Title: Taken
Rating: PG13
Pairing: H/G
Summary: Harry barely finishes a war when he is taken elsewhere to fight another war. Unfortunately/fortunately for her, Ginny is taken too.
(A/N: Here's something for fun, nothing too deep. It's about 66K-words over 7 chapters. My employer recently gave me a few days off and you dear reader get to benefit. I hope you enjoy it. - Kevin)
Taken
Harry walked back into Hogwarts, having just visited the edge of the forest. One good Summoning spell from the Death Stick had easily retrieved the ring. He'd almost left it there but decided it was just too valuable to leave lying around. Better to put it in his vault … if he was ever allowed back into Gringotts.
As he walked back in, he surveyed the castle. The damage to the school was immense and he hoped it was repairable as it was still the place he thought of as home. Well, he could help with that after he got some sleep. He was very tired after the battle that had concluded maybe an hour ago.
Stepping into the Great Hall, he looked around to check on his friends. Hermione was sitting with the Weasleys, trying to give comfort where she could for the loss of Fred, although most of her attention was going to Ron. He was happy for them getting together. He had no idea if a relationship would work out for them, but that was their problem.
Looking for his favorite female, he saw Ginny come running toward him. Even though he braced himself, she still pushed him back a step when she arrived. She also gave him a tight hug like she never wanted to let go. He would have been fine with that as long as he didn't have to stand. "Gin, we'll have time now. I'm so sorry about Fred, but we'll all get through this somehow."
He heard a mumbled, "I know, but I was so worried for you, especially when you pretended to be dead. I thought I was going to die too."
"I'm really sorry about that too, but it seemed like the right thing to do to take him by surprise," he explained. "Listen, we can talk about it later if you want, but I really need to go lie down. I'm so tired."
Ginny pulled back from his shoulder and looked at him impishly. "I could come with you and cuddle."
Harry actually laughed, even if it was lightly. "I'd love that, but I can't see your mum being happy about that."
Ginny looked over and saw her mother shift her gaze from her husband to look at her even as she was still talking to him. "Sadly, you're right; but I could walk with you to make sure you made it if you're that tired."
He smiled at her and lifted his hand to her face to hold her still while he leaned forward a little and gave her a short chaste kiss. "I think-"
What Harry thought didn't matter as suddenly he was enveloped in a white light with gold at the edge. It quickly expanded around Ginny. All he could do was hold on to her as they were jerked up and backward into a multi-colored swirl of lights.
— — —
"Arthur!" Molly shouted and pointed. "They were right there and just disappeared!"
Her husband stood and hurried over as he'd seen the pair be enveloped by a light and disappear too. He tried a few diagnostic spells but received no result that made sense either. As he lowered his wand he saw Filius Flitwick start his own spells. When the little man was done Arthur asked, "Did you find anything useful?"
"It wasn't Apparation. It was a little like a Portkey but wasn't, I'm sure of that. I've never seen magic like this," the Charms professor said in wonder.
Slughorn and McGonagall came over as well and did their own spells. Minerva also had no explanation but Slughorn said, "A legend is all that fits this."
"What?" Arthur demanded as his wife reached him an clung to him with an arm around his waist.
"There is a legend of magic, many say it's dark and some it's say not, that can steal people away. It's either that or something totally unknown," Slughorn said with true sadness.
"How do we get them back?" Molly demanded with fear in her voice.
Slughorn shook his head. "If it is the magic in the legend, then none were ever seen again. If it's something else, I can't say for good or bad."
Ron and Hermione joined the group, having heard the explanation. She buried her face in Ron's shoulder and started to cry. Ron wasn't much better but he managed a "It's not fair." No one disagreed.
— — —
He had no idea what was happening, but wished it had come at a time when he wasn't so tired. Hoping for the best, Harry reached out with his magic and found he was surrounded by a lot of free magic. Concentrating, he thought about pulling it towards him and he felt suddenly energized as well as if they were slowing down.
A moment later, they dropped to a floor. Harry felt himself released from the bind the traveling had put on him. Free, his hand reached for the Death Stick and it leapt into his hand. Only now did he look to see where he was and found he was surrounded by a ring of people, although most of them were on their knees. "Accio wands!" he shouted as he waved his wand around, not paying any attention to who they were. He grabbed the sticks as fast as he could and in the process turned around enough that he saw an old man on the floor. Of course it would be him. The wands were shoved into his pocket with the cloak.
"Ginny, summon Dumbledore's wand, now!" he commanded and tried summoning wands again, although silently this time. A few more came to him, including a couple on the floor he hadn't been able to catch from the first time. He saw a wand just like the one he was holding fly into Ginny's hand. Thankfully, she hadn't argued and just done it.
Focusing again, he realized Remus Lupin was next to Dumbledore and looking at him in surprise while kneeling on one knee. "What is this?! You're dead, both of you!" Harry shouted. A small creaking noise like from a loose floorboard from behind caused him to shift right and fire a Stunning spell, catching Mad-Eye Moody trying to come into the room. Another Summoning spell netted him another two wands. The new wands went into his pocket too, barely as it was now full. Then just because he knew it was the prudent thing to do, he cast a silent Stunning spell at Dumbledore, even if he was prone and wasn't moving.
"Ginny?" called a hoarse voice from their right. The two new arrivals looked over to see Arthur Weasley on both knees and breathing hard.
She was shocked. "You're … you're supposed to be at Hogwarts. I just saw you there."
"Harry?" was whispered loudly, desperately.
He turned to his left and saw a red-haired woman and a man who looked to be an older version of himself. "No, it can't be." He grabbed Ginny's hand and Disapparated away, landing at the edge of a park. He pulled her along a few steps to behind a big bush and Disapparated again, this time landing on a building with a flat root.
