Eventful Christmas at the burrow

The burrow was surrounded by a thick layer of snow, even the gnomes couldn't be seen running around for once. In the middle of the white, flaky blanket the very unusual building stood surprisingly free of it. It was almost as if magic kept the snow from reaching the house. From afar everything was quiet, only the distant bell rings from the town church in Ottery St. Catchpole could be heard. But if one stepped closer to the burrow they could hear the happy chattering and, if they dared to catch a look inside the window, they would see a group of people, who all wore bright smiles on their faces. Outside dark times were lurking in the shadows but inside it was as if time was frozen.

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Mrs. Weasley had really outdone herself with this year's Christmas dinner. At least that was what her family had told her repeatedly. Normally she would have been delighted to hear this but right now she was more focused on the fact that she had almost all of her family with her, safe and sound. The only ones missing were Charlie, as it often was the case, and Percy. It had always been a thorn in her eyes that Charlie only visited on rare occasions and this year was not different. Surely he could leave his dragons alone for one night and join the family for Christmas? Especially in times like this, Molly thought with a huff. Even the quarter-Veela and French girlfriend of her oldest son Bill was with them. To no one's surprise, a fact Mrs. Weasley wasn't happy about. Percy, who left the family to make a career at the ministry, wasn't there for obvious reasons. Mrs. Weasley didn't like to think about Percy, the whole fiasco would only make her cry again. While she was reminiscing about the misfortune of not having all of her family together she missed the change of the family clock.

Charlie's name, which hadn't been on "home" in quite a while, he was still always busy with his dragons, was now on "mortal peril". That on itself might not have been too unusual, given his choice of career, but what was indeed very unusual was that the clock hand switched to "travelling" a while later and then the clock hand slowly switched to "home".

In between all the chattering which filled the dining room, there was a distant sound of someone apparating. The quiet crack made everyone go still. Once it had been clear that the possibility of a war came closer, Arthur, with the help of Bill, had created anti-apparition wards around the house. Which made it almost impossible to apparate anywhere near it.
Even the family members couldn't apparate inside the wards.

Bill was the first one up on his feet, his work as a curse breaker and the missions for the Order often required fast reflexes which now came to show. "I'm going to check outside, make sure that we don't get some unwanted visitors," Bill said while turning towards the door, wand in hand.
He didn't get that far. Before he could even take a single step the kitchen door opened. In the door frame stood a man with short, unusual messy, brown hair. The man's robe had holes in it, some of them still smoking regardless of the cold December weather. Whatever had happened to them must not have occurred too long ago. He also sported a bloody gash on his wand arm, the other one was slung around a seemingly unconscious man with red hair, bound back in a ponytail. The redhead was covered in scratches. With a feeling of dread settling in his stomach, Bill realized that he knew those two men.

Everyone had drawn their wand upon the sudden arrival of the two men but now, as the brown haired man looked up and his eyes met Bill's, Bill lowered his wand, shocked. Before he could say anything, Molly's anxious voice boomed through the room "Charlie?!". Her exclaim caused the rest of the group to startle. There were varying looks of surprise on the groups faces. Harry and Hermione looked mostly wary and confused, both not close to Charlie and having never seen the other man before. They held themselves back and silently observed the scene. Fred and George had jumped up at their mother's exclamation and were now staring at the door. Both of their faces identically grim. Ron still sat beside Harry and Ginny, colour rapidly leaving his face. Ginny on the other hand was half up from her seat and stared intensely at the man, who was unmistakably not her brother, trying to figure out if he was a threat or not. She also seemed to wonder what had happened to Charlie to leave him in such a state. She didn't doubt that Charlie got injured quite a lot because of his work, his scars spoke for themselves after all, but never had he been brought back home because of one.
Finally Bill seemed to find his voice again. "Artemis? Are you- what is going on?" Bill stepped slowly closer to the door while speaking.