Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Forest of Mystery

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were gathered in front of a large fireplace with Remus and Kingsley. Bill had gone ahead to go gather his family and take them to the safe-house while Dumbledore would take care of getting the Grangers to their destination. Once they were there, Fawkes would come to signal that everything was ready, and they would be on their way. Ron was pacing nervously, trying to find the right words to say to his parents, especially his mother, when he first saw them. Hermione, while not obviously nervous, was playing with his skirt, a sure sign that she wasn't as calm as she would like to be.

Harry watched the two half amused, half concerned. Earlier that morning, he had talked to Severus, thinking it might be better if he just remained at the Manor. After all, he felt like he was intruding on a family moment. The Potions Master had glared down at him in such a way that Harry was reminded just why the man used to terrify him. After the glare, Snape had told him in plain words that he was going since he wasn't planning on facing Mrs. Weasley's wrath if she didn't see Harry with her son. Both, Ron and Hermione had fully agreed with the older man as soon as they had heard what their friend had been thinking. Finally, the matter had been settled when Hermione, seeing that Harry still had doubts, had put her best helpless face and told him she would really need his support. Harry had to chuckle at the memory. Even if he knew that he was being manipulated, he just couldn't say no when she pouted that way.

Harry was snapped out of his daze when Hermione's voice broke the silence.

"Ron! Sit down or your mother will get to see you with a nice, black eye!"

The tall red-haired boy stopped his pacing and blinked at her; his brain seemingly trying to process what the girl had said. Harry shook his head and tried to contain his chuckles. Luckily, Fawkes chose just that moment to appear in a burst of light, making Hermione jump to her feet as if something had bitten her. Harry and the two adults followed suit and together they advanced to the fireplace. Kingsley smiled to the children.

"Let me go first and give me five minutes. I think it will be better if they are at least a bit prepared for this."

Hermione shifted nervously. "That might be a good idea, but won't Bill have done that already?"

The bald auror raised an eyebrow. "Can you imagine him trying to explain something like this to his mother? Completely unable to go into details? I think Bill is a brave guy, but not that brave."

Ron let out a half strangled laugh, knowing exactly what the other man meant. His mother could be terrifying when she didn't get clear answers. After nodding to the teenagers and reminding them to wait five minutes, Kingsley stepped through the fireplace, arriving at the safe-house's living room. All the attention was drawn to him almost even before he had fully stepped out of the fire-place.

Molly and Arthur rose from their chairs and went to greet him.

"Hello, Kingsley." After shaking Arthur's hand and kissing Molly on the cheek, the woman turned to a slightly younger couple.

"David, Ashley, this is Kingsley Schakebolt; he's one of the aurors working closely with Headmaster Dumbledore. I don't know if you've had a chance to meet him yet."

The man, who looked quite a bit like Hermione, nodded his head to the auror and went to shake his hand. "Yes, we met after the children's disappearance."

His words caused a dark silence to settle over the room. No one had gotten over the children's disappearance. Bill shifted nervously, looking towards Kingsley. Molly, not noticing the glance, shook her head as if trying to dispel her dark thoughts.

"So, do you have any idea why we are here? Bill only told us that Dumbledore wanted us to meet someone." Glaring at the direction of her oldest son, she added. "He was quite tight lipped about the whole matter."

Kingsley smirked slightly as the redheaded man shifted nervously under his mother's stern gaze. "Don't blame him, Molly; he was under strict instructions to not let anyone know about anything before you got all here. It was not safe to talk in an unwarded place."

Arthur sighed; sometimes he got so tired of all the needed secrecy. "So, I assume it has something to do with You-Know-Who?"

The auror cocked his head slightly. "Not very much, but if the information was to come out there would be trouble. As long as they remain hidden, we have an advantage over Voldemort that he would never dream about."

Arthur and Molly exchanged a curious glance at the satisfied glint in the auror's eyes. The woman crossed her arms and shot the bald man an exasperated look. "Are you going to tell us about this mysterious person any time soon?"

Hearing the fireplace come to life behind him, the man smiled and shook his head. "I guess you'll see for yourself."

Stepping aside and watched as a female figure appeared in the room. He helped her to step out of the fireplace while watching the reactions of the people gathered in the room. His attention was drawn to Ashley and David. Polite curiosity was very slowly transforming into stunned recognition. Hermione's mother wavered in her place as her eyes were trying to convince her mind that what she was seeing was indeed real. David's hand came up to steady her, but a quick glance at her husband showed that his gaze was also intent on the girl.

The girl moved to a side and watched as the hope that had started to grow in the others' eyes transformed into certainty when the fire flared again and the tall redhead stepped into the room.

Molly, not knowing how to react, fell back into her seat while her heart tried to convince her head of what she was seeing. The moment the youth had stepped into the room, she had known for sure that he was her little boy. And yet, her mind was telling her it was impossible. Arthur put a comforting hand on her shoulder and without removing his eyes from the two teenagers he addressed the silent auror.

