The Boy that Died

This is the final chapter but I will be continuing it in another fic: The Golden Timepiece. Look out for it. The thanks section is at the bottom.

Remembering

*

Hermione twisted her head around to see who her attacker was but a prod in her neck stopped her and she looked straight ahead. Next to her Ron was mouthing something frantically at her but she couldn't decipher it.

"Walk straight ahead," said the voice again.

Hermione's obediently started walking, glancing around to see if there was any chance of escape. Her mind was thinking quickly. None of us have our wands but there must be some way we can overpower him. There are three of us, but only one of him. But where's the Auror that rescued us?

The hairs on the back of Hermione's head had started prickling and she felt distinctly aware of being watched. Someone's following us, she thought, and not just the attacker.

Suddenly Hermione was shoved forcefully in the back. She fell heavily onto her face and quickly rolled onto her back just in time to see a man in a white mask fall onto the floor next to her. Hermione looked upwards and saw a figure, its face half-concealed in shadow but its flowing red hair clearly visible.

"Ginny!" Hermione cried out joyfully.

"What? Who?" came Ron's muffled voice as he tried to prop himself up into a sitting position.

Ginny grinned at the look on Ron's face. She turned to Hermione and held out her hand. Hermione took it gratefully and was hauled to her feet. Ron was standing up by now and was dusting himself off vigorously. Sirius was clambering to his feet still looking dazed.

"How did you find us?" exclaimed Hermione.

"Oh - it was easy," said Ginny offhandedly, "I found him," she said gesturing behind her. The man who had originally rescued them was standing behind her. He was holding his wand and looking grim. "What was your name again?" Ginny asked.

The Auror looked slightly embarrassed as he gave his answer. "Thomas Atkins," he mumbled. Hermione raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"He was stunned by that Death Eater-" Ginny continued. Hermione turned to look at the man on the floor. "-I revived him and he pointed the way. I found you three walking along the corridor with someone behind you holding a wand and I just went on instinct."

"Maybe you should have become an Auror, Ginny," said Ron smiling. Ginny, however looked thoughtful and Ron hastily cut in. "Not that I meant it."

The Death Eater moved slightly from his prone position on the floor. Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances.

"What about him?" said Ron, gesturing towards the Death Eater

Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "Well, what about him? We have to leave him,"

"Who is he?" asked Thomas Atkins, showing interest.

Ginny shrugged, "No idea," and tried to look uninterested but she reached down and pulled off the mask anyway. Sirius, Hermione, Ginny and Ron all gasped, except Thomas who was looking confused yet again.

"It isn't " started Ron. "It can't be "

"Oh but it is!" said Ginny, looking angry. "Where do you think he keeps on going, Ron? Why do you think he always wears long-sleeves? I'm not stupid Ron, but apparently you are. I've always suspected it but you've ignored it, too caught up in your little gang!"

Ron was staring at Ginny, his mouth working but no sound coming out.

"Percy is a Death Eater Ron!" Ginny screamed at him.

Ron got up quickly and Hermione stepped between the two of them. "Stop this!" she said. "Stop blaming each other! This is no one but Percy's fault, okay?"

Ginny glared at Ron and then her shoulders sagged and she nodded. "But what are we going to do with him?" she asked.

"We can't take him," said Sirius, "he's a Death Eater"

Ginny shot a murderous glare at him. "Yes, I did notice."

"We could leave a tracking charm with him," spoke up Thomas. Everyone turned to stare at him. "This," he said and he held up a red ribbon. "You just press it here," he demonstrated. "And it turns green and an Auror comes to pick him up."

There was a short silence after that. "Okay," said Sirius easily and he took the pin from him. "I just pin it on him right?" Thomas nodded and Sirius did that. The ribbon glowed for a few seconds before changing to a green colour.

"Can we go down the other corridor please?" said Hermione. "This air is making me uncomfortable."

Everyone nodded and they all trooped down the passage until they rounded a corridor and Percy's body was no longer in their sights. Instantly the atmosphere changed and everyone seemed a bit more cheerful. It was as if the Percy incident had never happened. Ginny looked fine, as if the person that had reacted so badly to the news had never existed. It made Hermione uneasy just watching her.

