The Crystal of Tempest

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Chapter 11: Tempest Incarnate

Hermione's strength was something to be admired. After the first few tears she had let out initially after Harry's capture, she managed to bottle up all the grief that was threatening to overcome her. It was for her children mostly. When James, Lin, and Virginia learned that their father was gone they burst into tears like any young child would. For the next few hours, Virginia refused to let Hermione go, her arms wound tight around her mother's neck. Lin spent that time trying to comfort a wailing James, despite the fact that she was sobbing herself.

By the time the Gryffindor troupe had portkeyed back to Godric's Hollow, the children had cried themselves to sleep. Hermione however, still wore her unemotional mask even though Ron could clearly see the devastation in her eyes.

"Hermione." he said. He tried to lay a hand on her shoulder but Hermione brushed Ron's hand off.

"Call all the army captains," she said, her voice filled with authority. "Gather them in the meeting chambers within an hour. And tell them to keep a lid on Harry's disappearance; we don't want any wide spread panic."

Ron simply stared at Hermione in shock.

"Move!" ordered Hermione. Ron snapped out of his trance and ran off to gather all of the captains and commanders of the vast Gryffindor military.

Hermione sighed as she walked through the chambers of the palace, her sleeping children levitating behind her. She led them to the nursery and tucked them into bed for it was already quite late that night.

"Daddy," murmured Lin in her sleep as Hermione tucked her in. Hermione stroked Lin's brown hair and kissed her on the forehead.

"He's OK," Hermione said. "He'll be OK. We'll save him. Don't worry my angel." Hermione walked over to the window and gazed at the star filled sky. "I'll save you Harry," she whispered.

* * *

About an hour later, the meeting chamber was in chaos. Every single army commander and captain of the Gryffindor Military was in panic concerning Harry's disappearance. Some were whispering amongst themselves as if this were some rumor of conspiracy. Others were shouting at the top of their lungs making suggestions that ranged from full frontal assault and rescue to covert rescue missions. There were even some shouting at the others to keep it quiet. One of those was Ron Weasley.

"Quiet!" he shouted. His voice was lost amongst the babble. "Yo! Keep it down! Shut up!"

"Order! Order!" shouted General Oliver Wood. His voice was also lost in the chaos. Things were starting to look dirty. Ron and Wood shared a look that showed each other that they were at a loss.

"Silence!" said Hermione in a firm voice. The commanders instantly shut up. It was now so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard.

Ron couldn't help but grinning at Hermione. When she and Harry had just gotten married, there were a few people who spoke out against having a muggleborn farm girl as their queen, just as they had with Harry's parents. Those few quickly disappeared in the next few months for Harry's rule was clearly a dual monarchy. While Harry was the one who commanded the power and strength to rule a kingdom, the brains behind the throne had clearly been Hermione from the start. Still, it was sometimes amazing to see just how much respect and influence Hermione carried.

"Now, will you please make your suggestions one at a time," said Ron. The first person who spoke was Lord Sirius Black, or rather he sprang up.

"Full frontal assault," he said quite loudly. "Seek out these Children of Tempest, beat the stuffing out of them and get Harry back! Seek and Destroy!"

"Usually I'd agree with you," said Ron. "But maybe we should save that idea for when we can actually find where these cultists are."

"That's my godson they got!" shouted Sirius.

"Isn't he our king as well?" said Ron a little sarcastically. "We all miss him, OK. But now is not the time to panic."

"And if he were hurt or worse?" said Sirius.

"Then we can panic," said Ron. Murmurs ran through the crowd again but they remained quiet.

Lord Remus Lupin next stood up and said, "Even if we can where these cultists are, they'll probably have an army there. I've already contacted Dumbledore and he's sending word to the other kingdoms to mobilize their armies. He's also gathered as many Mage Knights as he could and is sending them here..." It was at that moment when a large eagle-owl flew in through an open window, deposited a letter on Hermione's lap, and flew away.

Curiously, Hermione opened the letter and read it. Ron also read the letter over her shoulder and he did not like what was written there.

