School holidays were always Weasley's Wizard Wheezes most busy times. While the Easter holidays weren't as busy as summer, or even Christmas, they still produced an upturn in the amount of customers visiting the shop. As such Fred and George were rushed off their feet and a few days into the holidays their work loaded doubled when Harry and Ron failed to return from lunch.
Molly had insisted the pair work for them after their collaboration with Sirius, and for a couple of days everything went well. Fred and George gave the boys a list of tasks to complete each day, with an hour's break for dinner at half twelve. For three days Harry and Ron did their work, albeit with a bit of grumbling, but on the fourth day they didn't return to the shop after going to grab something to eat.
"I'm going to kill the pair of them when I get my hands on them." Fred grouched to his twin.
When the pair didn't return Fred and George had been surprised, but the more they had discussed the matter the more they thought their brother and his friend had just scarpered for the afternoon. Both Harry and Ron hadn't made any secret of the fact they thought Molly was treating them harshly and they shouldn't be stuck working for the twins.
"I knew we should have refused Mum when she asked us to keep them occupied." George complained. "We should have known they would sneak off."
"We should have given them separate lunchtimes." Fred mused. "From now on they're not leaving the shop together."
"You mean if Mum doesn't confine them to the Burrow." George chuckled. "When she finds out what they've done she's going to be furious."
"I don't suppose we have to tell her." Fred replied, feeling a pang of sympathy for Ron and Harry at the thought of having Molly angry at them. "How about, as long as they're back before we close up, we keep this incident between the four of us."
"Fair enough." George nodded. "But if they're not back by then, we'll have to tell Mum."
"Agreed."
For the rest of the afternoon Fred and George kept waiting for Harry and Ron to return to the shop. As it got nearer and nearer to closing time the twins began to doubt their brother and his friend were going to return. Half an hour before they shut up, George was able to slip out and have a scout around Diagon Alley in case the pair were nearby. When he returned he hadn't found Harry and Ron and it was time to shut up the shop for the night.
"Mum is going to be furious." George remarked as the twins locked up and headed upstairs to their flat.
Once in their flat the twins braced themselves for facing their mother, before flooing to the Burrow. The second Molly realised Harry and Ron weren't with the twins she began ranting and raging. Fred and George got a brief lecture on keeping a closer eye on the pair, but most of Molly's anger was directed at Harry and Ron. Like the twins, Molly's first thought was the pair had rebelled and gone wandering off somewhere.
"Ginny, grab Errol and send a message to Hermione." Molly ordered her daughter. "The boys might have just gone to her."
"I doubt it." Ginny snorted in response. "She knew what their punishment was, if they'd gone to her she would have sent them right back. Like all of us Hermione isn't impressed with their behaviour."
"Let's just make sure." Molly told Ginny. "There's no harm in checking."
Despite thinking it was a waste of time, Ginny wandered off to send a message to Hermione. While Ginny was off writing a note to Hermione, Molly checked the clock on her wall in the hope that it would give her a clue to Ron's whereabouts. Ron's pointer was pointing to the small section of the clock labelled missing, causing worry to creep into Molly's thoughts.
"What if they didn't just run away?" Molly questioned, turning to the twins who were settled at the kitchen table. "What if they were taken in retaliation for what they did to the Malfoy boy?"
"We never thought of that." Fred said, sharing a worried look with George. They had just assumed the pair had gone wandering off in protest, but they felt bad that something might have happened to them and they had spent all afternoon being annoyed with them.
"Maybe we should contact a few people from the Order." George suggested. "They could help us decide what to do for the best."
"I'll go and do that." Molly said, rushing into the front room.
Before Molly had the chance to start contacting anyone Arthur arrived home from work. When he heard what had happened, he persuaded Molly to wait until they heard back from Hermione before sounding an alert. He also suggested that he and the twins head back to Diagon Alley to look around and ask some questions. Even though the shops were closed most of the owners lived above them and The Leaky Cauldron would still be open.
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When Hermione received an owl from Ginny asking if she'd seen Harry and Ron, she couldn't resist answering in person. She hadn't expected to know what was going on while the boys were missing and this was an opportunity too good to miss. After letting her parents know where she was going, Hermione made sure there were no traces of her Dark Lady persona and changed into the type of clothes she wore at school before apparating to the Burrow.
When she arrived Hermione found Molly and Ginny sitting anxiously in the kitchen. The second she entered the house both witches jumped up and started bombarding her with questions.
"I haven't seen Harry and Ron since Platform Nine and Three Quarters." Hermione told Molly and Ginny. "What exactly has happened?"
"We don't know." Ginny answered as Molly had slumped back down at the table the second Hermione said she hadn't seen the pair. "They went out for lunch as normal and never returned."
"They might have just gone off for a drink or something." Hermione suggested. "We all know they weren't happy with having to spend their entire holidays working for Fred and George. Plus things haven't exactly been easy on them at school, maybe they just wanted to unwind and forget about everything."
"If that was the case they would have been back by now." Molly said quietly. "They wouldn't worry me like this."
From behind Molly, Hermione and Ginny shared a sceptical look. They both knew that in the right mood, Harry and Ron wouldn't give Molly a second thought. Of course, Hermione knew the boys couldn't get in touch with Molly in their current predicament, but she couldn't exactly say that.
"What are you going to do, now?" Hermione asked as she and Ginny sat down at the table.
"Arthur and the twins are in Diagon Alley, but if they return empty handed I'm going to contact a few of the Order." Molly replied.
