Chapter 29: Order Meetings
George POV
Normally, the brave Gryffindor's laugh would fill his chest with such joy that he couldn't contain the smile that grew on his freckled face. Now, he had to look away when Hermione would let out a rare laugh inside the walls of the Burrow. It had been weeks since Dumbledore's funeral and she was spending all of her time with her nose shoved into a book, studying and preparing. She would talk in hushed and worried whispers with Ron and try to show him information from the book, desperately trying to cram information into his skull.
Thankfully, George wasn't the only Weasley who was miserable this Summer. He was spending more time with Ginny as the two were in the same position of having to end things with their wildly important significant others. She was currently fixing some twigs at the end of the old broomsticks in the shed of the Burrow with him. "George… when do you think that things will go back to normal?"
"Hopefully soon. I don't know. I don't really remember the first war that well. Just that mom and dad were always stressed. Charlie and Bill remember it the most." He polished the handle of the Cleansweep and sighed. "Why do you ask? Are you nervous?"
"No. I am ready for a fight." Ginny set her shoulders with fierce determination. "I just want Harry back and things to be normal."
"I know how you feel." He smiled sadly and ruffled her red hair like he used to do when they were younger. "I love you, Gin. You'll get through this. You're a warrier."
"She is too." She frowned. "Hermione is so strong. I know that she will be okay. I just know it."
"Well someone has to take care of the boys." George tried to joke, but it felt stale coming out of his mouth. He had been worrying about who would be taking care of her while the Golden Trio was leading the war charge.
His younger sister wrapped her freckled arms around him and the two didn't realize what was happening but someone the both of them had let tears slide, soundlessly down their cheeks. After a while, they didn't talk about what happened, instead they just went back into the Burrow as if the moment hadn't happened. It was between the two of them.
That night, the Order was meeting at the Burrow to discuss a plan on getting Harry to the protection of the Order and away from Privet Drive. Mad Eye and Kingsley were standing at the front of the Burrow living room, waiting for everyone to find a seat or spot to listen to the important matter of discussion. Once George and Fred were in a spot in the corner, leaning against the fireplace, it seemed like everyone was in place. "Potter is still underage so the Trace is still on him. We are going to have to fly him back to the safe place since we cannot apparate without the ministry knowing where we are taking him." Their old DADA professor began, glancing around the room with his magical eye. "We will need volunteers who aren't afraid to put their lives on the line for the cause. We are going to have as many of-age witches or wizards to take Polyjuice potion and disguise themselves as Harry so that we can attempt to get the real Harry past the death eaters to the safe place."
Kingsley cleared his throat. "Idealy, it will just be us being over cautious and there aren't any attacks the night we move him. However, we don't seem to have the best luck of avoiding his followers. We will pair each fake Harry with a strong and talented fighter. For example, Remus, Mad-Eye, myself, Tonks, and others. So far we know there will be four fake Potters. The more, the better."
Fred and George looked at each other, knowing what they had to do. Fred turned to the leaders of the Order. "We will volunteer."
Their mother tried to stifle in a sob from her worried spot in front of their father. Ron and Hermione looked at the twins. "We volunteer, too." Ron said with a fierce voice. "For Harry. We have to be there for Harry."
Bill rubbed Fleur's shoulder lovingly and smiled sadly at her before turning his attention to Kingsley. "Would a Gringott's Curse Breaker be a strong enough Wizard to escort a fake Harry?"
Remus smiled at Bill. "That's very brave of you. I do feel that you have proven yourself to the ministry of being someone that the Order would trust Harry with. I think you could make the number of Harry's to be 5."
"I vant to volunteer." Fleur called out as she clutched Bill's hand. "I am going to be a Weasley, I vant to be as brave as my future husband."
If someone was keeping track, like he was sure his mother was doing, that meant that if you included Fleur in the count, 5 Weasley's would be putting their life on the line to rescue Harry. Their father shifted uncomfortably next to his wife and sighed. "Would the more groups of fake Harry's increase the likelihood that the party is safe?"
"If we run into trouble, yes it would provide us with more man power to protect the Order." Mad-Eye clunked across the living room to stand in front of him. "I know what you're thinking Arthur. Yes, a Ministry official like yourself would be deemed important enough to escort Harry."
"I volunteer." He said the words with a fierce whisper that made their mother have to wipe away tears in her eyes. All of her sons that were left at home, her future daughter-in-law, and her husband were putting their life on the front line to rescue the Chosen One.
"Let's get to organizing the groups. I am going to bring in Mundungus to be a Harry. He told me that he was willing to go undercover for the cause. I will be paired up with him. Someone who is not afraid of a fight, a strong Defense Against the Dark Arts knowledge, and great casting skills. A strong fighter will be needed to be paired up with Shacklebolt." Mad-Eye was clunking around the living room and waved his wand, lazily in the air, writing down the names of all the volunteers with a magic quill in the air.
