A/N: long time no see, I know. three months since the last update, I know. story losing effect, I know. me taken life-altering exams, do you know? well, yeah…bin studying like hell. Plus, I din have net connection for like 3 WHOLE MONTHS! Curses…anyways, now I'm back and ready to kick on with this story!
……
Now were did we last stop?...oh yeah, Malfoy gets caught!
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"If they've caught Draco, they're bound to get answers from him… - a stupid point Draco had failed to consider before going out for death. Anyhow, what is will be said will be said and there's nothing we can do about it."
Harry sighed, feeling the pressure of the war return.
"We should alert the others," said Harry in a commanding voice, "we must prepare them for the final battle!"
He turned towards Dumbledore, a worried expression on his face, but before he could ask what was on his mind, Dumbledore answered assuringly, "You need not be worried about Miss Granger. She's been in the forest before, she can do it again. And it is my faith that she will return with Malfoy and fight by our side once again…"
Chapter-6: Flight of the Phoenix
Hermione could hear the two men from outside the prison door.
"betcha 10 Nuts, 41 Sickles and 8 pieces of goblin gold that 'Array Potter will have his spleen taken out by Crabbe sans wand. The boy is a weak dumpling of bones, rest assured of his great fall due to poor adolescent health!"
"The boy is strong in the heart and in the mind, my friend. I may not be so sure about Crabbe's doing if I were you."
"Crabbe is a fine boy, ready to take on anything. A petty boy like Potter will be a walk in the park fer him. Come on, Nott, or are yer a coward, afraid to lose yer gold? I say Crabbe will break his back, and kill the boy!"
waiting outside deatheater prison, enduring the cold winds on top of the mountain along with the fear of being caught wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Hermione to do, but with caution and patience, crouched behind the bushes, she waited for the two men to lose themselves in the spirit of the bet and at the right moment, she slipped in and hid behind Nott's desk.
"Proud, arrogant rat, he is, that 'Arry Potter!" swore Grant, balling his fists into his hands and striding the corridor. Hermione crouched up behind the desk, trying to disappear completely in the shadow underneath it.
She could see Draco in the cell opposite to her, sitting with his back against the wall, rolling a stone across the floor. His robes were dirtied, splotched with mud and grime. A few leaves stood out from in between his silky blonde hair.
Hermione remembered the time when she was in that same cell, shouting her throat hoarse at the guards and Draco came in through the door with the contract. The moment played in her mind as if it had happened just yesterday. The debt had caused her to come to the Circle and save his life. She knew that if she'd let him die without even trying to help him escape, the guilt would never let her rest in peace.
Hermione stopped breathing when Grant leaned back against the desk.
"Whach yer lookin' at, yer scoundrel?" he asked Draco, who shrugged and returned to the stone he was rolling. "His face looks like a wilted sunflower, especially with that mop of yellow 'air on his head, doesn't he, Nott?"
The other wizard grunted.
"Filthy animal! Lying to the Dark Lord, giving up the most coveted position of all wizard kind – the heir to the Rising Throne, fer some girlie who wouldn't even give him a second glance! Sad, ain't it mate?"
Draco shot him a glare from his side and stared back at the stone, trying not to pay attention to what they'd said.
"Poor little rich boy! Got his little beating heart broken…" Grant made a sad face and then burst out laughing. "But I must tell yer, yer bonnylace was really pretty. She had a pretty name – 'Ermy on my Knee or sumthin was it?"
Underneath the desk, Hermione cursed silently. She took out a dagger from the waist pouch of her robe and threatened to poke his butt with it, but thankfully, didn't have to use it.
Grant, swinging himself with glee watching the boy wither in his cell, walked up to the prison bars and peered through it.
"Contract in blood? End yer life fer someone who isn't even worth a hair on yer body…?"
Hermione chose this precise moment to get up from behind the desk and pull out her wand.
"Stupefy!" she shouted at Grant and the next second, the body fell motionless onto the floor.
In the split second he got, Nott sent out sparks from his wand, and then pointed it at Hermione.
