The Summer Before the War

Harry sat on a nearby rock. Dumbledore hesitated, then apparently made the decision to just plunge into the bad news. "Harry, shortly after you arrived here a week ago, three members of the Weasley family disappeared. Specifically, George, Ginny, and their father Arthur." He hesitated again, then continued slowly and heavily, "This morning, Molly found them back at the Burrow, under the sign of the Dark Mark. Ginny and George were apparently both hit with the Cruciatus Curse for such a prolonged period that their nerve endings burned out. Arthur was hit with Avada Kedavra." He looked at Harry sadly. "All three of them are dead, Harry. I'm sorry."

Harry sat still on the rock, not understanding Dumbledore's words for a moment. Ginny, George, and Arthur were dead? How? He'd just seen them.

"Sorry!" Ginny yelled from upstairs.

He'd just seen them. They were alive.

He looked at Sirius, who was looking at him, sadly.

"Sorry!" George yelled back.

He'd just seen them. They were alive.

"How?" he heard himself asking woodenly.

"But... won't that put all of you in danger?"

"No...you don't need to worry about us, Harry."

"Harry..." Dumbledore began.

"Why?" Harry suddenly amended, realizing that Dumbledore had already told him "how."

Dumbledore stared at him, concern evident in his face. "Harry, there's something you need to understand. All of the people who helped you on this journey knew that there was a possibility that they may be caught and questioned, when they were discovered. Arthur knew this too. All of the Weasleys did, and all of the Weasleys who took a portkey from the Burrow, like everybody else who helped you last week, did it because they asked to help."

Harry felt a stinging in the backs of his eyes, and blinked furiously.

"But... why Ginny and George?" he heard himself asking the question before he knew he was going to. "I mean..." he trailed off, not sure how to explain what he meant.

"Percy's got a girlfriend," Ginny said with a small snicker. "You won't tease him, will you?"

"Oh, no. Wouldn't dream of it." Fred and George said delightedly.

"Most likely, because Voldemort thought he stood a better chance of getting information out of Arthur by going through his children." Dumbledore explained quietly, his eyes never leaving Harry's face. "And Ginny and George were the ones they found."

"Ta ta." Fred's voice, carefree. Then George winked and waved.

Out of nowhere, Harry suddenly asked quietly, "Is Ron ok?"

Dumbledore looked, if anything, sadder than before. "He is... safe," he answered, his voice trembling slightly. "As is Fred. They're both at Hogwarts now."

"Don't cry, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls!"

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!"

"George!"

"Only joking, mom."

"What about Mrs. Weasley?" Harry wondered just where these questions were coming from. They sounded like they were coming from him (although his voice sounded far too hollow to be his own) but he wasn't aware of thinking of them. His mind was not participating in this conversation.

Dumbledore took a slightly shaky breath, looking sadder than Harry had ever seen him. "Molly is... also safe."

But not ok. She'd just lost her husband and two of her children. How could she be ok? Nice way to repay her for everything, Harry, came the thought out of nowhere.

Almost as if Harry had said it aloud, Dumbledore suddenly looked at him sharply. "It was not your fault, Harry."

Sensing that he was supposed to agree, Harry obediently nodded his head.

"But Dad, Harry lives to get you in trouble, haven't you figured that out by now?"

"Harry..."

"When can I see Ron?" Ron probably needed a friend right now. So that's what Harry should do... he should be there for Ron. Yes.

The stinging in the back of his eyes was back, but Harry blinked the tears away. Crying wouldn't help Ron.

"I can take you back now," said Dumbledore hesitantly, still looking at him closely. "I had planned to wait to a time that was closer to term to take you back, but now I believe it would be best for you to go back now. If you like. It's up to you."

Harry nodded. He should be there for Ron.

"Very well," Dumbledore said. He took a small rectangular box out of his pocket, and tapped it with his wand, saying, "Engorgio." The box expanded, and revealed itself to be a trunk.

Harry, Sirius, and Dumbledore packed Harry's homework and things into the trunk in silence. It didn't take long, as Harry didn't have that much with him. When they'd finished, Dumbledore said, "Hold this, please, Harry. I'll bring your trunk later today." He held out a Chocolate Frog.

Harry smiled faintly. Yes, it was just like Dumbledore to make a portkey out of a piece of candy. "What happens if you eat it?" he asked idly.

"You know, Harry, I don't know. I've never tried. Perhaps I should someday."

"Probably not a great idea, Professor," said Sirius with a strained smile. Harry looked at Sirius for the first time since Dumbledore had told him the news. Of the three of them, Sirius definitely looked the most normal, although the sad, hollow look that had disappeared from his eyes over the last week was back, full-force. Sirius then straightened from where he was closing Harry's trunk, looked directly at Dumbledore, and said, "Professor, please give Ron my condolences."

Dumbledore hesitated for a moment. "I will, Sirius... as soon as Ron is able to receive them."

