Chapter Forty
Hermione saw Narcissa and Bellatrix leave and grinned. She untucked herself from behind the bush she'd been hiding behind and walked quickly down the lane to where Harry and Draco were waiting.
"It's time." Hermione whispered.
She removed the spells keeping her invisible and hunched down next to Harry and Draco.
"Are we sure we want to do this?" Draco asked. He knew he was being selfish but there wasn't a single part of him that wanted to break into his aunts house.
"We have to." Harry sighed. He didn't want to go in there either but he couldn't ignore the fact someone was trapped in there, needing help.
They had been waiting on the lane leading to Lestrange Manor since the day they'd left the Lovegood house, waiting for Narcissa to finally get the article to Bellatrix.
"You're sure this is going to work?" Hermione asked, glancing towards the angry looking building.
"We think so." Draco said, chewing his lip, "I doubt that Bellatrix or Rodolphus would have thought about using House elf proof wards. Father does but… well, it was Lily who suggested it to him."
Hermione allowed herself a smirk. It was well known that wizards could have very little logic at times. It didn't surprise her at all that Lily had been the one to suggest guarding against the different magic that House elves used.
Harry took a deep breath and called Kreacher.
There was a loud pop and the elf appeared in the middle of their group. He looked between their smiling faces before wrapping Harry in a tight hug.
"Oh Harry I has missed you!" Kreacher smiled, wiping his tear filled eyes, "Is you all rights?"
Harry grinned and nodded, "We're doing OK."
"Can Kreacher helps you with somethings?" Kreacher asked, smoothing out his pillowcase.
"Yes." Harry said frankly, "We really could do with a lot of help. We need you to smuggle us into the attic of Lestrange Manor and then back out again, with someone else."
"Who else?" Kreacher asked.
"Ollivander, the wand maker." Hermione said, "We were told that he's being help hostage in there, that they want him to make the most powerful wand ever."
Kreacher frowned, "Mostest wizards believe power comes from the wizard, not the wand."
"And is that true?" Draco asked, confused by the way the elf had phrased that, "That all wands are created equal?"
Kreacher shook his head, "No. Buts I is not sures that Ollivander could creates a more powerful wand than others. Wands must be touched by magic to be more powerful than others. Not wizards magic, other magicks."
Harry frowned, "To be honest I'm not sure that Ollivander is completely human. He's meant to be ancient apart from anything else, isn't he?"
"It's a good point." Draco agreed.
Kreacher thought seriously for a moment; he didn't like the idea of Harry or anyone else going into Missy Bella's house, she was nasty and evil. But he knew they wouldn't of asked if it wasn't really important and above everything else, he trusted Harry.
"Ok. Does you have any ways of hidings?" Kreacher asked.
"We have some polyjuice potion, but not a lot… and we don't know who's in there." Draco shrugged, "So it's unlikely to do much good."
Kreacher stroked his chin for a moment, "Where is Mr Ollivander? In the attic yeses? That's where Missy Bella always said she'd keeps peoples…"
Hermione, Harry and Draco all nodded.
"Well I shall apparate you straight there, then you cans be grabbing Mr Ollivander and we shall apparate back outs again. Oks?" Kreacher suggested.
They didn't argue, instead they quickly grabbed hold of Kreacher's hands, Harry holding onto Hermione's and took a deep breath before the air was forced from their lungs.
Hermione knew the second that they'd taken off something was wrong. Normally she felt pressed against the people she apparated with, but she could feel her fingers leaving Harry and Kreacher's no matter how tightly she tried to hold on to them. It was like they'd been covered in oil, impossible to keep hold of.
She landed with a thud on a heavy wooden bench. It had been well used, with several groves in the surface but polished to a shine and felt worn from love rather than lack of care.
Hermione was slightly afraid to move as she couldn't hear the others around her, in fact all of the movement in the room had stopped the second she'd arrived. She had a horrible feeling she'd been completely separated from the others.
She pushed herself up into a seating position, feeling several bruises start to form on her stomach and shoulders. She looked around the badly lit room which was clearly the kitchen. It was huge, easily as big as the bottom floor of her parents' house, with two large, old fashioned stoves, several sets of copper pots and pan and four house elves looking at her with huge eyes.
"Umm… hello?" Hermione said slowly, giving them a small, very awkward wave, "Umm… you must be the Lestrange house elves?"
