Just Plain Harry

Chapter 33a - Meanwhile, Back at Hogwarts...

After Harry left the room, silence reigned for a few moments, and then almost everyone started talking at once, discussing Ginny's Patronus. For once, I didn't join in a discussion, being too preoccupied with how this newest incident would affect her and Harry's relationship.

I'd been so happy when the two of them became a couple. Harry so desperately needed to be loved, wholly, unconditionally loved. And Ginny gave that to him, almost as though she couldn't help it. Sometimes I wondered if she wished she could help it, could choose not to love him, especially since she became a Seer, and had to deal with the consequences of balancing her talent and her relationships. But I knew that, if I asked her, Ginny would answer no. I don't think she would know who she was without her love for Harry. In some ways, that sickened me - they were only fifteen, after all - but in other ways, I thought it was romantic. I'm only fifteen myself.

So, on the face of it, having Harry as her Patronus shouldn't bother Ginny too much. And even though she'd run out of the room, I knew that she wanted Harry to follow her, which was a good sign. At least she wanted to talk about it. Harry's not terribly good at talking about things, though, so that had me a little worried. On the other hand, a Patronus is just so permanent. I knew something about how that feels myself, but I didn't want to think about that right then.

Ron hadn't joined in the discussion of his sister's Patronus, either. He'd just been sitting there, staring at his hands, which he'd folded on the desk. If I hadn't been so preoccupied with my own thoughts, I would have realized that something was odd - Ron never sat still like that, except over a chessboard. Suddenly, he stood up.

"I'm going after them," he said, then darted out of the room.

Ron's learned a lot this year, and not just classwork. He knew we'd all try to stop him going after Harry and Ginny, so he tried to escape before we could. And he's got such long legs that none of us could catch up, even as we all - Theo, Brenna, Fred, George, and me - pelted down the halls of Hogwarts after him. Of course, that didn't keep us quiet, and the group of first-year Hufflepuffs we passed flattened themselves against the wall, their eyes practically popping out of their faces. I hope they don't often see a group of fifth through seventh years, several of them prefects, tearing down the hall, especially yelling at the tops of their lungs.

Ron didn't stop, of course. It took me awhile to realize that's one of the things I love about him - he's one of the few people who's just as stubborn as I am. Harry's only stubborn about certain things, and up until this year, I didn't think Ginny had a stubborn bone in her body. Now I know she can dig in her heels about things she thinks are vitally important. Ron, though, is just like me - we can both get just as worked up about what exactly we'd eaten at breakfast a week ago as about matters of life and death. Actually, what took me the longest was admitting that I was just as stubborn as Ron; it just didn't fit in with my view of myself. Now that I've admitted it, I find it much easier to give in on unimportant things.

Not on this, though. Ron was just plain wrong - Harry and Ginny needed to work this out for themselves. It certainly wasn't surprising that Ginny's Patronus was Harry - if Harry had saved my life when I was eleven the way he'd saved Ginny's, he'd probably be my Patronus, too. Though, come to think of it, I suppose he had, by foiling Voldemort's plan to get the Philosopher's Stone. It just wasn't as direct as is saving Ginny down in the Chamber of Secrets. And, after all, we'd all saved each other's lives, that night, and so many nights since. I suppose that dilutes the effect somewhat.

No matter what we shouted, though (and Fred and George thought up some interesting, though improbable things), Ron didn't stop until he'd reached the big double doors leading outside. When I caught up with him, he had his eyes closed against the sunlight pouring over us.

"Bright light," he said, as soon as I reached him. "Can't see."

"Oh, Ron," I said, marveling at how even the silliest thing coming out of his mouth sounded wonderful to me. Besides, he'd known it was me standing there, even with his eyes closed - he says that to me whenever we go into bright sunlight, because I have brown eyes, and his are more sensitive to light - and that made me feel tingly all over.

Before either of us could say anything else, Fred and George skidded to a halt behind us, and each one of them grabbed one of Ron's arms. That made him open his eyes; he turned around to glare at them for a moment, then shook them off pretty easily. He is a good eight inches taller than they are, after all, and Quidditch has given him lots of practice using leverage. For a moment, I just stood there, marveling at the sheer athletic grace of him, but as soon as he started off again, I shook myself out of it and followed him.

