Boy! I don't know what happened with my formatting- I did it the same way as always and could not get it to look good. So, I had to manually go back in and insert new paragraph markers. Strange. Anyway, I apologize. It's better now.
Chapter 71
"The Deep Breath before the Plunge"
Cassie, Ginny, and Hermione all looked at each other and started giggling. They tumbled into the bedroom still laughing and they all fell onto Ginny's bed. Hermione buried her head in a pillow and Cassie bit her hand to keep from laughing so loud that they woke everyone else up. Cassie didn't know what was so funny exactly, but the fact that the other two girls were laughing was making it much worse. When they finally calmed down enough to speak, they all said at once, "What were you laughing about?" That set them off again and this time it was Cassie who buried her face in a pillow while Ginny tried three times (in between gales of giggles) to set a silencing charm on the door.
Cassie lay back on the bed, drawing in deep gasps of air as she listened to Hermione and Ginny doing the same thing. "So . . . what is so funny?" Cassie finally asked.
"Well, I was laughing at Hermione's expression. What were you laughing at?"
"I was laughing at George's telling Ron he could hear everything going up and down the steps. What were you laughing at, Hermione?"
"Ron . . . and his expression was practically a mirrored expression of Harry's. That was what killed me. They both looked like they were a pair of 5 year olds after having just been told there was no Santa Claus." She was silent for a minute. "Although I probably didn't look much happier. Darn it. I wasn't ready to be done kissing him. We were having a great time." She sighed.
Ginny sighed, too. "Yeah, Harry and I were having a great time, too. Although the kitchen isn't a very good place for a long snogging session. No soft furniture to cuddle on." She leaned up on her elbow and looked over at Cassie. "Where were you two? In here?"
"No!"
"Where then?"
"Uh . . . I better not say."
"You were so in here."
"No we weren't. Honestly. It's just George calls it his secret place and I think he'd be mad if I gave it away."
"George has a secret place? In this house?" Cassie nodded. "Impossible. I know every square inch of this house. There can't be a secret place."
"Yes, there is." Ginny looked at her suspiciously.
"I need a hint."
"No. Stop asking." She stood up and walked to her own bed. "We were having a great time, though. He's a great kisser." Ginny made a groaning noise and covered her ears with her hands..
"I do not want to hear any details. I thought we'd been through this already!" Hermione hit her with a pillow and after an abbreviated pillow fight between the two of them, Hermione flopped down on her own bed and sighed again.
"I can't sleep. I'm so excited! But I've got to tell my parents - they're going to die!"
"They won't be happy for you?" Cassie slipped her nightshirt over her head, smiling to herself as she remembered unbuttoning George's shirt earlier this evening.
"Well, I don't really know. They love Ron and they know I love him. But, I am only 17, and just barely at that. My parents really wanted me to go to college. They'll be disappointed if I don't."
"Do they have colleges for wizards?" Cassie felt kind of stupid asking that but she didn't remember the subject ever coming up before.
"No, not really. It's more sort of a technical training. Like if you want to be a healer . . . Well, you go to Healer school, like Angelina does. And if you want to be an Auror, you go to Auror training. I think they were hoping I'd go to Muggle college." Cassie raised a questioning eyebrow and Hermione laughed. "I think you learned that from George. Yeah, I know. It seems dumb to me . . . but they wanted me to have all sorts of opportunities, you know, not box myself into any one thing. And marriage . . . well, they won't be happy."
"Well, can't you be married and still go to school?"
"Yeah, of course, in theory. But you know that doesn't always work out." Hermione stared down at the ring on her finger and twisted it. "And Muggle school would be out of the question. Can you imagine my introducing Ron to --"
"Oh, please, Hermione. It already was. You told me months ago that you would never go to the college where your parents want you to go. You said you couldn't very well sit there and learn science and physics and things when they had everything totally wrong."
