Paying the Debt

by Ydream08

Summary: Abandoned in the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor, what Thorfinn Rowle expected last was to be saved by Harry Potter, the boy whom he had been tasked some time ago to deliver to the Dark Lord personally. Thorfinn knew only one way to repay his debt to Potter: Pull him through this war alive. Thorfinn couldn't have known that, post-war, this new-found bond with him and Potter would provide chances of flirtatious banter with one Hermione Granger. How much had one act of kindness changed his life!

Chapter 1

"Has it been an hour, Tony?" Thorfinn Rowle groaned. His stay in this damned place had gotten even worse today if it was possible.

Since his arrival, he had been chained to the wall, wearing his piss and shit, dried blood not only staining his clothes but it also covered his face. As sweat trickled down into his mouth, he tasted salt and copper.

Thorfinn had thought it couldn't have been worse than that. How daft he was!

"S'been more," the Russian man wheezed out. In the last visit they received, the Crucio that hit Tony had done more than leaving him spasming on the floor. Having been through the same session, albeit from the baby Malfoy's hand, Thorfinn hadn't thrashed around so much as Tony, resulting in cracked ribs for the Russian. Ever since hearing that awful sound of bones shattering, Thorfinn didn't miss the man talking with meager words. Three words at best.

"Fuck the bitch," Thorfinn growled this time. "The girl won't last if this continues."

He was getting sick of hearing that Gryffindor girl scream. It sounded no different from the wails of a street dog kicked around while looking for a scrap of food.

He was sure he had sounded similar whilst in the same situation.

He and Antonin Dolohov had been rotting in the dungeons of the Malfoy Manor for months now. They had failed their mission to capture Harry Potter and were Obliviated by that girl, the snotty Gryffindor underclassman. Bellatrix LeStrange had taken it upon herself to unlock their memories to learn about the Dark Lord's prey. It'd been a nightmare to be the bitch's plaything- she had revealed their memories on the fourth day, anyway. Since getting what she wanted from them, the bitch had only sporadically visited them. She would send her nephew every day, though. Baby Malfoy's flimsy Crucio compared to his aunt's, was a fresh breath of air for Thorfinn, and that was if the blond boy hadn't come down to vent while he maintained appearances.

Thorfinn was going to let baby Malfoy escape if he one day stumbled upon the wrong end of his wand.

Today, even the blond boy was absent. There had been a commotion which had woken up Thorfinn. He and Antonin were forgotten since the bitch had gotten her hands on some new people, Thorfinn had soon found out. Until the iron fence to the dungeons were closed after those idiots, locking them inside, Thorfinn hadn't known what exactly that commotion was about.

"Don't hurt her!"

"Take me instead!"

Thorfinn Rowle wouldn't have distinguished the male voices afterwards if the dunderheads hadn't desperately shouted various versions of, "Hermione". With their hint, he realized that the new residents of the dungeons were fucking Potter and one of the many Weasleys.

Making the unfortunate soul screaming beyond her lung capacity the so called brightest witch of her year, Hermione Granger.

Thorfinn had snorted at the revelation. He wouldn't have guessed the trio to be captured so early after having masterfully evaded him and Tony. Back in Hogwarts Thorfinn had heard about their near death experiences, also avoiding detention after breaking every damn rule in the book. Those last four years he had shared the same school with them had been taxing, not that he had many personal interactions with them. Every Slytherin had been sick of hearing the tales of Gryffindor's Golden Trio from Draco fucking Malfoy's sissy mouth. Thorfinn Rowle had been lucky to have graduated that year of the Triwizard Tournament. Blokes like Nott had had worse, being the git's classmate.

Looking back now, graduating that very year had been also quite unfortunate. With the return of Lord Voldemort, the recruiting had increased drastically and Thorfinn had been gullible at the time to accept the offer without second thoughts. Revenge for his parents, he had thought back at the time.

