Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 17: The Beginning of The End (Part III)

Round 3: Hermione X Herself

Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once.

Lately it doesn't seem to be working.

-- Anonymous

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Look at me

You may think you see

Who I really am

But you'll never know me

Every day It's as if I play a part

Now I see If I

wear a mask I can fool the world

But I cannot fool my heart

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside

I am now

In a world where

I Have to hide my heart

And what I believe in

But somehow I will

show the world

What's inside my heart

And be loved for who I am

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me

Why is my reflection

Someone I don't know

Must I pretend that I'm

Someone else

For all time

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside

There's a heart that must be free to fly

That burns with a need to know the reason why

Why must we all conceal

What we think

How we feel

Must there be a secret me

I'm forced to hide

I won't pretend that

I'm Someone else

For all time

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside

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SOMEWHERE (or, in this case, NOWHERE)

It was all white.

Whiteness without end. Without beginning.

She was out of tune. The only thing in disaccord with that place -- if you could call that a place, at all - was Hermione. She had no idea where she was? Or how did she get there in the first place? She had been in the balcony, checking on her books for the spell Snape asked when -- The Unicorn…The last thing she saw was that unicorn on the horizon, the unicorn had wings and its color was… and now…

And now she had no idea where she is. It was really strange. She had her fair share of places she had been transported without previous consent but nowhere -- nowhere have ever been so strange like this nowhereness.

Nor that empty.

"Hello."

Hello. Hello. Hello.

Her words came back in echo.

"Is anybody here?"

Is anybody here? Is anybody here? Is anybody here?

"I'm here."

Hermione turned around and gasped in shock.

She was looking at herself, but it was not a reflection into a mirror, for her clone was not barefoot, wearing worn pajamas, face dirty from smoke, and a hair that looked like she had been inside a tornado.

On the contrary, the other Hermione looked like a Goddess, wearing a glittering white dress, her chestnut brown hair falling down her back forming perfect curls. Her whole being seemed to irradiate.

Hermione blinked. This was so not happening. She got it. She was in a dream. She must have gotten asleep while she was reading because God knew she hadn't slept a wink these past couple of days and -- That must be it! She was in one of those weird dreams when you talk with yourself in a mass of white…everybody have those, right?

Good. Now that she knew that was a dream all she had to do was to wake herself up….

Close her eyes and…

Nope. Nothing happened. She was still there so -

Oh, Merlin…she was not dreaming. She was dead. That was it. Harry broke the spell and the world just puff just like that… and well Heaven is just a little whiter than she thought but ….

Hey, had she became an angel?

Wait. That still didn't answer the fact that there was two Hermiones.

So perhaps she is not dead after all. Perhaps that was a Hermione from the future coming to tell her a way to make everything better. Although if she is dressing herself like that in the future things must have turned up all right…I mean if she is still alive things couldn't really be that bad…

'Unless I am still alive because somehow Harry is still under the spell. Destroying the rose must have done the trick, Harry will never remember. If I am here to remember myself how stupid I was to left the rose behind I should have come a little earlier, don't you think, Hermione Jane Granger?'

Right. So what is going on here? What is this place? Who is s --

Hermione's internal rambling were interrupt as she noticed the other Hermione moving dangerously close.

Hermione stepped back carefully as she voiced her last question. "Wh-Who are you?"

The Hermione in White chuckled at the restraining figure before her and at the question she made. "Why, are you really so afraid of yourself?" she asked softly.

Hermione just stared at her.

"I see. You are afraid you have changed. That they have changed you. Don't fear though. You have nothing to fear. People change…it's in their nature. Sometimes they got better. Sometimes worse. Sometimes it's the same as it is with a larva that suddenly changes into a butterfly. However, most of the time people don't even realize they are changing…it's like a rock…You may not notice…But it is always changing. 'Cause that world is in a constant change…"

"But again, you have nothing to fear. On the contrary, they should fear you." The Hermione in White was now slowly circling around our Hermione. "One word. Just a simple word and you can end this all. You know it, don't you? Of course you do. You can feel it; in ever fiber of your being…That's why you fear yourself…"

The Hermione in White leaned on, getting her lips so close to Hermione's ears that she could feel her hot breath on her neck. "That's why you fear yourself everytime you hear his name", she whispered in Hermione's ears, "Voldemort…"

Hermione winced. A single tear rolled down as she closed her eyes…

"Yes…we should all fear you, Keeper."

