'You're not listening,' Ginny demanded of the room. 'It was Harry's Patronus!'

In the kitchen of the burrow surrounded by her family, all consternated at her revealing of this news. Robards stood closest to her, pleading with her to calm down, but out of all of them surely he would believe her.

Ron was the first to speak after a wall of silence. 'But the Aurors found Harry's wand, Gin, how can he have cast a Patronus?' He looked from Ginny to Robards imploringly.

'It seems to me that he has stolen a wand,' Robards shrugged, the frown lines on his forehead deepening.

'But,' chimed George from in front of the sink, 'if he has stolen a wand then he should be able to escape.'

Ginny's head turned to him. 'What do you mean escape? You think he's being held captive?'

George sighed and looked around for agreement before replying. 'It's the only explanation.'

Ginny pursed her lips. She didn't like to agree but deep down she knew she couldn't deny it.

'I'll be investigating it Ginny,' Robards said beside her, 'I'm leaving first thing tomorrow, I'll keep in touch when I can.'

'Thank you,' Ginny replied half-heartedly.

She had confided the words to them all that Harry had spoken. The general agreement conveyed that Harry had sacrificed himself to ensure that the others in his group could escape without harm. Mrs. Weasley had chanced to ask whether it was clear that Harry knew whether two of the Aurors had been killed. Ginny knew that he didn't.

'Mr. Robards, can I have a word before you leave?' asked Ron.

Ginny frowned but watched as the two of them wandered into the living room for privacy.

'Hermione,' Ginny said tentatively as she wandered into the hospital a few days later.

Hermione, sitting up in her bed, turned to her with eyes glistening with tears.

'Gin, come in,' Hermione said quietly.

The moonlight cast through the large windows, but darkness had not fully enveloped the sky.

'Are you alright?' Ginny asked with concern as she sat down in the chair next to Hermione's bed.

'Yes,' Hermione replied, wiping her face with a handkerchief, 'just feeling sorry for myself,' she added with a watery smile.

'Well, you're looking better,' Ginny said with a solemn smile.

Hermione nodded her head slightly, 'I've lost the baby,' she murmured.

Ginny moved quickly next to her side and put her arm around Hermione, 'I'm so sorry,' she told her.

'It's silly really,' Hermione began, 'I knew I couldn't have a baby, I'm far too busy and the Minister can't just take time off.'

'You'd have made it work,' Ginny replied, 'does Ron know?' she asked.

'I've only just found out, I will tell him, I just need to get over this first,' Hermione replied.

'There's nothing that you need to get over, it will take time,' Ginny said as she stroked Hermione's arm. 'It's grief just as much as anything else.'

Hermione sobbed silently beside her.

Half an hour passed until Ron turned up to comfort Hermione, bringing with him his mother's famous get better soon cookies or whatever.

'I should be going,' Ginny said and stood up from her seat next to Hermione's bed.

Ron looked up encouragingly. 'Before you go,' he said, 'I spoke to Robards about the time-turner that Draco told you about.'

Ginny raised her eyebrows. 'What did he say?'

Ron looked to the ground.

'I knew it,' said Hermione softly.

'Knew what?' Ginny asked.

'When Harry was attacked in the Auror offices,' she began and gave a small sigh. 'We were all under the impression that they must have used the attack as a deterrent to look for something or perhaps to steal something.'

'The time-turner,' Ginny said with a frown.

Hermione nodded her head.

Ron looked up at her from his seat. 'Robards sent me a reply before he left for Albania this morning, they can't find the time-turner,' he said.

Ginny shook her head. 'Did no one investigate it at the time?' she asked feeling her anger building once again.

'No one had any suspicion that it had disappeared,' Ron shrugged.

'Well, that's not good enough,' Ginny said stubbornly. 'Who knew where it was?'

'Harry,' Hermione answered uneasily. She gave Ginny the same look she had given when they found out that Harry was missing.

