Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 8

The journey back to the Burrow didn't seem to take as long as the trip away. For the most part, all of us remained fairly quiet and kept up some small talk to pass the time, but we were all far too alert to keep up with that.

With the Polyjuice Potion beginning to wear off, the three of us became incredibly anxious as we looked around as if prepared at every moment for an attack. Earlier, when we had been on the train with Mrs. Longbottom, we had tried our best to act as natural as we possibly could. It was hard to keep up that façade when you noticed so many people were surrounding you and that any one of them could be a Death Eater that would attempt to attack us. Suspicious of all, I had become short of breath and felt as though I could have lost my mind at any moment, but I kept still and said nothing about it until we reached the safety of our car. I would have given anything to have just Apparated out of the area, but we didn't want to risk anything.

Mrs. Longbottom was strangely okay with Neville going off with us. While she didn't know exactly what we were up to, I was fairly shocked with how she hadn't given Neville any grief about going off with us.

"She said that my mum and dad would have been proud that I was off doing something to help everyone," Neville said with a smile on his face.

"I thought you didn't tell her what we were doing," I said.

"I didn't," Neville said. "But Gran isn't an idiot – she knows that if I'm going off with the two of you that we'll be up to something."

Lupin, who still wasn't all that sure on where we were going off to, remained quiet as he just listened in to what we were saying. Knowing that he was doing this, I decided that it would be best to not talk about it any further. It wasn't like he was going to stop us from talking about it himself because he was just as curious as everyone else and I wasn't going to allow him to figure all this out so easily.

It took a bit of time to get through the barrier that they put up around the Burrow, but they were all prepared for our arrival. Just as I expected, they went through various tests to make sure that we really were who we were claiming to be and weren't imposters.

Once it was decided that we weren't Death Eaters, everyone slowly began to put their guard down.

"Well, welcome to our home, Neville," Mrs. Weasley said with a big smile. "Emily here told me that it's your birthday today!"

"She's right – I'm seventeen today," Neville said proudly.

"That's wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley said happily. "Now, I hope you don't mind that we celebrate it with Harry and Emily's birthday tomorrow…"

"Oh, I don't mind at all," he said. "It would make a lot more sense to just put all of the celebration together for one day."

As they were talking, I remembered that I would have to warn Neville that she was going to attempt to pry information out of him. Mrs. Weasley was good, but I wasn't going to allow her to force anything out my friend.

"Anybody I know going to be at the wedding?" Neville asked nonchalantly.

"I'm going to be there," Ron raised up his hand.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at that comment as she began to speak up herself.

"I know that Luna and her father are coming," Hermione said.

"Oh – that's great!" Neville said with a little too much enthusiasm.

I wasn't the only one that picked up on the added excitement on Neville's part about the Lovegoods attending the wedding because everyone sort of looked around at each other with that knowing look.

"Interesting," Ron said with a smirk as he looked at Neville.

"W-what?" he asked as his face began to turn a little pink.

"Oh, nothing," Ron said.

"Nothing at all," Hermione added.

Neville's face slowly began to go through various stages of red as we continued to look at him.

"So, have you talked to Luna lately?" Harry asked him.

"Oh, well we sent letters to one another…" Neville answered as he attempted to look casual (which didn't really work when his face was the color of a tomato). "She just mentioned that she might be going to a wedding soon, and I wasn't sure whether or not she meant this one…"

"Right," I nodded with a smile on my face. "I'm sure you two will just hit it off here."

I was woken up the following morning by Fred singing happy birthday in a very loud tone. For a moment, I was confused and it took me a minute to comprehend what was happening. When I discovered that the loud and off-key sound was coming from Fred, I picked up my pillow and threw it at his mid-section. That only caused him to laugh and sing louder. When he finally stopped singing, he gave a small bow.

"Thank you, my dear," I said while clapping. "That was beautiful."

"I mean, obviously it was," Fred said as he came over and sat next to me on my bed. "I was considering taking on a career with my singing, but I don't want all the other singers to feel bad about their own voices in comparison."

"It's the decent thing to do," I said.

