Chapter nine
Chapter nine
When Harry and Ron got back to the ministry, Ron went straight back to the auror office, Harry went to speak with the Wizengamot. When he was finished there, he went to speak with Kingsley about what had taken place at St Mungo’s. So they took a few minutes to talk, as friends and not as minister and an auror.
Harry stepped into the auror office and all eyes turned to him, ‘What?’
‘Are you okay?’ Cho asked.
‘I’m more worried about Charlie, what she said hurt him deeply, I felt it.’
‘Where is he now?’ Parvati asked.
‘Went straight home, he’s still not healed yet.’
‘He’s like you mate, hides his pain,’ Ron shrugged.
‘Yeah, I know, but I sensed it. Anyway, the Wizengamot sealed the file; I told the minister as well, he was surprised how she acted.’
‘Yeah, Ron explained. It’s hard to believe this is Ginny we’re talking about,’ Seamus said.
‘She was always spoiled but she never went too far before. So even though we never had much growing up, it wasn’t possessions she asked for, she would ask us to take the blame for something she did.’
‘See, again, she was used to all of you doing that for her and probably thinks Charlie wouldn’t let her get in trouble when he helped her before. I don’t know, she just didn’t want to listen,’ Harry sighed heavily.
‘Harry,’ Ernie ran into the office, ‘we’re sorry, there was an emergency. Dozens of patients were being brought in, some hardly able to walk, one collapsed. Jessie helped her and I ended up with a little girl in my arms. We were only gone for five minutes, she disappeared.’
‘Charlie, Ron, take over,’ Harry changed into his dragon and flew off, heading straight for his home.
‘What happened?’ Seamus asked.
‘Explosion, no one knows what caused it but half the alley was in flames, or so I heard.’
‘Where’s Jessie?’ Ron asked.
‘Still there, doing a search.’
‘Cho, Seamus, Parvati, you three head to St Mungo’s with Ernie, keep searching, Michael, Terry, you come with me to the Burrow and we’ll search there.’
Harry dragon landed in his garden, changed back and ran naked into the house, ‘Charlie,’ he yelled.
‘Harry,’ Charlie stepped out of the kitchen, ‘why are you naked?’
‘I flew, Ginny escaped.’
‘What, how?’
‘Seems a lot of people were hurt. Jessie ended up helping someone that collapsed, Ernie had a kid in his arms, she snuck out. She doesn’t have magic Charlie, but she could still hurt you with a knife.’
Charlie held Harry’s hand, ‘Open your senses,’ they both closed their eyes, ‘Nothing, she’s not here. I was worried she might have snuck in, without magic, our enchantments wouldn’t stop her.’
‘Damn, I never thought of that. Okay, fidelius charm will stop her because she won’t see the house.’
‘Don’t you need approval from the ministry?’
‘I’ll get it after since this is an emergency. Let’s do it together, it will make it strong and both of us can give permission. I’ll just get dressed first, but come with me,’ Charlie held Harry’s hand as they walked up the stairs, he stood watching Harry dress. He could feel how worried Harry was, he could understand why. Ginny had threatened to kill him and Harry heard it all, now they hoped they could find her. When Harry dressed they headed back downstairs.
Harry and Charlie joined hands then took their wands out and performed the charm, going from outside to inside. They covered every part of the property and the house before they both saw the shimmer go around the house.
‘We’ll both get notes ready. I’m sure Ron or one of the others will turn up eventually.’
‘I’m safe Harry, why don’t you go look for her?’
‘If I know Ron, he would already have the others doing that,’ Harry stared up into Charlie’s eyes, ‘I know you’re safe, but I can’t leave.’
Charlie nodded then pulled Harry into his arms, ‘I know how you feel, but someone is bound to find her,’ Harry felt it, he couldn’t hold it any longer and completely broke, sobbing into Charlie’s chest, ‘Shhh, it’s fine, we’re fine, it’s okay,’ Charlie kept holding Harry tight with one arm and rubbed Harry’s back with the other. Charlie knew why Harry broke down. He had lost too many people he had loved and he was scared he would lose another.