"Harry, stop it! We need to find out who they are."
"I'd say Death Eaters on Polyjuice as a first guess."
"But I recognized most of them as being in the Order," she returned.
"Who were all at Hogwarts, some of them dead. Bloody hell, Ginny, Dumbledore's been dead for a year," he retorted.
She held up the new wand in her left hand. "Why did you want me to Summon his wand? Especially if that wasn't really Dumbledore."
He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked around the top of the school building he hadn't seen in years, but it seemed like a good place no one would expect to find them. "I don't know. I thought," he paused. "I thought that just in case it really was Dumbledore you should have his wand."
Harry held up the Death Stick and they each noticed the two wands were just alike. "All right, I didn't expect that, not really. So we each have Dumbledore's wand, did we come back in time or something?"
"I don't know," she replied slowly. "You're right it doesn't make sense. Dumbledore was alive as was Lupin. The couple at the end that spooked you. They looked like your parents from your photo album, didn't they?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that did freak me out."
When nothing was said for a long moment, Ginny asked, "Where are we? I'm guessing this is a Muggle place."
"Yeah," he nodded again. "When I was nine I Apparated up here to get away from my cousin and his friends who were chasing me. I came here because I don't expect them to know about this place."
"Where are we going to go?" she asked. "I don't even have any money."
"I have a little, both in Muggle and Wizarding," he said as he thought about it. They needed someplace in the Muggle world, someplace like where… "I know where to go. Are you hungry? We need to wait a bit before we go find a place. I think I'm hungry."
"I am," she agreed. "I thought you were tired too."
He shrugged. "I can't explain it but I was able to pull some magic into me when we were traveling. I don't feel rested, but I don't feel like I'm about to fall over any more either." He dug into Mokesking bag around his neck, pushing his broken holly wand aside, before he pulled out a pair of twenties. "It's all I have, but it should be enough to get us dinner and breakfast." The sun was low in the sky.
Harry reached out and grabbed onto her arm and they left the school roof, landing behind some stores. "The cheapest way will be to buy groceries and cook it ourselves."
"Where?" she asked a little demandingly.
"Before sixth year, Dumbledore took me to go find Slughorn to get him to come teach. We found him hiding in a Muggle home where the Muggles were gone on holiday. So my thought was to walk around a neighborhood and look for houses that didn't have any lights on. We could stay in one of them for at least one night while we figure out what to do."
"I don't know," she said warily as they walked around the building towards the front door.
"Got a better idea?" he asked casually.
"Go to The Burrow, but I know you'd say no to that," she told him.
"And you would feel completely safe doing that when Arthur Weasley helped bring us to wherever and whenever we are? Or at least someone who looked like him?" he shot back as they walked in. He picked up a small hand basket as they headed for the produce section.
"No," she grumped back, sounding like she didn't like agreeing with him.
He stopped in front of the tomatoes and looked her in the eye. "I'm not saying we never go there, just not tonight while we're not at our best and when we haven't had time to think about things while on the go."
She nodded and they resumed shopping.
In the end after some careful shopping, they spent a little over 20 Pounds and walked out with their bags. Harry directed them to the neighborhood near the Dursleys but at least four streets away … just because.
"What about that one on the right?" Harry asked a few minutes later. But as they got near it, a dog started barking. "Or maybe not."
"Across the street, two down on the left," Ginny said. "I don't see any lights on."
"Let's cross the street and go around the corner. I'll Disillusion us and we can come back for a closer look," he told her.
Five minutes later, they'd seen the back of the house from the side street and there were not lights on there either. "They could just be out for a few hours, but let's try it," he suggested and she agreed. They hid for a moment and he Disillusioned them before he Apparated them both to the back garden of the house. It had a large glass window that they had to look carefully into to see the inside since there were no lights on. Harry Apparated them inside.
"Let's search and make sure no one is home," he whispered. Their search revealed no one and the garage was empty.
"I'll conjure a candle so we don't have to turn on lights," Ginny said and conjured two and lit them.
Harry made a simple dinner of spaghetti and some apples for a side. He put the few things that needed to stay cool in the refrigerator, but in a sack in case they needed to grab and go. The rest stayed in a sack on the counter.
"Think we can take a shower or bath?" she asked wistfully.
"Go ahead and do cleaning charms on your clothes too. We had to do that multiple times over the last year," he told her. When she finished he did the same.
With shoes off they settled onto the couch in the living room. "I'd love to sleep in the bed but it'll be easier to leave quickly from here," he told her as he conjured a blanket and they snuggled under it together.
"This is better than what I was imagining, but I wished we had a place we could truly relax," she told him.
"We'll work on that tomorrow." He kissed her temple and the settled in for a restless night's sleep.
Harry had awaken and found the clock; it was almost 8am. He let Ginny sleep on as he thought about what they needed to do. The most obvious was to find a house in the country that wasn't lived in. That didn't cover food and he really didn't want to have to steal, but perhaps they would need to in order to survive. It wouldn't be hard with his Invisibility Cloak but he really didn't want to do that.
Then there were all of the wands he'd collected. Now that he wasn't in fight or flight mode, he thought the group really had been the Order and not polyjuiced Death Eaters. So if the wands did belong to members of the Order of the Phoenix, then they he should return them. He'd be willing to bet all of the money in the vault he didn't have any more that this was Dumbledore's fault, in that he'd talked the others into it at the very least. He still didn't understand where they were, but he was determined to get answers.
