Harry stood in the corner of the rather large waiting and greeting area that led to the airport security area, looking through his bag to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything he would want on the plane and then looking warily over Hermione and Ron's shoulders making sure no one else was close enough to overhear their conversation. It was simply too crowded, too many Muggles were around to risk even a small Silencing spell around them or a Muffliato. The trio stood closer together than the average group, nearly in a huddle. Ron and Harry both leaned over a bit to be easier heard by Hermione because she was the shortest of the three. Harry had nearly caught up to Ron in height finally stopping with the top of his head reaching the top of Ron's ears. Hermione stood a head shorter; the three made an interesting picture amongst the many people moving here and there along the white tile floor or stopping to look up at the windows overhead giving a view out onto a remarkably clear blue London sky with just a few stray wispy white clouds.

"I don't understand why you have to be the one to do it," Ron complained quietly frowning and reaching up to brush his hair back off his forehead out of habit having forgotten that he had had Hermione cut it much shorter just a few days ago, Harry had told him it looked much like what Muggles used to call a buzz cut or a flat top.

Harry just shook his head but didn't respond. They'd had this argument at least three times in as many days. Instead he turned and looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow knowing she would provide the support he needed; she understood, possibly more than he even understood himself.

Hermione shook her head as well, stepped away from her exasperated husband who had been standing with his right arm around her, turned back to him and said, "No one else would go or would have wanted to if asked. You know that; and somebody has to. It wouldn't be right otherwise."

Ron rolled his eyes and sniped, "Like it really matters. It's his own fault if his mother dies and he doesn't know about it. He could have kept in touch, sent letters or made Floo calls. He did for a year, over a year; wasn't it closer to a year and half?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, he sent a few letters after the attacks in New York City to let her know he was clear across the country and was perfectly safe somewhere in the mountains of Northern California. It was past the time he needed to regularly check in with the MACUSA main office. And Kingsley was able to check in with the branch office in California…" Harry drifted off thinking of the conversation that day in the Minister's office; the one that had started this whole trip.

One week ago:

"Harry thank you for coming in," Kingsley said standing behind his desk to greet Harry as he stepped into the office. It seemed that once again the minister had redecorated, or perhaps his wife had done it. She seemed to relish changing the look of the office and did it almost seasonally. There were wall to the left when entering was now covered in small portraits of each of the previous ministers, much like the head's office at Hogwarts the portraits were in a variety of states, some awake, some asleep, some seemed to be reading, and still other frames were empty. In front of the portraits sat a long oak conference table surrounded by at least ten chairs. The fireplace to the right was lit but the flame was low. Harry knew this became the Floo that connected directly to the Muggle prime minister's office, the only one that did so and the portrait that communicated with the prime minister was directly above it much as Kingsley had told him it did in his Muggle counterpart's office.

Harry stopped short when he saw Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall sitting in the plush burgundy chairs front of the Minister's large oak desk with the elaborate scroll work.

"Hello Harry," Poppy said softly, smiling just a touch.

"Hello Mr. Potter," said McGonagall much more formally and nodding in his direction her glasses perched precariously on the edge of her nose but not daring to slide off, she would never have allowed it.

"Is there something wrong at Hogwarts?" Harry asked, instantly worried at the sight of the two ladies.

"No, no," both women assured him quickly.

"Why don't you sit down and we can explain what's happening," Kingsley suggested, gesturing to the empty seat next to the women, and taking his own seat directly in front of the enchanted window on the wall behind his desk that was currently looking out over the coast near St. Andrews, the curtains around the window had been changed to match the visitors chairs. The burgundy velvet brought out shades of red he had never noticed before in the walls of the room. It was then that he also noticed that the frames of all of the portraits had been spelled to appear a dark burnished gold.

Once Harry was settled leaning back in his chair, right ankle propped on the opposite knee, hands resting on his left thigh with finger interlaced, looking deceptively calm Poppy spoke softly but strongly, "Harry, Narcissa has taken ill, quite ill. I am really not sure what the problem is. None of my detection spells are finding any known illness."

"Poppy contacted me to let me know," Kingsley said, "and I sent Healer Merton to attend to her."

"So no one else knows?" Harry asked, knowing that Merton was the personal healer to the Auror department, sworn to an Unbreakable Vow of secrecy for any patient she saw in that capacity, or any patient she was ordered to see by the Minister only allowed to speak to the Minister himself or those designated by him or the patient about the patient's condition. Sometimes Harry wondered how any healer was able to maintain the job for more than a year with that much held in their head but he knew Muggle doctors also were held to confidentiality unless given other permission by they patient so he supposed it really wasn't any different and that usually ended the train of thought.

