Legacy

Chapter Eleven

You cannot quit me so quickly
Is no hope in you for me
No corner y'could squeeze me
But I've got all the time for you, love

The Space Between - Dave Matthews Band

*****************************

He was in a car.

Ren opened his eyes. No, it was a van.

It was dark outside. Whoever was driving was driving fast. He glanced up, and saw Nigel and Jack lying next to him, asleep. All of them had their hands tied in front of them.

He lifted his head slightly, and looked around, as much as he could without attracting attention to himself. There were two men in front, talking to each other. Their voices were low. Ren looked around the van. There were no windows in the back, and no seats. A tool box was belted behind the driver. It reminded him of the vans that the overnight couriers drove.

He was being jostled around. He tried to remain limp, like the others, but he hit his head as they went over a bump.

"Umh," he moaned instinctively. The man in the passenger side turned around, and saw that he was awake. The last thing Ren saw was his wand. He didn't even hear the spell, just felt himself fall back into unconsciousness.

****************************

The next time he opened his eyes, it was bright. He could see sunlight streaming in from a high window. It looked like they were in a bedroom. He turned his head, and saw Nigel lying next to him on one bed, and Jack over on another.

"Hey," Nigel whispered. "You okay?"

"Yeah," said Ren. "Jack?"

"Here, mate," Jack replied quietly.

"You know where we are?" Ren asked.

Jack shook his head. "That bloke," he said, pointing outside, "was speaking to someone on a... that little thing you talk into."

"A telephone?"

"Yeah, I think. I didn't understand him."

"I woke up for a minute last night - I saw two of them."

Nigel nodded. "I saw them too. They came in to check on us a little while ago. They expected us to be awake soon."

As if on cue, the door to the room opened.

The boys dropped back onto the bed, and closed their eyes as someone entered the room.

"Boys," said a tall man with jet black hair and a brown leather Muggle coat. "Wake up, wake up," he sang quietly. Ren decided to see what was going on. He opened his eyes and sat up, hands still tied.

"Ah, you're awake," he purred. "Excellent."

He walked over to the bed that Jack was lying on, and pulling out a wand, loosened the ropes from his hands. Jack sighed deeply, rubbing his wrists, and scowling at the kidnapper.

"Oh, not so glum, Mr. Weasley. You should be home soon," the man said, in a falsely sweet voice. "Your parents are working hard to secure your release. I have faith in them, you should too."

"I have faith that my Dad is going to kill you when he catches you," Jack growled.

The man grinned. "We'll see about that, won't we? Go use the toilet," he ordered. Jack slowly got up, and looking over at his friends, walked slowly into the loo.

He turned to the other two boys. "You two... we weren't expecting you. That was a surprise, a bonus, if you will. I believe your families will be equally anxious to have to back at home."

The bedroom door opened. The second man, the one who was driving, walked in with a tray of food. He was shorter, with dark blonde hair, also wearing Muggle clothes.

He looked over at the empty bed, and back at his compatriot, who nodded his head toward the toilet, which made a flushing noise. The man with the food snickered.

"Breakfast, gentlemen," he said, putting down a tray with food.

There were three plates, with eggs, sausages, toast and glasses of juice.

The taller man loosened the ropes from Ren and Nigel, and indicated that it was their turn to use the toilet. Nigel went first. Ren and Jack looked at the food, then at each other.

"I assure you, there is nothing wrong with it. No use to us dead, are you?" the taller man snickered.

Jack picked up a piece of toast, sniffed it, and took a bite. The short man took a sausage off of Nigel's plate and wolfed it down as Nigel left the bathroom and sat back down on the bed next to Ren.

The boys ate quietly, looking at each other whenever the kidnappers were busy talking to themselves. They spoke Spanish to each other, quietly. Ren strained to hear the conversation.

"What day is it?" Jack asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"I've no idea, Jack," Ren said. His stomach was in knots, maybe because of the spell that made him unconscious for who knows how long, maybe because he was scared to death.

