Disclaimer: This is based off the Harry Potter series, owned and written by JK Rowling.

A/N: READ THE BOTTOM I am so sorry to all of you for the extraordinarily long wait. Due to the comment of someone calling my story something old instead of something new, I am attempting to write a chapter on my free Friday night. I hope it works. Again, I feel great remorse for not being able to update the story. I have been swamped, overworked from head to toe. From the last time I wrote to now, school has switched into full gear and my 6 AP classes have caught up with me. Enough rambling; normally I would thank all of you wonderful reviewers, but I have recently learned there is something preventing me from doing so. Otherwise I would. So tell me if it has been lifted, please.

Chapter 19: The Cave Pt. 3

Harry could not believe it; Hermione lied on the cave floor at his feet, crumpled like a well-worn piece of clothing. He felt his breath begin to falter, as though his stress and emotion had seeped into his chest, compressing his lungs. The sorrowful sound of Ron's cries filled the room, and Harry could not help but let a tear slip down his cheek. Soon he burst out crying.

Footsteps sounded behind him as Draco approached, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder. Draco let his eyes adjust to the light, looking around, then becoming distinctly distraught when he noticed Hermione's body on the floor. But unlike Harry and Ron, he was not about to give up on Hermione, he would try to save her. After all, he had learned a few spells that could help her; and besides, he didn't know whether Hermione was actually dead or not. He strode out in front of Harry and crouched down by Hermione's side, his knees in a small puddle of her crimson red blood, his hand reaching for her neck.

Draco checked for a pulse. For a second, nothing came and he lost all hope. He thought she was dead because of the long period without pulse.

But then, he felt it. He felt a weak pulse. It was weak, but it was keeping Hermione alive. Yet, it was still frail; it could be gone in the blink of a dragon's eye. Draco knew he would need Ron and Harry's help in order to revive Hermione before it was too late.

"Stop mourning you two! We have a job to do," screamed Draco, giving Harry a pleading look. "You two weren't thinking straight-- you never checked her pulse! She's still alive!"

Ron wiped away a tear before countering, "Don't be so quick to judge, Draco. You'd be emotional too if your girlfriend was lying in the floor bathing in a pool of her own blood!"

"Ron, he didn't mean it that way! Wait, girlfriend?" said Harry, realizing that Ron had just mentioned something Harry had never heard him tell him.

"No time!" bellowed Draco, listening to the two quarrel. "Save it for later; Hermione needs us, and fast! She's fading."

Ron and Harry spent no more time talking; they swiftly pulled out the wands and began muttering spells alongside Draco, putting forth all of their effort. Thankfully, both Harry and Ron had at least an elementary understanding of medical magic. However, their remedial prowess paled in comparison to Draco's. Over the years, Draco had accumulated a plethora of medical knowledge. After all, he had too many physical injuries to count, especially within the past year, and did not want to look suspicious going to the infirmary. So naturally he learned a few medical spells of his own device, which turned out to be of amazing assistance. But for as much good as his spells wrought, he still thought that he began treating Hermione too late. He was losing her…

After a few close calls, Draco finally salvaged Hermione's life, much to everyone's relief and especially Hermione's. Although they had overcome the Hydra, their cave expedition was far from over.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked Hermione, looking as though he was a father caring for his young. Hermione rolled her eyes at his paternal extinct and pushed this remark aside.

"I'm perfectly fine!" she replied quite cheerfully, standing up from the ground and removing all of the blood from her clothing.

"Are you sure?" questioned Harry, not completely convinced that Hermione was completely honest with him. She had just come back from a near death experience; everyone expected her to be at least a little taken aback. She, however, had other plans on her mind.

"Of course I'm sure!" she snapped, a little peeved that Harry doubted her sincerity. She thought that her welfare was the least important matter at the moment. They still had a cave to get through, which made her problems pale in comparison.

"Well, we're not Hermione," retorted Ron, pulling Hermione in for a hug. "You were almost killed! You can't seriously expect us to believe you're peachy keen."

"Yes I can!" she yelled back, her eyes gleaming with silent anger. "Just stop treating me like I'm some sort of helpless child. I am not that! Can we just get a move on?"

"I wasn't calling you that," said Ron, genuinely hurt. "I was just worried about you-- I almost lost you, you know. And now you're pushing it aside like it's just another part of every day. Well it's not! I don't watch you crumple onto the floor every bloody day!"

