Let's try this again! Last time I tried to post this chapter my computer gave me the blue screen of death! Tell me if I was JK Rowling do you really think I'd put up with a crappy old computer that gave me the blue screen of death twice this week? I think NOT!

Anyway hope you enjoy! Two chapters in one day! :-)

Chapter Forty

Hope

Harry's feet hit the frozen ground hard as he tried futilely to hold onto Ron's unconscious body. He couldn't do it. Whatever he had been hit with was sapping his strength. Within seconds he sagged under the combined weight and they both went crashing to the ground. Struggling to even lift his hand, Harry clenched his wand in his fist, knowing that he was in deep trouble. A scream reached his ears and the sound of running feet.

"Molly! No!"

Harry could see two people running towards him and relief flooded through him as he recognized them both.

Mr. Weasley caught his wife just before she reached the two prone boys. "Molly, stop! We need to make sure it's them!"

"Mr. Weasley, thank god." Harry said tiredly.

"What's the code? Tell me!" Mr. Weasley demanded as he held his wife back.

"Oh Ron! Oh Harry!" Mrs. Weasley cried.

Harry shook his head, trying to think, to remember. "Into the eye of the phoenix."

"Out of the mouth of the snake. Oh Merlin Harry! What's happened? Were you attacked? We need to get you into the house!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed. "Molly, levitate Ron. I'll help Harry. We need to get them into the house now!"

Mr. Weasley raised Harry up with his wand and then pulled Harry's arm over his shoulders so that he could half carry and half drag the younger wizard through the wards around the Burrow and into the house out of sight.

Harry fought to stay awake, knowing he had to tell Mr. Weasley about Hermione and his sister.

"Harry, what happened? Do you know what you've been hit with?" Mr. Weasley wheezed as soon as he had the younger wizard sitting in a chair.

Harry shook his head, "Hermione and Taylor! I've got to go back. There were Death Eaters…"

"Go back? You won't be going anywhere. You can't even stand up for Merlin's sake!" Mrs. Weasley cried in a terrified voice as she waved her wand over Ron's still form as he lay on the floor a few feet away.

Mr. Weasley shook his head sadly but he said "I'll send an urgent message to Moody but…" he didn't finish, instead he sent his Patronus off, asking Moody to come and that it was urgent. Then he walked over to where his wife was still looking at his youngest son.

"I believe he will be alright. He was hit with a nasty stunner, but other then that he is…" Mrs. Weasley said her voice choked with emotion.

Mr. Weasley patted his wife's shoulder and turned back to the black-haired boy that he also considered a son, who was sitting slumped at the table. Noting for the first time the dark stubble on the young man's face and the drawn haggard look on his face. The face of a man, not a boy any longer.

"Do you know what you were hit with? I have a few potions that could help." Mr. Weasley asked in a grave voice.

Harry shook his head again. "No, they were Death Eaters. One of them took me by surprise."

Suddenly several whistles started to blow and Mr. Weasley pulled out his wand and headed for his door warily. A few quick words and Mr. Weasley opened the door and in clumped Moody and two others

"Harry! What happened? Are you alright?" Lupin asked briskly as he strode across the room to the young wizard.

Harry sighed. Lupin would understand. "Taylor and Hermione are still there. They were Death Eaters, six or seven of them. I need to go back after them!" Harry growled as he pushed himself up out of the chair. If Lupin hadn't caught him, he'd have fallen back down.

A noise near the stairway caused the group to look and see Hermione's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger standing there looking terrified. "Hermione? Hermione is missing?" Mr. Granger asked in small voice.

Harry felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach, as he watched Hermione's mother give a frightened cry and turn into her husband's arms. He'd never have wanted them to find out like that.

"Don't worry. We will go looking for her Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice reassured them.

Harry caught the look that Moody sent the younger auror/teacher. It said more plainly than words that he was giving the muggles false hope.

Mrs. Weasley ushered the Grangers into the living room levitating Ron after her, so that they wouldn't hear what the Order members were planning.

"Potter I'll need you to explain to me very carefully where you were," Moody growled in his gravely voice.

Harry shook his head and pushed away from Lupin a little, "I'm going. I left them behind and I'm going back to look for them."

"Harry, you can't. You can hardly stand. What if they are still there? You'd…" Mr. Weasley tried to reason with the black-haired wizard but Harry cut him off.

"I am going! With or without you."

"Potter! Enough. We are wasting time. If there is any chance at all that we will find those two witches, we need to go now." Moody snapped.

