A/N: Officially on my summer break now :) Just thought you all should know.

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Misunderstandings:

Pandemonium instantly sets in as Ginny and I exchange one last worried glance. Guests begin to Disapparate amidst screams as the protections surrounding the Burrow are broken.

"Let's get out of here, Ginny," I call over the noise, holding out my arm for her to take. She's not even sixteen yet so there's no way for her to get out of here without help.

"I can't leave my family," she calls back. Just like her brothers she is—stubborn.

Shouts ring out as cloaked figures begin to appear amid the guests. Remus Lupin and his wife Tonks suddenly shout through the crowd loud enough for all to hear, "Protego!" The Ministry's spells are deflected.

I just need to keep my head…stay calm. I draw my wand and watch as my own spells join the volley, but I know that the shielding charm isn't going to hold them off for long.

I scan the area quickly, looking for more familiar faces and see Fred frantically arguing with Angelina, George standing at his side. Throwing spells over my shoulder at some of the hooded men, I run towards my friends.

"Angelina, don't argue," I hear him yell. "You and Alicia get out of here—now!" Angelina rolls her eyes, but obeys nonetheless. She grabs Alicia's arm and they disappear.

"Fred, what's going on?" I cry and he turns with his wand drawn.

"Katie? What are you still doing—?" He looks over at Ginny. "Take Ginny and go—your place, not mine."

"I'm not leaving!" I argue, but my cry is rather unnecessary as the mixture of Death Eaters and Ministry workers finally break through the shield. Fred and I exchange a quick glance before turning back to the coming onslaught. Ginny edges up next to us and I stand with her and her two brothers, waiting to see what's going to happen.

Outnumbered, we recognize defeat.

Or at least the Lupins do and I'm taking their lead here. Professor Lupin looks at all remaining and slowly sheaths his wand. We do the same.

"Why, thank you, Remus," a tall imposing man that I do not recognize says, coming forth into the barrage of bodies and standing in front of all of us guests. We've been backed into a circle in the center of the marquee and looking around I notice that there's only about thirty people present. I catch sight of a few other familiar faces and am perversely glad to see Lee standing off to the side also. He's okay. He's here, sure, but he's okay. Well, aside from a deep gash on the side of his head. "We're not looking for trouble here," the man says, smiling slightly.

"Then why, Yaxley, have you chosen to abruptly end my son's wedding?" I turn to find Arthur Weasley, red with anger, addressing the man.

"A mere coincidence, I assure you, Arthur. If we had known that festivities were in order, we would have arrived much sooner. I never turn down an opportunity for free food. But, you see, we're acting on an anonymous tip that you have a fugitive hiding in this fine dwelling of yours. The new Minister insisted that I come to check it out immediately."

"The newMinister?" Mr. Weasley asks.

"Why, Pius Thicknesse, of course," Yaxley responds with a smile. Eyes still on Mr. Weasley, Yaxley snaps his fingers in order to summon one of his men. "Percy, come here, please."

With a jolt to my stomach, I spot the only man among their number that's holding a piece of parchment rather than a wand. I feel Fred and Ginny stiffen on either side of me and know without looking that George is doing the same.

"Ah, here you are Percy," Yaxley exclaims, clapping Percy Weasley on the shoulder as he arrives next to him. "Great son you have here, Arthur. Thicknesse's personal assistant now. You must be so proud. The Minister himself demanded that he show up for this little affair. I guess he felt that a family reunion was in order." Mr. Weasley just scowls at the man, but doesn't make eye contact with his son. "Now Percy," Yaxley continues amicably, "can you please tell me whether all of your siblings are accounted for?"

Percy swallows dramatically before staring at each of the guests in turn. He finally meets eyes with Yaxley and the look on the Death Eater's face clearly says that Percy had better not lie to him.

"Two are missing, sir," Percy finally answers. "My brothers William and Ronald."

Mr. Weasley immediately begins accounting for his missing sons, but Yaxley holds up a hand to stop him. "Thank you, Percy." Percy nods his head worriedly and sinks back into the crowd. "You," Yaxley finally cries, pointing directly at Ginny, the first red-head in sight. "Do you live here?"

"Yes," Ginny replies without hesitation, her voice steady.

