Chapter 9

The black murkiness between sleeping and consciousness slowly receded as Aerie struggled to open eyelids that felt like weights were pulling them down. When she succeeded, with eyelids barely managing to stay up, she was startled to find herself in an unfamiliar room: blank, whitewash walls; one window with white shades drawn. She flopped her head to the right to see a drab bedside table with two glorious bouquets of red roses and pink gladiolus. Turning her head heavily to the other side, a strange beeping box floated above her head with a clear tube attaching to her left arm.

Her confusion magnified; where was she? Hospital? She attempted to sit up on the bed in which she was laying, and collapsed. Her arms were not working; her strength had failed. What was going on? What was the last thing she remembered? Her arms tingled unpleasantly, tiny needles piercing along her skin as they woke up. She slowly flexed her fingers.

It was in that instance that the door opened and a woman in Medi-wizard robes came in, eyeing some paperwork she had in her hand. She was fairly young, about early thirties, with straight blonde hair pulled up into the traditional Medi-wizard hat and gentle blue eyes.

"Excuse me," Aerie managed to croak. Her voice was not working well either.

The woman gasped and dropped her papers, but paid no heed to them as she stared at Aerie, her mouth open in shock.

"C-c-could you," she started, struggling with her words and tried slowly again. "Could you tell me where I am?" Aerie struggled to say.

Her question seemed to snap the woman out of her surprise, and she rushed forward, quickly inspecting Aerie's eyes, the floating box, and the tube in the girl's arm. "Oh, my dear! Oh, my dear, welcome back! I must say you gave me a shock to see you awake. We had all but lost hope in your ever returning to us. Your family will be most pleased: most pleased indeed." She pulled out her wand and lit the end of it. "Say 'Ahh'!"

Aerie did as she was told, her confusion mounting, as the woman—her nametag said "Kittirick"—inspected the back of her throat, her eyes, and ears. When she finished her examination, she smiled brilliantly at Aerie. "It is rather remarkable that you are so cognizant so soon after waking. Can you lift your arms for me?"

Aerie tried, albeit slowly and with effort while the tingles still needled her arms, then dropped them as they felt like dead weight only after lifting them a few inches. Kittirick nodded and went to pick up the fallen papers; she started writing on them once they were gathered.

"That is to be expected, though it is the only thing that appears to be expected. We will have to build your muscle mass back. "Wiggle your toes," she instructed, barely able to contain her excitement.

Aerie accomplished that with ease.

"Excellent. Fascinating. What is your name?"
"Astoria Aeridia Greengrass Matthews," she answered slowly, her voice quickly gaining strength.

"Two plus two?"

"Four."

"Nine times nine?"

"Eighty-one."

"The proper spell for conjuring a bouquet of flowers?"

"Cute. Orchideous."

Kittirick snapped her files shut and stared at Aerie wonder. "No victim of a spelled coma has ever come out of it with such speedy effectiveness. This is remarkable. Your intellect is fully intact. Here is a more difficult question that is not on our list. What is the most efficient way to extract the mucus from the glands of horned frog?"

Aerie smiled. "Put the frog in a dry box for fifteen minutes then immobilize it. Collect the mucus. It is best used in healing salves for poisonous burns."

Kittirick beamed. "You are a miracle! You sit right there, Miss Matthews. I will send notification to your family. They should be here shortly and will be happy to see you. Your other visitor should be here within the hour so I won't alert him. Let's surprise him. I will be right back."

"Him?" Aerie asked as Kittirick began to sweep from the room. The only "him" she could think of would be Uncle Sevus.

Why was she in a hospital? Why had she been unconscious? She went back to her musings from before Kittirick interrupted. Last thing she could remember…oh. Everything came back to her in a swirl of fire and horror. The battle at Hogwarts. Voldemort was now dead; she had gone after a few escaping Death Eaters. The Unspeakable Spell of Unmaking that was cast by Lucius Malfoy had crippled her, but she should be dead because of it. Fire. Pain. Blistering agony. Cheers in the background. She shook her head to dispel the echo and flexed her fingers again and her toes in experimentation. She was all there; so someone had to have stopped the spell before its completion. She knew from her studies that interrupting the concentration of the person wielding the spell was the only way to stop a spell of that magnitude and instant medical assistance would have allowed her to live.

So she was alive.

Obviously, she muttered to herself in her head.

In one piece.

