Chapter 37 – The Bait
Ottery St. Catchpole
On a hill overlooking the village of Ottery St Catchpole, Ginny sat on the grass and looked at The Burrow in the distance. The recent family dramas involving Dean and Hermione had made her miss her own family. Sure she still had Ron with her but it wasn't the same as having the whole family together. She could see some smoke coming out from the chimney, her mother was cooking for father who would be home in about an hour. The white ranger could almost taste her mother's homecooking and that made her miss the rest of the Weasley clan even more.
Most of the family had moved out of the family home, after their wedding Bill and Fleur had moved into a cottage near the sea, Charlie was still in Romania and the twins lived above their shop in Diagon Alley. Percy was out there too but they had lost contact with him a couple of years ago. Being the youngest of seven had its advantages and disadvantages, it usually meant that Ginny got away with pretty anything. She did remember the loneliest time of her life was the first year Ron went to Hogwarts, she was used to a mad house full of noise and activity. The almost deafening silence was crippling to her ten year old self.
It was slightly different now, she had Harry for company along with Hermione. Even Dean and Cho had worked their way into her inner circle of friends but nothing replaced family. The lack of news about their family's safety was painful for the Weasley siblings. That's why the white ranger had taken to staking out The Burrow as often as she could. It was risky but Ginny took as many precautions as she could. Her sonic Chi power could interfere with certain spells like the revealing spell. Unless someone physically noticed her, she could stay hidden almost indefinitely.
The sun had almost completely disappeared over the horizon and the lights were on at The Burrow. Ginny was sure that she had seen her father apparate home, reassuring her for another night that he was safe. She stood up and brushed the grass off her legs but Ginny was startled when someone grabbed her shoulder. The white ranger grabbed their arm and threw her attacker to the ground. She dropped a knee into their chest, pinning them in place and pulled back her arm to attack again but something stopped her, "Harry", she gasped, "are you trying to get yourself killed".
"I could ask you the same question", the red ranger was barely able to choke out, "good reflexes by the way".
She peered into her boyfriend's eyes, "Have you been following me?"
Harry shook his head, "We've noticed that you've been going missing for a few hours every day for the last week. I guessed this is where you would be", he paused for brief moment and added, "well Ron guessed actually".
Ginny relaxed her shoulders slightly, "Sorry I should've told you where I was going".
"Don't worry about it", Harry shrugged from his position on the floor, "I'm concerned about your family too". Silence descended between the pair for a few moments, "I'm enjoying the view from this position but could you get off me, I'm still struggling to breath after that knee to the ribs".
Ginny suddenly realised that she was still straddling Harry's waist and immediately rolled off to one side. Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red that almost matched her hair, "Sorry", she squeaked out.
"See I knew that squeaky Ginny was still in there somewhere", Harry coughed a couple of times to clear his airways, "good thing there's no butter dish in sight".
"Shut it you prat", Ginny slapped him on the arm but she had a smile on her face, "I'm never going to live that down am I", she huffed.
Harry rose into a seated position and shook his head, "It'll probably enter Weasley folk law, a story passed down from generation to generation". The couple laughed for a few moments before settling into a comfortable silence. They turned their attention back to the Burrow where in the distance, they saw Bill and Fleur arriving for dinner, "Is everyone alright?" Harry asked.
"Well I've seen Dad today and the twins a few days ago", Ginny began, "I just wish this was over".
The red ranger reached across and placed an arm around Ginny's shoulder, "Yeah you're not the only one".
The moment was ruined by the sound of an explosion and raised voices coming from somewhere in the village. The pair looked around and could see heavy smoke and an ominous glow in the distance, "I think that's coming from Luna's place", Ginny immediately got to her feet and sprinted off in the direction of the blaze and Harry wasn't too far behind.
At the foot of the hill was a line of trees and the two rangers paused at the edge to ensure they weren't seen. Harry had never seen the Lovegood property but he surprised to see it looked at eccentric as he thought it would, "It's not called the Rookery for nothing", Ginny whispered as the red ranger looked at the chess piece shaped building. Flames were pouring out the top of the building and two dark shadows were pulling someone out of the blazing building, "That looks like Luna's Dad they're dragging out", the white ranger added.
The couple listened as closely as they could to the conversation the three men were having, "You've printed your final newspaper Xenophilius", one of the men sneered, "the Dark Lord doesn't appreciate your lies and he's decided to take something of yours as compensation".
"Please not my daughter", Xenophilius begged, "I'll do anything but don't hurt Luna".
The other man smacked Xenophilius across the face, sending him sprawling into the dirt, "Too late", he spat, "the Dark Lord will enjoy breaking down dear Luna until she snaps". He laughed loudly to himself, "That preening peacock Malfoy has the finest set of dungeons in the country".
The Death Eaters began to walk away but Xenophilius cried out, "Wait I can get you Potter".
The pair paused, "Yeah right and how are you going to do that old man".
"I-I-I don't know", Xenophilius stammered, "but once they learn that Luna's missed I'm sure they'll come looking for information".
