As the crushing darkness of Apparation ended, Dean stumbled and would have fallen to his knees had it not been for the grip Luna had on his hand. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realised they were in front of a small cottage. He looked at Dobby and asked, “Is this Shell Cottage, Dobby?”

The elf nodded before replying, “Harry Potter’s Wheezy said to bring you to Shell Cottage and Dobby is bringing you here. Now, Dobby must go save his Harry Potter.” The elf snapped his fingers and with a distinct crack, disappeared.

“Who’s there? Identify yourself!” shouted a voice from the doorway of the cottage.

“Dean Thomas, I have Luna Lovegood and Mr. Ollivander with me. Ron and Harry sent us here. Dobby brought us from the Malfoy Manor.” Dean hoped the voice belonged to Ron’s brother Bill. He knew if it was an enemy, they were in trouble as not a single one of them had a wand.

The man who had called to them came outside holding his lighted wand outstretched. He was followed by a woman with long blonde hair also holding a wand pointed at them. Dean immediately recognised Fleur from the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Bill looked at each of them. When he realised the boy had been telling the truth, he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Fleur noticing Mr. Ollivander was hurt, stopped him.

“Bill, we must get Mr. Ollivander into ‘e ‘ouse. ‘E is injured.” Fleur knelt down beside the old man and checked to make sure he was still alive. “’Urry Bill, ‘e needs attention.”

Bill walked over to Mr. Ollivander and with Dean’s help, lifted the old man to his feet. Half carrying, half dragging him, they managed to get him in the house and upstairs into one of the small bedrooms. Placing him on the bed, Bill motioned for Dean to accompany him downstairs leaving Fleur and Luna to care for the injured wandmaker.

“I need to know what is going on. You have seen Ron? Are Harry and Hermione with him? Are they injured?” Bill’s questions came in rapid fire succession allowing Dean no chance to answer.

As Bill paused to draw a breath, Dean rushed to explain. “I was captured by Snatchers this morning along with Griphook. This afternoon, somehow, they found Harry, Ron and Hermione. They took us all to Malfoy Manor. Once we got there, they figured out who Harry was.”

“What do you mean? Why didn’t they recognise him at once?” Bill asked.

“Well, Harry’s face was all swollen and red from a Stinging Hex. But, it didn’t take long for them to figure it out once they saw Ron and Hermione,” Dean explained.

“You said they are at Malfoy Manor?” At Dean’s nod, Bill continued, “Was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named there?”

“No, Bellatrix Lestrange was going to summon him, but when she saw the sword, she said something about all of them being in great danger if he came then. She wanted to know how they got the sword, where it came from.”

“What sword?” asked Bill.

“The sword of Godric Gryffindor. I don’t know how they got it but the Snatchers found it in the tent after they captured Harry, Ron and Hermione. They sent all of us to the cellar except for Hermione. Bellatrix kept her upstairs and was torturing her. Luna and Mr. Ollivander were in the cellar. Ron had Luna use something in his pocket and there was enough light for us to see.” Dean paused to make sure Bill was following his story.

“His Deluminator,” supplied Bill.

“I guess that is what it could have been. Harry pulled something out from a pouch around his neck and asked for help. That is when Dobby appeared. We could hear Hermione screaming, so Harry asked Dobby if he could take us out of there with him. Ron told Dobby to bring us here. They stayed to save Hermione and Griphook.”

“Where did Dobby go?” Bill asked.

“He said he had to go back and save Harry.” Dean replied.

Just at that moment, they heard the distinct crack of someone Appartating into the yard. Rushing out the door, they found Ron supporting an injured Hermione. Bill immediately went over to help Ron with her. Together they took her in the house and placed her on the couch, as Fleur and Luna came down the stairs.

Just as Fleur asked Ron what had happened to her another crack was heard from outside. Bill walked quickly to the door and looked out.

“I think it may be Harry,” saying this, he opened the door and rushed outside. He was followed by Fleur, Dean and Luna. They heard Harry’s shout for help as they rushed to his side.

Dean looked down on the scene. It was clear from the stillness of the house-elf that he was dead. Dean felt a wave of grief for the elf. He had saved his life and then going back to save Harry, gave his own life for Harry’s.

*“Hermione,” Harry said suddenly. “Where is she?”

“Ron’s taken her inside,” said Bill. “She’ll be all right.”*

Dean saw Harry turn back to the elf. He could see that Harry was not interested in anything but the elf now that he knew Hermione was going to be okay.

Dean listened carefully as Bill explained what their escape meant. Bill quickly told them what needed to be done. Dean agreed with Bill’s plans. He knew Harry’s escape with Ron would mean trouble for the entire Weasley family.

Following Bill’s orders, he lifted Griphook into his arms and carried him into the house, followed by Fleur and Luna. He knew he should be grateful for his freedom and his life, but the cost the little house-elf paid was too high.