Chapter Forty-Nine:

When Harry found the space where number 72 was supposed to be, he wasn�t fazed when all that greeted his eyes was an empty lot. Using his wand, he sent a small puff of silvery-white smoke into the air, to alert Remus that he had found what they were looking for. A few minutes later, the other man joined him.

�Reckon that word on the paper was a password of sorts?� Harry asked Remus quietly, his heart pounding in his chest.

Remus nodded. �More than likely to hide it from the neighbourhood. It may have other enchantments around it, but let�s try the easy way first.�

Like he had done once before in his life, Harry thought about an address written on piece of paper. He thought of the address and then the word written underneath it. His whispered voice sounded loud in the night as he uttered the word that made the house appear before them. Harry took a long look at the building and gasped. He had seen this place before.

The house shimmered briefly as it took shape before them, and even Harry had to marvel at how little space it took up, considering its size. The two Muggle buildings on either side of it seemed to shrink when compared to the sheer mass of it. He turned and looked at Remus.

�He left a painting of this house, in Winifred�s flat. He later made sure it disappeared, and now I�m wondering why he let us see it to begin with. Ginny had a really strong reaction to the painting.�

Remus looked up at the house. �I don�t know why Dex has done any of the things he�s done, Harry. But let�s see if that password is all we need to get inside.�

Harry nodded and they both advanced towards the front door. Remus moved his wand forward, as though testing the air for something. Harry didn�t get a sense that there was anything blocking the house. In fact, it seemed oddly...unprotected. Perhaps Dex had never dreamt that there would be someone else trying to get into it besides him.

They walked to the front door and looked at each other. Harry shrugged and put his hand on the doorknob. With determination he turned it, half-expecting it to do nothing in response. Surely it would at least be locked?

But when the door swung open easily, Harry knew with sudden insight that he was not about to find what he had been looking for. The house was empty. He knew it in his bones; Ginny wasn�t here, if she ever had been to begin with. Frustration screamed inside of him, and he didn�t realize that he had wrenched the door almost off its hinges until Remus put a hand on his shoulder.

�There may still be more here than meets the eye. Don�t lose faith,� his old friend said softly to him.

Harry swallowed hard and nodded his head. They lit their wands as they moved inside the darkened house. There was a grand staircase that arched upwards towards a second floor, splitting right and then left. Harry looked around the ground floor and realized there were no other rooms here; everything was up above them. Judging by the view from the outside, that meant there were a lot of rooms they had to search. It would take them all night to go through the house. Remembering that the painting had shown one of the top most windows painted in blood perhaps starting from there and working their way down would be a good thing to try....

�Try a Locator Spell, Harry. It might work if we�re close enough to her,� Remus said after a moment, as they both looked up the winding stairway.

Smacking himself for not thinking of it himself, Harry doused his wand and then tried to clear his mind. The trick to a good and successful Locator Spell was concentration. With a steady hand, he held his wand out in front of him and whispered the incantation. Then he added for good measure, �Take me to Ginny,�.

A small light appeared at the end of his wand and Harry knew that if the spell was working, it would grow brighter. But after an initial surge, it darkened, and Harry�s hopes went with it. He had been right; she wasn�t here. Before Harry could break the spell, the wand seemed to jump in his hand and lean itself forward. Frowning, Harry moved with it, letting it guide him. Remus fell in step behind him.

Up and up they went, passing by each landing as though it didn�t matter. When they reached the 5th floor the wand seemed to pulse in Harry�s hand, and he stopped. Turning to the right, Harry and Remus headed down a small hallway, Remus�s wand casting a ghostly light over the walls. Harry had a strange sense of foreboding.

The hallway only had two rooms. One, the nearest on the right, the door was open. The wand in Harry�s hand vibrated slightly as they stopped in front of it. With his foot he tapped the door to make it open further, and Remus used his wand to light the wall-side candelabra. A flare of light filled the space. Inside the room Harry could see a small bed, its sheets stripped bare. There was nothing else in the room but Harry had a sense that that had not always been the case. Remus walked over to the bed and looked around, using his wand. He looked at Harry.

�Doesn�t seem to be anything other than a bed.�

Harry nodded and looked around at the floor and walls. There were strange scruff marks against some of the walls and he didn�t know what could make that sort of mark. As he turned towards the door again, the wand pulled harder in his hand, reminding him that there was another room to look at. He left Remus behind him as he moved to the next room, the light of the candles showing him that the door was closed. A small voice in his head spoke up suddenly, and he tried to shake the thoughts away.

