Harry Potter and the House Divided

Chapter Fifteen Lambs to the Slaughter...

Tremendous pain in Harry's scar brought him out of a sound sleep two hours after he went to bed. Apparently, his pained cry had been loud enough to wake others in the house as moments after he woke up Bill, Tonks and Katarina were in his room. Bill and Tonks' wands were raised as if expecting danger and Katarina in a form that included human and avian features.

"What's the matter?" Tonks asked, her normally jovial air suppressed by a coolness that Harry would need time to realize she had gained as a result of years of training and time as an Auror in the field.

"Don't know," Harry groaned, hands clamped over his burning forehead.

"Let me see," Tonks barked, throwing her wand to Bill who snatched it in mid-flight much as Charlie must have once caught more than a few snitches.

Harry's hands remained clamped on his forehead, holding the pain in as if his head would explode if he didn't. Only after Tonks morphed into a far stronger form and literally ripped his hands from his forehead did Harry realize that there was blood on his hands and the pillow where his head had been.

"Katarina, call Dumbledore on the Floo and tell him that 'You-Know-Who' is up to something."

"I can't," the Veela said, tensely.

"Why the bloody hell not?" Tonks demanded, glaring furiously.

"Non-wizarding beings are restricted on British floo system."

"Forgot," Tonks snarled, glaring at Bill.

"I'm off," he said, throwing Tonks' wand back to her. "Should I get him here do you think?"

"If he'll come," Tonks said. "If not, get everyone else who can use a wand up here and see if you can find either Shacklebolt or Moody too. We're going to have to change the plan for tomorrow."

"Change what plan?" Harry asked, head still ready to burst.

"Either 'You-Know-Who's' attacking you, or he's roughing someone else up and you're feeling it. He's moving before we expected him to and that's nothing but bad news for us."

"Moving early?" Harry asked, mind barely working under the pain that he was enduring. "I thought that Moody said that he was supposed to do something soon."

"He was," Tonks said, hands still holding Harry's fingers away from his forehead. "But we didn't think he'd do anything until after Dumbledore was stuck with you lot up at Hogwarts. It's the day before school and so his doing anything caught us off guard, I'll tell you."

Before Harry could say anything more, a burst of fire announced Professor Dumbledore's arrival.

"Good evening, Harry," said the headmaster quietly. "I see that you're having a difficult night."

"Yes, sir." Harry groaned.

"Have you seen anything?"

"No, sir. Just my scar hurting enough to wake me up."

"And he screamed bloody murder, too." Tonks said, glancing at Harry when he winced at her description of his cries.

"I see," said Dumbledore softly.

"Severus was called away from Hogwarts this evening and I must assume that whatever is happening is related to that."

At that moment, Harry's head seemed to crack open with a devastating wave of pain. For the first time since his O.W.L.s in June, he could dimly see something from Lord Voldemort's mind. What it was, he couldn't tell.

"He's trying to show me something," Harry muttered, teeth gritted against the pain and Voldemort's determined efforts to break into his mind.

"Steady, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said softly, "remember what you know of Occlumency and use it to keep him out if you can."

"I'm trying," Harry yelled, fists clenched against the pain and fury that course through him at the thought that Professor Dumbledore couldn't recognize this already.

"My apologies Harry," said the headmaster quietly. "Even I can sometimes forget just how impressive a wizard you are. Continue your efforts and if anything comes through clearly please let me know as these attacks are somewhat unexpected at this time."

"That's what Tonks said," Harry muttered, the pain in his scar receding a little.

Harry sighed with relief after several minutes of pain whose quality had ranged from serious to mind-numbing.

"Better, Harry?" asked Professor Dumbledore.

"It doesn't hurt quite so much right now," Harry said, and I don't think that he's trying to get to my mind anymore. Seems like he's preoccupied with something else."

"I see," said Dumbledore quietly. "If you are up to it I'd like to move down to the kitchen where there's more room."

"Think so," Harry said weakly, "but it might be a good idea to have someone with me just in case he tries to do something while I'm on the stairs or something."

