Brontide

“Hello? Is this thing working? I suppose there's really no way to tell if it is or not, um...this is Cassie.”

I was face to face with a silvery-blue bat of some sort. It was flapping its wings rapidly and waiting for me to continue speaking. Rather hesitantly, I kept talking into the end of my wand.

“It turns out my Patronus has changed, though I really had no idea until I started practicing this. Fred and George think it might have to do with the shock of...you know. Anyway, we had to move locations recently because our position was compromised. As it turns out, saying You-Know-Who's real name will result in a squadron of Snatchers showing up on your doorstep.”

I paused again and looked at Rae from the kitchen doorway. She had the telly on in the sitting room, the volume low while she and the twins whispered to each other.

“Remus said you were due sometime this month, so hopefully you'll get this while you're at home resting. If either of you needs anything or want to relay information, we're at Rae's family home in Morpeth now. I'd send Nestor but we don't want to look suspicious since her neighbors are quite nosy. Hopefully, I did this right...I'd really like to see you both soon. I hope you're well and I can't wait to meet the baby.”

I lowered my wand but my new Patronus continued to hover in front of me. I stared at it with my brow furrowed, trying to figure out how to make it leave.

“Er...go to the Tonks residence?” I said uncertainly. That seemed to do the trick, and a moment later it disappeared through the wall.

I plopped down in an armchair and turned my attention to the telly. The newscaster seemed to be going on about the wet weather again, but this was nothing new. The previous few weeks had brought nothing but a lot of rain. As per usual, the muggle news told us nothing of importance, but that didn't mean we were going to stop searching for information. Every day we watched the news and picked up the local newspaper from town in the hopes of finding some shred of useful information.

“I really hope Tonks and Remus get that message,” I said quietly, “because I can only imagine the mess we left behind at the other place and I'd hate for them to think something happened to us.”

“Well, seeing as none of us has ever successfully communicated with our Patronuses I think you did alright,” Rae piped up from the sofa. “We'll just have to wait and see, yeah? Why don't you and Fred go pick up some breakfast in the meantime? And the paper, while you're at it. I'm gonna try giving Georgie here a haircut.” She reached over and ruffled his messy red hair.

“Oi, what's wrong with my hair?” he protested, trying to lean away from her.

“Have you not seen yourself recently? You're starting to look like a caveman,” she giggled.

“I do not!”

“It's never been this long before. I thought you said that you didn't like yourself with long hair?”

“Well, I've changed my mind.”

She scoffed. “You've only changed it out of spite.”

They were poking at each other and being far too cutesy for me so early in the day. The general mood between the four of us had improved since leaving the shelter, but that didn't mean I wanted to upchuck the previous night's supper.

Fred and I grabbed our raincoats and an umbrella, the two of us apparating to a field about a quarter mile away from Morpeth's town square. It was a place that was usually void of any people and the walk wasn't bad. I pulled up my hood and Fred popped the umbrella open, holding it over our heads while we walked along the side of the road.

The telly had confirmed it was a Friday, and the streets of Downtown Morpeth were bustling with people in a hurry. All sorts of little shops lined the area, including an arcade and various restaurants. There was a small cafe' called Central Bean that we'd been frequenting for its cheap, delicious breakfasts, and it also carried the newspaper. On this particular day, the shop had a line out the door and Fred and I waited outside while the rain pounded on our umbrella.

From what Rae told us, her hometown was mostly comprised of muggles and it was because of this that we kept our wands hidden away. It didn't mean that I wasn't paranoid, though. While we waited on line, Fred was telling me jokes and going on about new ideas for the shop. I tried my best to pay attention and nodded and laughed at the appropriate times, but I was mostly looking around us and watching as people passed by. My hand was securely around my wand the whole time, which was concealed inside my raincoat's pocket.

We bought four plates to go of eggs, bacon, toast and hash browns using some money Rae found in the safe hidden in her attic. It'd been bolted to the floor and sealed shut with a dial combination, otherwise I was fairly sure someone would've tried going off with it.

I carried the bag with our food and Fred was briefly looking over the newspaper before we left the cafe'. We weaved around pedestrians for a few minutes before having to wait for the crosswalk. My arm was linked with Fred's while we waited for cars to pass, and he leaned over to kiss the top of my head. It was when I turned my head to flash him a smile that I saw something, or rather someone, who made the color drain from my face.