"No," McGonagall assured him. "We have an assistant matron now at Hogwarts so the students have not noticed that Poppy has been out more. The position was added when Madame Pomfrey began teaching healing courses to NEWTS level students interested in post Hogwarts careers that might require or benefit from the knowledge and a basic home healing class for any student third year on. We had a private room set up in the hospital wing but Narcissa refuses to come to Hogwarts."

"Is she still with Andromeda?" Harry asked.

Poppy nodded.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. The two sisters had come to an uneasy reconciliation after the trials. They had corresponded quite a bit during the year of Narcissa and Draco's house arrest, and once the year was over Narcissa had moved in with Andromeda to help her raise Teddy, and had since steadfastly refused to return to the manor. Loathe to leave it in the condition it had been in since Voldemort had moved in, and unable to change anything during her year of house arrest with Draco she had since hired teams of witches and wizards to clean and cleanse the Manor from top to bottom. This included a large amount of redecorating and even some remodeling where possible. She had been handling all of the supervision through meetings by Floo or at Andromeda's house with others taking turns looking in on the actual work on the mansion and providing her with pictures of the process.

Harry himself had been back to the manor to help oversee and even assist in some of the work. It was beginning to look like a very different place. Hermione had even visited purposely to see the drawing room remodel to help her achieve a sense of closure over her torture there at the hands of Bellatrix. It had given her great pleasure to help do some of the tear down there. She and Harry had each found pieces of the chandelier that Dobby had dropped nearly on top of Bellatrix, and had each placed a piece on Dobby's grave. He kept one tucked in the mokeskin pouch from Hagrid, and she had taken enough pieces of chain and crystal to make a much smaller chandelier that hung in the dining room at she and Ron's house. Only she and Harry knew where it had come from. Ron had refused any suggestion of returning to the manor, he wouldn't even go to help with any of the demo work, but each time Harry ate with them he and Hermione shared a smile looking at it, for them it led not to a memory of a horrible time but rather it was a reminder of a sweet, caring, brave, dear friend they had never expected to have or to lose.

"She won't go anywhere the war affected if she can avoid it," Harry said, "so it doesn't surprise me that she wouldn't go to Hogwarts even with it being completely reconstructed," something else he had spent a great deal of time assisting with as had all of his friends.

"Yes, she became quite panicked at the idea of being in the castle," Poppy replied. "I believe she, like so many others, is suffering from what Muggles call PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and we just don't seem to have a handle on treating it but for her avoiding those places may be a part of preventing anxiety attacks. I've come to realize that there are some illnesses both physical and mental that Muggles have a better handle on than we do."

Harry thought for a moment, "I don't know how she would take to the idea but has anyone suggested a Muggle doctor see her? There are other Muggle ailments not often seen in wizarding society, or at least that's what Hermione tells me."

"Andromeda suggested it," Kingsley said, "Narcissa resisted the idea as she's afraid of being kept in a Muggle hospital. We tried to assure her that she can insist on not being admitted but she's also worried about what will happen to her magic if she spends too much time there surrounded by electronics."

"Which is also a valid concern," Minerva continued, "if her magic were to weaken, she could become even sicker. As I am sure you are aware, your magic is a part of you, a deeply seated part of you that becomes active when you are a child. There are those that believe squibs still have a magical core with the ability to do magic locked inside them but that for whatever reason it is never unlocked, it is quite a fascinating area of study actually and I could go on quite a tangent about it but that is quite beside the point and this is not the time for such a conversation. If your magic, or magical core depending on the expert you listen to, weakens then you weaken. Again it is believed that this magical core might be why we suffer from diseases that Muggles do not and why we do not suffer from some that they do. Often times someone who is seriously ill can no longer control their magic and it becomes much like a child whose magic is just manifesting wild and random. Patients in a coma are sometimes placed under special wards to keep the magic from destroying the room they are in; others are placed under special wards to keep the magic within feeding itself as it were to help the patient heal. We're still not sure why electricity and magic seem to be so incompatible, no one has really looked into it. We've always just accepted that they don't work together. I know some workarounds have been created but I don't know if any of them would work in a Muggle hospital, and it may just be that the fear of electronics hampering magic could be enough to actually cause it."

"As it is, I'm not sure if she's going to recover," Poppy said and then paused, "she appears to be dying and there's nothing we can do about it. I've tried everything I know to do as has Healer Merton. Andromeda has been doing research but hasn't been able to find anything yet. This is something we've never seen before. I quietly conferred with some colleagues at St. Mungo's looking through the records there and found nothing really like it. She seems to just be fading away before our eyes, not rapidly mind you but fading nonetheless."

