Never A Memory

A/N: I am so very sorry for never responding to your reviews yesterday. Below, before the chapter begins, I’ll respond to your reviews for the chapter before last. And then below the chapter will be my responses to the previous chapter.

MangaCat: Sorry about the accident of marking the German as Latin. I fixed it straight away. Again thank you so much for all your help and thank you for your reviews! Lol, yeah, there were parts of that dialogue I thought were pretty obvious…but an author always has to be certain that her readers can follow what’s going on.

Lilith: Lol, it took me a moment to understand what “jellylike” meant, then realized you alluding to all that goo in Ghostbusters and Poltergeist, right? I’m glad you like the chapter and thank you so much for your review!

Paigeey07: Thank you for your update! Enjoy!

MeLaiya: I’m glad your enjoyed the story…and, lol, yeah, I wish I could type that fast…maybe one day, though, lol. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed the updates!

QueenBoadicea: Lol, I can understand how all of that seemed a bit vague. I hope your questions here were answered in recent chapters. They have every intention of Obliviating them at the end of all of this. I had to have at least one person sucked into attempting to speak with the Tulpa. Of course it had to be Harry, lol. Thank you for your review!

Mariah’s_fantasy: Thank you! Oh, and nice catch with mis-typed homophone. Thank you, again. I’ll fix it, I promise.




~One, Two, Seven, Six~

“Three years?” Draco asked suddenly. “What do you mean?”

“Potter didn’t tell you?” Snape asked. “You were in some kind of coma for three years after the Eve Battle.”

“What was the exact number of days?”

“Pardon?”

“The exact number of days, Godfather.”

Snape thought for a moment. “I believe…One thousand, two hundred, and…seventy six days.”

“Huh.” Draco sat back in his chair. “That’s interesting.”

“What is?”

“That is how long I was gone making the VCE Elixir.”

Snape shook his head. “No, it takes four years and nine months to make the—“

“You really think I would sit there by a cauldron for the entirety of nearly five years, Godfather?”

“I see.”

Draco rested his chin in his hand. “One, two, seven, six…I wonder if that has any merit.” ~ Not Quite Paradise


“When all stellar energy sources are exhausted, the interior of a star will undergo a
gravitational collapse. In this sense a star is a "temporary" equilibrium state between a
gravitational collapse at stellar birth and a gravitational collapse at stellar death.” ~Astronomical Physics

The Dome…
***

At the center of the Dome, Draco hovered, surrounded by spheres of his magic. His eyes glowed an eerie yellow, his mouth was slack and slightly open, and his head was thrown back, hair like shimmering moonlight askew and brushing against his shoulders. The outer sphere was a cocoon of red and gold crackling energy and the inner sphere spiked with a myriad of blue and green sparkling lights.

And a dark shadow hovered over Draco Malfoy’s upright and levitating form, near the edge of the outer sphere.

“There He is…” someone to Harry’s left breathed.

Harry focused on the dark blot within the red and gold crackling sphere of raw power and began to calculate how long his Shield would be able to protect him while he sought out and fought the demon Tulpa. The awful smell of ash and burning coal hung in the air as Ron struggled to make his way to Harry’s side.

“Harry,” Ron murmured, finally coming close enough to place a hand on his partner’s shoulder. “We have a lot of injured.”

Harry continued to focus on Malfoy and his state of temporary equilibrium between Wizard and Muggle, Possessed and Freed, but tilted his face towards Ron to let his partner know he was listening.

The Aurors parted before the two, making way for Father Alt, who approached with swift, purposeful strides. “Jungzauberer,” he said to the young, black-haired Auror. “None of these people need to be here. They should go.”

That’s a lot of people Maul could hurt wearing my face, Draco had said.

Harry nodded. “Ron,” he said in a low voice. “I want you to make the Dome transparent so you can monitor what’s going on. Every Wizard who can still stand needs to surround the Dome; I want a wall of Wizards acting as the perimeter now. Only Alt will remain within.”

“And if something should go wrong?” Ron murmured.

“I trust your judgment,” Harry answered evasively. Harry looked over at him then and spoke to his best mate with his eyes, as they had always done, ever since they were young. At long last, Ron nodded.

“Consider it done,” Ron said in a hard voice.

