Chapter 2:

Harry's Rescue

Harry awoke to find himself in a dark room. All he could make out of his surroundings was the bars that were in his direct line of vision, since he was shackled to a hard stone wall with water dripping down behind his back. His shirt was soaked, and there was the chill of death in the room.

After standing awake in the room for several hours, Harry finally heard the sounds of shuffling feet and hushed voices approaching. The light in the room brightened enough for Harry to truly make out his surroundings. The room was no larger than his bedroom at Privet Drive and contained nothing to soften the menacing effect of the shackle filled stone walls with blood stains coating most of the walls surrounding Harry.

A few moments later four Death Eaters filed into the room and two stood on either side of him. They stood waiting for a moment before a fifth Death Eater entered the room and stood directly in front of Harry. He removed his mask to reveal his face. It was none other than Lucius Malfoy.

Harry was surprised to see the senior Malfoy in front of him, but his face betrayed none of his surprise. He merely snorted, "Lucius, I see that Voldemort has freed his lap dog from its chains."

Lucius' face swelled with fury, "Yes, the Dark Lord has seen fit to reward me for my efforts despite our failure to retrieve the Prophecy. He has given me a second chance to retrieve it for him. We know that you have the full contents of the Prophecy within your mind, but the information is protected, and can only be revealed by you willingly. So, I am going to ask you to yield the contents of the Prophecy."

Harry laughed directly in Lucius' face, "If you think that I am going to give in that easily, you don't know me very well. Unlike you, I answer to no one, and I will not be ordered around either. So, you can go to hell."

Lucius Malfoy smirked in a fashion that was very similar to the junior Malfoy that Harry dealt with at Hogwarts on a regular basis. He said, "I expected such a response from you. Now, we will proceed with convincing you that telling us what we want to know is your best option." Lucius drew his wand and pointed it at Harry, "Crucio!"

Harry jerked and writhed in pain against the metal shackles that bound him to the wall. However, he refused to scream. After a few moments Lucius removed the curse and asked, "So, do you wish to reveal your secret now, Potter?"

Harry laughed in Lucius' face once again, "If you think that I will break after so little, then you are very mistaken about what kind of wizard I am. You fear Voldemort, and he fears me."

Lucius snarled, "The Dark Lord does not fear you, Potter!"

Harry returned Lucius' earlier smirk, "I don't see him here, nor did I see him when you attacked Privet Drive. I'd say that qualifies as fear."

Lucius wasted no time in subjecting Harry to the Cruciatus Curse once again. He held him under the curse for a considerably longer period of time before releasing it. Then, the next Death Eater stepped up and held him under the Cruciatus Curse. This continued until each of the Death Eaters had performed the curse on him twice, and Harry was left unconscious. Lucius snorted, "We will return after he wakes up, and then we will see how willing he is to talk." The Death Eaters followed Lucius from the room, leaving Harry to sag against his bonds as blood seeped from his nose and mouth.

Several hours later, Harry awoke and spat blood out of his mouth and looked around at his surroundings groggily. He muttered to himself, "I don't know how long I can take this. Well, I hope the Order finds me soon."

Meanwhile, another Order meeting was taking place at Grimmauld Place. Everyone was sitting around fidgeting while awaiting Severus Snape to show up. Finally, he popped in through the Floo. Dumbledore and the Weasleys all stood up. Dumbledore asked anxiously, "What have you discovered, Severus?"

Snape replied while casting glances at the Weasleys, "The Dark Lord called us earlier to brag about capturing Potter. However, he has not disclosed where he is keeping the boy to us. He intends to have all the Death Eaters torture Potter until he reveals the contents of the Prophecy. I know that Potter has already undergone at least one torture session, because Lucius Malfoy was bragging about leading it."

Everyone seated around the table shuddered. Remus asked, "What exactly will they do to him in these torture sessions? How bad is it?"

Snape raised one eyebrow, "Do you really want to know the answer to that question?"

Remus shook his head after he thought about it for a moment, "Will you be able to find out where he is?"

Snape nodded, "Eventually, if he survives long enough, I will be asked to take a turn in torturing him. I will be able to cast a location spell once I am there. Then, we will be able to find him again."

McGonagall commented, "Surely, they will ask you sooner than most since everyone knows that you hate Harry with a passion."

Snape shrugged, "I don't know if that will be the case or not and I dare not bring it up for fear that my cover will be blown."

The Weasleys all growled at the callous statement, but did not react otherwise. Arthur asked, "Albus, will we be able to keep this information from the press?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Voldemort has already leaked the information to his supporters inside the Ministry. It will most likely be in the morning Daily Prophet."

