Chapter 8-Worries and Disappearances
After Remus had finished reading the foreboding letter, the occupants of the office sat in a silence broken only by their own breathing for what felt like an eternity before Harry spoke up, looking to his guardian with determined eyes.
"Any suggestions?" he asked hopefully
'I'm afraid not, my child, there is nothing we can do right now except to prepare for the inevitable battle' she answered quietly, sounding like a mournful phoenix song to anyone else but speaking perfect English to Harry.
"I will not fight my children, no matter what" he said forcefully as he hit the floor with his clenched fist, catching all the attention of those in the room.
'I am not asking you to, but there is nobody who knows where James and Lily are who is willing to tell us, and since you are even unable to locate them where ever they are being hidden, there is little else that we can do. You will have to fight Iniquitous eventually, and from what we have seen so far, he is a very powerful wizard and you need to be at your best in order to fight him and win without endangering your children anymore than they already are' she answered calmly.
"I guess your right, but I WILL find them, and I won't stop looking until I do, even if the search is hopeless. They are the most important thing in the world to me and I won't loose them." He said in determination as he stood and helped Ginny to her feet before turning back to the others in the office as Terres took flight through the window "I would recommend that you all get some sleep, beginning tomorrow, we will get ready for the coming war, and we will stop it before it has a chance to begin this time" he said before striding from the office with a tear streaked but equally determined Ginny at his side.
When the couple returned to their rooms, Harry allowed his mask to fall and looked every bit the worried father that he currently was.
"Harry?" said Ginny softly as she joined him on the couch after she had conjured a tea set, the one word asking a thousand questions.
"I don't know what to do, Gin" he admitted as he buried his head in his hands "Before, it was me against the bad guys, but this time, it's not just me against them, James and Lily are thrust into the middle of a battle that they had nothing to do with. He wants to get rid of me, but he's going to use my kids to do so. What do I do about that? I could never hurt the twins, but if I allow him to do what he plans, then the entire world is at risk from a threat we know nothing about. Where did he come from and how did he ever find out so much about me? I know that there are only a handful of people that know some of those things, and others, such as the things with the Dursleys, no one else knew, not even you, yet he found out, how? How do I fight a man who knows everything there is to know about me and even hope to win?" he asked with his head still in his hands.
"Simple, you do what you think is right, no matter what. You are the most powerful wizard who has ever lived, and nothing Iniquitous can do can change that. You love the twins and they love you, this was all just a terrible misunderstanding on their part, and once they realize the truth they'll understand how harsh they were in judging you and they will come to their senses. They're smart kids, the smartest that I've ever known and I'm not just saying that because they're mine either. Things will work out alright, just wait and see." She said and not for the first time, Harry wondered who the most powerful one was, for her words had more of an affect on him than even the most potent calming spell or potion would have ever had.
After her speech, they finished their tea in silence before curling up on the couch together and falling into a restless sleep, both plagued by nightmares of what the future held if they couldn't find the twins in time, nightmares mirrored by those closest to them asleep in their own corners of the massive castle.
Harry was the first to wake the next morning, and as soon as his eyes were open he had an idea. Carefully, he extracted himself from his wife's arms and got to his feet. With a quick wave of his hand, he was wearing his ministry robes and dragonhide boots and with another wave, his sword and dagger were strapped securely to his hips. He then grabbed his thick scarlet and gold cloak from the back of the sofa where he had left it the day before and fastened it around his shoulders, effectively hiding the weapons from the casual eye. After taking up his staff, he set off toward the door, pausing only long enough to leave a letter for Ginny on the table in front of the couch. Once outside their rooms, he hurriedly made his way to the entrance hall and then off the school grounds where he apparated straight to the ministry's auror headquarters. Sure, he could have just apparated straight from his rooms to the ministry, but seeing as both places had antiapparation wards erected around them, it required quite a bit of energy that he didn't want to expend that morning, he had more important things to use it for.
Once in his office, he completely ignored his desk and the mountain of paperwork and mail sitting on top of it and instead headed straight to the large cabinet behind it where he kept his own supply of potions, made by the highest ranking potions masters in the world, Severus Snape included. After nearly twenty minutes of sifting through the over five hundred small vials, his face broke into an expression of victory as he removed one containing a translucent blue potion and settled behind his desk, twirling the potion absently between his fingers, deep in thought. His thoughts were broken a moment later though, when the door to his office burst open and one of his junior assistants hurried in.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, I didn't know that you were going to be here this morning" she said quickly, her face blushing slightly at her mistake at not knocking.
