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A/N : SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY

We Are soooo sorry. There was no time for updating. And I'm sad to say we can't promise to update frequently too. We are in our last year and its just very hectic right now. Even this chap was done without much thought. Sorry if its not enough.

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CHAPTER 6

TROUBLES AND TEMPTATIONS

The door closed with a resounding snap. The room was plunged in darkness. It was eerie in a uncomfortable way. It was like feeling danger around the corner. Hermione moved in the darkness and in a subconscious move for self protection, felt for Harry's hand. Harry squeezed it back reassuringly.

"Where are we?" Hermione whispered.

"I don't knowwwwwww"

As soon as Harry started talking the ground under them shook and started dropping. Suddenly anxious, Hermione tried to hold on to Harry's hand, but it was impossible. A force seemed determined to pull them apart. The last thing Hermione remembered before losing consciousness was Harry's beseeching face.

Hermione slowly opened her eyes. It took time for her to adjust to the dim lighting of the chamber she had fallen in. She warily stood up and looked around. The chamber was not very big. It had only one way to go. A long corridor stood before her. The ceiling of the chamber was dark. So Hermione supposed she fell through that.

It was then she remembered Harry. Frantically, looking around she was horrified to know Harry was not with her. Confused and frightened she prayed for Harry's safety. He was all she had. Then with a determined step, Hermione started walking towards the corridor. It looked like a never ending road to her. The darkness of it threatened to overwhelm her. I'm a Griffindor. I can do this. She told herself and started forwards.

When she stepped in to the corridor, lights suddenly flared to life. Hermione gasped at the amazing art work around her. The walls of the corridor were painted beautifully. A plush maroon carpet of the softest material lay in its floor. Chandeliers of various colours and sizes hung from the ceiling.

She stepped closer to the walls to see the drawings better. It depicted the early years when Hogwarts was built. The four founders were laying the foundation together. Each of their faces held happiness and pride in doing so. Griffindor was laying the bricks and mortar to where Hufflepuff directed him. Rowena and Salazar were strengthening the foundation using various spells. Underneath every picture, there seemed writing in some ancient language that she could not read. Yet somehow understood it was telling the story of Hogwarts. It urged her to go forwards, giving a boost to her confidence. Even though the pictures were not magical, they seemed so real that Hermione could only gaze at it in awe.

" Ouch!" Hermione rubbed her forehead and looked forwards to see she had reached the end of the corridor. A doorway at the end of the hall marked the conclusion of her journey. It was a plain wooden door that had only a very small carving of an eagle and snake entwined in the knob. The door seemed so out of place in such a magnificent corridor yet somehow Hermione knew she was expected to go through it.

The hall that opened amazed her. It was an enormous circular chamber that rose five stories. Its transparent, domed ceiling towered 120 feet at its central peak. The ash coloured glass was embedded with a dark shiny black mesh the screen filtered what seemed to be an uncanny looking dark blue light into delicate laceworks across the walls. A lot many chandeliers of black crystal with bright blue flames hung from the ceiling.

The rooms sloping sides arched broadly at the top and then became almost vertical as they approached eye-level. Then they became subtly translucent and graduated to a opaque black as they reached the floor- a shimmering expanse of polished black tile that shone with an eerie lustre, giving one the unsettling sensation that the floor was transparent. Black ice.

After the epic adventure delineated in the wall, Hermione expected something equally intimidating when she looked around. What she found instead was an old witch sitting comfortably in a chair in a mostly empty room. Her hands were folded in her lap, holding something wrapped in cloth. The woman hummed, seeming very content. And when saying old, it meant she was old. Wizards and witches could live until their early 100s, and this woman had clearly crossed that mark. Her pale skin was a maze of wrinkles, and her gray hair was wispy and thin. She smiled when she saw Hermione and nodded toward an empty chair. A small table sat beside it with a glass pitcher of water.

Hermione glanced around her surroundings. There were no other furnishings, though there was a plain door opposite the one she had come through. She sat down and then turned toward the old woman.

