Unofficial Portkey Archive

Harry awoke with a start. How long had he been asleep? The room looked exactly the same. He slowly pulled himself out of the rocking chair. He walked over and put his hand against the door. It still felt secure, which made him exhale in relief. The quiet unnerved him a bit, but he figured there were worse things than silence.

"What do I do now?" he asked no one in particular.

"Well that's quite up to you, now isn't it."

Harry spun around like a cracking whip. There was an old man standing on the other side of the room. Harry was dumbfounded how he had not noticed him when he first woke up. Harry's body was lowered and ready to pounce.

"Who are you?" Harry said in a low voice.

"To be honest, I been here so long I don't even remember. That really ain't the question now is it? The question is who exactly are you? This is my room. You oughtta go find your own," the man replied in an accusing tone.

"Find my own? There isn't any other room," Harry exclaimed, "Are you completely mad? There's an old well that had a tunnel at its bottom, I followed the tunnel and it lead to this room right here. Where else could I have gone?"

"Well you just march yourself right back where you came from. I got no use for the likes of you."

"I'm not going anywhere. Have you not noticed the slathering beast that lives out there?"

The old man began to cackle, "Oh I seen it alright, but ya see that's not my problem. That thing is not after me… it's after you."

Harry's shoulders noticeably drooped.

"So, that's it then? You want me to leave, even though there's nowhere for me to go? And, and that thing is out there?"

The old man looked thoughtfully for a moment, "Yep, pretty much."

Harry was taken aback by that. He looked up and down the old man. He had a bald, wrinkled head with deep set eyes. They appeared to be a dark gray, but it was hard to tell by the firelight. He had a wispy ring of hair around his head that was dirty and unkempt. Matching the dirty grey hair was an equally unwashed beard. It was long, matted and sat at a strange angle from his chin.

"I could take you," Harry said, trying to sound brave.

"Oh really?" the old man began to cackle again, "I'd like to see ya try it!"

"Well, I'm at least strong enough to be able to keep you from throwing me out," Harry said with a lesser degree of bravado.

"Humph," was the only reply the old man offered.

"How long have you been here?" Harry asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, lessee here now. I… well… guess it's been goin' on about three hundred years or so."

"Three hundred years?!" Harry exclaimed, "are you telling me there's no way out of this place?!"

"Well, I'm not real sure. Ya see each person who comes here, from what I can gather, is assigned there very own personal demon. You got yours and I got mine. Mine's a whole lot different from yours though. I can't recall ever see'in one so big and well ferocious lookin' like that one. You must be pretty special."

The old man cackled softly after that.

"Well, what's yours like?" Harry retorted.

"Mine… mine is real different. Mine's a pretty little sort of thing. A little demoness I guess you could call her. Though I'm not real sure they got male and female like we do. She's shaped like one. Problem is she's subtle, you know? She don't play fair and when she gets the upper hand, things go real bad for me. Real bad."

Harry wished his demon was a bit more subtle. He walked over and sat in the chair by the small table. He slumped down into it and tried to think of a way to get back and find his wand without getting caught.

"Hey! What happens to you if you do get caught?" Harry asked, "I mean we're already dead, so what's the worse that can happen?"

"Are you mad boy?" the old man looked across at him, "Ain't you got no idea of what kinds of things those beasties can do to ya. They're pure evil. Violent things. You can still feel pain and they know how to make the pain last a real long time. They tear you apart and leave you nothing but a puddle of body parts and blood all over the place. Then sometime later you wake back up, all back together. Sometimes where you were, sometimes back here, sometimes you're taken to the torture chambers. They do unspeakable things there, sometimes for days, or weeks, or even months. You'll scream so loud that you'll wonder if even the living can hear ya. Then suddenly you'll black out and wind up somewhere else. Then it starts all over again. The only safe thing is to lie low. Don't give 'em no reason to notice you. You understand what I'm sayin'?"

