Lyra woke up feeling confused and scared; she looked around the room she was in. It was dark and it smelt odd, like ink and parchment mixed together. She slowly got to her feet, her hands trembling, and took one step forwards. Her head hurt and she felt tears flood her eyes.
"Mum?" she whispered, taking another hesitant step, "dad?"
A sound to her left made her gasp and she jumped back, tripping on a piece of debris. Looking down she saw the piece of the debris she had tripped on; on it was gold letters. "F-R-I-E-N-D-S," Lyra whispered in a trembling voice, "I wish I knew what it said."
"It says 'friends'," a man's voice said, causing Lyra to jump again; her trembling, which had momentarily stopped, begun again.
"Who are you?" Lyra whispered, her voice shaking.
"Ronald," the man said. He walked out of the shadows and Lyra saw he had red hair down to his shoulders and a red beard as well. Dirt covered his face, a few scratch marks under his eye and on his cheek. He was tall and very thin. "And you," he said walking towards her, causing Lyra to shrink back away from him, "are a Malfoy."
"How did you know?"
"Your hair colour," he said, "it's a Malfoy trademark."
"Most people say I look like my mum," she said quietly.
"Fuck what most people say," he spat causing Lyra to flinch, "You're a Malfoy, through and through, which makes you evil! Malfoy's have done nothing but ruin the Wizaridng World, and my life! Look at what's become of me because of a Malfoy!"
"I don't understand," Lyra trembled.
"You Malfoys," Ron growled, "you all think you're better than the rest of us, you think you can have anything, that you're entitled to everything no matter what someone else may want!"
"I want to go home," Lyra cried, tears falling from her eyes and down her face.
"Home to your big manor house? To your riches, your jewels and priceless artefacts? All the dark and dangerous items lurking around the house, just waiting to corrupt the innocent?"
Lyra cried as Ron raved onwards, not understanding a single word the crazy man was saying. She wanted to leave; she wanted her mum's kisses and her dad's hugs. She wanted the safety of her parents.
"Why are you doing this?" she sobbed.
"Malfoy took something important away from me," Ron said walking towards a door, "Now I'm taking something away from him. You should have never been born." He slammed the door behind him as he left and Lyra heard a lock click. She ran to the door and tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. She banged on it a few times, "let me out!" she cried, "please! Let me out of here!"
Sighing she turned and slid down the door to sit on the floor. "I just want to go home," she cried, putting her head in her arms and letting the tears fall.
At the same time that Lyra was locked away, Hermione was blinking her eyes open. "Ow," she groaned, lifting a hand to her head. "What happened?" she said, voice sounding hoarse.
"You feinted," Hermione's eyes sprang open as she jumped to her feet.
"Lyra!" she yelled, suddenly remembering the events that had triggered her to feint. "Where is she?"
"We think Ron took her," Harry said. He was standing by the window of the room she was in; Hermione recognized it as Ginny's childhood room.
"What are we going to do Harry?" Hermione asked frantically, "we need to find her before he hurts her!"
"He wouldn't do that," Harry said but Hermione heard the uncertainty in his voice.
"He's deranged Harry," Hermione pleaded, grabbing his arms, "Please, we need to find her!"
"Hermione we've been looking for Ron everywhere," Harry said grabbing her wrists and removing her hands from his arms, "I'm out of options."
"But he has to be close," Hermione said, "please, Harry, this is my baby girl we're talking about! What if he had taken Lily instead, wouldn't you be doing whatever it took to find her?"
Harry's eyes clouded over as he imagined just how he would feel if his youngest child, his only daughter, had been taken. "I would be," he admitted, "but I don't know where else to look Hermione. Ron could be anywhere, he could have disapparted the moment he took Lyra."
"Harry," Hermione said, voice cracking as tears left her eyes, "please."
The door creaked open and Harry turned his head to see who it was, only to find his wife standing there. She walked towards the two, turning so that Hermione collapsed in her arms rather than Harry's, and rubbed soothing circles on her back.
