Disclaimer: I am not JKR

Liberation

Chapter 11

Three long days had passed since Draco and Bill started their search for the Ankh. Hermione decided that rather than fret about what could possibly be going on in Egypt, she would try to rekindle her friendship with Harry. She understood that he was angry that she'd kept everything that had happened to her a secret from him, but she wanted to believe they were closer than that. So on the first day after Draco left, Hermione made plans to ambush Harry at the Ministry. She'd owled a few times over the last week but he'd responded only saying they would talk soon. Hermione figured that 'soon' had already come.

She was trying to keep her feelings for Draco in perspective. There was undeniably an attraction for her, a very strong pull to him that was quickly approaching love despite the little time they'd spent in each other's company. She believed he was meant to save her but she didn't want to put all her hopes into him. Harry was always her rock and she was his, and it was killing her that just because she'd kept a secret and didn't want to marry him that their friendship might be over. Hermione knew that the bad blood Draco and Harry had in the past wasn't the issue either because they seemed to have gotten over that years ago. Regardless of the reasons that Harry had been avoiding Hermione, she admitted to herself that the distance had been good. On hindsight she could see her attachment to Harry, and her refusal to allow anyone else to become as close as him was a little dysfunctional and sort of unhealthy. Having all those awful things happen to her when she was kidnapped opened her eyes a little bit to the other things in her life that weren't as well as they could be. That didn't mean she wanted Harry out of her life, she simply wanted to firmly establish that they were friends, and that she may need a little help sometimes, but she was ready to stand firmly on her own two feet.

Hermione reflected back to her days at Hogwarts and the year they were searching for Horcruxes, amused at how the roles had flipped. Back then she was the one who held everything and everyone together. Harry would get mad at her over things just because Ron did and wouldn't even try to see her side of the story, and somehow Hermione would save the day and everything was all right again. While Hermione was in school getting her Healer's credentials Harry held things together. He was her stand-in date for every social event. He was the one who held her when she cried over the stress of her studying and practicals, he was the one who came over for movies and drinks on Friday nights, and he was the one who made sure Ron and Hermione did not drift completely apart. Now Hermione had no idea where they stood.

The halls of the Ministry were filled with the normal bustle of employees scurrying from one place to the next. Despite the completely new regime running the Ministry of Magic, appearances remained the same as always. The only difference was the statue of Magical Brethren was no longer there; in its stead was the fountain magically changed to appear as just a fountain and nothing else. An elaborate fountain carved from marble rising out of crystal pool of water in three large tiers. There were no wizards, witches, elves, centaurs, or goblins anywhere on it. Hermione appreciated that even if the fountain really represented nothing; it was pretty to look at and offended no one.

Several Ministry employees nodded hello or stopped Hermione for a chat on her way to Harry's office. She was widely known even before she disappeared at the benefit thanks to her connections with Harry Potter and involvement in the war, and Hermione was belatedly realizing how careless she'd been with her social life over the years. At least some of these people were true friends despite her social status, and although she'd always been kind to her acquaintances, she felt rather lucky that they were kind in return. She was the queen of the brush off and several of those people who stopped to chat had been declined an invitation by her before. She wondered what they said about her behind her back.

The door to Harry's office was cracked open when she arrived and she could him talking in a low tone and with a very feminine laugh coming in response. The door opened fully and Eliza Hamilton backed out, but not before Hermione caught her giving Harry a long goodbye kiss. When she turned she bumped into a stunned, but slightly pleased Hermione.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't see you there." Eliza blushed and glanced at Harry. Harry looked at Hermione a bit sheepishly.

"That is quite all right. I was just stopping by to see if Harry had a moment to chat, but if you're busy Harry, I can come back another time." Hermione tried to appear breezy.

"I was just leaving. It was good seeing you again, Hermione!" Eliza lifted her fingers in a short wave and flitted off down the hall.

Hermione watched the blonde beauty go, letting the smile grow on her face. Eliza was a good person and Hermione did feel bad that Draco dumped her like he did, but perhaps things were working out better than anyone had hoped. When Hermione turned back to Harry his sheepish expression was gone, but his face was still slightly red.

"Uh, look, Hermione…" Harry trailed off.

"Harry, I am really happy for you. Can I come in?" Hermione pushed past Harry and entered the office without waiting for a response. They really needed to talk and she wasn't going to let him avoid her this time.

Harry shut the door behind her and gestured for her to take a seat. She sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk and was relieved when he took the other. If he was angry with her, he would have sat in the chair on the other side of his desk. She'd seen him resort to that sort of formality before.

