"I'm telling you, George. I sent that order out yesterday." Fred rolled his eyes, mindlessly playing with an Aviatomobile. He drove the little blue toy car high in the air before letting it fall into his open palm.
"Well, when you complete an order you have to mark it as completed and move it into this envelope." George ran a hand through his hair, shaking the leather bound 'Completed Orders' envelope in front of his brother's face.
"And I'll do it next time. I just forget sometimes." Fred dismissed him. I glanced up from where I was sitting on George's bed, leaning against the wall behind me as I warily watched the two. This sounds like an argument waiting to happen.
"Alright, well, you also need to make sure you're sending them out in the order we received them because it looks like Alys Atwood should've gotten her Fanged Frisbee before—" George looked frustrated when his sentence was cut off by their mother calling us from downstairs, Fred however looked relieved as he quickly left his scolding brother.
"I hate him sometimes." George frowned, carefully arranging the envelope back where it belonged on the makeshift filing cabinet he had made on his desk.
"It'll all be over soon and then you'll be back in the shop selling your products the way you like to." I assured him as I walked up behind him, wrapping my arms around his middle.
"I'll be more excited when I don't have to share a room with the bloke anymore." He grumbled and turned to sit on the edge of his desk, slightly parting his legs so I could stand between them.
I ran my hands lightly up his chest until they rest on each of his shoulders. "You were sneaking into Ginny's room with me most nights." I teased.
"I know but now she's home. I've been too spoiled by our flat." He laughed, his hands coming to rest in the back pockets of my jeans. "I like a bit of cuddling at night and I'm not just going to crawl in bed with Freddie."
"Well," I exhaled. "You're welcome to sneak back in when she goes back to school in a couple days." I lightly pressed my lips to his, not giving him the kind of kiss I know he's been needing.
He groaned when I pulled away, instantly capturing my lips in yet another quick kiss. "Are you trying to seduce me?" His tone was teasing as he smiled down at me.
"I thought I made that pretty clear." I grinned, lightly ruffling his hair and stepping away from him. "But for now we better get downstairs and see what your Mum wants."
"Alright, alright." He sighed, straightening his desk up once more before following me from his room and down the stairs. Mrs. Weasley was already setting a plethora of dishes on the table for dinner.
Ever since the Christmas holidays have ended she has been throwing herself into her house work. This year the holidays hadn't acted as a carefree and joyous end to the year. They were just a reminder of all the danger going on around us. The only children who were home for them were George, Fred, and Ginny. Ron and his friends are off doing Merlin knows what, Percy is still tightly wound up the Minister's ass, and even Bill and Fleur opted to stay home at Shell Cottage. They said they wanted to spend the holidays alone for their first year as a married couple, though I can't imagine wanting to spend Christmas anywhere but the Burrow. In a couple days it would be a new year. Who knows what 1998 will bring? It's a thought that has been silently plaguing us all.
I joined the table, taking my usual spot between George and Ginny. Everyone was silent as they served themselves, their mother pouring drinks before sitting down herself. Mr. Weasley was actually joining us on time today. He's been working hard at the Ministry, partially because of his status as a "blood traitor." After my trial, Yaxley has been giving him a particularly hard time. Hermione hadn't altered anyone else's memories, and though Umbridge certainly had the last say, Yaxley had not been pleased to see me let go. I'm sure he put two and two together and realized what had happened that day. We were all slightly shocked I hadn't been brought back for a re-trial.
"How was your day today, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked tentatively, her eyes scanning her husband's spent face.
"The same, I suppose." He sighed, wiping his mouth with his napkin before setting his fork down. "I think they're starting to realize the number of Muggle-borns that were employed there. It's getting quite empty...though I guess that's what they'd want, isn't it?"
"So, they haven't slowed down the trials at all?" Ginny asked before spooning peas into her mouth.
Mr. Weasley shook his head, his mouth pressed into a thin line. "If anything I'd say it's getting more severe as they continue to stretch what they can get away with. Less and less people are walking away with their wands, but that's not even the worst. A lot have found themselves in Azkaban."
"Well, good thing we dodged that one." Fred nudged my shoulder, grinning through a mouthful of chicken.
"I wouldn't quite say that yet. All of us aren't what they consider 'friends' at the moment." Their father sighed. "The Snatchers probably wouldn't hesitate to get their hands on any member of our family...and like I've said, Leah, though we dodged Umbridge, there are still plenty of people at the Ministry who don't think you should be walking free. Yaxley being the worst of them."
I nodded my understanding, quiet falling over the table once again. We ate the rest of dinner with minimal conversation. Mrs. Weasley eventually began asking Ginny if she was packed and ready to go back to Hogwarts when a distant boom sounded. Almost like a cannon had gone off just over the hill. My fingertips instinctively grazed my wand, all of us waiting to hear if there would be another noise.
Mr. Weasley walked over to the kitchen window, looking towards the direction of the boom. "That sounded like it came from Xenophilius' home...I should check on him and Luna."
"Arthur, it's not safe. We don't know what could have caused that explosion." Mrs. Weasley argued, peering through the window for herself.
