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Author: OHGinnyfan Story: The Homecoming Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: WIP Reviews: 1 Words: 52,764
A/N: Again, the characters are not mine, they belong to JK Rowling. The setting is my creation. Chapter 5 The Search Draco walked briskly through his Manor in search of his wife. He needed to speak with Stacia, and he needed to speak with her right away. His plan was being executed exactly as he wanted and he needed Stacia and the children out of the Manor. He didn't want them to be in the way or to interfere with what he was planning to do. Taking the stairs two at a time, Draco walked toward the nursery, where the children would be playing with their nanny. Stacia spent a lot of her time with the children, so there was a good possibility he would find her there. As Draco entered the playroom, a small, blond girl cried, "Father!" and ran to him, wrapping her tiny arms around his legs. Looking up at Draco she said, "Hi, Father!" Draco looked down. His two-year old daughter's small face was looking at him smiling, obviously glad to see him. Draco forced a smile, and said, "Hello, Adrienne. Is Mother here?" Adrienne ran off, babbling something Draco couldn't understand. The children's nanny, Mrs. Howard, spoke up. "No, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid your wife's not in here. She said something about going to her private office to catch up on her correspondence." "Thank you, Mrs. Howard. Are the children well behaved today?" "Oh yes, Mr. Malfoy, they are, as always. Garrett is currently napping and Adrienne and I are playing a game. Everything is in order and the children are fine." "Very well, Mrs. Howard." And with that, Draco turned on his heels and walked out of the nursery. Draco walked to Stacia's private office off their bedroom. He found her there, sitting at her desk writing letters, just as Mrs. Howard had said. Stacia looked up from her current parchment, and said, "Darling, I thought you had left for the day. Certainly you're not still home just to see me?" "Actually, Stacia, you are the reason I'm home. We need to talk." Stacia put down the quill she was holding and looked her husband straight in the eye. "What about, Draco?" "I want you to take the children and Mrs. Howard and go to visit your mother." "Whatever for, love?" "I have business to conduct, and I don't want you or the children to be here while I conduct it." "Draco, what kind of business do you need to conduct at the Manor that the children and I can't be here for?" Draco walked around Stacia's desk and spun her chair around so she was facing him. Putting his hands on the arms of the chair and leaning close to his wife, he said, "Darling, you don't need to worry about it; I just think it would be best if you took the children and Mrs. Howard, and go visit your mother. I promise, as soon as my business deal is done, I'll come join you and we'll have a nice, long holiday away. This should only take a day or two to complete." "Well, Draco darling, if you insist. When do we need to leave?" Draco released his hold on the chair and straightened back up. "Today darling; I need you to leave as soon as possible. I'm sure you'll have a lovely visit with your mum. She hasn't seen you or the children since Garrett was a few months old; isn't that right? "Yes, that's true. She will be thrilled that we are visiting. I'll send her a note right now to let her know to expect us later today." "Wonderful idea, darling. Tell her I said hello." Draco left the office as quickly as he entered. Once his wife was gone, he could finish off Potter and his family, once and for all. *********************************** Molly Weasley floo'd to her daughter and son-in-law's house at exactly half past nine. Stepping out of the fireplace, she called out to Ginny, "Hello, I'm here!" Not receiving an answer, Molly began walking through their house in search of her daughter and grandson. When she didn't find them, she began to panic. She stumbled upon the note that Ginny had left for her, which said she was due back by half past eight at the latest. That was an hour earlier. Trying not to panic further, Molly reasoned that maybe Ginny got delayed in town, and decided to go on to Hogwarts. She decided to call Ginny's office at Hogwarts using the fireplace. When she received no answer from Ginny, she called Headmistress McGonagall to voice her concerns that she hadn't found Ginny at home when she had arrived. Minerva promised Molly that she and the other teachers would look for Ginny and James at Hogwarts and would let Molly know if they found them. Molly walked past the family clock that hung in the Potters' kitchen. It was a gift to Ginny and Harry from her and Arthur for their sixth wedding anniversary, and it was similar to the one she had at the Burrow. There was a clock hand for each family member and the clock was charmed to indicate where each family member was at any given time. Molly was so frantic, she hadn't noticed that Ginny and James' hands were pointed toward ‘missing'. Terribly worried and becoming more panicked by the minute, Molly floo'd her husband. Arthur was sitting at his desk, going over paperwork, when the head of his frantic wife