"That's alright, Jodie, is there something I can help you with?" he asked out of sheer habit.
"This just came for you, sir, and I was just going to add it to the rest" she said as she held up the sealed envelope.
"Thank you" said Harry as he reached across the desk to take it from her, and once deciding it was of little importance, he went to place it in the pile beside him before he noticed the topmost letter, addressed in red ink in a now familiar scrawl. "When did this get here?" he asked as he held up the letter in trembling hands.
"I don't know? Who's it from?" asked Jodie as she peered at the letter in curiosity, but Harry had already torn it open and was reading it quickly.
"Contact Draco and Ron, tell them that they're going to have to handle things here for a little while" he said as he got to his feet and apparated away, leaving the letter to float to the ground on its own. The assistant quickly went back to her desk and after grabbing some floo powder in her hand, ran to the closest fireplace and called first Ron.
"What is it Jodie?" he asked as he stumbled over to the fireplace, rubbing sleep from his eyes, it was, after all, only six in the morning.
"Mr. Potter asked me to contact you and Mr. Malfoy and tell you that he wanted you to handle things here for a little while" she said quietly, not wanting to wake Hermione who she could just see still asleep on the bed.
"WHAT!?" roared Ron "Where is Harry?" he demanded harshly
"I don't know, he was here for a little while, then he read some letter that was on his desk and told me to contact you before he apparated away" she said quickly, not understanding why Ron was so upset.
"Who was the letter from?" he asked a little more calmly since Hermione now had her hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know" she said, her voice wavering slightly "But he left it in his office" she added hopefully.
"Ok, don't touch that letter, I'll get a hold of Draco and we'll be there in ten minutes, don't touch the letter and don' let anyone else into his office" ordered Ron as he stood and an instant later Jodie's head was out of their fire.
"What happened?" asked Hermione as Ron began ot dress in his own ministry robes.
"I'm not sure, all she said was that Harry read a letter that was on his desk and told her to let me and Draco know that we were going to be in charge for a while before he disapparated. She doesn't know who the letter was from or where he went." He added as he grabbed his cloak and fastened it to help with the undoubtedly chilly weather outside.
"What was he doing at the ministry this early in the morning anyways?" asked Hermione, looking out the window to see that the sun was just peaking out from over the trees of the forbidden forest just as their was a knock at their door "Come in" she yelled once she had found her dressing gown.
"Ron? Hermione?" asked a voice from the living room that both recognized at once as Ginny's. They shared a worried glance before Ron spoke up.
"In the bedroom" he called to his little sister.
"Where are you going, Ron?" she asked once she saw her brother's outfit.
"To the ministry" he answered as he bent to tie his shoes
"Did something happen?" she asked worriedly
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione
"Well, Harry left early this morning to go to the ministry too, and he only goes when something important happened" she said as she showed them the letter he had left for her.
Gin,
Gone to the ministry, be back before lunch.
Love,
Harry
"He left it on the living room table while I was asleep" she explained
"I don't know what's going on, all I know is that Jodie fire called me this morning and said that Harry told her to let me and Draco know that we need to keep an eye on things there for a while after he read a letter that had been left for him." He explained as he got to his feet and pocketed his wand "I'll call you when I know what's going on" he said as kissed Hermione before he left the room and headed toward Draco's room.
He quickly explained what was going on to the half asleep Draco and within ten minutes, the pair were on their way to the edge of the school grounds where they could apparated to the ministry to try and figure out just where their boss and friend had taken off to so quickly without any warning, and to read the mysterious letter that had been left behind.
When they arrived at the Ministries apparition point, they found an anxious looking Jodie waiting for them as well as Kristin Malfoy, who immediately enveloped Draco in a tight hug. They had been separated for over a week now due to a mission that she had been on, and therefore she had no idea about what had been happening. Taking the lead by several paces, Ron and Jodie allowed him to fill her in.
By the time they reached the head aurors office, Kristin looked just as somber and worried as the two men.
"Thank you Jodie, we can take it from here. Please close the door on your way out" said Draco as Ron was cautiously approaching the sheet of parchment that was lying on the floor just behind the desk.
Not wanting to trust the sender not to have cursed the letter with something that Harry could block but that would kill a normal man, Ron used his wand to levitate it to his eye level and the three began to read.