"It was probably another one of his experiments gone wrong. I have to make sure they're alright. Especially after what happened with poor Pandora..." He sighed. "I shouldn't be gone longer than half an hour."
Mrs. Weasley stayed quiet as her husband trekked out past the barrier. Fred and I gathered up everyone's dishes and started to clean up dinner while Ginny locked up the chickens in their coop for the night.
What he had said would be a half an hour turned into fifteen minutes. Mr. Weasley walked back across the threshold, his face pale and his eyebrows knit together. He only seemed to remember we were expecting to hear what had happened when he saw us in the sitting room.
"What happened, Dad?" George scooted closer to me so his dad could join us on the couch.
"Xenophilius is in Azkaban." Mr. Weasley breathed out, shaking his head in shock.
"But he isn't Muggle-born...nor was Pandora! What could they have possibly wanted with him!?" Mrs. Weasley spoke over her children's chorus of confused 'whats.'
"I'm not sure...maybe his open support of Harry in his magazine the Quibbler?" Mr. Weasley stared at the rug, deep in thought. "There was a group of Death Eaters taking him away. He just kept yelling. 'I'm sorry, Arthur! I had to, they have her!' Over and over again before I was told to leave." A chill ran down my spine at his words. "But the strangest thing was that there was a large hole in the side of their house. Which I assume was the loud boom we heard."
"Those skeevy Snatchers must have found their own way in." Fred scoffed.
"What about Luna?" Concern flooded Ginny's features. "Where was Luna?"
"I—I don't know." Mr. Weasley admitted. "I didn't really get to explore the house but she wasn't outside..."
"What if they got her?" She protested.
"We'll go right over and check for her. The Snatchers should be gone by now." Her father assured her, standing from his place on the couch once again. Fred and George stood with him and after a very brief argument, the three men were off again.
Mrs. Weasley lifted the basket of now clean laundry from where she had earlier sat it by the stairs and carried it towards the bedrooms. Ginny and I were left in the sitting room, her focus directed on where she was nervously picking at her nails. "I can't go back without her." She grumbled.
"Without Luna?"
She nodded, finally looking up to meet my eyes. "She's my best friend. Even though she might be—different—I can't imagine going back to that horrible school without her. Who else'll keep me out of trouble?"
"Sneaking into Snape's office and trying to steal the Sword of Gryffindor was you keeping out of trouble?" I made an attempt to lighten the mood.
She rolled her eyes, a smile gracing her lips. "Yes, actually. If you had any idea what she talked me out of, you would understand."
"I don't doubt it." I teasingly nudged her. "Please keep yourself safe though, Gin, with the Carrows especially."
"As long as you keep yourself safe." She countered.
"Ginny. I'm locked up here pretty much every day with about a hundred protective spells. I'm as safe as can be." I giggled.
"Okay, fine." She laughed, leaning into me slightly. "I'll be good."
"I'm relieved to hear that come from your mouth, dear." Mrs. Weasley sighed as she came back down the stairs, her laundry basket already filled with her even more dirty laundry. I wish she'd make her sons do their own laundry, they're getting a bit too spoiled with living at home.
She set down her basket, affectionately brushing her daughter's hair off her forehead before walking past her into the kitchen. A distant popping sound announced the return of the Weasley men and Ginny ran over to the kitchen door to greet them. From the look I exchanged with George I knew it wasn't good news.
"If she was there, she isn't anymore." Mr. Weasley solemnly announced. I wrapped my arms around Ginny, letting her bury her face in my neck.
"We found this." George shook his head, slapping a copy of the Quibbler onto the kitchen table. Harry's face stared back up at me from it's cover.
"Undesirable No. 1!?" I scoffed. "Do you think they made him print that? Maybe he resisted and they took him to Azkaban instead?" I struggled to make sense of it. The Quibbler had been very vocal of it's support of Harry and Dumbledore ever since Voldemort's return.
"I don't think so." Fred sighed. "He had a whole load of them printed already."
"And it gets weirder." Mr. Weasley added. "It looked like he had dinner set up for four."
"Doubt he invited the Snatchers in for any of his weird tea." Fred muttered.
"We have to do something!" Ginny suddenly spoke up. "Yes everything else is strange but there's something more important that you all seem to be forgetting!! Luna is missing. We have to find her!"
A silence fell over us and George wrapped a comforting arm around my waist. "Ginny, I'm sorry but it seems they've taken her to Azkaban with her father. There's nothing we can do." Mr. Weasley finally spoke.
"So we're just not going to do anything?" She scoffed.
"You know we can't, dear. It's far too dangerous." Mrs. Weasley looked sick at the thought of the young girl in such a dark and horrible place. Ginny didn't say anything else on the matter, but just huffed and ran upstairs.
Luna would be added to the list of disappearances, and she wasn't even a Muggle-born. Others that have already disappeared were still on the run, including Dean Thomas, Ted Tonks, and Dirk Cresswell. The three of them haven't been heard from in months, and I can only hope it's because they've managed to stay hidden for that long.
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