Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: To those who have been following the story since it started (oh, goodness, that is 2004!), a huge THANK YOU. Here's the newest chapter and I'm currently working on the following one, probably the last one before the Epilogue. Happy reading!

What is Love?

CHAPTER XXXII

The caves

Though this might just be the ending
Of the life I held so dear
But I won't run,
There's no turning back from here

All I know for sure is I'm trying
I will always stand my ground

(.- Stand my ground by Within temptation)

Last chapter(s) in What is Love?...

The aurors (Harry, Neville, Tonks and Lupin) and Draco meet and start to piece together all the information they have:

1. The Falange is apparently targeting the leaders of the resistance in the War.

2. They seem to have been monitoring the sixsome's magical maturity.

3. Draco has a piece of the resurrection stone in his chest, keeping him alive.

4. The new moon.

5. The happenings in Stonehenge and the caves beneath it.

6. Dumbledore is not dead, but lingering somewhere.

They finally convince a very scared and reluctant Harry that they have to involve all the others (Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Luna) to be able to really put the puzzle together. The girls give the aurors and Draco information they didn't have: the Falange is apparently collecting pieces of the sixsome, who were involved in bringing down Voldemort last time.

And now they go to Stonehenge…

They prepared three portkeys to lead the nine of them to the place where Draco had said the caves which led to Stonehenge were so they wouldn't set off magical detection devices. These devices, placed into every powerful place on earth, were designed to work as alarms whenever there was a big enough concentration of magic that could present a potential threat. Three people transporting via portkey wouldn't raise any alarms, therefore giving the group a small advantage.

Remus portkeyed with Tonks and Ron: two aurors in case they encountered foes upon arrival. Draco, Hermione and Neville would go next, and Harry, Luna and Ginny, last.

When the first two groups had already left, Luna stopped for a moment and turned to Harry, who looked as if he was about to faint or fall down at any moment. "Harry, are you all right? You look kind of green…"

He shook his head and focused on the sandy blond in front of him. He tried and failed to smile truthfully. "What? What do you mean?"

She took a step closer to him. "That you look as if you have so much in your mind, the Darple-blinkinks will have to squish it out."

He cocked his head to the side and blinked, then shook his head again. "No, nothing of that sort. I'm just a bit worried."

"You are entitled to be, Harry. This can go―"

"Please don't say it."

"I have to. It's real."

"Still… I don't know if I can…"

Luna raised both hands to stop Harry for saying anything. "Harry, a sword by itself rules nothing. It only comes alive in skilled hands. You can do this," she said with a gentle smile.

"And we're not powerless or unskilled. And we'll back you up in anything," Ginny finished upon entering the room. "We trust you completely."

"That's the point," Harry answered, frustration dripping from his words. "I haven't exactly been the best team leader when it comes to you guys. Trying to protect you, I just…"

Both women shook their heads and Luna spoke. "Well, let that be a lesson then… treat us like one of your auror teams."

"I can't. I― I care too much about you," he said, fear for his loved ones so obvious in his words…

"When it comes to emotions, even great heroes can be idiots, Harry, and you are an amazing wizard and an amazing person despite anything that might have happened in the past," Ginny encouraged her former boyfriend, "so be cool," she finished, trying to lighten the mood and getting a small laugh from Harry and a bewildered look from Luna.

"We should get going, the others are waiting."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Let's do this," he said and activated the portkey when the three were touching it. They vanished in a swirl of colors and appeared in front of half a dozen people that were starting to freak out.

Hermione came forward. "Where were you?" she said and the look in her eyes made Harry flinch.

He raised both his hands in surrender. "We were just talking."

"Just talking. Oh, listen, they were just talking!" she said sarcastically.

"Calm down, Hermione. You sound mental," Ron came to his friend's aid.

"Shut up, Ron! I was worried!"

"We haven't even started anything yet!" Harry yelled back and then stopped himself all of a sudden. He wasn't the only one dreading this. He closed the distance between the two and wrapped Hermione in his arms. "Shhhh… I'm sorry, Mione, didn't mean to scare you," he said softly, stroking her hair.

Hermione took a few calming breaths while buried on Harry's chest. She had no idea how intensely this was going to affect her. "No, I'm sorry Harry. Didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that all this reminds me of…"

"I know, me too," he said truthfully and Hermione looked up at him with big brown eyes.

Remus stepped into the small moment between his two former pupils. "We need to get going, we don't want to miss the advantage we have."

Harry nodded at his boss and then turned to Hermione, and held her at arm's length. "All right now?" she nodded and Neville came forward.

"Hermione, are you sure you're all right? You can always go back."

She turned to him with a frown. "No, I can't go back. Anything you do will involve me too."

He nodded. "But keep in mind that those who don't give their hearts in a fight are only digging their own graves. I am sure you know that, Hermione."

