Bill and Fleur's wedding felt like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. The Burrow was full of chatter and movement as everyone prepared the house and the tent for the nearing ceremony. There was also a lot of shouting and ordering people around from Mrs Weasley and Fleur of course, but even then it felt nice to be hearing about problems with dress colours or hairstyles, instead of the actual problems going on elsewhere
There was also the stress of Mrs Weasley throwing Harry a big 17th birthday party the day before the wedding, and it all turned out to be worth it, until Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic, showed up and the Lupin family were quick to leave
Three o'clock the following afternoon guests began to pour in for Bill and Fleur's wedding, and while the boys were in charge of seating guests, Briar and Ginny were inside getting dressed since they were Fleur's bridesmaids
Ginny had put up a bit of a fuss about the colour of the dresses, which were gold, but when they had them on both girls could agree they actually liked them. And Fleur's little sister Gabrielle was the other bridesmaid and she also looked beautiful in it
Ginny's Great Aunt Muriel however disagreed with their dresses and made sure to tell them that as she handed Fleur her tiara
"Are you ready?" Briar asked her friend
"Yes," Fleur smiled nervously
"You look beautiful," she said and the two veelas shared a hug before Mrs Weasley alerted them that the ceremony was about to begin, so they all headed downstairs. Mr and Mrs Weasley were the firsts to head into the tent, followed by Fleur and her father Mr Delacour, and lastly came Ginny, Gabrielle, and Briar
When they all reached the altar, it was clear to everyone that no one else existed to Bill and Fleur but each other
"Ladies and gentlemen," began the priest, who was the same man who had presided at Dumbledore's funeral "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls..."
Briar glanced into the crowd seated and met her dad's eyes, seeing him smile widely. Next to him Tonks was smiling too, and Briar was reminded of their wedding day.
"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle Delacour to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do," Bill said and it sounded like he was trying very hard not to cry
"And do you Fleur Isabelle, take William Arthur Weasley to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do," she said in her throaty French accent, and Briar's heart burst with happiness for the pair
"Then I declare you bonded for life." The man smiled and the tent burst into cheers. He waved his hand high over the heads of Bill and Fleur and a shower of silver stars fell upon them, spiraling around their now entwined figures. As Fred and George led a round of applause, the golden balloons overhead burst. Birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew and floated out of them, adding their songs and chimes to the din. "Ladies and gentlemen!" called the tufty-haired wizard. "If you would please stand up!"
They all did so and he waved his wand again.The seats on which people had been sitting rose gracefully into the air as the canvas walls of the marquee vanished, so that they stood beneath a canopy supported by golden poles, with a glorious view of the sunlit orchard and surrounding countryside. Next, a pool of molten gold spread from the centre of the tent to form a gleaming dance floor; the hovering chairs grouped themselves around small, white-clothed tables, which all floated gracefully back to earth round it, and the golden-jacketed hand trooped toward a podium.
The crowd began to disperse to the edges of the room and Briar was quick to head to the newly weds
"Congratulations!" she cried and hugged them both "I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you," Bill smiled
The band had begun to play, Bill and Fleur took to the dance floor first, to great applause; after a while, Mr. Weasley led Madame Delacour onto the floor, followed by Mr. Weasley and Fleur's father.
The celebrations were absolutely beautiful and after such a long period of darkness and fear, Briar was simply relieved to be enjoying herself again, and seeing so many of her classmates was really nice
She shared many dances with Charlie and her dad, and seeing Viktor Krum there nearly made her faint in admiration, especially when she saw Gwenog Jones too. Both of her idols under one tent with her
Briar hadn't been allowed to join the Holyhead Harpies's summer training camp because of the threat of the Death Eaters and Voldemort, so she was glad to see Gwenog again so they could at least talk about quidditch and share ideas
But suddenly something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt. "The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."
