It\'s So Difficult to be Mature

Chapter 9: Hope Springs Eternal

Harry sat there for hours, he didn’t speak, he didn’t move. Sirius and Remus sat with him as long as possible before they had to go back to work. Ron came in at one point but didn’t say anything, he just sat across from Harry and stared. A long time went by before he spoke.

"I’m sorry."

Harry looked up. His eyes were red and there were bags under them. His green eyes were dulled and he had no expression.

"No you’re not. You may be sorry she died, but you’re not sorry about what you said. I can’t say I blame you exactly. But no matter what you say I love, loved, my wife. She wasn’t always a Follower."

"You’re right, Harry. There was good in Lisa. She was a very intelligent person and she loved you very much."

"Where are my children?"

"Sleeping somewhere." Ron waved his hand in a general direction. "They’re safe. I think Lily knows, but James doesn’t, even if he could understand. I want to talk to you. Are you going to be alright?"

"No," Harry said flatly. "I will continue to love and care for my children, but I will not be alright. How can you even ask?"

"We need you, Harry! As much as I hate to admit it, you’re the only one."

Harry shook his head. "Stop saying that! I’m not the only one! I’m an ordinary wizard who just happened to get lucky a few times. Lucretia was right; we were daft to think that I’m the one she wants. I’m obviously not. Lisa’s gone, Ron, and there was nothing I could do. Just leave me alone."

Ron sighed and left the room. He walked down the corner and ran smack into Ginny who was coming from the conference room.

"Ron, we have to talk."

"About what, Ginny?" Ron asked, rubbing his temples.

"What else? Lucretia. And Harry, how’s he doing?"

"About what you’d expect. I think that we’d better leave him alone for awhile." Ron ran his fingers through his hair. Ginny watched with amusement as she realized that after being friends for so long, Harry and Ron had picked up on each other’s mannerisms.

Ginny looked thoughtful. "I suppose I hadn’t realized until now just how devoted to each other they were."

There was a flash of anger in Ron’s eyes. "Harry was devoted to Lisa, at least."

Ginny was surprised. "You don’t think that Lisa loved Harry?"

"I don’t see how we can know for sure. She wasn’t the most trustworthy person in the world." Ron fell silent for a moment before bursting out, "I don’t understand it! After everything that Lisa confessed to, how can Harry still love her the same? I mean, she lied to him for six years!"

"Love takes people in different directions," Ginny said wisely. "When did you first realize you loved Hermione?"

Ron smiled. It was the first genuine smile Ginny had seen since this whole mess started.

"It was in our sixth year. Herm and I went to the Yule Ball the year before together, but nothing else had really happened. Mostly we were still friends. Then I remember we were at one of the Quidditch games, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and she was cheering loudly for Harry. I just looked over at her and I couldn’t help thinking that she was just so beautiful. And it wasn’t just her looks, though as you know by sixth year Herm went from looking like a little girl to looking like an attractive young woman. It was her spirit. She had such vivacity and enthusiasm. That’s when I realized I loved her." Ron stopped smiling. "We have to rescue her, I just can’t abandon her."

Ginny put her hand on her brother’s arm. "We will, Ron. I promise."

A young nurse came running up to them. She was out of breath and looked frantic.

"Excuse me, but have either of you seen Dr. Mills lately?"

"Jeanette?" Ginny shook her head. "No, we haven’t. What’s wrong?"

"You know the explosion at the Madran?" Ron nodded; when he and Harry arrived back at MATDA he rushed to tell Sirius and Remus about it. "Well, St. Mungo’s is already over-crowded with the wounded and some have been sent here. We really need her expertise!"

Ginny’s mouth formed a little ‘o’. "I hadn’t realized the explosion was so terrible! Is there anything we can do to help?"

The nurse shook her head. "No, they have everything under control, but if you see Dr. Mills, tell her to come right away. Most of the injuries aren’t too terrible, but one or two need her attention."

