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Restoration of Magic	By : Bickymonster & CelticKitsune Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 10396 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or any concepts or characters associated with it. We are not making any money from this this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
The response to the prologue was spectacular! We are glad that people seem to be enjoying this fic already. There has been no set schedule for updating yet, but we do hope that the wait between chapters won't be to long. So! Here is chapter one, hope you all enjoy!

Also, thank you to Emily for all her help.
Chapter 1

March 1981

Dumbledore was no stranger to war and the tragedy that was brought with it. He had seen many good families torn apart and lives snuffed out because someone had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or had spoken out against the rising evil threatening the world they lived in. Though it was sad, it was something that was expected. However, recent events had Dumbledore concerned, as he sat behind his desk reading over the letter that he had received from Gideon and Fabian Prewett.

The letter was short, giving no more information other than their youngest nephew, Ronald Weasley, had disappeared overnight, and the brothers felt it was their duty to help their sister at the moment, and as such would not be available for the Order in the weeks to come. Dumbledore understood this decision, and would of course have to inform the Order of this recent occurrence. But the news that another child had gone missing truly worried Dumbledore.

He had spoken to Frank Longbottom about the number of missing children cases, so he knew that the Aurors were doing the best they could, and like most things in the ministry, the amount of missing children was being kept quiet, but Frank had pointed out similarities between the cases, and it had become quite obvious to Dumbledore that someone was collecting young children from wizarding families. There were just over half a dozen cases over the last few years that had come to Dumbledore’s attention, but he had a suspicion that there had been others. And though the Weasley family was not part of the Order, they were still connected to it through the Prewett brothers.

Deciding that he needed to speak with Molly and Arthur himself, but knowing that the couple may not want unexpected company at the moment, Dumbledore reached for some parchment and wrote out a quick reply to Fabian, expressing his desire to meet Molly and Arthur as soon as possible. Dumbledore handed the letter to Fawkes once he was done, the Phoenix taking off to deliver it.

Dumbledore knew it was doubtful that he would find anything that the Aurors had overlooked, but with all the cases of missing children, all of them very similar to this one, Dumbledore was very sure that there was something more going on than simple kidnappings and missing children. He had his suspicions, but there had not been enough evidence to prove or disprove anything. If young Ronald’s disappearance turned out to be similar to the others, then the youngest Weasley would be the third child connected to the Order of the Phoenix that had gone missing in the last six months.

Half an hour had gone by when Dumbledore’s fireplace came to life in a flash of green flame. Looking up from his desk, the Headmaster saw Gideon’s head in the flames. Dumbledore hurriedly stood from his behind his desk and moved to kneel down in front of the fireplace so he could speak with the man there.

“We just received your letter,” Gideon said without wasting any time, “Does you wanting to meet with my sister and her husband have anything to do with what you and Frank were discussing after the Bones’ little girl went missing?”

Dumbledore sighed sadly and inclined his head in confirmation. “I am unsure if your nephew’s disappearance is truly connected, but I hope that speaking with Molly and Arthur would help establish that. However, regardless of whether it is or not, I still wish to give my condolences to your family, and offer to help in any way that I can,” he added.

Gideon nodded his head once, giving the man a grateful smile. “I suppose now would be as good a time as any. Come through,” Gideon said and he removed his head from the fireplace.

Dumbledore didn’t need to be told twice, glad that Gideon had got back to him so quickly and so, using the floo powder he kept on the mantle, he head straight through to the Burrow.

----------------x

Stepping through the Floo to the other side, Gideon greeted Dumbledore with a hearty-handshake, and a grateful, but sad smile. Looking around, the Headmaster took in the sight before him.

Sitting scattered around the living room were the four of the five other Weasley children; ten-year-old Bill had one of the two-year-old twins on his lap, and he seemed to be trying to comfort his confused little brother. Eight-year old Charlie, next to them on the sofa, was looking miserable and four-year-old Percy was sat at a small desk, seemingly in his own little world, his little legs swinging as he nibbled at the sandwich in front of him. The other twin was sat on Fabian’s hip, whining into his uncle’s shoulder.

“Albus,” Fabian greeted, spotting the Headmaster standing next to the fireplace. “Arthur went upstairs to check on Molly, but he’ll be back down in a moment,” he explained, placing the twin in his arms down onto his own two feet. “Go give Charlie a cuddle, George,” he instructed, George looked up at his uncle for a moment before hurrying over to where Charlie was seated, latching onto his older brother.

Charlie smiled as he looked down at his little brother, before helping George to climb up, wrapping his arms securely around his baby brother as they snuggled closer to each other. A laugh escaped him when Fred all but threw himself off of Bill’s lap to join in the cuddles.

“They seem to be holding up well,” Albus commented quietly as he followed Gideon and Fabian towards the kitchen, wanting to put a little distance between them and the children so that he could speak more frankly.

“I am not sure that they entirely know what is happening,” Gideon said sadly, as he filled and started the kettle. “Bill and Charlie seem to understand, at least to some extent, and the twins and Percy know something is wrong… There were a lot of tears and questions about Ron yesterday,” he explained wearily. “But none of us really know what to tell them,” Gideon admitted.

“It’s not exactly an easy thing to tell adults who will understand, but how do you even begin to explain to children that their baby brother is gone?” Fabian sighed sitting down at the table.

