A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy :))
Chapter 143: Out with it
When they woke up that morning, they all felt the same thing: dread. None of them had managed to sleep properly the previous night, twisting and turning, the bedsheets feeling itchy or the pillows stabbing their necks, the air being too hot or too cold, the light hitting their faces at an uncomfortable angle and making it impossible for any of them to fall into the blissful unconsciousness that they so obviously craved, as well as needed.
No matter how hard they tried to hide it, no matter how confident Minerva and Severus tried to look, and no matter how brave Harry and Selene seemed, they were all terrified. As far as they were concerned, nothing like this had ever been done before, so they couldn't really know what to expect in case anything went sideways. They were just going to jump headfirst into a terribly dangerous thing, following a plan that was, although conceived through thorough research, open to so many side effects that they didn't even know all of them.
After the morning hours, and after they managed to shove some food down their throats at lunch, the six children and two teachers headed for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, opened the secret door and slid down the least exciting slide of all times.
The air didn't smell like death and sewer anymore, and small lamps had been placed on the walls, lighting up the way to the heavy door.
"I forgot to ask. How did you open the door professors? No offense, but it can only be opened by a Parselmouth."
"It was left open Mr Potter, after the little trip you made during your second year. We only had to make sure it didn't close while we were inside. Now, do get in. I think all of us would rather get this over with."
They got through the door and down the ladder, and were left in awe at the newly cleaned chamber. The mold and algae weren't there anymore, and the skeleton of the Basilisk(man, that thing disintegrated quickly) had been hung to the tall ceiling. There were no lamps visible, although the entire room was undeniably bright. The once green water was now clear and the sewer smell was gone, just like on the rest of the way up from the fake-sink, and had somehow been replaced with-
"Is that vanilla I smell? "
"Indeed it is. Apparently, it is a very popular room freshener in the muggle world as well, maybe even more appreciated than in the wizarding world, although I can't really imagine that being possible."
In front of the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin's head, two hospital beds had been placed, along with six chairs and a bunch of medical supplies. Two IVs connected to blood bags were put at the side of each bed, looming over them like the sword of Damocles, although that blood was supposed to keep them alive in the near future. As the twins sat on the beds and their friends in the chairs, McGonagall pulled Gryffindor's sword out of her robes and a little vial that contained Phoenix tears collected from Fawkes.
"Let's go over it one more time. We cannot administer any anesthetic because it might prevent you body from forcing out the Horcrux. So, unfortunately, you will have to power through the pain. But it will not last long. After the incision is carefully made by Severus, we will have to wait a little for the thick fog to come out and then I will destroy it with Fiendfyre. The rest of you should back off a little though, just to be sure." The children took their chairs and moved them far from the beds, until their Transfiguration teacher nodded, her tightly pursed lips still giving away her anxiety.
It was decided that they were going to start with Selene and then move on to Harry, as it was not possible to do it for both of them at the same time.
The girl put her head on the pillow and took a deep, although shaky breath, trying hard, but not enough, to calm down her fast heartbeat.
"Ok, I'm ready." Draco wanted to disagree with her, but kept his mouth shut, knowing that she could only get more nervous from here on.
The potions teacher brought the sword closer to the pulsing artery on her neck, as she closed her eyes tightly; and even though he couldn't directly feel it, Draco could hear her screaming, both aloud and inside; and that gave him a pretty good idea as to how much pain she actually was in.
They all held their breaths, waiting for something to come out of the deep (and heavily bleeding) cut. After a few seconds, a dense, tar coloured smoke slithered out of her neck, making the same sound as when you throw cold water on hot asphalt. As soon as the thing took the last of itself out of Selene's artery, McGonagall lit her wand and, securing the smoke in a magical dome, set it on the cursed fire. It started bubbling at first, like melting butter in a pan, then caught fire and finally vanished.
In the meantime, Snape let a few drops of the crystal clear Phoenix tears fall into the cut on the girl's neck, that was alarmingly beginning to bleed less and less and it quickly closed, the skin coming together in thin stands instead of the usual way of healing. It would've been truly mesmerizing to watch, if not for the tense situation that they were currently in.
As soon as the IV was connected to his goddaughter's vein, and after he levitated her bed away from its current position too keep her safe, the potions teacher moved next to the bed of her brother.
"Well, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" she laughed, although her entire neck still hurt and her head was pulsing so bad that her vision currently consisted entirely of little circles.