Chapter Twelve: The Search
~*~
"I AM LORD VOLDEMORT!" Draco bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls.
Chloe saw the maniacal gleam in his eyes and whimpered.
"I want to go home."
~*~
"I'm afraid there's been a slight hitch in getting the search warrant." Ms.Kaitlynn Dewey sized Harry up nervously, certainly not displaying her usual confident air.
Harry looked up sharply from the blueprints of the Malfoy manor that he was discussing with another Auror. "But you were still able to get the warrant, correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter. There are just a few items that you should have been brought to your attention. If my associates and I could speak with you for a moment."
Harry nodded and followed her to his other two lawyers.
"Ms. Finch and Ms. Howe and myself had quite a time unraveling several items that have come up, quite unexpectedly."
"You have my attention," frowned Harry, crossing his arms. "Just give it to me straight."
"Draco Malfoy is suing you," Cindy Finch said flatly.
"So sue him back," Harry replied without hesitation. "Isn't that what I pay you for?"
His lawyers shook their heads, their mouths pressed in identical firm lines.
"The suit is for accusations of defamation. He claims that you're using your station as head of Aurors to harass him for personal reasons." Lizzie Howe pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "But that's not all.."
"He's had a restraining order placed on you," added Kaitlynn. "That means you can't search his property."
Harry looked infuriated, but he drummed his fingers on the table and answered in the calmest of tones. "But my Aurors can?"
"Yes," nodded Ms. Dewey. "The nearest you can get is the grounds of his property."
"It's a slap in the face," growled Harry, the lines around his eyes deepening as he thought about the situation. "He's mocking me, that's exactly what he's doing." Harry drew his attention back to his lawyers quickly. "How can we revoke this? Aren't restraining orders supposed to take time?"
"He filed this before the kidnapping," said Ms. Finch, "therefore we can't prove a connection between the two. Our hands are tied, Mr. Potter."
"But we do have a search warrant?" Harry pressed. "And it's valid?"
"Yes sir, you just can't assist your Aurors in the search of his property."
"Something is better than nothing," Harry replied, striding away.
~*~
Draco Malfoy's smile stretched across his face like a skull. He drew his hand back and let the curtains fall back into place. His lawn was coated with Confederation blue, and the agents had yet to even knock on the door. They just kept filing onto the grounds, the brainless insects that they were.
Finally, the knock came. Draco opened the door and faced the five Aurors standing stiffly on the porch.
"Good evening."
"Mr. Malfoy, we have a warrant to search your premises, please step aside."
Draco put on a face of mock surprise. "Search my premises? May I please see the warrant?"
An Auror held up the parchment for him to see. "Any Auror of the Peace may search your property for the next 48 hours."
Draco glanced up at his grounds. "By all means. search everything. I have nothing to hide. I never do, actually. Yet you insist on coming here."
Draco sighed, opened the door wider and gestured for them to come inside. "Take care you don't frighten my son. He should be up in his room playing. The searches always upset him, his toys get misplaced."
The Aurors glanced at one another. They seemed surprised that Draco had agreed so readily. One brought a thin silver whistle to his lips and blew it twice.
"Move in!"
The clusters of blue on the snow-covered lawn began jogging towards the door, and Draco moved outside to allow them easy passage.
Then the lawn was clear. Except for one person.
"Nice evening for a raid, isn't it, Potter?" Draco called crossing his arms and smirking at him. "So sorry to hear about your daughter on the news this evening."
Harry walked across the lawn, Auror robes flapping in gusts of wind. "You coward," he spat, narrowing his eyes at Draco. "Why don't you dare let me in your house?"
Draco held up his hand just before Harry reached the brick walkway of his house. "Stop. I do not permit you to go any further."
"Coward!" shouted Harry.
"Don't take another step, Potter, or your Weasleys will be having to find you in jail rather than looking for your little brat."
"The restraining order doesn't keep me from killing you," said Harry coldly.
"Idle threats, Potter. They always are." Draco crossed his arms. "Your Aurors won't find anything of worth."
Fat raindrops splattered on the walk and another gust of wind exposed Harry's scar. "Go straight to hell, Malfoy.
Draco sneered at Harry and then laughed briefly. "You've got to do a lot more than wishing. Do try not to get wet, Potter. It's going to rain."
"Why don't you save yourself the time and confess now?" Harry shouted at Draco's retreating figure. "We both know you're guilty!"
The raindrops quickened and began sliding down Harry's face, but he could still see Draco's expression when he turned again.
"Who are you?" Draco glared at Harry and fumbled for his wand. "How dare you show up on my property! I've had enough Ministry filth peddling their redemptions!"
Harry paused. Had he heard that correctly? Who was he? The door slammed, challenging the thunderclap that followed, and Harry stared a long while at it.
What had just happened?
~*~
"You've been standing out here for four hours."
The voice definitely sounded a bit angry with him so Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and didn't turn to face it.
"And even if you did cast a waterproofing charm, your cloak isn't warm enough for this kind of weather. You're going to make yourself sick, and that isn't going to help anything, Harry."
"You really sound like your mum sometimes. Did you know that?" he answered.
A small figure in a brown hooded cloak came into his line of vision, and Harry noticed that the brown eyes were still pretty even when glaring at him. Ginny pulled her own scarf off and put it around his shoulders, perhaps a little more roughly than necessary.
"My mum would be dragging you home and force feeding you hot pots and clucking at the state of your woolen socks. I'm going to stand here and keep you company, probably catching a cold in the process."
Harry was amused. "You must like me then."
"It's possible. But I don't like hot pots." Ginny lifted her head and smiled at him.
Harry put his arm around her, grateful for the extra warmth. "They haven't come out here to tell me anything."
"I'd guessed as much. I'm sure they're just being thorough."
"Ginny, what am I going to do if they don't find her? I won't be able to prove anything." He had to fight to keep his face expressionless.
"But they will," she insisted. "You can't think like that."
"But I have to. Chloe's probably by herself, scared to death, freezing-"
"Harry, don't. Please, don't do that to yourself."
He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, exhausted. "And today. Draco did the oddest thing."
"Of course he did," Ginny said, wincing at burst of chilly wind. "He's nervous about them searching his house."
"No, I think he's crazy."
"When have we not thought that?" asked Ginny. "He's a Death Eater."
