Chapter 8:

"One of the babies is gone.  Kidnapped."

            "What?" asked Ginny disbelievingly, coming into the hall directly after Harry.  Lenore's mouth was slightly open. 

            "What do you mean, Draco?" she asked quickly.  "How?  I thought they're being evacuated- and how did you get here?"

            "Well, since Scarhead seemed to have too much on his mind to alert some Order members to evacuate St. Mungo's…"  Harry gasped. 

            "Oh no!  I didn't run into anyone, and—"

            "It's okay," said Malfoy.  "Enough people were already there.  But by the time Bill got to the nursery, one of his babies was missing-"  Harry felt Ginny hold her breath quickly.  "-and I happened to already be there, along with Blaise.  They sent us here to tell you not to leave the house, and the usual.  And not to panic, and that word would be arriving shortly."

            "You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Lenore. 

            "What's Zabini doing here?" asked Harry to Draco.  Blaise glared at Harry. 

            "I certainly don't want to be here.  But they weren't about to leave me in the hospital; Death Eaters are raiding it in the next hour.  And You-Know-Who isn't too pleased with Draco and me at the moment." 

            "Why?" asked Lenore apprehensively.  "What happened?"

            "We… we refused the Mark," said Draco solemnly.  Lenore gasped, just as Ginny cleared her throat. 

            "I think we have more important issues right now!" she said loudly.  Harry looked over at her.  Her face was bright red, and she held the attention of the others in the hall. 

            "She's right," said Harry decisively.  "Right now one of her nieces is missing, St. Mungo's is being controlled by people on Voldemort's side- Don't flinch!" yelled Harry angrily.  "If you can stand up to Voldemort you should be able to say his name!  You all are hopeless!  We need to go help at the hospital!  I'm going, with or without you all," he said, finally quieting to a normal decibel. 

            "I'm sure as hell going," said Ginny loudly, giving icy stares to Blaise, Lenore, and Draco.  There was a fire in Ginny's voice Harry hadn't heard before.  Her eyes could be read easily- she was tired of watching from the sidelines.  Harry knew how she felt- but was surprised Ginny felt that way.  She hadn't been left out of her own affairs the way Harry had!  But Harry let it pass. 

            "I suppose I'm coming," gave in Lenore.  "You guys are absolutely right."  She then turned to Draco.  "Are you two coming?  I don't blame you if you stay- after all, if any Death Eaters see you—" 

            "They'll kill us," finished Draco in a fake bright voice.  "But they'd kill any and all of you, too…. You guys are near the top of You-Know-Who's hit list.  Harry is at the top!  But 'cunning' isn't the only Slytherin virtue, really.  We're not going to sit here and let you do some heroic act and be given all the credit your entire life.  So we're helping.  I also don't want to miss any news, I want to openly defy my father, and I believe it would be beneficial, overall, if we joined you.  So, yes, I'm coming."  Harry raised his eyebrows. 

            "I never knew," he mused aloud. 

            "Nice speech, Draco," came Tabby's voice.  "Very well said.  Now do you see why I love being a Slytherin, Asher?"  Asher, who was standing a few feet behind her, shrugged. 

            "Whatever.  I'm coming… but I missed exactly where we were going and why?" 

            Draco sighed.  "Can't we just limit the trip to people who currently attend Hogwarts?"

            "Or we can limit it to Gryffindors," said Ginny, frustrated. 

            "Calm down, Weaslette," said Draco scornfully.

            "Shut it, Ferret a-" began Ginny threateningly, before being cut off by Harry. 

            "We haven't time for arguing, everyone.  We need to leave some people here in case they Portkey sick people back who need help before the Healers arrive- who's staying?"

            "Weasel King can stay," said Draco.  "But we may need Hermione's brains…"

            "I heard that," she said, stepping into the hallway, which was becoming quite crowded.  "Harry, what's up?"

            "MY NIECE IS MISSING!" screamed Ginny.  "LET'S GO!"  Hermione looked very alarmed. 

            "Maybe you all should stay here," began Hermione.  "Harry, Ron, and I can go-"

            "NO!" yelled Ginny.  "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS WANT TO LEAVE ME BEHIND?  I AM TIRED OF THIS!"  Harry took a quick step backwards.  They were losing time. 

            "All right, calm down, Ginny.  If you've been to St. Mungo's more than twice, raise your hand."  Ginny, Hermione, Draco, Lenore, and Harry's hands were all raised. 

            "Okay, we'll go, then.  Will you all please stay?"  They nodded reluctantly.  "Okay; let's go.  We'll have to go through Muggle London- it's not too far away from here…"  Everyone nodded, and Harry, Hermione, Lenore, Ginny, and Draco rushed downstairs and through the front door."  Harry was uncomfortably aware of Ron's absence, but there was no time to go all the way upstairs (Ron was on the top floor) and ask him to come.  Maybe he'd turn up later. 

            As they hurried down the gloomy streets (it was raining softly) Harry remembered Mango.

            "Draco, why was Mango with you and Zabini?" asked Harry curiously. 

            Draco laughed.  "Mundungus, of course… like always.  He was guarding the dragon, and had to go to the hospital, so he took Mango with him under an invisibility suit.  Only Mango didn't like it, and set it on fire in the waiting room.  Some Aurors have him in for questioning; everyone would like to see how he gets himself out of this mess."

            "That won't endanger the Order?" asked Hermione worriedly. 

            "Dumbledore trusts him," said Draco confidently. 

            "Dumbledore also trusts Snape," muttered Harry. 

            "Snape is on our side!" sighed Hermione exasperatedly. 

            "I know, I know," muttered Harry.  After quite a long walk/run in the rain through London, everyone recognized the window through which they could get into St. Mungo's.

            "So how do we get in?" asked Ginny. 

            Hermione bit her lip.  "You have to talk to the Manikin," said Hermione.  "But what do we say?"  Harry shrugged and walked up to the window. 

            "Er… we need to visit… Lockhart," said Harry quickly, voicing the first name that came to mind.  A second later the Manikin nodded, and Harry tentatively stepped through the glass.  It worked.  After stepping through what felt like a cold shower, he was in the Lobby, dryer than he was before he came in.  The lobby was awfully quiet.  No one seemed to be having a dire emergency, and the woman at the front desk was absorbed in a magazine.  She looked up as everyone entered. 

            "May I help you?" she asked tiredly.

            "Er… no, thanks," said Harry quickly. 

            "Where do we go from here?" asked Ginny quietly. 

            "I guess we should split up- look through the wards for any Order members- I don't like the feel of things in here."

A/N: Bows head in shame  Sorry for keeping you waiting so long!  I went on vacation- and this isn't the whole chapter, either.  I'm going to camp tomorrow, and after I get back in a week, I'm going to change this chapter so it's about twice as long.  Or just add another chapter.  I am so, so sorry!  And I hope you're all not too mad at me!  :-D  Review!  And thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter and brought me to over 100 reviews! J 

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