Visions of an Empath

Chapter 17

Feeling slightly better after her conversation with Harry, Hermione went into the bathroom and scrubbed her tear stained face. As she walked back into her room, she saw the bundle Harry had given her when they’d returned from Hogwarts on the dresser. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Hermione unwrapped the priceless Ravenclaw relic. Reading the inscription etched into the diadem, she had an almost irresistible urge to put it on. According to the legend, the wearer of this diadem would possess unparalleled wisdom. It was an extraordinary gift she would give nearly anything to possess.

The diadem called out to her, a soft, seductive voice tempting her with the knowledge it could bestow. Hermione reached out and reverently traced the silver metal with her fingertips. She carefully picked up the diadem, raising it slowly toward her head. Something inside of her screamed at her to let go of the diadem, but a louder voice in her head, whispering alluring promises, overrode everything else.

“Hermione, are you in there?” said Ron, knocking on the door.

Hermione started in surprise and accidentally dropped the diadem. Her mind clearing sharply with the interruption, she stared at the diadem in confusion and dawning horror. What was she doing? She had almost put that thing on her head! She felt utterly sick at the thought. There was no telling what kind of curses were on the horcrux, and she’d mindlessly tried to put it on.

Ron knocked once again. “Hermione! Can you hear me? Come on, Hermione. Open the door.”

Hermione jumped to her feet, backing fearfully away from the diadem, and shakily opened the door. She took one look at Ron’s face and burst into tears, throwing herself into the bewildered redhead’s arms. Accidental though it was, Ron had saved her life.

“What’s wrong, Hermione?” asked Ron worriedly.

“Get it out of here, Ron. Please! I don’t want to see it again,” sobbed Hermione brokenly.

“Get what, Hermione? I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong,” said Ron softly, trying vainly to calm the hysterical girl. “What happened?”

Hermione buried her face in Ron’s chest and clutched his shirt in her fists. “The diadem!” She took a deep breath and shuddered. “Take the diadem to Harry. I can’t... I almost put that thing on my head, Ron! Get it out of here!”

Ron gasped sharply and hugged Hermione harder, stunned at the knowledge that he could have very easily lost her tonight. Kissing her on the forehead, he gently pushed her behind him. “Stay right here. I’ll get the diadem.”

Entering the room cautiously, Ron grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and quickly wrapped the diadem in it. He reluctantly picked up the bundle, holding it out at arms length, and hurried out of the room. He headed toward the dining room, hoping Harry was still there.

Hermione shied away as Ron got near, deathly afraid the horcrux would affect her once more. She couldn’t help but sigh in relief when Ron disappeared around the corner and shakily sat on her bed. She didn’t think she’d ever been so scared before. Not even the Ministry fiasco and having to face off against seasoned Death Eaters had shaken her this badly. It was a horrifying experience to have your control stripped away in such a manner.

As much as she wanted to help Harry during these hard times, destroying the horcruxes was one thing he would have to do on his own. Hermione didn’t think she could stand to look at another one after what happened tonight.

***

Ron ran into the dining room, almost tripping over his own feet. He was relieved to see that Harry, Lucius, and Snape were still at the table, talking quietly. “Harry, you have to destroy this now!” He set the bundled blanket on the table and hurriedly backed up a few steps.

Harry saw how pale Ron was and climbed to his feet with a worried frown. “What happened, Ron?”

Ron pointed an accusing finger at the bundle on the table. “That bloody diadem tried to possess Hermione. If I hadn’t knocked on the door, she would have put it on!”

“What? Is she all right?” asked Harry frantically.

“Of course she’s not all right. She’s scared to death, Harry,” snapped Ron. “This is your fault, so why don’t you just hurry up and destroy it? You never should have given it to her.”

Harry looked away from Ron, feeling hurt that Ron would place the blame solely at his feet. It wasn’t as though he had known something like this would happen. After all, the horcrux in the diary hadn’t begun to affect Ginny until she started writing in it, and Dumbledore had been affected when he put the ring on, but he’d done so of his own free will, wanting to use the Resurrection Stone to see his family one last time.

Feeling the cloying fear and blame rolling off of Ron, Harry silently grabbed the bundled diadem and walked out of the room. Obviously, he never should have involved his friends with this task. All he ever managed to do was put them in even more danger.

“You are an idiot, Weasley,” growled Severus, pinning the redheaded teen with a cold glare. “How many more times are you going to betray his trust?” With an angry snarl, Severus stalked out of the room after Harry.