"No," Harry shook his head vigorously. "No. I mean insane, Ginny. I'm serious."
Ginny was silent for a long time, and Harry waited for her to ask him to explain but when she opened her mouth, she answered quite differently than he'd expected her to. "We've got to find Chloe."
The front door of Malfoy Manor opened, and Harry stiffened when his Aurors began filing out.
Ginny held her breath when an officer hurried up to Harry.
"And what did you find?" Harry asked flatly.
The officer swallowed. "Nothing, sir."
~*~
"Your precious Daddy came," said Draco pulling Chloe up by her hair. "Did he save you? No! He was too stupid to even to know how to find you!" He roughly yanked the gag out of her mouth and laughed at her. "His Aurors barely tried."
"I hate you!" sobbed Chloe. "My Daddy will get you."
"Shut up, you ugly Mudblood." Draco slapped Chloe across the face again, and this time a bright spot of blood appeared on her smudged cheek.
Chloe backed against the wall and turned her face away from him. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter," said Draco, magically releasing all the locks.
The door opened and a very annoyed looking child appeared. He had to be about Chloe's age, and he looked at Draco with big blue eyes. "Father, you said we would go.."
"There's been a slight change in plans, Aidan," Draco said waving his hand to silence the boy. "We'll go another day. However, you came at a perfect time."
"What is that thing?" Aidan looked directly at Chloe and screwed up his face. "It's dirty!"
"That is a Mudblood. A very valuable Mudblood if you believe it," Draco laughed as he clapped a hand on Aidan's shoulder.
Aidan narrowed his eyes as he squinted to get a better look at Chloe. She glared right back at him. "How is a Mudblood valuable, Father? That doesn't make sense. All Mudbloods are useless, right?" said Aidan, still keeping his disinterested sulking look.
"Yes, that is exactly right. Very good. But, this Mudblood belongs to someone. By having her in my possession, I can use her to get what I want."
Aidan yawned. "What do you want, father?"
"Harry Potter."
"Are you going to get him today?"
"No, tomorrow he will come. Then he'll get what is coming to him," said Draco smiling down at his son.
"Can the Mudblood clean my room? I'm tired of making Binky do it."
"No, Aidan, I haven't decided when I'm going to kill her yet." Draco pulled out a long knife from the folds of his robes. Aidan didn't look remotely surprised.
"I don't want a Mudblood in my house," he said looking at the knife.
Draco laid the flat side of the knife on Chloe's cheek. She felt herself trembling as she looked up right into his gleaming blue eyes. He raised the knife and grinned at her....
He brought it down with a swish, and Chloe felt a rush of air. She closed her eyes and cried out in fear.
It didn't happen. The knife blade scraped against the stone wall with a sickening screech, and Draco laughed.
"Not tonight, Mudblood. We have tomorrow, or maybe I'll just come in the middle of the night. Come, Aidan. You may help me decide what we shall do to her." Draco stabbed the knife into the book on the bookstand, and they turned and walked toward the door. Draco waved his wand and the candles snuffed out. They stood in the light of the door leering at her. Chloe felt all her muscles seize up again as she fell to the floor from another binding curse.
The room was pitch black again. There was more clicking of locks. Then it was quiet.
~*~
This is absurd, thought Harry. He glanced at his watch. Here it was, nearly two in the morning, and he still hadn't done anything to help Chloe. He was to the point where he didn't care if it was against the law, he was going to break into the Malfoy manor and get her back. He wouldn't be put in prison unless he killed Malfoy. Yes, that sounded like an agreeable plan: enter house, strangle Malfoy, get Chloe, and make it home in time for a good week of sleep.
Harry yawned and blinked fiercely. Most of his Aurors were still working, some taking shifts and letting others sleep.
The family on the other hand..
Fred had conked out face first on an open law book. Sirius had assumed dog form and curled up in the corner. Hermione was snoozing with her head on a table, and Dumbledore was asleep by the fireplace, his hat covering his face.
Harry decided to take a walk around the building to keep himself awake.
The sound of his footsteps magnified in the empty ballroom. Harry looked at the white marble floor. It seemed so long ago that he and Ginny had danced here. The chandeliers were casting long shadows on the floor, and Harry lit them one at a time with his wand. The stained glass wall felt cool through his robes as he leaned against it. He closed his eyes and his mind drifted to thoughts of the Christmas ball.
Before he even realized it, Harry fell asleep.
~*~
Chloe closed her eyes and imagined a dinner table with heaps of good things to eat. Roasted chicken, rice, fresh bread, pudding, and she would even eat a Brussels sprout.
Chloe was hungry, but she was stuck lying on her stomach on the bumpy, cold stone floor. She lay with her cheek pressed on the damp floor and imagined her room with the plump pillows and thick down comforter. She wished Norbert were here to keep her company. She'd also really like it if she had her bauble with her. The pretty golden light would be nice right now.
She held her breath as the locks clicked again. The door opened very quickly and shut.
Chloe didn't hear a the sound of boots so she cautiously opened one eye. It was still pitch black.
Then there was a sudden light, and a pale green face was brushing against her own.
Chloe shrieked loudly.
The thing staring at her gave a startled yell, leapt backwards and tumbled to the floor.
It was a house elf. Chloe watched him tug nervously on one of his bat ears and shake like an off-balance washing machine.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scream," she whispered hoping the creature would stay and keep her company.
The elf looked slightly less panicked. "I is sorry I wake you," he said with another nervous tug on his ear.
"I wasn't asleep. I'm glad you came, are you nice? All of our house elves are nice." Chloe tried to get a better look at him even though she was helpless on the floor.
"You don't belong to Binky's master. Binky has heard that you is the Harry Potter's daughter. Is true?" Binky gulped and studied Chloe.
"That's me. I'm Chloe Grace Potter," said Chloe proudly.
To Chloe's astonishment, Binky bowed. "You is a great Potter then! Binky is honored to meet you!"
Chloe giggled. "I'm only five."
Chloe found she could move again. She sat up and smiled gratefully at Binky. "Thanks! You are nice!"
"Binky's master must not know Binky is helping his prisoner. But Binky wants to help Chloe Grace Potter because he has heard the brave and great things that Chloe Grace Potter's father has done," said Binky looking at her with admiration.
