Chapter 37

7.1K 166 64
By melanie_anderson

The trio arrived in a dark forest near a small, frozen and Ron walked around in confusion.

"I could've sworn..." He stopped near the edge of the pond and knelt down to pick something up off the ground. "You've got to be joking." He muttered.

"What is it?" Alison asked as she walked over, still clutching Draco's hand. She gasped when she saw what Ron was holding were Harry's clothes.

Ron knelt down next to the small hole in the ice and his eyes suddenly widened so much Alison was afraid they were going to pop out of his head. "Bloody hell." He whispered as he jumped into the dark water and disappeared beneath the surface.

"Ron!"

Draco grabbed onto Alison and pulled her close when she lunched foreword, afraid she was going to jump in after him. She struggled against him but he refused to let go. That water was ice cold and the temperature out here was freezing she was not going to give herself Pneumonia.

Two heads suddenly burst out of the water and a soaking wet Harry and Ron pulled themselves out of the water, coughing and shivering. In Ron's hand was a large sword which Draco knew he didn't have before and the locket he remembered from the Grimmauld place months back in the other. Except this time, he knew this was the real one, he could feel the dark magic radiating off of it from here.

Draco quickly let go of Alison and they both ran over to help pull the boys away from the frozen lake and onto solid ground. He quickly pulled out the wand Mr. Weasley has been able to get for him, with a promise that this would be the last one he lost, and pointed it at the freezing boys, using magic to instantly dry them off.

He turned toward a nearby log and pointed his wand at it. "Incendio." He whispered and the log burst into flames, providing the four of them with some warmth.

"Alison?" Harry looked at his sister as he pulled his clothes on, for the first time registering everyone around him now that he wasn't so focused on drowning and freezing. "Draco? Ron?"

"Harry!" Alison ran into her brother's arms and Draco couldn't help but smile as he watched the sibling's tearful reunion with them cling to each other.

"Are you mental?" Ron asked. Harry and Alison pulled away from each other and turned to the Weasley. "Why in the hell, didn't you take this thing off before you dived?"

"It was you?" Harry asked, still holding Alison as close to him as he could.

Ron looked confused. "Well, yeah."

"You cast that doe?"

"What are you talking about? What doe?" Ron asked.

"The Patronus!" Harry said as he looked at the other three. "It wasn't any of you?"

"None of our Patronus's are a doe, Harry." Alison whispered.

Harry was quiet for a moment before he looked at Ron. "How come you're here?"

Ron's cheeks turned pink and he looked at his feet. "Well, I've... you know... I've come back. If... you know. You still want me."

Harry smiled. "'Course I do. How did you find us."

"Long story." Ron shrugged.

"And why have you brought these two along?" Harry's smile dropped and he crossed his arms. "Not that I'm not happy to see you." He added quickly when Alison raised an eyebrow at him.

"She begged me to bring her and Malfoy insisted he tag along." Ron shrugged again.

The black haired boy nodded and pulled his sister close to him again, extremely happy and relieved to see that she was safe and that he was able to see her again.

"You reckon that's the actual sword?" Draco asked as he nodded towards the sword in Ron's hand, shoving his hands in his pockets. He almost felt as awkward and out of place as he did at the Weasley's.

"Only one way to find out." Harry said and led the four of them over to a large, flat rock nearby.

Ron handed him the locket which he laid on the rock then tried to offer him the sword but Harry shook his head.

"You should do it, Ron."

The redhead's eyes widened. "Me? Why?"

"You got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you." Harry gave him an encouraging smile then gestured for Draco and Alison to step back. "I'm going to open it and you stab it. Immediately. Whatever's in there will put up a fight. The bit in Riddle's diary tried to kill me."

Draco felt Alison's hand holding his tighten. He had nearly forgotten she had nearly been killed by the diary his own father had given her when she was only nine years old.

"No!" Ron yelled, snapping the Slytherin from his thoughts. "No, don't open it! I'm serious!"

"Why not?" Harry asked. "Let's get rid of the damn thing, it's been months-"

"I can't, Harry! You do it! I can't handle it! I'm not making excuses, it affected me way worse than you or Hermione! I made me think terrible things! Things I already were thinking about but it made it so much worse! I can't do it, Harry!"