But he wasn't quick enough to work both the spells, thus receiving her stun with full blast.
When both the bodies were motionless on the floor, Hermione lowered her wand and turned towards Draco.
He was up on his feet, leaning against the bars. "Hermione? What are you doing here?" he asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Saving you of course."
She walked over to him, kicking Grant in the ribs and mumbling something about pronouncing her name properly.
"No! No! You've got to go back!!" cried Draco, banging his hands against the bars. "The Dark Lord is going to destroy the Order! You've got to go back and inform them about his attack! Hermione, what are you doing?!!"
She was tapping her wand fervently on the lock. "I'm trying to get you out-"
"Why?!"
"Because I'm indebted to!"
"But the Dark Lord is going to-"
"I don't care!"
She looked him in the eye and said firmly, "and even if I go now, I won't be able to get there in time. And I'll have to see your death too."
"Hermione…?"
She was furiously tapping the lock with her wand, repeatedly muttering spells, trying to lift the charm. Finally, when nothing was working, she tried pulling at the bars and loosening its screws with a bit of magic. But the railed door stayed in its place as if it were glued on to the ceiling and the floor.
She turned to Draco with her hands on her hips. "How did you do it?"
"Do what?" asked Draco, pretending not to get the point. He looked around the cell with his hands put into the pockets of his robe.
"How did you get me out of here last time?"
Draco shrugged. "I don't know."
Hermione's lip curled and she looked at him contemptuously. "Listen, you insolent little piece of owl dropping! I didn't come all the way to this ghastly place to go back empty handed, okay? I've risked almost everything I've got by making this journey and I'm doing it for you, as you had done the same thing for me quite some time back, if you remember! Now, if you are so insistent about rotting in deatheater prison, fine! So be it! But as long as I'M standing here before you, breathing this non-existent, filthy air, THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I won't let it happen! You get it??"
She breathed in deeply and removed her hands from her hips.
"See, I can't let you give up your life just because you thought you didn't have a choice," she told him earnestly, placing her hands on the railing and gripping it tightly. "Please, just tell me how you did it…"
Draco sighed and walked up to her.
He looked straight into her eyes, her large, soulful brown eyes that shone with sincerity. Gosh, he'd always admired their beauty.
"I- I made a contract in blood," he said half-ashamed.
"You what-?" cried Hermione, moving back from the railing.
"Yeah, Granger, that's what I did," he repeated himself dryly. "I made a contract in blood. That was how I got you out."
"So, you didn't use the contract Dumbledore gave you?"
"No, I couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because the Circle wouldn't accept it! It wasn't good enough for them to give me charge of a prisoner."
"So, you made your own contract? Were you mad?"
Hermione cried out in frustration. "Ugh, Harry told me you would have done something like this!! Oh, how could I have not seen it-!!"
She stopped suddenly and pulled out the dagger from her waist pouch.
"I think I know what to do."
Draco's heart skipped a beat when he saw the silver dagger held up in her hand. Its beautiful steel surface was glimmering in the faint lighting in the corridor. It looked dangerous, and to think it was in such frail, petite hands…
"What are you going to do-? don't be stupid-!"
She lowered the dagger and ran it through her left palm. The blood from the cut sprayed onto the lock and in an instant, the charms lifted and the railing door slid open.
Draco stared as the bars disappeared into the wall. "Oh," he said, stepping out of the cell. "So that was how they did it, huh? I do it for you, you do it for me sort of thing…I'll keep that in mind…"
Hermione squeezed the cut on her hand, trying to make the flow stop. She dropped the dagger onto the floor and turned away from him. "Yeah. I – I should have known. Voldemort wouldn't set-settle for anything less crude-"
The wound was searing, as the dagger had cut in deeper than she'd wanted it to. Pressing harder against it only forced out more blood. "Ouch-"
"Show it to me."
Draco took her hand and examined the wound. He gave it a small squeeze, making her shrink back with pain.
"Hurts, doesn't it?"
He let go of her hand and walked over to one of the bodies, tore a long strip of cloth from their robe and tied it around her wound.
