When first light dawned, the ragged foursome made their way down to Stoatshead Hill, and summoned the Knight Bus to take them to Harry and Hermione's flat. None of them wanted to be anywhere near the childhood home.
Later, after they'd taken the chance to map things out, a plan was formed. Harry and Ginny would go to find Charlie, and let him know what had happened. Since Harry knew roughly where Charlie was headed, they were the most logical choice.
Bill would be taking Hermione with him to Egypt. Clearly, whoever planned this attack was targeting the Weasleys. There weren't all that many left now, as Arthur, Percy, and Ron were all dead and Fred and George were missing. They had chosen to spend the night after the meeting in their old room, both to keep their mother company and to improve the wards. Apparently, they had been too late. Hermione and her baby were prime targets now, as she couldn't Apparate without risking the baby.
So, the Weasley clan would split up for their own safety. Fred and George, if they had been taken, would let Bill know soon. They had their own methods of communication to use to let another know if they'd been hurt. It had saved Bill's neck more then once, and he hoped that it would help the twins this time. Pigwigeon was a wonderful size to stash in a pocket. Meanwhile they couldn't risk contact.
By dawn the morning after the attack on the Burrow, everyone was well on his or her way. Hermione and Bill were forced into covert travel that would take much longer then the others. Egypt was a long way away from England. That was what they needed now.
***
Harry and Ginny Apparated to the meeting point, and found Charlie asleep while waiting for them in the Muggle hotel. Harry roughly shook him awake.
"What the hell are you still doing here? With the head start, you should be three steps ahead of us by now." Charlie heard the barely restrained anger in Harry's voice. As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, he noted the new lines on Harry's face, and the singed edges of Ginny's hair. Before he had a chance to ask what had happened he had to face the furious tirade Ginny started.
"And SLEEPING, no less, in public, in broad daylight, where any Death Eater could find you and kill you where you sit. Are you insane?! Have you got any idea what it would do to us if we lost ANOTHER member of this family through pure stupidity?"
Charlie looked at his baby sister in awe. "Ginny, I'm going to have to let Mum know just how much you've learned from her. I could SWEAR that sounded almost exactly like the howler she sent after I broke my jaw playing Quidditch in sixth year." As a matter of fact, the howler had said "You may feel as though you have an excess of brothers, but I most certainly do NOT have an excess of sons. I have no intention of losing one to their own stupidity." He wasn't about to mention that to Ginny, though, since the family had suffered so much already.
"Hopefully, Charlie, you won't be telling Mum anything for a long time," Ginny responded quietly.
"What do you mean? Does this have something to do with the length of time it took you to get home last night?" Ginny nodded, and looked at Harry. He reached for her hand, and held it as he looked Charlie straight in the eye.
"Charlie, there was an attack on the Burrow last night. Your mother… didn't make it. The twins are missing." Harry held Ginny close as the tears began to fall again.
All the blood drained out of Charlie's face. "Blaze. My god, now I know. Harry, now we know."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked curiously. There was something in Charlie's tone that told him he had a rough idea of what was going on.
"When you didn't come back, we were starting to get annoyed. Then Hermione nearly passed out, and I felt Blaze in the back of my mind… it was like she was close, but she wasn't there. If Hermione felt… say, RON, I think I know what happened."
"You're saying that whomever has Blaze, maybe Ron and possibly the twins has somehow convinced them to attack their own family home? Considering we know Ron is dead, and Blaze has been missing since the battle, how sure are you of the information that we have?" Harry was poking holes through Charlie's theory from experience, his training had taught him to do no less. But still, he thought that Charlie had something.
"Look, I know it sounds insane. But what if someone else found a way to absorb all the life forces that Voldemort couldn't, and then returned them on their own terms? How many people were bitten while you were killing Voldemort? How many people's life forces were drained with nowhere to go?"
"We need to find out more about this spell. What do you know about the basis for the whole Snake-life-death thing that Voldemort was after?"