The nurse ran off again. Ron had fallen silent at the mention of the explosion; he hoped that Hermione hadn’t been in the hotel at that time, and he had a feeling she was not. Ginny was thinking hard about something.

"Wait, Ron, if Jeanette hasn’t been seen for hours, something’s wrong."

"You don’t know that, Ginny. She’s probably just out running some errands."

But Ginny was worried. "No, listen. Jeanette wasn’t here when Lisa died, right? Well, Jeanette’s a professional, she would never leave a patient who was close to death! Whatever errand she was running, she must have assumed she’d be back quickly. Something must have happened. She could be a hostage, or even dead!"

Ron was still skeptical. "That’s a bit farfetched, Ginny."

"No, it makes perfect sense! Come on, we have to go tell Sirius and Remus."

Ginny grabbed Ron’s arm and they ran down the corridor.

* * *

When Jeanette woke up, she felt like she was awaking from a deep, peaceful slumber. She stretched and yawned. Then she realized she was a prisoner.

She was in a nicely furnished room, a sofa and a bed against the walls. A few bookcases with an extensive library took up the remaining wall space. The only discordant note was that the room was a bright pink. There was also a platter of food on the pink bedspread with a note. Jeanette was wary of the food, but she quickly read the note.

Jeanette clutched at her head as suddenly the room spun. Then she quickly sat down and thought about her problem.

Now, Jeanette Mills was not a stupid woman. She knew that Lucretia meant everything she said in that note. She could be trapped in that room for a very long time. It was best not to start looking for an escape route until her head stopped pounding. Reading wasn’t a very good idea either. So Jeanette sat there in that fuzzy pink chair and thought about what else that note had said.

One of the most important clues was that Lucretia said she knew too much. Except that as far as Jeanette was concerned, she knew nothing. It must have something to do with her conversation with the old woman. Jeanette was slightly disappointed that her informant had turned out to be a Follower, but Jeanette knew when she approached the old woman that she had connections to the Dark Arts. Jeanette had made the mistake of assuming the old woman was harmless. Now she had a lump on her skull to disprove that.

Jeanette tried to stand up and take a look at her surroundings, but the room spun again and she had to sit down. Deciding to take a nap, Jeanette stood up slowly and inched her way over to the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep.

* * *

"Okay, Malfoy, now that we have you to ourselves, we want to ask you a few questions."

Draco sighed. He had been expecting this. Arthur had gone off with Sirius to discuss something, and now Percy, Fred, and George had cornered him in one of the many conference rooms. In fact, he was surprised that Ron Weasley wasn’t joining in this discussion. Draco assumed he was off somewhere consoling Potter. He was rather sorry that Lisa had died. She seemed like an interesting person. After all, they had a lot in common.

"Okay, Weasleys, ask."

The three brothers exchanged a few looks, unsure about where to begin. When Draco wed Ginny two years earlier, they had left the country so quickly that the Weasley family never had time to interrogate him. It looked like they were going to start now.

"Do you love our sister?" George asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No, I just married and impregnated her for kicks," Draco said sarcastically. The brothers stared back at him until he shook his head and replied. "Honestly! Yes, I love your sister. I wouldn’t have married her if I didn’t."

"Why Ginny? After everything you’ve said or done to our family, why marry a Weasley?" Fred questioned.

"Because. I. Love. Her. Satisfied that this isn’t some sort of twisted revenge thing? How I feel about her has nothing to do with her last name. Finished yet?"

"Not quite," Percy said, looking at Draco over the top of his glasses. "Perhaps the most important question, are you still a Death Eater?"

Draco sighed deeply, as though he was extremely tired, which in fact he was. The six adults, Lisa, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and himself had been persuaded to take brief naps earlier, but it hadn’t been long enough. He was still extremely tired. Being kidnapped does seem to affect one in that way; the children had been sleeping since they were rescued.

