Ron slowly opened and eyes, and went to stretch. He felt sore all over. He groaned.
"Hey, Ron? Are you awake?" Came Dean's voice.
"Unfortunately..." he groaned again.
Seamus and Dean laughed as Ron pulled back the curtains of his bed.
"A little sore?" Seamus asked.
"You have not idea. What the hell happened?"
"Dumbledore gave you a sleeping potion, except he misjudged and you, well..."
"We're still going up the stairs when it took affect. You rolled all the way down."
Ron fell back onto the bed. "Get Madam Pomfrey to bring me some painkillers. I don't think I can move..."
"Yeah, sure." They walked out of the dormitory.
**************************************************************************************
"Your brother's awake." Seamus said, sitting down next to his girlfriend.
"Is he okay?" She asked, leaning up against him.
"He's in pain... Dean went to go get some painkillers for him."
"I better go see him."
"See you later then," Dean said, giving her a quick kiss.
She made her way up the stairs.
"Hey" she said, sitting down on the bed beside him. He made no move to acknowledge her presence. "You in pain?"
Ron laughed. "Yes... Did you see me fall?"
"No, according to Seamus, I collapsed into a chair, just before you fell."
"Did everyone else see me fall?"
Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "I'm afraid so."
"Great I made an ass out of myself in front of all the Gryffindors..."
"Relax Ron, you already did that a long time ago."
"Thanks Gin."
But it was not Madam Pomfrey who entered moments later to see to Ron's pain, but Albus Dumbledore.
"Good morning Professor" Ginny said.
"Good morning Ginny, Ron."
"Hmm." Ron said in acknowledgement.
"I apologize, Ron. It appears I misjudged the dosage."
"Just make the pain go away..." he said exasperatedly.
Dumbledore waved him wand, and Ron felt a little better. He then handed him a potion.
"Take this and you should fell better right away."
Ron downed the bitter liquid, and immediately felt almost as good as new.
"Thanks," he said.
"Your welcome. But as I have some matters to attend to, I will take my leave. I will see you later this afternoon."
He left the room.
Ron got up and stretched. "Is Harry up yet?"
"I haven't seen him. He must still be in the den."
Ron pulled on a clean robe. "Let's go see him then."
They left the common room and walked down the hall. Making sure no one was watching, Ron muttered the password, and they entered the Den.
Harry was still asleep on the couch.
"Harry." Ginny said, gently shaking him.
"Ginny, he sleeps like a log, that will not wake him!"
Ron walked over to his slumbering friend. He shook him violently.
"Harry! Wake up!"
Harry jumped up.
"What?!"
Ginny burst out laughing. "Nothing, we just think it's time you got up."
"Thanks" he said sleepily, stretching. "Ron, what happened to you? You're covered in bruises."
Ginny laughed again. "Dumbledore gave us all sleeping potions, though yours was powerful, and you fell asleep here. Ours weren't as powerful, but it they just happened to kick in when Ron was almost at the top of the stairs..."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope." Said Ron. "Hurt like a bitch when I got up this morning."
"No kidding." Harry got up off the couch. "You guys hungry?"
They nodded. He levitated himself off the ground and floated up to the top of one of the bookcases. He brought down a big basket. It was full of Honeydukes Candy and Chocolate muffins. "Breakfast of Heroes" he said. "My secret stash."
"Oh my god Harry, you eat this for breakfast? You're worst than Dean!" Ginny said.
Harry took a bite out of a chocolate bar and shrugged.
********************************************************************************
"Is he okay?" Minerva asked as Dumbledore returned.
"Yeah. He just took a nasty fall down the stairs."
"And you admit it was all your Fault?"
"Yes. But he's fine."
Minerva laughed. "You should go to bed Albus, you look tired."
"I was in bed all last night."
"You have to rest, or I'll get Gus back in here..."
"Fine. I'll have a cup of tea with you, and then I have to prepare."
"For what?"
"To bring Hermione back."
"What? I thought we weren't doing it for another while!"
"Yes, well. Harry is extremely powerful, and the whole Weasley clan is also a very powerful wizarding family. Ron especially. I think they can feed enough power into harry so he can pull it off. I would help myself but-"
"Yes, but, Albus. You're not strong enough."
"I know, Minerva, I know. But please, don't mother me... I am quite a bit older than you..."
