Hey guys, this is a story that I've had ideas for a while, but never got round to writing it until I reread the start of the Deathly Hallows. My character's Clementine and Skylar are the only ones I own, all other rights go to J.K. Rowling. Clementine looks like Michelle Keegan from 2011/12 and Skylar looks like Taylor Momsen from 2014.
"Mum, you need to go to Spain with the rest of our family."
Andrea looked up at her uncharacteristically serious daughter with an expression of mixed confusion and disbelief.
"She's right," Mr Weasley said, looking slightly sad. It wasn't the first time he'd seen families torn apart due to a war, but it was better this way, rather than risking Death Eaters finding Clementine Aldermaston's relatives. "It won't be forever, but we can't say how long it's going to be until we defeat You-Know-Who. If we defeat him," he added.
Clementine sighed. The lack of hope in his voice was disheartening. "We'll defeat him someday," she said confidently. "But you can't stay here, and neither can the rest of the family. If the Death Eater's found you…" Her voice tailed off. It was too atrocious to even comprehend.
"You can go and visit Great-Aunt Shirley," Clementine added brightly when nobody said anything. "I'm sure she'd love seeing Gran again. And it's not like Spain isn't nice. It's way warmer over there, and you'll all pick up a tan!"
Andrea's mouth was hanging open slightly. She seemed totally lost for words, and Clementine couldn't blame her. A Muggle could never understand how grave the situation was in the wizarding world, and her mother either would not or could not accept the danger she and the rest of the family were in.
"But what about work? And the house, and all my friends…" Andrea's voice tailed off. "I already lose you for 9 months of a year, and now I'm looking at losing everything else about my life!" Her small brown eyes filled with tears. It was all Clementine could do not to cry as she crouched in front of her mother.
"It's not going to be forever. I can't lie to you, Mum, I don't know when everything's going to go back to normal, but one day everything will be just fine. And you can return here, and I'll come back too, and it'll be as if nothing happened. You-Know-Who won't be anywhere near Spain, you'll be so much safer over there. If it gets too bad over here, I'll come and join you. But please, don't make this difficult now – Mr Weasley has already had to deal with Harry's family."
Mr Weasley grimaced behind Clementine.
"Besides, I'm needed in the Order as well. I'll be helping defeat the Death Eaters-"
Andrea let out a sob, one that caused Clementine's chest to ache.
"I'm so proud of you, my darling," she choked out. "But I'm so scared too. What if you get killed in this awful war? I can't lose my only daughter!" She dissolved into frightened tears, and Clementine looked to Mr Weasley for help.
"Clementine, do you mind if your mother and I have a chat for a moment?" Mr Weasley asked, catching on at once. Clementine nodded gratefully, getting up and grabbing the newspaper from the arm of the sofa as she left the living room. Blinking tears out of her eyes, she walked out into the hallway, where Fred and George were standing.
"Blimey, she's upset, isn't she?" Fred said, looking grim. This was most unlike him, and a mark of the seriousness of the occasion.
"She doesn't understand, how can any of us expect her to understand?" Clementine said in a low voice. "Mum's not a part of our world. If we're scared of the future, God knows how she must be feeling."
"So, just how many of your family members are going to have to go into hiding?" George questioned, folding his arms.
Clementine glanced at the large pile of Daily Prophet's behind her. She had been taken aback at just how many articles there were about her.
"Rita Skeeter managed to find out about basically every member of my family, so to put it bluntly: everyone," Clementine said, rolling her eyes at the mere thought of the journalist. Ever since she was pictured at the last task of the Triwizard Tournament, she had become a minor wizarding celebrity for none other than her supposedly 'glowing' looks. At first it had been amusing, with all her friends getting in on it too, but as time went on and things became more dangerous, it had serious disadvantages.
"If the Death Eaters come after us, you're absolutely screwed," George pointed out.
"So are you, Blood Traitors!" Clementine said playfully. "We're all bloody in for it, everyone knows we're friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione."
"I always knew we should have tried harder to pretend we're not related to Ron," said Fred with a grimace. Clementine laughed, even though she didn't particularly feel like doing so. The jokes and banter they shared were still funny, but the uncertainty that constantly lingered stopped a fully light-hearted atmosphere. Would everything ever return to normal?
Clementine listened for a second. "At least Mum has stopped crying."
"Dad's gotten pretty good at comforting crying people since Percy left," George commented.
"Do you think he'll ever come round?" Clementine asked. It had been years since she'd last seen Percy; after the way he'd treated the Weasley family, she hated the mere name of him.
Fred shrugged, looking mutinous (the way he did every time he heard his older brother's name).
"Dunno. I mean, Perce is no Death Eater, but he's always let his ambitions have priority over literally everything else. Guess we'll have to see," George said.