If he had known he would endure punishments from the cause he served that made death an alluring option, he wouldn't have gone down that route. It had taken him to be broken and tossed away not even by the Dark Lord himself to understand that he was just a pawn to them. His life that was his everything meant nothing to them. What did they and their flimsy cause mean to him, if that was the case?

His main reason for remorse might be less than savory, yet it was a fact that that thought he had been mulling over in his mind endlessly, has been the motivation for him cursing and planning to betray the person whom Thorfinn Rowle had once thought to be God.

He also regretted filling his brain with shite in his years in Hogwarts. He should have listened to that bratty Gryffindor girl when they had come across that one time back in his sixth year. She had given him one hell of a snippet of advice.

"I'm late, I'm late- I can't believe I'm late! Should have unwound it to an hour earlier. Class is about to start…"

Thorfinn barely registered what the girl was saying. He knew that he shouldn't have seduced a seventh year Ravenclaw. From what he'd picked from her blabbering, the bint was going on about being late to class while he was kissing her senseless. His luck really sucked.

Biting the girl's plump lower lip, Thorfinn then shifted his attention to the blond girl's pretty neck. He trailed wet kisses to where he had loosened her tie and opened a few buttons of her shirt. He especially like kissing just where the swell of her breasts started; in between his kisses, he didn't forget to reassure the girl. He wanted her in his arms a bit longer, didn't he?

"Baby, I'll make it worth being late,"-kiss-"You won't even," -kiss- "regret," -kiss- "that's what I'm saying."

The girl wantonly moaned especially when Thorfinn sucked a rather delicate spot, he bit her right there for better measure. A small part of Thorfinn's feral mind registered that the moan he had drawn from the girl sounded different than when she had said that she was running late. He easily dismissed the thought as his hands found meaty round buttocks, he gave one of the cheeks a teasing squeeze.

He needed his release and he wasn't going to let the Ravenclaw go until they were both satiated. Screw her N.E.W.T.s. She hadn't been complaining this much when he had finally taken interest in the girl after her ogling of him for months.

"Who's there?" came a voice which didn't quite reach to Thorfinn's ears as he was now busy listening to their tongues lapping at each other. The sexy eagle had eaten chocolate pudding for lunch, it seemed.

Thorfinn Rowle first felt the force that knocked him across the hall, rather than hearing somebody shriek in disbelief and anger.

His back hit the wall so hard that his well-built muscles had a hard job cushioning him. He cursed his size only in moments like these. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, people said and they were damn right.

Shaking his head and blinking a few times, Thorfinn came into focus on the Ravenclaw. She stood by the alcove he had expertly trapped her in. Her skirt was hiked up, her tie was nowhere in sight while her shirt was open enough to reveal her green laced bra. Thorfinn smirked at the sight. His victory looked quite delicious, although she looked terrified with her hands clasped on her mouth.

Thorfinn's smirk froze on his face, though, when his vision was blocked by a set of legs in black woolen stockings. The intruder's skirt was longer than an average witch's, leaving Thorfinn disappointed even in this vantage point where he was sprawled on the cold tiles in misery.

Raising his eyes to meet with the brown eyes of one Gryffindor underclassmen, he puffed. He didn't want to deal with Malfoy's crush at the moment. He had been quite busy.

"This is the fifth time I've caught you up here, Rowle!" the lion shrieked. Thorfinn crossed his brows and averted his eyes, not in shame or anything. No mistake there. He was looking for the Ravenclaw -what was her name? Mary? Mendy? Melanie?- and hoping she hadn't left, he would return to her when he got rid of this Mudblood pest.

The Ravenclaw was gone, as expected. Close to where she had been, books had been scattered on the ground. Probably the Mudblood's, must have dropped them out of shock; Mendy would have collected her own books before fleeing.

Damn those Ravenclaws.

Thorfinn's agitation raised a notch. While he was distracted, as if the bitch hadn't ruined a nice snogging, she was going on about his indiscretion as well.

