READ THIS: You know what sucks? I put a lot of work hiding a little thing into the last chapter, that while not part of the actual prophecy, was directly related to it. You were supposed to question it! You would have been all like 'wait a minute, that's not right! You're contradicting yourself.' And I would have been all like 'Or am I?' And you would have been like 'ooh, is this another thing that we think we understand, but really haven't the slightest clue?', and I would have been like 'hehehe. Maybe...' Now its ruined. :'( sulks in a cornerI wanted at least one person to notice it! No one did! Now I've gone and ruined its hidden foreshadowyness by talking about it, and you're all gonna go back, and be all like, 'this could be important...' And yes, I realize I just went and ruined it even more. Oh well, it wasn't major, just a little hint about the sequel. It wouldn't have told you much, just raised some questions that would have made it more interesting. There'll be a bigger one (hint about the sequel) coming.But still. sulks in corner
Chapter 17: Cormamin lindua ele lle
"What? Why?" Harry asked, stunned.
"Cause I've heard so many stories about it from Allia and you, and I want to see it!" Evelyn said. "Please?" She begged, looking up at him with wide brown eyes.
Harry sighed. "I'll see what I can do. No guarantees though."
She nodded, her black curls bouncing on her head. "So when will you ask Daddy?"
"Later. I'll have to think about the best way to broach the subject, so it may be a while. I will ask him though, I promise." He said.
"Good. Anyway, you'd better get to the banquet soon." She said, as she headed to the door. "Otherwise Allia may come looking for you herself."
Harry nodded, as he watched his cousin leave. Once the door closed, he turned to Ginny.
"I guess we'd better get going." He told her.
Ginny nodded, before heading to the door.
"Umm, Gin?" Harry said, stopping her. "You may want to put on some clothes."
Ginny blushed, before quickly returning to the task she had been on when he had arrived.
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When Harry led her to where the banquet was being held, she had expected him to lead her to a room like the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Instead, he led her to a clearing in the trees, although the size of the nearby trees was so large that their canopies still covered the clearing. Ginny was surprised by the number of elves there. At the head of the room, she saw the King and Queen seated at what must be the Royal Table. Next to the king sat someone who resembled Harry somewhat, so she guessed he must be his uncle. Next to him was his wife, and then Evelyn, who was giggling over something Allia, seated next to her, had just said. On the Queen's side, there were two empty chairs, and after that were seated the others of their group.
The clearing was also filled with many other tables, and seated on those were even more elves.
Harry led Ginny up to the Royal Table, and sat down next to the Queen, gesturing for her to take the seat next to her
"So what were you doing that made us delay the feast Emrys?" Ginny overheard the Queen whisper to Harry.
"You can blame this on yourself." He whispered back. "You're the one who put the two of us in the same room."
The queen nodded, her eyes twinkling, as she looked over at Ginny, who blushed.
The King rose then, attracting the attention of all those present.
"Before we begin this banquet, we have one announcement. As many of you may have heard, the Lost Line has been found. However, the High Council has deemed that there is not enough proof yet to conclude that Emrys is the one spoken of in the Prophecy. While he has returned with that which was lost, we do not feel there is sufficient proof yet, although we are not ruling out the possibility that he may be the one it speaks of. That being said, let the banquet commence" he declared, before taking his seat again.
Similar to Hogwarts, food magically appeared on the platters before them.
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Several hours later, after everyone had eaten their fill, the tables were cleared away, and musicians began playing. Echoing, beautiful music drifted through the evening air, as couples moved into the centre of the clearing, and began dancing.
She turned to find Harry standing up, gesturing for her to join him. Smiling, she took his hand, as he led her into the centre of the clearing to dance.
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The next morning when Harry woke up, he was dimly aware of a weight on his chest. Opening his eyes, he realized that it was Ginny, her head resting on his chest in her sleep. He smiled as he looked at her pretty face. She looked so perfect in her sleep. He reached down and brushed the hair from her face, running his hand her smooth cheek.
She woke then, opening her eyes slowly, looking up at him sleepily.
"Morning love." He said softly. "Sleep well?"
"Hmm." She murmured, nodding her head. "You're quite comfortable." She said, smiling up at him.
"Good to hear." he said, pulling her up into a tender kiss. "I could get used to waking up like this." He said, once they had ended the kiss.
"Me too." She said, yawning. "S'nice."
"Did you have fun last night?" He asked her.
"Yes." She said, smiling in memory. "Where did you learn to dance like that?"
"I had to go to several banquets before. I sorta had to learn." He said.
She laughed softly, as she slowly rose from the bed.
"So what are we doing today?" She asked him, as she rummaged through her pack for some clothes.
"I'm taking you all on a tour through the city." He said. "Oh, and you should find some elvish clothes for yourself in that dresser over there." He said, gesturing towards one of the dressers that set against the wall near the bed.
She walked over, and opened the top drawer, squealing with delight at what she saw within.
"Oh Harry, these are so beautiful!" she exclaimed, pulling out a long dress. "Thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it." He said, smiling at her excitement. "I'd advise against one of the dresses though. They may not be the best for a whole day outside."
