Chương 11: Taking charge
Harry once again marvelled at Hermione's strength. When there was an emergency, she always kept her head cool and knew what needed to be done. It was one of the many things he had always admired in her. And it was probably one of the reasons she had been elected as Minister for Magic. Now she organised searches, sent trusted Ministry workers to Azkaban to investigate what had happened there, and appeared to be completely in control of the situation. He suspected he was the only one who saw just how worried she was.
Two days with no sign of them. The whole family was worried. Ginny, Ron and most of the other close family were out with the search teams. They tried to tell themselves that no news was good news, since it meant that they might still be alive, but it was a small comfort. Hermione blamed herself for not keeping better tabs on her daughter. It was ridiculous. Rose was a grown woman, and she had moved out of her parents' house. But Harry felt much the same about Albus. How could he have gone a whole week before starting to wonder where his son was? Ginny felt the same, but none of them had voiced it out loud yet. Would they ever be able to forgive themselves if he died? He fervently hoped they would never have to find out.
Harry was just about to go and call in the next group of Law Enforcement when he saw something. A person entered, at first only visible as a silhouette in the doorway. Harry wondered briefly if he saw a vision from the past. It looked like Hermione, how she had looked in the Battle of Hogwarts. The same steely, determined look, the look that made anyone think twice before arguing with her. Then he realised what he saw. It was Rose. Her robes were tattered, and she looked like she hadn't showered in days, but otherwise she looked unhurt. Her eyes shone with anger and determination. You could really see the family resemblance when she held herself like that.
Hermione didn't see her at once, being so focused on handing out orders. Then she noticed everyone going quiet and looking at something behind her. She turned around, then just stood gaping at her for at least 20 seconds. Then the two women met in a warm embrace.
"Rose! Where have you been? What happened to you? Where are the others?" Hermione managed to ask between tears and hugs.
Rose couldn't even reply at first. She just held on to her mother. But eventually she let go.
"We were held in an old hideout between buildings." Rose explained. "It must have been a hideout for wizards for a long time. The others are still there. The Death Eaters are sleeping, but I don't know for how long. I can hopefully lead you back there, Albus is waiting by the entrance. I didn't want to risk Apparating with him in his condition." She was moving towards the doors even as she said this. Harry and Hermione were just staring at her. Rose looked back when she saw that they were not following.
"What are you waiting for? Like I said, I can't guarantee how long the Death Eaters will be sleeping, I would presume you would want to secure them before they wake up?"
Harry reacted first. He quickly assigned two teams of Aurors to follow. And he called for a few of Hermione's staff to start calling back the search teams. Then he started walking after Rose. Hermione quickly followed with the Aurors. She took out Rose's wand from under her robes and handed it to her daughter. "You really need to try to hold on to that," Hermione said. Rose smiled.
"How long have you known we were missing? I was honestly surprised you had even noticed. It has only been four days after all."
"It has been longer for Albus," Harry replied. "I started worrying about him and came to you to ask when you had last seen him. The Death Eaters did not do a good job cleaning up after their kidnapping. And we found your note"
Rose smiled again. Harry was surprised at how natural it felt to follow her lead.
"Whose wand are you using?" he asked.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked at the same time.
"Knockturn Alley." Rose replied, answering her mother first. "I had no idea where we were until I finally found the secret exit. I just pray it remains open."
"You mentioned Albus. Is he okay? What about Scorpius?" Harry wanted to know.
"Albus is alive. Scorpius is… I don't know. It's his wand." The light went out of Rose's eyes for a moment. "I had to knock him out with the others. I don't know exactly what they did, but there is something wrong with his mind. I just hope it is not permanent."
"What about Albus?" Harry asked. He had noticed that Rose had skipped over what had happened to him.
"He is waiting by the exit. I couldn't Apparate him in his condition. I don't know how long he can remain conscious. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible. Perhaps I shouldn't even have moved him, but I couldn't just leave them both there."
"Albus is injured?" Harry asked, as if he needed confirmation. Rose sighed. "Yes. The Death Eaters see him as a traitor, and he has not been treated well. But he was doing better until two days ago. My plan backfired and he bore the punishment. I am sorry." Rose looked down on the floor but did not stop moving. Harry tried to take this all in. The thought of his own son being beaten made him angry beyond belief. He had suspected something like it, but that did not make it easier to hear.
"Why don't we just Apparate there? Or at least to the entrance to Knockturn Alley?" Hermione asked.
"Can we do that?" Rose asked back. "When I tried Apparating straight here, I was blocked. I assumed you had blocked all Apparating into the Ministry again. I came in through the Visitor Entrance."
"From Apparating in yes, but not out. Not for me anyway," Hermione pointed out.
Rose stopped and smiled at her mother. They held hands, and Harry held on to Hermione and another Auror until they had made a tight group. A group of 7 was all they dared to try. The rest went towards the fireplaces, where they would travel by Floo Powder to Diagon Alley and then find them in Knockturn Alley. It was a familiar route for most of them.
Rose Apparated them to a dark corner about halfway down the alley. Harry didn't see an opening in the wall, but Rose only searched for a moment before she found it. She drew a huge sigh of relief. "I was worried it would have closed again. But the rock kept it open. I couldn't count on Albus being able to open it. It would be sad if I had to blast open both ends of this passage."
Harry wanted to ask about all the details but figured it could wait until after they were more secure.
Once they had entered the secret space, Rose went over to a corner, where it looked like a pile of rags had been left. But then the rags moved.
"Rose. You came back. I was almost beginning to worry you wouldn't find me again." a faint voice said.
"Shh," Rose said gently. "Of course, I came back. I wouldn't leave you. Have you heard anything?"
"No. No sound from there, or from outside until you came back. So, if they are already awake, they have not found the opening yet."
Harry gasped when he saw Albus. This was even worse than Rose had led him to believe. One of the Aurors, who was good with Healing spells, came forward and examined him. "He is not in immediate danger, but we should get him to St. Mungo's right away, sir," he said.
"Yes." Harry agreed. "Why don't you take him there and on the way tell the other Aurors our exact location. He should not be Apparated anywhere in his condition. Together, we will probably be able to deal with whatever is in there." The Auror nodded and lifted Albus up. One of the others produced a stretcher and she started running out of the alley. Luckily, it wasn't that far to St. Mungo's.
"They don't have any wands." Rose said. "I took those and left them here." She pointed to what had just looked like a pile of sticks. Hermione smiled and gave her daughter a hug. "Good job," she said. "How many are there? Is it only the 10 who escaped from Azkaban?"
"Yes, just them, plus Scorpius. Most of them are hopefully still sleeping from the Sleeping powder I was able to get into them. Lestrange didn't eat his pancakes, so I had to hit him with a Body-bind Curse. I don't know how long they hold, so I gave him a dose of the sleeping powder too. They are probably still sleeping, but I can't guarantee it." Rose sounded very business-like, as if she were giving a report on a mission. Harry started giving orders, sending in the Aurors in teams of two as soon as they arrived. He wanted Rose to remain behind, but she refused.
"I know the layout of the building." she said. "Besides, Scorpius might wake up, as I didn't give him an extra dose. He has grown very protective of me and there is no telling what he might do if I am not there."
Harry couldn't very well argue with that. And as Hermione didn't protest, Harry let Rose lead them into the corridor again. But at least she let two teams of Aurors lead the way as they went up the narrow corridor.
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