James was waiting for Harry outside of the Hogwarts Express.

" Hey," James said as Harry opened the door of the muggle car and got in the front seat.

" Hey," Harry returned quietly. James looked more closely at Harry, he looked different not his usual happy self, but James shook it off and started for home. When they got there James took Harry's trunk and Harry took the rest. He went strait up to his room with it after saying a quick " Hi" to Sirius who was waiting for James and Harry to get back on the couch. James came in a minute later with the trunk, Sirius got up to help but James said he got it and Sirius sat back down.
" I don't care what he says, he is not fine." James said, Sirius knew he was talking about Harry.
" What did he say to you?" Sirius asked.

" Nothing really, just hi then the rest of the trip was silent." James said
" oh okay." Sirius said

Harry sat down on his bed and thought to himself about what had juts happened. He started crying to himself, he wished Cedric hadn't died, he hated thinking about it but really couldn't help it. Then he had seen his mom for the first real time in his life and cried harder. After about ten minutes he got up and went downstairs, forgetting the fact that he had just been crying so his face and eyes were red.

James and Sirius were sitting on the couch watching a muggle TV (they had a lot of muggle stuff) when Harry came down.
" Hey Harry what's up?" Sirius asked
" Nothing` much." Harry said and forced a smile and went into the kitchen for a drink. They were out of kool aid so Harry started making some when James came into the kitchen.
" Harry? Are you okay?" James asked
" Yes Dad, I'm fine." Harry said annoyed, he hated it when people kept asking if he was okay. James didn't believe him, for one his eyes were all red, for another what just happened nobody would be fine.
" Okay." James said and went back into the living room where Sirius was waiting.
" Well? What did he say?" Sirius asked, James shook his head.
" He says he's fine." James said
" Well he's not, he was crying and it doesn't look like he was just crying but really really crying if his eyes were that red. I bet he didn't even think about that before he came down." Sirius said. James nodded his agreement.
" Yeah, I know he's strong, with what happened to him would have happened to anyone else they would be taking it harder." James said
Just then Harry came into the room with a glass of kool aid and sat down in the chair next to the TV.
" Dad can I go for a run?" Harry asked
" No the roads aren't safe for you now that Voldemort's back." James said, Harry groaned
" But I'm going out tomorrow morning, so I'll get you a treadmill so you can run right here in the house." James said. Harry liked the sound of that so he smiled and went upstairs after saying thank you. That night went by fast; they ordered a pizza since Harry loved it. Then Harry went up to watch a movie in his room since he really didn't feel like doing anything more. James looked after him sadly. Sirius noticing where James was looking said,
" Why don't you try and talk to him, maybe he'll talk to you."
" Maybe later." James said, Sirius shrugged his shoulders.
" Okay then do it your own way."

An hour later it was pitch black outside and James decided to go up and try to talk to Harry. When he got to Harry's door he slowly opened it.
"Harry?" He asked, no answer, so he walked all the way in and saw Harry lying on the bed with the TV on, he was watching some movie called OUT Cold, well he wasn't really watching it. Harry had fell asleep; he had his head rolled onto his shoulder and his arms crossed across his chest. James smiled. He turned down the movie a little and went over to Harry's dresser and found a gray t-shirt and went back over to Harry. He unbuckled Harry's belt and slowly pulled down his jeans, stopping every now and then to make sure Harry didn't wake up. Then he uncrossed his arms and pulled up his shirt and put on the gray one. Harry stirred a little but didn't wake up. James took off Harry's glasses and set them on the table next to his bed. He ruffled Harry's hair before leaving.

