Okay. The second paragraph from the top in the last chapter got messed up. It was supposed to say that my Deviant Art page is on my user lookup thing and I'm going to start putting the updated POH there (But I'll probably put it here, as well). Also, on my user lookup thing, it messed up and there are two addresses. Although they look the same, click the second one. I don't know how to fix it. Meow.
Nymphadora Tonks was perhaps the happiest witch alive. But she knew it would go away. She wanted to be happy all the time. So she came to Cosmos. Which was a hard thing to do, not because she was a bit intimidated by her, but because the only place she could talk to her was in a vast empty white space.
"You know my answer. I'm saving it for other purposes." Cosmos scolded.
"But…I'm happy! You're happy, too." She argued.
"You have the wrong information." She said. "I am not in love."
"You know what I mean!" Tonks said. "And think about it - it would be so awkward for them both!"
"If they are honest, then they will get around it." Cosmos said softly.
"But if you think about your relations with him, it would be even more awkward than you think." Tonks reminded her.
There was silence.
"I tried." Said a quiet voice. Neco appeared in the white space. "I - we both tried. Not too long ago. It's impossible."
"Not possible?" Tonks asked. "If I'm not mistaken, we've done the impossible before."
"We're doing it right now, in fact." Cosmos said. And they all smirked at each other.
Draco sat in the Slytherin common room. He sat for hours until he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Blaise Zabini.
"What are you doing up this late?" Draco asked.
"It's five A.M." Blaise said. "Have you been up all night?"
"Yup." He said. "Harry Potter is going to die."
"What'd he do this time?" He asked sitting down on the couch next to him.
"Nothing! It's just - he's going to die." He said.
"Draco, I hate to tell you, but we're all going to die eventually." Blaise said. Draco didn't respond. Getting up his nerve, he laid his head in the blonde's lap. "Happy yet?"
"Gah!" Draco exclaimed getting to his feet. He had a smile on his face though. This was not the first time Blaise had done this.
"I guess we can't be together forever, then." Blaise said jokingly.
"I have other plans for that, sorry." Draco said resuming his seat.
"Whatever happened to that girl you were with at the ball?"
"She needs to think." The blonde said simply.
"She has red hair, doesn't she?" Blaise asked. He knew Draco had a thing for girls with red hair. "You wouldn't let her think otherwise."
"Yes." Draco murmured. "Damn Weasly."
Blaise smiled.
"I only wish we didn't have to keep this from him." Neco said. "It hurts him that we can't see each other more often. It hurts us both."
Cosmos was silent.
"Cosmos, what are you-"
"Humain Accio." Cosmos said. Sirius Black was now at their feet.
"Hi!" Tonks exclaimed. Sirius looked around wildly.
"You weren't lying…you all…"
"Sirius Black, what were you doing before I summoned you?" Cosmos asked sharply.
"Well, after what Tonks told me, I wasn't sure about the thing with you three, but I was pretty sure that what she said about me was true, so I was just setting a few things in order." He answered truthfully.
"Mr. Black, attempting to steal items from Zonko's Joke Shop for items to give to your godson isn't exactly setting things in order." Cosmos scolded.
"And what did Tonks tell you?" Neco asked, her soft voice contrasting Cosmos' harsh tone.
"That this was never supposed to happen, and that the Five-Point Star was never supposed to unite so quickly. Somehow, time was altered." He said. "Cosmos said that as soon as the Five-Point Star kills Mettalia, the world will go back to what it should have been, and none of this will have seemed to happen. The Order of the Phoenix will become active again, the Department of Mysteries will have been broken into, and I'm going to be killed by my dear cousin Bellatrix."
"That's about right." Cosmos said.
"Oh…" Neco sighed. "You've been living on borrowed time this whole year, haven't you?"
"Yup."
"And I will take my praise any time now." said a fifth voice. Lord Voldemort himself had entered the group.
Ginerva Weasly ran. It's what she did when she was scared when she was at home and had overheard her parents saying that Charlie was in the hospital or Bill's city was attacked by Death Eaters. She would run through the forest behind their house until she reached the stone wall that separated their property from the next. She would then turn back and walk home, feeling as if the weight was lifted. She was indeed running through a forest now, but it wasn't the one behind their house. But she had to run. She had to get away, even for only a little while.
Ginny reached Hogsmede and smiled. It was beautiful at night. Lanterns glowed giving the place a golden warm feeling. There weren't any teenagers, just smaller children and their parents. And Snape. Ginny let out a gasp and hid behind a bush. He hadn't seen her, or if he did, he was ignoring her. He was leaning against the wall of Zonko's and seemed to be in deep thought. Then Professor McGonagall appeared and the two set off deeper into the small town. Ginny jumped out and went into the Three Broomsticks. If anyone asked, she was on vacation with her parents.
