CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: One Back, One Still Missing
If Bill and Tonks hadn't insisted on talking the longest route imaginable to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Ron could have been there by now. When his brother had showed up at Hogwarts, Ron had assumed he was bringing news about Harry. Since the kidnapping he had all but been kept in the dark about any information pertaining to his friend's whereabouts and what was being done to get him back. He had received stern instructions from his mother not to leave the school grounds and attempt some foolhardy rescue. The only reason he was staying put was because he had no idea where to look. If he knew where Harry was being kept, no one would have been able to stop him from going. He was thankful that at least Ginny had made it out of the attack relatively unscathed. She had some minor head trauma from a blow to her head that had rendered her unconscious, but that was the extent of her injuries. Ron felt a cold chill go down his spine whenever he thought about the reason his sister had been left behind. The Death Eaters had only been interested in Harry.
So when Bill had showed up, telling him Hermione was at Grimmauld Place, Ron demanded to see her, which had been his brother's intention all along. Tonks had showed up as well, and together the three of them made the journey back to Phoenix Headquarters. However, the trip was a painfully long one because of the simple fact that Ron was unable to apparate. They had to take several different port keys to ensure they weren't followed.
Ron's temper had reached the breaking point on several occasions, when his brother had avoided or flat out refused to answer his questions on how Hermione had ended up at Phoenix Headquarters in the first place.
Tonks was the first to reach the spot between house number eleven and thirteen. It took only a moment for a shabby-looking door to appear out of thin air. They walked up the worn steps and Tonks put her wand on the door and tapped once. After many metallic-clicking sounds the door finally creaked open. Ron had barely stepped foot inside before his mother was throwing her arms around him. "I'm glad you're safe. I've been so worried. You weren't followed, were you?" She asked, turning her attention to Tonks and her older son.
"No, mum, we were careful," Bill answered. "We did everything Mad-Eye told us to."
"Where is she?" Ron blurted out.
"Hermione's upstairs resting," his mother answered knowingly. "I put a sleeping draught in her tea. She looked absolutely worn out, the poor dear."
Ron immediately made for the stairs, but his mother tried to stop him. "It will be at least another few hours before she wakes up completely."
"I want to see her," he argued. "I don't even know how she got here – he wouldn't tell me anything," he said, giving his brother a loathing look.
"I asked Bill not to," Mrs. Weasley said before Bill could say anything. "I thought it would be best if you got here first and then everything was explained to you."
"So explain." Ron folded his arms over his chest, waiting impatiently for her to continue.
"She only just arrived a few hours ago. She took the muggle way out of Luxembourg," she began. "She couldn't apparate, so she had to secure an out of country port key. Once she was back in England, she came here."
"She's all right, though? She didn't get attacked or anything?" He probably sounded paranoid, but after what happened with Harry he couldn't help it.
"Other then looking quite exhausted, she was fine."
"She was never in any real danger, Ron. There's been an Auror stationed in Luxembourg to follow her and make sure she was safe," Bill told him. "He followed her all the way back to London."
"Why the hell didn't he reveal who he was and help her get back here?" Ron rounded on his brother.
"Because he was under strict orders from Moody not to reveal who he was unless it was absolutely necessary," said Tonks.
"Use your brain, little brother. Do you think Hermione would have trusted him even if he told her who he was? She's way too smart to trust someone she doesn't know," said Bill.
"I still want to see her," Ron stated, leaving no room for argument in his voice.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go check on her," said his mother, her features softening. "But Ron if she is awake do not tell her about Harry. She needs one good night of rest. We'll tell her everything in the morning."
Ron had no intentions of telling her about Harry right away regardless. He knew how bad she was going to take the news and he didn't even have anything remotely comforting to tell her, like where he was or what they were doing to get him back. That was why he had been avoiding answering her most recent letter. He knew he would not be able to write to her without spilling everything about Harry and how helpless he felt because there wasn't a damn thing he could do. She would only have worried herself to death and he didn't want that. He didn't want to tell her anything until they had some real news. Bill had said on the way over that Mad-Eye was following a lead and would hopefully return with some much needed information. Ron hoped it wouldn't turn out to be another dead end like the last half dozen.
