Hello everyone, through crazy things happening I am very glad I made this update, HUGE thanks to Marla1 not only for her amazing and speedy betaing but also all her support.

Enjoy...

Chapter Thirteen- Advanced Magic

Kreacher showed up in the cellar two times over. Harry and Hermione had agreed with the elf that he would be showing up every morning at ten. That meant they were in the cellar for a couple of days already.

All they had achieved was to injure themselves and trigger every magical wound they had suffered during the war. The only scar that didn't hurt was the one on Harry's forehead. The last time the elf had showed up was hours ago, the couple assumed it must be nighttime. Being locked up in a cellar was the easiest way to lose track of time.

'It's not working!' Harry called out through his gritted teeth as he tried to keep the spell active against the Elder Wand. He was feeling his energy giving in after so many failed attempts with different spells. Their wands were pointing at the Deathstick with silver threads connecting them to it. They just tried a penetrating charm Hermione had taught Harry to use.

'Keep trying, Harry!' Hermione said with effort as she held her wand with both hands, the beam of light bursting from the tip of her wand becoming stronger as she tried harder.

The silver threads snapped and bounced on the charmed walls of the cellar with a clank that echoed through the place and had both Harry and Hermione take a step backwards. Hermione groaned as she moved the back of her hand against her nostrils, her sleeve was soon stained with drops of blood that ran down her nose. They were exhausted, pale and angry.

'Are you alright?' Harry asked in worry and Hermione took a deep breath and nodded.

'I'm fine,' she assured him curtly. The Wand was getting to them little by little; the more they fought the urge to use it the more it triggered their exhaustion and discomfort.

'We must use the link, Hermione,' Harry suggested once again and she looked at him in annoyance. They had been through this in the past two days. The Wand was toying with their feelings, feeding on them, causing them to overreact to every stimulation. Since the Wand had tossed them across the room they had decided not to touch it yet, not to give it the physical contact it craved. At the same time not giving in their own need to touch it was becoming unbearable.

They had temporarily agreed not to use the link, which was another struggle on its own accord as it felt comforting and soothing. Hermione insisted the Elder Wand would feed on them faster and devour them. While Harry believed they needed a more immediate approach with it, through the link and right in its core to detect the Stone. They had ended up on agreeing to try all the spells Hermione believed would work and the link would be a last resort solution. So far, they had every magical wound aching and Hermione withering faster than Harry. He was sure it was the repeated Cruciatus curse that had been cast on his wife and best friend by Bellatrix Lestrange that the Wand used against her. He was also afraid of the mark on her chest from Dolohov that now was red and swollen. They never found what kind of curse that was as he had been muted but Harry couldn't take out the image of it piercing through her chest out of his head.

Magic had layers and flavors, curses especially lingered for years and now they were coming to get them as they were retriggered by the Wand and their own abuse of their magical powers. They had cast more than fifteen advanced spells already and nothing positive happened.

'Stop thinking of the past, the Wand feeds on our fears and memories.' Hermione instructed as she took another breath through her nostrils and touched her chest in pain. They might have tried to block the link but it worked just fine. Even if Hermione didn't want to accept it, it felt like it was widening little by little, allowing them to share their emotions apart from their thoughts.

'And no, we're not using it yet; maybe the wand is enlarging the link to drive us mad.' Hermione added sternly and this time Harry felt his own anger rising.

'You drive me mad with your denial to use the only weapon we might have against it, Hermione,' He replied curtly to her orders and she looked at him with piercing eyes.

'We still have options others than the link, Harry,' she snapped back and he rolled his eyes.

'Options like?' Harry challenged and Hermione took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose with her hand, the bleeding stopped but the headache that was pounding on her temples was making her dizzy.

'Like Grindelwald's blood spells.' Hermione suggested weakly, making Harry snort in annoyance as he approached her, no matter their fight he felt he had to be closer to her.