"Yes, but you act very young," she said, laughing.
"Thank you my dear." He said, laughing as well.
"Well, let's get going then. Where are you going to do it?"
"In the Den."
Minerva's face fell. "But then we can't watch!"
"My dear, you sound like a child that has been denied Christmas."
"Well, I've never seen Druid magic, or any Druidic rites performed before."
"Well my dear, it's not much different from our magic, except that there's a lot more chanting involved. And in many ways, Druidic magic is very similar to ours, almost the same. Except the chanting is in old Celtic dialects, like Welsh, or Gaelic. Here, I'll show you some."
"Albus, it's okay, if you're not strong enough..."
"This particular spell is not taxing, Minerva."
He began to chant.
"Cosaint falsaigh ar fud airgead, coinneail an anam bhfad as damaiste."
(Protection forge throughout silver, keep this soul far from harm)
A light flashed in front of his and then a silvery liquid appeared out of nowhere. The liquid inter-wound itself, until it shaped into a silver Celtic cross. The light subsided, and Dumbledore took the cross and handed it to her.
"A Druid protection." He said, handing it to her.
"Wow, it's beautiful...Thank you. Does it work?"
"What do you mean, does it work? Of course it works..."
********************************************************************************
Ron, Ginny and Harry walked around the lake in silence, each enjoying the gorgeous day. None of them could think of anything to say.
"'ello!" came a voice.
"Hagrid!" Ginny said. "How are you?"
"Good, just fixin' up me garden."
"That's good" said Harry.
"What're you up ta?"
"Just taking a walk, enjoying the day."
"'ave a good day, but I reckon yur wanted up at the castle..."
Sirius was coming down the hill, waving to them.
"I guess we better go see what he wants." Ron said.
They walked towards him, saying bye to Hagrid.
"Hey Sirius" Harry said. "What's up?"
"It's time."
"What?"
"Dumbledore wants to bring Hermione back today. Now."
"What?" The trio said in unison.
Sirius shrugged. "He told me to come get you."
"Okay," said Harry. "Let's go."
They followed Sirius up to castle and up to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair, flicking through a big book.
"We're doing it now?" Harry asked upon entering the office.
"Yes, I think you guys are ready, and powerful enough."
"Are we going to do it in the den?"
"Yes, in about a half an hour."
"Okay, I gotta go get something, see you in a while."
With that, Harry left.
"What was that about?" Ginny asked after he rushed out.
"Well" came a voice from the corner, "he's certainly happy."
Arabella was holding up the watching stone.
Ginny laughed. "Of course he's happy. He misses her."
"I hope this works Albus..."
********************************************************************************
Harry entered the Den and sighed.
Hermione was coming back.
He had been looking forward to it for along time, knowing that he could bring her back, but now, he was kind of scared.
Would she be different?
Would it even work?
He pulled out the broken locket and opened it, looking at the picture of her. He had memorized every single detail of her face, but still, looking at the picture of her... he remember exactly how much he missed her. He was his flesh and bones.... The air he breathed. And he hated to admit it... even to himself, but he was falling apart without her. He was good at keeping it from everyone, but it was true.
He was nothing without her.
His thoughts wandered, delved deep into his memory. He laughed out loud at the first memory that came to him.
****** Harry climbed over and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right" Ron said.
"See you in a minute, I hope..."
And Harry let go. Cold damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down and-
FLUMP. With a funny muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were his first words.
"Dunno, some sot of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"
The distant music stopped. There was loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
"We must be miles under the school." She said.
"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"
She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.
Hermione had manages to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.
"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is- it's Devil's Snare!"
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help" snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.
"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breath!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it. As it curled around his chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-"
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes- of course- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wring her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flame she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah" said Ron, 'and lucky harry doesn't lose is head in a crisis- "There's no wood," honestly..."*****
He saw Ron come up behind him, trying to surprise him, while he was daydreaming. But he had found a druid spell, eyes in the back of your head type of thing.
"Here buddy" Ron said, throwing a package of supplies at him, expecting it to him his in the back of the head.
Harry froze it in midair, and sent it towards the shelf, he flipped it in the air for a dramatic effect and set it down safely on the shelf.
"How did you do that without turning around?"
Harry turned and laughed. "It's magic."
