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: Yay, we're finally getting somewhere. Placed some clues in this chapter… Already working on Chapter 4, which will give a lot more insight. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

oooOooo

A knock on his door made Harry raise his head from the pile of papers he was slowly working through.

"Come in," he called, taking the moment to put his quill down, pulling his glasses off to rub at the bridge of his nose.

He had been concentrating so hard on this paperwork, he had completely forgotten to get lunch. And now that it was closer to six, he might as well just work through everything until he left to go home. He placed his glasses back on his face just as the door opened, and he glanced up, the tired expression on his face giving away to annoyance.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" he sighed, running a hand through his hair in agitation.

He really wasn't in the mood to mess around with the other man.

"I wanted to consult you on something regarding security at Malfoy Manor," Draco replied breezily, ignoring the frustrated look of the other man with ease. "I was hoping you could help."

"Malfoy," Harry shook his head, frowning at the other man. "You always come here to bother me. You do know that there are people here in the Ministry that can help you with whatever you need help with. Instead, you always come here to bother me when you know I'm not just sitting on my arse and have time for you to come mess with me."

He held up a hand, stopping the other man from interrupting him.

"I'm serious, Malfoy," he continued, ignoring the frown that appeared on the other man's face. "All you do is come to bother me every few weeks with some small problem that shouldn't even come to the Auror department. I still don't understand how you even get down here as often as you do. I would've thought that you'd be turned away, in all honesty."

Harry watched as Malfoy's mouth opened as if he was to retort, but then he closed it, his expression curiously blank. When he did open his mouth to reply, Harry was surprised to find that the other man's voice was soft and very calm, unlike the angry, insulted response he was expecting.

"I can see that I am unwelcomed here," the blond replied shortly, taking a moment to glance at Harry before turning away and heading back to the door. "I apologize for wasting your time, Potter. That wasn't my intention at all."

Harry's frown deepened as he watched the other man leave, feeling something akin to guilt. It wasn't his fault, though. Malfoy always had the audacity to come into his office and bother him! It was about time that Harry stood up for himself and reminded the other man that he couldn't just come around whenever he wanted. They weren't even friends.

A red head poked its way into his doorframe and Harry didn't have the chance to smile before a bag that smelled like food sat itself on his desk.

"Thanks mate," Harry smiled, taking a second to open the bag, before surprise shown on his face. "I thought this would just be something fast. You didn't have to go out of your way to actually get real food."

He laughed as he pulled the food out, enjoying the smell of the freshly made bacon sandwich, digging through the bag to see what else was in there.

"Wasn't from me," Ron snorted, watching as Harry gave a triumphant shout, pulling out a slice of treacle tart.

Harry looked up quickly, unwrapping the food.

"What do you mean, it's not from you?" he asked before biting into the sandwich. "Who else would it be from?"

"Malfoy came by and dropped off food for the department," Ron couldn't help but smirk, watching as Harry blanched. "Said something about how he wanted to thank us for always helping him. Granted, it's not like he ever bothers anyone else but you."

Harry made a face, though he didn't stop eating. Malfoy did that? Maybe it'd be unwise for him to continue eating it, maybe it was poisoned… or something. That could explain the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Definitely.

Ron rolled his eyes as he watched his friend, following his train of thought, "You need to stop being so paranoid. He hasn't poisoned it, I already ate mine an hour ago… Still here, right?"

"He is a right git sometimes," he continued, watching his friend continue to eat. "But he's not as bad as he was in school… Come on Harry, he hasn't done anything in years."

oooOooo

Harry groaned, shifting in his chair as he lifted his head from his desk. He must've started dozing, Merlin knew that he hadn't been getting enough sleep ever since Malfoy's case landed on his desk. Now he was dreaming about Malfoy?

"Ugh…" he sat up, blearily looking at the closed door of his office. What time was it?

He cast a Tempus charm and noticed the time, frowning when he noticed how late it was. He slowly stood up, stretching to get all of the kinks out of his back. Taking one last look around his office, he packed up his things and headed out. Maybe he could get a few hours of sleep before coming back to continue his research.

oooOooo

"Are you in love with someone?"

Draco's head hurt as his eyes fluttered open, the faint sweetness from the potion that he just ingested reminding him of his current dangerous predicament. He felt a twinge of something and barely had the energy to respond.

"I don't know," he admitted softly, the words falling from his lips without him trying.

Apparently, that was not the appropriate answer, as he felt rough hands on his shoulders and he felt his head loll back and forth when he received a vicious shake.

