Chapter 15: Resurrections
With the rain still pouring down on them like a parade of bullets, Hermione and Ron managed to drag an unconscious Sirius underneath the same large oak that previously offered protection to them. Although the tree provided little resistance to the wind, it did provide a reprieve from the rain.
Hermione looked at Sirius' mud caked robes. She knew that they were going to have to take them off in order to access Sirius' wounds, but she hesitated in doing so. Hermione was unsure if she could handle it if Sirius' wounds proved to be serious or even fatal. She realized that his death would also mean the death of Harry and Selene. Slowly she took a deep breath and she and Ron began to peel back the layers of fabric.
Underneath the robes, Hermione saw that Sirius' shirt was covered with blood. Hermione pushed back several unpleasant thoughts as they unbuttoned his shirt and began to pull it away from his flesh. It was a slow and tedious process because some areas of blood had begun to congeal and stick to the fabric.
Hermione looked up at Ron who had turned an unhealthy shade of green. "Ron?" she asked concerned.
"I'm okay." He said swallowing hard, "It's just that…that…I've never seen so much blood before."
Hermione smiled softly, "It's okay to be afraid Ron."
"I'm not afraid!" Ron said defensively.
"Well that makes one of us."
"It's just that I don't think I can do this anymore Hermione. I'm sorry."
Hermione reached over and touched Ron's hand, "That's okay." She gathered up Sirius' discarded robes and handed them to Ron. "We are going to need something to cover these wounds. Why don't you take his robes and wash them off the best that you can?"
Ron took the robes, grateful to have a job that didn't require him to look at the blood anymore. When Ron was gone Hermione turned her attention back to Sirius. She managed to pull back the rest of his shirt and under the small light of her wand she was able to see exactly what the Death Eater had done to him.
It appeared that the majority of the blow had struck him on the right side of his chest, just below the shoulder. However, there were visible cuts extending down his right side and finally ending about two inches above his waistline. His right arm was in the same condition as his chest. Hermione ripped a piece of lining from the inside of her robes and wet it, then dabbed at one of the cuts. Although the cuts themselves were quite small, they were deep and numerous. Hermione racked her brain thinking of a curse that would inflict these kinds of wounds, "Danus Infernis" she said softly.
Her attention then shifted to Sirius' right hand. She lifted it gently and began to clean it off. It was obvious that it was badly broken and bruised, but it would have to wait. The cuts were more concerning.
Hermione heard Ron approach with the robes. The robes and Ron were both sopping wet, but they both looked a lot cleaner.
"I found this inside of his robes." Ron said pulling out a handful of red material.
"That's Selene's." Hermione said and Ron nodded in agreement.
Sirius groaned and Ron glanced at him, noticing fresh blood on his chest and arm. "He's bleeding again." Ron said turning green once more.
"We need to stop the bleeding. Ron, I'm going to need your help."
Ron nodded, placed Selene's robes in the driest spot he could find and sat down beside Hermione, "What do I need to do?" he asked.
For over an hour the two sat under the branches of the oak working silently. Ron would tear a strip of cloth, wet it, and then hand it to Hermione. Hermione would then wash away the blood and debris from the cuts. When the wounds were clean she and Ron wrapped fabric around Sirius tightly.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" Ron had asked at one point.
"A muggle first aid book." She answered, "You can't always rely on magic." She added tightening another strip of fabric.
Ron laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"You amaze me Herm, you really do."
Hermione smiled and felt the blood rise to her cheeks. "Hand me another strip please." she said.
With the last pieces of fabric they made a makeshift sling for Sirius' hand. Together they moved Sirius up against the oak and put Selene's cloak around him.
"What do we do now?" Ron asked when they had finished.
As if in response, Sirius moaned and shifted his body.
"I guess we wait." Hermione replied.
**********************************
Selene sat in the dark and listened to the thunder outside. Only a few minutes ago the only sound that was audible from within the darkness of their cell was the water in the corner, but now she was able to make out the distinct sounds of thunder. Selene put her head against the wall and once again became aware of the hardness of the stone. She peered into the darkness in front of her, not knowing how long it had been since her last conversation with Harry. She did know, however, that since their conversation, no sound had been heard from where Harry had been sitting.
She rubbed her hands together partly out of wanting to keep warm, but mostly out of frustration. What a great and powerful witch she turned out to be, she thought to herself. She was too weak even to conjure a small amount of prolonged light that might bring some welcomed relief from the solitude that they both felt.
