Slytherin Silver and Gryffindor Gold.
The crowd gathered in the square, dressed in their most ceremonial togas to mourn the death of their two greatest heroes. They had died bravely; defending their country but that was no consolation to a nation that grieved for their deaths. But they had been told that the gods would hear their prayers, and would somehow return them to the people. And so they had assembled here, to pray to Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, patron saint of philosophers and warriors. They would ask their prophetess to summon Athena, who could intercede with her father, the God-King Zeus who in turn ask his brother Hades to return their souls. They chanted, the holy words flowing relentlessly from their lips while the vestal virgins sang.
Noon came and passed and none departed from the crowd, letting their common grief bind them to the spot. Dusk arrived and then night fell with the rapidity of an attacking tiger. The moon rose high till it was midnight and the air among the platform began to shimmer as the figure of the prophetess grew seven feet tall and was bathed with a radiance that came only with the gods. The murmur sped around the square that she was being possessed by the divine Athena, who would use her to speak to the people. The prophetess drifted off the ground and her body arched upwards as she took on the likeness of all-knowing Athena. Her voice deepened and grew more imperial as she spoke. And the prophetess spoke thusly:
Our heroes dwell in th'Elysian fields,
An honor won by their swords and shields.
But there can your two greatest not yet come;
Their journey up the River can't yet be swum.
They must wander continuously through time,
Born anew then dying in their prime.
Their destiny must be fulfilled;
With their hearts entwined and their adversary killed.
Each lifetime of theirs will be naught at all,
Without each other they shall always fall,
And then again they shall arise,
Blazoning their glory to the skies.
To finally end the endless fight,
Our heroes both shall reunite,
Years after we Gods have had to depart,
For they are bound body, soul and heart.
Yielded to you they'll never be again,
Though this loss doth your hearts surely pain.
Yet when the sacred fire is burned,
And the straight is fully turned,
My favored prophetess and the sacred flame,
Will speak of their duty and of their shame,
Reviving to each their memory and mind,
Though upon their souls it may grind.
My people, be not dismayed,
As the game is still being played,
The pawn never sees the great game,
And for the King it is the same.
With those cryptic words, Athena left the prophetess who collapsed on the stage and then disappeared in a swirl of sparkling blue mist at about the same time that the sacred flame that burnt on the altar flickered and disappeared in much the same manner.
~*~
Harry Potter woke up with a jolt at exactly the same time Draco Malfoy did. Neither of them was particularly surprised by the dream that they had just had since they had been having the same dream for almost a month now. They were however, getting profoundly sick of it. Draco groaned and decided that falling asleep again would just start the dream again. Instead, he decided to head over to the library to do some private research into this 'Athena' character. Harry, being of a more social nature considered asking Hermione or Ron for help but decided that a dream wasn't enough to wake someone over and crept off to the library alone which explains why when they met, there wasn't anyone around to force them to 'hate' each other.
Draco randomly pulled books off the shelves, looking longingly at the Restricted section as he did so. He felt sure that he would easily find the information he was searching for over there. With an armful of books, he turned the corner and collided with thin air. He fell to the floor, the books tumbling down over him and then he distinctly felt someone else fall *onto* him and heard even more books thud to the floor. He felt a silky material and tugged at it, before his eyes managed to tell his mind that he wasn't holding anything. Then suddenly, he saw a white-faced Harry sitting where moments earlier there had been thin, if rather heavy air. His eyes finally registered with his mind, which explained patronizingly that Reason was out to lunch and Logic had gone with Reason and that the only thing left was Panic. So that was Draco did, opening his mouth for a scream and then abruptly shutting it as Knowledge popped in on its way to join Reason and Logic. It explained that it wasn't actually lunch, more like a brunch.
Harry, for his part was equally surprised to find Draco there. Granted, he did make rather a comfortable cushion but why would he be prowling around in the library in the middle of the library? He considered moving off Draco but Comfort argued, quite effectively, that since he was invisible he might as well take full advantage of the opportunity, probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, to use Draco as his own personal couch. Lust chipped in and agreed with Comfort, overruling Reason and Logic both of which decided to protest by going on strike. Therefore, Harry was considerably disappointed when he suddenly realized that Draco could see him. However, when he saw that Draco was about to scream, he immediately clapped his hands over his ears and every part of his mind quickly fled to the very inside of his stomach, even Reason and Logic. Of course, they hadn't counted on the way his stomach started feeling butterflies when he was nervous so they exited and split up and hid in various areas before they realized that Draco hadn't in fact screamed.
"Where's the Weasel?" Draco sneered automatically. His Ego applauded that comment. Harry stared. He had been expecting questions, about the Cloak, what he was doing here, or a demand for him to move not an insult! Logic wondered where Draco got the breath to talk from since Harry was practically on top of him and then joined Lust in examining Draco's eyes, but then remembered it was supposed to be on strike and sulked in a corner with Reason.
"You find me skulking around the library, dressed in an Invisibility Cloak and all you can do is ask me where Ron is? You must really like him. Wonder what it would be worth to you for me not to reveal that?" Harry said lightly, trembling inwardly at his own daring. Jealously chipped in rather angrily and protested that remark so Humor went on strike as well, leaving Comfort and Lust in charge, not a good combination as Harry soon found out.
Author's Note: This was going to be a story about how they were reincarnated time and time again until they finally defeated Lord Voldemort, who had been their enemy in a previous life as well, but I can't be bothered to continue it.
