The Veil of Memories

Chapter 23

The Room of Quiet Repose

Ron Weasley was being strangled to death. The spider had two of its pincers around his throat. Another of its long legs stuck like a hot poker into the side of his head. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear Hermione crying out to him. He wondered why she wasn't helping to rescue him. Maybe she was too far away. Maybe she was being eaten herself. The pincers grabbed him ever more tightly and the leg seemed to grind into his head. Ron wasn't sure he could take much more of this. He started to long for the dull, blissful end but then - no, he mustn't die, he couldn't die, he realized. He still had to save -

Hermione.

"Hermione!"

Ron shouted the name but only bubbles came out of his mouth. Disoriented, he looked around to find himself surrounded by dark, murky water. His memories returned along with a crippling pain in his head. He moved his hand toward his forehead and found that it came away with blood. He touched his hand to the side of his face and found that the gills which had formed just below his ears were getting smaller in time with a restricting tightness in his chest.

What had happened? One moment he'd been looking down at Hermione and the next - Nott? Nott! Ron looked around frantically but his former prisoner was nowhere to be seen. And what about -

Hermione! He had seen Hermione! And she was floating in - oh, goddess.

Ron swung his body around and found that the eddy which had been carrying water beneath the lake had disappeared but that the opening was still ajar. Wincing as another sharp, stabbing pain surged through his head, Ron slowly lowered himself down into it. It was dark and murky but Ron could just make out that he was swimming around inside a small alcove. Three or four times he ploughed into a rocky wall. Each time he grew more and more desperate and pushed off even faster, feeling his lungs continue to restrict. Maybe they had taken her away. Ron began to hope they had. He knew she couldn't have survived for long under -

His head suddenly collided with something soft. It started to move away from him but he reached out and grabbed it closer. It was a person. He pulled the prone face toward him and saw that it was Hermione. Her eyes were closed and she was clearly unconscious. For a moment, he feared she was dead, but then he saw a thin trail of bubbles coming out from her mouth. Balancing his hands around Hermione's ankles, he propelled her up through the opening and out toward the bottom of the lake. He followed right behind her and shoved hard with his feet off the muddy bottom to propel them both upward.

The lake seemed to go on forever. Ron's own lungs felt tighter and tighter and the pain in his head started to become unbearable. He was certain that the gillyweed had completely worn off now. He kept paddling his legs in the water and pushing Hermione upward. It wasn't long before he began to feel that he had weights tied to them. He kept expecting to see light or sun from the surface but the water seemed murkier than ever. With a sinking heart, Ron began to wonder whether they were swimming around in circles, but he continued to push up with his legs, then finally - very suddenly - the water began to clear. Without realizing it until the very last second, Ron felt his head break up over the surface.

His lungs began to gratefully suck in the rich air around them but Ron hardly noticed. Hermione was still unconscious in his arms; her face looked deathly pale and even a little blue. She didn't seem to be breathing anymore. Ron struggled to remember if he knew any anti-drowning charms but his mind was twisted in panicked knots. He knew there must be something he should be doing but a feeling of total helplessness seemed to wash over him. To think he had come all this way and reunite with the love of his life against impossible odds only for her to die at the very moment of their reunion. He couldn't accept it; he just wouldn't accept it. Ron finally grabbed Hermione's shoulders and began to shake her very hard.

"Hermione, for Merlin's sake, please, say something! You can't die! You just can't!"

There was a sudden almighty cough, then another. Water, bile, and a little blood poured out of Hermione's mouth. It didn't seem like she could stop.

"Hermione!" Ron squeaked. "Please don't - "

Hermione drew her head back. The face that had been as white as death a moment before had now gone completely red. Her chest began to rise and fall as she took in several long, deep breaths. Ron was certain he had never heard a sweeter sound in his life. Then her brown eyes opened and looked across at him.

"Hello," she said. "You're an awful mess, you know. It reminds me of someone who once kissed me in the cellar of a sweets shop."

Ron looked at her dumbly for a moment. "H - Hermione," he said. "It's - it's me! Don't you - "

But Ron could not say any more. Hermione threw her arms around him and placed her wet mouth against his. Ron felt overcome with a giddy lightheadedness. All of his pain vanished as though soothed with an elixir. Blood pounded through his heart like the beat of a song as Hermione's moist hair became entangled in his face. He felt her arms, warm and alive, wrap tightly around his shoulders and he in turn pulled her toward him like a severed half that had finally found its other. All of the longing, pain, and repressed desire of two bodies that had remembered one another even when their minds had forgotten suddenly seemed to collide. Deep in a desolate lake, high above a den of the blackest evil, and against every formidable obstacle that had been pitted against it, love had survived.

***

"Oh, look. The lovers reunited at last. How sickly Gryffindor sweet."

Harry felt as though someone had plunged a javelin full of ice down his back. Ginny pulled her arms closer around him, and he clutched protectively onto her in return, though he was certain his body was deathly cold.

Malfoy waved his hand in the air and the Death Eaters moved to the side.

"Away; out of the room," he said distractedly. "Leave me alone with them. You have your other duties."

The four Death Eaters that had Portkeyed Harry and Ginny into their new cell, slightly larger but otherwise exactly the same as the one Ginny had occupied before, looked at Malfoy hesitantly for a moment, but then one by one transported themselves back out of the cell.

"I see you've finally grown into your shoes, Malfoy," said Harry, "or maybe you've grown into yours, Tom. Either way, it's an excellent fit."

Malfoy smiled. "I always knew it would be you here at the end, Potter."

"Is that because you've always known that it would be me who would finish you - both of you, that is?"

Malfoy smiled again. "Only because it has always been you that has stood between me and what I desire - all that I desire." His eyes fixed meaningfully on Ginny.

"I'm not your possession, Malfoy," said Ginny, and Harry desperately hoped that Malfoy could not hear the fearful tremor in her voice. "No matter what you do to Harry or to me, I'll never stand with you."

"Has Lord Voldemort ever possessed anything or anyone, Ginny? Yes, he possessed you once - when you were weak. He has taken other weak minds. But his true servants have always joined him out of their own free will. They have always had the strength to know his power for themselves. You are like that, too, Ginny: I know it. I saw into your mind through that broken diary last year. I saw how you, too, had grown. And then from the Dark Lord's memories, I knew you would become mine. I still know this, even if you do not. You think you will never join me because your love will never take your heart away from Potter. I could kill him now or I could let him live - but it won't make any difference either way once you truly understand. What is love, Ginny? Sentiment. Fantasy. Figments of the mind's own tricks are nothing to power, power which has no weakness or end. I will show you that power, Ginny, just as I promised, but first I must show you the illusions of your mind for what they are."

And then, very suddenly, Malfoy Disapparated.

Harry felt himself start to pant very quickly as though he'd been holding his breath all the time that Malfoy had been with them. Ginny wound her arms even more tightly around him. She looked horribly pale.

