A Higher Law - Part I-B
PART I-A
~*~
Ron wasn't finished interviewing Scorpius yet, but the boy looked like he was about to crack. Ron sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second. “All right, never mind. You go get some lunch and I'll talk to you again later.”
Scorpius nodded and scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. They were red and puffy and Ron felt a twinge of guilt for having made the kid cry. Ron stood and left the classroom, leaving Scorpius to compose himself in private. Hermione stood outside waiting for him.
“He doesn't know anything else? Nothing at all?”
Ron shrugged and leaned on the wall next to his wife. “He says he doesn't. He didn't recognise the kidnapper.”
“Can he give a description of the man?”
“It matches the description Shunpike and Aberforth gave us perfectly, so he must be telling the truth.” He sighed and wrapped his arms around Hermione. “I'm scared, love. This isn't like a normal mission where we are saving someone we don't know. It's Al's life that is on the line.”
She hugged him back, tightly. “I know. I keep thinking, what if it had been Rose or Hugo?”
They stood there for a moment and then Hermione withdrew from the embrace.
“It is Al though, and we need any clues we can find.” They headed down the hallway in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, only to stop when they heard Scorpius clear his throat behind them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? I remembered something.”
Ron turned and moved back towards him. “What is it?”
Scorpius fidgeted a bit. “We were talking, before we went to visit Severus, and Al found a law over the summer.”
“What kind of law?”
“A, um, homophobic one?”
Ron growled. “All right, and what has that go to do with his kidnapping? We know he was looking up the laws regarding homosexuals.”
Scorpius blanched at the show of aggression and Hermione intervened. “It's okay, Scorpius. Please, just go on.” Her gentle tone calmed the young man slightly.
“There's a law that says that homosexuals can be attacked, as long as they aren't killed. It was repealed, but what if the kidnapper doesn’t know that?” His eyes pleaded with Hermione for reassurance. “And he basically outed himself to the world when he stood up for gay rights in front of the Wizengamot like that. Do you think Al's been kidnapped because he's gay?”
“Unfortunately, we think that's exactly why he's been kidnapped.” Hermione felt horrible for having to say it, but it was the truth
Scorpius wilted. “Is there anything I could tell you that would help? I don't know anything else about the kidnapper, and Al didn't tell me anything about the laws or his campaign to change them until last night.”
Ron watched the boy struggle to keep his tears at bay. It really wasn't his fault that his father was a bastard. “No, you don't know any more than we do.” He reached out and gripped Scorpius's shoulder, squeezing gently. “Just keep thinking and if anything else occurs to you, let us know as quickly as possible.” He squeezed his shoulder once more and then released it. “Now go and get some dinner. It's almost time for the elves to clean up the Great Hall, so you better hurry.”
Scorpius nodded and left. The two adults waited for Scorpius to turn the corner and then Hermione slid her hand into her husband's.
“It was nice of you to comfort him.”
Ron grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “I can be kind sometimes. And he's just a kid. I can't believe we were ever that age, let alone that age and destroying Horcruxes.”
“We grew up fast.” Hermione sighed. “We had to. I'm just glad our kids get to be kids.”
“Me too.” He tugged on her arm. “Let's go see if Harry and Snape discovered anything else.”
They headed out of the school and down to the Shrieking Shack. Hermione levitated a rock up to the knot to gain them entrance to the passage. When they came out of the tunnel, they found Harry and Snape glaring at each other.
“It's a good thing Professor Snape's already dead or one of you would have killed each other by now,” Ron quipped, earning himself a chuckle from Hermione and Harry and a sniff of disdain from Snape.
“Do we know anything else?” Hermione asked.
Harry sighed. “Snape says the boys have been Apparating into Hogsmeade from the tunnel for months.”
“I told them to be careful, but I didn’t tell them to stop going.” He looked at Harry for a long moment. “I knew from experience that it wouldn’t stop them.”
Harry flushed lightly. Ron knew he was thinking of the many ways they had gotten around adults in their time at Hogwarts. “Anyway, Al and Scorpius showed up towards the end of dinner time. They talked to Snape for a couple of hours, and then they Disapparated to Hogsmeade. From there we tracked them to the Hogs Head. Shunpike says they were there for an hour, hour and a half, and then the kidnapper showed up and suddenly took Al, claiming he’d be back later with money. Apparently, he had been contracted to kidnap Al. That’s what Shunpike came up with from his words, anyway. Scorpius then Apparated back to Hogwarts around midnight, and contacted the headmistress. She contacted the ministry at five in the morning, and it took hours for the information to get to us.”
“Have you tried tracing the Apparition trail?” Ron looked hopefully, but Harry shook his head.
“It's dead. The headmistress decided to wait until closer to proper ‘business hours’ to contact us, and now it’s untraceable.”
“God damn it!” Ron never understood his wife's need to use Muggle epithets when under pressure. “Why did she wait?”
“I don't know. Apparently, she thought Al was simply still in Hogsmeade and Scorpius was just drunk and crazy.” Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I have no idea what she was thinking.”
Snape floated from one end of the room to the other, and Ron realised it was rather odd to watch a ghost pace. “What do we know about the kidnapper?”
“We know he has brown hair and brown eyes. He’s slight, but not small. Most of the witnesses said he was of average height. He had no identifiable markings.”
“So…” Ron thought for a moment. “He could be anyone, then.”
Snape paused in his pacing. “How old did he appear to be?”
“About fifty,” Harry said. “Shunpike said he recognised him as someone who was in Hogwarts at about the same time he was.”
“Discounting the fact that this man could have been Polyjuiced, I likely taught him. If you can get me an image of the man, I might be able to place him.”
“Professor! That’s an excellent idea!” Hermione dashed out of the room before any of them could say anything.
“I think she’s got an idea,” Ron offered. Harry shrugged and turned back to Snape. They went back and forth on various people as they waited for Hermione to come back. Less than thirty minutes later she ran back into the shack, gasping for breath, with Scorpius on her heels.
“I know who he is,” she said. “Terence Higgs. He was Slytherin seeker in our first year.” She patted Scorpius on the shoulder. “Scorpius let me peek into his head with Legilimency, and I recognized him immediately.”
Snape snorted. “Higgs was never the most intelligent person. I can see him kidnapping someone with no precautions. The smartest thing he ever did was act so idiotic in front of the Dark Lord that he refused to give Higgs the Dark Mark.”
“Who knew even Voldemort had standards?” Harry muttered.
“He still worked with the Death Eaters though, and he is dangerous. Despite his stupidity, he has a real talent for tracking people down and taking control of them. I don't know who would have hired him, but I believe anyone with Death Eater connections would have known of his skills.”
Finally, they had an idea that might give them a lead. “There aren't many Death Eaters left outside of Azkaban. The Notts, Gregory Goyle, and the Malfoys were the only marked Death Eaters to escape imprisonment. Who knows how many unmarked Death Eaters we still have floating around though.”
Snape paused in his pacing. “There really weren't many people who worked closely with the Death Eaters and weren't marked. The Dark Lord had an advantage over the marked because he could cause you much pain if you displeased him. It was only the very stupid and the very untrustworthy who were not marked and given full Death Eater privileges.”
“Then chances are that it was one of our marked Death Eaters who hired Higgs.” Hermione tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she took a moment to think. “Which of them would have the most reason to kidnap Al? If we can decide on that, we'll have an idea of where to look for him beyond trying to trace Higgs.”
“It probably wasn't Draco Malfoy then, or Narcissa. They've both been very good to Al when he visits Scorpius at Malfoy Manor,” said Harry.
Ron didn't agree. “Doesn't mean it wasn't a cover. Lucius could easily have influenced either of them. Or he could have done the hiring as well.”
Scorpius frowned. “My parents wouldn’t have kidnapped Al. They like him!”
Snape shook his head. “Do not cross them off of your list, Mr. Potter. They were all Slytherins and if Albus's recent campaign hurts them in any way, they will not be afraid to retaliate.”
“And remember Pettigrew, Harry. Being close to someone will not protect you from them,” Hermione added quietly.
“I know, Hermione, it's just… Scorpius is Al's best friend. I hate that the top suspects on our list include his family.”
