Spider's Blood

Chapter Fifteen

She stood still, glancing every so often to Harry over her shoulder and back the identical goblets. One held death and the other imprisonment. He suddenly knew she was not judging which was poisoned...she was judging which was better.

"Harry, what's happening?" Ron's voice interrupted. "What's going on?"

"She...she's trying to decide if she wants to die or not," he replied.

Zora's head bent down and she stretched out the fingers on her left hand. She pulled off one of her rings and dipped it into one of the goblets. She withdrew it and held it up to her eye level. The ring turned a scornful shade a red, signifying a harmful substance in the goblet.

"Nicely done," Voldemort smiled.

Zora smiled too and picked up the goblet she had dipped the ring in and rose it up high, stepping backwards from the table.

"What are you doing?" the Dark Lord shouted, outraged and fearful at the same time.

"What is she doing?!" Harry burst out.

"Oh, that can't be good," Ron said in a shaky voice.

"Shh! I'm trying to think," Hermione said.

"Think fast, I think she's about to drink it," Harry said as he became aware of the pain in his hand, making it virtually immobile.

Zora stepped as far away as she could, her hand clutching the goblet.

"Either you let me out now or I'll drink it!" Zora threatened.

"There is no way out of her alive for you...come and be a good girl, drink the water, child, join me...your father, don't be foolish like your mother, child."

"My name is Zorina! It's not 'child' as you keep thinking it is...and you really weren't listening. I'm not joining you and I will never call you 'father'!"

"Zorina, be rational," he pleaded.

Harry wondered for a moment why Voldemort cared so much...he didn't care about anyone. She must have some value to him somehow. There was no way this could be parental love coming from the man, it was impossible.

"I am being rational!" she shouted.

Her heart was beating very fast from what Harry could feel and her whole body was shaking with fear. He tried to plead with her in his mind not to do it, to run if she must, but not to drink the poison. There just had to be another way. She suddenly grew calm and her heart slowed. She looked at the goblet in her tight grasp and looked to the Dark Lord.

"I told you...I will never join you," she said.

She rose the cup to her lips and drank the whole goblet full, two tiny streams spilling out the sides of her mouth. She turned her eyes back to the table, the silver goblet fell from her limp hand and she fell to her knees. Harry could feel her heart slowing and her breath becoming shallower.

"Damn!" the Dark Lord said.

Harry felt himself being pulled away, being pulled back to the room where his body was sitting. He felt his hand burst open and the warm blood pour from his wound. His eyes flew open and he began to breathe heavily as if he had just been running.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, fear in her voice as she carefully wrapped his hand with a handkerchief.

"She...she...she," he stuttered, not wanting to say it out loud. "She drank it."

"We have to find her!" Hermione said as she rose to her feet.

"She's...she's dead, I can feel it," Harry said as he felt a lump growing in his throat.

"No...why do you think she chose poison? Because it's the only one with an antidote! If we find her, bring it to Snape, he can tell us what it was and make an antidote! We have to at least try! C'mon."

Harry just looked at her for a moment and hated her optimism. Zora was dead, why couldn't she accept it. He looked to his hand and saw the blood streaming and remembered how she had bled for his injury. Then the realization washed over him...he hadn't died when her wound opened, maybe she wasn't dead either.

He got to his feet immediately and walked out into the hall, pulling out his invisibility cloak as he went.

The three walked as carefully as they could despite their hurry. Harry knew the way from his witness of being pulled away from the scene. He had a feeling she had pushed him out of it, as if she didn't want him to watch her die. He followed as best as he could. He now stood before the door.

Hermione reached out a hand and pushed the door open. The throne room was deserted. The green covered table stood with the five silver goblets set up. Harry looked to the middle and saw Zora's body lying on the floor, her mess of hair pillowing her head, her school robes simulating a dark blanket wrapped around her body. If he hadn't known better, he would say she was asleep.

"Just in case," he whispered to the others, "stay under the cloak...they could still be in here."

"Then why do you go?" Hermione asked, "If they're here they're expecting you...not us."

"I'll do it," Ron suggested.

