Disclaimer- If you recognize it, it's not mine. Really.
Chapter 3
"It really was a beautiful wedding." Hermione noted, as she joined Harry and Ron in a secluded area of the yard.
"Yeah." Harry nodded, preoccupied. "It really was."
"The plan's still on then?" Ron murmured, glancing around them. Harry nodded, seeming to come back to the present with renewed focus.
"Yeah, there are just a few loose ends that need some attending to, but then we should be good to be on our way. But, you know..." Harry hesitated, casting his eyes downward.
"Harry, look at me." Hermione demanded, sensing what he was about to say. "We're in this. For better or worse, we're in this. There's no turning back, and there's no way that either of us would even consider leaving this to you alone. We're here and we're not going anywhere."
"This was our choice Harry. We chose to go with you, and we're not turning back on that decision now. Not after all we've been through. We're a team, we're in this together, win or lose." Ron spoke quietly, before allowing a broad grin to spread across his features. "Though, I don't know about you two, but I'd prefer to win this thing."
The trio broke into a round of laughter. We'll get through this. Harry thought quietly to himself. We have to get through this.
"Howdy!" Fred smiled, walking over and linking his fingers through Hermione's.
"Hey there." George echoed, throwing an arm over Harry and Ron's shoulders.
"What're you kiddies up to, hiding out in the corner?" Fred smirked.
"Don't tell me you've been telling lies again..." George chided, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry rolled his eyes good naturedly, flexing his hand subconsciously. That cut never did go completely away.
"The pigeon flies at first dark then, are we correct." Ron rolled his eyes as Hermione fought valiantly to stifle the smirk that threatened to overwhelm her features. Harry nodded seriously, though his eyes held a betraying glow. Fred nodded, turning to Hermione. "Now that that is settled... m'lady, may I have this dance?"
Hermione schooled her features, so as to appear to deeply consider the matter, before nodding and beaming widely. "Why kind sir, I thought you'd never ask." The couple excused themselves from their companions and made their merry way to the dance floor.
"Mental, that pair." Ron muttered quietly, though his tone was betrayed by the small smile that threatened to appear. It was good to see Fred and Hermione happy, happiness was needed in such dark times as these, especially in the face of all of the evils that they were all about to face, and the plans that they were about to initiate. The trio in the corner fell silent as they surveyed the crowded room. Bill and Fleur were dancing in the middle of the floor, a spotlight casting them in a deep glow. Slightly to the happy couple's left Mr. And Mrs. Weasley twirled in circles, looking the happiest they had in a long time.
"Everyone needed this wedding." Harry murmured quietly. "It'll make what we have to do easier. Maybe they'll understand." Ron nodded, placing a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder as George slinked away.
"Nothing right is ever easy, Harry. But we're doing the right thing. We're doing what has to be done, and people may not understand that right now, or even a week from now, but in the long run, they'll come to see that this was the best option. They'll come to see someday."
Harry nodded solemnly. "Or it just won't matter anymore."
✤
Four adolescents stood around the Burrow's kitchen counter, speaking in hushed tones. Hermione draped her cloak around her shoulders, burrowing her left hand in her hair. Ginny sat perched on the counter, swinging her legs in circles and biting her lower lip. Harry stood at the opposite side of the counter, gripping it slightly, as Ron hovered next to him staring at his shoes and fiddling with the straps of his pack.
"I...", "We'd...", "Don't..." Ginny, Ron and Hermione began simultaneously, attempting to ease, or at least cover the heavy silence that clung to them. Hermione was the first to recover, stepping forward and embracing Ginny as best she could. "Don't worry. Try not to worry too much. We'll be fine, everything will be fine." Ginny nodded against Hermione's shoulder, reaching up to wipe the tears away from her cheeks.
"I'll try, I promise I'll try, but I'll miss you guys. You have to promise to keep in touch as best you can. If you run into trouble... if you need anything..."
Harry spoke from where he stood. "Hopefully it won't come to that."
Ron nodded next to him. "But we'll keep in touch when we can."
Hermione pulled away. "We promise." Ginny nodded, walking around the counter and catching her older brother in a hug as Hermione shrank her own pack and slipped it into her pocket.
"Stay safe." She murmured in his ear, before turning and giving Harry a hug. "All of you, stay safe." She repeated, a little louder, but soft enough to ensure that her voice didn't carry any further than the kitchen. The room fell silent for a few short moments before Ron finally spoke up.
"We'd best be off then. It's now or never." Harry nodded, scooping his pack and slipping it over his shoulder. Silently the trio moved through the kitchen and slipped into the turbulent night.
"Good luck." Ginny whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and turning to ascend the stairs. She moved stealthily through the house, emerging in her room a short time later, taking a seat on the middle of her bed, too restless to sleep. "And so it begins." Ginny whispered into the midnight air. "We've chosen our paths. All that remains is to see if we've chosen wisely." A tear long suppressed traveled down her cheek.
✤
Fred lazily wiped down the front counter as George paced back and forth before him. "Relax. They'll get here. There's no reason to worry."
