Chapter 7 - Dum Spiro Spero

"So what are going to do now?" Ron asked Harry.

It was one o'clock at noon and they were in a small, hideaway house somewhere in Salzburg's mountain side. Apparently Salzburg was one of the numerous cities across the world the auror office had plant places of shelter in and thankfully Harry knew about it. It was made of wood and it had only three rooms; one with a bed and a table, a small kitchen and a smaller bathroom.

"We learned where the castle is...so let's just go and get them", Malfoy said before Harry could respond.

"As much as I want to, we can't just apparate in the castle and blast eveything out of our way towards the kids", Harry said as he sat in the small, rather uncomfortable bed.

"Why not?" Malfoy asked irritated.

"First of all I'm certain that you can't apparate in and out of the castle; and besides that, there are only three of us and they are more than that obviously, plus they could easily kill one of the boys when they realize we are there", Harry explained and Malfoy raised his eyebrows.

"Who cares? It would be your son that they'd kill anyway", he said and Harry jumped up outraged but Ron held him back.

"And if we kill each other it won't do any good to either of the boys", Ron said looking Harry straight in the eyes.

He sighed and walked out of the room to the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Ron turned to the other man.

"Malfoy? You kind of need us in order to get your son back...try to remember that!"

An hour and a lot of swearing later they were all sitting around the table trying to find a way to get to the kids.

"So we're gonna have to sneak into the castle", Ron said.

"How are we gonna do that?" Malfoy sked the other two tiredly.

"Well, the Death Eaters wore masks", Harry answered. "We don't need to use Polyjuice Potion, which is a good thing since we don't have any, we just gonna have to knock some of them down and take their outfits; some of them have to be wondering in the city's bars..."

"So we find three Death Eaters and we just get into the castle dressed like them?" Ron asked.

"Yeah...too bad we're not in England; then Draco could just go home and get his very own Death Eater outfit", Harry said and Malfoy looked at him outraged.

"I was never a real Death Eater!"

"Yeah,yeah, keep saying that to yourself...or maybe say it to the tattoo in your arm".

"Cut it off!" Ron yelled as Malfoy opened his mouth to speak again. "We were okay before; now that we are so close, now you're gonna sort your differences out?" he said and the two men fell silent.

Ron huffed, clearly irritated himself. He was not used to be the one to stand in the middle and keep things in check. He understood though that Harry was dreading the possibility of things going wrong and James getting hurt, because they were not careful enough and that Malfoy was only enhanching this feeling. Malfoy on the other hand was simply acting like the slimy git he was, but he guessed that at some level he too was worried about his own son. So, as he had said to them and as he kept telling himself, tearing each others throats would have to wait until they sorted things out.

Harry nodded at him. They both knew that Ron was right...what Malfoy said or do didn't matter...all that mattered now was James.

The discovery of three Death Eaters was harder than any of them had anticipated. They only managed to get two, who were in their underwear and tied up in the auror house. It was five in the afternoon now and they were forced to make some changes to their plan; they couldn't keep looking for Death Eaters.
So Harry and Draco approached the entrance of the castle. They were walking fast towards it, hoping that no one will stop them, since they were dressed as Death Eaters.

"I can't believe I'm wearing this", Harry whispered to Malfoy.

What he was feeling was beyong disgust. He felt like he was commiting the biggest sin of his life.

"Maybe you should keep it for the Halloween", Malfoy whispered back and Harry was certain that he was smirking to himself even though he couldn't see his face.

He didn't gave him an answer though because he was distracted. The door was right in front of them but a young unmasked Death Eater was sitting behind a table to the door.

"State your names", he said when he saw them.

Harry froze for a second. The Death Eater had a notebook in front of him and Harry was certain that he had the names of all the Death Eaters in and out of the castle written in there...and they were stupid enough not to ask the names of the Death Eaters they had taken the equipment from.

"We don't have time for that. We are in a hurry", Malfoy said and took some steps forward but the Death Eater stood up.

"You cannot get in without giving your names...give your names or I'm afraid I'm gonna have to call for reinforcement", he said.

