A/N I must apologize before you even start. I know I can't write action to save my soul, however for this story to continue in the direction I have planned, this must happen. Please be understanding and not too disappointed with the way I go about this. I feel at this time you must read it to not lose yourself in what's going on.
Chapter Ten
Before the limo even came to a complete stop, both Ginny and Lucius were out of the car. As they made their way to the door, which was open, Lucius ordered, "Ginevra, stay here."
"There's no way I'm staying here!" Ginny said as she ran in the door. She was only ahead of him because of the side of the car she had been on. Ginny stopped dead once she was in the front door, though. There on the floor lay Mrs. Cadbury. Lucius walked over to her, knelt down, and quickly checked her.
As he rose up, he said, "It looks like Avada Kedavra."
Ginny turned on her heel, heading for the stairs, yelling "Kyra!! Kyra!!"
Lucius, who must have been following her, grabbed her arm. "Ginevra, you must think! You don't even have your wand!" Her eyes darted to his, as he continued. "We don't know what we could be walking in on. Stay behind me." They made their way up the rest of the stairs. As they reached Kyra's door, which also was open, they could see no one in the room. Kyra had clearly been in bed before things happened as the covers were flipped back and on the indent of her pillow was a note. Ginny tried to push past Lucius but he held her back and flicked his wand. A second later, Ginny's wand came flying towards them; he grabbed it and handed it to her. Then they entered the room and moved towards the bed. Lucius snatched up the note and read it aloud; 'Lucius Malfoy, you betrayed those whom you called friends, taking them away from their families. It's time for you to pay. I have taken that which you find most dear from you, and I so enjoy practicing the Unforgiveables!' He handed the note to Ginny and ripped open his left sleeve With his wand tip he touched the Dark Mark that was there, saying at the same time "Severus Snape." The Mark glowed red for a minute. He then looked at Ginny. "We're going to need help to find her."
"I'll call home; Harry will help." Ginny said quickly. Lucius looked at her with instant contempt. "Oh, put it aside, please. Both you and Severus were Death Eaters, there's a Muggle woman dead, and our daughter is missing!" She headed for the closest phone because the house was not connected to the Floo network. She had to phone George at the store, and have him call Harry. Harry arrived before Severus, probably due to the fact that Severus had to leave the grounds of Hogwarts first. Harry was able to Apparate directly to the front door. He came inside and found Ginny sitting on Kyra's bed, holding her favorite doll. He looked at Lucius with suspicion in his eyes.
"What happened here?" Harry asked.
"I took Ginevra out for the evening. Upon returning, we found the Dark Mark over the house," Lucius explained in an annoyed tone.
"Lucius?" came Snape's voice from downstairs.
Lucius moved towards the bedroom door, calling down,"Up here Severus. I'll continue once Snape's up here." Lucius said. Seconds later Snape walked in the room, took one look at Ginny, then at Lucius ignoring Harry. Lucius told them what had happened, then Harry asked to see the note. Ginny sat watching the men. Snape looked at her again, and walked over towards her.
"Ginny, are you okay?" he asked.
"They're going to use the Unforgiveables on her! She's just a baby!" she blurted. She finally allowed the tears that had been stinging her eyes to fall.
Harry looked up from the letter. "There's nothing magical about the note itself. You don't maybe have some coded terminology that we don't know about that might give us some clue? That I don't see?" Harry looked at the two former Death Eaters.
"No," Lucius replied.
"Luna was going to call the London office and have someone inform the U.S. Auror's office. More help should be here shortly. Have you had any threats since you've been out?" Harry asked as they heard voices from downstairs.
"Yeah, I heard about the Dark Mark but never saw it before." said an unfamiliar voice.
"That must be the help." Snape said.
"I'll go talk to them," Harry said and turned to leave with the note still in hand.
"Potter," Snape said quietly. Harry turned toward Severus. "Could I see the note?" Harry walked back, handing it to Snape. Severus read it over a few times, deep in thought, then said as Harry was about to leave, "I know who wrote this." All eyes in the room were now on him. " Gregory Goyle."
