Agony

"Any luck?"

Kingsley shook his head as he stepped through the Floo, the green flames licking harmlessly at his robes. "Alice Meyer wasn't in the office today. She informed your department last night that she was going on an unexpected vacation and wouldn't be back for quite some time."

"Which means that she could be anywhere," groaned Thomson. After informing them of the only person capable of forging her signature, she insisted on stay and helping. If Severus had a say in it, he would tell her to leave this very moment. But of course, Dumbledore said she could stay. After all, she was offering her help to catch the kidnapper, so why not use it?

"The best place to search first is her home or any older homes she might have inherited," said Severus. "Do we have that information?"

"I think so..." Thomson flipped through the file in her hand. "It says here she has her own house, but I doubt that's where she'd take Abigail with it being in a wizarding village. There's too high a risk to being seen and caught... Ah! She also has a house she inherited from her grandmother about ten years ago, which is further away, in a secluded area." She jabbed at the address with her finger. "That's where she probably took her - its perfect. Out of the way, and even if Abigail escaped, she wouldn't have anywhere to go. There's also a house-elf that was inherited with the property that could probably look after her while she was a work."

"Its best that we check both properties, just in case," said Dumbledore as he stood.

Before they could even decided who would go where, the fire flashed green, and a letter flew through, landing lightly at Kingsley feet. The Auror bent down and picked it up, his dark eyes glancing over it. "A friend of mine said he would alert me if he found anything to help us," he informed the group as he looked up. "Its a report that's been filled out by Augusta Longbottom - her grandson was kidnapped this morning."

"How is that connected with Abby's kidnapping?" asked Pomfrey, who had been rather silently lately.

"A house-elf saw the woman that kidnapped him before she disappeared," said Kingsley. "He gave a description that matches you, Thomson."

"How is that possible?" Thomson said with a frown. "If that was Alice she looks nothing like me."

"Polyjuice potion," said Severus almost instantly. "It takes sometime to brew, but it's not hard. And all she would need is one of your hairs. Or even a temporary glamour spell. She's almost the same age as you, and your height and built are almost a match. Changes her hair and eye color with a spell, and it would be hard for anyone who didn't know you personally to tell the difference."

"So she's kidnapping children while pretending to be me? Why?" Thomson asked, running a hand over her hair.

"That's something we'll have to ask her when we arrest her," said Kingsley. "I'll gather some men and have them search her home. We," he gestured to the ready witch and wizards, "will go to the house she inherited. Madam Pomfrey, I think it's best you stay here. If either team finds Abby, she might need medical attention, and it'll be easier to get her taken care of if you're here waiting for her."

"Especially since I doubt she do well with some stranger at St. Mungo," mentioned McGonagall.

Pomfrey nodded. "Alright."

"Then let's get moving," said Dumbledore as he stood. "We're running out of time."

In less then fifteen minutes, the four were making their way down a dirt path that lead to the Meyer home, inherited by its only heir, Alice. It looked like it hadn't been cared for since its owner died, weeds everywhere and the grass wild. It was probably only thanks to magic that the house looked like it wouldn't fall apart the minute they stepped onto the porch.

As Dumbledore reached up to knock on the door, all four of them kept their hands either on or near their wands. They weren't sure how violent this could get, but they weren't going to take any chances.

The door creaked open a minute later and the wide eyes of a house-elf appeared in the crack. "Hello? How can Mammie help?"

"Hello, my name is Auror Kingsley. Is your Mistress, Alice Meyer, here?" asked Kingsley politely. "We'd like to speak with her."

The door opened wide, to show a female house-elf in a ragged dishrag. "Mistress is here," said the house-elf, nodding its head so quickly that its ears flopped up and down. "Yes, Mistress is here. Mammie will fetch Mistress for nice bald man and his friends. Yes, Mammie will." And then she disappeared with a crack, leaving the door wide open.

"Not the strangest house-elf I've seen to date, but close," said Severus with a twitch of his eye as they stepped into the house, remembering one of the Malfoy house-elves, Dobby.

