A/N: I'm sorry it took so long to get the fourth chapter up. I've had some major writer's block. I couldn't finish a simple thought. It was terrible. Plus, I've been moving, and that took just about forever. But, enough of my endless chatter, and on with the story. I hope you're pleased with chapter four!
Chapter Four
Lucas opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. He lay silently to see if he could hear anything, but heard nothing. He sat up to get a better view of his darkened surroundings, and his head began to pound. He flinched, but did not make a sound. 'Blood.' He said to himself. Dried blood, but blood nonetheless. 'What kind of person would hit a five year old and make them bleed?' he thought to himself, while searching for a light. 'Oh, yeah. A mental one, like this lady' He finished, finding the light switch and turning it on. Lucas found the lavatory in the right corner of the room. Though it looked more like a dungeon. No carpet, just a cement floor, no paint, just cement walls, and no drapes over the windows. The windows even had bars on them, like a prison. There wasn't even a bed in there. Just the dirty olive colored blanket he just stood from to find a light. He went inside the lavatory and looked at his refection in the mirror.
"Oh….no…." Lucas muttered, looking at the large gash on the left side of his face, and trying to remember why he blacked out. 'Did I fall?' he thought. 'No….' Then he remembered. 'She hit me. The psycho woman backhanded me. That ring she was wearing must have given me this cut.'
Lucas found a towel and cleared the dried blood off of his face. 'I should have listened to Harry when he told me to carry my wand with me.' Lucas thought, remembering what Harry had said. "Witches and wizards you age shouldn't do magic, but always carry that wand with you. You'll never know when you might need it in an emergency situation." Harry had said.
"Harry, that wand is for us to practice his magic in our own home. I don't want him to take it out of the house. He's too young." Hermione scolded him. "And besides, the muggles at the school he goes to does not need to know he is a wizard."
"Hermione, what would have happened to us at Hogwarts if we didn't carry our wands with us? Do you think Voldemort would have said, "Oh, okay, I'll wait a few minutes so you can go get your wands." I doubt it. And what about that time with the troll? Do you think he would have cared if we didn't have our wands? And what about - "
"Okay, Harry, I get it. But he's too young to do magic. That's it. End of story."
"But, mummy" Lucas broke in. "What if Harry is right? I think I should listen to him."
"Honey, you do not know nearly enough magic to protect you against bad people. And, I'm sure I won't let you go out alone for the next few years. I'm sure you won't need any magic until then."
'I guess she now knows how wrong she was.' Lucas thought. 'I'm stuck here with this crazy lady, no wand, and I don't know how to get home.' Lucas put the towel down and walked out into the dungeon-looking room. 'Harry has to be helping mummy find me. I know they are looking for me. They wouldn't leave me here with this lady.' As if on cue, the "crazy lady" strolled into the room. Lucas had been too lost in thought to hear the rattle of her keys open the door. If she even used keys.
"You're awake." She said.
"Leave me alone, you - "
"Shut up." She said, as she gave him another hard crack on the side of his face. "It's time we had a little talk."
"I'm not talking to - "
"No." There was a slight noise as she pushed him against the wall. "I will talk, you will listen. If I ask you a question, you will answer me."
"And if I don't?" Lucas challenged.
"Then I will kill you." She answered.
Realizing defeat, Lucas sat down on the cold floor and listened to every word she said. After a few minutes of what seemed like endless babbling, she asked, "What do you know about your father?"
'My father? What does this have to do with my father?' "My father doesn't know I exist. I've never met him. I don't even know what he looks like."
"I'm sure your mother has told you a little bit about him. What is his name?"
"Why should I tell you? What does my father have to do with this?"
"You will answer my question, little boy. I can kill you slowly, " she produced a small retractable knife. "Or I can kill you quickly." She produced her wand. "I'm sure your mummy has taught you all about this. I can kill you slowly with this too…" She examined the tip of her wand. "Did you mummy teach you any spells?"
Lucas shot her a look and spit on her shoes. As soon as he did, he realized he'd made a mistake.
"Imperio!" She yelled.
