Ch 1 Several Problems

Wednesday August twenty-fourth, twenty-twenty-two, Cleo and Scorpius stood side by side in the living room, Draco on one side of them, Narcissa on the other side. The great-grandmothers were standing a little way away, and Astoria was sitting in a distant chair in the large room. At about two-fifteen five Magi came through the Floo.

"Cleo and Scorpius need to come with me," Lilith insisted.

"No, they do not," Narcissa replied, the fury in her eyes betraying her soft voice.

One of the witches approached Cleo, as she backed away. Cleo backed into Dis, and the two of them backed up against the wall of the living room, with the witch still approaching. The same thing was happening with Scorpius and WJ. Meanwhile Lilith and the Magi who were with her took out their wands.

"Stop it!" Narcissa yelled, taking out her wand but unsure what she could do.

"No!" Great-grandmother Black muttered, looking in horror at Lilith and the Magi with her. "They do not need to go with you."

Draco backed away from the scene, appearing afraid to do anything.

Cleo could feel a pull, as Dis tried to Apparate away with her, but it was like the two of them were stuck. It reminded her of taking a mixing spoon out of heavy batter, when your utensil was stuck. The same thing happened to Scorpius and WJ. As this was happening, a witch put a handcuff on Cleo with the other handcuff on herself, and then Apparated away. At the same time a wizard did the same to Scorpius. The six beings all disappeared.


Cleo and Scorpius looked at each other. They were not in the holding cell, but in some dimly lit building, and at least four Magi were pointing wands at them and their Elves.

"Cannot Apparate," Dis muttered.


Harry sat in his office looking at his maps. Scorpius and Cleopatra disappeared from the Malfoy Manor map, but did not appear on the map of the holding cells. This was not good. It was about as not good as he could imagine.


"Portkeys," Scorpius whispered. WJ reached into the back pocket of Scorpius's trousers, and touched the portkey. There was a crash, like glass breaking except an octave or two lower, and Scorpius, the wizard handcuffed to him, and WJ disappeared. Dis reached into one of the pockets of Cleo's dress, and after a moment of searching (how much stuff did she have to keep in her pockets?) found the portkey. At the same time Cleo had sensed the barrier that caused the crashing sound, and did some spell or protection to avoid some of whatever it was that caused the, well, Cleo could never articulate very well what she did.

When Cleo, Dis, and the witch handcuffed appeared in the holding cell Scorpius, WJ, and the wizard were already there.

"That was rough!" Scorpius exclaimed. The wizard attached to him was stunned, and when Aurors appeared he did not put up any resistance. The witch attached to Cleo looked like she was ready to fight, but quickly realized that she was outnumbered. Cleo and the witch attached to her sat down next to each other, and Dis sat down close to them, obviously rather disoriented. Scorpius sat down, the wizard attached to him shakily sitting next to him, but WJ was lying on the floor, obviously hurt.


Harry continued to look at the maps for several agonizing moments, becoming more and more worried. Eventually Scorpius and Cleopatra appeared in one of the holding cells, along with the Elves Dis and WJ, but there were two more beings on the map. Harry looked on as multiple Aurors and others entered the cell, and eventually someone came into Harry's office and announced, "The two Magi that came along with Cleopatra and Scorpius are disarmed. I'm worried about the Elves, and Scorpius is rather battered although nothing is broken, the same with the two other Magi. In addition, we have a problem.

Harry, Albus and Rose went down to the holding cells. There sitting down were an unpleasant looking witch and a rather battered wizard, a curious and rather worse for wear Scorpius, and a beaming Cleo.

"These are interesting handcuffs, Albus," Cleo told her boyfriend. "The locking charms on them are very tricky. A simple Alohomora won't work. You are very good at unlocking, though, so you should be able to unlock these."

Albus touched his wand to the handcuff attached to the witch on the other end of Cleo's handcuff. He probed with his mind. The people in the cell saw Cleo close her eyes and draw her wand, and eventually both Cleo and Albus were doing something. Suddenly the handcuffs sprung open.

