Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Resuscitation of Agapé ❯ The Clemency of Tempestia ( Chapter 14 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: jessica_x 
...in which strangers in a strange land meet a strange old man, and an unexpectedly wise soul makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Non Anime: Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.09.2008 | Updated On: 08.09.2008 | Pages: 6 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 292 | Status: Completed
...in which strangers in a strange land meet a strange old man, and an unexpectedly wise soul makes the ultimate sacrifice.
Non Anime: Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.09.2008 | Updated On: 08.09.2008 | Pages: 6 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 292 | Status: Completed
Harry Potter and the Resuscitation of Agapé
Year 6 At Hogwarts
by Jessica X
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WARNING LABEL: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. INGREDIENTS OF PRODUCT NOT COPYRIGHTED BY AUTHOR, BUT THE RECIPE IS. RATED R FOR MILD VIOLENCE/LANGUAGE, AND MATURE THEMES: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. IF INGESTED, INDUCE VOMITING, THEN FONDLE A CHEMIST AND ASK IF THEY'VE ANY GRAPES OR RUBBER BANDS.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Not much to say this time around, aside from that Diluvius Abernathy is my character. MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!! (well, ask nicely first, at least)
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~*~ Chapter Fourteen: The Clemency of Tempestia
"Thank Merlin!"
Neville's thestral had suddenly plummeted toward the ground, and Hermione and Luna's steeds followed. Harry, Ron and Ginny immediately tilted their brooms downward, staying as close as possible (Harry's broom being the fastest, he was the only one that quite managed this). As the beasts lightly touched down, Harry pulled the nose of his broom up and halted just above the ground, deftly dismounting. Ginny landed similarly, but Ron fell off just as he leveled out over the grass.
"Shite," he muttered, standing and brushing off the knees of his trousers. "Been flying too long, thought we'd never get here."
"Goggles off!" Ginny said cheerily. They painfully peeled the eyewear from around their heads - the high-velocity journey had, in fact, nearly blown them through their faces.
Neville's eyes widened as soon as he'd blinked a few times. "Whoa..."
Thirteen Fifteen, Trebuchet Lane was not a warm, quaint stable as Harry had surmised, but what appeared to have once been a medieval fortress. The battlements were certainly situated for optimum defence, and it had obviously once sported a drawbridge. In recent centuries, this had been replaced by hinged doors, and a stone bridge permanently connected it to the knoll they had landed on. In the crushing darkness, it looked very foreboding.
"Do we just... knock?" Ron asked hesitantly. "I mean, we traveled by Floo powder last time."
Harry kicked at the grass. "If only we'd had some Floo powder, we wouldn't have had to fly all this way. I didn't fancy stealing some from Dumbledore's office, though... not while he's in it, at any rate."
"This was stupid," Hermione wailed. "You've all risked expulsion so I can keep breathing longer! I'll never be able to pay you back for this, and-"
"Hermione," Harry said pointedly, waggling a hand. She glanced at her own, then sighed.
"Oh, all right, then. Let's just get on with it before-"
All fell silent instantly, and a quick glance around told Harry that the reason was the same for each.
"Was that a... yelp?" Neville ventured.
"Some kind of animal or another," Ginny breathed.
"I think Hermione's right." Harry warily eyed the nearby forest, clutching his Firebolt tightly. "Let's try and get inside."
They left the thestrals to graze on the knoll (trusting they could defend themselves against any dangers that may turn up) as three of them shouldered broomsticks. Taking a deep breath, Harry led them over the bridge and to the doors. When they reached them, however, they swung open welcomingly of their own accord, and the travelers cautiously walked through.
They were in an extremely large foyer with a high ceiling, decorated with all sorts of tapestries and statues. One of such statues, an enormous Norwegian Ridgeback, stood proudly in the centre, poised as if roaring to the heavens. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, though Harry noticed quite a few of them were missing.
No sooner had they passed the imposing statue halfway across the hall when who should come rushing out of one of the doors on their right but Charlie Weasley, short red hair looking extremely unruly, his robes half-on.
"Charlie!" Ron and Ginny shouted. He skidded to a halt, then turned in their direction. When his tired-looking eyes had finally focused on them, he nearly fell backward into a suit of armour.
"Wha- Ginny, Ron!" he exclaimed, clutching his chest. "What in blazes are you two doing HERE?!"
They grinned, running over to their bewildered brother and embracing him. The other four stood back, watching how delighted the three looked (after Charlie had calmed down a touch). Eventually they released, and Charlie looked around at all of them, a weak, confused smile on his broad, kind face.
"But... but what's going on? What are you all doing here, and who - wait, aren't you the Lovegood's little girl?!"
Luna smiled, nodding. Harry had completely forgotten that The Burrow was not that far from the Lovegood homestead.
"HOW did you get here? Well, I can see a few brooms, but... but you couldn't have FLOWN all that way!"
"We did," Ginny said gleefully. "Though some of us were on thestrals."
"Thestrals, even!" He looked as if he wanted to laugh, but was too shocked to manage it properly. "So why- Merlin..."
He had finally taken a good look at Hermione, and his face had slackened.
"What on earth...?"
"I'm a zombie," she said promptly, as if wanting to stop her friends from pussyfooting around the subject for hours on end.
"So this... will be about the dragon heart," he said slowly, his eyes still fixed on Hermione.
"That's right," Ron said, somewhat heatedly. "We've come to change your mind about getting us one, as you don't seem to understand-"
"Save your breath, dear brother," Charlie said, and at last he looked to have calmed down, a triumphant smile spreading over his features. "I daresay Hermione will have her heart soon enough."
"Really?!" five of them chorused; Luna said "That's nice!"
"Actually, I've just been told by- ah, Diluvius!"
A wizened old wizard had just appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily on a walking stick, calmly surveying the cause of such racket. He was wearing a nightgown of deepest violet, and his rather lengthy beard was thrown over his shoulder.
"What have we here, Weasley?" he asked kindly. "Visitors?"
