I'm on a definite Harry Potter kick now. Hopefully I'll get a new chapter of More than you Know out soon...
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The atmosphere was tense and George was quiet next to him. He laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It'll be alright. I'll protect you."
George nodded and smiled, and it was so very odd to see that smile on Harry's face.
Despite George's age and abilities, he couldn't shake the protective feeling that welled up in him, especially when he wore the face of his dead friends' son.
He worried endlessly for everyone there, especially for Tonks and Harry, but he had to focus and channel his helplessness into something useful.
Mad-Eye gave the signal and they were off, splitting up into their routes.
Almost immediately they were set upon by dozens of masked Death Eaters and he froze, momentarily panicked and shocked, before he rolled away from a spell and yelled for George, "This way!"
They weaved through the sky, wands out and returning curses with hexes and jinxes.
It was chaotic and terrifying and he was distracted by keeping an eye on George. He didn't feel a moment's pity for the Death Eater that he had just blasted out of the sky. The form continued to fall to the ground and Lupin looked back at the others who still pursued them.
This was a tactical nightmare, and he knew that their backs were open and unprotected. George had been handling himself remarkably well, and he yelled again, "Keep moving! Duck and swerve."
He saw George nod and they both went into a steep dive, waiting for their attackers to follow them before pulling up sharply and looping over them, firing down on them and forcing them to scatter.
They pushed ahead as fast as they could, eager to reach the safe house and portkey to the Burrow.
The spell came out of nowhere, a bright flash that streaked over his back and clipped George on the side of his head. Blood began pouring out of the wound almost immediately, and Lupin realized with detached clarity that the spell had to be sectumsempra which meant that Snape had to be chasing them.
Furious, he turned around to see three figures hovering, one with his wand extended, hood gone and greasy black hair flapping in the wind. He sent a blasting curse towards the traitor before catching up to George.
"I've got you, lean on me. It's ok, George." His head lolled limply onto Lupin's shoulder and he awkwardly put the boy's left arm around his neck, securing George against his body and forcing the broom to follow his course.
He could not turn to see whether they were bring pursued and he focused instead on the safe house that they were rapidly approaching. Using his knees to guide his broom he carefully adjusted George and lowered them to the ground.
He immediately cast a spell to clear away some of the blood, trying desperately to see if there was anything he could do. He saw with a horrified gasp that the curse had taken George's ear with it, and knew that his limited range of healing spells would be of no use.
He kept a firm grip and gently pulled George back to his feet, taking almost all of his weight as they walked the short distance to the safe house. He whispered nonsense to George the whole way, "We're almost there. Just a little further. We'll have you home soon and Molly will fix you right up."
Their contact came running out and froze after catching sight of George. "The portkey, quickly!" Lupin yelled, snapping her out of her daze.
She dug it out of her pocket and handed it to him moments before they were whisked away.
Lupin had to overbalance on the landing as he handled George's deadweight, and yelled out desperately for Molly.
Harry- or someone who still looked like Harry- took George's feet and together they got him into the house and onto a couch. Molly was on her son immediately and Lupin felt a wave of guilt hit him hard. He felt sick after he ran a hand through his hair only to notice that he was covered in George's blood.
His mind ran on autopilot as he forced himself to deal with the reality of the situation.
Molly and Ginny were here. The Polyjuice should have worn off by now, and Hagrid was back, which meant that it really was Harry. No one else was back and they had obviously been betrayed.
He shoved Harry back and ignored the heartbreaking look that the boy gave him. "What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts? Answer me!"
His adrenaline was pumping and he barely processed the questions that Hagrid asked him. He talked with Harry again, his frustration rising as he heard how the Death Eaters had identified him.
"Harry, the time for Disarming is past! These people are trying to capture and kill you! At least Stun if you aren't prepared to kill!"
He barely listened as Harry faced a moral conundrum the likes of which no sixteen year old should ever have to.