"You don't even know where you're going," I yelled after him, as his longer legs took him farther and farther away from me.

"Yes, I do," he yelled back over his shoulder as he ran, and I had no choice but to follow him. At least, if I was there when he found Harry and Ginny, I could stop him from doing anything too crazy and embarrassing for all three of them. Maybe.

I was trying to think of ways to do this, when Ron stopped suddenly. He stood next to Ginny's favorite bench by the lake, and as soon as I saw it, I realized that I should have thought of it, too; it was the obvious place for Ginny to run, especially when she hoped that Harry would run after her. Neither one of them was there, though, and at first I thought that was why Ron had stopped so suddenly.

"Where are you going to look next?" I gasped as I ran up to him. "See, doesn't this just prove that -"

I caught myself up on a gasp, as I realized what Ron had already. Ginny had been here, because her bookbag and school robes still sat on the bench. But there was no sign of her or Harry, who almost certainly had been here, too. Ginny had told me just how much this bench meant to both of them. Strangely, there were roses scattered all over it, some of them crushed beneath Ginny's bookbag, giving off an almost sickly sweet smell.

"How odd," I said, bending over to look more closely at one of them. "Oh," I added after a moment of recognition, "they're Ginny's Welsh roses," and reached out to pick one up.

"No!" Ron said, grabbing my hand just before I could touch it.

"Whyever not, Ron?" I asked, staring up at him. "Harry probably transfigured these to apologize to Ginny - I'm pretty impressed, actually, that's a tricky bit of transfiguration, I suppose he used blades of grass, but it's awfully sweet of him, don't you think? I don't know where they went after that, but -"

"There wasn't time, Hermione," Ron said, still holding my hand tightly, but his eyes scanned all around us. "The only way they could have gotten away so quickly, especially if Harry had been transfiguring roses, is by Portkey. And those roses are the most likely candidate."

"But why would Harry make a Portkey - oh."

So that was stupid of me. Really, why would I think Harry would transfigure grass into roses? It was a bit too advanced for him, actually. And sweet though he could be sometimes - Ginny had told me all about their picnic in the cave (after it had happened, of course) - this didn't really seem his style.

"All right," Ron said, and something in his voice made it very difficult for me to breathe. "Harry and Ginny have been kidnapped. We need to get them back."

I looked up into his eyes, and saw them bright and hard, his gaze fixed on the horizon. He still held my hand in his, and slowly his grip tightened.

"Ron!" I said, just before it became too painful to bear. He let go and muttered an apology, but his eyes didn't soften. "We'll get them back," I said, just to say something.

"I know," he said. Finally, he looked down at me, and I almost burst into tears at the look in his eyes. "Fetch Sirius - he should be at Remus' hut. I'll go to Dumbledore."

He took off running before I could say anything, and after a moment of catching my breath, I did as well, heading in the opposite direction. When I reached Remus' hut, I almost opened the door without knocking, but reconsidered - I really didn't want to see Sirius if he wasn't prepared for visitors. I settled for banging on the door.

Sirius appeared quickly, luckily fully clothed, a fact which was explained when I saw Toby peering out over his shoulder, and Professor Snape seated at the kitchen table.

"Hermione!" Sirius and Toby said.

"What's wrong?" Toby added, pushing Sirius out of the way and reaching out to put an arm around my shoulders. That was too much for me - I gave in to everything that had happened, and burst into tears.

"Harry and Ginny have been kidnapped," I tried to say, though not much of it was intelligible. Enough of it must have been, though, because Sirius yelled, "What?" and bent down to look me in the eye.

"When? Where? How did it happen?" he asked, and when I didn't respond right away, he let go of my arms and stalked over to where Snape still sat. He put both hands flat on the table and bent over, glaring at Snape.

"Don't look at me, Black," Snape said, his black eyes meeting Sirius', sneer firmly in place. "You know quite well that I haven't kidnapped Potter or Miss Weasley in the past hour or so."

