I know I said this story was only three chapters but honestly till I started to put it into my computer I didn't realize how long the second chapter was. I write very small and what I have put in here took up twelve pages of longhand. I have another twenty two pages that were chapter two so I am separating it into three chapters and I'll most likely turn chapter three into an additional two chapters so this story will end up being a total of six chapters. Sorry about that folks.
Chapter 2 The Escape Attempt.
August 19
Harry gaped at the elf not completely sure he understood what he just thought had been explained to him. "If I understand what you're saying that's barbaric No werewolf deserves that! Those notes should have been destroyed a long time ago." Another moment as the elf silently watched Harry and the rest of the story finally registered. Harry's face lost all color and he slowly shook his head no. "I won't do it. I'm human and am satisfied being one."
The elf sighed before he told the boy. "I understand that you're angry and afraid right now and believe me we wouldn't do this if we felt we had another choice but we don't. You're life won't be so bad when the change is finished child. You might eventually come to like the changes that will happen to you. There are several advantages to being an elf that humans don't have you know."
Harry was close to going into a full blown panic attack. They were keeping him a prisoner here with intentions of changing him into another race and for what? A piece of land? A piece of land that he apparently had the best legal claim to at that. He was more than willing to use the trust fund his parents had left him to hire legal help to reclaim that land even if it took his last knute and if he got it he didn't have any problem with turning it over to these people but they weren't interested in that. Oh no, instead of doing things the right way they resort to kidnapping and forming alliances with Voldemort and using dark potions on him to turn him into something not even human.
"If you try to force this on me I'll fight you anyway, everyway I can. Look, I already told you I would be willing to try to get the land through the courts but not this way." Harry shook his head no and then lifting his eyes he looked directly into the face of the elf. Harry hoped he could understand that he meant what he said. "If you do this to me I'll refuse to claim the land."
"Harry, how old are you?" the elf asked him.
"Sixteen at the end of last month. What does that have to do with anything?"
"According to our laws children are still under the control of their guardians until they reach the age of consent which because of the physical differences between humans and elves is not the same as what you are use to. Our children are not considered an adult at the age of seventeen, our children are still considered very much children till they are much older. Once you are changed we will appoint a guardian over you who will look after your legal affairs. By law, both human and elven your consent or cooperation is not needed so it won't matter if you don't cooperate. As a matter of fact you could actively fight what we do then and it wouldn't matter. According to our laws children do not have any say in regards to property or how they are raised and your human ministry long ago signed an accord agreeing that we had sovereign rights over the governing of our own children and that's exactly what you will be; one of our children."
"I'm not though." Harry spat, his eyes narrowed in anger. "I'm not one of your children and even if you force this on me I still won't be. What you're trying to condemn me to is nothing short of slavery." His eyes narrowed even further. "But of course I forgot for a minute, that's what I am anyhow isn't it. A slave. That's what people are called who are purchased and collared. Slaves."
Harry held his wrists out to the elf showing him the metal bands fastened around his wrists. "You might as well bring back the chains because that's the only way you'll get me to not fight you people."
The elf leaned forward and touched the collar around Harry's neck with a fingertip and Harry cringed back away from his as a painless shock traveled down his spine. "The collar isn't a sign of ownership. It's a binding artifact that blocks off your magic core so that you cannot access your magic to fight us." He smiled a little although his smile did look kind of sad. "The shackles on your wrists and ankles will remain until you learn to not fight us. I don't want to use them but you are correct in your assumption that they will be used to secure you if that's what it takes to keep you from fighting us. We will not allow you to hurt yourself in a fruitless battle that you cannot win."
Harry's face paled even further at those words, being confined was the one thing he had always feared and here this elf was telling him that not only was he confined but he might also be chained up like an animal. Harry turned his head away so the elf wouldn't see the tears that filled his eyes. "So what happens now?"
"Harry, the potion we need is being brewed right now. In two days time we will collect one liter of blood from you to add to the potion and in another twenty four hours after that it will be ready. You will be dosed with the potion three times per day, once every eight hours till the change is complete. The first four days you won't notice any changes to yourself. By day five you may have some pain but it won't be too bad. The pain should last no longer than six days. After day twelve you will find yourself lethargic and will sleep anywhere from fourteen to sixteen hours per day. That will continue till the potion has almost run its course. For the last two or three days you will be disoriented and physically weak but will rapidly regain your strength. Do you have any questions about the course of the change that will happen to you?"