Damn Gryffindorks.

"-one more reason to drop Divination! Is this what I have to put up with to even go to the stupid class?" the curly haired girl was saying. She was shaking her head disapprovingly, her curls swayed and coiled around her neck. If it weren't for him, her hair was going to choke her.

That made Thorfinn smirk again, having eased into a better mood.

He would taunt the Gryffindork, and then he would catch up with Melanie so they could continue their session in a locked cupboard where they couldn't be bothered.

"-wipe that smirk off, you oaf! I've been working my arse off, just to learn even one piece of magic that could keep Harry alive considering how he likes to get in the way of the most notorious dead wizard. And you- you've been doing nothing but fool around! Whenever I see you you're kissing a different blond!"

Sick of being yelled at by the girl, Thorfinn righted himself and stood up. He was greatly pleased by the immediate effect.

Towering over the petite witch, Thorfinn loomed over her with his most confident stance and his raised eyebrows mocked her when she sputtered and fell silent. Her scared doe eyes were crossed as he was now close to her where he stood.

"So observant, are we?" Thorfinn shot her way. "I bet you're crying this much 'cuz you know I won't look at you twice, Mudblood. You don't qualify from looks anyway, not blond you see…"

The girl's eyes popped open and her mouth opened and closed a few times without forming any coherent words.

She finally decided on a shrill, "WHAT?"

Thorfinn laughed, enjoying having left the smart-mouthed Granger speechless. How Malfoy had trouble shutting the girl up, Thorfinn could not fathom.

"That's irrelevant at the moment!" she added, moving her face to laugh in an awkward way that indicated she didn't like where he was directing the conversation, she was also slightly losing it. She continued, "If you're unaware, there is a murderer on the loose, Dementors freely roam in our campus and not to mention, just last year people were petrified-"

"-Mudbloods were petrified, so?"

The curly haired witch shot him a death glare and gritted her teeth before continuing. She had opened her mouth so wide to speak -as if her exaggerated gestures could be any indication of dominance- Thorfinn Rowle wondered how much of his length she could take in that pretty mouth of hers. That would also shut her up.

Only if she weren't a Mudblood…

"Voldemort is making his move, and if you know anything about the previous war, you'd know that learning a few defensive spells would come in handy. It is not the time to lay with anything that walks on two feet. If you're eager to get yourself killed for being daft, or worse, expelled over openly engaging in sexual acts where teachers can out you, then do that far away from the corridors I use to get to my classes."

Thorfinn sneered at that last comment.

"That would mean the whole castle, darling, unless you finally decide to live in the library," he bit back.

What would she know about the war, or the Dark Lord. She was a mere Mudblood. It had been, what, three years since she had been acquainted with the Wizarding world? She was scolding people with superficial knowledge, was she not?

Thorfinn had lost his mother and father to the last war. He knew exactly what had happened back then. For once, he knew that Dumbledore's cunt army had killed his parents upon being tipped by a spy that the dark side would visit Potters and Longbottoms' houses to retrieve something important for the Dark Lord.

Mrs. LeStrange had explained to him and his brother, Eadric, how their parents had been assigned on the Longbottom's Manor with them. Before Bellatrix LeStrange could reach his parents, Longbottoms had already slayed them mercilessly.

Knowing that Mrs. LeStrange had tortured the Longbottoms into madness had somewhat eased Thorfinn Rowle's anger and lust for revenge, but it wasn't enough that it refrained him from morphing Thorfinn into Neville Longbottom's worst nightmare the moment the coward Gryffindor had set his foot inside Hogwarts.

Thorfinn Rowle had set his mind to extract revenge from those blood-traitors that had killed his parents. Their Muggle loving hearts were not noble enough to spare his parents- they didn't deserve to live. Yet, they were alive, albeit nuts.

It was an unjust world, they lived in.

So no, Mudblood Hermione Granger knew nothing about the Wizarding War.

