-1Disclaimer - Nothing you recognise belongs to me. Nothing. Zip. Nada.
The Battle Begins
Another year had passed without George seeing Chloe. He heard from Hermione and Ginny that she was incredibly busy with both the Order and her work for the Ministry. They had told him that she spent very little time at home, and was hellbent on finding Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Surely it's not healthy though?" Fred asked, nursing a mug of tea in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place after work one Saturday evening. Ginny sighed.
"Probably not. Ever since her parents died, she's barely stopped. If she's not off doing something for the Order she's doing something for the Ministry, and if she's not doing anything for either she's poring over documents and clues and stuff, trying to work out where the Death Eaters are hiding."
"We all knew being an auror involves a lot of work, but I think she's taken it a bit too far." Hermione added, nibbling thoughtfully on a biscuit.
"I think she's gone a bit mad," Ron said bluntly, "she was never like this before."
"Ron!" Hermione gasped, scandalised. "Her parents were murdered! Of course she's upset."
"Well so were Harry's but he's not crazy about finding Death Eat…OK, maybe he is slightly." he smirked, receiving a punch on the arm from Harry.
"Have you noticed," George asked, "how she hasn't cried about her parents' death once? Not since the night it happened anyway. And she never seems to show any emotion anymore. Ever."
"What, you mean she's not jealous of you and Rachel anymore?" Fred asked, throwing a half-eaten biscuit at his twin.
"No, not that!" George retorted. "Anyway, me and Rachel broke up. She thinks I don't pay her enough attention…oh, and she thinks I still have feelings for Chloe." he added. Fred raised an eyebrow, and Harry and Ron smirked knowingly.
"How did she get that idea then George?" Ginny asked with mock innocence.
"Oh, just because I mentioned her sometimes, and wondered about how she was doing, that sort of thing. I mean, it's completely natural to wonder how your best friend is when her job is that dangerous."
"So you don't have feelings for her anymore then George?" Hermione asked, mirroring Ginny's innocent expression and tone.
"What? No. And I think it's fair to say she has none for me either. Friendship, that's all."
At that moment a witch with waist length black hair and slightly tanned skin emerged from the fire, shaking ash from her hair.
"Chloe?" Ginny asked, uncertainly. The witch screwed her nose up, and seconds later the Chloe they all knew was stood before them.
"Biscuits! Wicked, I'm starving." She exclaimed, selecting a chocolate digestive, oblivious to the curious looks the others were giving her.
"Where've you been this time?" Fred asked, with interest.
"Scotland," Chloe answered through a mouthful of digestive. "We think we've found where Malfoy, the Lestranges and a few others are hiding."
"How sure are you?" Harry asked in a businesslike tone. Chloe frowned, and swallowed her biscuit.
"Sure enough for them to plan something. By the way, there's a meeting tonight at the Ministry for all qualified aurors, six o'clock." She said in Ron and Harry's direction. She stretched, and George looked away as the waistband of her pants was on show over the top of her jeans.
"Anything I should know?" she asked, almost disinterestedly as she picked up an abandoned Daily Prophet from the table and began to read it.
"Not really," Hermione answered. "Remus has been ordered to leave his mission with the werewolves, apparently it's become to dangerous for him." Chloe nodded idly and turned a page.
"Tonks did mention it."
"Where is Tonks?" Harry asked. Chloe shrugged.
"She wanted to pop back to the house for something. Probably a quickie with Remus." she smirked. Fred laughed out loud.
"You haven't changed that much then Clo!"
Chloe looked puzzled.
"Who says I've changed?" she asked, sounding vaguely hurt.
"No one," Hermione interjected hastily, "no one thinks you've changed Clo."
"So maybe I'm not as, um, happy-go-lucky as I was once, maybe I don't have as much fun as I used to, but that's not my fault!" She cried. "Things change, alright? Thing's I've got no control over, and I can't fall apart now." Hermione looked shocked by her outburst.
"No one's blaming you for anything Clo," Ginny said, hurrying round the table to comfort Chloe, "we understand what you're going through, we do. We all know you're doing everything you can to make things better." she added, throwing Fred a look that plainly said, why did you upset her?
Without warning, Tonks and Lupin burst through the fireplace, each shouting something incomprehensible.
"What?" Chloe shouted over them. "Calm down, Tonks, what are you saying?" Tonks looked horrified and blurted,
"Death Eaters! Diagon Alley! All aurors, have to go, immediately. Right now!"
Chloe, Ron and Harry jumped up and made their way to the fireplace.
"Uh, Fred, George, it ok if we use the shop fireplace?" Ron asked.
"No problem," George replied, "we'll wait here. Send for us if you need to." He didn't get an answer, as all four aurors disappeared into the fireplace.
"How come you're not going Remus?" Fred asked.
"Well, it was only through the Ministry we found out, and they're still a bit wary of the Order, so we thought it best to give it a little time before we went storming in." he replied.
"Still, after all this time?" Hermione asked incredulously. Remus nodded.
After an hour with no word, Hermione and Ginny were starting to get edgy, and George was pacing the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
"Surely we can go down to Diagon Alley and check what's happening?" Fred asked. Remus frowned thoughtfully.
"I don't see why not. Come on, let's get going."
When the five reached Diagon Alley, the scene facing them was shocking. Voldemort had joined the Death Eaters and was duelling with Harry, other aurors and members of the Order were locked in combat with Death Eaters. George's eyes immediately sought out Chloe, finding her fighting Lestrange, bearing unmistakeable signs of being hit with jinxes.
"Merlin!" cried Hermione, "Why didn't they let us know they needed back up?"
"I doubt they had time." Remus replied through gritted teeth.
"How come we were the last to know?" asked George, "Everyone's here. Charlie, Bill, Fleur even."
"Enough talking," Ginny muttered, fire in her eyes, "we need to do something."
"No," Remus ordered, "you girls stay here. You two are not coming out here."
"What?" Ginny screeched, "I am coming. You just try and stop me."
"He's right, you're not coming." Fred spoke up. When the girls tried to argue, red and George responded by locking them in the stockroom of the shop.
"Let's go." George said.
The boys left the relative safety of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes to join the battle that was raging in the street.