Chapter 21

Harry falls into the darkest despair

Harry shifted wakening up; he was confused and disoriented for a few seconds before reality hit him once more. More tears made its way down his face, looking at his flat stomach where his child had previously been his heart shattered once more into a million pieces. There was a scar where they had taken his baby, whoever had taken it hadn't been a professional or there wouldn't have been a scar. His entire body hurt, not just his heart. From what he could gather he had been here for a fortnight, he had taken to marking the days on the side of the bed. When he was conscious anyway, so it could be more than a fortnight.

Dumbledore had entered his room yesterday, talking about taking care of 'The abomination' as he had called it. He hadn't recognized the man with Dumbledore, but if he ever saw him again he was going to cut the man to pieces. Not only had they taken his baby, but they had made sure he had felt everything. He wasn't exactly sure what they had done, but when Dumbledore had come in he fired off two spells. One he knew seemed to stop all control of his muscles; the other he wasn't sure about. Dobby hadn't been back either, so something must have happened to his little friend.

He felt empty, in agony and alone; more so than ever he would have preferred the Dursleys to this. At least he wasn't alone all the time. Dumbledore had only come twice in the entire time he'd been there. He got one meal a day, and that was if he was lucky; he was sure more than one day had passed before a meal had come for him. Time was very different for him now, he wasn't sure exactly how long he had been here, but he knew however long, it wasn't under a fortnight.

Harry's heart grew colder as the day continued. His body gave in; he didn't want to fight anymore. There was only one thing Harry could do: he withdrew into his own mind to stay sane. The agony ripping though him would have crippled a normal person, who wasn't used to pain. Not just the physical pain, but the emotional pain as well; it would have staggered anyone within a hundred miles of him.

Harry finally believed he wouldn't be rescued, if someone hadn't come in a fortnight, what hope was there for him? None. Dumbledore had won, he had finally broken Harry Potter... but he wasn't aware that he had gone too far.

The food that popped up that night remained untouched.

"Dumbledore doesn't have a house in Wales," said Bill slamming the papers down, his face contorted in fury.

"Who else does Dumbledore trust enough to have a home there? Perhaps he had the house transferred to them so it couldn't come back onto him if anything was to happen," said Draco pensively.

"Dumbledore doesn't truly trust anyone…apart from maybe Moody and Severus," sighed Zabini.

"I doubt it's Moody, but we have to try…We know it used to be Dumbledore's house, we will just need to check the list of transactions to and from Dumbledore… that will be harder than just getting a list of his properties," sighed Bill growling low in his throat. He was extremely worried about Harry, everyone was, especially Severus. Who hadn't been the same; he radiated fury every time they saw him. Each day that passed, the colder and more calculating and prone to anger Severus actually was. Dobby had been unable to get back in, so there was no way for Severus to ensure he was being looked after at least. Dobby had been badly hurt, the wards had seriously damaged the little elf but they had managed to save his life. Severus had wanted answers, when he got them he wasn't anywhere near impressed at all. Dobby had tried to pop in with food for Harry but the wards had hurt him, he had only managed to get away before he was seen.

Dumbledore truly was keeping Harry under lock and key.

"I hope he's getting enough to eat…" sighed Wood looking around uselessly.

"He doesn't want his pawn dead, so he will," said Flint sounding surer than he actually felt.

"That's it, I'm going now. I don't care how the Goblins react, I have to find out about that bloody house," snarled Bill, apparating away and going to Gringotts.

"What do we do?" asked one of the three hundred people loitering around the manor looking and feeling useless.

"There is nothing we can do at the moment but pray Bill can get the papers," sighed Draco.

"Damn it!" snarled Wood, kicking the table in agitation.

"Where's Bill?" asked Severus walking into the room without being seen. His men were used to this by now and didn't even jump at his presence. They were glad Severus didn't look angry today; he was a scary sight when he was furious. What's worse was the disappointment that rolled off Severus when they came back with nothing. All of Severus' men and women could only agree that they would rather have been subjected to a curse than the man's disappointment. Severus also knew where every single one of his men sat and knew Bill wasn't there.

"He's at Gringotts" murmured Charlie. "And I think Fred and George would like to join…they haven't been the same with the family for a while. I think they are loyal to Harry, completely loyal. I've heard a rumour that's how they started their joke shop: Harry supposedly helped them in his fourth year or something?"

Draco snorted in amusement. "He gave them his tri-wizard winnings," Draco explained, he had been there watching when Harry had handed over the pouch of money.

"Why would he do such a thing?" frowned Zabini.

"Despite everything, Harry is loyal; he wouldn't see anyone hurt if he could help it. He didn't want to go back to Hogwarts as the 'Hogwart's champion' by himself. He talked Cedric Diggory into taking it with him…hoping to share the limelight and fade back into the background," sighed Bill.