"I've got it," said Remus from somewhere near the foot of Harry's bed. "Why don't you lot go downstairs and I'll help Harry get some clothes on and then downstairs if he needs it."

"Thanks, Remus," Harry said, grateful that he wouldn't have to get down to his underpants while being watched over by one of the women who were clustered between the door and the foot of his bed.

"Then we shall see you momentarily," Professor Dumbledore said, shepherding everyone else toward the door.

"Are you all right, Harry?" Remus demanded after the others' departure.

"Fine," Harry said, not wanting to admit that his head still hurt a lot.

"Are you sure?" Remus said, face making it clear that he didn't fully believe Harry.

"Well," Harry said, wondering if Remus could smell the fact that he had lied earlier, "My head hurts and I'm feeling a bit dizzy but I'm pretty much all right."

"Can you get your things on by yourself?"

"I think so," Harry said, pleased that Remus seemed willing to give him the chance to take care of himself.

"Then get some clothes on and I'll meet you outside in a couple of minutes."

*-*-*-

After Harry had pulled some school robes out of his trunk and put them on, he and Remus walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen where Professor Dumbledore, Bill, Tonks and the Delacours were waiting for him. Just as he took his seat, the kitchen door burst open, admitting Alastor Moody whose magical eye was spinning wildly.

"What's happened?" the old Auror barked, both eyes fixed firmly on Harry.

"We are not yet certain," said Professor Dumbledore from his seat at the head of the table. "Harry awoke with extreme pain in his scar some twenty minutes ago. I would have chosen to let Nymphadora and the others here handle matters except for the fact that Severus was summoned by Lord Voldemort earlier in the evening."

"Any word from Auror headquarters?" Moody asked, glaring at Tonks.

"Bloody hell!" Tonks yelled jumping to her feet. "I was too busy with Harry to pay attention if they tried to get me. When I gave Bill my wand it cancelled the communications charms for a bit, it'll be a few minutes 'til I can check in."

"Hopefully Miss Tonks will not need to report for duty but whether she does or not, we will need to make new arrangements for your transport to the Hogwarts Express tomorrow," Professor Dumbledore said to Harry.

"I thought that I was going by a portkey?" Harry asked, thinking that there couldn't be any risk from doing so.

"Yes," Moody agreed before Harry's headmaster could speak, "but Tonks, Remus and me were going to be with you in case there was trouble when you got there."

"But how could there be trouble with Aurors already on the platform?" Harry demanded, thinking that everyone was taking security a little too seriously.

"Come on, boy!" Moody snorted. "Imperius curse, bribes, any number of ways and all it takes is one good curse and you're out of it."

"But..."

"But nothing!" Moody barked, leaning forward so that his horribly scarred nose was only inches away from Harry's. "Think about what happened in June and tell me that getting one good shot in at you can't happen."

Harry glanced at Professor Dumbledore, hoping that his headmaster would be more reasonable about all of this than Moody was.

"I am sorry to say, Harry that in this case I agree with Alastor."

"But..."

"You don't remember the last war," Professor Dumbledore said with a deep sigh. "So many that we thought should be reliable proved to be a threat. One of the reasons why your guardians have been with you for nearly a month or in places where we were fairly confident that they were secure was to ensure that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters could not get access to them and influence their actions in a way that could be dangerous to you. With whatever events are happening this morning and the possibility that Nymphadora's availability may be lost to us, we must make an alternative arrangement."

"Alastor and I can still go with Harry," Remus said from his seat at Harry's side.

"And I was counting on your presence this morning," Professor Dumbledore said with a nod. "But now that Lord Voldemort is apparently fully active, we must find at least two more guardians for Harry's journey."

"I vill be happy to go vith him," Katarina said.

"I appreciate your willingness to help but think that it would be best to avoid that unless it is absolutely necessary," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile for Katarina. "But I would appreciate it if Miss Delacour would be willing to take the train tomorrow rather than apparating her things to Hogwarts as we had originally planned."

"I will be 'appy to take ze train," Fleur said quietly. "It will be nice to see 'ow ze students get to school if I'm to teach zis year."