"Why that little twerp!" he shouted. "Of all the nerve! To write such stuff after all that's happened..."

"I'm doing it." Hermione said.

"What?!" asked an incredulous Ron.

"I'm doing it," repeated Hermione. "This is the only lead we have. I'm using it."

"You can't possibly trust that thing," Ron demanded.

"Harry would've trusted it," Hermione said. That sealed it.

* * *

Later that night, Hermione was all alone in the west wing, in her bed that felt far too big and empty without Harry. Now that she was all alone, away from her servants, her friends, and her children, Hermione was finally able to remove her emotional mask, no longer having to deal with the crisis of the disappearance of Harry and needing to appear strong. Hermione wept. She cried long and hard that night, the sobs never stopping.

As she cried, Hermione's thoughts went back to the time when Harry and she had made love for the first time ever, all those years ago. It was in that very room, on that very bed, on their wedding night (Ron had once rudely commented that he was surprised that Harry and Hermione had waited till their wedding night considering the way they were going at each other. He didn't dare mention it again after the hexing Hermione gave him). She remembered the way Harry had gently peeled her pure white wedding gown off while their lips were still fused with each others. She remembered how softly Harry had caressed her bare form as he carried her over to the bed and laid her on it. Harry then saw the small amount of fear in her eyes and had actually suggested that they could do it some other night, but Hermione didn't want that. It was awkward since it was both their first times after all, but Harry had been so gentle with her that Hermione had started to cry. She knew that although that night was only going to be the first time of many times between them, that she would never forget that night. It was something dear and precious to her.

Coming back to the present, Hermione angrily swiped away the tears in her eyes. 'There will be more nights with you, love,' she thought to herself. 'I'm going to save you, Harry. That's a promise.' Tomorrow, she was going to follow the lead on the letter and she would need her energy if things did get ugly. Soon she had fallen into a peaceful sleep, dreaming dreams of Harry.

* * *

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was walking down the corridors of some dungeon located somewhere in the Kingdom of Slytherin. He had a stoic, unreadable expression on his face as he approached one of the cells. In that cell was none other than Harry Potter.

Harry was sitting on the floor, his legs and arms crossed. He was crouched over since a number of chains were wound around his body, pinning him to the ground. He was still wearing his Mage Knight armor. This was because of a special safety charm that made it so that only a Mage Knight could will his or her own armor off, a charm that had served to save many Mage Knights' lives. It had also saved many captured female Mage Knights' dignities.

Harry glared at Draco, his green eyes burning fiercely. Despite the fact that Harry was pinned down in a crouching position, he still looked intimidating.

"Traitor!" he hissed. Draco flinched briefly but he quickly regained his cool.

"Don't get me wrong," Draco said. "I did what I did because I had to. I couldn't just back out after all the fun times the high priestess and I had." Draco couldn't help but grin when he said the last part.

"Maybe if you get your head out of your pants, you might do something worthwhile," Harry suggested sarcastically.

"Very funny," said Draco. "You know, Potter, you might've done the same if you were in my position."

"What makes you so sure? I would've never betrayed my friends and allies for a slut."

"Ah, but you've never met Cassandra Frost."

Harry was about to make a retort when the high priestess herself walked in the chamber. If Harry hadn't been completely in love in Hermione, he would've been highly attracted to the beautiful Cassandra Frost with her long raven hair and deep blue eyes. But he still doubted that he would've betrayed his friends to sleep with her.

"How is our guest doing?" asked Cassandra.

"See for your self," said Draco as he gestured toward the cell.

Cassandra walked up to bars of the cell door and peered inside. "So, how are you doing, your majesty?"

Harry glared at Cassandra and remained quiet.

"I sure hope you are comfortable," said Cassandra. "We wouldn't anything horrible happening to you before your execution."

"What do you want?" demanded Harry.

"I am not the one who has business with you. That would be my master. And here he comes." Indeed, Harry could now hear footsteps coming closer to where he was.

