Hi. This chapter is quite long! Yay!

I hope you enjoy it.

Walking Free

The Truth

Dumbledore watched from afar as Moody and Kingsley shoved the unconscious Death Eater into a chair and magically bound him. The room slowly began to fill with Order members who had made their way from the fight. The last was Severus who strode into the room carrying a small vial of clear liquid.

'The Veritaserum you asked for Albus.' he said as he handed the vial to the headmaster.

'Thank you, my boy' Albus replied at the now scowling potions master.

'Enervate' Albus spoke softly; pointing his wand at the man slumped over in the chair. The effect of the spell was immediate as the once unconscious Death Eater woke up.

Realising that he was not in the company of other Death Eaters, the man began to struggle against the binds, cursing out loud when he realised that could not break his way out.

A hushed silence descended upon the room as the headmaster strode towards the captured Death Eater. Grabbing the man's chin and thrusting his head upwards, Albus poured the clear liquid into the Death Eater's mouth. They all watched in anticipation as the Death Eater swallowed the substance. The effects were instantaneous. The Death Eater visibly relaxed, his eyes became unfocused and he now sat hunched in the chair.

The headmaster stood in front of the tied man, his wand in hand, ready in case the Death Eater tried to escape. Mad-Eye Moody sat menacingly behind the man, as if daring him to move.

Pius Thicknesse was a very proud man. He was proud of all the work he had done, proud of all his success and the one thing that filled him with more pride than anything else, was his recent promotion to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. From the age of thirteen, Pius knew he was destined to work in the Ministry and nothing could stop him form succeeding in his dream. He was not a cruel man but he was willing to do some rather unpleasant things to get what he wanted. Marcus Judge, a well respected Ministry worker who had also been well qualified and up for the job had strangely found himself unable to attend the crucial interview with the current Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, as he had fallen sick with food poisoning from a rather vicious cupcake.

Pius had settled into his new role in the Ministry very well and he was thoroughly enjoying the extra office space allocated to him. Although he had to deal with some rather ill-mannered workers, for example Mr. Judge who had oddly taken a dislike to his knew boss, Pius was having a jolly good time.

He had only had the job for about a year thought, when he found that it was not all it cracked up to be. Only months after he had gotten the job, Pius had started getting the feeling that he was being watched. It was an odd feeling but he had gotten used to it as it had gone on for some time. It was when he had reached a year as Head that he was first contacted by Lord Voldemort.

Ever since that time Pius had had to be cautious of everything that he did. He didn't want anyone to know that he had been asked to join the dark side on numerous occasions. He had of course declined the offer and was surprise when Voldemort had not killed him. This however, caused yet more worry as Pius knew no one had ever denied the Dark Lord of what he wanted and gotten away with it. There would be revenge.

As soon as Pius Thicknesse had stepped outside the Ministry doors that evening, he knew that revenge was on its way.

The Death Eaters were on him in seconds and Pius had tried to fight them off but there were too many. He could see Aurors and the Order members running up and down the street, spells already flying through the sky, but with all the confusion they failed to realise that one of their own was being kidnapped.

As the Death Eaters apparated him away he felt regret and fear raging through his body. He had been foolish. He should have told someone that Voldemort had contacted him. He shouldn't have been so proud as to think that he could deal with it all himself. He needed help now more than ever.

Harry was forcefully slammed into a wooden chair in a small, dimly lit room. There were several aurors surrounding him, wands at the ready. His hands had been tied behind his back, his wand taken and his glassed shoved onto his nose.

'Alright lads. I think that'll be it, thanks.' Harry assumed the man speaking was the one that had caught him in the first place. The lesser aurors began to file out of the room, leaving the main man and two others. He recognised one of the men as a wizard guard of Azkaban.

'So Potter, why did you do it?' The man spat his name out as if it were a piece of filth.

'Huh? Do what?' Harry's head was pounding and he was sure that he had lost quite a bit of blood.

'Don't act stupid, boy! You know what you did! Now, tell me WHY you did it!'

Harry just stared at the man. He was thoroughly confused, in pain and just wanted to get back to Remus and Tonks' house. He knew that wasn't going to happen though. These aurors were going to get him thrown back into Azkaban.

'ANSWER ME!' screamed the man.

'Wha…' As Harry started to speak, the man jumped up from his seat, leant over the table that separated them and punched Harry forcefully in the face. Blood began to pour from Harry's nose and mouth.