Unexpectedly. She looked at her legs under the blanket just to be sure they were there.

But how? How long had she been unconscious? Kittirick had said that everyone had given up hope. She looked down at herself for any indications of change and the first thing she found was her hair. Having grown roughly eight inches since she last remembered, she gaped stupidly at the curling ends. Holy shit, had she been out for a year? She struggled to lift her arm and fingered the ends of her hair. She felt again the drag of unused muscles and immediately forgot about the hair. Wonderful. She was like an overgrown baby.

"Aeridia?" a familiar deep voice gasped.

Aerie looked up in surprise, realizing that the voice did not belong to Uncle Sevus. "Draco?"

His cloak dropped from his fingers, forgotten instantly as he slowly walked forward, his face drinking her in like a man who had been denied water for years. Aerie, like the day she met him, was awestruck by his beauty. But there was something different; he was thinner, his face angled a little more sharply, and yet there was a maturity there that had not been present before. His gray eyes were wide, yet shadowed and his hair swept to the side and back off his face, slightly longer than she remembered as if he could not be bothered with a haircut.

"You're awake," he breathed, standing beside her bed, hands clenched at his sides, afraid to touch her.

"And you look half dead," she replied and coughed. That first one started a wave and she continued to cough, losing her breath suddenly.

Draco rushed out of the room and came back with a glass of water. When she drank it and calmed down, she attempted to speak again. Draco stopped her.

"After having just woken up, you should take it easy," he said softly, taking the glass from her hands, refilling it, and setting it on the bedside table.

"I don't want to take it easy," she huffed breathlessly. "I want to know what's going on. Why I'm alive, why I'm in the hospital, why you're here, and how long I've been out are the top questions in my head."

He smiled slightly in wonder, still staring at her. With a shake of his head, he grabbed a chair and sat on the left side of her bed. He took a deep breath.

"It's actually a miracle that you're alive," he admitted.

"How long have I been unconscious?" she demanded quickly, getting to the point.

Without needing to consult a calendar, Draco responded promptly, "Two years, four months, and three days. Today is September 5, 2000."

Her mental capabilities shut down. "Holy fuck!" she shrieked in horror before she could stop herself.

Two years, two years, two years, two YEARS! Those words replayed like a nightmarish mantra in her head. She did not hear anything that Draco said next until he grabbed her face.

"Calm down," he stated distinctly, staring at her intently when he caught her eye. "It's not a big deal how long you've been out. You're back now. Get it together, Johnny."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Draco let go of her face and sat down in the chair again.

"All right," Aerie said a second later, opening her eyes and meeting Draco's concerned silver ones. She was momentarily distracted; his eyes seemed to be glowing with their force. She shook her head and the glowing stopped. She was definitely not all together there in the present. She needed to finish waking up and she needed answers. "What happened?"

Draco cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "We can talk about this later. You just woke up."

Aerie stopped him with a glare that, unlike the rest of her body, was working properly. "Absolutely not. Now is as good a time as ever. The Medi-wizard said that my brain was fully functioning, which was surprising for a coma patient. So don't undermine me, Draco Malfoy. What happened?"

He sighed with a small smirk and crossed his legs, propping his left arm on her bed. "Your attitude hasn't changed at all."

"My attitude has been frozen for two years," she reminded him. "Quit dithering."

His eyes narrowed in a mirror image of hers. "I do not dither."

"Nor do you get to the point, Mr. Malfoy," she replied. "For the third time I will ask: what happened?"

He sighed, without dramatics, and started, "Lucius tried to kill you with the Spell of Unmaking."

"Lucius? Why do you call him that?" Aerie asked before she could stop herself.

"Of all things to pick up in that statement, you wonder about what I call the man?" Draco growled. "It is because I will not claim that bastard as my father. Obviously you know about the Spell of Unmaking or that would have been your question. Do you want to hear what happened or not?"

Feeling like a hypocrite, Aerie flushed. "Sorry. Please continue."

He placed a hand over his eyes and carried on. "I stopped him from finishing the spell. I broke his concentration, but you—you were—" He cut off and coughed slightly. He started again. "You were on the ground, your arms broken and curled in a spiral behind your head. Your body was bent back and your head—your head was…" His knuckles whitened as he clenched his hands together. He would not lift his head to look at her. He sighed and finished in a rush, "Your head was against the backs of your knees."