Harry sat there dumbfounded. His jaw was slack and his eyes felt like they were going to bug out. The things the old man just told him gave him a whole new set of nightmares to deal with. He clinched his fists in anger and then he let his arms drop down at his sides.

"I guess there's no fighting fate then. This is what I deserve after all. I wonder how long I'll be down here."

"How long?" the old man said with a vicious grin, "How does forever strike you? For-ev-er. Write it down somewhere so ya won't forget. You damn right you deserve to be here. You don't come here if you don't deserve it. So, buckle down and get ready for a whole new level of understandin'. You are goin' to pay for the things you done. And no one is ever going to come and save you from it."

Harry closed his eyes. He concentrated hard on Hermione's face. He kept having to shake his head to replace her dead staring face with the vibrant one that he remembered so well. He locked on to her warm smile and held that thought in his head. If he was trapped here for eternity; that would be the only thought that would keep him sane. Thinking about the old man, Harry began to wonder how long before his sanity was taken from him as well.

There was the sound of something coming down the hall towards the door. The old man started to whimper a bit and began to walk backwards as far away from the door as he could.

"The demon is comin'," the man whispered.

"Which one, mine or yours?" Harry asked quickly.

The man turned towards Harry and said, "You little fool. Don't you get it boy? It don't matter. It don't matter how they look or how they act. They're all the same on the inside. And that's what you need to be scared of."

Harry stood up from the chair and braced for the worst.

--- ---

Hermione had been walking for a long time now. She was not sure how long, because time did not seem to matter here. She never felt any hint of tiredness in her body. She figured that she could walk forever if she put her mind to it. The scenery began to slowly change. The tall trees were replaced with smaller ones and the undergrowth grew somewhat denser. There were a variety of bushes, some of them light green and some of them dark green with red and white berries growing from them. They looked very sweet; she almost took one to eat, but decided that she would rather keep walking.

In the distance she heard a waterfall. It sounded almost like music as the water tumbled down onto the rocks below. She turned herself in that direction and began to make her way there. It almost seemed as soon as she decided that was where she wanted to go, traveling suddenly became very quick. As if once she imagined herself there, then she was already there.

She came around and saw the crystal clear water racing down a steep rocky hill. It then fell over a sharp edge and sprayed into a large, beautiful pond. The pond seemed very deep, but the water was so clean that she could make out a myriad of pebbles and rocks at the bottom. They ranged in color from mossy green, to russet brown and even translucent quartz white. She simply could not wait. She looked around to make sure she was still alone and slipped out of her dress. She carefully laid it out on a low tree branch and skipped with determination into the water. Only a few feet in and she could dive down into its cool depths. She swam down all the way to the bottom and brushed her fingertips on the smooth rocks under her. Then just as quickly she pushed herself back to the surface and came shooting up into the fresh air. The water that entered her mouth had the slightest hint of sweetness to it. She squealed with delight and drank the water. It tasted so good and it seemed to wash away all the thoughts in her head.

Hermione could barely comprehend what had come over her. To strip down and jump in without even considering the possible consequences of her actions. She dove as if she had been born in the water and she even squealed. Not something that was in her usual vocabulary of sounds. The water felt so good against her bare skin. Like she was swimming through water laced with satin and silk.

Suddenly, a powerful image of Harry came to her mind. She could almost see him standing at the water's edge. She imagined coaxing him to take his clothes off and join her. She imagined feeling the current as he swam towards her and embraced her. His body against hers and her legs intertwining around him. She could almost taste Harry's kiss. She shook her head hard and banished the thought from her mind. Harry was not her lover, he was her friend. Why did she think such a thing?

"Because silly girl," Hermione chided herself, "you can't mask your feelings here. All your thoughts are as clear as this water."

If this really was heaven, then apparently you cannot lie here… even to yourself. So, instead of fighting it she embraced it. She covered herself with the thoughts of falling in love with Harry and dreamt what it would be like if he fell in love with her. She had never been so free and so whole inside. She began to kick and splash with a giddy abandon.

