Harry smelled salty air as he landed. He fell to his knees and let go of Kreacher's shoulder. Ron rushed to grab hold of Hermione.

There was a shriek that rent the air, a sound of absolute pain. A body fell to the ground.

"Draco!" Harry shouted. He squinted into the darkness. Draco was lying on the ground, whimpering in pain, as a dark stain spread across his stomach.

"Lumos!" Harry shouted. He held Bellatrix and Narcissa's wands, their tips lit, next to the red stain.

A knife, the silver one that Bellatrix had been holding, was stabbed deeply into Draco's right side. The hilt of it stuck out, surrounded by blood.

"Draco!" Harry screamed. His scar burned with fresh pain and he felt his vision fading. For a moment he was back inside Malfoy Manor, anger surging through him as he levelled his wand at Lucius.

Footsteps pounded behind Harry, jerking him back to Draco's side. Someone conjured a stretcher next to Draco's body.

"Get them inside, quick," a man's voice instructed as he levitated Draco and Hermione onto stretchers. "Fleur can help them. This is my home, Shell Cottage. Can you see it?"

Harry glanced in the direction of a pointed finger and nodded as the cottage came into view. He took hold of Draco's stretcher and pushed it across the grass. Every bump and jolt made Draco moan in pain. The man, who Harry realized was Bill Weasley, ran ahead.

Fleur was already busy in the small kitchen, tending to Mr. Ollivander. As the two stretchers came through the door she moved towards them.

"What 'appened to 'Ermione?" she asked gruffly.

Ron held out Hermione's arm. The word MUDBLOOD had been carved into it. "The cruciatus curse too," he whispered.

Fleur nodded. "Draco first." She pulled the stretcher into the kitchen where she had set up healing potions along with clean cloths. "Clean 'er wounds," she gestured towards a pot of boiling water and some rags. Luna hurried out of the living room to help as Fleur bent over Draco.

"Draco," Fleur said. "Draco, I need you to look at me." Harry watched as Draco pried his eyes open.

"Good," Fleur breathed. "Now, I am going to pull ze knife out. It will hurt a lot. I need you to stay awake."

Draco's lips parted as if he was trying to speak. Only a small squeak came out.

Fleur looked at Harry. "I need you to 'old 'im still," she said. "Do not let 'im move." Harry nodded and reached across Draco's torso to hold him down.

"Ready?" Fleur asked. Harry nodded stiffly. Draco blinked slowly. "On three. One, two, three!"

With a tug the blade came free from Draco's side. He let out a howl of pain. Fleur immediately pressed a cloth against the wound as she threw the knife to the floor and retrieved her wand. She waved it over the wound, uttering a melodic incantation. Harry watched as the wound began to knit from the inside out, layer after layer of muscle and sinew binding together. Finally Fleur lowered her wand.

"'E will be alright for now," she declared. "But it will take time for this to 'eal properly." She stepped away from Draco and ran to Hermione's side. "'Arry," she called back over her shoulder, "Clean up ze blood. Tell me if 'e says anything."

Harry grabbed a cloth and some warm water and began to dab at the blood seeping into Draco's clothes. With a sigh he unbuttoned Draco's shirt and peeled it back.

Fleur was exhausted by the time she was confident that she had healed the worst of Hermione's, Draco's, and Mr. Ollivander's wounds. She sank deeply into a chair as Ron gently scooped up Hermione and Bill levitated Draco, who had been unconscious for some time, up the stairs.

"We'll put Draco in here with Mr. Ollivander," Bill whispered as he opened the door to a room. "It's right next to us, we'll be able to hear if anything happens." He laid Draco down on one of two beds before turning around. "Hermione and Luna can sleep in this room." He pulled open the door, allowing Ron to enter and lay Hermione's sleeping form across the bed. "I'm afraid that you two will have to stay in the living room." He glanced at Ron and Harry. "I don't know what you're up to, but you can't keep going, not with either of them in the shape they are. It will take at least a few weeks for Hermione to recover, and longer for Draco. Unless you have somewhere else safe to spend a couple of months, you need to stay here."

Harry glanced at Ron. "The task that we're doing is really important," he said. "But you're right Bill. Two of my friends almost died today, and Ron and I can't do this alone. We have to wait for them to get better."

Bill nodded his head in approval and led them back down the stairs. "You can feel free to stay here. Fleur is very talented at healing. I warned the rest of the family that you were seen and they've already gone into hiding with Andromeda Tonks."