Bill Weasley said stonily, "The world isn't going to take this news very well."

Dumbledore shook his head solemnly, "No, they will not."

At the same time this was going on, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting in Ron's room where they had been since they heard the news that Harry had been taken. They had not left the room except to go to the bathroom, and they had hardly spoken until finally Ginny asked, "Do you think they will be able to save him?"

Hermione nodded, but it was without conviction. Ron, on the other hand, snorted very loudly, "I think the more pressing question is will they try to save him?"

Hermione and Ginny both looked startled. Hermione asked darkly, "What do you mean by that, Ron?'

Ron sighed, "I think its obvious. It will most likely get several people killed to try and save Harry. So, will the Order think that it is too risky to try and save him? Is one life more important than ten? Those are the questions that they are asking themselves."

Ginny asked as tears began to fall from her eyes again, "How do you know that?"

Ron shrugged, "War strategy is a lot like chess. You have to decide which pieces to give up and which ones to protect. The same thing applies here. Do you risk the war for the sake of one battle? If they go after Harry, then they could maybe save him, but if enough people got killed saving him, then they could lose the war against You-Know-Who because of it. Then, what would they have really accomplished?"

Hermione continued very darkly, "You act like you don't care if they save Harry or not, Ron."

Ron sighed and wiped tears from his own eyes, "Harry was my friend even before he was yours, Hermione. I want him back just as much as you do, but I'm trying to be realistic. We may never see him again."

This statement caused Ginny and Hermione to burst into full blown sobs once again. Ron turned away from them without offering any kind of comfort, because he had none to give.

While all of this occurred, Harry continued to hang from the wall in his dungeon prison in the dark until another party of Death Eaters entered the room. It was the same routine as last time. Four masked figures entered the room, two going to each side of him. Then, a few moments later they were followed by a fifth Death Eater. It was immediately obvious to Harry that this Death Eater was not Lucius Malfoy, considering the height and obviously feminine curves of her body. After standing before him for a moment, the Death Eater removed her mask to reveal none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry snarled at her, "Bitch." He began struggling against his bonds with the wild abandon that reckless fury imparts to a person.

Bellatrix merely laughed and said, "Crucio!"

Harry's snarls of fury quickly changed into howls of pain, as he began to writhe under the power of the Cruciatus Curse once again. After several moments, Bellatrix released him from the curse and flashed a fake smile at him, "Does the wee Potter want the big bad Death Eater to stop torturing him?"

Harry raised one eyebrow weakly and gave Bellatrix a sneer of contempt, "One day I am going to enjoy killing you. I just have to decide if I want to kill you before or after I toast Voldemort's ass."

Bellatrix screamed, "How dare you?!" She pointed her wand at him again, "Crucio!"

She left the curse on him for an almost indefinite period before removing it, and allowing the other Death Eaters present in the room to take their turns.

The next morning, Lucius Malfoy stalked into the room with a look of glee on his face. He was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry could see that there was a picture of him during the weighing of the wands ceremony from the Tri-Wizard Tournament on the front page. He couldn't read the headline that was flashing with it though, due to the fact that he had lost his glasses at some point during the last torture session. Lucius almost bounced as he said, "Well, Potter, it seems that you have been made the center of attention once again. Let's see how well you enjoy this article about your capture by Death Eaters." Lucius began to read from the newspaper.

Harry Potter Captured by You-Know-Who

Harry Potter, also know as the Boy-Who-Lived, hero of the wizarding world for his defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the age of one, was captured by Death Eaters on the night of July 30th. This news comes as a great blow to the wizarding world, since Potter is considered to be one of the famous wizards of all time. He is considered by many to have great powers at such a young age and already has several exploits of fighting dark creatures and wizards under his belt. He has survived encounters with You-Know-Who on no less than five occasions. The wizarding world can only hope that Mr. Potter will be rescued by the Ministry forces that are searching for him, or that he will find yet again some way to escape from the clutches of the Dark Lord.

Lucius chuckled as he finished reading the article, "So, Potter, are you going to somehow magically escape and save the wizarding world from the Dark Lord?"

Harry sighed, "Yes, that is exactly what I intend to do. Voldemort can't kill me considering he is too cowardly to even face me in combat. So, once I get away from here, then I will see to finishing your precious Dark Lord once and for all."

Lucius growled, and then said, "Crucio!" Harry bit his lip and refused to scream out this time as Lucius held him under the curse. Finally, Malfoy removed the curse and said, "You don't seem so confidant now, Potter."

Harry hung against the wall breathing heavily, and then said, "You shouldn't seem so confidant either, Lucius. You claim to believe in the ideals of a wizarding society that is based solely on purebloods being the supreme class of society, and yet you willingly follow a MudBlood. How pathetic."