"No. I renounced the Dark Arts before I even fell in love with Ginny. I refuse to give you my reasons because it’s none of your damn business. In fact, technically, I was never a Death Eater. Look."

Draco rolled up his sleeve. There was no Dark Mark on his arm.

"I escaped before it was made official. Now, may I go find my wife?"

"I just have one more question, Malfoy," Fred began.

"Yes, Weasley?" Draco said with fake sweetness. Fred made a face.

"How did you come to fall in love with our sister? As far as we can tell you approached her at a vulnerable time, what with Neville having just died."

Draco was annoyed at the insinuation that he got Ginny on the rebound. "Look, I let you interrogate me and as far as I’m concerned I didn’t really have to do that. I’ve been doing my best to be civil to you, for Ginny’s sake if nothing else. I’m going to leave now. I assure you, I’m not evil, but you are rather annoying."

And with that, leaving the Weasley brothers with their mouths hanging open, Draco left the conference room and went in search of his wife. Who he found was Harry Potter.

"Today is just not my day," Draco muttered to himself. Then to Harry he said, "Hullo, Potter. Where’s Weasley?"

Draco called all of the male members of the Weasley clan that, but Harry knew he was referring to Ron. He looked up at Draco as though surprised to find him in the corridor.

"Oh, Malfoy. I don’t know, Ron’s somewhere. Excuse me, I have to go."

Draco was mildly surprised at Harry’s behavior. "Potter, maybe you should talk to Black or something. You don’t look very well."

Instead of getting angry or upset, Harry looked at Draco with a sort of helplessness.

"Actually, I was trying to find the room where my children are. You don’t know by any chance?" Draco shook his head and Harry walked on. Draco watched as he disappeared around the corner and then proceeded on the other way.

* * *

"So you’re telling us that no one has seen Jeanette since Lisa died?" Sirius asked in disbelief. Remus had paled and was unable to speak.

"That’s what we’re saying!" Ginny exclaimed. "Something has gone wrong!"

Sirius shook his head. "We could be overreacting."

Remus turned to his friend. "We can’t take that chance, Padfoot! If Jeanette is Lucretia’s prisoner then we have to rescue her and Hermione!"

Sirius looked as though he was battling with two opposing sides. Finally he threw up his hands in frustration.

"Alright! Ron, go get rid of your family and then meet us in Conference room 46362. Just ask someone where it is. We’re going to try to track down Jeanette then we’ll meet in the conference room and come up with a plan to rescue Hermione and perhaps Jeanette as well. Ginny—"

"Draco and I are staying," Ginny said determinedly.

"So I assumed. I was going to suggest that you go with Ron and then find Harry."

"Oh," Ginny said, blushing slightly. "Right."

They left and went in search of the rest of their family. Ron seemed agitated and kept walking quicker. Eventually Ginny had to grab his arm.

"Alright, Ron, out with it. What is it?"

Ron burst out, "I just have to ask! Why did you fall for Malfoy?"

Ginny was completely taken aback. She thought they had discussed this already but she realized that they never had.

"Come with me, Ron," Ginny said with a sigh, "Let’s sit down and I’ll explain it to you."

They walked into a spare conference room. Ron sat down first and then Ginny sat down across from him. There was a long silence until Ron couldn’t contain himself any longer.

"I’ve been waiting two years to ask you this, Ginny! I want to know how you ever fell in love with Malfoy."

Ginny sighed again. "Alight, I’ll tell you, but it’s a rather long story."

"I’m not going anywhere," Ron said, his arms folded.

"Okay. Let’s see...you remember how back in my first, second, third, and fourth years I had a really big crush on Harry?"

"I was rather hard to miss," Ron said dryly. "Now why couldn’t you have fallen in love with Harry? That I could have accepted. Then Harry wouldn’t have married Lisa. Huh, Lisa and Malfoy would have made a nice match."

"Ron..." Ginny said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," he said meekly. "Do go on."

