Harry was amazed at his wife's transformation. Before his eyes she'd shifted to giggling new bride to some sort of Amazon warrior. Ron had said Glin was missing and she'd just snapped into attention, as if sweet and caring Hermione were merely a candy coating over some sort of steely interior. He'd always known it was there, he'd just never seen her switch quite so quickly.
She smiled to the audience again, but this time there was something fake to it, something few people other than Harry would pick up on. She sat down and took a bite of food in her mouth, chewing slowly and watching her surroundings as Ron stared at her horrified. Then she spoke out of the corner of her mouth. "Angelina and Alicia- go check the loo. Ron, go tell the band to play something to get people dancing. I don't want people noticing something is wrong until we've got things under control. Harry, you take Sirius and go patrol the doors. I want no one getting out of this building without going through the two of you first. Remus, you will go pick up Tracy and fill her in. The two of you will coordinate with me when you return. I will stay and charm people into not noticing something has happened. For all we know she just had a bad bite of chicken and she picked the wrong time to sick it up."
An hour later Glin was still missing, and no clues were to be found. Hermione was exhausted from charm work, and despite her best efforts, even the muggles were beginning to notice something was amiss. Upset and confused, she finally hit the side of her glass with a butter knife, trying to get people's attention. Annoyed when the chattering continued, she whacked it harder, and succeeded in breaking the glass. Hundreds of eyes turned to her. "Whoops! Guess I'm a bit out of sorts. Long day and all." She feigned an apologetic smile. "In any case, we're going to have to cut things a bit short. Harry and I spent the past few months putting this all together, but unfortunately we just haven't the energy to go on much longer. So, if you all wouldn't mind..."
"Get out so we can enjoy our wedding night, right love?" Harry turned to Hermione, kissing her on the forehead and grinning at the crowd cheekily. The few grumbles of unpleasantness at Hermione's lack of tact had been smoothed over by Harry's charm. They were now just a typical couple looking to enjoying the first moments of their marriage.
Harry and Hermione went to the doors to hug people as they left. The rest of the wedding party was still roaming the premises searching for any hints as to Glin's whereabouts. As the crowd streamed through doors, Harry and Hermione quietly asked anyone they thought could be useful to assemble discreetly behind the building. It was another hour before the couple could get back to their primary goal- searching for Glin.
Hermione explained the situation to the party guests who had stayed behind, asking them to help scour the building looking for enchanted items, scraps of Glin's clothing or hair, anything that could provide them with information. "No one goes anywhere alone. You need to use the loo, you tag someone to go with you. We're not losing anyone else tonight."
A few hours later someone covering the south lawn had sent up a flare. The mass of wizards converged there to look at a shoe that was partially obscured by a blackberry bush. Entirely impractical, it was a crimson shoe with a kitten heel and long gold ribbons secured to the sides that were designed to wind up around the wearer's calf. Ron's stomach roiled as he recalled Glin tying the ribbons earlier in her flat.
"Right." Hermione said in resignation. "She's now officially missing. Civilian wizards, I appreciate your help, but this matter is something best left to the authorities now. Go home, have a cup of tea and go to bed. If you think of anything you saw or heard...owl me directly please." She accioed one of the portable cameras they'd put on the tables for the guests to take pictures and snapped a few of the shoe from different angles as people left. Then she turned to face the people she'd come to think of as her family. Harry, looking rumpled and upset, Ron looking devastated and confused, the rest of the Weasley's looking eager to help but not sure how. Draco standing next to Ginny, clutching her with one hand, holding his daughter with the other, McGonagall twining around their feet. Dumbledore in the back looking old and tired, Tracy standing next to Remus and looking all business. Sirius looking cagey and irritated.
"Right, I know we're all concerned, but if we're to find her it's going to take a coordinated effort. What I said before about not tearing off on your own is doubly important now. You never go anywhere alone. We don't know who took Glin, and we don't know why, so until we figure those things out, we all watch our backs. There isn't much you lot can do-" At the deluge of protests she raised a hand to them and increased her volume. "As you are not trained professionals, there isn't much you can do, so go home, and stay together. I've contacted a team of aurors to come over and survey the place again and begin an analysis on the shoe. When they arrive, you lot will return to your homes and await further contact. Ginny- you and Minnie should stay at Draco's awhile. The wards are better over there. Sirius will bunk down with Remus, and the rest of you can make your own arrangements. A team consisting of myself, Tracy, Harry and Ron will be examining Glin's apartment. I'll send another team of aurors to scour it after we've made an initial examination." Realizing she had an expert consultant on magic readily available, Hermione's eyes lit upon Dumbledore's. "Headmaster? Have you any advice? Did you...sense anything?"
"I regret to say I cannot help you much, Hermione. Dark forces are afoot, but I cannot make claims to know what kind. If what happened inside those walls was an enchantment, I certainly couldn't tell you what kind."
"That's what I was afraid of."
Glin's was aboard a small aircraft bound for parts unknown. She slept fitfully, and could not seem to wake up. She tried to reach beside her for Ron and found she could not move her arms that far. Her body was sluggish and twitchy. All movement was entirely involuntary. She could not open her eyes. She tried to remember what had happened. Too many drinks at Hex? No, a hangover felt different than this. Besides, she hadn't been at the bar tonight. She'd had something important? A photo shoot, maybe? Or something with her friends...? Harry and Hermione's wedding was soon, had it been the rehearsal...no. It had been the wedding. Could she have possibly gotten so drunk she didn't remember the wedding? She must have, because after some of the fog lifted, the last bit she could fully recall was arguing with Carlos about eyeliner. Goddess, what had she been drinking? Maybe it had just hit her more because she hadn't had a drink in awhile, because of the...oh Merlin. The last thought she had before she slipped into unconsciousness was that she was in terrible trouble and it had nothing to do with liquor.
Her captor looked at her worriedly and pulled out a small cellphone. "She's wiggling around. I don't think they're supposed to do that when they're on this stuff."
A bored voice came through the static-filled channel. "Then give her more."
"I don't think I can safely do that, sir. They don't generally put pregnant women under- the baby could come out with extra arms or something."
"What has given you this ridiculous misapprehension that I care what happens to the child?"
"It puts the mother at risk, too, sir. If she loses it we can't exactly rush her to a hospital. She could bleed out and die."
The phone line was silent for a moment.
"Mario, I cannot explain in words how much I am frustrated with you. She will be kept asleep until her arrival, and she will be in the best of health until then. You will be held personally responsible if things are somehow otherwise."
A click, and the phone's digital display lit up. "Call has ended" it read.