'Oh yes, lets bleed out while trying a forbidden dark spell of no one else but Grindelwald's who by-the-way was a Master of the Wand himself…. That will go exceptionally well, I am sure.' Harry retorted angrily this time, Hermione glared at him.

'Stop jumping down my throat, Harry! We'll exhaust every possibility before we use a link that hasn't been established before between magical people. I don't want to end up in vegetable state!' Hermione raised her voice slightly, not able to calm herself, the room was charged with magical energy and her exhaustion was allowing her to lose her temper.

'We'll both end up dead if we keep up like this, Hermione!' Harry argued back, his own voice raising. A part of him told him to stop as she seemed weakening by the minute but another part told him to push her to see his point of view. She was the logical one but she had became quiet illogical with this entire vain attempt to explore the wand from the outside.

'You think I want us to die?' Hermione asked in anger this time and Harry groaned, great, now they were simply bickering.

'I think we need to focus on a different approach,' Harry tried but Hermione's eyes were full of anger.

'You're obsessed with the link,' Hermione retorted and Harry glared at his wife.

'And you're too stubborn not to use it,' Harry snapped. 'Ignoring that it's working anyway!' he added angrily and Hermione shook her head. The room was humming with energy. The Wand's absorption powers were radiating as it fed on their feelings and physical pain. Hermione grabbed her wand and only for an instant, Harry through she'd hex him, she cast an insulation charm around the Elder Wand engulfing it in a humming bubble.

It wasn't completely successful, given the power of the Hallow but they felt some relief immediately. Calmness, less pain, their bodies felt cooler, the throbbing inside their veins slowed, their minds cleared. Harry moved even closer and hugged his wife tightly.

'Better?' she asked against and Harry nodded as he kissed her shoulder.

'Loads,' he answered with a word and rubbed her back. Her muscles were stiff. He knew he wasn't in better shape. His hand where Umbridge's cursed pen had tore on his skin throbbed, the place where the locket had attached itself on his own chest felt hot and his own body hurt as he had been cursed and hexed through the years. Having received twice the killing curse hadn't killed him but now the Wand was using every weak spot of theirs against them and they had many.

'I fucking hate this thing,' Hermione added and Harry despite of the situation, chuckled and looked at her.

'I think this is the first time I heard you swear like that,' Harry admitted and Hermione actually smiled at him. She hadn't smiled in the past couple of days and this helped improve his spirits. He could detect a tiny reddish scar on her throat, where Bellatrix's magical dagger had broken the skin. He saw her arm had the reddish scar where Mudblood had been engraved by the same dagger.

'This is the first time I feel like this,' Hermione admitted in her turn and Harry nodded.

'Like what?' he asked, wanting her to vent.

'Like shit,' she added and he chuckled again, the Wand definitely affected her. He hugged her again and felt her shivering against him. He felt a cold grip of worry around his heart. Carrying the locket felt like an easy task before being locked up in the cellar with the Elder Wand against them.

'Lets lay down for awhile, it must be night anyway.' Harry suggested and Hermione gave a weak nod. They moved to the mattress he had prepared for them and helped her lay down first before he could collapse by her side. He opened his arm for her to come closer to him. Her head rested on his chest, she fit perfectly in his arms as she snuggled closer.

'What other spell, we can use? Apart from Grindelwald's blood spells.' he asked and Hermione took a few moments to reply, he knew they were running out of options but he wanted to show her he valued her plan. Even if it seemed to be reaching a fruitless end.

'We can try a decoding charm, I've learned it from a book,' Hermione suggested and Harry sighed and kissed her head. Like in their fourth year, before the first task, Hermione had spent the past two days teaching him advanced spells Hermione knew and they had tried on the Wand. Every time, the Deathstick lashed out against them. Harry was afraid this would continue until they touched it. Magical objects had this kind of settlement with their owners. For now it only dodged every attempt of theirs to look through its barriers as if they were attacking it.

'I am afraid we need to actually use the wand to find the Stone, Hermione.' Harry noted and felt her sighing. He was too exhausted to fight with her but it was clear they were just wearing themselves off while approaching it on the surface.