Selene hated the feeling of weakness that she now felt. She rubbed her shoulders and arms as if by doing so she could wipe the feeling away. It seemed ironic to her that someone who had so much magical ability would constantly fail those whom she loved and who loved her. Selene remembered how helpless she felt when she and Sirius had found Lily and James. She had failed to save them just as she had failed to save Sirius and herself later in that dark alley. Now it appeared that her inability had not only doomed her but Harry as well.
She closed her eyes and tried to loose herself in the sound of the thunder, trying to block out the visions and voices of her past with the constant sharp sound of the storm. Instead her mind only managed to conjure up new images. She saw Voldemort appearing from the darkness, his face lit by some hellish light and delight spread across his ghoulish face as he sucked what he could from her body and then turned to Harry. "Harry." Selene whispered softly, her mind still fixed on the imagined image. She saw Voldemort smiling at Harry just before sending the Avada Kedavra curse through his small frame until his body was left as lifeless as his mother's and father's.
A large crack of thunder caused her to jump and as she opened her eyes the vision of Voldemort faded into nothingness. She shifted her position, being mindful not to close her eyes again, lest the image of Voldemort return. Instead she held her hands in front of her face. She then called the magic to her fingers, feeling the rush of warmth through her arms and down to her fingertips. Still concealed under her skin the magic was invisible, but made its presence known to Selene. It burned at her fingertips waiting to be released, to fly from her and to free itself from the fate that it knew would come.
Selene wished she could release the whole of her magic, let it escape into the storm and fly away. Not that Selene wished to die, far from it, but she feared Voldemort getting her power above all else. When she called upon her magic and really used it, not just for the simple tricks that she had shown Harry, she had felt a power so intense that it had left her shaken and afraid. The thought of Voldemort being able to tap into a power of that magnitude horrified Selene.
However, Selene knew that there was no way she could eradicate her magic from her own body. That was impossible. Selene's magic could never be destroyed, only transferred or transformed. There was only one way to transfer the entirety of her magic, and that lone spell was located in the Book of Carmen. Named after the magmanos that had created the spell, the book contained some of the more evil spells that could be performed by magmani alone. Selene thought that the book had been kept locked up by the Ministry, but upon arriving here she had felt its presence. It called to her in ways that only a magmanos could understand, its evil calling to be used and released. That is how she knew what Voldemort had planned for her, and how it would be possible for him to obtain her magic.
Selene glanced back into the darkness and into Harry's general direction. Selene could not bear to think about letting such a powerful evil touch her nephew. Not again. If only she could give him some sort of protection from Voldemort, some sort of shield. Suddenly an idea sprung into her mind. "Not a shield." she thought to herself. "A weapon."
She stood and fumbled around in the darkness until she found Harry, who had fallen asleep near the door. Against her better judgment she brought up a small amount of light, which cast a golden glow upon the sleeping boy. She knelt down and brushed a few wayward strands of hair from his face. Selene frowned at his expression, which contained a mixture of fear and exhaustion. "He has been through so much already." She thought to herself and momentarily hesitated before gently shaking his shoulder.
Harry roused soundlessly, his eyes squinting at the light. His green eyes gazed into her own. Selene smiled and then said, "Harry. I have an idea."
************************
Sirius blinked a few times in order to clear his vision and to chase the rain out of his eyes. It took a few minutes for him to remember where he was. He remembered landing in a field of some type and then chasing someone and then in turn being chased. Then images of hooded figures filled his mind and a light, a painful light, tearing through his body. Death Eaters. There were two Death Eaters. No, one was dead. He had killed it, but the other…
Sirius tried to stand, but his body wouldn't respond and he fell into a heap on the ground. When he looked up two concerned faces were staring back at him. "Hermione and Ron." Sirius said, slowly remembering.
The two nodded and Sirius wiped his wet matted hair out of his face. "The other Death Eater?" he asked.
"Is contained." Hermione answered. "Do you remember anything?"
Sirius stretched out his right arm, feeling the familiar throb of his hand and the stab of the fresh cuts. "I'm beginning to." he said.
"You had us worried." Ron said and swallowed hard, "There was a lot of blood."
Sirius looked at Hermione who smiled and said, "Well it was wasn't that much blood."
Sirius tried to stand again, this time more slowly. Hermione and Ron rushed to help him but Sirius refused. He felt better being on his feet again and he walked carefully to the outer branches of the tree and let some water fall on his face. For the first time he became aware of a new pain radiating from his chest and side. He unbuttoned what was left of his shirt in an effort to examine his new wounds. He found they were neatly bound with what looked like scraps of his own robes.
"We had to stop the bleeding." Hermione said.