What if she�s in there, laying silent and as cold as the grave? What if she�s dead? What are you going to do?

Harry had been scared a lot of times in his life but nothing scared him more than the answer to those questions. He didn�t want to think of his life without Ginny; he�d had enough of that due to his own idiocy to last forever. With bravery he didn�t really feel he put his hand on the doorknob and turned, the door creaking loudly in the silence.

Nothing could have prepared Harry for what he found.

Dex had a hard time hiding from everyone. It seemed every place he turned, he saw an Auror. Or someone who worked for the Ministry. Or worse yet, a Weasley. His face still smarted from what Fred and George had done to him before; he wasn�t looking for a rematch. Especially since he was wandless and still feeling woozy in the head. With frantic determination he somehow made it to the small section of east London that Louis had been calling home for the last year.

It was late in the night or early into the morning, depending on which way you looked at it, and for that, Dex was grateful. At least one thing was in his favour. He should be able to get to the house and confront Louis without the other man expecting it. Dex stopped as he thought it over. He didn�t have a wand and Louis was, magically speaking, definitely more powerful than he was. What did he hope to do if Ginny was there? Punch Louis out before the other man could stun him? Not likely. Cursing, Dex rested against a wall, trying to figure out what he could do. His head throbbed and the images that came when he closed his eyes still confused him. His memory was coming back in full force, but Dex didn�t know what was true or what was false.

Maybe he could confront Louis and tell him he understood about what he had done. That he didn�t hold any ill will towards him. Maybe Louis would believe him. Yeah, right, a small voice in his head said sarcastically. Since when has Louis ever believed you? When have you ever been able to fool him?

Sighing, Dex slid down the wall and hung his head in defeat.

He almost missed noticing the man that was walking the way he had just come. The man�s walk was tentative and his manner unsure, his feet slipping on the coblestone. When Dex finally realized someone was moving closer to him, he recognized the air of uncertainty about him, and he also recognized something else. The man wasn�t a Muggle, and he had a wand. Not believing his luck, Dex held his breath and moved himself closer to the wall, trying to blend into the darkness as much as possible. He didn�t know if the man had seen him sitting there or not, and he wanted to be the one to do the surprising. When the man had almost reached his spot, Dex tensed himself, ready to jump. When his fist made contact with the other man�s chin, he mentally cheered to himself. After the scuffle ended and he looked down at whomever it was he had just clobbered, the cheering turned to shock.

He had just knocked out Donald Fagan.

Harry�s first thought when he could see into the room he�d just entered was this:

It�s just like Hogwarts, and it looks like a bomb went off.

But once his mind could understand what he was seeing, his second thought was much darker and more terrifying:

Look at all the blood.

A surge of light off his wand barely registered in his mind. Instead Harry felt his stomach heave and numbly tried to back out of the room. His back ran into something that had to be Remus, who was saying something in his ear, but Harry didn�t hear anything. He pushed past his friend and then fell against the wall across from the door, his head going down. He felt his stomach lurch into his throat and coughed, feeling the fear and bile mixing into one. He was amazed there was anything left in his stomach to get rid of; he couldn�t remember the last time he�d had any food.

Harry felt a strange tightening around him. He slunk down lower and tried to hold onto the wall, to break his fall. He felt Remus�s hands around his shoulders, trying to right him. But Harry knew that nothing could ever be right again, not without her, not without Ginny. His mind flashed on the scene he had just seen and he choked again, the pain piercing his heart. He heard a scream and realized it was coming from his own mouth, and then he knew and understood nothing. His mind floated into a sea of blackness, and he welcomed it greedily. He never wanted to open his eyes again. He didn�t want to know what all that blood meant. He didn�t want to believe that it was hers....

Dex dragged the body of Donald Fagan into a broken-down, abandoned wherehouse. Using the other man�s wand, he tried to make sure Donald stayed asleep as long as possible. He did a brief warding spell, in case anyone happened to stumble onto him while he slept and then moved out again into the night.

He didn�t know what Donald Fagan had been out here looking for; Louis had always said his father didn�t know about the house. Unless those two had finally started telling each other things, Dex couldn�t even begin to fathom the how or why of what Donald Fagan had been up to. He knew the wand wouldn�t work as well for him as it would for Donald, but it was nice to have it held tightly in his hand. At least maybe he�d have a chance to do something to Louis first, this time around. And then maybe he could finally face the people that were after him.

His mind still reeling, Dex made his way to the house on Wapping High Street, not aware that every single person he�d been trying to avoid was heading to the exact same place.

