A/N: I have to say, your reviews have really made my day when I woke up this morning. So kind and I really appreciate it. You can thank Ameretsu for their guest review, as I just can't let someone so exuberant be denied this chapter, and their comments really spurred my plot bunnies to accomplish chapter 12. I'm trying to see where I will take this fiction, as I really don't want it to be a 'and they lived happily ever after' bull, so be patient with me!
Warning: Mature scenes, nudity, possible swearing, etc.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling wishes she would have done what I'm doing. Not making a profit from it like she is though :/.
"So what exactly are we doing, Luna?"
Luna had made her change into her loose fitting pants that stopped at her knees, the elastic ensuring they didn't fall out of place, and her white tank top. The sun was out today, so Hermione didn't really object to the exposure too much, enjoying the rare opportunity for sun. Luna was dressed as equally lackadaisical, humming softly to herself while walking with a slight skip to her step down towards the forest. While their attire was strange, the lack of shoes was really odd, especially when Luna began to move off of the pathway into the foliage of the trees, not caring about the dirt being caked on her soles.
Strangely enough, Hermione didn't mind it all that much either.
"We've got to help your magic, of course!" Luna replied dreamily, weaving through the trees with ease.
Hermione nodded warily. "Of course. What exactly does this entail?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer. While Luna's 'quirks' could now be explained logically, Hermione knew one of the main reasons Luna was a Ravenclaw was her entirely different way of approaching any situation, which was both a bane and a boon to those who knew her. Hermione wasn't even sure what she meant by helping her magic, as the remaining blocks placed by her former headmaster had been removed when she and Voldemort's magics had finally learned to harmonize.
Luna didn't answer, instead continuing to hum as she skipped further and deeper into the forest. It wasn't until they paused at a clearing in between four towering trees, to which the roots they had to climb over because of how enormous they were, that Luna turned towards her and gestured to the cozy clearing between the four. It consisted of packed, solid dirt, and Hermione watch warily once more as Luna grabbed a hold of a long, sturdy stick, and drew a large circle, with four smaller circles that aligned with the positions of the trees, and two slightly larger circles that lay opposite of one another. It was then Luna, while still humming, began drawing runes, but it wasn't normal rune drawing.
As the stick began to carve the correct motions, Luna's humming began in tune with the movements, the end of the stick glowing a light blue as she drew first between two smaller circles. She repeated the movements on the other side of the two smaller tree-circles, this time with the stick glowing a burning red color. When she went towards the larger circle side that was between two of the tree-circles, the runes she carved went on the edge of the largest circle and wrapped around the slightly larger circle, ending at the tree-circles. This color for Luna's side was white from the stick, and Hermione's side was a light green.
Looking back up at Luna, she watched her carve the runes for Fire, Water, Air, and Earth into the tree-circles, and then proceeded to carve the rune for unity in the middle of the largest circles. She looked back at Hermione and smiled dreamily. "Well, take it off."
Baffled, Hermione waved her hands. "Take what off?"
"Your shirt, of course!" How Luna could be so calm and treat something as going shirtless normal, Hermione would never know. She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Why in the name of Merlin would I take off my shirt? We're outside!"
"You're here to center your magic and release everything holding you back," she said serenely, easily untying her braided hair and pulling off her own tank top, Hermione looking away and blushing. "Oh, come now Hermione. You're in nature, and the Mistmoars need to flourish in this ritual around us," she added in a serious tone. "They like it when human skin is touching the Earth. I usually go naked, but I know you wouldn't like that." She said dreamily, arranging her hair to cover her breasts.
Hermione shifted uncomfortably by the large tree trunk, huffing in irritation before turning her back on Luna and pulling off her white tank top hesitantly. Arranging her hair similarly to Luna's, thanking whatever deity that blessed her with thick, long hair she turned back to see Luna sitting cross legged in one of the circles that had white runes around it, her posture straight and comfortable. Feeling unused to the gentle breeze on her back, Hermione followed her gestures and mimicked Luna's position in the green rune circle, the trees around them dancing as the wind whistled through.
