Storybook Return
By Gemin16
Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, nope not I.
Chapter 4: Blast From the Past
A/N: Not much on this end except that well I read book numero five and well I'm trying to deny the fact that he's gone. BUT I do promise you that in this story he does not disappear! (Well at least in this chapter I can guarantee that). Other than that I say the book was brilliant as always and that I was disappointed that the closest thing to Hr/R was that small kiss she gave him! (Authoress claps her hands in a pray like fashion) I'm praying that in the next book WE WILL HAVE A BETTER MOMENT!.
SHOUT OUT TO MOUSE, WHO HELP ME WRITE THIS THING. YOU ROCK!
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A stick snapped loudly. Looking down, Ron saw his foot upon the broken twig. A sense of frustration welled up inside him as he slammed his foot down, breaking the stick further. They had been searching for hours, searching in vain. There was no sign of any purple oaks, or even of any oaks that weren't brown like all the rest of the trees in the forbidden forest.
Distracted as he was, he wouldn't have seen the arrow that struck him. Except that it didn't strike him. Glancing up at a loud thunk just in front of him, his eyes widened in surprise at the arrow buried in a tree.
"Run!" His voice crawled out of his throat almost of it's own accord. Somewhere in the back of his mind he cursed himself for not bothering to bring his bow and arrow. Searching he caught the direction Harry was in. Running, almost backwards, calling his name. He chose that direction to run.
It was only a few seconds before he managed to catch up with Harry, breath hard in his chest. "Why...are...they...shooting...at...us?" He panted as they ran, flying almost aimlessly through the old forest.
"Because they missed the first time." Harry's reply was as broken as his own, they heard faint footsteps behind them, a long way off, but coming nearer.
More arrows flew past them. Landing in trees, the ground. Ron was sure the next one would land in him, and he might've been right, had the ground not given way underneath him.
He fell through the ground itself almost, sliding almost straight down, for several minutes, until he was just beginning to wonder if the tunnel had no bottom. Then he landed, neck deep, in a rank and foul smelling pit, he peered around at the small room, filled, about half way, with the sour mud. He saw what appeared to be a doorway on the opposite side of the wall, and started making his way toward it.
Harry landed not long after, he had dived down the tunnel face first, fleeing from those who would see them as pincushions. He sank just as easily in the soggy mire, and got as much to his feet as one could manage in the muck.
"Ugh! What is this stuff?" He gagged on the smell, recovered, and made his way over to the opening to stand beside Ron. "Where are we?"
"I have no idea." Ron's voice was strained, as he tried not to vomit over the smell of the mud surrounding them. He peered into the hole to see another passage, sloping gently upward, partially coated in the same slick substance that filled the room they were in. It branched off in three different directions, and had a sheen on it, as if reflecting light.
"Come on." He spoke as much to himself as to Harry, climbing into the tunnel, he crawled along it, stopping once he reached the split. Three ways to go, and he didn't even know where he was. It started off trying to find Hermione Lisa, and little Katarina. Now him and Harry were lost too. A great fear welled up in him, choking off his air. He tried to shake it off.
Continuing forward, he chose the central passage, only barely aware of Harry's presence behind him, he moved up. Determined to find his way to the end.
The end came soon enough, in the form of a wooden board with a hole in the center. With effort, he hoisted himself out of the tunnel and into the room beyond, after helping Harry out, the pair looked about them, a row of boards, much like the one from which they had emerged. A single door lead in and out of the room, which looked oddly familiar
"Harry? Please tell me that was mud we fell into back there."
*^^*
Hermione and Lisa continued to run far away from the demons as they could and were searching for any signs of Katarina. They had run from the dungeons all the way down a large corridor filled made from stone. All they could hear was their feet pounding against the damp floor and the harsh breathing that their throats were emitting.
"Where do you think she could be?" Lisa asked Hermione.