Potter,
If you want to see your children alive again, meet me at the place where your nightmares began before sunrise today. We will be waiting for you and I will give you one opportunity to try and persuade them to leave with you, but if you can't, your worst fears will come true. Sunrise, Potter, come alone and don't be late.
Iniquitous
"Bloody hell Potter, what have you gotten yourself into this time" muttered Malfoy as the trio looked out the window to see the sun high in the sky, having risen nearly an hour ago, just when Jodie had waken Ron up.
"Where is he?" asked Kristin, rereading the part about where to meet the evil wizard and his kids again.
"I don't know" said Ron quietly, his brow furrowed in concentration before he cursed and strode over to the fire where he grabbed a handful of powder and shouted his wife's name. After a hurried conversation, he backed out of the fire and stood. A minute later, Hermione appeared out of the fire, and as she was dusting herself off, Ginny came through as well.
"Well, what have you found?" Hermione asked at once. Mutely Ron motioned to the letter he had left on the desk, both read it quickly and Ginny's eyes became even more worried and Hermione's became thoughtful.
"Where do you think they are?" asked Ron after several moments.
"I'm not sure, it could be several places. Harry had a lot of nightmares that came true, that his parents were killed, that Voldemort would come back, that he would get control and hurt someone, that he would be tortured until he gave up, that he would die. The list goes on and on, he could be anywhere" said Hermione in exasperation as she collapsed into a seat.
"The graveyard" said Ginny quietly "He once told me that his worst nightmare was that Voldemort would come back and that we would once again be at war and that happened at the graveyard by the Riddle house"
"But how do we get there? Do any of you know where it is?" asked Kristin
"Little Hanglington" answered Hermione promptly and after several amazed looks were sent her way she elaborated "I looked it up after he told us about the tournament" she explained quickly.
"Ok, lets go then" said Ron and at once he turned on his heal and strode from the office, the other four right behind him.
A/N: Ok, several months later, I actually update. Thank you all for your kind words and patience, updates will be more regular now that things have calmed down. Take a look at my new colt if you want to, his name is Dakota and there is a picture of him on my group page. Let me know what you think and if you get bored, check out my other story Reestablishing Trust. Please review!
Misty
After Remus had finished reading the foreboding letter, the occupants of the office sat in a silence broken only by their own breathing for what felt like an eternity before Harry spoke up, looking to his guardian with determined eyes.
"Any suggestions?" he asked hopefully
'I'm afraid not, my child, there is nothing we can do right now except to prepare for the inevitable battle' she answered quietly, sounding like a mournful phoenix song to anyone else but speaking perfect English to Harry.
"I will not fight my children, no matter what" he said forcefully as he hit the floor with his clenched fist, catching all the attention of those in the room.
'I am not asking you to, but there is nobody who knows where James and Lily are who is willing to tell us, and since you are even unable to locate them where ever they are being hidden, there is little else that we can do. You will have to fight Iniquitous eventually, and from what we have seen so far, he is a very powerful wizard and you need to be at your best in order to fight him and win without endangering your children anymore than they already are' she answered calmly.
"I guess your right, but I WILL find them, and I won't stop looking until I do, even if the search is hopeless. They are the most important thing in the world to me and I won't loose them." He said in determination as he stood and helped Ginny to her feet before turning back to the others in the office as Terres took flight through the window "I would recommend that you all get some sleep, beginning tomorrow, we will get ready for the coming war, and we will stop it before it has a chance to begin this time" he said before striding from the office with a tear streaked but equally determined Ginny at his side.
When the couple returned to their rooms, Harry allowed his mask to fall and looked every bit the worried father that he currently was.
"Harry?" said Ginny softly as she joined him on the couch after she had conjured a tea set, the one word asking a thousand questions.
"I don't know what to do, Gin" he admitted as he buried his head in his hands "Before, it was me against the bad guys, but this time, it's not just me against them, James and Lily are thrust into the middle of a battle that they had nothing to do with. He wants to get rid of me, but he's going to use my kids to do so. What do I do about that? I could never hurt the twins, but if I allow him to do what he plans, then the entire world is at risk from a threat we know nothing about. Where did he come from and how did he ever find out so much about me? I know that there are only a handful of people that know some of those things, and others, such as the things with the Dursleys, no one else knew, not even you, yet he found out, how? How do I fight a man who knows everything there is to know about me and even hope to win?" he asked with his head still in his hands.
