CHAPTER 2

It took a lot of persuasion and a bit of financial incentive to get the port key to England so short notice. She and Hermione had agreed to meet at King's Cross Station where Hermione would then side-along apparate her to the Weasley Burrow since Rae had never been there before.

She arrived at the station at just after 12:00 Noon, two days after having received the original letter from Hermione.

"There you are!" Hermione waved her over. Ron looked confusedly at the petite dark haired girl who had just arrived. Rae waved back and started making her way over to the couple. Ron thought she looked familiar from school but more like a passing face in the halls. She wasn't anyone he ever remembered talking to and couldn't remember any time that Hermione may have made such a close friend that he and Harry didn't know.

Raven had just gotten within a reasonable distance to talk to them and said, "Hey! I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner but the ministry at home can be a bit of a challenge when it comes to international travel," she moved her satchel bag around to the back of her to hug Hermione. She had become close with Hermione while studying in school. They were both muggle-born and Rae was friends with Luna Lovegood. They often spent time together in the Ravenclaw common room, and while most people had trouble comprehending Luna or even being in the same room as her, Rae could appreciate her aloofness and sometimes sarcastic outlook on the world. The trouble with avoiding Luna, as many people did, is that they could never tell the difference. Rae genuinely thought Luna was one of the funniest people she knew, Luna was also incredibly quick to read a person's character. She was in Ravenclaw for a reason after all. Intelligence was not something Luna was lacking.

Being friends with Luna, and by association Hermione, had left Rae's reputation pretty much under the radar. The other two much more accomplished and recognized witches tended to draw the attention away from Raven. It also helped that they also spent quite a bit of time around Harry Potter who was always in the limelight. Being virtually unknown, but still having those powerful connections had served her incredibly well during the war.

"That's fine! We had a few things to take care of on this end anyway and I don't know that he would have been well enough to travel as soon as yesterday. Honestly, I'm still not sure that it's the best for him but we've got to get him on his way. He's already been with us far too long," Hermione informed Raven. Hermione only spoke in vague terms considering they were in public and didn't know who could be watching or listening. Raven nodded along. She understood the risk they were taking by keeping him in their home. Hell! Wasn't she willingly volunteering herself to take on that risk?

Without saying much more Hermione held out her hand and Rae grasped both it and her bag tightly. They arrived just in front of the Burrow and now being out of the public-sector Hermione and Ron proceeded to fill her in on the details they could gather on the attack and Malfoy's recovery while they made their way to the door. The details admittedly, left many questions unanswered and had several plot holes so far as Rae was concerned. Ron explained grumpily how Malfoy had regained consciousness throughout the past few days but had apparently been increasingly angry and uncooperative. He also confirmed that Malfoy was easily fatigued although Hermione had cleared up most of his superficial wounds, a few more severe injuries kept him minimally active.

"Where is the rest of your family Ron? Shouldn't they be home?" Rae asked as they stepped inside.

"Charlie had invited them to come to Romania earlier this week. Thought it might do 'em some good to get out of the Burrow for a bit. Being here certainly wasn't helping George any," Ron said, his voice suddenly becoming much quieter as memories began to fill his eyes.

Raven stopped on their way up the stairs, "For what it's worth Ron, I truly am sorry for all you've lost." Ron only nodded. Rae understood that for now that was all he was capable of. Hermione saw Ron starting to become emotional and in a practiced manor redirected the conversation to easier topics. Malfoy.

At this point they got to the bedroom door and Rae listened but couldn't hear a thing. "The room is silenced," Hermione provided, "He's not exactly the quiet type when he's pissed."

They stepped into the room then and as hard as she tried to school her reaction, she couldn't help the quiet gasp she let escape. Neither Ron nor Hermione ever heard it. Draco lay on the bed looking paler than his usual tone and his face was sunken in like he hadn't eaten or slept in weeks. His face was covered in fading bruises which left a purple and yellow reminder of the violence he endured. If his face looked this bad she could hardly imagine the rest of him, which was hidden under a long sleeved shirt. He was asleep at the moment which worked out just fine for Raven as she catalogued all she could about his current state and what she would need to do to get him back on his feet.

