Warped Image

Rowena Ravenclaw shakily scoped the glistening, sapphire stone into the wooden box, where it sat, lifeless and harmless. No, it wasn't harmless; she that knew perfectly well, which was why she was going to seal it away for possibly a millennium or two, if she was lucky.

With a flick of her wand, she closed the box, not wanting to touch it herself. She then continued to perform a variety of curses and charms on the box, making it unable to open. Finally, she hid that the box had even been able to open.

She held up her handiwork, deciding that it would do, as in she wanted the box to remain safely tucked away in Hogwarts, unable to be found, let alone opened. So, she stowed it away, behind books and other shimmering items that could detract interest in this ordinary box.

"It must never be touched," Rowena whispered to herself as she stole a last glance at the shelf where she'd hidden the box. She'd found out what happened when she'd touched the stone, and it was an experience she wished no one else to repeat.

The Present

At the Burrow

Night hung heavy and peacefully like a thick, comfortable quilt on the Burrow. Several huge tents had been erected in the yard, and they were still covered in dewy flowers and streamers that blew gently like leaves when stirred. The ground still had litter from the previous days scattered on it, along with things just put here and there.

For wizard weddings were huge affairs, involving just as much preparation as partying. Months before hand, everything had been ordered, and then, several days before the wedding, the families and close friends had shown up, trickling in to add to the growing chaos of getting ready for the festive day.

However, unlike normal weddings, where the guests came, saw the beautiful couple married in a church, ate, drank, and danced at the reception, and then left, leaving the couple to embark on their honeymoon, well, wizard weddings lasted longer. The family and friends that felt like it could stay around for nearly a week after the occasion, or if they left, pop back in to wish the bride and groom a happy marriage and have another drink.

Bill and Fleur's wedding had been no exception. An excess of people had camped out at the Weasly's house, which was quite full only the second night after the marriage and initial reception. The enormous Weasly family attended, taking up half of the seats at the service, along with Fleur's own family and friends, who, although not as expansive as the Weasly clan, did manage to make the biggest fuss before the wedding.

And then, you had the friends of the family and the friends of the friends. This included all current members of the Order, any of Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny's schoolmates, along with anyone else that Mrs. and Mr. Weasley decided they just had to invite, for one reason or another.

That night, after another day of merriment, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley sat awake in the kitchen of the Burrow, which had been turned into the store room for most of the wedding gifts that were small enough to fit inside the house.

"Your hair really did look nice," Ginny said in a hushed voice as she pulled out the pins and undid several of the spells that had kept Hermione's thick, curly, tawny mane of hair tamed for a couple days.

"It was a pain," Hermione said as she took a sip of chamomile tea. Ginny also had her hair pulled up; however, it had been done Fleur's Aunt Antoinette, whom Ginny detested more than the bride herself.

"Yours was a pain? At least Auntie Horrible didn't tug your hair around saying things like 'Too long!' or 'What awful hair zee has!"

"Can't say I missed it," Hermione kept her voice down, letting out only a silent laugh. "I saw enough of bridezilla."

"She's not part of your family," Ginny grumbled, remembering, as the wedding crept closer, how Fleur went from unbearable egomaniac into spastic monster, throwing things around and screaming 'Awful! Zees has to go!'

"True," Hermione giggled as Ginny pulled out the last spell, and Hermione's hair returned to its normal, fluffy nature.

"Evening," both girls looked up as Tonks walked into the room. She was still dressed in the short, silky cream dress covered in glittering gold stars, which was held on her by two very thin straps. It was a very un-Tonks like dress that she'd worn to the wedding. She'd changed her hair to a vibrant Weasly red just for the occasion, and the dress really was the only thing that would match.

"I think you've been drinking," Ginny stated the obvious, but of course, they'd all had some champagne that Fleur's family brought from France. However, some people had definitely gone for harder liquor.

"Really?" Tonks said groggily as she stumbled over a package and knocked down an entire mountain of gifts. Ginny and Hermione stood up and cleared a path to the table, which was also cluttered with brightly wrapped presents.

"Shh, I don't want to wake anyone," Hermione muttered but knew most of the guests were tired or hammered, anyway.

"Here," Hermione muttered as she enchanted the tea with a little clarity charm. Tonks sipped it, and the drowsy look slowly seemed to fade. It never occurred to Hermione that now Tonks would be awake for a while, which meant the two very tired girls would need to stay up and keep her company.

"I wonder how long everyone will stay?" Tonks asked, bright and lively again, even in the wee hours of the morning.

"Mum and dad are excepting guests until school starts," Ginny said but meant only Harry, Hermione, and a few select others by this, of course, not the troupe that attended the wedding.

"So much fun. I haven't had a quality party in a long time," Tonks raised her voice a little loud, which made Hermione 'shh' her. "Really, everything is so depressing, I think the last time I've played a drinking game was when I was still in Auror training."

"Were you drinking with Fred and George?" Ginny gasped. Tonks nodded, a giddy little smirk on her face. The twins bought the best, hardest drinks they could find, gathered a crowd, and in no time, the reception had become a whole lot livelier before people started passing out and vomiting every minute.

"Really, I didn't think they'd bring it, with minors," Hermione chided no one in particular. Tonks laughed, propping her elbows on the table. However, there wasn't room, and another shaky present tower fell over.

"Some one had to have heard that," Hermione muttered as she made sure all but a couple presents were left on the table. They were a small set of antique wooden boxes that couldn't be damaged because they'd all been enchanted at one time, and they couldn't be moved by hand.

"No, looks like everyone really is asleep," Ginny commented after listening for even the faintest footfall.

"They make a cute couple," Tonks commented randomly as she stared absently at the set of oak boxes.