'You're nothing more than a piece of shit! You killed two of our men and you try to deny it, eh? Well, you're going to pay!' And with that, the man chucked the table out of the way and pushed Harry's chair onto the floor. Harry landed painfully on his arm and tried to move but it was no use; his hands were tied around the back of the chair which left him with no arm movement. He watched as the tall auror approached, a malicious grin plastered on his face.

'I'll enjoy this boy!' he whispered as he put his shoe onto Harry's cheek. 'I think we all will!' It happened so fast that even if Harry had been able to move, he wouldn't have gotten out of the way fast enough.

The tip of the auror's hard shoe met Harry's stomach repeatedly as he kicked him with all of his force. Harry gasped the first time having been winded; however, when it continued, he couldn't get the breath into his lungs to cry out. Each blow was like a boulder being pelted down on him. The pain was agonising. Then the kicking in his stomach and abdomen ceased, only to be replaced by kicking to his head.

'Stop! Welsh, stop! You're going to kill him! WELSH!' Harry could just about make out one of the other aurors shouting as he lost consciousness.

'What is your name?' Albus tested the potion with a couple of simple questions.

'Rodolphus Lestrange' he replied with a glazed look in his eyes

'Are you a supporter of Lord Voldemort?'

'Yes'

'Alright, Albus! We get the idea! The potion is working so start asking the important questions!' Moody interrupted, obviously keen to hear what the Death Eater had to say.

Dumbledore did not look away from the bound man in the chair as he spoke to the ex-auror. 'All in good time, Alastor.' The headmaster took a step forward now only feet away from the Death Eater. 'Let us begin, shall we.'

The questioning was an extremely long process, order members interrupting on several occasions, asking their own questions to the captive. The hours drew on and the occupants of the room began to get more and more restless. Twice more during the intense questioning did Dumbledore administer more of the truth serum to Lestrange.

'Did you partake in the attempted infiltration of Death Eaters into the Ministry of Magic?'

'Yes'

'Why did Lord Voldemort wish to interfere with the ministry?'

'The Dark Lord wanted to have more correspondents within the ministry. He believed that he would be able to change opinions of him; to turn those who once fought against him into his followers. He wants to kill the Potter boy with your side watching. He wants to see your face when he murders the one who was thought to be the only wizard who could defeat him.'

There was silence after this answer. Although everyone knew that this was what Voldemort wanted, it was still disturbing to hear that it aloud.

Dumbledore moved on, 'Who was Lord Voldemort trying to convert?'

'The Dark Lord doesn't mind. He is of the opinion that anyone who agrees with his ways is a good follower.'

'Was there anyone in particular that Lord Voldemort wished to interfere with?'

'Yes, our master wanted to Imperious Pius Thicknesse. He is high up in the Ministry and would easily be able to provide the Dark Lord with anything he wished.'

'Is Lucius Malfoy not good enough for him then?' yelled Alastor Moody.

'The Dark Lord uses Lucius for other matters.'

'Like what?' the ex-auror spat out.

'Lucius is the main brains behind planning the attacks. He has extensive knowledge of the Ministry of Magic as well as the rest of the wizarding community and so, the Dark Lord wishes for him to focus on the most important tasks. The most recent being getting hold of the Potter boy.'

There was silence before Dumbledore spoke again, 'I believe that is all I had to ask. Is there anyone else who wishes to ask Rodolphus here any questions?'

The majority of the room shook their heads, other merely murmured 'no'; however, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind told Remus that the last comment made by the Death Eater had something more to it. With a loud voice, Remus spoke out, 'What do you mean getting Potter? Are there any other crimes that you have committed or know about that we do not know about?' Everyone in the room turned to him, questioning looks on their faces.

However, just like previous answers, the Death Eater could not stop what was coming out of his mouth and so he found himself spilling the some of Dark Lord's biggest secrets.

'Yes.' Rodolphus tried to stop the words but they seemed to slip effortlessly out of his mouth; all control was gone. 'Three and a half years ago, the Dark Lord commanded that we capture the Potter boy. He was adamant that he have the boy so he sent us on a mission. The mission was, on paper, a simple one; capture Potter and bring him to Malfoy Manor where he will be held until the Dark Lord finds a use for him; however, in practise, it was a lot harder and involved extensive planning and preparation. Bellatrix and I were the only people who knew about the mission. The Dark Lord had insisted that we did not allow anyone else, with the exception of Lucius Malfoy, to hear of the mission. If others had found out, there was a chance that they would have let slip in public and the plan would have not worked.'

'What did you do?' Moody questioned, anticipation evident in his voice.

