SylvaDragon requested another chapter- here it is…please review
Albus sat on the cold stone floor, his arms holding the limp form of his beloved wife. Although the blood that had drained from her body stained her face, even in death, she was lovely. Gathering his renewed strength, Albus pulled himself up onto his feet. He laid Minerva out on the bed that he had only moment before occupied. It was cruelly ironic that his wife lay now where he should have.
"I shall miss you so." He whispered kissing her pale cheek. A fresh wave of tears began to trickle down the grieving wizard's face.
Picking Minerva's hand up in his and holding it gently, Albus ran a finger across the dash that she had used to save his life. His eyes strayed over to the dagger that had fallen onto the floor. For a brief moment, he contemplated using the knife. However, his wife had given her life to save his; to kill himself would be akin to making her sacrifice worthless.
"You were the one I wanted to live, my dear." He cried, softly running a hand over her thick black hair. "I was suppose to die. You should have asked me." But deep down, he knew that Minerva had known what he wanted.
The door of the bedroom opened softly, allowing the mediwitch to enter. Her eyes scanned the room and quickly filled with tears. She had been expecting to find Albus Dumbledore laid out, lifeless on the bed, his dear friend, Minerva McGonagall weeping or standing silently by his side. The sight of switched arrangement caused her to gasp.
"Albus?" she whispered, trying to understand what had happened. Albus turned his tear stained face toward her.
"She switched our body force. Poppy she gave me her life." Poppy bit her lip to keep herself from replying and slowly made her way over to the bed.
For a long drawn out moment both were silent. All that could be said had already been said. Comfort or encouragement were both out of the question. How did one comfort a man who'd seen his world die? How did one encourage a man who'd lost his life through his love giving her life to him?
Suddenly, Poppy gasped. Albus cast her a sideways glance but said nothing.
"Albus, she used a heart potion." Turning, the wizard nodded, not understanding what the mediwitch meant. "No, Albus! A heart potion can work two ways! It can either switch life forces or equally divide them."
"Does this mean that…" Poppy interrupted him.
"Yes, you can save her. Find out what words she said and I'll go get another potion." Dashing from the room, the mediwitch left an overjoyed wizard.
"What did you say, my dear?" Albus asked softly. Using his magic, he entered her mind.
Minerva said nothing as she picked the dangling arm up from the bed and rearranged it. Soon she had her dying husband arranged with great dignity. With a finishing gesture of straightening his pillow, Minerva sunk down to the floor's cold stone.
Shock registered on her white face as she sat. No tears betrayed her grief as no sobs wracked her small frame. Even in the presence of great distress, Minerva would not allow herself the merciless relief of giving into her grief. It pained Albus to see his wife not give into her grief. Then again, he thought, she had no plans for letting me die.
Gripping the edge of the bed sheet, she pulled herself up into a standing position. Her eyes misted slightly at the sight of her husband, but no tears formed.
Minerva drew a vial from her robe's pocket and gently removed its topper. Its potent contents quickly filled the room with a pungent odor. Ignoring its fumes, she set it down on the bed frame's wooden edge. Reaching back into her pocket, her retrieved a small knife, barely longer than four inches.
Taking a deep breath for self-control, Minerva brought the knife over her left hand. Albus flinched as she cut into her palm. Although pain tried to make its way to her brain, it was ignored by the numbness that she felt. Several drops of her blood dripped to the floor as she picked the vial back up.
Albus watched five red droplets hang in mid air for a split second and then melt into the vial's contents. Five drops that had saved his life and ended hers.
"Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me die:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."
Minerva smiled as she finished murmuring the poem and opened her husband's mouth. The potion easily trickled into the wizard's mouth and down his throat. The sound of breaking glass resounded through the room as Minerva dropped the vial. Her strength was already waning, even as Albus' was waxing. She slowly began to sink to the floor as she watched the colour return to his ashen face. His eyes flickered open as hers closed. Darkness consumed her as light flooded his senses.
Albus pulled his mind out of hers. Never had he witnessed such devotion, such love. Minerva had given every bit of herself for him. Her whole life by his side; her whole life to save his.
"Did you find out?" Poppy said suddenly, startling Albus.
"Yes."
"Good, then take this potion, put both of your blood into it, say the same words and drink it." She handed him a vial.
"I drink it?"
"Yes. I will come back after it's done." Poppy turned to make her way back to the door but froze. "Albus." She whispered, suddenly quiet. "It won't work."
Albus felt his whole world shake once more as the simple words left Poppy's mouth. How could I have thought it could have worked? He thought bitterly.
"You have to share a bond. I know you were good friends, Albus but…" she never finished as a smile twisted out of the deep frown Albus had had. Thinking that the man had snapped, Poppy reached out to help him. He began to laugh as the joy swept over him. He could save her! He could save her! That was all that mattered.
"Albus?" Poppy questioned, pity flooding her eyes.
"Poppy. Minerva and I have a bond. A bond through love." Confusion flittered across the mediwitch's face as light on a wall. "We are married. And have been the past 50 years or more."
"Oh! That's…that's." Poppy faltered as the true meaning to his words hit home. "Wonderful. But quickly, Albus. Time is running out." Poppy smiled and hurried from the room, thankful to know that her friend had indeed married the only man she had ever loved.
Finally alone, Albus uncorked the vial. The odor caused his stomach to twist but he ignored it. Using his wand, he caused several drops of blood from Minerva's hand to drop into the vial. Then he cut his finger for his own blood. The potion bubbled and hissed as the blood turned it from a colourless liquid to a dark black.
"Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me die:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill."
The liquid stopping hissing as Albus finished whispering the poem. Taking a second to pray that it would work, he poured the tasteless potion down his throat.
Grey smoke enveloped both Albus and Minerva dividing the life force that Minerva had given Albus. Pain coursed through Albus and he was overwhelmed with the thought that he was experiencing only half of what his wife had gone through.
The smoke cleared and Albus found himself kneeling by the bed. Weakened greatly by the division of his life force, he used the bed frame to pull himself up. Minerva lay on the bed, no change seemed to have occurred.
Tears of despair flooded his eyes and he gathered Minerva into his arms and wept. Weeping for the overwhelming sensation of having failed to save his wife.
"Albus." Said a weak voice. The man in question rose his head. Minerva's eyes had opened.
"I thought it failed." Albus whispered, holding her as tightly as his strength would allow.
"You wept tears of grief, joy and despair. How could it have failed, my love?"
-The Real End-