"Albus, Severus Potter!" A threatening voice made Al cower. He looked around to see his mother towering over him, her face contorted in fury.
"What did you just do?" Al cowered in her wake. To his relief, Ginny turned away from him for a moment. "I am so sorry." Ginny said to Hermione and last time Al had seen then this shocked was when Uncle george had blown up nana's cake.
"I have no idea what made him say something like that." She turned back to Al, who was looking at her with what he hoped was an innocent expression. "I will though." She promised, glaring at Al. Al swallowed, having the uncomfortable feeling he wasn't going to see sunlight for a month.
"It's okay." Hermione sighed, and moved to the open door. "I'll go and look for her. She can't be far." And walked out. Ron followed closely, saying "I'll come too."
Al held his breath looking up at both his parents. Was it safe to be alone with them?
Harry was looking at Al with a disappointed expression, while Ginny was looking outright murderous.
"Al, have we not raised you at all? How dare you talk to Rose like that! She is your friend for crying out loud! that is not what we taught you! " Her nostrils were flaring and Al gulped, looking somewhere for a way out.
Hugo was glaring at Al, while Lily was looking at James accusingly. Was it normal for three-year-olds to be that bright? Al thought not. He looked at James, who was looking out at the back yard with an uncomfortable expression on his face. He had probably realised this had happened because of what he had said to Al. Al felt guilt well up in him.
He could have been less harsh, but Rose just wouldn't listen. He only said they couldn't be friends anymore. She could have been a little more understanding. It was hard for him too, but it couldn't be helped. James said that if you wanted to grow up and be one of the big boys, you couldn't be friends with a girl.
"And if I ever hear you talk like that to anyone, I will personally make sure you won't see daylight, ever again!" Ginny finished her rant Al hadn't listened to. Al nodded his head and turned his attention to his father, who was still watching him with a disappointed expression.
"I never thought you would say something like that, Al. Especially not to Rose." Harry said, shaking his head.
Al felt like crying. He wanted to say that he was sorry but a frantic call from his uncle interrupted him.
"Harry!" Ron shouted, bursting into the room. Everyone's attention went from Al to him.
"What is it Ron?" Harry asked, watching the frantic Ron with apprehension.
Ron went through his hair, messing it up. "Harry, we can't find Rose!" He looked around frantically. Harry frowned and looked outside. "It isn't that big. You should have found her by now." Ron nodded and went through his hair again.
"Help look, please. You too Ginny." He said, and turned around, going through his hair with his hand yet again.
Ginny nodded and followed Ron out the door together with Harry, both of them were looking worried.
Al sat down on the ground, his bottom lip trembling. They couldn't find Rose? He hadn't meant what he said…
He burst out in tears.
~~~~O.0~~~~
Hermione was sitting on the couch, looking at her hands with a defeated expression. She was waiting patiently. There was nothing more she could do. She had searched the back yard for hours, until it had become too dark to see anything and her hands and legs had become so cold she couldn't stop the trembling.
Harry had dragged Ron inside. Both had gone to the Auror department, reporting Rose as missing.
They had to wait for 24 hours before they could officially start the search. The law dictated that. Hermione had the feeling Ron and Harry were already starting their own search though. She hoped.
Hugo came over to Hermione and climbed onto her lap. Once he sat he tried to put his small arms around her and gave her a hug. "Is Rosie going to be okay, mum?" He asked.
Hermione started playing with his hair absent-mindedly.
"I don't know, Hugo." She said, and the tears that had just stopped started flowing again. "I don't know."
Hugo hugged her tighter and Hermione realised he was crying too. She put her arms around him and squeezed him.
"Dada will find Rosie." Hugo said into her shirt. "I know he will. Dada will find big sister."
Hermione nodded, less sure than her son. She hoped with whole her heart that Ron would find Rose. They hadn't found a trace of her, like she had just, disappeared…
~~~~O.0~~~~
The living room in the small cottage on the outskirts of the town Godric's hollow was in serene peacefulness. Not a sound disturbed the quiet that rested there.
Suddenly, out of nothingness, green flames erupted out of the fireplace and a tall, skinny man stumbled out of them. He looked around and yawned, rubbed the ash out of his eyes and dusted his clothes off.
"I'm home." Harry Potter said quietly into the empty room. He sighed again and sat down on the couch. His children probably slept already, and he was sure Ginny was somewhere doing something to help Hermione and Ron.
Harry lowered his head into his hands. He had no idea what he could do at this point. Rose was gone, like she had evaporated into thin air. He knew it wasn't possible, but it really seemed so.
