***AUTHORS' NOTE*** Hey all; we're being affected by the "Ice Storm of the Century"... We're holed up in a hotel room because our home has no heat and no water for the past three days, and that's really bad for my four year old. It's hard, we've got four kids in here with us. That'd be great inspiration if I was writing about the kids running around, but I'm not. Talk about cabin fever...!

I'm trying to keep writing, though... I've already started the next chapter. You guys keep our spirits up when you review, we love all of you. SisterSlytherin is changing up some of the story on me but we'll work out the kinks and try to get it up quick.

"Crucio!! Interfering BITCH!" Malcolm snarled, using his wand to hit Narcissa with the curse the moment they landed from the apparition. She cried out in pain but did not relinquish her grip on his robe in the slightest, her body jerking in reaction to the torture, eyes rolling back in her head as he sustained the torture.

"No! Stop it you bad man!" Angel cried out, having no intention of allowing this to continue. He ignored her though he held her in his arm so she doubled up her little fist and hit Malcolm in the nose with all the strength she had in her body. "You leave my Nona alone!" she yelled at him. The jolt of pain of being struck broke his focus on maintaining the curse.

He turned eyes burning with fury on this little brat of a girl he was holding, only a heartbeat from throwing her away and killing her right now. "You won't touch me again if you know what's good for you, you worthless little freak!" He growled at her.

The child gazed back at him with defiance and little fear, defiance in her posture. "You better let me and my Nona go! Nonno and Papa and Daddy are gonna be really mad at you!"

He turned his wand on her, lip curling in a snarl. Lucius was going to get this little brat back in slightly worse shape than he'd lost her in. He opened his mouth to curse the child but Narcissa yanked hard on his robe, starting to get to her knees. "No! Leave her alone!" she demanded.

Malcolm glared at her and raised his wand, apparating away again. Maybe he'd get lucky and Narcissa would lose her grip.

The moment they neared the ground Malcolm knew he wished to take no chances with her being able to do anything. She wanted to be a prisoner; he didn't have any problem with that at all. He immediately performed "Expelliarmus!" and snatched her wand up, shoving it inside his vest.

Narcissa only had a brief glimpse of where they fell to the earth; a large dingy building and a damp street before he snapped "Obscuro!" And she was blinded by the jinx from Malcolm.

"Bloody interfering woman!" he snapped, glaring at her. Angel, momentarily forgotten in his grip, turned and bit the forearm of the man's wand hand as she could.

He snarled an oath and threw her to the ground, not dropping his wand. "Crucio!" he spat the curse and found himself smiling as the little girl immediately began to scream in pain.

"No! Stop it! Oh Merlin, stop it Parkinson, please!" Narcissa threw herself toward the voice of the child and covered her body with her own. Angel clung to her, trembling and sobbing harshly.

Malcolm, feeling his point had been made, relented and released the curse. "If that little bitch touches me again I'll kill her, I don't care what value she may have to me!" Parkinson snarled, glancing at his forearm, which was bleeding with very clear curved marks from her little teeth.

"Get up. Pick up the little beast and get on your feet!" Parkinson ordered, not getting close to them again.

Narcissa got slowly to her feet, holding the shaken and weeping child close to her as she forced her shaky legs to support them both. Travelling by sidealong apparition followed by being struck with the torture she had endured was not easy on her body. She was not a young woman anymore. "How am I to walk blinded…?" she asked quietly, not wanting to anger him further.

"Walk!" He snarled the order, pressing the tip of his wand directly into her spine.

Unable to see, Narcissa had no choice but to proceed forward. She made certain each foot was planted firmly before she moved her weight onto it, extending one hand before her to ensure that she caused no further harm to Angel, whispering soft soothing words to the girl. She had to be strong for Angel, to take care of her, to protect her as much as she could from Parkinson.

Malcolm prodded her in the spine to hurry her up but she continued to walk carefully. They passed through a door and she heard it clang shut behind them and a bolt slide home, followed by a spell to bind the door shut against all intruders. She felt the wand again in her back and when it moved to poke her in the left side, she started to turn right. He did not correct her but he moved it back to her spine when she had turned enough.

Eventually they passed through two more doors before the wand stopped prodding her; a door slammed behind them. Narcissa allowed herself to sink slowly to her knees, holding Angel close. "It's all right love… they'll find us… somehow, Lucius will find us…" she whispered, trembling, trying to keep from crying herself. Her vision was not returning; she knew she would be without any sight until at she was rescued.

She held the girl and whispered a soft lullaby to her, holding her in her arms with her back propped against the wall. After a while she heard Angel's breathing change from the hiccupping of suppressed sobs to the even breathing of sleep.

Lucius moved into his study to find Severus Snape already settled into a chair by the fire with a brandy in hand. He chuckled softly. "You've finished already…?" he asked.

Severus snorted. "Hardly. I've bound most of the more deadly spells he knows, secured them away until seventh year is complete or if a situation arises in which his own life is in peril. There is plenty he knows that should not be common knowledge for a child his age…"

"What sort of spells was he capable of doing?" Lucius asked quietly.

