Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement intended.
Author: Totchi
Title: Stolen
Pairing: HP/DM
Rating: Mature
Summary: Draco Malfoy has been kidnapped and a ransom letter was left in the possession of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Harry Potter has been called in to investigate and bring Draco back, but something about this kidnapping is not what it seems.

Author's Notes: This chapter definitely took long enough… And I always get distracted with other ideas and want to start something new before finishing what I've already started… Sorry! But no fear, I've gotten back on the right path. Please enjoy!

oooOooo

Harry tapped his wand against his desk, frowning as he stared down at the piece of parchment sitting before him. His brow furrowed as he continued to stare down at it, hoping that the words staring back at him would somehow offer him some sort of clue.

A knock on his door disturbed his thoughts and he looked up, just in time to see the bright red shock of hair that belonged to his partner.

"Hey Ron," he said easily, glancing back down at what was on his desk, not bothering to invite the other man in. Years working with him knew that he didn't have to.

The heavy sound of boots hitting the side of his desk didn't bother him, though he did spare a glance to the other man as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

"I heard that you've been pulled onto a case specifically for Malfoy?" Ron asked, an eyebrow rising, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. "Are you sure he's just not pulling your chain?"

Harry sighed, setting his wand down and sitting back in his own seat. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted with a frown. "It's hard for me to tell, though it wasn't him that I met up with at the Malfoy Manor."

Indeed, despite his unexpected meeting with both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, he still wasn't sure if he should've taken this case too seriously. After all, over the past few months, Draco Malfoy had seemed to make the Aurors Department, if not Harry's own office, his home. And each time he did come, it was to interrupt whatever work Harry was working on and demand that he help him with one small thing to the next.

He sighed as he leaned forward, pushing the note he had taken from the Malfoys to Ron. Since Ron worked with him on every case that required more than one Auror, he might as well ask for his friend's advice. He watched as Ron shifted to sit up, taking the note and reading through it carefully.

"They said they received this after they noticed Malfoy was missing," Harry supplied helpfully.

"How was it delivered to them?" Ron asked, pulling his legs off the desk so he could lean forward, studying the parchment carefully. He had pulled out his wand and started poking the paper with it.

Harry thought back to his discussion with the Malfoys before responding, "By owl, though it seemed to be a normal postal owl, nothing discernable about it."

He watched as Ron let go of the piece of paper, sitting back in his chair while folding his arms over his chest.

"I'm not sure if you'd like to hear this, mate," Ron shook his head, his frown reflecting what Harry felt on the inside. "But I think that Malfoy's really been kidnapped… And based on this letter, I'd say he was kidnapped by some psycho."

Harry felt his stomach sinking, as the realization that Draco Malfoy could possibly be in extreme danger hit him like a ton of bricks. He sat up, shaking his head. For once, he wished that Malfoy were just messing with him.

oooOooo

When Draco opened his eyes, he realized that he had a pounding headache. He winced as he shifted, rolling over onto his back as he waited for his eyes to focus on the top of the four-poster bed he was situated on. His stomach lurched uncomfortably as his eyes refused to focus. He made a soft noise of discomfort, letting his eyes fall close.

While he willed away his pain, he tried to think back to what happened before he woke up. He frowned as he tried to piece together what his last waking moments were, and suddenly he was assaulted with the faint memories of being somewhere unfamiliar, a stranger talking to him, and some foul potion being forced down his lips.

His eyes snapped open, as the realization felt like ice water being doused on him. Ignoring the painful spinning the room had taken, he forced himself up. He needed to get out of this place! He reached out around him, immediately searching the area for his wand. Unable to find it, he sneered to himself, deciding he would have to leave without it.

Closing his eyes for one more second, he breathed in deeply before opening his eyes again, moving to push himself off of the bed. As he shifted himself off of the bed, he heard a faint jingling noise and a weight settled itself on Draco's left leg. He looked down, and to his horror, found that a heavy chain was attached to his leg and wrapped around to a bedpost. He pulled at it, not surprised when he realized it was attached rather firmly. He wouldn't be able to get rid of it without his wand. Giving his leg one more tug, he tried his hardest to glare hatefully at the chain, though the effect was lost, both due to the fact that glaring wouldn't get him anywhere with the chain stuck on his leg and that he could barely focus on anything with all the spinning.

So engrossed in trying to settle his stomach, Draco completely missed the soft click of the door opening. Only when the floor squeaked somewhere behind him, did Draco tense up and turn around to face his assailant. He saw the figure of a man walk towards him, though he knew he couldn't focus enough to see his face. Bringing his arms up defensively, he took enough steps back until he was backed up against the edge of the bed.

"Get away from me," he snarled, unwilling to cave into his fear of what this man wanted from him.

Instead of intimidating the man with his hostility, it seemed to amuse him. In fact, the other man seemed to be laughing. Draco's glare faltered as dread settled itself firmly in his stomach. Suddenly, he felt like he was going to be sick and he didn't think it was because of the vertigo. As if the stranger could tell what he was thinking, he took a few steps closer, close enough that he was standing right before the blonde before Draco had a chance to even take another breath.