Chloe was glad for this new company, and she smiled at him.
A warm fire leapt up in the fireplace, and Chloe scooted towards it to warm her hands and feet. Binky looked pleased. He adjusted the ragged dishtowel he was wearing and plopped down next to Chloe. "Is hungry?"
"Oh yes!" exclaimed Chloe, clutching her stomach.
Binky brightened. "Binky will be back in a very soon time!"
"Okay," said Chloe as she studied the frayed ends of her robes.
About five minutes later the door creaked open again, and Binky poked his head in. He and four other house elves entered carrying trays. Each of them set their trays down and bowed to her before they scuffled quietly out of the room. Binky stayed with Chloe and handed her a mug of hot milk. He then revealed a plate filled with food from the trays in front of her. Chloe immediately felt better.
"I hope my Daddy comes soon," she said, taking a bite of chicken.
"Harry Potter come here?" asked Binky curiously.
"Of course he's coming!"
"Harry Potter needs to be careful, Binky's master is not feeling well most lately," said Binky wringing his little hands.
"Oh, he's sick?" asked Chloe not understanding what Binky was hinting at.
"Binky cannot speak ill of his master. Please do not ask Binky...." Binky tugged on his ear again and looked around nervously.
"He wouldn't hurt you, would he? Oh, I do hope he's not mean to you also!" she said becoming concerned for her little friend.
From the look that Binky gave her, Chloe got the idea that Binky wasn't treated like the Potter Manor house elves. "Binky is glad Chloe Grace Potter understands."
"Chloe pushed her plate back to show she was finished. "I don't want that mean man to catch you. I hope I can see you again, Binky." Tears pooled in Chloe's eyes and she wiped her eyes.
Binky looked as he might burst into tears also. "Binky feels sorry for Chloe Grace Potter, and he is glad to help." He collected the trays and the fire went out.
"When my Daddy comes, he'll save you too," promised Chloe, lying on the floor again.
Binky put the binding curse on her, but he made it so she could at least move a little. "Binky is sorry, he must leave! He be hoping Harry Potter comes tomorrow."
"He will."
With that said, the room went black again and Binky was gone.
~*~
Ginny was the first to wake up. She glanced at her watch. Six o' clock. She rubbed her eyes, taking care not to bump her bruises and looked around. Where on earth was Harry? She put a hand on the crick in her neck and wandered around to see if by chance Harry had left a note. No one stirred, and Ginny didn't blame them; they had worked themselves to death yesterday. She decided to chance it and see if Harry was in another part of the building, having his morning coffee or something. Silently she cursed herself for not keeping better tabs on him. She owed it to him, for goodness sakes, it was partly her fault that Chloe was missing. If she had only fought a little harder. If, if, if, thought Ginny gloomily. She had to stop doing that. She walked into the ballroom and spotted Harry right away.
Harry was fast asleep, slumped against the stained glass wall. The light from the window spilled across Harry's face in shards of red and blue. It reminded her of the Christmas ball. His tousled black hair had drifted across his forehead and his only movement was rising and falling of his chest with each breath. It was one of the few times she had seen his face completely relaxed. Not a trace of worry or concern. Ginny didn't want to wake him; if she did he would have to face the morning.
Ginny gave him a small kiss on the cheek and took his hand. "Harry. Harry, wake up."
Harry opened his eyes slowly and sat for a moment staring at her. Then the realization struck him and he jumped up. "What time is it? Did something happen?"
Ginny sighed. The worry had come back to his face again. "Calm down, everyone else is still asleep and it's only six o' clock." Much to Ginny's surprise, Harry bolted past her. "Harry! Harry! What are you doing?" Ginny ran after him.b
"What are you doing?" she repeated in a loud whisper when she caught up with him in the other room.
Harry pulled on his cloak, his eyes dark with fury. "Ginny, I'm not going to sit around and play fairly when he isn't. That's my daughter. He's going to kill her."
Ginny set her jaw. "I'm coming with you, Harry."
"No, you aren't," Harry said shaking his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not letting you get involved with this. Ginny, they could put me in prison, but I don't care. I'm going after him."
"No, Harry! I'm coming! Accio cloak!"
"Shhh!" said Harry urgently, he stepped in front of her and caught her cloak. "Don't wake anyone! This is only between you and me."
"Harry, give me my cloak," Ginny demanded.
"No," said Harry flatly. "I can't let you. Please, listen to me. Please."
"You don't know what's in his house," Ginny said taking a firm hold on her cloak. "He could have traps."
"Exactly. You're a nursery school teacher," Harry said pulling back on her cloak. "What if you got hurt? I would never forgive myself."
"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Ginny said sharply yanking her cloak free from his hands. "I'm going. I want to do this. For Chloe. For Neville. Harry, you can't stop me!"
"And what would Neville say about you going?" asked Harry in a harsh whisper.
Ginny's expression wavered. "That isn't fair. You can't throw that at me!"
"Yes, I can," Harry said taking her face in his hands. "I care about you, Ginny. I want to protect you. Stay, please."
Tears brimmed in Ginny's eyes as he smoothed a red strand off her cheek and then brushed his lips over hers.
Then Harry was gone.
"Wake up!" Ginny said loudly, wiping her eyes. "Harry's gone!"
~*~
It was around five in the morning when Chloe was lovingly kicked awake by Aidan Malfoy.
"What are you doing?" she cried with a pained yelp.
"Waking you up. Father says I can make you do whatever I want. And now you're going to go clean my room," grinned Aidan.
"No, I'm not," said Chloe, yawning at him. She was beginning to feel quite cranky.
Aidan was surprised that she just refused to do something he ordered. That never happened. He always got his way. "Yes, you are, I'll kick you!" he said. Keeping his promise, he kicked her.
"Ow! That's not fair!" Chloe shouted. "I can't move!"
Aidan thought about this, and then he kicked her again. "So what? You're still going to clean my room."
"I can't clean it. You can't take this magic off of me. You don't know enough," said Chloe in a mocking tone.
"Can so," said Aidan.
"No, you cannot," retorted Chloe.
"Can so," said Aidan, becoming more irritated.
"Cannot," smiled Chloe.
"CAN SO!" screamed Aidan jumping up and down in a rage.
"Then do it," said Chloe finally.