A noise sounded from the direction of the garage. "Crap! Ginny, wake up!" He shook her too. "We have to grab our things and go. Slip your shoes on and grab the bags on the counter." He'd slipped his shoes on, not even bothering to tie them before he rushed for the bag in the refrigerator. He turned back to see Ginny rushing over, her hair a complete mess. Pulling out his wand, he sent a Vanishing spell at their blanket. Putting his wand away, he grabbed her arm and Apparated away just as the door to the garage opened.
— — —
Gwen Taylor walked into her house cautiously. As she'd opened the door to her house, she'd have sworn she'd hear a loud noise like a dry stick breaking. Since the doors were locked, she very carefully look around while being ready to run. She didn't find anyone there.
However, she did find two unlit candles on her kitchen counter top and two extra white towels in her bathroom, however she didn't own any white towels. She called a neighbor and his wife to come over and together the three looked around, he with a large wrench in hand.
Other than the extra things she found, and the couch looking a little messy, they could find any evidence of anyone there, and all of her valuables were where she'd left them. If it wasn't for the candles and the towels, she would have assumed it was her imagination after a twelve hour shift at the hospital. Worse, a few hours later, the candles and towels had disappeared on their own as she knew right where she'd left them.
Gwen didn't make a lot as a nurse, but she was going to get a security system installed.
— — —
Ginny saw they'd reappeared on the roof of the building again. "That was close. Why would anyone not be there overnight but come home the morning?"
"She works the night shift somewhere, probably," Harry told her.
"Right, like Aurors or at St Mungo's," she nodded. "So now what?"
Harry put his bag down and tied his shoes; Ginny did the same. "We have breakfast then figure out where to go. I know a large park in London. The Dursleys drove by it once and I thought it was cool. We can sit there on a bench and talk."
Conjuring a couple of plates and a can opener, Harry opened the tin of beans and warmed them with a charm before scooping them onto the plates. He also conjured cups. He had stolen one thing from the house. There was a large bottle of soda that was half empty; he'd poured the rest down the drain and filled it with water before putting it in their bag. Hopefully the owner wouldn't notice it was gone. Fruit rounded out the meager breakfast.
With their bags a little lighter, Harry Apparated them to Hyde Park in London. They walked around a bit until they found a bench that was mostly hidden. Harry helped it out by casting all of the privacy charms Hermione had around their tent here around the bench. He also cast a Muffliato spell on them.
"There, that's as private as I can make it," he told her. "Ideas?"
"Only two," she told him. "First, we do that again but somewhere we're less likely to be found; but that also means food is going to be a problem and we'll probably have to steal it."
"I'd prefer we don't steal, but it might be necessary. I've considered that idea, what else?" he asked.
"We go to The Burrow and find out what's going on and maybe get help there."
He looked at her for a moment. "I was afraid you were going to say that."
"Do you have a better idea?" she asked a little testily. "We have very little money and nowhere to stay."
Harry sat there for a long moment. "No," he said grudgingly. "Let's talk it through and see if we can find a way to do it that makes us both comfortable."
They spent two hours talking: suggesting ideas, throwing ideas out, and honing a few ideas into a semblance of a plan that might work with some luck. In the end, Harry took his spells down and they walked to some restaurants.
Finding a burger place, he told her, "Follow my lead and I'll show you another trick that I should have used last night but forgot."
She gave him a questioning look but nodded as they walked into the restaurant and up to a girl behind the counter. "A cheeseburger, fry, and cola," Harry ordered and dug into his pocket for the money.
"Just one for you?" the girl asked a little disparagingly.
"Me? No, it's for her," Harry told her and handed money over while Ginny just smiled.
A minute later Ginny took the order and they walked out. "For me, huh?" She finally lost it and giggled. "It was funny that she thought the order was for you."
Harry shrugged and guided her around the block until he found an alley. He took them in and walked to be behind a dumpster before he Apparated them away. Landing in a forest, Harry gestured to some shade.
"So what are you going to do because we both know you can't conjure food and use it to stay alive," she told him.
"No you can't," he agreed as he opened the bag of food and pulled it out before getting his wand out. "But you can make more of it if you have real food to start with." He enlarged the burger, fries, and drink.
"OK," she nodded and looked at it as he cut it. "That makes sense." She took half of the burger offered to her and took a bite as best she could since it was so thick. "I've had worse."
Harry laughed. "Yeah, a lot of people say this isn't real food, but it will fill you and hold you until you can get a better meal. Hopefully we'll do that this evening."
Ginny tried a french fry that was larger around than her finger. "Ooh, this is good; I like that it's salty too." She tried a drink of the soda. "It's all right I suppose. Muggles eat this all of the time?"
"Some do, but it's better not to," he said before he took a big bite of his burger.
When they had finished eating and vanished the trash, Harry asked, "I think I can get us to where we need to go, but it'd be better if you knew the way and we walked."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "At least you got us somewhat close and to a place I recognize. Follow me."
"Happily," Harry said and wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to giggle as she walked away from where they had met the Diggorys and Portkeyed to the Quidditch playoffs three years ago.
About a half hour later, Ginny set her bags down and dropped to all fours before she crawled to the crest of the hill under a small tree. Harry copied her. "This is Stoat's Hill, the tallest point near The Burrow," she said quietly. They could see the house in the distance.
"Looks normal," he said just as quietly.
"It is except the chicken coop is a lot closer to the house than where I grew up," she corrected him. "There's a little more peeling paint than there should be too. Wait, a lot of it was burned at Bill's wedding, so if they repaired it within the last year, why is there pealing paint?"
"Hmm, more inconsistencies. So we watch for a while," he said.
"Yep," she agreed very unexcitedly.
— — —
"Dad … Arthur … ugh! I don't know what to call him, but he just came out of the house to go to his shed," Ginny gushed.
"You're right and someone's in the doorway of the house but I can't make him out," Harry said.
