When September Ends

Chapter 16: Boy Gone By

"I believe that you may have found this poor bastard." Blaise dropped the file onto the top of the bar with the sharp slap of paper on wood. "Though I'm not sure we could really call him 'poor'. If Riddle thinks that he's his husband Lord only knows he's being treated like a God." He straightened his uniform and sat down in the open stool beside him, waving the bartender over. "Boilermaker, please."

Draco tugged the file closer carefully. "What's in here?"

"Just a few pages of information printed off of the NamUs database; I just slid it into a file folder to better smuggle it out of the station without anyone noticing." He dropped the shot of whiskey into his beer and took a drink before it could froth over. "You owe me, Malfoy. I risked quite a lot getting that out to you."

"I'll pay for your drinks, then." Draco flipped the file open and almost spilled his Dark n Stormy into his lap. "Bleeding hell! It's him! Who is this?" He pushed the picture aside. "Harry Potter. His actual name is Harry?"

"Yes it is. Harry James Potter. Nineteen years old. Born and raised in Denver Colorado. Son of Lily Potter nee Evans and James Potter. Disappeared just about a month ago with no history of running away and no trace. No leads that he's either alive or dead but his parents are insistent that he was kidnapped."

"It seems like they were right." He continued flipping through the information. "Whose numbers are these; phones, emails?"

"Assorted: Crime Stoppers. Denver PD. Parents. Godfather."

Draco grimaced. "Damn it. Don't get me wrong, Blaise, I want to get him back to his family, but..."

"I know. He's sick and he needs help, not jail. That's why I also included the emails of his two best friends, one Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Bit difficult to find but...they're your best bet to avoid involving the full force of the law, though I'll warn you that you'll probably only have one chance at it."

"Naughty cop; no wonder you're still traffic." Both chuckled over the rim of their drinks. "Thanks, Blaise. Really. I know that you risked a lot to do this."

"We're both worried, I think, for Tom. I don't know him all that well, but I do know that Harry wouldn't want this for him."

"You're right." He said. "Even when he was crumbling it was terrible. But now...he's returned to a twisted parody of normal and all at the cost of victimizing someone innocent. It isn't right."

"Everything will be resolved soon. It'll all go back to normal; as normal as is possible with Harry gone. There will be wounds, but..."

"It's better to let it heal than to pretend it isn't there." He set his cup down. "I'll get into contact with his friends in the morning. Ask them to come here and confirm it. And to help me get him out of here. Offer to pay for the plane tickets. Everything should be resolved within the next few days."

Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley,

Enclosed are the receipts to a pair of plane tickets. I would appreciate it if you could come to speak with me regarding your missing friend, Harry Potter. I believe I may have located him, but due to extenuating circumstances and deep concern for the mental state of the potentially responsible party-my employer-I would like to have this matter resolved with as little legal involvement as possible so that he can get the help which he so desperately needs. And despite the heartfelt suffering of the victim and his family and friends I respectfully plead mercy on his behalf. I believe that you will understand once we have spoken about circumstances in person. I will pick you up at the airport after you have arrived.

Draco Malfoy

"Are you sure about this, Hermione?"

"No, I'm not. Not at all, actually. But we're already here." The bushy brunet pulled her bag down from the overhead compartment and looked back at the freckled red head; he hadn't budged from his seat. "Oh, come on Ronald! Harry would do it for us, wouldn't he?"

"Hermione-."

"Yes, Ronald! The answer is yes, he would!" She grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him up before dragging him down the aisle after the other passengers. "Harry wouldn't have hesitated to come after either of us for even a single second! You claim to be his best friend? Well, loyalty is part of that; come on!"

"And what if we're walking into a trap, Hermione?"

"Harry would have-."

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't have come, but maybe we should have brought the cops? Or at least let someone know?"

"We need the information that he's offering us and I doubt that he'd talk if we had contacted the police, Ron." Hermione said, scanning the crowd before noticing the blonde waiting nearby. "There he is. Come on."

Ron glared as they approached.

"Mr. Malfoy?"

"Draco, please. It will be important that you appear to know me; I'm not certain that he's dangerous or even that he's home but I know he has guns and it's best to be cautious."

"Can you please explain to us what's going on, Draco?"

"I can, but not here; let's step into one of these cafes. Airport fare is far from desirable but at least we can be sure that we won't be stumbled on." He led them into the nearest restaurant-a small coffee shop-and they sat down at a table. "Before we start I need to show you something."

"Show us what?" Hermione did her best to keep her tone polite as Ron eyed him with outright hostility.

"A photograph." The blonde pulled it out of his wallet and passed it across the table to them; a starkly familiar raven wrapped in warm clothing and covered in pigeons as he cupped a handful of breadcrumbs.

"This is...oh my God! When was this taken? This is Harry!"

"This was Harry, yes, but not Harry Potter. This was Harrison Leeds. I knew him since we were children; we went to school together. This was taken two years ago by his husband, Tom Riddle; a month later he was diagnosed with aggressive stage four leukemia. Almost one year ago now, he died and after it happened Tom lost his mind; couldn't function without him; slept at his grave. I'd never seen a man fall apart the way that he did. And then all of the sudden it was as if nothing had happened because in his mind it hadn't. He'd cracked."

"But what does this have to do with our Harry, Draco?"

"Everything. Because he's kidnapped your Harry to replace his and through Stockholm Syndrome or Gas lighting or something else-I'm a lawyer not a psychologist-he's brainwashed him into believing it too." He replaced the picture. "They seem so happy together, but it isn't real. It isn't right. Tom...he's sick. It doesn't excuse what he's done but they won't help him in jail. He needs to be committed, but its best we get Harry out of there, first, as my employer is entirely divorced from reality and I'm afraid he could get violent if the fantasy world he's built is threatened."

"I think you're right. Getting them apart would likely be the safest option but...we might need to involve the authorities to do that."

"Not if you can talk sense into him. That's why I brought you up here."

"So our mate has been kidnapped by a potentially violent lunatic and you want us to break him out of the house while he's quite possibly there? You might need to be committed too." He sat back with a sigh. "Of course, we can't leave him there."

"Of course we can't." Hermione said. "Are you able to take us to see him Draco? Today?"

"I am." He got to his feet. "Come with me."