"I won't be a liability, if that's what you're suggesting," she countered defiantly and Neville smiled.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Let's go now."

At last, they started towards the caves. "According to the map and to what Dumbledore told me, the safest entrance is over there," Draco pointed at a small opening in one of the mountains, "and from there, we'll have to play it by ear."

This threw Harry and Ron off. "Play it by ear?!" the two of them yelled at the same time and crackles or magic exploded around them.

Draco flinched. "Stop it with the fireworks, Potter, and let me finish! Play it by ear, always heading east."

"Don't you have a map?" Remus asked.

"No, Lupin, I don't. No one's ever been able to follow the whole caves and live to tell the tale."

"So, we're embarking on a trip from where no one's ever came back to face Melrin know what and which most certainly wants us dead" Ginny said angrily, "jolly good, Malfoy."

"Hey, I didn't make the caves. I didn't choose the place. And at least you have a direction. So get it together and walk!" Malfoy said accusingly.

"Ginny, Draco, please. You're grown now. It is no time for these follies," Remus intervened and the whole group sighed.

"Should've told us that before we came at least. Would've brought a compass or something," Ron grumbled.

"Are you a wizard?" Hermione asked before Draco could make a snide comment. "Use your wand, you daft!"

"Oy! Chill out, will you?" Ron defended and Harry stood between the two.

"Look, Malfoy is right; we need to get it together, okay? Otherwise this will be a disaster," Harry said, surprising everybody when giving the reason to Malfoy. They all looked at him, assuming him as the leader of the mission. Even Remus nodded, pride in his eyes.

They entered the caves, with Harry at the front, using his wand as a compass. They walked for about thirty minutes without anything new except for a few spiders ―that scared the hell out of Ron― and a swarm of Pixies that bit Remus before they could send them away. Luckily, Remus' werewolf blood countered the pixie's venom before it could do any real damage.

At last, they came into a fork road: there were three possibilities within their East direction and they all stared.

"What now?" Ron asked, frustrated.

"Should we divide?" Hermione asked.

"Divide and conquer," Harry recited, opposing the idea.

"Or spread and find your way," Luna countered. They all turned to Lupin, who was deep in thought and still a bit dizzy from the pixy bite.

"I think we should break up into three groups, we have our wand-communicator devices, and they work."

"And in case anything happens, we can apparate…" Tonks continued Lupin's plan.

"Using the coordinates Point me spell," Neville finished, "I think it's our best shot. Also, that gives us the advantage of not being surprised later on. We can clean up each path." They all nodded.

"Right, then: one auror per group at least. Nev, Tonks and me at the head of each group."

They all nodded, but then turned to Remus, having assumed the Head of the Aurors would be at the head of one of the groups. He noticed and explained. "Tonks, you're a better choice, since I'm still shaken from the pixy bite. It's all right," he said and nodded at Harry, who breathed in relief.

"All right, then you're coming with me," the girl with the now black spiky hair stated. When a battle approached, she liked to have it like that, so her usually long hair wouldn't get in her way. Also, it made a better intimidating impression on foes.

"I'll go with Neville," Ginny said immediately after, not wanting by any means to be away from him.

"Hermione, you come with me," Harry started, and upon seeing Hermione's not-so-happy face at being told what to do, reformulated, "please, would you come with me? I'd like to have you near, just in case." After a moment, she nodded and took a step closer to him.

"I'll go with Neville," Luna said with a little sadness; she didn't want to be away from Ron either, but knew the trio was better when they were together. Ron was about to object and Luna shook her head. "No, it's ok. You're better there," she said and Ron sighed, knowing she was right.

"Guess that leaves me with you two," Draco finished and went to where Remus and Tonks stood, on the leftmost road.

"All right, wand-communicators activated," Harry ordered and the nine of them checked for the proper spells in place.

"According to my calculations, the end of the caves shouldn't be more than two kilometers ahead, so it should take less than an hour for the group with the right road to get to Stonehenge," Draco provided and earned a bewildered look from Hermione. Draco winked at her, "told you I should've been head boy," he said with one of his infuriatingly heart-melting smiles and Hermione rolled her eyes.

Eager to cut the `bonding moment' between Draco and Hermione, Harry spoke. "So, we get in touch in an hour to report." The three group leaders nodded, "be safe," they said to each other and went their respective ways.

******************

Neville, Ginny and Luna took the road to the left and started on their journey. As they advanced, the faint light that came from the trunk cave went dimmer and dimmer as they penetrated further into the thinning road.

When they started, they had a good three feet distance between them, but as the group advanced, they ended up in apparent close formation, almost touching shoulders, Neville at the centre and the head of the two girls.

"I'm glad it was the three of us… can't see myself confortable with Malfoy so close."

"Oh, don't be mean, Ginny, he's changed."

"Has he, really?" Neville asked.

"Well, he gave very important information, don't you reckon?"

