*** If any of this were mine, I'd currently be typing this on a laptop in a rented cabin watching a flickering fire with honest-to-goodness snow on the ground outside (and ex-fiancé #2 lying nude on a bearskin rug). That ain't happening, so it must not be mine.

*** There's a certain Harry sub-genre which I don't mind reading, but I won't be writing. Explanations shall be forthcoming ….

Chapter 14

The Fall of Hubris

Hermione had just expressed her … displeasure … with Harry in regards to his actions in Romania. Looking up from the ground where her punch had deposited him, Harry was too surprised to respond.

Recovering before anyone else, Gnarl pointed at the female who dared assault his master and ordered her death.

Luna felt the ambient temperature of the room go up several degrees. The density of the air seemed to increase to a point where breathing was made difficult. Having no understanding of the word "ozone," the strange smell seemed to remind her of a lightning strike.

The sudden sound was the hardest to describe. It was actually felt more than heard. It sounded like a thousand mirrors breaking … but not; like every tree in an ancient forest snapping … but not; like the deep, deafening rumble of a hundred earthquakes … but not; like a million nails scratching a million chalkboards … but not.

It was but was not a sound which could be comprehended by the mind. Luna strangely imagined it to be the sound of reality itself … protesting. Seeking the cause, Luna believed she found it. "Oh, shite."

Disapparation was still impossible at this point in time and this near the gate. Gnarl had no way of knowing that. He did know pain, however. And he did know that he was currently flying across the room having been backhanded by his master … who had been on his back on the far side of the room one moment and then – after that strange noise – was standing before him the next.

After a brief flight, pain chose to reintroduce itself to the Minion Master as he struck a column, cutting the flight short. He wasn't bothered by it … several masters had expressed their displeasure with him physically in the past … that one female Overlord, especially. What followed, however, proved to be well beyond his experience.

Unknown to anyone in the throne room, the Tower Heart had begun to pulse. Twice … then a pause, then twice again. The rhythm increased in tempo, the pauses decreasing, but remained consistent as the Tower Heart seemed to swell in size with each pulse, glowing brighter and brighter.

The minions closest to the Tower Heart raised their heads and howled. Whatever caused it seemed to move outward in a wave as more and more minions joined in the cacophony.

xXxXx

On the floor of the tower which contained the rooms of the mistresses, a half-asleep Velvet removed her hand from a sleeping Fay's breast. "Minions of the tower ... shut up!" she murmured as she pulled a pillow over her head.

xXxXx

Gnarl had spent centuries serving the most terrifying villains in the cosmos. None of them had prepared him for what he was now facing.

The youth now striding towards him was not an Overlord. He wasn't a wizard. Gnarl would hazard that he wasn't even human. His master was now making a mockery of the term "Evil Presence." Even to call him a force of nature given human form would barely be scratching the surface. The aura of malice and impending doom the Overlord emitted with every step far surpassed that.

Gnarl was certain he cowered before a God made flesh. And that God was angry!

And He wasn't alone.

Everything around Gnarl now existed with the sole desire of destroying the minion utterly. Gnarl could feel the very stones of the tower at his back and beneath him struggling to move for the sole purpose of crushing him. The very air in the tower was thickening. Roused to sentience, its sole goal was to slowly suffocate him for his audacity at angering the Overlord.

Ignoring the murderous intent of the tower around him as the lesser of evils, Gnarl tried to claw his way up or through the wall behind him … whichever would take him further from the Doom approaching him. "I'm sorry … I'm sorry!" he gibbered over and over.

The being that had been Harry slowly approached the shivering figure. He could have vaporized the insect from a distance, but his desire was to feel bones snap in his hands and feel the life of the creature slowly drain from its body.

Luna ran up from behind. Heedless of any danger to herself, she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Master. Gnarl can not alter his nature."

The words had no effect on the Overlord. Gnarl's death continued forward.

Luna tried again. "Harry, you've scared Hermione. She needs you," she said softly.

The God shrank into himself. The Tower Heart ceased its pulsing. Minions stopped their howls and looked about confused. The tower went back to being merely a tower.