Ron felt terrible now. “Why can’t I ever keep my big mouth shut?” he muttered softly. Unfortunately, he completely forgot that Lucius was still in the room.

“Those are my thoughts exactly, Mr. Weasley,” said Lucius bitingly, sneering when Ron flinched guiltily. “I believe you and Miss Granger are the ones who insisted on helping Harry with this. I would have been perfectly happy if you both had stayed in hiding. After all, it’s not like you’ve helped much so far. And if you think I am going to allow you to blame Harry for every little thing that goes wrong, you have another think coming. You knew the dangers before you offered your help.”

“I know that,”said Ron miserably. “I didn’t really mean it, though. I was just scared. Hermione was nearly hysterical, and it absolutely terrified me. I’ve never seen her cry like that.”

“That doesn’t justify you blaming Harry,” said Lucius unsympathetically. “He gets enough of that from the majority of the Wizarding World. You are supposed to be his best friend and should be above such nonsense.”

“I’m sorry, okay? I have a habit of saying stupid things when I’m scared or angry,” said Ron, sighing in frustration. “I’m trying to do better, but it takes time.”

Lucius glared menacingly at Ron. “I suggest you try harder and break that habit now because if you hurt my Harry like that again, I will make you regret your words in the most painful way possible.”

Ron flinched at the threat and watched the blonde warily as Lucius stalked out of the room. He knew he’d fucked up royally. All he could do now was try to repair the damage he’d done and pray that Harry forgave him once again.

***

Harry walked into his bedroom and locked the door behind him. He tossed the diadem onto the floor and grabbed the Gryffindor sword off the dresser. With a dark scowl, he brought the sword down, shattering the diadem into several pieces. A dark cloud seeped from the broken pieces and disappeared with one final shriek. Harry carelessly dropped the sword and staggered back a few steps, feeling as though a great weight had just lifted from his shoulders. It was almost over.

Gathering the pieces of the diadem together, Harry set them on the shelf with the rest of the destroyed horcruxes. He would take great delight in presenting them to Voldemort when he finally faced him. Voldemort would soon learn to truly fear death.

“That friend of yours is an idiot, and you would be wise to ignore what he said.”

Harry looked toward the door and saw Severus leaning against the doorframe. He smiled wanly. “Who ever thought the day would come that Severus Snape would console Harry Potter over something like hurt feelings?”

“We all have to grow up sometime,” said Severus reasonably.

Harry snickered softly and walked up to the vampire, wrapping his arms around Severus’ waist and laying his head on the other man’s chest. “Some longer than others, though.” He sighed and snuggled into the comfort Severus offered. He knew Ron was just upset about Hermione, but it still hurt that Ron automatically blamed him for what happened.

“Mr. Weasley certainly does have a long way to go,” agreed Severus.

“This is something we all agree on,” said Lucius, pushing Severus and Harry further into the room and shutting the door. “However, I do believe he will refrain from such comments in the future.”

Severus raised an eyebrow at the blonde. “And what in Merlin’s name makes you believe that? The annoying child has not shown an ability to keep his mouth shut until now.”

“Let’s just say that I’ve put the fear of Merlin in him,” said Lucius smugly.

Severus snorted. “You threatened to use the vast knowledge of dark curses on his hide if he hurt Harry again, didn’t you?”

“I certainly did,” said Lucius judiciously. He suddenly pulled Harry out of Severus’ arms and pushed the teen toward the bed. “I know just the thing to make you feel better, Harry.”

Harry fell onto the bed with a splutter of laughter. He was quite sure Lucius would hold to that promise.

***

Draco pulled a book off the shelf and settled at his favourite table to read. However, he just stared blindly at the open book. A pang of loneliness shot through him. Until Harry had befriended him, he’d never had a true friend, someone he could trust unconditionally and rely on. He’d also never been in a real relationship, and that’s what hit him the hardest. He had no one who loved him like Harry did.

If he was honest with himself, Draco couldn’t imagine himself with anyone from Slytherin. All of the Slytherins he knew personally were potential Death Eaters or too self serving to care for anyone but themselves. Maybe he was just destined to be alone.

Draco heard the library door open and looked up to see Hermione walk into the room. She was pale and looked like she’d been crying. She stumbled over to the armchair in front of the fireplace and curled up in it, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared blankly into the flames.

