'xiy xejonet versiius da xiy tesitgan lat'

If it wasn't for the Daily Prophet revealing Hermione Granger, who Theodore was currently disguised as, traveling with Harry, they might have gotten away with their lies. They were joined by Griphook and Ronald who had apparently been nearby and Ron gave Hermione-Theo the widest eyed look at seeing him.

"Are you all right?" He asked with worry as they stood close together. "Hermione?"

"I'm okay." Theo decided to pretend.

"I'm sorry we lost track of you." Ronald said, trying to get closer to Theo. "I should have stuck closer. I should have..."

"Shut up, you!" A Snatcher smacked him over the head.

The Snatchers began to organize who was going to Apparate with who.

Ron tried again. "Where's Dean? What happened to Dean?"

Theodore only quietly shook his head and Ron's eyes clouded with fear.

They arrived at the Malfoys' Manor and Narcissa appeared and brought them inside after trying to figure out if the swollen faced Harry Potter was really Harry Potter.

"What is this?" Lucius had arrived in the room they were brought into.

"They say they've got Potter." Narcissa said. "Draco, come here."

Harry refused to look at the other Slytherin boy, who undoubtedly would recognize Harry the moment their eyes had met. They were in the same year and had spent six years sharing the same dorm and Common Room and some of the same classes.

"Well, boy?" Greyback asked impatiently.

"Well, Draco?" Lucius pressed when Draco still did not answer. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"

"I can't...I can't be sure." Draco was keeping his distance from Greyback.

"But look at him carefully, look! Come closer!" Lucius dragged his son closer to Harry and the werewolf. "Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv..."

"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?" Greyback asked in a dark tone.

"Of course not, of course not!" Lucius inspected Harry closely. "What did you do to him? How did he get into this state?"

"That wasn't us."

"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me." Lucius mumbled as his eyes scanned Harry's forehead. "There's something there. It could be the scar, stretched tight...Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"

Draco was closer than before, but he seemed reluctant and fearful. "I don't know." He pulled back and walked away.

"We had better be certain, Lucius." Narcissa said. "Completely sure that it is Potter, before we summon the Dark Lord...they say this is his..." She scanned the wand in her hand. "But it does not resemble Ollivander's description...if we are mistaken, if we call the Dark Lord here for nothing...remember what he did to Rowle and Dolohov and the Carrows?"

"What about the Mudblood, then?" Greyback pulled Theodore forward.

Narcissa leaped from her seat. "Wait...yes...yes, she was in Madam Malkin's with Potter! I saw her picture in the Prophet! Look, Draco, isn't that the Granger girl?"

"I...maybe...yeah."

"But then, this is the Weasley boy!" Lucius looked at Ron. "Weasley and Granger are never apart, isn't that right, Draco? Draco, look at him, isn't it Arthur Weasley's son, what's his name...?"

"Yeah..." Draco wasn't facing them. "It could be."

Bellatrix Lestrange walked in. "What is this? What's happened, Cissy?"

"But surely..." She said quietly. "This is the Mudblood girl? This is Granger?"

"Yes, yes, it's Granger!" Lucius cried. "And beside her, we think, Potter! Potter and his accomplices, caught at last!"

"Potter?" Bellatrix screamed. "Are you sure? Well then, the Dark Lord must be informed at once!"

She started to drag up her left sleeve.

"I was about to call him!" Lucius stopped her. "I shall summon him, Bella, Potter has been brought to my house, and it is therefore under my authority..."

"Your authority!" She sneered. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"

"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the boy..."

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Malfoy." Greyback cut across. "But it's us that caught Potter, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold..."

"Gold!" Bellatrix laughed. "Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honor of his...of..."

She suddenly stopped struggling and Lucius released her and pulled up his own sleeve.

"STOP!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"

Lucius froze.

"What is that?" Bellatrix asked of a Snatcher.

"Sword..." He answered.

"Give it to me."

"It's not yorn, missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."

She stunned him in an instance and before anyone could do much more, she'd stunned all the Snatchers, except Greyback who had instead been forced into a kneeling position.

"Where did you get this sword?" She asked of him.

"How dare you?" He snarled. "Release me, woman!"

"Where did you find this sword?" She repeated. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

"It was in their tent." Greyback rasped. "Release me, I say!"

She waved her wand and Greyback was free.

"Draco, move this scum outside." Bellatrix indicated the Snatchers. "If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."

"Don't you dare speak to Draco like..." Narcissa started, but Bellatrix shrieked at her.

"Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!" She looked at the prisoners. "If it is indeed Potter, he must not be harmed. The dark Lord wishes to dispose of Potter himself...but if he finds out...I must...I must know...the prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my..."

"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" Bellatrix screamed.

"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback." Narcissa finally said.

"Wait." Bellatrix stated. "All except...except for the Mudblood."

"No!" Harry and Ron shouted at the same time, but Ron continued with, "You can have me, keep me!"

Bellatrix slapped him. "If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next. Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. Take them downstairs, Greyback, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them...yet."

Greyback brought them down to the cellar. Right before he threw them in, he growled, "Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her? I'd say I'll get a bite or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"

"Hermione!" Ron started yelling the moment the door was locked. "Hermione!"

"It's not Hermione." Harry told him gravely, his stomach convulsing with sickening fear and distress.

"Of course, it's Hermione!" Ron told him.

"No, it's not." Harry said, skin now dancing with sensations. "It's...Polyjuice Potion."

"Poly..." Ron looked at him confused and then bewildered. "Who is that?"

Harry didn't answer, but Ron gave a gasp as he suddenly realized.

