𝐕𝐈. 𝐍𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄 ➵ 𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐱 𝐇𝐏

012.

  ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

⟻ NEPENTHE ⟼

012.

the cottage.

——— ☾𖤓 ———

Bill and Fleur's . . . Shell Cottage . . . Bill and Fleur's . . . He had disappeared into the unknown; all he could do was repeat the name of the destination and hope that it would suffice to take him there.

The pain in his forehead pierced him, and the weight of the goblin bore down upon him; he could feel the blade of Gryffindor's sword bumping against his back: Dobby's hand jerked in his; he wondered whether the elf was trying to take charge, to pull them in the right direction, and tried, by squeezing the fingers, to indicate that that was fine with them. . . . And then they hit solid earth and smelled salty air.

Harry fell to his knees, relinquished Dobby's hand, and attempted to lower Griphook gently to the ground. "Are you all right?" he said as the goblin stirred, but Griphook merely whimpered.

Harry squinted around through the darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide starry sky, and he thought he saw movement outside it. "Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he whispered, clutching the two wands he had brought from the Malfoys', ready to fight if he needed to.

"Yes, Harry Potter." The elf confirmed.

After a minute or so he realized that they had, after all, come to the right place, for here were Bill and Fleur, Dean and Luna, gathering around him as he observed his surroundings. "Hermione," he said suddenly.

"Where is she?"

"Ron's taken her inside," said Bill. "She'll be all right."

Soon enough, two more pops sounded through the breeze, and they snapped his attention back to the source of the voice. Seeing not two, but three figures in front of him, Harry quickly drew out his wand.

"Why is he here?!"

Regulus waved his hand, and Harry's wand flew towards the boy.

"He's my godson." Regulus said calmly, "Narcissa wanted me to keep him away."

"They thought he was kidnapped." Theo announced, "Now, will you actually do as we say?" He raised a threatening eyebrow towards Harry, "Because if you can't, I'll knock you out and bring you back to Safe Haven myself."

"Fine." Harry agreed reluctantly, glancing at Draco hesitantly.

Regulus glanced at Theo, "I'll bring him back to Safe Haven. Keep an eye out for now. I'll come back right after."

Theo nodded, and soon enough, Draco and Regulus disappeared.

The sea was rushing against the rock somewhere nearby; Harry listened to it while the others talked, discussing matters in which he could take no interest, making decisions, Dean carried the injured Griphook into the house, Fleur hurrying with them; now Bill really knew what he was saying.

"How's Hermione?"

"Better," said Ron. "Fleur's looking after her." Harry had his retort ready for when they asked him why he had not simply created a perfect grave with his wand, but he did not need it. They jumped down into the hole he had made with spades of their own and together they worked in silence until the hole seemed deep enough.

Harry wrapped the elf more snugly in his jacket. Ron sat on the edge of the grave and stripped off his shoes and socks, which he placed on the elf's bare feet. Dean produced a woolen hat, which Harry placed carefully upon Dobby's head, muffling his batlike ears. "Here you go, Dobby."