Hey, guys! Happy Chapter 27/45+! We pick up a few hours where we left off in this chapter. Draco heals himself and carries on about his day, trying to make it look like nothing is wrong.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. However, Loft the House Elf returns, and he is an Original Character, though I did not invent the concept of House Elves.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Just before dinner, I was ordered to bring Ollivander his meal. I swallowed deeply as I took the food tray from the Death Eater that handed it to me and quickly turned away from him. I almost ran to the cellar, anxiety from both fear and excitement mixing inside of me, but I kept my expression as neutral as possible as I approached Wormtail. He opened the barred door without a second thought and closed it behind me.

I moved slowly through the room, relaxing more and more the farther away I got from Wormtail. I watched my feet in the low lighting, the uneven floor casting odd shadows that played tricks on me, making me think that it was Ollivander.

Eventually, I found a huddled mass of fabric, cowering in the corner on the floor. I lowered myself to his level and silently placed the food tray on the floor. "Mister Ollivander," I whispered, causing him to jump.

He looked back at me over his shoulder before lowering his head back down to the ground.

"I've brought you some food." I waited a moment before carefully prodding his back. "Mister Ollivander?"

The man gave a pained grunt and shifted slightly farther away from me in response.

I sighed and reached into my suit jacket, pulling out the same book I had used on myself earlier today. I stood with both book and wand in hand and carefully stepped over the older man. The space between him and the wall was tiny, but it was enough to work with.

"Lumos," I muttered, lighting the end of my wand a bright blue.

Ollivander jumped again and looked up at me. "What are you doing?" he croaked, the hoarseness of his voice making my heart ache.

"Trying to help you." I looked him over, but even with the light of my wand, I couldn't see his injuries clearly because of his huddled position. "Can you sit up?"

Ollivander lifted himself up slightly before falling back down. I secured the book under my wand arm, leaned down and gently grabbed his upper arm, careful not to cause him any more pain. I aided him as he attempted to sit up again and leaned him against the rough wall. He groaned and sighed, but he quickly settled in a resigned sort of way.

Now that Ollivander was fully in the light, I knelt down to his level and inspected his injuries. There might be something in the book I found that could help him, too.

I looked him over and quickly flipped through the book, hoping to find something before I got caught. Eventually, I found a spell that clean up dried blood and dust. It would clear Ollivander's wounds so they wouldn't get infected, and it would allow them to heal easier on their own if I couldn't help him again.

I stood up in front of him again leveled my glowing wand at him. Ollivander flinched and shrank back into the wall.

"I promise I'm not going to hurt you," I said, getting him to look up at me with a look I couldn't decipher.

The blueish glow of my wand intensified as I thought of the spell. I followed the book's instructions and waved my wand up and down in front of Ollivander, allowing the instrument to find the dried blood and dirt. The particles eventually lifted from Ollivander's skin and floated into my wand, forming a trail in the air.

Once I felt that the spell had done its work, I lowered my wand and flipped through the book for another spell. I couldn't cover him in bandages-which would have been better considering how unpracticed I was at these healing spells. I had done Episkey before, but that was for shallow cuts and minor breaks. Ollivander's injuries were much more than minor.

I stopped turning the pages when I spotted "Vulnera Sanentur" again. I bent down closer to Ollivander to see if his wounds were severe enough for the spell, but I was interrupted by the cellar door clanging open.

"Come on, Malfoy! How long does it take to give an old shopkeeper his food?" Wormtail shouted, his head poking through the door.

"Not very long at all," I called back, quickly extinguishing the light in my wand and slipping the book back into my suit. "He just looked too weak to eat on his own, and I'm making sure he's still alive." I turned my back to Ollivander to face Wormtail. "I'm sure that the Dark Lord doesn't want him dead. Otherwise he wouldn't have me bringing him food."

I briskly walked away from Ollivander, shoved past Wormtail and jogged up the stairs. "Young master Malfoy?" a small voice called. I glanced down and found Loft standing awkwardly with his elbows in and his has clasped at his chest. "Loft came to inform you that your dinner is ready, sir."

"Is it just my family tonight?" I asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Could you do me a favour and tell them that I'm not hungry?" I requested, my heart becoming lighter to know that no Death Eaters were eating with us tonight.

"Are you not feeling well, sir?"

"Someone isn't." I didn't wait for a reply. I walked off and found my way to the library that Bellatrix...tortured me in earlier today.

My stomach knotted painfully as I entered, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when the door slammed shut. I breathed deeply to calm my nerves as I avoided looking at the floor. This place smelled strongly of magical cleaners that the House Elves used, but that didn't erase what had happened here a few hours ago.

I scanned the books on the nearly ceiling-high shelves. They were old and so obscured with dust that I could barely read the titles. I used the Accio charm to bring several promising books down to me and piled them in a stack on one of the small tables nearby. I had gathered five or six books before I placed my hand on the stack and Apparated to my room with them.

It was almost midnight when my father threw the door to my room wide open. I had gotten so used to him stumbling in here with a drink in his hand that the sight hardly bothered me anymore. It was an odd kind of normal.

"Thought you should know that the other Death Eaters raided the Burrows," he announced.

I jumped and dropped the textbook onto my bed, looking up at him.

"With the information you provided, we were able to nearly catch Potter and his friends. The majority of the Order of the Phoenix got away, but we got a few people who were at the party they were throwing. They don't seem to know much about the Order," Lucius continued.

I took a moment to make sure that my voice was steady. "So, Potter got away?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and no one seems to know where he could have gone."

The two of us fell into a silence so quiet that it grew uncomfortable. It felt like hours before my father said goodnight and left, leaving the door hanging open. I picked up my wand and waved the door closed.

I couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that Harry got away. I don't know which of his friends went with him, but it still meant that we still had a hope in winning this War.

The Weasley wedding party has been broken up, school's about to start, and Draco's opening healing textbooks. What could possibly go wrong, right? *Announcer voice* See you next time for...Chapter Twenty-eight!