Chapter Twenty Seven
She came to minutes later to three faces staring down at her, one of them Severus's. "Elaine?" he said urgently. She struggled to sit up, blinking rapidly to focus. "Elaine, are you okay?"
She shook off his concern. "I'm okay, Severus." Now that she could concentrate, she saw that although he was sitting up, he was leaning heavily against Dean, who, surprisingly, was not complaining. "Severus, you need to be laying down, you-"
"Shut up," Severus snapped at her.
"Harry's upstairs," Luna offered, and Elaine jerked her head to face her. "Dean was telling us. He's upstairs with Ron and Hermione. We might get out of here."
"Let us not get our hopes up," Severus said, his voice dry. He moved over a bit and winced at the motion. "I don't know how even Potter could get himself out of this scrape."
But even as he said this, loud footsteps sounded in the hall above them, and the cellar door opened once more, two more figures shoved in, and as the door slammed, a loud scream came from above them.
"HERMIONE!" The redhead bellowed, struggling to get free of the ropes binding him. "HERMIONE!"
"Harry, Ron," Luna said. Harry turned his head to see her.
"Luna," he said in surprise. Elaine stayed quiet, grasping Severus's hand, afraid for the moment Harry would spot them. But he didn't for now, as Luna grabbed the nail again and this time cut the ropes binding the two Gryffindors together. It was then that he saw Severus, and judging by the fury on his face, his reaction would not go well.
She was right. Harry lunged at Severus, knocking him onto the floor. Elaine let out a scream, begging Harry to stop but he didn't listen, pounding his fist into Severus's face again and again until-
"Harry stop!" Luna grabbed Harry's arm as he went to punch Severus again. Harry's eyes drifted to Luna's face as she stared at him imploringly. "He's been hurt. You're making it worse."
Harry looked back at Severus, and it was now he seemed to notice how pale the ex-headmaster looked, how fast his chest moved up and down with his harsh gasps. He got up off of him as another scream sounded from upstairs. He glanced toward the door and back to Severus, and then seemed to notice Elaine for the first time.
"Harry," she whispered softly. "Oh thank Merlin you're safe."
The goblin snorted, reacting for the first time. "I doubt any of us are safe, girl!" he snapped.
Above them, Elaine could hear Bellatrix's voice. "You are lying, filthy mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth!" Another scream, and then - "What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or I swear I shall run you through with this knife!"
"What do you have that she thinks you stole?" Severus questioned in between pants, leaning his head against the wall as he attempted to stop the blood flowing out of his nose.
"A - a sword, Gryffindor's sword, actually," Ron said, glaring at the older man. "She thinks we got it out of her vault, but we never did, we found it -"
"At the bottom of a frozen pond," Elaine finished, moving over to help Severus. Silence met her statement, and she briefly glanced back to see both Harry and Ron staring at her in surprise.
"How do you know?" Harry demanded finally, and Severus snorted.
"We're only here because of that damned sword," he retorted.
"I don't understand," Ron said, looking from them to the cellar door, as if he was trying to plot an escape.
"We can explain when we're out of here," Elaine said calmly, but before anyone could say anything in response, another scream came, loud and agonizing, and it sent both boys into a frenzy. Harry was screaming at something, and Ron was bellowing Hermione's name over and over, banging on the door so hard his knuckles were bloodied.
"Draco!" The sound of Narcissa's boy's name interrupted the din. "Fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"
Severus, who was close to the goblin, began whispering fiercely into his ear as Draco's footsteps came closer, and his shaking voice came through the door.
"Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything or I'll kill you!"
They all did as they were told, Severus and Ollivander needing assistance to move, an the door flew open, and Draco marched in.
His face was pale but determined, the latter flickering when he caught sight of his ragged godfather. He looked as if he wanted to speak but he clamped his mouth shut instead, grabbing the goblin by the arm and pulling him out of the cellar, the door slamming shut behind him.
Accompanying the slamming door was the crack of apparation, and Elaine was startled to see a house elf had appeared in their midst. Ron opened his mouth to say something but was promptly smacked on the arm by Harry.
"Harry Potter," the house elf stated. "Dobby has come to rescue you."
"But how did-" He was interrupted by Hermione screaming again, and he changed his tactic. "You can disapparate out of this cellar?" he demanded of the house elf, who nodded intently. "And you can take humans with you?" the elf nodded again. "Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander, and -" he paused, taking in Severus. "And Professor Snape, and Elaine-"
"Five people will be too many," Elaine interrupted, eyeing Dobby. It was indeed the same house elf that had helped her with Rowan, and the memory almost made her smile, if the situation wasn't so urgent.
