A/N: sorry to all for the delay this week. I had a crazy week including a REALLY important job interview that I was prepping for (please all wish me luck!) But thanks to everyone who has reviewed and read this story. Your support means the world!

Special thanks of course to obsessedRHshipper for being a fantastic beta, and to rhmac12 (teampeeta!)

Chapter 12: Find Him

Harry guided Ron's shoulder back into the socket as gently as he possibly could. Sadly, it didn't much matter how gentle Harry tried to be because as soon as the "pop" signifying the connection of Ron's shoulder happened, a feeling of fire radiated down Ron's left arm and he let out a yell in pain.

"Sorry, mate," Harry said truthfully, feeling terrible at the pain he caused his friend. Ron let out a sigh and leaned back against Harry, who was still seated behind him.

"Least I can move it a bit now." Ron observed, and Harry watched him test out his arm's capabilities.

"I wouldn't go trying too much with it; it's going to be sore and hurt. Until you can get a healer to look at it, it won't be much good to you." Harry said, before turning his gaze away from Ron's shoulder and towards his own ankle.

Harry shifted himself and away from Ron's body as he looked down at his ankle. He wouldn't be able to pop it back into place.

"We're in a right state, aren't we?" Harry observed. It was true. Harry had no use of his ankle and although it seemed like Ron's legs were in working order, he had a nasty wound to the head and probably a concussion to boot. Plus, Harry really didn't like the amount of blood that had poured out of Ron over the last few hours.

"Mmm…" Ron mumbled, agreeing. Other than sitting up so that Harry could fix his arm, Ron had moved very little since the explosion. In fact, once Harry had fixed Ron's arm, Ron had slumped back against Harry. When Harry moved to get a look at his ankle, he realized he was completely supporting his friend.

"Hey, you alright?" Harry said, trying to reposition himself so that Ron would be more comfortable.

"Mmmm," Ron replied again, and Harry felt the crippling fear he had felt earlier return. Ron clearly had a concussion, if not something more sinister. He had lost a ton of blood from his first head trauma and the explosion had clearly aggravated it.

"RON!" Harry yelled and Ron turned to focus on Harry. Harry didn't like the way Ron's eyes looked. They seemed disoriented and cloudy, not like the sharp crystal blue eyes, which they usually were.

If the silver-haired man came back now, even without reinforcements, the two friends were goners.

"Ron, I can't walk. Do you think you can help me get over to the door?" Harry said, indicating one of the two doors that could possibly lead to the outside. Harry wanted to get to the door for two reasons. For one, he wanted to see if he recognized where they were or if there was a place nearby where they could get help. Second, he also wanted to see Ron's eyes clear up and focus on the task at hand.

"Yeah…" Ron said, with a sigh. He sat up slowly and was working up the energy to get himself standing when he noticed the makeshift kitchen, which was in the same room as themthey were.

"Great! Maybe there is something to eat; I'm bloody starving." Ron said, perking up. Harry let out a laugh.

"Leave it to you. No big deal on kidnapping and major head injury as long as you're well-fed." Harry joked, glad that the prospect of food seemed to begin to rejuvenate Ron. The moment of joking passed quickly though, as Harry found himself getting anxious. "We can't waste much time though, we really have to get out of here. That man could be back any second." Harry continued.

"Well," Ron said, seriously. "I do think I'll feel better if I get something to eat. I just feel really weak, ya know? It's pathetic. I'm not going to make an omelet or anything. We need to grab food if we are going out there, anyway. " As Ron said this, he slowly got to his feet.

"Pathetic? I'm surprised you are even on your feet, but come on then. Help me up. Let's check out the kitchen and get the hell out of here." Harry said, from his place on the ground.

Ron slung his good arm under Harry's and helped him to his feet. Together, the two made their way toward the makeshift kitchen, like two contestants in a three-legged race. The "kitchen" was really just a few cabinets and a sink as well as a folding table with a few chairs. Harry was able to sit in a plastic chair while Ron rummaged around looking for some food.

Harry quickly surveyed the room once more. To his left was a door, which he suspected led to the outside world. To his right, a door was ajar. Beyond it was what looked to Harry like a bunkroom.