Once the boys finished eating, the shorter man turned around to face them. He pulled out his wand from inside his jacket and flicked it at the trays with empty plates. They disappeared. He turned back to the beds, and with another flick of his wand, the boys all had their hands bound with rope, once more.

He muttered one more spell, and Ren found himself falling into that familiar sleep.

But before he closed his eyes, he looked over at Jack, who was smiling.

*********************************

"Wake up, Ren."

Ren slowly opened his eyes. Jack was sitting on the bed next to him.

"What... how did you..." he asked, his eyes still focusing.

"Nigel, up, come on," Jack said, prodding the third boy with something in his hand. Ren looked again. Was that a ...

"A fork, mate," Jack said, proudly. "Managed to hide it from the clowns out there. Honestly, they didn't even pat us down to check. Never worked with kids before, I suspect."

Jack was using the tines on the fork to tear at the ropes on Ren's wrist.

"How long you think we've been asleep?" asked Ren.

Jack turned to Nigel, whose hands were raised and waiting to be released. "Not sure," he said. "But I'm hungry again, so it's got to be at least lunchtime," he said, with a grin.

While Jack was working on Nigel's ropes, Ren was looking around the room. He pulled a chair over to the window, and looked outside. He saw snow covered mountains, and trees, a forest of trees outside. It looked like they were inside a picture postcard.

"See anything?" asked Nigel.

"Snow," Ren said. "Lots of snow."

Jack was investigating the drawers and cabinets. "Nothing here we could use." He turned to the others. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

Ren jumped off the chair, and pushed it back to where it was. He leaned against the door, and tried to listen to the men on the other side. He started to open the door when Nigel whispered, "No, don't."

A door slammed. Footsteps from the other room grew louder. They could make out voices, but not what they were saying. Ren threw himself against the door to listen.

"Can you hear anything?" said Jack, at the same time Nigel asked, "Who's talking?"

"Shhh..." Ren pressed his ear against the door. "The short one, I think. He says we're leaving soon." Ren's brows furrowed. "Wait... they're waiting for someone. He's late, he was supposed to be here by now to pick up..." Ren's eyes turned to Jack. "It's you, mate. They're coming to get you."

Jack paled.

"They're worried, they can't get him by phone, should have been here by now. It's thrown off their schedule."

Nigel touched Jack on the shoulder. "You aren't going anywhere, Jack. Not without us."

Ren nodded. Then he pressed against the door again. "He's says he's going to get us some lunch." Ren jumped back away from the door. "They're coming!"

The boys ran back to their beds, arranged themselves in what they hoped was a natural sleeping posture, and arranged ropes around their wrists.

The short man peeked his head in, and whispered to his friend 'durmiente' - sleeping. He closed the door. The boys shot back up.

"We've got to get out of here," Ren said. Jack was still pale. "They aren't taking you anywhere," Ren said.

Nigel was in the lavatory, looking under the cabinets. "I can't find anything really useful."

They heard a car start outside - Ren pushed his chair back to the window, and craned his neck see as far around the front of the house as possible.

"One of them just left," Ren said.

"There's only one here, then," replied Jack.

Nigel emerged from loo with the heavy ceramic cover of the toilet tank and a bar of soap. "Think we can manage something with these?" he asked, his face flushed.

"Yeah, that's good," said Jack, padding quietly back to his bed to grab his fork, "and this lovely utensil, remember. Practically a weapon," he said proudly. Ren and Nigel looked at each other, smiles creeping on their faces. They were so anxious to try and escape. Could this be the right moment?

Renato ran back to the door to listen for someone coming. "So," he whispered to the others, "what are we going to do?"

Nigel looked apprehensive. "Jack, you're the biggest one out of all of us. You need to use this," he said, tapping the ceramic tank cover. "Hit him with all you've got."

"He's got a wand," Jack reminded him.

"That'll be my job," Nigel said. "I'll get it. Just let me have the fork, in case he gets... forceful." Nigel looked determined. "I can do a lot of damage with that," he promised.

