Mrs. Weasley's crying echoed through the hospital room. Harry felt as though his feet had been nailed to the floor, unable to move forward or back. His throat tightened, and his gaze landed helplessly on the bedside cabinet.
Then he felt someone tug gently at his arm.
Wade gave him a meaningful look and pulled Harry swiftly out of the suffocating space.
As they gently shut the door, they heard Sirius's puzzled voice from behind them:
"...What's happened this time? Why did Percy send back the Christmas presents?"
"That bastard!"
A voice suddenly rang out from outside the door!
Fred and George were carrying a bulging brown paper bag full of sandwiches and pies. They had been about to enter the hospital room when they spotted Wade and Harry coming out. Before they could even greet them, they heard Sirius's words.
Fred flew into a rage and immediately tried to charge inside, only for George to hook an arm around his neck and hold him back.
"Let go of me, George!" Fred snapped. "I want to see what that bastard said this time!"
"Calm down." George suppressed his anger. "Mum is upset enough already."
Broken sobs drifted from inside the room. Fred's face flushed red with fury, his fists clenched tightly, but he did not take another step.
Then the hospital room door opened again, and Ron and Ginny came out as well.
Ron looked no different from Fred. The moment he stepped outside, he grabbed Ginny by the arm and said:
"Did you have to say it like that? Couldn't you... couldn't you have put it more tactfully?"
"Tactfully?" Ginny shook off his hand and demanded sharply, "Tactful about what? Making excuses for Percy while Mum cries over a sweater?"
Her eyes were full of tears too, but her