The four little heads nodded in unison.
"Sorry to drop in like this. I didn't mean to." Hermione said, "Obviously."
"Are you hurt?" one of the house elves asked, taking a few worried steps towards Hermione before shrinking back to the others.
"Bruised I think but nothing more serious." Hermione said kindly, "What's your name?"
"Grub." she said, wiping her hands on her very grubby toga dress before holding it out for Hermione to shake, "This is my brother, Peep. My Grandfather, Blob and my Aunt Swine."
Hermione shook the little elf's hand and forced a smile to her face. She'd never seen house elves like this, living in filth with ripped, old uniforms and nasty, demeaning names, scared of their own shadows, let alone anyone or anything else.
"You is… I mean are, you are in the kitchens." Peep said slowly, peaking out from behind his ears.
"Yes… I guessed." Hermione said, trying to still keep smiling and not scaring them any more than they clearly already were, "I don't suppose there is a convenient back door down here that I could just… slip out of?"
"We are underground." Blob said, like Hermione was being rather silly.
"Ah… I see." Hermione sighed.
She had no idea how she was going to get out of here, the kitchens would be impossible to sneak out of without anyone seeing her. A crippling wave of panic crashed over her thoughts, wondering where the others had landed, if they were all right. What if they had been caught already?
"I really should get out of here." Hermione said quickly, "Can you help?"
The four house elves looked at her with wide eyes.
"House elves should help…" Blob said, in his very old, crackly voice, "But you, young lady, are not family."
Hermione rolled her eyes; it wasn't like the 'family' was treating them so well but she could guarantee pointing that out would lead to a lot of noise and house elves punishing themselves, none of which would be, in anyway, helpful right now.
"I know I'm not family, but I shouldn't be here." Hermione said carefully.
"No you shouldn't." Swine sniffed, "You smell like a mudblood."
Hermione let out a cough of disgust, "Excuse me? What exactly do muggleborns smell like?"
Swine looked her up and down, "Cheap."
Hermione shook her head, "This isn't going to get us anywhere." she muttered, "For the record yes, I am a muggleborn but that shouldn't matter, not one bit. I'm… I was with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, and neither of them are muggleborn."
"How can we help?" Grub asked quickly, earning herself shocked and annoyed looks from her family.
Hermione chewed at her lip for a moment, wondering exactly what she did need help with, to get out or to save Ollivander, "It's so dark down here…"
"We don't need more light." Blob lied, "It's a waste of money and resources."
Hermione nodded, not believing them for a moment. She was just about to say something when there was a crash from the top of the stairs.
"Hide!" All four of the house elves said at once.
Hermione didn't need telling twice and dived into the darkest corner she could see, pulling a bunch of musty smelling sacks over her while hardly daring to breathe.
Rodolphus wobbled down the stairs, "Where's Bella?" he demanded, giving Swine a sharp shove that sent her crashing into a stack of pans.
"We do not know where Mistress is." Peep said, his voice wobbling with fear.
Rodolphus gave him a harsh slap, "What are you babbling about? For fucks' sake! Where is she?"
"She was at breakfast." Grub squeaked, "With Mistress Narcissa."
Rodolphus ran a hand through his hair, "Fuck it. It's not like a really give a damn about the bitch. Bring me some biscuits and a glass of port."
Hermione waited until the heavy footsteps had faded completely before puling herself out of the foul smelling, damp corner.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked, quickly helping the quaking house elf to her feet.
Swine looked at her with confusion for a moment before pulling her hand away, "No witch or wizard has ever helped me before." she whispered.
"Well you were hurt." Hermione said, feeling very sad the little elf was so surprised at being helped.
Swine nodded, "Yes… thank you."
Swine snapped her fingers, holding Hermione's hand tightly. Hermione found herself back on the lane outside the Manor.
"Oh… thank you. Wait my…" Hermione started, looking around but Swine had already left.
Hermione looked around, unsure what to do. She looked up at the foreboding house and sighed; there was no way she could get back inside. There was nothing for it but to wait and hope. She tucked herself down into the bush nearby and waited for someone else to come along, feeling totally and utterly helpless.
Draco ran his fingers over the worn hangings on the bed. They were clean now, but it was clear they had been thickly covered in dust, dust that still stuck in some of the balder patches of the fabric.
