Chapter Forty Three

Narcissa pulled the towel from her hair, letting the wet locks fall down her back. She held the Hufflepuff cup up to the light that was streaming through her window.

It was pretty, very delicate with a badger engraved on it and two small handles. All made out of shining, goblin treated gold. It still hummed with magic, almost vibrating slightly under her fingertips.

She had no way of getting it to Draco, no way of contacting him but she could get it to Lily, that had to be one step closer to where it had to be.

Narcissa pulled one of her hat boxes from under her bed and took out the feather covered and veiled fascinator, tucking it in one of the other boxes. She lay the cup in the empty box, on top of several layers of tissue paper, wrapping it up carefully and tying a ribbon around the box to keep it shut.

"Dobby." she said clearly, hoping this would work.

Dobby popped into the room quickly, blinking, "Missy Narcissa? You has been gone a long time."

"Yes… yes I suppose I have." Narcissa said, giving a slight smile, "Now I have a favour to ask of you, you mustn't tell anyone."

Dobby looked at her seriously, "Dobby is not sure he could get you out… very weird wards…"

"You would be able to apparate out with others, but you'd be separated trying to get in." Narcissa said, waving her hand dismissively, "It was my idea, to help secure this place, it won me some favour. All this is besides the point. I asked you here as I need you to take this to Lily. Do not give it to anyone else, or even tell anyone about it. Tell Lily that she needs to get it to Draco, Harry or Hermione."

Dobby looked at the hat box and frowned, "A hat?" it seemed an awful lot of trouble and risk for even the nicest of hats.

"No…" Narcissa said, starting to think this was a bad idea, Dobby could be unpredictable but that was why she thought no one would suspect him and he was the most likely to jump into danger, "It's not a hat, but I cannot tell you want it is."

Dobby took the box from her and nodded, "I will do this."

"Thank you Dobby, I truly am most grateful." Narcissa said honestly, "Please…" what did she need him to say? That she loved them, that she hoped they were all well? It all sounded rather pathetic and predictable in her mind, "Thank you, that will be all."

Dobby nodded sadly towards Narcissa, knowing there was something more she wanted to say. He left the room with a loud pop, leaving Narcissa alone again.

She flopped down at her mirror and started brushing out her hair. She was alone, but for the first time in months, she was sure she was doing the right thing, that she was accomplishing something.

Ollivander woke up in the tent, feeling the never ending panic he'd felt over the last few months rising up again. He wasn't in the attic of that awful manor though, he was on a very fancy bunk bed in a tent with fine canvas walls.

His body ached and protested, sending fiery pain through his limbs as he tried to sit up.

"Oh, I was just coming to check on you." Hermione said kindly, helping him to sit up, stuffing cushions behind his back to support him, "How are you feeling?"

Ollivander recognised the young lady, although she'd just been a child when she'd come to buy her wand, which must have been seven years ago now, or near enough. She'd been so excited, he'd barely been able to get her to stay still long enough to test the wands out. Her parents had been so proud, so loving…

"I am doing much better now, although I do feel it will take awhile before I am back to my old self." Ollivander smiled, "Miss Granger isn't it? 10¾ inch, vine wood, dragon heartstring. Good little wand, quite pretty."

Hermione smiled and sat in the chair by the bed, "Yes, yes that's me. You remembered?"

"Always, I remember every bright face waiting for their first wands, the adults wanting a change, the guilty faces who need a replacement for one lost or broken…" Ollivander mused, his cool eyes glazing over somewhat, "Do you still have it?"

Hermione nodded, pulling out her wand to show him, "Yes. It's never faltered, or failed me. It's still perfect. I think I'd be heartbroken if I had to change it."

"You keep it in a very good condition." Ollivander smiled approvingly.

"Is everything OK, Hermione?" Draco asked, coming into the room, "Mr Ollivander, you're awake."

Ollivander winced slightly as he nodded his head towards Draco.

"We've just served dinner, if you're up to coming through to eat we could help you." Draco offered.

Ollivander's smile dropped a little, "I'm not sure I am up to eating much. I've had little but slop since I was taken last year… I must admit I hadn't realised how long I'd been…"

"It's soup, freshly made with real ingredients." Draco said, wishing there was more he could do to help the traumatised man, "We got the vegetables from a little corner shop, no magic involved."

