There's always an upside and a downside to planning your story out in advanced. The upside is that I know what's going to happen and don't write myself into a corner. The downside is it makes me feel like I already completed the story and sometimes forget I haven't. So I'm on it now. Like, right now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warnings: Snow. Lots of snow.

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The Eternal Snowlands

Chapter Seven

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Harry was sick of snow. All day they tramped through it and at night everyone was happy for a hot cup of tea. He was longing for something green. The mountains were only a small break. The pass offered snow and a variety of rocky crags that made it look less hospitable than the rest of the land.

The wind blew fiercely there and it was very slow going. Chionia walked ahead of them, looking undisturbed, while Harry stepped into yet another drift that ended with his leg sinking to mid thigh in snow. Tonks missed it but managed to fall flat on her face anyways.

Nobody spoke either. They were just waiting to see the end of the Impregnable Mountains.

While taking a rest, conversation revived itself. They had found a very shallow sort of cave so that they could be out of the howling wind and snow.

"I wish we could fly!" Tonks exclaimed in an irritable sort of way. She was emptying snow from her boots and drying her socks with a spell.

"You want to fly in this?" Ron asked incredulously.

"If only we could Apparate." Fred shook his head.

"Haven't you done it before?" Hermione looked up from where she was helping Ron enchant his snowsuit dry. (He had accidentally fallen through some ice. It had only gone up to his waist but soaking wet clothes could end in hypothermia. (Hermione got annoyed when they called it 'the chills'.) They had done a temporary warmth spell before they found the little cave.

Harry had heard about Fred, George, and Ginny's adventures but strangely, they didn't often tell the story. He got the sense that they thought of it as private.

"Yes and no." Fred answered.

"We did Apparate but we think it was really Ginny." George elaborated. "Sometimes we get the feeling that Ginny's going to get a lot more powerful than us."

"Are we ready?" Chionia was standing just inside the little cave. "We shouldn't stop for long."

"Almost." Ron shoved on his boot. "We're going as fast as we can."

"It's not that I am impatient. It's just that the mountains are the home of the Shivering Boy." Chionia explained; her sharp features in a frown.

"The Shivering Boy?" Harry was re-adjusting his goggles.

"He is the soul of all those who've died in the cold." Chionia answered solemnly. "He can sense those who are dying, those who feel the cold. And whatever he touches—he kills."

"This whole land is covered in snow, it's freezing cold, there's crazy women who think your tasty, snow drifts that haven't been braved since Hermione's second cousin or whatever came here, and some twitchy kid is going around freezing people to death? Why would the Death Eaters even come here?" Ron ranted.

"It is a cruel land." Chionia nodded. "But it is my land."

"Sorry." Ron shook his head. "But I can't wait to get back."

"Ron!" Hermione hit his arm. "You don't have to be rude about it."

"Tell me this place isn't crazy." Ron insisted defensively.

"Come on. The sooner we get there, the better." Harry started out and into the wind. As the wind whipped at his face, Harry couldn't help but agree with Ron.

He thought he heard a small, distant voice speaking.

"I'm cold. I'm so cold."

It made him shiver.

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Mt. Niobe was in front of them. It was a little apart from the Impregnable Mountains, so it stood rather prominently in front of them.

Chionia's whole demeanor changed. She was bright and cheerful. (In a very reserved, Queen of the Eternal Snowlands sort of way.)

It had taken almost a week to get through the mountains. Mt. Niobe was no different from the others—snowy, cold, and gray stone peeked out at them from under the white.

"Oh, bother." Hermione had been trying to tie her hair back and finally given up. "I'll be glad for a proper bath…even through my gloves my hair feels disgusting…"

"I will be able to give you that wish after we re-capture my palace." Chionia promised.

"What exactly is the plan on that?" Tonks asked Fred and George who shrugged and pointed to Harry.

"Er…" Harry tried to think. "Well, how many are there?"

"Four." Chionia answered promptly.

"Maybe we can trick them." Harry resisted the urge to scrub his hand through his hair. For one, it would just slide right through because they're lack of proper baths made all their hair greasy and lank. (Tonks took to turning into Snape to make them feel better.) And the other thing was that he knew they were counting on him and he didn't want to let them down. "Or…or something. We'll decide when we know everything."

Although the mountain seemed close, they still hadn't reached it by nightfall. They were set up camp and got settled in for the night. Chionia obviously wished they could go on without it but she understood they needed rest. She once asked why but in the middle of an explanation of epic proportions from Hermione, she decided she didn't really need to know.

However, the wind picked up that night and was howling so loudly that they could barely sleep. They suited up long before dawn. Hermione was wondering if there was a way to enchant a cup of tea so that it was always hot, but didn't go on getting hotter.

"I suppose there's a type of cooking magic…" Hermione frowned as they began tramping through the snow. "Though I think they just use regular hearths with magical fires…"

Day broke a few hours later and when Harry looked to the north, he saw something shining brilliantly. It was way off but everyone could see it.

"It's my palace." Chionia barely glanced at it. "I find myself very worried about my nixies. They have never been…on their own."

