AN: So here's the second chapter of this series. I have decided to work on this as a series of One Shots as I abhor leaving incomplete stories. When I have a new story, I will update it. Now, this story is much darker than the first chapter. Mentions of decapitation, assault and other gruesome imagery. I have raised the rating to M. As always, read and review.
The Weasleys were throwing a party. Harry had lent a hand with some of the more spectacular constructs outside the Burrow. The marquee that had been set up for Bill's wedding was up again. Hogwarts had just finished for the term and his godson Teddy and Bill and Fleur's daughter, Victoire had just returned home. While it was a welcome home party for them both, it was also acting as a going away party for Victoire who would be going to France for two weeks with her charms professor and a few other students for a research tour.
Harry raised his glass in salute as the girl in question emerged on to the garden followed by her parents. He wistfully looked at the girl who he considered his niece and then at Ginny, who was conversing with Charlie and George regarding the latest quidditch results. As if sensing his gaze, Ginny looked at Harry and gave him a tentative smile before continuing the smile. Harry smiled back and then grimaced. They had broken up after the war when he and Ron had gone into Bounty hunting and Ginny had been drafted for the English Quidditch league. The difference in careers had left them with no time to spend together and had eventually left them with little in common, leading to an amicable breakup. Yet, Harry still fondly remembered the days he had spent with Ginny in the Weasley Orchard, and he hadn't seriously dated anyone after their break-up.
"Uncle Harry" Victoire exclaimed, running to him and hugging him tightly. Harry smiled, returning her hug before crouching down to her level and producing a lilac wrapped box.
"Here kiddo, a going away gift for you"
"You're the best, Uncle Harry", she beamed as she tore open the wrapped box to discover a stylish watch.
"I know it's the watch that makes you say that" Harry grinned, tickling the girl who shrieked in laughter before hugging him again and running away. Snorting, Harry vanished the wrapping paper and looked around, noticing with a sigh, Ron and Hermione bickering again. Even marriage hadn't stopped that, though perhaps that turned them on, Harry wryly thought.
Victoire meanwhile hugged everyone and after a final kiss to her parents, she joined Padma Patil, her Charms professor who would be collecting the other girl in the group and then travel to Paris, muggle style, from Heathrow. Harry, after taking a final sip from his tumbler of firewhiskey, bid everyone goodnight and apparated home to Grimmauld Place, to spend another night alone.
Harry woke up with a start, his heart shaking as he heard a thump from the drawing room downstairs. Wiping the drool from his mouth, he drew his wand silently and emerged into the stairway right into Hermione's face.
"Harry" Hermione shrieked, almost falling down the stairs before Harry grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up onto the landing.
"Hermione, what's up? You look worried" Indeed, Hermione's face was pinched into worried lines, lines he had last seen when Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts.
"Oh, Harry. Something terrible has happened. I think you should come with me to the Burrow" Hermione sobbed, a tear spilling from her eye before she hastily rubbed her face with her thumb. Harry wordlessly agreed with a look and then followed her to the fireplace, where they both flooed to The Burrow, which he had left a couple of hours ago.
Emerging into the kitchen of the Weasleys, Harry looked around and to his surprise, spotted almost all the entire Weasley clan huddled in the room. The thing that struck Harry stranger was everyone was quiet, which he had last seen when Fred had died.
With a feeling of dread coiling in his stomach, he spoke "What happened?" Fleur and Molly both wailed loudly while Percy, for the first time Harry had ever seen, swore loudly. Only Ron, who had a look of anger on his face answered.
"Victoire has been kidnapped"
"What?" Harry barked, almost falling over the sofa.
"Victoire's group and their professor reached Paris an hour ago. They checked into one of Fleur's cousins' apartments in Paris who are currently vacationing in Moscow. Victoire was speaking to us on the floo, when she suddenly started screaming that someone had entered their room and struck Padma and the other girl unconscious. Before she could jump through to the Floo here, she was pulled back and the floo was sealed, so we couldn't go through" Ron explained, to which Fleur let out another loud wail.
Bill got up from the sofa where he had been comforting Fleur and started to pace "I need to go look for her"
"You can't" Ron said.