Lucas thought he was dead. What he felt was more pain than he'd ever felt since the day he was born.
"Did your mummy teach you that one?" He heard her ask.
He opened his eyes and realized that he was not dead. Just in a lot of pain.
"ANSWER ME!"
'Why should I answer her?' Lucas thought. 'She's just going to kill me anyway.' He felt like his head was spinning. He felt if he didn't hold on to something, he would fall of the face of the earth.
"Stand up." She spat.
Lucas felt the urge to stand up, but he didn't want to. He tried to stay on the floor, but the pain was too unbearable. So, he stood.
"Good, now answer me. What is you fathers name?"
"Go to hell." Lucas managed to get out.
"Now, you're too young to know that kind of language. Where did you learn that?"
Lucas wondered where he did learn it, but could not recall. He felt like we was going to pass out if he didn't sit down, and he sat down again.
"I told you to stand up. Now, get up!"
"Look, lady. You can't kill me until you find out what you want to know. And you're going to kill me anyway, because kidnappers never show their face unless they intend to kill you." Lucas swallowed back a sting of pain, then continued again. "I'm not going to tell you anything. So, just kill me now, or go screw yourself."
"How dare you…" She muttered something under he breath, and the pain was gone. Lucas felt normal again. Then she left the room, slamming the door behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hermione?"
"Hmm…?" Hermione looked up to see Remus holding something in his hands.
"This came for you a few minutes ago." He said, holding the letter out to her.
"What is it?" She asked as Remus sat next to her. She took the letter.
Remus shrugged in response.
Hermione opened the letter, and, after reading the first sentence, began to cry.
Remus put his arm around her. "What is it, love?"
Hermione put a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob, and handed the letter over to Remus.
The letter read: "Your son is well, for now. I can not tell you my name, but I can tell you this - I can help you get your son back. I know where he is, he's not safe. The woman behind this kidnapping… she's a very evil woman and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She is paying me over a thousand galleons. I helped her with the kidnapping, I broke into Ginny Weasley's home, and I put Lavender into the hospital. There is a simple spell to reverse what I did to her." She wrote the spell and went on and on about how sorry she is for what she did.
Remus folded the letter up and put it into his pocket. "Call Harry."
"Remus, they didn't say where Lucas is. How will we get him back?" She broke into tears again. "Remus, I need my son back."
~*~*~*~*
Remus called Harry and told him about the letter. Harry immediately went to St. Mungos to see Lavender. A few hours later, she was released. And now, they were all here, sitting with Hermione and Remus. Hermione even allowed Ginny to bring Draco along.
"It doesn't say where Lucas is." Harry said after reading the letter.
"I know." Hermione got up and walked over to the window. "Oh…my…"
"What is it?" Remus asked.
"Ron…" Hermione said, staring out the window, as if she was hypnotized.
"Ron - my brother?" Ginny asked. "You mean here? Right now?"
"Yes. Here. Right now." Hermione walked over to the door and opened it for Ron. "Ron, what are you doing here?"
"I heard about your son." Ron said.
"My son? Why would you care about my son? This does not concern you, Ron." Hermione said, but opened the door more and walked away. Ron walked in and shut the door.
"I told him, Hermione." Harry confessed.
"Why? This has nothing to do with him." Hermione turned her attention to Ron. "Say what you have to say, and get out. You have no business here, Ron."
"Look, Hermione…I know you're still mad at me. But that was five years ago. I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I can say that until you believe me. I made a mistake. I didn't care about her. I cared about you." Ron stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you Hermione. I always have been. I just didn't realize it then. I had to be sure of it, and I didn't know of any other way to do it. If I could turn back the clock, I would change what I did. But, I can't. So, I want a chance to prove to you how sorry I am. I want to help you find your son." He paused. "If you'll let me."
Remus looked at Hermione. She had tears in her eyes. He wondered what she was going to say. He didn't have to wait long.
"Yes." She said, after a brief pause. "You can help us."
Ron breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down next to Ginny. That's when he noticed Remus. Harry told Ron about Lucas, but never said who the father is. "Professor Lupin…What are you doing here?"
