A/N: Wow, this is the longest I've gone without updating in a while and it is entirely my fault this time. I kept meaning to do it, really! Do you guys know what I did last chapter? I forgot to thank my amazingly great beta cheese riot for betaing amazingly great! So oober thanks for this and last chappie! Luv u all buinches!

I got up, feeling around, pulling myself up from the couch. I called the name of the occupants of the flat one by one. "Ginny?! Gris?! Baker?!"

I knew I shouldn't panic. Ginny probably dropped Baker off at the Weasleys' this morning; she did that often. And Gris could be asleep—or at lunch. No telling how long I'd slept in.

I followed the smell of bacon into the kitchen. A plate kept warm by a charm sat on the counter, a piece of scribbled parchment next to it. I picked it up.

Dear Hermione,

I made you breakfast. You looked so tired—you must have fallen asleep on the couch. When did Ron finally leave? It doesn't matter; I never saw him.

Anyway, Griselda didn't go to school last night; she wasn't feeling well. I'd go check on her; she was asleep when I looked in on her this morning.

I left Baker at home since I figured you'd want her with you. Tell her I send lots of love.

Love you too!

Ginny

Ok. I took a moment; I took a deep breath. Gris and Baker were probably outside, or gone somewhere, or in their rooms.

I walked to Baker's room and slowly opened the door. A pink bedspread was neatly made up over the mattress, as usual. Everything looked completely normal.

I turned back and made the approach to Gris' room, numb to all feelings. I turned the knob to her room—or what had been her room.

It was the exact opposite of normal. The room was completely torn apart. Various pieces of Ron's clothing she'd had were thrown around the room. Posters and cabinet accessories were gone from the wall. The bed was unmade and the sheets were ripped off.

I walked in slowly, touching things left behind as I went. Another letter awaited me on the naked bed.

Ron,

It's over. Thank Ginny and your mum for everything. You and Hermione have become wonderful friends of mine. I finally saw what was staring me in the eye the whole time.

Griselda

I stared at the letter, baffled. What had been staring her in the face the whole time? I shook my head uncomprehendingly, laying the parchment back down.

If Gris was gone, where was Baker?

My heart literally stopped beating in that moment. Words flashed before me—Baker, Missing Link, prophecy, kidnap. I leaned my head against the wall to steady myself. I picked up Gris' letter again. Nothing about Baker. But, surely she had to know.

I yelled again, to no avail. I couldn't breathe—couldn't think. Where would anyone be? Who could help me?

Making up my mind, I closed my eyes and pictured the person who could possibly help me. Blonde hair, green eyes. I had to apparate to her.

I opened my eyes. "Griselda!" I said, throwing my arms over her. She looked shocked. I took only enough time to note that we were in the countryside, surrounded by cow fields on all sides.

"Hermione, what are you doing here?" she asked as I let go of her neck. "I'm not going back, if that's what you're thinking. Ron and I just aren't--"

"Baker's gone!" I said desperately. "And I know I've lost my mind over nothing before, but this time, I know it's real! No false alarms, no paranoia...she's gone!"

Gris' face reverted to a ghostly white. "You—you're sure? Why would anyone kidnap her?"

"There's a reason. Look—do you know where Ron is? If there's anyway you can find him--"

"Here," Gris said swiftly, pulling out a silver ring with a ruby colored stone. "I can communicate with him through this thing. I can send him messages, or-" she pushed down the ruby—"call him in case of emergency."

I sat there with her for a moment, hoping against hope her plan would work.

And within two minutes, there was a soft pop and Ron had come.

"Gris! Hermione! What are you two doing here?!" he asked, sounding out of breath.

I lost all confidence in the situation at that moment. Hadn't I scared him for no reason before?

But I couldn't make Gris think that. "Baker's gone and Hermione's sure it's no false alarm this time."

I blushed crimson as Ron turned to look at me. "You're positive, Hermione?"

"She was there when Ginny left; then, I woke up and Gris was gone...and so was Baker. Right out of the house. Ron, what if they found her? What if they think destroying the Missing Link would remerge the worlds and bring Voldemort back to power?"

Ron's face turned white and he pulled out his wand. "That's exactly what they think. Priambus Quinque."

Harry appeared right next to him, not one second later. "Ron, have you heard?! A band of former Death Eaters has started a huge scale duel really close to Spain with a bunch of our guys. They need all the aurors there right now."

