Chapter 9: The Hunted

Ginny glanced at the clock on the mantle again--the sixth time she had done so in the last hour.

She blinked at it and creased her brow. It said eleven forty-nine. Blimey, hadn't it said eleven forty-nine the last time she looked at it as well? In fact, she would have wagered a hundred Galleons on it. Still not convinced, she picked it up for an even closer look, as if that would have magically sped up time, or at the very least, put the hands where they should be. Or where she thought they should be, anyway.

Really, if she didn't know any better, she could have sworn that the old Muggle relic had been charmed to go ten times slower than a regular clock. Of course, now that she thought about it, that wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility; her father had given them this clock as a wedding present, after all.

With a sigh, she went back to the couch and sank down. She'd had a jam-packed day today (as the head of Gryffindor house, she had had to be present at the tryouts for the new open spots house team, and if a full day of lessons had not been enough to work her into exhaustion, it only took a five hour tryout session to completely send over the edge), and truth be told, she wanted nothing more than to curl up underneath layers of warm, fluffy quilts and drift off into sleep.

But she hated sleeping when Harry was not there. The house already felt so empty without her daughter in the next room; without her husband as well, it didn't even feel like home at all. Harry probably wouldn't be getting in till late, anyway, as it was at least a five hour broom ride from London (apparating to Hogsmeade and then taking a carriage back into Hogwarts was not something Harry even considered, since he loved flying too much). She only hoped the trip to see Ron at the Ministry was well worth it. These dreams had been crippling him in the last week, and she just wanted to have her husband free of this burden.

"Well," she said, "might as well do something productive with my time..."

The stack of newly submitted essays about the origins of Banishing charms seemed to be calling out to her right now. Though reading essays would hardly be as entertaining as reading a good book at the moment (being around Hermione since the age of ten had certainly left an imprint on her), they could at least be called upon to meet the most basic of needs she had at that moment: the need to be distracted.

Stifling a yawn, she stretched out her wand hand and called out, "Accio essays..."

Her aim was a bit off in her fatigue, however, and instead of gliding over to her in one nice bundle, the papers flew halfway towards her before scattering at her feet like dead leaves.

"Great," she muttered, then bent down to retrieve them and started to put them back in alphabetical order, until she decided she would just leave that task for last. She picked one from the haphazard pile at random, smiling when she saw that it was her nephew's. Her smile grew even wider, when she noticed he had shrunk his writing down to a miniscule size in order to fit his entire essay on one scroll (she had given them the limit on length mainly so she could get through reading three classes worth of these). A quick scan told her that, not surprisingly, Jack had managed to pack quite a bit into his assignment, including obscure dates, and names of wizards whom she was sure only a handful of elite scholars would ever be able to name.

This was Hermione's son, all right.

She was so absorbed in his essay that she hadn't even noticed the knock on the door until it grew more urgent.

"Harry?" She grinned and shook her head. "Forgot your key again, did you..."

She wondered why he didn't just use the Alohomora charm, but she certainly was not going to complain if he was finally home.

But it wasn't Harry who was at the door.

"Em!!"

Her daughter burst in, shivering violently, her auburn curls plastered to her face as threads of water ran down her cheeks, her cloak clinging to her body. She was soaked to the bone.

"M-Mum," she said. Her chest was heaving as she struggled to take in air. "I'm... s-so sorry, Mum..."

Ginny pulled her in, before the words could register in her brain. All she wanted at the moment was to get her daughter into the warmth of the house.

"Sweetheart, get in here, you'll catch your death standing out there in the freezing rain!!"

Emily was hysterical, however, and for the first time, Ginny realized that those weren't just beads of water on Emily's face; they were tears as well.

"Oh my God, Em, what's wrong?" she said. "What are you doing out of bed after curfew?" Her eyes wandered down to what Emily was gripping in her left hand. "Em, what're you doing with your dad's invisibility cloak?"

She was barely coherent through her gasping sobs.

"I... didn't mean to... Mum, I'm so... sorry..."

Ginny knew she had to find a way to calm her down somehow. Taking Emily's face in her hands, she looked into her daughter's eyes and whispered a simple Breathing spell. In time, Emily started to gain her composure, and she took one last deep breath before speaking again.