He had forced Ron to go back to his new house to comfort Hermione when they had set out a course of action. Tomorrow at sunset they would start searching for signs of where Rose had been and could have gone to. Ginny would inform the Daily Prophet so they could place a short story in there, asking people to keep their eyes open and inform them that if they saw Rose, to call an alarm number. Hermione would go by the department of law enforcement and see if they could trace her using the mark.
It was a good plan. It was the best they could do from this point, but it wasn't enough. Harry had to make sure that they got Rose back. Ron and Hermione were devastated and Rose hadn't even been gone for half a day. What if they didn't find her?
Harry rubbed his eyes again and shook his head. "Don't think that." He muttered to himself.
Soft footsteps were heard on the stairs. Harry looked around at the door when it opened. Al stood there in his pyjamas.
"Did you find her, dad?" Al asked in a muffled voice that told Harry he had been crying. Harry shook his head. "Not yet Al. But we will."
Al nodded, and sniffled softly. Harry stood up slowly and went to Al. "We will find her Al." He said, and picked up his son. Al put his arms around Harry's neck and began to sob softly into his shirt. Harry began carrying him upstairs to his room.
"It's all my fault." Al said when Harry had placed him into his bed.
"I told her to go away. I didn't mean it, but I still said it." Al's thin body began shaking in silent sobs. Harry sighed and sat down next to his son and put an arm around him. "Al, look at me." He said, sounding a big stern. Al stopped shaking and looked at Harry with big eyes, gleaming with tears.
"It isn't your fault. Rose is smart enough to know you didn't mean what you said. I don't know what did happen, but I do know whatever it was, it wasn't your fault."
Al shook his head and lay down. "Good night dad." He said. Harry looked down at Al for a moment, and knew he couldn't change his mind. He would keep blaming himself.
Another reason for him to find Rose soon.
He placed a kiss on Al's head and silently left the room, walking into his own and dropping onto his bed with a content sigh. He felt like he hadn't slept in days.
~~~~O.0~~~~
A thick cloud of smoke occupied the kitchen when a large, stocky man entered it. He coughed and began waving his hand around his head, trying to clear the air.
"Can you stop smoking your damned cigars for one minute." He wheezed between nasty sounding coughs which became worse by the second.
An amused twinkle appeared in the eye of the other man in the kitchen and he slowly put out his cigar. The thick cloud remained and the stocky man opened the only window in the room. Warm summers air gushed in while the smoke partly disappeared out of the room.
"What are you smiling about?" said the stocky man in irritation, whipping around and coughing again. The other man, slender of built and fair of face, raised his hands in defence, the smirk still in place. "Nothing, nothing." He said.
The stocky man sat down at the kitchen table, his face dark.
"I really don't see what is funny about this situation." He said gruffly, and spat at the ground.
The fair man laughed. "Everything. We got them just where we want 'em." He smirked. "And you are complaining about cigar smoke rather than of celebrating."
The stocky man's head shot up and he glared at the other. "Celebrate what, exactly. We've got a child in our basement, possibly dead, that doesn't remember who she fucking is, and fucking Hiltopps doesn't want her ransomed or killed."
He spat again, making the fair man laugh even louder. "Look at the big picture, Flint. Look at the bigger picture."
"What bigger picture, What fucking bigger picture? What are you not telling me, Welt!" He slammed his fist on the table, empathising his words.
Welt lent back in his chair. "Come on, Flint. Just think."
Flint's nostrils flared and he was practically spitting fire. "All I know is that Hiltopps told us to bring her to us. I thought we were going to ask ransom for her, getting a fair price for our troubles."
"Hiltopps will pay us." Welt said confidently. "We're going to train her, Flint. Imagine it," A dreamy look came into Welt's eyes as he stared past Flint.
Flint looked at him with irritation. "Imagine what? Spit it out and stop with the fucking riddles!"
"Your cursing vocabulary really only consist of one word, doesn't it?" Welt asked, the smirk reappearing on his face.
"Don't change the fucking subject!" Flint roared.
Welt put his hands up again. "Alright, if it means that much to you. We train her. She can do anything for us when she's older. She'll be our ultimate pawn. No one would suspect Rose Weasley, recently re-found by her family, from killing, stealing and corrupting." The dreamy look was back on his face.
"She doesn't remember a thing. You said it yourself, and if she remembers, we just obliviate her. We'll have to wait for her to grow up of course, and raise her the proper way. Make her strong too, and put her somewhere out of sight, maybe make her look after herself most of the time." He trailed off, looking thoughtful.