"Diluvius Abernathy, I'd like you to meet my brother, Ronald, and sister, Ginerva." The two of them winced at the use of their full names, especially Ginny. Charlie, taking no notice of this, began motioning to the others. "These are their friends, Hermione Granger-" and the old man peered at her, fascinated, "-Luna Lovegood - it was Luna, wasn't it? - Harry Potter, and-"
"What's that?" the old wizard said, eyes suddenly wide behind his thick spectacles. "Forgive an old man, but I distinctly heard you say 'Harry Potter'."
"I did, sir," he said, beaming. The old wizard surveyed Harry over his pointed nose with mingled apprehension and respect. He, of course, performed the usual check of the hairline.
"So this is young Potter," he said at last. "To finally meet you is something of an honour, now, isn't it?" He offered his hand, and Harry shook it hesitantly. "And who is this other lad?"
"I'm N-Neville," he said nervously. "Neville Longbottom."
The elderly wizard nodded. "Ah, yes, Longbottom. I knew your grandmother. Yes, those were good days, good days, indeed." He stared off into space for a few moments, absorbed in his own memories, then ambled back over to Charlie. "Well, I've let you know what I set out to, and I'll just be going back to my chambers. It was nice meeting you, children," he called over his shoulder. "Good eve!"
"Good eve," they chorused, all of them a bit disgruntled at having just been called "children".
"Well, anyway," Charlie began brightly, "Diluvius has just informed me that one of our older dragons is fading fast. This isn't exactly happy news, but my superiors had consented to donate the heart if any were to pass on in the near future. It's not something that happens often - perhaps that's why they actually agreed to it - but I figured I could at least do that much..."
"Thanks loads, Charlie!" Ron said, grinning. Harry grinned as well, but he noticed Hermione was close to tears.
"What's the matter?" he whispered.
"You... all of you... so kind... for m-me..."
Charlie shrugged. "Can't have the brightest witch of her age dying on us, now, can we?"
~*~
"Just down here," Charlie whispered, motioning them onward.
The cavern would have been pitch black if not for the torches hanging in brackets along the walls. The ceiling was higher still than the entryway of the fortress, and the stalactites seemed quite threatening.
"How much farth-"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Charlie's just said it's not much farther!"
"Sorry, but we've been down here for ages," he replied. "I'm starting to get the willies."
Ginny snickered at the word "willies".
"This is it," Charlie said, stopping suddenly. Harry had to backpedal to keep from running into him. "She's just around this corner. Everyone, stay quiet, and we may be able to get close enough for a good look without waking her." He looked around at them. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Hermione said without hesitation. "I want to see the creature that will be helping me come back to life. To sort've... pay my respects."
He nodded. "Come on, then."
They slowly crept forward into an extremely large chamber. Moonlight filtered through a large growth of amethyst blocking a wide hole in the ceiling, casting a violet-tinted glow throughout the room. At the far end from the mouth, on a sort of dais, rested a dragon.
"A Hungarian Horntail," Harry breathed.
"I see you haven't forgotten your last encounter with one of these," Charlie muttered, grinning.
The lizardlike Horntail's gleaming black scales had taken on a duller sheen with age, and the rise and fall of her sides seemed troubled. The bronze spikes anchored to her head and tail appeared tarnished and cracked, and there were scars all over her body and wings. Charlie raised his lit wandtip higher so they could have a better look.
"How beautiful," Luna breathed.
"How awful," Ron croaked. "Poor old thing."
"This girl's been with us for quite some time," Charlie said in hushed tones. "We call her Old Horny - bit of a joke, there, she's never been much for reproduction. Come to think of it, we've never got so much as a single egg from her, but we-"
"Oop-!"
Neville, who was backing away from the grandiose creature nervously, had slipped on a pebble, and his arms were whirling to prevent himself from falling. Harry and Ginny, who were closest to him, grabbed his arms, but all this accomplished was sending three of them to the floor instead of one. The thudding noise echoed throughout the chamber.
"Now you've done it," Charlie breathed.
As they scrambled to their feet, a deafening roar sounded, resonating in their bones and sending their hearts into overdrive. Before they could consider any course of action, a giant plume of fire erupted from the creature's mouth - thankfully pointed in the general direction of the ceiling. The cluster of amethyst glowed red before resuming its natural colour. Hermione gave a little gasp, and her hands went to her mouth.
As the weathered dragon raised her great head, he saw both Ginny and Ron edge in front of Hermione. Luna, Neville and Charlie made nervous motions, but Harry stepped forward, shaking like a wind-tossed flag.
"What manner of beast disturbs my final moments?"
Speech failed him. Had this dragon not only spoken to him, but actually asked for his name? He looked behind him, to see if any of his companions thought this as strange as he did, but they all looked as terrified as they had before.
"Answer, human!" she hissed.
Harry gulped, then stammered, "Harry P-Potter. I've come for your heart."
The instant he began speaking, the room went deathly silent. He could feel the eyes of his friends boring into his back, and could see the mildly-bemused glint in one of the dragon's enormous orbs.
"Parseltongue. I have not heard that cross a human's lips in quite some time."
Harry stared, awestruck, at the sight before him. The graying scales of the magnificent creature moved with such weight and strain that he almost felt older just looking at them. As he watched, her head drooped slightly, then raised again, a piercing gaze in those half-blind, catlike slits.
"My heart, to restore the life of a friend."
He started, glancing back at Hermione briefly, then responded. "Yes, but how-?"
"Sight may have abandoned Tempestia, but the scents are as strong as ever." Her nostrils flared as she breathed deeply through them, her milky, yellow orbs closed. "The stench of decay; much too pungent to be anything alive, but not so strong as a rotting corpse. The living dead."
"Exactly," he responded, taken aback at how casual she was about this. "But... but how did you know that's why I want-?"
"Harry Puh Potter," she said, adding his stutter into his name, "I have lived far longer than a dragon ought to. I have seen hearts taken from my brethren, and at first I was confused and angered by this. Eventually, my curiosity gripped me so tightly that I stalked one of such heart thieves, and saw what use they made of it. A nobler purpose I could not have imagined... to restore a life."
