They had lunch on the First Kiss before heading back for the meeting; Remus and Griphook were waiting as they walked towards the house along with Narcissa and the Parkinson's.
Rose and Amanda were invited to the meeting, as guests while Narcissa would be taking the minutes. Neville offered to show Pansy and Violet the beach with both quickly accepting, Ginny just smiled as her boyfriend headed towards the sand accompanied by both girls, causing a raised eyebrow from her adoptive mother.
Ginny and Neville had become very close, it was as if their relationship had moved to the next level without the usual increase in sexual intimacy associated with that statement. As they felt their magic growing so it appeared they were forming a bond and both couldn't be happier about it.
The couple now knew they were going to be together for the rest of their lives and in some ways this had removed the teenage need for assurance from their other half. Both wondered if they had been passed some of her parent's maturity with the magic but the upshot was that neither felt compelled to rush into parts of the relationship until they were ready. They would get there in the end and enjoy it more for waiting though she saw no need to inform her parents of this, it was her duty to tease them after all.
The meeting had barely begun when an elf appeared and handed Dobby a note.
"It appears two elves have gone 'missing' while working at a New Year party. Dylan and Freda are a young couple that were hoping to life bond shortly. They are very conscientious workers and would not have left their post, especially without reporting if some incident caused them to leave," Dobby informed the meeting.
"Any ideas why?" Harry asked the room.
Winky was adamant, "I can say with one hundred percent certainty that they would not have left willingly".
"So we are looking at an abduction, I assume we are pulling out all the stops to look for them?" asked Harry as Dobby nodded in reply.
"How could they be abducted and why?" asked a concerned Ginny.
"We have feared wizard's finding the ancient curse that bound us in the first place. The fact that they are a couple worries me greatly, there are actions I would rather die than commit but if someone was holding Winky's life, then I couldn't say what I would do". Dobby had his head bowed as he finished speaking but Winky lifted his chin and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.
Hermione took charge, "OK, we have a possible 'how' but we need some ideas of the why if we are going to act".
A scroll that appeared in front of Griphook answered the why, it only contained four words but the impact would be felt throughout Britain and beyond.
Albus Dumbledore had escaped.
....
Albus sat in his cell as the clock struck midnight and thought 'Happy New Year'.
He knew if he didn't get out of here soon all hope would be lost, the weasel, giraffe and walrus were all starting to behave strangely and it could only be a matter of time before someone investigated.
What he needed was one of his famous plans, shit, what he needed was a wand!
Just as he was going to sink even further into his pity party, an elf wearing a robe appeared in his cell, grabbed his arm and they were gone.
Albus found himself in a darkened room where the only light was the stunner that flew past him and hit the elf. He was in shock as he then found himself engulfed in a hug, but the familiar aroma told him everything he needed to know.
Albus would take the aroma of goats over the stink of dragon shit any day.
.....
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