"That's true. I did say that, Ginny. It's just . . . oh, they're just going to die. How am I going to tell them, anyway? Should I send an owl? That seems a bit impersonal. But I can't call them through the floo. They hate that." She sounded flustered, very different from her normal self. It was obvious to Cassie that she had really been thrown for a loop by Ron's proposal.
"Just apparate there and tell them in the morning. You're making it more difficult than it has to be." Ginny laid down on her own bed and stared at the ceiling.
Cassie rolled onto her side and looked at Hermione. "Yeah. Ginny's right. If you love him, then it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You should just go ahead and marry him. You can wait until you turn 18 if that will make them feel better. But do what makes the two of you happy. After all, you're the ones that have to live your lives, not anyone else." Cassie thought that it was rather ironic she was lecturing Hermione on ignoring everyone else's opinions considering how much she herself was worrying about her parents. Of course, their situations were quite different. After all, Hermione was a witch and it was only right that she should marry a wizard. How old she was wasn't really that important.
"You're both right. No use worrying about it now. I'll tell them in the morning and then we'll see what happens." She extinguished the lights and all three of them laid there quietly, thinking their own thoughts. For the first time in a long while, Cassie reached into the bedside table drawer and pulled out her Falcons sticker. She missed George terribly and wanted him to know it. Falling asleep on his lap the night before had been very nice (even though she had been drugged) and she wished he was holding her again. After a few moments, her sticker got warm. She knew he was holding his and it made her feel a lot better. She curled up in a little ball and went to sleep, wondering what the first day of the new year would bring.
The next morning was late starting for both Ginny and Cassie. The weak winter sun was already up when they woke up almost at the same time. They both laughed as their eyes met across Hermione's bed. She was already up and gone, her bed made and her area straightened up. "I don't think that girl has it in her to sleep late," said Ginny. "Even if it is a holiday."
"Well, I don't really blame her. She was supposed to go see her parents, remember? I bet she's really nervous." They both got up and went down the hall to the bathroom. Cassie hurried through her shower and just pulled her hair back into a quick ponytail. She was quite anxious to get downstairs to see George again. When she got down to the kitchen, though, she was disappointed because there was no one around to see. Molly had at least been up as there was a large platter of eggs and bacon on the table, warmed undoubtedly by some sort of charm but she was not in the kitchen at the moment. She felt guilty because she hadn't been helping Molly very much with the cooking. Yesterday, she had had a decent excuse but she acknowledged that lately she had been rather lazy. She held off eating, waiting for Ginny to come downstairs so they could eat together. After she had been there a few minutes, a flushed-faced Hermione appeared suddenly in the kitchen, followed almost immediately by Ron, who was pale and sweating. When she saw Cassie, she squealed and pulled her into a hug, which was so un-Hermione-like that Cassie was momentarily taken aback.
"Hi. I take it the visit went well?"
"They already knew he was going to ask me! He had told them when we were there on Boxing Day! I just can't believe that he went to all the trouble to ask my dad's permission and everything." Ron was quickly regaining color in his cheeks and tried to look sophisticated. Cassie didn't let him know that she knew how terrified he really had been.
"I wanted to do everything right by you, Hermione. And I didn't want your parents to kill me either - that was somewhat important." Hermione laughed and hugged him.
"Well, anyway, they were okay with it, really. Mum cried a lot and Dad lectured, but it was a better reaction than I thought I would get. I thought they'd faint and try to strangle Ron."
"Your parents like me!" Ron countered. "Although your dad keeps saying I have a lot of potential. I think I should be slightly offended at that." Both Hermione and Cassie laughed and they heard Ginny's giggle as she descended the stairs.
"I don't blame him. It's hardly as though you've arrived, Ron. You're still in school. And you haven't yet decided how you're going to support the two of you." Ron flushed.
"I'll manage."
Ginny smiled fondly at him and Cassie saw the loving look Ron gave her back. "I never doubted you would, big brother. If I did, I'd have told Hermione a long time ago to stay far away from you." All four of them sat down to eat breakfast and they were joined partway through by Harry, who apparently could sleep very late if Ron didn't wake him in the morning.
