Draco and Hermione

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Earlier the day before, Harry and Ron arrived at The Burrow and spread the news of what had happened to Hermione. No matter how much Ron urged them to take action, many of the Order members insisted that they think of a proper plan, like Harry had. So they spent most of their time at The Burrow discussing what they could do and it was only when Hagrid arrived that they finally thought of something. Lupin had been insisting that the Manor was far too large to break into and find Hermione without being caught. Mr Weasley had done Ministry raids on the Manor years ago when he was searching for dark artifacts, and he suspected that the cellar was the most obvious place that prisoners would be kept. But even so, it was risky to try. There was only one certain plan that would work, and Hagrid helped them figure it out.

"They would definitely have anti-Apparition enchantments on the cellar," said Lupin when Ron suggested to apparate.

"Apparating fer wizards won' work, but creatures magic is diff'rent," said Hagrid, reminding them that he was a Care of Magical Creatures professor. This got the others thinking, as they looked at him thoughtfully.

"Hagrid do you... do you mean like elf magic? Dobby once told me that elf magic was different to wizards," said Harry curiously.

"'Course it is, how do yeh think all the house elves apparate round Hogwarts when us wizards can't? It's diff'rent magic," said Hagrid proudly. He'd never been the most intelligent of the Order, but when it came to magical creatures he and Lupin were undeniably the experts.

"And Dobby used to live at Malfoy's house... he'll know where the cellar is and everything!" said Ron incredulously. The two best friends suddenly had a spark of hope: this was their chance to save Hermione. Without telling the others, Harry knew exactly what he had to do.

"Dobby!" Harry called, and an instant later the small house elf appeared with a loud crack, in the middle of the room. He looked very much the same as he always had, although because of Dumbledore passing away, he was wearing less socks. Clearly Snape and the Carrow's didn't believe in paying house elves like Dumbledore did. But no one paid any attention to his socks, they were all looking at him in urgency.

"Harry Potter, sir! It is wonderful to see you again!" squeaked Dobby, as he looked around at all the strained faces.

"It's great to see you too, Dobby. Listen, can you apparate into the cellar at the Malfoy Manor?" Harry asked, crouching in front of the elf.

"Easily, sir. Why must Dobby go back to his old masters home?" asked Dobby nervously.

"Hermione is stuck in the cellar, she's a prisoner. You have to save her and bring her here, okay?" Harry asked, and before he'd even finished the sentence Dobby was nodding.

"Yes sir!" replied the elf in determination. Before anyone else could interfere, the elf clicked his fingers and vanished on the spot.

"Doesn't hesitate, does he?" commented Lupin in surprise.

"No he doesn't," said Harry proudly as he sat back with a wide smile. Dobby really was a life saver.

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"It's only a matter of time now," said Hermione, breaking the agonising silence once more.

"You've said that for the past four hours. Shut up!" Draco snapped, getting into a more comfortable position. He was lying on his stomach, attempting to get to sleep. He firmly believed that no house elf was coming, otherwise it would have happened earlier. And even if an elf did come, why would that matter to him? It wasn't like the mudblood would let him escape with her. Besides, the Order probably abandoned Granger, and he couldn't blame them. She was annoying as hell.