"I wish I knew." All of a sudden the hall was filled with the unmistakable odor of demons that had been guarding the girls. It was only a matter of seconds when the demons reappeared with what looked like to be rocks and sticks. Counting quickly, Hermione ducked as a rock came flying towards her but wasn't aware of the demon that was only a few feet away from her. Lisa swung out her wand and aimed it strait towards the demon.
"STUPEFY!" She yelled stunning the horrid looking creature in its tracks.
The incantation echoed all through out the halls and into the hidden fortress entering the ears of all that were available to listen.
*
Crouch smiled as he walked passed into the hallway that lead there followed by a few of the lower wizards that were at his biding. He swung strait around. "Where's Vixen?" he demanded.
He young wizard flinch at his master's harsh require. "She's gone strait after them, Sir."
Crouch smiled. "Perfect."
*
Morgan sat in her chamber, watching a mirror that reflected whatever scene she wished it to. Her expression was bored as she watched Lisa and Hermione fight off the demons so she made it switch to another seen. But this time her expression changed with the scene, from boredom to anger. She picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a small clock and threw it against the mirror. She stood up in a hurry and walked out leaving behind the shattered picture of Brian.
*
Brian, who had heard the shout, bit his lip. He turned to the others. "They're nearby," he said quickly turning one direction. "Cerisa, you and Gatoh, go that way and find the child. Ramone, come with me." They nodded and headed in different directions.
*
Harry and Ron, who had successfully made it out of the "room" had heard it as well. "That's Lisa's voice!" Harry said after recognizing the owner of the shout. "Come on, they may be in danger!" The two boys ran down the long stretch of hallways listening to the numerous shouts of curses and defenses praying that they weren't to late.
*
"Pretrificus Totalus!" Hermione yelled at the last demon who was standing in front of her while Lisa had performed a perfect stunning spell on the last one on her side. They looked around to see that none others were there for now and moved on. They continued running knowing that none of their spells would hold them for too long.
It was only a matter of seconds before Hermione ran strait into another body. "Ouch!" she said as she recoiled back but was only grabbed by her arm and yanked back from falling onto the floor. She would have panicked if it wasn't for Lisa's joyful cry.
"Harry!"
Hermione took a glance up and saw Ron looking at her with what looked like to be a relieved expression. She sighed as she grabbed him in a hug. It felt great to be in his arms again.
And then the stench hit her. She quickly pulled back, plugging up her nose. "Whatz dat orid smell?" She asked him. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Lisa quickly pulled away from Harry.
"It smellz loike you fell into a swamp or something," she said covering her nose as well.
"We had a little run in with mother nature to say the least. And trust me, we prefer not to go into details," Ron explained. Not even after all the cleaning spells that they had perform, the stench still remained.
"I don't think we have much time for details," Harry said looking down the hall pushing Lisa ahead of him. "Lets hurry and find Katarina and get out of here. I hate to meet up with the person that's using demons as part of their plan involving us." The quickly left walking as fast as they could.
"Do we know any good finding or tracking spells?" Ron asked.
"I can't think of any," Harry said.
"All the ones that I can think of involve a precise place or an item that belongs to the person we're finding," Hermione said.
Harry grinded his teeth. "Where could she be? They better not have harmed her!"
Ron stopped all of a sudden. "Well we'll never find out unless we keep ourselves out of harms way, mate." The other three stopped to see another herd of demons running towards them. The group quickly turned around and ran into any direction that they could knowing that there were too many of the powerful creatures chasing after them to fight back.
"Don't they have magic?" panted Hermione, she had never really thought to read up on them.
"They do, well at least I think they do. No one has seen them in so long," Ron told her. "It makes me wonder why they aren't using it on us."
They continued running until they had left the hallways and entered the forest, except they had reached what looked to be a small canyon within. They stopped when they realized that they had reached a dead end with them facing the back and the demons covering the only exit that was available.
"Isn't this wonderful," Ron muttered, his wand was pulled out and held in front of him. Harry had already pulled out his and stood there looking at the demons, which looked like they were all ready to attack. The disadvantage was clearly on their side because of the fact that they were out numbered, cornered, and lacked the knowledge of the enemy.