They looked at Ren. "What should I do?" asked Renato.

Jack picked up the ropes lying on the bed. "Tie his feet. Then his hands. If we all hit him at the same time, we can do this. As long as there is just the one of them," he said, looking concerned.

Nigel stood up. "Then we need to do this now."

Jack's brow furrowed like he was thinking hard. "How are we going to get out of here, once we conk him? Its snowing, the van is gone..."

"We'll worry about that once we get rid of this guy, okay?" Ren answered.

"Okay, let's get him in here," said Jack, nodding.

"Should I yell, or just make noise?" asked Nigel.

"Don't yell," said Renato, "or he might come in with his wand out. Just... make it sound like you're in pain. Like he should be worried about you." Ren looked around. "Jack, you get behind the door."

Jack lifted the heavy toilet cover, grimacing at its funny smell. "Manky," he said.

Nigel positioned himself on the edge of one of the beds. His fork was in his right hand, hidden under his leg. Renato was standing next to the wall, the ropes ready in his hands.

When the kidnapper came in, all he would see would be Nigel.

"Ready?" Nigel asked.

Jack nodded. Ren mouthed, "Go," and Nigel began to moan. Soft, at first, then louder.

Jack and Ren looked at each other. Nigel was curled on his side on the bed, moaning louder. Footsteps approached the door, the knob turned...

It was the short one. He looked at Nigel, walked over to him concerned, then a split second later realized the other two boys weren't lying on the beds like they should have been. It was just enough time.

Slam!

Jack stepped out from behind the door and hit the man on the back of the head with the ceramic toilet cover with all his might. The man dropped to his knees in front of the bed. His shaking hand was reaching for his jacket pocket, where his wand must have been, before he lost consciousness.

Instantly, Ren leapt on top of the man, and began tying his legs together. At the same time, Nigel grabbed his hands, reached into the pocket, and pulled out the wand, holding it out and pointing it at the man on the floor. Jack held his toilet cover, ready to strike again if needed.

They looked at each other, panting, their eyes shining with victory. They had taken him. They tied him up, gagged his mouth with a piece of cloth, and put him in a small closet.

But now what? Still breathing hard, the boys set out to examine the small house they were in. According to the clock on the wall, it was almost midday. There was nothing else there to indicate where they might be. All they knew is that there were mountains, and it was snowing.

Less than ten minutes later, the sound of the van could be heard driving up the road. Jack grabbed his ceramic cover, Renato grabbed his ropes, and Nigel held his fork in one hand and the acquired wand in the other. Ren and Jack stifled giggles when they looked at him. Nigel smiled at himself, but continued to hold both carefully.

Jack stood behind the front door, Ren and Nigel off to the side, out of the direct line of sight.

As before, the boys managed to take down the taller man without much resistance. Jack's blow was so strong, it cracked the ceramic of the toilet cover. Ren tied up his hands and feet as best as he could, while Nigel ran outside to look at the van.

He ran back inside in a few seconds. "Our trunks are in the van and I found these!" he cried, holding up a set of keys.

"Get in the van," Ren yelled, running out of the front door with Jack behind him. "We need to figure out - I've seen Mum do this, but I've never-"

"I can drive," said Jack, quickly, his fingers sifting through a ring of keys, looking for the one that would start the van.

"No way," said Nigel, awe on his face. He climbed into the passenger side, and began to search for anything that might be helpful.

"Really, my uncles taught me."

"Your uncles are bloody brilliant," said Ren, jumping into the back of the van, as it rumbled to life, and began moving slowly down the snowy road.

They drove slowly in the snow for a few miles, before anyone said anything. "Do you know where we are?" Nigel asked aloud.

"No," admitted Jack. "I just want to put some distance between us and them," he said. The boys looked around at the mountains, breathtaking scenery.

Another few miles up the road, they saw a sign CG2, then a sign with Port D'envalira altitud 2407m

"The Pyrenees," Nigel whispered to himself.

