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Restoration of Magic	By : Bickymonster & CelticKitsune Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 10396 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: We do not own Harry Potter or any concepts or characters associated with it. We are not making any money from this this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Once again a huge thanks to Emily for beta reading this for us! Also, we want to thank everyone who has been leaving reviews! Even if we don’t reply to everyone, we really do enjoy reading them and seeing people's reactions to our story.
Chapter 8

20th December 1995

Itham was truly impressed with the children. To have formed a plan and put it into motion a mere four, nearly five, days after finding those folders, showed him just how ready they were. Though he knew the rush to leave the city had been helped along by Rosario, who had given Harry a sense of urgency to leave the city. But that was something he was certain of now, that no matter what the cost, the children had to leave the city.

Itham had prepared himself, wanting to be ready to help the children get away undetected; however, this part of his plan had proved to be unnecessary.

It was the early hours of the morning, and Itham was glad to have accidentally fallen asleep at his desk in the secondary home, when he was woken by some hustle and bustle outside. He pushed himself up from his desk and went to investigate, finding himself rather surprised by the sight of guards all but dragging two children up the front steps and into the entrance hall.

“These two were caught trying to leave the city,” one of the guards stated.

“We just went for a walk,” Neville insisted stubbornly.

Itham couldn’t help but smile as he looked down at Neville, who was standing protectively in front of his mate. He wasn’t fooled for one moment, and was sure that the guard was exactly right about what was going on. He also didn’t believe that these were the only two children running away, though he thought that would be a discussion better kept until the guards had left.

“I have these two now, I need you to gather the other Elders,” Itham instructed with finality.

“Are you quite certain?” one of the guards asked, his eyes narrowed on the two children, who were both wearing stubborn expressions and glaring at Itham and the guards.

“Are you suggesting that I can not handle two children on my own?” Itham raised an eyebrow at the guard who had spoken.

“Of course not,” the guard said, looking rather flustered. “We will fetch the other Elders,” he said, hurrying out of the house and back out into the city.

Pansy apparently couldn’t restrain herself any more, as she burst out laughing. “Sorry,” she said through her giggles, “his face was too funny. ‘Are you suggestion I cannot handle two children on my own,’” she said in her best impersonation of Itham. “I thought he was going to wet himself.”

“Pansy,” Itham said with mock sternness, “I am glad I amused you, but we really do have some important things to discuss BEFORE my peers arrive.”

“Pansy,” Neville chastised under his breath and she coughed, getting herself back under control, before smiling up innocently at Itham.

“I assume that you were not the only ones trying to leave the city this evening,” Itham told them firmly. It was not a question.

Pansy and Neville shared an anxious look, not sure how much to tell anyone. So far their plan had worked, they had managed to ‘accidentally’ catch the attention of the guards on one side of the city and draw them away, but they knew Itham would still have time to catch Harry, Blaise, Draco and Theodore if he wanted to.

“This is not the time for silence,” Itham said urgently. “I promise I want to help you, but I must know where Harry and the others went, if they are to leave undetected,” Itham said.

“You want to help them leave?” Pansy asked skeptically, sharing another look with Neville, who shrugged his shoulders. They really had no way of knowing if Itham was going to help or capture their friends.

“I think it is time that at least some of you went home,” Itham said, glancing out the door and down the steps to see if any of the Elders were approaching yet. It all looked quiet for the moment, but he knew they didn’t have long. “You guys have done wonderfully, but your friends will just end up lost in the middle of nowhere without some help. Where are they?”

“They went out the west side of the city,” Neville said, taking a chance on the Elder. Pansy turned to glare at him, but he was determined to trust his instincts, and they said that Itham was telling the truth, that this man meant him no harm. “They went out round the back of the Temple.”

“Thank you,” Itham said earnestly, “I will go to them as soon as we have you both safe.” He glanced out of the door once more and sighed in relief when he saw that it was Rosario that was going to reach them first and that she was on her way up the steps towards them now. That would simplify matters.

“Itham,” Rosario said, as she approached them. “Pansy, Neville,” she added with a stern glare at the children.

“Harry, and I assume Draco, Blaise and Theodore,” Itham said, glancing to Neville and Pansy, who nodded in agreement, “are trying to leave from the west, behind the Temple. I need to go after them, get them out safely.”

“Of course,” Rosario said, “what do you need me to do?”

“Stay with these two,” Itham told her, looking very grateful, “maybe take them upstairs. I am sure the noise has woken the other children already, and I would imagine they would be glad to see each other. And if Arnaldo or Tinasia ask, I have gone to check the boundaries,” he said, and Rosario nodded in agreement. “Thank you,” Itham gasped out, before hurrying out into the city.

“Come along you two,” Rosario said sternly, already heading further into the house without sparing them another glance.

Pansy threaded her fingers with Neville’s as the two of them followed a few paces behind. “I think this must be where Cedric, Angelina, Lee and Cho are,” she said in a hushed whisper to her mate. And as worried as she was about Harry, Draco, Blaise and Theo, she was eager to see the older children, who had been gone for many months now.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Neville said, though he looked more apprehensive about that conclusion than his mate. He had a sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be returning to their home any time soon, though Neville would never regret helping Harry and the others get away.

-------------x

Blaise was holding tightly onto Harry’s hand as they made their way through the forest that surrounded the Fae city. They were moving quickly, but it was dark, and he was painfully aware of what had happened to Adrien and therefore reluctant to actually run and risk one of them falling. He could hear the crunch of leaves, telling him that Draco and Theodore were a short way behind them.

“Keep close,” Blaise said, looking over his shoulder to Theodore and Draco, not wanting them to risk getting separated.

“Are you sure we know where we’re going?” Draco asked, staying close to Theo as they continued following Blaise, who was in the lead of their small group.

“I know we’re going away from the city,” Blaise said, turning his head once more to look at Draco. “That’s all we can do for the moment,” Blaise said, taking a moment to look at Harry who was following just behind him. “You holding up okay?” He asked his mate.

“I really wish we didn’t have to leave Pansy and Neville behind,” Harry said, stumbling slightly over the uneven ground, grabbing onto Blaise before he could fall over.

“Careful, Harry,” Blaise said, turning to make sure that Harry was steady on his feet again. “I also wish Pansy and Neville could have come with us, but this way we have a better chance of getting away,” Blaise pointed out.

“We’d have even more of a chance if we actually knew what way to go,” Draco pointed out, sulking. He was so tired, only having had a few hours sleep. That combined with the cold winter weather, meant that he was in a seriously grumpy mood.

“We’ll figure it out,” Theo promised, putting a hand on Draco’s shoulder. “Let’s just keep walking for now. We have to get as far away as possible before we can rest,” Theodore said.

“I know that,” Draco snapped. “Just… let me be grumpy about this. I’m tired, cold, and feel miserable right now. I’m not turning back, and I’m not slowing us down,” Draco huffed.

Harry looked over at Draco. “I’m sorry.”

“And don’t apologise!” Draco insisted as he shook his head in frustration. “Just, let me be in a bad mood. And let’s keep going before they catch us.” The blond looked toward Blaise, the tan boy nodding before turning to continue walking.

They had only taken a couple more steps, when Blaise turned his head once again to make sure that the others were still following, but the distraction proved too much on the uneven ground in the unknown forest. Blaise yelled as one of his feet disappeared out from underneath him.