appeared in his fireplace. "Arthur, Ginny and James are gone. I need you here at the Grove right away." "What do you mean ‘gone'?" "They weren't here when I got to their house this morning, and there was a note that said she went to the grocers at half past seven. She thought she'd be back by half past eight. I've called Minerva at Hogwarts in addition to flooing Ginny's office - they're nowhere to be found." Arthur calmly replied, "I'll be right there, Molly" Less than a minute later, Arthur stumbled out of the Potters' fireplace. Molly was beside herself by the time he had arrived; she had noticed the clock hands and was in a right state of panic. Trying to calm her down, and trying to remain calm himself, Arthur called Ron and Hermione to come and help in the search. Once they arrived, Ron and Arthur walked into Hogsmeade to begin asking questions, and Molly and Hermione looked around the grounds of the Grove for any sign of the missing mother and son. They found nothing out of the ordinary or out of place. When Ron and Arthur arrived back at the house, they relayed the story that a woman fitting Ginny's description had come into town that morning between half past seven and eight, and had purchased groceries. She was pushing a pram with a small child in it who had red hair. She loaded her groceries in the pram and left, presumably heading home. That was the last anyone saw of her. "We need to get Harry," Ron said, "and we need to get him now. He'll just be beside himself once he finds out they're missing." "We also need to contact the Aurors, Ron. Why don't you and Arthur go to the Cannons' pitch and tell Harry, while Molly and I will take care of notifying the Aurors. Someone from their division should be here by the time you get back," Hermione suggested. Ron nodded is head in agreement, and bent down to kissed his wife. Then he and his dad Apparated straight to the Cannons pitch. ******************************** Harry had been playing in a scrimmage between the starting line-up and the first reserve team. He was currently circling high above the pitch on his Firebolt, in search of the Snitch. He was keeping his eye on the other Seeker, in case he happened to spy the Snitch before Harry did. Just as Harry was executing a Wronski Feint and the other Seeker was right on his tail, he caught sight of the two red heads. Ron was trying to catch his attention, and Arthur was standing next to him, looking very grim. Harry pulled out of his dive, and landed his Firebolt. Walking up to Ron and Arthur, he was intercepted by Oliver Wood. "Harry, what in bloody hell do you think your doing walking off the pitch like this?" "Hi, Oliver. We're sorry to interrupt, but this is an emergency," Ron said to Oliver and Harry. "What's wrong, Ron?" Harry asked, somewhat out of breath from the game. "I'll tell you what's wrong; YOU JUST WALKED OFF THE BLOODY PITCH IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME, POTTER!!" yelled Wood. "Oliver, calm down. This is IMPORTANT!" bellowed Ron into Oliver's face. ‘Would you please tell me what you and Arthur are doing here?" "Yes, I'd like to know why you are interrupting my practice!" interjected Oliver. "Oliver, for the love of God, put a sock in it; Harry's wife and son are missing!" Ron said, without thinking. "WHA…what?" stammered Harry. "Harry," Ron began, grabbing is friend by the shoulders. "Ginny and James are missing. Mum showed up today at half past nine and they weren't there. There was a note that said she took James and they went into town to the grocers, but it looks like they never made it back. Dad and I have checked Hogsmeade, and she was there at the store, but no one saw her once she left there. Mum and Hermione have checked the Grove out completely, and didn't find any sign of them there, either. It's like they disappeared." "Oh my God, you're kidding, right? They can't be gone; they can't!" "Harry, I'm sorry but they are. Mum and Hermione were flooing the Aurors and we need to get home as soon as we can so we can get them to start a search." "Has anyone checked Hogwarts? Maybe she went early into her office…." "Mum checked, Harry. McGonagall is searching the grounds for them. Come on, we need to hurry." But Harry stood frozen in his spot, broom hanging from his hand. By this time, the rest of the team had gathered around the foursome, and had heard the gist of what was going on. Oliver turned to Harry and Ron, and said, "Harry, I'm so sorry. We'll cancel practice for today and the team will head out to Hogsmeade and help in the search. We'll come to your house and organise from there once we get changed. " "Harry, come on, Mate. We need to get back. Do you think you can Apparate home?" Harry looked at Ron and nodded his head, unable to speak. He was in shock-his wife and son were gone. Gone. Where could they be? With that, Arthur and Ron grabbed Harry's arms to steady him as they Apparated to the Grove. ***************************************** The throbbing in her head was horrendous. It was cold, dank and dark, wherever she was. She was laying face down on a stone floor. She pushed herself up to her hands and knees and steadied herself. What was she doing and where was she? How long had she been out? She put her hand up to her temple