'I know,' she replied to his surprise, she admitted he was right; however, as he felt her shivering again he could only hug her tighter to himself. The mattress was enchanted to be warm and wandlessly he charmed it to become a little warmer.

'Sleep, it's engulfed in your spell for now.' Harry whispered and she didn't even nod as she was already asleep in his arms.

He knew it was also the Wand that triggered this but he couldn't stop feeling guilty and trapped. He was literally trapped in the cellar, his damn destiny had led them to this. He wasn't sure how he felt about Dumbledore luring them in another suicide mission. The headmaster of Hogwarts had led Harry to Voldemort through the Horcruxes, he only hoped to kill the Dark Lord to end up against the Hallows next, with Hermione by his side.

Maybe that's why Dumbledore mentioned only Hermione at King's Cross in his in-between- state Harry had found himself in, right after Voldemort attacked him in the forest.

Harry felt anger rising inside him as he realized he had been sent like a pig to slaughter twice and the second time Hermione had been doomed too. Dumbledore was smart, he knew Harry and Hermione would find each other; all he had to do was to pass them the responsibility. After all, heroes are consumable.

"You are the true master of death, because the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying." Dumbledore's words echoed in his head.

Along the anger, Harry felt the urge to use the Elder Wand, anger and power, this was the way to find the Stone. He felt his blood boiling in need and fury, the Deathstick was calling. The Master had every right to use his possessions. The person that stole the Stone would pay for using it against him.

He tried to move but Hermione was clutching at his blouse in her sleep. The link was allowing calmness and need from her to flow between them. Harry took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes with his hands. It was the Wand blinding him, luring him to it. He could feel the attraction, the sense of it. He took a deep breath and hugged Hermione tighter.

Dumbledore was also right about one thing, Harry was hot tempered, easy for the Elder Wand to lure and allow the abuse of its power. Hermione was there to stop this, Dumbledore had entrusted the Tales of the Bard and the ultimate solution with Hermione, Ron had received the deluminator for his own path from and back to them, however it had nothing to do with the Hallows. It was Harry and Hermione who had to find a way through them. Hermione was the key for Harry's salvation.

'Don't leave,' Hermione mumbled in her sleep, her pale skin worried him, scared him. Maybe it wasn't a smart move to lock themselves in the cellar with the Deathstick.

'I'm not going anywhere, I promise,' he reassured her in a low voice and kissed her forehead. Hermione was a powerful witch; she had proved that through the years. Harry remembered how he had shielded her against the attack of Remus Lupin when he had transformed, or how Greyback wanted to bite her as he had tendencies on cannibalism. Harry cringed as he hugged her closer to him, he couldn't lose her after so many times she avoided death herself. Dolohov had cursed her yet she hadn't destroyed him when she had the chance. Lestrange had cursed her repeatedly with the Cruciatus and Hermione survived. She had been through so much.

'I am fine, Harry,' Hermione murmured as she opened her eyes. He wasn't sure how long she slept and he remained there, frozen against her, drowning in his fear of losing her. 'The link is allowing all your agony in,' Hermione explained as she rested on her elbow to look at him. He was pale, the black circles under his eyes so evident. He was sweaty and tired, his eyes clouded with fear.

'I'm so sorry,' Harry whispered and Hermione shook her head.

'It's ok, get some sleep,' she tried but he shook his head.

'I'm so sorry for all the things you've been through because of me,' Harry replied in desperation and Hermione sighed and pointed her wand against the Elder Wand, in her sleep her charm had weakened. The "noise" from the Deathstick fell short again. She looked at Harry and touched his cheek with her hand before she could give him a kiss on the lips.

'I love you very much and Harry it was all my choice,' Hermione replied with the truth and smiled at him. 'Try to sleep my dear.' Hermione added and Harry took a shaky breath as a tear ran down his temple into his hair, she kissed him again. 'I will take care of the nightmares. I will chase away the demons my Love.' Hermione reassured him, and Harry nodded as he finally allowed his eyes to close. He hadn't slept well for the past nights; the Wand was giving him harder nightmares that it did with her. She suffered more while awake, he struggled instead of resting.