"Where is everybody?" Cassie asked as they finished their breakfast and Ginny and Hermione set the dishes to wash while Harry dried.
"Don't know. But I'm sure they're around somewhere." A few minutes later, the kitchen door opened and George, Fred, Charlie, Bill, and Tonks all came through it, holding their brooms. Cassie realized they had been out flying and felt jealous that George hadn't come to get her up so she could go, too.
"Good morning, sweetheart." George wrapped his arms around her and Ginny laughingly took the washcloth Cassie had been washing the table with away from her so she could hug him back. "I tried to come wake you up this morning, but someone had put a silencing charm on the door and it was locked. I thought about breaking in, but decided not to." Ginny's eyes went very round and wide and she turned back to the dishes rather quickly. Cassie just shook her head.
"Yeah. Too bad, though. I would have loved to go flying." She was just about to ask where Arthur and Molly were when they apparated into the middle of the kitchen, looking a little surprised at the large gathering they came into the middle of.
"Hello, everyone." Greetings were exchanged and most of the windswept group headed upstairs to put their brooms away.
"Where have you been, Mum?" Molly was hugging Ron and Hermione and then Harry, Cassie, and Ginny.
"Er-, well, uh . . . ." Arthur interrupted her.
"We've actually been to see your parents. I thought we'd better keep them updated on what happened yesterday and what's new. They're very anxious to get you back with them."
"Are they all right?"
"Yes. And very comfortable. You don't need to worry about them. That's what they said, too." Cassie wanted to ask again where they were but decided against it. If they were all right, that was the important thing. "What do you think is going to happen next, Arthur? Why am I still here?"
"We, uh, the members of the Order, all feel that you are still in some danger and will be until the members of the conspiracy are arrested."
"So, when can they be arrested?"
Arthur looked vaguely distressed at this question. "This afternoon we're having a meeting and we're going to discuss some options then. I believe Madam Bones could have them arrested at any time. But, we need two things. The first is evidence that will keep them in prison and the second is the name of that that ninth wizard."
"And you think somehow I can provide either or both of those things?" Cassie asked with some dismay. She had hoped that once her memory had been fully explored she would be safe and free to leave. Now it sounded like it might be a long process before things were finally resolved.
"Albus thinks so. I told your parents as much."
"How, though? I thought-"
"I don't really know for sure. I think the best thing is just to wait for Albus to tell us if he has any ideas. When we left him yesterday morning, he was still thinking about how we could do this with minimal fuss."
"I don't like this." George grumbled. He was standing right behind Cassie, not touching her but just listening to what his father had to say. "I think Cassie has done more than enough for this. I think we should just let her go home." Arthur looked frustrated.
"I swear that we aren't trying to keep her here hostage or anything. We want her to be able to go home, too. But first we have to make sure she is completely out of danger. If I were to send her home today, as things are right now, I doubt she'd last the day." Cassie blanched and sat down in a nearby chair. That had been rather blunt.
"Do you really-"
"Blackman knows who you are and probably knows you're here. And since he doesn't know about the pensieve yesterday, I would be willing to bet that he still thinks you're the only threat to his involvement in this plot. So, I'll say it again. Albus is working on some sort of idea to get this resolved. Let's please wait until he gets here before we get into full fighting mode, eh George?" Cassie looked up at him and he sighed.
"All right. But I'm telling you right now, and you too, Mum. Any brilliant ideas he floats out there had better not pose any danger to her. She's been through enough. So just remind him of that." They both nodded, apparently resigned, but they didn't answer him and Cassie strongly suspected that they both knew something they weren't saying. Her stomach did a nervous flip and she wondered when exactly this meeting was going to take place.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed with excruciating slowness for Cassie. She played games with the others and listened to dragon stories from Charlie, helped Molly with lunch, went for a long walk with Ginny and Hermione as she started thinking about wedding plans, and watched Ron beat Harry once again at chess. But her mind was elsewhere and it was almost with relief that she heard Arthur announce that they all had to get out of the living room because other Order members were going to be arriving soon and they would need the space. Cassie fully expected to be invited to stay for the meeting but she found herself sitting in the girls' bedroom with the other underage witches and wizards, waiting for news to come up from downstairs.