"Well, by my fourth year I realized that that was all it was, a crush. I didn’t really have actual feelings for him and Harry was never going to look at me in that way, so I started to date Neville. We had a good time together. I really liked Neville, in fact, I loved him, but more like a brother than a boyfriend. You know, the way I feel about you, Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Bill. Nothing was ever going to happen between us. He may have loved me, I never had a chance to find out, but I was never serious about him. Then everything changed."

"The Massacre," Ron said knowingly.

"Right. Okay, now back at Hogwarts as I was dating Neville, I, like the rest of the female population at Hogwarts, and yes, Ron, that includes Hermione, thought that Draco Malfoy had become extremely good-looking."

"Ginny—" Ron started, a look of disgust on his face.

"Oh, come off it, Ron, Draco Malfoy started to look very handsome in his sixth year. Now, don’t get excited, he was still Draco Malfoy and for as long as I could remember, Malfoys had been the enemy. After all, how many times had he insulted you or our family? And let’s not forget that his father was responsible for the whole Tom Riddle incident." Ginny shuddered. "But, truth be told, except for one or two occasions, and those were mostly to get you or Harry angry, Draco never insulted me. In fact, he barely knew I existed. Then he graduated, and a year later, I graduated. I never expected to see him again unless it was when he was a Death Eater that I was fighting.

"Alright, so then barely two months after the Massacre, I was in Diagon Alley, sitting on the terrace of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, eating a Rocky Road fudge sundae while I cried. I couldn’t help thinking that Neville’s favorite ice cream was Rocky Road."

"Oh, Ginny, I’m so sorry," Ron whispered.

Ginny continued as though he hadn’t spoken. "You can imagine my surprise then, when who should come into the ice cream parlor but Draco Malfoy. He sat down at the table next to me and ordered a butterscotch sundae. I was still sobbing loudly and was completely taken by surprise when he leaned over and asked, ‘Weasley? What’s the matter?’. I looked up startled and said, ‘Why do you care, Malfoy? You’re not exactly known for your compassion.’ He shrugged lightly and responded, ‘I don’t really, it’s just odd to see someone who cries when they eat ice cream.’ I actually smiled a bit at that.

"Draco continued, ‘So what happened? Unless you’re crying over a man and then I really don’t want to hear about it.’ For a moment, he had taken me by surprise, and he was acting completely different from the way he had at school. Then I realized who I was talking to and I said, ‘You probably already know what I’m crying about, Malfoy, after all I’m sure you were there!’ He smiled in that infuriating way of his and replied, ‘So you’re referring to the True Destiny Massacre. Now, I can see how that would upset anyone, but why does it affect you so much?’ I replied furiously, ‘So you were there, you cretin! I’ll have you know that my boyfriend was murdered that night! I have every right to be upset.’ I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t anger from him. He retorted, ‘I was not there that night for reasons which are none of your damned business! I’m sorry if your boyfriend died there but you can’t use me as a scapegoat for all of your grief!’ Well I was pretty furious and I said, ‘Why aren’t you off torturing muggles, Malfoy? People like you don’t deserve ice cream!’ I stood up as I said this and tripped. My ice cream went flying! Luckily it didn’t hit anyone, but it splattered all over the floor.

"Then Draco did something so shocking that I thought someone had Stunned me! He actually leaned down to help me up and then he ordered me another sundae!"

"He didn’t!" Ron exclaimed his jaw hanging open.

"He did! Once he had pulled me to my feet I took a seat at his table and looked into his deep grey eyes. ‘You’re laughing at me!’ I exclaimed. ‘Just a little,’ he replied as he took his seat. ‘It was pretty amusing. And, Weasley, I apologize, but you should never assume anything about me. I’m guaranteed to surprise you.’ There was a brief moment of silence before I said, ‘I believe you, and you may call me Ginny.’ He smiled brightly and my heart fluttered. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and I found in him a surprisingly sympathetic listener. The rest, well, the rest is history, as they say."