"Based on his build, I'd say it's Percy, but he should be off on his own," she grumped. "So much of this doesn't make sense."
"He's going back in," Harry pointed out, "he didn't stay long."
"Could we get closer?" she asked. "It's about time for dinner and maybe we can see who's there by looking in the window."
"As long as we don't get too close. Come on," he said as he stood, causing her to get up too.
About half way there, Harry pulled them behind a tree and whispered. "Hold my hand so we don't lose each other. I'm going to Disillusion each of us." He cast the spell and as it was taking affect he added, "If we don't move too fast when people are looking at us they probably won't even notice we're here."
Spelled so as not to be seen, Harry walked down the middle of what looked like a path towards the house. As they neared, there was a clearing about the size of a bedroom with two large trees ahead, then the back garden about twenty meters across, and then house.
Not being able to see well enough, Ginny pulled him to the right and forward to stand near another large tree. "See in the window," she whispered. "There he is at his place at the table. I see the twins and … yeah, that's Percy who just leaned over to grab something. Wait, there's another arm, not Mum's but she'd be at the other end where I can't see anyway."
"That leaves Bill, Charlie, or a guest," Harry whispered back.
"Probably Bill then, and Charlie would be on Bill's left where I can't see either. I want to go up and yet I don't know if we can risk it," she dithered.
"Let me try a very low level spell to see if there is a ward. It shouldn't trigger anything," Harry said as he cast the spell.
"Wait!" Ginny hissed, only to see a blue spot light up in the air less than ten meters in front of them and to have her dad/Arthur react by turning his head sharply and looking out the window. Even if they couldn't be seen she still ducked behind the tree while Harry stood perfectly still.
"Have you forgotten what Bill does?" she whispered accusingly.
"I've just never seen wards that sensitive," Harry whispered apologetically. "Let's move." With some effort to get her moving, they very slowly moved back to the room-sized clearing so they had a better view of the entire garden.
Arthur came out the back door as did Bill; they stood on the porch whispering. Percy was in the doorway. All three had a wand in their hand. A moment later, the curtain moved on a first floor window and a head could be seen there briefly before the curtain closed again.
"We've stepped in this one," Harry whispered sarcastically. "We'll have to move back slowly until we're far enough away my Apparating won't be heard."
"Who's there?!" Arthur shouted. "We know you're out there!"
"Or maybe we talk," Ginny countered. "I know it's risky, but we're going to have to take some chances to get ahead. Also, they know we're here so if we have to escape it's not like the sound of Apparation will be a surprise. And you're going to have teach me very soon; I wasn't allowed to go to that class."
"We won't hurt you if it was an accident!" Arthur added as the two on the porch looked around, but mostly in the direction of where the visitors were when the spell as cast.
"I suppose you have a point and maybe we can get some information, if they'll stay where they are," he mostly agreed.
"I'll handle it and see what I can find out. You stay hidden and grab me to leave if things look too bad," she told him. "I'll move behind the tree so you can make me visible again."
"Hello?!" Bill called out.
Harry canceled the spell and Ginny appeared. "Be very, very careful."
"Always," she told him with a nervous smile.
Turning, Ginny leaned out so only her head was visible, with her long pony tail hanging down. "Do you really mean that?" she shouted back.
"Ginny?!" Arthur said in a strangled voice and lurched forward a step. Bill put his hand on his father's shoulder to stop him, but Arthur shrugged it off, not willing to be held back. "Ginny, is it really you? You're so grown up I barely recognized you yesterday. You're so beautiful."
"I'm really Ginny Weasley, but I'm wonder if you're really my father. What did you do to us to pull us from where we were?"
Arthur stumbled to a stop halfway across the yard before he dropped to his knees and looked down. "It seemed like such a good idea until we were confronted with the seemingly impossible. Even James and Lily have doubts now."
Ginny wasn't sure whether to ask her question again or not, but she did see Bill trying to creep forward with his wand out. "Bill, that's enough. Go back to the porch and put your wand away or we'll leave."
Arthur jerked around and commanded, "Bill, do as she says!"
"But Dad-"
"No! I won't be denied the opportunity to talk to my lost daughter! Go!"
Hesitating and slowly, Bill backed up the few steps he'd taken and sat heavily on the edge of the porch not looking happy.
Ginny noticed Percy was still in the doorway and both twins were visible in the open window to the left of the door, Mum and Dad's room. Movement pulled her attention back. "Sorry, but I'd feel better if you didn't come any closer."
Arthur halted and looked at her, still only a head and one shoulder sticking out from behind the large oak. "Of course, of course. Umm, I'll turn around to do this to make you more comfortable."
She watched him turn his back to her and his arm moved before a wooden bench appeared. When he turned back around no wand was in his hand and he sat.
"Is this all right?" he asked.
Ginny fully stepped out but she was still next to the tree in case she had to take cover behind it. "That's fine. So what happened?" A cloth swishing sound came from next to her, so Harry was doing something, but she couldn't see either. She just had to hope he didn't make any mistakes; she had to hope she didn't make any mistakes.
Arthur gripped the bench on each side of his legs and looked down; his knuckles paled. "A few months ago Albus came to … our little group-"
"The Order of the Phoenix," Ginny supplied.
He looked up quickly. "How did you know? Oh, of course, yes; this is making more sense to me. Anyway, Albus said he'd found this magic that had been thought to be lost in time. It took him the last few months to get ready for it and to convince us all to do it."
"Dad! You're saying too much," Bill shouted.
The father slowly turned on his bench. "We did this to them. Maybe not you personally as you weren't available, but you agreed with this. I helped to do it. If anyone should be allowed to know what happened it's the victims we did it to. They're innocent in this!" He finished the last part in an anguished shout back, surprising his older son.
