Where them votes and comments at people? ;) Drop an inline comment to let me know what you think as you read this next chapter! I know I say this every time, but ya'll are literally the best! 

Tom bolted into the kitchen, Ellison trailing not far behind. Avery stood before them, his arm around Lestrange, holding him up. Lestrange's front was soaked with blood, his face pale and drenched with sweat.

"What happened?" Tom asked, his eyes darting from Lestrange to Avery. Avery lowered him to the ground, a low groan rising from Lestrange's throat.

"Move," Ellison pushed past Avery, who was bent down beside Lestrange. Examining his wounds, she reached out to unbutton his shirt, a hand grasping her wrist as she did. She looked up at the person the hand belonged to. Avery was staring at her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I'm a trained healer," she said, jerking her arm from his grasp. "Let me help him."

Ignoring Avery's eyes on her, she went to work unbuttoning Lestrange's shirt again. Peeling it back, her eyes fell on the jagged gashes that covered his torso. "What happened?" She asked, looking up at Avery. He gave no reply, his eyes still narrowed in an icy glare. "I can't help him if I don't know what happened," she said through gritted teeth.

"Tell her," Tom said flatly. Avery looked to Tom, then back at Ellison, a scowl turning down the corners of his mouth.

"His killing curse collided with a blasting curse and rebounded," Avery said, cocking an eyebrow as he waited for her reaction. She took a deep breath, exhaling slowly ... this wasn't good.

"Have you seen this before?" Tom asked.

"Only a handful of times..." she began, eyeing the deep cuts that littered Lestrange's body. "When two spells collide, they sometimes can fuse together..." she continued, "The process seems to have weakened the killing curse, but made for a much more powerful blasting curse." Glancing up at Tom, she gave him a knowing look. He nodded in understanding.

"What do you need?"

"For starters, Essence of Dittiny," Ellison replied, her mind focusing in on the task at hand. "Do you have any potions ingredients here?"

"There's a store room in the cellar," Tom replied.

"I need Mandrake leaf, Foxglove, Starthistle, Valerian root, and Elderberries," She raddled off the ingredients as she slipped Lestrange's arms out of his shirt. Balling up the fabric, she pressed it against his abdomen, holding pressure over a gash that was especially deep. "And I'll need a mortar and pestle as well," she called after Tom, who had dashed out of the room to fetch what she had asked for. Moments later, Tom returned, supplies in hand. She took them from him, and, laying it all out on the floor, went to work.

"Hold him down," she said, uncorking the Essence of Dittiny with her teeth. Removing the makeshift compress she had fashioned, she tipped the vial over, allowing several drops to fall onto the deepest cut. Lestrange groaned in pain, but made no effort to fight against the hands that held his arms and legs. She did the same over each wound, stopping only when the bleeding began to subside.

Sitting the vial down, she turned her attention to the herbs that lay before her. Placing all of them in the mortar, she ground up the ingredients until a smooth paste was all that remained. Scooping it up with her fingers, she spread a thick layer over each wound, until finally, not a single cut was visible. Wiping her hands clean on the front of her dress, she looked up at Tom.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I don't know what kind of internal damage the curse caused when it struck him," Ellison began cautiously.

"What do you need?"

"... A wand," she replied, eyeing Tom for his reaction. She hadn't seen her wand since Lestrange had taken it nearly four days ago, and something told her she wouldn't be getting it back anytime soon. Still, if she was going to perform any kind of healing magic, she needed a wand.

"Yeah right," Avery snickered. "If you think we're giv-"

"Give her your wand," Tom cut in.

"My Lord..." Avery began in protest, a mixture of shock and anger painted across his face.

"Give her your wand," Tom repeated, more forcefully this time. With a huff, Avery pulled his wand out and offered it to Ellison. She took it without hesitation and held it over Lestrange's now unconscious body.

"Vulnera Sanentur," she spoke in a low voice, chanting the words over and over as she moved the wand down the length of Lestrange's body, stopping only after she was sure she had covered every inch of it. Laying the wand down, she drew in a deep breath, exhaling it in a long sigh.

"Will he be alright?" Tom asked.

"He'll need to rest, but yes," Ellison nodded, wiping a few nervous beads of sweat from her brow. "He'll be alright."

Tom gave a stark nod, and turned to look at Avery, who had promptly snatched up his wand the very moment Ellison had laid it down. "Take him upstairs."

----------------------------------------

Hello loves! Here's a short chap for you. I thought about making it a little lengthier but I'm saving what I had in mind for Chapter 10! Hope you loved it! I wanted to show a side of Ellison we haven't seen yet (she did become a healer when Tom left after all!) Let me know what you think!