The Final Year, Harry Potter Year 7

23. Malfoy Manor

Lilly's POV
I paused time, I only had a few seconds. I speedily grabbed everything of ours that was very important and put it in my bottomless bag. I transfered everything from Hermione's bag to mine, except a few things. Then, I resumed time.
Hermione asked, "What do we do?"
Ron replied, "Run..."
I turned invisible and gave everyone a head start giving them a major adrenaline rush. We were battling as we went. Hermione sent a nice bomb throwing two guys back. The boys ran and ran. Ron got captured and eventually Harry ended up where Hermione was and she sent a Stinging Jinx towards him. Eventually they got caught and they dragged Ron.
"Get -off -her!" Ron shouted.
There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: Ron grunted in pain and Hermione screamed, "No! Leave him alone, leave him alone!"
"Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said Fenrir Greyback. "Delicious girl... What a treat... I do enjoy the softness of the skin..."
"Search the tent!" said another voice. Harry was thrown facedown onto the ground. A thud told him that Ron had been cast down beside him.
The men were pushing over chairs inside the tent as they searched. "Now, let's see who we've got," said Greyback's gloating voice from overhead, and Harry was rolled over onto his back. A beam of wandlight fell into his face and Greyback laughed. "I'll be needing butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?" Harry did not answer immediately. "I said," repeated Greyback, and Harry received a blow to the diaphragm that made him double over in pain, "what happened to you?"
"Stung," Harry muttered. "Been stung."
"Yeah, looks like it," said a second voice.
"What's your name?" snarled Greyback.
"Dudley," said Harry.
"And your first name?"
"I -Vernon. Vernon Dudley."
"Check the list, Scabior," said Greyback, and Harry heard him move sideways to look down at Ron, instead. "And what about you, ginger?"
"Stan Shunpike,"said Ron.
"Like 'ell you are,"said the man called Scabior. "We know Stan Shunpike, 'e's put a bit of work our way."
There was another thud. "I'b Bardy,"said Ron, and Harry could tell that his mouth was full of blood. "Bardy Weadley."
"A Weasley?" rasped Greyback. "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And lastly, your pretty little friend..."
"Easy, Greyback," said Scabior over the jeering of the others. "Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if she's a bit quicker at remembering her name than Barny. Who are you, girly?"
"Penelope Clearwater," said Hermione. She sounded terrified, but convincing. "What's your blood status?"
"Half-blood," said Hermione.
"Easy enough to check," said Scabior. "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be 'ogwarts age -"
"We'b lebt,"said Ron.
"Left, 'ave you, ginger?" said Scabior. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Dark Lord's name?"
"Nod a laugh,"said Ron. "Aggiden."
"Accident?"
There was more jeering laughter. "You know who used to like using the Dark Lord's name, Weasley?"growled Greyback. "The Order of the Phoenix. Mean anything to you?"
"Doh."
"Well, they don't show the Dark Lord proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bind them up with the other two prisoners!"
Someone yanked Harry up by the hair, dragged him a short way, pushed him down into a sitting position, then started binding him back-to-back with other people. Harry was still half blind, barely able to see anything through his puffed-up eyes. When at last the man tying them had walked away, Harry whispered to the other prisoners. "Anyone still got a wand?"
"No,"said Ron and Hermione from either side of him. "This is all my fault. I said the name, I'm sorry -"
"Harry?" It was a new, but familiar, voice, and it came from directly behind Harry, from the person tied to Hermione's left. "Dean?"
"It is you! If they find out who they've got -! They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold -"
"Not a bad little haul for one night,"Greyback was saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by Harry and they heard more crashes from inside the tent. "A Mudblood, a runaway goblin, and three truants. You checked their names on the list yet, Scabior?" he roared.
"Yeah. There's no Vernon Dudley on 'ere, Greyback."
"Interesting," said Greyback. "That's interesting."