"Yes, this is just right," Luna remarked softly, her eyes bright. "The trees are glad you're here. Not many people are attuned to the Earth," she informed her, smiling as the runes around the circle began to pulse in their respective colors. "But you're holding yourself back, 'Mione. You need to let go."
"But how do I do that?" What was she letting go?
"The Earth always knows what you need." She said sagely, closing her eyes and taking a deep breathe, her palms resting on her knees. The circle she sat in suddenly filled itself with white. Smiling, she stood up and walked over to Hermione, who was still sitting. "I need to draw runes on you using Earth, is that okay?"
Nodding carefully, Luna poured some water near the base of one of the trees, careful to not disturb the runic circle Hermione sat in. Bringing back the mud, she began to write the runes on her feet, a large runic symbol for earth on the tops, with connecting, smaller runic lines reaching up to her knees. She made Hermione lean back, allowing her to paint another large symbol on her navel, smaller runic lines circling it, reminding Hermione of how she would draw the sun as a child once Luna began to paint waving lines diverging out of the circle on her stomach. A central line from the circle on her navel continued up between her breasts, where Luna calmly branded Hermione with three large runes in the center of her chest and just above each breast; these were also circled by smaller runic phrases and each circle was connected in one line. Hermione could feel more runic lines being carefully applied to her neck, with two of them traveling upwards to her face, over her cheeks, and over her eyelids to connect to another large rune that was encircled on her forehead. The tops of her hands and her shoulders also bore large runes that were circled by the runic lines, connecting her entire body together in a runic equation almost. The center of her back was the last to have a large rune encircled, with seven runic lines running down the circle and ending in a cascading pattern.
Luna stepped back, hands still muddy, but with a content smile on her face. "Now you're read to converse with the Earth for the first time."
"What are you-?" But then Luna was gone. Hermione was still surrounded by the towering four trees, the white runic circle still glowing in front of her while the other three circles were pulsing with their respective colors. Hermione looked around, but even she knew not to disturb an active runic ceremony, even if she didn't know what was happening.
"H-Hello?" She called out uncertainly. She blinked.
There was absolutely no way that Harry Potter could be sitting across from her in the very place Luna once occupied.
"Harry?" Eyes watering as the man staring back at her smiled slightly. He looked the same, but still different. The weight of the world no longer was holding his shoulders down, and the angry tension he always carried was missing. Green, kind, sad eyes stared back at her.
"It's good to see you again, Hermione."
"But this is impossible." She spluttered. "One cannot bring back the dead!"
"I haven't been brought back," he corrected, a small smile gracing his face. "Luna was kind enough to connect you to the true magical core of the Earth. I'm not very sure how it all works, but you'll probably get your explanation when the time comes. But," he paused for a moment as she looked to interrupt him. "That's not why I'm here."
"I know what Dumbledore did to you," Harry began, watching her posture stiffen. "I know that you've suffered, that you've sacrificed what you thought to be your moral beliefs, to turn to Voldemort as a means for salvation." Hermione looked down, biting her lip as she fought the weighing pressure in her heart. Leave it to Harry to know the root of the problem. "I also know that you're going to be marrying him soon."
Face stricken, her face crumpled. "I know he killed your parents Harry, I know he was responsible for your death. I don't understand what's happening half the time and I-" He held up a hand, stopping her for a moment.
"It's okay."
She stared at him blankly. He laughed, tossing his head back and further messing up his already unkempt shaggy hair. "Is it so hard to believe that I want you to be happy? Even if it's with him?"
"B-but.." she began weakly. "It's Voldemort."
"But even you've heard what he had to say," Harry added, his face smiling. "The Voldemort from then is no longer. Perhaps it would be unfair to paint him as the same person. Remember how Bellatrix used to be?" He didn't need to add any further comment, as both of them knew exactly how Bellatrix used to be once upon a time.
"But...I still don't understand." She said, her face troubled. The wind was still blowing gently, and she could feel the dry mud of runic script all over her body acutely. "I mean, I'm so happy to see you, but why have you been brought to me?"
Harry's eyes turned serious, his rounded glass and hair parting to reveal his famous lightening bolt scar reminding Hermione, in her very distant memory, of a boy denied the life he deserved. "You're not letting go Hermione."
