Chapter 30: Watching Death
"No!" Harry yelled, screeching to a halt.
Voldemort's broom, with both riders unable to steer at the moment, streaked right past him.
"What was she thinking?!" Harry yelled, trying to follow the haphazard flying of the runaway broom.
"Stop, Harry!" Draco yelled, yanking on the back of his robes.
Normally Harry would have just ignored him, but the sight before his eyes caused him to stop out of instinct. Azar and Voldemort had managed to untangle themselves and were now facing each other, their knees holding tight to the broom. Voldemort had his wand out, and Azar was fighting with both hands to keep him from using it. He struggled to pull it out of her grasp, but because he was also keeping the broom steady, they were at an apex. Harry started searching his robes for his wand, but as he was still in a bit of shock, he had little luck.
"Draco, get your wand out!"
" 'Kay…I…I can't find it! He must have taken it from me! Oh my gosh…" Draco gaped, staring over Harry's shoulder. "She's tickling him…"
Harry spun back around. Just as Draco had said, Azar was tickling Lord Voldemort, one of her "special self-defense moves" that she had used on Harry numerous times. If he hadn't been so worried for Azar's life, Harry probably would have laughed out loud. In that moment of the Dark Lord's weakness, Azar quickly withdrew her hand and snatched away his wand. However, she lost her balance in the process.
"Azar!" Harry cried as she tumbled off the broom, snatching the handle last-minute.
Dangling by one hand, Azar looked up at Voldemort, her heart thumping.
"Give me that wand, girl!" the Dark Lord roared, "And I might consider sparing your life!"
She looked down at the wand in her hand, and then slowly back at him. Placing the end of it against her hip and giving a swift tug, Azar snapped the wand in half, causing Voldemort to cry out in anger. As she let go of the wand, letting the pieces drop hundreds of feet to the ground, she gave the Dark Lord a triumphant smile. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up to eye level, Azar realizing for the first time just how strong the man was.
"I was giving you a chance," he hissed, making her wince with pain, "You'll pay for your defiance."
Suddenly, Azar was almost pulled from his hold. Harry and Draco had flown up and were trying to free her. Harry had her around the waist, Draco had her by the leg, and they were flying the broom with all their might in the opposite direction. But Voldemort wasn't letting go.
"Harry!" Azar yelled, "You're going to tear my arm off!"
Draco suddenly got an idea. Letting go of Azar, he reached up and started pulling at Voldemort's hand, trying to force it open. Azar quickly caught on, using her free hand to do the same task. Finally, Voldemort released her wrist. The broom seemed to snag on something, but Harry quickly pulled away, racing off and holding tight to Azar's waist. He didn't even pause, for he knew Voldemort would be right on their tail.
"Harry!"
"Get on the broom, Az-"
"Harry, he-"
"Get on the broom then tell-"
"Harry, he's got Draco!" Azar screamed at him.
He almost dropped her as he screeched to a halt.
"He grabbed Draco by the robes as we flew off!" Azar said, scrambling onto the broom.
They spun around, and froze. Apparently Voldemort had caught the boy by the neck of his robes, for Draco was hanging, and it was evident by the look on his face, and the choking sensation each of them, felt that he was being strangled.
"Come and save your friend, Harry Potter!" Voldemort cried, smiling menacingly, "He's losing air by the second!"
Before Harry could move, Voldemort whipped a dagger from his belt and held it against the hanging boy's neck.
"Or maybe I should just get it over with," the man hissed, terror registering on Draco's face.
Draco's friends sat frozen, their eyes pleading that this was only a dream. But as quickly as Voldemort had placed the blade against Draco's throat, he withdrew it.
"No, this traitor doesn't deserve such mercy. You'll get to watch him die slowly, Harry Potter."
Flying into action, Harry and Azar sped back to where Voldemort hovered and each grabbed hold of one of Draco's legs. They pulled hard, but felt the choking sensation ever increasing and realized they were doing more harm than good. Harry reached up, trying to pry Voldemort's fingers from Draco's robes.
"Watch out!"
Azar yanked him down, causing the broom to dive and Voldemort's blade to miss Harry by centimeters. Harry flew out of the man's reach, and then turned around to face him again. He was trying to think of something they could do.
"Is that it?" Lord Voldemort mocked, the blade glinting in the moonlight, "You give up? You're just going to let him die?"
Harry and Azar stared helplessly. Voldemort's grasp was too strong for them to pull Draco away without killing the boy, but if they tried to get closer…there was that dagger.
Harry looked at Draco with a sinking heart. The boy was grabbing at his collar, futilely trying to open the airway. He seemed to be trying to scream for help, but no words escaped his mouth. His legs kicked the air, trying to stand on ground that wasn't there. On his face was a look of pure terror and pleading. Draco reached up a hand, trying to find a hold, but only getting that which was slowly draining him of life. He tried to fight off Voldemort, but the attempt was so weak that Azar gave an anguished cry.
"We've got to do something, Harry!" she said, voice quivering, "He's going to die."
"What can we do?" he answered, tears shining in his eyes, "Oh God, please help him."
Harry wanted more than anything to look away as Draco's life gradually faded from him, but his eyes refused to. Draco's hand fell to his side. He'd given up fighting, now just waiting for it to be over.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
Voldemort's screams of pain suddenly echoed through the sky, the dagger dropping from his hand. Harry and Azar sensed a sharp pain in their left arms, but ignored it as Voldemort began writhing in agony. Unable to hold on through the pain, the Dark Lord dropped Draco, and then he and his broom crashed out of control into some nearby trees. Harry raced to Draco's falling figure, and Azar quickly caught the boy, though almost falling off the broom in doing so. They pulled him onto the broom between them.
