A/N: Okay meanies, you not only suck my butt, you're mean! I expected some evil reviews BUT NOT THAT MANY! Ouch you guys, my feelings have been crushed. But since I am to dedicated to you all I have decided to rewrite Chapter Eleven because did I mention that you guys SUCK MY BUTT? So be happy and review nicely.



Oh and one mad reader pointed out some differences in information about Merlin. I happened to read some wonderful; historically accurate (with a little fluff) books about the magician himself repeatedly last year. I strongly urge you to read the books, they are by Mary Stuart and it's a series. The first book is called The Crystal Cave. If and when you do you will see many connections to all of my series. Again, I must say that the books are most certainly worth reading!

P.S. to the reviewer who said that Sirius killed himself: He didn't kill himself, Snape did. You must have read a little wrong.
~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*






Where are they?" Sirius repeated to an astounded McGonagall. "Minerva, don't do this to me. Where are they?"

"Ch- ch- Chamber of Secrets!" McGonagall said and looked around the room. Dumbledore smiled at the finicky lady.

"He's harmless." Dumbledore explained rashly as they raced from the room.

"We're to late." Sirius said flatly when they reached the entrance. Sitting at the open pipe was a heavily bloodstained ripped fabric from one of Harry's robes and further down the stairs was a trail of splattered mess leading to it. "We're to late."

"I don't believe so." Dumbledore said quietly. He was looking at the trail of blood. It led right into a stall. As if on cue one of the stalls burst open and Voldemort walked out of it. Another burst open and Lucious Malfoy stepped out, carrying a limp form of Harry.

"That was far to easy, Dumbledore." Voldemort sneered. "One would think they protect high risk students."

Sirius lunged for Harry and was struck down by Lucious. He fell to the floor in a twitch of pain. "Stupid." Lucious spat in Sirius's face. "Very stupid."

"Did you enjoy your nap?" Voldemort asked.

"I suppose your referring to the sleep you drugged us into?" Dumbledore said bluntly.

"Yes, Severus arranged that nicely." Voldemort said and looked at Harry. "Looks like I've one this time, eh old man?" Dumbledore's jaw dropped and his eyes widened even further when Snape skidded into the room.

"Master!" He said faintly when he saw Voldemort. Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Dumbledore! I can explain…"

"Don't bother." Dumbledore said icily. "Tom, give me Harry."

"It's not going to be that simple, old man." Voldemort said and drew out his wand. "Harry and Katherine and I are going places. Literally. Catch us if you can." And with a wave of his wand and a vehement yell from Sirius they were gone.

"What do we do?" Sirius asked quietly. "Where should we start?"

"I'm not sure. But standing here isn't helping either. We are going to have to blow up this bathroom." And so they left, feeling very shaken. Sirius kicked Snape hard in the ribs on the way out.

Snape quit his job later that week feeling ashamed at his being caught. The Slytherin house was now being ran by the boring Professor Tool and potions class had been for the time being. Nobody really cared. Nobody ever really saw Draco's father again either and he was hounded about it every day.

"I DON'T KNOW!" He burst out one morning at the Slytherin table. "I DON'T CARE EITHER! I HATED MY FATHER AND IF HE'S GONE THAT'S A GOOD THING! NOW SHOVE OFF!"

Ron and Hermione collapsed into silent laughter.

"He's loosing his touch." Ron said when he recovered.

"Yes, not nearly as threatening."

"But I do wonder…" Ron began, looking at his soggy cereal.

"No. Don't think about it." Hermione instructed. "It will only make things worse."

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

"I know your awake boy, look at me!" Voldemort commanded. Harry did as he was told, painfully slow. The pain in his head was killing him. Harry tried to open his eyes but found that he had been blindfolded. Harry cursed inwardly. His powers were worthless without his sight. Voldemort laughed at his obvious struggle. Harry cringed.

"What do you want with me?" His voice was barely audible and very shaky. Harry heard Katherine's sobs next to him and figured that she was now next to Harry, limbs tied fast to a pole as his were.

"Louder, boy!" Voldemort said.

"What do you want with us?" He asked

"Oh, I thought you knew." Voldemort hissed. "I need you for the court. The Sorcerer's Royal Court." The vision Harry had had the first night at school flashed in front of his shut eyes.

"But why Katherine? She's not ROYAL." Harry said. "And neither are you!"

"Ah, there is little you know, Harry. Katherine IS royalty. Ever so distantly, but she is."

"And you?"

"I am the worlds best sorcerer, do you need anything else?" Voldemort snapped. Seeing that he had struck a nerve, Harry changed tactics.

"What can I do for YOU then?" He wondered. "I'm only a sixth year student…."

"You have powers that even I don't know about." Voldemort said delicately. "You will be a useful tool in my plans."

"Ah." Harry said weakly. "And what is your plan?"

