"Arthur, where do you think Ron is?" Molly Weasley asked nervously. "He didn't say anything to you before the wedding, did he?"
"Molly, you've asked me that a hundred times, and I've told you the same thing a hundred times over. Ron never said anything to me, and I don't know where he is," Arthur Weasley replied exasperatedly.
"What about Harry and Hermione? Did they say anything?"
"Molly, they didn't tell me anything either."
"Then where are they all?"
"They're probably just hiding out so they don't get caught. They'll come back soon enough. Just give them time; they're old enough to know what they're doing. They know they'll all be in danger if they come back too soon. They're smart kids, they know what they're doing, and they're doing the right thing."
"I'm just so worried about them, though. What if something's happened to them?"
"Molly, they'll be fine."
There was an awkward pause while Molly searched for something else to worry about.
"Arthur, what about Ginny? Can we send her to Hogwarts this year? Is it safe?" Molly finally burst out.
"Molly, Hogwarts is the safest place for her right now."
"Dumbledore isn't there anymore, Arthur. We can't guarantee her safety."
"Dumbledore might not be there, but there are plenty of others to protect the students. McGonagall for example, Flitwick, do I need to go on?" Arthur said passionately. If there was one place he truly cared about, it was Hogwarts. "Just relax and breathe. Everything will be fine."
"But what if it isn't, Arthur? We nearly lost one of our sons, one is missing, and one's been bitten by a werewolf. I wouldn't call that fine," came Molly's snappy reply. When it came to her family, she was fiercely protective; never letting anything happen to them if she had anything to do with it.
"It was just chance, Molly," came Arthur's tired reply. "It's late, let's just go to bed and relax. Everything will be fine."
"But what if it isn't?" Molly persisted.
"Molly!" Arthur yelled, finally snapping in his tired state. "It will all be fine, just go to bed! We can talk about it in the morning if you still feel like you need to, but I don't see the point. Talking about the kids just won't bring them back, but I'll do whatever I can to try and find them for you, OK? Does that make you happy enough to go to bed now?"
Molly sighed in resignation, the tiredness suddenly hitting her like a fully loaded freight train. "As long as we try to do something in the morning, Arthur, I'll go to bed."
"Fine," Arthur sighed, "I'll do something about it in the morning. I'll go to everybody we know that's safe and ask them if they know anything about it. There, happy?"
"Happy enough," Molly finally conceded. Normally she wouldn't let Arthur get away with not doing anything right there and then, but that freight train had hit her and wouldn't stop, so she had to go to bed, just for long enough to recharge her batteries, and then she would be onto Arthur again, pestering him until he did something about their poor babies.
"Goodnight then, Molly," Arthur said happily, finally satisfied that he had won this one, something that very rarely happened, unless he presented an infallible case, one that she couldn't possibly deny.
"Ginny did your brother say anything to you before the wedding, something about where he might be going?" Molly asked her daughter nervously. Arthur had gone out to try and find out anything he could from their friends, and Fred and George had gone to their joke shop, so Molly and Ginny were the only people in the house.
"Mu-um," Ginny groaned. "You know I don't talk to Ron unless I have to. Of course he didn't say anything."
"Harry, maybe?" Molly persisted; sure her daughter knew something that she wanted to know.
"Mum, he is my boyfriend, but we don't talk about things like where he'd disappear to if he needed to," Ginny replied, slightly embarrassed.
Molly paused for a moment. "What about Hermione?" Molly asked finally, knowing that the two girls were extremely close, more like sisters than best friends. If anyone would have told Ginny about the trio's plans, it would have been Hermione. Yes, she could keep a secret like nobody else, but she wouldn't have wanted Ginny to be worrying about them.
Ginny squirmed in her seat, but remembered Hermione's words.
"Where are you going?" Ginny pleaded with the older girl she trusted so much. "Why can't I come with you?"
"Ginny, even I don't know where we're going, but I can tell you that we need to find the Horcruxes. That's the only way to make us all safe again. You can't come with us though. You'll be in danger."
"I've been in danger before, Hermione," Ginny replied, hands on hips. "I went to the Department of Mysteries with you, remember? I got hurt there, remember?"
"Ginny, you could get killed out there," Hermione said. The last thing she wanted was for the girl she considered her sister to get hurt.
"I could have got killed in the DM too, but you still let me go. Why is this time any different?"
"The stakes are higher this time. More people are going to get hurt and killed, and I don't want you to be one of them. Go back to Hogwarts, keep learning, and then if all this is still going on when you leave, I'll come find you, and you can help us fight."
"Hermione, I'm going to miss you. I can't talk to Mum like I can with you. You just, understand."
The two girls pulled each other into a tight embrace.
"Ginny, I need you to promise me that you don't tell you mum about this," Hermione pleaded. "She can't know about this. Nobody can."
Ginny nodded tearfully, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they took off.
"No, Mum," Ginny lied convincingly. "She didn't tell me a thing.
"Molly!" Arthur yelled, bursting through the door in a hurry. "Molly! They've gone to find the Horcruxes! They're trying to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!"
"Oh my dear Lord," Molly breathed.