“We will sit down as a family later, when Molly has had at least some rest, and explain everything as best we can,” Gideon said, looking at his brother, who let out another sigh and nodded. It was at that moment that Arthur came into the kitchen, looking as tired as Dumbledore had ever seen him.

“I am so sorry, Arthur,” Dumbledore said earnestly, reaching out to clasp one of the man’s hands between his own. “I wish there was something I could do.”

“I think we all wish that, sir,” Arthur told him, forcing a smile that didn’t even come close to reaching his eyes, before peering into the living room to check on his children.

Dumbledore followed the man’s gaze to where the twins were now sat on the floor playing with Charlie and Bill; Percy was still happily at his little desk. “I cannot imagine how difficult this must be for you all. Particularly the children,” the Headmaster commented, seeing the concern on Arthur’s face as he looked at them.

“I am worried about Molly too,” Arthur told him, sharing a look with his wife’s twin brothers, that spoke of their shared concern.

“All this stress cannot be good for the baby,” Fabian agreed, as he collected several mugs from one of the cupboards and added tea to the teapot.

“And it was late by the time the Aurors all left yesterday,” Gideon pointed out, as he decanted the boiling water into a pot Fabian had just sorted, the two of the working in a natural unity that spoke a great deal of their closeness.

“And then she got next to no sleep last night…” Arthur told them; though it didn’t look like he had slept much either, not that this surprised anyone in the circumstances.

“But she is sleeping now?” Dumbledore asked hopefully, glancing up at the ceiling. Arthur let out a sad but relieved sigh and nodded his head.

“She is, thankfully,” Arthur confirmed, leaning against the worksurface, and looking as though it was more or less all that was keeping him on his feet.

“I was worried that one of us might have to put a mild sleeping potion or some dreamless sleep in her tea,” Gideon commented, causing the others to turn to look at him.

“But it thankfully did not come to that,” Fabian added pointedly, earning a nod of agreement from his brother.

“Though we don’t know how long she will actually stay asleep,” Arthur pointed out wryly. As much as he didn’t like the idea of drugging his wife, he knew that Gideon had a point and that they might have to at some point in the next few days if she didn’t manage to get some rest on her own.

Dumbledore nodded his understanding, hoping that Molly could manage to rest enough without potion assistance because the family didn’t really need anything else to worry about. The Headmaster was certainly reluctant to put Arthur under any more stress, knowing that the man was worried about his missing son and his pregnant wife’s health, but there were questions he still had to ask.

“Was there nothing strange?” the Headmaster asked, and Arthur looked up and him and shook his head. “No indication that something was different? Nothing that, even if only in hindsight, struck you as odd?”

“No, nothing; nothing at all,” Arthur said with a tone of desperation, “I have been asking myself the same thing, racking my brain, ever since Molly found his cot empty.” He paused for a moment to gather himself, the words clearly painful to speak, “I just can’t understand why. Why our little boy? Why were our other boys left alone? Though don’t get me wrong, I am very glad they were, but...”

“I wish I had answers for you, Arthur,” Dumbledore told him, resting his hand on the man’s arm. He had spent the last few months desperately searching for those very answers for two other families, but with no luck, and he hated that even more now in the face of Ron’s kidnapping. “What did the Aurors have to say?”

“They didn’t have any more answers than you do,” Arthur snapped, pulling away and turning to look out of the window, staring off into the distance. “Nobody has anything more to offer than ‘sorry’. We don’t need ‘sorry’, we need our son back!” he exclaimed, slamming his hand down on the worksurface.

“Arthur! We are all worried and stressed, but that’s no reason to-”

“That is quite alright, Fabian,” Dumbledore interrupted, watching as Arthur took a slow calming breath. The kitchen was silent other than the soft clinking sounds of Gideon pouring the tea.

Dumbledore waited quietly, giving Arthur a moment before speaking again. “I am certain that the Aurors are doing everything in their power to make that happen, to bring Ronald home,” Dumbledore assured him, quite unfazed by Arthur’s outburst, and accepting a cup of tea as Gideon started handing them out.

“I know,” Arthur said with a sigh, taking a moment to sip from his own cup. “But I have a horrible feeling that it’s not going to be enough,” Arthur admitted sadly. Gideon and Fabian exchanged a look, but neither of them knew what to say to reassure their brother-in-law. “Frank was here, with the Aurors,” Arthur continued. “His boy, Neville is about eight months old, not much younger than Ron really. I could see him putting himself in our shoes and even he was offering sympathies not hope.”

Dumbledore frowned slightly to himself; though he did believe that the Aurors would do their best to bring the youngest Weasley boy home, he silently agreed with Arthur, that it may not be enough. There was something bigger going on, something that had to do with babies going missing. However, his thought process was interrupted before he could fully follow it through.

“We’ll find him,” Molly said from the entrance to the kitchen and the four men turned to her. “Don’t you dare give up on our little boy, Arthur Weasley,” she said firmly, her hand pressed against the slight curve of her four month pregnancy bump.

Gideon set his cup of tea down, moving over to his sister, only to be waved off while she continued looking at Arthur, clearly waiting for the man to say something.

“Never, my love,” Arthur promised sincerely, putting his tea down and hurrying over to her side, horrified that she would even think he might. “There is nothing on this earth that could make me give up on finding Ron! Now, what happened to you getting rest?” he asked fondly.