Ten minutes later Arthur and the twins did indeed return empty handed, as it turned out they couldn't even find one single person that remembered seeing the pair that day. With Diagon Alley drawing a blank and Hermione not having seen the pair, Arthur relented and let Molly contact a few members of the Order. Half an hour later Kingsley, Lupin and Tonks arrived to discuss the situation.
"Where do we start?" Molly questioned, once everyone was sat around the table. "Something bad has happened to them, I can feel it."
"What do you think has happened Molly?" Kingsley asked. With all his years of experience as an Auror he was the one everyone was looking at to lead the way.
"They've been snatched." Molly announced. She'd been thinking about this for the last hour or so and now had a firm idea about her son and his friend. "This is payback for the Malfoy boy. Lucius Malfoy has them somewhere."
"Actually Lucius is in France." Arthur told his wife. "He and Narcissa left a couple of days ago with the Minister and his wife."
"He could still be involved." Molly protested. "I think we need to inform the Aurors."
"Informing the Aurors is one way to go, but I think we may be better off looking for them ourselves." Kingsley answered. "Firstly the Aurors won't take two seventeen year old boys disappearing very seriously until they've been gone a while. They're likely to say they they've just used the holidays to go a bit wild and have some fun."
"That's not fair." Molly cried. "When the Malfoy boy went missing they were there in a shot, and it was the same with Flint."
"Actually Marcus Flint had been missing several weeks before the Aurors actively began their search." Tonks explained.
"And as for Draco, he went missing from school premises. That put a different slant on things." Kingsley said. "I can assure you the Aurors won't be able to do anything right away."
"And don't forget that getting in touch with the Aurors could bring up all that mess with Draco and Sirius." Lupin added.
"Remus is right." Tonks nodded. "The first thing the Aurors will want to know is why you're so convinced they're in harm's way."
"Can't we just say we suspect Lucius Malfoy is involved?" Molly questioned.
"And what reason would you give?" Arthur asked his wife. "We can't say it's retaliation for what happened to Draco, because Lucius has made it very clear he blames Sirius, not the boys."
"Arthur's right, if we mention Harry and Ron's involvement in Draco's kidnapping it could lead to all sorts of trouble. There's a few Aurors who believe they should be charged, despite Lucius not wanting to take things further." Kingsley warned. "If the wrong Aurors got hold of the case, they could very well be arrested and a case built against them. Who knows what they could be forced to confess to."
"They wouldn't." Molly gasped. "They're only children."
"Technically they're adults." Kingsley replied. "You could argue that Sirius manipulated them into helping him, but there's no guarantee that would convince everyone. Especially when you consider if the boys are arrested, Lucius might get involved and demand justice."
"He could have done that before now if that's what he wanted." Molly argued. "Surely it'll look bad if he's suddenly demanding something is done about Ron and Harry."
"He could argue that with everything that was going on at the time, he trusted the school to handle it." Kingsley said. "I know Severus spoke with him before handing out punishments to the boys, but Draco was his main concern and Lucius was undoubtedly distracted. Besides, if you're going to be going around blaming him for the boys being missing, he'll retaliate. To be honest, it's rather shocking he hasn't pressed the matter more strongly. In the circumstances he's been pretty lenient, and if I was you, I wouldn't push him."
"What if we don't mention Lucius?" Molly asked. "We could just claim to be worried considering what happened with Draco."
"You could." Kingsley nodded. "I'm not going to stop you going to the Aurors, but I suggest you think very carefully about it. I'll start making some subtle inquires tonight, but if you want to make this official let me know tomorrow and I'll contact the Ministry."
"Thank you Kingsley." Molly smiled at the Auror as he got up and said his goodbyes.
Tonks waited until she was sure Kingsley had left, before turning to the others around the table. "You are aware that if you go to the Aurors, Kingsley could potentially lose his job, aren't you?"
"What? How?" Ginny gasped.
"He'll be in major trouble if anyone ever finds out he knew what Harry and Ron did before it was splashed all over the papers." Tonks explained. "As an Auror it's his job to report a crime like the one Harry and Ron committed."
"But McGonagall and Snape never reported it either." Ginny argued.
"They're under no obligation to report it, they dealt with it in their way as Professors." Tonks said. "Even though he's currently teaching, he's still an Auror. The Ministry are his employers and once his contract ends at Hogwarts he'll be expected to return as an Auror, if of course he's still got a job."
"I know we want to find Ron and Harry, but I think we need to hold off on calling in the Aurors." Arthur said. "Kingsley's right, by involving them we could be risking Harry and Ron even more."
"Okay, we can hold off with the Aurors." Molly replied quietly. "But not for long."
"If we haven't found them before it's time for them to return to school, we'll call the Aurors in and hope for the best." Arthur told his wife.
Molly agreed to her husband's terms, on the condition they brought the rest of the Order in to help them find Harry and Ron. While Arthur and Molly were arranging that with Tonks and Lupin, Hermione was saying her goodbyes to Ginny and the twins.
"I wish I could stay and help, but I have to get home." Hermione said.
"We'll keep you up to date and the second we find anything out I'll write to you." Ginny promised.
"Thanks Gin." Hermione smiled. "I'll come around as often as I can and hopefully I can be of some assistance."
After saying goodbye to Molly, Arthur, Tonks and Lupin, Hermione apparated home. Ginny's letter had been most fortunate and now she had the inside track on the reaction to Harry and Ron's disappearance. The fact they weren't going to the Auror's played right into Hermione's hands. She'd already planned to just have hold of the pair for a few days and now she would be sure to have them back at the Burrow before it was time to return to school.