"Yes? " Flint grunted, waiting for Welt to finish the vision.
"But when she'll be ready, in ten, maybe fifteen years, she'll make us rich and powerful." Welt finished.
"Fifteen years?" Flint asked, looking disappointed. Welt rolled his eyes at his stupidity. "Yes. Do you trust a ten year old to rob a bank and get away with it?" He said in irritation.
Flint perched his lips and sat up straighter, trying to intimidate Welt with his huge posture.
Welt seemed unfazed by him and re-lit his cigar. "We'll be rich and powerful if we play our cards right. We'll be right back on top, so celebrate."
"And what if she is dead." Flint said, turning away from the smoke of the cigar. Welt let out a bark of laughter. "She was breathing, wasn't she? If you're so concerned about her, go and check up on her."
Flint didn't move and watched the smoke raining from the glowing point of Welt's cigar. Welt took a puff of his cigar and blew the smoke right into Flint's face.
Flint cursed and began to cough again. "Damn it Welt. You know I have weak longs." He said angrily.
"Go check up on her then." Welt said, pointing at the door. "If she died, you're dead meat." He added icily. Flint gulped and scrambled up. "Right away, Welt." And fled the room. Welt was his superior, and even Flint knew he never made empty threads.
Welt chuckled and stretched his legs. A plan of where to put her began forming in his mind.
~~~~O.0~~~~
The loud whale reverberated through the big, empty hallway, and Hermione dropped to her knees, sobbing as her hoped were shattered.
"It doesn't mean anything though." The short woman in front of said hurriedly, placing a comforting hand on Hermione's shoulder.
"But it's gone. That means she's dead, doesn't it." Hermione chocked out between the sobs. She looked up at the woman and found hope in the expression she was wearing.
"Not necessarily ." The woman said. Hermione's frame still shook with sobs, but with some effort she stopped them from coming out of her throat and looked mutely up at the woman with big eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"That the Trace is gone from Rose means she either died," A strangled sob came from Hermione's throat at the words despite her efforts.
"Or" The woman said quickly, before Hermione started crying again. "Someone broke the trace."
Hermione sniffled and tried to raise. She almost fell and the woman grabbed her shoulders and steadied her. "You can do that?" Hermione asked feebly. "I didn't know that."
The short woman nodded. "It's not a fact that is dropped down every chimney, for reasons you can probably imagine. It's not all that difficult if you know how to do it. It happens a lot in kidnapping."
Hermione blinked the tears away that formed unbidden in her eyes. "Kidnapping?" She repeated, feeling her chest tightening. She didn't see how Rose could have been kidnapped. She had just in the yard for only a few minutes, and why would someone want to kidnap her little Rose?
The woman nodded. "We need to update the Auror office immediately so they can start the case. With this evidence, they have to start right away." Hermione nodded and quietly followed the short woman, who stalked away in the direction of the elevators.
~~~~O.0~~~~
The Auror headquarters was in turmoil and Ron was the centre of the commotion, barking orders right and left, half of them not making sense except to his sleep deprived mind. Harry rubbed his eyes wearily and approached Ron, placing a hand on his shoulder.
It had been a week since Rose had disappeared and Harry had yet to see Ron sleep.
Ron turned around and set his feverish eyes on Harry. Harry, you go and get Shacolbolt and Girony. They need to-" Harry cut him off before he could end the mad order.
"Ron, I leave you in charge for ten minutes and this is what you turn my office into?" He said sternly, and put a hand on his best friends forehead.
"Ron, you're burning up." Harry said concerned, withdrawing his hand. Ron's eyes flicked across Harry's face. "No, I'm not. I can't be. I don't have time to be burning up." And tried to stalk away, probably to yell at someone to work harder. Harry pulled him back.
"Everyone stop!" He said in the most booming voice he could manage. The Aurors stopped mid-action and turned their attention to him.
"Forget what order Auror Weasley has given you, he isn't feeling well. Go back to your original assignment." Harry ordered, clasping a hand over Ron's mouth when and indignant noise came out of it.
"We are going to St. Mungo's now." Harry said to Ron and steered him to a fireplace in the corner of the room.
~~.~~
Ron had to stay in St. Mungo's for a month, being diagnosed with not only a fever, but also with a mental breakdown. Harry was disappointed to have to admit that they were not getting anywhere with the case.
They still had the same as a month ago.
It looked like the people they were dealing with were no amateurs.