Harry nodded back, the gaze they exchanged, the very epitome of severity. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was worrying her lower lip with her teeth. He placed a finger tenderly under her chin. “Chin up,” he said, and forced a smile. For Hermione Granger, Harry would always be able to force a smile. Hermione forced a smile as well and handed him her wand. Gratefully, he accepted it.

“Alright people!” Ron shouted. “You heard him. That was an order, not a suggestion! Let’s go!”

Quickly, the remaining Aurors and able-bodied Wizards and Witches jerked at their amulets and exited the Dome, until only Harry and the exorcist, Father Ernst Alt, remained. Together, they gazed towards the center of the Dome.

Angels and Demons, God and Lucifer, Tulpas and Prophecies, Plagues and Elixirs…Harry Potter couldn’t give half a shit about any of it. The only thing that kept his adrenaline high and his focus steady was getting Draco Malfoy out of this God forsaken Dome alive. That was why his lungs worked in that steady rhythm, that was why his hand did not shake as it gripped the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, and that was the only reason why he did not favor the exorcist with a long-suffering look as the priest laid one hand on his head and the other on the center of his chest, muttering some ancient blessing in his Germanic native tongue.

“Amen,” Father Alt finished, removing his hands and stepping away.

Strangely, Harry felt a strange lifting in his body, as if a large weight had been taken off his shoulders. He straightened, gripped the Sword ever tighter, and walked steadily toward the outer sphere.

~*~

Ron grabbed Hermione’s arm after he had made adjustments to the Dome Shield and formed ranks among the able-bodied Wizards and Witches still able to help in Malfoy’s exorcism. Ron favored her with the strangest look Hermione had ever seen. There was something wild there, something fiercely protective and loving. Abruptly, Ron crushed her to him and kissed her long and hard.

“You don’t have to be here,” Ron said roughly as he released her from the bruising kiss. “Is there any way I can convince you to go back to the Ministry?”

However, Ron recognized the stubborn set of her jaw and the defiance in her eyes before he heard her answer. “No, love. I’m staying. There have always been three of us, and there always will be. Until the wheels fall off, Ron. And they haven’t fallen off yet.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat, something close to a growl, before pulling her into another rough kiss. Only, this time, Hermione kissed him back. “I love you,” he whispered against her mouth. “I love you,” she whispered back.

And then Ron was gone, barking orders to the men and women who were surrounding the large Dome, shoulder to shoulder, and heading in McGonagall’s direction.

Hermione took in a deep breath, steadying herself against an onslaught of unexpected emotions. Love for her fiancée, concern for Harry, and much, much more.

Harry was going into Malfoy’s magic again to face a demon. Voldemort had likened himself one, but Maul actually was one.

Hermione hoped against hope that all their preparations would be enough to get everyone out alive.

~*~

The Ministry of Magic…
Cell Block D…
***

Maximus Cure opened his eyes slightly, only mildly interested as he heard a surprised yelp and then a loud thud outside of the door that acted as the entrance to his Cell Block. He remained still on his cot even when he heard the door groan open and a person step softly inside. He remained still even as the intruder approached the cell that confined him.

“Up with you,” a cultured English voice drawled. “It’s time to go.”

Cure smiled, in spite of himself. “Wherefore art thou here, Wizard?”

Blaise Zabini rolled his eyes, muttering advanced disarming spells under his breath to break the locks trapping the wily outlaw. “Why do you think? Every Wizard and Witch worth their salt is at the Dome aiding the exorcism right now. Security is slim. Do you want out or not?”

Cure sat up and swung his legs over the side of his cot, jumping nimbly to his feet. He stretched with a mighty yawn and grinned again. “Now is as good a time as any, I s’ppose. Get m’out!”

Zabini laughed, startling Cure, who froze and peered up at him with bright hazel eyes.

“You should do that more often,” Cure said, a thoughtful look playing across his features.

“What?” Zabini asked, opening the cell and stepping to one side to let the eccentric genius through.

“Laugh,” Cure replied.

Zabini frowned. “I’ll laugh when we’re pardoned.”

“You think breaking me out of the Ministry of Magic is going to get you pardoned?” Cure scoffed in disbelief.

Blaise made a face. “You can stay here, if you like.”

“No, no, I’m coming.”

Zabini handed him a pair of shoes, some robes, and was quiet as Cure slipped them on. “Do you think he’ll make it?”

