A/N: Yay, I actually finished this chapter. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to because of the huge pile of homework I have to do before school starts. I know, that logic is warped, right? Anway, on the the story.
Chapter 5
18 August, 1996
Ginny Weasley hummed tunelessly to herself as she headed downstairs for breakfast. She was in an unusually good mood this morning, mostly due to the wonderful night's sleep she had. It had been a long time since she had rested without any dreams of Tom Riddle's Diary.
She sighed, her good mood diminishing slightly with that thought. It had taken years for her to fully get over the events of her first year, but she had finally come to terms with it. Except for the occasional violent nightmare, those memories were only a slight shadow in her subconscious. And, although she wished it had never happen, she was glad that she knew how to comfort Harry now.
While she didn't know what it was like to lose someone she cared about, she was able to relate to Harry over Voldemort's possession. She understood why Harry had struggles over the summer to master Occulmency to prevent anyone from ever entering his mid again. It felt awful not to have control.
A week into vacation, Ginny had sent Harry her first letter to him. She knew that he only thought of her as Ron's little sister, but she wanted – no, needed to make sure he was alright after the Department of Mysteries. Remus had sent him a note, but all he had gotten back was a short answer: 'I'm fine, don't worry about me.' She was sure he couldn't be fine after what had happened. And he hadn't even mentioned leaving the Dursleys, which worried her as she knew how much he hated it there.
So she had borrowed Pig from Ron and sent a message to Harry. It was filled with jokes and anecdotes about the Twins and anything that wasn't about Voldemort.
Harry had responded two days later, faster than he had with anyone else's letters. And the two had formed a unique friendship.
Ginny entered the kitchen and immediately glared at her brother. She hadn't quite forgiven him about the way he and Hermione had treated Harry. And on the day of Sirius' funeral no less! It wasn't like they were even in any less danger now, what with their connection to the Order. The only thing that had accomplished was to ruin a great friendship and add to Harry's already overly large guilt complex.
Speaking of which ...
"Where's Harry?" she asked the various Order members sitting around the table.
"Still in his room," Kingsley replied. "He didn't go to bed until late last night, so we thought it best to let him sleep in a little today." He glanced at his watch. "But I'm surprised he hasn't woken on his own by now."
"Ginny dear, would you mind going to wake-up Harry?" he mother asked, bustling around by the stove. Ginny shook her head and exited the kitchen again.
She lightly knocked on the door to his bedroom. Getting no answer, she slipped into the room. "Ry?" she whispered, using the code name they had established in their letters. It still gave her chills whenever he called her Red, even though she swore up and down that she was over her silly infatuation with him. It was just that the code names gave a secret agent feel to everything, like they were stuck in a comic book. It made everything seem so much more dangerous.
Ginny blinked, her eyes having difficulty adjusting to the dim light of the room. When her vision finally focused, she saw a sight she dreaded.
Harry's bed was empty.
"Oh, I really don't want to be the one to tell Mum you snuck out again."
She carefully made her way over to the bed and searched for the trademark sign that Harry was gone and not just hanging out in a deserted room upstairs. There it was. A small note lay tucked under the corner of his pillow.
Dear Whoever-it-is-who-finds-this-letter,
My condolences to you for having to deliver this news to Mrs. Weasley. I hope you have earmuffs.
Yes, I snuck out again. And before you start berating me about the dangers of wandering outside without a guard, I am well covered (hint, hint Tonks).
Wait, you can't lecture me. I'm gone.
New plan: yell at me when I get back, okay?
Harry
PS – Don't worry, Mad-Eye, I'm practicing CONSTANT VIGILANCE! This is just some real world experience. Oh, and better luck next time. You'll never figure out how I did it.
Ginny rolled her eyes. This was typical Harry. Boy, would he get hell for this when he returned.
Not that anyone could blame him for leaving. Again. Anyone with eyes could tell that Harry hated this house. Anyone with ears who lived in a twenty block radius had heard the argument that he had with Dumbledore over it.
There was something going on between the two of them that Ginny couldn't quite place. While she could understand Harry's anger at the Headmaster for leaving his with the Dursleys and treating him like a child, there seemed to be something else.
She shrugged it off for now and started back towards her impending doom. Calmly she pushed open the door and took her place at the table.
"Is Harry on his way down?" her mother questioned. "Or is still asleep. Poor dear, he's been sleeping fitfully lately ..."
"No, Mum, he's not still asleep. He's gone," she said simply. Ignoring the jaw drops, she added pleasantly, "So what's for breakfast?"
