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.
"Well, Kingsley and I should be getting to the Ministry," Arthur sighed lightly and stood from his seat with a small smile. "Can't be acting too suspicious if we want to keep up the façade of Sophia still being missing."
"It's the only way to keep her away from that awful Rita Skeeter," Molly announced with a hint of bitterness. "I'd hex that woman if she tried to shove that acid green quill into Sophia's face."
"Indeed so," Dumbledore displayed his light smile as he also stood from the table. "I must be getting back to Hogwarts. I hope to see Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and Mr Potter tomorrow during the Welcoming Feast. Good day."
The man nodded to everyone before heading for the door and disappearing with a brisk walk. The Order didn't question on why he was in such a hurry as he would never let slip of his recent endeavors. Adults started to leave the house one by one with their own sympathies to Remus and blessings to Molly for her initiative to keep Sophia at The Burrow. Kingsley and Arthur left via Floo Network while wishing Molly well for the day, Moody hobbling out the house and into the field to apparate outside of the barrier. Remus and Tonks left together with word that they'll be coming back tomorrow to check everything was fine, Tonks also stating that Remus will be having his transformation tonight. The man walked into the field wordlessly with his hand clamped in the woman's, Molly watching after them as they disappeared amongst the tall grass.
Left in the kitchen was Fleur, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George and Molly. Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione had been let back into the kitchen and were itching to ask for any details. But they hardly knew anything themselves. The youngsters slouched when Charlie said that they're just going to have to wait for Sophia to wake up if anyone wanted any answers. Hermione sat beside Fred who immediately asked if she had checked on Sophia within the hour.
"Yes I have," Hermione cracked a small smile. "She's fine. The bleeding has all stopped."
"Can't you just look up some healing spells or something?" Ron asked while looking at Hermione.
"Not for these sorts of wounds," Bill spoke up from nearby. "It looked like she's been hit with curses I've never seen before. Stuff that keeps the cuts bleeding for longer than usual. It was definitely some powerful dark magic."
"Do you think it was him that did it?" Harry questioned. "Voldemort himself?"
Ron let out a high pitch yelp at the name he was still not used to while the rest of the people in the room thought over Harry's words. Molly bit her lip in doubt of telling Harry anything that hadn't already been discussed with the Order, but he did look troubled at the possibility. Hermione nervously fiddled with her fingers as Fred looked to his Mum for a possible answer to Harry's question, anxious for some clarity.
"No..." Charlie spoke first. "I doubt he'd do anything himself unless it was something extremely important. I predict it was someone specialized in torture-" Fred gulped at the word. "-someone like Bellatrix Lestrange or the Carrow siblings."
It wasn't as much closure that Harry and Fred wanted but it was enough to slightly settle their nerves. The idea of the Dark Lord himself torturing Sophia was painful and agonizing to think about. It was bad enough to picture something like the Cruciatus curse being used on Sophia, even worse to think about that as well as other horrible curses being used by the Dark Lord. He had no consciousness or attachments making him that even more terrifying and inhumane. However, they all knew what someone like Bellatrix Lestrange was like when it came to torture. They only had to think about Frank and Alice Longbottom to have shivers run down their spines.
"Freddie and I should probably get back to the shop..." George stated after a while, throwing a cautious look at his brother. Fred looked up from the table with a guarded and reluctant look. He didn't want to leave but knew he couldn't just ditch the shop altogether. He had responsibilities now.
"Right," Fred nodded and stood up from the table with his brother.
"Oh are you sure?" Molly asked as they started to slowly make their way towards the front door.
"It's best that we do," Fred stated with dark eyes. "We'll check back tomorrow. Well I will anyway...Have fun at Hoggies tomorrow kiddies."
The trio and Ginny left for Hogwarts the next day. It was odd to leave on the Hogwarts Express without Fred, George or even Sophia. It gave an air to the train that wasn't usually so depressing. Not to mention the countless newspapers that people were reading with articles filled with the title 'You Know Who Returns'. The Burrow was now in its yearly calmness with no occupants inside except for Molly during the day and Arthur accompanying her during the night. They now had a new resident which actually filled Molly with a sense of warmness. It was nice to have at least someone home while she bustled about the house, starting on her yearly cleaning that she couldn't get done with all the family at home.
Molly would go from the kitchen to Charlie and Bill's room every now and again to check on Sophia's bandages ensuring that she would still eat the soup she made for her. The only thing that the girl would swallow with ease in her unconscious state was watery substances, making soup the only nutritious thing Molly could feed her. Fred and George had indeed dropped in this morning to see her but left again shortly after to open up the shop. Bill and Fleur have been visiting Fleur's family as of recent while Charlie's being going to and from Romania for his job. But for now, Molly was at home charming her dusters and rags to start cleaning the living room.
"That Ronald always leaving sweetie wrappers everywhere," she mumbled to herself as she picked up another Sherbet Lemon wrapping. She huffed while disposing of the plastic and started to make her way towards the bedroom for another routinely check on Sophia. Molly turned the handle of the doorknob and pushed the door open, reaching down to grab the door stopper to stop it from flying shut behind her. The woman stood back up to her full height and turned to Charlie's bed, only to see it completely empty.
"Oh dear..." she said to herself before running forward. The bed covers were ruffled and looked to have been pulled back after someone has gotten out of it, preferably being Sophia.
"Sophia! Sophia are you in here dear?!" Molly shouted as she began to look under the beds and inside the large wardrobe that sat in the corner. There was definitely no Sophia in the room, making Molly rush out into the hall to begin a wide search around the bottom floor of the house. In the midst, Molly sent out a Patronus to Bill, Charlie, Fred and George in a panic of seeing Sophia out of bed and nowhere to be found. She didn't send one to Arthur as that would cause suspicion within the Ministry to which Dumbledore had been very clear about not doing. Molly had no choice but to turn to her oldest sons for help.
"Oh dear, oh no, oh rabble rousers," the woman continued to curse under her breath as she pulled open countless cupboards and looked behind the sofas in the living room.
"Mum!" Bill had been the one to call out from the front of the house. Molly had left the front door open to immediately let her boys into the house, to which the four did in a hurry. The woman looked away from under the table and set of chairs in the kitchen to look at the boys with a panicked expression.
"What's happened?!" George cried.
"Is it Sophia?!" Fred said immediately, his eyes widening when the woman nodded her head and got to her feet frantically.
"I-I can't find her anywhere!" she yelled. "I went to check on her and she was gone! I've only searched the bottom floor but there's still no sign of her!"
"Well she couldn't have gone far," Bill reasoned and turned to the group as a whole. "Fred, you search the loft and make your way down from there. George, you look through the field. I doubt she would have made it past the barrier in her state. Charlie, go through Ginny, Mum and Dad and Ron's bedrooms. I'll help Mum with the first floor."
Usually Fred and George would of scoffed at their brother trying to order them around, but this time was different. The Weasleys' sprang into action and went to their allocated areas, Fred sprinting up the stairs to start searching through the loft. George rushed out the front door and started to check all around the perimeter of The Burrow, yelling out Sophia's name in hopes that she wasn't passed out somewhere among the tall grass.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro