Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series. But I do own Set in Stone and all its lovely plot's glory! Yay me!

Okay, so I hope the wait wasn't too long! I'm getting better at updating more than just once a month. Right? I think more than once a month now. Say thank you to my ever worsening procrastination for this chapter. I should have been working on a research paper for my English class… Ah well, I got a chapter done!

I would like to point out to those of you who don't realize this, my timeline for Set in Stone is different from the book! I know that it is! I hope this makes reading less confusing. I would hope most of you realized that though. It's kind of obvious I think. I'm at least trying to stick to the cannon of Harry, Ron, and Hermione's adventures a bit, in content if not time.

Well, enjoy reading! I hope y'all like it!

Without further ado:

Chapter 42

Ginny POV

I did my best to hide my anxiety as I sat in the small living room at Shell Cottage, listening as Luna told her story of how she'd ended up at Malfoy Manor. "The Carrows took my wand and apparated, each holding one of my wrists. When we got there," she was saying, "the Carrows handed me over to Lucius Malfoy who tossed me down into the dungeon." Her voice was cheery as ever, even when she talked about being taken prisoner. "That's when I saw Mr. Olivander."

"Was he in nearly as bad of shape as he is now?" Bill asked curiously, never one to hold in his questions.

"No so much back then," Luna said in her airy voice. "Just a bit banged up. He was taken upstairs from time to time and always came back down in worse shape than before. I did what I could to ease his pain but without a wand, I wasn't able to accomplish much." She frowned slightly at that point, showing us how frustrating it must have been to not be able to help the man she'd become friends with.

She took another sip of her tea before continuing. "I was held down there for over a month before they took me upstairs the first time. I don't know what made Lucius Malfoy so angry, but that night it was Mr. Olivander taking care of me." She shook her head before shrugging, a smile coming back onto her face. "That didn't happen often. I was told they reason they'd taken me was because of what my dad put into the Quibbler. I was okay with it after that. The truth needed to be out."

"You were so brave," Fleur whispered, shaking her head, unable to phantom what Luna and been though.

Luna didn't respond the compliment, never one to boast about herself. She merely took another sip of tea. We all waited quietly for her to keep going. I was beginning to wonder if she was ever going to mention Draco, but I couldn't come out and just ask, it would rise to many questions.

Finally, she began to talk again. "It was like that for a long while. I'm not even sure how long I'd been there. It must be nearly a year now though," she said offhandedly.

"It would have been a year in a little over a month," I said, remembering vividly the day I heard the news of Luna going missing. It had been a hard day for me, not knowing if I would ever see my dear friend again.

Luna nodded and smiled before asking, "So it's late October?"

"Yes, October 24 to be exact," Fleur said, glancing up at the calendar hanging just inside the kitchen, though she already knew the date. She'd been keeping track every day since she found out she was pregnant, counting down the days. Ron and Hermione looked at each other in surprise at the date. I guessed they hadn't known either.

Everyone lapsed into comfortable silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts. I tried to hide my disappointment when I realized Luna was done talking about her time at Malfoy Manor without ever mentioning Draco. I wasn't completely crestfallen though, I still had hope that maybe Ron, Harry, and Hermione would mention him when they told us what had happened to them.

No long after that, a very sullen Harry came walking back in, dirty from digging Dobby's grave. With a silent look to Hermione, Ron and Luna, he picked up the limp body of Dobby, still wrapped in the old sheet, and strode back outside. No words were said as the three followed him out. Dobby had saved their lives, giving his own in the process. They all felt the need to honor him this one last time. The rest of us understood too that it was something that they needed to do alone.

When the door shut behind them, I let out an exhausted sigh, the results of only getting two hours of sleep and so much excitement today catching up to me. "I'm going to go check on Mr. Olivander and Griphook," I said to Bill and Fleur as I stood. I was sure they wanted a moment by themselves as much as I did. Walking back to the room that I'd just vacated for the use of the old wand maker, I stopped briefly in the bathroom.

I grimaced as I looked in the mirror. I was a mess. My hair was wild from sleep and, looking closely, it was obvious I'd spent the better part of last night crying. To top it off, the dark circles under my eyes were even more pronounced than usual, the lack of sleep showing. Grabbing my wand I performed a quick freshening spell before brushing through my hair.

I was still wearing my nightgown I'd slipped on just mere hours ago. The top few buttons of it had come open sometime that morning. They had a tendency to work themselves out from time to time. I felt a familiar reassurance as I saw the necklace that Draco had given me nearly two years ago settled onto my chest, visible with the unbuttoned nightgown. The two dragons spiraling down around the emerald was a familiar sight but it always brought me comfort.

Because one day I intended to make you a Malfoy. That was what Draco had said to me that day in the library. I still held onto that hope, even after so much had happened for force us apart. With luck, one day the war would end and that could happen. I always held onto that hope, the hope of a happy future.

