Gene felt herself blushing madly, catching glimpses of Hermione and Ginny beaming past the twins before she felt Ron's hand let go of hers as he trailed his brothers.
Gene gave his hand a squeeze and he gave her a small nod and a smile as she hung back, standing beside the girls. When the sound of footsteps had faded out and the coast was finally clear, all three squealed, bouncing in place in excitement.
"Oh, Ginny. I can't even begin to thank you enough."
Gene felt her eyes begin to water again as they made their way down the long flights of stairs, her arms interlocked with Ginny and Hermione on either side of her. Ginny brushed her off, smiling knowingly but Gene chose to ignore it, as they made it onto the landing.
She smiled at Lupin, who smiled all the same, bringing her close and pressing a soft kiss to the very top of her head. Tonks had done the same, more or less, with Bill and Fleur following them, then Kingsley and Moody, and finally Mundungus Fletcher, who Gene eyed very warily.
The adults all began to look at one another, as though they all had something of equal importance to say, but they were reluctant in doing so. She glanced at Hermione and then at Ron and then the twins, only to find the exact same look on their faces.
"Aren't we leaving?" she asked, which only brought another round of silence.
"We are leaving, Genevieve, yes." Moody said, causing a series of sighs and groans to sound. "What? I thought someone might have told the girl, by now." he argued.
He glanced at the clock, muttering something under his breath before leaning over to whisper to Aurelia, who nodded seriously.
"We're?" she repeated, her eyes now narrowing at her aunt.
Ron, Hermione, Fred and George now slowly moved to the opposite side of the room, stood behind the adults for protection. Her eyes widened in realisation.
"No–" she began to charge forward until Aurelia drew her wand.
"Locomotor Mortis!" she quickly casted the spell, a jet of purple light striking Gene.
Gene yelped, feeling her legs go numb before feeling absolutely nothing. Her eyes squeezed shut as she began to fall, holding her arms out in front of her to break it. Gene rolled onto her side, her legs becoming dead weight as they flopped along with her, finally landing on her back.
Aurelia, Moody and Lupin all hovered over her, peering down at her with approval, at the job well done.
A brilliant idea had suddenly struck Gene now, and she quickly shut her eyes to become one with her surroundings, just as McGonagall had taught her last year. Her heart rate began to slow, the image planting itself in her mind until...
"Incarcerous!"
Gene was drawn violently from her peaceful state, even though she was getting nowhere with her transformation anyways, much to her frustration.
"Don't even think about, Genevieve." Moody said, peering down at Gene with his mechanical eye narrowing at her, "I thought you were meant to be as smart as Ophelia?" he remarked.
"If this is meant to be a joke," Gene said, her head tipping back against the floorboards to watch everyone upside down, all lining up behind her. "it isn't very funny." she frowned.
"Not to you, no." George said.
"But up here– it's hilarious." Fred grinned.
Gene refrained from using any language in front of their parents, but the words were on the very tip of her tongue, dying to pass.
"Places, everyone." Moody clapped his hands together, heading out of the door first to Gene's utter disbelief. She really did think they were joking.
Lupin made his way over to her crumpled figure on the floor, lifting her to her feet with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, and Gene did not intend on letting go, at least not until someone performed the counter-curse.
"You can't be serious," Gene stared at Lupin in shock, glancing over her shoulder as Hermione gave her a weak smile and a wave, while Aurelia, Ron and Mr. Weasley followed behind.
"This is serious, Gene." Lupin returned, passing through a door as instructed by Mr. Weasley where she was hit with a sudden chill. They were stood in the garage, full of Muggle contraptions such as old telephones and rusted car parts. "We can't afford to lose you."
"Yes, you can." Gene murmured, though Lupin didn't seem to catch it as he helped her to sit down on a swivel chair.
He muttered the counter-curse, and Gene soon got feeling back in her legs, only to remember that she was bound by thick ropes, nearly cutting off the circulation in her wrists.
"You are aware that the more you struggle, the tighter they get?" Lupin stepped back, finding his job well done as he raised an eyebrow at Gene.
Gene only glared at him and he took that as his cue to leave, clapping Ron on the back as they both began to leave.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, Ronald Bilius Weasley!"
Gene spoke through gritted teeth, watching Ron back away with wide eyes while she struggled in her restraints.
"How d'you know my middle name?" he asked, though George nudged him in the side with a shake of his head.
