Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything to do with Harry Potter.
A/N: A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope that you have a Merry Christmas!
Harry and Dumbledore trudged into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. They remained fairly quiet as they served themselves some biscuits, eggs, and bacon. After they had been eating for a few moments, a small brown owl flew through the kitchen window. Harry glanced up startled as Dumbledore took the owl's delivery. Harry hadn't seen any owls besides Hedwig since he had been here.
The Headmaster saw Harry's confused look. "This is The Daily Prophet."
"Since when do you receive The Daily Prophet?" Harry asked.
"I figured that we should be aware of what is going on in the wizarding world. This is Severus's copy. I told him to send me the newspaper every day once he was finished with it."
"I would like to see it when you are done," said Harry.
"Okay."
The only sound heard for the next several minutes was the rustling of the pages turning. Harry quickly finished eating and then patiently waited for his turn with the newspaper. Every now and then Dumbledore would shake his head at something in the paper or give a soft sigh. Once he had finished with the newspaper, Dumbledore handed it over to Harry.
Harry saw that the whole front page of The Daily Prophet was filled with news on the attack that had occurred during the night. He began to read it to see if there was any new information. Harry had only read a few sentences of the article before he jumped up, accidentally knocked his chair over, and gave a loud gasp. Dumbledore quickly rushed over to Harry's side in order to see what had caused that reaction. Harry's eyes were still glued to the front page of the newspaper.
"Harry, what's wrong?" the Headmaster worriedly asked.
"The attack. Hermione lives in that town," Harry dazedly answered.
"Are you sure?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yes. Hermione has told us a lot of stories about her family and the town that she lives in. I hope that she is okay. We have to do something," replied Harry frantically.
"Harry, you need to calm down. We don't know that anything happened to her…"
"But she could have been hurt or killed," Harry retorted.
"True, but arguing with me isn't helping matters. I will apparate over to the town and see if I can locate her house. You will stay here," Dumbledore firmly said.
"I want to help. Hermione is my friend," answered Harry stubbornly.
"I know that she is, but I will not change my mind on this. There could still be some Death Eaters in the area. I am going to be as discreet as possible when I get there. I will make some cautious inquiries in order to find out exactly where she lives in that town. Once I have found the house, I will see if anyone is home."
"But-"
"No," Dumbledore sternly replied.
Harry's shoulders slumped forward, and he had a defeated look on his face. The Headmaster pulled Harry into a comforting hug. They stood that way for a few moments. Dumbledore rubbed Harry's back in a soothing manner, and Harry slowly relaxed into the embrace.
When Dumbledore spoke, his voice was more gentle. "I will be back as soon as I can, Harry. I know that this is hard on you, but I don't want to have to worry about you as well. If you stay here, I know that you will be alright. We don't know if the town is safe."
Harry slowly pulled away from the Headmaster with a sigh. "Please hurry back."
"I'll try."
After Dumbledore had disapparated, Harry wandered into the living room. He didn't know what he would do if Hermione was dead. She was one of his best friends. Even though he had more in common with Ron, she was an important part of the trio. Hermione had stood by him during the Triwizard Tournament when even Ron had turned his back on him.
Harry began to pace back and forth. He wished that someone was here to wait with him for the news. He didn't have anything to distract him from his thoughts; however, he knew that only news of Hermione's safety would be able to ease his troubled mind.
Glancing at the clock for the tenth time in several minutes, Harry gave a noise of frustration. Why did time have to pass so slowly? Harry felt like he would go crazy if he didn't hear anything soon. He would sit down every now and then, but he was only able to bear it for a few seconds before jumping up and pacing again.
After about half an hour, Dumbledore popped back into the house. Harry quickly rushed over to the Headmaster. He wanted to know what Dumbledore had found out, but he was almost afraid to ask. Dumbledore had a grave look on his face.
"Well?" Harry nervously demanded.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but no one was home," Dumbledore replied. He suddenly continued speaking when he saw Harry's crushed look. "That doesn't mean that they are dead, however. I asked some of the neighbors if they knew anything, but they said that they didn't remember seeing the Grangers for a while."
"What are we going to do now? We still don't know anything," said Harry. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and his body shuddered. "Do you think that the Death Eaters might have kidnapped them?"
"I don't think so. Severus would have known about that, and he would have told us. Besides, if the Grangers had been kidnapped, Voldemort would have found some way to let you know. He would have announced it so that all of the wizarding world knew. It would have been in the paper this morning as well."
Hope was beginning to fill Harry, but he still wanted to know exactly what had happened to his friend. She had just seemed to disappear.
Dumbledore started to talk again. "I am going to visit the Weasleys' house right now and see if Ron knows anything about Hermione's whereabouts. Even if Ron doesn't know where she is, his dad might have heard something."