Hermione's eyes opened widen at the last word that come from the other she. She narrowed her eyebrows. "What did you say? What did you just call me?"

Hermione frowned. "You are one of them, aren't you? You are a Guardian."

The Hermione in White smiled, circling her index finger, a soap bubble from the size of a basketball ball took form on the air. She blew the bubble away…and that one bubble becomes two…two became three…three become four…

And soon seven bubbles surrounded Hermione.

The Hermione in White pointed to one of the bubbles. There, Hermione saw a huge explosion of stars. Then, she saw the oval image of the planet.

"When this world you call Earth was created…We Guardians were born, created by the same source, from the same essence."

The seven bubbles glowed. Hermione saw in each bubble a different creature. Even from those projections she could feel their powerful auras pulsating. The Turtle bubble became yellow. The Phoenix's was surrounded by a red flame. The Tiger was emerged in an orange glow. The Unicorn's horn emitted a violet energy. The Dragon was covered by an Indigo mist. The Toad held a blue aura. The Serpent shined in green.

"You are the unicorn?" It was more a statement than a question.

The Guardian slightly nodded. "Yes and No. I don't really have a form. These images you see are just the way the old tribes represented us. That's the form we choose to show…it's simple and familiar to Elves, Centaurs and every other being that have crossed this land…But more then once we took other forms. We can be basilisks, cats, men, women, or just a mirror that claims to show people what they desire...

"And sometimes we just let you chose our forms…One when looking at us can see his heart, his mind, his soul, his fears…"

Hermione stared silently at the guardian that looked just like her. She sighed. "Why did you call me 'Keeper'? Why do you Guardians reefer to me as that?"

"Why did you call me Guardian?"

"Because that's what you are."

"I'm One of the Seven. Guardian is just one of the many names I have in your World. But in truth, I don't have a name. I don't need one. You can use for us the pronouns He, She, IT… It doesn't really matter because we are not really anyone or anything…at least not something you can name."

"You still have not answered my question."

The Guardian's smile faded. "That's the problem with you humans. You are always searching for answers. Always wanting to know the why."

"And what is wrong with that?"

"Everything..." The Guardian looked into Hermione's eyes. After a pause, she said, "Why do you keep pretending, Keeper? You know the answer. You have always known the answer."

Silence.

"We call you Keeper because isn't this what you are? You are the Keeper of the Truth. You are the Keeper of his Heart. You are the reason he is still there. You keep the Warrior in that World -Oh, and before you ask: Yes. We call him Warrior because he is always fighting his destiny. A true Warrior, you might say."

"And what is his destiny? Is he one of you? Is he a Guardian?

"A Guardian? No. Of course not. He is above us."

"So, who is he?"

"He is The One."

"Oh, right, now it's all explained. And here I was thinking that Keanu Reeves was The One," she said, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows in a defiant way.

"Keaunu Reeves?" The Guardian frowned as she gazed at Hermione and then her features reflected understanding. "Oh, I get it. It is supposed to be a joke, right? You humans have a really peculiar behavior," she said smiling.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly...you know what, I don't have time for this. So, unless you start giving me some significant answers about Harry, chant the spell I've been searching and start telling me where the hell you brought me you better send me back to Malfoy's because, you see, I'm kind of a little busy trying to save the world."

The Guardian again just smiled softly at her. "I, together with the other Guardians, am a part of this world. And this world is a part of us. One can not exist without the other."

