The school year ended gravely as all the students grieved Dumbledore's death. That summer, news kept spreading of muggles being killed, and as the killings seemed to veer closer and closer to 4 Privet Drive, your guilt began to eat you up inside.

They were terrible people, but you couldn't stand the thought of them being brutally murdered by death eaters when you could prevent it.

You knew that you had to warn them if you wanted to have any semblance of a clear conscious. That decision was easy, but getting Sirius and Thelma to agree to your plan was a different story.

You had sat them down one evening amidst their plans to travel to the Weasleys' since London was becoming increasingly dangerous with numerous attacks on local muggles. They had immediately stopped their intense discussion when you entered the room, and they shared a look after seeing your nervous expression.

When you explained what you wanted to do, Sirius laughed, "There's no way in Azkaban we're letting you do that. That family can rot for all I care."

His blunt response had made you gasp and stare at him with wide eyes for a full minute. He tried to recover his mistake, knowing that you had experienced a lot of death recently, but you remained frozen for an eerily long minute, nonetheless. You were comforted when Sirius finally sighed, "Alright, we can...we can let you do that."

Thelma shot him a look but finally relented as well after seeing the relief on your face.

Both of them wanted to find some way to help you, but it had been a rough summer for you and Harry following Dumbledore's death and the increased isolation at 12 Grimmauld Place. You hadn't seen George since Christmas at the Weasleys' because of the dangers in London lately, and they knew that this couldn't be helping with your anxieties.

You ended up getting Harry, who agreed to come with you to fetch the rest of your things that the two of you had left behind a few years ago when you left the house in a hurry. Neither of you were thrilled to be going back, but Harry understood your desire to prevent more death if they could help it.

Harry recognized a helplessness and worry in you these days, and he was feeling it too. You both felt isolated and destroyed inside, but neither of you knew how to talk about it, so you mimicked each other, acting unbothered and recovered, but Thelma and Sirius could tell that neither were alright from your aimlessness and clouded focus.

Thelma had humorlessly whispered to Sirius one day after watching the two drift around the house absently that they had two ghosts dwelling with them at 12 Grimmauld Place. You and Harry were unaware of the way your phantom smiles and drifting movements were being perceived the others in the house. You were just trying to get through each day with a bit more strength than the day before, and each morning, you felt a little more human again.

So, that day, as you and Harry snuck off to the Dursleys' without announcing their departure to Thelma and Sirius, you just tried to get through the moment. For you, this meant just preventing the unnecessary deaths of your cruel loved ones. For Harry, this meant doing his best to support his sister.

As you opened the front door and stepped inside, you were instantly disgusted by the foul smell of body odor and garbage that the Dursleys' home always smelled of. You hid your disgust and called out, "Aunt Petunia! Uncle Vernon! It's Y/N and Harry! We need to talk urgently!"

Aunt Petunia rounded the corner with a large knife in her hand. She snarled, "What are you doing back here? That black-haired witch came here last year and said you would never be returning."

You blinked and replied, "Oh, Thelma isn't a witch. She's a muggle, like you-"

"Get out of my house," Aunt Petunia spat as she jutted the knife forward to remind you and Harry of what she held.

Harry rolled his eyes and grumbled, "This is what we get for trying to do the right thing."

You ignored Harry and explained, "We won't be long. We needed to come tell you to get to safety because it isn't safe here anymore. Some dark wizards have been killing muggles, and a lot of these deaths have been occurring nearby."

Aunt Petunia snarled, "We aren't leaving our own home."

You glanced out the window at that moment and gasped, "Oh no. Harry, look."

He turned and looked too. He saw a death eater flying just below the clouds before it disappeared into the haze above again. He quickly grabbed you and yanked you out of sight of the window.

You questioned, "How did they already find us? We were so careful, I don't understand."

Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and murmured, "I don't know how they found us so quickly, but we need to find a way to contact Sirius and Thelma. We're trapped here now."

You covered your face with your hand and sighed, "I'm so sorry for bringing us here. I just didn't want them to die."

"We didn't know this would happen. It's okay. We'll figure this out," Harry comforted.

Both sets of eyes shifted to Aunt Petunia, who was still standing in the doorway of the hallway with the knife. She demanded, "What is going on?"

