A roaring fire blazed in a darkened room. The enormous mantle of the fireplace towered to the top of the Victorian ceiling, which was adorned with illustrations and carvings of black winged nymph-like creatures that had menacing, electric blue eyes. From the shadowy window sill there could be seen a withered and blackened old tree, standing outside in a dry patch of grass. Dead leaves blew at its base and drops of crimson blood ominously seeped out of the centre of the tree's gnarled branches.
Inside, a boy's trembling voice answered to his tyrant, "I did sir, b-b-but-" he faltered.
The room erupted in a harsh tone of fury, "BUT WHAT?" The booming voice of an irritated man answered, "You already let him go before—even HEALED him! And now you cannot even lure them to me! Tell me one reason why I should keep you alive…" he spat.
The boy cowered, "Please…I thought we were to just get the foretold one….not hurt anyone else….Mr. Potter had nothing to do with—"
"NOT DIRECTLY YOU FOOL OF A CHILD! HE'S AN AUROR—AND IN BEING SO STANDS IN OUR WAY!" the man bellowed, his cheeks flaring.
The boy began to sob, his hair falling in front of his grey eyes, full of terror, "Please…just let me go—I am obviously of no help so just please— "
"No, you are far too great a threat now. You serve only me! And you know what I'll do if you fail to realize that. Now go, feed the child, and put him to sleep. We cannot do anything until the twenty seventh, so he must be looked after. AND STOP CRYING!" the angry man roared, leaving the room in a huff.
Standing up, Nick wiped his eyes and walked out of the room.
xXxXxXxXx
The morning of the twenty sixth dawned with an aura that was somewhat neutral. The sun was evident, though it was partly hidden through light grey clouds. The temperature sat somewhere moderately and a fresh wind blew the yellowed leaves off of trees. Harry squinted as the light hit his eyes and he awoke. He parted his fingers from the silky touch of Ginny's pajamas and slid off the bed slowly. He put on his glasses and stared out of the window. He looked down his nose and ran his fingers across his chest. It was totally healed. He kept thinking about what Nick had said: the mirror should not have broken if it wasn't face to face with powerful magic…did Harry still hold his mother's protection? It had been a long time since Harry had battled anyone even close to Voldemort, so he hadn't faced that protection since the defeat of him. Sure Harry had had his share of evil warlocks, cyclops, trolls and 'world dominators', but this serious? Little baby Andrew—the power to reign? He only hoped he would get to him in time. He put one hand to the cool glass of the window and ran his other hand through his chaotic black hair.
Ginny moaned and took a deep breath behind him. She squinted and sat up, pushing back long strands of her vibrant hair. Harry turned around and smiled. He sat down next to her and kissed her for a good long time. When they parted, Ginny quirked an eyebrow and Harry pulled her close.
"I love you Ginny…" he said quietly.
"What's this sudden show of love for?" Ginny asked, half-smiling. Harry didn't answer her, he just held on tightly. Ginny understood, without any words. She was also glad they had each other and that nothing so horrible was upon their family, unlike Ron and Hermione. She felt so sad for them…to be missing a child. She couldn't bare the thought of it herself. If anything had, for example, happened to James…she'd be barely able to get out of bed. She admired Hermione for her handling of this, and felt the most for her, as a mother. She was so full of emotion that she didn't notice the tear escape from the corner of her eye.
"Ginny love, what's wrong?" Harry asked, noticing this.
"Oh…I…" she paused for a moment just shaking her head before she spoke, "You have to find him Harry…my heart aches for her. It's your duty to your friends…and me," she said with sincerity. "I know it's difficult, and we could never be in your position but, please. I shall never know peace if he's not found," she finished, staring at him wide-eyed.
"Don't worry Ginny…Hermione has always told me to get my priorities straight, and now finally, I've gotten them right," Harry replied with a nod.
A knock on the door startled them.
"Are you decent?" the deepened voice of Ron asked. Harry and Ginny called him in and said their good-mornings. Ron looked slightly disheveled and he tried to open his eyes.
He talked slowly, "Alright so, you two should probably get dressed as soon as possible, my game is in two hours," he said with a yawn. Before Harry could open his mouth a green string tied itself familiarly around his index finger, engulfed in a puff of smoke.
Harry looked back at Ron reluctantly, "Sorry mate," he said.
Ron looked at Harry, "So that means you…" he started to say. Harry nodded, feeling awful. He had never really properly seen a game of Ron's before, he'd always been busy or whisked away to fight trouble, like now.
"I'm really sorry, Ron. I'll be there as soon as possible. For all we know, this may be news about Andrew," Harry said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ron nodded in agreement and left the room, shoulders slumping. Harry buried his face in his hands and sat down next to Ginny.
"I guess you'll have to go then…" Ginny said sullenly. Harry nodded, gave her a quick peck on the lips and got dressed, "be careful darling…" she said as he disappeared with a large POP! Ginny sluggishly got dressed and ventured out into the hallway. She examined the walls as she walked, all filled with pictures of the Weasley family. She paused to look at a photograph of Victoria, only just a newborn, sleeping in her cradle. Her nose twitched as she slept peacefully. The one next to it was of Isabelle, holding her baby sister, smiling in the camera. Ginny smiled. Below those two was a large photo of Ron, unexpectedly grabbing Hermione and kissing her. He was half-looking into the camera, while Hermione laughed out loud excitedly. Then there was one to the right of that one, where Grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gathered around a birthday cake from Isabelle's first birthday. One of Fred and George, back to back, in what looked like a James Bond pose. There was a picture of them, Harry Ginny and James, at a park, sitting by a duck pond. She hardly noticed herself welling up with emotion. She shook it away in a small shudder. She went to the other side of the hall, into the kids room. They were fast asleep, their little tummies rising and falling peacefully. She kissed James' forehead, and whispered at them to wake up. They groaned and twisted and eventually awoke, excited to see Ron play in a match. Ginny left them and walked towards Ron and Hermione's room as Ron left the room, swishing past her in a hurry. Ginny startled Hermione as she walked in the room. Hermione quickly turned, smiling and wiping her eyes with her sleeves.
"Oh no…Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked, quickly pulling Hermione to her.
Hermione shook her head, sniffing, "Oh, nothing—I—it's nothing…" she stammered.
"You can tell me, hush darling…it's alright…" Ginny soothed.
Hermione gave in, staring at thefloor while she talked, "Well…it's Ron…he left and he was angry…he said that I should be able to control myself, but no…I'm…sorry…" she said in short gasps.
Ginny shook her head and looked warmly at her, "Don't you apologize for anything Hermione, you have every right to be upset…it's going to be okay, Ron's just being a git," she lulled her, "just gather up some strength, we'll have a nice lunch, watch Ron's game, and…you just have faith in Harry, alright? How does that sound?" Ginny asked.
Hermione gulped and nodded, "Yes, faith in Harry…" she whispered, her tears dripping onto the back of ginny's sweater as she hugged her.
Harry however, had a different dilemma on his plate…
A/N: I amsoooo sorry for the wait guys, I had so much trouble actually writing out the plot of this story, lol. I just finished the plot so now I can update quicker! and while you're waiting--read my other story, Long Overdue Love, it's about James and Lily in their days at hogwarts.