Happy New Year! Here's another installment, where yet again, if you are confused, that is a good thing because you're supposed to be…it's part of my evil plot! (and again, what was supposed to be a cut-and-dried, normal-sized story is growing longer and longer by the paragraph, with more plot than I originally intended…)
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 5: Hidden Messages and Suppositions
"Ronald Weasley, you had better have a very good reason for being two hours late, tonight of all nights!" a sharp voice greeted him as he stepped from the hearth of the fireplace. He blinked for a moment, clearing the soot from his eyes as he shook off the slightly dizzying feeling left over Flue travel. He looked around, and smiled weakly at his family, gathered in the living room of the Burrow, all staring at him with identical accusing looks in their eyes.
"Terribly sorry, Mum, but something came up at the office which kept me a little later than I thought it would," he said, forcing his tone to remain bright as he searched the room for a familiar pair of eyes.
"And you should be sorry, Ron! Your own wedding anniversary party and you're late! Your poor wife was left sitting here, playing host to all your friends for two hours before they all were off, needing to be somewhere else! Of all the inconsiderate things to do, Ronald, this certainly tops the list!" his mother continued. Ron looked away from the red-faced woman who continued with his lecture, and spotted his wife at the far corner of the room, coldly staring at him in complete silence. He sighed deeply as he looked away from her.
"Ronald, your responsibilities to your family are far more important than your job, and the sooner you realize that, the better! Poor Hermione has been working on this party all week, and you just show up late with some feeble excuse about work!" his mother continued his lecture. At the mention of her name, Hermione stepped forward, and Ron prepared for her voice to join in the lecture. He glanced back up at her as she opened her mouth, preparing to speak.
There must have been something in his eyes that warned her that something was wrong, because the lecture never came.
"Ron, what's happened?" she asked, rushing forward and taking his hands. He sighed again, shakily, before he sat down on the ground.
"I've had some news today from Auror intelligence," he said. The Weasley family gasped, and all leaned forward to hear the news.
"There was an attack in a Muggle village. Five wizards were found dead. They're not really sure what the target was, why they were there or who killed them. But Blaise Zabini was one of them, and it looks as though he wasn't killed by magic," he said heavily.
"What can that mean?" Hermione asked, her quick mind already working through the possible implications.
"Zabini was the Ministry official in charge of the missing persons case, the one who has been searching for Harry and Ginny since they disappeared," Arthur Weasley said gravely.
"And he was killed? Does that mean he found them?" Molly asked, her eyes shining with a desperate hope.
"There's more, Mum," Ron said, silencing the murmur of speculation that rippled among his brothers and their wives. He glanced up at Hermione, who was now sitting beside him, still clutching his hand. "The Aurors talked to the locals, trying to figure out what happened. The story that they came back with is that a local Muggle, who is a doctor at the hospital there, was the person attacked. She was rescued by a stranger, who was already hurt before the battle began. Both of them were brought to the hospital. She was fine, but the stranger wasn't. Before the doctors or the authorities could find out anything else, the two of them disappeared."
"Why would Zabini and his men attack a Muggle?" George asked.
"That's the part that has been baffling everyone since word of what happened reached the Ministry. They thought that perhaps she wasn't really a Muggle, but a witch pretending to live as a Muggle. They searched the woman's house, and found nothing magical in it. But then they searched her locker at the hospital, and found a letter that has all of us wondering," Ron said, his voice cracking slightly as he reached into his pocket and removed a folded piece of parchment.
"What does it say, Ron?" Hermione asked, her voice full of fear.
"We regret to inform you that your husband has been reported missing, and is presumed dead after failing to return from a mission of a top secret nature for the Ministry of Magic. We offer our condolences, and a promise to inform you of any further information in this matter," Ron read.
"Who was it addressed to?" Molly asked, her voice wavering.
"Mrs. Ginny Potter," Ron said. A collective gasp swept over the room.
"The Ministry has known all along where they've been?" shouted Fred in outrage.
"Harry can't possibly be dead! It only said that he was presumed dead!" Bill stated, comforting his mother that had begun to sob.
"Oh, poor Ginny, getting a message like that when she's all alone in a strange Muggle place," George's wife said.
"I think you're all missing the point," Hermione said, her crisp voice cutting through all the comments and forcing the room into silence again.
"Hermione is right. I think that this means that Harry and Ginny were never 'missing' but that they disappeared, purposely. Especially after that last attack, you all know that they blamed themselves for Charlie's injuries. I think they disappeared because they thought it would keep us all safe," Ron said.
"But then how did the Ministry know where they were, and what has happened to Harry?" Molly demanded.
"I'm not sure. But I don't think Harry's the one we need to be worrying about. They said that the doctor, who has been going by the name Jenny Peters, was the one that was attacked, and that she is now missing completely. And from the description of the stranger who helped save her – the one we think killed Zabini and his men – fits only one Dark wizard that we have on file…Draco Malfoy," Ron said.
"Oh my…he was part of the group that grabbed her in our seventh year, to get Harry to go after them…He was the one that gave her over to Voldemort," Hermione cried, clutching his hand.
"And now he has her again, and with Harry missing…we can only assume that it's to lure him out of where he is hiding again. I mean, they've been hiding from us for over a year – presumably to keep us save – so that means that Harry might be…well, hiding from Ginny, especially if he knows that she might be in danger because of him, again."