Turns out, Thorfinn himself didn't know anything about the war either. Revenge had been an adequate motivator to have him join the Dark side, however the cost had been so great. First his younger brother, then his freedom. His parents may have served a right cause that suited their own agenda; even if their cause was the right one, Thorfinn wasn't going to accept it knowing that it damaged him more than enlightening him.

That time when Thorfinn insulted the Golden girl as a final say and gone on his merry way to not ponder over her words, was one of the biggest mistakes in his life.

A more powerful and solid shield he could have learned in his sixth or seventh year just like the Granger girl had advised, could have prevented his little brother from perishing away in front of Thorfinn's eyes.

Before Thorfinn could mourn his brother Eadric and locate his real murderer, which Thorfinn later realized was the Dark Lord and his crappy ideals, Thorfinn had been assigned along with Tony to capture Harry Potter.

He knew how that had turned out.

He's been suffering excruciatingly not only because they had failed to capture that damn Potter, but being Obliviated of his own memory of that incidence had lengthened his stay in the dungeons. That Granger girl was costing Thorfinn too much, and because LeStrange was set on killing the girl, he was not going to have the chance to confront her.

Thorfinn growled, knowing that his last thought was a sick and illogical one. The person to blame was not some scared young girl, or the crazy bitch who pointed her wand at him. The one to blame, who gave the commands and pushed people to the brink, making them do things they wouldn't normally do, was the Dark Lord. However, he was out of Thorfinn Rowle's league to blame.

Whenever Thorfinn thought of rebelling him, that very same thought echoed in his mind. He was powerless to defy that madman. Doing such a thing would for sure be his death sentence.

Am I not already dead? Dead whether the dark side wins or not?

Thorfinn knew the harsh truth to answer that question.

"-Stop hurting her! Take me instead! You cowards, leave her alone!" kept yelling the ginger one. Thorfinn focused back from where his mind had wandered, and registered that the Weasley had kept on pleading. The boy had grown furious now, though, as Thorfinn noticed. Even his funny way of speaking -most of the Weasleys couldn't pronounce 'r's- had become trivial in the face of his anger. "When I get my hands on you, I swear…!"

"...my fault, my fault, dammit, it's my fault…" repeated another hysterical voice. Thorfinn would have laughed that he was seeing oh-so-amazing Potter go mad, but as the lithe girl's screams drummed in his ear, he saw no humour in this. She was holding her ground alright, but Thorfinn noticed that the girl was now silent longer than she kept screaming. That couldn't be good.

She would break, and the rest of that Golden Trio could do nothing about it.

The world is a cruel place, Thorfinn reminded himself. In his mind, a memory of when Eadric and himself raced on brooms played repeatedly. Thorfinn could hear his little brother's laughter as the blond boy swished past Thorfinn, taunting him for being a Slowpoke: "Finn, you won't be making it pro if your brother out flies you!"

He was gone. Thorfinn was all alone in this world. No brother, mother or father. Not even distant relatives he had shared more than blood. He was by himself, no one to care whether he lived or died. No one to return back to. No one worth struggling to hold on to life.

A cruel place, indeed, Thorfinn thought. He closed his eyes and swallowed, his chapped lips reminding him that it was still not so easy to depart from this world. If he decided to kill himself before the LeStrange bitch, starving himself wouldn't be a comfortable way out of this mess.

As much of a coward he was to actually try to starve himself to death, Thorfinn Rowle wanted nothing else than to live. If nobody was there to have his back, he would have himself. He would hold onto his dear life because Thorfinn would protect his own, himself first. That self-preservation instinct had aided him into getting in Slytherin.

It also helped him to be alert, only knowledge over his surroundings could get him out of this predicament.

So his hearing was keen when a fair and magical voice called out in the dark dungeons: "Harry?"

"Luna? LUNA!"

