Starting Over - Chapter 7
Title: Starting Over
Chapter: 7 of 11 Foes and Heroes
Author: serendipity_50
Pairing: H/G
Rating: PG-13 (Brief references to sex, minor profanity)
Word Count this chapter: about 6,500
Era: Post-DH Pre-Epilogue
Disclaimer: The characters belong to JK Rowling. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment only.
Author's Notes: Thanks to beta ClaraMinutes. Concrit welcome. Special thanks to minisinoo for her insight and expertise and her awesome suggestions for making this story better.
Story Summary: Harry and Ginny lived happily ever after...eventually. After the war, things didn't go as easily as they should have.
Chapter Summary: Greyback strikes again.
Harry paced restlessly among the crowd of Weasleys gathered in the waiting room at St. Mungo’s. Dean’s mother was there as well, sitting next to Molly and offering comfort as best she could. Two Aurors were stationed outside the door of Dean’s hospital ward, waiting to question him and to make sure no one came to finish the job they’d started on him.
“What’s taking so long? We need to get in there to talk to him,” Harry said to no one in particular, swallowing the bile that had risen in his throat for the thousandth time at the thought of what could be happening to Ginny while they endured the agonizing wait for the Healers to bring Dean back to consciousness.
“They are doing all that they can,” Fleur said. “You must be patient.”
“Patient! How can I be patient?” Harry asked in exasperation. “We don’t know who took her or where they went or-”
Ron grabbed him by the shoulders. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Ron, I don’t want to-” he stopped short when he caught Ron’s look and the cock of his head indicating that Mrs. Weasley had started crying again. Harry realized with a pang that he was making matters worse for everyone, and turned on his heel.
When they got out of earshot, Harry stopped and leaned heavily on the wall, dropping his head into his hands. “I’m sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to-” He turned and beat both fists on the wall in frustration. “Arrrh! This is maddening!”
Ron joined him against the wall, laying his head back and closing his eyes. “I know. I don’t think any of us can handle it if-if anything-happens to her…” he said, allowing his voice to trail off.
Harry filled in the rest of the sentence in his head: especially after what happened to Fred. He banged his fist against the wall again and laid his forehead on the cool tile. He had to keep it together. The Weasleys needed him-they needed each other-to get through this. If he lost it, he would only make it harder on them.
Harry raised his head at the sound of footsteps. Hermione came running from the lift and wrapped her arms around Ron.
“I got here as quickly as I could. Are you okay?” she whispered into his ear.
Ron sagged into her and buried his head against her neck. Harry suddenly felt very alone. And like a royal prat. He realized that Ron had been working hard to hold himself together for the benefit of his family. He hadn’t considered at all that Ron was having an equally hard time dealing with Ginny’s disappearance, and Harry had done nothing to support him.
He put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. Hermione looked up and held out her arm, inviting him to join their embrace. He moved into the hug and wrapped his arms around his two best friends. They had been through so much together. They had faced death and physical hardship and emotional turmoil. And they had come through it stronger-because they had each other. Harry felt a surge of gratitude and unworthiness. He wouldn’t be here if not for the love and strength they had given him through the years. He had to do what he could to return that to them now.
A commotion at the other end of the hall brought them to attention.
“Harry! Dean’s asking for you,” George called.
Harry dashed into the room with Ron on his heels and skidded to a stop at the bedside. Giving Mrs. Thomas an apologetic look, he bent down so Dean could see him without having to move-his head was heavily bandaged, his breathing labored, his eyes closed.
“Dean?” Harry said quietly. “Dean, can you hear me?”
Dean turned his head slightly and moaned. “Yeah,” he murmured.
“Don’t move,” Harry said. “Just tell me who it was. Do you know where they took her?”
“Scabior-snatcher,” Dean whispered brokenly.
Harry and Ron exchanged horrified looks across the bed. They remembered the henchman that had been working with Greyback in the spring when they were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.
Dean licked his cracked lips and continued after a moment. “To-to Greyback.”
Harry fought the panic that rose inside him. He needed to stay calm. “Do you know where?” he asked.
Dean started to shake his head, winced in pain and whispered, “No,” as he drifted back into a drug-induced sleep.
Harry put a hand on Mrs. Thomas’ shoulder in thanks and motioned to Ron. Back in the hall, Robards had arrived with a report on the crime scene investigation-Harry’s stomach lurched alarmingly when he saw that the Auror was handing Ginny’s wand to Arthur.
When Harry and Ron finished relating Dean’s story, Molly flung herself into her husband’s arms, wailing hopelessly. Bill flagged down a passing Healing Assistant to ask for a Calming Draught.
“Non!” Fleur said, waving the woman away. “Your mother is upset. She does not need to be drugged.”
“But, Fleur, she’s-”
“She is acting as a mother who has lost her daughter should act. Leave ’er alone.” With a flip of her hair, Fleur turned and put an arm around Molly’s shoulder to lead her back to the hard sofa in the corner of the room. Harry could see that by the time they were settled, they were both crying openly. Bill threw up his hands in surrender and turned back to where Robards was addressing the group.
“This seems more like a targeted kidnapping than a random attack,” Robards told them. “You should wait at home to see if he makes contact. He may want ransom.”
“Ransom?” Bill said. “He knows our family isn’t wealthy.”
“Yes, but he also knows you have a friend who is,” Robards replied, casting a glance at Harry.
“Whatever he wants, we’ll do it,” Harry said without hesitation. He would gladly give the entire contents of his Gringott’s vault if it meant Ginny would be returned safely.
“We’ll put a watch on the Floo. Let us know if you hear from him by different means. We’ll keep you posted on the investigation. Potter, a word please,” Robards said as he put a hand on Harry’s arm and pulled him a little away from the rest of the group. “Don’t go after him on your own,” he said quietly. “You’re not through with your training and I expect you to let the professionals handle this one.”
Harry looked at his shoes and nodded. He could tell that Ron and Hermione were listening.
“That’s an order,” Robards said in a no-nonsense tone.
Harry’s head snapped up.
“You’re a good recruit. I’d hate for you to jeopardize your position in the department by doing something foolish,” Robards said, giving him a meaningful look. “You understand, right?”
Harry held his gaze and nodded. “I understand.”
***
Ginny opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. The crashing pain in her head wasn’t helping her thought process. Bits and pieces of memory began to take shape: walking with Dean back to the shop… flashes of light-hexes… two goons in the alley… losing her wand… Dean bleeding… darkness.
She looked at her surroundings. Rough stone walls… thatch roof… dirt floor… filthy, smelly straw mattress… chamber pot in the corner… boarded up window… table and one rickety chair… fireplace… cloak hanging on a peg… She didn’t recognize anything.
She tentatively tried to move. Pain seared through her side-probably broken ribs-and her right ankle felt sore and swollen-sprained or possibly broken. Her left leg was heavy, as if weighted to the floor. Wincing at the merciless pounding in her brain, she ran a hand over her head. Her cheek was puffy and tender and she felt an egg-sized knot near the base of her skull. She pushed herself into a sitting position and her stomach lurched at the movement, though she thought the stench of the mattress was probably contributing to the cause. She crawled gingerly to the chamber pot and retched several times, depositing the ice cream cake Dean had bought in honor of her birthday. The effort exhausted her and she slumped weakly against the wall. From this vantage point, she could see the heavy chain attaching the shackle on her leg to the large ring embedded in the wall.
Where was she? Who had brought her here and why? She drew her knees up close to her chest and laid her head on them. She shouldn’t sleep. She had to think… had to think…
When she awoke, she knew she had been out for several hours. The ribbons of sunlight that had streamed through the cracks in the boards covering the window were gone and the night creatures were beginning their songs. She shivered. The cold, hard floor was uncomfortable, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie back down on that horrible sack of straw. Her stomach grumbled and her dry mouth still tasted of bile. Her body ached in places she didn’t know existed until now. The odor from the chamber pot threatened to bring on another round of retching. Something scuttled across the floor in front of her.
