Harry Potter and the Birth of a New Sun

Harry Potter and the Birth of a New Sun

Chapter 24 - Nightmares

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Four fairies fluttered over Gabriella's unconscious body, each empathically reflecting the state of her seven chakras. Alternating in colour and brightness, they were immediate visual indicators of both her physical and magical well being. In all the days Harry had been at St. Mungo's, more than he could now remember, he had only seen such fairies used in two ways: to monitor those soon to die, and to scrutinize those soon to be imprisoned. The fairies could sense when death was near, alerting family members to come to the bedside, but they could also sense a patient's desire to commit a criminal act before it actually happened, warning staff of any impending wrongdoing.

Gabriella had been released from the Stasis spell almost immediately after Harry had arrived with her from Fengsle Isle. She was fine; at least, Harry thought she was. The only thing unusual was that she refused to let her mother, Soseh, fret over her. Despite her generally good health and well being, the Healers of St. Mungo's encouraged by Aurors from the Ministry poked and prodded her mercilessly, convinced she had been hexed or was under the control of an Imperius curse. Her mind was probed, her body scanned - all to no avail. She remembered nothing after having been apprehended just after leaving Cho and Anthony's apartment. That she would not tell the Aurors why she was in France to begin with, only fed the flames of their suspicions. Soseh was incensed that they were treating her daughter so poorly, while Harry wondered to what extremes Draco was being put to similar tests.

Gabriella had just been given a light sleeping draught to help her rest after the evening's tortures had ended. Soseh kissed Harry's cheek and stormed out of the room, cursing in Armenian; he agreed with some of the more choice expletives and flopped down in one of the chairs to rest, if only for a moment. He had just closed his eyes and was beginning to drift off, when the door opened. It was Sirius. Harry straightened.

"Sirius?" Harry asked. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be--"

"How is she?" Sirius cut in. Harry slumped down, his head dropping back against the wall as he rubbed his face with his hands. He hadn't been feeling well himself. Stress... exhaustion... he wasn't sure.

"Well, if she didn't hate the Ministry before she came to Britain, she certainly will now. Add it to the list we have in common." Harry looked over at Gabriella as she lay on the bed. "She's yet to ask me to help get her out of here and she won't let her own mother near her. It's like she has something to prove. Almost as if she wants them to test her; it's crazy!" Harry stood. "Soseh on the other hand." He shook his head. "If she could use a wand, she would have hexed half the staff back to the stone age. I'm still waiting for a dragon to show up outside the window." Sirius mustered half a smile.

Harry walked over to Gabriella's bedside, held her hand, and began to stroke it with his own. Even now, asleep with thoughts that wandered the world, she was proud, defiant, more capable than Harry could imagine - next to Molly Weasley, perhaps the strongest woman he had ever known. His hands began to tremble.

"You love her, don't you?" Sirius whispered, placing his arm about Harry's shoulders.

"I would die for her," Harry whispered back.

"Oh, Harry," said Sirius, squeezing his godson's shoulders, "you'd die for a lot of people. I heard what happened outside of the Burrow. You know, it's no good dying for someone if all you do is stand in front of a freight train."

"Sorry."

"Sorry?" Sirius snapped. "Sorry? Harry, you need to remember there are far more good reasons to live than there are to die, and I've been watching over one of them for you for the last week. You're no good to Jamie dead; you above all people should know that."

Harry's thoughts fell on his own son and what Voldemort intended to do with him, if he could be found. It was one thing to put his own life on the line, but now... now so many were in danger. The trembling of his hands moved up his arms and soon his whole body began to tremble; he turned and held Sirius in his arms, squeezing the cloth of his robes in his hands. With each passing day, it was becoming clearer to the Gryffindor what the ultimate fate of the prophecy would be, and the signs, as he read them, were not in his favour.

"Haven't you heard? I'm already dead; part of me at least," Harry choked into Sirius shoulder. "I'll never--"

"Don't talk like that! Don't ever think it!" Sirius held Harry by the shoulders and looked into his face. "It's those bloody ghosts! Yeah, I've heard them talking in the corridors of the castle. It's rubbish!" Harry wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"Is it?" he whispered. "I wonder. I think maybe they know more than they let on." He turned back to look at Gabriella and tried to gather himself. "I... I guess we won't be making it to New York this year."

"No," said Sirius sadly. "Maybe summer."

"Yeah... maybe summer."

There was a long pause as they watched the fairies float about, each shining as brightly as ever. Finally, Harry looked back at Sirius.