"Yes, I am aware of that. There are some old texts and prophecies about you, mostly written by the centaurs. Dumbledore showed some of them to Harry in our sixth-year. That's why dealing with Nagini was always an issue. Killing her would mean --"

"Killing her would mean giving her exactly what she had been seeking," The Guardian concluded for her. "For millenniums we Guardians kept the balance of this world…What can I say, dinosaurs were easier to take care off…the Elves were a kind people that always lived in harmony to this world…as it was with all the other races that lived in this earth, even demons were easy to deal with…but then…then came the humans…The moment they stepped in this world I knew we would have problems….I never understood why someone out there would create such a specimens….so complex…perhaps too much complex."

As the Guardian kept talking to Hermione, the images in the bubbles kept changing…

"Yes, your kind has always had very strong feelings, and a witty mind…They had everything…In the beginning, all human beings held magic within them…the truth is that they still do…But well --"

"What happened?"

"A lot happened. Your kind is never satisfied…they want more, they always want more."

"More what?"

"Life."

Silence.

"And to have more life…they began taking the life of others…they consumed all magical herbs…put down the oldest trees. Then, they killed banshees, so death don't come to them, they killed unicorns and dragons after their blood, they hunt phoenixes after their tears…they imprisioned the elves, stealing their magical secrets and slaving them so the elves could do the hard job for them while they 'lived' their lives…losing themselves in feasts and rituals to increase their magic…"

"And you did nothing to stop this?"

"All creatures of this world have the right of free will. We can only guide them. And we tried to guide, to show them the way but they didn't listen. We tried to call the others but somehow their fear of the human power became greater than their faith in us, in what was beyond us. All we could do was our best to keep the balance…and that's how we spent centuries, investing all our powers to fix what humans actions kept destroying, until…

"Until they came after us. They wanted what we had. A power beyond. Immortality."

"Like V-Like You-Know-Who."

"Yes, like Voldemort." The guardian watched Hermione closely as she flinched at his name. "In a mater of fact, like must of your kind, even the non-magical ones. Power had become money. Immortality had become fame…"

The guardian sighed. "It happened a long time ago…

Hermione stared at the bubbles as the images of contemporary history like Chiefs of Estates' speeches, Wars and Pop Stars were slowly been replaced by the images of a giant Serpent being attacked by hundreds of men wearing dark cloaks…

"They tricked us…They called for our protection and …and when we answered….One of us. They got One of the Seven. Of course, they couldn't kill him. No human hold this power. But that didn't stop them from trying. And the damage was done. In the end they couldn't take away his essence but something worst happened…He was infested by their essence. Feelings…He could feel. And that hurt him. And that hurt the planet. He was consumed by feelings of rage and revenge. He attacked the humans …He - the balance was broken…

Hermione had her eyes fixed at the bubbles, perplexed at the massacre playing on them. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"Stop her? Why? He was One of the Seven. One of us."

"But Nagini become Evil…"

"Evil? Good? There's no right or wrong for us. We don't see things like you do. We don't have these human feelings. These stupid concepts of right and wrong, bad and good that you lived upon. We are only here to keep the balance. The rest is your problem. You were the ones who broke the rules…who wanted more when so much had already been given to you. Your kind were just paying the price of their choices…"

Hermione was crying. "I can't believe in this. I can't believe you just - And what about the balance…doesn't this break your precious balance…Isn't this…this genocide, somehow, against, I don't know, the Rules of the Universe? I mean, who wrote these rules, anyway? The Devil Himself?"

The Guardian smiled sadly at her. "There's nothing we as guardians could do. Killing the one you call Nagini would mean killing ourselves, taking down the rest of this world with us. Besides, a Guardian doesn't have the power to kill another Guardian…only a Force from Beyond could do this…And in the end, a Force from Beyond came."

"Harry?"

"No. Not the Warrior. Although they come from the same place."

"You are not going to tell me, are you? You are not going to tell me what exists beyond this world?"

"Even if I try, you would not understand. You humans don't want the truth. Not really. Not if this truth goes against the beliefs you have built to yourselves. You like to be fooled, mislead because you are simply not ready to see truth that is right in front of your eyes…As long as you keep asking Who? What? When? How? Why? You will never be able to understand that there's nothing to understand. That it doesn't make sense. That simply is."