"But what is letting go?" She replied in frustration.
"You're holding yourself back." He said bluntly. "You have potential, and the Earth knows it. But you tie yourself down on shaky foundations you built instead of going back to your roots." He waggled his eyebrows at the pun as she deadpanned him. "I am meant to be the first of three messages to give you, to help you embrace all that you can be. It's really quite an honor for The Boy Who Lived." He grinned.
"What message are you meant to give?"
His eyes became distant, and his voice, ethereal as the voices of many people spoke with him, the magic swirling around them gently. "Return to the Origin and find the root." He smiled back at her sadly. "I wish I could explain more, but it's for you to find out. I love you Hermione, and I hope to not see you where I am for many, many more years to come." He waved his hands as Hermione's tearful and confused eyes met his, and slowly Harry Potter vanished from her sight for the very last time.
"Return to the Origin and find the root." She murmured to herself, feeling the annoying etchings of confusion enter her mind. She shook her head. "I am meant to have two more people give me two separate messages, best I wait." She nodded to herself and looked up, a choking sound caught in her throat as her heart stopped at the two figures in front of her.
William and Jean Granger should not be in front of her right now.
"Mum...? Dad..?" Her voice croaked out. She'd sent them off as Wendell and Monica Wilkins as a form of protection from the Death Eaters back when she had thought she was a muggleborn. Their memories had been irreversible. If they appeared before her now, then that meant...
"No..." She whispered, her eyes disbelieving. Her adoptive mother nodded her head sadly.
"Our plane never made it to Australia, Hermione." She said, her face sad as William Granger kept an arm around his wife. Hermione's posture went lax, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.
"So I failed."
"No, sweetheart." It was her dad this time who intervened. "We lived our lives. It was our time to go, whether we wanted to or not. We get to help you when you need it the most." He added, a wrinkled smile on his face. Even though they weren't her real parents, Hermione liked to think she looked like them anyways. They raised her and loved her, and now they were here to help her.
"Did...did it hurt?" She asked brokenly. "I didn't want anything to happen to you two. I was trying to keep you safe."
"And you did a wonderful job darling." Her mother said, eyes sincere. "Like your father said, it was simply our time. And it was painless. We can't even remember." She teased, laughing at Hermione dropped jaw.
"Anyways, Hermione, sweetheart." Her father rumbled, his eyes serious as the trees began their dance again. "We've seen all that's happened. Your friend informed us in the best way we could understand. I'm sorry that this is happening to you. As a father, it's hard to not be able to protect you."
"Even if I'm not really your daughter?" she said, her face miserable. She never thought she'd have to actually discuss the fact that she wasn't their biological daughter to their faces. Now they stood before her, knowing everything she tried so hard to keep from them, her fists clenching on her knees as she awaited judgment. It was just a small, gentle feeling on her face, but she could still feel the hand of Jean Granger cradling her daughter's face.
"You will always be my daughter." She said firmly, her voice warped with emotion. "You can be Rosemary Selwyn's daughter and mine. She brought you into this world and loved you, and then passed on that job to me. If there had been one thing I had wished for when you turned eleven, it was the wish that I could possess magic too so that I could understand, and that you wouldn't feel the need to choose between your old life and your new life."
"You have that opportunity now, Hermione." Her father added, his hand on her other cheek as her wide eyes drank in the last sight of her parents she'd ever see. "You have people who want to be your family, who are genuine." Flashes of Bellatrix, Narcissa, and even Draco Malfoy appeared in her head. "You need to let go."
"But they're not the same."
"No, they aren't." He agreed with an incline of his head. "But families aren't all the same universally. It may be that we can no longer be with you, and you may feel attached to the memories that we shared together. No one is asking you to forget that. But it doesn't mean you can't make new memories, happy memories, with the people you have."