There was silence for a moment and then, seemingly out of nowhere, Fred suddenly threw his arms around me and put on a fake cry.

"You're growing up so fast," he said. "I remember just like it was yesterday that you were a little eleven year old sitting on the train of the Hogwarts Express – so young!"

"Oh my god," I laughed.

He continued to squeeze me and mumble some things as I laughed at him for being so dramatic. It didn't take long for Mrs. Weasley to come to the door to see what was going on and she rolled her eyes as soon as she figured out who was making all that noise.

"So young!" Fred cried out.

"Oh, Fred," Mrs. Weasley said. "Let the poor girl breathe!"

He let go of me and gave his mother a Cheshire Cat grin before jumping from the bed and walking out of the room as dramatically as he could.

"What is wrong with that boy?" Mrs. Weasley sighed with a grin on her face.

She left my room after wishing me a happy birthday and allowed me to get dressed for the day. Figuring I shouldn't look like a complete bum today, I pulled out a green dress that I had bought with Hermione during our last trip to Hogsmede. It wasn't that glamorous, but it did a fairly good job at making me look like I wasn't homeless.

Before I left my room, I grabbed the birthday card that I made for Harry that was sitting on Ginny's bedside table. When I walked downstairs, I first found Harry in the sitting room with Ron and Hermione.

"Happy birthday!" Harry said when he saw me.

He stepped up from his seat and we both exchanged our cards and read them to ourselves. On mine, Harry had written a giant 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' with drawings of balloons surrounding the letters. On the inside, in his all too familiar bad handwriting, it said 'Hope you have a wonderful day and, even though you can now, try your best to not hex anyone!'

Ron and Hermione both handed me separate boxes for the gifts they bought me. I was tempted to ask when they had the time to get these, but I didn't bother and just thanked them and hugged them both. I opened the box from Ron first and found that he bought me an assortment of my favorite candies (including Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, a Chocolate Wand, and a Sugar Quill). Next I opened up Hermione's box to find that she knitted a special teal and purple scarf for me.

"Oh, I have a gift for you too," Neville said as he walked into the room and saw us with our opened gifts.

He scurried off for a moment before returning with two bags in his hands – one for Harry and one for me. I thanked him for the gift and then pulled out what was inside. It turned out that he had given me a small charm for my bracelet that was in the shape of a potted plant ("It's perfect, Neville!") along with matching light blue gloves and hat. For Harry he got him a similar hat and gloves, only they were dark blue.

We spent some time thanking and talking about the gifts that we received, but then decided to step outside where everyone else was busy setting up for the wedding tomorrow. It was then that I realized just how many people were at the Burrow because of how much was going on.

Most of the men were raising the tent up from the ground with their wands while the rest of the people were all moving around underneath it setting up the seats and the aisle. For the most part, everything looked like it was coming together nicely. I walked over and grabbed some flowers to set up around the tent and throughout the area where the reception was going to be held. After that, I found that there really wasn't that much I could help with at the moment and stood off so that I would be out of the way while the others finished up with the tents.

Finally escaping the preparations for the wedding, George walked over toward me casually and had a big grin on his face as he subconsciously poked at his missing ear. He took a drink from the cup he was holding and then stopped walking just as he stepped next to me.

"So, the big seventeen," he said casually. "How does it feel?"

"No different than I felt yesterday," I shrugged. "Only now I can stun you whenever I want without the Ministry coming after me."

"You already stun me every day," he winked.

"You did not just say that," I snorted.

For a moment, I just shook my head at that cornier than life pick-up line as I noticed George grinning as he looked around at the people outside. After a moment, I noticed he was watching one person in particular.

"Do you think Neville will be alright out there with the four of you?" he asked. "He's a bit of a risk, you know?"

"He's improved a lot since you've seen him last," I said. "Gotten a lot better at magic – you'd be surprised…"

When I looked at Neville, I got the same numbing feeling that I had been getting throughout the course of the summer to block out my sadness. To be honest, I was struggling with the idea of Neville coming along with us because of how much danger he would be in. Sure, Neville was doing a lot better with magic, but it still scared me that he would get hurt out there. Even though I didn't want to think about it, Mrs. Weasley had a very solid point for keeping Neville out of this: he was the only person that Mrs. Longbottom had left. She had already lost her son and daughter-in-law to Voldemort and now there was some potential that she would lose a grandson as well. Was I ready to be responsible for that if I made it out of this and he didn't?