Cure glanced up at him, a sudden seriousness darkening his hazel eyes. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

Zabini chewed at his lip for a moment. Cure placed a hand on Blaise’s shoulder. “Everything turns out as it should,” Cure murmured. “How could it not? If it is the end result.”

Zabini gazed back at him with pained, golden eyes, a weariness there they both shared, if one looked hard enough.

“You did what you thought was right, to protect your friend’s soul,” Cure murmured. “To save him from a worse fate. You’ve done all you can. The rest…the rest is not ours to dictate.”

Zabini swallowed and looked away. “I know.” He took in a deep breath. “I just wish I could’ve…that I could’ve done more.”

Cure smiled gently. “And so does the stone that resides in the center of the mountain.”

Zabini exhaled slowly and nodded, offering Maximus Cure one of his easy, seductive smiles, all white teeth and crinkling golden eyes. “Let’s go, then. This stone doesn’t want to be here when the mountain returns.”

Cure laughed.

~*~

The Dome…
***

Distantly, Harry registered the sound of Ron’s shouting voice being muted out from the raw energy crackling and spiking around the wall of the outer sphere. He sheathed the Sword of Godric Gryffindor in his belt before taking out he and Hermione’s wands. He placed the tip of one wand above his head and slightly to the right, and the other slightly to his left. Slowly, muttering the Shield Charm, he brought the tips of the wands together, forming a white hot line with the condensed and stretched energy field. Quickly, he pushed into the weakened spot.

Immediately, Harry was enveloped in an oppressive heat as his Shield attempted to protect him from Malfoy’s exploding, roiling magic. He took a step, pressing forward, and then another.

He heard a cackle of laughter which ended in a horrible hiss. Harry took another step.

And screamed.

Blinding pain raked down his chest and he doubled over, coughing up blood as his hands went immediately to the bloody gashes in his chest. Harry sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide as agony erupted across his shoulder blades and up and down his spine. He doubled backwards as the sensation of five sharp knives dragged themselves down the flesh of his back. Something shoved him from behind and he fell to his knees.

He couldn’t see, whether it was the dreadful pain, the oppressive heat, or the roiling, deadly magic that engulfed him and blurred his vision with hot tears, he couldn’t be sure. He reached for the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, gasping as fire exploded up and down the length of his ravaged torso, and pulled it from his belt. He pressed the tip of the blade into whatever hard surface he knelt upon and used it to aid him in getting his feet under him. He coughed again, spitting up blood.

The thunderous, purely evil laughter sounded again, somewhere to his right. Harry swung hard with the Sword, and hit nothing but air. The momentum twisted him around, stretching his torn flesh. He loosed a shout, staggering forward wildly.

Maul laughed again.

~*~

“Granger, a word with you.”

Hermione turned away from the Dome, where she and two dozen other Witches and Wizards watched as a dark blur moved within Malfoy’s outer sphere. Whether it was Maul or Harry Potter, no one could be certain. Father Alt circled the outer sphere, his eyes on the spectacle within and seemed to be whispering prayers in a low voice.

Hermione saw Severus Snape approaching her, a worried look marring the usually disdainful expression in his black eyes. “Professor Snape,” Hermione Granger greeted tentatively, stepping away from the Dome so they could speak privately. “How can I help you?”

“Why did you give Potter your wand?” Snape inquired in a quiet voice, his beady black eyes still trained on the inner part of the Dome.

“Because, in America, Harry needed both our wands to get into Malfoy’s outer sphere,” Hermione answered steadily. “Why? What’s this about?”

Snape looked at her then. “Something has been bothering me. When I told Draco of his coma following the three years of the conclusion of the Eve Battle, my godson had asked the exact number of days…”

Hermione’s face scrunched up unbecomingly as she did the math in her head. “One thousand, two hundred and seventy…six days? Is that right?”

“Yes,” Snape said, taking a step closer and lowering his voice. “My godson then claimed that that was the exact number of days he was in China brewing the VCE Elixir.”

Hermione looked perplexed. “One, two, seven, six…Snape, these days, I don’t much believe in coincidences…”

Snape nodded. “Yes…I saw you hand him your wand and—“

“One Prophecy, two wands—“

“Seven Keys…” Snape nodded again.

“What is ‘six’?” Hermione breathed, her eyes widening.

Snape ran a hand through his oily hair. “I don’t know.”

~*~

“You cannot protect him,” a voice whispered through the hazy heat.