and felt a small congealed mass. She had, at some time, cut her head. How had that happened? Then Ginny remembered-I was walking home with James from Hogsmeade and then ‘Stupefy' -oh my God, where's James? Panic set in, as she tried to adjust her eyes enough to the darkness of her surroundings to search frantically for her son. She cringed from the pain that shot through her body, as she quickly pushed herself up to a standing position. She heard a small cry and followed it to find James' pram in the corner. Gingerly, Ginny picked her son up and comforted him. Carefully, she checked him over; he didn't look injured, which caused her to sigh in relief. She wished she could say the same about herself. In addition to the gash in her head, she ached all over, as if she had been in a fight. Her clothes were torn and dirty and she couldn't figure out what exactly had happened from the time she was stunned until now. She searched for her wand, which, of course, was nowhere to be found. She settled herself down on the cold stone floor and began nursing her son. He eagerly latched on and began feeding, as Ginny assessed her current situation. She and James were in some sort of stone room, probably a dungeon, possibly in the basement of some building. It was cold and dark, not to mention wet-not the best environment for an infant. She was without her wand-her only mode of defence since her skills at wandless magic were only good for lighting bluebell flames. She would have to search this place for a jam jar, so she could at least cast a flame in it for light. Once James had finished eating, Ginny settled him back into his pram, and set about on her search of her prison. She found that the food she had purchased at the Hogsmeade grocers was sprawled across the floor by the pram. It looked as if whoever took her and James threw their belongings in here as well. At least she had a bit of food to munch on to keep up her strength. She had no idea who kidnapped them or why, but she had a feeling she was going to need every ounce of strength she had to get her and James out of this situation. As she made her way around the room, she found her handbag that she carried James' extra nappies and supplies in. She pulled out an extra blanket and tucked it securely around James in the pram. He had fallen back asleep-she was thankful that he was too young to realize what trouble they were in. Ginny continued to look around. She stumbled upon a small jar, and proceeded to light a bluebell flame in it. At least now I have some light, Ginny thought to herself. Taking a good look around, she saw many artefacts that appeared to be connected with the Dark Arts. Ginny shuddered. Where are they holding us? Suddenly, Ginny heard footsteps. She quickly extinguished her flame, and hid the jar. She laid back down where she woke up, and pretended to still be unconscious. She wasn't ready to face her captors-yet. She wanted more time to assess her situation, if she could get it. The wooden door of the room opened, and everything was still for a moment. The next thing she heard was the door closing again, and the footsteps retreating. Ginny waited until she didn't hear them anymore, then got up and re-lit her light. She wanted to be well prepared for whatever she was going to have to face. ******************************* Ron and Arthur, with Harry between them, Apparated to the Grove. Harry nearly collapsed as they arrived. Easing him into a chair, Ron turned to Hermione and said, "Are the Aurors here yet?" "Not yet, Ron, but they promised to send someone right away." Harry leaned forward in his chair and placed his head in his hands, mumbling, "This can't be happening. They can't be gone." Hermione knelt down beside Harry, and put her arm around his shoulder. "Harry, who on earth would have taken them?" Harry looked up and gave the one word answer that Hermione actually already knew. "Malfoy." ********************************* Standing in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, Draco looked on as Stacia and Mrs. Howard readied the children for their journey. "Draco darling, you did make sure the floo connection was open to Mother's house, correct?" "Yes, Stacia. Everything's in order. Please try and have a nice visit. I'll join you in the next few days, and we'll go on holiday. All of us-together." Draco felt a small tug at his robe. As he looked down, Adrienne was looking up with her round, grey eyes. "Why we go, Father? Why we go?" Draco bent down to eye level with his daughter. "Because Adrienne, I have business here, and I want you to go visit Grandmother." "You come, Father, you come NOW?" "No, I can't come now. But I'll come in a couple days. I promise." Standing back up, Draco approached Stacia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You better go, love. I'll join you as soon as I can. Tell your mother hello for me." "Yes, darling, I will. Come along, sweetheart," Stacia said as she grasped her daughter's hand. "Adrienne, you and Garrett be good for Mother, Grandmother and Mrs. Howard. I'll see you soon," Draco said, looking at his daughter. Stacia took a bit of floo powder, threw it into the flames and stepped into the fireplace with Adrienne and their bags. Adrienne said, "Bye Father," as