The way the elf explained everything was so impersonal. Almost like he was discussing the weather instead of Harry's life. Harry tried to keep his voice just as impersonal although he could hear the tremble in it. "How long does it take till the change is complete?" Harry hoped it was long enough to give him a chance to escape and he was encouraged when he was told that according to the notes it took thirty days. That gave him some time to try and find a way out.
When the elf saw that Harry had no further questions he left but before he did he told Harry that he would be placing a selection of books in his room to give Harry something to do to pass the time. Harry sat there at the table watching him go back to the bedroom he had first woke up in he realized he had never even asked the elf his name. 'I won't either. I won't give him that satisfaction.'
Harry sat outside at the table till twilight started to color the sky. He even briefly contemplated just staying where he was all night and might have except the elf that had brought him lunch also brought him dinner and Harry was hungry so he went inside and sat down to another excellent meal. At least they didn't plan on starving him.
After he was finished eating he looked over the selection of books that had been placed in the small bookshelf that was a part of the desk. They were a selection of books on elves. The first one he pulled out was titled 'A Human's Guide to Elves'. Opening the front cover he read the introduction. Apparently this book described the different types of elves and from what this said there were quite a few of them. He carried the book over to the bed and lacking anything better to do started to read but didn't get much more than half way through the first couple of pages before the mild sleeping potion that had been added to his juice kicked in and he fell asleep, the book falling from his hands and onto the floor.
He didn't wake up when the three elves came in and carried him to the loo. He didn't wake up when they put him in the warm bath. He didn't wake up as he was gently washed and dressed in silk pajamas, nor when he was carried back to the bed and gently tucked under the covers. In a way it was sort of sad that he slept through it because the careful and tender way he was handled might have calmed some of his fears but then again the fact that two of the elves that had been in his room were beautiful young women might have just given him a case of terminal blush.
August 20
Warmth and comfort, he snuggled down under the duvet and scrunched his eyes closed tight in protest against the ray of sun that was attacking him when it dawned on him that sleeping in comfort unless he was at Hogwarts was not normal for him. He carefully opened first one eye then the other before he bolted upright in the bed not recognizing his surroundings at first. When recognition came he slumped in defeat. He knew this place. This was the bedroom the elves had locked him in following his kidnapping by Voldemort and being sold to the dark elf.
Harry gave a sigh and climbed out of bed only noticing that someone had put him in pajamas after he made it to his feet. The book he had been reading was sitting on the night stand with a scrap of parchment marking the place he had read to before he had fallen asleep. The book and pajamas told him that someone had been in the room with him last night. It also told him that he had most likely been drugged. He wasn't normally a heavy sleeper so it was unlikely that he could have been moved around enough to have been stripped then dressed in pajamas without waking up unless he had either ingested something or inhaled something that kept him asleep so that whoever changed his clothes could do it without him waking up..
Fuck, he hated the knowledge that they could do that to him and there wasn't anything he could do about it unless he did what? Stop eating, drinking and breathing? Yep, that would work, right. Of course it sort of defeated the purpose of not taking in anything that could knock him out now didn't it.
Harry got up and went to the loo and showered after relieving himself. A quick swipe with the hair brush and a quick pass with the toothbrush and he was ready to get dressed. It was funny you know? He had to go get himself kidnapped before he got some clothes that fit and were comfortable although you couldn't call it a complete wardrobe since it lacked foot wear other than socks.
He heard a noise in the bedroom and peered out the door. The same female elf that had brought his food the day before was there with a tray containing his breakfast. The male elf that had acquired him from his 'dear friend' Voldemort had once again accompanied her. "Is it drugged?" he asked.
The female elf looked at the male in confusion. He's the one that answered Harry. "You needed to sleep last night and after all of the excitement we were concerned that you might have had some trouble doing so, that is why your juice was laced with a mild sleeping potion. Only to help you rest."
Harry nodded to show that he understood he also asked although he was pretty sure he knew the answer to this question. "Will you do it again without telling me first?" so he wasn't really disappointed with the answer although he did hope. He was also a bit surprised with how the answer was phrased.
