Chapter eighteen

Abaddon kicked the pile of ash in front of him sending a grey cloud into the air. He looked around at the smoking rubble that had once been his headquarters.

"Perfect!" he snarled. "This is just perfect. Whatever that was destroyed my wards and killed Ariana. It's not really a major setback, but it's bloody inconvenient."

"Patience my love," Ginevra said soothingly. "We have a small group of followers and that is really all we need. Do you remember what the public was like in our world? Voldemort subjected the entire Wizarding world with a little over a hundred people."

Abaddon shook his head. "We only have about fifty followers, not counting the dark creatures. We need more followers. I want at least a hundred and fifty before I attack Hogwarts. I won't risk losing because I was unprepared."

Ginny bowed her head. "If that is what you want, why not higher some mercenaries. We don't need good fighters, just warm bodies to throw at our enemies."

"True," Abaddon said thoughtfully. "First, we need a new headquarters and I have just the place in mind."

"Oh?" Ginevra asked raising one scarlet eyebrow.

Abaddon took her hand. "Come with me," he said. Without a sound, the two vanished.

XXX

They reappeared inside Riddle Manor. Looking around at the crumbling old house, Ginevra giggled.

"You're kidding me? You intend to use this as our base of operations?"

"Why not? We only need it for a few days at most. I'm not waiting any longer than I have to. Hogwarts will fall. I've lost Ariana. I want to be out of this world before something happens to you."

Ginevra slipped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You won't lose me my love," she whispered. "I'll never leave you."

XXX

Aeval waved her hand causing the mist to fade. Leaning back on her throne, she rubbed her forehead. She had much to consider and the dull ache behind her eyes wasn't making it any easier.

The Evans boy had surprised her by taking the traitor's soul with him when he left. Why would he give her a chance? The girl had admitted to betraying her best friend, so why would he risk an alliance with her? It was something his Father would have done. Oberon was always giving people second chances.

With a pang, she realized he'd given her many chances to mend her ways. He'd stayed with her even when people started making jokes about the wrong spouse wearing horns. She wiped a tear from her eye. She had been a fool. She had believed that being queen gave her the right to do anything she pleased. It was only now that she was all alone that she realized what she had thrown away.

The Evans boy could've been her son. She could've watched him grow from child to man. If she'd simply remained loyal, the gates of Elphame would still be open. Everything that had happened over the past twenty-one years could be laid at her feet. What was she going to do? Should she pull back? Should she call Abaddon off?

"No," she said quietly. She sniffed and wiped another tear from her eye. She may regret her actions, but it was too late to turn back now. She would complete her mission. "The gates will be opened again," she hissed.

"But at what cost?" a voice said from beside her.

Turning Aeval's eyes widened when she saw Oberon floating beside her. He brushed blue hair out of his face before speaking.

"What will you sacrifice to reopen the gates? How much of your soul is left. It's not too late, Aeval. You can still turn things around. You can be the woman I fell in love with all those years ago."

"You know she vanished centuries ago," Aeval said harshly. "She died the first time I committed adultery."

"Did she? There has been enough death Aeval. I'm tired of watching the fighting. Give up this vendetta. If you do, I can open the gates again. We can continue our trade agreement with the Wizards and things can go back to normal."

"Normal? You mean with your wife ruling Elphame? What happens to me hmm? I suppose I'm just supposed to step aside and serve the dog willingly."

"You threw away any right you had to rule when you tried to kill my son," Oberon said tiredly. "You can either be a tyrant or the queen our people need. For so long you've been obsessed with holding on to power. Do you even enjoy being queen anymore? You rule our subjects with fear and intimidation. Do they look happy to you? Tell me, even with the power of Elphame behind you, how long would you last if all of them decided to revolt?"

"They wouldn't dare," Aeval hissed her blue eyes wide.

"Why not?" Oberon asked. "People can only be pushed so far. You've realized that you've caused all the trouble with the wizards and Elphame, but you still aren't ready to give up. How many people will have to die before you are willing to let your anger and hatred go? Are you willing to watch the whole world burn just so you can be queen?"

"Perhaps," Aeval hissed.

Oberon drifted closer. "Do you hate me so much that you would kill my only son and the woman I love?"

"You used to love me," Aeval shrieked.

"Used to," Oberon said not unkindly. "Past tense. I gave you two hundred years to stop your cheating. Do you realize that is three mortal lifetimes? How long was I supposed to wait? It's not my son or wife you hate. It's yourself. You hate the person you allowed yourself to become. You allowed yourself to become arrogant. You thought because you were queen you could get away with anything. You never actually thought that I'd find another wife."

"You threw me to the curb after a few mistakes. It was merely sex nothing more. It had no bearing on our relationship."

"If I would've been another man you may be right, but I view honor and loyalty over everything else. You proved to me that you had neither. Lily might not be fae, but she is ten times the woman you were. It was because of her that I showed you mercy."

"Mercy?" Aeval bellowed. "You threw me away."

"I could've ordered your death," Oberon said firmly. "Lily asked me to let the past stay in the past, so I simply divorced you. In a sense you owe my wife your life."