Lucius snarled in fury, "Crucio!" Harry writhed under the curse, but yet again refused to scream. Lucius pulled his wand away and each of the other Death Eaters in the room held Harry under the curse until he passed out from the pain, and then they left him to hang limply against the shackles that help him to the wall.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat around a copy of the Daily Prophet that same day reading the article, and then cast the paper aside in disgust. Ginny snarled, "I don't know why they couldn't have left something like this out of the paper. Harry hates all this publicity. Now, when he comes back everyone is going to know what happened and they will treat him differently because of it. Harry will hate that!"

Ron laid back on his bed refusing to speak. Hermione merely sighed, "I'm sure that this will be the least of Harry's worries if he comes back."

Ginny spat at Hermione, "Don't you say if. It sounds like you doubt him. Harry can do anything. He'll come through this. I know it."

Ron shook his head as he sat up, "Ginny, you have to recognize the fact that he may not come back. He could already be dead for all we know."

Ginny shook her head vehemently, "No, he's not dead. If he was dead, Voldemort would be parading him around to show off."

Ron winced at the sound of Voldemort's name. Ginny cried out savagely, "I don't know how Harry stands to have a weak willed pathetic little shit like you as a friend, Ron. You've already given up on him, and its only been a few days. You aren't good enough to shine Harry's shoes." Then, Ginny ran out of the room in tears.

Ron's ears had gone red at the insults Ginny had thrown at him, but all of his thoughts froze as he turned to see Hermione shaking her head in dismay, and crying. "What is it?" he asked.

Hermione wiped a few tears from her eyes as she choked back a sob, "She's right, you know. None of us are good enough to be Harry's friend. After all we have done to him, I don't know if we should even bother him with our presence anymore."

Ron answered hotly, "What are you talking about? We've never done anything bad to Harry."

Hermione looked up sadly, "Ron, have you forgotten the Tri-Wizard Tournament? You wouldn't talk to him for a month because you were jealous. You even accused him of lying about putting his name in the cup."

Ron opened his mouth to retort, but no sound would come out. He couldn't justify his actions, but then he asked, "Well, what have you done to him?"

Hermione sighed, "I have harassed Harry for years about studying when there were obviously other things on his mind. Instead of being so obsessive about school, I could have at least been a little more understanding and tried to get him to talk about the things that were bothering him. I just always thought that studying was the best therapy, but now I am beginning to realize that will never be Harry's way."

A similar meeting was taking place in the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Minerva McGonagall waved the paper at Dumbledore, "Albus, this is outrageous. The last thing we need is a panic because everyone thinks You-Know-Who has won some major victory already. Most of the wizarding world only began to believe that he had returned a month or so ago."

Dumbledore looked up without the customary twinkle in his eyes, "I agree, Minerva, but there is little that we can do about it at this point. However, as much as I hate to say it, Voldemort has won a major victory. Even if we do manage to rescue Harry from his clutches, what kind of condition is he going to be in? He may wish to die instead of returning to this world."

Remus asked shakily, "What do you mean, Albus?"

Dumbledore sighed, "You know quite well what I mean, Remus. You were there when we found the Longbottoms. What they will be subjecting Harry to will be far worse than anything Bellatrix did to Frank and Alice. I know that Harry is powerful, but can anyone truly survive that kind of torture?"

Tonks nodded her head assertively, "We have to believe that Harry can, or else we have nothing to hope for. Harry will survive this. He's got to." She wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye as she said this. The rest of the room bowed their heads in sadness.

The rest of the summer seemed to crawl by for everyone involved. The Order kept busy with attempting to challenge the Death Eaters as they moved throughout the world torturing and killing Muggles and Muggleborns. The Ministry was in practical chaos as they attempted to protect everyone from the Death Eaters, and anyone personally involved with Harry either spent their time aiding the search for him, or waiting in anticipation for news that the search had finally paid off.

However, the time seemed to crawl the most for none other than the Boy-Who-Lived. He had been tortured with the Cruciatus Curse on a seemingly never ending cycle that began each morning with five Death Eaters entering his room. Only once had Voldemort seen fit to enter Harry's presence, and all he had done was taunt the boy with his own wand, before placing it in a holder on the opposite wall to represent an out of reach hope to Harry. He cackled as he walked from the room and Harry struggled against the bonds that held him to the wall before the surrounding Death Eaters began to hammer him with the Cruciatus Curse once again.