Molly sighed. “Nightmare, woke me up. How are the boys doing?” she asked, not even trying to be subtle about her change of subject. “Have they had something to eat?”

“They are fine,” Gideon spoke, as it had been he and Fabian keeping an eye on the kids most of the morning; Arthur was trying, but he was understandably tired and distracted.

“They all ate,” Fabian said when Molly turned her attention toward them. “Percy had a bit of a temper-tantrum while the others were eating, but he is having a sandwich at his desk in the living room now.”

“You really should be getting some more sleep though,” Gideon said, worry for his sister clearly showing on his face. “Both of you,” he added with a glance at Arthur.

“I can’t!” Molly snapped irritably, glaring at her brother. “I close my eyes and I can see him. I lie down in a quiet room and my ears are filled with his cries. I just can’t. I need to be with the boys,” she said, turning and heading back into the living room.

Albus could hear the happy cries of the other Weasley children as they spotted their mother, but the moment was broken by the suppressed sob that Arthur let out. The man was watching his family, his hand over his mouth to muffle the heart-wrenching sound. Gideon and Fabian looked at each other, almost unsure of what to do, before Fabian sighed and walked over to his brother-in-law, wrapping his arms around him and offering what support he could.

Dumbledore's heart truly went out to this family. He wished that he could offer hope to them, hope that Ron would be returned safe and sound and everything would be right again, but the more he dug, the more he uncovered, the more he had realised that there was little hope he could offer. All he could promise was that he would not stop looking, not for Ron, not for the other children that had gone missing.

“Dad?” the small uncertain voice said. Fabian and Gideon looked toward the door to see Bill to standing in the doorway. The ten year old was looking at his father in concern, and Arthur composed himself quickly; the last thing any of his children needed was to see him like this right now.

“Yes Bill, what did you need?” Arthur asked, turning to face his eldest son. Bill held up an empty cup.

“George wanted something to drink,” Bill explained and Arthur nodded, going over to take the cup from Bill so he could fill it.

“How you holding up?” Gideon asked and Bill looked toward his uncle, shrugging a shoulder unsure of how to answer that question.

“Okay,” the ten year old answered, looking back at Arthur again. Bill bit his lower lip as he continued watching his father move around the kitchen. Gideon could almost see his nephew silently debating with himself, and before Gideon could ask what was on his mind, the boy spoke again, catching them all by surprise with his words.

“Ron’s going to be okay, ” Bill said decisively, looking directly at his father. Arthur nearly dropped the cup as he turned to look at Bill, before a small smile spread across his face, this one a little more genuine than the one that Dumbledore had seen when he first arrived.

“Of course he will,” Arthur said, setting the cup down, going back over to Bill and pulling the ten year old into a hug. “Ron will be back with us in no time,” Arthur said. Bill leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms around his father’s waist hugging him back tightly.

“He’s a Weasley, he’s going to be okay,” Bill said and Arthur tightened his arms around Bill, hugging him tighter for a second before he felt a tiny hand tapping on his leg. Letting go Arthur looked down and smiled when he saw George.

“Did you come in here looking for your drink?” Arthur asked, bending down to pick George up.

“Fursty, Da,” George said with a nod of his head.

“Then let’s get you that drink,” Arthur smiled and carried George over to where he had put the cup down, handing it to his son. “Why don’t you go back into the living room with your big brother and play?” he suggested but George shook his head.

“No,” George said stubbornly, shaking his head and taking a few gulps of his drink.

Fabian chuckled, shaking his head. George was normally a very clingy child, but it seemed to be a lot worse today, making the two year old even more stubborn than usual. Looking around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he raised an eyebrow at his brother when Gideon motioned for him to follow. Dumbledore continued watching Arthur with his two sons for a moment longer before he followed Gideon and Fabian out the kitchen door into the back yard.

“Well?” Gideon asked, once the door had closed behind them, and he had turned to face the Headmaster. “Is this just like those other cases?” he asked.

“It is very similar,” Dumbledore sighed sadly. “I will keep looking for answers, and I promise that we will find the missing children, though it may take some time, as whoever is behind this has left no clues,” Dumbledore said.

Fabian clenched his hands into fists. “It makes no sense!” he practically shouted only to be shushed by Gideon.

“You’re right, Fab, it doesn’t make any sense. Why only take Ron, when there were other kids here too? And even if they were only looking for younger kids, Fred and George are only two, so why not them? But none of that matters,” Gideon said and looked toward Dumbledore. “We are going to be staying here for a while. If there is an emergency in the Order, one of us can be available, but our family needs us right now,” Gideon said.

Dumbledore nodded his understanding. “I will let you know if I find anything,” the Headmaster assured them. The brothers nodded. “Now go and spend time with your family, and please let Arthur and Molly know that if they need anything at all, I will do whatever I can to help,” Dumbledore said, earning grateful smiles from both Gideon and Fabian.

They watched as Dumbledore made his way down the pathway, passed the garden gate and apparated away. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Fabian turned and walked back into the house. Trusting that Gideon would follow.

Arthur was sat at the table, still holding George as the two year old happily snuggled into his father’s chest. Bill seemed to have taken it upon himself to pick up the forgotten mugs of tea and wash them out. Fabian headed over to his nephew and began helping with the self appointed task, while Gideon, who had come inside as well, went toward the living room to check on the family there.