And then she thought. About what was to happen. About Draco and what she promised him. This went on until she saw Cho through the window. Making sure Snape was out of sight, she paid the waitress and ran out to meet her friend.
"Hi!" She said brightly, making sure the older girl didn't see how troubled she was.
"Oh, Ginny! I didn't see you there…"
"What are you doing here?"
"I should ask the same of you." Cho said. She continued walking forward into the small town. Ginny followed. "My sister lives here. Her name's Hatoko. She used to go to Yazawa - that's the magic school in Japan…I was supposed to go there, too - but then mom and dad moved here when I was nine and she started going here."
"Do you come out at night to see her a lot?" Ginny asked, sensing that the two were very close.
"Not usually…but…I need some advice. See, this is my last year at Hogwarts. And I'd like to teach here…Astronomy." Ginny nodded. Cho continued. "If something bad were to happen, though…I don't think I could come back."
"But we still have to make the world of the past and present safe." Ginny said. "I don't want to see Harry or Hermione die either."
They reached a small house
Come on in, I thought I saw Snape and McGonagall here earlier." Cho said, getting out a key and undoing the lock.
"Me too. What do you think they were doing, going on a date?" Ginny joked.
"That's practically cradle robbing, considering how old she is." She turned the knob and pushed open the door. "Ane-san?" She called.
"Cho-chan?" A male voice responded from down a dark hallway.
"You wait here; let me make sure they weren't in the middle of something." Cho said with a wink. With that, she left down the hallway.
And so, Ginny waited. Waited for possibly ten minutes or more.
"Anytime, Cho…" Ginny murmured. Just then, she heard footsteps from the hall. "So what's…" Ginny would have finished her sentence if not for the fact that she was taught that it was rude to continue on with your own happiness when someone close to you was in pain. And Cho most defiantly was - tears streamed down her face, her eyes a bit red. "What's…?"
"There was a raid." She balled her fists and swallowed. "Death Eaters. They came here. On brooms. They started attacking people at random. Only people. And my sister…an auror trainee…she…they killed her."
"Cho, I'm so sorry!" Ginny said, not having much experience at this sort of thing.
"That's not what hurts the most." Cho went on. "Yuki, Hatoko's boyfriend, tried to send me an owl, but he got it back with a letter from the MINISTRY OF MAGIC that they couldn't send ANY owls until a WEEK after the incident so no one would panic! And DUMBLEDORE didn't tell us because HE DIDN'T KNOW - FUDGE erased some people's memories, and didn't even tell the Daily Prophet some made-up story!" Cho cried harder. "And Cosmos…he didn't tell her because HE DIDN'T THINK SHE COULD HELP!"
"Cho…" Ginny said. She was getting scared. Cho's turned to her, wearing a scary, almost insane grin on her face. She laughed a little.
"Fudge was here when it happened. He got beat up pretty nicely. He's retiring in June."
"Well that's good." Ginny said.
"But before he does, we're going to give him our best show ever. Yes?"
"Of course." The redhead exclaimed.
"Let's go back now. Yuki said he wasn't going to cover for us."
"I guess I can't kill you like this, can I?" Sirius said. He had tried to attack the Dark Lord by hand, but had failed splendidly.
"Not unless you want your star to fail" Voldemort hissed.
"Well at least you're being more…docile today." Neco said quietly.
"And I will take my praise at any time." He said. "It's becoming quite hard to confine my…impulses. The Hogsmede incident could -not- have been avoided. Any more time and I might as well tell my Death Eaters to run free and do as they please." He smirked at Cosmos, who turned away.
"This is exactly what I mean…" Tonks said. "And if it becomes three ways like it is now-"
"It won't." Cosmos said.
"-It's going to be very awkward."
"I don't believe Harry would approve of it too much either." Neco spoke up.
"What's going to happen after you go back to the Cauldron, Cosmos?" Tonks asked.
"Or more importantly, why hasn't Voldemort done anything this year?" Neco asked.
"An agreement was made." Cosmos said simply, ignoring Tonks' question. "Either Harry or Hermione will die - no one can interfere with that. The survivor is the one who will have the final duel with Voldemort."
"And that's why you're waiting?" Neco asked.
"It wouldn't be fair if I was to interfere, would it?" Voldemort said. "No, I step in where the hero has fallen."
"How noble." Sirius said, aggravated that the man who killed Lily and James was right next to him and he couldn't do anything about it.
