The Darkest Hours
By: FayeValentine00
Chapter 4
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That night, Harry and Hermione found themselves standing outside a large door. Just past that door was a meeting of The Order of the Phoenix. Although their thoughts remained unspoken, both knew that this was a major turning point in their lives. Joining the Order was something Harry had always wanted to do. Somehow he'd always felt that it was his duty to end the tyranny of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The newest murders of the Granger's had simply strengthened that conviction.
Hermione's feelings were a bit different. She remembered how worried she'd been when she first heard Harry say that he wanted to join the Order during their fifth year. Although she'd never thought twice about running into battle at Harry's side, joining the Order was still a big step for her. Joining the Order meant thinking about what was best for the Wizarding world, not thinking about personal ties or emotions. Yet, it was those very personal ties and emotions that had brought each member to Order. These conflicting themes made Hermione feel like she was playing with a double-edged sword.
It wasn't until she'd been able to being to cope with her parents deaths that she realized she couldn't allow anyone else to feel the same kind of pain and grief that she felt. She knew she'd still cry and that someday soon she'd have to sit down and talk everything out with Harry but at that very moment, the only important thing was stopping the horrors and pain that always followed in the wake of the Death Eaters.
"Are you ready?" Harry asked softly taking her hand in his.
"Ready as I'll ever be," she sighed, not sounding as confident as she'd hoped. It was that lack of confidence that worried Harry.
He turned to her and looked her straight in the eyes. "You don't have to do this."
"I want to, Harry. I really do."
Harry spent a long time looking into her eyes and Hermione felt like he was looking straight into the very depths of her soul. He was fighting internally with his own conflicting emotions. He was worried about her. If anything happened to Hermione he didn't know what he would do. She was his world. She was what made his life worth living.
At the same time, he knew he couldn't hold her back. She was too spirited and independent to be sheltered. She always had been. Even if that wasn't the situation, it wasn't his place to stop her. He was her best friend, lover and fiancé, not her parent. All he could do now was support her in any way possible.
He'd be able to sleep soundly at night if only he could stop the nagging thought in the back of his head that told him he'd regret that decision in the future.
"Alright then." With one last squeeze to her hand, Harry opened the door and entered the room full of so many familiar faces and some he'd never before seen.
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Ginny had been left alone at Burrow while everyone else attended the Order meeting. At first she'd been annoyed but her conversations with both Harry and Remus were still fresh in her mind. She knew they'd spoken to her out of concern for her safety and she both loved and respected them for that. She knew that she was going back to school but she still had most of the summer to go and nothing to do.
She'd paced around her room for nearly half an hour before her eyes fell on the forgotten bridal magazine that Hermione had been looking through the night the Grangers had died. Much to Ginny's amazement, Hermione had given her free reign to come up with ideas for the wedding. At the time she'd thought that they'd be working together but seeing as she had nothing else to do, Ginny picked up the magazine and began writing down every interesting she saw.
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The meeting went by faster then Harry had imagined. Basically, they'd been brought before the group and introduced but since everyone there either knew the couple personally or through reputation, there was very little introduction needed. Also, due to the fact that both Harry and Hermione had been in so many battles with Voldemort and his forces and because of their previous exposure to many members of the Order, there was very little for them to learn.
All in all, it was a lot less dramatic then they'd expected. Harry wasn't sure why that should surprise him. All the members of the Order that he knew were fairly down-to-earth people. Even when he'd been in meeting as an unofficial member, it'd been fairly normal. Yet, being a member, he must have expected something to be different because now that he'd been inducted nothing seemed very different at all.
The meeting didn't cover any of the Death Eater sightings like Dumbledore had been planning because an urgent owl had come and called him away. After deciding to meet three days later, the Headmaster left and the members of the Orders all broke apart into smaller groups and began to talk amongst themselves.
When Molly and Arthur found themselves pulled into a conversation with Remus about some people Harry had never heard of, Harry and Hermione jumped at the chance to head home when then twins said they were "dead bored."
The four friend's apperated into the yard of the Burrow feeling lighter then they had in days. Something about being with so many wizards who were all set on teaching the Death Eaters a lesson made them all feel a little stronger, a bit more confident. He'd even seen Hermione smile for the first time in days.
George opened his mouth to say something to Harry when the smile on his face melted away. His eyes were fixed on a place in the sky right above the house. Fred noticed the change in his twin's demeanor and followed his gaze. Hermione watched as the blood drained from the faces of both men.
