Hermione POV

I tapped the bricks on the wall, counting them in my head. Next to Hogwarts and the Burrow, Diagon Alley was my favorite place. I always saw someone I knew. I walked along the road, smiling at people here and there. I passed the bookstore, stopping and doing a double take.

"Ginny!" I hurried over, meeting her with a grim smile.

"Oh, hey Hermione." I stood there, a bit dumbfounded for a moment.

"Oh?" I took a breath. "That's it?"

"Well I'm sorry Hermione, but I don't exactly think we're on the best of terms, after all, since you left about a week ago, and never came back! Do you even know what I had to go through! Between mum and Ron and Harry? I can't believe-"

"Can it Ginny. Not now. I have something so much more important to talk about." She gave a muffled screech of protest as I pulled her into a shop for dress robes.

"Ginny, I-I found out who Calla is related to. I found her family." Ginny stood there for a second, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. After a second, she punched me in the shoulder lightly.

"Well?" She demanded. "Where are they?"

"Right here Ginny," I muttered, looking at her in the eye. She stared at me for a second.

"Bloody hell Hermione. You're not- you know. Her-"

"No! Bloody hell Ginny no, no! I'm her cousin." Her eyes lit up.

"Then you must know her mom! That's great! We can tell mum right now, and well, we can find her, and figure out why she was on the steps of Grimmauld place! And-"

"Ginny." My tone stopped her joyous chatter of a family reunion.

"What is it 'Mione?" Her bemused look saddened me. I didn't want to have to say it.

"Ginny, her mom is dead." She stood next to a rack of robes, shell shocked. I looked around, our gestures and voices were attracting some attention. She silently pulled me out of the shop, and wordlessly, we apparated to an alley leading to a muggle street. She pulled me through the tightly packed street. This is where I had taken her for a girl's night one weekend, about a year ago. We had gone shopping, to a club, and lots of other things. She talked as casually as possible, without freaking out.

"How?" I gulped.

"Voldemort." Ginny gave a shriek, causing several muggles to look at us.

"Shush." Ginny started to stutter.

"And Calla, Hermione? You don't happen to know where she's been, by chance?" I closed my eyes.

"I think you've figured it out, Ginny."

"Yeah. But I want to know why." I opened my eyes, giving her a grim smile.

"That's exactly what I'm going to find out." Ginny halted abruptly, clenching my wand arm, so I couldn't move.

"You know I'm going with you, right?" I opened my mouth to protest.

"Oh come on Hermione. We're not in school anymore, and we're on vacation form any work we have. There's no one to tell us what to do, where to go! What possible danger is there? Voldemort's dead Hermione. Harry killed him." She said fiercely. I hung my head.

"I know. But there's really not much, I mean honestly Ginny, we can just go see Calla and-" I stopped halfway. We would try, but I knew it wouldn't work. We would definitely need a plan B. As if she read my mind, Ginny smiled.

"I guess we better get planning then, huh?" We apparated back to her house, trying not to let on we knew anything. I just didn't feel comfortable yet about telling the others. I knew Ron would care less, and Harry, well, he had a problem of over thinking things sometimes.


"Hey Calla, can we talk to you?" She jumped.

"Um, sure Ginny, I guess."

"Alright, well, I'm sure we've asked you quite a lot, but, can you tell me what happened to your mom? Is there anything you remember?" Calla practically glared at her, then venomously looked at me.

"She should know. She was there. If she doesn't know, that's her problem. The nine year old practically spat. She stumble-ran up the stairs, to her room, as Ginny straightened up.

"That got us practically no where. So, what now? How in Merlin's name are we going to find out what Voldemort wanted from Calla?" I thought about it for a second.

"We ask who was there." I mouth went into a grim line. "Starting, with Lucius Malfoy."


A/N :: Yay! Another chapter! So, I've realized that the chapters have been really short, and for that, I'm sorry, but it seems like when I add something else it's all either fluff, or filler, which are two things I really wanted to avoid in this story. So, thanks for reading and reviewing, and your ENORMOUS amounts of patience!