Hurt | Remus Lupin

~73~ Rescuing Harry

Soon, it was time to bring Harry to the Burrow. Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle were to go with the Dursley's while they left their house, for safety, while the rest of us went to bring Harry. The people chosen were me, Remus, Tonks, Ollie, Bill, Fleur, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Mr. Weasley, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Hagrid and Dung. Most of us were to go on brooms, while Hermione was with Kingsley on a Thestral, and Fleur with Bill doing the same thing, and of course, Hagrid was on his famous Moterbike. 

Mad-Eye, Tonks, Kingsley and I went around placing Disselusisment Charms on everyone, and then we were off. It didn't take very long for us to get to Harry's place, and soon our charms were lifted as we landed in front of his house. 

The backdoor of the house opened and Harry hurried outside. Hermione flung her arms around him, Ron clapped him on the back, and Hagrid said, "Alrigh', Harry? Ready fer the off?"

"Definitely," said Harry, beaming at us. "But I wasn't expecting this many of you!"

"Change of plan," growled Mad-Eye, who was holding two enormous, bulging sacks, and whose magical eye was spinning from darkening sky to house to garden with dizzying rapidity. "Let's get undercover before we talk you through it."

Harry led us into the house and into the kitchen. People sat around chair, a few leaning against the counters. I hopped up onto the kitchen counter, with Remus leaning against it next to me, his elbow gently resting on my thigh.

"Kingsley, I thought you were looking after the Muggle Prime Minister?" Harry said. 

"He can get along without me for one night," said Kingsley. "You're more important."

"Harry we have some news." Tonks said, wiggling her finger while leaning against Ollie.

"WHAT!" Harry cried.

"And that's not all." Ollie grinned, looking at Remus and i. 

Remus and I sheepishly held up our fingers too and Harry's mouth dropped open. "I wanted to come!"

"I'm sorry love, we kept it very quiet." I said.

"Congrats to you all though-"

"All right, all right, we'll have time for a cozy catch-up later," roared Moody over the hubbub, and silence fell in the kitchen. Moody dropped his sacks at his feet and turned to Harry, "As Dedalus probably told you, we had to abandon Plan A. Pius Thicknesse has gone over, which gives us a big problem. He's made it an impressionable offense to connect this house to the Floo Network, place a Portkey here, or Apparate in or out. All done in the name of your protection to prevent You-Know-Who getting in at you. Absolutely pointless, seeing as your mother's charm does that already. What he's really done is to stop you from getting out of here safely. Second problem. You're underage, which means you've still got the Trace on you." 

"What-"

"The Trace, the Trace!" said Mad-Eye impatiently. "The charm that detects magical activity around under-seventeens, the way the Ministry finds out out about underage magic! If you, or anyone around you, casts a spell to get you out of here, Thicknesseis going to know about it, and so will the Death Eaters. We can't wait for the Trace to break, because the moment you turn seventeen you'll lose all the protection your mother gave you. In short: Pius Thicknesse thinks he's got you cornered good and proper." 

"So what are we going to do?" Harry asked.

"We're going to use the only means of transport left to us, the only ones the Trace can't detect, because we don't need to cast spells to use them: brooms, thestrals, and Hagrid's motorbike. "Now, your mother's charm will only break under two conditions: when you come of age, or"—Moody gestured around the pristine kitchen— "you no longer call this place home. You and your aunt and uncle are going your separate ways tonight, in the full understanding that you're never going to live together again, correct?"