Hi! Sorry it took me so long to update but ive been through writers block and i hope you like this chapter. It might be just a bit confusing but it keys in with the next few chappies. R&R.

Chapter 5

Hermione walked around this beautiful yet familiar place. There were small houses everywhere, nothing like her neighborhood. She walked up the road and saw children all over, playing with each other. She knew this was her home, since she knew all the houses and roads. The children she saw were different, but they all looked the same! Flaming hair, pale skin, blue or red eyes.

Hermione walked on until there were no more houses around and more trees. 'This place is much more beautiful than in my dreams!' She thought.

The road came to an end. A small trail on the side led deep into the woods. Hermione felt herself being pulled to the trail as though an invisible rope were leading her somewhere. She walked a long way into the woods, not knowing where she was going, but she knew how to get there.

The trail finally ended and torches lit up a new trail, where there were no trees and a lot of steps. She kept walking and walking, feeling no fatigue at all. Finally, she reached a high wall with inscriptions on it that she couldn't quite figure out.

She read them aloud and a door appeared out of fire. She opened the door and saw the most beautiful garden ever. It was full of apple trees and flowers and little waterfalls everywhere. The flowers looked like little flames on a stem. The whole garden looked like a balance between the four elements. Earth and air, fire and water were all together in this place.

"Who are you? How did you find this place? Not a soul knows were this place is, not even the villagers!" A man's voice said behind her.

Hermione turned around and saw a man with extremely pale skin and lots of flaming red hair. He had on a necklace that was similar to the one her mother had given her but his had what looked like a book on it.

"Um, my name is Hermione, I just found this place. I followed the trails here. I don't mean to intrude but-," She tried to explain but was interrupted by the man.

"You must come with me. No one except me and my kind and the royal blood can enter through that wall. The present King is going to want to meet you," he said with a frown on his face.

"Look, I mean no harm. I've dreamt about this place since four days before my 17th birthday. I just wanted to see it for myself," Hermione said nervously.

"Just come with me, Now," he said harshly.

Hermione followed the man around the garden to a little pathway going up a hill. Once they reached the hill, Hermione saw a golden Palace with flames circling it.

"Oh my! It's beautiful!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Not as beautiful as it was when the royals were here," the man murmered, "Let's go."

They walked to the palace and the man murmered something indistinctly but it was effective because the doors opened and the walked in. The walls were gold and the floors looked like water. There were potted plants everywhere.

The man led her down a hall and down a flight of circular stairs. He stopped just before a door with two men guarding it.

"Tomaz. I need to see Advisor Palinion," he said.

"Ok, Tomaz. You may go in," the guard on the left said.

"Come," Tomaz said.

Hermione followed him through the doors into an elegant room. There she saw a throne with inscriptions all over it, inscriptions she was sure she had seen before.

"Advisor Palinion?" Tomaz called for him again, and was answered with footsteps.

"Tomaz? Who is this?" A tall man with long flaming hair came out of a shadow made by a tall pillar with chipped off inscriptions on it.

"I found this woman in the garden of Balance. She came through the ancient doors. I saw her and brought her here," Tomaz answered.

"I am Hermione Granger, sir. I just wanted to see the place I saw in my dreams, a place where no one can think of to find me," Hermione said.

"Hermione, eh? You look like one of our people, but your eyes and hair tell us differently," Palinion said.

"My eyes and hair?" Hermione said, confused. Her hair was just like theirs...wasn't it?

"See for yourself," Palinion said, pointing to a mirror on the wall.

"He was right!" Hermione whispered to herself.

Hermione did change. Her hair had turned black but her red, flamy hair showed in streaks, her eyes were blood red and she was even more pale than ever. She put her hand to her chest and felt the necklace her mother had given her.

"The crown of fire! Where did you get that?" Palinion asked.

"From my mother, sir. I got it just tonight. It came from all the women passed down in my family," she said.

"Only women?" Palinion asked.

"Yes."

"You are a witch too, are you not?"

"Yes."

"Tomaz, leave us, now," Palinion ordered.

"Yes, sir," Tomaz looked at Hermione one last time, turned around and left.

"Naquin was supposed to be watching you," Palinion said simply.

"She doesn't know where I am. Neither does Halthor," Hermione replied.

"Halthor?"

"My other watcher. A vampire."

"A vampire? Oh, I see. He is one of Dracula's followers. Hermione, right?" Hermione nodded. "I am Palinion. I have been the ruler on this throne since Nakini left 200 years ago. I am old but my rule will not end until the blood of the sun-god touches this throne. I have to know you are worthy. You understand you cannot touch that throne until I know I can trust you with my people."

"I never asked for this. I just wanted to get away from everything. I wanted to learn what I was dreaming of," Hermione admitted.

"You want to know about Akini?"

Hermione nodded. "It's all I wanted when I came here."

"Akini, as you know was King Saun's only child. She grew up favored among the people. Her only friend was a girl named Deena. They were inseperable. Deena was my daughter. Akini went roaming the woods one day without Deena. She met this boy outside the walls of the palace. Back then, anybody was allowed to enter into the garden. This boy could not enter. The fire of the palace and it's garden warded off anything evil. They would meet every night. She fell in love with him, not knowing what or who he was. There were many times when she thought about going away with him and leaving the royal family and her home. That is until her father grew weaker by the moment and she grew stronger," Palinion paused.

"He was giving all his power to her, then. The boy couldn't enter because he was a vampire and she never knew until the night she killed him," Hermione said, more in shock than anything.

