The Apple Alder Tree: Part Five
`Do you help people to travel places?' Harry asked his fifth question of 21 questions.
`Yep' Hermione said quickly as she gripped to the back of Harry, her legs wrapped around him as he lowered them down the elevator shaft, she didn't have any idea how much further down it was going to be as she refused to look down.
`Would you be green if you were painted that colour?' Harry asked excitedly.
`Anything would be!' Hermione said shaking her head at Harry's question.
`And that's not an answer' Harry said pointedly.
`Fine…yes' Hermione said annoyed, her head was resting against Harry's back and there was probably a 500 metre drop if he let go, and his hand were still swollen red and black by burns. Because of these, not so helpful to know facts, she was admittedly a little testy.
`Are you a green Peugeot 306?' Harry asked and Hermione, and although she couldn't see his face, could almost feel the extravagant grin on his face.
`This game is no fun with you' Hermione
`I'm enjoying it' Harry said, Hermione grabbed the back of his head and faced it down as he tried to turn it round to look at her, which Hermione knew would probably send them plummeting to their deaths.
`Keep your eyes on the road' Hermione said annoyed `and you would be enjoying this game, as your pretty much cheating'
`How was I supposed to know you had never heard of a Sigarian Shafnel?' Harry asked as if he was insulted by the accusations of cheating.
`Because it was invented about a million years after I was born and is the braking system for something that was still made about a million years after I was born' Hermione said, she slammed herself for how she was acting, true this was bad for her, but it must be worse for Harry who was also supporting her weight, and her mood, all the way down here.
`Want to play again?' Harry said brightly
`I don't feel like it' Hermione said as simply and as nicely as she could.
`I'll pick something from circa 1995 this time?' Harry asked, once more brightly.
`How about we just chat for the rest of the journey?' Hermione asked, she was resting her head against Harry and she had to admit she was getting more comfortable by the second.
`That sounds good' Harry said happily `what you wanna talk about?'
`Dunno…anything' Hermione said in a non committal way.
`So…' Harry started as he thought heavily for a moment before talking like he was reading from a text book `The Sigarian Shafnel was first introduced into space travel by…'
`Anything but that!' Hermione said laughing.
`Was that a laugh?' Harry said in mock excitement `please tell me it was and that I wasn't hearing things, the last time that happened I ended up calling one of the Popes a liar, and that doesn't go down to well with the Vatican'
`Yes it was a laugh' Hermione said, the feeling of a smile forming on her lips even though she tried to stop it.
`Good to hear it' Harry said pretending to sigh with relief.
`I'm just not a fan of heights' Hermione said, hoping with all her heart that they were nearing the bottom.
`Neither am I' Harry said simply.
`But you're climbing down a very narrow and very deep shaft' Hermione asked incredulously.
`Yeah, but I'm really not enjoying it' Harry said honestly, although Hermione could tell he was also wanting to shrug at his own words.
`So how come your doing it?' Hermione asked, suddenly she was very conscious of the fact that he was carrying her.
`Because this was the only plan I could think of, and that usually means it was the only way' Harry said simply, no trace of fear in his voice.
`Don't you ever get scared at all?' Hermione asked seriously.
`Of course' Harry said honestly `but being scared is just a way for your body to warn you of any danger, and gets you ready to prepare for the problem…it wasn't created to stop you from doing something…'
He paused slightly and as he did she was suddenly shaken slightly, like a very small earth quake, and she realized that they must have hit the ground. Looking down for the first time in about fifteen minutes she saw that they had reached the floor, and she quickly jumped of Harry's back and smiled as she felt pressure against the soles of her feet.
`And the thing you're scared of usually turns out to be the least of your worries' Harry said looking at her with a smile, and she knew he was right. The whole time since Harry had told her his plan, scaling the elevator shaft was her only worry, now she looked at the door before her and realized that hundreds of the dead may be behind it, and even after that they still had to beat Mr. Bell and try and find a way to save the world. But as she thought on Harry's words they made sense, after these fearful things only new ones would sprout up to replace them, especially with the way she led her life with Harry.
`So you think more of those things are waiting for us out there?' Hermione asked, a smile on her face as she thought of the time when she would finally be able to leave this place.