Harry took a step closer to his best friend. "Yes, you can. You've got the sword, I know it's supposed to be you. Please just get rid of it, Ron."

Ron took a deep breath and slowly nodded, his grip on the sword tightening. "Okay... go ahead."

Harry nodded and whispered something no one else understood in Parseltongue and the locket snapped open. Then a dark fog exploded out.

The explosion caused all three to fly backwards in different directions. The black fog surrounded the locket and began hissing at Ron.

I have seen your heart, and it's mine. I have seen your dreams Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible...

"Don't listen to it!" Harry yelled over the voice. "Stab it!"

Draco pushed himself off the forest floor and ran over to Alison who was crouching behind a large rock, her hands pressed over her ears and her eyes were squeezed shut.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close as he watched part of the dark clouds turn into silvery images of Harry and Hermione. They began mocked Ron, telling him his greatest fears while he stared at them with wide eyes and crawled away.

Harry was screaming at Ron to ignore what they were saying and to stab the locket but Ron didn't seem to hear him. If Weasley didn't hurry up, Draco was ready to run over and stab the wretched thing himself.

Suddenly Ron jumped to his feet and held the sword over his head as he ran to the rock and Draco, for a split second, thought he was going to kill Harry. But instead he brought the sword down on the locket which let out a loud scream as the dark clouds disappeared.

The four of them sat on the ground in silence for a minute before Harry slowly stood and walked over to the locket, picking up the shattered pieces and stuffing them into his pocket before walking over to Ron who was on his knees and shaking. He knelt down next to him and began whispering to him but Draco and Alison were too far to hear what they were saying.

He gently pulled Alison's hands from her ears and realizing she was shaking too. But it didn't seem to be from the cold. He slowly stood, pulling her up with him and looked her over to see if she was hurt.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, holding her hands tightly.

Alison slowly nodded her head, looking back at the rock where the locket had been. "I'm fine." She whispered.

Harry was suddenly next to them and pulling Alison away from Draco so he could hug her tightly.

"It's destroyed." He whispered softly as she clung to him. "It's okay now."

Alison pressed her head into her brothers neck. "I could hear him." She whispered. "In my head, just like before. He wanted me to help him again."

He shook his head and held onto her tighter. "He won't get to you like that again." He scratched her head soothingly. "This is why I didn't want you coming with us, it's too dangerous."

The fourteen year old nodded. "I just wanted to see you again. I really missed you."

"I really missed you too." He whispered then slowly released her. "Let's go back to camp, we can rest and warm up there."

Harry walked next to Draco as he led the way and glanced back at Alison and Ron who were right behind them, talking quietly. He turned to the blonde and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you for keeping your promise." He whispered. "For looking after her."

Draco looked over at his once rival. "Hasn't been easy." He said with a small chuckle. "You Potter's are like a magnet for trouble, you know that?"

Harry chuckled and shoved his freezing hands into his pockets. "Believe me, I know. What's happened?"

Draco gave him a very brief version of what the past few months had been like, not wanting to worry him too much but knew he deserved to know the truth. He left out certain bits about what detention now looked like and Alison's first day in Dark Arts and detention. It'd only make Harry worry more.

"I can't believe they'd let Snape be headmaster." Harry muttered bitterly, kicking a pebble rather hard. "But I'm glad the D.A.'s back. There's going to be a war, I know it. And the more people who are prepared the better."

He walked quicker as they approached a small tent then ducked his head inside, calling out to Hermione.

Draco grabbed onto Alison and quickly pulled her aside when Hermione came storming after Ron, screaming and punching him wherever she could. He winced in sympathy. He'd been punched by Granger before and knew she knew how to punch very well. Weasley would probably have a few bruises by the end of the day.

Eventually Ron and Harry were able to calm her down and she stormed back into the tent, obviously still furious with the redhead for leaving them for so long.


"How long until you go back to school?" Harry asked as he, Draco and Alison sat by a dim fire just outside the tent later that night, leaving Ron and Hermione in the tent to try to talk things over.

"A few days." Alison said as she poked one of the lit logs with a long stick. "Mrs. Weasley is trying to convince me and Ginny to stay at the Burrow though. She's not exactly happy with Snape being headmaster either or the fact that Death Eaters are teaching classes."

The three turned towards the tent when Hermione's voice suddenly got twice as loud and she and Ron had started yelling at each other again.