Time seemed to slow down all of a sudden, and it was as if some people weren't sure what to do, others were preparing for a fight, and most people were frantically trying to find their friends and families and leave
Masked figures began to appear and Briar tried to reach her dad, but the bustling and chaos of the panicked crowd made it difficult
Somebody behind her pushed past rather harshly and Briar lost her balance, causing her to go falling towards the floor, but a hand caught her before she could, and she looked up to see it was Ron
He pulled her to her feet and they both ducked in time to miss a green light being sent their way
"Dad!" she screamed, desperate to get to him and go, but there were too many death eaters between them and she knew they could kill her first
So Ron pulled her in the opposite direction, keeping a tight hand on her so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd
"Ron!" Hermione shouted and Briar could see she and Harry were pushing their way towards the pair. And when Hermione caught hold of Ron's other arm, sight and sound were extinguished as darkness and Briar felt like her insides were twisting around, until everything came still again and she opened her eyes to see that the four of them were now standing in the middle of a dark, but busy road
"Where are we?" said Ron
"Tottenham Court Road," panted Hermione. "Walk, just walk, we need to find somewhere for you to change." They half walked, half ran up the wide dark street thronged with late-night revelers and lined with closed shops, stars twinkling above them.
"Hermione, we haven't got anything to change into," Ron told her
"Why didn't I make sure I had the Invisibility Cloak with me?" said Harry, inwardly cursing his own stupidity. "All last year I kept it on me and –"
"It's okay, I've got the Cloak, I've got clothes for both of you and Briar can borrow from me" saidHermione, "Just try and act naturally until – this will do." She led them down a side street, then into the shelter of a shadowy alleyway.
"When you say you've got the Cloak, and clothes . . " said Harry, frowning at Hermione, who was carrying nothing except her small beaded handbag, in which she was now rummaging.
"Yes, they're here," said Hermione, and she pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, some maroon socks, and finally the silvery Invisibility Cloak.
"How the ruddy hell – ?"
"Undetectable Extension Charm," said Hermione. "Tricky, but I think I've done it okay; anyway, I managed to fit everything we need in here." She gave the fragile-looking bag a little shake and it echoed like a cargo hold as a number of heavy objects rolled around inside it. "Oh, damn, that'll be the books, and I had them all stacked by subject. . . . Oh well. . . . Harry ,you'd better take the Invisibility Cloak. Ron, hurry up and change. . . ."
"When did you do all this?" Harry asked as Ron stripped off his robes.
"I told you at the Burrow, I've had the essentials packed for days, you know, incase we needed to make a quick getaway. I packed your rucksack this morning, Harry, after you changed, and put it in here. . . . I just had a feeling. . .."
"You're amazing, you are," said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.
"Thank you," said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag. "Please, Harry, get that Cloak on!"
Harry threw his Invisibility Cloak around his shoulders and pulled it up over his head, vanishing from sight. "The others – everybody at the wedding –"
"We can't worry about that now," said Briar "It's you they're after,Harry, and we'll just put everyone in even more danger by going back."
"She's right," said Ron "Most of the Order was there, they'll look after everyone."
Harry nodded "Yeah."
"Come on, I think we ought to keep moving," said Hermione. They moved back up the side street and onto the main road again
"Just as a matter of interest, why Tottenham Court Road?" Ron asked Hermione.
"I've no idea, it just popped into my head, but I'm sure we're safer out in the Muggle world, it's not where they'll expect us to be."
"True," said Ron, looking around, "but don't you feel a bit – exposed?"
"Where else is there?" asked Hermione "We can hardly book rooms at the LeakyCauldron, can we? And Grimmauld Place is out if Snape can get in there. . . . I suppose we could try my parents' home, though I think there's a chance they might check there. . . ."
"Let's sit down somewhere," Briar suggested "Look, this will do, in here!"
It was a small and shabby all-night café, but it was empty, so the four of them took seats around a table
"You know, we're not far from the Leaky Cauldron here, it's only in Charing Cross –"
"Ron, we can't!" said Hermione at once.
"Not to stay there, but to find out what's going on!"
"We know what's going on! Voldemort's taken over the Ministry, what else do we need to know?"
"Okay, okay, it was just an idea!" They relapsed into a prickly silence. A waitress shuffled over and Hermione ordered three cappuccinos since Harry was invisible. A pair of burly workmen entered the café and squeezed into the next booth.
