Disclaimer: You recognise it? Then it is JK Rowling's.

Through the Furnace

Chapter Two. A Sunday Afternoon Stroll

Harry blinked as he slowly found himself waking to consciousness. Light was streaming through the tops of the trees.

Harry's heart halted and he winced dazed by the sun's light. He turned his head to the side very slowly and found indeed he was in the middle of a forest. 'Great,' he thought closing his eyes again, 'I'm literally in the middle of nowhere.'

Harry curled his legs up to his chest. He could feel the bile churning in his stomach. Briefly he wondered what had made him feel so ill.

The answer hit him like a preverbal thunder bolt. Death Eaters. Crucio… Snape…

It was damn typical of the snaky, ex-potions master, murder, double crossing spy, to turn up at Godric's Hollow while Harry was there. The overgrown bat did have a habit of turning up in places where he was least wanted.

Harry whimpered slightly as he unfurled his legs forcibly pushing himself out of the foetal position. Crucio always made him hurt like this. Rolling onto his tummy Harry glanced around fearfully. If there were Death Eaters at Godric's Hollow why was he still alive?

Harry shook his head. There was something he had forgotten. A piece to his puzzle was missing. The last he remembered was he was on his knees from the force of crucio and then… the muck!

He glanced down at his hands in horror. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. No sign whatsoever of the horrible sticky goo that refused to be removed and had crawled up his arm and over his body. Then there was nothing just blackness.

Grimacing Harry sat up and looked around once more. "Well," he mumbled ruefully. "I suppose being no where is better than being dead."

Because there seemed nothing else for him to do he pulled out the letter and scanned once more. A part of him wanted to rip the paper up in frustration. Whoever left the letter deliberately left the stone basin… but did they also leave the muck? Harry snorted obviously from the dry insult in the first line…

But was it a joke of Fred and George. Surely they didn't know what he was up to. Only Hermoine and Ron knew. Besides even with their sense of warped humour, the twins wouldn't go this far with a joke would they?

Frustrated and angry Harry scrunched up the letter and thrust it back into his borrowed cloak. He wished he had taken the time to put on shoes now that he was in a forest somewhere… his feet were cold and dirty. But he didn't have time before he had rushed out of Grimmauld Place.

Should he wait for a rescue and sit like a sitting duck for any Death Eaters that may be strolling about? Or should he explore and figure out his mess on his own?

Harry opted for option number two for several reasons. He wasn't a small eleven year old Gryffindor boy anymore. He had finished with his education; he was old enough to look after himself; he could safely assume no one knows where he is and it was time for him to look after his own affairs now that Dumbledore had… had passed on.

Harry stomped his way through the foliage grumbling and cursing his own stupidity. No doubt your insufferable Gryffindor stupidity or curiosity led you to stick you finger in the stone basin that I left for your convenience… Well if it wasn't for the stone basin being left there for him to stick his finger in he wouldn't be here. He would be back at Godric's Hollow nice and safe fighting the Death Eaters and wishing he could murder Snape where he stood.

It wasn't the most sound analysis he had ever made. But it worked for him. It was much easier to blame that somebody who had trespassed on his dead parents' property to place a trap for him than to blame his own instincts.

Tired, irritated, sweat and feverish from the amount of crucio he had been under, Harry leant against a tree to rest. It felt like he had been walking for miles upon miles and yet he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. He closed his eyes, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he slid to a sitting position at the base. Maybe this was the Death Eaters' trap. Exhaust him and then accost him in a mysterious forest where no one would hear him scream.

"Who are you?" A strong cold hand gripped Harry's shoulder. Instead of screaming Harry's hand was already on his wand and a spell on his lips. He snapped his green eyes open and for a brief second of time came eye to eye with his attacker.

"STUPFY!" Harry yelled pointing his wand at the man. The stunned stranger keeled over with a muffled hmpf! While Harry got to his shaky legs and glanced about. He turned this way and that looking in his fevered state for the Death Eaters that he expected to jump out of the bushes waving their wands and screaming curses and hexes.

Nothing happened.

Harry glanced left and right twice more.

Still nothing.

Harry groped for a near by tree panting and painfully aware of his heart beat which seemed fit to burst through his chest. He let out a sarcastic chortle which sounded more like a defeated cry than anything. Harry found his legs walking over to the stranger.

The stranger hearing Harry's footsteps approaching lay helpless on the ground immobile and humiliated. He glanced up into the glassy green orbs and stared hard at the boy before him. His first assumption had been correct the lad was evidently delirious from some kind of torture curse. 'Fine way to die,' he thought, 'at the hands of a delirious child who is not in his right mind.'

Harry's mouth hung open involuntarily taking in the chain mail, cloak and weapons complete with sword and a crossbow. The stranger's cloak was deep red covering a long white tunic underneath trimmed with gold.

Harry laughed like a maniac. "This is some kind of sick joke," he whimpered his eyes darting about like a lost child. "Now where the hell are the Death Eaters?"

The stranger had no where else but the boy which truth be told he felt a twinge of pity for. He was obviously a lower class citizen with no shoes, an oversized dirty, ripped cloak and ugly round instruments over his eyes.

"Sorry about that," Harry said half genially. "Don't know what got into me."

