Almost done! One last chapter and an epilogue, and this one will be over.
Mythic Alliance
by Jendra
With less than a week to go until the most important date in their lives, Harry, Draco and Severus had moved into high gear. The potion was in the last stage of its brewing and required constant attention. Harry had pretty much dropped out of the potion making portion of their plan as it now required more than just specified stirring at specified times. The last few ingredients were being dropped in or scattered on with precise timing and the stirring and temperature changed with each one, so the Potions Master and his apprentice were babying it along.
Of course, not being a part of the brewing process didn't mean that Harry had it easy. Although the slow, tedious job of grinding up the diamonds had always been part of his job, the others had worked on it as well when they had free time. Now, it was all up to him, and they were less then three-quarters done. He was, he was positive, grinding diamonds in his sleep. After they were ground he still had to fuse them together around the potion.
To top all of that, Hermione was on his back constantly about midterm tests and the studying he should be doing, but wasn't. Was it his fault saving the world was more important than some measly tests? They weren't even the OWLs. Of course, the fact that Hermione had been left out of the loop on the whole 'saving the world' thing made that argument impossible to even bring up, so all he could do was submit to her tirades, telling himself she was only doing it because she cared.
Finally, however, it was done.
Lucius ensured there was a crisis at the Ministry that desperately required Dumbledore's presence. As soon as the Headmaster was outside the wards, Severus, Harry and Draco headed toward the Forbidden Forest.
Carefully, they moved under the branches of the Forest. Draco's eyes were unnaturally wide, the whites showing around the edges. He had never liked the Forest and meeting Voldemort there during his first year didn't help. Neither did several years of Hagrid's idea of 'interestin' critters' for Care of Magical Creatures class.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it. Neither the potion nor the diamond powder could be subjected to the magic of phoenix flight at this stage, nor could the potion survive the roughness of drakeback or gryphonback flight.
Although they jumped fairly often at the sounds of scrabbling around them, they reached the clearing without catching sight of centaur, acromantula, or other such denizen of the dark woods.
Harry walked steadily towards the center of the clearing. Once there he settled as comfortably as possible onto his knees, the container holding the diamond sitting in front of him. Draco, carrying the cauldron of potion (the potion could not be decanted except in its final container), knelt in front of him. Severus walked in a circle around them, chanting and sowing salt and herbs as he cast a containment circle. He then took four glowing stones from his pocket and placed them at the four cardinal directions just inside the circle. Stepping into the middle, directly between Harry and Draco, he triggered the wardstones.
Once the circle was cast and the wards set, Severus stepped back. Harry took a deep breath and centered himself. Putting his hand above the container that held the diamond powder already mixed with certain ground herbs, he concentrated hard. Slowly, infinitesimally slowly, some of the powder rose from its container and hovered between Harry's hands. A bright white light glimmered and gleamed, the glow growing as the particles fused together. The process could not be monitored by the naked eye, but eventually a shape was becoming evident: the bottom of a bowl, half spherical but with seemingly hundreds of jewel-like facets.
Draco's eyes never wavered from the shape even as they watered from the light of the forging. However, that wetness was as nothing when compared to the sweat trickling down Harry's face from the effort he was making. Patiently, eyes straining, Draco waited. Finally, the moment came. The vessel was half finished, the forging was moving faster. Draco gracefully stood and picked up the cauldron. Carefully he held it above the dancing motes of diamond and started to pour its contents into the partially completed gem in a slow, controlled stream. As the vessel built itself around the viscous liquid, it drizzled down. The last few drops rejoined their brethren in the vessel; the last diamond sparks sealed the form into a fist-sized multifaceted ball and fell to the ground, immediately followed by its creator.
Draco jumped forward then froze, undecided what needed his attention more. Severus had no such doubts and headed for Harry. He knelt down next to him, placed his hands upon the boy's shoulders, and pushed magic into him. He kept it up until Harry began to stir. He quickly pulled out a Pepper Up potion and poured it down Harry's throat. Once sure that Harry would be fine, he stood back up.
"Make sure you keep hold of that," he told Draco, who, having seen Severus go to tend to Harry, had secured the sphere and was currently clutching it closely. Now that it was done, it was practically indestructible, being even harder than the diamond of which it was made.
Severus quickly took down the wards and unraveled the magic circle he had cast earlier. Once that was done, he transformed into his phoenix form. Hovering in the air in the middle of the glade, he waited until he felt two hands upon his tail feathers before shifting through the shadows to his quarters in the castle.