"How dare you to speak like this to me, boy?" Malfoy said."Do you know who I am?"

"No, that's what I want to know", the Death Eater stated and Malfoy took some more steps forward ignoring the boy's raised wand.

"You young Death Eaters must show some respect to us, boy!" he said and he pulled his sleeve up.

There on his arm was tattooed the Dark Mark. The Death Eater widened his eyes; obviously the Death Eaters, Apostollo had recruited didn't get to have the tattoo.

"You see this? Do you even know what this is or are you so ignorant? The Dark Lord did this to me himself!"

The boy was all out of words. Malfoy pulled his sleeve down and passing the young Death Eater he walked in with Harry following him.
When they turned in the first corner Malfoy fell back on the wall taking deep breaths.

"That was brilliant!" Harry told him.

"You gave me the idea", he shrugged. "So what now?"

"Now we're gonna have to find where the boys are".

"How are we going to do that?"

"Well the kidnapping of our sons should be great news for the Death
Eaters in here...all of them should know where they are. We'll find just find a Death Eater, use the Imperius curse on him and we'll know", Harry said and Malfoy laughed.

"You're suggesting the use of an Unforgivable Curse? As an auror aren't you suppose to arrest the people who use them?"

"Desperate parents call for desperate measures".

The Death Eater fell at Harry's legs hit by a stunning spell from Malfoy. Harry was frozen. He was more scared than he had ever been in his entire life. The Death Eater told them where the boys were; he told them that they were not together because James had tried to get out; he had tried to get out and now the Death Eaters were making him regret it...he told them he was in the torturing room. Harry gulped. What had they done to him? Was he okay? Was he even alive?
Malfoy was staring at him. Harry closed his eyes. He wasn't helping James from here and he definitely wasn't going to help him if he panicked; he had to focus. He opened his eyes and looked at Malfoy.

"Okay listen", he said. "Since the boys are not together I think that each should go find his son...and we'll meet Ron with them where we agreed".

Malfoy sighed and nodded. They looked at each other for a few seconds, not so sure of what to say, but then they just nodded and walked in different directions, making their separate ways towards their sons.

***

Scorpius had fallen asleep sitting on the cold floor of his cell in James' favorite corner. These last days had exhausted him and anyway he just couldn't keep looking at the four walls around him anymore; they were suffocating. A loud bang from outside awaked him though.
He groaned and got up. What did they want now? But no one came in during the next seconds and he could hear voices and yelling. What was happening? He approached the door carefully, pulling his chain with him. The noise stopped. Just as he reached as close to the door as he could, it flung open.
The boy's jaw dropped as he saw his father looking back at him. Draco sighed relieved and walked in.

"What...how...?" the boy mumbled.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked and the boy nodded.

His father patted his shoulder and then aimed at the chain with his wand.

"How did you get in?" Scorpius asked him as he looked at the fallen Death Eaters in the room next to the cell.

"Potter helped me" his father replied just as the chain around his ankle unlocked.

"What? James' dad is here too?"

"Yes", he nodded. "Come on then", he added and left the cell.

Scorpius looked at him for a few seconds. What did he expected? A hug? The boy sighed and followed his father.

***

Harry walked the dark hallway fast. According to the Death Eater they Imperiused, James was in a room right around the corner. Harry could feel his heart pounding hard; finally after almost two weeks he would see his son again...yet he was really worried about the state he would be in when he would found him.
The hallway had no windows and it was dark so when the curse was casted, it got illuminated by red light and Harry saw it and ducked, avoiding it. He raised his wand and turned. It was yet another familiar villain.

"Rockwood", Harry said and the man nodded.

"Potter". he smiled. "How did you get in?"

"I've got a more important question...how did you get out?"

"From Azkaban?"

"Yeah...according to our records the only Death Eater that escaped Azkaban was Dolohov", Harry said.

"Oh, then your records are really, really wrong", the man smiled. "I suspect you're here to get the boy?"

"Yeah...so I'd advised you to get the hell out of my way", Harry said and the man answered with another curse, which Harry casted away.
"Well, I take it you're not going to follow my advice".