He climbed the stairs and made his way to the room she had stayed in during the summer and winter holidays. The door was closed and he opened it slowly, not wanting to make any noise. He trusted his mother but he needed to see for himself that she was all right. More then that, he just needed to see her.
"Ron?" He heard a soft voice call out.
He was kneeling beside her bed in an instant. "I'm here," he said, stroking her face with his hand. He couldn't believe how incredible it felt to be touching her again. Hermione was trying to sit up and he said, "maybe you should stay lying down." She stubbornly refused to follow his advice.
"I know your mum put something in my tea," she said, finally managing to sit up with his assistance.
"She meant well," he said in an effort to apologize for his mother.
"I know," she said, looking at him and not seeming angry at all. "I missed you so much," she said, reaching out to touch his face.
"I still can't believe you're here. What did your dad say?"
"He didn't know. I mean, he obviously knows by now."
He blinked in astonishment. "You ran away?"
"I didn't have a choice," she said, her tone serious. "I don't belong anywhere else but here and he'll never understand that, especially now that my mum's gone."
The mentioning of her mum made him think of Harry. He felt rather ashamed that he hadn't thought much of his best friend since he had learned of Hermione's arrival at Grimmauld Place. Who knew what he was being forced to endure and here he was enjoying a reunion with his girlfriend. Some bastard of a best friend he was.
Hermione picked up on the changed look in his eyes and the way his face fell slightly. "What's wrong?" She asked him gently.
"Mum's gonna kill me if she finds out I woke you," he lied quickly. He could tell she didn't believe him for a second, but was still tired enough that she didn't press the point. "I should let you get back to sleep."
As much as she wanted to stay awake and make up for lost time, the sleeping sedative Mrs. Weasley had slipped her wasn't going to allow for that. Reluctantly, she lied back down.
"I'll be right next door in my room if you need anything," was the last thing she heard him say before her eyes closed and she was fast asleep again.
It was well after midnight, when Ron, after mindless hours of tossing and turning, gave up on sleep altogether and left his room. He thought about going to Hermione's room and just sitting by her bed, but he didn't want to chance waking her up. He could see there was still a light on downstairs so there had to be someone still up. When he reached the stairs he was able to hear voices coming from the dining room. He took a few steps down and was able to make out the voice currently speaking as Mad-Eye Moody. He went down a few more steps to hear what was being said.
"The place was in bits when we got there. Been like that for some time. I'd stake my years as an Auror to say that Potter was never there. It was a Death Eater holding place at one time, there's no question about that, but it's long since been abandoned."
"What about the other two places?" The new voice sounded like Lupin's.
"It was getting too close to sunrise to check them out properly, but they're worth going back to. There's only so many places in England they can hold him."
"That's assuming he's still in England," said Bill.
"He's here," Moody said gruffly. "They wouldn't take a chance moving him out of country because they know we'd have all the port key custom stations on twenty-four hour watch, and I've got Mundungus keeping an eye on all the illegal ones. There's also the fact that Potter can't apparate so that eliminates apparation customs."
"Ron? What are you doing up?" His mother asked, from where she had just left the kitchen.
She had to have known he was listening to every word. "I couldn't sleep. Did you find Harry?" He asked quickly. He wasn't going to let her shoo him away this time.
"Molly, he's already heard this much, no harm in letting him hear the rest. Potter is his best mate after all."
His mother didn't look like she agreed, but she didn't try to stop him when he walked down the remainder of the stairs and joined the others in the dining room. His father, Tonks, Lupin, Bill, and Moody were all present.
"What did you find out?" Ron asked.
"Well we know where Potter isn't," Moody told him. "We've ruled out all but a few possible locations. In another day or two we'll know where he is. No demands have been made either, so we can only assume that to mean they have no intention of trading his freedom for something else. They've caught Harry for their Dark Lord, plain and simple."
Ron's mother looked horrified at the mere mention of it, and Ron felt himself growing angry. "I never should have let him go after Ginny alone. It was getting dark out – "
"It's not your fault, boy," Moody cut in. "You would have likely ended up in the same position as your sister, or worse."
That didn't do much to alleviate the guilt he was feeling. "Why is it taking so long to find him?"
"You-Know-Who has wanted Harry for too long, Ron," said his father. "His followers are not going to be careless and hold him in some random place."
