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Chapter 9

"What do you mean left?" Harry asked and not waiting for an answer he run in his oldest son's room. The door was open but no one was inside. Harry looked around. The door of the closet was open and James' backpack, some of his clothes, his broom and his guitar were missing. The window was broken. Harry grunted just as Albus and Ginny walked in and he turned to face them.
"Was he here when you came in before?" Harry asked Albus.
"No, I heard you guys fighting and I came to see if he was alright but he wasn't inside", the boy responded and Harry covered his face with his hands.
"How are we gonna find him?" Ginny asked Harry.
"Well, we know where he's going", Harry responded.
"But he said that this festival is tomorrow...where the hell is he going to spend the night?"
"What festival?" Albus asked but Harry waved his question off and he hurried downstairs.
"Harry, what's going on?" Ron asked when he burst in the living room.
"Why were you yelling?" Lily asked but Harry only looked at Hermione.
"I'm going back at the Ministry...are you coming?"
"Why what happened?" Hermione asked alarmed as Ginny and Albus walked in.
"James run away" he replied and they looked at him shocked.
"What?" Lily whispered looking at her father bewildered.
"Hermione will you come?" Harry demanded and she nodded standing up.
"I don't understand", Ron said looking at Harry and Ginny. "Why would he run away?"
"Ginny will tell you Ron. Hermione come on, we have to go. We have to find him before the Death Eaters do".

James had used his broom to reach as far as he thought safe from his house but then he chose to walk, since he was certain that he would be an easy target in the air, plus Muggles would see him. Now however he had stopped walking and he was sitting under a tree in an unknown park.
He had absolutely no idea where he was or how to get to the festival but he chose not to deal with it at the moment. When his anger was boiling inside him everything seemed simple and running away seemed like the best option, but now...now fear was taking over. Where would he go? What happened if Death Eaters found him or worse if his father did? He couldn't use magic without getting traced and he left in such a hurry he didn't take any money with him.
He sighted and stood up; sitting there wouldn't do him any good. He walked drugging his broom and his guitar while he wondered how weird would Muggles find him if they saw him. He should have planned this better. He should have taken some Muggle money with him and his father's invisibility cloak...but just as this thought formed in his mind he pushed it away. He didn't want anything from his father because his father didn't care. He didn't care about him...no, all he cared about was that stupid book and that Apostollo, all he cared about was his job, not him, never him.

Harry managed to alert the entire auror office in about half an hour. All kind of aurors, from the most experienced ones to the new recruited where dealing with young Potter's disappearance. Usually other departments were dealing with kids who run away, but they all wanted to help Harry, plus no one was brave enough to argue with him when he was that upset.
Matthias was watching Harry from his chair as the man was pacing up and down his office. Matthias was an auror for the biggest part of his life but now he had to admit that he had absolutely no idea how to calm Harry down, he didn't even know how to talk to him, so he was kind of glad that Hermione was there too.
"Harry stop pacing up and down, you're going to open a hole in the floor!" the woman said and he turned to look at her.
"Why haven't they tracked him down yet? Why is this taking so long?"
"Harry, you've already asked me about a million times and as I told a million times before..."
"Hermione!"
"James is underage, he has the Trace on him, but so do thousands of underage witches and wizards and since he hasn't use any magic they can't track him down immediately...first they must separate his Trace from the others, then they must run a few tests to make sure it's his and then finally locate him" Hermione explained again in the cute know-it-all way she only knew how to use.
"But the Death Eaters can't track him right?" he asked once again, but as Hermione began answering that the Death Eaters didn't even know that James had run away, the door opened and a beautiful woman walked in. She had black eyes and blonde hair and she looked about twenty nine years old.
"They send me to tell you that the search isn't complete just yet", she said and Harry grunted.
"Thank you Artemis" Matthias nodded.
"Come in Artemis, don't stand at the door", Hermione said and the woman walked in, closing the door behind her. "Harry do you know Artemis?"
"No", he said indifferently. He knew what Hermione was doing. She brought that unknown woman in so that Harry would be embarrassed to unleash his fury that they haven't locate his son yet in front of her.
"He couldn't have", Matthias said. "He was at Mexico when she came to work for us".
Harry looked at his boss exasperated...Matthias was playing along.
"I was really looking forward to meet you Mister Potter...I've heard so much about you!" the girl smiled stretching out her hand. Harry was boiling inside but he felt sorry for the girl, it was the others that were using her after all, so he shook it.
"Artemis came here from...what was it again?" Hermione asked smiling and received a murderous look from Harry.
"Oh, Germany...Munich" she replied. "I was working as an auror there, but I guess now I'm with you guys".
"Yeah, nice to meet you", Harry said quickly without smiling. "Did anyone tell you why is this taking so long?"
"No, but I guess it's difficult to separate someone's Trace from all the others", she replied shrugging and Hermione looked at Harry raising her eyebrows and he just fell back on a chair.
He looked out of one of Matthias' magical windows. The Ministry was an underground facility and had magical windows, which could depict whatever kind of weather the owner wanted them to, yet Matthias had adjusted his own windows to show exactly what normal windows would at the moment. So as Harry looked out of one of them he knew that it was dark outside...

James was walking an empty street. He was getting kind of tired from carrying his broom, his guitar and his backpack but he would resist the temptation and he wouldn't use magic...he knew that they'd found him within seconds if he did. He had asked some Muggles and he had been informed that there was a bus station nearby. He didn't know what he would do with money but he figured he should first get there and worry about that then.
He couldn't help thinking that this was a terrible mistake. He didn't know how to get to the festival and besides that as his anger was leaving him, somewhere inside him he felt like a big wave of remorse was ready to take over. He had pushed his relationship with his father to the very edge or even down the cliff. He didn't want to, but he kept thinking was his father's face when he told him...he told him...How would he take that back? But every time his thoughts came to this, he blocked them out. If his father really cared about him, he'd have let him go to the concert. So since he didn't care why should James feel guilty?
It had gotten dark and in spite of himself he was getting worried. Where the hell would he spend the night? He kept glancing behind his shoulder...he didn't want to admit it but he was kind of scared that Death Eaters would find him...but then again his father with the entire auror office behind him still hadn't, how would they? He had just finished that thought in his mind when he heard a noise behind him. He turned but there was nothing but the empty street behind him. He told himself that he was getting paranoid and kept walking faster than before.
Soon he found that bus station. He was relieved to see there was a bus waiting. Finally, something was convienient...

-Angie-