Hermione noticed that Sirius was glancing up the corridor restlessly. "Let's just get out of here, okay? I don't feel safe without my wand," he said.

Ginny looked suddenly triumphant and fished out three wands from out of her pocket. "Here," she said, handing them around. "Dumbledore found them a while ago, said they should be useful."

"Thanks Ginny," said Hermione as Ron gave his an experimental wave.

"I think you three should get back now," continued Ginny. "Now that I've found you I only need to get Harry and Draco."

"What is this, a card collecting game?" muttered Ron.

"You can't do that on your own!" cried Sirius, looking horrified. "You should have some help."

"Uh, yeah," said Ron, cottoning on. "You should at least have two people helping you."

"Or three," cut in Hermione.

Ginny sighed. "Fine then," she said, throwing her hands into the air. "Me and Ron will go get Harry and-"

"Actually Ginny, I think I'd rather go get Draco," said Ron.

Ginny looked puzzled for a second but went back to giving out orders. "Okay then. Ron and Hermione will rescue Draco and me and Sirius will go find Harry. All agreed?"

Everyone nodded but Thomas looked a bit confused. "I'll, uh, just guard the Death Eater then, right?"

Ginny waved him off impatiently, "Yeah, you do that," she said and grabbed Sirius' arm. "I think it's this way," she said, dragging him off down a passage.

Ron stared at Hermione for a few seconds before he gathered his wits. "We'll try this way then."

Hermione nodded and together they crept along the passageway with only the light from their wands illuminating the dark passageway.

*

Sirius' arm was starting to hurt a bit now from Ginny's incessant pulling. Finally his patience gave way and he pulled his arm away roughly.

"Will you stop pulling me! I can keep up, you know," he snapped irritably.

Ginny looked hurt and started saying "I just thought-" she was cut off as Sirius held a hand to her mouth.

"Someone's coming " Sirius whispered and he abruptly pulled himself and Ginny into a small alcove in the wall just as a man walked around the corner, he as wearing a white mask and it was quite clear to Ginny that he was a Death Eater Sirius started to move forwards but Ginny grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back. 'Not now' she mouthed. Sirius looked sceptical but he saw sense and stayed hidden.

The Death Eater walked slowly forwards, his wand lighting the way. His eyes glanced around cautiously and Ginny pressed herself further into the shadows. Not for the first time she wished she didn't have such bright hair.

Only when the Death Eater vanished down the passage did Ginny feel secure enough to start breathing again.

"Let's get going before any more come," said Sirius, so softly that Ginny could hardly hear him. She nodded and stepped out of the alcove, her legs feeling weak.

They walked on in silence for the rest of the way, occasionally peering through doors, more often than not finding nothing.

After a fruitless quarter of an hour searching Ginny felt they must be near Harry. The passages had become increasingly dark and the air was stifling, Ginny felt that both were signs that they were going deeper underground.

A noise jerked Ginny out of her daydream and she stopped. Sirius stopped too and Ginny listened hard. There it was! It was unmistakable now, the soft whimpering of a child. It must be Harry.

Ginny grabbed Sirius' hand and raced up the passageway, following the noise. Minutes later she reached a door and stopped. The noise was coming directly from inside the room. Ginny peered through the little grill and into the room. A young boy was sat on the ground, his knees hugged to him, sobbing quietly and rocking.

Ginny turned to Sirius. "It's Harry," she said, "he's in there."

Sirius nodded, a bit breathless from the run, pointed his wand at the door and said, "Alohomora."

The door swung open and they both stepped inside, Sirius a little apprehensively, but Ginny marched straight over to Harry. She knelt down beside him and tried to pull him into a hug, but Harry just pulled her off and started sobbing louder.

"Harry? Harry, what's wrong?" She turned to Sirius. "I think he's in shock, what should we " she was interrupted by a hand pulling at her robes.

"The dagger the dagger," Harry said, turning wide eyes towards her. He started scrabbling wildly at his right arm. "Get it out it hurts," Harry gave a dry sob and buried his face in his knees again.

"What's the matter with him?" Ginny asked, she had never seen Harry cry before and it was quite distressing.

"I don't know," said Sirius with a frown. "We should get him out of here and bring him to Dumbledore before we attempt anything."

