Upon arrival, they all dismount and stand in a group at the front door. Sam is surprisingly quite nervous to see Harry again. Hagrid knocks on the door and not a moment later Harry answers it. Ron runs inside and hugs him excitedly. Hermione is next and kisses him on the cheek. Sam stands in front of the door and smiles at him.
"Come here," Harry holds out his arms and she gladly jumps into them.
"You're looking fit," Hagrid states.
Mad-Eye barges in through the door, "Yeah, he's absolutely gorgeous. What say we get undercover before someone murders him?"
Sam chuckles as they all pile into the house and make their way into the front room. Harry pulls Sam in once more.
"I've been looking forward to this day all summer," he admits, "You look more beautiful everytime I see you."
She blushes slightly, "It's been torture without you."
He furrows his brows, "Wait, how did they let you come? It's way too dangerous for you to be here."
The twins come waltzing into the room, "It took a lot of convincing," George chuckles.
"We were actually going to drug her, but she convinced us all," Fred remarks.
Sam punches his arm and he feigns hurt. Harry laughs.
"Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Prime Minister?" Harry asks in wonder.
"You are more important."
"Hello, Harry," Bill greets, "Bill Weasley."
Harry shakes his hand, "Oh. Pleasure to meet you."
Harry notices the scratch marks that stretch across his entire face, Fred chuckles, "He was never always this handsome."
"Dead ugly," George jokes.
"True enough," Bill remarks, "Owe it all to a werewolf, name of Greyback. Hope to repay the favor one day."
"You're still beautiful to me, William," Fleur notes as she kisses him on the cheek.
Sam leans over to whisper to Harry, "They're getting married in about a week at the Burrow, be my date?"
He smiles, "Do you have to ask?"
"Just remember, Fleur, Bill takes his steaks on the raw side now,
Lupin laughs.
"My husband, the joker," Tonks chuckles, "By the way, wait till you hear the news. Remus and I-"
Mad-Eye brushes past them, "Alright, alright. We'll have time for a cozy catch up later. We've got to get the hell out of here. And soon. Potter, you're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on yeh."
"What's the Trace?" Harry inquires.
"If you sneeze, the Ministry will know who wipes your nose. Point is, we have to use those means of transport the Trace can't detect: Brooms, Thestrals and the like. We go in pairs. That way, if anyone's out there waiting for us, and I reckon there will be, they won't know which Harry Potter is the real one."
"Real one?" Harry questions.
Moody pulls out his familiar flash, "I believe you're familiar with this particular brew."
Harry's eyes widen, "No. Absolutely not."
Sam raises her eyebrows, "Told you he'd take it well."
"No. If you think I'm gonna let everyone risk their lives for me, I-"
"Never done that before, have we?" Ron jokes.
Harry turns to him and back to Moody, "No. No. This is different. I mean, taking that, becoming me. No."
"Well, none of us really fancy it, mate," George remarks.
"Yeah, imagine if something went wrong, and we ended up a scrawny, specky git forever," Fred jokes.
Sam laughs loudly, "Plus, think of it this way, if I'm spotted as me, they'll instantly try to capture me. It's better that they go for all of us equally."
"Everyone here is of age, Potter. They've all agreed to take the risk," Moody alerts, "Alright, Granger, as discussed."
Hermione steps up quickly and pulls a hair out of Harry's scalp who grunts, "Blimey, Hermione."
She gently releases it into the flash and Mad-Eye swirls it around. Everyone gets into a line and Harry steps forward to observe.
"For those of you who haven't taken Polyjuice Potion before, fair warning: tastes like Goblin piss," Moody informs.
"Have a lot of experiences with that, do you, Mad-Eye?" Fred inquires, but as he only receives a stern glare, he continues, "Just trying to diffuse the tension."
Sam smiles at his brilliant sense of humor, well, at least to her anyway. They pass around the flash and each grimace in their own way. As the bottle lands in her hands she scrunches her nose and downs the rest. She watches as the others begin to change and she, too, begins to shift.
The twins look at each other and in unison say, "Wow, we're identical."
"Not yet, you're not," Moody grunts as he tosses a large bag their way, filled with identical pairs of pants, shirts, and jackets.
"Haven't got anything a bit more sporting, have you?" George asks.
Luckily, Sam can even tell them apart by their voices. Oddly enough, she and Harry are the only ones that have ever been able to tell them apart with complete accuracy.
"Yeah, I don't really fancy this color," Fred adds.
"Well, fancy this, you're not you. So shut it and strip."
Sam and Hermione stand next to each other as they strip out of their old clothes, quite uncomfortably. Sam does everything in her power to not look too hard. She feels weird about looking, like it would be breaking his privacy. Hermione tries to do the same.
"You'll need to change too, Potter," Moody informs.
Harry grabs his own pair and begins to change as well.
"Harry, you're eyesight really is awful," Hermione remarks.
"Right, then," Mad-Eye announces, "We'll be pairing off. Each Potter will have a Protector. Sam, stick tight to me. I wanna keep an eye on you."
Sam nods and he continues, "As for Harry-"
Everyone who took the potion responds, "Yes?"
"The real Harry. Where the devil are you, anyway?"
Harry steps out from the back, "Here."
"You'll ride with Hagrid."
Hagrid steps up to him, "I brought you here sixteen years ago when you were no bigger than a Bowtruckle. Seems only right that I should be the one to take you away now."
"Yes, it's all very touching. Let's go," Moody interrupts.
They all move outside, and Sam grabs Fred, George, Ron and Hermione.
"You all better be safe. If I can't reach you with my protection-"
"Don't worry, little S," Fred begins, "We'll see you at the Burrow."