"No, it really is okay-" she was going to say but he forcibly tightened the cloth around her palm and soon, it was soaked red with blood. Not wanting to fuss over it, she motioned Draco to the door and said "come on, lets go."
"But what about your-" started Draco.
"I CAN HANDLE IT!" she shouted from the door and soon, she had disappeared out into the night.
Draco watched her go, then turned to Grant and Nott.
"Scoundrels…" he said. He retrieved his wand from their pocket and put a permanent stun on them before following Hermione out the door.
(xxx)
The deatheaters were moving stealthily through the alleyways of Hogsmeade. Their attacks were quiet and often single-handed. They'd had closed down four shops and attacked a pet market so far. The northern bit of the town was slowly darkening with broken street lamps and extinguished firelight.
Hours passed and the tiny group of deatheaters scattered and began to loot the godowns and other storage places. Lucius was in charge and commanded silent killing of the villagers inside their houses. He warned them against making noise and unnecessary movement.
Snape who was hiding in the backyard of one of the houses looked over the rooftops to the highest point in the sky.
There, glowing green and silver were a set of sparks, fused into the sky as strangely radiant stars.
"Lucius," he called out to the man crouched behind the swing.
He pointed to the sky.
The hooded head turned to the stars. For a long time, both of them stood looking, then, Snape said, "The boy has escaped."
"Serverus," said Lucius in a cold, determined voice, "you know what to do… see that he's finished!"
(xxx)
The mountains were not far behind and it was still cold from yesterday's rain shower.
There was faint light showing at the top of the hills, signaling the break of dawn.
Draco's heart kept beating louder and louder every time he looked across the sky.
Travers had said they'd attack at dawn…
He couldn't help but feel sick thinking about what he'd done. Because of him, the Order was going to face a surprise attack, that too, not just any surprise attack: the final battle between the sides…
He prayed that the Order would not lose, at whatever cost. Though they were not the most welcoming bunch, they certainly were skilled and would give Draco a life even after the war, even if it was one where he was locked up in an attic and cleaning trophies for the rest of his life! As for the other side, the side he'd been raised to serve, he would be punished with death if they won or lost…
And he didn't want the Dark Side to win … not just because he hated the people and power play, it was also because he wanted a life after hearing the words of a certain brown eyed, brown haired girl…
The thought filled him with devout fervor.
He looked at the girl in front, pushing through the trees and forest shrubs. She too gave him a reason to fight – she believed in him all this while, even when he was about to give himself into the arms of death. And she came after him. She risked her life for him…
And it made him think. Think about him – and what he'd been doing in his life.
A small, weary smile graced his lips as he watched the form stumble on her way, her soiled cream robe dragging over the forest floor.
But the minute she turned back, the smile disappeared and he was back to his normal sour-faced gutless Malfoy.
"Do you hear that?" she asked.
Draco leaned against a tree trunk and listened to the sounds of the forest. "Hear what?"
"Water flowing…"
Her voice trailed off and she gazed dazedly into the woods.
Draco came and stood beside her, hoping to catch the sound from her position. "Water…?"
Then, he heard it…
The sound of water flowing somewhere. It sounded like a river or a brook or something was nearby.
He motioned Hermione to follow him into the woods, in the direction of the sound. They passed through stark darkness for a while, then, light broke through at the end of what seemed to be a thick gathering of trees.
A beautiful river flowed through the woods, with sparkling white waters and foaming waves lashing at the grassy shores lined with orchids and dandelions. Trees bowed over the swirling, gushing surface, its fruits and flowers hanging down from its broad branches, forming a canopy of colour.
Draco looked along the banks and found the origin of the river to be hidden far inside the mountains. Its endless end flowed into the light pink sky.
"The River of Pure Goodness," came a dazed voice from behind him.
Hermione stared in wonder at the sight of the river.
Draco nodded and walked up to the banks where a large boulder lay among a bed of yellow orchids. He sat down on it and looked out at the river.