Albus and Cleo touched their wands to the other handcuffs, and Scorpius and the other wizard were free.

"May I have one of these?" Albus asked. "I need to be able to unlock these quickly."

"Yes, you may," Harry told his son. He then turned to everyone in the room. "I want any word about the capture of these Magi kept secret. If as I expect they come from an unplottable and hidden island, they do not exist. Treat them well, but this whole episode must be kept secret.

"You didn't appear right away in the holding cells. What happened?"

"When we were grabbed we seemed to have been taken to the inside of a building where there were a number of people with wands pointing at us," Scorpius replied. "I guess the Elves couldn't Disapparat."

"They were nasty people," Cleo volunteered. "There was some spell keeping the Elves from Apparating with us. We used the portkeys, but that didn't work so well for Scorpius and WJ, so I ..."

Cleo looked at Albus. She scrunched up her face and thought, "I sort of tunneled through it, except I didn't, the portkey did, except I shielded some of the, well, Albus, maybe you can see my memories and figure it out."

Harry looked at the Elves, who looked, Harry tried to figure out what he was seeing. They looked very discombobulated, more stressed than was normal for an Elf.

"Could not Apparate," Dis whispered. "Had to take the portkey."

"Do I need to call a healer?" Harry asked, concerned about the state of the Elves.

"Please," Dis replied.

WJ was sitting on the floor shaking, and appeared to be in far worse shape than Dis.

Harry contacted St. Mungo's, and they send over Eliza Doolittle, the witch who specialized in Elf healing, and her longtime partner, the Elf Florence.

After several minutes of examination, Eliza explained, "Magical cores shaken. Both will be fine with some strengthening potions and rest, but they need a couple of days at least in the Elf section of St. Mungo's where they have to rest, may not serve others but must allow their bodies to heal."

The two Elves allowed themselves to be led away by the healers.


Meanwhile, as soon as Cleo and Scorpius disappeared, Lilith and the other two Magi Disapparated. Narcissa turned terrified and furious eyes and her wand on her son and mother. "Where are my grandchildren." Her voice was a low growl and Draco was reminded of his Aunt Bellatrix at her most insane.

Draco had no idea what had just happened, and his face betrayed his bewilderment. Narcissa's mother Druella was obviously terrified. Her mother-in-law Godiva had become worried, but Narcissa could not tell if it was because she was afraid for the children or afraid of her.

A furious Lilith Apparated back into the Living Room of Malfoy Manor a few minutes after everyone had left, along with one of the witches and one of the wizards.

"Where are Cleopatra and Scorpius?" she demanded.

"Why?" Narcissa wondered. "Have you lost them?"

"Draco, what just happened?" Lilith yelled.

Draco looked totally confused.

Lilith looked at Narcissa again. "Has that stupid son of your always been this useless?" she yelled. "What is going on?"

"I do not appreciate my grandson and my charge suddenly and without provocation disappearing before me," Narcissa firmly told Lilith. "It is not my fault if something went wrong. Find them! Get out of here and find them! You are not welcome here until they are back, unless you need our help to find them."

Lilith and the other Magi left.

"What do you know, mother?" Draco wondered.

"What do you know, Draco?" Narcissa countered. "Do you have any idea where your son and Cleo are?"

Druella Black looked terrified. Godiva looked both worried and mad. Draco looked worried and confused.

Narcissa snarled at her son, "Draco, change the wards so that next time only Lilith is allowed, not anyone and everyone she dares to bring into our home!"

Draco nodded, looking quite frightened of both what had happened and the rage of his mother.

Narcissa hoped that the Elves had been able to Apparate the children and the other two Magi to the Ministry, per the plan, but she did not dare reveal that possibility. No one had anticipated the way the two Magi had put handcuffs on Scorpius and Cleo. "I'm going to the Ministry to report the abduction of the children," she announced, worried that something had gone badly wrong. Narcissa then took the Floo to the Ministry of Magic.