There was a silence.
"I'm going to see how Mum's doing," Clementine said, pushing the living room door open. She entered, and the twins followed somewhat awkwardly, both ducking to avoid banging their heads on the doorframe.
Andrea looked up, her cheeks tearstained. "Hello, love." She tried to smile, but her eyes were still watery and she had to blow her nose. "Me and Mr Weasley are just discussing the rest of the family."
"Ah, yeah," said Clementine. "That reporter who's obsessed with me has written about everyone, even Auntie Willow."
Andrea looked astonished. "How did she find Auntie Willow? She lives in the middle of Cornwall in a secluded-"
"I'll tell you more about it when the Weasley's have left," Clementine said quickly. Andrea was aware of her mild fame, but not about the digging that Rita Skeeter had done on the family. She was sure her mother wouldn't be pleased about that part. "Mr Weasley, how are you going to persuade my large and rather mad extended family to move to Spain?"
"Memory charms," Mr Weasley said. At the expression on Clementine's face, he quickly added, "They're only temporary; they can be tailored so everyone forgets that they have a relative called Clementine. Your mum won't require one but everyone else will."
At the words "everyone will forget that they have a relative called Clementine," her eyes filled with tears. Clementine thought of her grandparents, her aunt and uncle, her cousins… All who wouldn't know who she was.
"Is this the only way?" Andrea asked Mr Weasley tearfully. He nodded grimly.
"It's the only way."
~~~(O.O)~~~
It had all happened so quickly. The house had been emptied of nearly everything that Andrea owned, including most of the furniture. Many strange wizards and witches kept popping in and out, all beaming at Clementine. She found it fairly hard to smile back, especially when it came to saying goodbye to her mother. For a moment, she thought that Andrea would change her mind about leaving. Thankfully, though, Andrea made it easy for everyone and left with a forced brave expression on her face. Clementine didn't get to say goodbye to anyone else; she was reassured by the other wizards and witches that they'd be looked after well.
At the end of that day, during late afternoon, Clementine was packing everything into several cases. She was staying with the Weasley's for the remainder of the holidays until it came to the 1st of September...
Clementine sat down on her bed, thinking hard. Was she going to return to Hogwarts this year? It was so dangerous for her. She knew that the Death Eaters were slowly infiltrating the Ministry, and without Dumbledore, it seemed highly likely that they would take over Hogwarts too. Could she survive in that environment? As the highly publicised friend of Harry Potter and girlfriend of George Weasley the Blood Traitor, things could become very unpleasant for her very quickly.
There was no place for her at Hogwarts anymore. But where was her place? Was she to go into hiding?
To take her mind off such matters, Clementine opened her wardrobe, stuffed full of clothes, and began pulling them out, dumping them unceremoniously into her Hogwarts trunk. A lot of it seemed so childish now – she dug out her old neon pink tutu with a sad smile, thinking back to those carefree days in her second year.
A sudden loud POP outside made Clementine jump. She recognised that sound – the sound of someone inexperienced Apparating. Clementine also recognised the person who had Apparated outside her house. She leaned out the window, unable to hide her surprise as she called her best friend's name.
"Skylar?"
Skylar looked up. Clementine was startled to see she had been crying, and also to see how many bags Skylar was carrying.
"You can Apparate straight up here! It's a bit of a mess though-"
Before Clementine could finish her sentence, Skylar had Apparated up. She dropped her bags, then fell into Clementine's arms dramatically.
"What- what's happened?"
"Mum and Dad had gone abroad," Skylar said, her voice barely above a whisper. "They can't do it anymore – the Death Eaters are everywhere, Clem. It was only a matter of time before something bad happened to them, so they've gone. I refused to go with them, but now I don't know if I've made the right choice." She burst into tears, and Clementine rubbed her back, a flood of empathy rushing through her.
"My mum's gone too." Skylar stared at her in shock. "Look, help me pack, we'll both go to Fred and George at their shop and we can swap stories. I think we'll both need a lot of tissues though."
~~~(O.O)~~~
If Fred thought it was awkward to see his ex-girlfriend stood crying in his shop, he didn't say anything. The twins, despite their naturally light-hearted nature, were good at sensing when a joke wasn't appropriate. George cuddled Clementine and she clung to him for a second.
"We'll take your stuff up for you. Skylar can stay in the spare room and Clem, you'll be in George's room, yes?" Fred questioned. Clementine nodded as the twins levitated some of the girls' bags, and carried the rest of them. The twins had told them to sit in the stockroom, where they'd helpfully conjured up some tissues and two cups of tea.
"I don't know if I want to drink anything George has made," Clementine said shakily. It was a poor joke, but Skylar laughed weakly. The girls took the cups and drank slowly, allowing the liquid to seep through them and warm them up.
