Ace of Hearts
Chapter 20
Harry entered the darkened musty cave, his senses alert and on end. While taking a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lack of light, his hand instinctively went to his robe pocket where he fondled the diamond ring. He then assured himself that he would make it out to present it to the girl he loved in the proper fashion before beginning to move forward.
Now that he could make out the contours of the cave walls, Harry made his way stealthy through the passage, barely making a sound and refraining from lighting his wand's tip. As he came to a split in the tunnel he noticed, that to the right there seemed to be a dim light flickering in the distance. Taking a deep breath, he silently made his way towards the area, sparing a quick glance at his lightly glowing watch; he had four minutes until Aurora sent the warning flair.
Upon reaching the opening, he saw Bellatix Lestrange standing at the opposite end of the room with her back to him, her body swaying slightly to an eerie tune that was playing on an old phonograph. She stopped mid-sway as he entered the room, her head falling back as she sensed his presence. Slowly turning to face him, her head came forward and fell a bit to the side, her dark scraggly hair falling into her face. As a twisted grin settled upon her pale, gaunt face and her eyes danced with a morbid type of laughter.
"Why, if it isn't Harry Potter," she said in a rough, slightly husky voice. "I was expecting your pretty little girlfriend first, but I knew it wouldn't be long before you showed up. You have this knack for trying to play the...hero," she swished her wand in time with the music. "You're like a tiny little Albus, just as loyal and pathetic as he was."
She gave another slow grin "It was a pleasure to see him die," a mock frown twisted her lips, "but it was a shame I couldn't make the funeral."
Harry clenched his jaw, controlling his anger because he knew that, that was what she was hoping for. He silently thanked Merlin for the rough Auror training that helped him to control the impulsive behavior he was so famous for in his youth. Moving from the darkness of the cave opening, he placed himself in position so that his back was against the wall, then he addressed her.
"That's okay," he said with a smirk "I would have been unable to make it to Voldemort's," he gave a mocking grin "that is, if there had been anything left to bury."
Just as he suspected it would, the comment sent Bellatrix into a rage. Her face contorted into a look of pure hatred as she raised her wand and shouted out at him.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry jumped out of the way and the curse collided with the wall behind him, cracking the rock and sending a small hail of stones down in his direction. Ignoring the falling debris that connected with his back and shoulders, he sent a counter spell of his own.
"Sectumsempra!" he shouted, Bellatrix let out a yell of pain as the spell connected with her, slashing her face.
"Crucio!"
He quickly dodged the curse.
"Defodio!" she shouted again.
"Protego Totalum!"
"Confringo!" she shouted and Harry ducked as several rocks exploded behind his head.
"Conjunctivitis!" he called out, Bellatrix froze, momentarily blinded.
"Avada Kedavra!" she yelled a moment later.
However, because she was having trouble seeing, the spell was far off target and Harry didn't even have to move to avoid it.
"Imperio!" she called out immediately after the last.
"Sectumsempra!" he called out again, aiming at her wrist.
When the spell connected with its target area, Bellatrix immediately dropped her wand. As it rolled across the dirt floor, she fell to her knees and began searching frantically for it. Harry quickly approached the fallen weapon and stepped on it before she could retrieve it.
"Go ahead, Potter," she spat his name out, "kill me. Or don't you have the guts?"
Harry smirked at her "Oh, I have the guts... and as much as you deserve to die, you don't deserve to die as easily as this." he shook his head, "No, I think several years in Azkaban followed by a Dementor's kiss is the way you deserve to go."
Bellatrix stared at him, horrified. Her gaze searching and still somewhat unfocused. Then, to Harry's great surprise, she began to laugh, an insane type of laugher that made his hairs stand on end. Before he could really process what was going on he felt a horrible pain in his stomach.
Automatically releasing his wand, Harry looked down to see what the cause of his mind numbing hurt was. His eyes connected with what seemed to be the end of a stake sticking out of his abdomen. Touching the bloody tip with trembling fingers, he fell to his knees as a searing pain enveloped him. Before he could cushion himself, Harry felt his body being roughly turned and he landed next to Bellatrix on his back, the landing impaling him on the stake, driving it even further into his body. A scream was torn from his throat echoing off of the cavern walls as a spasm ripped though him, heightening his agony.
Opening his eyes with great difficulty, he saw a tall powerful vampire leaning over him, his fangs longer than any Harry had ever seen. The stubble on his face gave him an animalistic look and his wild hair practicality stood on end, he leant over Harry, peering at his face.
