Harry Potter and the Secrets from the Past

Chapter 31. HOLDING THE LAST BREATH

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United

Indivisible

Near

But unreachable...

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"Loving each other just a bit" by Lucio Battisti

Harry, Ron and Hermione slowly entered a dark alley; Ron was limping, while Harry was heavily dragging along, holding himself on his best friends' shoulders. They reached a crossroad and after a second of hesitation, they chose to go left; at the end of the alley, there was another crossroad.

"Damn it! This place is a labyrinth!" Ron was starting to lose his temper; he was feeling extremely tired and his arms and chest were hurting painfully.

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Hermione put her wand on the palm of the hand and pronounced the spell, "Point me!"

The wand started turning around itself, then it stopped, pointing to the left.

"It always marks north, and Diagon Alley should be to the east. Let's go this way!" said Hermione, determined.

The three friends turned to the right; at the end of the alley, they found themselves in a small and deserted square, with three other dark alleys converging into it. They stood there in silence, looking around worriedly. Then Hermione spoke first. "It's better if we don't stay here for too long, we aren't safe yet. There could be..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ron cut her off abruptly, "Did you hear that? There is someone else here, not just us!"

Harry and Hermione listened carefully, but they heard no sound. Everything was incredibly quiet. Maybe too quiet.

Hermione squeezed herself in her cloak, freezing and feeling an awkward sensation of sadness inside, while the most painful memories were coming back to her mind.

Harry felt the same sensation; knowing all too well what was going to happen, he raised his head and spoke with trembling voice. "Dementors! They're coming!"

"Please, not the dementors!" Ron got even closer to the other two, while his most horrible fears were already crowding his mind.

From the quiet obscurity of the alley in front of them, a group of tall hooded figures emerged silently but inexorably, floating toward them.

Harry felt a chill go up his spine; in his condition, it would be impossible to conjure a Patronus strong enough to get rid of so many dementors. It was the end, unless someone would come to rescue them. But who? Suddenly, Harry turned to Hermione; she was still staring at the dementors in shock, while holding him up with her arms.

"I can't face them, but you can!" Harry whispered in her ear.

"I-I can't! I've never done it before!" she protested, frowning at him.

"You must do it! You're our last hope!" Harry insisted.

"If there is someone who can do it, besides Harry, this is you!" Ron exhorted her.

Hermione nodded uncertainly; Harry took his arm away from her shoulder and found support just on Ron; then she slowly moved forward, squeezing her wand tightly in her hand and pointing it to the dementors, which were now only a few meters from them. She closed her eyes in concentration and breathed deeply.

"I know you can do it! Find a happy memory!" Harry told her, nervously.

Hermione gathered all her courage and forced herself to think something happy, even if she was feeling in her heart the evil influence of those dark creatures. When she got ready, she opened her eyes.

"Expecto Patronum!"

From her wand sprang a thin puff of silvery smoke, which was completely useless, since the dementors were still coming forwards, undisturbed. They were a few steps from them; it was possible to see their rotten hands coming out from their black cloaks and smell the air of death emanating from their mouths.

Hermione felt overwhelmed with panic.

"Do it again! You're too nervous, try to calm down!" Harry was still exhorting her, while Ron was completely paralyzed by fear.

Hermione's hands and forehead were now sweaty; the more the dementors came forward, the more she stepped backwards.

Harry's mind was crowded with images of Sirius falling behind the Veil of Death; he shook his head energetically, forcing himself to come back on senses. Suddenly, he felt something dragging him down. Ron had just collapsed to the ground, senseless, pulling Harry with him.

"Ron! Talk to me, Ron!" Harry shoke his friend's shoulders frantically, but it seemed useless. Then he raised his head and widened his eyes in horror.

One dementor was bending toward Hermione, while she kept staring at him, looking terrified. With the last of his strength, Harry stood up and grabbed the girl by her arms, dragging her to the ground.

"You won't hurt her, you bastard!"