Harry Potter sat in a secure room at the Ministry with Albus, Cleo, Rose and Scorpius. Frerin was in the room as well. "I would like to examine your memories of your capture, and have a couple of other people examine them as well," Harry told Scorpius and Cleo. "I'm also not eager to let the world know you escaped, how you escaped, and how quickly."

"I don't think you want to let Jezebel know how easily we opened the handcuffs," Albus added.

Just then the door opened, and one of the Administrative Assistants from the DMLE told Harry, "Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy is here to see you. She says that her children have disappeared."

"Send her down here, and you did not see anyone but me in this room," Harry replied.

A very short time later Narcissa was let into the room.

"You are safe!" Narcissa exclaimed when she saw Scorpius and Cleo, running over and hugging both before looking them over for injuries.

"Well, we are not currently captured," Scorpius retorted. "I cannot say I feel particularly safe at the moment, threatened by capture like we just were. I also feel like I just crashed through a wall of, of something. Like glass that didn't cut you, or, or something."

Scorpius shook his head and moved like he was stunned, hurt but not seriously.

"The Elves couldn't Apparated them to the Ministry," Harry explained. "The portkeys worked, but just. The two Elves are injured.

"What did you see?"

"An uninvited witch grabbed for Cleo, and a wizard grabbed for Scorpius," Narcissa explained. "Then everybody disappeared. I was not aware of the Elves disappearing at the same time, but they must have because Dis and WJ were not there."

Then what happened," Harry wanted to know.

"Lilith and another witch and wizard Disapparated, and then a short time later Apparated back into our living room. Lilith was upset because she didn't know where Scorpius and Cleopatra were. Everyone was confused. I think Godiva Malfoy was upset and mad. Druella was terrified. Draco was confused. I remember Lilith calling Draco useless. Then Lilith and the other two Disapparated again. And I came here."

"Do not tell anyone that Scorpius and Cleo are safe," Harry told Narcissa. "I will send a team of Aurors and DMLE officers back to Malfoy Manor with you to see if they can find any evidence of who may have tried to kidnap Scorpius and Cleo. They should also make a show of trying to figure out where they went. I'm also going to see if we can get any good memories of what happened.

"Stay here," Harry told the four young Magi and Frerin. "I will arrange to get you to Grimmauld Place eventually, but I need to take care of a few other things first."


Harry, his father-in-law, and Dennis Creevey assembled a small team of very trusted Aurors and DMLE officers, stressing that no one should reveal that the kidnapped were safe. Then the team accompanied Narcissa back to Malfoy Manor.

Once at the Manor the Aurors used all the spells they knew to try and identify who captured Scorpius and Cleo. They took the memory of the capture from Narcissa, Draco, and Druella Black. Godiva Malfoy would not allow anyone to duplicate and look at her memory. Astoria had apparently left the Manor, to the frustration of everybody there.


Harry called Travin Moll, the expert on the Floo network, to his office. "I need you to open the secure Floo in the holding cell area for Albus, Rose, Scorpius and Cleo, plus Frerin, Travin. I also want to make sure that there is no trace of Scorpius and Cleo traveling from the holding cell area to Grimmauld Place."

"I will go down and get them in about twenty minutes," Travin replied. "Where are they now?"

Harry gave Travin the location of the five.

A Department of Magical Law Enforcement gave Harry a note that said, "The captured witch and wizard are not cooperating. They are demanding to see lawyers."

"We can hold them for twenty-four hours without notifying anyone," Harry replied. The last thing he wanted to do is to let Jezebel know how quickly they had captured the witch and wizard, and how easily Albus had defeated the handcuffs. He knew, however, that hiding the captured witch and wizard against their will, without allowing a public trial and defense, was probably illegal.