"And he helped when coming up with this plan…" Ginny accepted in all fairness.

"I guess so, but there's still something that doesn't fit completely."

"I know what you mean," Luna seconded, "but he IS good now."

"If you think of it, he wasn't really all that evil back then," Ginny provided.

"He did kind of fight with us in the final battle," Luna thought out loud.

"Only because they'd killed his mother…" Neville countered.

"Anyway, I don't know why we're talking about Malfoy."

"You brought it up, dear Ginny. And they say I'M the one with my head in the clouds," Luna mused and they laughed as they did a sharp turn and Neville stopped them short.

"What is it?"

Neville looked around. "Look at the walls."

The two girls looked around and gasped. "It's so pretty!" Luna commented.

Ginny tensed. "Pretty is usually bad."

"Really?"

"Yes. Especially if you're in your way to meet a bunch of dark wizards," Neville finished. "This orange is familiar… so bright…" he thought out loud.

"Looks like something my niffler would've liked," Ginny commented as they still walked forward to another sharp turn.

As soon as they turned, Neville gasped. "Wingardium leviosa! Stay there!" he yelled at the two now-suspended in the air girls as a big three-headed creature launched towards him.

"Neville, what are you―? Duck!" Ginny yelled and Neville responded immediately, as one of the heads of the huge snake passed mere inches from his neck.

"Petrificus!" Neville cast at the beast and adopted a fighting stance while activating his dark-out lenses. "We're surrounded…" he whispered, backing up until he hit the wall.

"All the more reason to let us down," Ginny whispered back, seeing for the first time the ground, which appeared to be moving.

"Up there, you're safe from the bites…"

Ginny and Luna looked around, seeing Neville's point, when they spotted a small indentation near the ceiling. "Neville! They're here too! Reducto!" Ginny yelled instinctively and blew up the Runespoor that was launching towards her and Luna. The dent blew into a million pieces that hit them everywhere, sending them flying, and they would've crashed to the ground, had they not been under Neville's levitation spell.

Neville gasped and with a wave of his wand, let the two girls down. While blowing up the snake a second ago might've seemed like a clever idea, it disrupted the silence Neville was trying to establish as to not disturb the nest of Runespoors and they all seemed to turn their three heads to the small group ahead.

"Avoid the right head," Neville warned when the center head of dozens of snakes in front of them analyzed the newcomers.

"I'd avoid the one in the left, Neville," Luna said.

"That's the dreamer head, it's bite is not― argh!" he had turned to Luna a second too long, and the left head of one of the snakes had bitten him. "Stupid snake! It nearly chopped my hand off! Reducto!" he yelled and the snake in question but it had skillfully disappeared among its brothers and sisters.

That was the last drop. The Runespoors all attacked at the same time and the three cast anything that came to mind to keep them at bay.

"Vipera Evanesco!"

"Diffindo! Diffindo! Diffindo!" Ginny cut each other heads of one of them.

"Stupefy!" Luna knocked a few out and then tied them up.

"Cofringo!" Neville set one of them in flames and two others caught fire as well.

One by one, the three cleaned out the chamber of snakes, and as Neville was casting the last spell to kill the remaining Runespoors, his own spell lost power and he just thrust the snake against the wall of the cave. Angrier than ever, it launched for its attacker, only to be met by a jinx from Ginny.

"Vipera evanesco! Neville! What happened?" she asked, worried. She had never seen her boyfriend miss a spell like that.

Luna, who had fortunately only been bitten by one of the center heads of a Runespoor, the non-venomous one, was finishing a temporary healing spell on herself as she walked to where the other two stood. "I told you to avoid the left head. It's the dreamer."

"So? Is he poisoned?" Ginny asked in panic, brushing the blood that was coming down her arm from the explosion a few minutes ago.

"No, no, I'm not. Don't worry. I'm just a bit…"

"…out of focus," Luna provided. "While the venom on the left head is not deadly nor it has permanent effects, it makes the victim unfocused for a few days after the bite, and I was saying to avoid that one, taking into account what we'll face later."

The two stared at Luna. Apparently, she'd either seen what would happen and tried to prevent it, or she was extremely perceptive… both were inclined to the former hypothesis.

"So, what spell can reverse the effect?" Ginny asked again and Luna sighed.

"There's no spell we can do. He'd have to go to St. Mungos."

"Fuck!"

"I'll be fine, Gin, don't worry about me," Neville said and Ginny started to protest but found no point in it so she just helped him up, and as she did, she noticed his bleeding hand.

"What happened?" she inquired, assuming the bite had just been a bite.

"Didn't I say? It nearly ripped my hand off!"

"That's strange…" Luna mused and then turned to Ginny, alarmed.

"They said they needed `the other three' when they cut me! I think we're getting in too deep," she said, scared.

"We can't go back now. Let's go," Neville said and started towards the tunnel they'd just left.

