Chapter Three: The Runes of True Power
The Rune Circle and the lines of the nine-pointed star glowed pure silver as Dumbledore chanted. He saw the symbols on Hermione's face glow the same color. He had not told her this, but the runes he had drawn on her face were the Ancient Runes for love, friendship, trust, courage, companionship, hope, and friendship. He had not allowed her the chance to look in a mirror, and she had not asked. If she had, Dumbledore had no doubt that she would have recognized the runes, particularly the one that he had drawn on her forehead, in the exact same place where Harry's lightning bolt scar was. She had been marked with Sowilo, the rune for partnership, and next to it, Ehwaz.
He looked at Hermione now, the light from the runes illuminating her face, her eyes shut tight in concentration, mouth slightly open due to her harsh breathing as her pulse quickened. Dumbledore had had a very good reason for inviting Hermione, and not Ron, to keep Harry company this summer. Since he had brought Harry to Grimmauld Place, he had watched helplessly as Harry became more and more distant. Dumbledore could guess at what Harry was feeling, and had suspected that a Schism might happen, and if it did, Harry would need help as soon as possible. He had not told Hermione this, but the longer a person remained under the effects of a Schism, the harder it was to reunite the pieces of the scattered soul. Harry would need help, of the sort that could only be given by someone who loved him with an unselfish, unconditional love. Even if the victim and retriever being of the same gender had been a more common occurrence, Dumbledore would have still have passed up Ron as a candidate in favor of Hermione. Albus, of course, knew that of the two, Hermione was the only one who had never abandoned Harry. True, Ron had only done it once himself, but Hermione had a clean record as far as her faithfulness to Harry went.
So Dumbledore stood outside the Rune Circle and watched. Watched, as tears flowed from Hermione's eyes as the first sound of Phoenix song reached her ears. Watched as the light grew to a blinding intensity, then dimmed, revealing Hermione slumped forward, her forehead resting on Harry's so that their two runes were touching, her hands still cradling his face, both of them scarcely breathing.
Releasing the breath he had been holding, he sighed, then bent over the Scrying Glass.
*
Hermione felt like she was being whisked through a wind tunnel. Images, faces, sounds, human voices, none of which made any sense, flashed by, there one second, gone the next, only to be replaced with more. She thought she could hear Harry's voice at times, but she couldn't be sure. She felt a burning on her skin, and looking down, she could see the runes on her hands glowing like neon tattoos. She looked up, staring at the reflective surfaces of the images from Harry's mind. It was as if she was watching an ever changing TV screen, and by looking closely, she could see her own reflection superimposed over them. It was then that she noticed the symbol on her forehead. Sowilo. The last conscious thought she could remember having, was the lightning bolt on her forehead, and its meaning.
(AN: Kind of a short chapter, I know, and I may rename the title to something more fitting. Hold on a sec. Okay, I'm back, and the chapter is no longer called, "Divided Mind." That wasn't so hard now was it?)