Harry had to admit that when it came to saving useless things, Dexter Eoghan had apparently been a pro. It was late at night, and Remus and Harry were knee-deep in the middle of what used to be Dexter’s poorly planned closet. The items in the closet had been tossed in there in an almost haphazard fashion, and Harry could find no rhyme or reason to the way Dex had kept things. Compared to the relatively stark and organized look of the other rooms in the flat, it was as though the closet had been kept by an entirely different person. Judging from the accusations now levelled at the man, perhaps that was closer to the mark.
Remus was slowly going through old notebooks that they’d found and Harry was looking through a box of old maps. Why Dex had collected maps was anyone’s guess, but there they were. In what was becoming a familiar mood, Harry felt the bitter kiss of frustration work its way across him.
“Bugger all! This is pointless!” he said as he tossed the last batch of maps into the ‘already read’ file. Remus looked up and gave him a weary look.
“I know it seems like that, Harry, but you never know, we might find something out of the ordinary to help find Ginny....”
“Well, he’s obviously covered his tracks well. There’s nothing in here that even points to Dex being slightly mischievous, let alone a man who kidnaps women. If I didn’t think so before, I have proof now, Dexter Eoghan is the most boring man alive.” Harry stepped out of the closet, letting the frustration get the best of him. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at the bedroom in front of him. Had Ginny been here? Had Susan? Harry knew Dex had insisted that he’d awoken and found the woman tied up in his bedroom, but were they supposed to believe him? What if he was just pulling another trick over their eyes to throw them off?
Remus followed him out of the closet and sighed. “Maybe we should take a break. Maybe if you popped home for a quick shower or -”
“No, that’ll just make getting through the rest of that mess take even longer. I want to be back out and looking for her before morning,” Harry said stubbornly.
“Fine, but you do need to rest eventually. If you’re not going to sleep, at least take a Reviving Potion or do something to relax you. All of this frustration is going to get to you and wear you out faster than anything.”
Harry didn’t look at his friend. He didn’t want to go home and rest. And he certainly didn’t want to go back into that closet and look for a clue that wasn’t there. He just wanted to know where Ginny was. He wanted to hold her and make certain that she was okay. Harry felt as though his heart was breaking and he hated it; it was worse then when he had left for America five years ago. Because he knew what he was missing now, he knew how much he needed her.
Harry stepped out into the hallway and looked around again, his eyes not really seeing anything. He wondered if he should just demand to give Dex some Veritaserum and be done with it. Surely the Ministry would allow its use in such a case? For a moment Harry was tempted to owl Hogwarts and demand Snape make some for him to use on the sly. Not that the old professor would do it, but still....maybe Harry could work off some steam by taking it out on his old Potions Master.
Harry turned and looked at the painting from before, the one of the little girl that reminded him of Ginny. The same sick feeling coursed through him and he felt the first tear behind his eyes.
Harry made his hand into a fist and hit the wall, the sound echoing through the small flat. Remus looked out from his position in the closet and frowned. Harry cursed as his hand went through the cheap plasterboard, causing the picture above to fall off its hook. Removing his hand from the wall, Harry thanked his stars that he’d managed to hit it with the other hand this time and bent down to pick up the painting. He noticed that the back of the painting had come off and was only half-covering it now. A piece of worn parchment came sliding out. He stared down at it in shock.
Harry had just found what they had been looking for.
Dex let the Healers and the medi-witches poke and prod him, all the while exhibiting a slight tendency to drop off every now and then, just to keep them on their toes. He heard them whispering to the Auror in charge and knew they were probably saying he was having a reaction to something or other. Good, thought Dex to himself, let them try to figure out what’s going on and then I can try to get out of here when they think I’m out cold.
Except as simple as that was, Dex didn’t think he could pull it off. He didn’t have a wand. His head really was feeling dizzy, and although they had released his hands from the magical bond that had been keeping them together, that still wouldn’t help him get the slip on the six or seven Aurors that were probably standing outside his door.
Most men would just give up in these instances, but the idea that Louis had been checking up on him would not leave him, and he knew that meant something. Louis was obviously worried about Dex remembering, so of course that made Dex wonder to himself - what exactly did Louis think he knew?