"I'm sure he'll be okay," George said. "He's a good guy, you know?"

"He is," I smiled and then thought about what Neville had asked me the follow day. "Have I told you that he fancies Luna?"

"Lovegood?" he said with a small laugh.

"That's what it sounded like yesterday," I said. "He was asking if she was going to be at the wedding and looked pretty excited when he heard she would be there."

"Their children will be frighteningly strange," he said with a nod. "All the more reason that we need to make sure this happens."

"So our mission is clear?" I asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" he smirked.

Suddenly Ron burst out from the front door, which caused both George and me to stop talking and looked over toward him and noticed that he was looked angrier than usual. He began to mumble to himself as he walked toward us and George raised an eyebrow.

"You okay there?" I asked him.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Ron snapped. "Actually – do me a favor, would you Emily? Tell your brother to keep his filthy hands off of my sister – could you do that for me?"

"Excuse you," I said irritably. "What is your problem?"

"Harry is in there snogging Ginny," Ron spat. "He already broke up with her and I don't appreciate him toying with her emotions, okay?"

"What happens between them is none of your business," George said. "Besides, it isn't like Harry is some creep."

"That's not the point!" Ron said.

"Just come off it," George said.

Only angrier, Ron stomped off and continued to mumble to himself with how irritating people could be. George simply just rolled his eyes at his little brother and looked back toward me.

"You'd think he had nothing better to do with his time," George said.

"Seriously," I said. "If he put about half as much time into anything else as he did into complaining then he would be the most successful person in the world."

It wasn't too long before Harry and Ginny came walking out of the house and awkwardly went in separate ways. Ginny stepped over towards her mother to see what was going on outside while Harry caught sight of us and joined us.

"Heard you've been snogging my sister," George said while attempting to act like he was angry.

"Oh…er…" Harry said while his face went red.

"No, it's not a big deal," George waved it off. "Ron's just overreacting."

"I guess he has a right to be angry," Harry shrugged.

"It's none of his business what you two do with your lives," George said. "Just ignore him – he'll get over it."

"You sure about that?" he asked.

"Not at all," George said.

When Harry was called over to help with something by Lupin, George and I were left standing alone again. It didn't take long before he told me to follow him.

"I got you something for your birthday," he said. "I just set it in my room this morning."

We stepped into the house and were quickly told by Mrs. Weasley that we weren't allowed to be anywhere near the kitchen while she finished up on something – which was undoubtedly the birthday cakes. When we got to his room, he raced over and grabbed something and put it behind his back.

"Oh, are we being dramatic?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he smirked.

As he motioned forward his gift, he made a slight bow to present the flowers that he held in his hand. The bouquet included what I counted to be seven of the most beautiful red roses I had ever seen.

"Wow, they're gorgeous!" I said with awe as he passed them to me.

"Not as gorgeous as the person I got them for," he winked.

"You're on a roll today with the corny lines, you know that?" I laughed.

"You secretly love it," he said.

"I know," I sighed.

"Besides, I don't know when I'll be able to do that again once you're gone," he said.

"…Oh," I said quietly as I looked at the ground.

"I know I'm not going to talk you out of it," he sighed. "So just do me one favor and please come back safely…that's all I can ask…please don't let these few days be the last time I see you."

"I hope they aren't, George," I said as I held onto one of his hands.

I didn't have the nerve to tell him that I couldn't promise that I would ever see him again because I knew that it wouldn't be sincere. Besides, he would have known that I was lying through my teeth if I said it.

"Can you promise me one more thing," he said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Go out on a date with me when you get back," he said with a weak smile.

"I guess I can say yes to that," I said.

