Harry sat at the foot of the grave, shivering in the moonlight.
"Malfoy?" He whispered, reaching over and shaking Draco's shoulder, trying in vain to wake him.
"He won't Harry..." Hermione said, appearing at Harry's feet. "Not just now."
"He's gone. I killed him..."
"I know Harry, I know..."
"What about... Malfoy?" Harry whispered weakly, more and more energy draining from him with each passing second. He slumped sideways into the grass that was slightly damp with dew.
"What about him? If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't even be here right now," Hermione said shortly. "And Ron... Ron might still be alive." "Yes... But he didn't know... He didn't... Mean... to..." Harry choked, spitting up a mixture of water and blood.
"Harry! How can you defend him? He is responsible for your best friend's death!" Hermione raged.
Harry was slightly taken aback by Hermione anger. She had always been a very calm and reasonable person, and, even given the situation, Harry was still shocked to hear her yelling.
"He brought me... To Voldemort... If he hadn't... Still be... Alive... Now..." Harry said, his words slurring and catching in his throat.
"Harry, you've got to get up, we have to go back to the school. Dumbledore...he'll know what to do..." Hermione said, finally noticing the pool of blood and saliva that Harry has spit up.
"A- a- acci-"Harry started, but started choking and doubled up.
"/I" Hermione said for him, aiming her wand at the Snitch, which had been the portkey.
She didn't catch it; just let it drop to the ground next to her. She knew if she touched it, Harry, Draco and Ron's body would be left there.
"Harry, grab onto Draco... If you must," She said, an ugly sneer playing her features. "I'll get Ron and drag him over, then grab you and we'll go back..."
Harry groaned in pain but did as she told him. He reached behind him and clasped his fingers around Draco's wrist. It pained him to feel how cold and limp he was; had he not felt a pulse, he would have wondered if he were actually alive.
He heard Hermione shuffling around and then felt his wrist wrapped in her fingers. He felt Ron's body drape over him as Hermione laid him down. The next few moments made Harry feel sick. The jolt behind his naval, the sudden thud as they hit the ground. Ron's now lifeless body laying over him, slamming into his stomach, didn't help any. He turned his head and wretched, vomiting on the muddy grass that was the center of the Qudditch pitch.
Voices. Jumbled voices. Shouting... Something... Something he couldn't quite make out.
I"My God. Weasley? Dead? What about Potter and Malfoy?" "They're alive.... Barely" "What happened?" "Voldemort. He's dead."/I
"Potter? Can you hear me?" Harry heard the voice in his ear and long fingers grasping his shoulder.
He only could gargle a weak response.
He felt nothing. Just the still air around him, closing him in. He felt as if each breath would crush his chest and suffocate him.
"Take them to the hospital wing," the voice said, gesturing at Harry and
Draco, then, "Take him," gestured at Ron, "to my office."
~*~
Harry woke up three days later in the hospital wing, still coughing up blood into a bucket whenever he inhaled too deeply.
"It's hopeless, Professor Dumbledore. There's no more I can do for him..."
"Do you mean to tell me, Poppy, that Mr. Potter is going to die?"
"Yes. This isn't a magical injury; it's not even a physical injury... It's deeper. It's a... Curse."
"Very well... This is Dark Magic at it's worst. I always feared this. I knew that that scare on his forehead might one day be his downfall..."
Groan
"Professor?" Harry managed weakly.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
Harry couldn't say anymore, he was too weak; he just stared up into the Headmaster's tired face, fear and resolution mingling on his own.
"Yes, Harry. You are going to die... There is nothing we can do. But, you have saved us all..." Dumbledore said. Harry nodded. For the first time in seven years, he saw a tear rolling down Dumbledore's cheek.
"Malfoy...?" Harry managed in a labored whisper.
"Mr. Malfoy is fine. He has returned home early to be with his mother. No doubt the recent loss of his father is affecting him greatly," the Professor said, smoothing the cotton blanket that covered Harry's slowly dying body.
"He did, however, pledge his allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix just before his departure. Even with Voldemort gone, there are going to be Death Eaters bent on fulfilling his vision," he continued.
~*~
"We have all suffered a great loss this year. Misters Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley will be greatly missed. They died defeating Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore said, looking out over the tear-stained faces that filled the Great Hall, most of all, Hermione's.
"Mr. Potter need not have died at all. He only died because Voldemort did. He was connected by his scar to Voldemort by more than I fathomed, and one could not have died without taking the other with him.
"Mr. Malfoy is injured, but alive. If not for him, the Dark Lord would still be at large. He knew what was going to happen in that graveyard, and had he not jinxed the snitch to turn it into a portkey, Harry would not have been there to defeat him.
Dumbledore continued the tragic tale. Telling all, how Harry had used the fateful Avada Kedavra curse, then immediately went into convulsions. How Draco had been knocked out by a Cruciatus Curse administered by his own father. How Ron had been killed in the crossfire.
He finished his speech and the school year came to a close. The students silently filed onto the train the next morning, some crying, some to somber to cry, but all sad in some way. All thinking one thing:
IRest in Peace, Harry Potter./I
"Malfoy?" He whispered, reaching over and shaking Draco's shoulder, trying in vain to wake him.