"What about Ginny?" Harry asked anxiously. "Isn't she still at Hogwarts? They took Luna from school, they wouldn't worry about taking her too!"

Bill chuckled. "Apparently they tried to. Unfortunately for several Death Eaters, they approached her while she was in Hogsmeade. She fought back, quite successfully, and Apparated home illegally right into mum and dad's argument about how to get her to safety."

Harry smiled. That sounded like the Ginny he knew.

"We're under a Fidelius Charm here," Bill continued. "That's why you couldn't see the house until I spoke to you. I'm secret keeper. I'll show you the boundaries of it tomorrow, as long as you don't go outside them you'll be safe."
"Thanks," Harry said. "I know you weren't exactly expecting visitors. We'll help as much as we can."

Bill smiled tiredly. "Anything to help in the fight. That house elf who apparated you here- can he be trusted?"

"Kreacher!" Harry exclaimed. In the panic about Draco and Hermione he had quite forgotten about the elderly house elf. With a pop he appeared at Harry's side.

"What can Kreacher do for Master?"

"You might remember Kreacher." Harry said. "He belonged to the Black family, but when Sirius died he left me everything." Harry glanced at Bill. "He could help, around the house, and with cooking and such while we're here. Then we won't be such a burden on you."

Bill thought for a moment before nodding. "I'm sure Fleur would love that."

Harry turned to Kreacher. "This is Bill Weasley. We will all be staying in his house for some time, while Draco and Hermione heal. You are to help him and his wife Fleur in taking care of the house and cooking. Can you do that Kreacher?"

The old house elf nodded his head. "Of course Master Harry. Kreacher has been so lonely since you left Grimmauld Place. The witches and wizards who visit now do not treat Kreacher nicely like you do. Kreacher will be a help to the Weasleys."

Kreacher picked a cupboard to settle into as Bill helped Fleur upstairs to bed. He returned with an armful of blankets and everyone settled in for the night.

A scream pierced the still night air. Harry sat up from his spot on the couch, jammed his glasses onto his face, and leapt to his feet in one fluid motion. In an instant he was upstairs throwing open the door to the room the sound was coming from.

Draco was writhing in his sheets, screaming as if his life depended on being heard. His eyes were clenched shut. Mr. Ollivander stood above him, a concerned look on his face.

A woman raced into the room. Harry barely had time to realize that it was Fleur before she pulled out her wand and murmured an incantation. Immediately Draco stopped thrashing, though the screams continued.

Harry dashed toward Draco and began to shake him. "Wake him up," he exclaimed. "It's a nightmare!"

Suddenly Draco's eyes flew open and his final scream died on his lips. His eyes bulged as he seemed to be struggling against invisible bonds.

"Quiet, quiet," murmured Fleur. She reached down to gently stroke Draco's hair. "You are not 'urt. I 'ad to paralyze you so zat you didn't make your injury worse." At her words Draco began to settle down.

"Good," Fleur whispered. She waved her wand and Harry watched as Draco relaxed into the bed. "There, zat ees better. Let me take a look at your injury."

Fleur gently peeled back the sheets and lifted Draco's shirt. His wound had come open and was leaking blood.

"Get me fresh bandages," Fleur demanded. Harry turned to leave before seeing that Bill, Luna and Ron were standing in the doorway.

"You stay with him," Ron said. "I'll be right back." He disappeared down the stairs.

"Do you 'ave dreams like zis often?" Fleur asked gently. Draco nodded mutely.

"He's been having nightmares since he left his parent's house last year," Harry said quietly. "They've actually been getting better lately. He hasn't had one like this in a long time."

Fleur nodded. "Zat is understandable. 'E was 'urt very badly today. Zey will probably be like zis for some time." She looked up as Ron passed her a wad of bandages. "Can you go stay with "Ermione?" she asked. "She might 'ave nightmares too." Ron nodded and dashed across the hallway.

Bill stepped inside. "Mr. Ollivander, why don't you come downstairs with me? Harry and Ron were sleeping on the couches, but it looks like we're going to have to move things around." The wandmaker quietly followed Bill out of the room and down the stairs.

Fleur re bandaged Draco's side and helped him to get settled back into bed. By the time Harry collapsed into the second bed, the sky outside was growing light with the approaching morning.


Thanks to purplehedgehog13 for letting me know that this didn't send out notifications. Something weird happened when i posted earlier and I wasn't sure if it had worked properly. Now I know it didn't! Hopefully it will work this time.