Cassandra stepped back as the owner of the footsteps came into view. He was a tall man with raven black hair and blood red eyes. He was wearing black armor and mail, had a black cape flowing down his back, and had an emerald encrusted sword holstered under the cape. And imbedded in his breastplate, was the Crystal of Tempest. Harry recognized him instantly; it was Lord Voldemort.

"Oh, you again," Harry said in an exasperated voice.

Voldemort laughed his familiar high pitched laugh. "Why Harry, I would've thought you'd be overjoyed to see me," he said.

"Actually I was hoping you'd remain dead," replied Harry. "One can get so tired of constantly putting down a loser who simply doesn't know when to quit."

"You are lucky I am in a good mood right now," Voldemort said. "Such insolence would've merited the Cruciatus Curse otherwise."

"Why not use it anyway," Harry challenged. A part of him couldn't believe he had just challenged his arch nemesis to torture him, but he was relying on instinct right now: fighting down the fear that was trying to burst forth with wisecracks.

"Tempting," said Voldemort. "But perhaps, some other time." Apparently, the Dark Lord was in a really good mood.

Harry glanced at the Crystal of Tempest. "So, Tempest Incarnate, eh?"

"Surprised," said Voldemort with a grin. "I admit, I was surprised myself when I first learned the truth. The power to challenge even the One Deity was placed on me." The Dark Lord started pacing. "Originally, I would've been content just to have Magiterran for myself. But now, I won't stop till all reality is mine."

"Surprised?" Harry said. "You mean you didn't know who you truly were?"

"I didn't," said the Dark Lord. "Your parents found out my true nature long before I even had a clue. I always knew there was some kind connection between Tempest and myself since I first found the Crystal, but I never would've dreamed I was his incarnation. That was until you and your mudblood wife used the rings on me the first time."

"What?"

"Initially, I wanted the Rings for myself simply because they commanded the power of the One Deity within them. When I survived my first encounter with the rings, I started to wonder if it was some sort of power within me that helped me survive but I figured that my curse had weakened the effect of the rings. I only became fully certain after the second time the rings were used on me." Voldemort stopped pacing and gestured toward Cassandra. "After my dear servant, Cassandra Frost found the Crystal and released me from it, I set about to gather what powers I could gain as the incarnation of Tempest."

"And Malfoy?" said Harry.

"Young Draco is the son of one of my most loyal subjects. He will have a high place in my new order, much like his father had."

"You killed Lucius when he failed you," Harry reminded the Dark Lord.

"True," said Voldemort. "But Draco has shown far more potential then that fool. He will not disappoint me." Voldemort glared warningly at Draco when he said the last sentence. Draco said nothing, remaining unemotional as ever.

"So, what are you going to do with me?" Harry said.

"There will be a public execution tomorrow at noon. Basically, I'm going to release you into my arena, bound up, and in the company of a manticore, an acromantula, and a chimaera."

"What? No basilisks?"

"I considered using one. But since you're also a parselmouth, I figured you might've been able to talk it out of eating you and might've even persuaded it to turn on me."

"Damn!"

"So, what do you think, Potter?"

"I'm surprised you didn't want to kill me yourself."

Voldemort laughed again. "Oh but I will Harry. No matter how powerful these beasts are, I still have faith in you that you will overpower them. Then, I will simply step down into that arena and finish you off, after you are worn out from fighting the beasts. What do you think about that, Potter?"

Harry said nothing.

"I must be leaving you now," said the Drak Lord. "I have an execution to prepare." With that, Voldemort strolled out of the dungeon.

"Come with me, Draco," said Cassandra. "I know of many ways we can entertain each other until the time of Potter's execution arrives."

"That should be fun," said Draco with a grin. "I just hope we have the stamina to last that long."

With that, Draco and Cassandra also left the dungeon, leaving Harry alone. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A/N R/R please. I have an announcement. This story is going to be the last story I ever post on FF.net. From now on, if you want more fics from me, you're going to have to join my Yahoo Group. It's called Fanfiction by E. C. R. Potter and its url is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ecrpotter_fanfiction/. Oh, and if people ask me in their review, I might write an NC-17 cookie of Harry and Hermione's wedding night. Next: Harry's execution! Whatever is going to happen?