I disclaim a line from Gilmore Girls. Many thanks to my beta Dawn for looking over this chapter twice.

Chapter 37: Be Back Soon

As soon as they were out the door, Ron and Ginny stopped and stared down at the parchment in Ron's hands, tracing their fingers along it and muttering to themselves. Lena tried not to fidget as they waited. After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, Ron looked up.

"She's not in the castle."

"I didn't think she would be fool enough to come back here," muttered Lena.

"Or stay in Hogsmeade, if that's where she was," said Roger. He had a firm grip on the back of her robes.

"We'll go find her," said Ginny.

Before anyone else could say anything, she and Ron sped off toward the Entrance Hall.

Lena turned to Roger, forcing him to let go of her robes. "What?" she snapped.

"I just didn't want you to go after her is all."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why not? Our son is in the clutches of some Death Eater because of her. Why can't I go after her?"

"Because if you do, you'll kill her."

"I would not," she said indignantly. "Do you really think I'd hurt her?" He gave her a doubtful look, but said nothing. "She's only fourteen," Lena said, her irritation mounting. "I'd scare her certainly, because she bears some of the blame, but I wouldn't hurt her. I wouldn't," she insisted. "I have standards."

"Right," he said tightly.

She opened her mouth to give an angry retort, but turned as footsteps came hurrying toward them.

"Your parents aren't here yet," Adrian said apologetically as he and Arti came around the corner just as Arti demanded, "Who wouldn't you kill?"

"Oh that's all right," Lena said cheerfully. Adrian raised an eyebrow at her. "I've got more important things to worry about. We know who was involved."

"Who?"

"Vane."

"The fourth-year? The one who got kicked out of the DA?" Arti asked.

"Who else?" Lena said, with more force than she had intended.

"Is that where Ron and Ginny went?" asked Adrian. Lena nodded. "How did you figure out she was involved?"

"Luna." Adrian and Arti waited but Lena didn't elaborate.

"You don't know that Vane was involved willingly," Adrian said cautiously.

"Would you like to bet?" she asked, lifting her chin and looking him in the eye.

"No," he said hastily, shuffling backwards.

"I have no doubt she went to them willingly enough. Whether she stayed willingly is another matter. Of course the ones we really want had sense enough to run," Lena said dejectedly. "But once we have Vane, we might get some answers."

"Do you really think she knew anything?" asked Roger.

"She probably knew a few things. Carrow wouldn't be fool enough to tell any of the others everything. Though some of what she told them might have been lies. But what she does know should be pretty easy to get out of her."

Arti's eyes narrowed. "And how exactly were you going to get her to tell you anything? Dare I ask how you intend to...persuade her? You wouldn't do anything...illegal are you?"

"No! I won't hurt her," Lena said through clenched teeth. She felt like kicking something. "I'm not a Death Eater, I wouldn't hurt a child."

"Shall we get our equipment, then?" Maya asked when no one spoke for a few moments.

Lena nodded and she and Roger turned to follow Maya and Lee toward the marble staircase.

"For what?" asked Adrian as he came up beside Lena.

"To use when we go to rescue everyone." Lena failed to keep the exasperation out of her voice.

"They're letting you go?" he asked. Lena turned back towards him, and his shocked expression faltered at the look on her face. "Of course, of course they are."

They had just reached the third floor landing when a horrifying thought came to her with such force that she thought her head would split open. She stopped in her tracks and Roger collided into her. He hissed, rocking back on his heels. Adrian grabbed his arm before he fell backwards down the stairs.

"She's been behind it all along," Lena breathed.

Roger was beside her a moment later, a hand on her back.

"Who?" he asked, looking down at her, his face drawn and anxious.

"Carrow." Arti sucked in a breath, letting out a soft exclamation. Roger's brow furrowed for a moment before his expression cleared, then turned dark. "Well, I suppose all of them were involved." Lena began to pace as she talked. "The night of the attack on Hogsmeade, she was reciting that rhyme from the second task." Arti nodded, eyes widening. "And that's what I heard in the loo earlier. And then out in the street, that must have been part of it too, it was too similar not to be and I doubt any of them'd want to take time to make up something like that."

