A/N: Chapter 1 is up! Most of what you'll find here is in the seventh book, but is told from another perspective. I'll be uploading Chapter two sometime this week.

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter nor any of its characters. Some lines from this chapter are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I do not own those either!

Chapter 1: A Desperate Flight

It was July 28th and the Order of the Phoenix was gathered around the kitchen of the Burrow. In the week since Hermione had arrived crying at the door, there had been a meeting every day. This time, however, was different, since Ron and Hermione had been invited to attend. Though still not official members, they had demanded to be involved in this particular mission. In the end, due to the sensitivity of the mission, they were allowed to participate.

Mad-eye Moody's electric blue eye spun in its socket as he pierced each and every one of them by turn. "You are aware of what this entails, right? The danger involved?" He barely waited for their nods of agreement before plowing on. "The plan is simple," he said gruffly. He had avoided disclosing the plan to avoid any possible leaks. "There are thirteen of us. Fourteen if we count Potter. We'll divide in pairs. A protector," he pointed to one side of the room, where the older members of the Order sat. "And a decoy—"

Molly Weasley exploded out of her chair. "Decoy! What is this about decoys, Mad-eye! You cannot possibly expect that—" She cut herself off, his piercing glare telling her that that was exactly what he expected of them.

"You have a better idea, then, Molly? No? Well then. We'll use Polyjuice Potion for the decoys, so the Death Eaters won't know who the real Potter is. We'll fly in and out. Any questions?"

"You do know Harry is not going to be happy with this, right?" Hermione said from her place at the table.

"Yes, yes I do." If anything, he seemed amused by that prospect. "Nothing else? That's all then. I need an extra word with the protectors. Decoys, you're excused—except you, Mundungus. You stay."

Having learned that arguing with Moody was futile, the decoys, save Mundungus, all vacated the kitchen. Hermione stuck to Ron and Ginny who, despite not going on this mission had been allowed to listen in on the plan, and they all made their way to the garden. The cool breeze did little to calm her frazzled nerves and she couldn't help but think of the dangerous night which awaited them.

Ron's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Do you think it'll work? The decoys, I mean."

"I don't see why not," she responded, but deep down feared that somehow something would go wrong.

"It's a brilliant plan, though. I wonder who came up with it." Hermione stopped listening. She sat down on a log and watched the sun set in the distance until Molly called all of them back in.

Dinner was a rather somber affair, the usually bright moods dampened by the imminent mission. Molly was almost sick with worry, and Hermione couldn't blame her. Most of her family was going on this mission and if it failed, she and Ginny would be the only ones left. As soon as the last person finished, they stood as one and made their way to the back door. Waiting there for them were Moody and Hagrid, who was leading two thestrals behind him.

Hermione stopped cold. She still hadn't gotten used to the creepy skeletal horses that had become visible to her after seeing that Death Eater die last term. She had seen them when they took the carriages back from the castle at the end of the school year, and of course, she had ridden one in fifth year, but it had been invisible that time. Not this time, though, she thought. Not knowing if she should be comforted by the idea, she approached them warily. She knew she'd be going by thestral tonight. She had voiced her concern regarding her flying abilities to Moody the day before when he had approached her about this mission. He had told her, though, that she would have to learn to fly well if she hoped to continue to do missions for the order. A handicap like that could be fatal to more than just herself when in need of a quick getaway.

She saw Bill talking quietly to Fleur before making his way to her. She frowned when she saw Fleur walk towards Kingsley.

He gave her a dashing smile. "Care to fly with me, Hermione?"

"I thought I'd be partnered up with Kingsley."

"You are. This is just for the first part of the journey. You'll be making the return trip with him. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, umm, sure then." She stammered, not knowing what Bill could possibly have to say to her. Sure, he was one of the only people who could follow her when she started rambling about obscure topics and had actually helped her once or twice with her Ancient Runes and Arithmancy summer homework, but they had never really had a conversation. After applying a disillusionment charm on herself, she mounted up behind him and gingerly grabbed his waist.

"You might want to hold on a bit harder than that." He said with a laugh as he launched the thestral skyward. She tightened her hold on him and closed her eyes. No matter that the thestral was visible now, she quite disliked this way of travel. They maintained a close formation through the sky, or at least, that was the plan. There was no knowing where the others were except for the occasional distortion caused by the disillusionment charm. After about ten minutes of flight, Bill spoke.

