Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe, nor do I own the lyric bits that I use to enhance my story.
A/N: I know, I know… This update is way, way late. Many apologies, but life has been very eventful for me this past month. I ended up moving, so my free time, as well as my access to the Internet has been extremely limited. My trials aren't over yet, because it looks like I'll be moving again soon… so I'll apologize for next chapter now… as for the time being, I'll leave you with this short, but strange update! Enjoy!
Chapter 24: The Demon's Song
-----~-----
Solitude stands by the window.
She turns her head as I walk in the room.
I can see by her eyes she's been waiting,
standing in the slant of the late afternoon,
and she turns to me with her hand extended.
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame
Solitude stands in the doorway,
and I'm struck once again by her black silhouette,
by her long, cool stare and her silence.
I suddenly remember each time we've met,
and she turns to me with her hand extended.
Her palm is split with a flower with a flame…
And she says, "I've come to set a twisted thing straight."
And she says, "I've come to lighten this dark heart."
As she takes my wrist, I feel her imprint of fear,
and I said, "I've never thought of finding you here."
I turn to the crowd as they're watching.
They're sitting all together, in the dark, in the warm,
and I wanted to be in there among them.
I see how their eyes are gathered into one…
Excerpt from the song, 'Solitude Standing' by Suzanne Vega.
-----~-----
Hermione had almost expected something to happen when Malfoy emerged from the concealed doorway carrying the locket. She froze when she heard Kotone's warning as Malfoy dropped the locket into Harry's hand. She thought she saw a very brief glow from the locket as it made contact with his palm, but other than that, nothing appeared to happen, aside from the odd, blank expression that suddenly washed over Harry's face.
When Kotone abruptly pushed herself off from Harry's side and onto the floor, Hermione took a tentative step towards him and said, "Harry? Are you all right?"
The only response she received was a panicked gasp from Kotone. She was bouncing nervously on her feet and rapidly whispering in Japanese to herself with her gravelly voice. The little half-witch suddenly turned to Ron and said, "Hyou, I need book of mother in school box!"
Ron just looked at her confusedly for a long moment before saying, "Huh? What's a school box?"
Hermione watched as Kotone's eyes met Ron's, and for a brief instant, Ron's body stiffened, then he staggered back a moment later saying, "Wow, that was weird… She says she needs a book out of her trunk. I left it in the icebox downstairs, I'll just…"
Before Ron could finish, Hermione was already digging through her bag for Kotone's trunk. She pulled out the trunk, placed it on the floor and enlarged it to its normal dimensions.
Kotone frantically dug through her trunk, tossing her clothes around the hall as she searched. She finally pulled out an ancient tome, laid it open on the floor before Harry, drew her wand and then sat down on the dusty runner carpet and began riffling through the yellowed pages.
While still looking at Harry's blankly staring eyes, Hermione took another step closer while asking, "Kotone, what happened to him? What did you see?"
The group of teens took an instinctive step backwards when Kotone turned and let out a loud, menacing growl, obviously meant as a warning not to interfere with what she was trying to do. They watched in anxious silence as the little half-witch continued to search through the book. She finally found the section that she was apparently searching for. She drew her wand and began to chant out an incantation in Japanese, pausing only occasionally to glance back to reference the book.
Minutes ticked by as Kotone chanted. Her pale face and animated hair quickly became slick with perspiration. Her voice began in her usual deep, coarse tone, but as her words echoed around the wide hallway it seemed to evolve into a melodic thrumming, as if it were a lamenting dirge echoing from deep within a large cavern.
Hermione stood enthralled by the sound. Her surroundings seemed to become surreal as the hallway appeared to expand away so that the walls disappeared into the distance. Although her surroundings seemed to have disappeared into a wispy fog, she could still almost feel the ethereal presence those around her. She turned to ask Ron if he also felt what she was experiencing, but started when, instead of her gangly, red-haired friend, she saw a sleek, brilliantly spotted leopard standing behind her. She turned to Luna and Draco and saw instead a disturbingly large, pure white dove standing beside a rather disheveled black crow. She glanced down at herself and was quite surprised to see she had the body of a huge, golden eagle.