Roger closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face, and Lena was sure he was remembering Cedric. She wondered, if he had been selected as a school champion, would she have been his hostage as Hermione had been for Krum?

Her mind reversed the scenario, made her the champion. But instead of Roger, Zach was her hostage. He was bound tightly, with so much rope that only his head was visible, surrounded by merpeople holding spears and daggers to keep her away. She watched in helpless horror as he awoke, opened his mouth to breathe and let out a horrifying gurgle as he choked...

She jumped as Roger put a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath, trying to stop herself from shivering. Roger put his arms around her, but it took what seemed like several minutes for her to regain control of herself.

"We need to hurry," she said as she turned strode down the hall.

"We'll get there soon, I promise," Roger said, catching up to her and taking her hand.

"There was something odd about the other girl who was with Runcorn today at the... at Weasley's Wheezes," Lena said, lost in thought. "I'll bet you it was Carrow under Polyjuice or something. I'm sure Blishwick's involved too." She ran her hand through her hair, tugging at it. "All that talk about babies and things, Merlin, she was giving me hints! And I didn't realise..." She tugged harder. Roger put a hand on hers and slowly her fingers relaxed.

"You had no reason to," Arti said soothingly.

She glared at Arti whose reassuring smile faltered. "I should have."

Arti sighed.

"That's what they wanted," said Roger. "For you to not realise the connection. And I'm the one who didn't notice that 'Graham' hadn't mentioned the Red Roads."

"There's no point in assigning blame." said Maya firmly. "None of this was your fault. Any of you."

Easy for you to say, Lena thought bitterly. None of this is your fault.

Lena went on. "And now the Bo Peep rhyme in the letter. Carrow was humming that that night too... All this time and we never realised. How could I have been so stupid?" she demanded. She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip to keep back a scream. She felt absolutely disgusted with herself.

"Don't–don't do anything too hasty," Adrian cautioned, exchanging nervous glances with Arti.

"Oh, I won't," Lena said sweetly. "I've had months to think about this."

"You knew they'd do something?" asked Arti.

"No, but I promised Carrow and her lot months ago that I'd kill them if they came anywhere near Zach."

"You've been planning how to – to deal with them?" Arti asked.

Lena shrugged. "Not really. Just vague ideas. It's not as though I haven't fantasized about drowning them in the lake over the last seven years..."

"When was this?" Roger asked.

"Right after Zach was born. I ran into them in Diagon Alley. I doubt I'll be able to fulfil that promise, since they're Merlin knows where by now."

"Who knows? We might find them," said Roger.

The rest of their trip to the DA storage room was spent in silence. When they got there, Adrian looked around, marvelling at all of the supplies on the shelves. They had increased significantly since he had left the DA.

"What will we need?" Roger asked as he began to walk away.

"Grenades probably," Lee said, handing out the small spheres. He tossed two to Roger who caught them and put them in his pocket. "Potion pieces..." He looked thoughtful. "I'm sure we'll think of a few things as we look around."

"What else is there?" Adrian asked, turning to look around.

As he did, he bumped into one of the shelves. Several object started to roll toward the edge and off the shelf. Before they could hit the ground, Arti flicked her wand at them and they returned to their places.

"You're good on your feet," Lee said, looking impressed.

"And off," Arti replied with a wink at Adrian.

Adrian nearly knocked the shelf over again as he hastily turned away. Lena snickered. She could practically feel the heat radiating from his face.

Lena, Roger, Maya and Lee started toward other parts of the room. They hadn't gone far, when Lee stopped at one of the shelves.

"What're these?" he asked, holding up two sticks connected by a short chain. He held one of the sticks and began to twirl it, nearly hitting himself in the head.

"I don't know," said Roger, "but I suggest you put them down before you knock yourself – or someone else – out."

