NO SIGNAL ➝ FRED WEASLEY [1] ✓

SIXTY THREE [THE BURROW]

Amelia's nineteenth birthday was a much more casual affair than the year before; instead of a raging party at 12 Grimmauld Place, the Weasleys and several members of the Order had a small get-together at the Burrow, and Amelia was more than okay with the change of scenery.

Fleur had come to stay with them for the holidays, and much of Amelia's birthday was spent around the kitchen table, flipping through Muggle and magical bridal magazines and searching for the perfect wedding dress.

The two had decided that the bridesmaids would wear sage green gowns, a color that would compliment each of the girls' complexions quite well.

And on the next day, Christmas Day itself, Amelia realized that much of the Order had stayed over, but instead of a light-hearted gathering for her birthday, it was for a meeting, something confidential about Dumbledore.

So Amelia sat with Bellamy and the twins in the kitchen, munching on snacks that Molly had prepared for the festivities.

The darkness of the night outside vanished as a ring of fire suddenly surrounded the Burrow, and a set of footsteps thundered down the stairs as Harry ran from the floor above out into the yard.

Ginny was close behind him, hot on his trail, and she was out the door before anyone could stop her.

"Ginny, wait!" Bellamy was up from her seat in an instant, and another voice drifted in from outside.

"I killed Sirius Black, I killed Sirius Black!"

Amelia had no choice but to follow her sister out the door and into the night, watching helplessly as Ginny followed Harry through a gap into the flames, out into the swamp that surrounded the Burrow.

Bellamy, too, had run through the flames after the two younger ones.

"No!" A scream ripped out of Amelia's throat, and she was forced to go after her, compelled by the need to protect her sister.

She was mere feet away from the ring of flames when a hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from going any further.

"Meely, stop!" Fred shouted over the roar of the blaze.

She turned to face him, brown eyes feral. "Let me go. I can't let anything happen to Bellamy."

"I can't let anything happen to you!"

She looked from him to the flames, then back to him. "I'm sorry."

Amelia ripped her hand from his grasp and ran straight through the flames, not bothering to wait for them to part.

She cursed loudly at the feeling of the fire licking her skin with a blistering heat and watched as burns began to mark the skin of her arms and legs.

She pushed the pain away and called out for her sister.

"Bellamy!" Amelia shouted into the blackness in front of her. "Bellamy, where are you?"

She listened for a moment, only hearing the sloshing of the water at her feet and throughout the swamp around her.

Then, in the distance, she heard a call back: "Meely! Over here!"

Amelia broke into a run in the direction of her sister's voice, tall grass whipping at her already burned skin and pulling at the fabric of her dress.

She ran in one direction until she stumbled into a clearing, falling to her knees in the murky water, exhausted.

"Meely, are you alright?" Bellamy's voice washed over her like a cool breeze.

Amelia looked up to find that Bellamy was standing over her, with Ginny and Harry behind her.

Bellamy gasped sharply. "Oh, Merlin, your face!" She whispered.

The left side of Amelia's face was covered in burns, as was most of the left side of her body. Parts of her dress had either burned away or ripped from being caught on spines of grass.

"I had to follow you," Amelia croaked, voice raspy and eyes far away. "I had to make sure you didn't get hurt."

Before Bellamy could respond, a throaty laugh came from somewhere in the darkness.

"I don't have my wand—I left it inside." Amelia whispered to her sister as she was hauled out of the water and onto dry land.

None of them said anything; they just held the eldest among them behind them, hiding her vulnerable form from sight as Fenrir Greyback came out from where he had been hiding in the grasses.

"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, casting a jet of red magic towards the Death Eater, who did nothing but deflect it.

Greyback just laughed cruelly at them before Disapparating.

"We've got to get her back to Molly." Bellamy said, frantically nudging Amelia, whose eyes had been slipping shut, to ensure she would stay awake.

But Amelia could not stay awake, and by the time her three friends had carried her back to the Burrow, she had fully lost consciousness.

"Meely!" Fred broke through the barricade of concerned Order members, shoving his twin brother aside to get to her. "Amelia! Bellamy, is she alright?"

He helped lower her to the ground as a tear fell down Bellamy's face. "I don't know. I don't know—she passed out. I haven't been able to wake her up."

Fred knelt down beside Amelia and carefully stroked her unburned cheek.

"Mum! Get over here." He shouted, urgency clear in his voice.

—

Amelia opened her eyes slowly, and the first thing she saw was a wood-paneled ceiling. Beyond that, though, was a head of long ginger hair.

She must've made some sort of noise to announce her consiousness, because suddenly Ginny's voice was loud and practically deafening in her ears:

"Mum! Fred! She's awake!"

Amelia groaned, rolling over but immediately regretting that decision as the entire left side of her body flared up in pain.

"Hey, love, it's alright." Fred was instantly at her side, and he whispered in her ear, breath fanning her face. "You're safe."

She looked up at him, vision slightly blurred. "It hurts."

He cracked a smile and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I know, baby. I know."

"Where's Bellamy?" Amelia mumbled as Fred slowly helped her sit up, wincing at the sharp sting that came from the movement.

"Right here." Her sister said from a chair next to the living room sofa, where Amelia had been lying. "And let me warn you right now, Meely—if you ever do anything that stupid again, I'll kill you myself, alright?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. "You ran through the fire first, twat."

Molly Weasley came bustling into the room a few moments later, wand in one hand and a jar of some sort of salve in the other.

"Oh, darling, I'm glad you're awake. You gave all of us quite the scare!" Molly said with a smile that barely hid the not-quite-gone fear in her eyes.

The woman knelt next to Amelia and scooped a bit of the salve out of the jar, gently rubbing it over the burned skin of Amelia's left calf.

The relief was instant, and Amelia found herself sighing. Whatever was in that salve had cooled the fiery pain and numbed the area completely.

"Much better, yeah?" Molly said as she applied the salve to the rest of Amelia's burns.

Amelia could only nod, eyes closed and head rested against Fred's shoulder.

As the reprieve settled over her, she found herself growing tired. She felt Fred lift her carefully off the sofa, and she saw the living room ceiling led into the ceiling of the bedroom they had been staying in over the holidays.

"Goodnight, love." He whispered, tucking her in. "I love you."

i abhor this chapter