Chapter 37 - Escapes and Rescues

Down below, two things were happening independently of each other and of the explosion that had turned out to be far more powerful than Draco had first anticipated. Firstly, Ollivander and Luna were making good their escape, wands in hand and Pettigrew's guard replacement quickly immobilized to clear a pathway for them. They had just reached the front hallway when Draco's explosion went off with perfect timing, distracting the two guards by the front door and sending them running. Now, the way was clear for Ollivander and Luna to escape outside and get beyond the manor property line to where they could apparate to safety.

Ollivander, having been held prisoner far longer than Luna and tortured by Voldemort directly, didn't hesitate and made a run for it. If any death eaters did see him, they didn't head his way in pursuit, as the explosion had drawn most of them away and now the fog, quickly shrouding the manor and the surrounding gardens, was obscuring much of the movement in the surrounding area. As long as Ollivander and Luna were quiet, they should have an easy way through.

Luna, however, hesitated in following him, feeling that something just wasn't right. She never questioned her senses—though everyone else had, many times—and she wasn't about to start now. "Something's wrong," she called to Ollivander, halting him.

"Luna dear," he gasped, catching his breath and coughing a bit from the fog. "Everything about this place is wrong. We've got to leave, quickly!"

"Where's Malfoy?" Luna asked suddenly. "He said he'd meet us here and help us in case there are additional wards at the gate."

"I'm sure Mr. Malfoy is just fine—this is his own house, after all," Ollivander replied. "And as for wards, we've both got wands now, and can handle it."

Luna didn't look convinced, but she wasn't about to argue with Ollivander. With freedom so close at hand and after being locked away for so long herself, even someone as "crazy" as Luna was going to make the rational choice and escape while they still could. So, running closely behind Ollivander, the pair reached just outside the gates and then quickly apparated away.

Or, one of them did, anyway. The other was very much preoccupied with the furious and heavy mass of fur that had just landed on her chest and was slobbering over her, looking as acutely ravenous as only Fenrir Greyback could.

Meanwhile, on the stairs, Ron and Harry were being taken down to the cellar by Pettigrew and Narcissa Malfoy, only one of whom seemed to be enjoying the task. From what Harry could tell through his half-shut eyes, the look on the mistress of the house's face was one of pure disgust, as though escorting unwilling hostages was beneath her. Pettigrew, on the other hand, looked as though he'd just been given a Christmas present.

"So sorry the Dark Lord couldn't be here to greet you, boys," he said, acting high and mighty as though he wasn't just a lowly henchman. "Pity you're not important enough." Narcissa ignored him as always, whereas Ron and Harry were both starting to question just how stupid Pettigrew was not to recognize them, considering that he'd been Ron's pet rat for many years.

Just then, they felt the aftershock of the explosion, all turning to glance up the stairway that they had just descended.

"Draco!" Narcissa breathed, staring up in horror. Shoving Harry at Pettigrew like an unwanted package, she hastened upstairs, no longer a death eater but instead just a terrified mother.

Keeping his wand trained on the boys, Pettigrew spat at them, "What did you do?!"

"Wasn't our fault!" Ron spat back, unafraid of the one-handed wizard even though he clearly had the upper hand with his wand pointed at them. "In case you haven't noticed, we can't do anything right now, you traitorous prat!"

"Get down, both of you!" Pettigrew threatened, shoving them in front of him.

Unarmed, Ron and Harry did as he said, and next thing they knew, they found themselves shoved into the basement of Malfoy Manor, which only minutes ago had housed two very different prisoners. For once, Pettigrew was perceptive that the door was open when it shouldn't be, and his guard replacement had made himself scarce after waking up from his stun.

Stepping into the cell with Harry and Ron, Pettigrew uttered, "Lumos!" and lit up the entire dark, damp area, only to find it empty except for himself and the boys. He stood completely unbelieving and let his guard down for one moment, giving Ron just enough time to come at him from the side in a sudden burst of rage, giving Pettigrew a sucker punch to the face. Howling, Pettigrew clutched at his nose with one hand even while shooting a spell off with his wand. The spell blasted Ron right off his feet, but then Harry came at Pettigrew from behind, tackling him to the floor and disarming him in the struggle.

Standing over him with Pettigrew's wand in his hand, Harry stared down at the traitor in pure hatred, remembering everything that he had done that had led to Lily and James's deaths. He wanted to kill him—he should kill him for everything that he'd done and most of the Wizarding World would be thanking him for it. It had finally come to this, avenging his parents' deaths if only in part. And yet...

Just then, a terrible scream sounded from upstairs, distracting everyone—Hermione's scream, full of terror and pain.

"You!" Pettigrew exclaimed, seeing Harry clearly in the light as his face finally healed and returned to normal. Taking advantage of Harry's shock and uncertainty after hearing Hermione's cry, he lunged at Harry and brought him down again, this time not as easy a target as he had been before. Ron, standing up at last and clutching his arm against a bleeding wound at his side, moved to help, but just then he heard Hermione scream again.

