A Serpent Among Lions

Chapter 11 - Futility

Harry sat at the kitchen table and sipped his cup of tea. His eyes played over Ginny's face and picked up on her mixed feelings of anxiety, anger and confusion. They had been discussing places for her to hide for over an hour now and were no closer to arriving at a decision. Ginny wanted to be someplace nearby so that she would be able to see friends and family often but Harry wanted her in a place as far away and as remote as possible.

For the third time, Harry said, "Ginny, we are wizards. It doesn't matter how far away you are, your family and I will be able to get to you as quickly as if you were close by. My thought is that if you are in a far away place, whoever is doing this to our family will have more places to search and will therefore be less likely to find you. Does this make sense?" Harry was a patient man but he knew if they did not come to an agreement on this issue soon, he was going to become aggravated.

Ginny sighed, this was so unfair, "We have to think about the baby too, Harry. I mean I should go and see a healer and make sure everything's okay. This is the time when we should be happy and getting ready for our baby and this person, whoever he is, is taking that joy away from us. Do you know how worried I'm going to be wondering if you are alright and if you are safe? I worry enough now as it is. I mean, where can I go that we know that the baby and I will be safe?"

"Well, unfortunately nowhere is completely safe so we have to do the best we can. Sending you as far away as possible and to the remotest location possible is me doing the best I can. When I say far away, I mean out of the country at the very least, possibly even to another continent. I would be most comfortable with you in North America or Australia, to be completely honest. I understand that you will be worried about me but I will be able to visit you. I will come see you whenever I can get away, I promise." Harry said these words with an urgency that had been absent from his voice thus far.

Ginny thought about going so far away from her family and friends. Meghan, what was going to happen with her? With Christmas? "Have you thought about how you are going to find this monster who set you up? You should think about asking my dad, I know he knows that you are innocent, maybe he can help," She knew that the evidence was stacked against him overwhelmingly.

Nodding, Harry said, "You're right. I am very thankful to have the support of the minister of magic. That was one thing I did not have years ago with Fudge and Scrimgeour. I haven't been using the resources of your father enough thus far." Harry rose his feet and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. "I think I'll write him a quick note asking him to meet me tonight. Will you feel comfortable here by yourself?"

Ginny nodded, "I'll be fine. I'm going to start making a list of what I will need when I go into hiding and things like that. I just wish that you were going to be going into hiding with me, Harry. I'm going to be worried sick about you," She said, giving him a hug and kiss.

Harry returned Ginny's kiss and then set to writing the letter.

Dear Arthur,

I would like to meet with you in private this evening. If you are available at 8 pm, please meet me at the usual spot.

Regards,

Daniel

He rolled up the parchment and attached it so Hedwig's leg and sent her off with the admonition, "Get this to Arthur Weasley quickly, please."

Ginny looked at the clock, they still had an hour til he was going to meet her dad. "Why don't we have something to eat? I know its hard to eat at a time like this but we both need to keep up our strength and no matter how I feel, the baby needs nourishment. Just promise me that you won't take any chances tonight, okay?"

Harry smiled at Ginny and said, "Of course I will be careful. I want to be around for this baby to watch him or her grow. I need to end this so that the baby can live in peace with the whole family around." He helped Ginny to a chair and then magicked Ginny's favorite meal on the table in front of them. "Enjoy dear," he said as he sat down in the chair opposite her.

Not really hungry but knowing that she needed to eat for the baby's sake, Ginny cut herself some pork chop and ate it, followed by some mashed potatoes, "I hope we have a little boy this time, Harry. Someone to carry on the name of Potter. Boys run in my family, you know, so there's a good chance that it will be a boy," she said, smiling a bit sadly at the thought of leaving her family. She knew that they would be able to come and visit but it didn't make it any easier. Just then, Hedwig returned to the flat and deposited a scroll in front of Harry.

Harry unrolled the scroll and read it quickly. "Arthur says he can't meet at eight as he has a meeting already scheduled for that time." He looked at his watch and continued. "He's asking to meet at 7:30 instead. That only leaves me fifteen minutes to get there. Are you alright finishing dinner alone?"

Ginny sighed, Harry hadn't really eaten anything today since breakfast and she was concerned about him, "Alright, but please take something with you to eat while you two talk. You need to keep up your strength. You know how our magic isn't as powerful if we are sick or hungry and you need every bit of power you can get."

