~I am sooooo sorry it took so long to write this chapter, but my life has been so hectic with school and activities, I hope you like this new segment and now that I found my must again I'm hoping to write more often again. Thank you all for your patience!
~Kandimoon
Chapter Ten
Halloween was always one of Ginny's favorite holidays at Hogwarts. The teachers always went through so much trouble to get the decorations looking just right. With floating pumpkins, flying bats, enchanted tricks here and there, with enough treats to feed an army of children worldwide. This year, however, Dumbledore planned for a great costume ball. His initial intentions were so that the children would stay inside and not be tempted to lurk out into the dark confines that could, even with Hogwarts tight security, allow for any of Voldemort's henchmen to attack. The children viewed the ball as a special treat for everyone doing so well in their first early weeks of classes.
"How innocent they all look down there, planning what costumes they're going to buy in Hogsmeade next week." Professor McGonagall whispered to Dumbledore after he made his announcement about the ball taking place two weeks from this Friday, on Halloween.
"Yes, and no. They are aware of the battles going on, even if they cannot see it. They know the horror, the terror that is happening but they know they cannot do much about it. In times like these, there is no such thing as innocence, they know what is to come, but they are all intelligent wizards, I have much faith in their abilities to succeed and be great, yes, even the Slytherins." Dumbledore replied after seeing the sneer come across McGonagall's face at the mention of Slytherins.
"They don't look very worried to me." Sneered the ever melancholy, Severus Snape.
"That is because they hide their concerns within themselves. We offer them a place of protection, and they accept this and are grateful, they worry about their future, but they mask it. They know what is to come, but they know better to enjoy what they have now."
"Most won't come back after Christmas." Snape explained, masking his concern.
"May the Goddesses protect them then." McGonagall whispered replied.
Down at the Gryffindor Table news of the costume ball was the only topic of conversation throughout the entire dinner.
"We should go as the Goddesses, Hermione." Ginny suggested as she took a bit of turkey smothered in light gravy.
"It would be too suspicious. We do not know who our allies and enemies are yet, Draco knows our power which means all of Voldemort's followers do too. To openly show it and prove it would endanger us too much. Besides, I was thinking of being a little more creative with my costume, I have a great idea for yours too." Hermione replied with a smile so she wouldn't feel bad about denying Ginny's original costume idea.
"Let me know later tonight, I'll stop down and we can plan everything. There's another Hogesmeade trip this weekend we can pick up our outfits and accessories then." Ginny added with a toothy smile and a sparkling eye. The prospect of dressing up and forgetting recent troubles and tribulations lifted her spirits for the first time in a long time.
"Well I don't know about you girls, but I'm going to be a knight." Ron boasted.
"Ron, get over that chess match, that was so first year." Hermione replied as the group, except Ron, burst out into laughter.
"Well I'm going as Dreud Drachenfire." Harry announced. Drachenfire was Harry's new favorite Professional Quidditch Seeker from the German team.
"Boys are so predictable." Ginny commented in a sigh then went back to finish her slice of apple pie while the rest of the group continued to talk about the Hogesmeade trip and the Costume Ball.
From the table over, Draco sneered as he watched the "Dream Team" smile and laugh over food and conversation.
"They think they're so great, don't they." A haughtily annoying voice commented from beside Draco. He turned his head slightly without breaking his stare to the person beside him.
"They'll get what's coming to them, Pansy." Draco replied with an evil smile.
'I know you can hear me.' Draco thought in his mind. At the table over, Ginny's panicked eyes looked up and bored straight into Draco's.
'How did you know?' She thought back to him.
"She looks afraid of you, Draco." Pansy lazily commented with a sneer.
"Yes, she does, and she is. I have a mission Pansy, you'll do well to leave me to it and not get in the way."
"Yes, I know your plight, for I was there when our Lord gave it to you. Remember, no attachments, wouldn't want things to get messy, sweetheart." Looking over at Ginny one last time, Pansy smiled evilly as she kissed Draco on the cheek then walked out of the dinning hall with a few other Slytherins. Draco smiled inwardly as Ginny's eyes flamed smoke around the chocolate brown.
'Your jealously makes you angry, you're already turning, Virginia.'
