"I can't believe this happened and none of us knew about it," Hermione said, her eyes wide and her heart racing.
"I thought Ron wrote you a letter," Fred said, furrowing his brow, "and I'm here now. It's not even been twenty-four hours."
Hermione nodded impatiently. "Yes, but I mean- I mean muggles! There was a huge attack, killing seventy-four people and injuring one-hundred-and-thirty-eight and there is nothing in the news!"
"Well, it was in Hogsmeade and the surrounding area. Muggles don't live there."
Hermione sighed, slumping her shoulders and bringing her crossed knees up towards her chin. "I'm just afraid that something will happen and I won't know about it because it's not in the news. I feel so far away from everything here. I think I owe Harry an apology for last summer. It is incredibly frustrating."
Fred smiled and lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. "I promise that I will always let you know as soon as something is happening."
Hermione softened. "I know that. I suppose I'm just jealous that you're joining the Council." Fred smiled.
"It's not my fault you're a child," he teased.
"A child that you're dating," Hermione replied, raising her eyebrows. Fred grinned but his cheeks pinked slightly, pleasing Hermione. She picked up another of the sandwiches that Mrs Weasley had packed them for their picnic in the park near Hermione's house.
"Seriously, though, Hermione," Fred started. Hermione put shock onto her face and Fred scowled at her. "I can be serious."
"Hmm," Hermione said with a small giggle. "Go on."
"Your parents. What protection do they have?"
Hermione sighed. "When Professor McGonagall came before I went to Hogwarts, she put up a basic protection spell but it would be easily broken by anybody with power. It stops any magic being seen and means that nobody can enter with a weapon, I think, but obviously any more than that would be disruptive to my parents' lives. It doesn't do anything against anybody with a wand."
Fred's face remained serious. "I'm going to talk to Bill and have him come round to put up some wards. They will be disruptive to your parents' lives but I'd rather that than see them, or you, dead or injured." Hermione nodded, her stomach squirming.
"Do you think the death eaters would target us?"
Fred shrugged. "I'm not sure, Hermione. I'll talk with my parents and Remus and Sirius, but You-Know-Who wants to see Harry dead and he could use you to draw him in. We both know that it would work."
"But how could he contact Harry? How would Harry even know?" The thought suddenly assaulted Hermione, of her dying and Harry never finding out, of Ron dying and Harry never knowing. Of Harry dying, or already being dead, and them not knowing.
"Dumbledore says that Harry has a connection with You-Know-Who and we don't know how he can exploit that. Harry saw my dad's attack at Christmas."
Hermione sighed and then perked up. "Is Dumbledore part of the Council?"
Fred shook his head. "No. He can't, can he?"
"I thought he would find a way around that," she said, pursing her lips. They were silent for a moment, concentrating on their food. "Do you think that my parents ought to go into protective custody?"
Fred gave her a reluctant, wincing look and Hermione knew the answer before he spoke. "I think it would be wise. My parents are considering it. My brothers already live under the fidelius charm at the Farmhouse and I know that Bill and Fleur want to set up a safehouse when they are married where they will live."
Hermione nodded slowly. "Will you ask Bill to come and talk to them too, not just set up the wards? I'm sure they'll listen to him." Fred nodded and picked up her hand to kiss the knuckles. Hermione blushed.
XXX
The Lake District was quickly becoming Charlie Weasley's favourite place. He found that, when he had a day off, he would come up here and walk until he found a pub - and there were pubs aplenty - and he would often spend a day with a beer and a book. He'd even invested in a sound pair of wellington boots, like the other walkers that he met. He was also considering getting a dog, just because that seemed to be the norm. It was the closest to peace that he had ever found away from dragons or his broom.
The pub where he had first met Amelia Bones was his favourite destination and it was where he headed again now. The barkeep there recognised him when he entered, which made him rather uneasy and decided that he and Amelia would not stay for long, when she arrived. He bought a pint and had nearly finished it by the time he felt somebody take the barstool next to him.
"Good morning," Charlie said without turning. "Don't order anything. Let's go for a walk."
"Perhaps I don't want to go for a walk with you," she said, her voice irritated. Charlie smirked and quickly finished his drink. He spun himself off the chair and finally met Amelia's eyes. He offered her his hand in a false show of gallantry and she scowled, batting away his hand and getting off the bar stool herself. "I'm not dressed for a walk," she continued to grouch.
Charlie rolled his eyes, continuing out of the pub. The door closed behind them. "What's this about, Weasley?"