It had to do with Ginny, it just had to. So Dex was doubly motivated to get out and back to the house to make sure Louis wasn’t trying to pull one over on him again. Dex didn’t bother to question himself about his motivations. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to protect Ginny from Louis, or make sure the man didn’t hurt her before he got a chance to be with her. Dex felt his stomach turn with that thought and tried to push it away; no, he cared for Ginny. He wouldn’t hurt her. Would he?
Now wasn’t the time for soul-searching questions, so Dex didn’t bother to answer that inner voice. He concentrated on the movement of the medi-witch that was tending to him. She was young and he might be able to get something past her, if he smiled charmingly enough....
“What’s your name?” he asked quietly, as she smoothed his blankets gently. She startled at his voice and glanced behind her at the two Healers that were going over potions to try. Dex flashed her what he hoped was an attractive grin.
She blushed. “Frederica.”
“That’s pretty. Were you named after someone in your family?”
The girl blushed again, and shook her head. She continued tending to his bed and turned as though to leave, when Dex took a chance and reached out, touching her arm. She made a small noise, but didn’t pull away from him. She stared at his face, her expression curious.
“Was there something else you wanted?” she asked him.
“I just wanted to talk to you, Frederica. While I’m conscience....I think I’d quite like to talk to such a pretty girl for awhile. You don’t mind do you?”
Frederica blushed again, but didn’t say anything. She moved closer to the bed and looked down at him. Dex reckoned he might have a chance if she didn’t know what he’d been brought in for....
“Did you really hurt those girls?” the medi-witch blurted out and Dex cursed inwardly. He hoped he gave an innocent look.
“No, I don’t think I did. But they’re saying they caught me doing something. Honestly Frederica, I’m so confused and light headed right now, I don’t know what to think -”
“Oh! Let me get the Healer -” Frederica turned away from the bed, her arm slipping out of his hand. Dex grabbed her and stopped her. She gave him an odd look and he immediately relaxed his hold.
“No, it’s not anything they need to know about just yet. I’m okay....I’d really like to just have you near me. If you don’t mind.”
For some reason Frederica didn’t mind, and slowly but surely a plan for getting out of the hospital blossomed in Dex’s mind....
Harry removed what remained of the back of the frame and held the piece of parchment in his hand, almost afraid to hope about what it meant.
On the parchment were three words and a number in a thick black scrawl: Wapping High Street 72 and then underneath this was written the words Wall and Glamis. Further down on the paper in a different hand was simply the word ‘Cygnus’, the meaning of which Harry didn’t know. Lupin came over to him and looked at the parchment with interest.
“That’s an address in East London; along the docks, actually. It’s near where you found Winifred.”
Harry finally felt hope begin to swell in him; could this be the house Dex had kept the girls in?
Remus continued. “That word on the bottom there...it’s Latin, I believe. I think it means swan,” he glanced at Harry, and already seemed to know what he was thinking. “I suppose you want to get to this address as soon as possible?”
Harry nodded. “I’m going to apparate to the statue Ginny took me to before. It’s late at night and probably Muggle-free right now. Do you know it?”
“You mean the statue of Elfred, the amazing duck fancier?”
Harry nodded again.
“Yes, I know it. But you do realize of course that you promised Arthur that you would tell him if we found anything, right?
Harry made a strangled noise at the back of his throat and took the parchment from Lupin. “I know, Remus....but look, we have Dex in custody, if this is the address to what I think it is, I just want to go and get Ginny. I‘m tired of running around telling everyone things.”
Remus studied him again, and then finally nodded. “Alright, but we will send an owl to Arthur,” he put up his hands when Harry started to argue with him, “no arguments. We’ll go straight to your flat to get Hedwig, and then to the statue, okay?”
Begrudgingly, Harry agreed. The promise of what he had just found coursed through him. He pushed aside the anxiety that always seemed to be floating near his surface now.
Hang on, Ginny. Just hang on.
When Harry arrived home, he was surprised to find a rather large Phoenix waiting on his balcony for him. He stared at it in disbelief for a moment and then almost forgot to move out of the way for Remus, who had been apparating after him.