Harry swung the Sword again, biting his lip as the movement sent wave after wave of agony shuddering through his body—and stopped short when he thought he recognized the voice.

“Malfoy?” Harry called out, reaching in front of him with one hand. “Draco?” Was he hearing Draco’s memories like the last time? Was he close to the inner sphere?

“You love him,” the voice spat again, teasing in its wickedness. “Everyone you love and seek to protect dies. You will fail.”

Harry froze.

Sirius Black stood in front of him and smiled. Suddenly, a woman screamed “Avada Kadavra!” and a spasm of green light shot through his godfather’s body. Harry gaped as a stunned looke froze Sirius Black’s handsome features and he fell, bonelessly and very, very dead.

Harry choked back a sob and nearly dropped the Sword of Godric Gryffindor in an attempt to reach out to his godfather as he began to collapse. He nearly touched him, but as his fingers swept forward, the image blurred and disappeared in a cloud of swirling dust.

“You will fail.”

“Where are you, Maul?!” Harry screamed. “Where are you?!”

“You are responsible for Dumbledore’s death,” a voice whispered in his ear, a voice that sounded so much like Draco’s. Harry whirled, but nothing was there.

The heat was oppressive but his valiant Shield Charm protected him from Malfoy’s dangerous magic. Tears continued to blur his vision. He could barely see anything at all.

“You are a burden,” the voice whispered again. “To your friends, your colleagues; even the Ministry of Magic finds you nothing more than a nuisance.”

“No…”

“Oh, yes.” A laugh. A hiss. “No one can love you, Harry Potter. No one. They will always leave you when they find out what you truly are.”

Harry bit his lip, the heat becoming unbearable. Yet, somehow, that had nothing to do with the tightening in his chest.

“Ginny, Cruent, even Draco, once he is through with you…”

Harry shook his head, refusing to believe it. Yet, how often had he thought these things himself? How often had he glanced at Draco and wondered how long it was going to last after Malfoy no longer needed his protection? How often had he watched people he cared about leave him for something better?

A hand settled on his shoulder, cool and unthreatening. Harry flinched but did not turn, his head lowering as if he was under some kind of spell, the Sword of Godric Gryffindor going slack in his hand, his Shield Charm beginning to waver.

“Your parents,” the voice whispered lovingly, “would be alive if it were not for you.”

A sob caught in his throat and he lifted his head, turning his face to see the owner of the voice as a tear slid down his cheek. Draco Malfoy smiled pleasantly back at him, solid black eyes gleaming.

“You know it is true,” He said.

“Draco?” Harry backed away from Him, feeling his blood run cold. “No…”

He smiled again, white teeth flashing dangerously. “Oh, yes.”

“Draco, snap out of it!” Harry ordered, narrowing his eyes and taking a step forward. He tightened his grip on the Sword of Godric Gryffindor.

The face of Draco Malfoy looked surprised. “You wouldn’t kill me, would you, Harry? Not after everything!”

Harry paused, feeling uncertain.

“After everything you said,” He continued in Draco’s voice. “You wouldn’t hurt me, would you? You said you loved me.”

Harry lowered the Sword. “I do…”

Harry closed his eyes, feeling a tingling sensation where his Scar used be. Something nudged into his mind, something whispered against his soul. He sought after it, straining to hear what the whispers said.

Remember…

What?

I can’t…

Remember me…

Harry leaned closer, strained harder. The heat surrounding pressed painfully against his torn chest, burning the open, bleeding gashes there.

What?

Remember me this way…

His eyes shot open, a blaze of emerald green. Maul gazed back at him, watching to see if His Six Lies had worked on the Eighth Key.

…whatever you do, don’t you believe He’s me…

Harry raised the Sword of Godric Gryffindor and, with a shout, attacked Maul with all his might. He brought the sharp blade down, the Gryffindor weapon striking true, and cut into the pale flesh between Draco’s neck and shoulder, dragging the sword through skin and bone and grimacing as Maul, wearing Draco Malfoy’s face, wailed miserably under the crushing blade. Bones crunched and blood sprayed; and Harry withdrew the Sword and prepared for a second blow.

Draco’s features morphed into a terrible, mutated expression of utter wrath as the Sword of Godric Gryffindor pierced deep into His shoulder. The hot metal burned His demon flesh like it was forged in Hell itself. Maul broke His claws free of their human-fleshed confines in a spray of black blood and rammed them into the Eighth Key’s chest, aiming for his heart, as the Wizard plunged the Sword of Godric Gryffindor into Him a third time.