"Yeah, no kidding." Ron laughed. "It's nice to see the twinkle back in your eye Harry, it really is."
"Same to you. And how could we not be happy? Hermi's coming back."
He did a summersault over the top of the couch and landed.
"Yeah... you know what though? I bet you all the Gryffindor's marks have gone down at least a little bit since she left."
"Poor Neville." Harry said, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.
"Oh shit..." Ron said suddenely.
"What?"
"Were going to have a hell of a time explaining this to the rest of the school."
"Ooops... hadn't thought of that. Oh well, Dumbledore will figure it out. He figures out everything."
There was an awkward silence, which Ron finally broke.
"Harry- what if... what if... what if it doesn't work?"
"Don't say that Ron. Just- don't. It will work." He sighed. "It can't not work."
There was another silence that was this time broken by the door opening and Dumbledore and Ginny entering.
"Are we ready?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
"You have no idea..." Harry said. "Let's do it."
"Harry, do you have something to act as a focus, since we don't have Hermione's body, and since we have to bring the powers back, it probably wouldn't work with her body anyway?"
Harry held up the locket, which he had had fixed.
"Good. Let's get this done."
Harry moved the heavy cauldron into the middle of the room using magic. His wand was back in his dorm, with Druid magic, he had no need for it except in lessons and when he was performing distinct spells that were not Druidic in nature.
As Dumbledore looked on, Ron, Ginny and Harry knelt around the cauldron. They placed their hands in the air, just barely touching each other. They were attuned to each other, so magical sparks were already flashing between their hands.
They each took a deep breath and Dumbledore nodded for them to start.
Ginny and Ron concentrated hard, willing all their power towards Harry. They began to shake as their power drained out of them, but they dared not stop.
Harry felt the familiar sensation of power rushing through him. They had practiced it many times. But this time it was different. He had never had to harness this much raw power. It surged through him. He felt powerful, like he could do anything in the world.
But he knew what he had to do.
It was now or never.
**************************************************************************************
Tears ran down Hermione's cheeks.
She was going home.
She turned to Lily.
"Lily, I-" She flung her arms around her. She cried unable to say anything.
Finally, she let two simple words out.
"Thank you..."
But two words were enough.
"Oh, Hermione, I know you will make Harry very happy. Take good care of him. He needs you."
"I promise."
"Hermione!" Came a voice. "Who's going to take care of me when you're gone?"
"Lily and James will, Desi. You know that."
"I know, but I wanna go with you."
"You'll see me again, Des. Please don't cry."
"You're crying." The little girl pouted.
"But they're tears of joy. I don't want you to be sad."
"Fine. But you have to make sure you tell Harry Potter all about me."
"I promise, Des." Hermione laughed. "I promise."
**************************************************************************************
Harry began to chant.
(A/N- In the original version, I had this big huge incantation written out, but the file got corrupted, and I could only recover half of it. That's why it's taken so long to re-write this. And, my lovely friend Taryn has borrowed my English-Irish dictionary, so you're just going to have to live without it, k? Maybe, when I get the dictionary back, I'll write it back up and give it to yeah, but right now I can't since I don't know enough Gaelic and my mum's is *kinda* rusty. Sorry!)
The water in the cauldron began to boil. Harry chanted louder and threw in a sprig of Mistletoe and four acorns. (The Druids thought of Mistletoe and Oak to be sacred.) The water sizzled. He yelled the final line of the incantation and without hesitation thrust the locket into the water.
All they could do now was wait.
All four of them stared and the sizzling water. The water lever slowly diminished.
"Please, let it work..." Harry silently prayed. "Please..."
A single tear ran down his cheek.
**************************************************************************************
Hermione looked down at her left hand, since her right was tightly clasped in Desiree's."
She was slowly fading.
"Lily... I'm scared. Is this going to hurt or will it be different or-"
"Shh. Hermione, I promise you. It will not hurt. You may back out for a second, but that's all. Relax."
She was fading rapidly.
"Goodbye..."
"Hermione!" Shrieked Desiree. "I want to go with you, I want-"
But whatever else she wanted, Hermione never knew. Her world went black.
**************************************************************************************
It seemed to take forever for the water to completely disappear. Each second that ticked by was agonizingly long.
Finally, the last drop of water disappeared.
