Chapter 29: Missing After talking with Rachel for a while, Harry decided to head back to his own common room. He was wondering what had happened with the Hermione situation and was feeling slightly guilty for leaving Ron to deal with it alone. He reached the portrait that guarded the entrance to the room. "Sneakoscope," he mumbled listlessly, fearing what he would see inside. He entered the room and was surprised by its total silence. Everyone must be in the library, he thought at first. Then he spied two figures in the far corner: Ron and Hermione sat side by side, looking in opposite directions and doing their homework. Harry sighed to himself. I see they still aren't talking, he thought. "Hi guys," he said hesitantly as he approached them. Ron looked up mournfully. "Hey Harry," he said, erasing an answer on his Potions homework. Hermione only glared at him before returning to the book she was reading. "Do we have Quidditch practice again tomorrow?" he asked. Harry's stomach dropped. With all of the events going on lately, he had forgotten that in less than a week, Gryffindor would play its first Quidditch match. He nodded to Ron. "Yes, we've got to get ready to face Ravenclaw. I hear their keeper might have an injury - something about falling off his broom at practice. Hopefully that'll help," he said sullenly, sitting down on the other side of Ron. Hermione stared at him. "What?" he asked impatiently. "You! Wishing people would get hurt! That's terrible, Harry, honestly. I'm going upstairs," she said huffily, taking her books and marching away. Ron rolled his eyes. "She's been like this all day, mate. I just don't know what to do." "She hasn't told Dumbledore though, right?" Harry asked. Ron shook his head. "Not yet, but she says she's going to." Harry groaned. "We're gonna have detentions for the rest of our lives," he whined. An owl tapped suddenly on the window. Harry hurried over and untied the letter from its leg. It was addressed to him. Ripping the envelope open hurriedly, he read: Dear Harry, As I am sure you know, Voldemort and his supporters have been increasing their strength over the past few weeks. I strongly suggest that you restart your Occlumency lessons. I will be teaching you this year. Would you be available Wednesday night at 7 to start? Keep safe, Harry. -Professor Dumbledore Harry breathed a sigh of relief that Snape would no longer be teaching him. On the other hand, he had never slept worse in his life than last year when he had been taking Occlumency lessons; he hoped that with Dumbledore, it would be at least a little better. ********************* Hermione wasn't at dinner. Ron was a nervous wreak, dropping his fork and knocking over his pumpkin juice every five minutes. After the third time Harry had to clean up the mess, he turned to Ron, exasperated. "Just go up there and talk to her! Why are you still down here, if you're that upset?" he asked. Ron frowned. "I can't get past the stairway anyways," he mumbled. Harry shook his head. Lavendar turned towards them, her eyes wide. "What did you do to her, Ron? She's been upstairs all day, with her bedcurtains drawn, crying in her bed!" she exclaimed. "I didn't DO anything!" he protested. Lavendar rolled her eyes. "Boys," she muttered. ********************* The next morning at breakfast, Hermione still was not present. Ron and Harry sat at the Gryffindor table; almost no one from their year had come down yet. "Where is everybody?" Ron muttered, still angry about the Hermione incident. He now had no doubt that she had told Professor Dumbledore; he was simply awaiting his punishment. "There's Lavendar and Parvati," Harry said, pointing. Sighting their fellow Gryffindors, the girls rushed over. "Have you seen Hermione?" Lavendar asked, an odd expression on her face. "Er, no," Ron said shrugging. "She's been avoiding me for a while now." Lavendar frowned. "She must have gotten up really early, I peeked into her bed today and she wasn't there," she said. Ron shrugged. "Probably studying in the library or something," he said. Parvati nodded. "Yeah, that must be it," she said, a hint of relief in her voice. Harry heard a noise above his head and looked up to see the owls flying overhead with the mail. A brown plain-looking owl landed in front of him, carrying a Daily Prophet. It looked around frantically, apparently confused. "It's probably looking for Hermione," Ron suggested. Harry threw a few coins at the bird and it flew off, leaving the newspaper behind. Harry picked it up and nearly jumped out of his skin as he read the headline. "MYSTERIOUS BREAK-IN REPORTED AT HONEYDUKE'S" Worried, he read on. "Early yesterday morning, a mysterious break-in occured at Honeyduke's, a candy and treat shop located in the Wizarding town of Hogsmeade, near Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The shop keeper filed a report stating that a window was broken and some boxes in a storage room had been moved, but oddly, nothing was missing. The owners were puzzled as to why the robber would have left because they never had woken up. "Something must have scared him away before he could take anything," owner Hallie Honeyduke said. "I never heard a sound." The Ministry is investigating the robbery at this time." "Harry, what're you reading?" Ron asked curiously, craning his neck to see. Wordlessly, Harry held up the front page. Ron's eyes grew wide. "She was right," he hissed. "They could be in here now!" he whispered, glancing around nervously. Harry nodded. "We've got to find Hermione," he said. Together, the boys grabbed their backpacks and left their half-eaten breakfast. "Where are you going?" Parvati asked, looking confused. "To find Hermione," Ron said simply, following Harry out the heavy doors. "Where do we go first?" Harry asked once they were safely outside. "Library," Ron grunted, and Harry hurried along behind him. "Maybe it was just a coincidence," Ron suggested hopefully. "I know loads of people who would love to rob that place!" "Ron, there was nothing missing. And the owners didn't even wake up! Don't you think if something scared away