The next week and a half went by as smooth as it could with Hermione and Draco being constantly watched by the Order. It was a Friday and also the day before a Hogesmade weekend. Needless to say Hermione was currently in her Uncle's office begging him to let her and Draco go to Hogesmade. "Hermione I said no and that's final!" Dumbledore said angrily. "I have already lost your mother to them and I am not willing to lose you too" he finished. "You weren't the only one that lost her!" Hermione yelled back as she stood up and walked to the door. The door then slammed shut behind her and she ran into Draco's awaiting arms (he was waiting outside with the rest of their guard. McGonagall saw the distraught girl as she came down from the office and immediately went to talk to Dumbledore. Once she walked in he looked up and said "Don't say it, I know I'm on the verge of losing her too, bit I just can't let her go it's not safe and I'm not willing to risk losing the only family member I have left." "But Albus you know that they have to go or else this is going to go on forever. We will be ready if anything happens, if Voldemort is able to abduct them then we will just have to go and get them. Do you really think that you are the only one who is on the verge of losing her? The entire order has been on their toes about this not to mention her friends. Stop being so damn selfish and let her go!" McGonagall finished with a frustrated sigh. "Alright, alright but I'm going too" he said standing from his desk to prepare for tomorrow. "We will be meeting tonight at 8 to go over the game plan. Tell everyone" with that being said McGonagall walked out of the office and the guard escorted the two teens back to their room.
Hermione and Ginny were so excited to go shopping together and to most importantly start buying Christmas presents for everyone. The girls were up bright and early Saturday morning and were trying their hardest not to wake the guys up with their giggling and squeals of joy, but it didn't work. So the four got dressed and went down to breakfast along with their body guards. They flew through breakfast and before they knew it they were in the carriages going to Hogesmade. The girls decided that they would leave the boys to their shopping so they could do their own and meet up at the three broomsticks later. Hermione and her three personal guards (Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Molly Weasley), Ginny and half of the guard (roughly about 15 adults) set off to find what they were looking for. The guard quickly spread out in Hogesmade so they didn't attract too much attention but were never far away. Hermione, her personal guards, and Ginny decided that they wanted to go in search of gifts first before they started to shop for themselves. The girls had just about finished their shopping when it was time to meet the boys for lunch. Everyone gathered around in the three broomsticks and the boys kept trying to get the girls to tell them what they bought, but the girls weren't budging. They did this all throughout lunch and when the girls finished they gave each other a wink and stood up said a quick goodbye and left before the guys could protest.
They went back to their shopping and along the way they met up with the rest of the girls. They helped the others shop for Christmas presents and had a little bit of a shopping spree for themselves. They did have a yule ball coming up. All the girls went to shop for their dresses while Hermione, Ginny, and Pansy went to a new designer's shop for a custom dress. After the girls had either their dresses or their design they went to look for accessories and shoes. Once they found everything they needed they headed back to the castle, hopefully before the boys so they could hide the presents. While making their way to the carriages they spotted the bots outside of the quidditch shop and sneakily made it to the carriages not noticing that someone had gone missing.
The girls made it all the way back to the castle and were on their way up to their rooms when McGonagall stopped and asked them where Hermione was. The girls looked around and the majority of the group shrugged assuming that she already made it up to her room, while Ginny and Pansy looked at each other with a knowing glance. "Professor I think it happened" stated Ginny while her eyes were starting to tear up. "Oh dear I must contact Albus immediately! You girls round up the boys and stay in your common rooms till you hear from me or another teacher" she said the last part quietly to Pansy and Ginny. "We are going to stay together in the head's common room if you need anything Professor" Ginny said as she noticed the scared look on Pansy's face (she was the only one down in the Slytherin common out of the group). "That's fine now go straight there the half of the guard will accompany you up there. Send for Draco when you get there. Hopefully he is still with the boys." She said as she walked up to the headmaster's office to tell him the news (he had left after lunch for an emergency meeting). As the girls made their way to the Head's common room they met up with the guys along the way. "Have you seen Draco?" Harry asked them franticly "he went off to get Hermione's present over an hour ago and we checked everywhere in Hogesmade, but we couldn't find him". The girls all shared a worried look and Ginny told him that they would tell him when they got to the common room due to it being to public and anyone could overhear.