They both watched as the bright, burnt-orange bird eyed them and then ruffled its great wings at Harry, as if to ask him what had taken him so long. Harry noticed for the first time that the Phoenix was wearing what looked like a small leather pouch, which was emblazoned by the sign of a golden floating pyramid with wings. He glanced at Remus, who shook his head to indicate that he didn’t know what was going on either.
Harry thought that perhaps the bird was lost, or more likely, that someone had sent him a letter from Egypt; but since he knew no one in Egypt, he couldn’t understand what the Phoenix wanted. Before Harry could ascertain whether or not the bird was carrying something for him, it made a loud cooing noise, which caused the support it had been sitting on to grow and stretch. Harry watched as the support turned into a brown, elongated package. He could just make out his name on it. The Phoenix ruffled its wings again, hopping to the floor of the balcony. It then stuck out its leg, which Harry now saw held a small rolled piece of parchment. He reached out and retrieved it from the great bird, breaking the seal with his finger. Remus read over his shoulder.
PhoedEx: “Moving At the Speed of Magic” For all your trans-continental needs.
Ps. Mind the ashes, if one should happen to ‘burst’.
-Balthazar Chugarian
Keeper and Trainer of Fine Phoenixes Since 1906
PhoedEx Post#34, Cairo
Remus looked at Harry. “Have a new friend in Egypt, Harry?”
“No,” Harry paused and looked at the package more closely. “But this return address is from Cairo. It’s from someone named....Miracroix. Why does that name sound familiar?”
Remus shook his head. Harry frowned, and stared at the name again, his mind racing. Miracroix had such an air of familiarity about it, where had he heard it before? The Phoenix ruffled its feathers again, and Harry blinked at it.
“Well, I’d better get some water for you at least,” Harry stopped and considered what he would do for food. “I don’t have any herbs though. Do you know what kind Phoenix’s eat?”
Remus stared at the Phoenix a moment longer, and then nodded his head. “Do you have any caraway seeds or....some extra pomegranate seeds? It might eat those.”
Harry shrugged. “I have a case with old potion ingredients in it and such, just stuff I used in America. You can check it and see. It should be in the hall closet, right in front.” Remus nodded and then went to investigate.
Harry didn’t know if he had anything in the case that the bird would eat; but suddenly remembering why they had shown up at his flat to begin with, didn’t care. He didn’t have time to worry about mysterious packages or the birds that had delivered them. He picked up the package the bird had brought and was surprised by how heavy it was. He carried it over to the table by his bed and frowned at it again, as Remus came back in with a small cup of water and vial of seeds.
“You did have a few things I think it might eat. Reckon we’ll find out, soon enough.”
Harry watched as Remus sat the cup in front of the bird and then sprinkled a handful of seeds in front of it. The Phoenix eyed them both again, but then lowered his head to drink. After he had drunk the entire cupful, he then ate the seeds, one by one. The bird must have appreciated the gesture because he disappeared immediately, leaving a falling orange feather in its wake. Remus picked it up and then smiled as he handed it to Harry. Wrapped around the feather was a small square of parchment that bore the same symbol Harry had seen on the bird’s pouch - a golden pyramid with wings. Underneath the symbol it told the user to ‘simply light the feather at one end and a ‘representative’ of PhoedEx would soon be sending a messenger their way to take care of any posting needs they may have, as long as it was in the greater Cairo area’. Great, thought Harry, remind me to keep this in my pocket in case I ever get to Africa.
“I think Dumbledore would have appreciated their method of post, don’t you?”
Remus asked.
Harry nodded his head, placing the feather and card on top of the package. He’d have to worry about this stuff later; right now all he wanted to do was track down that address he’d found.
“You’re not going to open it, I take it,” Remus said as Harry walked over to Hedwig’s cage.
“No, I don’t want to take the time. Let’s just send Arthur a message and get out to look for this address. I don’t know why Remus, but I have sense of urgency about all of this.”
