Poppy cast a diagnostic charm on Draco as soon as Severus lowered the child on the bed. The results came quickly.

Severus started pacing as soon as he laid Draco on the bed. He was worried about his godson. But he was frantic about his son. Who could take Harry off Hogwarts grounds? Why would they take Harry?

“Well,” Poppy said. “The good news is Draco is okay. There are no lasting or lingering effects. Someone put a sleeping charm on him. He’s only asleep.”

Severus paused and walked over to the bed and knelt at the side of it. He combed his fingers in Draco’s hair.

“He’ll wake up,” Severus said. It was more of a statement than a question.

“He’ll be fine,” Poppy confirmed, putting her hand on Severus’ shoulders.

Minerva walked into the Infirmary. Severus looked up at his mother. He could see how stressed she looked.

“Harry?” Severus said. His voice no louder than a whisper.

“He’s nowhere on the grounds,” Minerva sighed, tears pooling in her eyes.

___000___000___000

Harry woke up. The first thing he did was reach for his glasses but realized they were still on his face. Harry opened his eyes to see where he was. He saw that he was in a room. It wasn’t big. Lifting to his elbow, Harry saw that he was on a cot. The light was dim, but he could see shapes and shadows.

Harry swung his legs off the bed, sitting up. Before he could put his feet on the floor, the door opened. A tall man walked in the room.

“Who are you?” Harry asked. “Where am I?”

“You must be happy that I got you away from those people,” the man said.

“What?”

“We will get you back to your relatives soon,” the man said. He moved more into the room.

Harry slid back on the cot until he was against the wall.

“My relatives?” Harry squeaked. “I don’t want to go back to my relatives.”

“Yes, you do,” the man said. “They have been so worried about you.”

“Who are you? I want my daddy,” Harry said.

“I’m Josiah,” the man said. “I work for the Minster. We saw that you were taken from your relatives so we got you before you could get hurt.”

Josiah reached for Harry. Harry didn’t want to move. He started attacking the man’s hand. Kicking and scratching. He wanted his daddy. He wanted his Aunt Minnie. He wanted his Grandpa Albus. He wanted his big brother. Harry finally found a family that loved him and didn’t hurt him and now he was taken away.

Josiah was getting angry as he continued to fight this child. It should not take this much effort to get this scrawny child back to his muggle relatives. Harry swung a kick and Josiah was able to grip the child’s ankle.

“Let me go,” Harry screamed.

“I’ll teach you a lesson,” Josiah growled. “You’ll learn to respect your elders.

Josiah sat down on the cot, pulling Harry by his leg until he was close enough. The man gripped Harry’s arms and pulled him over his lap. Harry started squirming more. The child was hanging off the man’s lap. His arms were stuck behind his back. Josiah moved his leg so he could trap Harry’s legs between his knees. Harry knew he couldn’t move.

Harry’s fight slowly diminished, but he still tried to squirm.

“You will never kick me,” Josiah said harshly.

Josiah raised his hand high and let it fall hard on the small child’s bum.

Harry gasped at how hard the man hit him. When his dad spanked him, it wasn’t this hard. This hurt. This hurt real bad.

Harry tried to keep his tears at bay, but his bum was feeling like it was on fire. He didn’t want to give this man the satisfaction. He remembered the spanking he got from his daddy; it wasn’t this hard. It was like this man wanted to really hurt Harry.

The smacks continued. It seemed to not stop. Harry had long given up trying not to cry. His bum didn’t feel like it was his anymore. He knew that it would be a long time before he could sit down at all.

Josiah kept the smacks coming until his temper finally calmed down. Harry a long since stop fighting. When he landed the last smack, which was harder than the many previous smacks, he quickly stood Harry up in front of him.

“I hope I won’t have to do that again,” Josiah said.

Harry’s glasses were askew on his face. His face was blotchy and red. Tears and mucus were drenched on the child’s face. Josiah conjured a dry flannel and wiped Harry’s face.

