Disclaimer: The only idea that is my own is Grace and all plot situations that pertain to her. Everything else really belongs to someone else.

A/N: More snow, more snow, and more snow! I've never heard of a college that would take away spring break because of missed school days due to snow. Yes, it's that bad. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed. Until then, I'm playing catch up. Thanks to e-mail, I have more than enough school work. I just don't have the pleasure of lecture notes to explain the assignments. Oh well, I hope this chapter makes up for the extra wait. As always, enjoy and please review! ~Lila

Chapter 11

1,000 Words

Ginny had made her way downstairs to find something to eat. Arthur had left his wife and daughter sipping tea in the kitchen. He was being sent after Harry. Something was keeping the boy from coming downstairs. All thoughts of the reason being due to embarrassment were banished from Arthur's mind when he reached the doorway to his daughter's room.

The room was a disaster. Ginny had thrown just about everything she could lift in her fit of rage across the room. Arthur could see exactly where Harry had started cleaning and what areas hadn't even been touched. He wished the mess was the reason for what had startled him. He knew from listening to the fight it was going to be bad. He thought he was going to have to call for Molly if the boy had more serious injuries. He could handle minor bumps, cuts, and bruises. He would have thought a serious injury would have given him reason to pause. He almost wished this was the case.

The scene before him was so still, a photograph would have held more movement. A thin clean trail was obvious in the clutter. It was as plain as drawing a line to what was now the focal point of the room. Arthur just stared at Harry's back. He was sitting on the floor among the mess. His back crouched around something in his hands. His body held the solid curve as if it was protecting that one simple thing. At the boy's feet was a scrap book.

Arthur could tell that Harry had started picking up the loose photos before he could even touch the book. The book was where it had most likely been thrown. The book was open face down with pages bent and scrunched up against the harsh landing. The cover had "Grace" written across the front. Pieces of pink and purple paper as well as a few loose photos that hadn't made it to Harry's hands were still in a circle around the book. Arthur couldn't help but stare. It was just one of those moments that words failed.

This scrap book was a treasure. Ginny prided herself on keeping a photo diary of every little thing about Grace. Arthur had wondered if it was more so Ginny had something concrete to hold onto to give Harry when the time came. His daughter had been angrier then he first thought. For her to throw what Arthur would consider her most prized possession, Ginny must have completely let go of herself. Maybe she was just trying to force him into seeing what was right in front of him. But, Ginny was going to put the room back with magic after she ate. Maybe she hadn't remembered the book was lying there. Maybe it was all a part of her big plan on telling him. Arthur was so caught up in trying to understand what he saw that he almost missed what Harry said when he softly spoke.

***

Harry had put his heart and soul into making Ginny believe that he never once considered loving here a mistake. He could spend the rest of his life loving her, but her stomach had other plans. Harry had convinced her to go after some breakfast. His heart broke when he saw her face take in the mess from the fight. He had told her he was going to shower and then come down. He would gladly sacrifice a long shower for enough time to at least pick up some of the more sentimental pieces.

Harry had just picked a spot and started making a line towards the door. He could at least divide the mess up into piles and make it look less intimidating. Roughly half way across the room, he first noticed the slips of pink and purple paper. He picked up one to find a picture attached. He froze as the small figure in the photo gave him his favorite smile.

Harry didn't know how long he sat there just cradling the photograph. He soaked in every detail. The caption on the paper said three years. She was three years old in this picture. At first, he thought it was a completely new child he had never scene, but the face and smile was exactly right. The only things that were different from the older child he had a clear mental picture of were the hair and eye color. The girl from his memory had brown hair and brown eyes. This girl, she had black hair and green eyes.

She was clapping and smiling and playing with a cloth doll on the floor of the living room that was just downstairs. She was wearing a green dress with a matching green bow in her hair. It was the same green as her eyes. He kept going back to her eyes. Her dark black hair was distracting as well, but it was smooth and looked strangely well kept on such a small child. But her eyes, they were his mother's eyes.

It was strange how he thought that last part. Everyone had always told him he had his mother's eyes. Had it gotten to the point where he just thought of the color as hers? Was this not a trait that had been passed down for generations? Had it been passed on again? More importantly, had he missed it?

The first thing he noticed about her at the breakfast table, for he knew it was the same girl, was that she had Ginny's smile. It was why Arthur's story about Grace belonging to Charlie hadn't fit exactly right. It was why Molly had told him Charlie was working hard yet said her mother needed help taking care of Grace. The only thing he remembered the child saying about herself was that treacle tart was her favorite. Everything else had been a round of questions. Harry found himself wishing he had taken the time to answer every single one of them.

