Beneath the Southern Lights

by Ibex's Lyre

This is in response to Lady Granger's Icy Challenge.

Disclaimer: Is applicable to every chapter, although I reserve the right to include additions to the disclaimer in following chapters as I see fit. I do not own any characters you recognize (i.e. Harry Potter and gang)--they of course belong to J.K. Rowling. I am making no money off of this, so even if anybody wanted to sue me, they wouldn't get enough to make it worth their time and effort. Seriously, I'm one poor Ibex. However, if you would like to make a donation to the Save the Ibex Foundation...

I promise I promise for those who care that I'll get the first chapter of The Lady, or the Snow Leopard up soon--I'm still working through exams this week.

Oh, and Lady Granger? I *tried* to let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, but it simply doesn't snow in Antarctica!

Chapter One: The Ice Dragon's Eyes

Death is white.

The morning summer air was crisp and cool as Hermione walked down the leaf-covered path that led from the Hogwarts Express into the main part of Hogsmeade. The tree-lined streets were filled with emerald greens and occasional maroons, and the clear sunny day promised to be one of the last pleasant ones before the wilting heat of midsummer hit. In short, everything was perfect. Walking past the shops lined up in crooked rows that magically re-arranged themselves seemingly whenever they felt like it, she smiled slightly as she passed by places she remembered from her Hogwarts days. It had been less than five years since then, and yet... it seemed like it could have been five thousand.

As she passed by one of the many bookstores, The Text & Stylus, she stopped. Perhaps it was the bookworm in her, but the store called and beckoned Hermione to enter and lose herself in the wealth of literature it contained. So, Hermione, who was never one to deny herself a good book or two, entered. She didn't stay too long since she had already picked up some items at Diagon Alley on her way over, and because somebody was waiting for her. Or should be, anyway.

With a frown, Hermione made her way out of The Text & Stylus and into Rosmerta's The Three Broomsticks. The note had been rather clear, carried on the leg of an eagle owl:

Granger,

We've never really gotten along, and I don't particularly plan on rectifying the lack of love between us. However, my line of work has brought a few items that call for your... extensive knowledge on archaic things. I will be at the Three Broomsticks, in order to keep a low profile. It goes without saying that you will need to keep your mouth shut about whatever you see until I decide that the items in question are not something that can be used in particularly nasty hands. Which means you can't run off telling Potter and Weasley. Any of the Weasleys. And just in case I've finally found something you actually don't know about, I've sent an owl the only other person besides you who might possibly have some idea about what I have.

Draco

Well, at least he hadn't called her mudblood or something to that extent.

Indeed, he was waiting for her when she arrived. Sitting in a dark corner, watching her intently with gray eyes, he was just as he had always been. Cold as a glacier in the depths of an ice age, aloof as a snake. Draco Malfoy. The old distaste for the man who had been the constant thorn in her side awoke with a new vigor as she wondered just what he could possibly need her help with--after all, he was the expert on Dangerous and Mysterious Magical Objects, not she. Warily, Hermione sat down next to him, and waited.

"So kind of you to join me, Granger," Draco said, with only a hit of malice in his voice. His contempt was well hidden, but Hermione could see it. She would always be just a second class witch to him, no matter what she did. Therefore, rather than worry herself to death about it, she merely shrugged this fact off. After all, one mere mortal could not change the world--no matter what Harry and Ron liked to believe.

"You asked, Draco," she responded more than just a little icily. "I do not make it a habit to deny requests for help."

A stiff nod--was that grudging respect, or an affirmation to his own thoughts?--was all that she got. When Rosmerta came around, she ordered a glass of Naiad's Sparklin' Lemone Aide, and waited for Draco to show her what he needed to know. He really had grown more suspicious than she remembered. In fact... Hermione had to stifle a small grin, here... He almost reminded her of Mad Eye Moody. Like Auror, like bouncing ferret, she guessed. Although, as to how far she really trusted Draco was a completely different story. While she liked to assume that she kept an open mind, part of Hermione wasn't completely sure that Draco hadn't followed in his father's footsteps, after all.