"That was a very brave thing you did, with your parents." Had she not been holding so tightly to him, she might have fallen off the thestral.

"How do you know that? Did Fred tell you?"

He shook his head. "I was in the kitchen and heard everything. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I'd been finishing up some reports when you came in, and with the silence and all, well, your voice carried."

"Oh, sorry for snapping."

"It's alright. I know it must be difficult for you to talk about it. What I meant to say is, if you ever need someone to talk to, a friend or anything, I'm here for you, and so is Fleur. I know you don't like her very much," he stifled her protests with a raised hand. "She is a wonderful person, if you take the time to get to know her. In any case, I just wanted to tell you that. And I mean it, Hermione. Anything you need, anything at all."

She suddenly understood why it was that the rest of the Weasley siblings all looked up to Bill so much. He really was a wonderful person, offering his friendship to his little brother's best friend. "Thanks, I'll keep it in mind." The rest of the trip was spent on a heated debate on the correct interpretation of Mediterranean runes.

Fred removed his Disillusionment charm and followed his father into the house. He had been here twice now, once just before his fourth year when, along with Ron and George, they had rescued Harry from his aunt and uncle, and then once again before his sixth year when they had picked up Harry for the Quidditch World Cup. He still didn't like it very much. It was too clean, too perfect. Himself, he preferred a little chaos, a little spice. He shuddered as he looked at the perfectly trimmed garden.

"The Trace! The Trace! The charm that detects magical activity…" He tuned Moody out, since he had already heard everything he was explaining to Harry. Instead, he studied everyone in the room. It was something that came as second nature to him, now. In order for their pranks to stay on the funny side and never go overboard (except one or two exceptions), he and George had had to learn how to read people. What made them tick? What were their limits? His eyes slid from Moody to Lupin, who was standing beside Tonks. He could tell they loved each other, but Lupin held himself a little apart, as if despite having already married the woman, he still wasn't completely sure of what he was doing. He knew what that was all about, though. He had heard many a discussion about it, and most hadn't even required the use of Extendable Ears. 'I'm a werewolf!' 'I don't care!' 'We can't risk it!' 'I don't care!' 'I'm too dangerous!' 'I don't care!' How the woman had finally convinced him, he still couldn't fathom, but he admired her tenacity.

He continued to observe, his eyes finally coming to rest on Hermione. He had always admired her, ever since he realized she was one of the only people to stand up to him and George, but he had never before tried to figure her out. That had changed, though, after the night she had arrived at the Burrow. He had to be honest with himself, she intrigued him. There was just something about her, something he had, up to now, not noticed that made her different. He very much wanted to know what it was.

He was shaken out of his reverie by Harry's voice. "No! No way!"

Hermione looked rather pleased with herself. "I told them you'd take it like this."

"If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives—!" Harry began, but Ron cut across him.

"—because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron. Fred really didn't like the sound of that. He knew some of the stuff they'd gotten into, but the way Ron said it, made it sound so much worse. He felt a prickle on his skin and looked over at George to the right. He knew what he was saying and nodded. They had to know what exactly that comment meant.

"This is different, pretending to be me—"

Fred caught George's eye and smiled. "Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," He paused, George taking the torch.

"Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever." Both of them cracked a smile.

Harry, however, didn't. "You can't do it if I don't cooperate, you need me to give you some hair."

"Well, that's that plan ruined," said George. "Obviously there's no chance at all of us getting a bit of your hair unless you cooperate."

"Yeah, thirteen of us against one bloke who's not allowed to use magic: we've got no chance," said Fred. It wasn't exactly true, since any magic they did would be picked up by the Trace, but he was counting on Harry not picking up that detail. He glanced over at Hermione and saw her looking at him, an amused look on her face. She had obviously caught his lie, but decided to keep quiet. He winked at her and looked back at Harry.

"—want a few of your hairs boy, now." Moody was saying. Once again, Fred tuned them out, knowing already what the end result would be. Distraction didn't last long this time, as something Hermione was saying caught his attention.

"Oh, you know what I mean—Goyle's potion looked like bogies." He really wanted to ask how she knew that. He suspected an amusing story behind this.

