*George's Prov*
The news that Dumbledore is dead spread fast and changed a lot. Now the fear of an upcoming war has to be taken seriously. One of the mightiest man just got killed and marks the beginning of many more crimes to follow.
Not to mention that while some Death Eaters fought in Hogwarts, however they managed to break the safety spells around it, others fought in the ministry and almost managed to overrun it. Luckily just almost. We all just wait for the time they will try it a second time.
Currently my brother and girlfriend are leading me towards our seats next to Mum and Dad. Bill is still in the Hospital because of his brutal attack but he is recovering. Madam Pomfrey is sure, it will only leave some scars behind and luckily no Lycanthropy.
I drum my fingers on my knees once I'm settled and try anything to get my mind of the stress I'm feeling. It's surreal to be at the funeral of your own headmaster, not to mention that you almost lost two brothers in the span of half a year. I know I have plenty, but still doesn't that mean I want to lose any of them.
We are family. We belong together.
Anne who sits beside me, realizes how nervous I am and places her hand on mine, squeezing it softly. Her thumb gently strokes knuckles and surprisingly calming me down during the process.
I look around at all the wizards and witches that arrived today to pay respect to a fallen wizard. I'm surely surprised at the amount of creatures I see here too. Dumbledore really made himself a reputation during his long life.
I regret that Fred and I never got him those socks we wanted to prank him with. He would have been a great and fun target after all. He had style in the end.
At the front someone steps on the podium and everyone goes silent.
The longer we sit underneath the sun, the warmer it gets. The day is too beautiful to be a funeral. This feels like the end. The end of easy times. This marks officially the beginning of the war. The funeral took long and so many handkerchiefs were passed around. My brother and I had to comfort Mum and Dad, meanwhile Ron and Ginny are somewhere in the front near Harry.
When it's over we all gather together. Mum is still in tears and Fred tries his best to cheer her up. Anne excuses herself for some time and walks over to two girls, falling into a conversation with them. If I remember correctly those used to be dorm mates.
"What are you doing afterwards?," Dad asks, putting back on his glasses he just cleaned on a cloth.
"We need to head back to the store and open it. Money doesn't make itself with doing nothing," I say.
Mum is comforted by Fred to react. The past events really took their toll on her.
"Let's just hope the sales don't decrease too fast," Dad states.
"I hope so too."
With a war approaching it is just a matter of time when people stop shopping to retreat themselves and focus on what is important and honestly, joke products aren't the necessity, but they make life so much more bearable.
"It's okay Mum. It's okay," Fred rubs her shoulder a bit helpless.
Anne comes back from her short talk.
"Is there anything else planned?," she asks: "Or can we go now? Funerals really do be long."
Mum throws her a glare: "It's to respect the dead."
"And why can't we pay respect at home?," she asks: "Why making all this fuzz about a man?"
"You have no empathy whatsoever!," Mum scolds her.
"Okay I think it is time for us to go," I try to deescalate the situation.
"Totally with you there brother. A store is waiting for us!," Fred agrees.
"Be careful," Mum says to us.
"Don't forget to write about the meeting," I remind Dad.
"I won't. I won't."
Both leave to find Ron and Ginny. We retreat to the apparition spots.
"Why has your Mum to be so emotional over everything? I didn't even insult Dumbledore this time," Anne says annoyed.
"I hope you'll at least attend my funeral once I'm dead," I joke.
"I'll burn you and put you into several smoke bombs. That way you still stick to people once you're dead."
"I have to admit, that isn't even such a bad idea," Fred agrees.
"Hey! We are talking about my ashes here. A bit more sympathy please. Could you at least colour the ashes so I'm pretty?"
She snorts: "Isn't that a better way to pay respect than making up lies about dead people? If I ever had a funeral I know exactly that over half of the stuff said will be made up to make me look better."
"To tell the truth about you would look like a really sad life," Fred agrees again.
"But why bother making something up about me? Just straight up tell those people I was a bitch and way better than Fred. Let's keep it real."
"Better than the glorious Fred? You? You can't even pay people that much to spread this about you," Fred exclaims.
Soon both are arguing and they didn't stop until we hit the apparation spot and had to apparate home.
I open the door to the store. Everything is dark, quiet and the way it should be.
"Something seems wrong," Anne suddenly says.
"Yeah you," Fred gives her a look.
"No. Someone was here," she runs up the stairs.
"What do you mean someone was here?," I follow her.
"Someone was in the store George. Someone that was neither of us."
"How can you be so su-," I almost crash into Anne.
The flat is one big mess. Everything was turned upside down, our shelves are opened and were looked through, papers lie around the floor. I take a step back.