She didn't wish to do so but she opened the link wider for her to connect with him in his sleep. She didn't like to admit so but in the short timeframe of two days, they could reflex with the link, open it to flow every thought and feeling to reduce it to allow only the knowledge of each other close by, it had became a little deeper too. And now that she was using it while he was asleep Hermione could see how easy it felt to use it to manipulate his dreams. For every signal of fear and agony, she sent calmness and love. For every image of death and destruction Harry's mind created or retrieved, she sent him a happy image of theirs together throughout the years.

While using the link she could feel the Wand quieting down even more, as if the link shielded them both from the Deathstick that remained within her bubble spell across the room.

Soon, Harry's end was only receiving memories from her. Hermione kept on with her memories of theirs, he needed to rest and relax, his mind could take that much and he was more vulnerable to the Wand's power than her. She needed him intact, his brain had to sustain all this. She only hoped using the link wouldn't damage him in some way as it was all untouched territory.

Memories of them together having fun, strolling around the Hogwarts Lake, laughing, dancing in the tent, just the two of them, having fun at Hogsmeade, spending time with Teddy Lupin, graduating from Hogwarts and their N.E.W.T.s, making love three nights ago. She sent him all the true memories that popped up in her head of him despite her tiredness and through them, she also felt better although locked up in a dark cellar with a corrupting object. She was also with her husband and best friend. She knew they would make it.

Time was a funny thing, she wasn't sure how long she was doing that, she was sure she must had slumbered herself and the link worked on its own. She wasn't sure how but her sleep was without nightmares, only random images of hers and Harry during their years at school. Late night talks over Chinese food in his old apartment in London, watching him in Quidditch matches all over Britain for various English and European cups. Her dreams had been a collage of happy and casual images through the years.

She opened her eyes and found herself with her head resting on Harry's chest. She looked up at him and found him awake and looking at her.

'The link is completely blocking the Wand's pull,' Harry sent and Hermione realized that while completely open to the link, she felt no physical pain, the Wand's constant humming and provoking was absent.

'We slept within the link….' Hermione observed and Harry nodded.

'Slept normally for the first time in three days, Kreacher popped in a few minutes ago, we're in here for three days. He brought some food and fresh water,' Harry sent back and Hermione nodded as Harry kissed her forehead. 'Hermione, the link is the perfect defense against the Wand's current,' Harry added and Hermione nodded again. She had to admit this was the only magic that seemed to work against the Wand or at least halting its constant pursuit for them.

'We need to use the Wand while connected,' Harry sent back and Hermione traced her fingers against his chest, close to his heart.

'I only hope it won't kill us, if the Wand finds a way to violate the link that we still don't know how to defend… it will go through us, Harry, it will consume us from the inside.' Hermione sent back and Harry nodded and took her hand in his, kissing her knuckles.

'It's our only chance,' Harry sent back and Hermione stood up first, extending her hand for him to take. He grabbed her hand and stood up.

'Let's get done with it,' Hermione sent through the link and Harry nodded. The couple moved closer to the Wand, with a wave of her hand, the protective spell broke, yet the humming of the Deathstick was slightly felt by the couple. This encouraged them to feel stronger before the Hallow.

Without hesitation this time, they touched the Elder Wand at the same time, their fingers intertwined as they grasped at it, still connected through the link. They raised it between them with their hands as one around it.

They felt as if being pulled by the navel, like in a portkey. Only they knew it were their consciousness travelling and not their bodies.

'When will you put it in your head? We're in this together.'

'Merry Christmas, Hermione,' 'Merry Christmas, Harry,' they stood before the tombstone, in the snowy graveyard.

'I wish we could stay here, grow old,'

'…and I think you know too,' 'I'll go with you,' 'No, kill the snake, kill the snake and then it's just Him…'

'You choose him,' Ron stormed out of the tent.