"All three of the Unforgiveable curses, plus several I created myself and a few that we had not known about. He not only knows these spells, Lucius; he was required to practice and perform each and every one of these spells on small animals until the spell was perfected."

"Sounds like Durmstrang training." Lucius observed rather distastefully.

"Of course it does; the teacher that Parkinson chose to teach offensive spells was one retired from Durmstrang. One of the more unpleasant spells that was not unforgiveable rips the victim's innards directly up and out of their mouths… the victim, I understand, chokes on their own intestines."

Lucius grimaced at the mental image. "I've read about that one. Unpleasant doesn't even begin to describe it. He was skilled at that spell as well?"

"Yes, with deadly precision." Severus said quietly. "I have locked that one away from his knowledge until he actually learns of it on his own, which isn't likely unless he gets into dark studies. I know that particular spell is in two texts in the forbidden section of the library at Hogwarts."

"Indeed… perhaps those books should be removed…" Lucius mused with a thoughtful frown. "Your old schoolbook left in the hands of that school caused quite enough damage…"

"I did not leave my schoolbook at the school; old Horace Slughorn took it with him." Severus said, remembering needing to heal Draco after Harry had attacked him in sixth year with Sectumsempra. "I hadn't been able to afford my own textbook that year and I had to borrow one of his books… he said I could have it, after all…"

"All in the past, my friend; all in the past." He soothed, taking another sip of his drink. "Well, it's nearing dinner… will you be staying?" He offered.

Severus nodded, giving him a faint smile. "Yes, if you don't mind. I think I should really remain here on the grounds until I have finished this work with each of the Circle children."

"Is there any reason you would need to stay close?"

"I want to ensure that none of the memories 'slips'…"

"I don't mind at all, truthfully; we are rather outnumbered by children around here after all…"

"I will not be changing nappies anytime soon, Lucius." Severus answered, frowning.

Lucius chuckled softly. "I wouldn't expect you to, old friend." He assured. "You know that we have more than enough rooms for you to stay quite comfortably…"

"Since you have given the rooms I usually use to Warrington, I suppose I will have to stay on the next floor; the sound of squalling children does not enhance my ability to sleep." Severus said sourly.

"I am a bit surprised, though… Your mates don't have an issue with you staying here for an extended time?"

Severus sipped his brandy, irritated by the memory of the row he had suffered through with each of his mates separately and then with both of them together on this very subject. "Saying that they simply have an issue with my being here is a massive understatement." He said with a sigh. "Remus is irritated at me for even suggesting that I stay here for a while and refuses to even listen to any of my explanations for why I must remain close while I ensure the work does not come unraveled. As for Nymphadora…" he shook his head, revealing that he was rather confused about how she was behaving. "Suffice it to say that she truly hasn't behaved normally since that night that Erik attacked me and sent me to St. Mungo's. She's very excitable about everything…"

"Well you WERE in a magically-induced coma for hours." Lucius pointed out. "They do have more than a legitimate reason to be concerned about your health."

"They haven't that much reason to worry, Lucius; I'm not working with any of these children conscious. I will be certain that each of them is asleep fully before I attempt to do anything with them; it worked quite well with Erik and I see no reason that it cannot be done the same with each of them. The only one I see that might be a problem is Alyssa; her siren and Selkie blood make it dangerous to give her the same sleeping potion."

"And they did not understand that you will not be in harm's way any longer?"

"Apparently they don't wish to hear that part of the explanation. Dora in particular wants me to break off all work with the children and force you to find someone else to tend to them. We had a rather heated argument about the whole thing two days ago. I tried to explain to her that you wouldn't want someone else knowing so many of the intimate details of the situation that would be required for someone to effectively do the job…"

"Exactly right; I would prefer to keep the existence of the Circle quiet until we have them behaving as normally as possible… did you work it out with her?"

"No. I tried for two days, and I finally just told her I would be here for a while, and she would just have to learn to deal with it. She is, of course, welcome to visit me here?"

"Naturally…"

"Thank you. I seriously doubt that we will see her here, though; she's simply livid that I refuse to give in and agree with her side of it all and that she and Remus have little effect upon the choices that I make."

Lucius frowned. "You aren't going to go home and work it out?"

"Time will work it out. I will be here a couple of weeks and when she sees that nothing happens, it will be clear that I was right. Then we can sit down and have a reasonable conversation about all of this." He said with a shrug.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Severus…" Lucius said warningly.

"Dangerous game…?"

"Yes; making your mates angry with you. I did that for a while when I supported the Dark Lord. Of course we both know that Narcissa was right all along…"

"Are you saying that they're right about the children? That they are too dangerous for me to work with?" Severus asked.

"They are dangerous, yes, but I'm not talking about the children. I'm talking about your mates."

Severus looked at him curiously. "I don't see this as a problem, honestly. I swear, Lucius, since your son got married to Potter you've become as big a meddler as Dumbledore was. Let me handle my own relationships and my mates, all right?"