"Fred," I shout downstairs: "Quick check the safe!"
Anne steps over the papers on the floor and opens our room. It doesn't look any better in here. Our clothes are spread all over the room.
"Ah come on, I just folded all of that yesterday!," I sigh.
With shaking hands Anne goes through her bedside table frantically searching for something.
"Did something go missing?," I ask once she slumps down defeated.
She nods: "By the first look of it yes."
Fred storms into the room. His eyes widen in shock.
"The safe was untouched, no one tried to break any spells. They didn't even touch the business documents."
I look over at Anne who pulls her legs up. I quickly go through my stuff, but everything important seems to be here at first glance.
"How much went missing from you?," I signal Fred to go through his stuff too.
With a nod he leaves the room.
"Not much, just a box."
"Guys we have a problem," Fred storms back into the room: "The order plans are gone. The next mission we planned can be forgotten now."
"Fred, please don't tell me you wrote all the information down there as well."
Anne looks at Fred, biting on her lower lip again.
"Good thing that I haven't. Remember when I told Bill to take those sheets with him?"
"Good thing you did," I agree.
"So they only got the plans for your fainting balls?," Anne asks.
"Yes and when and why we wanted to use them. If we try to spy, it will be useless. They know now that we have an underground organization going on and will do everything they can to be prepared for any possible attack from our side."
"Especially when they know when we wanted to do it. At least those fainting balls were just in planning. Can't imagine what they would do if they would actually work out," I say, shifting from one leg to the other.
"But they aren't dumb. They realized before that there will be a resistance group. Good for us that all important information sheets are with Bill in the end," Anne says: "Therefore we didn't bring the whole organization in danger, just one mission and we just won't do that one."
"There is still a problem though," I speak up.
They focus their attention on me. Fred puts a bra of Anne aside and sits on the bed as well.
"We aren't safe here any longer. I'm certain they haven't found what they were looking for originally. They will come back and I'm not fond of being here when they return."
Fred slowly nods: „You are right. We don't want to take any more risks after what happened in Hogwarts."
"Good. So we aren't going to open the store today and pack just the necessity. Best we go to the Burrow, Mum will be pleased and worried to see us," I think aloud.
"Isn't that a bit too dramatic?," Anne asks.
"Too dramatic? Anne this isn't something funny here. I'd rather be safe than sorry. Especially knowing that you are in danger. I'm not taking any risks when it comes to you."
She's quiet. I should have said something about this hidden man way sooner. Of course, he's after her. Dumb from all of us to assume that she's safe. Fred calps his hands.
"Alright, I'll quickly get my stuff and we can get out of here to bring little Anne into safety. That's settled then."
When he leaves the room Anne lets out a groan.
"I'm sorry for bringing you into danger. Again," she says running her hands over her face.
"You can't anything for that. But," I kneel down in front of her, placing my hands on her tights:" Tell me what was in that box?"
The girls eyes avoid mine.
"Anne, I need to know if it was something that could bring the order into danger. We have a duty to fulfil."
"In this box wasn't anything that could bring the order into danger," she falls with her back onto the mattress and rolls to the other side of the bed and stand up:" We should better pack I guess."
*Anne's Prov*
George sighs and pulls himself up from the floor to deal with his clothes.
I open the closet doors. My mind isn't really in the game. I know who broke into here. Caleb. He took the only thing that might seem worthless to anyone and not important but had a meaning.
Some letters he wrote me and our pictures together. Doesn't matter if they are from the holidays or a random party. At many moments I didn't even have a memory of but a picture.
I had all of them in there, secretly treasured. It is dumb to still keep them, but no matter how much I want to change it: Caleb is still family.
My family.
I hate myself so much for the fact that I just can't forget him, but he did so much for me that I just can't cut him out like that.
It would be the same with George. I wouldn't be able to just forget him either.
"Are you finished?," George asks me and puts his stuff into my luggage as well.
"Yes," I wipe my sweaty hands on my trousers:" We can go."
I charm the suitcase and we slowly move outside. Fred already waits for us.
"What a day, right?," he jokes.
"Tell me about it," I mutter.
"All of this will sort itself out," George says.
The rest went by in a blur. I was so occupied and under stress that I can't even recall how we managed to get into the burrow. How we ended up in the kitchen with some tea in our hands.
Molly and Arthur are quietly talking to themselves and I assume the twins already filled them in with what happened. I sip on my tea and feel the stare of George on me. I choose to ignore it.
"Your mother and I have come to the conclusion that it's best if you stay here permanently for a while and that you shouldn't open the store too."
"Dad, we can't just abandon the store from one day to the other. We still need to go back there. We have bills to pay," Fred says.