She turned back around and saw Harry's form, a large, golden lion being attacked by a pair of serpents that weren't entirely corporeal, although one of the snakes looked substantially larger and more energetic than the other. She briefly wondered why she couldn't see Kotone's 'presence,' and the logical portion of her brain kicked in and told her that she must be one of the two serpents, but then her rarely-seen-but-ever-present emotional side reminded her of what happened the last time she jumped to the conclusion that Kotone was attacking Harry.
She was about to try to stop the young half-witch, but before she could move, Kotone's coarse voice began to oddly reverberate around the hallway. Her words became louder and started echoing in Hermione's ears, but the echoes of her words seemed to be strangely distorted and had a softer, airier sound, much like the voice she used during her strange connection. Hermione started when she realized that, through the echoes, she could understand the desperate words that Kotone was chanting.
'…you are to be delivered, O spirit of grief. I command you, O spirit of destruction, loosen your hold on the innocent one. Spirit of Destruction, Spirit of Grief, I bind you with chains of Iron, the Holy Iron wrought in the forges of Heaven. Loosen your hold and come out of him now! You have no right to him, you hold no dominion…'
As Kotone continued her chant, she began to manipulate her wand before her, tracing glowing, ancient Kanji characters in the air. The characters looked as though they were formed of liquid fire, sputtering and dripping crimson flames as they stood suspended.
Again, Hermione was stunned to find that she could somehow understand what the floating Kanji represented. As each character was finished, a loud knock, like the sound of a large bamboo tube being struck by a wooden mallet, resounded through the hall. As each knock reverberated, the floating characters pulsed with energy, and with each pulse, the snakes that were entwined around the lion writhed and twitched, their mouths wrenched open in silent screams and fangs bared as if in great pain.
'…Spirit most vile, you shall be denied your prize, you shall be delivered from the host… You hold my brother lion, you are a spirit of pain, grief and sin most evil… I cast you back, bound in the sacred Iron Bonds, back to the hell from whence you spawned…'
Again, a character was completed and again, the magic pulsed and the knock resounded. An influx of incredible power surged through Hermione. Somehow, she understood what Kotone was trying to do, and she was equally sure that Kotone wasn't going to succeed at the exorcism ritual. The characters were drawn incorrectly… too rushed… too small… and she was using the wrong type of magic. She had no idea how she knew this, even how she sensed that there were actually differing types of magic, but she did know.
An instant after this realization hit her, she saw Kotone finish etching the final character in the sequence and in a spectacular flash of blue light, the runes exploded, sending the young half-witch flying back into Hermione's arms.
As the failed spell faded, the strange fog around Hermione disappeared and her reality came crashing back around her. She staggered as she tried to stay upright with the semi-conscious half-witch hanging limply in her arms. She turned her head towards the others, who were looking back at her with concerned expressions.
Ron was the first to speak, "What just happened? What's wrong with them?"
"Didn't you see? The light? The snakes… they must be Vol…" Hermione stopped herself, realizing what she was about to say in front of both Luna and Malfoy. Luna could probably be trusted, but she wasn't about to trust malfoy with anything, even given his 'condition.'
"We didn't see anything, Hermione," stated Luna calmly, "That girl opened the book, started chanting in Japanese, and then she was somehow thrown back into you a few minutes later.
Kotone stirred in Hermione's arms, and then let out what sounded like a wail of despair. She spun around to look Hermione in the eyes, establishing the connection only long enough to say, 'Goodbye, Washi, please protect Shishi for me. You know what you have to do.'
When Kotone broke the connection and before she turned away, Hermione caught the look of sad resignation in the little half-witch's violet eyes. Her breath hitched when she realized what Kotone was about to try, and what the half-witch was expecting her to do.
"Kotone, no! We'll find another way! You can't do this!"
Kotone didn't turn back to her, she just looked up into Harry's vacant eyes and willed the connection between them.
-----~-----
Harry found himself walking through a strangely familiar flower strewn pasture. The flowers, as well as the vast field, stretched out to the horizon. He briefly glanced up at the cloudless blue sky, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reveling in the fragrant scent of the flora around him.
The scene appeared peaceful, but Harry couldn't seem to relax. He felt he should be doing something… something very important… but for the life of him he couldn't remember what that something was. Whatever it was, it was gnawing at him, taunting him, flirting around the edges of his memory just out of his grasp.
Harry was shaken out of his thoughts by a strained voice coming from right beside him, "I think I know what is happening to you, Shishi-san, but I do not know everything. Please, it is important to tell me what is going on... Who was the soul in the locket?"
