Hey~!~ Here is Chapter Five…good lord, already? *Eyes are now the size of
saucers* I'm sorry if I'm not getting chapters out very quickly, but it's
HARD writing two stories at once, kay? Btw, I read a story that had a
really excellent idea for recording Apparations, and I sort of, erm,
borrowed (yes, that's a good word!) the idea. Well, it's just the thing
about the walls being calendar's, that's all; I made the rest up. So, if
whoever thought that up is reading this, I love the idea and I'm sorry I
borrowed w/o asking, but I would have if I could have!
Just ask Reine Dansante! I'm good at asking for things, aren't I? *Looks pleadingly at Miss Nutbag*
Cheers!
Bella
The Power of Love
Chapter Five: The Search Begins
"My name is Ginny Weasley."
That statement blew Alison away. Ginny Weasley, the girl who had been missing for a year, was sitting right in front of her.
"You-you're the girl who had been missing for a year?" Alison asked faintly.
Ginny nodded grimly. "Yeah, and that guy I was talking about? You know who he is, don't you?"
Alison thought for a moment, but her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly. She shook her head.
"Harry Potter," Ginny sighed.
"Harry Potter?! The Harry Potter?! The one who killed He Who Must Not Be Named and himself at the same time?!" Alison was thunderstruck.
Ginny's eyes clouded over. "Yes."
"And he loved you?" Alison repeated.
"Yes," Ginny sighed miserably.
Alison let out a whistle. "So-why did you run away?"
"Because, one night, it all became to much to bear. I was only intending to stay here for a little bit while I got my act together, but then I met you," Ginny smiled slightly here, "and I fell in love with your family and job and the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. And now it's been a year."
"Ri-Ginny, you know that your family must be worried sick about you, don't you?" Alison asked gently.
"Yes," Ginny sighed miserably. "But I can't go back, and that's that." She said firmly, and turned to face the mirror and change herself back.
After Ginny had changed back into Maria, she turned to Alison. "Alison, you have to swear to me you won't try to get me to go back to England."
"Okay, I swear, I won't." That was true, she wasn't. But, she would do something.
"Or contact my family."
Alison cursed. "But, Ginny, you can't just-they probably think you are dead!"
"But I'm not, so what does it matter?" Ginny asked, turning back to the mirror.
Alison stared at her friend in disbelief. "That is the most selfish thing I've ever heard in my life! You ought to be ashamed of your self, Ginny!"
"Alison, its Maria. I don't care what you say, I can't go back. I can't live with that pain!" Ginny's eyes welled up with tears.
"Fine, Ginny. I'm going to bed." Alison extinguished the candle on her side of the bed and rolled over so she wasn't facing Ginny. It would be a long time until sleep claimed her, however.
~*~*~*~*
"And this," Hermione opened the large door at the end of the hall, "is the Apparation/Disapparation Recording Room."
She stepped back and let Ron and Harry enter. It was a large, circular room with white walls that were completely bare.
"Now, we'll need to know the exact frame of time in which she Disapparated from Molly's. She went up at exactly six oh six, and I came up to check on her at six twenty one, fifteen minutes later-"
"Hermione!" Ron interrupted, looking incredulous.
"What?" She snapped irritably.
"You told the M.L.E.S. that you didn't know the exact times she left and when you went up to check on her!"
Hermione suddenly looked sheepish. "Well, erm, I…remembered?"
Harry snorted. "That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard."
"Yeah, come on, spill it, Hermione." Ron said, looking terribly curious.
Hermione fixed her eyes on a point in between the two men and muttered something.
"What was that?" Harry asked, grinning.
"I said, Iwentbackntime." She said quickly.
"You what?"
Hermione sighed resignedly. "Oh, all right. I went back in time."
"And how did you manage that?" Ron asked, grinning widely.
"Time-Turner."
The pictures began again for Harry. He leaned against the wall and massaged his temples. "That's a pocket watch, right?"
"Very good, Harry!" Hermione beamed, glad for the distraction.
But Ron was not going to let that drop. "Hermione, you wrote letters to the Ministry, didn't you? And where in God's name did you get a Time-Turner?"
Hermione went pink. "I borrowed it from Sirius."
"Sirius has a Time-Turner?" Harry asked, interest piqued.
"Oh, yes-" Hermione began, but once again, Ron interrupted.
"Hermione, dear, you did write letters to the Ministry, right?" He asked slyly.