Harry awoke with a start, his body sore and his head hurting. For one blissful moment he was unaware of the hell he had just left, and then it all came crashing back to him. He heard Remus saying something to him.

�Harry! Snap out of it!�

Harry opened his eyes and roughly pushed Remus�s hand away from him. Groaning, he tried to sit up, his stomach still queasy. But thankfully, the sense of constriction he�d felt seemed to have passed. He glared angrily at Remus.

�Why couldn�t you let me stay out? You saw what was in that room! You saw all her...all the....� Harry couldn�t even bring himself to say it out loud.

Remus looked pale in the light from the other candles he�d lit, and his eyes filled with sympathy as he looked at him. Harry felt anger and pain well up inside of him. He forced himself to stand and looked around for his wand. But he froze when Remus spoke again.

�I don�t think she�s dead, Harry. I think someone...bled her to make us think that she was, but your wand went very bright when you entered the room. The Locator Spell still seems to be trying to work, and there�s no body in that room. And I found this -�

Remus held out a small pouch, and Harry recognized it as the one that Ginny wore around her neck. It held the stone she used to keep herself grounded. He had seen her use it once or twice. He grabbed it from Remus�s hand, crushing it in his fist. He pulled out the stone, and suddenly something unexpected happened; Harry could feel Ginny through the stone. As sure as she was standing in front of him. He had such a definite image of her in his mind that he couldn�t believe she wasn�t really there. As soon as it had flared to life in his hand, it went dark again, and the feeling that Ginny was near him abated. He stared at Remus, not sure what had just happened.

Remus looked at him with wide eyes. �It did that for me too, although I don�t think quite as strongly. I think Ginny, because she is such a strong Seer, put a bit of herself into this stone for us. I think she left it as a clue. Or at least, to let us know that she is still alive.�

Nothing was making any sense to Harry. Before he could let the idea of what Remus had said sink into him, he heard loud noises down below. He recognized Bill and Arthur Weasley�s voices. His looked at Remus.

�We can�t let them...see the room...they can�t see it this way,� he pleaded with his friend. �They can�t think she�s dead, I can�t let them think that.�

Remus nodded at him. �Use your wand and clean it up a bit. I don�t think we should hide it all, but maybe you�re right. It may be too much for them at this point. I�ll go down and lead them up.�

Remus turned and headed to the stairs, stopping and looking back at him. �Are you okay enough to do that, Harry?�

Harry nodded, suddenly embarrassed for passing out the way he had. The feeling the stone had given him still echoed through him, and all he could think was one thing: She�s still alive.

Louis watched the passing countryside with a blank stare. His eyes weren�t really seeing anything at all; his mind was too full of plans and schemes to focus on the beauty of the dawn breaking across the Scottish moorland. Although he did realize somewhere in the back of his head that if Ginny were in the train car with him, she might actually be enjoying the view. That is, if things were different and he hadn�t had to become what he was.

Travelling to Scotland had been made necessary and indeed, he had been excited at the prospect and the promise it brought him. But in the harsh reality of light, Louis knew that returning home was also going to bring back things he�d much rather forget. To know that his mother was out there, just out of his grasp....

Louis forced the thought out of his mind and got up to check on his precious cargo. He had stuffed Ginny into an enlarged trunk and knocked her out; but still, the witch had proven rather hard to keep down, even with a four-inch gash on her leg, designed to weaken her. Louis didn�t know where she got her strength, but he would soon be taking it away from her. He�d already taken away the stone she used. She had been grasping at it when he cut her and he had seized it, leaving it for the others to find. He wanted them to think the worse.

Louis had loved Ginny from the moment he had noticed her; sometime during his fifth year and her sixth. He�d watched her from afar and desired her in a way that made him feel alive again. It had been a feeling that he hadn�t felt for a very long time. It had been a feeling that made him feel normal, for once. So he had tried to get close to her, but with everything else going on at the time, his attempts had proved quite pointless. It was only after the war was over that Louis even managed to talk to her. He had tried to be nice, but Ginny had rejected him, running off to be with her older brother and Potter. Louis hadn�t realized at the time that Ginny fancied the other boy, but in retrospect he should have realized it. It didn�t matter anyway; Ginny was still his and had proved that she felt something too when she had taken him to her bed the next year. The memory of that was a bright spot in Louis�s mind. It was when he had realized his true nature; in that first spark of passion between them Louis had seen all that he needed. He wanted to own her, to control her. Posses her. Like he had never been allowed to do with anyone before. He had attempted a spell on Ginny, and it had backfired, but only because he had lacked the real conviction at the time. But it was then that he had realized that unless he took drastic measures, Ginny would never be completely his. Like his own mother before her, she would be taken from him unless he worked on the strength inside of him first. And it had led him to the path he now walked - even though it was a path that he knew no one else understood.