"Originally it was immortality, but now I crave power and leadership."

"A regular Hitler…" Harry said dryly under his breath.

Voldemort heard. "He was my mentor…"

Harry choked on his spit. "Oh."

"So what will you do Harry?" Voldemort asked. "Will you join my league and be greatly rewarded or will you rebel and be brain washed?"

"I'll never go." Harry snarled. Suddenly the ropes binding him disappeared at his will and Harry tumbled to the floo of wherever he was. He ripped off the blindfold and glared at Voldemort. "Never."

"Have it your way." Voldemort sighed. He lifted up his wand, which Harry burnt in a blow of fire.

"Beat that." Harry said coolly and rocked back and forth on his feet so he would be ready for the initial battle.

"Thank you for the invitation." Voldemort pointed at the pile of ash that used to be his wand and in a flash of black light the wand was as good as new again. Harry glared at the wood and it blew up in Voldemort's hand. This time Voldemort didn't bother with the wand.

"See even you can be beaten-"

"STUPIFY!" Roared a voice from behind him and Harry could only watch helplessly as Lucious Malfoy raised a finger and tutted. "Very stupid choice, Harry."

"Better leave him be." Voldemort warned. "Now, Wormtail, you come in."

The fat man staggered over to Harry, who was still frozen. "What is your will?"

"Convert him." Voldemort said lazily.

"I'm sorry Harry." Pettigrew whispered and put the silver hand to Harry's temples. There was a great flash and Harry's entire out look on life changed.

"How about you, Girl?" Voldemort asked Katherine. "Do you need to be helped into our ways?"

"No!" Katherine said, looking mournfully at Harry. "I'm fine like this. I'll be on your side."

"Can you be trusted?" Voldemort asked.

"My life and my wand are yours, sir." Katherine said solemnly, avoiding his eyes. Voldemort mistook this a respect for her overlord and grinned, very satisfied.

"And you Prince of Darkness? Who do you pledge to?" He asked now. Harry, his eyes glazed over kneeled.

"My life and my wand belongs to you, sir." He said, and half of his body was screaming "NO!" but the other half was over powering the weak half and he remained solemn and evil.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

Harry and Katherine were being kept in Hogsmeade, in the cave where Sirius had been staying in their fourth year. Voldemort stayed with them, training them and making sure they didn't try and escape. Harry would have never left, but Katherine thought only of this.

"Harder, boy, harder! Put more oomph in your voice when you say it! AVVVVVVVAAAAADDDDDAAA KKKKKEEEEEDDDDDAAAVVVVRRRAAA!"

Harry sighed. "Yes, your Grace. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The mouse they had been practicing on scuttled away as fast as could, but death caught up with it.

Voldemort applauded. "Yes, yes, very good Harry!" Katherine looked disgusted. Voldemort rounded on her. "You could take a lesson from him. He is doing very well, where as you can do whatever he likes now. His powers are infinite."

"I don't want infinite powers." Katherine snapped.

"Yes you do!" Voldemort said. "Or do I need to teach you the consequences again?"

"No, sir, I'm fine!" Katherine said quickly.

"I think there are other ways of keeping you." Voldemort said icily. "More ways than you would think. Harry, pack your things, we're leaving. "

"Where are we going?"

"Wales."

"Why Wales?"

"We'll being going to Maridunum."

"That was where Merlin was born." Harry said knowledgeably.

"And that is where you shall live."

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

A year went by, very, very slowly. Life at Hogwarts was odd to everybody there. Something was missing. Things had changed since Harry and Kat disappeared that day. Bad changes. Huge masses of Dark Power had started to grow in a little town in Wales. Nobody seemed to know why.

Hermione and Ron remained together through the rest of the years to come (A/N: but since we're only going a YEAR in time for now…) and generally avoided the subject of their lost friends. But today was different.

"They've been spotted." Hermione said flatly, ruffling her newspaper. "They weren't killed after all."

"Who's been spotted?" Ron asked, dreading the answer.

"Harry and Katherine." She said weakly. "Listen to this," Hermione ruffled the newspaper and read aloud, "Harry Potter and Katherine Stuart-Black who were kidnapped almost a year ago were sighted yesterday. The reporter recalls on how healthy they both seemed, but was quite shocked as when she reveals this, "I met Mr. Potter once before and he was- to put it bluntly- short. It's only been about a year and it looks like he's 6' now. And the girl, Katherine Stuart-Black is to say….The child is with child."

Ron's eyes bulged. "PREGNANT?"

"It seems so." Hermione sniffed and continued. "When I approached them, they walked quickly away, almost as if they said something to me they would be hurt. It was odd. Then the girl began calling Harry Prince and he called her My Lady."

Ron's eyebrows were rapidly disappearing in his hair. "So he's really the Prince of Darkness?"

