The next morning the postman came again. This time it was Sirius who answered the door and signed for it. It was a box. Sirius opened it dreading what he'd find in it. He dropped the box with a "thud" on the living room floor after taking out what was in it. Sirius held a bloody shirt and a bloody pair of jeans. Also in the box were shoes and socks covered in blood. Everyone came into the room just as Sirius dropped the box.
" Oh My word!" Professor Mcgonagall said, Sirius was in shock as he held Harry's bloody clothes. Dumbledore told Snape to take Professor Mcgonagall out of the room so he did. James walked into the room, he had come downstairs to see who was at the door and saw Sirius and what he was holding. Sirius had tears running down his face but that was nothing compared to James. James just stood there looking at Harry's clothes then he rushed over all of a sudden and grabbed them from him. James held onto them close and fell to his knees and bent forward crying out of control.
" Harry, Harry I'm so sorry. I'm sorry Harry." James croaked. Sirius bent down and put his arms around James.
" It isn't your fault." Sirius said. Dumbledore just watched sadly

Harry woke with a start; he had fallen asleep for an hour when he was being shaken awake from someone. He was unstraped and forced face down and then tied up again.
" You're going to get what you deserve." Someone said, it wasn't Doug this guy made Doug sound nice. Then he heard him put something heavy in his hands and then Harry was hit with the buckle end of a belt from his higher back down to his ankles. He cried and tried to yell out in pain but couldn't for the tape. All that was heard was muffled yells. He was hit like that for at least an hour or two none stop. Then it stopped. He heard footsteps then a door slam shut.
James had decided he was going to be strong for Harry and get him back alive. He got up and went into the kitchen the next morning and waited for the phone to ring.
After two hours of waiting it rang. James answered it; anger was rushing through him.
" Mr. Potter?" The man asked
" Yeah, what have you done to my son!" James yelled into the phone.
" Well I don't know, do you have the money?" The man asked
" Yes, we have the money, but I want to talk to Harry, let me talk to Harry to make sure he's alive or no deal." James said before anyone could stop him.

The man didn't say anything for a minute.
" Fine, I'll let you talk to him, so make sure your home in 15 minutes, or you won't talk to him. And if this is a trick you better say goodbye to your son." He said and then hung up. James sat down again and stared forward. Waiting for the phone to ring. Exactly 15 minutes later the phone rang. James pressed speaker and said "hello?" There was silence on the line for a minute then they heard something that sounded like someone was crying.
" Dad?" Harry said sobbing trying to find words.
"Harry! Are you okay? What have they done to you?!" James yelled into the phone.
" Dad, do what they say, hurry, please do what they say." Harry sobbed," I love you."
James was crying again, just hearing Harry's voice hurt him.
"I love you too Harry, now and always. I'll hurry I promise." James said
" I love you Dad." Harry said before the phone was taken away from him.
"Let me talk to him!" They heard Harry cry. Then Harry let out a cry of pain and then it got silent for another minute.
" There you go, you heard him, now you must give us our money or that was the last time you will hear him!" The man yelled
" What do I have to do?" James asked
" Bring the money to Benik, it's 20 miles north of London, go to a gas station there's a pay phone in the parking lot. I'll call you on it at 9:00am sharp. if your not there to answer bye bye Harry." He said then he hung up. James put down the phone and turned it off. Everyone was white and shaking from what they just heard. Dumbledore and Snape were the only ones that weren't.

James got up to put his shoes on.
" James what are you doing?" Sirius asked following him.
"I'm going to get my son back, I'm going to the bank, Harry's worth 100 times more then that money or more." James said
" But James what if they tricked you? Then what are you going to do? What if they take the money and you don't get Harry back?" Sirius asked
" I'm getting him back, if it's the last thing I do." James said seriously looking Sirius in the eye.