Amour brushed against my leg suddenly, sensing my emotions, and roused me from my thoughts. Reaching down to pet her quickly, I walked out of the bathroom looking a bit more decent then when I'd walked in. The door to the back room was open slightly and, peaking in, I could see Mr. Olivander was still asleep. Quickly going to the dresser, I pulled out some clothes to wear today. Going back to the bathroom, I changed quickly.

Walking into to put my nightgown away and check on Mr. Olivander, I saw he was still sleeping peacefully. The dreamless sleep draught that I'd had Bill give him earlier was still in effect, thankfully. Lord knows he needed a good long sleep after all he'd been put through. Pulling out my wand I did a few healing spells. I used an anti-swelling spell on the bump on his head but it didn't do much for it, only shrank it a bit. So, pulling out a bottle of healing paste, I put a bit on the bump and wrapped it up with some cloth, hoping the compress would help the swelling.

After I was finally satisfied that he was okay for now, I made my way to the room that Griphook was occupying. There wasn't much more I could do for him as of now. There were some potions he would take when he woke to make sure any internal damage was healed fine and to help mend the bones in his legs, but nothing other than bruise diminishing charms were necessary yet.

When I was satisfied that my two patients were resting peacefully and healing fine, I went back out into the sitting room, having nowhere else to go seeing as my bed was currently occupied by Mr. Olivander. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Luna were back inside. Fleur was nearly done fixing lunch. Harry, Ron and Bill were talking and Hermione and Luna were helping Fleur.

Seeing me, Luna excused herself and walked over. Leading me in the hall away from the others, she turned to me. "He is going to be okay, isn't he?" she asked cautiously, referring to Mr. Olivander.

I nodded and gave her a smile. "He should be fine. His injuries weren't all that bad; he was just weak from lack of food and very little sleep. I'm sure you're not in much better shape but you're better at hiding it. Are you okay, Luna?" I asked hesitantly. I could tell her clothes hung looser than they used to and her hair had lost much of its luster.

"I'm fine really. What little food we got, Mr. Olivander made me eat most of. He would always tell me that he's an old man near death anyway and I was young and had a full life ahead of me." She shook her head and said sadly, "I didn't want to but he'd have it no other way. Most of the time I feigned fullness so he would eat. But, still, sometimes he made me let him have his way."

I could tell she felt guilty and responsible for the condition he was in, though it wouldn't have mattered much if he'd had a few more bites of food anyway. They were both malnourished as it was. "He's going to be okay, Luna," I told her again, trying to ease her mind. "You did a great thing by taking care of him over the last year. You probably saved his life. Don't beat yourself up over who got what food. What matters is that you're both going to be okay now."

She smiled then, the usual sparkle returning to her eyes. "Yes, and we are finally free. It's all thanks to Dobby really, but if it hadn't been for Harry, Ron, and Hermione showing up at Malfoy Manor then we'd still be down there."

I wasn't given much time to dwell on the fact that now I knew that Ron, Hermione and Harry had been in Malfoy Manor, that they really might know how Draco was, as I was soon pulled into a hug by Luna. I hugged my friend back, happy she was safe. At least one more person was safe and accounted for. Pulling back, I smiled at her. "I'm glad you're safe," I said to her as we walked back into the living room.

Soon Fleur called us all to the table to eat. It was obvious that the trio hadn't had much to eat lately since even the distraught Harry had two servings. Ron on the other hand had four. I wasn't sure how his stomach could hold that much food but I just watched in silent amusement as he ate enough to feed a family of four. It was good to have him home.

Luna couldn't eat much, though it was obvious she wanted too. After so long of having little too no food, her stomach had shrunk. She savored every last bite that she could though.

The meal was delicious and thankfully Fleur had made an abundance of food. There were hardly any leftovers by the time Ron was ready to leave the table. Finally, after everyone had eaten their fill and were relaxing in the living room. I took some food back to Mr. Olivander and roused him so he could eat. He needed that as much as sleep. After eating the little he could, I gave him more dreamless sleep draught and left him be. He needed to rest.

I didn't want to rouse the goblin just yet, since he was unconscious not merely asleep. His body needed the recuperation that it was getting. Sometimes no magic could heal better than rest could. I poked my head into the room though to see if he'd stirred yet. He hadn't.

Finally, I went back into the sitting room where everyone was relaxing and drinking some tea. Pouring myself a cup, I settled down on the loveseat next to Luna.

"You've been gone an awfully long time you three," Bill said as we all reclined in our respective spots, each nursing a hot beverage. "Well, you've been back once Ron but we didn't get much out of you, even then."

