We all rushed outside, securing our luggage and mounting our flying objects. I had Kingsley's help climbing onto the Thestral as it was so much bigger than me and I wasn't used to operating my new body yet.
"Good luck, everyone," Moody shouted, looking at each of us in turn. "See you all in about an hour at the Burrow. On the count of three. One … two .. THREE." On three the thestral kicked off and swooped into the air. I clutched Kingsley's robes, tears filling my eyes as the ground disappeared beneath me. My limbs froze and I started to hyperventilate as we rose even higher in the air. This was a really, really bad time to be feeling frightened of heights. God only knew what we were going to find when we left the protection of Harry's house. I needed to get a grip on myself.
I didn't have to even try. The minute we rose above the house spells started exploding all around us. I let out a scream of terror and began throwing shields up around us as Kingsley returned fire. Thank Merlin the Thestral knew where it was going. It never hesitated as it flew, dodging spells and snapping at nearby flyers. I used every spell I could think of, but they kept coming.
Then, things got so very much worse.
I hit a death eater with a stunner, and he fell off his broom, none of his friends bothered to help him. I was turning around to fire another stunner at another death eater, when I saw him. Voldemort himself was beside us, and he was flying without a broom. Panic seized me and I started throwing spells at him wildly. I closed my eyes tight, and hundreds of memories started flashing through my mind. The first time I saw Harry and Ron on the train; them saving me from the troll; Ron being attacked by the queen on that giant chess board; George comforting me when both Harry and Ron were late for second year; Harry's face when I got released from the hospital after the basilisk; the first time I saw crookshanks; the look of joy on Harry's face when he found out Sirius was on our side; the elation I felt at watching him fly free; the fun I had at the world cup; the wonder of watching when the fight with the dragon; the night I washed George's hand; the night he asked me to go out with him; our first kiss; our first dance; the night he told me he loved me; the marvel of knowing I loved him. All my happiest memories flashed through my mind in a second, and I found myself growing brave at the feel of them. I focused on my favorite, last Christmas when we had played a game of exploding snap with every one, Harry, Ron, George, Fred, Ginny, Fleur, Angelina, Bill, even Sirius and Remus had joined in. It was there smiling and laughing selves that I thought of when I stared Voldemort in the eye and fired every last spell I knew at him.
He threw his head back with a wild laugh before firing a jet of blue flames at us. Kingsley bellowed some spell I had never heard of and the flames disappeared. Voldemort looked enraged, but then he froze, his slitted eyes growing eager. He laughed again and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
I let out an exhilarated cry before firing at another death eater. I don't know how, but Kingsley and I had survived. Against all odds we were still here. Kingsley and the thestral apparently shared my jubilation, because they fought harder and flew faster. We decided against heading for the safe house-we'd already missed the port key anyway. We flew straight to the Burrow instead.
We landed in the yard with a jarring thud, and I fell off the thestral, landing on shaky feet. My own body was returning, I was shrinking and my hair was growing, causing me to feel extremely disoriented. A strong, rough, hand grabbed me and spun me around. I blinked and felt a wand shoved at my throat.
"What did George Weasley teach Hermione Granger in her fifth year?" Kingsley's deep voice questioned me, his eyes dark and his face set.
"Nonverbal spells." I stuttered, feeling shocked and worried. "Why are you asking?" I questioned, my eyes wide.
"We've been betrayed." He said simply, straightening up and releasing me. He turned towards the house, two figures were emerging from it. We walked towards Remus and Harry, feeling elated to see at least a few of my friends were all right. If Remus was here that meant George was too, he was safe! Tears of relief filled my eyes as we reached the two of them.
Kingsley reached them first, he withdrew his wand and pointed it straight at Remus's heart. "The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us!" He demanded.
"'Harry is the best hope we have. Trust him,'" Remus answered calmly, apparently having come to the same conclusion as Kingsley. Kingsley turned his wand to Harry but Remus stopped him.
