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Author: pottervader Story: Harry Potter and the Prophesied Six Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Warning: Strong Language Reviews: 8 Words: 374,905
Disclaimer: This story was made without any intention of profiting from it. Only the original characters and the plot are mine. The rest of it belongs to JKR. A/N: Here's the next one. Please review.
He was glad they had been able to get away from the party in Gryffindor Tower early and into the Room of Requirement before anyone else did. He didn't know if he could have waited much longer to feed his need for her. Their clothes were scattered all about the room, showing that she had been as eager as him. "You were brilliant out there, Gin," Harry told her through their bond. "So was Rose, Harry," Ginny reminded him. "Yes, she was," Harry said. "I'd tell her that too if she was here. Of course, if she was here, we wouldn't be able to do this." He leaned over to kiss her hungrily on the lips, igniting their passion again. Later, after another bout of making love, Harry lay on his back with Ginny resting her head on his chest and Harry's arms around her waist. "I love you so much, Gin," he said to her. "I can't imagine my life without you." "I know, Harry," Ginny replied. "I love you so much, too. I can't live without you in my life." Harry felt his heart leap as she sent her feelings of love to him through their bond. He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head as he reciprocated. They fell asleep after that and dozed for another hour. Harry woke up first and glanced at his watch, surprised that it was almost five in the afternoon. He nudged her mentally. "Gin, wake up. We should get to the Great Hall. It's almost time for dinner." Ginny yawned and stretched before turning over to kiss Harry on the lips. "I don't want to leave this room." Harry sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "I feel the same way, love, but we have to. As much as we love each other, we can't live here. You know the RoR can't give us food or water. Come on, I know you're starving after what we've done. We'll do this again some time." Ginny sighed and nodded her head. "All right, let's go." She gave him one last kiss before sitting up and looking around for her clothes. They dressed quickly and left the Room of Requirement holding hands, heading down the corridor back to Gryffindor Tower. Once they were in the common room, they looked around for their friends. They saw Ron and Hermione cuddling on the couch in front of the fireplace even if it wasn't lit. Harry and Ginny exchanged smiles. Ever since they made up, Ron and Hermione had been more affectionate and open in expressing their feelings toward each other, even in public. "Hey guys," Harry said as he and Ginny sat down in one of the armchairs next to the couch. Well, Harry sat down on the armchair while Ginny sat on his lap. "Hey, Harry, Ginny," Hermione replied with a smile. "Hey," Ron said a scowl on his face for a moment before smiling. Harry did note that one of Hermione's hands was caressing Ron's arm at the same time. It seemed Ginny also noticed that because he could hear her snickering through the Bond. "So, where were you guys?" Ron asked. "Ronald!" Hermione admonished. "That's none of our business." "Hey, I'm just curious," Ron replied. "We haven't seen them since the celebration for our Quidditch game started earlier. That was about six hours ago." "If you must know, Ron," Harry said. "We've been catching up with each other. It's been so long since we spent time together." "I thought you had," Ron began, before leaning closer to them so only Harry, Ginny and Hermione could hear him, "that Bond thing." "Yeah," Harry whispered, "we do but it's still no substitute for having real physical contact." "Ew, Harry," Ron said, "I do not want to know more about that." Ginny laughed. "Well, brother dear, you did ask." Ron scowled. "Well, remind me never to ask again. I don't want my mind filled with images of what you two might be up to when you're alone." Harry, Ginny and Hermione laughed at Ron's discomfort. After a comfortable silence of a few minutes, Harry asked, "So, either of you seen Rose and Neville?" "Well, mate," Ron said, snickering a bit, "they were here during the party after the match but I haven't seen them since. I'd say they're off spending having some alone time of their own." Harry sighed. He had to admit he was having a hard time adjusting to Rose spending time with Neville in the same way he and Ginny and Ron and Hermione were. Well, maybe he was a bit more accepting of it than Ron was with him and Ginny. But at least, he and Ginny were considered married and Ron and Hermione were of age. He just hoped Rose was being responsible if she and Neville 'went all the way'. He didn't want to be an uncle before he was a father. "Don't worry, love," Ginny said. "I'm sure Neville will put a limit to what they do." "I sure hope so, 'cause I doubt Rose will. I know she envies what we have but we didn't plan it this way. It just happened, not that I'm complaining." "You better not be," Ginny said, "Or Bat Bogeys will be the least of your problems, especially if you want a repeat of what we did earlier." "Oh, you bet I do," Harry replied, waggling his eyebrows at her. "You're so beautiful lying there right afterwards." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. He could feel Ron's eyes on them but was surprised he didn't say anything as he watched his sister and best mate share a passionate kiss. Then again, Harry didn't care as the world slipped away from his senses. They only pulled away when they needed to breathe. As their awareness of the world around them returned, Harry saw Neville entering through the Portrait Hole. Strangely enough, he was a bit dirty and alone. A feeling of dread spread over him. "Hey, Neville," he said, "where've you been? I hope Rose isn't as dirty as you. By the way, where is she?" "Isn't she here?" Neville asked nervously. "I had to go help Professor Sprout an hour ago and sent her back here." "What?" Harry exclaimed, standing up abruptly. "You let her find her way back here alone? How could you be so irresponsible? You know Voldemort's after her!" "What? No! I didn't leave her alone. Ti was with her. They were supposed to go straight back here." "Well, they're not here," Harry said. "Bloody hell, Neville, I thought you cared about my sister. Would it have mattered so much if you took a few minutes of your time to make sure Rose was safe before going off to Professor Sprout and her ruddy plants?" He pulled the Marauder's Map from his jeans' back pocket and activated it. Frantically, his heart pounding, he searched the map for Rose's name but couldn't find her. He did spot Ti in the library with Paul and Jake. "Damn, she's not on the map, though I found Ti," he said. "He's in the library with his year mates. We'd better find out what happened." The five Gryffindors hurried through the castle to the library. As they reached the doors to the library, it opened up and they saw Ti coming out. "Uh, hi guys, what's up?" Ti asked. "You seem to be in a hurry." "Ti, have you seen Rose?" Harry asked. "Uh, no," Ti replied, "I haven't seen her since the party in the common room." "What!" Neville exclaimed, "Didn't you come to me earlier saying that Professor Sprout needed my help with the Venomous Tentacula?" "No," Ti replied, "I've been here for the past three hours with Jake and Paul, finishing up some essays we have due next week. Ask Madam Pince if you don't believe me. She'll tell you we've been here all that time. What's this all about?" The five older Gryffindors exchanged glances before Ginny said, "Ti, Rose is missing. Neville said he was with her until you came up to him telling him that Professor Sprout needed his help. He left her with you to take her back to Gryffindor Tower." "But like I said earlier," Ti began, "I've been in the library with Paul and Jake for the last three hours. I couldn't have been me." "I think we should go to Professor Dumbledore right now," Hermione said. Harry sighed. "As much as I want to look for Rose right now, I agree with you, Hermione. He'll be able to help us at least tell my parents." The six Gryffindors walked quickly to the entrance to the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle moved aside as soon as Harry stopped in front of it. The others, except Ginny, looked at him in surprise. Harry looked sheepishly at them as he explained, "Dumbledore thought it would be faster if the gargoyle was charmed to let me through whenever I needed to talk to him." They were soon at the door to the Headmaster's office who bade them enter as they stood there. "Ah, Harry, Ginny, what brings you and your friends here at this time of day?" he asked. "Rose has been taken, sir," Harry said bluntly. Dumbledore looked startled. "How did it happen?" He conjured and summoned several cushioned chairs and had them sit down. Neville explained what had occurred earlier and Ti again denied that it had been him who had told Neville to go to Professor Sprout and was left with Rose. Dumbledore cast a spell on Ti that detected if someone had been under the Imperius curse and it gave a negative answer. "In that case," Dumbledore said, "then someone impersonated you, most likely with the Polyjuice Potion." He explained the concept of the potion completely to Ti. "So someone needs a piece of me, like a bit of hair for this to work?" Ti asked. "Yes, it does," Hermione answered. Ti looked unhappy. "I think I know how that happened," Ti said. "Draco asked to borrow my comb a few days ago. It had a few hairs in it when I did but it was clean when I got it back a few minutes later. I didn't think of it at the time but now that you explained it all, it seems the most likely source." "That bastard," Neville cried out. "He probably impersonated you to get to Rose then." He slumped against his chair. "I'm such an idiot. I left him with Rose and now she's gone." He turned to Harry, tears brimming on his eyes. "I'm sorry, Harry. You've trusted me with your sister and I let them kidnap her." Harry sat down beside Neville. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Neville. As much as I'd like to blame you, it's not your fault. How could you know that wasn't Ti? Polyjuice is a very difficult potion to make. I think it takes a whole month to brew. None of us saw this as a possibility, even Rose, so there's no one to blame except Voldemort for ordering her capture." He turned to Dumbledore. "Sir, we have to let my parents know. They'll be in a right state once they find out." Dumbledore sighed before answering Harry. "Yes, I'm afraid you're right, Harry. I'd hate to face your mother right now. I will Floo-call them immediately." As Dumbledore walked to his fireplace, Harry turned back to his friends. "I think we should find out where Draco is right now. We need to find out if it was really him who did the deed." "Why wouldn't it be, Harry?" Ron asked. "We can't be sure, Ron," Harry said. "All we know is that someone impersonated Ti to get to Rose, probably using hair from his comb for the Polyjuice Potion. We don't have any proof it was Malfoy. The first step to finding out who that person was is to find Draco and question him." He pulled out the Marauder's Map and activated it. He scanned the map until he saw Draco's name. "There he is, in the Slytherin common room. How do we get him to come here?" "I will have Severus bring him here, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Your parents are coming over." The fireplace in the office flared green just then and James Potter stepped out of it. Lily followed a second later. The elder Potters rushed to Harry, embracing him. "Harry, what happened to Rose?" Lily asked, tears beginning to flow down her cheeks. Harry felt terrible as he returned his mother's embrace and attempted to comfort her. "It's my fault, Mrs. Potter," Neville said, fear and sadness evident in his voice. "I allowed Rose to be kidnapped." "What!" James cried, turning to Neville with fury. "I trusted you with her. How could you let her be taken?" "Dad, wait!" Harry exclaimed, "It's not his fault. Just listen and I'll explain everything." He told his parents what had occurred earlier, including what Ti had told them. "So all we know is that Rose has disappeared after Neville left her with someone looking like Ti, possibly from the Polyjuice Potion," James said, sitting down on an armchair. Lily sat beside him and James placed an arm comfortingly around her. "Since Malfoy is our prime suspect from what Ti said about the hairs from his comb, where is he?" "Severus is bringing him up to this office as we speak," Dumbledore said. "All right, Albus, I guess we can wait to see what Mr. Malfoy has to say," James said. He sighed then turned to Neville. "Neville, I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I hope you'll forgive a father for being concerned for his missing daughter, especially if the boyfriend of said daughter appeared to have been negligent of her safely. I agree with Harry. You couldn't have known it wasn't your friend. It would have been next to impossible for a student to have access to Polyjuice Potion, much less brew it here unobserved." He stood up. "I'd better get an Auror team over here right away, preferably people I can trust to be discreet. We need to keep this out of the press for now. If the public found out the Minister's daughter was kidnapped right out of Hogwarts, who knows how much panic and trouble that will cause?" He moved off to a corner and pulled out his Marauder's mirror. Harry had to agree with his father, as much as he hated publicity and the press. His father's job included instilling confidence in his government so the Wizarding population of Britain would resist Voldemort and his Death Eaters. If the public panicked, it would make things easier for Voldemort to take over. The door to Dumbledore's office opened at that moment and Snape came in with Draco. The Slytherin boy looked surprised on seeing the people inside the office which also surprised Harry. Malfoy and Snape sat down in two empty seats a few feet from the others. "You asked to for Draco's presence, Headmaster?" Snape asked. "Yes, Severus," Dumbledore replied. "It seems Miss Potter has disappeared from the castle grounds. She was last seen in the company of young Mr. Black an hour ago but he claims to have been with his friends in the library for the last three hours." "And his friends can confirm this?" Snape asked, his lips curling into a sneer. "Severus, please drop the attitude," Lily admonished. "My daughter is missing. Now is not the time for any of your attitude." Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in, Minerva," Dumbledore said. The door opened and Professor McGonagall came in and walked up to Dumbledore. "I've talked to Mr. Longshore and Mr. Stone, Albus. They confirmed that Mr. Black has been with them in the library for the last three hours and never left their sight." "Very well, Minerva," Dumbledore said. He turned his attention to Draco. "Sit down over here, Mr. Malfoy. Where have you been for the last three hours?" Malfoy fidgeted in his seat as he looked down at the ground. "I've been in my common room, sir." "Can anyone confirm this?" James asked coldly. "James, please," Dumbledore scolded. "Who else was in the common room with you, Mr. Malfoy?" "Most of my house was there, sir," Draco answered. "You can ask anyone." "All right, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said, "you may go. Please escort him back to his common room, Severus." Harry saw the look of disbelief on his dad's face but the elder Potter didn't say anything until Malfoy and Snape were out of the room. "Why did you let him leave, Albus?" James snapped a few seconds after the two Slytherins had left. "Even if he wasn't the one who took her, I'm sure he knows who did it. A good dose of Veritaserum would make him tell us where Rose is." Dumbledore sighed. "James, you know as well as I that it's still forbidden to use Veritaserum on children and Draco is still not of age yet." "He will be in a month; then he'll have some questions to answer," James muttered. "James!" Lily exclaimed. "You will not have the Aurors drag that boy in for questioning without any evidence. That wouldn't be right." Harry was not surprised by his father's mutterings but had to agree with his mother. Even if Draco was a slimy git, it wouldn't be right to harass him without proof of any wrongdoing. "Don't worry, Dad," Harry said. "We'll find out who did this and find a way to rescue Rose." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Now that we know Rose has been kidnapped, we need to figure out where they took her to." "You and your friends return to Gryffindor Tower, Harry," James said. "We'll take it from here." "No, Dad!" Harry said. "We want to help find Rose." "I know you do, son," James said. "But it's too risky for you. You're the only one who can destroy Voldemort. As much as I could use your help and that of your friends, the future of our world is in your hands. We'll find her and bring her back, Harry." "Your father's right, Harry," Ginny said to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his back. "I love Rose like a sister but we can't help her until they find her. You can't expose yourself searching for her, love." Harry sighed. He knew they were right. Even with his enhanced powers, he couldn't rescue Rose until they found out where she was taken. "All right, Dad," Harry said, "but tell us the moment you know where she is. We can still help rescue her." "We'll see, Harry," James said. "Now, go on. It's time for dinner. You lot best eat so you'll have the strength to help us." The six Gryffindors filed out of Dumbledore's office after saying goodbye to the Potters and the Headmaster. They headed for the Great Hall, their mood subdued by thoughts of what may be happening to Rose. ******* Rose groaned as she came back to consciousness but couldn't muster enough strength to open her eyes yet. Her body ached, her arms and legs felt heavy and her head felt fuzzy. She struggled to understand what had happened to her. The last thing she could remember was watching Neville walk out of sight and then turning around to find Ti pointing his wand at her before everything went black. She gasped and moaned. Had Ti Stunned her? How could he? She'd known him for the past three years and even dated him for several months. The boy she knew would never have willingly hexed her. She hoped there was another explanation. She couldn't bear it if Ti had betrayed them and helped the Death Eaters capture her. After a few more minutes, she managed to muster enough energy to open her eyes, finding it dark around her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a stone ceiling high above her. Struggling to sit up, a wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to close her eyes for a few seconds. When it passed, she looked around again. She was in a small room with stone walls and a hard earth floor. A wooden door with a barred opening stood several feet from her, some light seeping in through the bars from outside the cell. Looking down, she saw that her wrists and ankles had manacles around them. Chains were attached to the manacles and extended to the wall behind her. She struggled to crawl up to the nearest wall to lean against it. Patting her clothes, she realized that her wand was gone. Great, it really looks like that vision is coming true. Still, I'm in Muggle clothes, not my school uniform. Why is that different? I'll have to ask Martha about that, if I ever get out of here. The sound of a key turning drew her attention to the door. The door opened, revealing a pair of Death Eaters causing her to swallow in her dry throat. It really looked like her vision was coming true. One of the two Death Eaters came up to her and waved his wand, causing the chains to detach from the wall and fly into his hand. "Come on, girly," the Death Eater said yanking on the chains which pulled Rose to her feet. "The Dark Lord wants a word with you." Rose was forced by the Death Eaters out of the cell. She felt bile rise up in her throat as they led her through areas she had seen in her previous vision. She dreaded what she would face at the end of her journey. Sooner than she wanted, she was led into the lavishly furnished living room from her vision. Voldemort was waiting for her. "Ah, Miss Potter," the evil wizard said, "I am so happy to finally meet you." Strangely enough, she found herself answering him exactly as she had in her vision. "I wish the feeling was mutual." Voldemort laughed harshly. "I suppose that is true. However, it doesn't matter. I know you are a Seer. You will use your Seer powers to help me take over the Ministry." "You're kidding, right?" Rose asked. "Why would I help you? My dad is the Minister. Hell, you want to kill my brother!" "So what?" Voldemort asked. "If you help me, I will spare you and give you a high position in my regime. Forget your father and brother. Forget your family. They are nothing compared to what I can offer you." "No fucking way, you bastard!" Rose shouted. "Family is everything to a Potter." Voldemort's eyes blazed red. He raised his wand