Lee nodded, hastily putting the instrument back.

"How much do we need?" Maya called from a few rows down.

"Take some extra, since we don't know who's going," Lee said. "Or what or who we'll find."

"Who else would be going?" asked Maya.

"Maybe not with us, but since we don't know where they are – Vane might not have been told the specifics – they might send more than one search party."

Lena was only half-listening as she took out her potion piece, turning it over and twiddling the dials.

"I'll kill them," she said quietly. "All of them."

Roger put his hand over hers. "Not while they have our son and our friends in their grasp. When we know they're safe, then we can."

She turned to face him in surprise. "You're not objecting."

"Of course not." He looked offended. "They kidnapped three of the people we care about most."

Lena smiled in relief.

Within ten minutes, they gathered to compare supplies. They had everything from Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder to Shield Hats and Cloaks and several vials of Wide-Eye.

"What about food?" Arti asked. "I'm sure everyone'll be hungry."

Lena turned to stare at her. "Merlin knows where we're going and what we're going to find there. The last thing we'll have time to worry about is food. We won't have time to sit there and eat. We can all eat after we get back. In fact, I'm sure we'll all be famished since I highly doubt anyone'll be hungry while we're there anyway. Not to mention, I'd rather spend as little time wherever we're going as possible."

"All right." After a moment, she said, "Er, Lena, are you sure you want to go in those?"

"What?"

"Your shoes."

Lena looked down at her high-heeled boots. "What's wrong with them? I'm sure they'd come in handy. I could break a few bones with them or something if I had to."

Arti winced. "Well, yes, but it won't do you any good to break an ankle running in them even if the shoes themselves could do some damage."

Lena sighed but nodded in grudging agreement. "I suppose not."

"Here, take mine," Arti said, taking off her shoes and holding them out to her.

Lena took off her own shoes and gave them to Arti, who had to balance herself on Adrian's shoulder to get them on.

"How the hell do you walk in these? I feel like I'm on stilts."

"Carefully," Adrian quipped, steadying her as she stumbled.

"They're only three inches tall," Lena protested over her shoulder as she started for the door, Roger, Maya and Lee close behind. "I expect them back."

Adrian gave her a searching look, but she ignored him and kept walking.

"Oh don't worry," Arti said, stumbling behind them. "I'll be glad to take them off. And please let me know if you decide to go rampaging around the country looking for everyone. I have to know where you are at all times. Especially if you're wearing my shoes."

"You might have to settle for a detailed account when I get back. We won't have time to let you know where we're going while we're getting there."

"That's fine."

As they started down the stairs, Arti tripped and would have gone head over heels if Roger hadn't grabbed her. Lena looked away to hide her smirk. Maybe this would work after all.

"I should do something about these before I break my neck," Arti said, glaring at Lena who sighed in exasperation. With a few flicks of her wand, Arti Transfigured the boots into a normal pair of shoes. "You should just have done that instead of giving them to me."

Damn, I forgot she could do that now. I was hoping she'd break a leg and end up in the hospital wing. Then she wouldn't come after us. Now I have to get her to stay here the hard way.

"I didn't think it'd be that much of a problem for you to go down two flights of stairs in them. Really, you're hopeless."

"I'm a perfectly functional human being!" Arti said indignantly. Beside her, Adrian was doing his best to stifle his laughter. Lena didn't bother. "I might be able to fight better than you, but this is not something I'll ever be good at."

Lena, Maya, Roger and Lee went back to McGonagall's office as Arti and Adrian resumed their wait in the Entrance Hall to resume their wait for Lena's and Roger's parents, as well as, presumably keeping an eye out for Vane so that they could keep Lena from getting to her first. Harry was standing outside the door, in conversation with Katie, Oliver and two other Red Shepherds Lena couldn't name. Harry looked up as they approached.

"Good news. We know where they are." The six of them sighed in relief. "Well, one of two places," he amended.

