Disclaimer: Nothing is mine!!!!
A/N: ok well sorry for the long delay, school has been killing me!!! Literally. Um…this chapter was very hastily written cuz I just wanted to post something…cuz I haven't for quite a long time. And then I sent it to my beta reader like a week ago and she hasn't replied yet…so I decided to post it anyways cuz it's been like months since I've updated. Um…well…I'm sorry to those of you who hate anything besides d/hr, but I had to add stuff about other characters cuz it's important to the plot…IT IS IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT!! I mean, I hate writing any stuff other than d/hr, but the stuff about other ppl is IMPORTANT, even tho you may hate it, so sorry and don't get mad at me! And you may really really hate the other character pairings in this story, but I really can't help it because it's crucial, so please, don't get mad at me…*whimpers at the sight of tomatoes*…
Thanks to the ppl who reviewed: Depth, Rebecca Anne, heavengurl899, bloody raven, beth-e, Rebecca, poopookachoo, Jax McDerby, MoonTrail, nicole - my school is in a small little town to the northwest of Santa Fe in NM and we had to read the crucible and then now we're reading the great gatsby, foxyness39, arimel, AlyBaby, Merusa, Jockaroo, dracoNmione, glory, zkiro, Nazgul13, silent serenade, Lulu, dork4life53, dracosrockstar, Danny, DrAcOlUvA99, aznlady, Akuma Kanada no Tenchi, Ragazza Doulce, buttercup09, Moi, Tinuviel, tweetgurl, Queen of the Roses, mary, chesterpie, HouAreYouToday, stace, silvinaanne, yunie, A.K, and anybody else I missed…
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Forever Never Ends
Chapter 19
"As I explained during our last class, today we're going out into the forbidden forest to make observations of any interesting animals you might see."
A hand shot up into the air.
"Yes?"
"Isn't it against the rules to go into the forest?" asked a plump little boy, who looked rather scared at the thought of going into the forest.
"This class has special permission from the Headmaster to enter the forest."
"Isn't it…dangerous?"
"There's nothing to fear," said Hermione, the corner of her mouth twitching as she fought back a laugh. "You're all going to be under my supervision and I believe all of you are responsible enough. Oh, yes, and please remember to take notes in the format that I showed you during the last class, and please include a picture of the animal - it only has to be a sketch. And if you see something that looks like it might be harmful, please stay away from it. I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep yourself safe," she said with almost a worried expression on her face.
"What exactly is the point of this?" asked a yawning raven-haired girl, who was a Slytherin.
"Oh, well to learn how to defend yourself against dangerous animals, and other forest creatures, you must study them and learn their weaknesses, and such. Of course there won't be any terribly dangerous creatures because we'll only be on the outskirts of the forest. So please, now, just take what you need, and head out the door."
The children lined up in single file and began to slowly shuffle out of the classroom.
"Oh, yes, and please remember, we'll be passing by the greenhouses so you can wave a hello to Professor Sprout if you see her, to be polite."
Hermione followed at the end of the line of the students. Although they walked in a nice single file line, she did have to scold them once or twice because their whispers and mumbles were getting a bit too loud, and there were classes in session all around them. As soon as they stepped outside the castle, they scattered and began to run on the flowing green grass towards the forest. Hermione yelled for them to slow down, as was typical of teachers to do, but they were all too excited to listen to her.
After they had gotten a bit farther out, Hermione could make out the outlines of the greenhouses all sitting in a nice straight row, and she could see her students as tiny dots, rapidly approaching the greenhouses. Then without warning, the tiny dots near the greenhouses began to drop like flies.
Hermione, realizing that something was wrong, began to pick up her pace and ran faster towards the fallen children, shouting warnings to all of her students who had not been affected yet. In the turmoil, it seemed like none of them heeded her warning. More and more of her students began to fall to the ground, as soon as they neared the greenhouses, and Hermione began to panic.
Hermione, trying to find the source of the problem, was close enough to finally see a very worried Professor Sprout run out from behind greenhouse number four. She was waving her hand frantically, as if trying to get the children to stay far away. Hermione wondered why Professor Sprout was unharmed by whatever it was that was affecting her pupils.
She quickened her pace, and when she got even closer, she finally discovered what was wrong. Professor Sprout was wearing earmuffs. Not knowing what else she should do, she automatically covered her ears with her hands, yelling at the children to do the same.
Professor Sprout was running towards her now, and when she reached her, quickly pulled her into an empty greenhouse. The children who had not yet fallen, and had been covering their ears followed their two professors into the greenhouse.
"Hermione! The mandrakes! I was replanting the mandrakes outside!"
"Oh, my God! The children! Oh, my God!"
"I should have put up a warning sign, but I had no idea that someone would be passing by the greenhouses."
"What are we going to do about the children?" Hermione asked. She hesitated to ask the second question, because she really didn't want to hear the answer, but knew it was necessary. "Are the mandrakes fully grown yet?"
The professor shook her head. "I don't know! They've been growing for about two months. They're near to being adults, I believe."
"What are we going to do about the students? Will they live?"
"There's no way to tell right now. Let's just hope that the mandrakes hadn't been grown to their killing age just yet!"
"When will we know?"
"It may take weeks for the kids to wake up, if they do."
"Oh, my God! What am I going to do?"
"Here, put on some earmuffs. The greenhouses are soundproof, but once we get outside, it'll be mandrakes screaming at full blast. We've got to get the kids out of there," she said, indicating at the children who were laying unconscious all over the green grass. "The longer they are exposed, the worse their condition will be."
