stardust ⋮ george weasley

ninety-five :

N I N E T Y - F I V E

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The death of Albus Dumbledore was like the final nail in the coffin. The cloud of darkness that had persisted since Lord Voldemort's return had been descending lower and lower. In a world that had been the source of so much joy for Adeline in the past, it had become more difficult to find the glimmers of light to keep her going. She'd find them with George, or the rare occasions she was able to see her friends, or late nights at the Burrow with the Weasleys.

Rumors were swirling about stricter regulations against Muggleborns. Adeline had been hearing whispers of investigating bloodlines and prosecuting those whose ancestry wasn't considered pure enough. While afraid, George was convinced it wouldn't come to that extreme.

Adeline wasn't quite so convinced.

Because of how Harry's house was being tracked and spies keeping a close watch on all the other modes of transportation in the Ministry of Magic, the task of transporting Harry to the Burrow had become significantly more complicated. There had been countless meetings on how the plan was going to unfold, and Adeline sat in on every one she could.

Adeline thought the group must've been an odd sight to anyone who happened to see the group show up on Privet Drive that evening. When Harry opened the door, they all came barreling inside. Adeline had started to walking down the entryway when she noticed a small door set into the side of the stairwell. "Is this the famous cupboard?" She asked.

Harry nodded and pushed it open for her to peek inside. Sitting in a small shelf, Adeline could see a couple of small figurines. The mattress still laid on the floor, with the worn quilt still sitting on it. Adeline suddenly found herself flooded with emotions of not just being horrified about Harry's situation, but a sudden gratefulness that, even as bad as her situation was, she wasn't subjected to the same treatment as Harry.

Adeline saw the group start to gather in the kitchen, so she joined them and stood next to George. As she stood next to George, she couldn't help but comment, "I don't know why you chose to wore a three-piece suit when you were immediately going to change out of it."

"Need to look as normal as possible, even if it means this will be a pain to transport back."

"You can look normal without a three-piece suit," Adeline bickered. "I have you seen dressed far more casually on a normal basis, and you are incredibly slow getting out of it. You're wasting time."

"Honestly, Addie, you should be helping me out if I'm 'so slow'. You're probably faster at getting these suits off of me than I am."

Next to them, Ron pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled, "I'm going to throw up."

George smacked him upside the head. "Stop listening in on us then."

Ron began to argue that "It's hard to ignore you when you're right there", but Mad Eye Moody stepping to the front of the group silenced him.

As Mad Eye went over the plan with the group once more, George squeezed his hand tightly around Adeline's. She didn't need to look at him to know that he was just as nervous as she was. At every mission, no matter how big or small, there was an ever-present worry that they wouldn't make it back to each other. That worry would magnify every time they had to do a mission together, and this mission to get Harry to the Burrow was one of the most dangerous yet.

Just as Moody began to approach Adeline and George with their vials of Polyjuice Potion, Adeline turned to George and quickly said, "Kiss for good luck."

George leaned down to kiss her, and Adeline made sure to hold him a little tighter against her. Once they broke apart, they took their Polyjuice vials from a scowling Mad Eye Moody, who was more than annoyed at the couple.