The Lion and the Serpent

Eventually, the fury subsided. The Unforgiven have done well; the shields never failed. Draco felt the Dark give up on him, relinquish control of his Mark, and vanish, drawn into the meadow.



Helpless, spent, and aching all over, Draco collapsed on the ground. Hermione sat next to him, and stroked his face gently. He turned away from her touch.



“I am sorry,” he muttered, ashamed. “My Mark... it was drawn to his... couldn\'t help it. Couldn\'t control it. It\'s like I was possessed or something.”



“You were, in a way,” Hermione said softly. “But don\'t worry. No harm done.”



“What happened?” Draco wondered idly. “I couldn\'t get through... couldn\'t even touch any of you, or the shield.”



“It\'s the collar,” Hermione said. “Harry told me about it. It responds to your thoughts. Protects you from deadly self-harm. It read your desire to join Ha... Voldemort... and interpreted it as deadly. Formed a protective barrier around you.”



“Oh. Right,” Draco laughed bitterly. Not even being able to die? He had never felt so helpless.



“Draco,” Hermione said kindly, touching her own Dark Mark.. “We did it. I heard from Cali and others. It worked. The outbreaks of violence around the world are on decline already. Voldemort\'s presence is finally gone.... the world is going to be free.”



“Yeah,” Draco whispered miserably, as he thought of Harry\'s body and consciousness, taken over by Voldemort, nearing death. In his mind, he knew it was probably a reasonable price to pay for their victory, but his chest ached with every breath he took.



Hermione saw the look in his eyes and squeezed his hand. “Let\'s go recover his body,” she suggested softly.



“Okay,” Draco said meekly, all fight gone from him.



When they approached the perimeter, Hyperion and Layre looked at them doubtfully.



“He\'s unconscious now,” Hermione said firmly. “He can\'t harm us. He\'s dying. We just want to go... and say goodbye.”



Hyperion nodded mutely and lowered his wand. “Be careful,” he said.



Hermione and Draco stepped into the meadow, and the shields went back up as soon as they did. Hyperion and Layre were not taking any chances.



Toghether, Hermione and Draco walked the barren plot of land, towards the patch of grass, where Harry\'s lifeless body lay. Draco saw it, and ran towards it, crying his name, over and over again. Hermione followed closely.



Draco knelt in front of Harry\'s unconscious body that was lying face down on the ground. He carefully lifted his shirt and was horrified at the damage the poison had done. A web of bright red streaks was spreading across Harry\'s entire body, emanating from the small crystal spheres implanted in his flesh.



Shockingly, Harry was still breathing. Two, maybe three breaths per minute, Draco realized.



Draco lifted his eyes to Hermione questioningly:



“Can you still revive him?”



“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she snapped. “This isn\'t Harry. This is Voldemort.”



“I know,” Draco said impatiently. “Just answer my question. Please. Humor me. Could he still survive?”



“I don\'t think so,” she said. “There\'s no antidote, as you know, and no way to remove the poison... if we try, it will just go deeper... you know yourself, he has ten, maybe fifteen minutes left.... but Draco, it doesn\'t matter anymore,” she added hastily. “He\'s gone beyond the point of no return. He\'s not Harry anymore. Dark is all he knows now.”



Draco nodded absently, remembering Harry\'s words of warning:



Fall the other way, and you will find yourself in darkness so heavy, your eyes will forget how to recognize light, and you will not see anything ever again.



“Yeah,” Draco whispered, but a plan was already beginning to form in his mind. Hermione looked at him suspiciously.



“I have an idea,” Draco said.



She glared at him. “I cannot tell you how much I\'ve began to despise every sentence that begins this way,” she said.



Slowly, patiently, he started talking, while she listened, still glaring at him.



“Remember what Harry said? Part of this forest lies between life and death. That\'s where he is right now – that\'s where the dying go in this forest. All I need to do is get close enough to dying, go after him and find him. If I can make him remember light.. if I can somehow pull him out of Voldemort – then he can be revived. Safely for everyone. I\'d like to be revived too, of course...” He added with a grin.



Hermione looked at him thoughtfully.



“Why you? If anyone should go after him, it should be me. I\'ve known him longer.”



“No,” Draco shook his head. “I hate to say this, but you are the smart one. You are the only one who can come up with some brilliant scheme to reverse the effects of the poison and revive him....”



She snorted, but Draco saw that her mind had already accepted the impossible challenge posed before her.



“And how will I know that it\'s safe?” she demanded. “How can I tell whether it\'s Voldemort or Harry, when I am about to revive him? Am I just supposed to just figure it out from the look in his face?”



“We\'ll give you a sign,” Draco said.



“You are going to give me a sign from beyond the grave,” Hermione said dubiously.



“Yes,” Draco said firmly. “Don\'t worry. We\'ll come up with something unmistakable.”



She shook her head stubbornly, but Draco saw that her resolve was beginning to weaken.



“It\'s insane,” she muttered, “to even consider it.”



Draco took her hands in his and looked at her pleadingly. It would be insane not to consider it, he thought. They both had seen the nightmare. They knew what the Dark was like. How could they abandon Harry to remain like that, without even a memory of light, for eternity, without even attempting to do something?



“There is one tiny flaw in your plan,” she said finally. “You can\'t die. The collar cannot be removed until Harry dies and it won\'t let you cause yourself deadly self-harm. And it will protect you from anything I can do to you, too.”



“Not anything,” Draco said.



The collar provided protection by tapping into the magic of the owner. But of course, even the collar of protection could not defend against the Unforgivables – no magical device could.



Hermione saw it in his eyes, and shook her head again.



“Absolutely not... Draco... I couldn\'t bring you back after Avada Kedavra....”



“Harry can,” Draco said confidently. “I\'ve seen him defeat Avada Kedavra before. If I get through to him, he\'ll bring me back. Somehow.”



She bit her lip and looked at him painfully.



“Please,” he whispered. “We both know you have it in you. Don\'t think... don\'t feel... just do it. Do it now. Not much time left.”



“You are asking me to curse you,” she whispered resignedly.



“Begging,” he said, falling to his knees. “Please... Hermione.”



She raised her wand and pointed at him. He looked at her with a smile and nodded encouragingly. Her eyes darkened as she uttered the Killing Curse, and the blunt impact of deadly magical energy claimed him.



The last thing he felt was a surprise – that there was no pain.



----- to be continued --------------