"Gone?" Her mother took a deep breath. "Gone? Again?"
"Are you sure he didn't just fall asleep in the library or something?" pressed Kingsley. "That's where he turned up last time."
"Positive."
"So what did it say this time?" said a voice from the doorway. Ginny turned around to face Mad-Eye Moody's whizzing blue eye. She passed him the piece of parchment, and watched as he read it and chuckled. "At least he's being careful."
"Careful?!?" yelled Mrs. Weasley. "How could he be careful?!? He could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere for all we know!"
"Mum, don't be so dramatic," Ginny snapped out, impatiently.
Mad-Eye ignored them. "I thought we had it this time, too," he mused. He looked at Ginny. "Any idea how he got out?"
"You'll have to ask Harry."
His forehead wrinkled in concentration and his magical was spinning all over the place. "Wards on the third floor bathroom look a little weak. He could have broken through there. Hmmm ... No worries, I love a good challenge."
His musings were interrupted by a sudden Floo call. Kingsley went over to answer it. A frantic and very pale Tom from the Leaky Cauldron appeared.
Ginny knew it was bad before he even opened his mouth.
"Something has happened to Harry."
The people within a twenty mile radius of Number Twelve Gimmauld Place needed to break out their earplugs again.
"We want to go to the meeting!" bellowed Ron Weasley. Hermione made a noise of agreement.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger," Dumbledore tried to explain. "But you are too young –"
"Harry's our best friend!" interjected Hermione. "We have the right to know what's going on!"
"He is not your best friend!" screamed Ginny. "You two haven't even been able to look him in the eye for a month now!"
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore look slightly disturbed by this revelation.
Hermione, for the first time in her life, ignored a teacher. "We had one fight! That doesn't mean we aren't friends anymore!"
"Oh, yes, because friends ignore each other when they need comforting the most. You didn't even write Harry one letter this summer while he was stuck with those horrible relations of his!"
"I know we were wrong – "
"Wrong? You basically accused him of murdering his parents and Sirius!" There was silence.
"What?" No one had noticed that the entire Order present had been listening to their conversations. Remus Lupin stood, looking stricken, by the staircase. Hermione and Ginny stared at each other coldly as Ron hovered awkwardly in the background.
'They didn't know,' Ginny thought. 'They didn't know why Harry wasn't speaking with the rest of the supposed Dream Team.'
"Come on, Hermione," Ron said, breaking through the tension that hung in the air. "Let's go upstairs."
Hermione lost the aggravated look on her face and stared at Ron pleadingly. "But, we need to know – "
"We can find out later, Hermione." He kept glancing at Remus' rapidly reddening cheeks. "Let's go." He reached for her arm.
"Stop." Remus' voice had an icy tone to it. "What did you say to Harry?"
Hermione looked at him fearfully. "It didn't come out the way that I meant it. I – "
"But you did tell him that he was – responsible – for their deaths?"
She nodded, timidly. Remus gritted his teeth together.
Dumbledore chose this moment to intervene. "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, if you could please retire upstairs." They quickly left. "Remus, would you please gain control before you do something you will regret?"
"No wonder he's been so withdrawn lately. I can't believe they would – "
"We will discuss this later. Right now, we have more pressing matters. Miss Weasley – "
"Let her stay," said Remus suddenly.
The Headmaster gave him a long, penetrating look. Ginny couldn't help, but think that the professor was reading Remus' mind. He slowly nodded. "Alright."
"But Albus – " her mother started, but Dumbledore held up his hand.
"Just for this meeting. She has a right to know what is happening to Harry." Everyone took their seats, Ginny settling in next to her parents. "Now, it would appear that, one hour ago, Mr. Potter mysteriously vanished from the Leaky Cauldron. What he was doing in the Leaky Cauldron in the first place remains to be seen. I was under the impression that we would not have any more incidents like this." He glanced at Mad-Eye who grinned.
"Well, Potter has always had a strange knack for escaping."
"Quite. However, in this case – "He was cut off by the door to the meeting room opening. Severus Snape stalked in.
"I'm sorry I'm late, but I have something of great urgency to tell you."
"If this is about Harry then we already know," said Tonks.
Snape looked puzzled. "What about Potter?"
"He's missing."
"What a strange coincidence. Let me guess, he just mysteriously vanished into thin air?"
"How did you know that?"
"Because he's not the only one."
Dumbledore leaned forward in his chair. "Who else has disappeared, Severus?"
"Oh, just the Dark Lord and a large portion of his Death Eaters."