Chapter Eight

Captured

Harry had started to take the occasional dreamless sleep potions, and worked on his occlumency the other nights, so he didn't visit Voldemort in his sleep anymore. However, if he hadn't done this, he would have known Voldemort's latest plan.

On Sunday night during supper, Harry saw three of the four Marauders conversing quietly. He would have assumed it was a prank, but James wasn't there. He looked over at Ginny, who looked worried. But, she wasn't looking at the Marauders, she was looking at Lily's friends. They shared a significant look, and both headed towards the Entrance Hall. Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map, and scanned it for the pair. "There not here. They're not at Hogwarts."

A quiet creak made him quickly wipe the map and shove it into his pocket. He and Ginny looked up and saw Sirius and Remus, talking quietly. "Where could they be? They were supposed to be back by now."

"Who was supposed to be back by now from where?" Ginny asked.

"Erm-well-you see-" Remus stuttered.

"Our owls!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Don't lie to me, where are Lily and James?" Harry asked deadly.

The boys both paled. "Well, sir, I guess that they are just-you know-off, somewhere-" Sirius said.

"That's a really bad excuse, Sirius," Ginny said.

"Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," Harry said, "Where are James and Lily?"

He was now pointing his wand at the pair. Remus gave in and said, "They went to Hogsmeade for the day! Through one of the secret passages! They were supposed to be back by 5:30 though."

"Thank-you. Ginny, you stay here," Harry commanded.

"But Harry! I need to go!" Ginny complained.

"No, I need someone who knows everything to be here. Just in case. Also, if I'm not back by tomorrow, tell Dumbledore the truth. Not the whole one though. And you can cover my classes. My lesson plans are in the top drawer of my desk."

"Why are you telling her this?" Sirius asked.

"I never know how long I'll be when I'm visiting Voldemort," Harry said smoothly, and ran out of the castle, into the forest.

"Where's he going? Shouldn't he take the gates?" Sirius asked.

Ginny gave a small, cool laugh, "No, he's taking the Thestrals. He likes them; thinks they're funny."

"Just a ball of laughs," Remus said sarcastically.

"They are, but, you'll have to know the whole truth. Anyway, don't tell anyone about Harry leaving, we don't need to arouse suspicion."

The boys nodded, and watched Ginny run up the stairs.

Once she, and they, were well out of earshot, Remus asked Sirius, "Do you think they could be Death Eaters?"

"I dunno. I mean, not telling Dumbledore, and only Ginny knowing the truth. Plus, didn't Harry say something about not knowing how long he'll be when he's visiting Voldemort," Sirius said.

"Yes. So, either he's been captured a lot, which I highly doubt as he's only sixteen, or he's a Death Eater. If they're not back by tomorrow morning, I'm going to Dumbledore. I don't care what Ginny says, I'm not taking orders from a supposed Death Eater."

"I'm with you. And, do we tell Peter?"

"No, the git won't really care, will he? I mean, sure, he listened to us at supper, but was too self-absorbed to come out here and check the map."

"Which brings us to another point. What were Harry and Ginny looking at that Harry shoved into his pocket once he saw us?"

"A note from You-Know-Who, telling all Death Eaters to come and torture James and Lily."

"That actually sounds logical."

"That's what I am. But, we should finish talking about this upstairs. Everyone's exiting the Great Hall. I can hear them."

"Stupid werewolf senses. I wish I had them."

"Really? You want to turn into one every month, and not be able to touch sickles, or silverware, or practically anything? Sounds like fun. We should trade."

"Never mind. But, as stupid Mr. Big-Sense says, let's go."

Harry jumped onto the first Thestral he found. He told it to fly to Voldemort, and he knew that it would take him there, as Thestrals have an unbeatable sense of direction. In an hour and a half, the Thestral landed outside an old shack. Harry patted it and jumped off, then ran towards the shack. He transfigured his clothes into Death Eater robes and a rock into one of the masks. Then, as silently as he could, he entered the house and joined a pair of Death Eaters standing in the first room.

Another one entered and said, "Master wants you to see the prisoners. You can have some fun, but keep them conscious so he can chat with them. You have an hour." Harry recognized the voice as the Lucious Malfoy of his time.

He followed the pair and entered the cell which Lily and James were both in. Obviously, they had already been tortured. The Death Eaters Harry was already accompanying started shooting curses at them, Harry grimaced.

"Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy needs you," Came a bored voice from the door. The Death Eaters with Harry left with the first one.

After realizing Harry wasn't doing anything to them yet, James tried pleading with him, thinking he was a Death Eater. "Please, please. We need to go. She's hurt."

"Shut up James. Put these on," Harry commanded, passing a pair of robes and a mask to James. James looked stunned that the Death Eater listened to him. Harry forgot he had changed his voice. He put a disillusionment charm on Lily and carried her, as she couldn't walk, since her leg was mangled.

Quickly, Harry led James and carried Lily out of the shack, to the Thestral. He set Lily on it, and instructed James to take off his mask and robes. James did so and Harry transfigured them into rocks, to take suspicion off them. After, James just stood there as Harry got onto the Thestral. "Are you coming, or are you just going to stay here?" Harry asked, laughing.

"How do I know where you are going to take us? What if you are just going to take us to Voldemort in a different place?" James asked.

Harry laughed again. "Sorry, I forgot to take off my charms and 'uniform'. Here, let me show you." He took off the Death Eater robe and mask, as well as the charm he set on his voice.

"Harry?" James cried.

"Yeah, that's me. Get on, we won't have much time. I know Crabbe and Goyle are stupid, but they'll have enough brains to figure out that I helped you."

James jumped onto the Thestral, and it flew them away.

