Ginny, who had gone out to practice a few spells (and couldn't wave her wand around Harry), came back into the tent and found the Professor and the boys laughing. Harry was chuckling softly, grabbing at his ribs and wincing, but smiling nonetheless.

She was stunned into silence at that. How had they managed to get a smile out of him, not to mention actual laughter, when hours ago he looked practically dead?

She approached them slowly, smiling.

Ron was laughing soundly as he finished telling a story.

"...and then Seamus spilled the whole cauldron over Snape's feet and even Hermione couldn't hold it, we all just burst out laughing."

"Ginny." Remus acknowledged her, smiling as a few chuckles escaped him as well.

"Sounds like you're having fun." she said.

"I can't believe you finished with actual house points at the end of the year after everything you did to Severus."

Ron shrugged. "To be fair, most of the times he didn't even know it was us."

"Have you eaten, Harry?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Good. Although I reckon we'll have to find some more food soon..."

She got interrupted by a rustling sound outside of the tent. They all immediately quieted down. The wards and enchantments around them were supposed to keep them hidden from view and detection spells of any sorts, but Death Eaters' magic was powerful, and they could never be too safe. Ginny whirled around, her hand pulling out the wand. Harry gasped softly, his entire body invaded by fear, all of his willpower focused on staying quiet.

The entrance to the tent was open, and they could see in clear detail as Dolohov and Amycus Carrow stood there, looking around, just past the limit of the protection spells.

Harry's eyes watered and he closed them. He covered his mouth with both hands as his entire body shook with terror, horribly painful flashbacks attacking his brain.

All Death Eaters were brutal and horrifyingly cruel, but the Carrows were at the top of the most sadistic ones without question. And Dolohov... he wasn't as creative as his peers, but that didn't mean he wasn't keen on making Harry's life as miserable as possible. Knowing he wasn't as skilled as others with the Cruciatus curse, Dolohov preferred other spells that would burn him, tear his skin open, break his bones, make it feel like his blood was literally boiling... and muggle methods like knives or his own fists. Regretfully, he was also quite skilled with healing spells, enough so that when he was done with Harry he could make sure that the boy survived against his will. He had once spent an entire day systematically breaking his bones starting from his feet all the way up to his shoulders, healing him over and over so he could do it again and again. He had only stopped because Voldemort had wanted his plaything back, and took him to his room with half of his body not healed yet.

He shuddered at the memory and curled into an even tighter ball.

"Alright, this is where the Dark Lord said they had detected traces of magic... I swear if we manage to find that piece of shit I will make Crucio feel like fucking love pats." Carrow spat, pulling a cigarette out from the inside of his pocket, driving it to his mouth and lighting it with the tip of his wand.

Dolohov rolled his eyes and pulled out his own cigarette, mimicking his fellow.

"If we find him we have to deliver him to the Dark Lord first, and who knows if he will even let him live. He is pretty upset."

"Don't fucking remind me." Carrow answered, pointing at his black eye, courtesy of Fenrir actually, although the werewolf had been following Voldemort's command. "I hope he does, though. Muggles never survive for very long... Potter's magic keeps him alive longer, so it's a lot more fun at the parties."

Dolohov smiled.

"Did you hear Fenrir said he fucked him?"

Both men laughed, and Harry felt bile creeping up his throat.

"In front of his friends, no less." Carrow added. "I thought the Lord wanted to keep him for himself. If I had known sooner that we could fuck him I would've done so a million times already."

"I'd fuck his girlfriend, the red-head bitch." Dolohov said. "Make him watch."

"Yaxley says he and McNair almost fucked him once." Carrow commented.

Sitting there, with his best friend, his father figure and his ex-crush surrounding him but unable to do anything to help, Harry could do nothing but listen to Carrow give details about one of his horrid memories as he relived it in his head.

The sound of the metal door opening made him flinch, but he didn't open his eyes. He was still tied to the wall, had been for a very long time so far, the joints in his shoulders and wrists stiff and numb.