There was a flash, and all four of them were blinded.
**************************************************************************************
Slowly, her world was coming back into focus. She was in the den, and her view was coming slowly back into focus.
The first thing she saw were his dazzling emerald green eyes.
**************************************************************************************
Harry recovered from the blinding light and gasped.
Slowly, a shape was appearing, becoming more and more distinct.
"Hermione?"
There she was, the locket shimmering around her neck.
"Harry?"
Tears ran down her cheeks in steady streams.
"Oh my God..."
She threw her arms around him, remembering what is was like to be in his arms, remembering his smell. His hand immediately went to her hair, stroking it, playing with it, like he used to.
He looked down into her cinnamon eyes. "I missed you so much..."
Their lips met, tasting, drinking each other up, like an elixir of life. It seemed like an eternity since they had been like this.
Finally they pulled a part, laughing.
"I believe there are others who wish to greet you, Miss Granger." Harry whispered in her ear.
She turned.
"Ron!" She flung her self on him, immediately met by the familiar smell of the cologne she had given him what seemed like ages ago.
"Welcome Home, Hermi."
She laughed. "Mmm, you smell good."
"Only the best for you..." he said into her ear.
She laughed. "Well, I wasn't around to take care of you. I guess you finally learned."
"I needed to sometime." He smiled.
She pulled away from him and looked her other friend in the eye. They laughed.
"Ginny..." Hermione said. "Don't cry."
"I can't help it..." She gave her friend a hug. "You have no idea how bad I've done, Herm. I had no one to study with!"
Hermione laughed again. It felt good.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Gin...."
She then turned to the Headmaster.
"Professor, I-" She threw her arms around him too.
"Thank you."
"No problem, my dear. No problem..."
"So these are your friends, Hermione?" Came a voice.
Hermione whirled. "Desiree?!!!"
Oooh.... A nasty cliff hanger! But wasn't that sweet. Sorry it took so ling... like I said, the file got corrupted, and wouldn't work!
Forgive my stupid computer, even if I can't!
Please Review!
~Danie
"Hey, Ron? Are you awake?" Came Dean's voice.
"Unfortunately..." he groaned again.
Seamus and Dean laughed as Ron pulled back the curtains of his bed.
"A little sore?" Seamus asked.
"You have not idea. What the hell happened?"
"Dumbledore gave you a sleeping potion, except he misjudged and you, well..."
"We're still going up the stairs when it took affect. You rolled all the way down."
Ron fell back onto the bed. "Get Madam Pomfrey to bring me some painkillers. I don't think I can move..."
"Yeah, sure." They walked out of the dormitory.
**************************************************************************************
"Your brother's awake." Seamus said, sitting down next to his girlfriend.
"Is he okay?" She asked, leaning up against him.
"He's in pain... Dean went to go get some painkillers for him."
"I better go see him."
"See you later then," Dean said, giving her a quick kiss.
She made her way up the stairs.
"Hey" she said, sitting down on the bed beside him. He made no move to acknowledge her presence. "You in pain?"
Ron laughed. "Yes... Did you see me fall?"
"No, according to Seamus, I collapsed into a chair, just before you fell."
"Did everyone else see me fall?"
Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "I'm afraid so."
"Great I made an ass out of myself in front of all the Gryffindors..."
"Relax Ron, you already did that a long time ago."
"Thanks Gin."
But it was not Madam Pomfrey who entered moments later to see to Ron's pain, but Albus Dumbledore.
"Good morning Professor" Ginny said.
"Good morning Ginny, Ron."
"Hmm." Ron said in acknowledgement.
"I apologize, Ron. It appears I misjudged the dosage."
"Just make the pain go away..." he said exasperatedly.
Dumbledore waved him wand, and Ron felt a little better. He then handed him a potion.
"Take this and you should fell better right away."
Ron downed the bitter liquid, and immediately felt almost as good as new.
"Thanks," he said.
"Your welcome. But as I have some matters to attend to, I will take my leave. I will see you later this afternoon."
He left the room.
Ron got up and stretched. "Is Harry up yet?"
"I haven't seen him. He must still be in the den."
Ron pulled on a clean robe. "Let's go see him then."
They left the common room and walked down the hall. Making sure no one was watching, Ron muttered the password, and they entered the Den.