Remus looked at him. "I…er…Hermione?"
"Remus is Lucas's father, Ron." Hermione answered.
"Oh…I…er…I guess I…er, didn't expect that." Ron said, now looking at his hands.
There was about a minute of awkward silence after that, until Harry spoke up. "This letter came for Hermione this morning." He said, handing Ron the letter and filling him in on the details.
A few minutes later, while Harry and Ron were still talking, Lavender's twins woke up and began to cry. Lavender shot up out of her chair. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I should have left them at my mothers."
"No, no. Don't be silly." Hermione said. "Come on, I'll help you." Hermione got up, relieved for an excuse to get out of there. They walked into the playroom where Hermione kept Lucas's old playpen and a few toys safe for infants. Lavender always came over with the twins, and Hermione kept these things just for that reason.
They each lifted a baby out of the playpen. For a minute they said nothing to each other. Just stood there with a baby, feeding them a bottle of formula. Hermione thought about what Ron had said. She couldn't give him another chance. Her feelings for him were left in her room at number twelve Grimmauld Place over five years ago, when she found out about him and that Ravenclaw girl.
She was in love with Remus Lupin. But, she knew Remus would never return those feelings. He only took her to be because that was what she had asked him to do. And now, she was starting to think that was a mistake. What was she trying to do, anyway? She couldn't keep him around if he didn't want to stay.
Hermione jumped as the baby gave a little kick and the bottle fell out of his mouth.
"What are you thinking about?" Lavender asked.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Are you feeling better…than, you know, before?"
"Yes. I feel pretty good really. Everything happened so fast that night. I really don't remember much." She stopped to put the bottle down and begin burping the baby. "The first thing I asked about was the kids. I think he got a little upset because I asked about you and Lucas next. I didn't ask how he was. He would have done the same thing. He cares about Lucas more than the house we live in. Sometimes he says he can see a little of his godfather in Lucas."
"Sirius…" Hermione whispered. She noticed it too. Lucas looked like Remus and most of the times acted like him too. But more often than not, he reminded her of Sirius. When Lucas did something he could get in trouble for, he would always say, "its okay, mummy…. Don't worry, it will be okay." Hermione is convinced that Sirius is trying to tell them not to worry about him. Sometimes Lucas gets this look in his eyes, and he looks just like Sirius looked when he was making a plan or was thinking very hard about something.
The first time Harry mentioned it to her, she laughed and called his bluff. She was skeptical. "There's no way that Sirius could be trying to communicate with us through Lucas." She would reason.
"Think about it, Hermione." Harry challenged. "We were all upset about Sirius, and before you gave birth to Lucas we had no way of talking to him. Then you conceived, and Sirius saw his chance to communicate with us. It makes sense, Hermione."
And it does. It didn't then, but gradually, she saw it. It did make sense.
"Yeah, that was his name." Lavender said, breaking into Hermione's thoughts. "He misses him a lot. Harry still tries to blame himself for his death." She shook her head.
"No." Hermione said. "We should have tried harder to stop him that night. Professor Snape was only trying to help."
"Professor Snape? What - " She stopped as Remus walked in. He went over to Hermione and kissed her forehead.
"Are the twins alright?" He asked.
"Oh, yes. Just a little hungry, that's all." Lavender said.
"And I'm sure we all are." Hermione said, just realizing how hungry she was. "I'll make some food." She finished, putting the baby back into the playpen.
Lavender looked down and saw that the baby had fallen asleep again. She put him back in the playpen with his brother and her and Remus went to join the others.
Not more than fifteen minutes later; Hermione emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of sandwiches. She put them down and proceeded to refill everyone's tea. As they ate and talked there was a quiet tapping at the door.
"Who could be calling at this late hour?" She asked, more to herself than to anyone else, and she got up to answer the door. Everyone followed her, ready to draw his or her wands.
Hermione opened the door to what looked like a woman in a hooded cloak. Her face was hidden underneath the hood of the cloak.
"Can I help you?" Hermione asked. The woman removed her hood, and everyone, except for Hermione, pulled out their wands.
