Chapter 29: Without Me
Surrey, July 24th 1997
Even if this is a far cry from what I wanted, I have to admit that the plan is smart. Seven Harry Potters flying in the air tonight, with all of them heading into different safe houses. After that, everyone is expected to travel to the Burrow with Portkeys.
Smart, but dangerous.
As Moody shouts instructions to everyone and counts to three, I feel only dread in the bottom of my stomach.
Hagrid steers the motorbike upwards, climbing higher and higher, and I watch, feeling disoriented, until the place I once called home mixes into a blur of hundred small dots. I turn my focus upwards to check if I can spot the others, but just then, without warning, several hooded figures in brooms appear in the air.
Death Eaters.
I whirl towards Hagrid as bright jets of light start to zoom behind us. "Hagrid!" I yell, hastily digging up my wand from my rucksack. "Death Eaters! We need to turn back! To help the others!"
Hagrid glances behind us, and then starts to swerve and duck as four Death Eaters trail behind us and start to shoot curses at us.
I hastily throw a couple of stunners towards the closest one, but then, one of them hits the motorbike with a spell, and suddenly, we're upside down. Hagrid swears loudly while I scream in terror and hang onto the sidecar with everything I have. I try shove my legs deeper into the sidecar and push myself back into it with my other hand, while keeping my wand hand free to block the curses that are thrown towards us. A second later, Hedwig's cage slips past my knees.
"No, no, no!" I grit out through my teeth and manage to grasp it with my wand hand just before it slips away.
The cage opens and Hedwig takes off, flying straight towards the Death Eaters.
"NO!" I yell, let go of the cage and try to grab the owl instead, but it's too late.
There's a flash of green and then, the frozen owl drops quickly towards the ground.
"No! Hedwig!" I gasp, and stare numbly at the spot where the snowy owl was only seconds ago.
As the sidecar lurches again, reminding me that the bike is still hanging upside down, I swallow down the lump in my throat and try to focus on the now. One of the Death Eaters manages to hit Hagrid as well, and I need to get a bloody grip. I cast a shield charm around us, deflecting one of the purple jets aimed at us.
"Hagrid!" I yell again, and a moment after, Hagrid manages to turn the bike back up. Thank Merlin.
Hagrid continues to swerve and I continue to throw spells at the four Death Eaters still on our heels. As I quickly glance around us, I notice Tonks and Ron duelling three Death Eaters whilst trying to shake them off. The rest of our group is further behind, and the only thing I can see are bright coloured spells flashing in the sky like a mix of fireworks and a thunderstorm.
"Turn back! We need to help the others!" I yell at Hagrid again, sending a stunner after stunner towards the Death Eaters, occasionally ducking low into the sidecar to avoid the curses thrown at me.
"No Harry! I've me orders! The others have theirs!" Hagrid shouts over the roaring engine, and then presses a button after telling me to hold on, and the next moment, a solid wall erupts from the exhaust pipe. The Death Eater closest to us doesn't have time to dodge the wall, and is hit by it, dragged towards the ground.
The remaining three Death Eaters start to fire curses towards Hagrid instead of me, who tries his best to shake them off. But after he takes three purple and red jets of light in the back of his head, his body slumps forward, over the handlebars.
"NO! HAGRID!" I yell in shock, which quickly turns into dread as I realise the motorbike is slowing down. "Shit!" I curse, firing a string of stunning spells towards the nearest Death Eater, managing to deflect and avoid the curses that are sent towards me. "HAGRID WAKE UP!" I scream.
The Death Eaters are closing us up.
"HAGRID!"
Hagrid grunts and shifts in his seat, while the nearest Death Eater is only some feet away, lifting his wand threateningly.
"…'Arry?" Hagrid says with a confused voice, his head turning from side to side, evidently trying to assess the situation.
"HAGRID, GET US OUT OF HERE!" I yell in panic, managing to stun the Death Eater closest to us.
Immediately, the Death Eater goes slack, and falls down from his broom, towards the ground. With a sick feeling in my stomach, I realise what I've done, but then, with relief and disappointment, I watch as one of the remaining two Death Eaters suddenly shoots downwards to save their unconscious friend before they hit the ground with a certain death.