Not knowing if this would be the last time I saw him, I stood up as tall as I could and kissed him on the lips. Despite the fact that I had impulsively done this, George didn't seem to be too shocked by it and leaned down to kiss me back. I never wanted this to end. I just wanted to run off with him at that moment and leave all my worries behind. Unfortunately, reality had to stop this from happening.

"Hey, Mum said that the cake is ready – oh," I heard Ginny say from the staircase in front of the room.

We broke apart and started coughing when we saw her standing there.

"Sorry," she said awkwardly as she turned around and walked back down the stairs.

We shrugged it off and went to follow her after George told me that I could keep the flowers in his room for the time being. When we got down the stairs, George let go of my hand so that I could go join everyone else for the birthday celebration.

"Okay everyone – let's gather around!" Mrs. Weasley announced.

When I walked into the kitchen, my jaw dropped when I saw three perfect cakes floating above the table. The one, which I assumed was made for Harry, was a basketball sized snitch that was about double the size of my head. The second cake I saw, which I figured was mine, was a large cauldron that had the illusion of smoke coming out from inside of it. The final one was a Mimbulus Mimbletonia, which had obviously been made for Neville. If I hadn't been warned beforehand that we were being made cakes, I probably would not have known that these weren't just large floating objects.

"These are amazing," Harry said with awe.

"That's fantastic," Neville said.

"Seriously, they're perfect Mrs. Weasley," I agreed.

"Oh, it was no trouble to make them," Mrs. Weasley waved it off with a pleased look on her face.

Once everyone had gathered in the room, they all sung the traditional birthday song to us. There was some confusion when they got around to the part where they say the name, but they eventually made it through before Mrs. Weasley began to cut the cake and serve it to us all.

Our celebration didn't go on too much longer before it was interrupted.

In the middle of the room, just as we had been talking, a silver form of a weasel appeared in the air. The Patronus, which startled all of us, suddenly began to speak in the familiar voice of Mr. Weasley.

"The Minister of Magic will be coming with me."

Everyone looked around at one another in the moment directly afterwards, but no one spoke in our shared confusion. Lupin and Tonks were the first ones to start moving and it was directly toward the door.

"We can't be seen here," Lupin said. "I'll explain later."

We didn't have time to be confused as we all walked quickly out of the door to see what was going on. Of course, if Mr. Weasley and the minister were to show up together, that's where they would be found. By the time we had congregated outside, Lupin and Tonks were already gone and a pop sounded in the distance.

"Oh, hello everyone," Mr. Weasley said with a fake smile on his face as his eyes shifted from the minster to all of us.

"Hello, dear," Mrs. Weasley said with the confusion still written all over her face.

Harry and I looked at each other with concern – both of us sharing the same thought: was Scrimgeour here for us? Ron and Hermione seemed to be considering the idea as well as their eyes flickered over toward us.

"I apologize for the inconvenience," Scrimgeour said with an air of importance. "I see that I've interrupted your celebration."

The minister's eyes lingered in the background at what I assumed to be the birthday party decorations. Although he acted as though he was apologetic for showing up with practically no notice, it was very obvious that he didn't really care what he was interrupting.

"I suppose I owe the two of you a happy birthday…" he motioned toward Harry and me.

"Er…thanks," Harry said.

"But I'm afraid that isn't what I'm here for," he said.

"We guessed that much," I muttered.

"I require a word with the two of you," he said. "Along with Miss Hermione Granger and Mr. Ronald Weasley."

While it didn't come as much of a shock that he wanted to speak with Harry and me, Ron and Hermione seemed to be completely taken aback when they heard themselves being addressed by the minister.

"May I ask why?" I said.

"It's a matter we will discuss in private," he said sternly.

A very skeptical looking Mrs. Weasley quickly escorted us into the house and then into the sitting room. We all remained quiet until Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind herself after one more look back at us all. Even then, the minister remained silent as he stared at us. It didn't take long for me to get tired of this.

"I enjoy a good staring contest as much as the next person, but I genuinely hope that isn't what you've come all this way for," I said.

"Thank you for your input, Miss Potter," Scrimgeour said with a fake smile. "But I have come for a much more important reason. I have come to discuss with you the will of Albus Dumbledore."

Thanks for reading!