"Nev! Where are you going?" Ginny ran to him.

"Forward, where else?"

"Look at your wand-compass."

Neville did as instructed and gasped upon realizing he'd confused the way in with the way out. "Guess you'll have to lead, then."

******************

Remus, Tonks and Draco took the road in the middle and started walking as the tunnel widened all around them to a point where the ceiling could fit three dragons together. As the space around them was bigger, the three instinctively drew close to one another, wands at the ready.

"This is not right, the caves have all had similar sizes…"

"…and this keeps getting bigger…"

"…hope it doesn't have a big thing in it," Draco finished, voicing all of their concerns.

"Guess we'll know when we get there…" Tonks said, trying to lighten the mood and cast a magical detection spell. "Nope, no magic."

"As reassuring as you wanted to make it sound, it isn't," Draco commented sarcastically.

"Whatever is ahead, it's not magically powered," Remus finished.

"What makes you think there is indeed something in there?" he asked, hopeful.

"Come on, Malfoy, you can't be that thick," Tonks provided.

"Nymphandora!" Remus warned and Tonks cringed at the sound of her first name.

"Sorry! But it's a bit too hopeful to think that every place in these caves is not guarded by some kind of magic or creature. Remember the Horcruxes?"

At the mention of Horcruxes, Draco tensed, but fortunately the other two were too embedded in their argument to notice. He wanted to speak, to say everything, but he couldn't. If he spoke too soon, it could all blow up in his face. And Dumbledore's.

"It's not the same. Voldemort is gone. No more horcruxes left. Harry and the others destroyed them all."

"If it's such a lost cause, why even try it?" Tonks asked, and before she could get an answer, an intense smell of rotten meat hit their nostrils and the three of them stopped short.

"We're close. And it doesn't seem friendly to other living things."

"Let's try this," Draco suggested and cast Desillusionment charms on all three of them. Soon enough, they blended in with the grey of the walls and the brown of the floor.

"Good idea, might give us an advantage," Remus whispered and motioned for the other two to follow.

"Why are we just standing here?" Tonks asked a second later and Remus rolled his eyes at himself.

"I was motioning for you to follow," he said, annoyed but entertained at his own stupidity. Must be remnants of the sting, he told himself. "We'll go straight until we get to where the thing is and then fork ahead."

Tonks nodded. "Right, let's go."

"Wait!" Draco stopped the two as they were setting off. "What's fork ahead?"

"Oh, Merlin, you ARE a daft, Malfoy! Common sense!" Tonks said and regretted it immediately because he heard the horrid sound of her first name afterwards.

"Nymphandora! He doesn't have to know that. You learn it in auror school."

"Harry taught it at the D.A."

"I WASN'T in the D.A., remember?"

"Oops, you're right. No one wanted to play with you," Tonks mocked him.

"Ha, ha, very funny. I was kind of busy back then."

"Children! Could you please? We have some sort of killing beast a few meters ahead. So focus!"

"Sorry," Remus heard both of them speak.

"Let's go."

"Excuse me!" Tonks' voice sounded.

"Right," Remus said, again blaming his inattention to the pixie bite. "It means one of us goes straight and the other two surround the foe so we can have more attacking points."

"So one of us is kind of bait?"

Tonks and Remus stopped for a moment; neither had ever thought of the strategy that way. "I… guess you could say so…" Remus provided.

"So who's the bait?"

"I'll go. I'm more experienced."

"But you're also slowed down by the poison. I'll do it." Remus was about to object but Tonks made a disapproving sound. "Plus, I'm leading the group, remember?"

"Fine. Draco, you're left-handed, so you take the left."

"Left-handed? How did you know that?"

"I was your teacher, remember?"

"Yes, but I would've never thought you'd remember my wand-hand."

"Left handed witches and wizards are usually more powerful, because they have to make up for a right-handed world, so to speak. Harry is ambidextrous."

"Of course, wonder-boy can do it with both hands," Draco said, unable to control the slight envy he'd always had for Harry. "Anyway, it's still weird."

"It's attention to detail, Malfoy, not weirdness."

He shrugged. "All right, I'll take the left when we reach the thing."

"Wands at the ready," Remus said and the three restarted their way towards whatever was waiting ahead.

*****************

The trio took the road on the right hand, and as they entered deeper into the caves, they noticed a minor tilt on the road.

"I think we're heading down," Hermione observed.

"But it's so slight that we can't really say it for sure."

"The unspeakable quarters in Stonehenge are about 500 meters below earth," Harry explained.

"Really? That would make total sense. There are theories that say that the power of that particular area comes from the very depths of the earth," Hermione commented, excited.

"We're definitely going down, can't you feel the smell?" Ron said.

Harry stopped for a moment. "You're right. It's musty."

"And humid," Hermione complemented.