“Blaise!” Harry and Theo both cried out. Harry scrambled to catch hold of his mate, but despite Harry’s efforts, Blaise found himself falling down a steep bank. “Blaise! Blaise!” Harry shouted, Theo held the smaller boy back from charging down the hill after him.

“Are you okay?” Theodore called out urgently, already trying to figure out how he could get down to his friend without ending up falling himself.

“I’m okay,” Blaise called up to them. “Though, I think my ankle might disagree,” he added with a moan as he tried to push himself back to his feet.

“One of us needs to go down to him,” Draco pointed out quietly, coming to his mate’s side and looking down the slope where Blaise had fallen. Draco sighed. “It should probably be me, I am the best of us when it comes to healing magic.” Though he had yet to practice his healing on a real person, Draco was sure he would be able to fix Blaise’s ankle enough that they could keep going.

“Or you could all stay put safe up here, and let me,” a voice behind them said and the three of them turned quickly, finding themselves face-to-face with Itham. None of them knew what to say, seemingly frozen in the face of having been caught by an Elder of all people.

“What’s going on?” Blaise called out from where he was currently stuck, when everything had gone quiet. “Harry? Draco? Theo!” Blaise tried once again to stand, his worry growing when no one answered him.

“Stop moving,” Itham called down to Blaise as he walked over to the edge and looked down at the teenager, seeing what he was trying to do. The Elder took a deep calming breath and reached his hand out towards Blaise.

“Who is that? What did you do with my mate, my friends?” Blaise called up angrily, not able to see Itham properly in the dark.

“We’re here, Blaise,” Harry called down. “Itham’s going to help you.”

“Itham…?” Blaise asked, his heart sinking. They had failed. They had been caught by an Elder.

“You have just sprained your ankle,” Itham called down to Blaise, “I am going to levitate you up here.” He didn’t even give Blaise enough time to respond, but the teenager yelped in surprise when he felt himself floating up into the air. Blaise didn’t try to struggle, knowing it would be pointless, but he still prepared himself, making a quick plan of how he could still get Harry away once he was back on solid ground.

Itham watched Blaise closely, as he levitated the teenager back up to the top of the slope, though he didn’t set the boy down immediately, wanting to heal his ankle up first before Blaise tried to stand on it.

“Blaise!” Harry cried out, hurrying past Itham, going to his mate and hugging him tightly, before hitting him. “Don’t scare me like that!” Harry scolded, hugging him again.

Itham smiled, watching the two of them for just a moment. But then he moved forward, knowing he needed to act quickly and get Blaise back on his feet, so they could get moving. Blaise looked toward the Elder, when he felt the warm pulse of magic soothing his sore ankle.

“We’re not going back,” Blaise said firmly, wanting to make that one thing very clear. As grateful as he was to Itham for his help, Blaise knew he needed to get Harry away. He kept his arms around his mate, even as Itham finished with the healing magic, and carefully lowered Blaise to the ground.

“I do not expect you to,” Itham assured him calmly, proud of how much Blaise obviously cared about Harry. “However, none of you will get very far through these woods, even if you hadn’t just fallen down that slope. Even if you had managed to make it farther, it would have taken weeks for you to reach any sort of civilization,” Itham explained.

“But we have to leave! We can’t go back there, Itham,” Harry said, looking up at the Elder with wide eyes.

“LIke I said, I do not expect any of you to go back,” Itham reiterated, giving Harry a pointed look. The teenager fell quiet under the Elder’s gaze. “I am here to help you, but we must be quick about it,” Itham said, pulling a silver crystal out of his pocket. “Once you are back in the magical world, it will be difficult for anyone here to find you, but not impossible,” Itham explained, watching as the crystal began glowing, Itham took a step away leaving the crystal to float in the air.

“You’re helping us?” Theo asked, looking confused as he remained between Itham and Draco.

“Yes, I am. I wish I could tell you more, so that you might not think so badly of our kind, but there really is no time for the many questions I’m sure you have,” Itham said with regret. “You four must go now.”

“Wait, Pansy, and Neville....” Harry said quickly, as the light from the crystal swelling, growing great shadows from the trees all around them.

“They will be well taken care of,” Itham promised, “and they will join you in the World of Wizards when I can manage it.” He blinked in surprise when Harry let go of Blaise and hurried over to him, latching onto the Elder in a tight hug.

“Thank you,” Harry whispered. Itham ran his fingers through Harry’s hair, before looking once more to Blaise.

“I expect you to take good care of him,” Itham said seriously. “That goes for all four of you. You will be just fine, so long as you take care of each other.” Itham smiled again, leaning down and kissing the top of Harry’s head.

There was a swooshing sound, and a pulse of magic rippled through the air, all of them turning towards the source. The crystal now rotating steadily in one spot, just above an area of distortion. It was as though the forest itself faded into something else entirely, another place that looked to be the inside of a vast room.

“Now you must go, quickly,” Itham gave Harry a gentle shove back toward Blaise. “The portal is perfectly safe, I promise,” he told them, when he saw their anxiousness.

“I’ll miss you, Itham, and Alais too,” Harry said, grinning at the Elder. “You should really ask her to be your mate!” Harry said, before running through the portal that had been opened into the wizarding world.

“Harry!” Blaise said, chasing after him, not bothering to say a farewell to Itham. Theodore paused only long enough to give Itham a small bow of gratitude, before squeezing Draco’s hand, and leading his mate towards the portal, the two of them following their friends through.

With a wave of his hand, Itham closed the portal behind them, and plucked the crystal out of the air, placing it back in his pocket. Without the boys, or the hum of the portal’s magic, he really was alone in the woods.

Taking a deep breath, Itham closed his eyes, saying a final silent farewell to four of the children that had been raised in this city, before he turned and swiftly made his way back. There were other children here that still needed looking after, and now that his plans were in full swing, he couldn’t stop, not until all the kids had been returned home, hopefully to their families.

-------------x

Theodore and Draco came out of the portal, Draco glancing behind them as it closed up, cutting them off from the only place they had ever known. Draco held tighter to Theo’s hand, turning around to see exactly where they were.

Blaise and Harry were only a few steps ahead of them, Harry staring around trying to take in everything at once. The golden symbols imbedded into the peacock-blue ceiling, were constantly shifting and Harry seemed to be trying to follow them all at once.

“This place is even bigger than the Council halls!” Harry said in awe.

“But there’s no one here,” Draco pointed out, still hoping that they could find somewhere to sleep soon. “Though I suppose it is very early in the morning.”

“How can you tell?” Theodore asked as he too tried to take it all in. “There aren’t any windows.” He had never been somewhere that you couldn’t see the sky before. Though he supposed Draco was right, it had been most definitely dark out when they had stepped through the portal only a few moments earlier.

“That is weird…” Harry said, as he now started looking to see if there was a window they had missed. “How can a building not have windows? How can people tell what time of day it is in here?”

“Maybe they have other ways of telling what time of day it is?” Blaise suggested.

“That’s just weird,” Harry shook his head, and started walking further down the hallway they were in. “It must get really cold in here, look at all the fireplaces they need!” Harry said with a giggle.

“If they lit all those at once, I think they would roast people alive…” Draco said with a shudder. “Are we sure Itham sent us to the right spot?” Draco asked, looking up at Theo.