Then, several things happen at once; Hagrid finally regains his senses enough to accelerate the motorbike. I cast another spell towards the remaining Death Eater, trying to slow him down, and when he dodges the spell, his hood slips away, and…it's Stan Shunpike.
His face is blank, looking right at me, and as he raises his wand, I don't even think before I yell the disarming charm.
"It's him! It's him!" A Death Eater, probably one of the two that I dropped with the stunning spell, yells further behind. And then both Stan and he disappear.
What?
"Harry?" Hagrid shouts, still steering the motorbike forward. "Where are they?"
How did they know that I'm the one? Fear grips my chest as I look wildly around us. There's no one. Only the blowing wind surrounding us, and the glittering lights of cities below us.
"Harry?" Hagrid asks again with a nervous voice.
Clenching my jaw, I take another look around us, then turn towards Hagrid, "I don't know! Just – just get us out of here, Hagrid!"
Hagrid nods and tells me to hold on, and then he hits a large purple button beside the speedometer. With a thunderous roar, the motorbike hurls forward, with white flames bursting from the exhaust. The sidecar rattles threateningly as we move forward with an intense speed, and I'm holding on to it for dear life.
Hagrid bellows something, but before I can yell him back that I can't hear anything, suddenly, a ripping pain hits my forehead.
It's the scar. It's burning. I scream in pain and press my both hands against my temples. Through the agony, I catch a sight of two Death Eaters, surrounding us again, throwing curse after curse at Hagrid.
And then – him. Voldemort. Moving in the air, without a broom, without a Thestral. Without anything. He is flying.
Feeling like my head is splitting open, I can barely see Voldemort lifting his wand and pointing it at me, as the pain forces my eyes shut.
"Avada – "
But then, something happens. My wand arm moves away from my head, reaching out to where I know Voldemort is, and I swear to Merlin that I'm not doing it, since I can barely stay conscious due to the pain, but my wand is trained at him, and I can feel the magic streaming through my veins, surging towards the wand. I grit my teeth and manage to squint at Voldemort, thinking that this is it, this is my end. That's when a golden stream of light bursts out from my wand, colliding in the air with the jet of green that has erupted from Voldemort's wand, and a second later, there's a great explosion.
As I slip towards blackness, the last thing I'm aware of, are red eyes, filled with outrage and complete surprise, and the fact that the motorbike is now surging downwards, with no one steering it.
Dorset, July 24th 1997
"They should be here any moment now." My cousin's voice fills the silence.
I hadn't noticed her stepping onto the porch, but then again, my mind has been elsewhere since the mission started. I still can't get over how mindless and foolhardy the plan was. Why move Potter before his birthday? Why expose him – and everyone else – into such danger?
Moody thought it would be the perfect opportunity, with more than satisfying decoys – something I'm finding hard to believe Potter agreed to – and that merely leaking a false trail to the Ministry would solve all the problems.
At first, I thought the old Auror was Imperiused. Then I decided that all of them – as the rest of the Order hastily agreed to the plan – were out of their minds.
"We should hope so," I merely say, not looking at her, but feeling her arched brow trained at the side of my neck.
"You seem…awfully invested in him. Harry, I mean," Andromeda says with a calculating voice.
This time I turn to look at her, allowing her to sweep her grey eyes over my closed features. Her expression is inscrutable, perfecting the Black character.
"He must mean a lot to you, for you to come here, to make sure he is intact," She says airily, her perceptive eyes watching me, scrutinising me. Reminding me of Sirius.
They were much alike in our youth, my brother and Andromeda. Always spending time by themselves, plotting something together whenever my aunt, my uncle and my cousins came to visit us at Grimmauld. If Andromeda hadn't run off and married the Muggleborn, I would have been surprised for them to not have been betrothed to one another. Whatever my brother felt, I know our parents were not monsters, and probably would have encouraged their relationship.