He crouched down beside Harry, who saw, through the infinitesimal gap left between his swollen eyelids, a face covered in matted gray hair and whiskers, with pointed brown teeth and sores at the corners of his mouth. Greyback smelled as he had done at the top of the tower where Dumbledore had died: of dirt, sweat, and blood. "So you aren't wanted, then, Vernon? Or are you on that list under a different name? What House were you in at Hogwarts?"
"Slytherin,"said Harry automatically. "Funny 'ow they all thinks we wants to 'ear that," jeered Scabior out of the shadows. "But none of 'em can tell us where the common room is."
"It's in the dungeons," said Harry clearly. "You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and it's under the lake, so the light's all green." There was a short pause.
"Well, well, looks like we really 'ave caught a little Slytherin," said Scabior. "Good for you, Vernon, 'cause there ain't a lot of Mudblood Slytherins. Who's your father?"
"He works at the Ministry," Harry lied. He knew that his whole story would collapse with the smallest investigation, but on the other hand, he only had until his face regained its usual appearance before the game was up in any case. "Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."
"You know what, Greyback,"said Scabior. "I think there is a Dudley in there."
Harry could barely breathe. "Well, well," said Greyback, and Harry could hear the tiniest note of trepidation in that callous voice, and knew that Greyback was wondering whether he had indeed just attacked and bound the son of a Ministry official. Harry's heart was pounding against the ropes around his ribs; he would not have been surprised to know that Greyback could see it. "If you're telling the truth, ugly, you've got nothing to fear from a trip to the Ministry. I expect your father'll reward us just for picking you up."
"But,"said Harry, his mouth bone dry, "if you just let us -"
"Hey!" came a shout from inside the tent. "Look at this, Greyback!"A dark figure came bustling toward them, and saw a glint of silver in the light of their wands. They had found Gryffindor's sword.
"Ve-e-ry nice,"said Greyback appreciatively, taking it from his companion. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks goblin-made, that. Where did you get something like this?"
"It's my father's," Harry lied, hoping against hope that it was too dark for Greyback to see the name etched just below the hilt. "We borrowed it to cut firewood -"
"'ang on a minute, Greyback! Look at this, in the Prophet!" As Scabior said it," ''ermione Granger,' " Scabior was saying, " 'the Mudblood who is known to be traveling with 'arry Potter.' "
I heard the creak of Greyback's boots as he crouched down in front of Hermione. "You know what, little girly? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."
"It isn't! It isn't me!" Hermione's terrified squeak was as good as a confession. " '... known to be traveling with Harry Potter,' " repeated Greyback quietly. A stillness had settled over the scene.
"Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" whispered Greyback. Nobody spoke: Harry sensed the gang of Snatchers watching, frozen, and felt Hermione's arm trembling against his.
Ron muttered in his mind, "Anytime Lilly."
I replied, "I'm sorry, this has to happen..."
Greyback got up and took a couple of steps to where Harry sat, crouching down again to stare closely at his misshapen features. "What's that on your forehead, Vernon?" he asked softly, his breath foul in Harry's nostrils as he pressed a filthy finger to the taut scar.
"Don't touch it!" Harry yelled; he could not stop himself; he thought he might be sick from the pain of it. "I thought you wore glasses, Potter?" breathed Greyback.
"I found glasses!" yelped one of the Snatchers skulking in the background. "There was glasses in the tent, Greyback, wait -"
And seconds later Harry's glasses had been rammed back onto his face. The Snatchers were closing in now, peering at him.
"It is!" rasped Greyback. "We've caught Potter!"
They all took several steps backward, stunned by what they had done. "... to the Ministry?"
"To hell with the Ministry," growled Greyback. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take him straight to You-Know-Who."
"Will you summon 'im? 'ere?"said Scabior, sounding awed, terrified.
"No," snarled Greyback, "I haven't got -they say he's using the Malfoys'place as a base. We'll take the boy there."