"An underground river maybe?" Ron asked, earning an appreciative look from Harry, "it's been seven years, mate," he explained with a melancholic smile.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, enjoying the familiar feeling of the three of them together, in the face of a new mission.

"I like this," Ron commented.

"You like that we're possibly going to our deaths?" Harry asked, confused.

"No, you prat. I like us, like this."

Hermione rolled her eyes and came closer to the other two, taking each by one arm. "Ron's right. I missed this," she said with a smile.

"You miss risking your lives?"

Hermione slapped him on the arm. "Stop it, Harry. And just feel it," she ordered and Harry snickered.

"Feel it… right."

Harry and Ron exchanged a look and the two broke out in snickering fits at the double entendre with which Harry had spoken the words.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh along with her best friends. "You're such pigs, did you know that?"

They laughed for a moment later and then continued to walk in silence until Harry slowed down. "Ron was right, there's certainly water down there. It's humid and I can hear the echo."

The other two came to a stop next to Harry. "Let's just hope it's not shallow," Hermione said.

"Or that there's a boat," Ron suggested and they started to walk slowly.

"Either way, I could bet it's not a nice little underground spring," Harry added. They walked a while longer, their wands held up high to provide light, when another source of light came from ahead. Harry stopped dead and lowered his wand.

With a movement and a silent nox, he stretched both his arms to stop his friends. "Hermione, please tell me it's not a greenish glow," he asked like a little child, his voice small.

Hermione and Ron both turned out their wands and Hermione bit her lip. "I think it is, Harry…" she said slowly.

Ron looked at the two of them, confused. "What? Why a greenish glow?" he asked, worried upon seeing how pale Harry'd turned.

"Inferius," Hermione just said and Ron's eyes opened wide.

"How do you know?"

"Because me and Dumbledore had to cross a lake of inferi back in sixth year, when trying to get the locket."

Immediately, Ron remembered how distressed Harry had been when the two came back from that mission. Harry'd never told Ron what really went down there. Apparently, he had told Hermione. He suppressed the familiar anger at how close Harry and Hermione had always been and repeated to himself what Luna'd said back in the hospital. This is how it's supposed to be.

He took a deep breath. "How do we get past them?"

"Remember the Firestorm spell I taught you?" Harry said, looking at Ron. He knew Hermione remembered it. They had practiced it a lot without the rest of the group.

Ron thought for a moment and then nodded. "Right. Inferi can't stand the light, can't stand the fire."

"And they're resistant to most offensive spells," Hermione added.

"Petrificus will only work for one at the time. The Firestorm is our best weapon."

"Let's go see what this is about then," Harry said, took an encouraging breath and started forward, followed by Ron and Hermione.

A few hundred meters passed and the greenish glow kept getting more and more intense, now bathing the whole cave through which they were passing. At last, they reached a stone threshold and stepped in. The three gasped at the enormity of what lay ahead. They could barely see the other side of the apparently peaceful green lake, a small island about halfway through, and all the way, rocks stood out, like treacherous steps in a gigantic game of hopscotch.

The three stared at the road ahead; knowing they could easily stand the first part of the jumping and balancing, but wondering if they could make it the whole way to the small island in the middle, the `peaceful' haven in the whole green glow.

They shared an understanding look; the same feeling reflected in each their faces: this was way too similar to the years of the war and neither wanted to relive them, but had no choice now.

"You know what they say," Ron started upon seeing his friend's pale face, "if you're going through hell…"

"Keep going," Harry finished after taking another deep, calming breath.

"So we better start then," Hermione finished and took a step forward, only to be stopped by Harry's strong hand.

"'Mione, there's no way you're going in first."

She yanked her arm away. "Oh, Harry, come off it! We all have to go through, what difference does it make?" she said, annoyed.

"A hell of a difference. I don't want you as canon meat," he said just as bluntly. "I'll go first. Ron, can you keep the rear?" Ron nodded. Upon seeing Hermione's face, his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to snap at you. But please, let us flank you."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Sure, why not."

"We can't as much as graze the surface or all hell will break loose."

"And if it does, use the Firestorm."

"Or Lumos maxima if we're not standing far enough to not be engulfed in one of the fire rings. It'll keep them at bay for a moment," Hermione provided with an option.

"Good idea, Mione," Ron complimented.

"And, in case the inferi come for you, don't use any offensive curses. They will only drain your energy and do little but stall them for the blink of an eye," Harry finished, "ready?" The three nodded and started skipping.

At first it was going perfectly fine, with each jump being unbelievably precise on their part. They advanced about 30 meters with no mishaps.

Occasionally, because they had to take advantage of their own inertia, Hermione or Ron would have to skip to a rock on the side, breaking the line. One or two times, Harry came across a particular rock that wasn't as steady and would direct the other two to another rock and change courses. But things ran smoothly apart from that.