"Wake up, Potter. We've brought you some breakfast." Yaxley said.

Harry kept his eyes closed, his body shuddering and his mind already pleading silently.

"Open your eyes. You want to eat, don't you?"

The shackles around his wrists vanished suddenly and he fell to the ground with a surprised yelp, hissing as his sore joints and muscles were forced to move. He did open his eyes then, and saw the plate with a few pieces of stale bread and rice that MacNair was placing on a stone table nearby. He was starving, literally, but he knew already that nothing was ever just given to him, and he dreaded what they would do next.

"Come here, you can eat it."

Harry stayed put, though, sitting on the floor and eyeing them warily.

With a frustrated snarl, MacNair walked over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. Harry gasped in pain and tried to pull himself free, but he was no match for a man who was older, bigger, stronger, and hadn't been subjected to torture and starvation for the past several weeks. And then, out of nowhere, the man punched him extremely hard in the face, making him fall again. A kick to his ribs completed a break that had been started by Rabastan a few days prior, and fractured another. Before he could think to defend himself, McNair pulled him once again to his feet.

"See? Now you've done it. I was in such a good mood, too."

Yaxley laughed.

"Come on, Potter. Get over here and eat. The Dark Lord won't be happy if his pet starves to death."

Trying to avoid another punch to the head, Harry hesitantly walked to the table. When he was close, though, he realized that the bread and rice were mixed with pieces of glass. A sharp twinge of fear ran through him. He shook his head horrified and stepped back.

"Eat it." MacNair said while Yaxley laughed and pushed the plate closer to him. "Don't make us force feed you."

Harry swallowed thickly. He had absolutely no options... If they truly wanted to force feed him food with glass, they would. Anger and despair washed over him and his shaking intensified.

"F-fuck off." he breathed, wishing his throat wasn't torn so he could say it louder.

A punch to the stomach made him double over, coughing, and then another to the side of the head had him in the floor again. More kicks followed, to his stomach and his back and his legs.

"Say that again." Yaxley said, stopping for a minute to catch his breath.

Anger still coursed through Harry. He got to his hands and knees, and after taking a small breath, pulled himself up to his unsteady feet.

"Fuck. Off."

It sent both men into a frenzy. They began to beat Harry with uncontrolled strength, landing punches and kicks anywhere they could reach, unconcerned at the unearthly screams from the boy between them and the sounds of bones cracking and flesh tearing. But Harry, despite the horror and pain, could still feel his anger as if it were a palpable thing, and pulled himself to his feet every time he could, which only made Yaxley and MacNair more vicious and brutal.

In the end, finally, a savage kick to his knee made him howl in pain and he couldn't rouse the strength to get up again. Blood flowed freely from every inch of his body, and he panted and coughed, his body shaking violently.

"Are you going to be a good boy and eat now?"

He stayed silent, and in the next second a Cruciatus curse invaded him, making him scream with the pain of his entire body getting torn apart.

When it was over, his vision was already darkening.

"Maybe he wants to eat something else." Yaxley suggested. Harry didn't like the smile in his voice.

He was pulled out of the edge of unconsciousness and onto his knees. And he saw through the fog of tears, blood and dimming vision how MacNair began to remove his robes.

Oh no. No. No, no. No, God, please, no.

Yaxley laughed at his expression of pure terror.

"Your choice, Potter. Bread with a little glass or meat with a little milk."

Both men laughed heartily, and then MacNair grabbed Harry's hair, pulling his face closer to his crotch. Harry screamed and pushed away, refusing to believe this was real as the man fumbled with the button of his pants with his free hand.

"NO! Stop! Please!" he said, a sob finally escaping him as the man kept tugging and pushing his crotch forward.

"So, bread it is."

"I don't want to, please." he said softly, as if it would change their minds. He kept trying to push back, twisting and pushing at the man's hips.