“Fred,” I said quietly without tearing my eyes away, “why is he here?”

With a look of confusion, Fred followed my line of vision. “Bloody hell,” he muttered in realization and turned up the collar of his coat.

He'd just exited the bookstore across the street from us and was looking around at the busy muggles, seemingly searching for someone. His overcoat was drenched and his dark hair clung to his face, a five o'clock shadow present around his jaw. I turned my head away when his dark eyes went in our direction, hoping my hood hid my face well enough. A moment later, I felt Fred nudge me in my side.

“He's walking away,” he muttered to me. I glanced up and sure enough, he was headed in the direction of the cafe', but I didn't feel relief. When the signal for the crosswalk changed, we hurried across the road and I made to start following him, but Fred put on the brakes.

“Where are you going? We should leave right now, Cass.”

“I'm not going to engage, I just wanna see what he's up to. I don't think him showing up here was a coincidence.” I stood there in the rain and motioned for Fred to follow me. “C'mon, numpty.”

With a reluctant sigh, he hurried alongside me as I kept my eyes on the back of the Snatcher's head. He was a good distance ahead of us and we had to walk quickly to keep up, all the while trying not to push anyone over. A few minutes later, we were stopped at another crosswalk but I ignored it and crossed anyway, Fred attached to my side like glue. I could see the man continuing to look around, though he didn't enter any more storefronts. In fact, not too soon after we started our pursuit he made a sudden turn down a narrow alley between buildings. When Fred and I finally caught up, we stopped just before it.

“Don't you think it's odd that out of all places, we find him here? He looks bloody suspicious,” I hissed, about to peek around the corner. “This isn't exactly London; we're in a small muggle town almost in the middle of nowhere.”

Fred nodded in agreement. “Maybe the Memory Charm wasn't strong enough? I dunno what possessed the bloke to come back, though.”

I had an inkling that was the case, and I started feeling an overwhelming sense of dread. We glanced around the corner just enough to see down the path. A few trash cans lined the walls and the alley ended with a chain link fence, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

“Dammit,” I cursed, shifting the bag of food to my other hand so I could pull out my wand. “Should we apparate from here? I don't feel comfortable walking the rest of the way back. I dunno if he saw us or not.”

With a glance around, Fred closed up the umbrella and pulled me into the alley with him. I tried to focus on the image of the sitting room but all I kept thinking about was the Snatcher, how if he found out where we were hiding it would've been my fault for not erasing his memory properly...

When we reappeared I realized we were in the kitchen instead, and instantly I could feel something was wrong. There was an awful stinging sensation happening on my upper left arm. When I heard Rae scream I looked down at it wearily, my eyes widening in horror when I saw a chunk of flesh missing and blood gushing down the sleeve of my raincoat.

Rae was in the middle of cutting George's hair with a pair of scissors, but she dropped them in shock and quickly grabbed the bag of food before it ended up on the floor. I felt my legs start to give out on me and my vision went fuzzy. Before I could collapse, Fred held me up and helped me into the dining room so I could sit down. He carefully got me out of my coat and I was trying to resist yelling out in pain, so I looked away from him. Crouched down, he was trying to remain calm and started siphoning the blood away.

“You splinched yourself, numpty,” he said with a sigh. “How the hell did you manage to do that?”

Unable to answer him without yelling out, I simply shook my head and glared at the floorboards, biting on my bottom lip. A moment later, George and Rae hurried into the room with bandages and Essence of Dittany.

“Move over,” Rae muttered to Fred, and he complied. She quickly unscrewed the cap and used the dropper to carefully put the Dittany on my wound. Fred and George watched nervously as I finally caved to the pain, the stinging and burning worsening enough to send me over the edge.

“FUCK!” I yelled, my hands clenched into fists and my entire body shaking. Rae kept apologizing but I didn't hear her; tears were streaming down my sweaty face. “Why is it always me that needs to use this stuff? I'm bloody sick of it!”

I found the strength to look at my arm again. The wound was beginning to close up with new skin and most of the blood was cleaned away, though there was no mistaking the shocking white of bone that I saw. I began to feel more than a little sick when I watched my flesh grow over it.