She tried to stand, but found her swollen ankle and trembling legs wouldn’t hold her and her stomach protested at the effort. She considered crawling around to see if she could find a way out, but her weak, aching limbs wouldn’t obey. She managed to pull herself into the corner as far away from the smelly mattress and chamber pot as the chain would allow, and curled into a ball on the floor, willing her queasy insides to stop squirming. Her brain wouldn’t cooperate in coming up with a plan of escape. She was so very tired. Maybe if she slept just a bit more…
***
The door crashed open, bringing Ginny to her knees with a cry of fright and pain. Sunlight poured into the room through the opening, the sudden brightness making her head throb and sending daggers through her eyes as they strained to adjust. She crouched in her corner, struggling to make out the details of the huge silhouette standing before her. The smell of dirt and sweat and blood nearly made her gag.
“Well, well. Did we have a pleasant night?”
The raspy voice triggered her muddled brain to action and all the pieces clicked together-Greyback. A flash of terror ripped through the fog clouding her mind as bone-chilling fear threatened to freeze her in its grip. Her eyes were growing accustomed to the light and she was able to make out his gruesome features, the matted gray hair and whiskers, his filthy tight robes, the long yellow nails on his dirty hands. She fought to summon some shred of courage. She couldn’t let him see how terrified she was-that would be the reaction he wanted.
Working to hide her pain and fear and with an air of confidence she didn’t feel, she tipped her chin defiantly. “Quite.”
He roared with laughter. “You seem pretty brave, my sweet.”
In spite the waves of tremors building inside her, she kept her head high. “They’ll come for me. My family-- they’ll come for me.”
Greyback gave a sharp bark of laughter. “They’ll never find this place. It’s protected by a Fidelius Charm and I’m the Secret Keeper.”
Ginny’s heart nearly stopped at his words. She couldn’t hold her confident pose any longer as he stepped closer, running a finger down her cheek and baring his pointed teeth at the end of her nose. She pulled away, but was stopped by the wall behind her.
“Not so brave now, are you, pretty?” he said, his voice a low growl.
Lightening quick, his hand shot out and gripped her throat, lifting her off the floor till her feet dangled and squeezing until bright stars began to pop before her eyes.
“No one is coming after you,” Greyback snarled. “You’re mine, now, and you’ll do as I say.”
She clawed desperately at his fingers, her lungs nearly bursting with the need for air. Then, just as she thought she could almost see Fred welcoming her beyond the Veil, Greyback released her. She fell to the ground with a gasp, followed by a shriek of pain as her injured ankle buckled and she landed on her side, pain like cold steel piercing her ribs. Sobbing and gasping for air, she huddled on the ground at his feet.
He kicked her in the side and she shrieked. “Sit up! I want to see what I’ve got for my trouble.”
She feebly tried to push herself up, but her trembling arms wouldn’t hold and she fell back to the floor in a heap. He moved to kick her again and she curled into a ball to protect herself. His foot connected with the side of her head with Bludger-like force. She screamed in pain.
“No, please. Please, stop.” She sobbed into her arms. “Please…”
“I said sit up!”
Ginny forced her traitorous arms to support her weight and managed to lean herself back against the wall facing him. She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, making herself as small as possible, trying desperately to control her sobs.
Greyback took a step back and looked her over carefully. “Yeah, you’re the one. Those idiots finally did something right.”
Ginny watched him, refusing to break eye contact as much as she wanted to. She tried to summon her previous bravado, but her voice quivered and was barely above a whisper. “Why me?”
Greyback broke into a sinister grin. “I remembered you. From the battle at Hogwarts-both times.” He bent over her and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. Her heart beat in her throat as he continued, his eyes unfocused, seeing the past. “You’re a powerful witch for one so young-and brave-pureblood, too, I’ve learned. But your family are notorious blood traitors. You’re the sister of that one I didn’t get to finish the first time at Hogwarts, the one who works at Gringott’s. And your other brother is Potter’s friend.”
His eyes came back into focus and pierced into hers. She yelped as he yanked on the hair tangled around his fingers, pulling most of it away as he stood to loom over her again. Ginny curled tighter into herself, willing her quaking body not to give away her terror.
“But, there’s something different.” He considered her carefully, the flame of her locks glowing against the yellowed finger he tapped on his chin. “I thought you were a child.”
She swiped at her tears and the bit of blood running close to her eye. “I’m seventeen today,” she whispered.
He was instantly furious again. “ONE DAY?” he roared with rage. “ONE DAY? Those idiots will pay for this!”
As he picked up the chair by the table, Ginny flinched, anticipating the blow. She whimpered with relief when he sent it flying at the fireplace instead, but quickly cowered against the wall as he turned on her. He seized her by the shoulders and flung her onto the straw mattress like a rag doll. She screamed in pain and terror as he dropped to his knees beside her.
Sobs wracked her body and echoed off the stone walls as she tried to scramble away from him. He grabbed a handful of hair and jerked her back to him. When he raised his fist, she turned her face to avoid the blow… but it didn’t come. When he dropped her back to the smelly straw with a growl and stood, she ventured a peek to see what he was doing. An owl had arrived.
He chuckled to himself as he read the note. “Well, well. Dolohov has finally responded to my request for a meeting.”
Ginny watched him wide-eyed, too frightened to fully comprehend what he was saying. He looked up from the parchment and bent over her. She pressed herself against the wall, but he grabbed the front of her robes and pulled her up to face him. The stench of him set her stomach churning. She bit her tongue to keep from vomiting in his face.
“Looks like you get a reprieve, birthday girl-for now. I have to go, but I’ll leave you something to look forward to. When I return, you’ll bear my cub to continue the Greyback line. If you behave yourself, I might even let you live to care for it.”
With that, he threw her back to the mattress with a thud and left.
Blackness threatened to engulf her as Ginny realized his meaning-a cub... continue the Greyback line... He wanted her to have his baby.
She barely made it to the edge of the mattress before she began retching violently, but with nothing in her stomach, the heaves brought up only bile and left her weak and shivering. She rolled herself into a ball and gave in to unconsciousness.
***
The sun was sitting in the treetops behind the Burrow. Harry stood at the garden wall, his head in his hands. He’d never felt more helpless or hopeless in his life. Always before, when someone he loved was in trouble, he’d been able to do something-search out the Chamber of Secrets, use a Time Turner, fly on a broom or Thestral… something.
He knew, of course, that his burning drive to act at the first sign of trouble could lead to disaster. Sirius had died and his friends were injured because of his rash decision to go to the Ministry two years ago. But this was different. He knew Ginny was in danger and he knew, no matter what orders Robards gave him, he would risk everything to save her if he could.
What he didn’t know was where to go, what to do… and, it was killing him.
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
His head snapped up at the sound of Hermione’s quiet voice next to him. He looked at her briefly, but didn’t respond.
“Harry, you’ve got to stop beating yourself up,” she said gently, putting a hand on his arm. “This isn’t necessarily even about you. Greyback’s got it in for everyone.”
“But why Ginny?” he asked in an anguished voice.
“She’s a means to an end,” Hermione said rationally. “He knows she’s the only daughter. What better way to torment the Weasleys?”
Harry shook her hand off and began to pace in frustration.
“Why haven’t we heard from him? Why haven’t we heard from Robards? What are they doing to find her?” He stopped and faced her. “Hermione, it’s been more than twenty-four hours. There’s no telling what he’s doing to her-I can’t just stand around here and wait!”
Hermione watched him sadly for a moment. “Where are you going to go? He could’ve taken her anywhere in Great Britain. Or, for that matter, he could’ve taken her out of the country. They could be anywhere.”
His shoulders sagged in defeat and he leaned heavily against a tree. He slid down the trunk until he was sitting, then pulled his knees up close and rested his forehead on them. “I just feel so helpless.”
Hermione knelt down beside him and put her arms around his shoulders. He lifted his head wearily.
“I never got a chance to tell her-” he stopped as his voice cracked. “What if-” He looked away and blinked rapidly.
