A/N: This is kind of a second take on Fea Uin Galad, though I like it, I think it could be better. Therefore, I produced this! The title is Quenya, from Faire meaning natural death, but it also means radiance, phantom and free, and Arato meaning champion. So basically the title, in my context, means Death's Champion or Radiant Champion.
Hopefully, what I've constructed is a more believable story.
Enjoy~
Death. A word that has many meanings, symbolisms and connotations. It is something humans avoid, knowingly or not, whether you seek the key to immortality or merely take steps to remain healthy. We are all trying to escape that inevitable end. Because after death, what are we, but the ghost of a memory, slowly forgotten in time. No one wants to be nothing. No one wants to spend their life working hard to achieve something that matters, only to die, to have that effort have been for nothing.
Amaryllis Potter did her duty to the world, to the Wizarding World she as hailed a pariah, to the muggle world she was the hero they would never know. She had saved them from a life of servitude, or mass genocide, at the hands of Voldemort, yet, they did not know. They remained ignorant of the world hidden just beyond their sight, content to let science explain away the magic encounters. Muggles were content to hide from magic, or anything unexplainable, they shrug it off with only a thought that stranger things have happened. Wizards were ignorant too. They were ignorant of so many advances in the muggle world, they thought it a simple world, but in truth it was those with magic that were simple. Perhaps that is why she agreed to this trip.
A trip solely in the muggle world, no magic allowed, though they'd have their wands with them for emergencies. Rogue Death Eaters were still around after all. But they would travel to eight different countries by plane or train or any other muggle means of transportation. Hermione suggested it, after the Final Battle, she had grown wary of magic and wanted to immerse herself in the world she grew up in. Ron was quick to agree though he wasn't entirely keen on the live like a muggle experience, but he loved Hermione and would do anything for them. Amaryllis joined them not long after Hermione broached the subject.
Their first stop was Italy, where Ron proposed to Hermione on a gondola in Venice, they married a month later in the Duomo in Florence – Amaryllis having pulled some strings with the magical government of Italy, without the knowledge of Hermione. They honeymooned in Australia and while the newlyweds had some time alone, Amaryllis searched for Hermione's parents. Her wedding gift to them was to be reunited with Mr and Mrs Granger. They stayed in Africa for two months, taking in the wildlife and the native tribes in the area, before moving on to France, Russia, Spain, New Zealand. Until finally they came to America.
'There isn't a magical community here,' Hermione had told them when they landed in Washington. 'They moved to Europe after the Witch Trials.'
'I don't blame 'em.' Ron had muttered sullenly. Hermione wanted to visit all the states, so they decided to rent a car and drive, do things the old fashioned way. Though Amaryllis thought a car was hardly old fashioned. For each state they visited, Hermione picked up a keyring and a postcard to send home to her parents. They were just leaving New Orleans when Hermione got the news she was pregnant, but she was determined to see their trip to the end, even if it meant giving birth on American soil.
Their last stop before returning home was Florida, Orlando to be precise. Where they got a taste of the Disney theme park, Hermione loved it, as a child she had loved the Disney films. Amaryllis hadn't been allowed to watch the films but knew enough to have a vague understanding of what Hermione rambled on about.
Florida marked a change for all three of the trio.
It was the place where Hermione went into premature labour.
It was the place Ron became a father.
It was the place Amaryllis died.
At first, they thought Hermione was just sick, she'd gone to bed early that night feeling a little woozy. But that morning she had awoken to bloody sheets and screamed. It was Ron who woke Amaryllis, and her who called for an ambulance. Ron was beside himself, pacing up and down the hotel room and cursing up a storm. So it fell to Amaryllis to console the panicked mother to be.
'Look at me,' she knelt before Hermione. 'Look at me,' she repeated when the woman only sobbed hysterically, finally doe brown eyes turned to her. 'Everything's going to be fine, but you need to calm down, you'll do no good to yourself or the baby if you get all worked up.'
'The blood,' Hermione whispered. 'It means something's wrong. I read about it. What if the baby's dead? Oh god! My baby!'
'Hermione!' She shouted, getting the attention of the bushy haired woman. 'Do you trust me?'
'What? I can't think of you, Ryl. The baby.'
'Do you trust me?' She asked more forcefully.
'Yes, with my life, you know this.'
'Then trust me when I say,' her hands moved to grasp Hermione's cheeks, pressing her forehead against the sticky forehead of her friend's. 'The baby will be fine. You will be fine.'
The paramedics arrived, whisking her to the hospital quickly, Ron went in the ambulance and Amaryllis drove behind them. Haphazardly parking her car in an open bay, she rushed inside, where Ron was pacing the waiting room.
'They took her in for emergency surgery,' he told her rushed. 'She should be in a Wizarding hospital. I should have taken her back to England the moment we found out.'
'A muggle hospital is better than nothing,' she reassured.
Please, Merlin, God, Hecate, Odin, whoever the fuck is up there. Do not let her die. Do not let that baby die. Please, I would give anything to let them live.
'Anything?'
The voice startled her, whirling around she came face to face with a being too perfect to be considered human. He was handsome, painfully so, but there was a moroseness to him that made appear standoffish. She looked around her, only to realise everything was frozen.
'Time is at a standstill,' the being told her. 'I am Mandos, one of the Valar, and often associated with death. I come to you, Amaryllis Potter, at a time of great need. You are Death's Champion.'
'A time of need?' she didn't have time for this, needed or otherwise. Not while her friend was battling for her life and that of her baby.
'They are dying,' he told her gently, the scene around them shifted, and she could see doctors moving quickly about a surgical table.