"Where are they?" Ginny asked herself that night, "They should already be back. Harry has never taken this long on a mission."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked from behind her.

"Harry has been on more missions for You-Know-Who before?" Remus asked, standing beside his friend.

"Yes, not for but from Voldemort though," Ginny said wearily, "Look, I should go to bed. I'll have to teach if he's not back soon." She ran up the stairs to her dormitory.

"Very fishy," Remus said.

"No, doggy. I don't like fish," Sirius said.

"You are so weird. But, sure doggy. Why did she just run away? She knew that we were going to ask questions."

"I know. I think we should go to Dumbledore."

"Tomorrow. Look, I'm going to bed too. Full moon's coming up soon, and I'm really tired."

"I'll come too."

Both of the boys went up to their dormitory and fell into a troubled sleep about two of their friends dying.

"Why are we stopping here?" James asked, half an hour into their ride.

Harry looked troubled and sounded worried when he said, "They did something to this Thestral. It's heading south, not north."

"How do you know?"

"I learned this very useful spell. It's helped me out quite a few times. Here, I'll show you. Point me." The wand laying on Harry's palm spun around several times, then pointed straight at him. "North's that way. We're going south."

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll stay here for a while. But I'll have to do something to Lily's leg. If we leave it like this, it'll get even worse." He ripped the sleeve of his robe off and gently wrapped it around her leg. He pulled her back to consciousness, and she started to cry. James hugged her tightly, whispering indistinguishable words into her ear.

After an hour of pacing, Harry announced, "We'll have to walk for a bit, at least to the nearest town. Then we can go to a wizard's house and try to use their fireplace."

Harry and James walked, taking turns in carrying Lily. In an hour, they reached a small village. "Hey! This is where I live!" James exclaimed.

"Lead us to your house then. We won't be able to get back to Hogwarts until the morning though. It's too late to visit Dumbledore."

James lead Harry who was carrying Lily to a small house at the end of the street. He knocked then slowly opened the door. "Hello?" He called.

A woman wearing a light blue nightgown, with a matching dressing gown over top came from around the corner. She was pointing her wand straight at them. "Who are you?" She asked, "And how did you find my house?"

"It's me Mom," James said, taking a step towards his mother. Harry's eyes grew as he saw his grandmother for the first time.

"James? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at school? Did you and Sirius get suspended. You know what will happen-"

James cut his mother off, "No Mom. Sirius isn't here. Do we have to extra bedrooms?"

"I'll be fine on the couch," Harry put in.

"Why? And whose that?"

"That's my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Patterson."

Harry stepped towards Mrs. Potter. "Pleasure to meet you," He said, shaking her hand, "Erm-not to be rude, but do you think we could stay over night here? We won't be able to get back to Hogwarts until the morning."

"Of course! Let me get you something clean to wear! And, what happened to Lily? She looks terrible!"

"They did some sort of spell to her leg. I haven't heard it before. Do you think you can heal it, Mom?"

"Of course." Mrs. Potter took a step towards Lily, but Harry stopped her.

"Don't," He said, "I've heard of the curse. She can only be healed the muggle way. Magic will just harm her even more."

Both Mrs. Potter and James looked frightened. Straightening up, she said, "Okay then, let's get you cleaned up and I'll make some tea. You can tell me what happened then."

Harry follow James up the stairs and into his room. First, they helped get Lily changed into one of Mrs. Potter's nightgowns, then put her into one of the spare bedrooms. James then gave Harry a t-shirt and pyjama pants to wear, putting some on himself. The two of them went downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table. Mrs. Potter gave them a cup of tea, and James started the story.

"Lily and me took a trip to Hogsmeade, and we were having a picnic outside the Shrieking Shack. A couple Death Eaters stunned us, and took us away. When we woke up, we were in a cell, just like the muggle jails have. The Death Eaters tortured us and cast some really bad curses on us. They took our wands away, and left us there. Then, a while later, they came back, but there was someone else with them. Two of them cast a couple of curses on us, including the one on Lily's leg. But then, someone called them away, leaving only one with us. I asked him to take us away, and he did. He cast a disillusionment charm on Lily, and gave me a Death Eater uniform to wear. It wasn't until we were outside that we both took our stuff off. It was Harry who saved us."

"I got there by Thestral," Harry continued, "And we were leaving on it too. But, I think the Death Eaters did something to it, because it was taking us south, not north. So, we got off of it, and walked here. James instantly recognized it as your street so we came here."

"How old are you Mr. Patterson?" Mrs. Potter asked, "You seem quite young."

Harry laughed, "Many people say that. I'm sixteen 'mam. And, you can just call me Harry."

"Sixteen!" Mrs. Potter almost sounded mad. "Why did you go? Why didn't you let Albus or Minerva go? You are too young! And, why are you teaching? You should still be in school!"

"I took my O.W.Ls at Christmas time. You see, the school I went to was very small, and we all worked at our own pace."

"And Harry's friend, Ginny, she's only fifteen, but she's better than me in Defence, Herbology, and Potions," James added.

"And I went because I know Voldemort-" Mrs. Potter winced. "Well. I've been captured enough, and I have rescued enough people to know what he's going to do next, and all the loopholes."

"But-"

"That's it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to bed. I'm really tired. Thank-you for the tea Mrs. Potter. I'll see you both in the morning." Harry walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the room James said he could sleep in.

"Do you think that there is something odd about him?" James asked his mother.

"Yes," Mrs. Potter said pensively, "It's almost as if I know him. And, he's only sixteen. That's way too young to be have spent that much time with You-Know-Who."

"I know. And, he leaves lots of unanswered questions. I think-"

"I think you should go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Groaning, James went up to his room and quickly fell asleep.