DISCLAIMER: The following work of Fan Fiction is based upon the Harry Potter Universe which is the work of J.K. Rowling. No infringement of copyright nor financial gain is intended by this work.

The Author owns nothing of the Known or Cannon Characters in this work. Except, perhaps, the idea for this story.

Summary : Harry learns more about his role as Avatar and why he was not allowed to help the wizarding world.

Chapter 7 – The Keeper of My Soul

"The Nefilim were upon the Earth in those days and thereafter too. Those sons of the gods who cohabited with the daughters of the Adam, and they bore children into them. They were the Mighty Ones of Eternity, the People of the Shem."
- Genesis 6:4

13. They (the leaders) and all ... of them took for themselves wives from all that they chose and they began to cohabit with them and to defile themselves with them; and to teach them sorcery and spells and the cutting of roots; and to acquaint them with herbs. And they become pregnant by them and bore (great) giants three thousand cubits high ...
- Book of Enoch (from Translation by J. C. Greenfield

He was floating… drifting aimlessly across the vast white void, again.

'What happened?' he asked himself.

The answer came, speeding at him as soon as the thought ended.

'Veela?' he thought furiously. Then it dawned on him… It wasn't just a Veela, it was a Veela he knows. It was Gabrielle!

It was a surprise, yes. But the next one who came out escorted stumped him again. That crown of red could only be a Weasley. Ginny…

How did she turn up here after being missing for months? How can she still be alive? And where was her guardian anyway?

These questions filled his mind. He knew she might be alive, since he didn't see her on the 'other side', but how could she have just … vanished?

He decided that he'll ask the questions later. It was now time for action.

Harry tensed up and sprang to attack.

But, they were prepared it would seem. And, the corruption did not end there.

The two men were not men but demons in the guise of men.

'Azeral should have handled them.' He thought. 'but how?' only he as Harry can interact with impunity in the mortal realm. His guide, an angel, could not. That was his purpose, the responsibility given him. To fight what evil he can in physical world as the angels did in the plane of the spirits.

And these… abominations are demons. Fallen angels… 'How and most importantly why?'

'It was a trap.' He then surmised. For he also remembered the unseeing eyes of Gabrielle and Ginny. They were just shells.

'Stupid!' he berated himself. It was Ginny, as he turned to try and push her and Gabrielle away… to tell them to run for all their worth… It was her that plunged the curved blade into his chest… again and again.

'Some Avatar I turned out to be.' He chastised himself. But before he could bring more punishing thoughts upon himself, he felt a pull. Not unlike the first time, he glowed golden again and swirled into motes of silver and gold.

'Crap! Not again! Can't I just die or something…'

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The warehouse was the same, but it was now empty. The boat that brought 'the goods' was gone and so were all traces of the skirmish that happened the day before.

Harry opened up his bleary eyes and groaned at the face he saw hovering over him.

"Do you have any idea what you went up against?" Azeral's voice boomed against ear and echoed inside his still pounding head. "Those were the underlings of the Enemy…"

The young man interrupted before the Archangel could continue, trying to match his voice to his guardian. "How the hell am I supposed to know that. You're the one whose supposed to fight those things remember."

"The same way you can see me now and I was with Remus… besides, did it ever occur to you that you could have called on Celeste or in an emergency, Altair." Azeral was pacing now but before he could continue another swell of gold motes appeared.

"The stakes are higher now. The army of the Enemy has amassed at the gates and proclaimed that their thousand years is now." Altair said without preamble the turned to the green eyed man. "You are the Avatar, the reclaimed. Your work here, though far from complete will be halted for a time. You must return to the cursed ones and give them the choice."

"What 'cursed ones' and what choice?" Harry asked perplexed. Just like before, 'why do I feel that there's more to this Avatar thingy?'

Altair raised his eyebrows at Azeral the sighed and began the tale.

