Jewel

IX

When the dizziness passed, she slid to the floor, gulping for air.

Dead. Both of them, dead. "No," she said, "no, they're not, they won't die, they - " both of them, dead - "they're not going to die." She was having trouble pronouncing the words, though, and after a while she realized she was crying - hot tears streaming down her face, shoulders racking with sobs.

Annoyed with herself, she scrubbed at her face. "They're not going to die," she spat out, taking deep breaths and trying to get herself to calm down.

It took a while.

After about five minutes, she pushed herself up, still leaning heavily on the wall. She had to find someone, and fast. But first she had to take care of a little temporal problem.

"Tempora expulso," she chanted in a low, clear voice, pointing both her wands at herself.

Her body flashed blue and purple - stars spangled in front of her eyes, she couldn't see - and then it passed, leaving her breathing hard and leaning further into the wall. But she should be able to move freely, now.

She staggered down the Alleyway.

*

On the other side of the maze of Alleys, Zoe flinched and hesitated in her chanting. Nathaniel, who had just crossed the bridge, raised his eyebrow at her in concern. "Nothing," she said when she'd finished her chant, "I thought I felt a presence. But that can't be," she finished, glancing at Hermione.

The archway slid closed behind them.

*

Ten minutes of walking and calling down the echoing hallways completed her search. A black-clad vampire materialized in front of her.

"What are you doing here, human? You have no right to be here without escort!"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about that - listen to me. You are about to receive a warning that Tom Riddle will invade the Pits. You will be told to strengthen the wards and hide. Don't - go back up to the mansion and warn the Elders - tell them to come down here."

The vampire arched an eyebrow. "Why should I believe you?"

Zoe, bless her, chose this moment to send her warning flash down the hallways. The vampire scowled. "You have made your point. But why do you presume that we cannot handle this fake undead by ourselves?"

"Because he will take the energy he's used to put up the Wards back. When he put those seals up, he must've used all the white energy he had left to make sure it could withstand all the evil down here - but it has been tainted for decades. If he takes it back now, he will be unstoppable."

The eyes of the vampire flashed momentarily. Then he stepped back. "Very well. I will go. But what will you do, human?"

"I'll try to prevent it, of course," she said, pulling out the etching of the Alleys once more and mapping out the quickest way back to the Seal Chamber's entrance.

~*~

She stood in front of the shimmering mirror once more, voices whispering in her head. You don't belong here, they seemed to say, you are a reflection of the true self that also walks in these regions. You are a reflection, just as we are - you should come in and join us. Step in and join the other reflections. We have been waiting for you.

She shook her head harshly. "Not this time," she croaked in reply, and drew her wands. Whatever effect that temporal spell of hers had had, it also seemed to ensure that her surroundings didn't have such a great impact on her.

*

Far down the Alleys, Hermione frowned. That vampire had really unsettled her - the way he'd stared at her as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. "How did you.." he'd said, and then his mouth had snapped shut; with a headshake, he'd strode on, in the direction where they'd come from.

What annoyed her further was that this vampire had been the only one so far to do more than raise his eyebrow at her.

Something fishy was going on, she was sure of it.

*

Black magic, Blaise had said - dead, both of them - she shook her head and refocused. Black magic, and probably some time enchantments and a warning call. She'd have to be careful.

She sent a tiny wave of force to the mirror. It rippled, much in the same way as it had done when Harry had touched it - before he died- - but this time she was ready. She concentrated on the ripples, and when the sound waves emanated from them she caught them in a web of magical anti-waves. The soft sound was cut off immediately.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Ciàran for dad teaching me physics. Very carefully, she poised her wands again and started unravelling the web of enchantments holding the shiny substance in place. The surface of the thing started to droop - big drops of shining light flowed down it - but it didn't droop, exactly; it seemed to draw itself to the middle of the thing.

Focusing harder, she willed the droplets to flow faster - they did; centring around the now glowing ball of liquid in the middle. Seconds later, the sphere left the wall to float in front of her.