Ginny switched the weight from one foot to the other. This entire thing was becoming more and more suspicious, and she couldn't help but feel angry at the fact that Harry held most of the answers they needed.

'Is it possible ...' Ginny said slowly, wishing she didn't have to say these words, 'that Harry didn't tell anyone that the time-turner was missing. That maybe he knew ever since it was taken.'

'It seems like the most likely option,' Hermione agreed.

Ginny shook her head again, biting down on her lower lip, She excused herself from the conversation and left the room as quickly as she could whilst avoiding suspicion. Out in the corridor, she fell into one of the same chairs against the wall and sobbed. She thought at first, that the Patronus from Harry had instilled a sense of contentment, that he might just be alright. And now, she knew that he was in trouble, he wanted to send her a message but it was filled with blinding errors. Robards had stated that he would have had to steal a wand to do it, was it possible that Harry was now being punished for this action?

As Ginny wiped her shirt sleeve across her eyes, she thought of the time-turner and Harry's bid not to tell anyone that it had disappeared. She sighed, perhaps Harry had a hand in with whatever his captors wanted with the item. Ginny knew her next option was to figure out why the time-turner had been taken in the first place and where in time they wished to go. She swallowed an uncomfortable lump in her throat. She knew who she had to talk to; unfortunately, it was Draco Malfoy.

'Did it occur to you, Ginny, that perhaps I don't wish to help,' Draco drawled.

Upon her invitation, Draco used floo powder and Ginny, once she heard the scuffle of feet on the hardwood floor of her sitting room, went rushing to find Draco brushing down his long velvet coat and wearing a snarl.

'If that's true, then you wouldn't have come,' she returned, with a devilish smile.

Draco inclined his head.

The pair of them were huddled around the kitchen table. The rain battered heavily against the windowpanes, Ginny had to inch closer to the table to be able to hear what Draco was saying.

'I assume there is no news yet?' Draco asked.

'No,' Ginny said with a sigh. 'I asked you to come to talk about the time-turner,' she added.

Draco nodded his head. 'I have asked around about it,' he ventured, and Ginny raised an eyebrow.

'So, you are curious?' she asked with the faintness of a laugh.

Draco frowned deeply. 'About the time-turner yes, not about your husband, I assure you. We all know he can take care of himself,' he replied with a scowl. 'This particular time-turner was invented by an ancestor of Theodore Nott; he assures me that he would like it to be returned to his family. Due to this, he wishes to offer help in your current situation.'

'But what can Nott do?' Ginny asked, her hands clasped around her hot mug of tea.

'His family has connections in Albania, but more importantly, he has connections within the Albanian Ministry of Magic.'

Ginny felt hopeful for the first time in a long time.

'He will be visiting the Ministry later today, and I will inform you of anything he finds out.'

Ginny nodded her head, but she couldn't bring herself to thank him just yet. Another thought came to her. 'Why is this time-turner so special?'

'Other than it being the only one known to be in existence,' Draco said, 'it has a stronger property than the ones destroyed within the Department of Mysteries years ago.'

Ginny waited patiently, but she knew that Draco had a flare for the dramatic.

'This particular time-turner has the power to go back years,' Draco said and took a sip of his tea. He grimaced as he set the cup back down.

But a thousand things were running through Ginny's head. 'That can't be possible,' she urged into the rain-battered silence.

Draco inclined his head. 'Unfortunately for us, it is possible.'

'Do you think they want to use it on Harry?' she asked him to gauge his mild expression.

Draco was difficult to read at the best of times, she couldn't understand why a time-turner would suddenly cause his interest.

'Almost certainly, why else would they take it?' Draco shrugged.

Ginny rubbed her hand across her forehead.

The next day, Ginny found herself gazing out of the window of her mother's kitchen. She felt as though she had not slept for days, but she willed her attention to return to the room. Hermione sat next to her, looking healthy over an exterior that clearly still brought devastating pain. Ginny wished she knew what to say to make her feel better, but she had used up all her sympathy. All she could do now was listen, and she had the distinct impression that it was precisely what Hermione desired.

