Chapter 52
Things Change

" . . . . So, that was really about it. And just like I told you. But Hermione should get all of the credit. She thought of how it would work." The small group of people was sitting there, looking slightly shocked, staring at the girl who had just calmly recounted the stories of how she had convinced almost everyone at Hogwarts that she was a witch.

"I have to say, dear, those stories are incredible. Very impressive. And I'll be sure to tell Hermione so when she arrives, as well."

"Thank you, Molly. I would appreciate it. She deserves it."

"But-"

"Cassie, we think there might"

"Be something you are omitting." Cassie looked at the twins with a smile. She always loved it when they talked like that. Maybe it should annoy her, but it never did.

"What?"

"Transfiguration. You never told us how you got out"

"of doing the transfiguration for McGonagall after the whole"

"rat to rabbit thing." They finished in tandem and Cassie smiled again although her stomach did a flip-flop. She was hoping she could avoid bringing this up.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Maybe another time. I'm really quite tired and it's fairly complicated." George made a big show of getting her a cup of coffee and she sighed, sipping tentatively at the hot beverage. "We used a potion, I guess a pretty rare one, called . . . uh, poly-andry, poly- uh . . . . I've forgotten the name, now."

"Do you mean Polyjuice?" Lupin questioned, his brow furrowed.

"Uh-huh. That was it. Foul goo. I had to drink some with her hair in it and then she-"

"We all know how it works." George interrupted. "How did she get it? It takes a month to make, at least."

"She got it from Professor Dumbledore, she said. He said it was okay, as long as he didn't hear what actually happened with it." Everyone's face lost the pinched look that had appeared with her announcement. "Anyway, well. She went to class pretending to be me and did all the magic. Easy, really. She even used her own wand and everything."

"And you . . . pretended to be her." Cassie nodded. "And you went to her classes?"

"Heavens, no! That would have been a disaster. I just stayed in the common room and read. She does that a lot, you know."

"But she's Head Girl. No one asked any questions, or anything?"

Cassie's mind flashed back quickly to that Thursday a week ago, remembering that no one had bothered her at all except for . . . "No. A couple people said hello and I just answered without calling them anything. I was nervous that someone would, uh, you know think I was Hermione but . . ." Her voice trailed off and despite her best intentions, she could feel the color rising in her face. Sitting here by George, remembering how Ron had thought she was Hermione, was rather difficult. It hadn't been her fault, or Ron's really. She felt George's eyes on her face and she tried to look nonchalant. She decided to get off that topic as soon as possible. "Anyway, she also went to Ginny's Ancient Runes class. So, I stayed her for about four hours, I think and she stayed me and it worked out and then I went to Charms. And it was all just fine. Just fine."

"That was certainly a creative solution to the problem." Cassie nodded again. "I'm impressed." Lupin fiddled with the coffee cup he held in his hand as he watched her. "Very impressed."

"It was fun, really. Except for drinking the potion. That was nasty." To Cassie's great relief, she had satisfied their curiosity and the conversation turned to other topics. Finally, Arthur said he was tired and as if it was a sign that everyone had been waiting for, within a few minutes people were heading up the stairs. George kissed Cassie gently under the watchful eyes of his mother and headed up to his room. Cassie was halfway up the second flight when she realized she was thirsty. She paused and tried to remember if there was a cup or anything in the bathroom but she was pretty sure there wasn't. She'd have to go back down to the kitchen and get one. Maybe she could keep it in Ginny's room for the future. Then she got down to the dark kitchen and swore mildly under her breath. Her matches and her lighter were upstairs as was her torch. Usually when she was wandering at night, she started in the bedroom, so it was easy to remember to grab something. She stood quietly for a moment, trying to remember where the cups were so she could negotiate her way to the cupboard in the dark without making a big commotion. She remembered the right cupboard and opened it, grabbed a cup and turned on the faucet. She was concentrating so hard on the water that she missed the small noise behind her until she was caught from behind, a hand over her mouth, and a voice in her ear.

"I wondered what had happened to you."

"I swear, George. Are you trying to kill me?" Cassie stood there, breathing hard, trying to slow the racing of her heart.

"No, that's really not what I had in mind." She smiled down into the sink. His voice had that slightly husky quality to it that raised goosebumps on her arms. She knew what he wanted and why he had realized that she hadn't made it upstairs. Not that she would let him know that, of course.

"Well, then, don't sneak up behind me in a dark room."

"Then don't be standing in a dark room looking particularly cute."

"I couldn't light the lamps. I left my matches upstairs." George flicked his wand at one of them and it lit immediately, throwing some areas of the room into deep shadow, but illuminating the small area where they were standing, Cassie now facing him. "Thanks. I just needed a drink of water before bed. And I wasn't trying to look particularly cute. I was just standing here."