the robber, it would have woken the owners up too?" he asked. Ron didn't reply; his face just grew more pale. The two reached the library in record time. They entered quietly so they would not arouse suspicions from Madam Pince. "You look on the left side, I'll look on the right," Harry whispered. Ron nodded and went off. They met back in the middle. "Harry, this is really bad," Ron said anxiously, after neither had located Hermione. "Maybe we should just go tell Dumbledore right now," he added. "Either way, let's leave, before she eats us alive," he said, nodding towards Madam Pince who had risen and was walking in their direction. Quickly, the boys ran out of the library and up to Professor Dumbledore's office. "Twizzlers," Harry said breathlessly. Ron shook his head, bewildered. "When is someone going to explain to me what a twitzler is?" he complained, as Harry pulled him off of the platform by his arm. He pounded heavily on the door. "Come in," he heard a voice say. Pushing the door open, he saw Dumbledore sitting alone at his desk. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley," he said simply. "What can I do for you?" "Hermione's missing!" they shouted together. Professor Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Missing? Well, I imagine she would still be on the school grounds-" "No!" Ron shouted. "Yesterday, we went to Hogsmeade, and when we came back-" "The secret tunnel-" "There was a break-in at Honeyduke's!" "-we heard this noise, like a creaking-" "-the trapdoor-" "-nothing was stolen!" "Please, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, calm down. Ron, why don't you tell the story," he said pointedly. Ron nodded, gulping. "Well, Hermione and I- well, actually it was my idea, but anyways, we went to Hogsmeade, through this secret passage that ends at Honeyduke's. When we came back in, we heard this noise and ran for it. When we were in the tunnel, we heard a noise which might have been someone opening the trapdoor to come in after us. We ran back. Hermione wanted to tell you, but we wouldn't let her. Then this morning, we saw in the Daily Prophet that someone had broken into Honeyduke's and not stolen anything. So basically, anyone could be in the school right now," he finished, gasping for breath. Dumbledore stood immediately. He walked across the room to Fawkes' cage. "Bring Minerva and Severus," he said simply, and the bird flew out of the room. He returned to his chair and sat with his hands folded, looking down. "My sources have informed me that Lord Voldemort is still working on a plan very similar to last year's. He still is attempting to lure in those closest to Harry in hopes that he will go to save them." He looked at Harry sharply. "You must not leave Hogwarts. You must not try to save Hermione." Ron's jaw dropped. "Are you saying she's been kidnapped by You-Know-Who?" he cried. Dumbledore sighed deeply. "That is my suspicion, Mr. Weasley," he replied heavily. Ron opened his mouth to reply, but the office door was flung open at that exact second. "Albus, what's wrong?" Professor McGonagall asked, panting. Professor Snape stood by her side, looking slightly resentful that he had been called into the office before 9 AM. "Hermione Granger has disappeared," Dumbledore answered simply. "There is a passageway from the school to Hogsmeade that is now open and most likely known to Voldemort's supporters. Severus, you know what to do," he said, as Professor Snape nodded deeply and strode out the office doors. He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I want you to follow these boys; have them show you where the passage is and make sure that it is sealed completely. I will alert the staff and we will search the entire school for Ms. Granger, though I am afraid she is no longer here. All students will gather in the Great Hall." Professor McGonagall nodded and walked out of the door, pulling Harry and Ron along with her. "I don't even want to KNOW how you two discovered this passage," she said, the worry evident in her voice and etched into her face. After this statement, however she said nothing else; she didn't have the energy to scold the boys, who looked just as upset about the situation as she was. After they showed her the entrance and she had sealed it, she escorted them back to the Great Hall. Harry and Ron could see the other prefects bringing in all of the Hogwart's students to the huge room. "Stay here and don't leave, especially you, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said severely, pushing them inside. They retreated to a corner; they could hear the nervous chatter of the student body. A few girls looked like they were about to cry. The situation reminded Harry of the time that Ron had seen Sirius Black inside the school and they had all come to the Great Hall. At least then we had been able to sleep, he thought to himself. Now there was nothing to take his mind off of his concern for Hermione. It's all my fault, he thought guiltily. "Harry," Ron whispered, his eyes wide. "Look over there." Harry followed Ron's gaze and saw what he was staring at. In the opposite corner, the wall seemed to ripple. The two boys stared at the wall curiously. After a few minutes, Harry could see what appeared to be a human form, except that it was the same color and texture as the wall behind it. "Ron - it's someone under the Disillusionment Charm!" he whispered frantically. "There are Death Eaters inside Hogwart's - and they're inside this room with us, right now!" ***************** Hermione Granger awoke groggily; she found herself sitting in a high-backed chair, her hands bound behind her back. Once her eyes focused, she saw several Death Eaters standing in front of her, leering at her from beneath their black hoods. "Miss Granger," came an icy voice from behind her, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. "So nice of you to join us." ***************** A cliffy??? Well, what were you expecting, lol. I promise to update again soon, so you won't have to be in suspense for long. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!