"Mum, it's Jack..."

Ginny suddenly felt icewater rush through her veins. No, this couldn't be happening...

"What happened, sweetheart? What's happened to Jack?"

More tears streaked down Emily's cheeks.

"He's disappeared..."

Hogwarts was usually fast asleep after midnight. Curfew was at ten-thirty, much to every students' frustration, but apart from the occasional student sneaking out of bed and into the kitchens to trick the house-elves into giving them leftovers, the castle was quiet and undisturbed at this time.

Ginny chewed absently on her thumb as she waited for Hagrid to return. She had an arm wrapped around Emily, who had not stopped crying since they had left the house, but at the very least, she had stopped shaking, and was no longer hyperventilating. Off in the corner, Professor McGonagall stood, staring into the fire burning in the fireplace. She was quiet, but then again, they all were.

No one quite knew what to say at a time like this.

She heard Hagrid's distinct throat-clearing a few moments later. He ambled in the room, slouching down to fit through the doorway, and stopped just a few feet away from the frame. That he was waiting this long to speak did not put Ginny at ease at all.

"Bin rainin' hard out there," he said rather awkwardly. "Water's comin' from every which way-"

"Hagrid," Ginny said, "is... is he..."

Of course Hagrid would have known exactly what she was going to say. He shook his head, beads of water still trapped in his tangled beard, and Ginny could actually feel her heart climb to her throat.

"Searched all o' the forest," he said. "Couldn' see nothin'. Not a thing. Not a trace of 'im there, Ginny..."

"Oh God..."

Beside her, Emily had begun to sob heavily once more. Trying to be strong, though she didn't even know where to draw her strength from, she held her daughter tighter, rubbing her back gently to reassure her.

"Hagrid, are you sure you combed the entire forest?" McGonagall said. "It covers so much ground... Perhaps we could send some more people out there with you-"

"I can go out there again if yeh want me ter go," he said. "I'll keep lookin' as long as it takes ter find that boy, but... Professor, this rain's not lettin' up. And it's gettin' darker by the second. I just don' think we-"

He stopped short, as if remembering that Ginny and Emily had been in the room, and realizing this would not be an easy thing for anybody to hear about a loved one.

Ginny was struggling to keep it together, but in all honesty, she didn't know how much longer she could. All she could think of at the moment was her nephew, scared and alone in the forest, and then she remembered Viktor Krum's son. Chills raked up her spine as the realization hit that he might have vanished like Viktor's son had.

"What're we going to do," she said. "He's been out there for almost an hour... we can't just let him stay out there... all alone..."

They had known about Viktor's son too; everyone did. But no one was about to say the words out loud, though Ginny knew they were all thinking it.

"It's wicked dark out there, Ginny," Hagrid said at last. "I can only see so much with my lantern... I'll need somebody ter go with me-"

"I will!" Ginny said without hesitation. "I'll go!"

Hagrid looked horrified by the suggestion. "Wha'? Now look, Ginny, I can understand yeh wantin' ter help, but it's too dangerous-"

"He's my nephew, Hagrid."

"Yer daughter needs yeh, jus' look..."

Ginny pulled away slightly from Emily and tilted her chin up. "She'll be all right here with Professor McGonagall... right, Em?"

Emily nodded, though Hagrid remained unconvinced.

"I'd... feel better if you stayed here," McGonagall said, "but of course, I can understand that you'd want to help find your nephew..."

Ginny flashed her a grateful smile. The headmistress had been her usual strong and assured self throughout this, and for that, Ginny was glad. Without the other woman's calming presence, she would have lost all composure a long time ago.

At length, McGonagall said, "I'll send an owl to the Weasleys..."

"You'll send a what to the Weasleys?"

Ginny gasped, not expecting to hear that voice.

"Ron! What... what're you doing here?"

"Never mind that," he said, with a quick motion of the hand. "What's this about sending us an owl? What's wrong, Professor?"

"Mr. Weasley..."

