The Phoenix Prophecy

Chapter Seventeen: The Return

Monday – Late Evening - July 21^st

Author’s Note:

You will need to go back and reread the previous post if you read it before 1/11/2004. I have made many changes that you need to know about before reading this post.

If you have gotten this far in the story, I assume that you are enjoying it. Please post a review or send me an Email with any comments or suggestions you might have. As always, I do enjoy hearing from my readers.

Many thanks,

Mark

Hermione: 10:00 PM (Again)

I felt as if I was in the middle of a never-ending nightmare. If I just refused to go along with it and started screaming, maybe the whole thing would just go away. I desperately wanted to shut my eyes and make the whole world disappear. The little girl in me wanted to run to my mother and have her make everything right again. The woman in me knew that those days were long past and that sometimes life was most unfair, even cruel. If Harry had not been by my side, I don’t know what I would have done. His presence provided me with incredible strength and support. I could only hope that I was able to do half as much for him as he did for me.

As soon as great grandmother kissed Harry and I goodbye I threw my arms round his waist and clung to him as tightly as I could. I was not sure just how much longer I was going to be able to hold it together. My legs ached and my knees felt as if they were going to buckle at any moment. Staring at the angry, orange glare on the distant horizon, I felt drained and incredibly tired. If Professor Dumbledore was right—and I saw no reason to doubt him—then we were going to die very soon.

I wasn’t scared of being dead, just the pain that I might have to go through to get there. If this truly was going to be the end for us, I prayed that Harry and I would be taken at the same instant so that we would always be together, both in this world and in what ever lies beyond this one. Actually, what scared me the most was that only one of us would die and that we would be separated and never be together again. Even if the next world were a beautiful, wondrous place, without Harry it would be living ‘Hell’ for me.

When Professor Dumbledore placed the chain of the Time-Turner around us, I held my breath as I waited for that old, but familiar, sensation you got when traveling backwards through time. It didn’t hurt, it was more like the feeling in your stomach when the ground you are standing on suddenly gave way. After the first few weeks of using the Time-Turner to allow me to take extra classes during my third year at Hogwarts, I had become used to the sensation and it no longer bothered me. Now that our time was growing short, it seemed as if I was acutely aware of every thing my body was feeling.

Suddenly I felt my balance shift and when I looked up the horizon was completely dark. At first glance, I didn’t think we had traveled back in time, as everything looked the same. Then I realized that the orange glow was gone from the horizon and that the other adults were missing.

“Lemke, I would like you to transport us to Marcus’ bedroom,” Professor Dumbledore said after he removed the Time-Turner’s chain from around our necks. “That is the closest location to the table where I joined the ‘Rings of Power.’ There we can remain out of sight until the critical moment.”

“I will be only too happy to do as you request. Is there anything else that you require of me?”

“Only that you should return to your home as soon as you have delivered us to Marcus’ island. I would suggest that you remain out of sight for two hours so that you cannot come face to face with yourself in the future. If you watch for us to emerge from the tree house and use the Time-Turner then it will be safe for you to join your family and the others after our future selves return to the past.”

“I understand,” Lemke replied and bowed his head towards the professor.

Lemke was obviously upset over what was about to happen to us, but said nothing further.

“Hun, I am so sorry that I got you into this,” Harry said quietly after he led me a short distance from where Lemke and the professor were standing.

“You didn’t get me into anything, my love. I wanted to be with you no matter what the consequences,” I replied after I wrapped my arms round his neck so that I could look directly into his eyes. “Harry, even though it sounds like a cliché, I do love you more than life itself. You are the one true love of my life, now in this world, and in all the worlds to come.”

“I love you too. I just wish we could have had much more time to spend together, that’s all,” Harry replied and then kissed me tenderly.

I longed to stand there forever in Harry’s arms, but that was a luxury we were not going to be allowed to have.

“It is time for us to return to the island,” Professor Dumbledore said quietly, his voice full of compassion. “We must return in time to be ready to separate the ‘Rings of Power’ or the Realm shall be lost.”

“We are ready…or as ready as we will ever be,” Harry answered and smiled warmly at me.

“Lemke, let us be off,” Professor Dumbledore said after he took a deep breath.

Lemke held out his hand and we all placed one of our hands on top of his. An instant later, we were standing in Gawain’s bedroom. I could hear Harry’s voice coming from the other room. He was talking with someone whose voice was strangely familiar. For an instant, I thought it was my mother but then I realized that it was my own voice I was hearing. It felt strange to be listening to the two of us talk from the other room while we stood in the dark shadows of the bedroom. I had an irresistible urge to go to the doorway and look at myself. I might have done so if Professor Dumbledore had not cautioned us not to speak and herded us deeper into the shadows.

Unable to talk, all Harry and I could do was hold each other close. I was frustrated like never before because I felt the need to tell Harry so much. Since I didn’t really know where to begin anyway, it was probably just as well that we couldn’t talk. Our bodies pressed tightly against each other said more than words ever could. I almost felt as one with Harry.

A sudden pang of guilt flashed through my mind that we should have had sex last night, now that it was looking like we never would. Of course, knowing the future makes many decisions easier. If I had known last night that we were probably going to die in twenty-four hours, would I have made a different decision? More than likely I would have. However, knowing that we were going to die would probably have spoiled the entire experience. I suspect that true knowledge of the future raises more questions than it answers, at least for those things that truly matter the most. If by some chance we were able to escape with our lives, I was going to have to give a great deal of thought as to how far our relationship should go.

My warm, loving thoughts abruptly vanished when I felt the floor shake beneath me. I knew that we were very close to the point where the ‘Demon of the Dark’ and his followers would attack us, or at least those in the other room.

“Lemke, you should leave now,” Professor Dumbledore whispered.