Aidan pulled a wand out of his pocket. "I have a wand, my dad gave me his old one," he bragged.
"You don't know how to work it." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you."
"Well, I can! ALOUISOUS!" shouted Aidan.
"Was something supposed to happen?" asked Chloe politely.
"You shut up!" said Aidan on the verge of hopping up and down in anger again.
"I think there's a spell for that too," informed Chloe.
"I hate you," said Aidan sitting down to think.
"Are you going to kick me now?" asked Chloe. "Because I don't like you, either. I think you're mean."
"I said shut up, you stupid Mudblood." Aidan suddenly grinned evilly. "BINKY!!!" he bellowed.
The house elf appeared looking petrified. "Master Aidan?" he asked in a tinny voice.
"Take the binding curse off the Mudblood. NOW!" Aidan crossed his arms and looked impatient.
Binky gave Chloe an apologetic look and then Chloe could move again. She got up and faced Aidan even though he was quite a bit taller than her.
"Go away," sneered Aidan to Binky.
Chloe watched Binky scurry out of the room at once. "It's polite to say please," she said making a face at him. "You are mean."
Aidan gave her a put out look. "We don't ask servants to do things, we tell them," he corrected her.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you ask me or not. I'm not cleaning your room," said Chloe.
Aidan looked as he had swallowed sour milk. "I'm bigger than you, and you'll do what I say or I'll have father kill you right off," he threatened.
Chloe was a well-read five-year-old. Books had been her refuge in her cupboard. Although she couldn't always read every single word or she had to rely on the pictures, her old sitter Mrs. Figg could be counted on for a snippet of a good story in between cat stories. She probably knew every last fairy tale and every single fable.
She also knew that a person had to be clever to escape the evil villains and one of her favorite stories gave her a very good idea of how to do it.
"I'll clean your room," she said with a disgruntled tone.
Aidan almost looked surprised for a moment. He then acted as if he knew all along that he would be able to bully her into doing things. "Then start walking!"
The door had been unlocked since Aidan had come in and she followed him out of it. Chloe gazed down a passageway with flickering torches and a varnished spiral staircase at the end of the passage. As they reached the base of the staircase Aidan glanced back at Chloe suspiciously. Aidan shoved her in front of him.
"Go ahead of me, so I can make sure you don't try anything stupid."
Chloe began to climb the staircase that seemed to go on forever. Just to irritate Aidan on the way up, she would hop to step to step, or twirl around on every third step.
"Would you stop it?" screamed Aidan after another spectacular twirl from Chloe.
"Okay," shrugged Chloe. Inside she was nearly bursting to keep from giggling at him. He was so easy to make angry that it was almost like a game to see how long he could go without throwing a tantrum. Just for fun, she began to climb the stairs backward, facing him.
"Stop it!" howled Aidan making a grab for her hair.
"You're boring," she said dodging him.
"You don't know anything," said Aidan sounding somewhat offended as they began to climb the stairs again. "And I am not."
"Are so," said Chloe, turning to face forward.
"I am not," said Aidan a little louder.
"Yes, you are," she sang.
"AM NOT!"
"Then when do you have fun?" she asked.
"All sorts of times," he said defending himself.
"Do you play with your friends?"
"I don't play," he mimicked, "I do much more important things."
"So you are boring, you should have fun. Maybe you'd like to paint. My friend Meg-"
"I don't need to have fun, when I can be important," he interrupted. He sounded on the verge of a fit again.
They finally reached the landing of the staircase and the conversation was halted.
Aidan threw open the door and Chloe stepped into the armor room of Malfoy Manor. Then Aidan slammed the door shut and it vanished into the wall.
Chloe shuddered. This room was lavishly decorated, and everything was a dark blood red down to the carpet. Knives, swords, and chains hung off of the walls as decoration and torture objects were displayed in spotless glass cases. All of the items in the room were well oiled and shining like cherished sets of silver.
Aidan was going around the room and showing her various things. She took this opportunity to put the first part of her plan in action. Chloe tugged at the hem of her robes, and a scrap of the fabric was carefully concealed in her hand. She glanced quickly around and set it right next to a glass case. Aidan didn't notice a thing. He was too busy bragging about the family heirlooms. It had worked for Hansel and Gretel, why not her?
~*~
Draco stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, and admired himself. He straightened his collar and smoothed down a hair. He jumped. A rat scurried across the floor, and he kept his gaze on it. Draco narrowed his eyes. The audacity of a common rat, daring to show its face in the Dark Lord's home.
Draco opened a dresser drawer and silently pulled out a long knife. The rat was in the corner, with its back turned and nibbling at something. Draco clutched the knife and smiled as he raised it to kill it.
"Rat, how dare you place yourself in the presence of Lord Voldemort!" he screamed bringing the knife down on the rat.
He was about to turn away, satisfied with the end of the creature, when suddenly there were two! They were multiplying! Draco gave an enraged cry and began pursuing rats around the room. They were everywhere, twitching, gnawing, taunting him. Draco grabbed his wand. He would show them!
~*~
Binky opened the door a crack and peeked in. His master was screaming and ripping the canopy on the bed with a knife. Binky trembled a little, his master was screaming very loudly about rats but Binky couldn't see any rats in the room. His master was now holding a hat in his hands and ripping it apart with his bare hands.
"There! The last one!" shouted Draco to what he believed was a rat on the floor. Draco then went back to the mirror to admire himself again and smoothed a wrinkle on his robes.
Suddenly Draco swung around and grabbed his knife again. "The girl!"
Binky felt a tear roll down his cheek. His master remembered about the little girl in the armor room. Binky scuffled down the hall and sobbed noisily for the sake of his little friend. Binky wiped his face with his tea towel and sighed heavily.
He would have continued crying for Chloe, but a loud noise startled him out of his misery. The noise was so loud that it was echoing all through the house. Binky could hardly believe it, this hadn't happened in a very long time.
~*~
Author Note: Special thanks to several people. All of Harry's lawyers are the people who helped me untangle the law matter of this thing. If you're one of those people, I'm sure you'll be able to recognize yourself. ( Thanks to Anne for betaing this! And oh yes, sorry about that little.erm.four month gap. Thanks for sticking around!
"Have you hugged your stuffed dragon today?" Join Chloe's Bookshelf today!
