'The OWLs are over.' Ginny thought blissfully, as she woke up and rolled over in her four-poster. Now she faced an important decision. Get out of bed and eat, or sleep in for another hour. Her appetite won out - especially when she reminded herself that breakfast wasn't served forever.
A few minute later, she was making her way down the girls' staircase. She was met in the Common Room by Ron who began to interrogate her.
"Where's Hermione? Why isn't she out of bed yet? Is she sick?" This was all spoken by him breathlessly.
Ginny was surprised that Ron had beat Hermione out of bed, nevertheless, she wasn't worried. Yet. "I'll go up and find out." she said before turning around and dashing up the stairs to the sixth year girl dormitory.
When she arrived and entered the room, she was shocked to find that Hermione's bed had not been slept in and her normally organized school supplies and bag were laying on the floor next to the bed. "Hermione?" she called out pointlessly. There was no answer.
Since none of the other girls were still in bed, Ginny did not opt to remain. She quickly made her way down the stairs. "She's not up there and her bed doesn't look like it's been slept in. Are you sure you don't know where she is?"
"I'm sure." Ron said shortly, his voice etched with a hint of worry.
"Let's ask Lavender or Parvati then." Ginny suggested, already moving for the portrait hole. "They might have seen her last night or this morning, or at least some sign of her presence."
Ron quickly followed Ginny out the portrait hole and down the hall. "I passed them on my way back up here. They were going to breakfast."
With that, the siblings made their way through the castle to the Great Hall, wasting no time but keeping an eye peeled for Hermione at all times. Within record time, they were walking through the doors to the Gryffindor table where Hermione's dorm-mates were sitting with Neville Longbottom.
"When was the last time you saw Hermione?" Ron demanded, getting right into the faces of the girls.
They regarded him cooly, slightly offended at his brusk demand. Finally, Parvati answered. "The History of Magic test. We assumed that she was… elsewhere last night." she said, a faint blush blooming on her cheeks as she avoided eye contact with Ron.
Ron's mouth opened angrily, but his response was overridden by Ginny. "We haven't seen her anywhere since about the time you did. We think that she may be missing or something.
"Go to Dumbledore." Neville advised, jumping into the conversation. "I'll organize some students into search parties. We can have the castle canvassed in a half-hour."
"All right then." Ron said, slightly surprised at Neville's calm, collected, and firm instructions. So surprised in fact, that he didn't even think to question the fellow student's leadership. He and Ginny quickly made their way out of the Great Hall.
Parvati and Lavender looked at Neville with worried glances. "She's gone." Lavender said. "I can feel it in my bones. Who do you think did it?"
"I'm not sure what happened or specifically who," Neville stated grimly, "but I know who will be blamed for it."
Neville Longbottom and Cornelius Fudge arrived in Professor Dumbledore's office at the same time to find a calm, but concerned, headmaster and two dejected teenagers. Neville spoke up before the Minister had a chance to say anything. "The castle and grounds have been searched twice by separate people each time. There is no sign of Hermione anywhere."
"Excellent work, Mr. Longbottom!" Fudge said, almost gleefully. "Your parents were crack Aurors and it seems like you're well on your way. If you'll excuse us though, I need to discuss the events with your headmaster."
"I'd be glad to." Neville said, a tinge of sarcasm veiled in his voice. He turned around and left.
As soon as the door closed behind Neville, Dumbledore spoke up. "I assume that the special Portkey issued to Miss Granger had a device to track its use, Cornelius. It would probably be also safe to assume that it was used last night."
"Yes, indeed." Fudge replied, helping himself to a chair. "The Portkey was used last night and I've already had our Aurors and hit-wizards on the scene to which the Portkey took young Miss Granger. Coincidentally, it was the same location that Potter struck last night."
Ron leapt up from his own chair, all signs of his depression replaced with fervor. "Did you find her? Is she in St. Mungo's yet? What was she doing there and what is this special Portkey you're talking about?
Feeling guilty about keeping the details from Ron, Ginny interrupted and quickly explained Hermione's plan to talk to Harry by tracking down what villages he was likely to attack next. When she was finished with what she knew, Dumbledore explained about the Portkey, since he had earlier assumed that Ron had been told.
When Ron was filled in, Dumbledore looked to Fudge who had made himself comfortable with a spot of tea. "What did the Ministry find at the village?"
"Wreckage, fire damage, casualties, and everything Potter usually seems fond of doing," Fudge commented with a yawn.
"What about Hermione?" Ron asked, seething with frustration.
The Minister of Magic sat back in the chair. "Not a trace of her!" he declared, somewhat excitedly. "The Muggles on site talked about a strange girl who had come to visit the village just before the attack began. As soon as Potter's forces showed up, she ran into the street."
"Then what?" Ginny inquired, trying to press Fudge before she lost her patience at the man. He seemed to be drawing out the description for as long as he possibly could.
"Witnesses claim that they saw the leader of the attackers have a short conversation with her." Fudge informed them smugly.
Dumbledore turned his piercing blue eyes to Fudge. "And then?"
