A/N: I know I didn't update at all last weekend or the one before that, but I've been up to my EARS in work! Having exams again in the beginning of March, trying to bring up my marks for uni and progress with my year-end projects is really taking long. Hope you're all not too disappointed.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Flickering Hope
Even with four wands and a glowing floating ball of pure magical light, the darkness of the tunnel pressed in around them. Harry's instincts enhanced his eye sight and he led the group down the roughly cut, slime slippery, stone stairs.
Even the air felt sinister, it's smell musty and damp. For some unknown reason, it reminded the Elemental Veela of evil and death, not something to be pondering about as Harry was leading a group of his closest friends into an old manor full of Death Eaters to rescue his mate, family and friends.
As they descended into the unknown, Hermione was quietly teaching the group some helpful spells. Spells to hurt, maim and kill. It was a credit to the bushy-haired girl when her voice didn't fail or shake.
Just as Hermione began explaining the Severing Hex, used to sever body parts and favored by the most gruesome of wizarding serial killers, Harry heard something in the background. A suddenly stop sent Ginny colliding into the Gryffindor's back while Ron nearly tripped down the rest of the stairs. Only Hermione and Luna stopped in time.
"What is it?" Luna asked as Ginny grumbled and rubbed her red nose.
Harry narrowed his eyes. He had just begun hearing the soft trickle of water, as if it were off in the distance but not too far. It's noise echoed through the stone and around Harry's hearing.
"Water." The Elemental Veela said after a moment. "Farther down but it's strong. Let's continue."
Ron shrugged to no one in particular as the group followed Harry but Hermione noticed he moved to stand behind her instead.
The sound of rushing water increased as the group made their way down the stairs, so much so that the others began to hear it not long after Harry had stopped again to rub his soreears.
Finally the stairs had evened out into a rather confining, cave-shapedstone tunnel.
The water worried Harry but so did the lack of trap, hexes, and curses that should have been set in place for intruders, members of the light side or himself, Harry Potter in general. Either Voldemort was as utterly stupid as Harry thought or this was a way to lull them into a false sense of security.
No matter how alert Harry was as he walked cautiously through the tunnel, the Elemental Veela had been shocked when the slimy solid stone beneath his feet had vanished.
With a bit of quick thinking and even quicker reflexes Harry had evaded falling into the dark rushing water that lay just a foot below him.
Ron looked over the edge and whistled. The water was not running quick enough to drown someone in a moment but fast enough to make rescue impossible if Harry had fallen in.
"We've got a problem." said Hermione as she looked around. The tunnel had ended completely at the edge before the water. Across the roughly six foot gap of rushing water were solid stone bricks covered in green slime. The only ways to go were left or right in the cold liquid.
Ron groaned. "I can't swim very well. There's no way we can possibly go into ...that!"
Hermione glared at the red haired boy in irritation. "Of course we won't. Not only do we have no idea what could be in it but it's not normal water."
Harry and Luna nodded. With his enhanced sight and magic, Harry could see that, while the water was black, it wasn't with dirt. It's texture, if you could call it that wasn't as flowing as water either. It seemed thick and gave off a foreboding aura.
Ginny huffed. "What do you mean it's not normal water? It's dirty, stinky and dark, just like this cave thing."
Harry put a hand up to stop Hermione, who looked upset that her intelligence was being questioned.
"I can feel it. I heard it before and thought it was water but I should have stretched my senses out and connected with it instead of just relying on my hearing."
A sudden hiss of melting stone made the four Gryffindors jump. Luna had picked up a rather large piece of the chipped stone wall around them and dunked it into the river. It had melted until it hit the slime that covered all of the tunnel. It continued to eat away at the stone until the seer was forced to drop it into the water.
"It's Snake Sap. Only animals of the serpent type will be surfing this wave tonight. Do not worry Ronald." she smiled at the pale boy. "Harry has a plan."
For the what felt like a hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours, Harry felt as if Luna had put the fate of their little group on his shoulders alone. He had a plan? Well, that was news to him.
Harry looked around the stone cave, back towards the sap and at his band of merry helpers. Obviously the only way to go was up or down the river but unless they were snakes, or snake animagi or covered completely in slime they would melt faster than ice cream in July.
Ginny had an amused look on her face as Harry looked around the tunnel again. Luna seemed to be waiting patiently for Harry to have some sort of brainwave but the poor Elemental Veela looked lost.
Harry cleared his throat.
"I've got nothing."
Hermione groaned in despair. "What can we do now? In all of the books I've read about Snake Sap, there were no spells about protecting oneself from it or how to dispel it."
Harry slumped. He'd failed everyone. Sirius, Remus, Ginny, Blaise, Theo, Pansy, Snape, Lucius, Narcissa...Draco. His beautiful dragon...
Ron must have gotten tired of the all the grief because he finally snapped.
"Harry! You're an ELEMENTAL VEELA! There is NOTHING you CANNOT do! Now stop moping and think of something!"
