Chapter 11

Holly's head shot up and she stared at Hermione who was still looking at her husband and Ginny; they had curious looks on their faces and clearly had not worked out what she had, just yet. "H…how?" Holly asked as Lily, Molly and Harry all turned to stare at Hermione.

"We have his wand," she whispered reaching out for the polished, well kept wooden stick which Isabella had dropped on the kitchen table when she arrived at the Burrow, "we could use it to-"

"No!" Molly Weasley suddenly barked making Holly, Harry and Lily turn to stare at her. "No, you are not doing that again Hermione; you almost died last time," at their mother's words Ginny and Ron realised what was going through her mind and the looks on their faces turned to ones of horror, as did the one on Harry's.

"But Molly," Hermione began calmly, "this might be the only way, or at least the quickest way. We could know in minutes the direction and Harry could-"

"No!" she barked again standing with her hands on her hips, "There must be another way. Harry back me up here; it's too dangerous; she can't do that again. I love James dearly and want him back as much as you do but tell her there has to be another way."

"I…I," Harry stuttered in reply; his initial response had been abject horror and he agreed that it was too dangerous for Hermione; but the more he thought about it the more it made sense. "Molly's right," he said looking at Hermione who was beginning to get angry, "Hermione I love you for saying you would do this but you almost died last time and…and I couldn't stand it if this time..."

"Harry," she interrupted standing up and glaring at him, "I did it once for you and Ginny and James because I love you all and I will do it again for your son and Holly and their children. I came out fine last time; I just needed to rest."

"Hermione no, I won't have it. Ron, if Harry won't stand up to her then you have to; this is your wife!" Molly shrieked.

"Mum," Ron said gently touching her arm, "you know I always want to keep Hermione safe; and no one would be more worried than I about her but…but you know if she has set her mind to something then..." he glanced at his wife who had been looking at him as if daring him to agree with his mother, "then you know she will do it." They smiled at one another as Molly huffed and tried to appeal to Harry again.

"Maybe…maybe I could do it instead," Harry suggested glancing at his wife.

"Then who would go and find James?" Hermione returned, "No Harry, it has to be me. My mind is made up and I am not going to change it; I can perform the spell now and you can take your broom," she finished jumping to her feet and looking at Molly. "I'm going to need a photograph of James," she informed her and with another huff she turned to walk out of the kitchen with an angry glare at Harry and Molly.

Throughout the altercation Holly and Lily had remained quiet and listened; it was clear that Hermione could do something but neither had been able to work out what it was. "Ginny," Holly said quietly in her ear, "what…what is Hermione going to do?"

"It's a spell, a wandlore spell that we once used to locate the auror who went missing with Harry," she began. A frown had crossed her face and Holly could tell this was no ordinary spell. "It can be performed on a wand using the four elements and if it is carried out correctly then it will point in the direction of the wand's owner so they can be found." Holly gasped and saw a worried look erase the frown from her mother in law's face, "It is a very dangerous spell though," she continued, "Hermione was unconscious for over a month when she performed it before."

"Oh Merlin," Holly whispered. "She…she can't do it again then," she heard herself say even though she could see it would be the quickest way to find James. "Ginny you have to stop her," she added.

"Like Ron said Holly, if she has set her mind to it then we cannot stop her; all we can do is nurse her back to health."

"But…"

"She will do it because she loves James and will do anything for him; just as she would for her own children and we have to let her," Ginny sighed as Molly walked back into the room holding a picture of James in her hands. It had been taken on his graduation day from the auror training programme and he was standing tall and proud wearing his new uniform and waving at the camera. Handing it over to Hermione she grabbed hold of the girl and hugged her tight; she may not agree with what she was about to do but she loved her daughter in law dearly and if anything did happen to her she wanted the girl to know just how much.

"Hermione," Holly said quietly a moment later as Ron took her hand and walked past heading for the garden outside, "th-thank you." There were tears prickling her eyes as she remembered just how much this family loved each other and what they would do for one another and Hermione stroked her arm as she smiled softly.

"We will find him Holly and bring him back to you," she whispered and the overwhelmed girl nodded her head and stood up to follow them out of the house.

Apart from Molly, who refused to come out and watch, everyone gathered together a few steps away from Hermione as she chose a spot on the ground and traced a circle to sit in. Holly didn't know what to expect but could tell by the faces of Ginny and Ron, who had experienced this before, that something powerful was going to happen. As the able witch sat cross legged on the floor in the circle she had just drawn Ron stroked her shoulder and whispered something to her before stepping back tentatively almost seeming afraid to leave her. Hermione smiled up at him and he nodded before moving to a safe distance away from the other group never taking his eyes off his wife at all.