For a long moment, Sirius just stared at him, then he gave a sudden crack of laughter. He rubbed his hands through his hair, making him look so wild that I actually stopped crying to stare at him. Beside me, Toby made a funny sound, between a laugh and a sob, but Snape continued to sit there and sneer up at Sirius until he calmed down.

"You know that wasn't what I meant," Sirius finally said. He sounded as though he was choosing each word with extreme care, yet at the same time as though he would explode at any moment.

"What precisely did you mean?" Snape said, and he quirked an eyebrow at Sirius.

And suddenly, everything shifted for me. They still hated each other, these two men - I could tell - but they enjoyed hating each other now, and that made me feel, for the first time, like we could do this. We could rescue Harry and Ginny. If Sirius Black and Severus Snape could work together - and they obviously could - everything would be all right. I just knew it.

"It just happened," I said, still sniffling, which annoyed me, but at least I was able to talk. "We were in class with Remus and Professor Moody -" I broke off, remembering the class. Ginny's Patronus, and then the two of them being kidnapped, had driven it out of my mind, naturally, but now, standing next to Toby, I remembered. It had been so embarrassing, so much worse than finding out that every Gryffindor in third year and up knew how I felt about Ron. That was just, well, just natural, but this...I thought that I'd handled it well, but just how do you handle finding out that your Patronus is one of your professors? Basically, anyway. I do hope that Fred and George, especially, don't read too much into me having a wolf for a Patronus.

"Ah," Toby said, breaking into my thoughts.

I felt myself turning red - I must have just been standing there, stock-still, with my mouth wide open.

"This was the Patronus lesson, wasn't it?" Sirius asked, and I looked quickly at him, but I could tell that he wasn't really thinking about it.

"What was your Patronus, Hermione?" Toby asked, but to my profound relief, before I could answer, Professor Snape interrupted.

"Perhaps we should discuss matters of importance," he said. "How were Potter and Miss Weasley abducted from a classroom containing Alastor Moody and Remus Lupin, Miss Granger?"

"They weren't!" I said, outraged at his implication. "Ginny ran out of the room, and Harry ran after her. They went to Ginny's bench by the lake, and there were Portkeys there, and, well..."

"Surely Potter knows better than to touch anything that might be a Portkey by now," Snape said.

Sirius began to sputter indignantly, but I beat him to it.

"If he lived like that, he'd never touch anything," I said.

Snape just waved a hand at me, which I took to mean that he conceded my point, though I knew he would never actually say that. I was right.

"Continue, Miss Granger," was all he said.

I explained as quickly as I could about the Portkeys made of Ginny's favorite roses, and how Ron and I had deduced what had happened. I didn't mention that I'd almost touched one of the roses myself, because they really didn't need to know that.

"What do you think, Snape?" Sirius asked, almost on top of my last words. "Is it...is it..."

"I do not believe so," Snape said. He stared at his hands as he spoke, and if an utterly blank face could look worried, his certainly did. "However," he continued, after a moment of silence broken only by Sirius' harsh breathing, "as you are quite aware, Voldemort does not always take me as much into his confidence as we would wish."

A statement which, according to Ron, was taking Snape's capacity for understatement rather far.

"Spit it out, Snape," Sirius said. He looked like he wanted to run out of the door and go after Harry himself, which I'm sure he did, and I was glad to see that he'd tamed his impulses enough to know that Snape was the best chance he had of finding out exactly where his godson was. Snape's thoughtful deliberation was provoking him greatly, which I'm quite sure was on purpose.

"Most likely, this is a rogue operation," Snape said, finally raising his eyes to look at Sirius, "probably run by someone who is currently out of favor with Voldemort. Someone whose previous assignments failed utterly. Someone who would do anything to get back on Voldemort's good side."

I figured it out a moment before Sirius did, and watched his eyes widen.

"Wormtail," he spat.

Snape nodded, then stood, his every movement still deliberate.

"I will attempt to ascertain exactly what is happening," he said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out his wand.

I gasped when I realized where he was going to go.