Very carefully, she urged it to take another shape. The sphere resisted, at first, glooping back into its round shape every time she prodded at it, then seemed to resign to her ministrations and flowed into the form she wanted it to take - a small hand mirror. When she'd almost finished the spell, something suddenly went click; the mirror had shifted into a slightly different shape - a little more ornate, looking more fine and with lettering at the top. It didn't respond to any more magic; it seemed resolute to stay in this form. The letters at the top glowed.

Deciding against reading them, she conjured some cloth and wrapped the thing into it. Apparently, she'd guessed the outer ward's true form, and now she had transfigured it back into its original shape, it didn't want to leave it any more.

Which, obviously, meant that Voldemort had used two mirrors to set up his Horcrux.

Now, what can one do with two mirrors?...

She pondered this, fighting against the growing headache, waiting for her other self to arrive.

~*~

*

After another fifteen minutes of brusque walking, Rhavin's step faltered. "I don't understand," he muttered.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"We should be very close to Tom Riddle's original ward now, but I don't feel it."

Nathaniel's brow furrowed as well. "This is very strange. Do you think it is safe for us to continue?" Ron shrugged. "Well, we might as well try."

"Sohrenin," whispered Zoe, pointing at the doorway. It slid back like water.

*

Ten minutes, and no sign of anything alive - or anything dead, for that matter. Hermione checked her watch, annoyed. They should've been here by now. Even some Inferi would've made her feel a little better, but no - nothing.

The mirror gave her enough to think about, though. It had obviously been animated, and she suspected that it had been the fundament of the ward against vampires - which should have been obvious, since vampires literally took in their mirror image when they turned, thus ensuring they had no reflection.

But that meant that the ward against vampires and the ward against other undead were separated. Why would Voldemort have done that? She rubbed her temples - the headache really was getting bad. Black spots were already dancing in front of her eyes when she turned too fast.

She heard shuffling down the wall. Fluidly, she drew her wands and pointed them at the shadowy hall. "Identify yourselves," she called in her most imposing voice.

"Hermione?" she heard a familiar voice call. She started violently - that was Harry, but it couldn't be Harry, Harry was dead - she shook her head.

"That can't be me, I'm right here!" she heard her own voice yelp.

"Use your brain, stupid girl, you have a Time-Turner, don't you?" the older Hermione bit out.

A ripple ran down the hall, urging a pattern to change shape.

"I used a time-tuner?" the younger Hermione asked incredulously when they'd reached her. "Why?"

The older version reeled. Harry and Blaise were both dead, but they were standing in front of her. This shouldn't be happening. "You'll see. Blaise, that door is warded with black magic, shielding a pure white force. You can open it."

The Italian man nodded. "I'm sure I can," he said with a grin, and set towards it, wand out.

"The rest of you - there should be a lot of Inferi on their way. Be on your guard." The three eldest vampires nodded, taking up a triangular position in the middle of the hall. Zoe shot her some odd glances, though.

"So, what's going to happen?" Ron said conversationally. "Are we going to win?"

"Can't say," said Hermione, teeth gritting. The headache was intensifying still.

The younger Hermione shot her a sharp look. "You're not..."

"Shut up," she spat in reply. "What happens, happens."

Harry turned towards Blaise. "Shouldn't we help him?"

"Not if you don't want to be blasted down the hall," answered the older Hermione, "besides, he should be close. He knows what to do, now..." that I've given him the set-up of the ward, she finished in thought. This shouldn't be happening.

Sure enough, behind them she heard the now familiar screech of the doors opening. The vampires present immediately went down in a crouch. "God, that hurts," panted Ron as the blue light intensified.

"Pure white power," said the older Hermione. "Put up a shield, you'll be fine."

"We've got company," snarled Nathaniel.

The older Hermione heard a shuffling down the hall, but it was different from before - a lot different - "Put up a ward! Now! That's the Death Eaters!" she screamed.

