~Thirteen

Ariana

My eyes closed when so softly compared to the voices swimming in my head, a body hit the floor. Silence pounded in on my ears, and then, people were roaring, screaming, crying out in triumph. The sudden blast of noise shredded my final ounce of strength, and the magic burst forth from its restraints, helping no one, not saving the life that mattered most, Harry's… I could feel it passing straight up, away from me. It was ironic, the magic was silent, yet I wanted to scream, to react to the pain crippling my body, but there was no escape. My head had emptied of sound, except for what sounded like footsteps racing closer, a voice, so familiar, calling my name in disbelief… And then the world was gone.

After a while, I realized I was lying down, and that I must be dead. Then, I realized I was naked. With that thought in mind, I sat up, and clothes were already there. I put them on and stood up, standing straight and tall without effort; the magic seemed to have vanished for the moment. The place seemed deserted, until a mist began to unfurl, and revealed a garden. It was incredibly beautiful, with different kinds of vibrant flowers blooming everywhere. The 'sun' was warm and comforting, and I swear I could hear birds singing. The area smelt of freshly cut grass. Two chairs sat in a perfectly circular mound of dirt in the center of the garden, waiting to be occupied. Curious, I strode over, and stopped as someone else stepped from the mist, towards the other chair.

Albus was wearing robes of a midnight blue, standing quite straight for a man of his age. His nose was bent in the same crooked pattern I had memorized from the cover of his biography. His half-moon spectacles that he had worn ever since I could remember where slightly lopsided on his nose. His long white hair and beard were neat. Albus's eyes were swimming with tears, with regret. We just stared at each other, memorizing each other's image. When I couldn't take it anymore, I ran across the meadow and embraced him, starting to cry, full out cry. I held him as tight as I possibly could, here he was, Albus, he was here-

His arms encircled me like a warm blanket; his embrace had stayed the same even in death. "Ariana, Ariana…" Albus stammered it over and over, as if it was the only word he knew. He gently sat me down in one of the chairs, and at last, I looked up to see Albus gazing at me intently.

"Albus, I never died, not until now." I choked finally, and Albus looked confused.

"I knew that you had not perished that day when I died myself. But you are not dead, Ariana." I laughed weakly, finally sitting up straight in the chair, my face wet with tears, my long hair hanging down into my lap.

"Well, that's good to know, I guess. But how did you find out I hadn't died?" I asked, and he sighed.

"You were not were all spirits go when they die. I searched and searched, after apologizing to Father and…admonishing Mother…but you were not there. Harry confirmed my suspicions." I lurched.

"Harry? Is that what you said? He's here?!!" I leapt up, but Albus shook his head.

"I met with Harry earlier. He isn't dead, Ariana. Voldemort's seventh Horcrux was inside him. Voldemort destroyed it when Harry gave himself up in the woods." Albus's words were fading in my ears. Had I really been hearing Harry facing Voldemort one on one? Or was I just imagining all of this?

"All the magic released, Albus. It must have killed me, the pain was unbearable." I insisted, and Albus sighed again.

"You are not dead, or alive at the present time. You are in-between. I'm dead, but you and Harry are not." Albus smiled kindly at me, taking my hand. I sat back down.

"If I'm alive, then what am I doing here?" I asked, and Albus's smile faded.

"The magic as you said, did release, all the magic that had been inside you, through your wand when Voldemort's fury…unsteadied you. Some of it still remains in the wand, and your spells will still be as powerful. Your heart is restarting. Ariana, I worked out a theory when I was alive, and I know why you didn't die when the wand stabbed you. The magic needed a new home, like a parasite. It lived in your heart ever since. Without the magic, your heart suddenly had a job to do. Essentially, the magic was keeping you alive, not your heart." Albus sighed again. "I missed you," He added quietly as I sat in shock. "When I thought you were dead…it tore me apart. Aberforth blamed me, broke my nose at your funeral." He withdrew a light blue handkerchief and blew his nose.

"Where are we, if I'm not dead, but in-between?" I questioned finally. Albus was highly intelligent, and his theory on my magic troubles was enough for me.

"You choose this place without realizing it. This is your decision." Albus said infuriatingly, when he was specifically withholding information. I decided to drop it.

"Will I still have the visions without the magic?" I asked, and he looked grim.

