Five years since the war and the demise of Voldemort.
Hermione paced in her tiny kitchen. It had become a daily ritual of hers ever since her husband had completed training and become an Auror. She stopped for a moment to peer out the spotless window. It was getting dark out. The moon peered through a clouded sky. It was difficult for her to stay home while her husband went off on missions. She was used to being part of the fight. She had always gone along and now she stayed behind.
It was difficult but it was getting better. Although Hermione no longer spent her time fighting Death Eaters, she had found her own fight. Hermione worked in Magical Law Enforcement deciphering difficult and undetectable spells and prosecuting those who were foolish enough to use them. And she absolutely refused to be boring. On top of that, she often found herself helping the Auror department to trace dark wizard spells. She never turned down a chance to help them in much the same way she had when she was a youth. The researching reminded her of her school days preparing each year for a new fight.
A small head of red hair appeared over the edge of the hill. Gradually, the body of Ronald Weasley followed. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She watched him walk down the path and finally allowed herself to smile. When he opened the door she rushed into his arms. He kissed her hair.
“Hi,” he said. She reeled back and slapped him on the arm.
“Ronald Weasley, how dare you worry me like that? You promised you’d be home an hour ago!”
“Whatever happened to ‘Hi, dear, how was your day?’” he joked, grinning. Hermione smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Hi, dear, how was your day?” she asked sweetly. He chuckled.
“Long,” he sighed. She was back in his arms. “Sorry,” he said into her hair, “I got held up.”
“Right, I’ll forgive you. Just go upstairs and get ready fast. I don’t want to be late.”
“For what?” he asked, wrinkling his nose as he tried to recall their plans.
“Dinner at the Burrow tonight. Remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” Hermione smiled at her husband’s reliable sense of forgetfulness.
“And it’s a good thing because I’m too tired to make anything. I’m handling three cases right now and I’m exhausted.”
Ron looked over and noticed the kitchen table covered with case files.
“Need any help?” he asked.
“No thanks. Now go get changed. We’ll leave right away.”
He nodded, kissed her and headed upstairs.
Not far away at Godric’s Hollow a similar encounter had taken place. Ginny Potter had arrived shortly before her husband and shooed him upstairs to change for family dinner the instant he came through the door. He groaned as she shoved him up the stairs. “I’m going, I’m going.” He quickly whipped around and kissed her before hurrying up to the bedroom, laughing at her disgruntled expression. Now she sat at the kitchen table playing with her nine month old son, Sirius James. He looked just like his father, the great Harry Potter. Ginny tickled his nose with a quill and he giggled, green eyes sparkling.
“Harry!” she called up the stairs, “Let’s go, we’re going to be late!” She frowned when there was no response. She picked up her son and headed up the stairs. “Come on, love, Sirius is getting hungry.”
Still no answer.
She knew something was wrong. Clutching her young boy tightly, she drew her wand and slowly turned the knob on the bedroom door.
The room was empty. His desk chair lay overturned in the corner. She called his name already knowing it was futile. He wasn’t there. Harry Potter was gone! She searched for any sign of him and found his wand lying discarded on the floor. That was when she knew something terrible had happened.
Ginny ran to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo powder. Carrying Sirius, she stepped into the green flames and shouted, “The Burrow!”
“Need any help with that, Mum?” Hermione asked Mrs. Weasley. The woman beamed at her. She loved her daughter-in-law and loved when she called her Mum.
“Yes, Hermione dear, would you set the dishes out for me?”
“Of course.”
“Mum, where’s Dad?” Ron asked coming in from the living room. As he spoke he glanced at the famous Weasley clock which now included more hands for all the marriages that had taken place in the last four years. Then he saw it. The hand bearing Harry’s name was pointing to “mortal peril”.
“He had to run to the office to…” Mrs. Weasley’s voice trailed off as she saw the look on her son’s face. Hermione had noticed too.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, coming to stand beside him. She gasped when she saw the clock. As they watched, the hands bearing Ginny’s and Sirius’ names moved from home to traveling. They all turned to face the fireplace. A moment later Ginny appeared with Sirius. The boy was crying and Ginny had a worried look on her face. There was fear in her eyes.
“What happened?” Ron asked her immediately.
“He’s disappeared!” she said frantically. “I found his wand on the floor. He must have been kidnapped!”
Ron immediately called together the rest of the Auror department. Most of their resources were now on the case. Ron’s boss, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had brought several of the best on their team to the house and they all stood surveying Harry and Ginny’s room. It was a getting late and the room seemed very dark, even with the lights on. The team lit their wands and began a meticulous inspection of the scene.
Ron had brought Hermione with him. She wasn’t an Auror, but she could have been, and he needed her. He looked down at his wife and a silent understanding of comfort passed between them. She nodded and set her jaw as they turned to examine the room.
Harry’s wand still lay on the floor where Ginny had found it. Ron knew Harry would never leave his wand behind and wondered how anyone had been able to get it away from him. The chair was overturned, but there were no other signs of a struggle. Ron closed his eyes and tried to imagine what could have happened.
“Ron, over here,” Kingsley called. He was studying something on the wall by the desk. Ron went and peered at the spot his mentor had indicated. It was very faint, but Ron could see the strange markings on the wall.
“What is that?” he asked. “It looks... maybe scorched?”
“Exactly, and notice the pattern. There’s a large circle here, see?
“Yes. Do you know what did it, then?
Kingsley looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve seen this once before. It looks like the remnants of a portal.”
