A few days after Harry had sent his letters off to Krum and Hagrid, he received a reply from the latter. Hagrid told Harry that he hadn't heard from Hermione since before she and her family left to visit Krum in Bulgaria. Hagrid offered to ask Professor Dumbledore about Hermione and Harry sent a reply agreeing that Dumbledore should be kept informed about the situation.
As well as the letter from Hagrid, Harry received a note from Ron, inviting him to come and stay with his family for the remaining two weeks of the holidays. Harry happily accepted the invitation and made arrangements for the Weasleys to pick him up.
After the last encounter the Dursleys had with members of the Weasley family, Harry decided it was best if he left while his aunt, uncle and cousin were out. Mrs Weasley would come via floo powder and after Harry was safely through the fire, she would fix the electric heater in the Dursley's lounge room and then disapparate.
The day before he left, Harry had his trunks packed and was ready to go. He couldn't wait to leave the Dursleys after what he felt was the longest summer holiday of his life. Uncle Vernon too was particularly pleased for Harry to go.
'Just make sure those people don't take anything from this house while we're gone, boy.' He snarled menacingly at Harry the morning of his departure.
Aunt Petunia's sharp eyes raced about the lounge room taking in every item and it's position. She carefully rearranged some cushions and surveyed the rest of the house. She'd spent all of the previous day cleaning and positioning family photos around the house, and Uncle Vernon had made sure that photos of his company car where also included, just to make these people realise that the Dursleys were above all this magic nonsense.
As soon as the Dursleys left, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. But as soon as he thought about telling Ron that Hermione and her family were missing he felt sick.
'I don't know how Ron'll react.' He murmured.
'To what, dear?' Harry spun around to see Mrs Wealsey smiling at him as she dusted ash from her robes. She hurried over and gave Harry a squeeze.
'Now what's this about Ron, Harry?' She smiled reassuringly at Harry.
He gulped.
'Well, I think Hermione and her family have gone missing. No one's heard from them since they left Bulgaria.'
Mrs Weasley's eyes widened in alarm. She made Harry tell her everything from Krum's letter, to his phone call to Hermione and his letter to Hagrid and Hagrid's reply.
'Oh, dear! Harry, love you should have sent an owl to Arthur. He'd have started a search for them.'
'I know, but I didn't want Ron to find out that way. Besides, Professor Dumbledore knows now. I'm sure he'll do something.'
Mrs Weasley patted Harry's hand.
'Come on, dear. Let's get back to the Burrow. Then we can both tell Ron.' She helped Harry pull his trunk and Hedwig's cage towards the crackling fire she'd lit. Harry helped himself to a pinch of floo powder from a little bag Mrs Weasley held out and then stepped into the warm fire.
'The Burrow!' he shouted, shutting his eyes tightly.
In a minute or two, Harry stepped out of the fireplace in the Weasley's kitchen.
'Harry!' he turned around to see Ron and Ginny running towards him. He grinned widely and they returned the smile. As they started to chatter, Mrs Weasley apparated with a faint pop.
'Ginny,' she said, turning to her daughter 'call Fred and George and help them take Harry's things up to Ron's room.'
Ginny looked slightly puzzled but did what her mother asked. In a minute or two, Fred and George came bounding down the stairs and were patting Harry on the back. They picked up the trunk between them and Ginny carried Hedwig's cage.
Ron looked at Harry grinning.
'Just like old times. We only need Hermione here.' At the mention of Hermione, Harry's face fell a bit and Mrs Weasley told them both to sit at the table while she made some hot chocolate.
Ron gave Harry a quizzical look, but sat down.
While Mrs Weasley got out some mugs and poured steaming hot chocolate into them from her wand, Harry cleared his throat and nervously fingered his scar.
Mrs Weasley brought the mugs over to the large table and sat next to Ron. She nodded slightly at Harry and took a sip from her mug.
'Ron,' began Harry, searching for the right words to tell him 'It's about Hermione.' Before Ron could interrupt, Harry continued.
'She's missing, Ron. Her and her parents. I got a letter from Krum about a week ago saying he was worried about her because she hadn't sent him a letter saying she got home safely after visiting him. So I called her and there are dozens of messages on her answering machine –' Harry ignored the blank look on Ron's face on the mention of the answering machine '-and so I wrote to Hagrid. He hasn't heard from her, so he told Professor Dumbledore.' Harry took a deep breath and looked down at his mug and the steam issuing from it.
Ron's face was expressionless. He opened his mouth several times as if to talk before shutting it again.
'But that doesn't mean anything. You know Hermione; she's probably got her nose in some book about the habits of witches and wizards in non-English speaking societies. Either that or she's spent the rest of the holidays writing and rewriting her essay for Professor Binns, or-' Mrs Weasley gently placed her hand over Ron's to stop his ramblings. He was quiet for a moment and then his face grew as red as his hair.
'What's been done? Does the ministry know? Has anyone been to her house to look for clues?' He spun his head around to look at his mother's face. 'Shouldn't we tell Dad? Maybe he can do something!'
Mrs Weasley patted his hand again.
'Ron, I'm going to tell your father in a minute. Now, go up to your room and lie down for awhile. This is all a bit of a shock.'
Ron shakily stood up. Then he shook his hand loose from his mother's and seemed to compose himself.
'Honestly, Hermione's always getting herself into some trouble. I suppose we should head straight for the Hogwarts library. She's probably there looking for help in a book.' Ron chucked at his joke and then walked from the room.
Mrs Weasley shook her head.
'I knew he'd react like this,' said Harry.
'Oh, Harry love, it's not your fault. He had to be told. It will all hit him soon enough and then he'll realise the seriousness.' She drank the last of her hot chocolate and stood up.