A trail of broken branches and trampled plants leading to the heart of Ron's yard. A few branches had a little bit of blood on them at the tip, Rose's blood. She had probably cut herself at them in her hurry to get away.
Then it just stopped, like she had flown away. There was no trace of her anymore.
Then there was the fact that the Trace on her had been broken, making her untraceable.
All the signs pointed to kidnapping. Harry had expected someone demanding a ransom to step forward ever since they had come to the conclusion that she had indeed been kidnapped. No one had come.
Harry cursed himself for not spurring Ron and Hermione on to make their house unplottable sooner.
The news had made the daily prophet's front page, asking people to be on the lookout for Rose an inform the ministry at once if they spotted her.
The few responses they had gotten turned out to be false or dead ends and Harry was getting more desperate every day.
~~~~O.0~~~~
The room is too bright. She thought to herself, before she opened her eyes. She wasn't at home. She peeked through her lashes, not opening her eyes and waited for them to adjust to the bright light.
A tall man was towering over her and began poking her mercilessly in her belly. She squealed and tried to swat his hand away. He spat at the ground and yelled something. The words passed past Rose without her comprehending what he said. One ear in, the other out.
A chill passed through her and an icy cold settled into her bones.
"Wha-" She asked, and rubbed her eyes out.
The man said something in a spiteful tone and glared at her. She looked at him with a confused, questioning look.
"I said, I wasn't talking to you, you idiotic runt!" The man spat. She nodded and felt her bottom lip tremble as she cowered in his wake. She wrapped her arms around herself and made herself as small as she could. She looked around the bright room, wondering where she was.
She had never seen the room before. The walls were white, without any decoration hanging on them. A single dresser stood in one corner and in the other stood a small bed, where she was currently sitting on. Nothing in the room betrayed someone was living there. There were no personal things, projecting someones personality. Nothing to see who lived there.
A disturbing thought struck her. Did she live here? She looked around the room again and recognised nothing, neither did she recognise the man, standing in the middle of it, impatiently tapping his foot and looking at the single door.
She craned her memory and found only blackness.
She literally drew up a blank. She didn't remember.
Anything.
The door opened with a bang. Rose crawled back at the noise and pressed up against the wall in fear.
"She woke up?"
A slender man stood in the door opening, looking at the stocky man that was already in the… Her? Room.
The stocky man nodded and pointed to her. She tried to press herself up against the wall even further.
The slender man looked at her and a twinkle lit up in his eyes. "Oh, how wonderful. My darling Rose finally woke up!" He cried out. In two elegant steps, he reached her and pulled her into a tight hug.
Rose?
Who was Rose?
The kind man let go of her and looked her over, sitting on his knees in front of her.
"Rose, you gave me quite a scare there. You didn't wake up for a month. A whole month in a coma, just because you hit your silly little head." He shook his head and she watched him with big eyes. She brought one hand to her head and tried to find a wound.
Hit her head?
"But you woke up!" A smile appeared on his face while Rose continued to look at him with the same confused look.
She didn't remember him. She… Rose? Found a slight bump on her forehead and gently pressed it. She hissed in pain.
"Flint! Go and tell Hiltopps she woke up." He said in a voice, deprived of the warmth he had had while talking to her.
The large man immediately followed his orders and left the room. Rose watched him go, wondering who he was.
"Rosie, my dear Rosie. How are you?" The man asked in the warm voice. Rose turned her attention back to him and considered his question. She felt alright. Her head hurt, the bright light stung her eyes and made her feel a bit nauseated. She was hungry, a bit shocked and had apparently been asleep for an entire month.
She was confused and curious towards the man who seemed so kind one moment and so cold the next was.
"I'm confused." Rose said. Her voice rasped after not being used so long. The slender man smiled and pulled her into another hug. Rose didn't return this one either.
"It's so good to hear your voice again!" He said.
Rose didn't know what to say, so said nothing, looking at her hands when the man released her again. She really couldn't remember him.
"What are you confused about?" The man asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and giving her a reassuring smile that put Rose off even more.
"I.. I'm sorry but I don't know who you are." Rose said.
A hurt expression appeared on the man's face, which he immediately tried to cover up unsuccessfully.
"It's me, Rose. Henry." He said slowly. Rose continued to look at him with a blank expression.
"Henry Welt?" He tried. Rose shook her head. She saw Red curls bouncing with the movement from the corner of her eyes.
"Your uncle?" He sounded a bit desperate now. Rose shook her head again.
"What do you remember?" Henry asked, grabbing her hand. Rose fought against the impulse of shrinking away from the touch and stayed perfectly still. "Nothing." She said quietly.
