Sirius left about two hours later, we filled him in on what we could, telling him we had a special mission from Dumbledore. He told us anything we wanted to know, letting us know how everyone was doing and how they were trying to fight back. He was helping McGonagall with warning the eleven year old muggle borns about Hogwarts. Because of his animagus ability he was able to sneak to the houses unnoticed, and then warn the families about what was going on. He and some other Order members would then help them into hiding, protecting the children from what would have undoubtedly been a dark fate.

Talking with Sirius brought up a very interesting idea. We needed something to do while we searched for Horcruxes. Something that would keep us busy and help us not to grow bored. Why not try turning into an Animagus? George and I had never gotten much of a chance to practice last year, so why not try now? Plus, it could be of immense help if we got caught in a bad spot.

I was about to recommend this idea when I was interrupted by a loud crack.

Kreacher appeared in the middle of the living room floor, wrestling with a pile of limbs that must have been Fletcher. He punched the short man in the nose, sitting on him as he gasped out; "Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master."

Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand; we were too quick for him though. I pointed my wand at him and it flew from his hands. George caught it, running into the room with Fred at the sound of the crack.

"What?" they questioned, but stopped short because Fletcher was diving for the stairs. George, Fred, and Ron tackled the thief and pulled him back into the room.

"What?" he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free himself from their iron grips. "Wha've I done? Setting a bleedin' 'house-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha've I done, lemme go, lemme go, of – "

"You're not in much of a position to make threats," Harry said, walking over to the beaten up man and lowering himself beside him. Angelina entered the room and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her boy friend and his brothers holding a man on the floor while Harry pointed his wand at his head.

"Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Master," Kreacher croaked, glairing at the thief. "Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end."

"You've done really well, Kreacher," Harry said approvingly, smiling at the elf.

"Right, we've got a few questions for you," Harry said, turning back to the shaking thief. He was still struggling against George, Fred and Ron, even though he didn't stand a chance at getting out of their combined grip.

"Why the 'ell am I being 'unted down by 'ouse-elves? "

"Shut up and listen." Harry said, glaring at Fletcher. Ron was trying not to laugh at the obvious panic Fletcher was starting to feel as he continued to struggle. Fred and George were making goofy faces, pretending to struggle. I even had to fight back a laugh at their silly antics.

"When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable," Harry began, but Fletcher interrupted him.

"Sirius doesn't care about any of the junk –"

There was the sound of pattering fee, a blaze of shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of agony; Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and hit him over the head with a saucepan. Fred and George had leapt back while Ron had dove to the side. They were now standing up slowly, huge grins on their faces as they fought the urge to laugh at the sight of the little house elf attacking the thief.

"Call 'im off, call 'im off, 'e should be locked up!" Fletcher screeched, raising his hands in defense.

"Kreacher, no!" Harry shouted, smiling despite himself.

"Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?" Kreacher questioned, glaring at the thief. That broke us, we all let out a laugh, Harry loudest.

He caught his breath after a moment and smiled, shaking his head. "We need him conscious, Kreacher, but if he needs persuading, you can do the honors," He said.

"Thank you very much, Master," Kreacher said, bowing and backing up.

"When you stripped this house of all the valuables you could find," Harry began again, "you took a bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was a locket there, what did you do with it?"

"Why?" Fletcher asked quickly. "Is it valuable?"

"You've still got it!" I squealed excitedly.

"No," George, Fred, and Ron said.

"He sold it," George started.

"And now wants to know if he could have got more." Fred continued.

"Bloody git." Ron finished.

"More?" Fletcher sputtered. "That wouldn't have been effing difficult . . .bleedin' gave it away, di'n' I? No choice."

"What do you mean?"

"I was selling in Diagon Alley and she come up to me and asks if I've got a license for trading in magical artifacts. Bleedin' snoop. She was gonna fine me, but she took a fancy to the locket an' told me she'd take it and let me off that time, and to fink meself lucky."

"Who was this woman?" Harry asked, looking annoyed. I agreed, that was yet another person to track.

"I dunno, some Ministry hag. Little woman. Bow on top of 'er head."

No way. It just couldn't be, surely not.

He frowned and then added, "Looked like a toad."

Harry dropped his wand: It hit Mundungus on the nose and shot red sparks into his eyebrows, which ignited.

I pointed my wand at him and doused the flames, feeling thoroughly shocked.

"No bloody way." Fred murmured, staring at Fletcher in shock.

"Hell no," Angelina gasped, sitting down weakly. Ron just shook his head, a look of utter horror on his face.

"How?" George started, and then stopped, just shaking his head in disbelief.