Harry's desperate shouting made Hermione coming back to her senses; understanding the seriousness of the situation, she stood up again and pointed her wand at the dementors. She held in her thoughts her happiest memory and pronounced the spell with a stronger determination.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Finally, a shining surge of silvery light sprung powerfully from her wand, taking the form of a little otter; the Patronus jumped toward the evil creatures, who couldn't endure its candid aura and were swept away like paper dolls. Hermione stared at the silvery otter with affection, while it trotted happily toward her before to disappear with a light "pop!"

The atmosphere in the square became quiet and silent, just like it was before the dementors' attack.

Hermione was deeply proud of herself; she had managed to save her friends. She ran toward them, with her heart beating faster because of the emotion.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Harry told her, smiling, and she looked at him thankfully.

"How is Ron?" Both bent to their friend, who was still lying on the ground, passed out.

"We must bring him away from here, before someone else showes up! Come on, help me pull him up!"

"Are you sure you can make it?" Hermione stared at him worriedly and Harry nodded; he was still feeling extremely weak, but his condition was better than Ron's at the moment.

Harry had just set Ron's arm on his shoulders, when he felt his scar throbbing painfully and raised a hand to his forehead.

"Haaaaaah!"

"What's happening?" asked Hermione, alarmed, "It's your scar, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, still rubbing his forehead with his hand. The pain had become so unbearable that he believed his head was going to explode in a moment.

"Let's leave this place!" Harry shouted, lifting Ron bodily.

"I see that you're in a hurry!"

Harry and Hermione jumped in surprise at hearing that voice and turned abruptly to the alley on their right. Out from the darkness, a tall hooded man was coming toward them. They recognized Lucius Malfoy's voice.

With the corner of his eye, Harry saw other Death Eaters slowly coming out from other alleys and surrounding them, blocking any possible way out.

It was really too much; Harry felt his heart sqeezed by discouragement and guilt, but the sense of responsibility toward his friends was stronger than his fears.

"They have come for me, and it's just with me that they're going to fight!" he thought, determined. Then he turned to Hermione and stared at her directly in the eyes.

"Listen carefully!" he whispered with a trembling voice. "Don't follow me, no matter what! Swear to me that you'll stay here, taking care of Ron."

"B-but I..."

"Please, I need to know that you'll stay here!"

Hermione had never seen Harry so determined; he almost scared her. She had no other choice left but to obey; after a few seconds of hesitation, she nodded, looking at him with wet eyes. Then she took out Harry's wand from her pocket and gave it back to him.

Harry kept staring at his girlfriend, trying to let her understand his true feelings; how he deeply loved her, how he was deeply concerned about her wellbeing. He took away Ron's arm from his shoulders and laid it down gently, then slowly stood up and moved a few steps forwards, stopping right in front his enemies.

"Very well, we understand each other perfectly, young Potter." Malfoy laughed with satisfaction and Harry glared at him hatefully.

"The Dark Lord has been very impressed by your new powers and has a proposal for you." Malfoy stopped for a moment, to see Harry's reaction, but the young wizard didn't move a muscle.

"Having a wizard like you on his side would be extremely handy; if you choose to be our ally, you could become even more powerful - you could have the whole world at your feet." Malfoy pronounced each word with great delight, but seeing that he wasn't arousing the slightest interest in Harry, he changed tactics.

"If you choose to stand on the Dark Lord's side, your friends' lives will be saved, nobody excluded." The Death Eater ended the sentence bending his head to Hermione's direction, and Harry shuddered all over.

"I don't care about your offer, Malfoy!" Harry said recklessly, but Malfoy didn't seem bothered.

"Well, in this case, we won't have any mercy with your friends; we'll crush them all like disgusting bugs and to you, the Dark Lord will reserve the slowest and most painful death!"

"Better dead, than allied with Voldemort!" shouted Harry with anger. How dared he make such a foolish proposal?

"Are you sure about your choice, Potter? Before ending our conversation, I'd like to show you something." Malfoy made a sign with his hand and one of the Death Eaters on his right nodded; he went away and then came back after a few seconds, dragging with him a senseless man, and throwing him to the ground.

Harry widened his eyes in surprise: Mark Evans was lying in front of him, hands and feet tied up with magical ropes. He showed clear signs of a fight; his face was bleeding and his robe was tattered.

