Chapter 16
"Okay then," Draco said nervously. "I don't know how you'll do that, but I'll leave that to you."
Natalya turned to march out of her picture, but then turned back to him.
"If you look inside the box, you'll see that the necklace has gone. Queen Persephone has already accepted her gift," she said, and with that, walked out of the frame with furious purpose.
Draco frantically opened the box, and found that she was correct, and the magical necklace had vanished. All that remained in the box was a single blood red pomegranate seed.
Hermione was standing on a beach, her white cotton dress whipping around her shins, her long brown hair flowing with the wind. The sun fell over her like a warm blanket, reaching the roots of her aching body, and cleansing her of exhaustion.
The waves curled over one another, the golden sun reflecting across the deep blue waves that held the deepest secrets on earth.
Suddenly, Persephone rose from a wave, her face serene and stunning. She smiled benevolently upon her protégé.
"Greetings Hermione," she said, caressing Hermione's head with a loving gesture.
"My queen," Hermione said, curtseying. "Before you tell me why you have come, can you explain something to me?"
"What I know I shall reveal," Persephone replied cryptically.
"What exactly did you mean by when falters, one will fall?" Hermione questioned, knotting her cold hands in the cottony fabric of her dress.
"Hermione, you must believe in what you love, and if you doubt yourself and your love, you will fail in your quest to restore your world to the balance," Persephone answered. "When you falter, you shall fall to the depths of hell, from where I cannot save you."
Hermione nodded, understanding completely.
"Now, I must discuss with you why I came," Persephone continued. She took something from her dress, and held it out to Hermione.
"What is it?" Hermione asked as Persephone stepped forward and put it in the cold flesh of her palm. A flash of red caught her eye, and she gasped.
"The blood of millions is trapped within the stones," Persephone whispered, her haunting eyes burning in Hermione's chest. "This will save your life, a gift for the altar of peace." Persephone closed her eyes, as Hermione opened hers.
She sat up. Draco was fast asleep, his hair fanned across the pillow. She opened her fist, and there was the ruby necklace, glittering in the moonlight.
What
had Persephone meant? And why had she given her this cursed necklace?
She knew that Natalya had given it to Persephone, but why had
Persephone given it her?
Hermione clutched it in sweaty hand,
and lay back down. In the next instant she was asleep.
Draco awoke sleepily. His gut hurt terribly, and he felt as if he had the stomach flu. He was about to get up to go to the bathroom, when he caught sight of the shadow of the open window on the floor.
He gasped. What was that?
Hermione awoke with a start, to find Draco also awake.
"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked, rubbing his back. He made a choked noise, as if he was suffocating, and she sat up instantly, alarmed. "Draco?" He held up a hand, pointing the window, and her heart caught in her throat.
It was Megaera, the worst of the winged Furies, perched on the edge of their open window. Hermione's hand went to her mouth, and she realized that she was still holding the ruby necklace.
"Stupid muggle," Megaera whispered, her rotted voice penetrating the corners of the room, and Hermione quickly hid the necklace behind Draco's still body.
"What do you want?" Draco asked angrily, his voice returning. "Run back to your master, you damn monster."
"That's what everyone says," Megaera whispered with fury. "Monster, harpy, disgusting, foul. You and the rest of the world."
Hermione was instantly sorry for the creature, even though she knew that it didn't want her pity.
"Leave us alone," Draco spat.
"Oh no," Megaera laughed maniacally. "You two have become tiresome to my master-"
"Who do you serve?" Hermione interrupted. Draco shoved her back; as if to her protect her. She pushed him away. "Hades or Voldemort?"
Megaera's face twisted horribly, and Hermione could see that she had once been beautiful, but was now twisted and warped by hatred. "Voldemort of course, he shall reign for eternity."
Draco smirked. "Death is eternal, Voldemort is simply a mortal man, and his time will run out."
Megaera grinned. "And you two won't have anything to do with it, because you'll be pushing up the daisies."
Suddenly, her eyes glowed bright blood red, and streaks of fire shot from them. Hermione thrust Draco away.
She held up the biggest ruby on the necklace, and the burning fire caught in the ruby. Megaera's eyes faded from red to black, and snarled with anger.
Draco raised his wand.
"ABICIO!" Draco yelled, and Megaera went flying off into the night sky, howling angrily. Hermione jumped to her feet, and shut and locked the window with a clang.
"This is ironic," Draco said, staring at his wand. "I just used magic to defend my life, and now I'll probably be expelled from school."
"Well, it will be hard to describe a Fury to the court," Hermione said, scratching her head. "After all, they don't really exist."
"Where did you get the necklace?" Draco asked, motioning to the ruby necklace still clutched in Hermione's sweating hand.
Hermione laughed. "Persephone gave it to me, she said that it would save me, and that it was a gift on the altar of peace."
Draco smiled, and stroked her hand. "That's amusing. Natalya gave it away, and then it came back to us."
"To me," she corrected with a laugh.
"But, isn't it our wedding gift?" he asked with a wry smile.
She grinned. "Of course, it is."
He put his arms around he waist, and looked down at her fondly. "We seem to have a penchant of picking up rubies, and they always manage to save us."
She laughed; twirling the ring he had given her. "Rubies are red, the color of everlasting love."
"Everlasting love," he mused, twirling her around. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"
"Of course, isn't that what we are?" she said amusedly.
"Deeply in love?" he asked, pressing his nose to hers. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his smooth neck. "Who are you kidding? Of course not."
She laughed. "I love you so much I'm willing to put up with your weird jokes and strange eccentricities!"
"Well, I could say the same about you," he said slyly. "But if you kiss me, I won't."
"Sounds like a good bargain to me," she said.
He bowed his head, and their lips met.
Now, there have been many great kisses in history. This one surpassed them all, followed some miles behind by Buttercup and Westley's kiss in the Princess Bride. Not that Hermione or Draco knew or cared about this, they were too engrossed in each other.
A/N: Hah! Return of a fury! Mwahahahahahha! Oh, and I also explained Hermione's other dream, so if you were confused then, hopefully everything has been cleared up. Leave a review!
