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: I've been severely slacking. Please don't hurt me! I know that it's been ages and I am so sorry. The majority of this chapter had already been written out, but I just did not know where I wanted to wrap it up until now… And I have been getting very distracted from other ideas that seem to pop up at inopportune times (specifically, at work), but no fear! I did not abandon this fic. This chapter throws all sorts of clues out your way, though I must admit it was quite obvious who the evil Draco-snatcher was from the beginning… Enjoy!

oooOooo

"How can I help you, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco leaned back against his chair, eyes carefully regarding the man before him. If he thought carefully about his current situation, he supposed he should've felt a little bit humbled. After all, he was rather surprised he was able to secure a meeting with the Minister of Magic. Instead, he cleared his throat and reached into his robe to pull out a large stack of letters. Setting it down on the Minister's desk, he cleared his throat.

"I've been trying to resolve this on my own because, as you know, the Malfoy family likes to keep our personal lives out of the public's eyes…" he trailed off as he took a moment to steel himself, this time looking up to meet the Minister's gaze. "But unfortunately, I feel that I am at the end of my rope, so to speak."

Draco watched as Shacklebolt rifled through the letters, opening a few to scan the contents inside. Draco shifted a little in his seat, though he kept his head held up and eyes steady. He knew exactly what the contents to those letters were, and though they made Draco extremely uncomfortable, he would not show his embarrassment over the lewd and disgusting taunts that had been sent his way over the past few weeks.

"Mr. Malfoy, how long have you been receiving these letters?"

The Minister stopped looking through the letters, folding them up neatly before giving the blond an even gaze.

"I've received them over the course of three months," Draco answered back truthfully, taking a quick glance to the letters. "At first, one would come every week, delivered by an unmarked post owl. But the more time passed, the more frequently I would receive the letters."

He discreetly swallowed to push down the small knot that formed in his throat.

"The letters also became… more descriptive as time went on," he continued, opting to fold his hands together. "To the point where I feel that my own safety, as well as the safety of my family, is in danger."

"My family and I are used to getting threats and letters of anger from those who don't understand us but assume they know us," he continued on, shaking his head. "But this is something different and has left me incredibly disturbed. No matter what I've tried, I haven't been able to figure out who is sending these letters to me, and now I am afraid that something worse than receiving a letter with details of what this person plans to do to me might happen."

He waited in silence as the Minister seemed to think deeply over what Draco told him. Draco told himself that it was promising, that if the Minister thought Draco's claims were nothing but an overactive imagination, he wouldn't have bothered being so polite and would've just sent Draco straight out of his office.

"I can assure you that I take these claims quite seriously, Mr. Malfoy," Minister Shacklebolt assured him after a short moment of silence. "I will send this straight to the Auror Department and make sure that this gets looked into."

Draco nodded, slowly standing up from his chair. He reached his hand out and felt reassurance run through his body when the Minister stood up and took his hand in a shake.

"Thank you, Minister Shacklebolt."

oooOooo

Hermione placed her glass down, though her gaze did not stray away from Harry's face, eyeing him critically. After a few minutes of silence in which Harry tried not to squirm under Hermione's stare, Ron fidgeted in his seat, never really comfortable with the silence that came with Hermione's deep thinking. Ron began shifting more, in a way that Harry thought was to distract Hermione from whatever she was pondering about. Unfortunately for the two men, it didn't work, so Harry opted for clearing his throat.

"So…" he started, giving her a half smile. "Any reason in particular you were staring at me like a particularly difficult Potions assignment?"

Hermione's lips pursed as if she was trying to decide if she should share something or not.

"I don't know how you'll take it," she admitted honestly after the server came by to refill their drinks. "Both of you."

"What are you talking about?" Ron gave his wife a wounded look. "I can take things perfectly fine, mind you. I think the years since school have helped me mature."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she looked at the two men before her, a redhead with an offended expression and a raven-haired man nodding in agreement. Honestly, sometimes she thought they hadn't matured in the slightest despite everything they've been through over the years.

"Okay, fine," she conceded, moving a hand to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face. "But so help me, if you start interrupting me or try to dispute what I've said without hearing me out…"

She gave them one last look before becoming satisfied by their non-verbal agreement to her words. She sat back in her seat, her fingers absentmindedly fiddling with her drinking glass as she looked down at it in concentration.