"In the time before there was magic, when the earth was new. One of our number, of the Archangels, went down with a host of others, a third of the sky. For they saw daughters of men and saw they were fair and took for themselves wives from them. Their children became the Nephillim, the fallen. They were great men of renown, but, their greed and lust for power consumed the earth. Their fathers, the angels that went down, taught them the way of metals and plants, the movement of stars… and sorcery…" Altair trailed off to stare at Harry as his eyes widened in understanding.

"So that was when magic started…" Harry began, but Azeral quickly cut him off.

"Yes, I might be new at this but the collective knowledge is passed… So, normal men cried out to the heavens and the others, Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel, saw and heard their strife. In turn they implored before the Most High and was heard… The angels that went down were banished and their children… the nephillim…"

Altain closed his eyes as he remembered those days. The edicts and judgment passed as the earth was cleansed.

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…And no request that they make shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.'

…And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire…

"Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain."

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"…which includes you, Harry…" at this a pained expression appeared on Azeral's face (a face that almost mirrored Harry's).

"The magical people are the cursed ones…" Harry trailed as a twist in his gut told him there was more… and he wasn't going to like it.

"Cursed, to fight against each other… cursed to live a long life in nothing but strife… cursed to not have an appointed speaker on their behalf. Though some had been granted guardians, none of the angels will speak on their behalf… except you. You had been forgiven, the curse had been lifted and as such, the seeds of faith sown into you by your mother was heard… by the strength of her love, you have been lifted."

"That's why peace is so hard to come by in to magical world, that's why they're so stupid at times…" He mused. He then turned to face both the Archs and said in a voice of steel. "Where do I begin?"

"Your heart." A female voice answered even before the swirling motes disappeared. Celeste walk towards him and touched his shoulder with both her hands. Without a word he understood. He could re-enter the magical world, which was barred to him before, again.

That, and Hermione needs him…

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-blink out -

Instantaneous forms of travel are highly over-rated.

With apparition, you magically breakdown to elementary component levels and will yourself to appear someplace else in space- time. Trouble with this, is that you might lose your concentration and leave a body part behind. Definitely not the mode for first time dates…

Then you have portkeys. I never did become fond of the blasted things. A feeling of being hooked on your navel then pulled through space-time and dump on to your destination is also a no no especially if you have a queasy tummy… Can you imagine the havoc it would create if you throw up upon arrival… on the minister of magic? (not that I would mind.)

And then, ofcourse, the floo. One thing I've learned about flooing is that one should always, ALWAYS, say the name of your destination clearly. Let me tell you, it isn't fun to arrive in a dark and creepy store with your nemesis and his dad skulking about…

Now, I can do this, courtesy of my angel friends ofcourse. Instant transfer to anywhere, rumor has it that it can even take you anywhen. No soot, no hook in navel thingy and most important, no chance of losing your schwang!

The trouble with it though is that you could lose yourself – in between the transfer. I admit I'm not one of those able to hold a thought for long. Lots of things distract me, but I get to where I want to… eventually. The upside of this is that I get to think a lot without wasting any time. China one moment – blink – France the next. Note that the blink could last anything between a second to an eternity… I guess that's why they say this mode of transpo can even take you anywhen.

So, where was I supposed to go?

Oh, I need to get to Hermione…

Her… my… oh… knee… I just love the way her name rolls across my tongue…

Sounds like Her's and Mine's, or 'Her, my only.'…

Which is true, in a way. She's always been 'My only'. …has never left my side from what I could remember.

Always nagging and pushing me to be the best I could be… too bad I seldom listen though.

What was that, that Altair said… I must 'find my better half that is of my world.'

Hel, ummm, Heck…. I mean Heck! How many worlds are there? I asked. Stupid question.

He showed me the billions of possibilities… and these are worlds that contain my essence alone… as I am… or better yet, as Azeral is. Only thing is, in each world my 'better half'… 'My Only' went to different people.

As Metrodon would put it, a mate to my soul.

I saw a world where it went to someone I didn't even know…

Some to Ginny, or Luna, or Blaise (would you believe that there's a world where he's a girl?... come to think of it, there are some where I was one too… ). A few with Pansy, Parvati, Padma… Let's just say in every world of possibility that my other half was sent, I was, virtually, with, almost everybody.