Entering the living room Gideon looked at the scene before him; Molly was sitting in a rocking chair holding Fred, the two year old looked to have fallen asleep curled up in his mother’s lap, while Charlie was entertaining Percy by reading a book about Dragons. Percy didn’t seem to be all that interested in the book, but at the same time seemed to want the attention from his older brother.

“Did Dumbledore leave already?” Molly asked, keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake her napping son.

Gideon nodded. “He had some other business he had to get to...” Gideon trailed off watching his sister as she looked down sadly.

“You and Fabian do not have to stay here. I know that there are more important things that you two need to be doing,” Molly said and Gideon sighed, walking over and kneeling on the floor next to the rocking chair, reaching up and gently running his fingers through Fred’s hair as he watched his nephew sleep.

“Our family is what is important, that is why Fab and I are in the Order, that is why we fight, to keep you all safe,” Gideon said, looking up at Molly, who was now watching him with unshed tears in her eyes. “We are staying right here.”

----------------x

August 1981

It had been four months since Ron had been kidnapped, and there was still no sign of the red-headed child. However, it was far too soon to give up hope; the Aurors were still working hard trying to locate not only the missing Weasley child, but the other children too. There were still open cases of missing children dating back at least three years.

Though kidnappings were not unheard of, and people disappeared without a trace, Frank had noticed an unusual pattern with the recent kidnappings; all the children that had gone missing had been around the age of one year old. When he had mentioned this to Dumbledore at the end of the last Order meeting, the Headmaster had agreed with his conclusions.

“You’re not still trying to put all those cases together are you, Longbottom?” John Dawlish, one of the other Aurors, asked, stuffing a completed report into the completed pile for the Head of Department to sign off on and gathering his things to head home for the night.

Frank looked up from the folders spread across his desk with surprise, having been so lost in his own thoughts. He looked around and realised that almost everyone else was gone and a quick tempus spell told him that it was far later than he had intended to stay.

“I really think there’s something to it, John,” Frank said with exasperation. He was sure that these kidnappings were linked, had been for some time, but his colleagues either couldn’t or didn’t want to see it. He suspected, at least as far as their boss was concerned, that it was more the latter. With everything going on with Voldemort, Frank did understand not wanting to add to their workload, but he couldn’t sit back and ignore what was happening to these young children.

“On your head be it,” Dawlish said with a shrug of his shoulders as he approached Frank’s desk and glanced over the files spread out there. “But the boss won’t like it if you spend too much time on it. He already told you that he wasn’t going to make those into one case, and you know perfectly well that he won’t like having to repeat himself.”

“Moody thinks I have something,” Frank pointed out, leaning back in his chair to fix the other man with a stern look but John just scoffed derisively.

“Having Mad-eye on your side doesn’t exactly do you any favours, Frank,” Dawlish pointed out and Frank narrowed his eyes in annoyance. “Just saying, Moody is paranoid, and whether you’re right or not, having him as your main supporter won’t help convince anyone.”

“If people would just look at the files, they would be able to see what I’m seeing,” Frank said in annoyance. “Look at this one here,” he pointed to the folder he had been looking at. “The Diggory boy has been missing for two and half years; he had just turned one when he was taken from his cot in the middle of the night, his parents didn’t hear anything, there was no trace of a break in, their wards were even still up,” Frank pointed out.

Dawlish looked as if he were going to say something but Frank continued before he had a chance to speak.

“And this one,” Frank held up another folder. “Lee Jordan,” he said, before holding up folder after folder as he listed off names. “Rodger Davis, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Terry Boot, all of them, the same thing! I refuse to sit here and have someone tell me that there’s no connection between any of these, the most recent kidnapping being Arthur Weasley’s youngest boy,” Frank sighed, looking down at the folders again. “At this point I don’t really care if this get’s approved to be one case or not, I’m going to continue working on it as if it was one,”

“Alright, I get it,” Dawlish said with resignation. “Look, I’ll help you if and when I can, okay? There is obviously some connection that you’re seeing, and even I can admit that the amount of missing kids over the past few years has been a little high.”

Dawlish picked up one of the folders looking it over; this folder belonged to a Susan Bones, who had been taken in January and whose family had all but been wiped out by Death Eaters in November. The poor girl would have no one but her one remaining Aunt to come back to even if they could find her. John let out a small sigh and put the file back down on the worryingly large pile.

“For now, why don’t you pack all these up, go home to your wife and child,” Dawlish suggested, feeling exhausted even looking at what Frank was trying to piece together. “And I can help you with this starting tomorrow.”

Frank gave Dawlish a grateful smile. “Thank you,” he said earnestly, glad to have at least one other person in the department taking him seriously.

“So long as you know it’s your head on the chopping block if we get in trouble for this,” Dawlish said as he helped Frank start stacking the files up into a neat pile.

Frank let out a small chuckle nodding his head. “Of course, this is all my crazy idea after all,” he said, standing up from his desk once the files were neatly stacked and put away for the night. “Thank you though, this will be easier with even a little bit of help.”

“Maybe now you’ll stop working so late?” Dawlish suggested while he watched Frank gather up his things so they could both head home.

“I really didn’t mean to stay so late today, but you saw that stack of folders, that is a lot of children to just go missing without a trace, and all when they’re around a year old,” Frank said, following Dawlish toward the elevator.