"Won't that be dangerous?" I asked, then bit my lip immediately.

Snape didn't even look at me. "Miss Granger, kindly use the formidable intellect we all know you possess," he said, then stalked past me and out the door.

Toby, Sirius, and I watched him walk away for a moment, then Sirius said, "Toby, take Hermione to Remus. I'm going to look at those Portkeys."

"Oh, no, you're not," Toby said, grabbing his arm before he could go for his wand. "I don't trust you for one moment with those Portkeys. You won't be able to resist going after Harry yourself. You go with Hermione to Remus, and I'll examine the Portkeys."

"Fine," Sirius said, shaking off her hand. He looked mortally offended, but I agreed with her. He simply wasn't to be trusted anywhere near those Portkeys. Come to think of it, if it hadn't already happened, I'm not sure I would have trusted Ron near them. Thinking back, he had probably held my wrist so hard at least partly to make sure he wouldn't touch one, as much as me. It really said a lot about how much he's matured, that he didn't go charging after Harry and Ginny, regardless of the consequences.

Toby didn't say anything else, just started off for the bench at a run. Sirius, still looking hurt, transformed with a pop, then loped off by himself, without looking back to see if I followed him. I did, of course, but he quickly outstripped me. I'm just not used to this much physical activity. Once Padfoot reached the front doors of the castle, he stood and barked loudly in my direction, clearly impatient with how long it was taking me. Just before I reached him, the doors opened to reveal Professor McGonagall. She fixed Padfoot with a severe glare, then raised her eyes to look at me, as I stood there, panting.

"Kindly control your dog, Miss Granger," she said, making me stare at her, because she knew who Padfoot was as well as I do. But then, she continued, "Perhaps you should take him to Professor Lupin. He's in the usual classroom." She took out her wand and a piece of yarn from her pocket, and transfigured it into a collar and a leash, which she handed to me. I looked down at him, expecting him to be growling, but instead, he looked resigned, as odd as that looked on a dog. So, I buckled on the collar and grabbed the end of the leash, just before he started through the doors, pulling me along. When we entered the hall, I realized why Professor McGonagall was so adamant; the hall was crowded with students, milling around the bulletin board. I didn't care what the announcement was - probably another Hogsmeade weekend - and that was a good thing, since Padfoot practically raced through, while I tried to shout apologies to everyone jumping out of his way. Padfoot didn't stop running until we'd reached the door to our Auror classroom, where he had to, because it was shut and locked. I knocked, but he couldn't wait, jumping up and scratching at the door with his front paws. Remus opened the door after a moment, and didn't look at all surprised when Padfoot's claws scratched down the front of his robes. He didn't say anything to either of us, just held the door open, and then locked it after us. Sirius transformed, starting to speak in the middle of his transformation.

"What's the plan?" he asked, his head turning between Professor Moody and Ron.

I looked at Ron, too, not surprised to see him drawn and focused. I wanted to go over to him, put my arms around him, but I didn't want to distract him. Besides, I suspected that I might break down if I did, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

Moody began speaking to Sirius, but I didn't hear what he said, because Brenna suddenly appeared beside me, gripping my arm tightly.

"Hermione, I want to try my Communication Charm out on you," she said, making me stare at her in surprise.

"But it hasn't worked with anyone yet, has it?" I asked.

"No," Brenna said, dropping her eyes to where her hand held my arm, "but I just realized that I've never tried it with another girl. And I thought..."

"Do you really think that might make a difference?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said, looking up again, "but I want to try. Please?"

"Of course," I said, because I had immediately seen the possibilities - if Brenna could use the charm with another girl, she could let Ginny know we knew they were gone, and what we were planning to do.

Brenna tightened her grip on my arm, and drew me away from the door towards one of the windows, where Fred and George waited. Theo stood near Ron, listening intently to his conversation with Moody, Remus, and Sirius. Brenna didn't say anything else, and George just smiled at me as she took out her wand and murmured her charm.

Hermione...

Of course, it would be an owl...

...can you...

"Is that an owl, Brenna? Mum's going to kill you..."