"Simple, you do what you think is right, no matter what. You are the most powerful wizard who has ever lived, and nothing Iniquitous can do can change that. You love the twins and they love you, this was all just a terrible misunderstanding on their part, and once they realize the truth they'll understand how harsh they were in judging you and they will come to their senses. They're smart kids, the smartest that I've ever known and I'm not just saying that because they're mine either. Things will work out alright, just wait and see." She said and not for the first time, Harry wondered who the most powerful one was, for her words had more of an affect on him than even the most potent calming spell or potion would have ever had.
After her speech, they finished their tea in silence before curling up on the couch together and falling into a restless sleep, both plagued by nightmares of what the future held if they couldn't find the twins in time, nightmares mirrored by those closest to them asleep in their own corners of the massive castle.
Harry was the first to wake the next morning, and as soon as his eyes were open he had an idea. Carefully, he extracted himself from his wife's arms and got to his feet. With a quick wave of his hand, he was wearing his ministry robes and dragonhide boots and with another wave, his sword and dagger were strapped securely to his hips. He then grabbed his thick scarlet and gold cloak from the back of the sofa where he had left it the day before and fastened it around his shoulders, effectively hiding the weapons from the casual eye. After taking up his staff, he set off toward the door, pausing only long enough to leave a letter for Ginny on the table in front of the couch. Once outside their rooms, he hurriedly made his way to the entrance hall and then off the school grounds where he apparated straight to the ministry's auror headquarters. Sure, he could have just apparated straight from his rooms to the ministry, but seeing as both places had antiapparation wards erected around them, it required quite a bit of energy that he didn't want to expend that morning, he had more important things to use it for.
Once in his office, he completely ignored his desk and the mountain of paperwork and mail sitting on top of it and instead headed straight to the large cabinet behind it where he kept his own supply of potions, made by the highest ranking potions masters in the world, Severus Snape included. After nearly twenty minutes of sifting through the over five hundred small vials, his face broke into an expression of victory as he removed one containing a translucent blue potion and settled behind his desk, twirling the potion absently between his fingers, deep in thought. His thoughts were broken a moment later though, when the door to his office burst open and one of his junior assistants hurried in.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, I didn't know that you were going to be here this morning" she said quickly, her face blushing slightly at her mistake at not knocking.
"That's alright, Jodie, is there something I can help you with?" he asked out of sheer habit.
"This just came for you, sir, and I was just going to add it to the rest" she said as she held up the sealed envelope.
"Thank you" said Harry as he reached across the desk to take it from her, and once deciding it was of little importance, he went to place it in the pile beside him before he noticed the topmost letter, addressed in red ink in a now familiar scrawl. "When did this get here?" he asked as he held up the letter in trembling hands.
"I don't know? Who's it from?" asked Jodie as she peered at the letter in curiosity, but Harry had already torn it open and was reading it quickly.
"Contact Draco and Ron, tell them that they're going to have to handle things here for a little while" he said as he got to his feet and apparated away, leaving the letter to float to the ground on its own. The assistant quickly went back to her desk and after grabbing some floo powder in her hand, ran to the closest fireplace and called first Ron.
"What is it Jodie?" he asked as he stumbled over to the fireplace, rubbing sleep from his eyes, it was, after all, only six in the morning.
"Mr. Potter asked me to contact you and Mr. Malfoy and tell you that he wanted you to handle things here for a little while" she said quietly, not wanting to wake Hermione who she could just see still asleep on the bed.
"WHAT!?" roared Ron "Where is Harry?" he demanded harshly
"I don't know, he was here for a little while, then he read some letter that was on his desk and told me to contact you before he apparated away" she said quickly, not understanding why Ron was so upset.
"Who was the letter from?" he asked a little more calmly since Hermione now had her hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know" she said, her voice wavering slightly "But he left it in his office" she added hopefully.
"Ok, don't touch that letter, I'll get a hold of Draco and we'll be there in ten minutes, don't touch the letter and don' let anyone else into his office" ordered Ron as he stood and an instant later Jodie's head was out of their fire.
"What happened?" asked Hermione as Ron began ot dress in his own ministry robes.
"I'm not sure, all she said was that Harry read a letter that was on his desk and told her to let me and Draco know that we were going to be in charge for a while before he disapparated. She doesn't know who the letter was from or where he went." He added as he grabbed his cloak and fastened it to help with the undoubtedly chilly weather outside.