"I think I read something about it. Or maybe it was Hermione. She was the big researcher of us all. I came up with the crazy ideas, she figured out how to make them work, and Ron poked holes through both theories until we could carry them out. We should fire-call her."
Charlie shook his head. "We can't. We also can't owl her. Bill has charmed her to be a Non-Person. It's the only way to keep the Death Eaters from tracking her."
Ginny looked between her Brother and fiancé.
"We'll soon find out, won't we? Where were we going?" Charlie and Harry looked at each other.
"Don't even think about it." Ginny said calmly. "Think about what?" Harry said innocently- too innocently for Ginny to believe him.
"We've been through this. I'm going with you. And if I'm right, we're going to Egypt to speak with our resident walking library," she said smugly. "Especially since sending an owl to Bill will bring his wrath on all of us." Harry shook ihis head.
***
Bill and Hermione were sweaty, dirty, and tired. They were sick of travelling the Muggle way, and Bill had to restrain Hermione from slapping the smug ticket agent in Saltzburg. When he had told them that there was no such thing as a direct flight to Cairo, even Bill was slightly afraid of her.
"Please excuse my wife, sir. She's very tired and a bit cranky at the moment. Since your airline obviously doesn't have a direct flight to Cairo, would you please point us to one that does?" Hermione was too shocked at the use of "wife" to protest anything that Bill said, and less then two hours later they were settled on a complimentary first class flight to Cairo. They had lucked out when the tickets supervisor overheard Bill.
At forty thousand feet, Hermione felt safe enough to look and Bill and ask "Wife? Did I miss something here?"
Bill looked a bit sheepish. "It just came out. I thought we may have better luck if he thought we were married and not just running off together somewhere. But you know…. Never mind."
"What?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Forget it. It was a bad idea." Bill wasn't sure why the idea that crossed his mind was so appealing, but he was NOT about to share it. Though marrying Hermione would be wonderful. He sighed. Then he caught himself. For her protection, of course! That was why he wanted to marry Hermione. Just for her protection, and the baby's. He was a godfather, after all. The fact that he would have the right to snuggle with her was just a side benefit…. BAD Bill! Bad! He felt lower then a flobberworm. When did he start having romantic thoughts about his baby brother's fiancé?
'Your DEAD baby brother's fiancé, mate. Don't beat yourself up too bad.' He thought to himself. He shook himself out of his thoughts, and bright brown eyes were still looking at him curiously. "Get the fate of the world sorted out?" Hermione asked him teasingly. Bill shook his head.
"Hermione, I'll understand if you say no to this, but hear me out first, OK?" Bill looked nervous, and Hermione nodded, already afraid that she knew what was coming. After all, Ron had said the same thing to her once.
"I think we should get married." Hermione looked at him more in disbelief that in shock, and he hastened to explain.
"Whoever is out there is targeting Weasleys. I know that makes this seem insane. However, you're already a Weasley by association. The Goblins will not permit anyone but a wife to live in company quarters with me. I was planning on finding you a close hotel or flat, but with all of this happening, I think you need to be close. I know I'm not Ron, can't ever be Ron, but…. I can help you get ready for the baby and everything. We enjoy each other's company. We wouldn't have to do anything… physical if you didn't want to. But please, let me protect you. Let me help you. Let me do this…" He trailed off as he saw the look in her eyes.
Inside, Hermione was screaming. Once, another pair of beautiful blue eyes had looked at her as he proposed. Only then, it was with love, and not cold and calculated reasoning. Then, she had wanted to weep as well, but out of joy. There was firelight instead of filtered sunlight. She wanted to say no, to beg him to go away. But she couldn't get past the fact that the look in Bill's eyes was exactly the same as Ron's.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Bill? Are you positive this is a step you want to take?" Hermione whispered.
"Hermione, I would die to protect you. You're already family. This would just make it official."