"Hmm. You didn't let me see your hair."

"What?"

"Your hair. It's blond again, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's all up now. You can see it tomorrow."

"I want to see it now." Cassie looked at him askance.

"Tough. Last time you saw it in curlers, you screamed and said it looked horrible."

"I never said that!"

"Close enough. You're out of luck tonight."

"I'm starting to get that impression . . . but-" He suddenly picked her up and put her up on the counter so that their faces were close to level. "I can be very persuasive."

"Let me down. I feel ridiculous up here." He just shook his head and reached for the scarf. "Leave that alone. Even if you saw it in the curlers, I don't think you could tell the- Dang it, George. Please, let me - Oh, you're in big trouble now, mister."

"Yeah, I'm scared." He stuffed the scarf into his pocket. Cassie was torn between slapping his face and kissing him. He was wearing an extremely self-satisfied grin as he examined her head and Cassie was very embarrassed. "What's the point of these things again?"

"To curl it. The hair dries in this shape and it . . . No! Stop! I mean it!" She did her best to sound very intimidating, but her laugh ruined the entire mood. His nimble fingers had undone one of the curlers and pulled it out of her hair. He didn't answer her or anything, just moved onto the next curler. "George!"

"Shhh. You'll wake up the entire house. You're right. These do work pretty well. It's already curly." He now had five in his left hand with his right hand busily undoing the next one. He put the six down and got to work with both hands. Cassie stopped protesting after about 10. There was no point. They were all going to have be redone tonight as it was. Besides, he wasn't listening to her protests anyway. His weight was against her knees and he was looking determinedly at her hair. She sat quietly and stared straight ahead which meant she was basically concentrating on his ear. It was a very nice ear and she looked with some interest at the way his hair curled around it. Her attention was caught by his exclamation of triumph as he pulled the last curler from behind her head. "There! Much better." His big hands moved through the semi-dry curls and she could feel the strands curl around his fingers.

"Are you happy now?"

"Very. You no longer smell like Ginny and you no longer look like her either."

"Ah." She would have said more but his mouth unerringly found hers and she completely forgot what smart comment she was going to make. His kiss was hot and she quickly realized that his emotions were close to the surface. The gentle way he usually kissed her was not in evidence tonight. No. He pulled his mouth away and looked down at her, fire practically dancing behind his eyes. Neither of them said anything for a minute. And then he shifted her knees to the side so that his weight was on the counter and he was even closer to her mouth. She saw his eyes flare slightly and then he was kissing her again. His hands were on her shoulders, holding her still. Not that she had any interest in moving. This counter was surprisingly comfortable. He pulled away again and they both breathed raggedly. He sat down in one of the chairs at the table and looked up at her.

"Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?" She nodded rather hesitantly, wanting to say that he was doing the same thing to her, but it probably wasn't the truth. After all, he had more experience, knew what he was missing. She didn't. She slipped down from the counter and debated whether to sit down across from him or just to go upstairs. In a way, she felt like his distance from her was wordlessly giving her a chance to retreat if she wanted to. She should. But, oh, she didn't want to. She wanted to stay. So, with a courage she didn't know she possessed, she walked over to him once again. His arms slipped around her waist and he leaned his head against her tummy. She bent down and kissed the top of his head. His low rumble of laughter tickled her skin and she did it again to get the same reaction. "You are so absolutely . . . I was sitting there tonight while you were telling those stories about Hogwarts, and I . . I just wanted to . . . I don't know what exactly. I wanted to absorb you into myself. You're wonderful. That's the word that keeps coming to mind."

"I am not. I didn't do anything extraordinary, really." He nodded and this time, she was the one who laughed.

"You weren't telling the truth about the Polyjuice, though. Something did happen when you were Hermione and she was you. I could tell by the way you flushed when we asked you."

"No. Nothing happened." But then his eyes met hers and she felt the color rise in her cheeks again. Maybe the dim light in the room would keep him from noticing. But she wasn't that lucky.

"Come on, spill it. I'd hate to have to tickle it out of you."

"Ve have vays of making you talk? Huh?" She gave her best Colonel Klink imitation from Hogan's Heroes but George just look confused.

"What?"

"Never mind. Fine. Fine. Ron . . . missed the planning meeting Thursday morning and when he didn't see Hermione in class . . . well, he figured that she was upset over her parents and everything, and, well . . . he wanted to make sure she was all right and, uh, comfort her. You know." George was watching her carefully, now. "And, uh, he found her, well, me of course although he didn't know it was me, in the commons room with people around and I tried to, um, convince him that she, uh, I was fine and to go back to class, but he . . . well, he decided that maybe a little private time would be nice and, um, . . . er, well, it was getting a little embarrassing. Everyone was looking and I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn't listen. He's rather, uh, stubborn, in case you haven't noticed."