He did not know what to say to this. Sadness dominated her features, yet she was so accepting of her fate - almost eager.
"Please, Tempestia," he said nervously. "I don't think I can take it from such a virtuous and majestic Horntail such as yourself."
Was that a smile? "We can do without the flattery." A rustle of her leathery wings. "I daresay you'll find more use for it than I. This old one has reached the end of her days, and the life will ebb from these scales within the night. Perhaps I will rest easier knowing that which moved my blood these many centuries will move that of another once more."
"Th-thank you," he said, bowing hesitantly. "Your generosity is boundless." When he raised his head again, he saw she was, in fact, smiling pleasantly, her front legs supporting her weakly and a contented expression on her seasoned face.
"She's in such agony," he said, this time in English to those behind him, "...and she knows she hasn't got much time. It's hard to watch..."
Suddenly, he felt something brush his sleeve, and saw Charlie stepping forward, his wand held at his side.
"What're you-?"
"I'm going to move it from her chest into this enchanted jar," he said softly, gesturing vaguely at a jar on the floor that Harry was almost sure hadn't been there before. "The heart will be a bit fresher if taken while she's living, and... well, Old Horny's misery will be over at last."
"Tempestia," he corrected. "Er, will it be... messy?"
"No, not at all."
"Painful?"
Charlie looked at him quizzically. "Just what did the two of you talk about?"
Harry shook his head. "Just, be quick about it, please. She shouldn't suffer."
For a long moment, everyone looked at Harry, occasionally glancing at the dragon silently waiting for her doom. At last, Charlie raised his wand.
"Farewell, Harry Puh Potter," she hissed warmly.
"Thank you," Harry said. "I will never forget this."
And as Charlie muttered an incantation under his breath, the Horntail's chest began to glow a dull turquoise. The light went through blue to violet, and when it became a dark red, something began to emerge.
It was one of the strangest things Harry had ever seen, a heart floating out of someone's chest - and he had seen a great many strange things. Tempestia's face showed signs of slight discomfort, but still looked quite serene. Then, at the moment when Charlie levitated the lid onto the jar, the dragon slumped forward, still smiling, and breathed no more.
~*~
The scene was quite sober in the sitting room at Thirteen Fifteen, Trebuchet Lane. Seven young wizards and witches were seated around a table, staring at a rather large jar containing an equally-large heart, sitting in a shallow pool of blood.
"I'm not worthy of such sacrifice," Hermione finally breathed, breaking the silence.
"Don't fret over it," Ron said. "That dragon was old, she probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. She seemed ready for it, really."
"She was," Harry said quietly. "Tempestia knew why we needed it, and thought it a noble purpose. She also seemed to think she was going to die tonight, anyway."
"I still think it's barking that you can talk to dragons," Neville said. "I mean, first snakes..."
"Maybe she picked Parseltongue up from a snake at some point," Luna mused. "She was quite elderly."
"Well, dragons are reptiles, too, aren't they?" Hermione suggested. "It's more logical than, say, Crookshanks talking to him."
Harry smiled weakly. "If your cat starts striking up conversations with me, I'm going on holiday to Antarctica and never coming back." He sighed, placing his face in his hands. Through his fingers, he saw Hermione was massaging her temples.
For some reason, Charlie thought this was quite strange, and was looking between the two of them, a disbelieving look playing at his eyes.
"Good lord," he breathed. "I never would've thought."
"What?" Ron asked.
"The two of you! Getting married!"
"Two of who?" Ginny asked, startled.
"Harry and Hermione, of course!"
The two mentioned sat bolt upright in their chairs.
"What the bloody hell are you on about?!" Harry half-shouted.
"The rings, you prat!"
"Wha...?" Harry blinked several times, then glanced at Hermione for support. However, she was now looking at him in an amused-yet-touched fashion.
"Oh, Harry... you're wearing the other one..."
He glanced at his hands, and found it was the truth; there was the other wedding band on his right ringfinger, glinting in the light from the lamps.
"Blimey, I didn't realize I had it on..."
"Well, this is good news!" Charlie exclaimed, beaming. "Wait until I tell mum, she'll positively burst!"
Harry was beside himself. "Charlie, it's- it's not what you-"
"You sly bastard," Neville said, elbowing him in the ribs. "And you told us that all that hand-holding and kissing was just to shut the school up!"
As his jaw hung open, he looked around at everyone. Neville was still flashing him that knowing smile, Ginny was about to fall out of her chair with giggles, Luna was grinning from ear to ear (undoubtedly at the prospect of attending a nude airplane wedding after all), Charlie's fists were on his hips as he surveyed them proudly, and Ron looked as if he'd just been told he was related to kneazles.
Hermione, whom he'd expected to be just as horrified as he was, was giggling, too, but she was also looking at him quite fondly. Frustration and bewilderment dominated his thoughts. Why do these things keep happening to him?
"It's sweet," she whispered. "I didn't know you'd be wearing the other one... but you must see how it looks..."
After a few moments, realization kicked in, and he saw what she meant. Here they had been snogging showily in the halls for quite some time, holding hands and wearing gaudy friendship bracelets, and suddenly they turn up wearing matching rings. Harry began laughing harder than he had done in what seemed like a millennium; as hard as he had when he and Hermione had sorted out that morning in the common room and had shaken hands.
Eventually, due to how loudly he and Hermione were chortling, the rest of them started wondering what the joke was, so Harry told them. Ron, of course, knew the rings were ingredients for the Elixir, and backed them up, which served to convince the others that they weren't just presenting them with another great cover-up. A fresh wave of the giggles hit Hermione upon the completion of the explanation, and they found it to be quite contagious; it was nearly an hour before the laughter died out completely, and after Charlie retired to his chambers, the sextet drifted off toward the spare bedroom, quite exhausted.
