Hermione in Heaven, Harry in Hell

cew-smoke

Rating: R
Genres: Angst, Drama
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 17/09/2004
Last Updated: 26/09/2004
Status: completed

Sometimes it takes terrible tragedy to see life more clearly. The unthinkable has happened and Harry will have to take his longest journey. A story of loss and love on the painful road to redemption. What will Harry find when he searches for Hermione through the veil of death? Can Love really conquer all? You'll have to read to find out. Let me know your thoughts.

Chapters

1. Prologue

2. What Harry Found

3. Is Heaven Lonely?

4. A Beast By Any Other Name

5. Cruel Temptation

6. The Dark At The End Of The Tunnel

7. Fate Is A Harsh Mistress

8. Of Love And War

9. Epilogue

1. Prologue

Prologue

It had all happened so quickly. How could he have possibly known? He had been left out of the plan on purpose he thought bitterly. He thought he knew why, but it did little to comfort him. There at his feet was Ron and Hermione. He wanted to run as far and as fast as he could, but where could he go? Where could he hide? How was he going to explain this to Dumbledore, to Lupin, to Ginny, to Hagrid, to Mrs. Weasley?

I… I never meant for this to happen… I had no idea. They were dressed just like death-eaters. They had even conjured the dark mark. He was hidden so very well. He was supposed to be at number12 Grimmauld Place. He had been told to wait until Snape could come and explain what he was supposed to do. Harry hated waiting and he hated being trapped there all alone, with nothing to think about but Sirius's death. So, he left and set out for Knockturn Alley.

There had been a note on the table that was scratched out in a hurry:

Lupin,

Albus has asked us to all meet at the entrance to Knockturn Alley. There are some wizards who want to join our cause. We need to protect them at all costs, until we can get them to safety. Please hurry.

Tonks

Harry had made his way there and tried to discover everyone's whereabouts. He thought that it would be alright if he simply watched from under his invisibility cloak. Then he saw them; the death-eaters must have discovered the plan. There were two of them coming down the alley. One of them lifted their wand out and cast the mark that would be seen by the others. What if he was too late? He had to stop them. So, he did. His anger and frustration at getting left behind again had gotten the better of him. He unleashed everything he could think of on them, until their bodies lay quiet in the street.

He was not happy when he discovered them not moving at all. Not even breathing. He really had not meant to kill them. He was not a murderer. At least that was how he comforted himself until he lifted the hoods from their cloaks.

All the blood left his face. His chest tightened up into a knot of horror. There they lay completely still. Hermione's eyes were wide open and staring with dread. Ron's eyes were still closed as if flinching from his onslaught. He knelt beside them and placed his hands gently on their necks. There was no heartbeat from either one. His recklessness had killed the only two people in the world that truly knew him. He had no chance to say goodbye, or to tell them how important they both were to him. Again, Harry found himself alone in the world. Only this time, he had done it to himself, by committing the worst of atrocities. He had murdered his friends. There was no coming back from this, there was only darkness smothered with consequences suffocating in tragedy.

He wanted to cry, but the shock was too deep. A voice inside him whispered, “Run, Harry, Run… before they find you… before they learn what you've done.”

His fear was so thick, that his only thoughts were of self-preservation. He was no longer The-boy-who-lived. He was no longer a hero. He was not even Harry Potter anymore. He was a desperate killer and now he had to run. There would be no forgiveness.

A thought began to form in his mind. It was difficult to think at all, but this thought he could not shake. He turned and began to run. There was only one place he could go now.

--- ---

The veil stood before him, right where he had remembered it. Harry could hear the voices from the other side and they sounded much closer now. Some of them were whispers and some of them were frighteningly clear. There were so many of them, that he could not make any one of them out. After awhile he convinced himself they were declaring terrible judgment on him. Like some angry court of wizards and witches whose voices were rising in an awful crescendo against him.

Harry knew it was only a matter of time before Dumbledore found him; before all of them found him. He could almost see the thunder in their eyes. Mouthing words of hate and anguish. In some kind of defense, he lifted his arms up to his head, as if they could shield the images from his mind.

Realizing how useless it was to hold them there he lowered his arms down again. He turned back toward the veil and stood with a hesitant look on his face.

“… Hermione? … Ron? … Are you there? …”

There was no answer discernable in the discordant symphony of voices that emanated from beyond the strange veil.

“I'm so terribly sorry. Please… please forgive me,” he said quietly.

There were voices coming from behind the door on the other side of the room. They were living voices and Harry was sure he knew who they were. Did he have the strength to face them? Would they understand that it was a terrible accident? Would Mrs. Weasley put her arms around Harry and comfort him? He wanted that so badly that he began to shake. The tears were finally coming now. He could not stop them even if he tried. They flowed and he began to gulp his breaths.

No, that's not how it would happen. That's not how it would happen at all he thought. Her eyes would be cold, angry and unforgiving. She would point her finger at him and scream `murderer'. `You killed my sweet, sweet Ron.' She would grab him and shake him as she screamed in his face. Harry began to sob openly. His body wracked with a terrible guilt that could never be healed. He imagined that Ron's mother would step out of the way so he could see the room filled with unforgiving faces. He could see the Weasleys with a terrible darkness in their gaze. The emotional distance between them might as well have been the deepest canyon. He could see the bitter disappointment in Dumbledore's eyes. `Harry I trusted you, but I will NEVER make that mistake again.' There wands all pointing towards him.

He fell to his knees and began to curl into a tight ball on the ground. His sobs turned into long moans of wrenching agony. They would all hate him, the way he hated himself.

“Hermione… please save me…”

Harry was surprised to hear his own voice calling out to her in this his darkest moment. The bitter taste in his mouth reminded him that she would not come. She could not come. She was dead.

The voices were very close now. The handle on the door began to move. Harry pulled himself up to his knees. He could not face them. All of his bravery was gone and he was left with nothing; nothing but a dark scar of emptiness on his forehead. The door began to open. He stood weakly up, but could not stop his shaking or crying. The door swung wide and the voices stopped. They had all come. They were all here. There was nowhere to go. Harry began to hyperventilate. They could see him. The murderer… the madman.

Harry cried out, “Hermione! Ron! Please help me! Please!”

He became frantic and felt as if he were chained to this moment in time. He turned his body to the left and then to the right and back again. He had to run. He had to run. He had to run. He turned toward the veil. He stopped. He blinked twice and then without a sound simply walked through. He felt himself falling into the nothingness of death that swallowed him without question.

If only he had stayed for a moment longer. If only he could have seen through the shadowy haze of grief. He would have seen something far different than he had imagined. Dumbledore's deep sadness, paired with his gentle wisdom. He had come to take Harry away from all of this. Lupin, Tonks, Dobby, Fred, George, Ginny, Arthur Weasley, McGonagall, Hagrid, and even Snape had all come for him. They had come to bring Harry back to The Burrow. Where Molly Weasley was weeping with agony, but also longing to pull Harry close to her. To mourn with him this terrible loss. She had resolved to hold him and cry with him for as long as it took to ease both of their suffering.

--- ---

She had been waiting for half the night; waiting for Arthur to bring Harry home. She had told Dumbledore in no uncertain terms that Harry was going to live with them from now on and she would not accept any other possibility. The front door opened and Arthur walked in. Molly looked up in anticipation. Harry was not with him.

“Arthur?”

The Weasley patriarch could barely look her in the eye.

“Molly. Harry isn't coming. He… he's gone.”

“What do you mean? Where did he go?” she asked with a note of desperation in her voice.

Arthur did not have to answer. The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. There were no longer two children to mourn for, there was now three.

-->

2. What Harry Found

Chapter I: What Harry Found

Something had broken his fall. He was choking from the thick dust and debris in the air. He looked up and realized he had fallen down what appeared to be a long dried up well. Harry stood up and tried to brush some of the dirt from his clothes. He began to notice his surroundings as his eyes adjusted to the dimness. He had landed on a pile of human bones. He quickly scrambled off of them and stood on solid ground.

The floor was made from rough cut stone. There were cubby holes carved into the surrounding stone walls. It slowly dawned on Harry that he was in a very old crypt. He guessed that no one had been through here in many years, most likely in many centuries. He wondered a few times in his life what death might be like and what the next life might hold. This was not what he had imagined.

The dry well ended into this alcove, but there was also a dark tunnel that lay ahead. The tunnel had many more holes carved into it that were littered with the remains of those placed here some time in the distant past.

“Why on earth are there skeletons and crypts in the afterlife?” Harry pondered aloud. “That doesn’t make any sense at all. Where am I? Am I even dead?”

Harry pinched his arm and felt a twinge of pain.

“Ouch!” he exclaimed. “What in the hell is going on here?”

He regretted saying that almost as soon as it escaped his lips. Harry was not one to swear lightly and he truly wished he had chosen another word to exclaim his confusion with. Harry felt a sense of dread filling him from the inside out. He had just killed two innocent and good people. He really was dead and now he was in a place that bad people go when they are murderers. He let out a sigh and told himself that this was quite appropriate after all. Of course, what good is feeling things like pain when you are in a place that you’re already dead? He started to imagine things a lot more terrible than dying and it started to send shivers down his spine.

“I can feel things, because pain is a serious part of suffering,” he mused. “I think I’m in a lot of trouble here.”

He could hear his voice echo a bit down the hall in front of him. He looked up and realized there was no way to get back up there, so his only choices were to stay put and wait for someone or something to come along or the alternative was to start moving. He began to imagine the kinds of ‘somethings’ that might show up and decided it was better to press ahead.

“I wonder if I need to eat or drink anything down here?” he pondered. He did not feel hungry, but he suddenly felt very thirsty. “Let me guess, there’s no water anywhere down here either.”

He timidly began trudging forward. It was dark, but there was enough ambient light in the crypt to see what lie directly ahead of him. There was a pale glow like what the moon gives off in the early hours of the morning. It was coming from the top of the well, but somehow the glow reflected off the stone walls enough to light the way.

The hallway got a bit narrow in places and it made him get uncomfortably close to the dead lining the path. He had a hard time shaking the fear that they would suddenly begin to stir and start grabbing for him. That started the whole thought process of things worse than dying again and it caused him to pick up the pace a bit.

Whenever he closed his eyes he could see Hermione and Ron’s faces. It would have made him start crying again, if he was not so scared. Harry suddenly reached up to his neck and pressed his fingers there. He held them there for a long time, before coming to the dark conclusion that his heart was indeed no longer beating. He was most definitely dead, but this sure was not what he expected it to be like.

--- ---

Hermione looked down at herself in shock and wonder. Just a few moments before, she had been walking down Knockturn Alley with Ron. She had been holding the death-eater cloak tightly around her, afraid that she would be seen and recognized. Ron was walking close to her, not saying a word. She figured he was just as nervous about the whole thing as she was. She hated to admit it, but she really wished Dumbledore had sent Harry with her instead, but this was too dangerous for him. Plus, Ron mentioned that Harry was going to be working with Professor Snape on something important.