Hermione sighed; she stared back at the bubbles. She watched as the giant serpent keep hunting humans. Hermione listened and watched. It was like a movie. One she could not describe the genre.

Hermione learned how Nagini was stopped before. How another Guardian had been sacrificed by The Force so the inevitable ending was postponed. It was all very simple but at the same time so complicated and…surreal that Hermione was having a hard time to digest all the information. All that story was giving her a headache.

But she understood. At least she thought she did, most of it. If The Force from Beyond killed Nagini, it would be the end. So, instead, The Force imprisoned it. But the balance had to be maintained, and that was why a Guardian fell into slumber as his aura kept Nagini's aura from emerging to the surface. And the remaining Guardians could reestablish the balance.

Hermione watched as the image of a white dragon sleeping peacefully adorned one of the bubbles and a sudden thought crossed her mind, making her interrupt the story she was told one more time.

"The Dragon? The Dragon was the one who…But I was attacked by The Dragon Guardian.

He attacked my family! He…He was not white. He was Dark. And I don't only mean about colors here."

"Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus"

Hermione stared at the Guardian. She knew that words. She had heard them before. She had read them before.

"But this -- This is Hogwarts' motto. Never tickles a sleeping Dragon. What does this mean? Did the - Do you mean the Four Founders knew about this? They knew about the Dragon and--" Hermione paused. "Oh God, have there ever been four founders, or they were just you…just you and your friends playing with us"

"What do you think?"

"What do I think? I just don't know what to think anymore…You are here telling me a story that goes against… everything that I knew…that I was told."

"There's a lot of truths in these "THINGS" you were told. Not everything is a lie. It's just that you humans tend to change the history somehow, you like to add things to make it more beautiful or spicier than it already is, or you just leave certain events behind, hiding your own mistakes, choosing to forget what you can't understand. Well, I could say that your books are full of metaphors….still, you can find a lot of truth in them."

The Guardian told her all about how humans were almost extinct when the balance was broken and magic turned their back on them. But even though the Forces from Beyond have punished them from their sins in such a way, the "Force" still told the Guardian to watch them from afar. And how time passed by and humans had forgotten that the Guardians have ever existed. Nonetheless, they kept going, kept writing their own history…

"And that, that was amazing, you know. That's what makes you all humans special…"

Hermione was even more confused…if that's was possible…What did she mean with humans writing their own story? And what about all the "Destiny Talk"? She tried to argue about that with the Guardian, but the Guardian as usual had been very enigmatic and refuse to explain her what she meant…

"Of course, there is FATE. But what or perhaps I should say WHO Fate is is something that goes beyond your dictionary concepts. Her actions and purposes are far away from your limited comprehension," had been the only comment the Guardian had made on the subject. And that ...er...just let Hermione more lost in thought...and in this way she stayed as the guardian kept talking and talking...telling her things that she could no longer hear , no longer process...it was just too much at once.

"And then, and then The Powers Beyond decided to give you one more chance. They started sending Messengers - Merlin, for instance, was a Messenger"

Hermione who was still pretty much lost was startled and brought back by reality as the last words of the guardian "Wait. Wait. Hold on a second. Honestly, you can't mean that Merlin, that that Merlin is involved in all of this. He isn't, is he?"

"Messengers are humans just like you but they are born under the protection of powerful stars, with whom we would be allowed to speak and guide so they could guide the others…. The messengers were there to remind your kind that magic exists…all kind of magics... they are not necessary wizards, in fact, most of them were born outside the magical world..."

"Why can't you just really answer my question for once?"

"Do you want me to go on with the story or not?"

Hermione shrugged as she turned and looked at the Guardian. "I don't even know why you are telling me all of this."

The eyes of the Guardian twinkled. "No. Of course you don't. You think he is the only one who has forgotten something, still you have forgotten just as much...You have forgotten all your past lives."

"Past lives? What do--"

"Follow me."