The werewolf might be allowed to wear Death Eater robes when they wanted to use him, but only Voldemort's inner circle were branded with the Dark Mark: Greyback had not been granted this highest honor.
"... completely sure it's him? 'Cause if it ain't, Greyback, we're dead."
"Who's in charge here?" roared Greyback, covering his moment of inadequacy. "I say that's Potter, and him plus his wand, that's two hundred thousand Galleons right there! But if you're too gutless to come along, any of you, it's all for me, and with any luck, I'll get the girl thrown in!"-The window was the merest slit in the black rock, not big enough for a man to enter... A skeletal figure was just visible through it, curled beneath a blanket... Dead, or sleeping...?
"All right!" said Scabior. "All right, we're in! And what about the rest of 'em, Greyback, what'll we do with 'em?"
"Might as well take the lot. We've got two Mudbloods, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune right there." The prisoners were dragged to their feet. Harry could hear Hermione's breathing, fast and terrified. "Grab hold and make it tight. I'll do Potter!" said Greyback, seizing a fistful of Harry's hair; Harry could feel his long yellow nails scratching his scalp. "On three! One -two three -"
They Disapparated, pulling the prisoners with them. Harry struggled, trying to throw off Greyback's hand, but it was hopeless: Ron and Hermione were squeezed tightly against him on either side, he could not separate from the group; everyone lurched into one another as they landed in a country lane. I saw a pair of wrought-iron gates at the foot of what looked like a long drive. One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook them. "How do we get in? They're locked, Greyback, I can't -blimey!"
He whipped his hands away in fright. The iron was contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a clanging, echoing voice: "State your purpose!"
"We've got Potter!" Greyback roared triumphantly. "We've captured Harry Potter!"
The gates swung open. "Come on!" said Greyback to his men, and the prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled their footsteps. Harry saw a ghostly white shape above him, and realized it was an albino peacock. He stumbled and was dragged onto his feet by Greyback; now he was staggering along sideways, tied back-to-back to the four other prisoners. Light spilled out over all of them. "What is this?" said a cold Narcissa Malfoy.
"We're here to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" rasped Greyback.
"Who are you?"
"You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice. "Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!" Greyback seized Harry and dragged him around to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle around too.
"I know 'e's swollen, ma'am, but it's 'im!" piped up Scabior. "If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'is scar. And this 'ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who's been traveling around with 'im, ma'am. There's no doubt it's 'im, and we've got 'is wand as well! 'Ere, ma'am -" Scabior thrust the blackthorn wand at her.
She raised her eyebrows. "Bring them in," she said. Harry and the others were shoved and kicked up broad stone steps into a hallway lined with portraits. "Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. If that is Harry Potter, he will know."
The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; even with his eyes almost closed Harry could make out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as the prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers. "What is this?" The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy fell on my ears.
"They say they've got Potter,"said Narcissa's cold voice. "Draco, come here."
Harry did not dare look directly at Draco, but saw him obliquely: a figure slightly taller than he was, rising from an armchair, his face a pale and pointed blur beneath white-blond hair. I smiled revealing myself just to him and my friends. I put my finger to my lips and smiled looking at him.
Greyback forced everyone to turn again so as to place Harry directly beneath the chandelier.
"Well, boy?" rasped the werewolf.
He resolved not to speak, for his voice was sure to give him away; yet he still avoided eye contact with Draco as the latter approached. "Well, Draco?" said Lucius Malfoy. He sounded avid. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"
"I can't -I can't be sure," said Draco. He was keeping his distance from Greyback, and seemed as scared of looking at Harry as Harry was of looking at him.
"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" I had never heard Lucius Malfoy so excited. "Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv -"
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?" said Greyback menacingly.
"Of course not, of course not!"said Lucius impatiently. He approached Harry himself. "What did you do to him?" Lucius asked Greyback. "How did he get into this state?"
"That wasn't us."
"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Bellatrix Lestrange.
