Chapter 25

The following morning, earlier than I would've preferred, Draco and I were standing by the edge of the Loe, discussing how we might be able to discover its presence. It was so early there was still a light fog surrounding us. The other edge of the lake wasn't even visible from where we were standing and the sun wasn't even completely up yet. I was felling rather lethargic, but despite that, I felt something here I hadn't felt anywhere else. It was definitely the presence of a strong magic that was pulling me. Draco didn't feel this, and I assumed I alone could sense it because I have this strain of magic in my blood. This is the residing place of my ancestors.

"You're certain this is the place?" Draco asked me.

"Yes, completely sure. I just have no idea how to find the entrance."

"We'll think of something."

I nodded. "I wonder if some of those ancient charms must be used."

"You remember many of them?" Draco questioned looking mildly surprised.

"Yes, I wasn't sure of what I'd need to know upon coming here so I learned many of the ancient spells I came across in my reading."

"I'm surprised. I never would've thought of doing that."

I shrugged. "I'm just smarter than you I suppose," I said in a joking tone.

"Oh look who's the arrogant one now," he replied as he wrapped his arm around my waist and turned me around to face him. "I think I'm rubbing off on you," he said with a smirk.

"Don't be ridiculous," I said trying to be serious but a smile was creeping up on my face. I didn't want watch him get the self-satisfied look on his face from knowing that he's rubbed off on my quite a bit in some respects so I pulled myself away and said, "Now quit distracting me. I need to think of the spells."

Smirking he stepped away from me but I could still feel his eyes intently on me as I paced beside the lake considering all the different spells I'd taught myself and what their effects might be in this situation. Finding the entrance would most likely require a combination of spells and charms. A place such as this would not be easily accessed.

The day passed slowly into early afternoon as I tried charms that I remembered from my research and charms that Draco suggested as well. It was close to one o'clock when Draco and I were setting down on a flat piece of land to eat the small lunch we brought along.

"God am I famished," I said before taking a bite out of my sandwich.

"You and me both. Are you sure there aren't any more spells we can try? You don't remember any more?" Draco replied.

Just before we decided to take this lunch break I expressed my frustration at not being able to think of anymore spells to try. It had been nearly an hour since I'd tried anything last. There wasn't even an inkling that we were getting close to finding the entrance to Avalon. The most promising moment was when I saw a shadowy movement in the water, but it merely turned out to be a fish gliding up towards the bank and then away.

"I don't know Draco, I'm trying. You've got to quit pestering me about it, you're ruining my concentration every time you open your mouth," I snapped.

He pulled a face. "Oh well excuse me, I've just been trying to help all day. No need to take your frustration out on me," he responded, yet not in an irritated tone. When I looked up at him he was smirking and I wondered if he found my aggravation amusing. He'd been in a surprisingly positive mood all day and I was the one letting this get to me. I decided I needed to pull myself together.

Not willing to apologize however, I continued eating my sandwich and the pulled out the second once I'd finished the first. Just before taking the first bite, the charm I knew I needed came to me. It was so obvious! It was distinctly marked in the reading as one of the many spells that could be spoken to grant entry into Avalon in the time that it was open. My head jerked up and I looked up at Draco with wide eyes. He still had his eyes on me and he asked what was wrong.

I didn't respond immediately but continued staring at him as what must have been a manic looking smile spread across my face. I dropped the sandwich and stood up and walked quickly to the edge of the lake. Draco quickly stood up and followed, shouting at me, "Hermione! Tell me what on earth is going on in that head of yours!"

Without stopping, I called over my shoulder, "I know what the spell is!"

At this I heard him pick up the pace and as I knelt by the edge of the lake, he had caught up and knelt beside me.

"I need to draw some of my blood in order to perform the spell," I said to Draco.

He picked my hand up and with the flick of his wand, I felt a prick on my forefinger and a second later, blood was rising to the surface. I let it build up for a bit, uncertain of how much was necessary, and I then swirled my hand in the lake reciting the spell, hoping this was the one.

"I belong to this land

I giveth my hand,

Make peace my sisters

I am of your own kind

I offer my blood,

My blood of your kind,

My blood of this land."