"That'll be the least of your worries when I get out of these!" she exclaimed, struggling more even though she knew it was only making things worse.
She could feel the ropes tightening around her wrists and ankles, her skin burning with pain as she tried with all her might.
"Aure!"
Gene called out as her last resort, forcing Aurelia to turn on her heel, offering her niece a sympathetic glance. Gene didn't think it was all that genuine, actually.
Aurelia approached quickly, kneeling beside Gene as her hand lifted to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Gene breathed out heavily, looking at Aurelia carefully, creases of worry in her forehead growing clearer to her, all her scars and cuts more visible. She wondered if they had always been there, or maybe if they were just clearer to her because she had grown up.
"I have to help Harry and I have to keep you safe. Out there... I can't do both." Aurelia sighed, cupping Gene's face in her hands. "I'll bring him home. I promise, bug." she pressed a kiss to Gene's forehead before stepping away.
"Genevieve, would you stop your moaning! You'll see Weasley soon!" she heard Moody yell from beyond the window, causing her to break into a smile as annoyed as she was, "Though I can't imagine why you'd want to." he muttered, though it was loud enough to cause Ron to begin to argue with him.
Aurelia mustered a final smile, guilt written across her features before giving a small wave as she backed up, eventually leaving and the door shut behind herself. She heard Aurelia cast a protective spell over the door too, and that seemed to be it.
"Damn it." Gene muttered, hearing the blasts of wind from outside, watching through bursts of white light flash through the small window, as they disappeared into the night.
She winced, her wrists being rubbed raw by the thick twine that secured them in place.
"Gene?"
Her eyes widened at the sound of Tonk's voice, muffled but she was just on the other side. Tonks liked her enough, she reckoned.
"You're a lifesaver, Tonks!" Gene exclaimed, "Do you think you could–"
"Step away from that door, Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley's voice suddenly bellowed, causing Gene to groan aloud, "That girl is dangerous. She'll wear you down until you let her out of that room."
Gene scoffed at this description of herself, finding it to be a wild over-exaggeration though she couldn't help but feel somewhat flattered.
"Sorry, Gene!" Tonks winced, her footsteps padding away from the door and Gene sighed.
At least she wasn't alone in the Burrow, she thought, trying to find as many upsides to this as she could. Perhaps that might have helped her bide the time, seeing as she could have been stuck here forever.
Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Tonks seemed to remain in the house to keep an eye out for danger, except even the thought of that didn't sit right with Gene. Then there was Stella, of course, who stood outside the door to meow incessantly.
"I haven't got your food in here, you gremlin." Gene returned, before watching the silhouette of Stella disappear from the door.
Gene's head fell back against the head of the seat, groaning as she wondered exactly how she had gotten herself into this mess. Their plan was so close to working perfectly. Almost perfectly, at least, minus a few snags here and there.
The summer holiday had been filled with visits from Lorelai, dinners with Aurelia and Eddie and most importantly, how to drop out of Hogwarts without anyone realising in time to stop them.
But as she had been so kindly reminded by the boxes of decorations surrounding her and the tarp lying outside, they had a wedding to attend before anything.
At first, Gene couldn't really understand why they wanted to have their wedding now, of all times. Then, she reminded herself of a few nights ago where she had climbed into bed, surrounded by scrap pieces of paper with plans and theories surrounding the potential Horcruxes and even a draft of her will.
After that, she slowly started to get it.
A day hadn't gone by where she had thought of the prophecy. Gene hadn't mentioned it to Harry since the conversation in Dumbledore's office, and he definitely had no intention of bringing it up again. She remembered the look on his face when she realised that she was one of the Horcruxes. Of course, she wasn't entirely certain of the fact, not yet. But it made sense, and it followed the prophecy.
Now that Harry had gathered the understanding that both of them could not live as long as Voldemort was alive, she knew that he would do whatever it took to sacrifice himself, for her. And she couldn't let that happen. Not when the answer was right there in front of them.
It wasn't that Gene wanted to die. No, far from it. She had cried herself to sleep every night at the thought. Leaving Aurelia, leaving Harry and Hermione. Leaving Ron. She might have been a little selfish in staying as long as she had been. But she just couldn't bear to say goodbye. Not yet.
Then again, she was getting slightly ahead of herself. She swore that she would find the other Horcruxes with Harry first, and that was what she was going to do.