"I see you really have been busy lately and not just blowing me off," Hermione commented trying to keep her tone easy.

Harry dragged a hand through his hair, roughing it up in the same way he did when they kids in school. "I kind of felt like a hypocrite, you know."

"No, I don't know. Why don't you explain?" Hermione did have an idea of why he felt like a hypocrite, but it was important she hear it from him.

"Well, you know. I got really mad at you for hooking up with Draco after he dumped Eliza so easily. I bumped into Eliza in Diagon Alley after I left your house that morning, she saw I was upset, and the next thing you know we were chatting over coffee. Don't worry, I didn't tell her any of your secrets, only that we were kind of having a spat. Anyway, I discovered that she wasn't all that upset about Draco and knew it was coming. One thing led to another and we have been inseparable ever since. I should have told you. I feel like a world-class prat for just leaving you hanging like that and then hooking up with Draco's ex after I said shouldn't have gotten with Draco. After all, you do know Draco better than I know Eliza." Harry stood up to pour them both some tea while he was talking. Hermione took the proffered cup and sipped deeply.

"Harry, I don't even want to talk about our argument. I just want us to be friends. I sensed that you liked Eliza at Ron and Harry's dinner party, and I also believed the feelings were mutual. I think you two are well suited to each other and I hope it works out. If there are no hard feelings between her and Draco, maybe we could all get together sometime."

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. "I love you, Hermione. Please don't forget that. I'm sure Eliza can stand Draco's presence if it means I can see you more. She is a very understanding girl, just like you. I think that is one of the reasons I am so attracted to her. She said that she and Draco were never really in love. She mentioned that she never once woke up in the same bed with him –"

Hermione held up a hand. "Harry! Isn't that a little too much information?"

Harry shrugged. "I suppose, but it is kind of important. Eliza thought it was simply because he didn't care enough about her, but now she thinks it is because he was scared of the commitment it would symbolize."

"Interesting," was all Hermione could think to say. She hadn't shared a bed with Draco at all so she would not know how he behaved in the mornings, but this was a good heads-up. Based on Harry's expression, Hermione could take it for the friendly warning that it really was.

The pair sipped their tea in relative silence for a minute before Hermione spoke again. "Look, Harry, I am really sorry for everything I didn't tell you before. You just have to see it from my perspective. It was such a shaming experience. I didn't know what else to do. It made realize that I am strong, but not that strong. I am still trying to figure it all out, but I finally feel like I can be okay. I just know I won't be okay if I don't have you in my life."

That atmosphere in the room lightened considerably after Hermione said her peace. The tension was eased and the air did not seem as thick. The Quaffle was on Harry's side now and he knew what to do with it.

Harry stood and pulled Hermione into a warm hug. "I missed you. Everything's going to be just fine."

Hermione nodded into Harry's shoulder and sniffled, fighting back the threatening tears. Harry did the same and squeezed her once more before returning to his desk, this time in his chair on the other side. The distance this time was not to signify a conflict, but to keep from getting emotional. Hermione had seen him do that before too.

"So, I hear that Bill and Malfoy took off for Egypt. Eliza says he is probably on a fool's errand. Do you think that's true?"

Hermione frowned. With all of Eliza's studies into magical history one would think she might have more faith, but it was true that the few people who did know about the Ankh chalked it up to myth. Kind of like everyone did with the Deathly Hallows. Thinking about it from that perspective, Hermione wished people would take Draco more seriously. Also, Harry had not been to the Valley of the Kings. He didn't feel the magic there.

"I don't think Bill would have gone if there wasn't some possible truth to it being there," Hermione replied. She wanted to keep her feelings about Draco's reaction to the magic pulsing around them to herself. It would ruin it for her and Draco somehow if Harry shot it down it as adrenaline and excitement. She didn't think he would do that necessarily, but it was just easier for her peace of mind to not delve into the details. The last thing she wanted to focus on was the possible kinds of danger he could be in.

Harry gave another of his signature shrugs. "That's probably true. I just kind of figured that maybe he was just humoring Draco because he knows Egypt so well. Though right before he left he had dinner with Ron and I, and he said that he was going to take this seriously because you always should when you are dealing with the unknown."

"Sage advice," Hermione muttered quietly. "Listen Harry, I think that maybe Draco was right and he is going to find it. I don't know how hard it is going to be for him, but if this thing does exist, it is very dangerous and must be destroyed right away. That is going to be hard for him, kind of like how finding the Philosopher's Stone was impossible for anyone who might have an inkling of desire to use it. He doesn't want to use it, of course because it is evil, but any shred of desire and the thing could destroy him."

