Ch 17 Kidnapped

The next day, Harry was excited to go to the park with Hettie. Severus put aside his reservations about the trip. He did not want to invite himself along and make it seem as if he did not believe in Harry. It was important for Harry to feel that he had his guardian's confidence. Harry would be with an adult, though not a wizard.

He could not wrap Harry up. While he would prefer to have the boy always within wards, considered who he was, it would not be possible. No one knew were Harry was. Severus had taken great care to hide his existence, as Dumbledore had before him. The boy was protected by anonymity.

Besides security, there was the problem of the Thomas boy. Mrs. Thomas was a good mother. Severus's limited experience at parenting had helped him appreciate that more. When she had married Ben Thomas, she had become responsible part-time for his son from a previous marriage. The boy spent most of his time with his mother. Severus had never met her, but something told him the boy was trouble.

"I'm ready."

Harry came tumbling down the stairs, followed as usual by his house elf Fleance. He was dressed in muggle clothing of jeans and a jumper and carrying his coat. Severus had bought him one for days when they would be amongst muggles because normally Harry wore a cape.

"I will walk you next door," Severus told the grinning boy, "remember what we talked about."

"Don't worry. I won't be any trouble. If I am you probably won't let me go ever again."

Following the boy out the door, Severus considered agreeing with that statement. He didn't want Harry to take him seriously though. He needed the boy to enjoy himself today without extra pressure.

"You will be fine."

The boy looked up at him with a shy smile and then skip-hopped his way over to the neighbor's back door. Severus followed him inside. Hettie was already chattering with Harry while a boy with sandy blond hair glowered at him from the kitchen table. This did nothing for Severus's misgivings.

"Severus, you remember Emrys." Mrs. Thomas gestured toward her son. Severus wasn't paying much attention to the boy's name, although it registered somewhere in the back of his mind. He was watching his expression as he watched his sister with Harry.

"Yes, well, do feel free to bring him back if there is any trouble," Severus suggested.

"Nonsense, Severus. The children will be fine. You enjoy your morning to yourself."

With a nod, Severus left the children to their trip and decided to spend the morning in the lab. At least there he could distract himself without worrying about Harry.

"Not that I am worried," he muttered to himself.

As often happened, he did lose track of time. Only potions could do that to him. Since bringing the boy into his life, he hadn't had as much time in the lab and he did miss it. He had been working on a potion that needed some development. Now was as good as time as any.

Suddenly, Severus looked up and realized he had been in his lab for far longer than he had thought. It had been over two hours. Harry should be back any minute now. Severus put the potion in stasis and rushed upstairs. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He wanted to demonstrate his confidence in Harry and not be a hovering parent, but he told himself that there would be no harm in walking toward the park to take a look. Seeing the group would reassure him that all was well.

Severus barely took the time to grab his cape on the way out the door.

Unfortunately, once he reached the park it became clear that all was not well.

"Severus! Thank God, you're here. I wasn't sure what to do," Mrs. Thomas rushed forward upon seeing him enter the park. Hettie was hanging onto her skirts in tears. The boy, whose name Severus couldn't remember, was looking ashen.

"What happened?" Severus was trying to remain calm. His normally granite demeanor was in jeopardy because Harry was nowhere in sight.

"I don't know!" Mrs. Thomas wailed. "The children were playing. There was a little bit of trouble at first between the boys, but then I think they worked it out. Then Hettie came running over and told me that a man had taken Harry."

"A man?" Severus demanded. "What did this man look like? Where did this happen?"

"Hettie?" Mrs. Thomas prodded. The little girl still had her face in her mother's skirts.

"He had long blond hair, and he was dressed … all in black. Like a bat! He was real scary. He was carrying a stick. He pointed the stick at Harry, and Harry fell down. He was real quiet!" Hettie began crying in earnest again and Mrs. Thomas turned to Severus apologetically.

"I'm sorry, she keeps saying that. Apparently, Emrys didn't see anything. If he did, he won't say. He's just been sitting there, on that bench," she pointed to the boy, who was still staring into nothing, "I think she watches too much telly. Maybe you can get more out of her?"

"It's all right, Mrs. Thomas," Severus's heart was in his throat. He could see how the description her daughter had given her had seemed impossible to Mrs. Thomas. Severus knew exactly who she was describing.

How had he not foreseen this?

"Mrs. Thomas, I can see that your children have been traumatized by these events. I will need to call the police, however. They will likely come to my residence. Will you and your children be available if they have questions?

"Yes. Yes, of course."

"Very well. It is perhaps best that you go." Severus walked back with them in case there were other Death Eaters that might be watching. He made sure that they entered their house and then placed wards around it to alert him if anyone magical approached.

With a heavy heart, Severus sent a patronus to Kingsley. It wasn't long before the auror and Arthur Weasley were in his parlor. After he had fully explained everything, they transfigured their robes into attire worthy of muggle investigators and the three of them went next door to the Thomas residence.

"I didn't see anything," Emrys insisted.

"Where were you when your sister and Harry were playing together?" Kingsley asked him.

"They didn't want me around, so they went over to the pitch and I stayed on the playground."

"Where was your mother?" Arthur asked.

"On the bench, knitting." Mrs. Thomas nodded at their questioning look.

"I'm so sorry! They were only out of my sight for a minute," she seemed ready to continue with her apologies, but Kingsley and Arthur cut her off by moving on to the girl.

Henrietta repeated her story much the same as before. The three of them went to the park to see if there were any clues to what happened. Severus knew who it was.

"It was Lucious Malfoy." Severus insisted.

"Obviously," Kingsley told him. "The question is, how did he know where you lived or where the boy would be?"

"I do not know. He doesn't know where my home is. He might have seen me with the boy in Hogsmeade though, or someone else did. He could have followed me or had me followed from Hogwarts. I would love to find out these answers while I am pouring potions down his throat!"

"Severus, we will find him," Arthur said mildly.

"I will. He is my son."

Severus did not miss the look exchanged between Arthur and Kingsley.

"We know that you want to find Harry, Severus. Just remember that we have mobilized the entire Order of the Phoenix to do so. You do not want to find Harry, just to do something that causes you to lose him."