Hermione dropped her voice to a whisper. "I say we find a quiet place to disapparate and head for the countryside.Once we're there, we could send a message to the Order."
"Can you do that talking Patronus thing, then?" asked Ron.
"I've been practicing and I think so," said Hermione.
"Well, as long as it doesn't get them into trouble, though they might've been arrested already. God, that's revolting," Ron added after one sip of the foamy, grayish coffee. The waitress had heard; she shot Ron a nasty look as she shuffled off to take the new customers' orders. The larger of the two workmen, who was blond and quite huge, waved her away. She stared, affronted. "Let's get going, then, I don't want to drink this muck," said Ron. "Hermione, have you got Muggle money to pay for this?"
"Yes, I took out all my Building Society savings before I came to theBurrow. I'll bet all the change is at the bottom," sighed Hermione, reaching for her beaded bag.
The two workmen made identical movements, and Harry and Briar mirrored them without conscious thought: All four of them drew their wands. Ron, a few seconds late in realising what was going on, lunged across the table, pushingHermione sideways onto her bench. The force of the Death Eaters' spells shattered the tiled wall where Ron's head had just been, as Harry, still invisible, yelled, "Stupefy!" The great blond Death Eater was hit in the face by a jet of red light: He slumped sideways, unconscious.
His companion, unable to see who had cast the spell, fired another at Ron: Shining black ropes flew from his wand-tip and boundRon head to foot – the waitress screamed and ran for the door – Harry sent another Stunning Spell at the Death Eater with the twisted face who had tied upRon, but the spell missed, rebounded on the window, and hit the waitress, who collapsed in front of the door.
"Expulso!" bellowed the Death Eater, and the table next to which Briar was standing blew up: The force of the explosion slammed her backwards, and she felt herself knock into Harry, causing the cloak to slip off him
"Levicorpus!" The Death Eater was quick to block her spell
He pointed his wand at the roof above her "Bombarda!"
"Wingardium Leviosa!" She cried before it could hit her and she threw it at him
"Reducto!" He yelled and the debris turned into dust, falling around his feet
"Petrificus Totalus!" screamed Hermione from out of sight, and the DeathEater fell forward like a statue to land with a crunching thud on the mess of broken china, table, and coffee.
Briar was quick to make her way to Ron "Diffindo!" The severed ropes fell away from him and she pulled him to his feet
Harry picked up his wand and climbed over all the debris to where the large blond Death Eater was sprawled across the bench. "I should've recognised him, he was there the night Dumbledore died," he said. He turned over the darker Death Eater with his foot; the man's eyes moved rapidly between Harry, Ron, Briar, and Hermione.
"That's Dolohov," said Ron. "I recognise him from the old wanted posters. I think the big one's Thorfinn Rowle."
"Never mind what they're called!" said Hermione a little hysterically. "How did they find us? What are we going to do?"
"Lock the door," Harry said "and Ron, turn out the lights." The lock clicked and Ron pulled out a lighter-looking object from his pocket, and plunged the café into darkness.
"What are we going to do with them?" Briar whispered "Kill them? They'd kill us. They had a good go just now."
Hermione shuddered and took a step backward. Harry shook his head. "We just need to wipe their memories," said Harry. "It's better like that, it'll throw them off the scent. If we killed them it'd be obvious we were here."
"You're the boss," said Ron, sounding profoundly relieved. "But I've never done aMemory Charm."
"Nor have I," said Hermione, "but I know the theory." She took a deep, calming breath, then pointed her wand at Dolohov's forehead and said, "Obliviate." At once, Dolohov's eyes became unfocused and dreamy.
"Brilliant!" said Harry, clapping her on the back. "Take care of the other one and the waitress while Ron and I clear up."
"Clear up?" said Ron, looking around at the partly destroyed café. "Why?"
"Don't you think they might wonder what's happened if they wake up and find themselves in a place that looks like it's just been bombed?"
"Oh right, yeah . . ." Ron struggled for a moment before managing to extract his wand from his pocket. "It's no wonder I can't get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they're tight."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows. Once the café was restored to its previous condition, they heaved theDeath Eaters back into their booth and propped them up facing each other.
