Author's Note: Hello! I'm posting the rest of the fic today :D thank you for the first reviews, I hope you enjoy the rest of my story :)
"SHIT!"
The three of them had crashed loudly on the ground, almost giving a heart attack to a small mouse nearby.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The scream almost scarred Draco to death. He had never heard such a sound, even when the Dark Lord had been torturing people. And the Crucio curse was rumored to be the worst thing on Earth. What could be happening to Potter?
Draco felt Hermione disentangle from his body and heard her curse. This meant nothing good at all.
"Harry, Harry, wake up!"
The boy was kicking the ground below him, alternating between screams and hisses while clutching his t-shirt as if he was trying to get rid of it.
"I think something is wrong with the Horcruxe!" said Hermione, trying to stop her friend from harming himself. "Can you immobilize him?"
Before he obliged, Potter suddenly stilled and they saw that Kreacher had appeared near them. He must have felt that something was wrong with his Master and come to help them.
"Kreacher will take care of his Master," he said, looking at the boy in front of him. "Miss and Master should apparate back to the tent, Kreacher will take his Master in his bedroom and tend to his wounds."
"Wounds?" asked Hermione. "Has the snake time to bite him?"
Kreacher gave no answer but lifted Potter's shirt, and Draco had to ground his teeth to restrain a scream. On Potter's torso was the locket, but it seems as if the object had melted the skin around itself and had become one with his bearer.
"Merlin… Do you think you'll be able to… to take it off?" he asked the elf.
"Kreacher will have to cut around the thing, Master, but Kreacher will give his Master something to sleep and then apply Essence of Dittany on the wound. Kreacher hopes it will be enough."
"That's better than leaving this… thing here. Who knows if it won't go deeper? Hurry up then, we'll catch up with you later."
Hermione let go of Potter and the elf disappeared immediately. Draco came near her and pulled her into a hug, and he felt her finally letting go.
"It was not your fault, okay?" he whispered in her ear, trying to wipe the tears coming from her eyes. She was trembling now, probably a result from their earlier encounter with the snake.
"I know, but I was the one who accepted to go there," she sobbed. "I knew there was a risk, but Harry wanted to see his parent's tombs and…"
"And I said yes too, if you remember," he continued, trying to reassure her. "From the moment the woman came I had a strange feeling, but I did not stop Potter from following. We are all responsible, Hermione, but at least we are alive."
"You're right," she said. "Let's just hope Harry won't have any aftereffects."
"No… No… I dropped it… I dropped it!"
"Harry, it's okay, wake up, wake up!"
Harry Potter opened his eyes, and the morning light greeted him from the window of his room. He was in the tent. That meant he was Harry. Not Voldemort. Not a snake. Just Harry.
"What happened?" he asked, feeling dazed. "How did we get away? I just remember being paralyzed because of the pain of my scar."
Hermione gave him a glass of water, and he hastily drank it, listening to her.
"Draco apparated us to the second location before the snake could get to you. I'm thankful he was with us. I too was paralyzed and you… you seemed in trance."
"My scar was hurting me badly, and the Horcrux was moving as if it wanted to get away. Shit," he said, bringing his hand to the place where he knew the locket should be. "Where is it?"
"I've put it in my bag," answered Hermione immediately. "I did not want it near us. Draco and I added some protection charms just in case. I'm sorry but it was stuck on your chest, and Kreacher had to cut it out so it left a mark. We've put some dittany on it but I think you will keep another scar." Harry put his hand on his torso and felt a round mark, like a burn.
"Thanks anyway. You did what you had to."
She smiled, and he saw that she looked tired.
"How long have I been out?"
"I don't know, hours. Kreacher took care of you until an hour ago. I told him to go get some sleep as I could not have any myself. You had a fever and you seemed to be dreaming."
"I… I relived the day my parents died. Only I was him ."
"Oh."
"Yeah… At least I know what happened."
Hermione gave a tentative smile, but he recognized the way she was looking at him. Pity.
