I don't own Harry Potter in any way, nor do I own Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, or the Indiana Jones franchise - while the two franchises are mentioned, there won't be any characters appearing.

Please let me know what you think, and enjoy.

The Treasure Hunter.

Paul Bates puffed lightly as he jogged through the park as he went through his routine four-mile jog. The air was damp with dew, which Paul believed was appropriate; after the night before with bonfire night going on, it made sense there'd be a lot of moisture in the air to put the fires out.

The moisture was welcome to Paul since it kept him cool and the air was incredibly fresh which made it even more welcome. He didn't like jogging along roads where he could smell the filthy fumes from the cars and lorries, this was a welcome relief.

Paul was jogging closer to the burnt-out remains of the pyre when he heard a sound that made him stop.

It sounded like a baby, and it was sobbing and crying for help.

Paul stopped, puffing slightly but he looked around for the source of the crying. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but he was positive that he could hear the sound of a baby.

Yes!

He could hear it. The baby was close by. Logically Paul looked around the park, but there was nothing around him except a few rusted swings, but there was nothing that looked like it was hiding a baby. In any case, when he had heard the baby's cries, it had sounded very very close.

There it was again. And once again Paul wondered where the baby was coming from even though he knew the baby was close, and then Paul studied the pyre. He walked around half of it, but he couldn't see any sign of a little bundle…. And then he found a half-burnt bundle on top of the remains of the bonfire pyre.

Paul looked at the bundle with horror, horrified by what he was seeing. He looked down at the baby. It was crying its heart out, tears streaming down its little face while looking up at Paul with desperate and terrified little emerald green eyes. Paul studied the baby closely, and his eyes automatically flew over to the vivid purple bruise which was in the shape of a very large hand, and he felt sick. He didn't know what to think as he studied the baby, but he could see that the child had been here for some time as the baby's face was wet with moisture. The baby looked healthy enough aside from the bruise although he didn't know why someone would just dump a baby on a pyre, and his messy black hair was sticking up and was wet with moisture like he'd just gotten out of a bath. Paul picked up the baby gently and then he noticed, to his horror, the blanket he was wrapped in was half burnt.

"How did you survive this?" he asked, but the baby was still crying as he looked up. Paul slipped the baby out of the blanket, wincing at the volume of the baby's cries, but he ignored them as he slowly examined the baby's body seeing that the baby was a boy. He was horrified by the sight of the burns - he had no idea what level of burn damage the boy had sustained, but the burns looked bad, but he couldn't understand how the baby had survived.

He should have been roasted alive.

"Oi, what're you doing with that kiddie? Are you a pervert-? Hold on, are those burns?" Paul looked up and saw that a young woman who was out walking her dog had sidled up to him. Paul's eyes crinkled as he studied her, recognising her as one of the people he passed early in the morning on his early jogs. She had just seen the burns on the boy's back.

Paul nodded, relieved she was no longer accusing him of being a kiddie fiddler. "I just found him on the remains of the pyre," he gestured absently towards the pile of half-burnt wood and ash. "He was crying his eyes out, but I don't know how long he was there for. I'd guess he's been here for hours already."

"Hours?" the woman echoed, looking horrified as she looked over the child. "He's definitely been burnt, and Jesus look at the size of that bruise on his face," she went on, looking in horror when she caught sight of the back of the baby's leg where there was a nasty burn and the bruise on his little face. "He might have been left there when the fire was dying down," she commented.

Paul wasn't sure about that, but then he had no real theory about what could have happened and even how long the baby had been left here.

"What's that on his forehead, that scar?"

Paul looked at the baby boy's forehead. In the middle of the forehead was a thin lightning bolt-shaped scar. It looked awfully fresh in his mind, it was red. "I don't know," he replied honestly, looking down at the baby, wondering just what this little kid had gone through, and he shook his head. "He's very young. I don't know if he's six months old or at least a year old."

"I don't think that matters too much; what do you think he's gone through? First that cut, how this?"

Paul caught on quickly to what the woman was saying. "His parents?"

The woman shrugged, her face distressed at the topic at they were discussing while she jerked hard on the lead of her dog. Her dog was getting impatient and he was trying to get to the baby to sniff at. "I can't think of anybody else," she observed. "Who else would do this?"

As much as Paul felt they were jumping the gun and making assumptions, he understood the logic behind the woman's idea about who had done this to the baby boy.

The baby kept crying, making the woman wince. "Can you take him to the hospital?" she asked.

"Can't you?"

"I can't. I've got to get my kids to school in a bit, and I haven't got a car," the woman apologised.

Paul sighed, not liking the thought of cutting off his jog for a day, but in this case he would make an exception. "Okay," he nodded.

