Taken

Hermione Apparated about three steps away from the Visitors entrance to the Ministry. Since she had blocked Apparition from within the Ministry at this level of heightened security, and she hadn't been near a magical fireplace, this was the easiest and quickest way. She started walking into the booth. But when she tried to lock the door, it slammed open.

"Well, look who it is? If it isn't the Mudblood Minister herself. You really should be more careful," Crabbe said gleefully.

Hermione had her wand out in a flash and one of the Death Eaters was Stunned, but in the small confines of the phone booth, Crabbe simply reached over the Stunned Nott, took the wand from her, tossed it to the side and dragged her out of the booth by her hair.

"Let go of me you filthy- "

"You are the filth here, Mudblood," Goyle interrupted her, grabbing her hands.

"She has more fight in her than her daughter has. But then, that wouldn't take much," Crabbe laughed.

At these words, Hermione began kicking and screaming in anger. But the two men easily restrained her, without even having to use magic. When they finally had her under control, Harry appeared out of nowhere.

"HERMIONE!" he shouted. Crabbe and Goyle quickly Disapparated, before Harry could reach them. His stunning spell hit the opposite wall.

"NO! HERMIONE!"

There was no trace of any of them. Cursing to himself under his breath, Harry ran to the booth, dialled a number, and raised an alarm.

"This is Potter! Our Minister has been taken. I want everyone on full alert!" He then travelled down the booth to the Ministry below. Nott was dragged along with him.

***

Back in the Burrow, Albus had just finished his story by telling them about the interrogation. Ginny sat next to him, comforting him as he cried in her lap. Ron sat next to them, trying not to cry. He saw that Albus was feeling bad enough, so he tried to be comforting. "Poor Rose. She shouldn't have had to see that. Or be tortured like that."

"None of you should have had to see things like this," Ginny agreed. "Neither should we have seen or done the things we did when we were your age. The point is, now you have. We need to decide how to move forward."

"What can we do when we don't even know where they are?" Ron wondered.

"Hermione will think of something," Ginny reassured them "We also need to figure out what's wrong with James. His time on that statue did something to him. He should be at St. Mungo's. I'll take him there in the morning. By then, his escape will have been discovered anyway. I dare not wait much longer than that."

At that moment, Harry turned up at the door. His face looked hollow and angry.

"Harry! What has happened? You look like you've seen a Dementor," Ginny exclaimed. "Oh, no. Is it Hermione?"

Albus also looked up at his father, alarmed.

"They got her," Harry said, still short of breath. "Two people, older than us, had her on the ground. As soon as they saw me, they Disapparated."

Ron groaned, almost falling down on the floor. "I don't know how much more of this I can handle. First Rose, now Hermione? What can I do?" Ron looked at Albus. He had also gone pale and looked like he was about to be sick.

"Do you know where they would have taken her?" Ron asked him.

"Maybe to the same dungeons they kept the others," Albus said, trying to stay calm. "If so, they will discover the breakout. I need to get back. But how?"

"Do you remember exactly where you arrived when you Apparated here?" Harry asked him.

"Yes, I think so, but why?"

"Magic leaves traces. You transported a large group of people here just a few hours ago. You can use that exact same spot and get back to where you were," Harry explained.

"But that was right outside the dungeon! Won't it be suspicious, if someone is already there, that I appear right where they ran off?"

"You will need to risk it. They don't know where you came from. I presume you have a reason for not being at their base?" Harry asked.

"Yes. He told me I could go out celebrating."

"Celebrate what?"

"That I was finally able to torture James."

Harry eyed him.

"We only pretended, I promise," Albus added quickly. "But please, be careful with James. Voldemort said something about making him a pawn, so it must be something with his mind. He didn't complete the ritual though because he now has me."

"Have you for what?" Harry asked.

"I don't know yet. He seemed to be targeting Potters especially, and Weasleys, with Scorpius just added as an afterthought. When I pretended to want to join him voluntarily, he no longer needed James to join involuntarily. He may just want to cause you grief, by taking away your family. But why would he then not need to turn James? Or just use the Imperius Curse? I don't have all the answers yet, we were focusing on getting the prisoners out, whilst keeping Voldemort's trust."

Ginny interrupted Albus's rambling ideas. "I will tell you his whole story later. For now, are you actually considering letting him go back!?"

"I don't like it," Harry said. "But we may have to. We need to know where they are. And he is right, it is safer for Rose if he is not implicated in the escape."

Right then, Albus' left arm gave him a sharp pain. He tried to hide it, but he couldn't help but make a small grimace.

"What was that?" Ginny asked, looking at Albus suspiciously.

"Nothing," Albus said. He tried to hide the arm.

Ron grabbed it. A Dark Mark glistened sharply red on his forearm. They all gasped.

"How did you get that!?" Ginny almost shouted at him.

"We all got them. It was one of the first things that happened after we left the graveyard. It was kind of hard to refuse," Albus said defensively, trying to not look at his mother. They were all silent for a moment.

"Well, at least you won't have any problem returning now. But you also can't take anyone else with you. So, we still won't know where you are," Harry said, breaking the silence.

"It wouldn't help you much knowing that anyway. We will move to a new location tomorrow. I don't know where," Albus explained.

"I may have a solution to that."

They all turned to Molly Weasley, who had been standing in the doorway, listening to the conversation, after finishing helping the Muggles and wizard prisoners.

"We need to get him a Trace," she suggested.

"A Trace? But that is illegal," Ron objected.

"I don't mean the underage magic Trace. I mean more of a Tracker. I started developing them during the last war, since I hated not knowing where you all were. I was inspired by my clock, but it was not specific enough. Here."

She showed them a little device that seemed like metal, but it was light and almost invisible.

"We inject it under your skin. That way, it can't be washed off or lost if you change clothes."

She walked over to Albus, exposed his neck, and somehow pushed the device into his body.

"Oow. You could have warned me," Albus said, rubbing his neck again.

"Take another one with you," Ron suggested. "Get it to Rose if you can. And one for Hermione."

"And one for Scorpius as well," Albus said, but then hesitated, remembering where Rose and Scorpius were now. "How accurate are these Trackers? I mean, can you see the exact building we are in? Or what side of the building?"

"We can probably find the building. As for specific rooms, I don't know. I never really did get to test these properly," Molly admitted, as she handed Albus three more Trackers. "Be careful, now."

"Thank you, Grandma. I got to go, before Voldemort begins to wonder why I wait so long to return after he summoned me."

"That is not a sentence I ever wanted to hear from my son. But I am proud of you, Al," Harry said while giving him a hug.

Albus got one last hug from his mother. Ginny tried to hold back tears. "Be careful, Al. Please, don't do anything reckless," she pleaded.

"Reckless?" Albus said with a grin on his face. "Mum, I am a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor!" And with that, he was out the door and gone.

Ginny whispered after him, "Yes, but you are also a Potter."