Gemini bent lower on the broom, flying as fast as she could; she had to get there, she had to find her baby sister. It was her fault, all her fault that Lyra had been taken, no matter how much her mother said it wasn't. Her parents were always telling her to play with Lyra, to include her in whatever activities they were doing. But today Gemini had been stubborn and selfish, choosing to isolate herself than associate with those red headed wizards. She had over heard her father muttering angrily to himself about the Weasley's and she chose to hold on to what he said and believe it, without checking the facts first.
Things may have turned out differently if Gemini had joined in with Louis and Dominique, they may have even started a big game of hide and seek with Lyra and Lorcan. But no, Gemini had locked herself in the library instead. It was all her fault.
"I'm coming Lyra," Gemini mumbled as she began to descend towards the ground, "don't you worry baby sister. Gemi will save you."
Gemini had no clue what she was looking for, all she knew was the house was abandoned and was once a wizard family dwelling. From what she knew the house would most likely stand out from the rest of the muggles homes.
She landed on top of a hill and looked down, holding the broom in her hand. From what she could see there were four houses in the distance. She eyed them wearily, trying to find anything unusual about the closest house.
A white fence surrounded the house with a maple tree growing in the front yard, a tire swing attached to one of the limbs. Rocking chairs sat on the front porch and flowers grew from the garden. "That most defiantly isn't a magic house," Gemini muttered to herself. She hopped on the broom, kicking off with her feet, and flew a bit further as to see the next house a little more clearly.
The next house was a red brick house with a sign that said "Fawcett" on it. Gemini recalled hearing the name as one of the families that lived in the area. "Not this one," she said, getting on the broom and flying a little further.
This time she landed in front of an odd looking house; it was tall and shaped like a piece from a game of chess. An odd looking tree grew in the front, and a broken wooden sign lay on the grass, the letters "ibbler" visible.
"This doesn't look like a muggle house," she mumbled, setting the broom down on the grass. She looked closely at the windows, "it looks awfully dark and dirty inside too."
She walked towards the door which was opened a slight bit, and pushed it further open. Dirt and dust caked the floor as the door creaked open eerily. Gemini's footsteps were muffled by the grime on the floor. Dust rose into the air, causing Gemini to sneeze.
"Acho!" she said, covering her mouth and nose as quickly as she could. A floor board squeaked and she froze in her steps, looking around.
"Hello?" Gemini asked, suddenly feeling frightened.
"Don't move," a voice rasped out.
"Who are you?" she asked loudly, "and what have you done with my sister?"
"Your sister, eh?" the gruff voice said as a tall, thin, crazed looking red haired man appeared holding his wand out. "So you're a Malfoy too? You look just like the blasted git.
"Don't talk about my father that way!" Gemini said feeling angry. "Where's Lyra?"
The man laughed, "Don't you worry, love. Your sister's fine. For now."
Gemini screamed as Ron grabbed her.
Back at the Burrow a shudder went through Hermione and she clutched onto Draco's arm harder. "I have a terrible feeling Draco," she whispered.
"Don't worry Hermione," Draco said, grey eyes the colour of steel, "we'll get to them."
"But what if we're too late?" Hermione whimpered.
"We won't be," Harry said, "your girls will be fine, Mione."
"You don't know that!" Hermione shrieked.
"Gemini is a very intelligent young girl," Draco said taking Hermione's hand in his own and squeezing them, "she's got your brains after all. She will protect Lyra with everything she has."
"I'm just so scared," Hermione whispered.
"I am too, but we need to be strong, love. We have to stay strong."
Hermione nodded as Draco kissed her forehead and turned to Harry. "You know the way to the old Lovegood house?"
Harry nodded, "we should post some of you outside the building. I've called in a few trusted aurors to help us out, it is a Ministry case after all Malfoy."
"We'll take all the help we can get," Draco nodded.
"Right, Ginny, you and Hermione will be stationed at the front door; as soon as the girls are free they will be running right out of it. Do not, under any circumstances enter the house, understand?"
Ginny nodded but Hermione protested, "but those are my daughters Harry!"
"We will have everything under control," Harry assured her. "You need to trust us."
Hermione hesitated before nodding and Harry continued, "Bill, George, Draco, and I, will enter with a couple of Aurors. Bill and George, it will be your job to help Draco get the girls out. I know he's your brother but you must leave the capture of him up to the Aurors and I, do you understand?"
The brothers nodded looking tense and worried. "Neville and Mr. Weasley will assist the Aurors in surrounding the place, two of you being stationed at the back door in case he tries to slip away, or if one of the girls get lost on the way out.
"Does everybody understand the plan?" Harry asked as the group nodded. "Alright, see you there."
Hermione grabbed Draco's hand as she turned on the spot, recalling the castle like house in her mind.
Ara watched the parents disappear from the window of the library and she sighed sadly. Teddy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
Ara shook her head, "I should be out there helping my parents find my sisters. Why did this have to happen Teddy? Why?"
Teddy lowered his eyes to the ground, "I don't know Ara," he said, and raised them to look back at her, "but I know they will find them. Everything will be alright. You'll see."
"But what if it's not!" Ara screamed, hysteria beginning to build in her. "My little sisters are out there all by themselves with some maniac! You don't know Gemini like I do! Sure, she's brilliant, she defiantly has mums brains, but she's still only 7 years old! And Lyra, poor little Lyra! She's hardly old enough to use the loo by herself let alone be out there! She's probably terrified!"
