not like it's any of your business." I said, my voice slightly shaky.

The man didn't seem to care about the fact that I was talking about my dead twin; he just carried on laughing.

"How... unfortunate. Well, I mean it must be a lot easier for your parents now... one child down... they should think themselves lucky. They can save more money; I've heard your family aren't the wealthiest of people." his laugh grew louder.

I felt sick to the pit of my stomach. Anger rising in my chest, I tightened my grasp on my wand which was hanging out of my pocket.

How dare he talk about Fred like that, as if he's just a nobody.

And how dare he talk about my family like that. I couldn't stand it. I started shouting before I could stop myself.

"How dare you talk about my family like that! How DARE you talk about my dead brother like that... You know what? PISS OFF OUT OF MY GARDEN!"

Despite the anger which was now controlling me, a reluctant tear slid down my face.

The man didn't flinch.

He just laughed. He just laughed louder and louder until I could no longer handle it.

Running towards him and pointing my wand at his neck, his cold, shrill voice merely chuckled.

I felt so angry... angrier than I had ever felt before...

The raging monster inside of me roared, encouraging me to fight back.

"YOU... YOU... WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" I yelled.

"Me? You're asking me who I am? Ladies and gentlemen, here comes the day... The day when someone actually asks who I am!"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am asking who you are." I answered back cheekily.

I soon regretted it.

Without warning, without time to defend myself, he raised his wand...

"Stupefy!"

A flash of red light struck me, my vision became blurry, my hearing became quieter and quieter...

I didn't care why this man was here, or what he just did to me, I just wanted to ask him one question.

I wanted an answer, I wanted to know who this cruel idiot was and what he was doing in my garden.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

Falling to the ground, my head spinning, I heard a faint voice as I fell into a non-existent world; a black abyss in which I had never been.

"Well, of course, I'm Rodolphus Lestrange."