“We still have other suspects.” Snape looked uncomfortable and Ron figured that it was weird for him to try to comfort Harry of all people. “The Notts are a very old pureblood family. They would not be happy about things like gay rights. The same goes for Mr. Goyle as well.”
“Well, that gives us somewhere to begin the investigation, at least. I'm not sure what else we'll be able to find out here at Hogwarts. We should head back to the office now and update everyone who's investigating this.” Hermione turned to Snape. “Thank you for all of your help, Professor. Let's go guys.” With a pop! she was gone, Apparating back to the Ministry.
Harry sighed and turned to Snape as well. “Thank you,” he paused, “for helping us figure out who kidnapped Al and for trying to protect him.”
“It was no problem. Albus is a wonderful young man. I hope you find him quickly and bring him back safe and sound.”
Harry Disapparated, leaving Ron alone with Snape.
“Well, Mr. Weasley, I suppose you should be getting on after them.”
Ron grinned. “You know, for a sadistic old bastard, you're a pretty nice guy.” He swept his gaze over the shack to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. “Thanks for helping with Al and for comforting Harry.”
Snape sneered at him. “I did no such thing. I am worried about Albus, not his father.”
Ron saw through his feeble protests, but let the matter drop. “I'll keep you updated and let you know when we find Al.”
Snape's face softened. “I would appreciate that.”
“Me too?” Scorpius asked timidly.
“I’ll keep you up to date too. If you remember anything else about the kidnapping, let us know, okay?”
Scorpius nodded.
“Bye then, Scorpius. See you, Snape,” he said and Disapparated.
~*~
Last night a blur in Al’s mind. He could remember Apparating to the Hog’s Head, and drinking something pink, but everything after that was fuzzy.
He tried to turn over in his bed, and remembered something he had forgotten. Al had been kidnapped, and now he was tied to a large table, a limb connected to each table leg. His hurt head from his hangover and his wrists were chafing badly. A feather reached out and tickled his nose suddenly, and Al sneezed. Then the feather came back again. Over and over the feather tickled Al, making him sneeze and exacerbating his headache.
Even though the room was dark, Al could see the man sitting in a chair next to his table and tickling him. He could see little beyond the man though, and could not tell if the room was large or small. There were no windows and he couldn’t hear any noise. There was no way of placing his location.
“Would you stop that?” Al finally burst out, knowing that irritating someone who could kill him was not a good idea, but he was so frustrated that he did it anyway.
The man just laughed at him and ran the feather under his nose again. “Am I upsetting the baby Potter?”
Snarling, Al waited until the feather passed by again before snapping his teeth around it. It didn't break, but the saliva from his mouth made all the fuzzy barbs stick together. “Thank Merlin,” he breathed as the man tossed the feather that was now useless for tickling to the ground.
He regarded the man with suspicion then, better able to focus without a feather being waving underneath his nostrils. “Why exactly am I here? And where is here?”
“You honestly think I'm going to tell you?”
Al tried to shrug, but the ropes wouldn't let him. “What have you got to lose?” he asked instead.
“Ha! Everything, if you find out who I am. I'll be handing you over to someone else in a few hours and then I'm out of here with a bag of money and no bounty on my head.” The man seemed pleased, and Al couldn't figure out why.
“I've seen your face though.”
The man looked at him then and grinned widely. “Why, you have… I suppose I'll have to kill you then.”
Al couldn't help but let out a whimper. “You don't have to kill me; really, I won't tell anyone what you look like.”
Hearty guffaws filled the room. “No, you're safe boy. My boss'd have my head if I turned you over to him dead and nothing's fun without a head. Except the Headless Hunt and with my luck I'd end up like Nearly Headless Nick, unable to do even that.”
The man knew who Nearly Headless Nick was, which meant that he'd gone to Hogwarts. Knowing that, Al figured out that he might be able to trap him into admitting enough about himself that Al would be able to uncover his identity. Even if Al didn't know who he was, when Al’s father came to save him, as Al was certain his father would rescue him at some point, the clues he unearthed in a careful questioning would help his father discover who the kidnapper was.
“You were a Gryffindor then?” Al was delighted to hear the man snort.
“Me? Of course not! I'm a born and bred Slytherin, lad.”
The mention of Slytherin was not unexpected, but it did distract Al from his fact-finding. “Slytherin you say? Have you heard about the Slytherin Pride movement? Ever since the last war against Voldemort, Slytherins have been regarded with distrust and disgust. However, we Slytherins-”
His voice was cut off with a swipe of his captor's wand. “Shut your mouth, kid. I've heard your rhetoric spewed from the covers of hundreds of newspapers and I'm sick of it. Slytherins are not supposed to be so public about their fights.”
He stood, knocking over the chair as he did, and moved away from Al. “When I was in Slytherin, we learned the proper way to do things. Business deals were done under the table, illicit potions trading took place in the deepest dungeon, and we made Slytherin look good by playing society’s games, not by ‘fighting for our rights’.”
“It wasn't working though!” Al struggled with his bonds, wanting to punctuate his words with gestures, but was unable to do so. “When I was sorted into Slytherin, the seventh years were being beat up by Hufflepuff fifth years! Can you really say that Slytherin house had any level of pride?”
“Pride isn't what Slytherin house is known for.” The kidnapper turned back to Al. “We are known for ambition. If pride really means that much to you, perhaps Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would have been a better house for you.”
Al was stung. “I'm a Slytherin. I'm very ambitious. Wouldn't you call the Slytherin Pride movement ambitious?”
“No, I'd call it stupid.”
“Well, maybe you are stupid!” Al knew that was a mistake as soon as he said it. His captor was at his side in a second, his wand tapping Al's temple.
“Don't tempt me.” He traced Al's face with the wand, lowering it to his jugular. “I've no love for you. It's only the pile of Galleons I'm to gain from this job that has kept you alive this long.” The wand prodded at his neck and Al fought the urge to cringe away in fear. “If I wanted to, I could kill you faster than you could cry for your mother.”
“Good thing you want your Galleons more than his death then.” The words came from the doorway, the voice was a snotty and aristocratic one. He moved into the room, but Al could not tell who he was due to the thick hooded cloak he was wearing. An arm protruded from the cloak long enough to hand a large bag to the kidnapper. “Your job is over Higgs. Go.” The bag clanked as it passed hands.
“Don't mention my name in front of the boy again,” Higgs said after the money had been hidden away in his clothing. “You promised no one would know of my involvement.”
The man waved Higgs away. “And they will not. Even if they did, you would not be punished. The boy is a homosexual.” Distaste coated his words.
Higgs threw his hands up. “All right, all right. If you are going to hurt that kid, please make it extra painful for me. Little bastard.” He left and Al was alone with a man who had essentially just bought him.
He walked over to Al and stood next to him, cloak protecting his face from Al's prying eyes. “Well, well, well, Potter. You are at my mercy.”
Grasping on to any Gryffindor feelings his family might have instilled in him over the years, Al spoke softly but clearly to his captor. “What are you going to do to me?”
Ignoring his question, the man reached out and prodded Al's head rather painfully. “You have the same hair and eyes as your horrid father.” His hand moved to Al's forehead, pushing the hair away from it. “No scar though, and no glasses.” His deep chuckle filled Al with apprehension. “That will not be the case for long.”
He removed his hand from Al's head and began to search through a cloak pocket. The dim light in the room caught on the fabric of the garment for a moment, making the Slytherin green colour of the wool obvious. Al's mind began to churn then. Who could this man be? The voice was familiar, and Al knew he should be able to place it, but he couldn’t think of a single Slytherin adult who hated him enough to have him kidnapped like this.
The hand clutched a glass potion flask when it withdrew from his cloak. Inside the bottle was a somewhat innocuous looking liquid, pale violet in colour. “This is for your eyes.” He sat it on the table next to Al's ribs. Then he reached back into his cloak and pulled out a dagger. “This is for your scar.”
When Al spoke this time, his voice cracked. “What are you going to do to me?
