A new chapter - again sorry it's been a while! Hope you enjoy it and as every leave a review please!

- HermionesPolyjuice xoxo

Chapter 21

Charlie felt his knees slam into the stone floor before realising he had fallen at the head of the person he had considered a mentor in recent weeks. Someone he respected, appreciated and cared about. And someone he knew who had busted his ass off to help them all find Hermione. He tentatively reached out and pressed two cold fingers to the minister's neck. After sitting there for a few moments, much to his relief he felt a very faint and very irregular heartbeat.

Then, he felt a whoosh from just above his head and looking up he caught eyes with bright grey ones. He barely had time to register what had happened before another green flash of light whizzed past him. He dived out of the way and ducking behind the fallen pillar he carefully aimed at the Death Eater and sent a perfectly aimed stunning spell. He crumpled to the floor and lay motionless. Under the mask Charlie noticed a lock of silver blonde hair. Lucius Malfoy, someone who had managed to get out of his trial and avoid getting sent to Azkaban. Charlie spotted Bill just hit another Death Eater.

"Bill! Bill!" he shouted until his elder brother spotted him and hurried over.

"Charlie! What is it?" Bill asked, panting slightly. Charlie just nodded to where Kingsley lay still motionless.

"Oh my," was all Bill could mutter.

"Look, he's alive. He has a pulse. It's not very strong and not regular but it's there. Can you get him to St Mungo's? And maybe take Fred too if his leg is still bad," Charlie told him, snapping Bill out of his thoughts. Bill shook his mane of hair and nodded grimly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, knowing full well what Charlie was about to say.

"I need to get Hermione," Charlie said quietly slumping slightly against the pillar. The noise had decreased significantly and Charlie believed they had got most of the Death Eaters and were much less outnumbered. "Make sure everyone stays safe. I'll be home soon." Charlie didn't wait for Bill's response but jumped to his feet and ran off towards the stairs, ducking many spells on the way and saving Ginny from a near stunner.

Charlie cast one more look back over his shoulder, smiled at Bill and hurried up the stairs. He reached the floor above and groaned inwardly. There were at least 50 doors lining the walls, it was going to take Charlie forever to find Hermione. But that didn't stop him. He knew he was on a time frame and knew he had to act fast. He pushed open the first door and to his surprise it swung open. The room was dark apart from an eerie light over in one corner. Carefully, with his wand held out in front of him, Charlie walked over towards the glow. He reached the peculiar object and examined it suspiciously. It looked to be a filled with some kind of swirling silvery substance. Charlie spotted the runes around the edges and knew instantly it was a pensieve. He had never seen one in person before but knew what they looked like and what they did. Distant movement was happening inside when curiosity took the better of him and he plunged his head into the substance to watch the memory beneath him.

{-/-} [-\-] {-/-}

The door opened and Charlie saw someone leave before it shut again. In the brief light that came through the door he spotted a figure huddled in the corner, shaking with sobs. A moment before the room was plunged into darkness he spotted the distinctive bushy brown hair.

Charlie then found himself the other side of the closed door watching the figure walk down the corridor towards another stationary person.

"She hasn't got long," the first man said. "Maybe a few days at most."

"But I reversed the curse and she's meant to be fine now," the second man said, anguish apparent in his voice.

"It doesn't help when all you do is beat her. What else did you expect to happen?" the first voice said quite harshly. There was silence as the second didn't answer.

"But I have to do something. She can't die. She knows things I need. She has things I need," the second voice finally said, almost as if he was pleading with the first.

"My Lord, there is nothing I can do. The only thing that will save her is taking her to St Mungo's but that's hardly the safest idea." There was a hiss at that comment from Dolohov.

"She's not going there, we'll have to do something else." Another silence filled the corridor.

"Oooh, I know. What about unicorn blood?" the first voice finally asked breaking the tense silence.

"You're not having a joke with me are you Malfoy?" Dolohov asked, his voice filled with tension but also apprehension and excitement.

"Not at all, my Lord. Unicorn blood keeps anyone alive who is close to death," Malfoy said excitedly.

"What are you waiting for then? Off you go and get some. I need her alive and I need her children now," Dolohov commanded. But Malfoy didn't move.