Finally, it was time for the new year at Hogwarts to begin. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione made it to the train at Diagon Alley with barely a moment to spare, and got hurriedly on the train. Ron and Hermione went to the prefects carriage while ginny made her way down the train until she saw a compartment with Neville and Luna sitting inside it. She squeezed in and took a seat beside Luna. Neville leaned over and patted her hand, and asked, "Has there been any word of Harry?"

Ginny shook her head sadly as a lone tear made its way down her cheek. Neville gripped her hand and said, "Harry will get through this, Ginny. Just trust in him."

Ginny nodded but didn't reply. After a short period of time Ron and Hermione joined them, and the five teenagers sat around in silence. A short time before they arrived at Hogwarts, none other than the Amazing Bouncing Ferret opened the door flanked by his two cronies. Neville was the first to look up and meet his eyes, "Malfoy!" There was a hint of menace in Neville's voice that had never been present before.

Malfoy seemed startled, but only for just a moment, and then he placed his customary sneer back on his face. He said, "Well, well, well! What do we have here? It seems like Potter's fan club have lost their mascot. I warned him that he would pay for what he did to my father."

Ron leaped to his feet and pulled his wand out as he rose. The other four were just behind him, and a string of curses flew from their wands to connect with the three Slytherins, knocking them to the ground unconscious.

Suddenly, they heard the snarling voice of none other than Severus Snape. "One Hundred points from Gryffindor for a blatant attack on my house."

Before Snape could move to aid Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, he found five wands trained on him. Ron stalked toward him menacingly, "Fuck you, Snape. You're just as happy about Harry being gone as he is. So, I'm going to warn you now, if any of us hear you speak ill of Harry in any way, the hell with being expelled, I will kill you myself."

Snape snarled once again, "Weasley, you will report to the Headmaster's office as soon as we reach Hogwarts. You will be expelled for threatening a teacher."

"No, Severus, I don't think that will be the case." said a voice behind him.

All four Gryffindors, Luna, and the Slytherin Potions master spun to see none other than Albus Dumbledore standing in the hall of the train. Snape snapped out, "What do you mean by that, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore sighed, "It seems that I have given you far too much license to do as you please concerning Harry and his friends. I will protect you no longer. If you visit their ire on yourself then you will suffer the full consequences without being able to punish them. The same will go for your house. If the Slytherins provoke the Gryffindors by speaking about Harry Potter, then they will suffer the wrath of the Gryffindors, and the Gryffindors will not be punished for it. Minerva will be informing the Gryffindors of this after the feast tonight, and I trust that you will warn the Slytherins to keep their opinions concerning Harry Potter to themselves."

Snape's eyes narrowed, "You can not be serious, Albus."

Dumbledore's eyes narrowed to match, and he replied, "I assure you that I am, Severus. I have no intention of allowing people to downgrade Harry while he is not even present to defend himself."

Severus revived the three Slytherins quickly, and hustled them away before they could speak. Dumbledore nodded to the five students before turning and walking down the corridor.

The rest of the train ride passed without incident. The students filed into the Great Hall for the Sorting Feast. McGonagall led the first years in and put the Sorting Hat on its stool. The brim split and the Sorting Hat began to sing.

It seems each year I must split

All Hogwart's students how I see fit.

I decide which house each student favors

If it be bravery you savor

Then a young Gryffindor I see

If Ravenclaw is where you want to be

I must first see that you have a quick and steady mind.

If hard work and toil be your kind

Then noble Hufflepuff is where you will find your home.

If Slytherin is where you want to roam,

Then you must be cunning and on the ball

So, come forward to the sorting, one and all.

After the Sorting Hat finished its song, there was scattered applause, and then McGonagall began calling the first years up to the stool to be sorted into their houses. Once the Sorting Ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up and said, "Tuck in."

The feast appeared on the table and everyone began to eat. During the meal, Dumbledore stood up and raised his glass, "I ask for everyone's attention, please." The room quieted down. "I would like to propose a toast. To the hero of the wizarding world wherever he is, right now. To Harry Potter." Practically everyone in the hall raised their glasses in a toast to Harry Potter. Even some of the Slytherins had their glasses raised. Dumbledore sat back down, and the feast completed. Dumbledore handled the rest of the customary announcements before sending all the students off to bed. After they had filed from the Great Hall, Severus grasped his arm as it began to burn.

Dumbledore eyed him. Severus nodded before hurrying away. He got outside the wards of Hogwarts and Apparated toward the summons. Voldemort nodded to him before swirling from the room in a sweep of cloak. Snape bowed to Voldemort's retreating form before turning to find himself facing none other than Lucius Malfoy. Snape asked, "Why was I summoned, Lucius?"

Lucius grinned evilly, "The Dark Lord has decided that is finally your turn to torture the Potter boy."