"Draco! Draco, are you all right?!" Harry demanded quickly, alarmed at the dazed look on Draco's face and the fact that his eyes were half-closed.
"I…I'm alive," he whispered hoarsely, as though he didn't quite believe it himself.
Azar laughed out loud, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hugged the boy with all her might. Harry even managed to give Draco a one-armed hug, though he kept the other hand down to steady the broom.
"Don't you ever do that to us again, Draco Malfoy!" Azar exclaimed, "We thought you were dead!"
"C-can we go home?" he asked weakly.
"Sure thing," Harry smiled, wiping the tears from his eyes so he could see clearly.
"It's about a half-hour's flight that way," Azar said, pointing to their left.
Harry turned the broom and they set off.
"I think my arm's hurt," Draco said after a while, coming more and more into consciousness.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Azar said, "Here, let me check it."
She grabbed his left arm gently and pulled back the sleeve. On the forearm was a jagged cut that was bleeding profusely.
"The dagger must have sliced him on its way down."
"Is he okay?" Harry asked, glancing back.
"Yeah, he should be fine. I'll just magic up a bandage. That should suffice until we get him to the hospital wing."
"Er…mind talking to me, not around me?" Draco suggested with a hint of a smile.
"Bah, who wants to talk to you?" Azar laughed.
"People in glass houses, Azar," Draco grinned.
"What?"
"That didn't come out right. I was meaning that saying, you know…people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones or…never mind."
"Well I guess it's apparent that you're back to your old self," Harry smiled.
"I'm still a little dizzy."
"Just keep breathing," Azar suggested, "Then it should go away."
Harry thought a moment, then asked, to no one in particular, "Why did Voldemort let go?"
"The Waning Wizard's War," Draco answered without hesitation.
"What?" Azar asked, surprised.
"Ohhhh…" Harry said, it dawning on him, "We agreed that he'd let you go… He couldn't go back on that, so he was forced to free you…"
"I repeat: what?"
"It's a long story, Azar."
"Good, 'cause we have a long flight."
So Harry plunged into what had happened that night, realizing that he would have little trouble taking up the half-hour's time.
****
The group at Hogwarts had been sitting in almost complete silence for the last half hour. No one had even bothered to leave Dumbledore's office. Hermione had felt nothing else from Draco, either because his panic had ebbed or he was…gone. She didn't even want to think about the latter possibility.
"What's that?" Ron asked suddenly, cocking his head.
It grew even more silent, if possible, everyone straining their ears. It sounded like someone was banging on the stone wall. Then they heard someone crying out and they all jumped up, rushing to Dumbledore's office door. Dumbledore was the first to the bottom of the stairwell, opening the secret entrance to find a very distraught Azar.
"Oh Professor!" she cried, "Please come quick! He needs help! He's dying!"
~*~*~
A/N: *grins* Help, my head is swelling! I'm in too good a mood to belittle myself. Oh wait, someone else already did. Ha, no need! But wait! NOOO!!! My head is swelling more because of it! Ah well, who can be in a bad mood when the HP movie is so near? (And I got tickets! *cheers*)
Wow, 'nuff of that. Well, I hope this is another bit of a cliffy. Wow, Chapter 30 already? Man, one more chapter and I'm gonna have to start using my brain again. ^_^
Thank you, my wonderful reviewers! There's nothing quite like reading a fresh batch of reviews, whether glowing or degrading! No, really. I enjoy people telling me what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it and be a better writer for it.
Super saya-jin Gotan: Hehe… Thanks!
Moon Warrior: Ooh, ooh, ooh!!! Of course I want to be in there! (Especially if I started vying for Harry or Draco's affections. ^_^ Not that it'd really work since in rl they'd be old enough to be my dad, but…) Now is Ady Fleur and Charlie's daughter? (I think I got that correct, but not positive.) If so, I'd prefer the standard Weasley hair, but hey, it's your fanfic. I can't wait to see me! ^o^ And yes, of course I enjoy torturing my readers. ^_^ Thanks!
Harry's Girl: Wow, thanks a bunch! I just wish I had a better scanner so I could upload my shaded pics. ^_^
markg: Oh goodie! I love being suspenseful! ^_^ Thanks!
osama bin monkey: You're welcome; any time! But, for the record, "Then just keep running." was Harry's line and "Oh, brilliant plan, Potter." was Draco's line. I thought you'd be able to tell because I put a line between them, which is how one should write dialogue. I simply didn't have who was saying what because that gets fairly redundant. Ooh, I LOVE English class! It's math I fall asleep in. ^_^ Ha! I should show this to my creative magazine writing staff! Maybe then they'd stop saying my stuff is perfect. (A-nnoy-ING) And why would I want to look in a stupid drawling English book when I can open great works of literature and learn twice as much about the English language? (Though it's quite a dull language. Spanish and French are SO much more descriptive.) I really tried to get to your area and read your works, but apparently it's empty or it just doesn't like my computer. (Probably the latter. ^_^) Ha! Look at how much I wrote, and you're probably not even going to read it! And even if you did, I doubt you'd have the capacity to reply. Well, thanks for the point of view!
princess of mordor: Thanks!
jona: How come fanfic authors always hate reading cliffies, but love dishing them out? Ha, I'm supposed to be one of the nice people? Wow, I gotta work on that. Thanks!
Hmmmm… When is the fanfic gonna end? I know how, but when… *shrug*
Be excellent to each other!
-Ady