Harry jumped up from his chair and gave Ginny a quick peck on the lips. Before he made for the door, he grabbed a pork chop and gestured with it to his wife. "If I take this chop, will it make you feel better?" For good measure, he chomped down on it and chewed heartily.

Ginny laughed, "Yes, that does help. Now, go talk to my dad. I love you and you be careful, you hear? Tell my dad I love him too," she said, standing up and giving him a hug. She felt a sense of foreboding, but figured it was just hormones and that things were just plain scary these days, "I'll take good care of our baby and I'll think about who should be the Secret Keeper as well."

Harry returned the hug heartily and left the flat, shutting the door quietly behind him. He took a moment to strengthen the protection spells he had surrounding the flat before making his way outside. When he was a safe distance from his building, Harry turned into an alley and checked all around him before disapparating.

Ginny finished up her dinner and, although the flat had a dishwasher, decided that she would clean the plates by magic. The flat seemed so empty without Harry there, but she knew that he was going to be with her dad and that he was safe for the moment. It had been such a long, exhausting day, both physically and emotionally. She had planned to pack, but found that she was tired and thought it would be better to just rest for now.

Sitting down in one of the rocker recliners that Harry had in the living room, she summoned a blanket from the sofa and soon had nodded off to sleep.

A man dressed all in black crept down the hallway, his eyes on the numbers posted on every door. At last, he reached the door marked "227" and stopped, listening. He heard nothing from the inside but he knew that the girl was in there alone; he had seen filthy Harry Potter leaving only minutes before. With his wand, the man traced a pattern in the air and, one by one, he was able to detect the enchantments and spells that were protecting the flat. He had known that it was unlikely for Potter to leave his wife alone without protecting the flat so he had come with a plan.

Quickly and quietly the man walked backwards until he reached the stairs at the end of the hall and he ducked around a corner. Putting his wand to his throat, he muttered a spell under his breath. After waiting the necessary ten seconds for the spell to take effect, the man called out in a perfect imitation of Harry's voice, "Ginny! Help me! Come quick!"

Ginny awoke, forgetting where she was with her brain still not quite awake. She heard Harry yelling for her from outside the flat, somewhere. Grabbing her wand, she pointed her wand at her abdomen and uttered a spell, protecting the baby within her. Opening the flat door a couple of inches, wand at the ready, she peeked out, "Harry, where are you? I don't see you!"

The man heard Ginny's voice and an insidious smile crossed his face for a split second. His plan was working perfectly. He called out, still in Harry's voice, "By the stairs, Ginny, I can't move!"

Ginny hesitated slightly, an inner battle waging inside of her. What if it was a trick? But she couldn't take that chance. Bursting out of the door, she ran down the hall towards the stairs and looked around for Harry, "Harry, I'm here! What happened?"

As Ginny's footsteps echoed down the hall, the man tensed, waiting. The moment he saw the ends of her red hair swing into view, he pointed his wand and said, "Petrificus Totalus."

Ginny only caught a glimpse of her attacker out of the corner of her eye before she saw him raise his wand and cast the spell. Instinctively she covered her abdomen with her arms as an extra protection for the baby and then went stiff as a board, watching as her attacker came over to her. He was masked, so she couldn't see his face, and dressed all in black.

The masked man watched with satisfaction as Ginny fell to the floor. He had to stifle a laugh of derision as she put up a hand to protect her baby. These people were so sentimental it made him sick.

Without another look at Ginny, the man walked down the hall and through the open door of Harry Potter's flat. Reaching into a fold of his robes, he produced a roll of parchment and placed it carefully on the dining table. He made sure everything was in order before closing the door and replacing the protection spells upon it. When he reached the frozen Ginny, the man placed a hand on her arm and with almost inhuman strength, hauled her to her feet in an awkward standing position. With a loud crack, the two of them disapparated.

Arthur made sure that everything was in order at his office before he left for his meeting. Molly had filled him in earlier about what had been happening lately with Ginny and Harry and he was so angry that someone was doing this to his daughter and the man he considered to be his seventh son. He knew that Harry was innocent, he never had any doubt that he was. He just didn't know how to help them.