"And Zabini's team must have gotten some kind of clue as to where she was, and happened upon her just as Malfoy was trying to grab her! Malfoy must have killed the men, but since Ginny was still alive, they must have thought that he was trying to help her, which can explain why he got away. They probably weren't guarding him at all, not knowing that he was a dangerous person," Hermione added.
"And now he has our Ginny, and anyone who tries to go after them will be falling into a trap! We have to find a way to warn Harry, wherever he is," Arthur said. Ron glanced at Hermione, who was already standing up, grim determination in her eyes.
"There's only one place he would be, if he wasn't with Ginny," she said with a knowing look in Ron's direction.
"Easy there, Malfoy. Your stitches won't hold if you're not careful, and I don't have anything with me to stop the bleeding if you do tear them," Ginny cautioned, struggling to keep up with the man limping in front of her. Considering his injuries, he shouldn't have been able to walk, let alone out-pace her.
"We have to keep moving. I don't think we've got much of a head start on them," he muttered, gasping. Looking around the empty street of the small village where Ginny had felt so safe and, and despite her constant worry for her husband, happy, she suppressed a shudder, knowing that she was no longer safe here. The quiet streets could be hiding any number of would-be assassins, Dark wizards who had discovered her hiding place and her truth behind her pseudonym.
Harry had told her that this was the best chance they would have to finally break free from the aftermath of the war. The losing side had not been completely destroyed; there were still many followers of Voldemort left alive and eager for revenge. Too many times, they had come too close to succeeding, and the consequences of that last attack on their home had forced them to abandon their wizarding lives. Harry had taken her to this small village, had been able to forge documents creating their new identities, and together they tried to start a new life, away from the danger and sorrow that had followed them wherever they went in the wizarding world.
And it had worked for a while. For a year, they had made nice, quiet lives for themselves. Ginny had started working at the hospital, with the help of Harry's forged documents, and had adapted rather well to the practice of Muggle medicine. It had all been a part of her training, anyway, but it had taken a lot of effort to resist the urge to pull out her wand whenever a seriously injured patient was brought before her. She had to adjust to the limitations of Muggle medicine, and the helplessness that accompanied it on occasions where there was nothing that their technology could do to save a life. At the end of her shift, she'd wearily walk the quiet streets of this little town to their tiny little cottage, where Harry was waiting for her, making the entire situation bearable.
But then he'd received that owl. No one in the wizarding world had known where they had gone, not even the Weasley family had been told. They'd not even told anyone of their plans to disappear, a fact that had caused them both many nights of lost sleep, worrying for their family. The owl had been a summons from the Ministry, saying that their location had been found by a team of Aurors through the traces of unregistered wand being used in a Muggle hospital, and that Harry was needed for a special assignment.
Harry and Ginny had had their first row that night. Harry was furious with her for using her magic, knowing full well that it was the best way for anyone to find them. After all they had given up to be safe, he'd yelled, she had given it all away because she couldn't control her need to use magic. She'd fired back, startled by the first time he'd ever raised his voice to her, that she was not one to simply stand by and let someone die when she had the power to save them. She'd taken an oath when she became a Healer to help anyone, regardless of who they are, to the extent of her powers. And that included magic, despite what danger it might bring to her personally. If it could save a life, then she would use her wand and that was just the way it was going to be.
Still angry with her, he'd packed a bag and set off for London, telling her that he would answer the Ministry's summons and see what they needed from him. While he was there, he would try to find a way to disable their wand-tracking spells, so that when they 'disappeared' again, they wouldn't be able to find them even if Ginny used her wand. He barely said goodbye, and had left her alone, for two months without any word from him at all. Except that notice from the Ministry that he might be dead.
"Here, this way," Malfoy called, his voice ragged with exhaustion. Ginny knew that he would pass out again, soon, if he didn't get a chance to rest. She was about to mention it, when he pulled her roughly towards a wall. She braced herself for the impact, expecting her shoulder to crash against the bricks with quite a bit of force, but she was surprised when she found herself out of the street, and in a dimly lit room. She glanced around, and saw that it was sparsely furnished – a few chairs, a bed, and a table seemed to be all that was there. There was, however, a fireplace where a small fire was burning, providing the dim light in the room.
A second later Malfoy appeared, stepping through the wall. Ginny assumed that it had the same type of spell that the entrance to platform 9 ¾ had at Kings Cross, a clever disguise from Muggles.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Ministry safe house. We'll stay here for awhile, until we can be sure that they've left the town, presumably to search for you. They'll assume that we've gone either to the Ministry in London, or to Hogwarts and Dumbledore, so that's where they'll head right away, giving us some time to collect a game plan," he said haggardly as he roughly collapsed into a chair against the wall.
"Ministry safe house? You, working for the Ministry?" she asked incredulously. He glared at her, and she decided to drop the subject. "What about Harry? You said we were going to find him! Do you know where he is?"
"I do," he said. He stood up, limping slowly towards the fire, before he reached down and picked up one of the pieces of wood lying nearby, throwing into the flames. Ginny sighed for a moment, reveling in the heat after her ordeal out in the rain. She was about to fire out another of the questions plaguing her brain, but before she could, Malfoy slumped against the wall, as if for support. Before she could get to him, he fell to the ground.
A/N: Again, if you're confused, that's a good thing, it means I'm doing my job properly.
During vacation, I spent a lot of time re-reading Chamber of Secrets, and I came up with a wildly ridiculous idea as to the identity of the HBP, and a few other observations. You can check that out on my LJ (wwwdotlivejournaldotcome/emeraleyes)