Before Hermione could protest she felt a nauseating sensation, something close to Apparating but even worst.

*************************************

So this is who I am,
And this is all I know,
And I must choose to live,
For all that I can give,
The spark that makes the power grow

Immortality
There is a vision and a fire in me
I keep the memory of you and me, inside
And we don't say goodbye
We don't say goodbye
With all my love for you
And what else we may do
We don't say, goodbye

******************************************

In a blink Hermione saw herself in the middle of a battlefield. Explosions, smoke, corpses on the ground, demons and werewolves attacking...

Percy?

Hermione yelled as a demon was about to jump on her bestfriend's brother. But Percy hasn't moved...he hasn't even looked into her direction. It was like he hasn't even heard her.

She watched atonished as Percy strungled to get rid of the beast. She reached for her wand but ...she had forgotten that it had no use. Throwing it away she did the only thing she could think of, she run to help her friend with her bare hands...

Only...

None of her punches hit the beast...

Hermione felt herself going numb when she saw herself passing through the demon and Percy like she was a ghost...

"You can't help him."

Hermione looked up, her eyes finding themselves as she stare at the Guardian. "Why not?"

"What you are seeing is what is happening at this moment in your world. But you are not there."

"So where am I?"

"We are in the between. Nowhere is where you are."

"I don't understand. Why this? Why the Ministry?" Hermione glanced at Percy as another Unspeakables came to his rescue, throwing potions on the werewolf. "Why do you want me to see this?" She looked down at injured Aurors, Unspeakables, Ministry workers, fighting for their lives. "Is it to make me feel guilty like Dumbledore tried to do the last time? I tell you what, it will not work. This is not my fault. Nor is Harry's. You were just puppets in your grand scheme of things. This is your fault. You, that slytherin serpent, that fake cat of mine and the rest of your Guardian Gang., you had the power to stop all of this and still you chose to watch."

"I don't think you have understood what we are. We are not Gods. We are Guardians. And watching is what Guardians do. It was because we tried to do more than watching that we are trapped in this cycle...The Warrior should have only watched it too, but he chose to change your fates and unlike us he had the power to do so..."

The Guardian turned, disappearing through the wall.

"Wait!" Hermione followed her. Once more she felt that strange sensation when she crossed the wall. And a new feeling emerged whe she saw where she stood. A room, lots of doors...She recognized the place from her fifth year...not really what one would call a fond memory.

"A long time ago...not as long as before...but still very long, someone freed The Lost Guardian from its prison... He was one of Merlin's pupil and his real name was long forgotten..."

"When Merlin saw his dreams of a perfect land ruined, his earthy journey was almost ending, he was travelling to the West, to the Nadir Gates where he was told he should deposit the Sword forged by the Twelve."

"The Sword forged by the Twelve? You don't mean - Excalibur?"

The guardian smiled softly, "The Sword was forged by the auras of The Twelve Forces from Beyond, sent to boy ...who became a man...who, in the end, forgot his mission...he stopped listening the messages we sent through Merlin. It was too much power in the hands of a human...but he was not the first nor would be the last to be consumed by power. He was killed by the blade of the same Sword."

"In his way to the Nadir Gates, Melin passed trough a village that have been under a violent attack...there he found a boy, the only survivor...a boy who had lost everything he held dear. Merlin sensed a great magic coming from that boy...it was clear to him that it was this magic that save the boy's life. He saw that as a sign...a sign that not everything was lost...and that magic could still find its way in that world. He had taken the child under his wings and taught him how to use that magic, he told him the old stories, the true stories. Told him about us. About another Worlds, another Dimensions...Merlin never made to the Nadir Gates. He never returned the Sword."

"Why not?" asked a still more than confused Hermione.

"The sword held too much power. It's very difficult to even the purest of the souls to let a power like that go... The truth is that deep down he saw in that boy a new chance, a chance to bring a better world back....he thought he would had more time, but he didn't. As I said to you, messengers are human, and as any other humans their time in this land is short. Merlin spent his last years teaching all he knew to that kid and doing that he disobeyed our orders, he lost his way..."