"So where are these last two places you need to check?" He saw everyone look anywhere but directly at him. "I want to know," he demanded. Harry was his best friend and he was dammed if he was going to continue letting them keep him in the dark.
"I want to know too."
Ron spun around and saw Hermione standing there with her dressing gown on. He had heard the calmness in which she had spoke but he could see the fire behind her eyes.
"I think it would be a good idea for the both of you to go back upstairs. When we know more we'll tell you," Mrs. Weasley said to the both of them.
Hermione seemed to forget everyone else was standing there, focusing solely on Ron. "How could you not tell me Harry was missing?"
She sounded hurt and furious and Ron knew there was going to be no easy escape for him. "I was going to tell you everything in the morning, I swear. You needed to rest."
"I guess I should thank you for allowing me to get a few needed hours of rest while Harry's out there somewhere probably being tortured!"
Everyone in the room seemed to flinch at her words, and Mrs. Black's portrait began wailing loudly with all the commotion.
While Lupin and Mrs. Weasley left to try and stop it, Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the stairs.
"Hermione, hold on," Ron called after
She didn't slow down. She got to her room and slammed the door shut behind her, destroying Mrs. Weasley and Lupins attempts to calm Mrs. Black's unrelenting screams.
Her door was only shut for a few seconds before Ron threw it open and came storming in. He made sure to close it behind him. She was too furious at what had just happened to berate him for barging into her room.
"I can't believe you of all people would pull the 'good night sleep' rubbish on me," she rounded on him.
"What the hell was I supposed to tell you? He's been kidnapped by Death Eaters but we don't know where he is let alone how to plan a rescue?"
"That would have been a good start," she snapped. "How long has he been missing?"
His next answer was only going to earn him another round of yelling. "A week."
"A week!" She cried. "He's been gone that long and no one has done anything?"
"Moody has all the Aurors that can be spared working on it twenty-four hours a day. They – "
"That's not good enough. Do you have any idea what they could have done to him in that amount of time?"
"Fuck, Hermione, he's my best friend too!" He yelled at her. "You think I don't feel like shit, sitting around, doing nothing?" Without warning, he vented his frustrations on the wall nearest him by pounding his fist against it.
It was not a smart move. He had succeeded in leaving a noticeable dent in the wall, but his knuckles were bleeding and his whole right hand was shaking with pain.
Hermione quickly moved into action. She rummaged around in her bag, pulled something out and handed it to him. "Here, wrap this around it."
"That's your shirt. I'm not ruining – "
"It's old, it doesn't matter," she said dismissively. She took it and helped him wrap it around his hand. "That should help stop the bleeding." She left his side and started rummaging around her bag again. This time she removed a small box. She motioned for him to come over and sit on her bed, while she removed a single glass jar filled with a purplish coloured paste.
"What is that?" He asked.
"It's a type of antibiotic," she explained. "It will help clean the wound from infection and clot the blood vessels to stop the bleeding. It should keep the swelling down too." She carefully unwrapped the shirt from his hand. She winced when she looked at his knuckles. Flecks of skin were ripped off and they were still bleeding, though not as heavily as before, but signs of bruising and swelling were already starting to show.
"It's not that bad. It doesn't even really hurt," he said, trying to ease her concerns.
She arched an eyebrow at him in disagreement, but didn't say anything.
He sucked in a breath of air when the ointment first touched one of his cuts.
She immediately pulled her hand away, the concern showing in her eyes. "Does that sting?"
"No, it's fine," he said through clenched teeth.
She continued to apply the ointment, but gentler now.
"Sorry, about your wall," he said, flashing her a sheepish grin.
"I never really liked the colour of these walls anyways," she admitted, continuing her treatment of his hand.
There was a long silence that followed, until Ron had the courage to voice the one thing, or rather the one person that was weighing heavily on both their minds.
"We'll get him back," he said, his voice low. "You know how Harry has this knack for making it through impossible odds."
She nodded, but didn't speak, not wanting her voice to betray her fears. They could talk all they wanted about Harry being all right, but the fact remained he was still out there. And all the wishing in the world wasn't going to bring him home safe.
She felt Ron's uninjured hand seek out hers and clasp it tightly. There was little else they could do at the moment except wait – and pray.
