Ethereal ✭Fred Weasley✭

65.

The Order meeting was held the next morning. The Burrow was filled once again with the kitchen being its main headquarters, putting Molly in her usual state of frantic bustling. She insisted that everyone would have a cup of tea in their hands with even some bowls of finger food in the middle of the long table. The younger occupants of the house were still forced to stay in the living room during the meeting with Mad-Eye Moody putting Imperturbable charm on the door, stopping them from listening in. But it wasn't that hard to figure out what they were discussing.

Sophia had been moved to Charlie and Bill's old room as it was on the bottom floor of the Burrow, making it the easiest to reach from the kitchen. Hermione had stayed true to her word and had been checking on her frequently with a change of bandages. She made it very clear that she wanted to help for as long as she could before heading to Hogwarts, which in fact would be the next day.

"It's a warning," Albus Dumbledore stated amongst the group. The Headmaster hadn't arrived at The Burrow until the meeting was said to be commencing, making it his first time seeing Sophia since her arrival. He had apologized and said that he had very important errands to attend to during this time, but refused to elaborate more on where he had been.

"You think they let her go to warn us?" Arthur inquired.

"I've never heard of Death Eaters' letting a hostage go alive," Mad-Eye grunted. "They're showin' what they're capable of."

"You don't think she said anything did she?" George spoke up. "About the Order or anything?"

"Not bloody likely," Mad-Eye said again. "Otherwise we wouldn't all be here."

The Order barely knew anything about the situation. They wouldn't be able to know anything about what happened to Sophia and how she was able to get back to The Burrow after three months of what looked like intense torture. It was all assumptions as Sophia had been in a deep sleep since about two in the morning. She had fallen asleep on the sofa soundlessly and had barely moved since, leaving for Molly to instruct Fred to move her into his brother's room. He laid her down gently on Charlie's bed with the fear of reopening one of her many gashes before sitting down on Bill's bed. He gazed at her with a heavy heart as the small wrinkles and crevices in her skin were still lined with dirt and blood. Fleur had done a good job with cleaning most of it off but Sophia really needed a fresh and cleansing shower. Although, there was no way she would be able to with all her injuries and bandages.

"Molly, would you mind making some more tea?" Tonks asked without taking her eyes off of Remus. The man sat at the head of the table in a slouched posture, staring aimlessly down at the cup in front of him that was now empty.

"Oh yes of course," Molly shot up from her seat and used her wand to turn on the stove with the kettle on top. Tonks and Molly had been the only ones of the Order who had started to walk on egg shells around Remus, as they could tell that he was continuously in a state of pain ever since had Sophia turned up. Tonks had been with him nonstop and even held his scarred hand whenever his daughter's name was mentioned. The rest of the Order found it tedious to beat around the bush and just say exactly what they think they should do about it all. Especially Mad-Eye.

"She's home Remus," Albus noted softly to the man, his aurora of kindness blanketing over the kitchen table. "She's safe. They can't get to her anymore."

Remus's tired eyes looked up and nodded at Dumbledore, pursing his lips as Molly filled up his cup with the kettle of tea. He thanked her quietly and busied himself by sipping at the tea, settling the group into another pit of silence. George glanced to Fred beside him as an instinct to check how he was doing, only to see him scratching into the table aimlessly with a small toothpick he had found. George knew it was his brother's way to stay out of the conversation and avoid eye contact with anyone. So he let him be, turning back to face his father who was sitting opposite him.