I looked suddenly over at my oldest brother. He'd seen Ron since the wedding? Why didn't he tell Mum? We'd all been worried sick about the three of them and Bill had known where Ron was, even for a time?

Registering the shocked expression on my face, Ron suddenly said, "I didn't want people to know. It was easier that way, to stay hidden I mean." He looked down, obviously not telling the whole truth. Maybe it was the reason why he'd been here and not the others he was hiding. It didn't matter though and nobody pressed him for it.

Harry started talking then, giving everybody what they'd silently been asking for: An explanation.

"I can't tell you what we've been doing since we left your wedding so long ago," he was saying. It had been nearly two years since their wedding and nobody had heard from the trio since then. "But, I can tell you how we ended up at Malfoy Manor and in turn here."

Taking a deep breath, he started to recount what had happened to them. "We never stayed in the same place more than a few nights at most. It was safer that way, less likely we'd be found. We went on like that for quite a while and, no matter how bleak and existence it was, we still had each other and kept going. We've faced trials and tribulations and our fair share of disagreements but everything was going okay in the long run. It could only last so long, I guess." He trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway look as he recalled what had happen.

"It was just early last night that all of this started. A group of snatchers found us. We tried to run, tried to get away, but one by one they caught us." He glanced over at Hermione then and she looked down, a small smile on her face.

"I hit him with a singing jinx at the last second," she explained sheepishly as she sat on the couch between Harry and Ron. "I knew it was too late, that they'd catch us, but I did what I could to distort Harry's face so they wouldn't recognize him. It was the only hope we had."

"Genius really," Harry agreed, frowning in spite himself. I understood why though. Who would want to be on the receiving end of one of Hermione's stinging jinxes? "But, while that did make me hideous and unrecognizable, they saw my scar and took us to Malfoy Manor."

Again, just like when Luna spoke of Malfoy Manor, I felt my heart speed up and I clutched my tea cup a bit tighter to keep my hands from shaking. "They took us into a big room, the drawing room from the looks of it, and tried to find out who we really were. Lucius and his wife were there, as was Draco Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. They had Malfoy look me over to see if they could tell if I really was who the snatchers said I was. I'd never been so happy to be hit by a stinging jinx."

My heart soared when he said Draco's name. Draco had been alive and well as of last night. My Draco was alive! I tried to remain composed as the tears threatened to fall, my heart feeling lighter than it had in months. I might not have got to see him myself, but I knew Draco was alive.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Harry as he continued to speak. "The jinx accomplished what we'd needed it for, since Malfoy seemed unsure if it was really me," he was saying. "When he finally said that yes, it was me, Lucius Malfoy went to use the Dark Mark to call You-Know-Who." He paused before saying You-Know-Who, obviously remembering the Taboo on Voldemort's name. That wouldn't have been good snatchers to show up on the front step of Shell Cottage.

"I'm not sure what happened then," He said, setting his now empty tea cup down on the coffee table. Fleur immediately poured him another cup and he picked it back up and took another drink.

He continued on to tell us about how Bellatrix stopped Malfoy Sr. and freaked out when she saw one of the snatchers holding the sword of Gryffindor. She'd yelled for Wormtail then to take Harry and Ron down to the dungeon with Luna, Olivander and Griphook after taking the sword from snatcher and making them leave.

Hermione had tears running down her cheeks as Harry explained them being taken to the dungeon and Hermione picked up the story, telling of how Bellatrix carved the horrible word Mudblood into her arm. She was trying to torture out of Hermione how they'd gotten the sword that was supposed to be in Bellatrix's vault.

Harry started talking again then, Ron content to comfort Hermione rather than talk. He told of how Dobby had appeared heroically and apparated Luna and Olivander here to Shell Cottage. Harry poured himself yet another cup of tea, thirsty from all the talking. After that, he went on to tell of how Wormtail's silver hand had killed him rather than letting him kill Harry.

And finally, we were told of the sad but heroic end of Dobby's life, the knife hitting him square in the chest as he apparated Harry, Ron, Hermione and Griphook to safety.

Nearly everyone had tears in their eyes at this point, grieving the lose of such a great elf. But, not even the loss of Dobby seemed to be able to lessen the joy in my heart. Draco was okay. Draco was alive.

There you go! You have the answer you've all been waiting for. Draco is alive! You're welcome for not killing him off :D

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it! I liked it; did you? I hope you did. You should click the handy little review button down there and profess your extreme gratitude that I didn't kill Draco off, because you all love me! … Right? Well, either way, I'd enjoy hearing all of you guys' opinion's on this chapter and/or the story in general. It makes me want to write more with every positive review!

So please, feed our growing little BJ with your lovely reviews! A growing boy needs his food! He's not been getting fed much lately, so few of you have left reviews the past several chapters :( He's hungry and hoping for a feast this time round!

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