"All right, all right!" Kinglsey replied, stowing his wand away. "But somebody betrayed us! They knew, they knew it was tonight!"
Something wasn't right, were was George? Why wasn't he outside? Why wasn't he waiting for me? Warning bells were going off in my head, but I pushed them aside. They'd tell me if George was hurt, they all knew how I felt about him.
So why was Harry avoiding my gaze?
"So it seems," Remus replied, a dark look on his face. "but apparently they did not realize that there would be seven Harry's."
"Small comfort!" Kingsley snarled. "Who else is back?"
"Only Harry, Hagrid, George, and me." A sigh of relief escaped me at George's name. Harry's eyes flew to me before promptly returning to Remus, a look of guilt on his face.
Oh god no, it couldn't be.
"What happened to you" Remus asked Kingsley. I was barely listening, I was staring at Harry, mentally begging him to look at me.
"Followed by five, injured two, might've killed one," Kingsley reeled off, "and we saw You-Know-Who as well, he joined the chase halfway through but vanished pretty quickly. Remus, he can –"
"Fly," Harry said, still not looking at me. "I saw him too, he came after Hagrid and me."
"So that's why he left, to follow you!" Kingsley said, "I couldn't understand why he'd vanished. But what made him change targets?"
"Harry behaved a little too kindly to Stan Shunpike," Remus answered.
I didn't care about any of this at the moment. My terrible feelings from earlier were rising up again. I needed to see George.
"What happened to you, Remus? Where's George?" Kingsley asked, I nodded my head, Harry still wouldn't look at me. I looked past him to the house, and I saw it.
A trail of blood leading into the living room.
"He lost an ear," Remus said quietly, his eyes downcast.
"lost an - ?" I repeated, swaying on my feet. Harry was by my side in a second, grabbing me before I could fall. I pushed him away unthinkingly, already running towards the door. George, I had to get to him. All that blood, not George, no!
The house was painfully quiet as I made my way to the living room. If George were alright it wouldn't be quiet, he'd have them laughing. My vision spun before my eyes but I kept going, stopping only when I saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny leaning over a couch. I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't see him, all I could see was a trail of blood leading to the couch and a pile of bloody rags laying on the table beside Mrs. Weasley. I stood there for an endless heartbeat, unable to find the strength to move forward and see George. I couldn't bear it, I couldn't move forward and see if he was dea-see if he was not alright.
I suddenly knew why Fleur had shook when she saw Bill lying on the hospital bed in Hogwarts. She'd been forced to consider her life without Bill, just like I was now being forced to consider what my life would be like without George. I'd lose my love, the light of my life. I'd lose my laughter. How would I go on if George wasn't alright? How would I face tomorrow, or any other day, without him?
A warm hand wrapped around my shoulders and I didn't have to look to know it was Harry. He helped me take a step forward, murmuring something to me. I took the step forward, swaying dangerously, and looked down at George.
He was deathly pale and covered in blood. His freckles stood out darkly against his ashen skin and his lips were pale. The blood was all coming from one spot though, from a gaping hole where his ear had once been. Harry had let go off me when I saw George, handing Mrs. Weasley some sort of item she'd requested, but I must have made some sort of noise to alert him because he caught me before I could fall. I sunk to the floor, supported by his arms, and buried my face in my hands, weeping openly. George, he'd been hurt, so much blood, never the same, might not make it… My thoughts were a jumbled mess, unable to be fixed.
"How is he?" Harry asked, knowing I wasn't able to.
"I can't make it grow back, not when it's been removed by Dark Magic. But it could've been so much worse . . . . He's alive." Mrs. Weasley replied, and the last two words made my heart clench. I dropped my hands and scooted closer to the couch, clenching George's hand in my own.
The others kept talking, but I could no longer hear them, I was stuck on the fact that George was alive and would be alright. Who cared if he lost an ear, he'd be alright!