Before either could stop him, Ron had stepped from under the cloak and into the room. No one charged, no one made a noise. Ron made a movement to Zora's body as Ron began to look around the room. Harry and Hermione proceeded to Zora's limp body and bent carefully over her.

"She's still breathing," Hermione commented as she reached out and took the goblet in her hands under the cloak. She began to sniff it and examine the little that remained in the metal cup.

"Sss...ss...ss," Zora muttered quietly.

"She's trying to say something," Harry said as he bent closer.

Her eyes opened and gazed into Harry's although they were hidden by the cloak.

"Sseev...seeev...seevver..." she said.

"Severus!" he burst with a smile. "She's saying 'Severus'!"

Zora nodded her head and let her eyes close again.

"She wants us to get Snape," Hermione said.

"Ah! Harry!" Ron shouted from the other end of the throne room. Harry looked up and gazed through the material draped over his body to find Ron backing away from an enormous spider that was crawling inches from his face. A silver rope shot out and attempted to wrap around Ron's ankles. Ron darted immediately to the side and the rope wrapped around the leg of the long wooden table.

"That's the thing that took her," Harry commented as he through the cloak from over his body.

"I...I think we know why the spider's blood went missing," Hermione said as she stared at it in shock. "He stole it...and fed it to that spider. That's how they become so big. Of course, it makes sense."

"Yeah, that's great...it's really helping me now!" Ron shouted as he began to dart in a new direction from the giant spider.

"Hermione, get Zora to the edge," Harry said frantically as he ran to Ron's aid.

He saw her from the corner of his eye as she pulled one of Zora's arms and dragged her across the marble floor, keeping her eyes locked on the spider.

"Why does it always have to be spiders?!" Ron was screaming as he continued to run.

Harry ran to the wall and drew a sword from a shield of green with a serpent embodied in silver across the front. Harry took the sword and glided over to the spider still shooting silver thread at Ron, who was dodging them as quickly as possible. Harry raised the sword and let it come down on the spider, although he wasn't quite sure exactly where he was wounding the giant arachnid.

Harry looked down and saw a leg had been severed from the giant spider and it was moving slower from the loss.

"Quick!" Harry said to Ron. "Ron! Get a sword!"

"And what am I supposed to do with it?" Ron screeched as he dodged another silver cord flying just passed his right arm.

"Cut off its legs! It can't move without its legs!" Harry replied.

Ron made a dash for the wall and drew a sword from a serpent adorned shield and brought it against the spider's leg.

"Why couldn't it be a snake? I like those better than these! And you could talk to it! Reason with it! Tell it to bugger off!" Ron said as he made several sweeping motions and dodging the spider's sputtering of its silver rope.

"Trust me, Ron, snakes aren't much better," Harry replied as he remembered being in a similar situation three years previous.

Another leg severed and quickly another and another until the spider was nothing more than a round body with deep red blood oozing from eight wounds. It was still lashing out its silver ropes at the two boys, who cut themselves free whenever momentarily caught.

Harry looked and saw Hermione bending over Zora's body. Zora's face was white as snow against her black hair and her lips were turning blue. She reminded Harry of the last day of Potions before the holidays when she took on a haggish appearance for three minutes. But now she was not standing strongly before the classroom and the appearance was not fading, She was simply lying, dieing on the floor.

"She's still breathing," Hermione said with tears in her eyes and an attempt at a comforting smile.

Harry ran to the long table which still remained in the room. The green cloth had been partially pulled off and the wood was splattered with wound up balls of sticky silver rope. All but two goblets had been knocked off, either could contain the deadly poison now coursing through Zora's veins. Harry ducked under the table and retrieved the goblet glowing a bright blue from the spell cast upon it only minutes before. It was the only goblet Harry was absolutely sure was void of any poison. He ran to the dieing spider, still sputtering the silver twine throughout the room, trying desperately to hit someone. Harry bent down and filled the goblet with the blood from the spider and rushed it over to Zora's limp body.