So much for not thinking about the details. Hermione's hands were clenched into fists, her skin shiny and white around the knuckles.

"Relax, Hermione. I am sure everything will be okay." This time Harry didn't sound so sure.

Hermione quickly changed the subject to work and after a few more minutes of catching up she excused herself. The little carved elephant that Draco had given her was weighing heavily in her pocket as she walked away from the visitors entrance of the Ministry. Pulling the figurine out, she held it gently in the palms of her hands and stared at it as if it would give her some sort of message telling her that Draco was all right. Feeling foolish, she stuffed it back into her pocket and went home to get ready for the evening shift at work.

"This is amazing. I have never seen so much gold, and trust me; I have seen a lot of gold." Bill ran a hand along the tunnel walls, his eyes gleaming in the torchlight reflecting both the flame and the gold from the walls. "This is some serious treasure the goblins don't need to hear about."

Draco grunted his assent. He doubted the goblins would even be able to get in the place. They were about three quarters of the way to the place where the Ankh was, based off of Draco's estimation. The magical charge in the air was so thick that the hairs on Draco's arms and the back of his neck were standing on end. There was also the unmistakable black feeling of pure evil hanging in the air, which seemed to cloud his vision. He was moving forward based on the sense of being drawn towards the Ankh rather than seeing with his own eyes. Bill tagged a few paces behind; giving the tunnel walls more attention than Draco's singularly focused mind was capable of.

The entrance to the tunnel was surprising easy to find. They only had to dig through the sand about eight feet down before they encountered a stone slab marked in an ancient runic alphabet. It was in the form of a riddle, something Bill and Draco were both familiar with. The runes were paired with an arithmantic calculation so that each translation could have two meanings. The wrong one could bring about a curse, but reciting the correct one would move the stone slab further off the opening to the tunnel. Bill mistakenly spoke the incorrect translation out loud on the first try, and the sand they had just dug and magically piled a few feet away from the hole had immediately started to fill back in around them. The sand was up to their necks before Draco could chant the correct translation. Once he did, the sand disappeared and the stone slab moved a few inches with a loud grating sound.

The entire length of the tunnel was lined in gold with a round column of stones placed strategically every ten feet. After careful examination Bill determined that the gold was indeed pure and that the pillars were there for support and not aesthetics. Draco agreed that unless the walls were several feet thick, solid gold would be too soft to hold up such a large quantity of sand undisturbed. For the first half of the tunnel's distance hieroglyphics spelled out the story of King Tut's short life as known by the general public. The last half of the tunnel told the story again, this time with the gruesome magical details.

Despite the growing sensation of evil that Bill felt, he could not help but be impressed with how accurate Draco's research and predictions were. Draco too was boasting deep down inside, but he would save the real triumph for when the Ankh was found. His only hope was that once the magical core inside was destroyed that the Ankh itself would remain. Some tangible proof of this journey would be fantastic.

"This is it," Draco whispered as they reached the end of the tunnel. The long hallway spread out into a large round chamber. With the light from their torches, the ground appeared to be bowled and the middle of the pole was a stone plinth on which sarcophagus stood. The light from their torches was not enough to see across the chamber, so Draco cast a Lumos Maximus charm hesitantly. They had not used their wands yet and he wasn't sure what would happen when he did. As soon as he cast the spell torches flared all around the room and the sarcophagus lifted off of its plinth. Draco and Bill both shielded their eyes from the blast of light and stepped back a few feet into the more dimly lit tunnel.

"Did you see it?" Draco pointed directly in front of him at the sarcophagus. Bill followed his fingers and gasped.

"It looks just like your drawings," he murmured quietly. "It is quite large."

Suddenly Bill felt a compulsion to approach the Ankh and he took a fast step into the chamber. As soon as his foot made contact with the slanted portion of the floor it crumbled away and Bill flailed his arms wildly, trying to regain his balance as the bits of broken stone fell into the exposed chasm. Draco reached out quickly and snagged a strap on the back of Bill's rucksack and jerked backwards. Bill fell on top of Draco in heap of dust, his rucksack crushing one of Draco's ribs.

Bill shakily climbed off of Draco and rose to his feet. After helping Draco to his feet he turned away from his savior and put his forehead on the smooth, cool, gold wall.

"I apologize; I don't know what came over me."

Draco gingerly pressed his fingers into his side, assessing the damage. He used his wand to do a simple healing spell that would ease the pain of the broken rib, but he was still hesitant to use stronger spells so opted for waiting to actually heal his broken rib.