Almost as quickly as the feelings came, they left. She remembered that Harry was not here. That she was all alone in this place. Once again the serenity of this place was replaced by a feeling of emptiness without Harry standing next to her. She swam to the edge of the pond and crawled out. The water ran off of her body and the light that shone around her felt slightly warm. It took only a minute for her to dry off, by just standing there. She walked to the branch she had left her dress on and began to put it on her. She started to cry. She turned back to the water and saw her reflection on the edge. She saw the tears falling from her eyes and splash into the pond at her feet.

"I feel things so strongly here. It's like my emotions are so powerful and each one that I feel is so intense," she spoke softly. "Where are you Harry? Where have you gone? Where have I gone? Why am I here?"

Another tear splashed into the water and when it hit the surface, the pond began to change. It slowly began to darken to a pale grey color. Then a section of water the size of her arms outstretched began to swirl. Then she could make out shadows and figures in the spinning silvery grey. Suddenly, she could see Harry. There he was right in front of her, reflected in the water. He appeared to be in a small, round room. There was a strange old man standing next to him. There was a small fire burning in an iron stove that gave off just enough light to see by.

Harry looked frightened and so did the man. They were backing up against the wall farthest from the only door in the room. The door began to shake as something was obviously smashing into it. Hermione got the distinct feeling that Harry was about to be in a large amount of trouble. The door began to tremble again, even more so this time. She began to feel a strange panic well up within her. She knew that whatever she was seeing was not right. Just looking at it, she could feel that it was the very opposite of where she was now. She did not know how she knew that, just that she knew.

The door stopped shaking. Then a sliding lock began to open on its own accord. Then the door slowly swung open. A very pretty young woman walked in the room. Her hair was long and jet black. Her skin looked smooth and pale, like the color of the halo around the full moon. She was dressed in a tight-fitting black tunic and a loose, dark red, floor length skirt. Her arms were bare, but her left arm had a silver and gold circlet that was clasped just a few inches below her shoulder. Hermione blinked and looked harder. She truly was quite beautiful, in an almost otherworldly way. Then Hermione stepped back in shock. She closed her eyes and opened them again to make sure she was not seeing things. There they were, as plain as day -- dark leathery wings. She wasn't human… not at all. Hermione began to tremble all over just looking at her. Harry was in very serious trouble.

--- ---

Luna was holding Ron's hand and she was dragging him away from the gravestones. She looked back earnestly at him from time to time, but seemed very focused on leading him somewhere.

"We're going to my house," Luna announced, "my father has a portkey there that will take us to place not far from the main office of The Quibbler. They have numerous portkeys there that we can use to get where we need to go. Father says that since they're such an important part of the press, that they are allowed more portkeys than most people. He told me that they have nearly as many as the Daily Prophet."

"Okay," said Ron.

Ron could not believe that he was so willingly tagging along with Luna. This was not like him at all, but he felt almost as if he had no control over what was happening. He was letting fate take him wherever it would take him. What else could he do?

Luna waved her wand and said something that Ron could not make out.

"The Knight Bus will be here soon. I'll have it take us home."

Ron stood next to her with his hand in hers. It seemed strange at first, but the longer she held his hand the more he wanted her to keep holding it. Before he knew it the bus had arrived with a loud crack.

Luna dragged him on and she shouted, "Number 13, Illegible Drive"

She pulled Ron to an empty seat and sat him down. She sat next to him and placed both her hands in her lap. Ron really wished she had not let go. His hand felt cold and he just sat there looking at it. After only two stops the bus had arrived at their destination. Ron was sure that the ride had been terribly bumpy, but for some reason he had not noticed. Ron held his hand out to Luna with a hopeful look on his face.

She stared down at his hand and then back at him. "Did you need someone to hold your hand?" she asked in a strange voice.

"Errr, no… I guess not," he replied lamely.

He was not sure why, but his feelings were kind of hurt.

They both got out of the Knight Bus and there was the strangest looking house Ron had ever seen.

"I thought my house was a bit barmy," Ron said thoughtfully.