Rose could have sworn there was a brief flash of something in Henry's eyes when she said it, but is was gone before Rose could even begin to comprehend what it might be.
"Nothing?" Henry asked, sounding crestfallen. He dropped her hand as if stung. "Absolutely nothing?"
Rose shook her head and looked around the room again, the room that was from no one, like she was no one.
"But Rose, you must remember something!" Henry cried. "Your parents?" He whispered quietly. Rose regarded him for a moment, searching his face, before shaking her head. The red curls bounced in and out of vision again.
"Maybe that is for the better." Henry said. Rose tilted her head, her curiosity perked. "What do you mean?" She asked.
Henry sighed. "They weren't good for you. Wondered how you hit your head?" Rose's hand shot up to the small bump. "No." She said.
"You didn't hit your head. Your father did." Henry whispered, though there was no one there to hear. His eyes were so full of honest sorrow, Rose felt a lump grow in her throat.
"My father?" She choked out. Henry nodded. "That's why I'm taking you in." He said, his voice becoming cheerful once again. "Unless you want to go back to your parents?" He asked.
Rose shook her head quickly. She didn't want to go back to people who hit her in the head, so hard that she didn't wake up for a month. She didn't even know you could hit someone that hard.
"No."
"That is good." He sighed. He stood up and walked to the door.
"I can see you're still tired. You should sleep some more," he said and closed the door behind him.
Rose crawled under the covers and tried to remember.
Just before she fell asleep, she came up with one memory. The large man, towering over her in this exact room, demanding to know what she remembered.
Odd.
~~~~O.0~~~~
"Had fun with your little play downstairs?" An icy voice greeted Welt as he climbed up the stairs. He smirked. "Immensely so."
"She finally woke up then," Hiltopps said, and she flipped her long hair over her shoulder.
Welt smirked and nodded. "If Flint hadn't knocked her out again when she woke up the first time, she wouldn't have been out in the first place." He said.
"I didn't see you stop me!" Flint said from a dark corner of the room. Welt ignored him.
"I got her." He said with his smirk still in place. "She believes me."
Hiltopps nodded and looked thoughtful.
"Where do you want to hide her, she can't stay here." She asked. Welt's smirk became bigger.
"The forbidden forest. It's perfect. It is unplottable and impenetrable. She can learn to look after herself. no one ever comes there so no one will find her, and with all the wild animals and plants there, it's the perfect place to train her. I don't think it's wise to keep her somewhere away from magic."
"And if she escapes, or is found? Or leaves when you aren't around?" She asked sharply.
"I take full responsibility." Welt said. "But don't worry. I've got her wrapped around my little finger in no time.
~~~~O.0~~~~
Harry watched his two best friends, break down all over again. Tears stood in his own eyes as well, but he swallowed them away. He was on duty. He needed to be professional now.
"You mean you are just going to give up!" Ron shouted, pressing a shaking Hermione firmly against his chest. He stroked her unruly brown hair while she quietly sobbed into his shirt.
Harry looked down and nodded. "I'm sorry Ron, but there is nothing else we can do. It's been two years and we've gotten nowhere with the investigation." He tried to keep his voice neutral, but a hint of sorrow crept in it without his bidding.
Harry watched Ron as colour slowly crept up his neck and cheeks. Even the tips of his ears turned redder than his hair. Harry readied himself for the explosion he knew would come any second.
"Nothing else we can do? You are just going to give up that bloody soon! There's all kinds of things we can do! You can't just put off the search, just because it's going a bit slower than you would've liked!"
Harry watched Ron's mouth move and let the words wash over him. He fought back the tears that tried to enter his eyes.
"You just can't, Harry. It's only been two years. You can't blow the search off already."
His voice sounded desperate now, almost begging Harry to tell him he would continue looking for his daughter, if he only asked enough times.
"Ron." Hermione said quietly, effectively shutting him up. She took Ron's hand and gave it a firm squeeze before turning to Harry and giving him the saddest smile he had ever seen.
"It's okay Harry. We understand." Ron growled but Hermione ignored him, whipping the tears out of her eyes.
"Thank you for looking for her all this time." She managed, before bursting out in tears again. She buried her face into Ron's chest again, sobbing freely. Her thin frame shaking.
"Hermione, I'm not going to give up looking though." Harry said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up again, hope shining in her red, tearstained eyes.
"I would never do that."
"What do you mean?" Ron barked.
"We're just going to keep on looking, without the Auror office." Harry clarified to his best mate.
"Just you and me."