From Bad to Worse
By the time that Ron returned to work on Monday, the Ministry of Magic was in pandemonium. None of the missing Death Eaters had been sighted, and there had been two more disappearances. What was more puzzling was the fact that none of the disappearances seemed to be in anyway connected. Ron and the other Aurors began working day and night looking for clues and talking to families, but as time passed it became less likely that any of the missing people would be found alive.
"You still working?" asked Terry Boot, sticking his head round the door of Ron's office. "Do you eat or sleep?"
Ron smiled weakly. "No time mate."
"Well," said Terry, "as you're here, thought you might want to try looking at family members of the people who have disappeared – possible Death Eater connections, that sort of thing."
"Brilliant idea," said Ron, getting up. "I'll just go home and get the files I picked up from Magical Records."
As Ron entered the house, he could hear the sound of the Visual Wizarding Wireless. Entering the living room, he saw Emily and Clara sitting on the sofa glued to a Quidditch match.
"What's the score?" he asked, making them both jump.
"130 – 50 to Magpies," said Clara, as Emily scrambled over to give her father a hug.
"Any sign of Harry?"
Clara blushed involuntarily. "Um…well…a couple of times I think…anyway, you're home early, Sally said you wouldn't be back for ages."
"No, I'm just back to pick up some things before going back to work, so you're stuck with this little terror for a while longer."
Prising Emily from around his neck, he gave her a quick kiss and then handed her back to Clara.
At one am, Ron still hadn't found anything to connect a young witch from Aberdeen, two wizards from Nottingham and Leeds, a middle aged Healer from London and a Squib that had been living in Brighton.
Clutching at straws, Ron decided to cross reference the names through the Births, Marriages and Deaths register. Fighting to stay awake, he began to trawl through the files. Suddenly, something caught his eye.
Michael Wallace married Athene McGonagall on the 29th of August. Michael is the son of Rebecca and Christopher Wallace, and has a brother, Paul. Athene is the daughter of Catherine and AlexanderMcGonagall and has two sisters; Minerva and Diana.
Reading the wedding announcement again, it suddenly hit him.
Minerva McGonagall?
Praying that it was a coincidence, Ron began to look at the records for the other four missing people. Slowly, he began to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Becoming more frantic, he began desperately searching for anything that would point away from the one horrifying conclusion.
Nothing.
Standing up, Ron gripped his desk as a wave of nausea overcame him. Taking a deep breath, he did the first thing that came to mind.
"Kingsley," he called out hoarsely. "Kingsley!"
The black Auror came running into Ron's office. "What?"
"Order of the Phoenix," said Ron, breathlessly.
"What?"
"They're targeting the Order of the Phoenix," repeated Ron, a bit more slowly. "All the people that have disappeared; Elphias Doge's niece, Dedalus Diggle's cousin, Arabella Figg's nephew, Professor McGonagall's brother in law and Emmeline Vance's cousin."
Kingsley stood completely still for a moment, and then narrowed his eyes. "In that order?" he asked.
Now it was Ron's turn to be confused. "What?"
"Did they disappear in that order?"
Ron looked down at the file. "Yes…yes they did."
Kingsley looked down, moving his lips silently as if he was trying to work something out. Finally he looked at Ron, who was surprised to see triumph in his eyes.
"They're kidnapping people in the order that their family members joined the Order of the Phoenix." said Kingsley
"But…but how do they know?"
"That's not important at the moment. The important thing is that they have a pattern. And therefore…"
"And therefore we can work out who is going to be next!" exclaimed Ron, the penny finally dropping.
"Exactly. And since Emmeline was one of the last people to join the first Order of the Phoenix, the next person would have to be Severus Snape."
Ron was barely listening. All he could think was his family; his parents and brothers, all members of the Order of the Phoenix, and his wife, famous for being the one to finally getting rid of Voldemort.
Seeing the look on Ron's face, Kingsley gripped him by the shoulders.
"They're going to be fine," he said. "We're one step ahead."
Ron didn't answer.
"Look," said Kingsley, letting go of him, "I'll go talk to Severus, you go home. We'll call a meeting of the Order tomorrow."
Ron stood up and began to make his way to the Floo. Suddenly, he stopped. Turning around, he called Kingsley back. The older man turned around.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked.
Kingsley nodded. "I have a family too Ron. Nothing's going to happen to them, not while I'm around."
Once again, the lights in the living room were on when Ron arrived home. Instead of being touched that his wife had waited up until he got home, Ron felt a twinge of annoyance. He had already decided not to tell Sally about the kidnappings until he absolutely had to, and he wanted to avoid talking to her until he had a chance to gather his emotions.
"Hi Ron," said Sally, as he tried to walk upstairs unnoticed. "Working late again, you poor thing."
Ron shrugged, in what he hoped was a nonchalant way.
"What's wrong?" asked Sally, concerned.
"Nothing," said Ron, more harshly than he had intended.
"I know you, Ron. Something's wrong. Just tell me!"
"I SAID IT'S NOTHING!" shouted Ron.
There was silence. Ron looked at Sally, and was surprised to see that she still looked concerned, rather than angry.
"Don't shout, you'll wake Emily," she said. "If you're trying to protect me or something, there's no need, you can just…"
"Why is everything always about you?" said Ron, frustrated. "This has nothing to do with you! Stay out of it!"
For a split second, an expression of hurt crossed Sally's face. Regaining control, she gave a Ron a cold look, and pushed past him towards the stairs.
"Fine," she said. "Fine."
"Sal…"
"Don't. Just don't. Deal with what you have to deal with, and I'll stay well out of your way."
With that, she ran upstairs into the bedroom and shut the door.
A/N: I remember a time when reviews were plentiful, but now they are scarce (sob).
Juno malabre: I would excuse you anyway darling, and I'm glad I crack you up. At least someone finds me funny.
Fippets: Of course, sign language I-Spy was your brainchild, therefore it had to be good! And I do love those rabbits…
Emma Barrows: I'm glad you like it!