Secretly

Self esteem is for everybody,
Self-esteem is for everyone.
You can dream of being anybody,
But self-esteem is how you get it done.

Smile Time - Angel.

The charms around the tent were intricate. In the weeks spent planning the trip Hermione worked with Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin, researching, testing and altering existing spells to create this highly specific protection. It had seemed logical that those three should work together: Hermione was going on the trip and was the brightest witch in her year; McGonagall was an expert at Transfiguration; and Lupin was brilliant at Defence. It wasn't until they started on the combined silencing and listening devices that Hermione thought of Extendable Ears® and wondered why it hadn't occurred to her before that the twins would be invaluable assets to the project.

Fred was very keen to get involved. He knew that he had to stay - he couldn't leave Angelina, and someone had to mind the business - but he wanted to do whatever possible to protect his twin. They had never been apart for more than a few days their entire lives. The prospect of George's leaving upset Fred far more than he let on. So, Fred did as much as he could to help, leaving George in charge of the shop. Fred kept saying that since George was leaving him in charge for Merlin knew how long, George could make up for it now.

The first hurdle was camouflaging the tent. It looked like an ordinary, rather shabby Muggle tent. They did intend to stay in campsites occasionally in order to access a few amenities, so this wouldn't be a problem then. Sadly, they would not be able to do this often. It would be best not to be seen too much, but they would have to buy food so it would be unavoidable.

Simply making the tent invisible would not be a good plan. When people bump into invisible things they tend to get curious. Disguising the tent as a rock formation would be good in the mountains, but attract unwanted attention in woods and fields. They decided to start with the standard spells to deter Muggles. Whenever a Muggle got too close they would suddenly remember that they had to be somewhere else. Unfortunately, this would not work on the magical community.

After a few days, Fred asked whether there was a reason no one had suggested a Secret Keeper. You had to know where to find 12 Grimmauld Place and have been told the secret to find it. Lupin, McGonagall and Hermione couldn't believe they hadn't thought of this as a possibility sooner. They started a debate about the technicalities of phrasing, who to entrust with the secret and whether this would actually work on a tent. As Minerva McGonagall said, there was only one way to find out.

Hermione was adamant that the decision about the Secret Keeper be left up to Ron, Harry, George and herself. The elders agreed when it became clear that she wouldn't back down. It was only right that if they were going to entrust there whereabouts, and therefore their lives, to someone it should be a person of their choosing.

The four locked themselves away in a silenced room. The debate raged on for several hours. Ron was very glad that his mum had insisted on providing them with food and drink while they talked it out. He would've been starving otherwise. Hermione had some pumpkin juice when her voice started to go, but didn't touch the food. Surprisingly, neither did George. Harry was nibbling at things distractedly as though he just needed something to do with his hands.

It couldn't be Fred. That was fairly obvious right from the start. If someone found out that George was missing, his twin would be the obvious target. It couldn't be any other Weasley for that matter. With both George and Ron missing their remaining relatives would be far too obvious. They all frowned at that thought, but pushed it to the side. The Weasley's were all ready well known 'blood traitors' and at risk because of that. This wasn't the time or the place to think about that.

They briefly considered Professor McGonagall, but she too was dismissed. Hermione felt that the new Headmistress had far too much responsibility already: piecing together all that had been shattered by Dumbledore's death. They sat in silence contemplating the remaining Order members. The Aurors were tough and resilient, but they really didn't know them well enough.

"Remus Lupin."

The other three turned to look at Ron in mild surprise.

"He only taught us for a year, so no one would expect us to know him well. Or even see him anymore," Ron elaborated.

Hermione looked thoughtful.

"And so many of them are stupid and prejudiced, they wouldn't expect us to trust a werewolf," she said slowly.

Harry didn't look convinced.

"They know Sirius was my godfather and friends with Remus."

"Yes, but after everything that happened they might not know that Sirius and Professor Lupin made up."

"Hermione," Ron laughed, "you don't have to call him Professor Lupin anymore."

"I know! I can't help it. I feel weird calling him Remus."

"Guys! Stop it." Harry interrupted, not wanting this silly argument to escalate: they were all fraught as it was. "Ok, so Lupin's a werewolf, which makes him an unlikely choice. It also means he's freakishly strong and used to pain, so he'll hold up under torture. And with everything that happened with my dad and Sirius and that bastard Wormtail, they won't expect us to know him well, never mind choose him. Wormtail knows they worked out what he'd done, but not how they reacted afterwards. For all he knows, they couldn't get over all that had happened. What do you think, George?"

George had been silent throughout this exchange. He looked thoughtful, before giving Harry a sad, bitter smile.

"Remus knows what it is to be betrayed. He won't betray us."