"Potter then used some sort of curse on her which immediately rendered her unconscious. Then they were gone without a trace! Knowing Potter, he'll want to gloat, which is good for us. As soon as we have her body in custody, I can get the Wizengamot to issue a warrant for his arrest on the charge of murdering a British citizen. Nobody, and I mean nobody, will dare support someone who would murder their former best friend!" Fudge declared smugly.
Ginny gasped very audibly. "Aren't you going to attempt to rescue her?" Fudge didn't bother to answer.
Ron who was the resident chess player immediately recognized what Fudge had done. "You deliberately put her in danger from Harry, didn't you! I bet that you were hoping he would kill her!"
"The greater good must be taken into account." Fudge said without showing a trace of remorse.
The blue eyes that usually twinkled had now turned to cold ice. "How dare you? What about her family? Who will explain to them why their daughter won't be coming home at the end of term?"
"I'm sure that they knew very well the risks she was running, being involved in a war where those whose blood is less than pure are targets. Then of course, if you associate yourself with bad people like Potter, what do you expect?"
"Try telling that to any parent, no matter who their child is!" Ginny yelled as tears welled up in her eyes.
Cornelius Fudge rolled his eyes. "That's what memory charms are for, young lady."
"We won't forget!" Ron yelled. He leapt from his chair, drew back his fist, and punched the Minister of Magic in the face. Blood began to immediately spurt from Fudge's nose. "You can't just murder Half-Bloods! You're no better than Harry!"
"Yes, Cornelius. What you have done is extremely serious. I think that you had better leave here." Dumbledore said coldly.
Fudge shrugged, got up, and left quickly. Though he had left the office in disgrace, he had shown no remorse whatsoever. Ginny observed that he seemed to be more embarrassed about the fact that he had been dismissed by someone he wanted to be better than rather than the fact that he had just sent a sixteen year-old to her almost imminent death.
"Oust him!" Ron yelled loudly. "Have him charged with murder!"
Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm afraid that I can't do that, Ronald. In all legal technicality, Minister Fudge has done nothing wrong. Hermione did not work for the Ministry nor did he order, direct, or coerce her to put herself in that village."
"He as good as admitted doing it!" Ginny whispered fiercely.
"Because we can't touch him." Dumbledore stated. "If he was in the wrong, he would not have told us his grand scheme. A very clever, but ruthless scheme. I don't like it, but it may work against Harry."
Ron shook his head sadly. He even seemed to be on the verge of tears. "I don't like this at all."
"I feel like being alone." Ginny muttered, not wanting to break down in front of her brother, nor wanting to watch him cry. Maybe a little loss would humble him. Or make him more bitter. It didn't matter to Ginny, she had her own thoughts to sort out.
"Let me know if you need anything, Ginevra." Dumbledore said kindly.
"I will." Ginny said shortly as she left the office.
Within several moments, she was in the Owlery, taking comfort in the presence of the many sleeping birds. After several moments she began to cry over Hermione and the general situation. Everything was so wrong! Voldemort killed, Fudge- the Order's ally- killed, Harry killed. Was there anyone who didn't kill?
Alastor Moody was the first who had an opportunity to carry the news to Harry. He did so nervously. After all, how did one break this sort of news to someone? Would Potter mourn for his ex-friend who was now presumed dead, or rejoice? Moody concluded that it solely depended on what sort of person Harry was.
Harry Potter was found in the library perusing a heavy tome. Though he was deeply engrossed in the subject, the entrance of the aged Auror did not escape his attention in the least. "What brings you to my humble home?" Harry inquired with a smile, somewhat glad to have a visitor.
"Not good news, sir." Moody said gruffly.
"It never seems to be." Harry commented, struggling to maintain his cheerfulness, as he marked his place and shut the ponderous book softly. He stood up and met Moody half-way between his table and the entrance. "What do they have me blamed for today?"
Mad-Eye wasted no time in seizing the opening. "The kidnapping and possible murder of Hermione Granger."
The facade of joviality dropped from Harry's face in an instant. "Voldemort? How?"
"Apparently Miss Granger had ideas about confronting you during an attack and trying to reason with you." Moody explained. He then went on to explain all the details of the special Portkey and Fudge's manipulations. When the Auror was finished explaining, he silently watched as Harry made his way to a nearby chair and sat down in it heavily.
"Thank you for telling me, Alastor." Harry said quietly. "I suppose that you have other things that you need to get to, rather than to watch me mope."
"Don't mourn the death of a traitor so deeply, son." Moody said, trying to lessen the burden that Harry was experiencing. "Besides, we don't even know if she's dead yet. For all you know they could turn her lose."
Harry nodded. "Yes, Voldemort could and possibly would do that. That could be just as bad though, and even though she was a traitor, I can't help but feel sorrow."
"Don't let it get to you then." Moody said. He then silently withdrew and made his way home.
The Count of Trazkaban immediately answered the summons of the Earl of the North. The ring he wore that was connected to both Lord Polairix and Queen Xerina led him to the library in the Fortress of Nair'icaix. "You called, my lord?"
"Yes, I did." Harry said. "What do you know about the attack Voldemort conducted last night?"
