This chapter is dedicated to Keith Frasier who managed to use the words harrowing and derriere in the same review : )
Chapter Four: Paths
"From four different walks of life
Though different at first glance
At second seem alike
One gold paved, one practical, one famous, one not so kind
Now will intertwine
They form a path so intricate, so strong
Not even supreme evil could overtake them all
They shall come to understand
They shared a past together
Four are bounded together now
North, South, East, West
When four paths become one
The world may begin or
The world may end
The choice is in their hands
Four different paths chose not their direction in the past
But now will choose a destiny" Megara muttered in a deep voice so unlike her own while moaning, eyes rolling and twitching in her chair. When it all ended Megara looked up at Hermione with tired and unfocused eyes.
"Hermione-" she croaked, then fell to the floor, unconscious. Hermione stood frozen, mouth open, during the entire prediction. When Megara fainted, Hermione did the only thing she thought she was capable of at that moment. She screamed at the top of her lungs. The door burst open, hitting Hermione and knocking her to the ground
"Are you OK? What happened? Oh my god! What happened to Megara?" Draco asked, helping Hermione up. Harry stood behind Draco, with a concerned look on his face.
"She- she- she-" was all Hermione could stammer, that voice had chilled her.
"Calm down Hermione. Breathe." Harry said calmly
"Her voice, it got so deep, then she got all rigid, and her eyes!" Hermione said, still fearful
"She made a prediction?" Dumbledore's voice asked in the adjacent room
"I suppose" Hermione whispered. Draco lifted Megara's small form easily off the ground
"I'm going to take her to the hospital wing" he explained and left the room, carrying Megara over his shoulder.
"Harry, Ginny, why don't you go with him? Then you can take him to the Gryffindor dormitory, where you four and a few others have been assigned to stay" Dumbledore said. Ginny and Harry nodded.
"You'll be OK?" Harry asked Hermione
"Yes" she answered quietly.
After making sure his best friend would be all right, Harry left with Ginny to go find Draco who was hauling an unconscious woman around the school.
"Hermione, I need you to tell me what she said, as much as you remember" Dumbledore said
"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'd really like to get some rest, its been a long night" she pleaded
"I'm sorry Hermione, it's clearer in your mind now. I need to know what the prediction was" he said, not without sympathy
"Something about four paths, different and yet the same, sharing a same path in the past and sharing a common future. How the fate of the world is in their hands to decide" she said, not really remembering exact words.
"That sounds like the Prediction of the Ambiguous Fate, does it not Professor?" Dumbledore asked
"I don't follow divination enough to really know" she answered sounding a little bitter when saying 'Divination'
"Thank you Miss. Granger. You can go get some sleep now" Dumbledore said, dismissing a grateful Hermione.
Hermione walked through the familiar halls of her old school. She tried to remember how she felt when she was a student there. There were so many happy memories there, why couldn't she remember what it was like to feel that way again? The closest she'd come to being happy again was a chance meeting with Harry and coming back to Hogwarts. Hermione stopped walking and turned to walk in another direction. The smell, the look, everything was the same in one part of the castle. The library. Hermione smiled, remembering how much time was spent in this one room. She closed her eyes, seeing herself as an eleven year old again, just trying to prove herself in a world where some considered her dirt and unworthy of attending Hogwarts. She remembered finding out about the basilisk and having Viktor Krum ask her to go to the Yule Ball. So many things in her past took place in this very room.
"I was wondering if I'd meet you here tonight"
Startled, Hermione gasped, quite loudly
"Good lord Draco, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked catching her breath.
"No, I didn't mean to scare you"
"You could have fooled me" she muttered, knowing he would hear her perfectly in the empty room
"Why must you insist on thinking I'm horrible"
"Give me one good reason why I should think otherwise Draco"
"I know I've said and done horrid things to you in the past, but you heard McGonagall, we have to put stuff like that behind us. I thought if anyone here would allow me to redeem myself, it would be you. But I suppose I was wrong, good night Hermione" Draco said, his fingers pulled tightly into a fist, turning on his heels and walking out of the library.
"Wait!" Hermione cried
"Why should I?" he asked, continuing down the hallway, not turning back to look at her. Hermione shakily sat down in a chair. "Not even back at Hogwarts for a day, and I'm already fighting" she thought. She crossed her legs and brought her hand to her forehead. She sat there a long time before deciding to get up to go to bed. She would be useless the next morning if she were exhausted and irritable.
* * *
A man woke up to find himself lying on cold, damp ground. He was barely alive, taking in deep and heavy breaths. It was savagely cold. He forced his eyes to open slightly. He could see his breath, white as snow. There was someone standing over him, watching him.
"Wh- Where am I?" the man asked weakly
"You'll find out soon enough, my young friend" the watcher told him in a voice that made the man's stomach drop.
"Who are you?"
"Just an old friend, one might say" the watcher said and grinned slightly as he walked away
"Who- Who am I?" asked the man through heavy breaths. At the end of his question, the man passed out
The watcher smiled, everything was going according to plan, and nothing would stop him this time.