"She's my daughter" Bill sharply said.
"And my niece. And the fact that she is your daughter is the reason you can't go. International Criminal Ministry would send you back as soon as you landed in Paris" Ron retorted, pouring a glass of water and handing it to Fleur who just threw it on the floor.
"You can't just expect me to sit here and do nothing"
"He's not. I'll go" Harry interjected in the brewing argument. Bill looked at him before groaning and falling back on the sofa.
"Listen, Bill. Harry is the greatest tracker on the continent. And he has no blood relation to Victoire, so the Ministry has no grounds for stopping him. And you going half cocked won't help anyone" Ron firmly said, repairing the glass with a flick and placing it on the kitchen table. Arthur, who had been quiet till now, spoke.
"Harry, can you find them?"
Everyone looked at Harry who tiredly took off his glasses and rubbed them, before putting them back on "Yes, I can. I will need access to Victoire's room. I also need to view your conversation with Victoire. Then, I need to speak to Malfoy. He might have some contacts in Paris I can use. And I need to start now. I will also need a few of Fleur's hairs."
Bill steadily looked at Harry "Look in my mind, Harry. You'll see everything you need. But what do you want Fleur's hair for?"
Harry shrugged and replied, "Just a hunch, now are you ready?" raising his wand and at Bill's nod, whispered "Legilimens"
Bill's memory had not given Harry many clues, except that Victoire had said none of the men who had abducted her spoke French. He had looked at Victoire's room in Shell Cottage and hadn't found anything. After that, he had hastily spoken to Malfoy who, though grumpy at first at the late hour, had quickly woken up and promised to do everything he could to help him find Victoire. Now, he was at Heathrow, drinking Polyjuice potion with Fleur's hair mixed in. His rationale was that someone had tagged the party when they had landed in Paris and followed them, thus knowing where they were planning on staying. Hopefully, the same person would pick him up and lead him to where Victoire and the others were being held.
Harry grimaced as the plane landed in Paris. He always loved plane rides, but today was not a day of pleasure for him. Quickly getting through customs while subtly confounding the officials, he loitered around the waiting area, looking for suspicious individuals. Finally, he spotted a tall blonde guy who was standing by the magazine kiosk and looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Harry ducked his face under his currently long blonde hair and watched the man approached him.
"Hi, I am Alex"
"Dominika" Harry said, shaking the guy's hand with a flirtatious look "Say, you wouldn't know where a decent hotel is, would you?"
Alex smiled, in what he thought was a roguish manner and said "Sure, just follow me" leading him to the airport parking garage where he was grabbed from behind and a black cloth was put over his head, all the while being shoved into a car. Harry inwardly grinned, while screaming loudly for help before he was stunned, turning his world black.
Harry awoke with a start, looking around him. He had been stripped off his wand and placed in a cage. The room was dark, and he couldn't see anyone around. But as he started to move, he heard voices through the wall conversing in French. Fortunately for Harry, there was a wand that always returned to Harry when he called for it, and the Elder Wand appeared in his palm with a flash. At the same time, the effects of the Polyjuice started to wear off and Harry shook his head to clear off the remaining wooziness from the stunner. Tapping his wand against the cage, he watched as the bars distorted to provide space for him to pass through. Standing exactly from where he could hear the voices coming from, Harry whispered "Bombarda"
The wall was blown apart and the two men who had been seated on the table on the other side, were thrown under the debris. A third man, the man who had been in the airport, ran into the room, and was promptly stunned by Harry. Ducking under a haphazardly thrown cutting curse, Harry responded with a hissed bone breaker, watching as the man howled as his elbow was broken in three places. With another wave of his wand, Harry conjured a magical whip which wrapped around the throat of the last man standing and pulled. With a clear crack, the head was separated from the body. Avoiding the spout of the blood, Harry brutally kicked the man with the broken elbow on the head, silencing him.