"Oh, Harry," she said, in a very cathartic voice. "What's he going to do?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "Just stay close, all right, whatever happens?"

Harry realized he sounded very silly since Ginny was already pressed against him but she nodded and nuzzled her face in his chest. He wondered if she could hear his fast beating heart and realize how terrified he truly was.

***

Ron and Hermione sat on the bank of the lake, the warm early afternoon sun slowly drying their clothes. Hermione was touching her soaked but otherwise functional wand against the two deep gashes on Ron's forehead. Ron was looking back at her like a small puppy dog that had just found its bone.

"That should do it." Hermione took her wand back. "How do you feel?"

"I feel liked Nott really killed me and I wound up in heaven."

Hermione smiled. Their arms seemed to find each other very easily again. Ron ran his finger lovingly down the side of her chin.

"You know," he said. "I - I don't think I ever, well, that is," he lowered his head for a moment. "I really did forget you, I suppose - for a while but I couldn't really ever forget about you." He looked up into her eyes again. "I knew you were out there, somewhere, even if I didn't know who you were. I - I don't suppose - does that make any sense?"

In response, Hermione dipped Ron's chin toward hers. Their mouths settled slowly into a kiss. Ron tightened his grip and around Hermione and felt her reciprocate with passion. But then she abruptly pushed out of the kiss.

"What - what is it?" asked Ron.

Hermione looked away from Ron's eyes.

"We - we can't, Ron, not now. We can't sit here like this when people are about to die." She looked back up at him. "Harry and Ginny are still Malfoy's prisoners."

"Yeah," said Ron, nodding. "Yeah, you're right."

But he still felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of freezing water over his head.

"And it's worse," Hermione went on. "Malfoy's about to collapse the bubble world we were trapped in."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? I - I mean, you both got out, didn't you?"

"No! Ron, there are others still in there! All of the Muggle-borns! It was only Harry and I who got out. They're trapped in a sort of - a sort of school. And they still don't remember who they really are!"

"Well, what are we going to do then?"

"I have to go back." Hermione got to her feet. She ran her fingers through her hair in thought. "There's an opening back under the lake, in these horrible passageways Malfoy's created. It's a kind of vortex. That's how Harry and I got back here." Hermione grimaced. "It's pretty horrible but I suppose it won't kill me."

Ron was tempted to say she was mad to go back under there, but he knew that she wouldn't listen.

"Look, all right, Hermione, but before you go, there's something I have to give you. I - I - " Ron lowered his head. A lump had suddenly formed in his throat. An image flashed in his mind - sitting in the common room with Hermione that night when Harry had gone to get the Fire Whiskey - knowing he had to tell her, that he had to give her the rings, but terrified that she would reject him. He'd thought he could put it off for one more day, but then one more day had never come. And now, when against all probability, he was reunited with Hermione again, Ron was certain that he wasn't going to let the chance pass a second time.

"I was waiting," Ron paused again. Hermione walked up and put a hand on his shoulder. "I was waiting a long time for this - too long. I - I - "

"Ron," said Hermione sympathetically. "I - I know - I mean, I'm sure you were, b - but - Malfoy's already given the order to close the bubble world. We don't have any more time."

Ron looked up to her and nodded. "All right, then, but I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

Hermione smiled. "You're hardly in a fit state to - "

"I don't care!"

Hermione sighed, then pushed Ron playfully on the arm. She smiled at him as though for a moment unsure whether she wanted to be a world-saving heroine or a teenage girl in love.

"All right," she said finally. "But we've got to go - now. Wait!" she suddenly caught hold of Ron's arm and put her hand to her mouth. "I almost forgot - our memories!"

"What?"

"Well, when Harry and I came through the vortex - the tunnel, or whatever it was - we got our memories back!"

"Yeah, good!"

"No, it's not good. There must be some kind of shield here from the effect of the charm. Probably because it's Malfoy's base. Of course, Mass Memory Charms!" she said again, half to herself. "I did a report on them for our Charms project fourth year. Flitwick signed the permission for me to get the books from the Restricted Section. It was very forbidden magic. I don't think even he knew...." Her voice trailed off. "That must have been it; not many people did know, and the ones that did either forgot or disappeared."

"But that's not possible. Ginny was mad about trying to find out about the Charms. I know she snuck into the Restricted Section."

"Well, of course Malfoy would have gotten rid of them all!"

"Oh... right, yeah, I suppose he - "

"Anyway - " Hermione stared off into space. "Yes, maybe I could - I think it might - well, I suppose we don't have much other choice." She turned to Ron. "I think I can conjure what we need. Let's get moving. Well, come on then!"

"Right," said Ron. Without wasting another moment, he jogged down to the water's edge and began pulling large chunks of gillyweed out from the plant growing at its edge. "There should be enough here for both of us," he said, by way of explanation. "I don't think I took nearly enough on the way down; it didn't last very long." He took a handful and shoved it almost greedily into his mouth, chewing hard and fast on the stringy plant. Only then did he turn around to see Hermione with her wand aimed down to the surface of the meadow.

"Aperio," she said. "Alohomora."

A small patch of earth opened up on the shore just in front of Ron's foot, revealing a dark, down-winding staircase. Hermione looked back up at him.

"Please tell me you haven't swallowed any of that."

***

Dumbledore trained his wand onto the base of the tree. A very thin purple light emitted from its end. He tried hard to think through another skeleton key charm out of the many that littered his memory. Nothing had worked so far.

"Can you see them over at the meadow?" he asked Remus over his shoulder.

There was no response.

"I said - "

Dumbledore felt a hard tap on his shoulder. He looked up. Remus was still standing next to him but he was not alone. They were surrounded by more than a dozen goblins, each with blue fireballs in their hands. Lupin slowly raised his arms but Dumbledore curled up the ends of his mouth in what he hoped was a crotchety smile, the sort that befitted a myocorp.

"Been wantin' to trade, we is; blockin' us from gettin' our boats across, this tree. Wouldn' be able to know the way aroun', would yeh? Help out a couple o' poor myocorps now?"

In response, the goblin standing in front of them reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of some sort of yellow powder.

"Duck!" cried Dumbledore.

But with a vicious toss, the goblin sprayed the powder all over the two wizards. Dumbledore felt an unpleasant tingling sensation. When he looked up, he found Remus standing next to him in his human form. He had little doubt that he appeared the same.

"I should have guessed you'd be here," the goblin who had thrown the powder croaked bitingly. "How bold is the very architect of the cowardly massacre of our young to come and revisit the very scene of his crime?"

Dumbledore held up a hand. "Listen to me, all of you: for many years now, wizards and goblins have been at peace. Don't ruin this now."

"You have already ruined it, wizard: we trusted you and our trust was betrayed. Do you expect to sit by while you slaughter our kind like cowardly thieves in the night?"