"You're a teacher?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Yes," Fleur said with a smile. "I weel be 'elping Professeur Flitwick in 'is charms classes and 'elping you with 'your dueling, Occlumency and Legilimency also."

"Cool," Harry said with a smile. He had come to like Fleur over the summer and was glad that she would be around at school this year.

Professor Dumbledore smiled benignly, obviously pleased by Harry's response to Fleur's announcement.

"As it is now almost six o'clock on what will doubtless be a long day", he started to say before a voice from Tonks' wand interrupted him.

"Auror Tonks, you are recalled to duty immediately. Your assignment will be at the discreation of Headmaster Dumbledore," Kingsley Shacklebolt's sonorous voice said from it's tip.

"What's happening?" Tonks demanded, holding her wand near her throat.

"'You-Know-Who's' attacking the muggleborn students' families and there are a lot of casualties."

"So far, the teams are fairly small since the wards on these students' homes couldn't be completed in time. There is no pattern to the attacks other than that muggle born students and some older muggle born witches and wizards seem to be in the most danger. For obvious reasons, the teams directed against older students or young adults appear to be larger than those going after the younger students and their families."

Fear for Hermione gripped Harry whose head swung toward Professor Dumbledore like a compass needle toward a magnet. He couldn't hear whether Tonks and Kingsley had continued their conversation and wouldn't have cared much if they did.

"You will understand, Harry, that I can't make any guarantees at this moment but please know that Miss Granger's home has been extremely heavily warded since Lord Voldemort regained corporeal form a year ago. We have always believed that she was at extreme risk due to her association with you and her activism in the defence of house elves as well."

"So we should go and check on her then," Harry said, rising quickly to get his wand.

"We will do nothing of the sort," Professor Dumbledore said firmly. "You, Harry, must stay here and await developments. There are a number of people in this room who can see whether Miss Granger's family is safe and Amelia Bones knows well the danger that her parents are in. Aurors have probably been dispatched to reinforce the wards and Miss Granger has been at the Burrow for several weeks and so protected by its wards and at least five fully trained wizards."

"But what about her parents?" Harry demanded, angry that he would not be allowed to do anything to defend his friends.

"I can not speak of their safety with any certainty, but our spy told us that if an attack of this sort were to be made, it would be directed at other families whose parents were younger and therefore likely to have more children in the future. The ministry has therefore been protecting them as well as a number of young muggle born adults who are known to be trying to have children."

"But you said that Hermione was in danger because of knowing me," Harry argued, thinking that Voldemort would certainly want to attack him through his friends if Harry himself could not be reached.

"I believe that to be the case," Professor Dumbledore said heavily. "But I also believe that the Grangers will be at very minimal risk because destroying them would not forward Voldemort's cause, and, save their daughter, the Grangers have nothing to interest him. On the other hand, killing the families of younger muggleborn children and students is useful to them as doing so would also prevent Hogwarts from admitting muggleborn students for quite some time to come."

Harry, furious at Professor Dumbledore's attitude toward people who were being murdered while they sat around the table at No.12, Grimmauld Place stared at his headmaster, completely speechless with anger.

Remus, seeing Harry's fury for what it was, touched the younger man's shoulder in order to get his attention.

"Don't think for a moment that any of us here are happy about what is happening. Professor Dumbledore regrets these deaths more than you could possibly imagine, much as he grieves the hundreds of lives that were lost during Voldemort's first rise to power. Our problem, Harry, is simply that we don't know who is under attack and who isn't. We can't say with any level of confidence how many Death Eaters are present at any single location and can't sprinkle people around the country in hopes of preventing attacks everywhere. We have to wait until one begins and respond as quickly as we can."

"Seems like an awful lot of waiting while he gets a head start to me," Harry grumbled.

"Don't mistake my meaning, Harry," Remus remonstrated gently. "Professor Dumbledore dispatched teams from the Order while you and I were upstairs, but we must stay here to collect information and protect you. Kreacher may not have been able to tell Narcissa Malfoy that the Order has it's headquarters here but the Fidelius charm put on the house does not hide the fact that it exists. Narcissa knows that this was Sirius's house and that it has been bequeathed to Andromeda Tonks. She must know that this is one of only a few places that you might be, and this alone means that we have to keep a strong presence here should Voldemort try to break the family wards which are the only sure protection that this house, and the Order, has should someone break the wards by doing something like... getting the information directly from your mind."