Sudden movement brought Hermione back to reality--it appeared that Draco was now ready to show her what he had brought. He pulled a black bag from some deep inner pocket of his robes, and placed in on the table neither gently nor particularly carelessly. When Hermione reached out to open the bag, he pierced her with his steel eyes. "Do you really think it's wise to open something that you have no idea anything about, Granger? We're not at Hogwarts anymore--you can't go running back to Madam Pomfrey if you're accidentally turned into a cat--or worse."

"I am an adult witch now, Draco, and unless you have forgotten, I am completely capable of taking care of myself. I assume you've removed all the hexes you put on the bag?" Hermione opened the bag and reverently pulled out the various objects within. There were four in total, looking to be of different ages and different origins. One was large and shaped like an acorn. It was flat as a mirror, but clear as frosted glass. The edge was razor sharp and Hermione was extra careful with it lest she get some blood activated hex--the dark ancient wizards and witches were just as ingenious as modern ones. If, indeed, this was a dark object as Draco had obviously assumed it was. There was writing along the edge, but Hermione put the object down in order to look at the others.

The second was a small, glass-blown figurine looking almost like a crossbreed between a Chinese Fireball and the ancient pictures of the assumed extinct South American feathered dragons. It was clear, with gold and sapphire highlights on the figurine--pretty, but she was not exactly sure why Draco was convinced that it was dark. In fact, if she hadn't known any better, she would have said that the crystal figurine was modern, and not as ancient as she was positive it really was.

The third object was a broken stone pendant, looking of Norse origins, and looked like it was simply a type of beozar or something of a similar nature designed to work in tune to the seasons and ward off curses or hexes. It probably wouldn't be very useful in today's world, she mused, because of the more advanced, and subtly different magic used. Modern magic wasn't based off the seasons anymore. On the other hand, Hermione had been surprised before--she was currently working as a research archaeologist and librarian for the University of Britannica (really, she had classified herself as Professional Student, and this was just one more great opportunity in her quest to learn everything that she possibly could learn before she died) and had seen more than a few "archaic" pieces of magic that had had quite interesting and potent powers to them--ancient magic or not.

The fourth was pock-marked, weathered sun stone that appeared to have lost all of its magic--if it had ever contained any to begin with.

"Well, Granger?" came Draco's impatient voice. "Can you identify them, or was I right in getting a second opinion?"

Hermione frowned. "Some of them look familiar, yes," she muttered, wondering just who else could possibly have as extensive and eclectic knowledge as she, the infamous Gryffindor bookworm? No one readily came to mind. "This for example," and Hermione picked up her lecturing voice as she re-examined the crystal dragon. "I have seen before..." But where? It would have had to have been some old text, because the answers did not spring readily to mind. She pulled out her wand from her robes and began to gently probe for spells. "It's almost like... a tangled version of a portkey... But where would it go to?"

"Why is she here?" came a silky voice right behind her that made her jump up and drop the crystalline figure. It shattered on the table with the quiet tinkling of glass, and Draco looked as though he was about to utter an Unforgivable. Before anyone could make a comment, though, the shattered pieces of the tiny dragon came back together to form one complete figurine again--as if nothing had ever happened. Hermione jerked around to glare at the voice that had caused her to almost ruin a priceless artifact. Snape was smirking nastily down at her, contempt showing through his eyes. "Graceful as ever, I see, Miss Granger." Then, to Draco, he scowled. "I do not remember your letter saying that she would be here, Mister Malfoy. No, no, don't explain anything. I don't want to hear it. Give me the crystal, Granger--and try not to drop it this time."

Chastised, Hermione handed him the dragon without saying a word. Severus Snape looked at the figurine for several minutes before giving his opinion. " Arctic Firetongue. Extinct." Mockingly, he lifted an eyebrow at Hermione. "I would have thought that even you would have been able to manage that. You are the expert, after all." And he placed the figurine back on the table and began to look at the other items.

I will not let him get to me, Hermione bristled. "I suspected, yes, but I like to compile more evidence before jumping to conclusions. Besides, Arctic Firetongue is a misnomer. They are believed to have lived in the Southern Latitudes... In fact--" and Hermione suddenly remembered just why the writing etched into the mirror looked so familiar. "Professor? May I see that, please?" Snape made a disinterested noise and stood still. Ignoring him, Hermione summoned a quill and a piece of paper, and began to scrabble apparently nonsensical things upon it. The pieces began to fit together--it had been on an old, incomplete papyrus book that some Egyptian priest had compiled even before Plato had been born that she had seen writing similar to what was on the mirror. Of Atl Antis, Water-Copper, or the City of Water and Copper, City of Coppery Water. Atlantis. And the mirror was not a mirror at all, but-- "The heart scale of an Arctic Firetongue," she breathed. "Draco, do you realize what you have here?"