I keep my expression blank. "And what if I was merely here for the company of my beloved cousin?" I say politely, and Andromeda rolls her eyes.
"Oh, please. You know I always adored Sirius over you," She says with a small twitch in the corner of her mouth.
I lift my brows in acknowledgement. "Didn't they all." I say impassively.
A ghost of a smile flickers in my cousin's lips, but then, without warning, excruciating pain flares from the fingertips of my left hand, surging towards the remains of the Mark. "AAAH!" I yell and clutch my arm, dropping onto my knees from the weakening pain.
"Reg?!" Andromeda shouts, letting her reserved demeanour slip for a moment to utter the nickname she had once called me in her youth. Her features are filled with worry as she rushes towards me. "What is it? What is going on?" She asks, her voice sharp but her touch soft and careful as she places a soothing hand against my shoulder.
The pain leaves as abruptly as it came, and I'm left panting, on my knees, on my cousin's porch. "Something bad," I manage to gasp, right as Andromeda's husband, Edward Tonks, bursts through the door, his wand at the ready.
There's a moment of silence, then my cousin takes my left hand in hers. There's still a nasty sting in the centre of my forearm, but I breathe through it. "Are you hurt?" She asks, her voice hard, her eyes flickering between my arm and my face. "Was it…was it him?"
I swallow through the tightness in my throat and give her a sharp nod. "I'm fine," I grunt and move to stand up.
My cousin backs away while her husband walks closer to us, his wand and his eyes trained at the darkened lands surrounding their home.
"It was him." I say and give the others a grim look. "They are summoning him."
I pull my wand from the pocket of my robes, and notice my cousin doing the same. All three of us stare silently ahead, peering towards the lands and the cloudy skies behind the protective enchantments surrounding my cousin's home.
A couple of minutes later, we catch a glimpse of the tell-tale flashes of light in the distance. Spells flying in the air. A group of figures approaching us.
Then an explosion of light, illuminating the sky and the grounds. My cousin gasps and I grip my wand tighter. There's nothing we can do without breaking the enchantments, and for a short moment, none of us can even see anything but brightness. Then, the darkness ascends once again, and there's a large motorbike soaring through the air, heading straight downwards.
Edward is the quickest to act, and he aims a spell towards the bike, to reduce its speed, while my cousin throws another spell to soften the impact as the bike hits the ground with a loud thump.
My cousin's husband is already running towards what seems to be the remains of the motorbike, the Half-Giant and Potter, but before I can even move, Andromeda grasps my arm.
"You should stay back. Until we confirm who they are," She says with a stern voice, her eyes narrowing into mine.
I purse my lips but know that she is right. There is a chance that they are in fact Death Eaters, and both of us know what are the risks if I'm seen by the wrong people. That, and there needs to be someone warning the rest of the Order if it comes to that.
I give my cousin a nod, and she lets go of me before walking swiftly towards the arrivals.
Dorset, July 25th 1997
My head is throbbing, and I feel sick. I let out a groan.
"Potter?" A quiet voice says.
It's Regulus.
I blink through the haziness and see him close to me, sitting on the edge of a sofa I'm lying on. The room – a sitting room – spins around me, and I can feel the nausea rising from my stomach.
I let out a pitiful moan before I lean over the sofa and vomit on the floor.
"…charming." Regulus says dryly, vanishing the evidence as I take a couple of deep breaths, the stink of it still invading my nostrils.
I lean back against the sofa and close my eyes. "Only for you," I say weakly, and Regulus lets out a small snort.
"Harry?" Hagrid's voice booms in the room. "Are yeh alrigh'?" He asks, his voice trembling a bit, and I can picture his black eyes filled with worry.
"Never better," I mumble, and try opening my eyes again, willing the nausea away.
Feeling a lot better this time, I glance around the unfamiliar, light-coloured home. There're paintings hanging on the walls with moving contents, a vase of wildflowers in the centre of a small dining table close to the sitting room where I'm situated in. Hagrid's standing next to an armchair close to me, looking a bit banged up, a look of concern in his features.
"You okay, Hagrid?" I ask, needing the confirmation that he isn't badly hurt. He took so many curses that it's amazing that he's still standing.