“Nothing much.” He ran his finger along the blade of the dagger. When he pulled it away it was bleeding. “This knife is cursed. A cut from it cannot be healed completely. There will always be a scar.” He moved it closer to Al's head. “It is just the thing to add a little lightning bolt to your head.”
He let the dagger dangle over Al's forehead for a minute and watched the boy struggle to move away from it, and then he set it on the table next to the vial. “I'm not ready to scar you yet though.”
“Why?” Al's voice trembled. “Why are you doing this?”
He picked up the vial and removed the rubber stopper. “You, of all Potter's children, look the most like him. I know that Potter adores his children more than his own life. So, I’m going to use you to get revenge on him. I am going to make you into a little Potter clone, and won't the media love that?”
He held the vial over Al's eyes and slowly began to pour it into them. The pain was unimaginable and Al screamed at the top of his lungs, thrashing within his bonds. The potion covered his face and flowed onto the table, but it only hurt where it had gotten into his eyes.
“The potion is meant to blind,” the man said over Al's screams, “but it will not hurt skin or hair. Its effects are irreversible.” He petted Al's hair. “I did weaken it somewhat, so you won't be completely blind. You should lose just enough eyesight that you will need glasses.”
The pain was lessening, and Al's voice had gone raw from his screams. He gasped for breath, trying not to focus on the pain, but it was all consuming. “Please, please!” he whispered, begging for even a tiny bit of mercy.
“How I would have liked to hear you father say that to me even once…” He replaced the vial on the table and picked up the dagger. “It's too late though. Instead, I'll just have to listen to his son beg for mercy.”
“Please…”
The dagger pressed against Al's forehead then. “Do not move. We would not want to slice open your whole face, now would we?”
The man continued to move the knife, pulling away a moment later and leaving behind a cut in the exact shape of Harry Potter's famous scar. Al's scream was piercing, but short. It cut off when he lost consciousness from the pain.
~*~
Ginny Portkeyed out of O'Hare International Airport's Wizarding Terminal only fifteen minutes before her arrival at the Ministry of Magic, but it felt like it had taken her hours to get there. She staggered out of the Portkey arrival area and collapsed onto a nearby seat. International Portkey was terribly nauseating.
When she stood a few minutes later she was still dizzy, but she pushed the feeling aside and headed towards her husband's office. The Ministry was flooded with people and it was hard for her to make her way through.
She bumped into a wizard who was casting a banner above the crowd. The spell was one George had created to use for advertisements. Instead of a message to “Buy All Your Prank Supplies at WWW,” this one read, “Lock up the atrocities!” Similar signs floated above other people in the crowd.
When she tried to move away from the sign-speller, she stepped on the foot of a young witch. The woman turned to her and snarled.
“How can you set foot here after giving birth to that perversion of nature? How can you live knowing what kind of thing your son is?”
Ginny was startled by the vehemence in her voice but couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Then it dawned on her that these people were here to protest against Al. Al who was still missing, who might be dead.
“Silencio, you bitch!” she screamed at the young woman. The surrounding people turned at the spell and began shouting at her. The obscenities they yelled at her made her blood run cold. How dare they insult her and her family?
She hexed the people nearest her with a particularly strong Bat Bogey Hex and then cast a hasty Protego when people began casting back at her. The urge to laugh bubbled up inside her when the spells hit the other people in the crowd instead of her. People were sprouting purple feathers and orange tentacles, and all she could do was giggle madly.
“Aunt Ginny, come on.” That was Teddy, in his Auror uniform, leading her through the crowd. There were employees of the Ministry out in the crowd now trying to calm the riot that had broken out.
Her giggles subsided as they left the main atrium, and she realised there were tears on her cheeks. “Teddy, I… where's Harry?”
“He's in his office. Come on.” He took her through a passageway she had never been in before. It must have been one of the secret hallways built after the last war to help the Aurors pass through the building unnoticed. Within seconds, they were in the Auror offices, and there was Harry.
She ran to him and embraced him. “Oh, Harry. Al's… they were saying awful things about him. Don't they know he's in danger?”
He held her close and she could feel his heart beat against her cheek. “No, we haven't told anyone outside of the Aurors and Hogwarts. They'll find out soon, but we don't want the kidnapper to know that we have any kind of information.”
“But the insults! They were insulting us.” Ginny balled her hands into a fist and held back a sob. “I've never heard such horrible things directed at our family.”
Harry rubbed her back and the motion slowly made her relax. “I know. I won't go out there anymore. I have the Aurors who aren't on a case keeping the crowd under control.” She felt him turn slightly. “Teddy, thanks for bringing her here. I need you back out in the Atrium though.”
“I understand Uncle Harry. We're stretched thin today.” Ginny watched him walk away, his features morphing enough that he became unrecognisable.
“He's a good kid. He volunteered to work with the crowd even after they attacked him for his connection to Al. He simply put on a new face and headed back out there.”
Ginny tried to smile, but couldn't. “Tonks and Remus would be proud.”
“They would.” Harry pulled away then and Ginny let him, though she felt bereft at the loss of contact. “Come on in to my office and I'll update you on what we know.”
She settled into a chair with a cup of tea and an anti-nausea potion. Harry sat next to her and quickly brought her up to date.
“Right now we have Aurors canvassing half of the United Kingdom looking for any trace of Al. They've been told to keep an eye out for Higgs as well, especially because we don't believe he's going to keep Al for long. We are thinking he'll pass him off to whomever hired him.”
“What leads do we have beyond Higgs?”
“We think it was probably someone with Death Eater connections who hired him, which only leaves the Malfoys, the Notts, and Goyle. We've checked up on the Notts and all of them have solid alibis for the past 48 hours, so while they might have hired Higgs, they haven't picked up Al yet, and we are keeping an eye on them. We've also spoken to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and Astoria, and none of them have truly solid alibis. We haven't tracked down Draco yet; Astoria says he's out of the country on a business trip, but we are afraid he's with Al somewhere. Goyle has disappeared off the face of the planet. No one has seen him in days.”
Ginny's fingers drummed on the desk. “I wish I could be out there doing something! I hate sitting here and learning things and not knowing enough.” Her eyes dropped to her hand and she forced it to still. “It feels like the war again.”
Harry covered her hand with his. “I'm sorry. I want to be out there too. There's nothing we can do until we get a lead,” he said.
“What about James and Lily? Do they know?”
“Yes. I Flooed James in Romania and let him know what was going on before he heard the wrong thing. Lily had already heard about it when I arrived at Hogwarts yesterday afternoon, but I took a minute to talk it over with her and calm her down. She said she'll let the other kids at Hogwarts know.”
Ginny laughed. “That will keep her busy at least. She'll be too busy gossiping to worry.”
The Intercom Box on Harry's desk began flashing rapidly. “It's news!” He leapt to answer it, smacking it none-too-gently with his wand.
“Harry, are you there?” Ron's voice came through clearly and Ginny knew from the tone that they had found something good.
“I'm here. What do you have to report?”
“We've got Higgs. He's drunk and mean, but we've got him in custody. We'll be Portkeying into the holding cells in five minutes.”
Harry's eyes took on a menacing shine, a look Ginny had never liked on him before. Now she knew her own eyes looked the same.
“I'll be there to meet you.” The conversation ended and Harry turned to Ginny with a malevolent grin on his face. “Would you like to help with the interrogation, dear?”
“I'd love to,” she replied.
Harry took her down to the holding cells through the secret passages of the Ministry. She was amazed at how quickly they moved from place to place, until Harry admitted that the passages were made of condensed wizarding space to allow them to move through the building faster than they normally would. They arrived at the cells only seconds before the Aurors.
“Lemme go!” Higgs demanded. Ron had his wand trained on Higgs as he stepped away from him. The other two Aurors followed suit and the three of them slowly backed out of the cell. The door slammed shut and Ginny felt a tingle as the wards went up in it.
Harry moved to the bars of the cell and stared in at the prisoner. “We will let you go eventually, but right now I want to know where my son is.”
Higgs sneered at him, but was too drunk to manage the expression properly, so he merely looked like he had smelled something rank. “That beast is locked up where he won't get into proper society.”