"Like the dogs?" asked Jack

"Like, the mountains," said Nigel, rolling his eyes.

Ren's eyes lit up. "We're in Spain," he said.

"Well, almost," Nigel corrected him. "We're probably in Andorra. It is a small principality between France and Spain. It has..."

"No, I mean, its close to - we need to get to my grandparent's house. It's not too far!"

Ren was grinning from ear to ear now.

"My grandparents, they can take care of us 'til we get home. We need to get to Italy, now."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "How do we get there, how far?"

Nigel asked at the same time. "There are a couple of countries between us and Italy, and," he said, looking at the sun in the sky, "I think we might be going the wrong way." He looked back at Renato. "You think we can make it through undetected? Borders, I mean?"

"We don't need to get through the border; we just need to get to a phone. I can call them and they'll get us and take us home."

"Why don't we just get to a fireplace?" asked Jack.

"Cause we'd need to find one connected, they're not all connected, Weasley, and they," he pointed back with his thumbs, "will probably have them watched, looking for us. We need a telephone. They won't think we can use that."

They made their way up and then down a winding road. Finally, they entered a small city, Pas de la Casa, and drove a few blocks before Ren shouted to pull over. "That hotel, lets go there," he said, indicating a large, clean looking hotel.

"Are you sure?" asked Nigel.

"Yes, we can use the phone and wait there. It will be safe." Safer than being on the roads, at least, Ren thought.

They parked across the street from the Hotel Comodidad, and leaving their trunks in the van, walked inside. They walked to the desk in the front.

"Necesitamos utilizar el teléfono, por favor, para llamar a mi familia. Faltamos nuestro paseo," Ren asked, politely as he could, to use the telephone.

The man behind the counter eyed them suspiciously, but pushed the telephone over to them. "Aprisa," he said sharply. Quick.

Ren thanked him, and took the phone, and dialled. Nigel looked on anxiously, while Jack kept an eye on the van parked down the street.

"Devo parlare al baroness, per favore. Relativo un'emergenza. Grazie, grazie," he said, closing his eyes. Please hurry...

"Nonna! Nonna, its Renato! Please come get us, please," he said, tearing up and trying to keep his voice low. He turned from Nigel, didn't want to them to see him crying to his Nonna. "We got away, we're okay, tell Mum we're fine, but please can you come get us? We're in Pas de la Casa, in Andorra, no, I don't know why. We're at the Hotel Comodidad, we came here, please come here and get us." He paused, listening to her for a moment. "Okay, we'll be waiting." He passed the phone back to the man behind the counter. "She would like to speak with you, sir," said Ren.

The man looked at the phone, then at Ren, and took the phone. "Hola, puedo ayudarle?" He listened, looked at the boys, then nodded. "Sí, ciertamente. De nada. Mucho gusto." He hung up the phone, and walked out from behind the counter. He took Ren by the shoulder and pointed to the glass doors on the other side of the room.

"Tenga por favor un asiento en el restaurante. Almuerce. Estarán aquí pronto." Jack and Nigel looked at Ren.

"Gracias," he said, following the man across the room. "Come over here. He wants us eat while we wait. It should only be a little while," he added. The man spoke sharply to the waiter, who quickly sat them at a table within eyesight of the door and his desk in the front.

"Con permiso," he said, leaving them. The boys looked at each other.

"Hungry?" asked Jack.

"I guess so," Nigel said.

"What would you like," the waiter asked in broken English. The boys ordered soup and sandwiches, and were almost done wolfing them down when the door burst open, and Ren leapt from his seat.

"Nonno!" he cried, hugging the older man tightly.

"Renato, come, lets go," he said quickly. His grandfather was accompanied by two burly looking men. "Where are your things?"

"In the white van across the street. Here are the keys," Jack said, passing them to Ren's grandfather, who tossed them to one of the men. He spoke quickly to the other man, who walked over to speak to the man at the front desk, pulling out a wallet and pressing cash into his hands.

