Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling.

Chapter VII - The Garden of Eden

"OK, where are we?"

"We're… close…Yeah. I'm sure we're close"

"Of course you are" Oliver muttered unconvinced, advancing carefully in the complete darkness.

"Lumos" she whispered again, bur the wand still refused to obey.

"It doesn't work. What do these people have against wands?"

"I don't know. But whoever charmed this place used he same ideas as the people who built the University. Very few spells work inside, you know?"

"Inside the Morgana Institute it's the same. Do you remember anything from History of Magic about a school of thought who used this technique?"

"No, do you?"

"No. But there has to be a connection. We can't see anything, we should go back"

"Just a few more minutes! Pleeeeease! I know it must be here, very close. I feel the repellent force just as well as you, but don't you see? That means we're getting closer!"

"Fifteen minutes. If we don't find anything, we leave. Maybe we'll come back during the day."

Hermione liked the natural way in which he said "we". As if they had a common future.

"I don't think daylight would make much of a difference. Do you see the moon or the stars?"

"No. We're in a cave. And we're going downwards"

"Are you sure? I didn't notice that"

"Trust me, the floor has a slight inclination. We're getting close to some water, too"

"I don't hear it" Hermione was annoyed at this demonstration of clear perception.

"The humidity in the air. We're not in the desert. But we're not in an oasis either, there is no wind. We're in a damp corridor."

"Maybe we should get back"

"Come on, Gryffindor! The tunnel will end soon. The echo of our voices has changed"

When he said these words, the darkness became less compact. There was no light yet, but the rich black of the tunnel turned into a sea of shadows.

Hermione and Oliver were still holding hands. They had to apparate together, than the darkness forced them to maintain the contact.

"I'm getting rather used to this" Oliver said in an amused tone, squeezing fondly Hermione's hand.

She blushed and tried to pull it away, but he strengthened the grip.

"Don't be silly! I don't want to lose you in this place"

Their eyes, used to the dark, began to discern shapes in the grey air. They were indeed in a cave. Actually, they were getting out of a cave.

Oliver felt queasy. Something about that place was affecting him deeply. He tried to look at Hermione to see if she was all right. He couldn't see her face, but her voice was reassuringly concerned.

"Are you all right?"

"Not really"

"Does it feel the same as it did at the digging site?"

"I'm glad to see you care" he pouted a little.

"The more I know the better I can help you! So, does it?"

"Yes! But it's not as strong. It's more… subtle, insidious"

"What exactly is this sensation?"

"Have you ever been under Imperius?"

"What's that got to… Yes. In DADA. Why?"

"This feels like that. It's a nice feeling, a lack of responsibility, a weird freedom"

"Let's go back!"

"No, I really want to stay here. Can't you feel the beauty of this place. Let's stay here! Forever"

"Fight it! Oliver, you have to fight it! I don't know how to help you", then she started to think aloud. "The curse must be located in these rocks for centuries"

"Oh, look, the moon!" he exclaimed, happy.

"Oliver, stop it! Look at me!"

He did. Hermione's bright eyes made their way into his soul.

"You are so beautiful. I always wanted to tell you this"

"Come on" she tried to pull him back in the tunnel. "Let's go back"

"No. We should stay. It's all right. This place was meant for us. Everything is going to be all right in here"

He was sure of that. Oliver could feel the warm benevolence of that strange place. He had so many things to tell her. Everything he had always held back, since her Graduation day. Instead of mumbling all the sappy-corny-lovers' words he did the only thing that could express his feelings. He pulled her closer and gently crushed all her reasonable suggestions and her protests with a kiss.

Hermione's head was spinning, trying hard to find an answer in all the books she had ever read, feeling useless in front of Oliver's condition. She didn't understand what he wanted to do. She thought he was leaning over to tell her something. His kiss was a surprise on many levels.

Her lips were warm, smooth, sweet, vibrant. He felt her surprise as a rejection, but her body reacted before her mind figured things out. She kissed him passionately, giving him a sensation of perfect bliss.

His lips were dry, firm and domineering. She was drawn into the rapture of the kiss with a wild desire. His arms tightened around her waist, pulling her against his body. She started to caress his face, timidly, learning his feature with the tips of her fingers.

Caught in the turmoil of their sensations, neither of them heard anything. After several minutes of passionate kissing, Hermione tried to get back to reality. She looked behind her, but the exit of the tunnel was nowhere to be found. She tried to tell Oliver, but his caresses made her postpone the bad news indefinitely.

~~~~~

In Hermione's chamber, Madeleine de Bricassart apparated almost swearing.

"I can't believe you actually took the trouble to make an anti-apparition barrier!"

To her surprise, the room was empty. She looked around, but Hermione wasn't in.

"I can't believe I took the trouble to pass her anti-apparition barrier and she's not here. I'll write her a note. It will still scare her, but I shan't have the pleasure to see her puzzled expression"

The woman approached Hermione's desk and the first thing she saw was a map of the desert. The location marked on the map freaked her out completely.

"Shit! I forgot about that!"

She apparated in the same spot as Hermione and Oliver had apparated two hours ago. The place was obviously familiar to her.

"Amun" she muttered and the tunnel lit up slightly.

Madeleine ran to the exit. Her worst fears were true. The tunnel was blocked.

"Why didn't you try it last week?!?"

She dissaparated to Gizeh. She debated with herself several minutes, but the conclusion could be only one.

"She's my only friend. It's the least I can do for her. I'll deal with Seth later."

