Chapter 20

They walked back, hand in hand, to the infirmary, and found Ron sitting on Harry's bed, a funny expression on his handsome face.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, watching him closely. He looked at her as if he had just realized something very important.

"We could die today," he said as if he had recently discovered something very important. "And my mother would simply kill me if that happened." Hermione had to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Ron, I'm sure your mother will not kill you if you die," Draco said, struggling not to giggle. "Don't be so morbid."

"I'm not being morbid," Ron said, grinning. "I'm just anticipating her reaction. Now, Hermione, you'd better cast that shield."

Hermione took a deep breath and raised her wand.

"Obsto ceteri!" she said solemnly, and then made a three hundred and sixty degree circle in place, and spontaneously a golden shield popped up around them and two beds. Hermione picked up a spoon from the bedside table next to Harry and threw it at the shield. It bounced off, and fell to the ground. She went over and picked it up.

"That should apply on the outside," she told them, placing the spoon in the bowl. "Now all we do is wait."

Hermione and Draco were asleep, Draco on the floor, she on the bed. Ron had seen Hermione's ring, and knew how Draco felt. When faced with death it was easy to make decisions. He wondered if Hermione would regret her choice if they came through alive. He knew she wouldn't, but he couldn't help wish she would marry someone like Dean Thomas, or Oliver Wood.

Ron stared into the darkness of the infirmary, his back aching, and he desperately wanted to lie down and sleep. But his shift didn't end for another half an hour. He knew better than to lie down, that would only help his soporific state. Suddenly, he heard voices.

"What?" someone snapped angrily. "They've cast a shield!"

Ron felt as if someone had thrown ice down his back.

"Stupid children," a voice rasped, colder than any ice in this world. Ron raised his wand.

"We've got guests!" he yelled. Draco awoke immediately and jumped to his feet, his wand drawn. Hermione stirred and groggily got her feet. She rubbed her eyes, getting all of the sleep out of her eyes, and became alert as soon as she saw the Death Eaters whom had lined the edge of the bubble.

"Ah, it's the little mud-blood," a voice hissed from underneath a dark hood. "With her pathetic wand."

"What!" someone shrieked from the back, pushing their way to the front. "I killed you!"

Draco's blood chilled, recognizing the voice and the manner of the cloaked figure. Lucius Malfoy was unable to disguise when it came to his deep, commanding voice that left many quivering in their shoes. Someone laughed, making Draco want to run from all of this, return to his former life of spoiled innocence.

"The mud-blood is smarter than we realized, my friends," the man snickered, who's voice made the air still, making Hermione want to strangle him. "She has the powers and the blessing of the Lord and Lady of the Underworld."

"So, she raised him from the dead?" Lucius asked incredulously. "I thought that was impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible," the horrifying voice whispered. Hermione wanted to wake Harry, but that would mean drawing attention to him. For now, Voldemort seemed engrossed in them, leading his attention to Harry would only aggravate the situation.

"That's right," Hermione shot back, her heart thudding like the beating of horses' hooves against hard packed dirt. "We're prepared to prove it!"

"The mud-blood dares to speak your name, my master!" a woman's voice spiked through the air, fervent with worship and a fanaticism that had been her downfall. The woman threw back her hood, revealing the wasted features of Bellatrix Lestrange. Beside her stood what Hermione could only assume was her immortal lover, Rodolphus.

"Hush, Bella," Voldemort hissed languidly, like that of a cat, his movements slow and purposeful. This man, if you could call him that, did not waste his energy on useless gestures.

But Bellatrix would not be hushed. "This disgusting filth dares to speak your name, this pitiful excuse for a witch-"

Voldemort lashed out with his wand, not even uttering the curse, and she fell to the floor, writhing in agony.

"Aghh!" she screamed. Her husband leant over her, his speed and agility belying his youth. She curled into a ball, the hatred on her face not directed to her master, but to them. Hermione drew back, seeing the animosity that burned her flesh.

Finally, Voldemort spoke.

"Let us dispense with the pleasantries. I have better things to do than discuss the merits of a half-grown mud-blood."

"My lord?" Lucius said, raising his wand.

"First, I want Harry Potter to look upon my face before he dies," Voldemort said, the satisfaction apparent in his high-pitched voice. "I want to see him die like his parents, with fear."

The man threw back his dark hood, and Hermione stifled her scream. The face that emerged from beneath the hood was the most horrid thing she had ever seen.

Voldemort had once been handsome, but now his beauty was taut and twisted. His cheeks were hollow and dark, the area around his eyes sunken and shadowy. He looked like a living wraith, a man warped by the evil he had so willing thrown himself into.

Harry stood, and Hermione nearly died of shock. She had thought he was asleep, but he had heard their every word. He was wearing one of the knitted sweaters Ms. Weasley had made him, and the lion on the front made Hermione's heart swell with pride. She had watched the gangly skinny boy grow to a man over the years, and now she was pride to face death with him.

Harry looked Voldemort in the eyes unwaveringly, his beautiful profile burning in Hermione's mind.

"My parents died not with fear for themselves, but fear for me. But they have no reason to fear for me anymore, Voldemort. I am ready to duel with you, and I do not fear death," he said proudly, his shattered emerald green eyes fixed on the monster that had ruined his life with one curse.

Voldemort smiled with sadistic pleasure.

"Then let us begin."

A/N: Review, please, I'm begging you... review... Thanks to samhaincat who has reviewed faithfully for most chapters! Everyone else... please... I'm dying for some feedback, postive, negative... let me know what you think... anglachel