"Are you sure?" came the three other voices in the room.
"Quite. I saw more than my fair share of his writing to know it. I'm positive. And from what I know of him, I think he would take her back to England; somewhere he knows very well. He always found safety in what he was familiar with. We will find them there."
Harry nodded at Snape. "I'm going to talk to the Aurors downstairs. Ginny, Mr Malfoy, perhaps you should change. Draco knew him very well, it seemed. Do you think he would be willing to help?"
Lucius seemed surprised at this."Of course, he will."
"Good. Let's try to leave this room exactly as it is. Professor Snape, would you mind joining me?"
Five minutes later, Ginny caught up with Lucius at the top of the stairs. She didn't speak; she was too afraid of saying something she would later regret. "She'll be fine," he assured her as he took her hand and they headed to the main floor.
Once they got down to the main floor they joined Harry, Snape and the others. Harry looked at Lucius. "Mr Malfoy, have you spoken to Draco?"
"Yes and he is most willing to help. He also says he never heard Gregory saying anything about America, but he does have a few ideas as to where Goyle could be." said Lucius.
"Good. The American Aurors will finish up here. Let's head back to England and find them. Ginny, are you going to be okay?" asked Harry.
Ginny only nodded, still holding Kyra's doll. "I suggest we head to Malfoy Manor," Lucius offered..
"And I would say we go to the Burrow. George has by now informed the whole family; I'm sure their all waiting for word." stated Harry.
This time Snape spoke up. "I, too, would recommend Malfoy Manor as well, Potter. There are resources there that could be helpful."
Harry did not agree. Lucius spoke this time to Ginny, "You can let your family know where we are and they can join you at the Manor. There's more room there and the staff can help out." She nodded. A couple of minutes later, the four of them Apparated to just outside of the Manor. Once they got into the house, Lucius told Ginny to use the fireplace in the front hall to call the Burrow.
Ginny watched the men head for the living room, then she Floo'd to the Burrow. "Mum, Dad?"
"Ginny dear, what's going on?" Her mother's face came into view, followed closely by her father.
"They think Gregory Goyle took her. Mum, Dad, I'm at Malfoy Manor with Harry and the others. Lucius told me to have you all come here. Could you please come?" Ginny pleaded.
"Of course honey, we'll be there right away," said Arthur. Ginny closed the connection and seconds later her father stepped out of the fireplace.
At the sight of him, Ginny finally broke down. Her father simply wrapped his arms around her. As Molly stepped out of the fireplace, Ginny sobbed, "Daddy, we had gone out to dinner and the theater, and we were on our way home when I saw the Mark over the house. The note said he's going to practice the Unforgivable Curses on her!" It was hard to understand her through the sobs.
Molly said, "The rest of the family are going to stay at the Burrow and wait for word there."
"Where are Harry and the others?" Arthur asked.
"The living room," Ginny said. Arthur, who had been to the Manor on a few raids, pulled Ginny along toward the living room with Molly following close behind. They entered the room to find the most unlikely scene: Harry Potter standing with Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy, and Lucius Malfoy, talking in low voices about where Goyle could be. Lucius looked over at Ginny; her father's arms still around her. She had calmed down some; however, tears could be seen escaping from her eyes. Lucius and Arthur simply nodded towards each other.
Draco was saying, "Let me think. I remember him saying something..., I wasn't paying much attention to him at the time. Give me a second." He moved away from the others and paced.
Harry continued, "Has anyone spoken with him? I'm wondering about his mental state."
Arthur spoke this time. "He works at the Mniistry; I think in the Magical Transportation department."
He looked at Arthur. "Good. Someone at work should be able to let us know how he is. Mr. Malfoy, could I use your Floo?" Harry asked. Lucius nodded. Harry called his office for them to send someone to talk to Goyle's co-workers.
Draco finally returned to the others. "He once told me about some hunting lodge his father used to take him to. He said he loved it because there were alot of places to hide in and around the building, hidden rooms inside and stuff like that." Harry had returned to the group as well. "It was up near Glenprosem Village." He looked at his father and Snape to see if either of them knew of the place. Neither of them seemed to know about it.