"Which is why we have been chosen to give you the second message," her mother finished, smiling as both of their eyes turned distance, the ethereal voices returning once more. "The bare branches are the strongest. To reach the Origin, you must shed the wilting ones." As they faded, murmuring words of love and encouragement, Hermione felt herself remain alone once more in the clearing of runes. There was not a doubt to her mind what their message was. They wanted her to shed her skin. The bare branches were for her new family. But what on Earth was the Origin? She heaved a shuddering breathe, resolving to mourn for her parents later on when the time was right. But the Earth had one more message to give her, so she waited.
Though they'd never met before, it wasn't hard for Hermione to deduce the woman sitting across from her, one so similar to the ghost she'd met before.
"I am Rowena Ravenclaw." She smiled serenely, her curly hair nearly identical to Hermione's. With bright blue eyes filled with knowledge and wisdom, Rowena Ravenclaw looked just a regal and powerful as the legends that complimented her. "It is good to see an heir so entwined with my bloodline traits." Her voice was soft, almost reminding Hermione of Luna.
Hermione nodded slowly. "I'm afraid I haven't been a very good heir," she admitted, her face frowning in disappointment. "I've failed so much."
Rowena laughed. "And you think I have not?" Startled, Hermione raised an eyebrow.
Sighing, the woman shook her head. "Even the founders of old can make mistakes. Even Merlin himself made them. History likes to cover up the mistakes of its' Heroes and glorify the flaws of villains. They never quite get it right, do they?" A corner of her mouth tipped upward in amusement as Hermione remembered Rita Skeeter's slandering media that blew much of her personal life out of proportion. Hermione nodded slightly in agreement, her face thoughtful, but Rowena continued.
"I did not stop my daughter from making the wrong decision." Her face was mournful. "I had not been the best mother, and never knew she had been in love with Aldrich. I never knew that the Baron and my daughter were on poor terms. It is funny, is it not," she added with a sad, wary smile as she tapped the little crown on her head. "My diadem can enhance my already formidable intelligence, but it could not give me better motherly intuition, and I died knowing the man I sent after my daughter had killed her." The mournful face was back.
"You mean the Bloody Baron...?"
"Yes." She said acidly. "The Baron ghost at Hogwarts was madly in love with my daughter. I saw nothing wrong with his character, and Salazar and I were on good terms. He spoke highly of Baron, so I saw no issue. But I did not see, and then she was gone. Poor Aldrich had to raise his son alone." She said sadly, her face in deep remorse before morphing back into its' serene smoothness. "But now you stand before my as my heir of many generations. And now it is time I play my part."
She took a deep breathe. "Earth magic has always ran in our bloodline. It has grounded us and reminded us that we are not invincible, to remind us where we came from."
"The root." Hermione said slowly.
Rowena nodded slightly. "Your heart beats because of the magic inside of you. Without it, your magic can no longer be bound to your body, so where does it go?" Hermione pushed into her mind, thinking back to all her lessons before stopping suddenly. Her head shot up from her revere, gasping.
"The Origin."
"And that is...?"
"The Earth."
"So then, what is the root?"
Furrowing her brow, Hermione thought back once more. "If the Origin is the Earth," she began slowly, the puzzle pieces coming together in her head. "And our Earth magic serves as a purpose to remind us of the root, then the root is...our purpose?"
"Was that a question or answer?" She teased the smaller brunette.
"The root is the purpose of magic. The purpose we carry." Hermione said with a bit more finality, one piece of the riddle solved. "But what is the purpose the root holds?"
Rowena shrugged delicately, her face replicating Luna's dreamy look. "That's up to you. What do you want it to be?"
Hermione frowned. "I...I don't know." She admitted, feeling small. "It used to be to protect Harry in the war, to marry Ron, and eventually pursue some career." She stopped for a moment when Rowena laughed, Hermione's eyes flashing with irritation.
"My dear heir, you were meant for so much more than what was average." She cooed, the mirth evident in her tone. "Fate saw your intentions for mediocrity and adjusted the path accordingly. It seems you are as stubborn as Mr. Riddle is when it comes to fate's decisions." At Hermione's raised eyebrows, Rowena grinned. "I know all about him We all know, and we watch and watch. I know you like to believe that you can create your own fate, but despite your time travels, one way or another, the true purpose of anyone, including you, will happen one way or another."
Hermione's shoulders dropped. "But this can't be right."
