A/N: Well no one has flamed me about Draco and Harry so that's a good sign. Thank you all for your continued interest in the story. :)

Inu-AngelZ: Thank you for the reassurance. I truly hope people wouldn't dislike the story based on a couple, but you never know. I appreciate the mention of Cairn too. Anyway, please continue to read and tell me what you think. I always appreciate it.

And to everyone else. Please R+R. You know I live or die for the reviews :) Enjoy this chapter. It was my favourite to write!

Chapter 7

The badge that now was pinned to my shirt said, 'Guest of Harry Potter on a mission to bring Sirius Black back to life'. It was rather amusing how correct these badges were, but I had to wonder if this was going to be logged for future viewing, then anyone would know what we had been doing there that night. Harry and Draco seemed unconcerned though, so I suppose I had no reason to be worried. I shifted my bag on my shoulder, and followed the two men through the darkened hallways of the Ministry of Magic, trying not to look too amazed at my surroundings. It was just hard when I had read about this place so often.

"Would you hurry up?" Draco called out to me shortly. There was a tick at his temple, a warning that he wasn't in the best mood at the moment. I didn't doubt that he was carrying the worry for all of us. Or at least he was carrying the worry for Harry. His eyes glanced furtively around the room, looking for anyone that could be hiding. Lord Voldemort I think would have set off some sort of alarm, but then he likely could get past any paltry alarm system. And he likely wouldn't be alone.

This caused me to pick up my speed far faster then Draco's annoyance. Either way, he was just glad that I was moving again instead of gaping at the fountain, or the portraits slumbering on the walls.

The long walk down a simple corridor, opened into a circular room, which once we closed the door started to spin, making me dizzy, the water like floor not helping my head at all. Harry though didn't bear this any attention, calmly walking to a door and opening it with confidence. It spoke of years of working in the Department of Mysteries that without any doubt he had opened the door to the death room. We entered, and I stared at the veiled archway standing on the other side of the room.

When we finally made it to our destination, and he had a quick look around, Draco finally seemed to let out the breath he had been holding since we had entered this building. I wasn't concerned with him though, all my attention laid on that crumbling archway, it's black curtain still in the cold room. Both Harry and Draco looked uncomfortable being around it.

It was then that the voices started to whisper in my head. Nothing intelligible, nothing I could understand. It was like the chatter you hear in a crowded room. The low mumble of too many people surrounding you. I knew now why the two men were so uncomfortable around this archway. I pushed the voices out of my head though, concentrating on my task for the night.

"I still hear the voices..." Harry said quietly. Draco took his hand, squeezing it.

"So do I. But they're just voices..." He sounded sure, but even I noticed the discomfort in his eyes. He smiled confidently at Harry before releasing his hand. "Good luck muggle." He didn't bother smiling at me, just nodding in my direction. I nodded back, and then Draco left the room, going to stand guard for us. I didn't envy him standing in that revolving room.

I unpacked everything I needed, as Harry shuffled nervously, standing as far from the archway that he could manage. I could still hear the voices, for whatever reason that was, but at the moment I was focusing on the ritual. The black tattered curtain, covering I knew not what, was strange enough without adding voices.

"Do they say anything to you?" I couldn't help asking, wondering if I was going to start hearing someone speaking directly to me.

"Sometimes..." Harry left it at that, his eyes going unfocused. Letting the questioning go, I brought out the chalk and started to draw a protective circle on the floor, using oghum letters around it, stating the intention of the ritual, to draw forth someone from beyond the grave. Or in this case from beyond the veil. Once done, I held the clag a' bhàis in my hands, but paused before continuing.

"Harry. Remember what you promised me two months ago." My voice was quiet, but echoed off the empty stone walls.

"I'll do what I have to do." He nodded, a grim expression set on his face. "Good luck."

"Thanks..." I took a deep breath, holding the silver dagger in my other hand. With a quick motion I sliced into the flesh of my left arm, blood dripping from the wound. To my credit, nothing more then a hiss passed my lips. Quickly, I held the hollow wooden object under the dripping blood, and after what seemed like an age passed it filled. My head was spinning though, the room moving uncertainly in front of me. As I swayed I noticed Harry move forward to help me.

"Don't. I'm fine. You can't step into the circle." I tried to smile reassurance at him, but the loss of blood was doing strange things to my head, and all I could manage was a grimace. But Harry stayed where he was, not risking the failure of this ritual. Somehow I managed to take the bones and dirt, and mix them with my own blood before shutting the cap on the clag a' bhàis.

If I wasn't imagining things then the wood was starting to grow warm in my hands, a slight glow covering it. I swallowed thickly, wondering for the millionth time what I was doing. Cairn's face flashed in my mind's eye, and I started to chant the words. My mind focusing hard on who I had to bring back from the dead.

"Caisil-chrò aaruggyr airidh amhas beatha rong saoghal." The Gaelic words passed my lips, and I chanted them repeatedly, flowing into a rhythm, the words dancing in the air around me, even as the clag a' bhàis clutched tightly in my hand began to grow hotter, almost too much for me too hold. As I continued to chant the wooden cylinder in my hand began to emit a bright light, drowning out everything else in the room.

Dimly I could hear Harry's gasp of surprise, but I paid no heed to it. My tongue was starting to grow heavy, the words still coming easily though. But my body was weakening from the blood loss, the continued blood loss since the deep knife wound on my arm was still dripping blood into the stone floor. I didn't know how long I was going to have to continue this. I had no idea how long this was going to take. I didn't know if I was going to make it.

"Harry!" Draco pushed open the door. I don't know who but there are people com..." His speech was cut short, surprised at what he was seeing. A hand went up to his eyes, to protect them from the light that the object in my hand was emitting, the light I was emitting.

I was focused on what I had to say, giving all my attention on the words paying no heed to what was going on around me, ignoring Draco's entrance, Harry's surprise. My mouth was going dry, my limbs felt heavy, and finally I felt my body give out on me. Darkness starting to surround me.

The last thing I saw was a flutter pass through the veil, as if an unseen hand had disturbed the black fabric.

The last thing I heard was Harry's agonized scream.

And with that scream, the last thought I had before sleep over took me was, what horror had descended upon us from beyond the veil. Sirius Black or something else entirely?

And then there was just silence, and the comfort of darkness.

A/N: The gaelic words she says aren't really a sentence or anything, they're just random words that I thought sort of went, like resurrection, life, bad death... That sort of stuff :)

I hope everyone liked this chapter, since it was one of my favourites to write. Please R+R.