Harry skipped to one that was a little bit further away than the others and he had to make a big effort to get there. He didn't think Ron would have trouble getting there, but Hermione, being shorter and almost five months pregnant despite showing very little, could be a bit impaired in terms of agility. He turned to his tail.

"Redirect. To the right," he ordered and the other two accepted without hesitation, moving one rock to the side.

As they did, Hermione landed on a slippery rock and lost balance. "Harry!" she yelled before plummeting to the green, inferi-filled water.

Harry whirled with expert balance. "Hermione!" he threw himself to where she was, but missed her hand for a few centimeters.

Ron, taken aback by the sudden action, tried to jump to where Hermione had been a second ago, but, not being as trained as Harry, he lost his footing as well and landed with his hands on one rock and his bent legs on the other. Before he could think twice, his knee had touched the water and hands stretched out to grab him and drag him underwater.

Torn between his two friends, Harry had to go for the closest, trusting Ron could handle himself and praying to Merlin he hadn't lost practice in nonverbal spells. Stretched between to rocks, he extended his arms to where he'd seen Hermione disappear a moment ago, hoping against hope that not only dead arms clawed at him.

Both his pleas were answered and instant later, when a pillar of fire ascended from his left and, as he tried to stay above the water level with cold hands trying to grab him. Suddenly, a pair of small, warm hands touched his fingers and he all but submerged his shoulders in the icy water to take those hands. "Got you!" he whispered Lumus maxima! He thought and sent an enormous circle of light from his own body to the bottom of the lake, freeing the two from the arms of the dead.

But Hermione was too heavy for his arms only and his now momentarily expended magical energy. "Dammit! They're coming back!" he screamed to no one in particular upon feeling the water ripple from the bottom and struggled to get Hermione to safety, but his position wasn't helping either.

"Wingardium leviosa!" Harry heard from a few rocks ahead and felt himself being lifted in the air, Hermione tightly holding on to his forearms. The magical levitation placed Hermione on Harry's arms and him above a rock that was a little bigger than the others.

As soon as Harry landed, Ron almost collapsed to the ground, temporarily drained from levitation two grown adults from the water. He found support on a nearby rock and took a moment to regain his breath. "All right there, mate?" he asked, his voice strained after seeing an unconscious Hermione coming out of the water upon his spell's command.

Harry had Hermione in his arms and leaned in to listen to her breathing. "She's not breathing!" he yelled in desperation and did his own levitating spell to keep her in the air as he gave the woman he loved mouth-to-mouth. "Come on, please!"

After was seemed like a million years but was in fact little more than a minute, Hermione's chest trembled and she started coughing out water, no longer green without inferi in it. Immediately, Harry grabbed her and held her close to his chest, partly because of relief and partly because of the tiny space the two were standing on.

"Oh, Hermione! I thought I'd lose you!" he said, hanging on for dear life to the coughing young woman in his arms.

"Harry! Thank you!" was all she managed to blurt out while trying to get her breathing under control.

Harry put her at arm's length and sighed in relief, shadows of magical tiresome appearing under his eyes. "It was actually Ron who saved us."

Hermione turned to her former lover and smiled. "Thanks," she mouthed because they were trying not to make a sound as to keep the inferi underwater and undisturbed.

Ron smiled back and sent a silent "Don't mention it" to the two of them. A few minutes passed while the three regained their composure and the ripples in the water disappeared completely.

Harry looked at his two best friends and gave a silent order to continue on. There were only about 10 meters left to get to the island. Harry skipped twice to leave space for Hermione to skip on the rock right behind him, and in no time, Ron was right there with them.

About a dozen tense skips later, the three of them were safely on the island, spreading all their limbs to unclench them from all the force they'd had to use a mere quarter hour ago.

Ahead, crossing the last part of the green lake, they could see a silver shimmer.

"Could be the moonlight?" Hermione asked, hopeful.

"Or another magical trap," Harry countered.

"In any case, how are we going to get there?" Ron asked, annoyed.

Harry looked around, there was nothing hanging from the ceiling, no more rocks to skip to and from, and certainly they could not levitate each other that far. Seemed an impossible task. He turned to Hermione, the one who'd always had the answers when he saw no other way.

Hermione, too, was looking around. But instead of turning to Harry, she fixed her eyes on the lake and started to bend over towards it. Ron beat Harry to his reaction and pulled Hermione back in an instant.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, "do you want to join them?"

"No! Don't be silly!" she answered, shrugging out of Ron's grasp.

"It sure looked like it," Harry backed his friend up.

"I was―" she leaned to the water again and stopped the two boys with a hand. "I don't want to jump in! I'm not stupid!"

"We don't know what kind of incantations they've put in the lake!"

"Just― shut up for a moment, all right?" Both boys obliged and Hermione kneeled at the edge of the water, much to their stress. She started making some complicated movements in the air and Harry knew exactly what she was doing before she was done.