"So... Jamie's okay then? And Cho?"

"And Anthony," added Sirius deliberately. "They're fine. They're all fine. Anthony's a good young man and he truly cares for both Cho and Jamie. But, he returns to Hogwarts tonight. In fact, I better be going. I don't want them alone when he leaves. I just needed... I just needed to be sure you were okay. Are you?"

"Last year," Harry began, "just two rooms over... two rooms... Cho nearly died in my arms. There were no fairies then. I guess they figured there was no hope." He took in a deep breath. "But then... then she came back to me." Harry walked over and looked out the window. Snow was lightly falling onto the street below where Muggles past oblivious to the magic all around them. Harry's forehead pressed against the glass.

"I did love her... you know? At least I thought I did. Maybe I still do, but Cho and me... it just wasn't..." Harry shook his head and walked over to Gabriella's side, taking her once more by the hand as she slept. He stroked the long strands of black hair that ran down the side of her face, as the fairylight danced across her closed eyes. "Oh, Sirius... for her... for her I've walked through fire and been tempered by it. You're right, I love her. But I'd do far more than die for her... I'd kill."

Harry kissed her on the forehead, his own pounding from lack of sleep. He faced his godfather and pointed toward the window.

"He's out there, searching for them now," Harry whispered. "He won't rest till he's found them, and I won't rest until I've found him. It won't end until one of us dies."

"And it's NOT going to be you!"

Harry looked down at his hands and then back to Sirius. The trembling had stopped.

"No. No it's not."

"Good." Sirius started for the door, touched the handle and then turned around.

"Harry, you haven't told her, have you? Where they are?"

"No, but she asked... more than once."

"I knew she would. You want to tell her, don't you?" Harry shook his head, no, but looked away. "Liar," Sirius said with a smile. "Harry, I don't need to tell you how imperative it is for the Secret Keeper to keep the secret. There are only the five of us that now know, and, until we get a handle on where Voldemort is, you can't tell a soul. No one, do you understand? Return to Hogwarts, watch and wait, but tell no one, not even Ron or Hermione - not even Dumbledore.

"I know."

"Do you?"

"I KNOW! I won't let it happen again!"

"Then you're a better man than me," said Sirius with a look of pride in his eyes. "And my work here is done." Once more he started for the door only to stop again. This time he did not turn back toward Harry, but instead spoke to the closed door, his hand lightly touching against the wood. "You know I love you, don't you?"

"I love you more."

Harry did not see the smile appear and broaden across Sirius' face as he opened and left the hospital room. Nor did Sirius see the smile on Harry. Neither needed to, for both already knew. As the door clicked shut, Gabriella began to stir behind Harry.

It began with a mutter, and then her hand began to shake. Soon her whole body was convulsing. One of the fairies flashed from blue to green; it bore a startled expression upon its face. As the bed shook violently, Gabriella's mutter turned to a moan, the moan to a scream, and the scream became unearthly.

"NOOOOOOOO!" The blood curdling cry pierced Harry's ears as the door swung open and the Healer ran in. Gabriella sat bolt upright and screamed for help. The Healer pulled her wand and a yellow light began to bathe Gabriella's open but blank eyes. It had no effect. Nothing worked until Harry grabbed her in his arms and tried to calm her.

"Shhh," he whispered. "I'm here. I'm always here. It's okay; you're safe."

Gabriella began to come out of the nightmare.

"H-Harry?" she breathed. "Harry. Oh, praise Asha." She grabbed him in her own arms.

"What was it, Ms. Darbinyan?" asked the Healer. "What were you screaming about?"

Gabriella looked up at the Healer, confused. The trembling was gone and her eyes clear.

"Screaming? I wasn't screaming," she said indignantly. "I'm fine. Why? What's the matter?"

"Gab, baby," Harry said gently, "you were having a nightmare. You were crying out."

"Nightmare?" asked Gabriella incredulously. "I just now woke up. I feel fine... really." She smiled as if nothing had happened.

"Curious," muttered the Healer. She began to scan Gabriella once again with her wand. Harry noticed that the fairy that had flashed a bright, pale green was once again a beautiful, deep, cobalt blue. "The Death Eaters have clearly done something to her, but what? Perhaps more tests are in order. I think--"

"How do you know it's not from something you people have been doing?" spat Harry angrily. "I'd be screaming too after some of the things you've done to her."

The Healer nodded dispassionately, conceding the point.