"Oh, please, I think I'm going to die. I just hope the children are like Bill," Ginny groaned. Hermione nodded, sympathizing heavily with Ginny, but Tonks just shrugged.

"I like her," Tonks said resolutely. She hadn't said anything negative about Fleur since after the attack on Hogwarts, where they'd all watched Fleur declare her love for Bill as she mopped up his bloody face. In fact, she'd gone out of her way to help Fleur organize the wedding, arriving at the same time as the very first family members.

"You're the reason I haven't killed her yet," Ginny said, a little regret in her voice.

"You're the only reason every woman in this house didn't put a silencing jinx on her," Hermione stated what she'd personally almost achieved several times. "I don't see how you stand her."

"I do. She's quite a nice person, although a bit of a perfectionist," Tonks contemplated without a hint of malevolence in her voice. Ginny and Hermione exchanged a weary look, deciding they weren't going to be able to harass Fleur in Tonks's presence.

"I've never been to a wedding like this," Hermione changed the subject for all their sakes. "There were definitely five hundred people or more here."

"Oh yes, my family, extended cousins and all, were at least three hundred, and counting everyone that showed up, invited and uninvited, I think about six hundred," Ginny said casually.

"Cheery," Tonks said with a broad smile. "Everyone was so festive."

"We owe it to Fred and George," Ginny said, trying to suppress a yawn, feeling more like she'd been a quaffle on a quidditch pitch the last couple of days.

"All in all, good," Hermione also tried to stifle a yawn. Tonks, now perky and awake, looked between the two girls.

"You're tired?" She asked, not believing that they'd worn out. "I just got awake!"

"Shh," Hermione chided Tonks half-heartedly. She rubbed her own sagging eyelids. "I thinks Ginny and I need to sleep, but I don't feel like moving to a bed."

"This table," Ginny let out a fat yawn, "will work."

With that, the two girls put their arms on the table and used them for pillows. Tonks sat up for a while, staring around at the presents. She'd always wanted to get married, and oh, if weddings brightened her up this much, she was going to get married tomorrow. There was that little problem of getting proposed too though. . .

However, she soon joined the girls, leaving her thoughts to tomorrow, and rested her head on the table, deciding she really would probably wake more people if she went back up stairs through the mass chaos of presents, people, and things randomly strewn across her path. Soon, she was snoring along with Ginny, and they bathed in the sham calm that cloaked the house.

"Stupify!"

Tonks bolted awake and quickly ducked, barely avoiding the spell aimed at her head. She quickly drew her own wand, pointing it over the table and shooting off a couple non-verbal spells, which stopped the first of the black cloaked figures.

"Death Eaters!" Ginny shrieked as she woke up. Hermione bolted upright, instantly grabbing her wand and also performing a few non-verbal jinxes to help Tonks. However shrouded in darkness they were, the three women could see the vague mob of black shadows standing just beyond the door.

"Duck!" Tonks screamed as she jumped up to battle the first couple trying to get into the door. Hermione waved her wand at the huge clumps of presents, throwing them in the Death Eaters' faces, which gave Tonks time to stun them.

"Expelliarmus!" Ginny shouted, disarming another dark figure trying to get in through a window.

"Under the table!" Tonks hollered as several spells shot at the ladies, but missed, exploding presents and ricocheting around the room. Upstairs, Hermione became away of thuds and explosions as people woke up. She heard a loud crash as someone flew out a window, landing amongst the tents.

"Incarcerous!" Ginny shouted as she crept up near Tonks, who was crouching behind a mountain of gifts and several chairs. Hermione stayed back where she'd ducked, right behind Ginny.

"Avada Kedavra!" The Death Eater blocking the door luckily miss aimed his curse, and it hit the boxes on the table. They promptly exploded in a spray of splinters. Hermione shrieked, frantically hoping that some people would get down to the besieged kitchen.

Tonks pointed her wand at the Death Eater, shooting him out through the doorway, causing him to knock over some of his fellows. Hermione jumped up, sealing the door before anyone else could get in the kitchen.

"Crucio!" Instantly, a window shattered as the curse shot across the room. Again, the three ladies were lucky, each hidden under the table or a mound of presents.

"GET DOWN!" Tonks yelled as loud as she could. Hermione clutched her wand, trying to keep it in her sweaty palm. Ginny crept forward, nearer to Tonks, to get a better aim at the door, which shook as the Death Eaters tried to force entry.

Hermione looked over, watching as a sparkling sapphire, which seemed to have a light of its own like a star, fall off the table. It landed near her empty hand, and for a prolonged moment, Hermione wondered at its beauty. It looked like the crystal blue sky and the deep, melancholy sea in one, shimmering stone. Hermione reached out, grabbing it in her empty hand, deciding she'd keep it before helping Ginny and Tonks with the door.

However, as she touched it, Hermione felt her vision fragment, as if in a thousand pieces, ripping her mind until all she saw was that overwhelming blue color. It felt as if a thousand, flesh-eating spiderswere crawlinginside her veins. Rapid pulses of electricity pounded her brain, and then, Hermione felt as if she was being yanked away from herself. She tried to scream for help, but found she couldn't as she felt herself moved, as if in a million parts through a misty barrier.

Then, the pain stopped, and Hermione realized she wasn't alone.

A/N: This is MorganRay. I'll post my disclaimer that I don't own anything in this story here. I'm perfectly happy to write fanfiction, although this is really a first attempt at a prolonged HP fic. I usually write anime, but I'd appriciate your comments, good, bad, ugly, or just critical in general, on this story. So you can e-mail me, or just review. If you see grammar mistakes, ect., i'd prefer it to be sent in an e-mail, though. Thanks, MorganRay.