"So, Ron kissed you?" The question was asked innocuously enough, but Cassie had a feeling that if Ron had been sitting there, George would have punched him in the nose.

"No. I mean, he was kissing me, but he didn't kiss me." George raised an eyebrow questioningly. "On the lips. He was just kissing my face and neck and hands and stuff. But of course, he didn't know it was me, George. You do understand that, right?"

"I understand. I'm not stupid."

"I never said you were stupid!"

"So, what happened . . . eventually?"

"Um, well, I told him that we should go up into his room so that we could be alone." She said this very quietly, wishing she could have some way to say that where it didn't sound quite so . . . incriminating.

"Yes. And . . ."

"You're the one who asked, remember? So don't blame me if you don't like what you're hearing." She glanced at the steps and was tempted to make a run for it but knew he could catch her in 2-3 strides. "We went up a few steps where we would be out of view of the rest of the common room, and I - I told him. He wasn't happy. He ran screaming down the stairs and out of the common room, and then he went to bed and I didn't see him again when I was Hermione." She omitted the entire part about lunch and the hand-holding. It was probably better that George not hear about what she and Ron had done when their identities really were known, or George might still punch him in the nose, given half a chance. "It was actually, um, sort of funny."

"Yeah. I'm laughing all right." She grimaced slightly. He was definitely not amused. He glanced up at her. "Sorry. I don't mean to sound so . . . possessive. I'm not normally like this, uh, that. It's just . . . the thought of you kissing someone else just sets my teeth on edge."

"I'm sorry, too. We didn't kiss, really." His face crinkled into a smile.

"So you didn't succumb to the famous Weasley charm?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." And this time, when she bent over to kiss him, it wasn't the top of his head that she kissed. After a few minutes, her back started to hurt and she tried to think how she could get more comfortable. He solved her problem by pulling her down onto his lap and she relaxed in his arms.

"Hm, hm. Hello." The throat clearing was soft but in the complete silence of the kitchen it sounded like a gun shot. Cassie's head whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of Remus standing on the bottom step. She did a quick mental run-down of what she looked like. She was sitting on George's lap, her hair was beyond mussed, all the curlers were scattered over the surface of the counter, and any makeup she had once had on was now missing in action. She hopped up, trying to look graceful and not succeeding very well. She looked back at George who had met Remus' eyes unflinchingly and then she whispered a hasty good-night and ran up the steps, not stopping until she reached the quiet darkness of Ginny's bedroom. Once there, she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and almost ran down the hallway. She just wanted to go to bed and get that image of Remus staring at them out of her mind. After she returned to the bedroom she quickly changed into George's shirt and climbed into bed. Then, wanting to have some connection with him, she picked up her charmed Falcons sticker and held it. It was a long time before the answering warmth filled her palm but when it did, she smiled and finally allowed herself to sleep.

She was awake before the alarm the next day, anxious at what was going to happen. She thought that Remus might possibly tell Molly and Arthur what had happened and Molly might be even angrier with her than she already was. She already thought that Cassie was a bad influence on George. Cassie didn't even want to think about what would happen if her worst fears were confirmed. She may forbid them to see each other, may even force George to go live somewhere else until she left the house permanently. Cassie stepped reluctantly out into the hall a moment later, hoping to check the status of the bathroom. She didn't want a repeat of the towel incident, did she? Well, all right. She'd admit that parts of that had actually been very nice but after last night, she was trying to avoid being found in anymore embarrassing situations. As she glanced toward the hall toward the bathroom, though, her view was blocked by a red-headed boy who was standing quite determinedly by her door, waiting for her. He was already dressed and looked ready for the day.

"Hi." She couldn't believe this. She looked horrible, her hair had "gone insane in the night and was sticking up all over her head. She could feel it. Her eyes were dry and she would have bet money that they were red-rimmed and bloodshot. She wanted to brush her teeth before she had any in-depth conversations but that obviously wasn't going to happen.

"Hi, yourself." George held out her scarf from last night and inside were all of the curlers that he had taken out of her hair. "I thought you might want these back." Cassie took them, greatly relieved that she wouldn't have to explain to Molly why her hair curlers were all over her kitchen counters.

"Thanks. I was worried that they might still have been down there . . ." She let her voice trail off as the remembrance of how embarrassed she had been the night before came flooding back into her conscious mind. "I'm sorry, George!"

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Last night was . . . well, I don't know the right word, but I loved it." He reached out carefully and stroked her cheek. "I hope you don't regret what happened. I love to kiss you and don't want you to ever wish I didn't." She allowed him to pull him into his arms and she sighed in relief when his arms went around her and she could bury her face in his chest. They stood in silence for a few minutes, his hand running up and down her back in the sort of classic comforting movement and she relaxed more into his embrace.