Oberon's expression softened. "Please," he said. "Give up your vendetta against my son. He has done nothing to you."

Aeval's face twisted in rage. Her blue eyes flashed. "Get out," she bellowed. "Get out. Your son is a constant reminder of our past. I will not rest until he is dead."

Oberon stared at her for several seconds without moving. "The truth hurts I know," he said quietly. "Look, I may not love you anymore, but I did once. I don't want to see you torn apart by our people. You are trying to kill the true heir to the throne. They will not stand for that once the gates are opened again."

"I said get out," Aeval shrieked again.

Oberon nodded. "Very well."

As she watched him fade from view, Aeval buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook and tears spilled down her cheeks. Oberon had been right. She didn't hate the boy. She hated herself for driving her husband away.

All the time she'd been unfaithful to him, she'd never considered how it would feel to know he was with another woman. She cried for the things she'd done and for the love she'd lost.

XXX

Harry appeared in a flash of light in Dumbledore's office. He fell out of the air and landed flat on his back. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Harry?" Ginny hurried over and knelt beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he said taking her hand and allowing her to pull him to his feet. "Where were you? What happened?"

Harry turned to the other occupants of the office. "I have a lot to tell you."

XXX

"So that world's Hermione wasn't Hermione?" Lily asked.

Harry nodded.

"And she was possessed by an evil Ariana?"

Harry nodded again.

"Who has, thanks to Oberon, been sent to the hereafter?"

"That about sums it up," Harry said cheerfully.

"And you have that Hermione's soul in your arm," Ginny said. At Harry's nod she continued. "You want to offer Hermione the chance to merge with her alternate counterpart?"

"Yep."

"Didn't she say she was insane at one point?" Luna asked. "Don't you think that might injure Hermione's mind."

"I don't believe it will," Oberon said appearing in the office. "Her soul is not of this world, so if she merges with a soul of this world, she will not be the dominant half. I believe she will only gain the other Hermione's memories."

"But you aren't sure," Lily said.

"No, I only know it is possible for two of the same soul to become one. I never studied the effects of such a union."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "So what would you suggest?"

Hermione, who had been silent up to this point, cleared her throat. "I think I should get a say in this."

They all looked at her. Hermione took a deep breath.

"I want to talk to her before I agree to anything."

Oberon nodded flashing Hermione a pleased smile. "I thought you might. I can pull you into Limbo if you prefer."

"That would be fine," Hermione said.

Oberon turned to Harry. "I need you to release the soul."

Harry drew a knife from his pocket and slit open the rune on his arm. A silvery white mist flowed from the wound. Slowly, it coalesced into a pretty brown haired woman with long bushy hair and brown eyes. She looked around the office, her eyes narrowing when she spotted Dumbledore.

"You have certainly caused a lot of trouble."

Dumbledore arched an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Harry spoke up. "This isn't the Dumbledore you knew. He's… well not good, but err… tolerable."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled. "Tolerable?"

"Best analogy I could come up with," Harry explained.

"Moving on," Oberon said impatiently. He looked at the ghostly Hermione. "This is going to get confusing. I assume you heard what we were talking about."

"Yes," Ghostly Hermione said. "It is acceptable to me."

"Good," Oberon said. Without another word, both Hermione's vanished.

"Okay," Harry started. "I didn't know he could do that?"

"He's become very attuned with Limbo," Lily explained pride evident in her voice.

"I noticed he had a solid form," Luna said. "How long can he hold that form? Is it long enough for you and he to play hide the snake?"

Harry turned a bit green and glared at Luna. "I really don't want to picture my parents doing that?"

Luna looked at him confusedly. "Why, my daddy and I used to play hide the snake all the time. You just conjure a snake, let it wander off, and then try to find it. What did you think I meant?"

Harry turned away, flushing. He could hear both Ginny and his Mother giggling.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Ginny chastised slapping his arm.

"I think we need to change the subject while we wait for the Hermione's and Oberon to return," Dumbledore said. His eyes twinkled. "You three can talk about hiding the snake later."

Harry waved his hand conjuring a chair. Sitting down, he looked around at the others. "So, you guys got any cards?"

XXX

Hermione and her counterpart looked around limbo. The dry cracked earth stretched as far as the eye could see.

"This looks very inviting," Hermione muttered.

Suddenly, a river appeared to their right. The sound of the rushing water startled them and they turned to look.

Although the river sounded like it was rushing over rucks. Neither Hermione nor her ghostly counterpart could see the bottom.

"I wouldn't go in there," Oberon said. "Souls that go in there never come out."

"What happens to them?"

"No idea," Oberon said his golden eyes gleaming. "They must like wherever they end up because none of them come back to complain."

"That joke is old," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"I'm older," Oberon said.

"Anyway," Ghostly Hermione grumbled. "I have some things I need to tell you."

"We're listening," Hermione said.

"Abaddon is not going to let you rest. He's going to come and attack you as soon as he gathers enough followers together. Your triumvirate ward is a good idea, but you're not going to have enough time to cast it."

"How do you know about that?"