“My son is not an animal, you son of a bitch! Tell me where the hell he is right now or I swear I'll transfigure your bloody head into a balloon and throw knives at it!” Ginny was not known for her calm temper: she was known for being as fiercely protective of her children as her own mother was. “Don't even tempt me, bastard!
Higgs wandered over to the door of the cell and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Damn it!” She yanked out her wand and cast an Engorgement Charm and a Numbing Hex. “You stick your tongue out at me one more time and I'll really make you regret it!”
Harry stood aside and let her fight with the man, but Ron wandered over and snatched her wand, undoing her charms before he could bite his tongue in half as she wanted.
“Sorry, Gin. We need him alive and well for questioning.”
Higgs found his voice then. “I'm going to sue you! This is improper handling of a prisoner!”
Harry simply looked at him. “I'm the head of the Aurors. The sub-head of the Aurors, who also happens to be the husband of the head of Magical Law Enforcement, are standing next to me. If we say nothing went on here, then nothing went on here.”
Higgs spluttered. “That's… that's illegal!”
“So is kidnapping someone,” said Harry. Hermione stepped into the room then and moved next to her husband.
“Ha! Not if the student is one of those disgusting gays!”
Ginny glared at him. “My son is not disgusting, and being gay doesn’t mean you can abduct someone.”
Higgs shook his head. “Nuh-uh. Dr... the guy who hired me said there was a law that said you could do whatever you wanted to pillow-biters.”
“Actually, that law was repealed years ago. It also never referred to abduction. Physical and mental injury was allowed, but not kidnapping.” Hermione's lecture voice had never made Ginny so happy before.
“He told me I wasn't going to get into trouble! He lied to me!” Higgs sounded affronted by the idea.
“Who told you that you wouldn't get into trouble?” Harry's voice was hard.
“I'm not going to tell you! I got paid good money for this job! If I tell you he'll come and take it all back.”
Hermione smiled. “Actually, according to subsection 23, paragraph 12 of the Illegal Activities section of the Laws of the Wizarding World stored in the Ministry archives, all illicitly gained materials and contraband are subject to seizure upon arrest. Thus the money belongs to the Ministry.”
“You can't have it!”
Ron flicked his wand and a large moneybag sailed out of the cell and into his hands. “Are you willing to give up your information now?”
“Why should I? I'm not going to get anything out of it.”
Hermione smirked then. “Do you know what the punishment is for kidnapping is?”
Higgs shook his head.
“The minimum sentence is five years in Azkaban. Lucky for you Al wasn't a minor; that has a minimum sentence of ten years. Both have a maximum sentence of thirty years.” Her smirk grew wider. “And I can promise you that with Harry Potter, the Man Who Lived, against you, you will receive the maximum sentence.”
Ginny was amused to see her brother pipe up as the “good” Auror. “If you agree to tell us everything you know, we can work with you to reduce your sentence to three years in Azkaban and two years of house arrest.”
Higgs eyes moved back and forth between the husband and wife for a moment before chancing a glance at the glowering “Man Who Lived.” He gulped.
“I'll tell you.”
He paused and Ginny's frustration got the best of her.
“Speak up before I hex you again!”
“All right! All right! I was hired by Draco Malfoy to kidnap the kid.”
Harry's eyes gleamed. “I'm going to kill him.”
Ron managed to keep better control on his emotions and the situation. “Where are Malfoy and Al right now?”
“I don’t know. I Portkeyed in and out of a dirty apartment building with the kid.”
Hermione said, “The logical place to start would be to track down Malfoy then.”
Everyone agreed, except for Higgs who was too busy grumbling to care, and they all headed to their offices to begin tracking down Malfoy. Hermione took Ginny to her office. Ginny wanted to be out there helping the Aurors, but she knew she would only get in the way.
“How are you doing, Ginny?” Hermione's gentle voice and offer of a cup of tea broke through Ginny's rage.
She sighed and accepted the cup gratefully. “I don't know. I feel like I can't think.” She took a sip of the tea. “I got a Floo from Harry that Al had begun a new campaign for gay rights, and that Harry would handle it. The next thing I know my husband's Flooing me that our son might be dead, is definitely missing, and that I need to get back to England as soon as possible.”
Hermione nodded. “We’ll find him though. You know Harry, he’d destroy half of England if it meant saving someone he loved.”
Ginny smiled wanly. “I’m just afraid that it might come down to that. Who knows where Al could be?”
~*~
Al couldn't see anything. He blinked a few times to try to clear his vision, but he couldn't see in the darkness. His captor shifted in his seat and Al startled at the rustle of his cloak.
“You are finally awake. Good.”
Without his eyesight, Al was forced to use his other senses. He tried to use his hearing to figure out what the man was doing, but all he could tell was that he was moving.
“What are you going to do now?” Al's voice quaked in fear, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His head throbbed and his throat was raw from his screams. All he wanted was to curl up in a little ball, but the ropes that held him down wouldn't let him.
He stood and Al could feel him looming over him, even though he could not see him. “The law says I can do anything I want to you.” Something prodded Al in his side and he tried to move away from it. It continued to jab him though and Al realised it was a wand.
“What are you talking about? What law?”
“There was a law created years ago that said I could punish a gay like you for being the disgusting pervert that you are. As long as I don’t kill you, I can do whatever I want to hurt you.”
Al knew immediately what law he meant. “That law was repealed though! It doesn’t apply anymore. So, you can’t hurt me, or they’ll punish you.”
“Stop lying! I’m older than you, and I know more than you.” The wand was still jabbing into Al's side. “And now I’m going to hurt you.”
Al panicked and asked the first question that came to mind. “Are you doing this because you hate me?”
“Not you.”
“My father then. Why do you hate him?”
The wand withdrew. “He killed someone I cared about.”
Al was surprised to hear utter despair in the man’s voice. “Was it… your wife?”
The man stabbed the wand back into Al’s side. “No! It was my best friend. He was the only person who knew everything about me and still liked me. And your father just left him to burn!”
If Al could keep the man talking, maybe he would not hurt him. “When did this happen?”
“It was the Battle of Hogwarts. Vince was only doing what he had been told to do. We had to get the Horcrux when your father and his friends swooped in and stole it. They knocked me unconscious and set the Room of Requirement on fire. Then they left Vince to burn.”
Al recognized the man then. It was Goyle. Al had heard stories about Crabbe and Goyle, but Goyle’s tale was nothing like his father’s. “Are you sure that’s how it happened?”
“Don’t you dare contradict me!” Goyle's wand moved away for a moment, only to be shoved back into Al's side. “I learned this spell from Vince. Before your father killed him.”
“Sectumsempra,” he whispered.
Again, Al's anguished screams filled the room, but he wasn't given the respite of unconsciousness. Instead, Goyle healed the wound in his side.
“You won't bleed to death. I don’t want to go to Azkaban. But you’ll scar, and there’ll be pain.” The wand moved to his chest. “Sectumsempra.”
Over and over and over again he cast the spell, healing Al each time only to open a new wound elsewhere. The old wounds ached and Al knew that the healing on them wasn't complete, but he didn't care. His mind was too wracked with pain to focus on anything.
Again he cut Al open and healed him closed. “I will scar you. I will break you. I will show you what it means to be destroyed inside.” Another cut, this time down the side of a leg.
The wounds crisscrossed his body now, covering every part of him Goyle could reach. They throbbed with every beat of Al's heart and screamed at the slightest movement.
“Please! Please…” Al moaned. The pain was too much to bear. He begged for mercy. “Please, I… please!”
“Please and sorry will not save you.” A gash across his neck, just missing the large veins.
“What are…” A slice of his arm was peeled away and healed back into place. “No, stop, please!”
“You have the tenacity of a Slytherin, but I will break you. Crucio!”
Al writhed on the table. The pain made his muscles clench up. His arms and legs pulled helplessly at the ropes. Each movement irritated his new wounds and several that had been healed very lightly tore open again. Al wished he could pass out, wished he could escape, wished he could die, but the pain anchored him in place, the spell refusing to allow him the comfort of oblivion.
It felt like hours before Goyle released the spell, and when he did, Al collapsed into unconsciousness.
