…And Worse Again

It had been an odd day overall. Despite the fact that they had been going out for exactly two years, Sally hadn't expected Ron to remember, much less take her out to an expensive restaurant in London. 'Of course,' she thought wryly, 'if he had forgotten he would have had to put up with the silent treatment until our next anniversary.'

As they left the restaurant, Ron kept patting his jacket pocket, as if checking that something was still there. Sally began to ask him why, but decided against it. Suddenly, Ron stopped walking so abruptly that Sally almost bumped into him.

"Why have you stopped?" she asked, bemused.

Ron smiled enigmatically. "Close your eyes."

Laughing, Sally obliged, and allowed herself to be lead outside and onto what felt like grass.

"Can I open them yet?"

Ron dropped her wrists and stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, go on."

Sally opened her eyes and looked around.

"Do you know where we are?" asked Ron, encouragingly.

"No, I don't…" Suddenly it hit her. "We're in Hyde Park!" Taking her to dinner was one thing, but bringing her to the place where they had first kissed was too romantic for words. "Ron, that's so sweet, I can't believe you remembered!"

"Turn around," said Ron, his voice oddly shaky.

Sally turned on the spot and gasped. A portion of the sky had been charmed so that the stars were arranged to spell out the words:

WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Ron woke up on a cold stone floor, his head pounding. Sitting up gingerly, he tried moving his limbs. Thankfully, although every part of his body ached, nothing seemed to be broken.

Slowly getting to his feet, he struggled to work out where he was. The reality of his situation hit him with such force that he almost had to sit down again.

He had been kidnapped by the very people he had been trying to arrest.

Kicking the wall, Ron swore loudly. The noise caused a bundle in the corner of the room to stir. Panicking, Ron grabbed for his wand, and was horrified to find it missing. The other person in the room sat up and groaned. Looking over, Ron was relieved to find that he recognised her.

"Clara?"

The girl groaned again and put a hand to her face, which was quite badly bruised. Ron sat down beside her.

"Are you okay?"

Clara shook her head. "I think my nose is broken."

"Let me see."

Clara shook her head again, clamping both hands over the injured nose.

Ron sighed. "Just let me look at it."

"No."

"Please, Clara?"

Looking unsure, she slowly removed her hands from her face.

"Well I don't think it's broken, and it's almost stopped bleeding."

Clara looked unimpressed by this information. Then, without warning, she burst into tears.

Giving a hug, Ron realised that he knew exactly how she felt.

Sally, Harry and Sturgis sat side by side on the sofa while Kingsley tried to explain the situation. It was hard to tell who was most distraught, but from the look on her face Sally seemed to be fighting the urge to hit someone.

"So people have been disappearing almost every day for the last three weeks," she said slowly. "Why haven't we heard about it?"

"We…that is, the Minister for Magic and I, agreed that there should be a news blackout," replied Kingsley.

"WHAT?" Sally exploded, leaping to her feet. "You mean that you intentionally let people think that the Death Eaters were just waiting to be shipped back to Azkaban, when in fact they're roaming the streets?"

"It was the only thing we could do, we…"

"What do you mean it was the only thing you could do?" said Sally, tears streaming down her face. "People were in danger and you didn't tell them!"

"If the Death Eaters knew that we had worked out what they were doing, they would have started killing people," said Kingsley, in a low voice.

Sally looked as though she was about to say something else, but instead she sat back down, allowing Harry to put a comforting arm around her.

Kingsley carried on, his expression softening slightly. "The first thing we have to do, of course, is call a meeting of the Order. It's been difficult so far – everyone has moved on, most lines of communication have been severed. In fact, that Ron was trying to track down the last few when he disappeared."

Harry felt Sally's grip on his hand tighten.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Sturgis, speaking for the first time.

"We've managed to find the rest of the Order," said Kingsley. "The meeting is tomorrow."

Harry sat at the table, looking round at people that he hadn't seen for years. He had been surprised at the turnout; especially as most people hadn't known why they had been called together until Kingsley began explaining. Even without Dumbledore, it seemed that the Order was still everyone's top priority.

Kingsley's explanation of the situation had met a shocked silence, and by the time he had gone into the details of the most recent disappearances several people were in tears. Molly Weasley left the room shortly afterwards, closely followed by her husband. Harry looked at Sally, who was sitting next to him, expecting her to also be crying, but she was staring at Kingsley stony-faced. Having not as yet faced his feelings about his best friend's disappearance, Harry was trying to concentrate on Sally's distress, but he knew that his own would soon surface.

"Information has traced Death Eater activity as far as Bulgaria," said Kingsley, clearly also trying to keep a check on his own emotions. "The best plan is to gather a small group to trace the Death Eaters as far as possible, who will then call in reinforcements for a rescue mission. For the rest of the Order, it may be best to go into hiding, along with immediate family members."

There was a clamour of noise as everyone started speaking at the same time. Molly and Arthur re entered the room, both looking red-eyed.

Once everyone had calmed down, Hestia Jones spoke. "So who is going to be in the group going to Bulgaria?"

"That's a decision we'll have to make together," said Kingsley. "I'll be going, of course, but…"

"I'll go," interrupted Harry.

"So will I," said Bill, earning him a kick under the table from Fleur.

After several arguments, it was decided that Harry, Bill, Tonks and Charlie, as the youngest remaining members of the Order, would follow the Death Eaters as far as possible and then be joined by Snape, Kingsley, Sturgis and Remus. The rest would remain in hiding at the safest place anyone could think of – 12 Grimmauld Place.

As people began to talk amongst themselves, Harry turned back to Sally, who still hadn't said anything.

"Don't worry," he said, in what he hoped was a steady voice. "We'll bring him back."

Sally looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean 'we'? I'm coming with you."

"No you're not," said Harry. "You…"

"Either I come with you or I go on my own. I'm not just going to sit here."

"Sal, it's too dangerous for you to come. You're a Muggle."

"That didn't stop me getting rid of Voldemort did it?" she said quietly.

Now it was Harry's turn to look astonished. Sally almost never mentioned Voldemort, and certainly didn't brag about it.

"I'm coming with you," she said again, getting up and leaving the table.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed:

Fippets: Well I hope I haven't left you festering for too long…

Emma Barrows: I do apologise for neglecting you – won't take so long to update next time.

Fippets: Yay! At least someone is hooked…

Juno malabre: Now we all know you're just going to hurt yourself with the cattle prod.