"Based on everything you said… About this Franklin man in Azkaban and the correlations between his crimes and what's going on with Malfoy right now, I can say that it isn't hard at all to put some of the puzzle pieces together," she said, looking up to stare pointedly at Harry. "Unless you're trying to be extremely dim about the whole situation."

"Why would I want to be dim about this situation?" Harry asked, indignant. "Malfoy potentially being killed by a crazy man is hardly a situation that I'd want to be dim in!"

Hermione pointedly ignored him, despite having threatened to stop if she was interrupted. She knew that they needed her help, even if they didn't like what she had to say or not.

"You keep getting stuck on the fact that what's happening to Malfoy happened to people before," she said, staring at the two men in front of her. "I think that's the biggest clue, if anything."

"But the guy is stuck in Azkaban, we went to go see him," Ron shook his head. "There's no way he could've done it."

Hermione continued before Harry could've put a word in, though he looked mildly disgruntled because he had a very important point to make. She already knew what he wanted to say.

"I'm not saying that you aren't taking this serious, Harry," she frowned deeply at him. "But I think that because it's about Malfoy and you are you, there are important things that you're missing."

"What do you mean, Hermione?" Ron asked after taking a long drink from his glass.

Hermione glanced at her husband and gave him a look, one that Ron just stared at before raising a brow in curiosity.

"Oh," he replied after a moment. "Hm, I see."

Harry sighed loudly, giving his two friends a disapproving look. Those shared looks weren't unusual to see, but his friends tended to forget that those looks often left him in the dark.

"Well mate…" Ron coughed, shifting in his seat as he gave his friend an uncomfortable smile. "I don't know if I really agree with it, but…"

He scratched the back of his head, staring hard at the table for a moment before looking back at his friend.

"Everything about Malfoy's case sounds so similar to what we researched about Franklin, right?"

He continued as Harry nodded sharply, wondering where Ron was headed with this, "And it really is the best bet – the only bet – we can go with to try to figure out what's going on. Everything else we tried left us in a dead end, right? So… uh, well. If we look at everything, from Malfoy being kidnapped and you receiving these packages…"

He trailed off, looking extremely uncomfortable. Harry raised an eyebrow as he sat back, waiting for Ron to continue. After a few minutes struggling to find something to say, Ron looked over helplessly to his wife.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Hermione sighed loudly, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder how the two of you ever became Aurors in the first place!"

She turned to Harry, a frown on her face, "Harry, if you take yourself out of the picture and if it was anybody else but Malfoy, I'm sure that you would have figured this out ages ago."

She paused for a moment as she thought, contemplating if she should just tell Harry the answer that he wanted to hear or to just walk him through figuring it out. Deciding that they had spent too much of their own time trying to figure it out and getting nowhere, she shook her head.

"Harry," she said carefully, looking at her friend with a grim expression, "whoever kidnapped Malfoy is taunting you. They're sending you things because of your relationship with him."

Harry's brow furrowed as he thought over her words.

"But I don't have any sort of relationship with him, Hermione. I can't even stand him," he pointed out slowly, as if he were talking to a child.

He glanced over at Ron for help.

"All he ever does is come to the office to bother me," he added. "Ron knows all about it."

He felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach, as a part of him was slowly catching up to what Hermione was trying to imply. He stared at his friends, hand tightening on his glass.

"I'm sure he is not pining over me," he pointed out, and when he received no comfort from his friends, he added almost as an afterthought, "And I'm pretty sure I'm not interested in blokes."

"Harry, I don't think you've really been interested in anyone, no matter what gender," Ron suggested helpfully, shaking his head. "When was the last time you gone out on a date?"

He snorted into his glass at the intensity of Harry's glare.

"Or got laid?"

He laughed aloud though he had the decency to wince as his wife slapped him on the shoulder, "What? Just being honest! For someone so popular, Harry really does have a serious lacking in the social department. All he does is hang out with a married couple."