As I finished the spell, I stood up to look out over the lake to see if my words had any effect at all. Draco stood up beside me and when he noticed a movement in the center of the lake that I did not.

"There is a rippling in the center, but nothing out there to cause it from what I can see," he said quietly, looking intently over the lake.

As it became more pronounced, I too noticed it and as the ripples moved in our direction, a mist appeared over the surface of the lake. As the ripples grew, and the mist thickened, an old row boat, with an elfish looking man standing in it floated over. It appeared to be moving of its own accord. The man was not rowing or propelling the boat forward in any way.

He wore a thin cloak that was the color of the sea. His skin was almost white yet he had very dark eyes and long dark hair that flowed down his back. When he reached the edge and I could see his face more clearly, I saw that his face was particularly beautiful and serene. It was unlike any face found on earth, at least in this realm.

When his boat stopped at the edge he held out a hand and said, "My Lady and My Lord."

I looked at Draco and we both shared a long look before we both smiled in awe and satisfaction. I grabbed his hand and then turned back to the elfish man in the boat and placed my hand in his cold, elegant looking hand. We stepped into the boat but found nowhere to sit so we remained standing behind the man.

The boat began moving back towards the center of the lake and as it got closer, it gradually descended into the water. I was concerned about becoming soaked or of somehow being swept off the boat by the water. Draco must have been having the same thoughts because his grip on my hand tightened as water began spilling into the boat. As the water rose around us however, we could not feel it. As we became fully submerged and moved towards what a assumed was the bottom of the lake, the water flowing around my body felt more like a cool, light breeze than anything. We had been travelling for a few minutes when I could see figures glowing in the distance and I could hear voices that sounded like a light hum of beautiful music.

As we neared Avalon, I noticed that it was a large and intricate forest. And what I saw glowing were flowers along the roots of trees, parts of the trees themselves even seemed to glow. There were hundreds of what I thought were larger than normal insects, but they were tiny fairies. They did not communicate with us, or even take notice of us. They were in their own little world down here. Despite the fact that we were at the bottom of a lake when we finally landed at the bank, it was not dark. It looked like dusk, not quite dark but not light enough to be considered day time. When we stopped at the edge of the glowing forest, the man in the boat got out and held a his hand out to help me step out. This was of course completely unnecessary, but I accepted regardless.

He still said nothing to us and after we were on land, he returned to his boat and Draco and I stood there dumbfounded and uncertain of what we were to do.

"Well I don't really know where we should go from here," I told Draco flat out.

"Maybe we should ask him to direct us to others here," Draco suggested gesturing to the man in the boat, now just standing there stoically as though he had no idea we were there.

"I'll leave that to you," I said glancing at the man out of the corner of my eye, feeling certain he would be no help to us.

Draco stepped back near the boat and said, "Excuse me sir, could you point us in the direction of the other people who dwell here?"

The man did not betray any sign of having heard the question. Draco opened his mouth again, but before he said anything, a larger man stepped onto the path before us, seemingly appearing out of thin air. He was larger and looked like someone who could not be messed with, but he had the same beauty in his face as the other man. Their beauty suited the surroundings perfectly and I wondered how out of place Draco and I must have looked. Draco immediately returned to my side when he appeared, seemingly fearful of what this man might do. Although I was focused more immediately on this man who just appeared, I was briefly miffed at Draco's continuous concern over my safety. I can protect myself first of all, and second, this place is more peaceful than any on earth. I could feel it in every fiber of my being. Neither one of us would be in harm's way here.

"May I ask which of you performed the incantation that allowed you enter Avalon?" His voice equaled the beauty in his face.

"I did," I said stepping forward. "We would like the speak to the Lady of the Lake. It is of dire importance."

He looked into my eyes and scanned my face intently for what seemed like a long while before he gave a small nod and turned around with a gesture for us to follow.

"It has been many centuries since our Lady has had visitors from the mortal realm," he said over his shoulder as he led the way up the winding path. It was only wide enough for one, so I followed directly behind our guide and Draco walked close behind me.

The forest continued to glow with blue and purple tints on every living thing. As we moved further in, we first walked up a gradual hill and then we walked down a gradual slope, which seemed to be going even lower than we were before. I could hear tinkling laughter and beautiful songs from every direction. In the distance I thought I could occasionally see children running and playing or a man and woman walking on other paths that I could just barely see through the trees.

