The woman from the Department of Missing People finally contacted Mr. Weasley. The letter said that he was to come to the ministry for a meeting with the department head on Monday. When Monday finally arrived, Mr. Weasley went to the office and took a seat in the waiting room. After a few minutes he was called in.
"Mr. Weasley," the man nodded him. "please have a seat."
He took his seat, eagerly awaiting the answer he and his family had waited over a week for.
"Mr. Weasley, I am sorry to have to tell you this…your child is unreachable. It seems the men who did kidnapped him and the girl put a spell on both the children as well as all their possessions. We will not be able to locate them." The man said sadly.
Mr. Weasley was on the verge of tears. He didn't want the other man to see him cry. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked desperately.
"There is only one thing we can do." The man said.
"Which is?" Mr. Weasley asked eagerly.
"Send out a portkey with a spell on it only allowing the children to be transported. It will send them both where ever you want them to go. However, there are some problems."
"Problems? What kind of problems?"
"Well the fact is that we have to get permission to do this sort of thing. Then we have to find some very skilled wizards and witches, and they have to cast the spells on the portkey, so that if anyone or anything else touches it, they won't get transported. This will take at least 2 years to do. Then we will select a date and location to put the portkey in the ocean. The port key is going travel very slowly and depending on where the children are, it could take quite a few years to get to them. "
"Years?" Mr. Weasley asked astonished "You mean to tell me I will not see my son for years?"
"Mr. Weasley please! I would hope you agree that it's better to see him in years instead of never."
Mr. Weasley sniffed loudly and nodded his head "I agree with you. Thank you for what you have done."
"No need to thank me Mr. Weasley. Even though I have done as much as I can, I feel it is not
enough. I will not give up on your son, or the Muggles' daughter. They will be returned, mark my words. If your child never touches the portkey, don't worry. We will be able to trace the location of the portkey. We will let you know anything new we come up with. Good day Mr. Weasley." The man said.
Mr. Weasley shook the man's hand. Walking out of the office, he finally let his tears fall. Mr. Weasley apparated home. He walked into his house where Molly was waiting eagerly for him.
"What did he say Arthur?" Molly asked rushing towards him.
Arthur looked at his wife with tears in his eyes. He wiped them away and took a deep breath.
"Molly they told me they can't find him." Arthur said
"What?" Molly said as tears started flooding over. She began to sob.
Arthur embraced his wife. "There's still hope though." he said.
Molly looked up at him. "What hope did he give us?" Molly said.
"They decided to send out a portkey to find them. When he touches it Rom and the girl will both be sent back here." Arthur said.
"This is a sure thing right? I mean he will defiantly be coming back to us right?" Molly asked searching for any trace of hope in finding he son.
"The man said it will be a sure thing. But the thing is, it will take years-and that's just for it to be approved, enchanted and sent out. Then it will take longer for the portkey to find the children." Arthur said.
"Years?" Molly asked, completely shocked
"Yes I am afraid so. We won't have our son for years to come. By the time he gets back to us he
might not even be a boy anymore. He might have grown into a man." Arthur said, tears shining in his eyes once more.
"Oh Arthur this is just terrible." Molly said, burying her head in his chest
"I know Molly. We will get through this. We will have our son back. I promise you." Arthur said.
The Weasleys spent the afternoon clinging to each other and sobbing over there lost son. The Weasley children were not there. They were visiting their grandparents. Around dinnertime they came back.
"What's the news about Ron?" Bill asked with concern at the look of his parents.
"Family meeting everyone." Arthur called.
The Weasleys went to the living room and all sat down. The children looked at their parents awaiting the answers they had wanted all day.
"Today we found out that they won't be able to find Ron or the Muggle girl." Arthur started once everyone was silent.
The children started talking all at the same time. Ginny started crying and Charlie held her, trying comfort her.
"All is not lost though children. They have a plan to get Ron back. "Arthur said.
"What plan?" Bill asked.
"They are going to send a portkey out to him. The only problem is that we won't be seeing Ron anytime soon. It will take years just to send it out to him. Then a few more years just so he might
touch it." Arthur said.
"You mean that I won't see my brother for years?" Fred asked.
"Yes." Molly said, tears streaming don her face
This was one of the saddest days in the Weasley house. It was hard to get over the fact that Ron wasn't going to be with them for years. Molly and Ginny seemed to take this harder then the men in the family.
Meanwhile, at the ministry, the people trying to find the missing children spent the next couple years getting everything ready for the launch of the portkey. It took them longer then they had expected. Trying to get the spells to work with each other was a difficult task to accomplish, and in the end they decided to disguise the portkey as a message in a bottle with the children's names on it.
The day had finally come to send the bottle out. The children were older now. The youngest, Ginny, was now 12 years old. Ron, who would be 13 now, was still lost. The Weasleys decided on a spot a little off the coast of a nearby beach.
"I want to make a little speech. " Arthur said.
Everyone stopped whispering and moving in order to listen.
"I know this has been hard on my family and me. We just can't wait to get our son back to us. I hope this works-and soon. To Ron. We love you. Come back to us." Arthur said.
Everyone clapped. The Weasleys were all said something. Mostly there were 'I love you's and 'please come back'. Everyone touched the bottle for good luck. Molly kissed it.
"Now time to throw it into the ocean." The man said.
The Weasleys watched as their last hope of finding Ron was sent out into the ocean, all praying it would work.