Potter's exclamation was followed by hurried conversation, the girl was mostly silent as she was much calmer than the legendary boy. However, Thorfinn felt something change in the air regardless. He couldn't name it, until...

"Dobby will help Mr. Potter!" came another voice. Thorfinn would know a house elf's voice anywhere.

Hope, Thorfinn realized, that was the reason for the welcome shift in the air. Thorfinn chuckled, it was a concept so foreign for him at the moment! 'Hope'!

Could they really escape?

"Dobby, how did you come here?" inquired Potter, as puzzled as he was.

Thorfinn didn't catch the answer but a moment later, a loud pop had echoed in the cold cells. Following that, hushed sentences slithered to Thorfinn's sharp ears but he was unable to clearly distinguish any words.

Just when he was straining his ear to hear something, Antonin started a coughing fit next to him. Thorfinn saw the man convulsing through each breath, his gaunt frame collapsing on itself even though the chains restrained him. When the Russian man threw his head backwards, his fit having ceased, Thorfinn noticed the red tint in the man's saliva. Tony's long dark brown hair that clung to his wet skin somewhat obscured his face, but Thorfinn was sure of what he saw.

"Salazar help us," Thorfinn pleaded under his breath, his companion might not make it to the time when the Dark Lord forgave them- if he would at all.

"Who's there?" called the now-familiar voice of Harry Potter. Thorfinn cursed, he couldn't help it. He wasn't ready to be Avada'd by the Boy-who-lived. He was defenseless for Merlin's sake! His life was on the line, and the only wandless magic Thorfinn knew was to strip someone of their clothes- ladies preferably. Not that his ingenious skill would help him in this case.

Fuck.

"Luna hadn't mentioned anyone," came the reply of Weasley. Thorfinn wanted to snort, but he refrained from doing so as the footsteps were coming closer. What the fuck should he do?

He didn't get the chance to decide on his course of action as Antonin Dolohov rocked with another fit of uncontrollable coughing. He breathed heavily eventually, having somewhat recovered. But it was already too late.

A light -unlike a Lumos or a torch- illuminated their faces, Thorfinn's eyes narrowed as a reaction. Tony wheezed pathetically to show his discomfort, but his protest only made the light source move specifically to him.

Since Thorfinn was no longer blinded by the damn lighter -it looked like one in Weasley's hand-, he had the chance to take in Weasley and Potter. Disgust and pity were written all over their faces respectively.

"What are you guys doing here?" Potter played daft, or he was indeed, if his question was anything to go by.

Thorfinn snorted, and this time he wasn't going to pass up the chance to answer that question. "We were taking our five o'clock tea. Mind joining us?"

"These guys attacked us back at that cafe!" Weasley stated ignoring Thorfinn's snide comment. He only now recognized them.

Rowle rolled his eyes. He was offended that he wasn't known to be their senior alumni from Hogwarts. Mudblood Granger wouldn't forget him. Would she?

Perhaps she wouldn't recognize me in this get up, Thorfinn mused and a bitter smile graced his lips. Eadric wouldn't recognize him either.

Thorfinn's toned muscles and strong build were gone now since he's been eating rotten food at best, and that was when they were giving any at all. His beard reached past his sternum; Thorfinn was paying back for having mocked Dumbledore's beard back in his teenager days. His skin had darkened a tone because of dirt and grease covering it. He doubted he even had any shine in his light blue eyes. That and his striking thick blond mane which were the signature of the Rowles, would hardly help getting identified as well.

"You've been here since we last saw you."

It was a statement, what Potter had said.

Thorfinn dropped his gaze, unable to look at the Boy-who-lived in the eye while his best friend was tortured upstairs. If Thorfinn Rowle and Antonin Dolohov had accomplished their task, the boy would have been here long ago. The girl would be tortured all the same- perhaps even got raped and killed by now, since Thorfinn doubted LeStrange would keep her alive if the girl hadn't acquired intel she obviously had this time around. Last but not least, the ginger one would be offered salvation in the shape of joining the dark side. His pure blood line giving him a tiny chance of survival, and that would happen only after LeStrange got her wand around him.