“I have to wonder, are you working so hard on this case because you have a son that just turned a year old?” Dawlish questioned, stepping into the elevator and looking at Frank, who stepped in beside him.

Frank let out a long sigh, closing his eyes; he would be lying if he said that the thought had not crossed his mind. Every new case that came in he couldn’t help but think, ‘what if it was Neville’; even the thought of his son being kidnapped had prompted him to put up stronger wards around his house and alarms around his son’s cot. He was determined that nothing was going to be getting near his son without him or his wife knowing about it.

“It’s hard not to think of something like that while working on this case,” Frank finally said.

“I guess I can understand that,” Dawlish said and the two of them fell silent as they rode the elevator down. When it came to a stop and the doors opened Dawlish looked at Frank. “I suppose I will see you in the morning, though maybe you should take the morning off. After working late so often, I’m sure your wife and kid miss you.”

Frank laughed at that but nodded his agreement. “If I get in trouble for showing up late, I’ll just let them know you gave me permission to sleep in,” Frank said, heading toward one of the fireplaces. Taking some of the floo powder provided, he threw it into the fireplace, watching the flames turn green before stepping in and heading home.

As Frank stepped out of the floo into his sitting room, he wasn’t all that surprised to find the place dark; he really had remained at work a lot longer than he had intended to. Being as quiet as he could, he made his way upstairs wondering if Alice had gone to bed early; Neville was cutting a tooth at the moment and Frank knew that their son’s fussing was leaving Alice exhausted.

He poked his head around the door to Neville’s nursery, his brow furrowing at the sight of the dark, empty room. “Alice?” he called out, heading down the hallway towards their bedroom, assuming that his wife had decided to take their son to bed with her, as she tended to do when Neville wouldn’t settle. “Alice?” he called out a little more quietly, not wanting to wake his family if they were sleeping.

However, as he stepped into his bedroom, it was immediately apparent that Alice was not asleep, and that something was terribly wrong. Alice was sat on the floor at the foot of their bed, her knees up to her chest as she held Neville’s blanket in clenched fists, close to her chest. Her quiet sobs were the only sound in the room.

“Merlin, Alice!” Frank cried out, rushing forward and dropping to his knees next to his wife. He reached out and tipped her face to look up at him. “Alice,” he said, his voice a little more than a whisper, dreading what he already knew his wife was going to tell him.

“They took him,” Alice said, and from her expression, Frank could tell that his wife was in shock. “They took him,” she said again, heavy tears falling unbidden down her face.

“Neville. Alice, where’s Neville?” Frank asked desperately, not wanting to believe what his wife was telling him. He didn’t want to hear it, it was what he had feared most after finding the connection between all those other kidnappings.

“They took him,” Alice said again, opening her mouth to say more but finding herself without words, she leaned sideways, all but falling into her husband’s arms,her crying getting worse. “They took Neville,” she sobbed, and Frank’s arms tightening around her as he tried to calm his own racing heart.

“Who took him, Alice?” Frank asked urgently, pulling his wife back from his embrace to look her in the eye, his Auror instincts kicking in. “Who, Alice?” But his wife simply shook her head, her hands curling in his shirt, holding on for dear life, as though frightened that he too would slip through her fingers.

“THEY took him,” Alice said as if willing him to understand who ‘they’ were. Frank wanted to push her for answers; she had seen someone, or something, take their son, but was unable to tell him who it had been. However, as he looked at his wife, he knew he couldn’t push her; whatever she had seen had frightened her. Alice was as good of an Auror as he was, if not better, and certainly would not have just let anyone come in here and take their son.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who ‘they’ are,” Frank said, pulling his wife closer to him. “You saw who took him?” Frank asked, frowning when he didn’t get an answer. He glanced down at her and saw that she was looking at Neville’s blanket, the one she had been holding when he found her. “We need to contact Dumbledore,” Frank said, moving to stand up so he could help Alice to her feet, but she held on tighter to him. Frank knelt back down and looked her in the eye.

“Alice, we need to contact Dumbledore, he has to know about this. We are going to get Neville back,” Frank said, though he couldn’t help but feel that he was making an empty promise, after all, the Aurors hadn’t found any of the other missing children; the only thing that made a difference now was that Alice had actually seen something, it was a lead that they had never had before.

Alice shook her head. “They took him, Frank, he… he’s not coming back,” she sounded so defeated as she said this.

“No, don’t think like that! We will get him back, I promise, Alice, we will get him back,” Frank said firmly, standing up again and gently pulling Alice to her feet. He watched as his wife quickly snatched Neville’s blanket off the floor where it had fallen, holding it close to her once again.

Frank lead her out of their bedroom, taking her downstairs, where he sat her down on the couch. “I need to call Dumbledore now,” Frank said, frowning when Alice gave no indication that she had even heard him. He let her go, watching her for a moment before he turned toward the fireplace, pulling out his wand and starting a quick fire before grabbing the floo powder as he knelt down and threw it into the flames.

“Headmaster’s office, Hogwarts” he instructed as he put his head into the fire. “Albus,” he said breathlessly as the office came into focus and he saw Dumbledore turn from the bookcase he had been examining, to look towards the fireplace.

“Frank,” the Headmaster said, sounding more than a little surprised to see the man there. “Is everything okay?” he asked, crossing the office and kneeling down to be able to better see Frank.