"But there are nine of us here," Harry objected angrily.

"True," Remus admitted "but Alastor, Bill, Fleur and me have to be here to get you to the train safely and Professor Dumbledore can't coordinate our people and fight at the same time. As a fullveela, Katarina is denied the use of a wand in Britain, just as house elves are. Although her natural capabilities are formidable they would be little good against a determined Death Eater. The Delacours aren't British citizens and can't use any hexes, jinxes or curses unless they are attacked, and I think that the ministry would have a problem accepting any defence dependent on the fact that they just happened to be somewhere that Death Eaters were also likely to be. They won't be able to help us in combat until they are brought in as emergency auxiliaries, which won't happen until they return to France."

"Could you take me to the train so that the others could help?" Harry asked Mr. and Mrs. Delacour.

"Unfortunately, taking you to the Hogwarts Express is no less risky than protecting muggleborns," said Professor Dumbledore softly. "In truth, Harry, everyone here is contributing in the best way that they possibly can."

"What about a portkey to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, knowing that his headmaster wouldn't allow it, even if he wasn't sure why yet.

"A good idea," Professor Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "But I think that your appearance at Hogwarts more than a dozen hours before the rest of the students would only confirm any theories that Lord Voldemort might have about your importance to the plans I have to fight him. Much as every wand is needed right now, neither you, me nor the wizarding world is ready to take that risk yet."

"What about going to the Burrow and coming with the Weasleys?"

"That is a possibility", said Professor Dumbledore, pensively. "How many adults will be going with your brother and sister to the train this year?" he asked Bill, eyes intent.

"Fred, George, Mum and Dad, I think," Bill said after a moment's thought.

"So if Harry were to go with them he would have nearly as much protection as he would have had he gone with his guardians here?"

"Nearly," Bill said, obviously torn between admitting that Harry should travel with his family and worry at the added risk to them that would come from agreeing with Harry's idea.

"Then I suggest that you and Miss Delacour accompany Harry to the Burrow and then on to the Hogwarts Express. She can assist Professors Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape with their patrols and then bring Harry to me when he reaches the castle."

"Right," Bill said, jumping to his feet. "I'll go up and pack your stuff for you so that we can get going," he said to Harry as he raced through the door.

"I weel complete my packing," Fleur said, leaving only somewhat more decorously than Bill had.

"Alastor, Miss Tonks, Remus, would you prepare to apparate to the home of Colin and Dennis Creevey?"

"On it," Moody barked, rising to his feet.

"I hope that it's near by, Albus," Remus said quietly. "You know that apparating is difficult for werewolves."

"The Creeveys are a London family," Professor Dumbledore replied, though I am happy to make you a portkey if you prefer."

"That won't be necessary," Remus said with a small smile. "Though knowing their address will be."

"Oh dear," Professor Dumbledore said softly, I don't have it with me.

"However, there is another way."

With this he pulled his wand from a pocket and a small silvery bird shot out of it much as Harry had seen done when the headmaster had called for Hagrid while investigating what had happened to Barty Crouch during the spring of Harry's fourth year.

Within minutes there was a nearly invisible flare of light which touched the headmaster at the end of his crooked nose.

The headmaster nodded, rising as he did so.

"I must ask you to take me to Professor McGonagall's office at Hogwarts and then bring me back here as soon as I have collected the address writer," he said to Fawkes who had been sitting on his left shoulder.

The headmaster's familiar seemed to nod and then both of them disappeared.

The fiery trail of their disappearance had barely died out before they reappeared, an enormous phoenix feather quill and inkpot held in the headmaster's left hand.

"Locatus Colin and Dennis Creevey," said the headmaster to the address writer which began to move on a piece of parchment that Moody conjured.

Moody, who had been leaning over Professor Dumbledore's shoulder rose sharply, already barking instructions at Remus and Tonks.