And the dueling began. Rockwood was a really powerful Death Eater but Harry was a really powerful auror. The hallway kept getting illuminated by red and green lights as the two men kept fighting and soon they were both bleeding. Harry had a cut on his cheek and his lower lip and Rockwood's left hand was hanging useless by his side full of blood. Just as another stunning curse was coming his way Harry looked up. He avoided it and aimed at the part of the ceiling above Rockwood's head. Rockwood jumped on the side so he didn't get killed but the crash on the wall was enough to get him to faint. And the dueling ended.
Harry took some deep breaths and tied Rockwood up with ropes that emerged from his wand. Then without any farther delaying he run around the corner. The hallway ended to that room. Feeling his heart ready to break he blasted the door open. The room was rather big but he spotted James at once tied up in a chair. His eyes widened. He was there but...

***

Scorpius was running behind his father on a big road behind the castle. They had made it out but now the boy had no idea of where they were going. Soon though they've reached a small park near the castle. Hidden behind a bunch of trees was big, black jeep and a redheaded man that Scorpius knew to be Rose's father was leaning against it. Scorpius couldn't understand how Mr. Weasley and his father had actually agreed to do this together, since he knew for a fact that they didn't get along very well, but at this very moment he found out that he was far too exhausted to give much thought to it.

"Where are Harry and James?" Ron asked as they reached him.

"They're not here yet?" Draco said trying to catch his breath and the red headed man looked at him alarmed.

"No they're not here yet!" he exclaimed. "Why aren't they with you?"

"The boys weren't together. We agreed that each of us should go and get his son and that we'll meet back here again", Draco explained and Ron sighed concerned.

"Is your son okay?" he asked looking at the boy.

"I'm fine, thanks" Scorpius nodded and Ron smiled and looked back at Draco.

"You reckon Harry fell on Death Eaters?" he asked him worried.

"Well, even if he did he's an auror, he can deal with them. I'm sure he'll be here in no time...with the boy", Draco said but something in his voice made Ron even more worrying.

"What are you hiding? I can tell you're hiding something...''

"It's just...the Death Eater we questioned in order to find where the boys were being held said something..."

"What?" Ron asked getting more and more alarmed.

"He said that Potter's son was in some trouble or something...", Draco said.

"They're mad with him", Scorpius said and the two men looked at him. "We were in the same cell, but then James stole Yaxley's keys and we broke out but James' leg got stuck somewhere and he couldn't move and he told me to get back to the cell but...but he got caught", the boy explained.

Ron had closed his eyes, feeling his heart drop in every word.

"Oh, please God let him be alive!" Ron groaned and Scorpius couldn't help but wish the same thing in his mind.

Draco looked at the car.

"We send you to rent a car and you're coming back with a monster!" he said slightly in order to change the subject.

"If you don't like it, don't get in it!" Ron snapped irritated.

"Why do we need a car? Why can't we just apparate? I mean you can take us along", Scorpius said confused.

"Because there is a chance that once the Death Eaters realize that you're gone they're gonna put on tracking spells and they can track you more easily if you have just apparated, especially since you're underage", Draco explained.

"Oh, okay", the boy nodded. "So...um...where are we?"

"Austria, Salzburg", his father replied.

"Wow...that far huh? How are we going to get back?"

"We're gonna get to a shelter kind of a house the aurors have here in Salzburg and then we'll work that out", Ron said and then he looked back at the castle. "That's if Harry gets here at some point", he added worried.

***

Harry was staring at the form of his son without being able to move from the shock. The boy was unconscious in the middle of the room. He was a...a mess. His hands were tied up on the arms of the chair with thick thorny wires that had gotten into his flesh and was slowly cutting his veins, blood soaking the wooden arms of the chair. His eyes were bruised and his mouth was gagged with a cloth that was tied behind his head, blood dripping down the corner of his lips. His leg was bleeding too and it looked broken judging from the ubnormal corner it had taken. His clothes were ripped in places and full of blood, since apparently he had cuts and bruises all over his body. They must have been torturing him for hours.
Harry was staring at his son horrified. He had seen a lot of things in his life but this...this was certainly the worst, the most appalling, the most sickening spectacle he had ever seen. His Jamie...his little arrogant and stubborn brat, who always wanted things to go his way; who was always full of confidence; who always laughed the problems away. How could he laugh this away though? Harry felt his stomach turning like he was about to throw up. Who would do such a thing to a teenage boy?
He shook his head, trying to get over the shock and then he run to him. He knelt in front of the boy, his eyes welling up. The boy had lost so much blood that was now as pale as a dead man. But he wasn't dead; no, he could hear him breathing; faintly and with difficutly, but he breathed. He placed his hands on his face. He was burning with fever.