"Can't it?" A wary smile in place. "Whatever do you mean?"
Hermione was ready for her tirade. "I was considered the Gryffindor golden girl, the brightest witch of her age, the one who took a moral high ground, and fought on the side of the light." She rushed out, her emotions pouring into her every being. "But now I'm about to marry a man considered to be the darkest, most dangerous person to walk the Earth, and am currently associating with many who are dark and possibly bigots."
Rowena laughed again, and Hermione felt the first desire to throw a spell at the witch for the first time in their chat. "My dear, what is wrong with that? Why should you change what is fundamentally you to be the same as everyone else? By associating with someone who you deem different than you, have you ever considered aligning your ways and beliefs with theirs?" Hermione thought back to Bellatrixs' dual personalities, Draco's manipulations, or Voldemort's indifference towards his theory of magical hierarchy. She met Rowena's smile with a tentative one of her own. She could never turn into that.
"You were never meant for mediocrity." Rowena repeated. "No one is asking you to change yourself."
"So then, why was I brought here to this ritual?"
"Because you will not let go." Rowena emphasized. "Which brings me to the conclusion of our visit, Miss Selwyn." The voices were coming back as her eyes became distance, and Hermione's posture straightened as she focused on the last piece of her puzzle.
"To seek the Origin, walk with the wind."
And then it clicked, and she understood.
Luna looked up, her hand still cupping the flower shaped wisp that sat contently in her reassuring palms. After Hermione had gone deep into the ritual, Luna knew she had played her part and bowed herself out until she was done hearing what she needed to hear. She could hear it now, smiling serenely to herself, what she had been waiting for. The wind's whistling became more organized, a magnificent song bursting through the air, the currents of the wind being broken as wild magic scattered gloriously throughout the entire forest. She stood up as the wisps hovered near hear.
Stepping out from between the four trees, Hermione emerged with a serene smile. Her eyes were golden, flecks of it sparkling through caramel as she looked around the forest in wonder. Her journey wasn't complete yet; she still had to seek the Origin. Taking one step out, she grinned when small flowers began immediately sprouting beneath her feet, expanding forward. As she walked by the plants towards Luna, they'd bloom instantly, following her movement. Luna smiled back at her.
"It's okay, it won't do that all the time. The magic is just welcoming you." She said dreamily, her posture relax amid the rushing of magic.
Hermione nodded, staring at her hands in wonder. There was so much to learn. Nodding at Luna, she smiled. "I know what I need to do now. Can you go back to the Manor and let him know? I'm meant to be training with him in an hour, but I'll need a bit longer than that." Nodding happily, Luna began walking in the direction of the manor, pausing when Hermione called out to her again.
"You may want to put your shirt on." Hermione yelled. "Or you may just give them a heart attack."
She watched Luna laugh, pulling on a shirt as she skipped away towards the manor. Hermione guessed she'd probably arrive within the next forty-five minutes, so Voldemort should know before their scheduled meeting time that she wouldn't be arriving. She turned towards the direction the flowers on the forest floor were blooming, her magic enriched with the Earth pushing her towards the same direction. Taking a deep breath, she began to run.
The elation and rush of magic that filled her was so intoxicating, nearly propelling her off her feet. She was running faster than she ever head, every step she was taking bloomed into small web of flowers that marked her journey. She pushed on her magic, the feeling not as intense, not as concentrated as it should be. She could see what they were talking about, what she needed to let go. With every step, she began.
A step of hydrangeas. I promise to give Bellatrix and the Malfoys a chance to be my family.
A step of peonies. I promise to work against my doubts.
A step of tulips. I promise to dedicate myself to who I want myself to be.
A step of lilies. I promise to never forget who my real friends were, and move on from my past.
A step of a single rose. I promise to give him a chance.
With every resolve, every promise that she signed herself away upon, Hermione's smile turned into full blown laughter as she continued to run through the forest. Ordinarily, being topless and covered in mud-written runes would bother her, but to feel thepure life the emitted from every surface of the forest had so much more meaning to it. The gusts of wind stopped, and Hermione felt her feet slow into a steady walk. The pitter-pattering of a nearby busy stream and the chirping of birds nearby only increased the cleansing feeling she was getting as she walked closer and closer to an opening in the dense forest.