Harry then asked for a meeting with Kingsley and Hermione, plus Arthur and Dennis, to discuss the situation. As they were going into a conference room a frantic Ginny and a very concerned Cindy Hudson walked in.

"Have Scorpius and Cleo really been kidnapped?" Ginny yelled.

"Who told you that?" Harry wondered.

"Rita Skeeter, who talked to an unnamed source who talked to Astoria Malfoy," Ginny reported. "At least one person at the Ministry confirmed it, or at least thought they heard that the children were captured. They are already planning a special evening edition with Scorpius Malfoy and Cleopatra Smith Captured headlining it."

"They want my input, want me to write something," Cindy added. "If there is any truth to the story it is going to be impossible to pretend that nothing happened. What are you doing to find and recover Scorpius and Cleo?"

Just then someone rushed up to the group. "Rita Skeeter wants to know what happened to Scorpius and Cleopatra, but also what happened to the witch and wizard that disappeared with them. She insists that we are not being told the whole story."

Harry scoffed, "Like I would tell the whole story to that insect! Let her Quick Quote Quill butcher the store, sensationalize it until is only slightly resembles the truth?"

The problem was, Harry thought, that the story would need to be told someday, and that by asking questions Rita was getting too close to a truth they didn't want out.

"Tell her that we are aware of the kidnapping of Scorpius and Cleo, as she knows. If she knows the names of the missing Magi and what is going on please tell us," Harry replied. "Do not tell her anything other than that we are aware of the kidnapping and are investigating it."

This attempted kidnapping was becoming very complicated very fast, and the last thing he wanted to do was to tell the world the truth about what had just happened. "Come into the conference room, please," Harry told the assembled Magi. "We have a problem. Maybe several problems."


Harry Potter sat in a conference room at the Ministry of Magic, facing his wife Ginny, Cindy Hudson, the publicist for the Potters who was still a part time reporter for The Daily Prophet, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hermione Granger-Weasley, his father-in-law Arthur Weasley, and Dennis Creevey, his and Arthur's second in command.

"Are Scorpius and Cleo safe?" Hermione anxiously wondered.

"They are in a holding area where the holding cells are, and will be sent by secure Floo to Grimmauld Place," Harry told her. "As to how safe they are, that is going to be a rather complicated question going forward, I am afraid."

"What just happened, Harry?" Cindy wondered.

"I will tell everybody what I know," Harry replied, "but then we have to decide what to tell the public. I don't like to lie, but I am very reluctant to tell Jezebel and her allies what just happened.

"I want to start out by reminding all of you what the prophesies, and other signs, are telling us. The next few months are going to be very critical for the world of the Magi, and for Albus and Cleopatra, for Jezebel, and for all the beings surrounding them. Since Cleo turns seventeen Christmas, it feels to me, and to the prophets, that something will come to a head by or before Christmas, although little of what I see indicated that it will be all over by Christmas.

"Cleopatra was never adopted by the Malfoy family. She is their ward, temporarily. Jezebel has tried to have Cleo returned to them, but Narcissa and Cleo have so far refused. They are allowed to see her, however. When Lilith, Jezebel's daughter and Cleo's grandmother, insisted on a visit Narcissa had to allow it.

"A little after ten this morning Lilith came through the Floo to the Malfoy living room, accompanied by two witches and two wizards. I had stationed Aurors at a discrete distance, and they did observe some other Magi outside Malfoy Manor. I do not have any good idea what they were doing, but I expect they were guarding the place. Considering that Dis and WJ were not able to Apparate away with Cleo and Scorpius I am guessing they put up some sort of Anti-apparition spell that kept the Elves from taking the two children away, but that is just a guess.