"Ron, go!" Harry yelled, kicking Pettigrew's wand out of reach just as the dark wizard was about to grab it. Picking it up, Ron cast a stunning spell on Pettigrew in passing, but in his haste also hit Harry in part as well.

Both wizards, the Chosen One and the traitor, fell back, fighting against the effects of the spell. It was Pettigrew who recovered first, and then, rather than go after Ron and put the odds in his favour by retrieving his wand, hovered over Harry and then placed his hands, real and silver, around the young wizard's throat, choking the life out of him.

"You're going to kill me? After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!" Harry managed to say, even while clawing at Pettigrew's hands uselessly to get him to let go.

For a moment, Pettigrew's eyes widened in recognition, his memory going back to that incident almost five years ago when, by all accounts, his life should have ended at Sirius Black and Remus Lupin's hands. Then, it had been only Harry who spoke up for him, sparing his life in memory of his father if nothing else. And now, Pettigrew realized, here he was trying to kill the son of one of the men who had been his best friends, the only ones to accept him despite all his shortcomings...

No...

Even as Pettigrew's fingers grew lax around Harry's throat though, Pettigrew's own silver hand, a "gift" from the Dark Lord, turned upon him instead and began to strangle him.

"Help...help...Harry!" Pettigrew gasped, his breath coming in shorter and shorter amounts. He felt everything in his throat being crushed by that hand, his vocal cords ceasing to work, soon to be followed by his lungs and heart.

"Wormtail!" Harry exclaimed, struggling against all logic and going more on his instinct as he grabbed hold of Pettigrew's hand and tried to restrain it. Alas, it was no use. For, in giving his most frightened follower the "gift" of a new hand after he had sacrificed his old one, Voldemort had also had a purpose: to ensure that he was never betrayed, and to deliver punishment in case he was. And Peter Pettigrew, in his one moment of pity and hesitation not to kill Harry Potter, had done precisely that.

A minute was all it took, and then suddenly Harry was all alone in the basement of Malfoy Manor, Peter Pettigrew no more than an empty shell and a memory of the bad things he had done.

Not all bad, though—not at the end.

With no time to waste and being unsure how to feel about the horror of what had just happened, Harry picked himself up and ran upstairs to see what in Merlin's name was happening.

It should be mentioned right here and now that Ron did not end up making it back to the room where they had started from, where Hermione still was. For, no sooner had he crossed into the front hall, then he heard another scream that was all too familiar, and more immediately to his right. Greyback, having caught Luna unawares and prevented her escape, had taken the witch's new wand and was dragging her back into the manner, scratched and bleeding from his claws digging into her arm.

To her credit, Luna had managed to get off one spell and stung Greyback badly in the shoulder, which was now bleeding and festering with pus, but otherwise she had been entirely overpowered by a werewolf that knew no pain, having a high tolerance for his own, and absolutely loving the pain of others.

He looked like a monster contemplating its next meal as he dragged her inside, and took pleasure as Luna shrieked in pain when he pulled her hair back to expose her throat. Licking his chops, he was just about to take a bite, when suddenly he was blasted away from her by a spell cast by Ron, holding Pettigrew's wand. Desperately, Ron shot off one spell after another at the incapacitated werewolf, until finally Luna pulled back his hand.

"Ron, that's enough!" she exclaimed. "It's done, he's out cold."

And indeed, Greyback was unconscious, unable even with his superhuman strength to withstand so many spells ricocheting off of him at such speeds. At least, this way, Ron had confirmed that Pettigrew's wand was a good match for him.

"Ron, what are you doing here?" Luna asked, cautiously extracting her wand from Greyback's coat pocket. Ron marveled at her bravery to approach the maniac werewolf, especially considering how badly cut up and shaken she was by their encounter.

"There's no time to explain, I've got to go!" Ron insisted, already heading up the stairs. "Luna, get yourself out of here!"

"I—oh, Harry!" For Harry had come up at this moment from the basement, looking fairly shaken himself, but otherwise alright.

"Luna? What are you doing here?!" Harry asked.

"Harry, come on!" Ron called, upstairs now. "Hermione!"

"Right! Luna, get out now if you can!" Harry insisted, sprinting up the stairs himself.

But Luna, though she had been willing to escape with no questions asked before, couldn't leave her friends behind now, and so she followed the boys back upstairs, to the room where they had all encountered Bellatrix before.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, bursting into the room, wand drawn. Unfortunately though, Hermione was no longer there. Nor was Draco or Narcissa, for that matter. Instead, only Bellatrix herself was present, just coming out of a daze. Frantically, the dark witch looked around for something, but, unable to find it, shrieked in defiance.

"NOOOOOO!" Then, noticing who had just entered the room, her gaze fixed on Harry in particular.

Cackling madly, she brought her thumb to her mouth and then bit it hard, drawing blood. Then, bringing not her wand, which was nowhere to be seen, but her bloodied finger to the dark mark on her arm, she summoned Voldemort to come at once.