Ginny nodded and turned to Harry. "Harry darling? We have to leave now, I need you to get up." Harry did nothing but continued to rock, whimpering slightly. "He's not going to move," said Ginny to Sirius.

"We'll have to carry him then."

"I'll do it," said Ginny firmly. She placed her hands underneath Harry and hugged him to her. Harry nestled against her and stopped crying.

Ginny felt an affectionate feeling towards the boy in her arms. It wasn't anything like the silly crush she used to have on Harry; it was something different. It was just the lovely feeling of holding a warm body in your arms. It was almost enough to make Ginny wish she had children of her own. Harry could almost be her son, she realised with a start.

Ginny straightened up and looked Sirius in the eye. "Let's go," she said.

Sirius nodded and opened the door for her; Ginny marched in front of him and took the lead. She kept on glancing down at him and checking if he was okay. He had gone to sleep now and looked perfectly content in her arms.

Harry knew nothing of what was happening, all he could feel was the dim feeling of someone holding him. He gave a sigh and turned over, perfectly happy.

Above him Ginny watched and smiled.

*

A fog was clouding Draco's brain. He was dimly aware of the sensation of lying on the floor. Cautiously he opened his eyes and immediately squeezed them shut against the bright light. He opened his eyes a fraction and allowed a few seconds to get used to the light.

His face was pressed against the soft earthy floor and a bright light was shining in his eyes. It took him a few seconds to realise it was a lit torch. Draco coughed pathetically and hauled himself up into a sitting position.

He could hear voices in the distance but ignored them for the time being. The ground underneath him felt sticky and looked dark. Draco pressed his finger to the floor, it came away red. As he did so, a flash of pain shot up his left leg and he winced. A trickle of blood slowly seeped down his leg and dripped onto the floor. He was bleeding.

The voices had started again and with effort Draco dragged himself out of his daze and forced himself to concentrate.

"We should have gone back the way we came," came a female voice. "I'm sure we're lost."

"Nonsense," it was a masculine voice this time, deep and slightly scratchy.

"But look!" cried the female, sounding agitated now. "I'm sure we're going deeper underground, the air shouldn't be this oh no Sirius! Sirius, he's waking up."

Draco heard footsteps now and whimpering. "Stop it Harry!" said the female, her voice slightly muffled. "Harry! We're-we're just trying to you hold him Sirius."

There were shuffling sounds and then Draco heard a piercing shriek and someone sobbing. "Oh for god's sake Harry! Ginny, he won't stop struggling. Don't you know any subduing charms?" said Sirius.

The sobbing muffled Ginny's reply and as their footsteps grew fainter Draco was afraid they'd pass him by.

"Ginny!" he shouted hoarsely. The voices stopped abruptly and only the sobbing remained.

"Who-who's there?" said Ginny, and Draco thought he could detect a slight tremor in her voice.

"Ginny, it's me - Draco," Draco stopped and started coughing violently. Through the coughing fit he heard Ginny say, "Don't worry, we'll get you out."

Draco heard the door click open and looked up to see Ginny standing in the doorway. She stepped inside and walked slowly over to Draco. Behind her followed Sirius, holding a struggling Harry.

"Are you okay Draco?" said Ginny, her voice full of concern, but her body language suggested anything but. She held out a hand but Draco ignored it and struggled to his feet.

Draco looked past Ginny to Sirius, who was holding a kicking and sobbing Harry in his arms. "What's the matter with him?" Draco said, nodding his head at Harry. He was feeling rather ratty and the fact that it was Sirius and Ginny who had found him didn't help.

"He won't stop struggling," said Sirius, breathing heavily as he struggled to contain Harry. "He said something about a dagger. He ...must be hallucinating STOP THAT!" he yelled at Harry, who stopped kicking and began to cry even harder. "What's the matter with him?" Sirius asked helplessly. "Can Dumbledore help?"

Draco shrugged as though indifferent and walked over to Harry. "Harry?" he said tentatively. "Harry, what's wrong?" he said a bit more gently.

Harry whimpered and clutched at Sirius. "The dagger my arm get it out," he said and started scratching his right arm furiously. Sirius pulled Harry's arm away and tried to comfort him.