'Right Harry, you go and unpack your things and I'll tell Arthur. He'll probably race home and start questioning you as soon as he does.' She sighed a little and placed her cup in the sink.
Harry also finished his drink and then headed up the stairs to Ron's room.
He opened the door and was greeted by the blinding orange of Ron's shrine to his Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons.
Ron was sitting on his bed staring at the ceiling. Harry sat next to him.
'I'm sure she'll turn up Ron.' He tried to sound reassuring, but his voice broke a little as he spoke.
'I hope you're right, Harry' Ron turned to face him 'I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't told her…you know.' Ron trailed off and turned his head away to hide it's redness.
Harry nodded.
'I know, Ron. And so does she.'
As Harry and Ron sat in the relative quiet of Ron's room, delicious smells began wafting up from the kitchen below. Mrs Weasley had obviously finished talking to her husband and had now begun making dinner for the clan.
Harry let the wonderful aromas waft around him. He breathed deeply and shut his eyes. He began to feel sleepy, and as he sat there he began to hear voices.
'You have them then?' a cold high voice made Harry's insides chill.
'Y-yes, my lord. The muggles came quietly, but as to be expected the girl struggled.' A meeker voice answered the first.
'Excellent. My plan will work this time Wormtail. I will have Harry Potter and my revenge.' At the mention of his name, Harry's eyes snapped open and his first thought was for the burning pain in his forehead. He clutched his head and rolled on to the floor.
Ron shouted out in alarm, and several pairs of footsteps were heard racing up the stairs and to Ron's room. Mr Weasley was first in the room, having just arrived home from work to question Harry. He raced over to Harry and attempted to pull Harry's hands off his forehead.
'Harry! What is it?' Mr Weasley helped him to sit up.
Harry breathed in and out rapidly, trying to compose himself.
'I heard him! Talking about Hermione and her parents!' he gasped.
'Who, Harry?!' demanded Mr Weasley.
'Voldemort!'
Mr Weasley flinched at the name, as did Ron and his mother who stood behind Mr Weasley and Harry. Mrs Weasley hurried forward with a row of chocolate. She forced it into Harry's hand and told him to eat it.
Mr Weasley straightened up and began whispering with his wife. She began nodding and raced downstairs.
'Where's she going?' muttered Harry weakly.
'To contact Dumbledore. When he agreed to let us have you here he made us promise to contact him if anything like this happened again.' Mr Weasley smoothed his hair over.
Harry struggled to his feet defiantly.
'But I'm fine! It's Hermione we should be worrying about! Voldemort has her!' Harry tried to make his way to the door, but was held back by Mr Weasley.
'Harry! Just stay here. Professor Dumbledore will be here soon. We have to wait for him.'
Harry obediently stumbled back to Ron's bed and sat down. Ron sat next to him, quivering slightly.
Harry sat there for what seemed an eternity, but finally Dumbledore strode through the door. He was as Harry remembered him; flowing white beard and hair, crooked nose – but his blue eyes were not twinkling merrily, rather they were anxious.
'Harry,' he stood in front of Harry and motioned for the Weasleys to leave the room. They did so silently.
'I heard him. Like I did last time. Except he was talking with Wormtail about Hermione. He didn't say her name, but I knew it was her.'
Dumbledore put his hand on Harry's shoulder.
'Is that all he said?' asked Dumbledore.
'No. He said his plan would work and he would have his revenge and me.' Harry ran his hands through his hair.
Dumbledore began pacing the room. Harry sat, stunned. Voldemort had Hermione. And it was all because of him.
'Harry, I've asked Molly to send word to Sirius. As you know he's staying with Professor Lupin. I think it would be best if you went to stay with them. If anything were to happen, they would be able to protect you.'
As Harry opened his mouth to protest Dumbledore held up his hand.
'No, Harry, don't say a word. It's for the best.' With that, Dumbledore magicked Harry's possessions into his trunk and shut it. Then he floated it out of the room with Hedwig's cage on top.
Harry followed silently. He could see the twins and Ginny looking at him as he passed them in the hallway, but he said nothing.
Dumbledore led the way into the Weasley's kitchen, where Mrs Weasley stood rather nervously next to her husband. Almost immediately, Harry saw the reason why. Sirius Black, his godfather, was standing in the kitchen with them. As soon as he saw Harry, Sirius swept him in a tight embrace.
'Thank goodness you're all right, Harry!' he croaked.
It had been several months since Harry had seen his godfather and in that time Sirius seemed to have put on weight and was now clean shaven, his hair short and was wearing clean robes.
Sensing Harry's uneasiness, Sirius quickly released him and stepped back.
'Harry,' another voice spoke from behind Sirius. It was Professor Lupin, his light brown hair was flecked with more grey, but his face was still youthful.
Harry gave a weak grin and sank into a chair at the table.
'I've told him that he'll be coming with you, Sirius.' Dumbledore spoke at last. Sirius nodded, still looking at Harry.
Mrs Weasley started to protest but her husband grabbed her arm.
'He'll be safest with them, Molly.'
'We'll go then, Headmaster.' Lupin lit a fire in the kitchen hearth and placed Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage inside. He handed Harry some floo powder and in a moment they were gone. Sirius only remained behind in the kitchen with the Weasleys and Dumbledore.
'What about Hermione, sir?'
Dumbledore shook his head.
'I'm not sure, Sirius. The Ministry has people looking, don't they Arthur?'
Mr Weasley nodded.
'Don't worry, Sirius. I too will be joining the search.' Dumbledore smiled and then with a pop, disapparated.
Sirius shook Mr Weasley's hand.
'Thank you for looking after him, Arthur. And you too, Molly.'
Mrs Weasley smiled weakly, but said nothing.
Sirius grabbed a pinch of floo powder from a bag in his pocket and followed Harry and Lupin through the fire.