Harry sighed, "We just saw a...dark wizard, who likely wants to kill us and any muggles who get in the way, so...all of us are in danger."

Aunt Petunia began to panic and ran to find Uncle Vernon. You sighed, "I'm so sorry, Harry. This was a terrible idea."

Harry shook his head and murmured, "No, it's okay. Just, uh, calm down. Let's try to think for a second."

You sat still as you heard your Aunt Petunia wail, "Who do we even call?"

You and Harry looked at each other at the same time then, your minds both going to the same place. You started, "Does that old phone at home-"

"-work? I think so, but I don't think people normally call," Harry finished the thought as he glanced the direction of the kitchen.

You both hurried into the kitchen, ignoring Petunia's wailing and Vernon's threats as you called the phone at 12 Grimmauld Place. Lupin picked up with a startled, "Hello?"

Then, you began talking at lightning speed and telling him what was happening. Lupin told them not to worry and that they would send help soon.

It was long after the Dursleys had packed their essentials and fled that any help arrived. You and Harry were sitting stiffly on the couch after they drew the blinds closed and hid inside the home. When there was a sudden knock at the door, you jolted.

You and Harry both moved to investigate with wands drawn, letting out a sigh of relief when it was Professor Moody in front of the door. You opened it and ushered the big group inside.

When George entered the house, you nearly cried. You jumped into his arms instantly and breathed, "George!"

George whispered, "My love." He picked you up and held you for a moment with his arms around your waist and your arms around his neck. The others moved into the living room and began to discuss how they would transport the two of you from the home safely, but you and George hovered in the hallway. He eventually set you down after a couple minutes and grinned.

You smiled up at him and breathed, "It's been too long, Georgie. You look grown up now." Tears collected in your eyes as you gently stroked his cheek.

He ran his fingers through the end of your hair and sighed, "You look different too. Your hair is getting so long now."

Before you could reply, Professor Moody quipped, "Hurry up, you two! We haven't much time!"

You grabbed George's hand and rushed with him into the living room. Moody glared at you while you settled into the room. You looked around at all who came for them.

Fred was there. He winked at you when you made eye contact.

Standing around the room were Hermione, Ron, Lupin, Tonks, Arthur Weasley, Hagrid, Bill, Fleur, Kingsley, and a man you didn't know. Your eyebrows were in your hairline as you looked at all of the people who had come to help you and Harry. You couldn't believe they had gathered so many people in such a short time.

Moody addressed the room and grumbled, "We are moving our plans ahead as many of you already know. Sirius and Thelma have gathered their things and are making their way to the Weasley's now, and we'll meet them there. We know that the death eaters are looking specifically for Harry, but I'd like to see them try to find the real one."

Harry trailed, "The real one...?" As Moody pulled out a bottle of Polyjuice Potion, Harry asserted, "No. Absolutely not. No, if you think I'm going to let everyone risk their lives for me-"

Ron rolled his eyes and grunted, "Never done that before, have I?" He looked to Hermione with an annoyed expression.

Hermione stepped towards Harry and explained, "We've all agreed to do this to help you. We're all 17 already other than you two, so we can do this to confuse any death eaters out there."

You piped up, "Can I stay with George?"

Moody grumbled, "Fine."

Remus raised his hand gingerly then and announced, "I'll be with those two then. Thelma and Sirius want me with Y/N."

Moody bristled at the interruption before huffing, "Fine. Someone get the clothes out, and we'll have the decoys begin their transformation."

Harry gaped and looking around at everyone as they took the identical clothes from Kingsley. Harry protested, "No. Taking that, becoming me, no!"

Fred joked, "None of us really fancy it, mate."

George added, "Yeah, imagine if something went wrong and we ended up a scrawny, specky git forever."

You looked back at George with a horrified expression. George saw your face and teased, "Would you still love me if I looked like your brother, love?"

You just widened your eyes and looked away as you trailed, "Um..."

"Ouch. I knew you only liked me for my looks," George taunted as he tugged you into his side.

You turned to him and stressed, "George. I would not be able to kiss you if you looked like my brother. That's just..." You shivered at the thought.

