Disclaimer - I do not own the world of Harry Potter.

Author's note: This one is made up of short scenes, sorry about that.

And to AskingForAnUpdate; your review really motivated me to get this done, thank you so much. And no, I'm not turning my back on this, I had a lot of work to do. (essays and exams) but here it is! I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 5

Williamson swept into the main office the next morning. "Did our witness remember anybody?" It was still relatively early in the morning, but he wanted to get this case solved; it wasn't everyday someone used an Unforgivable and his curiosity wanted to know who it was.

"No." Robards answered.

With a decisive nod he swept back out of the office to head to Dorking where he would question the locals over whether they saw anything.

"How are you doing, Harry?" Lucius said, his voice soft and caring. Harry cracked his eyes open a crack.

"You're not fooling anyone." He murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as it was hard to get any oxygen into his lungs.

The man chuckled. "You never did lose that Gryffindor spirit." He was drawling now. "But it won't serve you well here."

"That's what you thought last time, I'm sure." He said, fighting back in the only way he could.

"Ahh, and just where did it get your precious little Mudblood friend." Harry winced as his heart froze at the sneered words. Hermione. No, he would not think of that. It was too painful.

"I'm sure you didn't come here for my pleasant conversation." Harry said; anything to avoid thinking of his friends, the only family that he had known.

"And for my next trick…" the man trailed off mocking. "I thought that I'd do this one for Draco, you do remember what you did to precious Draco, don't you?" Before Harry could comment the man shouted an incantation. "Sectumsempra!"

As Harry felt his skin tearing apart he felt not the pain that he imagined Lucius had expected and intended, that was a dull throb at the back of his mind, he felt a deep rooted sadness as the spell reminded him of Severus Snape who to this day, remained the bravest man he'd ever known, even if he did not know it while the man was alive. "What is right…" he whispered to himself, remembering the words that Dumbledore had uttered years before and how accurately they applied to Snape. And how for a while, he hadn't believed that, had tarnished Snape's memory by not believing in him until it was too late.

He could feel the blood beginning to pool beneath him and knew that it wasn't a good sign, but right now he just didn't care. Lucius was speaking again, from his spot just outside of the tiny cell, but Harry did not hear a word he uttered, just the gushing in his ears and the throbbing in his head.

He took a shuddering breath, pain shooting through his chest at the movement, in an attempt to clear his head.

"-finish the work of my old master…" he heard, before the voice faded back out again.

Dumbledore flashed to mind again, his wrinkled visage kind and soft, as it had been the last time he'd seen the man; It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.

To fight, he thought to himself, closer to the eradication, as Dumbledore would have wanted. He twitched his right arm; it hurt to move, but move he could. Using his arm as a lever, he pulled himself along the floor. He twitched forwards an inch but that was all he managed. He cracked an eye open, not aware that he had even closed it; the blob that was Lucius hadn't moved so he figured that the man had not noticed his movement. Inch by painful inch he moved forwards until his arm brushed against the wall. Opening an eye he could see that his index finger had just passed the threshold of the door.

"Stupefy." He whispered and watched in satisfaction as Lucius' body plummeted to the floor. Finally he gave in to the darkness and the blissful peace of unconsciousness.

There was no answer on the other end of the phone. They had phoned five times since Harry had disappeared and each time there had been no answer, it was now five in the afternoon and he had been missing for over twenty-four hours.

"I'm going to take Pip for a walk." Yvonne said with a sigh, gesturing to Pip who was fussing miserably on the floor at her feet.

It didn't take her long to grab the bag she took on outings and have her daughter in the pram, and she headed out to the park again, as she had yesterday with Harry, before he had gone missing. Philipa was still grumbling grouchily, it was as if she was aware of the tension of everybody else in the house. As she was pushing Pippa on the swings her heart wasn't really in it, she kept seeing Harry sat on the bench, he had been quiet, not that she expected anything else from the little she knew of him, but he had seemed jumpy too and she wondered why.

She'd been in the park for ten minutes when a man in a smart, crisp suit marched up to her.

"Excuse me ma'am?" He said politely. "Could I have a moment of your time please?"

She nodded, frowning. "I'm Williamson and I'm with the police and I was wondering if you might have seen anybody acting strange yesterday, out of character, or if you saw anybody suspicious; somebody not from 'round here, or acting odd; maybe they were wearing weird clothes."

He rattled off the list and instantly the image of the blond man sprang to her mind. She nodded. "He was tall and thin and had long, blonde hair, like, really long." She began, gesturing to her mid-back, she felt a spark of hope when the man frowned as if deep in thought. "He wasn't a muggle, was he?" She asked, using the word that she remembered Harry using, but that she knew would just seem vague and like gibberish to somebody if she were wrong.

His brow furrowed more. "No. Can you tell me what you know?"