"Peanut butter and bread - I can live with this." Ron said, distracting Harry out of his observations. Ron opened up the other cabinets, but found nothing else. "Guess they weren't planning on keeping us long. This must just have been for a snack."

As Ron began to open the peanut butter, Harry blurted out, "Alright, grab it and let's just go. Seriously, I have a bad feeling about still being here."

Ron sighed. "Fair point." He seemed to struggle again to get to his feet, but as soon as he did, he moved to Harry's side to help him back up. Then, as an afterthought, he grabbed the peanut butter and bread with his other hand, and the two made their way over to the door.

Harry was relieved to find it was unlocked, but became less so when he saw what was outside.

Ron cocked his heads towards Harry.

"Why is it always us?"


Hermione glared at the three redheads in front of her. After a full minute of silence, she began talking.

"I won't stop you from coming with me," she said with a stare reminiscent of Professor McGonagall, "but I won't be slowing down or stopping or anything else that would cause delay. If you want to come with me, you will keep up and you will not do anything stupid or I swear to Merlin I will hex your bloody arses off."

"Hermione," George spoke first, somewhat surprised by the tone of Hermione's voice, "You are forgetting Ron is our brother. We love him as well. We aren't going to jeopardize bringing him home safely."

Ginny nodded. "And Harry is my husband," she added.

"And Harry might as well be a Weasley. Actually," Bill said with a little laugh, "Harry's been a Weasley longer than Ginny's been a Potter."

"We want them back safe too. You don't have to do this alone," Ginny spoke.

"This isn't just about looking out for you. It's bigger than that." Bill added.

Hermione gave a half-nod. They were right, of course. She had been acting almost selfishly. It would be safer with four of them. Plus, in the event that Harry and Ron's wands did point in different directions, they could split up.

"Right," Hermione said, pulling out her map. She quickly explained to George and Bill what she had already explained to Ginny. They were going to apparate to certain points, cast the charm, and triangulate where the boys were.

"Sounds like a solid plan." George said, when Hermione finished. "Where to first?"

Hermione looked at the map. "Might as well start close," she said, and pointed at the easternmost spot. It was a bit further east than Cambridge.

"Alright then," Bill said and Hermione quickly stuffed the map back in her beaded bag before hooking it to her belt loop.

"Ready?" George asked. Bill reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand in one and Ginny's in the other. George took Ginny's free hand. Hermione looked around to make sure everyone was linked before turning on the spot.

They arrived on a beautiful lush field. There was nobody in sight, which was fortunate because it would have been hard to explain their sudden appearance.

"Wow," Ginny said looking around. This was truly a gorgeous outpost. It felt like they had stepped into a postcard. There were rolling hills that were covered in the greenest and softest grass Ginny could ever recall having seen.

"Yeah, this was the nicest place we stayed on the hunt. Couldn't risk open fields too much because of the greater chance some muggle or worse would see us. But we walked here from a spot over in Cambridge. We had to keep moving and this was right after Ron had been splinched and couldn't apparate yet. Wish we could have enjoyed it more." Hermione said glancing around and only now appreciating how lovely it was. Her time here previously had been marred by Ron's surliness and her concern over his weakened state.

Now she was here again and still couldn't enjoy it. 'When I find Ron, I'm going to change my memory of this place. I'm going to set up a picnic in this field. I'm going to lay out a huge quilt and set up some muggle repellant charms and we are going to make love right here in the open.' Hermione thought.

"Ready?" Bill asked Hermione, interrupting her somewhat scandalous thoughts. She cleared her head, hoping the blush hadn't been visible on her face.

As Hermione pulled out Ron's wand, next to her Ginny did the same with Harry's. She had explained the theory of the charm to Ginny, but they hadn't tested it at all. They had no idea if this would even work, but Hermione felt confident. She glanced at the wand in her palm before turning and giving Ginny a nod. "On three." Hermione declared.

"One…" She was entirely focused on the wand, which lay in the palm of her hand. She couldn't even hear Ginny counting next to her.

"Two…" She knew Bill and George were staring motionless at the two women, but she couldn't even see them. Nothing else mattered. Nothing but the wand.

"Three…"

"Find him," she whispered.


Harry and Ron stood in the doorway staring towards the world outside. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with a blast of freezing air that Harry felt cut right through his robes. Harry wrapped his arms around himself as he stared at their surroundings.

