NO SIGNAL ➝ FRED WEASLEY [1] ✓

ALTERNATE ENDING #2

Amelia had a sinking feeling in her chest the moment Fred left the Great Hall. She wanted nothing more than to run after him, apologize for their fight, and beg him to stay with her.

But he had left, and she was alone with Ginny and a few dozen students. Worst of all, it was her job to come up with a battle strategy to protect the castle as best as they could.

She cleared her throat. "Alright. How many of you would consider yourselves good at defensive and offensive magic?" She asked the group of students before her.

Nearly all of them raised their hands, and she found herself smiling the tiniest bit.

This was a good sign. Maybe they weren't all royally fucked.

Amelia and Ginny took turns barking out orders, and the blonde watched as the group of fighters broke off into pairs or trios and left the hall to take their positions throughout the castle.

Soon, it was just Ginny, Amelia, and Dean Thomas left in the Great Hall, and they shared a look of understanding before filing out into the main entryway.

Amelia would never admit to anyone, especially not two children who were younger, more vulnerable, and more terrified than she was, that she was paralyzed with fear for those she loved, her unborn baby, and herself.

—

As she stunned a Death Eater that flew in through a window to her left, sending him tumbling right back out to most likely fall to his death, she took a moment to register her surroundings.

Somehow, the fight had brought her to a fifth floor corridor, and now that the last Death Eater had been dispatched, she could take a breath.

Ginny and Dean were doing the same thing a few feet away, the redhead with her head between her knees.

Ginny had been stunned rather hard, and she was fighting to keep the nausea down as a result from the spell.

Amelia was also fighting down nausea, except the reason for her feeling unwell was not because of a specific spell or curse, but because of how worried she was.

The anxiety literally gnawed at her soul, and she nearly keeled over from the nerves.

Then, suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain in her chest, and she fell to her knees, clutching her necklace with the little F charm on it.

"What's wrong, Meely?" Ginny asked, crawling her way over to Amelia.

All she could do was gasp, and while she tried to explain the pain, she couldn't get words out, and his face flashed through her mind with urgency.

"F-Fred." She wheezed, brown eyes feral.

She fought through the pain and stood up on shaky legs, letting her body lead her where she needed to go.

She was running now, not paying attention to the world around her as she rushed to find him, all while her heart felt like it was breaking in her chest.

Every step she took made her more and more worried, and by the time she reached the seventh floor, the pain in her chest was almost too much to bear. She stumbled, leaning against the wall for support.

"Freddie!" She called with a raspy voice, without a care in the world for anyone who might be around the corner to hurt her.

There had been an explosion earlier, from a few floors above her, while she was fighting the Death Eater. She vaguely remembered hearing the blast, feeling the ground under her feet shake.

But nothing could've prepared her for the horror she found upon reaching the scene of the explosion.

Percy Weasley was sitting among the rubble, a cut on his forehead dripping blood that mixed with tears that flowed down his cheeks.

He looked up when he heard her coming, and he started crying harder at the sight of her.

"Oh, Amelia. I'm sorry I couldn't save him." He sobbed.

Amelia's heart stopped. "No."

She dove towards the rubble, landing on her knees amid the piles of stones.

She dug through the rock, tearing up her palms in the process, but the pain didn't register in her brain.

Even as her blood stained the stones, she continued to throw rocks behind her, digging until she found a limp arm.

"No, no, nononono." She whimpered.

When she had finally uncovered the rest of his body, she nearly vomited at the sight.

Fred Weasley's eyes were vacant and empty, and they stared at the ceiling lifelessly.

Amelia did her best to pull his torso into her lap, and she stroked his ginger hair gently.

"Please, baby. Come back to me." She begged, tears rolling down her dirty cheeks. "Please wake up—I can't do this without you. I need you with me."

Despite her begging and pleading, his eyes remained empty and his face was frozen, his last laugh still apparent on his face.

He had died laughing.

That realization was enough to rip a scream from her lips, and she bent over, head resting on his still chest. Her screams of agony were muffled by the fabric of his shirt.

As she hugged his body to her, she felt something bulging out of the pocket of his jeans.

She stopped crying for a moment out of pure confusion, and she pulled the square-shaped object out of his pocket.

It was the ring box she'd seen hiding in his dresser drawer back in August.

She opened it with bloody, shaky hands.

Inside was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen in her life. It had a white gold band, a modest cluster of diamonds, and an engraving etched on the inside of the band that read You + Me.

Amelia pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to stop more loud cries from slipping out.

The ring would have been hers. If she had been able to save him.

i am so sorry.