~*~
"I AM LORD VOLDEMORT!" Draco bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls.
Chloe saw the maniacal gleam in his eyes and whimpered.
"I want to go home."
~*~
"I'm afraid there's been a slight hitch in getting the search warrant." Ms.Kaitlynn Dewey sized Harry up nervously, certainly not displaying her usual confident air.
Harry looked up sharply from the blueprints of the Malfoy manor that he was discussing with another Auror. "But you were still able to get the warrant, correct?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter. There are just a few items that you should have been brought to your attention. If my associates and I could speak with you for a moment."
Harry nodded and followed her to his other two lawyers.
"Ms. Finch and Ms. Howe and myself had quite a time unraveling several items that have come up, quite unexpectedly."
"You have my attention," frowned Harry, crossing his arms. "Just give it to me straight."
"Draco Malfoy is suing you," Cindy Finch said flatly.
"So sue him back," Harry replied without hesitation. "Isn't that what I pay you for?"
His lawyers shook their heads, their mouths pressed in identical firm lines.
"The suit is for accusations of defamation. He claims that you're using your station as head of Aurors to harass him for personal reasons." Lizzie Howe pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "But that's not all.."
"He's had a restraining order placed on you," added Kaitlynn. "That means you can't search his property."
Harry looked infuriated, but he drummed his fingers on the table and answered in the calmest of tones. "But my Aurors can?"
"Yes," nodded Ms. Dewey. "The nearest you can get is the grounds of his property."
"It's a slap in the face," growled Harry, the lines around his eyes deepening as he thought about the situation. "He's mocking me, that's exactly what he's doing." Harry drew his attention back to his lawyers quickly. "How can we revoke this? Aren't restraining orders supposed to take time?"
"He filed this before the kidnapping," said Ms. Finch, "therefore we can't prove a connection between the two. Our hands are tied, Mr. Potter."
"But we do have a search warrant?" Harry pressed. "And it's valid?"
"Yes sir, you just can't assist your Aurors in the search of his property."
"Something is better than nothing," Harry replied, striding away.
~*~
Draco Malfoy's smile stretched across his face like a skull. He drew his hand back and let the curtains fall back into place. His lawn was coated with Confederation blue, and the agents had yet to even knock on the door. They just kept filing onto the grounds, the brainless insects that they were.
Finally, the knock came. Draco opened the door and faced the five Aurors standing stiffly on the porch.
"Good evening."
"Mr. Malfoy, we have a warrant to search your premises, please step aside."
Draco put on a face of mock surprise. "Search my premises? May I please see the warrant?"
An Auror held up the parchment for him to see. "Any Auror of the Peace may search your property for the next 48 hours."
Draco glanced up at his grounds. "By all means. search everything. I have nothing to hide. I never do, actually. Yet you insist on coming here."
Draco sighed, opened the door wider and gestured for them to come inside. "Take care you don't frighten my son. He should be up in his room playing. The searches always upset him, his toys get misplaced."
The Aurors glanced at one another. They seemed surprised that Draco had agreed so readily. One brought a thin silver whistle to his lips and blew it twice.
"Move in!"
The clusters of blue on the snow-covered lawn began jogging towards the door, and Draco moved outside to allow them easy passage.
Then the lawn was clear. Except for one person.
"Nice evening for a raid, isn't it, Potter?" Draco called crossing his arms and smirking at him. "So sorry to hear about your daughter on the news this evening."
Harry walked across the lawn, Auror robes flapping in gusts of wind. "You coward," he spat, narrowing his eyes at Draco. "Why don't you dare let me in your house?"
Draco held up his hand just before Harry reached the brick walkway of his house. "Stop. I do not permit you to go any further."
"Coward!" shouted Harry.
"Don't take another step, Potter, or your Weasleys will be having to find you in jail rather than looking for your little brat."
"The restraining order doesn't keep me from killing you," said Harry coldly.
"Idle threats, Potter. They always are." Draco crossed his arms. "Your Aurors won't find anything of worth."
Fat raindrops splattered on the walk and another gust of wind exposed Harry's scar. "Go straight to hell, Malfoy.
Draco sneered at Harry and then laughed briefly. "You've got to do a lot more than wishing. Do try not to get wet, Potter. It's going to rain."
"Why don't you save yourself the time and confess now?" Harry shouted at Draco's retreating figure. "We both know you're guilty!"
The raindrops quickened and began sliding down Harry's face, but he could still see Draco's expression when he turned again.
"Who are you?" Draco glared at Harry and fumbled for his wand. "How dare you show up on my property! I've had enough Ministry filth peddling their redemptions!"
Harry paused. Had he heard that correctly? Who was he? The door slammed, challenging the thunderclap that followed, and Harry stared a long while at it.
What had just happened?
~*~
"You've been standing out here for four hours."
The voice definitely sounded a bit angry with him so Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and didn't turn to face it.
"And even if you did cast a waterproofing charm, your cloak isn't warm enough for this kind of weather. You're going to make yourself sick, and that isn't going to help anything, Harry."
"You really sound like your mum sometimes. Did you know that?" he answered.
A small figure in a brown hooded cloak came into his line of vision, and Harry noticed that the brown eyes were still pretty even when glaring at him. Ginny pulled her own scarf off and put it around his shoulders, perhaps a little more roughly than necessary.
"My mum would be dragging you home and force feeding you hot pots and clucking at the state of your woolen socks. I'm going to stand here and keep you company, probably catching a cold in the process."
Harry was amused. "You must like me then."
"It's possible. But I don't like hot pots." Ginny lifted her head and smiled at him.
Harry put his arm around her, grateful for the extra warmth. "They haven't come out here to tell me anything."
"I'd guessed as much. I'm sure they're just being thorough."
"Ginny, what am I going to do if they don't find her? I won't be able to prove anything." He had to fight to keep his face expressionless.
"But they will," she insisted. "You can't think like that."
"But I have to. Chloe's probably by herself, scared to death, freezing-"
"Harry, don't. Please, don't do that to yourself."
He pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, exhausted. "And today. Draco did the oddest thing."
"Of course he did," Ginny said, wincing at burst of chilly wind. "He's nervous about them searching his house."
"No, I think he's crazy."
"When have we not thought that?" asked Ginny. "He's a Death Eater."