"Can I please go with you this time?" Harry begged. "There aren't going to be any Death Eaters at the Weasleys."
The Headmaster looked like he wanted to turn Harry down, but Harry's eyes began to fill with tears and he glanced pleadingly at Dumbledore.
"Alright. You can come, but it is only this one time."
"Yes!" Harry exclaimed.
"We can't stay long though. When I say that it is time to go, I don't want you to argue with me." After seeing Harry's nod of agreement, Dumbledore continued speaking. "If you will just grab my arm, I will apparate us into their house."
When Harry and Dumbledore appeared in the living room of the Weasleys' home, they saw that Mrs. Weasley had been sitting in a rocking chair knitting. She leaped up and pulled her wand out when she heard the sound of apparition; however, she slowly began to relax as she realized who was standing in the room with her.
"HARRY!"
Harry was startled when she ran across the room and engulfed him in a big hug. Apparently the rest of the house heard Mrs. Weasley shriek because the pounding of feet was heard coming down the stairs. Soon the room was filled with people who began to cluster around Harry and the Headmaster.
"How are you?"
"We were so worried when we heard about the attack on the Dursleys."
"I'm glad that you're here."
Everyone ceased their rapid chattering when Dumbledore loudly cleared his throat. They all turned to see what the Headmaster wanted to say.
"Have you heard about the attack that happened during the night?" Dumbledore questioned.
Mrs. Weasley became the spokesperson for the group. "Arthur received several urgent Floo calls during the night from Order members. They explained to us what was going on. He went to work earlier than usual this morning to see if there was anything that he could help do."
Harry looked over at Ron. "Did you know that Hermione lives in that town? Professor Dumbledore went there this morning, but no one was at her house. We wanted to know if you knew anything about where she is."
All of the Weasleys had gotten a horrified look when they first heard Harry's news, but Ron suddenly looked somewhat relieved.
"Hermione went on vacation with her family two days ago. She owled me before she left. If she had been home, she could have been killed."
Everyone relaxed upon hearing the good news. Dumbledore could tell that the Weasleys wanted to begin talking with Harry again, so he held up his hand for silence.
"I know that you haven't seen Harry in a while, but we really must go. I don't know when you will be able to visit with each other again."
Harry turned to the Headmaster. "Sir, I know that you said I shouldn't argue with you about leaving, but could I please write Hermione a quick note? I won't be very long, and Ron can deliver it for me later."
Dumbledore thought about it for a few seconds. "You have five minutes. After that, we will be leaving."
Mrs. Weasley hurriedly grabbed some parchment, ink, and quills for Harry to use. She ushered him over to the table and gently pushed him into a chair. Harry began to write his letter.
Dear Hermione,
I am glad to hear that you are okay. I don't know if you have heard or not, but last night Death Eaters attacked the town where you live. I was really worried about you when I found out where the attack had taken place. It's too bad that you won't be able to write back to me. I don't know what will happen to you now, but I think that everything will turn out alright. Please enjoy the rest of your vacation, and don't worry too much about what it going on here.
Harry
After Harry had finished writing, he sealed the letter and passed it over to Ron. Harry got up from the table and gave a hug to Mrs. Weasley.
"You take care, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.
"I will."
Harry said goodbye to the rest of the family before grabbing Dumbledore's arm again and disapparating. Once they had reappeared in the Headmaster's house, Harry flopped onto the couch and stared into space.
"What's the matter, Harry? Hermione is safe, and you go to visit the Weasleys."
"I know that, but it can't just be coincidence that the Death Eaters attacked the same town that one of my best friends lives in," Harry responded.
Dumbledore gave Harry a knowing look before sitting beside him and putting an arm around his shoulders.
"You are feeling guilty about this, aren't you?"
Harry didn't reply, but the Headmaster could tell that he had been correct. Dumbledore continued to speak.
"I think that the attack was a coincidence. If they had attacked that town just because they wanted Hermione, they wouldn't have attacked while she was away. They would have been watching her house in order to determine if she was home or not. Also, they would have attacked her house first. When I got to her house, it was perfectly fine. The Death Eaters never got to her neighborhood."
"What are Hermione and her parents going to do now?" asked Harry. "It might not be safe for them to go back to that house. The Death Eaters may not have known that Hermione lived there when they attacked, but they may figure it out later."
"When they return from vacation, someone will speak to them. The Grangers can stay in their house if they wish, but if they would rather go somewhere safer, that can be arranged as well."
Harry was glad that Hermione was fine, but he knew that this attack was only the beginning. The Death Eaters had gotten a taste of torture and blood; they wouldn't be stopping now until something major occurred.