"Wow," Ron said when he found his voice. "I had no idea."

"No one did," Ginny replied. "That’s because everyone was so quick to assume that just because his last name is Malfoy, he’s a terrible person. Well, he’s not."

"You know something, Gin," Ron said thoughtfully, "I think I understand what you’ve been trying to tell me. Come on, let’s go get rid of the family and then find Harry."

They stood up and left the conference room. As Ginny closed the door behind her, she had the vague sense that someone was watching her. Then she brushed it away and shut the door tightly. The person hidden in the room waited a few moments before opening the door again and slipping out.

* * *

Harry had been wandering around aimlessly, looking for his children, when Suzanne Turpin found him. She rushed at him, her arms outstretched, and wrapped him in a tight hug as she shed some tears on his shoulder.

"Oh, Harry, dear, it’s just so terrible!" Suzanne wailed. Harry didn’t even seem to notice that she was there. He was an empty shell of a human being. "I didn’t really believe that she would die! At least you were here for her."

Harry looked up at his mother-in-law listlessly. "Was I? I don’t really know what to do, Suzi. Did you know that Lisa used to be a Follower of the Red Flower?"

He asked this point blank. Harry Potter had no time for subtleties or tact.

Suzanne sighed. "Yes. In fact it was my fault."

Harry thought he was impervious to surprise by now; evidently he was not.

"Wh-what?"

"It was all my fault. Now, Harry, I’m not one myself," she said, seeing the stricken look on his face, "but it was because of me that Lisa got mixed up with that crowd. I have a feeling that she didn’t tell you that part of the story. I can’t see why not, but there must have been some reason. I assume she told you that Lucretia approached her about making that poison? Yes, well that’s not all of it. Lucretia approached my daughter with a bit of insurance—me. If Lisa didn’t create that poison, I was going to die at Lucretia’s hands. So my dear daughter did as that vile woman asked. I suppose that she started to enjoy the female empowerment that she got from this group. In her line of work she was constantly struggling to get noticed; as a woman she had it much tougher. Lisa became a Follower."

"So you knew the truth? You knew that Lisa was dying because of her own poison, and you didn’t say anything!"

"It wasn’t my place. It was Lisa’s decision to tell you, and I’m glad she did."

Harry was struggling between outrage and bewilderment. "But, I don’t understand! Why didn’t you try to stop Lisa after she made the poison?"

"I didn’t want to force her. Lisa always had been independent, she resisted people’s efforts to control her. I felt it was best to let her make her own mistakes."

"Well, now she’s gone, so I don’t think that your parenting techniques were very effective!" Harry shouted and ran down the corridor.

"Harry! Harry, wait! Oh, damn!" Suzanne said bitterly. Then she walked in the opposite direction. She didn’t have time to console Harry, she had some heart-breaking phone calls to make.

* * *

When Jeanette woke up the second time, she felt much better and the room had stopped spinning. She felt well enough, in fact, to look through Lucretia’s library. Most of the books were extraordinarily boring, but there were a few that caught her interest. She read one as she munched on a sandwich. They were cucumber. The sandwiches, not the books.

There was one book on the shelves that caught her eye simply because it was the most blatantly obvious book there. And because it was so gaudy, someone obviously didn’t want her to read it. It was the old double switch; when people see something that is so apparent they dismiss it as ordinary. It’s when something is secretive and hidden that people want to look. So by making something garish and blatant you are in fact hiding it. This book was one of those types of things and therefore Jeanette ignored all of the ordinary looking books and went immediately for the one bedecked in sequins. Sure enough, she hit pay dirt.

It was a book on necromancy. Raising the dead. Jeanette leafed through it and found something very interesting.