Taking his cloak he had been given as a gift on becoming Minister of Magic, he apparated to the top room of the Big Ben clock. People were only allowed to the top of the tower by appointment and he knew that there were no appointments this late at night. He did not have to wait long before he was joined by Harry.

"Good evening, Daniel," He said, looking at him with concern, "How are you doing?"

"Hello, Arthur. I am doing well considering." He reached out to shake his father-in-law's hand. "How is everything at the ministry?"

"Busy as usual," Arthur said, a gentle smile upon his face, "But I daresay that is not why you wanted to speak to me," Arthur said, conjuring up two chairs, "I do want to offer my congratulations about the new baby, though. It's always nice to hear about another grandchild on the way." He gestured for Harry to sit down.

Harry sat in the chair indicated and sighed, his face barely cracking a smile at the congratulations. "No, Arthur, this is not why I asked to meet with you. You are, of course, aware of my situation and the accusations against me. I wanted to ask your advice about how to go about finding the one truly responsible for the murders of my aunt and uncle. I know you have resources that far outweigh mine."

Arthur nodded grimly, then sighed, and shook his head, "Alas, Harry, I have been doing everything I can to help clear your name and find the responsible party. I have sent out scouts to your aunt and uncle's house and other than the samples collected at the time of the murder the only other people whose traces we found there were your cousin, your aunt and your uncle. I have people looking into every lead, though. We want to keep you and Ginny safe and out of harm's way. I even have some Aurors working on it in confidence, of course, but I do have them working and looking into every lead. I wish I had better news to give you."

Then Arthur remembered something. "I don't know if this is a clue or not, but we did find something in a waste paper basket, a piece of paper which had been torn into many pieces. We are working on piecing it back together, but since there were other scraps of paper in the basket, it's like dumping several jigsaw puzzles out on a table and sorting out which pieces go where. We are doing our best though, and as soon as we find out what it is we will let you know."

Harry thought the news of the torn piece of paper was quite strange. His aunt and uncle never tore up papers, preferring to use a high tech shredder that Vernon had brought home years before. He began to get excited about this lead as he realized that the paper may well belong to the murderer. "Arthur, this is excellent news, I'm glad you remembered to tell me about it. It's the first real lead I've had in weeks, anyway. Please let me know as soon as you piece anything readable together."

Arthur looked at his watch. "Harry, I need to get going. I will let you know when we know anything at all about that paper in the basket. By the way, how is Ginny holding up? She must be awfully worried about you. I know Molly is a wreck, especially now with the baby on the way."

"Ginny seems to be doing well, all things considered. She is mostly upset about having to leave her family and friends behind when she goes into hiding. I know she'll be glad when all this is over and she can go back to life as usual." Standing and slapping Arthur on the back, Harry said, "Thanks for meeting with me, Arthur. Take care of yourself and Molly."

Arthur stood from his chair, and clapped Harry on the back as well, "You know that we are here for you anytime, Daniel. You are like one of our own children and have been ever since we first met you. You take care of Ginny and that baby of yours and we'll be in touch. Tell Ginny that if she needs any help we'll be glad to help her and when she goes into hiding that we will come and visit her."

Harry nodded his agreement and thanks and then disappeared with a loud crack. Seconds later, he appeared in the alley from which he had departed. He looked quickly around to make sure that no one had heard his arrival and then walked to his building. He ran up the stairs and when he reached his door, he flung it open and called, "Ginny, I'm back and I have some good news." Receiving no response, Harry checked first the bedroom and then the bathroom, in case Ginny was in the bath or had fallen asleep.

It quickly became clear to Harry that Ginny was not in the flat and panic overtook him. He ran from room to room calling her name until he was exhausted. Finally, he sat down at the dining table and laid his head on the table, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. Instead of his forehead hitting wood, he felt paper crunch beneath his skin.

Harry sat up quickly and grasped the unfamiliar scroll of parchment and unrolled it. He read:

We have your wife. She is at present unharmed and will remain so as long as you cooperate. Tell no one that she is missing and make no effort to find her. We will be in contact with your next instructions.

The note was unsigned and scrawled in a harsh, ugly handwriting that Harry did not recognize. The hopelessness of his situation fell upon him as Harry tossed the note to the table and wept openly.