Snape grinned evilly, "Finally. I have wanted a chance at that stupid Gryffindor since he was captured."

Lucius chuckled darkly, "Yes, Bellatrix and I quite enjoy it."

Snape and four lower ranking Death Eaters marched into the room. Snape barked, "Potter!"

As the other four Death Eaters in the room turned their attention to Harry, Snape cast a beacon spell on the far wall, so that the Order would be able to find this place. Harry weakly lifted his head to reveal a haggard, lined face that was almost gray from exhaustion and pain. His hair had turned almost completely white, but it was difficult to tell since it was extremely dirty with clogs of dried blood in it. Blood oozed from many wounds on his body from extreme overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse. Snape almost gasped in horror at the sight before him, but held back. Harry weakly spat out, "Snape. I should have known you would be one of Voldemort's lap dogs."

However, Snape could see a ray of hope shine behind Harry's eyes for one fleeting moment before disappearing as Snape raised his wand. Snape sneered, "I am going to enjoy this, Potter. Crucio!"

The curse hit Harry and he screamed in pain. He was too weak to hold in the screams anymore, but the screams were very weak and hoarse as Harry had screamed until his throat was bloody and raw. Snape held him under the curse for nearly a minute before letting up, and the other four Death Eaters took their turns. Harry, was soon unconscious. The five Death Eaters left the room, and walked back to the Apparition room. Snape nodded to Lucius, "I must return to Hogwarts before that fool Dumbledore gets suspicious of my absence."

Lucius smirked, "Don't worry, Severus. That Mudblood loving fool won't be in control much longer. As soon as we break Potter and get the information that we need from him, then the Dark Lord plans to take Hogwarts."

Snape forced his eyes to gleam as he Apparated to the edge of the wards around Hogwarts. He jogged quickly up to the Headmaster's office where the Order was assembled. Remus was the first to ask, "Was it Harry?"

Snape nodded, "Yes, I set up the beacon."

Dumbledore replied, "I detected it the moment it went up. We need to know about defenses that Voldemort has in place."

Snape continued, "It seems that the Dark Lord doesn't fear that we will discover the place. He was there when I arrived, but I felt him leave while I was torturing Potter."

He was interrupted by Remus, and the Weasleys, "YOU WHAT?!"

Dumbledore held up his hand, "I am sure that Severus had to keep up the pretense that he is a loyal Death Eater. He and I both anticipated that this is what they would want him to do."

Remus asked, "How bad is it? What kind of shape is Harry in?"

Snape shuddered as he remembered the appearance of the Boy-Who-Lived. At this shudder, everyone in the room dropped their eyes to hide tears, because they knew it had to be bad to cause such a reaction from the unfeeling Potions Master. Snape continued, "He is almost unrecognizable. It is obvious that he has been fed only enough to keep him alive. Considering the apparent amount of damage to his body, I am shocked beyond comprehension that he is still alive. Any normal wizard would have died long ago. To continue with the defenses, it appeared to me to only be a token force of Death Eaters. They are there more as guards in case Potter tries something than to defend against an attack. The Dark Lord is somewhat overconfident."

Dumbledore nodded, "Then, we will strike immediately. Everyone has their emergency Portkeys. The first person to reach Harry will bring him back here. I have Poppy standing ready in the Hospital Wing. Then, signal to the rest of us, and we will break off the attack. The important thing here is to retrieve Harry, so no heroics."

Everyone nodded to signal that they understood, and everyone Portkeyed to the beacon area. Then, the attack began. Dumbledore brought down the wards, and the Order of the Phoenix charged into the prison like building to battle. After several minutes it became clear that the Death Eaters could not hold against the Order, andt hey began to flee. Remus broke ahead of the other Order members and began racing down a long corridor to find two guards standing outside a cell. They turned as they heard his running footfalls coming closer. Remus brandished his wand and yelled out, "Stupefy! Stupefy!" Both Death Eaters dropped even before they could point their wands at the werewolf. Remus burst into the room to find Harry shackled to wall. Remus almost broke down in tears at the sight of his best friends child. He quickly magicked open the shackles and caught Harry in his arms as Harry fell.

Harry managed to croak out, "Wand," and feebly point to the opposite wall. Remus looked over at where Harry pointed and saw the wand sitting in the holster. He grabbed it and then tapped his wand to the bracelet on his wrist and said, "Hogwart's Hospital Wing." The two of them disappeared with a pop.

A/N: Well, I hope all of you enjoy where this fic is headed. Things will begin to get much more interesting once Harry wakes up and returns to class at Hogwarts. I'm going out of town, so I probably won't get chapter three up for about a week and a half. See all of you next time around.