"I know this river! The only thing is, I've never seen it…" Hermione gushed like the foaming currents of the water. "This is the River of Pure Goodness, Draco! It heals and calms and soothes even the deadliest of wounds and shifts from place to place so that none can catch sight of it…"
She took off her slippers and wet her ankles with the water. "Legend has it that the goddess Neptune created this river for her weary soldiers who would come back from battle and drink its waters to refresh themselves. It also says that she had dropped an anointed stone into the water in hope that her soldiers would catch it, which they didn't. This stone is supposed to bring eternal life and glory to the person in possession of it! Draco, this is it! This is where we can find the Stone of Eternal Life!!"
"Oh, really?" Draco cocked his head her way and smirked.
Hermione clicked her tongue. "Don't you see? This is what wizards have been fighting over for the last many centauries! But they've never been able to find it. I've heard Dumbledore say that Voldemort's after the stone, but he's never been able to get hold of it!"
"And where exactly is this stone?"
"At the bottom of the river."
"Oh. Nice."
Draco received a punch on the shoulder.
"We've got to retrieve it and destroy it," said Hermione hurriedly. "Before it's too late."
"Yeah, we should do that. I mean, maybe we could just transfigure ourselves into fish and float on the top of the water for all time to come. I can already imagine you with gills coming out of your ears."
Draco's sarcasm was ignored by Hermione and she went back to the water.
A few moments passed like that, with Hermione washing her hands in the river water and Draco focusing on the grey sky ahead. It was getting lighter and lighter…a faint pink gleam was starting to appear at the end of the river.
Dawn, thought Draco, the dreaded dawn…
"Hermione, there's something I have to tell you-"
He was interrupted by a squeal. He turned around and found Hermione closely examining her hand.
"They're gone!" she cried, showing him her palm. "My wounds are gone!!"
Draco jumped off the boulder and rushed to her. "I can't believe it!" he said, finding no trace of the dagger cut on her palm. "It's gone! This really is enchanted river…"
And just as the word left his mouth, he noticed a silver glimmer across the water. "Hey…"
The silver glimmer broadened. Side by side, another silver streak appeared, moving towards them.
Hermione put down her hands, watching two fin like structures come up from the water.
The foaming waves lathered through her feet, hitting her legs and causing her to faintly lose balance. It seemed to want to take her with it.
The river water surrounded her legs up to half of her calf, then, she felt it-
Something touched her feet. Something smooth and rubbery.
She moved back, but the sediment underneath her gave away and she had to step back into the water for balance.
She saw something move beneath the water, something white and silver…
To take a closer look, she leaned in….
A white face with a long snout stared back at her. It lifted itself from the water and popped its head out.
"A river dolphin," Draco sneered, looking at it with a smirk, "wow, I was kind of expecting a water bunny!"
The beautiful silver dolphin played at her feet. Its snout rubbed against her skin in a friendly gesture of contact.
The other dolphin, grey in colour except for its silvery fins, swam beneath the shallow waters near the shore. It then snubbed something out of the river.
Along with the foaming water appeared a palm-sized red stone.
The dolphin moved it up against the shore with its snout and forced Draco to take it.
"Look! It's asking you to have it!" cried Hermione, pointing at the stone.
"That's no ordinary stone, Hermione," said Draco with barely enough voice for her to hear. He gulped and continued, "That's the stone from the river…that's the Stone of Eternal Life. The one the Dark Lord is looking for…"
He stared into her eyes and watch dread and fear surface in them.
He bent down and took the stone into his hands.
He felt the glassy red surface, the cuts and dimensions, wondering if he had gained eternal life already….
"STOP THERE, DRACO!!" shouted a voice from the other side of the river.
Draco and Hermione looked up. On the other bank stood their potion master, his wand out.
Hermione stared at him with narrowed eyes, "Snape? How on earth did he get here?!"
"Wouldn't you know it? He's a bloody deatheater," mumbled Draco, watching the man cast a freezing charm across the water. A thin arch bridge of ice formed over it and Snape crossed it.
"Keep your wand at the ready," he whispered to Hermione, "get ready to kill."
"What?"