"Hello,' said Hermione, trying to keep her voice strong. "I'm Hermione Granger."

The woman's small smile grew, showing her yellowed teeth. One of her teeth was missing. "Always such manners in your family," She croaked. "Most people come in here and demand we get down to business. But I remember your grandfather. He was polite during his test as well."

"You knew my grandfather?" exclaimed Hermione. He had died when she was very, very young. Then, she picked up another meaning in the woman's words. "He ran for being an heir too?'

The woman nodded. "Passed all his tests. I think he would have won too, if he hadn't withdrawn at the last moment. "

Hermione had never heard any of this. "Why'd my grandfather withdraw?"

"Because you had just been born. Frederick decided he needed to devote his energy to his fledgling family, instead of a nation."

Hermione could understand this. How many Grangers were there back then? Her grandfather, her father, and her mother, but only by marriage. Eric Granger hadn't had any brothers or sisters. Hermione knew little about her grandfather, but in his place, she decided that she too would have rather spent time with her son and grandson, instead of shouldering the huge responsibility that was wizarding world.

Hermione's mind had wandered, and the old woman was watching her carefully. "Is . . . this the test?" asked Hermione, once the silence had gone on too long. "Is it, like, an interview?"

The old woman shook her head. "No. It's this." She unwrapped the object in her lap. It was a cup—a chalice or a goblet. She was not sure which. But it was beautiful, made of silver that seemed to glow with its own light. Blood-red rubies were scattered along the sides, glittering with each turn of the cup. The woman regarded it fondly.

"Over a thousand years old, and it still gleams." She took the pitcher and filled the chalice with water while Hermione processed the words. A thousand years? She was no metal expert, but even she knew silver should have tarnished in that time. The woman held out the cup to Hermione.

"Drink from it. And when you want to stop, say 'stop' And remember it will only stop when you say so.."

Hermione reached for the cup, more confused than ever by the odd instructions. What was she supposed to stop? Drinking? As soon as her fingers touched the metal, she understood. Well, kind of. A tingle ran through her, one she knew well.

"This is charmed," she said.

The old woman nodded. "Infused with all four elements and a spell long since forgotten."

' A spell that have been forgotten, and it put her on edge. Elemental charms had different effects. Earth charms were often tied with minor compulsion spells. The combination of all four in a object or ward provided a unified blast of life that blocked the unwanted. But spells . . . well, she was quickly learning that spells and charms covered a wide range of unpredictable effects. The water no doubt activated the spell, but Hermione had a feeling that spell was going to be the key player. Even though it was the power that burned in her blood, it still scared her. The spell woven into this cup was complex, far beyond her skills, and she feared what it would do. The old woman stared unblinkingly.

Hermione hesitated only a moment more. She drank.

The world faded away, then rematerialized into something completely different. She recognized what this was: a spell induced dream.

She no longer stood in the plain room. She was outdoors, wind whipping her long hair in front of her face. She brushed it aside as best she could. Other people stood around her, all of them in black, and she soon recognized the Hogwart's graveyard.

Hermione herself wore black, along with a long wool coat to protect against the chill. They were gathered around a grave, and a priest stood near it, his robes of office offering the only color on that gray day.

Hermione took a few steps over, trying to see whose name was on the tombstone. What she discovered shocked her to the core. Instead of one name, she could see two.

REMUS LUPIN

RONALD WEASLY

The names were carved into the granite in regal, elaborate font. Below the names was the star of battle, signifying that they had been killed in one. The priest spoke customary funeral words, giving them the blessings of a religion she wasn't sure they believed in.

When he finished, Albus took his place. Lauding the deceased's achievements was also normal at a wizarding funeral—and Dumbledore had plenty to say about them. Had they been there, they would have been moved to tears. He concluded by describing their last battle, how they had died defending Hermione. The news was a slap in the face to her. She suddenly became aware of a horrible empty feeling in her chest, like part of her was gone. Hermione understood it, that terrible, lonely ache. She was missing something she'd never even known she'd had. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

This is a dream, she told herself. That's all. But she'd never had a dream like this.