Hermione stood with her wand out along side Ron and Harry, wondering who would make the first move.
"Expelliarmus!"
Hermione felt her wand leave her hand, and saw that Harry's, Ron's, and Lisa's had left their's as well watching them tumble on the ground far from them. "What the-?" sprouted from Ron's mouth as they all looked up onto the cliff where they saw a lone figure standing there in the shadows of the trees with a wand raised in their hand. Hermione strained her eyes to see who it was . It looked like it was a girl or even a younger woman but it was hard to tell.
And then they stepped into the light. Hermione's eyes grew wide with recognition. Dark eyes filled with nothing looked strait at them, dark hair that was pulled messily into a ponytail. The battered face that contained all the recognizable features except that they were missing the one element that made it worth remembering. The fact that she was standing right there above them, made it harder for Hermione to accept.
"Kitrina," Harry whispered as they all looked in disbelief. But she was there, in the flesh, pointing her wand at the people she swore she would never let get hurt on her account.
Before they could get over their shock, Kitrina flicked her wand at them saying the words that caused a beam of light to attack them. Harry quickly stepped in front of them, yelling something at Ron. Hermione gasped she felt him pull her and Lisa down away from the beam that struck. A moment later Harry came falling down next to them. A sharp crack was heard and Harry grasped his wrist, pain written all over his face. A few more beams came down, all missing them by mere centimeters on purpose.
Hermione looked up at Kitrina and watched as she looked at them, her wand still raised. "That can't be her," she said. "There's no way that can't be our Kitrina."
"It's not possible at all. She's dead," Ron said. "But that body looks so much like her."
Kitrina flicked her wand again except this time it was at the wall of the canyon. The beam of light cracked against the wall and shattered it, causing the large pieces to fall down directly above Hermione and the others. Harry and Ron quickly pushed the girls down to the ground bracing themselves for the impact but instead two things happened at once.
One, somewhere in front of them, the horde of demons had broke and they all fell to the ground unconscious and a loud voice, also in front of them, yelled out the Reductor Curse destroying all the boulders.
The four of them looked up to see the figure of Brian standing over them with Ramone in the background, looking over pile of demons bodies.
"Are you alright?" Brian asked quickly as he looked up to see who had attack them. Hermione couldn't tell but she thought she heard him mutter Kitrina's name as his eyes opened wide in surprise. She looked back up and watched as she disappeared.
"Who are you?" Harry asked as Lisa helped him stand up.
He looked back at them. "Brian McMagus. My friend behind me is Ramone Montello."
"No way," Ron said in disbelief with Harry and Lisa looking as if they had seen a ghost.
"Thank you for saving us," Hermione said standing next to Ron, wondering why he was so shocked. Now that they were all standing and saw the exit opened. They wanted to get out of the canyon as soon as possible and go look for Katarina. With the danger that was all around them, they had no time to spare.
Once Harry had his arm in a comfortable position he looked at the others. "Come on, we have to find Kitrina."
They all started to walk out when Brian spoke. "Its actually safer to stay here. Trust me."
Harry shook his head. "Thanks and all for saving us but we need to find someone. Its urgent and we have no clue where she is."
"You mean this little cutie?" They all looked to see Cerisa carrying a giggling Katarina out into the opening.
"Looks like you had no trouble finding her," Ramone said to her.
"Well its really not that hard when you look," Cerisa said dryly as she walked passed him and went to go hand Katarina over to Hermione. "She's fine, found her in the hands of a gentle House Elf and told her that I was bringing her back to where she belong. Of course those demons were a bit of a pain but we handled them didn't we, Gatoh?" She turned around and watched as another figure walk into the canyon. Hermione immediately recognized it as her cat, whom she hadn't seen in a while.
"Crookshanks, what are you doing here?"
The cat sat himself down next to Cerisa's feet and looked up at Hermione. "I came here looking for you and the others," he replied in a simple tone.