"They're at 91 Windham Road, Southwest and they're using their wands," he growled. "Let's get a move on."

"I'm sorry that I won't be able to accompany you to the train," Remus said with a smile for Harry who was suddenly deeply afraid that he might lose the person who represented the last connection that he had to his parents and Sirius as well.

"So am I," Tonks said cheerily. "But I'll be seeing you loads this year," she continued, apparating away before Harry could ask how this might be.

"Ready," Bill said as he returned to the kitchen.

"Where's Hedwig?" Harry asked while Bill set his trunk and Hedwig's empty cage on the floor.

"Told her to head for Hogwarts," Bill said with a grin.

Harry nodded, glad that Hedwig would be at Hogwarts by the time he arrived there.

"Anything else?" asked Professor Dumbledore, eyes twinkling.

"As soon as Fleur's back we'll be ready," Bill replied with a grin.

"Zen we're ready to go," Fleur said, levitating two trunks through the door and setting them near the fireplace.

"Would you mind if I used one of those fine trunks as a portkey?"

Professor Dumbledore asked, wand at the ready.

"Of course."

Permission obtained, Professor Dumbledore touched his wand to the smaller trunk, murmured "Portus" and Harry watched it tremble for a moment before it settled back to the floor.

"I wish you a safe journey this morning and look forward to seeing at least two of you at Hogwarts this evening," said the headmaster as he stood back from the trunk which Harry saw was nearly as tall as he was.

"Right then," Bill said with a flourish of his wand. "Harry, I assume you know what to do?"

"Oh yeah," Harry said, grimacing slightly as he manoeuvred himself so that he could touch Fleur's trunk and hold onto the handle of his own.

Oh, yeah..." Bill said apparently remembering about Harry's trip at the end of the Tri-Wizard-Tournament.

"It's allright," Harry said.

Bill relaxed, glad that his unthinking comment had been forgiven.

"We're off," said Bill, catching hold of the handle of Fleur's second trunk.

Moments later, Harry felt a jerk behind his navel as the portkey activated.

*-*-*-

Harry fell to his knees on landing in the Weasleys' garden. For one terrifying moment it seemed that Fleur's trunk might fall over, crushing him in the process.

After making sure that Harry wouldn't be crushed, Bill led the others toward the kitchen door, leaving their trunks in the watery sunlight of an early September day in England.

"It's about 7:30 now so I'd reckon that Mum'll be up even if the rest are still in bed," Bill said, the warning glance that he gave Harry as easy to read as his copy of 'Quidditch Through The Ages'.

On realizing that he would be seeing Mrs. Weasley for the first time since his birthday, Harry began to wonder whether coming to the Burrow was such a good idea after all. He suddenly wished that Bill could stun him and simply carry him onto the Hogwarts Express like a piece of luggage when it was time to leave.

Knowing that this was neither realistic nor the kind of bravery expected from a Gryffindor, Harry straightened to his full height and walked boldly into the kitchen at the burrow, only a step behind Bill and Fleur, who had taken protective positions in front of him without his having noticed.

"Morning, Mum," Bill said, apparently thinking that trying to play off their presence at the Burrow as a pre-planned thing was the best way to go.

"Bill!, Fleur, how nice it is to see you," Mrs. Weasley cried, rising to her feet.

"Good to see you too, mum," Bill said, giving Mrs. Weasley a quick hug as he did so. "We've had a bit of a change in plans and Dumbledore asked us to take Harry to the train instead of having him go from headquarters."

"Oh?" Mrs. Weasley said, looking at Harry for the first time. While she didn't seem particularly friendly, Harry was glad to see that she didn't seem particularly hostile either.

"Kingsley called Arthur a while ago to see if he knew where Tonks was, said something about her wand having been in your possession for a minute and her being unresponsive. We were worried, of course, but as Albus hasn't called either Arthur or me, we decided that it couldn't be too serious."

"It's pretty bad," Bill said quietly. "Harry woke up this morning with 'You-Know-Who' in his head. It sounds like most of the younger muggleborns are under attack this morning and he was trying to let Harry in on what's happening. Professor Dumbledore came right away and had to send Remus, Tonks and Moody out to protect a couple of the students and asked us to bring Harry here so that we could get him to the train with enough adult wizards to protect him while he's on the platform."