Lucius chuckled softly, relaxing in his chair with his drink as well. "All right, if you swear to never compare me to Dumbledore again." He agreed.

Severus chuckled as well. "It's a deal, my old friend." He agreed.

"Master Malfoy; a box has arrived by owl." a house elf's squeaky voice piped up at Lucius' elbow. By the time the two looked in that direction there was no trace of the elf who had delivered the box.

Lucius turned his eyes to the table at his right; a platter had been placed there with a box that was three inches wide and eight inches long. He frowned slightly and picked up the box.

"Expecting a special delivery?" Severus asked.

"No, not at all… Warrington isn't working on anything that I'm aware of either…" he said as he unwrapped the plain brown paper to find a box within. He opened the box and stared at its contents as if he couldn't connect what he was seeing with reality, his face going blank.

"Lucius…?" Severus looked at him, concerned.

Lucius used his wand to levitate the contents of the box. A broken wand floated into view along with a white hair ribbon that had splatters of blood upon it tied about a lock of wavy black hair. His face drained of all traces of color.

"Narcissa and Angel…" Severus whispered, rising to his feet. "Is there a note?"

Lucius looked and gestured again, shaking his head mutely. A small crystal floated up out of the box; a memory crystal.

Severus reached out to take the crystal. "Shall I activate this?" He asked softly, and Lucius nodded, still unable to speak.

The memory sprang up from the crystal like a three dimensional image, showing a scene that focused only on the three key players in the scene; Narcissa, Angel, and a strange man they had never seen before. Narcissa lay upon the ground, her eyes staring and unseeing, screaming as she writhed in pain, the man's wand leveled at her. There was a scuffle and Angel was thrown roughly to the ground and the man used the Cruciatus curse on the six year old girl as well, smiling in grim satisfaction. Narcissa crawled blindly over to shelter the girl with her own body before the curse was lifted and allowed the girl to cry and scream in pain, finally able to get enough breath to do so. The crystal went dark.

"Malcolm bloody Parkinson… that bastard could make himself look like anyone with his potions and spells…" Severus murmured, white-faced as he stared at the memory crystal.

Lucius could not speak, his throat choked up with fear. What had Parkinson already done to them beside torture them and blind his wife…? What had he used to take her sight, was it reversible…? Horrors of torture and maiming danced through his mind and he found himself near panic.

"Lucius, we have to…" Severus started, turning his gaze to his friend, seeing the blank panic in his eyes. "Lucius, pull yourself together, they need us!" He said louder, reaching over to shake his friend.

Malfoy looked at him with haunted eyes, some sense beginning to come into them. "Severus… we have to get them back…"

"Of course we do." He said. "But we have to find where they were taken. Find what we can, and find them. Potter is a private investigator and Angel is his child; he will help to find her as I suspect Zabini will not hesitate to assist either..." he stopped talking because it was clear that his friend was no longer looking at him; his gaze was going past him.

"Angel...!" Lucius said in a voice that reflected horror.

Severus followed his gaze to see a little figure standing just beside the fireplace, looking a little confused and unsure. It was Angel, her hair without its ribbon, dress dirty, her lip split and bloodied. Severus could easily see every feature of the fireplace through the body of the little girl.

Although they were outside in the garden, both Harry and Draco heard the furiously snarled bellow of his father coming from within the manor right on the heels of a surge of uncontrolled magic so powerful that the foundation of the entire Manor trembled. "POTTER!!!"

Harry felt his face lose a shade of color. He sighed softly. "You know, Dray, I've faced a lot of powerful men in my life and not one of them really scared me at all... But your father has always had the ability to scare the bloody hell out of me..." he said, rising to his feet.

"Father works rather hard to maintain that persona; too... something must be horribly wrong..." Draco said, rising as well.

The two hurried into the manor; they could hear a ruckus from the children's wing as it seemed every one of the children was wailing in fear. Draco looked that direction worriedly but kept going with Harry.

The image of Angel watched worriedly as Lucius paced furiously. Severus had quickly left the room moments before the other man had lost his grip on his temper. He entered the room again moments before Harry and Draco came in as well.

"Father, what...?"

"You, Potter, are going to help me hunt down that thieving murderous son of a troll Parkinson! I want his head! I want that bastard to suffer for daring to TOUCH my family!" he snarled, his eyes burning with righteous fury.

"Nonno, you're scaring me..." Angel whispered, half-hiding behind the chair, gazing up at the man, attracting the attention of her two fathers.

Harry and Draco stared in shock at the specter of their sweet little Angel. "Merlin… sweet Merlin no…!" Harry whispered, gazing at her, feeling his knees suddenly lose all strength. He would have fallen if he had not seized the back of a chair with nerveless fingers. His daughter was a ghost… he'd lost Angel too.

"Angel...? What's going on father...?" Draco murmured, trembling as he slipped his arm through Harry's, giving his husband support.

Severus had an answer and he had no intention of allowing his friend to rage needlessly a moment longer. He approached Lucius, seizing his arm. The two locked gaze for a moment and Severus found himself looking into the furious gaze of his friend whose lip curled in a snarl as he attempted for a moment to pull his arm free.