He met her eyes. She really was not dressed for a walk. In fact, she was dressed as though she were going to work. "Do you work on Saturdays too?" he asked, ignoring her question. She raised one brow, pursing her lips, and Charlie's mouth curved to one side. "Come on, let's get away from sight and you can change your clothes."
"I'm not changing in front of you," she said and Charlie could hear the shock on her face as he turned and walked down the hill.
"I meant change them magically, but I'm glad to know that getting naked with me was the first thing on your mind."
She didn't reply which made Charlie grin.
They soon reached a place where Amelia could transfigure her skirt suit and ballet slippers into something more appropriate, a tank top and shorts with a zip up jacket, and a short pair of wellington boots. "Much better," Charlie said, admiring the amount of leg this outfit showed. She cleared her throat. "Let's go. I have something to ask you."
"Yes, that's why I'm here, not to go for a walk."
"Don't complain. You spend all week locked up in an office. It's for your own good that we're going for a walk." Amelia clucked her tongue and buried her hands in her pockets.
"What does the Council need?"
"Your house." Amelia stopped in her tracks and Charlie sighed, doing the same. "Come on, we're not going to get anywhere if we keep stopping." With a huff, Amelia continued walking.
"My house," she repeated and this request had surely shocked her. Charlie understood. She had likely thought that the Council needed something to do with her position as Head of Law Enforcement but this was a far more pressing matter. "Why do you need my house?"
"For a safe house," Charlie informed her, feeling slightly guilty when he saw the frown lines on her forehead and the reluctance in her eyes. He understood better than most the need for one's own space. "Hermione Granger and her family need somewhere to stay."
"And their own house can't be put under wards?"
Charlie sighed and shook his head. "It's in the middle of a muggle neighbourhood. It would be involve-" Amelia put her hand up to stop him.
"Yes, right, I understand."
This time it was Charlie who stopped. "You can say no," he offered seriously. "I'll tell them that there are practical issues, that it's impossible, that they'll have to use another house."
Amelia smiled at him and shook her head. "No, don't. They're right. My house makes the most sense. I will have to give up my solitude, for the good of the country."
Charlie chuckled, meeting her eyes. "For the good of the country."
"Now, where are we going on this walk? I've not had so much fresh air in weeks. Perhaps it's gone to my head and is making me agree to all sorts of silly things."
"Perhaps it'll make you agree to that kiss," Charlie hinted with a wink as they set off again. Amelia quirked her eyebrow.
"It'll have to be more than a bit of fresh air for that, Mister Weasley." Charlie grinned.
XXX
Hermione nibbled on her bottom lip as she watched Bill, Fred and George disappear, each with a box in hand. Her mother was tense and, each time she watched one of the Council members who had come to help them move their things to Madam Bones' house, she warned them about the delicacy of their things inside it.
Hermione found it marginally absurd that they were taking so many things to Madam Bones' house. Everything of value - books, china plates, ornaments, clothes, photographs, the piano - was being transported there, just in case the Death Eaters arrived and trashed the place anyway or, and this was the probability they all feared, in case they were not able to return for a long, long time.
The war had lasted over a decade last time. Over a decade of fighting evil. Hermione knew that it was just as likely to last so long this time and she and her parents were going into this aware that they might not return to their house for years and years. Thankfully, Amelia's house had vast grounds, under the centuries' old fidelius charm that had protected the Bones family for years. It was only upon leaving the house that the danger arrived, meaning that Hermione's parents were not going to be able to leave frequently, if ever, and never without a guard. It was a scary prospect and Hermione knew that she would be under the same restrictions until she turned 17, in a few months. Even those few months seemed a lifetime to Hermione, nevermind the years that her parents were looking at.
But they would have a purpose there. The Council had requested that Hermione's parents do some research, though her parents hadn't told Hermione what that research entailed and Fred had been none the wiser when Hermione asked either. Apparently Madam Bones' library was vast and had sufficient books for her parents to complete it, which made Hermione very excited, given her imposed isolation in the manor, unless she went out with somebody else.
It was Bill who had come over to explain all of this to her parents and he had come alone, without Fred, who Hermione had been expecting to join him. Her parents had fought the idea of leaving and Bill had put it to them simply: live here, with wards and without being able to leave, and risk dying, along with their daughter; or go to live elsewhere, where they could have a purpose even if they did have to stay, and live in safety.
It had taken some time but they had eventually chosen the latter. The surgery had been closed up and the house was packed away, in two days. The Council members had arrived to escort them and they had waited until the last possible moment to leave and say goodbye to the house.