"True. That is possible, but we really should examine--"

"GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT! Or you'll be screaming in three seconds!" Harry pulled his wand. "TWO!" The healer darted for the door. "ONE!" She was gone. Gabriella began to laugh, oblivious to the tension of the situation, as if she'd just woken during a summer cruise on the Mediterranean, needing a bit more suntan lotion.

"Harry!" she exclaimed. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" She laughed again, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You... you don't remember anything, do you?" Harry asked.

"Remember what?"

"They were turning your brain inside out three hours ago!"

"No."

Harry began to pace the room. "I have to get you out of here."

"Don't be silly!" Gabriella exclaimed. "They won't let me return to Hogwarts if they don't think I'm... well, me."

"Damn it, Gabriella, you're not you! Something's not right. You were fine when you arrived, but now... if they've hurt you... so help me I'll--"

Soseh burst into the room, waving a parchment in her hands.

"You are free!" she yelled. "Put on your clothes. We leave, now!"

"Mama, I can't--"

"You can. You will. The Minister has signed the papers. Now gather your clothes." Gabriella obliged and got of bed as if nothing had happened.

It took less than an hour for Harry to escort Gabriella back to Hogwarts. She had insisted that her mother not come along, which hurt Soseh somewhat, but Gabriella would not sway from her position. She demanded that she be seen as strong when she returned to school and having a mother hold her hand as she entered the front doors would not convey that impression. Finally, Soseh agreed, but before she had a chance to kiss her daughter goodbye, Gabriella took the Portkey that transported her and Harry to the front of Hogwarts. Harry scolded her for treating her mother so poorly, but she didn't seem to care.

Professor Dumbledore greeted them at the castle steps and invited them into the Great Hall to tea. He was particularly interested in Harry's story of the battle on Singehorn's mountain. He was not the only one. A number of students had already arrived; some had stayed over the holiday. Most of the others would return tomorrow on the Hogwarts Express. The white-haired wizard looked tired, but his eyes were clear and as blue as ever. He didn't ask any real questions, but instead lamented that the holiday decorations would be taken down in the morning.

"All things must come to an end," he said with a sad smile, and then took another sip of tea. "But even after the decorations have been put away into their boxes, the spirit of Christmas lives on in each of us. Don't you think, Harry?" For an instant, Harry caught a glimpse of blue from the corner of Dumbledore's eye, but the aged wizard looked away. Harry nodded, but was feeling the furthest he'd been from Christmas cheer since his days with the Dursleys.

That night, they all went to bed early. It would be the last such night. Classes began the year in earnest. Homework was worse than ever and everyone was complaining about the burdensome workload. Harry found himself spending more time with Ron than with Gabriella. Since returning, she was somewhat smothering when they were together - constantly trying to get Harry alone, asking dozens of questions, and reminding him of Rita Skeeter. At first, Harry thought she was just extremely curious about what had happened since she was under the Death Eaters' Stasis spell. But those types of questions ended a few days ago and now they were growing more personal, probing for information about Harry's friends and family.

"I'm tellin' you mate," said Ron as the two made their way back from the library, "she wants a ring around her finger." He sang the last part as he swirled one finger about the ring finger of his left hand. "Valentines is just around the corner!" Harry just shrugged, letting out a long sigh.

"Maybe."

It was late and he was tired, wondering why in Merlin's name he decided to return to Hogwarts. It was bad enough that he had to prepare for his NEWTS, but he also had to finish up last semester's work as well, while trying to follow the battles going on around the world in hope on picking up on Voldemort's whereabouts. What little spare time he had on evenings and every Saturday was spent training with Ronan and the other Centaurs of the Forbidden Forest. Quidditch practice was squeezed in on Sundays and Ron managed practices in the afternoons. As the weeks passed, it was growing more and more taxing, and he was thankful that no matter how grumpy and upset he could get, Ron seemed to be feeling worse. Not only did he have nearly everything Harry had on his plate, but he also had something far worse - a wedding to plan.

"I swear on Morgana's grave, Harry, if she asks me 'Pink or mauve?' one more time, I'm going to bloody explode." Ron let out a low groan and Harry patted his friend's back.

"Just warn me, okay?" requested Harry with a smile.

They were commiserating as they dragged their way back to Gryffindor Tower when someone called from behind.

"Harry!"