"Alright," said Hermione as she donned the fluffy blue earmuffs, and faced to speak to the remaining unaffected students, who, as she counted with dismay, came to the number of four. "I need you to put on some earmuffs and run to Madame Pomfrey and explain our situation."
The terrified kids just stared back at her.
She began to conjure up earmuffs and hand them out to each of the remaining kids. "Put these on securely and please go and fetch Madame Pomfrey as fast as you can."
They took the earmuffs with trembling hands and fastened them tightly around their ears. Then Professor Sprout, signaling to ask if they were all ready, got thumbs up signs, threw open the door to the greenhouse and all of them set out on the rescue mission.
~
The usually very neat and spacey hospital wing was now crowded and jammed as new beds were conjured up and set between others so that everything seemed too…well, squished. Each bed held an unconscious child, resting as if in peace. However, the situation was far from peaceful.
"Oh, my God! I'm so terribly sorry. I didn't know. I-"
"Hermione, they're all alive and sooner or later, they will wake up," said Poppy Pomfrey, patting Hermione's arm gently in a comforting gesture.
"They could have died! And then I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life!"
"They're not dead, Hermione."
Suddenly the door to the hospital wing swung open and Albus Dumbledore stepped in, wearing a very exhausted look on his face.
"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said, calling him what she had in her old school days because she felt like a child who had just committed some terrible crime. "I'm so sorry and I'm a terrible teacher and I really shouldn't have come and I'm sorry you've had to put up with me and don't worry, you'll find my letter of resignation on your desk first thing tomorrow morning."
"Hermione, what happened today was not strictly your fault. You are one of the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this school has ever had, and so now I'm asking you to stay."
She just stared back at him. "Y-You mean, you're not going to sack me?"
"Of course not," he answered, his eyes almost twinkling. "Where did you get an idea like that?"
"Are you sure? I mean - "
"But of course, now that this has happened, we must send a letter to all of the children's parents. They must be informed of this mishap and of their child's condition."
Hermione's face fell. "Oh."
"I will be returning to my office to send the owls. You may return to your quarters if you like."
Hermione nodded. "I know, but I just want to stay here a bit longer."
Dumbledore gave her a weak smile and turned to head out the door. But right before he stepped out, he turned back to give her once last piece of advice.
"Be prepared."
And she did. She braced herself for the worst.
~
"Must you go?"
She put one hand up to his face to cup his cheek.
"I must, Tom, I must," she answered, turning her head away from him so he wouldn't see her tears.
"But why? Are you not happy here? With me?"
"I cannot stay here. This isn't my time, this isn't my life."
"But it is."
"But it is not."
"You belong here, Lily."
"No, Tom, I belong in a world that's decades after this. I must go back - to my father, mother, and everyone I love dear."
"Do you not love me?"
"Oh, God, Tom, you know I love you!"
"Then don't leave me here like this!"
"Don't make this any harder for me, please."
"I lost my mother before I even knew her. She died giving birth to me. And my father," he said the word with disgust, "I have no father. He was not worthy of my mother, and one day I shall seek revenge for her. I grew up in an orphanage where they would have been very happy for me to die, for then they would have one less mouth to feed. Lily, I had no one. I loved no one. Until you."
"Tom…"
"I can't bear to lose you."
"I know. I cannot imagine how I would be able to live without you. But I must live that life, Tom. That is my destiny."
"Your destiny is only what you make of your life! Choose to stay."
"You know I cannot. You know how much I want to stay here, with you. But we can't always have what we want, Tom."
"I cannot live without you."
"And I, you."
"So is it my fate to lose the only person I have ever loved? What have I done wrong for God to cause me so much grief?"
"Tom, listen to me," she swallowed hard, "You are a wonderful and intelligent person. And I know," she choked back a sob, "I know that you will accomplish great things in your life…" her voice broke. "I love you, but I must go now."
"Lily…"
"Perform the spell."
There was a long pause.
"Please, Tom, please, before I change my mind."
He stared into her eyes, her beautiful green eyes full of sorrow, mirroring his own. And he knew that she loved him, and that was enough. If he really loved her, he realized, he must let her go. He held up his wand with a shaky hand.
"Melting, twisting, time unending…"
"Wait!" she cried, burying her face in her hands. " I-I..."
"Lily," he choked back a sob, "you must. I want you to stay here, with me, but now I understand that…I must let you go, and you must let me go. It is for the better."
She was silent for a moment. "You're right, Tom. If we're meant to be…our paths will cross again."
"Goodbye is only for now. We will meet again."
For one precious moment, they just stared at each other, trying to lock the image into their memories. Then he drew her into a burning kiss.
"I love you now, and I'll love you to the end of time."
"I love you."
He lifted his wand and began to wave it in small intricate patterns, his eyes closing as he did so.
"Melting, twisting, time unending…a delicate cut in time, mended by these words of mine…"
And when he opened his eyes, she was no more.
The man slowly opened his eyes and rose from his armchair, his blue eyes shining too brightly. He wanted something. No, he needed something. And there was only one way to get what he wanted, he knew.
He snapped his fingers twice, the sharp sound echoing off the walls, and disturbing the silence of the room. A few short seconds later, a trembling figure clothed in black entered the room.
"My Lord?"
"Bring me Harry Potter."
~
TBC
A/N: hello everybody! although it might seem like this story isn't going anywhere, it actually is! I swear! I've got the WHOLE story planned out and it's in a binder. Took me like 20-30 pages to plan out everything (I did it during the summer). So, it DOES have a plot even tho it kinda seems weird cuz I kno the story is entangled with snips of other characters' lives. But I swear it will all make sense in the end, I promise!
Well, as always, REVIEW!!!!!!!!