“He sent us out of the city, he didn’t mention where he was sending us though,” Theo said, keeping an arm securely around his mate.

“Probably should have gotten that information before we left,” Draco snorted.

“You’re the smart one here,” Harry said, turning around to grin at his friend.

“Not when I’m tired and cranky!” Draco snapped, and Harry just laughed at his friend. Draco was sure that Harry was just as tired as the rest of them, and that the smaller boy was running off pure excitement and curiosity at the moment. Draco let out a long sigh as Harry hurried off ahead of them again, inspecting everything, from the blue ceilings with the golden symbols, to the fountain that was half way down the hall.

“Theo, I need to sit down,” Draco complained, once they too had reached the fountain that Harry was eagerly running around, inspecting from all sides.

“I suppose this place is as good as any to get a couple more hours sleep,” Blaise said. “We can find out where we are after.” Blaise continued watching Harry, shaking his head as the smaller boy climbed up onto the edge of the fountain. “Don’t fall in, Harry,” Blaise said, though he moved closer to his mate just in case.

“I’m not going to fall in,” Harry waved off the warning, reaching his hand out to try and catch some of the water that was spouting out of one of the five statues.

“You are going to fall in. You’re too short to reach that,” Draco put in helpfully, sitting down on the edge of the fountain. Theodore had just taken a seat next to him when there was a loud crack that seemed to echo off the walls of the empty Atrium. Harry screamed in surprise, as one loud crack after another filled the room. The splashing sound of Harry hitting the water was lost among all the other noise.

Theodore was back on his feet, standing in front of Draco, while Blaise jumped over the edge of the fountain to pull Harry out of the water, also taking a protective stance in front of his mate, as he now turned to face the group of people that had appeared, quite loudly, out of nowhere.

“None of you move!” one man ordered, the other five spreading themselves out to either side of him, surrounding the four teenagers.

Theodore watched all these people closely, keeping himself positioned in front of Draco. The unknown people were pointing what Theodore assumed were wands at them, and it was putting him on edge. Off to the right, he could hear Blaise pulling Harry out of the water.

“I said don’t move!” the man, who was obviously in charge, snapped at Blaise, raising his wand a little more and pointing it directly towards the tan boy.

“We can’t even get out of the water?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow at the loud man, while keeping his arms wrapped around Harry, shielding his small mate from these people.

“Don’t get smart with me, boy,” the man growled.

“Well, I could get dumb with you, if you rather,” Blaise said with a small smirk, eyeing the man up and down for a moment. “Though I’m not sure I can lower my brain function enough to manage such a thing.”

A dark-haired, ruggedly handsome man let out a barking laugh at that, earning an annoyed glare from the angry man. “Oh lighten up, Scrimgeour, they’re just kids.”

“Kids that managed to break into the Ministry on their own!” Scrimgeour snapped, narrowing his eyes at the man who had just spoken.

“But we didn’t break anything!” Harry spoke up, lifting his head from Blaise’s chest so that he could get a better look at these people. “Itham just sent us here. I promise we didn’t break anything though!” Harry said, smiling widely as he looked around at this group of new people.

“That’s not what they meant, Harry,” Draco said huffily. Harry, however, was far more interested in the strangers around them than what his friend had to say, and let out a small giggle as he took in the appearance of the people standing around them.

“You all dress funny,” Harry said bluntly, earning a snort of amusement from Blaise.

“You’re one to talk, titch,” the ruggedly handsome man who had spoken before commented, letting out another laugh.

“Well, of COURSE I look funny, my clothes are all wet,” Harry said, stepping away from Blaise, ignoring how a couple of these strange people seemed to move quickly, aiming their wands at him again, as he climbed up on the edge of the fountain again. Harry waved his hand, and a moment later his clothes, and the rest of himself, were completely dry, seeming to take on a life of its own as the fabric seemed to flow around him. “There, see, much better,” he declared.

“Who ARE you?” Scrimgeour snarled impatiently, looking perturbed by the casual use of wandless and wordless magic. He wasn’t the only one, as a couple of the others had tightened their holds on their wands, moving into more aggressive positions.

“Oh, I’m Harry,” Harry told him happily. “That’s my mate, Blaise, my best friend, Draco, and Draco’s mate, Theo,” he explained indicating each of them in turn. “Who are you?”

Scrimgeour spluttered in outrage, clearly not used to having to identify himself. “I am Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror. And what is your FULL name, boy?” he demanded to know, not remotely amused by the teenager’s cheeky attitude.

“My full…” Harry trailed off, “Oh! Right!” He turned quickly to Theo. “You have the files, right?” Harry asked, jumping down from the side of the fountain and taking a few quick steps toward Theo, who was already reaching into his bag and pulling the files out. He handed one over to Harry, who snatched it up eagerly. “Full name… full name… “ Harry said flipping the file open. “Harry James Potter,” Harry said looking up at Scrimgeour. “Is that right?” he asked eagerly.

“No, you can’t be!” the ruggedly handsome man exclaimed as he rushed forward, grabbing hold of Harry’s hood and pulling it back. A strangled gasp caught in the man’s throat as he stared in shock at the teenager.

“Stay away from my mate!” Blaise raged, shoving the man away from Harry, and wrapping his mate up protectively in his arms. “You even think about touching him again and I will break every bone in your hands!”

“Is it really him, Sirius?” one of the other men asked, sounding shocked.

“Go get Frank and John,” the one called Sirius said, still staring at Harry in shock. “He looks just like a tiny version of James, it has to be him,” he said faintly, looking as though it was taking great restraint not to reach for Harry again.

“What about the other three?” someone else asked, glancing at Blaise, before looking at Theo and Draco. And one of the other men disappeared into thin air, presumable to fetch the two men Sirius had asked for.

“Come near my mate, and I will do more than break your hands,” Theodore threatened, narrowing his eyes at the wizard that was eyeing them.

“Enough of this!” Scrimgeour snapped, “you four are under arrest, for breaking into the Ministry-”

“I told you, we didn’t break anything,” Harry insisted with a pout, insulted that these men hadn’t believed him the first time..

“Remove your hoods, and hand over your wands now!” Scrimgeour ordered.

“Wands?” Harry asked, looking over to Draco curiously.

Draco rolled his eyes at Harry, not surprised that his friend hadn’t been paying attention in the history lessons they had had about the wizarding world. “The sticks they’re pointing at us, they can’t use magic without it,” Draco explained.

“I said remove your hoods, and surrender your wands!” Scrimgeour ordered again. He had had enough of the games these children were playing, and decided it was time to get to the bottom of what was going on.

“We don’t have sticks,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest, deciding that he really didn’t like this man that seemed to like yelling at them a lot.

“Harry,” Draco sighed putting a hand over his tired eyes for a moment, “they are called wands.” The blond turned to look at Scrimgeour. “And we don’t have wands,” he said, reaching up and pulling his hood down, hoping that if they started complying with the orders as best they could, then they would eventually be able to go find some place to stay and get some more sleep.

Theodore pulled his own hood down, and saw Blaise doing the same out of the corner of his eye, smiling as Harry waved his hand, and a moment later Blaise’s clothes were dry again. “See, we don’t want any trouble,” Theodore pointed out, but Scrimgeour didn’t look appeased.

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t be in the Ministry of Magic at four in the morning,” one of the other men point out with a scowl.