Harry was just about to ask Dumbledore what he meant by that, when he felt a familiar tugging.

"Bye, Siri- " he had just enough time to say, before being sucked into the portkey.

He landed in the Great Hall. It was completely deserted. Harry looked around, wondering where Ron might be at the moment, then took off toward the Gryffindor house.

Thankfully, the password hadn't yet been changed from the end of last year. The Fat Lady was very curious as to why he was a week early to school, but Harry just looked at her impatiently until she opened the door, then he ran into the common room.

He'd thought he might see Ron there. Since arriving in the Great Hall, he'd pictured an upset, or even devastated, Ron, and tried to work out what he could say to Ron to help, without much success.

He was, however, utterly unprepared for what he saw in the common room.

A young man was staring, unseeing, into the empty fireplace. His skin was chalk-white, and he wasn't moving at all. He'd obviously been there for some time. For a moment, Harry was sure it was the ghost of George, but then he saw that he was breathing.

"Fred?" he asked tentatively.

Fred turned his head slowly and stared at Harry for a moment. Harry felt a jolt of shock at the look in his eyes. They were cold... hollow... dead.

"Hi, Harry," he said quietly, not sounding at all like himself. He sounded, in fact, exactly like a ghost, and Harry checked once more that it was, indeed, Fred, and not George. "Ron went for a walk," Fred continued in the same soft, expressionless, eerie voice, and Harry fought a sudden urge to scream.

Instead, forcing calm into his voice, he asked, "any idea where he went?"

Fred had already turned back to the fireplace. "Maybe the owlery. He mentioned something about Pig."

"Fred, I..." Harry stared at the young man who was, and wasn't, Fred. Then, before he could stop himself, he turned and fled the room.

One of the first things Harry saw when he entered the owlery was Hedwig. She was fast asleep, and Harry considered waking her up for a minute. Oddly enough, seeing Hedwig sound asleep in the Hogwarts owlery was such an oddly normal sight, in this situation that was anything but normal, that he felt tears threaten him again. He wiped them away and looked for Ron.

He found Ron down the row, talking to Pig too quietly for Harry to hear what he was saying. Before Harry could say anything, Ron turned and noticed him. He smiled and said, "Hi, Harry." He looked a little... worried?

Harry had been expecting anything but that, especially after Fred. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out at first. "Hi, Ron," he finally managed. "I'm s... How are you?"

"Ok." Ron nodded for emphasis. "Of course, I'd be even better if everyone would stop pretending that George and Ginny and Dad were dead..." he scowled at Pig. "I suppose you heard they went missing?"

Harry nodded, speechless.

"Yeah, well, everyone seems to think they're dead now." Ron now looked really angry. "And they keep saying, 'I'm so sorry, Ron.'" He mimicked Professor McGonagall's voice as he said that. "I swear, the next person who says that to me is going to get my fist in his face, even if it's Dumbledore himself."

Harry was suddenly very glad he hadn't said he was sorry before. "They're... they're not dead?" he asked, not sure what to make of this.

Ron looked at him angrily. "No. Of course not. They probably just got somebody to take Polyjuice potion or something, and pretend to be them, and that's who Mom saw this morning."

This was so utterly irrational that Harry could only stare as Ron continued to pet Pig. "Umm... Ron?" he began tentatively, not sure how to point out that his father certainly had not convinced three people to take Polyjuice potion so those three people could be tortured and killed.

Ron suddenly whipped out his wand, pointing it at Harry. "Don't you dare say it. I know exactly what you're going to say. I've heard it before. All day, in fact. And I don't care! They're not dead!"

Harry stared at Ron, speechless. He had no idea what to say. "Ron?" he tried again, then trailed off at the look of pure fury on Ron's face.

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD!" Ron screamed, then ran past Harry and out of the owlery. Harry was left standing alone, staring at Pig, who was grooming himself, oblivious to the scene that had just happened in front of him.

An eternity later, Harry finally moved. Turning to leave, he saw Hedwig was now awake and was staring at him in a sympathetic sort of way.

"Hi, Hedwig. How have you been?" He stroked her wings. She hooted and nipped his finger affectionately. Harry smiled at her, then quickly wiped his eyes.

"I apologize for not warning you, Harry," he heard from the doorway. Dumbledore was standing there, looking at him sadly. "The news is... new. To Ron, at least. He hasn't yet had the chance to accept it."

"When will he?"

"I don't know, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly.

"What's... what's wrong with Fred?" Harry cringed at his own words. That had not come out right.

Dumbledore sighed. "Fred lost a twin, Harry. That is... rather more complicated than losing a regular brother or sister, or even a parent. When I told him what Molly had discovered today... I believe he already knew."

Harry tried to understand Dumbledore's meaning, but gave up after a moment. Suddenly, he felt very tired, and kind of lost. He sighed. "What do I do?"