"Homenum Revelio" Harry said, the spell washed over the house and came back to him, indicating one other person alive apart from the stunned man in front of him, to which Harry raised an eyebrow. No one had come to investigate the fight he had caused, meaning the last person was either unconscious or restrained. Cautiously, Harry opened the door which had miraculously escaped damage during the fight and came out onto a landing, with stairs leading up. Harry went up, checking the corners and then happened on a locked door. Tapping his wand on the door, he took a deep breath as the door unlocked with a click and he pushed it open.
Harry found a half-naked woman, knocked out and cuffed with magical binding shackles cuffed to a threadbare cot. Swallowing his rage, Harry moved closer and grimaced. It was Padma. Gingerly checking her for pulse, he was relieved to find a faint one. Vanishing the chains and transfiguring Padma's clothes into a more respectable outfit, he floated he downstairs where he transfigured Alex, the man from the airport into a mutt and shoved him into his coat pocket. Looking around, Harry took a deep breath and dissapparated.
He appeared in small room in a house on the Rue Ferou, one of the safehouses Hermione and Ron had helped him set up after the war was over and he had started his career in Bounty hunting. Carefully setting Padma down on the single bed in the house, he searched the cupboards before finding a rug, which he threw over Padma and left the room after leaving a charm to alert him once Padma awoke. Moving into the other room, he pulled up a chair and set the mutt on it, reversing the transfiguration. Binding the unconscious man with metal chains, conjured a bucket of water and poured it on the man, waking him up.
"What…"
Harry clicked his fingers "The two girls who were with the woman you vermin had upstairs, where are they?"
The man looked confused for a second before grinning "Go to hell"
Harry sealed the man's mouth and then cast a bone shattering hex at the man's left shin, watching as blood and plasma burst out as one and the man tried to scream but couldn't. Restoring the man's mouth, he asked "Let's try again. Where are they?"
The man whimpered but kept silent. Harry shrugged and cast another bone shattering hex at his other shin, not bothering with the removal of his mouth.
Predictably the man screamed "Oh, mon dieu…."
"The human body has two hundred and six bones. To my estimation, there are still around two hundred bones left to break. Now, will you talk?"
The man groaned but nodded pitifully "The girls were virgins. So, we sold them off."
"To whom?" Harry sharply asked as the man let out another groan. Harry absently cast a tickling hex at the man's shattered bones and the man screamed again.
"Go on"
"We sold them to the local mafia. I don't know more" the man managed.
"Names" Harry barked, slapping the man. The man shook his head "The only man I know is Luis"
"Good". Stunning the man, Harry sat down on the floor and pondered his remaining options when he felt his alert charm go off. Hastening to his feet, Harry entered the room where he had left Padma and found her trying to open the window.
"Padma, it's me. Harry" The woman looked at him with wild eyes which seemed to scan him for a long moment before she fell on the floor with a sob. Harry quickly gathered her in her arms and led her back to the bed, making her sit as he poured her a glass of water.
"Where are we?" Padma asked after she drank the water.
"One of my safehouses in Paris. Victoire managed to let us know what happened before she was taken. I came after you all and found you an hour ago" Harry explained, cautiously sitting down beside her.
"Victoire? Giselle?"
"Still working on it. Can you stand?" Harry asked. As Padma nodded her head, Harry took the glass from her and muttered "Portus"
As the telltale blue glow emerged from the turned Portkey, Harry held it out to Padma as he pulled the unconscious man into the room with a summoning charm and then turned him into a galleon. Putting it in his pocket, Harry grabbed Padma and activated the Portkey.
The Portkey deposited them in front of a derelict fountain. Looking around him, Harry tapped the fountain and watched as vines appeared around them and the fountain took Padma and him into the French Ministry of Magic. The French Ministry had a more open feel than the British one, Harry felt as he strode towards one of the helpdesks, with Padma on his heels.
"I would like to speak to Zacharias Smith" Harry said, jerking the man into attention who had been doodling on a parchment. His eyes found Harry's faded scar and his mouth turned into an O. Seeing Harry's impatient stare, he hastily replied "First floor, Monsieur. Second door on the left."
