(A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I won't bore you with details about why it took so long to get this chapter up. I did want to say that there will be an explanation for the ritual and you will learn who Aunt Mary is all in the next chapter...Spoiler Alert. LOL Anyway thanks for reading and patiently waiting for the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it ;-)

MIA

Arabella Figg wasn't a foolish woman not by any standards. She'd been born a squib abandoned by her pureblood family and had to learn at an early age that anything you want in life you have to work your arse off for. She also learned that trust isn't something to be giving lightly. During the first war, her husband Marcellus Figg was an Auror and a member of the Order of the Phoenix a separate organization from the ministry created to fight against the death eaters and you know who when it seemed that the ministry was incapable of handling the fight on their own. Marcellus gave his life in that fight and Arabella knew that she would do just about anything to see the reign of terror, you know who had end. When it did end on October 31st 1981, she felt as though she could breath a little easier. The wizarding world was celebrating and everything seemed like it was getting better. Even though the war was over, she still felt like she didn't do enough.

So when Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall came to her door on November 3rd, 1981 to ask if she could watch over young Mr. Harry Potter, the boy who lived across the street from her house she readily agreed. She spent days and nights monitoring them and she felt as if they were the worst sorts of muggles anyone could ever hope to associate with. She did not believe Harry Potter their savior of the wizarding world should be placed with such moronic muggles. But Professor Dumbledore insisted that the boy would be protected by some ancient magic his mother evoked upon her death. Arabella had no choice but to concede.

She'd been watching number 4 private drive for over a week now and Harry was nowhere to be seen. But the Dursley's seemed to go on about their business as if everything was normal. She had a feeling that his muggle relatives didn't really care for him and though she couldn't prove this fact because getting too close to Harry could be dangerous to the position Dumbledore put her in, she knew that if he did in fact go missing the Dursley's wouldn't give a rats arse.

When the next Monday approached she decided to pay the Dursley's a visit it had been eight days since she'd last seen or heard anything about Harry Potter and she was starting to get worried. If anything happened to their savior on her watch she didn't know what she would do.

She put on her best muggle outfit she had and went to ring the bell of number 4 private drive, a pointy horse-shaped face woman answered the door. Arabella being polite introduced herself and asked if she could speak to Harry. Petunia, the lady who answered the door said that she hadn't seen Harry in over a week and was happy that he was gone and hoped that he never returned. Mrs. Figg whole body went rigid with fear. What if someone had taken him, what if he was hurt? She contacted Dumbledore and Amelia Bones as soon as she got home and told them the news. She just hoped someone would be able to find him soon and that wherever he was hopefully he was safe.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" asked a sleepy Ron Weasley. Fred, George and Ginny Weasley were all at the top of the stairs of the burrow and there was a lot of commotion going on downstairs.

"Ssh..!" hissed Ginny. Glaring at Ronald as the three other teens tried to get a look at who was coming in the burrow. Ron tried to look around them but couldn't see.

"Don't shush me Gin, what the hell is going on, it's 8 o'clock in the bloody morning why are so many people here?" He asked getting louder.

The twins turned and glared at him this time, but Ron crossed his arms clearly stating that he was not moving until someone told him what was going on.

"Dumbledore flooed mum this morning. They're looking for Harry, apparently he went missing about a week ago." Said Fred finally answering Ron

"What do you mean he went missing?" asked Ron scared for his best friend.

"If you shut up for a moment maybe we can hear what they are saying." Hissed Ginny once more. Ron glared at her but kept his mouth shut as he struggled to hear as well.

Arthur Weasley stood at the front door of the burrow and greeted everyone who came in. As they came in Molly ushered them to the dining room where everyone could be seated. Once Albus Dumbledore stepped through the door Arthur closed it and went to join the rest of the group. Once they were all seated with Dumbledore at the head of the table he began speaking.

"Hello everyone, thank you all for coming on such short notice." He said as he looked around the table.

Seated to his left were Remus Lupin, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. To his right were Arthur and Molly Weasley, Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebott. They all looked around at each other wondering why they were here.

"I wish we could meet under better circumstances but I'm afraid that is not the case." He said solemnly.

"Albus what is going on?" asked Professor McGonagall. Everyone looked at the headmaster expectantly.

"It seems that Young Mr. Harry Potter has gone missing." He answered getting straight to the point.

There were audible gasps all across the dining room. When Remus shouted angrily.

"What do you mean he's gone missing?" he asked glaring at the headmaster.

"Mr. Lupin please calm down…" started the old headmaster but Remus was hearing none of it as he angrily got to his feet and shouted some more.

"No I will not calm down!" practically shouted the werewolf. "I along with everyone else at this table that actually care about Harry's safety don't understand this. You said he was in a safe place and we believed you. So please pray tell me how the bloody hell did he turn up missing!"

"We are trying to find that out right now." Said Albus when he was allowed to speak again.

"When did you find out Mr. Potter was missing?" asked Professor McGonagall trying to keep her voice calm.