~*~
Harry sat bolt upright in bed. Another vision had graced his subconscious, one that his scar was conducting so strongly that he felt like his head would combust from the sheer pain. His hand clapped tightly over it, teeth gritted against the agony, he looked around the room, noticing Hermione wasn't in her bed.
Grabbing his glasses from the nightstand, he slipped back into his shoes, threw his Hogwarts robes over his other clothes, and was about to head for the door when he saw a silhouette at the window.
Hermione was standing there, gazing out at the twinkling sky. Her hands were clasped in front of her, but he could not see her face. Harry hesitated, then crept over to her, careful not to wake his sleeping comrades. When he was two feet from her, she turned and jumped.
"Oh, Harry-! It- I didn't hear you-"
"Shh," he whispered, pointing to the beds. "What are you doing?"
She glanced around at the beds more carefully than he had done, and he heard Neville's snoring falter. Then she pressed a finger to her azure lips, grabbed her travelling cloak and tiptoed toward the door, Harry following close behind.
The first hint of false dawn was playing at the horizon as they emerged into the night air, clutching at their cloaks. When the doors had closed, Hermione had begun walking slowly over the bridge, and Harry caught up with her.
"I don't sleep," she said simply.
"Nightmares?"
"No, I mean I don't sleep. At all. Ever since you revived me, I just... haven't needed to."
"That's right," he breathed. "I remember seeing that when I skimmed over some of the Draught's side effects. But... but you slept in the hospital wing..."
"I pretended to," she said, smiling. "I wanted you and Ron to get a few winks in, and you didn't seem to want to as long as I was awake, so... I acted like I nodded off, just so you wouldn't feel obligated to stay up with me."
"You didn't have to-"
"Would you have slept otherwise?"
Hesitation. "Well... no, probably not."
"Then I did have to. No sense in you two going without rest for the dead girl with a penis." The smile she had been wearing fell slightly. "What's woken you, though?"
"A rather unimportant vision."
"Harry-"
"All I got was anger. This intense, gripping surge of pure hatred. I don't need to be- well, you, to put that one together."
Despite how pale and blue-tinted she was, he thought he could see her blush. "You mean he's not happy that you've managed to escape his wrath yet again."
"On the conk," he said. "I'm almost positive I could feel him thinking about me through the loathing. That's probably why it burned so badly." His eyes began to flare as his jaw set, his scar twinging again. "I have to say the feeling's mutual. If that bitch Bellatrix ever comes near you again-"
"Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed, suddenly peering intently at him. "How bad is it?!"
He realized his hand had returned to his forehead and immediately let go, though it still ached. "Nothing, it's- don't worry over it..."
"Are you sure? I mean, for it to still be hurting, even now-"
"I'm fine," he lied nervously. Her eyes were less than a centimeter from the scar now, her hands on his shoulders, and it seemed to him that his space was being seriously encroached upon. He could feel her hot breath on his nose, and his lips touched her chin.
She seemed to notice this, too, for she dropped back from her toes, becoming nominally shorter than him once again and looking shyly at her shoelaces. "S-sorry," she muttered.
He relaxed, smiling again. "For what, caring too much?"
"That's how we keep ending in trouble," she said, her disquieting black-and-red eyes looking up into his. "I keep doing stupid things in the name of your well-being, or my own selfish desires. I need to start putting my brain to work when it comes to you, as I haven't been doing much of it lately."
Harry sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I said don't worry over it. Maybe you have been a little reckless lately, but... if you weren't, I'd be the one dead, and I know you would never look through a Dark book, which was reckless of me, as well, so... well, things sort've worked out, didn't they?"
Her lips slowly formed a smile, and she coughed. "Well, you should go back inside and get some sleep. I'll just stay out here until you all wake up."
"No, I'll stay with you. I don't feel like going back to bed just yet, anyway," he added quietly.
"But you really should get some sleep, it'll be morning soon-"
"It is morning. Look."
Indeed, the sun was now peeking over the horizon, its brilliant rays stretching wide across the landscape.
"Well... you still need to rest, we have a long fly ahead of us tonight..."
"I can take a nap after the others wake up to keep you company. Until then, you're stuck with me."
A comfortable silence settled over them as they sat down to watch the Romanian sunrise, their backs against the crumbling railing of the stone bridge. Something began playing at the back of Harry's mind. It wasn't something he thought he should ask, but his curiosity got the better of him.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
He cleared his throat nervously. "Er... I've been kind of wondering..."
"C'mon, out with it."
"What's it like?"
A knit of the eyebrows. "Sorry?"
"You know... to... die."
There was a pause so saturated with discomfort that Harry was sure he could have touched it.
"You've heard all those rubbish stories about heading toward a light."
"Of course."
"Well... they're true. Except... they all say how wonderful it is, and how nice it feels. How you feel like you're going to be fine once you get there."
"But... that's not how it is?"
"The light... it is white, and it was quite soothing... but you're not drifting toward it effortlessly, as if on a gentle breeze... it's sucking you in, dragging you, kicking and screaming."
"If you're going to heaven or whatever, shouldn't it be enjoyable?"
She squirmed slightly. "Maybe it would have been... but I didn't want to go. I knew why I died, and I accepted it, but... I didn't want to forsake this plane just yet."
"Why not?"
"Harry... can we please not talk about this anymore? It's... I'd just as soon not think about it."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up, it was-"
A slight smile. "Don't fret over it. I suppose I'd want to know, too."
"What an insensitive git I am. I should've realized it'd be a painful memory."
"I was in the light for a moment... just a moment, and it felt so warm, but I couldn't stand it, because... I felt so out of place. And then, I was speeding away from it... and... and I was in the loo." Her smile became more pronounced. "I don't think I'd ever been so glad to see a toilet."
Harry laughed. "I'm just glad my half-arsed idea worked."
"I know Dumbledore said your actions are considered Dark, but... I can't quite say I agree."
He grinned. "I'd do it again. Anytime."
