Reviews to my last chapter were very much appreciated - thank you for all your kind words. I shall reply to everyone when the story is complete.

I think there's only a couple of chapter left after this one...things are going to be a bit intense for awhile! SO, on with the show...

Usual Disclaimers apply.

Chapter 14

I glanced around at the empty flat we'd just Apparated into. Well, I say flat, but I think bedsit would be a more accurate term. Or even the word dump, would have worked. Honestly, this place was more disgusting than our dorm room at Hogwarts had ever been with five boys living there!

Dirty clothes were strewn over every available space – some piled rather high. The bed didn't look as though it ever got made, let alone washed and rubbish was overflowing in a nearby bin. There was a sink full of unwashed pots that didn't smell too great and piles of take-a-way boxes discarded on the kitchen table. Maybe it was a telling as to her state of mind how she could live this way – it was becoming obvious that she wasn't well mentally. After getting over the shock of seeing the state of this place, we all began to search different areas of the room, Harry going into the tiny bathroom and judging from the expletives he uttered as he opened the door, it was just as disgusting in there.

"Hey, Ron, look at this," Neville called me over to where he was searching the far side of the bed.

"What you got?" I asked, hurrying over, excited that we may have got lucky and found something already.

"Erm, just this," he timidly handed me what he was holding.

"Oh bloody hell!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I know. Rather creepy, isn't it?" he asked

I held in my hand a framed photo of Hermione and I, taken at hers and Ginny's graduation party last summer. The very same photo that had gone missing from Hermione's desk at work some weeks ago when she'd began having problems with her colleagues. In the photo, we had our arms around one another, beaming at the camera before I placed a huge sloppy kiss on Hermione's cheek and she blushed and giggled.

At least that's what the original photo had been of. Now it wasn't Hermione's cheek my image was kissing. Some rather crude magic had been done to the photo so that now Céleste's head replaced Hermione's and it was her image that was now beaming at the camera and giggling in delight. I almost dropped the photo in disgust.

"She's erm, obviously rather disturbed," Neville uttered, taking the photo back from me and wrapping it in magical bindings to take back as evidence.

"If by rather disturbed you mean fuckin' bloody mental, you'd be about right!" I uttered. Then I realised what I'd said and the fact that Neville's own parents were still in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's after being driven insane by that bitch Bellatrix, and that they would most likely remain there for the rest of their life. "I erm, sorry. I didn't mean..."

"Don't worry about it," Neville shrugged, not at all embarrassed about his parents condition. "I know what you mean. A Mental illness can't be helped, they happen, or horrible things happen to people to make them that way," he spoke from bitter experience. "But, when you consciously plot to harm other people, in my opinion that oversteps having a condition you can't help, to just being evil!"

I gave him a tight smile and a pat to his upper arm. "How, erm, how are your parents?" I asked, being polite.

"About the same," he shrugged. "I still visit them regularly and tell them everything. But it's rough, you know," he sighed.

"Yeah, I know," I agreed, not being able to decide which was worse – having a beloved relative die or have them still here but not knowing who you were or what was going on at all. At least with death you got to grieve. The Wizarding wars had stolen so much from all of us and it wasn't bloody fair.

Neville moved to the other side of the bed and began to rummage through a drawer in there. I moved towards the lounge area and tried to make sense of the piles of old newspapers, discarded wrappers, old pizza boxes and brochures littering the entire space. I pulled a dozen or so brochures out for local Muggle tourist attractions in London – London zoo, Natural History museum, Madame Tussauds, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Sea Life Centre and many other places. I didn't understand of what interest they would possibly be to a witch though. Unless they were just some rather bizarre collection she had - a bit like my Dad with his flipping plugs that drove Mum mad!

"That was the filthiest, most revolting thing ever!" Harry came out of the bathroom, shaking his wet hands he'd obviously just ran under the tap. "Just...don't go in there, believe me!" He pulled a sickened face and shuddered at the thought.

"Did you find anything though?" I asked, stacking the brochures up and placing them aside.

"Besides the disgusting bath with a thick black line of mould around it, the toilet that barely flushes or the bin overflowing with used..." he grimaced, "you know, lady products? No. And I don't even want to imagine what I stepped in in there! Eurgh!" He glared at his own shoes as he checked the bottom of them.