“What’s that?”
Hermione jumped in immediately. “A portal is a spontaneous opening in a place of power. If you jump through it, you can travel to another portal.”
“And this one is closed,” Ron said.
Hermione nodded. “Portals don’t stay open very long and they don’t open very often, maybe every hundred years or so.”
Kingsley looked impressed and Hermione blushed. Ron snickered and said, “So you think that this… ‘portal’ opened and Harry somehow got sucked through it?”
“Well, it’s highly unlikely that he got through just by accident, and I do not think that he would leave his wand behind if he went in out of curiosity.”
Ron nodded and Hermione said, “Someone must have pulled him into the portal. That means that someone else had to know about it.”
“Wait a minute,” Ron interjected, “I thought you said that these things opened spontaneously. How would anyone know when it was going to open?”
“Usually they are spontaneous, Ron, but if a portal hasn’t been opened in a hundred years, certain magic could open it,” Hermione said, studying the wall again.
“Certain magic… you mean Dark magic?” Hermione and Kingsley both nodded.
“That’s it, then,” Ron said, “Harry’s definitely been kidnapped.”
“And it seems as though he walked right into a trap,” said Kingsley. “Did he ever mention the portal to you? If he didn’t know it was here, it would be a perfect way to catch him off guard, and anyone coming in through it wouldn’t have to go through the wards around this place.”
“You’re right,” Ron said, “It’s the perfect plan.” Ron wondered what anyone wanted with Harry anymore. The war was long over, after all. Was this all an elaborate plot for revenge? It didn’t seem fair. Harry had risked his life, he hadn’t even expected to live, and now that he finally had allowed himself to have a family and a life, this had to happen.
“Let’s go back to the office and see if anyone has come up with something,” Ron said, shaking off his thoughts. “Then we’ll have to get back to the Burrow. Ginny will have my head if we don’t fill her in soon.”
“Here, Ginny.” Mrs. Weasley handed her daughter a cup of tea. After learning of Harry’s disappearance, Ron had immediately traveled by Floo powder to the Ministry with Hermione. Bill, Charlie, and George had followed. Ginny had argued with Ron about being left behind, but when her brother pointed out that Sirius would need her, she had reluctantly agreed to stay behind. Still, she first made both Ron and Hermione promise to return as soon as they knew anything.
Now Ginny sat in the living room with her mother and Fleur. Sirius was on Fleur’s lap, playing with Mr. Weasley’s collection of Muggle keys. No one spoke. No one knew what to say. Sirius must have sensed the tension in the room because he climbed from Fleur’s lap and crawled over to his mother, looking at her expectantly. Ginny smiled sadly at him and lifted him into her lap.
“I wish we could do something!” she exclaimed suddenly. “I feel so useless just sitting here.”
“I know, dear,” Mrs. Weasley said, “but we can’t do anything until Ron gets back.”
Silence fell again.
Two hours later not much more had been said. The women had sat down to dinner, but no one had eaten much. Finally, the fireplace flared. Ron appeared, followed by Hermione and Kingsley.
Ginny jumped to her feet. “What’s happened?” she exclaimed much louder than she had intended.
“Ginny, sit down,” Ron said quietly, touching her arm.
“No!” she yelled, wrenching from his grasp. “Don’t treat me like a child, Ronald! I am his wife and I am not doing anything until you tell me what has happened to my husband!”
Ron sighed. “It looks like he was taken by some Death Eaters. We aren’t sure yet if they want revenge on him or if they are trying to start a rebellion. Either way it looks bad.” He eyed Ginny as if searching her mind, trying to decide what she could handle. She knew he was holding back.
“What?” she pleaded. “Tell me!”
“We intercepted an owl,” Ron sighed, “and it looks like they’re after Sirius.”
A shocked silence followed and Ginny felt fear rushing through her veins. Not Sirius, not her innocent boy. She picked him up and held him to her.
“Why?” she asked. “What do they want with him?”
Ron hesitated, and then said, “We think they want to use him to torture Harry.”
Ginny gasped in disgust. “How could they!” she yelled. Hermione caught her in a tight hug.
“They won’t,” she assured Ginny. “We won’t let them.” She looked to Ron. “What can we do to protect him?”
“He’s not safe here,” Ron said. “It’s the first place they’ll look. Not our place or Godric’s Hollow, either. Some place secure.”
“You mean Grimmauld Place,” Ginny said. Ron nodded.
Kingsley, who had stayed back as Ron explained to his family, finally spoke up.
“I’ll go with you to make sure it’s still secure. We need to move him immediately, and we’ll have to apparate directly onto the front step.”
Ron held up a bundle and Ginny recognized Harry’s invisibility cloak. She took it and looked down at Sirius. Ginny’s heart was breaking. How could she go and hide when Harry was in trouble? But she had to do everything in her power to protect Sirius. She could not let anything happen to him. She knew Harry would want her to protect their son.
With a look back to her family, she headed for the door after Kingsley.
“We’ll come soon,” Ron called after her. She turned and nodded.
“Take care of him, Ron,” she said. “I need him to come home to me.” Ron nodded, his eyes watering, and she Disapparated on the spot.
The Missing by Raeinflight
Story Notes:
This is my first chaptered fic and I have been working really hard on it. I hope you all enjoy it and please review!
This story was previously accepted but got deleted...twice. If someone could please take care of this story I would greatly appreciate it.
Chapter Notes: This chapter was accepted, but got deleted. PLEASE HELP!