Remus shook his head. "There wasn't any attack. Your memories have been altered. You've been tricked, yes - but not by us. Lord Voldemort is your real enemy."

The goblin let out a noise something like an offended Hippogriff. "Lord Voldemort did not slaughter our children, and he never erased our memories," he declared with certainty. "You insult us doubly with your false claims of innocence, wizard. And our vengeance has been delayed far too long."

The goblin leader looked significantly at the others. A murmur of anger rippled among them. Then, as if as one, they raised the fireballs in their hands.

And stopped.

There was a loud sound, a loud rumbling sound, that was coming from somewhere over the other side of the forested hill. The ground beneath them slowly began to shake.

***

The afternoon sun fell lazily, almost inevitably, toward the vortex that ended the world at the top of the fabricated hill above St. Brutus's School for Criminally Incurable Girls and Boys. The vortex looked peaceful enough for a moment, in its own chaotic way, and then suddenly, like an offended spirit, it ejected a wizard and a witch out onto the hard ground.

"Ow, bloody hell!" cried Ron, grabbing his ankle from where it had collided with a rock. "Never again will I - " He stopped, his eyes widening suddenly. He looked around quickly and spotted the enormous vortex swirling behind him.

"What - what the bloody devil - where am - "

"Put your hands where I can see them!" cried a voice. "What have you done with Harry?"

Ron looked up to see a bushy-haired witch about his own age get up from the ground and point a wand in his direction. She looked as though she had only just arrived, too. There was something familiar about her but Ron couldn't place -

A sudden rush of sound and light penetrated Ron's head. It wasn't quite pain but it seemed just as unpleasant. A flood of images bombarded his mind and then, suddenly, it was over. He looked up to see Hermione reaching her hand out toward him.

"Are you all right?" she said, helping him up.

Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out the memory ball she had given him. It wasn't shining red anymore and had gone back to looking opaque just like Neville's old Remembrall.

"Yeah, yeah, I think so," he replied.

"Delayed reaction," Hermione explained.

"Well, don't delay it so long next time. You were about to hex my head off! Where are we?" he said, looking around.

Hermione felt a sudden queasy feeling in her stomach as she looked around at the rocky meadow and the forest behind it that led down to the school.

"We're in the bubble world," she replied. "Well, at least it's still here. Mind you, I never thought I'd be coming back."

She tried to repress an unwelcome feeling of disappointment. If Hermione was honest with herself, in her heart of hearts she realized there was a part of her that had hoped that Malfoy had already destroyed this world. She would have grieved for her friends - yes, but she would have realized that there'd been nothing that she could have done differently, that she had tried to save them and tragically failed. She hated this school; she hated it even more now that she knew what it really was. Hermione tried to brush away her negative feelings. She tried to remember Arabella's face, how she would be depending on her, how she couldn't let her die without knowing who she really was.

"Hermione."

"I - I'm sorry. I was just - "

Ron took hold of her shoulders. "I don't know what went on down there but you're here with me now."

"I - I know."

Ron was right. Harry had always been there for her as a friend but there had never been anyone in that school to love or love her. She remembered how she'd marveled that Dean and Lavender could have found themselves together in such a horrible, mirthless prison. She quickly pulled Ron into a hug and held onto him like a life ring in a horrible, hungry sea.

"The school's down there," she said, reluctantly releasing herself and pointing to the path that she and Harry had walked up from the forest. "We'd better go."

"What are we going to do when we get there? I mean - we can't very well go up, introduce ourselves, and tell them that they'd better jump headfirst into some horrible looking cloud because their world's about to end."

Hermione bit her lip. She had, of course, thought of this many times in their long journey down underneath the lake and out to the vortex entrance but she hadn't come up with any good ideas. She herself was an escaped prisoner and Ron was completely unknown. She could try to find the memory ball but her chances seemed very slim indeed. After all, Sirius had spent months doing nothing but still he had failed. There was little reason to think they could succeed with what limited time they had left.

"I don't know," she said finally, "but we've got to try. Come on."

She took hold of Ron's hand and pulled him toward the path. They had almost reached the woods when Ron tugged back.

"What?" She turned back around to face him.

"Look."

Ron pointed out to a spot behind them, just to the right of the vortex, where it slid down to the edge of the trees near the sloping false horizon.

A large black spot had emerged on its edge. Well, a sort of black spot. It was really like nothing at all, like nothing would be if it had a shape and one could look at it. It was like looking at a spot on a T.V. screen that the picture tube no longer reached. And as Hermione watched, it started to grow out and cover more of the vortex. A few seconds later, it had reached the top of one of the trees. A strange buzzing sound echoed out over the meadow. Hermione watched in horror as bits of tree and bark splintered into the air as the spot gradually enveloped it.

She and Ron exchanged a look of fear, then she took hold of his hand and they ran quickly down the path into the forest.

***

Dumbledore and Lupin had tried to throw their hexes into the battle early on. It wasn't long, however, before they'd decided to find a safe hiding place under a thick-trunked tree and let the two sides get on with it. It was only when the noise around them had stopped completely and nearly all the nearby trees had been trampled into oblivion that the two wizards ventured cautiously back out into the now large clearing at the edge of the lake.

Even then, their first thought was that they would have still been better off staying put. The goblins had vanished completely in fright but now they were face to face with their enormous attackers, and neither was very certain how the new arrivals would take them.

"I suppose they could be friendly enough," whispered Lupin cautiously, staring up at the two giants.

"We don't know how Voldemort may have modified their memories," Dumbledore whispered back, almost inaudibly.

"Well, they did attack the goblins," said Lupin nervously. "Perhaps - "

He broke off as he noticed one of the giants looking down at him curiously. It nudged its companion and pointed an ominous finger in their direction. It seemed they had been noticed.

Dumbledore and Lupin remained perfectly still. The last thing they wanted to do was seem like a threat to these powerful creatures. As such, they had no difficulty in hearing the sound of only slightly less thunderous footsteps coming in their direction.

"Professor Dumbledore! Professor Lupin! Oh, don' mind Grawp and Fump; they're 'armless; they know's yeh both friends. Took me a bloody job to find them an' all, mind yeh, and what with me disappearing an all 'em memory fields and goodness knows what, I don't 'ave to tell yeh. Lot o' the other giants got los' on the way, though; reckon it might be a bit o' trouble, but still we found yeh. Now how do we get to this place where Yeh-Know-Who is hidin', eh?"

Dumbledore put his hands together. "Bless you, Hagrid," he said. "Bless you."