"We've got to go!" Having seen that Hermione was absent and therefore having no reason to stay, Ron grabbed ahold of Harry's hand and Luna grabbed the other. But no sooner did they try to leave the room then some of the snatchers from before were there blocking their way, Scabior in the front. He eyed them sadistically even while he spared Bellatrix a disgusted, hateful glance for the way she had treated him earlier.

Ron attempted to apparate them out, but the wards were back in place around the Manor, everyone on full alert now that Draco's fog had dissipated and now, awaiting their Dark Lord, even Lucius Malfoy had arrived back on the scene to witness what was happening.

"Bellatrix!" he exclaimed, striding forward towards the witch. He was the only one brave enough—or drunk enough—to approach her in this state. "Where are my wife and son? What the hell happened?!"

Bellatrix's eyes glazed over for a moment, her face becoming almost fearful. She glared at Harry and Ron in ice cold hatred, but the fear was still present underneath it all.

"How did you get it?!" she hissed, focusing in on Harry in particular. "What else did you take?!"

Neither wizard knew what the mad witch was on about, though it didn't take much guessing seeing as the Sword of Gryffindor was also conspicuously absent. There was far more that had gone on in that room than met the eye.

Speaking of which, just then, as Bellatrix was preparing to walk over and kill them with her own hands if she had to—as she was indeed wandless and unwilling to wait until Voldemort arrived—something that appeared to be an illusion happened quite suddenly.

Falling down almost on top of Bellatrix was the grand chandelier that had been hanging in the room, missing her by barely an inch and still scratching her cheek in the process. Yelling out in fury more than pain, Bellatrix took out a wicked-looking dagger and gestured it around wildly.

"Who did that?! Who just tried to kill me?!" she demanded.

Appearing at Ron, Harry and Luna's side was none other than Dobby the house elf, looking very proud of himself at the moment even while the Malfoys glared in abject disbelief.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Bellatrix shrilled. "How dare you try to kill a witch?!"

"Not kill," Dobby replied, wringing his hands nervously. "Only...maim."

"Dobby!" Harry exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Of all the things anyone had been expecting, this had been the last.

"Dobby is here to save Harry Potter and his friends," Dobby explained. "Dobby would have come sooner, only Dobby had to—"

"You were here before, you wretch!" Bellatrix snarled. "Yes, I remember! What have you done with Draco and Narcissa?!"

"N-nothing! Dobby has done nothing!" the house elf whimpered.

Lucius took out his wand. "You damn little—!"

"Stupefy!" Luna suddenly said, wand pointed at Lucius Malfoy and knocking him right off his feet.

"Foolish girl, you'll pay for that!" Bellatrix snapped, advancing. "Take them!"

But just as the death eaters behind them rushed forward, Dobby grabbed hold of Ron and Luna's hands, connecting them all, and then, whereas they as wizards could not apparate in and out of Malfoy Manor, Dobby could, and he was going to take them to safety.

None of them had counted that Bellatrix could have such fast reflexes which, coupled with an intent to kill, was just deadly enough to send her dagger flying their way, and have it apparate with them as well.

The victory was a small one for the dark witch, especially considering that her master was on his way there and she had nothing to show for it; but just the thought of even a bit of bloodshed and of seeing her precious Dark Lord again was too much for her crazed mind at that point.

Bellatrix howled in mad laughter, even as everyone around her waited fearfully for the punishment they knew was to come.

A/N: Let me start off by saying that this chapter was hard to write, from two points of view. Firstly, I was very conflicted with what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to change from canon as, of course, everything that Rowling originally wrote was perfect enough, so why would I want to change anything? And secondly, I also felt conflicted as to whether I should include any fanservice in this chapter or, indeed, any part of the story, as so many of you all seem to want the same things!

In the end though, my own vision won out and I just had to go along with my original plan, so that's what you've just read. I hope that no one's disappointed though and that there were still a few interesting twists that you enjoyed. Also, I hope that yet another cliffhanger (which one is this, the fourth or fifth in a row, I wonder?) goes a long way to getting you all excited for the next chapter I have planned ahead! I promised drama and by gosh y'all are getting that now!

And yes, I know that I'm being "super mean" at holding off on writing anything for Dramione in this chapter, but hear me out: what I have planned for what happens with those two is REALLY long and REALLY dramatic, so it would constitute a chapter in and of itself. So, while it was tempting to just write the juicy stuff concerning those two, I couldn't just leave Luna, Harry, and Ron in the dust, now could I? So, I decided to split up the escape from Malfoy Manor into two parts, and since I know that the Dramione part is the juicier part, I decided to leave the best for last. But...mmm...did you prefer it the other way around, maybe—to have the Dramione chapter first and then this chapter as a follow-up? Because I wonder if maybe this one wouldn't have been disappointing if I had chosen to write things that way. Please let me know and do be honest.

Other than that, and if you can think of anything else I should address, please let me know in your reviews! Also, for new readers or readers who haven't followed or favourited this story yet, please do so to show your support! (After all, I won't know if you're reading otherwise! ^^")