The Burrow looked exactly the same as it had when Harry had last seen it, and it almost brought a tear to his eye as he remembered all the good memories he had in connection with the house. It was almost incredible to think that so much of his life had been so closely tied to this place. It was no Hogwarts, but through the years, the Burrow had almost become a sort of a second home for him.

He and Hermione had decided to visit the Weasleys late in the evening, since they assumed Bill worked in the mornings, and as such, the sun was almost entirely behind the horizon as they started sneaking towards the Weasleys' residence, covered by Harry's invisibility cloak. The plan was rather simple. They would make contact with the Weasleys, try and get Bill to help them, but most importantly, they would stay vigilant. Harry had no real reason to distrust the Weasleys, but he wasn't about to take any chances, especially not with Hermione next to him.

"Careful." He heard Hermione urgently whisper into his ear as they approached the door, the ground in front of the house littered with broken remains of garden gnomes. Being careful not to trip over their remains, the two soon found themselves standing in front of the simple-looking wooden door, and it was only here that Harry found himself hesitating.

A lot rested on what happened next. But despite the possibility of them being put into a real danger of physical harm, Harry felt like it was his emotional state that was in most jeopardy. If the Weasleys, who Harry considered to be the closest thing to a family he had, turned him away, then that would mean they truly were all alone in this.

And despite being alone for a very long time now, and despite the fact that they were really starting to get good at being a two-person team, Harry really wanted somebody else he could trust. As much as he loved Hermione, having an adult on whom they could rely would be indispensable, especially with their recent Muggle alliance.

In the end, it was Hermione who knocked, the brunette holding her wand tightly in her right hand while the other was wrapped tightly around his waist, the two having to squeeze into each other to fit under the cloak. After she'd knocked, the two stood there in silence for a good few moments, before the door opened widely, and Harry felt lightheaded at the sight of Mr Weasley.

"Hello?" Mr Weasley called out tentatively, looking straight through them with a puzzled look. After a few seconds of complete silence, the Weasley patriarch seemed ready to close the door, and it was only then that Harry found his voice.

"Mr Weasley." He said in a low voice, but despite the quietness of his tone, Mr Weasley jumped into the air with a yelp.

"Wha- Who is there?!" He asked quickly as he half recovered, his hand going into his front pocket, and Harry rushed to defuse the situation before Mr Weasley managed to extract his wand.

"Mr Weasley, it's me, Harry."

"And Hermione." Hermione added helpfully from beside him, and the effect this had on the man was immediate. His hand stilled in his pocket, his eyes widening as they flew around the space where they were standing.

"Harry?" He asked disbelievingly after a few seconds, prompting Hermione to take over.

"Yes. Might we enter, please? We'd rather not get spotted."

"O-of course, come quickly." Mr Weasley said instantly, moving to the side and allowing them to quickly slip inside. Once they were in and Mr Weasley closed the door, they pulled the cloak from their shoulders, causing Mr Weasley to clap his hands in clear excitement.

"Oh, it is so good to see you two!" He exclaimed happily, looking at them with such fondness that Harry felt almost uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Likewise, Mr Weasley, but I'm afraid this isn't a social visit." Harry said looking at the floor, wanting to set the tone right away. While he was overjoyed to see Mr Weasley again, they weren't here to reconnect. Mr Weasley's smile visibly faltered at that, and he glanced towards the direction of the living room before motioning with his head in that same direction.

"Go on then, we'll talk there. But a word of warning, your presence is going to cause quite a stir."

"Who all's here?" Hermione asked suspiciously, and Harry really hoped none of the other Order members were present, as that would mean that they would need to leave immediately, as they'd discussed. They could not risk anything. Mr Weasley seemed to catch their rising apprehension, and he quickly rushed to elaborate.

"Just Molly, Bill and Fleur." He said, adding after a second, "You do not need to be afraid. We will not hurt you." Despite not being in a very trusting mood, Harry still believed him, and after giving Hermione a terse nod they followed Mr Weasley deeper into the Burrow. They could hear voices coming from the kitchen, which were soon revealed to belong to Molly Weasley and Fleur Delacour, the two women seemingly arguing over cooking.