"The kid was no longer a boy but not yet a man when Merlin died. As his last wish Merlin asked his pupil to fulfill his mission, find the way back to the Nadir Gate and send the Sword back to the ones who had made it. But, the young man once again saw himself alone, once again he had lost everything he held dear. Death took all he loved and Death he swore he would defeat. He had the sword, so he thought , 'Why not use it?'

"So, instead of going to the West we went to North...where Merlin told him an Immortal being was imprisoned... He made a deal with the Lost Guardian, he would free him if he gave him the power to deafeat Death."

The Guardian stopped her long report of history...and walked to one of the doors...opening it.

"What happened?" Hermione asked as the silence of the Guadian became to much to bear.

The Guardian crossed the room and opened another door before she said, "He went to the cave where the White Dragon slept and used the powers of the Sword to wake up him, freeing the Lost Guardian. However, as soon as he did, the boy realized his mistake... as he felt the black aura of the Lost Guardian surround him, he felt the Guardian's dark intentions... He immediately tried to undo what was done....and -"

Hermione waited, holding her breath, to hear the rest of the story as the Guardian opened another door.

"We received orders to intervene...One of us descend down there and helped the young man...the Dragon was put back into slumber and the Serpent was back to its prison."

"What about the man?"

"The Serpent had bitten him...giving him a part of his essence, giving him the immortality he seeked, and also giving him emptiness, he became void, emotionless..."

"In my opinion we should have let him like that but he did see he had made mistake...in the end, he had said no and that granted him part of his life back. One of the Seven gave him part of his essense to neutralize, at least , in part, the essesnce og the Serpent and so this man became a half-man, a half human. He would grow old but never die, he would want love but never fell it...He would live his life in the seach of redemption. He used to curse death...now he seekes it...he earnes to live the next great adventure."

"Dumbledore..." Tears rolled down on Hermione's face. "You are talking about Dumbledore, aren't you? Fawkes was the Guardian that come to help him and...But this - I mean I read all about him on so many books, I even - I met his brother."

"As I said his real name was forgotten a long time ago. Though the centuries, the Old Wizard had many names, told many stories. He probably feels very lonely so, sometimes, he likes to play many parts at the same time. He can be his whole family... because in the end he has none." And that said, the Guardian opened the seventh door.

Hemione saw a glimpse of the black veil though this last door and shivered all over.

"What are you looking for...Why are we here?"

The Guardian sighed.

"As you have guessed already, Hogwarts was built above the cave The Lost Guardian was trapped."

"The Chamber of Secrets."

"Yes, you were really creative when it come to names and bloody stories...Poor Slytherins...Anyway, we knew Tom Marvollo Riddle was destined to something...bad , as you would say. We even sent the old Wizard to Hogwarts to keep one eye on him. Only, the one you call Nagini as a Guardian have access to the same information we had and...used this in her favor..."

"She lured Tom to the Chamber and well, he kind of freed her..."

"But how...I mean, you said Dumbledore went to the Dragon and used the Sword--" Hermione pause abruptly, she bit her lower lip as she frowned deeply. "The Sword...when Voldemort's wand joined Harry's...Oh My Gosh...You split the sword in two...why didn't you just send it back? Why didn't you just destroy it?"

"It takes Twelve Supreme beings to destroy that Sword. Giving it to another human to take it to The Nadir Gates was out of question after the last failures. The best we could do was split its power and change its form, hidden it from the humans eyes...two phoenix feathers held the Power of The Twelve. Still, we did not foresee what was going to happen, the sword's power would remain asleep until the parts were joined again and even so only One of The Twelve who had forged it could do it... We have never thought --"

"Harry," Hermione whispered sadly. "The scar connects him to You-Know-Who..it gives him access to his powers."

"In the end, these feathers became wands...how one of this wands ended up in Tom hands is something that only the stars aligment can explain... A wand was enough to free The Lost Guardian and curse mankind forever...nonetheless, The White Dragon was still sleeping, still protecting your world in his dreams. Nagini created Voldemort...a Voldemort worst than the one he should have been, a more powerful one... But if that teenager wanted power, Nagini wanted destruction. So, she started messing up with what was written..."