"So, they're like your children?" Tonks inquired.

"Children?" Chionia coked her head to one side.

"Yeah, except that you didn't…er…" Tonks blushed. "Get married." She finished lamely. George and Fred nearly fell over with laughter.

"I didn't give birth to them." Chionia's tone was frostier than usual.

There was something like a trail going up Mt. Niobe. They began to go up it, and found themselves with a small drop on one side that was growing higher with each step and the mountain on their other side. They had only climbed a little of the mountain when Chionia stopped them.

Her stark white hand pressed against what appeared to everyone else as just more gray rock. She closed her eyes, her brow furrowed. Chionia's lips moved silently and the wind began to pick up.

With her hair floating behind her, snowflakes began to form, not up in the air but around her, dancing about in a very unreal way. And then all of the snowflakes suspended themselves in mid air for only a moment before swirling into her hand. There was a bright flash that they all had to shield their eyes from—even with their goggles on. A rumbling noise shook the ground and when they looked at Chionia, they saw she was standing at the opening of a cave.

"I'm back." She murmured and they all went marching into the darkness.

The opening closed behind them but they were glad to be out of the snow.

A small torch turned a corner ahead of them, the flame was blue and white, but that wasn't the strangest thing to see right then.

It was the torch bearer.

Its skin was blue-white; its large eyes were white except for a black pupil. The hair was a deep ocean sort of blue. It was obviously female and was wearing a little white dress that barely covered it.

On her back was a pair of glistening wings that were shaped like a butterfly's.

"Your highness!" The nixie (Harry thought it couldn't possibly be anything else) dropped the torch. Chionia clapped her hands and torches were suddenly burning on the walls. The nixie's voice was high-pitched and expression was comically exaggerated. (They would soon learn that all the nixies were overly expressive). "You're back!"

"What?" A chorus of voices asked from beyond the corner. In ten minutes, the cavern was crammed full of nixies who were all trying to talk at once and hug Chionia, who was doing her best to act regal in the situation. Although she looked faintly annoyed, Harry saw that she was happy to be with her nixies again.

It's like a family…

"Yes, I am very happy to see all of you but could you please be QUIET!" Chionia's voice rang out and all the nixies cringed.

"Highness, highness!" One nixie immediately forgot. "Are we going home? Are these things all powerful wizards?" She gestured towards Harry and the others.

"Powerful wizards!" Another nixie (they all looked exactly the same) exclaimed. "Really, really?"

"Us?" Hermione guessed.

"Wizards from the Greenlands!" Another nixie joined in and they all began chattering at once.

"Not a lot of ice I hear!"

"What do they skate on?"

"There's some ice. Some of the time."

"Yes, but then how do they fly?"

"They haven't got wings!"

"Neither do snow bunnies!"

"Those don't fly either."

"That's my point!"

"SILENCE!"

All the nixies yelled in mock fright and ran a little away from Chionia.

"Now," Chionia held up her hands. "We will have a council meeting and decide how to take back our home."

"Then a party, then a party!" The nixies chanted back.

"We'll hold off the party until after we take back the palace." Chionia frowned at them.

"Party now, party then!" One nixie grinned.

"No parties!" Chionia snapped. "Now, we need to go to the council room."

They were led to a large room with much enthusiasm from the nixies. Harry and the others didn't know how Chionia, in all her Queen of the Eternal Snowlands glory could be the ruler of such a crazy bunch of fairies.

When they were all seated and Chionia sent the nixies off to bring them all warm drinks (even though only about half of them left the room), they decided to start trying to figure out what to do.

"We'd do better if there was cover." Harry suggested. "Chionia, you can make it snow, right?"

"Yes." Chionia nodded. "How much snow?"

"A lot." Harry decided.

"Then we can sneak up on them." Hermione suggested. "Although, won't it be harder to get to the palace if we have to tramp through a blizzard?"

"Hermione's right." Ron agreed. Then he frowned for a moment. "Wait, can the nixies fly?"

"We can, we can!" The nixies chorused together.

"They need ice though to get into the air. It won't be hard to find some and if all else fails, we can just freeze water outside." Chionia informed them.

"Wait…" Fred began to put two and two together. "If they can fly…why didn't you have a bunch of them waiting for us at the Bay of Snowdrops?"

"I'm afraid I didn't think of that." Chionia looked a little ashamed.

"Can they carry us?" Harry asked. "Because then we could attack at daybreak. Chionia can summon up a blizzard and then we'll be at the palace in no time."

"They'd be able to carry you." Chionia affirmed. "If this plan succeeds, by tomorrow night, we can be at my palace, having a victory feast."

"We may have to skip that." Tonks looked uneasy. "I'm surprised no one's arrived to drag us back to Hogwarts by now."

"Let's hope we can get this done before they do." Harry wondered how bad the trouble would be. Would he be expelled? Thrown out of Hogwarts? Where would he go? Back to the Dursleys?

It doesn't matter, I've got to help.

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Woo. Harry's saving people thing. I know, it's kind of a transitional chapter before the big attack, but I needed it. I like the nixies. Well, more next time and I hope everyone leaves a review.