"Yes, sir," Yaxley corrects. "Where is William?"

Ginny gives him a small smile before answering. "On his honeymoon," she says stiffly.

"You will address me as Sir!"

"On his honeymoon, sir," she says even more stiffly.

Yaxley turns to a group of his men off to the side. "You five," he commands. "Check that story." They Disapparate and he continues around the circle, passing over Fred and stopping instead at George.

"Where's Ronald?" he asks, using none of the kindness that he'd faked for Ginny's question. He obviously has seen that George is a member of the Order—the ear is kind of a dead giveaway.

"In the attic, Sir," George answers stridently, as if addressing a drill sergeant. I wince.

"It is not necessary to speak that loudly," Yaxley warns.

"Sorry, Sir," he continues at the same volume. "But my bum ear requires me to speak like this." I can't help but stifle a laugh and I'm not the only one.

Ignoring George, Yaxley turns instead to Fred, figuring that the same face will provide the same answers. "Why is your brother in the attic?" he asks scornfully.

"It's a long story, Sir," Fred answers.

"Shorten it, Mr. Weasley," Yaxley answers through clenched teeth

"Sir, he's got spattergroit, Sir."

Several of the Ministry workers recoil at that news and even though I know it's not true since I spoke to Ron only a few hours ago, I have to admit that Fred tells a convincing tale.

"You, you, you, and you," Yaxley says, pointing out four of his men at random. "Take Molly and Arthur into the house to show you their son. If they're lying, then you know what to do."

I watch as the four men lead the Weasleys across the lawn. Charlie, Fred, George, Ginny, and even Percy each watch their parents' retreating forms. So what are they really going to find in the attic?

"The rest of you," he calls to us, "will be submitted to questioning." The men slowly move through our ranks, dividing us into three distinct groups: one of people who don't seem to comprehend a bit of what's going on (Fleur's French cousins among others) and two other groups filled with people who may actually know something.

I'm led to the house and the eight of us in my group are sat down in the living room to wait: Fred, George, Ginny, Charlie, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Lee, and myself. The Ministry workers leave the building until only Percy remains. He clears his throats to get our attention.

"You will each be called forth for questioning. If you refuse, you will be held in contempt with the Ministry of Magic and will be forced to face the consequences. Are there any questions?"

"I have a question, Perce," Fred says. He's pressing his luck in my opinion. "What happens if you're held in contempt to your family?"

"Yeah," George agrees. "Have you seen my new ear? Or lack of one, I should say. Lovely, isn't it?"

Ignoring both of them, Percy leaves through the front door, his face flaming. Once he's gone, we wait.

And wait.

And wait.

The men are obviously taking their time with the other groups first, which is quite fine with me except for the fact that I really just want to go home. And it's cold. Seriously. I think that that Yaxley man turned the air down just to make us uncomfortable.

Small discussions about pointless things break out around the room and Ginny and I begin conversing about the Harpies chances on winning the cup this year.

As the second hour passes, I'm no longer able to ignore the discomfort I'm in and although I can't do anything about it, complaining always seems to work.

"Fred," I whisper, leaning over Ginny so that he can hear me.

"What?" he whispers back. Our voices haven't ever risen above the minimal volume; not even Fred and George's.

"I'm cold," I inform him. It's not my fault either. He's the one that told me a dress was necessary for a wedding.

"Me too," Ginny agrees and I hear Tonks laugh form the corner where her and Professor Lupin are sitting on the floor. She knows how hard it is to be a girl.

"What do you expect me to do?" He asks.

"I don't know! It's your house. Can't you control the temperature?"

"Not without magic," Charlie answers from the other side of the room. "And I don't think it's worth any of our lives to use magic just to warm the room up." Although we still have our wands, it seems to be an unspoken agreement that if we don't use any form of magic, they won't kill us.

"Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm cold," I mumble. Fred groans and looks towards the kitchen. He slowly gets up and begins creeping past the stairs.

"What are you doing, Fred?" Ginny asks worriedly.

"Are you cold or not?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't really want you to risk your life to bring me a jumper."

Fred ignores her and enters the kitchen—their laundry room is on the other side so I assume that's where he's heading.