"I really don't think she's supposed to be living alone. It doesn't look as though she can cope. I wonder if her family even know she's here?" I wondered, making a mental note to check on her background once we'd rescued Hermione. "Though, I suppose she always looked well presented at work and must have been able to carry out her tasks." I mused.

"She wouldn't want to bring attention to herself, would she?" Came a muffled reply from Neville from where he was searching in the small wardrobe.

"Has anyone checked over here yet?" Harry asked, pointing to a cabinet. Neville and I shook our heads, him sticking his out of the wardrobe.

We looked in every drawer and every cupboard. Under the bed and bedding, moved every last stitch of clothing and under every last cushion. We searched everywhere and yet hadn't come up with any clues as to where she may have taken Hermione, nothing. Just a creepy photo, some random brochures that seemed a bit strange to me and then Harry pulled a notebook from the back of the drawer in the cabinet.

He opened it up and flicked through it, pushing some rubbish and clothes aside to sit on the floor. I think we were all going to need sterile baths and maybe even use scouring charms on each other once we left this place – otherwise I feared we might catch something.

"Hey, this might be something," Harry began, turning a page in the book. "It seems to be a diary or something. Your name comes up a lot," he looked up at me. "Though, I can't read the rest of it - it's all in French."

"Use a translation spell," Neville sensibly suggested, fighting to close the door on the wardrobe – things kept falling out on him.

"Oh, yeah," Harry rolled his eyes at himself and pointed his wand at the book, watching as the handwriting slowly changed shape to form the English language. "Yeah, this could be useful," he nodded to himself now he was able to understand it.

The three of us gathered around the book as Harry read aloud: "Actually met Ron today. He is so handsome and charming, much sexier than any photo I have seen" Harry shared an amused look with Neville, I slapped them both on the back of their heads before Harry continued to read. "He was very sweet to me, I think we could be good together. I don't know what he sees in the bushy haired cow though!"

"Wow, never much liked Hermione at all, did she?" Neville commented with raised eyebrows.

Harry turned a couple of pages in the book: "Saw him again today. He is simply divine. Somehow I must make him mine. Just one complication though – yeah, her!" He skipped ahead a few more pages – it seemed every time she bumped into me or even saw me, she'd make an entry about it. "Waited hours for Ron to walk by today...he was late. I have been checking on his usual routine and I thought I had missed him. Made my day when he walked by and said hello. Worth getting into trouble with my boss for being late."

"So, all those bleedin' times I bumped into her, it was not just a coincidence. She was bloody stalking me!" I groaned. "I should have realised sooner." I felt such a prat. For the longest time I just thought she was lonely and needed a friend. It was only after a few weeks that I thought she was behaving a little strange and it started to freak me out.

"Oh gross! I am not reading that!" Harry pulled a face as though he was going to be sick and quickly turned the page.

"What?" Neville innocently asked.

"Let's just say she has a very...imaginative and filthy mind when it comes to Ron and how she wants to be with him. And she's not embarrassed to write down her perverted little fantasies…in detail."

"Yeah, gross. Don't read that!" Neville agreed with him, blushing slightly at the mere thought.

"It does not say that." I snatched the book from him and flicked back a couple of pages, then wished I hadn't. He was right – it was filthy and perverted. Much worse than anything I had read in one of those nudie magazines I had found in any of my brother's bedrooms on occasion.

I handed it back to Harry, feeling rather sick. I was also very aware that had this been any other situation, had Hermione not been in danger, Harry would have found it absolutely hilarious that a rather crazy girl was obsessed with me enough to be writing dirty fantasies about the two of us together. He wouldn't have thought twice about taking the piss out of me – possibly for the rest of my life!

This told me just how serious the situation was. But, it also said a lot about both his friendship with me and his friendship and respect for Hermione that he didn't say a word, didn't even crack a smile. I was grateful for small mercies.

He flipped through a fair few pages, going past all the pornographic stuff, until something more helpful appeared. "Here, Hermione is mentioned again. Well, she refers to her as a bitch, but," he shrugged apologetically. "The bitch is still all over him. He can't seem to get rid of her or whatever hold she has on him. Even after I started that rumour about her cheating on him. Talking about it rather loudly in front of someone I knew to be a reporter was a good move, I thought. It didn't help, she somehow won him back, lied to him probably. I'm certain she has him doped up on love potion - it's the only way I can see someone as amazing as Ron in love with someone like her! She doesn't deserve him - I do! HE WILL be mine."