'I'm not jealous and I'll never side with you, ever!' She screamed in her mind to him as she walked out of the Great Hall. From across the Hall a pair of amber eyes watched the silent play-by-play. He waited patiently for a few seconds till he noticed Hermione get up and leave to follow her friend, and then silently made his exit as well. He caught up with her as she was turning the corner to go towards Gryffindor Tower.
Hermione tried desperately to catch up with her friend but Ginny's mood was so sour she ran away before Hermione could tell which direction she went in. Glancing casually in a few open, but empty rooms, she walked into the Transfiguration Room hoping that maybe she could run into Professor McGonagall and talk to her about an upcoming assignment. Seeing the place deserted, she turned around and nearly collided into a tall dark figure.
"Looking for someone?" Gavin asked as his amber eyes bore holes through Hermione's cinnamon colored ones.
"Not you." She tartly replied and heading towards the door. As she neared it, suddenly the door slammed shut by some invisible force. Frightened, just slightly she turned back to face Gavin.
"I can almost see the thousands of questions running through your head, go on, ask them, maybe I'll even answer a few."
It was true, Hermione's head was beginning to throb with all the questions and comments she wanted to say. However the only question her mouth could get out was, "How?"
"How what? How did I do that little trick? How long have I've known how to do it? Well Hermione, let me explain a little to you. I've known my powers for a very long time. I've know what and who I was since birth and have devoted my life to knowing more, being the best and being as powerful as I could."
"Is that all you care about? Gaining Power? So it doesn't affect you how many lives are dying day and night, how many innocent people are being killed for something they have no control over?" Hermione shouted at him.
"I care about me, and only me, Earth. You call everyone out there innocent, but you are innocent as well. I've seen death, destruction, I've witnessed Voldemorts powers firsthand and I know what is going on. But I defend myself and only myself, and all I want from this power that I was born with is to revenge upon my mother's killer. After that I help and defend no one."
Standing there, tall, dark haired and proud, half-hiding in the shadows of the room, Hermione thought of him as a dark warrior for justice.
"Revenge will lead you over to their side. How can you want to kill someone evil and then become evil yourself, what does that prove?" Hermione responded empathically. She didn't show it in her face, or her stance, but she could almost feel the loneliness and bitterness within him, could feel it like a whiplash across her face, and it pained. It pained her to see someone hurting so much and not be able to do anything about it.
"After my mission is complete, I will leave, evil or good I will leave, you will gain no help from me." He replied narrowing his eyes that now shone like burnt gold.
"Then we all die." Hermione responded quietly and walked out of the door. A single tear fell from her pale face as she headed towards the front door of the castle. She needed release, needed to be outdoors in her element, she did not need her cloak for in truth she could not feel much of the cooling October winds that have come down from the north, she could feel nothing.
He followed her as far as the door and stopped when he saw her going towards the Forbidden Forest. He knew she would be safe there, for in truth if anyone else stepped in there they would be in danger, but the forest protected the daughter Earth, and so did the creatures.
"She's in pain." A quiet voice spoke from behind him.
"I know it, I do not care for emotions." He replied.
"She's lost and confused, why won't you help?" Ginny asked stepping into the candlelight.
"It's not my destiny."
"WE make our destiny, Air."
"No, Fire, no we don't."
As he walked away, billowing golden cloak floating with his tall figure, Ginny thought to herself, then closed the front door.
'The pain from your past, your anger and rage, will eat at you slowly, Air, it will consume you, I know this, for I feel it too.' She knew he could hear her, for she sent the message in the direction he left. Just like she also knew she would get no reply back from him.
As Ginny ascended the stairwell to head back towards Gryffindor Tower, two figures emerged from the shadows where they were hiding.
"How long have you known, Albus?" Minerva asked, knowing the wise older wizard had some idea of what was going on.
"I felt it the moment Earth and Water came to this school as first years. Then as Miss Weasley arrived I could feel something in her too. Air, I must admit, has given me a shock." Dumbledore replied to his companion.
"There is a story deep inside him screaming to get out. Do you think he will help?"
"It is not my place to say, Professor."
"And Malfoy?"