...hear...

Brenna, I know you must be all right, because you couldn't leave this world without ever having eaten a Canary Cream...

...me?

"Stop," I said, forcing my eyes open and trying to close my mind to what Brenna was sending me. I knew I shouldn't be hearing any of that. I'm an intensely private person myself, and I could only imagine how horrible it must be for her, to have her memories exposed like that. That she'd be willing showed just how desperate the situation was.

Brenna, Fred, and George were all watching me, Brenna's eyes burning with intensity.

"Did you hear me?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yes, but I also heard some of your memories," I said, trying to keep my voice cool and impersonal to minimize her embarrassment. "Maybe we're too close to each other right now," I added.

"Maybe," George said. He turned to Brenna, who was now studying her shoes. "This was the best yet," he said. "Hermione's not lying on the floor or looking at me any differently, at least."

Fred snorted, and I glared at both of them. I know the twins try to make jokes out of everything - I know it's their defense mechanism - but that was not the time.

"Do you want to try it with me in another room?" I asked Brenna. She nodded, so after another glare at Fred and George, I walked over to Remus and told him what we were planning. I still felt a little embarrassed talking to him, but he didn't seem to be thinking of my Patronus at all, which, come to think of it, was completely understandable. We did have bigger issues to deal with right then.

"Interesting," was all he said, when I'd finished explaining. "Do you think it will work?"

I just shrugged, not completely trusting my voice. It had to work. Something had to work. Remus studied my face for a moment, then nodded.

"Take somebody with you," he said. "It's ridiculous to think that you would be in any danger in Hogwarts, but then, it was ridiculous to think that anyone could be kidnapped from Hogwarts' grounds. We don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

"I'll go," Theo said. He'd been listening to us ever since I approached Remus; I think he wanted to distract himself from what Professor Moody, Sirius, and Ron were discussing. I know I did. I couldn't help but overhear some of it. I heard Sirius say something about "minimizing the risk of the kidnapper committing an act of desperation," and while I understood why he didn't do it, I wished he would just come out and say that they didn't want to burst in wherever Harry and Ginny were being held, just to have their kidnapper kill them. I followed Remus over to the door just as eagerly as Theo did - at least we were going to be doing something concrete.

I turned back as Remus was performing the unlocking charms and told Brenna to give us ten minutes. She nodded without removing her head from George's shoulder, and Fred gave me a cheeky salute. As Theo and I left the room to the sounds of Remus locking the door again behind us, I had to stop myself from muttering as I walked. Why is it that when I'm upset or worried, Ron's attempts to cheer me up always work, but Fred and George's just make me annoyed on top of everything else? And it's not because I'm in love with Ron, because he had this capacity way back in first year. I fully realize what Fred and George are trying to do, and yet it irritates me, every time.

"Are you all right?" Theo asked, after a few moments of silent walking. "I mean, besides the fact that two of your best friends have been kidnapped?"

"Besides that?" I said. "Isn't that enough?"

"Of course it is," he said, "but there's something else wrong."

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"I can hear your teeth grinding," he said, watching me in the same exaggerated, sideways style I was using.

I laughed - I couldn't help it - and immediately felt better.

"It's not important," I said, but at least now I could smile at him. "Where do you think we should go?"

Theo still looked at me for a moment, but then he accepted the change of subject.

"There's always Professor Vector's classroom," he said.

"Oh, yes," I said. "It's several stories up, so that will be a good test, but it's not as obvious as the Owlery or the Astronomy Tower. I don't know exactly how Brenna focuses her mind to use the charm, but she won't know where Harry and Ginny are when she tries to reach them, so if she doesn't know where I am and she can reach me, that will be a positive."

"Exactly," Theo said. His voice held amusement, but I didn't mind. It wasn't malicious amusement.

When we reached the classroom, Professor Vector wasn't there, which made me relieved. I like and respect my Arithmancy professor, but I didn't really feel up to explaining this right then. I sat down at my usual seat and pulled out my diary. I asked Theo if he'd mind if I wrote instead of talking, and he said that of course he didn't. Then, he closed his eyes, and slowly, Professor Vector's big teacher's desk rose off the floor. She and Harry had both told me, separately, about Theo's tendency to do this, but it was the first time I'd actually seen it, and it was impressive. I watched for a few moments, then took out a quill and opened my diary.