"How can you be so sure?" George stopped in his pacing and turned to face his twin. "How can you be sure of anything? What if we've made a mistake, what if we're all making one big mistake. Who are we anyway, to be going up against the darkest wizard of our time? Who are we Fred? Of the lot, we're the only one's out of school, and we haven't even been out that long!"
Fred sat down the rag he'd been using and walked around the counter, clasping his brother's shoulders in his outstretched hands. "We can't be sure of anything. Not in times like these. George, maybe we're making the right choice here, and maybe we're not. No one can know that, not for certain anyway. But I can feel it George, this just feels right, it feels like this is the path that we're supposed to be following." George nodded, and Fred smirked. "Anyway, we can't let everyone else have all of the fun. Someone's got to get rid of old Moldymort, we might as well lend our capable hands to the cause."
George smiled. "Of course. After all, where would the lot of them be without two genius pranksters such as ourselves?" The twins laughed, the mood of the room effectively lightened, only to be weighed down once more by the growing heat of the pendants hanging around their necks. "They're here." George muttered. Fred nodded, following George into the back of the store.
✤
Five individuals hovered over the table in the back of Weasley Wizard Wheezes, surveying the map spread across it. "Taking muggle transportation it shouldn't take us more than a day to get there." Hermione explained. "It's best that we don't travel by magic, just in case there is an attempt to trace our movements." Hermione answered, anticipating Ron's question. "Once we arrive at our destination we should be able to secure the area in order to ensure that we can perform magic without being detected."
"Do you know where you're headed first? You're going into this with a clear plan, right?" Fred asked, some of George's earlier anxiety washing through him. Hermione dropped her gaze back down to the map, and Ron turned to Harry, this was the moment none of them had been looking forward to.
Harry cleared his throat. "We decided that it's best if you don't know where we're headed. This is the first place the Order and your parents will come when they realize we're gone, you know they will. If you don't know anything, you can tell them so with a clear conscious."
George's facial expression became pensive, as he quietly spoke. "Harry. This is madness. The three of you can't just take off without anyone having the slightest inclination of where you are. What if something happens? What if something goes wrong? We can't be responsible for that, we can't just let you go gallivanting into the night like this."
"George is right." Fred answered quickly. "You can't just completely disconnect from everyone."
"That's not our intention. That's not our intention at all." Hermione spoke up. "We know that you guys would never intentionally give away where we've gone off to, but it is possible that someone could take the information from you, and then our purpose would be defeated."
"And we're not severing contact completely." Ron logically concluded. "You just won't know our exact location."
"And you thought we'd just agree to this?" George asked disapprovingly
"Thought we'd just agree to letting you go off on your own, leaving us with absolutely no knowledge of your whereabouts?" Fred added taking on a sharp edge.
"Well, no. Not exactly." Hermione murmured contritely. "I'm sorry." She muttered morosely. "Congelé réveillez-vous." Hermione intoned, pointing her wand at Fred and George, who had been far too distracted by their thoughts to comprehend her intentions. The moment the words left her mouth the twins found that they could not move, though they still maintained the ability to speak.
"Are you mad?" "Are you out of your head?" The two shouted, one after another. "Ron, Harry... Hermione." Fred pleaded. "The lot of you can't be serious with this."
"I'm sorry. Truly, we're really sorry." Hermione murmured, giving Fred a swift kiss on the cheek. "If there were any other way..." She stopped short, noticing that Harry and Ron had gathered up the maps and were ready to be on the move. Hermione bit her lower lip, "Don't be too angry with us." With a final nod of her head she turned and followed Harry and Ron out the door. The room was still for a moment, as the Weasley twins contemplated the depth of their disbelief. That is, until Harry popped his head back into the room for a moment.
"Almost forgot. The spell should wear off within the next half hour or so. Right then... be seeing you." Harry spoke, disappearing once more.
Stunned silence pervaded the room. "Hear that Fred, freedom in the next half hour or so. Isn't that just swell."
"How could we not have seen this coming?" Fred muttered in shocked disbelief.
"Gee, I don't know Fred. She's only your girlfriend." George muttered, his voice taking on a dark, sarcastic edge. "You of all people should have definitely seen this coming."
"No need to get snippy with me, brother o' mine, last I checked we were in the same boat." Fred answered shortly. The room lapsed once more into silence, which was only broken by George's sardonic chuckle a few moments later. "What, pray tell, is so funny?"
"Nothing really, I was just wondering, does this just 'feel right' now? Are we still 'following the path that we're supposed to be following'?" George echoed his twin's earlier sentiments.
"If only I could move my arms..." Fred muttered darkly
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How's this for a longer chapter? (And in less than two months too!) Merry Christmas to all of my lovely readers! Special thanks to tutucute4u for your wonderful review. It was much appreciated, as always! You rock! ;) Anyway...
Constructive criticism, as always, is appreciated, whereas flames will be used as fodder in the fireplace.
Peace Out and all that Jazz.