The next morning Harry slept in and didn't want to wake up when he did, but he didn't think he should sleep in till past 2:30 in the afternoon. He got dressed and headed downstairs. Sirius was sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
" Well rise in shine." Sirius said glancing at the clock. Harry didn't say anything but walked into the kitchen and got some orange juice then sat back down across from Sirius.
" Where's Dad?" Harry asked
" He was waiting for you to get up but he got impatient and left on his own." Sirius said
" Why? Where'd he go?" Harry asked
" He went out to get your treadmill." Sirius said
" Oh," Harry said and didn't say anything more. Sirius was eyeing Harry but when Harry looked up at him he looked back at his paper. Twenty minutes later James came home will a little box. He brought it downstairs to the bottom floor and waved his wand and it was full size again.
" There you go, knock yourself out." James said with a smile at the look on Harry's face. Harry ran upstairs and changed into his Nike pants, t-shirt and his Nike tennis shoes. James rolled his eyes at Harry as he ran past him.
Right before Harry was going to start running James came down.
" Harry, Sirius and me were called to work. So you have to come with us. Sorry, it's an emergency." James said; Harry's face fell.
" Why!? I'm going to be 15 in less then a month and I can't stay home alone!?" Harry yelled
" I'm sorry, but it's not safe for you here by yourself." James said calmly, he knew Harry would be mad so so he was prepared.
" NO! It's not safe for me anywhere! Why can't I be a normal teenager! I want to stay home! I'm a big boy I can stay home alone!" Harry yelled at James. James shook his head but said
" Fine if you want to stay here you can. We'll be back as soon as we can. You don't answer the door nor the phone, don't even call anyone it's not safe right now." James said then turned to leave just able to hear Harry mutter
" Nothing is safe for me."

Sirius and James left Harry home alone for the first time. They didn't want to but felt Harry needed it, and all the excitement wasn't even around there so he should be okay. But that didn't stop James from worrying.
When James and Sirius left Harry felt great, he always wanted to stay home alone. He hated when people disturbed him when he ran. He started running at a slow pace then worked up to a fast one and was sweating. When all of a sudden someone grabbed him from behind and gagged him. Then put tape over his mouth and eyes. Harry's glasses fell off his face and hit the floor. Harry started struggled but whoever it was hit him hard a couple times and Harry stopped. The man put Harry into a big black bag and carried him outside and put him into a trunk. The treadmill was left going at a fast speed and the glasses were still on the floor.

~ Four hours later~
James and Sirius appearated home and heard the treadmill still going.
" He's still running? That's not good." Sirius said
" Well go get him; I'll put something together for us to eat." James said. Sirius walked down to the family room and saw it empty. Sirius walked over and turned off the treadmill, he saw Harry's glasses on the floor and bent down and picked them up. Panic rushed through him.
" JAMES!" Sirius yelled
" What?" James asked. Sirius rushed up the stairs and over to the kitchen.
" It's Harry! He's gone!" Sirius yelled out of control.
" What do you mean he's gone!?" James yelled, panic rushed through him too.
" I knew it! I knew it! We shouldn't of left him alone! It's my entire fault! I can't loose him Sirius not like Lily! I just can't!" James shouted. He was trying hard not to cry.
" James calm down, We'll find him. We just have to call Dumbledore." Sirius said trying to calm down James. Just then the doorbell rang. They rushed to go get it. James got there first ready to strike, but it was just the mailman.
" Mr. Potter?" He asked. James nodded
" Sign here please." He said. James nodded again and signed his name. The postman gave him a big yellow envelope. James took it and shut the door. He ripped it right open on the stop. It said.
If you want to see the boy alive again you will pay $500,000 dollars to us, if the boy is worth it. If you take to long to get the money we'll send you bits of the boy a couple pieces at a time. We'll keep in touch with you to tell you where and when to put the money. Oh yeah, if you tell the cops the boy will die a painful death and we'll make sure he knows it's your fault!

James dropped the letter to the floor and stared strait forward, tears started running down his face. Sirius bent down and picked up the note.
" So...it's probably muggles. We can curse them and get Harry back. We have more power then them." Sirius said trying to get James to feel better; he hated to see James cry. James rarely cried so it was a shock to him, but he understood.
" James, it's okay." Sirius said trying to comfort him.
" No, it's not okay! It's my entire fault! I shouldn't of left him alone! I should have been a real father and not given in!" James cried. He went into the kitchen and sat down at the table and ran his hands through his hair and over his face. He felt just terrible.
" What are we going to do?" James asked after a couple of minutes.
" We'll have to wait till they call. You have the money. Maybe we should call Dumbledore, he needs to know." Sirius said. James nodded but didn't say anything, he felt horrible. He cried into his hands.
" Harry, Harry I'm so sorry Harry!" James cried. Sirius felt terrible too, and so helpless, he hated seeing James like this. The last time was after Lily died. Sirius went into the den to write Dumbledore a letter and explain what happened when he saw the broken window.
" Muggles." Sirius said disgusted and he went back into the kitchen to wait for Dumbledore.