The last thing the boys saw as they left the hotel was the man's smiling face, waving at them. They walked over to the large car waiting for them in front of the hotel, driver holding the door. They stepped into the back seat, and looked at each other. The nightmare was over.

Renato's grandfather got in back with them, along with one of the bodyguards. The second guard pulled behind them in the van. Ren's grandfather shouted some words at the driver, and the car pulled onto the street and out of town. The car manoeuvred quickly, at a speed which would have impressed any Muggle driver, if they had been able to see it.

*******************************

Bagman's retreat, outside Arensal, Andorra

Harry and Ron were listening again, lying down about 50 feet from the house.

They had been taking turns, shifts, listening to the conversations in the house. Luna and Neville had been discussing heading back to town to get some food and other provisions for the evening.

'Pop' - All of a sudden, Karkaroff arrived, a few feet from the front of the house, with Ramon, the smaller wizard, holding a bandage against the back of his head. They were both angry. They entered the house, slamming the door behind them. Harry and Ron looked at each other curiously.

Then Harry heard a noise next to him, and then saw Malfoy and Goyle slithering on the ground next to him. They tossed their ExEars out and watched as they snaked their way toward the house. All four men were listening now.

"Igor, Ramon - what happened?" Bagman shouted. "Hugo was here hours ago. Where are the kids?"

The next voice was Karkaroff. "I don't know. I got there, and found this one," he said. "He was tied up in a closet. He says he can't remember what happened, only that he was hit on the head. I figured that one had taken the kids."

Hugo must have answered next. "That's what I said about him," presumably pointing at Ramon.

"Where are the kids?" Bagman shouted again.

There was silence. Harry couldn't tell if they were talking too low to hear, or if they had simply stopped talking.

"Let's think about this," said Karkaroff smoothly. "The van is missing, the boys are missing. Either someone else has taken them from us, or they have escaped. Which seems most likely to you?"

Bagman laughed. "How could they have escaped? Ramon, what happened?"

"I think he knows more than he is telling us," Karkaroff snapped. "Perhaps he decided to make some plans of his own."

There was silence again, then the sound of screaming. All four men threw off the ears at the same time.

"What do you think?" said Malfoy. "Should we go get them now, or wait and see a little longer?"

At that moment, they all heard a 'pop' and Harry saw a bright red feather with a note attached to it float in front of him. For a second he looked at it, not quite sure if it was real. Then Ron grabbed it, and tore it open.

The boys are okay. They are at the Cassini's place in Italy. Tell Aurelia to call her mother. - Hermione

Ron and Harry looked at each other and hugged. Malfoy and Goyle chuckled and gave a sigh of relief.

"Let's go tell the others," Ron said, looking like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He grabbed the little piece of paper from Harry's hand and kissed it with a loud smack.

The four men slunk back to the others. Ron read the letter to Neville, Luna and Aurelia, who looked at her phone and laughed - magic or no magic, there was no reception in these high mountains. She would have to get to a city to make her call.

Neville pointed at the house. "Shouldn't we... get them before we leave?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, we can't let them get away with this. Let's go in there and grab them, and any evidence we can get a hold of." Harry looked over at Draco. "Could you take them back with you?"

"Not a problem. Let's just go apprehend them, shall we?" Draco said with a lilt in his voice.

Ron, Harry, Draco, Goyle and Neville made quick work of the four men inside the house. Aurelia and Luna stayed outside to watch for anyone that might be coming, but no one came.

Ten minutes later, Karkaroff, Bagman, and their two henchmen were under a full body bind and tied together with ropes for good measure. Draco used the fireplace inside the house to make arrangements to travel back to England with the "extra cargo" with as much privacy as possible.

Luna walked over to the men on the ground, and gave one of them a hard kick. "Can we go now?" she asked impatiently to Ron and Neville, who were talking to Malfoy and Goyle.