"Tell me now, who's stronger in this war? I'll give you a tip, Potter. If you want to save yourself, then you should understand with whom is better to take sides!"

Harry tightened his fists angrily and tried to think quickly.

"Anyway, there is another interesting thing I want you to see before making your decision." Malfoy turned to other two Death Eaters on his left. "Bring them here!"

Losing no time, the Death Eaters left and after a few minutes came back, each one holding two young wizards by the arms.

"Fred, George!"

Harry was speechless; the Weasley twins were standing there, tied up, swinging to free themselves from the grip of their warders.

"Take your dirty hands off us!" Fred shouted.

"Harry, Hermione! Ron?" George had just noticed their presence.

The twins got paler in the face, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"We've found those two snoops strolling about Knockturn Alley all alone and I thought it'd be nice to let them join our little meeting!" explained Malfoy, satisfied.

"I'll take care of them, Lucius," suggested Bellatrix, imagining something extremely amusing.

"It's not the right time yet. I'd like to know Potter's decision first." Then Malfoy turned to Harry. "Do you want to have the death of these other two young wizards on your conscience? On the contrary, why don't you try to imagine how life would be without fearing for the safety of your dearest friends? The Dark Lord always rewards his most faithful servants. If you choose to join his side, you won't have to worry about your friends anymore. They will be safe."

"Don't listen to him, Harry! He's just a liar!" Hermione shouted abruptly, with tears in her eyes, "You can't come to terms with Voldemort!"

Bellatrix shot a glance full of hate toward the girl and squeezed her wand with anger, trying her best to prevent herself not using it.

"Hermione's right" thought Harry, "but if I choose to sacrifice myself for my friend's safety, then Voldemort will finally leave them live their lives in peace." It was an absurd thought, but in that moment, he wasn't able to find any other solution. His eyes stopped on Mark, who was lying on the ground, then they moved to Fred and George, who were forced on their knees, chained and with their heads bent on their chests; he stared at Ron, who was still senseless and finally at Hermione, the love of his life; all his friends were suffering and the only possibility to save them, was in his hands.

A foolish determination took possession of Harry, pushing him to speak. "If I come with you, do you promise that you'll let them go?"

"Nooooo! Harry don't!" shouted Hermione, desperately, but Harry didn't even turn to her.

"Of course! I promise!" replied Malfoy, sneering in triumph.

Hermione stood up, deeply shocked. She couldn't believe what was happening; it seemed impossible.

"Harry, please! You don't need to do it, we'll find another way!" she whispered, feeling a strong knot in her throat that was preventing her to speak louder.

"I'm doing it for you as well, Hermione. Please forgive me," Harry said to himself. Then he lowered his wand and moved toward Malfoy.

"Very good! Come to me, Potter. Join the Dark Army." Malfoy's voice was sharp and satisfied, but it reached Harry's ears as it was padded; he felt dizzy and walked as if in a trance, repeating to himself, that this was the wisest decision he could have ever made: sacrifice his life to save the others'.

Harry didn't care about dying; they could have killed him right there. The only important thing was that from now on, Hermione and all the ones he loved would have had nothing to fear; they would live a quieter and happier life, far from that awful war. He had just made his own decision and he wouldn't come back.

Harry was now standing a few steps from Malfoy, and they were staring at each other directly in the eyes. At a distance, he could still hear Hermione sobbing, while in front of him, Fred and George looked petrified.

In that moment, Hermione felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if someone was taking her heart away; she knew very well that it would be impossible for her to live without Harry. She needed to do something. Taken by an impulse of desperation, she ran toward him, shouting, "Harry, Nooooo!"

Harry turned to her abruptly and with the corner of his eyes, he saw Bellatrix raising her wand and pointing it to Hermione.

In a flash, he recalled the moment in which that same evil witch had caught Sirius to death. Without thinking over, Harry moved exactly while Bellatrix was casting the spell.

"Sanguinem Fundo!"

A ray of red light sprang from her wand, but Harry was quicker and jumped in front of Hermione; the curse hit Harry in the chest, dashing him brutally toward the wall behind him. The young wizard collapsed face down on the cold stone ground, where he remained motionless.

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