With you in my Arms

63. The most unexpected Christmas gift ever

                                                    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Ginny sat in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and watched Kreacher prepare a chicken and mushroom pie. Harry would be home soon. She smiled to herself. It would be lovely to live here, in this house, with him one day. That would probably be after she retired from her Quidditch career but still. She was looking forward to it.

"Anybody here?" a voice called from the hall.

"I'm in the kitchen, Harry." she called.

The young Auror came into the kitchen and kissed her. While still being kissed the youngest Weasley furrowed her brow. Something was wrong. She could feel. it.

"What is it?" she whispered against his lips.

A heavy sigh was the answer. She glanced at his face and saw the worry and distress he seemed to be feeling.

"He left her. The bastard just took his stuff and left."

It took a moment before the realisation hit her who he was talking.

"You're joking?"

He shook his head. Sadness now creeping over his face.

"No, Ginny. She woke up this morning and he was just gone."

"I thought they were on honeymoon."

"They were. I got an owl from her around lunchtime, begging me to get her back to Britain. I spoke to Shaw and he organised everything. Hermione arrived back from Hamburg by portkey an hour ago. Only then she told me what had happened." the red tinge of anger was now darkening his features, "How could he do that to her? On their honeymoon? Days before Christmas?"

"I don't believe it."

Harry looked at the girl in his arms.

"Oh, you can believe it! She's so distraught she can't even cry any longer."

"That's not what I mean. I know Hermione is probably beside herself, but I don't believe for a moment that the ferret has just left her. After all the trials and tribulations they have been through together do you seriously think that he would abandon her? His father nearly killed her and he didn't want to do anything other then hold on to her, be near here afterwards. He was out cold with her for a month."

The strange feeling of something lurking in the background crept up on him. Harry knew the feeling, he had it before. When he was spending his last days at Hogwarts before leaving to find the remaining Horcruxes his stomach had knotted like it did now.

"See, you don't seriously believe it either."

He shook his head.

"So, what has happened to him? Has she said anything? Anything at all?"

"I didn't actually get to see her. It was Shaw that took charge of her being sent the portkey, her arrival at the Ministry and everything else." he sighed, leaning his head against his girl's shoulder.

Ginny gently stroked over his still unruly black hair. She could understand his distress, being unable to see and console his friend of so many years would take its toll on her as well.

"We'll go and see her tomorrow, Harry."

"We can't. Shaw had her taken to a safe house. Only he and who ever has taken her know where it is."

There was a stunned silence for a moment.

"Why?"

"He suspects that Malfoy was probably kidnapped, but as Hermione was seemingly of no interest to them, they luckily just used a sleeping charm and left her alone."

"Kidnapped? Somebody has actually kidnapped the ferret?"

There was a moment of silence when Ginny was thinking.

"Harry?"

He looked at her with wary eyes.

"Why did you blame him when your boss is thinking he was actually kidnapped?"

There was no answer forthcoming.

"Harry!" her voice was insisting on an answer now.

He sighed.

"After all this time its still easier to blame him for any misfortune befalling her than thinking of him actually being good for her..."

Ginny just looked at him.

"You're a total prat, you know that? Why can't you just accept that she has chosen him. I would have thought after all these months...," she glared at him, "Or has Ron some daft scheme going to get her back again? He was surprisingly civil at the wedding."

"No, he hasn't. Or if he has, he hasn't told me about it."

Kreacher poured tea for them and then bustled off again.

"Harry, I know you've had... issues with Malfoy in the past, but if he was really kidnapped just think of what that will do to Hermione. He's the father to her child. He managed to get her parents to remember her again. He is married to her. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and she is probably going to spend the holidays somewhere on her own far away from friends and family with some Auror she's never seen before."

"I know, Ginny." he gently ran his fingers through her hair. "I'm just worried sick. After all that has already happened to her this year... I would have thought that once they are actually married and official and all that... 

                                                    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"Why hasn't he shown up yet? First it's all urgent, urgent, urgent and then suddenly he doesn't has time to come."

"You know that he can't compromise his position. He has to make sure nobody knows."

"Yeah, and I'm stuck in this hell hole when I could have got laid with..."

"Oh, shut up! None of us wants to be here. I have family, you know what I had to tell my wife so that she wouldn't ask question while I was gone all this time!"

Voices, there were voice arguing. Which could only mean one thing, should they have taken his wand there was probably no way out for him. He tried to move without actually moving. His hands were tied in front of him. He was lying on some kind of... dare he call this a bed? At least it wasn't the floor. Hie feet were also tied. Opening his eyes carefully he found the uselessness of this action, he was also blindfolded. Damn!

He concentrated on the argument he could hear. It sounded muffled. There had to be some kind of separating barrier between him and his captors. It couldn't be that thick or maybe it wasn't fully closed, if it was a door. Counted this different man talking he realised that there were only two of them. They still outnumbered him, but at least he might have a realistic chance. Once he managed to get himself untied.

Approaching footsteps caught his attention.

"Do you think it's time for another dose yet?"

"Yeah, might as well make sure he keeps quiet. I don't want my landlady to find out."

He rough hand grabbed his arm and before he could react he felt a sharp needle piercing his skin. They were injecting something directly into his bloodstream. Only moments later all sounds around him dissolved in a vast black haze.