***

Hermione and Ron half-stumbled, half-ran down the pathway toward the school. Behind them, they could hear the sound of trees tumbling down like matchsticks as the bubble world continued to close in on itself. They reached a small clearing and, for the first time, looked straight down at the fenced-in school-prison. They could also see across to the surrounding hills. The mass of black nothing was creeping down around them as well. Judging from the pace at which it moved, Hermione didn't think they had much more than an hour before it reached St. Brutus's. It was obvious that the students and teachers at the school could see it, too: even from a distance, Hermione could see that a large group of them were huddled together out in the courtyard. At least it might make explaining things a little bit easier.

"That's the school?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Hermione vacantly. She turned her face away from him, feeling a horrible mixture of anger and shame well up inside of her. To think that she had been trapped there for months after months so near to freedom, a prisoner only of the stinging guilt of her supposed crimes and her failure to remember the magic that she otherwise could have used to free herself.

"Looks like a bloody fortress," said Ron. "How are we going to get in there then?"

Hermione clutched onto her wand very tightly. "I don't think their defenses will be much of a match for our magic," she declared stridently. "Come on."

"Oh, well, if you say so, then we can just - "

But Ron had to stop talking and struggle to keep up as Hermione continued to rush hard down the hill. More precious minutes passed before they finally reached the two outer gates of the prison which someone had apparently mended since she and Harry had escaped the night before.

"Hey!" a voice shouted out from the guard tower.

Hermione nonchalantly threw a stunning spell across the fences that hit its target with impressive accuracy.

"How are we going to get over these - "

Without breaking stride, Hermione Disapparated with a pop and then Re-apparated inside the perimeter of the school. She made for the door to the school building and had started to turn the handle when she realized that she was alone. She quickly looked back to see that Ron was still standing on the outside of the two fences.

"Come on!" she cried back.

Ron grimaced.

"You can Apparate, can't you?"

"Well, H - Hermione, yes, I mean, I passed the test, but this short-distance thing, you know, I mean I'm sure part of me might make it across but the other part, well - "

Hermione sighed impatiently. "All right then, go around to the front entrance and try to talk some sense into the guards. They must know something's wrong."

"O - OK," said Ron and started to sprint around the outside of the fence.

Hermione took one look after him and then opened the door to enter the school.

***

Harry and Ginny sat in relative darkness inside the cell. Harry wasn't sure how much time had passed since Malfoy had left - a half an hour, maybe an hour - the anxiousness of not knowing what he had in store for them made the time seem to pass very slowly. He and Ginny had started by looking around the room to find any possible exits but like Ginny in the small cell before him, they had not been successful. After that, they had sat down on the cold ground. Harry had worked on tying a makeshift bandage around Ginny's cut and slightly swollen knee using a torn piece of cloth from the bottom of his trouser leg.

"That should do it," said Harry, tying a gentle but firm knot and checking to make sure that it covered the cut completely. "How does it feel?"

Ginny put on a brave smile. "I'm sure it will get better. It's the best we can do, at any rate, for now. If we get the chance to escape, I'll be ready."

"Well, let it get some rest then."

Ginny sighed. "I don't suppose that will be difficult." She paused. "Harry?"

"Yes?"

"What - what happened to you - out there - in that other world? I - I don't really understand any of it. Dumbledore would never tell me and I don't think he really understood either."

Harry hesitated.

"Harry, please," said Ginny. She took hold of his hand. "We've been apart for so long. I - I want to understand what happened to you out there."

Harry nodded. Then he slowly opened his lips and began to tell Ginny the whole painful story from the time he'd first appeared in St. Brutus's to his escape with Hermione.

"Oh, Harry!" she said, taking hold of his shoulders and shaking her head. "I'm so sorry about Sirius!"

"I don't suppose I'll ever see him again," he muttered.

"Maybe you will. There's a lot we don't understand." Ginny smiled through her eyes at him for a moment and played with her finger on his chin.

Harry looked at her thoughtfully, then said:

"So tell me about you. What happened? And what did you do to your face?" He forced a smile.

"It's a J'k'ibir, a kind of magical elfin pet. D - do you like it?" she asked, with a bit of uncertainty. "I can make it come and go."

Harry looked at the mark curiously. He gently brushed back a few stray strands of Ginny's hair and ran his fingers across it.

"It's beautiful," he said, "like you. Ginny, please tell me what happened to you," he added gently.

Ginny frowned. "It was horrible, Harry."

Harry took hold of both her hands. "It won't be horrible when you tell me."

Ginny looked back into his eyes. There was a brief pause, then she slowly nodded and began to tell him everything that had happened since they'd separated. It all seemed very hard for her to say as though she was spewing out chunks of pain trying to recall it.

"I don't regret leaving the village," she finished, "but I never should have tried to contact Ron. That was just selfish. And now look where it got us. Harry," she said, before he could respond. She held onto his hands a little more tightly, as though for support. "I don't know what happened to Ron. I - I - when they got me out, he was surrounded by Death Eaters. I - don't know - " Ginny stopped talking. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I - I - I don't th-think it looked very good for him."

There was a long pause, then Harry used his hand to wipe away one of the tears on Ginny's cheek.

"Look," he said. "We've both lost a lot and maybe we'll still lose a lot more, but we've got to keep going on. We still have each other."

Ginny paused for a moment as though considering his words and then nodded.

"Hermione might have gotten away," Harry went on. "Maybe she's planning something. Ginny, I know this is difficult but I need you to think carefully: is there anything Dumbledore told you, anything at all, that might help us?"

Ginny shook her head, and her face went suddenly red with anger. "Dumbledore knew nothing," she said. "There was something Sirius said, though. Dumbledore and Lupin didn't want him to tell me; they were always trying to protect me from everything. But he did anyway."

Harry smiled ironically. "That was Sirius."

Ginny took hold of his forearm. "Harry, he said if - if someone were to die inside that pentrax thing - inside that cavern, I suppose, then it would ruin all of Malfoy's plans. The energy from the soul going into the other world would push the other world away, or something; I don't really understand it but Sirius seemed to think that was the way - he said we had to kill one of the Death Eaters inside the cavern near the time when the arc was to return. But not Malfoy - his soul is stuck or something."

Harry nodded. "Trapped in his body by Dumbledore's curse last year."

"Right, so - " Ginny's voice trailed off and she sighed again. "I don't suppose it's much help, though. They've never actually taught us the Killing Curse. I suppose we could push one of them off the edge of that platform thing, but I don't think we're likely to get the chance. I don't suppose we'll ever get out of this cell."

Ginny sighed heavily and buried her hands in her elbows.

"Hey," said Harry, cupping her face up to his. "Don't give up. We've always made it out before."

Ginny looked up at him and smiled weakly. "You've made it out of a lot of things, that's for sure."

"And so have you, Ginny."

"I know, Harry, b - but - " she sighed again. "This time feels different somehow, I - oh, Harry, I don't suppose I should mind admitting to you that I'm terrified."

"No, you shouldn't."

Ginny smiled again in spite of herself. "I wonder how I was ever sorted into Gryffindor in the first place."