Hiscophney shrugged. "Next to nothing. Representatives of the British Ministry were swarming all over the village by the time we arrived. I decided that it would be best to leave them to their job. May I ask why you're interested?"
Harry quickly explained the situation to the count. "Is there any way that we can perhaps rescue her or find out whether or not she's dead?"
"I'm afraid that would be impossible, my lord." Hiscophney said, doing his best to sound consoling- which was rather difficult since he had not had much practice. "We have no idea where Lord Voldemort's base of operations is and whether or not the girl is being held prisoner there or elsewhere. Even if we did, any decent Dark lord would have it under charms that would be quite difficult to penetrate."
"And if we tried anyway, we may force Voldemort's hand." Harry concluded before Hiscophney could move onto that aspect. "Thank you for coming, I'll let you return to what you were occupied with previously."
"Good night, my lord." Hiscophney said with a small bow, before departing.
Feeling weak and powerless, Harry let out a deep sigh and then uttered a silent prayer, hoping for the best for all parties concerned.
Nearly three days later, Hermione finally woke up from her magically induced slumber and discovered she was tied down on something hard in pitch-blackness. Immediately, she could sense that important facts were missing from her memory- such as how it was that she had been knocked out and put wherever she now was.
As if looking for a missing possession, she retraced her steps in her mind. She had left the History test, gone to her dormitory, used the special Portkey to get to the village, and rushed out into the street when the attack began. Hermione could not remember anything after that.
Abruptly, one thought came to her mind. Harry was innocent! She couldn't remember how she knew or how it was that he was innocent, but she knew with an absolute surety that he was indeed innocent.
Immediately, Hermione was overpowered by an immense wave of guilt. If he was innocent, that meant that she had betrayed him. How could she have been so stupid!
An answer came to her fairly quickly. It was because she was a bad friend. Even the dumbest Hufflepuff would have stuck by Harry's side through such accusations against his character. Too bad he didn't really have any friends from Hufflepuff. They would have served him better.
With these thoughts overwhelming her, Hermione began to cry bitter tears. Harry Potter had been one of her first true friends in life. There had been none before Hogwarts. For five and a half years, she had luxuriated in the knowledge that she could depend on friends and could tell others she had friends.
Then what had she done? Thrown one of her most valuable friends away like a piece of trash. Not only had she hurt him, but also she had hurt herself. Accusing him of being a murderer like the killer of his parents was possibly the worse she had done, even worse than betraying him in the first place.
What should she do now? What could she do? Hermione immediately resolved to make it up somehow. She would have to try to counter the damage that her actions had done. Then maybe she could try to win his friendship back even if it took forever.
As the time passed, Hermione calmed herself by thinking of way to reverse her wrongdoing. Fudge and others would have to be told Ron must be convinced of the truth, as hard as it would be. The public would have to be told of her idiocy, even if it cost her reputation.
At some point, Hermione finally began to turn her thoughts outward. Where was she and how had she gotten here? If the village had been attacked, and it wasn't Harry, then she must be a prisoner of Voldemort.
Hermione tentatively attempted to move, even though she knew that she was tied down. Much to her relief, her hands were free enough to move a little. After feeling around a bit, she was able to determine that she was on a table of some sort.
Before she could began to wonder why she was tied to a table, a door opened. Instinctively she froze as two pairs of footsteps approached her in the dark.
A quiet voice hissed some sort of incantation and with dread, Hermione felt the ability to control her muscles sap away. Her vast knowledge of spells revealed to her that she had been hit with a highly illegal spell. The victim of the spell could hear, feel, see, taste, and smell- but not move. Death Eaters used it before raping or torturing their victims.
Hermione braced herself for the worse. However, the two people had other intentions. They used another spell to levitate her limp form into what seemed to be a long box.
With a thud, a lid was slammed on and Hermione heard the noise of a hammer at work. It was then that she realized the box was a coffin. Apparently they planned to bury her alive.
The instant the curse that held Hermione physically powerless wore off, Hermione let out an inhuman shriek and began to pound, push, and scratch at the lid that held her in the coffin.
Draco Malfoy watched Voldemort levitate the simple wooden coffin and then set it down in front of the Hogwarts gates. It landed with a loud thud.
An evil smirk passed over his face as the Mudblood inside began to scream and pound on the coffin's lid from the inside. The thud after several minutes of levitation had convinced her that she was now in a dug grave. If there had been any loose dirt nearby, he would have thrown some of it on the lid.
Without wasting another moment, Voldemort signaled Draco to Portkey back to the base. When the Portkey had done its job, Draco found himself in the lab where Hermione had been held. A moment later, Voldemort arrived via Apparition.
"I'm not sure I understand why we returned her to Hogwarts bearing the knowledge of Potter's innocence." Draco commented as humbly as he could, hoping for an explanation.
"She doesn't know 'how' Potter is innocent, neither can she explain who abducted her." Voldemort explained, to pleased with his handiwork to be offended at Draco's remark. "Dumbledore will immediately assume that Potter altered her mind. Even the girl will eventually have to admit that she was mistaken concerning Potter's innocence.
"I see." Draco said.