When we reached the stopping point, we were standing by a fountain in the center of a ring of trees. Even the water in the fountain seemed to be glowing.

"Please wait here. Our Lady will be here shortly," and he walked to the largest tree in the ring, and walked into an opening in the trunk. This was the first time I actually looked up and noticed how large the trees were. They were taller than any trees on earth and in the branches, before the leaves appeared, were what looked like dwelling places. They were not like tree houses she had built with her neighbors when she was a child, they were built into the trees, they lived within the branches and their homes looked like natural parts of the tree. There was a city within the branches of the trees.

I looked at Draco with an amazed grin on my face. "This place is amazing, isn't it?"

"It is," he said. "I've never felt so at peace in my life...well almost never," he continued, grabbing my hand and giving it a gently squeeze.

"You're right, this truly is the most peaceful place. It's a happy place too. Can you feel that in the air? But also troubled it seems," I replied.

"Yes I understand you completely."

Draco stopped there when we saw a woman in a pearly white and billowing dress. She walked bare foot over the soil, but appeared to be gliding more than anything. She couldn't have been any older than nineteen and was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen with skin as pale as the two men we had already met. She had wavy long brown hair that fell midway down her back with crystal clear blue eyes that pierced anyone she looked at with an all-knowing but peaceful stare.

"I am Awen, Lady of the Lake of Avalon. What brings you here and how did you find your way into our home?"

"I am Hermione Granger and this is Draco Malfoy, we are here because we are in dire need of your aid. We found our way here because Draco here learned that I am a distant ancestor to Lady Vivienne. I -"

Awen stopped me mid sentence. "I am aware of our relation. You made your way in through the spell our women used to use. What I am asking is why you are here. You said you need aid, but in what form?"

I started over bluntly putting our purpose out there. "There is an impending war in the wizarding world being brought about by Voldemort, who is the most dangerous and darkest wizard of our time and possibly of any time in history. There is no known way of defeating him, he has done everything he can to bring himself to near immortality. Millions of people will die if we cannot destroy him and his followers. We learned what basic information we could about the Lady of the Lake and her powers and hoped that if we could find our way here, we would find aid."

Awen was shaking her head slowly by the end of my speech. "As the Lady of the Lake, I cannot become involved in human affairs as significant as war. And I would not in this case given my lack of knowledge about you or your enemies."

I was dumbfounded. No way did we come all this way, after so much research for nothing. I looked at Draco to see him narrowing his eyes at the woman.

"Something must be able to be done," he said to her. "This woman here is your ancestor, she has the ability and the blood in her veins to allow her to harness your power. Teach her your ways."

She gave Draco a long and intense stare. "Your ambitions in this endeavor are not so easily hidden Draco Malfoy. You ought to learn what being the Lady of the Lake requires before you volunteer your lover to take on such a task."

He seemed taken aback by her words before he looked angry that she had apparently seen through him so easily. He opened his mouth to respond, but I placed my hand on his arm to stop him, fearful of what he would say.

"I am interested in learning what harnessing your power requires. I am here of my own volition now. If you are in fact willing to pass on your powers, I am open to learning," I said.

"I have been living here for more than one thousand years now. I have been dreaming of moving on from this world for centuries. I am willing to teach, but once the process begins, there will be no turning back. Follow me to a more comfortable place to talk," she said and led us to a quiet sitting place beyond the ring of trees.

Even the seats were carved out of trees and appeared to fit right into the landscape.

"Avalon as you know, has been closed for more than a millennia. We have had no contact with the outside world and I'm sure you are curious about why this is."

Draco and I both nodded and she continued, "Avalon has always been a secluded place, so it did not help when other religions started coming into the country many, many years ago. They seemed a much more immediate answers to their problems. Our practices and rituals which were only open to certain people were scorned by those who claimed to admit all into their faith. Our ways were scorned and the people gradually lost faith in us. As they did, the strength of our influence diminished in the mortal realm. They came to us less often and we left Avalon almost never. I was made Lady of the Lake just as this was beginning. If I'd known that I would be stuck here, bound to my position I never would have taken on this responsibility. Also, there is a legend that after my great grandmother trapped Merlin in the glass tower he put a curse on Avalon and the people residing in it who followed Lady Vivienne. He cursed us to an existence that kept us trapped here. We are hidden from the mortal realm and they are hidden from us."