Outstretched before her was the most beautiful and tranquilizing expanse of open field before her, with a calm rush of a stream from an unknown source further in the forest dumping into the clearest water Hermione had ever seen in the wild before. Completely untouched and unmarred by human interaction, one would think this held her attention the most. But Hermione's eyes never left the creatures grazing in the plentiful fields of green, her eyes almost hurting at the scene before it.
It was so damn amazing.
The unicorns were not like the ones in the Forbidden Forest. When she had read up on magical creatures, Bartholomew Dejesus, a famous Magical Creature expert, had remarked upon several legends behind the sightings of Unicorns that had often contradicted themselves. The ones in the forest were still beautiful, still pure, but they had been tainted by the magical constraints that had bound the forest under the Ministry's control, rather than under the control of the magical creatures. Because of that, Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest were bearable to look at, almost like common horses, and their pure magic radiation was kept a the bare minimum. Seeing the beauty before her, tasting the pure aura of magic that made her magic sing louder to the heavens, Hermione had to agree with Dejesus' conclusion: Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest lived a very sad life.
The largest of them turned its' head towards her and began to trot in her direction, the others following behind. In total, there were seven: the most powerful number in magic. The head Unicorn stopped a meter away from her, cocking its' head questioningly. Hermione nodded once, smiling slightly.
"I understand now," she began softly, the magic around her quelling in the presence of the Unicorns as to not disturb the tranquility. " 'Return to the Origin and find the root.'" She quipped, remembering Harry's retelling. "You're the Origin. The Origin of all magic." The Unicorn did not acknowledge her answer, staying still with it's almost painfully beautiful gaze still upon hers. But she did not flinch away.
"Since finding out about my magical abilities, what I'm capable of, who I've been around, I've only seen darkness. Dark magic, dark people, differences that I always criticized could be worked out suddenly, my own ideologies and beliefs didn't apply to me." She confessed. "All I could think about was how they were ruining me, but they weren't. I was ruining me." She felt a weight lift off her heart at the spoken revelation, eyes widening as the Unicorn stomped it's hoof twice. So she continued.
" 'The bare branches are the strongest. To reach the Origin, you must shed the wilting ones.'" She repeated the second message the Earth had given her. "It was my stubbornness, wasn't it?" She wasn't really expecting an answer for this one. "I kept holding onto what I wasn't and not embracing the new offerings that came to me. I held onto my old family without allowing a new one to grow and help me get better." She thought of the hurt face of Narcissa when she flinched away from her touch. "I held onto my old friends, even though they hurt me and there were those who wanted to be there for me." She thought of Draco, and of Bellatrix, and thought of Ron and Ginny's immediate rejection of her despite her justifications and evidence.
"I couldn't let go of my old teacher that hurt me for a new one that encouraged my growth and to expand my perceptions." Dumbledore and Voldemort in the same memory still bothered her, but it was no longer out of fear for battle. She felt the sliver of attachment for the old Headmaster to float away from her, feeling relieved, she concluded. "I let my bias blind me, and that has hurt my growth. I had to shed my bias while maintaining the strong branches I already had, but had never invested a more beautiful growth in. I needed to trim away the wilting branches that were killing me." The pain of losing Remus as an ally was fading. The Unicorn rewarded her with a neigh, and stomped three times this time.
Nodding, she smiled. "'To seek the Origin, walk with the wind.'" The feeling of serenity was slowly seeping into her every being now. "To walk with the wind, you have to be flexible but constant. The wind throughout history has always been a constant factor. There will always be wind. It will always exist and somewhere in the world, it will flow. I need to be constant." She remembered her conversation with Rowena Ravenclaw and smiled again. "It's entirely possible for me to keep myself, my morals and beliefs, but I need to learn to be flexible. Earth is about being sturdy, but I guess fate likes to be amused by giving me opposite elemental natures in one body."
Luna had been Earth and Water, which worked well together. To have completely opposite elements as a part of ones magic was extremely rare. But so was being a direct descendant of Ravenclaw. The Air was meant to help her not sink too much into the Earth.