"Mr. Malfoy's fate was decided long ago, it is up to him if he is to change it or not." Though Dumbledore smiled reassuringly to his long time friend, a dark uncertainty bubbled deep within him. He always prided himself with optimism and assurance, but for once in his life he was worried that something might happen that could change the course of the war in favor of Lord Voldemort.
"I need help, I need a sign, please help me Mother!" Hermione shouted aloud in the middle of the dense forest. She knelt in a clearing at the heart of the forest, surrounding by rocks and trees and creatures of all kinds.
'Do not let your troubles upset you. The Earth is all around you, she begs for you to release some of your pain into her.' A voice spoke from behind her. Slowly she turned around and faced the beautiful white unicorn.
"I can understand you?" She asked timidly.
'It is your gift, given to you by your mother, the Goddess Earth, for she gave life and shelter to animals and mortals alike.'
"I don't understand, I'm so confused, nothing is going as it should!" Hermione complained as rivers of tears poured down her face.
'She begs you to talk to her, only she can answer your questions.' The unicorn responded.
"How can I talk to her?"
'Close your eyes and release your spirit.'
"Thank you…"
'Windswept, that is what I am called anyway. Good journey to you.'
Hermione closed her eyes and let go of everything around her. Her tense shoulders eased as she felt her worries fly away from her muscles and bones. Opening her eyes for just a moment she looked around and was jolted by the change of scenery. Instead of the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, she was surrounded by light and magic in a place unknown to her.
"Where am I?" She asked aloud.
"This was once a place of fantasy and light, a haven of mine long ago before evil crept its way into the dark confines of these woods. You have not gone anywhere, daughter, this is the same wood you escaped to seek comfort in. Magic still touches each branch and comforts those whose souls are weary, but it is not a place for anyone. The forest welcomes you because you are my flesh, you are my blood, you hold my power and you hold my life. You, Hermione, are immortal within these trees."
"I am immortal?" She asked the dark figure before her. Suddenly the figure stepped into the lighted clearing and Hermione was taken back by the ethereal beauty of the Goddess Earth. Clad in a pale satin green medieval dress with a cloak of dark green around her pale shoulders, she stood tall and proud as her green eyes glittered specks of browns and yellows and blues, with her riot of dark brown hair falling delicately to her waist.
"The Earth is ever dying and ever living. You will pass through the mortal realm as your ancestors have, and then you will come here, to these lands, this dimension holds no time, has no beginning or end, and years will pass and you will stay here and be happy, until the Earth calls you back."
"I don't understand, am I to be reincarnated after I die?"
"You are unique from the others, you exist in a cycle that is older than time. I did not follow my sister's footsteps, for they send their seeds of powers to unsuspecting mothers, I however, sent my spirit, myself, and that is you. You have lived many lifetimes, born in times when the Earth needed you the most, died when things became better. You have seen history and made history, but you are not given the power to remember any of it. You know you have power and you know what is right from wrong. You are so very strong, my daughter, my heart, you have so much goodness inside you."
"But how can I be so great, when I feel so lost and hopeless?"
"You have strength inside you, a power not awakened yet. Practice, you now know your other strengths, use your powers of Earth, your powers of wisdom and from the forest and animals around you, use that to increase your strength and to find your inner peace. Only then will you triumph over the darkness."
"If I have to, can I do it alone?"
"Yes, you have the power to do it alone, but to bring down the Dark Lord without the others would destroy your mortal and immortal life, you would cease to exist and our lineage would die forever."
"But I can do it, right?"
"Yes, daughter, you have the power to destroy the Earth itself, but beware, that with that power comes sacrifices."
"Yes, I understand, thank you Mother, Goddess Earth."
Upon his throne the Dark Lord Voldemort grinned with happiness. His trusted friend and advisor, Malfoy the elder, turned to him questioningly.
"What has you smiling so, master?"
"Earth has been visited, she knows her powers."
"And that makes you happy?"
"She knows she could destroy us all, but she won't, she can't do it."
"Why do you not think she'll try?"
"It would mean to give up her life and the life of the others, she cherishes Fire too much."
"And Fire?"
"She was created to destroy, I will have her, and she will be Earth's destruction."