"I feel way better now. I'm going to eat something, I think. Why don't you try to rest for a bit?"
Hermione nodded and left, not before having told him to call for her or Kreacher if he felt that something was wrong.
He was now eating a piece of cake – a huge chocolate one, with cream on it, that the elf had baked yesterday – when he heard a small commotion next to him. Malfoy had drawn a chair and sat next to him.
"Back with us so soon, Potter? I suppose you are glad; it did not seem fun at all."
"Was not," said Harry before drinking the rest of his tea. "But I think I learned something valuable. I'm sure the snake is a Horcruxe, now," he told the blond in a quiet voice, after checking that Hermione was not there. "That's why I saw Arthur with its eyes, that night. It's an Horcrux, which means I can go inside him and see what he sees."
Malfoy frowned, bearing a serious expression.
"Potter," he began. "I've been thinking a lot lately, about this Snitch you got, and that strange connexion with the Dark Lord..."
Malfoy moved his wand around them briefly to give them more privacy, and Harry had the feeling that he was not going to like what he was about to say.
" Why can you feel what the Dark Lord feels, Potter?"
Harry stayed silent. After Sirius's death, Dumbledore had acknowledged that he and Voldemort shared a deep connection. However, he had never tried to understand its origin. Could it be what Malfoy was implying? Could he be…?
"You think I'm one, right?" he was astounded to hear that his voice was so calm. It was as if he had always known, deep down. After all, he was already prepared to sacrifice his own life. Being killed by Voldemort while fighting against him, of being killed because he was a Horcruxe. What was the difference?
"Yes. I think you are," stated the blond. Was it emotion, in his voice?
"I see."
"' I see'. That's all you've got to say?" Malfoy asked, astonished. "I'm telling you that you surely have to die, and that's your answer? ' I SEE'? "
"I think I knew it from the beginning," Harry began. "How many times should I have died already? And not only because of Him."
"I knew it, you are totally mad."
"Well, it's not as if I can do anything against it, don't you think?"
"We could try getting rid of it."
"Do you know how?"
"… No."
"Then it's settled. I have to sacrifice myself. I have to die."
"Potter, don't…"
"What, Malfoy? Going to miss me?"
"You cannot say something like that! You're supposed to be the one to kill him!"
"Am I really? We both know that to be able to do that, we have to destroy all of the Horcruxes. And we've established that I was one. I cannot survive. So you see, if I sacrifice myself, the Prophecy will be fulfilled, and I won't have to be the one to kill him."
He could see that the blond was trying to argue, but he gave up after a few minutes.
"This is not the end of this conversation, Potter."
I'll tell him about the Snitch later, the blond thought.
"I have a message for you."
The sudden sound startled them, and they all turned around to see who had spoken. Phineas Nigellus was calmly looking at them, an air of mischief in the eyes.
"You have a message? From Snape?"
"I have a message from Headmaster Snape, Potter," answered the portrait. "Do you want to hear it?"
"Of course we want to hear it! We've been waiting for weeks !"
"You'll never go far in life if you don't show some respect to you elders, Potter," sniffed Black with disdain.
But Potter did not seem to care about being taught a lesson and stopped the portrait from saying anything else.
"What does Snape say?"
Gritting his teeth, the portrait answered.
"He wants you to send your elf to collect him tonight at midnight. He says he has something for you."
"Did he find the Horcruxe?"
"Is he giving us the sword?"
"He's coming here ?"
All of them had spoken at the same time, and they saw the portrait roll his eyes. He really must have been desperate to forget his etiquette like this thought Draco.
"Will you send the elf, yes or no? That's a simple question, and I only want a simple answer."
"We will," answered Potter.
Approximately ten minutes after the elf's departure, they heard another crack and saw that Kreacher had come back with their former professor. Only he was not alone, and it took Draco a few seconds to recognize the second man with him.
" Weasley ?"
Still holding the elf's small hand, Ronald Weasley gave a tentative smile towards his friends, only stopping when Hermione suddenly launched herself on him. As Draco jubilantly discovered, it was not because she was happy to see him.