He had no idea where he was, a bedroom of some sort. It was in use, there were several nightdresses, and undergarments in one of the chests of draws, and the wardrobe was full to bursting with dresses and robes for every occasion, many of which hadn't been worn yet.
There was no sort of personal things though, no small knick-knacks or pictures on the walls.
Draco didn't know how they had managed to get separated. He'd never heard of something like this happening, clearly they had some sort of protection against house elves, even if it wasn't strong enough to keep them out completely.
Draco didn't want to leave just yet, apart from anything else he didn't know where he was or what could be behind that door. While he was in this room, he was somewhat safe.
The bed was comfortable, if a little soft for Draco's preference. The bedding was clean but once again, worn. He flopped his head against the pillow and felt something hard.
Draco knew that he shouldn't dig around in someone else's things but he didn't care right now. Anything he could use to procrastinate.
Inside the pillowcase was an A5, leather bound book.
"So this is Aunt Bella's room…" Draco mused, curling his legs under himself and flicking though the pages.
It was mostly nothings, ramblings of where Bellatrix's head happened to be in that second, which changed rapidly. Mostly how much she hated her husband and her children. And of course, how much she loved Voldemort.
She'd written a whole page on how she was going to marry off her son Rodolphus to some short, bossy, brunette with stumpy legs to get back at his father for flirting with Narcissa, again.
Bellatrix was a good few years older than his mother, but her diary read like she was younger than he was. It was filled with raw emotions, with little control over the thoughts or feelings she was experiencing.
The latest entries were scrawled in thick black lines, several large ink splodges from where the pen had been pressed too firmly on the thick paper.
She had ranted about her stupid nephew breaking into her vault, that they'd stolen something and she was terrified they'd found 'it' as well, after the Dark Lord had given it to her to keep so many years ago, proof that he trusted her completely.
Draco felt a rush of hope for their plan of his mother getting into the vault and finding another Horcrux. It would make the huge risk she was currently taking worth it.
Now he just needed to get out of there alive and, preferably, in one piece.
There was a huge tree about a meter outside the window, the branches would be thick enough to hold his weight, but it would be jump to get into it.
Last year Draco wouldn't have doubted his ability to make it, but he'd not played Quidditch in months and he knew his muscles weren't as strong as they had been. They'd had little chance for exercise on the run.
Draco moved over to the door and pressed his ear against the old wood. He could hear people walking by, cementing it in his mind that it was going to be far to risky to try and get out that way.
"So… tree it is." Draco mused to himself, throwing open the window and pulling himself easily enough up onto the window still.
It looked scarily high now he was already half out of the window.
He froze as the handle to the bedroom rattled slightly, a slurred shout from just outside echoing through to him.
Draco couldn't wait any longer. He took a deep breath and jumped.
He felt the rough bark dig into his palms as his fingers clutched around the branches, forcing himself to fight through the pain and not let go. He pulled himself up so he could see where he was going and catch his breath before he slowly climbed down, having to drop the last few feet due to the lack of thick enough branches.
Draco felt the gravel cut into his knees, sure it had ripped straight through his trousers. It didn't matter right now though, he just needed to get going. He was currently very much out in the open.
There was no one else in the gardens so Draco cast the most basic of disillusionment charms on himself, wondering why it had only just now occurred to him to have cast a cushioning charm before he had had to jump from a second floor window.
He tried not to look around as he walked towards the gates. He was sure that any second someone was going to spot him and sound the alarm. He'd be caught and thrown in the attic, or killed before he knew what was going on.
No one called out though, or even glanced out the windows so they could of seen him. Draco made it out the gate and looked around, wondering where to go now. He'd hoped that the others had been trapped outside, feeling awful as the realisation hit him he'd left his friends in the Manor.
Draco was just about to go back in and look for them when he felt someone pull at his sleeve. Hermione smiled up nervously at him from behind a bush.
"Are you the only one out here?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded, "Yeah I think so. Did you end up in the attic?"
Draco shook his head, "Bellatrix's bedroom. You?"
"Kitchen, with a bunch of very scared house elves." Hermione said, tucking her arms around herself, "Should we go back in?" she still couldn't think of any sort of plan that would get them back in safely, let alone out again.
"I think that needs to be our last idea." Draco sighed, "It's not safe and I honestly don't think we'd get anywhere."
"So we just wait?" Hermione asked.
Draco nodded, "So we just wait."