Hermione blinked at her red-haired best friend while Harry hadn't moved, his shoulders dropping against the slimy tunnel walls in a defeated stance. Moodily the Elemental Veela kicked a stone.
"What's the point? Everyone knows I can't do this. The last time I did something like this, Sirius died. What if it's Draco this time? What if it's Sirius again? Remus? You guys? Let's face facts: my survival thus far has been based on two things, my mother's love and as McGonagall put it 'sheer dumb luck'."
Ron actually sneered at the Boy-Who-Lived.
"So what? You're just going to give up? What kind of mate are you? What kind of wizard? The Harry I knew would look at me once before jumping in that water headfirst to get to his family. Because that's what you stand to loose if you just give up."
Harry seemed to straighten with rage at those words.
"What else can I do when my actions or inability to act get people killed? If I storm in there like a bat out of hell with you four behind me like some rebel without a cause I can't guarantee that any of us will come out of there alive. Do you realize that?"
Ginny hissed like a cat. "We're not naïve little first years Harry. We could all very well die tonight but would you rather sit here and risk loosing your mate because you decided to go all drama queen on us?" Not waiting for an answer she continued, pointing towards the water. "I'm going in with or without you Harry. Because my life is trapped in that house and I want it back. Don't you?"
Shame and guilt filled harry at the two youngest Weasley's words. He wanted them back but the pain of being away from Draco for so long was dragging him down and distracting him for what was important.
Luna was suddenly right in front of him,her misty bright blue eyes looking into his own and Harry saw understanding flicker through those knowing orbs.
"I know it's hard and it hurts so much right now Harry but this is the ultimate test." Her voice was low and soothing but Harry heard the slight urgency in it. "The only thing you need to ask yourself is if you truly love Draco. If the answer is no thenwhat are you doing here? If it's yes then what are you waiting for?"
The Elemental Veela in Harry rose to the challenge of his love for his mate.
"Of course I love Draco! I couldn't not love him. How could you ask such a thing?" He hissed, his back rigid as he stood before her. Luna was unimpressed with this display.
"Because you were letting your more cowardly instincts take over and control you. Don't let the Veela tell you you've failed until you lie dead at Voldemort's feet with Draco's own dead body beside you."
Harry felt as if Luna had stabbed his heart with a cold, dull butter knife and twisted it around to make it's ridges carve at his heart. Luna was right, he couldn't succumb to the depression waiting for him if Draco died. What kind of mate would he be then?
The temperature of the confining tunnel has risen with Harry's anger at Luna and was slowly decreasing as 'Harry' came back from the edge of his depression. The Gryffindor smiled at their sweaty faces. "Thanks for that."
Ginny shrugged but smiled back tightly. "Anytime. It would help if you could conjure up some snow or ice to help cool us down."
A moment passed of complete silence as Harry froze and his emerald eyes sparked with comprehension.
"Ginny, you my dear, are a genius." the boy said as he gave the flabbergasted red head a kiss on the cheek. Ginny cleared her throat.
"Well, I've been saying that for years now but what suddenly gave me away?"
Harry snorted at that but quickly pointed to himself.
"Elemental Veela." A quick point to the sap. "Water like substance." The hand pointing to the rushing river began to glow a pale, ice blue before the air around the three witches and wizard dropped drastically in temperature.
The moist slime suddenly froze and turned into green tinted ice, frost visibly traveling along the un-slimed stone towards the Snake Sap. All the while Harry's hand glowed.
The Elemental Veela looked clam as he worked, the coldness not affecting him in the least while his friends began to shiver. Noticing their discomfort, Harry bit his lip.
"I should be done in a few moments. I want to make sure I have the ice thick enough to walk on." All he got for answers were a few sharp nods and chattering teeth.
Finally, after what seemed like ages to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna, Harry lowered his naturally pale hand. The temperature didn't rise much but it wasn't as though they were standing in the middle of Alaska in a blizzard anymore.
Ron spoke first. "Why did it take so long? You have the power to just snap your fingers and have a lovely show of yourelemental powers. Why not just do that?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. " While that would have been the best way to flash freeze the Sap, it would also have been a great way to kill us all! Harry would have frozen our hearts with such a surge of power, that's why he took it slow and steady. It allowed us time to adjust to the temperature and magic being used around us."
Ron started to answer back but Harry, ignoring the almost-but-not-quite-there-yet couple, took a cautious step onto the ice. His senses could still feel the sap rushing through the tunnel quite quickly under his ice but except for being a bit slippery it was as if the Elemental Veela was walking on solid ground.
Ginny followed him, stepping clumsily down onto the ice while Luna was as graceful as a cat. Ron fell and knocked Hermione's feet out from under her. Even in the dark, Ron's blush stood out as he helped the scowling girl to her feet.
Feeling another round of bickering coming on, Harry glared at his two best friends.
"One more word of complaint and I will secure you both onto the stone wall back there until we come back to get you. Understand?"
He didn't wait for an answer but quickly used the point me spell to find Draco. His wand spun like the point of a compass on his outstretched palm before pointing towards the left passageway.