“Shhh,” she whispered. “We have to keep hoping-believing-she’ll be okay.”
***
Ginny hardly moved on the smelly mattress. The horror of Greyback’s words echoed in her head, numbing her soul, extinguishing all hope of escape.
Her body throbbed with pain and her stomach cramped from lack of food, though she knew she couldn’t eat if she had any. She slept a great deal, mostly because she couldn’t help it, but she didn’t try hard to fight it. It was her only escape. In most of her dreams, Fred stood against a backdrop of light, holding a hand out to her. She wanted desperately to go to him.
When she was awake, she listlessly watched the dust motes float in the strands of sunlight coming through the boarded up window and let her mind drift through her memories of the people she was beginning to believe she’d never see again. Had she ever told her parents how much she loved them and appreciated all they’d done for her? She could imagine them worried sick about her. And her brothers-had she really made her peace with Percy? It had been months since she’d seen Charlie and she owed him a letter. Who would look after George? She wouldn’t get to see Ron and Hermione married, or Bill and Fleur's children. And Harry…
She couldn’t even think about Harry without starting to sob again, though by now she had no tears left to shed. She’d been nothing but a shrew with him since the war and now she’d have no chance to make it right.
More and more she began to see death as her only way out of this nightmare. The vision of Fred, looking so peaceful, beckoning to her, had become her lifeline. She willed her thoughts in his direction, sending up prayers for him to come rescue her.
But in her better moments, she became angry with herself for giving in. She gathered her courage and tried to think of some way out, some way to get word to her family. The problem was, even if she could get word to them, she had no idea where to tell them to come. She thought the cottage was in the woods-she could hear birds nearby and water was flowing in the distance. But, that could put her anywhere. And even if she could get them here, the Fidelius Charm would keep them from finding her.
When terror wasn't sending her into a blind panic, despair seeped into her spirit. She grasped desperately at her final shreds of control. As the rays of the sun were beginning to evaporate, she surveyed the room one last time, looking for anything to rekindle her hope.
She saw it.
Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner? Her cloak-and in the pocket, her portkey. Her way home.
It was charmed to take her to the shop in the mornings and home again in the evening. But George had set it not to activate unless someone was holding it, so it wouldn’t end up in one place when she was in the other if she missed the time on either end. All she had to do was figure out a way to get to it. The cloak was hanging on a peg beside the fireplace-far beyond the reach of her chain.
Ginny jumped and let out a sob of fear as the door slammed open. She breathed a small breath of relief that it was only one of Greyback's minions, but eased into a sitting position so she could better protect herself if she needed to.
She studied the grungy man from beneath her lashes. Like Greyback, he was filthy and unshaved, with torn, ill-fitting clothes, smelling of sweat and death. She suspected he was a werewolf, but he didn’t have Greyback’s arrogance. Right now he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
He dropped a plate of slop (was that supposed to pass for food?) to the floor in front of her and eyed her as if she were a forbidden treat.
She raised her chin and met his gaze unflinchingly. “Thank you.”
He grunted and turned back toward the door.
“Sir?” she asked tentatively.
He stopped and looked at her suspiciously.
“Could I have my cloak-by the fireplace?” She pointed and gave him her best pleading look, the one that had always worked on her brothers. “It gets so cold in here at night.”
He studied her for a moment. “Wha’ do I care if yeh get cold?”
“He-he might not like it if I get sick,” Ginny said, choking back the panic rising in her throat. She had to convince him to help her.
Grungy studied her for another moment then walked over to the fireplace. She tried desperately to keep the hope from showing in her eyes. He grabbed the cloak and started to throw it at her, then stopped. She could almost see his slow brain kick into gear before he started going through the pockets. When he pulled out the small pink bear-Ron had thought it a good joke to make her favorite childhood toy into a portkey-he gave a mocking laugh. “Oh, looky. The little girl wants her-”
Before he could finish the sentence, the bear glowed blue and Grungy disappeared. Ginny wailed in defeat and crumpled to the floor.
***
Ron emerged from the kitchen door as dusk was beginning to settle.
“Hey, you two, come inside. Mum’s cooked enough for a week…”
Harry raised his head. “She’s still cooking?”
Ron shrugged. “It’s how she handles stress.”
Harry got up reluctantly and followed Ron and Hermione into the house. He wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t want to hurt Mrs. Weasley’s feelings.
Everyone, including Charlie who had arrived from Romania at lunchtime, gathered around the kitchen table and pretended to eat. Conversation was minimal. Tension was thick. They were all waiting for word-anything-that would give them some news, give them some hope.
Ron had just got up to get another butterbeer when a blue glow filled the kitchen. Harry’s heart leapt as he realized what was happening. Everyone stopped breathing, frozen in anticipation of the arrival.
Several seconds passed as they stared in shock at the scruffy wizard standing before them, looking alarmed at the turn of events. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, they all sprang into action. Ron tackled the man who stared in bewilderment at the four wand tips pointed at the end of his nose.
“Where’s my sister, you bastard!” Ron shouted as he banged the greasy head on the floor.
“I can’t tell you,” the wizard cried, realizing the seriousness of landing in the midst of Ginny’s formidable family.
“What do you mean you can’t tell us?” Bill yelled. “You’ve got her portkey and cloak. Tell us where she is before I-”
The man held up his hands. “Do I look like a Secret Keeper to you?”
Harry’s heart stopped at the implication of the words. How would they ever find her?
“No, but you look like a bloody foul git,” Ron said as he landed a punch.
“Ron, don’t kill him, he’s our only link to Ginny,” Hermione cried.
“What’s Greyback done with her?” Charlie asked.
“Nothin’-yet,” the wizard said with a smirk of his bleeding mouth.
“Yet? What’s that suppose to mean?” Charlie asked, pressing his wand into the man’s Adam’s apple. “What’s he going to do to her?”
The man swallowed and shook his head.
“Talk! Or I’ll be sure that you never do again,” Charlie said, jabbing his wand into the fleshy neck.
The man’s eyes went wide. “An heir. He wants an heir-”
Harry thought he was going to pass out. His knees gave way and he sank with a thud onto the bench beside him. Every Weasley had frozen in place, unable to make sense of what they’d just heard. Hermione’s gasp brought them back to life. Ron landed another punch that knocked the man out cold. They looked at one another in stunned silence as Mrs. Weasley began sobbing.
Bill bound the prisoner and Percy made a Floo call to Robards, who showed up with a couple of Aurors to take him in for questioning. Bill and Percy went to the Ministry to find out what more he had to say, but no one was very hopeful that he could lead them to where she was being held.
Harry stood in the shadows of the kitchen, watching the others search for ways to cope with the incomprehensible turn of events. Arthur held Molly as she wept, rubbing her back, murmuring gently. Charlie paced angrily from the kitchen to the sitting room and back again. George had retreated into himself in a chair by the fire. Ron sat with his arm around Hermione, watching her as she frowned in concentration at the small pink bear in her hand.
She abruptly stood. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Ron and was gone in a green flash, taking the bear with her. Ron motioned for Harry to go outside.
“She’s thought of something,” he said, once they were out of earshot of the kitchen. “I don’t know what, yet, but I could almost hear her brain working.”
“I hope so. I can’t take much more of this,” Harry said wearily.
They paced the garden for nearly half an hour before they heard her footsteps on the path.
“I Apparated back,” she said quietly when they had gathered at the back wall. “I didn’t want to come through the kitchen and get your mum’s hopes up. I’m not sure this will work.”
They nodded and waited expectantly. Harry knew there was no rushing Hermione when she was working on a plan.
“I went home to check one of my books. I remembered seeing a spell somewhere to make a portkey return to where it last departed if it’s been taken from its original location.”
“Well?” Ron was getting impatient.
“Well,” she said in her I’ll-get-there-when-I’m-ready voice. “I found it.”
Harry’s heart lifted as hope ruffled its wings and prepared to soar.