"Dobby can take five people," the house elf reassured her.
"Right. Dobby take them to - to-"
"Bill and Fleur's," Ron said, looking over at Elaine and Severus before continuing. "Shell cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth."
"Harry, promise me you'll be okay," Elaine said urgently, as Dobby went to gather the others. "Please!"
"I will be, just go," he snapped. "And we will talk when I get there. Go!"
And with a crack, they were gone.
Severus's body couldn't handle the apparation. The moment they landed, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed into the sand, Elaine dropping to her knees beside him, grabbing his wrist for a pulse. The others watched as she did so. "He's alive," Elaine said after a moment, and Luna let out a sigh of relief as a figure came rushing from a cabin in the distance, wand pointed in their direction. He skidded to a stop when he saw them all.
"R-Ron sent us," Elaine stuttered, taking in his stance. "We were - we were all locked in the Malfoy's dungeons together, and Dobby-" But the house elf was gone. "Well, a house elf rescued us, and Ron sent us here."
"Stand up," the man snapped, pointing his wand at them. "Now." Elaine rose slowly, lifting her hands up to show she had no wand. "Snape, you too."
"He needs help," Dean said, and Elaine looked to him,surprised he was somewhat defending Severus. But the muggleborn didn't look at her, focusing his attention on the man standing before them. "Please. Ron sent us. He said - he said-" He looked to Luna.
"He said thank you for Christmas, and that he found where he belonged," Luna finished. Elaine recalled Ron whispering something to Luna and Dean, but she'd been too preoccupied with her brother. The message must be one to let the man know they were friends, not foes.
Indeed it worked. The man lowered his wand, though he looked at Severus's still form with a bit of unease. "Fleur!" He called, and a blonde woman came rushing out of the cottage. "Ron sent them, they're friends of his. They need medical attention, I'm going to go retrieve Remus." The blonde nodded.
Those of them that could walk did. Ollivander and Severus were lifted to the cottage and placed in beds in the same room, both men as pale as the sheets underneath them. Elaine stood outside as the group bustled inside, a hand on her stomach. She was very much aware she too needed to be seen by someone with medical ability, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words, to explain that she'd been pregnant when locked in that cellar, to say that her baby had died sometime in the past three months and she hadn't even known.
A loud crack sounded, and then she heard Harry screaming for help. She took off running to him, feet sliding in the sand as she reached his side, reached -
"Oh no," she whispered, staring at Dobby's little body, a blade sticking out of his stomach. "Oh Dobby!" She was slightly aware of Ron and Hermione heading to the cottage and Dean and Luna coming out. But Harry didn't see, he was too focused on the house elf, whispering his name over and over.
It took him awhile, but he finally looked up and seemed startled to see the group that surrounded him. "Where is she? Hermione?"
"Ron took her in," Elaine explained. "Fleur's inside, Bill went to get Remus Lupin for help. Ollivander and Severus aren't - it's not good." Harry nodded briefly, but Elaine could tell he wasn't really listening. "Dean," Elaine said gently. He looked at her. "Could you - the goblin-"
"Griphook."
"Yes, thank you, can you take Griphook inside?" The dark skinned boy agreed, lifting the goblin into his arms and carrying him to the house.
"I want to do it properly," Harry whispered suddenly. "Bot by magic. Have - is there a spade?"
One was found, and Harry went to work, digging a grave for the house elf that had saved them all. He refused to allow anyone's help, and so they all went back to the cottage, watching him as he dug deeper and deeper into the ground.
"Elaine." Remus's voice startled her, and she looked up to see her father watching her with his grey eyes. She looked at him blankly. "I heard - Severus - "
She cleared her throat, standing. "He's upstairs."
"I know that," Remus told her. "Ron was telling Fleur that he was hurt?"
"Bellatrix tortured him." Silence filled the cottage, and she was aware of everyone watching her. "I know -" She looked around at them all. "I know none of you trust him. He was trying to help, though. We just wanted peace." She broke off as a stab of pain hit her, and she drew in a sharp breath.
"Elaine?"
"I'm fine," Elaine hissed through the pain. It was constant now, and she knew what was happening as she felt blood leak down her leg. The world was bright at the edges, and she welcomed it, welcomed the brightness even as it became darkness and she passed out for the second time that day.
This story is officially finished! The remaining chapters will be updated when I get the opportunity!