"Just two?" Maya asked as they gathered around the map. Katie and the others moved over to make room

Harry nodded, pointing them out. "One of them's in the middle of the river and the other's in the hills."

"Which one do you want?" asked Katie.

Maya glanced around at the other three. "Shall we take the river?"

The others nodded. Lena was glad that Maya had decided on the location in the river. It seemed right somehow. Safer, if that were possible when describing a location where your son and friends were being held by your enemy.

They spent a few minutes discussing strategies before everyone was satisfied, though the entire process was taking much longer than Maya's Pride would have liked.

"No sign of Vane or anyone else?" Lee asked.

"Not yet," Harry said apologetically. Lena sighed. "I'm going up to tell Dumbledore then," he said before hurrying off.

Lena had quite forgotten about the teachers but thought it was a good thing that someone would know where they went. She hoped none of them would object to their going off to find Natalie, Graham and Zach. Not that she – or Maya – would have listened if any of them did.

Lee distributed their supplies amongst the eight of them and within a couple of minutes, everyone was ready to go. Lena grew nervous as she neared the Entrance Hall. As Arti came into view, she realised her nervousness had to do with her sister and not the impending mission.

"I don't suppose," Lena asked quietly, "that we can go out some other door."

"We could," Lee began.

"But would you really want Arti to realise that we've gone off without her? I doubt Adrian'd be able to keep her here alone. This way it's five to one."

Lena nodded, chuckling. "I should have thought of that."

She took a deep breath as they Arti and Adrian came into view.

"Where're you going?" Adrian asked, glancing back at the other four who were just walking out the door.

"Where do you think?" asked Lena.

"How'd you find them?"

"We didn't," Lee said. "Harry and Hermione did."

"That was fast."

Lena nodded, glancing anxiously at Arti before turning her attention back to Adrian as she put her hand in the pocket of her robes.

"Well, good luck–" Adrian began. Lena silently thanked him as he put a hand on Arti's arm. She was glad she had pulled him aside in the storeroom to tell him to keep Arti from following them. Though she supposed he would have done that in any case.

If I didn't already think that he's the right man for her, I'd give him my blessing to marry her now. More the pity for him, though I'm sure she thinks the same thing about Roger.

"What do you mean, 'good luck'?" asked Arti, turning to Adrian with an incredulous look. "We're going with them."

"No, we aren't," he said. "Someone's got to stay behind and let everyone know what's going on."

"Fine, you can stay, but I'm going."

"You will do no such thing!" Lena snapped.

Arti turned to Lena. "You said other people'd go with you."

"I didn't mean you! You're not going."

"Yes, I will."

They glared at each other for several long moments. But Arti wasn't giving up easily this time.

Lena pointed her wand at her. "So help me, if I have to, I'll hex you. You aren't coming with me – us."

"You can't tell me not to, I'm of age!"

"I don't care. And I am telling you. I don't have time to argue with you right now. We've already wasted far too much time. You're staying and that's final. I'll Imperius you if I have to."

Arti looked horrified. "You can't! Even if the year's over–"

"I don't give a damn!"

"Well I do! I don't want you to–"

Lena rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go. You're the good one, aren't you?"

"I just meant that I don't want you to do something you'd regret."

"Regret? I'll regret nothing if it means getting my son back. And speaking of which, if I don't come back–"

"Don't say that." Arti looked as though she might cry.

"If I don't come back," Lena continued firmly, "Mother and Father won't have lost both their children. Besides, you wouldn't be the spare if I kicked the bucket. You'd get everything and you wouldn't have to share anything anymore."

"I don't care about that! And that's not true. If something happened to you, their estate would be split between Zach and me. Nice try though."

"Fine, how's this for a reason?" she asked impatiently. "If you come with us, I'll have to be worrying about you too. Is that reason enough?"

"Then why does he" – she pointed at Roger – "get to go with you?"

"Because I won't sit here waiting for them to come back," said Roger.

"But I have to? That's not fair." She sounded like a sulky child.