Hermione blinked. Did her cat just talk? "Did you just-?" she asked, the surprise and shock obvious in her voice.
Crookshanks stretched lazily. "Yes, Hermione, I can talk now." He looked at Brian. "I told you she would be surprised."
"No way," Ron said. "You mean you could talk before?"
"It's a very long story that those three could explain better than I ever could." He nodded his head in the direction of Brian, Ramone, and Cerisa, who was in the middle of healing Harry's wrist. Brian had taken a small item from inside his robes and performed a small spell on it. He spoke to Ramone. "How long before this lot wakes up?"
Ramone shrugged. "I give them another twenty minutes or so and they'll be up and grunting."
Brian nodded. "Are you finished?" he asked Cerisa.
"Almost. You're going to want to lay off of this for a couple of hours but you'll be fine afterwards."
"How are we going to get out of here?" Lisa asked them.
"Portkey," Brian told them as he held up what looked like a book. "It'll take us strait to Hogsmeade, where we can give the three of you a full explanation of what's happening. I'm sure you've all done this before. Gather round and on my count we'll leave." Hermione touched the cover between Ron's and Cerisa's hand and held Katarina with her other. She watched as her cat jumped onto Brian's shoulder and looked at her with his yellow eyes looking strait at her.
"Alright one, two, three." A faint pop was heard and Hermione felt herself go blank, her grip around Katarina had loosened but the child had a firm grip on her.
***
"Katarina!"
"Ma!"
Rosaline held her child firmly in her arms, as mother and daughter were reunited. Hermione smiled from the corner of the Black house and watched as Sirius and Remus thanked Brian and his friends as well as Harry and Ron (both had taken a decent bath before). Lisa stood next to Hermione, shaking her head. "Of all the people to come to the rescue, it was those three."
"Who are they?" Hermione asked.
"Didn't you know? They're probably some of the most famous wizards and witches of this century. Almost four years ago, they defeated the dark wizards, Jagan, Helex, and Kairin. They graduated from Hogwarts about six years ago and haven't been back since. No wonder I couldn't recognize them. They've changed a lot. They're the youngest people in history to receive Merlin First Class." She looked and saw the look on Hermione's face and laughed. "I guess you didn't."
Hermione looked at the three adults that were standing in front of her. Brian, the tallest of the three and obviously the leader, was quite the handsome man. His chestnut hair was cut short but fell over his head in a wavy motion that gave way to his blue eyes that were more sapphire than anything. He seemed to be the type that was always calm and easy going but somehow Hermione could tell that there was much more to him than it seemed. But then it was like that with the other two.
Ramone was quite as handsome as Brian except that while Brian's looks were so gentle and caring, Ramone's were centered around being dark and mysterious. His black hair was longer than Brian's reaching his shoulders but his bangs fell over his face perfectly revealing dark eyes that concealed so much. He had his arms folded over his chest and looked as if he were only partially listening to the conversation.
Cerisa, in Hermione's opinion, was probably one of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, she had seen. Long dirty blond locks fell form her head all the way down to the base of her back. Her face and light green eyes were vivid and cheerful as she stood next to Ramone talking to Remus. They looked so stunning standing their all together. It was as if she had seen them all before and then she saw her cat sitting next to Brian. Of course there was the matter of Crookshanks being able to talk as well. It was all rather hard to deal with at once in a weird way.
That's when it hit Hermione, she had seen them all before. It was the picture at the beginning of the book before the passage! And then parts of the passage came back to her mind.
A trio of all sorts
Were they the ones the passage was referring to? Hermione wanted to know and find out. But before she had a chance to ask Brian had addressed them. "If I may ask, can we all find somewhere to sit so that I can give the explanation that I promised?"
"Of course, the kitchen is the best place," Rosaline said. They all pilled into the kitchen where Sirius quickly produced more chairs for them to all sit on and they all sat down looking at Brian, who looked like he was thinking.