~*~
PART I-C
PART II-A
PART II-B
~*~
Ron wasn't finished interviewing Scorpius yet, but the boy looked like he was about to crack. Ron sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second. “All right, never mind. You go get some lunch and I'll talk to you again later.”
Scorpius nodded and scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes. They were red and puffy and Ron felt a twinge of guilt for having made the kid cry. Ron stood and left the classroom, leaving Scorpius to compose himself in private. Hermione stood outside waiting for him.
“He doesn't know anything else? Nothing at all?”
Ron shrugged and leaned on the wall next to his wife. “He says he doesn't. He didn't recognise the kidnapper.”
“Can he give a description of the man?”
“It matches the description Shunpike and Aberforth gave us perfectly, so he must be telling the truth.” He sighed and wrapped his arms around Hermione. “I'm scared, love. This isn't like a normal mission where we are saving someone we don't know. It's Al's life that is on the line.”
She hugged him back, tightly. “I know. I keep thinking, what if it had been Rose or Hugo?”
They stood there for a moment and then Hermione withdrew from the embrace.
“It is Al though, and we need any clues we can find.” They headed down the hallway in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, only to stop when they heard Scorpius clear his throat behind them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? I remembered something.”
Ron turned and moved back towards him. “What is it?”
Scorpius fidgeted a bit. “We were talking, before we went to visit Severus, and Al found a law over the summer.”
“What kind of law?”
“A, um, homophobic one?”
Ron growled. “All right, and what has that go to do with his kidnapping? We know he was looking up the laws regarding homosexuals.”
Scorpius blanched at the show of aggression and Hermione intervened. “It's okay, Scorpius. Please, just go on.” Her gentle tone calmed the young man slightly.
“There's a law that says that homosexuals can be attacked, as long as they aren't killed. It was repealed, but what if the kidnapper doesn’t know that?” His eyes pleaded with Hermione for reassurance. “And he basically outed himself to the world when he stood up for gay rights in front of the Wizengamot like that. Do you think Al's been kidnapped because he's gay?”
“Unfortunately, we think that's exactly why he's been kidnapped.” Hermione felt horrible for having to say it, but it was the truth
Scorpius wilted. “Is there anything I could tell you that would help? I don't know anything else about the kidnapper, and Al didn't tell me anything about the laws or his campaign to change them until last night.”
Ron watched the boy struggle to keep his tears at bay. It really wasn't his fault that his father was a bastard. “No, you don't know any more than we do.” He reached out and gripped Scorpius's shoulder, squeezing gently. “Just keep thinking and if anything else occurs to you, let us know as quickly as possible.” He squeezed his shoulder once more and then released it. “Now go and get some dinner. It's almost time for the elves to clean up the Great Hall, so you better hurry.”
Scorpius nodded and left. The two adults waited for Scorpius to turn the corner and then Hermione slid her hand into her husband's.
“It was nice of you to comfort him.”
Ron grinned and rubbed the back of his head. “I can be kind sometimes. And he's just a kid. I can't believe we were ever that age, let alone that age and destroying Horcruxes.”
“We grew up fast.” Hermione sighed. “We had to. I'm just glad our kids get to be kids.”
“Me too.” He tugged on her arm. “Let's go see if Harry and Snape discovered anything else.”
They headed out of the school and down to the Shrieking Shack. Hermione levitated a rock up to the knot to gain them entrance to the passage. When they came out of the tunnel, they found Harry and Snape glaring at each other.
“It's a good thing Professor Snape's already dead or one of you would have killed each other by now,” Ron quipped, earning himself a chuckle from Hermione and Harry and a sniff of disdain from Snape.
“Do we know anything else?” Hermione asked.
Harry sighed. “Snape says the boys have been Apparating into Hogsmeade from the tunnel for months.”
“I told them to be careful, but I didn’t tell them to stop going.” He looked at Harry for a long moment. “I knew from experience that it wouldn’t stop them.”
Harry flushed lightly. Ron knew he was thinking of the many ways they had gotten around adults in their time at Hogwarts. “Anyway, Al and Scorpius showed up towards the end of dinner time. They talked to Snape for a couple of hours, and then they Disapparated to Hogsmeade. From there we tracked them to the Hogs Head. Shunpike says they were there for an hour, hour and a half, and then the kidnapper showed up and suddenly took Al, claiming he’d be back later with money. Apparently, he had been contracted to kidnap Al. That’s what Shunpike came up with from his words, anyway. Scorpius then Apparated back to Hogwarts around midnight, and contacted the headmistress. She contacted the ministry at five in the morning, and it took hours for the information to get to us.”
“Have you tried tracing the Apparition trail?” Ron looked hopefully, but Harry shook his head.
“It's dead. The headmistress decided to wait until closer to proper ‘business hours’ to contact us, and now it’s untraceable.”
“God damn it!” Ron never understood his wife's need to use Muggle epithets when under pressure. “Why did she wait?”
“I don't know. Apparently, she thought Al was simply still in Hogsmeade and Scorpius was just drunk and crazy.” Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I have no idea what she was thinking.”
Snape floated from one end of the room to the other, and Ron realised it was rather odd to watch a ghost pace. “What do we know about the kidnapper?”
“We know he has brown hair and brown eyes. He’s slight, but not small. Most of the witnesses said he was of average height. He had no identifiable markings.”
“So…” Ron thought for a moment. “He could be anyone, then.”
Snape paused in his pacing. “How old did he appear to be?”
“About fifty,” Harry said. “Shunpike said he recognised him as someone who was in Hogwarts at about the same time he was.”
“Discounting the fact that this man could have been Polyjuiced, I likely taught him. If you can get me an image of the man, I might be able to place him.”
“Professor! That’s an excellent idea!” Hermione dashed out of the room before any of them could say anything.
“I think she’s got an idea,” Ron offered. Harry shrugged and turned back to Snape. They went back and forth on various people as they waited for Hermione to come back. Less than thirty minutes later she ran back into the shack, gasping for breath, with Scorpius on her heels.
“I know who he is,” she said. “Terence Higgs. He was Slytherin seeker in our first year.” She patted Scorpius on the shoulder. “Scorpius let me peek into his head with Legilimency, and I recognized him immediately.”
Snape snorted. “Higgs was never the most intelligent person. I can see him kidnapping someone with no precautions. The smartest thing he ever did was act so idiotic in front of the Dark Lord that he refused to give Higgs the Dark Mark.”
“Who knew even Voldemort had standards?” Harry muttered.
“He still worked with the Death Eaters though, and he is dangerous. Despite his stupidity, he has a real talent for tracking people down and taking control of them. I don't know who would have hired him, but I believe anyone with Death Eater connections would have known of his skills.”
Finally, they had an idea that might give them a lead. “There aren't many Death Eaters left outside of Azkaban. The Notts, Gregory Goyle, and the Malfoys were the only marked Death Eaters to escape imprisonment. Who knows how many unmarked Death Eaters we still have floating around though.”
Snape paused in his pacing. “There really weren't many people who worked closely with the Death Eaters and weren't marked. The Dark Lord had an advantage over the marked because he could cause you much pain if you displeased him. It was only the very stupid and the very untrustworthy who were not marked and given full Death Eater privileges.”
“Then chances are that it was one of our marked Death Eaters who hired Higgs.” Hermione tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she took a moment to think. “Which of them would have the most reason to kidnap Al? If we can decide on that, we'll have an idea of where to look for him beyond trying to trace Higgs.”
“It probably wasn't Draco Malfoy then, or Narcissa. They've both been very good to Al when he visits Scorpius at Malfoy Manor,” said Harry.
Ron didn't agree. “Doesn't mean it wasn't a cover. Lucius could easily have influenced either of them. Or he could have done the hiring as well.”
Scorpius frowned. “My parents wouldn’t have kidnapped Al. They like him!”
Snape shook his head. “Do not cross them off of your list, Mr. Potter. They were all Slytherins and if Albus's recent campaign hurts them in any way, they will not be afraid to retaliate.”
“And remember Pettigrew, Harry. Being close to someone will not protect you from them,” Hermione added quietly.
“I know, Hermione, it's just… Scorpius is Al's best friend. I hate that the top suspects on our list include his family.”