I'd barely written the password, when words started spilling across the page.

"Joanna's really worried about Ginny - she's taken her diary far away from Hogwarts, and someone else is writing in it - do you know why, Hermione?"

"Ginny's been kidnapped, along with Harry," I wrote back. "How do you know where she is?"

"Joanna always knows where she is when her diary's open; it's a special charm that she built into it. Hermione, how were Harry and Ginny kidnapped?"

"It was a Portkey - where are they? We're trying to rescue them, but we don't know where they are."

"Joanna's diary is in the Forbidden Forest, at the edge, near Haddington, but Hermione, there's no guarantee that's where Harry and Ginny are."

"I know, but it's the best chance we've got. I've got to go - I'll let you know what happens."

"You'd better, young lady."

I shut the diary, slightly harder than I meant to, and looked up to see Theo watching me intently. Professor Vector's desk was back on the floor.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I know where Harry and Ginny are," I said, jumping up. They had to be where Joanna was; they just had to.

"Where?" Theo asked, standing up himself.

Before I could answer him, though, I heard another voice.

Hermione, can you...

...one of the Weasley twins...

...hear me? Hermione...

"Well done, Miss O'Keefe."

...this is imp-

...there's still too much subconscious filtering...

-ortant. Hermione...

"Yes, I can hear you, Brenna," I said, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. It was a little better than before - I hadn't felt I had to close my eyes, and I could still think my own thoughts - but it still wasn't right. But at least Brenna had been able to send something without knowing where I was, and Ginny would be even farther away. Maybe she would only hear what Brenna meant to send.

"It's working?" Theo said, looking thrilled. He didn't have Brenna O'Keefe in his head, so well he might.

"I wish I could tell her to stop working," I said, putting my diary and quill back into my pocket and heading for the door.

"Why don't you?" Theo asked.

"Because it only works - wait a minute." I stared at him. "Why don't I?" I took out my wand, focused my thoughts on Brenna, and murmured the charm I'd heard her say.

Brenna, I can hear you, I sent.

Her voice in my head stopped abruptly, and there was blessed silence for a few moments. I used the time to head out the door and begin the trek back to our Auror-training classroom, Theo trailing after me.

Hermione?

I grinned as I walked, easily able to picture Brenna's wide-open eyes.

Yes, I thought at her, I used the charm myself, and now it works both ways. This is a wonderful charm you've created, Brenna.

Why didn't I ever think of that? she said in my head, and I realized something.

Brenna, are you hearing complete sentences, or are you also receiving some of my memories?

Complete sentences - oh, Hermione!

That's the answer, I thought at her. We had reached the door of the classroom by this time, and Theo knocked. The charm is designed to work when both parties use it.

Remus opened the door and beckoned us in.

But I didn't design it that way, Brenna thought at me, as I walked in the door. I reached out my hands to her and smiled as she took them. I know how wonderful it feels when something you've worked on for so long finally comes together.

"You did, you just didn't realize it," I told her out loud.

"Of course you did," George said, reaching out and picking her up, making me drop her hands when he spun around with her in his arms, leaving me free to turn to Ron and Professor Moody.

"I know where Harry and Ginny are - well, generally where," I said.

Ron, who had been staring at something on the desk, looked up, his eyes bright. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Sirius was at my side in two steps, grabbing my arm almost too tightly.

"Where, Hermione?" he asked.

"In the Forbidden Forest, of all places, near Haddington."

"How do you know?" Remus asked. He reached out and detached Sirius' fingers from my arm.

"Whoever has them wrote in Ginny's diary, and she told mine," I said. I heard Ron snort when I mentioned my diary - he always does, he thinks it's out of character for me to have one.

"All right, then," Professor Moody said. "We know where they are. We know how they were taken." He nodded at Toby, who I'd just noticed was in the room. "Now, I'd rather we knew who had them, but I'm ready to go without that."