The two men looked at each other before one of them said, "You've got two week Loony", they spat, "after that", he chuckled, "well best not to think about it". The Death Eaters laughed and apparated away leaving Xenophilius a broken mess outside his burning home.
"Luna", Ginny gasped, she was her oldest friend outside the family and she had been taken by Voldemort for no reason other than to punish her Dad.
"That bastard is trying to sell me out", Harry growled, "if he wasn't already an emotional mess I would go and have some words with him".
Ginny grabbed his arm to stop him from confronting the distraught man, "No we've got more important things to worry about".
"You're right", Harry sighed, "we need to save our friend". He paused for a moment, lost in his thoughts, "if only we knew where Malfoy Manor was, we could charge in and save her".
"But I bet I know someone who does", Ginny didn't wait for Harry's response as she grabbed him and teleported them both back to their base.
Grimmauld Place
After relaying the story to the other rangers, Harry and Ginny immediately went into their Command Centre to make a call. None of them knew where Malfoy Manor was but they reckoned a reluctant ally of theirs did. The red ranger activated the video link and made a call to America, "Harry", Jason began, "this is a pleasant surprise".
"Unfortunately this is a business call Jason", Harry said to his predecessor, "is Daphne or Astoria with you, we need to ask them a question".
"Yeah sure, just give me a moment", the line went silent as the original red ranger lowered his communicator. They could see that he was in one of the back rooms at the Youth Centre and he was walking towards the front of the building.
After a few moments the screen was filled with the person they wanted to speak with, "Afternoon Potter", Daphne said coolly, "or is it evening over there, I still haven't got the hang of this time difference thing".
"It's technically evening", Harry replied, "I see you've been hired as the Youth Centre's newest waitress".
Daphne looked down at her muggle clothes and apron, "Not my first choice I assure you but it's better than waiting for the Dark Lord to make a house visit". There was an uncomfortable silence before the Greengrass heir spoke again, "I assume that you want something, you don't seem the type to make social calls".
"Very astute of you", Harry took a deep breath before continuing, "our friend Luna's been kidnapped by Death Eaters".
"Luna? As in Loony Lovegood", Daphne asked.
"Don't call her that", Cho hissed out from the background.
Daphne snorted, "You're a hypocrite Chang, you were the worst offender for calling her that".
"Yeah well, times have changed", the pink ranger spat back.
"Ladies, this isn't helping", Dean interjected before turning to Daphne, "she's been taken to Malfoy Manor and we're hoping that you knew where that was?"
"I do", Daphne replied stiffly, "but it's well guarded, you'll struggle to get in there easily".
"Just let us worry about that", Ron began, "could you point it out on a map?"
The rangers turned the camera so it was facing their map of the United Kingdom, "Can you zoom into the county of Wiltshire, particularly the area around Salisbury", Daphne asked. The map began to change until they were in the requested area, "Alright move directly north until I say stop", the map scrolled upwards until she shouted, "Stop, it's right there in the middle of those two fields".
Hermione looked a little closer at the map, "But there's nothing there".
"It's there Granger trust me, I've been bored to death at enough of their social gatherings over the years". The rangers continued to look at the map, there was nothing around for miles but their map was based on information that was available to Muggles. A wizarding residence wouldn't show up and given what they knew of the Malfoys, they would want a large plot of land for their own. "Are we done", Daphne added, "I've got some tables to clean".
"Yeah sure", Harry replied, "thanks for your help".
Daphne nodded, "Good luck, you'll need it", there were no further words as she turned off the communicator. The rangers weren't hanging around for long either as they charged out of the Command Centre, they had a friend to rescue.
Malfoy Manor
The Malfoy family were used to the finer things in life. They certainly weren't used to scrapping around in virtual poverty, almost prisoners in their own home. Lucius's failure at the Department of Mysteries coupled with Draco's disastrous attempts to kill Albus Dumbledore had seen their popularity plummet. Voldemort only kept them around to finance his ongoing war and once the money ran out, they would probably be cast aside or murdered in their beds. If they weren't such abject cowards they probably would've taken the option of death but instead there were treated only slightly better than House Elfs.
They family were sheltering in one of the living rooms in the vast manor, the Dark Lord was away but Bellatrix was in residence. Ever since she had been granted the power of Chi she had been more lucid than at any point in the last twenty years but not even Narcissa could rely on their sisterly bond to keep her in line. Sometimes the youngest of the Black sister thought that a totally different person inhabited Bellatrix's body.
Their peaceful evening was shattered but a number of explosions coming from their front garden. Draco ran to the window and couldn't believe his eyes, "Its him", he muttered. Lucius dashed to the window but had to duck when a shell landed within a few feet of their home. Several windows were blown out, showering them with glass.
The noise alerted their house guest and soon they joined Bellatrix in the receiving area of the property. They opened the door and stepped outside to be greeted by a giant robotic turtle rolling up their pathway. Six shadowy figures jumped down and the turtle disappeared into thin air. As they got closer to the property, it became clear who was brave enough to launch a full frontal attack on one of the most heavily guarded homes in the country. "Good evening Mr and Mrs Malfoy", Harry greeted them warmly, "I believe you're keeping a friend of ours against their will".
TO BE CONTINUED