" Then why don't you go to the muggle police, they can help." Sirius said
" SIRIUS! They said if we do that we'd get Harry back in pieces!" James yelled
" Yeah but it's worth a try. Harry's in danger and these muggles are dumb. We're wizards they don't know if we go there or not. We can appearate there." Sirius said looking hopefully at James.
James sighed and said " fine" and they picked up the ransom note and appearated to the police station.

" Can I help you?" A woman at the front desk asked
" Yes you could, my son he's been kidnapped!" James yelled
" Are you sure?" She asked
" Of course I'm sure! Here look at this, we got it yesterday and today we talked to Harry on the phone. They said we needed $500,000 dollars in a case and go to the Benik gas station called Texaco and wait for them to call on the pay phone there or we'll get Harry back in pieces!" James yelled and handed her the ransom note. Sirius put a put a hand on James's back trying to calm him. The lady rushed in the back somewhere and came back three minutes later with two other guys.
" We're going to help you get your son back Mr...." one started
" Potter." James finished
" Yes, Mr. Potter." The man said
" Okay follow me." The other one said.
" I'm Officer Rowe, this is Daniel. We're going to help you." Officer Rowe said. They worked out paper work and stuff and James and Sirius explained everything they knew about it in detail for them, (except they were wizards).
" Okay, did they say what their names were?" Rowe asked
" No." James said
" Okay maybe Harry will know." Daniel said. Three hours later James and Sirius were told to go home and get some rest and come back around 8 in the morning. They went home and the only one that was still there was Dumbledore.
"So... How did it go?" He asked when they popped up out of nowhere. James and Sirius explained to him what happened down at the station. Dumbledore then left saying they were in good hands. James and Sirius didn't get more then an hour of sleep that night.

How dare you talk back to us!" Now for that you will pay!" Doug said to Harry. Harry was tied down and beat again. This time harder and longer. Then he took Harry and then grabbed his pocketknife and carved his initials in Harry's lower back. Harry yelled out in pain. It hurt so badly he couldn't stand it. When it stopped they left Harry on the cold floor. Then hours later he was back in the trunk and knew no more.

James was waiting in Sirius's car waiting with two suitcases with money in them, not all the money that was asked but it looked like it. Sirius was waiting a little bit down the road with the policemen, since he couldn't stay in the same car as James just on case they thought he was a cop or something. The pay phone started ringing and James jumped out to answer it,
" Hello?" He asked
" You have the money?" He asked
" Yes I have the money, do you have my son?" James asked.
" Oh he's right here with me." The man said
" Let me talk to him." James said
" Oh I'm afraid that's not possible right now." He said

" Why not?" James asked starting to panic.
" Oh don't worry he's alive. Bring the money four miles down 47 to an old house. Someone will be watching you closely so don't try anything. In the house there's some directions of where to find your son." The man said. James looked up the rode and hung up the phone. He got in his car and started driving down the rode, Sirius and the police following a little way down the rode.
He go to this old house and parked and went in. In there he dropped the cases and picked up a piece of paper. James didn't know what to do, Was it a trick? He had to take a chance. He went outside and started the car. He followed the directions and came to a little old shack. He went to the door, no answer. So James just walked in.
Harry was tied to a chair and his head was rolled down in front of him. James rushed in and the smell of gas rushed to his nose. Sirius and the cops cam in a minute later wit guns pointed out. James rushed over to Harry.
" HARRY!!!" James yelled and slapped Harry a few times. Harry stirred a little. His eyes and mouth were taped. James untied him as fast as he could.
"Hurry there's gas going on in here!" Daniel yelled.
Everyone ran out James carried Harry in his arms. Once they were out the little shack blew up in flames.