The time had come for her to send the false dark mark signal into the night sky to help scare of the local riff-raff. The less people who were hanging around the better. There was going to be some new additions to the Order of the Phoenix and everyone wanted to make sure they would make it safely back to headquarters. Just as the signal had left her wand she noticed a lone figure straight ahead. She could not make out who it was, but they seemed to be highly agitated. She tried to pull her wand out of the cloak, but it snagged on some loose thread. The figure had their wand out and pointed right at them. She turned to Ron, but he was oblivious to the whole thing. A series of spells began to erupt forth from the wizard’s wand and were headed this way. She managed to yank her wand out and had just enough time to get a shield spell off. She made the last minute decision to cast it on Ron. It was not out of any premeditated thought. She just felt that if she were going to do anything it was going to be to protect her and Harry’s dear friend. A second later she felt an agonizing force rip through her and she fell.

After lying there for awhile she then gathered her courage and started to stand up. Strangely enough the curse that had been thrown at her no longer hurt. Nothing hurt actually and to be honest she never felt better in her life. She looked around and noticed that she was no longer standing next to Ron and she was no longer in Knockturn Alley. She was in a green meadow, surrounded by a misty forest. Everything smelled so sweet and alive; it filled her up with a giddy kind of joy. She looked down at herself and the death-eaters robe was gone as well. She was wearing a blue and white cloth dress. It was long and flowed easily down her body. It covered her quite well, but felt as if she was wearing nothing at all.

She knew that she should be feeling a sense of fear, or even outright panic. That emotion simply was not inside of her. She stood there and wrapped her mind around the concept that seemed so natural. She, one Hermione Granger, was dead. Strangely enough, she was quite okay with that, but for the life of her she had no idea of why.

--- ---

Hagrid knocked loudly and then simply threw the door open. Tears were running down his face.

“Hello! Arthur? Molly?”

Fred and George apparated immediately in front of the gentle half-giant. They both looked worse for the wear, but were trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Almost immediately after Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Molly and Arthur came down the stairs.

“Hagrid,” cried Molly. “What is it? What’s happened?”

Hagrid had a weary smile on his face.

“Well, it’s like this. Mrs. Pomfrey just told us we’ve all made a right terrible mistake. She insisted on checking on Hermione and Ron herself. She just told me the news and Dumbledore agreed with her one hundred percent. It seems that our dear Hermione had gotten off a good, strong shielding spell on Ron right before she died. It was enough. So, Mrs. Pomfrey apparated herself and Ron to St. Mungos right away. The healer there told her that he was going to make it.”

“I do believe it’s time we made a trip down to St. Mungos right away. What do you say Weasleys?” Arthur said with a hopeful smile.

Hagrid could not hold back any longer and pulled out an oversized handkerchief and blew his nose as loud as a fog horn.

3. Is Heaven Lonely?

Chapter II: Is Heaven Lonely?

The tunnel was beginning to get darker. The light from the alcove behind him was beginning to fade. Harry reached for his wand, but came up with nothing. He began to search all of his pockets, but again found nothing. He stopped dead in his tracks. He was defenseless without it. He would have to go back and find it. It must have fallen out when he landed on the pile of bones. He turned around and started to make his way back. He felt a terrible coldness sweep through him.

Each step he took towards the alcove drove the icy feeling deeper and deeper into his being. Each step became one of agony. It was becoming more than he could bear. He needed his wand. He had to make it. He simply had to.

A piercing whisper surrounded him, “Haaaarrrrry… Haaaaarrrryy…”

He stood perfectly still. He dared not move at all. He swallowed, but his throat was as dry as a parched desert. When he tried to again, the sound of his own throat sounded so dreadfully loud.

The whisper came again even louder. “Haaarrrrryy…” The whisper was suddenly upon him and filled the whole tunnel with its awful sound.

“Haaarrryyy… I’m coming for you! …. NOW RUN!”

His body gave him no choice. He began to run the opposite direction. He wanted his wand so badly, but the fear of what was coming after him was beyond reason. He ran so fast that he could barely keep from tripping over his own legs. His body felt gangly and awkward. Still he pushed himself to run faster than he had ever done in his life. The tunnel was becoming so dark that he could barely see where his next step would take him. His flailing arms knocked into the skeletons along the walls. Bones were knocked too and fro and the thought of touching so much death, with such reckless abandon, caused his fear to pique into an intense pain deep in his chest.

Harry called out in desperation, “Heeellp… Heeellp… Can anyone hear me?!”

Still he ran through the darkness. He began to run into the walls quite hard. He held his hands out, trying to feel his way through. The jagged stones along the walls began to cut into his skin. He felt cold blood run from his fingertips. He wanted to turn and look behind him, but he was terrified that whatever it was, was right there and he could not find the courage to face it.

There ahead of him was a dim light. Different from the light long behind him. It was a deep yellow and orange and was flickering strangely. A torch or a candle he thought in his frightened stupor. He could see well enough now, not to continually run into the sides of the tunnel. He pushed himself even harder and told himself over and over, that he was almost to the light. He felt a razor sharp sting on his back. It had caught up to him.

His panic was so powerful that he started to make involuntary screaming sounds. His voice sounded like a wounded animal. There was a doorway just a short distance in front of him. The light was coming from the other side. The door appeared to be made of thick wood braced with metal bandings. He leapt forward and grabbed the edge of the door as he passed it. Holding on for dear life he swung it shut in one wrenching motion. The door closed with a deep clunking sound. Now facing the closed door his eyes searched rapidly. There was a large iron sliding bar. He clutched the bar and slid it into place, barring the door through a matching iron sleeve.

Harry quickly stepped back and something very large slammed into the door. The hinges groaned under the massive pressure. There was silence for a moment and then the door was slammed into again. Again the metal and the wood held, but seemed to give way just a little more. Two more breaths and then again the door was hit by something huge. The door held a third time. Harry braced himself for another. There was silence again and after the longest moment anyone had ever endured, the thing began to crawl away down the empty hallway. After a few more minutes the sound had faded away into nothing. Whatever it was, it had appeared to give up.

Harry sat down hard on the hard stone floor. His body was still trembling from the fleeing instinct that screamed for him to run some more. He reached around to his back and felt that part of his shirt was ripped into sliced ribbons; as if a large claw had torn through it. A shiver of revulsion went through him. Realizing he had been given this temporary reprieve, he looked around him and began to notice the strange room he had burst into.

The room was small and round. There was a small metal stove in the middle of the room. Inside it, a warm fire was crackling. There was a pipe chimney running up to the ceiling and out into whatever might be out there. There was a wooden rocking chair in the corner with a woolen blanket laid across its back. A meager table and matching chair stood in the opposite corner. There was a brass jug sitting on top and an old brass mug right next to it. The only way in or out was the door he had just slammed shut. That thought brought no sense of comfort whatsoever.

Harry stepped over to the table. His thirst was nagging at him so much so that he could scarcely ignore it. Without considering any consequence he grabbed the jug and felt it was full. He poured its contents into the mug and placed it back on the table. He took the mug and brought it to his nose. He smelled nothing at all. He tilted the mug to his mouth and let the fluid run down his throat. It was water, but it was tepid and tasted vaguely of dust and metal. For some reason though, it was the best glass of water he had ever had. He filled the mug up again and drank his fill.

Leaving the mug and jug behind, he crossed the room and fell into the rocking chair. It was old and had been worn by much use. The wood was smooth and slightly shiny from years of skin and oils wearing it down. It was comfortable and Harry found himself gently rocking back and forth. The tightness in his chest slowly left and he was finally able to settle his mind back from blind terror into a state of wary melancholy.

His thoughts inevitably came back to the murders he had committed. Maybe I should have let that monstrous creature catch me. The thought made him shudder. He leaned his head back and began to imagine all sorts of horrors that he felt should be visited upon him. This is nothing, he considered thoughtfully. For what I did, I deserve much, much worse. I wonder how much it hurts to be tortured in hell. Eventually, the terrible things will find me and get me. They’ll make me pay for what I’ve done.

“I’m so scared. I know I deserve whatever happens, but I’m scared. I wish Hermione were here. I wonder if she would forgive me?” he wondered to himself.

That last thought made his eyes sting with tears. What if Hermione would not forgive him? Then what? He quietly moaned to himself and closed his eyes tightly. After a moment, he opened his eyes and stared at the door, wondering how long he could stay holed up here. He suddenly felt very tired. The rocking motion had a sort of sleepy hypnotic effect on him.

“Do people sleep in… in… well wherever it was he was right now?” he mumbled questioningly.

His question was soon answered as the strength left his limbs altogether and he slipped into the deep sleep that only the dead can know.

--- ---

Hermione thought that this glade, deep in some forest primeval was simply the most peaceful place she had ever known. The swirling mist of the forest was wispy and white. It felt cool, but not cold against her skin. The grass was so inviting as she curled her bare toes into it. She began to slowly spin in place, closing her eyes and reaching her arms out as far as they could go. This place was safe and beyond the reach of any dark things of the world she used to know. The battles of good and evil never touched this meadow. Evil simply ceased to exist in this place.

Her thoughts had also never been so clear. She had a perfect memory and all the events both good and bad from her life could be called up with absolute clarity. She was able to see things for what they really were and even the bad things that happened to her suddenly had purpose and meaning. They were all events that helped shape her life. She began to play back her favorite moments. When she first received the letter from Hogwarts, the first time she ever met Hagrid, the time Ron had finally admitted that Crookshanks was a good cat. Then her thoughts took a different turn. She began to concentrate on her memories of Harry. Those times became so vivid and close that she began to lose herself in them. She wrapped herself in the moments they were alone and they gave her great comfort. She found herself wishing he were here with her. She opened her eyes, hoping that he would somehow appear.

She laughed at herself, realizing this was impossible. Harry was probably still back at the Black’s family estate waiting to find out what was going on. She wondered if he had found out that she had died yet. She wondered if he was terribly sad. Suddenly the perfect feelings were invaded by a strange sensation. What if Harry was crying right now? She was not there to comfort him. She was not there to help him. He would have to face all the dark evils surrounding his life without her. A feeling of regret and sadness welled up inside her.

“Harry needs me,” she announced to the world around her. “Harry can’t do this without me.” There was, of course, no reply.

She looked even deeper into herself and realized another truth. She needed Harry. Without him near her, there was no such thing as heaven. She wondered if that was where she was now. Was this heaven? If it truly was then how could heaven be a happy place without the person she wanted to be with the most? These thoughts troubled her a great deal. Without even realizing it she had begun walking. There was no real sense of direction that she could determine, so she just put one foot in front of the other. She had come to the edge of the meadow and was now facing the immense trees that reached as far as she could see into the distance. The trees seemed so very old and had an air of wisdom about them; as if they had been silently watching the world since the beginning of time. She reached out to touch one and felt as if she was reaching into the past. It was a bit overwhelming. She looked around her and then plunged into the beckoning woods.

There had to be more to this than just a meadow and a forest. Hermione would not be satisfied until she had learned everything there was to know about whatever this place was. So with her eyes wide open and her mind in constant motion she began to go wherever her feet would take her. Maybe, if she walked far enough and long enough, she would find Harry waiting for her. That thought brought back the feeling of peace she had when she had first arrived. Thinking about Harry always helped her focus on what really mattered to her. In this case, she laughed, what really mattered apparently was Harry.