“What about the Fidelius Charm?” Ron asked.
“Since it brought the wizard from within the charm, it’ll get us back in-like the process turned it into a Secret Keeper. The spell’s complicated, though. If I don’t get it right, we won’t have another chance.”
“Hermione, you can do anything,” Harry said excitedly. “It’ll work.”
She looked at him gratefully, her eyes still full of doubt. “Thanks, but I’m not so sure. There’s one other thing, though. It’s going to be very dangerous because we don’t know where it will take us and who will be there. It’ll be the same situation that wizard found himself in when he landed in the kitchen earlier.”
“Which is exactly why I should go alone,” Harry said. “One person can probably get in and out more quickly.”
“Rubbish!” Ron said. “In the first place, we’ve had this conversation before-we’re a team. And in the second place, you heard what Robards said. You’ll jeopardize your Auror training. You shouldn’t go at all.”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I’m going. It’s what I’ve been training for all summer. Besides, you’re the one who should stay. Your mother would do a nutter if anything happened to another one of her kids.”
“She’d feel the same way if something happened to you,” Ron said, his voice rising in irritation.
“Shhh! Keep your voice down,” Hermione interrupted. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. We’ll all go.”
Harry clenched his jaw, not liking the idea, but he took the bear from Hermione and held it out to her. “Do it.”
“I’ll charm it to return in fifteen minutes. If we don’t find her right away, we’ll come back and think of another plan. Let’s try to get an idea of where we are so we can go back if we need to and tell the Aurors where to find Greyback.”
Harry held out the bear. She touched it with her wand and spoke the spell. Just as the familiar blue glow ignited, he jerked it from their reach and was gone-alone.
***
Ginny tucked her knees tighter to her chest and drew a shuddering breath. Once the portkey was gone so was her hope. Drained and listless, she yearned for the escape of sleep that now eluded her. The pounding in her head had dulled a bit, but her ankle was throbbing and she couldn’t find a comfortable position to cushion against the shards of pain tearing into her side. Hungry and tired and cold, she longed for a warm bath to wash away the grime and soothe her aching body. She stared blindly into the darkness and drew a shuddering breath, her mind unable to form a coherent thought.
When the blue glow began to appear, her sluggish brain didn’t recognize it. As it grew brighter, she lifted her head, wondering if she had finally gone over the edge and was hallucinating. By the time it reached its peak and extinguished, she had pushed herself into a sitting position, afraid to believe what she’d just seen. The brief blaze of light had been enough to make her eyes readjust and she couldn’t make out in the darkness if someone was really standing in the room.
“Ginny?”
The whisper came from the one voice she’d dreamed of hearing. She couldn’t form words to answer, but her sob of relief was enough.
“Lumos.”
Harry was kneeling before her in a heartbeat, holding her close as she cried silently into his chest.
“Shhh. We need to be quiet. Nox,” he whispered, extinguishing his wand. “Can you stand?”
She shook her head and tried to control her heaving sobs.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” He continued to murmur words of comfort, cradling her gently until she finally quieted. He pressed the tiny bear into her hands. “Hold this. Whatever you do, don’t put it down, and don’t let anyone take it from you. It’s set to go back to the Burrow in fifteen minutes. Just stay still. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” she whispered in a panic, clutching at his sleeve. “Where are you going? Don’t leave me-”
“I need to find out where we are so we can come back and get that bas-” He paused and drew a deep breath. She could tell he was working to control his anger. “Just stay still. I’ll be back.”
She watched his shadowy form move across the darkened room and heard his whispered “Alohamora.” He pulled the door open a crack to be sure the coast was clear, then slipped into the night. As the moments ticked by, her heart raced frantically with fear for him. Her ears strained to distinguish the night noises, unsure of whether she was imagining the sound of footsteps and terrified of whose they might be. When he finally slipped silently back in, she slumped against the wall in relief.
“There are about a dozen of them around the fire in the clearing,” he whispered as he knelt next to her. “I can’t tell where we are, so I marked the ground behind the house with an X. Maybe we can find it from the air.” He reached into the dark and cupped her cheek. “Ginny-did he-” He paused a moment as if struggling for the right words. “He-he didn’t-”
She leaned into his palm and closed her eyes. “No.” His skin felt so good against hers.
He relaxed and let out a shaky breath. “I’ve been so scared, so afraid that I-”
The door crashed open and firelight filled the room. Harry was up in a heartbeat, putting himself between Ginny and Greyback and his torch-bearing goons.
“Well, well,” Greyback said. “What have we here?”
“Back off, Greyback,” Harry said.
Ginny huddled behind Harry, wanting to take hold of his leg in case the portkey activated, but he had stepped beyond her reach. She inched forward, trying to get into position without calling attention to herself so she could grab him at the last moment. She wasn’t following the banter, but she could tell Harry was trying to keep Greyback talking, stalling for time.
She slid forward a bit more, staying low and directly behind Harry so Greyback couldn’t see what she was doing. She was almost there… just a bit more…
The bear glowed and she lunged forward. Her hand closed on air.
***
As soon as he saw the blue light, Harry took advantage of Greyback’s momentary surprise to dive through the rotten boards covering the window and roll into the darkness. He jumped to his feet and made a dash for the trees, dodging the jets of red and green that followed him.
As he disappeared into the relative safety of the dark woods, relief that Ginny was safe washed over him. He had been toying with the idea of sending her back alone-he needed to stay and finish it with Greyback or they’d never have any peace. When the door had crashed open, the decision was made for him.
He ran deep into the woods and hid behind the broad trunk of a tree. He could hear Greyback and his men thrashing the undergrowth looking for him. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the one weapon that would serve him best in this situation-his Invisibility Cloak.
“You might as well come out, Potter,” Greyback called. “We’ve got these woods charmed. You can’t get out and you can’t Disapparate. You’re outnumbered twelve to one. Time to give up.”
Harry flung the cloak over himself and crouched next to the tree. His Auror training had prepared him well-he had a plan.
“Split up!” Greyback yelled to his men. “If you find him, bind him and bring him to the clearing. No killing curses. Potter’s mine.”
Harry smiled to himself. Dark wizards were so arrogant.
***
“Noooo!” Ginny screamed as she landed in the garden at the Burrow.
Suddenly, Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to her.
“Ron, you’ve got to go back,” she wailed, clutching at his shirt. “You’ve got to go help him. There were too many of them. They’ll kill him. Please, Ron, please…”
Ron and Hermione exchanged a panicked look. “Ginny, what happened? Where’s Harry?”
She fell sobbing to the ground. “I couldn’t get to him. He was too far away. I couldn’t reach him.”
Ron picked her up and headed toward the house as the rest of the Weasleys poured from the kitchen door to investigate the commotion. He set her gently on the sofa in the sitting room and the family gathered around trying to make sense of this latest development. Ron and Hermione were trying to explain what had happened as Molly began tending her wounds.
“Get away from me, Mum.” She impatiently pushed her mother away and reached out to her brothers. “Please, please, you’ve got to go…”
They looked worriedly at one another and back at her, clearly frustrated at not being able to help. She knew they thought she had gone round the bend.
Arthur finally took charge. “Charlie, pick her up and let’s get her to St. Mungo’s. Percy, owl Robards to meet us there.”
“No! No!” Ginny knew she was becoming hysterical, but she didn’t care. She beat on Charlie’s shoulders as he lifted her. Why wouldn’t they understand? “You’ve got to go back. Please. They’re going to kill him. You’ve got to go…”
“Where, Ginny? Where do we go?” Ron finally asked in exasperation.
She paused, thinking for a moment, then whispered in a bewildered voice, “I don’t know… oh, I don’t know…” and broke down completely, sobbing hopelessly into Charlie’s shirt.
The trip to St. Mungo’s took only a couple of minutes and she was quickly tucked into bed. Two of her brothers had to hold her down so the sedative potion could be forced down her throat. The darkness quickly took her.