Draco stepped back and looked at Sirius and Ginny. "I know what to do," he said, "but I'm going to need my wand. Did any of you find it?"

Both of them shook their heads. "Ron took it " Ginny mumbled.

Draco let out a melodramatic sigh. "Fine then. We'll just have to find Dumbledore as quickly

as possible." Ginny opened her mouth and Draco held out his hand to stop her. "I'll carry Harry." Ginny's shoulder's sagged and Draco thought she looked a bit disappointed but she averted her eyes. "Right," she said. "I think we should retrace our steps - that should lead us back to the surface."

"Okay," said Draco "Lead the way." He turned to Sirius and held out his arms. With some difficulty Sirius managed to pass Harry over. Draco was prepared for a heavy load, after all, he was a 14 year old boy, but to his surprise he found Harry was very light. Almost too light, thought Draco, frowning down at Harry. He seemed to have run out of energy and although he was still crying, he was not longer struggling.

Draco adjusted his hold and hastened to catch up with Sirius and Ginny.

*

The dust from the fallen rocks was filling Ron's throat and making him cough violently.

"Hermione!" he yelled hoarsely and started coughing again.

Someone elbowed him roughly in the side and he fell to the ground. Shoes ran past him and Ron had to curl up quickly to avoid being stepped on. He stood up and cast his eyes across the crowd frantically. Green light flashed in the distance and Ron heard yells but he was only interested in one voice right now.

"Hermione!" he yelled again. He pushed forward through the crowd, occasionally using stupefy spells when he encountered a Death Eater The passageway was filled with noise and Ron's head was starting to hurt. Dust fell down and Ron had to quickly side step to avoid the falling rocks. Growing desperate he grabbed at the nearest Auror.

"Have you seen a-" the rest of his sentence was drowned out by a deep boom.

"Sorry?" said the Auror, trying to talk and fend off a Death Eater attack at the same time.

"I said - have you seen a woman with brown bushy hair?" Ron yelled.

"Might have been someone like that over there," shouted back the Auror, pointing a vague finger over to the right.

Ron craned to the right but saw nothing. "Thanks," he yelled and as he muscled his way through the crowd he just heard the Auror yell back, "Anytime!"

The green light flashed again and briefly illuminated the area in green. In that split second he saw a figure, crouched down against the wall, her bushy hair clearly visible.

"Hermione!" he yelled and ran forward, scarcely aware that a ringing had started in his ears. Everything seemed to have slowed down, green light flashed again and Ron turned his head to see a man fall slowly down next to him, his face contorting in horror. The ringing was growing shriller and shriller but the only thing that mattered was getting to Hermione.

Next second the world had speeded up and he had Hermione in his arms. Grabbing her tightly he spun he around and around. He stopped and hugged her close to him, "Don't ever do that again," he choked out between tears.

Hermione hugged back equally as hard and kissed him hard on the mouth. "I'm sorry-I'm sorry," she said, over and over again.

Ron hugged her tight again and whispered into her ear, "Let's just get out of here."

Hermione smiled weakly and they let go. Ron grabbed her hand and as her fingers closed around his he felt his heart swell with inexpressible joy. He squeezed her hand and led her slowly through the crowd.

Hermione stumbled and Ron quickly caught her. The ground didn't feel solid anymore, it felt different, fragile. A low rumbling started and Hermione turned a horrified face to Ron.

"It's-it's " she started.

"A cave-in," Ron stated calmly. "RUN!"

*

Draco stopped abruptly. Sirius and Ginny stopped too and stared at him in confusion.

"What's ?" Ginny started.

"Shh!" said Draco, holding his finger to his lips. He stood still for a few seconds. "Can't you hear that?"

he asked. Ginny and Sirius shook their heads, still staring at him looking slightly worried.

"A rumbling like like an earthquake," Draco said.

Sirius looked alarmed. "You don't think ?"

Draco shook his head. "No, something else." As he was speaking a cloud of dust fell on his head. He looked up at the ceiling in shock. A few more stones dislodged themselves from the ceiling and fell. Sirius sidestepped neatly and avoided some nasty injuries.

"I really think we should get out of here," he said.

"Good idea," muttered Ginny, and they both started running.

Draco stood still for a couple of seconds, still registering what had just happened, but Ginny stopped and turned around.

