Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Excitement bubbled in Harry as soon as he woke up. He was going to see Hermione and Ron today and he was bound and determined that nothing was going to ruin it. Breakfast was a rushed affair while he contemplated all that he was going to talk about with his friends. It had been so long since he had seen them, and he had left the planning up to his father as to where and when they would meet.

"You remember the plan Harry?" He nodded. Severus was going to apparate him directly into the back room of the twins's shop and then apparate to Diagon Alley from there to distract Molly while Ron and Hermione went on to look at the newest prank material. "And you remember that no one other than those two are allowed to see you? We don't want the order catching wind of you being there. Word in the ministry is that they are beyond mad about you being Severus's son and staying with him. Yaxley heard from Mudungus that you're being kept as Severus's sex slave, of all things." Harry shuddered and heard the words leave his mouth before he fully comprehended what he was about to say.

"While I admit, he's attractive in his own way, I really only seem to be attracted to red eyes." He glanced up shyly, wondering just what in the world had compelled him to say that. Upon seeing the ever so slight tinge of pink at Tom's cheekbones, he relaxed.

"I didn't think you knew how to flirt." The voice of his father floated into the room and Harry turned to his father.

"I didn't think you knew what flirting even was." Severus smiled at his cheek and helped himself to an apple.

"Contrary to the general populace thinking I'm a walking virgin, I assure you I'm well aware of what flirting is. Your mother used to tell me I was good at it if my partner could keep up." He winked and sat down to help himself to some pumpkin juice.

"She really thought that?" The plate of eggs in front of him lay forgotten at the mention of his mother.

"She did. Of course, she deemed only herself able to keep up with me in the first place. Lily had a fascination with my ability to string words together faster than most professors. Are you ready to head out? Your friends will be there shortly, if they aren't there already." Harry nodded and turned to follow Severus out the front door before being pulled aside by Tom.

"Promise me, Harry, that you'll be careful while you're out today. I need to know that you will be safe and that you'll keep yourself hidden. Promise me, Harry." Scarlet swirls of desperation and concern floated to the surface of Tom's eyes.

"Of course Tom. I won't do anything that wasn't planned. I'll be safe, I'm with dad for most of the day anyways. I promise I'll be careful." Tom pulled him close and kissed him before letting him go with Severus. At least the death eater looked placated by the genuine concern Tom had for Harry's well being.

Hermione practically bowled him over when she caught sight of him. She had grown an inch or so and had filled out quite a bit since the last time Harry had seen her. And her hair was certainly less frizzy-it was more wavy now and hung in long rivulets down her back. Ron on the other hand had shortened his hair on the sides and grown at least another foot tall. He hung back, grinning ear to ear to see Harry once more.

"You simply must tell us how you've been! Are you okay living with Snape? What's he like? Does he really spy for Albus or is it some sort of triple agent thing? You look so much healthier than the last time I saw you! He must be taking care of you. That's good to see-"

"Hermione, let the man breathe!" Ron's interruption was good natured and made the girl color with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Harry, I've just been so worried." He laughed.

"It's alright but maybe let me answer before asking more questions."

"How is living with him? We heard...well...Mundungus isn't really a quiet sort of fellow and...well…" Ron shook his head and finished her lingering question.

"Is he buggering you, mate?" Shock colored Harry's face at the blunt question. "Or I guess are either one of you buggering the other?"

"N-no. He's my father for cripes sake! That's just...it'd be too weird. He's handsome but not really my type." Relief rushed to their faces and the questions came rolling in once more.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I can for now. I'm living in a beautiful house with a bedroom of my own and I've been eating as much as I want any time I want. Dad helps tutor me with potions and some other forms of magic and helped me prepare for my OWLS. I've been on NEWT level material since Christmastime. I'm still not sure about returning to school...there's a lot of Order members who are convinced Severus abducted me against their will and had some of the da-Voldemort's lackies forge paperwork so he could 'adopt' me as his own. They've been planning on kidnapping me, some of them although I don't know who. Ginny's only sent me a thousand howlers, all of which are promptly incinerated before they can start screaming at me." Ron flinched at the mention of his sister.

"Sorry mate, I don't know what to do about her. Mum keeps telling her it'll happen if it's meant to be and Ginny has taken that advice as 'pursue until he caves' apparently. Even Bill and Charlie have told her to lay off."

"It's not like you can control her Ron. She'll get over me soon enough."

"Speaking of matters with the heart, who is it that you've met Harry? It's been eating me up alive not knowing anything about your relationship!"

"Well...I can't tell you who it is. But he's amazing to me. He's been incredibly patient and insists that I lead everything so he doesn't go farther than I'd want." Seeing the questions burning in Hermione's eyes, he wrapped his arms around himself.

"I'm assuming you read the papers after the trials with Dumbledore. The Dursley's...they...I could deal with the abuse and the starving and all that but…" Hermione seemed to read between the lines and pulled him into a hug while he sobbed into her shoulder.

"Shh, they'll never be able to hurt you again Harry. For what it's worth, McGonagall found out what happened and had quite a bit of vengeance on them for you. He's been serving prison time, sans his bits and bobs. From what I hear, prisoners don't forgive people like him. Take comfort in the fact that he is being served every ounce of what he gave to you and more every single day." Surprisingly, hearing what McGonagall had done to his uncle made him feel less horrible and his sobs quieted down rather quickly after that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break down like that. I've just missed you two so much and it hurts that I can't be fully honest with you two yet for my own safety. You never did tell me though, what are your opinions on the war and all that tripe?"