"Jamie wake up", he said, tears running down his face. "Wake up", he said again but the boy wasn't stirring.

Harry wiped his tears and looked at him. He had to get him out of this place. He reached up and untied the cloth from behind his head, gently taking it out the boy's mouth. Next thing he would have to get these things off his hands. He pointed his wand at James' right hand and whispering incantations he slowly cut the wire. He left his wand by his side and carefully tried to pul the wire from his son's flesh; his hands filled with blood. It took him some minutes to free James' hand; the wire had gotten really deep. He took his wand and did the same with his other hand until both of the boy's hands were free.
He didn't dare to use spells on him in order to heal him; healing a bruise was one thing and healing numerous cuts, bruises and wounds was a whole another. What if he hurt him more? He had to take him to the auror house and use some essence of dittany on him. He placed his hands on his bruised face again, feeling it burn.

"What have they done to you?" he whispered. "Come on, let's get you out of here", he added in spite the fact that the boy couldn't hear him.

He placed his hands around his son's legs and back and pulled the boy on him. The boy's head fell on his shoulder and he felt his breath on his cheek. Harry stood up and carried his son out of that place.

***

"Maybe we should go look for them",Ron said.

About fifteen minutes had gone by since Malfoy arrived and there was
still no sign of Harry and James.

"No I don't think we should", Draco said and Ron looked at him outraged.

"Oh, you don't, do you? Look buddy, I don't care if you care, that man in there helped you take your kid back and..."

"It's not gonna help of we go and get ourselves caught, Ron!"

"So we're just gonna leave them in there?"

"Harry will find a way out...eventually", Draco shrugged.

Ron narrowed his eyes ready to punch him.

"Oh, my God!" Scorpius, who was standing between them, exclaimed.

They both looked at him.

"What?" Draco asked confused.

The boy pointed and the two men turned to see.

"Oh, my God!" Ron said as well as he saw Harry coming carrying the unconscious body of his son in his arms.

Ron ran to him.

"Why is James unconscious?" he asked approaching him. "Oh, my God!" he repeated when he reached him and looked down at the boy.

Ron felt his stomach turning with unease. He was a mess...where he wasn't bleeding he had bruises. He looked at Harry; his friend looked devastated.
They reached the jeep and Ron run to open the back door so Harry could place the boy in. Draco glanced at the boy and then he turned away rather indifferently and sat in the front seat. Scorpius however was staring at the boy scared. He never thought that...if he knew what the Death Eaters would do to him, he'd never have left him.
Harry left his son on the seat carefully. Then he went all the way around and got in from the other side, taking James in his hug. Scorpius sat in the magically extended front seat with his father and Ron sat in the driver's seat.

"Where are we going Harry?" Ron asked him and the man looked at him confused. "Maybe we should go to a hospital or something..." he explained.

"No", Harry said shaking his head. "Go back to the auror house...there's dittany there".

Ron nodded and set the engine on. Harry turned his full attention back to James. He almost couldn't believe that it was him; he couldn't believe that it was his son the one that was unconscious from the pain; he couldn't believe that it was his Jamie the bled like hell on the seats and his clothes; yet he could see his real face beneath all the bruises. They had to hurry; the deep cuts in his hands were bleeding more now that the wires were out and Harry knew that the wire must have cut some of the boy's veins. He couldn't keep bleeding that much...he had already lost so much blood that his face had turned even more white than before if possible and Harry knew that if they didn't make it back to the auror house in time, the boy wouldn't hold...