Harry let Hedwig out, and stroked her feathers absentmindedly as he scratched out a note to Arthur. He included the address they’d found and told Arthur that he and Remus were heading out immediately to find it.
Remus nodded at him as Harry tied the note to Hedwig’s leg. She hooted as she soared out into the night. Harry watched her go; hoping Arthur wouldn’t be too cross at him for not waiting for ‘back-up’. If they found the worse....if they found Ginny and she wasn’t....no, don’t even think it! a voice screamed out in his head....well, Harry wanted to be the one to find her like that. If something had been done to her, he didn’t want her family to witness that. He didn’t know if he could go through it himself, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he let her family see her hurt.
He turned to his old friend, who had been watching him, and shook his head. “Ready?”
“If you are. Harry look, if we....that is to say, if Ginny’s not-”
“I’m not thinking about that yet, Remus. I just want to find the house first. Then I’ll start to worry about what’s inside it.”
“Okay, then. After you,” Remus said as he nodded towards the balcony.
Harry took a deep breath and apparated, not sure if he could take another night of searching and coming up empty.
Dex frowned at the slumped body of Frederica, the medi-witch. He had somehow convinced the poor girl by the grace of the good looks his parents had given him, into letting him go for a walk. An Auror had been behind them, but also thanks to Frederica, he was now off chasing down a Healer.
Dex had pretended to faint and the medi-witch had opted to stay with him, rather than go after the Healer herself. A mistake that Dex had been waiting for. He’d grabbed her wand and stunned her. Now he just needed to get out of there before the Auror came back.
With one last guilty look at the trusting girl, Dex stuck his head around the corner and then made for the first door he saw. If Louis did have Ginny, and if Dex was able to save her, perhaps one day, everyone would be able to forgive him.
After Remus told the statue of Duke Elfred a rather bawdy duck joke that Harry didn’t want to think about where the other man had learned, the two started their way down the same alleyway he, Ginny and Sarah Brocklehurst had made their way through before. It felt as though that night had happened a thousand years ago. Harry remembered with precise clarity what had happened between Ginny and him later that same night, and felt his heart choke in his chest. With determination, he walked faster through the narrow passageway, causing Remus to hurry after him.
When they reached the small clearing that housed the wizard-muggle shops, Harry started for the street sign; according to Remus, Wapping High Street was in Muggle London, but very close to where they were now.
“I think the section we want is past the intersection at Garnet,” Remus told him and Harry nodded. They headed northeast down the walkway, their footsteps loud in the empty hour of the night.
They walked on in silence; Harry lost in his own thoughts. The air was thick with the smell of the river; but he didn’t notice. He was remembering the look of anger on Ginny’s face when he had told her that she wasn’t going out with him after Draco. He remembered the feel of her lips when she had kissed him goodbye - promising more when he returned. He felt a strange sinking sensation in his stomach; Harry couldn’t say why, but he felt as though time were speeding past him, laughing at him as he made his way through the London streets.
They came across a small collection of what looked like to be a very old block of flats. The streets had turned to cobblestone and Harry felt as though they had crossed through a time barrier. There was very little light; except for what was offered by the ancient looking gaslights, which were posted at each corner.
Remus looked at the directory that stood at the opening gate and nodded his head.
“It looks like we follow High Street around the Wall and right before we get to Glamis Road there should be an older section of wherehouses and older homes. If there was a wizard house around here, that’s where it would be.”
They only had a little way to go before coming across a set of shabbier looking buildings. Harry walked up ahead to the next street and saw that they were where they needed to be; the next section turned into Glamis Road and the piece of paper they had found had read: Wall and Glamis. So if Ginny were being kept some place, it would be right in the small group of buildings he was looking at. He jogged back over to Remus and nodded toward the first batch of buildings.
“Should we separate to look for where number 72 should be? Something tells me it won’t be visible to the naked eye.”
“Let’s meet in the middle then, I don’t want us to get lost,” Remus said as he agreed.
Harry nodded and headed towards the right, trying to figure out which way the numbers worked. There were no other sounds except the noise of Remus walking the other direction. Harry felt a shiver pass through him and pushed it out of his mind. They were going to find her. They were going to find her.
They just had to.