"It looks like you two did a good job." Sirius replied. "Which brings me to ask what exactly are you two doing here?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances.
"We thought that we should follow you in case if something went wrong we would be able to go get help." Ron said.
"Follow me? How?"
"The second portkey." Hermione said.
"You did what?" Sirius asked angrily "Do you know how stupid that was?"
"Yes. But…" Ron said.
"But? There are no buts. You two could've gotten yourselves killed! How much help would you both had been then? You two probably have Dumbledore scared to death. It was an incredibly foolish thing to do!" Sirius yelled. He then looked at the two students in front of him. True it was incredibly irrational to follow him with the second portkey, but Sirius couldn't help but admire them. They had risked their own lives to save their friend, and in turn they had been responsible for saving his own life. He knew that he would have done the same thing at their age, and couldn't help but feel a kindred spirit in these two. He smiled at them, "It was foolish, but also very brave."
Ron and Hermione smiled.
"What now?" Ron asked.
"I guess there's no point in me telling you to go back. After all I assume you would just follow me anyway." Sirius said. "I fear that time is running out for Selene and Harry. The Death Eater indicated that they are somewhere in that direction." Sirius pointed right with his free hand.
"You don't believe that what the Death Eater told you was true, do you?" Hermione asked.
"Why wouldn't he tell me the truth? After all he was planning on killing me, so what would he have had to loose?" Sirius sighed deeply, "Besides, I have nothing else to go on."
"What are we waiting for then?" Ron asked and began to gather up their few belongings.
"Hold on a minute. If we do this, I want you two to promise me something. You do exactly what I tell you. If I tell you to hang back, then you hang back. Do I make myself clear?" Sirius asked, although it was more of a demand than a question.
Ron started to argue, but Sirius cut him off with a look.
"Are we agreed?" Sirius asked.
"Yes." Ron said.
"Yes." Hermione agreed.
"Good. Now let's get out of here." Sirius said and together the three made their way back into the storm.
***********
A/N: I was a little afraid that my muse had taken a hiatus, but luckily he's back. Please let me know what you think of the chapter and how the story is going. The next chapter will probably be the one of the last, so if there are still any questions that are going unanswered please let me know. Thanks for all of the reviews you guys have already given me! I read and appreciate them all! -R
With the rain still pouring down on them like a parade of bullets, Hermione and Ron managed to drag an unconscious Sirius underneath the same large oak that previously offered protection to them. Although the tree provided little resistance to the wind, it did provide a reprieve from the rain.
Hermione looked at Sirius' mud caked robes. She knew that they were going to have to take them off in order to access Sirius' wounds, but she hesitated in doing so. Hermione was unsure if she could handle it if Sirius' wounds proved to be serious or even fatal. She realized that his death would also mean the death of Harry and Selene. Slowly she took a deep breath and she and Ron began to peel back the layers of fabric.
Underneath the robes, Hermione saw that Sirius' shirt was covered with blood. Hermione pushed back several unpleasant thoughts as they unbuttoned his shirt and began to pull it away from his flesh. It was a slow and tedious process because some areas of blood had begun to congeal and stick to the fabric.
Hermione looked up at Ron who had turned an unhealthy shade of green. "Ron?" she asked concerned.
"I'm okay." He said swallowing hard, "It's just that…that…I've never seen so much blood before."
Hermione smiled softly, "It's okay to be afraid Ron."
"I'm not afraid!" Ron said defensively.
"Well that makes one of us."
"It's just that I don't think I can do this anymore Hermione. I'm sorry."
Hermione reached over and touched Ron's hand, "That's okay." She gathered up Sirius' discarded robes and handed them to Ron. "We are going to need something to cover these wounds. Why don't you take his robes and wash them off the best that you can?"
Ron took the robes, grateful to have a job that didn't require him to look at the blood anymore. When Ron was gone Hermione turned her attention back to Sirius. She managed to pull back the rest of his shirt and under the small light of her wand she was able to see exactly what the Death Eater had done to him.
It appeared that the majority of the blow had struck him on the right side of his chest, just below the shoulder. However, there were visible cuts extending down his right side and finally ending about two inches above his waistline. His right arm was in the same condition as his chest. Hermione ripped a piece of lining from the inside of her robes and wet it, then dabbed at one of the cuts. Although the cuts themselves were quite small, they were deep and numerous. Hermione racked her brain thinking of a curse that would inflict these kinds of wounds, "Danus Infernis" she said softly.
Her attention then shifted to Sirius' right hand. She lifted it gently and began to clean it off. It was obvious that it was badly broken and bruised, but it would have to wait. The cuts were more concerning.