"I don't know much; I only found out about magic a few days ago, my partner's cousin is a wizard and my daughter is a witch, they just broke the news to me." She knew that she was rambling, the man did not need to know all of this, but she was just so confused by everything. "I don't know who the man was, he tried to give me a letter for Harry, that's Dudley's cousin, when Harry arrived. He shouted something, he didn't seem very happy at the man's presence, and then said ac," she frowned, unable to pronounce the strange word.

"Accio?" the man asked.

"Yeah, that, and then caught the letter. But he disappeared the moment he touched it and then so did the man, the blonde one." All of this was said in a gush. "Is Harry going to be ok?"

"Harry?" Williamson asked, frowning again.

"Yeah, my cousin-in-law." She said, unaware of the significance of this.

"Harry Potter?" The man asked, "About yay high," he gestured with a hand "Skinny, black hair."

"Yeah." The man cursed, causing her to shy back.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for of me. Thank you for your time, your help has been invaluable."

"Harry will be ok, wont he, we haven't been able to get hold of him."

"I'm sure he will be," Williamson said smiling, although it failed to reach his eyes.

"You'll contact us, as soon as you find him." She could tell that it was bad news. He nodded once, so she gave him their address and telephone number, he nodded again before turning on the spot and leaving her in confusion, Pippa tugging on a strand of her hair in frustration.

Williamson sped down the corridor to Robards' office. "Sir it's Malfoy and he's got Harry." He blurted, out of breath.

There were two people in the office though, Robards was behind his desk, a man in purple robes stood before it. Williamson blushed as the man turned around. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic; he had just rudely interrupted a meeting with the Minister.

But the man was not angry. "Harry?" He asked, his voice concerned as his brow furrowed.

"Yes, Sir. His cousin's wife told me, said a tall man with long blond hair tried to give her a letter but Harry accio'd it away and disappeared. It must have been a portkey."

Shacklebolt frowned "Harry's cousin, I believe they don't get along." Williamson just shrugged in response.

Robards stood from his desk, sending a patronus out to those on call. "I want to come with you." Shacklbolt said fiercely.

Robards faltered. "Sir…" he trailed off, he couldn't argue with the Minister, even if they were old acquaintances, but this really was not a good idea.

Kingsley sighed. "No, I know. Just take him to Poppy," He said, at Robards' blank look he added "The Hogwarts infirmary. Please." At his frown he said "Please, just do it. He'll be much easier to handle." He added wryly. Harry wasn't exactly known for his cooperation when it came to medical treatment.

Robards agreed before heading to the main office where the aurors on duty had assembled.

"We have reason to believe that it was Lucius Malfoy that cast the Imperius Curse yesterday afternoon." Heads nodded grimly, this made matters easier as they already knew where his main residence was and so where to start their search. "The thing is, we also have reason to believe that he has Potter." There was silence across the room.

"We're going to start at the Manor in Wiltshire" they knew of its location as they had searched it after the downfall of Voldemort "And if he's not there then we'll search for clues from there." He split those in the office into three groups of three and they headed out. It was a lot of people for one operation, but he knew that Malfoy could be dangerous. He'd been released without charge after his defection in the final battle, but he knew that Harry hadn't contested his innocence and what the Death Eaters had once been able to do. He trusted no less people than the nine that he was taking.

The group apparated to the outskirts of the large property, cast disillusionment charms and, splitting up, slipped closer to the manor.

It was Williamson's group that eventually found them. He saw Malfoy first, his body crumpled in a manner that he knew was due to being stupefied. As his gaze travelled he caught sight of Harry. His arm was stretched out, as if he'd been reaching for something. His skin was grey and there was a pool of blood, black in the flickering torchlight, caked on the cold stone floor. He abruptly sent a patronus off to the other groups and cast restraints around Malfoy, in case he came to before they could transport him to a ministry holding cell.

The other two groups slid to a halt next to him and stared down at Harry; the boy was an excellent auror and frequently ended up injured, he always put himself into the dangerous situations or took a spell meant for another, but they had never seen him like this, looking so small and battered. After all, he was the Saviour, he defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"Get Malfoy in a holding cell." He ordered, "I'm taking Potter to Hogwarts."

With that he laid a portkey on Harry's chest, his hand clutching it too and disappeared with a pop.

He landed in the same position on the floor of the Hospital wing at Hogwarts. There was a gasp and the school nurse, Madame Pomfrey, he remembered from his own school days, hurried over to them, dropping the pile of sheets that she had been carrying.

"Move away." She snapped, brandishing her wand. She levitated Harry, for she could see now that it was Harry, over to a bed and began to cast diagnostic spells.

Robards sighed and sat himself in a chair by the bed opposite Harrys; he would return to the office and his paperwork there later, after he knew that Harry was ok.

Williamson returned to the ministry with the rest of the aurors but instead of joining them in the main office he went straight to Robards office to use his floo. He crouched down and threw some of the powder in before shouting into the bright green flames "Headmistress' Office, Hogwarts."

"Good afternoon?" Professor McGonagall asked from her desk.

"Auror Williamson, Ma'am, may I please floo through?"