They stood like that until they saw a silver patronus, speaking in Cho’s voice.
‘We haven’t found her but we’re still looking. We wanted to make sure you and Charlie are alright, we’re outside.’
‘Come on, let’s get them inside so we can organise what to do and how to find her.’
Harry and Charlie went outside and found all the aurors standing along with Kingsley, Hermione and some of the Weasley’s.
‘Read this,’ Harry and Charlie handed them the permission note then they all hurried inside. They all noticed Harry’s red and puffy eyes but no one mentioned it, they knew it might embarrass him.
‘Sorry boss.’
‘Don’t be Jessie. I would have helped as well. So you had no luck finding her?’
‘No, we searched St Mungo’s, even the staff helped,’ Ernie said.
‘We went to the Burrow, no sign of her and we cast every spell we could to detect human’s, nothing. We made sure it would work on someone without magic as well.’ Ron said.
‘We wanted to make sure she didn’t sneak in here,’ Arthur said staring at Charlie.
‘We opened our senses, she’s not here, but not having magic meant she could get past our enchantments, that’s why we did the fidelius charm. I know I need permission Kingsley, but I had to think of Charlie’s safety.’
‘It’s fine, it was an emergency which means it’s allowed. So we’ve all be talking, trying to work out where she would go but what she might do. Will she come looking for Charlie or will she take off?’
‘She’ll come looking for me, I know her.’
‘Then we have to make sure you’re not alone Charlie, not until she’s been found,’ Molly said.
‘I know you won’t like this Charlie, but you’re going to have a guard around you at all times. One of us will be with you constantly,’ Harry said.
‘But Harry, if she realises now that killing Charlie won’t get you, well, I hate saying this but she might decide to kill you instead of Charlie. If one of you dies, so does the other one,’ Hermione said.
‘But Charlie and I can sense danger, we’ll be fine together. It’s when we’re alone Charlie is in the most danger. With me it will be harder, I’m at the ministry surrounded by aurors and I floo straight into the house. Charlie is still the one that is vulnerable.’
‘Could you live somewhere else?’ Ron asked.
‘I suppose, buying something else wouldn’t be a problem.’ Harry said.
‘Then we do that and she will have no idea where we will be living,’ Charlie said, ‘Not around Godric’s Hollow, not Hogsmeade, not Ottery St Catchpole, somewhere that is not connected to either of us.’
‘Well, we can look, I just want to get out there and find her but I don’t want to leave Charlie.’
‘We’re staying with Charlie until you get home,’ Bill said, ‘If you go do what aurors do, hopefully you will find her quickly, but Fleur and I will be here.’
‘You’re both order members so is Charlie and he is Morphixen, so I know you can handle yourselves,’ Harry stared at Charlie, ‘Okay, but we’ll work a roster to make sure Charlie isn’t alone.’
‘She can’t get in here and I won’t leave Harry.’
‘But what if she works on a way to trick you out of here?’ Ron said.
‘How, I wouldn’t unless I heard from Harry saying it was safe.’
‘Maybe she works something out. Take the guard Charlie, just until we find her,’ Hermione said.
‘I had to put up with it for years Charlie and all the time, not just during the day,’ Harry took Charlie’s hand as he stared into his eyes, ‘Please Charlie, I have to know you’re safe.’
Charlie stared into Harry’s worried puffy eyes, ‘Alright, I’ll also put the shop off for a while since she does know I was looking for a place.’
‘Harry, could you use your dragon to fly around and search for her?’ Ernie asked.
‘I thought of that, my senses will help as well. All I can do is try.’
‘I had a radical idea,’ Ron shrugged but he gave Charlie a grin and everyone was wondering what Ron’s mind had come up with this time.
‘Okay, I’m not sure I want to hear this or not,’ Harry said warily.