Rae twisted the bottle closed and handed me a napkin, which I wiped my eyes with. “There, give it a moment and it should look a lot better. Can you move your arm at all?”

I tried slowly lifting it but winced. It hurt far too much to move it just then, so I shook my head.

George passed the roll of bandage wrap to Rae, and it was then that I noticed only about half of his hair had been cut. The length difference was quite dramatic and I couldn't help but laugh a little. Rae was gingerly making a sling for my arm. To distract myself, I said to him, “Please tell me that's the look you plan on sporting from now on. It really suits you.”

“The missing ear wasn't enough, so now Mum will really be able to tell us apart,” Fred grinned.

George glared at us. “Hey, if Cassie hadn't gone and splinched herself then Rae would've finished.”

“Well, I sure as hell didn't do this on purpose.”

Rae knotted the bandage at my shoulder and let out a sigh. “How did this even happen? You've never splinched yourself before.”

Fred and I told them about what happened with the Snatcher, and by the time we were done George and Rae were looking at us with wide eyes.

“I don't understand,” Rae said slowly as she rubbed her temples, “it just doesn't make any sense for him to be here, especially if he was alone. We were so careful, too.”

I felt more than a bit uncomfortable about what I was going to say next. “It's possible that I didn't wipe his memory properly, but even if he remembers what happened it doesn't mean he'll find us, right?”

Fred took my hand that wasn't elevated in the sling. “I really doubt it, we're well protected here...but I do think we should get food elsewhere if we really need it. Don't wanna chance running into him or more of those wankers again.”

We all agreed to stay away from Downtown Morpeth and slowly dispersed from the dining room, George and Rae going back to the kitchen to fix his hair. I started pulling the food we brought out of the bag but Fred insisted I let him do it. I didn't have it in me to argue with him, so while he heated up our food with his wand, being that I didn't trust him not to break the microwave, I watched Rae cut George's hair.

“You want me to do yours next?” she asked as she snipped off another long lock of red hair.

I shrugged noncommittally, honestly liking my mess of hair. “I'm fine with how mine is.”

“Depending on how George's comes out I might want mine done,” Fred piped up. He was already shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth.

“You better not eat all of that,” George said in a warning tone, “because I'm seriously starved. Oh, and before I forget, Tonks sent a Patronus back while you were gone.”

“She had the baby,” Rae said with a smile. “It's a boy and they're calling him Teddy, Teddy Lupin. He's named after Tonks' father, who, um...”

“Snatchers killed him last month,” George said quietly, “she's quite torn up about it, though the baby is keeping her distracted. She and Remus were glad to hear from you.”

We ate our breakfasts and Rae made Fred and George look more presentable before we went back to watching the news. As I was heading toward the sitting room, I noticed something attached to the fridge that I didn't remember seeing before. It was an envelope that had the words “Mum and Dad” written on it in Rae's handwriting, scrawled in large letters and attached to the fridge with a magnet from Bora Bora.

***

The first of May came like any other day, with the same routine that we always had. My arm had healed enough where I could move it without too much discomfort, and the four of us continued practicing spells until we exhausted ourselves. No unwanted Snatchers showed up, Rae's neighbors kept to themselves, so all in all things were quiet for a bit.

Fred and I were in the upstairs bathroom that night to brush our teeth before bed. We'd changed into our pajamas already and he was making stupid faces in the mirror while he brushed. I made a few in return before spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing my mouth out, and he did the same. I wiped my face with a fluffy towel and felt Fred wrap his arms around my waist to pull me back towards him, and I let him. Spinning around to face him, I rested my hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes, so clear and brown. He was looking back into my blue ones with what I identified as love, and somewhere within his orbs was a gleam of mischievousness that I was all too familiar with. It was the last thing I saw before we kissed.

Honestly, I never got tired of being close to him. Having our own room gave us the privacy that the fallout shelter lacked, and even just lying together to have late night talks for hours upon hours solidified our relationship even further. Stealing moments together when Rae and George weren't around was something I really enjoyed.

Suddenly, the voice of Remus Lupin echoed throughout the house, causing Fred and I to jump apart.