He snapped back when he heard George's name. He sagged, his guilt returning quickly, "I think he'll be alright. There's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off-"
He heard a noise in the yard and ran outside quickly. He kept his wand trained on the pair even as Hermione and Kingsley came into view, and mentally cursed both teenagers as they ran immediately to each other.
Kingsley spoke first, "The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"
Lupin nodded in appreciation of the question, "Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him."
Lupin lowered his wand and waved Kingsley off when he turned to Harry, "It's him, I've checked."
Moments later Arthur and Fred came running in and the guilt threatened to swallow him whole as he saw father and twin collapse at George's side.
He turned away and went out in the yard to keep watch for the others. The others joined him quickly, and his heart thudded painfully in his chest when he noticed two forms. Please be Tonks, please be Tonks, please be Tonks-
"It's them!" Hermione yelled from next to him.
He couldn't speak, and he knew he had gone white with relief when Tonks collapsed into his arms. He could only bask in her presence for several moments, until reality once again took over.
"What kept you? What happened?" He was angry and desperate to protect her from this. He had to know what happened.
"Bellatrix," she said. "She wants me quite as much as she wants Harry, Remus, she tried very hard to kill me. I just wish I'd got her, I owe Bellatrix. But we definitely injured Rodolphus...Then we got to Ron's Auntie Muriel's and we'd missed our Portkey and she was fussing over us-"
He could feel his composure slipping, guilt attacking him from all angles. George hurt, permanently disfigured because I didn't protect him. Harry, scared and angry because of what he must now face. Tonks and Ron, almost killed because I was selfish and let myself fall in love with her.
Kingsley left and Lupin nodded to him, both men knowing that this was bad, but the worst was definitely yet to come.
He and Tonks made their way inside and he was almost sick when Molly and Arthur turned to thank them for getting George and Ron back.
"How's George?" he asked, desperate for good news.
Molly was interrupted by Bill and Fleur's arrival, but it turned out that Bill bore the worst news of the night, "Mad-Eye's dead."
A weight settled in his stomach and he knew it would be a long time until it was gone.
He had to calm Bill down, the boy was starting to fall apart, "Of course you couldn't have done anything." It sounded harsher than he meant it to be, but Bill nodded and he knew that he understood.
It meant a lot to him when he heard Fred and George laughing in the next room, even though their smiles were extinguished a moment later in the wake of the horrible news.
He tightened an arm around Tonks, who was sobbing quietly. He knew Mad-Eye had been her mentor, and was like a crazy uncle to her.
They toasted Mad-Eye with firewhisky, and once again reality bit Lupin, who realized at once what Bill had said earlier when he explained how Mad-Eye had died.
"So Mundungus disappeared?" he could feel the shift in the room but didn't allow it to affect him. As much as it hurt to force Harry and the children into this, they were inevitably already involved, and once they accepted the truth behind their new situation, they could adapt and survive.
Bill spoke first and Lupin was gratified to hear that the eldest Weasley understood the nature of Mundungus' apparent betrayal.
He listened quietly as Tonks and Fleur spoke, both of them reacting as he expected them to, and then Harry stepped up, reminding him so much of his friends that it physically hurt.
"You think I'm a fool?"
Lupin shook his head minutely, but the words came anyway, hard experience giving weight to his belief, "No, I think you're like James, who would have regarded it as the height of dishonor to mistrust his friends."
He had tried to soften the blow, but he saw that Harry understood what he was saying. He turned away, unable to continue in this vein, and antsy to do something productive so that the guilt and grief didn't tear him down.
"There's work to do. I can ask Kingsley whether-"
"No. I'll do it, I'll come," Bill said. Remus sent a wary look to Molly and Arthur, although only Arthur understood what they meant to do.
He tried to communicate to Arthur that he would watch out for Bill and keep him safe, and the man nodded, although Lupin wasn't certain that the message had been received.
He turned to Tonks, seeing that she understood what he had to do, although he wasn't happy about it. He kissed her gently on the crown of her head and left the Burrow with Bill.