"I'll Side-Along Harry. Now let's go." Lupin said as he put his arm around Harry and started out the door with him. He understood why Harry had to go back. He knew how painful it was to lose a friend, but not being allowed to go and see what happened, was even worse.

Harry quickly described where they were going on the way out of the Burrow so that when they reached the wards, the five wizards Apparated without hesitation.

Wands drawn and ready for trouble, they arrived at the tiny clearing that was meant to be a campsite. All around was evidence of the fight that had taken place as scorch marks on the trees and gouges in the ground could be clearly seen but there were no witches or wizards to be found.

Harry watched as the others searched the clearing, but he knew before they even told him, that there was no sign of his sister or his best friend.

"I'm sorry Potter. There's no telling where they took them. We haven't been able to find out where the Death Eaters might be meeting, and even if we could there's no way of knowing if Granger or Porter would be there." Moody's voice, though gravely, was gentle. He didn't hold out much hope of ever seeing the two witches again, let alone alive.

Harry could feel the agony trying to claw its way out, but he pushed it down, as an idea came to him. "If she was able to get away, Taylor might go to… Greg Hunter's house. She went there before when we got separated."

"Greg Hunter? Dan Hunter's son?" Shacklebolt asked.

Harry only nodded, not trusting his voice. He knew it was a long shot but…

"There's nothing more we can do here. I'll check out Hunter's place. I think we had better go back and tell the Grangers the truth. It will be kinder in the end." Moody said slowly.

Harry nodded again saying woodenly. "I'll tell them. Hermione was my responsibility. They both were." He thought of Ron and cringed, this was going to be just as hard on him.

Lupin put his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. He could see that James' son was just barely hanging on, but he could understand the weight of responsibility that he felt for the two witches.

Afterwards, Harry would wonder how he ever made it through telling, not just the Grangers but also his best mate, that Hermione had been taken by the Death Eaters, and there was little hope that she would ever come back.

The only thing that kept Harry from losing it was that Ginny was there. She had been over to see Bill and Fleur for the afternoon and had returned shortly before he got back. Ginny had hugged Harry tightly and then stayed at his side, giving him strength with just her presence.

The Grangers were stricken with grief and held each other tight.

Ron on the other hand was furious with Harry for leaving without Hermione and Taylor and he wasn't shy about letting everyone know exactly what he thought. Mr. Weasley and Kingsley had to take Ron outside to calm down.

"Harry, I checked with Hunter. Granger and Porter were not there. I'm sorry son." Moody spoke gruffly, but he laid his hand on Harry's shoulder, before he announced that he needed to go.

Lupin could feel his heart breaking also. He needed to go with Moody and finish what they had been doing before they had come to the Burrow. He would have to wait until he was alone before he could allow himself to deal with the pain of James and Lily's daughter going missing. "Harry," he said quietly, he couldn't say any more, not here, but he knew the young wizard got the message. "If you need anything…"

Harry nodded numbly, as he watched the three Order members leave.

"Come on Harry," Ginny said softly as she stood and pulled him to his feet. She led him up the stairs and into her room. Setting him on her bed she left and returned shortly with a bottle of potion. "It's Dreamless Sleep potion. Mum has been having trouble sleeping sometimes."

Ginny handed him some and he drank it without saying a word.

When Ginny sat down on the bed, Harry laid down with his head in her lap. Numbness in the form of the potion spread through his body, as an anguished sob welled up his throat. Ginny's lap was soaked before the potion claimed him in wonderful anguish-free nothingness.

At first Taylor wasn't sure if her eyes were open or not, the blackness that pressed in on them was so complete. She might even be dreaming, except that her body shook from lying on the freezing cold floor. She was fairly certain she would wake up if she were shaking that hard in a dream. Still it took her a long time to push herself up so that she was sitting. Slowly she remembered the fight with the Death Eaters, and she decided that she must be awake, because this was worse then any nightmare, well except one and she wasn't convinced that was a dream anyway.

A low moan out of the dark alerted her that she wasn't alone. It took several attempts before she was able to speak, "Herm…my…nee?"

An answering moan had Taylor reaching cautiously in that direction. Her searching fingers soon found a body and then she felt the telltale bushy hair of her friend.

"Ta…lor?" Hermione asked thickly.

"Yeah. Are ya a'right?" Taylor asked as it became easier to talk.

"Yeah, I think. Where… are we?"