I shuddered almost to oblivion when a world showed that Malfoy's got it… then Snape… Hel…..Heck! even Volde-blood… ummmm… Voldemort. (Another drawback of being in the blink… must not swear, or you'll automatically be sent to the place down under… Not the one with koala's!)

And, ofcourse there was Ron… atleast his happy now with his family who'd also passed on. He did tell me it wasn't my fault they died and that I should go for 'It' (It being 'My Only') when I get resurrected. Atleast I could have a clear conscience.

… Conscience…

'My Only' was my conscience.

I had no angel guarding over me, but she'd been enough. No devil or demon, can block out the voice I hear everytime I even start to think of doing something stupid.

Her voice… my Guide… my conscience…

'My only' …

I'm glad in my world, this world that I'm cognizant in, that it's Hermione.

The keeper of my soul…

-blink in-

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AN

I'm terribly sorry for such a long delay. Real life got a hold of me and I'm still trying to cope. At any rate, I hope to update atleast once a week.

answer to reviews:

mikeus : Thank you for your support and I'm glad you liked the fic. To tell the truth I'm a bit worried about the reaction of those who are especially devoted. You're right though. It is spiritual warfare. And in this fic, I try to put some physical aspect to it, something tangible. Just in case you're curious though, my main source is the Book of Enoch.

Anonymous9: I believe your question pertains to my slip-up while updating. I've already corrected it and hope you've enjoyed the fic.

HM: I'm glad you have found this simple work intriguing. To be honest, this is just a part of a much larger whole which includes my other long fic, Way of the Force and my one shot, I have fallen.

Nicolletta: I'm glad you liked that chapter. It really was inspired by that song.

Mojo-sbluver: Thanks for the praise. Don't worry if the fic might get depressing, there will be points where it will pick and perk up. (I Hope)

Vicc The Blackwolf: You might say that, I really wanted to do a Girl!Blaise/Harry for a while now. Ever since I considered her for the lead in Way of the Force, but alas, it's Ginny's now. Re- H/C I need to think about that.

To the silent readers, please speak your mind about this fic.

AN2

A lot of people have theories about who the Half Blood Prince could be. Well, here's mine. I believe it's Blaise Zabini. Have any of you noticed that JK have ended that debate about Blaisé's gender. Then some time later says that the 6th book will be entitled HP and the Half Blood Prince?

Regardless, I still like girl!blaise.

Thanks again and I hope you, my readers, will enjoy this chapter. Review.

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He appeared in a swirl of golden motes. The holy light pushing against the suffocating darkness which permeates the small cell. He proceeded to scan the area both within and outside the cell, he then gently bent down to rouse the ragged and beaten body of 'his only'.

She felt a warm hand touch her shoulder. Then, ever so gently push and stroke her hair. The feeling of warmth spread through her and filled her with enough strength to open her puffed and sore eyes. She feared that it might be delirium or she was nearing death. She dreaded to hope more than that release. And, as she stared into those emerald pools, she knew she has passed and gone to heaven. Her angel has come.

He didn't know what to feel. Happiness and pain, mingled in his heart. The joy of once again being able to see her, to touch her… and the pain of seeing her suffering. But, one thing is certain, he was lost in a sea of brown.

The sharp jolt from a broken rib suddenly ripped through her as she moved to raise her hands. She wanted to know if the apparition was real.

He saw her wince from what she was trying to do and reverently took her hand in his. He slowly lifted it to his face and reveled at her touch, both their eyes closing.

A swirl of great magic swirled from him and engulfed her. It probed against her flesh… healing wounds and setting bones… renewing her strength.

They didn't even notice that they were lost again in each others eyes.

She didn't notice that she could move freely without pain…

And they were now in each others arms.

"It is you…" she whispered from across his chest.

"Hello, my only." Was the reply.

She was here, He was here and for a first in a long time she once again felt safe.

-blink -

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AN3 Don't forget to Review. J

Icy Manipulator, out.