"No," Harry shook his head vigorously. "No. I mean insane, Ginny. I'm serious."
Ginny was silent for a long time, and Harry waited for her to ask him to explain but when she opened her mouth, she answered quite differently than he'd expected her to. "We've got to find Chloe."
The front door of Malfoy Manor opened, and Harry stiffened when his Aurors began filing out.
Ginny held her breath when an officer hurried up to Harry.
"And what did you find?" Harry asked flatly.
The officer swallowed. "Nothing, sir."
~*~
"Your precious Daddy came," said Draco pulling Chloe up by her hair. "Did he save you? No! He was too stupid to even to know how to find you!" He roughly yanked the gag out of her mouth and laughed at her. "His Aurors barely tried."
"I hate you!" sobbed Chloe. "My Daddy will get you."
"Shut up, you ugly Mudblood." Draco slapped Chloe across the face again, and this time a bright spot of blood appeared on her smudged cheek.
Chloe backed against the wall and turned her face away from him. Her shoulders shook with sobs.
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter," said Draco, magically releasing all the locks.
The door opened and a very annoyed looking child appeared. He had to be about Chloe's age, and he looked at Draco with big blue eyes. "Father, you said we would go.."
"There's been a slight change in plans, Aidan," Draco said waving his hand to silence the boy. "We'll go another day. However, you came at a perfect time."
"What is that thing?" Aidan looked directly at Chloe and screwed up his face. "It's dirty!"
"That is a Mudblood. A very valuable Mudblood if you believe it," Draco laughed as he clapped a hand on Aidan's shoulder.
Aidan narrowed his eyes as he squinted to get a better look at Chloe. She glared right back at him. "How is a Mudblood valuable, Father? That doesn't make sense. All Mudbloods are useless, right?" said Aidan, still keeping his disinterested sulking look.
"Yes, that is exactly right. Very good. But, this Mudblood belongs to someone. By having her in my possession, I can use her to get what I want."
Aidan yawned. "What do you want, father?"
"Harry Potter."
"Are you going to get him today?"
"No, tomorrow he will come. Then he'll get what is coming to him," said Draco smiling down at his son.
"Can the Mudblood clean my room? I'm tired of making Binky do it."
"No, Aidan, I haven't decided when I'm going to kill her yet." Draco pulled out a long knife from the folds of his robes. Aidan didn't look remotely surprised.
"I don't want a Mudblood in my house," he said looking at the knife.
Draco laid the flat side of the knife on Chloe's cheek. She felt herself trembling as she looked up right into his gleaming blue eyes. He raised the knife and grinned at her....
He brought it down with a swish, and Chloe felt a rush of air. She closed her eyes and cried out in fear.
It didn't happen. The knife blade scraped against the stone wall with a sickening screech, and Draco laughed.
"Not tonight, Mudblood. We have tomorrow, or maybe I'll just come in the middle of the night. Come, Aidan. You may help me decide what we shall do to her." Draco stabbed the knife into the book on the bookstand, and they turned and walked toward the door. Draco waved his wand and the candles snuffed out. They stood in the light of the door leering at her. Chloe felt all her muscles seize up again as she fell to the floor from another binding curse.
The room was pitch black again. There was more clicking of locks. Then it was quiet.
~*~
This is absurd, thought Harry. He glanced at his watch. Here it was, nearly two in the morning, and he still hadn't done anything to help Chloe. He was to the point where he didn't care if it was against the law, he was going to break into the Malfoy manor and get her back. He wouldn't be put in prison unless he killed Malfoy. Yes, that sounded like an agreeable plan: enter house, strangle Malfoy, get Chloe, and make it home in time for a good week of sleep.
Harry yawned and blinked fiercely. Most of his Aurors were still working, some taking shifts and letting others sleep.
The family on the other hand..
Fred had conked out face first on an open law book. Sirius had assumed dog form and curled up in the corner. Hermione was snoozing with her head on a table, and Dumbledore was asleep by the fireplace, his hat covering his face.
Harry decided to take a walk around the building to keep himself awake.
The sound of his footsteps magnified in the empty ballroom. Harry looked at the white marble floor. It seemed so long ago that he and Ginny had danced here. The chandeliers were casting long shadows on the floor, and Harry lit them one at a time with his wand. The stained glass wall felt cool through his robes as he leaned against it. He closed his eyes and his mind drifted to thoughts of the Christmas ball.
Before he even realized it, Harry fell asleep.
~*~
Chloe closed her eyes and imagined a dinner table with heaps of good things to eat. Roasted chicken, rice, fresh bread, pudding, and she would even eat a Brussels sprout.
Chloe was hungry, but she was stuck lying on her stomach on the bumpy, cold stone floor. She lay with her cheek pressed on the damp floor and imagined her room with the plump pillows and thick down comforter. She wished Norbert were here to keep her company. She'd also really like it if she had her bauble with her. The pretty golden light would be nice right now.
She held her breath as the locks clicked again. The door opened very quickly and shut.
Chloe didn't hear a the sound of boots so she cautiously opened one eye. It was still pitch black.
Then there was a sudden light, and a pale green face was brushing against her own.
Chloe shrieked loudly.
The thing staring at her gave a startled yell, leapt backwards and tumbled to the floor.
It was a house elf. Chloe watched him tug nervously on one of his bat ears and shake like an off-balance washing machine.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scream," she whispered hoping the creature would stay and keep her company.
The elf looked slightly less panicked. "I is sorry I wake you," he said with another nervous tug on his ear.
"I wasn't asleep. I'm glad you came, are you nice? All of our house elves are nice." Chloe tried to get a better look at him even though she was helpless on the floor.
"You don't belong to Binky's master. Binky has heard that you is the Harry Potter's daughter. Is true?" Binky gulped and studied Chloe.
"That's me. I'm Chloe Grace Potter," said Chloe proudly.
To Chloe's astonishment, Binky bowed. "You is a great Potter then! Binky is honored to meet you!"
Chloe giggled. "I'm only five."
Chloe found she could move again. She sat up and smiled gratefully at Binky. "Thanks! You are nice!"
"Binky's master must not know Binky is helping his prisoner. But Binky wants to help Chloe Grace Potter because he has heard the brave and great things that Chloe Grace Potter's father has done," said Binky looking at her with admiration.
