NOTE:

First, sadly, I DO NOT own Merlin. I think we've got that part covered. Second, as a preview back-story to Echo, I would like to acknowledge that this takes place during HP:DH and in BBC Merlin I haven't an exact time frame but best bet is around Season 2. But I will let you know that this is an AU story, especially because I'm keeping all of Arthur's Round Table Knights [because I LOVE them!] so this story is just going with the idea that either Arthur convinced his father to knight them or some have nobility titles, haven't written that far yet. I'll try to be posting at least once a week, possibly more, I don't know yet.

This story mostly revolves around Armonie and is mostly from Hermione's point of view, though you will see it change every now and then. There will be mentions of eventual Lancelot/Gwen and Merlin/Morgana as other pairs in the story, and I refrain from spoiling anything about Ron.

I will also let you know that this story will not only be multi-chaptered but probably a part of a two or three part series with all of the adventures and the story line. I've thought a long way ahead with this story and have been working on the first part for some time. I can't say how many chapters that Echo will have yet but I will let you know that so far I'm about to start ten. And I will also inform you that most of them get longer with each post.

And each chapter has a portion of a song that I thought would go well with each chapter as a forewarning to either what happens within the chapter or what will eventually come out of it in later chapters. I was inspired to write this story based off of an Armonie youtube video by Kiwiichann using the song Echo and the fact that I just absolutely love the song.

Thank you if you actually read all of this but I'll let you get on with reading the story now.

Chapter One: Falling Into Nothing

Hermione's P.O.V.

Time to escape the clutches of a name,
No this is not a game,
It's just a new beginning.
I don't believe in fate but the bottom line,
It's time to pay,
You know you've got it coming.
This is war

(Escape by 30 Seconds to Mars)

I remain on the ground, unmoving, as though such a thought were even possible right now given my situation. All I knew was relief and pain. Relief, in seeing the black leather boots in front of my head move away from me towards another point, letting up on the torture I had been subjected to not long ago. Pain, however, from the after-effects from one of the Unforgivable Curses, the Cruciatus curse, as well as adding to the pain from having the skin on my arm sliced open and carved into repeatedly over and over again from a dagger, letters forming the word Mudblood.

A conversation had taken place while I began to analyze the severity of the situation. I was on the floor inside Malfoy Manor, weak from a torture interrogation, acted by none other than the dark, sadistic, and, of course, famous Bellatrix Lestrange. If the witch had been extremely prejudice and crazy before from the First Wizarding War, then years in Azkaban as a high-security prisoner under constant watch from dementors has truly ruined her and taken a toll on her, turning her completely mental and having little to no conscious at all, though the latter probably more true than the former.

Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs from the basement cellar where, a little while earlier, my best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were taken to so as to be out of the way for the time being. They had been about to call him, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, Lord Voldemort, believing that they had finally caught Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Voldemort's personal target to kill. They were confident that it was indeed Harry, despite the confusing appearance in his face to make him look otherwise caused by my last act of desperation of sending a stinging hex at him. However, the swelled-faced-looking boy was found near a pair of glasses, has raven-black hair as Harry Potter does, and has an odd thin and faint line on his forehead which could be, and is, the famous scar of Harry Potter's. It also didn't help that this boy was found with the widely-known two best friends of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were known to be traveling with Harry Potter while he was on the run.

Yet Lucius Malfoy, the platinum-blond haired Death Eater, was shockingly forced to stop in his attempt to summon his Dark Lord by none other than the Dark Lord's last and most faithful lieutenant, Bellatrix, who practically shrieked at him to stop what he was doing. The message that the act to be carried out would most definitely come followed on pain of death showed astonishingly clear in her wide and alarmed eyes, which had been looking at something past all of us in the back of the room at the time. Even more surprising was the fact that the point of interest that had her so worried and horrified had in fact been the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which as I had been told was found in a small frozen pond by both Harry and Ron.

Bellatrix seemed to strongly believe that the sword should've been in her vault at Gringotts Bank, and could not comprehend how the teenagers before her somehow managed to have it. And so had begun the interrogation, and as the Muggleborn, I found myself going first. This was because to Bellatrix- a pureblood, the supposed only people worthy of possessing magical powers- believed Muggleborns' blood was filthy and diluted, effectively giving the excuse of the foul slang nickname Mudblood.