A worried young man turned to look at the blond. "What?"

"Go to her."

Harry looked around the throne room. Seeing that Hermione wasn't there, he rushed off in search of her.

Luna continued forward to kneel before the trembling Minion Master. Gnarl's eyes were still rolling wildly and his breathing was labored. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I warned you before. There's a thing. Don't get in the way of the thing. The results aren't very nice."

xXxXx

Hermione stared at the dozens of reflections of herself. Her right hand so recently healed by the Blues from the carvings she had made there earlier, was bleeding once again.

Shortly after entering Luna's chambers, she had punched the silvered-glass hung over the wash basin. With the force she had used, her hand was now shattered … broken. Much as her reflection and she, herself, was.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she whimpered. "I'm so sorry."

Hermione didn't feel the throbbing pain in her hand. It was far overshadowed by the pain in her chest. She had betrayed Harry once. The Fates had then been kind enough to … no. Harry. Harry had given her the second chance. For the first time in years, she had been allowed to feel whole … complete.

Then she had betrayed him again. Her reasons didn't matter. The fear and anger she had felt were no excuse. She had betrayed him yet again. She deserved … she deserved ….

Her eyes drifted down to the basin before her. Even there, there was no escaping her reflection … the accusatory stares. Several more Hermiones stared back up at her from the shards of glass in the bowl. An exceptionally large, jagged piece seemed to flicker with reflected light. Hermione picked it up with a trembling hand.

Slice vertically, not horizontally. I remember hearing that somewhere. But straight or try to follow the vein? What about the … femoral artery, wasn't it? Wasn't that supposed to be quicker? In the leg, right? Why didn't I learn more abut muggle biology, damnit!

Hermione gripped the piece of glass tighter, ignoring the way it sliced into her left hand. She was still trying to decide on the arm or leg when her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

xXxXx

Harry knocked a second time. "Hermione?" He couldn't really explain how he knew to find her in Luna's chambers. It was almost like he could just feel where in the tower she was. He couldn't really explain why he didn't follow his initial desire to just burst through the door, either.

Stop kidding yourself. You know damn well why!

Turning his back, Harry slid down to sit with his back resting against the door. "You were right, Hermione. And I'm sorry." Harry chuckled ruefully. "You would've thought that I would've gotten used to that a long, long time ago. I didn't mean to scare you like that." Another sad laugh. "Actually, I didn't mean for anything to go like it did."

Harry had to strain to hear it, but he could make out a tremulous whisper from the other side of the door. "I'm sorry, Harry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Mione. I deserved that punch. I went out all cocky and ended up getting my arse handed to me on a platter.

"I need your help, Hermione. I need you."

Again, the voice on the other side of the door was so low that Harry could barely make it out. "Why?" it simply asked.

That one word could have represented any one of several questions. Harry chose to answer the one he was most comfortable with answering.

"I'm the Overlord. I've managed to conquer almost a whole bloody world! On top of that, I'm the sodding Boy-Who-Lived … the Chosen One … the weapon who was meant to take out the one person even Dumbledore couldn't defeat. And I was up against measly Charlie Weasely.

"You were right. I tried to fight like a wizard. That wasn't my plan going out there … but that's what ended up happening. It's not that I bought into my own hype, really. But I guess I wanted to prove that I could. In my arrogance, I wanted to show Charley and myself that he was no match for me. But I'm not a wizard. Charlie is one, though. And wizards don't fight like the enemies I've fought for the past eight years."

"Was."

"What?"

"Charlie was a wizard. I killed him."

Harry chuckled and shook his head. The chuckle died after he realized something. "I'm sorry you had to do that, Hermione. He was probably like family to you."

Harry could almost feel the shrug coming from the opposite side of the door. "It's alright, Harry. He deserved that and worse for betraying you."

Hermione's voice was indifferent … almost listless. Harry had no idea what was going through her mind. She had been one of his best mates before he even began thinking of women in that way. If there was ever a woman he would be able to understand, Harry figured that the woman would be Hermione.

Guess I'm shite out of luck in that regards, then. Obviously, it's never going to happen.

