A Tale of Two Brothers

Chapter 36

May, 1996.

It lunged blindly– Jason dodged and the basilisk hit the Chamber wall. It charged again, and its forked tongue lashed Jason's side. He raised the sword in both his hands. The basilisk lunged again, and this time its aim was true– Jason threw his whole weight behind the sword and drove it to the hilt into the roof of the serpent's mouth–

But as warm blood drenched Jason's arms, he felt a searing pain just above his elbow. One long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into his arm and it splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor. Jason slid down the wall. He gripped the fang that was spreading poison through his body and wrenched it out of his arm. But he knew it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. Even as he dropped the fang and watched his own blood soaking his robes, his vision went foggy. The Chamber was dissolving in a whirl of dull colour.

A patch of scarlet swam past, and Jason heard a soft clatter of claws beside him. "Fawkes," said Jason thickly. "You were fantastic, Fawkes...."

He felt the bird lay its beautiful head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him.

Jason blinked. Fawke's head slid in and out of focus. Thick, pearly tears were trickling down the glossy feathers. Time felt weird, now that he knew he was going to die. Everything around him felt extremely slow, but moved incredibly fast.

He felt drowsy. The world around him seemed to be spinning.

If this is dying, thought Jason, it's not so bad. Even the pain was leaving him.... But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Jason gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Jason's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound– except that there was no wound.

"Phoenix tears... of course." Jason mumbled. He remembered Headmistress McGonagall's words back from his second year at Hogwarts.

"It is a wonder he did not leave Hogwarts after Albus' death. I believe he almost did, but something kept him here, maybe it was the headmaster's last wish. A promise of sorts. He has been quite helpful too. His tears; they have incredible healing powers. Lily has been over the moon to use them in her potions." Minerva added with a chuckle.

He smiled weakly and slowly patted the bird's feathery head. "Thank you. You saved my life, Fawkes."

He looked around up and stared at the large, now-dead basilisk inside the chamber. He almost expected the giant serpent to get up again and attack him. It had to be his dumb-luck; there was no way such a mighty beast was slayed by one strike of a sword. It wasn't even a strike; the snake pierced itself on the sword.

Jason got up and collected the Sword of Gryffindor, now matted with the snake's blood and the Sorting Hat in his arms. The phoenix trilled happily and flew out of the entrance of the chamber. Jason followed it hesitantly, looking back at the dead basilisk one last time. He walked out of the entrance, which closed on its own behind them. They stopped in front of the rocks which had collapsed on his way in. From beyond the rocks, he heard his best friend's voice.

"Jason! Jason, can you hear me? Is that you? Come on, mate. JASON, TELL ME YOU'RE ALIVE! WHY IS THERE MUSIC INSIDE!?"

"It's Fawkes! And yes, it's me, Ron."

"Thank Merlin! STEP BACK NOW!"

"Wha–" Before he could even comprehend Ron's words, the rocks in front of them were blasted off. The force of the explosion threw him back into the tunnel. As the dust settled around him, he saw Ron's faint outline.