‘Well, you said when you and Charlie hold hands your senses are stronger, right?’
‘Right, but Charlie can’t go out there.’
‘No, but if he was on your back, I mean on your dragon then he would be up high, safe, out of her way.’
‘Not bad little brother,’ Bill said.
‘You could work it for twice a day Harry, different times, keep it random,’ Kingsley suggested.
‘Even if Charlie is human and I’m a dragon our connection would still be at its strongest,’ Harry stared at Charlie who everyone could tell he was waiting for Harry to make the decision, ‘Alright, we’ll work on that.’
‘Great, I’ll get to ride you,’ Charlie smirked making everyone laugh, ‘Oh, I just thought of something.’
‘What?’ everyone asked at once.
‘Grimmauld place, Ginny can get in there.’
‘Damn, okay, you stay here with Bill and Fleur, all of us will search that place. Now remember what Mad-eye said, when Dumbledore died, all of us that had been given permission to get in are now the secret keepers. Ron and I can get you lot in and before you say anything Hermione, no, you’re not going, aurors only.’
‘Harry,’ Hermione scowled, her hands on her hips.
‘No, this is official, but I want you to be careful as well. She knows you researched everything on the Morphixen, she believes you made some of it up, she might go after you.’
‘She also knows how close you and Harry are sweetheart, it’s not worth it. Either go to work, stay with mum and dad or even here,’ Ron said.
Hermione looked around, she could tell everyone was against her being involved, ‘Fine, I’ll go back to work.’
‘Don’t be mad Hermione; we’re doing this for Charlie but also as aurors, that’s what we’ve been training to do. But you and Ginny talked a lot, you often shared a room, at the Burrow and at Grimmauld place. Get that brain working, figure out where she is or what she might do.’
‘I know she loves you, she is obsessed as well, which doesn’t surprise me. You’re cloak is here, right?’
‘Yeah, it’s up in the bedroom, why?’
‘Just making sure she didn’t sneak in and take it.’
‘How long between her disappearing and Harry turning up here?’ Arthur asked.
‘Thirty minutes, no longer,’ Ernie said.
‘I’ll check,’ Harry raced up the stairs with all eyes on him.
‘Harry’s eyes were red,’ Hermione said not bothering to ask her question.
‘He just completely broke, I’ve never heard Harry cry before. I know why, it was just a shock.’
‘He doesn’t cry, ever. With all the Slytherin’s around us Harry could never show any type of emotion because they would report back to their parents who would tell Voldemort. But Harry said since he felt Voldemort and Voldemort felt him, he tried to keep all his feelings hidden,’ Ron said.
‘It’s still hanging up, if she touched my father’s cloak,’ Harry shook his head, ‘Sorry, okay. So how about we all head to Grimmauld place. Hermione, you stay with Kingsley until you get to your office, he was an auror.’
‘I don’t need protection Harry.’
‘Don’t start Hermione; it’s not worth the risk, just like you used to tell me when I was guarded. She does know how close we are, stay with Kingsley.’
‘The head auror has spoken, if you don’t do this Hermione Harry just might have a guard around you. How many times you told Harry he would just have to put up with it, well, he is getting you back for that,’ Ron smirked at his girlfriend.
‘He’s right; I am, so Minister, could you please escort Miss Granger back to work?’
‘Of course Auror Potter, she will be safe.’
Hermione growled as she glared at Harry but everyone else laughed. They might be tense and they realised the danger but they could see the two best friends staring each other out. But this time Harry was pulling out his auror side which meant Hermione was not going to win.
Harry and Ron wrote a permission note for Grimmauld place. He waited until Kingsley and Hermione left, he kissed Charlie, it started off as a sweet and loving kiss but soon turned heated and passionate until Ron tapped them both on the shoulder. The two men released each other, stared into each other’s eyes for another minute before all the aurors headed to London.