Louis slipped quietly into the holding car and used his wand to open the trunk. She was still knocked out. Her hair had fallen forward over her face, and Louis was compelled to run his hands through it. She didn�t stir when he touched her, which meant the spell was still working. He checked the tightness of the rope and smiled to himself.

Look Mother, I have her. She�s mine and soon she will be mine in body and in soul. Completely. She will be all that you never could be. I will love her, and then I will make sure that no one can ever touch her again.

His thoughts returning once again to his plans, Louis slipped back out of the holding car and returned to his cabin. They�d soon be arriving in Tormore, and then it was off to the island itself. He could hardly stand the wait. It would be good to see the stones again; it would be good to feel their power course through him....

Maybe it was because his mind was on more practical matters that Louis forgot one important thing: He couldn�t have Ginny to himself completely. He may have had her physically within his grasp, but her soul had already been spoken for.

Hundreds of miles away, still in England, Harry Potter was about to learn what it really meant to have a soul mate.

Harry cleaned up the room quickly, holding his breath and trying not to imagine someone cutting Ginny in order to make her bleed so badly. She�s alive...she�s alive...the words kept twisting through his mind, reassuring him. Although a strange sinking feeling seemed to be settling in his stomach. For better or for worse though, Harry was glad he hadn�t been eating a lot lately. He didn�t fancy getting sick again.

When he was done, he stepped out into the hallway and heard more people in the house. He also heard yelling. He�d expected Remus to bring everyone up to look at the rooms. He peered over the railing at the top of the stairs and tried to catch a glimpse of Remus.

�Harry?� he heard Lupin�s voice calling up to him. �You�d better get down here.�

Frowning, Harry took the stairs two at a time, his mind fresh with new worry. He hadn�t seen anything down there when they�d come in...had they missed something? He reached the bottom floor, breathless, and came face to face with Arthur and Bill Weasley. They nodded at him and then turned to where Remus was now bending. Harry saw someone sprawled on the floor and the twins looking very pleased about something.

�What�s going on?� he asked, to no one in particular. No one answered him, and Arthur Weasley did not meet his eyes.

A medi-witch was saying something to Remus, who nodded and said something sharp to the twins, who chuckled, but moved back. Harry got his first good look at whomever it was lying on the floor and couldn�t believe his eyes.

�What�s he doing here?� he said as he moved forward.

Arthur Weasley followed him. �We don�t know, Harry. We caught him coming in behind us. To say he was surprised to see anyone in here is an understatement. I�m afraid the boys got a bit carried away and stunned him a bit too heavily.�

Harry got his first full gaze at Mr Weasley and saw how tired the man looked. He was looking at his sons, not with pride, but with something very close to it. Fred and George, for their part, had stopped laughing, but were wearing hardly sorry expressions. This was the second time in 24 hours they�d been able to stun Dex, and Harry could tell they were enjoying it immensely.

The idea that they had just knocked out the man who might know where Ginny was, made Harry angry suddenly. He needed Dex to be willing to help them. If he had done something to Ginny before being caught, they needed to know now. Harry�s own anger with Dex was now something of the past, he found. He only wanted to get to the truth of it all. He no longer wanted to play games.

He strode over to the medi-witch they�d brought along, he assumed, in case they had found Ginny. �Can he be Ennervated?�

She looked up at him from where she was bending over Dex�s body. �Yes. Of course he can. Anyone can as long as they�re still breathing. But I�m warning you, if you�re doing it so that one of them can stun him again, I�m not going to allow it.�

Bill spoke up from behind Harry, causing him to jump. He�d forgotten the other man was there.

�If it�s all the same to you Miss, this man is a prisoner of the Ministry of Magic. In fact, he�s an escaped prisoner and possibly the kidnapper of my baby sister, so if you don�t mind, none of us really care what you will or will not allow.�

There was a nodding of agreement between everyone except Harry and Remus. Harry looked at the medi-witch, who was glaring at Bill.

�He may be only a prisoner to you, but he is a patient to me, and I will not allow you lot to hurt him out of some sick sense of revenge. And you, Minister! I�m surprised you are allowing this to take place-�

Harry cut her off by putting his hand on her arm. He gave her a steady look. �I promise you no one will hurt him.�

Immediately the Weasley�s started to shout at him:

�But Harry! He had Ginny-�

�He�s probably done all sorts of twisted things to her-�

�The git doesn�t deserve to still be breathing-�

�Now George, Harry has a point-� this last one was from a very exhausted sounding Arthur Weasley. The medi-witch�s horror at his involvement in this had caused him to act more like his usual self, albeit a bit too late, Harry thought.

