The Big Dipper

Alternate Ending 2

Out of the corner of her eye, Ursula saw him.

Fred, side by side with Percy, was dueling two masked and hooded Death Eaters at the opposite end of the corridor. One was Rookwood, the other Thicknesse. She had spent enough time in Voldemort's ranks to recognize them.

Ursula leapt off of Persephone's back, charging down the corridor to where Fred and Percy fought, spotting Harry, Ron, and Hermione appear behind them, sootstained and panting. Her wand raised, she ran towards Fred, to join him, to fight alongside him, eager to be with him even in battle, ready to fight for her love —

Too late, she saw Augustus Rookwood raise his wand.

Too late, she saw the spell hit the wall, the ceiling, the rafters.

Too late, she threw herself forward, her wand extended, as the boom of the explosion rocked the castle.

Too late, but she dove towards Fred and roared, "PROTEGO!" as she fell.

Ursula coughed, dust from the explosion filling her lungs. A cold breeze told her that the side of the castle had been blown away, and a warm sort of wetness meant there was blood trickling down the side of her face. Her ears rang and she blinked rapidly, black spots dancing in her vision. She pushed herself upright, her vision clearing, reaching for Fred, knowing he was beside her —

"NO!"

The scream was pure agony as Ursula bent over Fred, her hands cupping his bloodied jaw, as his eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face. Her hands shook so badly she could hardly control them as she ran a hand through his hair, sobbing, pleading, begging, for him to come back to her.

"Please, Fred... please... don't leave me... you can't... you promised... please, Fred, please... oh, my darling... I love you so much... please... please, please PLEASE!"

Someone gripped her shoulders and pulled her off him, and Ursula collapsed against Percy, both of them crying but the only screams coming from her.

"No — no — no —" he shouted. "No! Fred! No!"

Ursula sobbed, slumped against the rubble, as Percy shook his brother and Ron knelt beside them. Her world had ended, so why had the battle not ceased? How could anyone fight when Fred Weasley, her Fred, the love of her life, had died? Her senses had to be lying, there was no way he could be dead —

"No — please — come back to me — don't leave me!" screamed Ursula, squeezing Fred's lifeless hand, her tears dripping onto his pale face. "Don't go! My darling, my love, please! No!"

A body fell past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads.

"Get down!"

Ursula ignored Harry's shout of warning and leapt to her feet, roaring "AVADA KEDAVRA!" at the first foe she saw, responding to the haze of curses that flew through the night with a barrage of her own. Nothing in the world mattered except the wand in her hand and the damage she could do with it, because her beloved Fred was gone, and she would make every last person responsible for his death pay.

The battle was a blur from that point on. Enemies fell, slaughtered by the dozens, as Ursula became death incarnate. Rage could not begin to describe the anger, the pain, in her soul. Fenrir Greyback died at her hands, then Corban Yaxley, then Rabastan Lestrange. She was ready to die by Voldemort's hand if it meant being reunited with Fred.

She would end the war in his name.

Antonin Dolohov was the next to die, followed swiftly by Bellatrix Lestrange, the killing blow delivered by her own niece. It wasn't until Voldemort was defeated once and for all, that the battle was over, that the truth of Fred's death hit Ursula.