`Well…' Harry started thoughtfully, tilting his head slightly `on the one hand it would seem a shame to not have someone waiting to try and kill us in case we escaped, but on the other hand they did just leave us up there assuming we'd die, so they probably view us as so inconsequential that they don't really care'
`Way to big us up!' Hermione teased nudging him slightly `you forgot that they could have started the whole killing everyone process and thus the whole station has become like that'
`They haven't' Harry said simply, turning to the doors and inserting his fingers between the crack as he tried hard to pull it open.
`How can you be so sure?' Hermione asked as she took a step closer to help him with prying it open.
`Because I would have felt it' Harry said through gritted teeth as they finally managed to open the door part of the way. Hermione peered through and saw what was still the busy, very much alive, street she had been in about an hour earlier. Sighing she grabbed the other door to Harry and prised it far enough open for the pair of them to crawl through.
`We've gotta get to the Ford Anglia' Harry said as he helped Hermione up back onto the street `you wouldn't have remembered where I parked it?'
`Don't you?' Hermione asked disbelieving which Harry just shrugged at, so she added `it was by a cash machine'
`That's not actually terribly helpful' Harry said with a smile as he pointed at the walls around, each of them plastered in cash machines. He removed his key from his pocked and flicked the alarm switch which she knew would be making the car once more visible. Hermione jumped as the door slowly appeared next to her and as Harry said brightly as he opened it `that was lucky'
Hermione stepped through after him and smiled as she stood in the vast room that had so quickly become her home. She walked up to the centre of the room and ran a hand across the beautiful chair they had bought for her, she laughed at her own thoughts as she remembered how her and Harry ran from Versailles palace carrying the chair as they were chased by guards.
Harry however was rummaging through the chest of draws he had removed when they had visited Shakespeare and had a run in with the ghost of the actor of King Richard, Harry had said that he used that cabinet so often that it was too much of a hassle summoning it every time, so he had moved it conveniently next to the pensieve.
With the chair, the cabinet and the stone basin that held peoples thoughts and helped them travel through time, the room was almost becoming like a living room.
`Fantastic!' Harry said joyously as he spun around to face her, a long wooden wand in his right hand which was gripping it tight `did you know that I'm probably the first wizard to have two wands?'
`Well you are the first for a lot of other things' Hermione said brightly, Harry had the fire burning behind his eyes again, the twinkle that told her a plan was being made, and she couldn't hide the smile on her face and didn't want to either.
`Most wizards just have the one' Hermione let out a little laugh as she saw him grin at the wand in something that looked like love, Harry, luckily, was too preoccupied to hear `and you know how many times wizards get disarmed? Practically every year! And no one ever learns from it!'
`But you did' Hermione said in mock aspiration. Harry turned and looked at her for a few seconds, a huge grin spread across his face.
`You betcha!' Harry said simply as he took her arm in his, waving it quickly over her arm, stopping the blood instantly.
`That was…' Hermione said looking at where here wound once was, now it looked exactly the same as the rest of her skin, not even a scar to tell her where it had happened.
`Brilliant' Harry finished for her as he waved it over his blistering hands, which suddenly changed like hers to perfect skin `but let's save the congratulations for later, we still have the world to save'
And with these words Harry grabbed her arm and led her back out of the Anglia and once more into the busy street, where he stopped and looked around the place for some sight of what only Harry could see.
`Anything?' Hermione asked hopefully.
`Nada' Harry said shaking his head brightly `but I already knew they weren't using any sort of power that leaves a visible signal, or at least one I can see at a glance, so I didn't really expect to find anything'
`So how are we going to find Mr Bell and Claudia?' Hermione asked a little worried.
`They'll undoubtedly find us' Harry said as he removed his wand from his pocked, his hand gripped around it ready for battle.
`Why?' Hermione said confused as she looked around, if more of the dead were going to come and try and kill them she wanted to at least see them coming.
`Because of this' Harry said simply as he raised his wand above his head, a huge bolt of green light came crashing out of his wand, much bigger than she had ever seen before, and smashed into the ceiling with a deafening roar. Flames and rubble started to fly everywhere as the explosion carried them through causing Hermione to flinch as her mind instantly flew to the people under the detonation, but as quickly as it had happened the flames and rubble stopped in mid air, perfectly still as if she was looking at a photo instead of real life. She looked at Harry and saw the concentration on his face as he stared at this, his wand pointing at it, as he spoke loudly to every single person in the room, each and every one of which who was staring at him in shock.