"I'll go see what it's about now." Ali said as she pushed herself to her feet and went inside the tent, ready to create a shield charm between the two if needed like Harry had to do earlier that day during one of their fights.

Harry looked over at Draco who had been sitting silently watching the fire the entire time the three of them had been sitting there. He looked deep in thought but the thoughts weren't good.

"Everything alright?" Harry asked softly, startling Draco from his musings.

The Malfoy nodded and rested his chin on his knees which were pulled to his chest. He slowly brought his eyes from the fire to Harry.

"She's so strong, you know that?" He whispered. "She's been through hell her entire life yet she remains so kind and full of hope. I don't know how you did it."

Harry gave him a confused look. "How I did it?"

Draco nodded. "You're the one who raised her aren't you? She was only three month old when your parents were killed. And your aunt and uncle were vile people, they certainly aren't the reason she's the way she is."

"How do you know about them?" Harry asked. Their relatives were never in any Wizard's papers and he knew for certain Malfoy had never mentioned them before.

"Ali told me back during the summer." The blind shrugged and looked back down at the fire. "She kind of vented a bit about how terrible childhood. I didn't realize you two grew up like that. I had always assumed you grew up being praised as a hero. Not abused and treated like slaves."

Harry shrugged and looked at the fire too. "Never had a reason to tell you."

"Harry?" The boys turned when Hermione walked out of the tent, followed close behind by Alison and Ron.

"I want to go see Xenophilius Lovegood." She said as she wrapped her arms around herself when a small, cold breeze blew past them.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?" He asked, confused.

She stepped forward and showed him the book in her hand. "See this? It's a letter Dumbledore wrote to Grindelwald. Look at the signature. It's the mark again. It keeps popping up. in The tales of Beedle the Bard, in the graveyard in Godric's Hollow..."

"What does it mean?" Draco asked as he looked at the strange symbol over Harry's shoulder.

"We don't know." Harry shrugged.

"Look," Hermione sighed. "You have no idea where the next Horcrux is, and neither do I... but this, this means something. I am sure of it."

Ron nodded his head. "I say we go first thing in the morning."

Harry nodded too. "I agree." He turned to Alison and Draco. "You two should probably go. Mrs. Weasley's probably worried."

Alison shook her head. "Can't we stay for one more day?" She begged. "Please? I haven't seen you in weeks and I have no idea when I'll be able to see you again."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. "Alright." He gave in. "But you're staying here while we go see Xenophilius with Draco . Hermione's put several protection charms over the campsite so don't leave it. Both of you." He looked over at the blonde who nodded. "We won't be long and it'll be safer for you both if you stay here to wait."

Alison sighed but nodded. It was better than going back to the Burrow.

The five of them made their way back inside the tent after Hermione dispelled the fire.

"I'm afraid I only brought three cots." Hermione said as they looked around the tent. "So if you-"

Alison turned to the table and chairs then flicked her wand, transfiguring then into two cots.

"I thought you can't-"

"The Order persuaded the Ministry to give me permission to do magic outside of Hogwarts if I need to." Alison said with a small smile as she put her wand back in her pocket.

"'Course whenever I did any magic outside of school when I was underage..." Harry muttered just loud enough for them to hear him.

"Things weren't as obviously bad before." Alison pointed out as she pulled her large coat off and the thick sweater she had underneath, leaving her in jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

She and Draco went to lay on the cots she had made, but Harry stepped in front of them.

"That's too close. You can take mine, Malfoy." He said as he pointed to a cot on the other side of the tent.

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed Potter to the side. "Don't the guests get to pick where they sleep?" He said, his voice dropping with sarcasm as he walked past him to the two cots and plopped himself down on one of them.

Alison silently followed and laid down on the other, looking over at her brother with a look that clearly dared him to try to argue as she pulled a blanket over her.

But Harry just rolled his eyes and stomped over to his cot. "Fine. But they better stay that far apart. Don't push them any closer." He sat down on his cot and began pulling his shoes off when he heard a scraping noise like metal on wood.

He looked up and saw Malfoy staring him right in the eyes as he pushed his cot to Alison's until they were touching then laid down, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Harry stood up, his grip on his wand tightening, but Ron put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"Let it go." Ron whispered, throwing Draco a dirty look when the Slytherin smiled smugly over at them. "He's just doing it to make you mad."