"Blimey, have you brought everything with you, Skylar?" Fred asked, walking into the stockroom and grabbing a box from a shelf.
"My parents have done a runner," Skylar said in a small voice. Fred looked at her with a touch of pity in his gaze.
"Wow. I'm sorry Skye-" He stopped talking; George was shouting through.
"I'll be back in a moment," Fred informed them, walking back through to the shop. Skylar had only managed to get two sentences of her story out before Fred rushed back in, an unusually urgent look on his face.
"We're all needed at the Burrow. The plan to get Harry from the Muggles' place has changed. Clem, you know where the hill near our house is, don't you?"
"Yeah, why?" Clementine asked as she and Skylar got up quickly, both grabbing their wands.
"Long story, but you can't Apparate directly to our house anymore. See you in a minute, we'll meet you guys there."
Fred Apparated, and the girls turned to each other.
"Hold onto my arm," Clementine instructed, as she pictured the hill near the Weasley's house. She felt Skylar's cold hand on her wrist as they twirled into nothing…
~~~(O.O)~~~
"I fucking hate Side-Along Apparation," Skylar grumbled the second they arrived. Clementine smiled; the old Skylar she knew and loved seemed to be returning.
"Wonder what's happened?" Clementine said, as they walked briskly over to the twins.
"Dunno, probably something to do with the Ministry snooping as usual," George said. "Mad-Eye was supposed to be bringing Harry here through Side-Along Apparation, but all Dad said was that the plan can't go through."
"So they supposedly need us?" Skylar said, hurrying along beside them. The twins, having much longer legs, walked extremely fast and it was all Clementine and Skylar could do not to fall behind. "Is it just me that's a little nervous?"
"We're all more than a little nervous these days," said Fred.
'If even the twins are anxious… That's when you know it's a bad sign,' Clementine thought, swallowing nervously. She turned to Skylar.
"Are you coming to the wedding?" Before Skylar could answer, the twins groaned loudly.
"Honestly, enough about the sodding wedding. We are absolutely sick to death of hearing about it, and you'll probably find that Ron and Ginny are exactly the same."
"Yes, I am," Skylar said, as if Fred hadn't spoken. "I have my outfit lined up already." She smiled, and Clementine felt concerned.
"It's appropriate, right?"
Skylar giggled.
"Of course." Clementine was strongly reminded of a much younger Skylar, who had dated all the Slytherins and worn the most outrage outfits. She prayed that her best friend was not regressing back to that stage again.
"Clemmy's dug out her old tutu to wear, haven't you Clem?" George said with a smirk.
"Oh ha-ha. I found it today, actually-"
They carried on chattering away until they reached the house. George opened the door, gestured for Clementine to enter first, and immediately she found herself crushed in a hug by Mrs Weasley.
"Clementine! Thank goodness you're still safe!"
Clementine waved at Mr Weasley, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, who were behind Mrs Weasley. Her eyes darted across the room and she was surprised to see Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley, Fleur, Bill, Mundungus, Hagrid (looking very squashed) and Mad-Eye, who was looking as impressive as ever. She went to greet everyone, despite Mad-Eye rolling both eyes and muttering.
"Oh, come on Mad-Eye, I know you're pleased to see me," Clementine laughed, grinning cheekily. Mad-Eye tried to look stern, but it was hard to remain entirely that way around Clementine and her sunny nature.
"Well, yes, it's delightful to have everyone here, of course," Mad-Eye said with only a hint of sarcasm. "But we don't have much time, so I need everyone to listen up."
The entire front room of the Weasley's house went silent. Before Mad-Eye could speak again, Clementine blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"Wait, are we not meeting at Grimmauld Place anymore?"
"No," Mad-Eye replied bluntly. "It's not safe enough. Since Dumbledore died, everyone who knew where the house was located has become a Secret Keeper. It's now split more than twenty ways."
"I'm a Secret Keeper?" Clementine was impressed. "Wow!"
Ginny giggled and Tonks stifled a smile. She felt George poking her gently in the ribs.
"Yes, well…" Mad-Eye knew Clementine well enough now not to comment on the stranger aspects of her behaviour. "Anyway, onto the new plan."
"We can no longer Apparate in or out of Harry's house. Thicknesse has made it an imprisonable offence, along with connecting the fireplace to the Floo Network or placing a Portkey there."
"Remember what happened the last time Dad tried to connect the Muggles' house with the Floo Network?" Fred said in a carrying whisper. George sniggered.
"Boys!" Mr Weasley hissed.
"Kingsley and I are confident that Pius Thicknesse has joined the opposition, which is a huge problem for us. It means that the only method of transport available to us now is-"
"Flying," Clementine whispered in unison with Mad-Eye.
