This is the ultimate in unexpected chapters. I was not prepared for this to happen so I apologise if things seem a little out of line.
Chapter 34: Sixth Year: The Sword
They had left at dawn. Merlin had insisted that they walk at least part of the way and since they needed to get out of sight of the Death Eaters watching the gates, that meant trekking through the Forbidden Forest.
Harry followed along after Merlin who had conjured a ball of blue-grey light to illuminate their path. Snape was following along after them, but Harry was trying his hardest to ignore the sounds of the Potion's Master who accompanied them. "Emrys?" Harry called, after a year of using Merlin's other name when he wasn't really thinking it often slipped out.
Merlin looked over his shoulder with one eyebrow raised.
"Why are we walking?"
Merlin laughed. "We need to get out of Hogwarts before we can apparate, I can't carry people through the spells which stop apparition. Then we will need to walk a bit more to reach the tomb where the sword is."
"Can't we apparate into it, I do not like being out in the open for so long." Snape asked from behind them.
Merlin shook his head and looked around frowning slightly. "I don't know exactly where the tomb is so we will apparate to the nearest landmark I do know and then walk from there. Better to be in the open for a little while and know where we are going than to try and apparate closer and end up lost and wandering the woods for hours on end."
Merlin finally stopped and held out his arms to both of them. "Alright we're outside the Hogwarts spells so hang on." Snape drew his wand and grabbed Merlin's elbow. Harry winced and did the same. Despite the difference in their magic he wasn't expecting apparition a-la Merlin was going to be any better than his previous experience.
Harry wasn't wrong.
After the jarring, twisting horror of apparition landed them on a bike path through an entirely different forest they set off again.
Harry had no idea how Merlin was navigating, but once in a while he would pause and look around, listening carefully. Sometimes they walked on paths, other times they picked through way through thick undergrowth.
Despite all their worries they met no one, wizard or muggle on their walk. Soon they were approaching a dilapidated, crumbling stone building. Snape looked it over. "It doesn't look safe."
"These places rarely are. Come on, the entrance is over here." Merlin pushed aside a tree branch to reveal an ivy covered wall. Harry stepped forward and grabbed an ivy branch. With a tug the ivy separated from the soft stone and with a crackling sound a hunk of stone nearly dropped on his toe. Merlin pulled Harry aside before his foot was crushed.
"Careful." The sorcerer turned his attention to the ivy curtain disguising the narrow opening into the tomb. He did nothing to hide the flash of raw power which passed through his eyes. The ivy pulled itself aside and Merlin pulled a torch out of his bag. "Come on."
Harry and Snape exchanged a look before Snape flicked his head slightly to indicate that Harry should follow Merlin into the darkness. Gritting his teeth Harry followed the sorcerer through the narrow gap. With only the beam of Merlin's torch the inside of the tomb was dark, dank and small. Harry could just walk upright, but both Merlin and Snape had to duck their heads. The ground under Harry's sneakers squelched, the stone floor was covered in a thick layer of mud.
For a few minutes they edged along in silence, Harry could almost feel Snape's breath on the back of his neck. The Potion's master staying close to keep Merlin's light in sight.
It took Harry a while to realise they were walking in a spiral, the inside of the tomb was large than it looked from the outside.
Without warning a harsh rumble echoed around the passage and something hit Harry hard in the back sending him cannoning forward and into Merlin's legs. The rumbling continued for several minutes before the weight on Harry's body shifted.
He had thought it was rocks, but it was Snape. The professor lifted himself up and cast a glance behind them. Merlin, who had pulled his legs out from under Harry, turned his torch behind them. A large pile of rubble lay where Harry had been walking not a moment before.
As the three of them got shakily to their feet Harry couldn't help but stare at Snape. Snape hated him, so why had he pushed Harry out of the way? Merlin let the torchlight play over the cave-in. "Come on, it shouldn't be much further."
"How are we supposed to get out?" Snape asked irritably as he dusted his robes off.
"Out is easy." Merlin muttered turning around to continue deeper into the tomb.
Harry spent the next few minutes of walking puzzling over Snape's actions. He couldn't make heads or tails of Snape, one minute he seemed to hate Harry intensely and the next he was doing everything he could to save him. What was he trying to do? Was he still following Dumbledore's orders, or was he working for Voldemort and just trying to get close to Harry in order to hand him over?
The passage widened into a central chamber. Light filtered in through several small holes in the mortar. It wasn't much but it was enough to see by. Merlin switched off his torch and returned it to his bag. He pointed towards the centre of the chamber. "This is it."
Harry and Snape stepped forward to examine the large stone sarcophagus. Snape pulled out his wand and flicked it. With a loud grating the stone lifted free of its moor and settled with a crunch on the ground behind it. Edging closer Harry peered inside. The stone coffin came up to Harry's chest and a dusty smell was wafting up from the contents.
Inside was a skeleton. A few scraps of clothing still clung to it and around its neck was a large tarnished necklace of silver.
But there, clasped between the bony fingers was a sword. In the half light the blade shone slightly and had a large nick about halfway along its length. The hilt was heavily rusted and well worn.
Merlin backed out and knelt by Harry's side, cupping his hands on his knees. "Ready Harry?"
Harry stepped into Merlin's fingers and let the sorcerer heft him into the sarcophagus. Grimacing about the crunching of the bones beneath his shoes Harry bent down and wrapped his hand around the hilt of the sword. This was it, this was his way to defeating Voldemort. Harry lifted the sword free of its resting place.
That gleam of bright hope which had risen up at the sight of the sword flickered and died as the hilt came away with his hand and the long blade disintegrated over the bones of its last wielder. Harry stood in complete silence as the last pieces of the sword blade dusted down around his feet.
When the silence was finally broken it was Snape. "What now?" There was the slightest hint of irritation in his voice.
Harry looked at Merlin; the sorcerer's eyes were wide and for the first time since they had met Merlin looked frightened. "I don't know." Merlin ran his fingers through his hair and took the hilt from Harry. "This is it, I recognise it..." He shook his head and offered a hand to help Harry out of the sarcophagus. "I'm sorry Harry."
Harry couldn't bring himself to be angry; his friend simply looked too upset. "Is there anything you can do?"
Merlin picked the hilt up and examined it. "No, swords like this were rare and once they are broken...that's it."
"We should be going." Snape told them.
"What are we going to do?" Harry demanded.
Snape glared at him and pulled out his wand, lighting the tip with an impatient flick of his wrist. "Go back to Hogwarts and decide on a new plan."
Merlin squeezed Harry's shoulder. "Severus is right, we can't do anything else here."
"You said there was nothing else that can kill Voldemort." Harry snapped, now starting to get irritated. It was his life on the line and it seemed like at every turn something was stopping him.
"We just need to have faith Harry. We'll think of something."
Still fuming Harry reluctantly followed Merlin out of the tomb.
When I finished this I did wonder about making their journey too easy, but then I figured things can't be impossibly difficult all the time. This was more about getting Harry and Snape together and playing with their ideals a little.
I was never intending on following up on Mordred's sword, but suddenly it snuck it's way into the story and before I knew it Merlin was off investigating. Apparently it was a loose end that my subconscious felt the need to sort out.