"He's doing a bloody good job at it." Harry said through his clenched teeth, his hands still in tight fists.

"You know he won't actually do anything, mate, just calm down and go to sleep." Ron said as he gently pried Harry's wand from his hand then set it on the small table next to the cot.

Once he was sure Harry wasn't going to jump up and pound Malfoy in the face, he turned and went to his cot, glancing over at the now sound asleep Draco who held an also sleeping Alison in his arms, a small smile on his face that Ron had never seen before.

He truly looked happy and content.

———

"You know, standing around like that probably won't help the time go by any faster." Draco said as he prodded the small fire to keep it going, looking over at Alison who stood just inside the protective barriers, looking around the forest for any sign of the trio.

"But they should've been back by now." Alison said, wrapping her arms around herself to try to warm her cold fingers up. "They said they'd only be gone for an hour."

"And it's barely even past an hour. They'll be back soon, don't worry." Draco said with a small shrug, turning his attention back to the fire pit.

Alison sighed and looked back out over the forest then frowned when something just behind a tree caught her eye. She glanced back to see if Draco's back was to her before stepping out of the protection barriers to see what it was. Harry and Draco had both made it quite clear that she wasn't to go wandering outside of the barriers under any circumstances, but she doubted Voldemort would suddenly be able to find her in the middle of the forest if she stepped away for just a moment.

"Oh, you poor thing." She whispered when she looked behind the large tree and saw a rabbit caught in a hunters trap.

She knelt down and carefully pulled the trap open and didn't let go until she was sure the rabbit had pulled its leg free. She pulled out her wand and whispered a spell that healed the small gashes on the rabbit's leg then carefully picked it up.

"It's okay." Alison whispered as she gently pet it to help calm the scared creature down. "You're alright now, it's okay."

"ALISON!"

Her head snapped up and she saw Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco all running towards her, their wands raised and their eyes wide with fear.

She frowned in confusion then realized the four of them were looking at something behind her. Just as she turned to see what they were looking at, an arm wrapped around her torso and a hand flew over her mouth.

Her eyes widened in fear, and not just because she'd been captured, she recognized the hands holding her.

Fenrir Greyback.

The other four started to fight the Snatchers who stood on either side of the werewolf, but the fight was over as fast as it started when he dug his fingers into Alison's side, causing her to scream in pain into his other hand as she felt the claws pierce her skin and thin trails of blood run down her waist.

"That's enough!" Greyback snarled, stepping forward which caused Alison to nearly trip as she was suddenly forced to walk with him.

Alison looked at the other four. Hermione and Ron were watching the Snatchers with wide eyes, their wands down at their sides but their hands gripping the tightly. Draco was staring at Ali with a terrified look in his eyes, his wand pointed at the Death Eater but everyone knew he wouldn't try to hit Greyback with anything with Alison in the way. Harry... Alison wasn't sure what happened to him. His glasses were gone and his face was extremely swollen. Like it had been attacked by a swarm of bees.

"If it isn't the young Draco Malfoy and Alison Potter." Greyback smirked. "The others have been looking all over for you! You've both managed to escape them twice each and they aren't happy at all with you two."

Harry's head whipped between Draco and Alison. Twice? He knew Draco helped Alison escape two summers ago then Snape had helped him escape this summer but twice each?

"Looky here!" One of the Snatchers showed Greyback a copy of the Daily Prophet. "The Mudblood girl said to be traveling with Potter looks a hell of a lot like this girl, don' it?"

The Death Eater looked between the paper and Hermione with a cruel smile on his face. "Yes, yes it does."

"Look what I've found!" A Snatcher walked over carrying Harry's glasses and the sword of Gryffindor. "Doesn't Harry Potter wear glasses?"

Another Snatcher, the head one it seemed, walked over to Harry and peered down at his swollen forehead where his scar was. Though it was squished and stretched so it was barely recognizable.

"It's him!" He shrieked. "We've caught Potter! Let's get them to the Ministry!"

"To hell with the Ministry." Greyback snarled. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take him straight to You-Know-Who."

They all suddenly apparated to the front gates of Malfoy Manor. A place Alison was getting real tired of seeing. They were pulled up to the gates which suddenly contorted and twisted until it formed into a rather frightening looking face which said in an echoing voice: "State your purpose!"