Ollivander couldn't deny that the thought of some fresh, hot soup was making his mouth water. He agreed to try and eat with them, feeling awfully embarrassed that he couldn't even stand by himself.

With some difficulty Harry and Draco managed to help Ollivander into the small dinning area, feeling awful every time the poor man winced.

Ollivander felt very frail, his bones stuck out, making the wooden chair uncomfortable for him to sit on, even with a pillow. His hair was a mess, a ragged beard around his face. He got cold so quickly, he had to spend the whole meal with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

Harry, Draco and Hermione said nothing about Ollivander's condition but filled the silence with meaningless small talk, encouraging Ollivander to join in when it looked like there was something he wanted to say.

The soup was slightly bland, but warm and thick. Ollivander managed a second bowlful, although he wasn't able to eat any of the hot, buttered bread no matter how tempting it smelt. They helped him back to bed as soon as he was finished, he was asleep before they'd even left the room.

They waited until Ollivander had managed to eat a few more good meals, and was gaining strength day by day before asking him why he had been taken.

Ollivander lowered the book he had been reading and thought for a few moments, "The Dark Lord… he wanted a wand, a wand more powerful than any other. He feels, or possibly fears, that it will be the only way to kill you."

"He wanted you to make this wand?" Draco asked in disbelief, "In the attic of Lestrange Manor while chained up? Well I suppose if anyone could…"

Ollivander smiled at him, the twinkle having fully returned to his eyes, "No. Although I thank you for the compliment, that you think I should be able to do the impossible."

"Then why…?" Hermione asked, struggling follow him.

"There has only ever been one wand that could be considered more powerful than another." Ollivander explained, "It is old, even older than I. It has had many names over the years… you'll know it from the old fairy story."

"The three brothers and death one? The Elder wand?" Harry said, "It really is real?"

Ollivander nodded, "Yes I believe so. It can be traced through history with little effort if one knows where to look. To start 'he' just wanted a normal way around the rare connection between your two wands, Mr Potter, but it soon become clear it wouldn't work as he wished. He borrowed wands from his followers but soon doubted their power, struggling to get them to listen to him."

"Do… do you know if he found it? The Elder wand?" Draco whispered, more afraid of the answer than he wanted to admit.

Ollivander shook his head slowly, "I do not… I know he thought he was close though. And it is in the country for sure."

Harry took a deep breath, knowing in a second where the wand was. He composed his face quickly- there was still something about Ollivander that he didn't fully trust.

Besides he couldn't tell if it was simply his mind working quickly or that Voldemort knew where the wand was, and it had passed over to him.

"It is to my shame that I helped him." Ollivander said solemnly, "I do hope you can forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive, you had no choice." Hermione said firmly, getting up to put the kettle on.

She hadn't let herself think about the horrors that Ollivander must have been through, the very thought of it made her sick.

Ollivander gave them a small smile, "Ah, for the forgiveness that comes with youth. I am very grateful."

"Could you tell us… what you told them?" Harry asked, "It would help us to know what we're up against."

Ollivander nodded, "I helped them track the Elder wand through history, it leaves a most bloody trail. There have been many gaps though. The last time it was known, it belonged to Mykew Gregorovitch, a Bulgarian wand maker. It was stolen from him though and never seen again, not publicly anyway, although it must have been somewhere of course."

"They didn't try and get you to try and recreate a more powerful wand?" Draco confirmed.

Ollivander let out a loud sigh, "It would have saved me an awful lot of pain if I had, but it's simply not possible for someone of my talent. Wands bond and relate with their masters, they feed from the witch or wizard using them, they have no power of their own. If the Elder wand truly is more powerful, the knowledge needed to make such a wand again is long lost."

"Thank you, for telling us all this." Hermione said, "Here, have another cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit."

Ollivander thanked her and watched the three of them walk into the boys' bedroom. He was strong enough to follow them now, if he'd wanted to but he was more grateful than he could ever explain to Harry and his friends for saving him, he wouldn't do anything that could upset them.

"So we need to find a wand that is somewhere in the country… and according to the legends brings death everywhere it goes." Draco said, running his fingers through his hair, before smoothing it back in place. The length it had grown to was driving him crazy.

Harry shook his head, "I think I know where it is."

"How?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe I worked it out, maybe it's because You-know-who knows where it is and it crossed over. The link between us is… weird at the moment."

"The link between you two is always weird." Draco said, snorting a laugh.