"How do you not know?" was the growled response, though Draco thanked Merlin that the shaking finally stopped.

Draco winced even as he heard himself speak, "I've never been in love before."

That, however, must have been the response that this man wanted to hear because suddenly, the blond found the other man chuckling and pressing his lips across various parts of Draco's face. Draco felt bile rise in his throat and a noise of desperation left him, only to be forcibly swallowed by his kidnapper's mouth.

"You'll love me," the other man promised, with such conviction that Draco couldn't help but shiver in panicked apprehension. "I promise it. So next time I give you some Veritaserum, you'll say that you're in love with me."

"I won't ever love you," Draco grounded out, a faint sneer showing up on his lips despite his exhaustion. "I'd rather curse myself into insanity before I'd ever want to have any feelings for a sadistic, crazy kidnapper that is other than hatred!"

He winced, feeling rough hands in his hair, yanking his head back but he refused to back down, glaring hatefully at the man in front of him.

"You won't have a choice," his kidnapper hissed out, losing patience with his captive. "Just you wait, I've been planning this for so long. You're going to love me, and you won't have any choice at all."

The hand in his hair tightened and Draco closed his eyes for a moment, trying to ignore the pain.

"You won't get away with this," the conviction in his own voice surprised Draco, who barely had it in him to keep conscious. "Everyone will notice that I am missing and soon enough, there will be Aurors tracking you down."

He swallowed nervously, the sight not left unnoticed by his captor, a predatory smile stretching on his face.

"You don't believe that do you, Draco?" he cooed softly, his hand letting go of Draco's hair so that he could trace the other man's face with his hands. "I can see it in your face. You know that nobody actually cares for you…"

He continued, leaning closer to the tense man, enjoying the way the other man tried to jerk away, "You're just a dirty little Death Eater to everybody else but me… Who would try to come rescue you?"

A hand reached out, pulling sharply on Draco's left wrist, the Mark on his arm visible in the darkened room. Fingers started tracing the image faintly, but before long, sharp pressure of nails digging into his skin. Only when the pressure was painful enough to pull out a cry from Draco's lips, did it disappear.

"I know that you think he will show up and save you," the other man laughed low in his throat, Draco's stomach fluttering uncomfortably as he continued on.

"You think that the great Harry Potter," he spat out the name in disgust, "will come to save you, but he won't. He won't waste his time with someone like you. He doesn't even see you."

"You hope that he'll come to save you, don't you?"

Draco didn't have to wait for the Veritaserum to pull out an answer from him.

"Yes," he whispered. "I do. And he will."

The other man's smile deepened as he leaned in, his voice low as if he were telling Draco a secret that he only wished the other man to hear, "You know, I've been sending him messages… Messages about you and what I'm doing to you. But he hasn't come yet, has he? My dear, precious Draco…"

"He can't save you," he laughed softly, enjoying the pained look on the Malfoy's face. "And even if he'll be able to come find you… By that time it'll be too late. You'll already be in love with me and you won't want to leave."

oooOooo

"I think I'm going crazy," Harry announced resolutely, staring down at the various papers strewn across his desk. "I mean, it would completely make sense."

"I think you're driving yourself crazy because you haven't been able to find a lead in the case yet," Ron helpfully suggested, also looking through various pieces of paper.

Harry made a small noise of agreement, idly circling or underlining something that might be relevant… somehow.

"At least I was able to be put on the case too," Ron nudged Harry with an elbow. "Eh, right? So now you don't have to dig through all this stuff looking for the ferret by yourself."

"Yeah, finally," Harry grumbled, crumbling up a piece of paper and tossing it over his shoulder. "Took them long enough to think this was serious."

"Took you long enough to believe it wasn't just a trick," Ron pointed out, ignoring the icy glare sent his way. "Hey now, I'm just telling the truth mate. I'm not saying you're at fault or anything… Just that it took a long time to convince you that he wasn't just trying to get your attention again or something."

Harry decided that it would be better if he didn't comment. Instead, he picked up a heavy envelope, waving it towards Ron.

"Did you pull this out of the archives?" he asked, breaking open the seal. "I don't remember pulling this out myself…"

Ron glanced up to see what was in Harry's hands before his eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't pull that out either, I don't know where it's from. Don't open it Harry!"

Harry's own eyes widened in surprise, cursing as the items inside tumbled out. He pulled away as quickly as he could, bringing out his wand. After a few moments and a quick succession of spells to tell if the items were cursed. After a moment of silence, he let out a breath just as Ron did, sitting heavily back against his seat.