Only Draco didn't look confused and frightened of the gates.

"We've got Potter! We've captured Harry Potter!" Greyback roared triumphantly after a moment of stunned silence.

The gates immediately swung open and the Snatchers pulled the struggling teens into the Manor.

Narcissa and Lucious Malfoy were sitting in the main hall reading by the fireplace when the Snatchers burst in. They immediately stood up and Narcissa's eyes widened when they landed on her son.

She walked over and a look of confusion fell across her face as she looked Harry over. "This doesn't look like Potter."

"What is this?" Lucious asked as he walked over, his eyes narrowing as he looked at his son who shrunk away from the piercing gaze.

"They say they've got Harry Potter. But this boy looks nothing like him." Narcissa gestured to Harry.

Draco swallowed nervously when Lucious looked the five of them over then suddenly grabbed his son by the shoulder and pulled him to the other side of the room.

"Tell me, Draco," Lucious whispered into his ear, his tight grip on his sons shoulder causing it to ache. "Is it him? Is it Potter?"

Draco glanced over at the others then looked up at his father. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lucious sneered, his hand moving up to grip onto the back of his neck.

Draco suddenly had a flashback to last summer when Severus has taken Draco home just after Dumbledore's death and was met by his father immediately slamming his son against the wall, his hand wrapped around his throat.

"You're a coward, Draco!" Lucious hissed, his grip tightening the more Draco struggled and tried to pull his hand away. "You've completely disgraced our family name! The Dark Lord is on his way to punish you for ruining the plan and nearly getting everyone killed!"

Draco lay on the floor motionless except for his entire body twitching every so often, the nerves in his body damaged from being under the Cruciatus curse for too long. He was floating in and out of consciousness and his vision was swimming. His whole body ached like he'd been repeatedly run over by a train.

Footsteps drawing closer made him open his eyes. He recognized his fathers boots. A rough hand shoved him from his side to his back which made him groan in pain. It hurt so bad for his body to move. His father leaned down so his face was just inches from Draco's, a look of disgust on it.

"You're no son of mine." He spat. "The Dark Lord wants you dead. An example for what happens to the ones who betray him. And he's given me the honor and privilege to do it myself."

Draco was snapped out of his memories by Lucious' fingers digging even harder into his neck and shaking him slightly. "Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiven." Lucious had a dark and almost crazed look in his eyes that truly frightened Draco. "You were with them, surly you must know!"

"But I don't." Draco said, wincing at the piercing pain in his neck his father was causing. "Alison and I... we went into hiding after our last little visit here and we ran into these three in the forest just before the Snatchers caught us. We didn't have time for introductions, I don't know who they are."

"We had better be certain, Lucious." Narcissa said as she walked over. She gently put her hand on her husbands and slowly pried his fingers off Draco's neck. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord. If we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing... remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov?"

"What about the Mudblood?" Greyback called, one of Snatchers throwing her forward.

The three Malfoy's turned and Narcissa grabbed Draco's arm and pulled him back to the others.

"Yes... yes! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"

Draco slowly licked his dry lips as he looked down at Hermione who was staring up at him with pleading eyes. "I... maybe." He whispered. "I can't be completely sure..."

"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" Lucious suddenly shouted next to him, causing him to jump, as he pointed to the redhead. "It's them, Potter's friends! Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name...?"

Draco dropped his gaze to the ground, shrugging. "It could be."

Everyone turned at the sound of the door opening and Bellatrix Lestrange's voice.

"What is this? What's happened Cissy?" She asked then slowly walked around the prisoners, stopping when she stepped in front of Hermione. "But surely... this is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"

"Yes! Yes, it's Granger!" Lucious cried. "And besides her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"

Draco stepped away from his father who looked as mad as his aunt. He felt his mother's hands grab onto her arms but he ignored her.

"Potter?" Bellatrix shrieked. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She went to pull her sleeve up but Lucious grabbed onto her arm.

"I was about to call him!" Lucious held onto her wrist tight as she tried to pull away. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority-"

"Your authority!" Bellatrix sneered ans yanked on her arm again. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucious! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"

"You did not capture the boy-"

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy," Greyback interrupted pushing Alison forward as he stepped over to them. "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming-"

"STOP!" Bellatrix suddenly shrieked, her attention now on the Snatcher holding the sword of Gryffindor. "We shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!" She strode over the Snatcher. "Give it to me!"