Movement once again caught my eye's attention, and my renewed vision focused on the new guest to enter interrogation with me. They had brought out the Goblin to examine the sword under my guise of saying the sword was a copy, not the ancient heirloom from the founder himself. Bellatrix, herself, was watching the Goblin with a sick gleam in her eyes, undisguised hope begging for the story she had been told to be true. I didn't hear anything she or the other death eaters were saying. All I knew is that, while under the cover of an unobservant mask displayed on my face, I was amazed and shocked when he lied to Bellatrix for us and told her that the sword was indeed a fake and only a replica. The breath had left my lungs for a moment as the relief flooded my heart, before realization took place in my mind. Bellatrix now had nothing to lose and everything to gain by calling Voldemort to Malfoy Manor, now that nothing was stopping her or holding her back. The same thought must've crossed her mind as well because she threw her head back and let out a shrill, high-pitched laugh and shriek of glee, lost in her own little world of undeniable achievement.

I refocused back on the Goblin, only feet in front of me. He, too, was watching the carefully disguised emotions on my stressed-out face. I couldn't help my eyes flickering down to the sword laid out in front of him before setting them back on his face. Some kind of unidentified emotion ran across his face that confused me for a moment before I saw him quietly nudge the hilt of the sword in my direction, the message clear: Take it.

My eyes carefully flickered to the other occupants in the room and I was satisfied to see that no one had been paying our quick little exchange any attention. Bellatrix was ecstatic in her little victory while Narcissa, Lucius, Draco, and Greyback were carefully paying attention to Bellatrix as though trying to understand her reaction and why she was filled with so much joy for finding out that a sword that was supposed to be in her vault was still there.

As my eyes flickered back to the Goblin and I inclined my head in a slight nod to let him know I understood, a small, faraway movement by the stairs had caught my attention. As my eyes quickly drifted I was met with two tops of heads, one with red hair, the other with black, and two pairs of eyes watching me carefully, as well as my little exchange.

My eyes moved back to the sword hilt almost hungrily, taking in the short distance of an arm's length away. I didn't exactly have a straight plan other than use the element of surprise and throw them off guard, no matter how small it may be, but seeing that that's normally the plan every time our trio does something I figured that it'll work out like it normally does, one way or another. It also felt good to know that Harry and Ron appeared to have my back for as soon as I acted, also giving another element of surprise. With that thought I took a quiet but deep breath and quickly but quietly heaved myself up off the floor, hand grasping the ruby hilt of Gryffindor's sword, and swung it with all my strength at Bellatrix, not caring where it hit and ignoring the immense pain and stress my body was in as the muscles weren't prepared for such a quick decision after such intense torture.

To say that the element of surprise was definitely on our side was a huge understatement. From the corner of my eye the Malfoys did not even appear to move, too shocked at my daring risk to take out the threat I was faced with, let alone without a wand. Greyback, though indeed shocked and slower than normal, did managed to call out a warning to Bellatrix and raise his wand but was almost immediately disarmed by a shout of "Expelliarmus!" from the direction of the stairwell as Harry and Ron came charging into the room, wands at the ready, making him and the Malfoys swing around to yet another unexpected surprise attack from the trio.

And as the blade came bearing down at Bellatrix many things happened at once. As she swung around to face me, the weight of her body and the momentum of the rush threw her a tad to the side and out of range of a mortal blow. Pure shock was showing on her face mixed with alarm, which was quickly growing into rage and anger at being attacked by someone of such low standards. She had begun to raise the wand in her hand, which was already outstretched towards me, and managed to cast "Stupefy!" when the strength of the sword cleaved straight through the middle of the distorted-looking wood, splitting the wand in half. The look in her eyes of both being appalled and horrified quickly transformed into a mix of fury and pure loathing, eyes snapping from the splintered end of the wand stub still in her hand to locking my eyes with hers. And while all of this appeared in slow motion for me, it was still too fast for me to notice and dodge the red light from Bellatrix's earlier spell, which seemed to be also reflecting off of Gryffindor's sword, appearing richer in its red color.

The last things I saw were Harry and Ron staring my way with wide eyes, Greyback knocked unconscious on the ground before them as was Lucius farther away, Narcissa backing Draco quietly away from the fight, and Dobby helping the Goblin get to Harry and Ron. And by now, I was completely consumed by the spell, tainting my vision red for a brief moment before I felt myself falling into nothingness, welcoming the blank state of unconsciousness.