"If I had, Granger," he snarled impatiently, "I wouldn't have come to you two for help, now would I have?"

"Look here at what it says: " she pointed excitedly at a set of characters at the top of the mirror, remembering to keep her voice low, "'Yé'tlan Atla Antis.' To Atlantis. But this here, this looks like it was added long after the original writing was--and it's not even the same language! Yei me Llorenckh e Shai Oecce Nemainth Lorceatle e s'seruken Kai. Juren vathoisch sahi Tiosekkaninein. Nanni yei meu sahi a'yen ti yeinaileth... Hmm..." She did a quick translation spell, and the words on her piece of parchment magically rearranged themselves into English.

I am the Rock and the Ice, the Frozen Sea and the ethereal Sky. The One you have Forsaken. But I shall have what was once mine...

"A curse, Miss Granger," Snape said, looking quite bored. "There is a reason that there were two Atlantises, and that both disappeared."

"There were two, Professor?" Draco finally chimed in--and determined to snub Hermione now that Snape was here.

"Of course," spat Snape, who knew exactly now that Draco had been trying to play his childish tricks on Hermione--and while he was somewhat amused, he did not take kindly to being used in such a way, by anyone. Least of all someone who had ties so close to Voldemort. "And next time, Mister Malfoy, invite one or the other to help you out, but not both." He looked like he was getting ready to leave, which was just fine with Hermione who was still seething after Draco's comment.

Hermione took a deep breath to calm the raging anger that threatened to take control. "First there was an Atlantis in South America, founded by wizards and witches. It was an open community tolerant of magical and muggle folk alike. People from all over the world came to trade there, and some scholars believed that it was the first world wide hub of commerce. When asked, they always said that they were being smiled down upon by the Cobalt Ice Lantern, and that she allowed them to create and maintain such a vast empire. There was only one place they could not go to, the home of Cobalt Ice Lantern--for that was considered to be her last refuge from the world. It is said that Cobalt Ice Lantern did not show up for many centuries, and so some of the witches and wizards went to her home to find her. They did not come back, but instead built the second Atlantis, which was to be a purely magical community. None of the texts are clear on what exactly they did, but somehow they made the seas rise, and allowed even greater access to the original Atlantis. Both places prospered for almost a thousand years and then-- Something happened, and both places were destroyed. Completely. What you have, Draco, are the remnants of two great civilizations who knew no boundaries and were thus destroyed."

With a sigh, she looked down at the heart scale and the dragon figurine. "But neither portkey will work--they're missing some important component to make themselves whole."

"Pity, I am sure," said Snape. "Now, since this has been a complete waste of my time, I shall leave. I trust that the rest of my summer will be undisturbed?" Draco nodded, looking more than just a little unhappy. Some people are not morning persons. Snape was not a summer person. Draco nodded, and began to place the three other items on top of the heart scale to make it easier to place everything in his bag without having to worry about something getting broken. He had done this a couple of times before without any adverse affects--but this time was different. Ever since the crystalline dragon had shattered and reformed itself, its eyes had glowed an odd sapphire, filled with half activated ancient magic. When it was placed upon the scale, it seemed to melt into it, and the words, one by one, began to glow. Yei me Llorenckh e Shai Oecce Nemainth Lorceatle e s'seruken Kai. Juren vathoisch sahi Tiosekkaninein. Nanni yei meu sahi a'yen ti yeinaileth... The One you have Forsaken. But I shall have what was once mine...

And then, the three people closest to the activated portkey disappeared from the Three Broomsticks.

***

White.

The first sensation Hermione had was of a cold that ran so deep it froze all of her marrow. Then came the darkness of the deep Antarctic winter. "What..." she whispered, coughing as the suddenly cold air threatened to chap her insides.

"I thought you said the portkeys wouldn't work, Miss Granger," came Snape's silky, displeased voice met hear ears, and she felt somebody's strong, large hands supporting her chest and back, keeping her from being completely bent over double.

