* * * *
Two nights later, Draco watched Harry walk down the hall with the book and the dagger hidden in his bag. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that the precious little Boy That Lived, would soon be so far gone that no one would be able to save him. He was sitting at the Slytherin table with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him, ready to take off after anyone who might try to follow Harry. The last thing Draco needed was the preparation of the spell being interrupted. He was so busy watching Harry's friends, that he didn't notice the shadow of Professor Snape fall over the table.
"Malfoy," Snape said softly. "I need to speak with you." He dark eyes glanced around the hall. "Where's Potter? I need to speak with him as well."
Draco shrugged. "How should I know where Potter is, sir?"
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Since you've been supplying him with dark arts books. I meant to speak to the two of you about this sooner but I've been . . . busy. Where is he?"
Draco's face had paled at the mention of the books and he shrugged helplessly, refusing to say a word about the other student's whereabouts.
"Draco, I want you to tell me where he is right now," Snape said, his words laced with unspoken threats. "If you don't tell me and he does something stupid your father and I will both hold you personally responsible." His black eyes narrowed. "We are not men you want on your bad side Draco, you know that."
Draco shrugged again, then went back to the dinner on the plate in front of him.
Snape's hand twisted in the back of Draco's robes and he yanked the student up from the table. Draco yelped in surprise and began to struggle against the confines of his robe.
"What is he doing, Draco? Did he find something?"
A quick smile stole across Draco's face and Snape twisted his robes tighter, cutting off his air supply. The student quickly gasped and grabbed at Snape's hands, trying to release himself from his tight fists.
"Don't be stupid. Where is he?" he demanded.
"He's been acting so different," a female voice said from nearby and Snape turned to see Hermione standing there. "What's he gotten into, professor?"
He turned back to Draco, ignoring Hermione's questions. "Tell me where he is," Snape hissed, his face only inches from Draco's.
The student's face had begun to turn red and he was grasping at his neck with his fingers, trying to tear away the material that was choking him. His fingernails slashed across Snape's knuckles, tearing skin away and tiny droplets of blood splashed to the floor.
"Where is he?" Snape asked, his voice more menacing than ever.
"Bathroom," Draco finally wheezed.
Snape released his robes and turned toward the door of the Hall. Draco collapsed to the ground, gasping for air to fill his deprived lungs and clutching his bruised throat with one hand. Hermione watched him for a moment, hating him more than she had ever hated him in her entire seven years at Hogwarts. If he had done something to put Harry in danger, she'd kill him herself.
With this thought ingrained deeply in her mind, Hermione turned on her heel and followed Snape out of the Hall. She wasn't sure what Draco had meant by 'bathroom', but Snape seemed to know exactly where he was going and she had to break into a jog to keep up with him.
"Go back to the Hall, Hermione," he demanded as he ran, choking out her first name for the first time ever.
"No," she panted, "he's my best friend."
"Then you won't want to see what he might be doing," Snape answered, taking the stairs two at a time and arriving outside the bathroom door. "It will not be a pretty sight."
"You know what he's doing?" she asked.
Snape shook his head. "Not for certain, but I have a pretty good idea."
"How could you possibly know?"
The Potions Master stared down at her, his eyes dark and turbulent. He was scared, she could see that, but she could also see the answer. The books had all come from Lucius Malfoy's private library and who had been better friends with Lucius but Snape himself?
"I want to see," she said softly.
Snape nodded, then stepped forward and pressed his palm against the bathroom door.
* * * *
Harry stood amidst flaming candles that burned bright enough to make him squint against their light. The shadows were reduced to almost nothing, though they still reached for him with their claws, tiny, sharp claws that slithered toward his feet. The moon hung just outside the bathroom window, full and orange in the dark sky. In one hand he held the warm leather book and in the other he held an ornate dagger.
A voice flooded his head and he immediately recognized it as the decorative serpent on the first book. "It's time," the voice whispered, rasping against his ear. "Start now, before they come to stop you."
Harry nodded, then looked down at the book and read over the word quickly to make sure he knew what he would be saying. His fingers traced lightly over the lines, then went limp, dropping the book to floor with a loud thump.
"Moerae," Harry intoned softly, the fingers of his right hand nervously flicking over the sharp blade. "Atropos, the inevitable, listen to my words. The parents of Hermione Granger are dead, but I want them returned. Take this soul, this blood in exchange for theirs. Take this life and return them to this existence, cut the thread I offer you and pray that Clotho weaves them more."