But Ginny started dazing as her mother recounted her miscarriage to Hermione. Shortly before falling pregnant with Fred and George, she had herself experienced the same thing, having fallen down the stairs of The Burrow.

'I always remember thinking that is why I had twins because I had lost the last baby,' Mrs. Weasley said in a light tone.

'That's a lovely thing to think about,' Hermione smiled.

'Would you be trying again?' Mrs. Weasley asked.

Hermione seemed to think about this for a moment. 'I think when the time is right, I will know.'

Ginny returned to the conversation, but thinking this time of the kids and their long wait for their father to return. A thought flashed in her mind, one she would have cared to dismiss, but it was a sigh that brought with it the image that perhaps she would never see him again.

'You're looking pale ...' her mother began but a loud scuffling noise echoed from the sitting room.

The three of them glanced at each other with frowns and together they waited in trepidation to see who had used the floo network.

Ron came hurrying into the kitchen, looking slightly dishevelled. To Ginny's surprise, he was flanked by George and Teddy.

George rushed to hug his mother, while Teddy took the seat beside Ginny and Ron stayed standing.

'What's going on?' Ginny asked as the pleasantries ceased.

'We've got something we need to talk to you all about,' George indicated.

Ginny looked to Teddy who wore a strange grin, he looked anxious.

'What have you done?' asked Mrs. Weasley always quick to blame.

'Nothing,' Ron said quickly, 'it's just we've made a decision, and I don't think you will all be happy unless you hear us out.'

Ron's brow was visibly sweating, Ginny would be worried if it didn't happen so frequently.

'We're going to join the search,' George said quickly.

'For Harry?' Mrs. Weasley asked.

'Yes, we're all going to Albania tomorrow,' Ron said with clenched teeth.

'That's ridiculous Ron, you can't,' Hermione interceded. 'None of you are Aurors.'

'I used to be,' Ron shrugged.

'That doesn't mean you should join a highly dangerous mission,' Hermione begged.

George stood up and joined Ron. 'We've cleared it with Robards and he will expect us tomorrow, nothing will go wrong, everything will be fine.'

Ginny shook her head. It was just like George to use a light tone and spritely words. But there were things that none of them knew about Harry's case. Everything would be left up to chance.

Hermione seemed to ignore Geprge's last words and continued to stare at Rob in disbelief. 'Ron, now is not the time to play the hero, these people are experts at Dark magic. You have no idea what you are running into.'

Ron shook his head. 'But it's Harry,' he said softly. 'He would do it for us.'

'And that is Harry's job,' Hermione retorted.

'Yes, and his message to Ginny stated that the Aurors' should find the others first, we're going to help with that. Anything we find out should lead us to Harry.'

Ginny looked at Hermione, noticing that she was about to make another remark aimed at the severity of the situation.

'Hermione, I don't think we are going to change their minds. All I know is; Harry should be found by familiar faces, and you will find him.'

She turned to Ron and George who nodded appreciatively.

'Also,' Ron added, 'Draco Malfoy is coming with us.'

'I'm sorry?' Hermione asked. 'Why would he join the search?'

'Have you spoken to him?' Ginny asked.

'Yes,' Ron said, 'he visited the shop this morning.'

Ginny sat up. 'He is very interested in this time-turner, and not at all interested in finding Harry, I think you will need to keep an eye on him.'

Ron knew it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. In fact, any conversation with Draco Malfoy never seemed to run smoothly. As soon as Draco stepped foot into the joke shop, he looked around with a nasty scowl on his face. And by the time he had reached Ron and said his name with a sneer; Ron had already come up with five different things he would rather be doing right now.

'I've spoken to Robards about the time-turner,' he told Ron.

Draco's hand sank further into the pockets of his long black coat, clearly looking uncomfortable.

'Okay,' Ron said with confusion, 'what did he say?'

One: Taking the flowers to Hermione.