Harry did not appreciate where the conversation had suddenly gone, but talking about the lack of love life Harry had would give them a small reprise from the stress of Malfoy's case, as well as the uncomfortable idea that Harry was somehow involved in this case on a more intimate level than just as an Auror trying to solve it.

oooOooo

Draco's hand curled into a fist, crumbling up the letter in his hand as he stalked down the Ministry corridor. When a low-level Ministry employee turned the corner and saw the look on his face, Draco couldn't even feel the smallest bit of satisfaction at the noise of terror the boy made as he ducked away.

He let his mind wander as he feet took him through the path that he had slowly gotten to memorize over the past few weeks of coming for advice. He let his lips curl at that thought, knowing that the advice came from Aurors who could apparently pretend to care about what he had to say and then turn around and really let their real feelings show. He didn't even have to glance down at the letter he still had in his hand to know what the letter had said.

"There was insufficient evidence for the claims you have made."

"The Ministry does not want to pursue any additional actions, as the Auror Department needs to be readily available for incidents that may occur."

"If you have any additional questions or concerns, you may direct your inquiries to the Secretary of the Auror Department."

He could still remember his conversation with the Minister, which made the letter even bitterer to read through. For one moment, he had thought that someone had taken his claims seriously. Minister Shacklebolt had looked at all the letters Draco had provided him with a serious expression and told him that he would send it to the Auror Department with discretion. Draco was even able to request for a specific Auror.

But none of that mattered because here in Draco's hand was a letter of denial.

As he rounded the final corner that would lead him to the Auror Department, his angry glare found another target to focus on – that ever polite secretary that grated on his nerves on the best of days. And since today he was in a particularly foul mood, he had no patience for playing polite games with the man.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked in a low voice, throwing the letter across the secretary's desk. "I had the approval of the Minister that my inquiries would be sufficiently looked into by the Auror Department."

The secretary looked up at Draco in surprise before picking up the letter and scanning it.

"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, I don't know what I can tell you," the secretary eventually admitted, folding the letter back up and handing it to the irate blond. "If you'd like to take it up with any specific Aurors, I can get you onto the calendar for a meeting with them."

Draco frowned as he stared at the bright eyes of the secretary that looked up at him with a helpful expression.

"I'd like to talk to Potter," he said swiftly, glancing over to the office that he knew the dark-haired Auror sat at.

"Absolutely, Mr. Malfoy," the secretary gave him another smile, picking up his quill to write. "When would you like to schedule a meeting with him?"

"I'd like to talk to him right now," Draco replied, giving the other man a tight smile, showing that he would not accept no for an answer. "If you can manage that, Mr…?"

He glanced around the desk for any signs of the man's name. He supposed he should've known what the secretary's name was, he was in this area of the Ministry often enough.

"You can call me Bradley," the secretary offered him a brighter smile, standing up quickly. "Unfortunately, Auror Potter has left for lunch but he should be back soon. If you'd like, you can go ahead and wait in his office and I'll let him know you're here the minute he comes back."

Draco pursed his lips together, though he did offer the secretary a nod. Might as well wait a few minutes. And maybe he could demand an answer from Potter about why his issues weren't being considered serious enough for an investigation. He knew of little children with pets who've run away who've gotten the attention of the Auror Department.

As he walked into the Auror's office to wait for his arrival, he barely glanced at the secretary as he walked in with a cup of tea. Draco took it with a short nod of thanks, lifting it to his lips to take a sip. He wrinkled his nose as a bitter taste assaulted his senses and years of perfected manners kept him from spitting out the tea.

"This tastes horrible," he sat the teacup back down on the desk, looking up to glare at the secretary, who had moved to close the office door without Draco noticing.

"I know," the secretary gave an almost pitying smile to the other man, noticing as Draco's eyes narrowed suspiciously, moving to stand up. "That potion tends to make anything taste vile."

Draco tried to push himself out of his chair, his hand sending the teacup scattering across the desk and crashing into the ground. As his airways started to restrict and black started to cover his vision, he wondered if Potter would make it back to his office in time to see this extremely interesting sight.

oooOooo

When Draco woke up, he found himself in a sitting position. Blinking groggily, he tried to remember the last thing that happened before waking up. Hadn't he gone to the Ministry to talk to someone…? Was it the Minister? He groaned aloud as he leaned back into his chair.

That couldn't be it, that time seemed so long ago. Why was that?

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself flooded with memories of the past few days. Eyes widening, he jerked to stand up, only to realize he was tied down to the chair.