"I see," Mrs. Weasley said, coolly. "Well you know what I think about taking added risk with Ron and Ginny so I suppose that Fred and George can go with you three and then Arthur and I can bring Ginny and Ron later."

"I don't think that's a good idea, mum." Bill said, nervously. "It wouldn't do for Harry to come with some of us if Ron, Ginny and Hermione aren't with him. They're Harry's friends, and, if he comes to the train with half of our family but without those three, it'll be as good as putting a sign on his back saying Harry's special, and you know we can't do that."

Mrs. Weasley glared at Harry, a mix of anger, fear and protectiveness washing across her face as she did so.

"Oh, all right," she said huffily. "Since Professor Dumbledore has thrown this in my lap I suppose I'd better get everyone up so that we can be ready to be at King's Cross at 10:30."

She stormed off, using a Sonorous charm to awaken Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione and Ron as she climbed the stairs.

Bill, who was focused on Mrs. Weasley during their conversation turned to Harry who immediately realized that he hadn't been as good at concealing the pain that he felt at its outcome as he'd hoped.

"Look, Harry," Bill said kindly. "Mum's been worried about all of you for more than a year. She lost two brothers in the last war and is terrified that Dad or someone else in the family is going to get killed now that 'You-Know-Who''s back. Problem is, if we don't fight, who will? She knows all that and she's doing as much as anyone to help out but it's hard for her to see all of us fighting even though we're younger than my Uncles were when they died."

"But if I weren't here she wouldn't have to worry as much," Harry said, sick with guilt.

"Maybe so," Bill said. "But if you hadn't been close to our family Ginny'd be dead. Mum knows that but, well, she's not very rational about us after what happened before."

"I understand," Harry said "But I wish that I could go back to school with stuff worked out with her," he added wistfully.

"Maybe you will and maybe not," Bill said. "But either way, you've got a lot of Weasleys on your side and Mum's a lot better about things now than she was when you and Fleur got into the paper earlier this summer."

"Ees true," Fleur said from where she stood, leaning agains the sink, looking out of the window over the back garden. "Percy 'as been 'ired by one of ze solicitors in Diagon Alley and 'e is probably going to be better off zen 'e was when 'e worked at Ze Ministry. Zat 'as 'elped a lot and everyone 'as been trying to mek zings easier for 'u all summer. Give 'er time and even ze matriarch weel realize zat 'U are not to blame for everyzing zat she ees afraid of."

Harry felt a lot better at the knowledge that Percy had been hired by one of the solicitors' firms. Working for a solicitor might not be as honourable as working for the Ministry but at least he would have money coming in and be able to have his own life. That, along with the fact that Percy's parents weren't having to take care of an added son anymore, made Harry feel much better about things.

Before he could give more thought to everything going on in the Weasley Family, Harry heard the pounding of many feet coming down the stairs. Fred, George, Hermione and Ginny burst into the room, chattering happily. As soon as they saw Harry all of them, except Hermione, rushed over, slapping him on the back and telling him how glad they were to see him. Hermione waited until the worst of Harry's effusive welcome from the Weasley children had passed and then came over to him, giving him a one-armed hug and brief kiss on the cheek as well.

"Hello Harry," she said softly. "It's really good to see you."

"And you," Harry said, deciding that if she didn't know about the attacks going on all over England, he wouldn't worry her with knowledge of them until they were on the Hogwarts Express.

She seemed ready to ask him why he was there when Fred and George interrupted her.

"So one last ride," said Fred, or George, with a grin.

"One last chance to add a bit to our profits," the other twin chimed in.

"One last chance to give the Ferret everything that's coming to him,"

"One last chance to hex him limb from limb."

"George!" Mrs. Weasley said from the doorway, face tight with anger. "If you do anything to Lucius Malfoy's son, you'll have to answer to me."

"Oh mum," George said disgustedly. "We know that we can't do anything that regular students can't."

"Not that it isn't a bit tempting to do it anyway," Fred said from the table where he was digging into a rack of toast.