Hagrid's mouth pulls up in a fond smile. "'m alrigh', Harry. They've got ter try harder 'an tha' ter finish me!" He says, waving his hand in dismissal.
With relief, I give him a small smile and look at the others. Next to Hagrid, there's a kind-looking man with a round belly, and a woman with sharp features and piercing grey eyes – a woman who looks strikingly familiar. I glance at Regulus, who is still situated at the edge of the sofa, watching me silently, and I realise that they look very, very much alike. The woman has to be Andromeda, Sirius's – and Regulus's – cousin. The one that was disowned and blasted off the family tree. And the man must be her husband. Which means Hagrid and I have arrived to the correct place.
"Hello there, son," The man says, watching me with a soft smile. "Ted Tonks. Dora's father," He says with a nod, confirming my thoughts. "This is my wife, Andromeda," He continues, gesturing to the woman next to him.
"Erm…Hi," I mumble and then the events from before hit me. I quickly lunge upwards, "The Death Eaters! Voldemort!" I gasp, but Regulus pushes me back down to the sofa.
"They're gone," he mutters, glancing at the others before arching a brow at me. "Would you stay put for a while? I only finished patching you up," He says with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"What?" I grunt and watch him and the others in confusion, then realise that there's a steady ache in my ribs and in my nose. They must've been broken, and recently healed. "Oh." I say dumbly.
Andromeda gives me a sharp-eyed look before she speaks. "How are you feeling?" She asks, but continues before I have a chance to reply, "What happened? Hagrid told us that you were ambushed by Death Eaters…and him. How did they know you were being moved tonight? What happened to our daughter?" She asks with a sharp voice, and I almost miss the warning glance Regulus gives her.
"Um…They knew. Somehow. They were chasing us and…shooting curses at Hagrid. Then…then he came. Voldemort. And something happened. Just before we crashed. He – he vanished…" I try to explain, but realise how disjointed I sound.
"That'd be our wards. No one within a hundred yards of our home can enter without our permission," Mr. Tonks says, and that explains how Voldemort had vanished after the explosion. Mr. Tonks watches me searchingly. "Is Dora alive?" He asks with a colourless voice.
Shit… I don't even know. I hope to Merlin everyone is okay. "I…I don't know what happened to the others. I need to go to the Burrow," I say and move to stand up before Regulus has a chance to stop me. "There's a Portkey, right? One that takes me there?" I ask from Mr. Tonks, and he gives me a hesitant nod.
"It is set to go in ten minutes from now," he says and walks closer to me, handing me a rusty keychain. "Sit down, son." He says wearily and takes a seat in the armchair next to the sofa.
"Dora'll contact us as soon as she's safe, you know that," he says to his wife, who stares at the Portkey with a deep frown between her slim brows.
Andromeda turns to look at her husband and gives him a long look. "I know," she says eventually, and then moves her focus to me again, her brows lifted slightly, as if questioning why am I still standing.
I quickly sit down next to Regulus, as Hagrid and Mr. Tonks start to talk about Hagrid's motorbike, agreeing that Hagrid will come back for it later, since they do not have the time to fix it before the Portkey goes off. In the meanwhile, I glance at Regulus, and finally take a good look at him, knowing already that he's been watching me this whole time.
At first, there's only blankness in his expression, but it quickly changes, into worry, relief and exhaustion, and I want nothing more than to make him feel better, to close the distance between us and brush away the anxiety edged into his features. But that obviously won't happen in front of the others.
Andromeda watches her cousin carefully, a knowing glint in her eyes, before she clears her throat and excuses herself to the kitchen.
Regulus's eyes trail behind her, narrowing slightly, before they move back to meet mine. "We saw something – an explosion, right before you crashed into my cousin's lands. What was that?" He asks, looking at me searchingly.
I look down, knowing how bizarre it will sound. I try to think over an explanation to what actually happened there. How the hell did my wand do it in its own? Is that even possible?
"Harry?" Regulus asks quietly, a shot of sparkles tingling along my skin when his fingers brush lightly mine.