"Life's not fair," Lena said bitterly.

Arti looked as though she might argue, but instead, she sighed heavily and said, "All right, I'll stay."

"Thank you," Lena said through gritted teeth.

"It'll be good to have some company," said Adrian, who was looking relieved, ignoring Arti's glower. "I won't have to be worry about you too. Besides, too many people and we'd get in each other's way."

Lena slipped a hand into her pocket once more and pulled out an envelope.

"What-?" Arti asked Lena handed it to her.

Adrian looked up, meeting Lena's eyes. "Is that...?"

"Yes. They're both in there. And our vault keys too."

"When did you...?" Adrian began.

"Right after Zach was born. I've been carrying copies around with me ever since, just in case. I'd leave them in my trunk, but I'm not sure you'd be able to open it, so I thought this was better. The original's in our vaults if you need them. Thankfully the Wizarding world is civilized enough now that he can inherit our money. Not, of course, that anyone would throw him out or anything."

"What have you done to your trunk that we couldn't open it?" Adrian asked.

"I needed some way to keep prying eyes and hands away from my things. With good reason too, I now see."

Arti gulped, tears welling in her eyes. "Bring him home," she whispered, hugging Lena so tightly she thought her ribs might break. "And you better come home too," she said fiercely. "All of you."

"We'll try." Lena said. Arti pulled back and glared at her. "I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do."

"Go on then," Arti said.

She let Lena go and the six of them walked toward the great oak doors.

"Give 'em hell from us."Adrian said with a grin. Lena grinned back.

"We will," said Roger solemnly.

"And remember," said Arti, "justice is different from revenge."

Lena gave a non-committal grunt and nodded, though she avoided Arti's eyes.

I don't see a difference, but she doesn't need to know that. As Beowulf says: 'it is better for everyone that he avenge his friend, than he mourn overmuch.''

"I don't see much of one either," Roger said as they started down the stone steps.

She squeezed his hand.

"I hope we get our happy ending," said Arti as she and Adrian followed behind them.

"I'll get revenge, that's a happy ending," Lena said quietly.

"Yes, it is," Roger agreed.

"Well?" Thackery Runcorn demanded as soon as his wife Apparated into their kitchen. He was staring out the window, a drink in his hand. She stopped in the doorway for a moment gazing at him, before she crossed the room to his side.

"I wasn't seen," she said irritably. Did he think her that careless? Her next words died on her lips as he turned to her, his expression fierce.

"I don't care about that. Even if you were and they came to arrest you, I'll deny everything." He grinned slyly. "And I wouldn't even be lying really, since you did most of the work. You were the one out at Hogsmeade with your little friends. For all I know, you could have just been gossiping with them."

Persis shuddered at the thought. She had given very little thought to what would happen if things went wrong. Now, for the first time, she realised that if she were caught, she would certainly go to Azkaban. No, she couldn't think like that. They would succeed. Nothing would go wrong.

"Well?" he demanded again, grabbing her arm roughly, jerking her out of her thoughts.

"We have them," she said.

He smiled.

Persis had seen Thackery smile only twice during their marriage, when she had told him she was pregnant with Lucasta and Calanthia – her announcement of her latest pregnancy had only been met with a dismissive grunt – but this wasn't like those times. This smile sent chills down her spine. And, not for the first time, she wondered what she had gotten herself into and how she could get herself out of it, before it was too late.

"More than we bargained for, actually," she said, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "That Mudblood girl was holding the brat, but Pritchard grabbed her and came along too. Not that we don't want the Mudblood, she'd prove useful somehow."

"Now, now, you mustn't call him that."

"No, I suppose not," she conceded, but he wasn't listening.

"And now, we'll have our son," he said, his eyes far away. She had never seen him look so happy.

