A/N: Well, here's chapter four. I hope that by continually updating someone will find this ff and read it. Anyway.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Jessica is though. Steal her and I'll... well, I don't know what I'll do but it will be very very annoying.
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Chapter Four: Tears for the Missing
They used Floo powder to get to Ron's house. After Jessica had gotten over another sick stomach and she had actually looked around at Ron's house she could really only think of one word to describe it. Cozy. It had a cozy feeling to it and Jessica liked it much better than her grandmother's house. Her grandmother's house had too many unused rooms. Her grandmother's house felt empty. Ron's house on the other hand, felt very lived in.
While Mrs. Weasley was the kitchen cooking dinner Jessica was introduced to Ron's younger sister Ginny, his older brother Percy and his father. Mr. Weasley was quite interested in finding out about how Muggles lived and he managed to draw Jessica into a conversation with him. After explaining how a light switch worked, among other things, Mrs. Weasley called everyone to dinner.
Jessica had never tasted food so good. She ate until she was fuller than she could ever recall being and then she listened to the others talk about news in the wizarding world. For a while it was all about Quidditch (whatever that was) and who was in going to be the next minister of magic.
Finally Mrs. Weasley said, "It's getting late, you'd better be getting off to bed now." With everyone but the twins voicing their agreement, everyone got up from the table. As Harry, Ron, Hermione and Jessica made their way up stairs Hermione told Jessica that she could lend her some clothes until her grandmother could bring her some more.
The girls stopped at the third floor landing, where they would be sleeping.
"Goodnight, Ron," Hermione said. "'Night Harry."
"See you in the morning, Hermione," Ron said.
"See you, Hermione," Harry echoed. He gave Jessica a small smile and said, "Goodnight," before continuing up the stairs with Ron.
"See you tomorrow guys," Jessica called up the stairs after them.
Jessica borrowed a pair of pajamas belonging to Hermione, who conjured up a sleeping bag for her. Jessica climbed into it and fell asleep.
When Jessica woke up the next morning she was the only one in Ginny's bedroom. She changed into the clothes Hermione had been kind enough to lay out for her. She tied back her messy dark brown hair instead of brushing it and then she went downstairs.
Everyone except for Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table and when Jessica walked in she was greeted by a chorus of, "good morning!"s. She took a seat at the table and Mrs. Weasley began heaping breakfast onto her plate.
"We decided to let you sleep," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "You seemed to need it."
"Yeah, we were wondering when you were going to wake up," Ron said.
"I'm not sure I am awake," Jessica said in response, drawing laughter from Harry and Ron. She grinned and started eating.
"Hey mum, can we have seconds?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, we're hungry," George added.
Mrs. Weasley frowned at them. "No," she said. "I'm saving the rest for your father; I imagine he's going to be famished when he gets home."
"Where is Dad anyway?" Ron asked curiously.
"He got an urgent call from the ministry early this morning," Mrs. Weasley said. There was silence in the room after she said that. Everyone looked extremely solemn. Jessica saw Ron and Hermione exchange a glance before looking at Harry, whose eyes had dropped to his plate.
Breakfast continued in silence for awhile. Just as Harry and the others were finishing up, Mr. Weasley walked in.
"Morning everyone," he said as he sat down at the table.
"Morning dad," all the Weasleys except for Mrs. Weasley said. His walking in seem to break the spell of silence and the boys began to talk about Quidditch (Jessica still had no idea what it was but she planned to ask Harry when he wasn't surrounded by Ron, Fred and George.)
"What was it Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she served him the remained of the food.
"There was another attack early this morning," Mr. Weasley said. At his words everyone became silent. Jessica looked around to see if she was the only one who was clueless. She was.
"Was it-one of ours, Arthur?" Mrs. Weasley asked as though expecting the worst.
"Hard to tell but I'd say yes," Mr. Weasley answered. "She was living like a Muggle but there were spell books all around."
"Who was it?" Mrs. Weasley said. "Is she...?"
"Her name was Eliza Thompson," Mr. Weasley said. He started to say more but he was cut off by a gasp from Jessica. Everyone at the table looked at her with a curious look on their face. Except for Harry. Jessica saw her shock mirrored in his eyes.
"What is it Jessica?" Molly asked her, seeing the look on her face.
Jessica tried to speak but the words didn't seem to want to come. Finally she managed to force them out.
"My grandmother's name," Jessica said, her voice hoarse and shaky, "is Eliza Thompson. What-who attacked her?" Jessica asked. "She's not...is she...dead?" Her eyes began to fill with tears at the thought of her grandmother being dead. Her grandmother was the only one she had, what would she do without her? Where would she go?
"Arthur," Mrs. Weasley said. "She doesn't know, she doesn't know about You-Know-Who."
"Who's You-Know-Who?" Jessica asked in confusion.
"You-Know-Who is a dark wizard named Voldemort," Harry said. When he said the name everyone except for Hermione flinched. Jessica met Harry's eyes and saw a haunted look in them. "He believes that all Muggles and Muggle-born wizards are lower than him and they should die. And any pure-bloods who stand against him."
Jessica's eyes darted from Harry to Mr. Weasley as he said, "Jessica, your grandmother, as far as we know, is not dead. The house was attacked, but we have not found her body. She is only missing at this point." His expression indicated that there was more but he didn't say anything else.
"Only, missing?" Jessica's voice shook.