"Sure, let's get going. Got everything from here, Malfoy?" asked Ron.

Draco nodded. "You guys go, let me take care of them. I'll keep them at my place until you get back."

"Thanks, Malfoy. We couldn't have done any of this without you," said Ron with real appreciation in his voice.

He nodded, smiling, then walked over to the bound men on the ground, and knelt down to check for any signs of consciousness. He looked up once at Aurelia and catching her eye, gave her a smile, as she and the rest of the group Apparated.

******************************

They made it back to the city, and from there arranged Floo transport to Aurelia's family home in Northern Italy. One at a time, they stepped into the fireplace at the city's public Floo station, and made their way to 'Lago Argento,' and to their boys.

Harry stepped out of a large stone fireplace into a grand sitting room. He turned and helped the others out, Aurelia, then the Longbottoms, and finally Ron.

"Mama," Aurelia cried, hugging an older woman who ran in to meet them. "Mama, where are they?"

"Its okay, they're fine," she said, kissing her daughter's cheeks. "There with Nonno, outside."

"That might not be safe," Harry said, quickly.

She turned to him, smiling. "They're very safe now." She turned to Aurelia, "Your father's got fifty men out there watching them."

She turned to Luna and Neville. "Benvenuto, Luna, Neville."

Neville took her hand, "Baroness," he whispered. Luna was drawn into a hug.

"They're okay, Luna," she said, holding her tightly.

She turned to Ron and Harry, and held out her hand. "Lucretia de Cassini," she said regally. Harry and Ron introduced themselves. She put her arm around Luna's shoulder again and said, "Come, let's go get your boys."

They walked quickly to the back of the house, and out the back door into a courtyard garden. Harry noticed that even with the Baroness walking with them, the guards took note and two of them began to shadow them. Harry also saw that she glanced back at him, several times, as if trying to get a better look at him. Harry got the impression that perhaps he wasn't the only one who had been kept in the dark about Renato's parentage.

In the distance, they could see several figures in a field, riding horses. "Renato," Aurelia screamed. The riding party all looked up, saw the people walking out of the courtyard and onto the back fields, and began to ride to meet them. "Renato," she screamed again, as they got closer.

Ren was off his horse in a flash, running at her. "Mama," he yelled, throwing himself at her. Nigel took a little longer, but was off a moment later, and in Luna's arms, as she looked dizzy and closed her eyes, holding him. Jack had to be helped off his horse, but wasted no time in leaping into Ron's arms.

None of the boys seemed embarrassed at all by the displays of affection. On the contrary, they were all holding onto their parents just as fiercely as they were being held.

Harry watched all of this, not sure of that his role was. Clearly, if her mother's reaction was any indication, her parents did not know about him. But if he was here, now, they were bound to find out. Aurelia had still not let go of Ren. Tall as she was, he was almost taller. His head was down on her shoulder as she held him, putting kisses on his head. He looked up at her, and then saw Harry.

"Harry," he cried out, "you came." He ran out of his mother's arms, and ran into Harry's. "You found us, you came," he said, over and over.

Harry put his arms around Renato, held him close, kissed the top of his head. "Renato," he said. "I am never letting go of you." His stomach was in knots, he had never felt this happy and scared at the same time.

An older gentleman was getting off his horse, passed the reins to one of the numerous men standing around with guns and wands, collecting the horses. He walked over to Aurelia's mother, who whispered quietly to him. They were both looking at Harry.

Aurelia walked over to her father, kissed him on both cheeks, and hugged him. Harry heard her introduce Ron to her father.

"I can't thank you enough for taking care of them, of finding them for us." Ron said.

Renato looked up, pulled away from Harry. He opened his arms to let him go, but Renato took him by the hand, and began to walk to his grandparents, pulling Harry with him.

"Nonna, Nonno," Ren said, still holding Harry, who felt terrified. What was he doing? "This is Harry Potter," he paused, looking up at them. "He's my Dad."