--- ---

Everyone had gathered at the memorial service for Harry and Hermione. Hermione’s body was laid to rest and an empty coffin was made for Harry. Hagrid had spent two days making it with his own hands. He wanted it to be very special. He cried almost the entire time. Ron knew this, because he was right there at his side while he whittled, cut, hammered and sanded away.

Now, the two coffins were being lowered into the ground. He had come so close to death himself. He was still coming to terms with the fact that it was Harry who had done it. At first he could not believe it when they tried to tell him. It was not until Dumbledore told him that he finally realized that it must somehow be true. When he thought back on it though, he could not bring himself to be angry at Harry for very long. It was nothing more than a terrible mistake. Ron wondered what he would do. The thought of having to go back to Hogwarts and face the next two years of school without his two best friends seemed like a terrible, cruel joke.

He thought about quidditch for a brief moment and then shook his head. He could care less about the damnable sport. What good was flying his new broom, when Harry would not be there at his side and Hermione would not be there to cheer them both on.

“What a complete bloody waste,” he yelled out.

Everyone turned to look at him, but he was not sorry for saying it. He ignored all of their looks. He just kept staring straight ahead. He stood there for a long, long time. He still stood there long after everyone had gone. Mrs. Weasley walked over to him and said they were heading home and Ron pulled away from her.

“Go on then,” he said defiantly, “I’m not ready to leave.”

She looked at him thoughtfully. “I’ll come back and check on you later. You just stay as long as you need to.”

Ron did not respond. He just stood there looking; thinking that if he could just stare hard enough at their graves that he would be able to see them again. He did not move even after his mom had left. After a long while, he heard a soft voice from behind him.

“Ron?”

He refused to turn away from where Harry and Hermione were buried.

“I’ll sing you a song that my mother used to sing to me when I was little,” came the soft comforting voice again.

Luna began to sing. She held her hands up and placed them across her heart and began to sway back and forth. Her voice, though not perfect, was quite beautiful. Soft and breathy she sang a sweet lullaby. The notes seemed to seamlessly blend into Ron’s thoughts. Each word kind of melted into his sorrow.

Ron turned and looked at her. She was wearing a short green dress that was very flattering in a sweet sort of way. Ron noticed that underneath that strange and vaguely absent persona was a nice girl. Someone who had been picked on a bit more than her share, but somehow seemed to let it all just blow over her. She was quite pretty and Ron felt kind of bad for noticing something like that here in this place.

Luna finished the song and walked straight up to Ron.

“I know what you need. You need a drink from a furgle-bender potion. Father says that it helps you forget about sad things.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” replied Ron with an exasperated look on his face.

“Oh, it’s used all the time by farming wizards in South America. They drink it whenever it rains too hard and washes their goats out to sea. They have to do something, because it’s such a terrible tragedy when the goats you care most about are taken away from you like that.”

It was impossible for Ron to argue with that and so he just grinned a sad little grin.

“Since I don’t have any furgle-bender potions with me, I guess you’ll have to settle for this,” Luna said with a sure voice.

She reached out to him with both of her arms and pulled Ron’s head onto her shoulder.

“There, there now. It’s okay to cry, nobody will see us,” Luna announced quietly.

Ron snorted as if to laugh at her silly little comment. Then suddenly found himself crying in her arms. Luna ran her slender fingers through his bright red hair. It made Ron feel very safe.

“I can take you to where Harry and Hermione are,” Luna said in whisper.

“What?” Ron replied. The shock of what she said briefly pulled him out of his sorrow. “What are you talking about? They’re right here Luna! They’re dead!”

“I know that,” she replied with a hurt voice.

Ron immediately felt bad for being so harsh. Though, he really could not have helped it.

“Well, what is that you mean exactly?” he asked in a subdued voice.

“Come with me. I’ll take you to where you can hear their voices.”

Ron looked at Luna incredulously. For once though, he did not scoff at her outlandish statement. He would do just about anything to be able to talk to Harry and Hermione again. He would follow Luna as far and as long as she would lead him.

4. A Beast By Any Other Name

Chapter III: A Beast By Any Other Name

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.

5. Cruel Temptation

Chapter IV: Cruel Temptation

She really was quite beautiful Harry thought to himself; though looking at her caused him to shudder down to the core of his being. Her eyes were so strange and vaguely hypnotic. They were completely black, but there was a blue fire burning in them. It was like looking at twin candles. He also uncomfortably noticed that she was something akin to perfection, though twisted in a way that made Harry yearn for escape. Her dark wings stretched from her back like an abrupt shadow. In spite of their imposing appearance they moved with a quiet and fluid grace. Harry hated to admit it, but he was glad the demon that came was not his. If it was the beast, he was sure that both he and the old man would already be in the process of being devoured.

She opened her mouth and her teeth were pearl white, but had a strange jaggedness to them. After a moment Harry realized that he had seen teeth like that before. They were not meant for chewing, they were meant for tearing flesh from the bone. At the moment her attention was focused on the man. Harry was grateful for that as well.

“I see you have disobeyed me, Loomis. I am quite displeased. What do you think I should do about that?”

Her voice sounded sweet and almost kind; a stark contrast to the words that were coming from her mouth.

“Please, I was going to take care of it, but I found this boy here. He distracted me. It was his fault… it was his fault!”

The old man was pointing at Harry and speaking in a note of sheer panic. The demoness turned and looked at Harry. She quickly scanned him from top to bottom. She then turned back to Loomis.

“A weak excuse at best. I have a wonderful idea. Would you like to hear it?”

The old man had fallen to his knees. He was quickly fading into hysterics. As he spoke drool and spittle were coming from his mouth.

“No, no! Please! I… I just need another chance. I beg you. I BEG YOU!”

Harry started to feel a small degree of revulsion for the man at this point, but tried hard to recognize that he was speaking out of abject horror.

“I believe that you shall have a new demon to torment you Loomis. I think I will exchange the boy here for you. His demon will enjoy prey that can’t run very well.”

The man was stooping to a completely prone position. He was so terrified that he could no longer even speak. All that came from his mouth were fragmented groans. Harry had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. The demoness turned to Harry and smiled a warm smile. The firelight in her eyes changed from dark blue to a soft red. She lifted her hand up and held her finger and thumb together. With a snap the tension in the room was shattered.

The door, which was halfway open, had been torn from its hinges. The beast that had been chasing Harry was now in the room. However, its target was no longer him. The thing was as big as a horse and as wide as a large barrel. Its immense head had freakishly large eyes and when its mouth opened there were two full rows of teeth. Blood and slobber were stringing from its tongue. It was a thing of pure muscle and violence. Harry barely had a chance to turn his head away when the thing began tearing into Loomis’s body. Harry felt his stomach turn and he had to choke back as the room was filled with the sound of unholy screaming and flesh and bone, snapping and tearing.

After a few minutes it was finally over. Loomis was silent and the beast without pause simply left the room. Harry turned back and there was nothing left but husks of skin and cracked bone. Blood was everywhere and had even splattered onto Harry’s clothes. He looked toward the woman and she was still staring with a sweet smile at him. The dichotomy of the whole scene was a psychological assault on his senses. He could do nothing but stand there trembling and wait for whatever was to come next.

“My name is Angelia and what would yours be?”

Harry thought about lying, but decided that might be stupid.

“Harry. My name is Harry.”

“Yes, I thought it might be. Well my handsome, young Harry. You look sweet enough to devour. Hmmm, perhaps later. Oh, yes I found this on a lovely pile of bones down the hall a ways. Does it belong to you?”

Harry could scarcely breathe. His wand was there in her hand. If only she would let him have it. With it, he was sure he could escape from all of this; somehow.

“Yes, it’s my wand.”

“Do you want it?”

Harry hesitated, “Yes, please. I would like it very much.”

She began to gently wave it back and forth. Her smoldering eyes never leaving Harry.

“I will give it you, on one condition. Kiss me.”

“What?!” Harry startled, “I mean… what?”

She laughed a deep, throaty laugh. When she did Harry felt a bit weak in the knees.

“You heard me human. In my world, things only come to those who are headstrong and brave.”

Harry was in a strange quandary. He desperately wanted his wand back, but he realized that this was most likely a trick of some kind and that he would seriously regret kissing a demon. However, her lips were strangely inviting. He wondered what they tasted like.

“Like peppermint candy,” she replied.

Harry’s thoughts imploded. He realized just how much danger he was in. She could read his mind. She took a step towards him and her long skirt and black tunic shimmered and changed. In their place was a perfect set of Hogwart’s robes. She took another step forward and her wings shimmered and then disappeared. Another step forward and her long, black hair shimmered. Now, it was an earthy, honey-brown color. She was right next to Harry and he was transfixed. Her face was so close to his. Her skin shimmered and there in her place was Hermione. Sweet, gentle, pretty, smart, wonderful Hermione… Harry wanted to kiss her so bad that all sane thought was gone from him.

“Please kiss me Harry. You know I’ve always loved you. I want you to love me too. Please,” her voice was even just right.

Harry was not sure how it happened, but here in front of him was Hermione. She had finally come. She had come to save him from this awful place. She was going to take him away and keep him safe.

“Yes, yes Hermione I do love you. I do. I love you. Always…”

Harry could smell her and it was like fresh strawberries. He reached his hand out and touched her hair. He had always wanted to touch it. He could never understand why she did not like it. It was a little bit bushy, but Harry liked that about her. It made her seem more human to him. After all it was a part of her. He had almost forgotten how many times he could pick her out of a crowd, because of her hair. It was her mark. Just like he had his mark; his scar that would always make him stick out from the crowd. Harry put his arms around her and pulled her even closer. She felt so soft. He looked into Hermione’s eyes and saw… dancing flames.

Harry pulled back so roughly that he knocked the demoness to the ground. He was sure he was going to pay for that. She picked herself up and her whole person shimmered back into her true form. She was beautiful, but no matter what she did to herself, she would never be Hermione. She looked at Harry for a moment and then held out his wand.

“You can have it anyway. It holds no power over me, so I see no harm in it.”

Harry took the wand and then took a step back.

She sighed, “The eyes are the thing you see. A demon can take any shape or form they choose, but when they try and become human the eyes always give us away. You know, windows to the soul and all. After all, I’m a demon. I have no soul. Remember that Harry. Remember it well.”

He had almost done the unthinkable. He had almost kissed the demoness. In that act he felt he would have betrayed his Hermione. He would never let that happen again. Angelia turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. Harry turned to look around and realized the room was back to normal. Loomis was gone, but otherwise it was just as it was, before hell came knocking at the door.

--- ---

Ron awoke when the morning sun came streaming into the room. It was not quite home, but it sure was a lot more comfortable. He got up and threw his clothes on as fast as he could. He opened the door and started downstairs. Luna was already waiting for him. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt and a pair of black pants that came down to just below the knee. She almost looked normal in it he thought.

“You should have woken me up.” Ron said to her.

“I didn’t want to wake you. I was enjoying just looking at you.”

“Oh,” said Ron, “Hey wait a minute. You were watching me?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” she explained, “so, I came into your room and just sat there, making sure you were alright.”

Ron was once again completely stupefied by her behavior.

His voice came out half-strangled. “You can’t just barge in on me and look at me whenever you bloody well want to Luna! I have to be honest; you’re kinda freaking me out a bit.”