"Do as I say!"
"Draco, Draco, why must we go through this? I am not here to hurt you," said the man coolly. "Just give me the stone and we're done…"
"Over my dead body, Serverus!" shouted Draco, pocketing the stone. "I know you're here for the stone and you're going to kill me!"
"Of course not. Don't be silly boy!" laughed Snape, coming closer. "Why would I want to kill you? Just give me the stone. I shall return it to Dumbledore."
"He's lying," Draco whispered to Hermione who nodded urgently. "He's not loyal to Dumbledore-"
"Ah, look at what our master has sent for us!" Snape cried suddenly, pointing to the sky. "A golden savoir at sunrise…"
Draco and Hermione turned to the skies. There, among the pink-grey clouds was a gliding golden body. Its wings seemed to be set ablaze with the first rays of the sun breaking in through the sky. Its beautiful red head was cocked atop a long feathery neck, elegantly poised in flight.
Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawks….
Snape chose the moment to get the stone into his hands.
"Accio stone!" he repeated in his mind and the stone vaporized into his hands. "Avada Kedavra!"
Draco suddenly noticing the movement at his side, turned around, just in time to see Hermione fall stiff onto the ground.
"Hermione!!" he cried, bending down beside her.
No! No…she wasn't-
He pressed his finger down at her wrist and failed to detect a pulse.
He looked venomously towards Snape, who was smirking triumphantly. "What have you done to her, you mongrel!?"
"I'm afraid I just killed her," shrugged Snape. "And now that she's gone, Draco, I think we can get down to business…"
"You're going to kill me?" shouted Draco, standing up and reaching for his wand.
He received the biggest shock of his life when he realized that his wand was not with him. Neither was the stone - He checked his pockets. "What the-"
"Not there? Maybe if you look around, you'll find it," sneered Snape.
Draco spied the tip of his wand showing from his waistband and cursed him silently. "Mongrel…"
"Is that all you can say for your last words, Draco?" crooned the professor. "Fine then, prepare to die…"
He raised his wand and pointed it at Draco.
Draco closed his eyes, waiting for the excruciating pain to come…
He remembered all his treasured moments in life: his first entry at Hogwarts, his meeting with Harry Potter, Dumbledore, a beautiful girl in a periwinkle blue dress at the night of a Christmas Ball, a lifetime of punishments, graveyards…the face of his mother, the face of his teacher, the face of a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl who believed so much in him and who was now lying on the ground, as cold as ice…
He heard a cry that was not his.
Draco opened his eyes to see Fawks mauling over Snape.
His heart leaped. Joy erupted within his lungs. Seizing the moment, Draco grabbed Hermione's wand and said, "Accio stone!"
The stone flew into his hands and he pocketed it.
He caught both his and Snape's wand in the same way and laying it down on the grass, he ran towards the large bird and the struggling man underneath it.
"Help-! Help me, Draco!" Snape choked, as the bird's claws ripped through his chest. "Help me-!"
Draco smirked. "I've been waiting for this moment all my life! Move aside, Fawks!"
He stepped up beside the bird, and raised his wand at the bleeding, injured form.
"Draco, NO!" cried Snape, holding out his hands. "Please, I'm-"
"You're mine, Serverus! Avada Kedavra!"
When the horrid green light disappeared, Draco knelt down beside the unmoving body of his potion master and pulled up his sleeve, just in time to see the dark mark disappear from his skin.
Yes, death was the only way to escape from continuing as a deatheater…
With disgust, he rolled the sleeves back down over his arm and looked down at Snape's colourless face.
"You were a great teacher, Serverus…"
He touched the cold, hard skin and got back up on his knees.
Fawks made a sound, indicating the need for a pat, but before Draco could acknowledge him, a frightening realization reached his mind.
Hermione was dead…
"No! It can't be-!"
He rushed over to her unmoving form and knelt down beside her. He took her hand in his and felt for a pulse again, but even this time, he could not feel a thing.
He reached for her shirt and pressed his ear down over her heart, only to be hearing absolutely nothing.