'Don't know. At some Death Eaters I suspect." Taylor whispered, there was a hollow sounding echo, that made the darkness eerie.

"Ron? Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat up. "What happened to them?"

"They're not here. They were able to get away." Taylor heard the other witch sigh in relief.

The sound of footsteps approaching halted any further conversation as the two listened fearfully wondering what was going to happen now.

The door opened and flooded the room in light, blinding the two witches temporarily, as a gruff voice commanded that they get up.

Their muscles were stiff from lying on the cold floor and it was a few seconds before they were able to stand.

"I said get up! Mudblood!" the gruff voice snarled and a heavy boot smashed into Hermione's leg causing her to cry out.

"She was getting up you arrogant bastard!" snarled Taylor as she started forward only to be stopped after a step by the tip of a wand pointed in her face.

"You will learn, Mudblood," A fist colliding with the side of Taylor's head made her spin halfway around and her ears ring, "to speak only when spoken to!"

Taylor turned back and glared at the Death Eater. A frightened sound from Hermione made Taylor look at the other witch to see the fear clearly in her friend's eyes. Taylor curled her hands into fists but that was all.

"Your friend is smart, Mudblood." The Death Eater grinned at Taylor evilly. "Now move!"

Taylor and Hermione were taken up several sets of stairs, down a long marble tiled hall and into a large room that looked like it was a study or a library. There was no desk in the room, only a long bare wooden table with an elaborately decorated chair at the head of it. A large marble fireplace was at one end of the room and the other walls were lined with books, thousands of them.

A small group of Death Eaters stood near the fireplace, but they turned when the two witches entered.

Taylor never had a lot of experience with Death Eaters before. Sure she had been with Harry in the Department of Mysteries at the end of fifth year and she had fought along with the others at Hogwarts last year when Dumbledore had been killed, but other than that, her experience was limited to what her brother had told her. However she recognized immediately the insane laugh that preceded the voice.

"Ahh I'm so glad you came out to play... Mudbloods!" Another insane laugh filled the room. "But first I have to ask you a few questions. Where is Potter?"

Taylor felt her anger rising as she glared back at Bellatrix Lestrange. The words were out of her mouth before she even thought about them. "Go to hell!"

It happened so fast that Taylor barely saw the wand move or heard the curse uttered before pain exploded all over her body. Time stood still. Nothing existed except the pain. Then as suddenly as it started it stopped leaving Taylor shaking on the marble floor. She could hear Hermione's voice wavering slightly.

"We don't know where he went. I swear."

With an effort Taylor rolled over and sat up, still shaking, but she looked up at Bellatrix to see her smiling insanely.

"I don't believe you Mudblood. But I have no doubt that before long you will be telling me everything I want to know. Crucio!"

Hermione's body jerked and she fell to the floor screaming and writhing in agony.

Anger, hot and potent coursed through Taylor giving her the strength to get up and step between her friend and Bellatrix. "Leave her alone, bitch!"

Bellatrix looked from the screaming girl on the floor to the one that stood in front of her, and she laughed. "Ah, we have a true Gryffindor here."

"What the hell do you want anyway?" Taylor snarled, her knuckles white as she fought the desire to dive at the Death Eater and pound her with her fists alone.

"I want to torture you Mudblood. Find out everything you know, and then when you are begging for death… I will kill you!"

"Well that's a load off my mind. Now at least I don't have to worry about what's going to happen!" Taylor snarled continuing to glare at the Death Eater as Hermione whispered desperately from the floor. "Taylor, no!"

"You dare to talk to me like that MUDBLOOD!" Bellatrix shrieked outraged.

"So what are you? A Full-Blooded bitch?" Taylor snapped.

"Crucio!"

Once again pain consumed Taylor's whole body. She knew nothing but pain, not that she was lying on the floor, or that she was screaming.

When the pain finally stopped, Taylor was left trembling on the floor again.

"You will learn Mudblood, in the weeks and months to come, that it is only by the grace of the Dark Lord that you still draw breath." Bellatrix cooed softly as she leaned over Taylor and traced her finger along the check of the girl lying on the floor, her fingernail leaving a trail of blood behind it.

It was the sun shining brightly on his face that finally drew Harry out of his deep sleep. Opening his eyes it took him a few minutes to figure out where he was. Everything was blurry, so he knew he didn't have his glasses on. The room though looked familiar. The blurry posters on the pink walls. Suddenly the memories of the previous day came crashing down on him and he wished that he hadn't opened his eyes. A slight noise made him roll over and look towards the door, hoping that it was Ginny.