Harry nodded in thanks and gestured for Padma to follow. Getting into one of the empty lifts with Padma, he jabbed the button for First Floor, labelled 'Foreign Embassy Ministers Floor'. The lift clanged shut and took them up to their destination with a small beep announcing their arrival. The duo got out of the lift and made their way towards door with the name 'Zacharias Smith' embossed in gold.
Giving a perfunctory knock, Harry entered the room and found a spacious office with Smith looking through a cabinet.
"Smith" Harry decided to announce his presence as Smith didn't seem to pay attention to their entrance. The man jumped and looked around before spotting Harry and Padma.
"Potter? What the hell are you doing here?"
Harry settled himself into one of the chairs while Padma lowered herself on another one "I presume Malfoy got in touch with you? I rescued Padma today from the men who abducted her and now I need some information on the others who have Victoire and Giselle."
Smith blinked "That was quick. Malfoy spoke to me seven hours ago and you already found Padma. Count me impressed. You alright, Patil?"
Before Padma could anything "She is suffering from assault. I examined her and found some traces of muggle drugs in her system. She needs to go to St. Mungo's for detoxification."
"Very well. I will arrange a portkey. Now, what do you need?"
"Know anyone by the name of Luis belonging to the local mafia?"
Smith sniffed and summoned a file, handing it to him who opened the file to reveal a pock-marked man "As it turns out, I do. He's one of the lieutenants of the local mafia. He normally hangs around Rue de Vaurigard. But he's not alone. If you find him, you will find his entire organization."
"Doesn't matter. I'll handle them. Oh, and the place where I found Padma, I left five dead men. And another one here alive" Harry said, tossing the galleon at Smith who caught it. "This one is alive. You should probably cast some healing charms on him if you want him to live. Now, I must leave"
"Hang on, Potter" Smith protested "You can't just leave dead men everywhere. There's due process."
Harry coldly observed Smith "These men abducted two little girls and Merlin knows how many others. I'll tear Paris apart and leave as many dead as I need to find them both."
Now turning to Padma who had been observing the conversation silently "I am sorry this happened to you, Padma. I promise you they will pay. Smith will get you back to Britain where Malfoy will help you out."
"Just find them, Harry" Padma croaked, clutching his hand before letting him go. Harry curtly nodded before disapparating.
Harry appeared in a deserted alley on the Rue de Vaugirard. With a quick flick of his wand, his robes took on the appearance of the robes that the ministry workers were wearing. Exiting the alley, he quickly crossed the road and spotted the address from the file Smith had shown him. The house had a green door, innocuous, well-kept and set back from the street. Two French wizards were busy playing gobstones on the porch when Harry interrupted them.
"Excuse me, I am here to see your boss, Luis" Harry flashed a badge he had nabbed from Smith's desk at the wizards' face who looked at it for a second before nodding towards the house, before frisking him and removing his Holly wand.
"We keep this"
Harry shrugged and followed them to the house, taking note of the windows and the doors. Entering the house, he was led down a narrow hallway into a kitchen, passing four men who were playing cards. The man who had led him into the kitchen, pointed to a pale wizard sitting in a corner and muttered "Luis" before walking to the stove and pouring himself a cup of coffee. The others looked at Harry warily before going back to their game.
"What do you want?" the man named Luis asked, a lisp in his voice. Harry gave a smile, though anyone looking at him, wouldn't have called it friendly.
"Answers"
"To what" the man looked uncomprehending.
"A few hours ago, two twelve-year-old girls were sold to you by a man named Alex. Where are they?"
Now, Luis' eyes flashed in understanding, and he went to draw his wand. Harry, however summoning the elder wand, banished the man onto the wall, where he thumped with a loud crack and slid down with a groan. The other men went for their wands, but Harry with lightning speed, summoned the hot coffee on one of the men who screamed in pain, before slicing his head off. Dodging a disembowelling hex to the gut, Harry banished the table into the remaining three men, getting two of them while the third one dived to the side. That man tried to curse Harry but found his hand missing along with most of his arm, Harry had turned his wand into a bomb. As soon as the man tried to cast a spell, the wand blew up, taking the man's arm with it. Summoning his Holly wand, he tucked it into his robe, watching for any others for a moment before taking a breath. Ignoring the screams, Harry grabbed Luis, and with a quick disapparation was back in his safehouse.