"I mean," George said with a grin. "What's McGonagall going to do, take house points?"

"She most certainly would," Hermione said huffily from her place at the other end of the table. "And I, for one, don't want to have to try to recover house points that were lost by people who aren't in Gryffindor anymore."

"No sense of fun, that one." Fred said with a theatrical sigh. "Almost as bad as Percy."

"Fred!" Mrs. Weasley barked.

"Hate to say it mum, but she is almost as much of a stuffed shirt as Percy ever was."

"And if being a stuffed shirt means that she's to be Head Girl then I think Hermione is well justified to take that risk. A muggleborn Head Girl is exactly what Hogwarts needs at a time like this."

"Yeah," George said quietly. "A muggleborn Head Girl whose parents'll be dead two weeks after the announcement, I'll wager."

Harry thought that it was fortunate that no-one else had heard George's comment.

*-*-*-

Breakfast with the Weasleys was as disorderly and confused as it ever was on the morning of a departure for the Hogwarts Express. Harry noticed that the older Weasleys seemed to encourage the confusion so as to ensure that he wouldn't get pulled aside by either Hermione or Ginny. Ron seemed to have decided to have a lie-in and so missed Percy's hasty trip through the kitchen on his way to his new job. Though he was obviously in a hurry to get to it, Percy made sure he apologized to Harry for his actions of the previous year and thanked him for taking up with Fred and George for him before apparating away, a piece of toast clenched in his free hand.

"Well, that helps things a bit," Ginny said thoughtfully from behind an O.W.L. preparation guide.

"A bit," George admitted with a theatrical sigh. "But still, he's going to have to work long and hard to make things up so far as I'm concerned."

"You've got that right," Fred said hotly. "By all rights he should've done that in the papers."

"If the Prophet hadn't quoted me, I'd be a bit cross that he didn't say something publicly. But I think that he's had enough trouble on my account to make us even." Harry said.

"If you say so," George said with a nod. "What I said this summer still stands for me but, if I give Percy a rough time, it'll be on my account, not yours."

"Works for me," Fred agreed, grinning. "After all, it's not as if being Percy isn't enough reason in itself."

"Got that right," George said, shooting a glance at Mrs. Weasley who seemed not to have heard their conversation.

*-*-*-

It was nearly ten before Ron finally got out of bed. Although surprised that Harry was at the Burrow, he took the change in plans fairly well.

Mrs. Weasley plied him with food and then rushed upstairs to oversee the Weasley children's last-minute packing. Bill gestured to Harry that he shouldn't go up and although he was angry that he wouldn't be able to help his friends get ready, Harry realized that any progress that he had made with Mrs. Weasley this morning would be lost if she caught him talking to Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

Ron was best at adjusting to Harry's presence and the fact that they would be portkeying to the station twenty minutes earlier than they had originally arragenged to. Because of this, he was packed and ready to go before Hermione who had great difficulty fitting everything that she was taking to school into her trunk. Fortunately for all of them, the fact that they would be using a portkey meant that Mrs. Weasley didn't have to threaten to leave someone behind.

Harry was surprised by the level of solicitude that Ron was showing Hermione who seemed uncertain how to accept his willingness to carry her trunk down the stairs. Of course, Ron's inability to lift it, not to mention carry it down the stairs might have been the root of Hermione's confusion.

Finally, with only five minutes to go before the portkey was due to activate, Fred and George raced up the stairs and used magic to bring Hermione's trunk down with them.

"Thirty seconds," Bill shouted as Fred and George rushed through the front door.

"Twenty-five!"

Fred nearly threw Hermione's trunk at her, reaching with one hand to catch onto the piece of nylon rope that had been enchanted to carry the group to a protected place near the platform at King's Cross while grabbing the handle of his trunk with the other.

"Ten!" Bill said, as Hermione caught the handle of her trunk and reached to grasp the rope.

"Seven!" he said, as her fingers slipped from it and she cried out in fear and frustration.

"Three!"

She made a desperate lunge, caught the rope and four witches, seven wizards and eight trunks disappeared from the Burrow's front garden.