Aerie felt sick with having a visual to her remembered pain. "Oh, God."

"We got the attention of some of the teachers and immediately transported you here. They re-grew your bones and muscles, but you were unconscious and haven't woken."

Aerie nodded since it made sense. With decided effort, she changed the subject. "What happened to you and your family?"

Draco smiled darkly. "I'm only out of Azkaban on a probationary status," he explained. "My mother was the one who lied to Voldemort about Harry Potter being dead to get to me, so she was freed from all charges, also on a probationary status. I testified against Lucius at his trial and because of that, I was put on probation until my own hearing. That cannot happen until my key witness is well enough to testify on my behalf. So, my job during probation has been to do everything in my power to make my witness ready. My magic use has been suspended until further notice minus the needs for potion making. Which you know is my strong point."

"So I am your key witness? And you've become my potions handler?"

Draco inclined his head once. "Yes. When you slipped into the coma, no Medi-wizard was able to pull you out of it, even after all your bones and muscles were grown back. Your health was decreasing and you were getting very close to wasting away. It was during one of my visits that I suggested a potion. Though it was uncommon, it would help regulate nutrients, water content, and internal organ function. But they had no potions master working for them to create the concoction. I volunteered my services. The Ministry could find no reason not to allow me to do so, since I needed you at my trial, and I immediately went to work."

"Potions handler. That is amazing. So is that how you've been supporting yourself? I assume you don't live at Malfoy Manor and have been separated from your accounts at Gringotts."

He glared at her. "Are you reading my aura? Do you want to just tell this story for me?"

She laughed softly. "No, I didn't read your aura. I just figured that the Ministry would make you live like a Muggle until they gave you your trial. Am I wrong?"

He smirked. "No, not wrong. I forgot how intuitive you could be. Yes, I have been living like a Muggle. And it is a pain in the ass, Johnny. I don't know how they do it."

"It's character building, I'm sure," she chuckled in response. "You seem to have managed all right."

"I can't stand not having magic," he retorted darkly. "The only time I get to use it is when I'm making your potion."

Saying that must have reminded him of something, because he stood and went to his cloak. Aerie watched him in fascination. He walked with surprising confidence that she had not noticed when he arrived. He strode like a man comfortable in his skin even after being demoted to a Muggle form of living. His shoulders were a little broader (from aging a few years and probably continual exercise) and he stood a little straighter. Being a Muggle and Potions Master did him wonders. She watched as he pulled a small clear vial from an inside pocket and came back to her, stopping at the floating box above her head.

"This is the potion," he said by way of explanation and opened a small door. He poured the potion into the space inside and closed the door. "You've been getting this every day for the past two years. It has kept your internal levels balanced."

Aerie knew her eyes were wide and did not care. "Fantastic. That is bloody fantastic, Draco! Do they distribute this to the other coma patients here? What hospital is this, by the way?"

"St. Mungo's, naturally," he replied. "And yes, they are starting to give it to others. It took them about a year to determine if it was applicable to others. I sort of catered the potion to help you specifically."

Again, Aerie was astounded. "Thank you, Draco." Catered to her specifically? How in Merlin's name does one cater a potion for someone? Her mind whirled. That was one thing Uncle Severus never did: teach her advanced potions. Draco was like a Muggle chemist! Mixing and changing things into a new compound. He came up with all of this during the stress of probation? How did he even have time to think about it?

Determined to discover some answers for herself, Aerie took a moment to delve into his aura, but she hit a problem. There was nothing there. She could not See anything! Turning on her Sight to it full power, nothing floated around Draco's body. No color, no fuzzy shapes, no nothing.

Before losing herself to panic, she gave herself a second to calm down, then pressed harder at her Sight. Still nothing.

"Oh shit," she hissed.

Draco had been on alert the moment she let herself be concerned a half second before she had softly exclaimed. "What's the matter?" he demanded.

"I can't read your aura. I can't even See your aura!" Another hideous thought crept into her mind. If she could not See…

Immediately she slowly raised her right hand. "Lumos," she whispered with the heavy effort to hold her hand steady.

Nothing happened.

Alarm descended in a brilliant explosion in Aerie's head. No magic. No magic! She turned wild eyes to Draco who was standing, damn him, with a look of pitying understanding on his handsome face.

"Where is my wand?" she asked with forced calm, not willing to acknowledge what was becoming increasingly apparent.