“No, Albus, it’s not. Far from it,” Frank said sadly. It was taking all his will power to hold himself together but he had to do it for Neville’s sake. “Neville’s been taken.”

“Merlin,” Dumbledore gasped out, allowing his heart to break for the Longbottom family for just a moment, before forcing himself into action. “Move aside, Frank, I’m coming through. Have you contacted the Aurors yet?”

“No, I wanted you here first,” Frank told him. “The Aurors completely failed to find any of the others and I can’t trust them to find my son. But Albus… Alice saw whoever it was,” he added, watching the Headmaster for his reaction.

“She saw them?” Albus asked in surprise, hope flaring within him for all the children that had been taken. “Who did she see?”

Frank sighed heavily. “I don’t know, I think there is something keeping her from saying, but I am sure she knows. I need your help, Albus, please. Help us find him, help Alice tell us what she knows.”

“Of course,” Albus promised earnestly. “I will be right over,” Dumbledore said.

Frank nodded and removed his head from the fire, stepping back to the couch where he had left Alice sitting. She was still holding tightly to Neville’s blanket, and every now and then she would repeat, “they took him.” Frank felt sorrow and anger both welling up inside him, sorrow for his lost son, anger at whoever dared kidnap his little boy, and at what they had done to his wife to reduce her to this.

The fireplace flared green as Dumbledore stepped through. “I contacted Moody, he will be coming through as well in a few minutes, I have informed him what you told me,” Dumbledore said and Frank nodded his head, thankful that Dumbledore had called Mad-Eye; if anyone could figure out what was keeping Alice from talking, it was him.

“I am also going to call Dawlish. He agreed to help with the missing children case.” Frank was reluctant to inform anyone else in the Auror office, but he knew that was because no one was going to be of any help to him or his wife, they would come in and ask questions that Frank had already gone over in his head, and the only person who could answer any useful questions was currently unable to.

Dumbledore nodded before turning his attention toward Alice, who hadn’t even looked up or acknowledged that anyone else was even in the room. Taking a few steps forward, Dumbledore sat on the couch next to her. “Alice?” he said, trying to gain her attention.

Alice looked up at Dumbledore, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “They took him,” Alice said.

“That’s all she’s been saying,” Frank informed Dumbledore, who merely nodded but didn’t turn his attention away from the distressed woman.

“Frank has informed me that you are unable to tell us who they are,” Dumbledore said. “Perhaps you could answer yes and no questions?” He suggested and Alice shook her head at that. “Can you give it a try?”

“I… can’t…” Alice said tears falling down her cheeks again as she turned away from the Headmaster, burying her face in Neville’s blanket, allowing the grief and shock of losing her son to overtake her once again.

Frank was by her side then, pulling her close and whispering words of comfort to her. The fireplace flared to life again and Moody stepped out carrying a large bag with him, however Frank only spared him a glance, keeping his attention mostly on his distraught wife. “It will be okay, Alice,” he whispered to her, desperately hoping his words were the truth, but his wife simply continued to sob quietly into the blanket.

“Frank,” Dumbledore said softly and Frank turned to look at the Headmaster. “Maybe you should fetch Dawlish,” he suggested, and Moody nodded curtly in agreement. “An official Auror’s report needs to be filed.”

Frank inclined his head with a sigh, before pressing a kiss to Alice’s temple. “I will be right back,” he promised. “Albus and Alastor are going to stay with you,” he assured her, but his wife didn’t even seem to hear him, or notice as he got back to his feet.

“We will do everything we can,” Albus assured Frank, resting a hand on the man’s shoulder as Frank passed. Frank just nodded vaguely as he headed for the floo, wondering if he was ever going to see his son again.

----------------x

It was just shy of a week after Neville's kidnapping that Dumbledore called for a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix; he felt it was past time that they talked specifically about the threat facing the young children of witches and wizards. Something had to be done about this before more children were lost to this unknown threat.

They had done all they could to extract answers from Alice Longbottom, from Veritaserum to Legilimency, and even the Imperius Curse but it had all been in vain. It was clear that she had seen something of importance and Alastor Moody had wanted to press on until they got answers, but Dumbledore had put his foot down; he was not going to sacrifice Alice’s sanity, no matter how willingly she would give it. He didn’t regret insisting that Alastor stopped, but that regrettably left them with no more information than they had had when any of the other children had been taken.

The members gathered together at the McKinnon family home, one of the few places that was both large and private enough for their needs. Mostly they gathered into small groups around the room, chatting and catching up with those they didn’t get to speak to often, or had to pretend not to know in public.

Dumbledore looked around the room, Fabian was sat with Frank and Alice, as Gideon had remained at the Burrow to keep watch over the family, but as this meeting was important, Dumbledore had insisted that at least one of the brothers attend. Letting out a small sigh, Dumbledore decided it was time to officially start the meeting.

“If we can all take a seat, there is much that we need to discuss this evening,” Dumbledore said gaining everyone’s attention, and watching as those who weren’t already sitting, found a seat. Soon enough the room was silent and all eyes were fixed on Dumbledore.

“What’s so important?” Mundungus asked impatiently, from the other end of the room, where he was sat between Elphias Doge and Benjy Fenwick. “I had an important business meeting, I did. The geezer I were meeting ‘ll find someone else,” he grumbled. “This is costing me money, it is.”