"Wow!" Neville gasped. "You're right – she IS bloody mental!"

"Tell me about it," I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. "What's the most recent entry?" I asked Harry, hoping she might say something about where they were going or what her plans were.

He flipped to the back. "Hmm..." he hummed as he scanned through her ramblings. "Oh, here we go. 'Ready to put my plan into action. Time to get rid of the frizzy haired bitch once and for all. And then Ron can be mine when I free him from her.'"

"Is that it?" I asked, snatching it from Harry again and flicking back a few pages. "It doesn't say anything about what her plan is? What she's going to do? Where she's taken her?" I asked, sounding hysterical even to my own ears. "There's nothing!" I slammed the book down. "Bloody useless piece of crap. We still don't know any thing new." I threw my hands into the air, infuriated. All that did was confirm she was rather insane and she intended to get Hermione out of the way.

Harry sighed. "I don't think we're going to find anything else here. We should probably head back, check with Anna and see what she found, then plan our next step," he suggested, eyeing Neville. I knew that look – it meant he was worried and he didn't want me to know.

I glanced at my watch, biting my lip when I realised we'd wasted even more time. Hermione had been missing roughly 24 hours now and who knew what was happening to her. The thought of her being tortured again made me so angry I wanted to break something, curse someone, kill the mental bloody psycho bitch! If the psycho bitch had hurt even one adorable frizzy little hair on my girlfriends's head, I was going to make her pay for what she'd done.

"Ron," Harry touched my shoulder and I about leapt out of my skin, caught up in my own gloomy thoughts. "We're going to find her mate. We are going to get her back safe, I promise," he added, speaking to me calmly, sensing I was getting worked up again.

"Yeah, right," I nodded and forced a brief smile for him. Not that I felt so positive – how could I be when we were no step closer to finding her at all?

"There has to be some clues in this stuff. We just need to find it," Neville added brightly, collecting our evidence together as we got ready to Disapparate out of this stink hole.

I only hoped he was right.

"Did you find anything?" Harry immediately asked Anna when she joined us in one of the empty briefing rooms we had been granted permission to use for our investigation.

Heaving a sigh, she sat down with us. "Nothing helpful I'm afraid," she confessed. "A few photos of Ron, probably clipped from magazines and newspapers. And, erm..." she looked embarrassed.

"And what?" I asked – it couldn't be much worse than that diary, after all.

"There were some, er, I guess you would call them love letters, written to Ron." She handed over a bunch of scribbled pieces of parchment. "They're all rather, well, imaginatively detailed," she cringed.

"Same as this diary then," Harry sighed, holding it up to show her. "She certainly has an over-active imagination," he laughed dryly.

"That's all you got?" I snapped, losing my patience with the whole thing, even though I knew it wasn't their fault – everyone was doing their best. Understanding that I was rather distraught, no one took it personally, but I still felt like a git every time something negative came out of my mouth. "Sorry," I muttered, holding my head in my hand as my elbow rested on the table.

"Well, there was something else," she began. I sat up straight and stared at her. "I managed to speak with a couple more of her colleagues. A, erm," she paused, checking her notes, "Mr Barnaby said he remembered seeing Hermione at about 11.30, heading for the lifts. He says he remembers because she was stumbling a bit and he stopped to ask her if she was okay. He said she looked at him and seemed afraid or worried – he wasn't sure which."

"Probably both," Neville commented.

"He thought she was about to answer him, when that blonde girl from the welcome desk came darting forwards and said she was taking Hermione to see a Healer for a migraine she had. He didn't think much else of it and let them go, telling Hermione he hoped she felt better soon."

I groaned and threw my head down atop of my arms folded on the table. "So bloody stupid!" I mumbled into my arms.

"Well, if he thought she wasn't well. That explains why he never missed her when she didn't come back after lunch," Harry added.

"No," I turned my head and looked up at him. "I mean, I was so bloody stupid. I made sure to keep an eye out when we were out in public, to not let her go anywhere alone or anything. But, I thought she was safe here in the Ministry. Yet, this is where the bloody bitch took her from!" I threw my head back into my arms.

"This, Céleste, she has taken Hermione then?" Anna asked. "I mean, you're certain?"

"Yes," Harry answered. He seemed to be taking over the investigation, sensing I was in no fit state to speak about the case objectively right now. "We have unqualified evidence and a witness that marks her as our suspect. She has been obsessed with Ron for months now and threatened to get rid of Hermione."

