Are You The One That I Want? (Dramione Love Story)

Chapter 44: Gone

Chapter 44: Gone

Draco storms out of The Three Broomsticks and runs towards the place he met his father a while back. His mind is racing so fast he barely can register what he's actually thinking, the only thing he knows is that if he doesn't hurry, he might be too late and he can't be too late. He pushes himself further and further to run harder and harder through the snow. When he nears the place he sees footprints, only for them to stop a few feet away. Draco stops and looks around him. 'HERMIONE!' he yells, but there's no response. He frantically looks around him again, only to find another pair of footprints leading from and to the forest. Draco starts running again, following the footprints. 'HERMIONE!' he yells again, needing to hear her voice. She can't be gone, she can't be. Draco runs faster, following the footprints further into the forest, until they stop. Draco's eyes dart from tree to tree back to the path. 'HERMIONE!' he yells desperately.
'DRACO!'
Draco turns around and sees Harry, Ron and Christopher run up to him. 'Have you found her?' Ginny asks, appearing next to Harry. 'Tell me she's here.'
'The footprints stop here.' Draco tells her, turning back around to look at the ground where two footprints are the last ones to be seen.
'We have to find her.' Harry says. 'She can't just be gone.'
'They might have apparated away from here, how are we ever going to find her now?' Christopher asks.
'We will find her.' Harry says determined.
'We have to go to McGonagall.' Ginny says. 'She might be able to help us.'
'We can't just leave without looking!' Draco snaps.
'Ron, you go look in that direction, Christopher, you go to the left.' Harry says. 'Ginny look over there and Malfoy look straight ahead. I'll send a patronus to McGonagall to inform her what has happened.' Harry finishes. They all nod and set off in the different directions. Draco runs through the snow as fast as he can to search his assigned part of the forest, but after thirty minutes of manically searching he hasn't found anything. Draco returns to the place the footsteps had disappeared and looks down at them. She can't be gone, she can't be. He had finally found happiness and now someone ripped his happiness away. He knows he has to find her, but how? How do you find someone when they've been taken away from you and why would someone take her? Is it because of him?
'Draco?'
Draco turns around and sees Ginny walk up to him. 'Have you found anything?' he asks.
Ginny shakes her head, her cheeks flushed from running. 'You?'
'No.' he sighs. 'What do we do now?'
'I think we'd better go back to Hogwarts to find McGonagall.' Ginny says.
'We can't leave her-'
'We're not, but there's nothing here. We shouldn't waste time looking for some kind of clue, knowing there probably won't be one.' Ginny says. 'Time is something we won't be able to turn back, we need to sort everything out and do the best we can to help Hermione.'
'Can we? Can we help her? We don't even know who took her.' Draco says, desperation waving through his voice.
'We'll do everything we can and we will find her.' Ginny says. 'Harry and the boys have returned to Hogwarts five minutes ago. They haven't found anything either.'
Draco nods. 'Let's go.' he says, casting a glance over his shoulder at the empty forest.

