The light began to grow warmer and brighter and Harry and Draco trekked
further into the cave. They could barely see anything with the brilliant
green erupting in many different directions around them. It was no longer
the steady glow to which they had grown familiar, it had grown to what
looked like a slow explosion with trails of light cascading away from the
boys destination. They darted different sparks, not knowing what would
happen if it hit them. They could only wonder as they saw it clobber
against the rock walls.
It wasn't until one of the sparks singed a small hole through Harry's robe that the boys decided they could be on the right trail rather than the other two groups. Draco repeated the spell Dumbledore taught them and saw a tiny flash within the normally clear, dark orb.
"So, what do you we do now?" Harry whispered.
"Go on, I suppose," Draco replied, barely audible, "I don't think we can wait for the rest to get here, but I also don't feel strong enough to face him."
"If I've learned anything from our meetings, we can beat him if we don't become separated. So, no matter what happens make sure that we are in sight of each other.
"Like, working together? You sure you're up to working to with me?"
"This one time, perhaps. Is your wand ready?"
Draco nodded admiring Harry's newfound fearlessness. Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all... doubt it.
"Let's go," the young hero gestured to Draco and the unlikely pair traveled further toward their target, hoping their four allies would follow quickly behind.
-----
The blinding green light surrounded them on all sides now, forcing them to follow the wall in order to keep themselves from accidentally turning around and walking back toward the swamp. Harry's scar burned and the spark-storm had ebbed, but Draco was forced to close his eyes periodically and simply follow the wall to give his eyes a break. Harry kept his open and alert but caught himself squinting while his pupils struggle to adjust.
The stone wall was refreshing cold in the blinding heat of the hideous light and Draco wondered how much more he could take. Harry, however, looked dauntless in his pursuit. He'd never seen him like this before. Sure, he'd always seen the aftermath—chaos, destruction and the sole survivor walking away from the rubble, but never the true brave that went into avenging his parents' death. This wasn't just about his parents anymore, Draco remembered. Last year, his father gloated about finally ridding themselves of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather.
Maybe power wasn't the only reason Voldemort wanted Kristin, maybe his goal included breaking Harry's spirit by killing everyone who ever loved him, who ever got close to him.
The cave went pitch black and cold surrounded them now. All around them was silent besides their own footfalls. Neither of them could see while their eyes adjusted to the sudden dark.
Finally they saw stars above them. The cave walls still loomed ahead on both sides in the crisp moonlight before they came to a final clearing.
They could distinguish shapes moving in the magical lights that surrounded the clearing and Harry and Draco searched for a place to hide while they assessed the situation.
They finally found concealment in a small alcove along the side of the ceiling-less wall. Kristin's limp body lay on a stone alter in the middle of the clearing, one frail arm hanging over the side, closed eyes turned to face their hiding place. Draco's body eased slightly as her chest raised and lowered with her still-living breath. He hadn't taken her life yet.
"Master," another man asked, "how long do you plan to keep her this way?"
Harry's biting look at Draco said he knew whose voice that was.
"Just until I can find an adequate container for her soul." The Dark Lord hissed. "It cannot live without a body for long, but as long as she's here we must wait for the correct body."
"They will surely come looking for her." The man replied.
"Your son did seem very concerned. Smart boy, though, stayed away while I worked. You trained him well."
"Draco? Why was he there?"
"Well, Lucius, though I'm not a gossip, I believe your boy loves her."
"What would be an adequate body, Master?" the elder Malfoy curbed their potential digression, seeming nearly disappointed in his son.
"A human preferably, someone who wouldn't be missed, a wizard who won't be harmed by her infinite magical powers, but isn't trained well enough to use them. Kristin has grown too powerful in her training and must be disposed of properly."