Arthur slowly turned back and looked at the grass in front of him. "I'm so very sorry. It was presented and we all accepted that this magic would bring us a savior, a rescuer, a hero if you will, to save us in this war. It seemed so perfect, a person brought from the continent probably, he helps us then goes back home. That's what Albus told us, assured us. He said it might bring someone from further away."
From off to the left and in front of her, so surprising her, Harry's invisible and acidic voice said, "He didn't really tell you everything. I bet he didn't even let anyone even see the entire ritual, did he?"
Arthur looked over at the spot that held no one in shock. After a moment he gave a soft, "No." After a pause he added, "Lily asked what the range was but Albus only smiled and said as far as Magic thought it was needed.
"After you left yesterday, some of us talked. Based on your comments and from what we knew, Lily said that there is a theory among Muggle scientists about something called a Multiverse, where there are many … dimensions, I think she said, each a little different. It is her theory that Magic could find no one here and so it reached across to another dimension like ours but different and pulled you here. It was only supposed to bring one person and I'm starting to suspect that Albus hoped it'd bring another Albus here … but we have you … two. I'm not sure how that happened or why."
Ginny blushed. "We were holding each other in an embrace when it happened." She was extremely glad they hadn't been doing something intimate as there had been no time to prepare. "The war had ended only an hour ago."
Arthur looked up at her and smiled. "Such a teenaged thing to be doing. I'm guessing Magic brought you both then. Probably a good thing you weren't in a group hug or everyone would have come." He shook his head. "Albus couldn't be awakened after he was stunned, so we think he's in a coma from trying to power most of the magic ritual himself."
"I'm not bothered at all," Harry snarked from a slightly different location. "I once looked up to him; then I learned how much harm he did to me and how much information he kept from me."
Arthur moved his gaze a little to the new location but, perhaps wisely, didn't bother to reply.
"How do we go home? Or to our own dimension or whatever you want to call it?" Ginny asked.
Shaking his head slightly, Arthur said quietly, "I don't know if you can or not. We'll have to wait for Albus to wake up so we can ask him. Minerva searched his office and quarters but could find no mention of this magic."
"Great," Harry said sarcastically.
Ginny had another thought though. "Where's Mum or Molly or whatever I should call her? I think she'd have something to say about this, probably lots of somethings and loudly."
Arthur snorted something like an hysterical laugh as he hung his head. "You grew up with your mother?"
"Of course," Ginny said indignantly. "I saw her only a few seconds before Harry and I were taken away."
The man's sniffed and breathed deeply for a moment. "Humor me. What happened when you were little in 1981? What big events?"
"I grew up with my family," Ginny said, "nothing too unusual other than our normal chaos with seven children. But for Harry, his parents were attacked on Halloween in 1981. They were killed but Harry survived. Dumbledore took him to his aunt's house and he wasn't seen again until he started Hogwarts." She noticed all five of the Weasleys were giving her a strange or surprised look.
"On Halloween of 1981," Arthur's voice cracked and he stopped.
"I can tell it, Dad," Bill offered from the porch.
"I'll do it!" Arthur insisted in almost a hurt cry. "I'll do it," was said so softly Ginny barely heard it.
"On Halloween of 1981," he paused, "Albus called a meeting of the Order." He took a deep breath. "You were colicky and Ron was crying too. We arranged with James and Lily to bring Harry over here so Molly could watch them. I took the older boys to let them play in another room while the Order talked so Molly wouldn't have to watch them too."
Ginny saw tears tracks on the man's face now, down both sides.
"Our wards weren't as good then." He sobbed once breathed deeply to pull himself back together. "During the meeting I felt a tug on the wards, knew that Molly was hiding the kids in the dark as she'd promised, probably making it game, like no one was home. I looked at James and told him I'd felt a tug on the wards but it was probably nothing. He agreed but Lily wanted to go check. Albus asked if we could finish the meeting because we were almost done. I was going to agree, but Lily stood and said she was going to check on the children. James had to go along too, so did I now. I had someone watch the older boys until I could return in a few minutes."
He broke down and sobbed now, his words coming out haltingly. "I'm so glad ... I didn't ... take them back." He sobbed again and forced himself to continue. "The house was on fire but only just. I didn't care ... I ran in anyway. I think there were a few Death Eaters, but I don't remember and I think James just killed them outright. All I could find in the kitchen was … blood." Arthur was crying openly, not really able to stop so he couldn't finish the story.
After a long moment, Bill said, "He said it was vicious. You, Ron, and Harry were all dead. Mum used everything she had to defend the three babies. He said there wasn't anything in the kitchen in its proper place; everything had been used for defense and she was still… It wasn't until recently that James told me the only proper description was-"
"NO!" Arthur roared before dropping his face into his hands as he leaned over, his forearms on his legs.
"-mutilated." That set his father to crying again. Bill shook his head. "Somehow, Mum had done something that managed to kill You-Know-Who. After the fire was out, the other body was found. It was a nightmare, but we all believe the monster dead despite the nightmare to our two families. Thankfully, the Potters didn't blame us for the loss of their son." Bill shook his head again. "Yet somehow, about three years ago the monster came back while Amelia Bones went missing. Now we're in a war that is … bleak. It's worse than the first one."
Ginny realized she had tears going down her face too. She wanted to go over and hug the man but knew she couldn't. Despite the fact that he was Arthur Weasley, he was also not her real father. But she wanted to go over and hug him anyway because he was a man who was hurting, obviously devastated by the loss of his wife and children, just as she knew her real father would be if he lost his wife … and was now feeling because of the loss of Fred. "I'm so sorry," was all she could say as she wiped the tears off of her face, only to be replaced by more.