Harry looked back down the corridor to find, much to his surprise, Tracey Davis running towards him. Tracey had become close friends with Gabriella over the last year and she was, for Harry's Knut, one of the better Slytherins he knew. Her face was flush and she was clearly out of breath, having just climbed the staircases from the dungeons. She ran up to Harry and Ron, and then took Harry by the arm.

"It's happening again. Come, quick."

Harry didn't need to be told twice; he knew. They had talked about it just after they started the new year and Harry had asked that Tracey watch Gabriella in case the symptoms reappeared. The three students began to run down the steps and, as one staircase began to slide into position, Tracey finally had a moment to catch her breath and explain.

"She fell asleep reading her Potions book. She's been working so hard - making up for last semester. I had just put a blanket about her shoulders, when I heard it. At first, it was just a whimper. I thought it was just a little bad dream, but it kept getting worse and worse. She began to scream, then she started to howl your name and now she won't stop. It's like she's locked in a trance, she can't see anyone, but keeps screaming your name."

Within minutes Harry, Ron and Tracey were climbing down into the girls' dormitory. Harry could hear the screams.

"Blimey!" exclaimed Ron as they pushed open the door to the room.

When they walked in, they found Millicent Bulstrode and another female Slytherin casting silencing spells, but they were having no effect. Just seeing someone point a wand at Gabriella in that way irritated Harry and, as he pushed them aside, he expelled both their wands with the wave of his hand.

"Get out!" he yelled.

"You can't tell me--"

"GET OUT!"

Both of them left, Millicent casting him a nasty stare. If she had glared at Harry a moment longer, she would have hopped out of the room as a toad. Gabriella howled again and Harry came to her side and dropped to his knees.

He grabbed her trembling hands in his and called her name. There was an immediate look of recognition in Gabriella's eyes. The distance cleared and they focused back to the here and now. She grabbed Harry and pulled him close. The trembling stopped. The screaming stopped. Then the most obscure thing happened: she yawned. She let go of Harry's hands, stretch out her arms as if rising from a long slumber and... yawned.

"Harry?" she asked curiously. "What are you doing here? Don't you know what trouble you'll get into?" Her eyes began to dart around, seeing Tracey and wondering what she'd say. Then she saw the other boy in her dorm. "Ron?" she asked.

"Hi," he said meekly and waved. His eyes were fixed on a lace nightgown that was draped across Tracey's bed - dark green, but sheer enough to show the white sheets beneath. "Erm...."

"You were screaming, Gabriella," said Harry, taking her by the hand. "They couldn't get you to stop."

"Don't be silly," said Gabriella. "I only just now fell asleep."

"What he says is true, Gab," said Tracey. "It's been almost thirty minutes. The whole dorm knows." Gabriella stood up, a bit indignant.

"This is just ridiculous. I was just taking a nap! I should know if--"

"If it was just a nap," interrupted Ron, "why are you dripping wet?"

Gabriella looked down at her own robes. She was sweaty; not just a little glow about the eyes, but drenched through her robes as if she'd just run a marathon. When she looked down and recognized just how wet she was, she finally had to admit that something happened, that she was somehow not herself. The realization coupled quickly to a sense of fear.

"What... What's happening to me?" Her voice quivered, her hands pulling the wet robes from her body. She tossed them at Ron who tried to look away. She turned to Tracey. "I screamed?"

"It's the damn Ministry!" Harry spat. He reached behind the curtains that hung over Gabriella's bed and his hand reappeared with a shower robe. He draped it across her shoulder and Ron wondered how Harry knew that the robe was--

"They should have left well enough alone," snapped Harry. "They're all a bunch of sycophantic, sadistic pigs."

"Hey!" snapped Ron. "That's not called for. The Ministry has been doing all it can to protect us from the Death Eaters!"

"Protect us?" Harry exclaimed as he stepped forward. "Are you serious?"

Ron stepped forward to meet him chest-to-chest. "Are you saying different?"

"Look," cut in Gabriella, "we're all a bit tired. I'll be all right. I didn't mean to worry you guys. I'll go see Madame Pomfrey in the morning. Maybe she can give me a sleeping draught. Why don't you two go to bed?" She turned Harry away from Ron and kissed him on the cheek.

If only that had settled things, but it hadn't. The two Gryffindors argued with each other all the way up the staircases to the tower. After each of his invectives against the Ministry, Harry kept saying, "... which has nothing to do with your father being the Minister." The repetitive turn of phrase only made Ron angrier. He accused Harry of being "ignorant" and "growing up Muggle", which only flared Harry's concerns about how Ron felt toward other races. By the time they were at the Portrait of the Fat Lady, they were nearly at blows.