and pointed it at Rose. "I am sure I can make you change your mind. Imperio!" Rose suddenly felt like she was calm and floating free. It felt good. She heard a voice telling her that she wanted to help the nice man in front of her. Why not? What harm could it do? It seemed like a good idea to her. She turned to the man with a smile, ready to ask him what he wanted her to do. She then heard another voice telling her it was a bad idea, that the man in front of her was not nice. She found herself listening to this other voice. The more she paid attention to it, the more it sounded like Harry. With a start, she came back to herself and looked up at Voldemort with a glare. "Nice try, you slimy git," she said, still glaring at the evil man-thing. Voldemort glared back at her. He again raised his wand again. "Crucio!" ******************** Rose's kidnapping was announced on Easter morning in the Great Hall, shocking the students who mostly gave their sympathy to Harry and his friends. Classes started the day after Easter which helped take the New Marauders' minds off Rose's whereabouts though they were still worried about her. The Order's members had no luck finding her as a week passed. Because Voldemort had not summoned him in over a month, Snape did not know where the Dark Lord was hiding and could not look for Rose there. The New Marauders continued their regular activities so they would be prepared if their help was needed to rescue Rose. Harry also continued the meetings of the Defense Club. Every member expressed their sympathy over and their willingness to help them rescue Rose for which he was grateful. Then, on Friday evening, a break in the case came their way. At the end of the Defense Club meeting, Harry and the other New Marauders found Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis waiting for them outside the Great Hall. "Potter," Zabini began, "I think you should know about a conversation we overheard a day ago." Harry looked suspiciously at the black Slytherin. "All right, come with us." He led the two Slytherin and his friends into the anteroom near the Great Hall where the champions had been gathered for the Triwizard Tournament more than two years ago. He then cast several spells to prevent eavesdropping. "Okay, now we can't be overheard, just who was involved in this conversation?" "They were Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott," Zabini said. "Let me start from the beginning. Tracey and I decided to have a late night snack and were coming back from the kitchens. We heard some voices coming from one of the side corridors down in the dungeons. We managed to move closer and found Malfoy and Nott talking. Now those two haven't associated with each other since last year when it seemed Malfoy wasn't going along with his father." "I've noticed that," Ti said. "I thought Nott hated Draco for going against Father." "Well, they certainly weren't acting like friends that night but they didn't look like they were ready to duel either," Tracey spoke up then. "All right, so what were they talking about?" Neville asked. "Well, it seemed that Malfoy thought that Nott had something to do with your sister's kidnapping, Harry," Blaise said. "Oh? Why didn't he say anything about it to us or to Dumbledore then?" Harry asked. "Because it seemed that Malfoy was supposed to do it but was taking too long so Nott did it for him," Blaise said. "What!" Ti cried. "Are you a Knut short of a Galleon? Why would he do that?" "I know you think your brother's turned over a new leaf, Ti, but the truth is he really hasn't," Tracey said. "On the surface, it seems he has, even to the rest of the Slytherins and they shun him for it, but to those who've been with him over the past five years like us, it's clear that he's still an arrogant git who believes in the Dark Lord's cause. I'm sorry if the truth hurts you, but it has to be said." "Tracey's right, Ti," Blaise said, looking straight into the younger boy's eyes which were starting to brim with tears. "Draco's still a pawn of your father and the Dark Lord. He's been acting since last year." Ginny and Maggie placed their hands on Ti's shoulders as he started to break down. He finally threw his arms around Maggie and sobbed. Ginny rubbed circles around Ti's back, trying to comfort him. Harry felt his heart clench at the sight of his friend's emotional outburst. He sighed and decided to let the two girls deal with Ti while he sorted out what Blaise and Tracey were talking about. "So you two are saying that Draco was supposed to kidnap Rose but Nott did it instead?" Harry asked. The two Slytherins nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see this conversation for myself," Harry said. "H-how are you going to do that?" Blaise asked. "I'm going to extract the memory from your mind," Harry said, smirking. "Don't worry. Dumbledore taught me how to do it. Just think about the conversation in your mind. I'll do the rest. Just let me know when it's in your mind." After several seconds, Blaise said, "All right, I have the conversation in my mind." Harry tapped his wand against Blaise's temple. The Slytherin did his best not to flinch. Harry muttered the spell and started to pull a silvery strand from Blaise's temple. After a few seconds, the strand came free and Harry placed it into a vial Hermione had