"Just checking. So, now what? Do we have any clue where she's taken her or..."

"Let's go over everything that we have," Neville gathered everything we'd collected together, putting them into piles.

I was about to start whining again about how we were wasting bloody time here when the door suddenly slammed open and startled us all.

"Ron!" George burst into the room, out of breath. "Merlin's bollocks," he gasped, leaning on the table as he got his breath back. "Harder trying to get in here than it ever was to get out of Hogwarts. Fred would have..."

"George, what the hell are you doing here?" I cut him off, eyeing him quizzically.

"Can't a brother come visit his little brother at work?" he grinned. When he got no response, he flashed one eyebrow in surprise. "Okay," he muttered under his breath. "Anyway, I was out by the side of the shop, sorting some rubbish out a bit ago..."

"Oh! You have the joke shop!" Anna realised. "I love that place! My little brother…" catching my eye, she shut up instantly.

"Your appreciation for my hard work has been noted, fair lady." George looked proud and lowered his head as though he was tipping his hat.

"George!" I snapped at him, having no time for his stupid antics right now.

"Hold your hippogriffs, little brother. As I was saying, I was sorting out the rubbish and I noticed something stuck to the back door of your flat." he continued. "I went to have a look, because I'm a nosey git and found this." He pulled an envelope from his pocket. "Thought I should bring it straight over because it might be urgent, seeing as it's marked 'urgent'." He pointed to the said word that had underlined three times and shrugged in that careless way my annoying brother had.

I snatched it from him, instantly, checking out the front of the envelope. It was only marked with two words – my name and the word 'urgent' in heavy scrawl that looked somewhat familiar after looking through the journal and the love notes.

"Wow, not much humour in this place, is there? How do you stand working here?" he asked and got no response again. "Okay," he folded his arms, "what is with all the serious faces?" he looked around at the four of us.

"Hermione," Harry replied, "she's still missing."

"Still?" George blinked. "Bloody hell little brother, you must have really cocked up this time!" He punched my arm, finding it all amusing.

"I haven't done a soddin' thing," I told him, unfolding the note. "She's been bloody kidnapped you daft git!" I added, falling into a chair with the letter.

"What? Really? I...I..." he stammered.

"Yeah," Harry answered him. "We know who took her, just not where. Which is what what we're working on right now."

"Fuck!" George cursed under his breath.

I read the letter, dread filling me with every word. "If you want the bossy bitch back, though I don't know why, you need to bring me what I want and I'll trade. Only, I'm not going to tell you where we are, because that's too easy. So let's make you jump over a few broomsticks first. You'll find the next clue in finding her at the place where the oldest nature resides. Hurry...time is ticking."

"Shit!" I hissed and rubbed the side of my face as I handed the letter over to Harry. The other three crowded around him to read over his shoulder.

"The place where old nature resides?" Neville queried.

"What is it she wants?" Anna asked at almost the same time as Neville spoke.

I inhaled deeply, I at least knew exactly what that was. "Me," I replied.

"You?" George asked, and the way he asked, told me he was taking this seriously now- no longer taking the piss. "May I ask why?"

"Long story, basically a psycho stalker who's obsessed with Ron and wants Hermione out of the way, permanently." Anna filled him in.

"Fuck!" George repeated.

"So. This clue, where old nature resides? What does that mean?" Neville asked, studying the letter himself.

"A forest? That's nature, right? And usually old?" Anna suggested.

"The Forbidden Forest?" Harry's eye lit up with memories long repressed of our various encounters in there.

I shook my head. "Céleste went to school in France, I doubt she's know about that. Besides, she'd never get into the grounds of Hogwarts without being seen," I reminded him.

"Old nature..." George mused, tapping his chin with his index finger.

"The apothecary?" Neville suggested. "Lots of old plant based, natural material in there."

I shook my head, knowing we were missing something, something we already knew or had seen. "Nah, it would be somewhere bigger than a shop, somewhere no one would really take any notice of her. Old nature," I muttered to myself, trying to think of old things and where people would keep them. There were old things in a library, though not usually natural unless you counted the paper and parchment they were printed on and the wooden book shelves. Or, I thought of something. "Harry, what's those places called where Muggles go to look at old stuff?" I wondered.

"Old stuff? Oh, you mean a museum or something?" He asked, catching on to my train of thought.