"Ouch — ow — gerroff! What the — ? Hermione — OW!"
"You — complete — arse — Ronald — Weasley!" To Draco's delight, she punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.
"You — crawl — back — here — after — weeks — and — weeks — oh, where's my wand?"
She had no time to reach for it, however, because Snape had cast a protego, sending them both away from one another.
"Don't you dare interrupt me, Snape! I'm not done with him!"
She had finally found her wand and looked ready to hex the red-headed.
"You'll have to continue this joyful reunion after I'm gone, I'm afraid," the man said slowly. "My time is precious, and I have a lot to tell you."
"Why don't you begin with Weasley's presence here?" asked Draco. "I must say I'm surprised to see you together."
"Well," said the boy. "I think you can say it's thanks to Dumbledore that I'm here."
Weasley was wincing while trying to get up, Draco noted pleasantly, and he hoped Hermione had broken something.
"Dumbledore?" asked Potter. "Wait, why don't we all sit in the living room? It will be more comfortable. Kreacher, can you prepare some tea?"
The Boy-Who-Lived seemed to be torn between hugging his best friend and telling him to leave immediately.
"Yeah," began Weasley, sitting on the nearest couch. "D'you remember the Deluminator?"
Everyone in the room nodded, a bit surprised by the turn of the story, and he continued.
"It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard . . . I heard you."
He was looking at Hermione.
"You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously.
"No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."
"And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity.
"My name. 'Ron.'"
Draco perfectly remembered that day, not so long ago. After his talk with Potter, he had wanted to know more about the night when Arthur Weasley had been attacked and Hermione had pronounced Weasley's name when she had explained everything.
"So I took it out," Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, "and it didn't seem different or anything, but I was sure I'd heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window."
As Weasley continued relating his story, Draco found himself impressed by Dumbledore's genius and wondered if the Deluminator had been his only invention. Probably not, he thought, but how could he find them now that the man was dead?
"And tonight, I heard someone pronounce my name again." He turned a bit, looking at Draco's godfather. "I recognized Snape, I mean, professor Snape's voice," he corrected when he saw the man's gaze. "So, I took the Deluminator again and the ball of light took me to him."
"RONALD," admonished Hermione. "Did you not think once that he might not be alone?"
"I… no. I mean, I don't think the light would have taken me if I had been in any kind of danger," he said.
"Humpf."
"So well, I arrived and I saw him and Kreacher. Apparently, he had been asking if you had had news from me, so that's why he had said my name. He asked why I was here and accepted to take me with him."
"Wow. That's an amazing story!" said Potter.
"Oh yes," said Hermione coldly. "Amazing is the word. In comparison, our encounter with You-Know-Who's snake seems trivial," she snapped at him.
"You saw his snake?" asked Weasley, color draining from his face.
"Oh yes," she answered, a deadly smile on her face. "Almost attacked us. I'm so grateful Draco was here to take us away. I don't know what we would have done without him, really," she added, putting her hand on his knee. "Maybe we would have been stuck there when YOU-KNOW-WHO ARRIVED. "
"Hermione," finally said Draco firmly. "You'll have time for that later."
It was not that he hated to see her like that. If her hatred was directed at the Weasel, he would normally encourage it. But he knew from the look on Severus's face that they had better things to discuss. She gave him a dangerous look before slowly going back to her initial place on the sofa.
"Good." said Severus. "Now that Mr. Weasley is done with the story of his fascinating adventures, I have something for you."
He took a small bag from under his cloak and extracted two objects from it, that Draco instantly recognized.
"What's happened to the tiara?" asked Potter.
"I decided to try the sword on it before giving it to you. It would have been a waste of time to come here if it was not working. I had no problems finding it thanks to your indications, Draco. I'm sorry it took so long, but the life at the castle is… not the same as before."
"Because of the Carrows?" asked Draco.