"How can you say that? Think of how brave Ginny Weasley was to leave that house-elf village; to face Voldemort in that room last year; to follow me on a fool mission to rescue Sirius in the Department of Mysteries."

"Absolutely terrified all three times. Only I was very good at hiding it."

"Then you even more belong in Gryffindor."

Ginny smiled but then her face fell again. "Harry, there's something else I haven't told you a - about Malfoy." Ginny paused, almost as if she hoped Harry would say something but he just continued to look at her, obviously expecting she would go on talking. "H - he has some sort of - infatuation with me. It's not anything like real love; I don't think he's capable of feeling anything like that but he's obsessed about me, Harry. He thinks that when he's blown a hole in the gateway, I'll be impressed with him or - or something."

Harry frowned. "Yeah, I saw the way he acted just now, but when did this start?"

"I - I don't know. I suppose it's because he has Tom's memories trapped inside him."

Harry frowned again. "But I don't understand. Why would that - what would that have done?"

"Made him more obsessed, I suppose, I don't know."

But Ginny looked a little furtive as she said it. Harry leaned closer to her.

"Look, it doesn't matter what it is; just forget about it, OK? I'm here and I'm not going to let him hurt you."

Ginny smiled at Harry and ran her fingers across his back. "Oh, Harry," she said. "I love you so much. It's just horrible, the way he looks at me, I - "

There was a sudden sound of rushing air. What little light there had been in the cell quickly disappeared.

"What's happening?" asked Ginny nervously.

Harry put his arms around Ginny and pulled her toward him. "I - I don't know," he said. "Just keep calm, all right?"

Without releasing his grip on Ginny, Harry quickly looked around the cell. The rushing air suddenly stopped. It was almost as if something had just been -

Harry froze. There it was again: that horrible, wheezing, rattling sound. And this time all of Harry's memories told him exactly what it was that had entered the cell with them. Another breath and then two at the same time, possibly even a third. There were dementors here, dementors here with them in this small room.

"Harry!" said Ginny again.

Harry held onto her very tightly. "Don't look at them. Don't think about them. Try to concentrate on something happy. Anything."

But Harry did not find that a particularly easy task himself. Neither of them had wands and he knew that even the happiest thought in the world would not be enough by itself to hold off even one of the dementors. So this was it; this was what Malfoy had been planning for them. This was how he intended to finish them off.

***

Malfoy sat on the small bed in the cell that had once belonged to Ginny. The voice inside his head told him that he needed to stop and think very carefully; that he needed to think well through what he was doing before he put the delicate final stages of his crucial plan together. Reflection had never been something Malfoy had considered extremely important; his father had always taught him that plotting and scheming was something best done on one's feet. But the voice had been very persistent. Malfoy knew that the part of him that had brought him down here was not the part of him that belonged to Draco Malfoy. But what was he meant to reflect on? What did the voice want this time? Surely, their plans -

"So you've arrived at last," said a cool, precise voice. "You have a stubborn will, Draco, just like your father, but all minds can be bent, and yours is in great need of bending."

Malfoy looked up. A tall wizard about his own age, perhaps a little younger, with dark black hair stood in front of him. He was dressed in Slytherin robes; and a silver Prefect badge's was pinned to his lapel, a little like Malfoy's own.

Malfoy reached quickly for his wand and aimed it at the boy.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here? Consisto!"

The red light from Malfoy's wand went clear through the boy and made a small, harmless dent in the rock behind him.

The boy smiled but his eyes flashed in anger and derision.

"You cannot hex me, Draco; I am not really here."

"Who are you?"

"Come now, Draco; you are not nearly as mindless as one might infer from your parentage. Look at me closely and tell me you do not know who I am."

Malfoy squinted at the boy. There was something familiar about him. He could swear he had seen him in a picture or - or no, it wasn't a picture; it was a face that seemed to have been planted in his mind, not from his own memories, planted by -

Malfoy's eyes opened suddenly in horror.

"Yes, Draco," said Tom Riddle. "You understand correctly. I thought it might be easier this way to talk; and I have something very much on my mind."

***

"Rictusempra!"

The guard had scarcely started to reach for his club when Hermione's hex caught his shoulder; he spun backward and landed in a painful heap on the floor. Two other guards then emerged from the corridor that led down toward the kitchen flanked closely by Sister Jones.

"Miss Granger?" she said incredulously. "What is - "

Hermione aimed her wand in their direction.

"Magnum Procella!"

There was a rushing sound and an invisible wave of energy spread out from Hermione's wand. It hit Sister Jones and the two guards simultaneously like an enormous iron fist and hurtled them back against the wall behind them. Hermione did not stop to look at their condition but continued to march quickly down the corridor that would eventually lead her to Snape's office, her face fixed in a mask of determination and anger.

As she continued, Hermione found, almost to her disappointment, that the classrooms on either side of her were empty. A quick look through the windows of the main cafeteria revealed it to be devoid of people as well. Obviously, everyone was out on the courtyard now, watching as the mass of nothingness moved closer to their school. Hermione briefly wondered what hellish explanation the nuns would make up for it.

The classrooms vanished and Hermione turned the corner into the main corridor that led toward the office. It wasn't a very comforting thought but the only thing she could think of doing was finding and confronting Snape - at the point of her wand if necessary. He alone had the authority to lead everyone out of this school. But to where? Judging from its progress down the other hills, it was likely that the nothingness had already submerged the meadow where she and Ron had entered. Had they just returned to be consumed like the others? Hermione shook her head. Now was not the time for doubts. She had to believe that -

A sudden sound of many rushing footsteps came up from behind her. She turned around just as four guards emerged from around the other corner of the hallway through which she had just walked. She prepared her wand to strike when a door immediately to her left suddenly opened and another guard came out and seized her arm, twisting it behind her. Hermione screamed in pain and dropped her wand to the floor. Two of the on-rushing guards quickened their pace toward her and one took hold of her other arm and restrained it with a vice-like grip.

Hermione struggled against her captors but the other guards moved in and formed a tight circle around her. She was still trying to free herself when another, more familiar figure moved out of the door on her left, a door that Hermione only now realized belonged to the office of the Deputy Headmistress.

"Miss Granger," said Sister Barnes icily. "How nice of you to return to us. We've been expecting you ever since you emerged on our security cameras. You seem to have gotten the better of several of our guards, not to mention Sister Jones, but we managed quite nicely at this end to prepare in advance for your arrival."

Sister Barnes reached down to the floor and picked up Hermione's wand. She looked at it curiously for a moment and then snapped it hard on her knee into two pieces.

"I think we've had enough sorcery for one day, don't you, Miss Granger?" She smiled cruelly. "Now, I believe you were on your way to see the Headmaster, am I right? Not to worry, dear; we shan't hold you up much longer. He's most anxious to see you indeed."