Stacia looked Draco straight in the eye and called out "Bucher Manor!" They were gone with the roar of the flame. Mrs. Howard followed Stacia's lead, carrying Garrett and her bag. As she stepped into the flames, Draco nodded to her and said "Good day, Mrs. Howard." Mrs. Howard nodded, smiled and was gone. Draco stared at the flames for a moment longer, then turned and headed toward his dungeons. ******************************** "Okay, Harry, we need to go through the story one more time with both you and your mother-in-law. When exactly did you leave this morning, and where were your wife and son?" Harry looked up from where he was sitting and let out an exasperated sigh. "I left for practice at half past six. Ginny and James were in the kitchen, finishing James' breakfast." Standing up and pacing back and forth, he continued, "Look, I just want to get out there and start looking for my wife and son. Matter of fact, I know I can lead you to where they are. I would bet a million Galleons that Malfoy kidnapped them. And if we don't get to them soon, I'm not sure what he'll do to Ginny or James. His hatred for us-the Potters and the Weasleys-goes back at least two generations, maybe more. The git thinks he's the Dark Lord-he's definitely crazy enough to kidnap my son and wife!" Auror Michael Jones looked at Harry. By the way Harry was pacing, Michael could tell he was a loose cannon. He knew good and well that if the Department of Magical Law Enforcement didn't act quickly, Harry would take things in his own hands, and try to raid Malfoy Manor with or without a search warrant. But protocol being what it was, Jones knew he had to try to persuade Harry not to act irrationally. He knew that was going to be hard-very hard. He knew that if his own wife and son were missing, he'd be acting in the same manner that Harry was. And Harry had good reason to believe that Malfoy snatched his family-the long standing grudge between the two had always been well known, not to mention the fact that Malfoy had held Potter captive for four long months before Potter escaped. Both had an axe to grind with the other. Malfoy was probably seeking revenge on Harry for escaping by taking his wife and son. And Harry's axe was the same as the rest of the Wizarding World-Dark Magic can't win. Michael laid a hand on Harry's arm as the man paced past him. "Harry, try to calm down. You and I both know that we have to have a reason to search Malfoy Manor. And at this point, Malfoy has given us none-there's no clue to indicate that he has Ginny and James. He hasn't even set off any Dark Magic alarms at the Ministry for us to investigate. At this point, we have nothing to go on. I know that's hard…." "Hard? Hard? You're bloody right it's hard! It's my wife and my son that are missing. And I'll guarantee you, Mike, if the Ministry of Magic doesn't come up with some way of raiding that mansion, I'm going there and getting in with my bare hands if I have to. My whole life is being held captive in that house. Do you understand me? I don't think either of them has been hurt yet, at least not seriously. Gin and I can usually tell when one of us is bad off, and I can't feel anything out of the ordinary. But I will not sit around here and wait for the department to follow protocol. This is my wife and son we're talking about!" "Harry," Hermione addressed him quietly, "calm down. We'll find them. But we have to remain calm if we're going to do them any good. Going off half-cocked to Malfoy Manor is going to do nothing but entice Malfoy even more. We need to come up with a well thought out plan so no one gets hurt or killed in the process of rescuing them. And you have to remember, we don't know for sure that Malfoy has them. It would be the obvious thought that he does, but we don't know that for fact. We need to continue to comb Hogsmeade, Hogwarts and this area for them. We need to double-check everywhere-even here at the Grove. Just to make sure." "Hermione's right, mate. As worried as I am, and as sure as I am that Malfoy has them, we do need to make sure we didn't miss something around here," Ron added. Harry looked from one of his friends to the other. "I know you're right, but I feel so bloody helpless right now. I know Malfoy has them; I know it. And I want to get that bastard before he does anything to my family." ************************************** Draco wound his way through the tunnels to the dungeons located under Malfoy Manor. He had Crabbe and Goyle posted down the hall from the cell where the Potters were being held. He wanted to find out the status of his "prisoners". "Crabbe, is she awake yet?" "No, my Lord, she isn't. We checked about fifteen minutes ago, and she was still out cold." "Well, when she does wake up, make sure she doesn't try to escape. Put her in a body bind if you have to and only release it when the brat cries. We will take care of disposing of them in the morning; then we can decide how we'll inform Potter of his family's demise. He'll quickly go out of his mind with grief, and we'll be able to kill him easily." "Yes, my Lord, but why are we not disposing of them tonight?" "I have plans for tonight, men, and it involves an old school flame named Pansy." ******************************************* "Harry, we