“Why?” she replied simply.

“Why?! I don’t know, you just do alright. Oh, forget about it. Let’s just go.” His voice was exasperated, but he tried to keep from yelling at her. For some reason, he thought it might upset her.

He noticed that she had a large bag on the floor. It seemed to be full of all kinds of things, but it was closed tightly and he could not make out what any of the shapes were.

“So, what’s in the bag?”

“Oh, just some things. Like, some of my father’s books, a picture of my mum, some odds and ends, and a Carpathian Sacrificial Blood Knife, in case I need to perform a bloody sacrifice on you, so you can get into the next life and go after Harry and Hermione.”

“A WHAT?! DO WHAT?!”

Luna began to giggle, “Oh, Ron I’m just kidding. Stop being so paranoid.”

“Stop being so paranoid?! This coming from you?!”

Luna marched right up to Ron and kissed him full on the lips. She slid her hand down and tugged at the hem of his pants.

“Be good, or I won’t let you see me naked later.”

“Wh…wh…what…what?”

As she picked up the bag and started out the door she said in a very motherly tone, “For goodness sakes Ron. I… am… kid-ding. Now, hurry up or we’re going to be late.”

“Late? … Late for what?”

Ron sulked as he went out the front door and closed it behind him. Why am I doing this? What is wrong with this stupid girl? She won’t answer any of my questions. She’s a completely batty stalker. She definitely is not living in the same world as the rest of us. She makes about as much sense as Hagrid would trying to explain the intricacies of fine cooking. Not to mention that she has really, really nice legs. Ron stopped and hung his head down in exasperation.

“I really hate that girl,” he said under his breath.

--- ---

Hermione was running at full speed. She needed to get to Harry and fast. Her dress was gone and in its place was a pair of blue jeans and a plain white tee. Her shoes were a nice pair of handmade leather moccasins. She had finally realized that she had an immense control over everything around her. She was fully visualizing reaching the edge of this strange place. She was not going to stay a moment longer. She was going to find a way out of here and would not stop until she had made it to Harry’s side.

“I’d rather be in Hell with Harry, then in Heaven all alone!” she yelled out.

Immediately after saying that she remembered reading Dante’s Inferno last year during the winter break for a little light reading.

“Okay, well… I’d rather be in Heaven with Harry, if I have a choice in the matter.” This time she tempered it from a yell, to more of a slightly louder than normal voice. “Please, don’t be mad… if anyone is listening…” She cringed, but still kept running.

The forest was all but gone now. She was running across green fields contouring along rolling hillsides.

“Oh for goodness sake,” she blurted in frustration.

She stopped running and simply concentrated really hard on being at the edge of wherever she was. She closed her eyes and felt a rush of wind glide across her skin. She opened them and was standing right next to the deepest precipice that Mother Nature had ever made. It was such a long way down that she had to look hard to be able to make out the tops of clouds that were floating below her.

“Okay… then. I… well… how exactly am I going to get down from here?”

She sat down with her legs dangling over the edge and thought for a bit. She was not completely sure where she was looking down towards. Was earth below her? Was it hell? What exactly was down there? Could she survive the fall?

“Well, I am already dead after all. What could really happen?”

She stood up and began to pace back and forth. How was she supposed to get to Harry from here? She thought about Harry for a moment and then imagined the sword of Gryffindor in her hand. She looked down and there it was. It felt good in her hands. She was going to need it. After that little demon tart tried to kiss Harry, she felt it was in her best interest to have something to behead her with if it became an issue. A small part of her kind of hoped it would. She was not proud of that thought, but she never claimed to be perfect. Everyone else just sort of did that for her. She knew she had faults, but overall she was fairly happy with herself. She also realized that she was stalling. The thought of just jumping off the edge made her really, really nervous. She wondered if she would ever be able to come back to this beautiful place.

“I hope so,” she whispered.

“Oh, have no doubt Hermione Granger. You will.”

Hermione knew that voice. She spun around and sure enough standing there was Cedric Diggory.

“Cedric? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you,” he smiled.

It was nice to see him Hermione thought.

“So, how come you’ve come here now? To see me of all people?”

“To be honest,” Cedric said with a serious voice, “I’m not really supposed to be here. I can only stay for a moment. I’m mainly here just to give you a little push in the right direction.”

“Really?” Hermione said hopefully, “I could really use it.”

“I know,” Cedric replied. He smiled at her.

“Good luck Hermione. Not that you need it.”

“By the way Cedric,” she paused for a moment, “Is this heaven?”

“Heaven?” he answered, “no, it’s not quite heaven. It’s kind of complicated. For lack of a better term you might call this the ‘choosing place’. It’s the place where you choose what comes next. Do you go back as a ghost, do you stay here for awhile, or do you move on to what lies next for you? When you answer that question; when you are ready, then you… ‘move on’ for lack of a better term.”

“I see… I think. So, what do I do now, about Harry?”

Cedric looked at her thoughtfully and then reached out his hand and did just what he told her he would. He gave her a little push.

The last thought that ran through Hermione’s mind was, “Gee, I wonder if I can fly…”

6. The Dark At The End Of The Tunnel

Chapter V: The Dark At The End Of The Tunnel

Luna was scavenging through the large bag she brought. Ron was casually looking over her shoulder.

“I know I brought it with me, where is that silly thing?” she complained.

She kept pulling things out and tossing them back in with some exasperation. She pulled out a long, wicked looking knife groaned and threw that back in as well.

Ron sucked in a deep breath, “Hey now! I thought you said you were kidding about that bloody knife thing?!”

“Oh, Ron I was kidding about sacrificing you with it. I wasn’t kidding about bringing it.”

“Well, then what’s it for?” he asked suspiciously.

“It’s a key; a very special key. It will open the door for us. You’ll see when we get there.”

“So, where is it that we’re going exactly?”

Luna stopped digging through the bag and looked up at Ron and said, “It’s an old druidic tomb out in the country. It’s pretty easy to get to, but the entrance is mostly rubble. The place doesn’t look like much, so people pretty much just ignore it. Father says that there is a very special stone sepulcher inside. If you have the right key, then when you open it, you can speak to the dead. Its how the ministry of magic found out that the World Quidditch Cup was rigged by the ghosts at Beauxbatons.”

“Excuse me? What on earth… Luna the Quidditch Cup was not rigged by anyone, especially a bunch of ghosts at a school in the south of France.”

“Uh, huh, that’s what they’d like you to think; now isn’t it?” Luna replied mysteriously.

“Oh, Luna, at least tell me the tomb is real.”

“Of course it is. Where do you think we’re going?”

“Completely batty… that’s where we’re going,” Ron muttered under his breath.

Ron thought for a moment, “Wait a minute. Druidic tomb? So what, we’re going to Ireland?”

“Mmm, hmmm. There’s a garden in back of my father’s offices. Almost all of the decorations are portkeys. One of them will take us quite close to the tomb. My father had it setup when he started researching the story.”

Ron looked squarely at her for a long time. He stared for so long that Luna started to get fidgety.

“What? What are you staring like that for?”

“Luna. Please tell me this is the real thing. Please tell me that this isn’t some crazy story your dad made up. I’m here because I believe, that you believe, there’s a way we can get in touch with Harry and Hermione. If you drag me out there and it doesn’t work. I’ll… I’ll really be disappointed in you.”

Luna bit her bottom lip so hard that she bruised it. She began to flutter her hands in a nervous and distraught way.

“Ronald Weasley, I swear that I believe this will get us in touch with them. I would never, ever do anything to hurt you or lie to you on purpose. Please believe me. Actually, more than that, please believe ‘in’ me.”

Ron looked a bit shaken and replied carefully, “Alright Luna. I… I believe in you. I’m not fully convinced this is going to work, but if you believe in it… then I’ll trust you enough to follow you.”

Luna looked down at her feet and then back up again and replied, “Okay. I’ll accept that. I know it’s hard to believe in things you can’t see or feel, but my father has never lied to me. If he says it will work, then it will work.”

The two of them ended up in the garden while they were talking. Luna looked around and pointed out a little ceramic pot. It had a small plaque underneath it that said:

Ireland’s Premier Summer Attraction!

Ron stared at the inscription and realized the pathetic irony of calling an old abandoned tomb, that was most likely nothing but a pile of rocks any kind of attraction. His hope of this turning out in their favor was beginning to quickly fade. When he turned to look at Luna’s face he saw a thoughtful stare there. He wondered what she was thinking. Ron reached his hand out and touched her gently on her back. For a reason he could not explain, he drew a line down her back, following the contour of her spine. When he reached the small of her back he slipped his hand under her shirt and touched her skin there. It was smooth and felt warm. He then traced his finger, up alone her spine, this time feeling her, instead of her shirt.

He then pulled his hand out and took a step back. He was in a state of shock that he would be so bold, to touch her like that. He realized how stupid it was and that if she took it wrong then he could have seriously jeopardized their friendship; or whatever it was that they shared.

“I’m sorry Luna. I shouldn’t have done that without asking. I’m not exactly sure why I did it. I just… oh, I have no idea… I guess I just wanted to. Sorry.”

Luna looked straight down at the ground and whispered, “Do you want to do that on the other side?”

“The other side? … I don’t follow you… oh…” Ron’s breathing became quick and erratic. “I… I think I do… yes. Is it okay that I want to?”

Luna took his hand and held it close to her cheek.

“Yes, it’s okay. Just… just don’t be cruel to me, Ron. Don’t start this with me and then go back to treating me like Loony Lovegood when we’re back at school. I couldn’t go through that with you. It would hurt too…”

Ron pressed himself against her and cut her off with a kiss. He lingered there for a long time and then realized she was lowering his hand to her stomach. He felt a little dizzy and a little excited. Most of all he felt that everything was okay.

Luna and Ron kissed for a long time. They touched each other tenderly and then lay down in the green grass and made love under the open sky. It was awkward and they made so many mistakes that they laughed a lot and felt silly, but it was something real and meaningful. In the end, Ron felt like he was reaching out and touching heaven.

--- ---

Harry decided it was time to leave the room. He had been wasting too much time here. He needed to understand more about where he was and what was going to happen to him. Knowing the beast was not out there waiting for him, gave him the courage to face the unknown a little more. However, he had a new fear and her name was Angelia. She was a twisted thing that could read his mind. She would play him like a master musician plays there instrument. She would be subtle and very capable. He would always be on the lookout. Always mistrust whatever was in front of him. If he ever saw her in the form of Hermione again, he decided then and there he would refuse to listen to anything she had to say. He would run away from her and keep running, until he found a place she could never find him.

He held out his wand, feeling a deep need to use a bit of magic. Though, there was a lingering fear that it would not work here. He hesitated and then with a flick of the wand he began with one of the spells that came easiest to him.

“Lumos,” he said barely audible.

As if responding to the quietness in his voice the tip of the wand began with a small glow and gave off only a small degree of light. He said it again, this time with strength in his voice. Then, on queue, the wand lit up as bright as if he were standing in the main hall back at Hogwarts. He had not lost his touch, nor his ability to use the things he had learned over the last few years. The question is, how strong would the magic be against demons?