`Do not worry, the damage will not hurt you!' Harry shouted at the street, his voice echoing around the still room like he was in a church.
`You can't just blow things up, we work here!' a voice shouted from the back of the street, his voice angry and disbelieving.
`He can' Hermione said with a smile, remembering him doing such a thing to her old job the first time they had met.
`Now I need every one of you to get out of here, right now' Harry said loudly and confidently, walking forward towards the people who cowered slightly, his wand constantly pointed at the ceiling `you all know what is happening here, with many of your friends dying? Well Mr Bell is planning on not only doing that to all of you, but to your families and friends back home, to every single soul on Planet Earth'
`That's ridiculous!' the same voice that had spoken earlier shouted again, making Hermione wish she could kick him `Mr Bell would never kill anyone!'
`Fine! Then go and sit in your little houses, watch your memo-films and relax for the afternoon, take a well earned day off' Harry said in an even louder and angrier tone `but if you hear screaming…If you see the people next to you dying…Then you tell me what Mr Bell wouldn't do it'
At this moment some of the flames came back to life, spreading across the ceiling like it was alive, and pieces of rubble fell crashing to the ground. The crowds watched this for several moments, and then as if in complete unison like the walking dead, chaos broke out between them, each running in different directions, all either screaming or shouting as they made their way back to the protection of their homes. Within moments they had all disappeared, the doors slamming behind them, and all that was left was silence.
`That worked pretty well' Harry said brightly and with one casual flick of his wand all the flames and rubble seemed to fold in on itself and disappear.
`What now?' Hermione said, trying not to sound too impressed by his speculative piece of magic.
`We wait for Mr Bell to show up' Harry said simply as he started to walk across the room, she followed in his footsteps.
`Don't you think he'll just send a load of those dead things again?' Hermione asked as she stepped over someone's discarded hotdog.
`We really ought to work out a proper name for them' Harry said chuckling as he carried on walking towards a large window `so far they've been walking dead, dead things, and the dead…it'll make us look unprofessional in front of Bill Bell'
`Good idea' Hermione said with a smile, she loved Harry's way of making light of the situation `how about…zombies?'
`Love it!' Harry said brightly as he turned his head to smile at her `anyway, not a chance he'll just send zombies… He knows that I have a functioning wand again'
`But he knew that before and it didn't seem to bother him at all' Hermione pointed out, but Harry only laughed at this.
`I was trying to do the right thing before!' he said laughing, obviously at his own mistake `what i used against him before was an incredibly low levelled stunning spell, just enough power to freeze him for a few moments so I could regain control of the situation'
`And what's different this time?' Hermione asked curiously, she had looked out at the window that was just metres from them and realized that was where she had first seen the world. She shook her head as that memory seemed so long ago.
`Well I used incredibly strong magic' Harry said happily `the Avada Kedavra curse, not a pleasant one at all, but incredibly powerful…and a suspension charm powerful enough to stop all of that was, if I many say so myself, rather impressive…and for the final piece of trying to get noticed, and trust me when I say this one definitely grabbed his attention, I sent all of that into the void'
`Sent it into the void?' Hermione said quickly `like you did the ghost of the actor?'
`Yeah' Harry said smiling `same place, slightly different spell for a phantom to an object'
`But what exactly does sending something to the void mean?' Hermione asked interestedly.
`Another time maybe' Harry said dismissively, he was now looking away from her and at the door `Mr Bell is coming'
Hermione readied herself, mentally and physically, for his arrival because however confident Harry was of the lack of zombies to arrive, she had to be ready in case. Harry stood still, his wand clenched in his hand which was lowered to his side as the elevators opened before them, allowing Mr Bell to walk confidently into the room, a smile on his face and his cream suit looking as pristine as humanly possible.