"Draco!" she yelled, "Hurry up!"

Draco got his senses back and started running too. Harry, although very light, still slowed him down and he was soon lagging way behind. Ginny was a few feet away but Sirius, having not stopped ("heartless bastard"), was miles away.

Stones were falling much heavily now and Draco had to put a protective arm over Harry. Twice he was almost crushed to death and had almost slipped over countless times. The rising dust was obscuring most of Draco's view and he couldn't see anyone anymore. The only way he managed to follow Sirius and Ginny was by looking for their footprints, whenever he was faced with forks in the passage.

Someone yelled in the distance but the sound was virtually indistinguishable from the rumbling that surrounded everything. His feet pounded against the soft ground, he was finding it hard to get a grip. Putting on an extra burst of speed he caught up with Ginny.

"Ginny!" he gasped. Ginny turned around and saw him. Her face was grubby from all the dust in the air.

"How much further?" she said. Draco shrugged, a difficult manoeuvre when you're running and holding something at the same time. He tightened his grip on Harry. The boy was taking all this remarkably well, staring around with wide eyes. Silent tears were still falling down his face but Draco thought that the pain might have blocked out by now.

"We must be getting closer by now," Ginny said, between breaths. "It's lighter."

Draco looked ahead and saw that she was right. It did seem to be getting lighter. In fact (he squinted even more now), he could even see a vague light, growing brighter with every step.

"Ginny!" he yelled. "Look! We're almost there!" Ginny's face brightened underneath all the dust and her pace increased considerably. Draco had hard work keeping up but finally they reached the light and burst out of it.

The light felt very bright to Draco's eye after being in the tunnel for so long and he had to shade them against the harsh sun. He put Harry down and stared at the other two. Their faces were completely covered in dust and their expressions looked so comical that Draco couldn't help laughing. He collapsed on the soft grass, laughing uncontrollably. Ginny was lying on the grass, clutching her stomach and Sirius was as well. Draco couldn't remember being so relieved and happy in his entire life.

After a while they all stopped laughing and just lay on the grass, staring contentedly at the sky. Harry had caught some of their happiness and was no longer crying, just lying down like the rest of them.

Draco sighed contentedly. "I can't believe we made it," he said but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wished he had kept quiet. Hermione and Ron still hadn't returned, as well as all the Aurors.

He propped himself up on one elbow and looked at Ginny, her face was turned away and he could not tell what she was feeling.

"They'll be okay," Draco said, with feeling. "They've both been in plenty of worse situations before."

Ginny said nothing, Draco felt uncomfortable. He rolled onto his back again and exhaled. The sky was no longer cloudless and blue. It was an angry purple, clouds were racing across the sky and there was a definite coldness in the air.

Draco shivered; he didn't feel relieved now, or contented. He felt suspicious of the surroundings all of a sudden, there was something in the air that made him want to get up and run away as fast as possible.

Harry seemed to have sensed it too, for he had started crying once again and was scratching even more vigorously at his arm. Draco sighed and closed his eyes, trying to ignore him. He heard Ginny get up and walk over to Harry, whispering comforting words.

Someone yelled from inside the cave. Draco sprang to his feet, feeling very vulnerable without his wand. Ginny turned his face to the cave, looking vaguely interested but too concerned with Harry to be bothered. Sirius was up on his feet too, wand ready.

There was a new sound, a pounding of feet and gasping. Before Draco realised what was happening, two figures burst out of the entrance. Sirius recognised them immediately.

"Hermione! Ron!" he yelled.

Ginny heard him and was running forward now. Ron whisked her up into a hug and soon the four were all hugging each other, crying with relief.

"We-we thought you were dead," Draco heard Ginny say to Ron. Ron just smiled and hugged her tightly.

Draco watched on, feeling strangely isolated from the group. Ron turned around and saw him.

"Draco!" he yelled and ran towards him. "Make it out alright?"

Draco nodded and Ron held out his hand. Draco, hesitating slightly took it and was surprised when Ron swept him into a hug. He stood there, amazed, as Ron patted his back and said, "Good."

Ron released him and Draco stepped back, still trying to accept what had just happened. He looked straight at Ron's eyes and smiled, tentatively. Ron nodded and turned his attention to Harry, who was weeping and scratching at his arm again.