"Well, erm, not-not exactly-"
"Aha!" Ron looked like he would burst with glee. "You broke the law! You broke the law!" He hugged her tightly and kissed her. "I knew you had it in you!"
Harry was practically rolling with laughter, and Hermione looked like she was debating on whether to enjoy this or still be upset about doing it.
"Yes, yes Ron, I did break the law," Hermione smiled at him again. "All right," she said briskly. She tapped the wall and a list of years popped up, all the way from 389 BC to the present year, 2006.
She walked around the room, looking for the correct year. "Aha! Here it is, 2005."
Hermione pointed her wand at the year and prodded it. The walls blurred, and suddenly became a list of countries. Hermione prodded 'England' and the walls blurred again and became giant months, like those you would see in a calendar, with little squares for days. August was right near Harry. They found the nineteenth quickly and Hermione put her wand on it. The walls went blank except the one directly across from the door. It was again a calendar, but this time, the boxes had hours heading them, from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. Hermione prodded the square that was headed with 6:00 PM. It enlarged suddenly, the box becoming the size of a large window.
"All right, look for any Disapparation within the minutes of six oh six and six twenty-one."
"There was one made at six ten." Harry said suddenly.
"Yes, and one made at six oh nine, and one at six twelve, and finally one at six seventeen. The next one isn't until six twenty three." Ron informed them.
"Okay, so how do we find out where they Dissaparated to?" Harry asked anxiously.
Hermione prodded the six oh nine and it said:
Disapparated: Six oh nine and thirty-three seconds: Bristol
Apparated: Six oh nine and thirty-four seconds: Stonehenge
"Well, that's not what we want," Hermione clucked her tongue and waved her wand, going back to the times.
They struck gold at six twelve:
Disapparated: Six twelve and two seconds: Ottery St. Catchpole
Apparated: Six twelve and three seconds: London
"Yes! She must have Apparated to her flat!" Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, no," Hermione moaned. "This isn't good."
"Why?" Harry asked, distracted by their discovery.
"Because. I went to check on her the next morning around nine before I went to work and she wasn't there."
The men looked at her blankly. "Don't you see?! She could have Disapparated to somewhere from six thirteen to nine o clock the next morning!"
"What should we do?" Harry asked desperately.
"We have to copy down all of the Disapparations from London from six thirteen until nine the next day," Hermione replied wearily as she Summoned a quill and parchment. "Get comfortable, boys," she sighed as she conjured a comfortable looking stool. "We'll be here for a while."
~*~*~*~*
Two and a half-hours later, they emerged from the Ministry (which was quite crowded) with over fifty possibilities. They got into the designated Disapparation area and Apparated moments later at Hermione and Ron's large house. Their children were playing at the Burrow so their parents would have space in order to work on finding Ginny.
At dinner the night before, it had been very tense, for everyone in that room was depending on Harry, Ron, and Hermione to find Ginny.
Ron turned off the alarm and they went into the basement in order to have space. They had agreed that one would stay behind while the other two would look. Hermione was staying behind first.
"All right, Ron, you go to Bradford and Harry, you're going to Essex. Remember to use the tracking spell I taught you. If your want tip goes green, she's there. If it is red, you report back to me and I will cross that city off of the list. And remember, the spell is Exspiscor Virginia Katherine Weasley. Clear?"
Ron grinned and saluted Hermione. "Yes, sir!"
Harry grinned. "Bye 'Mione."
Half an hour later, Harry came back from his tenth city with nothing. Ron was still out.
Harry slumped into a chair next to Hermione.
"All right, that's it, I'm taking you're place," she said, standing up.
"No! Well, just let me do one more, okay?" Harry pleaded.
"Are you up to it? I don't want you getting yourself splinched."
"Yes, I'm fine. Where is it?" Harry asked as he stood.
"Um," Hermione scanned the list. "Sheldon, Australia."
Harry slid on his Invisibility Cloak and nodded. "See you in a bit, then."
~*~*~*~*
Harry landed in front of a large, pretty hotel, slightly off balance. He shook his head to clear it and walked into an alley. He was glad he brought his Invisibility Cloak; there was no way to tell if the people who lived in the town were Muggle or not.
Harry drew his wand out of his pocket and cleared his throat. "Exspiscar Virginia Katherine Weasley!"
Harry's breath caught in his throat. The tip was glowing green! Suddenly full of energy, he Apparated back to Hermione and Ron's basement. As luck would have it, Ron was half-asleep in a chair next to Hermione's. Hermione herself was getting ready to leave.