Without a word, he went around the bed and opened the drawer in the nightstand, pulling out a cobalt blue beaded necklace with a strange silver pendant and set it aside as he grabbed out the shockingly blue wand. Her eyes followed the necklace in distracted surprise until Draco handed the wand to her. All her thoughts of the familiar necklace disappeared at the presence of more pressing matters.

With a flick, Aerie attempted to levitate Draco's coat from the other side of the room. The black fabric did not even twitch.

"Lumos," she intoned with desperation.

Still nothing happened. Her grip tightened on both the wand and her will to not scream.

"No need to melt down just yet," Draco said quickly, sensing the cracking control. "Your strength is not back yet. It is said that coma patients who have been unconscious for a long time have to build both their strength and their magic back. Your magic has been dormant for almost two and a half years, after all."

The dam broke.

"That's still not good!" Aerie exploded. "How am I supposed to accomplish anything without my magic?"

"I've been doing pretty well," Draco reminded her dryly, sitting back down and not giving her the appropriate sympathy.

Aerie huffed, reluctantly willing to concede to his point, and let go of her wand, letting it clatter to the floor. She still wanted to cry. Draco got up again and picked up the fallen, useless piece of wood while she heavily (and with great effort) swung out an arm to get the glass of water on the nightstand to try and dislodge the lump in her throat on her own. Her heavy hand smacked down on the forgotten necklace. Terror laced through her immediately. Oh, she recognized the necklace, all right. But why the hell was it on her nightstand? Could things get any worse? Her panic rose and erupted.

"No, no, no! Why did you pull this out?" she demanded of Draco, swiping the beaded jewelry to the floor with a grunt.

Draco immediately bent to retrieve it. "Why is it a problem?"

"Because—"

The rest of what Aerie was going to say was swept away in sudden rush of wind swirling through the room and the tinkle of soft bells. The moment it all died, Aerie groaned at the sight.

"Welcome back to the Waking, my daughter," Dah'liandri-Ahra spoke with feeling from the corner of the room.

Draco had frozen and was staring without shame. Aerie could hardly blame him since her mother was resplendent in a deep purple gown that brightened the red wave of hair pouring over one shoulder. A large silver medallion dangled from her neck and her bright blue eyes did not even spare Draco a glance as she glided forward. Her skirts made no sound as she moved.

Aerie immediately tried to pull herself up and failed. "I didn't mean to call you. I just woke up; can we do this another time? Now is not good."

"What the hell?" Draco muttered, trying to gain back some self control but still appearing impressed.

"Our agreement was made, Astoria," Dah'lia replied and took another step forward.

Draco snapped out of his stupor.

"I don't know who you think you are," he exploded instantly, immediately hostile, stepping up to the bed on the opposite side of Dah'lia. "But Aeridia needs time to recuperate before she moves. Do not come in here making proclamations so soon after she has woken up. Who are you?"

Dah'lia turned her unnerving blue gaze on Draco, who (under the circumstances) did rather well at not flinching. She appeared surprised at being addressed directly and turned her head to study who had spoken to her.

"I am her mother, human," she said slowly after a moment, as if talking to a child. "I will decide what is good for her. She has touched the necklace I gave her several human years ago and now she and I will go home."

"Home?" Draco and Aerie asked simultaneously.

"I am not going to Glory," Aerie said.

"Glory?"

"You have spoken in overabundance, Astoria," Dah'lia chided sternly. The temperature dropped a few degrees in the room. "I will not have a human learn of us."

"You should have thought of that before you showed yourself to him then," Aerie retorted. "We are not leaving."

Draco's white-knuckled grip on the sheets agreed silently, though his face looked thoroughly confused.

"They cannot heal you the way our people can," Dah'lia insisted.

"Your people?" Draco inquired harshly.

"She is an elf," Aerie stated.

Draco's jaw dropped unbidden as he turned to once again stare at the other woman.

"Again you speak in excess, Daughter," Dah'lia sighed in irritation. "I must now eradicate the memory."

Aerie interrupted before Dah'lia had a chance to raise her hand. "Do it and I will make your life a living hell, Mother."

Dah'lia hesitated and Draco's shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

"Let his memory be and I will come with you," Aerie continued. "No arguments."

With a graceful shrug, Dah'lia turned away. Aerie looked up at Draco.

"She is my mother."