"That was close," he mused lightly, reaching out to turn over the items that fell out. "I wonder where this is from. And what are these, pictures?"

He turned one over, frowning. It looked similar to those muggle pictures that they used to take in the old days… What were they called? Polaroid's? He pulled it over to examine it, while Ron reached out to snag another one. Unlike muggle ones though, Harry noticed that there were some movements in this one. But what was this picture of? He looked carefully at what seemed to be someone in bed, sleeping if Harry were to judge by the way that the person's chest was moving in a slow pattern. If only the person would shift, so he could see who exactly he was looking at.

"Harry," the seriousness of Ron's voice made Harry look up quickly, just in time to see a sick expression cross his friend's face.

Ron turned the picture he had in his hand over to face Harry, just as he breathed out heavily, looking up at the ceiling.

"It's Malfoy," he pointed out, watching as Harry's eyes focused in on the picture's details.

Harry grabbed at the picture, pulling it closer to him. He stared at the image, watching as the person in the picture shifted, face pulled in a tight grimace as if he were sleeping through a nightmare. Harry couldn't help but trace his finger across the face in the picture, knowing that it was indeed Malfoy's face he was looking at. He placed the photo down before turning his attention to the other ones, turning them all and organizing them so that they were spread across the desk.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Ron stated as he stared down at the pictures. "This guy is a psycho."

Harry agreed, though he felt sick enough that he couldn't open his mouth to verbally acknowledge his partner. All the pictures were of Malfoy, every single one of them. Each seemed to be in the same room, but the angles were all different and seemed to be taken of him at different times. One picture in particular stood out and Harry picked it up, staring at it. Malfoy's face was in focus and he was staring directly at Harry, eyes fluttering open and closed every few seconds. It looked as though Malfoy wasn't even sure where he was, let alone know that he was a Malfoy. Harry was sure that expression wasn't even supposed to be something that a Malfoy would know how to show. Malfoy looked so… vulnerable. It hurt Harry to see it.

"He looks drugged," Ron noted softly, glancing at the picture that Harry was looking at. "Whoever has him must be feeding him potions… Look how lethargic he looks in all of these pictures."

Harry put the picture down and pushed his chair back, standing up to shake the numbness out of his legs. These pictures were terrible, but at the same time… He frowned, leaning closer to inspect them.

"Does this… does this remind you of something?" his brows furrowed as he thought. "This seems strangely familiar…"

Ron got up to move over where Harry was standing, staring down at the pictures.

"I don't remember us ever having a case like this before," Ron shook his head, not quite sure where Harry was heading with this.

"No, not a case of ours," Harry moved to rearrange the photos, standing back after he was satisfied by something. "But… Didn't we do a case study about something that looked like this when we were in the Auror Academy?"

Ron frowned in concentration, trying to think back to their training.

"Maybe," he conceded, looking at the photos carefully. "I think I remember reviewing some case files that had a whole lot of photos in it. But this can't be the same person responsible, all of those studies were of criminals that got caught."

Ron glanced at the door before looking back at Harry.

"Let's go get Hermione, maybe she can help us find those files," he said after a few minutes. "And maybe we can get somewhere with this case."

oooOooo

It took Hermione Granger only five minutes to find something useful for them to look at. Harry shook his head, giving a grateful smile to the woman as he picked up the small box of files. It had taken Harry close to a week to even know where to begin.

"If only we had your help in the Auror Department, Hermione," he sighed, lifting the surprisingly heavy box up. "We would've solved this case by now."

Ron leaned over to give his wife a quick peck on the cheek, making sure that nobody was around to tease.

"You're brilliant as always," he offered up as well, Hermione giving a small smile at their compliments.

"I know you would be lost without me," she admitted to the two before her expression dampened. "But really, this is really serious if it seems like whoever has kidnapped Malfoy is anything like this man."

She pointed to the box, a look of revulsion on her face, "Even if the man is just trying to be a copycat… Those case files are disgusting. That man was a narcissistic sociopath."

Ron gave a gentle squeeze to his wife's arm, knowing how much she hated having to go through old case files like these. But they really needed her help because they wouldn't have been able to find anything on their own.

Harry sighed, looking down at the items in his hand. He was sure that he and Ron wouldn't fair any better. Great, he thought to himself. Nothing better than spending your day reading about crazy wizards…

"Just let me know if there's anything else I can help with," Hermione offered as they got ready to leave. "And update me about your case… I hope he's ok."

Harry nodded absently. He really hoped that Malfoy was ok as well.