'Heart beat's dropping,' the nurse called.
'Shit,' the doctor cursed, 'we need to get the baby out. Now. Else it'll die.'
The glint of the surgical knife seemed menacing to her, and the moment the doctor pressed it to Hermione's skin, the machines in the room blared loudly.
'She's coding,' the nurse said.
They swung into action, bringing the defibrillator over, pressing to Hermione's chest each time it charged, but it was no good. She was dead. The doctor instead focussed on the baby, but the umbilical cord was wrapped around its neck. It died along with its mother.
'They will die,' Mandos told her again.
'Then how do we stop this?' she questioned angrily. 'Magic? A potion?' Mandos said nothing only stared at her dispassionately. 'There has to be something!'
'Your magic is beyond Hermione's reach,' he responded. 'I told you, I come to you at a time of great need. The death of your friend is what has allowed me to stand before you. But it does not have to be this way.'
'What need do you have of me? What need would require my friend to die?' She spat hard, her body shaking with fury.
'The Valar preside over another world, Middle Earth,' his tone was serious. 'It is a the world that stands upon the brink of war. The Dark Lord Sauron has returned, and plots to open the gate in which a great and terrible evil is trapped behind. The only thing standing in his way is a Halfling. He will seek to destroy the ring that would give Sauron physical form, and he will succeed, but not before Sauron opens the gate and unleashes the wrath of Morgoth. Middle Earth and all of Arda will fall and the Valar will cease to exist. Illuvatar has allowed me passage, to stand before you, Death's Champion, and seek your aid.'
'Why now?' she asked, her voice quiet, her eyes transfixed upon the still form on the surgical table. 'Why me? Why does she have to die? It's not fair!'
'There is still a chance Hermione Granger might live and the baby too,' he told her and she turned to face him. The scene around them shifted and she was back in the waiting room, a frozen and crying Ron behind her and Mandos before her.
'How?' she asked softly.
'In return for your assistance on Middle Earth, Illuvatar will give life to your friend and her child once more,' he quickly held up a hand to stop her from accepting right away. 'As with all things, there is a price to pay, in return for their life, you will die in this world. Once your quest is complete you will never be able to return to this world. Amaryllis Potter will cease to exist.'
She'd never given much thought to how she would die, she assumed she would die in the fight against Voldemort. She did die then, but chose to come back, she should have known it wasn't as simple as it seemed. It gave her a connection to death. Mandos appearing before her and asking her to die in order to save his world was the price she was paying.
But to save Hermione and her baby isn't it worth it? To exchange my life in place of two isn't that worth it? But I do not know the consequences, I do not know what will happen in this new world, but still…
Hermione had been there with her, never once doubted her, and even offered to walk into the forest with her, knowing death was at the end. She'd walked through hell. What was Amaryllis' life compared to that? She took a deep breath and looked at Mandos. 'I will do it,' she told him. Her voice firm and resolute.
'I expected no less,' he smiled. 'Your mission is as follows. Keep Frodo Baggings safe, allow him to destroy the One Ring, and then, when the time comes you must destroy Morgoth once and for all. No one else can do this task. No one has the power to defeat him. Not even the Valar. But you, a magical woman from another world, might just have what is needed. It is a hard path you must walk, stray but a little, and Middle Earth is doomed.'
'No pressure then,' she muttered. 'So I just die?'
'Yes,' he swept a hand around the room. 'Time will return to normal, you will die and wake in Middle Earth. It will be like falling asleep.'
She nodded.
I'm sorry Hermione, she thought as Mandos disappeared, time sped up and she could hear the sounds of Ron pacing and muttering worriedly. I chose your life over mine, terribly reckless, and I know you will be angry with me. But there was no other choice. I'm sorry. I love you. I wanted to be the best aunt ever. Tears gathered in her eyes, she could feel her heart beat slow, she took a shaky breath and collapsed to the floor. People blurred above her but there was no mistaking the carrot top of Ron's head. I won't be there to see your child grow. But I know you'll both be great parents. Do not be sad, I'm not really dying. I'm needed elsewhere. Another adventure. It's time to put an end to the story of the Golden Trio. Our paths no longer intersect. This is goodbye. I will remember you. Always.
Her eyes closed, her heart stopped, a tear fell from her lashes and a soft smile played on her face. As though she was merely sleeping.
It would be sometime later that Ron would be allowed admittance to see Hermione, the news of Amaryllis' death resting heavy on his heart. He knew he would have to tell Hermione what happened, the grief of the death of the girl-who-lived outweighed the miracle of life. He would enter the room quietly, see his sobbing wife, and know she already knew. Hermione had heard the last goodbye Amaryllis had uttered, but she was not angry at the decision, for it was just like Amaryllis. She always saved people, no matter the cost, and Hermione couldn't be angry at that. She would look to Ron, with her tear stained face, her arms clutching a pink bundle.
'Amaryllis Rose Weasley,' she would say and Ron would fall to his knees and sob. The baby girl would grow up, attend Hogwarts, become a pioneer in Wizarding technology and medicine, all the while hearing stories of the girl-who-lived, and proudly trying to live up to her namesake.
Every year, on the birthday of Amaryllis Weasley, Hermione would take a moment to look up at the sky. It was always sunny, blue skies, and warm. She would smile and she would wonder how her best friend was faring on her adventure. She would whisper one word, before turning back to her daughter, and those gathered around her.
'Always.'
A/N: That was quite a sad ending of the prologue, I hope you guys will like this a lot better, I enjoy writing this version a lot more. The plot for this one also extends beyond LOTR, and is more in-depth and full of history, it will include Dagor Dagorath.
Please Review.