“Shut it, Mundungus,” Moody snapped in annoyance, and when Mundungus fell quiet, the Auror gave Albus a look to tell him to go on.

“As most of you are aware, nearly a week ago young Neville Longbottom was taken from his home,” Albus said, his eyes drifting to where Alice and Frank were sat off to his left, close to Fabian and to Marlene McKinnon, whose house they were currently using.

Mutterings broke out around the table, those who hadn’t heard, asking questions of those around them, trying to figure out how and when this had happened.

“People,” Fabian said loudly, clapping his hands and drawing everyone’s attention to him. “I know this is a shock to some of you, particularly given that it was only four months since my own nephew was taken, but if you will give Albus a chance he will explain what we know.”

“Thank you, Fabian,” Dumbledore said with a nod of his head. “As Fabian pointed out, this is not the first time this has happened to a child related to this Order. Frank, Alastor and I have been looking into this and it has become clear that there is a pattern to these incidents.”

“How can you find a pattern from just two abductions?” Benjy Fenwick questioned, looking sceptical; around the room, there were numerous mutterings of agreement.

“If people would stop talking and let him finish, maybe he’d tell you why?” Sirius suggested earning a sharp elbow in the side from Remus, who was sitting next to him.

“There have been more than two children taken from their homes,” Dumbledore replied, but this time he kept talking, even when people started whispering again. “Young Susan Bones-”

“Was killed with the rest of her family,” Benjy interrupted again.

“Oh for the love of, Benjy! Shut the fuck up and let him finish!” Sirius snapped, this time earning a smack on his head from Remus, most likely from the language he had used. But regardless of the physical abuse he was receiving from the werewolf, Sirius was still satisfied that he had gotten Benjy to shut his mouth.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, “Susan Bones was not killed with the rest of her family, though that was believed to be true. She was not in the house the night of the attack, because she was already missing.”

“Since when?” Marlene asked, looking quite alarmed by this news. She had been devastated by the murders of the Bones family, particularly Susan’s mother, who had been a good friend of hers for many years. The news that little Susan might still be alive somewhere, but out of reach, was so bittersweet.

“Since last October,” Frank said, having read Susan’s file more times than he would like to admit. “She’s been missing for nearly ten months. And don’t think we haven’t turned over every stone to try and find her.”

“Frank is right,” Albus said. “We have tried everything we could think of to locate Susan, just as we are doing for Ron and Neville. However, this has so far proven fruitless, which is one of the reasons that I am bringing this to your attention. I am hopeful that between us, we might be able to find something to go on.”

“I’m not saying there isn’t a link, and I mean no disrespect,” Dedalus said, nodding to Alice, Frank and Fabian, before turning to look towards Dumbledore, “but three children, spaced out over ten months… are we certain they are connected?”

“It’s more than three,” Sirius burst out, apparently unable to hold himself back any longer. “It’s not just Susan, Neville and Ron,” he added, ignoring the annoyed look that Remus was giving him. “They should know,” he added, glancing to Dumbledore.

The Headmaster sighed quietly but nodded his head in agreement. “There is one m....”

However, Dumbledore’s words were cut off when one side of the McKinnon family home exploded, one wall of the room flying inwards and sending most of the Order of the Phoenix to the ground in a cloud of bricks, wood, dust and glass. The sounds of shouts and cries could be made out as the sound of the explosion passed, leaving a ringing in their ears.

There was barely any time for them to recover from the shock of the blast before spells were being fired into the room through the now large hole in the wall. The Order members were quickly trying to get themselves free of the rubble, a few of them managing to throw up shields to protect the others and even one or two managing to throw stunning spells towards their attackers.

“Anti-Apparition wards!” Mundungus bellowed. He had tried to make a quick escape by apparating away but was now starting to panic, given he had been unable to. “Bloody wards!” he shouted, clambering over the rubble, trying to get to the door.

“Watch it, Dung!” Fabian exclaimed when the man barged into him in his hurry. Fabian and Remus were trying to dodge incoming spells while freeing Sirius, whose leg had been trapped under a large piece of the wall.

“Stupid wall!” Sirius cursed trying to pull his leg free, while also looking around. “Where’s Peter?” he asked, looking a little panicked when he didn’t immediately see him. Twisting around as best he could, but he couldn’t see him.

“Sirius, sit still! We’ll find Peter when we get you free,” Remus said as he and Fabian removed more of the rubble.

“This is taking to long,” Fabian cursed as he dodged another spell, returning fire toward the person who had cast it, before looking back at Sirius. “Don’t move,” Fabian warned aiming his wand at Sirius’ trapped leg. “Diffindo,” Fabian said and cut away the larger pieces of the wall.

Pulling his leg free once he felt like he could move it, Sirius stood, leaning on Remus as his leg throbbed painfully from the several cuts, and a particularly large gash. “I’m free! Now, where’s Peter?” Sirius demanded, looking around now that he could see the fight better, but he still couldn’t see their friend, just half the Order firing spells towards people he could now see to be Death Eaters.

“Peter can take care of himself,” Remus said as Fabian turned to go help Frank, Alice and Moody, who were trying to hold their own. “Let’s get you out of here,” Remus tried adjusted his hold on Sirius so he could start maneuvering them around the fight and get them out. “We can’t let them get you, for James and Lily’s sake,” he added, hoping to persuade his friend; however, it didn’t have the effect he had expected.