"Ron—I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," apologized Hermione, her eyes softening and shining with a kindness.

"It's okay 'Mione," responded Ron, pulling Hermione closer to himself. Harry quickly piped up; he was a little surprised how close Hermione and Ron had become.

"Since when are you two so close? Usually you're at each other's throats," remarked Harry, watching as Hermione and Ron pulled apart. He could tell that they were both blushing.

"Yeah," commented Draco. "Pansy just kept on blabbing about how you two always fight." Hermione shot him a glare for the crude comment, causing Draco to quickly add, "but what would she know?"

Harry smiled at Draco.

"But still," said Harry, with lines of thought covering his face, "how did this happen?"

Ron opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione shook her head no. She decided that it was best if she explain it to Harry.

"Do you really expect me to spend all of my time researching?" asked Hermione, leading Harry to answer and pursue a conversation.

"No, I guess not, but…" he replied, not convinced. Harry was being awfully stubborn with Hermione.

"Well, I haven't. Ever since Dumbledore's death, Ron and I have been spending more and more time with each other, and it has culminated into a relationship. Don't tell me you didn't think that we like each other."

"Yeah, I can't say I didn't see this coming. I just didn't know. It's kind of sudden," remarked Harry, trying to explain his thought process. Hermione seemed to understand.

"So with that covered, I think we have more important matters to face. Like this cave," Hermione said, turning her face towards a small stone gateway that the Hydra had blocked while it was still alive. They all peered at the structure for a moment. It was made of the same stone that the rest of the cave was made from, yet there was something different about it. Maybe it was the grooves that ran along the stone. Maybe it was the peculiar angles that the stones made. Or maybe it was the soft light that illuminated the stones and lit the path into the depths of the cave. Regardless of what differentiated that gateway from the cave, all of them knew that they had to continue on through it. It seemed to have a magic about it- it was where they were headed next.

Hermione made her way across the room and around the fetid body of the Hydra, while the stones made a crumpled noise beneath her feet. Ron took a deep breath and followed Hermione. Not at all anxious to be left behind, he hastily caught up to Hermione and grabbed her hand. It was obvious that Ron did not want Hermione to face a death-like situation ever again, but Hermione seemed reluctant. Draco and Harry were last to move from their resting point, with Draco bringing up the rear of the group. They quickly formed a tightly knit group, each of them was quite close to the next, minimizing the imminent danger.

After what seemed like hours of mindless wandering, Harry thought he heard someone laughing, from right beside him. He checked his left and right to see if anyone was there, but saw nothing.

Then he heard the laugh again.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Harry, a little mystified by sound now echoing off the walls. He thought he heard a distant laugh.

"Hear what?" replied Draco, as though he hadn't heard a thing.

"Yeah, I didn't hear anything, mate," said Ron, making Harry feel as though something was quite amiss.

"I haven't either…"said Hermione, trailing off in thought. "Are you sure that you're alright?" she asked, looking a bit befuddled as well.

"I am bloody positive!" responded Harry, the sound of the cackling ringing even louder in his ears. He was beginning to feel a little uneasy as though the cackle was penetrating his mind.

"And what is it that you're hearing?" inquired Hermione, now quite eager to get to the bottom of this cauldron of trouble.

"Laughter! Maniacal laughter!" bellowed Harry, turning around behind him to check to see if anyone was standing there. But nothing was there. All he heard was the laughter, that malicious laughter.

"And we can't hear it," remarked Hermione, deeply intrigued by this development. "Harry, I think it's a snake."

"Can snakes laugh? And where did that come from?" asked Ron as he trudged onward, bemused.

"I don't see any reason why they can't," commented Hermione. "And it makes sense if it was the snakes, because Harry is the only one of us who can understand Parseltongue. You might as well try talking to it, you know, find its motive."

"I can already tell you its motive," replied Harry ominously, "its laugh- its out to get us."

"You can't be serious," said Hermione, a little fed up with Harry.

"Fine—I'll try," he replied grudgingly, even though he knew what the answer of the snake would be, or so he thought.

"Why are you laughing," he hissed, causing Draco a bit of unease. But nothing happened. He hissed the same remark again, hoping that he would get some response.

To his amazement, it came in the form of a faint murmur from the right wall. It that sounded as though the snake said, "you shall never get in."

Harry decided to ask the snake why he will never get in, much to the snake's surprise. Finally, the snake had stopped laughing.

