Chapter 7- The Order Takes Action
The next few days were based on preparation for the safe-house. Kingsley had approved of the whole plan and agreed to keep it a secret between The Order of the Phoenix only, to reduce the risk of the person behind the muggle-born attacks from finding out. A list of possibly targeted muggle-borns was created, along with a list of possible people behind the attacks. George and Harry were put in charge of helping to find the culprit, but they didn't know where to start searching. On top of all this, George had to take care of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and come up with new products. To get away from all the stress, he and Ginny decided to go for a walk through the fields surrounding The Burrow. Ginny wore one of Harry's grey hoodies, which was baggy on her, with a pair of black jeans and hunter green wellies. With the hood over her head and her hands in the hoodie's pockets, she looked adorable, as if she was the cute little sister that couldn't wait to start Hogwarts again. She was silent and staring into nothingness.
"Are you alright, Ginny?" George asked as he turned to her while they walked,
"I'm going to be a mother in almost seven months, but I'm scared that we'll still be fussing over protecting the muggle-borns by the time I have the baby," Ginny said softly,
"Ginny, you and that baby are more important than anything else that's going on. Harry and I may be out hunting for the guy behind the attacks, but if you shout for us, we'll come running. You could need ice cream, a massage or be going into labour and we will be there in a heartbeat, Ginny," he assured her as he held her hand.
They stopped walking and Ginny smiled at him with a tear trickling down her cheek.
"That is the least funny but most beautiful thing you have ever said to me," Ginny sniffed.
George smiled and pulled her into his chest with his arms protecting her from the wind that hit them. She was warm and he rested his chin on the top of her head as she curled up in his arms. It had been a long time since it was just him and Ginny and he had never realized how much he missed just holding his little sister and being with her. He cherished the moment as if it was going to be the last time he would ever hold or even be with Ginny again. She stayed in his arms for a while until George felt the compulsion to say something.
"If we carry on like this, we may squash the baby," he joked.
Ginny wriggled herself out of his arms and playfully hit his arm.
"Your hits are almost as hard as mum's," he laughed as he rubbed his sore arm,
"If I hit you as hard as mum, you would be crying."
They laughed and played around as they walked back to The Burrow. When they got there, Molly was at the front door waiting for them with her hands on her hips.
"I shout for you for five minutes and I get not reply," Molly complained as she glared at them,
"We lost track of time," Ginny said innocently.
Molly exhaled and smiled, "While you were gone for over an hour, members of The Order arrived."
She led them inside and into the living room where George saw Kingsley Shacklebolt leaning against one of the sofas that had Harry, Fleur and Charlie sitting on it. On the floor in front of them, were two house elves, both playfully hitting each other and reminding George of Dobby. On the other sofa, Teddy Lupin was sitting in between Hermione and his grandmother, Andromeda Tonks. He was playing with a big brown patch work teddy bear that was a bit rough around the edges and had an eye missing, and a smaller white teddy bear that was more delicate and had bright beady black eyes; he would now and again make them hug and kiss each other as well as make them talk absolute jibber jabber. Ron was sitting on the floor with Percy and Arthur was passing around little nibbles. George was surprised when Professor McGonagal came behind him eating a fairy cake and sat down on a chair that looked as if it was there just for her.
"Do you know if any of my students are a target to this vile person?" Professor McGonagal asked as she looked from Harry, to Molly and then to George,
"So far, there are no signs of anyone from Hogwarts being a target, Professor," George was surprised at the fact that he still called her 'Professor'.
"Good, because I'm not dealing with having my school reconstructed again."
George laughed. Seeing McGonagal made him think of how much he missed Hogwarts, despite the rules and some of the lessons, he missed exploring the halls, trying to get the right staircase, mouthing off the fat lady and playing pranks on the first years. The memories came flooding back to him, but he realized that even if he did visit Hogwarts one day, he could never relive those memories, because it would just be him, alone. Charlie got up for Ginny to sit down and sat with Ron and Percy. George sat next to him and waved at Teddy who giggled and made the rough bear wave back before making it hug the other one.
"Thank you all for coming. Kingsley informed you about what we have planned and it will take all of us to make it successful," Arthur started.
They discussed all the matters that needed to be settled for at least two hours. Harry and Hermione offered to teach the children that would be staying at Grimmauld Place, Molly and Fleur offered to cook, the house elves agreed to clean the house as long as they were treated fairly and Kingsley decided to have auror's work at Hogwarts to make sure no harm came to the students and to keep McGonagal quiet. They set out to open the safe-house in three days and when they finished planning, Molly made some dinner for them all to eat. George was busy tucking into his food when there was a knock at the door.
"Charlie, could you get that?" Ron asked before taking a massive bite out of a chicken leg,
"Why me? Percy, you go get it," Charlie argued,
"Oh yeah, because Percy will do everything," Percy rolled his eyes, "Ron, should get it,"
"Would someone just get the damn door already?!" boomed Molly from the kitchen.
The Weasley brothers froze and looked in the direction of the kitchen. It was George who finally got up and walked over to the door while cleaning his hands with a napkin.
"You guys can be such numpties sometimes," George laughed as he opened the door.
Angelina was standing shivering, with her wand out creating light from the tip of it. She was breathing heavily and there were dried up tears on her cheek.
"That better not have been directed at me," she smiled as she flicked off the light from her wand,
"Of course not," George said before hugging her.
She made a sigh of relief when he held her and slid her hands across his waist and underneath his black hoodie which tickled him slightly. He had missed holding her and smelling the coconut fumes that came from her hair. When the hug ended, he showed Angelina inside and got her a chair to sit on. Hermione and Ginny looked at Angelina and then each other with faces full of excitement, while Ron, Percy and Charlie analysed her like a book cover and nodded with approval.
"Something terrible has happened and you were the person to pop into my head when it came to thinking about who to go to," Angelina said as the room went quiet and everyone focused on her and George.
He knelt in front of her, "What's happened, Angelina?"
"I was looking after my little cousin Reuelle and she wanted to go outside, so I told her that I'd be out in a minute because I had to put on my shoes. When I got outside, I saw a dark figure of a man in the corner of the garden holding her in his arms and before I could do anything, a dementor came in front of me and by the time I had dealt with it, the man was gone with my cousin. I was trusted to look after her and now she's gone," Angelina cried and put her head into her hands.
George got up to put his arms around her and she put her arms around him and cried into his chest. He stroked her back and kissed her head, hoping it would at least make her feel an inch better.
"Angelina, I need to know, is your cousin muggle-born?" he asked delicately,
Angelina nodded. Molly came in with a box of tissues and a plate of food for Angelina which put a slight smile on her face. She talked to Ginny and McGonagol while George, Hermione and Harry sat in the kitchen.
"We have to find the man behind this," George insisted,
"If we could get Angelina to describe him as much as she can, it may help," Hermione suggested,
"That's an idea. Maybe she should stay over tonight, I mean she's obviously in a state and it's seriously dark now," Harry said,
"Could she stay in your room George?" Hermione asked,
"I guess, but tomorrow, we need to find this guy," George got up and walked out of the kitchen.
He watched Angelina laugh with Ginny and play with Teddy on her lap. She looked so happy and the smile on her face emphasised her beauty even more. George hated the idea of her crying, let alone watching her cry, and he never wanted to see her cry again, which meant he had to find her cousin and more importantly put an end to the man attacking and kidnapping muggle-borns. Not for him, but for Angelina.