"When I was inside Harry, I touched his mind. I learned about your plan to protect Hogwarts."

"If the triumvirate ward won't work, what would you suggest?"

Ghostly Hermione opened and closed her mouth several times. "Look," she said at last. "Abaddon is focused on revenge. He plots his revenge, but there has always been one constant."

"And that would be?"

"Ginevra," Ghostly Hermione said emphatically. "When he was trapped in Azkaban, he planned an escape, but it wouldn't have gone near as smooth without Ginevra's help. I'm not even sure he would've managed it without her."

"SO you're saying if we take down Ginevra, Abaddon might stop fighting?"

"No," Hermione said shaking her semi-transparent head. "I'm saying that he won't be thinking as clearly. He'll fight blind. He won't be calculating."

"That would be very dangerous," Oberon said.

"That is why you need to take out all his forces first. All of you will need to combine your strength in order to win."

"Okay, but why are you doing this? Why are you telling us this if I will merge with you?"

"I just wanted the chance to tell you all I knew before I ceased to exist."

Hermione looked at the spirit in front of her. She felt a twinge of sympathy for the ghost. She had made one mistake and it cost her everything.

"I killed Umbridge you know," the ghost said. I broke her arm and turned her into a frog."

Hermione arched an eyebrow. "Really? What happened then?"

"When they first started out, Abaddon and Ginevra had an ironic sense of humor. For example, they turned Fudge into a piece of fudge. Umbridge was turned into a frog and served at a Chinese restaurant. You need to be prepared. Abaddon has fallen far from the man he used to be. I've been forced to watch him murder several versions of my best friend that tried to stand up to him. Stop him here, or everything you love will be destroyed."

"We've been told his ultimate goal is to watch the world burn," Oberon said. "How will he do that?"

"His goal is to take over the Wizarding world and then reveal us to the Muggles in the most destructive way possible. He wants to kill as many people during the revelation as he can. That will insure that the Muggles hate and fear us. They will make it their mission to kill everything that has even the slightest bit of magic."

Hermione gulped. "How many worlds has he done this to?"

"Three," Ghostly Hermione said. "Three worlds have been reduced to nothing but barren earth and monstrous creatures." She shrugged. "That last one where he killed Albus Severus Potter didn't take a lot of effort."

"What do you mean?" Oberon asked.

"The year was 2020. Technology had advanced significantly from what it is today. There were Cell phones that could connect to the internet. You could take video and upload it in a matter of seconds."

"Internet?" Oberon asked.

"It basically means a bunch of computers that are all linked together. Apparently, it's a lot more advanced from what it is now."

"Anyway," Ghostly Hermione said. "All Abaddon had to do was cause massive damage on the streets of London in front of a large group of people. Some people filmed it with their phones and that was that. Our world was exposed. Naturally, because the Wizards know nothing of Muggle technology, there was no way to stop it.

Within a week, the governments of the world had exposed the magical communities of their respective countries. Within a month, the first extermination squads were formed. Once that started, Abaddon left. He did check back in a while later, but the only thing left on that world was the insects. I don't know how the wizards fought back, but whatever they did it ended all life on earth." A shudder went through Hermione's semi-transparent body. "The things on that world. The energies released had mutated the insects and plant life in ways we never imagined."

"Wow," Hermione whispered. "The scary thing is that could happen here."

"I fear that it will," Ghostly Hermione said. "The magical world will be revealed. It's only a matter of time, but the manner in which it is revealed is crucial."

"Agreed," Oberon said. He stroked his hairless chin. "Have you seen other worlds that concern the fae? What did they do?"

"I've only seen two at a distance. Abaddon plans to take those next. The fae and Wizards have locked themselves away in the realm of Faerie on both worlds. Their population is skyrocketing."

"Must be a different multiverse," Oberon said thoughtfully. "I can't lock my people away. We'd need a whole new earth."

"Why not if these other fae did it?"

"Because it's not just the fae in our realm. It's the vela, shifters, and various other groups. They came to my land for sanctuary, I will not abandon them."

Before anyone could say anything else, Dumbledore's image appeared.

"Hermione," he said his voice echoing slightly. "I hate to interrupt, but we need you back at the castle immediately."

"What's happened?" Hermione asked leaping to her feet.

"It's Abaddon," Dumbledore said. "He's at Hogwarts."

They all looked at each other in shocked dismay.

"How do I do this?" Hermione asked.

Ghostly Hermione stepped forward and into Hermione. A surge of power flowed through her. Knowledge and memories not her own flashed before her eyes faster than she could comprehend. She stumbled and only Oberon's grip on her shoulder kept her from falling.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Hermione nodded. "Fine." She turned to Dumbledore. "Come on, Abaddon isn't going to wait long."

Dumbledore stepped back through the portal, followed quickly by Hermione.

Oberon watched the portal close sadly. He wished he could help, but without a body he was useless. Suddenly, he felt the ground dissolve under his feet.

XXX

Oberon swayed on his feet as the throne room of Elphame appeared around him. When the room stopped spinning he saw Aeval smiling at him.

"Hello Oberon," she said. "We need to talk."