~~~~~~

A good half an hour later, Hermione gathered enough strength to break the enchanting embrace.

"Oliver, it's something wrong with this place. The tunnel is sealed now"

It was Oliver's turn to fight the powerful urges stirred inside him. Knowing himself well, he was aware that his behaviour had been influenced by external forces. The embarrassment of his lack of control fought the pressing need to lose the control again.

"Something's definitely out of order. I don't know what came over me. I'm…"

"It's all right!" she reassured him, half disappointed with his recant. "We should focus on getting out of here"

"Yeah" he agreed. *I'm hopeless. I can't believe I took it back. Whatever came over me, I did what I wanted to. Now she's gonna be mad at me again.* he thought, somewhat annoyed with himself.

They kept "dancing" like that, in and out of the dangerous topics, until the dawns brought light to the place. They were amazed to discover a real paradise surrounding them. Trees were heavy with fruits, oranges and apples, bushes of white and red roses were sprinkled all over the perfect green grass, the sun was rising on an impeccable serene blue sky. A cheerful spring was making its way through this paradise.

"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!" Hermione whispered.

Oliver chose to wisely ignore the quotation.

"That tunnel was not exactly a tunnel, was it?"

"She built the strangest portkey!"

That was not something to ignore. Oliver was weakened by his internal struggle to keep his hands off Hermione, but he found the energy to ask her.

"Are you going to share that with me? I think we're pretty damn beyond secrets now!"

"I'm not even sure. I had a friend at Hogwarts, Madeleine de Bricassart. She told me some legends, about a powerful Egyptian witch. Apparently she… lived for many centuries, long ago, like 2,000 BC or something. This is the kind of thing that witch would do. I think she left a lot of interesting places, I think she knows about the Osiris parchment and about that valley we're searching with the Egyptians and about this place. The thing is… if she built this place, it is a way out. She was strange this way"

"I wouldn't put much stock on what she says if I were you" Oliver regretted the words as soon as he saw her face *I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that!*

"What do you know about Madeleine?"

"She works for the Med-jai in Gizeh. Her parents are working for the Morgana. It's an odd combination"

"Very few people ever heard of her. It's strange you're one of them. Anyway, Isis was very careful to leave a loophole to whatever spell she cast. It was something totally unegyptian about her"

"Not much of a secret"

*I'm a very tactful person. And a pretty good liar to boost* she thought, but she was not pleased with herself. "Let's sit for a while. I'm tired"

Oliver led her through the roses. They sat, with their backs leaning on a tree.

"And hungry"

Oliver stood up and picked an apple (what else?). He offered her the beautiful, flawless red apple.

"Thanks"

He tried to look away. The image of her teeth sinking in the flesh of that fruit stirred those instincts again. He fought them, very gentleman-like, going to pick more fruits. Jumping all over her in time of need was not fair play. He came back with apples, oranges and grapes, but Hermione was more tempting than ever.

"I'll have a dip now" he informed her right before getting out of sight.

*So it's not just the apparition! That's he's style* Hermione commented to herself his habit of vanishing from underneath her eyes.

Contrary to Oliver, Hermione was only slightly affected by the magic built in that place. Unfortunately for her self-control, thinking of him, naked and wet several feet away, made her just as aroused as he was.

She tried to keep her mid busy, casting different spells and swearing the futility of her wand. She tried to remember anything Madeleine had ever told her about Isis and the old ways, but nothing useful came to mind.

Half an hour later, she heard Oliver's voice behind the tree.

"Any luck?"

"No. Nothing works!"

"I'm drying up and I'll be there in a minute."

She heard him bite an apple and it was her turn to think of the earlier kiss, to think of the way the drops of water were sliding on his naked body. She blushed, not used with such impure thoughts, with such burning hunger for a man's body.

"This place is amazing though. Where do you think we are?" he asked her, disturbing her hot fantasies about wiping the water off his body with her lips.

"No idea. I can see where the idea for the place came from."

"Ay?"

"The Bible. A Muggle best seller. This is the Garden of Eden. She always had a silly sense of humour"

"You seem sure this Isis is the author!"

*I am and when I'll get my hands on her I'll strangle her!* but she said only "It's the only logical explanation. And, I'm sorry to say, this place has no connection whatsoever with what we were looking for."

"Why do you say that?"

Oliver came into view. He was properly dressed, but his hair was still wet. He looked ever so yummy.

"Was the water fine?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I think I should have a swim, too"

"NO" Oliver reacted very quickly.

A nude Hermione two steps from him was more than he could bear.

~~~~~~~

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