"Everything will be alright Hermione," Ginny whispered, "we'll find Lyra."
"Draco," Hermione sobbed, "where's Draco?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that," Harry said, "he wasn't at dinner. Nobody's seen him in quite some time. At first people were wondering if it was he who took Lyra-."
Hermione stiffened in Ginny's arms, raising her head to glare at Harry. "Draco wouldn't do that," she said, voice cold.
"I know," Harry said soothingly, "I assured everybody that he was reliable, that he wouldn't take his own daughter."
Hermione's face fell as she crumpled back into Ginny's arms, "we had a fight," she whispered, "and he left. I-I think he just went home, but I don't know. He's never left during a fight before."
"I'll go check you're place," Harry said.
Hermione nodded her head, letting the tears fall, as Harry left the room. "Where's Ara and Gemini? Are they okay?"
"Teddy's taking care of Ara," Ginny said softly, "Gemini, she's locked herself in the library and won't let anyone in. I heard a lot of noise coming from there, I was concerned, but I couldn't get the door open."
Hermione sighed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I'll go speak to her."
"Maybe you should compose your self a little Mione," Ginny suggested hesitantly, "You need to be strong for your girls, they need you to be strong."
Hermione nodded and forced herself to calm down, stopping the flow of tears, and blowing her nose with a tissue she summoned. With a flick of her wand and a mumbled incantation, Hermione's eyes were no longer red and puffy.
"Okay," she said, "do I look better?"
"Much," Ginny said nodding.
"Thanks Gin," she whispered, hugging her friend quickly, before exiting the room and following the maze of hallways until she reached the library. It was quiet inside now; Hermione tried the handle but it wouldn't move. She waved her wand, trying to magically open the door, but it wouldn't unlock.
"Gem," Hermione said quietly, "open the door, please. It's your mum."
"Go away!" Gemini screamed.
"Please baby," Hermione whispered, "open the door."
"I want dad!" she yelled.
"Your fathers not here right now," Hermione said, blinking her eyes and fighting the tears that wanted to start falling again. "He will be soon, but until he gets here, I need you to open the door for me."
Silence was heard and Hermione stood there for a minute until finally she heard the door unlock. She pushed the door open slowly, peering into the room. Books were scattered, tables were turned, and stuffing had exploded out of the furniture.
"I lost control," Gemini whispered gazing at her mother, "usually dad can help me calm down and fix things, but he isn't here. Why isn't he here mum?"
Hermione bit her lip, at a loss for words, seeing Gemini that way. She was usually so strong and composed, and so stubborn, but on occasions that her emotions got the best of her, her accidental magic still flared up. Draco was usually right there to help her with it, but he wasn't there this time.
"It's all my fault," Gemini said quietly, "it's all my fault Lyra was taken. I should have been there, mum, I should have been there, playing with her! You and dad are always telling me to play with Lyra, and I never listen! It's all my fault! I should have protected her!"
"No, Gemini," Hermione said, her eyes welling up again but she fought them to stay as she grabbed her daughter and hugged her tightly. "It's not your fault at all, Gemini, don't think like that. If you had been there you could have been taken too! The only one at fault here is the crazy man who took her!"
"Why did he take her mummy?" Gemini asked. Hermione had hardly ever heard Gemini call her mummy before, and it was that, more than anything, that made the tears fall from her eyes as she realized just how scared her middle daughter was. "Why did he do it?"
"I don't know Gem," Hermione whispered, holding her daughter tightly, "but we are going to find out. We will find him, and Lyra, and he will pay for what he did."
Hermione held Gemini tightly, not noticing the figure who had appeared in the doorway. Draco stood there watching his wife comfort his daughter. He had just returned to the Burrow, feeling immensely guilty for leaving his wife the way he had in the middle of a fight. When he returned he hardly saw anyone, the place seemed deserted. He wandered the building, searching room after room, only to come across the scene before him. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he had a bad feeling.