"Wait!" He cried, and Ron jerked awake.
"What?" Hermione asked curiously, ready to place the invisibility charm on herself.
"She's there! In that town!" Harry practically yelled.
"Sh-she is?" Ron jumped up. "All right then, lets go!"
~*~*~*~*
They Apparated in front of the hotel. Hermione and Ron each tried the spell with their own wands and got the same results Harry had.
"All right, I suppose we should start with the hotel!" Hermione said brightly as she walked into the older building, Harry and Ron at her heels.
The entrance room was huge and obviously a wizarding hotel, judging by the movement of the pictures and everyone in there had robes and hats on. Hermione and Ron took the invisibility spell off of them and Harry removed his cloak.
A woman was behind the desk. She looked to be about their age. There were shadows under her eyes and her hair was slightly disheveled.
"Excuse me," Harry said to her politely.
Her head jerked up and she gave him a weary smile. "Hello, welcome to the Shoreside Hotel. Can I help you?"
Harry looked back at Hermione and Ron. Hermione stepped purposely forward and said, "Yes, thank you, we would like to have two full rooms, please."
"Oh, you're from the mainland, are you?" The woman's smile brightened.
"Oh, yes, London in fact."
"Ah, I miss it so!" The woman exclaimed. She held her hand out to Hermione. "Alison Waldron."
"Hermione Weasley, it's very nice to meet you."
"Yes, you too! And where about in England are you from?" Alison inquired politely.
"Ottery St. Catchpole." Hermione answered.
Alison's breath caught in her throat. "What did you say your last name was?"
Ron looked at her eagerly. "Weasley, I am her husband."
Alison looked faint.
"Why?" Harry asked eagerly, "do you recognize the name?"
Alison seemed to be going through a fierce inner battle. "No, I'm sorry, I've never heard it before," she croaked.
All three faces fell. "Oh, all right then. Two rooms, please?"
"Yes, yes of course…" Alison turned to the wall that was laden with keys behind her. "Here you are, rooms three o three and three o four."
"Thank you," Hermione said, putting the keys safely in her pocket.
"Ali!" A very attractive woman came rushing into the hotel. "Oh, there you are-" she stopped short when she saw that her friend had guests. When the three people Alison was helping turned to her, she fainted dead away.
I apologize for the evil cliffhanger…heehee…anyway, I would like to thank my beta's, Reine Dansante and Snowlily for being…well…great beta's!
Cheers!
Bella
REVIEW, my little darlings! It's quite simple!
Just ask Reine Dansante! I'm good at asking for things, aren't I? *Looks pleadingly at Miss Nutbag*
Cheers!
Bella
The Power of Love
Chapter Five: The Search Begins
"My name is Ginny Weasley."
That statement blew Alison away. Ginny Weasley, the girl who had been missing for a year, was sitting right in front of her.
"You-you're the girl who had been missing for a year?" Alison asked faintly.
Ginny nodded grimly. "Yeah, and that guy I was talking about? You know who he is, don't you?"
Alison thought for a moment, but her brain didn't seem to be functioning properly. She shook her head.
"Harry Potter," Ginny sighed.
"Harry Potter?! The Harry Potter?! The one who killed He Who Must Not Be Named and himself at the same time?!" Alison was thunderstruck.
Ginny's eyes clouded over. "Yes."
"And he loved you?" Alison repeated.
"Yes," Ginny sighed miserably.
Alison let out a whistle. "So-why did you run away?"
"Because, one night, it all became to much to bear. I was only intending to stay here for a little bit while I got my act together, but then I met you," Ginny smiled slightly here, "and I fell in love with your family and job and the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. And now it's been a year."
"Ri-Ginny, you know that your family must be worried sick about you, don't you?" Alison asked gently.
"Yes," Ginny sighed miserably. "But I can't go back, and that's that." She said firmly, and turned to face the mirror and change herself back.
After Ginny had changed back into Maria, she turned to Alison. "Alison, you have to swear to me you won't try to get me to go back to England."
"Okay, I swear, I won't." That was true, she wasn't. But, she would do something.
"Or contact my family."
Alison cursed. "But, Ginny, you can't just-they probably think you are dead!"
"But I'm not, so what does it matter?" Ginny asked, turning back to the mirror.
Alison stared at her friend in disbelief. "That is the most selfish thing I've ever heard in my life! You ought to be ashamed of your self, Ginny!"
"Alison, its Maria. I don't care what you say, I can't go back. I can't live with that pain!" Ginny's eyes welled up with tears.