"There's something there," Lucius whispered, "it could be the scar, stretched tight... Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"
Harry saw Draco's face up close now, right beside his father's. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while his father looked beside himself with excitement, Draco's expression was full of reluctance, even fear. "I don't know," he said, and he walked away toward the fireplace where his mother stood watching.
"We had better be certain, Lucius," Narcissa called to her husband in her cold, clear voice. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord... They say this is his" she was looking closely at the blackthorn wand - "but it does not resemble Ollivander's description... 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, then?" growled Greyback. Harry was nearly thrown off his feet as the Snatchers forced the prisoners to swivel around again, so that the light fell on Hermione instead. "Wait," said Bellatrix sharply. "Yes -yes,I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"
"I . . . maybe . . . yeah."
"But then, that's the Weasley boy!" shouted Lucius, striding around the bound prisoners to face Ron. "It's them, Potter's friends -Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name -?"
"Yeah,"said Draco again, his back to the prisoners. "It could be." The drawing room door opened behind Harry. A woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound Harry's fear to an even higher pitch. "
"Yes, yes, it's Granger!"cried Lucius. "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his friends, caught at last!"
"Potter?" shrieked Bellatrix, and she backed away, the better to take in Harry. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!" She dragged back her left sleeve: I saw the Dark Mark burned into the flesh of her arm, and knew that she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved master -"I was about to call him!" said Lucius, and his hand actually closed upon Bellatrix's wrist, preventing her from touching the Mark. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority -"
"Your authority!" she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from his grasp. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"
"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy -"
"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy," interjected Greyback, "but it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold -"
"Gold!"laughed Bellatrix, still attempting to throw off her brother-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand. "Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honor of his -of -" She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something Harry could not see. Jubilant at her capitulation, Lucius threw her hand from him and ripped up his own sleeve -"STOP!" shrieked Bellatrix. "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
Lucius froze, his index finger hovering over his own Mark. Bellatrix strode over to a snatcher. "What is that?" he heard her say. "Sword,"grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher. "Give it to me."
"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it." There was a bang and a flash of red light: the Snatcher had been Stunned. There was a roar of anger from his fellows: Scabior drew his wand. "What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"
"Stupefy!" she screamed. "Stupefy!" They were no match for her, even though there were four of them against one of her: She was a witch, as I knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience. They fell where they stood, all except Greyback, who had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms outstretched. Bellatrix was bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword of Gryffindor gripped tightly in her hand, her face waxen. "Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Greyback as she pulled his wand out of his unresisting grip.
"How dare you?" he snarled, his mouth the only thing that could move as he was forced to gaze up at her. He bared his pointed teeth. "Release me, woman!"
"Where did you find this sword?"she repeated, brandishing it in his face. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"
"It was in their tent,"rasped Greyback. "Release me, I say!"She waved her wand, and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He prowled behind an armchair, his filthy curved nails clutching its back.
She yelled dragging Harry backwards, "Cissy, put the boys in the cellar! We're going to have a little chat, girl to girl!"
She cut Hermione free from the other prisoners, then dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room, while Greyback forced the rest of them to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held out in front of him, projecting an invisible and irresistible force. "Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned as he forced them along the corridor. "I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"
Harry could feel Ron shaking. They were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in danger of slipping and breaking their necks at any moment. At the bottom was a heavy door. Greyback unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced them into a dank and musty room and left them in total darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them. "HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered. "HERMIONE!"
"Be quiet!" Harry said. "Shut up, Ron, we need to work out a way -"
"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
I stepped in slapping him yelling, "SHUT UP!"
"We need a plan, stop yelling -we need to get these ropes off -"
"Harry?" came a whisper through the darkness. "Ron? Is that you?" Ron stopped shouting. There was a sound of movement close by them, then Harry saw a shadow moving closer. "Harry? Ron?"
"Luna?"
"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"
I made myself appear and she gasped, "You're alive-!"