She knew the Dursley's were the worse sort of muggles she'd ever had the displeasure of laying her eyes on. She had wanted to take young Harry and raise him herself after the untimely demise of his parents. But she like everyone else had believed that when Albus said he was safe that he indeed was safe. Now she knew just how wrong she was.

"We found out this morning. Amelia has sent an elite team of Aurors out to search for Mr. Potter but in the meantime I've sent a young Auror by the name of Tonks to retrieve Miss Granger and would like to ask Arthur and Molly if they would permit me to speak with young Mr. Weasley?" He said looking over at Arthur and Molly. They both nodded and Molly went to go fetch Ron.

"How do we know that this isn't just some stunt by Potter to gain more attention?" Snape asked then he shut his mouth after receiving death glares from everyone at the table besides Professor Dumbledore.

"I do not believe this is a stunt Severus. We have no idea where Harry is and we must find him and make sure he's safe." Said Professor Dumbledore.

Remus was pacing. He couldn't believe that he'd so blindly trusted Albus. When he first met Harry he'd look so much like James it was like watching a carbon copy of his best friend walking around the halls of Hogwarts. It wasn't until then that he realized how much he missed the marauders. But when he finally spoke to Harry he realized that he had so much of his mother in him as well. Lily was one of his closest friends at Hogwarts. She was smart, brave and kind. Always kind to him and he was sure if she were here right now she'd probably have hexed them all to hell and back. She was fiercely protective of Harry as a baby.

She would be so disappointed in them, in him especially. He didn't want to get too close to the lad out of fear of his furry little problem. But he should've known that as Lily and James's son he would've accepted him right away. Hell James had led all the marauders into becoming animagus's just to help Remus maintain some of his sanity during his transformations. He had a huge heart so why should his son be any different. Remus vowed right then and there while he was having this internal discussion with himself that he would protect Harry with all he had and he would never blindly trust anyone when it came to Harry again especially Albus to many bloody names Dumbledore!

"Now Molly has already gone to get Mr. Weasley and Tonks should be here shortly with Miss Granger." Said Dumbledore pulling Remus from his thoughts.

As if on cue the wards around the place alerted them that someone had arrived. A few moments later Tonks was knocking on the door. Arthur volunteered to go answer it while Molly went off to fetch Ron.

Once Molly arrived with Ron and Tonks came into the Burrow with Hermione, all of the adults and two teens went into the living room. After everyone was seated, Dumbledore explained the situation to the two teens and looked at their faces to see if their expressions changed. While Ron held a truly shocked expression, still not believing what his siblings told him a few moments ago. Hermione too looked shocked but a little less so.

"So you see why we have brought you here Miss Granger and have you down here as well Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter's safety is of the utmost importance and we cannot have this information getting out. If anyone were to find out he was missing then we would have an even bigger problem on our hands there are people out there that do not wish to see Mr. Potter return to Hogwarts or to his relatives." Dumbledore stated trying to convey the urgency of the situation.

"So if you know anything, now would be the time to say something." He continued. Both of the teens remained silent under the intense gazes of the adult witches and wizards. Once they remained silent for a while Dumbledore decided to take a different approach.

"Did he seem strange on the train ride home? Did he say he was going anywhere? Has he been in contact with either of you? Do either of you know where he would go?" He was spitting off the questions so fast Ron's brain barely had time to catch up. While Hermione just looked at the ground not wishing to look into the headmasters eyes.

"Well, we don't have all day answer the questions." Said Professor Snape with a glare. He was met by death glares of everyone else in the room minus professor Dumbledore and the two teens, which seemed too scared to speak.

"He didn't say any to me professor," began Ron. "I saw him leave with the muggles just like he did last summer and the year before." Professor Dumbledore looked Ron in the eyes and saw that he truly didn't know anything.

"Very well Mr. Weasley, thank you for telling us what you know." Ron nodded and the old professor turned his gaze to Hermione. "Miss Granger did Harry say anything to you before he left, has he been in contact with you?" he asked noticing that she refused to look him in the eye even though she was not looking at the ground anymore.

"No professor he did not say anything to me, and I haven't received any owls from him since the summer holidays began." everyone noticed that she wasn't looking in Dumbledore's direction or in Professor Snape's.

Some of them thought that it was nervousness but Professor McGonagall knew better she knew her favorite pupil adored Professor Dumbledore. And though no one that she could think of adored Snape, she'd never seen Miss Granger afraid to look in the eyes before.

"Miss Granger, excuse me but why aren't you looking the headmaster in the eyes?" asked Professor McGonagall truly curious. Hermione turned her gaze on Professor McGonagall and looked her in the eyes and said.

"I mean no disrespect to the headmaster professor, but someone told me he and professor Snape are mind readers or skilled Legilimens and that they often use that power to read the thoughts of students and staff in some cases." There were audible gasps around the room. Mostly from Amelia Bones and Remus Lupin.

"Forgive me for not wanting to subject myself to that kind of privacy invasion." Said Hermione. Amelia Bones stood up outraged as well as Remus Lupin.

"Albus you do know that unauthorized Legilimency is a level three classified offense!" she practically shouted at the old headmaster. Everyone began shouting their opinions and Snape spoke over all of them.