***

Harry could see the dementors more clearly now: there were four of them. After moving around the room for a few moments, they had settled into the sides of a square around the space where he and Ginny were sitting. Very slowly, they began to close the gap toward them.

Harry tried to think of a way out of their predicament but all he could manage to do was hold Ginny ever closer as though doing so would somehow shield her from the nightmares advancing toward them. The side of her cheek slowly rubbed against his and he found that her skin had turned very cold. He grabbed hold of her shoulders in alarm and turned her to look at him.

"Ginny?" he said. "Ginny! Stay with me!"

Ginny's face had gone deathly pale and her eyes were glazed over. She was looking in his direction but Harry sensed that her mind was far away in a dementor-induced horror. He kept shaking her until finally he saw recognition in her eyes.

"Oh, Harry," she said. A loud sob emerged from her throat. "I feel so cold. I feel so horrible."

"Don't give into it, Ginny. It's only in your mind! We've got to - "

Harry instinctively looked around the cell again for some means of escape but then immediately regretted it. His eyes locked with one of the dementors who let out a loud, heaving rattle, like a morbid victory cry. He felt his mind start to spin. Horrible images flooded his head. A door blew open. A woman screamed.

Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside now!

Not Harry, please not Harry. Not Harry. Harry.

"Harry! Harry!"

Harry looked properly and saw that Ginny was calling out his name. She touched the side of his face. Her hand was like ice.

"Harry, don't you leave me now," she said, shuddering as though cold. "C-c-oncentrate. Have you noticed? The dementors have s-s-stopped. They're standing still."

Slightly more cautiously this time, Harry looked around and saw that, indeed, the four dementors had stopped walking toward them. But they had not retreated either. It was as though they were planning to suck away every last ounce of joy inside them as slowly as possible.

"Harry!" Ginny said again in a very small voice, her tears continuing to fall. "It's - it's so horrible - all the voices, all the images - i - i - in my mind. I want t-t-to m-make them s-s-s-stop but I-I can't!"

A horrible sickening laughter rose loudly in Harry's head. There was a flash of green light, a horrible hiss -

Harry clutched onto Ginny's shoulders again and willed himself to concentrate on her. Her teeth were starting to chatter now and her face looked very blue. Her hands were full of sweat and still icy cold.

"Ginny, just focus on me!" he said. "Whatever you're thinking; whatever you're feeling; it's not r-r-real!"

"B-b-but it is, Harry! I-i-i-t-t-t was, I-I mean. The memories: i - i - it-t really happened!"

"Well, m-m-maybe if you told m-me what y-you're facing; maybe if w-w-we faced it together, th-then."

Harry felt his own skin start to prickle and soon his teeth began to chatter like Ginny's. The voices started up in his head again but he clutched onto Ginny's shoulders in a tight, almost vice-like grip to force himself to concentrate on her alone.

But Ginny shook her head vigorously, her long damp hair brushing across Harry's face.

"H-H-Harry, n-n-n-no, please, I-I can't! It's just t-t-too horrible. I never told a-a-anyone what really happened, Harry, i-i-i-i-inn-n the Ch-Ch-Chamber. In the Chamber of Secrets," she managed. "I-I-I didn't tell Dumbledore; I didn't t-t-tell my parents. I d-d-didn't tell a-anyone!"

Harry started for a moment. What was she talking about? They all knew what happened in the Chamber, didn't they? He knew; he had been there. Tom Riddle had come out of the diary and left Ginny cold and lifeless. His energy had come from her; Dumbledore had known that and surely her parents -

Harry decided quickly that it didn't matter. He had to break Ginny out of this somehow. He ran his fingers quickly up and down her shoulders in the hope that it might make her feel warmer but it didn't seem to be any use. It was exactly the way she had felt in that Chamber, he suddenly realized, just as if the nightmare was happening all over again.

Ginny - don't be dead - please don't be dead.

I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. But there isn't much life left in her. She put too much into the diary, into me.

"Ginny!" Harry forced the horrible memories back. "Ginny! Please - please t-t-tell - tell me. You can tell me!"

Ginny didn't respond. Tears continued to run down her face. She stared straight into Harry's eye and for the briefest of moments, Harry swore he could see a little bit of color return to her face.

"I-I-I didn't lose consciousness r-r-right as T-T-Tom came ou-ou-out-t-t," she said finally. "Almost but n-n-not quite-te. He - he became solid - a - and I - I was terrified-d-d. Then h-he came t-t-toward me, Harry. H-h-he told me that n-n- that now he was wh-whole again he c-could th-thank me for all-all I had-d-d helped him. He s-s-said I was so-so pretty; so w-weak and pr-pretty, those were - were his words - ds. I-I-I can't-t forget th-th-them. I-I-I w-w-w-want t-to but I c-c-can't. Then he - Harry, he - he came at me. His hands were all over me. I-I tried to stop h-h-him but I-I was t-t-t-too weak - and I don't know - I don't know - after that, I - I really lost - lost - I don't know what happened-d n-n-next. I - I - Harry, I swear! I - I don't know! I SWEAR I DON"T KNOW!"

"Ginny, GINNY!" Harry cried, shaking her again. "It doesn't matter! Wh-whatever happened down there, it doesn't matter any more. I saved you."

"Oh, H-Harry, b-b-but he-he's going to d-d-d-do it a-again, I-I-I know i-it!"

"N-no, no, he's not!" Harry felt his own blood starting to warm. "He's not! I stopped him before and I'm - I'm going - I'm going - I'M GOING TO STOP HIM AGAIN!" Harry screamed.

Then in a quieter voice he added:

"Think of that, Ginny. Please - please think of that."

Then Harry hugged Ginny tightly and willed whatever warmth he could muster to flow into her body. And he forced himself to concentrate on the very same hope he had offered to her, praying to every god and goddess in the wizard pantheon that there was some way that it could come true.

***

"B - but how are you here?" Malfoy wondered. "How can you be standing here? You're supposed to be - I thought you were - "

"Inside your head?" replied Riddle. "I am. You created this image of me out of your mind - or rather I created it. If anyone else walked into this room, they would find you talking to yourself."

"But - but you're real; I can see you!"

"You see only what your mind tells you to see. And I'd advise you not to forget it."

Malfoy looked down at his own body as if to make sure that it was real. It was only through that simple act that he realized that his mind and thoughts were his own now. The powerful voice inside his head, the thing that had become so entangled with him, had now manifested all of itself as the apparition of Tom Riddle. There was something a little empty about just being himself again, but after a moment Malfoy began to feel an enormous sense of relief. What Ginny had said had been true after all: this hadn't been all that he'd bargained for. The Dark Lord had started off just giving him knowledge but more and more, he'd been sucking away at his will until Malfoy had begun to forget what was him and what was Voldemort. But now he was free from all that - at least for the time being. Perhaps he could reason with the Dark Lord, bargain with him, agree to help only on the condition that Voldemort not stifle and control so much of Malfoy's own self.