"But- but..." she said, eyeing the dress longingly.
He laughed, getting up, and taking the dress out of her hands. "Don't worry. You'll have plenty of opportunities to wear it." He said, folding it back up and returning it to the drawer.
"Okaaay." She said, still eyeing the now closed drawer with the dress.
"Here," he said, opening another drawer. "Try this."
He pulled out a dark green tunic, embroidered with leaves along the hem lines.
"Ooh, I like that!" She said, grabbing it, and hurrying off into the adjacent bathroom to change.
Shaking his head, Harry smiled after her, before turning to find his own clothes.
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They'd met up with the others, and after a quick breakfast, headed out into the city. Harry had already shown them the High Temple, as well as led them through many of the walkways that connected the buildings perched high in the trees.
"While most of the building within the city are built in the trees, there are a few that are on the ground, for obvious reasons." He said, as he led them down the stairs that circled a tree, to the ground below.
"As you can guess, the stables are one of the buildings that are on the ground. Can you imagine any of the unicorns trying to climb those stairs?" he asked, as he led them to a wide building, with numerous doors.
"The difference between these stables and what you might have for horses is that this one does not contain those housed within. The unicorns have free access in and out as they desire." He said, as he pushed open a nearby door, and led them inside. He was about to continue talking when a figure came around a corner, carrying a pail. He froze.
"You! What are you doing here?" He demanded in a harsh voice, eyes shining brightly in anger.
Ginny looked closer at the female elf before them. It took her a while to recognize her, as she looked quite different then before. It was Astara. Gone was the manicured look of the female elf. Her formerly long, shiny hair was now a tangled mess of knots and twists. Her formerly pale, flawless skin was now dirty, and sunburned.
"I-I work here now. Its part of my punishment. I have to work here for five years as punishment." She said nervously.
Harry simply stared at her, anger flashing through his eyes, scarcely contained rage threatening to boil over.
"Look Emrys, I'm sorry." She said.
"You could have ruined my life." He said flatly, before turning and leaving the building, not looking back. The others looked after him surprised, before Ginny rushed out to follow him, the others following along behind, wanting to give Ginny a chance to talk to him.
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When Ginny caught up to him, she found him sitting with his back to a tree, his eyes staring straight upward.
"Harry?" She whispered, as she crouched down next to him.
He sat there for a moment longer, breathing deeply.
"I wanted to hurt her Gin." He said, when he finally spoke. "I wanted to make her suffer as she made me. Elves are supposed to be forgiving, and yet I wanted to see her suffer."
"Harry, I don't blame you for wanting to hurt her. I'm sure no one does. When I think about what she almost cost you, cost us, it makes me want to hurt her too." She said reassuringly, resting her hand on his shoulder to support him.
"But how, as my relatives seem to think, can I 'lead my people' if I can't even forgive one of them?" He said weakly.
Ginny looked confused for a moment, before shrugging it off.
"Harry, just forget about her. We're together now, it doesn't matter what's happened in the past." She said, standing up, pulling him up with her.
He smiled faintly now, looking down at her loving eyes, as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.
When the others caught up to them, they were still locked in each other's embrace, Harry resting his head on the top of Ginny's, simply standing there together.
After waiting for the two to notice them for several minutes, Lupin cleared his throat rather loudly.
Harry's head jerked up, looking surprised to see them.
"Oh. Err, right." He said, removing his arms from around Ginny, before turning to the others. "Sorry 'bout that."
"You okay mate?" Ron asked, worry evident in his voice.
Harry nodded, smiling faintly. "I'll be okay." He said, before looking around. "Well, I guess I might as well show you the marketplace, since we're fairly close to it." He said, continuing along the path they were on.
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That night, he wrote a message to the Weasleys.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Weasley:
Err, well I don't know how to say this in a letter very well. Actually, I do. You're all elves. Merry Christmas! We'll I'm not sure which of you two are, but one of you is, and so are your children. How would you like to bring your family (all the clan. Even Gred and Forge) to Falandais at some point this break? I realize it may be too late of notice for you all to make it before the New Year, but what about for around Ginny's birthday? She'll be going through the transformation into elf, so she might want you all there. Plus I think you might like it here. If you agree, I'll pick you up at the Burrow on whatever available date.
Anyway, send your reply back with Apollo (the big, shiny, vain bird that brought this), and let me know.
Thanks!
Love
Harry.
P.S. Warn Gred and Forge that if they try any pranks here, they'll be in for a big surprise. Hehehe, I'm actually kind of looking forward to it!
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The next day, he got a reply.
Dear Harry:
Well that was certainly a surprising letter. Arthur says he can get some time off at the start of the New Year. Bill and Charlie also say they are available, and Fred and George say that there more than willing to come. They were almost too eager. I'm worried. We'll be more than happy to join you Harry dear.
Love
Molly (and Arthur, although he's currently in the shed playing with his plugs.)
P.S. You are taking care of my Ginny aren't you?