Aurelia's parents looked at each other, then looked over at Aurelia, who nodded. Her father sighed. Her mother smiled.

"Hello Harry," she said, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

The older man held out his hand. "Eduardo de Cassini," he said, gruffly, and shook Harry's hand.

"Sir," Harry said, still not breathing.

"Come, let's go in, we can talk, you can contact your families," he said gruffly.

They all trooped inside the house, back into the large sitting room. Someone had left a tray with cold drinks and sandwiches on the table. Everyone found a place to sit, and something to drink.

Ron broke the silence. "Boys, what happened?"

They looked at each other. "We're not sure," Jack said. "I got a package, the day we were supposed to leave, and I remember opening it, but not much after that."

"It smelled bad," said Nigel. "It was horrible."

Renato opened his mouth to speak, then looked over at Jack. He started again. "It was sticky, you know, charmed to stick to your skin. Jack couldn't get it off of him. He called me over, and I was trying to pull it off of you, when Nigel walked in. He was helping me, we were trying to get it off of you... you don't remember this?" Ren said, looking at Jack.

Jack shook his head. "No, I don't." He looked over at his father, and Harry, then back at his friends. "I got you into this mess," he said, shaken.

"Don't be stupid," Nigel said. Luna put her arms around him again, and pulled him close. He smiled up at her.

"Was it a Portkey?" Jack asked Ron, who nodded. "But I didn't think you could..."

"We're still looking into that," Ron answered. "What happened next?"

The boys explained about being in the room in the mountains when they woke up that morning. "We were fed breakfast, then we escaped while one of them went to fetch us lunch," said Renato.

"Why did you try something so foolhardy?" Neville asked.

Nigel looked up at his Dad. "We had to. They were splitting us up. They were going to take Jack somewhere." Nigel looked over at Jack, and then Ren. "Couldn't let that happen."

The boys described their escape. Nigel blushed when Renato bragged about the toilet cover - "It was brilliant, really"- and Jack proudly showed off his stolen fork. The adults in the room all looked over at each other in amazement.

"Then we called my grandparents," Renato said, looking over at his grandmother, who smiled back at him, "and Nonno came and got us."

"The van is in the garage, if you need it for evidence," Mr. Cassini said quietly. He had been standing quietly by the door, watching his daughter and grandson, and Harry Potter.

"Thank you, sir," Ron said, standing up. "For everything. I think we should get going. Malfoy and Goyle should have our friends in custody in England by now. I want to get the Aurors in on this as soon as possible, now that the boys are safe."

"Are we flooing back?" Luna asked.

Ron nodded. "Yes, we can still use our border passes. Should get us there quickly."

Neville cleared his throat. "What about the boys? Don't they need one?"

"One of them can take mine," Aurelia said, holding her pass out to Luna. She was standing with her arms around Renato. "We're going to stay here for a few days." He smiled up at her. She looked over at Ron. "Is that okay? Do you need to interview Renato today, for the MLE?"

Ron shook his head. "No, we can wait a few days for that. Whenever you get back to England."

Renato left his mother's arms and walked over to Jack and Nigel. He said something quietly to them, and they all smiled and gave each other little punches on the arm, and shoulder bumps.

"Ron," Ron turned around to see Harry standing next to him, his border pass in his hand. "Jack can use this."

Ron looked confused, then concerned.

"I'm going to stay, just a little longer. I want to make sure he's okay, you know?" He looked over at Renato, talking to his friends. "I can't leave him, not just yet," Harry said quietly. "Besides," he said, looking over at Aurelia and her parents, "I think I need to help her explain what's happened."

Ron nodded. "Okay, mate. I'll tell Ginny... I'll tell her you'll be along a little later."

"Tell her-" Harry said, "tell her I love her, and I'll be home tonight."

"Alright," Ron said, and after saying goodbye and thank you again to Aurelia's parents, Neville, Luna, Nigel, Jack, and Ron were gone.