Severus refused to allow his hand to be shaken off, using his strength gleaned from years of chopping, squeezing, and wrenching useful potions ingredients out of things to hold on tightly. For the span of a heartbeat Lucius considered attacking his old friend for even touching him.

"They're not dead, Lucius!" The dark-haired wizard stated in a very calm, firm voice, refusing to let his eyes leave those of his friend's.

Harry looked over at Severus as well, like a starving man yearning toward food. "Not dead…?"

"You're mad!" Lucius snarled. "Angel's ghost is right there!" he pointed an accusing finger toward the girl. "How in Merlin's name do you propose to explain that away?!"

"No, Lucius; stop being a blind fool and simply look! They're alive!" He insisted, raising his hand to point at a rarely-viewed painting on the back wall of the study. "Look for yourself!" Severus demanded.

It was a wizard painting of a huge tree; its leaves gleamed green and were tinted with the silver of reflected moonlight. Lucius finally shook his hand free and turned, stalking to examine the painting. The room fairly vibrated with his fury as he stared at the tree.

It was no normal tree in this painting; Lucius' great-great grandfather had commissioned it to be painted by one of the greatest wizard painters in history. This tree showed several generations of the Malfoy clan. Each individual name was inscribed upon a branch on the tree, and each living member had a branch with plenty of rich green leaves that drifted in an unseen breeze. As an individual passed from this life to the next, the branch they 'owned' died off as well. Its leaves faded with severe illness and blackened. With their deaths, the leaves simply drifted to the ground leaving the branch bare. To prevent the tree from showing an entire crown of desiccated branches, the painter had included a twist to the magical spell that animated the portrait; the tree would show dead family members for only ten years after their passing. There was only one branch that was dead and bare, showing no leaves whatsoever; it was the branch with the name of Andie Malfoy-Potter.

In contrast to that branch, the branches with the names of Angel Malfoy-Potter and Narcissa Malfoy were still green and clearly strong. "Your family tree doesn't lie, Lucius; you know it shows only the truth now that Warrington has cleared up the mess that he made with his potions."

"I never noticed that painting..." Harry murmured softly. He felt some color returning to his face at that revelation. She was ALIVE…

Lucius touched the painting, gazing at the names, then he turned back to look at the translucent little girl. "Then how are you here, little one?" He asked, with a herculean effort to restrain his fury as to stop frightening her.

She hesitated in answering, daunted by his displays of fury that had just passed. "I don't know Nonno... I just needed to come get you so you can save Nona and me." she said softly, moving out from behind the chair to gaze up at him.

"How is she doing this?" Lucius asked, a muscle in his cheek twitching from the effort of controlling himself. He looked at Harry, eyes narrowed. "I thought her mother was a muggle, Potter!"

Harry didn't answer immediately, taking a few long moments to gather his wits. He was feeling like he was in shock right now. Angel wasn't dead, but she'd been kidnapped by that twisted bastard Parkinson. The last thing that she needed was for Harry to fall apart at the seams. She would need her father to be as cool and to use every ounce of his professionalism as he could in order to be able to reach her quickly. "I don't know anything about her mother, really..." Harry admitted quietly.

"What? Why the bloody hell not?! Severus, I want Hermione Weasley here immediately! Get that mudblood witch here, now!" He growled.

"Now YOU'RE the one who's balmy, Lucius." Severus responded, turning away to gaze at Angel thoughtfully. "After Pansy's failed attempt they won't even let anyone see her, much less allow her out of the Ministry..."

"Firecall the Minister." He ordered Severus in a growl, moving to kneel before Angel. He felt his heart being slowly shredded; looking at the child and being unable to help clean the dirt off her face or treat her bruises was tearing him apart inside. "Angel, is there anything you can tell me about what happened? About where you may be...?"

She frowned in thought, putting one finger beside her mouth and holding her elbow with her other hand. "We were shopping and already got the baby's stuff, I was looking for something for Alyssa and this bad man grabbed me... he took me away like you did when we went to the store to get Tia. It got all blurry and I heard Nona yell, and then we were in a big open place. He hurt Nona and I hurt him back..."

"You hurt him...?" he asked.

She nodded, looking a little frightened about her action yet proud of herself for defending her grandmother. "He was hurting her so I punched him in the nose and told him you and daddy and papa were going to be really mad at him..."

"Good girl." Lucius wished he could gather the child into his arms but she was untouchable.

"And then we went again but she didn't let go she had his coat thing and when we got to where we were going he made it so Nona couldn't see and he took away her wand and I got real mad and had to stop him..."

Harry was standing beside Lucius now. "You hurt him again? It's dangerous to make that man angry, my Angel..."

"I bit him and he..." she trembled visibly. "He hurt me when he said crisso and it hurt really bad but Nona made him stop." Tears rolled down her pale dirt streaked cheeks. "He put us in a room and went away; Nonna said he locked it with magic."

"I have the minister." Severus straightened from the fireplace.