"Rita Skeeter? What are you doing here?"
Chapter Four
Lucas opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. He lay silently to see if he could hear anything, but heard nothing. He sat up to get a better view of his darkened surroundings, and his head began to pound. He flinched, but did not make a sound. 'Blood.' He said to himself. Dried blood, but blood nonetheless. 'What kind of person would hit a five year old and make them bleed?' he thought to himself, while searching for a light. 'Oh, yeah. A mental one, like this lady' He finished, finding the light switch and turning it on. Lucas found the lavatory in the right corner of the room. Though it looked more like a dungeon. No carpet, just a cement floor, no paint, just cement walls, and no drapes over the windows. The windows even had bars on them, like a prison. There wasn't even a bed in there. Just the dirty olive colored blanket he just stood from to find a light. He went inside the lavatory and looked at his refection in the mirror.
"Oh….no…." Lucas muttered, looking at the large gash on the left side of his face, and trying to remember why he blacked out. 'Did I fall?' he thought. 'No….' Then he remembered. 'She hit me. The psycho woman backhanded me. That ring she was wearing must have given me this cut.'
Lucas found a towel and cleared the dried blood off of his face. 'I should have listened to Harry when he told me to carry my wand with me.' Lucas thought, remembering what Harry had said. "Witches and wizards you age shouldn't do magic, but always carry that wand with you. You'll never know when you might need it in an emergency situation." Harry had said.
"Harry, that wand is for us to practice his magic in our own home. I don't want him to take it out of the house. He's too young." Hermione scolded him. "And besides, the muggles at the school he goes to does not need to know he is a wizard."
"Hermione, what would have happened to us at Hogwarts if we didn't carry our wands with us? Do you think Voldemort would have said, "Oh, okay, I'll wait a few minutes so you can go get your wands." I doubt it. And what about that time with the troll? Do you think he would have cared if we didn't have our wands? And what about - "
"Okay, Harry, I get it. But he's too young to do magic. That's it. End of story."
"But, mummy" Lucas broke in. "What if Harry is right? I think I should listen to him."
"Honey, you do not know nearly enough magic to protect you against bad people. And, I'm sure I won't let you go out alone for the next few years. I'm sure you won't need any magic until then."
'I guess she now knows how wrong she was.' Lucas thought. 'I'm stuck here with this crazy lady, no wand, and I don't know how to get home.' Lucas put the towel down and walked out into the dungeon-looking room. 'Harry has to be helping mummy find me. I know they are looking for me. They wouldn't leave me here with this lady.' As if on cue, the "crazy lady" strolled into the room. Lucas had been too lost in thought to hear the rattle of her keys open the door. If she even used keys.
"You're awake." She said.
"Leave me alone, you - "
"Shut up." She said, as she gave him another hard crack on the side of his face. "It's time we had a little talk."
"I'm not talking to - "
"No." There was a slight noise as she pushed him against the wall. "I will talk, you will listen. If I ask you a question, you will answer me."
"And if I don't?" Lucas challenged.
"Then I will kill you." She answered.
Realizing defeat, Lucas sat down on the cold floor and listened to every word she said. After a few minutes of what seemed like endless babbling, she asked, "What do you know about your father?"
'My father? What does this have to do with my father?' "My father doesn't know I exist. I've never met him. I don't even know what he looks like."
"I'm sure your mother has told you a little bit about him. What is his name?"
"Why should I tell you? What does my father have to do with this?"
"You will answer my question, little boy. I can kill you slowly, " she produced a small retractable knife. "Or I can kill you quickly." She produced her wand. "I'm sure your mummy has taught you all about this. I can kill you slowly with this too…" She examined the tip of her wand. "Did you mummy teach you any spells?"
Lucas shot her a look and spit on her shoes. As soon as he did, he realized he'd made a mistake.
"Imperio!" She yelled.
Lucas thought he was dead. What he felt was more pain than he'd ever felt since the day he was born.
"Did your mummy teach you that one?" He heard her ask.