The words said, he waited for a long minute, watching as the candles burned steadily and waiting for the flames to soften and finally go out. A candle to his left went out slowly and the others followed soon after, leaving the bathroom lit only by the muted streams of moonlight. Harry's breath went out of him with the candle light leaving his lungs dry and struggling to draw in air to sustain his heart long enough to perform the task ahead.
The dagger trembled in his hand, catching the moonlight and casting silver glinting shadows over the floor. He suddenly wasn't as brave as he had been the past few weeks when searching for the spell, his fear came back full force, paralyzing every muscle in his body and his connection to the magic was broken, but only for a second.
"Do it," the voice whispered. "They're here, they're trying to stop you. Do it!"
A flood of energy poured through Harry's body and his arm rose, the dagger glistening in the moonlight.
"Moerae!" he roared, suddenly full of a power he had never known was inside him. A power that had manifested itself from the dark magic that had begun to flow through his veins. His hand no longer shook, it was strong and sure of its path, his arm was aimed perfectly to pierce the heart of his sacrifice. The heart that would bring back Hermione's parents. The beating heart that lay within the chest of a handsome, seventh year student.
His arm began to arc down, sliding effortlessly through the air toward its mark. His heart.
The bathroom door was pushed open and the light from the hall blinded him for a moment, the dagger wavering in the air as it travelled toward his chest.
"Harry, no!" someone shrieked and he felt a hand on his wrist, grasping the dagger by its blade and tearing it from his hand. Harry felt the contact with the dagger break and a moment later he was on the floor of the bathroom, breathing heavily with tears on his cheeks.
"How could you do that?" the same voice shrieked and Harry looked up to see Hermione standing above him with the blade of the dagger still clenched in her hand. Blood dribbled down her fingers and pooled at her feet, staining the floor red and the sight of her blood made Harry's head spin.
Snape stepped into the room and leaned forward, grabbing the dagger and plucking it from Hermione's hand. She didn't even seem to notice that he was there.
"Are you stupid?" she screamed, her hand flying out and slapping the top of Harry's head. "Are you that goddamned stupid? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you think that I wouldn't notice the change in you?" She took a step closer to him and slapped him again. "What are you trying to do to me? Don't you think I've dealt with enough lately?"
"Hermione," Snape said warningly, but she ignored him.
"I've lost my parents and now you're going to kill yourself?"
"It was to bring your parents back," Harry said weakly.
"It was black magic, Harry!" she screamed. "Did you think it would ever come through? Did you think that my parents would really come back to me?"
Snape shook his head sadly. "It never would have worked, Potter."
Harry stared at him. "But I was going to give my life."
"You were going to kill yourself," Hermione snarled.
"For you," he replied.
"I don't need you to die!" she shouted, collapsing beside him on the floor. "Merlin's Beard, don't you understand, Harry? I need you, you're my best friend. I can't do this without you."
Harry's eyes filled with tears again and his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry."
Hermione's arms went around his shoulders and she crushed her face into his neck. "Don't ever think that you're not enough. I lost my parents, Harry, but I can move on. I can't lose you too, not now. You're my support system. When everything else fails, I can always count on you to be there for me."
"I'm sorry," he whispered again.
"You're the perfect protection when I'm in over my head," she murmured, hugging him tightly. "Don't do this, don't think you ever have to do this."
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said, his arms finally going around her waist. "I'm so very sorry."
Snape stood in the bathroom doorway and watched the friends cling to each other desperately, sitting on a crumpled heap on the floor. Blood, candles and the books of the dark arts surrounded them, but it didn't matter anymore. Harry was alive and Hermione had saved him. Snape smiled slightly, then turned and let the bathroom door fall closed. With friends like those, they would never have to worry about stumbling and having no one to pick them up.
End
Pulled in every direction, I've a million regrets
But you're the perfect protection when I'm diving in over my head
But in the middle of it all
You always break my fall
Over and over, again and again
You float through the door and I'm stumbling in
I'm twisted and tangled and soaked to the skin
But you float through the door and I'm stumbling in again
Notes: The lyrics belong to the fabulous band, Great Big Sea. Go to www.greatbigsea.com to hear the song if you want. Thanks to all my reviewers, I hope you enjoyed this. And, I thought I'd leave Draco's punishment up to your imagination. :)
Two nights later, Draco watched Harry walk down the hall with the book and the dagger hidden in his bag. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that the precious little Boy That Lived, would soon be so far gone that no one would be able to save him. He was sitting at the Slytherin table with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him, ready to take off after anyone who might try to follow Harry. The last thing Draco needed was the preparation of the spell being interrupted. He was so busy watching Harry's friends, that he didn't notice the shadow of Professor Snape fall over the table.