'You're brilliant, Hermione, truly,' Harry admired her in the tent.

Hey, little train! Wait for me!

I once was blind but now I see

Have you left a seat for me?

Is that such a stretch of the imagination?

They danced in the tent, in their darkest time; they chose what was right over what was easy.

'Why do you live?' Voldemort asked through his teeth.

'Because I have something worth living for,' Harry replied before they could attack each other.

They ran through various memories, shared and not, they were displayed before their eyes by their own link as it reacted to the contact with the Wand and soon they found themselves before new forms, they were inside the Elder Wand, while held in a protective field from their bond.

There were dark wizards around them, their eyes piercing through the couple as they tried to approach, all the shadows of previous Masters of the Elder Wand were within it. Hermione and Harry actually recognized some of them and their need to feed upon the couple.

Gellet Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy.

All the figures were distorted, only their shadows remained imprinted within the Wand. Savage for magical power, a dark piece of each wizard was absorbed by the wand and remained in there like a shadow.

'Focus on the Stone,' They commanded each other internally and tried to refocus their minds, always within the protective shield of their link.

'Stab it, Hermione! Stab it!' Ron screamed as Hermione had been paralyzed before the mirage of the dead form of Harry's, his eyes open, a trail of blood down his chin. Hermione finally stabbed the basilisk's fang against the Cup of Hufflepuff with a scream of desperation and the Cup erupted in black smoke, Voldemort's shriek was heard all over the Chamber of Secrets.

'I can't lose him, I can't lose Harry,' Hermione whispered as Ron tried to comfort her with desperation on his features.

Harry stabbed the Diary with a fang and the memory of Tom Riddle dissolved before his eyes before it could get destroyed. Ginny lay close to Harry.

Fred Weasley was standing in a corner, sad but calm, not belonging in the place yet enduring. Across the basement, there was Ginny Weasley with the Resurrection Stone bound on a chain around her neck. Molly Weasley was by her side, her eyes full of tears as she looked between her living and her lost children.

'We're to be a big family. We'll find Hermione for Ron and Harry for me and we'll be all happy, George will be happy again.' Ginny reassured her tearful mother as Fred remained silent and cold in the corner, looking at his sister with lost eyes. 'We'll be happy!' Ginny repeated and her mother tried to reach for her but Ginny shook her mother's hands away, she was trembling, her lip was twisting.

'Sweetheart… this is not right, what have you done? The ministry is searching for you! For how long you've been doing this?' Molly tried to reason with Ginny but the youngest Weasley was not listening.

'What am I doing? I'm trying to help our family, Fred is here! We can be happy, mum! Fred is here for a long time now, we only need George and they'll both be happy!' Ginny was moving her hands in the air, trying to prove her point. The Stone however remained unmoving against her chest, as if it had been hooked up on her skin…

Harry and Hermione watched in horror through the link as they realized this was probably the basement of the Burrow, where Ginny had hidden the Stone. They thought it'd be an enemy. They hoped it would be someone they can take down with the Wand itself if need be. Now things were much more complicated. Ginny, the one possessed by Tom Riddle's Diary in the elegant age of eleven had the Resurrection Stone, or actually the Stone had her. She was in danger because of the powerful Hallow. She was using the Stone for who knows how long and the Stone was consuming her.

'We need to go back,' Hermione demanded and Harry agreed as they found themselves trapped in the Burrow's basement, unseen. They saw everything through their own link and the Hallows' connection.

They both focused on returning. The basement vanished, they found themselves in a dark corridor, very similar to the one of the Department of Mysteries, where the prophesies used to be held. The Wand was using traps familiar to their minds. Inside their link, they held hands and started running down the only corridor they found. It seemed endless and they ran even faster into the darkness, hoping it would lead somewhere, anywhere, not sure if they were running deeper into the Wand or out of it.

They halted with gasps as they saw a figure within the Darkness.

A robust male figure showed up before them, his face was distorted into a grim expression, his hands were full of blood, his throat slit with black blood running down.

