Literally, the second we are in the skies, shit happens.
"DUCK, HARRI!"
"Where?"
I nearly shit myself as a green jet of light whistles past my ear.
Hagrid veers the motorcycle sharply left, and I have to hold onto the sides of the side car so tightly to prevent myself from falling out.
I crane my neck, trying to see what is happening. My blood goes cold as I see hundreds of Death Eaters on broomsticks following us.
"Hagrid! Fly faster!" I yell as loudly as I can, panic causing my heart to rise in my throat.
"I'm on it!" Hagrid bellows back, "just hold tight there, Harri!"
I feel sick as Hagrid accelerates the motorcycle forwards. Jets of wand light narrowly miss us and I hope and pray that the rest of the Guard are okay.
And then Hagrid rolls the motorbike over. I lose any sense of where I am as I cling to the sidecar for dear life. Hedwig's cage slips from beneath my knees-
"No - HEDWIG!"
My heart is in my mouth as I manage to seize the top of her cage. The motorbike swings the right way up again and I have a second's relief. Then a burst of green lights slams into the cage. Hedwig screeches.
"No - NO!"
I pull the cage to my lap, not being able to take it in as the snowy owl lies motionless on the floor.
"Hedwig?"
But she doesn't stir.
*****
I bump into Voldemort again and he yet again fails miserably to kill me.
He really needs to give it up.
*****
We crash land into a muddy pond. But I don't care as I'm so relieved to be back on solid(ish) ground, and in one piece to boot.
"Harri!" A voice cries out as Hagrid and I stagger out of the water. "Rubeus!"
I look up to see Molly running towards us, her face stricken.
"Where are the others?" I ask as she dries me at once with the flick of her wand.
Molly pales considerably and I feel sick. "You're first back, dear."
"Haven't go' any brandy, have yeh, Molly?" Hagrid asks a little shakily. "Fer medicinal purposes?"
"Ron and Tonks should have been back first," Molly whispers, ignoring Hagrid's request. "And Arthur and Fred were supposed to be second..."
She tails off, shaking, and I feel a horrific sensation knot unpleasantly in my chest. Suddenly I cannot breathe and lights begin to dot my vision.
"Mum!" Ginny shouts, racing from the Burrow towards us and pointing up to a spot in the sky. "Look!"
I spin around, my heart thudding hopefully.
Lupin and George appear, flying haphazardly down towards us from the sky. I know instantly something is wrong as they fall off the broomstick.
George is unconscious, face covered in blood. My stomach lurches at the sight and I hurry forward to help Lupin carry him to the Burrow where we lie him down on the sofa.
"Oh my George, my precious boy!" Molly sobs as she hugs her now semi earless son.
I'm about to say something reassuring when Lupin goes and does a Dumbledore on me and throws me against a wall.
"WE'VE BEEN BETRAYED!" He screams in my face, pinning me roughly to the wall as he jabs his wand in my neck.
"Remus," Hagrid says sternly, "there's no need for this-"
"THERE'S EVERY NEED!" Remus snarls giving me such a hard shake that my glasses almost fall off my nose. "This could be an imposter!"
"I am Harri!" I say angrily, annoyed at being manhandled like this.
"Then tell me what I showed Harri Potter in our first private tuition together?!"
"Your vast selection of chocolate hidden in your desk drawer."
He lets me go, satisfied with this answer. "Sorry, Harri," he says gruffly, "you just can't be too sure these days."
I noticed he didn't bother roughing up Molly or Hagrid though.
Before we can all check on George's head hole, there's a noise outside and so we all run out, eager to see who made it back in one piece.
It's Hermione and Kingsley.
Lupin goes all loony on the latter.
"The last words Albus Dumbledore spoke to the pair of us?"
"Harriet is the best hope we have. Trust her ."
Oh for fuck's sake. I honestly hate how Dumbledore is literally putting the whole entire world on my shoulders even after Snape did us all a favour and killed him.
I'm seething so much at this fact that I do not notice the next arrivals until someone grabs my arm and spins me around.
The breath all but evacuates my lungs as I find myself looking up into the face of the boy I'd been longing to see since the moment we'd arrived.
"Fred-" I gasp at the same time as he says, "Harri-"
My heart seems to grow three times its size as I experience such an overwhelming relief that he is alive and well. I just want to hug him, hold onto him tight and never let him go.