Chloe was glad for this new company, and she smiled at him.
A warm fire leapt up in the fireplace, and Chloe scooted towards it to warm her hands and feet. Binky looked pleased. He adjusted the ragged dishtowel he was wearing and plopped down next to Chloe. "Is hungry?"
"Oh yes!" exclaimed Chloe, clutching her stomach.
Binky brightened. "Binky will be back in a very soon time!"
"Okay," said Chloe as she studied the frayed ends of her robes.
About five minutes later the door creaked open again, and Binky poked his head in. He and four other house elves entered carrying trays. Each of them set their trays down and bowed to her before they scuffled quietly out of the room. Binky stayed with Chloe and handed her a mug of hot milk. He then revealed a plate filled with food from the trays in front of her. Chloe immediately felt better.
"I hope my Daddy comes soon," she said, taking a bite of chicken.
"Harry Potter come here?" asked Binky curiously.
"Of course he's coming!"
"Harry Potter needs to be careful, Binky's master is not feeling well most lately," said Binky wringing his little hands.
"Oh, he's sick?" asked Chloe not understanding what Binky was hinting at.
"Binky cannot speak ill of his master. Please do not ask Binky...." Binky tugged on his ear again and looked around nervously.
"He wouldn't hurt you, would he? Oh, I do hope he's not mean to you also!" she said becoming concerned for her little friend.
From the look that Binky gave her, Chloe got the idea that Binky wasn't treated like the Potter Manor house elves. "Binky is glad Chloe Grace Potter understands."
"Chloe pushed her plate back to show she was finished. "I don't want that mean man to catch you. I hope I can see you again, Binky." Tears pooled in Chloe's eyes and she wiped her eyes.
Binky looked as he might burst into tears also. "Binky feels sorry for Chloe Grace Potter, and he is glad to help." He collected the trays and the fire went out.
"When my Daddy comes, he'll save you too," promised Chloe, lying on the floor again.
Binky put the binding curse on her, but he made it so she could at least move a little. "Binky is sorry, he must leave! He be hoping Harry Potter comes tomorrow."
"He will."
With that said, the room went black again and Binky was gone.
~*~
Ginny was the first to wake up. She glanced at her watch. Six o' clock. She rubbed her eyes, taking care not to bump her bruises and looked around. Where on earth was Harry? She put a hand on the crick in her neck and wandered around to see if by chance Harry had left a note. No one stirred, and Ginny didn't blame them; they had worked themselves to death yesterday. She decided to chance it and see if Harry was in another part of the building, having his morning coffee or something. Silently she cursed herself for not keeping better tabs on him. She owed it to him, for goodness sakes, it was partly her fault that Chloe was missing. If she had only fought a little harder. If, if, if, thought Ginny gloomily. She had to stop doing that. She walked into the ballroom and spotted Harry right away.
Harry was fast asleep, slumped against the stained glass wall. The light from the window spilled across Harry's face in shards of red and blue. It reminded her of the Christmas ball. His tousled black hair had drifted across his forehead and his only movement was rising and falling of his chest with each breath. It was one of the few times she had seen his face completely relaxed. Not a trace of worry or concern. Ginny didn't want to wake him; if she did he would have to face the morning.
Ginny gave him a small kiss on the cheek and took his hand. "Harry. Harry, wake up."
Harry opened his eyes slowly and sat for a moment staring at her. Then the realization struck him and he jumped up. "What time is it? Did something happen?"
Ginny sighed. The worry had come back to his face again. "Calm down, everyone else is still asleep and it's only six o' clock." Much to Ginny's surprise, Harry bolted past her. "Harry! Harry! What are you doing?" Ginny ran after him.b
"What are you doing?" she repeated in a loud whisper when she caught up with him in the other room.
Harry pulled on his cloak, his eyes dark with fury. "Ginny, I'm not going to sit around and play fairly when he isn't. That's my daughter. He's going to kill her."
Ginny set her jaw. "I'm coming with you, Harry."
"No, you aren't," Harry said shaking his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not letting you get involved with this. Ginny, they could put me in prison, but I don't care. I'm going after him."
"No, Harry! I'm coming! Accio cloak!"
"Shhh!" said Harry urgently, he stepped in front of her and caught her cloak. "Don't wake anyone! This is only between you and me."
"Harry, give me my cloak," Ginny demanded.
"No," said Harry flatly. "I can't let you. Please, listen to me. Please."
"You don't know what's in his house," Ginny said taking a firm hold on her cloak. "He could have traps."
"Exactly. You're a nursery school teacher," Harry said pulling back on her cloak. "What if you got hurt? I would never forgive myself."
"Don't tell me what I can't do!" Ginny said sharply yanking her cloak free from his hands. "I'm going. I want to do this. For Chloe. For Neville. Harry, you can't stop me!"
"And what would Neville say about you going?" asked Harry in a harsh whisper.
Ginny's expression wavered. "That isn't fair. You can't throw that at me!"
"Yes, I can," Harry said taking her face in his hands. "I care about you, Ginny. I want to protect you. Stay, please."
Tears brimmed in Ginny's eyes as he smoothed a red strand off her cheek and then brushed his lips over hers.
Then Harry was gone.
"Wake up!" Ginny said loudly, wiping her eyes. "Harry's gone!"
~*~
It was around five in the morning when Chloe was lovingly kicked awake by Aidan Malfoy.
"What are you doing?" she cried with a pained yelp.
"Waking you up. Father says I can make you do whatever I want. And now you're going to go clean my room," grinned Aidan.
"No, I'm not," said Chloe, yawning at him. She was beginning to feel quite cranky.
Aidan was surprised that she just refused to do something he ordered. That never happened. He always got his way. "Yes, you are, I'll kick you!" he said. Keeping his promise, he kicked her.
"Ow! That's not fair!" Chloe shouted. "I can't move!"
Aidan thought about this, and then he kicked her again. "So what? You're still going to clean my room."
"I can't clean it. You can't take this magic off of me. You don't know enough," said Chloe in a mocking tone.
"Can so," said Aidan.
"No, you cannot," retorted Chloe.
"Can so," said Aidan, becoming more irritated.
"Cannot," smiled Chloe.
"CAN SO!" screamed Aidan jumping up and down in a rage.