A few minutes later, a woman appeared in the semi-dark hallway. Meyer was as Severus said before, only a few years younger than Thomson and with almost the same height and built. Her hair though was a pale blonde, almost white, with dark brown eyes, and she had glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're here for, but I'm very busy -" She stopped when Thomson stepped forward. "Oh, Darcy, what are you doing here? Did I forget to do something at the office before I left? You should have just Floo called me -"

"We're here on more importance business, ma'am," interrupted Kingsley. "It's regarding two missing children. Abigail, a new orphan, and Neville Longbottom, the heir to the Longbottom House."

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of them," said Meyer with a frown, but Severus saw the wariness that suddenly appeared in her eyes. "If that's what you've come to talk to me about, I don't know what I can do to help you -"

"If I may, why did you suddenly go on vacation, Miss Meyer?" asked Dumbledore.

"I'm moving," replied Meyer, just a little too quickly. "And I'm selling both my home and this house. So I decided to take a week to go through everything and see if there's anything I should take with me. Besides, it's nice to have a break every once in awhile, right? Working with children is tiring."

"Please, I've had enough of this," snapped Thomson suddenly, stepping up. "We know what you did, Alice!"

"Darcy? What are you talking about?" asked Meyer as she took a step back. Severus noticed her hand itching towards her left side, where she must have kept her wand.

"Miss Meyer, we believe you have kidnapped the two children mentioned before," said Kingsley. "Unless you have proof of where you were this morning and where you were a week from yesterday, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us."

Eyes widening, Meyer was frozen for only a moment. "But I haven't done anything wrong," she exclaimed, looking to each of them with a slightly wild look. "I haven't, I promised!"

"You're lying, Miss Meyer," Severus finally said. "Now tell us what you've done with Neville Longbottom and Abigail."

"I-I haven't done anything to them!" Meyer cried. "I promise!" She started to sob into her hands, and only Severus sneered in disgust at the obvious bit of acting.

"Even so, ma'am, you'll need to come with us, if only just to answer some questions," said Kingsley, carefully stepping forward and causing Meyer to look up, her eyes watery and red.

"B-But -"

Another sob suddenly attracted everyone's attention, and even Meyer turned towards the noise. In the nearby doorway, a small girl had fallen to her knees, tears running down pale cheeks as she tried to breath. Her eyes were hidden by her short curtain of dark hair, but it was obvious who it was.

"Abby?" said Severus, startled.

Looking up at the call of her name, Abby seemed to be in a daze, her green eyes not focusing on them properly, but she still managed to call out, "Help..."

Staring at the door, the only thing that kept her and eight other children from escaping, Abby desperately tried to think of a way to break it down, or at the very least, unlock it. Neville said he knew there was a spell that could do that, but he couldn't remember what it was, which did help them since they didn't have a wand. Right now, anything that might help them get out sounded good to her.

Closing her eyes with a sigh, Abby let her head fall against the cold wall. If only she could Apparate, like Thomson had done to get her there. That's what Neville told her it was called. Then at least she could get out of the room and unlock it for the others. Then maybe they would have a chance.

"Abby?"

Opening her eyes with a few blinks, Abby glanced at Neville, who sat next to her. He'd quickly become her friend in the hours since he was dropped off, and already she could tell when he was scared, or thinking of the worst. This was one of those times, his hands shaking in his lap. "What do you think the lady is gonna do with us?" he asked, a tremble in his voice. "I mean, she brought us here for a reason, right?"

"I don't know," answered Abby with a mutter. She had wondered that too. Thomson's mutterings hadn't told her who they were being sold to, and it sounded like she didn't know either. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good...

Groaning, Abby ran a hand over her short hair, closing her eyes again. She just wished that she could get out of this room! She wished more then anything that she could, so she could get back home, to Hogwarts, and Mr. Severus!

"Ahh!"

"What?" said Abby as her eyes snapped open, startled at Neville's sudden cry. "What's wrong, Neville?"

Shushing her, Neville glanced other children were looking their ways, frowning, but turned away when they saw nothing was wrong, instead looking back to Mary, who Mammie had brought back just awhile ago. He waited until he was sure they weren't interested in them anymore before he whispered. "You flickered! You went see through for a second!"

"Huh?" Abby glanced over her hands - they looked solid to her. "What are you talkin' about, Neville?" she asked, looking to him with confusion. "I'm fine!"

"But you almost disappeared," urged Neville. "Like you were about to A-Apparate!"