Draco stifled a small gasp at his malice but later realized that he didn't expect much more from him. Terror built inside of him now. The Dark Lord he could vanquish while helping Harry but now Draco would be forced to face his father. Lucius Malfoy trained his son since he was old enough to hold a wand; his ties in the Ministry allowing his son to escape penalty under the Underage Sorcery laws. Now Draco struggled to think of a weakness her father didn't know and upon which he wouldn't prey. Even after their practice sessions, Draco often required healing and repairing spells for his battered body, he could only imagine how much damage his father could do in full-fledged battle where the blatant indifference toward his own son would take precedence to any bond they may have forged.
A small tear made its journey from Draco's eye, down his face to the rocky ground below.
-----
Lucius's well-trained eyes caught the quick reflection of light in the darkness but it quickly fell and vanished upon the ground. As he watched his master turn away and observe the unconscious girl, Lucius slowly crept toward the alcove in which the tow boys waited to take Kristin back to Hogwarts.
"Inperceptivum"
Draco silently cast the spell his father had just taught him over Christmas break. It took him four days of relentless practicing simply to dim, but by the time he returned to Hogwarts, he could not be seen if didn't want to be. He looked over to make sure the spell worked on Harry as well and was pleased to not seem him—until he noticed him crawling along the wall behind Lucius.
Draco rose and noiselessly walked toward Harry. He felt strange, blatantly walking—not crouching or crawling, but walking—in what would be full sight of his father and Voldemort were he visible.
He covered Harry's mouth and urged him to crawl back to their hiding place, but the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't understand the body language of someone he couldn't see and remained still, to avoid Lucius's glare.
"Inperceptivum"
Draco once again whispered the spell, pointing his wand at Harry as he vanished in time to remain unseen to Lucius Malfoy.
As the older blonde man made his way to the origin of a whisper, Harry and Draco dodged him by only a few inches.
"Master," another man entered the clearing; Draco recognized him as Crabbe's father and her carried a small sleeping child in his arms. "Here is the body you asked for."
"Finally, the process can begin."
Draco gasped, knowing shortly that the girl on the table would be dead or worse—living without her soul.
Everyone worried of the dementor's power to rob victims of their souls and here was a group of malicious, power-hungry bastards with only a couple of kids to stop them.
Lucius turned his head toward the sound and Draco met his eyes. He was suspecting something more and more.
"Petrificus totales"
Draco looked at Harry as the hero cast his first spell. Lucius Malfoy and the elder Crabbe froze in place with the young boy still asleep in his arms.
"Ah, Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed, "Don't think you're cute little invisibility spell will work on me. I can see you. Good evening to you as well, young Malfoy."
Upon their acknowledgment, Draco undid their spell, saving his power for something more effective in what could be the last duel he would ever face.
-----
"I thought you were done with my daughter."
"That may be, but I'm sure as bloody hell not done with you, Voldemort," Harry nearly spit out his last word as anger boiled inside of him. He wanted to end this now, to rid himself of this obstacle before used Kristin to become unstoppable.
He seemed unaffected by Harry's threat and turned his focus to Draco.
"And I thought your loyalty was with me. Do you realize what we can accomplish with her strength? No puny boy with a vendetta could stop us anymore."
"There is no us, Lord Voldemort, someone has finally shown me the hideous stunts you pull. No more. I have changed alliances." Draco met his eyes, deep and endless. He could only imagine how may saw those voids as their final image.
"It's a shame you won't be here to tell your father. I'm sure this is some right of passage for you." Voldemort was close to him now.
"Expelliarmus"
Harry's spell caused the want to fly from Voldemort's hand as he raised it to punish Draco's disloyalty.
From his stunned position, the young Malfoy scrambled to get the tiny piece of wood and in a moment he had snapped the wand across his knew as the dark old wizard leapt after him.
"Leave him alone, master," Lucius Malfoy interjected, unfreezing upon Harry's latest spell, "He's mine."
Draco looked with terror at his father as he snapped Voldemort's wand once more and set the four pieces in Harry's hand.
The elder Crabbe began once more to the altar with the small boy when Harry noticed that he wasn't sleeping—he was dead. Kristin's soul and power would live in the body of a boy not even old enough to attend school.
"Where'd you find him?" Voldemort asked his faithful servant.