Harry rolled his eyes at him, "Haha. More weird than normal then."

"So where is it?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"With Dumbledore." Harry said simply, "It's been buried with him. In that huge marble tomb."

"Well let's go then!" Hermione cried, "We can get there first!"

Harry shook his head sadly, "It's… it's too late. Or it will be soon and even if it isn't… I can't explain it, but it doesn't matter. The wand I mean, it doesn't matter. We need to focus on the Horcruxes, nothing else. Not the wand or everything going wrong in the world around us, just the Horcruxes."

Harry watched Draco and Hermione's shoulders droop as they tried to understand what he just couldn't explain, what he wasn't sure he really understood himself. He just knew that no good would come from chasing the Elder wand, but they needed to find the Horcruxes.

"I… I know you have very strong feelings about this but… well… this is the second time the Elder wand has come up, Mr Lovegood brought it up as well." Draco pointed out, "Maybe the Gods are telling us that a way to be a 'Master of Death' would be useful."

Harry chewed his lip for a moment, "No. Maybe… but no… I'm sorry, I know I'm not explaining this very well. We need to focus on the Horcruxes. In the story two out of the three brothers died from what they got from Death, and the third died anyway."

"Everyone dies at some point." Draco muttered.

"Well do you have any idea where the next Horcrux is?" Hermione asked, stopping Harry and Draco from getting into an argument, "Because you said it yourself, you know where the Elder wand is."

Harry felt his hope slip away, Voldemort was close to the Elder wand, he could feel it. They wouldn't get there in time, not safely, "I think it's at Hogwarts, I always have, assuming Narcissa has found the other one." he shrugged, "Please don't make us go after the wand."

Hermione and Draco looked at each other before nodding.

"All right, we trust you." Draco smiled, giving Harry a one armed hug, "We're not going to Hogwarts until we really have to. We go there, we're not coming out without the final fight, we know this. We have to give everyone as much time as we can."

"Draco and I were going over all the notes, everything you learnt from Dumbledore's lessons with you, from all the books and we wonder if You-know-who might have left something with Maggie, or at the orphanage."

Harry didn't think it was likely, but his curiosity flared at the thought of meeting the family Tom Riddle could have been a part of, of seeing where the boy who became a monster was born and raised.

"Ok, well let's aim for there then." Harry smiled, "It's in London somewhere, I'm sure I could find it without too much trouble. It's got to be worth a try."

"Mr Ollivander seems well enough to travel now, and we really have been here far too long." Hermione sighed.

"We can't just dump him back at his shop, he'll be taken in a second." Harry pointed out.

"I've written to Bill and Fleur, told them that we'll need to drop him off with them, at least for a little while." Hermione told Harry, "I talked to them at the Yule gathering, they wanted to help in anyway they could. They told us where to apparate to and they'd take it from there, I just hope the letter got through and they'll be waiting for us."

The next morning, after another full meal, Ollivander stood on his own two feet, watching them take down the tent that had been his rescue.

They arrived a few minutes later on a beach, clean, pale sand stretching out for miles all around them.

"It's beautiful here." Draco said, breathing in the salty sea air.

Bill walked over to them from a nearby sand dune and grinned, his long red hair flapping in the wind.

"It was good to hear from ya." Bill grinned, hugging them all, "Sorry I didn't write back but didn't have the foggiest clue where you were."

"We don't have a clue where we are most of the time." Harry laughed, "Bill, please meet Mr Ollivander."

"Pleasure to see you again." Bill said, shaking Ollivander's hand carefully, "My wife is up at the house with her family; they're training but she'll be very happy to see you."

"I am grateful to you to take me in." Ollivander said, waves of exhaustion washing over him, this was the longest he'd been upright in over a year, "Please forgive me, I am not quite well yet."

"What is Fleur training for?" Harry asked.

"To help." Bill laughed, "Trust me Harry, when you call, there will be no shortage of armies that answer. Now, as much as I would love to stay and chat, I think we should get Mr Ollivander to bed. I assume you can't all stay?"

"Unfortunately not." Draco said, giving them a sad smile, "Thank you for the offer though."

Bill nodded, "Well, I'll see you three soon. Mr Ollivander please read this."

Ollivander read the small piece of parchment and nodded, smiling as the cottage came into view.

He said a final goodbye to Harry, Hermione and Draco before taking Bill's arm and walking slowly towards the sweet little white cottage that sat nearby.