"Maybe he ain't hungry." Yaxley said, looking at his friend with a wide smile on his face as they finally brought Harry to a terrified, pleading stage.

"What do I do with this, then." MacNair laughed, pointing at himself.

"I'll... I'll eat the bread." Harry said, tears falling more rapidly down his face. He was already pretty messed up, perhaps eating the glass would finally kill him and free him of this nightmare.

"Nah, too late." MacNair said. Both men laughed. "You already got me all riled up, so if you don't want to eat, I guess I'll have to find an alternative."

Yaxley's fist found his face again, knocking off a few teeth, and making him fall backwards on the floor. Then, he pulled his arms up and held them there, laughing as Harry began screaming in terror, kicking and writhing as he tried to get away.

MaxNair climbed on top of him, grabbing his thin thighs to force him to stop kicking... and then the door to the cell opened.

Pettigrew stood there, an amused smile on his face at he stared at the scene of the Golden boy on his back, his face twisted with terror and pain, covered in flowing blood and tears; with McNair on top of him twisting his legs and forcing them apart at a painful, unnatural angle, prepared to impale him; and Yaxley grabbing his arms and forcing them above his head with bruising strength.

"Does the Dark Lord know that you plan to use his little toy as well?"

"Fuck off, Wormtail." MacNair said. But he got off of Harry and stood up. Yaxley released his arms.

Harry, still terrified, curled into a ball and tried to stay silent, choking back his sobs and closing his arms tightly around himself.

"Just saying... He would've found out. Doesn't mean you can't continue bashing his brains in." his eyes then landed on the plate of food and he chuckled. "I don't think that's what he meant when he said we shouldn't let him starve while he was away."

"You miserable rat, stop interrupting our fun." Yaxley spat back.

Wormtail shrugged.

"By all means, go on. I just came here to let you know that he will return tonight, and will want his pet as undamaged as possible so he can break him without restraint."

"And? Did they make him eat the food in the end?"

Carrow shrugged, blowing out smoke.

"Who knows. Probably."

Harry kept staring at them, and to his own surprise, anger exploded inside his chest and travelled through his body, challenging the fear. He glared at both men, wishing more than anything that he had his wand so he could return the favor and Crucio them until their spines snapped.

In the next second, both men cried out as their cigarettes exploded in their hands, burning their fingers and lips.

Draco, hidden in the bushes with George behind him, stared in shock as the men's hands sparked and they both cried out, grabbing their faces. He didn't hesitate another second, taking advantage of their distraction, raising his wand and muttering the killing curse so it stabbed Carrow directly in the side of his torso. George was about to do the same to Dolohov, but another green lightning coming from a bush opposite to them beat him to it.

Both men laid dead on the ground. Draco wondered briefly if Fred had been the one to cast the curse, but it was too dangerous to venture out if they didn't know.

The other person walked out of their hidden spot first, hand raised and looking around furtively, black cape billowing.

Snape motioned to the bush, and McGonagall emerged, glaring at the dead bodies.

"Now what?" she asked.

"They should be here somewhere. This is the strongest clue they had."

Draco emerged from the bush, wand pointing at Snape. George mimicked him.

"Draco." Snape said, his voice softer than he had heard in a long time. It reminded him of the day he had found out his father was dead.

"Step away from Professor McGonagall." he sated, still unsure of the situation. He had betrayed the man, after all.

"Draco, I'm on your side." Snape said, but he still complied, putting his wand away and lifting his hands as he stepped away from the woman.

"Weasley, Malfoy..." she sighed, her eyes watering. "You're both alive."

Next to her, a silver line emerged from the ground and then split into two, revealing behind an illusion spell the tent, Ginny and Lupin at the entrance.

"Remus!"

"Minerva!"

Both Professors hugged tightly, and then they all rushed into the tent, putting the spells back in place and vanishing the dead bodies so they wouldn't be found for the moment.