Harry was still asleep on the couch.
"Harry." Ginny said, gently shaking him.
"Ginny, he sleeps like a log, that will not wake him!"
Ron walked over to his slumbering friend. He shook him violently.
"Harry! Wake up!"
Harry jumped up.
"What?!"
Ginny burst out laughing. "Nothing, we just think it's time you got up."
"Thanks" he said sleepily, stretching. "Ron, what happened to you? You're covered in bruises."
Ginny laughed again. "Dumbledore gave us all sleeping potions, though yours was powerful, and you fell asleep here. Ours weren't as powerful, but it they just happened to kick in when Ron was almost at the top of the stairs..."
"You're kidding!"
"Nope." Said Ron. "Hurt like a bitch when I got up this morning."
"No kidding." Harry got up off the couch. "You guys hungry?"
They nodded. He levitated himself off the ground and floated up to the top of one of the bookcases. He brought down a big basket. It was full of Honeydukes Candy and Chocolate muffins. "Breakfast of Heroes" he said. "My secret stash."
"Oh my god Harry, you eat this for breakfast? You're worst than Dean!" Ginny said.
Harry took a bite out of a chocolate bar and shrugged.
********************************************************************************
"Is he okay?" Minerva asked as Dumbledore returned.
"Yeah. He just took a nasty fall down the stairs."
"And you admit it was all your Fault?"
"Yes. But he's fine."
Minerva laughed. "You should go to bed Albus, you look tired."
"I was in bed all last night."
"You have to rest, or I'll get Gus back in here..."
"Fine. I'll have a cup of tea with you, and then I have to prepare."
"For what?"
"To bring Hermione back."
"What? I thought we weren't doing it for another while!"
"Yes, well. Harry is extremely powerful, and the whole Weasley clan is also a very powerful wizarding family. Ron especially. I think they can feed enough power into harry so he can pull it off. I would help myself but-"
"Yes, but, Albus. You're not strong enough."
"I know, Minerva, I know. But please, don't mother me... I am quite a bit older than you..."
"Yes, but you act very young," she said, laughing.
"Thank you my dear." He said, laughing as well.
"Well, let's get going then. Where are you going to do it?"
"In the Den."
Minerva's face fell. "But then we can't watch!"
"My dear, you sound like a child that has been denied Christmas."
"Well, I've never seen Druid magic, or any Druidic rites performed before."
"Well my dear, it's not much different from our magic, except that there's a lot more chanting involved. And in many ways, Druidic magic is very similar to ours, almost the same. Except the chanting is in old Celtic dialects, like Welsh, or Gaelic. Here, I'll show you some."
"Albus, it's okay, if you're not strong enough..."
"This particular spell is not taxing, Minerva."
He began to chant.
"Cosaint falsaigh ar fud airgead, coinneail an anam bhfad as damaiste."
(Protection forge throughout silver, keep this soul far from harm)
A light flashed in front of his and then a silvery liquid appeared out of nowhere. The liquid inter-wound itself, until it shaped into a silver Celtic cross. The light subsided, and Dumbledore took the cross and handed it to her.
"A Druid protection." He said, handing it to her.
"Wow, it's beautiful...Thank you. Does it work?"
"What do you mean, does it work? Of course it works..."
********************************************************************************
Ron, Ginny and Harry walked around the lake in silence, each enjoying the gorgeous day. None of them could think of anything to say.
"'ello!" came a voice.
"Hagrid!" Ginny said. "How are you?"
"Good, just fixin' up me garden."
"That's good" said Harry.
"What're you up ta?"
"Just taking a walk, enjoying the day."
"'ave a good day, but I reckon yur wanted up at the castle..."
Sirius was coming down the hill, waving to them.
"I guess we better go see what he wants." Ron said.
They walked towards him, saying bye to Hagrid.
"Hey Sirius" Harry said. "What's up?"
"It's time."
"What?"
"Dumbledore wants to bring Hermione back today. Now."
"What?" The trio said in unison.
Sirius shrugged. "He told me to come get you."
"Okay," said Harry. "Let's go."
They followed Sirius up to castle and up to the headmaster's office. Dumbledore was sitting in his chair, flicking through a big book.
"We're doing it now?" Harry asked upon entering the office.
"Yes, I think you guys are ready, and powerful enough."