With a last glance at them all Hermione lifted up James' wand and placed it on the picture of him in front of her before raising her own wand into the air and conjuring a ball of water, a floating flame and a mini tornado. Holly stared in a amazement as she began to utter a strange string of words which she repeated over and over and then gasped as the three floating elements began to swirl together and were then joined by a wall of earth which came up from the circle Hermione had drawn encasing the adept woman in a cocoon made of earth, wind, water and fire. She could hear the words still being chanted from the middle of the bubble and was in awe of the swirling mass which kept moving faster and faster around her. Suddenly the swirling mass lifted itself into the air and then shot downwards into the wand on the floor and Holly saw the picture disintegrate just before Hermione fell backwards at an awkward angle and then everything grew still.

Running quickly towards her Ron grabbed the lifeless looking woman and lifted her up in his arms while Ginny rushed forwards and took the wand which was suddenly starting to point off in one direction. Harry followed Ron inside looking frantic with worry and Ginny ran in after them dropping the wand on the kitchen table as she headed quickly up the stairs. Lily and Holly went after them and watched the trio disappear upstairs while Molly watched on glassy eyed but holding herself together. Roberto and the triplets, who had been ushered into the living room with Isabella and Daniel, came toddling out just afterwards and to keep herself busy Molly immediately began to fuss around them and sat down by the fire.

Holly took a seat at the table and stared at the animated stick which Ginny had discarde; it seemed to be vibrating and was pointing across the table at the doorway. Tentatively reaching out for it Holly lifted it in her hand and felt a sudden pull in the same direction; it wasn't strong but as she tried to turn it to face the fire it pulled stiffly back to the doorway. Staring at it in awe Holly began to wonder; Ginny had said the wand would point towards its owner; so that meant it was now showing her where James was. She took out her own wand and whispered a point me spell so that her own wand went north, the other wand was almost on the same bearing but pointing ever so slightly to the west and she gasped. Looking around she noticed that Lily had headed straight out of the room to check on the other children and Molly was entertaining the triplets. Harry, Ginny and Ron were busy upstairs tending Hermione but no one was looking for James. She was grateful to his aunt who had performed this dangerous spell but now nothing was being done and she was sat around waiting, again.

If she took the wand she would be able to find him; she could take the invisibility cloak ,which was still in her own cloak pocket, and the deluminator, which was stowed with it; she could have him found and home safely soon if she left now. It took her a fraction of a second to make her decision and she was up and out of the door without Molly even noticing; clinging tightly to both her wand and his she apparated from outside back to her own home where she rushed to the padlocked wooden shed at the bottom of the garden. "Alohomora," she shouted before opening the door and then, from inside, she extracted James' firebolt 560, the latest broomstick, which she had bought him for his last birthday. It was strong and sturdy with a wider seat and a more streamlined handle and though she had only ever ridden it with James she knew she could handle it, especially if it meant she could find him quickly.

Mounting the broom she glanced up at the darkening sky and took off without looking back; she set off in the direction that James' sleek wand was pointing and began to soar over trees and fields heading northerly against a rushing wind. The air whipped her cheeks and she clung on to the long handle of the broom tightly keeping the wand compass held against it; her eyes began to sting from the gushing air but she remained resolute on her heading as the sun set completely and left her in darkness. Holly felt chilled to the bone and could barely see where she was going; the bright lights of towns and cities told her that she was still over land but as time went on they became fewer and further between.

She had been flying for hours and was feeling drowsy but remained in the air reminding herself constantly that she was doing this for James; she had to find him; she needed to find him. Her compass was still pointing in the same direction and she was starting to worry that the spell hadn't worked at all; deciding to take a short break she flew down to the ground and skimmed it as she searched for a suitable place to land finally finding an open patch of grass. She took the opportunity to relieve herself and then jumped back onto the broom; before setting back off she lit her wand tip and held it out so she could try and get a sense of her surroundings. The grassland she had landed in was made up of shrubs and heathery plants which gave her the impression that she had crossed over into Scotland. The amount of time she had spent flying could only confirm that she had flown that far and she pointed her wand at her watch so she could check just how long she had been up there; it was almost half past five.

