Thank you to the betas of this chapter, icedawn12193, and Willofhounds.
Chapter six - The Missing Child
It was no surprise that Severus got in trouble the moment they went to the Ministry of Magic with his complaint, after all it was spying, entrapment, but as it was played back all blame was gone.
The Aurors listened to the abuse that was so clear on the recording, even the slap that was delivered to Harry could be heard over the child's cries.
The Judge that issued that Harry should be moved to St Mungo's was called in. Severus having a few choice words for the man when he showed up.
The Judge listened to the play back a couple of times, leaving everyone in silence until he spoke up. "Well, this is really troubling...you do know what you did was against the law?" The Judge questioned, looking over at Severus.
"Yes, but I only…." Severus was stopped when the Judge held up his hand.
"I don't care about the reasoning behind it but the result." The judge cleared his throat before he spoke again. " I order that is to be removed from St Mungo's care and placed back with Severus Snape until an investigation can be done. I will have you know that this does not mean he is back with you permanently, we will have a hearing to decide what would be the best for , either if that's with you or someone else." The Judge explained.
Severus felt his heart skip a beat at the thought of seeing Harry, getting his son back.
"Go and get the child." The Judge declared before getting up and leaving.
...
"How could you lose an eight year old boy!?" Severus yelled. Severus, Minerva and Poppy arrived at St Mungo's along with a few Aurors after their visit at the Ministry of Magic.
All the Healers knew was that somehow the boy got out of his room and went for a little walk.
"A little walk?" Severus yelled, not believing what he was hearing.
"I want this hospital placed on lockdown immediately, no one in or out until we find the child." One of the Aurors, who was known as Auror Johnson demanded.
"Who is Mr. Potter's main Healer?" One of the other Aurors asked.
"That would be me." One of the Healers responded, it was clear that she didn't care about the energy of the situation.
"Perhaps we should talk privately." The Auror said before leading the Healer to an empty room.
"At what time did you put to be last night?" Auror Johnson questioned the Healers that were left behind.
"He was put to bed at nine o'clock last night, the door was locked as always." One of the Healers explained.
"He needs to go to bed at eight otherwise he gets cranky during the day." Severus interrupted. " And what do you mean he was locked in? Does anyone even check on him during the night?" Severus questioned feeling his blood boil with anger.
The Healers just shook their heads. "We have lots of patents to look after during the night and not a lot of staff."
"And my boy is one of them!" Severus yelled, being held back by Minerva.
"Does the boy know how to use the floo?" Auror Johnson questioned.
"No…Yes…I don't know." Severus let out a long breath, running his hand through his hair. "He has seen me use it, he could have picked it up but he wouldn't know how to use it properly." Severus explained.
The Auror nodded before he spoke. "We will shut down the floo network just in case."
"I'm more concerned about how a disabled child could so easily walk out of the ward with no one noticing." One of the other Aurors spoke.
"He sleeps during the night, we had no reason to check on him." The Healers explained.
"That's a lie." Severus snapped. "There was a thunderstorm a couple of nights ago. Harry doesn't sleep during thunderstorms and he wakes up at least once or twice during the night." Severus explained to the Auror before turning his attention to the Healers. "Are you telling me that my son was left alone, locked in a room by himself during a thunderstorm? Do you know how afraid he must have been!?" Severus yelled once more.
"Severus please." Minerva tried to calm Severus, they weren't going to get anyway if they all lost control of their tempers. She couldn't even think about the Healers, she was too worried about Harry.
"A PEG tube was placed just yesterday, he's at a high risk of an infection." One of the Healers explained.
"That wasn't necessary." This time Poppy was the one that yelled.
"You disfigured my son!" Severus screamed, pushing past Minerva and getting into the Healers face.
"He…he wasn't eating." The Healer stuttered, truly terrified of the man.
"He never has a problem eating with me." Severus said through his teeth. It was true that it was like pulling teeth to get Harry to eat his vegetables but all children were like that.
For the next five hours, the Aurors talked to the Healers and searched the hospital and the floo network. Checking every floor and every room for the missing child and Severus' heart filled with fear when it was declared that the child wasn't in the hospital or the floo network.
"Where are you going?" Minerva asked, watching as Severus grabbed his coat.
"I'm going to go and look for Harry."
"Severus if he went into the floo network he could be anyway."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Severus yelled. "My son is out there all alone…anything can happen"
"Nothing is going to happen to Harry." Minerva spoke softly. "The Aurors are going to find him and bring him home."
"And then they are going to take him away again." Severus cried out.
"No, they won't because we are going to talk to them…you are going to get Harry back."