Ashes of Armageddon

The Missing



Something was missing.



That thought was at the forefront of his awareness, when Severus was awakened from his sleep by the ringing of the doorbell. Judging by the sounds upstairs, Hermione and Ron were now wide awake as well, and scrambling to come downstairs.



Quickly, Severus began to dress quickly, even as the sinking, unsettling sensation persisted. Next to him, Harry sat up and searched for his clothes.



“What\'s wrong?” Harry demanded, grabbing his glasses from the bedside table. “I fee like... like we\'ve lost something.”



“I can feel it too,” Severus admitted. Something was missing, but what? It was almost as if a limb had been severed, or an entire sense went blank, but for the life of him, he could not understand what exactly happened. . He scowled again as it finally dawned on him what that something was. “It\'s the covenant,” Severus said finally. “It\'s been dissolved.”



“Dissolved?” Harry repeated. “That can\'t be. It can\'t be dissolved unless we both agree to it, or unless ...” Harry\'s face acquired a horrified expression, while Severus completed the statement for him,



“... or unless something happened to the Guardian, rendering him unavailable.”



The doorbell rang again.



“Neville!” Harry shouted, and still only half-dressed, bolted to the door. Severus followed him closely. They nearly collided with Ron and Hermione in the hallway, and Ron quickly pushed his way past everyone to open the door.



At the doorstep, there were two Aurors, one male, one female. Severus and Harry did not know them, but Ron obviously did, as he asked immediately



“Michael? Laura? What\'s going on?”



“There\'s been an attack,” Laura said softly. “Ginny Weasley\'s place. Ron, may we come in?”



“Of course,” Ron said quickly, stepping aside. “What about Hugo? Al?”



“The children are missing,” Michael said. Hermione issued a small cry, and grasped the edge of the kitchen table to steady herself. Instantly, Ron gathered her up into a tight embrace, and she buried her face in her shoulder. Next to them, Harry stood absolutely still, as in an attempt to gain control of runaway feelings.



“What else?” Harry asked hoarsely.



“The house elf is dead. Ms. Weasley has been Oblivated. Neville Longbottom has been taken into custody for questioning...” The Auror was delivering the news quickly and neutrally,



Ron\'s face contorted with rage at the mention of Neville\'s name, and grew even more distorted when Hermione pulled out of his embrace and exclaimed bitterly,



“That\'s a waste of everyone\'s time! Neville is not a kidnapper!”



“I am afraid we have no other suspects,” Michael said simply. “Until this morning, Ginny\'s place had been protected by the Fidelius Charm, and she had only named one Secret Keeper. Neville Longbottom.”



“Well, then maybe Kreacher did it!” Hermione protested.



“Kreacher was under a geis,” Harry said softly. “He was unable to ...”



“I just know it\'s not Neville, and you are wasting your time by focusing on him!” Hermione\'s voice was shaking noticeably as she continued to argue. “Please, listen to me! If you want to find our children, you need to follow other leads...”



“There are no other leads,” Michael said bluntly.



“Then you aren\'t thinking hard enough!” Hermione cried, with a slightly hysterical note in her voice.



“Hermione, maybe you are the one not thinking hard enough,” Ron said grimly, taking her hand in his. “Neville hasn\'t been handling pressure all that well lately, if you ask me.”



Hermione shot a hostile look at Ron, and pulled her hand away. “Ron, don\'t say things like that!”



“Why?” Ron demanded. “Maybe he snapped, after I gave him a piece of my mind yesterday. Maybe he took matters into his own hands and decided to get rid of Al once and for all. And Hugo just got in the way.”



“Ron, you don\'t mean that!” Hermione cried, and looked to the Aurors pleadingly. “Don\'t listen to him...”



“Can the crime scene be looked at?” Ron interrupted her abruptly. “Can we go there now?”



“Not right now,” Laura said softly. “Ginny Weasley is still in St. Mungo\'s, under observation. The scene of the crime is sealed, and only authorized personnel...”



Ron stood up abruptly, towering over her, clenching his fists. “This is absolutely ridiculous,” Ron protested, his voice shaking with fury. “I am a field team leader, and a consulting board member to Wizengamot and you are telling me that I am not authorized?”



“Former board member,” Laura said apologetically. “And you aren\'t assigned to work on this case....”



Without any warning, Ron swung and punched the wall, his fist leaving a sizable dent in it.



“You know what? I\'ve had enough of this. I am off to see Percy,” Ron muttered under his breath, and stormed out of the kitchen, taking the Floo to depart from the house. When Ron was gone, Michael shook his head and looked at Hermione thoughtfully.



“Does he have a problem with anger?”



“No!” Hermione snapped. “Stop asking idiotic questions! What are you doing to find our children?”



“Right now, we are collecting information, and you need to calm yourself down if you want to help us,” Michael said neutrally. “Now, what did your husband mean when he said that Longbottom hasn\'t been handling pressure well lately?”



“Nothing!” Hermione said quickly. “This isn\'t at all relevant!”



Severus placed a calming hand on Hermione\'s shoulder. “Neville has found it challenging to balance being Ginny\'s Secret Keeper with maintaining his social life,” Severus said simply. “However, I saw no evidence of mental instability that would result in criminal behavior.”



“I see,” Michael said. “Any idea why someone would kidnap your children?”



