Chapter 90 ~ Ritual Gone Wrong

"All right, is everyone ready?" Hermione asked.

Everyone responded in the positive.

"Okay. We enter the room, face the terrace and take the positions like we practiced, a semi-circle behind Susan," she directed. "Now, let's go banish some demons!"

One after the other, they entered the study. There was a large pentagram drawn for Susan and seven smaller ones for the others. Everyone took up their positions.

"The sky doesn't look very friendly," Ginny said, watching black clouds roll in from every direction. The weather began to get bad that morning, when she and Hermione entered to draw the pentagrams with black chalk. It grew exceedingly worse as the time to do the ritual approached. But, the strange part was, there was no scent of moisture in the air at all.

"It's a sign, Ginny. We're already affecting the demons," Hermione said.

Blaise snorted. More than likely it was just a turn in the weather, period.

"All right, Susan. Call them out and declare them bound under the Light," Hermione said.

Susan began the liturgy, the others echoing her words and responding accordingly. Blaise half-heartedly made the to and fro, back and forth sign, but he didn't say any of the words, simply mouthed them.

On the terrace, shadowy figures began to appear, tall and dark. The sands began to show impressions. The chanting faltered as they saw the things that Boleskine house held.

Susan kept up the liturgy, however, as the creatures began to shuffle through the door towards them. Blaise's eyes were narrowed. These things seemed to be little more than ghosts, and who was afraid of ghosts?

One shadowy figure stopped before Susan, who kept up her stream of commands, trying to bind it to the higher purposes of faith. It stood just outside of the pentagram.

Ron, Harry, Ginny, Snape, Draco and Hermione continued chanting, but there was fear in their eyes. Maybe if they had their wands. Blaise gave up all pretense of chanting as he watched the creatures surround them.

You have made quite the mistake, mortals. You were mostly outside of our influence. We could tinker with your emotions, but not physically affect you—until now. You have crossed into our realm by attempting to control us when none of you have faith—and all of you have arrogance to believe you can fill the shoes of true sorcerers. You are not sorcerers. You have—no power. You have given yourselves to us—thank you.

With that, the creature stepped into Susan and thrust its arms inside her. She screamed in agony.

"Susan!" Ron cried before he too, began scream, an entity thrusting its shadowy limbs inside him from behind. Hermione, Snape, Draco, Ginny and Harry suffered the same fate. Behind the specter that had Susan, a swirling hole appeared above, beginning to draw in air at the vortex grew.

One of the shadowy creatures tried to take Blaise, but it couldn't penetrate the wizard as he whipped out his wand.

"Leave them alone!" Blaise yelled, "Get away from them, you shadowy bastards!"

Papers were beginning to get sucked upward into the churning opening and the wizards and witches began to slide forward.

You. You are not a part of this. You remain outside. Go in peace.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Blaise hissed, then pointed his wand at Snape and cast a spell, making him stick in place. But he was still screaming in pain as the shadow creature held him.

"Snape! Transform!" Blaise yelled at him.

Suddenly, there was an unearthly howl and the creature that held him stumbled back from the gryffin. Blaise cast sticking charms on Harry, Draco, Susan, Ron, Hermione, and screamed at the ones who could transform to do it. Ron and Susan turned into their Animagus forms and found instant relief.

The spiritual was blocked by the carnal, or animal side. In their animal forms, the demons couldn't affect them. Blaise had figured out the next level. Blaise himself didn't believe and also was stabilized by the flesh he'd consumed all week. He'd done nothing to really participate in the ritual. He had never believed in it, or the power of the demons and this was why he'd been spared what happened to the others.

But Ginny, Ginny was lifted off her feet. Blaise couldn't get to her in time with his wand, and he desperately leaped, landing on her and holding her as tightly as he could.

Give us the girl and we will spare the others, we will spare you. Let her go, or you will be drawn in with her. Drawn into the Pit. What is one out of so many? Let her go.

Blaise felt Ginny's body sliding through his arms.

"No! You can't have her! None of us are a part of this! You don't belong here! Any of you! The one who brought you here is dead! You aren't supposed to be here! None of you, and if your existence is based on truth, then you must leave here! This is not your world, this is our world! I don't care what you are, but you don't have more power than we do! Not here! Not in our world! Not in this house!"

Silence!

"I banish you!"

Silence!

"I banish you!"

Silence mortal!

"I BANISH YOU! ALL OF YOU! YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE!"

Suddenly a chorus of howls went up, and the figures all backed away from their victims, Hermione, Harry and Draco falling to the floor gasping. But Ginny was still being pulled upward, Blaise holding on to her legs.

You don't know what you've done!

"I don't care. You let her go!"

One by one the creatures began to stretch in long thin lines, then were drawn into the vortex, screeching and wailing as they were sent back to the place of their origins.

"Ginny!" Blaise cried desperately.

"Let me go, Blaise! Let me go!" Ginny called down at him.

"NO!"

With almost superhuman strength, Blaise pulled her down to the floor and spun with her, so he was drawn up toward the vortex. He lost his wand in the process. Ginny screamed, and held on to his hands desperately.

"No! Blaise! No!" she screamed at him.

"Let me go! Ginny let me go!"

"But, they'll take you!"

Ginny's feet were starting to lift off the floor.

Blaise shook his hands desperately. What good was saving her if she was going to martyr herself anyway? Gods, sometimes he hated Gryffindors.

"Let go!"

"No!"