*****************************

The story broke the next day. The Daily Prophet headline read, "Kidnapping plot foiled by Potter. Ron laughed at that. Malfoy was not as amused.

London - The Boy who Lived is once more hero of the Wizarding World. After years of inactivity, a small group of Death Eaters, under the direction of Ivan Karkaroff, Death Eater and former head of the Durmstrang Institute, and Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Games and Sports with the MoM, kidnapped the children of several prominent British Wizards.

Taken were John Weasley, son of Ronald and Hermione Weasley of Ottery St. Catchpole, Nigel Longbottom, son of Luna Lovegood Longbottom and Neville Longbottom of Deacon Valley, and Renato de Cassini, son of Aurelia de Cassini of London. The boys, all students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, are back in England after their harrowing adventure. Harry Potter, who defeated He Who Must Not Be Named in 1998, and who is currently teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, headed a rescue team that included the parents of the kidnapped children, and assisted by Ministry officials Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle.

Details of the kidnapping are still sketchy. When asked for a comment, Hogwarts Headmistress Minerva McGonagall declined to say anything, noting that statements from the families would be made available by the end of the week.

Aurors are currently pouring over the Pyrenees mountain hideaway where the boys were allegedly held prisoner. The reason for the kidnapping has not been made public yet, but sources close to the Ministry say that indictments against Bagman, as well as others, had been prepared and were in the process of being delivered when the kidnapping occurred.

The kidnapping was the topic of conversation everywhere.

However, the next day the Quibbler stepped in with an exclusive interview that overshadowed the Daily Prophet.

Harry Potter's Child

In a Quibbler exclusive, Harry Potter sits down to make a statement and answer a few questions about his newly found son.

My name is Harry Potter. A few months ago I learned that I was the father of a wonderful boy. We are developing a relationship, and are in the process of learning more about each other every day. I love him very much. My wife Ginny and I are very excited about making him a part of our family.

Q: Harry, what is your son's name?

H: His name is Renato. I'd rather not say more than that.

Q: What is your current relationship with his mother, Ms. Aurelia de Cassini?

H: (growl) We are friends, good friends. She has done a magnificent job of raising Renato, and with her help, I intend on being a significant part of his life.

Q: Renato is currently Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Did you give him help, or assistance in obtaining this position?

H: (looking confused) No, he became Seeker before I ever met him.

Q: What's your position on the rumour that Ludo Bagman is in league with the makers of Bernie Botts Every Flavoured Beans to create Death Beans, made from Unicorn blood, creating a race of half dead Wizards ready to do his evil bidding?

H: (standing up) No position at all. Thanks for the interview.

Harry read the article again and laughed. He had discussed it, with Aurelia and her parents before he left their home in Italy on Monday night. He discussed it with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione on Tuesday morning, before they walked into the MLE offices to file their reports on the kidnapping. He had checked again with Renato if he was really ready for the scrutiny that was bound to follow the article. Ren was so optimistic about it all. He couldn't wait for everyone to know about his dad.

Sure enough, after the article came out, Harry had to spend a couple of days hidden away at Hogwarts. Ginny was stopped a couple of times in Hogsmeade, but when people realized that she wasn't going mad with grief, that she genuinely seemed to like Renato, and was not planning on leaving her husband, the interest waned a little.

The holidays were coming. It had been snowing, and the castle was empty, except for the few students that chose (or needed) to stay behind. Harry knew that when the students returned, there would be more questions, for both himself and Renato. He hoped it wouldn't be too hard on his son.

His son.

It was different, this feeling. He was starting to really feel like a father. Not just the happy feelings, but the concern, the worry, the endless list of things that needed to be done was growing. Planning for his future. Making sure he would always be safe, never want for anything.

He understood now that no matter what the books said, this was the most important thing he ever did - he created a person. Anyone could have stopped the Dark Lord, given enough time. But Renato was a part of him, of his parents, his grandparents, his great-grandparents... their blood ran through him, through his son, and when Ren had children, it would continue on and on.

That was real magic.