The others played exploding snap to bide their time before everyone headed up to bed. George couldn't focus on the game, and when it came time to go to bed, he couldn't sleep. He headed down to the kitchen to make a snack, when he heard some clanging at the door and suddenly Mrs. Black's portrait starting shrieking.
George sighed. "Ron, did you set off that bloody portrait again?" he called as he headed out to the entryway, turning on the light as he did, and then just stood there stunned. It wasn't Ron in the entryway, but Thea and Fred.
For a moment, George could only stare, stunned, even as the others came rushing down. Absently, he caught someone stunning the portrait-Hermione he thought-and Jax making his way over to Thea. Thea.
Finally, he looked over at her, about to ask how this was possible, but that's when he realized she was hurt.
He moved to help her, but Jax had already reacted, reaching out to scoop her up in his arms-that was until Thea protested. "Let's get her upstairs."
"No, we have to get to the ministry," said Thea.
Jax let her stand, but he didn't let go of her. "You're not going anywhere," he said gently. George was inclined to agree, but Thea was logical-she had to know she was in no shape to go to the ministry, so there had to be a reason she was pushing it.
"You don't understand." Thea's gaze was focused on Jax. "They know how to bring him back. If we don't destroy the dais, they'll do it," Thea told him.
"Then we'll go," said Jax, but Thea was shaking her head.
"You can't get into the Department of Mysteries without me."
"Hermione, can you do anything for her?" George asked, because if she was right-and he was willing to bet she was-they needed to leave now.
"Not really," said Hermione. "I'm not a healer. I mean, if we were talking about cuts...open wounds, essence of dittany would take care of it, but..."
"I can make a potion that will help," said Thea. "At least until we handle this, but we're going to need help-we're outnumbered."
"I'll reach out to the DA," said Hermione, wisking out of the room as Jax helped Thea to the kitchen to work on a potion.
"So is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?" Fred spoke up in the midst of all this, returning George's attention to him.
"Yeah, sorry about that," George told him. "To make a long story short, there's this group of dark wizards called the Elite, who are trying to bring back You-Know-Who. If we don't get to the ministry, into the Department of Mysteries and destroy the dais there, they will bring him back, and it will basically be war all over again."
"Yeah, that really was the short version, wasn't it?" Fred asked. "So, I, uh, I need a wand if I'm going to help."
"Yeah," said George. "It's at the shop. We can go get it if you'd like."
"Just make sure you're quick," Harry warned them. "We can't afford to wait."
"We will be," said George. "Ready, Fred?"
"Ready, George," he said with a grin, and the pair disapparated, reappearing in the closed shop.
"Sheesh, what did you do to the place?" Fred asked.
"Uh, yeah," said George. "I sort of had a rough time while you were gone." He retrieved the wand. "There you go."
"So I'm still missing a few details," said Fred. "For starters-the girl who brought me back to headquarters-who is she?"
George nodded. "That's Thea. She is...was I guess now, an unspeakable. It's really thanks to her that we know about any of this. The Department of Mysteries is basically working for the Elite."
"And what's going on between her and you?" Fred asked. "I saw the way you reacted when you saw that she was hurt. Are you harboring some sort of crush? Unrequited? And for that matter, who was the other guy who was hovering over her?"
"That would be Jax," George explained. "His parents took her in after her parents were killed in fourth year. They're close, but nothing romantic there."
"Uh, huh," said Fred. "What does that mean for you?"
George shrugged. "It means that she and I plan to get to know each other better after this is all over. Now let's get back to headquarters before they leave without us."