Lucius rose. "Talk to your father, Angel. I will be just a moment..."

"Angel..." Harry knelt now. "Tell me everything about where you are..."

"It's just a room daddy..."

"Yes, it's just a room love. But what do you see? What do you hear in that room? What do you smell? Is there dust in the room? Anything you can see, anything you can tell us will help us find you and Narcissa." Harry said in a soft, urgent tone.

"Lucius Malfoy, I haven't time for your political games today." Minister McClaggen said with clear impatience. He'd been dealing with several rather powerful witches and wizards today as well as the muggle Prime Minister, all wanting to hurry or delay the court date about the entire fiasco over at the clinic and he was already exhausted; it wasn't even noon yet…!

"This isn't a game, Minister." Lucius said, allowing his intense contempt for this man show in the sarcasm applied to the title he felt he had done absolutely nothing to earn. McClaggen been nothing more than an attractive figurehead in the position for the years he'd held the seat; Gilderoy Lockheart would have been as effective and the man would never have more than half his memory back. "I wish to arrange the transfer of temporary custody of Hermione Weasley to my home."

Minister McClaggen scowled. "Not possible." he said flatly.

"Make it possible. She has information I must have."

"I will not put her in your hands…!"

"It doesn't matter what you will or will not do; the mudblood will come to my home one way or another." Lucius growled.

McLaggen glared at him through the floo. "You're famous for being a manipulative bastard, Malfoy, but I will not be browbeaten by you! You'll say damned near anything to get your way, and we both know it!"

"At least we know you paid attention to something and aren't a complete twit." Lucius sneered.

That got the Minister angry; he was tired of being dealt with as if he was a simple child! Malfoy had no right to treat him this way. "I will not allow this! Merlin's beard, the next thing you're going to say is Parkinson has snatched one of those children or something..." he scowled.

"He has!" Lucius snarled.

"What proof do you have of that?! I've heard no report of any such thing!" he snapped back.

"When was the last time you checked your desk?" Lucius asked haughtily.

"None of your business, I'm quite busy and what I do on a daily basis is of no concern of yours!"

"Check your desk!" Lucius snapped and the man hesitated. "Do it! You'll find it there; your people aren't as incompetent as you are!" Lucius commanded in pure irritation. "Not only has the man you cannot seem to even locate – much less capture – managed to kidnap my granddaughter, he has taken my wife as well!" He growled, eyes narrowing.

"How in the bloody hell could that have happened? I thought you were taking personal responsibility to protect those within your family!"

"My wife went shopping with a granddaughter not involved in this mess but that does not lower her value to me! You WILL give me what I wish or I'll go before the entire Wizarding Council!"

"Malfoy, you have very little influence within the Wizarding Council anymore. When I was in school you may have had them all in your pocket but no wizard in their right mind would put you in another position of power in the Ministry, so you can stop thinking I'm going to believe that you're going to usurp me!"

"Perhaps I couldn't. But even you cannot deny the simple fact that the entire wizarding council has been offering your position to Harry Potter for over a decade. One word of assent from him and I can guarantee you that he WILL be replacing you." Lucius snarled quietly.

"Are you threatening me?!" he demanded, bristling.

"I don't have to threaten you, boy." Lucius sneered at him. "You know the facts as well as I do. I require Hermione Weasley to be here immediately at my manor. Send a guard to be her keeper; I don't care what you have to do. But you will send her."

The Minister glared at him petulantly, knowing that Lucius was right. Potter could have had this job the day that Scrimjour left, but he hadn't wanted it. Would he change his mind with the support of his father-in-law...? He wouldn't... would he...? "I can't let her go without a full escort; she's a key witness in the entire..."

"Then send a bloody escort!" He snapped, losing his temper. "Send every Auror you have; send Unspeakables, send the entire muggle Army, I don't bloody care! I just know damned dwell that you had better bloody well do SOMETHING and do it NOW!" Lucius thundered angrily. "My wife and grandchild have been taken hostage in broad daylight in the middle of Diagon Alley by the one wizard considered most wanted by the Ministry of Magic! Where is the security we all are due as law-abiding citizens? You have a responsibility to me as a member of the wizarding community, Minister, whether you like it or not! Once I let the papers know of your lax security all hell is going to break loose in a manner you have not seen since the return of He Who Must Not Be Named...!"

"All right!" he snapped back at him, his voice cracking slightly in his haste to answer. "All right, damn it to bloody HELL Malfoy...!" He said, cutting off Lucius' threat of exposure. "Let me contact the Aurors and I will get back to you..."

"No, McClaggen, you have no time. I require the services of that mudblood witch here immediately. I have a situation and she may have information that I need."

"What? Are you trying to tell me she may know where your wife and grandchild are?!" He was flabbergasted. "How...?!"

"No, I've said no such thing. You have overestimated her involvement, as usual." He sneered. "I want her delivered to my house, I don't give a bloody damn what escort you choose to send. They will remain outside my home unless they are members of my immediate family for I will not lessen my protections on my home for anyone, not even a member of the Ministry."