In the silence, they all heard Harry, "I'm sorry she was taken from you, Mr Weasley. The Molly Weasley I know is very special and I'm sure your Molly was too. Thank you for telling us why we were such a surprise, but perhaps we should go."
"Wait!" Arthur cried out. "Wait, we need to talk more."
"Another time I think," Harry said from near her before a hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed.
"But I need to ask about the wands!" he insisted. "Everyone would be so disappointed in me if I didn't ask. Some of them don't have a spare."
"Hmm," Harry sounded for a moment. "How about a trade? For us, before my fourth year, or about three - no four - years ago, I went to the Quidditch World Cup with your family and we stayed in a Wizarding tent; I think you borrowed it. Do you still have it?"
"A tent?" Bill exclaimed. "You want a tent for everyone's wands?"
"Yes, we had the Quidditch World Cup then too and yes, I borrowed a tent from Perkins at work. I gave it back to him but he said he never uses it anymore. Wait here and I'll go get it. Yes, a good trade, even if I have to buy it from him."
"A basket of food would be good too, and no tracking charms or bringing anyone else along," Harry said quickly.
"Yes, yes, of course. It'll take me a few minutes." Arthur wiped his face again and stood, happy to be on another topic. "Right, tent, basket of food, no interference. Trust is required of us first and trust will be shown."
He walked quickly back to the porch. "Bill, a Cheering charm please, then talk to this couple and tell them anything they want to know about the family."
"Dad-"
"Bill, I don't demand much of you normally, but I will be obeyed in this. We have wronged them; kidnapped them if you will. If she was your real sister, how would you feel about someone taking her away? Yet that's what we've done to her and her real family. We will treat them well and we will show that they can trust us. Weasleys are about family and I declare them family! The charm please."
Bill grumbled but did the charm. Arthur wiped his face on his sleeve this time and his face stayed dry. "Jolly good, son. Now be on your best behavior."
"He can come to the bench as long as his wand stays on the porch," Harry said. "I'd feel a lot better if Percy came on out and sat down with wand away. I'd feel even better if the twins came down and sat on the porch too; they'd probably find it easier to listen that way. I suspect we won't get through your wards easily and I won't ask for that either."
Arthur nodded. "All good ideas. Bill take care of it. Percy, come have a seat. I'll be back as soon as I can, alone." He headed into the house but they could still hear him bellow, "Fred, George, come down here!"
A moment later, Percy, Fred, and George shuffled out and took a seat on the edge of the short porch as Bill had done. Bill handed his wand to Percy before he ambled out and sat on the bench, not looking overly happy.
Ginny felt Harry hand leave her but she saw nothing of him. "My brother Bill spent some time in Egypt doing curse breaking on tombs before came home for a while. What about you?"
Bill looked at her for a moment but didn't answer.
"Cat got your tongue?" Harry snarked. "Or do you just not like her, or me?"
Bill looked over to where his voice had come from before he looked back at Ginny. "Yeah, I spent some time in Egypt. I just came back about a year or so ago at Dad's request."
"Is Charlie in Romania on a dragon preserve?" she asked.
"Last I knew."
"Percy, are you at the Ministry? she queried.
"Err, yes. I'm the assistant to the assistant department head of International Cooperation. I hope to take the place of my manager in a couple of years if I'm lucky," Percy answered.
"Is Barty Crouch part of that department?" Harry asked, his voice now coming from the left.
"No, he retired a couple of years ago. I heard he went to Northern Africa, probably Moracco, to retire," Percy offered.
"Hmm, he's probably dead then if this place is like where we came from," Harry said conversationally from yet another location more central.
"Fred, George, have you opened your joke shop yet?" Ginny asked the pair.
"No, but it hasn't been from lack of trying," one twin said.
"Yeah, we have a small mail order business going but we can't live on it yet," the other twin said.
"Why haven't you asked the Marauders?" Harry asked, now from further away. "I've seen at least two of the good ones alive."
"You know who they are?!"
"Tell us who!"
"I'll think about it," Harry answered and Ginny smirked, understanding the joke as well.
"Are you married, Bill?" she asked.
"No."
"Dating?"
"No."
"You're not as cool as Ginny's brother Bill because he married a Veela," Harry said now from the left.
"I married a Veela?" the oldest boy exclaimed.
"No you did not," Ginny teased.
"Yeah, the other Bill did," Harry added for fun.
Thinking for a moment, Bill brightened anyway, "Damn I'm good."
"You're not the other Bill, so you're not so good," Harry retorted back from the center and from above head height.
"Will you quit moving around!" Bill ordered. "In fact, how do you do that? No one can move around that easily and not be seen or heard."
"No one? Really?" Harry asked from near Ginny, "Damn I'm good."
Everyone except Bill started laughing uproariously.
"You stepped into that one," Percy teased him too, "with both feet."
Arthur stepped out of the house with a rolled up canvas under one arm and a large picnic basket in the other hand. He stopped as he saw most people laughing. "What's so funny? I could use a good laugh."
The twins looked at him. "We'll tell you later, Dad."
"We'll act it out, that will make it better," the other twin said.
"I guess we need to uphold our end of the bargain. We'll be right back," Harry told them before he latched onto Ginny's arm and they disappeared.
They reappeared a little on the other side of Stoat's Hill where they'd left their things. Harry took off his Invisibility Cloak and canceled the Disillusionment charm.
"Right, your cloak, I'd worked that out," Ginny said while Harry put his cloak under his shirt around his waist, but how did you move around?"
"I learned how to fly from You-Know-Who. I just did it very slowly so as not to kick up any leaves. I thought that if I was mobile no one would know where to find me." He grinned. "It was fun too. Shall we?"
