"Just give me a map and a broom and I'll get there myself!" Hermione snapped when the scouting party returned and she was informed of what happened.
"Hermione, it's dangerous!" Harry tried to warn her.
"I don't care! I love her and I'm going to find her. Besides, I'm not a coward!" She spat back at Harry.
The group looked at their leader expecting a response. Harry remained silent, trying to appear like it didn't affect him, especially for the benefit of the new and more radical members of Valant's group.
Without anything else stopping her, Hermione went to fetch what she needed and set off towards the keep.
Once she was nearing the Black Keep, she could see for herself that the place was empty. This was very unusual and she didn't take it as a good sign.
Hermione wasted no time. She flew into the large main hall trough one of the ground floor windows. She sat the broom aside and looked around the dark hallway adorned with silver candelabras, paintings and black tapestry. Though this place rivalled Hogwarts by size, it was quite the opposite from its homely and welcoming atmosphere.
After a brief look around, Hermione's mind returned to Pansy and the task at hand. "Pansy!? Are you here?!" She shouted trough the empty rooms and hallways, but the only response was silence and the echo of her own voice. It was truly a bizarre feeling.
Hermione climbed countless staircases and peered into every chamber not finding a living soul in one. And there was still food on the tables. It was as if everyone simply vanished. Why would they just abandon this place, Hermione wondered, and more importantly where was Pansy? Was she gone as well? A dreadful thought came into her mind, but than Hermione recalled Valant mentioning the underground caves beneath the black keep. She'd have to check those out too, but since she was already on her way up, Hermione decided to search the entire castle above ground first.
By the time she reached the very top Hermione stopped shouting out Pansy's name. She didn't want to lose her voice, and the place was so eerily silent that Pansy would surely hear her mere footsteps form afar.
When Hermione climbed the final staircase and broke onto the rooftop balcony she saw a distant figure sitting on the ledge of the wide black-stone railing. "Pansy?!" Hermione shouted running towards the silhouette.
Pansy turned around looking shocked when she saw Hermione running towards her.
Hermione pulled her back from the ledge and embraced her with all the strength she had, even lifting her off the ground in the process.
"Alright… put me down." Pansy pleaded overwhelmed with a crushing feeling both in and around her ribcage.
"I was so worried! Why did you do this?! Why did you go off by yourself?! Here of all places?!" Hermione fired off her barrage of questions.
"Well I… I thought…" Pansy started, but the thought made her sob once more.
"Did you think I was in love with Harry or something like that?"
Pansy nodded. "Are you?" She asked looking away.
"That's silly! I like girls, one of them in particular, you ought to know."
This was a big relief, and though Pansy still had tears in her eyelids it brought a big smile to her face.
"So what where you and Harry talking about than?"
"It was his despair that affected me so much." Hermione said. "I expected he would be different, but not this much. He seemed to me like a broken man, so I probed until he finally confessed that he had met with Voldemort and made some sort of a pact with him."
"What?!" Pansy exclaimed.
"Yes… well, something akin to a peace treaty." Hermione explained.
"Go on!" Pansy urged her.
"Harry claims that continuing the war lead nowhere. That it only increased the number of casualties. He saw no point in it continuing, so he decided to accept the offer and relocate his base. He couldn't just openly divulge this to his people though, so he started winding down the operations and in the end, kept them merely on scouting basis. In return Voldemort promised he wouldn't attack any of Harry's outposts."
"Do you think this peace treaty is just one of Voldemort's ploys?"
"Probably, though Harry says he anticipated that, so that's what the scouting missions are for. Too keep an eye on Voldemort and see if he'll break the truce."
"He did break it though, attacking the inn." Pansy noted.
"I don't think Valant was working with Harry. So, actually no, that didn't count."
"Yea, you're right." Pansy nodded. "Maybe it's not such a bad plan after all." Pansy shrugged.
"To me it seems like Harry just gave up. He seems tired and lifeless… certainly not the friend I once knew… and Ron is gone as well, who knows where…" Hermione gazed down. "Even I'm not what I was…"
"You're better." Pansy whispered giving Hermione's cheek a gentle stoke. Then she planted a soft kiss on her lips which made Hermione momentarily forget about everything.
"Look at this view." Hermione said brushing the hair out of her eyes on the wind-blown top of the keep.
"Glorious." Pansy confirmed.
"So where are they all… the Death Eaters?" Hermione finally asked. "Did you see any of them?"
"I just came up here and sat on the ledge for a really long time. I didn't see any one coming up." Pansy confirmed.