Harry turned and looked at Remus. �Show them the rooms, Remus. Let them understand why we need him awake and alive.�

Conversation broke out around him again, and Remus started moving the Weasley�s up the stairs. Harry ignored them. He nodded at the medi-witch, and she frowned at him. Turning her attention to Dex, Harry watched as she brought the other man around. His pale skin looked like ice under her hands as she forced his mind to come back awake.

Harry dropped down to his knees and placed a hand on Dex�s arm, willing himself to remain calm. Think of Ginny...think of saving her....

Dex blinked up at him, as though he didn�t recognize him, and Harry cursed the twins. If Dex was going to have more �memory� problems now, he was going to pummel those two.

�Dex,� he said softly. �It�s Harry Potter. Do you know me?�

Dex continued looking at him, his eyes still holding a very blank look. With the help of the medi-witch, Harry set the other man into a sitting position and supported his weight. Dex shook his head and looked around. Suddenly his face looked fearful, and he gripped Harry�s arm.

�What�s he done? She�s not here, is she? I was coming...I was coming to check, to see...oh....� Dex put his face in his hand, his voice sounding full of anguish.

Harry was trying to quell the desire to hit the other man. With a voice steadier than he felt, he tried to get Dex to tell him what he knew.

�Who�s he, Dex? Were you coming back here to the house to get Ginny?�

Dex shook his head. Harry heard him whispering to himself and tried to pull his hand away from his mouth. The medi-witch cleared her throat.

�He�s disoriented because of the stunners. He�s not going to be much help right now,� she said as she made as though to put Dex asleep again. Harry stopped her with his hand.

�No, I need him to tell me what is going on, now,� Harry turned to Dex again and made the other man look him in the eye.

�Tell me Dex, tell me what�s going on here. What happened in this house?�

�I....� Dex stopped, his expression suddenly fearful. Harry watched as the other man shook his head. �I...I came to the house because I thought he had taken her. He was watching me, you see. I knew it. But he lied to me, he said he didn�t have her. He�s been changing my memory about things. I don�t what�s real anymore, Harry. I don�t know what I�ve seen. But it must be something, because he wanted me to hide this house....�

Harry was confused by the apparent rant, and yet something about it rang true to him. He pressed Dex further. �Who is this he, you keep mentioning? Did someone help you with the girls? Did you have a partner?�

Dex gave a hollow, eerie laugh, and Harry felt his skin grow cold at the sound of it.

�A partner. Yes, you might say that, Harry. A blood brother, actually,� Dex gave a hollow, defeated laugh. His eyes focused on Harry�s. �He used that...he used me...made me believe. What did you find in the room, Harry? Did he take it all? Did he take the paintings?�

Harry frowned. They hadn�t seen any paintings at all. What was going on? Who was Dex talking about?

�I don�t know about the paintings, Dex. But we found...we found blood in one of the rooms, and we found this -� Harry held up the pouch he still had in his hand. �You know what this is, right? I�ve never seen Ginny without it. Why would she leave it for us to find, Dex?�

Dex stared at the pouch as though he had never seen it before. He shook his head again. �He probably took it from her, he knew it gave her strength. He�s obsessed with her. I should have known....�

Harry had just had enough. He gripped the other man on the shoulders and shook him, making Dex�s head rock back and forth. The medi-witch cursed and tried to stop him, but Harry snarled at her. He made sure Dex was looking right at him.

�Who are you talking about, Dex. Who has Ginny?�

Dex blinked sadly back at him, his expression haunted. �It�s Louis Fagan. It�s always been Louis. Everything has been him. Draco, the prison, the reason you got hurt. He�s going to kill her, Harry. He�s going to make sure we never see her again. And there�s nothing we can do. He never fails, Harry. He always gets his way.�

Harry let go of the other man as his words echoed the ones Draco had thrown at him. Harry again felt a strange twist of foreboding pass through him, his mind trying to grasp what Dex had just told him. A sense of panic overcame him and he felt as though the house had just gotten smaller around him. Anxiety coursed through him.

In a trunk, bound for the west coast of Scotland, Ginny Weasley finally gained consciousness. She didn�t know where she was or what had happened, but she felt confined and trapped. Panic coursed through her in a dizzying wave....