"Yes, partially," he answered. "Their presence was already annoying, but your friend Longbottom then decided to settle in the Room. It took me three weeks to finally find a solution and to send an elf to retrieve him during his sleep. I had to slightly modify his memory because of this but don't worry, he's fine. I mean, fine enough…" he added after a few seconds of reflection. "It seems that he finally discovered his Gryffindor side this year."
"What do you mean, sir?" asked Hermione.
"I'm not sure I want to tell you, Miss Granger. So much has happened during those weeks, you would not believe me if I told you what the Carrows did to the students."
"… Are they. Are they worse than Umbridge?" she asked quietly.
Snape only nodded, and they all stayed silent.
"I think I better go now," finally said the Headmaster. "Just be careful with that sword. I put a copy of it into Bellatrix's vault to stop your little friends from stealing it. Draco," he continued. "I'm happy to see that you look much better."
Draco smiled a little and asked the question he had had from the beginning.
"May I speak with you privately, Severus? I have a question for you."
Snape seemed surprised by his request and nodded, following him to the kitchen.
"Potter's an Horcruxe," he dropped. The fact had been in his mind for days now, but he had not dared speaking of it again with Potter, or telling Hermione about it.
"He is," finally said Snape in a sigh.
"You knew? " asked Draco, not believing his ears. "But. For how long?"
"Dumbledore suspected and told me last year."
"So he knew too. Did he tell you if there was something to do about it? Like a counter-curse, a ritual to perform?"
"There's nothing," sighted his godfather again. "I've looked for weeks and found nothing. Dumbledore said the only way was for him to sacrifice himself."
"Sacrifice himself? " Draco felt sick. "So basically, you're telling me the man decided to waste his time protecting Potter from all of the dangers he encountered at Hogwarts just so that he could die? "
"That's a way to put it, yes," answered Snape. "I've really tried to find some way out but… Nothing came."
"Fuck…" said Draco.
"For once, I'm going to agree with you Draco."
Weasley's return had given Potter a new reason for hope, but Hermione was still pissed about him to Draco's delight. She was now avoiding him like the Plague and had not given him time to apologize. Another benefit for Draco was that she was now constantly with him, and they were now closer than before.
"I don't understand. I've read the tale three time already, but I don't see the point."
They were both lying on her bed, her reading, him trying to decide whether or not he should take a nap at 10 in the morning.
"What do you mean?"
"The sign. Why did he use the sign?"
Weasley had given her a copy of Skeeter's book, and Hermione had found one of Dumbledore's old letters where he had signed with the Deathly Hallows symbol.
"I don't know. They were young. Maybe they thought they could find them?"
"Find them? Bullshit. They don't even exist!"
Draco opened his eyes, looking at her.
"You think they don't exist?"
"Of course. It's only a child's tale."
Draco rose and sat down comfortably on her bed.
"Are there witches and wizards in muggles tales, Hermione?"
"Yes of course, but…"
"Did you believe witches and wizards existed, before MacGonagall came to your house?"
"No, but…"
"Then, why should the Deathly Hallows be a tale?"
She was staring at him, unable to answer.
"Do you remember when you asked Binns about the Chamber of Secrets?" She nodded. "And do you remember what you told him, when he said he only dealt with real facts?"
"… don't legends have a basis?"
"Exactly. Some tales work the same way. There have been mentions of a powerful wand, like the one in the tale. And, Hermione, have you seen Potter's cloak? I mean, really looked at it? It's been passed down through centuries, and it looks like it's new. And everyone knows that Potter's family is related to the Peverells, the family who supposedly made the artifacts."
"I don't… Are you sure of what you're saying?"
"I am. I even think Dumbledore found the Stone and put it into the Snitch."
"I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing you. Not that I don't trust you, but…"
"I know. It's not written somewhere in a book, so you cannot check to see if I'm telling you the truth."
"Yes," she said, smiling at him.
"You cannot always refer to books, 'Mione. I mean, would you try to learn flying just by reading?"
When she did not answer, he looked at her and noticed that she was not looking directly at him.
"No way," he said, astounded. "You did try!"