She slowly moved forward leaving Hermione and Ron at the door. Harry who had been sitting at a desk in the room stood and greeted her. She continued moving toward the bed. As she took a seat by Draco's knees she heard the 'pop' of someone apparating into the room. With a practiced swiftness the war had taught her she had stood, drawn her wand and thrown up a silent protego in seconds. After scanning the room and not seeing anyone new she looked down following the eyes of Harry Potter. He chuckled just slightly as Raven's eyes finally met the intruder's. A house elf named Nalby.

"Will this be the new miss taking care of master Draco?" Nalby asked no one in particular.

Raven dropped her shield and sheathed her wand but remained standing. "Yes," she answered the elf.

"Wonderful! My name be Nalby and I would like to know where we is going. I have many things to arrange for the young master before our trip," Nalby stated. Raven looked up surprised no one had mentioned Nalby to her, and it simply wouldn't be possible to take him along. There were far too many muggles around to risk having a house elf make an untimely appearance. Judging by the shared look of confusion in the eyes of her peers, Raven figured they had not thought of this scenario in the short time they had to prepare.

Raven knelt down in order to be more level with the elf. "It's nice to meet you Nalby. My name is Raven. I am going to be taking care of Draco, but unfortunately I can only take Draco with me," at this declaration Nalby looked both hurt and confused. Having spent much time with the elves in Hogwarts, however, and asking them about themselves, Raven knew quite a bit about how to work with one, though she didn't know if a Malfoy elf would prove more challenging. Before the elf had time to respond Rae added, "But that doesn't mean I don't need your help with taking care of him. I know several things I need your help with doing right here."

The elf seemed to consider this but wasn't entirely convinced not to freak out yet. "What things?" He asked.

"Well for one I'll need a few of Draco's things packed for him before we can go and I do need it done quickly as we're scheduled to leave this evening. Also, I imagine many folks are going to assume he's been killed considering all that's happened," with this statement Nalby's eyes began to fill with tears as though the thought of losing Draco hurt as much as actually losing him would. "Because of that I'm going to need someone on the front here to keep an eye on his home and accounts."

"Nalby cannot touch the accounts!" Nalby whisper yelled as though they were conspiring to rob the Queen. Nalby was nearly in hysterics, and Rae just hoped Draco was a heavy sleeper if the elf did become frantic.

"No, no Nalby! Don't do anything with the vaults! I just need you to make sure no one else touches them, or tries to. Can you do that for me? And make sure that Malfoy manor is in good condition when we return with Draco before school begins? I'm just asking that you keep an eye out for anyone trying any funny business around Draco's belongings or home. None of us can do these things. But you can, can't you?" Raven said this both genuinely meaning it, and hoping it appeased the elf from the anxiety of being separated from Draco. Nalby could be their surveillance at the manor and report to Hermione, Ron and Harry if anything were amiss. Hermione knew how to owl her, and after today, she would have what she needed to email her.

"Yes mistress, Nalby won't let you down!" The little elf saluted and disappeared with a 'pop'. She was confused with his using 'mistress' as her title but was pleased enough that he seemed to be pacified for the time being.

"Well handled," Harry said looking pleasantly surprised by the exchange. "We haven't been able to convince him to be as cooperative yet! He was determined to stay with Malfoy. How'd you do it?"

"House Elves are fundamentally built to be needed. They have a nurturing quality to them as well as a desire to be useful. As long as Nalby knows that what he is being asked to do is most directly beneficial to Draco then he'll comply. Only Draco telling him otherwise would change his mind now," looking beside her at a surprisingly still sleeping Malfoy she added, "I don't intend to give him the chance to do that." She turned back to the group collected in the middle of the room. "Is he usually such a heavy sleeper?"

"He's got a sleeping draught on board. He needed the rest and honestly," Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, "so did we."

As Harry said this, Draco began to wake from his sleep but was still groggy in the fading darkness. Something smelled wonderful though, fragrant like a spring day and a warm cup of tea. It was a comforting sort of smell… "smells good…" he mumbled.