conjured. "Okay," Harry said. "Thanks for that. We'll look at it with the Headmaster and get back to you at the next DC meeting." "All right," Blaise said. Tracey nodded and the two Slytherins left. "What do you think, Harry?" Ron asked a few seconds after the door closed. "Let's reserve judgment until after we see the memory," Harry said. He looked over to where Ti, Ginny and Maggie were. It seemed that Ti had finished crying. "Ti, maybe you should go back to the common room." "No," the younger Gryffindor said, drawing away from the two girls and turning to face Harry. "I need to see it, Harry. I need to know if what Zabini said is true." "All right," Harry said. "Come on then." The seven Gryffindors headed for the Headmaster's office. Once inside, Harry explained to Dumbledore why they were there. "Of course, Harry," Dumbledore said, "you can use my Pensieve." He retrieved it from his cabinet and placed in on his desk. Harry poured the memory into the Pensieve and Dumbledore activated the Pensieve so that they could view the memory above the device. Blaise and Tracey walked down the corridor which was lighted only by torches on scones along the wall, their footsteps barely audible. They then heard a voice coming from a side corridor. "You were the one who took the Potter girl, weren't you, Nott?" Blaise and Tracey moved slowly and peered down the corridor from behind a pillar. They saw Malfoy and Nott facing each other about twenty feet down the corridor. Malfoy looked furious while Nott had a smug look on his face. "If it was me, why should it bother you, Malfoy?" "Because I was the one who was supposed to do it, Nott, it was a task set for me by the Dark Lord with my father's concurrence." Harry was barely aware of the gasp coming from Ti on hearing that. "Well, you were taking too long, Malfoy. I believe you were told to do that just before the term started." The gloating tone of Nott's voice was quite detectable. "I think the Dark Lord was getting impatient though I have no idea why he wanted the Potter bird." "I needed to get Tiberius and Granger to trust me so I could get into their group. It would have given me the best position to get close to Rose and take her." "Well, that's too bad, Malfoy. I did it using Polyjuice and some hair from your blood traitor brother's comb." "How did you get her out of the castle?" "I received a note telling me about a secret passage to a place near the Whomping Willow, instructions on how to immobilize the Willow's branches and another secret passage from that tree to that supposedly haunted house outside Hogsmeade. One of the Dark Lord's servants, a man called Pettigrew, met me there and took charge of the girl. So you see, I did your job. The Dark Lord will reward me greatly for it while you get nothing. Oh, he might be a bit disappointed in you for failing. I just hope he doesn't call you to his side to answer for it." "You bastard! I'll get you for this. My father is the Dark Lord's right-hand man and I will stand by his side, too. You won't get away with this." Malfoy turned around and started walking back to where Blaise and Tracey were. The latter two quickly moved to hide in an alcove. Malfoy walked past them and the memory faded. "That bastard," Neville exclaimed, heading for the door. "Neville, wait," Harry said, grabbing hold of his robes. "You can't go after Nott right now. At least we know now how they got her out of the castle. We need to tell Dad and have him send Sirius and some Aurors to take care of Nott." "What about Malfoy?" Ron asked. "Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore answered, "Mr. Malfoy hasn't done anything wrong yet except plotting to kidnap Rose. We should still give him a chance." "A chance, Headmaster?" Ti asked. "Why should we? You heard what he said to Nott. He was merely trying to get into our group. He didn't care a thing for me or Hermione except as a means to get close to Rose. If Nott hadn't beaten him to it, he would have been the one who tried to kidnap Rose and I just about gave him the means to try it." Tears were again shining in his eyes. Harry felt terrible for Ti. All he wanted was to have a big brother to care for him and Draco just about admitted through Nott that he hadn't given a damn. All Ti had been was a means to an end. He could feel the same feelings and thoughts going through Ginny's mind. "Please don't blame yourself, Ti," Harry said. "It's not your fault. All you ever wanted was for Draco to treat you the way someone should treat a younger sibling, like how I treat Rose or Bill treats Ginny. It's natural and okay to want that. I'm just sorry that Malfoy couldn't really do that. You're a great person and anyone would be lucky to have you as a younger brother." "Harry's right, Ti," Maggie said. "It's Malfoy's loss if he isn't really sincere about you." Ti looked around and the others nodded their heads, causing him to blush. "Thanks, guys," Ti said, looking down at the ground. "I'm glad to have you as my friends." After a few minutes of silence, Dumbledore cleared his throat. "All right, I will contact James to inform him about this new development. It would be best for you all to go back to Gryffindor Tower and get some rest. Do not worry. With this new information, we will surely find Rose."
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