Run, a Deathly Hallows missing moment
A/N: Well, here it is. Another installment in my missing moments series. I'll let you figure out the rest.
Bill Weasley landed in front of his childhood home on alert.
Within moments of appearing, he had his wand out, surveying the area for threats. He needed to make sure that there were no witnesses before he entered the warded area, to keep others from knowing it existed.
After assuring himself that he was truly alone, he made for the front door at a sprint. He tore open the door to the kitchen, looking around in a panic. All seemed normal, and calm. But there was no one to be seen.
"Dad? Mum?" he bellowed through the house, badly containing his panic.
He crossed the kitchen at a jog, heading towards the sitting room. As he rounded the corner he found himself physically colliding with his father, who reached for his shoulder to steady himself.
"Bill?" he asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Taking note of his eldest son's panicked expression for the first time, his tone changed, "What's happened?"
"We need to go right now. Everybody needs to grab their things, and you all need to get out of here."
His father looked as if he was going to ask another question but Bill cut him off, "Now Dad! There's no time for explanations. I'll explain more once everyone's out of here, but I don't know how much time we have. We need Ginny too. How are we going to-"
But Arthur interrupted his son before he could finish his question. "Ginny's here. She's home for the Easter holidays. Come upstairs with me and wake everyone up. We've been ready for this for a while – everyone should have a bag packed to leave at a moment's notice."
Bill took a steadying breath and followed his father's quick gait towards the stairs. They were met by his mother on the first landing.
"Bill? What are you doing here? Is everything-"
"Molly," Arthur said, cutting off his wife, "we need to go. Go grab our bags and go straight to Muriel's. Bill and I are going to go get Ginny and the twins. We'll be right behind them."
Bill watched as his mother, with her mouth set but eyes full of fear, turned back up the stairs and hastened to her bedroom. As Molly hurried away, Bill and Arthur continued up the stairs, "you get Fred and George, I'll get Ginny" Arthur called to his son as they reached the landing for the twin's room. Bill nodded and stepped off the staircase, leaving the way clear for his father to hasten towards his sister's room.
Within moments Bill reached the door to the twins' room and threw the door open. "Fred! George! We need to leave, now."
Two red heads popped out of beds and looked blearily at their older brother blankly until his shouted message processed. In tandem, they leaped out of their beds and reached for their wands and ready to go bags. They followed their brother towards the stairs and only spoke once they had exited their bedroom.
"Bill," began Fred, "what's going on? What's happened?"
"There's not time to explain right now. Go downstairs and wait for Ginny. Once she gets downstairs take her and apparate to Muriel's. I'll explain more once we're all out of here."
Fred looked like he was going to argue for more information, but George silenced him with a tug on his arm and a simple, "let's go Gred." With a last look at his oldest brother George led his twin down to the sitting room to wait for Ginny.
Bill watched his younger brothers hasten down the winding staircase and continued up, to find his father. He had gone no more than a few steps when he encountered Ginny, face flushed and hair mussed with sleep. Her brown eyes, however, were open wide and alert.
"Bill!" she exclaimed upon seeing him, screeching to a halt in from of him, "What's going on? Why are you here, why are we leaving?"
Bill placed a terse hand on his sister's arm, "there's no time to explain Gin. You just need to get out of here. Fred and George are waiting for you in the sitting room. They're going to take you to Muriel's. Mum's already left and Dad and I will be right behind you."
Ginny watched him with measured eyes, "something's happened, hasn't it."
Bill saw little point in denying that, "yeah, it has." Ginny looked like she was on the edge of inquiring again, but Bill cut her off, "there really is no time Ginny. Go meet the twins and get to Muriel's. I swear I will explain everything when we get there, alright?"
She watched him for another moment before nodding regretfully, "Alright." She made to move away, but paused, and turned to throw her arms around him. "Be careful Bill," she murmured into his shoulder before rushing down the stairs. Barely taking a moment to register their encounter, Bill rushed back up the stairs towards his father.
He found his father in the uppermost bedroom, trying to reason with the ghoul. "Dad!," he called as he rushed into the room, "What are you doing?"
"We need to get the ghoul out, or at least get him back in the attic. Otherwise they'll know that we were lying about Ron, and – as dense as those death eater types are – it will only be a matter of time before they figure out that he's with Harry."
Bill sucked in his breath. His father looked down at the moaning ghoul with fierce determination, but his eyes betrayed his fear. He had gotten his remaining family out of the house, but he still had one more son on the run to protect, as much as he could.
"Dad," Bill said softly, reaching out to grasp his father's arm, "you don't need to do that."
"I do," Arthur replied grimly. "It's the only thing I can do to make sure that they are safe."
"No Dad," Bill tried again, "they already know."
The horror in his father's eyes stabbed Bill in the gut.
"You mean…" he asked weakly.
"They were captured," Bill said, and watched his father's entire body droop in grief. He stumbled, and grasped onto the foot of Ron's bed for support. His eyes were wide in fear as he turned to look at Bill, a thousand unasked questions hovering on his lips.
Bill reached out and put a hand on his father's shoulder, quickly spouting out the good news, "but they escaped. They made it to my house, and I came straight here. But it makes little difference if they know about the ghoul now. The important thing is that we get out of here, now."
To Bill's immense relief, his father nodded. Arthur turned and resolutely walked out of his youngest son's room. Bill took a moment to survey the room. He took in the glaring orange of the Chuddley Canon's posters and bedspread, the abandoned owl perch a top the wardrobe. These were the last remnants of his youngest brother's childhood, and he could only hope that they would still be there when they next returned to his childhood home.
By the time he reached the sitting room, his Father was already there, with his wand drawn. Bill's immediate thought was that they were too late, that the death eaters had already showed up, but his fears were assuaged when his father looked up at the stairs and explained.
"Strengthening the protective enchantments. Just because we got out safely doesn't mean that we need to make it easy for them to get into our home."
Bill smiled appreciatively and watched as his father gave his wand a final wave.
"That should be enough to hold them for a while," Arthur said with an air of finality.
"Then we should be leaving," Bill reminded his father. With that the two Weasley men exited the Burrow, wands draw. They walked to the border of the enchantments in tense silence, each one surveying the area around them. They reached the apparition point without incident and Bill could not help but to look back at the familiar silhouette of the Burrow. He was snapped back to attention by his father's hand on his shoulder, "This will be over soon Bill, I know it. Then we'll be able to come back here."
Bill nearly had to bite his tongue to keep himself from saying what had really come to mind. Sure it would over soon, but how would it end? How many of his family members would be coming back here? How many of them would survive what lay in store? After what he had seen tonight, when Ron came bursting into his house with tears in his eyes and a battered Hermione in his arms, Bill had his doubts. But they were not doubts that his father needed to be reminded of. So he simply nodded and tried to return his father's smile, without much success. Then, without another word, the two Weasley men apparated away.
But wait, there's more to come! Next chapter will be up tomorrow.