"Yeah, a museum, with old natural things...hang on!" I exclaimed and dug through the pile of items we'd recovered at her flat, rummaging for one of those tourist brochures we'd found. "The Natural History museum?" I asked, holding up the brochure.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed and took it from me. "Though, that place is huge. I remember taking a school trip there years ago... back when I went to Muggle school before Hogwarts," he explained for Anna's benefit who looked confused. "It will take us ages to search that entire building."

"Then we'll have to split up," I reasoned, packing the things up and checking my wand was secure in my pocket. "And try using the summoning charm if we can get away with it safely around the Muggles."

"Right, let's get going," Harry told the others, pushing his chair back loudly.

"Hang on," George grabbed my arm. "Let me come, I want to help."

"George, thanks. I appreciate the offer, but, this is Auror business now. We..."

"Bollocks to that!" He slashed his hand through the air. "I want to help find her, please? Hermione, she's like a sister to me and..."

"You know, another pair of hands won't hurt." Harry shrugged. "And it's not as though he has no experience in this stuff."

"This mission is supposed to be hush hush," I reminded him.

"I won't tell anyone. I just want to help," George promised.

"Someone else searching might speed things up," Neville suggested.

"Fine," I huffed. "But don't get in the way and...if I tell you to go, you go, no arguments. All right?"

"Eye eye sir," he saluted me and grinned. I shook my head, hoping I wasn't going to regret this decision!

And with that, the five of us hurried off to the approved apparition point within the department.

Harry Apparated us into a quiet street nearby, explaining that the place would be crawling with Muggles and unsafe to appear too close to the building. We hurried towards the entrance and then became dismayed when we realised we'd have to wait in a queue to go in. Thankfully, it was free to enter because I don't know if any of us had considered the idea of Muggle currency.

Once inside, we checked the map for each area and decided to each take one section to search, before meeting back by the giant Dinosaur skeleton in the main hall in one hour to regroup. I charged off to begin my own search, wondering why Muggles were so weird. The place was full of old bones, fossils and stuff that had apparently fallen from space – what on earth was fun about looking at stuff like that?

It wasn't easy to be thorough and yet speedy to check all the little side rooms with their big exhibits, the ornate vast ceilings and dozens of display cases, as well as everything on the walls, and be sure you hadn't missed something vital. But, I knew we would each do the best we could. The thought of Hermione being held captive and what she must be going through, as well as the overwhelming need to rescue her pushed me on and made me work harder, not even wanting to imagine the alternative. I didn't think Céleste would just let her go if we ignored her demands – I don't think she really cared what lengths she went to get what she wanted. Besides, I was ready and willing to sacrifice myself for Hermione's safety.

I felt as though I had been running around for hours, past display after display of various rocks and trees, stuffed dead birds and animals that strangely made me think of the stuffed Elf heads at Grimmauld Place, though perhaps not quite as creepy. I was becoming stressed again, running around in a blind panic and I had to stop for a moment, just to calm down and breathe before I threw up or passed out or something.

Leaning against the wall for a moment and taking deep breaths as I rested my hands on my knees, I overheard a couple of Muggle women talking next to me, discussing an exhibit in the display cabinet beside us.

"Such a shame they became extinct." One of them commented to her friend.

"I know, humanity has a lot to answer for really." The other one agreed. "Look, it says here they were wiped out completely within 100 years of being discovered by man." She sighed, sadly. "Those creatures probably existed for centuries before we stepped in and ruined things."

"And yet, we don't seem to have learnt our lesson, man is still destroying this world." The first woman replied to her.

I looked up, curious as to what they were talking about and did a double take. A Diricrawl? They were getting all misty eyed about Diricrawl's? But, they weren't extinct at all – they were actually right cheeky little beggars according to my brother Charlie who had encountered a large flock on his holidays last summer. Said they'd steal stuff right out of your pockets if you got too close and then they'd disappear in a puff of feathers, along with your belongings!

I almost opened up my mouth, to tell them there were still plenty around and not to worry, when I caught sight of one of the plaques beside the display that referred to them as Dodo's. Unexpectedly, I was reminded of a paragraph of facts about them, something I had once needed for a school essay and Hermione had highlighted in a book for me, about how Muggles believed the bird they called a Dodo was extinct because it was after all a magical creature and could easily vanish, therefore they hadn't seen any in years. It went on to say that this was a good thing because it had made Muggles aware of endangered and extinct animals.