"I need to accept myself, but accept the changes around me and adapt to maintain myself." She concluded with an air of finality. "That's what the Earth was telling me. In order to get to you, to the Origin, to reach the eclipse of Earth, the root. I had to let go of the binds I placed on myself, the emotional, physical, and mental binds that held me back from my full potential."
It was silent.
Thinking back to yesterday, Hermione would have never thought that inquiring about strange wisps would lead her into such a rarely studied branch of magic, or that she'd even get the opportunity to delve into its' arts.
"My dear, you were never meant for mediocrity."
She smiled warily to herself. Rowena Ravenclaw sure had a way of predicting the future. The only way she'd ever be able to study and understand the world that was unseen almost everyone in the world, to be able to understand Luna's world, she needed this. It wasn't just studying a book or flicking a wand, it was the pure essence of magical learning, straight from the masters.
Soft hoof beats on the ground startled her out of her thoughts as she gazed closer to the Unicorn that was mere inches from her face. It didn't hurt anymore to look at the pristine creature, and the moment it make contact with the large runic circle in the middle of her head, Hermione's magic exploded around them in unbridled euphoria. She could feel the rushing in her veins; the feeling she had prior when she was running in the forest was not even close to a comparison. There were no boundaries. Everywhere she looked now, she could see what Luna had been talking about. Wisps attached themselves to everything. The white aura around the Unicorns even had tiny wisps, their whispers inviting Hermione to them.
"Embrace us." They crooned. "Reunite with the Earth."
Hermione wrapped her arms gentle around the long neck of the Unicorn, letting out the longest breathe she'd been holding. The relief she gained felt like the release of pent up excitement for a moment that took years in the making to come to an epic conclusion. She supposed it was years in the making, even if she hadn't knowingly pent up her excitement for it in that time. The soft, silky skin of the Unicorn felt so relaxing, Hermione imagined being able to fall asleep on it and never wake up, even in the loudest of storms.
She could feel the Earth now. This is what the root was. An apex of magical connections wired through each and every creature, plant, and atom within her view. The trees were breathing with life, life an ordinary wizard would never be able to detect. How casually she'd walked by the trees, how could she had missed the magic they emitted, the emotion of the trees. The forest was alive and it didn't need magical creatures for it to be so.
The Unicorn turned away slightly, bowing its' head to her. The Origin had grounded her, reminded her of the root. And the root reaffirmed her purpose. Its' job was done. Nodding, Hermione turned away, before turning to her free-floating magic, the wisps dancing happily along the blissful waves it created in the air. Allowing the refreshing feeling to wash over her face, Hermione focused, her mind incredibly sharp with concentration, the stress having been melted away with her confrontations of her inner self. With a pull almost too easily done, she opened her magical core, and so the entire forest began to sing her song as she danced on the winds of her magic back into the trees.
The sun was starting to set.
She was still dancing, but something was still missing.
Turning her head towards a large hill that poked out from the treeline, she could see him and grinned to herself. It was time to start embracing her promises. Reaching out with her magic, she watched as it took its' flighty form, this time in a smooth white color, shooting forward towards the figure. It danced in circles around him before shooting upwards, this time joined with a black raven that matched the dance gracefully. She let out a peal of laughter, running quickly before almost skipping to a stop in front of none other than an extremely baffled Dark Lord.
Humor dotted her eyes as she looked up at him, her magic still dancing with his above them. "You missed me that much that you decided to come find me?"
Red eyes flickered to hers, before slowly traveling down her body. "I see your noon meeting with Miss Lovegood was...eventful." Riding too high on the euphoria that she gained by learning, it took Hermione a minute to realize that she was naked from the waist up. She unsuccessfully hid her blush, thanking once more that her hair was thick and long enough to cover her. Her body was still completely covered in the runes, and Hermione had an amused reminiscence of Where the Wild Things Are moment.
"I suppose I do look quite frightening." She admitted.