"What on earth has happened to him?" he exclaimed.

Ginny tore herself away from the group and walked over. Hermione noticed Harry as well and followed.

"He was-he was like that when we found him," Ginny said. "I think it's some sort of curse, but we can't be certain."

"Can't you do anything?" asked Hermione.

Sirius had arrived by now. He shook his head and said "Not really. Draco said he could help though."

Hermione and Ron turned to Draco, who shrugged and said "I-I think I can. I'll need my wand though."

Ron dug into his pocket and handed it over. Draco took it with a slight, "Thanks," and turned to Harry.

The boy looked up, a fearful expression on his face. Draco felt a wave of pity for him. He slid his arms underneath Harry and cradled his body against him.

"Where does it hurt?" he asked quietly.

Harry pointed wordlessly at a spot on his right arm. Keeping his eyes on the exact position Draco placed his wand on the spot and whispered a few well-chosen words. Harry's head slumped down onto his chest and his eyes closed.

Ron leaned closer. "Is that it?" he said.

Draco nodded. "When he wakes up he should be back to normal."

*

"He's remembering more each day," Hermione said. "Sirius says if he keeps it up at this rate he should be back to normal in a week."

Ron looked around the office. Sirius and Ginny were in the corner talking, as he watched Sirius let out a roar of laughter at something Ginny said. Harry and Draco were sitting in the middle of the room. Draco was teaching Harry some simple magic. So far he was picking it up remarkably quickly.

Ron smiled as green and silver sparks shot out of Harry's wand.

"Did you see that?" exclaimed Harry, turning excitedly to Draco. Draco smiled and started explaining another spell.

"Earth to Ron," someone said. "Huh?" said Ron, turning back to Hermione, who was wearing a mischievous smile. "Oh. Er, yeah."

"Harry's fitted in so well," continued Hermione, going back to watching the group. "It's pretty remarkable really, but I'm glad we're finally all together."

This reminded Ron of something he had been meaning to talk to Hermione about.

"Hermione," he started.

"Uh-huh."

"Hermione. I don't I don't-" he stopped and swallowed. This was going to be difficult. "I don't-"

"Oh wait a sec," said Hermione and she hurried off to the other side of the room. Dumbledore had just got out of the fireplace and his face bore a worried expression. Ron ignored them and tried to think of the best way of breaking this to Hermione.

Dumbledore had disappeared from the fireplace and Hermione was walking back, looking puzzled and holding something in her hands.

"What's that?" asked Ron, looking at the object.

"This?" said Hermione holding it up. It was a palm-sized ball, rather like a crystal ball but much different. The colours swirling inside were grey; it gave the impression of a stormy night. "I'm not too sure," she continued. "Dumbledore gave it to me. He said that it has the power to change the past "

Something clicked inside Ron's head. "I know," he said and he snatched it out of Hermione's hands. "I know what he wants us to change " he looked up and stared straight at Hermione. Realisation dawned in her eyes.

"But-but," she stuttered.

"Hermione, I don't want this to happen either, but it must. The Triwizard Tournament must be changed, this reality isn't right and you know it Hermione."

Hermione looked crestfallen. "Why can't we just keep it as it is? Look how happy Harry is, it wouldn't harm him to stay like this."

Ron took hold of her hand and looked her square in the eye. "Remember when we were kids?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "And how Harry was always the leader, how he always took charge?" Hermione looked down at the ground. "But he's not anymore, is he? This is a mockery, this isn't meant to happen. All three of us are meant to grow old together, to grow up together." A silent tear dripped down Hermione's cheek.

"Can't we just ?" she pleaded.

"You know we can't Hermione. Do the right thing for Harry."

Hermione looked close to a breakdown but she wiped away the tear and straightened up. "Okay," she said.

"I'll be there too Hermione," Ron reminded her.

Hermione nodded and made her way over to Harry, Ron beside her. Draco looked up, slightly perplexed.

"Harry?" started Ron gently. Harry looked up, his face alight. "Have you seen me? I can do magic now!" he beamed.

Ron nodded sadly. "Take this," he said and handed the black orb to him.