"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine." The Snatcher said stubbornly. "I found it."

She pulled out her wand and began throwing stunning hexes around the room at the snatchers. She turned to Greyback who pushed Alison to the floor so he could kneel and hold up his hands in surrender.

"Where did you get this sword?" She whispered, her eyes wide with what looked like fear. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

"It was in their tent." The werewolf sneered.

Bellatrix shook her head, looking the sword over, her hands trembled slightly. "Lucious take these scum outside." She gestured to the Snatchers. "Cissy take the prisoners to the cellar while I think what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my-"

"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" Lestrange shrieked. "Take them down to the cellar! All except... the girls. Leave the Mudblood and baby Potter."

The boys immediately began to yell in protest but Narcissa raised her wand and bound them with magic. She, with the help of Pettigrew, pulled them down to the dark, cold dungeons.

"Mother you can't!" Draco begged. "She'll kill them!"

"There's nothing we can do, Draco." His mother said coldly. "You know that. You've chosen your side, this is your punishment." She locked them cell door then turned and strode back up the steps, the binding hex over them disappearing as soon as she was out of sight.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled as he grabbed onto the cell door and shook it as hard as he could. "Hermione!"

"Harry? Ron? Draco? Is that you?"

The three boys turned at the soft voice behind them.

"Luna?" Draco had almost forgotten she was still here. Mr. Weasley had said they had sent a rescue party to the house but they never received word whether they were successful or not.

"Yes, it's me! Oh no, you got caught again, did you? I didn't want you to be caught!" She turned to Harry.

Ron grabbed his Deluminator and clicked it, the cell filling with light.

Harry looked around. Luna and Dean Thomas were standing in front of them, Mr. Ollivander was huddled in the corner either unconscious or dead, he couldn't tell. A goblin, Griphook he remembered his name, sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, barely conscious by the looks of it.

Alison sobbed from where she was tied so tightly to a chair the tips of her fingers were turning blue as she watched Hermione withering and screaming on the floor, Bellatrix kneeling over her. The Death Eater was carving into her arm just as she had with Alison and the scars on her own arm were burning as she remembered the pain.

Lucious stood before her and pointed his wand at her. "My son is either an idiot or he was lying." He hissed. He pushed his wand into her throat causing her to cry out in pain. "That is Potter down in the cellar, isn't it girl?"

Alison tried to pull away from the wand as she shook her head. Her eyes fell onto Hermione again when she screamed again and another tear slipped down her cheek. "Even is it was," she hissed at the blonde Death Eater. "I'd never tell you!"

He hit her across the face which caused her head to snap to the side and her cheek to feel like it was on fire. She just closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, slowly turning her head to glare up at Lucious again.

"Told you, she's a a stubborn one!" Bellatrix giggled from the floor, twirling her now bloody knife in her fingers.

Alison looked down at Hermione who stared back at her with blank eyes. She couldn't tell if she was dead or unconscious or just looking at her with glazed eyes.

Suddenly there was a loud crack sound from the cellar under them and both Death Eaters looked at the floor.

"What was that?" Malfoy asked then turned to Peter who was cowering in the far corner of the room. "Wormtail! Go check!"

The man instantly nodded and quickly scurried across the room down the stairs.

Lucious turned back to Alison. "There's à little rumor going about that says you're able to endure the Cruciatus curse far longer than most. Shall we test those rumors?"

With a flick of the wand he took from his wife, Alison was free from the bindings and she flew from the chair to the floor, just a couple feet from where Bellatrix and Hermione were.

"Crucio!" Lucious hissed and smirked madly as Alison immediately began to scream and wither on the floor in pain.

He held her under the curse as he turned to the cellar stairs. "What is it, Wormtail?"

"Nothing!" Came a reply a moment later.

Alison's vision was going in and out of focus and she could barely hear Hermione as she began to scream again too. All she could focus on was the pain. The white-hot, stabbing pain she felt in every inch of her body.

Ali closed her eyes and forced herself to go somewhere else. To take her mind off the pain as she had done when Voldemort and Bellatrix had taken turns doing this. If she dwelled on the pain too much she could feel her mind slipping into a place of madness.