Harry and Hermione exchanged a fleeting glance that went unnoticed by the Aurors, but did not escape Severus\' attention. It was clear to him that in spite of the seriousness of the situation, neither Harry nor Hermione were feeling comfortable revealing the Dust hypothesis to the Ministry of Magic.



“We don\'t know,” Harry said quietly. “I do suspect, however, that Al was the target, and Hugo simply happened to be nearby.”



Michael nodded reluctantly. “That does seem to be the most plausible explanation, Mr. Potter. Is there anything else you could share with us?”



“No,” Harry said quietly. “Can you tell us exactly what happened?”



“Not yet,” Laura said apologetically. “I am afraid that at this point, the details of the investigation cannot be revealed. We will be in touch, though.”



“Right,” Harry said.



Michael stared at him intently. “If you think of something else, anything else, please let us know immediately.”



“Of course,” Harry said.



The Aurors left, and Hermione sat back at the kitchen table, burying her face in her hands. Harry sat down next to her, and placed a comforting hand on her back, and she cried noiselessly, her entire body convulsing with every sob.



Severus leaned with his elbows against the kitchen counter and stared at Harry, deep in thought. Harry took a risk concealing the information about Tom Riddle\'s Dust from the authorities, however, Severus understood his reasons and agreed with them. All reforms and changes aside, Severus did not trust the Ministry of Magic and never would. Not that he believed the Ministry of Magic was a malevolent entity; but simply put, over the years, he had come to believe that institutions could not be trusted, only individuals could be.



He left Harry and Hermione alone, and began pacing around the living room, surveying the place where Hugo played only a day ago. His biting puzzle was still out, the pieces scattered on the floor carelessly. Severus smiled sadly, thinking back to his own childhood. He himself never dared to leave his toys out in the common area, without something dreadful happening afterwards. No, he had never been punished for something like that – he should have been so lucky. Instead, his parents would start a screaming match, and at times it would come to blows between the two of them, and he would inevitably think it was his fault.



But here... here, things were different. Hugo was not growing up concerned about making some dreadful mistake that would ruin everything once and for all. Hugo was growing up... loved.



He heard Harry\'s footsteps behind him, and Harry\'s hand rested on his back. Harry appeared to have read his thoughts as he said in a tight voice,



“There\'s so much love in this house...”



He could not say a word to that, and he only nodded slightly.



They spent the rest of the morning placing firecalls to all their friends and acquaintances, asking them if they had heard anything. It was a long shot, but they reasoned that a long shot was better than none at all. Every half an hour, they firecalled St. Mungo\'s to inquire whether or not Ginny Weasley was allowed to have visitors yet, and each time, the answer was a resounding no. Eventually the mediwizards at St. Mungo\'s threatened to block their firecalls, and the three of them sat down staring at each other grimly.



Ron returned shortly afterwards, looking drained, but slightly relieved.



“I still couldn\'t get us to the crime scene,” he said tiredly, “but Neville is being questioned this afternoon, and Percy got us in. We should go and hear what the git has to say for himself.”



Hermione\'s eyes welled up with tears, but she bit her lip, obviously suppressing a spiteful retort.



Ron saw her expression and scowled at her,



“If your precious Neville is more important to you than your own son, then feel free to stay home, \'Mione.”



“I am coming,” she said instantly, her voice barely containing her fury. “Let\'s go and get this ridiculous charade over with.”



TBC....

---

Many thanks to all who reviewed!



whitehound: Al is unquestionably Harry\'s son as far as genetics go. However, Harry was himself genetically, while becoming Tom Riddle mentally and emotionally, so as far as Al is concerned, the Dust could be present there along with Harry\'s genetic make-up... Many thanks for spotting typos and Britt-picks! Oh, and the suggestion about sterilizing Al is absolutely chilling to me: I was going to bring it up in a previous chapter, but didn\'t dare, as it felt just too dehumanizing... but of course, there\'s Tom\'s Dust to think of, too.



edelle: Many thanks for the kind words. I did originally intend for Book 2 to include more of the sex/etc, but ... the story got away from me into another territory.



Killing Prophet, Yours_Truly: thank you : )



kunitsu: things did seem to be going well, didn\'t they...



cravedom: Thank you. : ) Yes, if Al just has the “predisposition” to be evil, he\'ll need the love and guidance of his elders... however, if he really has the Dust in him the way Harry had, it can\'t just be “loved out” of him (Didn\'t work on Harry when Ron and Hermione tried it, after all...)



linagabriev: Actually we did see Neville in “trust” position in AA. He protected Severus the best he could, and he was Ginny\'s loyal secret keeper, never telling anyone, even Ron and Hermione until the crisis was over. His behavior is indeed interesting, but not really comparable to Ron and Hermione. Ron and Hermione weren\'t really keeping quiet about Harry, but they were trying to influence him on a personal level, even when he was already violent. However, they didn\'t figure out the whole “Dust” thing until it was quite late in the crisis. Neville knows about the Dust, but... he\'s keeping quiet because Al is just a child, Ginny\'s and his safety is at stake, and Al as a little human being, hasn\'t done anything wrong YET.... but that said, Neville is really in a tight bind, no matter what he does, he might end up betraying someone. Anyway, more is coming soon! :-)

---