‘Just be warned, there are enchantments inside. Mad-eye did them in case Snape turned up, that was before we knew Snape was really on our side,’ Harry said.
‘So you’ll see an image of Dumbledore then your tongue will roll up, but you have to keep it quiet or you’ll wake Mrs. Black,’ Ron explained.
‘If she does, all she will do is scream obscenities at you.’
‘Who is Mrs. Black?’ Jessie asked.
‘My godfather’s bitch of a mother. She has a large portrait that we usually keep covered but any sudden noise and she awakes.’
‘Why would her picture be here?’
‘This is the house my godfather grew up in, he left it to me in his will. We used it for the order of the phoenix. Okay, wands ready,’ Harry took a couple of deep breaths as he pulled a wand from his sleeve.
‘Harry,’ Ron’s eyes widened.
‘I thought having the extra power might be useful.’
‘You were going to put that back, it’s dangerous.’
‘I know, but I never got a chance then the tomb was sealed. I wasn’t going to break it open again. I keep it under enchantments.’
‘What are you two on about?’ Cho asked.
Harry and Ron glanced at each other, ‘Okay, you are all aurors, so I trust you,’ Harry held up the wand, ‘In case you don’t recognise this wand, it used to belong to Dumbledore. The night he died Malfoy disarmed him while he was weak. During the time Ron, Hermione and I were away, we were captured and taken to Malfoy manor. We got into a fight, I disarmed Malfoy so the wand now recognises me,’ Harry stared at the wand, ‘It’s the elder wand,’ Harry and Ron saw it, every auror stood there stunned, ‘Let’s just see if she’s in here as we did hide here with the order of the phoenix, she knows this place very well.’
Harry and Ron led the others inside, the figure of Albus Dumbledore flew towards them yelling out Severus Snape’s name. They waited until their tongues unrolled before going further into the house. Harry put everyone in groups before they headed to different parts of the house.
‘Master Harry as returned home.’
‘Oh, hey Kreacher, um, no, we’re just searching this place to see if someone is here. But aren’t you still at Hogwarts?’
‘Master Harry ordered Kreacher to stay at Hogwarts, but I sensed master here.’
‘We’re here on official auror business Kreacher. But you wouldn’t happen to know if Ginny Weasley has been here at all, would you?’
‘No one has been here since those death eaters before the fall of the dark lord. Mundungus did get in once but Kreacher took him away, he tried to steal from Master Harry.’
‘Figures, that bloke will never learn,’ Ron said.
‘Okay, well, we’re just going to keep searching anyway, then you go back to Hogwarts. You have all the other house elves to talk to,’ Harry smiled down at the old elf then went back to searching with Ron. It took more than an hour but they never found Ginny.
‘In case she does think about this place Harry, maybe you should put up a new fidelius charm,’ Ron suggested.
‘Good idea, I’ll work that out with Kingsley later,’ Harry moved to the front of the house, closed his eyes and started casting the charm. He opened his eyes and moved around the house until the shield glowed again, shimmering brightly before fading.
‘Let’s get back to the ministry, but Ron, head straight to see Hermione, see if she might have thought of somewhere Ginny might go. Remember, all of you stay in pairs whenever you’re out but keep your eyes open. She might not be able to use magic but she did hear a lot of stuff from muggleborns, like Hermione. She would know how to die her hair for one, Weasley red is easy to spot, she would know that. She also has a large scar on her neck that will give her away, being done by dark magic it can’t be covered up unless you use polyjuice potion which will not work on her now she has no magic. So if she goes with muggle ideas, then she may use make-up.’
‘We know Harry, we learnt all this as well. A lot of us have either muggleborn friends or spend time in the muggle world, like Seamus and Dean. We’ll find her and someone will always be with Charlie so he’s safe. Let’s just go do what we’ve been training to do,’ Ron said kindly but he was like everyone else, they could see Harry was trying everything he could to figure out where Ginny had disappeared to. He wanted to make sure Charlie was safe and would do anything to make sure that happened.