"Unfortunately, yes. I do not know if they will cause you as much pain as they used to, but the visions will remain. The magic dug up old Dumbledore roots, our great, great, great, great grandmother was a Seer." I spent a moment thinking, gazing about the garden I had supposedly created. "You have been so very brave, Ariana. I'm proud of you." Albus said, and we sat in comfortable silence for a moment.

"You said I'm alive…how do I go back?"

"All you must do is truly wish for it, and you'll wake up there." Albus gazed about the garden as well. I had so many questions for him, so many more things I wanted to know…

"I don't think I can leave you. It wasn't your fault, Albus, that mother cursed me, and you know that. And even if you had been there, it was Dark Magic, older than mother herself. You wouldn't have been able to lift it any way. But I know you don't feel that way, so I don't think I can leave you." Albus slowly swung his head back around to analyze me. For a second, it was a battle of the stares. His eyes were intense, and I realized that's how my eyes must look all the time. It was unsettling. Albus took a deep breath.

"Many people love you, want you back there. You can't stay; it's not your time yet. I will always regret your death, the same way you regret mine. Go back, Ariana." Albus stood, and I stood quickly to match him. I hugged him again, hard, and he returned the gesture, then he started to walk away.

"I-I can't do it." I croaked, holding tightly onto the back of my chair. Albus stopped walking and came back over. "A-albus, I never got the chance, you never got the chance-" Albus stopped my tearful rambling with one raised hand.

"Ariana, if you don't go back soon, you're heart will never restart, and you will die. I can't let you give up the life you just got back to spend time with me. You'll get the chance, I promise." He said solemnly, kissed the top of my head, and then turned to go, leaving me with that terrifying decision. Stay or go?

"Goodbye, Albus." I whispered as he vanished into the mist. I hesitated, but then gave into the mist, it swirled around me, and the light died as I wished for life, to see Harry again. I could feel the aches and pains, the extreme fatigue, and the emptiness in my heart that meant the magic had truly gone, and I was back.

Harry

I knelt at Ariana's side, beyond anguish. She had been so brave, so strong. I had lied to her, and then she had died. I couldn't help but wonder if she had joined Albus, finally pain free. I could picture her now, white, sitting in the chair in the tent, staring into her tea lifelessly as she told her story- She was furious, drying me off with her wand after I jumped into the frozen pool. Then she was crumpling in a ball as the Snatchers laughed, Greyback reached for her, set her off, the intense blue light that always came out of her lighting her face eerily, the color matching her eyes-Then I could hear her screaming in terrible, awful pain, I was locked in the basement in Malfoy Manor, desperately trying to stop her pain-

My gaze stopped on her face. For the first time I had ever seen it, her face was relaxed and calm. No pain made her stiff, made her frown. I had never noticed how perfectly red and firm her lips were, how long her lashes were, the perfect porcelain skin, high cheekbones… Her body was strangely still, compared to the shaking that became the norm with her. The intensity of her beautiful eyes that reminded me of Dumbledore everyday were hidden, never to look upon the world again. It seemed only moments ago, as I peeked through my lashes at the crowd, faking death, that I saw her furious face, the blazing blue eyes, the tears, Ron holding her back as she tried to go after Neville, her trembles rising in pitch…and then realizing that the vision she had seen at Malfoy Manor was of Hagrid carrying me out of the woods. I had heard her say she would rather die, once at the Manor, then again on the steps. It all made sense…

Ariana quaking behind me, the dragon soaring higher into the sky, Ariana shaking with sobs as Aberforth held her tightly, crying himself. Her gigantic lioness Patronus roaring, filling me with the same hope as phoenix song as the Dementors closed in-After Voldemort had fallen, the cheers erupting; then the intense blue column of magic had flamed up silently, hushing the hall. I had run over, calling her name, watched her Transfigured clothes change back, her body already mimicking death as she made no sound-her lioness standing beside her head, it's own head bowed. As the magic died, the lioness instantly dissolved into mist as she didn't breathe again…

I felt tears fall, splattering on the floor and sometimes onto her cold, frail hand, which I was squeezing tightly in mine, as if I could bring her back again. I felt stupid; I had tried and tried to make her sit it out, to essentially save herself, but each time, she had refused. If I had made her rest, would she still be alive?

Ariana

The stone floor beneath me was rough, and cold through my dress. The magic must have changed the Transfigured clothes back to the funeral dress, how appropriate. My left ankle felt sore, my head ringing with the slightest sound. Then I heard the crying, the people in mourning.