"You are but a child and thus do not always understand what is best for you. If we who are responsible for your care decide that you need help sleeping again then yes, we will do it again and if not telling you in advance allows you to take the potion without fear then again yes, we will not tell you. I guess the question is, if we do decide to give you a potion for something will you take it without a fight?"
Harry shook his head no, "Not after what that other guy told me yesterday. I won't take any potions you give me willingly. You might as well take that tray away. I won't be eating it if I can't trust it to not be drugged."
"Child, this much you can trust. Elves never lie. If I say the food has not been tampered with than it has not. This food has only been cooked. There is nothing in it that you would object to."
Harry stared at the elf for a few minutes. To trust in this or not… If he ate and the food was drugged, well what then? How long could he go without eating? He could get water from the tap but food, well a body needed food and he needed it more than most because he was in the middle of a growth spurt and like all boys his age he ate a larger amount than even looked possible. How long could he go before he ate regardless if the food was tampered with or not? Harry clenched his fists in frustration. He hated it, knowing they had him by the short hairs like this. Growling in frustrated anger he sat down at the desk and started to eat.
The rest of the day was quiet. Harry explored the courtyard carefully trying to find a way, any way out and came up with nothing. He searched diligently for a paperclip or a piece of wire, he even tried to hide the butter knife that came with his dinner in the hopes he could use it to pick the lock on the bedroom door but was caught and had the knife taken away from him. The rest of the time he read the books that had been left for him. The dark elf that accompanied the female elf that brought his food tried to engage him in conversation but he refused to cooperate with him. He also refused to ask names. He didn't want to get to know these people in any way, shape or form. So far as he was concerned they were the enemy and as such were beneath him.
August 21
That night he showered and went to bed but was soon up again. He waited by the window watching the room at the end of the courtyard for any sign of life. No light came through the windows so he had to assume that either the occupant of that room was away for the night or no one stayed in there. Hell, for all he knew it was another glorified prison cell like this one without a prisoner yet. Either way he watched and waited till he guessed it was early in the morning. He quietly opened the door to his room and with one last look around made his way over to the table grouping. It was time to put forth his best effort and make the escape attempt.
He was fairly sure he would get caught but he had to try. He had waited till now in the hopes that the rest of the occupants were deeply asleep and would not hear any noise he might make.
Harry wrestled the table over to the wall then stacked the chairs up on the table. Next he stacked the books he had been given onto the tower of chairs and finished off his impromptu tower with a stack of clothes for the extra centimeters it gave him in height. Climbing to the top of his wobbly tower he leaned against the wall trying to calm his nerves. If he missed and fell he was most likely going to end up with broken bones.
Harry took one last deep breath and jumped. His fingers scrabbled desperately on the top of the wall and he felt the fingernail on his left ring finger peel back to the quick. Blood started to gather under the fingers that despite his disbelief held him. He took a moment hanging there to calm himself before he started to work his way to the top of the wall. A few close calls and he was able to swing his leg over the top.
He had taken longer than he wanted to moving the furniture over to the wall so he didn't have as much time to vanish as he could have hoped but if he was lucky he would have enough time to find a good hiding spot where he could rest during the daylight hours before trying to put some distance between himself and the elves. If he was really lucky the elves would be searching further afield for him and tonight he would be able to sneak past whatever guard they had up and out. At the very least he hoped that by vanishing the potion that they were brewing would be ruined and they would have to start over again thus buying some time for his guards from the Order of the Phoenix to find him and mount a rescue.
Harry looked over the edge of the wall and wished he had a little light to see by but unfortunately it was the night of the new moon and what little bit of light there was only produced shifting shadows that his eyes could not see through. Ah well, he had trusted to luck so far and it hadn't let him down. He swung his other leg over and gripping the wall with his hands he hung his body over the edge. With a quick prayer that he didn't break a leg he dropped.
Oh damn that hurt! It felt like he landed on broken glass! He clapped his hands over his mouth to muffle the shriek that bubbled up his throat as his feet gave out from the pain. He flopped over onto his side and moaned as whatever it was dug into his hip through the jeans he had on. He could feel blood starting to soak his socks as his feet started to burn. Hands reached out to find out what the hell he had landed on. Crushed rock of some sort and a lot of it was imbedded in his feet. Tears falling he started picking pieces of rock and sock out of the bottoms of his feet. It wasn't long before his hands were coated in blood which made the task even harder as his finger tips slipped on the chips but finally he had as much out as he could get. He then pulled off his socks and wrapped them twice around the front part of his feet hoping the double layer would offer some protection from the rocks as well as soak up any blood so he didn't leave a trail to follow.
