-Chapter 13-
Hermione woke up on the sofa in the sitting room of the Burrow. Light peeked into the windows. She looked at her wristwatch. It was 6:45. She quietly snuck up the stairs and into Ginny's room. The bed was empty. She poked her head in the room across the landing, Lennox was fast asleep. She snuck up to the second floor and looked into Percy's old bedroom where Harry and Luna were asleep with the twins in between them. Loud snores from across the hallway told Hermione that Ron was in Fred and George's old room. She vaguely remembered Willow disapparating sometime around midnight.
Hermione walked outside to the broom shed, she looked around for the familiar shape of the Nimbus but it was nowhere to be found.
"Dammit, Ginny. Where are you?" Hermione muttered to herself as she walked back to the Burrow. When she got inside Molly was at the stove boiling a kettle of water.
"She didn't come back, Molly." Hermione sat down at the kitchen table and buried her head in her hands.
"Go wake Harry and Ron," Molly choked out. Hermione saw Molly gripping her wand so tight her knuckles were white.
"Are you all right?"
"No, I'm not. Go wake Harry and Ron."
Hermione did as she was told and woke both men. They dressed and came downstairs immediately. Without a word they went outside and Hermione watched as they went to the broom shed and each came out with a Clean Sweep. They took off and flew up high and then out of sight. Hermione heard the staircase creak and saw Lennox carefully making his way down the steps followed by Arthur. Lennox ran to Hermione and she picked him up and pulled him in close. Luna came downstairs with the twins around 7:30. The kitchen was silent aside from Molly's occasional clanging of pans as she prepared oatmeal for the kids.
Hermione stared off into space and her daze was broken by the creak of the kitchen door. Harry came in and sat down at the table across from Hermione.
"Anything? Please, anything is better than nothing."
Ron walked in the kitchen with Ginny's broom, wand still attached to the handle. A serpent was carved into the wood just below the wand attachment.
"Ronald, tell me that my fiancée is with you." Hermione stood up and put Lennox in her chair.
Ron shook his head. "This is all we found, two fields over."
"Dammit Ron!" Hermione yelled. "Don't tell me that! Where the hell is Ginny?"
"I-I don't know, Hermione."
"Molly," Arthur sad as he stood up, "you just restocked on Floo powder, correct?"
"Y-yes dear."
"Good."
Arthur spent the better part of an hour with his head in the fireplace and in no time at all every single Weasley was at the Burrow minus Charlie who was on his way.
"You know where she is, Ron," said George as he stood up at the crowded kitchen table. "Just go get the Aurors and ambush!"
"Harry and I alerted the Ministry but you know as well as I do that the minute they get to Malfoy Manor they will just disappear with her."
"George the only way we're going to get her out is from the inside," Harry said. "We've done it before but…we didn't have a choice on how to get in."
Hermione shuddered. Oh yes, they had done it once but not by choice. That was her first experience with the Cruciatus curse. She didn't remember much of it, just that one minute Bellatrix Lestrange was torturing her and the next minute she was on a beach being carried into Bill and Fleur's house.
Bill nodded. "The question is, how do we get in?" he asked.
"Draco," Hermione said. "We can use Draco."
"Um…'Mione, do you forget that he is in Azkaban?" Ron asked.
"I know he is but if we promise Narcissa a trade she will take it."
"We can't just walk in to Azkaban and check him out for a day, it's not a library. Even in a hostage situation the Ministry won't let him out."
"Then we take him."
"Hermione, I've always known you were a tad bit mental but that…that is nothing short of total insanity."
"Well just what the hell do you propose we do then, Ronald?" Hermione shrieked. "Your little sister is having Merlin knows what done to her right now, any idea is a good idea at this point!"
"Why not repeat what we did in the horcux hunt?"
"But how do we get in?" Bill demanded. "We can't just knock on the door and politely ask to be taken hostage!"
"We should let the Ministry handle it!" Percy said. "Shacklebolt is a good man, he will know what to do."
Before anyone could speak, an eagle patronus flew into the kitchen window.
"That's Robards," Harry and Ron said in unison.
"Potter, Weasley, come up to the Ministry at once. I know you know what is going on but the Aurors need to decide the best course of action. See you soon."
The patronus disappeared. Harry and Ron left the table, checking that they had their wands and they Flooed away.
Hermione finally broke down and started sobbing. "This is my fault! I should have gone with her last night."
"Nonsense, Hermione!" Luna held on to the inconsolable brunette. "Ginny wanted to be alone, that's how she is. There was nothing you could do."