"So it seems." Hermione said and put the paper down, having no desire to finish the article off. "UUURRRGGHH!" Hermione put her head in her hands.

"It'll be okay Hermione. I know it will." Ron said and put an arm around her. She shrugged it off.

"But when will it be okay Ron? When will they come back?"

There was no answer to this question.

"Ron? They don't say where they were spotted in this article." Hermione said slowly. "It just says a tiny town by a long out of use port about 30 miles off of Cornwall."

"No." Ron said flatly. "Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it. We can't go out and find them ourselves. It's just a set up for disappointment."

"I thought you said that you knew that everything was going to be okay." Ron sighed and gave in to Hermione's puppy eyes.

And so three months later at Christmas break Ron and Hermione boarded a ship.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

"I feel sick." Hermione commented after a night on the ship. "Everything's swaying back and forth and back and forth an back and forth." Ron put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Didn't anybody ever tell you that Sorcerers and Sorceress's can't travel on water?"

"I thought it was poppycock." Hermione said. "An old witches tale."

"No it isn't because I feel sick too." Ron said. Hermione didn't hear this. She was to busy throwing up over the rail.

A disgusted looking sailor sauntered up to her and put cool hands on her forehead and calmed her. "Stop yer retchin', you'll be all righ' lass."

"Thank you." Hermione said faintly and walked back into their room, Ron following her. "Ron remind me never to travel by boat again."

"Sure thing." Ron said, collapsing onto his own bed. "I wont let you."



~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

"Historical Society?" Hermione repeated when she and Ron entered the small town. "Maridunum is owned by the Historical Society?"

"It seems to be so." Ron said, craning over Hermione's head to get a good look at the sign. "And I thought there was supposed to be dark power gaining over here, but by a Historical Society? That's mad."

Maridunum, the sign proclaimed, was one of the oldest settlements from the renaissance period and by far the best kept.

So Ron and Hermione realized quickly that Maridunum was a tourist trap and that it was not likely that wizards and witches would come here often. Before anybody saw them they took off their pointed wizards hats and black robes so they would blend in with the Muggles. Passerby took them in as part of the Maridunum experience. They saw them as workers in costume with their "medieval" robes on.

"Where is the nearest restroom?" A plump woman asked. A child was clutching her hand, clenching her legs together and slowly crouching over.

"Back on your left." Ron said. The woman rushed away.

"How did you know that?" Hermione asked.

"I guessed." Ron said and winked.

"That's awful."

"Let's not forget why we're here." Ron said.

"Good call." Hermione said. "Now if you were a Harry where would you hide?"

"Harry isn't hiding." Ron said bitterly. "He was kidnapped."

"Okay, you got me."

"So if you were a you-know-who where would you store your hostages?"

"Wow, that wasn't funny at all." Hermione said and pointed at her. "I want to have a little fun, okay?"

"I know." Ron said.

"Well if I was a You-Know-Who I would probably kill myself with shame- wait- I'm getting off track. Let's sit down for a moment."

"Sure." Ron said and plopped down on a bench. Hermione sat down next to him and put her head on Ron's shoulder.

"I have a really bad feeling." She said at last.

"Me too." Ron said. "But we need to find them."

"I never said we weren't going to find them." Hermione said. "I know we're going to find them."

"How can you be so sure?" Ron rose a red eyebrow. Hermione, white as a ghost pointed across the street. A very tall young man was leaning against a counter talking in a friendly manner to the man selling ice cream. "You don't think that could actually be him?"

The stared in silence at the young man. The hair was definitely Harry's, crazy, shooting out in all directions, but something was very different.

"MERLIN THE ENCHANTER!" A worker called from the next street over. "Look friends, its MERLIN THE ENCHANTER!"

'Merlin' waved his arm at the crowd and little children ran up to him, asking to see magic. The youth looked their way and Hermione's face fell. It was just a worker.

"This blows." Ron said and stood up. "That reporter probably only saw HIM." He waved a hand at the worker posing as Merlin.

"Damn, I'll bet you're right." Hermione said. "Com'mon Ron, lets get out of here."

"WAIT!" Ron said loudly. "Listen, they're going up the hill to Merlin's Crystal Cave and if I was a you-know-who THAT'S where Id's store my hostages.

"YE OLDE HORSE AND BURROW RENTAL IS TO YOUR RIGHT FOLKS. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE CRYSTAL CAVE YOU'RE GOING TO NEED A HORSE OR A BURROW! ALTHOUGH, YOU COULD TAKE THE TRAM IF YEH AREN'T WANTIN THE FULL EXPERIENCE…" 'Merlin' yelled to the growing crowd. Ron and Hermione raced to the Horse rental.

"We're sharing a horse." Ron proclaimed. "These prices are mad."

