Misplaced Steps

AN: This was written for the Kissmas Fest.

My prompt for this is: Dying Kiss.

This is going to get angsty...

Enjoy!

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Harry couldn't help but feel that something was… off. It was a feeling he got once he stepped into Godric's Hollow. It had been a place he had been wishing to visit, ever since he found out that was where his parents had been buried. Never once had he been able to actually visit them. Not like his relatives would have, they hated his parents. Though perhaps his Aunt Petunia actually hadn't hated his mother as much as he thought. That he hadn't just lost a mother that night, she had lost a sister… It was information that he didn't quite know what to do with. Even so, why make his life there as miserable as possible? It didn't make much sense to him.

So, in the end, he just tried not to think about it. They were still on the hunt for Horcruxes. Though Hermione had been originally against Godric's Hollow, until she thought that the sword could have been hidden there.

Graham had voiced his protests against the sword being there. Though he really couldn't deny the logic that if Dumbledore had placed it somewhere, it was either there or at Hogwarts. He felt it was more likely that the old man still had it at Hogwarts. Why place the sword in a spot when the old man had never revealed this before? It didn't make much sense to him. But it was hard to argue against one, Hermione Granger, and to win at that…

That didn't stop the uneasy feeling of something being wrong, but Harry brushed it aside. So, while Hermione was searching for whatever she was looking for, he went to find his parents. He could feel Graham by his side and had never been more glad for his presence.

He felt a hand grab his own and Harry turned his head. Their fingers threaded together while the snow melted off the tombstones.

Harry traced his fingers over their names and the date, October 31, 1981. He had only been a year old then. He read the words on his mother's grave, beloved mother and wife. Then his dad's had said, devoted father and husband. He wondered if someone gave them those words… if they hadn't, what would they have chosen? He felt like his dad would have something about the marauders… What would they have been like as parents? Sadly, it was something he would never know.

That was when Harry noticed Hermione was approaching them. Apparently, she had found the Peverell's, someone she believed were actually the original owners of the Hallows. He knew that she didn't quite believe the entire tale, but it was hard not to when you knew two people who had them. And all three of them knew that Voldemort had the Elder Wand in his possession. That Harry had the invisibility cloak that used to belong to his parents. Normal cloaks like that didn't last that long, something that Graham had pointed out to him. It hadn't been something that Harry really thought of before. Though he didn't really know how long average invisibility cloaks lasted either.

Then they noticed someone was watching them, it was an old woman.

"That has to be her," Hermione whispered.

"Who?" Harry questioned.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Bathilda Bagshot, she actually knew Dumbledore. Maybe he left it in her possession."

"Hermione, the old man is not likely to leave the sword with someone he's never mentioned in all the time he had been alive," Graham brought up.

"Graham may actually have a point, Hermione," Harry said.

"This was the reason for the trip here. Though she obviously was expecting us."

Graham frowned, that part was odd, though he didn't know why.

"Fine, we follow her and see what she has to say. But it's a bad idea," Graham growled.

Harry kept his hand in Graham's as they slowly trekked in the snow. It was either Christmas Eve or Christmas after all. But least the snow wasn't very deep to walk through. But soon they saw the house that the woman was leading them to.

With trepidation, they opened the door. There noticed she was beckoning them upstairs.

Harry took the lead with Graham behind him. Hermione was in the back as every stair creaked as you walked up.

Then Hermione screamed as Harry was shoved to the floor.

Where there had been an old woman, there was now a snake that looked eerie similar to Voldemort's snake, Nagini.

Graham was breathing heavily as he collapsed to the floor.

Though they had to duck from another strike from the snake. And then suddenly it vanished into black smoke.

Hermione had failed to notice Graham unsteadily getting on his knees before blasting a curse. Apparently, it had taken enough of his energy to make him fall again.

"Graham!" Harry screamed.

Hermione looked scared; she had already noticed the Slytherin getting pale. Had he been bitten by Nagini?

"We have to apparate," she grabbed Harry's hand. She didn't need to look to know that Harry had a firm grasp of Graham before they were gone. She knew all three of them needed to be as far as they could be away from that house. It had obviously been a trap set for them. They should have never followed her, especially not into an unknown home.

A crack echoed on where they had appeared. It was the campsite before they had decided to venture to Godric's Hollow. They had been staying there for a few weeks before they had planned on moving.

Harry fell to his knees as he leaned over Graham, the grip on his hand was very weak. He could feel the tears falling. He knew that Graham bad been bitten, not once, but probably twice. But he had saved his life. If he had not been shoved to the side, Nagini would have bitten him. Which he knew he had been the intended target of hers. But Graham was also the one that blew her into smoke. A horcrux? But it was hard to appreciate the next destruction of a horcrux when someone was dying.

"Why?!" Harry cried.

"You foolish Gryffindor, I will always protect you…"

Harry pressed a kiss to Graham's lips, knowing that it would be their last. Though it tasted more like tears.

"I never wanted you to die for me," Harry choked.

Graham had a sad smile, "some things are worth it. Though I wished I had killed her first."

Hermione had tears in her eyes, she shouldn't have insisted. But this felt like it was all her fault, though she knew that Graham and Harry would deny that. Though she felt that Graham would be more likely to place blame on her if Harry hadn't been in his place. She knew they loved each other; she saw it over the years. But she also knew that Graham was dying and that the worst of it. And there was nothing she could do to save him. It wasn't like they could go to St. Mungos so he could be treated. Though her heart broke at seeing her best friend's tears. But she had to turn her head when she saw Harry lean down to kiss Graham. It felt like she was intruding at their last moments. She didn't want to take that from Harry or Graham.

But what she failed to notice as she walked out of the tent was Harry.

He had felt a wave of dizziness. Then he noticed a small puncture wound on his skin. He had been bitten too? It looked small and he must have been too full of emotions to properly feel it. Though it was throbbing now, to the point of being painful. Graham had gotten still now and was not breathing; he had been crying over him. He couldn't really remember on how long the tears had been flowing. But now he was finding it difficult to breathe.

He tried to call out to Hermione, but his voice must have been too weak to hear. Because she never came…