Harry stared at her for a split second, then drew his wand and spoke, voice laced with more command than she'd ever seen him issue before. The hall shimmered - an instant long, she could see the masked figures - then a bright ward had slid in between them and the enemy.

"Help him," she barked at the others, but when the younger Hermione also drew out her wands, she grabbed her arm. "Not you," she panted through the waves of pain shooting through her head, "I need your help."

Eyes still wide, the other Hermione lowered her arms. Blaise had already sprung to Harry's side, also putting his wand up - spells were already raining on the sheer surface. The four vampires had put up a line besides them, arms outstretched - if she could see their faces, she knew, their eyes would be completely black.

The next wave of pain passing through her head almost brought her to her knees. "What do you want me to do?" queried the other Hermione, looking at her concernedly.

"Take this," she panted, pushing the covered mirror into her hands. "When it's time, hold it up with its face pointed at the ward."

"How do I know if it's time?"

"You'll know." With that, she dove through the blue shimmering light, into the Seal chamber once more.

~*~

The headache was crippling. Voices were whispering in her head, the air around her - you are not supposed to be here, this is not your time, this is not your place - you should not be here - she tried to banish them with a wave of her arm. "Finite incantatem," she croaked, pointing her wand at the air surrounding the mirror - the atmosphere lightened somewhat.

Stumbling, almost falling over, she made her way towards it and snagged the mirror from its ornate stand. The thing was heavy - far heavier than she remembered it - and then she looked at her hands, trying to focus. They were translucent.

"Oh no you don't," she growled, pointing a wand at herself again. "Tempora expulso!" The weight of the mirror lessened somewhat, but as she solidified, so did the pain shooting through her brain. It forced her to her knees - her free hand flew to her head, the wand she had been using clattering away - Ginny's spare. Her eyes felt as if they were about to pop out.

She steeled herself, tried to get to her feet. Eventually she did, swaying - she staggered back to the gleaming entrance of the hall and positioned the mirror in front of it, dead centre.

Now, she thought.

Immediately, the blue light began to waver. Ripples of lightning sped over the surface, crackling and hissing - but to no avail - the light started to pull towards the centre, intensifying. Hermione watched, sight blurring, as the edges of the ward were stretched, further and further, as the bulk of the force streamed towards the middle - it was stretched taut now - and then, with a sudden jerk and a terrifying scream, the ward broke free from the archway and she could see into the hall.

The vampires were all still standing, holding up the ward, and Blaise and Harry were hurling curses down the halls - she could see the bodies of Death Eaters lying further down the corridor, but more were coming. Closer to her, she saw the frightened face of the younger Hermione, holding the mirror tightly, and between the two mirrors she saw the power of the ward - crackling back and forth like a terrible storm.

"Blaise," she croaked, voice almost failing her. He immediately turned to face her, and when she indicated he should take the mirror from her, he obeyed. Before he made towards her, however, he gave his wand to Harry, who looked alarmed, but took it nonetheless.

She almost collapsed when he took the weight of the mirror from her. Standing stock-still for a moment, catching her breath, she looked him squarely in the eye. You should have died already- but you won't, not this time, she thought - and he seemed to grasp her meaning, staring at her wide-eyed.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she turned away, walking along the wave of sheer power crackling in between the mirrors.

She steeled herself when she'd reached the middle, and glanced at the top of the mirror the younger Hermione was holding.

Raeft seta ergru oytube cafru oyton woshi

She smiled grimly, and stepped forward.

~*~

The storm crackled around her, surrounding her with blue light, almost blowing her off her feet. Clenching her jaw, she found her footing, and glanced at the two mirrors opposing her.

Bellatrix Lestrange's face grinned at her from both sides, suddenly bursting away in a line of reflections.

She grinned back at the mirror of Raeft.

"But turning into her is not my greatest fear," she said quietly to the endless curve of images. "That's the greatest fear of the Hermione of this time line." The Bellatrix in front frowned at her, tilting its head. The hoard of faces behind the reflection did the same.

"I am from a different time line, and my greatest fear is the death of my friends."