"Why are you still stood here?"

"Umm…Unicorn blood leaves the drinker cursed forever," Malfoy finally gulped.

"Do I look like I care that much?"

"No, my Lord. I shall leave now," Malfoy said hurriedly with a bow before turning around and almost running down the corridor.

{-/-} [-\-] {-/-}

Charlie pulled himself out of the pensieve and stood up. Hermione had been given unicorn blood. But that meant she would be cursed for the rest of her life? But maybe, hopefully Malfoy hadn't got it to her in time? Shaking his head and hoping for the best Charlie left the room, ready to continue his search for Hermione to get her out of this man's hands. Once he shut the door to the first room he took a deep breath ready to move on to the next room. Below him he could still hear noises from downstairs but they were much more infrequent than earlier and didn't sound so loud. He just wished everyone was still OK. He wished this had never happened and he had been more careful at the Battle. He wished he could see Hermione again.

He took a deep breath and walked the few steps to the next door and again pushed it open. But this time the door didn't budge. He tried turning the handle and pulling at it. He tried every kind of combination of handle turning and pushing or pulling but the door would still not open. He pulled his wand out from his pocket and was just about to try to magically open the door when he felt some dig into the side of his neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a nasally voice came from the side. Charlie slowly turned his head to see who had their wand sticking in his neck. He wasn't surprised when the figure standing next to him was dressed head to foot in a black cloak, a mask hiding their identity. Charlie didn't have time to react before a fist made hard contact with the side of his head. He lost his balance and tumbled to the floor gasping in pain. He made to stand up but a foot connected with his stomach and he was winded. He couldn't move as he wheezed for air, bracing himself for another hit. This time he was dragged to his feet and thrown against the wall. He slumped to the floor, clutching at his stomach pain radiating through his body. He wasn't going to get out of this one. He was too weak and in too much pain to think and start throwing hexes as his opponent. He was expecting another contact. But it never came. Instead he heard a loud thump a few feet away from him. He opened his eyes and saw the Death Eater crumbled in a pile, Harry standing behind triumphant.

"What…what are you doing here?" Charlie asked. It was at that point he realised he hadn't heard any crashes or spells in a while. Harry smiled at him, reached his hand out and pulled Charlie to his feet.

"We're done. We got all the Death Eaters that came to fight us. Everyone has gone to St Mungo's to get Kingsley sorted and Fred's leg fixed. But I thought you should have some help. And I'm glad I came, you were very close to not making it past that one," Harry explained. Charlie smiled back at Harry.

"Thank you," he muttered.

The room in front of him was large, circular and bright. The ceiling was made of glass and Charlie could see sunlight spreading over the sky, they had apparently been trapped in side fighting for a lot longer than he had thought. Covering every inch of wall were bookshelves, lined with hundreds and thousands of books. Charlie was intrigued and was about to head over to a section on 'Magical Creatures' when sense got the better of him and he stopped walking any further. In the middle of the room was a large, beige couch. The cushions indented in two places. He walked over and sat down on one of the indentions. It was warm. Someone, or more than one, had been in this room recently. Charlie felt his heart hammer inside him. He needed to stay on his guard; he had no idea where Dolohov was and who else was with him. He stood up and his eyes skirted the floor, wondering if there was a trap door. But it was covered in a plush carpet that didn't look like it could be lifted up.

He heard a chuckle from somewhere in the room and he momentarily forgot Harry was with him and drew out his wand turning around.

"What?" he asked Harry, confused at the smile that was radiating across his face.

"Nothing, just thinking how much Hermione would love this room and how jealous she would be knowing we're here," Harry smiled. Charlie let out a laugh as he imagined the look on Hermione's face as she took in this room.

"I don't think there's anything here to help us," Charlie shrugged and headed to the door.

But he stopped suddenly and Harry walked straight into the back of him. What if there was a door behind one of the shelves? That's always a possibility.

"Charlie?" Charlie turned around and looked straight into Harry's eyes.

"Are you ok?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow at Charlie.