Well, what were you expecting? Breathing? A heartbeat? You heard the words!
He held her hands within his, as if imparting heat would bring her back to life.
"No, please, Hermione! Don't tell me-"
Her lifeless form in that soiled cream robe lying against the crisp green grass brought a sudden dull to his system. He couldn't believe that this girl, this beautiful, loving girl could die on him like this!
Shoulders shaking, he bowed down and closed his eyes. You're gone, Hermione…you're gone now…
For a few minutes, he observed silence. A peaceful, restful silence that seemed to last an eternity…
Around him, the world changed: the enchanted river rose and flooded its banks, the foaming waves lashed furiously against the boulders and trees, an invisible force touched every tree and every flower, producing a golden glow over every petal and every leaf….
The waves washed across the banks, over Hermione's body, lathering her hair and robes with sweet-smelling anointed water…
The two silver dolphins disappeared into the water and came up again as star-studded constellations in the shape of two fairies.
The two mystical beings of the enchanted river glided over to Hermione and touched her head with their starry hands.
Her whole body glowed as they moved their hands over her entire length.
Then, they floated up into the air and moved towards the river where they disappeared into the lashing waves.
The water receded and flowed back into the river, the trees shivered and shed their leaves…
Draco opened his eyes when he heard breathing.
Hermione had opened her eyes.
"Hermione!"
A smile broke over Draco's face and he helped her sit up. "I'm so glad-!"
She lifted up her hand and placed it over his lips. "Someone's singing," she said.
Her voice was so weak, it sounded like a whisper of the wind.
Draco looked into her eyes, but she was looking elsewhere, into the forest.
"Someone's singing, Draco. I can hear them…," she said, her eyes scanning the forest, then, the river.
Draco brought back her gaze onto him, "no one's singing…"
Hermione titled her head and breathed a sigh. She could hear the fairies singing…she knew they were there somewhere in this forest welcoming her back. The mythical beings who gave her back her life…they were singing for her.
Of course, Draco could not hear it.
Sighing again, she moved her hands from his lips and placed it on his shoulder.
She spotted Snape's body lying on the grass, as cold and stiff as ice.
Draco's gaze followed hers. "He's dead. It's alright."
Fawks uttered a chuckle, bringing both their attention to him. He moved his head about wildly and then looked into the sky.
"I think he wants us to go home," said Draco, smirking.
"Home?" asked Hermione, titling her head.
She watched Draco get up and took his hand. He pulled her up and brought her close.
"Yes, home," he said.
The top arch of the sun had broken out over the land. The pinkish shade of the sky merged with orange and as the phoenix took flight, the sun came up completely, basking the whole forest with golden glory.
Hermione watched the river grow smaller and smaller, now orange in colour with sunlight.
The bird took off into the lowest layer of cloud, from over which Draco and Hermione saw the sun as a giant orb of fire and the sky around it blazing. They witnessed the most beautiful sunrise ever, flying through the clouds, over an enchanted forest and across The Great Ocean….
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A/N: there really is a 'magical' element in this chapter which I created – the whole river and the revival and stuff. yeah. hope it din sound too corny! I just wanted to infuse a bit of new magic into the story, to kinda make it a lil' more Harry-potterish, though I dunno what impression it'll create. Do tell me if it sounds too corny.
I really wanted Snape to die off. He's such an evil guy. You'd think he's just spying for Dumbledore and is actually a gud fella, but then he ends up KILLING Dumbledore! Sheesh! It broke my heart really, the 6th book. So I wanted to kinda make-up for all that, though this is not post-HBP.
Well, hope you guys are having a gud time reading this, as I did writing it. the updates will be more frequent, I promise – in about another 3 weeks, i.e, since I've got 3 months of hols + net connection in my house….
new ideas are kinda not clicking in at the moment coz I've bin drowned in my studies, but I swear, some new stuff are going to come out once I finish the last few updates on this fic(3 more chapters only!!) – probably more adventure…planning to do something wt pirates and a NEWT exam.
Anyways, see yah! Don't forget to review!
-ELX