"George," I hear the raspy voice of Professor Lupin say from across the room. "When they call us for questioning, they're going to take us in pairs. You'll be with Fred. Do you think that you can please try to keep him calm? The last thing we need right now is for him to piss off a load of Death Eaters."

"I'll try," George replies quietly. "But he's already mad, mate. He keeps saying that they're raiding our shop as we speak. Is that true?" The answer is in Professor Lupin's silence.

Fred comes running back into the room and takes his seat just as the front door opens. A group of about ten men enter, Yaxley in the lead.

"We will be with you shortly," he says politely and I can't tell whether he's just a good actor or if he really believes that he's being kind to us. The men head up the stairs.

"They better not be going into my room," Ginny groans.

"Here," Fred says once they're gone, thrusting sweaters into both Ginny's and my hands. I pull the one I'm given over my head and when I look down I notice a giant F printed across my chest.

"I swear I didn't do that on purpose," Fred says with a laugh. I roll my eyes, but snuggle into its warmth nonetheless.

"They're not going to know quite what to think of you, Miss Bell," Professor Lupin says from across the room and I'm surprised he even remembers me. I wasn't an awesome Defense Against the Darks Arts student to tell you the truth. Well, at least not until Harry started teaching us my sixth year.

"What do you mean?" I ask, resisting the urge to call him Professor since I'm not sure he'd appreciate it considering he's been out of his teaching post for almost four years.

"I mean that everyone left in this room has some connection to the Order except for you. They would have expected you to Disapparate with the rest of them."

"It's true," Charlie says. "They're going to think that you're a part of the Order. Everyone else that was physically able Apparated out."

"We could always say that she's dating Fred," George jokes.

"Or the truth," I cut in. "I didn't want to leave Ginny. Why does it even matter anyway? Lee's not in the Order either!"

They all silently turn to stare at Lee and he gives me a sheepish smile. Figures.

"I want to join," I say. If Lee can do it, then so can I.

"I don't think that now's the right time," Tonks says from her spot on the floor. "Plus, we're not exactly taking new members."

"The Order's practically disbanded as it is," Lupin mutters. "This questioning—it's just a formality. They know we're in the Order; they just don't care anymore. We're powerless against them and they know it. Over half of our members are either arrested or in hiding. There's nothing we can do anymore."

"Then why bother with the questioning?" I ask.

"It's about Harry," he answers.

"Harry? Harry Potter?" I ask, shocked. "Does that mean that all of the rumors are true?"

"It means that they think they're true," Ginny answers.

We sit in silence for a few minutes until a squat wizard appears at the foot of the stairs and clears his throat. Without saying a word, he points at the two Lupins and they slowly head up the stairs hand in hand. Tonks gives us a small wave as she disappears from sight.

I turn around and hit Fred on the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

I ignore him and turn to Lee. "And you too," I whisper as loud as I can. "When the hell were you planning to tell me? We were dating for God's sake!"

"Were being the operative word there," Lee replies. "And you broke up with me so I really don't feel the need to tell you anything." Even though I know he's joking, the rejection stings.

"And while we're getting our feelings out here," Fred cuts in, "never disobey a direct order from me again. I told you to get out of here."

"I can take care of myself, Fred Weasley."

"You obviously have no self-preservation instincts, then," he mutters. "I swear! You can't follow instructions to save your life. Quite literally."

"You should have known I wouldn't leave you here," I say, raising my voice dangerously. "I can't believe that Angelina did."

"The only reason Angelina went was to get Alicia out of here," George says quietly. "And she's probably having another panic attack by now. I'm going to be the death of that girl…"

"And I'm apparently going to be the death of this girl," Fred says, staring at me. I open my mouth to retort, but Ginny beats me to it.

"Can you two please stop arguing?" she groans. "You're worse than Ron and Hermione." I hold back a grin and shut my mouth.

"You two," I hear a voice say from the steps and I look up to see the pudgy man pointing at Fred and George. They get up slowly and make their way upstairs.

"So, where's everybody going?" I ask eventually. "Like when they're done. They aren't coming back down obviously."

"There's probably an Apparation point set up somewhere upstairs," Charlie answers.

"Or they're killing us," Lee adds.

"Oh, that's encouraging," Ginny says sarcastically and we revert back to silence.