'Antioch Peverell,' Hermione sent through the link as the man seemed to be looking at them, complete blackness filled the sockets of his eyes.

The Darkness around him dissolved and all the previous Masters of the Wand showed up again, a few tens of wizards were around the inventor of the Wand. The couple's own shadows were there, holding hands in black clothes, mirroring Harry and Hermione in reverse. They were the only figures being semi-transparent as the Wand hadn't devoured them yet.

'Allow the Wand to be one with you, embrace your power through it.' A younger Albus Dumbledore offered with a smile in his black clothes. All the Masters surrounded Peverell and stepped closer to the couple, engulfing them. 'Be who you truly are.' He added with his reassuring eyes smiling at the couple. He was so tempting, all the struggling would be gone, their enemies would be gone, even if they were close friends and family.

Both Harry and Hermione closed their eyes and focused on exiting the spectrum of the Wand. The Deathstick reacted and the next thing they knew was themselves hurled against the charmed walls of the cellar at Grimmauld. This time they could feel every ache and pained spot of their bodies from each other within the link. Their bond was wide open, sending and receiving every thought, feeling and sensation.

'Master Potters!' Kreacher exclaimed as Harry and Hermione stood up with effort.

'What are you doing here, Kreacher?' Harry asked with a pained voice as he helped Hermione up, they felt exhausted but the adrenaline was cursing through their veins, they had found the Stone. The Elder Wand was tossed on the floor and Hermione sent it back in its box with a levitating charm, not wanting to touch it again.

'Kreacher had to break the spells allowing him in only for awhile. Kreacher watched you frozen before the Wand, Master Potter,' the elf was babbling. 'Kreacher had to inform you, Kreacher tried to see if you could understand but you were lost!' the elf was upset and Hermione tried to approach him, her body still hurting, the curse of Dolohov burning through her chest like the night it had hit her.

'What happened, Kreacher?' Hermione tried gentler than Harry.

'The Weasley younger son is trying to enter the mansion, Mistress. The wards keep him out but he's been trying, he even attacked the wards. Kreacher asked him to stop and promised to notify you. The Weasley boy said it's about his family.' Kreacher replied and Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Molly knew, maybe Ron knew as well. They had to find him, they had to go to the Burrow. They had to stop Ginny and retrieve the Stone.

'Let Ron in, Kreacher, we'll be up in a moment.' Harry ordered the elf who bowed and disappeared without another word. Harry looked at Hermione and the Wand, if they were to destroy the Stone they needed the Wand, the Wand that had tried to take them in a few moments ago.

'We have to use it once, for the Stone,' Hermione echoed his thoughts in a grim voice. Harry approached the Wand and took it in his hand. Nothing happened, the Wand was silent, as if it was waiting for the right moment when the couple would be using it together again. It was either itself or them and they knew the Deathstick knew that.

'We need it with us.' Hermione noted and Harry sighed. The Wand wanted them, he was sure it wouldn't give its allegiance to anyone before it could conquer Harry and Hermione, the only Masters able to destroy it. It never yielded to Voldemort, it would change hands only after destroying them.

Harry put it in the inside pocket of his robes as Hermione started breaking through the spells he had cast to engulf the cellar. Soon, they were opening the door of it and emerged in the ground level, where Lily and James waited for them, their eyes full of worry and fear at the couple's miserable state.

The shades of his parents had no time to say a word to Harry and Hermione as Ron apparated in the kitchen a moment later. His robes were ruffled and smudged from spells, his eyes red and furious. He looked at them in fear.

'I need your help, now,' He only said and both Harry and Hermione nodded their heads as the trio apparated out of Grimmauld Place at the same time for the Burrow.

OOOOH SO it's Ginny! I wanted someone who has already been corrupted with magical objects apart from the trio and Ginny had been through a lot with the Diary horcrux so I chose her for reasons explained in the next chapter, I hope you liked this one, please let me know 3

Reviews are love and support

CP09