“Oh, so that’s what this place is,” Draco said, as he once again looked around at the room they were in.

“Enough! Seize them,” Scrimgeour commanded, sick of all this nonsense.

Theo and Blaise both had their hands raised, summoning their inner magic and directing it at the three men who had moved forward, knocking them backwards. “Ha! Want to try that again?” Harry taunted, smirking at Scrimgeour. He trusted that his mate wouldn’t let anything happen to them.

The Head Auror didn’t hesitate to raise his wand, casting a stunner towards Blaise, who collapsed to the ground, before doing the same thing with Theodore. He ignored the outraged cries from Harry and Draco. “You will also be charged with attacking an Auror,” Scrimgeour told them bluntly.

“I’ll show you an attack,” Harry said angrily from where he was crouched next to Blaise. He raised his hand, but Draco’s fingers wrapped around his wrist.

“Don’t,” Draco said quietly, shaking his head, “you’ll make things worse, and we might need their help if we want to find our parents.”

“Stop this!” Sirius said, moving forward to stand in front of the four boys, facing his fellow Aurors. “They are CHILDREN!” he snapped, looking over his shoulder at Draco and Harry. “All we really want to do is ask you four some questions,” Sirius explained.

“Funny way of asking questions!” Harry snapped, his anger still clear in his voice. Sirius glanced back at the other Aurors, who were pushing themselves up off the floor. He wanted to be sure that they weren’t going to shoot off any more spells before he turned and knelt in front of Harry and Draco.

“Yeah, not one of our finer moments,” Sirius said. “I’m sorry about your friends-”

“Mates,” Harry corrected, watching Sirius warily.

“Right...mates, but they are going to be okay, they’ll just sleep for a few hours,” Sirius explained, deciding it might be for the best at the moment to not mention he could easily wake both boys up right now. “But for right now, we need you boys to follow us. There are some rooms more comfortable than the floor here, and I’m sure I can even dig up some hot chocolate for you somewhere,” Sirius smiled.

“What's… hot chocolate?” Harry asked, seeming unable to stop his curiosity from getting the best of him.

“Blimey, kid! Wherever you’ve been, you’ve been deprived!” Sirius said, eyes wide as he stared at Harry. “That settles it then, I’ll be sure to find some hot chocolate for you,” Sirius smiled. “Now, let’s get your friends… I mean mates,” Sirius corrected himself quickly, earning a small smile from Harry. “Let’s get you all somewhere more comfortable, and warm, and then we can ask you some questions. And no one is going to attack anyone again, okay?” Sirius said, raising his voice slightly so that his fellow Aurors could also hear him.

Harry gave Draco a questioning look. He really did like this man; he was kind of amusing, but while Harry wanted to trust him, he also knew it was best to trust Draco’s judgment in a matter like this. But Draco looked just as confused as he was about this whole situation, and also really tired. Apparently he was going to have to make this decision himself.

Harry closed his eyes and focused on his mental shields, like he had done numerous times with Firo and Kaylin. He pulled his magic back from them carefully, until he felt the swell of emotions from others building in him. He smiled as he realised he had been exactly right about Draco; his friend was confused, upset and tired. The Sirius guy was a different matter altogether; he seemed to almost be overflowing with curiosity, so much like Harry was, but there was also hope and affection too. There was nothing that gave Harry cause for concern, so he bolstered his mental shields and smiled warmly at Sirius when he opened his eyes once more.

“You okay, kid?” Sirius asked.

“I’m okay,” Harry said, still smiling at Sirius. “We’ll go with you, and we can answer your questions,” Harry said. “But…” Harry glanced towards Draco once more, before returning his attention to Sirius. “We’ve kind of been up all night at this point… is there somewhere we can get some sleep first?” Harry asked.

“I think that is a reasonable request,” a new voice said, as someone else stepped over toward the boys. Harry looked up at this new man, watching as Sirius stood up to greet him.

“Frank, finally someone with a little common sense,” Sirius sighed in relief, the two men shaking hands, before Frank turned his attention to the boys. Kneeling down so that he was closer to eye level with Harry and Draco, he gave them both a small smile.

“If you two can follow me, I will show you where you can get some rest,” he said.

“What about Theo and Blaise?” Draco asked, tensing when he saw Frank pull his wand out.

“I’m just going to conjure stretchers for the two of them, and bring them along with us. It is an easier way of carrying them,” Frank explained, waving his wand and doing just that. Draco shuddered, reluctantly moving away from Theo as the stretcher he was on was lifted into the air. He felt Harry shifting closer to him, so he reached out and took hold of his friend’s hand, holding it tightly.

Harry held Draco’s hand just as tightly, eyeing the levitating stretchers disdainfully. He wanted to be near Blaise, but the magic used to create and levitate the stretchers was making his skin crawl. “Do you think this is what Alais meant?” Harry whispered to Draco, “about Magic being corrupted?” Harry asked.

“Most likely,” Draco replied just as softly. “It certainly doesn't feel right at all. I don’t think now is the time to talk about this though,” Draco said, eyeing the adults that were still around.

“Alright, you two,” Sirius said, “follow me, and I will show you where you can rest.” With the promise of more sleep, Draco willingly followed Sirius, keeping hold of Harry’s hand and gently pulling his smaller friend along to follow as well. Blaise and Theodore were levitated along behind them as they were taken to a small room.

The first thing that Harry noticed about the room was that there were no beds, or anywhere that could be comfortable enough to sleep. Turning to ask Sirius where they were supposed to sleep, he saw the man moving a chair up against a wall, before waving his wand over it. Harry watched as the chair was transfigured into a rather comfortable looking bed, but Harry could feel the wrongness of the magic surrounding it.

“Here you go,” Sirius said, and Harry stared at him dumbfounded, surely this man didn’t expect him to sleep on that, but Sirius was watching Harry expectantly.

“They really don’t know any better,” Draco sighed, shaking his head sadly.

“I can’t sleep on that,” Harry said, looking at Draco.

“Neither can I,” Draco agreed. “Let’s fix it. THEN we can sleep,” Draco said moving forward to do just that, but Harry stopped him. Sirius and Frank watched the pair of them with fascinated confusion.

“You’re too tired. I can do it,” Harry smiled at his friend, hurrying over to the bed, studying it for a moment before he waved his hand over it, feeling the magic, as if it had been forced into this shape, and held there by invisible bindings. Harry simply broke what was holding the magic in place, watching as the bed seemed to snap back into its original form of a chair.

“What did you do that for?” Sirius asked with a frown on his face. “I thought you two wanted to sleep.”

“So I can do this properly,” Harry told him, his attention on the chair. A wave of his hand had the chair morphing and shifting into a larger bed than the one that Sirius had created before.

“Much better,” Draco said with a relieved sigh, moving forward and all but falling onto the bed.

“Wandless magic?” Frank asked rhetorically, hardly believing what he had just witnessed. These were just young children, fifteen year olds, and they were doing magic without a wand as though it was nothing.

“Can you put Blaise and Theo on the bed next to Draco?” Harry requested, turning to look at Frank and Sirius.

“I can just make more beds for them,” Sirius offered, frowning when Harry shook his head.

“I know you’re trying to help but… your magic is wrong, and this bed is big enough for the four of us,” Harry said with a gesture to the bed that Draco was already lying down on.