"So, this is the famous Harry Potter?" he said in a rumbling hissing tone that reminded Harry of Voldemort. "Funny," he gave a mocking grin, licking his fangs with his tongue "he doesn't seem too unbeatable to me."
He then gave Harry a sharp shove in the chest causing another scream to erupt from his lips. Harry's hand slowly stretched out to his side and using a large amount of his remaining strength, he attempted to summon his wand to him.
"Hmmm, I wonder how the blood of 'The Chosen One' tastes," Gideon asked, running a long yellow nail against the tip of the spike; scooping some of Harry's blood into the tip, he placed it into his mouth. His eyes closed in ecstasy as he sampled the tangy liquid. "Mmm," he said with a grotesque smile "it is probably the some of best I've tasted," he licked his lips "almost as good as a child's… I can't wait for more."
As he said this he turned Harry's head, exposing his long neck and leaned forward. Gideon's extensive fangs were bared and glinting in the candlelight as he slanted over Harry's body intent upon an extended taste of his prey. Just as he was about to sink his teeth into the dark haired man's smooth neck, Gideon felt a small poke in his chest. He froze, his eyes widening as he recognized it as a wand.
"Avada... Kedavra," Harry whispered weakly.
The last thing he saw was a flash of green light before everything faded to black and numbness took over his body. As he slipped into blissful oblivion, one last thought grazed his consciousness.
'Hermione...'
Eerie music played on in the distance, twisted laughter cackled in the background and a single, solitaire diamond ring hit the bloodied floor.
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Hermione was sitting at the Weasley's table watching with a detached sort of interest as the dinner progressed. Several times Ginny, Luna, Mrs. Weasley, and Remus had tried to pull her into the conversation, but each time they had failed. She just could not hold onto a train of thought or stop worrying about Harry, and no matter what she did, she could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. She pushed the mashed potatoes around on her plate, once again staring at them with unseeing eyes.
"-what do you think Hermione?"
She looked up when she heard her name, blushing as she realized that she had missed not only the question, but the conversation attached.
"I said that we should do this again so that Harry and Tonks can be here for the celebration," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile, ignoring the snort from Fred and the scowl from Ron.
"That would be lovely, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sure Harry woul..." she trailed off as her eyes closed and a feeling of intense despair came over her.
Feeling the immediate need for air, Hermione pushed violently away from the table and ran outside, followed closely by the adults and several of the children from the dinner table.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ginny asked hesitantly, reaching out to touch her arm.
Hermione jerked away from her, looking frantically around the darkened yard and at the sky. She didn't know what it was, but, suddenly, she just had to see Harry. Where was he? She needed to see him! She need to see him now!
"Harry!" she called out.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise before looking at Hermione as though she were daft.
"Hermione, dear, please just come into the house," Mrs. Weasley said softly, walking towards the frantic witch.
"No! Not until I know!"
She vaguely heard a couple of people murmur 'know what' but choose to ignore them, still looking desperately around for any sign of Harry. She didn't know what this feeling in her stomach was, and in her heart, she only knew that the only way to make it go away was to make sure that he was okay.
"I'm sure he's alright," Remus said quickly "if it'll make you feel better, I'll contact, Tonks, okay? She's at the Auror's office too and I'm sure she can assure us that he's okay."
Hermione turned her attention away from the sky and stared at him a moment before taking a shaky breath and giving a small nod. Casting another look at the darkened skies overhead, she suppressed her feelings of dread and slowly walked back to rejoin the group. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as she finally returned to normal, but just as Remus was about to summon his Patronus to deliver the message, Tonks appeared a few feet away.
"Tonks!" Ginny called out.
Everyone looked at the witch as she rushed towards them in a weary jog; all greetings became frozen on their lips as they noticed her blood-soaked clothing. Hermione felt her knees give out and she fell to a sitting position on the ground, knowing what the woman would say before she could even form the words. Tonk's dark eyes fixed on Hermione with a haunted look, her mouth opened but no words escaped.
"Is he dead?" The brown haired woman asked softly, her voice cracking.
Tonks shook her head no, "St. Mungos."
Giving her a stiff nod and without another word, Hermione disappeared with a pop.
A.N. Well, that's it for 20! Wow, almost done! There only exactly three more chapters to go, sorry if it seemed a bit short but hey the story stops where the story stops. I will update as usual, stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel. PLEASE REVIEW and Ja ne!!
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