`It looks like I underestimated you' Mr Bell said in a friendly manner as he walked straight up before the pair of them, extending his hand once more which neither of them took `rudeness is a sin… but I guess I'll have to forgive you, seeing as I tried to have you killed just a little earlier'
`How gracious of you' Harry said sarcastically. Mr Bell stopped mid-step and examined them closely for a few seconds, before carrying on his walk before them, back and forth continuously.
`Of course I've heard the stories of you' Mr Bell said offhandedly `but I admit I thought you were a myth'
`What do you mean?' Harry asked puzzled.
`We are Apple' Mr Bell said with a broad smile `we own, in one form or another, every piece of information that has ever been written, spoken or thought. The traveller and his companion, appearing throughout time, never staying for any real amount of time in anyone place'
`What else have you heard?' Harry said with a broad smile of his own `hopefully of what happens to those that cross me'
`Naturally, but even if I hadn't the fact that you was stood before me would tip me of on the outcome' Mr Bell said dismissively, before a little flicker of a smile made its way over his lips `Death seems to follow you everywhere you go, Harry Potter… And not just to your enemies either, but to complete strangers, and even your friends'
`While murder follows you' Harry said forcing himself to return the mans smile through gritted teeth, his hand was clenched even harder around the wand in a similar way to a man clenching his fist for a fight.
`Same thing' Mr Bell said waving his hand `they die because of you, they die because of me'
`That is not the same thing' Harry said annoyed `not even close'
`Do you think the people who's deaths you're responsible for see it that way?' Mr Bell asked curiously, his eyebrow lifting as he asked the question.
`I…' Harry stammered out in confusion.
`I see' Mr Bell said nicely `but this isn't important now, your business is your business…and my business, is mine…'
`I don't think so' Harry said with a real smile coming on his face.
`I thought you might say that' Mr Bell said sadly, before his eyes shot straight onto Harry's `let's see if I can't convince you otherwise…ask me anything and I'll do my utmost best to answer'
`Ok…' Harry said `how are you doing this?'
`Haven't you worked it out yet?' Mr Bell said with a disbelieving chuckle `what does everyone who's been affected have in common, actually what does every human on Planet Earth… have… in common'
Harry looked at him for a few seconds before he nodded and sighed.
`It's' so obvious!' Harry said smiling `they even plug it into their ears! And you've made it at the heart of everything anyone could want to do… music, film, information, even banking!'
`The ipod is a truly great invention' Mr Bell said with a slimy smile as he looked at him.
`And through what Hermione hear knows as an incredible advanced Bluetooth you can send any information…or electronically created disease…you want' Harry said, his voice sounded slightly impressed.
`I see the myth isn't too wrong about you' Mr Bell said, running his hand over his suit to rid it of the excess grease and sweat from his skin.
`But I still don't get why you would be killing everyone' Harry said in disgust `money is a motive, but not really for this scale of genocide'
Mr Bell looked at Harry for a few moments, and ran hand through his greasy hair, his eyes weighing Harry up as if he wondered if Harry was worth telling. Eventually he took a step towards the window.
`Look out through the window before you' Mr Bell said softly as he pointed to his left. Hermione glanced out over it and saw the planet for the second time, this time the sun had moved around and now she could see everything, the outline of every single continent, the huge new cities peppering the globe, the cloud formations that floated above the ground, and every single thing looked beautiful `what do you see?'
`Planet Earth' Harry said coldly, his eyes not moving from Mr. Bell's face the whole time.
`And do you know what I see?' Mr Bell said with a sad little smile `a world in crisis, the last final stage of human life, unless I can stop it'
`What do you mean?' Hermione spoke up quickly and confused.
`My poor girl' Mr Bell said calmly `don't you understand, the human race is dying, were no longer the centre of life, we're not even on the rim of activity anymore. Every year that passes more and more business goes to other planets, to New Earth and the United Planets of America, thirty billion people and not even the industry to support a sixth of that many, and with every passing decade life expectancy goes up. People nowadays may retire at 165, but their living past 200! Governments are forced to create jobs for the jobless, care for the elderly, train the youth, heal the sick, because otherwise there would be war and too much blood shed for our civilization to allow to happen'
`But what has this got to do with you?' Hermione asked in disbelief.