The harsh cloth felt scratchy on the child’s face. When the mean man wiped around his nose, it hurt Harry’s sensitive skin. Harry wanted is daddy. He wanted to be wrapped in his daddy’s strong arms, hearing the soothing sounds of his heartbeat.

“Right,” Josiah said, vanishing the flannel. “Let’s get you back to your relatives.”

There was no more fight in Harry. It hurt to walk, but the way the man was pulling Harry, the child knew that the man didn’t care if he was hurt or not. Just the thought of that made tears pool in his eyes. He just wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and cry his heart out. The pain was deeper than the just the spanking. When Josiah grabbed his wrist, he pulled Harry out of the room. Harry didn’t struggle. Harry wanted his daddy.

Since he was with his dad, Harry didn’t have to worry about being hit or yelled at or bullied. Now he was going back to the horror of living with his relatives. He didn’t want to go. But what could he do? He couldn’t get to his dad.

___0000___0000____0000___00

Draco started to stir on the Infirmary cot. Severus was at his side instantly.

“Dragon,” Severus said, softly. “Dragon, wake up for me.”

Draco started to stretch when he felt someone by him. He turned his head and saw his godfather looking at him.

“Hey, Uncle Sev,” Draco said.

“Dragon,” Severus said smiling. “Are you okay?”

Draco raised his arms with his elbows above his head. It felt fine. It just seemed like he woke up in the morning.

“I’m fine,” Draco said. He tried to sit up, but Severus put his hand on Draco’s chest keeping him lying down. “Uncle Sev.”

“Dragon,” Severus said. “What is the last thing you remember?”

Draco looked at his godfather. He thought back. What was the last thing he remember? The Room of Requirement. The stairs. Lunch. A blank.

“Lunch,” Draco said. “What time is it?”

“Just a little after three,” Severus said. “You don’t remember anything after having lunch?”

Draco thought back. He looked around the room and noticed that him and his godfather were the only ones in the room.

“Where’s Harry?” Draco asked.

“Are you sure you don’t remember what happened after lunch?” Severus asked again, ignoring Draco’s question.

“Where’s Harry?” Draco asked, getting anxious. “Where is my baby brother? Where is he?”

Severus looked down at his hands and then back up to his godson.

“You and Harry stated at lunch that you were going to see Hagrid.”

Draco now remembered Harry and him saying that. He could see in his mind, them laughing, running down to the small cottage. Then there was a blinding light.

“You two never made it. When we got to you, you were the only one on the pathway.”

___000___000___000___000

Josiah apparated in the side alley close to Privet Drive. He didn’t wait for Harry to gather himself after the side-apparation. The child stumbled as he was being pulled. His face was pale as he tried to keep his stomach from emptying itself. After passing a few houses, Harry started to feel better from getting there, but a new feeling of dread crept up his spine as he saw his relative’s home getting closer and closer.

Daddy, Harry thought. You promised that I would never come back here. Please, whatever I did wrong, I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me here.

Tears burned Harry’s throat when they were coming up the walkway that led to the door of Number 4.

Josiah rang the doorbell and stepped back. His hand still had a firm grip on the small child next to him, so he wouldn’t get it into his mind that he could run.

The door opened and Aunt Petunia was there with a smile on her face. Harry never saw her smile in his direction.

“Oh, my goodness,” Petunia said. She sounded happy and relieved. She reached out, pulling Harry towards her chest giving him a hug and a kiss on top of his head. “You found my lovely nephew. How can I ever repay you?”

“I’m just happy that I was able to return him safely to you,” Josiah said, turning away. “You have a wonderful day.”

“Thank you,” Petunia said, sweetly. She pushed Harry out to arm’s length but did not let him go.

As soon as Josiah couldn’t be seen, Petunia’s grip tightened on Harry’s shoulder. Harry yelped at the pain as he was pushed into the door.

“Is that no go waste of space here?” Vernon asked, his voice coming from the other room.

“It’s back,” Petunia snarled. Her sweet talk from before was long gone.

Vernon appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.