"Are we going to do it in the den?"
"Yes, in about a half an hour."
"Okay, I gotta go get something, see you in a while."
With that, Harry left.
"What was that about?" Ginny asked after he rushed out.
"Well" came a voice from the corner, "he's certainly happy."
Arabella was holding up the watching stone.
Ginny laughed. "Of course he's happy. He misses her."
"I hope this works Albus..."
********************************************************************************
Harry entered the Den and sighed.
Hermione was coming back.
He had been looking forward to it for along time, knowing that he could bring her back, but now, he was kind of scared.
Would she be different?
Would it even work?
He pulled out the broken locket and opened it, looking at the picture of her. He had memorized every single detail of her face, but still, looking at the picture of her... he remember exactly how much he missed her. He was his flesh and bones.... The air he breathed. And he hated to admit it... even to himself, but he was falling apart without her. He was good at keeping it from everyone, but it was true.
He was nothing without her.
His thoughts wandered, delved deep into his memory. He laughed out loud at the first memory that came to him.
****** Harry climbed over and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom. He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
"Right" Ron said.
"See you in a minute, I hope..."
And Harry let go. Cold damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down and-
FLUMP. With a funny muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"
Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry.
"What's this stuff?" were his first words.
"Dunno, some sot of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"
The distant music stopped. There was loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
"We must be miles under the school." She said.
"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"
She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.
Hermione had manages to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.
"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is- it's Devil's Snare!"
"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help" snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.
"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.
"Well, hurry up, I can't breath!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it. As it curled around his chest.
"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp-"
"So light a fire!" Harry choked.
"Yes- of course- but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wring her hands.
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"
"Oh right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flame she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.
"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.
"Yeah" said Ron, 'and lucky harry doesn't lose is head in a crisis- "There's no wood," honestly..."*****
He saw Ron come up behind him, trying to surprise him, while he was daydreaming. But he had found a druid spell, eyes in the back of your head type of thing.
"Here buddy" Ron said, throwing a package of supplies at him, expecting it to him his in the back of the head.
Harry froze it in midair, and sent it towards the shelf, he flipped it in the air for a dramatic effect and set it down safely on the shelf.
"How did you do that without turning around?"
Harry turned and laughed. "It's magic."
"Yeah, no kidding." Ron laughed. "It's nice to see the twinkle back in your eye Harry, it really is."
"Same to you. And how could we not be happy? Hermi's coming back."
He did a summersault over the top of the couch and landed.
"Yeah... you know what though? I bet you all the Gryffindor's marks have gone down at least a little bit since she left."
"Poor Neville." Harry said, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.
"Oh shit..." Ron said suddenely.
"What?"
"Were going to have a hell of a time explaining this to the rest of the school."
"Ooops... hadn't thought of that. Oh well, Dumbledore will figure it out. He figures out everything."
There was an awkward silence, which Ron finally broke.
"Harry- what if... what if... what if it doesn't work?"
"Don't say that Ron. Just- don't. It will work." He sighed. "It can't not work."
There was another silence that was this time broken by the door opening and Dumbledore and Ginny entering.
"Are we ready?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
"You have no idea..." Harry said. "Let's do it."
"Harry, do you have something to act as a focus, since we don't have Hermione's body, and since we have to bring the powers back, it probably wouldn't work with her body anyway?"
Harry held up the locket, which he had had fixed.
"Good. Let's get this done."
Harry moved the heavy cauldron into the middle of the room using magic. His wand was back in his dorm, with Druid magic, he had no need for it except in lessons and when he was performing distinct spells that were not Druidic in nature.
As Dumbledore looked on, Ron, Ginny and Harry knelt around the cauldron. They placed their hands in the air, just barely touching each other. They were attuned to each other, so magical sparks were already flashing between their hands.
They each took a deep breath and Dumbledore nodded for them to start.
Ginny and Ron concentrated hard, willing all their power towards Harry. They began to shake as their power drained out of them, but they dared not stop.
Harry felt the familiar sensation of power rushing through him. They had practiced it many times. But this time it was different. He had never had to harness this much raw power. It surged through him. He felt powerful, like he could do anything in the world.
But he knew what he had to do.
It was now or never.
**************************************************************************************
Tears ran down Hermione's cheeks.
