"Hello Minister!" Yelled Percy brightly, sending a jinx straight at Thicknesse, who dropped his wand and clawed at the front of his ropes, looking distressed. "Did I mention I'm resigning?"
"You're joking Perce!" Roared Fred, grinning as the fifth death eater he'd encountered on his way to the tower collapsed under the weight of three stunning spells. The minister had collapsed as tiny spikes erupted all over his body. Fred recalled Bill teaching them that one.
He turned gleefully to his brother, "You actually are joking, Perce...I don't think I've heard you joke since-"

Delphi had sprinted along several corridors, mowing down a couple Deatheaters in the process.
She'd made it just in time though.
Despite the fact she'd been building toward the moment for years, she didn't realise until she reached the ill fated room, exactly what she was going to do.

But her feet didn't falter as she barrelled into Fred like a bull, knocking him away toward Percy just as the wall he had been stood by exploded.
It may be selfish, but this death was one she truly couldn't live with. A life for a life, surely Death couldn't complain.

A large piece of rubble hit her shoulder first and she felt it break, then a chunk of wall slammed into her rib cage, which caved under the force like it was made of twigs. Then, milliseconds later another part hit her head and Delphi Lovegood knew no more.

Fred, however, screamed.

He launched off of the tapestry she'd thrown him against and dived toward the mass of rocks and rubble, Percy only a second behind as they desperately threw bricks and mortar aside to uncover the body beneath.
The sounds Fred was making were animalistic as he uncovered her bloodied form, eyes closed and a soft triumphant smile on her face.
He lifted her body toward him, shaking her in a desperate attempt to see her wake and screaming and howling enough to draw people from near by. Including George.

Unlike Fred, from the moment he saw her, George only knew silence.
He could hear nothing and his throat was constricted, he was unable to breathe, let alone speak as he stumbled forward like a bomb survivor replacing Percy at her side. Their older brother stood above them ready to fight any Death eaters who tried to take advantage of their fragile state.

"It was meant to be me!" Fred wailed, nursing her limp body to his chest, whole body wracked with tremors, "how could you Delph...I... why..."
George sat at his side looking hollow and lost as he gazed at the broken body of the woman he loved. It wasn't meant to be this way. That he knew in the very core of his being, this was wrong, incredibly wrong. He reached out slowly, almost reluctantly, and took her limp hand in his. He wove their fingers together and squeezed, even though he knew she couldn't squeeze back, gazing at those slim clever fingers.

He'd always liked her fingers, watching her stitch runes in Umbridge's dresses, write in her delicate script filling out prank order forms, feeling them wind in his hair.
George curled inward, slowly raising her hand to kiss her knuckles, as the pain and sorrow mixed with the adrenaline of battle, reacting and evolving into the purest, most volatile form of anger a human can experience.
He needed to kill.

He rose, leaving Fred to protect her body and turned to where most of the sounds of battle came from. A masked monster chose that moment to enter, and without hesitation, George roared, "AVADA KADAVRA!"
It felt good.

———

There was a conversation Delphi had had with Harry- would have had with Harry, about his near death experience, which would happen about an hour after she decided to die. Merlin, seeing the future makes tenses a mess.

He had found himself in a railway station, that Dumbledore, real or imagined, had suggested was his deepest subconscious place of belonging.
Considering the only animals that live consistently in railway stations were rats and pigeons, Delphi was glad she hadn't helped the kid become an animagus. His self esteem was fragile enough already.

She found herself in the copse where her inner peace lay, and her magpie form roosted.
As she wandered through the rowan trees, she wondered who was waiting for her. She hoped it wasn't Dumbledore.
She hoped Fred was okay. Hoped he would be okay. She doubted he felt alright now and that made her feel bad. Dying might have been selfish of her, but she had the sight and if she couldn't be selfish knowing what was to come then screw whoever made those standards. Her boys shared the bond of twins, and she loved them far too much to let that break on her watch.

"Such an interesting mind."
The voice had a familiar feeling, yet felt unfamiliar.
The woman awaiting her was short, but angular, her features might have been South Asian but it was hard to tell. She wore a neat suit and was eyeing her surroundings and Delphi like a scientist might examine a petri dish.
"Really?" Delphi asked doubtfully.
The woman gave a fairly humourless smile. "No, not particularly."

She plucked a branch off of one of the rowan trees and spun it idly in her fingers. "I thought the phrase was once burned, twice shy. You were only shy once before you decided to play with fire again."
"Dying in the hope that you'd let them survive was better than any alternative I could think of."
'Fate' hummed, watching her closely, "at least you don't beg, or waste words. Picking someone so...rational to grant my gift was quite interesting. And it's up to death not I whether your sacrifice is acceptable."
"If that's the case why are you here?"
A chair appeared out of nowhere and the woman sat down, "well, when I choose people to give the sight, I'm granting them a part of my power. If death decides to take you, then I'll want that part of my power back before you go."
Fate was a cold bitch. Delphi had always imagined a semi-psychopathic playful child, messing around with people's lives for fun, and ignorant of the consequences or pain caused. Not a bored, apathetic business woman.