"Of course." She said. A tall man whose long hair was pulled back into a pony-tail stepped smoothly from the fireplace. "Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"It's Harry Potter, Headmistress." He began. He was cut off when she stood up abruptly.

"Is he ok?"

"I couldn't say for sure, I'm afraid. Auror Robards brought him to Hospital Wing here on the orders of Minister Shacklebolt; I was wondering if I could bring Harry's muggle family here?" He asked, having promised the lady he had met earlier that day that he wouldn't forget her.

"Harry's muggle family?" She asked frowning, "He doesn't get along with his family."

"I don't know anything about that, ma'am, but I was asked by his cousins wife to keep them informed; she said he'd broken the news about her daughter being a witch."

"Here." McGonagall rummaged about in her desk, before pulling out a black feather. "Take this portkey, it'll take them straight to the hospital wing."

"Thank you ma'am." He said flooing away.

Yvonne couldn't sit still. She had made a cup of tea, watered the garden, washed the windows in the sitting room and, now that she was sat down, her left knee was bobbing up and down with suppressed energy. Dudley had come home a few minutes ago, after she had phoned him at his work and was sat just as awkwardly next to her. Her mum was sat playing with Pip, also trying to distract herself from thoughts of Harry. They all jumped as a knock came at the door, disturbing the tense silence of the room. She leaped to her feet and hurried to the door. On the doorstep was the same man as before, this time in a set of long, black robes. At least she thought that they must be robes.

"Is he ok?" She blurted out, without even saying hello.

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I really couldn't say; he wasn't in the best of states when we found him, but we found him, that's what matters and he's with the healer now. I can take you to see him."

She let out the breath that she had been holding, but didn't allow herself to relax yet. "Thank you." She said sincerely "We'll be right there."

In a few minutes the Addison family, or those that were there at the moment, had gathered in the hallway. Williamson was holding out a black feather, while they all looked on in bemusement. "If you touch it, it'll take us straight to the Hospital Wing. It'll be uncomfortable, but the feeling will not last. Whatever you do, do not let go until we have landed."

Nervously they followed his instructions. He pulled out his wand and tapped the feather. They all experienced the same uncomfortable tug behind their navel before the world blended into a multitude of different colours.

It was with a thud that a now shaky Yvonne landed on the cold floor of a sterile smelling room. As the world righted itself again she could hear three frantic voices coming from the far end of what appeared to be a ward, as it was lined with uniform beds with crisp, white sheets. As one they moved towards the voices, guessing correctly that this would be where Harry was.

"There's not much more that I can do right now." A woman with silver hair pulled back into a tight bun said.

"What do you mean 'nothing more you can do' you can't just leave him in this state."

"I said right now, Minerva" her voice, though firm, was soft "I can't give him anymore potions or they could have seriously adverse effects. We'll start again tomorrow."

"What was the damage?" the third figure, from the tall man stood a little to the side of the two women asked. Yvonne, Dudley and Susan all stepped closer to find out the answer to what they too had been wondering.

"The entire left side of his body was crushed, the bones shattered and the organs suffered significant damage; there's a number of deep abrasions and so some major blood loss, missing fingers on his right hand, extensive use of the Cruciatus Curse, and evidence of other dark magic that I've been unable as of yet to identify."

Yvonne didn't know what most of that meant but she got the sense that it was bad; indeed the part of Harry that she could see looked to be in extremely bad shape.

"Is he going to be ok?" She asked, stepping forwards once they had stopped talking.

The woman on the left, Minerva she thought, turned around. She looked at Dudley, not Yvonne, a steely, hard look in her green eyes, but they softened when she saw Pip, balanced on his hip and the look in his eyes as he spoke to her.

"He'll live." Was all she said.

"That doesn't really answer the question."

"It's not going to be an immediate recovery, but he will be ok. I've stabilised his struggling organs and prevented any further damage to them and replenished his blood and body fluids, I've sealed the abrasions and given him skelegrow to mend the broken bones. He's lost the first two fingers on his right hand, I don't think there's anything that we'll be able to about that, as if you leave it too long potions and magic have no effect but I can't give him anything for it now, for the same reason I've not given him anything for the after effects of the Cruciatus. We also could not use Essence of Dittany on his cuts so there's a very good chance that they'll scar. His bones seem to be mending as they should, but I've seen little change in the state of his leg. We'll have to wait 'til later to know about that."

"Can we stay with him?" Dudley asked, chewing nervously on his lip.

The woman that Yvonne guessed was the medic looked questioningly at the other, who nodded minutely. "Feel free to sit with him, but he shouldn't wake until at least tomorrow afternoon." She said, before adding almost to herself "Then again, this is Harry we're talking about."

Minerva snorted at that.

"What do you mean?" Susan asked, frowning slightly.

"This is Harry." She said, shrugging her shoulders as if that explained everything "He never follows the norms; after all, he did survive the unsurvivable." She answered cryptically and swept from the room, saying something about seeing to the students and promising to return soon.

Thank you for reading. Reviews seriously motivate me, especially at this busy time of exams, just dropping it in there :P