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed upon seeing McGonagall, his fear at seeing Snape momentarily on hold.

Minerva stared at Harry with a strong mixture of sadness, sorrow, relief and fear. Snape had already told her that he was alive, and had detailed the treatment he had received from his fellow Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself... but the image was still shocking. Despite being a little bit less injured that she had anticipated, he still looked like he was moments away from death, and his once defiant, bright green eyes were dull and empty despite the excitement he expressed at seeing her.

"Pott - Harry." she muttered. She walked closer to him upon noticing that he was trying to inch closer to her, his arms outstretched, but he couldn't move very well. She knelt next to him and grabbed his hands, her eyes watering upon seeing her little lion so small, and terrified and broken.

"How - what - I thought he..." Harry began, his eyes also filling with tears.

"Severus helped me." she said, smiling.

Harry's eyes then landed on the dark figure behind her, and the flashback of the man casting Cruciatus curses on him, whipping him, watching him get tortured invaded his mind. The initial excitement at seeing McGonagall alive and unharmed vanished, giving way to waves of terror, again.

Now were not only both Draco and Snape inches away from him, together, Snape was also even worse than Draco. At least the boy had been kind to him at some point in the past, they had been friends, he had expressed regret at being a Death Eater... but the man had never shown Harry any sort of kindness or positive feeling. Only contempt, hatred, even disgust and rage. Not to mention that Harry and Draco were evenly matched under normal circumstances - almost equally skilled and knowledgable; and if Harry had been healthy they were more or less even in physical strength... but Snape was much bigger, hundreds of times more skilled in magic, a lot stronger.

Even on his best day, Harry doubted he would have had a chance at beating his old Potions Master.

"Potter..." the man said, noticing the absolute terror on the boy's face. He turned to Draco, who was also looking at him suspiciously. At a loss for words towards Potter, he directed his words to his godson. "Draco, you betrayed me. How is it that you're the one who doesn't trust me right now?"

Draco's glare faltered, guilt spilling into his features.

"We have no time for this." Lupin stated. "I'm assuming you and those Death Eaters found us because you detected magic, and if that's the case then it's likely others will follow the trail. We need to move."

"Indeed." Snape said. "They are tracking different uses of magic from unregistered wands - this was one of the strongest sources they landed on. They can't pinpoint the exact location, but it won't be long before they send someone after Dolohov and Yaxley fail to report back."

"If it was the strongest source, why send those two idiots?" Draco commented, already getting ready to pack their things and move fast.

"Not the strongest. Lucky for us, there are a few other sources of unregistered magic."

"Wait." Ron said as he watched his sister start packing as well. "Hermione and Fred..."

"Where are they?" McGonagall asked. "Are they alive?" Snape had neglected to tell her that there were more of her students alive and free roaming around.

"Yes, yes." Ron said, an edge of desperation in his voice. "They went to fetch some food and ingredients... We can't leave without them."

"Where are we even going to go?" Lupin asked.

McGonagall eyed Snape carefully and then cleared her throat.

"There is a safehouse... With some luck, a few members of the Order should be there." she said. Her eyes met Harry, who seemed to have raw desperation and longing on his face, but couldn't conjure the words he wanted to say. "Before I was captured, that's where we hid. They haven't found it yet... but getting inside will be tricky."

"We need to wait for Hermione and Fred." George said.

"And wait just a second, how are we even planning to move?" Ginny asked, stopping in her tracks. "Harry can barely move a finger and he is too weak to apparate."

Harry blushed as all eyes fell on him. Even if most of them were friends and not a threat, he had become terrified of being the center of attention. He squirmed uncomfortably... he knew it too. He was too injured to stay upright for long and disapparating at that moment would probably just injure him even more. But staying put after witnessing first hand how close they had been was even more horrifying.

"Dreamless sleep." Draco said. "The whole bloody reason we ventured out in the first place. Then we can move him without harming him... carrying him to the next location."