"Okay, Hermione," Fred said, approaching. Only he, his father and Bill had returned from the manor, one to take each of them there, now that all the boxes had disappeared. "All ready." He smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the lips. "How are you feeling?"
Hermione shrugged. "I'm sure I'll come back one day." Hermione knew, though, that she would probably never live in this house again, given that, by the time she was finished fighting the war, she would definitely be an adult and would probably have a career, and perhaps a husband, of her own. The thought made her blush slightly. Fred tucked a piece of her hair that had escaped from her bun behind her ear.
"We're having dinner at Amelia's."
"Madam Bones'," Hermione corrected, amused by Fred calling the Head of Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic by her first name. Fred made a dramatically shocked face.
"She told me I could call her Amelia!"
Hermione smiled and he kissed her again.
"Okay, enough of that," Bill called over. Hermione blushed red as she saw that her parents, Mr Weasley and Bill were all watching them. "Let's head to the manor. Fred can take Hermione since he's already got his hands all over her."
In reply, Fred ran his hands over Hermione's back, tickling her and making her squirm. She stopped her giggle when she saw her mother's keen eyes on them. "We should go," she murmured to Fred, who nodded, grinning and wrapping his arms tighter around her.
They ripped away from Hermione's home and, in a swirl of dizzying lights and nausea, arrived at Madam Bones' house. They had received the address the previous day, in the same manner as Hermione had once received the address of Grimmauld Place, but none of them had seen the house before.
It was huge, though Hermione had suspected nothing less from the name of Bones Manor, but it was beautiful too, red-bricked with white-framed windows and a huge white door, curved at the top like at a castle. She could imagine the library more clearly now, imagined looking over the land that surrounded them, the moors of Yorkshire. Suddenly, she wanted to read Jane Eyre, to read anything by the Brontes. She turned slowly, pulling out of Fred's arms.
"You look like you've just seen Hogwarts for the first time," he said, amused. Hermione ignored him and the pops that were her parents arriving too. There was a sense of magic that was so like Hogwarts, here. Perhaps it was the misty woods beyond or the quidditch pitch she could see in the distance. This was so much more than she had hoped for.
"Isn't it amazing?" Hermione enthused, turning around to her boyfriend and flinging her arms around his neck. Fred chuckled, waggling his brows at her.
"Amazing," he repeated, mockingly. Hermione scowled and tried to draw away but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close again. "I thought I was 'to come and see you very often and take you out so that you didn't go insane'," he quoted in a mocking voice which made Hermione purse her lips. "From the look on your face, I don't think you'd care if I came or not all summer long."
Hermione laughed, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. "I would care very much. How will I find the secret passages without you?" Fred grunted, looking off behind her, as though he were disgruntled. "And, anyway," she continued, lowering her voice, "you'll be far too busy with your shop."
Fred grinned and shushed her, though she was being quiet anyway. "Never too busy for you, love."
"Hmm," Hermione said consideringly, enjoying the way Fred's eyes sparkled.
"And I will definitely need you to come and organise the books. George and I are hopeless."
"Hopeless?" she heard someone cry dramatically behind them. Hermione laughed and released Fred from her hold, finding George watching them, hands on his hips. He let go of her too but replaced his hand at her waist. Her parents, Mr Weasley and Bill had already entered the manor. "Hopeless is a very rude thing to say, brother, so I shall assume that your girlfriend has poisoned your mind."
Hermione laughed, starting to walk as George did too. "I would never, George. We both know you have far more hope than Fred," she said in a false whisper.
George snickered and Hermione was pleased. She knew that he and Fred had struggled when Fred and Hermione had first got together, so it was nice that Hermione could get along with him now. Fred gasped dramatically at what Hermione said and, before she knew it, she found that he was picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder.
"FRED!" she cried, banging her fists against his back. He only laughed and continued talking with George as though nothing were going on. Eventually Hermione gave up and rolled her eyes, pressing a kiss to the back of her boyfriend's head. Life would never be boring with Fred, at any rate.
XXX
"They're here!" Harry gasped in excitement as he entered the house.
"Get inside," Ginny hurried, pushing him lightly until she was inside too. She closed the door, pressing her palms against the back of the door. Harry picked up the two thick envelopes off the floor, sliding them away from the rest of the crap that had been delivered while they had been away. Ginny's heart was racing.
They had to return to Edinburgh to retrieve their passports, which were being delivered to their Edinburgh address, to be able to leave the country. They both knew that leaving the country was their best option so that they could ride out this insane accusation of murder and working with dark animals that they were facing. The Ministry and the Death Eaters were looking for them actively here but, if they chose another country, anywhere in the world, it was far less likely that they would be found.