He opened his eyes and realized that he was not dead. Just in a lot of pain.
"ANSWER ME!"
'Why should I answer her?' Lucas thought. 'She's just going to kill me anyway.' He felt like his head was spinning. He felt if he didn't hold on to something, he would fall of the face of the earth.
"Stand up." She spat.
Lucas felt the urge to stand up, but he didn't want to. He tried to stay on the floor, but the pain was too unbearable. So, he stood.
"Good, now answer me. What is you fathers name?"
"Go to hell." Lucas managed to get out.
"Now, you're too young to know that kind of language. Where did you learn that?"
Lucas wondered where he did learn it, but could not recall. He felt like we was going to pass out if he didn't sit down, and he sat down again.
"I told you to stand up. Now, get up!"
"Look, lady. You can't kill me until you find out what you want to know. And you're going to kill me anyway, because kidnappers never show their face unless they intend to kill you." Lucas swallowed back a sting of pain, then continued again. "I'm not going to tell you anything. So, just kill me now, or go screw yourself."
"How dare you…" She muttered something under he breath, and the pain was gone. Lucas felt normal again. Then she left the room, slamming the door behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hermione?"
"Hmm…?" Hermione looked up to see Remus holding something in his hands.
"This came for you a few minutes ago." He said, holding the letter out to her.
"What is it?" She asked as Remus sat next to her. She took the letter.
Remus shrugged in response.
Hermione opened the letter, and, after reading the first sentence, began to cry.
Remus put his arm around her. "What is it, love?"
Hermione put a hand over her mouth to stifle a sob, and handed the letter over to Remus.
The letter read: "Your son is well, for now. I can not tell you my name, but I can tell you this - I can help you get your son back. I know where he is, he's not safe. The woman behind this kidnapping… she's a very evil woman and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. She is paying me over a thousand galleons. I helped her with the kidnapping, I broke into Ginny Weasley's home, and I put Lavender into the hospital. There is a simple spell to reverse what I did to her." She wrote the spell and went on and on about how sorry she is for what she did.
Remus folded the letter up and put it into his pocket. "Call Harry."
"Remus, they didn't say where Lucas is. How will we get him back?" She broke into tears again. "Remus, I need my son back."
~*~*~*~*
Remus called Harry and told him about the letter. Harry immediately went to St. Mungos to see Lavender. A few hours later, she was released. And now, they were all here, sitting with Hermione and Remus. Hermione even allowed Ginny to bring Draco along.
"It doesn't say where Lucas is." Harry said after reading the letter.
"I know." Hermione got up and walked over to the window. "Oh…my…"
"What is it?" Remus asked.
"Ron…" Hermione said, staring out the window, as if she was hypnotized.
"Ron - my brother?" Ginny asked. "You mean here? Right now?"
"Yes. Here. Right now." Hermione walked over to the door and opened it for Ron. "Ron, what are you doing here?"
"I heard about your son." Ron said.
"My son? Why would you care about my son? This does not concern you, Ron." Hermione said, but opened the door more and walked away. Ron walked in and shut the door.
"I told him, Hermione." Harry confessed.
"Why? This has nothing to do with him." Hermione turned her attention to Ron. "Say what you have to say, and get out. You have no business here, Ron."
"Look, Hermione…I know you're still mad at me. But that was five years ago. I'm sorry. I don't know how many times I can say that until you believe me. I made a mistake. I didn't care about her. I cared about you." Ron stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you Hermione. I always have been. I just didn't realize it then. I had to be sure of it, and I didn't know of any other way to do it. If I could turn back the clock, I would change what I did. But, I can't. So, I want a chance to prove to you how sorry I am. I want to help you find your son." He paused. "If you'll let me."
Remus looked at Hermione. She had tears in her eyes. He wondered what she was going to say. He didn't have to wait long.
"Yes." She said, after a brief pause. "You can help us."
Ron breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down next to Ginny. That's when he noticed Remus. Harry told Ron about Lucas, but never said who the father is. "Professor Lupin…What are you doing here?"
Remus looked at him. "I…er…Hermione?"
