Back in the year 2010 many hung-over couples awoke suddenly to a terrifying BOOM! War reflexes kicking in, everyone drew their wands, preparing to fight if they had to.
Out on the various landings of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, people were gathering, in the hopes of finding the cause of the sound. Everyone was talking, causing a quiet hum in the air when a loud, high pitched scream broke the relative silence within the house.
Ginny Potter went straight to the playroom, on the second-floor landing. When she arrived, she was met by a sight of destruction. Blood and glass lay on the floor, the furniture was smashed, and the light flickered aerially over the smoke-filled room. The children were gone. Ginny let out a bloodcurdling scream, falling to her knees, sobbing to the tune of her broken heart.
Following the sound of the heartbroken scream, about fifty people crammed onto the second-floor landing, those who could see into the room gave horrified gasps. Harry Potter pushed through the crowd, tears rolling down his pale face, intent on getting to his broken wife. Dropping to his knees and pulling her to his chest, his and every other heart in the house broke more at her hollow whisper of: " They're gone, the children are gone!"
As parents, relatives, and friends alike, cried and screamed in outrage, the Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt took charge. Turning to the crowd he spoke, "I want everyone who is not a parent or member of the Order of the Phoenix to go home right now and to tell no one of the children's disappearances." Upon receiving protests, he bellowed "NOW" at the top of lungs, leaving no room for protest. People apparated left and right leaving the parents and the remaining Order members who hadn't died in the war on the second floor landing of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.
"Let's go down to the dining room, I think we might be a while. Poppy, please go and collect calming draughts and hangover potions, I need people who can actually think, if we are ever going to find the children", Kingsley said, his voice showing his age. Poppy nodded and dashed off to floo over to the Hogwarts infirmary and get the needed potions.
Once Poppy arrived back and the potions were administered to everyone within the room, Kingsley began delivering orders.
"Harry, Ron, as head and deputy head Aurors, I want you to sweep the room for any clues on what happened to the children. Bill you're a Curse Breaker; check the wards, around the house, Hermione check the wards around the room, I want to know if either of the wards went down and a list of everyone that entered both the house and the room since six pm yesterday. Molly, please cook breakfast for everyone and the rest of you stay here, we can't do anything else until we have that information." Everyone nodded and went about their designated jobs.
Fifteen minutes later everyone was sat around the table eating breakfast when Harry and Ron entered looking grim. "We know what's happened" they said together their voices lifeless. At the expecting looks they received from the thirty-two people in front of them, Harry held up a golden chain with a cracked glass object hanging loosely off of it. Hermione gasped, hands over her mouth and whispered quietly, even though everybody could hear…
"It's all my fault!".