When the mourners dispersed from the graveyard, Hermione felt a hand touch her shoulder. Harry. She threw herself gratefully into his arms, trying hard to hold back sobs. He felt real and solid. Safe.

"How did this happen?" she asked. "How could it have happened?"

Harry released her, his crystal-blue eyes more serious and sorrowful she I'd ever seen.

"You know how. Those deatheaters were trying to kill you. They sacrificed themselves to save you."

Hermione had no memory of this, but it didn't matter.

"I can't . . . I can't believe this is happening."

That agonizing emptiness grew within her.

"I have more bad news," said Harry.

She stared in astonishment. "How could this get any worse?"

"I'm leaving"

"Leaving . . . what? Hogwart's?"

"Yes. Leaving everything." The sadness on his face grew. "Leaving you."

Her jaw nearly dropped. "What . . . what's wrong? What did I do?"

"Nothing." He squeezed her hand and let it go. "I love you. I'll always love you. You are the best friend and sister anyone could hope for. But you are who you are. You're a muggleborn. If I stay with you, there'll always be something taking you away . . . I'd just end up killing you too. You need to rebuild your life. I'm not the one you need in your life."

"Of course you are! You are the only one! The only one I want to build my future with. How can you even believe death eaters will leave me alone if you left?"

"You say that now, but just wait. There are better choices. You'll know that once I'm gone."

"You don't know that." she argued.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "and I'd be a big asset to you too—the chosen ones best friend"

"I don't care about any of that, and you know it!" She clutched at his shirt, forcing him to look at her. " I don't want you to leave. And if you really want to go, take me with you. I want you to be part of my life no matter how dangerous it is. None of this makes sense. Are you scared? Is that it? Are you scared that I will always remind me of….of…of them?"

He averted his eyes. "Lets just say its not easy for me right now."

She shook him. "I don't believe you! You're not afraid of anything! You never back down."

"I'm backing down now." He gently removed himself from her. "I really do love you. That's why I'm doing this. Its for the best."

"But you can't . . ." Hermione gestured toward the graves, but he was already walking away. "You can't! they are gone. If you're gone too, there'll be no one . . ."

But Harry was gone, disappearing into fog that hadn't been there minutes ago. Hermione was left with only the tombstones for company. And for the first time in her life, she was really and truly alone. She had felt alone when her family deserted her after fifth year, but Harry and Ron had been her anchor, always at her back, protecting her. When Sirius had come along, he too had kept the loneliness away, filling her heart with love. Remus was always there, being the father her dad couldn't be.

But now . . . now they were all gone. Her family was gone. That hole inside threatened to consume her, and it was more than just the loss of the loved ones. Being alone is a terrible, terrible thing. There's no one to run to, no one to confide in, no one who cares what happens to you. Shed been alone in her childhood, before coming to Hogwarts, but that was nothing like this. Nothing like it at all.

Staring around, she wished she could go sink into their grave and end her torment. No . . . wait. She really could end it. Say "stop," the old woman had said. That was all it took to stop this pain. This was a dream, right? True, it was more realistic and all consuming than any she'd ever faced, but in the end, all dreamers woke up. One word and this would become a fading nightmare.

Staring around at the empty Court, she almost said the word. But . . . did she want to end things? She'd vowed to fight through these trials. Would she give up over a dream? A dream about being alone? It seemed like such a minor thing, but that cold truth hit her again: I've never been alone. She didn't know if she could carry on by herself, but then, she realized that if this wasn't a dream—and dear God, did it feel real—there was no magic "stop" in real life. If she couldn't deal with loneliness in a dream, she never would be able to while waking. And as much as it scared her, she decided she would not back down from this. Something urged her toward the fog, and she walked towards it—alone.

The fog should have led her into the garden. Instead, the world re materialized and she found herself in front of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place.

" Ah! You're awake at last!" Her heart skipped a beat hearing that voice again, smelling that special pine tree cologne.

" Sirius?" She was lying curled up his chest.

" yes, sweetheart." Sirius smiled his special crooked smile at her.