"He won't Harry..." Hermione said, appearing at Harry's feet. "Not just now."
"He's gone. I killed him..."
"I know Harry, I know..."
"What about... Malfoy?" Harry whispered weakly, more and more energy draining from him with each passing second. He slumped sideways into the grass that was slightly damp with dew.
"What about him? If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't even be here right now," Hermione said shortly. "And Ron... Ron might still be alive." "Yes... But he didn't know... He didn't... Mean... to..." Harry choked, spitting up a mixture of water and blood.
"Harry! How can you defend him? He is responsible for your best friend's death!" Hermione raged.
Harry was slightly taken aback by Hermione anger. She had always been a very calm and reasonable person, and, even given the situation, Harry was still shocked to hear her yelling.
"He brought me... To Voldemort... If he hadn't... Still be... Alive... Now..." Harry said, his words slurring and catching in his throat.
"Harry, you've got to get up, we have to go back to the school. Dumbledore...he'll know what to do..." Hermione said, finally noticing the pool of blood and saliva that Harry has spit up.
"A- a- acci-"Harry started, but started choking and doubled up.
"/I" Hermione said for him, aiming her wand at the Snitch, which had been the portkey.
She didn't catch it; just let it drop to the ground next to her. She knew if she touched it, Harry, Draco and Ron's body would be left there.
"Harry, grab onto Draco... If you must," She said, an ugly sneer playing her features. "I'll get Ron and drag him over, then grab you and we'll go back..."
Harry groaned in pain but did as she told him. He reached behind him and clasped his fingers around Draco's wrist. It pained him to feel how cold and limp he was; had he not felt a pulse, he would have wondered if he were actually alive.
He heard Hermione shuffling around and then felt his wrist wrapped in her fingers. He felt Ron's body drape over him as Hermione laid him down. The next few moments made Harry feel sick. The jolt behind his naval, the sudden thud as they hit the ground. Ron's now lifeless body laying over him, slamming into his stomach, didn't help any. He turned his head and wretched, vomiting on the muddy grass that was the center of the Qudditch pitch.
Voices. Jumbled voices. Shouting... Something... Something he couldn't quite make out.
I"My God. Weasley? Dead? What about Potter and Malfoy?" "They're alive.... Barely" "What happened?" "Voldemort. He's dead."/I
"Potter? Can you hear me?" Harry heard the voice in his ear and long fingers grasping his shoulder.
He only could gargle a weak response.
He felt nothing. Just the still air around him, closing him in. He felt as if each breath would crush his chest and suffocate him.
"Take them to the hospital wing," the voice said, gesturing at Harry and
Draco, then, "Take him," gestured at Ron, "to my office."
~*~
Harry woke up three days later in the hospital wing, still coughing up blood into a bucket whenever he inhaled too deeply.
"It's hopeless, Professor Dumbledore. There's no more I can do for him..."
"Do you mean to tell me, Poppy, that Mr. Potter is going to die?"
"Yes. This isn't a magical injury; it's not even a physical injury... It's deeper. It's a... Curse."
"Very well... This is Dark Magic at it's worst. I always feared this. I knew that that scare on his forehead might one day be his downfall..."
Groan
"Professor?" Harry managed weakly.
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
Harry couldn't say anymore, he was too weak; he just stared up into the Headmaster's tired face, fear and resolution mingling on his own.
"Yes, Harry. You are going to die... There is nothing we can do. But, you have saved us all..." Dumbledore said. Harry nodded. For the first time in seven years, he saw a tear rolling down Dumbledore's cheek.
"Malfoy...?" Harry managed in a labored whisper.
"Mr. Malfoy is fine. He has returned home early to be with his mother. No doubt the recent loss of his father is affecting him greatly," the Professor said, smoothing the cotton blanket that covered Harry's slowly dying body.
"He did, however, pledge his allegiance to the Order of the Phoenix just before his departure. Even with Voldemort gone, there are going to be Death Eaters bent on fulfilling his vision," he continued.
~*~
"We have all suffered a great loss this year. Misters Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley will be greatly missed. They died defeating Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore said, looking out over the tear-stained faces that filled the Great Hall, most of all, Hermione's.
"Mr. Potter need not have died at all. He only died because Voldemort did. He was connected by his scar to Voldemort by more than I fathomed, and one could not have died without taking the other with him.
"Mr. Malfoy is injured, but alive. If not for him, the Dark Lord would still be at large. He knew what was going to happen in that graveyard, and had he not jinxed the snitch to turn it into a portkey, Harry would not have been there to defeat him.
Dumbledore continued the tragic tale. Telling all, how Harry had used the fateful Avada Kedavra curse, then immediately went into convulsions. How Draco had been knocked out by a Cruciatus Curse administered by his own father. How Ron had been killed in the crossfire.
He finished his speech and the school year came to a close. The students silently filed onto the train the next morning, some crying, some to somber to cry, but all sad in some way. All thinking one thing:
IRest in Peace, Harry Potter./I