a great deal of heated, bubbling water, the bars popped free of their moorings. One side of the cage collapsed. From beneath them, the body of the man managed to free itself and float upwards.
Ecstatic, Draco turned back to Hermione.
She wasno.
He knew, without having to see it to confirm it, that there was no longer a tattoo on his back. His marked skin may as well have been peeled off of his body.
The absence of Fida Mia was death already. The hurt was so deep and all-consuming that his father's wand threatened to slip from his fingers.
Too late.
He would stay down there with her then. It was alright. Nothing else seemed preferable than staying with Hermione.
A subtle warmth caressed his face then. It felt like his mother' s touch. Wherever they were now, the sun was also rising. The light cut through the gloom of the water like sunshine piercing through a tired rain cloud. Suddenly, everything was bathed in glittering brilliance. It was like being inside a prism.
He looked down and saw Hermione's pale, unmoving face, dark lashes resting on her cheeks. The silence was complete and perfect
Draco tilted his head up and squinted at the light. The light was up. The light was safety, just like his mother had told him, in his pain-hazed dream. The darkness was not infinite.
His fist tightened over his father's wand. It was strange to think that both his parents were there with him at that moment.
The blazing, golden sun rose steadily over the water. Draco held Hermione tightly, cradled Lucius' wand between them and focussed his entire being on a single spell and the image of a shoreline.
**
They were deposited on a very familiar shoreline indeed. Except it was more of a bank. Hogwarts' great lake, to be precise. It had been an act of desperation, because the odds that they would be splinched were very high indeed, given he had no idea where they had come from or if he had the energy to pull it off.
But he had. And they arrived as two separate wholes with all their extremities intact. Thank Merlin for small mercies.
Great sheets of water also travelled with them. Draco collapsed to the grassy bank, still holding Hermione as the water splashed to the ground around them. That first lungful of air nearly did him in.
He doubled over with painful coughs, simultaneously flipping Hermione onto her back and shoving her dark hair away from her face.
She was blue. Her skin was clammy and her usually rosy-pink mouth had taken on a distinct purple tinge. He stared at her in abject horror, his hands moving over her face as if his fingertips could read signs of life where his eyes were registering only death.
He was not Harry. He was not designed for pulling off miracles. No, not built for that at all. And Draco's strength was failing him. He could barely see straight.
Desperately, he tried to recall the Resuscitation Spells they had been made to learn in Charms.
"Anapneo," he gasped and watched on with nearly ignitable hope as her chest rose and fell. He repeated the spell five times, as per Professor Flitwick's instruction to a largely disinterested group of fifth year Slytherins and Ravenclaws.
The charm was doing what it was supposed to do, but it wasn't working.
How long had they been under? It couldn't have been more than three minutes? Longer for Hermione, obviously.
Panting, water dripping down onto her face from his wet hair, Draco straddled her, almost sitting on her thighs and began pushing down rhythmically on her chest. But his dislocated shoulder rendered his left arm utterly useless. "Nooo..." he moaned. He tilted her head back, cupped her chin with his good hand and blew air into her lungs. "Don't leave me, Hermione. You can't leave me," he pleaded, pushing down on her chest with his right hands.
More words tumbled out of him. Begging words. There was a terrible, heart-breaking, wailing sound. He wished to God it would stop.
It was coming from him.
Tears were streamed down his face. It felt like his insides were unravelling. He was crying like he hadn't done since he was a child. He tried to control the sobs that were wracking him as he tipped her head back to blow more air into her lungs. The effort nearly killed him.
Draco swayed, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell heavily to his side beside her, in the foetal position.