did it!" Harry looked up from his chair in the kitchen. "Did what, Mike?" "We have a search warrant-for Malfoy Manor!" Harry smiled for the first time since Ron and Arthur showed up at practice. "Really? You do? Can we go now?" "Hold on, Harry. You are no longer with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You can't go on this raid." "I am going on this raid, Mike. It's my wife and son!" "Harry, protocol does not allow…." "I don't rightfully care what protocol allows or doesn't allow. I AM GOING WITH YOU!" "Alright Harry. You can go with us, but you have to stay outside the house. No one is allowed to participate in raids except for Ministry employees." "Does that mean I can participate, Mike? After all, I'm a Ministry employee, just not an Auror," said Ron, hoping he could help find his sister and nephew. "I don't know, Ron; I'll have to check. Usually its members of the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artefacts that go on raids with us, not members of the legal team." "Yes, but if we find Ginny and James, Malfoy will be needing a legal team-" "And that would disqualify you, Ron, because you participated in the raid," Hermione reminded him. "Bloody hell! That means I can't go then. How about Dad? He works for the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Maybe he can go?" "Well, I suppose he can go, Ron; the charge that allows us to raid Malfoy Manor has to do with Dark Artefacts. It is an old charge-one from Lucius Malfoy's day, but we can still act on it and search the place. Your father could participate under normal circumstances," said Mike. "Great! I'm sure Dad will want to help out. Can the rest of us go and watch?" "Absolutely. Matter of fact, if we find Mrs. Potter and James there, I want you there to help us with removing them. If they're injured or anything, we need to be able to get them to St. Mungo's immediately, and it would be helpful to have her family nearby." "When do we raid?" asked Harry. "Approximately one hour from now. The Department is assembling a team as we speak, and they will meet us at Malfoy Manor. They'll notify us when they are leaving the department and we will Apparate there." "I just hope we are in time," Harry replied, looking at a picture of Ginny and James. ************************************* Ginny quietly made her way around her prison-again. She had walked around and around the place at least a hundred times, looking for another means of exit, besides the main door. She had touched any and every stone that looked remotely like a trick knob that could possibly open a secret door. She had, so far, found nothing. She could tell that there was a lighted passage on the other side of the door. She could see light coming in from the crack at the bottom. The door was solid wood and she was sure she could set a bluebell flame on it to burn it down; but she was also sure there was some sort of guard on the other side of the door waiting for her. If she and James were going to escape, they'd have to do it in a quieter manner than burning down the door. There were no windows letting in any light, so there was no exit that way. Frustrated, Ginny continued to pace and look for a means of escape again with her bluebell flame. James had stirred periodically, but had eaten and slept a great deal. He was being such a good baby and Ginny hoped that he would continue to be good until she got them out of there. Hearing a soft "pop," Ginny looked about to see a house-elf standing there, holding a tray of food. Ginny walked over to where the elf was and bent down. He looked at Ginny with big round eyes. "Missus, food for you, Missus. Bentley brought food for strength." And with that the house-elf disappeared. Ginny examined the tray of food and took a bite of one of the sandwiches. She hadn't realized how hungry she was. She figured she had now been held captive for at least ten hours, maybe longer. Ginny found that the elf had left some pureed food for James, too. She ate some of the food he left, and hid the rest. Ginny began to pace again. How was she going to get them out of this place? ************************************** Malfoy stood in his drawing room, looking out on his front lawn. "Bloody hell," he mumbled to himself. "It figures Potter would show up with an army of Aurors looking for his wife and brat." He smiled a most feral smile. "They'll never find them, of course, but they can search all they want." He made his way quickly to the entrance of the dungeons. "Goyle," he called down, "We have company. Make sure Weasley and that brat stay quiet." Draco walked swiftly back up the hidden staircase as he heard the rap on the front door. He closed the secret panel in time for the butler to answer the knock. The butler showed the group into the drawing room, where Draco walked in quickly, his robes billowing out behind him. He surveyed the group. "What is the meaning of this?" Draco snapped at the Auror who appeared to be in charge. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm Michael Jones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We have a warrant to search these premises. There is an outstanding charge of Dark Artefacts that was placed on your father and this house, and we have a warrant to raid your home. Please step aside." "What, Potter didn't want to join the raid? Pity, really. He and I go back a long way." "Mr. Potter is no longer in our employ. Therefore he is not authorized to assist in this raid. Step aside, Mr. Malfoy, or my men will have to use force." "Oh, by all means, raid away. I'm sure you will find nothing out of the ordinary," sneered Draco, as he stepped aside and the Aurors began their business. ****************************** "Harry, do you think they found them?" Ron asked as they stood shivering a bit on the front lawn of Malfoy Manor. "I don't know, Ron, I just don't know. You know Malfoy as well as I do. He is a tricky git; if he has them and doesn't want anyone to find them, then he probably has his ways. I just hope Mike and the others are searching for secret passages. The slimy git probably has tunnels and dungeons under this place. But I would bet the entrances aren't well marked. Why don't we poke around a bit out here and see if we find anything. It couldn't hurt...." "Harry," interrupted Hermione, "you're not to participate in this raid-at all. That means you're not to be doing a sweep of the grounds. Let Mike and his men do their work." "Hermione, it's so damn hard for me to just sit back and do nothing. This is Ginny and James we're talking about. How can you be so calm?" "I'm not calm, Harry, I'm really not. I am just as worried about them as you are. But we have to try to remain at least a bit calm in order to think clearly. We want to be able to help them however we can." "Exactly. That is why I want to begin checking the…." "Look!" Ron interrupted. "Here comes Mike!" Michael walked over to where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley were standing. He had a very grim look on his face. "We are turning up absolutely nothing-nothing. We have searched the place from top to bottom looking for secret passages and any clues. We can't find Ginny and James anywhere in that mansion, and we haven't found any Dark Artefacts either. I've told the men to go over the place another time. Malfoy has been quite cooperative, but we've had an odd request, Harry." Michael paused. "He wants you to come in and help." "He does? Well, isn't that interesting." "Yeah, I think he wants you to look for yourself. Personally, I think he has them, and he doesn't want you to succeed in finding them. I don't want to lead you into a trap, Harry, so be careful. I'll be right there with you." "Okay, Mike. Let's go." Harry and Michael walked back to the Manor as the others looked on. As they arrived at the front door, Malfoy flung open the door, and said, "Potter! So good to see you. Won't you come in and help in this little search party?" "Where do you have my wife and son, Malfoy?" "Whatever are you talking about, Potter? I don't have your lovely wife and adorable son." "Yes you do, Malfoy. You know it, I know it, and this whole group knows it. Where are they, dammit!" "I was told this raid had to do with Dark Artefacts; not with your wife and son. Are they missing?" "Don't be such a pain, Malfoy; you know they're missing, because you have them!" "Oh, I do, do I? Well, why don't you search my home for yourself? You'll see that I have nothing to hide, Potter. Absolutely nothing to hide." Harry turned on his heels and began looking around Draco's home. It was a very dark place, with a lot of very expensive artwork and dark rich fabrics. The drawing room they were standing in was done in dark reds, almost the colour of blood, with fabrics of velvet and silk. The floor was covered in a dark oriental style rug. Harry picked up the edge of the rug, and flipped it up. Finding a trap door in the wooden floor, Harry called Michael over. Together, he and Michael pulled the door open and Michael shined his lantern in the hole. There was a small room below, but it was completely empty of everything but a small bed, table and lamp. It was quite clear from the dust in the room that no one had been in there for several years. Looking up, both Michael and Harry questioned Draco for an answer. The man shrugged his shoulders and said, "Father was a bit paranoid, and had a small bedroom put in down here, in case of emergencies. You can see it hasn't been used recently." Michael moved to shut the door, but Harry stopped him. He said, "I want to go down and check for secret doors. Stay here and I'll let you know what I find." Harry jumped down into the small room. He lit his wand with "Lumos" and began exploring. He checked every wall and crevice he could find for a secret passageway, but to no avail. There was nothing in here that wasn't seen by the eye. Harry called up to Michael, "There's nothing in here." He climbed out of the room, and they lowered the door, replacing the carpet as they had found it. Two hours later, Harry and the Aurors still had found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. If Draco had a secret passageway, they hadn't found it. Harry was not willing to give up the search, but Michael told him they had to go - the Aurors had searched an hour before Harry joined in, and they hadn't found a reason to continue the search. As they left, Michael reminded Draco, that they could come back at any time, with another warrant. Draco just