Hermione heard Ron approach with the robes. The robes and Ron were both sopping wet, but they both looked a lot cleaner.
"I found this inside of his robes." Ron said pulling out a handful of red material.
"That's Selene's." Hermione said and Ron nodded in agreement.
Sirius groaned and Ron glanced at him, noticing fresh blood on his chest and arm. "He's bleeding again." Ron said turning green once more.
"We need to stop the bleeding. Ron, I'm going to need your help."
Ron nodded, placed Selene's robes in the driest spot he could find and sat down beside Hermione, "What do I need to do?" he asked.
For over an hour the two sat under the branches of the oak working silently. Ron would tear a strip of cloth, wet it, and then hand it to Hermione. Hermione would then wash away the blood and debris from the cuts. When the wounds were clean she and Ron wrapped fabric around Sirius tightly.
"Where did you learn how to do this?" Ron had asked at one point.
"A muggle first aid book." She answered, "You can't always rely on magic." She added tightening another strip of fabric.
Ron laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"You amaze me Herm, you really do."
Hermione smiled and felt the blood rise to her cheeks. "Hand me another strip please." she said.
With the last pieces of fabric they made a makeshift sling for Sirius' hand. Together they moved Sirius up against the oak and put Selene's cloak around him.
"What do we do now?" Ron asked when they had finished.
As if in response, Sirius moaned and shifted his body.
"I guess we wait." Hermione replied.
**********************************
Selene sat in the dark and listened to the thunder outside. Only a few minutes ago the only sound that was audible from within the darkness of their cell was the water in the corner, but now she was able to make out the distinct sounds of thunder. Selene put her head against the wall and once again became aware of the hardness of the stone. She peered into the darkness in front of her, not knowing how long it had been since her last conversation with Harry. She did know, however, that since their conversation, no sound had been heard from where Harry had been sitting.
She rubbed her hands together partly out of wanting to keep warm, but mostly out of frustration. What a great and powerful witch she turned out to be, she thought to herself. She was too weak even to conjure a small amount of prolonged light that might bring some welcomed relief from the solitude that they both felt.
Selene hated the feeling of weakness that she now felt. She rubbed her shoulders and arms as if by doing so she could wipe the feeling away. It seemed ironic to her that someone who had so much magical ability would constantly fail those whom she loved and who loved her. Selene remembered how helpless she felt when she and Sirius had found Lily and James. She had failed to save them just as she had failed to save Sirius and herself later in that dark alley. Now it appeared that her inability had not only doomed her but Harry as well.
She closed her eyes and tried to loose herself in the sound of the thunder, trying to block out the visions and voices of her past with the constant sharp sound of the storm. Instead her mind only managed to conjure up new images. She saw Voldemort appearing from the darkness, his face lit by some hellish light and delight spread across his ghoulish face as he sucked what he could from her body and then turned to Harry. "Harry." Selene whispered softly, her mind still fixed on the imagined image. She saw Voldemort smiling at Harry just before sending the Avada Kedavra curse through his small frame until his body was left as lifeless as his mother's and father's.
A large crack of thunder caused her to jump and as she opened her eyes the vision of Voldemort faded into nothingness. She shifted her position, being mindful not to close her eyes again, lest the image of Voldemort return. Instead she held her hands in front of her face. She then called the magic to her fingers, feeling the rush of warmth through her arms and down to her fingertips. Still concealed under her skin the magic was invisible, but made its presence known to Selene. It burned at her fingertips waiting to be released, to fly from her and to free itself from the fate that it knew would come.
Selene wished she could release the whole of her magic, let it escape into the storm and fly away. Not that Selene wished to die, far from it, but she feared Voldemort getting her power above all else. When she called upon her magic and really used it, not just for the simple tricks that she had shown Harry, she had felt a power so intense that it had left her shaken and afraid. The thought of Voldemort being able to tap into a power of that magnitude horrified Selene.
However, Selene knew that there was no way she could eradicate her magic from her own body. That was impossible. Selene's magic could never be destroyed, only transferred or transformed. There was only one way to transfer the entirety of her magic, and that lone spell was located in the Book of Carmen. Named after the magmanos that had created the spell, the book contained some of the more evil spells that could be performed by magmani alone. Selene thought that the book had been kept locked up by the Ministry, but upon arriving here she had felt its presence. It called to her in ways that only a magmanos could understand, its evil calling to be used and released. That is how she knew what Voldemort had planned for her, and how it would be possible for him to obtain her magic.