"It's like losing Dumbledore and Sirius all over again," I heard Harry say brokenly. Hermione hiccupped in a sob, and I heard a long sniff that must have belonged to Ron, his nose was the longest. I must have been in the long line of the dead, being mourned for the second time. A hand was squeezing mine tightly, and warm tears were sometimes hitting my hand. Slowly, my hand began to match the temperature of the tears, until the hand loosened, then twisted to press two fingers against the inside of my wrist. My pulse feebly pushed against my skin. I heard Harry gasp in shock.

"Harry, she's dead. You saw the magic leave her, as soon as Voldemort was dead, she was gone. Madam Pompfrey checked." Ron's voice said flatly, dead of any emotion. The hand trembled around mine.

"No, no, feel, feel there! I swear, there's a pulse, it's weak, but it's there—" Harry sounded beside himself. I heard Hermione moan and start crying harder. Then two, much colder fingers were pressing against my wrist, then a yelp of surprise.

"Hermione, what—" Ron started, sounding miserable, but Hermione drowned him out.

"She's not dead!" I heard her cry, and another hand seized mine and felt for a pulse.

"Ariana? Come on, Ariana! Ariana!?" Harry whispered it like he couldn't believe it, and the floor trembled with new vibrations as more people came over.

"Harry-" Lupin's voice started, but Harry gave me a shake, ignoring him. My body stayed limp, even though I wanted to leap up and embrace him. A flurry of voices started a few feet away, and my pulse was checked again and again. I willed my eyes to open, to squeeze Harry's hand back, anything, but my strength was gone. I wanted so badly to call out, to tell him that it was alright. My body didn't respond, and I started to give up. I had lost all my strength for good, I was weak. Nothing. Darkness that I knew would kill me started to swirl in my head, my heart started to slow.

No, no you did not lose your strength, Ariana. Your strength has never died. Albus said quietly in my head.

I can't Albus, I'm sorry. I thought tiredly, and I felt the floor start to disappear once more.

"Wait, what's happening to her pulse?" A voice I didn't recognize by my side as my pulse was checked. Another hand seized my free wrist.

"It's slowing down!" Hermione sounded panicked.

"What? No!" Harry shook me again, with a greater intensity.

Yes you can. You're a lioness. Fight. Albus said firmly, and when I called for him again, he wasn't there. I listlessly thought about what he had said. He had called me a lioness, like my Patronus. My Patronus had been so strong, filled with so much determination, defiance and hope. Slowly, I felt my strength build with each heartbeat, Harry calling me my fuel. My body began to warm, until I felt truly cemented in life, not in-between. I willed my eyes to open again, and they started to flutter, and someone screamed in response, and I heard gasps all around in shock.

"Merlin's beard-" An astonished voice croaked. My eyes opened fully to find Harry sitting by my side in shock. He was white and withdrawn, his face still wet with tears, but he was looking at me like he had never seen me before. My lips twitched up involuntarily into a weak smile at the sight of him. Harry seized me and held me tight, and I felt moisture on my neck from his tears. I made my arms weakly at least to try to hug him back, but they ended up just resting around his neck. It was his turn to be shaking.

"H-how, h-how did, h-how are you—" he started stuttering, and pulled back, then caught me as I started to slip backwards. Despite being alive, my body was limp, it took effort to keep my head up on my own.

"I could ask you the same thing," I whispered faintly, and his eyes were suddenly burning into mine, the intense green making me feel grateful to be alive, to see them again.

"I couldn't tell you that I had to give myself up as the seventh Horcrux, you would have never let me go. That was the hardest thing I've ever done, lie straight to your face like that, especially when you guessed it before I had even left." He said frantically, determined to make me understand.

"Albus told me," I whispered again, and shock flittered over his face, then he stooped further and picked me up in his arms. Hermione, Ron, Lupin and his wife, the Weasley's, everyone seemed to be gathered around as Harry set me on my feet. I dropped again, my left ankle failing, and he simply picked me up once more. My world was suddenly horizontal, and I blinked slowly, comfortable in Harry's arms.

"She needs to go to the hospital wing," Mrs. Weasley said hurriedly, breaking the silence. She was crying. Harry left the crowd immediately, minus Ron and Hermione, who followed us up the marble staircase and through the deserted castle to the hospital wing.