"I am not pleased, Draco," Riddle went on. "You have failed to live up to my expectations. Even before I possessed you, I believed you to be unswervingly dedicated to our cause. Perhaps it was your father who deceived me as to your loyalties. I knew far too little of you for myself, as I now see."

"My Lord, I have followed each of your plans very carefully." Malfoy lowered his head. "And we are very near to the completion of our destiny: you know that. What more could - "

"What more could I ask?" finished Riddle, his face twisting into a snarl. "You say we are near completion; perhaps you are right. But if you are not careful, you will also find that we are near to disaster. You told the Weasley girl far too much about our plans; and Potter overheard it, too. They are a threat."

"They will not be allowed to leave their cell until the time of our becoming has already passed. By then, Ginny's loyalty will be assured."

But Riddle shook his head. "She will never join you, Draco. Don't you understand? She is stubborn and she will not easily break. I have seen this in her. Those with strong minds do not make good allies."

Malfoy shook his head. "Once the dementors have finished with them, Weasley's affection for Potter will be at an end. She will understand that her love for him is nothing but a fantasy, a feeling, and the dementors can take all of those feelings away. Once her mind is broken, she will know the truth: there is nothing but power and Potter has no power that can save her!"

"But you are wrong. The moment the dementors leave them, she will come to wish for Potter again."

"Then you believe in love? I thought you were the one who showed me the truth about feeling?"

"I believe it is important not to underestimate the strengths of one's enemies, Draco, and you have very much underestimated both Potter and Weasley. You could have disposed of them both long ago but you did not. Instead, your affection for this girl has delayed and threatens to endanger our plans at the very moment of their fruition!"

"My affection?" It was Malfoy's turn to snarl. "You were the one who poisoned my mind with her memories! Were you thinking of your great destiny when you moved on her in the Chamber? And she wasn't the only one, was she? What a sick boy you were, Tom Riddle. And I thought I had abused my prefect privileges."

Anger rose in Riddle's cheeks. He clenched his fists very tightly.

"She was a plaything to me," he said derisively. "They were all playthings. I used them as it amused me. I never allowed them to linger in my mind as you have. As soon as I retrieved the broken diary and possessed the girl a second time, I knew that she had grown and become much stronger. I only persisted with her because I had no other link to Potter. If you allow her to continue to enter your feelings, Draco, then she will manipulate you. She already has."

Malfoy shook his head. "You're wrong."

"Am I? Then prove it to me. Order the dementors to deliver the kiss. Get rid of Potter and Weasley once and for all and I shall never doubt you again."

Malfoy went cold. No, not Ginny, he - he couldn't. Why couldn't Riddle see? They were so close to the time of their destiny now. All he would have to do was keep her captive a little while longer; then she would be only a strength to their cause.

"N - no," he finally said. "I won't do it."

"What?"

"I said I won't do it! And you cannot force me! You need me, not the other way around! I'm the one who holds your soul this side of existence. If you cross me, I will end your plans here and now!"

There was a significant pause in the conversation. Riddle looked down at Malfoy with a touch of something almost like pity.

"You don't know how much it pains me, Draco," he said, quite calmly, "this ungratefulness. I have used my power to give you what so many have longed so fruitlessly for: a body of youth and a mind with the wisdom of the ages. I do not need you, Draco: I needed you once, yes, but no longer. I have fed on your mind and grown stronger. I only preserved your soul because I hoped you could be with me to share in our destiny. Now I see that it will not be possible. Such a pity - for you."

Tom Riddle closed his right hand in a fist but then he was gone from the room. Suddenly, it was Draco Malfoy's own fist that was clenched, but it was not he who had clenched it. Lord Voldemort stared down at the arm almost curiously, the arm of the boy whose soul he had just extinguished forever, whose body now fully belonged to him.

So he had dealt with Draco Malfoy. Now it was time to finish off Potter and Weasley - once and for all.

***

The voices of his screaming mother and the loud sickening laughter of Lord Voldemort rang through Harry's head again and again like a broken record. He wanted the images to stop but he tried to tell himself they would not get worse: he wouldn't pass out this time; he needed to stay here. He needed to stay with Ginny. Her body was cold in his grip and she wasn't talking, and he felt as though his own insides had turned to ice.

Every happy feeling seemed to have been ripped from Harry's mind until he had almost managed to convince himself that he wouldn't feel joy again, that he should just give in, that there was no point in fighting and nothing to fight for. But he continued to sit and hold onto Ginny until finally, with another sound of rushing air, the dementors retreated from the room.

"Ginny! Ginny!" said Harry suddenly as the horrible voices in his head began to slowly ebb away. "Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Ginny looked back at Harry, dazed. She still looked white and in shock. More tears rolled down her cheeks but then after a moment, she seemed to recognize him.

"Harry!" she said. "Oh, Harry, wh - what's happened? Where did the dementors go?"

"I - I don't know." Harry slowly got to his feet, then leaned on Ginny for support as he stumbled. "I - I think they've - "

There were several loud popping sounds. Harry and Ginny turned around to see Malfoy, Wormtail, and three other Death Eaters appear in the cell.

"I see you managed to survive the Dementors," said Malfoy. "Unfortunate but not irredeemable."

Harry looked at Malfoy. There was something - something about the way he looked - the way he was standing, the way he talked - that was different somehow, but then also oddly familiar. It was as though -

"Tom," said Ginny, in a small, still weakened voice. "It's just you now, isn't it?"

The face of Draco Malfoy turned to her, the thin icy smile of the Dark Lord on his lips. "Seize them," he said. "We don't want them to - "

But before the Death Eaters could move any closer toward them, Harry leapt toward Voldemort and pushed him hard to the ground. His hands closed tightly around the Dark Lord's throat and he began to squeeze as hard as he could.

"You monster!" he hissed. "YOU MONSTER!" he cried again hoarsely. "I'm going to kill you for what you did! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

It took the combined effort of all three Death Eaters to pull Harry off. Ginny tried to stop them but Wormtail slapped her savagely across the face with his silver hand. She cried out and fell to the floor. Harry struggled to reach her but the Death Eaters held onto him tightly and he was still far too weak to resist them.

"That's much better," said Voldemort, coughing only slightly. "I think we'll dispense with the dementors. Potter has developed quite a way with them, haven't you, Harry?" He turned to Wormtail. "I am needed upstairs; I have been away too long as it is. You will Portkey Potter and Weasley to separate cells, then execute them both," he said coldly. "See to it personally. I do not want any mistakes."

"Yes, my Lord."

Harry struggled harder against his captors but to no avail. All he could do was watch as Wormtail moved toward him, a Portkey in his hand, and a wild, triumphant expression in his cold, colorless eyes.