"Kingsley?"

The redhead's voice wavered with uncertainty, filled with emotion, and the auror knew he didn't want to voice the question for fear of the answer it would get. Knowing it was time to intervene, the bald man moved slightly, drawing the other adults' attention to him, even if it was rather reluctantly. Kingsley looked over them, wondering what he should tell them, but finally he settled for the simplest thing they would understand right now.

"It's ok, it is really them."

The words acted like a counter curse. Molly jumped from her seat and threw herself to the youngest boy, who, having anticipated this reaction, quickly threw his arms around her neck and buried his face in her shoulder, looking for the comfort he had missed for the last few months.

Finally understanding that this was really happening, Ashley did the only thing her overwhelmed mind could do at the moment and burst into tears. Hermione, who had been standing silently till then, immediately dropped on her knees in front of her and threw her arms around her middle.

"Don't cry, Mum, it's alright, everything is alright."

No one besides Kingsley noticed as the fire flared green once again and another young man entered the room. Harry, seeing the emotion charged people hugging each other, moved to a window and started to look outside. Looking at his friends at a moment like this felt like intruding so he decided to keep himself away for the moment, trying to ignore the pang of loneliness that filled him. Kingsley silently moved to his side and leaned against the wall, trying to give the boy his silent support. He knew it must be hard for him to be there, and he also knew that voicing his worries would only bother the boy more. So the auror remained at Harry's side, silently looking between the dark haired boy and the two reunited families. He was soon joined by Remus, who had been the last one to step into the room. The werewolf silently put an arm around Harry's shoulders, willing the boy to remember that he wasn't alone.

It took Arthur about ten minutes to finally disentangle his wife from his youngest son. When the woman finally stepped back, sniffing quietly into her conjured handkerchief, Arthur grabbed his son's shoulders and met his gaze intently. The clear blue eyes regarded the older man calmly, waiting for him to speak, yet Arthur remained silent. He was trying to find the son he thought he had lost within Ron's eyes, but his son had changed. Gone was the brazen, carefree child he had known a few months ago, in its place stood a strong young man, one he knew he would be proud to call his son. Smiling lightly, he took Ron into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Welcome back, Son."

Ron had to press his eyes tightly together to prevent the tears from spilling again. He had been mentally prepared for an emotional encounter with his mother but he hadn't expected it from his father. He hadn't been very close to him. Actually, he thought none of his siblings really was. Arthur had to work too hard and didn't have the chance to spend much time at home. They all knew the man cared about them all, but he didn't have many chances to express it.

Hermione and David had moved from the floor and were now sitting next to Ashley. Both her parents were holding one of her hands tightly, quickly questioning her on her health while she tried to reassure them that she was doing well.

They were all startled when Molly, who had been drying her tears, finally spotted the third teenager.

"Harry!"

The boy had barely the time to turn around before he found himself tightly hugged. Remus smiled slightly and stepped back, knowing the woman had not even seen him standing there. Hermione and Ron shared a slightly guilty look. Despite their reassurances that morning to Neville, they had completely forgotten about their friend when finally reunited with their parents. Hermione couldn't help but feel grateful for Molly's exuberance. It was just what Harry needed to not feel like an outsider.

Harry, on the other hand was standing very still, enjoying the hug but not comfortable enough to hug the woman back. He glanced at Ron, wanting to make sure once again that his friend didn't have a problem with this, but his friend was talking quietly with his father. After a few minutes he gently stepped back and was grateful when the redheaded woman let go of him, he was starting to get uncomfortable under her strong embrace. Arthur had walked towards them with Ron and gently patted his shoulder and smiled to him in greeting. Then he took his wife by her elbow and gently led her to a couch. It was good to see the children, but while he still felt like he might burst of happiness at any given moment, the time had come to demand some answers.

Hermione, seeing that Harry and Ron were no longer with Molly and Arthur, stood up, and pulled her parents with her. The three walked to the two teenagers and the witch smiled.

"Mom, dad, I would like you to meet my best friends, Ron and Harry."

They all shook hands and exchanged a few words but it was clear that the Granger couple's attention was completely centred in their daughter. Hermione shrugged slightly and gave the two boys an apologetic smile. Harry was about to reassure her when Arthur spoke up from where he was sitting with his wife.

"I think I also speak for David and Ashley when I say that I would like to know how the children survived."

Those words brought the whole group back to reality and everyone sat down, ready to listen to the children. By silent agreement Hermione started to speak, trying to make them understand everything that had happened during the last few months.

It took Hermione nearly three hours to explain everything to the adults' satisfaction. Or rather to the Weasley's satisfaction, she had the sneaking suspicion that her parents hadn't understood much of what she said. She would have to go over everything with them later on, but that didn't matter, she now had the chance to talk to them as much as she wanted and to finally say the things she had feared she would never get to say again.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this.