Just as the sun was going down and the stars began to settle in the night sky, a group of men apparated in front of the tall iron gates of Malfoy Manor. Four of the men were hidden by dark cloaks while the fifth, a short, stout man, struggled under their grasps. They were obviously too strong as the four all but dragged the man behind them. The man's shoes grated across the long gravel path, scuffing and ripping the leather into shreds. As they reached the front door the short man noticed someone waiting in the door way. It was a young man, only twenty or so. He had startling white, blonde hair, slicked back over his head. He wore a smart, tight fitting suit, black as death and his face was set in a cold, distant glare. He seemed to barely notice the men as they passed, keeping his eyes set in front of him.

The men dropped the man and he tried to grab his wand from his pocket, only to realise that it was missing. Looking up he saw the young blonde man holding it in his hand. The man smirked, twiddling the wand between his bony fingers.

'Missing this?' he queried. 'Hmm, sorry but you won't be getting this back any time soon.'

Before the man could reply, the blonde man silenced him with a hand. He then indicated that the men should take him away. They dragged him through the huge house until they came to a small, dark wood door. Upon opening it the man stared down at the seeming endless staircase. It was narrow, precarious and highly dangerous. Only two of the four men took him down the stairs where they were met with another door, this one held by numerous locking spell and charms. The door finally clicked open and the man was shoved inside, the door slammed shut behind him.

Harry awoke to find himself in the same room he had been in before; however, the chair he was tied to was now back into its original position. He heard hushed voices somewhere nearby and raised his head to get a better look. Excruciating pain coursed through him as he moved his head, causing him to groan aloud. He noticed that blood covered his body and that he could not open his right eye properly.

Harry tried to move his torso, allowing him to sit up straight, gaining a better view of the room; however, as he did so a nasty ripping sound followed by an agonising scream travelled through the room.

At the yell of pain, the whispered tones stopped and a figure approached. Welsh sat down in the chair opposite Harry and drummed his fingers on the table. Moving his other hand towards Harry, he moved the boy's jacket revealing a rib that had punctured through the skin.

'Jeez, Jerry! You've bloody killed him! Wha…'

'I haven't killed him!' fumed the auror. 'A rib has punctured through the skin, that's all! Nothing he doesn't deserve!' The man spoke with a sadistic smile.

In a clam voice, Welsh started to speak, 'We are going to question you and then take you to Azkaban. You got that?'

Harry just grunted. He couldn't really do much else. His eyes watered from the pain. If he spoke he would pass out again from the strain of it. He could feel the hot, sticky blood flowing down his abdomen as he sat opposite the auror. He scrunched up his green eyes as a wave of nausea hit him. The other men in the room were speaking to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying. The room was spinning and became unfocussed. Black spots clouded his already poor vision as he tried to focus on the men.

Harry was conscious enough to hear a scraping sound fill the room and to feel the hand clamp itself onto his throat. The pain was going to kill him. He was going to die, he was sure of that. His vision turned black as he tried but failed to breathe. He was going to die and he wouldn't be able to see Teddy or Tonks again. He wouldn't be able to thank Remus for all of his help since he had escaped; he couldn't tell him how much Remus meant to him. That he had been a father figure to Harry. He wouldn't be able to tell Ginny that it wasn't him, that he didn't want to hurt her.

Rodolphus smirked, showing a set of darkening teeth, crooked and chipped. He gave a husky laugh, shaking his head, his smirk turning into a crazed grin.

'We snuck Lucius out of Azkaban; he had been in there because of what had happed between Potter and the Dark Lord in the department of mysteries. The Dark Lord believed that with Lucius' help, we would be more…' Rodolphus licked his lips in thought, rolling his blood-shot eyes. 'successful. It was fairly easy to get Lucius out of Azkaban. With everything that had gone on in the ministry and Fudge's resignation, security was not very tight. We told him of the mission and the Dark Lord's request that we three be the only to know of it and we let Lucius, being more knowledgeable about Potter, devise a plan. He knew that the brat's godfather, or something like that, had recently died, so there was probably going to be Order members near the boy when he came back from Hogwarts. We planned to stay hidden at the train station but still be able to hear any conversation held by known Order members as well as ones between Potter and his friends.

'The day the students came back from Hogwarts we stayed hidden in the station, but were close enough to hear a group of your side telling Potter's relatives that the boy was to write once every three days. If we hadn't have heard this, the plan probably wouldn't have worked. You would have realised something was wrong and come on a rescue mission; but luckily, we were organised.' Rodolphus stopped to take in air. He smiled to himself as he continued.

