Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

64.

As if things couldn't get any tenser at The Burrow, Remus and Tonks arrived just as Fred and George did. The pairs emerged from the long grass in a panic and saw that even from the outside, the house looked chaotic with people gathered inside. Tonks had been at the Lupins' home when they got Molly's patronus and they apparated as soon as they heard. Tonks had attempted to try and calm the man down first but couldn't stop him ripping open the front door of the house and apparating immediately to where he heard Sophia had somehow turned up at.

Fred and George had been in their flat above their shop, having a seemingly quiet evening after a long day working. George was in the living room opening some new deliveries they had gotten that day while Fred sat in the spare room. The room was where they kept all of their prototypes and unreleased products, making it a treasure-trove to the brothers. Fred had unfortunately been given the job to make up some more Love Potions, leaving him to sit on the floor of the spare room with a cauldron in front of him. He wouldn't admit to George that he hated making the Love Potions because he didn't want to seem like he was getting cold feet about the shop. It certainly wasn't the reason but he did the job anyway, even resulting to holding his breath for most of the stirring of the potion. The truth was that the Love Potions always smelt like the things the person likes the most. So for Fred, he would smell the gunpowder that would linger behind their firework products, the laundry powder that the House Elves of Hogwarts used for the student's uniforms, and the floral scent that Sophia's shampoo always carried. It broke his heart to smell such things as it would remind him of where the person he loved most was. Even in the shop, Fred was sure to stay away from the Love Potions stand and leave it to their cashier Verity to work with. She would always be suspicious at why he'd never go near that part of the store, but Fred was sure that George eventually informed her of why.

The four that stepped out of the tall grass and immediately looked at Charlie Weasley who was standing lonesome in the middle of the clearing. He caught the eyes of Remus first with what could only be described as a hard look, only driving the Lupin to sprint into the house with Tonks trailing after him. Charlie then looked at his brothers, biting his lip at the sight of Fred's hopeful face.

"Is she here? Did they really find her?!" Fred questioned as he stopped in front of Charlie, switching his gaze between him and The Burrow. He was so pumped on adrenaline that he didn't take notice of how troubled Charlie looked and how reluctant he seemed to speak to him. But George picked up on this and his heart sunk at the thought of something not being right about Sophia.

"Just... prepare yourself Freddie," Charlie forced out with crossed arms. He hated that he had been given the job to be there for when Fred arrived. It was a demand given to him by his father who knew the kind of reaction Fred would have.

"W-What do you mean?" Fred's eyebrows came together in the middle of his forehead. "What's wrong with her?"

"Freddie maybe we should-"

Fred didn't listen to George as he pushed past Charlie and marched up to the porch of his family home. The footsteps that hurriedly followed after him didn't stop him from shoving the front door open and forcing his head to turn to where the living room sat. He didn't see her at first and he actually thought that this was some kind of sick joke. Maybe a way to get back at him and George for all of the mayhem they'd caused throughout their years.

He saw Harry, Hermione and Ron standing near the staircase that lead up to the bedrooms. He saw the tears that were running down Hermione's face and the permanent grimace that dawned Ron's. Harry stood there looking as pale as a ghost and shakily fixing his glasses before returning his hands to their constant fidgeting. Fred then saw his dad standing back from the group that clustered around the sofa, seeing the strained look that he had never seen him wear before. George and Charlie had only just reached him when Fred decided to take matters into his own hands, forcefully pushing through the Order members that were blocking his view.