The two froze mid-argument as soon as they came into view, Molly's eyes widening dramatically as she spotted them, a spatula dropping to the floor from her hand. Fleur didn't look that badly shocked for her part, looking at them with a barely quirked eyebrow.

"H-harry?" Molly asked in a near-whisper after a second or two of complete silence, prompting Harry to give her a bashful smile.

"Hello, Mrs Weasley." He'd barely finished the sentence by the time her arms were around him, and he yelped in surprise as the breath was propelled from his lungs by the force of her hug.

"Oh, I was so worried! Are you okay?!" The Weasley matriarch blabbered nearly incoherently, releasing him just as he was about to black out due to lack of air, before doing the same to a frankly terrified-looking Hermione.

"We're fine." The brunette squeaked out as she was engulfed in a hug, and despite his ribs feeling rather bruised, Harry still found himself grinning like a loon. He'd really missed the Burrow, missed this. He had everything he needed in a companion with Hermione, but this feeling of family was something she just couldn't replicate on her own.

"Molly. She's turning blue." It was only at Arthur's warning that Mrs Weasley released Hermione, and Harry had to chuckle at the look on her face. His chuckle died as soon as Mrs Weasley turned back to him, an alarmingly terrifying expression on her tear-streaked face.

"You two look so thin! Have you even been eating?!" She exclaimed in pure horror, and for once Harry couldn't really fault her. Despite getting enough food at the military base, the previous lack, combined with their high workload, meant they had both lost quite a bit of weight. And since he hadn't had much fat on his body before, he now admittedly looked even thinner, if that was possible.

"It was difficult for a while, but we're okay now." Harry said trying to reassure her, but he could see they were about to be fed until they could walk no more. Thankfully, the prospect of that happening was interrupted by the arrival of one Bill Weasley, who did the most comical double-take Harry had ever seen upon spotting them.

"Bill." He greeted the wizard smilingly, receiving a fond clap to his shoulder in return, "Harry. Hermione. Good to see you two again."

"Shall we go and sit down?" Mr Weasley motioned with his head towards the living room, elaborating upon receiving Mrs Weasley's glare, "They aren't here to eat your soup, Molly, as good as it is." Harry gave the elder Weasley a thankful nod, and he felt relief as nobody put up much of a protest after that.

He and Hermione, the three Weasleys and Fleur were soon sat down in the living room, Harry and Hermione sitting side by side on the small couch, Molly and Arthur on the large one facing them, and Bill in the sole Ottoman, Fleur perching herself on one of its handrests, her right hand entwined with Bill's left in his lap. Harry shared a brief look with Hermione before starting the conversation.

"Firstly, it really is great to see you all again. I've missed you terribly." He began fondly, blinking away tears as he saw Mrs Weasley tear up. "I'm afraid we've been completely in the dark over what has been happening in the wizarding world in the past few months, so we'd appreciate it if you could clue us in." The adults in the room shared a brief look at that before Mr Weasley spoke.

"To be entirely fair, not much has happened." He started off slowly, Bill nodding along from his place on the Ottoman, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has resumed with his attacks, but they are much smaller in scale than before, most likely because he's clearly running low on Death Eaters. Sadly, the Ministry, too, is not doing the best." Mr Weasley paused at that, sighing deeply before continuing.

"But the most notable thing to happen in the past few months has been the death of Mad-Eye." Harry's eyes widened at that, and he felt Hermione take hold of his hand, her grip bruising.

"B-but how could that be? We just saw him not that long ago." Harry responded, remembering seeing the grizzled old wizard back at that shop where he'd nearly died.

"He was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange as the Order fought the Death Eaters at some Muggle building near Edinburgh." This time it was Harry and Hermione who shared a shocked look, both connecting Arthur's information to the event itself. Harry went to reply, but found his voice stuck in his throat, knowing the two of them were in that case at least partially responsible for his death.

"You were there." Bill said, his tone telling Harry that the Weasley was more stating a fact rather than posing a question. He nodded sharply, focusing on the feeling of Hermione's hand in his own, her presence giving him strength.

"Yes…" He replied at last, clearing his throat before continuing, "We'd been tracked there by the Aurors, and then the Order and the Death Eaters showed up, followed immediately thereafter by the Muggles. It was a… mess."