"Neville Longbottom was the chosen one. The Boy Who Lived. But with Nagini's interverence he would also be The Boy Who Would Fail," the Gaurdian's voice reverberated in echoes.

Hermione looked around her. All the doors were opened, all except one.

"Mankind would suffer for years at the hands of the Dark Lord. But in the end, it was decided that was the price you had to pay...the price for your greedy."

"You would condemn all mainkind because of one man's mistake?"

The Guardian stared into Hermione's eyes, brown meeting brown. "Are you sure it's only one man's mistake?"

Hermione didn't have an answer.

The Guardian's eyes twinkled. "But, of course, The Warrior was against it, said you had already paid enough. He didn't believe that more suffering could achieve anything... He said the fault was not yours. It was ours. He went against His. He chose to intervene...He chose to be born on this era, as the seventh month dies so he could change your fates without really going against what Fate had written in the stars."

"He new the Lost Guardian would sense his presence and sent Voldemort straight to him, instead of the real destined one. It's all nagini had been waiting for...a power that could kill her...and destroy the world with her. When Voldemort attacked The Warrior would end up with him as the stars said. The Power the Dark Lord Knows not. A Power from Beyond. His own essence. A small twist into an old prophecy and everything would be fine."

"The Warrior believed that when Voldemort killed the little infant that carried his mighty soul, his aura would be released and Voldemortr would not stand a chance against the intensety of it, he would perish as well. However, coming as a human prove to be his worst mistake."

"Harry Potter should never been born. Lily and James Potter were not to have a child. That was not written. The Warrior rewrote their fates, gave them a few more years of life so he could come to this world as the child of those who have thrice defied him."

"He was still himself. Still the One. But, but as human he was open to human feelings....The Potters showed to him something he didn't know...They loved him too much...they gave to him all their love so he could survive... Then, when Voldemort Avadra Kedrava him...He lost it, he lost control of himself. All that love and hate together, were too much emotions to him...

"In the end, he didn't die as he had planned. Nor did Voldemort. And something even worst had happened...Voldemort had gained a part of his essence, a part from Beyond, and...and he had gained a part of Voldemort's...the human part."

"He became too much human...He forgot who He was...We told The Old Wizard to let him with the Potters only living relatives... I'm not sure if your world should curse or thank the Durleys. ...his non-magical family...Family? Like he was one of yours...it's just we didn't know what to do...No answer come from Beyond."

"He has failed but we thought we could still try and fix it...He grew up in a home without love... which protected him in a way...without human emotions...his powers would stay locked within...still it was too much power too a little human boy... That's when we gave him the glasses...He never really need it...his blurred vision was in fact him seeing the truth beyond the lies of the human life....the magic energy that surrounded this word..."

"The glasses carried a part of ours souls...the souls of the remnant Five of The Seven Guardians...the soul of this world... It connected us to him...It stopped him from opening the wrong doors, the ones that would bring us all to an end...Yet...when we connected us to him we became vulnerable to humans feelings...we felt what he felt...we spoke the language he spoke...and this, this vulnerability made my friends intervene, when they shouldn't...they began to care too much...they have chosen a side...they have fought for you."

"You...like things weren't bad enough...the worst thing ever imagined happened. He fell in love with you."

"All he had to do was replace Longbotton in the book of life. Go to the Wizarding school, defeat Voldemort, stay with the red-haired one and --."

The last Guardian's words made Hermione jump up, "I beg your pardon?"

"Here...see for yourself..." An open book popped up in the Guardian's hand. Hermione looked carefully at the page. Right in the botton she could see Neville's name besides Ginny's one, only Neville's name was crossed out and in a messed up handwriting right above it it was written:

Harry James Potter

And if that hadn't been the lowest moment in Hermione's life...

What the guardian showed her next was:

In another page she saw her name and next to it it was...