Chapter 8
Chapter 1
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Chapter: 7 of 11 Foes and Heroes
Author: serendipity_50
Pairing: H/G
Rating: PG-13 (Brief references to sex, minor profanity)
Word Count this chapter: about 6,500
Era: Post-DH Pre-Epilogue
Disclaimer: The characters belong to JK Rowling. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment only.
Author's Notes: Thanks to beta ClaraMinutes. Concrit welcome. Special thanks to minisinoo for her insight and expertise and her awesome suggestions for making this story better.
Story Summary: Harry and Ginny lived happily ever after...eventually. After the war, things didn't go as easily as they should have.
Chapter Summary: Greyback strikes again.
Harry paced restlessly among the crowd of Weasleys gathered in the waiting room at St. Mungo’s. Dean’s mother was there as well, sitting next to Molly and offering comfort as best she could. Two Aurors were stationed outside the door of Dean’s hospital ward, waiting to question him and to make sure no one came to finish the job they’d started on him.
“What’s taking so long? We need to get in there to talk to him,” Harry said to no one in particular, swallowing the bile that had risen in his throat for the thousandth time at the thought of what could be happening to Ginny while they endured the agonizing wait for the Healers to bring Dean back to consciousness.
“They are doing all that they can,” Fleur said. “You must be patient.”
“Patient! How can I be patient?” Harry asked in exasperation. “We don’t know who took her or where they went or-”
Ron grabbed him by the shoulders. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“Ron, I don’t want to-” he stopped short when he caught Ron’s look and the cock of his head indicating that Mrs. Weasley had started crying again. Harry realized with a pang that he was making matters worse for everyone, and turned on his heel.
When they got out of earshot, Harry stopped and leaned heavily on the wall, dropping his head into his hands. “I’m sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to-” He turned and beat both fists on the wall in frustration. “Arrrh! This is maddening!”
Ron joined him against the wall, laying his head back and closing his eyes. “I know. I don’t think any of us can handle it if-if anything-happens to her…” he said, allowing his voice to trail off.
Harry filled in the rest of the sentence in his head: especially after what happened to Fred. He banged his fist against the wall again and laid his forehead on the cool tile. He had to keep it together. The Weasleys needed him-they needed each other-to get through this. If he lost it, he would only make it harder on them.
Harry raised his head at the sound of footsteps. Hermione came running from the lift and wrapped her arms around Ron.
“I got here as quickly as I could. Are you okay?” she whispered into his ear.
Ron sagged into her and buried his head against her neck. Harry suddenly felt very alone. And like a royal prat. He realized that Ron had been working hard to hold himself together for the benefit of his family. He hadn’t considered at all that Ron was having an equally hard time dealing with Ginny’s disappearance, and Harry had done nothing to support him.
He put a hand on Ron’s shoulder. Hermione looked up and held out her arm, inviting him to join their embrace. He moved into the hug and wrapped his arms around his two best friends. They had been through so much together. They had faced death and physical hardship and emotional turmoil. And they had come through it stronger-because they had each other. Harry felt a surge of gratitude and unworthiness. He wouldn’t be here if not for the love and strength they had given him through the years. He had to do what he could to return that to them now.
A commotion at the other end of the hall brought them to attention.
“Harry! Dean’s asking for you,” George called.
Harry dashed into the room with Ron on his heels and skidded to a stop at the bedside. Giving Mrs. Thomas an apologetic look, he bent down so Dean could see him without having to move-his head was heavily bandaged, his breathing labored, his eyes closed.
“Dean?” Harry said quietly. “Dean, can you hear me?”
Dean turned his head slightly and moaned. “Yeah,” he murmured.
“Don’t move,” Harry said. “Just tell me who it was. Do you know where they took her?”
“Scabior-snatcher,” Dean whispered brokenly.
Harry and Ron exchanged horrified looks across the bed. They remembered the henchman that had been working with Greyback in the spring when they were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.
Dean licked his cracked lips and continued after a moment. “To-to Greyback.”
Harry fought the panic that rose inside him. He needed to stay calm. “Do you know where?” he asked.
Dean started to shake his head, winced in pain and whispered, “No,” as he drifted back into a drug-induced sleep.
Harry put a hand on Mrs. Thomas’ shoulder in thanks and motioned to Ron. Back in the hall, Robards had arrived with a report on the crime scene investigation-Harry’s stomach lurched alarmingly when he saw that the Auror was handing Ginny’s wand to Arthur.
When Harry and Ron finished relating Dean’s story, Molly flung herself into her husband’s arms, wailing hopelessly. Bill flagged down a passing Healing Assistant to ask for a Calming Draught.
“Non!” Fleur said, waving the woman away. “Your mother is upset. She does not need to be drugged.”
“But, Fleur, she’s-”
“She is acting as a mother who has lost her daughter should act. Leave ’er alone.” With a flip of her hair, Fleur turned and put an arm around Molly’s shoulder to lead her back to the hard sofa in the corner of the room. Harry could see that by the time they were settled, they were both crying openly. Bill threw up his hands in surrender and turned back to where Robards was addressing the group.
“This seems more like a targeted kidnapping than a random attack,” Robards told them. “You should wait at home to see if he makes contact. He may want ransom.”
“Ransom?” Bill said. “He knows our family isn’t wealthy.”
“Yes, but he also knows you have a friend who is,” Robards replied, casting a glance at Harry.
“Whatever he wants, we’ll do it,” Harry said without hesitation. He would gladly give the entire contents of his Gringott’s vault if it meant Ginny would be returned safely.
“We’ll put a watch on the Floo. Let us know if you hear from him by different means. We’ll keep you posted on the investigation. Potter, a word please,” Robards said as he put a hand on Harry’s arm and pulled him a little away from the rest of the group. “Don’t go after him on your own,” he said quietly. “You’re not through with your training and I expect you to let the professionals handle this one.”
Harry looked at his shoes and nodded. He could tell that Ron and Hermione were listening.
“That’s an order,” Robards said in a no-nonsense tone.
Harry’s head snapped up.
“You’re a good recruit. I’d hate for you to jeopardize your position in the department by doing something foolish,” Robards said, giving him a meaningful look. “You understand, right?”
Harry held his gaze and nodded. “I understand.”
***
Ginny opened her eyes and tried to remember where she was. The crashing pain in her head wasn’t helping her thought process. Bits and pieces of memory began to take shape: walking with Dean back to the shop… flashes of light-hexes… two goons in the alley… losing her wand… Dean bleeding… darkness.
She looked at her surroundings. Rough stone walls… thatch roof… dirt floor… filthy, smelly straw mattress… chamber pot in the corner… boarded up window… table and one rickety chair… fireplace… cloak hanging on a peg… She didn’t recognize anything.
She tentatively tried to move. Pain seared through her side-probably broken ribs-and her right ankle felt sore and swollen-sprained or possibly broken. Her left leg was heavy, as if weighted to the floor. Wincing at the merciless pounding in her brain, she ran a hand over her head. Her cheek was puffy and tender and she felt an egg-sized knot near the base of her skull. She pushed herself into a sitting position and her stomach lurched at the movement, though she thought the stench of the mattress was probably contributing to the cause. She crawled gingerly to the chamber pot and retched several times, depositing the ice cream cake Dean had bought in honor of her birthday. The effort exhausted her and she slumped weakly against the wall. From this vantage point, she could see the heavy chain attaching the shackle on her leg to the large ring embedded in the wall.
Where was she? Who had brought her here and why? She drew her knees up close to her chest and laid her head on them. She shouldn’t sleep. She had to think… had to think…
When she awoke, she knew she had been out for several hours. The ribbons of sunlight that had streamed through the cracks in the boards covering the window were gone and the night creatures were beginning their songs. She shivered. The cold, hard floor was uncomfortable, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie back down on that horrible sack of straw. Her stomach grumbled and her dry mouth still tasted of bile. Her body ached in places she didn’t know existed until now. The odor from the chamber pot threatened to bring on another round of retching. Something scuttled across the floor in front of her.