Realising that I couldn't tell either women the truth, otherwise I'd probably be breaking the statute of secrecy, I kept my mouth shut and let them carry on. Fascinated by their conversation though, I stood quietly beside them, pretending to read the information whilst mentally planning where to look next. And that was when I saw it. Sticking out from behind the display case, a piece of parchment paper. The clue! It had to be. In one fluid movement, I snatched it up and calmly walked away so I didn't look too suspicious or as though I had just stolen something. Only when I was safely away did I open the envelope and read over the contents – once again infuriated by her.

Stupid bloody bitch had done it again with her damn clues!

Checking my watch and realising I was 10 minutes past the time we'd planned to meet back at the Dinosaur, I ran off, charging down the immense stairs that looked like something out of Hogwarts.

"I got it!" I called when I was close enough to where they were huddled together, waiting for me. "Found it!" I gasped, handing it over, suddenly out of breath again. I was actually exhausted and terrified, but I was trying to keep it together – I had to. Hermione's life was in the balance.

"What's it say?" Neville leaned over Harry's shoulder as he opened it.

"Well done," he read. "Smarmy cow, isn't she?" He asked, looking up at us. "Now you found this one, the next clue is where you'll find live versions of some of these exhibits. But hurry, before the bushy one becomes as dead as humans believe the diricrawl's are. I'm waiting Ronald."

"Bitch!" George hissed.

"She's threatening to kill her now?" Neville's face paled.

"I think that's usually what 'be rid of her for once and all' means, Neville." Anna told him patiently, then gave me a rather guilty look and tried to reassure me with a smile. I don't know why she bothered, it wasn't as though I hadn't come to the same conclusion myself. Céleste was insane enough to kill her, under some crazy notion that I would then love her and want to be with her if only Hermione wasn't in our way.

Not a bloody, mother fuckin' chance in hell would I!

"So, where do we find live versions of some of the exhibits? Which ones is she talking about? The dinosaur bones? The fossils? The animals? What?" Harry asked.

"Where did you find it?" Anna asked me. Neville had been right, she did have good logical skills.

"By the Diricrawl, or as the Muggles call it, the Dodo exhibit. But we won't find live exhibits of them, not in London anyway."

"Maybe we have to travel? I mean, if she's talking about the bones - some of these dinosaurs could actually be dragons you know." George pointed out. "Charlie would know, might have to drag him here someday and see what he..."

"George, not right now," I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Right, sorry." He shut up.

"Anyway, I think it's something closer, she's keeping it in the general area because she wouldn't want to be too far away from me. I get the feeling these clues are all connected somehow and that we've already come across something that tells us where to go. Like that brochure for this place. Some Muggle tourist place where she knows we can't cheat with magic."

"A tourist place? With live exhibits? She must be talking about the animals then. What about the zoo?" Harry suggested.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, grasping his shoulder. "London zoo! There was a brochure for that with the stuff we found at her flat."

"Come on then, let's go." George led the way back to the deserted street where we could Dissapparate again.

Thankfully, by cutting through Regent's park and using a bit of concealment, we were able to slip into a quiet corner amongst a cluster of trees and avoid the hefty entrance fee. "We'll split up again," I decided. "Two hours and we'll meet back up at…" I held my hand up to shield my eyes from the glaring winter sun, searching for a suitable meeting point, "by that fountain." I pointed towards it. "Okay?" I asked everyone who nodded in agreement and we all ran off in different directions, having no idea what we were looking for or where.

The last clue had been by something related to the magical world, yet confused by Muggles. I didn't think there would be anything like that here. I mean they weren't exactly going to have a Phoenix in a cage, thinking it was a large parrot or a Pygmy Puff in the petting zoo and thought it was just a flamboyant guinea pig or something. Well, not unless they were particularly stupid Muggles!

I ventured on, wandering past enclosures of lions and monkeys, amongst other animals. Any other time, I might actually enjoy visiting the zoo. Maybe this was somewhere fun I could bring Hermione for a change, I wondered to myself. I can't say I'd ever really considered visiting any of the Muggle attractions in the city, but perhaps it might be fun?

The place was swarming with happy, cheerful families enjoying a day out. School trips of giddy kids ran around laughing and squealing. Romantic looking couples walked along hand in hand.