"That's genius, `Mione!" he exclaimed as a single thread started to come out of the water and turned into a chain.

Ron watched open-mouthed as the other two pulled the chain and a boat from under the green waters. "Care to explain?" he asked.

"It's what Dumbledore sensed back in sixth year, when we were getting the locket," Harry said.

"Good, so how are we going to fit into the boat?" Ron countered.

"We can't. We've got to make three trips," Hermione complemented.

"Seems dangerous," the redhead said.

"Probably is. I'll go first, again, then pull you, Hermione, and we'll both pull Ron."

"Hey! I resent that! I'm not that heavy!"

Harry and Hermione looked at him with an eyeroll. "You've got a head on Harry and a head and a half on me, Ron. You ARE heavier than us!"

"Still!" he responded and crossed his arms above his chest.

"Oh, come off it!" Hermione laughed and swatted at his arm.

"Go, then, Harry, we've got your back," Ron said with confidence.

Harry pulled himself to the other shore of the lake with little problem. At a moment, the boat hit a water-covered rock and he nearly fell, awakening the inferi under, but managed to send a ring of fire downwards, keeping them at bay.

When he got to the other edge, he carefully stepped on the ground and paced around. It all seemed to be in order. Then he waved at the other two. "Come on! But be careful with that rock!"

Hermione and Ron pulled the boat back and she jumped in so Harry could pull her to the other edge of the lake. Tense all over, he pulled slowly, watching the water for any kind of ripple that wasn't being generated by the boat's movement, but nothing happened and she disembarked minutes later.

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding when he had her safely in his arms again. "So glad," he said and kissed her gently.

Hermione's insides started to turn to fire at the feel of his lips. Damn hormones! She said but couldn't pull away until she heard a voice from the other side of the lake.

"Oy! One left, remember?!" Ron yelled, doing his best to take this new relationship development in the trio in the best way possible.

"Right!" Hermione fumbled and pulled away. "Sorry, Ron!" she said and saw her former loved already in the boat, struggling with the chain to pull himself to the shore. Harry quickly took his end of the chain and hurried the travel, hoping Ron's journey to the other side of the lake to be as quiet as Hermione's.

But suddenly, something emerged from the water and jumped into the boat. "Ron! Watch out!" he and Hermione yelled at the same time and Hermione pulled her wand to curse the creature away.

"No!" Harry pushed Hermione's wand aside and her Stupefy blew a hole on the wall. "You could hit Ron! Or wake the inferi!" he warned.

"What do we do! What IS that creature?"

The beast in question was studying the redhead quietly, not moving anything but its eyes. Hermione could make out something on top of its head, and it looked like a monkey. What the hell is that? I've seen it somewhere! She urged her brain to place the little animal.

Ron gasped and pulled out his wand, casting a shielding charm immediately, but no spell came as the small monkey-like creature, with a hollow in its head, watched him.

Hermione looked at Harry and the two started pulling Ron again; maybe they could get him to the other side soon enough and evade this thing that rang a bell in her head, but she couldn't place it.

Not a minute passed and the creature jumped at Ron; the glint of its pointy teeth finally giving her the clue she needed. She'd seen it in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Dammit! A Kappa! Feeds off human blood! How to fight it?

All these thoughts ran through her head as the creature leapt towards Ron. Harry cast a slowing-down spell on the creature to buy Hermione time. He knew she was processing how to get rid of it.

"A cucumber!" she screamed and summoned one with Ron's name carved into it. When the spell started to wear off, it appeared into Ron's hands and he shoved the cucumber in the Kappa's direction, effectively stopping it from sinking its teeth into him.

The three let out a breath of relief upon seeing the small animal munch on the cucumber, but before they could fully relax, it was charging at Ron again, deciding he looked more appetizing.

But this time none had time to react and Ron felt teeth pierce the skin of his arm. He tried to fend it off, but was quickly starting to feel dizzy.

Hermione's mind started working frantically again; she knew there was another way to get rid of a Kappa but at the rate the beast drank, it could dry Ron before they managed to pull his to the shore.

Finally, she remembered! "Its head! Empty the water!" she yelled.

Between his screams and the quickly-growing numb sensation in his mind, he vaguely heard something about emptying something. What could he possibly empty? And then he saw the Kappa's head. The hollow!, he thought quickly and turned the creature around, as it was stuck to his arm and vein, and all the water fell from its head.

In the blink of an eye, the Kappa had gone limp, and Ron was able to pry it from his arm and throw it back to the lake before he blacked out from blood loss.

The other two managed to pull him completely and got him out of the boat. Hermione shook her friend. "Ron? Ron! Please be all right!" she begged.

Harry tried summoning water to wake him up, and slapping him too, but he was so pale, you couldn't even see the mark of the slap in his usually pink features.

Hermione stopped for a moment to think and then made a movement with her wand, materializing a small vial in her hand.