"We can't walk all the way to the safehouse." McGonagall said, rubbing her forehead.

A big part of Harry felt the urge to just beg them to kill him. He had always felt like a burden, but never quite as intensely as at that moment.

"Then we need to be prepared to fight." Ginny said, her voice and face hardening. "We have to stay put while Harry gains some strength, at least for a few days, and then we move."

Everyone hesitated for a while, but nobody could come up with better options. Snape and Draco left the tent to strengthen the wards around them and have a much needed private talk. Lupin stayed inside to prepare the Dreamless Sleep laced with a somniferous potion, a mixture he knew too well and could prepare even blindfolded.

McGonagall knelt next to Harry, smiling gently.

Even partially healed, she could see the awful scars, the still present injuries, the trembling that indicated magic-induced nerve damage. She could only imagine the horrors he had endured.

"Did they hurt you?" Harry asked, barely above a whisper.

A tear ran down her face.

"No, dear child. Not at all."

"Are you sure?" he insisted, his eyebrows pinching together. "He said... he said he would. If they did it's my fault, I'm sorry."

McGonagall took his hands in hers again.

"Nothing, not one thing in this whole scenario, is your fault, Harry."

A few minutes later the potion had been brewed. Lupin turned to Harry, who eyed it with dread and shook his head very subtly.

"Do you want to talk about it, Harry?" Lupin offered, remembering how it had helped a few hours prior, with the water.

Harry swallowed thickly, trying to muster some bravery... but it was also humiliating, to keep exposing his terrible traumas to his closest loved ones. He didn't want to see the anger on Ron's face if he recounted how they brewed potions that would burn his insides, sensitize his body to the pain, paralyze his limbs so he wouldn't try to escape the torture, mimic the Cruciatus curse. Could not tolerate the image of the pity on Lupin's face when he mentioned that some of those potions were aimed to heal him, with the sole purpose of keeping him alive so that he could keep on suffering endlessly, how they would force him to thank them when they shoved them down his throat. And he couldn't deal, at all, with McGonagall's sadness if she learned that they often experimented on him, combining different potions to see how his body would react, which more often than not led to very excruciating results.

He sighed and eyed the vial in Lupin's hand again.

"Okay." he said softly. "I'll take it."

It was terrifying, but at least he would take it on his own accord. That made it a bit more tolerable.

He took as deep a breath as his ribs would allow, and chugged down the potion.

After a few minutes, he knew no more.

McGonagall sighed heavily and turned to Lupin.

"Remus, he is way too injured. We need to think of something."

"I tried to heal him." Remus answered, looking sadly as Harry as Ron began to move him into a more comfortable position on his makeshift bed. "I had to use Draco's wand but... the damage was insane. You can't begin to imagine how he looked before. And... they made me watch, too."

"Yeah, me too." Ron answered bitterly. "He looks top-notch right now compared to how we was back at You-Know-Who's manor."

"He has important nerve damage." McGonagall said. "It's hard to identify since he is also shaking with fear, but the tremor of his hands - "

"I know." Lupin said. "But we don't have a lot of options. In fact, part of the reason why I wanted him unconscious was to heal him below the waist. I tried before but he re-opened some of the injuries in a panic attack and wouldn't let me pull the blanket away. But perhaps you are a bit more skilled with healing spells than me."

"Severus can help, too." she said. "Ginny, would you ask him to come inside? And I'll need to borrow your wand."

"And I'll need yours." Lupin added, turning to George.

With the three Professors inside, surrounding Harry, Lupin lifted the blanket.

Even after the first round of healing, the visible damage was jarring. A lot of the injuries had reopened and had been oozing blood for a while, and bruises and horrid scars remained. McGonagall had suspected before, but the blood between his legs confirmed her worse suspicions.

"Merlin." she muttered.

Snape had seen it live, and in a much worse condition, but being reminded of what the boy had endured was tough, even for him.

Without another word, they began muttering healing charms.