"Andromeda can use the library at Grimmauld place, if she doesn't want to go in I can send Kreacher to her with anything that might help. If he knows it's to help Narcissa he will do everything he can not just because I ask as his owner but because he is still incredibly devoted to the Black family and all it's members. He's even taken to Ron more now that he knows his grandmother was a Black. He always makes something for me to take over to 'Mistress Narcissa' when I go visit."

"Thank you Harry." Poppy said, "I'll send her an owl when we leave here."

Harry thought for a moment, "That's not the only reason you called me in though is it."

"No," Kingsley replied sitting forward in his chair at which point Harry noticed the file folder sitting in the middle of the otherwise clear desk.

"Still no word from Draco?" he guessed.

"Other than an occasional package for Teddy with no note or return address, no."

"And you contacted MACUSA," Harry said knowing that that would be the standard operating procedure for a missing citizen in another country, first contact the government and law enforcement of that country to ask them to conduct a search if they didn't have any knowledge of the location of said missing person, "what did they say?"

"I did," Kingsley nodded, the former auror in him proud of Harry for being so aware of procedure that was not needed often, "President Flerston assigned two of their aurors to find him but they've had no luck so far. Flerston has said I can send one or two aurors to assist in the search or take over."

"I'll go," Harry said immediately, "I know you may want to send someone more experienced and that Draco may not react well to seeing me, but I don't know that he'd react well to any auror, and I know how to manage myself in the Muggle world so I won't stand out if I have to travel amongst them. Even with things being somewhat different in America I shouldn't stand out more than any other British tourist."

"Are you comfortable going alone?" Kingsley asked. "I can send one of the senior aurors with you."

"No," Harry replied knowing the senior aurors would be incredibly arsed to be pulled from any case they might be on for a missing person's case, especially a missing former Death Eater. He knew many of them felt that Draco had gotten off easy, that he should have been locked up in Azkaban. He would be better off going by himself, "I think it would be better if I went alone. If he sees two aurors coming together he might think the worst, just one might have him thinking the worst. It's hard for us to hide what we are. When in undercover mode, even using Polyjuice there's something we can see at least in each other that is a giveaway. Put a group of aurors together in Muggle clothing in a room full of others in the same clothing and for some reason you can still tell they're aurors, maybe not everyone can see it but we can see it in each other and it never ceases to surprise me when the person we're chasing can see it too.

Kingsley laughed, "Some are better at hiding it than others."

Harry nodded, "I think some try harder than others and some just adapt better to undercover work."

"I've heard it's much the same in Muggle police officers," Kingsley commented.

"Is there any way to contact him at all?"

"We've tried the Floo network but where ever he is, he's not connected. We also tried owls, well the aurors in the States did and they returned with the letters. We even tried sending letters through the Muggle post, but they were also returned as undeliverable and those were sent directly to the post office in the town he sends his packages from."

"Is there any reason to suspect foul play or do we just think he's disappeared by choice?"

"Considering he did send a Christmas package last year and then another only a few months ago, I think it's safe to assume that he was healthy and in no danger at that time but as there has been nothing from him since then…" Kingsley trailed off.

Poppy reached out a hand with several small rolls of parchment, "These are the letters his mother tried to send but they've each been returned. Would you take them to him? I have also written him a letter explaining what I can about her condition. Hopefully they will help convince him to return or at the very least to contact Narcissa."

"You said she appears to be dying," Harry said, "but can you tell me any more about her actual condition? I know it might be a breach of confidentiality so I understand if you can't but it would help if I could answer any questions he might have, and quite honestly I'd really just like to know."

Poppy nodded, placed the parchments on the desk, and reached over to squeeze his hand, "I'm sure Narcissa won't mind. She has mentioned how much she looks forward to your visits and as you will visit her before you go?" she raised an eyebrow somehow both questioningly and knowingly.

"Yes."

"Then you probably should be prepared for what you will see. She is now bedridden. There is no physical reason we can find for her inability to walk but she can't. She is only capable of sitting up for short periods of time before becoming too tired to stay in that position. Her pallor is concerning and we've given her a few blood replenishing potions but they seem to make no difference, pepper up also has little to no effect on her. Under her pillow at all times is her wand, though she rarely uses it as she struggles to cast even the simplest of spells but she won't let it away from her; it seems to bring her comfort to have it nearby. Her hair has begun to fall out, not in large amounts but it is noticeably thinner. I don't know what else to tell you. This illness is just mystifying," she leaned forward, towards Harry speaking earnestly.