"Me neither." Hermione reiterated. "Though there is one more place we could look. According to Valant, there should be a cave system somewhere beneath the keep."
"Umm… maybe we should just go back home." Pansy suggested while nervously biting on the corner of her fingernail. Now that she had Hermione back there was nothing more she wished to do here, and even the lure of the mystery wasn't enough to counter the possible danger.
"Don't worry, we'll sneak in quietly." Hermione assured her. "And we'll bolt if we hear anything, ok?"
"Can't we just go home!?" Pansy insisted. "Clearly there's no one here…"
"All the more reason to search the place! You can wait for me on the first floor by the broom, I'll be quick."
"No, I'll come with…" Pansy sighed. "Let's just get it done quickly."
Holding hands they descended down into the caves. The main cave passage was well lit with torches and lead down into a larger chamber where they saw a map of the cave system hung on the wall. Hermione managed to pry it out of its socket. She rolled up the map so she could have it with her in case they got lost further down. Some passages split in two ways, though all of them ultimately lead to the biggest chamber which must have been hundreds of yards below the ground.
Pansy's hearth was beating out her chest as she held onto Hermione's hand and descended the last tunnel that lead into the main chamber.
"Wait here." Hermione warned her. Then she tiptoed over to the edge of the craggy cave wall and peeked behind the corner. "Ha…? Empty as well." Hermione concluded stepping into the vast chamber with an incredibly tall ceiling.
"Indeed." Pansy concurred with relief. "Where have they gone?" She asked aloud, before looking up and spotting what seemed to be the answer. "Hermione, follow me." Pansy ran and beckoned her girlfriend to follow.
Together they ran over numerous shallow puddles which tiled the uneven stone floor. Because of the enormous size of the chamber it took them several minutes to reach the very middle.
"Now what?" Hermione wondered.
"Look up!" Pansy pointed up the tall ceiling and then she traced the jade coloured circular frame that was wedged into the ceiling and the walls. It looked like some sort of an enormous, round gateway that was spanning the entirety of the chamber.
"A gateway? I've read about those!" Hermione exclaimed. Followed by Pansy she ran over to the closest wall to get a feel for the material. "This is made from all those crystals we where mining… They used them to build this thing… but why?"
"Why indeed…" Pansy nodded.
"There must have been dozens of such labour camps operating to gather all that material." Hermione said noticing what looked like a distant set of forges in the far end of the chamber. "Looks like they where smelting the raw stuff back there."
"Yea." Pansy concurred.
"I guess now we know how, but we still have no clue why, or where they all went?" Hermione wondered.
"To hell I hope!" Pansy spat. "I don't care anyway… as long as they don't come back to this… dimension, or whatever plain of existence we're in. Shell we go home now?"
"Yea, I guess there's nothing more to see here." Hermione agreed.
"They also took all the books." Pansy noted prompting a puzzled look from Hermione. "Up there in the keep…" Pansy pointed. "… all the bookshelves are empty, didn't you notice?"
"Not really." Hermione admitted. "I was looking for you… I was so scared I wouldn't find you… or worse…"
"I'm here." Pansy said moving her hands up to Hermione's neck to give it a gentle stroke.
Hermione closed her eyes enjoying the soothing feeling, but when she opened them Pansy wore a forlorn, doubtful expression.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"I wonder how everything turned out so perfectly… them gone… and you…" Pansy struggled to utter the words as if they would dissolve the present.
"Don't…" Hermione whispered leaning closer. She took hold of Pansy's forearm than pressed her chipped fingernails into her girlfriend's pale, gentle skin.
"Auuu…!" Pansy yelped.
"See..." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Don't doubt it!"
Somewhat relieved Pansy smiled. "Don't make a habit of reminding me though."
"I'm sorry, I won't." Hermione planted a gentle kiss on Pansy's bruise, then wrapped her arms around Pansy's waist to pull her in closer.
Though Hermione couldn't escape the thought herself now. Was Pansy… her image, the hum of her breath when her voice is absent and her seemingly timid restraint all made sweet by these machinations? From blissful nothingness to when it appeared that life was just pain without conclusion… but there where scintillations of joy throughout, perhaps love that wouldn't wane from being as all flash is destined to do.
If the fate of the dream was to bleed out, slowly and simultaneously with the spirit, both Pansy and Hermione where willing to hold on. They saw the persistence in each other's eyes, that and the sense of re-emergence, a life beyond, extending into eternity.
"Let's go home then." Hermione whispered.
Pansy smiled embracing her girlfriend and inhaling the scent of her long, brown hair.
~ THE END ~