The next month passed by quickly and they were now in the middle of December. The cold, winter air ruffled Hermione's clothes as she went to meet up with Caleb for what was to be their last session.

She had decided to walk, against all opposition she faced from both Harry and Draco. Nevertheless, she stood her ground and was now walking down the street, enjoying the fresh air and exercise. Being cooped up in the flat for days on end had made her feel stuffy and grumpy. But now she felt joyful again, while breathing in and out deeply and having a slight bounce to her step.

Draco and Harry grumbled their disapproval but knew they had little chance of winning against Hermione. They, therefore, took every precautionary measure they could think off and went after her. They were walking at a safe distance from her, as to not arouse suspicion but still be able to see her, and act if necessary.

Hermione reached the restaurant Caleb had chosen and sat down at a table waiting for him to arrive. Draco and Harry chose a table farther away from her, but with great visibility. From their seats they could see both Hermione and the door.

Harry pushed away a strand of blonde hair that was about to enter his eyes. They had disguised themselves by burrowing features from each other. Harry was now having light blonde hair, while Draco was brunette. Though they kept the color of their eyes, Harry gave up the glasses, using what muggles called 'contact lenses' and had to use a glamour charm to hide his scar.

,,You know, Potter, you don't look half bad with blonde hair." Draco smirked, after ordering coffee for both of them.

,,Well, you don't look bad yourself with that black hair." Harry retorted grinning. ''If you had a bit more of the Black blood in your veins you would have made Sirius proud."

,,Then, lucky for me I'm more of a Malfoy than a Black." Draco drawled in his typical manner but was clearly amused by Harry's statement.

They heard a clinking noise from the door and saw Caleb walking into the restaurant. Draco watched him carefully and noticed there was something rather odd about him. He'd always had that nervous and rather timid look about him, but this time he looked worse. His shoulders were slouched more than usual, and he seemed to drag his legs as if unwilling to get closer to Hermione.

,,Do you reckon he is unhappy this is their last session?" Draco asked quietly while watching Caleb reaching Hermione's table.

Harry followed his gaze and frowned.

,,Possibly. Though I have to admit that he looks worse than last time I saw him." Harry nodded.

,,Yeah. You would have thought all these sessions should have helped him get better."

Halfway through the session, Draco saw Hermione reaching out over the table and gently patting Caleb's hand. He frowned and let out a small sound of displeasure. He looked away for a few moments and when he looked back at them, he noticed Caleb puling something out from his shabby looking suit. It was a wooden casket, small enough to fit inside his hand. Caleb placed it on the table and gestured to Hermione to take it.

Draco saw Hermione slowly picking up the casket and opening it. She smiled and reached for whatever was inside but the instant she touched it both she and Caleb disappeared.

The instant Draco registered Hermione wasn't there anymore, he lunged from his chair, startling Harry into spilling coffee on his new, rather good looking dark blue suit.

,,What the bloody hell... Have you gone mental, Malfoy?" Harry said, glaring up at Draco.

,,Get up, Potter! She's gone!" Draco said through greeted teeth, looking nervously around the restaurant for any signs of enemies.

,,Gone?" repeated Harry in bewilderment. ,,What do you mean gone?"

Harry hadn't looked at Hermione and Caleb in a while, trusting Draco to keep an eye on her while he perused the Daily Prophet.

,,Gone, Potter, as in disappeared, not here anymore, spirited away." Draco snarled at Harry.

,,Weren't the Anti-Apparition wards in place just now? I can still feel them." Harry said, frowning as well.

,,They were." Draco admitted, clenching his fists tightly, his brain thinking hard. ,,My guess is that they must have used a portkey to whisk her out of here.''

,,A portkey?!" shouted Harry. ,,How on earth did they manage to bring one to her..." Harry stopped for a second, then his frown got deeper, his features enraged. ,,Unless they used someone to do it for them." he concluded darkly.

,,Potter, you go on and round up the Aurors. I will go and find her and let you know where we are." Draco said, searching for something inside his pockets.

,,Sure, but how will you find her, Malfoy? We have no idea where they've taken her."

,,A few days ago I asked Granger to give me something of hers, something that might help us find her in case something like this happens. And she gave me this." Draco said, pulling a small, square shaped object from his left pocket.

,,Don't tell me it's a book." Harry said, rolling his eyes.

,,Yes, Potter, of course it's a book!" Draco snapped. ,,Now come on! We have to find her quickly, before something happens to her."

With that, he placed a charm on the book, bringing it to its normal size and used his wand to perform the tracking spell. In the meantime, Harry lifted the Anti-Apparition wards and disappeared for the Ministry, to gather the Aurors.

***

Hermione's feet touched the ground with a thump, and she stumbled forward, landing on her knees on a small patch of grass. She looked around, breathing heavily, her wand already in her hand. It seemed that she had been taken into the outskirts of London, on a small hill.

As she turned around, she noticed Caleb sitting just a few feet away from her. He was hunched over in the grass and looked like he was sobbing.

,,Caleb" Hermione said nervously. ,,Are you alright? What happened? Why are we..."

But her words were soon covered by Caleb's violent sobs. He was holding himself tightly, curled up on the grass, his eyes tightly shut. All Hermione could hear and understand from his erratic mumbles were the words 'sorry' and 'no choice'.

Hermione was starting to feel very nervous at this point.

This cannot be good. She thought as she got up, grasping her wand tighter.

The next moment she heard a popping noise and a figure appeared next to her. It was definitely a man. He was tall and was wearing black robes and a white mask.

A Death Eater's mask. Hermione noticed with a thrill of horror.

She leaped backwards raising her wand and casting a stunning spell at the lone figure, but he easily deflected it. Without uttering a single word, he strode closer and grabbed her by the arm. Feeling the vise-like grip, Hermione squirmed and fought to release herself, managing to shoot a few more spells at her attacker, but he deflected them just as easily.

Feeling her blood boil from both fright as well as anger, Hermione whipped around and in a split second she managed to surprise her attacker enough to punch him square in the face. The mask shattered and started to fall apart, small pieces of it falling on the grass. He stumbled backwards, raising his hands, trying to cover his face, but it was too late. Hermione saw with horror the face of Lucius Malfoy, looking at her from behind the remaining pieces of his mask.