Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. I am not making any money off of this.

Author's Note: Each chapter will be very short. I've already written the entire thing, but want to upload it in pieces, because I like it better that way.

For anyone reading this that is also following Therapy Sessions…I promise, I'm working on it! Honestly, I've got the next chapter almost finished, but it's the longest one yet, so I took a little break and wrote this.

This starts with the trio and company leaving Malfoy Manor in the seventh book, but changing one thing, which changes…everything. There will be flashes from scenes that happened in the books, but altered, and there will be scenes of things that never happened in the books. I am worried that the altered scenes that happened in the books will be boring to read, but the vision I had for this does not significantly affect the trio's fight against Voldemort or what they do in the battle. It just adds another person to their group. C'est la vie.

Anyway, hope it's still enjoyable to read.

As Harry turned into darkness he caught one last view of the drawing room: of the pale, frozen figures of Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was Ron's hair as he lunged for Dobby's outstretched hand, a blur of flying silver, as Bellatrix's knife flew across the room at the place where he was vanishing, and a flash of white-blonde as Lucius lunged for Hermione-

Bill and Fleur's…Shell Cottage…Bill and Fleur's…

He had disappeared into the unknown and he felt the tightening around his chest, he couldn't breath, he couldn't think, and he felt Dobby's hand jerk in his; he wondered whether the elf was trying to take charge, and he tried, by squeezing his fingers, to indicate that that was fine with him…

And then they hit solid earth and smelled salty air. Harry fell to his knees and squinted through the darkness. Blurry shapes were moving toward him, but he couldn't see them properly. "Dobby, is this Shell Cottage?" he asked. "Have we come to the right place?"

He turned to look at the elf, waiting for an answer, but felt his heart stop at the sight of the silver hilt of the knife protruding from Dobby's heaving chest.

"DOBBY! NO!" he bellowed, catching the little elf in his arms as he collapsed.

"DOBBY! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!" he yelled toward the people running toward him, not caring if they were friend or foe -

"Harry…Potter…" the little elf gasped, then trembled and was still.

"DOBBY! NO, YOU CAN'T DIE, PLEASE DON'T DIE-"

"HARRY!" he heard someone bellow, but he didn't turn toward the sound, he just lay on the sand, holding the little elf to his chest, rocking back and forth as tears leaked out of his eyes-

"HARRY! HARRY THEY GOT HERMIONE!"

His head snapped up as he felt someone grab him by the shoulders and shake him. A wild-eyed Ron was yelling in his face.

"They got…Hermione?" he asked dazedly, his head still swimming with grief from Dobby's death and the searing pain in his scar.

"Yes," Ron sobbed, looking down at the lifeless body of Dobby. "Lucius pulled her out of my grip as we were Apparating…we've got to go back! We've got to save her!"

Harry's mind finally caught up with him and he felt as if he had just been hit by a ton of bricks. Laying Dobby's body gently on the ground, he jumped up and started pacing back and forth, his heart racing and his hands running through his hair in frustration. Terror filled him as he thought that at any minute, Voldemort would be there and Hermione might be lost to them forever…

"How are we going to get back? We can't Apparate into the Manor without Dobby! And I can't call Kreacher, in case Death Eaters took him…"

Harry became dimly aware that Fleur and Bill were running up to them, but that Luna stopped them from approaching as she began talking to them quietly. He and Ron stared at each other, shocked and unsure of what to do. Perhaps Bill would know? Harry whipped around and ran up to him.

"Bill," he said, without pretense, "Hermione is being held captive at Malfoy Manor. You-know-who is on his way there right now. We need to get back there or she will be killed. Can you help us?"

Bill looked at him with a mixture of pity and horror. "Harry…Malfoy Manor has some of the strongest wards of any private-dwelling in Britain. You cannot get in unless the Master of the house lets you in."

Harry stared at Bill blankly, unable to process what he was saying. They had to be able to save Hermione. They couldn't just stand by and let her-let her be-

He couldn't even finish the thought. He continued to look at Bill, as if expecting him to say something else.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Harry. There's nothing we can do."

Harry froze. He heard Ron collapse behind him, wailing unabashedly. He could not move. He could not think. He could not accept that Hermione had been taken from them and was possibly at that exact moment being tortured again, or killed…

Then a loud crack sounded behind him. He whipped around, his eyes going out of focus briefly at the quick movement. He saw a shock of white-blonde hair…and bushy brown hair too. His heart skipped a beat.

Hermione. With…Draco Malfoy.