"I had every intention of going out there and fighting like an Overlord. The minions would handle him, and I would basically just act as backup and take cheap shots at every opportunity. It's just … I don't know. Finding myself back where it all started … stunners flying … brooms … I guess when it combined with my desire to prove myself, it all just ended up going pear shaped."

"It's not your fault, Harry."

Harry snorted in amusement. "In this case, it was. Don't try to spare my feelings, Mione. Lying doesn't suit you."

"So … what are you going to do now?"

"Well, the first step is to pull my head out of my arse. Then I need to listen and learn from someone I can trust; someone who knows more about wizardry then I do. I've been led to believe that there's an incredibly sexy, drop-dead gorgeous Unspeakable out there who may be willing to help me out."

The answering voice seemed to Harry to be a bit lighter in tone. "If I can think of anyone like that, I'll ask him or her to contact you. Maybe I can get them here by tomorrow morning."

Harry sighed in resignation. He wasn't about to force the issue and felt that he had made some progress. "Tomorrow, then. And Hermione …."

"Yes, Harry?"

"I promise to cheat."

"You damn well better!"

Chuckling lightly, Harry stood up and headed back to the throne room. Hermione had sounded pretty rough. He'd leave her alone for a while and give her a chance to pull herself together. Besides, someone still needed to be complimented on an interesting nurse's outfit. And he needed to find Ginny and order the Drone to his chambers. It's not as though he could vent his anger out on Charlie anymore. He just hoped that the Drone would survive the night.

On the other side of the door, a crying Hermione dropped the shard of glass from her hand. Maybe later. Right now, he needs me.

xXxXx

Harry had turned the small arena in the lower levels of the tower into a training room. He had thought about picking up a few weight machines and the like in England, but he somehow felt that the old ways were better.

He was currently almost halfway through his upper body workout, chopping into a tree trunk around two metres in diameter. He alternated sides with each swing of the massive double-bladed axe. Giblet had called it "Blood Drinker" or some such rot. Many Overlord's had commissioned their own weapons … this one was designed to steal the energy from its victims and transfer it to the axe-wielder. It was much too ungainly for Harry, but it made for a great workout.

Hermione quietly walked into the chamber. She had spent the last hour trying to steel herself for the ordeal to come. She wouldn't be able to help her master by going easy on him. It didn't matter how much it would hurt her.

All of her plans vanished from her mind as soon as she saw Harry. Facing away from her, she could plainly see the scars crisscrossing his back. What truly caught her attention, however, was the rippling of his back and shoulder muscles as he swung the axe in a steady rhythm. It was even more apparent now than when they had shared a bed … this was definitely not the same young man she had known in school.

Finally managing to gather her scattered thoughts, Hermione swallowed hard. Approaching the Overlord she said, "Good morning, Harry. Once you've finished with that, I'd thought it would be good to discuss the battle in general … ask you what you felt went right and what went wrong. After analyzing each, we should try to determine how to fix anything that went wrong before going into spellwork and how you might combine both regular magic and that of the Overlord." Blessed Morganna, Hermione! You're not that nervous school girl any longer! Breathe! Breathe!

Harry didn't turn around for the sole purpose of hiding his grin. Yepper … only my Hermione could say all of that in one breath! "That's alright, Hermione. We can go ahead and start now. This is more limbering up than anything else. I won't get too winded to talk."

Harry continued to swing the axe as he replayed the battle in his head. "In general, I was cocky and tried to fight like a wizard. Breaking it down further … I'm used to having the superior intelligence. I'm used to having the element of surprise on my side. I was doubly surprised when I didn't. I still have no idea how Charlie knew that I was coming."

"I have my own ideas about that. I'll tell you later, but it will be important to take care of that problem before you go after the next Weasley. What else?"

"Charlie had the advantage of superior mobility and air superiority. In battle, I'm usually the only one who can Disapparate. And I've only used that, really, to pop behind enemy lines, kill a commander, and then pop back behind the minions. Also, the minions and I have never really fought an aerial opponent. We've fought the odd battle against succubae or fairies … but they couldn't attack from the air. Eventually, they'd have to land to do anything and then you'd just pile on them. The Reds and Greens are used to attacking from a higher position, but we really don't have bupkis to throw at someone flying around aside from my spells."