So, they'd returned to Edinburgh. Immediately, they had seen that there was a heavier armed presence. They hadn't seen anything in the news about Edinburgh but they well knew that that didn't necessarily mean there wasn't anything going on.
Ginny had wanted to get back in the car, back to London, or to York, or even to their house in Cornwall. Anywhere but here. However, she knew that, if they had the passports, they could go anywhere and be even safer. So, with a heavy heart, they had parked at the nearby store and walked to the house, not wanting anybody to see their car at their house and suspect anything.
"It's definitely them?" Ginny asked. Harry nodded. "Brilliant. Let's go, get out of this city." Ginny opened the door and stepped out, giving herself as much confidence as she possibly could. She did not want to look suspicious in any way.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw a group of people, all about middle-aged, and wearing muggle clothing. Ginny took a step backwards, catching the eye of one of them. "Get inside," she hissed. Harry heard her and quickly fumbled with the key, letting them back into the house.
Ginny knew that manner of dress, had seen it all her life. Those people were wizards and witches, trying to seem like they were muggles. And there was only one reason they could be here.
BANG!
The floor shook. Ginny's hands shot out to steady herself. Harry grabbed her arm to do the same. His eyes widened. Tucking the passports into the inside pocket of his denim jacket, Harry cupped Ginny's face briefly and stared into her eyes. Ginny swallowed, feeling an odd urge to cry. Ignoring it, Ginny pulled her wand out of her boots and slipped it into her jean pocket, where it was more accessible. Harry pulled his out from his belt and took her hand.
They rushed to the other side of the house. Regret churned in Ginny's stomach. They never should have left London, not even to get their passports. It had been stupid. They reached the back door and heard another loud bang, followed by screams. Ginny let out a shaky breath.
"We just have to get to the car and then we can drive away," Harry muttered. Ginny nodded. They could run, fast, and, as discussed, only in the worst case scenario would they use their wands. The moment they used any magic, they were done for.
As they entered their small garden, they found the neighbours at the gate, in a hurry, the father clambering onto a motorbike that Ginny knew he had been fixing up in the backyard. He saw them and his eyes widened. Ginny hastened to hide her wand with the bottom of her jacket. There was another loud explosion. Tears crept into Ginny's throat. She saw the two children and hated herself for bringing this upon them.
The father of the family looked at the mother and then back to them. "If we take you away, will they go?" Ginny supposed that it made sense that he would suspect them of being the cause. They had been here and then gone and, then, the very day that they returned, there was trouble. Another explosion sounded and then screams. Harry was shaking. Ginny swallowed.
"I don't know," she said honestly, "but it is us they are here for."
The father nodded slowly and then picked up his younger child, placing her in front of him on the motorbike. "Get on the back and hang on."
"You should take them first," Harry urged, nodding at his wife and other child.
"No, he's right," the mother said, nodding. Her eyes were wet. Ginny felt guilt blossom inside her. "Take them and maybe we'll save the whole streets' lives." From that, Ginny understood that every person who died on this street died because of them. The thought made her want to rip her skin off.
Harry opened his mouth to protest again but the explosions and the screams were getting closer. She shook her head and grabbed Harry's arm. "Come on."
The motorbike ride was far scarier than Ginny had anticipated. There was nowhere near enough room for all four of them on the bike and Ginny felt as though she would fall off every second. She held onto the neighbour and felt Harry clinging to her. She shouted in the father's ear where their car was and he agreed that the shop was a good place for them to go.
The sound of the explosions died away and Ginny realised that they had not drawn the death eaters - which was who she assumed they were - away at all, but had just taken the only defense away from their neighbours. Her eyes filled with tears, remembering the way the other child had stared at her father.
They reached the shop and could not hear the explosions or screams at all. Life here was as it always was. The thought made Ginny feel sick. They were deposited from the bike and given the child before the father, whose name Ginny could not even remember, was away again.
"We need to go," Harry hurried, glancing at the child. Ginny nodded. There was no way that the death eaters would know they had been with this child unless they were still there. Harry took the young girl by the hand and led her to a bench. "Tell your daddy thank you from us, okay?" The little girl began to cry and Harry hesitated, glancing back at Ginny, who watched helplessly.
When Harry drew away, barely a minute later, Ginny pulled the keys from her pocket and walked towards the car, not looking back at the little girl. The car was where they had left it. "Drive, Gin," Harry said as soon as they were in the car. Ginny nodded, blinking away her tears.