"What was he doing at the ministry this early in the morning anyways?" asked Hermione, looking out the window to see that the sun was just peaking out from over the trees of the forbidden forest just as their was a knock at their door "Come in" she yelled once she had found her dressing gown.
"Ron? Hermione?" asked a voice from the living room that both recognized at once as Ginny's. They shared a worried glance before Ron spoke up.
"In the bedroom" he called to his little sister.
"Where are you going, Ron?" she asked once she saw her brother's outfit.
"To the ministry" he answered as he bent to tie his shoes
"Did something happen?" she asked worriedly
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione
"Well, Harry left early this morning to go to the ministry too, and he only goes when something important happened" she said as she showed them the letter he had left for her.
Gin,
Gone to the ministry, be back before lunch.
Love,
Harry
"He left it on the living room table while I was asleep" she explained
"I don't know what's going on, all I know is that Jodie fire called me this morning and said that Harry told her to let me and Draco know that we need to keep an eye on things there for a while after he read a letter that had been left for him." He explained as he got to his feet and pocketed his wand "I'll call you when I know what's going on" he said as kissed Hermione before he left the room and headed toward Draco's room.
He quickly explained what was going on to the half asleep Draco and within ten minutes, the pair were on their way to the edge of the school grounds where they could apparated to the ministry to try and figure out just where their boss and friend had taken off to so quickly without any warning, and to read the mysterious letter that had been left behind.
When they arrived at the Ministries apparition point, they found an anxious looking Jodie waiting for them as well as Kristin Malfoy, who immediately enveloped Draco in a tight hug. They had been separated for over a week now due to a mission that she had been on, and therefore she had no idea about what had been happening. Taking the lead by several paces, Ron and Jodie allowed him to fill her in.
By the time they reached the head aurors office, Kristin looked just as somber and worried as the two men.
"Thank you Jodie, we can take it from here. Please close the door on your way out" said Draco as Ron was cautiously approaching the sheet of parchment that was lying on the floor just behind the desk.
Not wanting to trust the sender not to have cursed the letter with something that Harry could block but that would kill a normal man, Ron used his wand to levitate it to his eye level and the three began to read.
Potter,
If you want to see your children alive again, meet me at the place where your nightmares began before sunrise today. We will be waiting for you and I will give you one opportunity to try and persuade them to leave with you, but if you can't, your worst fears will come true. Sunrise, Potter, come alone and don't be late.
Iniquitous
"Bloody hell Potter, what have you gotten yourself into this time" muttered Malfoy as the trio looked out the window to see the sun high in the sky, having risen nearly an hour ago, just when Jodie had waken Ron up.
"Where is he?" asked Kristin, rereading the part about where to meet the evil wizard and his kids again.
"I don't know" said Ron quietly, his brow furrowed in concentration before he cursed and strode over to the fire where he grabbed a handful of powder and shouted his wife's name. After a hurried conversation, he backed out of the fire and stood. A minute later, Hermione appeared out of the fire, and as she was dusting herself off, Ginny came through as well.
"Well, what have you found?" Hermione asked at once. Mutely Ron motioned to the letter he had left on the desk, both read it quickly and Ginny's eyes became even more worried and Hermione's became thoughtful.
"Where do you think they are?" asked Ron after several moments.
"I'm not sure, it could be several places. Harry had a lot of nightmares that came true, that his parents were killed, that Voldemort would come back, that he would get control and hurt someone, that he would be tortured until he gave up, that he would die. The list goes on and on, he could be anywhere" said Hermione in exasperation as she collapsed into a seat.
"The graveyard" said Ginny quietly "He once told me that his worst nightmare was that Voldemort would come back and that we would once again be at war and that happened at the graveyard by the Riddle house"
"But how do we get there? Do any of you know where it is?" asked Kristin
"Little Hanglington" answered Hermione promptly and after several amazed looks were sent her way she elaborated "I looked it up after he told us about the tournament" she explained quickly.
"Ok, lets go then" said Ron and at once he turned on his heal and strode from the office, the other four right behind him.
A/N: Ok, several months later, I actually update. Thank you all for your kind words and patience, updates will be more regular now that things have calmed down. Take a look at my new colt if you want to, his name is Dakota and there is a picture of him on my group page. Let me know what you think and if you get bored, check out my other story Reestablishing Trust. Please review!
Misty