Black Bells
by : epiphanies
This an extremely sad fic. If you don't understand, please don't bother to ask me. All lyrics belong to the lyricists of the movie, Cold Mountain.
And as you walk through death's dark veil,
The cannon's thunder can't prevail,
And those who hunt thee down will fail,
And you will be my ain true love,
And you will be my ain true love.
He was gasping and panting, his scar burning less than the rest of his body. As if his soul had been snatched by a demon of the night, his eyes glowed with a furious lilt. As he stumbled through the forest, a branch caught his eyebrow and he fell backward. Cursing, he touched the spot and felt blood.
He'd been running for hours. Still, no light, even moonlight, would protect him from his enemy. His legs shook as he stood again and persevered, only to be tripped by a withered root.
There had to be a way out, the man found. He'd only been a man for a short time, and he was not used to being this. He was a man, and he knew he was injured. He was not used to this, and not used to being alone. He was both of these, and a man, and very lost in the middle of a forest littered with allies and only one foe - one foe that he was anxious to find turn-backed or anxious to stay away from.
He was only pale and his arm aching, nothing too serious. He wiped his blond hair from his eyes, slicking mud across his face and, for the first time, not caring. He stopped a moment and thought, What would Father do?
He slipped his wand out of his pocket and whispered, "Lumos."
One advantage he had over his foe - however, if he foe was to find him first, there was naught to keep Draco's head atop his shoulders from the merciless fingers of the dark boy who he'd known since late childhood.
Harry could hear a bird chirp in the distance and felt a welt of relief pound at his forehead - or could that be where he'd hit the branch? And wasn't it still mid-night? How could the sun rise so early?
Harry, a whisper echoed through his ears and he whipped around.
"Ouch," he said softly as his ankle gave a painful jab.
The trees seemed to be changing colours right in front of his eyes.
When I recall his parting words
Must I accept his fate
Or take myself far from this place
I thought I heard a black bell toll
A little bird did sing
Man has no choice
When he wants everything
Black robes had made Draco invisible in the night, just as well as his foe's Invisibility Cloak would.
Draco smirked, thinking of the last time they'd been together in the Forbidden Forest... hadn't that been frightening? On the whole, he thought, plenty more frightening than this was. After all, there was no creature living in the forest now that lived off of unicorn blood.
He gave a startled cry and stared down at the inside of his left wrist, which had become a dark black and was searing with a pain that Draco felt he'd never get used to.
But how was he to Apparate in the middle of the Hogwarts grounds? Master would just have to wait - Draco needed to find her, the girl he was inside of here to protect. She was in danger, where she was. Or was she there? Draco was foggy on the details, suddenly, and leaned up against a tree, clutching his head in frustration. Why was he in - where was he?
Blows to the head made Harry feel weak inside, but he plundered on after receiving several because he knew that he had to reach her - needed to reach her, because without him, she was as good as dead. He could not let that happen.
The tree groaned under Draco's weight - quite possibly, he'd chosen the smallest tree in the entire brush to lean on. He stumbled away from it and his eyes went as wide as tea saucers.
"Who are you," he murmured, watching his pale hands that were stained with a red - with blood, he supposed. Why couldn't he remember?
He could taste copper, could feel it like a bleeding nose. A pressure, a short pain, and a flood that made him sputter. He tripped on another branch - was it the same one? - and fell to the ground, coughing. His eyes rolled slightly and he gasped. No, no.... not after everything he'd been through, he would not die like this.... not die at the hands of his own mind, tunnelling him into a misty fire that burned bright blue and welcomed with hands of flame... the hands reached to his forehead and kissed it, and his scar turned to ice and fell away.
We'll rise above the scarlet tide
that trickles down through the mountain
that separates the widow from the bride
Draco gasped as he saw a light - a light, just one hundred feet away! A lantern, he realized as he neared at rapid speed, regaining his agility enough to not trip or hit himself on scratching branches that seemed to be outstretching their ominous fingers just to return him to the pit of the jungle-forest. He knew that he could not stay, but could not say why.
He could not say why, even when he saw her as he emerged. He stopped at the edge of the forest and she let out a sob, running toward him. She knocked him over, blonde hair flying, and kissed him like she used to when they were four and running around his manor. He couldn't understand why he felt such a burst of relief fill his chest at the sight, at the touch, of this woman. But, nonetheless, he smiled at her, tears and all, and said, "Hello."
Not far away, a red-headed girl awoke with a scream. She sat upright in her bed and her eyes filled with tears.
No. No, he's not... he couldn't be...
Her nostrils flared and she couldn't breathe - No, not Harry - her lips trembled and as she tried to get out of bed, she looked out at the moon and her legs collapsed.
She glanced at her finger in desperation to see that indeed, her finger was bare and beside her lay a ring of white gold and ruby. It had fallen during the night.
Her face crumpled and tears dotted her freckled cheeks as she picked up the ring. It had lost it's sparkle, and she touched it lovingly and put it to her mouth to brush her lips to in a moment of complete.....devastation.
He was truly gone.