“No, I’m not!” Sirius insisted, protesting against Remus’ hold. The shock of that statement seemed to be enough to stop the werewolf’s attempts to move him, the two of them ducking beneath a spell which exploded on the other wall. “Peter, it’s Peter, he’s their secret keeper We can’t let them get hold of him,” he explained.

“What are you talking about?” Remus demanded, staring at Sirius in confusion.“You-”

“I was to much of an obvious choice! Remus, we can discuss this AFTER we find Peter!” Sirius snapped, shooting a blasting spell towards a Death Eater trying to enter the house, before going back to trying to spot Peter; he was becoming increasingly concerned about their friend and was becoming worried that he might have already been caught or something.

“Right, right,” Remus said, taking in the madness all around them. Benjy was with Frank and Alice, seemingly trying to get the two of them to run; Hagrid was picking up the biggest pieces of rubble he could, sending them flying towards any Death Eaters he saw. Dumbledore was throwing up shields left and right, while Moody was firing off spells quicker than Remus could keep track of.

“The little shit has probably turned himself into a rat,” Sirius snarled between clenched teeth, both frustrated at not being able to find him, and hoping that he was right, because then the Death Eaters wouldn’t be able to find Peter either. Remus nodded his agreement.

“Remus, you get him out of here,” Fabian said, motioning to Sirius, “He’s no good here with that leg, I’ll keep an eye out for Peter,” Fabian said, shooting off a few spells and managed to take out a couple Death Eaters that had been too busy to notice who was firing at them.

“Benjy!” A shout across the room had them all looking just in time to see their comrade fall to the ground. The Death Eater that had shot the killing curse was now aiming for Alice and Frank, who had nearly made their own escape.

Fabian glared at Remus. “You two. Leave. Now!” he snapped before charging into the fight, going for the Death Eater that had taken down Benjy.

Dumbledore and Moody were already two steps ahead of him though, and both of them were clearly on the offensive now, waves of magic attacking the Death Eaters, as many of the other Order members fled the house, going through other rooms in the house to find an escape, to get beyond the anti-apparition wards that the Death Eaters had put up.

“Bloody hell,” Sirius exclaimed at the impressive sight, allowing Remus to drag him off in the direction that he had just seen Alice and Frank heading. Hagrid following them with Marlene McKinnon’s limp body in his arms and it looked like Fabian was using Moody and Dumbledore’s spells as cover to get Benjy’s body, even though they all knew there was nothing the would be able to do for the man now.

“Fabian!” Remus called out. He understood what Fabian was trying to do, that he didn’t want to leave Benjy there in the rubble, but with spells still being fired into the house, it seemed like a terrible idea.

A cry of shocked pain sounded out, and Remus’ eyes moved to Moody, who leg seemed to have been set on fire, the building starting to catch around him too, the exposed timber beginning to burn. However, Remus wasn’t the only one who had been distracted. Fabian shouted out as a spell caught him in the side, his clothes quickly starting to show the blood from his wound.

“Go,” Remus said to Sirius, pushing him in the direction of the door the others had gone through, and darting back across the room towards Fabian.

Thankfully, the Death Eaters seemed to have taken all they could stand of Dumbledore’s onslaught because there were distinctive pops just outside the house that told them that the anti-apparition wards had been lifted. It was all the Order members needed to hear. Dumbledore grabbed hold of Moody and Remus reached for Fabian, and they apparated out into the grounds of the house.

Fabian leaned heavily on Remus as they landed, one hand clutching at his bleeding side, as Dumbledore dealt with Moody’s burns as best he could. “Thanks, Remus,” Fabian said, giving the werewolf half a smile, as Remus checked his injury and cast a spell to stop the worst of the bleeding.

“There are plenty of people in the Order who can get themselves hurt from doing something reckless, please don’t start turning into one of them,” Remus chastised, letting out a relieved sigh when he spotted several of the other Order members heading their way, having got out of the house that was now most definitely on fire.

“No need to lecture me, I’m going to be getting an earful from both Gideon and Molly when I get back to the Burrow,” Fabian sighed already anticipating what his family would be saying to him about his reckless behavior tonight.

“I told you I can walk fine in my own!” Sirius’ loud voice was heard as tried to get away from where both Frank and Alice were helping him along, though he didn’t seem to be fighting them too much as he was lead over to where Remus was.

“Here, I think this belongs to you,” Frank said with a small smirk as he let go of Sirius, watching in slight amusement as the injured man practically fell to the ground.

“Hey! Be a little more gentle! I’m injured here!” Sirius complained.

“But you can walk perfectly fine on your own,” Frank said, chuckling at the glare that Sirius gave him.

Sirius sighed and looked away from Frank, scanning the area and frowned as he became serious once more. “Where’s Peter? I don’t see him here,” Sirius said.

“There!” Remus exclaimed, drawing almost everyone’s attention to him as he rushed across the garden a little and grabbed hold of a rat that was making a run for the hedges, trying to get away from the fire. “You gave us such a scare, Peter,” he chastised, looking up to talk to Sirius only to discover he was under numerous questioning looks.

“Way to give away our biggest secret, Remus,” Sirius said rolling his eyes before turning to face the quelling look of the Headmaster who made him feel even younger than his twenty-one years. “We can totally explain,” he said with a nervous chuckle and an innocent smile that nobody was buying.
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Restoration of Magic