Closing his hand around the enchanted wood Harry gave his group one more word of advice.
"Keep your eyes open and trust your instincts. Don't hesitate or show any mercy if we see the enemy." His eyes softened. "And be careful. If any of you die I'm never speaking to you again."
Ginny raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Don't worry. I won't answer."
Quick and silent the group set off down the ice, tense and wary of any potential attack. Moisture began to drip down the walls again but the ice stayed firm.
Until something slammed against it right under Harry's and Ginny's feet. With a yell both Gryffindors grasped the slime covered walls and tried to right themselves before another hit shook the ice.
It seems like, whatever lived in Snake Sap was very unhappy with it's surface being frozen over and decided to fix that. Luna was clutching her wand tightly in her left hand from her position on the ice while Hermione had fallen after the second hit, this time taking Ron with her.
Another slam to the icy bridge alerted Harry to the thing's position. It was directly under Luna who was the middle man between Ron and Hermione and Ginny and Harry. With his enhanced eyesight, the Elemental Veela could see it was a snake. That, and it was cracking the ice that was Luna's safe haven.
Ginny looked at him. "Try Parseltounge!" she hissed and Harry realized she was terrified. Of course, Harry figured cold, dark tunnels with large homicidal snakes would bring back memories of her First Year.
Driving those memories out of his head, Harry quickly closed his eyes and concentrated on his connection not only with snakes but with nature itself, not seeing that he was glowing a grayish color in the darkness. With his power, Harry could feel the snake's anger and panic at being trapped in and with a wicked bit of magic, in Harry's own humble opinion of course, the Boy-Who-Lived launched himself into the snake's mind.
Red, hot anger clouded Harry's mind for a moment, making him temporarily forget his reason for being there. He was furious that a clan of two-leggers and a Guardian of Nature would try and kill her children! How dare they? Harry couldn't breathe like this, not without the air above the surface. She needed the air!
Referring to himself as a female seemed to knock Harry out of the snake's emotions enough for him to get a grip on his own.
"Lady I beg of you to stop this attack! My friends and I mean you no harm!"
The snake tensed at the intrusion of her mind and anger at him for sealing off the air.
"A snake-child and a Guardian? You should know better than to harm Nature's creatures like this!"
Harry nodded mentally.
"I apologize for my mistakes. I do not converse regularly with your fine species nor your cousins in the muggle world enough to know your need for air. I am also a new Guardian and am still learning."
The snake was loosing some of her anger at him but the panic was worsening.
"I cannot breathe, Guardian! My children need the air! It is your duty to help us!"
With a quick nod Harry pushed back into himself and looked around. Ron, Hermione, Luna and Ginny were standing next to Harry looking worried. Quickly he pointed farther down the ice road.
"Stand back there for a moment. The snake can't breathe and is panicking."
The four obeyed his command and stood back as Harry raised a glowing red hand and slammed it down onto the cracking ice that had been under Luna. With a high-pitched hiss the ice melted and Harry had to jump back quickly to avoid getting drenched in Snake Sap as the anaconda lurched out of its home.
Quickly standing, Harry took command of the situation and bowed towards the Lady snake.
"Mistress, I ask that you do not arm us in the Lady Coatlicue's name. I have wronged you and just now have I undone that wrong. I ask of you the same."
Dark, slitted eyes turned towards the Elemental Veela in forgiveness.
"Rise Guardian. One such as yourself does not have a place on your knees at my coils. I would welcome Nature's wraith to harm you or your clan but be sure not to cross me again, young one."
Harry nodded again and stood straight.
"I thank you for your understanding and warning. When I leave this place the ice shall melt but for now is needed for our safe passage to my mate. May I be allowed my road?"
A formal nod, this time from the snake made Harry smile slightly and with another word of thanks and a goodbye Harry turned back and joined his shocked group. Hermione recovered first.
"It won't attack us will it?" The brainy girl asked, fear evident in the way her voice shook. Harry grinned.
"No, she and her young ones could not breathe with the ice over the surface of her home. It was wrong of me to meddle with her natural place and she was reminding me of my role as a Guardian of Nature. We will be safe."
Ron and Ginny looked about ready to protest but Harry never gave them a chance before moving ahead on the path.
Thankfully it was just around the next bend that another stone platform stood, leading up to the surface with what looked like black marble steps.
Ron nearly kissed the dirty stone as he stepped up onto it while the girls watched Harry melt the ice. The Sap surged for a moment and Harry knew that the lady snake had followed him to make sure he kept his promise. That survival instinct made the snake the perfect mascot for Slytherin.
It was just up those steps now and Harry would be in the house that was keeping Draco. His body nearly hummed with anger and excitement. Harry was just about to speak when a voice traveled down the steps, muffled like it was behind a door, that made his blood run cold.
Bellatrix Lestrange was here.
A/N: I know not very long and way way WAY late but the updates will start picking up soon. Everything will mellow out again when the exams and term two ends. I promise! Just don't hurt me!
Thanks for the reviews and patience.
S.Tangerine