Astray in Endeavor





Summary: Ginny Weasley disappeared within a week of graduating from Hogwarts, and Draco Malfoy swore that he would find her if it killed him. Now, three years and an anonymous tip off later, it just might do that. And if he's not careful, her too. In order to protect the world and the woman he fell in love with from a new and perhaps even more dangerous threat, he must swallow his pride and team up with his childhood nemesis before someone else disappears.



Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm a University student. I have no money.



Notes: Alright, we have here the next installment of Astray in Endeavor. In a few chapters it will start winding down. I'm thinking maybe two or three more chapters is all I'm going to need. Then maybe an epilogue. Look out for the Interlude though, I'll be putting that up where it's supposed to be soon. Enjoy!







Chapter 6



It was an odd sensation, he decided, tucking in one's child. He wondered vaguely if he would ever get that chance again. He wandered back downstairs again, and promptly discovered Potter in his den, rifling through pile after pile of paper.

"What's all this, and how did it get here?" Draco asked, eyeing the piles suspiciously.

"All research pertaining to the Rites of Balthazar. And anything that existed on those names you gave me. As to where it came from, Hermione has this bag that holds infinitesimally more than you might think."

"I see."

"So far, all I've figured out is the fact the ritual needs twelve 'faithful's' to complete it properly."

"Well, that fits what we've got. Twelve Death Eaters. All of them haven't been seen in at least six months. They must have been gathering what they needed. Anything else?"

"They can't just use any altar. They need a specific one. 'The stone of blood' it says here. According to what Hermione's found, the only 'stone of blood' that would exist in this day and age is the Sacred Stone of Calmar. Which has last been seen in a small village on the outskirts of Surrey."

"Is it Muggle?"

"Pardon?"

"The village. Is it a Muggle village?"

"I think so. It's probably more of a town now, considering it was last reported in 1947."

"Then we have a probable location. From what Silvanna said, Ginny was living in a Muggle village before she was kidnapped. It's likely that they wouldn't try to take her far."

"Not necessarily though."

"Possibly, but think, what's easier? Plan up something that would require a lot of moving around, and transporting a hostage somewhere else, or finding something that can be done without having to move the hostage any farther than the street corner?"

"I suppose. These are Death Eater's without many brain cells."

"Exactly. So what else have we got that could possibly be of any use."

"Well, there's the intro to the Rite, of course, which Hermione is busy decoding right now, and trying to find a motive for all this."

"Which is fairly simple. Resurrect Voldemort, and create havoc."

"Precisely. But, why Ginny? I mean, all she did during the war was stay behind the scenes and heal people out of the trenches. She wasn't important enough to Voldemort. There is the revenge on you factor, but this seems a little extreme just to piss you off."

"Well, they are pissing you off too. And if you're the target for the resurrection, they'd need bait. But you are right. This seems a little off to be aimed at you and me. If they wanted you, they could have taken Hermione or Andrea at anytime....." Draco trailed off, thinking hard. "And they'd know, that despite our differences, I'd help you out, like you're doing now." All of a sudden Draco's eyes widened in a flash of inspiration. At the same time, Hermione rushed into the room, flailing papers at them.

"I've got it!!" She gasped. "It is the 'mind of the resurrected' after all, not the powers!" She paused for breath, and Harry waited patiently for her to finish. Only to have Draco finish for her. "It was Ginny they wanted the whole time." Hermione looked at him, astonished, but nodded at him anyway.

"But, that doesn't make sense!" Harry cried.

"I don't think you understand, Potter."

"What don't I understand? Help me out here."

"They didn't take Ginny to get back at me. Remember our second year? The Chamber of Secrets?"

"Of course, how could I forget that?"

"Tom Riddle had her mind in the palm of his hand. So, a peice of his essence is imprinted on her brain. Maybe it's even subconscious. But they're going to resurrect him using her mind, possibly even her body." Hermione looked up, having caught her breath.

"But what about Harry? He's got Voldemort's powers. Wouldn't they want him for this?"

"Not everything is about me you know, Hermione." Harry said, looking exasperated.

"No, this time it is about you. All Voldemort wanted this time was to get back at you, because of what happened 21 years ago. He didn't get that chance. But if they use someone else to resurrect him, he can take another crack at you. If they had to, they'd take your wife, or even your baby to get you."

"What about you?"