"Fine, Ginny. I'm going to bed." Alison extinguished the candle on her side of the bed and rolled over so she wasn't facing Ginny. It would be a long time until sleep claimed her, however.
~*~*~*~*
"And this," Hermione opened the large door at the end of the hall, "is the Apparation/Disapparation Recording Room."
She stepped back and let Ron and Harry enter. It was a large, circular room with white walls that were completely bare.
"Now, we'll need to know the exact frame of time in which she Disapparated from Molly's. She went up at exactly six oh six, and I came up to check on her at six twenty one, fifteen minutes later-"
"Hermione!" Ron interrupted, looking incredulous.
"What?" She snapped irritably.
"You told the M.L.E.S. that you didn't know the exact times she left and when you went up to check on her!"
Hermione suddenly looked sheepish. "Well, erm, I…remembered?"
Harry snorted. "That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard."
"Yeah, come on, spill it, Hermione." Ron said, looking terribly curious.
Hermione fixed her eyes on a point in between the two men and muttered something.
"What was that?" Harry asked, grinning.
"I said, Iwentbackntime." She said quickly.
"You what?"
Hermione sighed resignedly. "Oh, all right. I went back in time."
"And how did you manage that?" Ron asked, grinning widely.
"Time-Turner."
The pictures began again for Harry. He leaned against the wall and massaged his temples. "That's a pocket watch, right?"
"Very good, Harry!" Hermione beamed, glad for the distraction.
But Ron was not going to let that drop. "Hermione, you wrote letters to the Ministry, didn't you? And where in God's name did you get a Time-Turner?"
Hermione went pink. "I borrowed it from Sirius."
"Sirius has a Time-Turner?" Harry asked, interest piqued.
"Oh, yes-" Hermione began, but once again, Ron interrupted.
"Hermione, dear, you did write letters to the Ministry, right?" He asked slyly.
"Well, erm, not-not exactly-"
"Aha!" Ron looked like he would burst with glee. "You broke the law! You broke the law!" He hugged her tightly and kissed her. "I knew you had it in you!"
Harry was practically rolling with laughter, and Hermione looked like she was debating on whether to enjoy this or still be upset about doing it.
"Yes, yes Ron, I did break the law," Hermione smiled at him again. "All right," she said briskly. She tapped the wall and a list of years popped up, all the way from 389 BC to the present year, 2006.
She walked around the room, looking for the correct year. "Aha! Here it is, 2005."
Hermione pointed her wand at the year and prodded it. The walls blurred, and suddenly became a list of countries. Hermione prodded 'England' and the walls blurred again and became giant months, like those you would see in a calendar, with little squares for days. August was right near Harry. They found the nineteenth quickly and Hermione put her wand on it. The walls went blank except the one directly across from the door. It was again a calendar, but this time, the boxes had hours heading them, from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. Hermione prodded the square that was headed with 6:00 PM. It enlarged suddenly, the box becoming the size of a large window.
"All right, look for any Disapparation within the minutes of six oh six and six twenty-one."
"There was one made at six ten." Harry said suddenly.
"Yes, and one made at six oh nine, and one at six twelve, and finally one at six seventeen. The next one isn't until six twenty three." Ron informed them.
"Okay, so how do we find out where they Dissaparated to?" Harry asked anxiously.
Hermione prodded the six oh nine and it said:
Disapparated: Six oh nine and thirty-three seconds: Bristol
Apparated: Six oh nine and thirty-four seconds: Stonehenge
"Well, that's not what we want," Hermione clucked her tongue and waved her wand, going back to the times.
They struck gold at six twelve:
Disapparated: Six twelve and two seconds: Ottery St. Catchpole
Apparated: Six twelve and three seconds: London
"Yes! She must have Apparated to her flat!" Ron exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, no," Hermione moaned. "This isn't good."
"Why?" Harry asked, distracted by their discovery.
"Because. I went to check on her the next morning around nine before I went to work and she wasn't there."
The men looked at her blankly. "Don't you see?! She could have Disapparated to somewhere from six thirteen to nine o clock the next morning!"
"What should we do?" Harry asked desperately.
"We have to copy down all of the Disapparations from London from six thirteen until nine the next day," Hermione replied wearily as she Summoned a quill and parchment. "Get comfortable, boys," she sighed as she conjured a comfortable looking stool. "We'll be here for a while."