"Umbridge." Harry breathed, shock clear on his face. All of our right hands shook, tingling suddenly. How in the world had she gotten the locket? How had we gotten such bad luck? Had someone broken a mirror? How could it have been Umbridge? She was supposed to be in Azkaban. Bloody woman was probably heading up the muggle registration too.

{}o{}o{}

We decided to infiltrate the ministry, I'm not sure how or why, but it seemed the only choice. The six of us would stake it out, one each day, and study/ learn everything we could about it. We'd compile the information and then, once we formulated a somewhat sound proof plan, we'd break in. In the mean time, we'd be preparing ourselves. More and more death eaters were showing up outside the doors to Grimmauld Place, we'd need to figure out where to go if they should figure out how to get inside. So, during the day we made plans for breaking into the ministry, and at night we practiced turning into an animagus. August sped by with our new schedule, and before I knew it, it was September 1st. I hadn't spoken with George about what he had said to Remus, about offering to marry me to protect me from the ministry. I was too chicken, I was immensely grateful, but didn't know what to say honestly.

We had moved out of the living room, reclaiming our upstairs rooms instead. Ron and Harry shared, not wanting to stay alone, and Fred and George shared, while Angelina and I shared. Well, we were supposed to, most nights, especially when one of us had to stand stake out at the ministry, Fred slept in our room and I slept in his and George's.

Everything changed September 1 though. Harry came in late, he'd been keeping watch at the ministry, and came into the kitchen bearing a terrible news paper article. Severus Snape headmaster at Hogwarts, I mean, really, how much more horrible could things get? Harry was distracted throughout dinner, and finally, he told us his intentions during dessert.

He wanted to break into the ministry tomorrow. I don't know why it upset me so bad, I mean, it made sense, we wouldn't get much more prepared than we were now, and we'd already used up an entire month planning the thing out. George and Fred were thrilled by the idea, they thought it was about time and weren't worried. Ron was eager to get it over with and didn't seem scared. Angelina and I were the only ones who actually seemed worried.

We stayed up late into the night laying the plan out carefully, making sure we all knew our roles. George and Fred had gotten all sorts of products ready, Decoy Detonators, Keep-Away-Keys, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Extendable Ears, Anti-Gravity Hats, Shield Scarves, Grip-able Gloves, Sticky Trainers, Gabbing Gum, Portable Portals, Edible Dark Marks, Coding Quills, Love Potions, Exploding Eggs, Wildfire Whizbangs, and Invisible Indiscernible Ink. The two of them had apparently been quite busy while we were hiding out. Honestly though, their products were brilliant, and would be an immense help to us. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to do with some of the stuff, but I knew better than to question the two of them. If they thought we'd need it, I'd be sure to take it.

By the time we went to bed we were ready to break in the ministry, and I was scared stiff. No way I'd be able to sleep tonight, at least not by myself. I sat up in my bed and looked at Angelina, she was brushing her hair, her back against the wall as she hummed to herself. She smiled when I looked over at her and nodded her head.

"Send Fred in here when you leave, will you?" She said, smiling sweetly. I giggled and nodded my head, pausing to check my hair before I left the room. I was wearing a silk night gown Fleur had helped me pick out when we went shopping before her wedding. She had told me that every woman needed a nightgown and underwear that made her feel sexy. I had laughed at her then, but bought the gown just the same. She was right, I did feel pretty in it, and I couldn't wait to see George's face when he saw it for the first time.

George and Fred's room was right across from ours, Harry and Ron were at the other end of the hall. I snuck across the floor, avoiding the squeaky spots I had learned. I opened the door carefully, making sure it didn't make any noises. The door swung open easily, and a smile lit my lips at the sight of George and Fred. Fred was brushing his hair, laughing at something George had said. George was sitting Indian style on his bed, a grin on his face. His eyes lit up even more when he saw me, his grin growing into the large, toothy smile that he reserved especially for me. It made me feel light and happy, forgetting the worries of the day. His eyes scanned my body quickly, growing darker and wider. His smile changed to a more wolfish one and it sent a shiver down my spine.

I walked into the room eagerly, a grin lighting up my own lips. I walked into the room and sat down beside him, turning my head to Fred. "Angelina told me to send you to her." I said, winking at him. A grin erupted across his own lips and dropped his brush running to his bed and grabbing his pillow.

"See you later, bro." he said, and then disappeared out the door. His head reappeared a moment later. "Don't stay up to late." Then he disappeared again with a roguish wink. George watched him go with an affectionate smile, his eyes soft. A soft grin lifted my own lips and I found myself staring at him. It still marveled me that he was dating me, we'd been going out for over a year and a half, and I still had trouble believing it. He was so incredible, it just astounded me that he actually loved me as much as I loved him. He turned his head and looked down at me, his grin turning wicked.