The last one choked me up. What if I never got chance to bring Hermione here? What if I never got the chance to take her anywhere ever again? If anything happened to her, I couldn't, I wouldn't...

Oh Merlin! I couldn't breathe! My chest ached and I had to stop for a moment, gasping for breath. I almost passed out before I managed to practically crawl towards a bench and sat down heavily.

"Are you all right mister?" someone called to me, sounding worried.

"Yeah, fine," I nodded, bending forwards, my head between my knees as I tried to calm down, to get my breathing under control. I couldn't panic, not now and not out in public like this. I couldn't afford to waste time losing it.

"Ron?" Someone was running towards me, someone who's voice I recognised. The bench creaked and bowed slight as George sat down beside me, placing a hand on my back. "Are you okay?"

"Can't breathe," I gasped.

"Okay, short breaths." He rubbed my back. "Just, focus on your breathing for a moment," he told me calmly – I never knew he had such compassion in him and for a moment I forgot what I had been panicking about. "It's okay, it's all going to be okay," he murmured, trying to soothe me.

"How do you know that George?" I snapped, looking up and fixing him with a glare. "My fuckin' girlfriend has been taken! How is that okay? Do you have any bloody idea what I'm going through?" I yelled at him and as George hissed at me to be quiet, glancing at the Muggles wandering by who were giving us curious glances, I regretted my words. Of course George knew what I was going through, he knew better than most how it felt to lose someone close to you, your other half so to speak. He was still living that nightmare and would for the rest of his life.

"Please don't go scaring the Muggles!" he whispered, graciously not having a go at me for my poor choice of words. I knew he was just cutting me some slack right now because he knew how I felt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." I was about to apologise and then caught the look he gave me, telling me there was no need. "I just feel like we're wasting bloody time here, running about a blasted zoo, whilst Hermione is...is…oh George, what if lose her? I can't lose her," I shook my head sadly as I began to lose it again. "I can't...not after everything. I, I need her." My voice cracked and my eyes burned with un-shed tears.

"Shh," George whispered again soothingly and wrapped an arm around me. "We're going to find her and she's going to be fine. Wanna know how I know that?" he asked.

"How?" I sniffed, feeling like an idiot for crying as I wiped my nose on my sleeve. I knew, later, he'd probably be using this as ammunition for taking the piss out of me.

"Because my baby brother is the meanest, toughest Auror out there. And because he's a bloody force to reckoned with when a loved one is threatened. Hermione couldn't have anyone better looking for her," he replied, proudly. I never realised he felt that way before now.

"I feel so damn useless," I muttered. "I have to save her, have to stop...she can't go through torture again. It almost killed her last time."

"Last time?" he looked surprised. I couldn't remember how much we'd told people about things that had happened to us during the war or our months on the run looking for Horcruxes.

"During the war," I added vaguely, knowing that would be enough for him right now. "I have to find her, I need to be with her. She needs me." I began to sob again.

"Ron, little brother, we're going to get her back. And we're going to make sure this crazy bitch pays for whatever she's done to her, I promise you. We are not losing another member of this family!" he added, resolutely.

I was touched he considered Hermione a member of the family already. I mean, one day I intended to make that official. But it seems my brother already considered it done and dusted. "Thanks," I sniffed again and from somewhere he handed me a handkerchief.

"Hey, what are big brothers for?" he smiled. "Come on, we should get looking." He helped me up from the bench, checking I was steady on my feet before letting go.

"You're right," I nodded, "we're wasting time whilst I'm being a bloody wimp."

"You are not being a wimp at all," he told me forcefully, meeting my eye. "I'm amazed how you're keeping it together to be honest."

"Training," I replied, wiping my face free of tears before blowing my nose.

George nodded. "Yeah, right. Okay, you go that way, past the tigers. I'll go check near the penguins," he decided and was already walking in that direction.

"Hang on, is there anything in here remotely related to, magic?" I whispered the last word. "You know, something that could be considered common in our world?"

He thought about it for a moment, neither of us had ever been to a Muggle zoo after all. "I don't know, I only glanced at the map briefly. But, I noted a reptile house, so they'll probably have snakes. And, maybe they have owls here?" he wondered. "Why, do you think there's a link?"

"The last one was linked – a magical creature that the Muggles also had a name for, but thought had just disappeared from existence. Maybe there is a connection somehow. It's something to work with anyway." I shrugged.