"I'm just icing on the cake. We were thinking that Ginny was a target because of me, but of course, that's not wholly true. But they had to know, that if she was involved I'd come running."

"Holy."

"That's the price of love, Potter. We'll just have to get used to it."

"If we stop them, we won't need to." Harry said vehemently. "So what are we going to do?" He asked. Draco sat for a moment, thinking. Hermione lowered herself into another chair.

"We'd need to disrupt their ritual, obviously. That means, getting Ginny out of there, taking a couple of them out to start. Then even if the others get away there would be any immediate problems of spontaneous resurrection. You might have to destroy the stone too. It's hard to tell with stuff like this." She said. Draco just sat, staring into space for another moment.

"Malfoy? Is there something else?" Harry asked. Draco looked directly at Hermione.

"You and the kids are going to go stay with Weasley until this is all over." He said decisively. The two Potters looked a bit affronted.

"What?"

"Now see here, Malfoy-"

"Do you want to risk death? At least with Weasley, you'll all be relatively safe, but hey, if you want endanger your life, and your baby's life, go ahead. However, I'm making sure my daughter is somewhere safe." He growled. Then he stood up and walked out the door. Hermione sighed, and looked at Harry.

"You know, in patriarchal and pig-headed way, he's right."

"Hermione!"

"I'd distract you on the battlefield. I almost got you killed once, I won't do it again. If Malfoy hadn't been there when we were fighting Voldemort...."

"I know what could have happened. But it didn't, you have always been invaluable to me. I don't like shunting you aside just because you're my wife, and in the view of the world it could be dangerous."

"I know that. And I appreciate it. But, this time I wouldn't be any good to you. Andrea needs me. And so does Silvanna. Ron may be great with kids, but Lav isn't really maternal yet, and the girls need someone motherly to look after them."

"But,"

"Harry, there's not a lot I can do right now anyway. I've already done what I'm good at, and I'm still recovering from giving birth. I can't leave Andrea alone, she's only a month old." Harry closed his eyes, and nodded reluctantly.

"When we leave then, you'll take the kids to the Burrow." Hermione smiled an kissed his cheek. "I knew you'd see it my way. However, I think it be even safer if we went somewhere else. The Burrow is one of our more widely known hot spots."

"Then get Ron on the floo. Even if he won't accept Ginny's disappearance, he has to accept that she is in danger, and that we need his help." Hermione nodded at him, and the pair headed into the living room for some floo powder. A few minutes later they heard Lavender's voice sound clearly in the room.

"Lavender and Ron Weasley." And her head appeared in the fireplace.

"Hi Lav. Look, can you get Ron on too? We need him, it's important." Hermione said, Lavender smiled and her head disappeared. But they could still hear her voice.

"RON! It's Harry and Hermione! Off your ass!" Harry suppressed a smile, those two were the oddest of their married friends. Soon enough, the pair of them were appeared in the fireplace.

"Hi guys. What's up?"

"Ron, we need a hand."

"Yeah. How can I help?"

"Ginny's in trouble. Malfoy and I need to go and help her, but there's a chance that Death Eaters may try to go after Hermione and Andrea. I need you to get her and the kids to somewhere safe."

"What do you mean Ginny's in trouble? Ginny's fine, she's just-"

"Ron, please. There's no time to play the ignorant older brother. You have to face what's happened. We need you at your best." Hermione begged. Ron frowned at her, but he acquiesced.

"Alright, if you say she's in trouble, then she's in trouble. What am I supposed to be doing about it?"

"In a few hours, I'm coming over, and I'm bringing Andrea and Silvanna with me. We need a place to hide out until it's all over." Hermione said. Lavender looked like she was pondering something.

"The Catton Caves cottage." She said suddenly. Harry and Hermione looked at her, and even Ron looked a little surprised. She continued.

"It's small, remote, and been in my family for years. No one ever goes there anymore. We'd only need a couple wards to make it completely impregnable." She finished.

"Sounds perfect." Harry said.

"I'll apparate over and open it up." Lavender's head disappeared.

"Open the floo network for it too!" Ron yelled backwards. Then he turned back to them.

"Now. Tell me, what's my sister done this time? And who's Silvanna?" Harry sighed, and launched into the basic rundown of everything that had been happening in the last three days.





End Part 6

Stay Tuned for Part 7