"This is where everyone else comes in. We are going to have eight Potter's flying from the Dursley's house tonight. Everyone will be split into pairs; one will be the protector and the other person will be Potter. We'll all fly to different safe houses, then we'll get various Portkey's back to the Weasley's."
"And how exactly are we going to turn into Harry?" Ron asked, sounding as confused as Clementine felt. She exchanged a look with Skylar as Mad-Eye reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a flask. Hermione let out an excited squeak.
"Polyjuice Potion!"
Then her face fell, and she bit her lip, looking anxious.
"He's not going to take it well. You know what Harry's like, he'll refuse to let any of us risk our lives just to get him out."
"There's fifteen overage people against one underage guy," Bill pointed out. "Not that it'll come to force-"
"If it has to, so be it," Mad-Eye growled. "Potter's our only hope now."
"So, who's going to be the Potters'?" Ginny asked.
"Certainly not you!" Mrs Weasley said behind them.
"I had Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Fleur and Mundungus as the Potter's. As for the companions, I had Tonks with Ron, Kingsley with Hermione, Arthur with Fred, George with Lupin, Fleur with Bill and Mundungus with me." Mad-Eye turned to Clementine and Skylar. "Clementine, you're a Metamorphmagus, aren't you?"
"I am," Clementine said, demonstrating by changing herself into Mad-Eye – but with both eyes.
Tonks roared with laughter. "She looks exactly like you, Mad-Eye."
"Now remember everyone, the Death Eaters don't want to kill Harry, but they will want to take out as many members of the Order as possible. Being the companion is a lot more dangerous."
"Wait, are you okay with that Skye?" Everyone turned to look at Clementine as she made the inquiry.
"Yep. I'll be the companion," Skylar said calmly. Clementine grabbed her hand and squeezed it gratefully.
"Excellent. I have eight identical outfits in this bag," – Mad-Eye picked up a sack and shook it unnecessarily – "and enough Polyjuice Potion for eight people. All we need now is Potter and a strand of his hair."
"He's going to be so difficult about it," Hermione muttered.
"This is a huge risk we're all taking here," Mad-Eye stated sternly, looking each of the sixteen designated people in the eye. "If we're all agreeing to this, we're agreeing to fight and defend to the best of our abilities. Yes?"
Fifteen people said "Yes" clearly. Mundungus Fletcher pushed his way through to the front, past Kingsley and Lupin, and cleared his throat. Clementine hated his shifty little eyes, never fully focusing on anything.
"Technically, as I've been coerced into this, I'm not obliged to agree to anything-"
"Shut it, Mundungus, and do as you're told!" Mad-Eye snapped at him.
"I'd rather be a protector," Mundungus stated stubbornly.
"Don't make us laugh, Dung," George said.
"I am keeping an eye on you!" Mad-Eye snarled at him. "When you've earned the same level of trust that everyone else had got, then you may be considered for better roles! Until then…"
Mr Weasley looked at his watch. "Alastor, is it time?"
"Yes, if we leave now, we should have just enough time to get there and explain to Potter what we're doing now. I expect Dedalus probably told him we had to abandon the first plan, but I want to brief him before we leave."
The large group left the kitchen, leaving only Ginny and Mrs Weasley behind. Tonks sidled over to Skylar and Clementine, and showed them the huge glittering ring on her left hand.
"What, you got married?" Clementine asked, looking at her with a huge beam.
"Congratulations!" Skylar squealed, looking delighted.
"We had a very small celebration, else we would have invited everyone," Tonks explained. Their conversation was cut short – in the garden there were various methods of transport.
"Nice motorbike, Hagrid!" Skylar said admiringly, as Hagrid sat himself down.
"Thanks, Skylar!" Hagrid said with a happy smile. "This was once Sirius', and I took Harry to the Dursley's in this when he was just a year old." He looked very reminiscent as he gazed off into the distance.
"What are we riding?" Clementine asked Mad-Eye.
"A broomstick," Mad-Eye told her. "Don't forget to perform Disillusionment Charms before we leave, I don't want any Muggles spotting us."
After performing the Disillusionment Charms, Clementine picked up the broomstick and sat on it; a few seconds later, Skylar mounted the broomstick too and wrapped her arms around Clementine's waist. The broomstick rose about a metre off the ground, juddering slightly.
"Romantic," Clementine smirked.
"Are we all ready?" Mad-Eye roared. "All together now… one… two… THREE!"
Around them, broomsticks, motorbikes and Thestrals were rising up in the air. Clementine, who was not used to flying a broom, was having a hard time keeping control and going in a straight line.
"Do you know where we're going?" Skylar yelled over the deafening winds once they got higher.
"Nope!" Clementine laughed. "We'll just have to follow them!"