Despite his best efforts, Harry eventually succumbed to fatigue, his head coming to rest on Hermione's shoulder. She started to move him, but could think of no pressing need to do so. A contented sigh escaped her lips as she held him there, staring into the blinding dawn as black, bittersweet tears fell, splashing on her lapels and soaking Harry's raven locks.
"If but this could last forever..."
~*~ To Be Continued
Year 6 At Hogwarts
by Jessica X
************************************************************************ *****
WARNING LABEL: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. INGREDIENTS OF PRODUCT NOT COPYRIGHTED BY AUTHOR, BUT THE RECIPE IS. RATED R FOR MILD VIOLENCE/LANGUAGE, AND MATURE THEMES: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. IF INGESTED, INDUCE VOMITING, THEN FONDLE A CHEMIST AND ASK IF THEY'VE ANY GRAPES OR RUBBER BANDS.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Not much to say this time around, aside from that Diluvius Abernathy is my character. MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!! (well, ask nicely first, at least)
************************************************************************ *****
~*~ Chapter Fourteen: The Clemency of Tempestia
"Thank Merlin!"
Neville's thestral had suddenly plummeted toward the ground, and Hermione and Luna's steeds followed. Harry, Ron and Ginny immediately tilted their brooms downward, staying as close as possible (Harry's broom being the fastest, he was the only one that quite managed this). As the beasts lightly touched down, Harry pulled the nose of his broom up and halted just above the ground, deftly dismounting. Ginny landed similarly, but Ron fell off just as he leveled out over the grass.
"Shite," he muttered, standing and brushing off the knees of his trousers. "Been flying too long, thought we'd never get here."
"Goggles off!" Ginny said cheerily. They painfully peeled the eyewear from around their heads - the high-velocity journey had, in fact, nearly blown them through their faces.
Neville's eyes widened as soon as he'd blinked a few times. "Whoa..."
Thirteen Fifteen, Trebuchet Lane was not a warm, quaint stable as Harry had surmised, but what appeared to have once been a medieval fortress. The battlements were certainly situated for optimum defence, and it had obviously once sported a drawbridge. In recent centuries, this had been replaced by hinged doors, and a stone bridge permanently connected it to the knoll they had landed on. In the crushing darkness, it looked very foreboding.
"Do we just... knock?" Ron asked hesitantly. "I mean, we traveled by Floo powder last time."
Harry kicked at the grass. "If only we'd had some Floo powder, we wouldn't have had to fly all this way. I didn't fancy stealing some from Dumbledore's office, though... not while he's in it, at any rate."
"This was stupid," Hermione wailed. "You've all risked expulsion so I can keep breathing longer! I'll never be able to pay you back for this, and-"
"Hermione," Harry said pointedly, waggling a hand. She glanced at her own, then sighed.
"Oh, all right, then. Let's just get on with it before-"
All fell silent instantly, and a quick glance around told Harry that the reason was the same for each.
"Was that a... yelp?" Neville ventured.
"Some kind of animal or another," Ginny breathed.
"I think Hermione's right." Harry warily eyed the nearby forest, clutching his Firebolt tightly. "Let's try and get inside."
They left the thestrals to graze on the knoll (trusting they could defend themselves against any dangers that may turn up) as three of them shouldered broomsticks. Taking a deep breath, Harry led them over the bridge and to the doors. When they reached them, however, they swung open welcomingly of their own accord, and the travelers cautiously walked through.
They were in an extremely large foyer with a high ceiling, decorated with all sorts of tapestries and statues. One of such statues, an enormous Norwegian Ridgeback, stood proudly in the centre, poised as if roaring to the heavens. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, though Harry noticed quite a few of them were missing.
No sooner had they passed the imposing statue halfway across the hall when who should come rushing out of one of the doors on their right but Charlie Weasley, short red hair looking extremely unruly, his robes half-on.
"Charlie!" Ron and Ginny shouted. He skidded to a halt, then turned in their direction. When his tired-looking eyes had finally focused on them, he nearly fell backward into a suit of armour.
"Wha- Ginny, Ron!" he exclaimed, clutching his chest. "What in blazes are you two doing HERE?!"
They grinned, running over to their bewildered brother and embracing him. The other four stood back, watching how delighted the three looked (after Charlie had calmed down a touch). Eventually they released, and Charlie looked around at all of them, a weak, confused smile on his broad, kind face.
"But... but what's going on? What are you all doing here, and who - wait, aren't you the Lovegood's little girl?!"
Luna smiled, nodding. Harry had completely forgotten that The Burrow was not that far from the Lovegood homestead.
"HOW did you get here? Well, I can see a few brooms, but... but you couldn't have FLOWN all that way!"
"We did," Ginny said gleefully. "Though some of us were on thestrals."
"Thestrals, even!" He looked as if he wanted to laugh, but was too shocked to manage it properly. "So why- Merlin..."
He had finally taken a good look at Hermione, and his face had slackened.
"What on earth...?"
"I'm a zombie," she said promptly, as if wanting to stop her friends from pussyfooting around the subject for hours on end.
"So this... will be about the dragon heart," he said slowly, his eyes still fixed on Hermione.
"That's right," Ron said, somewhat heatedly. "We've come to change your mind about getting us one, as you don't seem to understand-"
"Save your breath, dear brother," Charlie said, and at last he looked to have calmed down, a triumphant smile spreading over his features. "I daresay Hermione will have her heart soon enough."
"Really?!" five of them chorused; Luna said "That's nice!"
"Actually, I've just been told by- ah, Diluvius!"
A wizened old wizard had just appeared in the doorway, leaning heavily on a walking stick, calmly surveying the cause of such racket. He was wearing a nightgown of deepest violet, and his rather lengthy beard was thrown over his shoulder.
"What have we here, Weasley?" he asked kindly. "Visitors?"
"Diluvius Abernathy, I'd like you to meet my brother, Ronald, and sister, Ginerva." The two of them winced at the use of their full names, especially Ginny. Charlie, taking no notice of this, began motioning to the others. "These are their friends, Hermione Granger-" and the old man peered at her, fascinated, "-Luna Lovegood - it was Luna, wasn't it? - Harry Potter, and-"
"What's that?" the old wizard said, eyes suddenly wide behind his thick spectacles. "Forgive an old man, but I distinctly heard you say 'Harry Potter'."