"Yes. Her father told her that she would be joining Hath, a strong warrior, in our ritual wedding ceremony. Akini loved her father and she did it as a last wish to him. She broke things off with the boy two weeks before the ceremony. She did not go to see him and he was heartbroken. Her father found out just days before when she snuck out to find him. He told her he was going to stop everything if she didnt. She told the boy and he didn't want to leave. The night of the ceremony she went to her secluded spot outside of the walls. The boy found her there, and you know the rest."

"Thank you, Palinion. Do you mind if I stay here until my friend comes for me or until I have to go to Hogwarts? I haven't anywhere else to go," Hermione smiled.

"Stay here. Don't bite anyone." Hermione's smile went away faster than she could blink.

"You know? Well, of course you knew, I mean, my appearance and Naquin probably told you," Hermione babbled.

"Naquin said you were funny. Yes, I knew. Anyone could tell. Tomaz was surprised, I bet. when he found you in the garden, he knew you were a vampire but couldn't quite figure out how you entered into the garden," Palinion said, amused.

"I'm not going to bite anyone, I promise. I just have to go elsewhere. I couldn't bite my own people," Hermione said.

"Good. One side of a Queen is showing. You care for the lives of your kind," Palinion mused.

"I'll show you to the guest wing, then I have to leave for the village. Just roam around, there's plenty of things here for you to find, learn or look at," he smiled.

Hermione loved the room she was staying in. It was not as big as the one at Dracula's mansion, but it was big and cozy. The bed was heated and it had golden red covers on it. The bathroom was big, too. It had a large tub with candles all around it and a big flaming plant next to it.

'Well, I'm going to see the beautiful sights of the palace that I passed up on the way here," Hermione thought.

She left the room and roamed the many hallways finding lots of pictures of King Saun and what looked like other royal family members. She couldn't quite figure out why Akini wasn't in any of these pictures. 'I'll just have to ask Palinion," she told herself.

She decided to go back and roam the garden. It was too beautiful to stay away from. She went down the hall and was about to go outside when she heard someone singing.

"Hello?" Hermione said. She walked into the hallway near the door.

"Oh, hi. Who are you?" A woman who looked like she was fit to be a queen asked.

"I'm Hermione. I'll be staying here for a day or so," Hermione replied.

"Oh, I'm Taynia. I am the keeper of the records. Hermione, is it? Oh, I know you! You are in the records! Come with me. I'll show you," Taynia said, when she saw the look on Hermione's face as she mentioned the records.

"What are the records?" Hermione asked.

"they are the counts of all the royals' lives. When they were born and so on," Taynia replied.

Hermione followed Taynia into double doors that led into a room filled with bookshelves. The shelves were floor to ceiling with books filling every one of them.

"Here are the records. If you want look up your name," said Taynia.

"Hermione Granger, born 1988 to June Granger and father unknown. Do you have Akini's records? I'd like to see hers," Hermione asked.

"Yes. Here."

"Akini. Born to King Saun and Queen Nanita. Married to Hath. Daughter Nakini. Is that all?"

"You know her. She was the last of our rule. She died only a year after Nakini was born. That's all we keep. The private lives of our rulers preserved in our hearts forever. In your case, it was preserved through your growing powers. It must mean that you are connected to her. She had great power you know," Taynia smiled.

"If she was a royal, why is there no pictures of her?" Hermione asked.

"When she died, or burst into flames, all the portraits of her did the same. I guess Phoenia wasn't happy when she fell for the vampire. Since Nakini left, only the knowledge kind and green thumbs have been able to enter our palace walls," Taynia explained.

"Who is Phoenia?" Hermione asked.

"Phoenia is the fire god. Our god," Taynia replied.

"There are two fire gods?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. There are two. Phoenia and Bennu. Bennu was the one to distribute the gifts to our people, he was the one who lost his powers of a God to give his people the greatest gifts of all. Phoenia, of course, was angry. She did see a change in the people though. They took care of earth, cared for their gods, and each other. Phoenia promised she would never let anything stop that. She and Bennu care for us. Their prescence remains in our village and garden," Taynia said.

"If they did that, then why did they let Akini fall for the vampire and Nakini leave?" Hermione wondered.

"No one knows. It's a mystery. Maybe you can tell me what you know about the last moments of Akini?"

"Well, Akini was calling for Nakini, who was roaming the castle, I guess. Akini heard a voice and called to it. The voice told her it was time. Time for the fire. It said she gave it the fire and it was returning it. She begged to see Nakini when she realised she was to die," Hermione recounted the dream as best as she could.

"Do you know who the voice belonged to?"

"I think it was the vampire boy. But when it told her again that it was time it sounded more like someone she nor I knew. A woman, I believe." Hermione struggled to remember.

"I guess maybe Phoenia was reminding Akini of her wrongdoing and punished her for it," Taynia said thoughtfully.

"Well, I guess I've learned what I needed to know. Just one question though...What happened to Deena?" Hermione asked.

"Deena? Advisor Palinion's daughter? She, as you know was Akini's best friend, and advisor to Akini when Akini became Queen. She felt horrible at Akini's death so she vowed to never let Nakini feel the same. She raised Nakini to make her own decisions. When Nakini left, Deena was nowhere to be found," Taynia said sadly.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I think I'm gonna go to my room and think over all of this," Hermione said, quite disappointed.

"Nice to have met you Hermione," Taynia smiled.

Hermione went straight to her room and lay down. She never noticed the prescence in the room as she fell asleep.

Naquin looked sadly at Hermione. She knew what was going on. She knew when Halthor came back to the club 2 hours after he left. She knew.

"If I could protect you little one, I would." A single tear ran down her face.

"Time to unveil the past." She left the room.

DONE! Boy if you all knew the handcramp i have right now you'd feel sorry for me lol. I hope you liked it! R&R

Amanda