It took a bit of work to even get back up on his feet and after the abuse they had suffered from walking on his toes was pure agony, especially doing it on the twice damned crushed rock but it was either that or wait for the elves to find him again and that was not something he was prepared to do at this time especially when they had been clever enough to try and thwart this escape attempt before it had even started. At least now he knew why he had not been given any shoes or even soft slippers. That would have cut down on the damage to his feet making escape a little bit easier.
He finally made it to the edge of the gravel and looking around he spotted a darker patch off to the left which he desperately hoped was an area of brush and trees. If it was thick enough he would take cover there till tonight. Hopefully by then his feet would have started to scab over and he would be able to make a bit better time on the next leg of his journey. He only had time for three pain filled steps before his escape attempt was brutally killed.
Harry felt something encircle his waist and looking down he saw a band of pure energy spring into life. The metal bands on his wrists started to glow and with a clanking noise his two hands flew together and locked at the wrist. Thrown off balance his ankles soon followed but before he could fall down the band around his waist gave a pull much like the feeling of a portkey and he found himself back in his bedroom in a heap on the floor.
Hands from behind pulled him up and deposited him on he chair from the desk and a woman he had not yet seen gently picked up his feet and untied the socks from around them. Another elf brought in a basin of warm water and the first elf started to wash off the blood and dirt still imbedded in them. After she was finished with his feet she cleansed his finger then passed her hands down his body, a soft glow following in their wake.
When she was finished with what Harry assumed was some sort of diagnostic spell she spoke to the elf that had stayed behind Harry. He wasn't a bit surprised to hear the voice of the elf who had talked to him after he woke up the first day he spent here. He was surprised when that same elf picked him up and carried him into the bathroom and sat him on the edge of the tub.
Harry sat and waited to see what was going to happen now and what happened was the elf drew a warm bath then lifted Harry to his feet. He started to take off the shirt Harry was wearing before Harry reached out to stop him. With a sniff Harry said, "I'll do it."
The elf gave Harry a small smile before he agreed. "I'll allow you to so long as you understand that you need to soak in the tub for twenty minutes." He lifted a small bottle of stuff and poured a generous portion into the tub. "This will help relax the muscles you abused in your escape attempt. If you don't use it you will be very stiff later." He laid out a bath robe across the vanity. "When you're finished put this on and come back to the bedroom and we will bandage your feet and finger. Do you understand?"
Harry sniffed again, holding back the tears of anger and frustration before he nodded. "I understand." He wondered what else they were going to do to him besides treat the injuries he had gotten in his ill fated escape attempt. He wasn't foolish enough to think he was going to get off scott free but he did hope whatever they did wouldn't be to bad. "I need to be able to move my feet and hands to take a bath. Do you mind?" Harry held up the hands that were still locked together at the wrist and with a sigh of relief he felt whatever magic that was holding the bands together release. He waited till the elf left him alone in the bathroom before he stripped then limped to the tub. It was painful but he finally managed to sit himself down in the warm water where he leaned back and relaxed. Whatever potion the elf had put into the water felt wonderful. He would have been surprised at what was said in the other room if he could have understood it. As it were the soft talking coming from the bedroom lulled him as he floated in the tub.
Discot reached over and hugged his wife. "You know he'll never believe me if I told him the reason he was given no shoes was because we didn't remember them. How badly was he injured?"
Meriel returned the hug with a soft giggle. "Your right, he would not believe you. I certainly wouldn't if I were him. The lacerations on his feet will take a few weeks to heal. I would give him something to quicken the process but I don't know how it would react to the potion he will be taking. He strained a muscle in his shoulder too. I want you to give him a rub down after he gets out of the tub with this cream. It will fix him right up. His finger will also have to heal naturally. Did you know he had a major bruise starting on his hip? I'm thinking he fell down. The cream will fix that too."
"What time will you need to add his blood to the potion? I'm thinking it might be easier if we just put him to sleep before we take it. I'm thinking if we ask him nicely to submit to having his blood taken he's likely to spit in our face."
