42

The world swam back into clarity before Harry's eyes.

"Harry! Harry!" a pair of gold, half-moon spectacles danced before his eyes. This slowly turned into the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore. Several sets of hands pulled him up from the floor of the Great Hall and he was aware of several things charging straight into him.

"Harry!" Hermione cried; her arm in a makeshift splint. "Oh Harry, we did it!" She pulled him into a tight hug. This was followed by Ginny who, despite being in front of all these people, kissed him. Harry was suddenly aware that everyone was smiling; people were shaking each others hands, hugging and talking excitedly. Harry ran a hand through his hair.

"We really did it?" he asked, not really daring to believe it.

"Of course you did." Dumbledore smiled. "Look around you." Harry did as he was told and saw many Death Eaters they had battled being herded off by Aurors. Most of them looked severely worse for wear. "Some of us may need to spend some time recuperating and there have been some losses, but we have won the day."

"We're in for a hell of a time mate." Ron said jovially, clapping him on the back and making him wince in pain. Hermione was now trying to hug them both at once. Sirius was beaming at the three of them and Mrs Weasley was sobbing onto her husband's shoulder.

"Where's Kathryn?" Harry asked, suddenly noticing that absence of his sister from the celebrating crowd. He could see no trace of the familiar black hair. People suddenly went quiet and looked gravely at Dumbledore.

"We haven't found her." Dumbledore admitted, bowing his head. "She is not amongst the dead we have already found." Harry found the silence unbearable. "But we have not finished our search." He added with a faint note of hope.

"She should be still in the grounds." Harry told him. "She was here." He stood on the spot where she had been. "She should have landed out there." He pointed out the window. "She can't have just disappeared!"

"Harry," Hermione placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "she was a lot worse injured than we were."

"She wasn't dead!" Harry cried, sinking to his knees; tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Harry," Mrs Weasley knelt beside him, "come on dear. We'll find her." She placed his hand on his shoulders and, filled with grief, Harry allowed himself to be led to the Hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey pounced on them as soon as they got in. She spent over three hours carefully dealing with their various wounds before they were alone to talk. Harry was still in a state of shock; leaning against the wrought iron bedstead with a vacant expression on his face. She couldn't be dead; there had to be another explanation.

He kept on turning the events over in his mind, searching for a reason. Then, like the blinding flash that had been the end of Voldemort, it dawned on him. Wearing only a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, he sprang from his bed and sprinted out the door. He heard Ron, Ginny and Hermione shout after him then, deciding that he wasn't going to stop, and another three sets of feet began to follow him. He sped past McGonagall who was just leaving Dumbledore's office and took the stairs three at a time.

"Potter! Weasley! Miss Weasley! Miss Granger!" he heard her say as the others ran past her too. Then, after a few seconds, he heard her follow too. He burst through the door without a care for who might be in there. Inside, he found Dumbledore sat behind his desk along with Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Moody who was minus his revolving blue eye. Snape was there too, sat in a comfy armchair, pale and with a thick bandage around his neck, but otherwise still alive.

"Harry!" Dumbledore smiled kindly at him. "Whatever's the mater?"

"Were any Death Eaters unaccounted for?" he panted as Ron, Hermione, Ginny and McGonagall came through the door.

"Pardon me?"

"Which people, that we know fine well to be Death Eaters, were missing from those captured or dead? What about Malfoy?"

"Master Malfoy is currently being held by the Ministry pending a life sentence in Azkaban for the use of Unforgivable curses." Dumbledore explained.

"No, not him." Harry shook his head. "What about his dad?"

"Lucius Malfoy has not yet been accounted for." Harry's stomach froze. Hermione let out a small gasp when she realised what Harry was getting at.

"That's where she is." Harry said in a hollow voice. "He's got her." He slumped down into a chair.

"Harry," Sirius asked him, "what exactly are you saying?"

"I believe we'd all like to know." McGonagall said severely from behind him.

"Malfoy's infatuated with her." Harry felt sick saying this out loud. "She's been playing to him for the past two years to try and make sure that he didn't try anything to get rid of you, sir." He nodded at Dumbledore. "Trying to distract him, to use him to our advantage."

"Do you mean to tell me that my god-daughter has been playing into the hands of one of Voldemort's most dangerous Death Eaters and you didn't tell me?" Sirius growled.

"She knew what she was doing."

"She had no idea what she was doing." Snape snapped at Harry, his near-death experience apparently not affecting his manner. "She had no idea of what he is capable of. I tried to warn her off but, being exactly like her father, she didn't listen." Sirius stood at the mention of James and looked ready to hex Snape into oblivion but Lupin stepped between them.

"Sirius," Lupin said calmly, "I'm not sure your God-Daughter will take kindly to you hexing the man she worked quite hard to save."

"He was getting irritated," Hermione said in a small voice, "because she obviously wasn't going to give him what he wanted. It was glaringly obvious at some points. He wanted so much more."

"What do you think, Severus?" Dumbledore asked. "You know him better than we do."

"He is certainly arrogant enough to do it." Snape said coldly. "He isn't used to being denied something he wants and, believe me; he always gets what he wants." His words hung in the air.

"We have to go now." Harry's voice shook.

"I do not think that wise." Harry could not believe what Dumbledore was saying.

"What?" Sirius bellowed. "You are just going to leave her at the mercy of that foul man?"

"No. I merely think it unwise to go charging in when we have not had a chance to recuperate. He may well be expecting a rescue attempt and I refuse to lose anyone now."

"But what if he…" Harry's voice trailed off, not wanting to think of what a resentful Lucius Malfoy could do to his sister if given enough time.

"He is more likely to keep such a, erm, prize, alive. She could be a useful bargaining tool, should he need one." Snape offered.

"Now, get some sleep, Harry, all of you, and I promise we will leave promptly in the morning." Dumbledore told them. They nodded, returning not to the hospital wing, but to Gryffindor Tower. Most of their classmates were still in the hospital wing being tended to by Madam Pomfrey. Those that had been evacuated for their safety were either in their dormitories or huddled around the fire, apparently in a slight state of shock. Most gave him a wave, although Harry guessed that by the look of his face they assumed that this was not the best time to offer their profuse congratulations.

That night, Harry and Ginny lay curled up in Harry's bed whilst Ron and Hermione occupied to one next to them. After all they had gone through that night, that particular rule they were breaking did not seem to matter all that much.