"It's okay, Bill. We just need to reevaluate how we are going to do this. Obviously we weren't going to be able to just walk right up to it."

Bill turned shamefaced towards Draco. The sarcophagus was glowing in the center of the bowl ever so slightly, but there was a pulsing light around the Ankh. It looked a beating heart. Despair washed over Bill as he realized that he might not be able to help Draco get the Ankh. He'd seen this before, this kind of finality in a mission where one man goes on to seek the treasure while the other has to go back. Bill slowly walked up to and placed a hand on his shoulder. Draco did not avert his eyes from the pulsing light around the Ankh.

"Draco, I really, er… I mean I am more careful than that, I was—"

"You were compulsed to. I felt it too." Draco turned to face Bill.

Bill dropped his hand. "Then why were you able to stay back?"

Draco didn't answer right away. The truth was he didn't know. Perhaps if Bill hadn't reacted so quickly and stepped on the crumbling floor Draco might have followed him right along. Perhaps Bill wasn't meant to destroy the power inside the Ankh and only Draco could. If Bill had needed any convincing that this thing was real, that was it. He could feel the magical core calling to them, begging for release. It was such a powerful object, evil in its very nature in a way that the Philosopher's Stone was not even though they were both highly powerful objects. The Ankh could compel a person to do evil, while the person had to desire to do evil with the Stone.

"What do you reckon? Should I try to move along the wall and test the ground as I go? Maybe you could even do a hover charm on me to see if I can get to it that way?" Draco suggested lamely. He was feeling desperate to the get the thing and destroy what was in it. So far it had not occurred to him that he might not destroy the core inside. That task was going to be more dangerous than getting to it.

"Wait, Draco," Bill said as he pulled out his wand and did some complicated charms in the air. He swirled his wand and muttered incantations under his breath at lightning speed. Draco was impressed; he'd seen very few other wizards use such difficult spells with that kind of ease and confidence. A thin stream of light was trailing the tip of Bill's wand as he traced it through the air. After a moment Bill stopped chanting and pointed his wand at the bowled floor in the chamber before them. Draco jumped in surprise as Bill shot a Reduction spell at the floor. The entire floor around the Ankh crumbled away. The sarcophagus sat alone on the plinth held suspended in the air.

"Are you insane?" Draco shouted at Bill.

Bill sheathed his wand and looked at Draco with a big grin on his face. "You said yourself that the Ankh wants to be found. Kashta died trying to hide it, right? Because he obviously didn't have the strength to destroy and he is hoping someone else does. The only magic in this room is the very powerful spell holding up the plinth in the center of the bowl. That was the only trick in this room. You can summon the whole sarcophagus right to where we are. Go ahead, do it."

Draco looked at Bill doubtfully, but raised his wand and summoned the sarcophagus plinth and all. It floated right up to the men and Draco dropped it carefully on the ground with a thud. The sarcophagus was an exact replica of King Tut's upon closer inspection. As he stared at it Draco had a sudden realization, and with it a sense of evil, dread, and fear overcame him. Bill was leaning on the wall again; sweat dripping from his forehead into his eyes. Clearly he could feel how dangerous this thing was as well. Fortunately both Bill and Draco had plenty of experience with such matters, Bill through his career, and Draco through his unfortunate connection to Lord Voldemort.

"Destroy it."

Bill and Draco pointed their wands directly at the sarcophagus, for that is where the words were coming from. The voice was ancient and raspy and it scared the living daylights out of Draco.

"Bill, Kashta is in there. I mean, he sealed himself in the sarcophagus to keep himself from being able to retrieve the Ankh. I know it," Draco corrected himself.

"DESTROY IT!"

The plinth began to shake and rattle the longer Bill and Draco stood there. The light around the thing was blinding and starting to hurt, but they knew the real danger was getting the Ankh free of the Sarcophagus.

"Where is the spell, Bill? How are we supposed to destroy it? This hurts!" Draco shouted over the sound of the stone plinth grinding against the floor of the tunnel. It was actually making its way towards the direction Bill and Draco had just come as if it was trying to get out.

"Look, Draco!" Bill shouted as the plinth worked its way along. "There is writing all over this thing!"

Draco looked closely keeping step with the slow movement of the sarcophagus. There were words written in an ancient language. Upon closer inspection Draco recognized it as Aramaic, one of the most Ancient languages, forgotten by many, but one of Draco's favorites to study.

