Draco took one heavy step after another, lugging his tired body towards his home. Each footstep seemed to take every ounce of his energy and power. Raindrops sprayed his face and blurred his vision. Mud and puddles splashed around his ankles. He could hardly see. It was so dark and windy that every flash of lightning was greatly appreciated, although the booming thunder that followed seemed to mock him.
Draco never felt so far away from his house. His grip on his wand seemed so tight that every muscle in his right bicep was rigid. The floating Hermione drifted eerily in front of him, unfazed and unaware of the cackling lightning and snapping thunder.
Breathing heavily, Draco pushed open the heavy wood door of his house and directed the girl in.
Once the door was safely closed behind him, he almost darted up the stairs, one wary eye on Hermione. He entered her bedroom and guided the body until it softly lay on top of the covers.
The girl was unmoving. "Oh, Hermione." Draco thought, watching her bland expression. He sat down on the armchair next to her bed, but then leapt back up. "OLFIE! TINKY!" He roared. Two small 'pops!' and the little house elves were facing him.
"You called us Master Mal-EEEP!" Tinky let out a great yelp. Her large round eyes fell upon the figure on the bed. She burst into tears.
"Please, Mr. Malfoy," Olfie replied, his face filled with shock. "I…we, we are not as trained as Olfie's grandmother and grandfather in medicine…sir. We cannot stand the sight of Miss. Hermione sickly, sir. I is knowing little about healing, but Terrah and Perfin have healed many in their whole lives! They are still resting from the party, they are downstairs."
"Very well. You may go. TERRAH! PERFIN!" Olfie disappeared with a 'crack!', carrying a sobbing Tinky with him.
Half an instant later, the two older house elves appeared out of thin air. Draco opened his mouth but Terrah and Perfin were already crossing the room to the bed.
The creatures peered, poked, glanced, prodded, and frowned at Hermione. They each gave incoherent mutterings to themselves. Every once in a while they glanced at each other, or moved a limb or two. They were at it for what seemed like hours, although in reality it was only for several minutes. Draco couldn't stay still. He paced around the room, sat down in the armchair, got back up and looked over the busy house elves, then paced again.
All at once, the house elves stopped and looked at each other. Then they both turned and faced Draco. Draco, who was sitting at the time, immediately jumped out of the chair and braced for the worst.
"She's alive." Perfin croaked. Draco let out the breath that he had been holding in unconsciously.
"What…what's wrong with her? Why isn't she waking up?"
"She's hurt very bad." Terrah said slowly. "So many broken ribs, internal bleeding, concussion, bruising."
"She will wake in several hours." Perrin replied.
"Of course not!" Terrah rounded towards her old husband. "Her body is physically, mentally, and emotionally tired! She will need at least a day to regain consciousness! Perhaps two!"
"You foolish woman!" Perfin fought back, slightly surprising Draco. "Are you not a house elf? Do you not have powers to speed her recovery? You forget, sometimes, you're mind must be slipping!"
"EXCUSE ME!" Terrah was now emulating a strong domineering power. "It is YOUR mind that is slipping, Perfin! We are temporary house elves of this household, Perfin! We do not have permission from the Ministry, or master and mistress, to perform such powerful healing magic! Are you willing to risk such an important healing power on such a risky healing process? You forget, Perfin that we cannot see inside her body! We do not have access to potions! We are old! We are not as powerful as we were when we were young! We cannot afford to make a mistake on such a dangerous and uncertain procedure! This is a fragile girl! Or did you forget that perhaps even we are not capable of undergoing such a delicate practice? What if we make a mistake, the disaster! You are such a thoughtless fool!
Silence followed.
"I'm sorry." Perfin said quietly.
"You're forgiven." Terrah said, in a rather calmer tone. Draco watched as the two house elves walked towards each other and give an elderly hug.
Quite surprised at what just happened, Draco said "So…about Hermione…"
"Hermione will regain her consciousness in a day." Terrah said, turning to face Draco again. "There will be no doubt of the pain she will be in. Perfin and I will begin making a potion as a painkiller."
Draco nodded. The two house elves gave one more look at the girl then popped out of sight. Sighing, Draco sat down in the armchair and buried his face in his hands, trying to think. But for some odd reason, his mind kept on wondering to Perfin and Terrah. Their bickering sounded familiar…
"DRACO! DRACO!" A loud, shrilling voice came from somewhere in the house.
"Mother?" Draco wondered aloud. He got up and left the room. Narcissa Malfoy, covered with floo powder, was standing in the middle entrance hallway; fear sprawled all over her face.
"Draco. Oh, Draco! It…it's happened! I…I can't believe it! I-I thought it would never..but it's impossible!" Narcissa paced helplessly in front of the fireplace, waving a newspaper in her hand, muttering incomplete sentences.
"What's impossible? What's happened?" Draco quickly walked down the stairs.
"This!" She held up the newspaper right up to Draco's face. On the front page news, in large words were:
Lucious Malfoy: Escaped from Azkaban
author's note: Yes, this chapter was short, but I was suddenly bonbarded with 'pleaseeee update soon' and 'keep updating!' messages that I felt that If i didn't get another chapter up soon, i'd start losing my readers. :) Anyways, yes, i know this cliffhanger is just as bad as the chapter before, but I know where this story is going, so just bear with me. I do have a busy life and i'm trying my best to keep this story updated. LEAVE REVIEWS PLEASE. :) they make me happy. Thanks to the wonderful and dedicated FireflyPhoniex for beta-ing!