The other four inhabitants of the room all turned their heads from their conversation to look at the injured Draco Malfoy. Not realizing he had said what he said out loud Draco finally opened his eyes and met a pair of hazel eyes he couldn't recall having met before. He stared for a moment before picking up on the fact that the wonderdoofs were watching him. Falling back into the habit of trying to cover up weakness with snark he uttered, "Who in the bloody hell are you," all the while aware of the fact that he'd be screwed without them. He just hated that he now owed them even more. He was losing count of the tally sheet on his soul. Draco – 0 Golden Trio – 4,316,513.

"Well, gee, nice seeing you too." She said. Her voice was both familiar and foreign and he couldn't pinpoint why. "Call me Rae."

Later that night they had Draco upright and dressed in a set of muggle black denim jeans and dark blue long sleeve button down shirt. His bag in the corner next to hers ready to leave. Nalby had gotten him several sets of clothes both casual and formal (because only a Malfoy elf would think to pack formal clothes for going into hiding). The clothes that were packed were muggle clothes, as Rae had explained to Nalby where they'd be going he wouldn't need any wizarding clothes. Nalby did put Malfoy's personal change purse in his travel bag, which had enough galleons to keep a family of four fed for a year, and a few other personal items, but all and all Draco didn't seem to have much that his elf thought worthy of taking.

Draco still looked pretty beat up so being that Charms had been her second favorite class Rae put a few well practiced glamour charms over Draco's bruises so that he at least wouldn't draw the eye of concerned citizens, or police. Being as vain as he was, Draco surprisingly, did not complain all that much, once he got past the initial refusal to let a stranger near him with a wand pointed at his face. Draco was very anxious being without a way to defend himself. Hermione had given Rae Draco's wand, which she had held onto after his original arrival to the Burrow. Rae kept it in her bag for safekeeping and Hermione figured she would give it back to him when, or if, she ever trusted him enough to do so.

Draco and Rae held onto to each of their bags and a portion of the comb that had been made into a portkey and waited for the pull that would land them at their destination. Rae waved goodbye to her friends just before it activated and would bring them to an alleyway in Canada just a block or two down the road from a car rental facility. Draco only rolled his eyes before they were pulled from the Burrow, the lack of a sneer, Harry knew, was as close to thanks as they may ever get from Malfoy.

Once landing at their destination and taking a moment to find their centers again Rae looked at Draco, "We're going to have to walk about two blocks from here and then we'll rent a car. Is that ok? Or do you need to stay here, and I'll come back for you?" Rae asked. The idea of walking 3 steps had him exhausted already but Malfoy would be damned if he was going to be left alone, in a strange alley, without his wand. He also wasn't going to give anything away about how truly weak he felt right now.

"I'll manage." He said curtly and started walking the direction she indicated.

They made it to the rental facility a little while later. It had been slow going but to Raven's credit she never commented on Draco's speed simply fell into step beside him. When they got there, she told him to sit on the bench outside while she went in and handled to dealership representative. Since he could see her through the glass window and he was already exhausted he didn't argue, and took a seat.

Rae went inside and rented the car with her fake ID. There were very few facilities that allowed you to rent a car and drive it into another country. She had used this car service before as this is how she usually got home. She was very protective of her home and family which is why she couldn't for the life of her explain her compulsion to bring Draco Malfoy there.

When she came out and walked with Draco to the car she had rented he looked at it and raised one incredibly aristocratic eyebrow at her, "Is this thing even safe?" He asked. It hadn't occurred to her until that moment that he may never have driven in a car before.

"Reasonably." Was all she would provide him. She wouldn't lie and say yes, but she wouldn't freak him out with statistics on fatal v non-fatal car accidents. He seemed to nod and get in the passenger seat. Rae climbed in as well and started it up. This seemed to be the first thing that truly spooked Draco because he jumped and breathed just a little shallower, but then managed to mask it just as swiftly. Again, Raven didn't comment. It wouldn't do to pick on him or to make him feel even more out of place than he did. She wanted him to find comfort if not happiness and she hoped that eventually he would learn to trust, if not her than someone, but the first step would be showing him it was possible. With that thought clouding her mind she put the car in gear and pulled onto the highway heading for home.