LOST ↝ G. WEASLEY [1]

32 | Lost

"Tonks..." Joey mumbled, tears freely falling as she crawled towards the woman, still cradling her wounded shoulder.

"Joey," George said, trying to help her to her feet. "Joey, we have to go. They need us downstairs."

Tonks was just becoming a mother. Her and Remus had been fighting for halfbreed rights, in order to break the prejudices against werewolves. They had fought against all odds to get to where they had been, but they still had so much left to do.

Now all of that was just... lost.

"Tonks," she mumbled again as she was hauled to her feet, leaning against George for support.

"Let me see your shoulder, Joey." Arthur said as George carefully peeled away the tattered bits of her sleeve to reveal the cut beneath. "Okay, this might sting a bit at first, but it'll go away soon, I promise. Episkey."

Joey gasped, holding in a sharp breath as the stinging sensation spread across her shoulder, soon turning into a tingling as she could feel the wound closing up. It finally went away, allowing her to release the breath and turn back toward the others.

"Ready to go?" Fred asked, and she nodded, looking back at where Tonks still lay.

"We'll take care of them." Kingsley promised. "You three get out of here."

Joey nodded, following after the twins. She looked back one last time at the bodies of her friends laying on the ground before she ran after Fred and George toward the first floor.

Chaos was everywhere. Left and right, students, both new and old, were running amuck from battle to battle. To Joey's right, Oliver Wood was battling with a Hufflepuff fifth year against a Death Eater, cornering the man against the wall until he was forced to flee. On another floor, the Patil twins were fighting alongside Nigel Wolpert, taking on two women who seemed to be laughing maniacally.

Joey couldn't help but wonder how Monty and Nicolette were faring. Rowan and Arden, too. Whether Rowan knew about his sister and brother-in-law yet, or if he was even still alive to hear the news. His sister had been his role model growing up, she'd been his entire life.

And now she was lost. Along with his father and brother-in-law, too.

"Wait!" Fred exclaimed, causing George and Joey to stop before they ran outside to the courtyard and gesturing down the hall. "Is that Percy?"

Joey hadn't seen Percy since the end of her fifth year, when he showed up at the Ministry of Magic with Cornelius Fudge. That was the day word had finally been confirmed of You-Know-Who's return. After Fudge's resignation, Percy had still made no effort to contact his family, instead only working harder to rise through the Ministry's ranks. He always looked prim and proper, not a hair out of place, but now he only looked disheveled. His shirt was untucked, hair a mess, and it seemed as if he hadn't shaved in weeks.

"Fred!" Percy exclaimed, stumbling over towards us. "George, Joey!"

"Percy?" George asked. "What are you...?"

"I came to apologize," he said. "for everything after all this time. If you'll have me, I want to make things right, rejoin the family. Have you seen Mum and Dad? Are they okay?"

"Dad's upstairs," Fred said, "we haven't seen Mum. She was with McGonagall."

"What the bloody hell is happening here?" another voice came into the mix, and Joey turned to see Ron with and Hermione, Ron watching his older brother suspiciously. "What are you doing here, Perce? Come to fight us?"

"Ron, he's come to fight with us." George said, trying to diffuse the tension.

"And fight he shall," a cold voice said, and we looked up to see two Death Eaters approaching.