“Alright,” Frank said, waving his wand and levitating first Blaise off his stretcher, and onto the bed, before doing the same with Theodore. He watched as Harry smiled his thanks, before the teenager climbed into the bed too, squeezing down between Blaise and Draco, his blond friend already mostly asleep.

“I guess we’ll leave you to sleep,” Sirius said, looking with bemusement at the four teenagers snuggled up together.

---------------x

Frank sat at the table, looking around at the small group he had been allowed, who would help him question the boys once they were awake and ready. Though Scrimgeour wasn’t to be left out, Frank had insisted that they couldn’t afford to frighten the boys any more than they already had, otherwise they may never get the answers they needed, and the ones that Scrimgeour wanted.

The thud of the small stack of files that Dawlish dropped onto the table sounded loud in the quiet room. They were in a room down the hall from where the four boys were sleeping, Frank wanting to talk to Dawlish and Mad-Eye about the children before they started any questioning; Sirius had stubbornly insisted he be included too, given his godson was involved.

“The Theo kid had these,” he told them, opening them up and handing them around to the others to read. “I think these really might be the missing children.”

“That is definitely Harry,” Sirius reiterated. He hadn’t seen Harry since the boy was about four months old, but he was absolutely certain that the petite boy with messy black hair and bright green eyes could only be Lily and James’ son.

“This says the little blond is Draco Malfoy, and I am sure that’s true given that white-blond hair,” Frank pointed out. “But I am certain that we never had any record of any Malfoy child going missing.”

“Nor a Nott child,” Moody added, holding up the file he was reading.

“But some of these are others on our list,” Dawlish pointed out. “Ron Weasley, Susan Bones, Terry Boot…” he paused as he picked up another file and saw the name. “Think you need to see this one, Frank,” he said.

Frank moved around the table. A strangled noise escaped him, and he reached up to run his fingers over his son’s name. He read on, fighting to stay calm through the description of what had been done to his wife that night, but the next page contained details of Neville’s progression in what seemed to be classes and even medical records, showing that Neville was apparently a healthy boy. It wasn’t much, but it was the first indication he had seen in fourteen years that his son was still alive somewhere.

“We’ll find him,” Dawlish promised, pressing a hand to Frank’s back. “These four children will be able to tell us things that we haven’t been able to find out in more than a decade.”

“And if he ends up like Adrien Pucey?” Frank asked sadly. The boy’s body had been returned to them many months ago, but there had been no clue where he had been, nor what had happened.

“We might even be able to get some answers for his parents too,” Mad-Eye pointed out.

“Maybe we should make a list of questions to ask the boys,” Sirius suggested. “Like, how did they even get into the Ministry at four in the morning? Harry said something about some guy sending them there, but he didn’t really explain himself.”

“I suggest that each of us speaks with one of them,” Frank suggested, tearing his eyes away from Neville’s file. “And no you aren’t not interviewing Harry, Sirius,” he said with a amused smile before Sirius had even had a chance to ask.

“Then I want to talk to this Blaise Zabini,” Sirius said, reading through the boy’s file. It told him what both Blaise and Harry had already said, that the two boys were mates. It was something that he was definitely going to be asking Blaise about.

“I am going to speak with the Malfoy boy,” Mad-Eye stated firmly. He had dealt with Lucius Malfoy many times over the years, and he was going to find out if the young blond was cut from the same cloth.

“I will speak with Harry then,” Frank said, “Dawlish, you can speak to the Nott boy,” Dawlish nodded his agreement to this, pulling Theodore’s file over and scanning through it.

“I think it might be wise to separate the boys while they are all still sleeping,” Mad-Eye said.

“I don’t know if that will be necessary,” Sirius said.

“Need I remind you there is still a war going on! Voldemort may have been quiet, but we have no proof that these boys have not been raised by him to be trained killers,” Mad-Eye said, glaring at Sirius when the other man rolled his eyes.

“There has never been any proof that Voldemort even took any of the kids,” Sirius pointed out.

“And there’s been no proof that he didn’t,” Mad-Eye shot back. “And now we find that they were with the children of known Death Eaters,” he pointed out.

“It is possible that those children were taken too,” Frank reasoned, “and their parents simply didn’t trust the Aurors to find them. And to be fair, we haven’t found a single one of the missing children before now, unless you include Adrien Pucey, and I tend not to.”

“We won’t know anything until the boys wake up and we can speak to them,” Dawlish pointed out, not wanting to give Mad-Eye a chance to go off on one of his rants about vigilance. “But I have to say, Moody might be right about separating them now. From what you and Sirius have told us about them, they aren’t likely to go into individual rooms willingly.”

“But that will do nothing to earn their trust and get them talking,” Frank pointed out. “And, Sirius, you saw how they reacted to your magic. They don’t like it for some reason, so even trying to move them while asleep might well lead to them fighting us.”

“Talking to them calmly seemed to get more results the first time around,” Sirius said. “Why don’t we try it that way, then if that doesn’t work, Mad-Eye, you can force them into separate rooms, but I will have no part of it,” Sirius said firmly.

“You are not the one in charge here, Sirius,” Mad-Eye reminded him.

“No, you’re right,” Frank spoke up. “This is my case. I am the one in charge, and I agree with Sirius. We are not going to get any answers if we try to force them out of these children,” Frank pointed out. “Even if it turns out that they were taken by Voldemort and raised to be killers,” he said, cutting Mad-Eye off before the older Auror could speak.

---------------x

Theo woke with a sudden gasp, sitting up quickly, his mind still on the fight that he and Blaise had been in. However, moving proved to be a mistake, as he suddenly felt light-headed from his sudden movement. Theo lowered his head, one of his hands resting on his head as he tried to get his head to stop spinning long enough to figure out what had happened.

Looking to his right, his frown deepened when he saw not only his mate sleeping next to him, but Harry as well. The smaller boy was curled up, sleeping between Draco and Blaise, who was on the opposite side of the bed from Theo. The two smaller boys were wrapped up in Blaise’s arm, which reached over the both of them protectively.

Theo didn’t really want to wake any of them up, but he wanted answers. He had seen Blaise go down first, which had been enough of a distraction that Theo could only assume that he had been hit by the same spell as Blaise. This meant that Blaise most likely would know even less than him. Turning his attention away from Blaise to look at Draco and Harry, Theo wondered if they had any idea what was going on or where they were.

Theodore was just debating on waking Harry, knowing that Draco needed all the sleep he could get, unless they wanted to deal with him being cranky and in a bad mood for the whole day again, when a sound across the room caught his attention. Turning quickly, his attention focused on the door as it was slowly pushed open.

Theo narrowed his eyes as an unknown man came in. It wasn’t one of the ones that had attacked them, so Theo refrained from throwing his own spells at him, for now at least. Theo watched as the man closed the door behind him, stepping a little further into the room.

“Don’t come any closer,” Theo warned, shifting slightly so that he was in a better position to protect his sleeping mate and friends.

“I’m not going to hurt you or your friends, Theodore,” the man said.

“Not that I would give you the chance to,” Theo replied. “All the same, you can stay right where you are, and tell me who you are, what you want, and where we are,” Theo demanded.

“My name is Frank Longbottom,” the man replied, doing as Theo requested and not moving any closer. “You four are still in the Ministry of Magic. I just want to ask you and your friends a few questions,” Frank explained.