"Well, whatever happened, his death is not your fault." Mrs Weasley, probably correctly reading his cloudy expression, interjected to try and assuage him of his rising guilt. But Harry disagreed.

"We baited them into attacking each other, so we could get away. We started the fight." He said quietly, aware that what they'd done had been necessary, but still feeling the guilt that came with it.

"Mad-Eye knew the risks, Harry. I think he would have been happy to go out in such a way, in a blaze of glory. Took McNair with him too, he did." Bill's gentle tone didn't entirely erase Harry's guilt, but it did a great deal to lessen it.

"The Order members were there to help us then? Not to bring Harry to Dumbledore?" Hermione spoke for the first time in a while, her tone as sharp as he'd ever heard it, and he could see the Weasleys recoil.

"Of course they were there to help you, what else-" But Mr Weasley's sentence was cut short by Hermione, the brunette now looking furious.

"You were going to give him up to Voldemort! You were going to let him die. So don't act as if the mere thought that they were there to do just that is so inconceivable." There was cold fury in her tone, and Harry could see Bill gulp nervously, while Mr and Mrs Weasley bowed their head in apparent shame. Fleur looked almost amused by the whole thing.

"Hermione…" He started carefully, squeezing her hand to try and calm her down, knowing they couldn't risk antagonising the people in front of them. Plus, he sort of still believed that Dumbledore wasn't all that wrong in what he'd attempted to do. His life was expendable in the grand scheme, especially since he would have to die anyway to get rid of the Horcrux in him.

"No." It was Bill who cut in, his eyes boldly meeting Hermione's blazing look, "She's right. What we did was inexcusable. And Harry, we- I am so sorry. I should have said something, gone against Dumbledore. But… the truth is, I was a coward, and I'm sorry." To say that Harry was surprised by Bill's words would have been an understatement. He felt completely thrown off in fact, and he could see Hermione, too, was taken aback.

"Really?" She asked disbelievingly, at which all the Weasleys nodded furiously.

"Yes." Molly began with tears in her eyes, "I didn't agree with it of course, but Dumbledore had always been right in the end, so I just… went with it. I understand now how foolish that had been, and I am so sorry."

"It's okay." Harry found himself instinctively trying to reassure the distraught-looking woman, but was once more pre-empted, this time by Mr Weasley.

"No, it is not. We should have protested, we should have done something. I am so incredibly glad you covered for our momentary blunder. You should be proud of yourself." The last he directed at Hermione, who blushed bright red at the praise, looking at their joined hands bashfully.

"I appreciate it." Hermione responded quietly, still looking rather red in the face, "But I think we should get to the main reason for our visit here." Harry knew she was trying to get the attention off of herself, and her words had managed to do exactly that. The three Weasleys and Fleur were now looking at them with interest, and Harry decided to just ask the question outright.

"Hermione and I are working with the muggles, and we are planning to attack Malfoy Manor in less than a week." He said quickly, before turning his eyes to the main target of their visit, "Bill, we would like you to join our little task force. You don't even need to fight or anything, we just need your help with breaking the wards. Of course, you can refuse, we won't be mad." Harry finished and snapped his mouth shut, only now spotting the flabbergasted expressions on their faces.

"Let me get this straight." Fleur was the first to recover. "You wish to attack a fortified castle alone?"

"No." Hermione jumped in, "As Harry said, we have the muggles on our side. And trust me, the task force we've assembled is not one to scoff at. Still, we need the wards gone for the mission to begin, and while I am confident I could do it, I am no specialist." She looked at Bill at the last part, the Weasley having by now seemingly recovered, and was looking at them inquisitively.

"And you trust these muggles?" He asked, and Harry was happy to see he didn't immediately deny their request.

"We do. They are yet to give us any reasons not to, and we are all after the same end goal. Voldemort's death." Hermione answered firmly, and Harry nodded to show he agreed with what she'd said. Molly and Arthur exchanged a tension-filled look at that, while Bill looked at Fleur for a brief moment, before looking back at them.

"I have betrayed your trust once, Harry, and I still feel horrible about it. I will not do it a second time. If you think you need my help, then my help you shall have." Harry couldn't help but smile at Bill's passion-filled words, feeling Hermione squeeze his hand as they had successfully recruited their first wizard to their task force.