"But how did they find us?" Hermione asked, looking from one inert man to the other. "How did they know where we were?"
"I still have the trace," Briar realised and she was quick to hand her wand to Hermione
"But if you can't do magic then-"
"I'm a veela remember?" she said "And an animagus, and a werewolf. I have more than one way of protecting myself"
"We need a safe place to hide," said Ron "Somewhere safe, but also Briar has to turn every month"
"Grimmauld Place," said Harry.
"Don't be silly, Harry, Snape can get in there!"
"There are jinxes up against him," Briar said "I had them put in once it became mine and even if they haven't worked I don't think Snape could take on all four of us"
"But –"
"Hermione, where else is there? It's the best chance we've got. Snape's only one Death Eater. We'll have whole crowds of them on us wherever else we go."
So with their decision made, Briar and them apparated to the front step of 12 Grimmauld Place. Inside it was the same, the only thing that was out of place was the troll's leg umbrella stand, which was lying on its side as if Tonks had just knocked it over again.
"I think somebody's been in here," Hermione whispered, pointing toward it.
"That could've happened as the Order left," Ron murmured back.
"So where are these jinxes they put up against Snape?" Harry asked.
"Maybe they're only activated if he shows up?" suggested Ron.
"No," Briar said and stepped forward confidently
"Severus Snape?" Mad-Eye Moody's voice whispered out of the darkness, making the other three of them jump back in fright.
"We're not Snape" She said firmly and a cold sensation washed over them "That was the Tongue-Tying Curse Mad-Eye set up for Snape" She took another step forward and a dust figure in the shape of Dumbledore rose from the carpet, heading for them "It was not I who killed you Albus" she said and the dust fell to the floor
"That was...that was..."
"I know," she nodded "But we needed something to scare him"
"Before we go any farther, I think we'd better check," whispered Hermione, and she raised her wand and said, "Homenum revelio." Nothing happened.
"Well, you've just had a big shock," said Ron kindly. "What was that supposed to do?"
"It did what I meant it to do!" said Hermione rather crossly. "That was a spell to reveal human presence, and there's nobody here except us!"
"And old Dusty," said Ron, glancing at the patch of carpet from which the figure had risen.
"Let's go up," suggested Briar and she lead them to the drawing room on the first floor.Hermione waved her wand to ignite the old gas lamps, then, shivering slightly in the drafty room, she perched on the sofa, her arms wrapped tightly around her. Ron crossed to the window and moved the heavy velvet curtains aside an inch.
"Can't see anyone out there," he reported. Harry gave a sudden cry of pain, clutching his scar and the other three rushed over "What did you see?" Ron asked "Did you see him at my place?"
"No, I just felt anger – he's really angry –"
"But that could be at the Burrow," said Ron loudly. "What else? Didn't you see anything? Was he cursing someone?"
"No, I just felt anger – I couldn't tell –"
"Your scar, again? But what's going on? I thought that connection had closed!" Hermione said
"It did, for a while," muttered Harry "I – I think it's started opening again whenever he loses control, that's how it used to –"
"But then you've got to close your mind!" said Hermione shrilly. "Harry, Dumbledore didn't want you to use that connection, he wanted you to shut it down, that's why you were supposed to use Occlumency! Otherwise Voldemort can plant false images in your mind, remember –"
"Yeah, I do remember, thanks," said Harry through gritted teeth. Then Hermione shrieked as a silver Patronus soar through the drawing room window and landed upon the floor in front of them, where it solidified into the weasel that spoke with the voice of Ron's father. "Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched."
The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped onto the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm. "They're all right, they're all right!" she whispered, and Ron half laughed and hugged her.
"Harry," he said over Hermione's shoulder, "I –"
"It's not a problem," said Harry "It's your family, 'course you were worried. I'd feel the same way. Ido feel the same way."
The exhaustion from the day's events was clearly wearing on all four of them, so Briar found three sleeping bags for the others, who wanted to share the drawing room together, and she bid them goodnight before heading up to her own room and falling asleep with a heavy heart, wishing she could know that everyone was going to be okay