“How about you start by asking me, and I will decide if it is something I am willing to disturb my mate’s sleep for,” Theo suggested, watching the man with curiosity. There was something familiar about him, and the man’s name gave him a good idea of exactly why, though he intended to keep that to himself for the moment.

“We would actually like to speak with each of you… separately,” Frank told him as kindly as he could.

“No,” Theo said bluntly.

“I understand that you are reluctant to be separated from your friends, but I believe this to be the fastest way for all of us to get the answers we are looking for,” Frank explained.

“How so?” Theo asked curiously. So far Frank had seemed reasonable and had kept his distance as requested, so Theo was prepared to at least hear the man out.

“I am certain that you four have quite a story to tell,” Frank said, pausing. Theo hesitated for a moment before nodding once. “By questioning you all separately, and making sure that your stories corroborate each other, people are more likely to believe you,” Frank pointed out, keeping his expression neutral as Theodore seemed to think about what he said.

“What you’re saying, it makes sense,” Theo admitted. “I suppose you wouldn’t know that we don’t lie, and I’m fairly sure that Harry is incapable of telling a lie.”

“So you will allow us to question you?” Frank asked.

“I never said that,” Theo said. “All I said was that it made sense. However, I do not trust you, and I will not let my mate go off with some unknown person. And I can guarantee that after being attacked like we were, Blaise is not likely to let Harry out of his sight any time soon.”

“I understand your concerns, Theodore, but I promise that you four are going to be kept safe. The people I have chosen to do the questioning are not the ones that attacked you last night. You four are not going to be hurt,” Frank promised, but he already knew it was going to take a lot more than words to get this boy to agree. A soft groan from the other side of the bed caught Frank’s attention, and he glanced over at Blaise.

Theodore didn’t turn his back on Frank at all, and only turned his head slightly. “Blaise, don’t sit up too quickly,” Theo said.

“No problem with that,” Blaise said, his eyes still closed, his arm tightening around Harry.

“You are going to want to sit up though. We have company,” Theo said, smirking slightly as he heard his friend sit up, apparently still too fast as the tan boy let out another groan of discomfort. “I warned you,” Theo said.

“Shut up, Theo,” Blaise said, shooting a glare at his friend, before he noticed Frank standing in the middle of the room, watching them. “Who are you?” Blaise demanded, shifting around so that he was in a better position to attack if he had to.

“This is Frank Longbottom,” Theodore answered, before Frank could.

“Longbottom…” Blaise frowned, looking to Theo once again. “Isn’t that…?”

“Yes,” Theo cut Blaise off, taking a moment to give his friend a pointed look. Thankfully, Blaise seemed to get the message, and fell quiet. “Frank wants to ask us some questions,” Theo explained.

“Oh, is that all?” Blaise snapped, his frown turning into a full scowl. “Funny way of asking questions; shooting spells at us like you did,” he pointed out. At the moment, he didn’t really care much what this man wanted; he just wanted to get his mate and friends to somewhere safe.

“That was not my doing,” Frank assured him patiently. “I arrived after you two had already been hit, and by then one of my colleagues had already put a stop to it.”

“So Draco and Harry weren’t hit with any spells?” Theodore asked, seeming to relax a little bit what that new bit of information.

Frank smiled at him warmly. “Neither of them were hit with spells,” he confirmed. “The two of them were simply exhausted, and requested we allow you all some rest before asking our questions.”

Blaise made a soft noise of surprise, glancing down at his mate once again; he was kind of touched that apparently this man had allowed them a chance to rest. Harry and Draco were still snuggled up close together fast asleep. Though when Blaise reached out and ran his hand through Harry’s hair, the petite boy snuffled slightly, shifting towards the touch with a soft smile on his face.

“We can wait until they wake up,” Frank told them. “They really did look knackered. Were the four of you travelling all night?”

“I thought you wanted to question us separately,” Theo pointed out, and Blaise all but growled at that idea, leaning protectively towards Harry a little more.

“Not questioning, just talking,” Frank said placatingly, holding up his hands.

“Blaise…” The three of them all looked down at the two boys on the bed. Harry had twisted his head to blink blearily up at Blaise. “Wah happening?”

“Hi,” Blaise greeted fondly, brushing Harry’s scruff of hair back from his face. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Why are you worried?” Harry asked, detangling himself from Draco and rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he started to sit up.

“I’m not worried,” Blaise denied, frowning at his sleepy mate. “I am just not going to let this… stranger take you away from me.”

Harry blinked in confusion, turning his attention away from Blaise to look over at Frank. He smiled, giving the man a small wave. “Good morning,” Harry said, recognising this man from last night. “Where’s the other guy?” Harry asked, sitting up and stretching.

“Harry, you know him?” Blaise asked, shifting so that he could pull Harry onto his lap.

“Yeah, Draco and I talked to him last night, and the other guy too,” Harry said, looking back toward Frank. “I’m sorry… I don’t remember your names…” Harry said, and Frank chuckled.

“I am Frank, and ‘the other guy’, I am sure you are referring to is Sirius. He will be in shortly; he went to get you boys some breakfast,” Frank said.

“Oh good! I’m starving!” Harry said. “Are you going to question us while we eat?” Harry asked.

“No. After you have eaten, we would like to take you boys into separate rooms and question you,” Frank explained for the third time, though he was still being patient about it. It would do no good to get upset with these boys, when at least two of them were reluctant to be separated from the others.

“But we will stay here in this Ministry place?” Harry asked curiously. He didn’t mind answering their questions, but he didn’t want them to be taken to different buildings. As long as they stayed here, then he was sure he would always be able to find Blaise.

“Of course,” Frank assured him. “And you will only be next door to each other. The rooms are all in the same corridor. And then you will be able to come back here after, if you would like.”

“Okay,” Harry said, gifting him with a warm smile when he felt nothing to fear from the man, who seemed to be more curious than anything.

“Harry!” Blaise exclaimed, not nearly as okay with this as his mate was.

“It’ll be okay,” Harry told his mate, looking up at him. “Trust me.” Blaise huffed, not entirely happy, but trusting Harry completely. “But first food!” he added excitedly when the door started to open, and Sirius stepped in with a few plates floating along behind him.

“I didn’t know what you kids like, so I just got you all some of everything,” Sirius explained, levitating the dishes over to the table.

“I’m SO hungry,” Harry declared, bouncing in his excitement until a pillow suddenly flew up and hit him in the face.

“Stop shaking the bed!” Draco said, his eyes still closed as he rolled over, clearly intending to go back to sleep.

“No,” Harry whined, shifting out of Blaise’s lap, and started shaking Draco. “You slept enough. There’s food! And then the funny dressed people are going to ask us questions, and we’re somewhere new, so you have to wake up so we can explore!” Harry said.

Draco cracked open an eye, glaring at Harry who just grinned widely at him. “Fine, I’ll get up,” Draco said. “But I swear, the first person who wakes me up tomorrow before I am ready to get out of bed is going to be turned into a slug!”

Theodore chuckled, reaching over and running his hand through Draco’s hair. “I promise we will let you get extra sleep tomorrow,” he said, leaning in and giving Draco a quick kiss on the cheek.

Sirius cleared his throat, gaining the four boys attention. “So, are you hungry, or did I just bring all this food for nothing?” he asked, smiling a little.

“I’m hungry!” Harry declared, scrambling out of bed quickly.

