It was a trap. It had been a trap. Of course, it was a trap. Why would something have gone right for them?

It happened as soon as they passed the boundaries of the Dursleys' house.

"Argh!" George yelled in shock as Remus swerved.

"Hold on," Remus warned him, grasping the broom handle even tighter.

It was just as well he did because the manoeuvres, he had to pull in the next ten minutes had them basically somersaulting in the air just to avoid the flood of curses aimed their way.

The curses did taper off somewhat as the Death Eaters got confused at the sight of seven Harrys. Good. That worked. Thank Merlin for Mundungus.

There were so many on his tail. Probably thought that him being James' childhood friend meant that Harry was more likely to be with him. Wasn't that a little bit obvious even for the Death Eaters?

Thankfully, George was more than a decent fighter, even in the air, and they gave back as best they could.

One spell of George's narrowly missed a Death Eater, making his hood fall back.

Snape.

Without even thinking, Remus fired off a curse. It missed. Barely. Too bad. The other Death Eater who was close (he still had his hood up) fired a curse that meant that Remus had to dove rather than aim again at Snape.

One second, he saw Snape raise his wand and the next George had slumped forwards, blood pouring from out of the side of his head. Remus couldn't return the favour without dropping George so the traitor got away. Because of course he did.

But he couldn't think of that right now. No. The most important thing was George and getting him to safety. Getting them both to safety. Why was there so much blood? Why Sectumsempra?

Remus didn't know how long it took them - time had lost all meaning - but they managed to get to the Safe House. There was no time for anything as the portkey was thrust into his hands.

He felt rather than saw the Burrow materialise into existence. He was a bit preoccupied keeping a hold of George as they were spinning and then falling. Blood. There was so much blood on George's face. He hadn't consciousness with the portkey. Not that Remus could blame him, blood loss plus spinning was never a good thing. At least he wasn't throwing up. But unconsciousness meant that George couldn't even try to support himself so that was on Remus and even with werewolf strength, George was a dead weight.

And then he wasn't. What on earth? Then he saw the black, messy hair but couldn't feel any relief at seeing him. Not yet.

Together, he and Remus carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the living room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Remus heard Ginny gasp as they took in the sight in front of them. One of George's ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood. Why was it always so shocking how bright blood was? Remus didn't think he would ever get used to it.

Now that the safety of George was out of his hands, Remus grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door.

"Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly, "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"

Remus ignored him. This was far too important.

"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"

"A- a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?"

Remus released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard in his relief. This was Harry. His Harry.

"Wha' was tha' about?" roared Hagrid.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," said Remus tersely. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."

"None of the Order would have told Voldemort we were moving tonight," said Harry. "Voldemort only caught up with me toward the end, he didn't know which one I was in the beginning. If he'd been in on the plan, he'd have known from the start I was the one with Hagrid."

"Voldemort caught up with you?" said Remus sharply. "What happened? How did you escape?"

Harry explained how the Death Eaters pursuing them had seemed to recognize him as the true Harry, how they had abandoned the chase, how they must have summoned Voldemort, who had appeared just before he and Hagrid had reached the sanctuary of Dora's parents.

"They recognized you? But how? What had you done?"

"I... I saw Stan Shunpike... You know, the bloke who was the conductor on the Knight Bus? And I tried to Disarm him instead of- well, he doesn't know what he's doing, does he? He must be Imperiused!"

Remus was aghast. How? What? Why? Did Harry not realise that they were in the middle of a war? Remus was ashamed to say that he allowed his frustration, anger and worry get the better of him and went off on the boy he thought of as a nephew. Tried to make him understand...

"I won't blast people out of my way just because they're there," said Harry, "That's Voldemort's job."

Remus didn't know what to say to that. And Hagrid crushing a chair completely broke his concentration. Ignoring his mingled oaths and apologies, Harry addressed him again.

"Will George be, okay?"

Remus felt all his frustration drain away at the question. At the hope and fear in Harry's voice.

"I think so, although there's no chance of replacing his ear, not when it's been cursed off- "

There was a scuffling from outside. Remus dived for the back door; Harry leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard.

Hermione flung herself into Harry's arms, but Kingsley showed no pleasure at the sight of any of them. Kingsley went straight for him, wand raised and a ferocious look on his face.

"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!"

"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" said Remus calmly.

How long ago had that been now? Weeks? Months? It seemed like a lifetime.

Kingsley turned his wand on Harry, but Remus said, "It's him, I've checked!"

"All right, all right!" said Kingsley, stowing his wand back beneath his cloak, "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"

"So, it seems," he replied, "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harrys."

"Small comfort!" snarled Kingsley. "Who else is back?"

"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me."

Not Dora. No Dora. Why hadn't Dora returned?

"What happened to you?" Remus asked Kingsley.

"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off, "and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can-"

"Fly," supplied Harry. "I saw him too; he came after Hagrid and me."

Kingsley recounted what happened to him and Hermione but Remus only half paid attention to him. Not even. His mind was swirling too much to focus properly. Where was Dora? She should have been here far before him. What was going on?

"But what happened to you, Remus? Where's George?" Kingsley asked, getting his attention again.

"He lost an ear. Snape's work."

"Snape?" shouted Harry. "You didn't say - "

"He lost his hood during the chase. Sectumsempra was always a specialty of Snape's. I wish I could say I'd paid him back in kind, but it was all I could do to keep George on the broom after he was injured, he was losing so much blood."

Silence fell between the four of them as they looked up at the sky. There was no sign of movement; the stars stared back, unblinking, indifferent, unobscured by flying friends.

"Harry, give us a hand!" called Hagrid hoarsely from the door, in which he was stuck again.

Even that couldn't lighten the mood for Remus. Not when adrenaline was still running through him and worry was gnawing at his gut.

Then another broom appeared. Arthur! It was Arthur! Kingsley pulled his wand on him but Weasley Patriarch pushed him aside. Ah, he must have already heard.

"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know what's good for you!"

Remus trailed in after him, hoping that Molly wouldn't mind. Hopefully George was okay. And it turned out that he was. Thankfully. Well, enough to joke about which meant he was going to be okay. He was going to be okay. That was one thing off his mind.

He decided to tactfully leave as Molly sobbed out her relief. He couldn't be relieved. Not yet.

It had to be a funny sight, with him, Hermione and Hagrid all standing shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the sky with Kingsley pacing in front of them. None of them looked around when Harry and Ginny joined their silent vigil.

The minutes stretched into what might as well have been years. The slightest breath of wind made them all jump and turn toward the whispering bush or tree in the hope that one of the missing Order members might leap unscathed from its leaves-

And then a broom materialized directly above them and streaked toward the ground-

"It's them!" screamed Hermione.