"The meeting is about me, I think. I should at least be allowed to listen." Harry laughed.
"That'll be the day. You'd have a better chance if it wasn't about you. Trust me, I know." He scowled. "And I'm 17 now and everything. And notice I'm still not invited."
"Tell me about it, mate," said Ron. "If age mattered, we'd all be down there."
"Except for Cassie and me. So I'm just as happy you're all still stuck here with us." Ginny hugged Harry and kissed him on the cheek. He flushed and Cassie felt even more aggravated. She didn't even have George to hug while she waited. The first hour, she listened with some detachment to the other four talking. They were discussing upcoming N.E.W.T. exams and Hermione was trying to get them to organize some sort of a study schedule. This was an old, well-worn conversation and Cassie didn't pay that much attention. Ginny participated indirectly, mainly lobbying for more free time for Harry as he was going to be busy with so many other things. In the end, nothing was resolved but Hermione even ran out of steam. The next half hour, they all just sat there, sort of looking at each other, waiting for the meeting to be over. By then, they were all so antsy and that Ginny suggested sneaking downstairs with Cassie's pair of extendable ears and trying to hear what was going on. However, Hermione was dead set against that idea and before the rest of them could really talk her into going along with it, George stuck his head into the room.
"Dumbledore wants to speak to you, Cassie. The meeting is over." Cassie tried to read his expression as she took his hand and they walked down the stairs together. But it was set and he wasn't giving anything away. His eyes weren't smiling and his jaw looked tight, like he had held it that way for a long time. His grip on her hand was firm but kind. He stopped her in the kitchen, before they went into the living room. "I just want you to know that you don't have to do this. Don't let them pressure you." But before she could even ask what he was talking about, he stepped through into the room. She followed right behind him, sure that whatever was going to be discussed was not going to be pleasant.
Professor Dumbledore was sitting there, along with Arthur. Cassie was surprised. She had expected that most of the group would have stayed.
"Miss Robinson, Happy New Year."
"Thank you, Professor. The same to you." He smiled and her and indicated a place on the couch.
"Why don't you sit down? We have quite a few things to discuss." She sat and George sat down by her. He took her hand again and squeezed it in support.
"First of all, I want to thank you again for your bravery yesterday. You really impressed Amelia and Vivian and even though they were not exactly thrilled at what they saw in the memory, they are very pleased that it was so clear and irrefutable. However, as you know, we were all very disappointed that we were unable to ascertain the identity of the ninth wizard."
"He's not the guy in charge, is he?"
"No. That is Lucius, of course, although we feel that he must be important because they were waiting until he arrived to actually start discussing new business. However, we certainly saw enough evidence and heard enough of what they were discussing to convict all eight of them under various charges and keep them in prison for a very long time."
"That's good."
"Yes." He steepled his fingers together and put them under his chin. His blue eyes settled on her face and she squirmed slightly. Whenever he looked at her that way, she always felt like he was peering into her soul. "Let me explain briefly about the way the Wizarding justice system works. I'm not going to try to say whether or not I think it should change, I'm just going to explain how it is at this point in time." Cassie nodded but felt her stomach do another of those annoying somersaults. He looked so grave that she knew this could not be leading up to anything pleasant. "It is very similar to the way English laws are set up. When someone is accused of violating the law, evidence has to be presented to a jury, who then weigh the evidence and decide that person's guilt or innocence." Cassie nodded again and hoped she didn't look like an idiot. "But, because of our special circumstances, the laws are extremely strict in how we obtain evidence. Magic is . . . well, it's powerful enough to coerce people into doing all sorts of things, including incriminating themselves when they actually didn't do anything wrong, etc. So the use of magic to secure witness testimony is highly regulated. Does that make sense to you?"