"And that, my little brother, is why you're a bloody brilliant Auror. I'll go find the owls. You go to the reptile house!" He pointed me in the direction and we separated again. Jogging ahead, I found I had a new appreciation for my brother, that he had managed to talk me down and comfort me without taking the piss was perhaps a sign of maturity. Or maybe it was just a sign that he understood we were in a bloody awful situation here.

It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dim lighting once I entered the reptile house, but when they did, I spotted Harry. He was stood gazing at a huge snake behind glass. I took a quick glance around for anything obvious before walking over to him. "Anything?" I asked him, placing a hand on the railing beside his.

"Oh, hey," he turned to look at me, it seemed I had taken him by surprise. I wondered what had him so distracted. "Oh, no, I've not found anything yet." He shook his head. "You okay?"

I shrugged and swiped my face with my arm again, hoping I hadn't left any evidence of my little break down a few minutes ago. "Just, you know..." I shrugged again helplessly.

"Yeah," he agreed and patted my hand resting on the rail. "We're going to get her back you know," he told me. "After everything we've all been through, we are not going to lose her to some starstruck psycho witch!"

"I think you mean bitch, but thanks." I appreciated the efforts people were making to boost my morale. "So, what's with the snake?" I nodded my head towards the glass enclosure, wanting to change the subject before I cried all over him too. I had to remain hopeful and positive, otherwise I was going to be useless.

"I came here once before," he began. "It was my cousin's birthday. I wasn't meant to come with them, I mean, they wouldn't want me to have fun or enjoy myself after all, but they had no choice when a babysitter fell through and had nowhere to leave me." He grinned then as he remembered something. "Do you remember I once told you I set a snake on my cousin?" His eyes left the snake as he turned to look at me.

"Yeah, vaguely." I replied, wondering what this had to do with anything.

"Well, it happened right here," he nodded towards the enclosure in front of us. "It was the first time I knew I could speak to snakes or understand them." He shrugged. "I guess I got angry with Dudley after he pushed me and...had a little burst of magic," he chuckled to himself. "See, the glass here disappeared and the snake escaped, scaring the crap out of old Dudders and his mates! I wonder what happened to him," he mused.

"Dudley?" I frowned, wondering why he cared.

"No, the snake!" Harry laughed.

"Oh. Hey, you can't still, you know...hiss hiss," I made a pathetic attempt to speak Parseltongue.

"Nah, that was gone as soon as Riddle destroyed the Horcrux in me, along with any other connection we had. Can't say I miss it – it was rather weird."

"Just a bit," I agreed and turned my back on the snake, gazing around the building. "So...did you have the same idea as me?" I wondered.

"That Céleste is linking Muggle world knowledge with our Magical world? Yep," he nodded. "I thought there might be something in here, since snakes are well known in both worlds."

"I thought so too. And George has gone off to look for owls."

"Yeah, that was my next thought," Harry nodded. "So, you take this side, I'll look down here." He wandered off.

We looked all over for a fair few minutes searching around, bumping into little kids running up to cases and jumping back with a squeal when a creature moved. Some teenage lads were tapping on the glass and teasing one another about being afraid of the biggest snakes. I moved along the displays in trepidation, hoping there were no enclosures with huge spiders in here – I didn't think my nerves could take it right now.

And then I heard Harry yelling me from the other end of the reptile house. "Did you find something?" I jogged over to him, shoving past people heedlessly.

He held up an envelope. "This was stuck on top of this." He patted a display of plastic models depicting where in the world reptiles came from. It was an interactive item that children could spin and liked to play with. "Come on," he nodded his head towards the exit, "we'll open it outside, the light is better and the smell is starting to get to me in here!" He screwed up his nose in disgust.

I couldn't agree more as I followed him out. Once outside, we sat down on a low wall and he pulled the note from the envelope. "Does it say where she is?" I asked eagerly.

"No," Harry huffed. "Just another bloody clue."

"Another one?" I asked, dismayed. "Oh for fucks sake!" I hissed, utterly pissed off with this game now. What did she think she was up to? Was this all really amusing to her? How could she possibly think that I would want anything to do with someone who did something like this? "You know," I looked at Harry and snatched the note from him. "I've had about enough of her fuckin' crap!" I cursed and began to shred the note.

"Ron! NO! We need that!" Harry yelled at me just as I tore it up into smaller and smaller pieces.

Ooops! Ron...what have you done?!

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