The reflection's expression turned into horrified for a split second, then blurred, turning into Hermione's own face, blurring again. "That's right," she whispered at it. "You cannot reflect me, for I am a reflection myself."

The mirror cracked.

The blow pushed her to her knees, panting.

Image after image shattered, all away around the curve of the mirror world, the crack flying out faster than light...

Her head felt as if it would split open. Her hands had turned translucent once again. A little bit longer, she thought desperately, please, give me just a little bit longer...

Moving like a comet, the crack in the mirrors reached its furthest point and moved back, speeding down the countless worlds...

She pushed herself up, willing her limbs to obey her, her hands shaking and her head throbbing. You should not be here, a voice whispered in her ear...

The crack returned to its point of origin, carrying with it the fleeing reflections of all the mirrors...

Behind her, she heard the mirror of Eray shatter.

The blue light enveloped her, but she could see again - the younger Hermione standing in front of her, looking very frightened, further behind her Harry, glancing over his shoulder - in front of Harry, the wavering ward, which broke before her eyes, before that, Voldemort, face contorted in agony...

A scream went up down the hall. "The Elders are coming!" The Death Eaters started, looking around wildly - Voldemort raised his wand, pointing it at Harry, opening his mouth -

No.

She sent the power surrounding her forth, into Harry. She felt him whipping both his wands up, focusing on the Dark Lord's face - she saw Tom Riddle's eyes widen in shock and fear -

"Avada Kedavra!"

Everything went black.

~*~

She woke up lying on leaves. That's not right, she thought, I'm in a stone hallway - where did the leaves come from?

A groan next to her indicated she was not alone. She pushed herself up - at least the headache was gone - and went to check on the person lying next to her.

It turned out to be her younger self.

"Where are we?" Hermione the younger croaked. "What happened?"

"Shh," said the older girl. "It'll be all right."

"Don't be too sure of that, human," said a disdainful voice. Both Hermiones' heads whipped up. A woman stood in front of them. They gasped in unison - the female was beautiful; tall and dark-haired, clothed in a white robe, with a star on her brow.

Her eyes were a cold green fire.

"The Lady of the Forest," the younger Hermione breathed.

"Indeed," the apparition said. She pointed at the older Hermione. "You have upset the balance, and altered time. You have disrupted the pattern. I commend your willpower - but you will have to pay for it."

The younger Hermione started. "You did what?" she yelped.

"There was no other way," the older Hermione said calmly, ignoring her other self. "If I had not, the world would have fallen to darkness. Even you must see that."

The Lady's stare intensified. "You presume a lot, little human. Time is in my hands, and even though I may allow for shifts, the balance must always return. If you had not acted, it would have taken a long time. Since you did act, you must return to me that time."

"By giving my own, you mean?" Hermione demanded harshly.

The Lady inclined her head. "So it must be."

Suddenly, a smile started spreading on the older Hermione's face. "And what if I refuse?"

"You cannot refuse," bit the Lady back. "Fate no longer has a place for you. You have nothing to return to. The pattern has already been determined."

"I think I can, actually. Return," said Hermione, grin spreading even further. "I think I can manage to change the way the pattern flows one more time. After all, I've done it before."

The Lady's eyes flared. "You oppose me?"

The older Hermione nodded. "I do."

"You mean to change fate?" thundered the Lady. "You mean to destroy the pattern of this plane?"

"Not at all," said Hermione, now smiling almost maniacally. "Fate has already changed. What I saw happen before, and what I made happen now - it cannot exist in the same world. The pattern has not been disrupted - it is merely flowing into a different direction."

The Lady's eyes hinted at what lurked in the deep shadows of the forests of old. "True. You have altered the world - changed the balance. That has been done. But a price must be paid."

"Not really. You see, the only human who knows that what is happening now is not what was determined, is me. The only thing, right now, disturbing the balance, is my memory. And that is easily remedied."