She tried to stand, but found her swollen ankle and trembling legs wouldn’t hold her and her stomach protested at the effort. She considered crawling around to see if she could find a way out, but her weak, aching limbs wouldn’t obey. She managed to pull herself into the corner as far away from the smelly mattress and chamber pot as the chain would allow, and curled into a ball on the floor, willing her queasy insides to stop squirming. Her brain wouldn’t cooperate in coming up with a plan of escape. She was so very tired. Maybe if she slept just a bit more…
***
The door crashed open, bringing Ginny to her knees with a cry of fright and pain. Sunlight poured into the room through the opening, the sudden brightness making her head throb and sending daggers through her eyes as they strained to adjust. She crouched in her corner, struggling to make out the details of the huge silhouette standing before her. The smell of dirt and sweat and blood nearly made her gag.
“Well, well. Did we have a pleasant night?”
The raspy voice triggered her muddled brain to action and all the pieces clicked together-Greyback. A flash of terror ripped through the fog clouding her mind as bone-chilling fear threatened to freeze her in its grip. Her eyes were growing accustomed to the light and she was able to make out his gruesome features, the matted gray hair and whiskers, his filthy tight robes, the long yellow nails on his dirty hands. She fought to summon some shred of courage. She couldn’t let him see how terrified she was-that would be the reaction he wanted.
Working to hide her pain and fear and with an air of confidence she didn’t feel, she tipped her chin defiantly. “Quite.”
He roared with laughter. “You seem pretty brave, my sweet.”
In spite the waves of tremors building inside her, she kept her head high. “They’ll come for me. My family-- they’ll come for me.”
Greyback gave a sharp bark of laughter. “They’ll never find this place. It’s protected by a Fidelius Charm and I’m the Secret Keeper.”
Ginny’s heart nearly stopped at his words. She couldn’t hold her confident pose any longer as he stepped closer, running a finger down her cheek and baring his pointed teeth at the end of her nose. She pulled away, but was stopped by the wall behind her.
“Not so brave now, are you, pretty?” he said, his voice a low growl.
Lightening quick, his hand shot out and gripped her throat, lifting her off the floor till her feet dangled and squeezing until bright stars began to pop before her eyes.
“No one is coming after you,” Greyback snarled. “You’re mine, now, and you’ll do as I say.”
She clawed desperately at his fingers, her lungs nearly bursting with the need for air. Then, just as she thought she could almost see Fred welcoming her beyond the Veil, Greyback released her. She fell to the ground with a gasp, followed by a shriek of pain as her injured ankle buckled and she landed on her side, pain like cold steel piercing her ribs. Sobbing and gasping for air, she huddled on the ground at his feet.
He kicked her in the side and she shrieked. “Sit up! I want to see what I’ve got for my trouble.”
She feebly tried to push herself up, but her trembling arms wouldn’t hold and she fell back to the floor in a heap. He moved to kick her again and she curled into a ball to protect herself. His foot connected with the side of her head with Bludger-like force. She screamed in pain.
“No, please. Please, stop.” She sobbed into her arms. “Please…”
“I said sit up!”
Ginny forced her traitorous arms to support her weight and managed to lean herself back against the wall facing him. She drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around them, making herself as small as possible, trying desperately to control her sobs.
Greyback took a step back and looked her over carefully. “Yeah, you’re the one. Those idiots finally did something right.”
Ginny watched him, refusing to break eye contact as much as she wanted to. She tried to summon her previous bravado, but her voice quivered and was barely above a whisper. “Why me?”
Greyback broke into a sinister grin. “I remembered you. From the battle at Hogwarts-both times.” He bent over her and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. Her heart beat in her throat as he continued, his eyes unfocused, seeing the past. “You’re a powerful witch for one so young-and brave-pureblood, too, I’ve learned. But your family are notorious blood traitors. You’re the sister of that one I didn’t get to finish the first time at Hogwarts, the one who works at Gringott’s. And your other brother is Potter’s friend.”
His eyes came back into focus and pierced into hers. She yelped as he yanked on the hair tangled around his fingers, pulling most of it away as he stood to loom over her again. Ginny curled tighter into herself, willing her quaking body not to give away her terror.
“But, there’s something different.” He considered her carefully, the flame of her locks glowing against the yellowed finger he tapped on his chin. “I thought you were a child.”
She swiped at her tears and the bit of blood running close to her eye. “I’m seventeen today,” she whispered.
He was instantly furious again. “ONE DAY?” he roared with rage. “ONE DAY? Those idiots will pay for this!”
As he picked up the chair by the table, Ginny flinched, anticipating the blow. She whimpered with relief when he sent it flying at the fireplace instead, but quickly cowered against the wall as he turned on her. He seized her by the shoulders and flung her onto the straw mattress like a rag doll. She screamed in pain and terror as he dropped to his knees beside her.
Sobs wracked her body and echoed off the stone walls as she tried to scramble away from him. He grabbed a handful of hair and jerked her back to him. When he raised his fist, she turned her face to avoid the blow… but it didn’t come. When he dropped her back to the smelly straw with a growl and stood, she ventured a peek to see what he was doing. An owl had arrived.
He chuckled to himself as he read the note. “Well, well. Dolohov has finally responded to my request for a meeting.”
Ginny watched him wide-eyed, too frightened to fully comprehend what he was saying. He looked up from the parchment and bent over her. She pressed herself against the wall, but he grabbed the front of her robes and pulled her up to face him. The stench of him set her stomach churning. She bit her tongue to keep from vomiting in his face.
“Looks like you get a reprieve, birthday girl-for now. I have to go, but I’ll leave you something to look forward to. When I return, you’ll bear my cub to continue the Greyback line. If you behave yourself, I might even let you live to care for it.”
With that, he threw her back to the mattress with a thud and left.
Blackness threatened to engulf her as Ginny realized his meaning-a cub... continue the Greyback line... He wanted her to have his baby.
She barely made it to the edge of the mattress before she began retching violently, but with nothing in her stomach, the heaves brought up only bile and left her weak and shivering. She rolled herself into a ball and gave in to unconsciousness.
***
The sun was sitting in the treetops behind the Burrow. Harry stood at the garden wall, his head in his hands. He’d never felt more helpless or hopeless in his life. Always before, when someone he loved was in trouble, he’d been able to do something-search out the Chamber of Secrets, use a Time Turner, fly on a broom or Thestral… something.
He knew, of course, that his burning drive to act at the first sign of trouble could lead to disaster. Sirius had died and his friends were injured because of his rash decision to go to the Ministry two years ago. But this was different. He knew Ginny was in danger and he knew, no matter what orders Robards gave him, he would risk everything to save her if he could.
What he didn’t know was where to go, what to do… and, it was killing him.
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
His head snapped up at the sound of Hermione’s quiet voice next to him. He looked at her briefly, but didn’t respond.
“Harry, you’ve got to stop beating yourself up,” she said gently, putting a hand on his arm. “This isn’t necessarily even about you. Greyback’s got it in for everyone.”
“But why Ginny?” he asked in an anguished voice.
“She’s a means to an end,” Hermione said rationally. “He knows she’s the only daughter. What better way to torment the Weasleys?”
Harry shook her hand off and began to pace in frustration.
“Why haven’t we heard from him? Why haven’t we heard from Robards? What are they doing to find her?” He stopped and faced her. “Hermione, it’s been more than twenty-four hours. There’s no telling what he’s doing to her-I can’t just stand around here and wait!”
Hermione watched him sadly for a moment. “Where are you going to go? He could’ve taken her anywhere in Great Britain. Or, for that matter, he could’ve taken her out of the country. They could be anywhere.”
His shoulders sagged in defeat and he leaned heavily against a tree. He slid down the trunk until he was sitting, then pulled his knees up close and rested his forehead on them. “I just feel so helpless.”
Hermione knelt down beside him and put her arms around his shoulders. He lifted his head wearily.
“I never got a chance to tell her-” he stopped as his voice cracked. “What if-” He looked away and blinked rapidly.