Eyes wide, Abby glanced back at her hands. She had almost disappeared by Apparating? How was that possible? She didn't even know how, or even know about it till Thomson used it to take her away. And... how could she do it again.

"Tell me if I do it again," Abby told Neville, ignoring his whispered protests before closing her eyes and trying again. She clenched her fists in her lap, her brow furrowing from the strain. 'Come on, come on, come on...' She felt her magic flow through her, warming her, and she waited for something to happen.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before she finally heard Neville whisper, "Um... nothing. Sorry, Abby."

Groaning, Abby opened her eyes, thumping her fists against her own thighs. "Why can't I do it now?" she muttered. She could use it to get out of the room, unlock the door, and then they could all escape.

"M-Maybe it was just an accident," said Neville softly. "Sorry."

"Its not your fault, Neville," Abby whispered, sighing again as she tried to think of what she was doing wrong. Maybe it was just her magic was too... ugh, she didn't even know the right word. Wild, maybe. She just wished she knew how to control it...

"That's it!" said Abby, startling Neville. "I think I know how to do it," she explained excitedly. She was wishing! She remembered when she first was at Hogwarts, and she wished a light to come on, or wished a step to appear so she could see herself in the mirror. She had wished to get out of the room. "Tell me if it starts to work again," she told Neville before mimicking her position from before.

"Um, I don't think this is a good idea..."

'I wish I was out of this room,' Abby wished in her mind. 'I wish I was outside the door. I wish I was outside the door.' Again, her magic started to warm her, flickering like a flame.

"A-Abby? You're flickering."

Trying not to smile in triumph, Abby repeated her wish over and over in her head. 'I wish I was outside the door. I wish I was outside the door. I wish I was outside the door! I wish I was outside the door night now!'

It felt like she must have repeated it hundred times, and Abby was starting to worry. But then it came, so suddenly it felt like she was hitting a brick wall. It felt like fire running through her veins, filling her stomach. It was like being set on fire, burning her from the inside out. Before she could let out a cry of pain, she felt as she were being forced through a tight tube by having someone pulling her through by a hook behind her navel. Trying to just let it happen, Abby bit her lip as something seemed to whip around her like a strong wind, lifting her off the ground.

Finally, it seemed to die down, and Abby suddenly found herself thrown to the ground, her thrown out hands the only thing stopping her face from meeting the stone floor, instead landing on them and her knees. Biting back a cry of pain, she fell to her side, cradling her hands to her chest. She took a few moments of deep breathing to ease the pain before finally opening her eyes, blinking back tears so she could see clearly.

"I-I did it!" Abby whispered happily, gingerly pushing herself up so she could look around. She was no longer in the room, instead at the bottom of a set of stone stairs, and from the look of the door that was just in front of her, she was right outside of it, just like she wished for. She punched the air with a wince. "I did it!"

"Abby," called out a faint voice, barely making it through the thick door. "Are you out there?"

"Neville, I did it!" Abby said back as she struggled to stand up, her legs feeling like jelly. "I did it! I'm outside the door!"

"Abby," called out Tim. He must have noticed that she was gone and that Neville was yelling at her through the door. "Abby, I don't know how you got out there, but can you open the door?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute!" Standing up, Abby winced at the bruises on her hands and knees, but took a step towards the door. Instantly, she regretted it; her vision started to blur, and she felt herself start to sway, like her legs had suddenly disappeared. Gasping, she clutched the nearest wall so she could hold herself up, all while trying not to be sick. It felt like all her energy had been suddenly drained, someone trying to leave her as weak as a newborn baby.

Someone was calling her name again, but Abby couldn't answer yet, breathing deeply to try and focus her vision again. She muttered one of Mr. Severus' favorite curse words. How did getting out of the room help if she couldn't even walk to escape?

"Are you alright? Abby!"

"Just a little dizzy. Its going to take me a minute." Shuddering as she took a breathe, Abby used the wall to help her move towards the door, moving inch by inch. It seemed to take a lifetime before she finally reached it, and she was amazed that she made it at all - it felt like she'd just run a marathon.

But the others needed her more than she needed a break.

Lifting a shaky hand, Abby felt around for a lock, a doorknob, anything. But after a long minute of searching, she left her hand drop, cursing as she let her forehead hit the door. It was a smooth, thick wooden door, with not even a handle to open it. Thomson must have used magic to open it.

