Chapter 3
Draco POV:
When Draco had woken that morning, he nearly decided to just ignore the fact that there was a town in Harry's case files that was linked to his childhood house.
Nearly...
But then he remembered that Harry was still missing and that was all it took to get him up and dressed before he made his way to the old "Malfoy Manor". When he apparated in front of the gates to the estate he suddenly wished he'd brought an extra jacket as a chill swept over his lithe form and made him shiver, he stared up at the mansion and glared at the memory that was now always associated with this place, the memory of Harry and his friends being brought here and tortured.
He took a step to stop the unpleasant thoughts that threatened to swallow him in that moment, as he was about to walk through the gate he felt as though someone was watching him, he turned to see a small girl hiding behind a tree a few meters away, when she noticed him looking at her she sunk behind the tree more hoping it would conceal her from him but it was too late Draco had seen her, 'She must be from the village' he thought, he approached the tree and called out to her, "You there, who are you?" he asked, she squeaked before peaking at him and asking "Are you one of them?" Draco wasn't sure what she meant by that and replied by asking "What do you mean? who is 'them'?" the girl then moved out more from behind the tree and said "One of the loud ones, they're too loud and always yelling things in town" this caught Draco's attention, specifically because this was the village that Harry had visited for just such a disturbance but apparently the culprit had returned he wonder if this person had any info about Harry, he needed to know if this person was still in the village.
"No, I'm not one of them, are they still in the village though? do you know where they are?" he asked the girl, crouching down so he was closer to her level so as to keep her attention. She nodded and then said "No, they're not in the village anymore" Draco's only lead seemed to slip from him in that moment until the girl continued, "The older villagers told them they couldn't live here anymore so they went to live in the old house over the hill", she pointed to her left and Draco followed it with his eyes, in the distance he could see the house, it wasn't actually a house at all, it was the building the servants who used to work for his father lived in, Father didn't want the maids living in the mansion even though there was enough space so they were all sent to live and sleep in that building, he thinks it might've been a stable before it was turned into the servants quarters, he wasn't sure because he was never allowed over there.
"Thank you, have you seen anyone else around here lately, maybe an Auror?" he asked just to be sure that no one had spotted Harry, the girl shook her head but then seemed to think about for a moment before saying, "When the loud ones were kicked out of the village though they had a sack stuffed with something big, it was alive too, it squirmed and made noises when they dragged it away" Draco stood up immediately and looked over to the servants building, it wasn't confirmation of Harry's location, but he knew, deep down he knew, he was in the right spot, he barely managed a 'thank you' to the little girl before running towards the building.
Harry's POV:
He's cold, and He's hot, 'Merlin" he thought as he opened his eyes, he must be getting a fever, if he was going to escape he'd need to do it soon because if he became weakened further by sickness he's not sure what else these crazy bastards would do to him or what would happen to the child growing inside him. He would've tried escape much earlier of course, but for most of Harry doesn't even remember being lucid, between all the drugs and beatings Harry's barely had a moment of clarity, it's only recently he's been able to think up a possible escape plan because they believe him to be to weak now that he's pregnant and the beatings have become less frequent in an attempt to keep him just alive enough to have said baby, but Harry will never let them get their hands on this child.
He needed to do something, first he needed to sit up, lying on his side all night on the thin mattress had done nothing for his aching body, 'I'm so sore' Harry briefly thought before he managed a seating position, not an easy feat in his condition. They hadn't come to chain Harry's hands above his head yet 'perfect' Harry thought, the transfer from his hands being chained to the floor to the cuffs hanging above his head was the perfect opportunity to attempt an escape as its one of the only times his hands aren't incapacitated even if only for a brief moment, he'll need to be strategic and quick, if it's early morning then Harry's hoping they won't all be awake when he tries to make a run for it, he can't hear alot from upstairs at the moment, he can only hear one set of footsteps moving around and Harry's pretty sure there's only 4 of them in total, he's only ever seen 4 faces.
He knows that eventually someone will bring him food, if you could even call it that, is a mug of cold stale oatmeal considered food? when they do they'll also unchain him for a moment, in that moment he needs to land a strike hard enough to stun his opponent so that he can make a run for the stairs and hopefully make it outside, maybe once he's there he can shout loud enough that someone will hear him and call for help.
Okay, it's not the best plan, but it's all Harry can think of right now, he doesn't have his wand and can't afford to hope that the one who has it will be the one he confronts and if not he wont have time to search for it before running. Harry's thoughts were interrupted by loud banging coming from upstairs, it sounded like someone was knocking on the door, 'Was someone here?', 'Someone who could help him perhaps?', 'Or is it more of Phineas's friends?', whatever it was Harry couldn't afford to back out now, he heard some raised voices, which meant the others were awake but he didn't have time to worry about that as the door to the basement opened.
Draco POV:
Draco didn't even think of catching his breathe before he started franticly banging on the door to the run down building, he heard a voice inside call out to someone to open the door, it was then that Draco realized he hadn't thought of what he was going to do when someone did open the door but an idea quickly formed in his mind.