"Remus is Lucas's father, Ron." Hermione answered.
"Oh…I…er…I guess I…er, didn't expect that." Ron said, now looking at his hands.
There was about a minute of awkward silence after that, until Harry spoke up. "This letter came for Hermione this morning." He said, handing Ron the letter and filling him in on the details.
A few minutes later, while Harry and Ron were still talking, Lavender's twins woke up and began to cry. Lavender shot up out of her chair. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I should have left them at my mothers."
"No, no. Don't be silly." Hermione said. "Come on, I'll help you." Hermione got up, relieved for an excuse to get out of there. They walked into the playroom where Hermione kept Lucas's old playpen and a few toys safe for infants. Lavender always came over with the twins, and Hermione kept these things just for that reason.
They each lifted a baby out of the playpen. For a minute they said nothing to each other. Just stood there with a baby, feeding them a bottle of formula. Hermione thought about what Ron had said. She couldn't give him another chance. Her feelings for him were left in her room at number twelve Grimmauld Place over five years ago, when she found out about him and that Ravenclaw girl.
She was in love with Remus Lupin. But, she knew Remus would never return those feelings. He only took her to be because that was what she had asked him to do. And now, she was starting to think that was a mistake. What was she trying to do, anyway? She couldn't keep him around if he didn't want to stay.
Hermione jumped as the baby gave a little kick and the bottle fell out of his mouth.
"What are you thinking about?" Lavender asked.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Are you feeling better…than, you know, before?"
"Yes. I feel pretty good really. Everything happened so fast that night. I really don't remember much." She stopped to put the bottle down and begin burping the baby. "The first thing I asked about was the kids. I think he got a little upset because I asked about you and Lucas next. I didn't ask how he was. He would have done the same thing. He cares about Lucas more than the house we live in. Sometimes he says he can see a little of his godfather in Lucas."
"Sirius…" Hermione whispered. She noticed it too. Lucas looked like Remus and most of the times acted like him too. But more often than not, he reminded her of Sirius. When Lucas did something he could get in trouble for, he would always say, "its okay, mummy…. Don't worry, it will be okay." Hermione is convinced that Sirius is trying to tell them not to worry about him. Sometimes Lucas gets this look in his eyes, and he looks just like Sirius looked when he was making a plan or was thinking very hard about something.
The first time Harry mentioned it to her, she laughed and called his bluff. She was skeptical. "There's no way that Sirius could be trying to communicate with us through Lucas." She would reason.
"Think about it, Hermione." Harry challenged. "We were all upset about Sirius, and before you gave birth to Lucas we had no way of talking to him. Then you conceived, and Sirius saw his chance to communicate with us. It makes sense, Hermione."
And it does. It didn't then, but gradually, she saw it. It did make sense.
"Yeah, that was his name." Lavender said, breaking into Hermione's thoughts. "He misses him a lot. Harry still tries to blame himself for his death." She shook her head.
"No." Hermione said. "We should have tried harder to stop him that night. Professor Snape was only trying to help."
"Professor Snape? What - " She stopped as Remus walked in. He went over to Hermione and kissed her forehead.
"Are the twins alright?" He asked.
"Oh, yes. Just a little hungry, that's all." Lavender said.
"And I'm sure we all are." Hermione said, just realizing how hungry she was. "I'll make some food." She finished, putting the baby back into the playpen.
Lavender looked down and saw that the baby had fallen asleep again. She put him back in the playpen with his brother and her and Remus went to join the others.
Not more than fifteen minutes later; Hermione emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray of sandwiches. She put them down and proceeded to refill everyone's tea. As they ate and talked there was a quiet tapping at the door.
"Who could be calling at this late hour?" She asked, more to herself than to anyone else, and she got up to answer the door. Everyone followed her, ready to draw his or her wands.
Hermione opened the door to what looked like a woman in a hooded cloak. Her face was hidden underneath the hood of the cloak.
"Can I help you?" Hermione asked. The woman removed her hood, and everyone, except for Hermione, pulled out their wands.
"Rita Skeeter? What are you doing here?"