“Sorry to bother everyone at this hour, but this is a matter of utmost importance.” Fred threw open the bathroom door and the two of us looked out into the hall. The door to Rae's room opened and she poked her head out, while George was at the base of the stairs. A werewolf Patronus that I knew belonged to Remus stood in front of us, opening its mouth to deliver the message. “I've just received word that Harry and the others are at Hogwarts, and we're not too sure of the exact situation but it sounds as though they're going to need our wands. I'm told there's a secret entrance to the school in the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade. Make sure you apparate directly inside there and let Aberforth know you're with the Order, he'll help you. I – no, honey, we already talked about this, you're not –” He sighed, and I guessed he was talking to Tonks. “I'll see everyone there.”

The Patronus vanished, leaving the four of us to stand there in shock.

I didn't know what to say so I retreated to the guest room, scrambling to find a change of clothes. I heard Fred rummaging through his rucksack on the other side of the room. I was hoping we would finally see the rest of the Weasley clan again, and that coupled with the prospect of kicking some butt made me quite excited, truthfully. I knew Fred was anxious from how he kept going into his rucksack, seemingly going in circles while he tried to collect his thoughts. Once I'd changed, I sent a message to Lee and Angelina by Patronus, telling them where to go and what was happening.

At the last minute, I decided to let Nestor outside since I didn't know when I'd be back. The four of us gathered in the sitting room a few minutes later, bringing with us just our wands. We really had no idea what we were about to walk into but decided it was best to travel light. I caught George looking at the scar that was half covered by the shirt I was wearing, and I had a feeling he was leery of me being the one to apparate us. This was confirmed almost instantly when I heard him mutter, “It's been a while, but I think I remember what the Hog's Head looks like inside.”

When we reappeared, I felt my feet land on creaky floorboards and dust instantly met my nostrils. We'd landed right in front of the dormant fireplace. The room was lit up by candles and I could see mounted animal heads along the walls, their faces looking ominous in the flickering candlelight. The only other time I'd been there was for the founding of Dumbledore's Army, and that was mostly because I preferred The Three Broomsticks' atmosphere.

Above the fireplace was a large portrait of a girl with red hair, who was eyeing us with curiosity. She smiled at me and nervously waved. I awkwardly waved back before looking at the others, and it was then I noticed the bearded old man sitting at a table behind us.

I was pretty sure he was the barkeep; he seemed tired and I sensed he'd dealt with too many people already from the look of disdain he was giving us. “Um...hi there. You're Aberforth, right? We're with the Order, and they told us –”

“I know you're with the bloody Order,” he grumbled as he heaved himself out of the chair. “You think they care that I'll be up all night because of the never-ending parade of people that keeps showing up?” I was a bit taken aback by his tone and I exchanged nervous looks with Rae. “I've got Death Eaters snooping around Hogsmeade and causing trouble...this is the last thing I need.”

I wasn't really sure if I should say something so I kept my mouth shut. Aberforth walked over to the portrait of the girl, and I realized that she was walking away from the painting to somewhere a great distance away.

“Just out of curiosity,” Fred piped up, “where is the secret passageway?”

“We used just about all of them back in the day and there was never one in here,” said George.

Aberforth pointed to the picture above him. “It's right here, you'll see when she gets back. Snape had all the other passages closed off when they put him in charge, but this one sort of just appeared one day.” He rubbed his face tiredly. “I don't feel like explaining it again, just ask the kid who's coming to guide you lot.”

Sure enough, several minutes later the girl started coming back into her picture, but with her was a boy. As they got closer I thought I sort of recognized him, and then the picture swung open to reveal a dark, stone tunnel. Standing at the edge of it was Neville Longbottom, and he was looking worse for wear, sporting a black eye and a few other marks on his face.

Each of us was helped into the passage and we thanked Aberforth before lighting our wands and following Neville. The walk to the castle was fairly lengthy so during that time he updated us as to what was happening. The grounds were positively crawling with Dementors, so going outside became a massive problem. We already knew about Snape being instated as Headmaster, as it'd often been joked about on Potterwatch, though I knew little about the Carrow siblings. They were cruel Death Eaters who enjoyed making older students use the Cruciatus Curse on First Years, and it was because of them and Snape that many of his classmates, as well as the remaining members of Dumbledore's Army, looked to Neville, Ginny, and Luna Lovegood for help.