She smiles at him, "Don't you break that promise."
"Wouldn't dream of it," George winks.
Ron pulls her in for a hug, "I have every intention on making it back, but just in case, I want you to know that I love you."
She gives him a sad smile, "I'm so glad Dumbledore brought me to you guys all those years ago. You've been the greatest big brother I could've asked for."
Hermione hugs her, "See you soon."
"See you soon," Sam repeats with a smile.
She walks up to Hagrid's motorbike, "Harry?"
He stands back up, "Please be safe. I can't lose you, I just- I can't."
"I'd kiss you, but I think it would be a little weird all things considered."
He chuckles, "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Till the end?" He asks.
"And after that," she winks.
She moves back next to Moody and climbs onto her Thestral as he announces, "Head for the Burrows. We'll rendezvous there. On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
They all take off into flight. Sam passes by Harry and gives him a small nod. Her heart races at the thought that nearly everyone she loves is in the air, potentially headed into a battle. Her suspicions are confirmed when Death Eaters begin flying around them, out of nowhere. They begin to fire spells and Sam pushes out her protective barrier as far as it will reach. Their curses bounce off the shield and occasionally fly back to hit them. Death Eaters begin to shout around at each other as dry lightning cracks through the clouds.
She watches as one of the Harry's flies out of her barrier and gets hit with a curse. She sees Lupin fly to his rescue and she instantly knows it's George. She panics and she screams targeting just below him so he has her sound waves to keep him from crashing.
One of the Death Eaters shouts out, "It's the girl! Take her!"
Mad-Eye sticks close to her as spells are fired at him, Sam tries to push out her protection, but she's too late. Moody gets hit by Voldemort as he soars through the clouds. He flies in a cloud of smoke next to her as he sports an evil smile that sickens her. She screams with all her might and he falls back to avoid being hit. Several other Death Eaters fly around her trying their best to capture her. Her Thestral flaps its wings harder and begins to dodge and weave through them all.
As they weave through the hoard, a Death Eater fires a spell at her Thestral and they both begin to tumble towards the ground. Sam screams out as she lets go.
"Sam!" Harry shouts in panic.
His heart stops, but before Hagrid can swoop down for her, another Harry flies below her and catches her.
"I've got you, little S," Fred assures, "Get on the back of my broom."
She slides behind him and holds on tightly. She once again pushes out her protective shield and holds it out as they all fly around, trying to lose the Death Eaters. Once they're all either dead or gone, they return to their course. Arthur, Fred and Sam are the last ones to land. Sam hops off of Fred's broom and hugs him tightly.
"Thank God," he whispers.
She lets go and turns around, only to be tackled by Harry, Ron and Hermione. She holds onto them tightly, thankful that they're all together again and safe.
"Are we the last ones back?" Arthur asks.
"Where's George?" Sam and Fred ask at the same time.
As no one answers, worry courses through Sam's heart. She and Fred run into the house and find George laying on the couch with blood down the side of his face. They both drop to the floor beside him. Sam puts her hand over his chest as he opens his eyes slightly, she lets out a relieved sigh.
"How are you feeling, Georgie?" Fred asks with worry.
Sam lets a tear slip out as he begins to respond, "Saint-like."
Fred shakes his head, "Come again?"
"Saint-like. I'm holy. I'm holey, Fred. Get it?" He remarks as he points to his blown off ear, which is now just a hole in his head.
Sam and Fred both let out a laugh, "The whole wide world of ear-related humor and you go for 'I'm holey'. That's pathetic," Fred answers.
"Reckon I'm still better looking than you," George responds.
Sam giggles, but then turns to the group, "Mad-Eye's dead."
They all look shocked and slightly defeated. That night as they all lay sleeping, Harry wakes up from a nightmare. He breathes heavily and decides that it's safer if he does this alone. He grabs his wand and a sack full of his things. He heads down the stairs quietly, but before he makes it through the living room, he sees Sam and Fred laying on the floor next to George. He gives a sad smile at the sight. He's always known how close Sam is to the twins, but it's different to see them together in this situation. Sam and Ron, despite not showing it often in the way the twins do, have always been close considering they are so close in age. But she's always had a special connection with the twins.
It's clear as day how much she orders them. He kneels down slowly and places a small kiss on her forehead. He stands back up and takes one last look at the girl he loves before walking out the front door.
He begins to walk towards the tall grass when he hears Ron call out, "Going somewhere?"
Harry turns around to face him, "Nobody else is going to die. Not for me."
"For you? You think Mad-Eye died for you? You think George took that curse for you? You may be the Chosen One, mate, but this is a whole lot bigger than that. It's always been bigger than that."
Harry hesitates for a moment, "Come with me."
"What, and leave Sam and Hermione? You mad? We wouldn't last two days without them," Ron looks back at the house and then to Harry, "Don't tell them I said that."
Harry shakes his head and he continues, "Besides, you've still got the Trace on you. We've still got the wedding-"
"I don't care about a wedding. I'm sorry. No matter whose it is. I have to start finding these Horcruxes. They're our only chance to beat him and the longer we stay here, the stronger he gets."
"Tonight's not the night, mate.We'd only be doing him a favor," Ron steps closer to him until he's in front of Harry.
Harry sighs and throws off his bag. Ron slowly picks it up and slings it over his shoulder. He stares at Harry, waiting for him to follow him inside.
When he begins to walk with him, Ron continues, "Do you think he knows? I mean, they're bits of his soul, these Horcruxes. Bits of him. When Dumbledore destroyed the ring, you destroyed Tom Riddle's diary... he must have felt something. To kill the other Horcruxes, we have to find them. Where are they? Where do we start?"