Raising the dead is not only dangerous, but difficult. However in 1854 there was reportedly a woman who accomplished it. Records say that a witch by the name of Isis Jones successfully brought her husband back from the dead. The spell she used was immensely difficult, as was the potion. Neighbors of Mrs. Jones claimed they heard eerie noises from her house for months and that when Mr. Jones did indeed reappear he had "changed". One woman, a Mrs. Peabody, was reported as having said, "Mr. Jones is nothing like he used to be. He is now clean, kind, handsome, and intelligent. Whatever Isis did, something must have gone terribly wrong." Though something may indeed have gone wrong, it appears that the experiment was a success. Mr. Jones, who died when he was hit by a speeding carriage, returned to work two days later.

Jeanette’s lips curved up in a smile. Unbeknownst to her, Lucretia had supplied her with the only possible way to save Lisa. Now all she had to do was escape.

The door creaked open.

"Hello, Dr. Mills. Read any good books lately?"

* * *

It had been hard to get rid of the family, but eventually Ron and Ginny managed it. Tired, they found Harry and led him to the conference room. He didn’t say a word. Draco, Sirius, Remus, and Meredith were already there. It looked like Meredith had been crying.

Ron marched Harry over to a chair before taking one himself. Ginny sat down next to her husband and put her head on his shoulder. Draco’s mouth was tightened into a firm line and the hand that gripped his wife’s was as hard as steel. Something was wrong.

Sirius stood up to address the room. He sighed and looked tired. Ron took a look around the room and realized that no one looked their best. Everyone was exhausted and unhappy. They were a beleaguered group and at the moment, the situation didn’t look very hopeful.

"Well, the good news is that we know for certain Jeanette isn’t dead. The bad news is that she, like Hermione, is Lucretia’s prisoner. We are working on a plan to rescue both of them, but if any of you have suggestions, we’d be glad to hear them."

Ginny spoke up. "Why can’t we just track her down? Lucretia, I mean."

Meredith shook her head. "Trying to track Lucretia is like trying to hold smoke. It’s impossible. She’s gone in a second. The reason that Harry and Ron were allowed to get so close is not because of some careless move on her part, no, Lucretia doesn’t make careless mistakes. They got so close because Lucretia wanted them to."

"But she’s definitely insane, right?" Ron asked.

"I would doubt the sanity of anyone who enjoys torturing muggles, but yes, she’s probably very much insane."

"Great," Ron said, depressed. "My wife is in the hands of a mad woman. She doesn’t recognize me, she wants to kill me, and there’s nothing I can do about it!"

"On the contrary. We simply have to figure out what it is that Lucretia wants and offer it to her in exchange for Hermione and Jeanette," Sirius said calmly.

"There’s only one problem with that brilliant plan," Draco said sarcastically. "We don’t know what she wants."

"Let’s narrow the field a bit, shall we?" Remus remarked. He looked calmer now, but Ginny could tell he was still very upset. "We know she doesn’t want Harry, she made that perfectly clear. I doubt she wants you, Ron, or she would have detained you. She can’t want Hermione or we would know what her plan is by now. She obviously didn’t want Lisa, and I imagine she doesn’t want Jeanette. She’s probably just holding Hermione and Jeanette hostage because she feels they’d be of some use to her. So that leaves Draco and Ginny."

"That doesn’t make sense," Ron complained. "Voldemort may have wanted Malfoy, but why would Lucretia kidnap the children to get to him or Ginny?"

"Could it be that we’re going about this the wrong way?" Sirius muttered to himself. "Of course, we’ve been looking at this all wrong! Maybe it wasn’t Harry’s children Lucretia was after, but Ron’s! And Harry and Ron’s children were just in the same place so she decided to kidnap them all!"

"That still doesn’t make any sense! If she wants me or Draco, why would she kidnap the children? They aren’t our children," Ginny said.

"But David and Geoffrey are your nephews!" Meredith exclaimed, warming to the idea.