"Sorry," Abby called through the door, struggling to make sure they could hear her. "I can't open it. I'm gonna go find something to open it."

"Be careful, Abby," called out Neville. "Don't let the lady see you."

Nodding in answer, even though she knew Neville couldn't see it, Abby carefully turned towards the stairs. She silently groaned when she realized how long it would take her to the top. And her energy was already low. Yet she knew that she didn't have a choice - not if she wanted to get out of here.

Letting a few tears run down her cheeks, Abby started the long trek up the stairs.

It was self inflicted torture. Each step felt heavier than the last, her hands started to shake violently, and taking a breathe started to hurt. More than once Abby was forced to stop, panting for breathe and wiping her sweat soaked brow. She just felt so drained. And she wanted desperately to stop. To just sit there and breathe. But what she wanted more was to escape and go home. So no matter how much it hurt, she went on.

When she finally reached the top of the stairs, all Abby could do was push at the door, which swung open easily, before collapsing into a pile, gasping for air. She done it. She was a little closer to getting home. Now to find thing to open the door, or maybe someone to help them. Who, she didn't know. But she would take anyone at the moment. Maybe a neighbor - as long as they weren't in the middle of the woods, or something like that.

Slowly moving down a long hallway, which was lit only by a few dim candles, Abby was glad that it didn't tire her out as much as climbing the stairs did. Maybe her energy was starting to return. She tried to smile at that thought, but couldn't even manage that for long. There were just so many doors, so many hallways. Who knew which one would lead outside... or to Thomson? She would just keep going till she was sure.

"enough of... Alice..."

"What... you..."

"... two children... come with us..."

Abby frowned. Those were voices. And it sounded like there were more than one, including Thomson's. For a moment, she panicked. What if this was the one that was going to take them away? What was he planning on doing with them?

"... lying... where... Abigail..."

Perking up at the sound of her name, Abby instantly knew who the new voice belonged to. "Mr. Severus," she gasped out, pushing herself forward. He was here to rescue her! He would save her and the others!

Moving almost blindly towards the voices, Abby wasn't sure how far she went before she stumbled around a corner and then through an open doorway, falling to her knees again. Tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed, she suddenly heard her name being called. Lifting her head, despite the pain it caused, Abby saw the blurry bodies of at least five adults, and she weakly spoke.

"Help..."

A flash of red sped towards Abby before she could say anymore, and hit her square in the chest. Something rushed through her, and she felt heavy. Almost instantly, she felt her eyes close fall, and her last thought before she fell to the floor was that Mr. Severus had come to save her.

Before anyone could react, Meyer's wand was out, and she shot a silent Stunner at the girl, collapsing like a puppet who had lost it strings. "Stupid girl!" she hissed before turning her wand back on them, firing Stunners at them as well. Luckily, Severus' already had his wand out and blocked most of the spells. Preoccupied with that though, he missed his chance to stop Meyer before she ran off.

"Take care of Abby, Severus, we'll follow her," said Dumbledore before following Kingsley as they rushed after her, Thomson right after them.

Moving quickly to the fallen girl's side, Severus carefully turned her onto her back, checking for any serious injures as he did with a spell that he'd learned from Pomfrey. There were none, thankfully, but he did notice that she had lost most of the weight she'd gained, and had started to get pale again. And for some reason, her magic was very low. It was a miracle she was even able to move earlier. And he'd have to take care of that before he woke her up.

Searching through his robes, Severus pulled out a lemon yellow potion. While he couldn't restore all her magic, this would at least give a necessary boost until they could get back to Hogwarts and get her some medical help. One hand going under her head to lift it up, he pulled off the stopper with his teeth pressed it to her lips. They parted slightly, and he carefully poured the potion into her mouth, making sure to stop often so he could get her to swallow it.

Waiting for a long minute before checking her magic levels again, Severus breathed a sigh of relief when he saw they had risen, at least enough to wake her up safely. First lifting her up so she was sitting in his lap, cradling her head against his shoulder, he muttered the counter spell for the Stunner. Severus watched as she slowly started to wake up. "Abigail?"

