All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Gone
Narcissa Malfoy – Present Day
April 1, 2001
"Lady Malfoy, allow me to explain," said Gellert Grindelwald, motioning for Narcissa to join him at the table. "I did you a favour early this morning-"
"One I did not ask for," Narcissa interrupted.
"Ah, but one you accepted!" countered Gellert. "And in return, I require something for my services."
"Then you should have stated that during our previous encounter."
"And if I had? You would, what, my dear? Tell me to let Lucius die?" Gellert smiled at her silence. "You were grateful for what I had provided to you, and remain grateful, I am sure, since I will be waking him up shortly."
"What do you want?" she asked him, though not unkindly.
"For you to bring me someone," he told her.
"Who?"
"Either Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger; the choice is yours."
Narcissa sat quietly, monitoring Gellert's expression. "Surely you would prefer Mister Potter over his friends," she finally spoke.
"Can you actually capture Mister Potter? I dare say many have tried and have failed."
"His friends are just as protected," stated Narcissa.
"And yet you have found yourself in the presence of Hermione Granger on more than one occasion."
Gellert was toying with Narcissa, but she was not going to stand for it. "You must do as you see fit, Mister Grindelwald, but I can assure you that I have no desire in working for another Dark Lord. My husband may have thought it prudent years ago, but my husband is no longer making the decisions at Malfoy Manor." She spoke with confidence, but she was also aware as to whom she was speaking to, and she kept a firm grip on her wand beneath her robes. To her surprise, however, Gellert was laughing.
"A strong woman you are, Lady Malfoy, and I am quite convinced with your performance that you are, indeed, the right candidate to bring me Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger. Let me correct you, however; I am not a Dark Lord, nor am I looking to employ you. Now, let me make my request clearer: In return for my services of this morning, I require you to bring me either one of Harry Potter's closest friends. You may rest assured that neither will be harmed-"
"I do not have concern for either," she interrupted.
"Even so, I have no intentions of killing them at the present time. And in return, Lady Malfoy, because I am a wizard of honour," he grinned, "I shall have your beloved husband awoken without ever calling on you for your assistance once more."
Narcissa, again, said nothing. She had enough to deal with at the present time than to worry about tracking down Granger or Weasley when she knew they were in hiding with Potter. "And if I do not?" she tested, "what are your terms?"
Gellert laughed once more and leaned back in his chair. "Terms are not required, Lady Malfoy; I am confident you will do as I require."
"Very well," she responded, and she apparated back to Diagon Alley, where she had originally been, before Pius Thicknesse had approached her. She walked towards Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, as she had to pick up Draco's new robes, when she saw a short, familiar witch standing nearby, yelling at an unrecognizable wizard. Narcissa lifted her hood over her head and discreetly made her way towards the pair.
"He said they were here!" Dolores Umbridge was shouting. "Find them! FIND THEM!"
Surely, she could not have been talking about Potter and his friends, Narcissa thought to herself. They wouldn't have been stupid enough to come to Diagon Alley in broad daylight. She looked up and noticed that she was in sight of Weasley's Wizard Wheezies, and chuckled. Could she actually be able to solve her newly unwanted problem? Narcissa made her way to the back of the shop, just as she watched a horribly disguised Weasley and Granger step out. Grabbing Granger would have solved more than one problem for her, but it would have resulted in showing her face as she would have had to bypass Weasley, and so, wanting to be finished with this task, she quickly grabbed Weasley's wrist and apparated back to the shack, before Granger or anyone else could notice.
"Ahh, where am I?" shouted Weasley, upon landing on the floor of the shack.
Narcissa was pleased that Gellert was still there. "Are we done?" she asked him, not removing her hood.
"We are indeed," Grindelwald said, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Weasley. Narcissa turned and apparated out of sight, arriving back at Diagon Alley and heading to Madam Malkin's to continue her day as she had originally intended.
Hermione Granger – Present Day
April 1, 2001
"We'll be back, George, I'm serious!" she said, as she followed Ron out the back door. "Okay, let's go to the rendezvous point and meet Harry; maybe he will have a better way of-" Hermione screamed. In a matter of seconds, she saw a hooded figure grab Ron's arm and disapparate out of the back alley. "Ron!" she screamed, knowing that it wouldn't do any good. "RON!"
"Hermione!" came George's voice, poking his head out into the alley. "Quiet down, someone will hear you!"
"Ron!" she said again, not caring. "George, someone t-took R-Ron!"
"What?" he said, taking a sweeping look in the alley. "Come inside," he said quietly, grabbing Hermione's arm and closing the door behind her.
"George, someone took him, we have to find him!"
"Lee," George called out to his partner, Lee Jordan. "Close the shop, now," he said sternly but calmly.
"George? What's going on?" Angelina asked him.
"Just lock up and summon the Order immediately; we have a situation."
Hermione sat down and sobbed uncontrollably. "They took him!" she said in between breaths, her head in her hands. "I c-couldn't help him!"
"I know," said George soothingly. "We will get him back, don't worry."
"Yes, b-but, b-but, will we get him back alive?" she stammered, tears gushing down her face.