So no, Thorfinn Rowle didn't have the face to look at Potter and plead him for his life. His Slytherin side nudged Thorfinn to do so, but just as well, his snake pride had chained his tongue.

Thorfinn wouldn't have saved Potter if the roles were reversed, even if the boy pleaded him for hours. That's why, Thorfinn knew better than to hope.

"Bloody hell," Weasley muttered, but before Potter could reply in any sense, another pop echoed in the dungeons.

"Dobby has returned, Mr. Potter," the house elf declared his arrival. "Luna, the goblin and the wand maker are safe."

"Let's go, Harry," Weasley muttered to Potter. Having lowered his lighter, the dim light concealed the two Death Eater as though they weren't there. "We need to get Hermione, and get the hell out of here."

"Wait-" Potter said, releasing his arm from Weasley's grip. "We can't leave them here."

Thorfinn saw the bespectacled boy chance a second glance at their way, but his determined eyes quickly set on Weasley's.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Weasley shot back. He wasn't whispering like Potter. Thorfinn could give him that, the bloke was open and honest. "They are Death Eaters, for Godric's sake! They tried to kill us that time- they'd try a second time! This is war, Harry. We don't Stupefy people, we kill them. How do you think I avoided all those Snatchers while I was away from you and Hermione? Out there, the war wages on full force- we don't have the luxury to save fucking killers."

"We don't know whether they are killers-"

"They attempted to kill us- kill YOU!"

"We're alive, aren't we? But in any case, it is not up to us to decide what happens to them!" Potter exclaimed and the duo fell silent, breathing heavily. Thorfinn was awestruck, and he watched them without a heartbeat. Perhaps…?

"I wouldn't have Sirius with me today, if people had killed him without giving him a fair trial."

"They didn't give him a fair trial," Weasley interjected.

"Hence, why I've been only spending time with him since our third year," Potter countered. "War or no war. We can't leave them here like this."

Another pause, then Weasley breathed out, "Whatever, do what you want."

"Dobby?" Potter called out, then gave instructions to the house elf. Thorfinn didn't hear a word he said as he only focused on the receding footsteps of Weasley who had lost the argument.

Thorfinn couldn't believe what he had heard. Harry fucking Potter had backed him up against his very best friend. Harry Potter, the boy Thorfinn had been sent to capture and bring back to the Dark Lord for his execution, wanted to save him.

He didn't deserve this. Thorfinn Rowle didn't deserve such kindness. He had attempted to capture the boy! What was Potter thinking, saving him?

Thorfinn realized then that Harry Potter wanted to save him because that was who he was. He was conscientious, felt responsible for those in need. He seemed like a person to believe in second chances. Just like his brother Eadric had been. Thorfinn had said to his brother that time as well, how foolish his decision had been.

Thorfinn itched to tell Potter the same.

His own brother had been stabbed in the back by his best friend after he had given him a second chance. Eadric's friend had wronged him once, and apologized, leaving no doubt to Eadric that it wouldn't happen a second time. His younger brother had been a bloody loyal Hufflepuff as always, dismissing Thorfinn's cautions since it brought suspicion over his dear friend.

The friend wronged him the second time, and now Eadric was dead.

Thorfinn didn't want Potter to have the same fate. He had lost his Eadric, and Potter was even younger than his own brother. Eadric hadn't deserved to be wronged by a person to whom he had given a another shot at life.

Potter didn't deserve that either.

Feeling the chains around his wrists click open, Thorfinn Rowle heard Potter call past his shoulder: "Come back after you leave them at the safe house, Dobby. We'll be waiting for you!"

Thorfinn watched as Harry Potter's slender figure vanished after Weasley through the iron gates. He dropped his gaze to the small house elf and then to his unchained wrists.

