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.

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Chapter 7: Deis Rowena

The rest of the trip to the Holy City went along without much incident. Lin had decided to utilize a near revolutionary method of dragon raising by placing Nomie under a strictly vegetarian diet. The effect seemed to slow down the dragon's growth but at least he didn't develop an appetite for human meat.

Within the next 36 hours, the troupe finally arrived at the mystical city that was Deis Rowena.

Carved into the side of a mountain, Deis Rowena was a relatively small city, whose buildings were all built in a classical Greco-Roman style. Virtually all of the buildings had at least one shrine dedicated to the One Deity. At the northern edge of the city was a clearing, paved in marble with a statue of Rowena Ravenclaw standing with a few books in her arms and an eagle on her shoulder. Behind the statue was an uphill path of steps leading to the High Temple of the One Deity. This was the final destination of the Troupe.

At the entrance of the temple, the troupe met an old woman who seemed to have been waiting for them. She was an old woman with wisps of gray hair and elegant purple robes. She smiled at them with warm inviting eyes.

"Hello everyone, I am Arabella Figg, High Priestess of the One Deity in the Temple of Deis Rowena. No need to explain yourselves; I already know why you are here: you seek the rings of the One Deity."

Harry and Hermione shared a look and shrugged. Arabella Figg continued speaking, "There is a devise at the back of this temple that you must use. Follow me, and I will show you."

The troupe followed the high priestess into the sanctuary of the temple. It was a long corridor built out of marble with classical pillars supporting the arched sealing. Gothic Cathedral would be the word that would come to mind if one saw it. At the end of the chamber was a simple altar built of marble as well. On the surface of the altar was an opening, large enough for a person to lie down in.

"This is the soul searching chamber," Arabella Figg said, gesturing to the opening in the altar. "When a person enters it, they will be able to communicate with either the One Deity himself or with one of his servants if he chooses that. For some reason, it works best if a muggle-born uses it." She turned to the troupe and said, "If you seek answers, one of you must step into this altar."

Hermione bit her lip and said, "Well, if it works best on muggle-borns, then I should be the one to use it."

Harry gripped her hand and said, "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sure someone else can do this. You know what, actually I think I shou..."

"No Harry," Hermione said as she fought back her fear. "This is my duty, I should do it!" Harry immediately recognized the glint of determination in her eyes.

"OK," he said a little reluctantly. He gave her a quick kiss before Hermione stepped away.

"Mommy," Virginia said in a longing voice.

"She'll be OK, Love," Harry said as he picked Virginia up and hugged her close. He seemed to be reassuring himself as well as his daughter.

Hermione swallowed as she climbed into the altar and lied down. To her delight, she found that the bottom of the altar was a soft cushion and not cold, hard marble. "May the protection of the One Deity be with you," Arabella Figg said as she closed the lid of the altar, leaving Hermione in the dark.

As the High Priestess walked toward the troupe she saw the fear in Harry's eyes as he held his youngest daughter close to him. Ron, James, and Lin were staring the the altar worrisomely, Lin looking near tears.

"She will be all right, we just need to leave her there for about an hour," Arabella Figg said in a reassuring voice. She turned to Harry and said, "Your mother also spent an hour in the altar when she came here."

Harry nodded but remained quiet.

* * *

For what felt like an eternity, but was in fact only about thirty seconds, Hermione lay in the darkness, the altar closed in around her. She was scared and part of her wondered if she was claustrophobic. But she knew that her mission was important and if the fate of all of Magiterran rested on her lying down inside a boxed altar, then so be it. Besides, she could easily blast out of the altar with her magic if something happened.

Finally, Hermione felt something happening. There was a tiny, ever so slight sound of ringing in the closed space and the air started to move around. Suddenly, without warning, a sound of an explosion rang through out the space and the wind started to pick up as if it were being sucked into a vacuum. Hermione tried to scream in terror but no voice came from her throat. The darkness was now starting to close in one her, trying to consume her, leering at her. She suddenly felt as if her clothes had been torn off and she lying naked and vulnerable in front of a hostile darkness. Feeling like a lost child, Hermione curled up into a ball and started to cry.

Then, as suddenly as it started, it ended when a soft hand touched Hermione's shoulder. A soft hand that was stroking her back softly, the way her mother used to when she was sad or sick, all those years back when she was just a child. Hermione felt like she wanted to curl up in cry in this motherly person's lap, something she hadn't been able to do ever since her family was murdered by Death Eaters all those years ago.

"Its OK, my dear. You're safe here," a loving motherly voice said. No it wasn't Hermione's mother, it was a voice she had never heard before and yet it strangely made her relax. Apprehensively, Hermione looked up to stare into oh so familiar green eyes, framed be long, wavy dark red hair and a loving smile. With a shock, Hermione instantly recognized her.

"L-Lily?" she asked.

Lily Evans Potter smiled at her daughter in law and said, "Yes dear, its me." She gently lifted Hermione to her feet. With a start, Hermione realized that she was not in the small dark altar, but in a beautiful meadow that stretched toward a small stream and forest. Birds were singing and the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. Hermione was wearing her old blue and white travel robes and she also noticed that Lily was wearing something similar, only hers were maroon.