"I did, sir," he said, beaming. The old wizard surveyed Harry over his pointed nose with mingled apprehension and respect. He, of course, performed the usual check of the hairline.
"So this is young Potter," he said at last. "To finally meet you is something of an honour, now, isn't it?" He offered his hand, and Harry shook it hesitantly. "And who is this other lad?"
"I'm N-Neville," he said nervously. "Neville Longbottom."
The elderly wizard nodded. "Ah, yes, Longbottom. I knew your grandmother. Yes, those were good days, good days, indeed." He stared off into space for a few moments, absorbed in his own memories, then ambled back over to Charlie. "Well, I've let you know what I set out to, and I'll just be going back to my chambers. It was nice meeting you, children," he called over his shoulder. "Good eve!"
"Good eve," they chorused, all of them a bit disgruntled at having just been called "children".
"Well, anyway," Charlie began brightly, "Diluvius has just informed me that one of our older dragons is fading fast. This isn't exactly happy news, but my superiors had consented to donate the heart if any were to pass on in the near future. It's not something that happens often - perhaps that's why they actually agreed to it - but I figured I could at least do that much..."
"Thanks loads, Charlie!" Ron said, grinning. Harry grinned as well, but he noticed Hermione was close to tears.
"What's the matter?" he whispered.
"You... all of you... so kind... for m-me..."
Charlie shrugged. "Can't have the brightest witch of her age dying on us, now, can we?"
~*~
"Just down here," Charlie whispered, motioning them onward.
The cavern would have been pitch black if not for the torches hanging in brackets along the walls. The ceiling was higher still than the entryway of the fortress, and the stalactites seemed quite threatening.
"How much farth-"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed. "Charlie's just said it's not much farther!"
"Sorry, but we've been down here for ages," he replied. "I'm starting to get the willies."
Ginny snickered at the word "willies".
"This is it," Charlie said, stopping suddenly. Harry had to backpedal to keep from running into him. "She's just around this corner. Everyone, stay quiet, and we may be able to get close enough for a good look without waking her." He looked around at them. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes," Hermione said without hesitation. "I want to see the creature that will be helping me come back to life. To sort've... pay my respects."
He nodded. "Come on, then."
They slowly crept forward into an extremely large chamber. Moonlight filtered through a large growth of amethyst blocking a wide hole in the ceiling, casting a violet-tinted glow throughout the room. At the far end from the mouth, on a sort of dais, rested a dragon.
"A Hungarian Horntail," Harry breathed.
"I see you haven't forgotten your last encounter with one of these," Charlie muttered, grinning.
The lizardlike Horntail's gleaming black scales had taken on a duller sheen with age, and the rise and fall of her sides seemed troubled. The bronze spikes anchored to her head and tail appeared tarnished and cracked, and there were scars all over her body and wings. Charlie raised his lit wandtip higher so they could have a better look.
"How beautiful," Luna breathed.
"How awful," Ron croaked. "Poor old thing."
"This girl's been with us for quite some time," Charlie said in hushed tones. "We call her Old Horny - bit of a joke, there, she's never been much for reproduction. Come to think of it, we've never got so much as a single egg from her, but we-"
"Oop-!"
Neville, who was backing away from the grandiose creature nervously, had slipped on a pebble, and his arms were whirling to prevent himself from falling. Harry and Ginny, who were closest to him, grabbed his arms, but all this accomplished was sending three of them to the floor instead of one. The thudding noise echoed throughout the chamber.
"Now you've done it," Charlie breathed.
As they scrambled to their feet, a deafening roar sounded, resonating in their bones and sending their hearts into overdrive. Before they could consider any course of action, a giant plume of fire erupted from the creature's mouth - thankfully pointed in the general direction of the ceiling. The cluster of amethyst glowed red before resuming its natural colour. Hermione gave a little gasp, and her hands went to her mouth.
As the weathered dragon raised her great head, he saw both Ginny and Ron edge in front of Hermione. Luna, Neville and Charlie made nervous motions, but Harry stepped forward, shaking like a wind-tossed flag.
"What manner of beast disturbs my final moments?"
Speech failed him. Had this dragon not only spoken to him, but actually asked for his name? He looked behind him, to see if any of his companions thought this as strange as he did, but they all looked as terrified as they had before.
"Answer, human!" she hissed.
Harry gulped, then stammered, "Harry P-Potter. I've come for your heart."
The instant he began speaking, the room went deathly silent. He could feel the eyes of his friends boring into his back, and could see the mildly-bemused glint in one of the dragon's enormous orbs.
"Parseltongue. I have not heard that cross a human's lips in quite some time."
Harry stared, awestruck, at the sight before him. The graying scales of the magnificent creature moved with such weight and strain that he almost felt older just looking at them. As he watched, her head drooped slightly, then raised again, a piercing gaze in those half-blind, catlike slits.
"My heart, to restore the life of a friend."
He started, glancing back at Hermione briefly, then responded. "Yes, but how-?"
"Sight may have abandoned Tempestia, but the scents are as strong as ever." Her nostrils flared as she breathed deeply through them, her milky, yellow orbs closed. "The stench of decay; much too pungent to be anything alive, but not so strong as a rotting corpse. The living dead."
"Exactly," he responded, taken aback at how casual she was about this. "But... but how did you know that's why I want-?"
"Harry Puh Potter," she said, adding his stutter into his name, "I have lived far longer than a dragon ought to. I have seen hearts taken from my brethren, and at first I was confused and angered by this. Eventually, my curiosity gripped me so tightly that I stalked one of such heart thieves, and saw what use they made of it. A nobler purpose I could not have imagined... to restore a life."
He did not know what to say to this. Sadness dominated her features, yet she was so accepting of her fate - almost eager.