"You mean our help, yes?" Fleur butted in a second later, glaring at her boyfriend who whipped around to look at her with wide eyes.

"What? No, I am not taking you into battle. It will be dangerous." But Bill's protests didn't seem to work, as Fleur simply twisted her nose as if smelling something horrible, before patting Bill's cheek fondly. "It is a good thing I can take care of myself then. When do you need us?" She completely ignored Bill's spluttered protest, facing Harry with a lifted eyebrow.

"The mission is this Tuesday, but you could come around earlier so we can go through some drills and get you acquainted with our new Muggle friends." He proposed, feeling a bit surprised to see both Fleur and Bill nod right away.

"Then I think we could join you as early as tomorrow, no?" Fleur asked with a glance at Bill, continuing at his nod, "Do we get an address, or will you be picking us up here?"

"We'll be here tomorrow at the same time, be ready."

"I don't want to sound rude, since I really am glad that you intend to help us, but why? You even sound somewhat excited." Hermione jumped into the conversation, and Harry could tell just from her tone that she was somewhat suspicious of how quickly Bill and Fleur had agreed. Harry didn't share her suspicions, but he knew Hermione had grown rather paranoid in the last months, so he allowed the question to be answered.

Bill nodded at the question, glancing at Fleur before answering, "To be honest… Look, wizards and witches of Britain are dying by the day, killed in broad daylight by the Death Eaters, and as that is going on the Order is virtually standing by and letting it happen. I am sick of being on the sidelines. If you think you can fight them, then I want to help. Not only for you, but for everybody."

Hermione seemed very satisfied with that answer, while Fleur was looking at her boyfriend with a look of such fondness and desire that made Harry avoid his eyes.

"B-but you will be safe, yes?" A very concerned Mrs Weasley asked after a moment, and Harry couldn't even imagine how she was feeling, knowing that her son was going to be put in danger.

"I will do everything I can so that we all come back, I promise."

"We." Hermione added instantaneously, and Harry didn't correct her, despite knowing that only one life in the room was expendable, and it wasn't Hermione's under any circumstances.

"Are you sure about this? You could just leave it to Dumbledore and the Ministry. Let them handle it." Mr Weasley added, but Harry could tell not even he fully believed that was a viable strategy.

"I have been waiting for that to happen for five years, and yet here we are, worse off than ever." Harry responded calmly, "I believe it's time for us to take matters into our own hands."

Harry answered his question, before looking at his wristwatch and noting that it was already well past time for them to return. He stood up and Hermione followed his suit, the Weasleys and Fleur doing the same opposite them.

"We really need to go, but we'll see each other tomorrow." Harry said with a rare genuine smile, "And thank you for still having my back. I really do appreciate it." He meant it, too, knowing that with just how many people were after him, allies were a very rare commodity.

"Don't mention it, you are family." It was Arthur who said it, and his casual words almost made Harry tear up.

"I do need to ask, though, are you intending to invite anybody else into this group of yours?" Bill asked as the group made their way back towards the front door, prompting Harry to stop mid-step and causing Hermione to run into his back.

"Why?" He couldn't help the suspicion in his voice, but he relaxed a moment later as he saw Bill hold out his hands placatingly. Huh, it seemed he was a bit too paranoid as well.

"Relax, Harry, I am merely curious. The more wands the better, no?"

"Who did you have in mind?" Hermione asked inquisitively, and Harry could tell she, too, was instantly wary of trusting anybody who wasn't one of them or a Weasley. It was tough to say who would take Dumbledore's side over theirs, but he didn't intend to take any chances. Bill thought on the question for a moment before answering slowly.

"Well, I think Remus and Tonks would certainly help you, but since you don't trust them, and with good reason, might I add, I would suggest going for some of the more low-key Order members. Charlie would certainly be up for it if I contacted him, and then you have people like Hagrid or even Kingsley."

"Kingsley would not go behind Dumbledore's back." Harry immediately interjected, knowing that Kingsley was one of the more senior Order members and certainly one that he pegged as very loyal to Dumbledore.

"Harry…" It was Arthur who spoke up next, his hesitant tone putting Harry on edge, "I do not think Dumbledore is your enemy." Harry batted down the feeling of anger that his words created deep inside him, before responding in a carefully controlled tone, Hermione likewise fuming beside him.