“Shhh,” she whispered. “We have to keep hoping-believing-she’ll be okay.”
***
Ginny hardly moved on the smelly mattress. The horror of Greyback’s words echoed in her head, numbing her soul, extinguishing all hope of escape.
Her body throbbed with pain and her stomach cramped from lack of food, though she knew she couldn’t eat if she had any. She slept a great deal, mostly because she couldn’t help it, but she didn’t try hard to fight it. It was her only escape. In most of her dreams, Fred stood against a backdrop of light, holding a hand out to her. She wanted desperately to go to him.
When she was awake, she listlessly watched the dust motes float in the strands of sunlight coming through the boarded up window and let her mind drift through her memories of the people she was beginning to believe she’d never see again. Had she ever told her parents how much she loved them and appreciated all they’d done for her? She could imagine them worried sick about her. And her brothers-had she really made her peace with Percy? It had been months since she’d seen Charlie and she owed him a letter. Who would look after George? She wouldn’t get to see Ron and Hermione married, or Bill and Fleur's children. And Harry…
She couldn’t even think about Harry without starting to sob again, though by now she had no tears left to shed. She’d been nothing but a shrew with him since the war and now she’d have no chance to make it right.
More and more she began to see death as her only way out of this nightmare. The vision of Fred, looking so peaceful, beckoning to her, had become her lifeline. She willed her thoughts in his direction, sending up prayers for him to come rescue her.
But in her better moments, she became angry with herself for giving in. She gathered her courage and tried to think of some way out, some way to get word to her family. The problem was, even if she could get word to them, she had no idea where to tell them to come. She thought the cottage was in the woods-she could hear birds nearby and water was flowing in the distance. But, that could put her anywhere. And even if she could get them here, the Fidelius Charm would keep them from finding her.
When terror wasn't sending her into a blind panic, despair seeped into her spirit. She grasped desperately at her final shreds of control. As the rays of the sun were beginning to evaporate, she surveyed the room one last time, looking for anything to rekindle her hope.
She saw it.
Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner? Her cloak-and in the pocket, her portkey. Her way home.
It was charmed to take her to the shop in the mornings and home again in the evening. But George had set it not to activate unless someone was holding it, so it wouldn’t end up in one place when she was in the other if she missed the time on either end. All she had to do was figure out a way to get to it. The cloak was hanging on a peg beside the fireplace-far beyond the reach of her chain.
Ginny jumped and let out a sob of fear as the door slammed open. She breathed a small breath of relief that it was only one of Greyback's minions, but eased into a sitting position so she could better protect herself if she needed to.
She studied the grungy man from beneath her lashes. Like Greyback, he was filthy and unshaved, with torn, ill-fitting clothes, smelling of sweat and death. She suspected he was a werewolf, but he didn’t have Greyback’s arrogance. Right now he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
He dropped a plate of slop (was that supposed to pass for food?) to the floor in front of her and eyed her as if she were a forbidden treat.
She raised her chin and met his gaze unflinchingly. “Thank you.”
He grunted and turned back toward the door.
“Sir?” she asked tentatively.
He stopped and looked at her suspiciously.
“Could I have my cloak-by the fireplace?” She pointed and gave him her best pleading look, the one that had always worked on her brothers. “It gets so cold in here at night.”
He studied her for a moment. “Wha’ do I care if yeh get cold?”
“He-he might not like it if I get sick,” Ginny said, choking back the panic rising in her throat. She had to convince him to help her.
Grungy studied her for another moment then walked over to the fireplace. She tried desperately to keep the hope from showing in her eyes. He grabbed the cloak and started to throw it at her, then stopped. She could almost see his slow brain kick into gear before he started going through the pockets. When he pulled out the small pink bear-Ron had thought it a good joke to make her favorite childhood toy into a portkey-he gave a mocking laugh. “Oh, looky. The little girl wants her-”
Before he could finish the sentence, the bear glowed blue and Grungy disappeared. Ginny wailed in defeat and crumpled to the floor.
***
Ron emerged from the kitchen door as dusk was beginning to settle.
“Hey, you two, come inside. Mum’s cooked enough for a week…”
Harry raised his head. “She’s still cooking?”
Ron shrugged. “It’s how she handles stress.”
Harry got up reluctantly and followed Ron and Hermione into the house. He wasn’t hungry, but he didn’t want to hurt Mrs. Weasley’s feelings.
Everyone, including Charlie who had arrived from Romania at lunchtime, gathered around the kitchen table and pretended to eat. Conversation was minimal. Tension was thick. They were all waiting for word-anything-that would give them some news, give them some hope.
Ron had just got up to get another butterbeer when a blue glow filled the kitchen. Harry’s heart leapt as he realized what was happening. Everyone stopped breathing, frozen in anticipation of the arrival.
Several seconds passed as they stared in shock at the scruffy wizard standing before them, looking alarmed at the turn of events. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, they all sprang into action. Ron tackled the man who stared in bewilderment at the four wand tips pointed at the end of his nose.
“Where’s my sister, you bastard!” Ron shouted as he banged the greasy head on the floor.
“I can’t tell you,” the wizard cried, realizing the seriousness of landing in the midst of Ginny’s formidable family.
“What do you mean you can’t tell us?” Bill yelled. “You’ve got her portkey and cloak. Tell us where she is before I-”
The man held up his hands. “Do I look like a Secret Keeper to you?”
Harry’s heart stopped at the implication of the words. How would they ever find her?
“No, but you look like a bloody foul git,” Ron said as he landed a punch.
“Ron, don’t kill him, he’s our only link to Ginny,” Hermione cried.
“What’s Greyback done with her?” Charlie asked.
“Nothin’-yet,” the wizard said with a smirk of his bleeding mouth.
“Yet? What’s that suppose to mean?” Charlie asked, pressing his wand into the man’s Adam’s apple. “What’s he going to do to her?”
The man swallowed and shook his head.
“Talk! Or I’ll be sure that you never do again,” Charlie said, jabbing his wand into the fleshy neck.
The man’s eyes went wide. “An heir. He wants an heir-”
Harry thought he was going to pass out. His knees gave way and he sank with a thud onto the bench beside him. Every Weasley had frozen in place, unable to make sense of what they’d just heard. Hermione’s gasp brought them back to life. Ron landed another punch that knocked the man out cold. They looked at one another in stunned silence as Mrs. Weasley began sobbing.
Bill bound the prisoner and Percy made a Floo call to Robards, who showed up with a couple of Aurors to take him in for questioning. Bill and Percy went to the Ministry to find out what more he had to say, but no one was very hopeful that he could lead them to where she was being held.
Harry stood in the shadows of the kitchen, watching the others search for ways to cope with the incomprehensible turn of events. Arthur held Molly as she wept, rubbing her back, murmuring gently. Charlie paced angrily from the kitchen to the sitting room and back again. George had retreated into himself in a chair by the fire. Ron sat with his arm around Hermione, watching her as she frowned in concentration at the small pink bear in her hand.
She abruptly stood. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Ron and was gone in a green flash, taking the bear with her. Ron motioned for Harry to go outside.
“She’s thought of something,” he said, once they were out of earshot of the kitchen. “I don’t know what, yet, but I could almost hear her brain working.”
“I hope so. I can’t take much more of this,” Harry said wearily.
They paced the garden for nearly half an hour before they heard her footsteps on the path.
“I Apparated back,” she said quietly when they had gathered at the back wall. “I didn’t want to come through the kitchen and get your mum’s hopes up. I’m not sure this will work.”
They nodded and waited expectantly. Harry knew there was no rushing Hermione when she was working on a plan.
“I went home to check one of my books. I remembered seeing a spell somewhere to make a portkey return to where it last departed if it’s been taken from its original location.”
“Well?” Ron was getting impatient.
“Well,” she said in her I’ll-get-there-when-I’m-ready voice. “I found it.”
Harry’s heart lifted as hope ruffled its wings and prepared to soar.