She then made a very skeptical look at both of us, clearly not buying into the legend. "I happen to know that Merlin was in a very weakened state when he was trapped. He couldn't have had the power to do such a thing. It is a story to make Merlin seem even more unsavory around here than he truly was. He was a brilliant man, my great grandmother however was the selfish and power hungry one. Besides, he loved Avalon and he would be deeply saddened to see it closed off from the mortal realm the way it is now. The logical and true reason we are now almost completely separated from the mortal realm is the shift in faith. I thought I would be stuck here until the end of the earth itself...and here you are. Hermione Granger, a woman of my own kind."

Here I became curious of how she did not have any daughters that allowed her to pass on her powers years ago. "Did you not have any daughters to teach?"

She shook her head sadly. "I had many daughters in my youth but I did not get the opportunity to train any of them. It is the way of the women to live the majority of their lives in the mortal realm, learning the magic they can from the mortals. Upon their eighteenth birthday, they come to Avalon and I judge which of them is most worthy and capable of carrying on the legacy here in Avalon. My daughters never got the chance to come here however. It was all but two years before my eldest would turn eighteen and we lost all communication with the outside world. We could not leave, and we still cannot. The problem was none outside of Avalon knew how to get in. This might seem impossible, but keep in mind that the number of people of our faith had been diminishing and our location had always been kept very secret."

"But we could not continue the rituals to allow me to bear any more children. If we continued them, we would be overrun with people here and inbreeding would begin to occur with how few people we actually have living here. Most of which are already from a few common lineages."

Draco then asked, "How is it you've been here for more than a thousand years but you look barely twenty?"

"As Lady of the Lake I do not age. I will remain how I was when I took on my role as current the current Lady of Avalon and not until I release my position will I age properly."

"Is this true of everyone living here?" I asked.

"No it is not. But even so the aging process here is very slow. Children do not grow up for nearly two hundred years. Yet another reason the women here bear very few children. Lifetimes are so long, there is not the space for so many people with long lives."

"What can you tell us about your power in particular?" Draco asked. His mind was in one place alone. How would this help him defeat Voldemort?

"I cannot tell you that Draco Malfoy. It is an art that can only be taught. And it can only be taught to Hermione Granger here." Then directing her words to me she said, "I cannot tell you more about what my powers can achieve at this point in time. If you are interested in learning, you must return alone. If you come here to do this, you come alone."

I felt a sense of determination and that same thrill of learning something new. It was heightened knowing I'd be learning something of immense power and of such rarity in the world. No one but me could harness the power this woman has now. I thought of everything millions of people around the world were fighting against. What I'd started fighting against all those years ago with Harry and Ron. I knew this was my chance to bring it all to an end. I did not yet fully understand the responsibility, but I would be in for a rude awakening I was sure.

"When do you want me to return?"

She smiled seeing my enthusiasm. "You must return here in three days time. We will prepare for the rituals. You will have a month to determine if this is something you are up to taking on. But after that time, once you begin taking part in the rituals yourself, you cannot turn back. Your training will carry on until the summer. "

Awen then stood up and gestured for us to follow her back into the ring of trees. She walked over to the fountain and told us to come stand beside it with her.

"Now I haven't even attempted this in many years. No one has tried leaving or entering Avalon in centuries because we believed the way was shut. But if you could get in, perhaps you can get out if I can harness enough energy to push you through."

I suddenly became very concerned about being stuck here. Every plan we were making would be thrown off, especially for Draco and he had this same fear because he looked at me with a slightly panicked look on his face.

Awen swirled her hand into the fountain and it turned a glowing pink. She then told us to lean over the fountain and when our faces met the water, we would be transferred back to our world. I thanked her for her time and assured her I would be back in three days to begin my training. Draco and I then leaned over the fountain which was much like looking into a pensive only instead of taking us back in time, we were going to our real world.