Disclaimer- Once more, I must emphasize, I do not own Harry Potter or his world nor shall I ever own either.
Chapter 4
The trio trudged up the porch steps, shifting through the front door once Hermione had sifted the key out of her pocket and thrust open the door. "I know it's not much." Hermione began as she bolted the door behind them. "But it's a roof over our heads for the night, until we can get our plans securely hashed out anyway."
"How can we be sure they won't come here to find us?" Harry asked quietly from the mantle place.
"I've removed the house from existence. It has no coordinates and can be found, not only by those who are seeking it, but by those who already know of its existence." Hermione revealed. I stayed here over the summer, while every one thought I was staying with an aunt."
"You stayed here? Alone?" Ron exclaimed. "Hermione, what if something had happened?"
"Nothing happened, so it's not an issue." Hermione answered heatedly. "Besides... it gave me a chance to perfect the spells on the house. I knew we'd need somewhere to stay, at least initially."
Harry nodded, and the three fell into silence. Ron sank into an armchair, as Harry continued to lean against the mantle and Hermione busied herself with starting a fire the muggle way. A half an hour later the three of them were seated in armchair, circling the coffee table upon which they had spread the maps.
They had some things to figure out.
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George ran a hand through his hair. Fred massaged his temples. It'd been an hour since they had regained the ability to move, and it'd also been an hour since the order had arrived in their shop demanding answers. Demanding to know the whereabouts of a certain Harry Potter and his cohorts. "You can ask me the same question as many ways as you want, but unfortunatly the answers going to be the same every time..." George answered tiredly.
"We just don't know." Fred continued. "We don't know where they are, we don't even really know where they are going."
"Do you seriously expect us to believe that the three of them duped the two of you?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Their children!"
"Technically..." Ginny began before Charlie nudged her in the side.
"I don't think this is the best time to remind her of how old the lot of them are, Ginny." Charlie answered his baby sisters indignant glare.
"You must know something." McGonagall interjected, addressing the twins. "Hermione of all people would not do something so un-responsible."
"She's the one that cast the spell!" George exclaimed throwing his hands into the air, tired of covering the same ground over and over again. "Obviously, she's not the saint you all make her out to be."
"Hey!" Fred answered turning sharply to his twin. "Watch it. She had her reasons."
"Oh, of course she did. They all did. That's the problem." George replied darkly examining his hands.
"Obviously," Tonks promptly interrupted. "It's not a question of their capabilities at this point, but their intent and what we intend to do about it."
"Our intent" Dumbledore began, entering the room and effectively silencing all prior conversation. "Is to do nothing at all."
"Nothing! Do nothing at all!" Mrs. Weasley burst. "Dumbledore, you cannot, that can't, we can't just sit here and let the three of them go wandering off who knows where and do nothing about it! What if something happens? These are dangerous times, we can't afford for anything to happen to them! I won't allow for anything to happen to them." The room lapped into silence.
"There's not much that can be done at this point. It's time to let the pieces fall where they may, and pick out our final play." Ginny stood up from the table. "They've made their choices, and it's time for us to make ours." Cautiously she stepped forward and engulfed her mother in a hug. "It'll work out mum. Everything will turn out just fine in the end. It has to, there aren't any other options, failure is not an option."
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