Even with the jumpers, the temperature continues to get colder and Ginny and I slowly start edging towards each other to stay warm. After about a half an hour, I hear raised voices from up the stairs.

We all look towards the ceiling warily.

"They're going to get murdered," Ginny sighs. "Can he not just keep his fat mouth shut for one hour?"

Come on, Fred! Shut the fuck up—for me.

They stay up there much longer than Tonks and Lupin, but thankfully I never hear another shout. Maybe he was able to get himself under control after all.

The man finally returns. "The two girls," he says stiffly and Ginny and I slowly get up. I give Lee and Charlie one last smile, before traversing upstairs. And, ironically enough, the interviews are being held in Fred and George's room.

We each take a seat across from a table where eight of the ten men sit. The other two are guarding the door.

"Please state your name for the panel," an elderly man asks from one side of the table. I watch as two other begin scribbling furiously on pieces of parchment.

"Ginevra Weasley."

"Katherine Bell."

"Ah, well thank you for being here," the Death Eater Yaxley says from the center of the table. "We're just going to ask you a few simple questions and you will be free to go on your way. So do I have your word that both of you will tell the truth, or do I need to get out my Veritaserum?"

We both agree rather unenthusiastically, but that seems to be enough for him. Without knowing him for more than a few hours, I can already tell that he's one of those guys that don't think women are capable of deceit.

"Miss Weasley, you live here, yes?" Ginny nods slowly. "Then could you please inform us of the guests that have been staying at your house these past few days?"

Ginny looks taken by surprise. "You mean name them? All of them?" Yaxley looks at her as if she's a brainless child. "There's just a lot of names," Ginny defends herself, but then begins ticking them off on her fingers. "Mum, Dad, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George when they weren't at their own flat, Ron, Fleur, Mr. and Mrs. Delacour, Gabrielle, me…um, I think that that's it."

"Twelve people?" he confirms.

"If that's how many people I named then yes."

"When is the last time that you saw Mr. Harry Potter?"

"We broke up at the end of the last school year. I haven't seen him since," she says confidently.

"What about you, Miss Bell?" he asks, turning his attention instead to me.

"I haven't seen him since I graduated in June," I answer truthfully.

"And what was your relationship with him?"

"We were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team together. He was captain."

The questions about Harry keep coming, most directed towards Ginny who's beginning to get stressed. Finally, realizing that they're going to get no further information out of her, they turn back to me.

"Miss Bell, the number of people present upon our arrival suggests that you were pre-warned we were coming. Why did you not Disapparate with the rest of them?"

"Um, I don't know," I answer. "I just didn't want to leave Ginny here alone."

"Hm," Yaxley mutters doubtfully. "Are you currently involved romantically with one of the Weasleys?"

"Excuse me?" I ask defensively, choosing to forget about the fact that he could kill me right now and nothing would be done about it.

"It's a simple question."

"No—I'm not," I answer firmly, trying to leave no doubt that I'm telling the truth. He looks down at the F on my chest and a smirk rises to his face.

"You two are free to go," he says and Ginny and I are immediately escorted from the room and up a few floors to where we're apparently supposed to Apparate out.

"I live here," Ginny complains to the pudgy man leading us. "Where am I supposed to go?" Without a word, he points his finger up and leaves us alone.

"They didn't honestly stick my whole family in Ron's room, did they?" Ginny asks, looking warily at the ceiling above her head.

"Ginny, why did they ask me that?" I interrupt her ranting.

"Ask you what?" she replies innocently, but I can tell she know exactly what I'm talking about.

"Ginny…" I warn.

"It's what they do, Katie. They judge relationships and use them to get information. Why do you think they kept asking me about Harry even though I wasn't giving them any answers? It's because I used to date him."

"They think I'm with Fred," I groan.

"He's very protective of you, Katie. My guess is that one of those men asked Fred what you were doing here—they probably said something about you that pissed him off."

We stand in silence for a few seconds, before I wrap Ginny in a hug and Disapparate home.

--

I know what you're thinking: still no Oliver. Well, sorry, but he's back in the next chapter, I swear. And this chapter is pretty important...

Next time on Love and War: Getting ready for Leanne's wedding rehearsal, which means more Oliver! And Charlie…

Review, please!