Potter deserved better, and Thorfinn Rowle was going to pay him back as he deserved. Thorfinn would have Potter's back until his dying breath for he owed the boy a life debt.

Eadric had deserved the same, but Thorfinn could do nothing to change the past. His brother was gone. However, his own saviour Harry Potter was very much alive. Thorfinn was going to keep it like that.

Rubbing his wrists to relieve the soreness, Thorfinn Rowle tried his legs. Standing up and walking would be a nice change. Before he could do that though, the house elf and Antonin's bickering caught Thorfinn's attention.

"I will not betray my Lord! I've disappointed him, I deserve this. If he hears that I escaped he-"

"Mr. Potter wishes to save you. Dobby wants to serve Mr. Potter. You make it hard to serve Mr. Potter!"

Thorfinn felt a headache surging in his already heavy head. So this is when Antonin can talk more than a few words? When his precious sadistic Lord is concerned?

"We'll die here, you tosser. You've got a death wish?" Thorfinn barked. The house elf -Dobby- nodded its head and put its balled fists on its hips.

Dobby added, "Mister is right. Harry Potter has a good heart, wanting to save you. Don't want to die? Then hear Harry Potter's wishes!"

Antonin laughed, his broken ribs restrained the action so he coughed afterwards, yet what he said was easy to distinguish nevertheless: "Screw him! Nobody understands me better than my Lord. He values me, my mind and creativity. I will not betray him!"

Thorfinn's now had enough. He knew that Tony had his own reasons to serve the Dark Lord, but he wasn't going to stand in Thorfinn's way to freedom. He already had so little.

He punched the Russian man, and knocked him out.

"That's taken care of, isn't it?" Thorfinn muttered, he shot a grin in Dobby's way. "We can go now." As an afterthought he added, "Or we could leave him here? It's what he wants." Thorfinn shrugged.

The house elf was quite shocked at the brutal way Thorfinn had hushed Antonin. Yet, it looked more anxious than shocked.

"No. Harry Potter asked me to take you and Mister. Dobby will do as Mr. Potter asks. He is Dobby's friend."

Thorfinn nodded, thinking it wasn't worth arguing. Tony could perhaps think straight if he was freed, fed and healed.

Shouldering Antonin Dolohov's weight, Thorfinn nodded again to Dobby, "Ready."

Dobby was just about to grab a hold of Thorfinn and Disapparate them away when a heartbreaking shout was heard.

"NO, HERMIONE!"

Dobby's head shot in the direction of the gates. "Harry Potter!"

Thorfinn Rowle watched in amazement as the house elf's expression morphed into one of determination, "Harry Potter needs Dobby."

Before Thorfinn could say a word, Dobby Disapparated them with a loud crack.

Opening his eyes to the drawing room of the Malfoy Manor, Thorfinn quickly assessed the situation. They were making a stop on their way to freedom, it seemed. And it was a die or live stop. How wonderful.

Scanning the room, Thorfinn noted that Ron Weasley had just thrown away Mr. Malfoy high up in the air, after yelling, "Alarte Ascendare!".

Wasn't that Lockhart's spell? Thorfinn had been there in the Dueling lesson between Snape and Lockhart back during his fifth year, he had gone there out of curiosity. It wasn't everyday that you get the chance to see your Head of House duel.

He had watched as Lockhart pathetically tried to get rid of the snake with the very same spell Weasley had used a second ago. It appeared the man hadn't been that useless after all.

Not everyone had the upper hand like Weasley had, though. It seemed like this was his second duel even. In the corner of the room, Thorfinn noticed the long blond hair sprayed on the ground, the woman belonging to it unmoving while baby Malfoy crouched next to her. From the relieved tone of the Malfoy heir repeating, "Mother," Thorfinn deduced that the woman was not dead. The person who had done this had to be Weasley.

Potter was quite occupied, being less fortunate than him. He faced off Bellatrix LeStrange.