"Thank you for sharing that with me," Harry picked up the stack of parchments from the desk and also took the paper the Kingsley passed to him, "This is a letter from me, assuring him that he is not wanted by the Ministry or the Wizengamot, that he would be allowed to travel freely should he return, and that no one would stop him from once again leaving the country. Use whatever resources you need to prepare for your trip. I know there is a large stock of Polyjuice that you are welcome to use. The ministry is covering all expenses, just make any arrangements you need to get to the USA. Report to the MACUSA main office in New York City, they will assist you from there."

"I'll get started right away."

Harry shook his head coming out of the memory and replied, "And you don't find that suspicious Ron? That no one has heard from him in months, no actual letters in years?"

"Well," Ron hemmed and hawed shifting his feet back and forth looking out the windows, up at the sky, over at security, pretty much anywhere but at Harry, "yes it's strange, but it doesn't mean that anything happened and since the US aurors didn't find anything I think he's just gone off to hide and pout at no longer being the center of attention he always was. Besides, I just don't understand why we're looking into it we don't even have any jurisdiction there anyway."

"Ron you know they tried," Hermione said putting her hand on his arm.

"And apparently they're awful at it or he doesn't want to be found," he snapped fighting with himself not to shake off his wife's hand.

"Or maybe," Hermione suggested, "they can't find him because something happened to him or they didn't try as hard as they say they did."

Ron snorted and rolled his eyes, "Can you blame them?"

"Ronald!" she snapped and smacked him in the arm.

Harry raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the right, "Um mate if that's going to be your opinion on those we might have to look for, that some aren't worth finding you might need to look into a different career. He was tried and convicted and he served his time. Whether you agree with the punishment or not, it's not your call."

Ron scowled and crossed his arms, "I do my job."

"So it's just Malfoy that's the problem? If you had been assigned to go look for him can you honestly say you would your hardest."

The ginger just squirmed a bit but didn't reply.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought," Harry said in disgust, "personal feelings have no place on the job or we're no better than they were, no better than Umbridge was."

"And how exactly would you feel if someone knew your mother was dying and didn't try as hard as they possibly could to find you and let you know even if you'd chosen to take some time away from everything?" Hermione asked him with a glare.

"Hermione, don't even say that." Ron's eyes were wide and he jerked back as if wounded, the thought of losing another family member turning his face as white as the few clouds drifting overhead.

"I'm sorry, but you have to pull your head out of your arse," she sighed as her shoulders slumped.

Harry shook his head blowing out a breath through nearly clenched teeth before speaking, "It doesn't matter. I'm going. Poppy said she doesn't know how long Narcissa has; I have to go, someone has to go and that someone is me. They're not finding him over there for whatever reason so I'm going to look."

"You will be careful though won't you?" Hermione asked stepping closer to him and squeezing his arm gently.

"Yes," Harry answered, "of course I will."

"You have everything you need?" She pulled her arms in close around herself as if fighting the urge to go through his bag.

"It's all packed. Everything I need to get there anyway. I'm trying to travel light but not so light that I'll stand out among the Muggles, erm NoMajs. I'll pick up anything else I need when I get there or as I go. I have that small knapsack you put the Undetectable Extension charm on once I get there and have cleared all of the various airport and customs checkpoints and to MACUSA to pick them I'll pack all of my magical items in it."

"I don't get why you didn't do that yet?" Ron mumbled, "it's such a waste of time to do it later."

"It was just easier to send everything but my wand ahead because everything has to be x-rayed and I don't know how the magic will react to that when it's filled. I know how to do the charm now so if I get to the States and the charm has been deactivated by the x-rays and electronics I can recast it, but can you imagine what would happen if I had a knapsack stuffed as full as Hermione's beaded bag and the charm stopped working. Yeah I'm thinking I'd be sitting in airport jail and then a real Muggle jail. It's not worth the risk. McGonagall mentioned no one really knows why magic and electronics don't work together that no one has researched it at all. It's really something someone should look into but unless directed to do it I don't think anyone will," Harry explained.

"Probably because they consider themselves superior, even tolerant witches and wizards don't often see any use in anything Muggle," Hermione scoffed.

"I know you don't need more to do Mione, but it could be something for you to look in to," Harry suggested.

"Maybe or maybe I could start the research then pass it onto Arthur. With his interest in everything Muggle he'd certainly be the one wanting to learn how to use electricity. You'll be okay driving over there?" Hermione asked changing the subject, "I know you can drive here but it's different there."

"Yes," he replied, "Kings let me use a private driving course to practice driving on the left side of the road it's not hard with a little practice and I'll be driving slow, slower anyway wouldn't want to miss a turn or anything."

