The Basin

The Basin

Summary: Harry encounters a magical place in his quest that makes him realize something that will change his life forever…and possibly save it.

Author's Note: This story holds a very different style to what I normally see written in Portkey so please, please, review and give feedback. I'm sort of skeptical about this story so please tell me how it went or at the very least read it all the way through =)

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Smoothly pushing the last vestibules of thick underbrush away, he came across a clearing in the dark woods. What he saw took his breath away.

It was overwhelmingly tranquil and had an immediate calming effect. An iridescent light shed itself upon the grass that swayed to an unfelt breeze…creating a scene so crushingly magical that it seemed criminal to intrude on it in any way. The thought to even have his wand out did not even appear in his mind, for it lay limp and pointing downwards in his awe-struck hands.

Time had stopped to exist here, it simply did not matter. So sacred was its presence it seemed as if no evil had ever entered its premises. An oak stood aged but strong in the middle of the clearing...the centerpiece of the live masterpiece before him. But where the tree was the centerpiece, the promenading feature was the brook that sprinkled the area with its babbling noises. It formed a pool of water upon the basin of the trees roots and flowed down upon the labyrinth of roots to Harry's feet. No words could describe the feeling that it aroused in him as he stood near this sacred water. Its bubbling presence along the grassy knoll brought peace to any who heard it and the odd ripples that crossed the surface beckoned with an irrevocable call of intrigue.

He reverently stepped into the clearing and began to make his way up to the great oak by following the brook…

Sudden changes wrought themselves across Harry as he soaked in the clearing's presence. All of his worries seeped away and were refilled with warm feelings of content. He had never felt such feelings as this before. He felt as though he could stay here forever…

Nightmares, deaths, mistakes, expectations, insecurities, jealousies, everything was brushed away by the overpowering glow of satisfaction.

The place was a haven in the midst of a nightmare. He knew his lean figure carried tell-tale signs of exhaustion and battle and yet this place…this place with its little pasture of swaying tall-grass, oak, and brook beckoned for him in a way family calls family. No other place could offer what was being given to him. He felt it could do anything…it could give him the happiness he was now feeling, it could shelter him from the storm outside, it could give him answers….

Harry had never before lost hold of himself but he felt himself do so here, he had never felt so at home.

Oh, to stay here forever!…he could think of nothing that could describe the utter feeling of bliss that now dominated and coursed through his body…He swam, dove, and immersed himself in the elated high he had reached. He felt his body grow lighter and his feet fleeter as he walked like a man who had not a care in the world. Never, ever, had he felt so complete…He could--

Something was missing!

His mind screamed in recognition as it registered the absence of something so incredibly huge and dominant missing that it hurt, pierced, and wracked his body…where there was once pleasure and harmony now stood a defiant beacon of pain…oh how he missed and ached for its presence! He wanted it, he needed it, he could not live with out it! Its absence created a feeling so deep that it throbbed throughout his body creating a pulse of utterly excruciating throes… He saw rather than felt his mouth angle itself into a silent scream…pain beyond pain…

He subconsciously saw himself fall to both knees, his mind, barely able to process thoughts, shouting its outcries of agonizing confusion.

What is it?!

Silence.

What am I missing?!!

Harry lay writhing on the ground, his mind throwing heart-wrenching questions to an unknown recipient. No crutacious curse ever came close to what he was feeling now. This pain…if it could even be called that…came, emerged, from a source so deep within him it scared him and threatened to scatter his wits permanently. It touched and emanated from the very roots of his being. Soon, in between the tumultuous heaves of distraught another feeling announced itself. A feeling of utter and complete sadness pierced its way through the throes and shot right into his heart. His head snapped back and his face contorted to the contours of his distraught heart.

A single, lone tear pooled itself at the edge of his eye and shot down his cheek. A glistening trail of wetness began to shimmer as the tear dripped off halfway down the cheek and morphed into the brook it fell into.

A tremor seemed to make its way up through the brook to the oak…which shivered.

Harry.

Harry's mind, barely working after the shock of so many strong emotions, just managed to notice another's presence within his mind.

Harry.

He looked up; features grimaced in near-hysteria and body taut in terror and stared straight at the unmoving figure of the great oak…standing just as it had been when he first saw it. He was still barely able to focus on anything, but the sound of another's voice within his head gave him a rock to hold onto within the tumults of his inner storm. A small sense of hope washed over him as the tree, with measured movements, bent one of its aged branches and edged him to the side of the basin. It was this action that caused him to ask, question, plea, beg for the reason he was in this state.

Harry, you are missing something…

Amidst the sporadic blank outs he was now beginning to experience Harry registered this as a known fact and asked for something more…anything…to release him..

Harry, you must realize that you seek happiness in all areas man should…even though the some of greatest elements in this earth seek for your happiness to not exist.

There is one of these contentment's that they would not dare to touch. It is the one happiness you call for more than any other… It is the one thing you have been severely deprived of, and it is also your greatest asset. But you are in danger Harry…grave danger by the makings of actions we cannot begin to decipher. By the consequences of these actions you are pushing the one thing this Happiness comes from farther and farther away. Soon, Harry, soon you shall never be able to acquire this thing that could give you true happiness. Time is running out.

Harry could only muster several connected thoughts as he took this in. What was this happiness? Where was this thing that could give it to him?! He could now feel himself gasping for breath, the weight of the storms inside him was weighing too heavily on him…taking him over…it was too much…

Look down Harry…

He slowly looked down and saw the basin of rippling water, which, surprisingly, was not reflecting himself back at him.

This is what can give you true happiness Harry, it can give you love beyond love…

A single face began to outline itself upon the now smooth surface of water.

A great wave of anxiety washed over him as its outline grew ever clearer.

A couple years ago Harry, you would have recognized this face seconds ago.

Feeling an odd sense of embarrassment and shame, Harry tried ever more harder to recognize the now colored face. It was only a couple of seconds later, when the face had about finished its evolvement that he gasped in recognition.

A couple more moments, Harry, we would have been deeply in trouble.

Harry did not register the comment, for not only had the storm within him froze, but the beautiful face of Hermione stared longingly, lovingly at him on the shimmering surface of water.

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