"But why do you want her? You clearly don't give a damn about her, calling her a mudblood…!"

"I call her what she is, that's all. It's up to you to take offense from a word that I find describes her perfectly." He shot back.

"You can't expect me to simply leave her in your custody!" The minister blustered

"Then leave her in Potter's direct custody, he's at my home as well!" He snarled at him. "And if Potter is too much of a threat to you politically send Zabini, I really don't care! I want that mudblood here in ten minutes or I swear to you on my family name that I will contact every reporting agency in this bloody continent about your incompetence to lead the Ministry and the Wizarding world!"

The minister tried for a moment to form a response, but then he just gave an angry huff that made the fire flare up and sparks soar up the chimney as he withdrew from the firecall and was gone. Lucius turned away from the fireplace to return his attention to the situation at hand.

"It's real dirty in the room, daddy." Angel was saying, her eyes closed and her face scrunched up in concentration. "And the dirt is really gray and kind of powdery; but when I try to wipe it off it just sticks on and kind of gets smeary..."

"Good; what else?"

"Well, there's a window but its real high up and Nona told me not to but I climbed there anyway. When I look outside I see lots and lots of green stuff, trees I have never seen except on the telly."

"Describe them, Angel." Lucius said quietly.

"Uh-huh; the kind with the big leaves and that has the big green things on them. Mommy told me they were big nuts or something."

"Coconut trees?"

"Yes, I think so. And there are birds too. I can see some big grey buildings and lots of pipes... it's all brick here daddy inside and out. There's a bad smell too, not rotten bad but like... um... like the smell when mommy's friend would light up his cigars, like the match smell..."

"Sulphur." Harry nodded, wanting as much as the girl could tell. "Excellent, Angel... is there anything else, anything at all?"

"Yes, and it's hot too, like summertime. It was cool at home or when we were shopping, it's not cool at all. I took off my sweater when Nona fell asleep..."

"Warmer, and possibly volcanic. Anything else? Tell us about the birds you see, love. Maybe they could tell us more about where you are…?"

"There is one weird little bird… I've never seen a bird like that before." She seemed to look over her shoulder. "I think it's some kind of hummerbird…"

"Ah, a hummingbird. Describe it…"

"Well, it's a really shiny yellow; it looks like its feathers are gold. But its body is all strange; it looks like a ball with wings and a really long beak and it flies like a hummingbird but zips all over. It's got eyes that look like the pretty stone on your school ring, daddy. There's one just outside the window…"

Round golden body, moves like a hummingbird and ruby eyes. "Snidgets." Harry frowned thoughtfully, thinking of all the snidget reserves he had heard of. He had, as a much younger man, considered going to pilfer one of the little birds to see if it could avoid him better than a snitch did, but he had never gone beyond researching the location of the reserves.

"Do you know where we are daddy...?" she looked at him hopefully.

"I have an idea, but I don't know exactly yet. I'll find you. I swear it, I'll find you."" He said softly, reassuringly to the child.

"Don't let him have Mallek daddy. Please don't let him; he'll hurt Mallek and make him all mean and he's just a baby..."

"We have no intention of doing that, Angel." Lucius assured in a quiet tone.

All of them looked as the fireplace activated; Tonks stepped through followed closely by Hermione. Severus took a step back, allowing his mate to continue with his official role; his and her argument was something that need not be dealt with here and now.

"Mimi…!" Angel said, a happy smile touching her face.

Hermione stared at the translucent figure of a girl, clearly assuming what everyone else had thought. "Angel…?"

"How the bloody hell is she doing this?" Lucius demanded, pointing at Angel's figure.

"What…?" Hermione looked at him, feeling shocked.

"You heard me, mudblood, how is my granddaughter doing this?!" Lucius demanded.

Hermione was rousted out of her shock by his use of the socially unacceptable term. "Do not call me that and expect any help out of me, Lucius Malfoy!" She hissed at him quietly, her eyes narrowing.

He narrowed his eyes as well. "Then explain this! You told Harry her mother was muggle…"

"I told him no such thing. I didn't tell Harry much about her at all; he wasn't exactly in a conversational mood at the time…" she retorted.

"Well we need to know. What is this, Hermione?" Harry asked quietly.

Hermione turned to him, faint tears in her eyes. She had wanted to speak with him for weeks, to explain… and just hearing that kind and gentle tone from him was enough to touch her deeply. To hell with Malfoy; she would help to help her old friend even if he never spoke to her again after this. "Melissa was a third generation squib. Even the ministry had stopped tracking her family to see if they were going to generate magical children. She honestly never thought that Angel would even show a trace of talent, as she never had. She was sure all of her ancestor's powers had gone for good, but when Angel was born…"

"She showed up on the Hogwarts roles, didn't she?" Harry asked.

"Enough explanation, tell me why she can do this!" Lucius growled dangerously.

Hermione simply ignored him. "Yes, she did. And she was rather confused when she got the congratulatory letter asking her if she wished to pre-enroll Angel for her eleventh year to begin school… She sent for me and I explained everything."

