Before you (Fred Weasley)

CHAPTER 72

Fred's POV:

We entered the lobby at St. Mungo's. The woman was still unconscious in the man's arms. We hadn't said a word to each other and frankly, I wasn't even sure why I was here. I had no clue who these two people were and how they had anything to do with Al. But I knew that this man was a death eater, seeing as he had the mark on his arm.

"She has been hit by the Cruciatus curse and she's unconscious now" the man said to the receptionist.

The receptionist, a young witch, looked at the woman in worry.

"Fourth floor, second door on the left. And hurry, she doesn't look very well" she said.

We made our way to the fourth floor using the elevator. It was the floor which housed patients for mental damage due to magical maladies. What the hell had happened to her?

The man, with the woman in his arms entered the Healer's room. The moment The Healer saw the unconscious woman, he asked the man to put her on the bed.

"Hello Mr. Aster, I am Healer Kirk"

Mr. Aster? Cadmus Aster? So that meant that the woman was Helena Aster. Alice's parents.

Cadmus explained that Helena had been struck by the cruciatus curse. The Healer nodded, listening to everything he had to say as he examined her and frowned at her state.

"Please wait outside" he said to the both of us.

Cadmus and I left the room and sat outside on the two chairs the staff had kept in the hall.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" I asked finally.

Cadmus sighed.

"We're Alice's parents. When she came to the manor today, You-know-who threatened to kill her but gave us an other option, to torture Helena instead. Torture her to the brink of insanity and I-I did it"

So she had been lured to The Manor, so that Voldemort could do whatever the hell it is he had wanted to do to her. My blood boiled at thought.

"And what about Alice?" I asked. Before Cadmus could answer, the Healer interrupted us.

"Mr. Aster, I have some bad news"

"What is it?" asked Cadmus even though he already knew the answer.

"Your wife has succumbed to the curse. This means that she will suffer from permanent mental damage, she is not likely to remember who she is, who you are and where she is. We have two similar cases, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom" said The Healer.

"Neville's parents?" I asked and the healer nodded.

I knew that his parents were in a terrible state. It was even worse than dying, to have to live not knowing why, where, who and how. My heart sank for her.

And for Alice. She had just lost her mother. It made sense why Voldemort decided to torture her instead of having her killed. He wanted Alice to suffer, knowing that her mother was alive and that she still couldn't be with her.

"She will be staying here in this ward along with The Longbottoms. You may get a visiting pass from the receptionist" said the healer before leaving us to go back to his office.

"This is all my fault. All of it" whispered Cadmus.

I was beginning to get impatient, I didn't want to delay looking for Alice any longer.

"Cadmus please just tell me where Alice is"

He looked up at me with his tear stained face and puffy eyes.

"She's in the dungeon in the Malfoy Manor"

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Honestly, I don't know why but Fred, don't go there. Don't go looking for her"

"Well I can't bloody well just stay here while my girlfriend rots in a cell can I?" I said beginning to feel angry. Angry at myself for not being more careful, angry at her father for not giving a damn about his daughter, angry at Alice too, if only she had listened to me earlier.

"I know you want to save her but you can't. You're nothing against all the death eaters, and Voldemort himself"

"I don't care if they hurt me. I'm going to save Alice no matter what" I said, getting ready to disapparate but he stopped me.

"NO! You cannot go there on your own. You'll be dead within seconds and you'll be putting your entire family in danger. She's my daughter, I promise you that nothing will happen to her" he said.

"You made that promise many times but it was always Alice who had to save herself" I said, my tone lowering, she had spent a whole year protecting herself and her friends from death eaters.

"I know but this time, it's different. You have to trust me. All I need you to do is check up on her mother sometimes, please" he pleaded.

What he said made sense, there was no possible way I could get Alice out of Malfoy Manor, only Cadmus could.

"You have a month. If she gets so much as a scratch I promise you I will use the order's help to kill you" I said, walking close to him so that we were face to face.

"Be careful how you talk to your girlfriend's father Fred" he said, his voice shaking.

"I think you lost the credibility to call yourself that years ago" I spat before disapparating to Shell Cottage, the only safe place I could think of.

When Bill and Fleur saw me at their door, they hurried me inside.

"Fred what the hell happened?" asked Bill.

I sat them down and explained everything to them. I felt a lump in my throat and tears began to flow from my eyes. For the second time, Alice was caught by the death eaters and there was nothing I could do about it. I was a terrible boyfriend. What good was I?

"Fred there's nothing you can do. You have to wait. I'll send a letter to George and ask him to come here as soon as possible" said Bill, leading me to the room I had shared with Alice for the last few months.

Bill shut the door behind him and left me in the room alone.

Our room held many, many memories. Waking up next to Alice everyday had been like a dream, the sunlight playing on her eyelashes as she fluttered them open every morning, a groan escaping her lips when she realised that she had to wake up and take a shower. She definitely wasn't a morning person. I chuckled dryly at the memory,

"Wake up sleepyhead" I whispered in her ear as she hid her head under the pillow.

"Five more minutes Fred" she said sleepily. 

I placed my hand on her bare shoulder, rubbing circles on it with my thumb. I kissed her gently on the back of her neck, murmuring against her skin,

"We might need a little more than five minutes for what I had in mind" I said earning a kick on the foot from her.

"Why? wasn't last night enough for you?" she asked, turning to lie flat on her back.

"I can never get enough of you" I said truthfully, climbing on top and hovering over her, my hands on either side of her shoulders. She smiled her beautiful smile, her green eyes warm under the rays of the autumn sun.

"I'm going back to sleep" she said, shutting her eyes close.

"Not so soon" I muttered under my breath, lowering myself and nibbling on the skin on her neck, eliciting a soft moan from her lips.

She placed her hands on the back of my neck, pulling me closer into the crook of her neck

"If I didn't love you so much, I'd kill you for waking me up in the morning" she said, as I smiled into her neck, not stopping the gentle kisses that I knew she loved so much.

I wasn't going to let her suffer in that cell. I was going to save her, I didn't care what her father, or Bill or anyone else said. 

I just needed to figure out how.

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