"St. Agnes, he's an orphan."
"Perfect. You have served me well."
The servant bowed slightly to his master and walked toward the cave entrance, out of sight.
"It's just us now," Harry sneered, anxious to rid himself of Voldemort soon. "None of your servants, none of your cronies, besides him, "he nodded at Lucius, "and he seems kind of busy right now." With a simple spell, Voldemort's wand burst into flame in Harry's hand, as he watched it burn to ash.
"Well, it looks like I'm defenseless now," Voldemort retorted before chanting a few words under his breath.
"Animas extricatum"
Harry watched a ghostlike mist escape from Kristin's mouth and rise into the air above them.
"Crucio"
Harry flew back as sparks flew toward Voldemort. He crumpled to the ground as Harry lay only a few feet away. He quickly reached for his wand before the Dark Lord could finish writhing.
"Aveda Kedavra"
Another flash of light and Harry's world went black.
-----
"Draco, I can't believe you would do this to us, after all that I have taught you. What happened?" Lucius pleaded.
"Kristin finally taught me more; she taught me all of the horrible stuff she's been through, which you put her through. How could you do that to her?"
"We need her," the father replied coldly. "Only when we have her power can Voldemort return to his rightful place."
Draco watched the elder Crabbe place the child on the altar next to Kristin. "So you're just going to kill her? And then what?" Draco asked flabbergasted.
"Her soul will live on in the body of the child, not her intelligence, mind you, but her power without the training to use it against her father. Then, when we have gathered his followers and retain the proper protection, the Dark Lord will harvest the soul once again and return to full power." Lucius grinned sadistically. "It's really too bad that you'll miss it. It will be quite the event."
"Crucio"
Draco collapsed, screaming out in pain that he had only felt once before, as a small child at the hands of his still merciless father. Still writhing, he reached for his wand.
"Petrificus totales"
He watched his father stand motionless, wand raised ready to strike once again.
"Harry," he screamed for help, for release from this infinite pain, but looked over to see Harry and Voldemort unconscious on the ground and a shady mist hanging in the air above the alter.
He lay there screaming for some time before the pain and exhaustion took him to the unconscious.
It wasn't until one of the sparks singed a small hole through Harry's robe that the boys decided they could be on the right trail rather than the other two groups. Draco repeated the spell Dumbledore taught them and saw a tiny flash within the normally clear, dark orb.
"So, what do you we do now?" Harry whispered.
"Go on, I suppose," Draco replied, barely audible, "I don't think we can wait for the rest to get here, but I also don't feel strong enough to face him."
"If I've learned anything from our meetings, we can beat him if we don't become separated. So, no matter what happens make sure that we are in sight of each other.
"Like, working together? You sure you're up to working to with me?"
"This one time, perhaps. Is your wand ready?"
Draco nodded admiring Harry's newfound fearlessness. Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all... doubt it.
"Let's go," the young hero gestured to Draco and the unlikely pair traveled further toward their target, hoping their four allies would follow quickly behind.
-----
The blinding green light surrounded them on all sides now, forcing them to follow the wall in order to keep themselves from accidentally turning around and walking back toward the swamp. Harry's scar burned and the spark-storm had ebbed, but Draco was forced to close his eyes periodically and simply follow the wall to give his eyes a break. Harry kept his open and alert but caught himself squinting while his pupils struggle to adjust.
The stone wall was refreshing cold in the blinding heat of the hideous light and Draco wondered how much more he could take. Harry, however, looked dauntless in his pursuit. He'd never seen him like this before. Sure, he'd always seen the aftermath—chaos, destruction and the sole survivor walking away from the rubble, but never the true brave that went into avenging his parents' death. This wasn't just about his parents anymore, Draco remembered. Last year, his father gloated about finally ridding themselves of Sirius Black, Harry's godfather.
Maybe power wasn't the only reason Voldemort wanted Kristin, maybe his goal included breaking Harry's spirit by killing everyone who ever loved him, who ever got close to him.
