Confident | Fred Weasley

Chapter 104 | Alert

"How was your birthday, Sarah?" Bill asked as he peeled off his winter cloak. It was tipping it down with rain outside based on Bill's soggy appearance.

"Alright," Sarah shrugged, leading the way into the dining room of Copper Beech Manor, "Nothing happened."

"No? Fred didn't do anything special?" Bill inquired with a raised brow, sliding into the seat opposite Moody and Kingsley.

"He made dinner, which was nice," Sarah smiled, thinking of the fancy ricotta dish that Fred had managed to whip up. "But it's hard to do things when you're in hiding."

"If our mission goes well," Kingsley began, leaning back in his chair casually, "then we won't have to withstand this for much longer."

Sarah drummed her fingers against the back of the chair, her lips pressed together, "Hopefully..."

"Is this all of us?" Bill asked, his eyes flickering to the plethora of empty chairs.

"No, we have a couple more people coming," Sarah responded, eager to change the topic, "Fred'll be here in ten minutes or so. Sirius and Remus said they would be coming, too."

"That's all?"

"Everyone's being tailed," Moody huffed, looking up from his pile of parchment documents, "It's difficult to shake a Death Eater off when they've got you."

As expected, Fred arrived ten minutes after, hanging up his soaked winter cloak and taking a seat beside Sarah.

"How's the shop, Fred?" Bill asked his brother.

"Quiet," Fred answered, draping his arm across the back of Sarah's chair. His fingers found a strand of her hair and curled it around. "We're thinking of closing the shop and only doing orders."

"Probably for the best," Bill muttered, frowning, "Especially for Capri and George. The shop makes their flat a target."

Fred let out a non-committal hum and changed the subject, "Where are Remus and Sirius?"

It was as if Fred summoned them, as soon the words left his mouth, a loud knock echoed into the dining room.

"I bet that's them," Sarah said, standing up to answer the door.

Sirius entered first, eyeing up the empty chairs, "Small crowd, huh?"

Remus followed, looking tired, "Where's everyone else?"

Sarah, ushering them into seats beside Fred and Kingsley, said, "I tried to get as many people as I could, but..."

"How's Tonks doing, Remus?" Bill inquired, reaching across the table to shake Remus' hand.

"She's doing well," Remus brightened up at the mention of his wife, "She's on family leave from the Auror Department now,"

"Bet she's going mad," Fred laughed.

Remus inclined his head, smiling, "It's hard to get her to sit down."

Before the conversation could continue, Moody, sat at the head of the table, spoke, "Let's get started."

With a flick of his wand, a board wheeled itself over, coming to a stop beside Moody. Parchment documents, pictures, and notes decorated the board, painting a grim picture.

"Today, our mission objective is to find out what wards are protecting Malfoy Manor," Moody began, and everyone listened with rapt attention.

"Bill and I have already done some canvassing of Malfoy Manor, disguised as muggles under Polyjuice potion," Moody turned to Bill.

"We've found a small stretch of fence on Malfoy Manor's property line. It's not in sight of the house or the main road, so it should be a decent spot to dissect the wards," Bill continued, drumming his fingers against the table.