Harry opened the door and walked out into the hallway beyond. He had found a bit of courage left in himself after all. He stepped carefully at first, but with each one he took the more sure of himself he became. With the hall now fully lit he began to explore. Almost immediately he realized that the hallway was full of twists and turns and had many branches. In his panic, he had not realized that it was so convoluted. It was nothing more than blind luck that he had found that open doorway when he did. At least, that was what he reasoned out.

His footsteps seemed so loud to him. He knew there had to be someone or something that knew he was wandering around. The question remained how long before he was confronted with the next horror waiting for him, hidden in the darkness. The unknown was his worst enemy here. He could not let himself forget that.

While walking he would catch one of the myriad of doors that were partially open. He could feel eyes upon him, but when he turned to look the door would suddenly find itself quickly closed. There would be no friends for Harry Potter in this accursed place.

“Hey you… wanna see something?”

Harry looked up and saw a small boy standing in one of the doorways. He knew that this was not a place that children would be, so whatever this boy was, it was no child.

“No. No, thank you,” Harry replied.

“I think you’ll wanna see this,” the boy called out in a sing-song voice.

With that the boy took a step backwards into the room he was poking his head out of. Harry looked and saw a mirror in the room. It was very large. It took up most of the room and left very little otherwise. The boy motioned Harry inside. Against his better judgment he stepped in.

“This mirror will show you the truth,” the boy said with a reverent awe. “If you look inside it, you will see the world you have created by your actions. Look and see.”

Harry’s eyes were drawn to it. A yellowish light flashed inside the mirror and a scene appeared. He heard a strange repetitive soft grunting coming from it. After hearing it a second he realized what it was and became embarrassed. It was someone having sex, from what he guessed.

“Wow, isn’t she your friend?” the boy asked innocently.

Harry looked and saw Hermione. She was in bed with someone. He tried to swallow, but he could not. He wanted to turn away, but he needed to know who she was with. A face from the darkness turned and looked at Harry. It was Sirius Black. He grinned at Harry with an evil smirk and turned back to Hermione.

“Awww, look she found a new friend. Isn’t that nice?” the boy said ever so sweetly.

Harry turned and tried to run out of the room, but in his suffocating panic he ran into the edge of the door and his vision became distorted. Pain shot through his head. With his eyes still swimming, he got his bearings and ran out into the twisted hallway. When he got out he took a deep breath in, but the air tasted like dust and death. He felt a violent wretching in his gut and he began to vomit. There was nothing to come up, so he fell to the ground and dry heaved for a long, long time. When it stopped he stood up warily and he began to cry. He started to run as fast as he could.

He stopped paying attention to where he was going. As hard as he tried, he could not shake the horrible image from his mind. The ultimate betrayal, beyond any word and deed. Hermione was just a girl.

“It was rape!” Harry spat.

He told himself that to avoid dealing with the look on Hermione’s face. One of contented pleasure. Images of her dead staring eyes came to his mind and then would become superimposed on the vision from the mirror. He kept running.

He ran and ran, until everything looked different. The hallways no longer had little wooden doors wrapped with iron bands. Now the hallways were much straighter and the doors much larger. Some were ornately carved stone and others were thick, red mahogany with stained glass. The windows were sometimes just random shapes, but when he stared at them they had images of terror and darkness in them. Light was coming through them, but instead of spraying out colors they spewed forth cold shadows and horrifying patterns.

Still running he was shocked to run across the last thing he had expected. He had found a large garden. He stopped and stared for a moment. There was a garden hidden deep inside this evil place? Though the garden was at first hideous to behold. There were garden statues of winged demons and dark cloaked figures. The flowers though blooming all had petals of violent and black. He saw a dark iron bench nestled near the center. He walked over and sat down in it. He felt tired and weak. He must have run a long way, but he had no idea of how far. After a moment the garden did not seem so bad. It felt like a sort of quiet sanctuary, or perhaps a quiet tomb. At least it seemed like the kind of place that no one here would ever go to.

Harry sat there and dwelt on the burning hate he felt for Sirius. He also felt dark feelings towards Hermione. He hated them for being together like that. He started to cry again, realizing that even more than that he hated that they had found each other and were not alone like he was. Sirius should be here helping him find a way out of this mess. Hermione should be here being his friend. He needed them both and they were out somewhere doing things that caused an awful and painful hole to open up in his heart. He sat there filling that desolate hole with pain and guilt.

In his tears he moaned, “This is what murders get… this is what we deserve. Every day I am still sane is another day of torture. I want to lose my sanity! I want to lose myself in the darkness and never see anything or anyone… ever… AGAIN!”

With the last, he took his fist and hit his head. Then he did it again. Then again. He hit himself and it hurt. The pain felt good, because it helped him forget the images burned deep into his soul.

He stood up and hit himself so hard that he began to bruise.

“You want to see something?!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, “Do you?! Watch this… WATCH THIS!!”

Way beyond the edge of hysteria he lifted his wand and pointed it at himself and then he cried out, “CRUCIO!”

He unleashed everything he had in him when he cast it. The pain was so violent that he fell to the ground unable to move. A scream escaped his lips and he let himself become enveloped in the pain. When he had enough control of his arm he lifted it again.

“CRUCIO!”

This time the pain was so great that when it subsided enough to let his muscles unclench he passed out there in that dark garden. Alone in his pain. Alone in his sorrow. Alone like he had been for so many years before Hagrid had come to take him away. This was what his future held for him. Terrible, horrible lonliness. These thoughts were the last he had before everything turned black.

--- ---

A ways off in the darkness stood a beautiful demoness. She stood just out of sight on the other edge of the garden. She had heard someone intrude on her place of solitude. Angry at first she turned to deal with whomever was foolish enough to come here. Then she saw that it was him. Her new victim had come to play she thought.

She stopped and watched to see what he would do. She had been told what the other demons had planned for him. She did not reply when Necris the Lost One had reveled in the pain he had inflicted upon Harry when he showed him the false vision. Necris took this as a sign she was pleased and so left her laughing in his evil little way. She found, unlike so many before Harry, that she did not lovingly dwell on the pain that had been caused. Instead, she found she felt nothing at all. She was confused at this and came here to reach inside herself and find what had changed. It was not that she had any feeling one way or another on this new victim’s fate. She just simply felt no joy at his suffering. Then as if an answer to her questions he had appeared.

There in the center of this hidden place, he stood and cried out in mortal agony. He had used his own powers against himself to inflict his own suffering. She had never seen this before in all of her centuries. The victims always waited in abject fear of when pain was to be born on their bodies, by their captors. This one, this Harry, was causing his own pain. She had become quite an expert on the weakness of humanity. Reading the depraved minds of these wicked souls had taught her much. She searched for a word to describe what Harry was going through. After a moment, she settled on what she thought it might be… grieving. He was grieving the loss of those he has left behind. Few of the humans here ever truly grieved. They wallowed in superficial guilt, and rage, and anguish, and fear, and hatred, and all the other emotions that humans carried inside their evil hearts.

This boy felt true remorse and grieved for the damage he had done. She began to wonder if he had been sent to the right place. Why was he here? She wanted very much to break his will down and force him to surrender his soul to her. She wanted to study it and learn from it. She wanted to understand these new emotions that she felt coursing through his insides. It was a gift to be able to read minds, but sometimes a burden at best. Now, it was something altogether different. It was… enlightening.

“I wonder what his flesh tastes like?” she thought. Maybe the marrow in his bones would taste sweeter than the others.

--- ---

Hermione had closed her eyes tightly as she began falling through the sky. She reminded herself that she could not die again, but she began to wonder what it was going to feel like when the fall ended and came to a very abrupt halt at the end. She held the sword that she had called to her, tightly to her chest with one arm. The other was flailing madly and she could not seem to find the ability to stop it from flapping in the wind. Her legs were doing much the same.

She finally got the courage up to open her eyes and turn her head downwards. She looked and saw a very large island rapidly approaching. She looked at it carefully and then her eyes opened wide as a realization occurred.

“Look! It’s Ireland! It looks just like a map from up here,” she called out.

However, the closer she got, the less it looked like a map and the more it looked like ground coming up to meet her very rapidly. She closed her eyes and winced. Suddenly, she stopped falling. Everything was very, very dark. It was a bit cold as well. She was lying down as near she could tell. When she tried to move around there was not much room. She was on cold stone. When she felt around with her hands she realized that she was surrounded on all sides by the same cold stone. She tried to fathom where she might be. Just in case she touched her wrist and then her neck, but there was still no pulse. She was still dead, but she could swear that she felt like she was back where she used to be. It was strange, because she was there, but not quite; like she was somehow out of phase with the world around her. It felt strange and a bit disconcerting.

She heard a voice coming from outside of wherever she was…

“Are you sure this is where it is?”

“Of course I am. My father’s notes show this is the one. See! Look a stone coffin right there. Go, uh, go open it.”

“What?! I’m not big on opening coffins up. Plus, there might be spiders in it.”

Hermione thought for a moment and decided that she recognized the voices, but she was sure she was mistaken.

The male voice said, “Oh, alright. I’ll open the stupid thing.”

There was the sound of loud grunting and panting.

“This thing is really heavy!”

The female voice replied, “Here, let’s push together.”

Suddenly, there was a light peeking in through the edge of her small prison. The sound of stone grating on stone was very loud in her ears. After a moment of hearing two people straining, she could suddenly see two faces peering down at her.

“RON! … LUNA!! … RON!!! … LUNA!!!!” Hermione kept yelling excitedly.

The red haired young man sighed. “Damn. The stupid thing is completely empty.”

7. Fate Is A Harsh Mistress

Chapter VI: Fate Is A Harsh Mistress

Angelia waited in the garden for him. It was only a matter of time before he would come round. There were other things for her to tend to, but for some reason they escaped her right now. She reached out her thoughts and invaded his subconsciousness. She felt a strange sense of overload. He was full of emotions. So many emotions all at once; devastating grief, horrible guilt, overwhelming love, driven compassion, and lost underneath all of these - the delicate fear of a child.

“What is it like to be human?” she said curiously. “Is it always so fiery and raw? What do you feel and think when you are not in this state of mind? What is love? Why do you crave it so? There is no love here. It would be a badge of weakness that would mark you as an endless target of suffering. You think you get your strength from your love, but it is also what makes you the weakest. It leaves you vulnerable to pain. Why would you allow such a thing inside of you, when it means you are to suffer so greatly?”

A feeling of darkness flooded her mind. These thoughts were terribly dangerous here. To even contemplate those things beyond the suffering of your victims, was seen as fruitless and at worse treasonous. Soon, I will have to answer to my masters, because I have not made you suffer more. They will want to know why you punish yourself. How can I answer them? I don’t know why you do the things you do. Perhaps if I was quick to cause you suffering when you awake, it would pacify them. Still, if I do not continue to observe you, how will I learn what makes you different from the others. Are all the souls who do not come here like you?

“What does it mean?!” she cried out in exasperation.

She pursed her dark lips and began to work through it all again in her mind. Continually reaching out inside of him and sensing his strange dreams and thoughts. Touching both the dark and the light parts of his psyche. Always fighting the deep desire to crush the will from him. Fighting back the need to torture his body. If she were to give in to her most basic self, then she would never learn; she would never understand him. Perhaps her time with him was growing short. If her masters reassigned the boy to another, she would lose this precious chance.