“The Room of Requirement's been a huge help,” he told us once we were almost at the end. “We've been camping out in here for a few weeks now, and Aberforth's been nice enough to give us food. Everyone's excited about Harry returning, though. We're all dying to fight back.” Neville looked more determined than I'd ever seen him before, even more so than how he was during DA meetings. “Oh, and your family can't wait to see you all. Most of the Order of the Phoenix is here, too.”

But perhaps the biggest news he told us was that Voldemort had learned of Harry coming to Hogwarts and was heading our way with his army. Something huge was going to happen here, and as we walked up a steep flight of stairs I tried to mentally prepare myself for it. We stopped right in front of a wooden door.

Neville pushed it open, and immediately I heard the sounds of several people yelling and cheering. The room we were looking at had roughly fifty or so people grouped into it, many being students. There were hammocks strung from the ceiling as well as banners for Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff houses. Slightly overwhelmed at how many people were waving and cheering at us, we climbed down the ladder that was propped up against the passage's opening. I got a quick glance at the group of people off to the side, many with bright red hair before a crying Mrs. Weasley was on us with the tightest hugs.

“Oh my goodness, Fred, George,” she cried as she clung to her sons. I was sure they would've been embarrassed had it not been nearly a year since they last saw their family. The two of them hugged her back and I spotted a few tears trickling down their pink cheeks.

“It's alright, Mum,” Fred muttered.

“We've missed you too,” George said with a smile.

After she pulled away, wiping at her eyes in a futile effort, she turned to me with a watery smile, one in which I returned before she pulled me in for a tight hug.

“Cassie, I'm so sorry, your parents...Remus told us everything,” she choked out. I felt my throat tighten and I buried my face in her shoulder when the tears started to come. “Truly terrible, they were such wonderful people and they loved you so much.” She took my face in her hands, wiping away my tears with he thumbs. I sniffled, trying to keep my composure. “If you need anything, anything at all, do not hesitate to come to me. I care for you two like you're my own.” I gave her a nod and a weak smile. She smiled back before pulling Rae to her tightly. “I'm just so glad you're all safe...that's what's important.”

Among the Order members were Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Bill, Fleur, and Remus. Excited greetings were exchanged and when I got to Remus I couldn't help but look around for Tonks.

“She's staying at her parents' house with Teddy,” he said quietly, pulling a picture from his pocket and handing it to me. A tiny baby with a tuft of bright teal hair was giggling and grabbing for the camera, the sight making my heart swell. “Keep it, I have plenty of copies.”

He put his hand out for me to shake, but instead, I engulfed him in a hug. “He's beautiful, Remus. I'm so happy for you both.”

“His hair won't stop changing color,” he said with half a laugh, “but we haven't seen any signs of lycanthropy, and I honestly couldn't be happier.”

In the crowd of people we found Ginny as well, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. Ginny explained that they were off looking for something that was supposed to help destroy You-Know-Who. She'd begun arguing with her parents because they were trying to get her to go home, and a moment later the door to the secret passage swung open again, Percy Weasley appearing at the opening with his glasses askew before clambering down the ladder.

The six members of the Weasley family abruptly stopped their conversations upon noticing him, and the looks on Fred and George's faces were ones of shock.

Percy was looking at his family nervously. “Am I too late? Has it started? I only just found out, so I – I –”

There was a thick silence that encompassed most of the room. Rae and Fleur tried breaking the awkward tension by asking Remus about Teddy.

“I was a fool!” Percy yelled out, startling everyone, “I was an idiot, I was a pompous prat, I — was a — a — ”

“Ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron,” Fred finished for him.

“Yes, I was!”

“Well, you can't say fairer than that.” Fred and George looked at each other, seemingly talking without words before Fred held his hand out to his elder brother in reconciliation.

Mrs. Weasley started crying again and hugged Percy, Mr. Weasley joining her. The Weasley siblings all took this time to start catching up with their brother. Feeling a little awkward, I looked around at the other faces near us. It was then that I realized the crowd had significantly thinned out, but right near us was Harry.

I hadn't even heard him enter the room. He looked tired but I knew his brain must've been on overdrive. Once I'd hugged him, he looked around at the others. “Has anyone seen Ron or Hermione?”

“No, we haven't,” Rae said quietly.

“They said something about a bathroom not long after you left,” Ginny piped up.

“What's going on?” I asked him. “Where do you need us?”

“They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized,” he said. “We're fighting.”