“So, you think you can run away and that will be it,” Vernon said, taking off his belt. “You will learn your place if I have to beat it from you.”

Harry wanted to back away from his uncle. He wanted to run upstairs, but Aunt Petunia still had a hold of his shoulder.

Daddy, Harry thought. Whatever I did, watching his uncle come closer, I’m sorry. Please, can I come home?

___000___000___000___000

Albus paced the length of his chambers. This wasn’t right. Who would have the power to get through the warding around Hogwarts? Hogwarts was the safest place in Scotland. Every Headmaster put their own special warding over the school. The warding of the previous Headmaster wasn’t replaced. The new Headmaster would just add it on.

Every portrait in the Headmaster’s office all had a hand in putting up warding. Not to mention the school itself had its own warding to begin with. When Albus came back to his chambers, the first place he went to was his wall of trinkets. He had expressed to Harry that each one was special in their own way. The one he was looking for was right in front. There was nothing wrong or broken on this trinket, meaning that whoever came for some reason wasn’t a threat to the school. That puzzled Albus.

Albus was taking out of his musing by his fireplace lighting up.

“Albus,” a voice called in the green flames.

“Amelia,” Albus said, walking to the hearth. “What is it?”

“I need to come through,” Amelia said. “It’s important.”

“Come.”

A moment later, Amelia Bones walked out of the flames.

“I came as soon as I heard,” Amelia said in a panic.

“Calm down, my dear,” Albus said, walking Amelia towards one of the cushy chairs. “What is it?”

“I was doing my reports,” Amelia said, out of breath. “I learned that the Minster is taking Harry to his relatives. I was curious and I was going to find out more when I saw Josiah pulling Harry out of one of the offices.”

“Thank you, Amelia,” Albus said.

Albus pulled out his wand and cast a Patronus, calling Minerva and Severus to his office. It only took a moment for the two of them to show up. Before Severus left Draco with the order to rest, he asked Poppy to keep an eye on the child and let him know if anything changes.

“Albus,” Minerva said when she walked in the room. “What’s going on?”

“Amelia has just informed me she knows where Harry is,” Albus said.

“Where is he?” Severus asked. “Is he alright? Who has him?”

Minerva put her hand on Severus’ shoulder. “Let’s give her a chance to answer.”

“Someone stole my child,” Severus growled.

“And we are trying to get him back,” Albus said. “Please, calm yourself.”

Severus sighed and started pacing the office. His emotions were a mix of worry and anger. He knew he should calm down, but he couldn’t. Someone stole his child.

“Where were they taking Harry?” Minerva asked Amelia.

“Back to his relatives,” Amelia sighed. “Actually, he should be there now.”

“His relatives,” Severus said. “My son is back with those vile creatures who abused my son.”

Severus turned and headed towards the door. When he was about to leave, he couldn’t open it.

“Let me out, old man,” Severus growled turning around. His rant died down when he saw that it was Minerva that had her wand out not Albus.

“You will calm yourself,” Minerva said. “You are not going to get the child. Albus and I will go.”

“He’s my son,” Severus growled.

“And you will be of no use to them if you are taken to Azkaban for killing those people,” Minerva said, just as roughly.

Severus didn’t retort but his anger was still known.

“Now,” Minerva said calmly. “Albus and I will go retrieve out grandchild. You will stay here and watch after Dragon. We’ll be back soon.”

Severus reluctantly agreed. He walked over to the fireplace, took a pinch of floo powder, and called out his destination: The Infirmary.

“Are you ready to go?” Minerva asked.

“Amelia, will you come with us?” Albus asked. “I would like someone from the Ministry to be there and document what we see so this will not happen again.”

“I’ll come,” Amelia said, nodding her head.

The three adults went to the fireplace and floo’ed to Arabella Figg’s home. The owner wasn’t home, so when they left the house, Minerva stealthily locked the door back so it would appear that nothing happened.

Albus knocked on Number 4. There was a crashing sound that came through the door. Seconds later, a huge man with a mustache that covered his mouth and looked like he was going to explode as purple his fat face was.