"Then do it," said Chloe finally.
Aidan pulled a wand out of his pocket. "I have a wand, my dad gave me his old one," he bragged.
"You don't know how to work it." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you."
"Well, I can! ALOUISOUS!" shouted Aidan.
"Was something supposed to happen?" asked Chloe politely.
"You shut up!" said Aidan on the verge of hopping up and down in anger again.
"I think there's a spell for that too," informed Chloe.
"I hate you," said Aidan sitting down to think.
"Are you going to kick me now?" asked Chloe. "Because I don't like you, either. I think you're mean."
"I said shut up, you stupid Mudblood." Aidan suddenly grinned evilly. "BINKY!!!" he bellowed.
The house elf appeared looking petrified. "Master Aidan?" he asked in a tinny voice.
"Take the binding curse off the Mudblood. NOW!" Aidan crossed his arms and looked impatient.
Binky gave Chloe an apologetic look and then Chloe could move again. She got up and faced Aidan even though he was quite a bit taller than her.
"Go away," sneered Aidan to Binky.
Chloe watched Binky scurry out of the room at once. "It's polite to say please," she said making a face at him. "You are mean."
Aidan gave her a put out look. "We don't ask servants to do things, we tell them," he corrected her.
"Well, it doesn't matter if you ask me or not. I'm not cleaning your room," said Chloe.
Aidan looked as he had swallowed sour milk. "I'm bigger than you, and you'll do what I say or I'll have father kill you right off," he threatened.
Chloe was a well-read five-year-old. Books had been her refuge in her cupboard. Although she couldn't always read every single word or she had to rely on the pictures, her old sitter Mrs. Figg could be counted on for a snippet of a good story in between cat stories. She probably knew every last fairy tale and every single fable.
She also knew that a person had to be clever to escape the evil villains and one of her favorite stories gave her a very good idea of how to do it.
"I'll clean your room," she said with a disgruntled tone.
Aidan almost looked surprised for a moment. He then acted as if he knew all along that he would be able to bully her into doing things. "Then start walking!"
The door had been unlocked since Aidan had come in and she followed him out of it. Chloe gazed down a passageway with flickering torches and a varnished spiral staircase at the end of the passage. As they reached the base of the staircase Aidan glanced back at Chloe suspiciously. Aidan shoved her in front of him.
"Go ahead of me, so I can make sure you don't try anything stupid."
Chloe began to climb the staircase that seemed to go on forever. Just to irritate Aidan on the way up, she would hop to step to step, or twirl around on every third step.
"Would you stop it?" screamed Aidan after another spectacular twirl from Chloe.
"Okay," shrugged Chloe. Inside she was nearly bursting to keep from giggling at him. He was so easy to make angry that it was almost like a game to see how long he could go without throwing a tantrum. Just for fun, she began to climb the stairs backward, facing him.
"Stop it!" howled Aidan making a grab for her hair.
"You're boring," she said dodging him.
"You don't know anything," said Aidan sounding somewhat offended as they began to climb the stairs again. "And I am not."
"Are so," said Chloe, turning to face forward.
"I am not," said Aidan a little louder.
"Yes, you are," she sang.
"AM NOT!"
"Then when do you have fun?" she asked.
"All sorts of times," he said defending himself.
"Do you play with your friends?"
"I don't play," he mimicked, "I do much more important things."
"So you are boring, you should have fun. Maybe you'd like to paint. My friend Meg-"
"I don't need to have fun, when I can be important," he interrupted. He sounded on the verge of a fit again.
They finally reached the landing of the staircase and the conversation was halted.
Aidan threw open the door and Chloe stepped into the armor room of Malfoy Manor. Then Aidan slammed the door shut and it vanished into the wall.
Chloe shuddered. This room was lavishly decorated, and everything was a dark blood red down to the carpet. Knives, swords, and chains hung off of the walls as decoration and torture objects were displayed in spotless glass cases. All of the items in the room were well oiled and shining like cherished sets of silver.
Aidan was going around the room and showing her various things. She took this opportunity to put the first part of her plan in action. Chloe tugged at the hem of her robes, and a scrap of the fabric was carefully concealed in her hand. She glanced quickly around and set it right next to a glass case. Aidan didn't notice a thing. He was too busy bragging about the family heirlooms. It had worked for Hansel and Gretel, why not her?
~*~
Draco stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, and admired himself. He straightened his collar and smoothed down a hair. He jumped. A rat scurried across the floor, and he kept his gaze on it. Draco narrowed his eyes. The audacity of a common rat, daring to show its face in the Dark Lord's home.
Draco opened a dresser drawer and silently pulled out a long knife. The rat was in the corner, with its back turned and nibbling at something. Draco clutched the knife and smiled as he raised it to kill it.
"Rat, how dare you place yourself in the presence of Lord Voldemort!" he screamed bringing the knife down on the rat.
He was about to turn away, satisfied with the end of the creature, when suddenly there were two! They were multiplying! Draco gave an enraged cry and began pursuing rats around the room. They were everywhere, twitching, gnawing, taunting him. Draco grabbed his wand. He would show them!
~*~
Binky opened the door a crack and peeked in. His master was screaming and ripping the canopy on the bed with a knife. Binky trembled a little, his master was screaming very loudly about rats but Binky couldn't see any rats in the room. His master was now holding a hat in his hands and ripping it apart with his bare hands.
"There! The last one!" shouted Draco to what he believed was a rat on the floor. Draco then went back to the mirror to admire himself again and smoothed a wrinkle on his robes.
Suddenly Draco swung around and grabbed his knife again. "The girl!"
Binky felt a tear roll down his cheek. His master remembered about the little girl in the armor room. Binky scuffled down the hall and sobbed noisily for the sake of his little friend. Binky wiped his face with his tea towel and sighed heavily.
He would have continued crying for Chloe, but a loud noise startled him out of his misery. The noise was so loud that it was echoing all through the house. Binky could hardly believe it, this hadn't happened in a very long time.
~*~
Author Note: Special thanks to several people. All of Harry's lawyers are the people who helped me untangle the law matter of this thing. If you're one of those people, I'm sure you'll be able to recognize yourself. ( Thanks to Anne for betaing this! And oh yes, sorry about that little.erm.four month gap. Thanks for sticking around!
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