"We have access to a private driving course?" Ron's jaw dropped, "Why didn't I know about this?"

"It's not ours, it's not like we own the property. The course is part of training for the London police department but Kingsley spoke to Prime Minister Blair and he arranged for us to use it when we need. It is occasionally used by aurors that may need to spend more time in the Muggle world on a case. I got to work with Muggle driving instructor. He taught me some strategies for driving in the ice and the snow, and on steep hills since we think he's in the mountains."

"Wonder if I can get a chance to use it, I need practice just to drive here so I can get my driver's license. Why are you taking an airplane though? Why not use a Portkey?" asked Ron, looking around at the mass of people walking to and from the security area. It was more crowded here than Diagon Alley the last weekend before the Hogwarts term began.

"Portkey travel at that distance is just as expensive as a plane ticket and much more nauseating, besides this will give me time to go over the map of the area and look for possible locations. I can use the time to plan my search pattern. I can compare it with the information I got from the US aurors office. It would be a good idea to have a plan before I get there rather than winging it and going along impulsively like we did looking for Horcruxes. I know that worked out in the long run but I need to find Draco faster than we found the horcruxes."

"Get some sleep too Harry," Hermione said.

"I will," he promised.

"Call us if you need anything, Floo or regular phone," she said.

"If I can find a place to floo I will, but I doubt I'll use the regular phone that's very expensive and I don't want to use more of the Ministry's money or my own than I need."

Hermione reached out and slid something into his hand, "Here," she said, "this is a calling card. It has minutes already loaded on it. It's actually an international calling card so it should work easily. If you run out of minutes there's a way to reload them; it has the instructions for how to do that on the back."

"Thanks Mione," he was touched that she had thought of this and vowed to find a way to pay her back. He knew she and Ron didn't have much money, they lived comfortably but he also knew that they were trying to save everything they could and with good reason. He on the other hand now had access to the Potter family vaults and the Black family vaults though he had tried to transfer those first to Andromeda for Teddy and then to Narcissa. After they had both refused he had instead officially had Teddy named as his heir for the Black vaults, should he ever have his own children the Potter vaults would go to them. He had also set up a separate trust fund account for Teddy that the boy would receive when he finished his education at Hogwarts.

"How you going to pay for everything over there?" Ron asked.

"I have my Gringotts debit card, which will look like a regular credit or debit card to any NoMajs, and I'll exchange actual coins for American money both NoMaj and wizarding when I stop in at MACUSA and check in in New York. I have two different wallets so I can keep the different kinds of money separate. In New York, they're going to guide me to the main California branch I don't know if it'll be by plane or a number of Floo stops or Portkey. I'll find out when I get there, but they're covering the expense on that and being reimbursed by the Ministry. All I need to worry about is food. They're even providing the rental vehicle, I think it's a Jeep of some kind. I'll be roaming the hills or mountains of northern California and need a vehicle that can do that."

Harry looked at his watch, "I really need to go now. I have to get through security and it's not a short line, then off to my gate. I'll call you when I land."

Hermione gave him a hug, holding him for longer than usual, and whispered in his ear, "Be careful."

He hugged her back, "I will," he promised.

Ron put out his hand to shake and then pulled Harry into a not so quick hug, squeezing tighter than normal, as if he didn't want to let go, "I still don't know why it has to be you but be safe mate."

Harry laughed, "Don't worry about it! I know better after all these years than to take unnecessary risks especially since I won't have Mione there to pull my arse out of the fire." They all laughed though it was an uncomfortable laugh of those used to always being together or at least near enough to help one another in times of need not knowing how to deal with being so far apart.

"And promise you'll be back before the new year and this little one's due date," Hermione said as she rubbed her rather large rounded stomach.

Harry patted that same stomach then leaned over and spoke to it, "Rose I'll be back before you get here little flower."

"Ugh don't call her that," Ron groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I think it's sweet," Hermione said smiling.

Harry laughed and said, "He's going to be even more confused when I give her the stuffed animal I have for her."

Hermione's eyes lit up as a grin spread across her face, "Let me guess, it has four legs, a tail, and is black with white stripes."

He laughed and nodded.

She joined him in laughing as Ron looked on confused.

Finally Harry stopped and said, "I really do have to go now. I promise to be safe, and I promise to stay in touch."

With that he grabbed his knapsack, put it over his shoulder, turned and with a quick wave walked away to the security lines. Hermione and Ron stood and watched until Harry had made it through the metal detectors and was off down the terminal to his gate.

A/N this is the first chapter of my 2018 NaNo novel, as I'm working my way through finally editing it I'm going to be posting it. As always reviews are welcomed and appreciated.