She was going home.
She turned to Lily.
"Lily, I-" She flung her arms around her. She cried unable to say anything.
Finally, she let two simple words out.
"Thank you..."
But two words were enough.
"Oh, Hermione, I know you will make Harry very happy. Take good care of him. He needs you."
"I promise."
"Hermione!" Came a voice. "Who's going to take care of me when you're gone?"
"Lily and James will, Desi. You know that."
"I know, but I wanna go with you."
"You'll see me again, Des. Please don't cry."
"You're crying." The little girl pouted.
"But they're tears of joy. I don't want you to be sad."
"Fine. But you have to make sure you tell Harry Potter all about me."
"I promise, Des." Hermione laughed. "I promise."
**************************************************************************************
Harry began to chant.
(A/N- In the original version, I had this big huge incantation written out, but the file got corrupted, and I could only recover half of it. That's why it's taken so long to re-write this. And, my lovely friend Taryn has borrowed my English-Irish dictionary, so you're just going to have to live without it, k? Maybe, when I get the dictionary back, I'll write it back up and give it to yeah, but right now I can't since I don't know enough Gaelic and my mum's is *kinda* rusty. Sorry!)
The water in the cauldron began to boil. Harry chanted louder and threw in a sprig of Mistletoe and four acorns. (The Druids thought of Mistletoe and Oak to be sacred.) The water sizzled. He yelled the final line of the incantation and without hesitation thrust the locket into the water.
All they could do now was wait.
All four of them stared and the sizzling water. The water lever slowly diminished.
"Please, let it work..." Harry silently prayed. "Please..."
A single tear ran down his cheek.
**************************************************************************************
Hermione looked down at her left hand, since her right was tightly clasped in Desiree's."
She was slowly fading.
"Lily... I'm scared. Is this going to hurt or will it be different or-"
"Shh. Hermione, I promise you. It will not hurt. You may back out for a second, but that's all. Relax."
She was fading rapidly.
"Goodbye..."
"Hermione!" Shrieked Desiree. "I want to go with you, I want-"
But whatever else she wanted, Hermione never knew. Her world went black.
**************************************************************************************
It seemed to take forever for the water to completely disappear. Each second that ticked by was agonizingly long.
Finally, the last drop of water disappeared.
There was a flash, and all four of them were blinded.
**************************************************************************************
Slowly, her world was coming back into focus. She was in the den, and her view was coming slowly back into focus.
The first thing she saw were his dazzling emerald green eyes.
**************************************************************************************
Harry recovered from the blinding light and gasped.
Slowly, a shape was appearing, becoming more and more distinct.
"Hermione?"
There she was, the locket shimmering around her neck.
"Harry?"
Tears ran down her cheeks in steady streams.
"Oh my God..."
She threw her arms around him, remembering what is was like to be in his arms, remembering his smell. His hand immediately went to her hair, stroking it, playing with it, like he used to.
He looked down into her cinnamon eyes. "I missed you so much..."
Their lips met, tasting, drinking each other up, like an elixir of life. It seemed like an eternity since they had been like this.
Finally they pulled a part, laughing.
"I believe there are others who wish to greet you, Miss Granger." Harry whispered in her ear.
She turned.
"Ron!" She flung her self on him, immediately met by the familiar smell of the cologne she had given him what seemed like ages ago.
"Welcome Home, Hermi."
She laughed. "Mmm, you smell good."
"Only the best for you..." he said into her ear.
She laughed. "Well, I wasn't around to take care of you. I guess you finally learned."
"I needed to sometime." He smiled.
She pulled away from him and looked her other friend in the eye. They laughed.
"Ginny..." Hermione said. "Don't cry."
"I can't help it..." She gave her friend a hug. "You have no idea how bad I've done, Herm. I had no one to study with!"
Hermione laughed again. It felt good.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Gin...."
She then turned to the Headmaster.
"Professor, I-" She threw her arms around him too.
"Thank you."
"No problem, my dear. No problem..."
"So these are your friends, Hermione?" Came a voice.
Hermione whirled. "Desiree?!!!"
Oooh.... A nasty cliff hanger! But wasn't that sweet. Sorry it took so ling... like I said, the file got corrupted, and wouldn't work!
Forgive my stupid computer, even if I can't!
Please Review!
~Danie