Luna sighed a kind of happy sigh and began to walk quickly up to the house.

"My father is in Canada. Apparently they have an infestation of Yeti in British Columbia and he is trying to get the scoop."

"I never realized that Yeti were, uh, considered an infestation," Ron said with a bit of a smile.

"Well, they are when there's enough of them to wipe clean every frozen food market in the area. They tend to get hungry in groups."

"Ahh," said Ron, "I can see how that would be a problem."

Ron really wanted to look at the outside of the house more closely. It seemed to have been built completely upside down, but it was dark outside and hard to see it very well.

Luna was already at the front door to her house. Ron realized he had lagged behind and dashed to catch up to her. Just as she was opening the door Ron was standing behind her.

Her body was a little slender, but she had a really nice shape, Ron thought. He realized what he had just thought and again starting thinking there was something quite wrong with him in the head. This was Loony Luna and for some reason Ron could not explain why, but he started thinking about what she would look like in a party dress, or a swimsuit, or without anything on at all. Ron turned away and felt himself blush right up to the roots of his hair. He was sure that he was now a single color from top to bottom. When he looked back, Luna was staring right at him.

"Are you coming in?"

"Yeah, I… yeah," he said in an embarrassed tone.

Once inside the house, Ron noticed that it smelled faintly like sulphur and raspberries. It was an odd smell, but not really bad. The inside was a bit less odd than the outside, but it was filled with dozens and dozens of shelves with all kinds of strange objects, and books, and rolled up parchments haphazardly placed on them. Pretty much exactly as Ron would have guessed it might look.

Luna turned to Ron and looked at him kind of funny.

"Ron, I'm tired and it's late. Why don't we get some sleep for a few hours and then we can leave first thing in the morning? There's a spare bedroom upstairs, you can sleep in there."

Ron felt exhausted himself and agreed. Although, when he did, he was sure he started blushing again.

"You, uh, might want to take a bath Ron," Luna said, "you need it a little bit. I don't mean that in a bad way."

Ron felt like he could die of embarrassment right there in front of her.

"Sure, yeah, I'd like a bath. Err, where is… it?"

Luna pointed at the top of the stairs, "Just up there on the left."

Ron decided it was best to get it over with now and then he could curl up and get some much needed sleep. He walked up the stairs rather quickly and spying the bathroom where Luna said it would be, stepped in and shut the door. There just inside was a nice stand alone, antique bathtub. It was large enough that he could lie down in it quite nicely. He saw a large brass pull chain above the bath. He reached out and pulled it. A small house elf popped in and smiled at Ron. The elf snapped its fingers and waved his hand in the air. The tub began to quickly fill up with warm water that smelled sort of like dandelions. Ron thanked the elf and not a moment later the house-elf popped out again. Ron took his clothes off and slid slowly into the bath. It felt nice and it made him realize how sore his legs were from standing up all day.

He lay there for a moment before reaching over and grabbing a small washcloth. He dipped it in the water and began to clean himself. Remembering what Luna said, he took the time to be thorough.

"That was truly embarrassing," he laughed to himself.

After Ron had finished he lay there in the water and just enjoyed how peaceful it was. Then, without warning the bathroom door opened. There was Luna standing in the doorway. She had already changed for bed. She was wearing a thin, lace nightshirt that clung to her body. Ron's mouth dropped wide open and he just stared. There was nowhere for him to hide, so he covered himself up the best he could with his arms. Luna looked intently at him. She was so pretty he thought. He thought that if she put a bow on her head and sold herself as candy on a shelf at Honeydukes, that he would go there everyday and buy her, then rush home to just eat her all up. For the first time that he could remember, Ron really wanted to know what it was like to make love.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I was curious to see if you would look like I thought you would. And… well, you do."

Ron had no idea of how to respond to that. He just sat there feeling like an idiot.

"Well, good night," Luna said very business-like and turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Ron plunged his head under the water and came up slowly. His breathing was a bit shallow and he could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

"I stand corrected… THAT was truly embarrassing," Ron mumbled.