Binding him to the same chair where he had bound Alex, he renovated the man, examining his side where he had been grazed by a stray cutting curse. Absently casting a healing charm, he focused on the chained man who was coming into consciousness.
"Where are they?"
"Fuck you"
"I don't have time for this" Harry impatiently flicked his wand at the man, his clothes falling off until Luis was all naked on the chair. Taking a silver knife from one of the pockets of robe, he started making small cuts all over the man's body who watched in incomprehension. Finally, after two minutes, when the man was bleeding from all over his body, Harry drew his wand again.
"I am told that this is one of the most painful ways to die. A blood boiling curse can kill a man in three minutes, boiling him from the inside out. But if the man's blood is already flowing on his body, it chars your skin and then your flesh as well. Want to try?"
"I don't know anything"
"Alright then. Sanguis ebulliens"
It took a minute before Luis was howling in unimaginable agony and Harry stopped the torture. Leaning closer to the man, he shot of a jolt of electricity which made Luis let out another scream of pain.
"Now, where were we?"
"Don Bensario bought them both. He has a yacht by the seine. Tonight, he's leaving the country. You can find him on the pier leaving at 7. Please, that is all I know" Luis was almost panting in exhaustion from all the words he spoke. Harry nodded to himself and looked back at the man.
"You might be hoping that I will let you go. But here's the thing, I find you despicable and unworthy of life. So, Sanguis ebulliens" Harry chanted, before silencing and leaving the room. Moving to a cupboard by the bed where Padma had rested a few hours ago, Harry opened it and pulled out a map of Paris, familiarising himself with the route the Don's boat might take. As he shuffled the map into a back pocket, there was a loud thump on the front door before it fell back, letting Smith enter the safehouse followed by two more men, wands aloft.
"What are you doing here, Smith?" Harry angrily asked.
"I am sending you back. Too much collateral damage in your wake, Potter. I can't clean all that up" Smith said, his wand pointed at Harry.
Harry smirked "Do you think you can take me?"
Smith's left eye twitched "I am here as part of both the French and the British Ministry. You will come quietly or…" Whatever Smith was going to say was lost as a streak a bluish light flashed across the room, as the floor trembled and dust filled the room. When the dust cleared, Harry was the only man standing with the three others unconscious on the floor. Summoning their wands, Harry snapped them before tying all three up by the bed. They would be up by the next morning, Harry was sure, by that time, he would have found Victoire and Giselle. Getting him from the floor after tying the three up, Harry looked inside the room where he had left Luis and found a charred corpse which he vanished before disapparating again.
The pier was a hubbub of tourism as Harry looked on, under his invisibility cloak. He had been watching the area for the past three hours, having found the Don's yacht and now waiting for the man himself. He was also trying to get rid of the tremor in his left arm. He didn't like killing, though he would when the situation called for it. Though he admitted that Luis had deserved what he got, Harry still would have nightmares for the next few weeks. Sighing to himself, he focused back on the yacht where he spotted a young man in his late thirties, welcome an older man on the boat before calling to two other men who brought a large, covered box in the yacht. Beyond angry now, Harry pushed past the crowd and snuck onboard the yacht as it pushed off, almost making him fall off into the river. Taking a moment to collect himself, he glanced around, seeing two men on the galley while another strolled across the deck.
Harry managed to get on his feet, just as the man strolled past him. Still invisible, Harry drew his snap and silently slit the man's throat before pushing him overboard. Unfortunately, the men on the galley had seen their comrade fall and were now rushing down the deck, wands drawn. Drawing the elder wand, Harry cast a water summoning charm on the floor before a 'Glisseo' froze it, making the men running in his direction fall on the suddenly slippery floor. Harry quickly summoned their wands before throwing them overboard with an overpowered banishing charm.
However, he was knocked back by a wide area banisher which removed the invisibility cloak from him, revealing him to the young man who had cast the hex. Harry, getting back on his feet, narrowly dodged a slicing hex before shielding a stunner and responding with a bone breaker.