"Then I accept." She tried to smile at him through her tears. She seemed to be dong all together too much crying lately, and it was pissing her off. Hermione was NOT a crybaby.
"We should do it as soon as we land. Tie up any loose ends. Then there won't be any problems." Bill said, not wanting to give Hermione any time to think. He was afraid he'd lose her if she could only come up with enough reasons why they should NOT live together.
"Trying to rush me to the altar, Bill?" she asked him dryly. He looked flustered, and she laughed without humour. Closing her eyes, she leaned into the chair and pretended to sleep. Instead, she remembered another proposal. Ron's proposal.
***
It was seventh year. Voldemort was a serious threat, and something they knew they would be facing as soon as they hit the real world. All three had started Auror training in place of other electives, though it had been a wrench to give up Care Of Magical Creatures. None of them now took anything but their NEWT Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, DADA and a specialization. Hermione took Arithmancy, Harry took Wandless Magic, and Ron had taken Magical Healing. After a particularly exhausting training, Harry had gone to find Ginny, and Ron had asked Hermione to wait for a moment downstairs- he needed to get something from his Head Boy's room.
Hermione had smiled, settled on the couch, and waited for Ron. As she sank into the cushions, she fell instantly and deeply asleep. She woke to Ron stroking her face, and she stood up to look at him. She would never forget the look in his eyes at that moment. They were a strange mixture of terror and hope, and she thought later that had she been coherent, those eyes would have given him away.
The firelight danced on the Hearthrug as Ron cleared his throat. "Hermione, just hear me out before you say anything OK?" At her nod, he smiled.
"I know that it's too soon, and that there are so many things that need to be done before we can truly do what we want. But for tonight, just for tonight, I want to focus on the future. When I try to look ahead and see where I'll be when this bloody war is over, it's hazy. I'm not sure about anything but one- that wherever I am, I want you next to me. I love you Hermione. Will you marry me?" He held out a ring with a small but perfect sapphire in the centre.
Hermione's eyes had teared up, and all she could do was nod before flinging herself into his arms. He gently slid the ring onto her finger, and she leaned up for a kiss. Before she kissed him, she whispered to him.
"We'll be together always, right Ron?"
"Always, Hermione. Always."
***
Hermione's eyes began to water in her plane seat. "But we aren't! You left me. Oh, Ron, why did you have to leave?"
Bill looked at the bleak look on her face, and knew that nothing but time could heal the raw wounds that war had torn on Hermione's heart. Bill had done many things in his life. Some of them had been physically exhausting, like the training for being a Curse Breaker. Some of them had been mentally draining. But at that moment he felt that no one could ask anything harder for him to do then to know that Hermione was in pain, and there was nothing he could do to fix it. Nothing, that is, but wait.
Gradually, Hermione came out of her trance, and managed a watery smile at Bill.
"So, are we going to have to hire some witnesses, or do you have that arranged, too?"
***
Fred and George sat in the corner, huddled together for strength as much as warmth. The day had been excruciating, and neither wanted to go to sleep for fear it would start again. What made it even more horrid was that it was their baby brother administering the torture.
Ron had strapped them down with expressionless eyes, and cast the spell to trap them. They were being forced to relive the battle, and see exactly what happened to the ones they loved. They were forced to watch as Percy took Arthur down. They watched as one of Voldemort's poisoned snakes bit Ginny, and saw Ron administer his own antidote as he carried her off the field. They watched as Ron and Hermione leapt over the bodies of their father and brother, and saw the snake that got Ron strike. Fred saw a dark haired girl scream his name as another faceless minion used a poisoned daggar to run her through.
And when the horrifying visions stopped, their baby brother looked at them without pity or remorse. When he spoke, it was without inflection or recognition.
"You will give in, you know. All of us did. And then he will own your souls as well as ours."
Later in their cell, Fred looked out the window. "It's clear." George painstakingly finished the note. He had no quill, only his finger. Fred pulled the small, battered owl out of his pocket. "Find Bill, Pig. He's in hiding."