“We still have other suspects.” Snape looked uncomfortable and Ron figured that it was weird for him to try to comfort Harry of all people. “The Notts are a very old pureblood family. They would not be happy about things like gay rights. The same goes for Mr. Goyle as well.”
“Well, that gives us somewhere to begin the investigation, at least. I'm not sure what else we'll be able to find out here at Hogwarts. We should head back to the office now and update everyone who's investigating this.” Hermione turned to Snape. “Thank you for all of your help, Professor. Let's go guys.” With a pop! she was gone, Apparating back to the Ministry.
Harry sighed and turned to Snape as well. “Thank you,” he paused, “for helping us figure out who kidnapped Al and for trying to protect him.”
“It was no problem. Albus is a wonderful young man. I hope you find him quickly and bring him back safe and sound.”
Harry Disapparated, leaving Ron alone with Snape.
“Well, Mr. Weasley, I suppose you should be getting on after them.”
Ron grinned. “You know, for a sadistic old bastard, you're a pretty nice guy.” He swept his gaze over the shack to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. “Thanks for helping with Al and for comforting Harry.”
Snape sneered at him. “I did no such thing. I am worried about Albus, not his father.”
Ron saw through his feeble protests, but let the matter drop. “I'll keep you updated and let you know when we find Al.”
Snape's face softened. “I would appreciate that.”
“Me too?” Scorpius asked timidly.
“I’ll keep you up to date too. If you remember anything else about the kidnapping, let us know, okay?”
Scorpius nodded.
“Bye then, Scorpius. See you, Snape,” he said and Disapparated.
~*~
Last night a blur in Al’s mind. He could remember Apparating to the Hog’s Head, and drinking something pink, but everything after that was fuzzy.
He tried to turn over in his bed, and remembered something he had forgotten. Al had been kidnapped, and now he was tied to a large table, a limb connected to each table leg. His hurt head from his hangover and his wrists were chafing badly. A feather reached out and tickled his nose suddenly, and Al sneezed. Then the feather came back again. Over and over the feather tickled Al, making him sneeze and exacerbating his headache.
Even though the room was dark, Al could see the man sitting in a chair next to his table and tickling him. He could see little beyond the man though, and could not tell if the room was large or small. There were no windows and he couldn’t hear any noise. There was no way of placing his location.
“Would you stop that?” Al finally burst out, knowing that irritating someone who could kill him was not a good idea, but he was so frustrated that he did it anyway.
The man just laughed at him and ran the feather under his nose again. “Am I upsetting the baby Potter?”
Snarling, Al waited until the feather passed by again before snapping his teeth around it. It didn't break, but the saliva from his mouth made all the fuzzy barbs stick together. “Thank Merlin,” he breathed as the man tossed the feather that was now useless for tickling to the ground.
He regarded the man with suspicion then, better able to focus without a feather being waving underneath his nostrils. “Why exactly am I here? And where is here?”
“You honestly think I'm going to tell you?”
Al tried to shrug, but the ropes wouldn't let him. “What have you got to lose?” he asked instead.
“Ha! Everything, if you find out who I am. I'll be handing you over to someone else in a few hours and then I'm out of here with a bag of money and no bounty on my head.” The man seemed pleased, and Al couldn't figure out why.
“I've seen your face though.”
The man looked at him then and grinned widely. “Why, you have… I suppose I'll have to kill you then.”
Al couldn't help but let out a whimper. “You don't have to kill me; really, I won't tell anyone what you look like.”
Hearty guffaws filled the room. “No, you're safe boy. My boss'd have my head if I turned you over to him dead and nothing's fun without a head. Except the Headless Hunt and with my luck I'd end up like Nearly Headless Nick, unable to do even that.”
The man knew who Nearly Headless Nick was, which meant that he'd gone to Hogwarts. Knowing that, Al figured out that he might be able to trap him into admitting enough about himself that Al would be able to uncover his identity. Even if Al didn't know who he was, when Al’s father came to save him, as Al was certain his father would rescue him at some point, the clues he unearthed in a careful questioning would help his father discover who the kidnapper was.
“You were a Gryffindor then?” Al was delighted to hear the man snort.
“Me? Of course not! I'm a born and bred Slytherin, lad.”
The mention of Slytherin was not unexpected, but it did distract Al from his fact-finding. “Slytherin you say? Have you heard about the Slytherin Pride movement? Ever since the last war against Voldemort, Slytherins have been regarded with distrust and disgust. However, we Slytherins-”
His voice was cut off with a swipe of his captor's wand. “Shut your mouth, kid. I've heard your rhetoric spewed from the covers of hundreds of newspapers and I'm sick of it. Slytherins are not supposed to be so public about their fights.”
He stood, knocking over the chair as he did, and moved away from Al. “When I was in Slytherin, we learned the proper way to do things. Business deals were done under the table, illicit potions trading took place in the deepest dungeon, and we made Slytherin look good by playing society’s games, not by ‘fighting for our rights’.”
“It wasn't working though!” Al struggled with his bonds, wanting to punctuate his words with gestures, but was unable to do so. “When I was sorted into Slytherin, the seventh years were being beat up by Hufflepuff fifth years! Can you really say that Slytherin house had any level of pride?”
“Pride isn't what Slytherin house is known for.” The kidnapper turned back to Al. “We are known for ambition. If pride really means that much to you, perhaps Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would have been a better house for you.”
Al was stung. “I'm a Slytherin. I'm very ambitious. Wouldn't you call the Slytherin Pride movement ambitious?”
“No, I'd call it stupid.”
“Well, maybe you are stupid!” Al knew that was a mistake as soon as he said it. His captor was at his side in a second, his wand tapping Al's temple.
“Don't tempt me.” He traced Al's face with the wand, lowering it to his jugular. “I've no love for you. It's only the pile of Galleons I'm to gain from this job that has kept you alive this long.” The wand prodded at his neck and Al fought the urge to cringe away in fear. “If I wanted to, I could kill you faster than you could cry for your mother.”
“Good thing you want your Galleons more than his death then.” The words came from the doorway, the voice was a snotty and aristocratic one. He moved into the room, but Al could not tell who he was due to the thick hooded cloak he was wearing. An arm protruded from the cloak long enough to hand a large bag to the kidnapper. “Your job is over Higgs. Go.” The bag clanked as it passed hands.
“Don't mention my name in front of the boy again,” Higgs said after the money had been hidden away in his clothing. “You promised no one would know of my involvement.”
The man waved Higgs away. “And they will not. Even if they did, you would not be punished. The boy is a homosexual.” Distaste coated his words.
Higgs threw his hands up. “All right, all right. If you are going to hurt that kid, please make it extra painful for me. Little bastard.” He left and Al was alone with a man who had essentially just bought him.
He walked over to Al and stood next to him, cloak protecting his face from Al's prying eyes. “Well, well, well, Potter. You are at my mercy.”
Grasping on to any Gryffindor feelings his family might have instilled in him over the years, Al spoke softly but clearly to his captor. “What are you going to do to me?”
Ignoring his question, the man reached out and prodded Al's head rather painfully. “You have the same hair and eyes as your horrid father.” His hand moved to Al's forehead, pushing the hair away from it. “No scar though, and no glasses.” His deep chuckle filled Al with apprehension. “That will not be the case for long.”
He removed his hand from Al's head and began to search through a cloak pocket. The dim light in the room caught on the fabric of the garment for a moment, making the Slytherin green colour of the wool obvious. Al's mind began to churn then. Who could this man be? The voice was familiar, and Al knew he should be able to place it, but he couldn’t think of a single Slytherin adult who hated him enough to have him kidnapped like this.
The hand clutched a glass potion flask when it withdrew from his cloak. Inside the bottle was a somewhat innocuous looking liquid, pale violet in colour. “This is for your eyes.” He sat it on the table next to Al's ribs. Then he reached back into his cloak and pulled out a dagger. “This is for your scar.”
When Al spoke this time, his voice cracked. “What are you going to do to me?
“Nothing much.” He ran his finger along the blade of the dagger. When he pulled it away it was bleeding. “This knife is cursed. A cut from it cannot be healed completely. There will always be a scar.” He moved it closer to Al's head. “It is just the thing to add a little lightning bolt to your head.”