As the door was a yanked open, a man with short brown hair and patchy stubble glared at him with a fogginess over his eyes as if he'd just woken up, "Who are you?, What do you want?" the man growled clearly upset at having being woken up, Draco simply glared back and said, "I should be asking you that, you are on my property, someone from the village informed me that people were staying here, I've come to evict you" he tried to sound confident and entitled, but the truth was, he didn't own this land or anything on it for that matter, not anymore, it was seized by the ministry, but he was hoping the lowlifes occupying this building didn't know that.
"Huh? Hah?, yeah right mate, and just who do you think you are?" the man growled back clearly trying to intimidate Draco, now that the door was open, Draco took a deep breathe and he could tell that there were five people in this building, four of the scents were rather strong and all clearly Alpha scents, but the fifth was sweeter and not as strong as though the person who owned it was tucked away somewhere from the main room, he took another breathe, it was an Omega's scent that much he could tell and his heart told him he knew who it belonged to. He had to remain calm none of the Alphas would be able to overpower him, at least not one on one, but if all of them came at him he might struggle, so he straightened his back and looked down his nose at the unkempt man before him and stated, "I am Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and your on my property".
At that another man came into view, he was more arrogant than the one standing before him, he could tell by the way he carried himself and the smug smirk on his face, Draco could tell things were about to go south, he slowly gripped his wand preparing for an attack before there was a scream from below them and everyone's attention went to the floor boards, 'A Basement' Draco thought, Harry must be down there all three men looked up at once and for a second no one moved, then the man who opened the door went to reach for his wand but Draco was quicker and he cast Stupify at the man allowing Draco access to the house, the arrogant man had his wand ready and tried to cast the same attack at Draco but he managed to block the attack and send it back at the man and he fell to the ground, Draco heard footsteps and looked up to see the third man coming from another room, he stared at Draco for a moment and Draco at him until Draco's eyes saw something hanging from the mans belt, it was Harry's wand, 'The Bastards' Harry WAS here!, a rage quickly filled Draco as he petrified the man standing before him, once his unbalanced body fell over Draco rushed to it and retrieved Harry's wand, now to find the door to the basement.
Harry's POV:
The door to the basement opened and Harry could still hear muffled voices but he was more concentrated on the man coming down the stairs, he had with him Harry's cold mug of oatmeal and unfortunately he was NOT the man who carried his wand, 'that will make this more difficult' he thought but he was determined. The man came over and unchained Harry's hands from the floor, he seemed almost bored of this which meant Harry might catch him off guard, as he went to hand Harry the mug, he threw the cup aside startling the man before he reeled his arm back as far as he could and landed one punch directly at his nose, there was a crack and it started to bleed, as the man clutched his broken appendage Harry scrambled to his feet but after being weakened so significantly and not walking for so long he could barely stand so he quickly crawled to the stairs and used them as leverage to stand, he only made it a few steps before his knees gave out and he fell to his hands and knees on the stairs, 'NO, I have to keep going' he thought, he was moving to slow, what if they catch him?, as if on cue a hand grabbed his right foot trying to pull him back down the stairs, Harry's right hand immediately went to shield his small swell and gripped the stairs with his left trying to hold on, but his arms were weak along with everything else and as his hand slipped he yelled out, "You bitch, you'll pay for that" the man growled, as he was waiting to be dragged back and chained up again he heard someone cast a spell above him.
"STUPIFY" the hand holding foot let go and the man yelped he was forced back to the basement floor, Harry looked up and through his blurry vision due to the tears starting to form, he saw a familiar frame silhouetted in the light from above, the figure quickly rushed toward him and he could hardly believe the flash of blond hair and grey eyes, was it truly Draco Malfoy he was looking at?
Draco POV:
"Harry!" I cried as I rushed down the stairs and could hardly believe I was looking at Harry Potter, but I was, he was here. As I pulled him into my arms I immediately could tell he's lost weight, his skin was pale and his hair disheveled and dirty but as I pulled him close I saw his protectively cradling his abdomen, 'Had he been injured?' he searched for blood but could find none, instead he found a round well to Harry's abdomen and he was immediately filled with rage.
'Those filthy animals, I'll kill them all' his murderous thought was stopped by a weak call of his name, "Draco?" Harry called to him and clutched at his shirt with his left hand "Is it really you?" he asked tears flowing down his cheeks which he noted were flushed, his hand flew to Harry's forehead and could definitely tell he had a fever, "Yeah Potter, it's me, I'm gonna get you out of here" he heard rustling from upstairs, the others must be coming to, "Right after I murder these wretches" as he was about to stand Harry's hand clutched his arm and Draco looked back to find pure unadulterated fear in Harry's eyes, it shocked him enough to clear his mind of all his rage and completely focus on Harry.
"No, please, don't go, don't leave me here" the tears were flowing freely now and Draco wanted to curse himself for not immediately removing Harry from this horrid place, putting his murderous intent aside, he reached down and lifted Potter into his arms and just as he heard footsteps stomping towards them he apparated out of the stair of the basement and into his apartment in Knockturn Alley.
Harry started sobbing so hard his whole body shook and Draco feared he was going to break with how harsh his sobs were, so he held him close and told him "Shh, it's okay, your okay Harry"
"I've got you, your safe"
He held him tighter and let him cry until his sobs quietened and his breathing evened, taking in the strong calming pheromones of Draco's strawberry and mint scent he fell into a dreamless sleep and both Harry and Draco were grateful for that for tomorrow would bring more hardship before healing.