"Shortly after Lilith and the others appeared a witch wearing a handcuff on one arm put the other handcuff on Cleo, and a wizard did the same to Scorpius. The Elves Dis and WJ were magically tied to Cleo and Scorpius. The Elves were supposed to Apparate away with them, but I guess because of the magical handcuffs the Elves were just brought along when the Magi Apparated. Once they were at wherever the Magi Apparated them, the Elves tried to to Apparate Cleo and Scorpius to the Ministry, per our prior arrangements and practice, but they could not. We had portkeys as backup, and those worked, but it was so difficult for the portkeys to work that the two Elves are now being healed at the Elf ward at St. Mungo's.

"Scorpius is sore but not, I guess, seriously injured.

"Not only did the portkeys bring Cleo and Scorpius to the Ministry, they also brought along the witch and wizard."

"Do you know where the two Magi took Cleo and Scorpius?" Hermione wondered.

"No, and if the Elves know they are apparently in no position to tell us right now," Harry replied. "I am not too worried about Dis, who although badly shaken seemed cogent. The Elf WJ, however, was just shaking, unable from what I could see to speak or even move on his own. I think Eliza Doolittle levitated him to where they were going to go to St. Mungo's, or at least helped him."

"Does that mean that you have the witch and wizard in holding cells downstairs?" Kingsley wanted to confirm.

"Yes," Harry nodded his head. "That is a problem on several levels. First, Albus and Cleo were able to open the handcuffs. Albus has been able to open locks, frequently without using a wand, since he was five. The handcuffs were extraordinarily difficult for him and Cleo to open, but with a little practice I am sure he will figure out how to unlock them even without a wand."

"There are a few Magi who can do wandless magic, and even more who can do magic without touching their wand, as long as the want is on their person," Hermione observed.

"I am going to have to tell Albus and Cleo that," Harry reflected. "Have them do whatever spells are necessary to keep people from taking their wand, even if their wand is in a wand pocket and not in their hand.

"You can see why I do not want Jezebel to know that Albus will be able to open her handcuffs without holding a wand."

"You think Jezebel may capture Cleo and Albus and put them in handcuffs?" Kingsley wondered.

"I don't want to take a chance that they will not be able to get out if that happens," Harry replied. "I'm terrified about the upcoming confrontation, and want to give them every advantage."

"We cannot just hold the witch and wizard indefinitely!" Hermione insisted.

"I want them to disappear for four months, at least," Harry replied.

"How are you going to do that?" Dennis wondered. "You and Arthur have tried to make sure the Department of Magical Law Enforcement follows the law. At the very least this is highly irregular."

"And you never did anything irregular when we were fighting Tom Riddle?" Harry countered.

Dennis had no way to answer this, knowing how much he did before and at The Battle of Hogwarts that was not legal.

"You'll figure it out, Harry," Kingsley told Harry. "I would advise you not to tell any of us what you came up with."

"I expect them to be well treated, Harry," Hermione insisted.

"You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, Hermione," Harry kidded. "I can assure you that they will be well treated, being so nice to them that, we hope, we can get them on our side. Torture makes enemies, but kindness can turn enemies into allies."

"What about Scorpius and Cleopatra?" Cindy wondered.

"I have a team of Aurors and DMLE over at Malfoy Manor trying to find them," Harry let the group know.

"But they are safe now, or at least rescued," Cindy countered.

"Why should we tell Jezebel that?" Harry wondered. "What kind of a story can we spin to totally confuse our enemies."

"You are not suggesting we lie?" Ginny asked, putting her hand on her chest in a dramatic fashion (as Rita would) her smirk giving lie to the question.

"How long can we pretend that Cleo and Scorpius are missing, and what kind of story can we concoct that would explain how they got away and what happened to the witch and wizard that captured them?" Harry asked.

"We could offer a reward for their safe return," Ginny suggested. "We could offer a rather substantial reward, since they have already been rescued."

"I think the less you say about how and when they got away the better," Cindy suggested. "Complicated lies have a way of being found out. When asked about the witch and wizard who captured them, I guess I would say as little as possible."

"Why when Cleo and Scorpius escaped would the witch and wizard not go back to report to Jezebel?" Cindy wondered.