"That did seem to be a major problem. Not too many people fight from broom-back, but you have to be prepared for it. There is a spell that helps against Apparating opponents by expanding spatial awareness, but the sensory overload can hurt more than it helps."

Leaving the axe imbedded in the trunk, Harry turned to Hermione and smiled. "Leave that one to me. I've got an idea I want to work on when you're not around. Give me a couple of days to work out the kinks. I'd like it to be a surprise."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Okay. Let's move on for now. What did you do right?"

"Not bloody much," Harry chuckled.

"Language, Harry. Now your basic plan was a good one … if Charlie had been asleep. You need to have more backup plans in place before you move on to your infamous 'Plan B.' Also, you may want to think about the one opponent you did manage to take down."

"Norberta?"

"Yes, Harry. You were caught flat-footed. Even though you were injured doing so, you did manage to take down a dragon. What charm, hex, or curse did you use?"

"I didn't use any of them. I …."

Hermione smirked at him. "Reacted like an Overlord?"

Harry sighed. Somehow he knew that by the end of the day his ego would be hurting worse than his stomach.

xXxXx

Luna had decided to leave Hermione and Harry alone for the first few hours. Deciding that enough time had passed for them to work out any remaining issues, she went to join them in the arena and see how things were going.

Hearing a large crashing noise as she opened the door, Luna rushed in to see Hermione near the center of the arena with her hand over her eyes slowly shaking her lowered head. "Hermione! What's going –?"

"It's alright! I'm okay!" came a high pitched wail from behind the blond and to the right. Turning in that direction, Luna could see an upside-down Overlord slumped in the corner, back to the ground with his legs going up against the wall. Seeing Luna, he gave a weak wave.

Hermione straightened up. "We're going over some advanced wizard spells first. Also, spell-chaining. He felt he was ready for a practical demonstration."

"Oww," came from the crumpled form in the corner. "But I'm feeling better!"

Luna sighed. Hermione shook her head sadly. "It looks like we've got a lot of work in front of us."

"I think I'll go for a walk, now!" wailed the Overlord.

"You're not fooling anyone, you know." Turning back to Hermione, Luna asked "Is my wand still fighting you?"

"What! You mean she's not even using a compatible …? Crap."

Both women turned to face their fallen master. "Harry … language."

xXxXx

Feeling that she had humiliated Harry enough, Hermione slipped out of the chamber and left Luna going over some necromantic spells she had learned from the grimoires they had purchased in Knockturn Alley.

She had left barely in time. Her mental walls had begun to crumble under the constant onslaught. After a quick stop in the dungeons, she dragged herself up to Luna's chambers.

Taking hold of a large chair, Hermione did her best to wedge it against the door. It wouldn't do for someone to come in unexpectedly. Entering the small chamber which acted as the WC, Hermione removed her clothing and knelt in the center of the large copper tub.

Reaching outside of the tub, she picked up the item she had appropriated. After a few moments of examining the scourge and testing its weight, she whispered, "I'm sorry, Harry."

She repeated the apology between each and every lash.

*** I enjoy occasionally reading a Super Harry story. Obviously, I am not writing one, however. Super Harry just usually ain't funny, I'm afraid. Harry and the Tower Heart will become more … attuned, I guess, as the story progresses. It will have to do more with will power and perhaps tapping into reserves when his own mana is exhausted. In general, it will have no real effect in this story, but will be used in Book 2 as a means to work around a few problems. (Hint: Group Occulmency)

*** Yes, Velvet deserved more than just a cameo. But someone had to say it. I just couldn't stop thinking about George Hamilton in "Love at First Bite."

*** Don't get too upset. This will be pretty much it for "Harry getting his ass kicked in training." I'll be going on to the results after this. I'm not going to do an 80's training montage (no matter how good the music is when you're feeling nostalgic!).

Have a good New Year everyone!