"Malfoy," Snape said softly. "I need to speak with you." He dark eyes glanced around the hall. "Where's Potter? I need to speak with him as well."
Draco shrugged. "How should I know where Potter is, sir?"
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Since you've been supplying him with dark arts books. I meant to speak to the two of you about this sooner but I've been . . . busy. Where is he?"
Draco's face had paled at the mention of the books and he shrugged helplessly, refusing to say a word about the other student's whereabouts.
"Draco, I want you to tell me where he is right now," Snape said, his words laced with unspoken threats. "If you don't tell me and he does something stupid your father and I will both hold you personally responsible." His black eyes narrowed. "We are not men you want on your bad side Draco, you know that."
Draco shrugged again, then went back to the dinner on the plate in front of him.
Snape's hand twisted in the back of Draco's robes and he yanked the student up from the table. Draco yelped in surprise and began to struggle against the confines of his robe.
"What is he doing, Draco? Did he find something?"
A quick smile stole across Draco's face and Snape twisted his robes tighter, cutting off his air supply. The student quickly gasped and grabbed at Snape's hands, trying to release himself from his tight fists.
"Don't be stupid. Where is he?" he demanded.
"He's been acting so different," a female voice said from nearby and Snape turned to see Hermione standing there. "What's he gotten into, professor?"
He turned back to Draco, ignoring Hermione's questions. "Tell me where he is," Snape hissed, his face only inches from Draco's.
The student's face had begun to turn red and he was grasping at his neck with his fingers, trying to tear away the material that was choking him. His fingernails slashed across Snape's knuckles, tearing skin away and tiny droplets of blood splashed to the floor.
"Where is he?" Snape asked, his voice more menacing than ever.
"Bathroom," Draco finally wheezed.
Snape released his robes and turned toward the door of the Hall. Draco collapsed to the ground, gasping for air to fill his deprived lungs and clutching his bruised throat with one hand. Hermione watched him for a moment, hating him more than she had ever hated him in her entire seven years at Hogwarts. If he had done something to put Harry in danger, she'd kill him herself.
With this thought ingrained deeply in her mind, Hermione turned on her heel and followed Snape out of the Hall. She wasn't sure what Draco had meant by 'bathroom', but Snape seemed to know exactly where he was going and she had to break into a jog to keep up with him.
"Go back to the Hall, Hermione," he demanded as he ran, choking out her first name for the first time ever.
"No," she panted, "he's my best friend."
"Then you won't want to see what he might be doing," Snape answered, taking the stairs two at a time and arriving outside the bathroom door. "It will not be a pretty sight."
"You know what he's doing?" she asked.
Snape shook his head. "Not for certain, but I have a pretty good idea."
"How could you possibly know?"
The Potions Master stared down at her, his eyes dark and turbulent. He was scared, she could see that, but she could also see the answer. The books had all come from Lucius Malfoy's private library and who had been better friends with Lucius but Snape himself?
"I want to see," she said softly.
Snape nodded, then stepped forward and pressed his palm against the bathroom door.
* * * *
Harry stood amidst flaming candles that burned bright enough to make him squint against their light. The shadows were reduced to almost nothing, though they still reached for him with their claws, tiny, sharp claws that slithered toward his feet. The moon hung just outside the bathroom window, full and orange in the dark sky. In one hand he held the warm leather book and in the other he held an ornate dagger.
A voice flooded his head and he immediately recognized it as the decorative serpent on the first book. "It's time," the voice whispered, rasping against his ear. "Start now, before they come to stop you."
Harry nodded, then looked down at the book and read over the word quickly to make sure he knew what he would be saying. His fingers traced lightly over the lines, then went limp, dropping the book to floor with a loud thump.
"Moerae," Harry intoned softly, the fingers of his right hand nervously flicking over the sharp blade. "Atropos, the inevitable, listen to my words. The parents of Hermione Granger are dead, but I want them returned. Take this soul, this blood in exchange for theirs. Take this life and return them to this existence, cut the thread I offer you and pray that Clotho weaves them more."