"Thanks," she managed as she caught her breath, and tried to stand up. The strong hands stayed firmly in place against her back, however. "You may let go of me now," she muttered sarcastically. "And besides, I believe you were also sent for by Draco for your knowledge?"

"Uh... Professor?" came Draco's voice, as close to panicked as Hermione had ever heard it. "My wand is not--"

"Keep quiet, you silly boy, and give me that dragon scale," he snapped, and Hermione realized suddenly that neither he nor Draco were behind her. In fact, Draco was a few feet in front of her, looking terrified, and Snape was-- "Miss Granger, kindly continue to breathe slowly, and don't make a movement." Hermione didn't, but her eyes were focused directly on Snape, and he could see the realization dawning, and the horror. "Vathoisch!" he suddenly growled. "Llorenckh e shai oecce!"

(A/N: You! The rock and [the] ice!")

"Yei me Yicikeiarkwe, ti e xa'jawel!" came a great hiss from above, and Hermione fought every instinct to look up. "Nanni... vathoischi yiwe avrath tasceq yeinail chidrensi meu me'ar kenkeiren set yen ckhalen hibehi lehnoirsi kanva. Yei nah sahi brekkein a'yen jahken tragkur Do'hedinsi faha'r Ser'linjem!"

(A/N: I am Yicikeiarkwe, once and forever! But... you who trespass upon my lands shall be destroyed as was agreed so many years before. I have not forgotten what was etched upon the Pillars of Eternity!)

She felt the hands tighten, and seemingly multiple daggers poking through the fabric of her clothing and into her skin. Snape stepped forward, flashing the scale at the dragon, who's head followed its every movement. She glared down at him even as he spoke. "Jinj'x?" he sneered. "Renye ame vathnailesi, Yicikeiarkwe. Lir qyr'behid defaha'r vathoischi. Memnek gei'kit chebidah Shai Oecce Sercoalte ta'un dosith ji'a bisahen qyr'behidsi a'ru?"

(A/N: Really? This is yours, Yicikeirkwe. A gift from you. Since when did [the] mighty Ice Dragon kill those she gave gifts to?)

A growl of anger and Hermione was dropped on the powdery snow packed hard with ice. Only then did she see for the first time the giant creature before her that resembled almost exactly the tiny dragon figurine. Only this one was animate and angry.

"Renye yei yen Tiosekkaninein!"

(A/N: Since I was forsaken!)

With that, the creature lunged at Snape, who dodged out of the way. Draco, who had been standing next to him, was not so fortunate. When the powdered snow and ice settled, he was simply no longer there. A great, dark gaze appeared on her face as she contemplated the two before her, and finally focused on Hermione.

Land of haunting snow, continent of fiery ice, of unforgiving pasts and never-ending night; place where Hell has already begun to freeze over in the crystalline beauty of the blazing ionosphere as it lit up the world in magical beauty-- The harsh wind sucked heat from her body even as Yicikeiarkwe's blue, lantern-like eyes gazed down in cold, unblinking hatred at Hermione and froze her to the very core of her existence. Centuries of hatred shown through; calm, detached. Vengeance as arctic as the landscape around the great ice dragon shown through as she contemplated the witch before her, paralyzing Hermione with her gaze.

I am the rock and the ice, the great creature seemed to say, as she took a serpentine step towards Hermione.

The frozen sea and the ethereal sky.

The one you have forsaken.

But I shall have what was once mine... And the dragon sneered a harsh, fanged smile down at her and struck like a coiled serpent, cobalt orbs of cruel intelligence shining brightly for the first time in thousands of years.

As a cruel twist of fate, all Hermione could not remember any of the hundreds of hexes, thousands of spells she had learned over the years--no, the only thing she could remember was the irony of life, the events that had led up to where she was now.

And that death is blue as the moonless midnight, not black.

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For anyone interested in trying to figure out the translations, know this: there are no articles like 'the'. Yicikeiarkwe "says" 'the' by the way she pronounces things... Unfortunately, since I'm too lazy to do a pronunciation key, just... use your imagination. Also, she combines the words "what was" into one word: a'yen. Past tense--and I mean, the 'ed' ending is 'en' and plurality is 'si'. Negatives come first before the verb because it looks cool. Other than that, translations should be pretty direct and English syntax similar because Ibex did not want to spend forever on this--no, that's what she's going to do for the Language challenge. Perhaps she'll call that new language 'Ibexian.' (Just kidding--I'm more creative than that.)