The cave went pitch black and cold surrounded them now. All around them was silent besides their own footfalls. Neither of them could see while their eyes adjusted to the sudden dark.
Finally they saw stars above them. The cave walls still loomed ahead on both sides in the crisp moonlight before they came to a final clearing.
They could distinguish shapes moving in the magical lights that surrounded the clearing and Harry and Draco searched for a place to hide while they assessed the situation.
They finally found concealment in a small alcove along the side of the ceiling-less wall. Kristin's limp body lay on a stone alter in the middle of the clearing, one frail arm hanging over the side, closed eyes turned to face their hiding place. Draco's body eased slightly as her chest raised and lowered with her still-living breath. He hadn't taken her life yet.
"Master," another man asked, "how long do you plan to keep her this way?"
Harry's biting look at Draco said he knew whose voice that was.
"Just until I can find an adequate container for her soul." The Dark Lord hissed. "It cannot live without a body for long, but as long as she's here we must wait for the correct body."
"They will surely come looking for her." The man replied.
"Your son did seem very concerned. Smart boy, though, stayed away while I worked. You trained him well."
"Draco? Why was he there?"
"Well, Lucius, though I'm not a gossip, I believe your boy loves her."
"What would be an adequate body, Master?" the elder Malfoy curbed their potential digression, seeming nearly disappointed in his son.
"A human preferably, someone who wouldn't be missed, a wizard who won't be harmed by her infinite magical powers, but isn't trained well enough to use them. Kristin has grown too powerful in her training and must be disposed of properly."
Draco stifled a small gasp at his malice but later realized that he didn't expect much more from him. Terror built inside of him now. The Dark Lord he could vanquish while helping Harry but now Draco would be forced to face his father. Lucius Malfoy trained his son since he was old enough to hold a wand; his ties in the Ministry allowing his son to escape penalty under the Underage Sorcery laws. Now Draco struggled to think of a weakness her father didn't know and upon which he wouldn't prey. Even after their practice sessions, Draco often required healing and repairing spells for his battered body, he could only imagine how much damage his father could do in full-fledged battle where the blatant indifference toward his own son would take precedence to any bond they may have forged.
A small tear made its journey from Draco's eye, down his face to the rocky ground below.
-----
Lucius's well-trained eyes caught the quick reflection of light in the darkness but it quickly fell and vanished upon the ground. As he watched his master turn away and observe the unconscious girl, Lucius slowly crept toward the alcove in which the tow boys waited to take Kristin back to Hogwarts.
"Inperceptivum"
Draco silently cast the spell his father had just taught him over Christmas break. It took him four days of relentless practicing simply to dim, but by the time he returned to Hogwarts, he could not be seen if didn't want to be. He looked over to make sure the spell worked on Harry as well and was pleased to not seem him—until he noticed him crawling along the wall behind Lucius.
Draco rose and noiselessly walked toward Harry. He felt strange, blatantly walking—not crouching or crawling, but walking—in what would be full sight of his father and Voldemort were he visible.
He covered Harry's mouth and urged him to crawl back to their hiding place, but the Boy-Who-Lived couldn't understand the body language of someone he couldn't see and remained still, to avoid Lucius's glare.
"Inperceptivum"
Draco once again whispered the spell, pointing his wand at Harry as he vanished in time to remain unseen to Lucius Malfoy.
As the older blonde man made his way to the origin of a whisper, Harry and Draco dodged him by only a few inches.
"Master," another man entered the clearing; Draco recognized him as Crabbe's father and her carried a small sleeping child in his arms. "Here is the body you asked for."
"Finally, the process can begin."
Draco gasped, knowing shortly that the girl on the table would be dead or worse—living without her soul.
Everyone worried of the dementor's power to rob victims of their souls and here was a group of malicious, power-hungry bastards with only a couple of kids to stop them.
Lucius turned his head toward the sound and Draco met his eyes. He was suspecting something more and more.