Instead, we just look at one another, the relief flooding in his eyes matching my own.
"You're safe," Fred murmurs, not letting go of my arm, "I was so worried-"
"George-" I interrupt, knowing Fred needs to know, "he's hurt."
Fred's face instantly pales. "Where is he?" He murmurs, looking frantically around.
"Inside."
Fear on his face, Fred lets me go and races towards the Burrow at once.
"My boy!" Arthur cries, running behind Fred to go and see the damage Snape has caused to his family.
I am about to follow when Tonks and Ron appear. I watch as Hermione flies at Ron, hugging him hard like I wish I'd hugged Fred.
I hover next to them, feeling awkward, but when they finally let go of one another, they both turn to look at me.
"We're going to beat him," Hermione reassures me, pulling me towards her so that the three of us can hug together. "We'll help you end this, Harri. We promise."
Ron starts to protest but Hermione quickly hits his arm, shutting him up.
Before I can tell Ron about George, Bill and Fleur arrive on the back of a Thestral.
"Mad-Eye's dead." Bill says bluntly, helping a crying Fleur to the ground. "Mundungus fled like the coward he is."
I feel a swoop of something unpleasant go through me. I cannot breathe, I cannot think.
"Go inside," I instruct Ron and Bill. "George is hurt and he needs you right now."
Hermione and Fleur follow them in, leaving me alone outside which I am so bloody grateful for.
I go back to the muddy pond Hagrid and I had landed the motorcycle into, and I begin to search desperately for Hedwig's cage.
But the sidecar is empty, all the contents having been scattered into the sky during our tumoltous journey. I know deep down that I had lost Hedwig up there too when Voldemort had flown up to me and all I was aware of was the pain in my forehead and nothing else.
Had I been clutching the cage when Hagrid and I had escaped him? I think hard. No, I don't think I had been.
I start to cry then, thinking of Hedwig's lifeless body falling to the ground. I won't get to bury him, or even get to say goodbye. Just like with Sirius and just like with my parents.
"Harri?"
I whirl around to see Fred approaching me from the Burrow. I quickly wipe my sleeves over my face before he gets close enough to see I've been crying.
"What are you still doing out here?" He murmurs gently as he nears. "Mum wants to know if you want a brandy?"
I shake my head, even though it's dark and he probably cannot see. But I don't trust my voice to work properly yet, my sadness causing an unbearable ache in my throat.
"Harri? Are you alright?" Fred stops in front of me, face frowning down at me.
I shake my head again. "Hedwig's dead." I whisper, my voice breaking with emotion.
I suddenly find myself engulfed in Fred's arms, and the feeling of coming home is so overwhelming, combined with my grief, that I just break down in tears, sobbing hard against Fred's chest as I cling onto him so incredibly tight, my fists clutching his jacket.
"Oh, Harri," Fred soothes in my ear, his voice filling me with such incredible comfort. "I'm so sorry."
It's as though the past year has never happened. Being with Fred like this is so familiar and so right, that I almost forget how he completely broke my heart.
But I'm too raw with grief and unhappiness to think about that right now, and instead draw as much comfort out of this moment as I can.
I hear the sound of the door opening and I cling to Fred that little tighter, knowing that this glorious moment is about to end. I don't fail to notice that Fred does the same, his beating heart pressed up against mine as his arms hold me a fraction tighter.
"Fred? Harri?" Molly's voice calls out. "Come inside. We're about to raise a glass to Alistor!"
I hear Fred sigh above me, but he doesn't let me go. "You don't have to," he murmurs quietly. "I can make an excuse for you."
"No, it's okay, I'll come in." I say weakly, taking a deep shaky breath. "I just needed a moment, that's all."
Fred nods in understanding as we pull away, our arms seeming reluctant to part.
"Are you sure?" he says, seeming hesitant to leave me.
I nod and try to smile. "You go in. I'll be in in a minute."
He reaches out and takes my hand, his fingers curling softly around mine. I close my eyes and sigh, simply revelling in his touch.
And then he lets it go, and when I open my eyes again, he is already making his way back to the Burrow.
I take one last sorrowful look up in the sky, saying a silent goodbye to Hedwig before I head inside, raising a glass to the bastard who ineffectively killed her.
*****