She didn't want to look. She knew what she would see. When her eyes cut to Harry's face, it cemented every one of her fears. The Dark Mark. Finally, giving in to the inevitable, she looked up and saw it. Dread made her blood run cold.
"Ginny!" Both Fred and George took off towards the house with Hermione and Harry right on their heels.
The stairs of the Burrow had never seemed as long. Every step felt like an eternity. Each thud of their feet on the staircase resonated in Hermione's soul. After what felt like far too long, the twins threw their younger sister's door wide open and nearly collapsed at what they saw.
Hermione pushed past them and walked into the room just in time to see Ginny sit up off the bed and rub her eyes. "What's going on? Why are you being so loud?" She'd been asleep and completely oblivious to the Mark hanging up outside.
Once Ginny had finished rubbing her eyes, her gaze moved slowly over each face in her doorway. Every single one of them looked pale, out of breath and on the verge of tears. "What on earth is going on?"
"Oh, thank God!" were the only words to come out of Hermione's mouth before her ran forward and through her arms around the smaller girl.
A sense of dread filled Ginny's chest as Hermione wept into her shoulder. She immediately felt wide-awake. "What's happened?"
"The Mark," Harry said in a thick voice when the twins seemed unable to make any sound. "It was above the Burrow."
"The Dark Mark?" She asked eyes wide and surprise written all over her face.
Harry nodded slowly and fear filled ever portion of Ginny's body. "Damn…"
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It took Harry nearly 30 minutes to calm down Hermione while Ginny tried to do the same with her brothers. The relief that Harry had felt when he'd seen Ginny wake up was a feeling he would never be able to explain even years later. The whole time he'd been running up the steps, he hadn't once allowed himself to think the worst. All he could think was that she had to be okay. Someway, Somehow, she'd be fine. But for all the convincing he tried to do, his knees had still nearly buckled in relief.
One hour later, the five friends sat in the living room of the Burrow. Fred and George flanked their sister on the large couch while Hermione sat on Harry's lap in the nearby armchair. No one spoke because no one really knew what to say.
"I'm going to owl Mum and Dad. If they get home and see the Mark, they're bound to think the worst," George said softly as he climbed from the couch and crossed the room.
"At least everyone is safe. That's the most important thing," Ginny said reaching out to squeeze Hermione's hand.
She felt bad for scaring the boys but it was Hermione that she was really worried about. Having only lost her parents less then a week prior, she could only imagine the thoughts that had run through her mind. She might have been putting up a strong front about her parents but Ginny knew better. Some pains just didn't go away and the younger girl knew that far too well. The pain of losing Ron still hadn't left.
Within ten minutes of Hedwig leaving with George's note, Arthur, Molly, Charlie and Bill all apperated into the room. There were hugs among everyone before Bill and Charlie ran outside to look at the Mark. When they returned, their pale expressions looked all too familiar.
"Ginny, are you sure you're okay?" Bill asked after Arthur had pulled Molly away to give their youngest child some space.
"Yes, I'm fine. I must have fallen asleep looking at wedding things for Hermione and Harry. I didn't wake up until they came busting into my room."
"Are you sure?" There was a hard look in Bill's eyes that made Ginny feel strangely uncomfortable.
"Yes. Why?"
"N-No. No reason."
Something told Ginny that Bill wasn't telling her the whole truth. She could see it in his eyes. Something was bugging him yet for some reason, he didn't want her to know. He started to walk away when Ginny grabbed his arm, "Bill, wait. What are you thinking?"
"Don't worry about it," he said trying to smile but the gesture didn't reach his eyes.
"Bill," she said, a bit more urgency in her voice.
"It's nothing, Ginny!" He snapped but immediately regretted it when he saw her recoil. He quickly spoke again but this time with a bit more compassion. "It's nothing."
The young woman watched as her oldest brother pulled his arm from her grasp and walked from the room. Once he was out of sight, she turned to Harry with a look of confusion but all he could do was shrug.
It wasn't until Ginny left the room a few minutes later that Hermione turned to Harry with a concerned look on his face. "What was Bill getting at? He spoke to her as if he didn't really believe what she said."
Harry could see the wheels beginning to turn in Hermione's mind. She was obviously as confused and concerned about the scene they'd just witnessed between the siblings as he was. He had no clue what Bill was getting at but he had every intention of finding out.
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