"Well I guess that I have to start out by saying well done with the items. She couldn't have chosen more successful people than you three, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Over coming all those challenges that were left for you and then beating Voldemort in the end. We're extremely proud of you and the only our only regrets are that we weren't able to help you in any way."
"Wait a minute. How did you know about the items?" Harry asked them.
"Yeah, and how do you know about her?" Ron asked.
"And what do you mean by not being able to help us?" Hermione asked.
Brian looked like he was debating on something in his head. "What I'm about to say is one hundred percent true. Brian is just my birth name, I go by another name as well, one given to me in the past, many years ago. Merlin."
To say the least the room went completely silent except for the shaking of Katarina's rattle. " You mean that you're the reincarnation of Merlin?" Harry asked breaking it.
Brian nodded. "That's not all, Cerisa is the reincarnation of Yurah and Ramone is the reincarnation of Emerys, my comrades from long ago." Ramone remained silent as Cerisa gave a small wave.
Hermione just looked at them, they didn't look like they were lying and if they knew about the items than they honestly couldn't be lying. But it just seemed so odd that the reincarnations of three of the strongest wizards and witches of all time were sitting there in front of her.
"For some odd reason I'm not as surprised as I think I should be," Remus said.
"So am I," Sirius agreed.
Cerisa laughed. "Perhaps but well its something that we've just lived with."
"So what's with the demons and what did they want with the girls?" Harry asked.
"Actually its more she than they," Brian told them. "At least that's what I can tell you for sure. The only person who can control a complete population of demons is Morgan LeFay."
"I don't see how," Ron said. "She's been dead for almost four centuries."
"Not unless," Hermione said, "she was reincarnated as well along with you three."
"Correct," Ramone said. "And she's after us, to finish what happened in the past."
"In the last battle we fought, all of us were killed," Cerisa explained. "And then we were all reborn and now she wants revenge for what happened. That's why she has that underground hideout with all the demons there. So she can get at us."
"Crouch was there," Hermione said.
"Excuse me?" Sirius asked, disbelief in his voice.
"Wait a minute he's dead!" Ron said.
"No, he's alive," Lisa said. "We saw him face to face."
"He said he wanted revenge for his master's death," Hermione added.
"So why are he and LeFay working together?" Harry asked.
"Good question," Brian said looking at Cerisa and Ramone with a concerned glance. "She's not the type to work together with someone, especially when she doesn't care about things that have to do with Voldemort."
"So exactly what happened between you three and LeFay almost four hundred years ago?" Ron asked them. "It's really not written why you four were in that massive battle."
Brian leaned back in his chair. "She wanted revenge against me," he said sadly.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Because she thought that I killed her father. It was long ago when I was an older man. It was by chance that her father and I were working together on something when he was killed by a wondering troll, I couldn't use my magic to save him. She went mad and never believed my story. She swore revenge against me the rest as everyone says is history." Hermione noticed the sad look on his face.
"Even now four hundred years later she still carries the grudge," Crookshanks said from on top of the counter. "Its souls like hers that make you wonder what drives a person."
Hermione looked at her cat. There was still the matter about him being able to talk and about his other name. Gatoh. He saw her looking at him and motioned for her to follow him. He stood up and left the counter, jumping out the window. Hermione sighed, not really surprised.
"I'm going to step out for a bit," she told the others as she stood up.
"Everything alright?" Ron asked her.
She nodded. "Just need to step out and talk to Crookshanks. I'll be back in soon." She kissed him on the cheek as she walked out.
Opening the door she noticed that the spring breeze was wonderful as it blew the hair on her eyes away. She looked at the small bench that was sitting outside of the Black house and there seated there in his usual manner was her cat. She remembered the first time she had found him, lying there half starved and shivering from the intense cold of the late autumn night. He was covered from head to tail in scrapes and cuts, all from fighting off the local dogs and cats. Hermione had been walking home from the library as usual when she noticed the feline for the first time. He was lying there on a paper and looked like he was reading it, but Hermione had dismissed it as just him looking at it. She couldn't have just left him there to suffer, so she went and bought a can of sardines and a bottle of milk as well as a couple of bandages. She remembered the feeling of calm that she had felt when she just sat there watching him eat, it was something that she rarely felt unless she was surrounded by a book.