Yei me Llorenckh e Shai Oecce Nemainth Lorceatle e s'seruken Kai. Juren vathoisch sahi Tiosekkaninein. Nanni yei meu sahi a'yen ti yeinaileth...

I am the Rock and the Ice, the Frozen Sea and the ethereal Sky. The One you have Forsaken. But I shall have what was once mine...

"Yei me Yicikeiarkwe, ti e xa'jawel!"

I am Yicikeiarkwe, once and forever!

"Nanni... vathoischi yiwe avrath tasceq yeinail chidrensi meu me'ar kenkeiren set yen ckhalen hibehi lehnoirsi kanva. Yei nah sahi brekkein a'yen jahken tragkur Do'hedinsi faha'r Ser'linjem!"

But... you who trespass upon my lands shall be destroyed as was agreed so many years before. I have not forgotten what was etched upon the Pillars of Eternity!"

"Jinj'x?"

Really?

"Renye ame vathnailesi, Yicikeiarkwe. Lir qyr'behid defaha'r vathoischi. Memnek gei'kit chebidah Shai Oecce Sercoalte ta'un dosith ji'a bisahen qyr'behidsi a'ru?"

This is yours, Yicikeiarkwe. A gift from you. Since when did the mighty Ice Dragon kill those she gave gifts to?

"Renye yei yen Tiosekkaninein!"

Since I was forsaken!

Ah, goodness--does anybody have any idea how much CRAP I had to wade through on the internet to find the information I wanted? One of the most plausible theories on Atlantis so far is that it did exist... and you'll never, ever guess where: South America. *grin* Yes, yes, Plato says that Atlantis was beyond the Pillars of Hercules, but I believe there were actually two locations called the Pillars of Hercules... A couple thousand years ago, the lowland portions of South America (and there is geological evidence for this, if I am not mistaken) were actually flooded by an inland sea. The actual Atlantis is supposed to be in the highlands of Bolivia, and they have several abandoned cities with what represent stone ports, reminiscent of Italy and Venice--of course, since the sea has sunk back, these stone docks are odd structures and seemingly out of place. Plato said that Atlantis was surrounded in concentric rings, or something like that, with eight or ten kingdoms, and if you follow the ancient coastline, you find eight abandoned Incan cities... Well, anyway, you get the point. There is a Discover article on the internet along these lines: http://www.discover.com/jan_01/featatlantis.html if anybody is interested. Or, I guess, even this site: http://library.thinkquest.org/25245/atlantology/samerica.html?tqskip1=1&tqtime=0917 .Anyway, the native Tiahuanaco have always claimed to have been great sea farers once, and the remnants of a vast kingdom... I guess, like anything else, you have to make your own decisions. For years, nobody believed that Troy really existed until its ruins were found--on top of seven or eight other ruins.

Anyway, once I heard a ridiculous hypothesis that Antarctica was the Lost Continent of Atlantis... so I decided that yes... it was... for the Wizarding Atlantis, anyway. =)

If I had one thing to choose so far and say that it is my favorite part of the story, what I have deemed my cleverest idea, it would have to be Yicikeiarkwe (Yeay-ice-kaay-are-quay, where the 'r' is a clipped trill), the Ice Dragon, and the mythology I created and wove around her.

And if anybody was wondering, my largest inspiration for fan fiction (besides Harry Potter, of course) so far has been Tad Williams' The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow, Thorn Trilogy). Yicikeiarkwe was born in memory/honor of Igjarjuk.

As for the language... I studied Nahuatl once, but that was a long time ago, and not in the same region as the Incan empire. Really, I did not feel like learning Incan because this Ibex is lazy and had other work to do, so I simply created an Atlantean language. If it looks like it is based of Nahuatl... *inhales slowly, looking chagrinned* Incan and Aztec experts, don't get offended. I know the difference, but I had chemistry and calculus exams to think of, too! :) And no, Yicikeiarkwe's language is not the same as either Atlanteans'.