Ron's...

A huge sense of guilty, mixed with sadness, mixed with a sense of utterly hopelessness took hold of Hermione and the only thing she could say was, "You have to be kidding."

"Try to deny you can...but deep down you know it's true. You and him are destined to be together. You are soulmates."

"No. No. NO. I - I don't feel this way about Ron. I never had."

"That's only because The Warrior got in the way... If have never been a Harry Potter..."

"But there is. I - I love Harry. I have always loved him and only him."

"Yes, I know, forever... " The Guardian sounded annoyed. All the opened doors were suddenly abruptly shut, the circular wall was rotating...in a great speed...a intense light covered the once dark room...

"Can't you see, Keeper? That your love will be our downfall...You tried...you keep trying but still the end is always the same...What he feels for you...it's too much...if he stayed with the one destined to be with the Boy Who Lived things wouldn't get out of hand...his feelings for her would never be ...devastating, if you know what I mean? But what he feels for you, the way he feels..."

"He would give up everything to be with you...to be himself...to be true to this love he feels...and he musn't. This has to stop, Keeper, you have to put an end to this...Life has to go on, we can't keep repeating the same story over and over...it doesn't matter how much you try to change it...you will fail...and you will sufer and the people you love will suffer even more, until there's nothing last, until there's no more return..."

Hermione wasn't convinced. "I won't give up. I won't. I believe in --"

The light faded...The wall came to a halt...only the closed door remained, all the other doors, vanished in the air...

"Open the door , Keeper. See it. See the truth for yourself and then, then you will believe in my words...then you'll see that this isn't the first time we talked...you'll see that the future is past and that the past is future."

"Is this what you meant when talked about past lives? Are you trying to say that this...that all of this had already happened?" Hermione asked.

"No. Not exactly this...Each time is different but --" The guardian stopped all of sudden.

"What is it?"

"He knows you are not there. As we talked, he is breaking the spelll and you know exactly what will happen after he does find you. We don't have much time. Open the door, Keeper, and see for yourself...I'm sure will make the right choice after you - Just go, Keeper."

Hermione stared at the door...completely lost...all those information...and she didn't even know if this Guardian was teeling her the truth...what if this all a trap...a trick...Harry was breaking the spell, after so long...Should she open this door?

What if...

"You know, Keeper. Deep in your heart, in your soul...there's something else missing, there's always been. Go on. Open it."

And she did it...

*********************************************

Your heart is not open so I must go

The spell has been broken, I loved you so

Freedom comes when you learn to let go

Creation comes when you learn to say no

You were my lesson I had to learn

I was your fortress you had to burn

Pain is a warning that something's wrong

I pray to God that it won't be long

Do ya wanna go higher?

There's nothing left to try

There's no place left to hide

There's no greater power

Than the power of good-bye

Your heart is not open so I must go

The spell has been broken, I loved you so

You were my lesson I had to learn

I was your fortress

************************************

A vortex of energy was opened in the cemetery. Hermione came out of it, falling down on her knees. She bursted in tears...

She was shaking...she couldn't stop...she have never felt so much pain...

Too much...it hurt too much....she couldn't handle it. She couldn't...it was too much.

She...Oh....God...

And then she heard it...

She heard him....

Hermione?

Oh..God...she waited so long...so long for this moment and then...

She looked around the darkness that surrounded her....she could feel the dark aura around her...the black aura Harry had released...soon it would all be over....

Hermione...Oh, love. Where are you? I've been trying to...

Her blue aura surrounded her...she couldn't let him found he ...she couldn't be with him...

Forgive me, Harry...

She stood up...she raised her hand up to the sky and she said...she pronounced the word she been avoiding ever since...

"VOLDEMORT!"

A pink aura of energy replaced her blue one...

But not for long ...

Soon the pink turned into black as it sucked the Dark Aura that surrounded the cemetery....

The sun shined again in the sky as darkness consumed her...

*******************************************************

If I should stay
I would only be in your way
So I'll go, but I know
I'll think of you every step of the way