She didn't know how long she had continued in that pattern, leaving the library early just to go and feed him. The endless amounts of conversations that she had had with him, all ending a meow. Hermione remembered how happy she was when her parents said that she could keep him. She honestly felt that he was listening to her and now she knew that he had been. She always knew that her cat was smart for his species but somehow she knew that he wasn't what he seemed. "A wolf in sheep's clothing," she said as she sat down next to him.
Crookshanks stretched and laid down in his casual way as if he was expecting this all along. "Well I suppose that's one way of putting it," he said in a mild tone. His voice was a little on the high side but you could tell that it was masculine. She wondered if this was how he sounded in his normal form. "So care to explain what happened before we met?" She asked looking at the floor. It seemed so strange that she would be having this conversation with her cat, but then again considering where she was Hermione wasn't entirely surprised by the whole thing too.
"I was an assistant of Merlin's back all those years ago, apprentice in a small way actually. My full name was Gatoh Highwillow back then," he started out wishing his tail around looking up in the sky. "I was younger than Merlin, around the same age as Brian is now. Anyway I was there when Kitrina was created as well around the time when Morgan started to seek full revenge upon Merlin and the others. No one could match their power. Yurah and Emerys were well off as some of the most powerful wizards and witches out there, but no one could ever compare to the full strength of Merlin and LeFay. It was amazing how someone could contain so much magical strength within them. A few weeks before the last battle, Lefay attacked along with her demons. Merlin and the others weren't there at the time however I was, protecting the lab. She got a hold of me and then made me transform into my Animagus form (He began to laugh at that moment) my large ginger cat form and she perform some sort of spell that forced me to stay in this body." He looked up at her.
"I don't understand," Hermione said. "if you were Merlin's assistant couldn't he have changed you back?"
"As much as I would have loved to get my friend back to his original form, I couldn't." Hermione looked at the opening door, revealing a tired looking Brian stepping out. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation but you two weren't the only ones in need of a fresh breath of air," he said with a small smile. " 'Risa and Ramone are explaining to the others in my place."
"That's all right, there are some parts that you could certainly explain better than I ever could," Crookshanks said in a light tone.
"Why not?" Hermione asked Brian.
"LeFay used highly advanced Dark magic that couldn't be undone. Not even in all my strength could I have undone it."
Hermione looked back at her cat. "So you're saying that for almost four hundred years you've been a cat? But how?"
"The spell she cast," Crookshanks said again. "She cursed me to remain in this body until she sought fit, without my voice either I have to admit. It wasn't until a few days ago that I could talk. Thanks to a bit of luck from you, right?" He looked at Brian with a feline grin.
Brian laughed. "Well four hundred years is a long time to develop much better spells than what we had back then."
"So what happened after you were turned into a cat?" Hermione asked trying to continue on with Crookshank's story.
"The night before that last battle I decided to put Gatoh and Kitrina in a deep sleep so that they would awaken three hundred and fifty years later, in time for the prophesy to occur."
"What prophesy?"
"It was Yurah who foretold our death and what would happen with the items that I made in the future. To insure that the outcome was good, I needed to of my best people there. Kitrina was fine with the Holy Sorcerer's Stone within her and Gatoh had that curse. It was actually one of my better plans."
"So how did you end up in my world?"
"I was the one who brought the port key to the appropriate place, I was however separated from it and left to look for it. But in the end I had filled my part of the mission because of you," Crookshanks said to Hermione. "All that was left was for Kitrina to do her part."
Hermione smiled sadly at the thought of her friend. She looked at Merlin. "Kitrina was killed right before we defeated You-know-Who," she told him sadly.
Merlin returned the same sadden smile. "I know, Gatoh had informed us of all the details." He sighed. "I had hoped that I would get to meet her again in this life but it looks like I never received the chance. I just hope that her sole is resting where she should have been placed all those years ago."