Harry looked down at the vaguely familiar girl walking beside him and wondered how long she had been there. She was dressed in a tattered, gray hooded robe that clung to her tiny frame as if they were soaking wet. He really didn't care how she came to be with him, he was just glad to finally have some company.
As he continued to walk, he gave her a sideways glance and asked, "What locket are you talking about?"
She looked up at him, her surprised, violet eyes peeked out from within her hood and she let out a tired sigh. She reached up and gently grasped his wrist, indicating that she wanted him to stop.
"Shishi, what do you see when you look around you here?"
He made a quick scan of his surroundings and couldn't help but to smile as he answered, "Look around yourself, it's marvelous! Nothing but a field of flowers on a warm summer's day! It's so quiet here… peaceful… no troubles, no worries, no madman trying to kill me, no…"
He had no idea how that thought popped into his head, "Why did I mention a madman? Nobody wants to kill me! Why would anyone want me dead?"
"Do you know who you are?" asked the little girl anxiously, "Tell me your name."
Harry thought for a moment, the notion of having a name had not occurred to him. What did the little girl just call him? "Umm… is my name 'She She?'"
Kotone's eyes softened in understanding and she asked, "Do you know what this place around you is?"
"It's just a field of flowers, I don't know what it's called."
"From your point of view, this place is your field of dreams. It shows your deepest desire, your wants for your future… peace… contentment. This is your sanctuary, a place of protection for you. I have been protecting you from the serpent, but now there are two, and the second, while a much newer presence, is much stronger. It has not been corrupted as the first one was, and they both desire to be as one. I do not have the strength to remove either, or even to bind them anymore."
Harry looked down at the little girl, confusion etched on his face, "I… I don't really know what you mean."
"I think I understand about the serpents now. At first, I believed you were born with two souls, but I know now that the serpents are not natural. The serpent I had seen on the Jakkaru was identical to yours, both damaged, both corrupted. Now I saw the third soul from the locket, brother of the serpents of Shishi and the Jakkaru. I must try to draw that one onto myself. In order to try this, I will need to remove your protection. Prepare yourself, once the protection is gone, you will remember everything, and I fear that this place will not be as pleasant as it appears to you now. Once you remember, you must tell me everything. You must trust me."
Again, she mentioned the locket, and what's this about snakes? He opened his mouth to question her when, as if someone had switched a channel on the telly, the world changed around him. His head snapped up to the sky, which moments ago was a cloudless blue, but now a sinister charcoal gray. A shower of large drops were falling from the sky, drenching him in the thick, bloody rain. Red lightning flashed down from the boiling clouds, followed by thunder that crashed like artillery fire. The flowers had disappeared, leaving him standing in blood-soaked mud. He suddenly remembered… he had been here before… The blood rain, the gravestone… seeing Hermione in the coffin… and the locket. He glanced back up to the sky and saw the two intertwined serpents soaring overhead, writhing and spitting in some sort of perverted aerial dance.
Kotone could see the look of comprehension wash over Harry's face. "Shishi, please tell me what is happening. What are the souls that possess you? Who was in the locket? You told me that you wished to become as a father to me, you must have some trust in me to do so… Please let me help you!"
Harry looked down into Kotone's eyes and saw her fear within them. He also understood what was going on… the soul in the horcrux was invading him, trying to re-combine with the bit of Voldemort's soul that was accidentally placed within him when the dark lord fell when he was a baby. He also realized that in his current state, he was powerless prevent it.
"Do you remember when you overheard Hermione and Ron speaking of horcruxes? They are created when a wizard rends his own soul by committing an act of murder. We don't know exactly how, but the wizard would place the torn soul fragment into a physical vessel, anchoring his soul to the world if he should die. This ensures that he cannot be killed as long as the vessel, the horcrux, still exists. The soul in the locket, as well as the soul you see attached to me, were created by Lord Voldemort. We have been searching for the horcruxes in order to destroy them, in hopes of negating his apparent immortality."
"Why?" asked Kotone, "Why have you taken on this task by yourself?"