A loud crash sounded from the kitchen, but I barely heard it. I was staring at George, too stunned to do anything. He was aright, I couldn't believe it.
"I'll prove who I am, Kingsley, after I've seen my son, now back off if you know
what's good for you!" Mr. Weasley's voice rang out. Fred, Fred would be with him. I wiped the tears off my face with the back of my hand and scooted up, giving Fred room to stand by the couch with me.
"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed. "Oh thank goodness!"
"How is he?"
A warm body came next to me and dropped to its knees. I glanced over my shoulder for a second and saw it was Fred, he looked almost as bad as George. He reached beside me and grabbed George's other hand. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, holding on to him as he held me. A moment later, George moved his head towards the two of us. I sucked in a quick breath, my heart clenching as George blinked his blue eyes.
"How do you feel, Georgie?" Mrs. Weasley whispered as he gazed around the room.. Tears filled my eyes again and began to fall freely as his fingers groped for the side of his head. His eyes closed again when his hand felt the missing ear.
"Saintlike," was his murmured reply to his mum's question. Saintlike? What did he mean? Was something wrong? Fred must have felt the same.
"What's wrong with him?" He croaked beside me, I couldn't speak through the lump in my throat. "Is his mind affected?"
"Saintlike," George repeated, opening his eyes again and grinning at Fred before glancing at me. His eyes flooded with relief before widening in what looked like horror. He quickly moved his eyes back to Fred's. "You see. . . I'm holy. Holey, Fred, geddit?"
I choked, tears pouring down my face as a ridiculous smile overtook me. He was okay, he was perfectly fine. Looking up at him I now had to suppress the urge to smother him in hugs and kisses.
"Pathetic," Fred said, smiling despite his words. "Pathetic! With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"
"Ah well," George said, still grinning "You'll be able to tell us apart now, anyway, Mum."
His eye roamed around the room taking in all the faces, and the missing ones. "Hi, Harry – you are Harry, right?"
"Yeah, I am," Harry said, moving closer to the sofa.
"Well, at least we got you back okay," said George. "Why aren't Ron and Bill huddled round my sickbed?"
"They're not back yet, George," Mrs. Weasley sobbed. George's beautiful grin faded and I felt as though the sun had disappeared. Harry and Ginny both got up and left the room, waiting for the others no doubt. We sat like that for a while, Fred and me on the floor beside George's couch, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley leaning over the back of it. I held onto his hand, gently stroking the back of it with my thumb as they asked and answered questions. He was avoiding my eyes, refusing to look at me. If I hadn't been so happy to have him awake and okay, I would have been extremely worried about that.
Ginny ran into the room, calling that Ron was back and safe. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley both clutched each other and ran from the room to check on him. Part of me wanted to check him out, but I was reluctant to leave George's side.
"It's alright Hermione, you can go check on him." George said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. I glanced at Fred who nodded his head, staring at George strangely. I paused for a moment, and then rose up on my legs. I'd check and see if he was alright, and then immediately return.
I walked out of the room heavily. I made it all the way to the front door before I turned back. I'd give him a quick goodbye kiss first. I walked back to the living room, pausing when I heard Fred and George's voices.
"What are you talking about?" Fred asked, sounding exasperated.
"How can she even stand to look at me?" George replied, my heart skipped a beat at his words. Was he talking about me?
"Umm, Because she loves you?" Fred answered in an annoyed tone.
"I'm a one eared freak!" George exclaimed, sounding horrified. A one eared freak? What? Did he think I'd dump him for that? Didn't he hear Fleur a few days ago? Why would I care if he was missing an ear? Looks had never mattered to me.
I didn't get a chance to make any sort of response, or even decide what I wanted to do. The door behind me burst open and Bill came bustling through, caring an unconscious, and heavily bleeding Sirius.
What on earth had happened, and where was Moody?
A/N: Double update :D I felt bad ending it where I did last chapter, and I decided to go ahead and post this chapter. I'll explain more about George later, hope you all enjoy!