"I gathered," Draco said, managing to still sound sardonic even in his astonishment, eyes still on Dah'lia inspecting a picture on the wall.

"Don't be a smartass," she quipped in return, glad to hear his wit intact. "She is an elf. I am part elf. Hence my special abilities. Her name is Dah'liandri-Ahra and she is going to take me to the elfin homeland of Glory."

Draco raised a brow. "Do you have any idea how ludicrous that sounds? 'Elfin homeland of Glory?' Please, I was not born yesterday."

Aerie glared at him. "You think I'm making this up? Did you look at her eyes? What part of her is human?"

Draco shuddered involuntarily. "Point taken."

"I don't want to go," Aerie said then. "It is only due to my idiocy that I touched the necklace. I don't know when I will be back. This place is in the United States hidden from the world in Maine."

"You don't have to go anywhere," he replied.

Aerie chuckled darkly. "Do you think you or I can stop her? Neither of us has magic, plus she manages to Apparate into places that should not allow that ability, just like I usually can. I will be back when I can."

"You will not be coming back," Dah'lia breathed softly from the corner of the room.

Both Draco and Aerie looked up in alarm.

"What?"

"No!"

Draco grabbed Aerie's hand right at that moment. "She is not going anywhere," he hissed.

Aerie's heart took flight.

"This is for her own good, human," Dah'lia replied, gliding forward. "We can provide for her better than your miniscule race has ever been able to with your petty tricks. Be glad that I am acquiescing to Astoria's wishes and your memory will remain. Otherwise I would wipe away all remembrance of her. It is time to go."

"I don't want to!" Aerie roared.

"Cease acting like a child, Astoria," Dah'lia hissed, icicles forming on the ceiling. "It is unbecoming. I have permitted conversation to continue long enough. My patience is wearing thin."

She waved her hand, elevating Aerie from the bed.

"No, no, no!" Aerie growled, still holding Draco's hand and using it as a lifeline.

"Put her down, Elf!" Draco gasped.

"No." Her tone could not have been more final.

Aerie's eyes caught Draco's and she said quietly, "I won't be there long. I will find a way to get back."

"No," Draco whispered, tightening his grip.

"You are done with this world, Astoria," Dah'lia finalized.

Wind swept up, forcing the two apart and flinging Draco into the wall. The tinkle of bells echoed softly and Aerie allowed herself to be taken away.

The wind died and a silence, softly punctuated by the shallow breathing of the fallen man, filled the room. Draco looked up, knowing, yet hoping that it was not true, that Aerie was gone. Again. His eyes searched the room anyway.

"Fuck," he groaned, slowly standing up.

No, no, no.

He stared at the now vacant bed, coming forward and feeling the still warm sheets. "Shit."

No, no, no, NO!

She had been lying there for two years, four months, and three days and just when she wakes up, she is gone again! A bitter part of him that he had been trying to get rid of over the past few years crept up and growled in annoyance. Nothing could be simple, could it?

He collapsed in a chair and ran a hand through his hair, still staring at the empty bed. He used to spend hours sitting here, doing the same thing, watching her breath slowly in and out and allowing his own breathing to slow down and sync with hers. It had been cathartic after the stress of trying to be a Muggle, dealing with the fact that he had no magic until she woke up. As long as she kept breathing, in and out, in and out, they were one step closer to things working out.

She was the one steady thing in his life. Every day he would arrive here after his job at the Muggle bar to give her the potion, sit and watch her until his muscles relaxed, and then go visit his mother to give her an update on Aerie's condition. His mother was particularly concerned, which pleased Draco secretly, as she felt beholden to Aerie for Draco's protection during the War.

Now he was doing his part. Aerie had protected him, now he would protect her. Protect her from wasting away and doing that with what he did best: potions. After hours of pouring drinks and listening to the drunken moaning of Muggles with petty problems, Draco quickly lost himself in the simplicity of making a potion that would quicken the recovery of the one person who could have an intellectual conversation with him.

The brevity of the situation hit him at that moment. Not only was she gone, but he was only person to see the—thing—that took her, the non-human woman who claimed to be Aerie's mother. Who was going to believe him?

A gasp at the door brought his gaze up in a panic. "She's gone," he stated softly to Medi-wizard Kittirick as she stared, wide-eyed at the empty bed. "A woman showed up and took her."

"T-t-took her?" Kittirick stammered.