***

Hermione sat down on her chair and sighed heavily. Here she was, after everything that had happened, after all their many escapes, and with the world about to collapse all around them, sitting once again in the Room of Quiet Repose. She thought back to the time she had waited for her parents, accused of witchcraft. She remembered how Sirius had come for her and Harry here in the guise of Sister Barnes and returned to them part of their memories. But now Sirius was gone. And what had they achieved? Harry had been captured, she didn't know where Ron was, and now she herself had walked straight into an ambush she should have seen coming.

Hermione looked around the impeccably neat room, the brass handled door that led out into the other corridor and Snape's office; the paintings of the former headmasters on the wall - all made up, of course; the fireplace with its menacing gargoyle-headed brass pokers; and then the altar - the altar where one was supposed to pray to St. Brutus for deliverance from whatever horrible punishment the headmaster would enter the room to deliver. And then there was the statue of St. Brutus himself hanging from the wall, the only thing in the whole room that was never impeccably ordered but always managed to rest at an angle that was slightly....

Askew.

Hermione gasped suddenly.

"No, it couldn't be," she said out loud to herself. "He couldn't have just - "

Hermione did not finish the sentence. She quickly got up and walked across to the statue. She had reached out her hand for it when the door opened and Snape re-entered with Sister Barnes.

"Leave us, Sister," he said icily.

Sister Barnes gave Hermione one of her typically cruel smiles, then walked out of the door.

She had no sooner left the room when Snape rushed toward Hermione, pushed her hard against the far wall, and grabbed his hands around her throat.

"What is going on?" he hissed. "You know, Miss Granger. I know you do. What is that thing that is coming down from the mountains? Is it Satan's wrath? Is it the Armageddon? Tell me, sorceress! Tell me now!"

Hermione forced herself to repress a gag as she caught of whiff of Snape's rancid breath.

"If - you'll - stop - choking - me," she managed.

But Snape did not release his grip.

"You can talk," he said savagely. "I can still understand you. You will explain exactly what is happening here and then you will return to your Satan and tell him that he is not - wanted - HERE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"That's - what - I'm - trying - to - do," replied Hermione, coughing and trying to nudge herself away from Snape's grip. "I - want - to - help - you!"

But Snape shook his head vigorously. "You are a whore of the devil!" he declared fervently, his voice beginning to tremble. "And the devil never wishes anything but ill to those who serve the Lord! But I will squeeze the truth from you, sorceress, if it's the last thing I do on this earth!"

Hermione let out a stifled, chortling scream as Snape tightened his grip around her neck.

"Please!" she cried out. "Pl - please Prof - Professor Snape."

And then Snape suddenly, and very unexpectedly, began to release the chokehold slightly. His eyes filled with sudden surprise and his hands began to shake.

"Wh - wh - what did you call me? What did you call me, sorceress?"

"I called you Professor Snape," replied Hermione, feeling a bit more emboldened, but still trying to shake herself away. "B - because you are! You're not the headmaster of St. Brutus's. None of this is real! You're Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You're under the effects of a very powerful enchantment; we all are! But you can break out of it; I know you can! You're a wizard!"

With every one of Hermione's words, Snape's mouth began to drop further in shock.

"No!" he hissed. "You lie, sorceress! I - I am not a - I'm not a - "

Snape finally released his grip on Hermione and looked down at his hands as though he didn't recognize them. They had begun to shake very hard. Hermione could see that part of him was fighting against the hold of the Memory Charm but she wasn't going to wait to see if he would win. She quickly moved away from the wall and took three large steps across the small room to unhook the statue of St. Brutus from the other side.

At this, Snape seemed to come alive and notice her again.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Give that to me!"

He lunged toward Hermione, but with the skill of an on-rushing netball player, she faked quickly to her left, then dived to the right around him. With both hands, she flung the statue hard against the barred window on the north side of the room. The ceramic St. Brutus shattered against the bars; then, before Hermione's eyes, it turned briefly into a glowing red memory ball before that, too, exploded in a shower of glass. A bright red light shot out from the ball. Hermione screamed and covered her eyes with her hands. She heard Snape let out a much louder yelp and fall to the ground. A moment later, screams erupted from all throughout the school.

Hermione ran quickly over to where Snape was lying on the floor. He no longer seemed to be trembling, though he was still breathing quite hard. He looked at her for a moment.

"Miss Granger," he said finally.

"Professor Snape?"

There was another pause.

"Remarkable," Snape finally said, his voice regaining some of the cool detachment Hermione associated with her former Potions Master. "A very powerful magic indeed. The Dark Lord's work. I tried to resist it; I managed to have flashes of my former self but it was very strong. The thing coming down from the hills; I take it the Dark Lord has decided to close this little world?"

Hermione managed a nod.

"Then we've very little time to lose."

Snape held out his hand for Hermione to pull him up, but she did not respond.

"Your hand, please, Miss Granger?" said Snape again, impatiently. "Or has even your predictably superficial understanding of wizard etiquette been forgotten in this Muggle school?"

Hermione took one last look down at Snape, then moved her foot to the soft part of his stomach and pressed down hard.

***

"And you are certain that the Weasley boy is dead? He seems to have developed a talent for eluding you."

Nott bowed his head before Voldemort. "I was losing air very fast, my Lord, and I was forced to retreat, but I do not think anyone could have survived those blows, and I could see from the marks on his neck he was already starting to lose the effects of the gillyweed."

"I see. We shall presume that he is dead, but all of you should remain vigilant." He looked around at his assembled Death Eaters. "All Death Eaters not involved in essential functions relating to the instrumentation will continue to keep close watch. Bole, you will return to the alcove room to ensure that Granger did not survive."

One of the masked Death Eaters bowed his head and left the mezzanine area.

Voldemort turned to Nott. "You have done well, Nott; when the time of our becoming has arrived, you will have a new skin and an invincible body."

Nott bowed again. "May that moment come soon, my Lord. I am humbled to be here at your side at the dawning of our destiny."

"Your gratitude is noted, Nott. As the most faithful of my remaining followers, you and Wormtail will have the privilege of remaining in the chamber as our destiny is completed. If anything happens to me, it will be your responsibility to conjure the nexus. And what have you to report, Wormtail? I trust you have done as I instructed?"

Wormtail rubbed his hands together feverishly. "Potter and the Weasley girl have been executed, my Lord, exactly as you commanded."

A thin smile formed on Voldemort's lips.

"So much for prophecy," he said.

He held out his arms like a priest bestowing a blessing on his followers.

"My friends, today has seen the end of all those who would oppose us, all those who did not have the foresight to share in our vision. But I promise you this is only the beginning: within the hour, we will complete that for which we have worked so long and hard. We will finally cheat death itself."

And then the cold, high laughter of Harry Potter's nightmares rang like a bell through the unnatural cathedral of Lord Voldemort's dreams.