“What do you want?” Vernon growled.

“A word,” Albus said, stepping closer towards the door.

“It’s not a good time,” Vernon said, trying to close the door on them.

Albus quickly waved his hand making the door feel like lead. The heaviness of the door made it hard for Vernon to move it.

“May we enter?” Albus said. He held out his arm so that Minerva and Amelia could enter first.

Once they were inside, the door lost its heaviness and with the strength Vernon was putting on the door, he fell forward cracking the door frame as well as the window from the force he used.

Petunia came out of the kitchen and saw who was standing in the foyer. She knew only one of them.

“Why are you here?” Petunia screeched.

“Where is Mr. Potter?” Minerva asked. “We’ve come to pick him up and take him home.”

“The freak is staying here,” Vernon bellowed. “Your kind wants us to keep him here. They’re paying us a sizable amount to keep the brat here.”

“Really,” Amelia said. “How much are you being paid?”

“A thousand pounds a month,” Vernon said with pride. “We were happy at first to be rid of the freak, but since he’s going to get us that kind of money then we can stand his presence longer.”

Minerva took a deep breath. After hearing what this excuse for a muggle said, she was glad she made Severus stay at Hogwarts. Though, it was difficult for her to not curse them.

Minerva pulled out her wand and quietly incanted a point-me spell. It didn’t take long for it to let her know where Harry was. The cupboard under the stairs. She walked over to the small door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Petunia said, putting her hand on Minerva’s arm.

Minerva looked down at her arm and back at the woman who dared touch her. The look Minerva gave the woman was so cold that Petunia visibly shrunk away from the Transfiguration Professor and let Minerva go.

Minerva opened the door. What she saw made her so angry the room shook. It effectively stopped the conversation between Vernon and Albus. Amelia walked over to Minerva and looked in the cupboard.

“Sweet Merlin,” Amelia gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

“You will leave my house,” Vernon demanded.

Albus ignored the man and went to see what the women were looking at. It took a lot to make Albus angry. Albus felt rage. The last time he felt like this was after his sister was attacked. It was taking a lot for the wizard to not destroy this house and everyone in it.

“Amelia, dear,” Albus said, softly. “Is this enough for you to do what you need?”

“Yes, Albus,” Amelia said, not taking her eyes off the cupboard.

“Good,” Albus said. His voice was still soft. “Please get the paperwork and all the other things you will need to get this taken care of, so we won’t have to go through this again.”

Amelia was stuck where she stood. Minerva put her hand on Amelia’s arm to get her out of her trance. The two women looked at each other. Minerva nodded and Amelia apparated out of the house.

“Minerva,” Albus said. “Would you be a dear and take Harry back home?”

As much as she wanted to do that, deep down she knew she couldn’t. She knew Albus. When she left, there was no protecting these vile creatures. They needed to pay for what they done.

“No, Albus,” Minerva said. “You will take your grandson.” She turned and faced Albus. “Like I told Severus, you are no good to them if you’re in Azkaban. You take Harry out of there. If you’re holding Harry, then they live.”

Albus knew Minerva was right. Taking a deep breath, Albus knelt in front of the cupboard. He got a better view of inside. Harry looked like he was tossed in the small room. His head was tilted to one side. His clothes were torn. There was the distinct smell of blood, vomit, and human waste.

Albus waved his hand and carefully floated Harry’s body out of the cupboard. Bringing him out into the light Harry’s bruises were clearly seen. Albus softly ran his fingers through the small child’s hair and felt something wet. When he looked at his hand, there was blood on his fingers. Albus wrapped his arms around his grandson, casting a small feather-weight charm on the child, and stood up.

Minerva stood behind Albus as they both looked at the boy. When Albus stood up, Minerva put her hand on Albus’ arm. Minerva looked at the Dursleys.

“You will pay for this,” Minerva said. “I promise you that.”

Minerva knew that as Headmaster Albus could apparate inside the school, so she did a side-along so she could as well.

TBC