He picked up the bag of wands and Apparated them back their little clearing. Arthur was by the bench and Bill was back on the porch with his brothers, with the twins teasing him.
"It's good to see you again, Harry. By the way, your parents send their greetings and hope you'll be able to talk with them like this. I stopped by to give them the news that you'd contacted me and swore them to secrecy. Your mum, or Lily, made the basket. I barely escaped without a long conversation. It is all as you requested." He slowly pulled his wand out and set it on the bench before he walked to be outside of the wards, although just barely. He set the canvas and basket down before he backed up to be inside the wards again.
Harry looked at Ginny before he left her and walked forward. He pulled the top of the plastic bag down and showed the end of the bundle of wands and then set them on the ground. Pulling out his wand he did a quick check for tracking charms before he picked up the two items. "Sorry," he said apologetically.
"No worries, lad, I fully understand. I'd be cautious in your place too. Perhaps you can return again soon?" Arthur sounded and looked very hopeful.
Harry backed up towards Ginny and handed her the basket. She nodded at him. "Let us get settled in and we'll let you know what works for us."
"Will you at least help us with the war?" Bill shouted suddenly, almost begging. His father shot him a dirty look that caused the young man to lean back.
"We'll give it some thought," Harry said before he Apparated Ginny away, back to the place where they'd hid their other bags. It was now dusk so they walked a little further way from The Burrow before they found another small clearing that was generally flat.
Harry set up the tent quickly in the waning light and they went inside. It was a little musty but it had the basics they'd need a while. "Be right back," he told her. Outside again, he cast all of the hiding charms Hermione had taught him and hoped that would be good enough. Back inside he found Ginny putting the food away from their bags and then starting on what was in the basket.
"Holy Merlin!" she exclaimed as she lifted a thick stack of Muggle bills in one hand and a heavy bag in the other. She set them down and looked in the bag. Harry looked at the stack of bills and counted quickly. "There must be at least 100 Galleons in the bag."
Harry nodded acknowledgement. "If I counted right, there's at least 1000 Pounds in this stack."
"But, but…" Ginny couldn't finish.
"James and Lily gave it to us so we can go buy clothes and things. It's very decent of them. A small part of me wonders if they're trying to buy our help-"
"How could you say that?" Ginny attacked him verbally, her hands on her hips in a very Molly-like way.
Harry stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I don't think they are; I think they're just being parents. However, I have developed some … concerns … because of the last year. I was just wondering aloud."
Ginny snorted and reached forward to hold him loosely. "As long as you don't go all Mad-Eye on me."
Harry laughed. "I'll try very hard. This will help us and helps me to know what we need to do tomorrow."
Ginny looked down but didn't let go. She asked very quietly, "Do you think we'll ever get home?"
"I don't know," he told her. "I think we need to plan for the possibility that we can't, or plan as much as we can."
"Are you going to help them? I want to," she told him.
"I really don't know. I…" Harry looked at her, her brown eyes, the light freckling on her cheeks. "Honestly, I'm tired of fighting, but it's a question we'll need to answer in case we're here that long. Can we wait to answer it though?"
She smiled and kissed him lightly. "I'll make dinner and we can freshen this place up and then go to bed. Tomorrow is soon enough for a lot of things."
He kissed her deeply and for several minutes until she pulled back and swatted him on the arm playfully and smiling. Harry started with cleaning spells on everything then air freshening charms.
— — —
Arthur listened to a brief report of the conversation that had been held while he was gone. He was looking forward to the retelling of the joke played on Bill by Harry. Lastly, he told his boys to stay inside before leaving. A moment later he was knocking on Sirius Black's house in London.
Sirius opened the door and smiled when he saw who it was. "Come in, come in." He also stepped back to allow the red-headed man in, although the red hair was starting to gray and thin. "What brings you over this evening? Oh, sorry I missed you yesterday, I was running very late. Shelly told me it didn't work out like Albus has hoped."
Arthur followed his host into the parlor where Michelle, or Shelly, Black was waiting. "Shelly, it's always good to see you."
"You too, Arthur," she replied with a smile.
"I have made contact and got them back!" Arthur boasted and held up the plastic bag. When he realized the wands couldn't be seen, he took the bag off to find the entire bundle stuck together. A quick Ending spell allowed them to fall apart into individual wands.
"Oh, everyone will be happy to hear this. We better contact them," Sirius said. "Or maybe call Mad-Eye and let him spread the word they can come here to pick them up."
"I'll make that call as I know you two will want to talk. I even know who to call first," Shelly told them with a grin and left the room.
"What was it like talking to them?" Sirius asked with excitement. "I really am sorry I missed seeing them, although I'm glad not to have lost my wand for a day."
Arthur nodded and sobered. "Albus made this work sound so magical and practical. The downsides were waved away I now realize. He made it sound like the person could go home after, but I'm starting to wonder if that's even true. Sirius, there's no easy way to say it. We kidnapped them and I'm beginning to doubt they can go home."
Sirius pulled at his face and worked his jaw while he thought. After a moment he walked over to the shelf that held the liquor bottles and poured two shots of Firewhisky. Returning, he handed one to his visitor. "We don't sound very noble or good when it's stated like that and from what Lily told me yesterday evening, it sounds like the two are likely from another dimension and probably can't go back. I can't refute your statement." He downed the shot in a single gulp then grimaced for a moment until the burn went away.
Meanwhile, Arthur sipped his drink. The Cheering charm was starting to wear off, but it would be a good half hour until it was fully gone. "I had to tell the story about Molly." Sirius winced and put a hand on the man's shoulder in support. "I still have a bit of a Cheering charm but thank you. In their place, world, You-Know-Who went to the Potters and killed James and Lily; Harry survived though. There are some other differences, such by this time, Albus and Remus are also dead. They didn't say it, but they're lack of mentioning you leads me to believe you're dead too."