"What in Merlin's name…" he growled out, though it sounded strangled, and Draco knew it was because he couldn't remember the last time he properly used his vocal cords.

"Where are you?!" he shouted in the dark room, twisting his head around to see his kidnapper.

He felt a hand on the back of his neck and he couldn't help but gasp, not expecting the man to have been behind him the entire time.

"Let go of me," he demanded, trying to shrug off the hand touching him.

He could feel as the other man leaned over, tensing as he felt lips brush against his ear.

"You seem more lively," his captor chuckled softly, taking a moment to let his breath brush against Draco's skin. "I'm glad that the revitalizing potion I gave you helped bring your energy back. As attractive as you are laying on a bed completely defenseless, I was getting a little bored."

The hair on the back of Draco's neck stood up and he stiffened at the man's words. The entire time he was trapped there, he was barely in the right state of mind to notice anything but the excruciating pain that this man put him through. He could still feel a burning sensation on his left arm and didn't have to look to see that it was bandaged up. But was there pain anywhere else?

He swallowed thickly, as unwanted thoughts assaulted his mind of what else could've happened. As if he knew what Draco was thinking about, his captor laughed softly, hands reaching out to turn the other man around. Draco watched as the other man slowly removed the glasses covering his face, a devious smirk stretched across his lips. Draco faintly noted that he would've thought the other man would've been unable to make that particular expression, if he hadn't just seen it first-hand.

"Draco, Draco, Draco…" Bradley crooned, leaning close enough that Draco could see the expression in his eyes. "You know I wouldn't do anything unbecoming towards you while you were asleep."

He brushed a hand through Draco's hair, reveling in the tenseness that ran through Draco's body. He laughed again, leaning forward to brush his lips across the man's cheek.

"I meant every word in those letters I sent to you…" he purred, hands continuing to move.

To Draco's horror, they were trying to seek refuge beneath his clothes.

"It really wasn't fair to me, you know," he continued, ignoring the way that Draco hissed and bared his teeth in anger. "The way you would always come into the department and ignore my very existence in favor for Harry Potter."

He sneered the Savior of the Wizarding World's name, hands turning forceful, grabbing Draco's body hard enough to warrant bruises.

"I did everything to get your attention," he continued, hissing as he started pulling apart Draco's shirt, buttons and seams splitting. "But let me tell you something, dear Draco…"

Draco found his head yanked backwards by a rough hand and heavy breathing was pressed up against his face.

"My father taught me something," the madman – Draco knew that he was dealing with a madman – spoke softly, in complete contrast to the hard grip he had on his hair. "When I was growing up, he taught me that sometimes people don't realize what they want or need… And that I can help them see."

"You see, Draco," he continued on, ignoring the grunt of pain he pulled from Draco's lips. "You want Harry Potter, don't you? I've seen how you always come by hoping to see him… And haven't you realized that he doesn't see you at all?"

He slowly let go of Draco's hair, instead moving his hands to Draco's face.

"I could treat you so much better than him," he whispered softly, staring earnestly into Draco's horrified face. "And once you realize how well you'll be treated by me, how much you love me, we can just let Auror Potter know how much he's missing."

He leaned closer still, a hand slowly moving down to press forcefully against Draco's neck. Draco barely had time to register if this man wanted to strangle him to death when a pair of lips descended on his. He snarled in protest and tried to bite down on the secretary's mouth, only to feel the hand around his neck press tight enough to stop all air from going into his lungs.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the other man laughed softly against his lips, continuing to press unwanted kisses to Draco's unmoving lips. "Just because I'm being nice to you right now, you don't want to try my patience."

Darkness licked at the corners of Draco's vision as he felt the burn from a lack of oxygen and had to blink his eyes forcefully to stay awake. He faintly thought it might be better if the other man let him slip back into unconsciousness rather than force him awake to assault him. Never in his life did Draco wish to see the familiar mop of black hair than at that moment. He really hoped that Potter was still known for making miracles happen, because he was sure that nothing less than a miracle would save him from the clutches of this insane man. Especially when this man was under the Ministry's nose all along.

'Harry Potter,' he thought desperately, trying to ignore the pawing hands wondering across his body. 'You better hurry your bloody arse up… Or there won't be anything left of me to rescue.'