George was saved the hassle of replying as Remus and Tonks entered the back room of the shop, followed by Kingsley, Aberforth, Neville, Luna, Dennis, and several other Order members.
"What's going on?" asked Kingsley, the moment everyone was safely and privately inside of the back room at Weasley's Wizard Wheezies.
"Someone took Ron," he responded.
"What? When?" asked Remus.
"Just now," George sighed. "We don't know who, or anything really, other than that fact that he's gone."
Hermione sat sobbing uncontrollably while the Order members talked amongst themselves. Between sobs, she heard bits of what was being said, but she wasn't focusing on what she was hearing.
"There are Ministry Officials out front."
"Someone must have followed them here."
"Where's Harry?"
"Remus, we need to take her somewhere safe."
"Was it a Death Eater?"
"Kingsley, can the Aurors help?"
"Dora, take her out of here, you know where."
Hermione felt gentle hands grab her arm, and she allowed them to lead her out of the shop through the back door and side along apparate to an unknown location. She entered what appeared to be a little house and made her way over to the nearest couch. Here, she allowed herself to lose control, and she cried for what felt like hours. The woman with her, who she later realized was Tonks, allowed her to cry, and said nothing to stop her. After an unknown amount of time, and when Hermione was certain that she couldn't possibly have any tears left, she lifted her head and looked around. She was definitely somewhere that she had never been before. The house was clean, but old. The couch she was sitting on was so old that there was very little cushion to sit on, and the couch was sunken to the ground. Across from her sat Tonks on a wooden rocker that squeaked every time Tonks moved, and the kitchen that was directly in front of her was so yellow with age, that Hermione found it rather hard to believe that the appliances at one point could have been white.
"Where am I?" Hermione finally spoke, her voice so hoarse from all the crying she had just done.
"Remus' childhood house," Tonks answered her gently.
"Remus grew up here?" Hermione asked, appalled.
Tonks smiled. "It didn't always look like this. Remus uses it now as his transformation house; whenever there's a full moon, this is where he comes." Hermione nodded her understanding, but said nothing else. "Do you want to talk about it?" Tonks asked her.
"Not really," Hermione answered, surprised that another tear was able to roll down her cheek.
"Where is Harry?"
"On a mission," Hermione responded. "We weren't supposed to meet up with him again until tomorrow."
"Do you think someone else might know this?"
Hermione shrugged. "I don't know anything anymore. I thought we had been careful enough, I don't know how anyone would know that Ron was there…"
Hermione's voice trailed off as she started to cry again, but this time, Tonks came to her and tried to comfort her. "Hermione, you mustn't give up; we will find him."
"Look how many we've lost, Tonks! Realistically, the odds of ever seeing Ron again is… is…" but Hermione could not finish her sentence.
"If someone wanted Ron dead, then they would have killed him right there and then. Instead, they took him-"
"Probably to torture him for information," Hermione said, losing her stomach.
"You need sleep," Tonks decided. "You are safe here, so lay down and get some rest."
"No, I need to-"
"What you need to do is rest," Tonks interrupted sternly. "The Order is already working on it and there is nothing you can do. You are the only one who can reach Harry tomorrow and so tomorrow you will be useful. Until then, you are going to close your eyes and get some sleep."
Hermione didn't argue. The truth was, she was exhausted. She slumped down and allowed Tonks to cover her with a blanket. She closed her eyes as she tried to remember the scene where Ron was taken, hoping that something useful would come to mind, but before she could even complete the entire memory, she was asleep.
Harry Potter – Present Day
April 1, 2001
"Ginny? What are you doing here?" Harry asked, as he grabbed his fiancée and kissed her hard.
"Ugh, I guess I'll get going," grumbled Aberforth, as he left the house.
"I've missed you!" said Ginny, releasing Harry to be able to speak. "Umbridge is searching the office to try and uncover clues to find you, so I've been making sure that there is nothing there but then I came across this," she said, pointing towards the cabinet.
"That's not a problem," Harry said, reaching towards the back of the cabinet and pulling out a vile with a milky colored liquid. "The cabinet won't work without this," he told her, pocketing the vile.
"What is that?" Ginny asked him.
"Acromantula venom," he answered her. "It's incredibly rare but even if she does get her hands on it, she would need to know where this cabinet is first."
Ginny smiled. "What are you doing here? And where is Ron and Hermione?"
"Investigating a lead," Harry answered, anxious to discuss something else. "I've been trying to work Aberforth to see if I can get some information on Grindelwald."
"Any luck?"
"Not really, although I've pretty much confirmed that Grindelwald and Dumbledore were in fact after all three Deathly Hallows."
"So, in other words, you haven't gotten much."
"I'm afraid not. What about the Order? Anything new?"
"Well, not the Order, but I have…" Ginny placed her hand in her robes and pulled out a piece of parchment which she handed to Harry.
Harry took the parchment from her, and read out loud: "One of three I have received, two of three is coming to me. Three of three lies waiting on you, bring it to me or they all die too." Harry read it a few times more, before speaking to Ginny. "Who sent this?"
"I don't know," she told him. "I didn't recognize the owl, either."