Unsure what to say to the woman that wouldn't earn a semi insulting answer, Delphi chose to say nothing, settling at the base of the nearest tree and gazing out through the copse.
Her magpie flew down from its roost to perch on her shoulder and she stroked its chest absently.
"Most ask why I chose them."
"I'm dead, should I care?"
The woman actually laughed, "how rude. I gave you a gift, some of my own power no less."
"A curse from where I'm sitting. My deepest desire at the age of eleven was to die."
"Imagine what it's like for me."
Delphi glanced up in surprise and the woman watched her steadily.
"I weave the most beautiful stories, guiding people as they grow and evolve, help them reach their potential, and find happiness. I cultivate them, like beautiful exotic flowers, through many stages of change and development, intellectual as well as physical...and yet, just when I begin to get them to the best they can be, no matter that I do, death will come and take them and all they experienced and learned. He unravels every artwork I weave, has for tens of thousands of years, no matter what I do, it is ultimately erased."
"Another cursed being, though I'm sure Death would argue the same." She pointed out.
Fate blinked.
How the hell had a deity desperate to find understanding from others not...tried to understand another.
"What?"
"Well, have you ever asked them? I doubt they enjoy destroying your work. The hatred from mortals they must deal with every day."

"Well, isn't this an interesting conversation."
The voice was light, young even, and on turning Delphi found the child like figure she'd expected of Fate, with the voice that haunted her nightmares. The voice she'd heard when her mother died.

Death, for that must be who it was, appeared to be about eight, his mid length hair was tied in a low ponytail, and he wore a hoodie and worn jeans under tattered robes. Either deities were nuts, or the oxygen deprivation leading her to experience this hallucination was really messing around with her imagination.
"Do you regret erasing my work?
"Always."

The magpie on her shoulder flew off and at a loss what to do with her hands, Delphi fiddled with the hem of her shirt and pretended not to listen, as both deities confessed like it was the end of some romance drama but platonic and mythical.

After an embarrassing length of time, something Death said startled her back to the conversation at hand.
"But what to do with you."
She looked up at him, before choosing to stand and curtsy softly. "I am prepared to go with you willingly. My life may have been short, but it has mostly been happy."
Death glanced at fate, "how come all of yours come to me happily."
Delphi sighed, "I'm a Lovegood, and we know to be grateful for what we're given. We are also known to be a little weird."
Death strode toward her, raising his cold hand to grip her jaw and looking closely into her eyes. She stayed still and looked back as steadily as she could.

"Well, you're certainly a satisfactory exchange for that twin even with that darling elf...however..." Death turned from her to look at Fate, "I'm rather bored."
Fate eyed him sharply. "I believe the last time you were bored, that Peverell ran rings around you."
Death smirked, "and in exchange for rectifying that mess, I'll give you back this one."
Fate approached and eyed Delphi critically, "She is one of my favourites. What are the rules."
Delphi stayed very quiet. She wasn't sure what was going on, but silence was the best hope of it continuing. The pair began to bargain but shifted to a language she didn't know. It grew quite heated, but eventually Death returned to English.
"Consider this an apology Fate. I hope this artwork will be yours to weave for some time longer before I am called forth again."
Fate bowed, and Death reflected the action before turning to look at Delphi, his eyes strangely warm.

"Miss Lovegood, for the time being you'll be accompanying me. Unlike all souls that came before you, you may perhaps come back."
Delphi nodded, "might I ask what is going to happen?"
"Not now, I have places to be. Come." Death offered her his arm.
Delphi took a steadying breath though she technically didn't need to breathe, and took the pale arm in her own, allowing the deity, who shifted to that of a young man, to lead her away.
She could feel Fate's eyes on her back one moment, and then the next, darkness.

———

Hey guys! Sorry updates haven't been reliable. I suppose they haven't really been from the beginning but I'm in quite the transitional phase of life so I hope you'll excuse it.
I've also been breaking my personal rule about only writing one book at a time. Though only partially.

Having written this story, I suddenly had an incredible plot idea. And that followed another idea, and another, until I had a four book series typed out on a note. But then I thought....why not make this a true original book?
And that came with more ideas.

So I am writing my first original book, inspired by this, and centring around characters drawn from Delphi, Fred, George and Luna. Keep the mischievous twins and the seer in focus, throw in some fantasy lore, a whole tarot deck of gods, and mayhaps some magic.
I am going to try to consistently publish the chapters of this, but as my desperation to move out of my mother's home increases, so does my drive to finish a book I can actually monetise a little and in the meantime to find actually reliably paid work.
It would be really fucking cool to get to be an author, but it would need your help, so please keep an eye on me and these books if you'd like to support me reaching that dream!

Until the next installment,
Safe travels you beautiful creatures,

Whimsy.