Harry was in the trunk for what seemed like ages when all of a sudden the car stopped and he heard voices.
" Did you send it to him?" One man asked
" Yup, I stopped at the post office an hour or two ago." Another man answered.
" Okay good, now let's get him into the van." The one said, Harry heard a key in a lock then someone grabbed him roughly around his arms then someone else grabbed under his knees and he was lifted and then a minutes later slammed on a hard surface.

" STAND UP!" The first man shouted. Harry sat up and swayed a little but felt his hands being untied and then tied above his head. Then out of no where someone punched him hard in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him for a second.
" Just needed the practice for later, I can't wait." The one said
" Well Doug, I can't either, but the sooner we get there the sooner we can start." He said, ` start doing what?` Harry thought. The door was slammed shut and the van started moving, but only after 15 minutes it stopped.

~Meanwhile~

James had stopped crying not because he didn't want to, he couldn't he was beyond tears. He just laid on the couch and stared up at the ceiling on the couch, not talking to anyone. A half-hour ago Dumbledore, Mcgonagall ( sp), Snape, and Professor Flitwick and some ministers of magic had showed up. They tried all they could to find out any clues but couldn't, all they could do was wait. The phone rang. Sirius answered it since James didn't move from the couch.
" Hello?" He asked
" Hello, is this Mr. Potter?" The man asked. Sirius waved his hand for everyone to come around and he magically made it so everyone could hear, but the person on the phone didn't know he was on speaker.
" Yes, this is Mr. Potter, do you have Harry?!" Sirius yelled
" maybe we do, maybe we don't. Do you have the money?" The man asked
" Yes, I have the money, where's Harry!?" Sirius shouted
" Oh you'll get him back, not promising he'll be alive but you'll get him back, but if you pay the money we'll give him back for sure." The man said
" alive?" Sirius asked
" alive, we'll call you back on Monday, or maybe before then. Remember no police or you'll never see the boy ALIVE again!" And he hung up the phone. Sirius felt a rush of anger and hate run through his body as he hung up the phone.

~ Back to Harry~

Harry was hanging limply in the van. He was hungry, thirsty and had to go to the bathroom. Harry just hung there. The van doors flew open and Harry was grabbed roughly and forced to walk forwards.
" Come on!" The person called Doug
yelled. He pushed Harry forward. Then Harry was forced down some stairs and pushed forward again. This Doug person kept yelling at him.
" Take off your cloths NOW!" Doug yelled. Harry didn't move then he was slapped a few times and punched.
"You do what I say boy! Your life depends on it!" Then he ripped Harry's shirt, pants, and shoes and socks off him. Harry was cold to the bone standing there with only his boxers on.
" We'll put you into a bathroom for 10 minutes, so go fast!" He said then pushed Harry into a different room. Harry felt around and went to the bathroom fast. He was so scared he couldn't think strait. Then ten minutes later Doug came back in and grabbed him and pushed him back into the other room he had just been in.
" GET UP!" He yelled. Harry got up on a table and strapped down tightly, he all of a sudden felt a rush of panic.
" You're lucky, we won't punish you till morning, so sleep well it'll be a long day!" He said laughing. Then he slammed the cement door. Harry was so cold and hungry he started crying to himself, why hadn't he just listened to his dad he kept thinking over and over. He stopped crying cause of the tape over his eyes blocked it but he still sobbed wishing for his dad.

James wasn't doing so well, neither was Sirius but he was doing better then James. Sirius tried to talk to James but it was no use. James had moved up to Harry's room and laid on Harry's bed holding Harry's gray shirt he had put on him the night before. It smelled of Harry and James broke down and cried into it. Sirius came in and sat down in Harry's desk chair and watched James.
" James, we're going to get him back." Sirius said calmly
" no we're not, I'm going to lose him just like Lily. Both their deaths are my fault!" James croaked
" Lily did not die cause of you and Harry isn't dead." Sirius said
"yet." James finished sadly
" James listen to me, we're going to get Harry back. I promise." Sirius said, even though he wasn't sure if they'd get Harry back alive himself. He went over to James and hugged him like a brother, because James was a brother to him. James cried into Sirius shoulder for a couple of minutes, then Sirius got up to leave James for a minute and when he came back James was asleep in Harry's bed.