"How do you know this?" asked Charlie looking at his brother curiously.

"I read Ron's letters from Harry; when I was there I shared a room with him. I couldn't help it, I was just being nosy. Ron had just scoffed and scrunched it up…I wanted to know what had gotten him into a snit. Needless to say I was confused when I read it; I'm not sure what Ron had written to Harry, but it was a long letter explaining a lot. Ron wasn't happy with the answers he received either way," said Bill.

"That doesn't explain why he gave away his winnings," protested Zabini.

No one noticed Severus getting tenser as they spoke about Harry the way they were.

"Oh for god sakes, I'll spell it out: he felt guilty about the fact Diggory died…he gave away the winnings probably thinking he didn't deserve them!" said Draco agitated, seeing how agitated his godfather was becoming he tried to get the conversation over with.

Draco didn't know just how close to the truth he was.

Severus knew though, without even having to go into Harry's memories he knew just how much Harry believed he was unlovable, un-likeable, a burden, a disgrace, a freak, an abomination, something that should have been drowned at birth. He believed he deserved everything he got and Severus had to stop himself killing them all. Oh, the thought of what he was going to do to them once he did go back kept him going. They would regret ever laying a hand on Harry; perhaps he might even be able to take Harry if they ever got him back. He had to, Harry was his and only his, screw anyone that got in his way. Dumbledore was going to regret even thinking about Harry Potter by the time Severus was finished with him. No one hurt what was his and got away with it, the world would learn not to even look at Harry by the time he was through with them.

"Ok, ok," murmured Zabini, obviously realizing how on thin ice he was, considering Snape's closed of expression.

"I don't know why we don't just kill Dumbledore and be done with it," snarled Flint, his face twisted in anger.

If anyone thought badly of Dumbledore... it was going to be ten times worse when they finally did get to Harry.

"Voldemort would make an all-out attack against Hogwarts, and Harry isn't ready yet," said Severus, his face screwed up in disgust at the thought. Oh, he knew the prophecy and knew Harry was the only one who would be able to defeat Voldemort. It pained him that Harry was going to have to do it, but there was nothing he could do but support him and ensure he killed the bastard. He had been training Harry, not to the best of his ability with him being pregnant.

"Kill the rest of his loyal Death Eaters and when the time comes he could just disarm Voldemort and let Harry kill him and that would be it," suggested Crabbe.

"It has merits, but we cannot take the chance of not being able to find Harry," sighed Severus tiredly; he hadn't slept much in the past three weeks since Harry had been gone.

"True," murmured Draco, feeling sorry for his godfather.

"Even if we get to Po…Harry will it be enough? Dobby couldn't even get through! And there aren't many wards that do that! What if we end up sliced and diced trying to get through?" asked one of the many sitting men.

They had learned really quick not to call him Potter in Severus' presence. Harry, Severus had declared, deserved all their respect despite what he had to do to maintain his cover. Harry wasn't truly a Potter in Severus' book; in Severus' thinking, 'Potter' was James. Harry just happened to share his last name. Severus had planned to rectify that by ensuring Harry took his name when they married. Harry would marry him one way or another, he would ensure it; Harry was his and he wasn't about to let go any time soon.

If only he could just find him, then all will be well.

"Bill can get any ward down; with Jacob's help they will quickly get though them," said Severus confidently. Jacob was a wizard who had originally come from America, he too had the ability to see magic and dismantle it. Bill was much better at it than Jacob and they knew it too. Jacob wasn't hurt that he was second best, because Bill was actually helping him utilise his power better.

"If they try and stop us?" asked Draco stonily, watching Severus.

"We kill them," sneered Severus; satisfaction lingered around the room at the permission to kill the idiots who were holding Harry hostage.

"Even Dumbledore?" asked Flint.

"Even Dumbledore, if it comes to it. Crabbe's idea is rather good, there are more Death Eaters on my side than Voldemort's. If it comes to it, we will use his idea, and can only hope that Harry is ready for it," said Severus smoothly. Despite what many would think, Severus was very powerful, probably on a level with Voldemort and Harry, perhaps a smidgen more than Dumbledore. Severus would be even more powerful when he actually bonded to Harry, which he planned on doing. Bonding, marrying anything to ensure the world knew who he belonged too. Not just the world, but Harry too, he was very possessive of what was his and Harry knew that too.

The fact that Harry liked it would have normal made him hard at the thought, however he was just too damn worried about him to think like that.

"I've got to get back to Hogwarts; if there's a chance Dumbledore will tell me I need to keep close by," snarled Severus. The thought alone made him sick. He hated Dumbledore with a passion which had only grown over the years. Now it eclipsed every hatred he had ever known. However, the thought of going back to Hogwarts fled seconds later.

"I've fucking got it!" snarled Bill, slamming the paper down and looking exhausted, satisfied and worried all in one go.

Edited by Jordre.