With a groan, Abby's eyes fluttered open. "Wha?" Suddenly, she stiffened, glancing around with fear. "Mr. Severus," she cried out.

"I'm here, Abigail," Severus said soothingly, trying to calm her down. "You're safe now."

Finally looking up to him, it took a long moment before tears started to run down Abby's cheeks, all the while her lip trembled. "You came," she sobbed, turning into his shoulder to cry and clutching his robes with shaky hands. "I-I knew you'd save us. I knew it."

"It's alright, child," said Severus over her sobs as he stood. "I'm going to take you back to Hogwarts."

"W-Wait," said Abby, lifting her head up - even that simple action seemed to tire her. "We have to save the others."

"Others?" As far as he knew, there was only the Longbottom heir. "Abigail, how many children does Meyer have here?"

"Eight," answered Abby softly. "They're all down in the basement."

Nine children total? What was Meyer planning on doing with all of them? "Can you show me where they are?" Severus asked. He was answered with a nod, and Abby pointed towards the hallway she had emerged from.

It took some time, since Abby admitted that she just ran when she escaped and didn't bother to look for any landmarks so she could get back. But with a few helpful spells, Severus found himself descending a set of stone stairs, which ended with a large wooden door that Abby sleepily said the children were behind. He couldn't feel anything when he got close to it, so no wards. Meyers must have thought children couldn't escape the room because they couldn't control their magic. What puzzled him was the fact that the door had no handle or lock. It was held closed with only magic.

"Abigail, how did you get out the room?" Severus asked with a glance towards the girl in his arms. But she was already asleep, her tiny hands still clutching his robes. Making a metal note to question her later, Severus went to work on opening the door. It took a few tries, but finally, the door swung open with a loud creak.

As he stepped inside, Severus clenched his teeth together to stop the sudden urge to leave the room, find Meyer, and hex her till she begged for him to end her. The room wasn't very large, but had to hold at least five beds with only a small adjacent room that seemed to be a partial bathroom. Eight children gasped as he entered, most of them huddling into a corner and shaking. But one boy stayed where he was, though he did look as if he was about to empty his bowels at the very sight of him.

"W-Who are you? Why do you have Abby?" the boy asked with a stammer, glancing at the sleeping girl in his arms.

"You're the Longbottom boy, aren't you?" said Severus, not answering him as he studied him. He took quite a bit of his mother looks, who he went to school with.

Wide eyed, the boy nodded. "A-Are you here t-to rescue us?"

"It appears so," said Severus.

The other children perked up upon hearing this news, all of them rushing forward and thanking him over and over. Severus had to resist the urge to step away - it was slightly unnerving to have this many small children around him.

"Sir?" said Longbottom. "Um... They don't know, about m-magic, I mean," he said quickly and quietly.

Muggle children? Severus held back a groan. This was going to be a nightmare to fix. "Alright, all of you get in a line," he barked. "We're not leaving till you are all in a straight line."

It was obvious that they were eager to leave, the children scrambled to get into a line, staring up at him with wide eyes and waiting for another order. Not giving one, Severus simply turned on his heel and made his way back up the stairs, the children following him after only a moment's hesitation.

He lead them up to the front room, where he found Thomson had returned. "Dumbledore and Kingsley caught her," she reported as he entered. "They're taking her to the Ministry - Where did all these children come from?" she asked in astonishment as the children poured into the room, wincing at the bright light that poured through the open front door.

"Apparently, Meyer kidnapped them all," said Severus. "All except for Longbottom are Muggle."

"Oh dear," Thomson mumbled. "I'll have to call inside for some help with this," she mumbled as she went to look for the nearest fireplace.

"If you don't mind, I shall be taking Abigail and Mr. Longbottom back to Hogwarts so Madam Pomfrey can look over them," said Severus. He didn't wait for an answer, starting to walk away. "Come along, Mr. Longbottom, we shall move to the edge of the grounds and Apparate."

"Y-Yes, sir," said Longbottom with a series of quick nods before following him outside.

The sun shone bright, and Abby happily sighed in the warm light before nuzzling closer to him, already happy to leave the house that had been her prison. Severus simply shifted her in his arms before instructing Longbottom to hold his arm so they could leave. The stuttering boy did as he was told. A moment later, a pop filled the air, and the three were gone, never to return to the awful place.