"Quite." He parroted back, his face passable for amusement. "So you discovered your elements." He looked around them for a moment, looking impassively at their dancing magics harmonizing above them. Hermione could tell that he had an attachment to the Earth, almost chuckling at the irony of a man who obviously never wanted to leave. But his second element was unfamiliar to her, and she extended her hand outwards and touched his face, ignoring his raised eyebrows in order to concentrate of the new connection to the elements the magic gave her. Suddenly, her body began to flush, and she withdrew her hand accusingly.
"Earth and Fire." She smiled. "Typical Dark Lord. 'If you can't build it, light it on fire!'" she quipped, laughing at her own joke. The high of magical excitement was slowly winding down, seeing as how she had been interacting with it for quite some time and her physical body was starting to wear down as well.
"Have you ever just stopped and celebrated having magic?" She asked seriously.
He looked back down at her with an amused expression. "I have celebrated many achievements in magic, yes." But Hermione shook her head.
"You said it before. We are the exception. But it might not have been us. Fate could have chosen differently. Have you ever just let out your magic completely and just..." Hermione trailed off, unable, for once, to voice the beauty she'd experienced beforehand when she unlocked her core completely to be free to the elements. Voldemort seemed to seriously consider her for a moment, and she felt the fleeting pleasure of the Earth as she fought back her apprehension she felt whenever she saw his face. He nodded slowly.
"Want to...?"
"I think," he began slowly. "It would be best to do so another time. Your body has been physically and emotionally through excruciating magical exposure. Even when I discovered-" He stopped for a moment, remembering himself. Hermione was immediately reminded of the oft free feelings she emitted whenever her magic elated her too much, and it seemed Voldemort was feeling it too. She grinned slyly.
"So the big Dark Lord had to take a nap after his elemental discoveries?" She was teasing the most dangerous wizard in the world. Magical highs should be illegal; they were going to get her most definitely killed. She mocked stretched, raising her arms high. "I went for quite the run. I probably have more energy to-"
Voldemort really liked pinning her to objects.
His chuckles vibrated along his chest, which was pressed against her body, pinning her against the tree as their magics continued their zen-like formation. "You may have had the advantage of coming into your element at a young age, but I have had decades to perfect mine." He hissed in her ear. His words set her very soul on fire, and she found that the magical high was only heightening her every sense. He was making her body flush against him, her body arching to be closer to his. Just by touching her, licks of heat teased along her ribs and up her neck, and Hermione was concerned, for a moment, that she'd have a permanent blush along her face.
They didn't need to tell each other all the details of what had happened to her in the forest. He knew. He understood. She didn't have to dumb it down or expect to be talking to wall. The magic he performed was driving her crazy.
"You don't know crazy yet."
The heat flickered further down her breasts, the licks teasingly taunting her as they traveled to her navel, Hermione squirming against his pinned body against hers. He had her hands up above her again, a leg positioned in between hers that was simultaneously grinding against a completely different center, one Hermione had been trying to ignore since she remembered the entire process of making a family. The squirming he was causing her body to react into only caused her to rock her hips against his, sending shivers that not even the flames could suppress down her spine. His mouth was on her neck, and the small bites he began administering had her magic dancing erratically around them.
"You'll come to appreciate how gifted I am from my practices." He punned, not even allowing Hermione to roll her eyes in jest as the precipice of pleasure jolted through her body; his flames having reached their destination against her clit, flicking teasingly as her body writhed against his. With the orgasm ripping through her system, and a half laugh half moan choked itself from her before she slumped against him, exhausted and slowly descending into unconsciousness.
Pulling her head down against his shoulder, the Dark Lord easily pulled the half naked female into his arms, summoning a blanket to shield her from the elements as the sun began to sink behind the horizon in farewell. He turned with the exhausted Hermione his arms, watching and remembering, the elation his magic had given him when he had discovered his own. As he turned, he felt the farewell of the trees and the calming of Hermione's magic as it settled with the setting sun.
Totally wasn't expecting this chapter to go the way it did. Kinda went nuts with it people. I really hope you liked it, 'cause I just had so many ideas about the elemental magics and how to tie it in so I wanted to make a strong foundation for later chapters. Anyways, review, like, favorite, etc.!
