AN: Sorry this update took so long guys, but I have been swamped with school and work…plus I've had a little bit of writer's block. So, here is chapter five and I hope you all enjoy. Please R&R….it helps me decide what you like and don't like as far as where this is going to go.
*
Harry sat on his sofa, head in hands. His mind was racing with the details of his encounter with Hermione. For the moment he pushed the specifics of their conversation from his mind and focused only on the fact that he had seen her, finally, after all these years. If she could find him, then surely he could find her. And that's what he was going to do.
He launched himself from the couch, threw on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, and apparated to the alley where the Ministry entrance was located. He crammed himself into the rickety phone booth, entered the numbers 6 2 4 4 2, and waited was the booth began to descend.
The main atrium of the Ministry was bustling and packed with early birds starting their day with coffee and scones. Harry searched the crowd for an opening, all the while his mind racing with ways to find Hermione. Fighting his way through the thick crowd, he was halfway to the lift when he ran smack into Ron. They both hit the ground with a thud and sat dazedly staring at one another for a brief second. Harry stood hurriedly and helped an irate Ron to his feet. Ron brushed himself off and glared at Harry.
"What the hell, Harry!"
"Ron, come to my office. Now."
Ron looked as though he were going to speak but Harry headed toward the lift and he followed.
"What's going on Harry? I'm swamped and I really don't have time for this-"
Harry rounded on him a desperate look in his eyes.
"Just-wait-wait until we are in my office."
"Harry, I have four bloody reports to review by lunch alone. I don't have time for a friendly chat. Just tell me what's up."
Harry grunted in aggravation and gave Ron a most menacing glare.
"I said wait. I assure you that it is important but just hold on."
The lift opened and the two men exited and made a beeline for Harry's office. Once they were inside, Harry locked the door and enabled a silencing charm to protect their privacy. He sat down at his desk and Ron took a chair in front of him.
"Hermione came to my flat." Harry said without preamble.
Ron sat silently, not expecting the important news to have anything to do with his missing friend. He waited patiently for more information but Harry only gazed at him intently.
"Ok, so it's been ten years and she just pops in for a chat and tea? What did she say Harry? I'm not a bloody mind reader. We failed Divination remember?"
Harry lowered his head slightly and took a breath.
"She said that there is going to be a battle, the night of the blood moon. It's going to be between the vampires and…Remus' clan."
Ron sat still once more, contemplating the right questions to ask.
"Well, did she happen to say why this battle is going to occur?"
Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought.
"Something like Remus tried to kill her right after…well when she came back to say goodbye to me. Only, I never knew she had come back because he basically ambushed her. Look Ron, the blood moon makes the vampires incredibly strong-more than they already are. She warned me to…to stay out of it. She said it was her battle and that have to stay out of it because she doesn't want me to get killed, basically. But how am I supposed to do that Ron? I still love her. I'll always love her."
Harry laid his head in his hands and both men sat in silent thought. Ron broke the silence gently, being very careful in choosing his words.
"Harry, what exactly happened that night? How did it happen that she was…taken?"
Harry sighed once more and leaned back in his chair.
"When we arrived in Romania we stayed in a quaint villa in one of the better villages. Our first night there we met a man named Taunis Marconi and he offered to be our guide. We spent a weeks worth of nights in his company. In hindsight, I regret that I didn't find his daytime absences peculiar sooner.
On our last evening there, he offered to take us out for dinner and drinks so Hermione and I went back to our room to get cleaned up and changed. When I got out of the shower she was gone. The window was open and there was a note on the bedside table."
Harry reached down and unlocked the last drawer in his desk and removed a worn piece of parchment. He looked at it longingly for a moment before handing it to Ron.
Ron unfolded the parchment and recognized the tidy scrawl immediately.
Dear Harry,
I am afraid that our journey has now come to an end. Taunis has made me an offer which I cannot refuse- immortality. We have gone, he and I, to begin a life of a thousand nights together. I will not return to you for I belong to him now. Farewell Harry.
Hermione
Ron noticed that there were water stains on the paper that could have only come from tears. He read and reread the note, trying to make sense of it but he could only determine one obvious fact. He folded it back up and handed it back to Harry.
"Well, it's apparent that she was kidnapped, just as you said. So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to find her. She found me so I shouldn't have that much trouble finding her, now that I've made contact with her. I can trace her magical element to its source."
Ron sighed and leaned forward.
"Harry, maybe you should do as she asked and stay out of this. I think it's time to just live and let live."
Harry stood quickly, anger apparent in his tired face.
"No! Ron, she- she kissed me. We kissed and it was still there. That spark that we once had was still alive. She may be a vampire but Ron, she's still alive. My Hermione is still in there somewhere. I know it. I felt it."
Ron stood and straightened his suit jacket.
"Alright then. What can I do to help you?"
-->