"If only Ginny knew Brenna's charm," I said. "Then we could talk to her, and she could tell us who it is."

There was silence for a moment, as we all thought about how helpful that would be. Toby finally broke it.

"Does anyone know if Harry has his pocket-watch on him?" she asked.

"He always does," Ron said. "Why - oh! You could send him the message to have Ginny use the charm."

"Yes, but how do we know Harry's in a position to get to his watch, Ron?" I asked. "Or that Ginny still has her wand? In fact, I think it's highly unlikely that she does."

"Ginny can do wandless magic," Theo said, making all of us turn and stare at him. "She hasn't done anything near as powerful as that charm probably is, though."

"It can't hurt to try," Ron said, after a moment when he just stood there and shook his head in shock.

"You're right, it can't," Professor Moody said. He turned to Toby. "Make sure your message is something only Potter will understand," he said.

Toby looked at him blankly for a moment, then nodded and pulled Brenna into a corner of the room.

"All the same, we'll proceed as though we can't make contact with Ginny, and don't know what we're going into," Moody went on. "Dumbledore will probably disagree with me, but he's not here, so I'm taking all of you. You students can't Apparate there, of course, so we'll have to fly."

I suddenly felt faint, and when Ron reached out and took my hand, I clutched at it thankfully. I hate flying. I know it's mostly in my head, but that doesn't help - I just can't feel comfortable on a broom. But if rescuing Harry and Ginny meant flying the Channel, I'd do it. I just didn't have to like it.

While I was giving myself my mental pep talk, Professor Moody had been describing the plan. I hadn't heard a word, and I could tell Ron knew it. I'd just have to ask him what I was to do, and endure his teasing. Besides, just the fact that he felt optimistic enough to tease me, which I could tell from the looks he was giving me, brought my spirits up. If Ron thought we had a chance, we had a chance. He leaned over to whisper something in my ear, but before he said more than my name, Toby and Brenna came rushing back.

"We've made contact!" Toby said. She practically bounced, she was so excited. "They're being held in a clearing in a forest, by Wormtail and another Death Eater. They're tied up, and they can't get to their wands."

"She did it!" Theo whooped, and Ron swept me up into a hug to celebrate Ginny's accomplishment. Fred and George began dancing a sailor's hornpipe - at least, that's what I assume it was.

Professor Moody's gravelly voice easily cut through the pandemonium.

"Does Ginny know why they're being held there, and not taken to Voldemort?" he asked, his eyes fixed on Brenna.

That made all of us quiet down immediately.

"They hadn't expected to get Harry so easily," Brenna said, after a moment, her eyes widening as she relayed Ginny's thoughts. "The Portkeys were meant to trap Ginny, and then they were planning to put her under the Imperious Curse to get Harry and Professor Dumbledore." She shut her eyes, and even her usually faint color drained from her cheeks. "Dear Lord. They're still thinking about it, to get to Professor Dumbledore."

"How does she know?" Ron asked. His voice was tight and hard again, and he hadn't let go of me, which was a good thing, because I wasn't sure I could have stayed standing if he had.

"He told her," Brenna said, her eyes still closed. "The other Death Eater, not Wormtail. He said...never mind."

"What?" Ron, Fred, and George asked in unison.

"Never mind," Brenna said again, and when George murmured her name, she opened her eyes and let them blaze at him. I've never seen Brenna look so fierce, before or since. "I said never mind, George. I'm relaying what Ginny wants me to."

"Is that really a good idea?" Ron said. "We all know what Ginny's like."

Brenna opened her mouth to respond, but Professor Moody interrupted her.

"We're wasting time," he said. "Does Ginny think they're going to be taken to Voldemort soon?"

"No," Brenna said after a moment. "Wormtail seems completely under the thumb of...the other Death Eater, and he seems more interested in Ginny's diary than anything else. So she says."

"Good," Moody said. "But we can't count on it staying like that. At least we know there are only two of them right now. Brenna, stay in constant contact with Ginny. If there's any change at all, let me know right away. Let's move, people."