"Godric's..."

"... Goblet!"

"My... don't you two seem angry," she said drowsily, opening the portrait.

"SHUT UP!" they howled in unison.

They didn't speak another word the rest of the night, and neither slept well. Both heard the other tossing and turning, muttering this or that, replaying the argument in their minds. Neville finally told them to shut up, and they did. Thankfully, the next morning was Saturday. At breakfast, Hermione didn't even ask why the two weren't speaking to each other. Harry, glad that he had training with Ronan, left the Great Hall as soon as he was finished eating. He was headed down the stone steps of the castle toward the forest when Gabriella came out from behind a pillar and grabbed him by the arm.

"Hi, handsome," she said with a smile and kissed him with a peck. She hadn't mentioned that she would meet him, and he didn't feel much like talking. Still, it wasn't an altogether unpleasant surprise. It was the first time they'd been truly alone since they both returned to Hogwarts and he sure didn't feel like being with Ron.

"Hi," he replied, but not with much exuberance.

"Don't tell me," she said, holding one hand against his face. "You fought all night with Ron."

"Wow... you're psychic," he said dully, rolling his eyes in their sockets. She pinched his side.

"It doesn't take a psychic to know when you two are squabbling. It's like you were an old married couple." She smiled. "Hermione and I don't have anything to worry about, do we?" Harry smiled in return and kissed her hard on the lips.

"Hey Harry!"

Harry pulled away, looked up and saw Patrick poking his head out a window from the fourth floor.

"What is it?" Harry called.

"McGonagall says Dumbledore's lookin' fer yeh!"

"Come on," whispered Gabriella. "Can't the old coot give us five minutes alone?"

"But--"

"Come on."

Harry craned his neck and looked up at Patrick. He was so small against the enormous castle walls.

"Later!" called Harry.

"She seemed teh think it was--"

"LATER!" Harry yelled with a scolding tone. He took Gabriella's hand and started across the grass to the Forbidden Forest. "Old coot? Are you serious?" Gabriella just chuckled as they walked along. The sun was trying to melt the last snow, but the air was still cold and she pulled close to Harry.

"Have you seen Madame Pomfrey?" he asked absentmindedly. His mind was still back at the castle, pondering the fact that he had been rather nasty to Patrick since the start of the new year. With James still at St. Mungo's, Harry's fellow orphan was lost. Nobody would speak to him and part of Harry didn't much care. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. Every time he saw the boy he grew angry, so Harry just tried to avoid him completely. He shook his head in disgust at his own actions and started back toward the castle - it was time to make amends, to apologise to Patrick and set things straight. Gabriella grabbed his arm.

"Er... Yes, I saw Madame Guérir this morning," she said, coaxing Harry along their original path. "She's quite capable. She gave me a potion to try at bed time."

"Good," Harry said, nodding his head as if trying to convince himself that that was sufficient. "Good."

"Oooh, look!" She pointed her finger at some large animal tracks in the snow that traced a path leading to the forest. "What are those?"

"That's a... that's a Gytrash!" Harry said with surprise, losing all thought of Patrick. A year ago, he would never have been able to distinguish the track, but learning the life of the forest was part of his training with the Centaurs. Now he knew every creature that roamed the dark woods, and using the powers of the onyx ring that wrapped his finger he was slowly learning to communicate with them. "I've seen them in the forest, but never this close to the castle. By the arrow's point, what would a Gytrash be doing here?"

"I don't know," whispered Gabriella, her voice concerned. She didn't much feel like following the tracks that disappeared as they wove their way into the forest, but she didn't want Harry to return to the castle now that she finally had him alone.

"Shall we... shall we see?" she muttered, vexed.

She walked with him about two-thirds of the way to the forest and stopped. Harry sensed her apprehension and knew what it was. She had dreamed, after all, that a Centaur arrow had pierced her back. Gabriella appeared conflicted - part of her wanted to go, but the other part refused to take another step.

"You could go with me, you know," he said softly. "Then you'd see, you'd know... the Gytrash... even the Centaurs... they won't hurt you." Gabriella mustered a smile.

"I'll... er... I'll meet you here at lunchtime. You will be back for lunch?"

"Yes," answered Harry, starting toward the forest. Gabriella mustered a deep breath and walked with him, still holding him by the waist. Harry rubbed his forehead; it ached and he felt tired for no real reason. "I told Ronan that I had to study. He doesn't see the point and frankly I'm beginning to wonder myself. When I train, I forget half the stuff from class, and when I study, I forget half the stuff from training. I'm no good to anybody the way I am."