She stepped towards him and knelt next to him. She leaned down and whispered in his ear.

“Make no mistake, little Harry. I will devour you. When I have what I want, I will break you down into an empty shell.”

She hesitated and then spoke again more softly, “It is not that I want to… it is that I need to. I… I am… a servant of the darkness. I must obey… I must give in to who I am. For me to do otherwise would tear against my nature, my being.”

She stood up and looked down at the pathetic creature that lay at her feet. She began to turn away and leave, but for some reason found herself still staring at him. Searching, wondering. She tore her gaze from Harry and began to walk out of the garden, leaving him to awaken on his own.

However, hidden in the shadows above hovered a sweet, little boy. His grey wings silently flapping in the dead air. Quietly watching what just took place.

“You are growing weak, dear Angelia. I must now go to the Dark Ones and tell them of your lacking obedience. You have not done as you were commanded. You may be very powerful, but in the end you belong to them, just as we all do. They will punish you sweet temptress. I will enjoy watching them tear the wings from your crushed body. I hope that you will suffer greatly. It would make me so very happy. They will come and they will take your precious victim away. Once they have him, he will disappear into the darkness forever.”

He twirled a little dance of joy; his innocent face simply beaming with pleasure.

--- ---

“Here, take this Ron,” Luna said, “You need the key to be able to reach into the next life.”

Ron turned back towards her and took the strange knife. He held it tightly and looked down in the stone sepulcher.

“Um… hello in there… I am Ron. I would like to speak to Harry Potter… or, or Hermione Granger… Please.”

Ron again faced Luna and said, “Like that?”

Luna was staring at him with her mouth wide open. Then she grabbed her stomach and began to laugh quite loudly. Ron whipped his head back toward the coffin with a furious glare.

“I don’t see how this is funny. You don’t know what you’re doing anymore than I do,” he accused.

After a few more giggles and a possible snort she put her hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, Ron, I’m sorry. It was just, you seemed so serious and well silly all at the same time. I promise not to laugh anymore… at least until later.”

Ron rolled his eyes and tried his best to ignore her.

“Okay, one more try,” he said quite formally, “Hello in the coffin there. Please let me talk to Harry Potter or Hermione Granger… err… whoever is closer would do just fine if that would make it easier.”

Luna suppressed another laugh, but still let out a tiny snort. Ron sighed and gave into his frustration.

“This isn’t working Luna. What am I doing wrong?”

“I don’t know. My father didn’t say anything, except that you just had to hold the knife and it would open the way.”

Ron looked around carefully. He could not see anything resembling a keyhole or any kind of hole that the knife might go into. He tried waving it around over the coffin solemnly. That did not work either.

“Oh bloody hell,” Ron snapped, “Hermione Granger if you are out there, then… well, say something.”

When he said it he lowered the dagger and when the blade touched the surface of the stone the darkness in the coffin began to light up. For a moment it got quite bright and shortly after dimmed down to the soft brightness of a roomful of candles. A visage began to waver and Ron’s eyes got quite wide.

“Can you really see me?”

Hermione was climbing out of the coffin and then stood right next to Luna and Ron.

“Well? I felt something. Did the spell work?” she asked them both.

“Uh, yeah,” Ron said with utter disbelief in his voice, “well, then… it’s wonderful to see you again. You look a bit like a ghost… probably because you are.”

Ron laughed weakly and then turned back around to Luna and promptly passed out on the floor.

Luna looked over at Hermione. “Good to have you back. You look very nice for being dead.”

“Why thank you Luna. You look very nice yourself,” Hermione beamed.

Luna knelt down and touched Ron’s forehead. “I hope he’s alright.”

“Who Ron? He’ll be fine. He’s had much worse and made it through just fine.”

Luna smiled at Hermione, “So, where’s Harry? Is he there with you?”

Hermione’s face turned dark, “No. He’s not okay Luna. I’m actually here, because I am trying to get to him. He’s in terrible trouble. I think… well… I think he might be… {cough}… in… to be honest… hell, or something quite a bit like I imagined it to be anyway.”

“Hmmm… that’s a bit of an issue,” Luna said in all seriousness, “he must have gone there, because he killed you and nearly killed Ron.”

“He WHAT?! No, no, no, Luna. Harry did not kill me. That’s ridiculous!”

“Yes Hermione, he did,” Luna said somberly, “Dumbledore said it was a terrible accident. He came to try and help and saw you and Ron in the death-eater robes and assumed you were in terrible trouble. So…”

“So, he attacked us,” Hermione finished thoughtfully. “But, how did Harry die then?”

Luna turned her head away with embarrassment in her voice, “Well, he sort of walked through the veil of death at the ministry of magic. He blamed himself for yours and Ron’s death, not that he’s dead, but you know what I mean. Before Dumbledore could stop him, he… went in and never came back. It was awful. It was beyond awful.”

Luna did something that was quite uncommon for her. She began to cry.

“We buried you and Harry. I’ve missed you both quite awfully. Ron has been lost without the two of you. I felt so badly for him. At first, I thought I was helping him because I felt sorry for him, but then I kind of realized that I’m a bit obsessed over him. A couple times I wanted to hit him with a large, heavy object, but I decided that might be sort of unreasonable, and then we kissed in a garden and then kind of made love and I also discovered that I really do care for him very much…. … So,” with a nervous giggle in between wiping tears away, “how’ve you been?”

“You …? With Ron?”

Hermione did a quick internal inventory. She searched through her emotions and thoughts. There was nothing. No jealousy at all. She actually felt pretty happy about the whole thing. Not that she thought it would be otherwise, but sometimes her feelings would get a bit confused over Ron. Whatever doubt she may or may not have had in the past was definitely not there now.

“Wow,” she said with a mischievious smile, “what was that like? I can’t believe I’m actually saying this but… tell me all about it. Oh, but as soon as Ron wakes up, we’ll go find Harry.”

Luna sat down cross-legged and started talking in a hurried excitement, “Oooh, girl talk. I’ve never gotten to do this before. I hope I do it right. Well, you see, it all started like this…”

Ron was lying on the ground of an ancient tomb somewhere in the middle of Ireland; completely oblivious to the fact that a cherished fantasy was coming true. Two attractive young women were sitting around having a conversation, all about him.

--- ---

Harry’s eyes snapped open. He moaned in pain. Every one of his muscles ached like he had been beaten with a large, heavy object for quite some time. He slowly pulled himself up to a vaguely standing position. His head was spinning a bit and it took him a second to focus. There was no one around.

“Ouch,” he groaned and brought his hand up to his head, “this stings a bit.”

His eyes darted in all directions until he felt confident that he was completely aware of his surroundings. He did not know where anything was relative to where he was, but he was pretty sure it really didn’t matter. For the moment, he pushed away the weight of guilt. He was beginning to decide that he rather did not like being here. If he was going to remain trapped here, he fully intended to gain more control over whatever destiny he had left.

“Well, hello again,” said a sweet, young voice.

Without even looking Harry recognized the voice. It was the boy who had shown him the vision in the mirror. He turned to look and sure enough he had been right.

“My name is Necris, some people call me the Lost One. You are of course nobody special at all. Oh, don’t look so surprised. You think because you were somebody once that you hold any significance down here? Of course not, you’re not stupid. You know why you are here, and you also know exactly what we think of you. Which is to say, not really at all. As a matter of fact, I’m already bored talking to you. So, I’ll be on my merry way.”

The demon boy held his hands up in mocking piety. Then fluttered only the very tips of his wings and skipped away, while whistling a lively tune.

“By the way… Angelia wants you stay right where you are. Now don’t you move. She would be terribly upset with you. Ta taa.”

With that he faded into the surrounding shadows. Harry was not stupid. He was well aware the demon was toying with him. The question is was the demon hoping he would leave this garden out of fear, because Angelia ordered him to stay. Or, was the demon second guessing him and hoping he would stay, because he knew Harry was not so easily fooled. So, it boiled down to, was the demon overestimating him or underestimating him. Harry thought the third option was that the demon could care less whether he stayed or not. He was just tormenting him for the fun of it. After a knowing shake of his head, he decided it was the third. Necris was starting to seriously irritate Harry.

Harry heard a strange rumbling sound in the distance. He stopped all movement and listened hard. It felt like the ground was shaking slightly. A light appeared in a small window, set along the wall just outside of the garden. Harry stepped forward to investigate. The door next to the window quickly opened. An old man came out, he looked familiar.

“Loomis?”

“What?! What do you want? Who’s there?”

“It’s me. The one who got his demon traded with yours. Don’t you recognize me?”

The old man started to laugh to himself. Harry looked closer and realized that the man’s eyes had been torn out. Apparently, they did not put him completely back together after the beast attacked him. Harry felt bad for him.

“I… I’m sorry Loomis. I didn’t realize.”

“Ack! Don’t think twice about it. If our positions were reversed, I assure you I could care less what would’ve happened to you.”

The deep rumbling sound came again.

“Ya hear that boy?”

“Yes,” Harry replied cautiously.

“They’re coming.”

“Who’s coming?”

“The Dark Ones! Are you truly this ignorant? The demon masters boy. They only come out when one of us has broken one of the laws.”

“There are laws down here?” Harry asked incredulously.

“Oh ho, yes. The laws are cruel and absolute. If one is broken, then they come for you. Wherever they take you; you don’t ever come back.”

“How do you know if you’ve broken a law?”

“Not sure. Never could get Angelia to tell me what any of them were. Guess that’s part of the fun. You have to figure ‘em out before it’s too late.”

The rumbling was even louder this time. The man’s face soured up with a look of fright.

“They’re coming this way. You did it didn’t ya? You broke one of the laws?” the old man cackled in delight, “Wanna know something? I’m glad we changed demons. I got my eyes ripped out, but you… you’re never comin’ back.”

Old Loomis was still laughing even after he shut the door tightly. Harry felt a sudden urge to run. Then he realized, this whole place belonged to them. There was nowhere to run and certainly nowhere to hide. So, he decided he would wait for whatever it was that was coming for him. He moved back to the iron bench and sat down. He pulled out his wand and laid it gently in his lap.

“Hermione? Ron? It’s me Harry. Listen to me. I think my time has run out. I think that this maybe the last chance I get to tell you what’s on my mind. So, here it goes. I can only hope someone is listening and will pass the message on to you. First off, I love you both very much. You are the dearest and best friends a person could ever have. Second, I’m so very sorry for killing you. All I can tell you is that I had no idea that you were there under those black robes. At first I thought that absolved me of it being true murder, that it could be just considered a horrible accident. But, we both know that isn’t true. If I had done as I was told and waited at Sirius’s home then none of this would ever have happened. We would all still be alive and having a good laugh at you two dressing as death-eaters. Instead, because of my arrogance, you’re both dead and I’ve been sent to this place to suffer for my mistakes. I take back all the angry things I have ever said to either of you. I miss you so much it hurts me like no other pain I have ever known; and since I have been down here I have known new levels of pain and suffering.”

Harry felt the familiar sting of tears.

“Ron, thank you for believing in me. Thank you for showing me a better way to live my life. To live it with hope, and a serious dash of fun and laughs.”