"What if the shelves are hiding a trapped door?" he whispered. Charlie knew Hermione was being kept in a dark room off a brightly lit corridor. From what he saw the corridor had no doors or windows so it couldn't be the one he had just been walking down. It had to be somewhere else. He hadn't seen stairs to lead him down underneath the building so what if the corridor was hidden? It would mean it was harder to find Hermione and Charlie wouldn't be surprised if that had been Dolohov's plan all along.

"Right. You know we're not in some sort of fictional game don't you?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, I know but listen. I was just next door at their was a pensieve. The memory showed me Hermione, or at least I think it was her, in a dark room with no windows or anything. The door led into a bright corridor, brighter than the one just out there and it definitely didn't have a hundred other doors off of it so it can't be that one. There are no stairs to lead us downstairs so surely it must be hidden somewhere. Plus if it were hidden it would make it harder for us to find her," Charlie said so fast he was surprised that Harry even understood what he had just said.

"OK, well let's get looking," Harry replied after a second to take in what Charlie had just said. He hurried over to one side of the room and Charlie headed to the other. He began pulling book after book off the shelves in an attempt to unlock some kind of door but to no avail. Checking over his shoulder every now and again he noticed Harry having just as little success. The floor was scattered with books and the continuous groans from the two men hinted at the fact that they were not finding a clue.

As if by luck, when Charlie pulled on the second to last book on the middle shelf there was a loud creak. A few seconds later the shelf toppled forward and Charlie barely managed to jump out of the way. Behind the shelf was a narrow, old-looking, wooden door. Charlie reached out slowly and carefully turned at the handle and it swung open.

"Well that was easy," Harry smirked from behind him. Charlie smiled; they were getting closer. His heart began to beat rapidly, thumping loudly against his ribs. He felt a bead of sweat drip down the back of his neck in anticipation. He couldn't help but let a small smile escape his lips.

"Let's go," he announced and lighting the tip of his wand with a small beam of light he walked through the door and into darkness. Taking one quick look at the room, Harry also lit his wand before following the elder Weasley into the dark.

They walked in silence for a few minutes down the very narrow tunnel with the only sound coming from their shoes clicking against the stone floor. The tunnel began to get wider and started to slope downwards. Charlie's heart began to race as he spotted a small light in the distance. His pace quickened as it got larger and they got closer. They finally pushed though an archway in a long, brightly lit corridor. Charlie's heart skipped a beat; he recognised the corridor from the memory. They had to be close. He flicked the light out at the end of his wand and turned around to face Harry, a smile on his face.

"We're in the right place," he said.

"Are you sure?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, she's in a room off this corridor. I saw a memory in a pensieve in the room before the last and it was definitely in this corridor," Charlie explained. He cast an eye around the corridor but felt a jolt when he couldn't see a door in the near vicinity.

"Good. I'll look this end, you go that way," Harry announced turning to his right and send Charlie down the to left. Charlie hurried down the corridor casting an eye down both sides of the corridor on the look out for a door. It wasn't long before he saw one of the left. Yes, that must be right. There was a lantern bracket directly opposite.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps getting closer and whipped around, he wand drawn in front of him.

"Whoa, it's just me," Harry said, his hands raised. Charlie lowered his wand. "No doors that end. But it looks like you had success." Harry nodded to the door. Charlie nodded feeling completely overwhelmed. He didn't know what to think. He was pleased and delighted they had finally found the right place. But at the same time he was apprehensive and worried at the thought of maybe being too late and the fact they hadn't seen Dolohov since they first arrived.

"Are you going to get her or just stare at the door forever?" Harry's voice finally entered Charlie's mind. He shook his head, trying to clear it of all the thoughts. He took a deep breath and stepped towards the door. Slowly, he reached out and grasped the cold, metal handle. He turned it and to his relief he heard a click. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, lighting his wand once more. Harry followed him into the room. Charlie looked around the room in the dim light, taking longer to examine the corners in the hope to find Hermione. But to his dismay he saw nothing.

"It's a shame you're too late," a drawl came from behind the two boys and the door clicked shut behind them.

(A/N: whoops ended that on a bit of a cliffy, sorry if it's a while until the next update but I'll try and get it up as soon as I can! Please please please leave a review!)