"A blood-replenishing potion! Excellent!" Harry exclaimed and shoved the contents of the potion down his friend's throat.

They waited for a few minutes and then Ron's face started to regain a bit of color, angry hand-marks began to appear where Harry had hit him. The two leaned in to see how he evolved.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. "What happened? Why are you all over me?" he asked weakly and the other two fell to the ground in relief, laughing.

"Nothing, mate. Thought you were going to join the inferius for a moment."

He sat up and took a hand to his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked and Hermione quickly moved to be close in case he fell again.

"It's ok, don't worry. You'll be dizzy for a moment, but then you'll be just fine."

"That little bugger almost sucked you dry!" Harry exclaimed and Ron's eyes widened. "You got rid of it, don't worry," Ron breathed in relief.

"Hate those water thingys!"

Harry breathed in relief and couldn't help but hate himself for putting Ron and Hermione through all this again. The other two noticed and placed a hand on each of his arms.

"Don't, Harry."

"It was our choice."

"And we'd do it all over again."

"Just like with the spell that took Voldemort down. We'd do it all over again," Ron reinforced what Hermione'd just said. Hoping Harry would rid himself once and for all of all that guilt that had always marked him.

Harry nodded, his eyes pooled with unshed tears. He smiled and grabbed his friends' hands so they stood up together, connecting their bare souls, knowing nothing could ever separate them again.

*****************

They walked for a while more towards the silver glow, attentive to any magical signature around, but nothing. After a moment, they came to a sharp turn and Harry cast the magical signature spell once more, detecting six magical humans ahead. "Wands at the ready," he said and stepped forward, three wands pointing at six more.

"Guys! So glad you're all right!" Hermione exclaimed and went to hug her red headed friend, who had a few bruises and scratches, but nothing serious. "Are you all right?"

"Kind of. We got hit by some rocks."

"And Neville got bitten by a Runespore."

"We have to take him to St. Mungo's!" Harry said in a panic.

"Don't worry, it was only the left head," Luna said.

"But it took a piece of my hand, so to speak," Neville provided and showed Harry.

"They have a piece of four of us now…" Harry provided.

"Fuck," Ron expressed what they were all thinking.

"Everything all right with you three?" Harry asked Tonks, Remus and Draco upon seeing Draco limping and Tonks cradling her left arm against her chest.

Draco waved him off. "Yeah, Potter, we just got shoved around by a giant greek beast… what did you get?"

Harry felt an instant desire to punch him in the face, but refrained. "Inferi and a Kappa," he answered curtly.

"Oh, really? We just killed a Manticore, but who's counting…" he said smugly.

"A Manticore?! Didn't you get stung?" Hermione asked, checking the three for any signs of even grasping the Manticore's stinger.

"Draco, here, cut its stinger first thing," Remus said, pleased, much to Harry's annoyance.

"After that, it was only a matter of time before we brought it down and cut its head."

"Hence the red tainting…" Ginny said and wrinkled her nose.

"Exactly," Draco finished with a smile.

"What now?" Neville asked and all of them fell silent.

"Over there. The silver glow!" Ginny pointed to the back of the huge chamber they were now in.

"We should go get it…" Hermione started and as she began to hurry towards the cauldron, her feet stopped moving.

"Can you hear that?" Luna asked and the nine of them paid attention to the soft sounds that were coming from apparently everywhere in the cave.

They all stopped to listen and their eyes became glassier and glassier as the song continued.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the mighty Harry Potter and his rangers… I think you're being sloppy, what with the wand dropping and everything…" an arrogant voice came from ahead.

Trying to stay focused, Harry looked to where the voice came from. "Your opinion of me is none of my business. And what wand drop―" he started to ask when he felt his empty hand and he heard seven more wands falling.

For a moment or clarity, Ron tried to go for the potion.

"Ah-ah, I wouldn't do that…" the Deatheater directed Ron, and then, fast as lighting, something struck Hermione and Ron, drawing blood from each their arms. The two let out a yelp of surprise.

Ron tried to fling whatever had attacked them away and as he did so, a silver lightning passed between where Ron had stood a moment ago and the cauldron with the mysterious potion. Ron staggered backwards just as Harry screamed his name.

Harry tried forward towards his friend to no use. It seemed his legs and his head had lost all communication.

"Told you not to try it," the same arrogant voice told the redhead.

"Is this enough?" another voice asked as Harry still fought to remember a spell that did something… something nasty to people.

"It's a Fwooper! Silencio!" Harry heard Neville's voice from his left, and the song stopped. The world slowly came into focus again and eight accio were heard from all over the chamber as all hell broke loose.

A/N: They say "better late than never", so here's the newest chapter of What is Love? I hope you liked it and that you don't hate me for keeping you waiting so long. Please R&R so I can get myself together and really finish the story this time (which I think I will). And please be patient with me.

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