Chéri || Fred Weasley

iii

It was around 6 pm and everyone was getting ready for dinner. Mum had made reservations in this really fancy restaurant in Champs Élysées, so dad bent the 'not going out rule' for one night. Mum left with Clotilde at 6:30 so that she could get me a new dress and at 7 Nathan and Timothee left to meet for drinks with some of their friends, which left me and dad. I was the one who always took longest time get ready since it took me an eternity to choose the outfit and the makeup and the hairstyle. At 7:30 I was ready and only needed to choose some shoes before leaving with dad. The door to my room opened abruptly and I saw dad who was clearly looking distressed.

"Dad what's going...", before I could finish he placed his hand on my mouth to shut me up. I nodded feeling fear running through every inch of my body. "Étoile, chèrie I need to to hide and not make a sound, everything will be alright but I need you to be quiet. They're coming for me". Once he finished the sentence I tears were escaping from my eyes, I flinched when I heard noises from downstairs, whoever was coming for dad didn't come on good terms and I knew that this was the last night he was going to be with me. He hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head as if he knew that it was the last time before cupping my face with both of his hands. "Be good ma belle, take care of mum and watch out for Clo and Tim. Je t'aime avec tout ma vie ma petite étoile", he said before pushing me into my wardrobe and muttering spells so that I could not be seen or heard. I sat down, with one of my hands on my mouth to silence my sobs and the other one holding my knees, my dad's blue eyes met my green ones one last time before a man came into my room.

"Long time no see eh Philippe" said the man pointing his wand at dad. I knew that he didn't have his wand with him because he didn't use it for putting the protection spells around me. "I know what you're here for" dad said before a spell threw him to the opposite side of my room. "Then I'll make it easier for you, either you tell me the good way or we can play for a little bit" said the man. "I'd rather die" said dad. The man pointed his wand and said "Crucio!", as dad's screams of pain filled the room, I pressed my hand against my mouth harder to keep myself from sobbing loudly. The man continued to torture him for what felt like an eternity, and he knew that Philippe Archambeau was not going to cave.

I met my dad's eyes once more before he was hit by a blinding green light. He was dead. I heard the man walk downstairs and open the front door and with a loud crack I knew he was gone. I removed my hand from my mouth and a loud sob escaped my lips. Tears were streaming down my face as I slowly got up and walked over to my father's body. His beautiful blue eyes still open and a single tear running slowly down his cheek. I sat down next to his lifeless body and took his cold hand into mine. In that moment I felt like a dementor had sucked all the happiness from my life, and in that moment I knew that I would never be the same person that I was. I sat still, holding my father's hand. It seemed like I had run out of tears because I couldn't cry anymore, my mind was completely blank, my face was completely emotionless and I didn't even notice that the rest of the family had arrived home.

"MADELEINE! PHILIPPE!" Cressida yelled upon entering the house, seeing the house completely trashed. That's when it hit her, she felt a cold shiver run up her spine and she knew that something was wrong. "Nathan stay with Clotilde outside if someone comes you dissaparate immediately. Timothee come with me. Wand out" she said before slowly walking upstairs with her eldest child following behind. She slowly opened the door to Madeleine's room and dropped to her knees. She saw the love of her life lifeless on the floor, his eyes open without the usual spark that they had, her daughter holding his hand into hers without reacting, with the spark gone from her eyes as well. Cressida let out a painful scream from the back of her throat, she couldn't even breathe and everything went black. Timothee was in shock, seeing his father's dead body on the floor, his younger sister still holding his hand without reacting to her surroundings, his mother passed out on the floor, but he just stood still. He went down the stairs where his best friend and youngest sister were standing and closed the door to the house. He stood next to Clotilde and pulled her into a tight hug, letting a couple of tears escape his eyes, "Clo, dad is dead".

It sounded almost like a whisper but Clotilde heard him perfectly. She began sprinting to the door but Nathan caught her before she could open it. He pulled her into his arms wrapping then tightly against her and didn't let her go. He knew that seeing her father's lifeless body would scar her for life and she was still too young to see anything like that. Timothee went back into the house and saw Cressida on her feet sending a patronus. He saw Madeleine who hadn't moved in god knows how long, her eyes completely grey still clutching Philippe's hand tightly. After Cressida was done sending the patronuses, he walked over to her and hugged her. He began crying into her mother's arms as she was rubbing his back gently.

After another thirty minutes had passed, ministry officials from both the English and French Ministry of Magic arrived at the scene. Cressida was in the room with Madeleine who hadn't even moved the slightest bit and Timothee sat in the living room with Clotilde's head resting on his lap and a glass of fire whiskey on his hand. Nathan was talking with the ministry officials and let them inside the house. "Upstairs, third room on your right", Tim said before downing his drink.
When the Ministry officials stepped into Madeleine's room to remove the body, they saw Cressida standing on the side and the blonde girl still holding her dad's hand.