"That must have been a bit of a surprise for her." Harry mused.

"It was. She'd heard her great-great grandmother was a witch, but she thought it was only stories. She'd never been exposed to the magical world before my powers started to show in third grade…"

"What the bloody hell does that have to do with anything?!" Lucius demanded, beginning to grow quite angry at being ignored.

Harry glanced at him, then back at Hermione. "How does she have this power?" he asked. "Was her family just wizarding…?"

"No." Hermione answered, continuing to completely ignore Lucius on purpose. He might get what he wanted from what she told Harry but she'd be damned if she'd answer one single question from that man who insisted upon calling her that awful wizarding slur. "We did some research into her family and I pulled up information on her forefathers… she is actually a descendent of the Everard Family…"

"Nonsense; they died off in the eighteen hundreds…" Lucius scoffed.

Hermione simply ignored him. "Her four-times great grandfather was Edmund Everard, eighth headmaster of Hogwarts. As the Ministry believed his magic died with him – every one of his children and grand-children was non-magical – they declared his family line dead. I kept all the research on it in my file in my safe at home. I'll tell you how to get access to it, Harry; Ron already knows. He can get it for you. I intended to give it to Angel on her tenth birthday with her mom, to let her know her heritage and give her time to adjust to the idea of attending a wizarding school and being away from everything she ever knew…"

"She should have been told already, as should Harry." Lucius scowled at her.

"…that way she could go to school and never have to deal with spoiled pureblood brats calling her horrid and socially improper names such as MUDBLOOD by those she went to school with." She growled softly, refusing to even look at Lucius.

"If you are so insecure as to allow a simple word to offend you, Mrs. Weasley, then you still have a bit of growing up to do." Lucius sneered at her. "Now tell us why I can see through my granddaughter!"

"You should be happy that you can see her at all! Obviously she isn't here or she wouldn't be bleeding and not be tended if Harry had anything to do with it…!"

"Don't be angry Mimi… Nonno, please, don't fight…" Angel's soft voice spoke up and they both looked at her. She had approached them and was gazing from one to the other. "I love you both and I want you to be friends… can you try? Please…?"

"Oh Angel…" Hermione reached toward her and her hand drifted through the translucent child's cheek. "Where have you gone, baby…?"

"They want to find me Mimi; me and Nona…" she said, not trying to reach either of them as if she knew she could not touch them. She glanced back over her shoulder. "I… I think he's coming back. I have to go. I have to watch over Nona…" she whispered, then turned and fled toward the wall. Her image vanished in a multicolored shower of sparks before she reached the wall.

"Who's coming back? Harry, what's going on?" Hermione asked, turning to her old school friend.

"They've been taken, Angel and Narcissa. We need to know what we can so we can find them…" Harry answered quietly.

"Spirit walking." Hermione said softly. Angel needed her help, it didn't matter if Lucius was being an asshole or not. A little girl and a woman she actually liked had their lives hanging in the balance and she would not leave anything that could help them out. "She projects her spirit where she wants to go, and she goes. Her mother only did it once, the night of the fire. She and her partner had gone to America that summer to see her parents. When she found me in Italy, it was the only game of the year I had managed to attend of Ron's… his team actually won that night and I was at the celebration party… when she finally got my attention she was already dying. She begged me to get home and to try to help Angel… by the time I got there no one knew where they had gone. Both her partner and Angel were gone, back to England and I had no idea how to find them."

"So her mother had the ability, just not the true strength." Harry said.

"Yes. There was no way that any of us even guessed that her talent existed. There wasn't a hint of it until her dying moment."

"And you assumed somehow that my granddaughter would not be able to inherit this gift?" Lucius snarled, growing more angry and offended at the moment by being ignored.

"I trained Angel in how to control her wizarding power, just basics of course, enough that she could control what she was doing. She showed a talent for healing and mending things so I thought perhaps she might turn into a true Healer; we all know how rare they are…" Hermione continued her explanation without answering the older wizard.

"Answer ME, you insufferable woman!" Lucius snapped furiously; he had enough of her uppity attitude. He snatched her up by her blouse and shoved her hard against the wall, forcing her eyes to meet his.

He found that her eyes were full of pain and tears and just as much rage as his. "If I answer, I guarantee it won't be to you, Lucius Malfoy. I'll give Harry anything he wants but I'm tired; sick and bloody tired of giving in to people who think shoving me about and screaming at me is going to get a damned thing from me." Her voice was a low growl, her teeth clenched, her fists closed but she did not raise them to defend herself, her eyes meeting his unflinchingly.

"Let her go, Lucius!" Nymphadora said, approaching him.

"Angel wants us to be friends but I cannot even attempt it until you get your hands off of me." Hermione said quietly, refusing to get ruffled. After what she'd been through lately it didn't seem anything could get to her except being locked up in that room at the ministry again.

Lucius didn't even look Nymphadora's way; he curled his lip in a snarl and shoved Hermione away from him. She regained her balance quickly, jaw set, angry as he was now.