Lemke merely shook his head defiantly as he folded his arms across his chest. It was obvious that the elf was not going to leave until he felt it was time to do so. I hoped that he wouldn’t perish with us.

Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and held it over our heads. He whispered something I did not quite catch and a sheer veil that sparkled dimly in the dark shadows slowly descended over the four of us. It reminded me a lot of being under Harry’s invisibility cloak. Harry tried to whisper something in my ear, but his lips touching my ears almost caused me to cry out. My ears are terribly ticklish. Fortunately, I was able to stifle the sound before it got past my lips.

When I saw several pairs of glowing eyes outside the bedroom windows, I froze, unable to move. Harry’s body stiffened at the same moment. For several seconds we stood there not moving a muscle. I was terrified that the creatures were going to see us and attack. We started breathing again after the glowing eyes moved out of sight. I knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before the ‘Rings of Power’ were joined and the island would be destroyed.

Professor Dumbledore motioned for us to move silently as a group towards the door of the bedroom. The trip to the door was not more than thirty feet at the most, but it seemed to take forever. With each step, I felt my heart race faster and my stomach knot harder. The palms of my hands were cold with sweat. Harry’s left hand, which was holding my right hand, was cold and clammy as well. I was gripping Harry’s hand so tightly that I was sure he must be in pain. I had to keep my jaw firmly clenched together to prevent myself from being sick.

When we arrived at the doorway, Professor Dumbledore cautiously peered out into the atrium. He quickly ducked back and motioned for us to stay close to the wall. Before we had moved an inch, the doorway lit up with a bright red-orange light, followed by a deafening roar. I knew that the ‘Demon of the Dark’ must have been raining fire down on the professor in the atrium. When the doorway went dark for the third time, the professor bolted through the bedroom doorway without saying a single word.

Panic was quickly overtaking me. I could not just stand there, not knowing what was happening. Apparently, neither could Harry as we both silently made our way to the doorway and carefully looked out into the atrium. Why I didn’t drop dead—or at the very least faint—at that very instant, I’ll never know. Where the strength or courage that enabled me to race towards the table where the ‘rings of power’ were lying came from is just as big a mystery to me.

Harry and I collided into each other as we both tried to race through the bedroom doorway at the same instant. The collision slowed us up at most a second and then we were off streaking towards the table.

I did not look at Professor Dumbledore a second time. If I had done so, I would have been frozen in my tracks with fear. I don’t know if Harry took a second look or not as I was not looking at him either.

We reached the table in three seconds flat, a dead tie between us, and grabbed for the rings. Harry’s reach being longer than mine managed to grab the rings before I could snatch them up. In one smooth, swift movement, Harry untwisted the rings, pulled them apart, and dropped one of the rings in my outstretched hand. As my fingers closed tightly around the ring I looked over to where I had last seen Professor Dumbledore.

My eyes were immediately drawn to a ball of flame at the edge of the pool in the center of the atrium. I knew with a sickening certainty that it was Professor Dumbledore. A wave of nausea and rage washed over me in an instant. I was angry enough to want to kill and sick enough to retch my guts out all at the same time. Clutching the ring tightly in my left hand, with my wand held tightly in my right, I spun around to attack the demon that had incinerated the professor. I was not going to die without a fight.

A flicker of movement caught the corner of my. Before I could turn my head, I was suddenly engulfed in a fireball. For an instant, I felt as if I was melting…and then unimaginable pain seared through my whole body as I tried to scream. The excruciating pain stopped as suddenly as it started. An intense white light that I could not shut out overtook me, then nothingness. I was sure that I had just died.

Harry: 10:14 PM (Again)

From the moment Lemke had transported us to Gawain’s bedroom my mind had been racing furiously in search of some plan that would allow us to elude the ‘Demon of the Dark’ long enough for Professor Dumbledore to find a way of breaking the curse that bound our spirits to the island. Somehow, there just had to be a way for us to survive. I knew that our first priority was to prevent the destruction of the island and the ensuing catastrophe. I was confident that the professor would be able to accomplish this. What was going to happen after the professor separated the ‘Rings of Power?” That was my only concern at the moment.

Holding Hermione close to me helped to calm my tattered nerves. I had faced death several times on my own. Being alone was the thing that frightened me the most. I felt a tinge of guilt for being thankful that Hermione was by my side. I wanted her to be safe, but that wasn’t what was going to be.

All too quickly, we found ourselves at the doorway of Gawain’s bedroom, waiting for the professor of the past and the phoenixes to join the ‘Rings of Power’ and apparate out of the atrium. When Hermione and I cautiously peered into the atrium after Professor Dumbledore—the one that traveled back in time with us—rushed out of the bedroom, I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. The professor was completely engulfed in flames. I knew at that instant that it was going to be up to us to separate the rings.

I tried to rush out of the doorway, as we didn’t have any time to spare. Evidently, the same thought occurred to Hermione as we momentarily blocked each other from leaving the room. The race to table where the ‘Rings of Power’ lay seemed to take place in slow motion. Even though it only took a few seconds to reach the table, it seemed much longer. I lunged the last six feet and snatched up the rings. I didn’t even feel the pain of slamming into the table as I separated the rings and handed one of them to Hermione.

I managed to stand up straight just in time to see a wall of fire shooting straight for us. Before I could even gasp, the wall of fire surrounded me and everything went black. The searing pain stopped almost as soon as it started. The blackness that engulfed me was replaced by an intense white light that made my head hurt. The intensity of the light slowly faded and I felt at peace. Nothing seemed to matter any more. I did not struggle even though I knew I was loosing consciousness. Was this what it felt like to die? If so, it wasn’t as bad as I had expected it would be.

Hermione…where are you?