" Oh my god!" Sirius yelled. James however was trying to talk to Harry.
" Harry Please! PLEASE!!" James yelled. James got in the front seat of the police car and put Harry on his lap. James rested Harry's head on his shoulder. Sirius was going to drive his car home then appearate to the hospital. James wouldn't let go of Harry. They were driving and James was removing the tape from Harry's face and Harry started yelling.
" LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE me alone!!!" He yelled and tried to break free of James. James wouldn't let go of him. James had to put his arms around Harry's chest and arms to keep them down and his own legs rapped around Harry's to keep him from kicking.
" You're killing me! STOP! Stop!" Harry yelled trying to break free with all his might.
" Harry calm down it's dad! Harry it's me dad!" James said. Harry stopped at once and started crying.
" Dad?" Harry asked
" Yeah it's me." James said trying to hold back tears.
" Dad." Harry said and cried into James shoulder. They got to the hospital and James carried Harry into the emergency room and was forced to put Harry down on a bed. They rolled him away into the trauma room. James had to fill out a bunch of forms on Harry.

" I want my Dad! Let him in here please!" Harry yelled at someone.
" I know you want your dad honey, you'll see your dad soon." Someone that sounded like a woman said to Harry.
" Stop hurting me! Don't stick me again!" Harry yelled everywhere he looked he saw blurry people standing around him. Someone took his boxers off and he felt embarrassed but soon didn't care any.
" It'll be okay honey." A different woman said. Harry was crying so much he shook.
" I want my dad!" Harry yelled. Then he heard talking again.
" Just go get his father. As long as he doesn't interfere he can come in here for a bit. We need Harry to calm down." A man said. The nurse nodded and went to get James.
" Mr. Potter? We need you to come in a calm Harry down. He won't let us do anything and it's hurting him. He's asking for you anyways ." She said. James nodded and followed her back. James saw Harry and he started having tears run down his face.

" Harry, it's okay, I need you to keep still and let them do what they need to." James said. The nurse gave James a chair and he sat down by Harry's head and running his hands through his hair and wiping away Harry's tears.
" Dad! Don't leave me!" Harry pleaded with James.
" I'm not going to go anywhere." James said and kissed Harry's forehead.

James could only stay with Harry for a few minutes. Then the doctor said he had to leave.
" NO! NO! DAD! Don't leave me!" Harry yelled
" Sir, you have to go. When we're done checking him over then you can come back in here." The doctor said. Harry was crying full force and not wanting to let go of James hand, but as James was forced from the room Harry had to let go. James went into the waiting room and sat down next to Sirius.
" Hey James, How is he doing?" Sirius asked
" I don' t know I couldn't stay with him." James said sadly.
" Why not? You're his father." Sirius asked
" Because they didn't think it a good idea for me to be in there when they looked over him. James said putting his face in his hands. Sirius sighed. They waited for two hours. Then the doctor came in.

" Mr. Potter, Can I speak to you for a minute?" He asked. James looked at Sirius.
" Sirius can stay." James said.
" Okay, Well we found out that your son was starved so he's suffering from dehydration and then he was beat from his higher back down to his ankles with what we suspect as a belt buckle of some sort. Then on his lower back are two carved letters, J.F., they look as though they were carved with a knife." He said. James mouth fell open and the look of horror came to his eyes after what the doctor said about how much pain Harry was in.
" Well is he going to be okay?" Sirius asked
" Yes, he'll be fine. If he feels up to it he can leave within a couple of days. You can go see him now." The doctor said," Follow me."
James and Sirius followed him to a room and went in slowly.
" He's recovering right now, he's tired but won't even try to sleep unless you're in there. So you can stay with him over night. His nurse, Rachel, will be in to give him his shots in a couple of minutes." The doctor said then left. James and Sirius went over to Harry's bed, Harry was lying on his side with his back to them and he was wearing a gown that was tied up in the back and his blankets were pulled up to his waist. Harry also had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and his hands were resting in front of his face. A tube went under his nose then around to the back behind his ears. James grabbed a chair and sat down facing Harry while Sirius did the same but on Harry's other side. James put his hand over the bar of Harry's bed and grasped his hand.
" Harry?" James asked. Harry opened his eyes half way and gripped James hand.
" Hey bud." James said
" Hey." Harry said in lower then a whisper. James smiled at him trying to hold back tears.