The Masked
Chapter 9

December 25th

It was a red Christmas but not in the way the four Masked members wanted. Death Eaters gave them special gifts. They had only just stopped when Voldemort had called for all the Death Eaters for something important. Kelsey and Sophia huddled together keeping as warm as they could in the dark pit. Sophia had just stopped sobbing and had fallen into a fitful slumber.

Kelsey focused on the little girl's breathing, finding comfort in the rhythm. The older girl now hoped and prayed that someone would save them. Harry, where are you? she asked mentally. Even if he was locked up like they were he would have tried to escape to save them, she was sure. Maybe they were blackmailing him. Her brain had thought the same thoughts about the boy she admired for days now. It confused her. Her thoughts. Her feelings. None of it made sense to her, but it kept her sane.

Dan and Jerry were not doing better than the girls were. They lay in their own puddles of blood. The torture was worse than usual but they did not scream for mercy or for the pain to be over. As much as they wished it every time the Cruciatus curse attacked them they had to stay strong. Stay strong, if not for them for the girls, for Harry. They did not know where he was but he was probably in more pain than they were even if he avoided capture. Knowing the emerald-eyed boy he would be blaming himself for their kidnapping. It almost made Dan laugh that Harry would think such things.

LINEBREAK-TMC9

Harry stood in front of a mirror. He was wearing a black button-down shirt, his usual black jeans and the black trainers he always wore. Looking at the mirror in front of him all he saw was a stranger. It seemed like forever since he had seen his own face without his mask. Somehow, he felt naked without it, unprotected. Although, what he saw was not completely a stranger but more a past memory. James Potter, Lily Potter, Harry James Potter. He had his face but her eyes yet he was nothing like his parents.

Harry put his mask on and looked again. It hid the ugly scar on his forehead, part of his face to stop him looking like his father, but it did not cover the green eyes that used to shine brightly. He was not Harry now. He was Jay.

Every time he put on the mask, it felt as if he was running away. Running from his past, from himself, from his family, death he did not know which one but it felt like he was avoiding something.

Harry sighed whilst putting his jacket on. It was 6:45pm. He was late but he didn't care. He picked up the envelope that was on the table and departed.

LINEBREAK-TMC9

Lily looked at the clock again. He had not arrived and it looked like he would not be coming at all. They all had eaten the dinner hours ago and now everyone was relaxing in the living room. The action was unnoticed.

"You didn't really expect him to come did you?" Sirius said turning away from his conversation with the twins.

Everyone now looked at Lily and Sirius, surprised.

"I had hoped that he would show up," Lily said curtly.

"Really? The kid is messed up in the head I don't see-"

A voice from the doorway cut off Sirius. "You don't see a lot." Jay smirked as he saw the silent Sirius.

"I do apologize for being late but I was waiting for something to arrive," Jay lied.

"Waiting for what?" Aaron asked with a furrowed brow.

Jay handed the envelope over to Lily, who took it with curiosity.

"I know it's not much... but Merry Christmas," Jay said while looking at the floor, shuffling uncomfortably.

As they read the letter welled up in their eyes while Lily let hers fall freely. Once finishing reading they were silent, as if unsure of how to respond until Sirius walked across the room to Jay and enveloped him in a hug.

"Thank you," Sirius muttered as he hugged the teen tightly.

Jay froze at first at the foreign contact but then hugged his godfather back. Maybe Christmas would not be as bad as he had first thought.

How wrong he was.

For the rest of the night they enjoyed each other's company. It was as if there was a truce between the masked boy and the others that had joined them that evening. The group consisted mostly of the Order and their families. Most of the children had gone upstairs to play games. In the living room, Jay, Sirius, Tonks, Remus, Lily, James, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George remained. Most of the Order had left a while ago. Everything was great until an owl arrived.

The tapping on the window caught the attention of James, who opened the window and let the bird fly into the room. It immediately went to Jay, giving him the letter and then leaving without even a hoot. His mask hid his confusion, and the other occupants of the room waited for him to say something about the mysterious missive. He opened the envelope and took out the contents. He froze and dropped the parchment and stared as it hit the floor.

His hands shook, tears fell, and his heart filled with pain as the images from the photos imprinted into his mind. Guilt filled his being.

Blood.

Bodies.

Torture.

Silent screams.

He felt like he could hear their sobs and screams for help, his help, as they curled up in the moving pictures.

"Jay?" Remus asked his voice filled with concern as his eyes flickered from the boy and to the four pictures that lay on the floor.

A few had gasped as they saw the explicit images shown, feeling empathy for the young boy.

Jay looked up to see everyone in the room watching him. His teary eyes hardened, his fists curled into balls. Anger from within taking over most of the sadness he felt.

"I'm going to kill that bastard."

Okay I know I haven't updated I a while I hope this kind of makes up for it. My reason though is that I haven't had the time lately. School has literally took over my life... I'm in my second to last year of high school so they're giving us so much work for our GCSE's , it's ridiculous. Although now that I have set myself a routine and the we've passed the first term I should be writing more frequently now. I'm aiming for a chapter per week but it might be every 2 weeks due to my art work taking the majority of the time in the week 1 of my timetable.

Anyway yeah this hasn't been bata'd so f there is any mistakes please don't have a mood with me. I thought that it would be better if I give it to you now and go back and edit it later since I haven't posted in quite a bit.

I hope you enjoyed this addition to the story. Thank you for all the support you guys have given me even though I'm useless at being consistent but I'm working on it.

Also thanks to those who have PM me because it really did get me more motivated to write!

Anyway, keep reading!

Beth

EDITED 21/03/2015 - BETA~ ChipmonkOnSpeed