I cut her voice off saying, "They think I'm dead, let's leave it at that!"
Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
"Mr. Ollivander?" Harry asked.
I set the boys free and winced. I put Hermione under a spell, she was under my control, that was me screaming up there, she felt no pain. I felt everything.
From upstairs they heard Bellatrix's voice. "I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it -we found it -PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again; Ron struggled harder than ever, and the rusty nail slipped onto Harry's wrist. "Ron, please stay still!" I whispered. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!" A few seconds later, there was a click, and the luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: Unable to rejoin their sources, they simply hung there, like tiny suns, flooding the underground room with light. I saw Luna, all eyes in her white face, and the motionless figure of Ollivander the wandmaker, curled up on the floor in the corner. Craning around, he caught sight of their fellow prisoners: Dean and Griphook the goblin, who seemed barely conscious, kept standing by the ropes that bound him to the humans. "
"Hello, Dean!"
From above came Bellatrix's voice. "You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
Another terrible scream -"HERMIONE!"
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"
The ropes fall away and turned, rubbing his wrists, to see Ron running around the cellar, looking up at the low ceiling, searching for a trapdoor. Dean, his face bruised and bloody, said "Thanks" to Luna and stood there, shivering, but Griphook sank onto the cellar floor, looking groggy and disoriented, many welts across his swarthy face. Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand.
"There's no way out, Ron,"said Luna, watching his fruitless efforts. "The cellar is completely escape-proof. I tried, at first. Mr. Ollivander has been here for a long time, he's tried everything." Hermione was screaming again: "What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"
My body spasmed and I shrunk to the ground. Ron asked, "Why aren't you helping her?!"
I pulled my arm back saying, "I am..."
He gasped and Harry took my arm saying, "Lilly, you need to wrap that."
I replied pulling my arm away, "We have bigger priorities, first, we need to get out of here."
Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists, and Harry in utter desperation seized Hagrid's pouch from around his neck and groped inside it: He pulled out Dumbledore's Snitch and shook it, hoping for he did not know what -nothing happened -he waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless -the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and he saw a gleam of brightest blue -Dumbledore's eye was gazing at him out of the mirror.
"Help us!" he yelled at it in mad desperation. "We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!" The eye blinked and was gone. Harry was not even sure that it had really been there. He tilted the shard of mirror this way and that, and saw nothing reflected there but the walls and ceiling of their prison, and upstairs Hermione was screaming worse than ever, and next to him Ron was bellowing, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
"How did you get into my vault?" they heard Bellatrix scream. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"
"We only met him tonight!"Hermione sobbed. "We've never been inside your vault... It isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"
"A copy?" screeched Bellatrix. "Oh, a likely story!"
"But we can find out easily!"came Lucius's voice. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!" Harry dashed across the cellar to where Griphook was huddled on the floor. "Griphook," he whispered into the goblin's pointed ear, "you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please -"
He could hear someone scuttling down the cellar steps; next moment, Draco's shaking voice spoke from behind the door. "Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!" They did as they were bidden; as the lock turned, Ron clicked the Deluminator and the lights whisked back into his pocket, restoring the cellar's darkness. The door flew open; Malfoy marched inside, wand held out in front of him, pale and determined.
I stepped in front of him saying, "Do it, make the story true."
He stared me down and I stared back. He turned away from me and seized the little goblin by the arm and backed out again, dragging Griphook with him. The door slammed shut and at the same moment a loud crack echoed inside the cellar. Ron clicked the Deluminator.
Three balls of light flew back into the air from his pocket, revealing Dobby the house-elf, who had just Apparated into their midst. "DOB -!" Harry hit Ron on the arm to stop him shouting, and Ron looked terrified at his mistake. Footsteps crossed the ceiling overhead: Draco marching Griphook to Bellatrix. Dobby's enormous, tennis-ball-shaped eyes were wide; he was trembling from his feet to the tips of his ears. He was back in the home of his old masters, and it was clear that he was petrified.
