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Part Three / Chapter Sixty-Three
The burrow embraced Venus warmly the minute the Portkey dropped them off.
Even though she wasn't, she felt as if she were home. The smell of freshly baked biscuits wafting through the air, the scattered family portraits, and candles lit making the house illuminate with a soft orange hue. The fear and anxiety as Harry, Venus, Ginny, Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley waited for the rest of them to arrive drowned everything out. The five of them sat there completely silent. Ginny nestled into her mother's arm. Venus and Harry's hands intertwined. Hagrid with a canteen of Brandy in his big hands.
The silence was broken when Ginny straightened stiffly, pointing to a spot several feet away, "Mum!"
A bright blue light had appeared in the darkness: It grew larger, and Remus and George appeared, spinning and then falling onto the wet grass. Something was wrong. Remus was supporting an unconscious George, whose face was covered in blood.
She watched Harry run forward and seized George's legs. Together, he and Remus carried George into the house and through the kitchen to the living room, where they laid him on the sofa. As the lamplight fell across George's head, Ginny gasped and Venus' stomach turned: One of George's ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood. She wished she could heal him. The power still hadn't come to her.
No sooner had Mrs. Weasley bent over her son that Remus grabbed Harry by the upper arm and dragged him, none too gently, back into the kitchen, where Hagrid was still attempting to ease his bulk through the back door.
"Oi!" said Hagrid indignantly, "Le' go of him! Le' go of Harry!"
"What the hell are you doing!?" Venus said angrily.
Remus ignored them. "What creature sat in the corner the first time that Harry Potter visited my office at Hogwarts?" he said, giving Harry a small shake. "Answer me!"
Harry hesitated. "A – a grindylow in a tank, wasn't it?" Remus released Harry and fell back against a kitchen cupboard.
"Wha' was tha' about?" roared Hagrid.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but I had to check," said Remus tersely. "We've been betrayed. Voldemort knew that you were being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. You might have been an impostor."
"So why aren' you checkin' me or Venus?" panted Hagrid.
"You're half-giant," said Remus, looking up at Hagrid. Then he looked back down at Venus. "and you're half-angel. The Polyjuice Potion is designed for human use only."
Venus stood beside Remus and Harry, but drew back when she felt that she wasn't necessarily needed in their the conversation. She went to help Ginny and Mrs. Weasley tend to George when she heard something. There was a scuffling from outside. Remus dove for the back door; Harry had leapt over Hagrid's legs and sprinted into the yard. Venus ran toward the window. Two figures had appeared in the yard. A head of bushy hair could be seen from the vague moonlight. Venus felt relief wash over her. It was Hermione.