"This has to be from Grindelwald," Harry told her.
"I think so too, but what is he talking about?"
"It can't be me, Ron, and Hermione, because he doesn't already have one of us, so it must be the Hallows."
"But I don't have any, so how could I give him one?"
"He must think you have one, unless…"
"What?"
"Unless Draco didn't give him the cloak and so he thinks you have access to it."
Ginny thought for a moment. "If that were true, then that means he has one of the other Hallows, and he has a means of getting the last one."
"One of three I have received… Well, the cloak is gone, so there's a good chance that's what he already has."
"Which means he almost has one of the others and thinks I have a way of getting the last one."
"It doesn't make sense that he would think that since you don't have a way of getting them, which means he must be talking about you bringing him the cloak."
"Which means he has either the stone or the wand and has a way of getting the other. Either way you look at it, Harry, it's bad."
Harry looked down at the parchment again. "He's threatening to kill me, Ron, and Hermione, which is fine, because so is the rest of the world, so I'm not worried about that, but I am worried about him being so close to the Hallows."
"If it is the Hallows that he's after."
"What else could it be?"
"I don't know, Harry, but don't you think you should check on the other two and make sure they are still there?"
Harry frowned. "I can't go near the elder wand. If I do, and I'm being watched, then I'll give up its location and I can't risk that."
"The stone, then?"
"We might not have a choice. But I dropped it in the Forbidden Forest and it looks like a regular stone, it's going to be impossible to locate."
"Well, do you have a general idea of where to look?"
Harry nodded. "I'll have to find a way to speak to McGonagall and see if I can start searching."
"You can't do it by yourself, Harry! Even if Ron and Hermione help you, it could take months!"
"What else am I going to do?"
"Trust the Order."
"I do trust the Order, but, I don't know Gin…"
"I understand your concern, Harry, something like this is a huge deal."
"If it gets into the wrong hands…"
"I'll speak to McGonagall and set up searcher pairs where we know everyone is paired up with someone we fully trust."
"Ginny, when it's found, you must fight the urge to use it. I know it is going to be hard with Archie and your father…"
"I know, Harry, but you need to trust me, too."
Harry nodded. "Once it's all organized, Hagrid will know where to take you. Tell him that I dropped it at the same place where Voldemort thought he had killed me."
Ginny nodded her understanding. "I guess I should go," she said sadly.
"Have you been planning the wedding?" Harry asked her. "It's in five months from today."
"Harry, how is a wedding possible right now?"
"I told you it was going to happen, and it will. I have a plan."
"You have a plan to clear your name?" she asked him.
"Well, I have a plan for that too, yeah, but that won't happen until after the wedding."
"Then how-?"
Harry smiled. "It's your turn to trust me. Just plan it and I will see you on September the First!" With that, Harry kissed his fiancée goodbye and watched her walk out the front door and apparate away, for at least five months.
Albus Dumbledore – The Past
September 6, 1899
Albus closed the front door and walked towards his bedroom. He had intentions of watching Gellert leave from his bedroom window, but he was instead intercepted by his brother Aberforth.
"Go with him," Aberforth grumbled.
"I am aware that you heard the conversation, Aberforth, and therefore know that you are aware that I told him to leave on his own."
"But I'm telling you to go."
"I am the eldest and therefore responsible for this family…"
"What family?" Aberforth yelled at him. "You killed the last member of this family! Ariana is dead!"
"I know this is hard," Albus said quietly, "but I need to do what is best for you-"
"For me? FOR ME? I DON'T NEED YOU, ALBUS, BUT ARIANA DID!"
"Aberforth, please, I've made my decision."
"Yeah, you did, and you have to live with it. I'm out of here."
Albus did not bother to try and stop his brother as he knew that he would not have succeeded, and so he therefore chose to retire to his bedroom. He knew Gellert was long gone by now and there was no chance of him setting eyes on him once more. As a final farewell to him, Albus walked over to his desk and picked up a very important piece of parchment. He carefully folded the parchment in half and secured it to the owl that was sitting on a perch in the corner. He opened his window and watched the owl fly off into the darkness, on its way to find Gellert. Albus watched all of his work disappear as the owl flew further into the night and smiled. He may have lost two of the most important people in his life, but at least one of them will still be able to succeed. Albus closed the window and laid down on his bed, forever letting go of his dreams of finding the Deathly Hallows. "Good luck, Gellert," he whispered, as he closed his eyes and allowed a single tear to stream down his cheek.
Author's Notes: Hi All! Hope you're all enjoying so far! So I thought I would clear up something since I keep getting asked this a lot. This copy of my fic is my unedited version. My focus right now is to write the actual story. Once I am done, I will go back and edit and all that fun stuff. So to be clear, the story itself will not change, but the grammar and spelling and all that will be fixed AT THE END. Once my story is complete, I can focus on all that stuff. I'm posting regardless because I have people on here who want to read what is going on. If you want to wait for the edited copy, then you'll have to give me a year or so. If not, then you can continue to follow this version. It is still clear to read and again, the story itself isn't going to change. Okay, I hope that clears some things up for you all!