Harry was on his feet, but stuck in place.

"Ginny! Let him go! There's nothing you can do!" he called.

Normally, Harry understood heroism, but this was Ginny and he didn't want to lose her.

Suddenly, Blaise was sucked deeper into the vortex, Ginny dangling, still refusing to let him go. The final shadowy figure thinned and flew past Blaise with a hiss.

"Ginny," Blaise said in despair. "Just let me go. I'll be all right."

"No!" Ginny cried as they were yanked upward.

"I've got her, son!" Ben Weatherstaff cried, grabbing Ginny and tearing her away from Blaise's grasp.

"BLAISE!" she cried as the wizard was sucked into the vortex and disappeared, the opening growing smaller and smaller before it disappeared. Outside, the clouds dissipated and twinkling stars could be seen.

Ginny clung to Ben, sobbing as calm returned.

"He's gone," Ginny cried into the caretaker's shoulder.

"There, there, girl. You should be glad it was just one of you taken and not all of you," he said softly. "And you did what you set out to do. They're all gone now. You cleaned house."

The three Animagi turned back to human form, blinking up at the space where the vortex was.

"Poor Blaise," Susan whispered, her eyes glistening. "He wasn't so bad after all, was he?"

Snape didn't say anything, but his mouth was trembling a bit.

"We're all stuck in place," Ron said softly, avoiding saying anything about Blaise yet. "We don't have our wands—"

Suddenly they heard Ben say, "Finite Incantatum" several times, then they were released.

They looked at the white robed gardener and the knobbly wand in his hand. He still held Ginny protectively.

"You're, you're a wizard?" Hermione asked him, amazed.

"Let's just say there's a reason why the 'Secret Garden' was also known as the 'Magic Garden," he said with a small grin.

Later, having changed their clothes, Snape, Hermione and the remaining survivors sat around the island in the kitchen, Blaise's wand resting on the top of it.

"I can't believe he's gone," Ginny said softly as she eyed the wand.

"Well, you wanted him gone. Now you've got your wish," Draco said angrily, filled with grief. "He gave up his life for you, Weasley, and probably saved all our arses from his fate."

"That's not fair, Draco," Hermione said. "We didn't want anything to happen to him—"

"Yeah, but I bet my last Galleon, you're glad it was him and not one of you," he spat, his eyes blinking rapidly. "You should have listened to him. He had the right of it all along. Now, he's dead. And I'm—I'm going to have to be the one to tell his parents. He was their only child—"

"We'll go with you, Draco," Harry said. "We'll help you tell them, and tell them how sorry we are."

"You? No, they don't need any insincere condolences. This is my fault. I never should have brought him here."

Draco dropped his face in his hands, and made a sorrowful noise.

"They aren't insin—" Harry started to say, but Ginny put her hand on his arm to stop him.

Ron looked stricken, and Susan was wet-eyed as they sat there numbly. Suddenly Susan stood up and walked out of the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, she returned with a bottle of unopened Firewhisky and several shot glasses.

She lined them up in a row, then filled each of them. She then passed the glasses out. Everyone took one.

She lifted her glass, and the others followed suit.

"To Blaise Zabini. A brave wizard and a true hero," she said softly.

"To Blaise," the others repeated, then tossed back the Firewhisky. This was followed by several coughing fits from the fiery liquid. Only Snape didn't cough.

As he looked around at his water-eyed and gasping companions, he said with a quirk of his lips, "I think Blaise would have enjoyed seeing that."

Draco did break the news to Blaise's parents, accompanied by his father Lucius. Their reaction was of horror, despair then anger at the way he died. That he died saving someone else was of no consequence. Their boy, their beautiful, talented boy—was dead.

A private memorial was held, and his wand was placed in a glass display case and put on the mantel in his parent's home. Harry, Ron, Susan, Ginny and Hermione tried to attend the ceremony but were turned away. Snape had stayed at Boleskine House, knowing they wouldn't be welcomed there. He felt bad for Blaise, but oddly vindicated. By his sacrifice, he had shown the others that regardless of the House, and the beliefs a person held, they could do the right thing when it was time to act. Blaise could have given Ginny to the demons and insured his own safety as well as the safety of the others. If he had, no one could have blamed him really. It was one life in exchange for seven lives. But instead of choosing who would live, he gave himself.

If that wasn't a hero, Snape had no idea what was. In his case, Voldemort had tried to murder him. He hadn't offered himself up for it. It just –happened. But Blaise had a choice, and made it. That made him a stronger, braver wizard than any of them. Even Harry had to face Voldemort. It wasn't a choice.

Blaise would have made an exceptional Unspeakable.

Snape was in the lab when it felt like the entire foundation of Boleskine house shifted. Several glass beakers crashed to the floor. Alone in the house, Snape raced upstairs to find out what happened. The chandelier in the entrance hall had fallen and there was a strange humming sound coming from the study.

Snape drew his wand and rushed in. He watched as a spinning hole appeared in the floor, growing larger. It looked like the vortex that had taken Blaise.

Suddenly, something was ejected from the spinning hole as if thrown out, and Blaise crashed to the floor.

And stay out!

The hole quickly closed as Blaise got up, and brushed off his tattered and slightly smoking robes.

Snape stared at him in amazement, as Blaise looked up at him and grinned crookedly.

"This is going to look really good on my resume," he said, nodding.

A/N: Lol. I just couldn't do it to Blaise. :) He's a git, but I like his character. Thanks for reading.