"Petrificus totales"
Draco looked at Harry as the hero cast his first spell. Lucius Malfoy and the elder Crabbe froze in place with the young boy still asleep in his arms.
"Ah, Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed, "Don't think you're cute little invisibility spell will work on me. I can see you. Good evening to you as well, young Malfoy."
Upon their acknowledgment, Draco undid their spell, saving his power for something more effective in what could be the last duel he would ever face.
-----
"I thought you were done with my daughter."
"That may be, but I'm sure as bloody hell not done with you, Voldemort," Harry nearly spit out his last word as anger boiled inside of him. He wanted to end this now, to rid himself of this obstacle before used Kristin to become unstoppable.
He seemed unaffected by Harry's threat and turned his focus to Draco.
"And I thought your loyalty was with me. Do you realize what we can accomplish with her strength? No puny boy with a vendetta could stop us anymore."
"There is no us, Lord Voldemort, someone has finally shown me the hideous stunts you pull. No more. I have changed alliances." Draco met his eyes, deep and endless. He could only imagine how may saw those voids as their final image.
"It's a shame you won't be here to tell your father. I'm sure this is some right of passage for you." Voldemort was close to him now.
"Expelliarmus"
Harry's spell caused the want to fly from Voldemort's hand as he raised it to punish Draco's disloyalty.
From his stunned position, the young Malfoy scrambled to get the tiny piece of wood and in a moment he had snapped the wand across his knew as the dark old wizard leapt after him.
"Leave him alone, master," Lucius Malfoy interjected, unfreezing upon Harry's latest spell, "He's mine."
Draco looked with terror at his father as he snapped Voldemort's wand once more and set the four pieces in Harry's hand.
The elder Crabbe began once more to the altar with the small boy when Harry noticed that he wasn't sleeping—he was dead. Kristin's soul and power would live in the body of a boy not even old enough to attend school.
"Where'd you find him?" Voldemort asked his faithful servant.
"St. Agnes, he's an orphan."
"Perfect. You have served me well."
The servant bowed slightly to his master and walked toward the cave entrance, out of sight.
"It's just us now," Harry sneered, anxious to rid himself of Voldemort soon. "None of your servants, none of your cronies, besides him, "he nodded at Lucius, "and he seems kind of busy right now." With a simple spell, Voldemort's wand burst into flame in Harry's hand, as he watched it burn to ash.
"Well, it looks like I'm defenseless now," Voldemort retorted before chanting a few words under his breath.
"Animas extricatum"
Harry watched a ghostlike mist escape from Kristin's mouth and rise into the air above them.
"Crucio"
Harry flew back as sparks flew toward Voldemort. He crumpled to the ground as Harry lay only a few feet away. He quickly reached for his wand before the Dark Lord could finish writhing.
"Aveda Kedavra"
Another flash of light and Harry's world went black.
-----
"Draco, I can't believe you would do this to us, after all that I have taught you. What happened?" Lucius pleaded.
"Kristin finally taught me more; she taught me all of the horrible stuff she's been through, which you put her through. How could you do that to her?"
"We need her," the father replied coldly. "Only when we have her power can Voldemort return to his rightful place."
Draco watched the elder Crabbe place the child on the altar next to Kristin. "So you're just going to kill her? And then what?" Draco asked flabbergasted.
"Her soul will live on in the body of the child, not her intelligence, mind you, but her power without the training to use it against her father. Then, when we have gathered his followers and retain the proper protection, the Dark Lord will harvest the soul once again and return to full power." Lucius grinned sadistically. "It's really too bad that you'll miss it. It will be quite the event."
"Crucio"
Draco collapsed, screaming out in pain that he had only felt once before, as a small child at the hands of his still merciless father. Still writhing, he reached for his wand.
"Petrificus totales"
He watched his father stand motionless, wand raised ready to strike once again.
"Harry," he screamed for help, for release from this infinite pain, but looked over to see Harry and Voldemort unconscious on the ground and a shady mist hanging in the air above the alter.
He lay there screaming for some time before the pain and exhaustion took him to the unconscious.