"Yes, I think so. I can definitely see how that would be a problem."
"The use of veritaserum is particularly problematic, because although most wizards are compelled to tell the truth completely under its force, the strength of the potion can vary, and it can be actually resisted by someone who has trained himself to do it. So, we have a law in place that, to break it down to its most basic form, simply says that there must be multiple individuals who accuse someone under veritaserum before that person can even be questioned - at least three, preferably more. And even then, the court is free to dismiss that as evidence, if they wish to. But, of course, the more witnesses that confirm it, the more likely they are to allow it."
"I don't understand what this has to do with me, though."
"We need to identify this ninth wizard. If he is certain that all eight are going to be arrested and questions with veritaserum on the strength of your testimony, then he is certainly going to know that he will be named by enough of them that he will also be arrested."
"Okay."
"If, on the other hand, you are not available to testify or can only identify two or three of the men there that night, then he will be safe."
"I'm still confused." She looked at George hoping for clarification, but he shook his head briefly and she turned back to Professor Dumbledore. "You know all eight. Arrest them, I'll testify against them, and then you can force them to drink the veritaserum, tell the truth about the ninth wizard, and then you can arrest him and everything is taken care of."
"But that is what I am saying. We have no direct evidence against him, only the word of eight other accused men, who are only accused, may I add, through the memories of a very young and frightened Muggle girl. It is almost certain that their forced testimonies will be dismissed immediately and never allowed into evidence against the ninth and he will go free."
"But so what?" George finally asked. "This is what I really do not understand. Cassie could not care less about whether the ninth guy is arrested. If she is no threat to him, she is in no danger. Arrest the other eight, just like you had planned to do in the beginning, and let her go home. If they get out of prison or never find the other wizard, then what difference does it make? They won't try to kill her then. They will already be accused and under suspicion and they'd have to reason to hurt her."
"I think the word we have to use here, George," said Dumbledore bluntly, looking directly at him, "is revenge. These are all powerful men - high up in their chosen careers. I think you are ascribing to them too much of a virtue called restraint. If any of them, even one or two, were publicly humiliated, disgraced, fired, whatever happened to them but they were let out of prison to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives, who do you think they would turn on? And as for the ninth, well, all I can say is that he is most likely not going to let there be even a chance that she could remember something that would convict him. I firmly believe, and Arthur does as well, that if any of the nine of them are free, they will hunt her down and kill her. It would not take very much motivation on their part. She's a 16-year-old Muggle girl with no way of defending herself. I think if we move quickly now to make sure that all the evidence is in place to convict them and get all of them at once, we will be doing the best thing for her."
"But I don't like the plan you have set up. It's too dangerous."
"It is dangerous. I will admit it. But I am sure we can put enough safeguards in place that she will not be under any extreme threat."
"What is the plan, exactly?" George scowled, but Cassie squeezed his hand. "I want to at least know. Then I can decide."
"Quite simply, we want to set a trap. And you are the bait."
"Oh."
"We would let all nine of them know that on Saturday you will be putting your memory into the pensieve and ministry officials will be there to view it. Since they are now all convinced that you are a witch, they will not think anything unusual about that at all. They will almost certainly come to stop that from happening and to kill you when you are vulnerable. We will have guards in place to protect you, of course, and to fight against them and arrest them when they come. Once the ninth wizard is identified, we bring you back here. Within a few hours, you should be able to go home."
"That sounds straightforward enough."
"I think so. Are you willing to do it?"
"Well, I'd like to know a bit more about what's going to happen. I don't have to really use the pensieve again, do I?"
"No. Not at all. We will have a shadow of the memory there, enough to convince anyone who was curious about it that it was actually in there, but you wouldn't need to drink the potion again or anything."
"That's good."
"I just want to you to know, Cassie, you don't have to do this. You really don't."
"No, Professor Dumbledore is right. I would still be in danger if I didn't. And even more than that, all of you would be in danger. If one of them is still free, he could reorganize and try to get you all arrested or killed again. I need to do everything I can to make sure that they are not allowed to do that."
