Worth A Thousand And One

There was a gleam in Severus' eyes this morning that hadn't been there last night. That and the fact that Severus had chosen to come in person to Malfoy Manor to speak with Lucius, told the elder Malfoy that something was definitely going on. Ushering his old friend into his dark-paneled study, Lucius closed the door which caused the ancient wards for silence and protection to snap in place around the room. No one would over-hear their private conversation now.

"Severus, I take it that you have discovered something about my son's disappearance?" Lucius asked the dark-haired potions master in front of him.

"One could say that Lucius, however, it wasn't so much discovered as this piece of postage was delivered to me this morning by a particularly rude owl. I must warn you before you open the envelope that the contents are slightly... shocking, to say the least." Severus cautioned Lucius as he handed the plain envelope over. He watched carefully as Lucius' calm facade was ruined by the slight shaking in his hands as he gently grasped the envelope brushing his fingers against Severus' in the process. And just like that, the erection Severus had been trying to will away since viewing that photograph was back, bigger than ever. He grit his teeth against the wash of pleasure that even Malfoy's casual touch was able to generate. Merlin forbid, the man ever actually touch him in any other way. His cock jumped eagerly under his heavy robes at the thought, entangled with the memory of creamy skin bisected with black ropes in the photograph.

"At last! Something from the kidnappers!" was Lucius' exultant thought. Perhaps, he would recognize the handwriting in the ransom note, or could analyze the paper to determine its origins. His hopes were dashed, as instead, he recognized the slippery feel of a photograph beneath his fingertips. He hesitated for a few moments. Letting his hopes rise again, a photograph, after all, could be potentially much better use at determining who the person or persons responsible for taking his Draco, and Harry Potter, he added grudgingly. Slipping the evidence free of of its shield, Lucius was horrified to feel his usual cool mask slipping away and equally horrified to find he could not stop his visceral reaction to the picture in front of him.

"Can you see anything, Potter?" came the slightly quavering voice of the blonde prat Harry now knew was somewhere to his right.

"No, I can't see a damned thing!" was his bitter reply. Even if his eyes were working, Potter couldn't feel the familiar pressure of his round glasses pushing against the bridge of his nose, so he wouldn't have been able to see much other than blurs anyway. Harry took the time to review the utter irony that he had destroyed the Wizarding world's biggest bogeyman when all Voldemort would have had to do at any time, was remove his glasses to virtually incapacitate him. "How about you? Can you see?"

Draco didn't want to lie to Harry, but so far his field of vision wasn't showing him anything too reassuring, so he simply replied, "Not really. I can't really feel my arms and legs  either."

"Bloody hell." Potter sighed. Again. Draco was rather inclined to agree with the sentiment, again. It was at this point that their captors saw fit to introduce themselves to their unwilling guests. Two men, or at least Draco was assuming they were men by their stride and general body build, entered the room. Their faces were shielded from view with   black hoods with eye-holes cut out as well as a vivid slash in the materiel to serve as a mouth-hole. They looked remarkably the same otherwise. Same height, same plain robes and a very similar body build. Completely anonymous and all done without a single potion or spell. "They could be anyone!" was Draco's rueful thought. "Perhaps when they speak, I'll be able to recognize their voices."

Harry could tell someone had entered the room. Or maybe it was two someones? He could hear Draco's breathing speed up and become more shallow. He struggled to control his own breathing; not willing to let the unknown assailants know that he had sensed their presence. Maybe if he was careful and used his senses, he would be able to figure out just who it was that had kidnapped himself and Malfoy and for what purpose. "Of course," Harry thought, "Not all villains are as stupid as Voldemort and tell you their plans beforehand." In any case, he wasn't in any position to do anything, so he would play possum until an opportunity arose for escape.

"Well, lookie here! It looks like this one is awake! Shall we have some fun, Brother?" were the words Harry heard before he heard Malfoy's cussing and screaming and the thump of a door shutting and a dead bolt clicking into place. "This doesn't look good." Harry nearly giggled hysterically. He couldn't see, therefore it "doesn't look good" was actually, "It doesn't sound good." Right?