The man shielded his bone breaker before starting off on curses of the heavy variety, namely the killing curse. Cursing to himself, Harry dodged the first two, conjured a block of marble to intercept the third before banishing the rubble back at the man, who looked taken aback by the defence before being knocked by the rubble. Hearing a noise behind him, Harry turned to find another man casting a 'Reducto' at him. With a clockwork motion of his wand, Harry summoned the knocked-out man in front of him, intercepting the curse meant for him. In the same motion, he animated the metal guardrails of the boat which wrapped around the man's throat, choking him. The man tried to pull at the rails futilely before slumping unconscious.
Harry warily looked around, waiting for more attackers. When none emerged, he entered the glass lined hallway which led into a lavish dining room. There was another door at the centre of the room, which Harry assumed led to the Don's room as there were no other doors. As he approached the door, the door opened and the Don emerged, before getting wide eyed, looking at Harry who raised his wand.
"Who are you? Guards" the man shouted.
"No one is coming. I killed them all" Harry softly said "Now, I am here for the girls. Don't try to lie to me. I have had a very long day. Where are they?"
The man pointed behind him and Harry motioned for the man to lead the way. Walking into the room which turned out to be the Don's bedroom, Harry saw Victoire and another girl, Giselle presumably, huddled unconscious on the floor.
"Good" Harry said before blowing the man's head off with a point-blank reductor curse. Ignoring the now headless body slump to the floor, Harry approached the two girls and checked them with a cursory sensory charm. Thankfully, all the charm revealed were a couple of bruises on the head and the arms of both the girls. Gathering both up, Harry made another portkey and activated it, leaving the now aimlessly floating boat without another glance.
The portkey deposited the three on the reception of St. Mungo's where after a quick conversation with the Welcome Witch, he had a healer give both girls a thorough examination. While waiting in the lobby, Harry sent off a quick Patronus to Malfoy to alert him about what had happened so that the Blonde could start damage control with the French Ministry.
"They are okay" the healer said, making Harry start and jump up.
"Aside from some bruises which I healed; they are well enough to leave. In fact, they both are awake and are now confused as to how they got here. You can go in and meet them"
Quickly thanking the healer, Harry made his way to the ward. With a knock, he entered and found the two huddled on one bed, turning their heads at his arrival. Victoire let out a shriek of joy, clambering over the bed to hug him, before bursting into tears.
Harry hugged her close, patting her while she let out her sorrow, holding out one arm to Giselle who joined them both in the hug. Harry mourned for their loss of innocence; they would never look at the world with childlike wonder. But now, they would be better prepared, because he would make sure of it.
"Giselle" a voice broke into the room and woman rushed in, grabbing Giselle and pulling her into a hug who cuddled up to the woman.
"Thank you, Mr Potter" a man who had followed inside said, holding out his hand which Harry shook. "If there's anything you need, please.."
"Look after her. That's all I need"
With a grateful nod, the man knelt on the floor, where Giselle grabbed him in a hug shouting "Papa"
"Ready to go home, Victoire?" Harry asked to which Victoire nodded. With a final wave to the hugging family, Harry held Victoire close as he made his way to the reception, taking the public floo to The Burrow.
Harry emerged into the Weasley kitchen for the second time in the day, everyone looking at him silently and then slowly Harry unveiled Victoire from behind him. The entire Weasley let out a shriek of joy as Fleur and Bill rushed to hug their daughter while Arthur and Molly hugged Harry, before Ron and Hermione fell on him. Holding his closest friends close, Harry grinned to himself.
"Did you really doubt me?"
Hermione rolled her eyes "Of course not, Harry. It's just that we were all worried."
"Well, it's all good now, isn't it?" Ron clapped Harry's arm who grinned back at the two.
"It should be, though I left a trail of bodies across Paris. I hope Malfoy managed to fix it up" Harry shrugged before falling onto the sofa beside George who gave him a Thumbs up before hugging Bill and Fleur.
"And if he hasn't?" Hermione asked, dropping beside him.
"We shall see. After all, I am Harry James Potter, and the world is my oyster"