'He confirmed that they couldn't locate it in Harry's office. I projected my own opinions that it should have been kept in a much securer place than Potter's desk drawer, but here we are.'

Ron clenched his teeth.

Two: Ripping Malfoy's personality apart with Harry.

'Is there a reason why you are interested in this time-turner?' Ron asked.

'The time-turner needs to be returned to its owner. And I must admit that I'm intrigued by its powers,' he said and laced his hands behind his back.

'That's the only reason?' Ron asked, thinking in particular about a certain rumour, he had once heard.

Three: Eating his mother's Sunday lunch.

'Are you implying something, Weasley?' Draco asked in his most annoying drawl.

Ron said nothing.

'The rumors about the conception of my son are a lie. Astoria and I did not use Nott's time-turner to go back in time to in order to conceive. I want this time-turner found now before the news of its very existence causes the rumors to circumvent once again.'

Four: Taking inventory, which he should be doing right now.

'Don't worry, we'll find it, I'm joining the search tomorrow along with my brother,' Ron said.

Draco licked his lips. 'Really?' he asked with rising interest. 'Then, I may join the search as well,' Draco said, but Ron wanted to laugh.

'Why would you want to come with us?' Ron asked, attempting to hold in his laughter.

'I wish to find the time-turner, and seen as anyone can volunteer it may as well be me. I have a vast knowledge of the dark arts.'

Five: Punching Malfoy in the face.

Draco was turning about Ron's office at the joke shop, picking up random objects and scowling at them.

'So, you're willing to help us look for Harry?' Ron asked with a frown.

'That's what I've just said, Weasley,' he drawled.

Ron's face dropped. He didn't feel particularly happy about the fact that he would have to spend any amount of time within Draco's company. But it wasn't about that, it was about Harry.

'Why do you think they wanted to use the time-turner on Harry?' Ron asked curiously.

Draco shrugged. 'There must be something that happened in the past that they want Harry to change or erase.'

Ron frowned. That really could be a number of things but he wasn't about to decline Draco's help, after all, he was a gifted wizard even if he would nover say it to his face.

'How far into the past does the time-turner go?' Ron asked.

'At most, around five years,' Draco replied.

'Then why don't we all tag along,' Mrs. Weasley said with cool sarcasm.

'Mum,' George interceded.

'I can't have you all going when you don't know everything,' she replied.

'It's not like that, Mum. We will get all the facts from Robards,' Ron shrugged.

Mrs. Weasley folded her arms in a huff. 'You're definitely not going,' she said and aimed a point at Teddy.

'It was his idea,' George motioned.

'I don't care, Teddy, you're too young,' she said.

'I'm a junior Auror, and I want to find Harry,' he said. He looked at Ginny imploringly, as if she were about to agree with him but she was still thinking.

'We can protect Teddy,' Ron begged but Mrs. Weasley shook her head indignantly.

'That's why you asked to speak to Robards,' Hermione said to Ron. 'You were asking to join the search.'

Ron nodded.

From beside her, Ginny felt Teddy's eyes on her again, trying to read her expression.

'I know you can protect Teddy,' she said and Teddy sat up straighter. 'I know you will do everything you can but I don't want anything to happen to any of you. Can you promise that you will all look out for one another?'

The three of them nodded.

'Will you keep me informed?' she asked.

'Of course, as much as we can.'

Ginny nodded.

'If Harry is alive,' she said defiantly but the words felt wrong in her throat, 'then he should be saved by people he knows,' she nodded.

Teddy took her hand in his own. 'He is alive, there is no doubt.'

Ginny shook her head. 'If you can promise that you will all be realistic. If you will all prepare yourself for the alternative, then I will agree that you're doing the right thing. But,' she paused, her stomach lurching, 'we all need to be prepared for the fact that Harry may be dead.'

The room fell silent, none of them expecting to hear her say this. The very fact she had created a knot in her stomach.

'We're not going to let you down, Gin,' Ron said strongly. 'And we are not going to let Harry down either.'