"Please, Tempestia," he said nervously. "I don't think I can take it from such a virtuous and majestic Horntail such as yourself."
Was that a smile? "We can do without the flattery." A rustle of her leathery wings. "I daresay you'll find more use for it than I. This old one has reached the end of her days, and the life will ebb from these scales within the night. Perhaps I will rest easier knowing that which moved my blood these many centuries will move that of another once more."
"Th-thank you," he said, bowing hesitantly. "Your generosity is boundless." When he raised his head again, he saw she was, in fact, smiling pleasantly, her front legs supporting her weakly and a contented expression on her seasoned face.
"She's in such agony," he said, this time in English to those behind him, "...and she knows she hasn't got much time. It's hard to watch..."
Suddenly, he felt something brush his sleeve, and saw Charlie stepping forward, his wand held at his side.
"What're you-?"
"I'm going to move it from her chest into this enchanted jar," he said softly, gesturing vaguely at a jar on the floor that Harry was almost sure hadn't been there before. "The heart will be a bit fresher if taken while she's living, and... well, Old Horny's misery will be over at last."
"Tempestia," he corrected. "Er, will it be... messy?"
"No, not at all."
"Painful?"
Charlie looked at him quizzically. "Just what did the two of you talk about?"
Harry shook his head. "Just, be quick about it, please. She shouldn't suffer."
For a long moment, everyone looked at Harry, occasionally glancing at the dragon silently waiting for her doom. At last, Charlie raised his wand.
"Farewell, Harry Puh Potter," she hissed warmly.
"Thank you," Harry said. "I will never forget this."
And as Charlie muttered an incantation under his breath, the Horntail's chest began to glow a dull turquoise. The light went through blue to violet, and when it became a dark red, something began to emerge.
It was one of the strangest things Harry had ever seen, a heart floating out of someone's chest - and he had seen a great many strange things. Tempestia's face showed signs of slight discomfort, but still looked quite serene. Then, at the moment when Charlie levitated the lid onto the jar, the dragon slumped forward, still smiling, and breathed no more.
~*~
The scene was quite sober in the sitting room at Thirteen Fifteen, Trebuchet Lane. Seven young wizards and witches were seated around a table, staring at a rather large jar containing an equally-large heart, sitting in a shallow pool of blood.
"I'm not worthy of such sacrifice," Hermione finally breathed, breaking the silence.
"Don't fret over it," Ron said. "That dragon was old, she probably wouldn't have lasted much longer. She seemed ready for it, really."
"She was," Harry said quietly. "Tempestia knew why we needed it, and thought it a noble purpose. She also seemed to think she was going to die tonight, anyway."
"I still think it's barking that you can talk to dragons," Neville said. "I mean, first snakes..."
"Maybe she picked Parseltongue up from a snake at some point," Luna mused. "She was quite elderly."
"Well, dragons are reptiles, too, aren't they?" Hermione suggested. "It's more logical than, say, Crookshanks talking to him."
Harry smiled weakly. "If your cat starts striking up conversations with me, I'm going on holiday to Antarctica and never coming back." He sighed, placing his face in his hands. Through his fingers, he saw Hermione was massaging her temples.
For some reason, Charlie thought this was quite strange, and was looking between the two of them, a disbelieving look playing at his eyes.
"Good lord," he breathed. "I never would've thought."
"What?" Ron asked.
"The two of you! Getting married!"
"Two of who?" Ginny asked, startled.
"Harry and Hermione, of course!"
The two mentioned sat bolt upright in their chairs.
"What the bloody hell are you on about?!" Harry half-shouted.
"The rings, you prat!"
"Wha...?" Harry blinked several times, then glanced at Hermione for support. However, she was now looking at him in an amused-yet-touched fashion.
"Oh, Harry... you're wearing the other one..."
He glanced at his hands, and found it was the truth; there was the other wedding band on his right ringfinger, glinting in the light from the lamps.
"Blimey, I didn't realize I had it on..."
"Well, this is good news!" Charlie exclaimed, beaming. "Wait until I tell mum, she'll positively burst!"
Harry was beside himself. "Charlie, it's- it's not what you-"
"You sly bastard," Neville said, elbowing him in the ribs. "And you told us that all that hand-holding and kissing was just to shut the school up!"
As his jaw hung open, he looked around at everyone. Neville was still flashing him that knowing smile, Ginny was about to fall out of her chair with giggles, Luna was grinning from ear to ear (undoubtedly at the prospect of attending a nude airplane wedding after all), Charlie's fists were on his hips as he surveyed them proudly, and Ron looked as if he'd just been told he was related to kneazles.
Hermione, whom he'd expected to be just as horrified as he was, was giggling, too, but she was also looking at him quite fondly. Frustration and bewilderment dominated his thoughts. Why do these things keep happening to him?
"It's sweet," she whispered. "I didn't know you'd be wearing the other one... but you must see how it looks..."
After a few moments, realization kicked in, and he saw what she meant. Here they had been snogging showily in the halls for quite some time, holding hands and wearing gaudy friendship bracelets, and suddenly they turn up wearing matching rings. Harry began laughing harder than he had done in what seemed like a millennium; as hard as he had when he and Hermione had sorted out that morning in the common room and had shaken hands.
Eventually, due to how loudly he and Hermione were chortling, the rest of them started wondering what the joke was, so Harry told them. Ron, of course, knew the rings were ingredients for the Elixir, and backed them up, which served to convince the others that they weren't just presenting them with another great cover-up. A fresh wave of the giggles hit Hermione upon the completion of the explanation, and they found it to be quite contagious; it was nearly an hour before the laughter died out completely, and after Charlie retired to his chambers, the sextet drifted off toward the spare bedroom, quite exhausted.
~*~
Harry sat bolt upright in bed. Another vision had graced his subconscious, one that his scar was conducting so strongly that he felt like his head would combust from the sheer pain. His hand clapped tightly over it, teeth gritted against the agony, he looked around the room, noticing Hermione wasn't in her bed.