"Hermione." Harry said, recapturing her attention. She took a deep breath and turned back to him. "Please; we need to know everything we can."

"She never showed any signs of true spirit walking when I was training her." She answered him without hesitation. "Her mother wrote me regularly; she told me that Angel was having very vivid dreams but I didn't think of the whole spirit walking thing; it had last been seen four generations before Angel was born. Melissa didn't even think that it was possible for it to have been retained by her family…"

"Is it a wizarding talent? I've never heard of spirit walking."

"Not by British wizards, no, it's not done. But it is done by wizards of other countries, though it is an extremely rare gift. It's a bit rarer than being able to speak parseltongue…"

"I thought you said her ancestry came from the Everards?! Where do the wizards in her ancestry come from? Let's have a straight answer for a change, woman! Out with it!" Lucius groused.

"Where, Hermione?" Harry asked, giving Lucius a look that asked him to PLEASE be patient. Lucius grunted and folded his arms, clearly quite angered over the entire situation.

"She IS a descendant of the Everard family. When he finished his time as headmaster, Everard went to America and returned with a native American who he took to wife. Her ancestors used a magic unlike anything we're accustomed to; the Native American culture, unlike our British culture, has never forced wizards to go into hiding. Their magic is practiced, for the most part, right in front of the rest of the tribe and is accepted and welcomed as a normal part of everyday life…"

"Are you certain?" Harry asked, a bit amazed by that fact. "I hadn't even heard that they had magic…"

"They do, but they don't send their kids to schools. Magic is celebrated, magic is welcomed in their tribes; they are taught in the tribe by the Shaman, the wise man or woman, who also possesses wizard powers. Once I had the information of where her ancestor's family came from, Melissa decided to take Angel to see the tribe, to see if they would teach her and allow them to remain together as a family as their teaching begins the moment the child shows talent. The shaman decided that Angel is so far removed from the tribe they did not agree to teach her, that's why I was doing it. To prepare her for teaching outside of her family…"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner Hermione?"

She looked down. "I was going to tell Melissa about who you were, whose sperm I'd used. But she died before I had the chance."

"Likely tale." Lucius snarled.

Hermione drew a deep breath, and then let it out, trying to ignore Lucius and keep him out of her focus. "I have everything you may need to know but all you need right now is that she is a spirit walker. I have several books on them at home…"

"Instruct my house elves; they will fetch the books here immediately." Lucius commanded.

"Please Harry, just have Ron fetch them. He knows where I keep them; he thought I had some mad obsession for a few years. It's about two dozen books, all together on the bookshelf; four of them are handwritten and very delicate. I want them preserved so Angel can have them to learn about her heritage."

"I'll give him a firecall, see if he can do it."

"He should have a day or two off training right now…" Hermione said, greatly relieved. She didn't want Lucius Malfoy rifling through her things; it was bad enough that everyone in the ministry had the access to every damned thing in her house every day.

"It's a waste of bloody time…!" Lucius growled.

"Angel's history isn't going to lead us to her, Lucius. The information she gave us will lead her to her." Severus finally spoke up. "She is on one of the Snidget Reserves; at least close enough to be able to have the birds fly up to the window of the building she is located in."

"And she's in a volcanic area; someplace with an active fume." Harry said, rising and stretching, frowning slightly in thought. "And I have about four areas in mind that it could be."

"You've researched…?"

"Back when I was quite young and stupid I researched where I could find live snidgets. I'd thought it would be a lark to go see if I could hand-capture one of the little creatures. Of course, I was distracted. A much more beautiful creature came into my life and took all of my focus away from that silly bird."

"Draco." Hermione said softly.

"Yes, exactly." Harry agreed.

"Hmph." Lucius grunted, slightly mollified by the compliment to his son. "So where the bloody hell do we look, Potter?"

Harry moved to the corner where a globe made of marble sat upon a pedestal, turning it to the tropical islands west of North America. "There's a reserve in Hawaii near the Kilauea volcano, here…" he said, then turned it back toward Japan's area of the ocean. "Another is around here, in the south pacific on an island called Ambrym; not many muggles go there because the volcano explodes quite violently with unpredictable regularity." He moved his finger to a third area. "And the last possibility is here, in Papua New Guinea. There are a couple of live volcanoes there as well."

"When do we go?" Severus asked simply.

"Severus, we have to talk…"

"Later, Tonks." Severus returned. "You know this isn't the time."

"The way you do things there never WILL be a time!" She snapped back at him. Severus looked over at her, irritated, and Tonks was clearly as irritated at him.

"I think I'll go contact Ron." Harry said, glancing at the two of them. "The sooner we have those books and information the better." He added, turning to go. Hermione, unsure of what she was allowed to do, sank to a seat in a chair, trying not to be noticed and get into the middle of that argument.

"We'll be going before nightfall." Lucius answered, turning and walking out to allow them to work out whatever they were going to. He didn't care if Severus came or not; he would be damned sure one going to hunt down the bastard's hiding hole and find his missing loved ones.