Hermione glanced at Ron who readjusted to sit on the edge of his seat.

"Well, that's the thing mate. We've seen a lot of the Order do a lot of things lately that we don't agree with. Forcing Moody to run for Minister was just the beginning. Now they're bribing their way through the Ministry to try and get laws that are changing to stay the way they are. It's effectively stopping any progress the Ministry tries to make. They just managed to stop a law from passing that would give centaurs more land and rights. Vampires are being shoved back into some serious oppression and werewolves…" He looked to Hermione.

"Werewolves are no longer allowed to work within the Wizarding World. They can't marry or have children anymore either. Remus was furious when he found out that was Kingsley's idea. But Harry...Malfoy has been pushing for laws that make sense. He's been doing things like making St. Mungo's have literature on lycanthropy and vampirism to inform people that although they are dangerous conditions they are just that: conditions. A few of the people that we know work with Voldemort have been proposing laws that will allow hybrid beings to have more rights." She paused and looked uncertainly at Ron.

"We think that if people like Malfoy are pushing for things like that, then maybe we've been told some things that don't really add up. We're curious to see why this is happening and-not to put too fine a point on it-we wanted to know what you think about it all."

"Honestly if I knew I could have just a chat with the snake-face devil, I would. I just want to know the truth. We trusted Dumbledore for so long but he had horribly weak excuses for what he did to you. And he was intelligent enough to know exactly what went on in that damn house." Harry nodded and heard someone just outside the door.

"Maybe you two should start going with dad out to the forest to help him gather potions ingredients. He could use the help." With a loud bang the door to the room they were in burst open and Ginny tore out of George's grasp.

"Harry! I knew I could hear your voice! I've missed you so much!" She sprang onto him and kissed him soundly. Upon realizing his unresponsiveness, she took to nipping at his lips while he tried to pull away.

"Gin, I know that you know I'm gay. And even so, I've told you before, I don't like you that way." Her eyes grew wide and desperate at the words.

"No, he's just brainwashed you! I know he's made some sort of potion to make you think you want him! You're just under a love potion, that's all-"

"Ginny, mum warned you to not do this." Ron grabbed her from behind and she managed to kick him off.

"I'll not let him be taken from me! Do you understand? I love him!" Before Harry could process anything else, his world went dark.

"Ronald Weasley, how dare you let your sister kidnap Harry Potter?!"

"Mum, it happened pretty quickly! How was I to bloody well know she had a portkey?"

"It's no matter now Molly, we need to figure out where the hell it is she's taken him before anything else happens."

"Arthur's right. No one can know about this. Now if anyone has any ideas of where the chit has taken him, speak up!" The room was met with silence until the twins spoke up.

"She did always like-"

"-going to this moore-"

"-just outside of sight from the kitchen window."

"Thing is-"

"-there's an abandoned shed-"

"-used to belong to a muggle family-"

"-we'll start there."

The rest of the room sat and stared at the spot the twins had just been standing before chatter broke out once more.

"I'll check the Burrow with Ron."

"I'm going to search Grimmauld Place."

"I'm off to check Diagon Alley and St. Mungo's." With that everyone left to start searching for Harry and Ginny.

Groaning, Harry tried to sit up only to realize he was already sitting up. He was propped up against a wall of some sort, although the ground was pretty soft. And his legs were warm, although he couldn't move them.

"It's about time you've woken up." His eyes shot to where he heard the voice coming from and squinted in the hopes that he could see through the dark. No such luck befell him.

"I've been worried that I gave you too much. That you wouldn't be awake for it. After all, you're about to father a child with me. I'd say you'd want to be awake for that." Fear flooded Harry's veins and he tried to move. It took all of his strength and concentration to move his fingers on one hand. He couldn't even open his mouth to talk.

"But it's no matter. The fertility potion will take a few days to really be effective anyways, so we have a few days of practice for the main event." He felt Ginny straddle his legs and was suddenly grateful for the cloth barrier that was between them.

It's a blanket...and this is a bed. I'm propped up against the headboard of a bed. My clothes are still on. It's dark. I can't move. I can't talk. I've been drugged.

Thinking through his situation seemed to clear his mind of any remaining fog sleep had left and he started running through his options.

I can't call for help because of the drug she gave me. I can't move to restrain her-again due to the drug. But I can think and I can focus. Maybe I can fashion some sort of weapon while she isn't looking from soul magic...but that won't help because I won't be able to wield a weapon. But I can think...TOM!

Tom quietly turned a page in the book he'd been reading when a thought suddenly forced its way into his mind. The ferocity of it nearly blew him backwards.

TOM! It took him a moment before he realized where he had heard that voice before.

Harry? What's wrong?

Tom, she's got me. Ginny, she barged in on us while we were talking and had a mental breakdown and I somehow ended up...I don't know where. Tom you have to find me! You have to find me before she follows through with this. PLEASE Tom, please find me. The voice was full of panic and fading while Tom scrambled to keep their mental link open.

He didn't have an exact placement, but he did manage to find a general location. He didn't even bother to leave the wards, he simply started apparating closer and closer to where his Harry was being held.