I glance up and give him a dumbfounded look. "He tried to kill me and I…my wand…it…kind of…fought him."
"What?" Regulus asks sharply, and there's a silence in the room.
Andromeda stands in the doorway, holding my muddy rucksack, a stunned look in her eyes.
"Voldemort…he shot me with a Killing curse and…my wand – it deflected it," I say, looking at the others helplessly.
There's only silence and mixed looks of shock and astonishment in the others' features.
"Fuck…" Regulus whispers with dread, almost inaudibly, but apparently, it doesn't go unnoticed by his cousin, who wrinkles her nose at Regulus.
"Behave," Andromeda says sharply to Regulus as she walks closer to hand me my belongings. "What you told us is…unheard of. Avada Kedavra cannot be blocked by a spell," She says to me, looking contemplative. She gives Regulus a meaningful look before her eyes flicker to the keychain in my hands.
"You should prepare yourself for the Portkey," She says, retreating to stand next to her husband, and only then I notice that the rusty keychain has started to glow.
I stand up quickly, holding up the Portkey, and Hagrid takes a couple of steps towards me, touching the chain as well. I watch as Regulus too stands up.
"Y-You'll come?" I ask uncertainly.
Regulus merely nods and touches the Portkey. He then glances at Andromeda and Mr. Tonks. "Thank you for your hospitality, cousin. Edward," he says, and while Andromeda's lips twitch with amusement, Mr. Tonks chuckles.
"How many times do I have to remind you to call me Ted, son?" Mr. Tonks says lightly.
Regulus gives him a polite smile. "At least once more," He murmurs, right before the Portkey activates, and we're suddenly pulled into nothingness by an invisible force, and only seconds later, colliding against soft grass in front of the familiar home that is held up mostly by magic.
The Burrow.
Immediately, I know that something's wrong. We're alone in the front yard, and it's silent, but then, Lupin bursts out from the house, his wand at the ready. As he walks swiftly towards us, I notice Regulus moving a bit so that he's almost standing in front of me.
"Lupin! Wh – " I start with relief, but then my voice dies off when Lupin grabs Regulus's neck with his other hand and trains his wand against his chest with the other.
"HEY!" I yell, but Lupin speaks at the same time.
" – What was your brother's last request to you?" Lupin demands sharply.
Regulus seethes, but his voice is calm as he speaks, "He ordered me to stay at Grimmauld. So that he'd know I would be safe."
Lupin's eyes narrow at him. "Are you betraying us?" He grits out.
"What the hell?" I ask, annoyed, stepping towards Lupin, who releases Regulus and then trains his wand towards me.
"Lupin. He's not an impostor. None of us are," Regulus says warningly.
"What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" Lupin asks urgently, his eyes searching mine.
"Um – "
"Answer me!" Lupin yells.
"…Lupin," Regulus growls, while Hagrid yells his objections.
"A Grindylow in a tank!" I say quickly, after racking my brain.
Immediately Lupin's wand hand drops and he takes a step back. Regulus's wand, that I only notice had been trained at Lupin, drops as well.
"I'm sorry. But I had to make sure," Lupin says wearily, his eyes moving between us three. "There's no need to check Hagrid – the Polyjuice Potion doesn't work on half-giants," he continues, and then rubs the bridge of his nose.
"One of us has leaked the information to Voldemort. The only people who knew you were being moved tonight, were the ones with you tonight, and also Molly, Ginny, Dora's parents, Molly's great-aunt Muriel, and Regulus," he says bitterly.
I chew the inside of my cheek, before I shake my head sharply. "No…I think not. Voldemort…he didn't know which Harry was me, until…until the very end. If one of us is a traitor, he would've known in the beginning. And Hagrid and I wouldn't have stood a chance…" I say, swallowing hard.
"What?" Lupin asks quickly. "He found you? How? What happened?"
"How did he know it was you?" Regulus asks curiously.