~*~*~*~*
Two and a half-hours later, they emerged from the Ministry (which was quite crowded) with over fifty possibilities. They got into the designated Disapparation area and Apparated moments later at Hermione and Ron's large house. Their children were playing at the Burrow so their parents would have space in order to work on finding Ginny.
At dinner the night before, it had been very tense, for everyone in that room was depending on Harry, Ron, and Hermione to find Ginny.
Ron turned off the alarm and they went into the basement in order to have space. They had agreed that one would stay behind while the other two would look. Hermione was staying behind first.
"All right, Ron, you go to Bradford and Harry, you're going to Essex. Remember to use the tracking spell I taught you. If your want tip goes green, she's there. If it is red, you report back to me and I will cross that city off of the list. And remember, the spell is Exspiscor Virginia Katherine Weasley. Clear?"
Ron grinned and saluted Hermione. "Yes, sir!"
Harry grinned. "Bye 'Mione."
Half an hour later, Harry came back from his tenth city with nothing. Ron was still out.
Harry slumped into a chair next to Hermione.
"All right, that's it, I'm taking you're place," she said, standing up.
"No! Well, just let me do one more, okay?" Harry pleaded.
"Are you up to it? I don't want you getting yourself splinched."
"Yes, I'm fine. Where is it?" Harry asked as he stood.
"Um," Hermione scanned the list. "Sheldon, Australia."
Harry slid on his Invisibility Cloak and nodded. "See you in a bit, then."
~*~*~*~*
Harry landed in front of a large, pretty hotel, slightly off balance. He shook his head to clear it and walked into an alley. He was glad he brought his Invisibility Cloak; there was no way to tell if the people who lived in the town were Muggle or not.
Harry drew his wand out of his pocket and cleared his throat. "Exspiscar Virginia Katherine Weasley!"
Harry's breath caught in his throat. The tip was glowing green! Suddenly full of energy, he Apparated back to Hermione and Ron's basement. As luck would have it, Ron was half-asleep in a chair next to Hermione's. Hermione herself was getting ready to leave.
"Wait!" He cried, and Ron jerked awake.
"What?" Hermione asked curiously, ready to place the invisibility charm on herself.
"She's there! In that town!" Harry practically yelled.
"Sh-she is?" Ron jumped up. "All right then, lets go!"
~*~*~*~*
They Apparated in front of the hotel. Hermione and Ron each tried the spell with their own wands and got the same results Harry had.
"All right, I suppose we should start with the hotel!" Hermione said brightly as she walked into the older building, Harry and Ron at her heels.
The entrance room was huge and obviously a wizarding hotel, judging by the movement of the pictures and everyone in there had robes and hats on. Hermione and Ron took the invisibility spell off of them and Harry removed his cloak.
A woman was behind the desk. She looked to be about their age. There were shadows under her eyes and her hair was slightly disheveled.
"Excuse me," Harry said to her politely.
Her head jerked up and she gave him a weary smile. "Hello, welcome to the Shoreside Hotel. Can I help you?"
Harry looked back at Hermione and Ron. Hermione stepped purposely forward and said, "Yes, thank you, we would like to have two full rooms, please."
"Oh, you're from the mainland, are you?" The woman's smile brightened.
"Oh, yes, London in fact."
"Ah, I miss it so!" The woman exclaimed. She held her hand out to Hermione. "Alison Waldron."
"Hermione Weasley, it's very nice to meet you."
"Yes, you too! And where about in England are you from?" Alison inquired politely.
"Ottery St. Catchpole." Hermione answered.
Alison's breath caught in her throat. "What did you say your last name was?"
Ron looked at her eagerly. "Weasley, I am her husband."
Alison looked faint.
"Why?" Harry asked eagerly, "do you recognize the name?"
Alison seemed to be going through a fierce inner battle. "No, I'm sorry, I've never heard it before," she croaked.
All three faces fell. "Oh, all right then. Two rooms, please?"
"Yes, yes of course…" Alison turned to the wall that was laden with keys behind her. "Here you are, rooms three o three and three o four."
"Thank you," Hermione said, putting the keys safely in her pocket.
"Ali!" A very attractive woman came rushing into the hotel. "Oh, there you are-" she stopped short when she saw that her friend had guests. When the three people Alison was helping turned to her, she fainted dead away.
I apologize for the evil cliffhanger…heehee…anyway, I would like to thank my beta's, Reine Dansante and Snowlily for being…well…great beta's!
Cheers!
Bella
REVIEW, my little darlings! It's quite simple!