He hated himself in that moment. He never questioned why anyone hadn't said something. He should have gone back. He shouldn't have put Ginny in the situation of having to choose between waiting for him or seeking him out. She was trying to keep her hidden from the world. If word got out that Grace…

Someone knew. Someone knew about his Grace.

***

"How many people know?"

Arthur jumped when he heard the soft demand. The words might have been in the form of a question, but Harry's intent was clear. Arthur only heard that tone in a man's voice when a man meant business because his family was being threatened. He would no longer think of Harry Potter as a boy.

"Just the immediate family knows she exists at all." Arthur swallowed. "Ginny likes to keep her hidden as much as possible. I've only had her in public to a few ice cream outings in the village. She's been to Andromeda's house by apparition only incase something went wrong with the flu or a portkey. If anything, she's been isolated too much. She was having a hard time with the crowds at the memorial."

"She was having a hard time because of the crowds or because she saw someone who wasn't supposed to be there because she only had seen her in the muggle village?" Harry's voice was getting an accusing tone. His voice trembled with the control that was trying to hold it together. Arthur let Harry work it out. Harry was good at his job for a reason.

"I wouldn't know. Molly had her hand until I held her. I passed her straight to Hermione after your speech. The rest of the family stood around Molly, Grace, and me. We didn't leave her open. We didn't leave her unprotected." Arthur was stating the facts. He would have openly admitted anything that he had done that he thought would have put his granddaughter in trouble. "Wait, how do you know it was a woman?"

"A man couldn't walk into a women's restroom empty handed, cast a stunning spell, and walk out holding a child without anyone else noticing. Mothers were standing in line with fussy children. One that was giving her mother a bit of trouble on the way out of the restroom wouldn't have caused much of a stir." Harry stood up from his spot on the floor still staring at the picture. "But, I still don't think she would go with just anyone. You had to have taught her. You had to have prepared her." Harry gazed into Arthur's eyes. Arthur had never seen such clear desperation.

"Hermione taught her as soon as Grace started to mumble. Ginny thought it was to early at first, but Grace was so open to the boys when she barely knew them…Grace knew not to go with anyone she didn't know." Arthur could clearly remember Hermione drilling the small child. It wasn't the most comfortable situation for a while. The fear that Grace would go with a stranger had been tampered down as she had gotten older. Had it gotten too comfortable?

"Did Hermione tell her not to go with anyone she didn't know or not to go with anyone who wasn't family?" Harry's voice was filled with fear. Arthur wondered why he would be worried about how Hermione had phrased what she taught Grace. He tried to figure out the answer to why but none came to him.

"I think she told her not to go with anyone she didn't know." Arthur nodded his head. He was positive that was how Hermione had said it.

"Did you just take her to the ice cream parlor?" Harry was grabbing his shoes and coat and heading out of the room and down the stairs before Arthur could even answer.

"Yes. Ginny would only let me take her there and straight back." Ginny had insisted on that fact. Arthur remembered on one occasion where Grace had dropped her ice cream and he had gotten her a new one. Arthur hadn't thought about the time difference by adding those few minutes. Ginny had came for Grace and taken her home exclaiming the whole way back that he had kept her out way longer than he had promised. Arthur had forgotten about the charms for Grace's hair and eyes. If Ginny hadn't have come, the charms would have worn off before the return home.

"She would be able to recognize the regular people from the shop?" Harry sounded worried. Arthur didn't like it.

"I'll grab my coat." He beat Harry out the door and led him down to the village to the ice cream parlor.

***

Harry sat at a table eating an ice cream just watching. He didn't know what he was looking for. He didn't expect it to be easy. He thought he would just know when he saw it. He glanced at the employee of the month photos. He stared at the teenagers dishing out treats for a mother and two children. He watched and listened for someone to take notice of Arthur minus his granddaughter.

"Did you ever bring her with…"Harry paused. If there was a chance that Grace wasn't the only target, he needed to set up security for Teddy and Victorie. He was going to for precautionary measures, but he wanted to know of any possible real threat.

"No. We thought it would be safer for them not to be associated with each other in public." Arthur spoke quietly. He was nervous about listening ears and wandering eyes.

"Good." Harry was happy that the connection was going to be harder to make. The connection would still be easy for someone who fallowed wizarding news in detail, but someone who was more connected to the muggle world might be slower. Harry still couldn't help shake the feeling that this was a woman who knew him better than anyone. How else would she have known to look for a child that wasn't even a speculation to society?

Harry felt that he was getting closer. He knew that the abductor was a woman. He just had a feeling he was missing something important. He didn't have time to miss it. His Grace was missing.

***

If you think you know who it is, feel free to guess in a review. I haven't given away anything that wasn't already in previous chapters…or have I?