Draco heard rustling and saw a hand move before him, reaching out, as if to grab some part of Draco himself. Panic set in and before he could feel the fingers coming closer to his face, he had pulled back and suddenly pain bloomed across his hand, fist clenched, and the satisfying sound of his attacker emitting a noise of pain resounding in the silent room.

"I said, get away from me," he repeated, sounding much more resolute and intimidating than he felt inside. In fact, if he thought about it carefully, he knew that there wasn't much that he could've done.

When he felt something jab into his side, he realized that maybe he shouldn't have tried to do anything at all. A soft chuckle made Draco frown even more, risking to pull back away from the wand that was shoved up against him. What the hell was wrong with this man?

"I would've been upset if you weren't so tenacious," the other man's amusement was clear in his voice. "After all, I do love your strong will."

Draco felt the wand pull away, but before he could even take a breath, he felt more than heard the curse whispered.

"Crucio!"

White-hot pain seared across Draco's body and he felt himself crumbling, crashing into the floor. He could barely think, but he bit down on his lip, fighting against the urge to vocalize his agony. While he fought his own inner struggle against the curse, he completely missed the other man squatting down, watching him with interest. A hand reached out to brush through the platinum blonde locks, brushing his bangs away from his sweaty forehead.

"Soon enough, you'll only think of me," the other man promised, cancelling the curse with a flick of his wand. He leaned over, pulling the convulsing wizard into his arms, lips brushing against his temple.

oooOooo

Harry groaned in frustration as he pushed himself back from his desk, one hand moving to tug at his hair. He had been trying to figure out if there were any clues in the ransom note left during the disappearance of Malfoy. After hours of trying to see if he had missed anything in any way, he still was unable to find a single clue that could start him in the right direction.

It definitely was a strange case, he had decided an hour prior. Despite being termed as a ransom by the elder Malfoys and the Auror department, the more that Harry read the note that was left behind, the more it seemed that the note's intent was only to provide an announcement. If the person responsible for Malfoy's disappearance wanted money, they needed to provide better hints than what was in front of Harry.

Harry frowned, feeling uncomfortable with the path his thoughts were going. In most cases like this one, when an additional note is discovered, it often led Aurors in the right direction. However, Harry felt an unease with the idea of sitting back and waiting for a note to come his way. No matter what he felt about Malfoy, he was still human.

A soft knock interrupted his inner debate and he looked up.

"Come in," he said loudly, folding up the ransom note and shuffling it in a stack of papers sitting on his desk.

A sandy brown head appeared as the door opened and a man walked into the room, adjusting his glasses.

"Hi Auror Potter," the man said pleasantly. "I've brought you some tea."

Harry gave the other man a kind smile, watching as he moved in and placed a mug on his desk.

"Thought you were a little more stressed than usual," he continued, before placing an envelope on his desk. "This also came in by owl. It was addressed to you."

"Thank you, Bradley," Harry picked up the mug gratefully.

He sipped at the tea and watched as the secretary threw him another smile before leaving the room, closing the door behind him. Harry let himself relax a little bit against his chair, letting the warmth of the tea distract him from his earlier frustration. Eyeing the envelope sitting on his desk, he placed the mug down. The envelope didn't have any return address and he hadn't been expecting any letters. He gingerly opened it and pulled out the parchment that was folded inside.

He examined the piece of parchment carefully, realizing that it was a card with intricate designs on the front, laid out in black ink. Other than the swirls, there was nothing else to indicate what exactly the card was for. Harry made a soft noise in his throat, wondering which one of his friends sent him the unannounced card. Flipping it open, he stared at it in confusion. The inside of the card was completely blank!

Picking up the envelope again, he turned it around. Right on the front, Auror Potter was written out neatly. It was indeed addressed to him. But why would anyone send him an empty card? A burning sensation met his fingertips and he dropped the card in surprise. His eyebrows raised in shock as the card shifted on its own, floating down to the desk and opening.

Noises met his ears and soon Harry was hearing a conversation materialize out of thin air.

"… get away from me!"

Harry sat up straight, looking down at the card in horror. He would recognize that voice anywhere.

Sounds of a struggle played out and soon enough, another voice rose up to greet Harry's ears.

"I would've been upset if you weren't so tenacious. After all, I do love your strong will."

Harry barely had time to register the low voice before a whispered curse followed. The color drained out of his face as he leaned over the card, realizing that the soft thumps and choked noises were from Malfoy struggling against the Cruciatus Curse. Harry had to close his eyes, his body tingling with the faint memories of pain he knew the curse could make one feel.

He shoved his chair back, willing the bile in his throat down. There was no doubt in his mind that Malfoy was really in danger. He needed to find out where the other man was before it was too late. He closed the card and grabbed the envelope, shoving the paper back inside. He had to find Ron.

Running out of the office, he prayed that no more letters would appear.