Grabbing his glasses from the nightstand, he slipped back into his shoes, threw his Hogwarts robes over his other clothes, and was about to head for the door when he saw a silhouette at the window.
Hermione was standing there, gazing out at the twinkling sky. Her hands were clasped in front of her, but he could not see her face. Harry hesitated, then crept over to her, careful not to wake his sleeping comrades. When he was two feet from her, she turned and jumped.
"Oh, Harry-! It- I didn't hear you-"
"Shh," he whispered, pointing to the beds. "What are you doing?"
She glanced around at the beds more carefully than he had done, and he heard Neville's snoring falter. Then she pressed a finger to her azure lips, grabbed her travelling cloak and tiptoed toward the door, Harry following close behind.
The first hint of false dawn was playing at the horizon as they emerged into the night air, clutching at their cloaks. When the doors had closed, Hermione had begun walking slowly over the bridge, and Harry caught up with her.
"I don't sleep," she said simply.
"Nightmares?"
"No, I mean I don't sleep. At all. Ever since you revived me, I just... haven't needed to."
"That's right," he breathed. "I remember seeing that when I skimmed over some of the Draught's side effects. But... but you slept in the hospital wing..."
"I pretended to," she said, smiling. "I wanted you and Ron to get a few winks in, and you didn't seem to want to as long as I was awake, so... I acted like I nodded off, just so you wouldn't feel obligated to stay up with me."
"You didn't have to-"
"Would you have slept otherwise?"
Hesitation. "Well... no, probably not."
"Then I did have to. No sense in you two going without rest for the dead girl with a penis." The smile she had been wearing fell slightly. "What's woken you, though?"
"A rather unimportant vision."
"Harry-"
"All I got was anger. This intense, gripping surge of pure hatred. I don't need to be- well, you, to put that one together."
Despite how pale and blue-tinted she was, he thought he could see her blush. "You mean he's not happy that you've managed to escape his wrath yet again."
"On the conk," he said. "I'm almost positive I could feel him thinking about me through the loathing. That's probably why it burned so badly." His eyes began to flare as his jaw set, his scar twinging again. "I have to say the feeling's mutual. If that bitch Bellatrix ever comes near you again-"
"Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed, suddenly peering intently at him. "How bad is it?!"
He realized his hand had returned to his forehead and immediately let go, though it still ached. "Nothing, it's- don't worry over it..."
"Are you sure? I mean, for it to still be hurting, even now-"
"I'm fine," he lied nervously. Her eyes were less than a centimeter from the scar now, her hands on his shoulders, and it seemed to him that his space was being seriously encroached upon. He could feel her hot breath on his nose, and his lips touched her chin.
She seemed to notice this, too, for she dropped back from her toes, becoming nominally shorter than him once again and looking shyly at her shoelaces. "S-sorry," she muttered.
He relaxed, smiling again. "For what, caring too much?"
"That's how we keep ending in trouble," she said, her disquieting black-and-red eyes looking up into his. "I keep doing stupid things in the name of your well-being, or my own selfish desires. I need to start putting my brain to work when it comes to you, as I haven't been doing much of it lately."
Harry sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I said don't worry over it. Maybe you have been a little reckless lately, but... if you weren't, I'd be the one dead, and I know you would never look through a Dark book, which was reckless of me, as well, so... well, things sort've worked out, didn't they?"
Her lips slowly formed a smile, and she coughed. "Well, you should go back inside and get some sleep. I'll just stay out here until you all wake up."
"No, I'll stay with you. I don't feel like going back to bed just yet, anyway," he added quietly.
"But you really should get some sleep, it'll be morning soon-"
"It is morning. Look."
Indeed, the sun was now peeking over the horizon, its brilliant rays stretching wide across the landscape.
"Well... you still need to rest, we have a long fly ahead of us tonight..."
"I can take a nap after the others wake up to keep you company. Until then, you're stuck with me."
A comfortable silence settled over them as they sat down to watch the Romanian sunrise, their backs against the crumbling railing of the stone bridge. Something began playing at the back of Harry's mind. It wasn't something he thought he should ask, but his curiosity got the better of him.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
He cleared his throat nervously. "Er... I've been kind of wondering..."
"C'mon, out with it."
"What's it like?"
A knit of the eyebrows. "Sorry?"
"You know... to... die."
There was a pause so saturated with discomfort that Harry was sure he could have touched it.
"You've heard all those rubbish stories about heading toward a light."
"Of course."
"Well... they're true. Except... they all say how wonderful it is, and how nice it feels. How you feel like you're going to be fine once you get there."
"But... that's not how it is?"
"The light... it is white, and it was quite soothing... but you're not drifting toward it effortlessly, as if on a gentle breeze... it's sucking you in, dragging you, kicking and screaming."
"If you're going to heaven or whatever, shouldn't it be enjoyable?"
She squirmed slightly. "Maybe it would have been... but I didn't want to go. I knew why I died, and I accepted it, but... I didn't want to forsake this plane just yet."
"Why not?"
"Harry... can we please not talk about this anymore? It's... I'd just as soon not think about it."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up, it was-"
A slight smile. "Don't fret over it. I suppose I'd want to know, too."
"What an insensitive git I am. I should've realized it'd be a painful memory."
"I was in the light for a moment... just a moment, and it felt so warm, but I couldn't stand it, because... I felt so out of place. And then, I was speeding away from it... and... and I was in the loo." Her smile became more pronounced. "I don't think I'd ever been so glad to see a toilet."
Harry laughed. "I'm just glad my half-arsed idea worked."
"I know Dumbledore said your actions are considered Dark, but... I can't quite say I agree."
He grinned. "I'd do it again. Anytime."
Despite his best efforts, Harry eventually succumbed to fatigue, his head coming to rest on Hermione's shoulder. She started to move him, but could think of no pressing need to do so. A contented sigh escaped her lips as she held him there, staring into the blinding dawn as black, bittersweet tears fell, splashing on her lapels and soaking Harry's raven locks.
"If but this could last forever..."
~*~ To Be Continued