"You're good to me, baby," Gabriella said, following Harry to the wood's edge, out of sight of the castle walls and Hagrid's hut. She slid her hand down his side and Harry could feel a penetrating, fiery warmth - a heat that would burn anyone, anyone but a member of the Votary. To Harry, it was a tickling, sensual sensation and as it ran up the inside of his spine the feeling was hypnotic. He continued, unsteadily, to move in among the trees.

"I was thinking," she said soft and low. "Maybe tomorrow we could sneak away and visit Cho and Jamie. You know, just to see how they're doing. I'm sure they miss you."

"I've... I've told you a... a dozen times... I, er... I don't know where..." Harry shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs. He couldn't think straight. He leaned against a large tree a few yards into the forest. In the seclusion, Gabriella slid her hand downward.

"Don't you miss your boy, Harry?"

"S-Sure." Harry swallowed. The heat was intense, oscillating between pleasure and the edge of pain. "Maybe we could... ohh," Harry groaned and his breaths quickened.

"Where are they?" whispered Gabriella.

"You... you know..."

Gabriella said nothing, but moved closer, pressing her body against Harry's. His back against a large tree, he could smell its wood smoulder. The tree, unsettled by the sensation, began to shudder and Harry moaned again.

"Last summer... Greece... at--" There was a snap, perhaps a small twig breaking, somewhere in the distance, barely noticeable. He didn't care, but Gabriella did. Her muscles tightened.

"Tell me... now!" she spat impatiently. The voice was contorted, but the contortion only partially pulled Harry from his trance.

"Tomorrow... I'll show you," he said with a smile, reaching down to kiss her. Gabriella pulled away. "No! Don't stop!" Harry pleaded, holding her by the wrist. "Tomorrow..." Gabriella raised her other hand as if to strike him, but Harry was oblivious. "...together we can go to S--"

THWANG!

Gabriella let out a scream as a Centaur arrow pierced her hand and pinned it to the tree next to Harry's head. It was a high, cold scream. She spun toward her attacker and her spell over Harry washed away.

"YOU FILTH!" she bellowed to the forest, but before she could reach her wand with her good hand, another arrow pierced it. Now both hands were held fast to the large trunk. The tree moaned, irritated that it had been pricked.

Suddenly, Harry became aware what was happening, at least partially. Nearly a hundred paces away, barely visible through the dense forest, stood Ronan, bow in hand. He was preparing another arrow. Even to the most accomplished wizard, the speed at which arrow met bow would be indiscernible. A Centaur could fire a dozen arrows in less than a second. The third was already on its way, headed straight for Gabriella's heart.

"NO!" Harry cried. He watched as the arrow flew toward his girlfriend and with a movement taught him by the Centaurs themselves he guided its point to miss the intended target. It struck the tree with a thump - it moaned again and the earth began to shake.

"Help me, Harry" whimpered Gabriella, her voice as sweet and vulnerable as ever. "I told you! They're going to kill me! Strike him down!"

Another arrow flew through the air, and again Harry deflected it.

"Stand away, Harry Potter!" yelled Ronan. "Can you not see the beast next to you?"

Harry turned to look at Gabriella. The tree trembled as its sap mixed with the blood that dripped from her palms while she struggled to get free. It was hopeless; the enchanted arrows would never release their prey.

"They're mad, Harry! Help me," she pleaded.

"Not with your eyes, wizard!"

Harry stepped back and closed his eyes, reaching out first toward the Centaur - a brilliant white camouflaged in a field of living light, but still noticeable to Harry's, now trained, inner eye. The Centaur had stayed his hand; he did not nock the arrow, but instead held it at the ready.

"Hurry!" called Ronan, moving closer, but slowly.

"Don't listen to him, Harry. Please... I don't want to die! Strike! Strike him now!"

Harry turned his mind toward Gabriella. Instantly, his heart sank to the utter depths of despair. There, before him, was an aura of green, glowing fierce and strong, but the drips of blood falling to the forest floor were blue, a glowing cobalt blue... Gabriella's blue. As for the green, Harry had seen it twice already. The green was easy; it had a sickening pallor all its own, and a visible stench that could only belong to Voldemort.

"I told you! Now, stand aside!"

Harry's resolve to protect his beloved faltered as Ronan let fly another arrow.