"We can meet here in the morning, you can tell me what happened with him," the woman looked pointedly at the boy, who was starting to calm down a little bit, sniffling. She caught his eye, and she gasped when she saw the intelligence that was there in his eyes.

She wasn't sure, but she was positive the boy understood everything that was going on and what had almost happened to him. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Paul said, "Okay. I'll take him to the hospital and I can meet you here tomorrow, although I'm not sure if they'll tell me anything."

XXX

Detective Sergeant Rachel Thornton sighed as she walked into the hospital with her long time friend and colleague, DC Karen Daniels.

"I hate cases that involve kids like this," Rachel said as she and Karen approached the receptionist desk.

"I know what you mean," Karen replied. Out of the two women, she was the eldest and was older than her friend by a decade. They had both applied for the DS position, but Rachel had gotten it. Karen was not even bothered even if Rachel sometimes drove her mad and caused chaos, but she was a bloody good copper.

Rachel held up her new DS ID for the receptionist. "We're expected, DS Thornton, DC Daniels. We're here to speak to the doctors about the baby who was found on top of a bonfire pyre this morning."

The receptionist nodded, her lips pursed angrily at the thought of a child being put on top of a bonfire to roast to death. She put the call through and listened to the voice on the other end of the phone before she nodded. "The doctor is on his way."

"Good."

"Do me a favour," the receptionist went on.

Intrigued, Rachel turned to the receptionist curiously. "What?"

"Find the bastards who did this to that kid."

Rachel exchanged a glance with Karen, but they didn't have time to say anything before the doctor appeared. He was a young man, thin and wiry with dirty blond hair. "I'm Doctor Carpenter," he held out a hand for them to shake.

Rachel shook the doctor's hand first. "DS Rachel Thornton."

Karen smiled as she shook Carpenter's hand next. "DC Karen Daniels. Is the child okay?"

Carpenter blew out a breath and looked around. That alone told Rachel the boy had suffered more than they had expected. "I think I'd better take you to the boy before I tell you what we found," he said gravely.

Rachel exchanged a concerned glance with her friend as they went after the doctor before they reached a tiny maternity ward where the little boy had been sectioned away from the rest of the babies. The doctor picked up the baby who was sleeping as if nothing had happened to him.

Rachel gasped at the sight of the vivid bruise and the lightning bolt-shaped scar on the boy's forehead. She tried to estimate how large that handprint was, and she did not like the answer.

Karen was just as horrified as she studied the baby. "Is he okay?"

"Now he is," Carpenter replied.

"How bad was the burn damage?" Karen asked, hoping to get the worst of this disturbing news out of the way.

Carpenter looked bemused. "He only has second-degree burns, but even so they're serious; it's likely he will have scars on his back for the rest of his life."

Rachel frowned as she tried to remember what she had learnt about burn damage. "But wouldn't that just mean his outer skin was damaged?"

"Yes, and his dermis - the layer beneath. If he had been placed on the bonfire, I would have expected him to have received either fourth-degree burns if he had somehow survived, but I would have thought he'd have died."

Rachel closed her eyes, hearing Karen's intake of breath. Her friend was taking this badly, but that was unsurprising considering Karen had three children herself.

"Doctor, someone placed this baby on top of that bonfire. The jogger we've spoken to has no idea what time this happened, but do you have any ideas now you've treated his…burns? Could he have been placed on the fire just as it was dying down?" Rachel asked, keeping her back to Karen so she couldn't see the very real pain her friend's face. Karen may have been a dedicated copper, but she was also a parent and even if she didn't sometimes have time for her kids, she knew this was a nightmare for Karen to be enduring.

Carpenter sighed. "I don't know for sure; it's possible he was put on the fire just as it was dying down. That would certainly explain why his burns are severe, but not life-threatening enough in the long-term. But I have no idea for sure."

Rachel rubbed her face. They weren't getting anywhere with that angle, so she decided to drop it for now. "What about the bruising on his face?"

"It's recent. You can tell by the colouring of the bruise," Carpenter explained, but then he looked thoughtful. "But when we examined the baby, we discovered the abuse was fairly recent. No more than a few days, perhaps weeks. We also performed X-rays, just to be on the safe side. We found that the boy had suffered a broken wrist consistent with someone older snapping the boy's wrist."

Rachel stiffened. "Bastards," she hissed.

Carpenter nodded in agreement.

"You said the abuse was recent, doctor," Karen's voice was tight with anger as she looked at the baby, furious on his behalf. "Do you have any idea what his overall health was like before?"

"I'd say he was treated like another ordinary healthy little boy," Carpenter replied. "The abuse was fairly recent. Do you know anything about him?"