Harry screamed, his anger more powerful than the sea of pain that flooded his senses and pushed. He took one step, then two, and with a shout, flung Maul from him with all his might, feeling every tissue, organ, and bone Maul clung to rip from his torso as his chest cavity tore open…

And then there was nothing but blackness.

~*~

In a cloud of dense black, spraying bits of blood, bone, and tissue in its wake, Maul was thrown from the outer sphere, flew across the field, and slammed against one thick, magicked wall of the Dome. The Dome shuddered, but held firm.

Father Alt’s voice rose to a mighty shout as bits of gore rained down upon him, binding the Black Tulpa and reciting the powerful words that would cast Him back down to the depths of Hell.

A massive scream erupted from the heavy, black mist as it spread across the roof of the Dome, searching for an outlet, the wailing like the sound of a million mothers grieving for the deaths of their newborns, the shouting like the clap of a wrathful deity stamping his foot upon a thunderbolt.

And then, in a flash of brilliant white, the very air seemed to shudder as the ground trembled and the black, dense cloud of pure evil, Maul, the Black Tulpa, Son of Lucifer, dissipated into nothingness.

~*~

Gasps rippled through the Witches and Wizards situated on the outer perimeter of the Dome. Someone screamed.

It was Hermione.

She ran, jerking at the amulet around her throat, her eyes wide with terror, as she hurled herself into the Dome, Ron, Snape and McGonagall hot on her heels.

”What is that?!” she shrieked, gesturing wildly at the gore that was spattered all over the priest and the dewy grass outside Malfoy’s outer sphere of magic, which still crackled with powerful and raw red and gold magic as Ron grabbed her about the waist and tried to restrain her. “Harry!” she wailed, tears streaming down her face.

Trembling, Father Alt met Ron’s gaze, a sorrow there that said it all.

It wasn’t Maul’s blood. It was human. And Draco Malfoy was still entranced under the potion of the Inversion Enchantratem. Soon, Malfoy’s magic would implode.

McGonagall gasped and Snape wrapped an arm around her shaking, bony shoulders as the implications became too much to bear.

”No….” Hermione breathed, squirming in Ron’s grip to look up into the terrible, shocked expression twisting his features. “No, Ron…we can’t…”

Ron made a strangled noise and gripped her tighter. “Malfoy’s about to make a crater of this place and with no one to bring him out of it…”

“Harry’s still in there!” Hermione shrieked. “He’s still…”

“’Mione,” Ron said, his voice cracking. “Harry’s—“

“Don’t you say it!” she screamed, punching him in the chest. ”Don’t you say it!!!”

“Weasley!” Snape suddenly shouted, pointing at Malfoy’s inner, blue-green sphere of magic. ”Look!”

There in the center of Malfoy’s state of temporary equilibrium, the figure of the Slytherin Prince’s levitating form flickered once. Then twice.

And then disappeared.

~*~

To be continued….

~*~

A/N:

Paige Taylor: I know, I know…it really was an evil cliffhanger. Well, I made sure to type this up last night for you all, I hope you enjoy it…even though it has a pretty nasty cliffhanger too. Ah, well. Thank you so much for your review!

MangaCat: I hurried up and wrote this last night, so I hope you’re somewhat sated, lol. Thank you for your review! You’ve been so marvelous and helpful. I’m sorry to see its conclusion too; but, at the same time, I’m excited because I’ll be able to really pour my whole heart into my next project once this story is out of my head. Thank you again! And I hope you enjoyed the update!

Gage: Lol, thank you for your review! And I hope you enjoyed the update!

MeLaiya: I am. I really am. But then I feel bad and write another chapter for ya! So all is forgiven, right? Right? Lol, Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!

Queen Boadicea: Harrowing, indeed. Thank you! It’s not that they can eat humans, its that there are so many of them it is overwhelming. Also, I saw in The Reaping, a swarm of locusts so thick they crawled into peoples lungs and suffocated them. But that was a lot of descriptive stuff I really didn’t feel I had time for. The chapter was already way too long, lol. Hmmm, the explaination of “Mother” comes in the next chapter. Thanx again for your review and I hope you enjoyed the update!