"Where," he said, eyeing me up and down and causing me to blush under his appreciative gaze, "did you get that, and why haven't I seen it before?"

"Fleur." I said by way of explanation, averting my eyes in embarrassment. His hand came up under my chin and turned me back to face him, his long fingers lifting my chin up and making me look at him.

"Got any plans?" He asked, leaning towards me.

"Not particularly." I said, shivering slightly as he drew even nearer and ran his hand along my arm. It made me shiver even harder and lean towards him. I kissed him deep, bringing my arms up to his neck and tugging him closer. He wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss even more, his hands moved lower, wrapping around my waist and holding me tight. I shivered against his hold and pulled him even closer, tugging on his neck and causing him to fall on top of me. We broke the kiss and I laughed, happy and secure.

"You tired?" George asked, smiling mischievously as he pulled a cover around my shoulders. It was always cold in this darn house. I shook my head no and snuggled into his hold. "Good, because I have some things I want to show you, and say." I looked up to him to let him know I was listening. He was looking down at me with scared eyes, making me instantly worry. He gently pulled away from me, sitting up and backing up so that he was sitting against the wall. I sat up as well, wrapping the blanket around my shoulders.

"It's about our future." He said, tracing small circles onto my exposed leg. Our future? What was he talking about, did he want to break up? Oh god, please no, don't be anything like that. Panic gripped me at the thought and I had to fight not to hyperventilate. "I know we've never talked about the idea of marriage, but I want you to know that I wasn't suggesting it to Remus just to avoid your getting captured." He said, forcing my chin up with his long, gentle fingers. I raised my eyes and looked at his, forcing myself to calm down. "I love you far too much for that, I'd marry you in a heart beat if it meant saving you, but I don't want to just marry you for that." He took a deep breath and scooted forward, pushing himself off the bed. He went to his dresser and pulled a box off the top, one I'd seen laying around a lot, but had never actually looked at.

"Come on," he said, giving my hand a tug and heading out the door. I followed behind him, feeling slightly confused, but curious. He led me down stairs and into the library, smiling excitedly when he saw me light up a bit at the sight of all the books.

"I know we've only been dating for about two years," He said, standing in front of me with tender eyes. "But we've known each other for seven years, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I love you more than anything. You're the most important person in the world to me, so I have a question to ask you."

"It's on this bookshelf." He said, pointing at a shelf in front of him. I turned and faced the shelf, looking at it in confusion.

"Read the titles out loud." He urged, giving me a gentle push towards the books. I listened and stepped forward there were only four books on the shelf.

"Will" I said, reading the first one, "You… Marry… Me" I read the last one and stopped, realizing what I had just read. I spun around and faced George, my heart clenching and my breath speeding up.

He took in a deep breath and the let it out slowly as he lowered himself to one knee. My breath caught and my heart started beating painfully in my chest as I watched him. He reached up and grabbed my hand. His eyes wide and worried, hopeful and scared.

"Hermione Jean Granger, I've never known anyone like you. You're funny, caring, gentle, smart, and beyond beautiful. I've known I've loved you since the first time you came into Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, and I know you're the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with." He took a deep breath and opened the box, a beautiful silver ring sat inside. It was a braided band that turned into an otter and a fox, twirling around each other and holding a beautiful little diamond in place. "Would you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?" I stared down at his wide eyes in utter shock, hardly daring to believe what I had just heard.

"Really?" I asked, tears already welling up in my eyes.

"Really."

"Oh George," I gasped, tears falling down my face as I stared at him. "Yes, of course yes!" I squealed, dropping to my knees and grabbing him in a tight hug. He hugged me tight, my tears of joy wetting his shirt and hair. He pulled back after a second and gently took my hand, slipping the ring onto my finger. He stood up, pulling me with him and grabbed me in another hug. I leaned up and grabbed his face in my hands, pressing my lips against his in a jubilant kiss. He responded with equal joy, holding me close and tangling his hand in my curls. His tongue brushed against my lips and I immediately granted him access. I brought my arms up around his neck and pulled myself up closer to him, smothering him with my love. We broke apart a few long moments later, gasping for breath as we looked into each other's eyes. A smile was on my face, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get rid of it for quite a long time.

"I love you." I said, staring at his blue eyes through my own blurry eyes. I blinked my tears away let myself get lost in the depth of his beautiful eyes. He was going to marry me, he was my fiancé, he wanted me, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He hugged me again before moving his hands to grab mine. He gave me a slight tug and led me out of the library. I followed him without question, feeling like I could fly. We walked out into the hall, where a crying Angelina and beaming Fred were emerging from the living room.

"She said yes!" George and Fred exclaimed together.

Angelina and I just let out a happy, wet laugh and hugged our new fiancé's.