"Ron decided to come back here with me so I could help him with the case," Harry began to explain. "We went to the house and found your note... what's going on?" He looked down at Emily, who had been sobbing quietly at Ginny's side. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. "Em... what's the matter, sweetheart?"

Ron was still waiting for the rest of McGonagall's answer, but he never gave her the chance to finish her sentence before he turned to Ginny.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" he said. "It's about Jack, isn't it? Why won't someone say something??"

"Ron, just take it easy..."

"Damn it, Gin, don't tell me to take it easy! Something's happened to my son, I know it! I know when you're not telling me something... Just say it!!"

Harry turned to her. "Is it true?" he said. "Did something happened to Jack?"

Ginny could only nod weakly, watching Ron carefully all the while as she did.

"He... he was going to meet that Ravenclaw boy for a midnight duel..."

"He was what??"

"Em didn't want him to go alone, so... so she went along with him and they used the invisibility cloak..."

Ron's face, which had been glowing red just moments earlier, had suddenly blanched. Blood drained from him, and he was shaking his head, as if he could already guess what Ginny was about to say next.

"They were on their way to the Quidditch pitch, but... but Jack suddenly slipped out from under the cloak, and he wouldn't answer when Em called him back... He just... ran into the forest..."

"Oh my God," Harry breathed. Beside him, Ron was just silent, his eyes glazed over with shock.

"She tried chasing after him, but... he had disappeared... and she couldn't find him..."

"I'm sorry, Ron," Hagrid said. "I looked all over, there's no sign of 'im in there... just his footprints... But we'll go back--we'll keep lookin' till we do find 'im..."

Ginny saw Ron shut his eyes, then turn away.

"Uncle Ron, I'm so sorry... I never thought that-"

"What in the world were you thinking??" Harry suddenly said.

Emily looked completely taken aback by his anger. "Dad, I... I-"

"Didn't you think of what could happen if you snuck out?? And especially now, with everything happening??"

"Dad, please... I swear, I didn't think... I didn't think something like this would ever happen-"

But Harry wasn't through yet, apparently. "How could you not think of the kind of danger you were putting yourself in?? That you were putting your cousin in-"

"Dad-"

Ron tugged at Harry's arm. "Harry, stop it..."

"I can't believe you would do something so irresponsible, Emily!! You of all people should have known better-"

"Harry, for God's sake, stop it!!" Ron managed to pull Harry away completely, which seemed to shake the realization into Harry. "At least your daughter is safe and sound--and standing right here in front of you!! Show some bloody gratitude about it!!"

The room fell silent in the next instant. All of them could see the pain etched on Ron's face, and no one knew the right words to say to him at the moment. Everything seemed so insignificant and hollow in the face of what he had to be going through.

Harry took Emily in his arms once more, and let her cry. Ginny heard him softly mumbling an apology for his outburst, and she left them alone and walked over to Ron. He was standing in front of the fire, watching the flames flicker as the logs started to crumble into ashes. McGonagall was trying her best to offer him her sympathies, but Ginny knew there was little the headmistress could say to draw him out of his shell-shocked state.

McGonagall met her gaze, and nodded, understanding that Ginny should be the one to comfort her brother in that moment. Quietly, she slipped away, taking Hagrid with her. Ginny watched them leave, then slid her arms around Ron's waist, drawing him to her. He didn't respond to her embrace at first, but in time, slowly placed his hands on her shoulder blades and rest his head on her shoulder.

"We're going to find him, Ron," she said softly. She realized he was crying, and suddenly, the world seemed so foreign to Ginny; she had never seen her brother cry before.

He was always the strong one. The battle-weary Auror, who had seen so many horrific things in his career that little fazed or intimidated him. When the world was falling apart, when everyone else needed someone to console them, it was Ron who offered his strength and solace. And now, he was the one who needed it most.

Ginny pulled away to look at him. Ron wasn't looking at her, and she had to cup his face and tilt it upwards. "Did you hear me?" she said. "We'll find him. We'll find all these children. We'll get them back to their families, where they belong..."

He was quiet for such a long time that Ginny wondered if any of this was sinking in at all. Then he finally said, "How the hell am I ever going to tell Hermione?"