Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

84.

 A moment of silence rang throughout The Burrow, before Bill suddenly stepped forward with a glum aurora surrounding him. Everyone turned to look at the scarred face that glanced from the floor and up to the group with an urge to speak, Fleur appearing next him to give him some support.

"Mad-Eye's dead..." he muttered and a gasp slipped out from Molly's mouth. "It was Mundungus. He apparated when he saw they were being targeted and the killing curse hit Mad-Eye instead."

"Traitor..." Hagrid mumbled and shook his huge head in despair, pulling out his huge polka-dotted handkerchief.

Sophia looked over her shoulder towards where Harry was standing with Hermione and Ron, noticing the troubled glaze he had in his eyes. She knew that he was blaming himself for Mad-Eye's death as well as George's wound. She had thought to take him into another room and settle the fact that they knew what they were doing when they came to take him from Privet drive, even though she wasn't a big fan of the idea either. But he soon made his way out of the room on his own and upstairs before she could make the move, allowing her to turn back to George who had passed out again on the sofa.

While everyone toasted to yet another Order member's death, Sophia continued to wipe away the blood that was caked in George's hair and skin. The bleeding had thankfully stopped but the hole couldn't be healed because of the intensity of the dark magic that was used. She conjured some bandages with her wand and wrapped it around his head, covering the hole and keeping it from any festering bacteria. Fred had stayed next to her as she worked, not liking the idea of leaving his brother alone while in his unconscious state. And he couldn't help but stare at Sophia as she carefully tended to George, a warm feeling spurting from inside. Even though it was sort of sinister, he enjoyed seeing his girlfriend care so much for his brother and take the time to be so gentle.

"He should be okay now..." Fred broke out of his trance to see that Sophia had finished tying the bandage. "He just needs to sleep it off."

"Shouldn't be too hard, he does enough of that already," Fred joked and Sophia lightly laughed. She then turned to him with her smile dropping into a grimace, making him do the same.

"I'm glad you're both alive..." she admitted. "I didn't know what to think when you didn't turn up with your Portkey. And when George showed up like this, I thought that-"

"Hey hey calm down," he took hold of Sophia's blood-stained hands and clutched them tightly to stop her rambling. She hadn't noticed that she begun to shake and tremble at the thought of Fred and George not coming back from their mission. It was only now settling in that she was incredibly lucky to have both of them in front of her after all that. "We're here now. That's all that matters. The worst part is over."

Sophia didn't have the heart to voice her denial of his last statement and tried to focus on his main point. They were back and alive. The next event would be the wedding, which was much less life-threatening and worrisome. She allowed herself to relax at the thought and thank Merlin that a majority of the Order had come back alive. It was just unfortunate that George had to be the one to have gotten hit.

"She's brave," Fred spoke and Sophia turned to see that Bell the puff had climbed up on to George's arm and was making her way towards his bandaged head. The puff squeaked as she settled down in the place where his ear should be and shut her eyes to nap. Sophia and Fred both laughed at the sight of the periwinkle fluff sleeping on George's unconscious head, bringing the smallest bit of happiness to the situation.

"The only lady he'll ever attract," Fred noted. Sophia sniggered and turned her attention back to the twin next to her. The two looked at each other deeply with faint smiles on their faces and found themselves leaning forward unconsciously. Sophia's fist clenched around the grey jumper that he was wearing that belonged to Harry before pressing her lips against his, eyes sliding shut in pure bliss. Fred's hands placed themselves on her hips and gently pulled her closer, hoisting her up on to his knee so that they wouldn't be in such an awkward position. Their lips lapped together and both were grateful that everyone had left the room to discuss things in the kitchen, leaving them to be shameless. Fred's hand had just begun to slip under Sophia's shirt but was stopped by a loud groan from his right.