"We've told you what happened at the Triwizard Tournament and Dumbledore thinks there may be a way to change everything," Hermione continued. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ginny and Sirius stop talking and make their way over to them. Harry just looked confused.

Draco got the drift and said, "What Hermione means is that there's a way to change what happened in fourth year. To change it so that Voldemort doesn't get you."

Sirius and Ginny were silent, watching on with bated breath.

"But-but won't that mean I won't know you?" stuttered Harry; the look on his face was tearing Ron apart.

"You will know us," cut in Ginny, Ron guessed she must have heard Hermione's conversation with Dumbledore. "We'll just be younger, your age."

"Can't I just stay here?"

Ron shook his head sadly. "You can't. You have to go back, the Wizarding World needs you."

Harry's eyes were bright as he turned to Draco. "Does that mean we wont be friends?" he said, turning to Draco. Draco nodded sadly.

Harry's face contorted and he suddenly flung himself on Draco, knocking the breath out of him. Draco looked shocked but he gathered his wits to pat Harry on the back and say, "There there."

Ron pulled Harry off Draco. "All you have to do is concentrate hard on your past memories while holding the orb."

Harry nodded and clenched the orb tight and closed his eyes. He could remember the gravestone, the man with two faces and now he was remembering new images, ones of friends and school in a castle. As he explored deeper he remembered more and more until he gasped and opened his eyes.

"I remember," he whispered.

Ron looked sadly at Harry and said, "Goodbye Harry."

Harry's expression changed to one of shock. "But-but I don't want to! You tricked me!"

"It'll be better this time," Hermione said, "You'll get back safely. It'll be all right " she choked and buried her face in Ron's jumper.

Sirius hugged Harry tightly and said "See you at the other side "

Ginny looked away and muttered "Goodbye " Harry could see tears in her eyes but it was getting harder to focus, the world was fading.

Draco could see the faraway look in Harry's eyes and spoke before it was too late. "Whatever happens," he said. "We'll always be friends, remember that, okay kiddo ?"

The office blurred in front of Harry's eyes and before he knew it, he was falling, falling through space. Grey swirled in front of him, like the orb he had been clutching. The buzzing in his ears was changing now, changing into recognizable voices, and the grey was changing too. He closed his eyes against the flood of colour that had appeared and prayed for it to be over, for the ordeal to end

But now something was changing, he felt a blackness envelope him, smothering his senses. He tried to cry out but the yell stopped at his throat. He felt himself sinking further and further into the darkness, and against his will memories were slipping away. He clutched desperately at them but they were fading away too quickly. The blackness clutched his mind and he felt himself fall and fall until nothing.

*

Harry felt himself slam into the ground; his face was pressed into the grass; the smell of it filled his nostrils. He has closed his eyes while the Portkey transported him, and he kept them closed now. He did not move. All his breath seemed to have been knocked out of him; his head was swimming so badly it felt as though the ground beneath him was swaying like the deck of a ship. To hold himself steady, he tightened his hold on the two things he was clutching - the smooth, cool handle of the Triwizard cup, and Cedric's body. He felt as though he would slide away into the blackness gathering at the edges of his brain if he let go of either of them. Shock and exhaustion kept him on the ground, breathing in the smell of the grass, waiting waiting for someone to do something and all the while, his scar burnt dully on his forehead

A torrent of sound deafened and confused him, there were voices everywhere, footsteps, screams he remained where he was, his face screwed up against the noise, as though it was a nightmare that would pass

Then a pair of hands seized him roughly and turned him over.

"Harry! Harry!" He opened his eyes. He was looking up at the starry sky, and Albus Dumbledore was crouched over him. The dark shadows of a crowd of people pressed in around him, pushing nearer; Harry felt the ground beneath his head reverberating with their footsteps.

He had come back to the edge of the maze. He could see the stands rising above him, the shapes of people moving in them, the stars above.

Harry let go of the Cup, but he clutched to Cedric to him even more tightly. He raised his free hand and seized Dumbledore's wrist, while Dumbledore's face swam in and out of focus.

"He's back," Harry whispered. "He's back. Voldemort."

"What's going on? What's happened?" The face of Cornelius Fudge appeared upside-down over Harry; it looked white, appalled.

"My God - Diggory!" it whispered. "Dumbledore - he's dead!"