"But what about what we saw today?" Hermione asked, her voice breaking slightly. "Was that the real Kitrina who attacked us or just some horrible illusion? It couldn't have been her, could it?"
Brian shook his head. "With Lefay its always hard to tell what she has planned. It could be the real Kitrina, or it could be an illusion. I honestly can't tell you because I don't know. But in all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if it was the real Kitrina."
"How can you just say so calm like that?" Hermione said standing up, her voice raising slightly. "She was your own creation and from what we heard from her she was like your daughter. Doesn't it make you angry at all?" Hermione felt a lump in her throat that didn't seem to want to go down. She knew she was getting emotional but she couldn't understand why Merlin could act so calm? In the background she heard Crookshanks tell her to calm down but she wasn't listening to him, she wanted her questions answered.
"She was my daughter," Merlin said, his voice never changing its calm tone, "and I am angry that Lefay has taken her form and used it against you like that." He looked down at Hermione and there she saw in his young face the wisdom that he carried in his blue eyes. In those bright sapphire orbs she could almost see the years of experience piled on top of each other. His gaze caused her to listen to his words carefully as if they were spoken to her by the most ancient man in the world. It was then that she realize that she just wasn't talking to the young man known as Brian but instead the powerful and wise Merlin that had lived so long ago. "In times like these we must not act in hast and anger but in careful planning to make sure what needs to be done is done. Right now it is obvious that LeFay has the advantage over us and with the conditions that the town is in at the moment we can't afford an attack within the city. At least not one with a whole horde of demons."
Hermione nodded. "I'm sorry," she said.
Brian patted her hand. "I completely understand." He looked up and noticed the night sky. "I better get back to the castle, I'll need my rest for the next few days."
"For what?"
"Brian, Ramone, and Cerisa are apart of the council members that are meeting for the Conference."
"Really, wow that must be exciting to be apart pf something so wonderful and important. Especially at the age you're at now!"
Brian laughed. "It's really not as glamorous as you think it is."
Crookshanks sighed. "Stop being so humble."
Hermione shook her head. "Something as important as that. I mean I think I would be a trifle it more excited if I were along because of the fact that my opinion or ideas would affect the formation of this world."
"You honestly think its an honor to be in a meeting like that."
"Of course."
"Then how about this. Since you seem like you would enjoy something like this, how would you like to accompany me tomorrow to the Conference?"
Hermione gasped. "Are you serious? Am I even aloud?"
Brian nodded. "I don't see why not. I can always say you're my apprentice and wish to learn the ways of politics. Its nice to see such an ambitious person."
"Oh thank you so much."
"For what?" Hermione watched as Ramone and Cerisa walked out the door followed by Harry, Lisa, Remus, and Ron. It was Cerisa who had asked Brian the question.
"Hermione will be accompanying us to the Conference tomorrow."
Ramone raised an eyebrow and Cerisa clapped her hands together. "Wonderful, it'll be fun to have her along." She turned to the others. "Its been nice to see you all."
Ramone nodded. "Yes, we'll continue our conversation later."
Brian shook Remus' hand, Harry's then Ron's. "Goodnight." He waved back at Hermione and Crookshanks. "Hermione I'll see you tomorrow. Just go along with Sirius, he'll be able to lead you to me before the Conference starts." Waving one last good-bye, the trio left.
"Well that was interesting," Ron said watching them leave.
"You're telling me," Harry said. "I'm still trying to take in all that they told us. Oh well I guess I'll sleep on it. I'll see you two tomorrow. Hermione, have fun. Only you would want to go to something like that."
Hermione frowned. "Well it is an interesting opportunity!"
Ron laughed. "He's right though."
After waving goodbye to Harry, Lisa, and Remus, all that was left on the front porch was Hermione, Ron, and Crookshanks.
"Aren't you going to go now?" Hermione asked him.
Ron shook his head. "I don't feel like it, rather stay out here for now." He shot a look at Crookshanks.
