Pennelope and the Hallows (Harry Potter Love Story) book 7

Death, death, and - oh hey - DEATH!

I swung my legs off the side; I need to see my friends. I need to see Pennelope. I barely stood up, however, when a door opened and Hagrid squeezed through it, his face covered in mud and blood, limping a little but miraculously alive.

"Harry!" Knocking over two tables and an aspidistra, he covered the floor between us in two strides and pulled me into a hug that nearly cracked my newly repaired ribs. "Blimey, Harry, how did yeh get out o' that? I thought we were both goners."

"Yeah, me too. I can't believe-"

I broke off, Pennelope jumped out of a door, her hands on her hips and her head held high as she took a superior stance.

"I'm all better now," she smiled, blowing a strand of hair from her face. "Harry!" She brushed the woman off her and ran forward, jumping into my arms, I ignored the pain and embraced the feeling of having the woman I love with me, all okay.

"The Portkey's through here," Ted said behind me. "It's supposed to leave in three minutes, if you want to take it."

"Yes, we do," I said, one arm wrapped around Pennelope and the other grabbing my rucksack and swinging it into my shoulders. "Thanks for everything."

We followed Ted Tonks along a short hallway and into a bedroom. Hagrid came after us, bending low to avoid hitting his head in the door lintel.

"There you go, son. That's the Portkey."

Tonks pointed to a small, silver-backed hairbrush lying on the dressing table.

"Thanks," I said, placing a finger on it beside Pennelope, ready to leave.

"Wait a minute," Hagrid said, looking around. "Harry, where's Hedwig?"

I kept silent, Pennelope looked around, glanced at me, then looked up at Hagrid.

"Hagrid. . . She . . . She got hit," she muttered, her face strained with the effort to hide emotions, I knew deep down she was weeping for the lost friend.

The realisation crashed over me: I felt ashamed of myself as the tears stung my eyes. The owl had been my companion, my one great link with the magical world whenever I had been forced to return to the Dursleys.

Hagrid reached out a great hand and patted me painfully on the shoulder.

"Never mind," he said gruffly. "Never mind. She had a great old life -"

"Hagrid!" Ted Tonks said warningly, as the hairbrush glowed bright blue, and Hagrid only just got his forefinger to it in time.

With a jerk behind the navel as though an invisible hoik and line had dragged me forward, I was pulled into nothingness, spinning uncontrollably, my fingers glued to the Portkey as we hurtled away from Mr. Tonks. A second later my feet slammed into hard ground and I fell into my hands and knees in the yard of the burrow.
I heard screams. Throwing aside the no longer glowing hairbrush, I stood up, swaying slightly, and saw Mrs. Weasley and Ginny running down the steps by the back door as Hagrid, who also collapsed on landing, clambered laboriously to his feet. Pennelope wobbled forward, falling into Ginny's arms.

"What happened? Where are the others?" Mrs. Weasley cried.

"Is no one else back?" Pennelope asked, jolting up, her eyes wide with fear.

The answer was clearly etched in Mrs. Weasleys pale face.

"The Death Eaters were waiting for us," I told her, following Pennelope and Ginny until they entered the burrow. "We were surrounded the moment we took off - they knew it was tonight - I don't know what happened to anyone else, four of them chased us, it was all we could do to get away, and then Voldemort caught up with us -"