Draco snorted and shook his head. "No, it still doesn’t work. Let me clarify this for you all. See, I have never met my nephews before, and Ginny has only seen Geoffrey. Besides, our arrival in London wasn’t known to anybody. We were only planning to be here a short time before flying off again. Why would Lucretia kidnap Potter and Weasley’s kids to get to us, when she couldn’t even know that we were here?"

"What if she did know you were here?" Remus countered. "After all, Draco, you were kidnapped by Voldemort and we don’t know how many spies Lucretia has in his camp. And Ginny, when you found out that your nephews had been kidnapped did you say, ‘Oh well, tah tah, Ron, we’re off’? No, you came here. You both did."

"So if it’s me or Draco she wants, what do we do now?"

Ginny’s question was met with silence.

* * *

"Jeanette, darling! It’s so good to finally meet you at last!"

Jeanette Mills had finally come face to face with the woman who she had spent two years researching. And while Lucretia may have looked harmless, Jeanette knew she was dangerous.

"Lucretia. Why don’t you let me go? I don’t know anything, I swear!"

"I’m afraid I can’t do that. I hope you haven’t been too uncomfortable, I mean, I know it’s not the Madran, but after what’s happened I’m sure you’d rather be here."

"What do you mean?" Jeanette asked fearfully. "What happened at the Madran?"

"Oh, I blew it up," Lucretia said carelessly. "Not the entire thing, mind you, but enough. It was chaos when I left. I do so love chaos."

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous! What the hell do you want? And if you think you’re going to get it by kidnapping me, you’re crazy."

Lucretia rolled her eyes. "I am crazy and I kidnapped you because I want you to join me. Actually, I hadn’t intended to kidnap you, but Narcissa just sort of dropped you in my lap."

"Narcissa?" Jeanette repeated.

"Yes, the old woman, your ‘informant’. Narcissa Malfoy, a dear friend of mine. I suppose she thought you’d be useful. That and you know too much."

"Malfoy? She’s a Malfoy? Oh my god, she’s Draco’s mother!"

"Draco? You mean that little boy with a face like a rat?" Lucretia asked curiously. "I imagine he’s grown up a bit since I last saw him. Is he a follower of HIM like his father?"

"Who, Voldemort?" Jeanette asked without thinking.

"Don’t say that name!" Lucretia shrieked. "Voldemort this, Voldemort that. Did you know that I gave him that alias? I told him he had the word death in his name and from that he fashioned Voldemort. Damn him." Lucretia paused and got her countenance under control. "Now, Dr. Mills, Jeanette, Narcissa told me that you have spent two years studying me. Why? Am I that fascinating?"

Jeanette found her voice. "Actually, you are. The first Dark witch to rival Volde—I mean to rival, er, to rival—"

"Voldemort. Yes, just get on with it," Lucretia said impatiently.

"Your power is amazing and your modus operandi is quite unusual. You’re a real threat to the world as we know it."

"How kind of you to say so! Do you really believe that? I’m very flattered. Now, would you like to join me? Become a Follower?"

"I’d rather not," Jeanette said cooly, though her knees were shaking.

"Ah, but I could make you. Just like I made Hermione."

"Have you hurt her? You had better not! Besides I can’t be controlled by the Imperious curse."

Lucretia rolled her eyes again. "Who said anything about the Imperious Curse? Besides, I’m not sure I want to do that. I’ll have to think about it. Now, since you’re feeling better and you’ve had a sandwich, I assume you’ll start looking for a way to escape. I can’t have that, at least not until I’ve decided what I’m going to do with you, so I’ll leave one of my Followers with you. She’ll be in in a moment. It’s been nice chatting with you, and when you see that friend of yours, Inspector Levine, you can tell her all about me. Goodbye."

Lucretia swept from the room, closed the door, and locked it. Jeanette was once again a prisoner. But she wasn’t alone for long. Soon the door creaked open and a young woman who looked to be Harry’s age walked in. She had an unpleasant expression and wasn’t very attractive.

