The house illuminated as the streaks of lightning danced across the sky, followed by loud booms of thunder.

The loudest boom yet could have been blamed for waking eighteen year old Dove Silvers up from her sleep. But she was not scared of thunderstorms. At least not anymore.

There was another reason her heart pounded violently as she was drenched with sweat. She put her trembling hands upon her face, murmuring to herself whatever she could to make her calm down.

She couldn't close her eyes. If she did, she'd see the fallen corridors, the people lying in the Great Hall, her sisters body...

Dove shook her head, grabbing her wand on the bedside table next to her. With once simple flick the lights in her room went on, hiding the darkness.

She glanced at the clock, sighing. Today was the day. The day she'd been dreading.

Dove got out of bed, her feet hitting the ground below her. She held her wand out for light and began her journey down the halls of Silvers Manor.

The house had always been dark and dull. That was no secret. It was even darker on a day like this. Dove tiptoed down the stairwell of the manor, mentally counting each step so she would know which one creaked and which one didn't. This wasn't exactly her first time leaving her room in the deep hours of the night.

Another crack of lighting shined through the house, lighting the way for Dove as she finished her decent to the bottom floor. She could still hear the rain bang against the windows and the wind holler.

Dove stood for a moment, her gaze fixated on a window as the rain appeared to hit it harder and harder, almost testing to see if the glass would crack.

"Still awake?" A voice asked. Dove turned towards the living room, snapping away her thoughts. Her Nana sat in one of the chairs with a book in her hand and a candle besides her. She had moved in a week after the events at Hogwarts because Dove needed help taking care of her mother. Dove merely shrugged, wiping her brow.

"Couldn't sleep."

"I see... Would you like me to make you something to eat?"

"No. I'm not hungry."

Her Nana didn't fight her. The whole house knew what kind of day this was. Well, those in it.

Dove's father was in Azkaban. His trial had been the week before. He was found guilty on many charges. The main one being allying You-Know-Who. Dove was still not used to the idea of being able to speak his name freely. It still sent shivers down her spine.

Her older brother Avalon, was also not home. He had not been sent to Azkaban. Or at least, not yet. His trial was set for a later date while the Ministry collected information. They had learned that Avalon did not fully join You-Know-Who out of free will. But until a verdict was decided, Avalon was kept elsewhere under the eyes of many.

"Come. Sit." Nana said, gesturing to the green couch beside her. Dove did as she was told and the two sat in silence, the only noise was the sound of rain tapping against the window.

"Your mother just recently fell asleep. She's all frazzled still. I sent an owl to Molly Weasley to inform her of your mother's condition."

Dove only nodded. She didn't have the energy to be upset about her Nana telling people what was going on. To be honest, Dove's entire life was falling apart. Her mother had gone into some sort of shock after the events of the last week. With Tori's death, her husband's sentence and her son being monitored, the stress had been a little too much on her. She seemed to have very little of any awareness of her surroundings and badly spoke of did anything other than stare ahead into nothingness.

To be truthful, Dove didn't know how she felt about the Weasley's. The funeral service for Victoria was going to be a combined service with Fred Weasley, who would have been Victoria's fiancé. It was a discussion Dove had very little part in, but she wouldn't have stopped it either way. Victoria would have wanted it.

No, not Victoria. Dove scolded herself. Tori. The least she could do for her sister was call her by the right name.

Either way, Dove knew that the death's of Tori and Fred must be much harder on George Weasley. He was the one who grew up with them. And Dove couldn't help but feel a string of jealousy following these thoughts.

The storm seemed to spread all through England. On the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole in Devon, The Burrow was quiet. Almost too quiet for anyone's liking.

To say every one was sleeping soundly would most likely be one of the biggest lies of all time. No one was truly asleep, but they didn't want to let the other residents know it. George Weasley was sharing a room with his younger brother Ron, who was turned on his side facing away from George. Ron has his eyes shut, but only because he didn't want George to see the tears running down his face.

George was sitting up in the extra bed that was placed there that night. He couldn't sleep in his old room. There were too many memories, too many objects in there that reminded George of them. The door to the twin's old room had been shut,. No one had the heart to open it.

It was the same way for the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes shop. It hadn't been opened since Fred and George had to go on the run with the rest of their family, and George couldn't go back into the apartment. Not yet. It was too hard.

George felt nothing. Saying he felt numb wasn't even the correct word for him. He knew he was crying, but only because his tears were soaking his trousers.

His twin brother and his best friend. The two people he had grown up with his entire life, both gone.

Fred had been there always. Of course he had. They were twins after all. They had their special two connections that no one else could get through. Their twin telepathy, as Charlie would call it. They always knew what the other was thinking. They were two halves of a whole. But now there was only one half left.

Tori was George's best friend. The person he could trust, the shoulder he could lean on when he needed it. She was like a sister. No, not like. She was a sister. They had grown up side by side for eight years.

Now they were both gone.

The storm that night didn't lighten up. It continued through the night, eventually lulling those in the Burrow and Silvers's Manor to sleep. However, there were two people who sleep would refuse to creep up upon.

And in two houses across England, rain tapped against two windows as two siblings hid their faces, and cried.

haha hey besties...
so... im wrote like most of this in one sitting... guess i had it in me?
i definitely want to start writing again, but i was taking a break and then my life started to get crazy
i finished this school year, which was a it bittersweet
gonna miss it tbh
anyways, hopefully more chapters coming soon.
love you all,
mae <33