Harry looked down at the soaked earth beneath his feet and answered, "Because there's a prophecy that says that I am the only one with the power to destroy Voldemort. I told you before that I was 'destined to save the Wizarding World,' this is what I meant. I have to kill him, or be killed by him. If I fail, nobody who isn't a pureblood will be safe… Voldemort has a vendetta against muggleborns like Hermione, half-bloods like me, and… and half-breeds like you. I have to do this."
Kotone nodded in understanding, then asked, "What of the spell that the Jakkaru performed on Washi and you? I recognized the artificial bond between you, blackened and corrupted. What can you tell me of that?"
"By 'Jakkaru,' I'm assuming that you mean Ginny Weasley. It seems that she performed a ritual meant to prevent the bonding of a pureblood with a 'lesser' being. She was led to believe that the ritual was designed to force two lovers apart, and to attract one of the lovers, namely me, to her…"
Again, Kotone nodded, "So that is why we became connected. The ritual that the Jakkaru used created magic in both Washi and you that was attuned to my own. When we are done here, Washi can repair the natural bond between you, and can reverse the effect of the ritual on the Jakkaru. I had tried, but I was not strong enough. Please make sure that your mate understands the book quickly, it is most important."
With that, Kotone sat down on the muddy ground and placed her hands together in her lap. She looked up at Harry with darkened eyes and said, "I will do what I can, and the rest will be up to you."
Harry stood before the little girl and watched as she closed her eyes and began chanting a long, melodic incantation in Japanese. As her song echoed through the air, he felt a wave of sadness fall around him. The thunder and lightning ceased and the blood rain slowed to a soft drizzle as her singing became louder.
As he listened, he heard two other distant voices harmonizing with Kotone, voices that were singing in what he knew was Parseltongue. The voices sang of loneliness, of fear, and of home. The voices were calling to each other, beckoning, promising safety and comfort. The harmonizing voices slowly became louder and clearer, causing Harry to look up. He saw that the serpents were coming closer, hovering just a few meters overhead, lazily gliding towards the singing half-witch.
Kotone abruptly stopped singing, causing the twin serpents to start hissing angrily. The young witch looked around with a puzzled expression, then let out a startled gasp and cried out, "No! I cannot stop now! Not now!" Her eyes widened as she listed to words that only she could hear, "Washi, no! I need to do this! Please! Do not stop me!"
Harry stood dumbstruck as he watched Kotone fade out of existence. He was shaken out of his stupor when a bolt of red lightning flashed from the sky and struck the earth just yards in front of him. The rain of blood began falling again in earnest as the twin serpents, just a few meters above him, were eyeing him menacingly, moving slowly closer to him with their mouths open and their fangs extended.
-----~-----
An unpleasant pall seemed to descend on the hallway as Hermione watched Kotone stare into Harry's eyes. She looked helplessly to Ron, who wore a confused expression as his eyes flicked back and forth between her and Harry.
"What's happening?" asked Ron nervously as he took a step towards Harry, "What's she doing?"
Hermione turned to Luna and asked her to take Malfoy back to the study. As soon as Luna was out of earshot, she turned to Ron and said, "She's going to draw the bit of Voldemort's soul into herself… I think she wants me to… to…"
As expected, Ron winced at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but despite his discomfort, he still paid enough attention to what Hermione was saying to prompt her to continue, "Wants you to…?"
Hermione continued in a squeaky whisper, "I think she wants me to stun her once the soul is inside of her, or… or maybe even kill her."
Ron paled as she said this and muttered, "Blimey, you aren't going to do it, are you? I mean kill her?"
Hermione wrenched her hands together as she answered, "I… I don't know if I can. If the soul fragment begins controlling her, we'll have to do something, won't we?"
As Ron took another cautious step towards Harry, he nearly jumped out of his skin as a pair of 'pops' sounded from right behind him. With wild eyes, he spun on his heel and drew his wand in one surprisingly smooth movement, only to see that his wand was pointed at a pair of cowering house-elves.
Dobby was standing beside another elf, each of them holding a rather large book. They unsteadily carried the books to Hermione as Dobby excitedly proclaimed, "We's done it, Mistress Grangey! I's sorry it tooks so long…"
Hermione reached down and relieved the elves of their burden, saying, "So long? It's barely been a quarter hour! How did you get it translated so quickly?"
Dobby smiled proudly, "Each of the elves at Hogwarts tooks one page and copied it in English. Much quicker that way, and nobodys knows what the book's about…" Then he lowered his voice to a whisper and added, "House-elves is not supposed to knows wizard magic, you sees."