"Harry Potter," he squeaked in the tiniest quiver of a voice, "Dobby has come to rescue you."
"But how did you -?"An awful scream drowned Harry's words: Hermione was being tortured again. He cut to the essentials. "You can Disapparate out of this cellar?" he asked Dobby, who nodded, his ears flapping. "And you can take humans with you?"
Dobby nodded again. "Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them -take them to -"
"Bill and Fleur's,"said Ron. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth!" The elf nodded for a third time. "And then come back," said Harry. "Can you do that, Dobby?"
"Of course, Harry Potter," whispered the little elf. He hurried over to Mr. Ollivander, who appeared to be barely conscious. He took one of the wandmaker's hands in his own, then held out the other to Luna and Dean, neither of whom moved. "Harry, we want to help you!" Luna whispered. "We can't leave you here," said Dean.
"Go, both of you! We'll see you at Bill and Fleur's."
"Go!" I beseeched Luna and Dean. "Go! We'll follow, just go!"
They caught hold of the elf's outstretched fingers. There was another loud crack, and Dobby, Luna, Dean, and Ollivander vanished. "What was that?" shouted Lucius Malfoy from over their heads. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?" Harry and Ron stared at each other. "Draco -no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!" Footsteps crossed the room overhead, then there was silence. Harry knew that the people in the drawing room were listening for more noises from the cellar.
"We're going to have to try and tackle him," he whispered to Ron. They had no choice: The moment anyone entered the room and saw the absence of three prisoners, they were lost. "Leave the lights on," Harry added, and as they heard someone descending the steps outside the door, they backed against the wall on either side of it. "Stand back," came Wormtail's voice. "Stand away from the door. I am coming in." The door flew open. For a split second Wormtail gazed into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light from the three miniature suns floating in midair.
Something hit him and then he collapsed forward. We looked up the stairway to see Dobby. He asked, "Who gets his wand?"
We looked down as Pettigrew's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry's face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat. "No -"
Without pausing to think, Harry tried to drag back the hand, but there was no stopping it. The silver tool that Voldemort had given his most cowardly servant had turned upon its disarmed and useless owner; Pettigrew was reaping his reward for his hesitation, his moment of pity; he was being strangled before their eyes. "No!" Ron had released Wormtail too, and together he and Harry tried to pull the crushing metal fingers from around Wormtail's throat, but it was no use. Pettigrew was turning blue. I turned away.
"Relashio!" said Ron, pointing the wand at the silver hand, but nothing happened; Pettigrew dropped to his knees, and at the same moment, Hermione gave a dreadful scream from overhead. Wormtail's eyes rolled upward in his purple face; he gave a last twitch, and was still. Harry, Ron, and I looked at each other, then leaving Wormtail's body on the floor behind them, ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing room. Cautiously we crept along it until they reached the drawing room door, which was ajar. Now we had a clear view of Bellatrix looking down at Griphook, who was holding Gryffindor's sword in his long-fingered hands. Hermione was lying at Bellatrix's feet. She was barely stirring.
"Well?" Bellatrix said to Griphook. "Is it the true sword?"
"No," said Griphook. "It is a fake."
"Are you sure?" panted Bellatrix. "Quite sure?"
"Yes," said the goblin. Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it. "Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed another deep cut into the goblin's face, and he dropped with a yell at her feet. She kicked him aside. "And now," she said in a voice that burst with triumph, "we call the Dark Lord!"
And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her forefinger to the Dark Mark.
"And I think,"said Bellatrix's voice, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."
"Like hell." Ron had burst into the drawing room.
"Expelliarmus!" he roared, pointing Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron.
Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, and Greyback wheeled about; Harry yelled, "Stupefy!" and Lucius Malfoy collapsed onto the hearth. Jets of light flew from Draco's, Narcissa's, and Greyback's wands; Harry threw himself to the floor, rolling behind a sofa to avoid them. "STOP OR SHE DIES!" Panting, Harry peered around the edge of the sofa. Bellatrix was supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat. "Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!" Ron stood rigid, clutching Wormtail's wand. Harry straightened up, still holding Bellatrix's. "I said, drop them!" she screeched, pressing the blade into Hermione's throat: Harry saw beads of blood appear there.
"All right!" he shouted, and he dropped Bellatrix's wand onto the floor at his feet. Ron did the same with Wormtail's. Both raised their hands to shoulder height. "Good!" she leered. "Draco, pick them up! The Dark Lord is coming, Harry Potter! Your death approaches! Call him! Now," said Bellatrix softly, as Draco hurried back to her with the wands, "Cissy, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while Greyback takes care of Miss Mudblood. I am sure the Dark Lord will not begrudge you the girl, Greyback, after what you have done tonight." At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of them looked upward in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Bellatrix was directly beneath it; dropping Hermione, she threw herself aside with a scream. She fell in Ron's arms as rhe chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Hermione and the goblin, who still clutched the sword of Gryffindor. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions: Draco doubled over, his hands covering his bloody face.
Harry took his chance: He leapt over an armchair and wrested the three wands from Draco's grip, pointed all of them at Greyback, and yelled, "Stupefy!" The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the triple spell, flew up to the ceiling, and then smashed to the ground. As Narcissa dragged Draco out of the way of further harm, Bellatrix sprang to her feet, her hair flying as she brandished the silver knife; but Narcissa had directed her wand at the doorway. "Dobby!" she screamed, and even Bellatrix froze. "You! You dropped the chandelier -?"
Harry tosessed a wand to Ron as the tiny elf trotted into the room, his shaking finger pointing at his old mistress. "You must not hurt Harry Potter," he squeaked.
"Kill him, Cissy!" shrieked Bellatrix, but there was another loud crack, and Narcissa's wand too flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room.
I sneakily grabbed Hermione's wand.
"You dirty little monkey!" bawled Bellatrix. "How dare you take a witch's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"
"Dobby has no master!" squealed the elf. "Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"
I stood invisible in front of Dobby. Harry grabbed the back of my jacket last minute as I jumped up as he yelled, "GO!"
As we turned into darkness I caught one last view of the drawing room: of the pale, frozen figures of Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was Ron's hair, and a blur of flying silver, as Bellatrix's knife flew across the room at the place where we were vanishing...

And then we hit solid earth and smelled salty air. Harry fell to his knees, relinquished Dobby's hand, and attempted to lower Griphook gently to the ground. "Are you all right?" he said as the goblin stirred, but Griphook merely whimpered. Harry squinted around through the darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide starry sky, and he thought he saw movement outside it. "Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he whispered, clutching the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys', ready to fight if he needed to. "Have we come to the right place? Dobby?" He looked around. The little elf stood feet from him. He was standing over me.
I smiled weakly looking at him. Harry ran over to me as I had held my now bloody stomach. Harry pulled me into his lap holding me. He pulled out the knife asking, "What did you do?"
I replied, "I already let a death happen, I wasn't going to let Dobby die."
Dobby took my hand saying, "Misses, for me?"
I smiled looking at his adorable eyes saying, "Your life is worth it."
Tears filled them and Harry yelled, "Hermionie help, please!"
She was huddled with Ron and I said, "Nothing can be done, Harry..."
He pleaded, "Come on, Lilly, heal!"
I replied softly, "Harry, I'm sorry."
Ron and Hermione made it over to us. I whispered, "I love you guys. Tell Neville I love him."
Ron took my hand saying, "Tell him yourself, you'll see him again."
I encouraged, "Keep up the faith."
I looked at the starry night and smiled slightly saying, "Goodnight."
My eyes closed and I felt nothing...

Thanks for reading! Vote please! :)
-Lilly :)