Rachel's voice was tight. "No," she replied.

"We haven't got any fresh leads. There aren't that many cameras near the park, and believe me, we're checking through the footage."

Suddenly the baby in Carpenter's arms gurgled.

Karen looked into the baby's face, stunned by the unusual emerald green colour of the eyes. But what struck the DC the most was the intelligence in the boy's arms, and she was positive the baby not only knew what had happened to him, but he would remember it for all time.

XXX

"So the abuse the baby's received is fairly recent, whereas before he was treated like any other kid?" DI Andrew Moore asked.

"Certainly seems that way," Karen replied, unable to get out of her mind the way that baby boy had looked at her.

"It looks like some bastard who isn't good fighting other men but is a hard-nut with children had a pop at him," Rachel added. "Have there been any reports of missing children?"

"None," Moore replied with a sigh. "And believe me, I checked. The kid's features are quite distinctive, so he would stand out. But there's nothing. No reports on any kidnappings. No reports on desperate mothers and fathers demanding we find their kid. Have we got anything from the cameras?"

"Nothing," Rachel replied.

"We've got hours and hours of people going into the park during the bonfire party and coming back, all of them with bundles. But there are so many of them we would have a hard time questioning them," Karen said.

"I'm almost tempted to say we don't question them, sir. If one of them tried to kill him in a public place during a night celebration, then if they come forward if we tell them where the baby is, then they might try again," Rachel said.

"With that in mind, I think the boy should be put into foster care in London rather than Little Whinging. If this boy's parents, relatives, whoever they were, are willing to go that far to get rid of a child, then what would happen if he were to stay here?" Karen followed on from where Rachel had left off.

Moore thought through the points raised by two of his best officers, and he had to admit he could see their points. But he wanted to have everyone seen at the bonfire party to be questioned, so then his people would be able to get the vibes to see if they were unpleasant enough to do such a thing to a child, but also to see if their homes showed recent signs of more than one child. "I think we should have them questioned," he countered to make it clear to Rachel they were not in agreement. "I want to know if anyone seen in the park that night gives off a bad vibe. In the meantime, we can say the baby was found dead, burnt to death so we can gauge their reactions. I'll contact the hospital to let them know of this decision. But I think what you've said has merit, Karen. I don't want this child to be raised in an area where he was nearly killed."

"I only hope social takes it on board," Rachel commented. "I don't like the thought of that kid being sent to school, only for his would-be murderers being close by."

Karen nodded in agreement with her friend. "Have we found anything from the local CCTV?"

"Nothing so far. But I can't get what you said out of my mind," Moore said, looking thoughtful.

Rachel frowned. "What?"

"Well, that the kid was only abused fairly recently, and according to this report issued by the hospital," Moore gestured at the file in front of him on his desk, "the baby hasn't received a huge amount of abuse beyond the obvious neglect and injuries. I'm just….bemused that any child abuser would suddenly decide to mistreat him."

"Maybe they wanted to do it anyway," Rachel suggested a moment later after giving the matter some thought, but her own expression showed that even she didn't see the sense in what she was suggesting, "they would treat the boy well at first, and then abuse him."

"No," Karen shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't see it. If they were going to do that, assuming that's what happened, then wouldn't they have waited until the boy was at a certain age before they became abusive?"

"Yeah, you've got a point," Rachel agreed, distaste flashing over her face at the thought of anyone planning to abuse a child at a later date after treating them well.

"That settles it," Moore came to a snap decision, and he looked between his two officers. "I'm going to have those people in the CCTV footage identified, and then we're going to go door to door, and ask questions. While we're doing that, we're going to be thorough."

"You'll have to clear it with the Super," Rachel pointed out.

Moore grimaced. "I know, but I think he'll agree to it."

XXX

The police stayed on the case for a fortnight before it was called off. They had initially issued a statement to the public stating they had found the burnt body of a baby boy who'd been placed on a bonfire on Bonfire Night, while telling the hospital not to contradict them while they searched for the truth.

They got nowhere with their questioning, although the police did uncover a few other unrelated crimes; a meth lab in one of the houses close to Privet Drive, a few cases of burglary and fraud, and one of blackmail, and a few cases of clear child abuse, they got nowhere with finding any sign of the people who had placed the baby on the bonfire.

The homes where child abuse was clearly taking place were searched thoroughly and methodically, and forensics went over them with a fine-tooth comb. But they found no match to the boy, so he wasn't abused there.

In the meantime, Moore and the Superintendent of Little Whinging Division met with social services while DS Thornton and Dr Carpenter to ensure the boy was not raised and looked after in Little Whinging. In the end, they agreed, and the baby was taken to London.