"Would I be strong enough?" Hermione's soft voice asked from her spot next to Ron as they sat on the coffee table in the center of the Burrow living room. George's heart plummeted as he thought of her being the main target being paired up with such a fierce fighter. "What do you think, Kingsley?"
Kingsley Shacklebolt looked like he only needed a second to ponder the thought before he gave her a single nod. "Hermione, my dear, I was thinking it should be you. You have deemed yourself a bright and powerful witch. You will need to be tight and sharp that night. Since you don't fly, we will travel by Thestral."
She nodded her head, sending her curls to bounce up and down in determination. "Let's get on with pairing the others." Mad-Eye growled out as the quill began to write. "Nymphadora-"
"Don't call me that." Tonks complained from her spot next to Remus.
Mad-Eye ignored her and continued on. "I'm pairing you up with, Weasley."
"Which one?" Fred, George, and Ron all said at the same time which earned a sob from their mother who was trying to hold herself together.
"Ron. You'll travel on a broomstick since you're a decent flyer. Same with the other two, your groups will travel on broomsticks. The twins you will be paired up with Remus and your father to escort you two." Mad-Eye clunked over to Bill and Fleur. "Thestral travel. Can you be paired up together without blowing the whole damn mission?"
The couple nodded fiercely. "Ve vill not let you down." Fleur said as she clamped onto Bill's hand. "Ve vill protect 'arry until the very end."
"Very well. Hagrid will escort Harry. So we have 7 Harry's. That should work out very well. We will plan on moving him on the 27th, a few days before his birthday. I think it wise that we all rest up and take this quite seriously. The fate of Harry Potter and this damn war rest on this mission to get him here safely." Mad-Eye grunted before waving his wand and sending the parchment of notes into his ready hands. "I am calling this meeting to be finished."
"I second." Remus said warily as he wrapped an arm around Tonk's shoulder protectively. "We should all prepare."
Hermione POV
The idea of George being put in harm's way made her want to vomit. She couldn't push the image out of her head of an ambush and him getting attacked. They hadn't been talking a lot at the Burrow since it was too painful, the idea of them having to be apart with Voldemort on the rise. However, the night before they were to move Harry was too much for her to be away from him.
Hermione got up from her cot on the floor of Ginny's bedroom and tip-toed to George and Fred's room. She pushed the creaky door open as quiet as she could and poked her head into the messy room. Fred was passed out on his twin size bed with his hand flopped over the side, on the floor. She scanned the room to find George. He was curled into a ball on his bed with a look of worry between his eyebrows despite him sleeping. She thought he must be having nightmares just like her, or merely worrying about the journey that was before them.
She crossed over to him and with her finger tips, she smoothed out the skin between his eyebrows. He stirred in his sleep, waking to open his eyes to see who touched him. "Hermione? I must be dreaming."
She let out a little scoff. "Not dreaming, Georgie."
"What're you doing here?" He smiled as he sat up, resting his weight onto his elbows.
"I- I just am so worried. Would I be able to sleep here tonight?"
Before she even finished the sentence, he was lifting the red and gold quilt up so she could slide in, next to him. "I thought you'd never ask." He teased her as he hook his arm around her waist, pulling her close against his body. "Everything will be okay, Hermione."
"I'm worried about you. I want you to be safe."
"It'll take more than a little death eater to hurt the Great George Weasley." He poked her side, making her let out a stifled giggle before he planted kisses on her hair and cheek. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, George. It's for the best-"
"Shh- I know. I know. Don't talk about it. Just let's go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." He let out a sigh and tucked her head into his body, letting her rest the weight of her thoughts on him.
It only took moments before they both drifted into a peaceful sleep that had no dreams. The next morning, they were woken up by someone laughing in their room. It was Fred. "Can't stay away from the Weasley men, 'Mione. I get it."
It earned him a wack of George's pillow that was sent flying across the room by Hermione. "Shove off, Fred."
"You lot better get moving. Big day today. Big day." Fred began to whistle as he trotted off to take first dibs of the Burrow shower.
She turned her attention to George who was staring at her with worry and concern in his eyes. "What?"
"You're so beautiful, I'm just trying to memorize your face."
"Don't talk like something bad is going to happen to me." She planted her lips on his out of fear that she wouldn't see him after tonight.
He seemed to pick up on how frantic this kiss was and he wrapped her tightly in his arms as if George wasn't ever going to let her go. They didn't realize how anxious they were about tonight and about the thought of losing the person they loved. However, in this moment, she wished she had a time turner so she could enjoy this time and not feel like she was on borrowed time, as she snogged George and raked her fingers through his messy, red hair. "I love you, Hermione." He let out in between kisses.
She let a few silent tears drip from her eyes. "I love you too, Georgie."
Sorry everyone about all the issues with uploading! My MacBook just does not want to work with me on updated my story! I hope this fixes everything and I hope you all enjoy! I am currently outlining the next chapter and my heart is breaking!