Kreacher made breakfast for everybody that morning. Fleur gushed her thanks before taking her food and heading back to bed. The events of the day before had taken an obvious toll on her.
Bill cleared his throat as he sat down at the table. "Ron, Harry, you take food up to Hermione and Draco and then come back down here. We all need to have a talk." He smiled at Luna as she helped Mr. Ollivander take a seat at the table. The old wandmaker looked pale and frail in the morning light.
Harry cast a dubious look at Ron as they walked up the stairs. "What does he want to talk about?"
Ron shrugged. "Nothing too menacing or else he would have sounded a lot different. Don't worry about it." As he reached the top of the stairs Ron pulled open the door to Hermione's room.
Harry stepped into the room across the hall. Draco was awake and was blinking lazily at the ceiling.
"I brought breakfast," Harry announced. "Eggs and toast, thanks to Kreacher."
Draco's pale eyes bored into Harry. "I can hear the ocean. Where are we?"
"Bill and Fleur Weasley's cottage."
Draco blinked in surprise. "How did we get here? Where's Hermione? Why is Kreacher making us breakfast?"
Harry chuckled. "You really don't remember much of what happened do you?" Draco shook his head and Harry quickly explained everything that had happened.
Draco slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I had a nightmare last night, didn't I?"
Harry nodded. "A really bad one. You were screaming and flailing so much you tore open the wound from the knife."
"It was terrifying being there," Draco whispered. "They wanted me to go into hiding, to leave all of you to die." His face contorted in fear and anger. "And I wanted to do it. For a moment I actually considered it."
"Of course you did," Harry said matter-of-factly as he sat the plate of food in Draco's lap. "If my parents suddenly showed up and told me to stop fighting I would in a heartbeat."
"That's different," Draco muttered. "Your parents were already fighting. Mine are evil."
"Yeah, it is different," Harry said, "but not because my parents made a different choice than yours. It's different because I don't know my parents. You do know yours. And you love them, even if they do awful things. The people who loved you and raised you offered you a way out of this fight. Of course you wanted to take it. But you're strong enough that you didn't."
"I almost did though," Draco whispered.
"Not from what I saw," Harry said. "You fought your father and tried to protect Hermione. In the end it doesn't matter what you wanted. What matters is how you acted."
Draco began to pick at his food. "Maybe you're right," he sighed. He took a big bite of toast. "When can I get up?"
"Fleur says you're going to have to stay in bed for a few weeks. I don't think she'd even like you sitting up like you are now if she was here. She thinks it'll be a couple of months before you're really back to normal. We're going to have to wait here for a while."
Draco grimaced. "Just what you need, an injury holding you back. Don't worry about me Harry, just keep going. I can catch up with you later."
"No way," Harry shook his head vehemently. "I can't do this without you, or without Hermione. It'll be a while before she's ready to go anywhere either. We started this as a team, and we can't break up now. Besides, I don't know where to go next. It might take that long for us to figure out our next step."
A knock at the door interrupted Draco. Ron poked his head in.
"I'm heading back downstairs," he said. "Remember, Bill wanted to talk to us."
Harry nodded. "Right behind you."
Kreacher was just clearing away the dishes as Harry entered the kitchen. He smiled at Bill and sat down between Ron and Luna.
"How is Hermione?" Bill asked as Ron sat down.
"She's okay. Disoriented and tired though, and she says that it still hurts every time she closes her eyes. I don't think she knows about the scars yet."
Bill nodded. "And Draco?"
"He forgot a lot of what happened. He was acting like he's okay, but I think he just doesn't want to admit that he's hurt," Harry reported. "But he's awake, and he's not in too much pain, at least for now."
Bill sat back in his seat. "I'm glad that they're doing well. Listen, I don't know where you four have been since August, and I don't really think I want to. You told me before that Dumbledore left you a task. I'm happy to help with it if you want me to, but I won't push you to tell me what it is."
"Thanks," Harry said. He sighed in relief.
Bill smiled. "I assume that you've been travelling a lot. But you need to know, neither Hermione or Draco will be able to keep doing that for some time. Right now they need rest and time to heal or else they're going to get a lot worse." He eyed Harry and Ron. "I'm guessing that you don't want to spend that time cooped up with mum and the rest of the family?"
Harry's heart soared at the thought of seeing Ginny again, but he shook his head no. "We can't. They would try to stop us."
Bill nodded in understanding. "That's fine, Fleur and I are happy to have you here. But that brings me to what I wanted to talk about. It looks like you four, at least, are going to be here for a while. The only problem is the lack of space. Unfortunately we just don't have enough bedrooms for six extra guests. It might work out if you two could sleep in the living room, but it seems likely that Draco and Hermione are going to keep having nightmares, and you seem to be the only ones who can calm them down." He glanced at the two boys.
"Draco and I have gotten used to dealing with each other's nightmares," Harry admitted. "Except for school we've been sharing rooms most nights since Dumbledore first brought him to my aunt and uncle's."
Ron shifted uncomfortably. "Hermione doesn't normally have nightmares, but it seemed to help that I was there last night."
"Then I think that's the best arrangement we can make, at least for now," Bill said. "We don't want either of them hurting themselves because of a nightmare." He stared at Ron. "Though you had better treat that girl like gold if you're going to be sharing a room with her." Ron flushed a deep red.
"Unfortunately that doesn't leave much room for Luna or Mr. Ollivander," Bill continued as Ron hid his head in his hands. Bill looked over at Luna, who was helping Kreacher clean up. Mr. Ollivander had gone back to the living room to lie down. "Mr Ollivander was in that cellar a long time," he revealed, "and he needs someone who can help him recover. I was thinking of sending him to Muriel's house. Mum can take care of him there. Luna can probably go home."
"No!" Harry burst in. "I mean, about Luna going home. It's not safe there." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Mr. Lovegood is the one who got us caught. He said You-Know-Who's name while we were there. He didn't want to hurt us, just to get Luna back. They could still be watching him."
Bill nodded. "The Order knew a bit about that. They took her because he was supporting you in his paper. You're right, she can't go back, they'll be watching for her." He tapped his chin. "I suppose she can choose. Either she can stay here or she can go to Muriel too." He glanced at a clock above Ron's head.
"I have to go," Bill said as he stood up. "The Order is having an emergency meeting now that the family has had to move to Muriel's. I'll talk to them about moving Mr. Ollivander and Luna there as well."
Harry watched as Bill walked outside the house and apparated away. He turned to Ron.
"Can Hermione move across the hall for a bit? We need to talk, all together."