Crookshanks pretended like he didn't notice. "Why its such a lovely night," he said loudly looking up at the sky. "it's a perfect night for star gazing."
"I agree," Ron said with a strained voice. Hermione wondered what he was talking like that. "But it would be even better if you looked at it from upstairs."
Crookshanks grinned, showing all of his feline teeth. "No, no, I think here is fine. By the way what's the matter, Ron. Did you get something caught in your throat?"
"No!"
"The why are you talking like that?"
"WOULD YOU JUST LEAVE ALREADY!"
The cat jumped up onto the window sill and looked at him, swishing his tail. "Why didn't you just say so, instead of all that huffing and puffing." He turned around with a small cat like snicker and jumped onto a higher window and entered Hermione's room. She bit her lip trying not to laugh, she always knew that her cat was trouble but now she was seeing him an action.
"Damn cat!" Ron muttered as he sat down on the bench.
Hermione stifled a laugh. "Don't let him get to you like that."
"Now that he can talk, its going to be like when Kitrina was around!" A sudden silence fell over the couple.
"I can't believe that was her," Hermione said quietly after a few minutes. "There's no way that person who attacked was Kitrina, right?"
Ron shook his head. "Ramone said that there are high level Dark Magic spells that could easily make a dead person alive again. We're going to head to her grave tomorrow afternoon to see if what we saw was her." He banged his fist on the wall. "I swear if they've done anything to that grave. I mean, you saw the way her body was. It looked like she was beaten!"
Hermione nodded sadly. "I know and they're doing it just to torture us. Oh, I miss her so much!"
Ron wrapped his arm around her and let her lean on him. " We all miss her." They sat in silence again, just staring out into the night sky. Hermione felt a sense of calm rush over her as she adjusted herself so that she had her arm around him instead of under her. She was glad to be there within his reach, she had always felt safe when he was around. The rhythm of his heart, the warmth of his body, they were all signs that she was back where she loved to be.
"I was scared."
Hermione looked up at Ron. "Scared?"
Ron nodded. "When you left I was worried that you wouldn't come back again. I mean it wasn't that I didn't have faith in you, but what if Kitrina was wrong. What if the portkey could only be used once? What if something had happened to you and you couldn't make it back? It wasn't until I saw you again did all my fears were gone. But then you were taken from me, right in front of my eyes. I was really scared that I would never see you again," he said looking strait into her eyes.
Hermione honestly didn't know what to say but she couldn't because Ron continued.
"I've honestly never felt this way about anyone, Hermione. Every single day I thought about you wondering if you were ever going to come back." Hermione felt herself being held closer to him as he grab her in a massive hug. "I really mean it when I say I love you."
Hermione wrapped her arms around him, feeling tears come to her eyes. No one had ever told her something like that before. "Oh I love you too. I missed you so much!" Ron broke the hug and smiled at her, whipping away her tears. Hermione grabbed hold of his hand and leaned in forward towards his face. Their kiss was warm, sending a wonderful feeling all over her. Yes, she loved him and that was the main reason she was glad that she was back. But she also loved the world she was in now, everything that it contained. The surprises, the adventure, her first true friends, it was her home.
And that's what she had craved for almost three years, that's what she had missed so much during those times where she sat staring at her wand, it was the place that she visited in her dreams, whenever she had a moments time to think without interruption. She loved her first home dearly, but with every minute that she spent leaning against Ron she knew that she loved her second home even more.
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Haha! I'm done, finally done with this chapter! I'm so happy! And now that summer here's I can write more, yes I am making this story my first priority!
But now for the bad news. New chapter won't be out for a while because on Monday, I'm going on vacation. *grabs her straw hat and sunglasses* yepperu, I'm heading to good ol' Georgia for two weeks! HAHA! I get to see my best friends again!
Also keep an eye out for my next one shot fic- When the Snow Falls In June. It contains an OC from Storybook Crisis. Anyone who guesses right will get a special email from them! Well until then,
Ciao.
P.S. Please Review.