"Lily, how?"

"The One Deity sent me, specifically to help you find the rings. Or at least to tell you where they are."

Hermione bit her lip and looked down at her feet and said, "Does Harry know you're seeing me here?"

"Yes he does," Lily said plainly. She gave a kindly smile to Hermione who was nervously shifting around on her feet. "You're worried that he's going to be angry at you for seeing me in here, is that it?" When Hermione remained silent, Lily smiled and said, "That is nothing to worry about. He loves you more and though he may be a little disappointed at having missed the chance to see me, he'll understand, especially after my husband and I go visit him in his dreams tonight."

Hermione couldn't help but smile a little. "He misses the two of you so much," she said.

"As much as my James and I miss him," Lily said. "How much we wished we could be with him all this time. He grew up unloved and unwanted: he never deserved any of that. But then, someone has now come into his life to love him as much as we did and even more so." Lily gently took Hermione's face in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you, Hermione, for loving our son as much as you have."

Hermione smiled weakly at Lily. Lily let her go and walked away a little bit before turning back to Hermione, her expression suddenly serious.

"Too business," she said. "You came to Deis Rowena to find the remaining rings, I'm here to tell you where they are. As I'm sure you know, the eight rings were divided amongst founders, two each. The Rings of the Lion and the Phoenix are the rings that were given to Gryffindor, I'm sure you know that."

"Yes."

"Good. Now when you wake up, you must go to the Kingdom of Hufflepuff. Head for Diggory Manor and there, you will find a path that leads into the very heart of the Wilderness of Creepers."

"The Wilderness of Creepers?" Hermione said suddenly alarmed. "The forest is filled with..."

"Acromantulas? Manticores? Chimaeras? I'm afraid you're going to have to brave them all. Whichever way, the path will ultimately lead to a cave called the Creeper's Lair. That is where the Rings of the Badger and the Unicorn are hidden."

"OK."

"I have no idea where the Rings of the Dragon and the Serpent are. But I'm sure that once you have the other six rings, you'll be able to find them." Lily looked up and saw that the sun was starting to set. "I have to go now. Tell Harry that we love him, and will always be watching over him as well as you and our three grandchildren. Give them my love. Goodbye, Hermione." With that, Lily started to fade away, a soft smile gracing her features.

"Wait!" Hermione shouted. "Where are the Rings of the Eagle and the Sphinx?" But by that time Lily was long gone. Before Hermione could even blink, she was back in the darkness of the altar, lying on the cushions.

Just as she started to become aware of her surroundings, the lid to altar was lifted open and Hermione was looking up into the faces of Arabella Figg, Ron, Harry, and their children.

"Hermione, you OK?" Ron asked, clearly concerned.

"Yes," Hermione said as she sat up.

"Mum!" James shouted as he Lin and Virginia threw their arms around her, the girls bursting into tears. Hermione held them close to her as she timidly glanced up at Harry.

"Harry, I..."

"I already know," he said.

"You do?"

"You met my Mum, right?"

"Yes. Are you angry?"

"I'll admit that I'm a little jealous. But I can't argue with what happens." He smiled and pulled Hermione into a hug. Hermione smiled and gave Harry a kiss, chaste enough to be seen in front of the children, yet deep enough to convey the love she felt for him.

Just as Hermione pulled away, Harry suddenly noticed something. "Hermione, your hand!" Hermione glanced down at her left hand and gasped. Two more rings had now joined the Ring of the Phoenix: a blue one with a picture of a sphinx and a bronze one with a picture of an eagle on it.

"Two more rings," Ron said. "Maybe you two are meant to be together twice."

* * *

Draco Malfoy was sitting in his bedroom, waiting patiently for some one to come. The rest of the palace had already gone to sleep which was a little strange considering Draco was usually one of the first one's to go to sleep. What was even stranger in the opinions of the palace workers was that he didn't have a woman visitor with him that night. However, in reality, Draco was about to receive a woman visitor.

A swift movement in the air of the room indicated that Cassandra Frost had now come into the room, wearing a seductive black robe. She smiled and said, "Why, Draco dear, have you been waiting up for me?"

"Would you have preferred it if I hadn't?" Draco smirked. Cassandra grinned maliciously and came very close to Draco.

"So, do I have an answer?"

"The answer is yes," Draco smirked, "so long as I have something in return."

Cassandra knew what Draco's request would be and was more than willing to accept. "And you shall have it," she said.

With that, their lips met in a bruising kiss, as the two tried to over power each other. Soon, Cassandra's robes were on the floor and Draco led her to his bed.

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A/N (ducks rotten tomatoes being thrown at him) OK, OK, before you all flame me, their's more to Draco's actions than I'm letting on here. Just don't give up on the guy yet. There will still be other stuff happening later. On another note, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to come up. But then, some of the blame should go to fanfiction.net. Well please R/R. Next, we'll go to Diagon Alley again. And Cornelius Fudge is there (grumble).