"I…. I… What happened? Why did I sleep? "

Sirius appeared a little surprised. Then a mischievous twinkle appeared in his eyes.

" Well…..it seems I tired out you a bit" Sirius looked down and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Hermione followed his gaze and blushed a hot red when she saw her dresses askew.

" Oh…"

" Want a repeat to clear your head, love?"

"What? No…. I mean…. Where is every one?" Hermione looked around and asked. It was weird to see Grimmauld Place empty since war was still brewing.

" What do you mean, Mione? You know, they all went out to give us a little alone time"

Her heartbeat increased. " Alone time?"

He looked at her puzzled.

" Yeah… since we couldn't go for a honeymoon due to post war reconstruction, Harry agreed to spent some days in burrow…. Don't you remember?"

" I….."

Hermione suddenly noticed Grimmauld Place didn't look the same anymore. It was not so dreary. Instead it was warm and inviting. She moved towards a mantle piece full of pictures. There were so many. And some were of her wedding. She walking down the aisle holding the hand of her father. Sirius standing in a altar, love shining in his eyes, Remus and Harry smiling happily. Ginny and Luna in bridesmaid dresses. Harry and Ginny in another. Ron and Luna laughing and dancing in other. But the one that caught her eyes most were, a photo with all of them smiling a bit sadly, in front of a brand new Hogwarts with a banner saying it was the first anniversary of the last battle, one they had won.

" We won the war?"

Now Sirius was definitely worried.

" Baby? You alright?"

Suddenly the words of the old witch came back in her mind.

"Drink from it. And when you want to stop, say 'stop' And remember it will only stop when you say so.." only stop when you say so.

So this was her test. To show she can resist temptation. She had passed one. She had overcome her greatest fear – of being alone. Now she must overcome her greatest wish. A world without war, a world where everyone accepted her and Sirius readily. A world were she could be happy without being afraid.

I should say stop. She thought. But did she want to? Did she want to go back to a place full of death and misery, somewhere she couldn't be happy? Couldn't see Sirius anymore? But then again, did she want to live in a fantasy knowing it was not true? Always wondering about a what if?

Her decision made, she turned towards Sirius. He was smiling at her lovingly but still looking a little puzzled. She smiled back at him sadly. His expression changed to one of concern. He stepped forwards but before he could say anything, Hermione kissed him. It was full of love and hope. It was awash with heart- breaking tenderness. It was good bye.

" Stop."

When the world put itself back together, there was no Sirius. There was an empty room with an old woman and a silver chalice.

Hermione looked around. Her heart was racing, and her sense of time was off. The things she'd seen had lasted an eternity.

Yet, simultaneously, it felt like only a couple seconds had passed since she and the old woman had conversed.

"What . . . what was that?" asked Hermione. Her mouth was dry, and the water sounded good now . . . but the chalice was empty.

"Your fear, your temptation," said the old woman, eyes twinkling. "Your greatest fear and temptation, laid out neatly in a row."

Hermione placed the chalice on the table with shaking hands. "It was awful. It was dream, but it . . . it wasn't anything I've seen before. It invaded my mind, rifling through it. It was so real. There were times I believed it was real."

"But you didn't stop it."

Hermione frowned, thinking of how close she had come. "No."

The old woman smiled and said nothing."Am I . . . am I done?" asked Hermione, confused. "Can I go?"

The old woman nodded. Hermione stood and glanced between the two doors, the one she'd entered through and the plain one in the back. Still in shock, Hermione automatically turned toward the door she'd come through. Her steps were halted when the old woman spoke again and pointed toward the back of the room.

"No. That's for those who fail. You go out this door."

Hermione turned and approached a plain door that hadn't been there before. It looked like it led outdoors, which was probably just as well. Peace and quiet. She felt like she should say something to her companion but didn't know what. So, she simply turned the knob and stepped outside . . .

And fell through darkness once again.

A/N : Did you like it? Vampire Academy was a huge help! Was Hermione any good? A faster chapter for 10 reviews! :D