The words said, he waited for a long minute, watching as the candles burned steadily and waiting for the flames to soften and finally go out. A candle to his left went out slowly and the others followed soon after, leaving the bathroom lit only by the muted streams of moonlight. Harry's breath went out of him with the candle light leaving his lungs dry and struggling to draw in air to sustain his heart long enough to perform the task ahead.
The dagger trembled in his hand, catching the moonlight and casting silver glinting shadows over the floor. He suddenly wasn't as brave as he had been the past few weeks when searching for the spell, his fear came back full force, paralyzing every muscle in his body and his connection to the magic was broken, but only for a second.
"Do it," the voice whispered. "They're here, they're trying to stop you. Do it!"
A flood of energy poured through Harry's body and his arm rose, the dagger glistening in the moonlight.
"Moerae!" he roared, suddenly full of a power he had never known was inside him. A power that had manifested itself from the dark magic that had begun to flow through his veins. His hand no longer shook, it was strong and sure of its path, his arm was aimed perfectly to pierce the heart of his sacrifice. The heart that would bring back Hermione's parents. The beating heart that lay within the chest of a handsome, seventh year student.
His arm began to arc down, sliding effortlessly through the air toward its mark. His heart.
The bathroom door was pushed open and the light from the hall blinded him for a moment, the dagger wavering in the air as it travelled toward his chest.
"Harry, no!" someone shrieked and he felt a hand on his wrist, grasping the dagger by its blade and tearing it from his hand. Harry felt the contact with the dagger break and a moment later he was on the floor of the bathroom, breathing heavily with tears on his cheeks.
"How could you do that?" the same voice shrieked and Harry looked up to see Hermione standing above him with the blade of the dagger still clenched in her hand. Blood dribbled down her fingers and pooled at her feet, staining the floor red and the sight of her blood made Harry's head spin.
Snape stepped into the room and leaned forward, grabbing the dagger and plucking it from Hermione's hand. She didn't even seem to notice that he was there.
"Are you stupid?" she screamed, her hand flying out and slapping the top of Harry's head. "Are you that goddamned stupid? Did you think I wouldn't find out? Did you think that I wouldn't notice the change in you?" She took a step closer to him and slapped him again. "What are you trying to do to me? Don't you think I've dealt with enough lately?"
"Hermione," Snape said warningly, but she ignored him.
"I've lost my parents and now you're going to kill yourself?"
"It was to bring your parents back," Harry said weakly.
"It was black magic, Harry!" she screamed. "Did you think it would ever come through? Did you think that my parents would really come back to me?"
Snape shook his head sadly. "It never would have worked, Potter."
Harry stared at him. "But I was going to give my life."
"You were going to kill yourself," Hermione snarled.
"For you," he replied.
"I don't need you to die!" she shouted, collapsing beside him on the floor. "Merlin's Beard, don't you understand, Harry? I need you, you're my best friend. I can't do this without you."
Harry's eyes filled with tears again and his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry."
Hermione's arms went around his shoulders and she crushed her face into his neck. "Don't ever think that you're not enough. I lost my parents, Harry, but I can move on. I can't lose you too, not now. You're my support system. When everything else fails, I can always count on you to be there for me."
"I'm sorry," he whispered again.
"You're the perfect protection when I'm in over my head," she murmured, hugging him tightly. "Don't do this, don't think you ever have to do this."
"I'm sorry, Hermione," he said, his arms finally going around her waist. "I'm so very sorry."
Snape stood in the bathroom doorway and watched the friends cling to each other desperately, sitting on a crumpled heap on the floor. Blood, candles and the books of the dark arts surrounded them, but it didn't matter anymore. Harry was alive and Hermione had saved him. Snape smiled slightly, then turned and let the bathroom door fall closed. With friends like those, they would never have to worry about stumbling and having no one to pick them up.
End
Pulled in every direction, I've a million regrets
But you're the perfect protection when I'm diving in over my head
But in the middle of it all
You always break my fall
Over and over, again and again
You float through the door and I'm stumbling in
I'm twisted and tangled and soaked to the skin
But you float through the door and I'm stumbling in again
Notes: The lyrics belong to the fabulous band, Great Big Sea. Go to www.greatbigsea.com to hear the song if you want. Thanks to all my reviewers, I hope you enjoyed this. And, I thought I'd leave Draco's punishment up to your imagination. :)