A/N: I know this chapter is a little shorter than the earlier ones, but I've had some problems at home that prevented me from working on it. I hope that quality and quantity aren't the same thing here. I invite you to guess who the 2 mystery people are at the end, I know who they are already : )
Chapter Four: Paths
"From four different walks of life
Though different at first glance
At second seem alike
One gold paved, one practical, one famous, one not so kind
Now will intertwine
They form a path so intricate, so strong
Not even supreme evil could overtake them all
They shall come to understand
They shared a past together
Four are bounded together now
North, South, East, West
When four paths become one
The world may begin or
The world may end
The choice is in their hands
Four different paths chose not their direction in the past
But now will choose a destiny" Megara muttered in a deep voice so unlike her own while moaning, eyes rolling and twitching in her chair. When it all ended Megara looked up at Hermione with tired and unfocused eyes.
"Hermione-" she croaked, then fell to the floor, unconscious. Hermione stood frozen, mouth open, during the entire prediction. When Megara fainted, Hermione did the only thing she thought she was capable of at that moment. She screamed at the top of her lungs. The door burst open, hitting Hermione and knocking her to the ground
"Are you OK? What happened? Oh my god! What happened to Megara?" Draco asked, helping Hermione up. Harry stood behind Draco, with a concerned look on his face.
"She- she- she-" was all Hermione could stammer, that voice had chilled her.
"Calm down Hermione. Breathe." Harry said calmly
"Her voice, it got so deep, then she got all rigid, and her eyes!" Hermione said, still fearful
"She made a prediction?" Dumbledore's voice asked in the adjacent room
"I suppose" Hermione whispered. Draco lifted Megara's small form easily off the ground
"I'm going to take her to the hospital wing" he explained and left the room, carrying Megara over his shoulder.
"Harry, Ginny, why don't you go with him? Then you can take him to the Gryffindor dormitory, where you four and a few others have been assigned to stay" Dumbledore said. Ginny and Harry nodded.
"You'll be OK?" Harry asked Hermione
"Yes" she answered quietly.
After making sure his best friend would be all right, Harry left with Ginny to go find Draco who was hauling an unconscious woman around the school.
"Hermione, I need you to tell me what she said, as much as you remember" Dumbledore said
"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'd really like to get some rest, its been a long night" she pleaded
"I'm sorry Hermione, it's clearer in your mind now. I need to know what the prediction was" he said, not without sympathy
"Something about four paths, different and yet the same, sharing a same path in the past and sharing a common future. How the fate of the world is in their hands to decide" she said, not really remembering exact words.
"That sounds like the Prediction of the Ambiguous Fate, does it not Professor?" Dumbledore asked
"I don't follow divination enough to really know" she answered sounding a little bitter when saying 'Divination'
"Thank you Miss. Granger. You can go get some sleep now" Dumbledore said, dismissing a grateful Hermione.
Hermione walked through the familiar halls of her old school. She tried to remember how she felt when she was a student there. There were so many happy memories there, why couldn't she remember what it was like to feel that way again? The closest she'd come to being happy again was a chance meeting with Harry and coming back to Hogwarts. Hermione stopped walking and turned to walk in another direction. The smell, the look, everything was the same in one part of the castle. The library. Hermione smiled, remembering how much time was spent in this one room. She closed her eyes, seeing herself as an eleven year old again, just trying to prove herself in a world where some considered her dirt and unworthy of attending Hogwarts. She remembered finding out about the basilisk and having Viktor Krum ask her to go to the Yule Ball. So many things in her past took place in this very room.
"I was wondering if I'd meet you here tonight"
Startled, Hermione gasped, quite loudly
"Good lord Draco, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked catching her breath.
"No, I didn't mean to scare you"
"You could have fooled me" she muttered, knowing he would hear her perfectly in the empty room
"Why must you insist on thinking I'm horrible"
"Give me one good reason why I should think otherwise Draco"
"I know I've said and done horrid things to you in the past, but you heard McGonagall, we have to put stuff like that behind us. I thought if anyone here would allow me to redeem myself, it would be you. But I suppose I was wrong, good night Hermione" Draco said, his fingers pulled tightly into a fist, turning on his heels and walking out of the library.
"Wait!" Hermione cried
"Why should I?" he asked, continuing down the hallway, not turning back to look at her. Hermione shakily sat down in a chair. "Not even back at Hogwarts for a day, and I'm already fighting" she thought. She crossed her legs and brought her hand to her forehead. She sat there a long time before deciding to get up to go to bed. She would be useless the next morning if she were exhausted and irritable.
* * *
A man woke up to find himself lying on cold, damp ground. He was barely alive, taking in deep and heavy breaths. It was savagely cold. He forced his eyes to open slightly. He could see his breath, white as snow. There was someone standing over him, watching him.
"Wh- Where am I?" the man asked weakly
"You'll find out soon enough, my young friend" the watcher told him in a voice that made the man's stomach drop.
"Who are you?"
"Just an old friend, one might say" the watcher said and grinned slightly as he walked away
"Who- Who am I?" asked the man through heavy breaths. At the end of his question, the man passed out
The watcher smiled, everything was going according to plan, and nothing would stop him this time.
A/N: I know this chapter is a little shorter than the earlier ones, but I've had some problems at home that prevented me from working on it. I hope that quality and quantity aren't the same thing here. I invite you to guess who the 2 mystery people are at the end, I know who they are already : )