“What about the Fidelius Charm?” Ron asked.
“Since it brought the wizard from within the charm, it’ll get us back in-like the process turned it into a Secret Keeper. The spell’s complicated, though. If I don’t get it right, we won’t have another chance.”
“Hermione, you can do anything,” Harry said excitedly. “It’ll work.”
She looked at him gratefully, her eyes still full of doubt. “Thanks, but I’m not so sure. There’s one other thing, though. It’s going to be very dangerous because we don’t know where it will take us and who will be there. It’ll be the same situation that wizard found himself in when he landed in the kitchen earlier.”
“Which is exactly why I should go alone,” Harry said. “One person can probably get in and out more quickly.”
“Rubbish!” Ron said. “In the first place, we’ve had this conversation before-we’re a team. And in the second place, you heard what Robards said. You’ll jeopardize your Auror training. You shouldn’t go at all.”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t care about that. I’m going. It’s what I’ve been training for all summer. Besides, you’re the one who should stay. Your mother would do a nutter if anything happened to another one of her kids.”
“She’d feel the same way if something happened to you,” Ron said, his voice rising in irritation.
“Shhh! Keep your voice down,” Hermione interrupted. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. We’ll all go.”
Harry clenched his jaw, not liking the idea, but he took the bear from Hermione and held it out to her. “Do it.”
“I’ll charm it to return in fifteen minutes. If we don’t find her right away, we’ll come back and think of another plan. Let’s try to get an idea of where we are so we can go back if we need to and tell the Aurors where to find Greyback.”
Harry held out the bear. She touched it with her wand and spoke the spell. Just as the familiar blue glow ignited, he jerked it from their reach and was gone-alone.
***
Ginny tucked her knees tighter to her chest and drew a shuddering breath. Once the portkey was gone so was her hope. Drained and listless, she yearned for the escape of sleep that now eluded her. The pounding in her head had dulled a bit, but her ankle was throbbing and she couldn’t find a comfortable position to cushion against the shards of pain tearing into her side. Hungry and tired and cold, she longed for a warm bath to wash away the grime and soothe her aching body. She stared blindly into the darkness and drew a shuddering breath, her mind unable to form a coherent thought.
When the blue glow began to appear, her sluggish brain didn’t recognize it. As it grew brighter, she lifted her head, wondering if she had finally gone over the edge and was hallucinating. By the time it reached its peak and extinguished, she had pushed herself into a sitting position, afraid to believe what she’d just seen. The brief blaze of light had been enough to make her eyes readjust and she couldn’t make out in the darkness if someone was really standing in the room.
“Ginny?”
The whisper came from the one voice she’d dreamed of hearing. She couldn’t form words to answer, but her sob of relief was enough.
“Lumos.”
Harry was kneeling before her in a heartbeat, holding her close as she cried silently into his chest.
“Shhh. We need to be quiet. Nox,” he whispered, extinguishing his wand. “Can you stand?”
She shook her head and tried to control her heaving sobs.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” He continued to murmur words of comfort, cradling her gently until she finally quieted. He pressed the tiny bear into her hands. “Hold this. Whatever you do, don’t put it down, and don’t let anyone take it from you. It’s set to go back to the Burrow in fifteen minutes. Just stay still. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” she whispered in a panic, clutching at his sleeve. “Where are you going? Don’t leave me-”
“I need to find out where we are so we can come back and get that bas-” He paused and drew a deep breath. She could tell he was working to control his anger. “Just stay still. I’ll be back.”
She watched his shadowy form move across the darkened room and heard his whispered “Alohamora.” He pulled the door open a crack to be sure the coast was clear, then slipped into the night. As the moments ticked by, her heart raced frantically with fear for him. Her ears strained to distinguish the night noises, unsure of whether she was imagining the sound of footsteps and terrified of whose they might be. When he finally slipped silently back in, she slumped against the wall in relief.
“There are about a dozen of them around the fire in the clearing,” he whispered as he knelt next to her. “I can’t tell where we are, so I marked the ground behind the house with an X. Maybe we can find it from the air.” He reached into the dark and cupped her cheek. “Ginny-did he-” He paused a moment as if struggling for the right words. “He-he didn’t-”
She leaned into his palm and closed her eyes. “No.” His skin felt so good against hers.
He relaxed and let out a shaky breath. “I’ve been so scared, so afraid that I-”
The door crashed open and firelight filled the room. Harry was up in a heartbeat, putting himself between Ginny and Greyback and his torch-bearing goons.
“Well, well,” Greyback said. “What have we here?”
“Back off, Greyback,” Harry said.
Ginny huddled behind Harry, wanting to take hold of his leg in case the portkey activated, but he had stepped beyond her reach. She inched forward, trying to get into position without calling attention to herself so she could grab him at the last moment. She wasn’t following the banter, but she could tell Harry was trying to keep Greyback talking, stalling for time.
She slid forward a bit more, staying low and directly behind Harry so Greyback couldn’t see what she was doing. She was almost there… just a bit more…
The bear glowed and she lunged forward. Her hand closed on air.
***
As soon as he saw the blue light, Harry took advantage of Greyback’s momentary surprise to dive through the rotten boards covering the window and roll into the darkness. He jumped to his feet and made a dash for the trees, dodging the jets of red and green that followed him.
As he disappeared into the relative safety of the dark woods, relief that Ginny was safe washed over him. He had been toying with the idea of sending her back alone-he needed to stay and finish it with Greyback or they’d never have any peace. When the door had crashed open, the decision was made for him.
He ran deep into the woods and hid behind the broad trunk of a tree. He could hear Greyback and his men thrashing the undergrowth looking for him. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the one weapon that would serve him best in this situation-his Invisibility Cloak.
“You might as well come out, Potter,” Greyback called. “We’ve got these woods charmed. You can’t get out and you can’t Disapparate. You’re outnumbered twelve to one. Time to give up.”
Harry flung the cloak over himself and crouched next to the tree. His Auror training had prepared him well-he had a plan.
“Split up!” Greyback yelled to his men. “If you find him, bind him and bring him to the clearing. No killing curses. Potter’s mine.”
Harry smiled to himself. Dark wizards were so arrogant.
***
“Noooo!” Ginny screamed as she landed in the garden at the Burrow.
Suddenly, Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to her.
“Ron, you’ve got to go back,” she wailed, clutching at his shirt. “You’ve got to go help him. There were too many of them. They’ll kill him. Please, Ron, please…”
Ron and Hermione exchanged a panicked look. “Ginny, what happened? Where’s Harry?”
She fell sobbing to the ground. “I couldn’t get to him. He was too far away. I couldn’t reach him.”
Ron picked her up and headed toward the house as the rest of the Weasleys poured from the kitchen door to investigate the commotion. He set her gently on the sofa in the sitting room and the family gathered around trying to make sense of this latest development. Ron and Hermione were trying to explain what had happened as Molly began tending her wounds.
“Get away from me, Mum.” She impatiently pushed her mother away and reached out to her brothers. “Please, please, you’ve got to go…”
They looked worriedly at one another and back at her, clearly frustrated at not being able to help. She knew they thought she had gone round the bend.
Arthur finally took charge. “Charlie, pick her up and let’s get her to St. Mungo’s. Percy, owl Robards to meet us there.”
“No! No!” Ginny knew she was becoming hysterical, but she didn’t care. She beat on Charlie’s shoulders as he lifted her. Why wouldn’t they understand? “You’ve got to go back. Please. They’re going to kill him. You’ve got to go…”
“Where, Ginny? Where do we go?” Ron finally asked in exasperation.
She paused, thinking for a moment, then whispered in a bewildered voice, “I don’t know… oh, I don’t know…” and broke down completely, sobbing hopelessly into Charlie’s shirt.
The trip to St. Mungo’s took only a couple of minutes and she was quickly tucked into bed. Two of her brothers had to hold her down so the sedative potion could be forced down her throat. The darkness quickly took her.
Chapter 8
Chapter 1
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