The vile woman was using Hermione Granger like a shield. Potter had his wand raised, but because of Granger's situation, no spell came out of it. He didn't want to hit Granger, but just as he didn't strike, Bellatrix LeStrange kept her ground.

Hermione shed silent tears as she was trapped in the bitch's grasp. Every time LeStrange moved -even to breathe- Hermione whimpered. That little action seemed to give the witch great pain as her pale face scrunched, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead.

Granger was also covered in blood. Thorfinn couldn't even see her fair skin in her exposed left forearm as it was all stained in red. But Thorfinn noticed that that wasn't the only place bleeding. Granger's abdomen, toward the right where Bellatrix's hand rested, oozed of thick blood. The stain was spreading with every passing second.

Before Thorfinn could register what was happening, his eyes bulged upon hearing Granger gasp. LeStrange had removed her hand from Granger's abdomen, along with the dagger she held tightly in her closed fist.

The bitch cackled as if there was something funny about this. Thorfinn had long ago concluded that she had lost it, but now that he was truly free, he had no intention of turning a blind eye to it.

That's why Potter yelled, Thorfinn understood now. The bitch had stabbed Granger.

"Let her go, or else…!" Weasley switched his attention to them, but before he could finish his threat the smooth silver dug into new unmarked flesh.

"Look at yourselves! A mudblood giving you this much headache? You're pathetic!" LeStrange spat. She twisted the dagger; Granger cried out, but wasn't able to do anything.

Potter seemed to have snapped out of his horror, and sent a spell in LeStrange's way. The spell sizzled just above Granger shoulder, not even tangent to LeStrange.

Having lost the last bit of her sanity, the bitch smirked and took the dagger out, she placed the bloodied dagger in Granger's throat.

Thorfinn clenched his teeth, nothing else he could do to help Granger.

"Drop your wands!" Lestrange yelled. "Malfoy collect them!"

Thorfinn watched as baby Malfoy sat next to his mother, motionless, his eyes still looked at her.

"NOW!"

Bellatrix's shrill scream made the baby Malfoy jump. He quickly scampered up from the floor and dived in for the wands of Weasley and Potter where they had dropped them.

Just as baby Malfoy rose, a force hit his hand, freeing the wands, and then he was thrown backwards to where his father was.

Potter and Weasley hadn't moved. Malfoys were incapacitated, and Bellatrix's hands were full, not that she would have attacked Malfoy.

It was the elf, Thorfinn understood. He, himself, was as good as a Muggle, barely standing up.

Others had come to the same conclusion, as there was a tense moment in which people realized Dobby and Thorfinn's presence. Thorfinn was just next to Potter, Weasley at the other side. Beneath their feet lied the unconscious Antonin Dolohov.

Dobby was nowhere to be seen now.

All of a sudden the silence was filled with a noise that resembled...grinding? Thorfinn realized it was the grinding of the chandelier's chains which attached it to the ceiling, and everybody looked up to see the little house-elf loosening those very chains.

Bellatrix LeStrange was the last one to slowly lift her head to see that the chandelier insecurely swayed thanks to the tampering of Dobby.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

Dobby vanished. LeStrange shoved Granger. Thorfinn caught her.

Chandelier crashed.

The sound of glass shattering into millions of pieces echoed in Thorfinn's ears as Hermione Granger blacked out in his arms.

Hello there!

Here is another new story. I extensively planned it to be nine chapters, but I haven't finished writing it like I had done with Rescuing the Senior. One of the reasons for that is that I'm quite impatient in nature and this surely hadn't been intended to be a one-shot. This will be a short story, however, I estimate each chapter to be more or less this long, so it will be long enough I guess.

A round of applause to my fantastic beta, Irish Thorn! She's been a huge help, tweaking the chapter here and there. Thank you so much!

I hope you've liked the chapter! Be sure to let me know what you think :)

~Ydream08