smiled, and said, "Search away, I have nothing to hide." As Harry turned to go, Malfoy said, "Oh, and Potter, I do hope you find your wife and son in time. I would hate to hear of anything happening to your little family." Harry turned back around to say something to Malfoy, but Michael grabbed his arm, and said, "Harry, let's go home." *********************************** Several hours later, Draco dismissed the butler for the night. He was having a "visitor" that he didn't want Stacia to know about, so he sent the old faithful butler to bed. He poured himself a brandy, lit a cigarette and waited. If he knew Pansy like he thought he did, he knew she wouldn't be late-not for a night of great sex. A rap at the door signalled her arrival, and he answered it, letting the short pure-blood witch in the house. He took her hand and led her into the drawing room, where he offered her a drink. Accepting the offer of a brandy, Pansy took a long drink from her glass before lighting her own cigarette. "So Draco, where are the wife and brats off to this time?" purred Pansy as she snaked her hands around his waist from behind. "I've sent them off to see Stacia's mother. The nanny too. The only one here right now is Alvin, my butler. The rest of the staff is out, except of course, the house-elves. I can't get them to go out for the night no matter what I offer them. They're too damn faithful sometimes." Pansy laughed, "I never thought I'd hear you talk about house-elves like that. You usually like to be waited on hand and foot, Draco." "Ah yes, unless of course, I am hosting another woman. I would prefer my wife not to find out about our little escapades." "What other women do you host?" "Just you, love, but I prefer us to have the house to ourselves when you come to visit. And the house-elves make that difficult." There were several moments of silence before Pansy spoke again. "You know, you and I could have been great together, darling. We could have done great things." Draco turned around and looked down at the witch. Sighing, he said, "Pansy dear, we've gone through this before. You are too smart for your own good. You would have had to know all my plans, which would have made you a dangerous asset. We could have been great together-true-however; I need the trophy wife that doesn't ask questions. Besides, you and I are great together when Stacia's away, aren't we?" Wrapping her arms around his neck, Pansy purred, "Of course we are, darling. I just wish I could have been that wife that bore your heirs. But at least I still get you while your wife's away." Bending down to kiss her deeply, Draco wrapped his arms around her. Allowing his hands to roam freely over her body, he kissed her neck and throat while exploring. Hearing her moans, he smiled a dangerous smile. He then lifted her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom. ****************************** Morning was dawning on the Grove, and it was quite apparent that the occupants of the house had not had any sleep all night long. Harry continued to pace the room, as reports came in from family and friends about their search for Ginny and James. Unfortunately, nobody was finding anything-no Ginny or James, no clues to their whereabouts, no nothing. Harry had search for a while, and when he became frantic, Hermione had escorted him back to the Grove to get him something to eat and to rest. Of course, he didn't eat much, nor did he rest-he just paced and said how he needed to get back in the search. But Hermione had held firm, and made her friend stay at the house. Hogwarts was still being searched by the professors and any sixth or seventh year student who wanted to volunteer. Most of them did, as they were all quite fond of Ginny as their Transfiguration instructor. Hogsmeade was being effectively covered by the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team, who had cancelled practice to help Harry search. Every home and business in Hogsmeade had been visited by someone inquiring about the young mother and son. Ginny's brothers were searching the Grove and its grounds. That left the Aurors with the task of overseeing all the different searches, and with staking out Malfoy Manor. They were also responsible for coming up with any other possible scenarios that could have happened and following up on them. Unfortunately, it appeared that Ginny and James had basically vanished. "They've been gone twenty-four hours, Hermione. Where are they?" Harry said, as he finally sat down, and placed his head in his hands. "I don't know, Harry, but we're doing everything we can to find them. I'm sure we will." Harry ran a hand through his coal black hair, and sighed. "I just hope we find them soon, and I hope we find them alive." ******************************************** Ginny heard the door to the dungeon open and saw light come in. She was lying as if she hadn't regain consciousness yet, but someone walked over and kicked her in the side. She rolled over and held her side and looked the perpetrator straight in the eye. "Ah, she awakes from her beauty rest," Goyle said, as he nudged her again with his foot. "What am I doing here?" she gritted out between her teeth. "Lord Malfoy requested your presence, and Crabbe and I complied with his