“Harry, wait!” Blaise growled, hurrying to get out of bed with his mate, determined to remain as close to Harry as he could before they were separated to be questioned. Reaching the table, Blaise looked down at the assortment of what was being presented to them as ‘food’, but Blaise was fairly sure he had never seen an assortment like this before.

“Are we sure this is edible?” Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Where’s the fruit?” Draco asked, as he joined them at the table.

“Fruit?” Sirius asked, looking at Draco like he was crazy. “What do you want fruit for? We have sausages, and fried eggs, and scrambled eggs, and toast, and baked beans,” he told him, pointing to the foods as he named them. “Grilled tomatoes,” he added, “that’s technically a fruit.”

“Just give it a try, Draco,” Theo said with a chuckle as he came over to stand behind his scowling mate. Apparently food was going to have to be something else that they had to adjust to.

---------------x

Theo sat in the small room that he had been led into nearly five minutes ago. He didn’t bother looking around as there really wasn’t anything in this room to see, just two chairs, a table, and the door that he had entered through. He was silently hoping that the rest of the wizarding world wasn’t as bland as this place.

The door opened, and Theo turned his attention to the man that came through, closing the door behind him. “Hello Theodore,” the man greeted.

“I am finding it extremely unfair that all of you know our names before we even know yours,” Theo said, eyeing the man as he came to sit across the table from him. Even though Theo had grown up with everyone around him knowing his name and the names of all the other children around, he was finding it unnerving that a complete stranger knew his name.

“My name is John Dawlish,” he introduced. “And I know your name only because I read your file,” Dawlish said, putting the file on the table. Theodore narrowed his eyes.

“Those are mine. You had no right to take them from me,” Theodore said. “When we are done here, I will be taking them back.”

“These files have information that we need,” Dawlish said. “You can have them back after we have copies for our own files,” he compromised.

“Fine,” Theo said. “Let’s just start with your questions, so that I may get back to my mate.”

“Right to business then,” Dawlish said, opening Theo’s file and pulling out a blank piece of parchment before smiling at the teenager. “Perhaps you could start by telling me how the four of you got into the Ministry.”

“A portal,” Theo told him, “but don’t bother asking me the details. I didn’t open it; Itham did. He wanted to be sure we made it here safely.”

Dawlish scribbled a few notes before looking back up at Theo again. “And do you know where we might find Itham?” he asked.

“In the city I would think,” Theo said, shrugging his shoulders a little. “He didn’t follow us through, so I imagine he went back there. Why do you want to find him?” he asked with suspicion.

“Because you and your three friends have been missing for fifteen years,” Dawlish said. “Along with several other children, some of whose files you had with you. Frank and I have spent most of that time trying to locate you, to return you to your families.”

“Draco is my family,” Theo said firmly, wanting there to be no confusion on this. Harry was right about them all having parents, but that didn’t change anything in Theo’s opinion. “Harry and Blaise are my family.”

“Be that as it might, we need to know where you have been, so that we can find the people who took you from your parents,” Dawlish tried to explain, but Theo continued to watch him calmly. “Do you have a surname for Itham?” he asked, deciding to try and take another tact.

“Oh they don’t use surnames,” Theo told him with a small smile. “None of us ever have. Itham is just Itham.”

“They?” Dawlish questioned. “Who do you mean by they?”

“The Hydras. They raised us in the city,” Theo explained. “That’s where we all lived. In the home they made for us.”

“Is the Hydras what they called themselves?” Dawlish asked, as he made more notes of what he was being told.

“No. Hydras is what they are,” Theo said, pausing as he thought for a moment when Dawlish still didn’t seem to understand. “They are also referred to as the Fae. Is that name more familiar?” Theo asked.

“You were taken by Fae?” Dawlish asked, staring at Theo in complete disbelief. It was no wonder they had been unable to find the children. They had been hidden away by creatures so magical that many wizards questioned their existence. “Tell me about this city,” he requested, his parchment and quill ready to write down everything Theo told him.

---------------x

Blaise sat at the table staring at the man sitting across from him. Neither of them had spoken a single word, despite having been sitting in the same room together for nearly ten minutes.

“You know,” Blaise said, finally breaking the silence. “If you want me to answer questions, it might help if you actually asked some.” Blaise smirked.

“Okay then,” Sirius said, leaning forward in his chair, resting his arms on the table and folding his hands in front of him. “What exactly is your relationship to Harry?” Sirius asked.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him. “He is my mate. Next question,” Blaise said with a smirk, amused to see the obviously annoyed look cross Sirius’ face.

“Care to elaborate what you mean by ‘mate’?” Sirius asked.

“How many meanings are there for ‘mate’?” Blaise questioned back. “We are bonded; have been since we were ten. He’s mine, and I’m his. Clear enough?”

“You’re both under age; you can’t be bonded,” Sirius said, looking very unhappy about this new information.

“What’s it to you anyway?” Blaise asked curiously. It made no sense to him that this man would apparently object to his and Harry’s mateship. “Why do you even care if he’s my mate?”

“Because he’s my godson, and therefore my responsibility,” Sirius declared passionately. “And he is clearly far too young for such a relationship with anyone.”

Blaise scoffed. “You don’t know anything about Harry,” he told him, “nor me. And certainly not about our bond. And, his godfather or not, you won’t keep us apart.”

“Watch me,” Sirius sneered. “He is my family, not yours.”

“You want a relationship with Harry, then you are going to have to accept my bond with him,” Blaise said smugly. “Because if you ask him to choose between us, he will always choose me. It isn’t you who has been there for Harry every day of his life, that would be me and Draco. We are his family.”

“Don’t say it as if I didn’t WANT to be there for him!” Sirius growled, slamming his hand down on the table. “I have spent every day, for nearly fifteen years, looking for him.”

“And it’s not my fault he was taken,” Blaise stated calmly, unfazed by Sirius’ irritation. “If we want to get technical, I was also taken from my own family. Harry, Theo, Draco, those three are the only family I have. I left the rest of my family back in the city.”

Sirius took a calmly breath. “Then maybe you can tell me exactly whose fault it actually is,” he suggested instead, the prospect of finding the monsters that has taken the children pushing him on.

---------------x

Uneasy was a pretty good word to describe how Draco felt at the moment, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the others were being questioned by people who looked just as frightening as the man in front of him now. “I think I’ve changed my mind about the questions,” Draco said, though from the way this man glared at him, he knew that changing his mind wasn’t exactly an option.

“My colleagues believe that you were one of these kidnapped children,” Mad-Eye told him, ignoring what Draco had said. “But I have been dealing with Malfoys for decades. I know your kind. Your father and his Death Eater friends are behind all of this.”

“Excuse me?” Draco asked, confused about half of what the man had just said.

“What does You-Know-Who want with so many children?” the Auror asked instead, his gaze stern and fixed on Draco.

“I have no idea who or what you are talking about,” Draco told him earnestly. When Frank had asked them to answer questions, Draco had assumed it would be ones that he actually understood at least. “And I have never even met my father within my living memory.”

“Lies!” Moody exclaimed, causing Draco to jump.

“I’m not lying,” Draco snapped.

“You will tell us what you know,” Moody insisted.