Bill looked at Draco meaningfully and without having to discuss it they both began reading the words along the sarcophagus. With each repetition of the phrase the plinth moved faster and the Ankh rattled harder against its metal prison trying to get itself free. After the seventh repetition Bill and Draco were actually jogging to keep up with the sarcophagus, making it halfway back up the tunnel. Around them the columns were crumbling and the golden walls were cracking. Sand was beginning to seep in, ready to trap the two unfortunate souls daring to free the Ankh. Just as Draco and Bill began to recite the incantation for the eighth time the Sarcophagus stilled, split open and the lid fell away, trapping the Ankh below it. The lid continued to rattle, but it was the open casket that caught their attention. Inside the dust of thousands year old bones were falling like a mist on perfectly preserved piece of papyrus rolled up and bound with a gold ring.

Mindful of the torrent of sand seeping through the cracks in the walls Draco hastily picked up the scroll and carefully unrolled it.

"This is it Bill! It says 'I am Kashta, and you have found my secret. Destroy this thing if your soul is pure. Destroy this thing if your blood is pure. Destroy this thing if your heart knows love. Destroy this thing if you value life. It will ruin you if you cannot ruin it. Banish the thing inside. Banish the thing inside. Only the true can overcome. Banish the thing inside.' It is a rough translation, but that is all it says." Draco looked at the Ankh with frustration, and then at the sand seeping in around them.

"We don't have much time, Draco. I can't fight it, whatever is in there. It is making me want it too much. This is yours! Maybe you just have to banish it. Do a banishing spell, like the Necromancers who want to banish spirits for eternity. Killing a spirit kills the spirit's core, which is the thing that allows it to be a spirit." Bill started chanting a complex banishing charm, forcing Draco to follow along and perfect the wand movements. The lid rattled so strongly it flipped over, the Ankh was shaking furiously and rattling so quickly it hummed against the metal that held it. Distracted, Bill took one shaky step after another toward the Ankh with his hand outstretched in a claw. The veins on his face were popping out as he strained against the urge to snatch the thing in his hands and disappear.

Draco grabbed Bill around the shoulders and hauled him back. He pushed forward to get to the Ankh first, but Bill was up and threw a right hook at the back of Draco's head. The blond staggered backwards, lights popping behind his eyes. He had to get Bill out of there before he did something they would all regret. Draco still had the ring that held the scroll in place pressed into the palm of his hand. Bill was scrabbling at the lid, trying to still it so he could reach the Ankh as Draco yanked him back again and aimed a stunner at him. Bill blocked it easily and growled at Draco before turning back towards the Ankh. Using all of his strength Draco brought both fists down on the back of Bill's head, knocking him unconscious.

"I'm sorry Bill, but you'll thank me later." Draco pulled Bill away from the Ankh and slipped the ring around his thumb. Draco pointed his wand at the ring on Bill's hand and whispered "Portus" and then stepped back and leaned against the wall. A great cracking sound rent the air as another part of the tunnel began to cave in. The air was beginning to get choked with the dust of the falling sand and Draco was finding it difficult to breathe. Bill began to stir and opened his eyes right before the ring glowed blue and he disappeared to safety.

Draco felt weighted as he pushed through the sand to get at the Ankh. It was still rattling against the lid more furiously that ever. Draco could barely make out its shape as it buzzed in place. Draco lifted his wand and silently did the spell movements one last time before he started chanting the banishing spell to destroy the Ankh.

"Licentia is locus , malum phasmatis

Solvo ut unde vos venit

Vestri terrenus subsisto est super

expello absentis expello absentis expello absentis"

The roaring as the tunnel collapsed around Draco filled his head as he chanted over and over again. The spell was weakening him, draining his own magical core as he forced every ounce of his energy into the breaking the thing inside the Ankh. He could feel the spirit of King's Tut's magic as it left its prison and filled the tunnel around Draco. He was unconscious of the sand gathering around his knees, of the blood running from his nose as he strained to fight the power the around him and send it away. Finally, with the sound of an inhuman scream, the scream only a tortured soul can make, there was a blinding flash and the Ankh cracked open and lay still. Draco closed his hand around the two pieces of gold and clutched tightly. He took several gasping breaths trying to regain his strength when a large chasm split in the wall above him and the sand started rushing in.

A/N: The spell roughly translated: Leave this place evil spirit, Release to whence you came, Your earthly stay is over, Banish away banish away banish away. Not very good, I know.

Please for the love of all that is holy, review!!!! Just kidding, reviews would be great though.

Thanks to olgameisterfunk for her super cool beta job!!!! Oh, and she made a banner for this, I will attach a link to my profile so you can check it out.