𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

Out of the Frying Pan ☾ 7-13

(In case you weren't following along, this is the beginning of 7 Pt. 2)

It had been almost a day at Shell Cottage, and I was already restless. Bill and Fleur had come to look after the house and their guests now that Mr. Ollivander and Griphook had been invited to stay as long as they needed. Ron and Hermione were having an intimate discussion at the kitchen table, Harry was outside, Luna was wandering, and Draco and I were in the kitchen, helping Bill and Fleur tidy up.

"It's beautiful here." Luna mused, playing with a wind-chime hanging in the window. I gave a small smile and nodded in agreement.

"It was our aunt's," Bill explained, setting down a set of mugs. "We used to come here as kids." It was hard for me to imagine the Weasley family over the years. If Bill was a kid, Charlie and Percy would have been so young, Fred and George must have just been babies, and Ron and Ginny weren't even a thought in Molly and Arthur's minds yet. "The Order uses it now as a safe house. What's left of us at least." Draco nodded grimly from beside me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. It had been a long few months, and we still had so much to do.

"Muggles think these keep evil away, but they're wrong." Luna stated, looking at the wind-chime. I saw Bill raise and eyebrow at her but our attention was caught as Harry came in from outside.

"I need to talk to the goblin." He said bluntly. Bill nodded and led him upstairs to Griphook's room, being followed by Hermione and Ron. Draco and I stayed downstairs. We thought it best not to overwhelm him, and if all we needed was information then Hermione could fill in the details later.

"I miss you." Draco whispered, keeping his thoughts private to everyone but me. I frowned and pulled my head away from his shoulder to look at him.

"What?" I asked quietly, confused. He shook his head and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"I wish we could have gone back to school and all of this never happened. I wish we could spend our last year at Hogwarts together, making the most of being young." He explained, closing his eyes. I let out a long exhale. I understood what he meant. I too, wished we could have lived out the rest of our years at Hogwarts peacefully, without fearing war, but wishes meant nothing without the power to make them true. We heard shuffling at the top of the stair landing, and went to join the trio on the stairs.

"You think there's a horcrux in Bellatrix's vault?" Hermione asked Harry uncertainly. I raised an eyebrow at him and he half-shrugged.

"Well she was horrified when she thought we'd been in there. She kept asking what else we'd taken. I bet you anything there's a horcrux in there. Another piece of his soul. Let's find it, and kill it, and then we're one step closer to killing him." Harry answered.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Draco asked, brows furrowed.

"Griphook. He can take us down to her vault in Gringotts, in exchange for the sword." Hermione explained. I nodded, even though I was wary about giving up the sword. It was the only thing we had capable of destroying horcruxes, and I doubted Bellatrix kept a vial of Basilisk venom next to it for safekeeping.

"What happens when we find it? How are we supposed to destroy it now that you've given the sword to Griphook?" Ron asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I'm still working on that part." Harry mumbled in answer, and my frown deepened. We needed a full plan before rushing into anything. Fleur opened the adjacent door and stepped out onto the landing. 

"He's weak." She said merely, and Harry nodded before brushing past her and entering the room. Ron and Hermione again followed while Draco and I waited. After a short while, they again emerged from the room. However, this time I slipped past them while they explained the conversation to Draco, and I knocked before seeing Mr. Ollivander.