The tears became streaks down his cheeks.

“Hermione…”

Harry felt a sob come from inside of him.

“I just wanted to… I just needed to let you know that… I love you. I’m not talking about as a friend or a sister. I’m telling you that I love you. I…”

He covered his face with his hands.

“I wish I was the one you were making love to in that mirror. I wanted to be the one who, at the end of at all, you would spend your life with. I wanted to be the one who got to have you near all of the time. I wanted to be the one who when the day was over and the night had come, that I would lie next to you and kiss you until all the emptiness inside of me was swallowed away.”

The tears started to fall from his fingertips.

“I wanted to be the one that you loved… but now, that’s all gone. It doesn’t matter what I want anymore. I just needed you to know. I needed you to hear it from me… Please tell me that somehow you can hear me…

… are you there? … It’s me… The-boy-who-loves-you.”

Then Harry sat there and waited. He waited for the things that go bump in the night to grab him, torture him and then find a dark place to throw him into; so that all memories of him in the world would fade into nothingness. His hands held his wand tightly. The rumbling was getting so much louder now. They were coming.

--- ---

Ron was beginning to stir, but Luna was distracted by a flash of agony in Hermione’s eyes.

“What’s wrong Hermione?” Luna asked.

Ghostly tears were streaming from Hermione’s eyes.

“I just heard Harry.”

“You did! That’s wonderful, what did he say?”

Hermione looked out into the distance. Her face contorted in pain.

“He told me… he said that… that he loved me. I think he was trying to say, goodbye. Luna, I think we’re too late. My dearest friend, my sweet Harry… he’s gone.”

Ron had finally come to. After looking around he broke the teary silence, “Sorry about that, what’s going on?”

No one answered. He looked at Hermione and Luna. Both of them looked like it was the end of the world. Then suddenly, he knew…

His voice sounded desperate, “What’s happened to Harry?”

8. Of Love And War

Chapter VII: Of Love And War

The rumbling sound was indeed getting closer. Angelia closed her eyes and reached out into the darkness. She opened her eyes, surprised to discover they were not coming for her. They were coming for Harry. She tasted bitter disappointment as she realized that he was going to be taken away. She quickly made her way back to the garden. She could feel him waiting there.

As she entered one of the archways into the sanctuary she made her way to the center. There, as she knew, was Harry sitting down holding his precious wand tightly. His face was staring down at the ground. He was not running to hide. He must not know what was coming for him.

Her voice sounded tentative, even to her, “Harry?”

He looked up at her. There was no trace of fear to be seen.

“Harry, I need to tell you something.”

“What, that they’re coming for me?”

She was doubly surprised to realize that he knew about them. He knew and he simply sat there, waiting.

“Ahhh,” she said with a knowing look, “you are punishing yourself again. You are sitting here waiting for the inevitable. How brave of you, I guess.”

Harry’s voice sounded cold and distant, “What does it matter to you? I figured this would please you; to know that I will suffer more.”

“Listen Harry, there is not much time. They will be here soon. I know you will not believe me, but that is not important now. I want you to do something for me.”

“Why would I possibly want to do anything for you?” he responded.

“I can give you no reason. Time is too short for me to really explain anything to you. Would you let me take over you for a moment? I… I would like to feel like what it is to be you. It will be brief. I will not stay there. I would not want to face what is to come for you.”

Harry stared at her from the bench. His face softened as he looked deeply into hers.

“Alright,” he finally announced.

She was in shock for a brief second. He was willingly giving her this gift. She wasted no time. She reached out, but this time not with her mind. Her whole being shifted from inside her and waited just outside Harry’s body. She would not be able to enter in this way without his permission. She mentally brushed her mind against his, and feeling no resistance she slid inside of him. When she was nestled deep inside his soul, she let herself go and melded with him.

The emotions came without mercy. All of the things Harry had ever felt or seen or experienced in anyway came flooding into her. All of his memories washed over her own memories. It was deeply exhilarating. She craved to know and understand more and more. Each image that appeared she quickly waved aside to see another. Within moments she had enveloped him all the way to his earliest memory. A woman crying and holding Harry in her arms. She could feel the woman’s deep caring and commitment and it breathed a strange new life into her. Unconditional love.

Angelia was not prepared for these things. She had no understanding or experience to be able to mentally or emotionally deal with what was happening to her. She fought to pull herself out of Harry, but it was difficult. So quickly she had become deeply intertwined with him. It took a great deal of concentration to finally release herself from him. Finally, she was separated. Her essence came rushing back into her and it made her tremble.

“What have I done?” she whispered in fear. “I should never have done this. I feel so strange. I have to leave you. I cannot face these things. Prepare yourself Harry Potter. My dark masters are coming for you. Listen to me. You must fight them. You are different from all the others, but they will not care. Fight them Harry. Fight them with everything you have. I’m so sorry. I have to go. I’m not brave like you are.”

With that she fully opened her wings and beat them repeatedly as she was lifted into the air and sped away as quickly as she could. She hated to admit it, but she was terrified of the Dark Ones. They were too powerful to fight for any demon. She could not let them know that she was different inside now. That would bring swift and terrible retribution. So, into the darkness she flew.

--- ---

“I can’t let him go like this,” Hermione cried. “I can’t let him disappear forever. I haven’t even had a chance to say goodbye. I’m going after him.”

Ron looked at Luna and Hermione and then spoke. His voice was never more sure and never more intense than it was right now.

“I’m with you. Let’s go. We need to get to the ministry of magic right now. I’m going through the veil. I will not let Harry face this alone. If I have to follow him all the way into hell itself, then I’m ready.”

Ron turned to Hermione, “Teach me how to apparate. I know you know how. Hurry, time is running out.”

Luna’s face got wide. She then turned to Hermione and spoke, “I’m not going to get left behind. All three of us will go. There’s a chance Ron can’t come back. I’ll be hanged if I fell in love with him just to lose him. Harry needs us.”

Hermione thought about arguing, but there was no time.

“Okay listen, this is what you have to do. Don’t mess this up. We don’t have time for the ministry folks to come and sort you out if half of you winds up inside some mountain somewhere. This is how you do it,” she began.

--- ---

“Fight?” Harry asked Angelia as she was speeding away. “How am I supposed to fight them if even you can’t?”

She was already gone. Harry slowly stood up. Why should he fight them? He deserved what was going to happen here. He was not afraid of it. He almost welcomed it. The vision of Hermione came so strongly to him. He could see her so clearly. This time though he held the image firmly in his mind, so it could not be replaced by another. He remembered her face smiling at him. The exact memory escaped him right now, but he could clearly see her bright face. It gave him his first warm feeling, in a very, very long time.

He held his wand out and shouted, “Lumos!”

The light was so bright that it filled the whole garden. The shadows were banished away here. He looked around and the garden looked strangely beautiful now. This was where he would accept his fate. Let these Dark Ones come. He would not fight them. He would stand here and let them tear him apart.

“No more feelings,” he said resolutely. “No more. No more emotions. No more memories. I’m ready. Come take me.”

--- ---

Hermione looked at them both. It was a minor miracle that they had both apparated here without getting themselves hurt. There they stood at the front of the veil. Hermione did not need it. She could already feel a way to reach Harry, but if Ron and Luna were to come they would need to pass through. If they failed, at least they would all be together.

Ron looked at Luna. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with all he could muster. He took her hand firmly in his and turned toward the veil.

“Ready my love?”

“Ready,” Luna said without hesitation.

They both walked through at the same time, both concentrating very hard on Harry. Hermione came right behind them.

--- ---

Angelia stopped in mid-flight. Her only link to understanding was below her. Once he was gone then she would be lost here. Filled with a new desire to learn and to feel, but forced into eternal hiding. To have to live amongst her kind, but never show what was truly inside her. She shuddered at the thought of losing the only thing she had ever truly wanted. She sighed, what did she expect? She was a demon and this was the reality of her existence.

Unconditional love.

“It means nothing to me. I have no use for love in any form. There is no place for it in the darkness.”

Unconditional love.

She shook her head hard and cringed inside of herself. She had felt it, just for the briefest moment, but she wanted it so badly it tore her apart.

Unconditional love.

“I want it… please, I need this. What do I do?” she whimpered. She looked down again and something snapped inside of her.

“What the hell?! I’ve got nothing better to do right now then be locked into eternal damnation. Might as well go out in my way, rather than fade into the forever grey of this place.”

She laughed out loud almost maniacally.

--- ---

The rumbling was beginning to shake the ground quite noticeably. Harry looked up and was able to make them out. The Dark Ones were not a small group of demon masters. It was a horde. There were dozens or maybe even hundreds of them. They looked like huge, obsidian gargoyles. There red eyes pierced the darkness. He began to feel a real fear in his gut. The Dark Ones were relentless in their approach towards Harry. They stopped for nothing and kept their crimson gaze directly on him.

“This is not going to go well for me,” he croaked.

The one closest to him pointed right at him. The others increased their speed. Their arms were huge and their hands were razored claws. They had no mouths, but Harry could not see how that particularly mattered right now. Harry figured that he had only a few precious minutes left before they arrived at the garden entrance. These things were immense. He estimated that they were quite a few feet taller than Grawp was. Harry wished he was still deep in the tunnels, so he did not have to see them coming. Here out in the open all he could do was wait. He briefly thought about dashing into the dark, twisting hallways, but realized that again there really was nowhere to hide.

The attack came long before they were upon him. Harry could hear there thoughts in his head. They spoke as one, but he could sense that many, many voices were in his mind.

“We have come for you. Our eternal prison calls out to you and we shall bring you there.”

They sent wave after wave of fear and guilt into Harry’s heart. He began to feel a coldness deep inside of his soul. The sheer weight of it all forced him to his knees. There was no way to fight these things. There was no way to defend his mind from their assault. The guilt of a thousand lifetimes bathed his soul in warped self hatred. His mind simply shut down. His still heart felt like lead in his chest. For a moment, he wanted to fight back, but there was no way. He had no weapon or knowledge to defeat this terrible smothering shadow. He lay on the ground trembling, curled into a tight ball.

A shout broke into the darkness, “THERE HE IS!”

Harry found no strength to lift his head to look around.

Harry smelled something sweet. He twisted his head upwards. There standing above him was Hermione. He began to laugh, but a cough wracked his body.

“You’re not real,” he groaned. “Go away Angelia. Leave me alone.”

Hermione dropped to the ground and shook Harry.

She yelled in his ear, “Harry Potter get up now! There are VERY large demons coming this way. We have to go. We have to get out of here.”

Harry began to laugh weakly again.

“Here at my last moment, I am still being tortured with memories of my Hermione. Go away demon. I will not believe in you ever again.”

Harry closed his eyes and simply stopped talking.

Hermione tried to lift Harry, but he seemed to weigh more than a house. It was like his own dark state of mind had become an impossible weight.

“I can’t move him. He’s trapped here. He won’t believe that we’ve come for him.”

Ron looked around and realized that time had indeed run out.

“Give me that sword Hermione.”

She untied the sword of Gryffindor and handed it to Ron. He had the sword in one hand and the blood knife in the other.

“I may not be all that great at magic, but I’m feeling a bit crazy invincible right now. These ought to do,” Ron grinned.