"Because they would be afraid that she would kill them for letting the captives escape?" Harry proposed. "I am guessing if we explain the situation to Teddy that is what he would say."

"It is August twenty-fourth," Harry noted. "I will do my best to have the captured Magi hidden and not in our custody within the week, so we can honestly say we do not have them. Either I will be the only one who knows where they are or I will arrange it so even I don't exactly know where they are.

"We can announce that Cleopatra and Scorpius have escaped, but that we are still investigating who kidnapped them."

"What kind of reward can we offer for the safe return of Cleo and Scorpius?" Ginny wondered.

"Ten-Thousand Galleons," Harry suggested. "The Harry and Ginny Potter Foundation can put up that much right away."

"The Ministry can match that," Kingsley replied.

"I will see if the Malfoy family can add in some reward money as well," Harry grinned. "I'd like to make Draco sweat."

"You mean you don't like Draco," Ginny kidded.

"He's hardly my favorite person," Harry admitted. "I really like Narcissa, though."

"I will go and ask Draco and Narcissa to contribute to the reward, Harry," Ginny suggested. "Then Cindy and I can write about the kidnapping."

"Enjoy," Harry responded. "You are a good actress. I would like to see this scene."


"What is going on?' Lily shrieked as Albus, Cleo, Rose and Scorpius came through the Floo at twelve Grimmauld Place. "I heard that you had been kidnapped, Cleo, Scorpius!"

"We have been," Scorpius told Lily. "And we have NOT been rescued, and you have no idea where we are!"

"It is like a mystery novel, some great dark secret," Lily grinned.

"Dis is in the hospital, although she will recover," Frerin sternly told Lily. "This is hardly a game."

"We are going to have to hide out here until Uncle Harry says we can leave," Scorpius proposed. "Spending time in the library with Rose. Such torture." Scorpius grinned at Rose.

Rose just rolled her eyes but went over to him and gave him a hug to make sure he was okay.

Scorpius winced at Rose's big hug. Rose looked askance at Scorpius's reaction.

"Sorry," Rose muttered.

"I'm just a little sore, Rose," Scorpius replied.

"We cannot practice with the band," Cleo thought. "We could kiss! We are both sixteen, and according to some societies we are of age, or close to it!"

Albus gave Cleo a chaste kiss, but then told the others, "People come in through the kitchen, through the Floo or Closet. We probably ought to go upstairs away from the public areas of the house."

"We will go next door to our house," Rose announced. "The library and mum's office are not public areas."

Cleo accompanied Scorpius and Rose next door to retrieve her portable organ and some music, and then went back to the Potter house, where she and Albus set up in the drawing room and practiced together.


Harry looked at his map of twelve and thirteen Grimmauld Place, and then asked Dobedo to check on the children. Dobedo came back shortly, letting Harry know, "The Elves know what the situation is, and will make sure everyone is safe and hidden."

Harry then used the special magical/Muggle mobile that some of the Magi in the International Auror Association used to talk. They could set up a line so that anything they said was scrambled by both Muggle and magical means. From his office, with the door closed and the windows darkened, he called Al VanLente.

"There is a rumor that Cleopatra and Scorpius have been kidnapped," Al answered the phone with.

"To make a long story short, they have been, they ended up in our holding cells with two Elves who are now in St. Mungo's that Apparating away with them, and two Magi. I don't want Jezebel to know we captured the witch and wizard, so I need to hide them somewhere for a few months."

"Are you suggesting that we do something not totally legal, Harry?" Al asked.

"Albus figured out how to unlock the handcuffs right away, but there is a lot going on we do not understand, and yes I want that witch and wizard to just disappear for a few months."

"Holy crap, Albus can unlock those handcuffs?" Al exclaimed. "That is rather advanced magic. I would not want Jezebel to know that either. How did they escape."

