"You?!"
screeched Hermione. "You're dead!"
"What does it
take to kill you anyway?!" Sirius shouted.
"Oh, I am indeed
dead, out there. But I think I will wait
to explain until the rest of our guests have arrived." Voldemort said
calmly.
"Other guests?" Sirius asked. But before anyone answered, Draco fell out of
the ceiling in a heap.
"Draco!" Hermione cried, running over to him and
kissing him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. I'm just so happy to see you."
Just
then, Snape also fell from the ceiling nearby, followed closely by Harry, who
had a hold of his robes.
"Hermione, Ron! You're okay!" Harry shouted.
"Sirius!"
"We are all fine Harry." Dumbledore said, trying
to calm him down.
"Well, now that we are all reacquainted." Voldemort
interrupted.
"AAAAAAH!" Harry yelled when he saw him. "How the
Hell many times do we have to kill you?!"
"You." Snape hissed angrily at Voldemort. Draco just stood by speechless.
"Why Severus, you brought a friend." Voldemort
said with an evil smile. "Good, it will save me the trouble of trapping him
myself."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked
coldly.
"You were to immune to the power of the ruby
until I was powerful enough to leave it." Voldemort explained.
"Okay, first of all: you're dead." Harry told
him.
"Not as dead as we would have hoped." Remus
said.
"My body is dead, that is true. But just before the Aurors killed me, my loyal Death Eaters," he said, with a
hateful glance at Snape and Draco, "contained my essence within the ruby. My powers, my memories, everything I am. I had meant this ruby to be a trap for
Dumbledore long ago. I believe you were
on our side then, Severus. But I
recently modified the plan, and see how much better it has worked. Saves me from having to kill you all myself."
"But how did it get in my vault?"
Harry asked, angry he had been tricked like this.
"One of my Death Eaters in an Invisibility Cloak
followed you. I knew you would keep it
with you if you believed it was from your parents. Very predictable. And now that you're here, I am powerful
enough to leave and return to power."
"Why didn't you just kill us?" Ron
asked.
"Because he needs us." Snape hissed.
"He needs our power and strength to leave the ruby."
"Very good Severus. You seem to have learned a great deal since
you abandoned us. But not how to avoid
my wrath. And you are wrong about one
thing. I don't need all of you. You and Draco
are expendable. I think I'll kill you
first. The first to leave, the first to
die." he sneered.
What
little color Snape's face had drained away. But he didn't run. He stood
straight, glaring, defiant to the last. Determined not to show fear, as Voldemort would have liked for him to
do. Voldemort raised a wand Harry
recognized as Ron's.
"No!" Harry shouted.
He ran in front of a
very surprised Snape just as Voldemort said 'Avada Kedavra'. The blast of green light hit Harry full on,
knocking him into Snape and hurling them both across the cell. Hermione screamed and buried her head into
Draco. Harry lay motionless on the
ground as Snape disentangled himself from him. Voldemort, surprised by what had happened, did not react quickly
enough. Snape, Dumbledore, McGonnagall,
Lupin, and Sirius all pointed their wands at him, and with one voice, stunned
him. Ron and Draco ran over to Harry,
with Hermione, Neville, and Colin close behind.
"No, he can't be." Ron said, fighting
back tears. "He just can't be."
"He saved my life." Snape said
quietly, hardly daring to believe it.
"Harry, why did you do that?" Draco
asked his still form. "He wouldn't have killed you."
"No, he just would have left us here to
starve." Lupin said bitterly.
Sirius
suddenly realized he was crying. He
wasn't the only one. Hermione was
sobbing uncontrollably against Draco, who had hot tears running down his
face. Neville and Colin couldn't tear
their eyes from Harry. Ron was sobbing
too, held up by Professor McGonnagall. Dumbledore had his bowed his head. He seemed much older than he was. Lupin had forced himself to turn away; he couldn't bear to look. Even Snape looked as though he were crying,
or were about to.
"God that hurt." Harry moaned, stirring
slightly.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. She threw her arms around him.
"You aren't dead!" Ron shouted.
"I feel like I am. Could someone please get Hermione off me
before she suffocates me?" Harry gasped. Draco pulled her away.
"How could you have survived that?" Sirius asked
in amazement.
"He did it once before." Neville pointed out,
drying his eyes.
"Yes, but that was because his parents died to
protect him, creating a protection around him." Dumbledore explained. "I don't
believe it would have protected him again."
"Then how could he have survived?" Colin asked.
"Voldemort." Harry said. "He made a mistake. He couldn't have killed me even if he wanted
to."
"What do you mean?" McGonnagall asked quietly.
"He said I was protected from the effects of the
ruby. Looks like I was even protected
from him. I can't be hurt by the ruby,
or anything in the ruby, I think."
"It seems to be the likeliest explanation."
Dumbledore mused.
"He only meant to make me immune to being pulled
in when I touched it, but it protected me from everything about the ruby. Even him."