'I do,' the stranger thought, mildly relieved to see some lucidity in the boy. The homicidal intent from a tortured soul seemed to have disappeared. 'It must be just fright.'

Harry reached up and rubbed his temple and glanced back down at the stranger. He blinked slowly feeling the shooting pain behind his eyes. "I don't feel so good," he murmured feebly before fainting clean away.

The stranger let out a strangle sigh of relief, irritation and annoyance. The boy's head conveniently landed on his stomach.

'Well at least I serve some purpose. A pillow indeed. Oh the humiliation!'

Harry woke for the second time a little bit clear headed. A small bout of panic took him when he realised he was blind only to realise a moment later he was blindfolded. He didn't mind the blindfold so much for he served a double purpose of a wet cloth on his sweat brow.

He sighed heavily and turned his head to the side. All was black around him thanks to the blindfold. The only thing he could decipher was that he was lying on something soft. He let his hand run down the edge. 'Sheets,' he thought with shock. He hand slipped from the edge and landed on something plush and steady. 'Carpet?'

Harry stomach protested loudly. He felt extremely nauseous and sickly. His stomach heaved and a trickle of bitter bile dripped from his lips.

A cloth wiped his mouth. "Been heaving your guts up quite a bit there milad," a voice commented.

Harry groaned and tried to sit up but found at least three pair of hands pushing him back down.

Questions bubbled in Harry's mind breaking surface into his consciousness. Finally he could not hold them back. "Where am I? Who are you? Is this some kind of sick joke? Where's Fred? Or George?"

"It isss usss yessss it isss that sssshould be asssking you thossse quesssstionsss boy."

Involuntarily shivers run up and down Harry's spine upon hearing a serpentine voice somewhere further back. Harry bit his tongue just in time realising it was parsel tongue that he was hearing. Instead he tilted his head sideways as if listening but not understanding.

"He does not comprehend," a curt voice snapped somewhere in the darkness. "Keep him blind to all and guard over him."

"Yes, milord," four men's voices answered.

For a minute silence reigned then Harry distinctly heard footsteps approaching his side.

Cold hands gripped the side of his face. "I am somewhat amused with your stunt with the Almighty Leo. Beggar's brat taking him down I believe congratulations are in order. But don't get too cock. Leo is not happy at all."

"Shall keep that in mind," Harry commented dryly. "And who are you calling me a beggar's brat?"

There were sharp intakes of breath. Harry heard it all quite clearly. He might be blind but his other senses were working.

An angry hiss warned him before the cold hand soundly slapped his cheek. Harry feigned hurt and did not give the strangers any satisfaction. "Insolent pup!"

There was a huff as the stranger who had slapped him strode away. He stopped nearby only to snap and the remaining men. "Guard him. No one is to speak. I shall know if you do."

Harry listened to the footsteps fade away and shook his head. "Well he was a cheery sort of fella," he commented forcing himself to sound tired and bored. He heard the uneasily movement of rustling cloaks. He listened intently for the number of guards by the movements and sounds.

There were four he decided they all had seemed to have taken seats surrounding him.

Harry yawned widely and pretended to fall into a natural sleep. Complete with breathing patterns and weak murmurs.

Harry's plan of attack took a little while to work. One by one the guards let their 'guards' down. One went for food, one for drinks and one for entertainment. The remainder had stood up sometime ago to watch out for the others. Harry surmised he wasn't being watched.

Very slowly Harry snaked his hand up to his blindfold and slowly peeked through. He was right. He was lying on a bed in a strange looking tent which was huge inside. This didn't surprise him much as they were obviously wizards that held him. The remaining guard was at the entrance looking, standing watch for his companions to return.

Harry would have snorted in disbelief at their blatant disregard for his intelligence. He slipped quietly to the floor and crawled quickly to the edge of the tent. He lifted the edge up and dodged underneath it coming out into fresh air.

Standing Harry realised he was in the middle of a camp site. Large tents dotted a wide sparse field. He sighed heavily and decided he had to move quickly before he was discovered missing.

Harry kept low to the ground and weaved through and under the various lines of rope and equipment. He had gone for five minutes relishing the fact he had escaped with very little effort and had gotten far.

Chuckling to himself he didn't quite look where he was going and ran straight into a slim angry looking man.

Harry gulped, his hand flew to where he thought his wand was, the man before him was looking thunderous.

"Looking for this boy?"

Harry glanced up in horror realising the voice had belonged to the stern man in the tent that had him guard. There was no way he could bluff himself out of the situation.

"Escaping where we?"

Harry could help but to roll his eyes. He stared daggers up at the man before him. This man was wearing long green robes the hems trimmed with pearly silver. Long black hair was tied back and he had a strange little goatee that Harry found amusing, if he wasn't in such trouble that is.

"No. I was going for a Sunday afternoon stroll," Harry snapped. Since Dumbledore's death he had steadily become more and more sarcastic. He inwardly laughed at the gaping man and stood regally and brushed himself off. "Now if you excuse me."

Harry turned fully expecting the man to grab him, which he did. He was spun about quickly his wrist grabbed and twisted behind his back.

Harry cried out in pain making this man jeer in laughter. "Not so smart now are we?"

"Smarter than your guards," Harry quipped.

The man jerked Harry's arm in reply. "Let's see Leo shall we and start the interrogation."

Harry audibly gulped. "Interrogation?"