However Snape spoke up, "It sounds like the right type of place, if we knew where it was."
An hour later, thanks to Arthur and Harry's connections at the Ministry, the location of the village was determined. Other Aurors were notified to be ready to move in on the location. They decided only a small number should go until Kyra was safe; no one seemed willing to say or think anything that would imply anything different.
Ginny, of course, wanted to go. "I'm coming too," she said defiantly.
"No! It could be dangerous," came from the men.
She looked at them with frustration. "She's my baby, and I know I've proven myself in the past."
Moly spoke this time, softly to Ginny, "I'm sure they all know you're more than capable, but Ginny, this is going to need cool heads. You're far too emotional right now and besides, if Kyra's not okay, she's going to need you to be unharmed. Ginny, trust me. Stay back here with us. Keep yourself safe so you can help her after." Ginny looked at her mother. "Ginny, I know it's hard to sit back and not be there but she's going to need you after."
Ginny finally agreed. "Fine. I'll stay." Lucius and the others relaxed a little. As they walked with the unlikely quartet to the door, Ginny spoke again. " I want to go to the Burrow." Molly and Arthur nodded. Once they stepped outside, Lucius came up to Ginny.
Placing his hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes., he said, "I promise I will bring her back to you."
She wrapped her arms around him and said into his chest, "See that you do."
He hugged her tightly, "I promise you." He then kissed the side of her head before letting go.
Molly placed a hand on her husband's arm to keep him from reacting. "We'll contact you at the Burrow once he have something to tell you," Harry said, as Lucius moved away from Ginny. Then he, Draco, Snape, and Harry Disapparated, leaving Ginny with her parents.
"Let's head back to the Burrow; there's a house full waiting for word." Molly said, who had remained calm all this time.
When they arrived back at the Weasley house, almost everyone was there; Bill and Fleur with Victorie, Charlie, Percy and his girlfriend Audrey, George and a very pregnant Angelina, and Luna. Ron and Hermione were still on their honeymoon and unreachable. Fleur, who had long ago (since her wedding) calmed down quite a bit and now was loved by all the Weasleys, had taken over Molly's place in the kitchen cooking. As soon as Ginny entered the kitchen, Fleur's arms were around her in a tight hug. Within seconds, Ginny, Arthur and Molly were surrounded by family all asking questions at the same time. Ginny slowly recounted what had taken place. Once she finished, they began the long wait. Once in awhile someone would ask something. After the first hour of waiting, Ginny went up to the bathroom. On the way back, she stopped at her old room, which Kyra now slept in when she spent the night. Ginny walked over to the bed and picked up the pillow. She hugged it to her closely, inhaling the smell of her daughter's hair which was still there. Ginny sank onto the bed and began sobbing.
After a few minutes, there was a soft knock on the door. As she looked up, she had to smile at Bill. Without a word, he walked across the room to Ginny and hugged her. "I can't imagine what you're going through."
"I don't remember ever being this scared," she said looking up at him. He had always been her favorite brother, and her feelings towards him grew greatly when Ron had left for his first year at Hogwarts. Bill had made a point of coming home more often, and always had time for her.
"It's horrible what our children can do to us, isn't it?" He let go of her and was now sitting on the bed.
She only nodded. "Mum got Charlie talking to Dad. She said that he was pretty upset when you and Lucius hugged."
"Can we not talk about this right now?"
"Gin, I have no intention of giving you any kind of hard time about this right now. I just wanted to say remember what he did in the past to you and know as a parent, in light of how you're feeling about this Goyle, how you would feel if twelve years from now Kyra was hugging him. Just remember what you're feeling and be understanding of dad when he explodes." She looked up at him waiting for more. "That's all I have to say about it. Let's head back downstairs." said Bill.
They all waited for another couple of hours. Finally, a Patronus of a doe entered the house. Snape's voice filled the room. "Meet us at St. Mungo's."
A/N Two more things
one- I have a poll on my profile page please vote!!
two- please if you have not review do so. I will not post the next chapter until I have at least ten reviews for this chapter.