Holly could scarcely believe that only twenty four hours ago she had been at home with her children and they had all been safe, and so had James. She bit her lip as she remembered that he would not have been with her because of what had happened between them and she had to control herself before she burst into tears. The day had seemed so long and she felt as if a whole week had passed since she had discovered that Isabella was missing; the whole day had been so terrifying and it was not over yet. She wondered for a moment about what had happened at the Burrow, whether Hermione was alright and what they would all be thinking now they knew she had taken the wand and gone after James on her own. She was sure they would understand but they would also be frustrated that they couldn't help and worried that she would not be able to handle it on her own; however she was more determined than ever to save her husband and show him that she had been wrong all along. Her thoughts lingered on James' strong and wilful Aunt who had looked pale and lifeless when they had carried her into the house; though Ginny had prepared her for the consequences of the spell Holly had still not expected her to look that bad and she knew that the Burrow would not be a happy place at the moment.

Dispelling the thoughts she kicked off from the ground and ascended high into the air to continue her journey; glancing at James' wand she saw that it was still pointing in the same slightly north west direction and she flew onwards under cover of darkness. She was so cold that her grip on the broom was loose and she had to slow down so as not to fall from it; this frustrated her as she was desperate to get to her final destination but she had no choice and decided to fly a little lower too.

The broom whizzed over a range of flat, sparse highland and as she glanced at the wand she suddenly saw it change direction and point back to where she had come from; gasping loudly she stopped and turned the broom abruptly lowering it to the ground and jumping off. Discarding the broomstick, she held the wand in her hand and felt it tugging again southwards so she followed its pull stepping cautiously over the marshy ground below her feet. As she pressed onwards she lit the tip of her wand and noticed a wall just ahead of her which looked as if it had once been part of a building. The wand was pointing at it but had started to lean downwards a little which confused her and the closer she got to the wall the more it sloped away. At the wall, which was actually a brick built square building that had been demolished some time ago, the wand pointed vertically down to the ground and Holly noticed a small covered hatch crumbling away with rust. There were corroded holes all around it and as Holly drew her wand tip towards one she saw only darkness on the other side; it was an old mine shaft, abandoned years ago, and Holly knew that James was somewhere beneath her feet.

Cautiously opening the rusted trapdoor Holly gazed down into the darkness and made out a corroded ladder leading down into the darkness; dropping both wands into her cloak pocket she lowered herself onto the top rung and slowly began to climb down. It was long and dark but she felt out for every step carefully; some rungs had broken away and she had to drop further down testing each one would support her weight before dropping on to it. The shaft was cold and wide and tracks up and down the sides showed that there had once been a lift which had carried people and their hauls up and down; it had all been taken away now, presumably with the demolished building and Holly knew it had probably been a long time since someone had climbed the ladder. It felt like she had been climbing for almost an hour when she hit solid ground and put both feet together; removing her wand from inside her robes she re-lit the end and peered into the darkness; all she could see was a long dark tunnel and she knew she would have to follow it.

She donned the invisibility cloak before setting off and then removed James' wand to see which direction it was pointing in; it was still vertical and Holly knew there must be more shafts but for now the only way was forward so she set off, hiding below the cloak and gingerly feeling her way along. After walking a few yards the wand turned to point back where she had come from, it still sloped away but she had to find another way down before she would be able to locate her husband. She walked and walked passing through damp and silent passageways; there were wooden and metal props holding up the ceilings above her and occasionally she passed some of the old mine workings where rusted broken tools had been left behind. It turned around corners and then began to slope downwards after a while and all the time she kept looking at the wand which changed direction with every turn she made. Eventually the compass evened itself out and she knew she was on the right level but had to find a way to wherever he was; it was pointing at a tunnel wall and she had no way to get through it without following the tunnels around.

On the lower level it was like a labyrinth with tunnels leading off in all directions and Holly had to watch the wand closely as it guided her until eventually she was following one passage which seemed to be going in the right direction. Trying to hurry made her stumble on the uneven floor but she was feeling so frustrated at being so close and yet so far. Her body ached with tiredness and she had been wandering around the mine for at least another hour when she saw a feint light ahead of her. Pausing to think for a moment she extinguished her wand and then began to follow the source of light until she reached an open cavern which had a higher ceiling. It was deserted but had tunnels leading off it in three other directions. All along the opposite wall Holly could see what looked like stables with rotting wooden doors and as she looked down at James' wand she saw it pointing towards the middle of five doors.

Checking once more to make sure nobody was around she crept into the dimly lit cavern and straight to the middle door; her heart was pounding in her chest as she slowly opened it and stopped when it made a loud creaking sound. Terrified of being heard she stopped and cast a quick muffliato spell at the entrance to the other tunnels and then pulled on the door again. When it was fully open she peered inside and held her wand up to clear the darkness; then she gasped at what she saw, "Oh my God James," she cried, "what have they done to you?"