A/N: Hello everyone! The idea for this fic has been in my head for over two years now, and I've been meaning to actually get some chapters written, but I have another story that needs my attention so I left this story on the backburner. Nevertheless, recently I've been getting more plot points and ideas, and I thought if there were any other time I could juggle two fics at once, it was now. This chapter will be in the third person, but following Hermione, the rest of the chapters, unless noted will be all in the third person but following Tom's point of view! Okay, on to the story!

House of Stone

Chapter I: Life

The brightness of the light was strong, so strong it felt like her eyes were open. But she knew for a fact that her eyes were definitely closed. She was dead. She knew it, but the thoughts in her head were still racing as if she were still alive. But that was not the case, she knew she was dead. She had felt it, the quickest stun of the killing curse, the look upon the eyes of her attacker, the feeling in her stomach when she realised she had made a mistake. She was definitely dead.

But, she didn't feel like she was.

Hermione stirred slightly to see if she could feel the pain in her shoulder. She had been knocked harshly into a wall by a death eater, but there was no such pain there. Actually, she didn't feel any pain at all, only the annoyance of the exceedingly bright light above her was giving her a headache. Hermione moved on to her side, trying to feel the ground under her fingertips before she opened her eyes. She couldn't exactly tell what she was touching. Her mind couldn't put two and two together, so she resorted to opening her eyes.

With an unpleased look on her face, she used her half opened eyes to try to get a good look at where she was. She still couldn't tell, so she waited for her eyes to adjust to the light. She sat up and then moved to stand on her feet. She now had her eyes wide open, but she couldn't make out what she was looking at, the only name she could give to the place she was in was a "great white abyss".

"Hello?" Hermione called out. She didn't know what she would do if she received an answer, but she didn't feel very threatened at all. She felt more or so, at peace. She felt okay like nothing was bad, but nothing was good either. She felt blank.

She took two steps forward, surprised that she didn't tumble or fall to the floor with her movements. As she took two more steps a tall figure began to come into view. When her vision became clearer, Hermione stood stock straight, her legs unmoving. She stared up in awe, as the white cloaked figure came closer.

She was not completely certain but a rather tall woman, heavily cloaked in white was staring down at her, looking rather amused by Hermione's presence.

Hermione took a second to really capture who she was looking at before she could feel an immense love envelope her, and fill every inch of her body. Hermione felt happy, so incredibly happy, but she was also curious.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked the tall woman. Hermione took a second glance at her, she was amazingly beautiful something that was otherworldly. She looked away quickly, feeling she would be punished for looking at her too long.

The tall feminine creature in white shared a happy laugh before she bent down slightly in front of Hermione to speak. Her exceedingly long hair fell out from her hood as she moved, cascading her elegant face. "I am Life," the tall thing said with a wide grin on her face.

"Life?" Hermione asked curiously, feeling slightly disoriented. "How did I get here? Am I alive? or is this the afterlife?"

"You are neither" the woman smiled, as if what she said was something to smile about.

"So, I am dead, but this is not the afterlife? Why do I feel alive then? Where is this place?" The questions flowed out of Hermione breathlessly, as if she hadn't once been very tired by war.

"This is the All-Seeing Realm of Life. Where wizards and witches are created by happiness, and ended by sorrow. I know the story of every witch or wizard that has passed through my realm of all-seeing and I know how their stories end" The tall woman put out her hand motioning for Hermione to sit down on the ground. The tall woman called "Life" did the same.

"You feel alive because you will be in due course. Dear Hermione, I have seen what your life should have been, but it was cut short in a manner that should have never happened. A beastly woman, Bellatrix Lestrange, shortened your life when you should have survived that war to become a very influential woman in the wizarding world. You would have lived to 91 until you catch a nasty case of the Black Cat Flu, that in your old age you could not fight off successfully. You had two living grandchildren at your beck and call, who loved you dearly and were the last to see you before you would depart. You would have left a strong legacy for muggleborns, and witches throughout Europe for your outstanding deeds. You kept in close contact with your friends if that was what you were wondering, and you often worked alongside them. Though, now it did not happen at all... and it will never happen." Life looked at Hermione solemnly, before she perked up and smiled again.

"But luckily you were brought here. It is not common for witches or wizards to meet me in my realm after their departure. If you are curious, before you, it has only happened once. Can you guess who came to see me in my realm?" Hermione looked at Life, her eyes were wide with interest as Hermione listened carefully to every captivating word Life said. Hermione shook her head 'no' in response to her question before she continued.

"Well, there must be a pattern as the only two to pass my realm have been very strong characters, exceedingly brave, ambitious, intelligent, and somehow all-knowing themselves. Merlin, he was the first to meet me here. It's quite the tale, but seeing that you don't have any pending engagements I shall tell you the story." Life sat up, swinging her leg elegantly behind her so that her rear end was sitting on her feet. She placed her clothed hands onto her knees and looked at Hermione with sheer joy before she spoke.

"Death gave Merlin a time for him to pass on. A time that ended up not corresponding with Death's arrangements. He passed through my realm and sat here where you are and I told him what was about to happen to him. Because Merlin lost his life before he was supposed to, he was allowed to start again, where he had all the power over his own story. To start again, his soul was attached to a young girl, a girl called Nimue" Life smiled at Hermione, a sparkle in her eye, but Hermione was quick to retort back.

"What like a Horcrux? Why was his soul attached to Nimue?"

"No, my magic is all but pure, I cannot produce dark magic, nor would I ever want too. The reason he was attached to Nimue was because Merlin needed a reason to go back, a reason to defy the nature of being and not being. His soul was perfectly matched to this girl, Nimue, like soul-mates." She smiled pleasantly, almost in a motherly nature.

"So love brought him back? Then why have only I and Merlin been to your realm? I still don't understand"

"I'm not surprised, it is difficult to take in, and that is why you will not remember when you go back to the mortal world."

"So, I will find love, and that love will keep me in the mortal world? Because I somehow deserve a second chance?" Hermione frowned, but the pieces were beginning to fit together. "But I won't remember meeting you?" Hermione was worried, how could she successfully live a second life if she could not remember everything she had just learned.

"You will be fine. I will not abandon you like I mistakenly abandoned Merlin. You will succeed. You will get a second chance, and you will live a life with love you most truly deserve."

"But, I don't think I truly deserve this. How could I- me! Deserve a second chance to live once more?"

"Do not doubt yourself, my dear. You will be brilliant and I will not abandon you!" Her voice was stern, but the excitement she once had returned to her eyes, and Hermione could feel herself beginning to trust Life. "I will send you out now, dear Hermione." Life stood up on her feet, returning to her incredible height. She crouched down, to pull Hermione up by her elbows.

"Wait! You haven't told me where I'm going or who my soul mate is!" Hermione moved to tug on her arm, but she thought better of it. She looked at Life closely, before Life turned back around to speak to her again.

"You will find out once you get there." Life gave Hermione her trademark smile and snapped her fingers. Everything succumbed to light, and a twinge of pain, before Hermione fell unconscious.

A/N: Tell me what you think? Should I continue? R & R. Thanks!