The sight of her left him speechless as it always had. For the past twenty years Anneliese Rosenberg’s face, her eyes, her smile, it had struck him in such a way that it always took a moment to form a comprehensible thought. He hadn’t seen her face in nearly two years, and it stirred such a feeling in his chest that Will thought he might pass out again. He almost smiled at her, and he would have if the resistance against his moving wrist had not reminded him where he was. Will dropped his hand back to the hospital bed, the magical handcuff chinking against the side bar.
He was tied up, like an animal. Will’s eyes darted away from her, staring up at the ceiling, across the room, out the window, anywhere but her. This was the last way he’d imagined being reunited with his wife---or---he didn’t know if she was still his wife. Will wouldn’t blame her for moving on, he blamed himself for all the terrible things that his family had been through since he’d joined the death eaters, but the thought...he was getting ahead of himself.
“How are you feeling?”
It was so forced. Will couldn’t look at her, but he shrugged, the simple movement causing the soreness of his entire body to ache. He shut his eyes as the pain swept through him and with another breath he attempted to answer her, “Peachy.”
Will hadn’t managed a sarcastic tone in literally years, and didn’t know where his answer had come from. A choked, small laugh escaped Anneliese and his heart thudded. All he wanted to do was tell her that he was sorry, but his shame was forcibly overwhelming. Just the thought of looking her in the eye made his body shake. He had been able to read Anneliese’s face like an open book since they met. Will had no desire to torture himself even further with visual evidence of how much he’s destroyed their lives.
How could he explain his actions to her? The lies for the past twenty years---to Will, it had all been to protect her and their children, he justified his actions that way. Once you were caught under the shadow of the Dark Lord, there was no escaping. Will had accepted the job in France, much to Voldemort’s displeasure and had suffered for it, but he managed to create a ruse of recruitment. Everything he’d ever done was for his family, he’d gotten his mark to avenge his brother’s death, he’d kept up with the auror program to fight for innocents like Deidra, he had moved his entire life to France to ensure that Anneliese was never in harm’s way...
...and look where it had all gotten him. Bound to a hospital bed, probably awaiting a trial that would send him to Azkaban for the rest of his life.
They were in silence for a few more minutes, Will’s ragged breathing the only sound. Unfortunately for him, he recalled the battle, and knew that he was lucky (or unlucky) to be alive. After saving MacFusty from the group of death eaters, Will had commanded a post, stopping at least a dozen death eaters from entering the Great Hall. It could have made a big difference, but he didn’t know. Though he supposed that if the Dark Lord had won, he would not have set him up in a hospital room to recover. Will should be dead.
“What happened?” Will asked. He didn’t think he’d have to explain his question. Where had the Dark Lord run off to now, how badly destroyed was Hogwarts, had Potter survived or was he missing once more?
Her chair creaked and scraped against the floor. Will turned his head away as she had come into his peripheral vision. Anneliese let out a few nervous breaths, and he could almost see her playing with her fingernails because of her nerves.
“There was a duel in the Great Hall,” she started, and Will shut his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t managed to do much good, “Harry Potter and You-Know-Who...I’m still not very sure, but it had to do with some ancient magic, Harry Potter was protected from all of the hexes and spells and....he’s gone.”
Will’s eyes shot open, unsure what she meant. “Who’s gone?” Potter had been protected, he understood that, but she couldn’t possibly...his confusion overtook his shame and he turned to face Anneliese, eyes wide. Looking into her eyes made his heart race again, but his brain was in control, “Who’s gone?”
Her eyes widened and she straightened in the chair. Anneliese looked so different, yet she was the girl he’d fallen madly in love with all those years ago. She still made him crazy, and just watching her slight movements caused a stirring in his chest Will thought he’d lost forever.
“You-know....” she paused, and then looked him straight in the eye, “Voldemort. Harry Potter killed him, he’s dead.”
Her words struck him harder than any spell he’d been hit with at the battle. Voldemort was gone? He was dead, Potter killed him, he was gone, the Dark Lord was
gone, he was gone---
“He’s gone,” Will let out, blinking furiously, his hands, legs, entire body beginning to shake. His throat clenched, his chest tightened, he didn’t think he’d be able to
breath in a moment. Tears pierced his eyes as Will gasped for air, deep tremors racing through him. His body had never felt such a shock, and he lurched forward, able to sit up but the chains around his wrists kept him from going any further. “He’s
gone?”
“Will!” he heard Anneliese cry out, but his chest was heaving and he felt as if the walls around him were beginning to crush in around him. Letting out a long, deep scream, Will kicked his sheets away, kicked at the bars and the end of the bed. He couldn’t
breathe, it was like being trapped and needing to break free but he couldn’t, these bloody
chains held him down, he couldn’t---he couldn’t move, he couldn’t move, he needed to get out of here, he needed----he was
gone, he was gone, he was gone---
The healers arrived quickly, and two burly hitwizards pushed him down to the bed. Will thrashed and fought against them, and he heard Anneliese’s cries in the background.
“Be
careful! He’s claustrophobic, he’s having an attack! He doesn’t
know---”
“Anneliese!” he yelled out, fighting against the hitwizard’s arm that was pinned to his chest, “
Anneliese, Anneliese!”
He watched as a healer managed to grab hold of his wrist and he screamed out in pain as she injected him with something that immediately coursed up the vein of his arm. Will could feel his body begin to numb and his head lolled from side to side on the pillow, the energy he had just expelled still giving him momentum. The hitwizards loosened their grip on him, backing away from the bed, and before his eyes shut he watched Anneliese rush to his side and take his hand in both of hers.
Will blinked slowly up at her, fighting to stay awake for a few more seconds. His fingers gripped onto hers and she was saying something but he couldn’t hear her. The world around him was fading into blackness, but at least he would disappear knowing that Voldemort was dead and Anneliese would still hold his hand.
return to top