She struggled in her restraints once more, naively thinking they might have loosened by now, despite them having a magical hold on her. It was near enough impossible, and she had come to terms with it. It felt wrong for her to sit around while everyone else was out there, risking their own lives just for her. She couldn't stand the thought of it. And it was made worse by the fact that she truly couldn't stand.
It felt like hours had gone by, though that might have been because Gene was staring at a clock on the workbench before her, watching the clock hands turn at each second and minute that had passed her by. It was torture.
Another shadow passed by the door, with Gene catching a glimpse through the small gap at the bottom, "Tonks! Ginny!" Gene hissed, causing the figure to stop.
"I can't, Gene." It was Ginny. "You know I can't." Ginny returned regretfully, causing Gene to slump further into her seat.
"Gin, please–" Gene began, until a flash of blue caught her off guard, seeing it through the frosted window.
She sat up to look out of the window, struggling in the restraints once more, until the pain became nearly unbearable and she stopped.
"They're back?" Gene asked, just as her shadow had suddenly disappeared, hearing footsteps running away from her. "No, Ginny, wait–!"
She saw another flash of light, some voices and she gasped in relief as one became very clear to her, rising above the rest of them.
"Harry." she breathed his name, a smile taking over now, and pain felt as though it was disappearing.
There were more flashes of light, hurried voices and footsteps leading into the house before Gene heard the front door shut, and she waited for Moody or Lupin to finally release her from her restraints.
The footsteps began to charge around the room, growing louder as someone came closer to the door, "Where is she? Gene?" Harry asked louder, more urgently.
A flash of white spilled through the gaps in the doorframe, the door suddenly bursting open to reveal Lupin, charging forward to aim his wand at her.
"Relashio." he said and Gene felt the instant relief, as the ropes around her limbs loosened and fell limply to the ground at her feet.
Her hands immediately went to her wrists, rubbing them to soothe the pain as she rushed past Lupin into the living room, with Harry turning on his heel just in time.
Gene exhaled in relief, throwing her arms around him instantly, as he tugged Ron and Hermione into the hug simultaneously. Then, she pulled away, her eyes searching the room before finding a slightly disheveled Aurelia, alive and well, to her relief. Gene gave a sort of cry as she ran forward, pulling her aunt into a hug, her vision blurring with tears.
"You should thank Ron." she said breathlessly, causing Gene to turn to face him. "Saved my life."
Aurelia grinned at Ron whose cheeks flushed a light pink. Lupin went to Aurelia's side now, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and she rest her head against his own for a few moments, watching on.
Gene now stepped towards Ron, who had been watching her quietly for quite some time. He gulped nervously as she finally stood before him, a sort of frown indented into her expression. Before he could begin to apologise, Gene had enveloped him into a fierce hug, not bothering to hide the fact that she was emotional.
It wasn't just because he had kept Aurelia safe, or saved her life. It was because she was glad he was safe too. Ron settled now, his hands finding the small of her back and he pulled her closer, so close that he could smell the notes of lavender on her skin, causing a small smile to tug at his lips until they pulled apart a moment later, though his smile lingered.
"Where's Mad-Eye?" Gene asked, scanning the room of adults before her eyes had settled on George, widening in shock.
He was bleeding out of his ear, or at least where his ear should have been. It was completely gone, to her horror, leaving a gaping hole in the side of his head. Gene didn't hesitate to cross the room to crouch at his side beside Fred on the ground.
She took his hand in her own, holding on tight and she could feel Mrs. Weasley squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. George's eyes were half-open, settling upon Gene and he managed a lazy smile, causing her to break into one of her own, to his pleasure.
"How d'you feel, Georgie?" Fred asked him warily. Gene had never seen him look so frightened in her life.
"Saint-like." George murmured in response.
"Saint-like?" Fred said, glancing at Gene in pure terror.
"Saint-like." he repeated himself, "I'm holy. Holey, Fred. Get it?" his eyes fluttered open once more, and Fred seemed to breathe out in great relief, with Gene rolling her eyes at this.
"The whole wide-world of ear-related humour, and you go for 'I'm holey?' That's pathetic." Fred returned, giving a weak laugh.
"Reckon I'm still better looking than you, though." George mused.
Gene felt his fingers wrap around hers as she glanced around, still awaiting an answer. But deep down, she knew it, her heart sinking as she saw Fleur's eyes trained on the ground, a tear slipping past her cheek.
"Mad-Eye's dead" Bill said quietly at her side. "Mundungus took one look at Voldemort and Disapparated." he told them.
The room went still as Gene got her answer.