𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 ; 𝒹.𝒽

nine

Hagrid knocked on the door, and Harry opened it almost immediately. He smiled and hugged Hagrid before Ron and Zoya pushed past him, attacking Harry with a hug.

"You're looking fit!" Hagrid said.

"Yeah, he's absolutely gorgeous." Mad-Eye said with faux humor, "What say we get undercover before someone murders him?" He asked, walking inside.

He plopped a bag in the middle of the empty living room. The rest of the group walked in little by little, Iniya and Darren introducing themselves to Harry, Hermione, and Luca.

Aurora walked in, she gave Harry a tight hug, "How are you?"

"Alright." He said with smile. Arthur, Althena, Maxwell, and Mad-Eye closed the curtains as Harry watched everyone, "Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Prime Minister."

"You are more important." He replied.

Bill and Fleur walked in and looked to Harry, "Who–"

"Bill Weasley." He said, holding out his hand with a comforting smile.

"Oh, pleasure to meet you."

"He was never always this handsome." Fred said as he walked inside, hinting to the claw marks on Bill's face.

George sauntered in, "Dead ugly." He added, going to stand by Aurora.

"True enough." Bill said with a chuckle, "Owe it all to a werewolf, name of Greyback. Hope to repay the favor one day."

"I'll gladly help you out with that, Bill." Althena spoke up.

"Oh, well you're still beautiful to me, William." Fleur said, kissing his cheek.

"Just remember, Fleur, Bill takes his steaks on the raw side now." Remus said as he walked inside with Tonks.

"My husband, the joker." Tonks said with a smile as she looked at him fondly, "By the way, wait till you hear the news. Remus and I–"

Tonks' words were cut off by Mad-Eye pushing through them, "Oh, all right! All right! We'll have time for a cozy catch-up later. We've got to get the hell out of here... and soon!"

Arthur, and Maxwell all stood behind Mad-Eye as he faced the group, "Potter, you're underage, which means you've still got the trace on you."

"What's the trace?"

"If you sneeze, the Ministry will know you wipes your nose." Althena said, crossing her arms.

"The point is, we have to use those means of transport the trace can't detect– brooms, thestrals, and the like. We go in pairs." Mad-Eye said.

"That way, if anyone's out there waiting for us–which there is a possibility– they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one." Maxwell explained.

"The real one?" Harry questioned.

Mad-Eye took out a flask, "I believe you're familiar with this particular brew."

He shook his head, "No. Absolutely not."

"I told you he'd take it well." Hermione said.

"Uh, no. If you think I'm gonna let everyone risk their lives for me, I–"

"Never done that before, have we?" Ron spoke up sarcastically.

"Yeah... remember that time–" Zoya's words were cut off by Harry.

"No! No. This is different. I mean, taking that, becoming me– no!"

"Well, none of us really fancy it, mate." Fred said.

"Yeah. Imagine if something went wrong and we ended up a scrawny, specky git forever." George teased, earning a sigh from Harry, "Darling, would you still fancy me if that happened?" He asked Aurora.

She avoided eye contact, "So, this mission–"

"Hey!" George exclaimed, "You didn't answer the question!"

"Everyone here is of age, Harry." Maxwell softly spoke up, capturing the attention of everyone in the room, "They've all agreed to take the risk. We know what the cost might be."

Mundungus cleared his throat from his spot beside Remus, Althena, and Kingsley, "Technically, I've been coerced. Mundungus Fletcher, Mister Potter. Always been a huge admirer."

Althena, Remus, and Kingsley all stared at him strangely as Mad-Eye snapped, "Nip it, Mundungus!!"

"All right, Kien, as discussed." Maxwell said.

Zoya pulled a strand of Harry's hair and he winced, "Blimey, Zoya!"

She put it into the flask Mad-Eye held. It began to fizz lightly as he swirled the liquid lightly and walked to the group, "For those of you who haven't taken Polyjuice Potion before, fair warning, it tastes like Goblin piss." He said, handing the flask to Fred first.

"Have a lot of experiences with that, do you, Mad-Eye?" Fred questioned. Mad-Eye stared at him as Fred brought the flask to his lips, "Just trying to defuse the tension."

Mad-Eye ignored his question, as the flask was passed around.

Aurora, Darren, Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Zoya, Fleur, and Darren were the ones to transform.

Fred and George looked at another, "Wow! We're identical!"

"Not yet, you're not." Mad-Eye said, nodding to the bag he brought with him.

Fred and George opened it up, dumping out the clothes inside.

"You haven't got anything a bit more sporting, have you?" George asked.

"Yeah, I don't really fancy this color." Fred added.

Althena spoke up, "Well, fancy this. You're not you. So shut it, and strip."

"At least take me out first, Althena." Fred cheekily replied, earning a slap over the head by Zoya, Mad-Eye, and Estella.

"All right all right!" Fred exclaimed as he chuckled.

Everyone changed, "All right, everyone will need to be pairing off. We've already decided who's going with who. Harry?" He asked. Everyone who looked like him answered, "The real Harry. Where in the devil are you, anyway?"

Harry raised his hand, "Here."

"You'll ride with Hagrid." Maxwell said.

Hagrid looked down at Harry, "I brought you here 16 years ago when you were no bigger than a bow truckle. Seems only right that I should be the one to take you away now."

"Yes, it's all very touching. Let's go!" Mad-Eye exclaimed.

Everyone walked outside, mounting broomsticks and Thestrals, "Meet at the Burrow, we rendezvous there! On the count of three!"

"Hold tight, Harry!" Hagrid said, starting up the motorbike.

"One... two... three!"