She thought of Harry and all the fun they had together growing up at playgrounds when they were able to sneak away from the Dursley's. Or running through the sprinklers in their backyard when they left the siblings alone for a day in the summer.

She thought of Draco. All the talks they had in the Room of Requirement or by the lake or up in the Astronomy Tower at school about anything and everything but this war. Their first kiss overlooking the lake and every kiss after that.

She thought about Dumbledore and all the time they spent in his office when Harry was at classes his first two years of school. How he tried to teach her simple spells even though she didn't have a wand yet which usually resulted in something in his office exploding or catching fire.

The intense pain suddenly lifted and her true surrounds filled her vision. She lay panting on the floor, her limbs twitching every so often.

Lucious was smirking above her, though, she could barely make out his face as her vision kept going in and out of focus. "I think, we can dispose of the Mudblood and this little Blood-traitor."

Bellatrix's blurry face appeared on the other of her swimming vision. "I think you're right. Greyback!" She turned. "Take them if you want!"

"NOO!"

Ron and Harry's screams came from somewhere Alison couldn't see but the loud voices caused her already pounded head to feel like it was being split open. Maybe if she closed her eyes and went to sleep she could escape the pain...

"Expelliarmus!" Ron yelled as he pointed Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix then caught her wand with his other hand when the wand came flying at him. He tossed it to Harry and the two began shooting spells at Lucious, Narcissa and Greyback who immediately retaliated.

Draco ducked and dodged the spells flying around the room as he ran to Alison and Hermione's still bodies lying on the floor. He sighed with relief as he saw both their chests rising slightly. They were only unconscious, not dead.

Suddenly Hermione's unconscious form was pulled from him and Bellatrix held her up by her hair, her knife at her throat.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!"

The fighting immediately came to a stop. Ron and Harry were staring at his aunt with wide eyes, their wands clutched in their hands.

"Drop your wands." Bellatrix whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"

Both Gryffindor's tensed but neither moved. In fact, their hands seemed to grip onto the wands tighter.

"I said, drop them!" Bella yelled and pressed her knife into Hermione's throat. Draco felt his stomach drop as he saw thin streams of blood start to drip down her neck.

"All right!" Harry shouted as he dropped Bellatrix's wand, Ron quickly doing the same with Wormtail's.

Suddenly the chandelier, the same one Alison had broken just a couple weeks earlier, fell the floor. Right on top of him, Alison, Bellatrix, and Hermione.

Ron was suddenly next to him, pulling him, Alison and Hermione out of the wreckage and shoving a wand into his hand. His mothers he recognized.

"Dobby!" He turned at his mother's voice as he wrapped an arm around Alison, the other hand holding his wand up, ready to use it at a moments notice. "You! You dropped the chandelier?"

"You must not hurt Harry Potter!" The house elf squeaked. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

Harry grabbed onto his and Ron's shoulders and pushed them and the unconscious girls they were holding onto towards the elf. "GO!"

They all held onto each other as Dobby grabbed onto Harry's sleeve then Disapparated with a loud crack.

"Is everyone alright?" Harry asked as they all came crashing into a mound of sand.

Alison stirred under Draco and he quickly leapt off of her and rolled her onto his back. Other than the small, thin cuts all over her face and body which he assumed he had too, she seemed fairly alright.

"DOBBY! Dobby... no... HELP!"

He turned when he heard Harry screaming behind him and followed the black haired boys gaze to his family's old house elf who had his aunt's knife protruding from his chest, his entire front soaked in blood.

Harry caught the elf when he swayed and held him close to his chest. "Dobby, no, don't die, don't die..." He whispered desperately.

"Harry... Potter..." The elf whispered then went still, his eyes glazing over.

Draco couldn't help but let a small tear slip down his cheek as he watched Harry call out the house elf's name over and over, completely devastated by his death.

He turned when he saw Bill, Fleur, Luna and Dean walking towards them and he sighed with relief. They'd come to the right place.

"I'm gonna take her inside." Ron whispered next to him as he stood, holding Hermione in his arms.

Draco nodded and stood as well, holding Alison to his chest. He followed the redhead into the small cottage and tried to tune out Harry's broken cries behind them.

They laid the girls on couches in the living room then sat on the floor next to each other in silence, the shock beginning to sink in.

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