Chapter Twelve

August came and went and Kate still didn't know Harry had visited the Garden. He had been dying to tell her, but something stopped him every time. He felt like he was invading her space, something private that he had no right to enter. The feeling had become so strong; he'd only gone inside that one time. Harry had gotten up to the door, but never gone in.

On the eve of September first, the first day of the term, Harry lie in bed, thinking of the Garden. "Kate?"

She rolled over to her back. "Hmm..?"

He spat it out. "I've been to the Garden."

Kate yawned. "That's nice, hon." She rolled back over. "What?" Kate fully woke and sat up.

"I've been to the Garden, Kate," he repeated.

"The Garden?"

"Yes." Harry expected her to be disappointed.

Kate breathed deeply. "When?"

"A month ago."

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Kate rested her head on her bent up knees and looked at him. Her eyes shown like stars in the dark.

"Yes. I felt like I was intruding, so I didn't tell you. Not right away."

Kate sounded sad. The thought of another person besides herself and Draco going into the Garden brought back the sad memories of his desertion. "That's because you were, Harry." She reached over and took his hand. "But it's okay. I'm glad I can share that with you too."

Harry squeezed her hand a little tighter. He knew about Draco. It was one of the first things she told him. And one of the things that bothered him but would never admit. "I'm glad too. I've wanted to tell you for so long." He began to kiss her. First on her mouth, then he moved to her neck.

"Wait…Harry, no." She clutched his hands that were slowly peeling off her nightgown.

"What's wrong?" He was breathing hard. They both were.

"Nothing's wrong. We just can't."

They had wanted to make love for so long. The temptation of sleeping side by side almost claimed them some nights. Sometimes they couldn't control themselves. Sometimes she lay awake, wanting him. They exchanged desperate kisses. He watched her all the time now. Kate felt ashamed. Out of control. In the year since he lost Sirius, Harry had been hurting. Badly. Nothing helped the pain of his guilt. Girls, wild adventures, nothing worked. He had become wild himself.

Harry sat back and laced his fingers together. "Okay. Fine." He gingerly moved under the covers and closed his eyes. He heard Kate sigh, pull up the blanket, and turn her back to him.

In a few moments when Kate heard Harry's breathing slow, she got up and pulled on pants and a sweater. She was going to the Garden.

"Can I come with you?" Harry's voice was quiet in the room. His eyes were closed and his arms were crossed.

Kate considered. "Yes."

Together, they walked down to the Garden. Kate held his hand firmly and led him in.

"Is this what you wanted to ask me, that day in the Great Hall?"

At first, Kate didn't remember. But when Kali made her ghostly appearance, the memory dawned on her. "No. I was going to ask you if you were too good to be true, Mr. Potter." Kate knew it was corny, but tonight she didn't care.

He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"But I do want to show you something." She let go of her hand and walked in the direction of the Temple. Because one could never tell exactly how big the Garden was, the journey would last as long as Kate wanted it to.

Harry watched her walk away and followed her. She led him to an open temple. The Temple. A brass statue of a woman holding a box caught his eye.

Kate pulled a book from a shelf inside one of the supporting pillars.

"The Vita of Arca," she said, sitting down on the tiled floor. "It's the story of what is found here. What it guards. What the Guardians guard." She looked up from the leather-bound book, serious. "What I guard."

"Do I get a chance to be a Guardian?"

"Do you want a chance?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

Kate looked back down to the book and flipped to the beginning of the feathery-thin pages. "From what I've read, the Arca, or Box, was originally from Greece and traveled east to India by way of old Muggle trade routes. They didn't know what it was. But the Indian people knew its immense value."

"Not wizards?"

"No. It is believed to have been in possession of Rama, an avatar of the god Lord Vishnu himself. He and his wife were the first Guardians. Then, it was brought here, to Hogwarts for safe keeping."

Harry didn't know whether to believe it or not. "How long has it been here?"

"I don't know. Hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps. In ancient Greece, the Box was given to the first woman the gods created. They told her not to open it. But she did, letting all the evils escape into the world. But there was one thing left in the Box. Hope."

"Are you trying to tell me you're talking about Pandora's Box?" Harry interrupted. It was ludicrous, but for the expression on Kate's face, he believed it.

"Yes. Now, please, Harry. I'm trying to tell the story. I've been researching this for a long time and I'm not going to stop now."

He nodded.

"The ancients sent their best after the evils to trap them back in the Box. The Greeks, Hindu, and Roman gods and goddesses alike went to find the evil. They did, eventually, and locked them all up for eternity."

"Then what is the purpose of guarding it, if it can't be opened?"

Kate glared at him and continued. "It could still be opened. A Guardian has to choose it. Stand aside and let it happen."

"We won't do that."

Kate agreed. "No. We won't."