"They each had an Elf with them, tied I think with magical cord, but Apparating away didn't work. Portkeys did, sort of, but using the portkeys was hard on everybody except Cleo, and it really hurt the Elves. Both Elves are in the hospital."

"That makes sense too. Can you give me twenty-four hours or so? I think I know what to do with those two."

"Don't tell me more than you have to, Al," Harry insisted. "Plausible deniability."

"I will call you on this same secure line, Harry," Al replied.


Ginny Potter Floo called Narcissa, and then she and Cindy Hudson took the Floo to Malfoy Manor. All the Magi who were at the kidnapping were there, including Astoria, who had come back from where she had disappeared to.

Ginny told Draco, "The Harry and Ginny Potter foundation is offering a ten-thousand Galleon reward for the safe return of Scorpius and Cleopatra, and the capture of the two Magi who abducted them. The Ministry of Magic is matching that reward. I would think that the Malfoy family ought to at least match what we and the Ministry are putting up."

"Who cares if they find the witch and wizard?" Godiva wondered. "As long as Cleo and Scorpius are safe that should be all that matters."

"So Cindy can write that Godiva Malfoy was as interested in protecting the kidnappers as in rescuing her great-grandchild?" Ginny sneered.

"That is NOT what I said!" Godiva exclaimed, a swear word dying before she could get it out.

"Draco, I cannot commit that much money on my own," Narcissa told her grandson. "We ought to at least match the Potter contribution."

"The Potter's are filthy rich," Astoria snapped.

"And Scorpius is your own son, you selfish bitch," Ginny snapped back, glaring at Astoria. She looked around the room, finally saying, "Cindy and I have to go to the Prophet to get a story ready for a special evening edition. We can say that the Malfoy family is still trying to figure out if their child and ward are worth a reward, or we can put in an amount. It is your choice."

"We will also offer ten-thousand," Draco interjected. "I want my son back, unharmed."

"We all do," Ginny emphasized. "He is a very nice person."


The entire Potter and Granger-Weasley families gathered in the Potter's drawing room before dinner. Several were reading the Daily Prophet, Special Evening Edition.

Scorpius Malfoy and Cleopatra Smith Kidnapped the headline read. It mentioned that they seemed to have been kidnapped by a witch and wizard, but made no mention of the Elves. Prominent in the all too brief information given was the thirty-thousand Galleon reward for "the safe return of Scorpius and Cleo and the capture of the kidnappers."

"It is a little like being at your own funeral," Scorpius remarked. "They had to write again about killing the basilisk. I'll never live that little episode down, will I."

"No, Scorpius, you will not," Harry replied. "You will never live it down, so you had better live up to it."

"When will they escape?" Lily wondered. "Maybe James and I can swoop in and rescue then at the last minute."

"From where?" James wondered.

"From atop a log heading for a waterfall, from in front of a train, from a raging dragon breathing fire, from something dramatic that would make a good story," Lily proposed.

"From your mother and grandmother when they are both on the warpath," Scorpius suggested.

James and Lily looked askance at that suggestion. "That's terrifying!" James proposed.

"What will we say happened to the witch and wizard that captured us?" Scorpius wanted to know.

"Imagine you killed them like you killed the basilisk, but then imagine that they had little children at home and you made them orphans, and then refuse to say anything," Harry told Scorpius and Cleo. "We want to suggest that you had to fight to get away, but not say how. The less you say the better. Say nothing, but say it with the attitude that you really really don't want to talk about it."

"That's HORRIBLE!" Cleo shrieked. "If I think like that I really wouldn't want to talk about it."

"Meanwhile, we have conjured a door between twelve and thirteen Grimmauld Place up here so you do not have to down to the kitchen to go between the houses. I want both of you to stay hidden, Scorpius and Cleo."

They nodded their acceptance. Lily may have though that this kidnapping was some sort of game, but for not only Cleo and Scorpius but also Albus and Rose the kidnapping just reminded them that they were facing a potentially really terrifying and risky year.

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