"Fine with me." Hermione cooed to him. Ron blushed. Ron paid money and a stable worker showed them to a worn out, tired looking grey pony.

"I thought they said this was a horse rental?" Ron grunted and helped Hermione onto the horse.

"Would you rather walk?" the holster grunted and smacked the horse squarely on the flanks.

"No." Hermione and Ron chimed.

"That's what I thought. This is Huckleberry. He's right friendly, if you can ride properly."

"I've never ridden." Ron confessed.

Hermione laughed. "Well city boy we're going to have to break you in. I'll steer. I've taken riding lessons every summer since third grade."

"Please do then." Ron said and gave her the reigns. "Thank you."

The worker led them out of the stable and they took off up the mountain. People followed them up, pointing and giggling at the lovebirds. The actor posing as Merlin was gone and instead they found them selves on a guided tour up the mountain. Speakers blared out information when they detected that somebody was there.

"The Crystal Cave was Merlin's home for many years," One said, "When the historical society found it there were still remnants from the enchanter himself including a cauldron, a mirror and a multitude of dried herbs. The inner cave was where Merlin would meditate and prophesize and to the day, we still have not found the entrance to it. Merlin was a man of mystery…"

"Oh bull shit." Ron said. "A man of mystery? Whatever. The Muggles just aren't looking hard enough."

"Quite." Hermione agreed. The ride was actually quite pleasant; the mild December weather nipped at their noses, but all snuggled up, as they were, they didn't really seem to notice. Ron was just thinking about how nice of a cushion Hermione's thick hair made for his chin, when he noticed something.

"Look!" He said and pointed. Under his fingers was the entrance to a roped off trail leading a little ways up the hill and then strait into a cave. "I wonder why they have it marked off…"

"There's a sign!" Hermione said. "Listen to this: Private Property of the Prince, Please Stay Away."

"The prince? There's no Prince that would be around this tourist attraction." Ron said.

"I'll bet the crystal cave at the top of the hill is a fluke and this" - she pointed yonder at the cave- "this is the real one."

"Mithras." Ron whistled. "Well? Should we go in?"

"Yes, of course we should go in!"

"I'm afraid."

"So am I."

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*

The horse seemed to know where to go because it led the pair up the mountain without being steered and went strait into a small stable. Ron and Hermione pet the horse idly for a moment talking.

"Do you think they're here?"

"I dunno." Ron said. "It smells pretty fresh in here to me."

"Ron yuck!" Hermione said and threw a carrot at him. He threw it back. Soon the carrots were flying and they both collapsed onto a fresh pile of hay when they were tired of it, giggling.

"What are we doing?" Ron said sitting up abruptly. "We're wasting time!"

"You're right." Hermione said and sat up with him. "We should go to the cave.

Hermione clutched Ron's hand and they made their way to the mouth of the cave.

"Hello?" Hermione called into the cave. Her words echoed into the blackness. "Is anybody there?"

There was no answer.

"They must not be home, come on, let's try again later." Ron said in an uncharacteristically high voice. "This place gives me the creeps."

"We have our wands." Hermione hissed. "We'll be fine."

"I suppose."

"I'm going in. LUMOS!" Hermione said forcefully. The glow of the wand lit up the cave little by little as they looked through it. There was a very rustic looking table and chairs in view three feet in strait across from the table was a wood stove. Further back was a feather bed with a large oak trunk at the foot. A big patchwork quilt was being used as a comforter on it. Ron followed behind Hermione like a tall gangling shadow drinking in the entire cave with his eyes.

Hermione turned 90 degrees at the bed and screamed. Two faces were staring at them! Ron jumped too and flattened up against a bumpy and prickly wall. A stream of bats flew rapidly out of the cave, expertly dodging the two humans. When the hubbub subsided Ron surveyed the situation and laughed out loud.

"It's a mirror, Hermione. You only saw the mirror." Her hugged her around the shoulders. "I guess not all of us can be fearless."

"Shut up." Hermione glared at him. She looked around the cave again. "It's clean and here, and it smells like somebody has been here recently."

"You're right. Wait a second- look at the bed closer." Ron said, a grin on his face.

"What? Why? Nobody's IN it right?"

"No."

Hermione looked. "They're separate. It's just two beds."

Ron smiled with triumph. The two twin beds had been pushed close -within a foot of each other- and had matching quilts.

"That's odd." Hermione said.

"Yeah. Kinda funny too."

Ron and Hermione left the cave when they both got to cold.

"Do you think that's actually where they are?" Hermione asked and sat down next to the half-frozen spring next to the cave.

"If they do, it must suck. I can't imagine living in a wretched old cave."

"But you can tolerate a wretched old castle?" A familiar voice said. The couple jumped and spun around. Standing before them was none other than Katherine in a bottle green cloak, holding a baby and Harry was standing next to her, looking taller and slightly frightened.