Disclaimer: Nothing is mine!
Warnings: Language. Harry sulks because he doesn't like not knowing whats going on, and also he's a man of action.
Authors note: As always I'm not that great with writing the Gryffindors but if your curious about Ginny and her not being head over heels, I feel like now that she has a purpose in life, she is too busy to just moon over him.
"Ginny, what the hell?" Harry finally managed, blinking around at the dark surroundings. They were on the lawn of some big, dark house. Ron was holding up Professor Dumbledore, but his skin was dead white under the freckles, and he looked horrified at the mans condition.
Ginny shook her head, gesturing for them to follow, and Harry wondered for a moment if this was a ploy. He had recognized her brown eyes, framed by red eyelashes, though he couldn't see any other part of her, she was under a mask and clothes. She had run and nearly tackled Ron, silently gesturing for them to follow, but she hadn't spoken, was she real? She'd led them past some other masked people, not seeming at all alarmed by them. Was Ginny on the other end of the snidget? How? She was only 15, she couldn't have been that clever, and why would she have signed her note C?
The questions were multiplying in Harry's head, and he seemed wary, and Hermione did as well. But Ron followed Ginny up the steps, taking Dumbledore with him, so they didn't have much choice and followed. Ginny led them through a dark shadowy room, the greyish marble was sort of dusty and it looked abandoned, but as though it might've once been a great hall of sorts. Ginny moved them down through a winding corridor, down some stairs, through a hole in a wall, then down another corridor, before she turned, holding up her hand for them to stop. She disappeared through a different hole in the wall, and reappeared a few moments later with a large lanky figure, whose black painted lips smiled a friendly smile at them, before taking Dumbledore. Ron hesitated for a moment, but Ginny nodded at him, and he let go, letting the hooded boy take Dumbledore. Harry gritted his teeth. Where the hell were they taking him, he wanted to scream, but Ron's agitation about his sister, and the relief in his eyes when she had hugged him back at the orphanage kept Harry biting his tongue.
Ginny took Ron's hand, and led him down a corridor, to a small hallway, where she opened a door, and there were three people, playing exploding snap by a fire. Ginny ushered them in, gave Harry smile, and Ron a wink, and then closed the door.
The Patil twin's and Lavender, who had been laughing and playing looked up, and smiled. "Harry! Ron! Hermione!" Hermione smiled a little weakly at her roommates, and sat down by them, Ron hesitantly following. Harry looked around the room; there were mattresses, 9 of them, and not a whole lot else. He walked to the small window, which overlooked a sun rising over a foggy moor.
"I don't mean to be rude but where are we? And why won't Ginny speak to us? And why are you here? I saw you, all of you on the list of missing students." Hermione's voice was softer than Harry would've managed, but it worked better than Harry's yelling probably would've.
Padma smiled, responding matter of factly. "I don't know where we are, an old magical manor though, for certain. Ginny and the rest of them can't talk in front of us much, they will sometimes, but not after one of these episodes where they're all painted up. And some masked people, they came, and got us from Hogwarts, we've been here. It's not really helping with our education, but there is a library when we aren't on lock down, and we are safe. Where did they rescue you from?"
"They didn't rescue us!" Harry said hotly, and Hermione whipped around to glare at him. He scowled, and leaned against the wall near the window, hating how much he felt like a misbehaved dog right now.
"Why is Ginny with them? Why isn't she in here safe?" Ron's voice was quiet, his eyes still intent on Padma, apparently not having noticed Harry's outburst.
"Oh, they always offer you a choice, to be smuggled out, to stay with some conditions, or to join them. Ginny joined."
Ron's slow nod, and slight scowl should've made Harry feel bad, for assuming just because Ginny wasn't he usually bubbly self that she wasn't herself. But he didn't he was annoyed, wanted to work everything out. So. It might not have been Ginny, one of the others that was here, who had sent the bird and notes.
"Who else is here?" Hermione, ever the practical on target person that she was, asked, shifting slightly closer to the fire.
"Oh, about 20 others, then there's an awful lot of masked kids, but not any adults I've seen so far. There are a few younger children, mostly younger cousins and siblings of Hogwarts students, and some young kids that I'm not sure where they got them from. The little ones are in the other room, we try to take care of them, but you know. Hannah's probably a moment away from shooing them into one of the bigger rooms to run or something."
"This is crazy! Who are they? You can't tell me you were abducted by people who won't tell you who they are, and who are obviously not shy about kidnapping, and you're just going to contentedly let them lock you up just because they say they aren't death eaters?" Harry didn't realize he was yelling, but all of the other people in the admittedly small room winced, and he realized how raised his voice actually was. Padma's eyes went cold, but Harry honestly couldn't bring himself to care. He wanted to know where he was, who was holding him, and more importantly, why no one else was upset about this.
Before Padma, her eyes flashing, could respond, Lavender spoke, quietly, "We weren't abducted, Harry. We were rescued. They said we could leave, Death Eater's wouldn't have offered us a chance to leave, and if Ginny and Seamus and everyone trusts them, then I'm going to stick it out, at least I'm out of the way here. I don't want to die, just because I don't like the quarter's I was offered."
Harry felt slightly defeated, and slid down, into a seated position. He opened his mouth, to ask more things, to apologize, something, but then the door opened, and Ginny came in, her mask off, and tucked into the pocked of her cloth black pants. There were faint smears of black paint still on her face, but her smile was big, and she ran to Ron, who stood up and caught her.
"Gin! I thought you were dead! Or abducted!"
She laughed and rolled her eyes, "You're so mellow dramatic, Ron, I'm fine." She gave him another hug, then turned and moved for the door again, continuing, "I have to go, I have a thing to do, but then I'll come back and you can tell me what silly things you were doing, trying to help Harry save the world." Her smile was playful, but for some reason Harry felt as though when it reached him, it momentarily faltered. Before either boy could stop her and ask her anything else, she slipped out, closing the door behind her. Hermione continued to ask the girls things, while Ron sat by the fire, looking towards the door, and Harry leaned against the cold wall, unable to stop sulkily thinking that this was not how he had imagined the evening going.