"Boys," he sits down:" I understand that and either does your mother, however it is too risky to go back there. They know now that you three are sure part of the order. Do you think they will just ignore that fact?"
"We also need to place a hide charm on our house, we just need a secret keeper in case someone might search for any Weasleys," Mrs. Weasley says with thick concern in her voice.
"They are right," I speak up, causing all to look at me: "Now they have evidence that you are potential danger, they don't hesitate to harm you. If all of them work a little bit like Caleb usually does, then they will get to you. We want to prevent that as best as we can."
"You can go back to the store once this calmed down, but I wouldn't open it. It's too dangerous," Mr. Weasley says.
"Bill heard that the owner of the ice cream parlour already got attacked. Many stores close, you two need to close too," Mrs. Weasley says.
"But for today it's best we just let the day pass by and deal with the rest tomorrow. It's hard enough as it is," Mr. Weasley suggests.
"I will prepare your rooms. Good thing that all of them are empty until the end of week when Ginny and Ron come back," Mrs. Weasley stands up and leaves upstairs, sheets trailing after her.
"What will happen to Hermione and Harry? Do you reckon they are safe where they are?," Fred asks.
Mr. Weasley goes quiet.
"Then we will get them here at last, won't we?," the boy asks again.
"We will. Hermione is already seventeen, she can apparate here without being trailed or searched down and she is a bright witch, she will consider taking many turns to confuse possible followers. We talked with her at the funeral already, Ron insisted to take her with us immediately after the train arrives, but I'm afraid we can't work that fast. As to Harry-"
"He isn't seventeen yet, is he?," George asks.
"That is the problem. It is, after the recent try to overthrow the ministry not safe enough to recruit any direct portkeys from where Harry lives or to apparate him. We must wait until he is seventeen to get him out. They will await a chance to get Harry."
"What if they attack him and those muggles he lives with earlier?"
"We have to hope that doesn't happen."
"And what if we need to get him out there earlier?," I ask.
"Then we need to figure out a plan B."
---
I lie in Ginny's bed that evening, cuddling into the blanket that I have wrapped around me, trying to sleep. For some bizarre reason did Mrs. Weasley put Fred and George in their old room and decided to separate me and George.
As if we hadn't slept together before anyways.
The silence in Ginny's room is almost calming. It is like you aren't really in reality and have nothing to do with all the trouble that is going on outside.
Though this here isn't something fictional or a story far away that doesn't affect you at all. This here is the harsh reality and once it affects you, you have no idea what really to do.
They could attack in any given moment or they could never attack at all and what is so unnerving about that is, that you never know when. So you are on danger mode all the time and it stresses you out.
You want to live your life normally, but at a certain point you just can't.
Soon, as I close my eyes, I can feel myself, lullabied by the silence of the room, drift off into a peaceful sleep.
---
*George's Prov*
I can't sleep.
Once it was the most normal thing for me to sleep next to Fred, but I forgot how loud he snores. I forgot how it feels to sleep alone in a small bed.
I catch myself wanting to cuddle into someone too often and at this point I doubt I'm even able to fall asleep tonight.
There is too much on my mind. So many questions that are unanswered. So much to think about.
No normal person could fall asleep immediately tonight.
I groan and turn onto the other side again.
Was it wrong of me to bring all of us here and bring my parents into danger?
What if all of this stops us from having a good future? I need to be alert all times to prevent something like that to happen.
Deciding that trying to sleep is useless, I stand up and walk silently out of the room making my way downstairs to Ginny's room. I need to be quiet because Mum and Dad are sleeping opposite that room.
The floor cracks underneath my feet and I stop my movements and listen if I can hear any sounds out of my parents room. Nothing. I continue to walk further and open the door.
Anne is sleeping peacefully and unaware of my presence. At least one of us isn't normal and is able to sleep after current events.
What I am worried the most isn't the store that we maybe have to close for some time now, we made enough money past this year to survive. I am also not worrying about them finding us here, since they haven't got a clue where the Burrow is and with a protective spell around here, we can even be more sure that we are safe from now on if we don't get into any major trouble.
No. What I am worrying about the most is the fact that Anne still has to go outside. She's the only one responsible for Logan and Cole currently. She also considered a job in this muggle city. A job I hope she doesn't take.
Not now at least. Though I would get her decision to still take it. It's her future we are talking about and after this war is over, she will need a career path as well.
I'm worried on what we might miss out with all of this on our backs.
I sigh and close the door again. I'm letting her sleep and walk further downstairs into the kitchen.
After everything there is still this question that lingers in my mind: "Why are they still after her?"