"If she gets it into her system, it might let her hold on a little longer. We have to get her out of here," Harry said as he dipped the blue glowing goblet to her lip and poured a few drops into her mouth. A few drops spilled over her mouth and ran down her cheek. Harry gently wiped it away, leaving a smear of red down her cheek. Harry persisted with the blood, not sure if any was actually going down or not. He knew it was better than nothing.

When the entire goblet full had gone, Harry threw the goblet aside and lifted Zora's body as Ron had done for his sister after her attack.

"Hermione, take the cloak and see if anyone's coming as we walk, we won't all fit under it," he explained.

Hermione nodded her head and covered herself with the watery material. Ron followed her quickly, waiting for a sign that it was all right to continue or to hide somehow.

"She says it's all right," Ron called to Harry.

He carefully walked with Zora in his arms and carried her back to the Infirmary. The birthmark on her left arm opened the door as they walked and allowed it to silently seal itself behind them. However, there was no argument about never being able to go back. Harry realized that Zora had brought his mind into the room for a reason. The path to get to the room, the cup for the blood, and the birthmark to exit the castle; all these things Harry needed to escape the castle and all these things Zora was positive he had seen. She knew she would not be able to get out of this alone but that if Harry could hear how it was possible for an escape, he would do everything in his power to make sure it happened.

Harry brought Zora to one of the many beds in the Infirmary as gently as he could. Her breaths were less shallow now and her heart was beating a bit steadier.

"Go get Snape," Harry told Hermione. "Give him the goblet and see if he can find the antidote."

Hermione started off in a run between the rows of beds with the goblet clutched tightly in her left hand. Harry began to arrange Zora's body so that she would be more comfortable on the bed when he saw Ron out of the corner of his eye, sitting a few beds away. Blood was splattered across his robes and he was staring at Zora's face.

"Ron? You all right?" Harry asked.

Ron's gaze broke and his eyes went up to meet Harry's own eyes. "I've never seen anyone...dieing before."

"She's not going to die, Ron," Harry said, trying to sound comforting. It was especially difficult for him to say it because he himself didn't know if the statement was true. "Go tell Dumbledore we found her...tell him what happened."

Ron nodded his head and rose from the bed. He set off on a slight jog, much slower than Hermione's however it was a great deal faster than Harry had anticipated he was capable of due to his shock.

Harry turned to Zora's nearly lifeless body. How long would it take to find Snape? The poison? The antidote? Harry wondered silently if they had enough time. Her chest was rising and falling steadily but there was no telling how long it would last. He wished he had taken more of the spider's blood with him in case she began to relapse before Snape could get to her. Then he remembered the spider's blood. He remembered the potions class and the broken bottle slipping from Neville's fingers and shattering against the floor; the black dots that emerged from the drying blood and scampered into the crack in the floor. He wondered how many tiny black spiders were crawling around Voldemort's castle at this moment. The thought brought a brief smile to his face.

He turned his gaze back to Zora's limp body and his smile fell to the floor. Her face was turning pale again and her lips were fading into blue. He slipped down on the other side of the Infirmary. There was nothing more he could do. If he gave her something to keep her alive now, it might interfere with the antidote's effects an ultimately kill her regardless. He watched as her chest rose and fell quietly, her eyes locked shut. He had never felt this useless for such a long time. He looked to his watch; it had been nearly fifteen minutes since Hermione had left to retrieve Snape. Her breaths were becoming slower and more labored; he knew she was holding on with a firm grip to whatever life she still had. A lump began to rise in his throat when he began to wonder how many people he was going to have to watch die before these battles with Voldemort would finally end.

Snape burst through the doors, clutching several items in his hands as he ran. He was breathing hard a sweat had begun to drip from his forehead. He had obviously run straight from the dungeons. He looked at Harry and then to Zora's body on the bed. He let out a deep sigh, defeated or relief Harry could not judge. He stood next to the bed and began to open the bottles in his hands into a small bowl.

"Potter," he called across, sounding calm. "I need you help."

Harry thought he sounded as though they were in class. He rose from his spot on the floor and found it was hard for him to stand up. He managed to walk over to Zora's side and wait for Snape's orders.