He knew instantly that the blurry figure standing by the door wasn't his girlfriend and he groaned, wondering if physical pain might somehow ease his mental pain.

"Good Morning Harry dear. I'm sorry if I woke you. I just wanted to see if you felt like having something to eat. You slept through supper last night. How are you feeling this morning dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked kindly as she approached the bed carrying a tray of food.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, I didn't mean to fall asleep in Ginny's bed I just…" Harry tried to explain to his girlfriend's mother.

"Harry dear. It's all right. Ginny told me that she gave you some potion. She slept in Percy's old room. She didn't want to disturb you. We all thought you needed the rest." Mrs. Weasley said gently, sitting the tray on the bedside table and then handing Harry his glasses.

"Thanks," Harry mumbled as he pushed his glasses into place and looked off across the room.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and knew that the young man lying in her daughter's bed wouldn't accept any kind of comfort that she could give him, so she gave his shoulder a squeeze with her hand as she said, "If you'd like some more to eat dear, there's plenty down in the kitchen."

Harry just nodded as Mrs. Weasley left him alone. He wasn't sure how long he just laid there thinking, but after a while he rolled over and got up, slightly surprised to find that he was wearing an old pair of pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt, that for some reason he thought belonged to Ron. He didn't feel hungry, but knew that it had been over twenty-four hours since he'd eaten the porridge his sister had made. The thought brought a fresh wave of agony with it, and he turned away from the tray of food to go stand and look out the window.

"Harry?" Ginny's voice spoke softly from behind him sometime later. He could hear her walking towards him and then her arms wrapped around his middle and she hugged him tight. He turned and wrapped his arms around the witch that he loved, not knowing what he'd do without her quiet strength.

They stood like that for a long time before Ginny finally said gently, "Nothing is certain. Neither Hermione nor Taylor would want you to give up hope."

Harry drew in a ragged breath, "Yeah I know. It's just that I failed them Ginny. I left them there with those Death Eaters. It's all my fault."

Ginny pulled away from Harry enough so that she could look up into his eyes. "You're wrong Harry Potter. Taylor and Hermione were with you not because you asked them to go but because they wouldn't let you go without them. They knew the risks, and they were willing to take them. You told me yesterday that Hermione was stunned as well as Ron. Taylor told you to go, and by the sounds of it if you'd waited any longer you and Ron wouldn't have made it out of there either. You didn't leave them Harry. You did what had to be done!"

Harry pulled away from Ginny and walked over to the bed, running a hand up over his face in agitation. He could hear his sister's voice ringing in his ears for him to go, that she'd get Hermione. On some level he knew that Ginny was right. There hadn't been anything else he could have done, other then allowing himself and Ron to get caught also.

Maybe that's what I should have done.

Harry hadn't realized he'd said it out loud until Ginny spoke at his side where she had joined him by the bed. "Taylor knew that you couldn't allow yourself to be caught! I'll bet all the gold in Gringott's that she told you to go threatening to jinx you if you didn't. Am I right?"

Harry nodded remembering his sister threatening that and more.

"Harry, Taylor would have done whatever it took to protect you. That she would be willing to die for you, I know. I've seen how much she loves you, and you love her. I don't pretend to understand the connection you two have but… Taylor knows that if You-Know-Who catches you then the war is over. We lose."

Harry remembered his sister saying those same words, more than once.

Ginny wrapped her arms tightly around Harry again and as she finished saying, "Hermione is no quitter, and Taylor won't go down without a fight. Deep down I know they are still alive, and fighting."

Harry crushed Ginny to him as he whispered desperately, "Merlin, I hope so Ginny."

"I love you Harry." Ginny whispered.

Harry's answering, "I love you, too" was almost intelligible as his lips sought his witches and he kissed her fiercely as hope renewed coursed through him.

A/N Wow... there you have another chapter! Oh My what a place to be in! Hermione and Taylor captured by Death Eaters and Harry and Ron barely made it out! Please tell me what you think! I would really love to know what you think of the pickle that I have gotten our beloved charactors in! :) So why don't you push that little button right there... the one that says Review and let me know! ;) I was kind and posted two chapters today! Even if I am leaving you in a bit of a rough spot once again! I will post again soon!

Thank you for reading! And Alerting and Favoriting and for those who left a review... Thank You! To Barbc, my bata, she rocks! Love ya! Well until next time, cytpotter.