"Harry..." Dumbledore looked at him piercingly. "You're not going to be able to fix this. All you can do now is be there for your friends."

Harry looked back at Hedwig, then nodded, close to tears again. He wanted so badly to fix this... to undo the damage he'd done to this wonderful family.

As if reading Harry's thoughts, Dumbledore said, again, "It wasn't your fault, Harry." And again, Harry nodded obediently, knowing it was what he was supposed to do. He wished Dumbledore would leave. He wasn't going to be able to keep from crying much longer if Dumbledore stayed.

"Come on, Harry," Dumbledore said then, and Harry looked at him, startled. "We need to get back to the castle. It's getting late."

Harry looked past Dumbledore and saw that it was, indeed, getting dark. He nodded, and Dumbledore took his shoulder, and steered him towards the school.

The next week before the term started was one of the longest weeks Harry had ever had to get through. Ron kept wanting to theorize with Harry about where Ginny, George, and his dad could be - but Harry couldn't take part in that. He just couldn't. He was finding it hard enough to not burst into tears, and he needed to be strong for Ron. Harry kept wanting to say... something... to Ron that would express something of what he was feeling, or something that would help Ron - but Ron just wouldn't hear of it. And neither of them could talk about anything else. All of which meant that Harry couldn't talk to Ron at all.

Not that Ron didn't want Harry around. Ron most definitely did want Harry around, as Harry could tell from the fact that Ron followed him everywhere, as if he couldn't bear to be alone. Harry quickly got the message, and stopped leaving the room (even when he had a valid reason to), unless Ron left first, so Ron would know Harry was there for him.

So Harry spent the last week before term started, in the common room, with Ron, doing nothing and saying nothing. He'd never been so uncomfortable, for so long, in his life.

And Fred was just... it was just eerie to see Fred drifting from place to place. It was so wrong. Every time Harry saw Fred, he expected Fred to suddenly stop drifting, turn to him, grin, and say, "spooked yah," or something. But that never happened.

Harry couldn't wait for term to start, but once the day arrived, he found he was dreading it. He didn't want to be surrounded by people. Not now. And he certainly didn't want Ron, who was no closer to accepting Ginny's, George's, and Arthur's deaths than he'd been a week ago, to be surrounded by people either.

He really didn't want to go to the Sorting Ceremony or the Opening Feast, and Dumbledore had said that he and Ron didn't need to, so he waited instead. When he was fairly sure the feast was over, Harry broke the silence. "Umm... I'm going to go... meet everyone."

Ron looked up from the chess game he was playing against himself. "Ok. I think I'll stay here. Don't really feel like a crowd right now," he said casually.

Harry didn't much feel like a crowd either. But he thought this might be the best and only chance to warn his classmates that Ron didn't believe his family was dead, and definitely did not want condolences.

When he arrived in the Great Hall, everybody was sitting at their tables finishing their meals. Harry noticed that the new first-years were, by far, the most excited people in the room. Everybody else was very subdued. A few people stared as he entered the room, but he ignored them, heading for his place at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry!"

Hermione. He'd been dreading trying to tell her about this.

As it turned out, he didn't have to. When he got closer, he noticed she was already crying. On closer inspection, he noticed that everybody at the Gryffindor table was unusually subdued, and Hermione wasn't the only one crying.

She stared up at him from her seat, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Harry! It's so horrible. They announced it on the train... It's so horrible," she repeated, wiping her face, as if unable to express anything else.

"Where's Ron?" asked Seamus. Hermione looked at Harry worriedly, and Harry could see the question, 'how is he?' written on her face.

"Er... he's... he's up in the common room. Fred's there too." Hermione suddenly leapt from her chair and raced from the room, obviously to go up to the common room. "Hermione," he yelled after her, "about Ron, he..." he trailed off as Hermione disappeared without heeding him.

"He doesn't believe they're dead," he finished quietly, and added to himself, "This is going to be a disaster."

"He doesn't believe they're dead?" Neville asked, confused.

Harry, who had just started running after Hermione, stopped in his tracks. "No, Neville, he doesn't believe they're dead. He thinks three other people who look exactly like them are dead."

Colin burst into incredulous laughter, but abruptly cut off at the look on Harry's face.

"Seriously?" Lee Jordan asked.

Harry nodded. "He thinks his dad convinced three other people to take Polyjuice potion and pretend to be them." Everyone stared at Harry incredulously. "And he really, really doesn't like it when people tell him they're sorry," Harry continued. "I should probably get up there before he attacks Hermione."

He turned to leave again, but stopped again when Angelina asked, "Harry? How's Fred?"

Harry stared at her worried expression, at a total loss as to how to answer this question. "Fred is..." he trailed off, then found himself saying, "I think Fred kind of died too."

Angelina's eyes filled with tears. Harry whispered, "I'm sorry," before running after Hermione again.