He let the dagger dangle over Al's forehead for a minute and watched the boy struggle to move away from it, and then he set it on the table next to the vial. “I'm not ready to scar you yet though.”
“Why?” Al's voice trembled. “Why are you doing this?”
He picked up the vial and removed the rubber stopper. “You, of all Potter's children, look the most like him. I know that Potter adores his children more than his own life. So, I’m going to use you to get revenge on him. I am going to make you into a little Potter clone, and won't the media love that?”
He held the vial over Al's eyes and slowly began to pour it into them. The pain was unimaginable and Al screamed at the top of his lungs, thrashing within his bonds. The potion covered his face and flowed onto the table, but it only hurt where it had gotten into his eyes.
“The potion is meant to blind,” the man said over Al's screams, “but it will not hurt skin or hair. Its effects are irreversible.” He petted Al's hair. “I did weaken it somewhat, so you won't be completely blind. You should lose just enough eyesight that you will need glasses.”
The pain was lessening, and Al's voice had gone raw from his screams. He gasped for breath, trying not to focus on the pain, but it was all consuming. “Please, please!” he whispered, begging for even a tiny bit of mercy.
“How I would have liked to hear you father say that to me even once…” He replaced the vial on the table and picked up the dagger. “It's too late though. Instead, I'll just have to listen to his son beg for mercy.”
“Please…”
The dagger pressed against Al's forehead then. “Do not move. We would not want to slice open your whole face, now would we?”
The man continued to move the knife, pulling away a moment later and leaving behind a cut in the exact shape of Harry Potter's famous scar. Al's scream was piercing, but short. It cut off when he lost consciousness from the pain.
~*~
Ginny Portkeyed out of O'Hare International Airport's Wizarding Terminal only fifteen minutes before her arrival at the Ministry of Magic, but it felt like it had taken her hours to get there. She staggered out of the Portkey arrival area and collapsed onto a nearby seat. International Portkey was terribly nauseating.
When she stood a few minutes later she was still dizzy, but she pushed the feeling aside and headed towards her husband's office. The Ministry was flooded with people and it was hard for her to make her way through.
She bumped into a wizard who was casting a banner above the crowd. The spell was one George had created to use for advertisements. Instead of a message to “Buy All Your Prank Supplies at WWW,” this one read, “Lock up the atrocities!” Similar signs floated above other people in the crowd.
When she tried to move away from the sign-speller, she stepped on the foot of a young witch. The woman turned to her and snarled.
“How can you set foot here after giving birth to that perversion of nature? How can you live knowing what kind of thing your son is?”
Ginny was startled by the vehemence in her voice but couldn't figure out what she was talking about. Then it dawned on her that these people were here to protest against Al. Al who was still missing, who might be dead.
“Silencio, you bitch!” she screamed at the young woman. The surrounding people turned at the spell and began shouting at her. The obscenities they yelled at her made her blood run cold. How dare they insult her and her family?
She hexed the people nearest her with a particularly strong Bat Bogey Hex and then cast a hasty Protego when people began casting back at her. The urge to laugh bubbled up inside her when the spells hit the other people in the crowd instead of her. People were sprouting purple feathers and orange tentacles, and all she could do was giggle madly.
“Aunt Ginny, come on.” That was Teddy, in his Auror uniform, leading her through the crowd. There were employees of the Ministry out in the crowd now trying to calm the riot that had broken out.
Her giggles subsided as they left the main atrium, and she realised there were tears on her cheeks. “Teddy, I… where's Harry?”
“He's in his office. Come on.” He took her through a passageway she had never been in before. It must have been one of the secret hallways built after the last war to help the Aurors pass through the building unnoticed. Within seconds, they were in the Auror offices, and there was Harry.
She ran to him and embraced him. “Oh, Harry. Al's… they were saying awful things about him. Don't they know he's in danger?”
He held her close and she could feel his heart beat against her cheek. “No, we haven't told anyone outside of the Aurors and Hogwarts. They'll find out soon, but we don't want the kidnapper to know that we have any kind of information.”
“But the insults! They were insulting us.” Ginny balled her hands into a fist and held back a sob. “I've never heard such horrible things directed at our family.”
Harry rubbed her back and the motion slowly made her relax. “I know. I won't go out there anymore. I have the Aurors who aren't on a case keeping the crowd under control.” She felt him turn slightly. “Teddy, thanks for bringing her here. I need you back out in the Atrium though.”
“I understand Uncle Harry. We're stretched thin today.” Ginny watched him walk away, his features morphing enough that he became unrecognisable.
“He's a good kid. He volunteered to work with the crowd even after they attacked him for his connection to Al. He simply put on a new face and headed back out there.”
Ginny tried to smile, but couldn't. “Tonks and Remus would be proud.”
“They would.” Harry pulled away then and Ginny let him, though she felt bereft at the loss of contact. “Come on in to my office and I'll update you on what we know.”
She settled into a chair with a cup of tea and an anti-nausea potion. Harry sat next to her and quickly brought her up to date.
“Right now we have Aurors canvassing half of the United Kingdom looking for any trace of Al. They've been told to keep an eye out for Higgs as well, especially because we don't believe he's going to keep Al for long. We are thinking he'll pass him off to whomever hired him.”
“What leads do we have beyond Higgs?”
“We think it was probably someone with Death Eater connections who hired him, which only leaves the Malfoys, the Notts, and Goyle. We've checked up on the Notts and all of them have solid alibis for the past 48 hours, so while they might have hired Higgs, they haven't picked up Al yet, and we are keeping an eye on them. We've also spoken to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, and Astoria, and none of them have truly solid alibis. We haven't tracked down Draco yet; Astoria says he's out of the country on a business trip, but we are afraid he's with Al somewhere. Goyle has disappeared off the face of the planet. No one has seen him in days.”
Ginny's fingers drummed on the desk. “I wish I could be out there doing something! I hate sitting here and learning things and not knowing enough.” Her eyes dropped to her hand and she forced it to still. “It feels like the war again.”
Harry covered her hand with his. “I'm sorry. I want to be out there too. There's nothing we can do until we get a lead,” he said.
“What about James and Lily? Do they know?”
“Yes. I Flooed James in Romania and let him know what was going on before he heard the wrong thing. Lily had already heard about it when I arrived at Hogwarts yesterday afternoon, but I took a minute to talk it over with her and calm her down. She said she'll let the other kids at Hogwarts know.”
Ginny laughed. “That will keep her busy at least. She'll be too busy gossiping to worry.”
The Intercom Box on Harry's desk began flashing rapidly. “It's news!” He leapt to answer it, smacking it none-too-gently with his wand.
“Harry, are you there?” Ron's voice came through clearly and Ginny knew from the tone that they had found something good.
“I'm here. What do you have to report?”
“We've got Higgs. He's drunk and mean, but we've got him in custody. We'll be Portkeying into the holding cells in five minutes.”
Harry's eyes took on a menacing shine, a look Ginny had never liked on him before. Now she knew her own eyes looked the same.
“I'll be there to meet you.” The conversation ended and Harry turned to Ginny with a malevolent grin on his face. “Would you like to help with the interrogation, dear?”
“I'd love to,” she replied.
Harry took her down to the holding cells through the secret passages of the Ministry. She was amazed at how quickly they moved from place to place, until Harry admitted that the passages were made of condensed wizarding space to allow them to move through the building faster than they normally would. They arrived at the cells only seconds before the Aurors.
“Lemme go!” Higgs demanded. Ron had his wand trained on Higgs as he stepped away from him. The other two Aurors followed suit and the three of them slowly backed out of the cell. The door slammed shut and Ginny felt a tingle as the wards went up in it.
Harry moved to the bars of the cell and stared in at the prisoner. “We will let you go eventually, but right now I want to know where my son is.”
Higgs sneered at him, but was too drunk to manage the expression properly, so he merely looked like he had smelled something rank. “That beast is locked up where he won't get into proper society.”