After having found McGonagall she told them shehad already informed the Ministry of Magic and they'd send Aurors out to go andlook for Hermione. She told them to sit tight and if she received anyinformation whatsoever, she'd inform them right away. They had all gone to theGryffindor Tower, which was empty apart from the five of them. 'What do we donow?' Draco asks.
'We wait.' Ginny sighs, sitting down on the couch in front of the fireplace.
'We can't just sit around and wait for the Ministry to find her. She's indanger.'
'We don't know that.' Ginny tries.
'Hermione's kidnapped.' Draco states. 'Good people don't kidnap others. There'sa reason as to why this person has kidnapped her and it can't be good.'
'You shouldn't think like that.' Ginny states. 'We have to stay positive.'
'It's rather hard to while we have to sit and do nothing while your friend andmy girlfriend is who knows where withwho knows who.'
'Are you serious? Or are you really this stupid?' Ron asks.
'Excuse me?' Draco says, narrowing his eyes.
'You really have no idea who might've taken Hermione?' Ron asks.
'What do you mean? You do know who took her?'
'The Shrieking Shack, doesn't that sound familiar?' Ron tells him.
'What do you mean Ronald?' Ginny asks.
'The last person I saw near the Shrieking Shack was Lucius Malfoy. Don't youthink it's odd that Hermione finds a note that tells her to meet you near theShrieking Shack when you didn't give her that note and Irecall seeing you meet up with your father at the same location a few weeksago?'
'What is he talking about?' Harry asks.
Draco slowly shakes his head. 'Are you saying my father kidnapped Hermione?'
'That's exactly what I'm aiming for, yes. Who else would want to kidnapHermione?'
'I could think of a few people.' Draco says.
'All Death Eaters, aren't they?' Ron remarks.
'Ronald stop it.' Ginny hisses.
'Are you sure you didn't give her that note, Malfoy?' Ron asks.
'Ronald!' Ginny snaps, giving her brother a deadly glare. 'You should know whento keep your bloody mouth shut. Draco wouldn't put Hermione's life in danger!'
Draco rubs his temple with two fingers, pacing back and forth, Ron's wordsrushing through his head.
'So let's say it was Lucius Malfoy-' Harry starts.
'Are you serious, Harry?' Ginny sighs.
'I'm just thinking.' Harry tells her. 'So Lucius Malfoy kidnapped Hermione, hecouldn't have given her a note here in the castle. He wouldn't have been ableto come in here. So it has to be someone here in the castle who gave her thenote or made her find the note.'
'The only question remains-' Chris starts.
'If Lucius Malfoy took Hermione.'Ginny interrupts.
'Who gave Hermione the note?' Chris finishes.
'Draco? What do you think?' Ginny asks, looking up at him.
Draco stops mid pace and looks up at Ginny. 'I don't know.'
'Great addition to the team.' Ron mutters under his breath, earning a hardpunch against the arm from his sister.
'Stop it.' Ginny hisses. 'Is it possible your father knows about Hermione andyou? It has been in the papers after all.'
'I don't think he'd stop to read a newspaper as he tries to stay out of thehands of the Aurors that are after him.' Draco answers. 'He could know.'
'He wouldn't hurt Hermione just because she's together with you, right?' Chrisasks.
Draco turns his eyes to Chris and shrugs. 'He has done worse.' Draco answers.
Chris gulps and slowly nods. 'Can't you get in contact with your father?'
'I wouldn't know how.' Draco sighs. 'He contacted me last time.'
'There must be a way, maybe your mother knows how to contact him?' Chrissuggests.
'How am I going to contact her? Our letters are read by the Ministry before wereceive them. We'll be thrown into Azkaban if I'd ask her to help me find myfather, they'd think we're helping him.' Draco says. 'She has gone throughenough, she doesn't need me to rip her freedom away from her.'
'Aren't we going to discuss the fact there was a last time he contacted you?' Harryasks.
'Not now.' Draco says. 'We've got a more urgent topic to discuss.'
'Obviously, but why did your father contact you?' Harry asks. 'Did he ask youabout Hermione?'
'No.' Draco shook his head. 'He asked for me to come with him. He said we'd getmy mother and flee the country to start over somewhere else. I told him to staythe hell away from us.'
'He didn't even ask once for further information about school? Or anythingelse?' Ron asks.
Draco shook his head again. 'He just wanted to run away, preferably with thetwo of us, but I made clear that won't be happening.'
'Do you have any idea where he might be hiding out?' Harry asks.
'Maybe he has already fled the country.' Draco shrugs.
'I don't think he has.' Harry says.
'Why not?' Ginny asks, turning to look at her boyfriend.
'Because he wanted for the two of them to join him, I don't think he'd justshrug and go on with his journey.'
'I wouldn't be so sure about it.' Draco says. 'And shouldn't we be thinking ofother people who might've kidnapped Hermione?'
'Who would do such a thing?' Ginny asks.
'And who here in Hogwarts helped?' Chris finishes. 

A/N

Thanks to procrastination I've managed to finish a new chapter! I hope you like it and I'll do my best to write a new chapter as soon as possible!

lots of love

xx