NATALIA [Draco Malfoy Fanfiction]

Thirty-Seven | The Daze Which Follows

"You could keep me alive for long enough. Until... until I..."

"No," I interject, shaking my head as I already dismiss the thought. "Gemma, we're going to get you out of here."

"No," she argues back, then heaving as she coughs into her shoulder. "There's no time, don't argue with me on this."

"If you die, we die Gemsy."

I look over at the others, who are already agreeing with me through ramblings that interject with one another, making it hard to distinguish what it was that they were saying as the room began to fill with noise.

But, Gemma doesn't lie back down, and instead fully stands despite our urges to not. "Gemma, you can't, lie down," I tell her.

"You're keeping me alive," she argues back, "you're not touching me, but you're keeping me alive right now. It's the only reason why I'm not already dead."

"Gemma. No." I dismiss her point, mostly because I simply didn't understand what it was that I was doing. The idea of being able to tether a soul to a deteriorating body defied the limits that were taught to us, and even though I saw what I was able to do to Daphne, it simply didn't make sense.

Was I truly able to do this? Without any research, without any proper spell?

She shakes her head slowly, while Cecilia raises her voice; "Natalia is right, Gemma. We're not about to sacrifice you. If you die we die, okay?"

I watch as her weary eyes study Cecilia, her lips pursed into a sad smile. "Lila, come on now. You know better than that."

"No. I can't just let you die, Gemma! That's... no one here is going to let you die."

I focus in and realize I could feel her life force now, fighting back against the magic I didn't even know I could possess until now. Gemma was right about one thing: I could hold her together without physically touching her.

"We don't have that much time," Gemma points out, looking from one grim face to the next, "they're at the barrier now. How long do you think it'll take before they'll be able to get past."

"Are you questioning my warding abilities, Gemma?" Draco asks, trying his best to scoff, but, in reality, it sounded more like he was choking on his breath.

"I can walk out past the warding," Gemma says, reaching out to take the bomb out of Cecilia's hand, "how is it activated?"

"You... you just have to shake it. It'll explode on impact."

"The bomb will still have to reach the centre of the pact," I argue, "they'll be on you in a second, you won't... you won't have time to get there."

"I can throw it. But... if they're crowding me I won't even have to throw it far." No one stops her from retreating with the explosive device in her hands, and she turns to me; "you'll keep me alive, alright? Until it goes off?"

"No," I say definitively; stubbornly. "I won't let you go out there."

"So then I die for nothing?"

"No. I'll make you stay until we come up with a better fucking plan."

"Nat," she whispers, "you do realize that what you can do—what you're currently doing to keep me alive—exceeds the limits of all previous studies on Necromancy. But, what that means is that I'm not some soulless creature for you to control, I'm not one of your own Inferi—"

"—I'm not saying I would control you like one," I argue back.

"It's my choice to walk out there," she continues, "and it's beautiful. To have one last choice. I'm eternally grateful for that. For the fact that you don't have to destroy my soul to keep me alive. But, as a result, you can't stop me. I'm sorry sweetheart, but you can just keep me on this earth until I'm ready to leave."