P.P.S. What's this about the twins? Should I be even more worried?
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That day, Harry had to meet with a few people to discuss some things, so Ginny and the others had some free time to wander around.
For some reason, Ginny had the desire to wander around alone, so she separated from the others, and strolled through the halls of the Palace, eventually ending at a large balcony. Stairs led down from the balcony to the ground below, and elves passed back and forth along the path at the base of the stairs. Two guards stood sentry at the top of the stairs.
She leaned against the railing, looking down at the busy elves below. Her eyes were drawn to a group of two dozen elves, all armed, who were marching along the path below.
"Excuse me?" She said, turning to the nearest of the two guards stationed at the head of the stairs.
"Yes miss?" The guard asked, turning his attention to her.
"Where's that War Party going?" She asked.
"War Party? What War Party?" The guard asked, looking at her as if she were crazy.
"That one." She said, pointing at the group of elves.
"Them? Miss, that's no War Party. Heck, there's more elves on one shift of sentry duty for a War Party encamped in the middle of a peaceful area than there are right there!" the guard said. "That's just a group of trainees."
Ginny's eyes narrowed at this. Why did she suddenly have the feeling Harry was keeping something from her again? But she trusted him. She wouldn't make that mistake again. If he was keeping something from her, she could trust him that whatever the reason was, it was a good one.
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The next few days passed quickly, and before long it was Christmas. Although the elves knew that the human legends behind Christmas were entirely wrong (AN: No offense to any religious people out there. That sort of thing would screw too many things up), they had found that the human practice of gift-exchange was an enjoyable thing, so the elves also celebrated Christmas.
So naturally, Harry and Ginny were woken up by the bouncy form of Evelyn, who had barged into their room, demanding that they 'wake up now so she could get to open her presents.'
"You realize the presents aren't going to get up and run away don't you?" Harry groaned, as his cousin pulled at him.
She paused for a moment, thinking about this. "Ya, but the earlier I open 'em, the earlier I can see what's inside!" She said, and promptly returned to her attempts to pull him from the bed.
"Go 'way." Ginny said, mumbling into her pillow.
"If you two don't get up right now, I'm telling Allia about before, regardless of any other deal we may have had." Evelyn said, her eyes alight with mischief.
That got the two of them out of bed. Harry shot out of bed, attempting to catch Evelyn before she could make it to the door, but in the process he got tangled up in the sheets, and fell face first onto the floor.
"Ow." He mumbled.
Evelyn was on the floor, laughing so hard she could hardly breathe. Ginny was torn between laughing, and helping Harry get up. Helping Harry won.
"Here," she sighed, as she rose out of bed, to pull him to his feet.
"Thanks." Harry said, grinning sheepishly, before turning to look at Evelyn. "Shouldn't you be getting down to your presents Twerp? You never know, they may fly away, especially if I were to cast a certain spell..."
Evelyn was out of the room in a heartbeat.
Harry and Ginny followed as soon as they had gotten ready. They hurried down to share Christmas with their friends.
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Harry was nervous. No, nervous was an understatement. Harry was terrified. The days between Christmas and New Years had seemed to fly by, and now it was just a few hours before he had to begin the ritual. He was standing in front of the High Altar of Light, in the Temple.
He sighed, overcome with emotions. In just over a few hours, if everything went well, his parents, and Sirius would be back to him, not to mention Cedric.
He wished he could have Ginny with him, as he knew she would be able to calm him, but that would only interfere with the ritual. It was sketchy enough as it was, he couldn't risk any errors. The ritual had not been performed in over 5000 years, since before the elves had retreated into their forest homes.
He sat down in the centre of the carefully designed runes that had been marked onto the floor. Closing his eyes, he sought his centre, sought the peace provided by the light.
He opened his soul to the light, basking in its warm, comforting presence. He remained like this for the last hours before that crucial moment, in perfect peace, preparing for that which was to come.
And when the time came, when the moon had reached its height in the sky, he thrust forward with his essence, piercing through the veiled shadows that surrounded the Limbo, punching through into the alternate plane of existence.
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Cormamin lindua ele lle
My Heart Sings to Thee.
Namarrie yelua ele lle
My Mind Calls to Thee.
Poldorea farua alie lle
My Strength Hunts for Thee.
Oiolaire yalua lle
My Essence Summons Thee.
Lissenen utuua lle
My Soul Finds Thee.
Mela yestua lle aldeon
My Love Brings Thee Home.
Durai meivua lle
Faith Rebuilds Thee.
Adaron cuivua lle
Justice Awakens Thee.
Light.
Brilliant, glowing, blinding Light.
He saw.
No.
He felt.
He felt them coming, surging towards him on a wave of golden light.
He flared outward, catching them with webs of lights. Then, he surged back through the tunnel he had pierced through the planes, bringing them back with him. And as he returned, he rebuilt the veils and shrouds that had sealed the Limbo from his plane, that had prevented any travel from the Limbo back into the world.
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He did not notice the hairline fracture he left behind.
But something else did.