request by bringing you here. Matter-of-fact, our Lord is waiting for you and your brat in his drawing room." Reaching down, he grabbed Ginny by the arm and hoisted her up to her feet. She yanked her arm out from his grasp and walked over to the pram and picked up James. Goyle grabbed her by the arm again, and Crabbe, who was waiting outside the door, grabbed her other arm. They led her through the tunnels to the passageway to the main house. Stepping into the hall, the men lead the prisoners to the drawing room. There standing with his back to the door, facing the fireplace, was the man who thought he was the Dark Lord. "Malfoy," Ginny spat out. "Ah, Weasley, or, shall I say Potter? So good of you to wake up and join our little party. And who's the little brat in your arms? Your son?" "What am I doing here, Malfoy?" "Oh Potter, please, you can't be that dense not to know that I brought you here to irritate your dear husband. Please tell me that my accommodations were to your liking." "If you can call a cold, dark, stone dungeon accommodations." "Why, I get the impression you didn't enjoy your time here. Pity really." "Malfoy, why am I here? You know Harry will send out a search party for me, and you know it'll lead right to here." "Oh Ginny dear, he already did. And do you know what? I even invited your great husband to help in the search. And they found nothing-absolutely nothing." Ginny swallowed the bile that was rising up in her throat. "They were here, and they didn't find us?" she said in an almost whisper. "Oh, yes, they were here-Harry and his army of Aurors. And they found nothing." "You know, Harry won't stop at that, Malfoy. You know he suspects you in our kidnapping. Harry's not stupid." "Oh I'm sure they'll be back. They even told me so. So, I have decided to get rid of you and your brat before they come back." "And what do you plan to do with us?" "Well first, Accio James Potter!" Draco pointed his wand at James and James flew out of Ginny's arms and into Draco's. He laid the baby down on the floor by the fireplace. "Give me my son back!" Ginny cried out. "Oh no, Ginny, you see I have plans for both you and James. First I think I'll kill your brat right in front of you, so you can watch. Next, I think I'll show you how a real man has sex with a woman. I'm sure that half a man, Potter, hasn't given you any great sex. I'll give you a bit of pleasure before you die. And if Crabbe and Goyle are good boys, I might let them have a crack at you before I kill you." Draco's lips had curled into a feral smile as he looked suggestively at Ginny. Struggling to free herself from the grips of Crabbe and Goyle, Ginny said, "Spare James, Malfoy, spare the boy. He's only a baby. Do with me what you want, but spare my son." "Oh Ginny dear, I'm afraid not. You see, I'm sure your son will turn out just like his father, and I can't have that happening, now, can I?" "No Malfoy, don't kill my son!" "Say goodbye to your precious James, Ginny! Avada Kedavra!" Malfoy cried out as he pointed his wand at James. Ginny screamed in agony as she watched the scene unfold before her. She turned her head slightly at the flash of green light, but then her eyes opened as large as they could when she heard Malfoy scream. Looking on, she saw that James had somehow deflected the curse and it had gone back on Malfoy. His fine-featured face was contorted in pain, as his body crumpled to the ground. Ginny once again struggled against Crabbe and Goyle, who had loosened their grip in light of what had happened. Pulling herself loose, she hurried over to James and bent down to pick him up. He was whimpering softly but appeared to be fine, much to Ginny's relief. As she picked him up, she heard a loud crack. Looking back at Crabbe and Goyle, she saw that they were running as fast as they could toward the door. Ginny continued to pick James up, and looked above her at the sound of another loud crack. She realized that the ceiling was caving in, probably from the residual of the deflected curse. Ginny threw herself over James' body, and her world went black for the second time in two days. *************************************** "Harry? Harry? Come on, Harry, you have to eat! You need to keep your strength up." "I know, Hermione, but I'm just not hungry. I'm just too worried about them. What has Malfoy done with them?" sighed a very weary Harry. "I wish I knew. Maybe we can head back to his manor today and search again. Mike told him we might come back." Pacing, Harry said, "You know, that git isn't going to allow us in so easily for long. He is up to something; I know it-" As the words left Harry's mouth, he collapsed in a heap on the ground, moaning, "Oh my God, Ginny!" A/N: This chapter, for some reason, was extremely difficult for me to write and get right. I thank my ever-faithful pre-beta and beta, Jen and Julie for working this chapter through with me. There were lots of corrections, lots of versions, and lots of good conversations on what's going to happen next. If you think this chapter is good, it's because of these two fine ladies. If you haven't checked out their fanfiction, be sure to-they're under aggiebell and jenadamson. Thank you, ladies, for everything.
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