Two black heads and one blond gathered around a glowing ball on the table. The outside was a crystalline structure, much like a hundred sided die. Inside, a thick viscous grayish liquid roiled, constantly moving within its prison.
"It's hard to believe such a small thing will really make such a large difference," Draco murmured.
Harry was frowning.
"What's the matter?" Severus asked.
"I don't know. It's just... this seems wrong."
"Wrong? We've spent the past month doing nothing but making this, and it seems 'wrong'?" Draco squawked.
"What seems wrong about it?" Severus asked calmly.
"Well, it's just... doesn't it seem... isn't it kind of cheating?" Harry stumbled over the thought.
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Well... everyone expects this big fight... and this just seems kind of cowardly."
"Are you ready for a big fight with Voldemort?" Severus asked logically as Draco just opened and closed his mouth in disbelief.
"I guess... if I... no." Harry finally admitted.
"And if we didn't do this now, how many would die or worse, within the next month, the next week even?"
"Too many," Harry agreed, thinking even one more was too much, yet knowing that even at the best, with such short time left, there still would likely be more.
"So how is it cowardly to take him down now and save all of those innocents?"
Harry thought about it for a long moment. "It isn't, I guess."
"What the heck brought this on?" Draco finally blurted out.
"I don't know," Harry sighed. "I guess I just started thinking about what everyone would say when it gets out."
"Since when do you *care* what everyone thinks?"
"Well, normally, I don't. But this is the big one. The one everybody has been expecting since I was a year old. And I can just imagine what Ron's going to think. Or Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore didn't pull you out for another one of his little chats, did he?" Severus asked with a frown.
"Yeah, this morning. How did you guess?"
"Because this isn't like you. It might have taken me a very long time to figure it out, but I did finally get to know you well enough to know you don't really care what anyone besides your friends think. You aren't destroying Voldemort for the good of the world anymore than we are."
Draco started shaking his head. "No Severus, I think you're wrong. That isn't what this is about at all." Both of the others looked at him in surprise. "You're not worried about what others would think; Sev is right about that. You don't like the fact that this plan means the two of us will be right there with you."
Harry blushed. "I just..."
"Don't want us to get hurt," Draco finished for him.
"Well, yeah," Harry admitted.
"Idiotic Gryffindor," Severus said almost fondly. "I have been risking my life for over twenty years, looking for a way to get rid of this monster. Now that we finally have a way, do you think I'm going to be anywhere else?"
"But it's not your job."
"Yes, it most certainly is. And it was long before it ever became yours."
"It's mine too. If he isn't destroyed now, not only will my father get hurt or killed, but I'll be on his hit list from now on. And while most of the students don't want to follow him, or hurt me, there will be at least a couple that bow to parental pressure and try to kill me for him if he finds out I have no wish to bear his Mark," Draco reminded him.
"When it comes down to it, we both have better reasons for doing this than you do. You could always just move to America and stay out of this war."
"No, I couldn't!" Harry disagreed vehemently. "I couldn't do that to my friends! Or to you two."
"Well, neither could we," Draco reminded him.
"This will work, Harry," Severus comforted. "If I did not truly believe that, we would *not* be doing it, for I would not risk either of you two on a venture I considered likely to fail. This," he pointed at the sphere, "represents our freedom, and now is the time for it to come to fruition."
"Yeah," Harry looked at it as well. "It is. I know it is. And we will. I'm sure of it." He paused. "But if either of you two dies because of this, I'll never forgive you."
"The same goes for us," Draco grinned.
"Now I believe it is time for you to be heading to bed. Sitting here staring at this will just make you worry more. We still have three more days before it's time and you need to be well rested." Severus looked at them seriously. "Over the next three days, pull in all the magic you can. You especially, Harry, since you used so much tonight. Don't hesitate to tell me if you're having trouble sleeping, I'll give you Dreamless Sleep if I feel it's necessary. I don't want anything to go wrong, so you need to be strong and fully restored to be prepared for Saturday."
"Yes sir," both boys agreed. They stood up and headed towards the door.
Before leaving the room, Harry stopped. He looked back at Severus, who had risen from his chair and was watching them leave. Without thinking too much about it, Harry ran back across the room and pulled the surprised Potions Master into a tight hug. "Goodnight Sev," he murmured, squeezing. Then let go and ran out the door.