"This is bloody nonsense Granger cannot prove that I nor the headmaster practice Legilimens on anyone." Spat Snape glaring at the young Gryffindor.

"She may not be able to prove it Severus, but everyone in this room, knows that you and Albus are some of the most skilled Legilimens in Britain. I for one have no problem believing Miss Granger in this matter!" Argued Professor McGonagall with a glare of her own. Remus started to back her up when Dumbledore tried to bring order back to the room.

"Please, everyone calm down and lets get back to the reason we are here in the first place." He pleaded. Everyone seemed to calm down but there was still tension in the room.

"Yes let's get back to the matter at hand shall we." Said Snape. "Besides if Miss Granger didn't have anything to hide then there would be no reason for her to look at the ground now would there." Said Snape smirking.

"Why are you even here you bloody git, everyone knows that you could care less whether Harry is alive or not!" yelled Remus advancing on Snape. Kingsley stood up to prevent him from getting any closer and tried to calm him down.

"While we are all on edge about this situation we have to work together to try and find Mr. Potter and insure his safety." Said Albus trying to diffuse the tension again.

"Albus is right." Stated McGonagall. "If Miss Granger says he didn't tell her anything, then we must believe her and move on." Everyone nodded but Snape still glared at her.

"Tonks if you would please return Miss Granger to her residence and come straight back to the burrow. I fear that it will be a long night ahead." Said Albus. Tonks nodded and ushered Hermione out of the burrow.

Kingsley who was trying to calm him down escorted Remus out of the living room. And Remus then realized that Sirius didn't know of the situation. He made up an excuse about wanting fresh air to get away from Kingsley and walked outside to use the communication mirror Sirius had sent to him a couple of days ago. Remus also had one to give to Harry but didn't know how he would accomplish that now.

Tonks apparated Hermione back to her home and waited until she was inside, then with a pop she disapparated back to the burrow. Once inside her house Hermione waited until she saw Tonks disaparate in her back yard before pulling out her calling mirror.

She hoped wherever Harry was that he was okay. Her aunt told her not to worry when she hadn't heard from him, but she couldn't help but worry a little he was her best friend for Merlin's sake!

"Aunt Mary," she called and settled on the couch in the living room. Her parents were both out at work and wouldn't be home until supper and Aunt Mary asked Hermione to let her know when she got home.

"Hello my darling," said Aunt Mary smiling as her face popped up on the screen. "Is the coast clear?" she asked. Hermione smiled back.

"Yes the auror Tonks left a few moments ago, you can come over now." Aunt Mary nodded.

"I'll see you in a few seconds." She said hanging up. Hermione cut the mirror off and waited on the couch, as she got lost in thought.

Hermione always knew she was different from a very young age. When she was five she had her first bout of magic. She was being teased at primary school for having bushy hair by a couple of older boys. She remembered crying and wishing that their hair was different too and when she looked up everyone on the playground was laughing. But not at her, somehow she'd managed to turn the boys hair pink. Shortly after that incident she'd met her Aunt Mary.

Aunt Mary was very kind and sweet. She was also very beautiful and looked really young to Hermione to be anyone's aunt when she first met her. Aunt Mary was a close friend of her mum's and she had been traveling the world when Hermione was first born. She had decided to come back to England when Hermione had turned six to meet her best friend Jean's daughter.

Aunt Mary would often baby-sit Hermione when her parents were at work late or come over and play with her on the weekends. One evening when Hermione was about eight-years-old, her parents were working late and Aunt Mary was over playing with Hermione like she always did and she pulled out a wooden stick that looked like a magic wand.

She showed Hermione some tricks and told her that she was a witch. Hermione being a naïve young child was excited to see all the things Aunt Mary could do with a wand. Her aunt then told her that she was a witch as well and that one day she would get a wand of her own. This really excited Hermione to no end and her Aunt explained everything to her parents about being a witch and bought Hermione some books magical subjects. Hermione was really close to her aunt, sometimes she felt closer to her aunt than she did to her own parents.

When her Hogwarts letter arrived when she was eleven. Her parents sat her down and told her she was adopted, but that they loved her very much and was waiting for the right time to tell her. Hermione wasn't all that surprised to learn that they weren't her biological family. While she loved her mum and dad very much, she always felt as though she didn't quite belong. She only felt complete when her aunt Mary was around.

Aunt Mary had come over shortly after she'd received her Hogwarts letter and celebrated with the family. Her mum had cooked a big dinner and her father had bought a cake. Once dinner was over Hermione and Aunt Mary volunteered to do dishes the muggle way. When they were in the kitchen with Aunt Mary washing and Hermione drying, Hermione decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for a long time.

"Aunt Mary, are you apart of my biological family?" Aunt Mary just kept on washing the dish but answered.

"Yes darling I am." A look of excitement passed Hermione's face and Aunt Mary could tell that she was getting ready to unload a barrage of questions. "But dear I will tell you everything when the time is right, I promise." Hermione looked a little disappointed but nodded.

That had been two years ago. Hermione just hoped the right time had finally come. She heard the familiar pop and got up to go greet her aunt.