“My son is not an animal, you son of a bitch! Tell me where the hell he is right now or I swear I'll transfigure your bloody head into a balloon and throw knives at it!” Ginny was not known for her calm temper: she was known for being as fiercely protective of her children as her own mother was. “Don't even tempt me, bastard!
Higgs wandered over to the door of the cell and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Damn it!” She yanked out her wand and cast an Engorgement Charm and a Numbing Hex. “You stick your tongue out at me one more time and I'll really make you regret it!”
Harry stood aside and let her fight with the man, but Ron wandered over and snatched her wand, undoing her charms before he could bite his tongue in half as she wanted.
“Sorry, Gin. We need him alive and well for questioning.”
Higgs found his voice then. “I'm going to sue you! This is improper handling of a prisoner!”
Harry simply looked at him. “I'm the head of the Aurors. The sub-head of the Aurors, who also happens to be the husband of the head of Magical Law Enforcement, are standing next to me. If we say nothing went on here, then nothing went on here.”
Higgs spluttered. “That's… that's illegal!”
“So is kidnapping someone,” said Harry. Hermione stepped into the room then and moved next to her husband.
“Ha! Not if the student is one of those disgusting gays!”
Ginny glared at him. “My son is not disgusting, and being gay doesn’t mean you can abduct someone.”
Higgs shook his head. “Nuh-uh. Dr... the guy who hired me said there was a law that said you could do whatever you wanted to pillow-biters.”
“Actually, that law was repealed years ago. It also never referred to abduction. Physical and mental injury was allowed, but not kidnapping.” Hermione's lecture voice had never made Ginny so happy before.
“He told me I wasn't going to get into trouble! He lied to me!” Higgs sounded affronted by the idea.
“Who told you that you wouldn't get into trouble?” Harry's voice was hard.
“I'm not going to tell you! I got paid good money for this job! If I tell you he'll come and take it all back.”
Hermione smiled. “Actually, according to subsection 23, paragraph 12 of the Illegal Activities section of the Laws of the Wizarding World stored in the Ministry archives, all illicitly gained materials and contraband are subject to seizure upon arrest. Thus the money belongs to the Ministry.”
“You can't have it!”
Ron flicked his wand and a large moneybag sailed out of the cell and into his hands. “Are you willing to give up your information now?”
“Why should I? I'm not going to get anything out of it.”
Hermione smirked then. “Do you know what the punishment is for kidnapping is?”
Higgs shook his head.
“The minimum sentence is five years in Azkaban. Lucky for you Al wasn't a minor; that has a minimum sentence of ten years. Both have a maximum sentence of thirty years.” Her smirk grew wider. “And I can promise you that with Harry Potter, the Man Who Lived, against you, you will receive the maximum sentence.”
Ginny was amused to see her brother pipe up as the “good” Auror. “If you agree to tell us everything you know, we can work with you to reduce your sentence to three years in Azkaban and two years of house arrest.”
Higgs eyes moved back and forth between the husband and wife for a moment before chancing a glance at the glowering “Man Who Lived.” He gulped.
“I'll tell you.”
He paused and Ginny's frustration got the best of her.
“Speak up before I hex you again!”
“All right! All right! I was hired by Draco Malfoy to kidnap the kid.”
Harry's eyes gleamed. “I'm going to kill him.”
Ron managed to keep better control on his emotions and the situation. “Where are Malfoy and Al right now?”
“I don’t know. I Portkeyed in and out of a dirty apartment building with the kid.”
Hermione said, “The logical place to start would be to track down Malfoy then.”
Everyone agreed, except for Higgs who was too busy grumbling to care, and they all headed to their offices to begin tracking down Malfoy. Hermione took Ginny to her office. Ginny wanted to be out there helping the Aurors, but she knew she would only get in the way.
“How are you doing, Ginny?” Hermione's gentle voice and offer of a cup of tea broke through Ginny's rage.
She sighed and accepted the cup gratefully. “I don't know. I feel like I can't think.” She took a sip of the tea. “I got a Floo from Harry that Al had begun a new campaign for gay rights, and that Harry would handle it. The next thing I know my husband's Flooing me that our son might be dead, is definitely missing, and that I need to get back to England as soon as possible.”
Hermione nodded. “We’ll find him though. You know Harry, he’d destroy half of England if it meant saving someone he loved.”
Ginny smiled wanly. “I’m just afraid that it might come down to that. Who knows where Al could be?”
~*~
Al couldn't see anything. He blinked a few times to try to clear his vision, but he couldn't see in the darkness. His captor shifted in his seat and Al startled at the rustle of his cloak.
“You are finally awake. Good.”
Without his eyesight, Al was forced to use his other senses. He tried to use his hearing to figure out what the man was doing, but all he could tell was that he was moving.
“What are you going to do now?” Al's voice quaked in fear, but he couldn't bring himself to care. His head throbbed and his throat was raw from his screams. All he wanted was to curl up in a little ball, but the ropes that held him down wouldn't let him.
He stood and Al could feel him looming over him, even though he could not see him. “The law says I can do anything I want to you.” Something prodded Al in his side and he tried to move away from it. It continued to jab him though and Al realised it was a wand.
“What are you talking about? What law?”
“There was a law created years ago that said I could punish a gay like you for being the disgusting pervert that you are. As long as I don’t kill you, I can do whatever I want to hurt you.”
Al knew immediately what law he meant. “That law was repealed though! It doesn’t apply anymore. So, you can’t hurt me, or they’ll punish you.”
“Stop lying! I’m older than you, and I know more than you.” The wand was still jabbing into Al's side. “And now I’m going to hurt you.”
Al panicked and asked the first question that came to mind. “Are you doing this because you hate me?”
“Not you.”
“My father then. Why do you hate him?”
The wand withdrew. “He killed someone I cared about.”
Al was surprised to hear utter despair in the man’s voice. “Was it… your wife?”
The man stabbed the wand back into Al’s side. “No! It was my best friend. He was the only person who knew everything about me and still liked me. And your father just left him to burn!”
If Al could keep the man talking, maybe he would not hurt him. “When did this happen?”
“It was the Battle of Hogwarts. Vince was only doing what he had been told to do. We had to get the Horcrux when your father and his friends swooped in and stole it. They knocked me unconscious and set the Room of Requirement on fire. Then they left Vince to burn.”
Al recognized the man then. It was Goyle. Al had heard stories about Crabbe and Goyle, but Goyle’s tale was nothing like his father’s. “Are you sure that’s how it happened?”
“Don’t you dare contradict me!” Goyle's wand moved away for a moment, only to be shoved back into Al's side. “I learned this spell from Vince. Before your father killed him.”
“Sectumsempra,” he whispered.
Again, Al's anguished screams filled the room, but he wasn't given the respite of unconsciousness. Instead, Goyle healed the wound in his side.
“You won't bleed to death. I don’t want to go to Azkaban. But you’ll scar, and there’ll be pain.” The wand moved to his chest. “Sectumsempra.”
Over and over and over again he cast the spell, healing Al each time only to open a new wound elsewhere. The old wounds ached and Al knew that the healing on them wasn't complete, but he didn't care. His mind was too wracked with pain to focus on anything.
Again he cut Al open and healed him closed. “I will scar you. I will break you. I will show you what it means to be destroyed inside.” Another cut, this time down the side of a leg.
The wounds crisscrossed his body now, covering every part of him Goyle could reach. They throbbed with every beat of Al's heart and screamed at the slightest movement.
“Please! Please…” Al moaned. The pain was too much to bear. He begged for mercy. “Please, I… please!”
“Please and sorry will not save you.” A gash across his neck, just missing the large veins.
“What are…” A slice of his arm was peeled away and healed back into place. “No, stop, please!”
“You have the tenacity of a Slytherin, but I will break you. Crucio!”
Al writhed on the table. The pain made his muscles clench up. His arms and legs pulled helplessly at the ropes. Each movement irritated his new wounds and several that had been healed very lightly tore open again. Al wished he could pass out, wished he could escape, wished he could die, but the pain anchored him in place, the spell refusing to allow him the comfort of oblivion.
It felt like hours before Goyle released the spell, and when he did, Al collapsed into unconsciousness.
~*~
PART I-C
PART II-A
PART II-B