Pain stabbed through her heart as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. She sighed. After two girls, there seemed little chance that this baby would be a boy. She had failed in the most important duty of a pure-blood wife. At least this way the pressure for her to bear a son was gone. They would raise this boy as their ward and marry him to one of their daughters so that their line and their name would continue. It gave her a small measure of smug satisfaction that even his mistress – for she was under no illusions about her husband's dalliances – couldn't give him a son either.

And yet, Thackery would get all the credit and congratulations. He would be the one to get his Mark, his status elevated to became one of the Dark Lord's chosen. She would forever be the woman who couldn't give her husband a son, who had to steal one - from an undeserving couple, but steal one nonetheless. They might not sneer at them openly now, but they would not be held in the high esteem her husband desired. Even taking the Mark would not rid him of that shame.

Still, this would make him happier than she had ever seen him. And maybe, maybe he would love her as he had, in his own way, when they were first wed. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he was so lost in his own thoughts about his son that he didn't notice.

Her thoughts turned from her distant husband to her new son, to what life would be like when they finally had him. She had been acting like any expectant mother, wondering what he would grow up to be like, trying to decide what to name him, since they certainly couldn't let him keep the name he was born with. Isdore or Theodore or Matthew perhaps, though all of them sounded far too ordinary. At least his appearance would not be a mystery as she had seen him every month for the past eight months. It had been wonderful to watch him grow and see his parents coo over him, without any inkling as to what would happen.

It would be complicated, she was sure. His family would scour the earth for him, so they would have to keep him hidden – a Fidelius Charm perhaps – but that would be a small price to pay. And it would only be temporary. Once Zachary Davies was in their hands, it would be only a matter of time before the blood-traitors were under the Dark Lord's control, for how could their resistance endure once they realised that even pure-bloods with connections to the likes of Harry Potter could not keep their children safe? There would be no need to hide him after that.

She would make sure the boy's family – or at the very least his parents – survived the war. Not that it would be difficult to convince the others not to kill them, even if doing so would make it easier for the boy to become truly theirs. No, the Death Eaters, and probably the Dark Lord himself would be delighted that the boy's birth family would be forced to watch him become friends with the children of others in his inner circle, be taught that people like his birth parents were worthless scum, like the Mudbloods and Muggles they so staunchly defended.

And, when he was old enough, he would go to Hogwarts. It would be quite a different Hogwarts from the one she and Thackery had attended. The Dark Lord would make it the greatest school in the Wizarding world, surpassing even Durmstrang in its teaching of the Dark Arts. Moon and Davies would be horrified. But that wouldn't be the worst of it, for them. One day, the boy would receive the Mark, just as Thackery soon would. Such sweet revenge it would be. It made her giddy with excitement.

Persis glanced back at her husband. Yes, it would be good to see their son following in his father's footsteps. But she hoped that he would retain some of his parents' traits, their warmth and compassion. For as much as she disliked their views about Muggles and Mudbloods, she had always envied that they could and did show affection for one another, that they could marry for love instead of the need for heirs. She hoped her son wouldn't turn into a cold, distant man like her husband.

She stared out the window, smiling to herself. She could almost feel the weight of the child in her arms. She imagined holding this little boy and telling him of how he had come to be in this family, the story she had been rehearsing over the past few months.

"Once upon a time, there was a father and mother who had two – no, three – little girls, but they wanted a boy very, very much so that their family name would live on. One day, the Dark Lord gave them a task to prove that they were loyal followers worthy of receiving the Mark. If they succeeded then they would also receive another reward, the son they had always wanted. They succeeded in their task and the Dark Lord bestowed upon them a son, whose own parents had been unable to care for him. The Dark Lord wished this pure-blood boy to have a good life, a life befitting his blood status..."

Two women longed for the same baby boy to be in their arms. One sat patiently, staring out the window, for her work was done and there was nothing left for her to do but wait. The other rushed toward him, heedless of the danger, for her work had just begun.

A/N: Now I have another chapter before I'm caught up with Anne. This chapter was going to be about 2K words shorter but I suddenly got ideas and it grew and grew. And yes, you should feel sorry for Persis.