"Sirius…" Tonks started. She tried to lay a hand on her cousin's shoulder but found that her hand seemed to go right through him.
"We have to hurry." Cosmos said.
"Ah, could you…er…" Sirius mumbled. "Before I die…I wanted to see Hotaru again."
"I'd be happy to loan my body." Tonks said.
"It's getting really crowded, with all of us…" Neco said.
"But you're my-" Sirius started.
"I'll shift to look just like her." Tonks promised. And she did just
that. "Come on Cosmos, grant a dying man's wish, and, while you're at
it, make it as awkward as possible!"
"Well if you'll excuse me," Voldemort said, mainly to Cosmos, "I am needed elsewhere." And with that, he vanished.
Harry and Hermione sat in the common room. It was devoid of people, save for them. The fire, usually bright and crackling, was unusually low.
"Harry…It's what we have to do. If we need to give ourselves, one life, for the millions of others-"
"I know." He said. "It's just I don't want to see you die-"
"I don't either-" Hermione said.
"Without telling you…" They had both said that.
"We…we haven't been very close this year." Harry said.
"Yes." Hermione agreed.
"And I…um…"
"I…er…"
"Wait…are we saying the same thing?" Hermione asked.
"If what you're saying is that you love me and you don't want to hurt me, but I'm not the right one, than…yes." Harry said. Hermione stared, then nodded.
"That night…me and Ron were looking at photos and blaming ourselves for things…and we just…" Hermione trailed off and blushed.
"That girl I was talking about, Neco, she came to me through my mind and we met at the ball…"
Silence. The fire died.
"Why didn't we tell each other?" Harry asked.
"We didn't want to hurt each other…and we hoped that we still loved each other." Hermione answered.
"I guess."
"So…it's all better now? No more awkward silences?" Hermione said with a slight smile on her face.
"Now we know the truth. Truth is usually a good thing." Harry said. "And I'm glad it's Ron and not someone like Draco!"
"Oh, don't even suggest it!" Hermione said. "But….this Neco girl…she came to you through your mind? Where is she from? How did she get into your mind - it takes really powerful magic, that's what Snape was-"
"She's er….she doesn't want me to know all about her…and I don't think she knows all of her past, either." Harry said.
"How do you know she's not a Death Eater!" Hermione cried. "You're so stupid!"
Harry laughed lightly.
"That's what you said last year, along with the fact you wanted to protect me."
Hermione laughed as well.
"Oh yeah."
There was more silence, despite what Hermione had said.
"So one of us is going to die." Harry said. "I don't know why, but I really hope it's me…I have a feeling I'll regret it if I don't die."
"Harry, when Voldemort comes back…"
"Voldemort needs to be killed by a spell. Powerful magic. And I can't fight him with my wand. You get to be the lucky killer then."
Hermione collapsed into Harry and they embraced, saying their goodbyes.
The spell was complete. Hotaru's soul was inside of Tonks' body. While she and Sirius had their moment, Neco and Cosmos walked deeper into the white void.
"She can't withstand the power, it will be Hermione." Neco said.
"But then again, Harry-" Cosmos started.
"Cosmos - what if there was a triple soul switch?"
"What!" She exclaimed.
"At the moment of transfer, wait until they absorb the power, and during the bounce back, switch their souls with, oh, say some villain's." Neco explained. "Their souls won't be able to take it. Then, we'll switch the souls back and -"
"If their soul isn't in the correct body, then the body won't be able to take it either. The forms shall perish." Cosmos interrupted.
"You can rebuild them. That's what Tonks and I have been saying this whole time."
"I can." The older woman agreed. "But note that my power is limited. In this lifetime, I believe I can only make a maximum of three perfect bodies."
"That's perfect. Neco said. "One for Harry, one for Hermione, and one for Tonks and myself."
"I'd like to save the last one for-" Cosmos started.
"Tonks and I will want to leave a lot. You have to keep watch over the Cauldron." Neco stated.
"I…will think about it. For now your plan seems fine. Tonks?"
The soul of Hotaru left Tonks' body. Cosmos sent Sirius back to where he was previously. The three girls stood close to each other.
"Let me be out, I need to guide the Senshi." Cosmos instructed. The three closed their eyes and a wind surrounded them, the spell Cosmos now chanted a familiar sound to their ears. And with that, they became one body again. The white space faded. Cosmos was in her rooms, the magic circle that was drawn at her feet was now faded.
"Let's go." Cosmos said to the other two girls inside of her.
Aha! Now it kinda makes sense! Or not…Blah...
Meh. Not many people replied. Then again, I did kinda leave this story for a year. ; I'll try to be quicker with my updates, really .
Again, R+R!