"You're not delivering good news, Arthur."
"Harry did beat him, not long before he was pulled away." Arthur smiled. "I think the reason Ginny came is that she was pulled along because, in her words, they were embracing at the time."
Sirius let off a bark of laughter, laughing until he had to sit down. "At least they were together and not enemies."
Arthur sat too. "True."
Stomping was heard and a moment later it resolved into Alastor Mad-Eye Moody himself come in. "Where are they?"
"Right there," Arthur pointed at the wands.
"Yes, I wanted to know that too, but the kids; where are they?" the ex-Auror asked again.
"I honestly can't say," Arthur replied. "He seems to know his way around the UK and he can Apparate, including Side-Along to take my daughter, or daughter look-alike."
"Tell me you placed a tracking charm on them," Moody demanded.
"I did not because we've wrong them; kidnapped them actually," Arthur explain, hardening to show the steel required to raise five boys on his own. "I'm trying to build trust with them and I started with giving them a way to live independently. I'm hoping that by showing trust and treating them like family that just maybe they'll be willing to help us in some way."
Moody harrumphed. "You've gone nostalgic because she looked like your daughter would."
Arthur stood slowly as did Sirius, who was standing to the side and looked ready to intervene. "If you're going to insult me for trying to do the right thing, the moral thing, then I'll resign from the Order now, as will probably all of my family. Unless you can send them back to where they came from post-haste, remember that you helped to kidnap them too. I'm trying to make up for that."
Moody glared at him for a moment before he turned to the stack of wands and pulled his third wand out to cast some detection spells.
"I didn't find anything wrong with them," Arthur said.
Moody grabbed his two and said, "I'll tell the others."
James and Lily walked in and stopped, feeling the obvious tension in the room. Moody glanced at them and walked out.
"What did we miss?" James asked as he walked over and cast a spell at his primary wand on the table then grabbed it before putting his backup wand in a pocket. Lily did the same.
It was Sirius that answered. "He wasn't happy that Arthur was trying to build trust with Harry and Ginny. He wanted Arthur to put a tracking charm on them, I suppose in an attempt to find them and coerce them into helping."
"Good man, Arthur," James said and held out his hand so the two could shake. "Lily and I had a long talk last night after we arrived home. Seeing Harry, or perhaps a younger me, really opened my eyes to what we'd done. I feel stupid for not fully considering our actions from the point of view of the person we were bringing here."
Lily nodded. "I try to consider everything and yet I didn't consider that. I helped take someone's child, two children, away from their families. I won't be surprised that when I finally am able to talk to Albus that he'll tell me there's no way to send them home."
"Yes, that jumps to the heart of it, doesn't it," Arthur agreed. "We have removed Ginny from her family and she even had … she had Molly for her mother." He paused and took a deep breath; everyone waited patiently, understanding the man's grief despite the number of years. "You will find it interesting that in their dimension, in 1981 You-Know-Who attacked the Potters and his parent were killed although he survived."
Lily looked at her husband in surprise. "That means that old magic I found probably works."
"If it worked," Arthur considered aloud, "that means it took both of your deaths to make it work. On the other hand, I don't know any parent that wouldn't make that trade."
"A sobering thought that I hope no one has to test," James said quietly before he brightened. "How was the basket received and what was their reaction?"
"Grateful, but they didn't open it until after they left, so they won't find whatever you put in it until they unpack it," Arthur reported. "What did you put in it? You were each throwing practically everything in sight into that basket, and whatever wasn't in sight was summoned."
Sirius laughed as did Shelly, who'd returned. James and Lily looked at each other and smiled.
"A little of this and little of that," James said finally. "Maybe even a little of our emergency money as I thought they might need a few things since they arrived with only the clothes on their backs."
"Ah, good of you to think of that because I hadn't. I can add some next time I see them," Arthur said with a nod.
"I was supposed to be his godfather," Sirius spoke up, "I think I can add to that as well. I've certainly missed some birthdays and Christmases."
"About that," Arthur said a little guardedly. "I think we're going to have to be careful. There were a couple of times I could sense they were confused about us. For example, was I Dad or Arthur? Was it Mum or Molly? Harry called me Mr Weasley at one point, although that might simply have been politeness."
"Good point," Lily said softly. "I wished I had known what was going to happen. If I had, I'm not sure I would have participated."
"But to see Harry again," James argued. "To maybe having him in our lives. Perhaps not in quite the same way as if he were really ours, but I think I can overlook that to have him with us."
"I understand," Lily answered him, "but it will be an emotional rollercoaster for all of us, especially Harry and Ginny."
"Speaking of Harry and Ginny," Sirius said with a grin, "Arthur told me why we got both of them. Get this, they were … embracing." He started laughing again and the others smiled broadly.
James stepped over and put an arm around Arthur's shoulders. "If that works out, I'd be pleased to have our families joined in such a blissful way."
Arthur smiled. "I know I've told you a number of times, but thank you for not blaming us for that fateful evening. I would share your joy in this, should it happen."
"I think we'll see everyone later," James said as he heard the chime from the Floo connection. "Let us know how it goes, Arthur, and if we can help out, especially with hosting duties. I can hardly wait to talk with them."
The Potters left as others from the Order started to arrive to pick up their wands.
(A/N: Well, there is the foundation of the story. In all of the other stories I've read where Harry is pulled to another universe, it's always by himself. This time he has Ginny to help. If this story goes normally, you can expect a new chapter about every four or five days. Kevin.)