"Apply it," Riddle said.
Draco opened the bottle, and the unique, holy aura of the Unicorn left Riddle with no suspicions.
"Lucius is truly loyal; these things are not cheap." Riddle seemed to recall something and praised his subordinate once more.
"Yes, not cheap," Draco said, though Riddle did not notice the faint black sheen surging within the silver blood.
"Basilisk venom is not cheap either." Draco's expression turned ferocious, and he suddenly shouted at Hermione, "Run!" He then pulled out a small knife he carried with him and began to slash fiercely at the diary. In the blink of an eye, the exquisite black diary became riddled with holes and covered in deep scratches, as the unicorn's blood mixed with venom spread outward, slowly seeping into the gashes.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Riddle, who had been smugly preparing to restore his perfect body, was completely caught off guard, while Hermione watched the scene unfold in shock.
"Damn it, you don't even know how to run for your life." Looking at the dazed Hermione, Draco felt a surge of irritation.
"You actually betrayed me." Riddle's solidifying body suddenly began to contort. He struggled, flailing his arms incessantly while letting out screams, looking in disbelief at his previously extremely loyal subordinate.
"Kill them!" He gave a final, unwilling command to the Basilisk, hissing the words. After leaving this final command, he vanished, dissipating like a wisp of smoke. With a clatter, Lockhart's wand fell to the ground; no one picked it up again.
"Are you stupid?" Draco roared at Hermione. "Why aren't you running yet?"
No one can truly explain the ups and downs of life; the once arrogant Lord Voldemort had just died like that, and Hermione felt as if she were dreaming.
"Close your eyes!" Draco shouted to Hermione as he saw the giant stone face of Slytherin begin to move. Its mouth opened, widening further and further, until it formed a massive black hole.
Something was moving inside the statue's mouth. Something was slithering upward from the depths of the statue with a rustling sound.
"Go find Dumbledore! Any later and both of us will die!"
Draco quickly closed his eyes. The Basilisk was about to emerge. People often have the misconception that large creatures are slow, but in reality, there are many that are fast, and the Basilisk is a prime example.
The giant Basilisk, entirely emerald green and gleaming with the vivid lustre unique to venomous snakes, had a body as thick as an oak tree trunk. It raised its upper body high into the air, its flat, massive head weaving chaotically between the stone pillars, flailing its body wildly as if it were drunk.
Suddenly, an explosive cracking sound came from above his head. With a stroke of intuition, he rolled backwards, dodging the Basilisk's strike.
"What are you still standing there for? Do you want to get me killed?" Intuition told Draco that Hermione hadn't moved at all; she was likely paralysed with fear by this turn of events.
His right ear caught another burst of frantic hissing, and something slammed into a stone pillar, knocking it aside.
"Damn it." He ran toward the sound; the Basilisk seemed to realise he was troublesome and was switching targets. "Why didn't I learn a few phrases of Parseltongue to soothe the Basilisk?" Draco felt a pang of regret, though now was not the time for it.
Just as the Basilisk charged toward her, Hermione finally snapped back to reality. She hurriedly closed her eyes, preparing to run backwards, but tripped in her nervousness. She could hear the constant hissing of the Basilisk's tongue.
"He's not one of You-Know-Who's people, thank goodness." This was her final thought. The sound of the Basilisk grew closer; she knew she might really die this time. She could even smell the foul stench from the Basilisk's mouth, but the expected pain did not come.
"Open your eyes!" She heard Draco's words and, for some reason, opened her eyes, even though the Basilisk threatened her life at any moment.
With a "slap," Draco struck her hard across the face. The burning pain on her cheek made her even more alert. Only then did she see that Draco's other hand had been completely pierced by a fang, and bright red blood splattered across the Basilisk's teeth, but the Basilisk's mouth remained wide open, as if propped up by something.
"Next time I'll treat Ollivander to a meal to praise the quality of his wands." Even though the pain was excruciating, Draco didn't forget to joke, hoping to help Hermione relax.
It was then that Hermione saw the Basilisk's gaping maw being propped open by Draco's wand.
"How was it? Did that slap feel good? If not, hurry up and go get help." Draco tried to keep his voice steady, but a faint tremor betrayed his current state; he was in great pain.
"You'll die, it's too late." Hermione was terrified by the scene before her. "Stop talking nonsense, Dumbledore will have a way," Draco said with certainty.
"If you don't leave, if you drag this out any longer, I really will die." Draco made his voice sound weak, though he was truly weak, and raised his other, uninjured hand as if to slap her again to snap her out of it.
"Okay, I'm going right now." Hermione's voice was tearful. She wiped away her tears and immediately ran out.
"Good, she's gone." Watching Hermione's retreating figure, Draco let out a sigh of relief. He then took out the third bottle he had brought that day. Ignoring the fact that he couldn't maintain his balance with one hand, he didn't care about spilling a lot of it and dripped the liquid onto his injured arm.
"I've really had a massive haemorrhage today." Draco still had the mood to joke to himself.
Soon, he couldn't laugh anymore.
Because he heard a "crack."
"I take back my offer to treat him." Draco looked at his wand, which had been completely snapped in two. He could even feel his wand let out a mournful cry. The Basilisk was thrashing its body frantically, trying to attack Draco with its tail, and the biting pressure on its mouth was increasing.
"Is this really the end?" Draco couldn't help but reveal a bitter smile, trying his best to dodge the Basilisk's tail attacks, while the pressure on his hand grew stronger and stronger.