Remus immediately started to unlock the door, and we all filed out of the room. I was about to swallow my pride and ask Ron exactly what the plan was, when I heard Sirius ask Brenna how Harry was dealing with everything. Ron and I both turned to hear her answer.

"Ginny says he's frustrated, but trying to hide it from her," Brenna said, smiling faintly for the first time since she'd first made contact with Ginny.

"Frustrated, huh?" Ron said. "He's tied up with my sister, and he's frustrated?"

I elbowed him in the stomach, quite hard. I know he's a sixteen-year-old boy, but this was neither the time nor the place. Sirius actually laughed, then tried to sober when Remus looked back over his shoulder at him.

Brenna had evidently relayed Ron's comment to Ginny, because she said, "They're tied up back-to-back."

I elbowed Ron again, just for good measure, just as we reached the doors and went outside. He mock-winced, then stepped outside, shooting me one of his patented evil grins. I had no difficulty interpreting that, since we headed in a pack towards the building that houses the Quidditch supplies and school brooms, and Ron knows just how much I hate flying. The adults waited outside, while the rest of us went in, and Fred, George, Ron, and Theo went straight to their respective teams' rooms to fetch their own brooms. Brenna walked over to one of the racks in the main room, and picked up a broom.

"What do you want, Hermione?" she asked over her shoulder. "A Cleansweep Five? Or a Comet Two-Sixty?"

"Neither," I said, but I didn't say it loud enough for her to hear me. Instead, I walked up behind her and asked her which she thought was better.

"Well, there really isn't much to choose from," she said. "The Cleansweep's more responsive, though that's not saying much, but the - wait a minute. You're best friends with Harry and Ron, not to mention Ginny, and you don't know your brooms?"

I was saved from answering by Sirius, who stuck his head in the door and growled, "What's taking so bloody long?"

The boys came hurrying in, each clutching a broom, and I grabbed one myself off the rack. I didn't look to see what kind it was until we'd gotten outside again, because it didn't matter, really. I knew that whichever broom I'd be flying, I'd hate it by the end of the day.

When we reached the adults again, Remus had Harry's Firebolt in his hand, as well as his own broom, which I thought was a very good idea. Someday, I want to have as much knowledge as Remus, so I can think on my feet as well as he does.

Professor Moody just nodded at us before mounting his own broom.

"You know what to do," he said, and kicked off.

Except that I didn't. I actually hadn't been on a broom since the Christmas holidays, when Ron had talked me into being a Quidditch referee, and even though the Cleansweep gave me no real problems, I still felt awkward. Besides, I still didn't know what the plan was. I started lagging behind the others - the dratted broom simply wouldn't go any faster - and Ron flew back to me after a few minutes.

"Come on, Hermione, it's not that bad," he said. "You're doing great."

"No, I'm not," I said, annoyed at how easily he was maneuvering. "But I'd be doing better if you told me what the plan was."

"Pretty simple, really," he said. "The best plans often are. We're just going to surround the clearing, then come at them from all sides. Sirius is going to transform, of course."

"Of course," I said, though I wasn't quite sure why, since Wormtail obviously knew Sirius' Animagus form. I looked at Ron out of the corner of my eye; I didn't want to turn my head too far to either side, in case the broom followed it. That's what my father always says happens with autos. "What will we do if the Death Eaters panic and try to...try to hurt Harry and Ginny?

"We won't let that happen," Ron said. His eyes were fixed firmly ahead of himself, too, and I knew it wasn't because he was afraid of his broom. He and Harry don't talk about it, of course, but I know that they couldn't be any closer if they were of one blood. Having both Harry and his only sister kidnapped must be eating Ron up inside, and the fact that he was hardly showing it, when he usually just let all of his emotions out, both impressed me and worried me. We were going to rescue Harry and Ginny, of course - we had to - and I was very glad I wouldn't have to see Ron's reaction if we didn't. With added resolve, I urged my broom to go faster, and actually caught up to everyone else. We flew on, the whole pack of us ready to do whatever it took to rescue Harry and Ginny.