I frown and think back to the events of the night. "I…there were four Death Eaters following us, trying to…well, trying to hit Hagrid mostly," I say and give the half-giant a worried look, before I turn back to the others. "Hagrid managed to shake off one of them, and I stunned one, but then, one of their hoods slipped off and I saw Stan Shunpike – you know, the conductor on the Knight Bus – and I…I tried to disarm him, since I sure as hell wasn't going to stun him and send him to his death," I say quickly, while both Regulus and Lupin watch me with frustrated looks.
"You do realise that such generosity will not be handed to you by the other side?" Regulus asks darkly, while Lupin lets out a weary sigh.
"Harry…did it occur to you that perhaps…perhaps they recognised you because of that spell?" Lupin then asks, disappointment crossing his features.
I stare at him numbly, until I have to look away, feeling too ashamed to look at him. It makes perfect sense. The Death Eaters saw me duelling Voldemort a couple of years ago, using the disarming charm to escape him. Of course they would recognise me by the spell. How could I have been so stupid?
"We should go inside," Lupin then mutters.
I swallow down the guilt and glance towards the house, before looking at Lupin. "Is everyone okay?" I ask, feeling anxious, and the feeling only intensifies as Lupin gives me a grave look.
I know something's wrong. My throat feels tight. I'm almost too afraid to ask.
"What happened?" Regulus asks quietly, as if knowing my thoughts. His eyes are scrutinising Lupin's features.
Lupin gives us a strained look, and swallows hard. "Mad-Eye. He's dead."
There's a stunned silence. Mad-Eye. The Auror who had survived so much, who had fought so bravely. Already endured one wizarding war, and now, he's gone.
"I'm…what…" I mumble, not really knowing what I want to say, because there's nothing to say. Nothing that can help with the complete surprise and dread that follows as I realise that we've lost our second most powerful ally.
"Let's go," Regulus says quietly, tugging me forward, breaking the haze I'm swept in.
Lupin and Hagrid are already entering the house. Where everyone else is waiting.
The night goes on by recollecting the events of the evening, speculating over the possibility of being betrayed, and in a contemplative silence. After everyone has shared their parts of the night, and after Alastor Moody's death has been thoroughly discussed, Potter ends the suspicious thoughts and chatter by telling everyone to trust each other, proclaiming that he trusts each and every one of us with his life.
Lupin and William leave to retrieve Moody's body, and Potter tries to leave as well – with a noble reason behind it, I'm sure – only to be guilted to stay. He looks sour and eventually excuses himself outside after arguing with the others about what happened with him and Potter's wand.
Potter's friends soon follow him outside, and I let them be, not wanting to intrude their moment. Instead I sip my Firewhiskey and wonder how long does it take for Lupin and William to come back so that I can make my excuses and return to my home.
"So, Regulus…" George Weasley says, watching me with a mischievous look.
I glance at him. "Yes?"
George's brother smirks at me. "We heard some rumours…"
I groan inwardly. Give me a bloody break.
My cousin snorts quietly in the corner where she's staring outside from the window, evidently trying to see when her husband is returning.
I arch a brow at the twins. "You should not believe everything you hear," I merely say and stand up, turning towards Mrs. and Mr. Weasley.
"I'm leaving. Thank you for having me," I say politely, and both of them wish me goodnight, after telling me that I'm more than welcome to stay the night, and free to come by whenever I wish – except the wedding, which I am apparently required to attend.
I manage to catch Potter just as he's entering the kitchen from the back door, with Ronald and Hermione on his toe.
"You're leaving?" Potter asks, looking confused. "Why?"
I glance at Potter's friends, who quickly nod at me and walk hastily towards the sitting room where the rest of the people are gathered.
"I do not wish to overstay my welcome," I say mildly, but when Potter glowers at me, I continue, "I'll come back," I say and give him a wry smile, "Apparently there's a wedding taking place next week."
Potter frowns and chews the corner of his mouth in thought.
"You are not going to leave this place until you are of age?" I ask quietly, watching him carefully. Truthfully, I would be more than happy to let Potter stay with me at Grimmauld, but I know that it is not an option. It would be positively foolish for Potter to try to leave anywhere before the Trace is lifted.
