Disclaimer: The characters and settings, including any sentences taken directly or partly from the books or movies, of Harry Potter are the property of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, AOL Time Link and Warner Brothers. I do not make money from publishing my story.

BOY-WHO-LIVED ABDUCTED BY SUPPOSED DEATH EATER

Last Thursday around 8pm Harry Potter was sighted in the small village of Cokeworth, England. One of the witnesses stated that he was dragged to the edge of the apparation wards by none other than the Potions Master and presumed Death Eater, Severus Snape. The Aurors present at the site, tried to free the Boy-Who-Lived from his grasp, they were unsuccessful however and as such Snape was able to abduct Harry Potter. The question of how Harry Potter came to be in the presence of the esteemed Death Eater remains unknown as does the present location of the fugitives. While, the Ministry has multiple Auror squads on the case and is doing everything to ensure the safe return of Harry Potter, any information you might have of the current whereabouts of either Severus Snape or Harry Potter is critical to this case. – by Rita Skeeter

"There is no going back now", Harry said looking at the front page of today's Daily Prophet. He turned the page and took another bite of his toast before he attempted to continue reading the paper. Tea magically began to pour itself into a previously empty cup, as Severus sat himself down at the table.

"I see you have read the news of your abduction", Severus stated, as he too buttered a piece of toast and took a bite. The tone was sarcastic and dare he say it, somewhat playful. Harry now focused his attention on his teacher and folded the newspaper before laying it down on the table. Swallowing the piece of toast, Severus addressed his student again, " there is no statement for the Order in there, meaning that Dumbledore still believes that it is best to leave the Ministry out, when it comes to capturing you." That news was comforting, it was in their best interests that the Ministry and the Order remained on separate sides.

The scene was quite peaceful, as Severus stirred in his teacup again and Harry was peeling his egg. "That is a good sign, Harry. It will give us more time to prepare." While that did calm Harry down somewhat, still thinking back to the spell that Dumbledore had cast upon him. He had only just recovered from that fight, he was hoping it would take a while before they had to fight another battle like that. Severus' statement did also stir something inside him. "What will we be preparing for exactly?", Harry said voicing his concerns.

"We have to be prepared for anyone who will make an attempt at your life", Severus said, while taking something from the inner pocket of his coat, "from whomever that attempt may come." An envelope with the Ministry crest was laid down onto the table. "Here, they arrived yesterday morning, but we had to make sure that it was not possible to track you by these means."

Harry quickly took the parchment and opened the letter. "That did not keep them from trying however, there was a multitude of tracking charms on that letter", Severus continued, while sipping on his tea. Harry nodded at his teacher before tearing open the long awaited letter that contained his test results.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS
PASS GRADES:
 OUTSTANDING (O)
EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS (E)
ACCEPTABLE (A)

FAIL GRADES:
POOR (P)
DREADFUL (D)
TROLL (T)

HARRY JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:
ASTRONOMY – A
CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES – E
CHARMS – E
DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS – O
DIVINATION – P
HERBOLOGY – E
HISTORY OF MAGIC – D
POTIONS – E
TRANSFIGURATION – E

Harry read through his results a couple of times before he dared to look at professor Snape again. "Seven", Harry said, he was quite proud of himself, but was somewhat scared as to what professor Snape would think about his scores, "I got seven OWLs."

He knew he would have failed Divination, as he had never liked the subject at all. He had only enjoyed making up the stories together with Ron. There had been no chance at all that he would have passed History of Magic, with what had happened during the exam, but then again he didn't feel disappointed that he didn't have to take that class anymore.

"I know", Severus said confidently as he took another bite of toast, now focusing his attention on recently abandoned the newspaper. The statement however, caught Harry's attention. "You peeked at my test results?", Harry said accusingly, somehow he felt violated.

"Yes, you fool, I did tell you that the letter was verified to be free of tracking charms, that means we checked it thoroughly and it included opening the envelope. After that it was some healthy curiosity on my part and the fact that I need to know in which class you will need further teaching to be up to par.", Severus stated simply, of course he had been mightily curious as to what results his student had managed on his test, mainly on his Potions exam. The boy hadn't disappointed at all.

It did not escape Harry's notice that the professor seemed a little too interested in his test results, however he was glad that his results were not down played. "Who else checked my letter?", Harry said, suddenly. Snape smiled at him from behind the newspaper, "the Dark Lord did the final check, mainly for any hidden charms from the Headmaster. He was not impressed, he said you were mediocre at best, but your grade in Defense at least explained why you have a knack of surviving everything he throws at you." Harry couldn't see if Snape meant it as a joke, but nonetheless he was impressed that he had gotten something resembling a compliment from Voldemort himself.

While Harry was still pretty much confined to his own quarters, apparently at least the inner circle Death Eaters had been informed of Harry Potter's presence in Malfoy Manor. This allowed Severus to take his student out for the occasional evening stroll in the large and beautiful gardens of the ancient Malfoy home. On the eve of Harry's birthday, they enjoyed another one of their peaceful strolls through the gardens.

The weather had been less than kind for the greenery during the summer break, this had convinced Harry that the flowers and plants were at least magically protected, since all flowers were in bloom and the garden was still beautiful in all its majestic glory. Harry had to admit to himself that he would probably have enjoyed working in this garden as opposed to his Aunt's garden.

Their strolls were almost always spend in silence, with the occasional small talk. Today however, Harry was out to get some information. "I heard they have tracked down Karkarov", he stated matter-of-factly, seemingly trying to engage Severus into small talk. "You have an uncanny ability to put your nose into affairs that are of no concern to you, Potter-", Snape said, walking onward as if undisturbed. Harry stopped walking for a moment, to gather his thoughts and perhaps think of a new strategy to gather information.

Suddenly Severus started talking again, "-but you are right indeed Potter, the Dark Lord's forces were able to trace down the location of Igor Karkarov and have dealt with in, for them, the correct way to deal with a traitor." Harry hurriedly increase his pace again to catch up with his professor.

"I heard Bellatrix cackling about it, when I was hiding from her on my way to breakfast, sir", Harry said, feeling the need to compensate his teacher for the information he had been given, "I also caught someone saying that the dementors had been used in a raid on Diagon Alley. How many people were hurt?" They passed the rose bushes and enthralled by their beauty Harry picked one, however in the process cut himself on one of the thorns.

"Ouch", Harry said unintentionally, before licking away the blood that had gathered at his finger tip. For a moment, Severus had focused his attention on his student to see what had hurt the boy, but quickly he continued their talk. "Despite their beauty they are truly capable of hurting us, Potter", Severus said absentmindedly," Please do be careful ! If you die on me now, what will I have risked it all for then?" It sounded like a joke, but strangely real at the same time.

"They were in Diagon Alley to abduct Mr. Ollivander", Severus continued, "there were some civilian casualties, but none were deadly." Suddenly, just after this statement. Severus' face showed signs that he was in pain. The man was not quite grasping, but more like caressing his arm, before he turned towards his student. "We have to cut our meeting short, Harry", Severus said as he lead the way back to the manor, "I'll take you back to your quarters." Harry turned around to follow his teacher at once, the man's strides were long and quick. Harry had trouble keeping up with the man, but he tried his best. "Please do hurry, Potter", there was a slight quiver of fear, no not quite fear, but anxiety in the low and strong voice of the Potions Master.