"Yes, as in kidnapped her," Draco snapped, already tired of the stupidity of the question. "We can't get her back because she has disappeared to a place that does not exist."

Kittirick gasped again. "Then it's true," she whispered.

He gazed at her sharply waiting for her to explain. When she did not, only continued to stare, he droned sarcastically and with tremendous frustration, "Share with the class."

The Medi-wizard met his stare hesitantly after a moment and said, "When Astoria came here, we did all the customary tests when we put her back together. Unfortunately, when we determined her blood type, it came back with a combination unlike anything we had ever seen before and we could not supply her with any blood."

"Her blood is abnormal?" he asked, curious despite himself.

"Yes," Kittirick nodded quickly. "We had to leave her to slowly produce her own blood because we did not have a match. All of our Healers were and are confused about what Astoria is since she is not entirely human. And it was suggested—" She stopped, taking a deep breath.

"What was?" Draco demanded when she did not begin again, irritated at her dithering. Honestly, could the woman not just say what was on her mind?

"It was suggested that she was an elf. Well—" She corrected herself. "Part elf, at least. But not like a house-elf. No, something more complex. There is a myth about such grand elves living in secret; living in a place that no one has seen. Astoria was the first hint that the myth might be true."

"It is true," Draco agreed. "I saw the elf for myself."

If Kittirick's eyes were not wide enough, they got slightly wider. "You did? Is that—"

"Her mother," he supplied. "Her real mother. And she has taken Aeridia to that place that no one knows about. And why did you not tell me any of this before?"

"It was not my place to say, especially since this was all speculation. At any rate, Astoria disappearing is not good."

"No it's not. I can't go get her since I don't know where it is."

"Nor can you leave the country, Mr. Malfoy," she responded, fixing him with a stern look. "No one knows about her real mother, and if you don't leave the hospital now, someone is going to think that you were responsible for her disappearance."

That was a thought that Draco had not considered. "That is ridiculous. Who would honestly think that?"

"Someone walking in right this moment and seeing her gone would, especially with you holding her wand."

He had forgotten that he had picked up Aerie's wand. He tightened his grip on the only tangible thing he had that belonged to her. Why would it matter if the authorities thought that he was the one who made Aerie disappear? It was not as if they actually liked him. No one had since the War.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked wearily. "I wouldn't do something like that."

Kittirick's voice softened. "I know you wouldn't. Because I happen to know that you care a great deal for Astoria, though you won't admit it. Why else would you be here every day?"

"To give her the potion?" he retorted, not giving in to what she was saying.

"You could have allowed me to give it to her. But I know that you lived for this. Deny it all you want; I know this is more than a probationary obligation."

Draco seethed. Who did this woman think she is? He had to protect Aerie. It was his obligation. But this woman did not need to know that.

"I'm sure that her mother will take care of her and bring her back when she is healed," he said, attempting, and failing, at sounding nonchalant.

Kittirick nodded. "Oh, of course," she replied dryly. "But I still have to report this. Her parents will need to be notified, as will the Ministry. The circumstances of the elfin connection will have to be omitted from my report."

"Rightly so," he agreed.

"That means you are the primary suspect of her disappearance," she pointed out.

"Wouldn't see it any other way." He shrugged. "I'm always on my best behavior. Let them try and commit me."

He went and grabbed his cloak.

"I will do one thing for you, Mr. Malfoy," Kittirick said once he had his cloak on.

He paused and turned to her, wanting to leave so that he could get to his mother's house. There were some ancient texts he needed to consult sooner rather than later.

"I will report that she disappeared after you left for the day. That should lighten some of the suspicion on you."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And why would you do that?"

To his surprise, she blushed and looked away. If he had not been so hell-bent on getting out of the hospital, he might have spent a few moments basking in the knowledge that he had unwittingly manipulated a woman with his looks. As it were, he was feeling more generous.

"Thank you," he said before he could think against it. What the hell had gotten into him? A Malfoy is hardly gracious.

Kittirick blushed harder. "I only wish that this helps you. I hope to find a man that will care about me the way that you care about Astoria."

Draco nodded curtly and swept from the room, leaving Kittirick to notify the Ministry of the disappearance of the last injured patient from the War while he went to find the location of the mythical world of elves. Merlin, he felt ridiculous just thinking about it. Could Aerie not have just been sucked down to a mermaid grotto or taken to a dragon's cave? That would have been much more realistic.