“Sure, if you start asking questions that make sense any time soon,” Draco said grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

“Alright then, let’s start with what you were doing breaking into the ministry early this morning,” Mad-Eye said, his magical eye fixed on Draco, watching as the blond boy shifted slightly in his chair. The teenager was obviously uncomfortable, at least to his trained eyes, but was actually very good at hiding it.

“We were sent here by Itham,” Draco said, glad to have a question he could finally answer.

“And what were you sent here for? What were you after?” Mad-Eye asked.

“And now you’re back to not making much sense,” Draco said. “We were sent here by Itham to get out of the city. We weren’t after anything; this just happened to be the place where we landed.”

“You managed to bypass all the protective magic surrounding this place. You got in nearly undetected, and you claim that you were after nothing,” Moody said, with obvious skepticism. “That must have taken some seriously dark magic to achieve. Your father must have taught you much. Or did you learn from the Dark Lord himself?”

“My father hasn’t taught me anything. I don’t even know him. Same goes for this... Dark Lord. I was taken from my family when I was one,” Draco insisted, getting seriously frustrated with the stupid questions and insinuations now. “And I didn’t do ANY magic to get us here, dark or otherwise. I already told you, Itham sent us here. It was his magic, and there wasn’t anything dark about it; it was so bright that it almost hurt to look at if I’m honest.”

“If you really were kidnapped like the others, then why were you never reported missing?” Moody demanded to know, clearly not believing anything Draco had to say. “We have case files documenting more than forty children who went missing, and you are not listed among them. Nor is Theodore, and you expect me to believe it is a coincidence that his father is also a suspected Death Eater and friend of your father’s.”

“How would I possibly know the answer to that?” Draco asked incredulously, ignoring the hurt he felt at learning that his parents had never looked for him. “I have no idea what a Death Eater is, and had no idea that Theo’s father and mine were friends, because, as I have already told you. I. HAVE. NEVER. MET. MY. FATHER!”

“You will tell me the truth!” Moody insisted impatiently.

“I AM telling you the truth! But you’re not going to believe a word I say because you are convinced that I am one of these Death Eater things, or that I have used Dark magic!” Draco shouted, slamming his hands on the table as he stood up. “The only ‘Dark magic’ here is what YOU wizards use! It is dark, and corrupt, and so twisted from what is supposed to be!” Draco glared at Mad-Eye, breathing deeply as he tried to keep the rest of his anger in check.

“I am done here,” Draco said, turning to leave the room; however, as he reached the door and tried to open it, he found it locked.

“We are not finished,” Mad-Eye said, as Draco turned back to face him.

---------------x

Harry quite liked Frank. The man gave him a good feeling, and he smiled up at the man, as Frank handed him a glass of water and sat down across from him. There was a feeling of curiosity practically radiating from the man.

“What is it you want to ask me?” Harry asked kindly.

“I think we should start with, how did you boys get into the Ministry?” Frank asked, blinking when Harry giggled at him.

“I don’t think that’s what you really wanted to ask, but I’ll answer that question anyway,” Harry said, taking a sip of his water before he spoke again. “Itham sent us here, by a portal, so we could get out of the Fae city,” Harry said, sitting back in his chair swinging his feet much in the same way a young child would.

“Fae city?” Frank asked, eyes going wide for a moment.

Harry nodded. “Yeah, that’s where we all grew up. Me, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Pansy, Neville...” Harry paused, blinking at Frank, when he felt the spike of curiosity coming from the man again. “You want to ask about Neville?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Neville, he is my son,” Frank said, smiling a little at the look of surprise that crossed Harry’s face.

“Are you serious?” Harry asked excitedly, but that soon faded and Harry sat back in his chair. “Neville and Pansy were supposed to come with us,” Harry said softly.

“They were?” Frank asked, unable to stop the pang of fear, wondering what had happened to stop Neville from coming with Harry and the others.

“Yeah, Theo and Blaise, they were making a plan to escape from the city, but some of the other kids, they tried it before us and were caught, one of them...he didn’t make it,” Harry closed his eyes.

“Adrien,” Frank practically whispered, as realisation washed over him.

Harry’s eyes snapped open and looked up at the man. “You know about him?”

Frank nodded sadly. “His body was found, though we were unable to determine what had happened to him, nor where he had been for the majority of his life. And Neville…”

“Oh, he is fine. He and Pansy created a distraction, so that we could get away safely,” Harry explained quickly, realising that Frank was thinking the worst. He was about to explain further but a wave of frustration swelled nearby, catching his attention.

“Harry…?” Frank asked worriedly, seeing the sudden change in the boy.

“Something’s wrong,” Harry said, getting to his feet, and focusing, trying to identify whose emotions he was picking up on. He felt a wave of fear mix with the previous feelings of frustration, and that was enough to have Harry moving toward the door, vaguely aware that Frank was following him.

“Harry, what is it?” Frank asked, watching the boy worriedly.

Harry didn’t answer, turning his attention to the other rooms in the corridor trying to figure out where these emotions were coming from. He was fairly sure that it wasn’t any of the wizards in this place, as they all felt different to him, and Harry assumed that was because of the corrupted magic they were using. No, this was definitely coming from either Blaise, Theo or Draco.

Huffing, Harry decided the only way to find out who it was, was to check each room. So, still ignoring Frank, Harry moved first toward the room next to his own. Not even bothering to knock on the door, he pushed it open, surprising Sirius and Blaise.

“Harry?” Blaise stood up, looking at his mate in concern. Harry stared at him for only a short moment before shaking his head and turning to leave the room, heading toward the next. Reaching out to open this door, like he had just done with the previous one, Harry pulled back as his hand connected with something unpleasant.

“Who is in this room?” Harry asked, turning to look at Frank and Sirius, both of them unable to hide their surprise at Harry’s sudden anger.

“I think Mad-Eye is in there with Draco,” Frank said, and almost regretted saying anything when he felt the sudden swell of magic coming from Harry as the boy turned back toward the door.

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Blaise heading into the room that Theodore was in, but his main focus was on the door in front of him and the emotions of his friend that he could feel beyond it. Reaching out his hands, he shuddered as he felt the magic surrounding the door. With a loud scream, Harry threw his hands down, feeling the magic shatter, and the door being pulled towards him, straining against the hinges that held it in place. There was a loud crunching sound, and Harry stepped out of the way as the heavy piece of wood flew past him.

“What’s going on?” Theo asked, stepping out into the corridor behind Blaise. Dawlish followed behind the two of them, looking concerned.

“Get away from him!” Harry exclaimed as he stepped into the room and up to Draco’s side. Moody had his wand out, but not quick enough to react to the interruption. Harry raised his hand without a second thought and the spell on the Auror’s tongue was lost as the man flew backwards, hitting the far wall hard.

“Harry,” Draco said, throwing his arms around his best friend’s neck. He didn’t want to admit it, but the scar-riddled older man had been starting to seriously scare him, so he was very glad to see his friend.

“Maybe you want to make a note of all that,” Theodore suggested to Dawlish, as the man was still holding his parchment and quill. “Just in case you forget why you should never mess with one of us, particularly Harry.” And with that, he headed over to where the two smaller boys were standing, accepting Draco into his arms when Harry let the blond go.

For anyone who is curious, titch means ‘small person’. I know this isn’t a word that you ever really hear in the US, but it makes sense for Sirius to use it since this story doesn't take place in the US anyway.

Hope you all enjoyed the extra long chapter, see you all in three weeks!
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Restoration of Magic