There was suddenly a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them and it was all the power Harry had in him to not start screaming Theodore's name.

Ron still yelled, "HERMIONE!" before realizing what he was doing.

"Harry?" The voice came from somewhere in the darkness. "Ron? Harry? Ron?"

"Luna?"

"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"

"Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes, I expect so...There's an old nail we use if we need to break anything...Just a moment..."

Theodore screamed again from from overhead and the could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible for Harry had started yelling, not words, but just sound until he formed, "NO! NO! NO! STOP IT! LEAVE! LEAVE! STOP IT! STOP! TAKE ME! PLEASE! STOP!"

Luna returned and started digging at the ropes and Harry stopped screaming, his throat burning and his eyes blinking rapidly at the hot tears. Bellatrix was shrieking.

"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"

"We found it...we found it...PLEASE!" Theodore was shrieking again and Harry started to fight against the ropes, bellowing with him. "STOP! STOP! LEAVE! TAKE ME! TAKE ME! NO!"

"Harry, please stay still!" Luna pleaded. "I can't see what I'm doing..."

"My pocket!" Cedric said from where he was tied. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"

The room was lit with light, but Harry didn't bother himself with his surroundings, eyes trained on the ceiling.

"Oh, that's much easier, thanks, Cedric." She started away again.

Bellatrix was speaking. "You are lying, filthy Mudblood, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"

Another terrible scream...

"NO!"

"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!"

"There!" The ropes fell away and Harry lurched to his feet. He tried to think of a way to escape, a way to get up to and rescue Theodore, but he couldn't. His mind was blank as Theodore continued to scream.

"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"

"Harry!" Cedric was trying to contain Harry's panic. "Get a grip! We can't do anything without help and unless we can get a message outside..."

Harry yanked out the mirror fragment and for a second he swore he saw Dumbledore's eyes staring back at him. He gazed at it, stunned, realized he wasn't dreaming and then begged, "Help us! We're in the cellar of Malfoy Manor, help us!"

The eye disappeared and Harry wondered if perhaps he'd mistaken Sirius for Dumbledore. But...how?

Theodore was still screaming and Harry was half-way out of his mind as he tried not to continue to scream back up at him.

"How did you get into my vault?" Bellatrix shrieked. "Did that dirty little goblin in the cellar help you?"

"We only met him tonight!" Theodore was crying and Harry's heart felt as if it was being stabbed with each sob. "We've never been inside your vault...it isn't the real sword! It's a copy, just a copy!"

"A copy?" Bellatrix screeched. "Oh, a likely story!"

"But we can find out easily!" Lucius told her. "Draco, fetch the goblin, he can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"

Harry rushed at the goblin. "Griphook, you must tell them that sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Griphook, please..."

Draco was at the door now.

"Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"

They did as they were told, Cedric clicked the Deluminator, and then Malfoy came in and took Griphook with him. The Deluminator clicked back on when he was gone and revealed Dobby standing there.

"DOB..." Ron started, but Harry smacked him into silence.

"Harry Potter..." The House elf squeaked. "Dobby has come to rescue you."

"But how did you...?"

Theodore was getting tortured again and Harry quickly cut to the essentials.

"You can Disapparate out of this cellar?"

Dobby nodded.

"And you can take humans with you?"

Dobby nodded again.

"Right. Dobby, I want you to grab Luna, Ron, and Mr. Ollivander, and take them...take them to..."

"Bill and Fleur's." Ron said quickly. "Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinsworth!"

The elf nodded again.

"And then come back." Harry finished. "Can you do that, Dobby?"

"Of course, Harry Potter." He grabbed hold of Mr. Ollivander and then held out his other hand to Luna and Ron, the latter of whom was already reaching for him.

Luna didn't move. "Harry, I want to help you! I can't leave you here..."

"Go!" Harry told her, We'll see you at Bill and Fleur's."

He nearly fainted from a sudden visit into Voldemort's mind, but Theodore's scream quickly brought him back.

"Go!" He insisted. "Go! We'll follow, just go!"

With a crack they had gone.

"What was that?" Lucius asked. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar? Draco...no, call Wormtail! Make him go and check!"

It was a good thing they had sent Wormtail, but not for Pettigrew. When Harry reminded him of his debt to Harry, the man's silver arm strangled him for his hesitance and there was nothing either Cedric nor Harry could do to keep it from happening. He was dead. They slipped upstairs and stared through the door. Griphook had the sword and was staring at it while Bellatrix was staring down at him. Hermione-Theo was lying at her feet, his hair slowly darkening. The Potion was wearing off and they were running out of time before Theodore would be in even graver danger.

"Well?" Bellatrix coaxed impatiently. "Is it the true sword?"

"No." Griphook lied. "It is a fake."

"Are you sure? Quite sure?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Good." And with a flick of her wand, a gash broke across the goblin's face, and he yelled, dropped to the floor, and she kicked him aside. "And now, we call the Dark Lord!"

She touched the Mark and Harry was inside Voldemort's head again as Grindelwald told Voldemort to kill him and the Dark Lord, furious, finally consented.

Harry came back to reality, nearly staggering.

"And I think..." Bellatrix was saying. "We can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."

"NO!" It was Cedric who yelled, Cedric the werewolf who would never want the same inflicted on him, but it was Harry who cast the Stunner to knock Bellatrix out. Spells soared through the air, back and forth between the Malfoys and Greyback and Harry and Cedric, but they were outnumbered. They had lost their final chance...until Dobby dropped the chandelier and through some miracle they all escaped...except...

Translation: "Don't burn bridges you haven't crossed already."