Luna lifted her wand up and faced the oncoming demons at Ron’s side. Hermione jumped up and stood next to them.

“Well, at least we’ll go down fighting for Harry,” Hermione mused.

The fight was upon them. Luna quickly turned towards Ron and cast a spell of some sort on him. It was one that Hermione did not even recognize.

“Now go Ron,” Luna cried to him.

Ron’s body crouched like a lion. He jumped forward and each move he made, each swing of the sword and knife was like an extension of his own body. Hermione yelled out in glee in spite of herself.

Luna turned towards the demons and began unleashing blasting curses as fast as was humanly possible. She yelled out each time and Hermione could sense that those curses were packing quite a wallop.

Hermione then turned and imagined herself as a splendid griffon. Her body quickly shimmered into her new form. The power she had before was still with her; and she had every intention of using it here and now. She flew up into the fray and began to claw and beak at anything that stood in her path.

The Dark Ones seemed unsure for a moment as they faced these things that would not cower before them. Then the battle was on.

The three of them coordinated their attacks and it was causing confusion in the ranks of their enemy. Soon, however, the demons began there attack. There huge claws lashed out and began to tear into these newfound nuisances.

No one in particular heard it, but hidden fingers snapped in the shadows. A slathering demon-beast came crashing into the garden and charged the demon masters. It threw itself into the battle with wild carelessness.

--- ---

A woman silently walked into the garden. She sat down next to Harry’s immovable form. She reached her hand down and brushed the hair from his eyes. Her voice was like a silver bell.

“Harry. Please listen. The Dark Ones cannot be defeated by physical means. They are far too strong for that. They have come for you and so you must drive them back into their dark domain. The power is inside of you, but you have to overcome all of this burden you have placed on yourself. Your friends are here fighting to save you. They would not be here if they had not forgiven you. Do not let their bravery be in vain.”

Harry opened his eyes. He looked at the woman and he began to shake violently.

“You’re here? I’ve waited for so long. You finally came. You finally came.”

Harry began to weep.

“It’s okay my beautiful boy. I’m here now,” her soft voice consoled him.

She reached down and lifted Harry into her arms. She held him tenderly, stroking his head and squeezing him close.

“I’m so proud of you. I always have been,” the woman said earnestly.

“Mom, I love you so much.”

“I love you too Harry.”

“Listen to me son. We have very little time; I need you to find the courage within to stand up to all of these monsters. You have the key to saving you and your friends.”

Lily Potter kept her eyes closed while talking to Harry. She could not let him know. If he saw, if he knew then he would be lost again.

“Please, my baby boy, please get up. Please… for me.”

Harry whispered, “Okay. For you mom. For you…”

Harry fought with all of his strength to get up. The weight of darkness was so heavy. He could barely see anything. He heard a terrible battle around him, but could not figure out what exactly was happening.

Lily backed away and slipped back into hiding. When she was sure Harry was not looking, her figure shimmered and in its place Angelia returned to her natural form. She stood in the darkness and waited. She was nursing a new feeling now. The feeling was hope.

--- ---

Harry lifted his wand over his head and tried to speak, but no words would come. He shook his head and tried to concentrate. He let his mind wander over the past few years of his life. He brought forward every single happy moment he could thing of. He basked in the memories of the love he had for Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, the Weasley family and all the rest. The warmth of their love for him began to fill him up. The darkness was slowly slipping away. Harry mustered all the strength he had inside of himself and found his voice.

“Expecto Patronum!”

A silver light so bright erupted into the darkness that every single being stopped. All eyes had turned towards Harry. Then something that had never happened before in the history of all wizarding. A ‘real’ patronus burst forth into their midst. Harry could actually see a living breathing silver stag in front of him. It was quite large, its shoulders stood higher than a centaur. It was so beautiful. Its silver fur reflected every ounce of light in the area and intensified it into a blinding brilliance. Its silver antlers looked particularly shiny and deadly for that matter.

The patronus stag jumped into the battle. Each step it took, light shimmered from its hooves. It leapt and charged the Dark Ones. Ron, Luna and Hermione stood back and watched with eyes wide open. There was no resistance from the demons. They had no power to fight this silvery being. It rammed their obsidian bodies time and time again. Their large bodies began to crack and wear with each charge. Like an unstoppable tidal wave they were forced backwards from where they had come. In a matter of mere moments the impossible had been done. The demon masters where fleeing into their shadowy realm. Their horrible voices silenced. Young Harry Potter stood alone in the center of hell’s garden with a smile of triumph that could melt the deepest snows of winter. His body now exhausted beyond all reason he crumpled to the ground and fell into a dreamless unconsciousness.

Angelia ran out of the shadows and headed straight to the patronus stag that had returned and awaited Harry’s command. She threw her arms around it and did something no demon had ever done before. She cried tears.

“It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I had no idea something like this even existed.”

She buried her face in its fur. Luna had lowered her wand. Hermione quickly returned to her normal self. The spell on Ron faded and he was back to being regular old Ron again. The three of them all looked at one another. Shock and surprise was the only thing found there.

A strange little voice yelled out, “What went wrong?! How did this horrible thing happen?! What have you done?!”

Necris was hovering just above the ground nearby.

“You’ll all pay for this do you hear me?! DO YOU?!”

Right behind Necris was a large beast like demon, slobbering blood from its mouth.

Angelia stood up and brushed the wetness from her cheeks.

“Eat that little worm,” she snapped angrily.

“What?” the little boy demon said with surprise.

Immediately after, the Lost One had been swallowed whole, by Harry’s old demon. The silence was kind of nice.

9. Epilogue

Epilogue

Harry felt a bit lightheaded. His eyes almost seemed glued shut. He forced them slowly open and blinked furiously as the sunlight poured into the room. The first thing he saw was Hermione sitting beside him. She had a damp cloth that she had just removed from his head; which brought the sudden realization that his head was aching quite seriously. He tried to sit up, but an overwhelming weakness flooded his limbs and he was forced to lie back down.

“Please rest Harry. You need to stay lying down.”

Harry looked around and realized that he appeared to be in a cozy hospital room of some kind.

“Where am I?”

“You’re at St. Mungos,” Hermione said firmly. “You’ve been very ill Harry. You’ve been unconscious for almost a week.”

Hermione held her hand up to her eyes. She was wiping away tears that were beginning to form there.

“You frightened us to death. You frightened me to death Harry. I thought I had lost you. I’ve been here almost day and night, waiting for you…”

With that she laid her head down on Harry’s chest and became quite serious about sobbing.

“You stupid, stupid boy! Why did you go after those death eaters?! Why?! You should have stayed at Sirius’s house like you were told. One of them saw you there and hit you with some kind of curse. They were never sure what it was. They said you might never wake up…”

Her voice became choked and she had no more words to say. Her arms were draped across Harry.

Harry suddenly realized what she was saying.

“No, no Hermione that’s not what happened at all. I… you… and Ron. You were dressed as death eaters and I killed you and then I went through the veil and died and wound up in…”

Harry stopped as he saw the sorrowful expression in Hermione’s face.

“Harry,” she said softly, “that never happened. You were the one who almost died. Ron and I have been coming here everyday to see you. You never did anything to hurt us. You’ve been lying here all this time.”

She looked down at him with a concerned look.

“It… It never happened?” Harry said incredulously. “How is that possible? How… but I know… I felt it and saw it… I finally told you how much I loved you…”

Harry realized what he had just said. He closed his mouth and stared hard out the window next to his bed.

“You did what?” Hermione asked in a strange voice.

“Nothing, I… nothing…”

“You love me?” Hermione asked with softness.

Harry began to turn a sincere shade of red. His heartbeat was racing. He reached up and placed his hand over his heart.

“It’s beating Hermione. It really is. It was all just a dream.”

“So, you don’t love me?” her voice asked in desperation.

“No, it’s just that… in my dream I was going to be lost forever and I couldn’t leave without telling you how I felt. I mean love was… it was just that, when I said it… Oh, good grief. Yes, Hermione I do love you. I thought I had killed you in my dream and I couldn’t live with myself. All I could think of was you. You were the only thing that kept me going, there in the darkness.”

Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes. Then, she softly touched Harry’s cheek with her hand.

“I… I love you too.” She began to let out a laugh of relief, “I do very much love you Harry Potter. I think I probably told you a hundred times looking down at you lying in this bed.”

Harry smiled at her, “I must have heard you. That must have been what brought me back.”

She lowered down to kiss Harry on the cheek, but Harry turned his head and caught her by surprise. There lips brushed against each other. Hermione pulled back for the briefest moment and then she closed her eyes and pressed hers against Harry’s. There mouths were ever so gentle and it flooded Harry with a tingling sensation that made him feel giddy. He raised his arm and placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her softly against him. Her mouth opened wider and her tongue gently slipped into his. Hermione’s free hand began to caress Harry’s chest and with each passing moment went lower and lower. When they both realized what was happening they quickly pulled away.

Harry felt a little silly and embarrassed, but was also immensely attracted to Hermione right now. He felt warm from his head down to his toes. Hermione was blushing furiously.

“I’m sorry Harry. I don’t know what came over me. I just felt like… well, it just sort of felt right.”

“It’s okay, I feel the same way. It’s just that we need a little time to explore this side of our… um… new and improved friendship.”

They both laughed and everything was alright again. They talked throughout the rest of the day and into the evening. They kissed and touched and then talked some more. They both thought a lot about making love, but that would come in time. Both of them also thinking, probably sooner than later, but neither was sure they should admit it.

When Ron had finally come in to take his turn to watch, he saw Harry sleeping soundly with his arm wrapped around Hermione, who was also fast asleep with a happy smile on her face. Not a moment later, Luna poked her head in and saw the same thing.

Ron felt Luna was pressing very close to him while standing in the doorway. It made him a little nervous, but he kind of liked it. He made a decision right then and there to ask her out some time. What was the worst that could happen he thought?

--- ---

Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table. It was the beginning of his sixth year and he was feeling pretty good about things. There had been some hard times the past couple of months, but he felt right at home. Hermione was leaning against him and they were holding hands under the table. What had started just a few weeks ago had become a deep and passionate new force in his life. He had never been so happy. Next to him was Ron, and he and Luna were making funny faces at each other and laughing. He was sure it would not be too much longer before they would go out on their second date and he figured that would pretty much seal the deal between them. Yes, it was going to be a very good year indeed.

The last of the students were being sorted. There were quite a few new faces this year. Harry decided he would try and take the time to get to know some of them. He sure would have enjoyed having someone older to help mentor him when he had first started. He decided that the very next Gryffindor name to be called out would be the first one he would introduce himself to.

“Angie Warrell,” McGonagall called out.

Harry tried to get a look at her, but there was too much commotion.

“Gryffindor!” announced the Sorting Hat.

The Gryffindor table gave a warm round of applause at having another student called into their ranks.

A shy, little eleven year old approached the table and promptly sat across from Harry and his friends. Harry looked at her for a moment and then extended his hand out to her.

“Welcome Angie. Glad to have you with us.”

She stood up and then shook his hand firmly and looked straight at him with a grateful smile. Harry was sure he was seeing things, but he could have sworn he saw a silver flame burning brightly in each of her eyes.