Selene glanced back into the darkness and into Harry's general direction. Selene could not bear to think about letting such a powerful evil touch her nephew. Not again. If only she could give him some sort of protection from Voldemort, some sort of shield. Suddenly an idea sprung into her mind. "Not a shield." she thought to herself. "A weapon."
She stood and fumbled around in the darkness until she found Harry, who had fallen asleep near the door. Against her better judgment she brought up a small amount of light, which cast a golden glow upon the sleeping boy. She knelt down and brushed a few wayward strands of hair from his face. Selene frowned at his expression, which contained a mixture of fear and exhaustion. "He has been through so much already." She thought to herself and momentarily hesitated before gently shaking his shoulder.
Harry roused soundlessly, his eyes squinting at the light. His green eyes gazed into her own. Selene smiled and then said, "Harry. I have an idea."
************************
Sirius blinked a few times in order to clear his vision and to chase the rain out of his eyes. It took a few minutes for him to remember where he was. He remembered landing in a field of some type and then chasing someone and then in turn being chased. Then images of hooded figures filled his mind and a light, a painful light, tearing through his body. Death Eaters. There were two Death Eaters. No, one was dead. He had killed it, but the other…
Sirius tried to stand, but his body wouldn't respond and he fell into a heap on the ground. When he looked up two concerned faces were staring back at him. "Hermione and Ron." Sirius said, slowly remembering.
The two nodded and Sirius wiped his wet matted hair out of his face. "The other Death Eater?" he asked.
"Is contained." Hermione answered. "Do you remember anything?"
Sirius stretched out his right arm, feeling the familiar throb of his hand and the stab of the fresh cuts. "I'm beginning to." he said.
"You had us worried." Ron said and swallowed hard, "There was a lot of blood."
Sirius looked at Hermione who smiled and said, "Well it was wasn't that much blood."
Sirius tried to stand again, this time more slowly. Hermione and Ron rushed to help him but Sirius refused. He felt better being on his feet again and he walked carefully to the outer branches of the tree and let some water fall on his face. For the first time he became aware of a new pain radiating from his chest and side. He unbuttoned what was left of his shirt in an effort to examine his new wounds. He found they were neatly bound with what looked like scraps of his own robes.
"We had to stop the bleeding." Hermione said.
"It looks like you two did a good job." Sirius replied. "Which brings me to ask what exactly are you two doing here?"
Ron and Hermione exchanged glances.
"We thought that we should follow you in case if something went wrong we would be able to go get help." Ron said.
"Follow me? How?"
"The second portkey." Hermione said.
"You did what?" Sirius asked angrily "Do you know how stupid that was?"
"Yes. But…" Ron said.
"But? There are no buts. You two could've gotten yourselves killed! How much help would you both had been then? You two probably have Dumbledore scared to death. It was an incredibly foolish thing to do!" Sirius yelled. He then looked at the two students in front of him. True it was incredibly irrational to follow him with the second portkey, but Sirius couldn't help but admire them. They had risked their own lives to save their friend, and in turn they had been responsible for saving his own life. He knew that he would have done the same thing at their age, and couldn't help but feel a kindred spirit in these two. He smiled at them, "It was foolish, but also very brave."
Ron and Hermione smiled.
"What now?" Ron asked.
"I guess there's no point in me telling you to go back. After all I assume you would just follow me anyway." Sirius said. "I fear that time is running out for Selene and Harry. The Death Eater indicated that they are somewhere in that direction." Sirius pointed right with his free hand.
"You don't believe that what the Death Eater told you was true, do you?" Hermione asked.
"Why wouldn't he tell me the truth? After all he was planning on killing me, so what would he have had to loose?" Sirius sighed deeply, "Besides, I have nothing else to go on."
"What are we waiting for then?" Ron asked and began to gather up their few belongings.
"Hold on a minute. If we do this, I want you two to promise me something. You do exactly what I tell you. If I tell you to hang back, then you hang back. Do I make myself clear?" Sirius asked, although it was more of a demand than a question.
Ron started to argue, but Sirius cut him off with a look.
"Are we agreed?" Sirius asked.
"Yes." Ron said.
"Yes." Hermione agreed.
"Good. Now let's get out of here." Sirius said and together the three made their way back into the storm.
***********
A/N: I was a little afraid that my muse had taken a hiatus, but luckily he's back. Please let me know what you think of the chapter and how the story is going. The next chapter will probably be the one of the last, so if there are still any questions that are going unanswered please let me know. Thanks for all of the reviews you guys have already given me! I read and appreciate them all! -R