His wife really started to laugh at that. "I'm thinking that if Kalian finds out you knocked him out to take his blood she's really going to go on the warpath. You know she already thinks of him as her baby brother."
"I wish she wouldn't. We don't know if we'll get him yet."
Meriel looked concerned for a moment before she relaxed again. "Of course we'll get him. You're the best choice to protect him what with all those humans after him. Who else would they give him to but the warlord?"
"I hope so love, I'd like to have another child."
The bathroom door opened slowly and Harry limped out into the bedroom, the bath robe wrapped tightly around himself. He felt a bit uncomfortable standing there in front of the female elf dressed in only a robe but he had been told to wear only it and at that moment he was feeling uncertain enough about what they would do to punish him for his failed escape attempt that he didn't want to give them any cause to make the punishment worse. Before the male elf had told him that the bands around his wrists and ankles could and would be used to secure him in place if they though he needed it and that's what he was afraid they were going to do to him, chain him up like an animal.
The female elf got up and guided him over to the bed. She gently pushed him into a sitting position before she took his left hand in hers. Reaching over into a grey bag she pulled out a small pot with a screw on top. Opening it she dipped her finger in and scooped up a large portion of the cream which she slathered on the finger where the nail had been. She then wrapped the finger in clean gauze before tying it off. One at a time she treated his feet the same way before she handed the male elf another small pot of something, gathered her bag and left the room.
Harry dropped his eyes when the woman left. The man came over and motioned for him to lay down. "My wife told me to rub this cream into your shoulders and hip. It will help relieve sore muscles."
"She's your wife? She's very beautiful." Harry motioned to the pot, "I can do that myself you know."
"If you knew my wife a bit better you would know how foolish that statement was. When she tells you to do something you don't ask questions, you just do it. Now lay down child. You can keep the robe across your waist to protect your modesty till I'm ready to do your hip. After I'm finished you can get some pajamas on and then go to sleep for a few hours."
Harry studied the man's face and decided this wasn't something he was going to win so he pulled his arms out of the sleeves of the robe and wrapped it around the lower part of his body then lay down on his belly. The cream was at first cold but soon warmed to the touch. It didn't take very long for the tight muscles across his shoulders to loosen up and as Harry relaxed he started to drift off to sleep. Someplace in the back of his mind he felt the robe being shifted and the cold feeling on his hip that warmed quickly. That was the last thing he knew before sleep claimed him.
He didn't know how long he slept but he sure did know what woke him up. It was a feeling that he had been subjected to a few times before and one he would never forget. A full body bind. Harry's eyes snapped open and he tried to turn on the bed but because of the nature of the curse he couldn't. He felt something press against his arm and a cold feeling invaded his soul. The feeling didn't last long but when it was finished he felt weak and cold. The body bind was removed and he struggled up into a sitting position glaring at the female elf that had doctored his feet. She held a jar full of blood. His blood.
Harry started to shake. He now had only one day left before they started force feeding him that thrice damned potion and quite frankly Harry was scared down to his bones. He considered attacking the woman to try and break the jar but if he did would they just take more blood? He wasn't positive but he thought he remembered hearing that a person only had about a half liter taken when they donated blood in the muggle world. Would taking two liters kill him? How much blood did a person have inside them anyhow?
He was so busy watching the woman and going over his limited options that he didn't notice the male elf was also in the room until the man spoke. "The jar is charmed unbreakable and you can't open it so don't even bother to try. My wife wants to look at your feet again. Are you going to fight her?"
"Are you going to body bind me again if I try?" was Harry's quick comeback.
The man chuckled at Harry's words before he answered the teen. "Of course I will. Right now you don't have the strength to fight properly so I would do it as a favor to you so that you don't embarrass yourself loosing to a woman. After she is finished with your feet you need to eat something. You've been asleep for almost six hours and haven't eaten at all today."
"I'm not hungry." Was the sulky reply.
"Never-the-less you will eat." The threat wasn't said out loud but it was there and at this time Harry was feeling to defeated to fight so he allowed the woman to work on his feet and finger then he ate from the tray that was brought to him. When he finished his late lunch the elf helped him to the loo then helped him back to the bed. It didn't take very long before Harry was back asleep.