"Hello. Thanks to you I have to sit here and babysit you. I suggest that you don’t try anything because you would be unconscious before you could say ‘Alohomora’." The young woman was fingering her wand in a loving way and Jeanette realized for the first time since her imprisonment that her own wand was missing.

"Who are you?" Jeanette asked shakily.

The girl smiled in a way that made her look even more hideous. "I hate to use cliches but ‘that’s for me to know and you to find out’ and we have plenty of time to get acquainted."

Jeanette started to feel nervous. If this woman was a Follower, chances were she was utterly ruthless and as dangerous as a poisonous snake.

* * *

Someone, Harry didn’t notice who, led him to his children. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else and he didn’t want to work on plans to rescue his friends. At the moment, nothing but his children mattered to him.

"Hello, Lily," he said softly. Lily looked up from the coloring book she was working on and threw herself into her father’s arms.

"I thought you had forgotten me!" Lily cried. "Is mummy coming?"

Harry’s stomach dropped. "No, sweetheart. Mummy’s not coming back."

Comprehension dawned on Lily and she started to cry. Harry sat there with his daughter in his arms, wishing he could do something to ease her pain and his own. After a few minutes, Lily sat up and wiped her eyes.

"I didn’t say goodbye. Do you think she hates me?"

"No, Lily, mummy would never hate you. Ever. She loved you so much and she wouldn’t want you to be unhappy."

"Well, I am. I want mummy back, I miss her. What about James?"

"I would tell him, but I don’t think he’d understand," Harry answered. "Right now this will be between you and me. When James is a little older, we’ll explain to him how much mummy loved both of you."

"Why did she die, daddy?" Lily asked, tears still dripping down her face.

Harry sighed. He knew his daughter was brighter than most and she probably remembered everything about her capture. The adults hadn’t had a chance to ask her because more pressing matters came up. Now was his chance.

"Lily, do you remember that lady who kidnapped you?" Lily nodded. "Well, she’s a very bad woman and she uses poisons. Do you know what poison is?" Lily nodded again. "Mummy got some of that poison and it killed her." Harry winced. Why was it so difficult to talk to your kids about death?

"So Auntie Lucy killed mummy?" Lily asked, obviously confused.

"Who’s Auntie Lucy?" Harry asked, apprehension mounting.

"The lady who took us. She said she was a friend of yours and told us to call her Auntie Lucy. I didn’t believe she was your friend, though."

"What else did she say, Lily?" Harry asked, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Just that we could go home when she got what she wanted," Lily replied and returned to her coloring book. Apparently this topic was of no interest to her.

"Did she tell you what she wanted?" Harry prompted.

Lily thought about it. "I can’t remember. Everything is fuzzy."

Harry was slightly disappointed. "Alright, sweetie, but if you remember, please tell me. It’s very important."

"Okay, daddy."

Harry stood up, kissed his daughter, and left the room. If Lily remembered that vital piece of information it could really help to get Hermione and Jeanette back. And if Lily couldn’t remember, maybe Geoffrey could. Finally things were starting to look up. Harry pushed Lisa to the back of his mind because now he needed to be strong. He had to help his friends, Lisa would have wanted him too.

It is always darkest before the dawn. Well, it looked like dawn was finally breaking over the horizon.

A/N: Well, what do you think? TELL ME!!! REVIEW!!! I have some people telling me how much they love this story and then I only get a few reviews per chapter! Granted, most are pretty long, but still I want more! I’m greedy!

I told you who the old woman was, finally. Were you surprised? And this isn’t the end of her, she’ll be back. I was almost going to tell you what Lucretia wanted, but that will have to wait. Oh, and the cucumber sandwiches were a tribute to my favorite non-Harry Potter author, Elizabeth Peters. One of her heroines always has cucumber sandwiches with tea. Read her books; they’re great!

I love long reviews and I think it is so great how some of you have written reviews that are a page long! It shows me that you’re really interested in my story. Let’s keep the reviews coming, shall we?