Potter's brow twitches, and he blinks at me. Then he lets out a deep sigh and rubs his neck. "I don't know what I should do," He mutters unsurely, looking away.
"Yes, you do," I say softly, and Potter's eyes whip back to mine. He looks a bit taken aback, as if he wasn't expecting my answer to be so blunt. Even when we both know it to be true. Both of us know what he is going to do.
"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," he says determinedly, setting his jaw.
I give him a nod. "I assumed as much." There's a silence, and it seems like Potter wants to say more, so I wait patiently.
Potter swallows deeply. "…I know what I have to do," he whispers, his eyes moving across my chest before slowly trailing back up to meet mine. "…but if I do that…" He continues, clenching his jaw, a strained look in his eyes. "You know what that means then," he says heavily.
Of course, I know. What Potter means, is that this is a goodbye. That what we had planned, to get back my brother – he cannot do it, since Potter's going to be searching pieces of him, trying to end him.
I watch him silently for a moment, watch him squirm with guilt. Watch him as he desperately tries to tell me all of that without saying the words.
"You expect me to let you go alone?" I ask steadily.
Potter lets out a frustrated huff, and his face scrunches up a bit. But before he can start to argue, to tell me that he wants me to stay safe, I lift my arm and place my hand on the side of his face.
My thumb brushes against his cheek, and Potter's eyes close for a moment, a soft breath leaving his lungs. "W-What about…what about Sirius?" He stammers, looking regretful.
"There's nothing we can do right now. We both know that right now, there's a very slim chance to get into the Ministry without getting caught," I tell him, and watch how his bright green eyes fill with doubt and confliction.
"…But it's my burden to bear. I can't have other people risking their lives over mine," He says stubbornly, with a small shake of his head.
Still, Potter doesn't move away. His arguments are weak, and I know how to outweigh them. "Dumbledore included me in your mission for a reason, Harry," I say, levelling him with a stern look. Potter frowns, his resolve faltering. "And besides, I made a promise to my brother. I promised him that I would do whatever it takes to protect you," I continue, knowing that that at least, will crumble whatever resistance there is left in him.
Potter takes a shuddering breath and gives me a searching look, relief and hopefulness reflecting in his eyes.
"Okay," he whispers after what feels like a long moment.
I continue observing him for a while, before leaning closer to him and tilting my head slightly. Potter's eyes darken, and his hands trail up my chest until he takes a hold of my robes, pulling me closer to meet his lips with a frustrated sigh.
Potter's lips are soft, and the kiss is gentle, careful, even though his fingers are curled into my robes with a death grip. My other hand finds its way to Potter's waist, and then, the kiss deepens, growing more heated. I run my tongue along his bottom lip, and Potter lets out a soft gasp, his mouth opening, his tongue quickly finding mine. I hum as the touch of his tongue sends a wave of heat down my body.
Potter's hands slide up my chest and curl behind my neck, his fingertips tangling into my hair, holding me in place as he continues kissing me more forcefully than before, his tongue flitting inside my mouth, brushing against mine, brushing away every coherent thought in my mind, making me dazed and breathless.
There's a shifting sound near us, and we quickly break apart, turning to look towards the voice.
George Weasley is there, leaning against the kitchen counter on the other side of the room, a sly grin pulling up his lips, and a bowl of peanuts in his hands.
"Oh, by all means, do carry on," He says, and throws a handful of peanuts into his mouth, his eyes glinting with amusement and mischief. "Don't mind me."
I clear my throat and glance at Potter, who is flushed and wild-looking, trying to give his friend's brother a murderous glare.
"I should go," I mutter after an uncomfortable silence, and Potter turns to look at me, a mix of confusion and embarrassment in his features.
He scratches his head and gives me an awkward look. "Yeah. Um. I'll see you…when you come back here…" He says and clears his throat, looking anywhere but me and George.
I'm quite sure that I can hear quiet sniggering from the other side of the room, but I don't stay long enough to confirm that, and instead give Potter a curt nod and leave through the kitchen door, hastily making my way towards the Apparition point.