"Hermione is informing the other that she has been found. Where's Weasley?"

"Dumbledore," Harry choked out.

"Chances are he already knows anyway. All right then, I need you to mix all these liquids counterclockwise thirty times. Wait one minute and then repeat... you have a watch?"

Harry held up his wrist to show his watch and took the bowl and began to stir. As Harry stirred, Snape bent down and examined Zora's eyes and mouth, calculating something in his head.

"Make it fifty, Potter," he said briskly. "She's been under longer than Ms. Granger said."

"How long?" Harry asked.

"An hour I'd say. She said you saw it happen?" Snape inquired.

"Just like the dream, we were in a room, but my mind was there with her."

"You saw what happened as it occurred. She has that power, to send visions and messages to you. Do you know how?"

"We mixed our blood, accidentally," Harry explained. He saw Snape's nostrils flare wide in anger and Harry realized that the simple accident meant a great deal than he thought.

"I see...I will tell Dumbledore, I'm sure he can explain it better...and more calmly than I," Snape said, watching Harry's stirring.

"Thirty-nine," Harry said as he looked at the bowl. The elixir was turning a turquoise shade in the bowl. "Am I doing it right?" he inquired, afraid he had done something wrong.

"Actually," Snape said with a surprised smile, "you are."

Harry let out a sigh of relief and continued his stirring.

When Harry had finished stirring, Snape took the bowl in his hands. Harry looked in horror at Zora's body. Her chest was no longer rising and falling, but remained immobile. Her skin was pale and her lips were blue. His heart leapt into his throat and he was about to tell Snape when he noticed Snape was pouring the elixir into her mouth.

Harry remained silent as he watched. Her throat began to glow with a brilliant light and her chest rose violently as it was jerked back to life. Her hands clenched into fists. Her skin began to darken with color. Her chest rose and fell and rose and fell as if she were only sleeping. Snape let out a sigh of relief as he watched her. A smile broke across his hard face and his hand rose to wipe a few lose strands of black hair away from her face.

"But...she was..." Harry began, still looking at her moving body in complete shock.

"No...Potter, she wasn't," Snape sneered aggressively.

"But she wasn't breathing," Harry replied bewildered.

"Yes she was," Snape insisted with a hard glare. "Do you understand?"

His eyes were cold and hard on Harry's, forcing Harry to close his mouth and nod his head. Snape had just risen Zora from her death, a crime punishable by life in Azkaban. He looked at Zora and saw her breathing steadily. He supposed it was worth keeping this secret.

Snape kept his eyes on Harry, as if he were trying to see right through his body and find something, what he was searching for Harry could not be sure. The sound of the hospital wing door opened and a familiar wizard clad in star and moon decorated robes gracefully walked in and made his way to Zora's side.

Dumbledore bent close to Zora's face and lifted her hand.

"It appears we got to her just in time," Dumbledore said as he examined her wrist.

"Yes...it appears we did," Snape replied, giving an uneasy sideways glance to Harry.

"Yes...just in time," Harry replied as he examined his shoes.

"Well, from what I can see...she will be just fine," Dumbledore said with a smile to Snape and Harry. "I sent Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger off to bed; I suggest you do the same, Harry."

"But...I mean...you're positive she'll be all right?" Harry asked, unconvinced.

"I didn't say it would be easy. It appears she was quite close to the end...it will be a great deal of time before she fully recovers, weeks or even months at the very least. However, she will be just fine."

Harry did not feel and more at ease by Dumbledore's statements, but thought it would be best if he went to bed. He had obviously had quite a tiring night and was in no mood to argue just yet.

"If it eases you at all, Harry," Dumbledore called as Harry passed the two professors and was only a few beds away from the door, "I will give you permission to come in and visit whenever you wish. I must suggest not to bring too many friends along though, she needs a great deal of uninterrupted rest...a large crowd may interfere. And will you please give my salutations to Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley...for a job well done."

"You aren't angry...that we left?"

"My dear boy, I was all but counting on it...off to bed, and keep tonight's happenings as close a secret as you can."