After the group reached the common room Ginny told McGonagall what Harry had told them about Draco's disappearance. McGonagall put the common room on lockdown to make sure that none of the headstrong friends decided to run after their missing friends. For the students minutes seemed like hours and hours felt like days, the waiting had brought out the worst in their thoughts. Many of the girls had emotional breakdowns and even some of the male occupants had a breakdown as well.
Meanwhile in the Headmaster's office: McGonagall had burst in the door with tears streaming down her face "Albus it happened. I am so sorry that I talked you into letting them go and now…" she wasn't able to continue through her heart wrenching sobs. "Don't worry I was hoping for this to happen" as Dumbledore said this McGonagall looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't look at me like that let me explain. I placed a "bug" so to say on Hermione and Draco to track exactly where they are at all times. My emergency meeting was with the aurors and the rest of the order apart from the guard, I told the guard yesterday. We know exactly when they were taken and where they will end up." "Oh my goodness, why didn't you tell me and the rest of the professors we have been worried sick about those two" McGonagall said with a hint of anger in her voice. "Because I knew you and the professors would act differently towards the students if you knew that they were going to be snatched but we were going to know where they were at all times" "that makes sense. What are we going to do now?" "Now we wait until they have settled down, they keep moving Hermione and Draco to different places, sometimes together and the other times not." "Do you think we should inform the students currently on lockdown in the Head's common room?" "Yes but take them to the room of requirement. They need to be prepared for anything that happens tonight" "Albus you don't mean…" "Yes they are coming, this ends tonight" Dumbledore interrupted her and continued "I will not risk the life of my only niece anymore. Make sure they are ready tonight and be sure they know of what is to happen, and most of all make sure Harry is ready." With that he shooed McGonagall out of his office and towards the Head's common room.
Once she reached the common room the sight that met her was devastating. The teens were all huddled around each other the guys cradling their crying counterparts. She started to tear up just looking at the sight. "Alright, alright lets dry our tears; there is a war to be won." She said and it defiantly got their attention. "Professor what are you talking about?" asked Harry. "Dumbledore wants you to be ready to fight." "Fight what? When?" Blaise asked. "The deatheaters and Voldemort. As for when I'm not really sure but Dumbledore will fill you in later on. For now we must get you to the room of requirement so you can be training. On your feet lets go, the sooner we get there the more prepared you'll be." The teens all arose to their feet with a new found determination, not only were they fighting to get their friends back but for the freedom of the entire wizarding world.
The walk to the Room of Requirement was quiet but as soon as the door shut it brought back memories of Dumbledore's Army and the non-Slytherins got to work training. Harry looked over to the two and beckoned them forward to get some training in too. The group trained for what seemed like minutes when dobby was sent to bring them dinner. After they finished eating they sat around for a few minutes to gather their thoughts, for they were about to start dueling the animatronic deatheater and each other. The majority of the group had gone when there was a knock on the door. Ginny stopped what she was doing (dueling with Ron and winning) and went to open the door. When she opened it she gasped in surprise, which alerted the others that it was not a professor. "What are you all doing here?" Ginny asked "McGonagall sent us to train" replied a familiar male voice. "Well by all means come in we were short a few anyways" Ginny replied as she opened the door wider for them to come in. In walked the rest of Dumbledore's Army and some of the Order. The previous group of teens just stood there in shock until someone shouted "well what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" that got Harry in gear. He then started grouping people in stations so they could focus on one thing at a time (just like in the Dumbledore's Army meetings). They all trained as hard as they could and when they felt like they couldn't train any longer they changed stations. It was well into the night before the group stopped training, Dumbledore had finally sent for them.
The meeting with Dumbledore was short, sweet, and to the point. Everyone had a job to do and a team to do it with. If this mission failed then so did the fate of the wizarding world. Harry had the hardest job of all: to take down Voldemort. Needless to say the weight of the world rested on his shoulders and he was starting to feel the pressure. The female professors decided to open up their 'spa' for everyone for the first time. That way they could all go into battle with relaxed muscles. The next morning would come bright and early but they were going to meet it head on with strong minds and leaps of faith.