"We can-"
"No, George. Don't try to talk me out of it. I think this is the best idea."
They spoke altogether for more than an hour. Professor Dumbledore laid out his plan and by the end, Cassie knew that this is what she would have to do. She had to end it. It had gone on long enough and put enough people into danger. She was anxious to have it happen and wished that it could be the next day rather than on Saturday, but she realized that it would take some time to get the message out to the nine wizards in a completely realistic way and that it would also take some time to get the place ready where everything was supposed to happen.
"That has posed one of the biggest problems," Professor Dumbledore had explained. It has to be secure enough that we have control over who comes in and how they come in, but not so secure that they can't even make the approach. But they have to be convinced that we really want to keep you safe but that it is worth making the attempt to come after you. We have settled on an old family estate in Hogsmeade. We will be working tonight and tomorrow to strengthen the wards but leave enough holes in the defense that they will be able to come through."
They weren't even going to approach the Aurors about the situation. Her protection would be completely in the hands of Order members, which made Cassie feel somewhat better. Amelia Bones would make sure to have some of her men there who would be in charge of actually making the arrests. All in all, when Professor Dumbledore finally left and Arthur left Cassie and George alone in the living room to talk, Cassie felt the end to the long struggle was near, that Saturday would finalize things one way or the other.
"Oh, Cassie. I really hate this idea. I really do. I wish we could do something else."
"It doesn't sound so bad. I just have to sit in a room and pretend that I'm about ready to put my memory of that night into Professor Dumbledore's pensieve. And you're going to be with me, right?" She forced a smile, and clasped her hands together to hide their trembling.
"Of course. They couldn't force me to be anywhere else."
"Well, then, see? I have nothing to worry about." George just laughed and pulled her close, and kissed her forehead.
"I wish I thought it was going to be that easy."
"It will be. That's all I'm going to have to do. You just stay by me, and I'll be perfectly safe." But despite all her reassurances to him that she knew she would be safe, Cassie knew that what was going to happen was very dangerous and that if one of the bad wizards had a chance to even point a wand in her direction with the intention of killing her, she didn't stand much of a chance of ever walking off the grounds.
The rest of the afternoon, evening, and the next day passed quickly. Cassie watched everyone else going about their usual business, laughing, eating, reading, teasing, but she felt insulated from it somehow, like it was all happening far away from her. George seemed to feel the same way and the two of them clung to each other at odd moments like they were incapable of letting go. She imagined she answered questions, ate, slept, brushed her teeth, etc., just like always because no one even looked at her funny or asked if she was all right, but she didn't remember doing any of it.
Two things did happen on Friday that Cassie did remember. Amelia Bones dropped by to report that her part of the plan was in place. She had reported to Nicholas Nightscall exactly what Professor Dumbledore had told her to say. She had told him that a young girl had witnessed this meeting and that they were going to view her memory of the event on Saturday morning. She also told him that she would be in charge of protecting Cassie and was also careful to go over security arrangements with him.
"He played the role perfectly, Arthur, I have to say. He seemed mildly interested but not too much. He asked the right questions and if I didn't know for a fact that he was slurping up every word I said, I would have thought he was being the perfect bureaucrat." She had not mentioned the Order members there, of course, making it sound like it was simple ministry business and that she had no idea which men would actually be identified. "I told him that I wasn't sure it would work at all, but that if it did, I would certainly report back to him with all the pertinent facts." Cassie nodded and smiled at the older woman and reassured her that she wasn't worried at all, that she was positive Professor Dumbledore had everything under control.
Professor Dumbledore also dropped by Friday evening to go over arrangements one more time. He reassured both George and Cassie that things were going to be fine and that by noon on Saturday, everything would be completely taken care of. She expected him to give her a portkey, but wasn't really surprised when he told her he couldn't. "We don't want anyone portkeying into the estate, so we're not allowing anyone in or out that way or through apparating."