"What's going on?" Draco asked.
"Draco!" Hermione said at the same time as Gemini yelled, "daddy!" The two of them ran into his arms and he held them tightly, kissing both of their heads.
"It's Lyra," Hermione said brokenly, "she's gone, Draco. Ron's taken her!"
"I'll kill him," Draco said, blood going cold and face hardening, "I'll kill the bastard! Nobody touches my family and gets away with it!"
"We don't know where he is," Hermione sobbed.
"How did this happen?" he said, voice hard.
"It was Lorcan," Luna said from behind. She had been walking down the hallway when she spotted the family. The three turned to her as she explained, "they were chasing gnomes out by the edge of the apparation point. Lorcan had told Lyra about gnome saliva and she wanted to see if it was true. One of them passed the boundary and Lyra followed it while Lorcan chased another one. Lorcan heard Lyra scream and he saw Ron shoot her with some sort of spell before grabbing Lyra; he was too scared to do anything until Ron ran off with her. Lorcan ran right back to us all to tell us."
"He ran?" Hermione asked, "he didn't disappartate?"
Luna shook her head, "Loran said he ran for the hills."
"But that means he could still be close by!" Hermione said, hope filling her, "he could be somewhere close to here!"
"There aren't many houses in the vicinity."
"Do the Diggory's still live close by?" Hermione asked, Luna shook her head. "They moved after Cedric's death."
"What about the Fawcett's?"
"Yes, they still live there."
"And your father?" Hermione asked eagerly.
"He abandoned the house during the War, the Death Eaters kept coming for him, especially after my escape from Malfoy Manor. He left the house in ruins." Luna explained.
"Are there any other Wizard dwellings in the area?" Hermione urged her.
Luna shook her head, "As far as I know those are the only ones still in existence. The Diggory house had been taken over by a Wizard family by the name of Hawthorn."
"He must be there then, at your family's old house," Hermione said, "we need to go look!"
"Hermione," Draco said, "we can't just so bursting into the place. I want to find Lyra as much as you do, but we need more facts!"
"This is our daughter, Draco!" Hermione screamed. "How can you not want to go looking for her!"
"Damn it Hermione," Draco yelled angrily, "I do want to go looking for her! But I don't want any more of my family getting hurt, or worse, because we were too reckless and anxious! We need a plan!"
Hermione sighed, "Gemini," she finally said turning to her daughter. "Go and find-." She looked around, "Gemini?"
"Gem?" Draco said as well.
"Where is she?" Hermione asked. "She was just here a moment ago!"
"You don't think-." Draco trailed off as the couple exchanged worried looks. Luna looked between the two of them.
"She's gone off, hasn't she?"
Hermione crumpled into her husbands arms, fresh tears falling. "I believe so."
Draco held his wife, worried lines forming on his forehead as he scrunched his face up.
"We need to go after her!" Hermione said sobbing, "please Draco!"
"We'll need some help," he said. "How much of a head start do you think she has?"
"She can't be far," Hermione sniffled.
"Mum," Ara said suddenly appearing, looking scared and worried. "Gemini stole my broom. She just flew off! I tried to stop her but the brooms here are slow and I couldn't catch her."
Hermione began crying harder, "Draco what are we going to do?"
"Ara," Draco said staring hard at her, "gather the kids into this room and lock the door behind you, I don't care how you do it but you and Teddy can't let anybody out, do you understand me?"
"Yes," she said and hurried off. Draco turned to Luna, "gather everybody. We're going after my daughters."
A/N: Ok, so I know I just updated yesterday but this is a celebratory update because I JUST finished writing the last chapter! Woot! 22 chapters in total (although I'm debating doing an epilogue).
I wanted to share my happiness with all of you of finishing the story!
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know in a review! Updates will be back to every 2 or 3 days now that I have the story complete! Next one will be this weekend, either Friday night or Saturday morning depending on my mood!
Please review!