Ordinarily, Hermione would have bristled at the thought of the unreasonable restrictions on magical creatures that the ministry had enacted, but she was too distracted by what was happening between Harry and Kotone.
Suddenly, the other house-elf let out a startled gasp, which caused Dobby to spin around and Hermione to re-focus her attention on Harry. It was then that Dobby noticed what was going on between Harry and the demon-witch.
Dobby's large, green tennis ball shaped eyes seemed to become even more protuberant than normal and his voice sounded uncharacteristically serious as he asked, "What is the Elder doing with master Harry Potter?"
Hermione stole a quick glance at Ron, who was still looking at Harry in awed silence. She opened her mouth to speak but she was at a complete loss for words… until she heard the singing.
It started as a soft, barely audible growling, much like the noise a sleeping dog might make during a particularly nice dream about fireplugs and chew toys. Kotone's song became increasingly louder and more pronounced, but the language she was singing in was definitely not Japanese, nor was it any language she could even remotely identify… but apparently the two house-elves present could. They stood motionless, as if in a trance, and then began… crying?
Hermione bent down and looked into Dobby's leaking eyes, "Dobby? What's she doing now? What is she singing?"
Dobby, keeping his teary eyes fixed on Kotone, answered in barely a whisper, "The ancient is calling a lost soul home, Miss Grangey. The angel sings a song of welcome and love, calling to a soul who knows neither… it is beautiful!"
Hermione's suspicion was confirmed. Kotone was trying to draw the soul from the horcrux into herself. Her thoughts started racing through her head. Was Kotone going to be possessed by the soul fragment as Ginny almost was in the Chamber of Secrets? Did the little witch-demon really expect her to kill her? She had never killed anyone in her life! Maybe just to stun her? Then what?
Hermione absently glanced down to the large tomes that were resting in her arms. The title of the top book was written in Kanji. She slid the second book out from under the first and gasped as she read the words, 'Soul Magic - The Arts of the Enchantress, the Priestess, and the Necromancer.'
Hermione glanced down to the book on the floor that Kotone had been reading from. She said that the book belonged to her mother, and she remembered that Kotone was the wrong type of witch to perform that kind of magic. The realization struck her that while Kotone wasn't was the right type of witch, she was. Her features hardened as she came to the decision on what she was going to do, and killing Kotone wasn't part of the plan.
Hermione picked up the open book on the floor and held it out to Dobby, saying, "Quickly, take this and translate it like you did with the other."
When Dobby made no move to take the book, Hermione grabbed his shoulder and shook the little elf until his gaze was broken from Kotone. In an urgent voice, she said to him, "This must be done quickly! Something bad is going to happen to the elder if you don't get this translated as soon as possible, do you understand?"
Dobby wiped the tears from his eyes on his horseshoe-patterned tie, nodded, then slowly took the book from Hermione. With a pair of soft 'pops,' the two house-elves disappeared.
With the elves gone, Hermione moved closer to Kotone and leaned down to her, "Kotone, you have to stop. You mustn't take the soul fragment onto yourself. Leave it with Harry and I'll take care of it."
Ron's jaw dropped upon hearing Hermione's words, "What? Hermione! Do you know what you're doing?"
Kotone suddenly stopped singing. They heard her coarse voice whisper, "No! I cannot stop now! Not now!"
Hermione stood with grim determination etched on her face. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Kotone."
As Hermione raised her wand, the little demon-witch gasped and desperately whispered, "Washi, no! I need to do this! Prease! Do not stop me!"
"Stupefy."
As Kotone limply slumped to the floor, Hermione trained her wand at Harry. For the briefest instant, she saw a faint, crimson glow flash in Harry's blankly staring eyes before a second stunner from her wand caused him to join the half-witch on the floor.
Ron was instantly beside Harry. He leaned down and asked, "Is he going to be alright?"
Hermione levitated Kotone from the floor as she answered, "I don't know." She began guiding Kotone down the hall to the bedroom that Ron and Harry used to share and indicated to Ron that he should bring Harry along. As soon as the pair was comfortably settled, Hermione hefted the translated book and said to Ron, "When Dobby returns with the book, send him to the library, I've got some reading to do," she glanced back at Harry and Kotone and added, "Make sure they don't wake up."