With Darkness There'll Be Light
Four - Sneer Included
Ron was scared, yes, but he also had something Harry and Draco did not. Optimism. He knew that Hermione and Ginny were not dead. In trouble, he figured, but not dead. There was no way they were dead. Which is why he wasn't as green as Draco and Harry when they entered his childhood home.
"Mum?" He called, entering the kitchen.
"RON!" Mrs. Weasley ran into the kitchen, her face flushed and also blotchy from crying. She flung her arms around Ron, then Harry, and finally Draco.
Draco had been at the Weasley home once before and Mrs. Weasley extended every courtesy to him as she did to Harry. She, too, had put the school rivalry behind her. Even though Draco was not a son to her like Harry was, she still treated him in a motherly fashion.
She sat the three young wizards at the table and hollered for her husband. Arthur Weasley entered the kitchen wearing a wane smile and tattered robes. He hugged his son and Harry and shook Draco's hand. He, also, looked like he'd been crying.
"Have you heard from Ginny, Mum?" Ron asked his mother, cutting right to the chase. They couldn't afford to waste time.
Mrs. Weasley paled and swallowed, "No, she left here this morning around 9. I never heard from her after that."
"Draco, is there any reason why Voldemort would want Hermione or Ginny?" Harry asked, voicing the question that was in all of their minds.
Draco started and stared at Harry in horror, "I don't speak to him, Potter!"
Mrs. Weasley reached over and took Draco's hand. He stiffened. "He doesn't mean that, dear. He just thought you probably might have a clue…seeing as how your father…well, that's what makes you such a good Auror because you have the ability to think like them."
A light blush crept upon Draco's ghost colored features, "Oh, sorry. Er…reason…I don't know. He doesn't really follow reason, does he."
Arthur cleared his throat, "Molly, would you make some tea?"
Mrs. Weasley smiled, "Yes, of course," and stood up from the table, giving Draco's hand a slight pat.
"Hermione is a Muggleborn and she's the most powerful witch Hogwarts had seen in years. That should be enough reason," stated Draco, his voice low. "But I don't know about Ginny."
"She was just there," said Ron. "In the wrong place at the wrong time, probably."
"Do you have any idea where they'd have taken them?" Harry asked Draco.
Draco shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine. I never went to any of their 'hideouts' or anything." Draco sat up suddenly, "Although..Fath---Lucius mentioned a lair of Voldemort's once, a cave thing." He sighed, "But that was years ago."
Harry sighed heavily, all the years of being an Auror had never been this hard. One of his best friends was in trouble and he had no idea how to help. He was great helping people he didn't know and tracking down and killing Death Eaters, but if he moved too fast they might kill her (if they even had her). And if he moved too slow, he might be too late.
"Where was this lair?" Ron asked, then thanked his mother when she set tea in front of him.
Draco leaned forward slightly, "You're not going to like this…Romania."
"Charlie," said Mr. Weasley.
"Sirius," said Harry in unison.
"Where abouts?" Ron asked him, pulling his parchment notebook from his belt.
Draco shrugged, "I dunno."
"Well, we can't just go there and look around!" Ron threw his quill down. It bounced off his notebook and then into Harry's tea.
Harry pulled it out with a disgusted look on his face, "Er…thanks Ron? I've always wanted inked tea?"
Draco grinned which was something that still wasn't normal behavior for him, but something that he did once in a blue moon. He was on the good side, but he still held some of his old mannerisms. Sneer included.
Arthur and Molly Weasley took each other's hands and smiled at their son. Harry began to laugh and as you know: laughing is infectious…much like yawns.
Soon the whole table erupted in noisy laughter. A sweet release from all the stress they were under.
"Why Draco," said Harry jollily when the laughter died down, "I didn't know you could laugh."
Draco sneered, "Yes, I can laugh at you."
"It's actually nice to know that your sneer still exists," said Ron, wiping his tea-drenched quill on a napkin.
"Oh it does. And it's reserved just for you," replied Draco sneeringly.
"Can't get Draco without the sneer. Snide remarks and sneers included with purchase," said Harry, laughing at his own joke. He suddenly sobered, "We really need to get cracking on this whole thing, though."
"Okay," replied Draco, sitting forward, an intense look in his eyes. "Let's get Finnigan and Finch-Fletchley and we'll go looking for Hermione and Ginny together. The five us would be better than just three if we're to traipse around Romania. Plus a few more fellows couldn't hurt. There's no telling how many Death Eaters there are now. Hundreds, I'd imagine. Maybe more."
Ron noted all of those things in his notebook for further consultation. "What're Neville and Dean doing right now?" He directed this question at Harry, the human dictionary on people's locations.
Harry's brown furrowed, "Dean is playing professional Quidditch. Neville's…I think he's in some foreign country researching things for his new book."
"What about those Hufflepuffs that hung around Finch-Fletchley?" Draco asked, watching as Ron scribbled out Neville and Dean's names on a list of possible helpers.
"Ernie MacMillan or Hannah Abbott?" Harry asked. "Ernie is off doing God knows what and I have no idea what Hannah is doing. I haven't seen her since our last day of school."
Ron nodded, crossing out those two names. He scratched his chin with the end of his quill. "I got it!"
All four other people at the table jumped in surprise.
"Fred and George! They'll help!"
Harry and Draco both glanced at Arthur and Molly who had become quite silent.
"If it's important for you have more team members, I'm sure they would," stated Arthur serenely. Molly nodded.
"Anybody else?" Draco asked the entire table.
"I'm guessing your old Slytherin mates wouldn't want to join?" Ron said, half jokingly.
Draco shrugged, "Doubt it as most of them are Death Eaters."
Harry sighed, "What about Lavender or Parvati? Last I knew, they didn't have any previous engagements. Wizardly or otherwise."
"They're girls," Draco pointed out unnecessarily.
"Right, but they were our friends," retorted Ron, jotting down their names. "I'm putting Padma down too…wait, no. She's among the missing." He swallowed, hard. "I can't think of anyone else."
"Aren't there any more Aurors that could help you?" Molly asked them, looking fretful as she wrung her hands together.
"No, the five of us are it basically. Plus Hermione, but she's obviously not able to help." Harry put his head in his hands. Then he looked up quickly, "Wait. Her partner at the Ministry was…is Gemma Moon. I haven't talked to her much, but she was at Auror school with us and in Ravenclaw. And she and Hermione are really close."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Call her on WW." Draco suggested while Ron eagerly wrote down this new information.
Harry pulled his green WW out of his pocket and dialed Gemma's number.