"You can understand me?" he heard the snake ask, now from the ceiling above him. Harry curtly responded yes and even added on that he could talk, and then he heard the snake sigh.

"Well, maybe you will get in. You are just like the master. Maybe you will make it," commented the snake, as though something dangerous was standing in the way of Harry and the Horcrux. Harry asked the snake why there was a "maybe" in his words.

"You'll see," responded the snake in its final comment, before it slithered away. Harry tried to ask more, but realized that the snake had left his surroundings. It was now up to him to figure out what exactly the snake had meant by all of that.

"What do you mean maybe?" asked Hermione, trying to figure out what had happened with Harry and the snake.

"I told you-- I have no idea! That's all he told me," remarked Harry.

"It could have been a she," replied Hermione. "You always assume it's a man."

"Regardless," said Harry, "I have no idea what maybe meant. It could have—" but Harry cut off, taken back by what he saw in front of him. Finally their long trek had reached an end, but in front of the foursome stood two great wideset silver doors. The silver of the doors glinted in the dim glow that lit the hallway, and their seemed to be intricate figures engraved on them.

Snakes, to be precise. It was only suiting that Voldemort use snakes, as Harry well knew. But how could they get past these doors? Ron tried the brute force method, but as usual, it didn't work. After trying to ram the doors down with just his body, he fell to the floor. Hermione opted for a more intelligent attack upon the door, using magic. She tried casting unlocking spells, from the simple to the most complex and intricate spells that Harry had ever heard. She had little luck, and ended up trying to use spells that would push open the doors open. The only result of her valiant efforts was an elegant shower of emerald green sparks, which, slithered their way to their ground as though they were living snakes. It seemed as though it was up to Harry, again.

"I know you can do it," came a sultry voice from behind Harry as a hand softly landed upon his shoulder. Although Draco had no other ideas, he was there for Harry's support and he knew Harry could overtake this task. The encouragement helped Harry focus, which was necessary for him to overcome this barrier.

Harry studied the snakes for a moment, with renewed fervor, and realized what he must do.

Hermione immediately felt stupid that she hadn't thought of it first.

"Open," he muttered in Parseltongue and a click sounded throughout the room. After some of Hermione's magnificent spellwork, the doors were fully open, exposing a room full of plants. From every nook and every cranny, there seemed to be green spreading. Even above them, a canopy extended overhead, creating the feeling that they were completely enclosed within this eerily green setting.

"So what now?" asked Ron, who had no idea where to begin.

"My guess is that we're looking for the bracelet near or in a one of the bigger trees," directed Hermione, expecting everyone to begin explore through this unique and strangely peaceful forest. Almost everyone did, except for Ron that is.

"Bracelet?" he asked.

"Yes, the bracelet we came here for!" she bellowed. "The one we've been talking about almost non-stop the last few days. Ring an owl's bell?"

"Not exactly?" responded Ron, not very sure of what this bracelet was.

"Just start looking!" commanded Hermione, grabbing Ron by the arm and striding off deep into the thicket of the plants. Strangely enough, there were no animals within this unique ecosystem, just this overabundance of plants. Another strange characteristic was that Hermione had never seen any of these plants before, and she knew a cornucopia of herbological knowledge. Even worse was the plants themselves, which were really everywhere, a seemingly omnipresent entity within the room.

Thankfully, there was a small, winding path through the overgrowth, which Hermione and Ron took. After a minute of ambling through the trees together, they stopped. They had reached a peaceful fountain. But its serenity was no indication of its surroundings.

For a few moments, they peered at the beautiful, towering structure. Once more, it was a serpent, but it was not like the others they had seen for this serpent looked pretty. Surprisingly beautiful and majestic, Ron was glad that he was viewing this sight with Hermione. As he put his arm around her neck, something grabbed his foot. He looked back to see if it was some animal he hadn't seen, but all that he could see was green.

Something was terribly wrong with this flora, and Ron was about to find out what.

NEW A/N: It has been a month since I last updated with this chapter, and I think it is due time that I write another chapter, don't you? So here's the good news: I will write one for all of you next Saturday, so you can check your emails then. Remember, it's called Back to Grimmauld and as a special treat, I'll reveal something: there's going to be the introduction of a character ( or a re-introduction, considering they are a mainstay of the novels) that will make things a little harder for Harry and Draco. It's not as though he is competition for Harry and Draco. He'll just be there, that's all. So check back Saturday night! And someone make a review so I know that everyone got this. Thanks you guys! You're the best!