`How do you think Apple bought the banks and governments of this planet?' Mr Bell asked with sorrow in his words `the system was ran into the ground, and all that made even the slimmest profit was owned by us…they had no where else to turn, and we in part took on the responsibility of running this world, of saving humanity'
`And you're doing that by murdering thirty billion souls?' Harry said nastily as he looked at Mr Bell in disgust.
`You see it all wrong' Mr Bell said shaking his head in annoyance at Harry's tone `we're setting them free, we're taking away a demand for jobs, taking pressure of the economy, of society!'
`And Apple benefit how?' Harry said snidely before adding `I'm guessing it involves profit'
`Of course it does!' Mr Bell said excitedly `with the resources we will have we can finally compete in all sectors! In development of science, of manufacturing, on every single thing as we have no outgoings at all! We would save planet Earth from bankruptcy!'
`But who are you saving it for if their all dead?' Hermione asked, her heart beating as she looked down at the world, imagining she could see every person whose life could soon be over.
`Why do you think they can still walk, and do things?' Mr Bell said in annoyance `their as dead as the dodo right now, but we could still bring them back…once things have got better'
`That technology is millions of years away' Harry said shaking his head, his voice had lost some of the anger but not all of it as he thought over Mr Bells words.
`Our other plan is that we could clone them' Mr Bell said quickly `bring them back exactly as they were the second death took them, tell them it's the same year, they would never know and humanity would live again, only this time with a future'
`But the society would be based on murder!' Hermione said shaking her head angrily.
`Every society since the Romans has been based on it, so why not ours?' Mr Bell said as he shrugged his shoulders.
`All you'd be doing was repeating the mistakes of history, basing a world of peace on war and death is destined to fail' Hermione said eagerly, the whole idea he had put forward chilled her bones.
`Why not ask your friend what she thinks' Mr Bell said simply to Harry.
`I think I've made myself very clear!' Hermione said, very annoyed at being talked about as if she wasn't there.
`Not you' Mr Bell said with a wave of his hand, and straight after the door next to them opened and in walked Claudia, perfect in her suit as if nothing had happened.
`Claudia!' Harry said in shock at the woman before him `you're alive!'
`Of course she is' Mr Bell said dismissively `I said I didn't like traitors, not that I killed them!'
`Mr Bell has explained every thing to me' Claudia said, looking at Mr Bell with a smile.
`Oh how very 1984' Hermione said rolling her eyes.
`It all makes sense' Claudia said stepping up to Harry and placing a hand softly on his chest `the world is heading for a fall, and only we can save it'
`But…' Harry started but Claudia interrupted him, her other hand moving up and stroking along his neck.
`Harry, you're a genius…' Claudia spoke the words softly `you know this is the only way to save the Earth…it's our last chance'
Harry looked at her for a long time, juts breathing and staring, and Hermione knew he must be thinking up some sort of amazing plan to save the world, it was what Harry did best. She looked down at the world, and she knew that they would be able to rest easy for the future, her hero was here to save them. She turned her head to look at Harry, who was still in deep concentration, and for some reason she couldn't quite place his eyes made her feel uneasy.
`I…' Harry started and with just that one word, dread had engulfed her `I know'
`You can't be serious!' Hermione yelled at Harry, stomping her foot in disbelief.
`Hermione…' Harry started softly `I know what problems Earth will have, I know how many of them will lose their lives, and I know how pointless their deaths will be… if I could save not only one life, but the lives of all those billions…'
`By killing them?' Hermione said, her mouth agape as Harry looked down at her, worry and fear flushing his eyes.
`You know me Hermione' Harry spoke softly `if there is another way, I don't' kill…'
`But there must be another way' Hermione said angrily `what horrors in the future can be so bad to warrant two billion deaths?'
`Just one thing' Harry said, a small tear in his eye as he looked out at the world through the mirror `The war to end all wars'
*
Ok, that's chapter 18!!! Anyone who's interested, I've just reached the 70,000 word point! Hurray for me! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story, and the conclusion to this chapter is next…
By the way, the reads suddenly dropped last chapter, has anyone got an idea why? I mean they've read 16 chapters then stopped? That just strikes me as weird? Any theories will be very helpful (weirder and more wonderful the better as then I can steal them for a future adventure for the duo! Lol)
Til next time…
Jms Granger.
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