"What did Remus say after I left?" She hated to ask, but on the other hand, she wanted to know so that she could deal with any aftershocks.

"Yeah. Well, he chewed my . . . . He really laid down the law." Cassie pulled back a little bit and looked up into his face. "That's right. Heaped all the blame for the fate of the world on my head and threatened me with serious bodily harm if I ever did anything to hurt you." Cassie chuckled dryly as she turned her face into his shirt "I'm glad you think it's funny. He could definitely cause me grievous injury if he wanted to. So I assured him that I would never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you either."

"Do you think he hates me now?"

"No, he definitely does not hate you. Didn't you hear me? He heaped all the blame for the entire relationship squarely on my head. Told me that since your dad wasn't here to make sure I behaved myself that he would do it for me and that he would be keeping a very close eye on me."

"Oh, George, I'm sorry." They both stood there for another few minutes, arms around each other, each unwilling to let the other go. But finally, she decided that she needed to be down helping Molly so she reluctantly pulled away. "I guess I better go downstairs."

"Things are just going to get crazier after everyone gets here this afternoon. I don't know how much we'll be able to be alone." Cassie nodded. As excited as she was about everybody's arrival from Hogwarts today, she realized that the close quarters would pretty much guarantee that she and George would not be alone together. Of course, maybe she should be grateful for that, but she knew she wasn't.
"I know. But they're all going to want private time, so maybe we can take ours at the same time they do." George nodded.

"That might work. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He kissed her once, softly, on the cheek and then went downstairs. Cassie hurried through her morning routine, supplementing it today with a shower, washing her hair one more time and then toweling it dry and letting it lie over her shoulders although she pulled a few strands back with a clip. Not what she had wanted this morning, but it would do.

Breakfast was a large meal today and more food was stashed in the refrigerator afterwards. Cassie saw one additional curler in the kitchen, hidden behind the carafe coffee was poured from in the mornings. She had grabbed it and stuffed it into her jeans' pocket quickly hoping that Molly hadn't noticed. She had a hard time meeting Remus' eyes as he ate breakfast but he talked normally to her and she eventually was able to relax a bit around him. She still thought George was joking about Remus' actually threatening to harm him, but the looks that passed between the two of them almost convinced her otherwise.

Remus retreated to his room once again after breakfast and the morning passed rather quickly in a flurry of last-minute cleaning and cooking. An unfamiliar owl brought some letters for Remus and the family owl returned with two of Cassie's ordered Christmas presents. She examined the items carefully, pleased that they were as nice as she had hoped. These were tucked up into her trunk to join the others and she took a moment to mentally go over her shopping list once again. She really hoped that everything else arrived in time.

So, after a pleasant morning, the crisis was unexpected and unwelcome.

Arthur apparated into the kitchen at about 11 and when Cassie saw his expression she realized that something serious was happening. She, Molly, and Remus had gathered in the living room to hear what Arthur had to say and Cassie tried not to show how nervous she was. She really hated this constant tension that seemed to abate slightly at times but never really went away, this feeling that any moment something really bad was going to happen. In this case, it apparently had.

Arthur explained that the Aurors were now actively looking to arrest several members of the Order and that he was on the list, as were Molly, Bill, Tonks and several other wizards and witches that Cassie didn't know. The twins had apparently escaped being directly listed as those in the Order, but Molly and Arthur were still extremely upset. "So, I can't go back into work, obviously. I'm grateful she warned me what was coming."

"But how did she know? She's working for that Muggle Prime Minister still, isn't she?" Molly was pacing back and forth in the room as she asked this.

"Yes. But apparently all our names, pictures, and descriptions have also been given to the Muggle press as well. That's how she knew." Molly and Remus both stared at Arthur as though he had grown another head.

"What? Why would they -"

"Remember what happened with Sirius, when he escaped from Azkaban? It's the same thing with us. They've eliminated any option of our hiding with the Muggles. But wait. That's not really the worst of it."

"What could possibly be worse than this?"

"They've put a warrant out for Harry's arrest also, saying he's a subversive, obviously working for the Order although he's still in school. And since his location today is known, they're planning to arrest him at the station before he even gets off the train."

Now panic was a tangible presence in the room. Cassie knew that they would not allow Harry to be arrested. They would do anything to keep him safe because he was essentially their major weapon against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. All three of the adults stared at each other for a long minute. It was Molly who spoke first. "Well, that will never do! We have got to get him away from there! The wards are strong enough here to keep him hidden as well as they will the rest of us. We'll have to figure out some way to get him off the train before the Aurors can do anything about it."