"He tried to have me killed."

"And he regretted it immediately thereafter. He told me so himself." Arthur said with growing fervour, and that caught Harry by surprise.

"Why did he not do something then? He could have resolved this mess if he so wanted, and yet he did nothing." It was Hermione who spoke up before he could, and unlike when he spoke, the anger in her voice was evident. It was almost funny, Harry thought, just how drastically their perspectives had changed in the last few months, that it was now Hermione who was going against authority figures.

"He couldn't do anything." Mr Weasley replied in a pleading tone, "He was bound to an unbreakable vow. He had to go through with it." This argument seemed to take the wind out of Hermione's sails, and Harry could feel some deep part of him relax at that piece of news. Because as much as he disliked Dumbledore's decision and what he'd tried to do to him, he didn't hate the man. In all honesty, he didn't even think the decision had been a bad one in the larger picture. That didn't mean he had to like it.

And his feelings about the headmaster were quite the opposite of hate, too. He still saw Dumbledore as a sort of a mentor figure, and the only person who could in the end defeat Voldemort. So, the fact that Dumbledore wasn't actually hellbent on catching him and having him killed did some great things to his morale. He still had no intentions of trusting the headmaster any time soon, but it seemed that he at least wasn't their enemy.

"Think on what I've told you, alright?" Mr Weasley added upon seeing that neither he nor Hermione were going to respond, the group still standing in the foyer in front of the front door.

"I will." Harry said tersely, before once more looking at his wristwatch, "We really do need to get going, but we'll be back tomorrow." He repeated himself, adding after a brief moment, "Thank you again. For everything."

"No need to thank us, dear. You are always welcome here. Both of you." Molly said tearfully, giving him another tight hug before they said their goodbyes, and he slipped the invisibility cloak over himself and Hermione. A few moments later, they were outside, walking towards the edge of the wards and disapparating immediately upon reaching them.

A split second later they landed inside their room with a quiet 'pop', their sudden arrival causing poor Hedwig to screech and nearly fall off the edge of the window, the owl glaring at them as she recovered.

"Sorry, Hedwig." Harry said with a barely concealed smile, releasing Hermione's hand and walking over to pet his glaring friend.

"That went rather well." Commented Hermione as he petted his owl, and Harry gave a hum of agreement.

"Considering our track record, it went almost too smoothly." He half-joked, their luck with getting themselves into trouble being truly incredible. It was a speciality of his, really, to be able to always get himself in way over his head. With his luck, he was half expecting Lord Voldemort himself to pop out of his toilet the next time he went for a poo.

"True." Hermione responded, looking fondly at him and Hedwig, adding after a moment, "And with Bill and Fleur on board, we now have two more wands on our team, not to mention an expert in dealing with wards."

"We should probably inform the General about that, shouldn't we? I mean I know he gave us permission to recruit, but I'd rather not have Bill shot once we bring him here." Hermione nodded at his suggestion, before looking out of the window, where the sun was by now well and truly starting to slip behind the horizon.

"Agreed. Not tonight though, I'm knackered. All this emotion and heavy topics took more energy than I feel it should have." Hermione said while rubbing tiredly at her eyes, and Harry could relate to how she was feeling. Seeing the Weasleys again had been both a balsam for his soul, as well as a reopening of the wounds and memories of why they were in the position that they were in.

They could have… should have, really, been finishing their sixth year at Hogwarts, but instead they were still on the run from the wizards, trying to find objects containing the soul pieces of an evil dark lord, all the while training with the Muggle military to kill the aforementioned lord. And to top it all off, Harry himself was a container for one of Voldemort's soul pieces, which meant he would have to die for him to become mortal.

If it wasn't happening to him, Harry would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. Then again, he was Harry Potter, and Harry had long ago realised that he was not meant to live out his life in peace, or it seemed to live out his life at all. Because he knew that the closer they came to killing Voldemort, the closer he was to having to die.

He fondly watched as Hermione went to prepare tea for them, knowing all of it was worth it for her, for them. He would die, yes, but so many others would get to live their lives in peace, without the fear that the entire country was now blanketed in. Harry didn't much want to die, but for that, for her, he would do so gladly once the time came.