With a soft sigh, Draco shut his book and climbed to his feet. He walked over to Hermione and hesitantly asked, “Are you all right, Hermione?” Where the hell was Weasley? It was his job to comfort the wench, not his.

Hermione sniffled slightly. “No, I am very far from all right. Almost dying does that to you.”

Draco blinked in surprise. “What happened?”

Hermione looked at Draco for a long moment. “I got careless. My curiosity got the better of me, and I was almost cursed by a very dark artefact.”

“When did this happen?” asked Draco curiously.

Hermione sighed softly, debating on just how much to tell Draco. She didn’t actually think he would betray them to Voldemort, especially since his father was mated to Harry, but she couldn’t be too careful with this knowledge. She finally decided to just go ahead and tell him.

“Have you ever heard of a horcrux?”

Draco pondered the question, trying to recall if he’d ever heard about them, but nothing came to mind. “No, I don’t believe I have. What are they?”

Hermione smiled grimly. “A horcrux is made when a person splits their soul and puts a fragment in another object. A person who has a horcrux can never truly die because a potion of their soul is still alive.”

Draco paled in realisation. “That’s how the Dark Lord survived. He had a horcrux.”

Hermione shook her head. “Not a horcrux. He had seven horcruxes.”

“Seven?” Draco repeated numbly. No wonder the bastard was completely insane. He wasn’t naive. He knew the only way to split a soul was to commit a murder beforehand. With his soul fragmented into so many pieces, it wasn’t surprising that the man was so inhuman. “So the only way to kill him is to destroy the horcruxes first. How many have been destroyed?”

“I’m not sure, actually. I know Harry destroyed the diary, and the one within him was destroyed when he became an Earth Drake animagus,” mused Hermione.

“Wait! Harry was a horcrux?” asked Draco incredulously.

Hermione nodded shortly. “Dumbledore destroyed Gaunt’s ring, and Harry said Severus destroyed the locket. I know Harry found Hufflepuff’s goblet, and we retrieved Ravenclaw’s diadem, but I don’t know if they’ve both been destroyed yet.”

“Is that why you were upset earlier? Because of one the horcruxes?” asked Draco astutely.

Hermione shuddered. “I almost put it on my head. What’s so bad is that I don’t know if it was my own desire for the knowledge the diadem supposedly bestows when worn, or if the horcrux tried to possess me. I would have put it on if Ron hadn’t knocked on my door when he did.”

“So Weasley actually did something useful for once,” said Draco, but the humour was a little flat. It was a sobering thought that something that evil was in the same house as him.

Hermione smiled fondly. “Yes, he did. He even wrapped the diadem in a blanket and took it to Harry because I was too hysterical to do anything but cry. I think I scared him more than the horcrux did.”

Draco snickered at the image that popped in his head. He could just see the panic on Weasley’s face as he tried to comfort his hysterical girlfriend. That was just too funny.

“Now there’s just one horcrux left,” said Hermione softly. “Nagini.”

“That bloody snake is a horcrux?” yelped Draco, shuddering in disgust. “I’ll be happy to see that thing destroyed.”

“Me, too,” whispered Hermione.

***

Harry whimpered in pleasure as Lucius slammed into him, his cries muffled by the hard shaft in his mouth. Severus’ hands were buried in his hair, guiding the rhythm of Harry’s mouth. A hard hand wrapped around his aching cock, and Harry came with a muffled scream.

Lucius thrust twice more and came inside Harry. He slowly withdrew from Harry’s tight arse and collapsed on the bed, watching as Severus pulled out of Harry’s mouth and turned the spent teen around. Lifting Harry so that his legs were hooked over Severus’ forearms, the vampire lowered Harry onto his hard shaft.

Severus effortlessly lifted and lowered Harry, groaning at the deliciously tight arse clinging to his dick. Licking over the claiming mark he’d placed on Harry’s neck, Severus sank his fangs into the scar. Harry wailed and came again, his arse clenching around Severus’ thrusting shaft and slumped against the vampire’s chest. The taste of his mate’s blood sent Severus over the edge, and he came with a muffled growl.

Severus reluctantly pulled his fangs out of Harry’s neck, lapping up the droplets of blood that rose to the surface. Just as reluctantly, he lifted Harry off of him and settled the teen between him and Lucius.

As Harry curled up between his mates, he could only thank the gods for giving him this chance at love. For giving him this chance for a family of his own.