Chapter 2: The Gateway

Disclaimer: You've heard of it before? Then its not mine

"To begin, let me tell you just exactly where you are. This is a void between the land of the living and the land of the dead, created by yours truly. I am the only one with access, and only those I view as worthy to invite are allowed entrance. Very few souls have the ability to travel away from the land of the dead; only those with the purest of heart, bravest of souls, and a very powerful magical aura can do such a fantastic feat.

"That being said, you two are quite powerful, though you have yet to realize your full potential. Just remember that together you are unstoppable, divided, well, still one hell of a fight. Not too many who can quite match you two, especially if you go back as you are. But, once again, I am getting ahead of myself.

"So now, why are you here? Simply because your fates got slightly off course, I daresay it was partially my fault. However, everything started to get affected, slowly at first, but then it just snowballed out of proportion. I just had to put my foot down."

"What do you mean? What went wrong?" Harry asked.

"Well Harry, being Merlin and all, I have a vast knowledge of all forms of ancient magic. I frequently use my knowledge to help those still among the living, when I can. I knew you needed to learn a lot of magic very quickly. I took it upon myself to help eliminate some of the pressure you had upon you. I see now how wrong I was. You see, the thing I eliminated would have been the one thing to help you the most. Harry, I kind of 'shut off' your feelings for Ginny, which, in turn, made her even more…er…obsessed with you during her first year…"

"I was not obsessed!" Ginny said indignantly.

Merlin continued "Ginny's enthusiasm towards you scared you off a bit too much, which caused you to take even longer to recognize your feelings even after I returned the balance to your hearts. Unfortunately, since the two of you were not together in any sense of the term, certain things happened that should not have happened. Certain events, or lack thereof, even some deaths…"

"Wait a minute. You are telling me that the reason why we are dead is because of you! All this time, think of all this time we could have had! Why would you do that!" Harry yelled, his anger taking over.

"I believe Albus did say it best…something along the lines of just a foolish mistake made by a foolish old man. I just did not see the need to rush things. You did have all that time, and with everything else on your plate, I thought it could wait a bit. I do apologize to you both. In all honesty, I thought you were a bit too young."

"Oh not you too! Too young? Too young! I believe that I survived Voldemort, the Dursleys, and numerous other things before I even met Ginny! Why must everyone always insist that I am too young? If I am old enough to be killed, I am old enough to handle my own feelings, thank you very much!"

Ginny softly touched Harry's arm, visibly calming him down a bit.

"Quite right you are Harry! I now see the error of my ways, which is why I brought you here, before you became part of the land of the dead. You see, I have been working on this."

With a snap of his fingers, Merlin caused a gateway to float down from nothing, and land a few meters behind him. It was, in a word, marvelous. The arch was made of pure marble, with ancient runes inscribed on every inch of bare surface. The inner part of the gateway seemed to glow and shimmer, giving off every color of light one could think of, bathing the white void in rainbows of color.

Harry heard a sharp intake of breathe and a mutter of "beautiful" from Ginny as they both stared in wonder at the object.

"What does it do?" Ginny inquired.

"It will take those whose fates have been severely altered, and take them back to the most opportune time to fix the mistake." Merlin explained, "Quite simply put, it gives you a second chance."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a brief glance, both knowing already what they wanted.

"We'll do it." Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"I had hoped so, however, I must ask of you a favor. Several fates have been wronged, simply because you two were not together. So before I allow you to step through, I must ask you to agree to fix what you see to be broken."

"But how will we know?" Ginny asked.

"You will. As long as you are together, you will know what is right and what is wrong. By stepping through this gate, you will not be allowed back here, until the fates have been corrected. If you fail at your task, you will be doomed to wander the Earth as a ghost, for all of eternity. You will not be able to see those who pass on ever again. Although, I must warn you, not stepping through that portal could cause the whole fate of the world to be changed drastically. Good and evil will remain unbalanced, unfortunately towards the evil side. I hate to be so forthcoming, but the fate of the world lies in this one choice."

Harry turned to Ginny, "What do you think Gin?"

Ginny looked up into his eyes and said "Same as you. As long as we are there together, nothing else matters."

"I was hoping you'd say that" Harry returned his attention to Merlin "We'll do it."

Merlin gave a shout of joy as he ushered the two teens towards the portal "Now, no time to waste! Hurry! Don't delay! And don't forget stay together and trust your instincts!"

With a wave towards Merlin, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand as they closed their eyes, took a deep breathe, and stepping into a second chance.

Read & Review Please!