Harry glared at you and grumbled, "Thanks."

Moody seemed completely uninterested in the kids' banter as he grumbled, "We need to hurry, Potter. We haven't much time."

Harry sighed as he looked around the room once more with a defeated look.

Hermione plucked some of Harry's hair and put it into the potion. Kingsley handed you a black wig and told you to wear it to cover up your identifiable auburn hair. You tugged the wig on and looked to George to ask how you looked, but you watched his face transform into Harry's. You slapped your hand over your mouth and stared at him with wide eyes.

George put a hand on your arm and teased, "That bad, huh?"

You blinked and stammered, "Uh, this is too strange."

-

Now, you were flying through the air, and it was an ambush. There were dozens of death eaters everywhere, and you were terrified. You were flying on a separate broom next to the one George and Lupin were on. You were frantically looking around and sending curses at anyone who came within 50 feet of them, but you were surrounded.

You looked back at one point and saw a death eater rapidly approaching with his wand aimed at Lupin. You flicked your wand and sent the stupefy spell at him to knock him off his broom.

As he fell, Snape appeared behind him and casted a curse right at the group of you. You tried to make a shield spell, but it all happened too fast, and your protective spell didn't block out the attack.

You looked to George and Lupin and screamed, "No!"

One side of his head was badly bleeding out, and he began to slump against Lupin. Remus flew faster then and kept murmuring, "Just hold on a little longer, George. Just hold on."

You were crying and screaming curses at the nearby death eaters so forcefully that they were flinging through the air and plummeting to the ground below before they could blink.

You made it back to the burrow after far too long, and you and Lupin each supported one of George's sides as you brought him into the house. He looked like himself again sans an ear. You felt like you were going to be sick imagining the amount of pain he was feeling.

Molly greeted you at the door and gasped at the sight of George. She prepared a place for George on the couch and got a wet rag to clean up some of the sweat that had collected on his forehead. Lupin was immediately freaking out and pacing while you sat on the ground next to the couch and cried. You held onto George and rubbed your thumbs across the back of his hands, but you kept hiccupping from all of your tears.

George weakly lifted a hand and brushed away some tears on your cheeks. He whispered, "Stop crying, love. I'm alright, see? I'm okay."

You nodded as you blubbered out the last of your tears. Molly came to George's side and began to gently run her fingers over George's forehead and through his hair comfortingly.

Arthur and Fred arrived soon after. Fred raced inside and dropped to his knees next to you. He asked, "How are you feeling, Georgie?"

Seeing Fred made a few more tears slip from your eyes. You brushed at them helplessly with your free hand.

With closed eyes, George whispered, "Saint-like."

With wide eyes, Fred breathed, "Come again?"

George fluttered his eyes open and repeated, "Saint-like...I'm holey... I'm holey, Fred. Get it?" He pointed at his ear with a half-smile.

You gave a breathy laugh while Fred shook his head. He teased, "A whole wide world full of ear-related humor, and you go for I'm holey, it's pathetic."

With eyes fluttering closed again, George exhaled, "Reckon I'm still better looking than you."

You giggled and nodded when George peeked an eye open to look at you. He softly grinned to see you confirm this to be true. He let his eyes drift shut again, and you figured that the boy needed his rest.

Thelma and Sirius came down the stairs then. Thelma was asking, "Are the kids here yet?" However, she halted halfway through the question when she saw you sitting on the floor beside the couch with tear stains running down your cheeks. Thelma and Sirius rushed to your side, and Thelma slapped her hand over her mouth when she saw the side of George's head.

Sirius looked at the boy and demanded, "What happened?"

Molly glared at his loud tone and shushed him since George was resting. You sighed, "Snape hit him. I reckon he recognized me and thought I'd be traveling with the real Harry."

Your eyes watered at the thought that it could be your fault that George was hurt, but Thelma squatted next to you and put a hand on your back. Thelma hushed, "No, no, it's okay. It's not your fault. He's an evil man, okay?"

You nodded and carefully let go of George's hand since he was now sleeping. Thelma tugged you in for a hug, and the two sat for a few minutes with Thelma's arms around your shoulders while Sirius hurried outside to await Harry's arrival.