'When the boy and his family left the station, we stunned the relatives and wiped their memories before doing the same with the boy and taking him back to Malfoy Manor. The family went home thinking that the Potter boy had gone to a friends house for the summer.

'When we presented the boy to the Dark Lord, he was so pleased. His plan had worked and he rewarded us for our hard work!' Again, the Death Eater smiled, letting a laugh of joy escape his lips.

'What did Lord Voldemort want with Harry?' Dumbledore intercepted.

Rodolphus snapped his mouth shut and glared at the headmaster. 'The Dark Lord had been desperate during the past year to hear the prophecy which told of a wizard who could defeat him.' he growled. 'When he did not succeed in getting the prophecy, he gave us the mission to capture the boy so that the Dark Lord could question him. When we gave Potter to the Dark Lord, he questioned him vigorously for hours about the prophecy.'

Severus frowned at this; he knew what it meant to be questioned by Voldemort. The Dark Lord had no patience and easily resorted to the Cruciatus Curse when an answer displeased him. He wished this treatment on no-one, even the retched Boy-Who-Lived.

'The questioning lasted a while but the boy did not give in. He remained loyal to your side and kept his mouth shut! Bloody brat!' hissed the Death Eater.

This was like a stab in the heart for Albus. Even after hours of torture by Voldemort, he still had not given in. Harry belonged to them and Albus should never have questioned that.

'What happened then?'

'The Dark Lord grew frustrated and changed plans. He ordered Severus to prepare a Polyjuice Potion which would allow one of us to change into the boy. Severus did so without questions and the Dark Lord, who had gotten fed up of the boy, gave him to Bellatrix, Lucius and myself, after plucking several of his hairs out for the potion.'

Severus closed his eyes and groaned internally; he remembered the Dark Lord ordering him to do this and had thought nothing of it at the time. He had stupidly not thought about what exactly it would be used for, even though it was obvious. Severus never though that he would feel guilt and pity towards the boy, never in his life.

'What did you three do with Harry after that?'

'The boy was taken down to the basement in the manor where Bella had prepared treats for him. The Dark Lord was very gracious and permitted us to torture the boy as long as no lasting damage was done.'

Dumbledore interrupted, his voice was pained as he asked the next question, 'Who was us? Who tortured Harry?'

Rodolphus smiled manically and let out a laugh, 'The Dark Lord let every Death Eater in the building have a go, as well as a few others. He even got Lucius' brat of a son to take a crack at it!' He cackled at this before continuing, 'Lucius' boy was a complete mess for a couple of days that! He is not Death Eater material!' He frowned before continuing. 'Potter was a wreck by the end of the week!' He let out another cackle before his face turned serious, 'We nearly forgot to make him send a letter with his ruddy owl every third day because we were having so much fun!'

The headmaster's voice was strained as he asked the next question, 'I thought you had to keep him hidden? Did the other Death Eaters not realise who it was they were torturing?'

'We made sure that the prisoner was not left alone with someone who did not know of the plan. A bag was also placed over his head when he was being tortured by anyone other than Bellatrix, Lucius or myself so that his identity was kept a secret.'

The Potions Master felt sick to his stomach. He had tortured his own pupil; he tortured a sixteen year old boy. He clearly remembered that day. He remembered walking through the atrium of Malfoy Manor before passing a thoroughly distressed Draco and down into the dingy basement area of the house. The smell of blood that hit him when he entered the room where the boy was kept had stayed with him all of these years. Then there was the small body, tied up with ropes at the end of the room, slumped against the wall. The cloth bag that surrounded the captives face had intrigued Severus; he had never seen the Dark Lord do this before, but who was he to question him.

Albus turned slightly to look at Severus Snape. The man had gone incredibly pale which suggested that Albus' thoughts that Severus had been one of the Death Eaters to torture poor Harry appeared correct. As much as it pained him, and by the looks of it, the Potions master as well, everyone had a right to know what had been done to Harry, so he asked yet another question.

'What did this torture involve?'

Rodolphus continued as if he had not stopped, 'We used the Unforgivables on him as well as some muggle techniques. Bellatrix was particularly fond of the knife whereas Lucius' favourite was submerging the boy's head under ice cold water for a minute or so before allowing him to resurface for breath. In my opinion though, the shackles and the whip were by far the most productive! We tied him to the wall using the shackles and used a muggle whip to hit him! Ingenious really!'