"But certainly you can make one for her." George was incredulous as he stared at the Headmaster. "You can portkey into Hogwarts for hell's sake!"
"You can portkey into certain rooms at Hogwarts - not into anywhere in the castle. It's a security measure that we do feel very strongly about. We have no idea who the ninth wizard is, but we cannot risk his portkeying directly to Miss Robinson and then taking her away. That would be disastrous. No, it is better this way. They would have to physically remove her from the house and I can guarantee that that won't happen." Cassie also said she understood him and that she wasn't worried. She felt a strange sense of calm overtake her, like she could see what was going to happen but could do nothing to stop it or change it and so just had to accept the inevitable.
Cassie also remembered kissing George good night on Friday and remembered laying in bed staring at the dark for a long time before she finally fell asleep, going over things in her mind and making some decisions she had been putting off for a long while.
Saturday morning she woke early, showered, and dressed like she was on autopilot. She went back into Ginny's room and pulled out her book Hogwarts a History. It would make a perfect writing surface. She then took out a quill and some parchment and wrote a letter to her parents. She wanted them to know, if something did go wrong, how much she loved them and how proud she was of what they had done to help in a fight that was not even their own. She also included short notes for both her brothers, telling them how much she loved each of them and how they always needed to be good for their parents and how they needed to be good to each other.
She then wrote a short note to Harry, telling him that if she was hurt, he was not to blame himself, that she had made her own choices for her own reasons and that what had happened between the two of them had very little to do with it, other than the fact that he had introduced her to magic at all. "And I don't regret that Harry. I never would and never will. All those months ago, in Professor Dumbledore's office, I decided that I needed to fight the evil, too. I didn't know at the time that this would be a literal thing, but that's how it has turned out and it doesn't change my mind about anything. I just want you to understand that." She wished him the best of everything and that she would be pulling for him in his fight against Voldemort.
"I don't know, Harry, how things will be after we die. But if I get there and get to see your parents and Sirius Black, I will tell them what a great guy you are and how proud they should be of you. And I will talk to whomever is in charge and tell them that they need to send all sorts of help your way because you deserve it. So, maybe I can help more there then I could here. I can be pretty persuasive. I love you, Harry. Don't ever forget that." She folded that piece of parchment and stacked it on the other one.
Then she got a fresh clean one and started the hardest letter, the one to George. She did not imagine for a moment that George would ever allow her to be hurt or killed while he stood by and watched. No, he would undoubtedly sacrifice himself for her sake if he had to. However, she also knew that things happened in fights. Things you didn't expect. And there was a very real possibility that when all the dust had settled that she wouldn't be coming back and he would. She told him in the letter how much she loved him and that he should never blame himself or anyone else for what happened because she never would. "I do love you, George, with every bit of my heart and soul. You have become a part of me, now, and no matter what happens, that will never change. I'll be watching over you from heaven and I want you to be happy. That's the most important thing. You may meet someone else who you fall in love with, and that would be all right. I wouldn't be mad or anything. I would want to make sure that you have lots of little red-haired babies who give you just as bad of a time as you gave Arthur and Molly." She finished the note and folded it carefully after letting the ink dry for a few moments, then wrote "To George" on the outside. Then she took all three parchments and put them into her trunk with a note on top saying that they were only to be opened if she didn't come back from this today.
She closed the trunk carefully and then slipped her Hogwarts robe over her clothes. She took her wand from the night stand and put it into the pocket in her left sleeve. Professor Dumbledore had told her she was to look the part of a witch today for the men coming to kill her. She checked her appearance in the mirror and was surprised to see that she actually looked fairly normal. Her coloring was a bit high, but she didn't expect that anyone else would notice. No, she would continue to act like she was positive this was just a lark, a formality that had to be done before the entire thing was wrapped up and she could go back home. She would be the only one who knew how absolutely terrified she really was. She sat carefully down on her bed to wait. She didn't have to sit for long. The knock was not very loud, but to her, it sounded like a gunshot. It was time to go.