"Right then, fake Potters line up over here, please." said Moody. They lined up in front of an abnormally gleaming sink and once Moody had bullied Mundungus into his place, causing Fleur to move between him and George, he distributed the bright golden potion. Raising his glass in mock cheer towards George, he downed the potion in one gulp. Immediately, he doubled over in pain. His stomach felt as if it was burning and freezing all at once, and his skin bubbled as he melted to a shorter stature. He gasped for air as his vision became blurry, his skin prickling all over. As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. He didn't feel any different except for the fact that he could barely see. Harry really was half blind.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he turned towards George and said "Wow—we're identical!" Pleased, but not surprised when he heard a second Potter say the same thing, he turned towards a kettle at his back and made a show of examining his reflection. Not that he could see much of it. "I dunno, though. I think I'm still better looking." He recognized the Harry by the microwave as Fleur by her somewhat haughty posture. Also, there was the fact that she was complaining about being hideous. After several other revelations, all seven Potters lined up dressed identically and carrying similar rucksacks. He heard Moody announce the pairs and couldn't resist playing the I'm-not-me-game once it was his turn. Moody, apparently, didn't think the time was appropriate.

The group was now rather subdued as they made their way outside. Despite his cheerful appearance, Fred's insides were turning and twisting with anxiety. He knew only George knew exactly how he felt, the twin bond they shared making them both more attuned to each other's emotions. He surreptitiously squeezed his twin's hand before following his father back to the broom. He prepared to mount and spared one last glance to the people in the courtyard, his usual optimism failing him in face of the danger they were about to face. He looked over at Ron, who was warily grabbing Tonks by the waist, and wondered if he, despite whatever he had gone through before, knew exactly what they were getting into. Having been to a few Order missions already, he had a better idea of what to expect. With one last look at George, he mounted behind his father.

He barely heard the signal Moody gave over the roar of Hagrid's motorcycle. They rose as one, and for a second he let the sensation of flying on a broom envelop him and he let himself believe that everything would be fine. Then, the Death Eaters attacked.

It was pandemonium. Spells flew from all directions, barely missing them. His father steered the broomstick to the south, towards Moody's place, where they were supposed to be heading. Fred twirled his wand at record pace, erecting shield after shield, blocking the spells coming at him and his father. Every once in a while, whenever he could, he would send a stunner or a cutting hex back. Twice he saw a Death Eater he had stunned fall to his death towards the cold city below. Another time, he hit a death eater on his wand arm, the long gash bleeding profusely, the spell meant for Kingsley and the Potter with him—Hermione, said some obscure part of his mind—going awry and hitting another Death Eater instead. They kept pushing south, the Death Eaters hot on their trail. Hermione and Kingsley were quickly out of their sight as they rushed south-west to Kingsley's place.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another team sending hexes and curses at the death eaters. He recognized Lupin, so that meant George was the Potter with him. All this he realized in the back of his mind, not really processing the information as his mind was racing with adrenalin. He ducked a curse that breezed inches over his head, singeing his hair. He heard his father shout to hold on tight as they were adjusting their course when he saw something that made his heart stop.

He saw a Death Eater raise his wand towards the Potter he knew to be George. Before he could react and send a curse his way, a red flash of light zoomed from the other side of the Death Eater and hit George on the side of his face. He saw Lupin try and hold him on to the broom, and give a burst of speed, leaving them behind. Not having noticed anything, his father swerved to the south east, and raced towards safety. Fred kept sending curses and hexes after the Death Eaters, the cold wind drying any tears he might have had. And he was hoping, hoping with everything in him that his twin would make it.

Seconds later, they crossed the invisible barrier around Moody's place and the Death Eaters were left behind. They touched down just in time to see an ancient sneaker glow blue and disappear. They had missed their portkey.

"Come on, son. Into the house. We'll take a breath and then Apparate back to the Burrow. Come on." They made their way to the house, Fred still in shock. He came to after his father forced him into a chair just as he felt the Polyjuice Potion fade. He quickly rose again and made his to the door. "Son! Wha—where are you going?"

"George was hit." He said roughly.

His father's eyes went wide. "A—are you sure?" They were swiftly making their way to the boundary of the wards.

"Yes. I saw him get hit by some—some red spell. Come on, we have to get to him!" They broke into a run, turning to Disapparate as soon as they felt they had crossed the wards. Fred felt the world constrict around him as he thought firmly of the Burrow.

A/N Reviews are the food for the soul! Review and get a cookie! (::)