There were cries after this statement. Mrs Weasley, Ginny and Hermione were all crying. Snape had gone even paler than was physically possible whilst Ron, Tonks, Lupin and the rest of the room looked like they were going to be sick.

'The scars!' moaned Remus quietly to himself. He and Tonks had been the only two to see the results of the torture and it had made them feel queasy; however, hearing about the torture first hand hit home the damage that had been caused.

Severus had not needed to hear most of what Lestrange had just said. He had not forgotten the shackles that had been bolted to the wall or the large basin of water.

The room remained silent for minutes; no one able to talk after what they had just heard. Finally, Kingsley asked a question.

'How often did you do that to him?'

'It continued everyday for about a month; until the Polyjuice Potion was ready. The Dark Lord also requested to see the boy every few days to question him; to see if he had cracked under the torture.'

'And did he?' Kingsley's deep voice interrupted.

'No.' Rodolphus sighed, as if being asked about a boring day at work. 'Never. It was not just about the prophecy either. The Dark Lord asked Potter about the Order of the Phoenix. He wanted to know who was in the group, who he was fighting against. The boy's lack of response made the Dark Lord so angry. The boy did not seem scared of the Dark Lord either. He did not respect him like we do so the Dark Lord tried to make him realise what happens to those who do not respect him.'

Rodolphus paused for a moment before continuing, 'The Dark Lord also helped the boy write the letters to the Order. That was very entertaining to watch!'

'What?' Cried several members. The idea of someone openly taking pleasure out of Harry being tortured horrified everyone in the room.

'I think we have heard enough of that.' Dumbledore spoke loudly having regained composure. 'What did you do with the Polyjuice Potion once it had been made?'

'The Dark Lord wanted us to capture the old wand-maker, Ollivander, so that a new wand could be made for him. The plan was to take Potter to Diagon Alley with us during the mission and create a ruckus. During a small fight, we would frame Potter; make your side believe he was capable of murder and such and therefore send him to Azkaban so that the Dark Lord would not have to worry about killing Potter for a while. He thought that there was still a chance to hear the prophecy.'

'What has this got to do with the potion?' snapped Moody who had become quite impatient.

'The hair we took from Potter when he first arrived was put in the potion and Lucius drank it; therefore changing into the boy. We knew that by the time we had finished with him, the boy would not be able to pull off attacking someone so we got Lucius to do it. Lucius, now disguised as Potter, apparated to Diagon Alley with the rest of the group and started a fight. Just as expected, your lot came quickly and began to fight back. In front of everyone, Lucius killed the two aurors and tortured that Weasley girl. Once he had done this, he moved into the back of the Death Eater group where he was hidden from view. From there, he apparated back to the Manor, Obliterated the real Potter and brought him back to Diagon Alley. Once this had been done, we got the wand-maker and were ready to leave. We disapparated, leaving the boy with a group of people who had just seen him kill two people and attack another.' The Death Eater paused for breath.

'It was easy, if not a bit chaotic. Everyone was so wrapped up in what happened, they didn't notice a perfectly normal Potter disappear to be replaced by one who looked like death!' he let out a bark like laugh. 'The boy could barely stand and you were still convinced that he had murdered those aurors!'

'Some of us noticed' Remus spoke out. 'I thought something was wrong at the time.'

'Not like you could do anything about it, werewolf!' spat the Death Eater.

'Enough' Intervened Dumbledore, his voice calm yet controlling.

'Headmaster, I believe the potion is beginning to cease being affective.' spoke Severus Snape quietly from behind Dumbledore.

'We will take you to the ministry where you will be taken to court and convicted for your involvement with Lord Voldemort.' Albus turned to Kingsley and Mad-Eye, 'If you would not mind?' he asked gesturing to the Death Eater.

The two men nodded and grabbed hold of Lestrange, carting him off towards the fire place where they could floo to the ministry. Once the green flames had vanished, the Headmaster turned towards Tonks and Remus, a sad smile flickered on his lips as he thought about the result of their discovery.

'I believe that it is time we find young Harry so that we can tell him of our…' Dumbledore was interrupted by a silver Lynx Patronus which had appeared in the middle of the room. It spoke seven words with Kingsley Shacklebolt's deep voice before dissolving.

'The ministry has captured Potter. Come quickly!'

Allen Pitt- It's really scary how good you are at guessing what happens next. I had this chapter planned and written for ages and then you figured out what would happen! :)

Caelhir- Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad that you like my ideas. I really appreciate the encouragement. :) Please review.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed but more feedback would be great.