Sobs escaped her mouth, something she had been trying to hide since the moment she found out Lyra was missing. Teddy and she had been joking around at the tables when her mum feinted. Ara screamed, clutching onto Teddy's arm, scared something had happened to her mum. Mrs. Potter had asked Teddy to take her somewhere to calm down ; it had taken a while but she had finally settled enough to think clearly again.
It was as Teddy and Ara were trying to find Hermione that Gemini had been seen hopping on Ara's broom. Ara had tried to stop her, running after her sister, jumping at the tail of the broom, but Gemini had flown off. Teddy and Ara had run towards the broom shed, grabbed a few Nimbus 2000's, but the models were old, and they weren't as good as they used to be. Ara and Teddy hadn't flown three feet when they saw Gemini's figure was a black dot in the sky. Sighing in defeat the two had landed and rushed off to tell her mum.
"I'm so scared Teddy," Ara muttered, "it's all my fault. It's my fault. Everything is always my fault!"
"Hey," Teddy said turning her face so she would look at him, "how do you figure it's your fault?"
"I was too busy with you to play with Lyra," sniffed Ara, "and too busy with you to stop Gemini from stealing my broom. It's my fault, Teddy. It's…" she trailed off and something flicked in her eyes, "No," she said shaking her head, her eyes turning cold and hard, narrowing into slits. "No it's not my fault. It's your fault Teddy! You kept me away from Lyra! You had me distracted while Gemini stole my broom! If it hadn't been for you my sisters would still be here! I hate you Teddy!" Ara suddenly yelled, pushing him away from her. "It's all your fault! I hate you!"
Teddy sat there, mouth open in shock as he stared at his friend, "how is this my fault? I didn't force you away from Lyra! I didn't tell you to leave your broom out in the open for just anyone to take!"
Ara narrowed her eyes further into slits, if anyone who had known Draco Malfoy at 11 were to have looked at Ara then, they would have been seeing doubles. "You dragged me away so we could climb a tree and hang out! It was your idea! Your plan! It was all you!"
"Ara," Teddy said, shaking his head, his hair turning from the cheery blue it had been all day to a dark red, "stop."
"I bet it would make you so happy if I were to disappear too," Ara spat, "that way all the Malfoys are gone! That's it, isn't it? You hate us, you all do!" She said, turning around and taking in the red heads in the room. The children all looked at her in shock and, in some, fear. "You've never forgiven my family for their behaviour in the past! You can't get past it! So you lure us here, then while we're distracted you kidnap the weakest link, knowing the rest of us would go after her! You were trying to pick us off, one by one!"
"Stop," Victorie said finally, glancing at her younger siblings who were trembling, "you're scaring the younger kids."
Ara laughed humourlessly at her, "if they're scared now, just wait and see what I can do."
"Ara, enough," Teddy said, placing a hand on her shoulder but she shook it off.
"You wanted Lyra to trust you," she said, her attention on Victorie, "that's why you let that Qudditch goal in that day. I was watching, you know, I saw you swerve and miss it on purpose! You wanted her to think she beat you, wanted her to feel accepted. YOU WANTED HER TO TRUST YOU SO YOU COULD HURT HER!"
"What?" Vitorie asked, eyes wide, "no, not at all! I just wanted her to score a goal!"
"Ara you aren't making any sense!" Teddy shouted.
Ara took her wand out of her pocket and blasted the door open, leaving a smoking hole big enough for her to crawl out of. "I'll just leave, why don't I?" she said quietly, "make your lives a whole lot easier. All the Malfoys are out of the way now."
Ara glared one last time around the room, settling last on Teddy. "I thought you were my friend."
"I am your friend," Teddy insisted.
Ara shook her head, "friends don't hurt their friends siblings." Ara turned and left, crawling through the hole. The room was silent, the only sound was heavy breathing from Teddy and Victorie, and sniffles from the younger ones.
"What do we do now?" James finally spoke up. He had been watching the exchange with interest, and he had to admit, slight fright at what the girl would do.
"We go after her," Teddy said simply.
"After the way she just treated us?" Victorie asked outraged.
"Think of how you'd react if Louis and Dominique had been taken. Or Albus and Lily," Teddy added turning to James. "Ara is terrified for her siblings, she just lost control a little bit."
"A bit?" James scoffed.
Teddy shrugged, "the point is we can't let her go out there alone. Lyra and Gemini are already in danger, who knows what will happen to them. We can't let Ara get hurt too."
"But what do we do with the rest of them?" James asked glancing at his siblings and cousins.
Teddy walked over to a book case and grabbed a small square device. "This ought to keep them entertained for a while."
"What is it?" Victorie asked, eyeing the device warily.
"It's a muggle thing called a portable DVD player,"
"And we have one why?" Victorie replied rolling her eyes.
"It's mine, you idiot," Teddy said as he turned the DVD player on, "I hid it there when I first arrived, in case I needed some time alone. The point is it should keep the children occupied while we're gone. Beside's, it's not like they're alone exactly. Uncle Harry's house elf, Bubbles, can take care of them."
"Oh yeah!" James said smacking his forehead, "how could I be so daft? Bubbles!" a crack sounded and a small beige house elf appeared wearing a scarlet pillow case. "Take care of everyone while we're gone."
"Yes Master James," Bubbles squeaked.
Teddy nodded satisfied as the children crowded around the player, Bubbles keeping his eyes glued to them. "Alright, let's go."
A/N: Tada! Another update! I'm just so anxious for you all to read the rest of this story! I've worked long and hard on it and hope you all loe it as much as I do!
Any questions? Concerns? Anything you wanna know, just leave it in a review and I will do my best to answer!