Trees. The trees were so thick and dense around them. As far as his eyes could see, there didn't seem to be any indication of civilization anywhere nearby. That said, he couldn't actually see very far because of the vastness of the trees.

Harry observed how close they were to these large trees, and realized it was unfathomable that the warehouse they were in could fit amongst them. "There must be an undetectable extension charm on whatever we are inside. It can't be much bigger than a 3- meter by 3-meter box on the outside. Otherwise, there is no way a building of this size could fit in between these trees." Harry said.

"Forget the trees," Ron said. "Look at the snow! It's bloody freezing." There was perhaps 6 inches of snow coating the ground. Of course, this meant that there would be much more snow if they were in an open field, but the thick branches and treetops had collected much of the snow before it made it to the ground.

"We can't go out there," Ron said suddenly.

"We can't stay here." Harry retorted.

Ron reached out and shut the door, effectively stopping the cold air from coming back inside. He looked as though he would have stormed off, except as Harry couldn't stand on his own, that would have been disastrous.

"We'll die out there. It's too cold. We don't have our wands and you can't even walk. We won't make it five miles."

Harry bit his lip. Ron was right; of course, he wasn't a strategist for nothing. He had a knack for seeing how choices and decisions would play out in the grand scheme of things.

"But if we stay here, we could die too." Harry said, also having concerns with their only other option.

Ron helped Harry to a chair before taking a seat across from him. "Let me think," Ron said. He then reached for the peanut butter and bread and began making a sandwich. He handed one to Harry before making a second for himself. He frowned at the peanut butter jar as if it were telling him something he didn't want to hear.

After a few moments, he spoke. "I think we have to stay here. If we stay here and they come back, we are screwed. But if they don't, we're okay, at least for a bit. If we go out there, we are definitely screwed." Ron explained.

"Even if they don't come back, how long do you really think we can stay here? We only have enough peanut butter and bread for a day or two. We'll be screwed even if they don't come back!" Harry said, frustrated. He felt like a sitting duck if they stayed put. Harry looked at his uneaten sandwich. "We might want to save these," he added, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"I doubt we'll be here two days." Ron said, with a scoff. "I'm sure Hermione and Ginny are on their way as we speak."

Now it was Harry's turn to lose his cool. "And what if they aren't, Ron? I know they are out looking because it's exactly what we'd be doing if the situation was reversed, but they have no idea where to start. I don't even know where the fuck we are; how are they supposed to figure it out?" He was yelling, but he couldn't help it. Of course, as soon as he finished his tirade, he felt bad. Ron's face seemed to drain of even more color.

As Harry finished his rant, the room fell silent. It was a full minute before Ron spoke again.

"So we die out there, or we die in here." Ron whispered.

Harry frowned at the gravity of his friend's statement.

"I don't feel so good," Ron said, voice softer. His sandwich, which he was so eager to make moments earlier, lay forgotten on the table with Harry's.

"You need to rest. Why don't you kip down first before we decide on anything," Harry said, once again taking note of Ron's pale demeanor and clouded eyes. "We'll save the sandwiches for when you wake up and we need our strength." Ron nodded, stood from his chair and walked to the small bunkroom that was off to the side.

Ron collapsed in one of the bunks, and Harry tried to think of the best way to protect his clearly weakened friend. He needed something to protect them with. His eyes scanned the main room for anything they could use as a weapon. His attention settled on the pile of the broken glass from the back wall of the box they had been in.

It took him a while, but he was able to crawl over to the pile and grab a few sharp pieces of glass before hobbling back to the bunkroom. It wouldn't be much, but perhaps he could use these as knives if someone showed up.

He shut the door to the bunkroom and locked it. He knew this would do very little if his captors showed up with wands, but it was the least he could do.

He briefly thought of his mother, trapped in the nursery without a wand with him as a baby, knowing that locking a door would do nothing against a wand.

Fear gripped him. He tried to think of a way to tell someone, anyone, where they were.

"Gin… Hermione…" he whispered, looking at Ron's now sleeping body. He noticed that Ron not only was pale, but seemed to be shaking and sweating a bit as well. Harry found himself once again terrified for his best friend. "Please hurry."