Mr. Weasley nodded. "Jessica, do you have any idea about why You-Know-Who would have attacked your grandmother? Any idea at all?"
"No," Jessica said. Missing...that was almost worse than dead. All missing meant was that they hadn't found her dead, it didn't mean she wasn't dead. But they haven't found her, Jessica thought. I can't give up hope; there's still a chance, no matter how slim it is. Jessica wiped away the tears in her eyes.
"Arthur, you don't need to take her in to the Ministry do you?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She looked at Jessica with concern and Jessica realized that Mrs. Weasley felt sorry for her. Unbidden, a wave of anger washed over her. She didn't want anyone's pity; she wanted them to help her find her grandma!
"I don't have to take her to the Ministry but I should take her to the house, to see if anything was taken." Mr. Weasley stood up; his food lay untouched on his plate.
"But Arthur, you just got home!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "Can't it wait, just a little?" Jessica felt inclined to agree with Mrs. Weasley. She didn't want to see what he had destroyed; she didn't want to go home to a wrecked house and know that Eliza might never be back... Jessica quickly ducked her head in an effort to hide her tears.
"I'm afraid not, Molly," Mr. Weasley said. He looked at Jessica. "Jessica," he said gently, "we have to go. Come on."
Jessica stood up slowly. She walked over to the fireplace where Mr. Weasley was now standing. He held out the Floo powder saying, "You go first, Jessica, I'm right behind you."
Jessica took some Floo powder and threw it down shouting, "Eliza Thompson!"
It was the same spinning sensation as before, the same view of fireplace after fireplace. Finally, Jessica stumbled out into her own family room.
Jessica felt the familiar wave of sickness washing over her but then she saw the state the family room was in and she forgot about her upset stomach. The pictures that had been in frames on the mantle piece were on the floor. There was glass all over the carpet. The couch was overturned and the lamp on the coffee table had been knocked to the floor. On the floor lay a wand that Jessica recognized as Eliza's. Next to it was what looked like a photo album.
Jessica walked over to it and picked it up. She opened it. It was a photo album but the photos were moving! Jessica stared at the photo on the page the album had fallen open to. A tall boy with jet-black hair who looked about eighteen was smiling out at her. Standing next to him was a girl about the same age as him who could only be a younger version of Jessica's grandmother. Her grandmother's blue eyes sparkled with laughter. She had her arms around the boy's middle and her chin rested on his shoulder. The two of them waved out at her.
"Jessica?" Mr. Weasley was standing behind her. Jessica had been so absorbed in the picture that she hadn't heard him arrive. Jessica closed the album. She set it down on the floor.
Looking around she declared, "Nothing's missing in here."
Jessica and Mr. Weasley went through the house, room by room. Nothing had been taken but all throughout the house pictures of she and her grandmother had been smashed, burned or plain out destroyed. In the kitchen the rack of knives lay on the floor. Jessica shuddered, not wanting to think about what had happened.
After going through the entire house, Jessica went to her bedroom and began gathering up everything. Mr. Weasley had suggested it since she would probably not be allowed in the house again. It took her a long time but with Mr. Weasley's help she managed to find everything. She had to search the entire house before she could find the tiny golden key to the vault in Gringotts. Jessica didn't want to think that Eliza might not be coming back but she knew it never hurt to be prepared.
When everything had been gathered up Jessica lugged her trunk down the stairs. Mr. Weasley was waiting for her.
"Come on Jessica," he said.
"Wait," Jessica said. She ran over and picked up her grandmother's wand and the photo album. She stuck both of these into here trunk and then closed it. After making Mr. Weasley promise to bring Fallen Angel she walked into the fireplace, pushing her trunk ahead of her. She threw down her Floo powder shouted, "The Burrow!" and she was gone.
When she got there Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting for her.
"Here," Ron said, taking her trunk. "I'll take that up to Ginny's room."
"I'll help you," Hermione said. Together the two of them lugged the heavy trunk out of the room. Mr. Weasley appeared with Jessica's owl and he followed Ron and Hermione upstairs. Which left Jessica alone with Harry.
"I'm sorry," Harry said simply. Jessica looked at him. That haunted look was in his eyes again.
"It's going to be so different," Jessica said quietly. "Without her there, you know. She's been, like a mother to me." Jessica stopped talking. Her eyes were tearing up again and she didn't want Harry to see her cry.
"It's okay," Harry said. "I know what it's like." Jessica's eyes met Harry's and she found herself leaning closer to him. For a second, just a split second, she thought they were going to kiss. Then Ron and Hermione walked back into the room and Harry and Jessica moved away from each other.
Later that night Jessica lay in her sleeping bag. She was thinking, not just about Harry but about the photo album she had found in her house. She hadn't known her grandmother had an album of her Hogwarts years. Yes, Jessica was convinced the picture had been taken during her Hogwarts years. Her age seemed right for her Hogwarts years.
Glancing at Ginny and Hermione to make sure they were asleep, Jessica reached under her pillow and pulled out the album. She opened it and leafed through the pages, only glancing at the photos. Then she came to the picture with her grandmother and the boy. She didn't know his name but she felt as though she'd met him before. There was something familiar about that face. They smiled and waved from the picture and at the sight of her grandmother's smile Jessica felt the tears that she had been holding off all day. They broke through and Jessica closed the album, tears streaming down her cheeks. She slipped it back under her pillow and then she buried her face in that same pillow.
Half an hour later she lay peacefully in her sleeping bag, having cried herself to sleep.