Ron looked from Harry to me. I saw his face stiffen with resolve as our eyes met. "Harry, I can't go. They've taken Baker."

"They who?"

He looked back toward Harry. "Wayden and his people. They've taken her—probably going to try and get rid of her. I'm betting this 'fight' is an attempt to keep the aurors distracted while they try and bring Voldemort back to power—by murdering my daughter."

Harry's face turned pale too. "No..."

But it all fit so perfectly. All the aurors out of the way—the only people who knew the truth clueless to where they might be. We were helpless. Or so I thought.

"There's only one thing to do," Harry said, accepting Ron's theory right away.

"Give up," I said, tears getting caught in my eyelashes.

"Give up?" Ron said, staring at me. "No! We have to get Szechznik!"

Harry nodded. "Hermione, you need to apparate to auror headquarters at the Ministry of Magic."

Ron looked sheepishly over to Gris. "Are you coming too, Gris?"

Her eyes were wide and she apparently had little, if any, idea of what was going on. But she nodded anyway.

"Apparate on three then...1, 2..." I lost his voice in the whirring blackness as I traveled through space.

I opened my eyes, looking at the same people, but a completely different scene. Empty cubicles stood all over the place, some looking as if they were left in the middle of people doing their work. Ron looked over at Harry. "Where d'you think he'd be?"

"In his office?" Harry suggested.

Ron shook his head. "He's lurking around the Department of Mysteries, I'd bet my life on it."

Harry nodded and we all made a straight shot to the elevator. Ron jumped in first and began frantically pushing the bottom button. More people filed in and out as we pressed on, glancing curiously at our group. At the last stop, we all ran out and made a beeline for the Department of Mysteries.

Ron pushed open the door, and I was praying we wouldn't meet anybody. We did meet someone—it was the oddest-looking man I'd ever seen in my life.

He was shrimpy and small, at least an inch shorter than me. He was deathly white like he'd never been outside in his life, right to the roots of his unkempt straggly hair. He didn't look to be but a couple of years older than us though. He was carrying a large cardboard box, piled to the top with knickknacks.

"Szechznik!" Harry yelled, he and Ron closing in on the small man.

"Weasley. Potter," he greeted in a dry, deep voice that didn't suit him at all.

"Where are they, you--" Ron unleashed a string of swear words. Szechznik didn't flinch at all.

"Who, Weasley?" he asked calmly.

"My daughter, you--" He found even more words to call the tiny man. "What have they done with her?!"

"Oh, Weasley, how little you know, yet how quick you are."

Ron had quite an extensive vocabulary of swear words.

"Szechznik, we don't have time for this!" Harry yelled.

"Oh, time," Szechznik said. He inserted his hand in the box. "What an odd, mysterious thing time is. And mirrors..." He pulled an antique mirror from the box he was holding. "They show us in the best of times, and..." he handed the mirror to me. "In the worst."

I vaguely heard Ron threatening Szechznik again. I studied the small mirror. It was an oval shape, surrounded by a brass frame with an attractive raised design. I calculated my reflection, transfixed. I looked pale and tiny. I put my hand to my hair; why did it look so short?

Someone's hand was touching my face. Szechznik was lifting my chin up. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

Ron pushed him away. "Don't touch her!" he grabbed Szechznik's collar in his hands. "Where is Baker? The Missing Link—where did they take her?!"

Szechznik looked Ron in the face. "Back to the beginning, Weasley."

Ron began to shake him, cursing. I had to pull my attention away from the mirror. The beginning—what did that mean? That's when it all clicked into place.

"Ron!" I yelled, batting his hand away. "Ron! Back to the beginning—Hogwarts. Where the timelines split!"

Ron stared Szechznik in the face for a moment and then pushed Szechznik away from him. I was surprised that the man was able to stand up; he must be a lot stronger than he looked. "Get out!"

Szechznik picked up his box, still wearing the same expressionless face he'd had the whole time. He turned away slowly and left the room.

I glanced at the mirror in my hand again.

"You better put that down, Hermione. No telling where he stole it from," Ron said, watching me.

When he turned away, I looked at the mirror one more time and decided to pocket it.

"To Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

I was brought crashing back to reality and apparated to the front gates without a second thought.

I was the first one to appear there. Ron next, and then Harry and Griselda. Everything looked as calm and peaceful as it should on a school day at Hogwarts. I glanced uneasily at Ron.

"Er—where to next?" he returned, glancing back at me.

I looked at Harry in turn. "Where d'you think they'd be? Have you seen anything--" he began anxiously.

"I'm not having visions here, Harry."

He shook his head. "I know, but--"

"Wait a minute!" I said. "The man in the Penseive—the one in black. He looked like he was heading into the Forbidden Forest."

Ron gulped. "Alone? Spiderless?"

"Ron..."

"I know, I know. Just curious." He turned back to the other two. "We need to let someone know what's going on."

"I-I'll do it," Gris said. "I can go up to the school or--"

"What about the aurors?" I asked.

"We need to go get backup."

"I'll go," Harry volunteered.

"Hermione, while Harry goes, why don't you go with Gris?"

"Oh, what? Like I don't think as soon as I turn around, you're not going to go looking for her straightaway. I'm not going to sit here and wait for you, Ron. I'm coming—this is my daughter too."

He gave Harry the 'like we didn't see this one coming' look but sighed dejectedly. "I know."

Gris gave us all uncomfortable looks. "So, I guess this is where we say goodbye."

I nodded. Harry set off at a dead sprint to the gates and yelled, "I'll probably get there before you do!"

Gris seemed unwilling to move, so I made the first step away. I could feel my feet moving instinctively to the path next to the gamekeeper's hut. Ron was falling behind me. As we passed the cottage, I could feel him dreading that we would meet the same end as the hut's old inhabitant, Hagrid, had.

Ron's long strides had finally caught me as we were enveloped by the shade from the forest.

He glanced up at the path. "Well..."

I nodded. "This is it. I can feel it."

We continued on for a while, hearing only the noise our shoes were making, cracking twigs beneath our feet. The forest grew steadily denser whilst I grew steadily unsure of our path.

I finally lost it. "Ron, what if this isn't the right way?! What if they're killing her and she's hurt and alone and scared. What if she's faraway from here--!"

"Hermione, she's not! She's not hurt; she's fine. We'll just go—Hermione, stop! Stop!"

I wrenched out of his grasp, and tore off the path through the trees. I scraped my arms against rocks and tree roots, and several thorns caught my clothes and skin. I could hear Ron close behind me, but I knew he didn't understand and couldn't help.

Suddenly, a tree limb jumped up from the ground and grabbed my ankle. I fell face first into the leaves and what felt like jagged rocks. Ron tripped over me and threw his arm out to fall next to me instead of on top of me.

He was gasping for air. "Bloody hell, Hermione."

I put my hand over his mouth, so he could hear the voices I was hearing from the clearing above us. He pulled my hand away. "That was so bloody close. Those idiots! We can't—Hermione, NO!"

He grabbed onto my robes and pulled me back down as I attempted to resume my sprint into the clearing. "You can't just sprint into there!" he hissed.

"But they have her, Ron! I know they do!"

He kept a tight hold on me. "I know they do, Hermione, but that doesn't mean it'll be any harder to kill us. We need a plan."

I tried to calm down; I need to be rational—like Ron was being. Whoever thought I'd say that?

I took a deep breath. "We need to get closer—so we can see what's going on."

He nodded, but as I made to stand up, he grabbed me again. "Hermione..." Without so much as a warning, he pulled me into a kiss. Not just a kiss—a perfect kiss. Raindrops dripping on the rooftop perfect. Hallelujah Chorus starts perfect. The perfect kiss.

He pulled back, out of breath again. "I'd prefer that not be the last time I did that."

I nodded. "Me neither."

I pulled him back for a second kiss, so full of longing and passion, I could feel the blood pumping through his veins as my body pushed against his.

We both finally pulled away.

"You ready?"

"Let's go."

Yey! Everyone cheers All that time you've been waiting for that! So, let's be totally serious for a moment. I finished the story so I get major ups for that. But, I haven't posted all the chapters yet. There's still FOUR more to go. I think I'm going to write a sequel to it. But, only if you guys want me to. Do you? Would you review if I did? Tell me in your review. If enough people say yes, I will. On a completely different note, I would like to know from anyone who reads my other stories if they would like me to update one of them. Vote for either StS (Spoke Too Soon), TMD (to my diary) or TaC (Things are Changing). I'll be updating LTG again on Friday, promise!

No time for my lovely little responses or I may never get this chappie posted. Review, please! Luv ya! LA