She turned to her younger self, who had started smirking more with each step the conversation between her and the Lady progressed, as she raised her wand. "Go back one hour, and see to it. Start in the Alleys," she instructed herself.

"I'll make sure of it," said the younger Hermione. The elder version nodded, and pressed the wand to her temple.

The Lady screamed.

"Obliviate!"

~*~

She awoke to a rhythmical beat. That's strange, she thought fuzzily, it was leaves before - and then her memory went blurry. She stirred, trying to move - "Don't trip me up," said a familiar voice.

That, of course, made her eyes fly open.

Blaise grinned down at her. But Blaise died!.. didn't he? "Am I dead?" she asked him, and immediately regretted it -- what kind of a stupid question was that?

To her immense relief, he didn't laugh. "You aren't," he said earnestly, "even though you gave us quite a scare. The two of you went out like candles."

"How long was I out?" she demanded, then added thoughtfully, "What do you mean, the two of us?"

He gave her an odd look. "You and your other self. You know, the younger Hermione that was with us all the time?"

Hermione blinked at him, then fingered the thin gold chain around her neck. "Oh. Right. Where's she, then?"

His expression turned concerned, now. "She went back in time to make sure everything happened as it should. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine," she lied, suddenly very aware that he was carrying her. "You can put me down now, I can walk."

"That is out of the question," Blaise said airily. "When I put you down, you'll only fall over again and then I'll have to go through all the trouble of picking you up. You have no idea how bad it is for your back, picking people up all the time."

Suddenly meeting her gaze squarely, he added, grinning, "Besides, I quite like having you here."

Harry chose this moment to spring up next to them. "Hermione! You're awake! Are you all right?"

She nodded, still blushing slightly. "Can somebody fill me in? What happened?"

Blaise nodded over at Harry. "When you'd sent that power through him, everything started happening really fast. The Dark Lord died, obviously, taking down quite a few Death Eaters with him - but we still would've been overrun had you not warned the Elders to come down here. That was a clever move - if they would've come with any less force, we wouldn't have been able to capture them all, but as it is..." He gestured behind them.

She peered over his shoulder and almost gasped. A score of Death Eaters marched behind them - but every single one of them was caught in the spell lock of a vampire gliding beside him or her. It was a frightening sight. She quickly averted her eyes.

"What's going to happen to them," she asked Harry, "did the vampires agree to locking them up here until we can arrange moving them back to England?"

"That won't be necessary, actually," Harry replied, grinning, if possible, even broader. "Ginny turned out to be among the Death Eaters, apparently having mock-taken a contract on Ron - she's warned the Order of the Phoenix before she even set out, and Professor McGonagall should be arriving within a couple of hours to take care of things."

She smiled. "And is everyone okay? Is Malfoy still alive?"

Harry's grin turned into a mock-frown. "Quite, and if possible, more annoying than ever. He's hovering around the end of the procession," he said, gesturing vaguely at some point far to the back.

She fell silent for a while. "Is he really dead?" she suddenly asked. "Are you really sure?"

Harry scowled. "No doubt about it. I felt him go."

Hermione glanced at him, a woeful smile on her face. "Headache's gone, then?"

"Without even a trace. It was a really brilliant move, 'Mione, giving me Voldemort's own old energy to finish him with - I might have been able to do it by myself, but the combination was rather more effective."

"Yeah. His own energy. Right," she said, worrying her bottom lip once more.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Honestly, I'm fine. I just can't really... place everything any more. But it'll come back. I think."

I hope it doesn't, she thought, and then spent the rest of the journey trying to figure out why she'd thought that. And not noticing at all how nice it was to be carried by Blaise.

Really.

~*~

Two hours later found her, once again nice and clean and wrapped in a warm wool cloak, standing on one of the towers of the Fyula Heart Mansion, looking at the sunset.

They'd just received an Owl from Professor McGonagall, telling them that about half of the Order would be here shortly to take custody the Death Eater prisoners. Harry and Ron were talking to the Elders - she'd sat and listened to them for a while, but it mostly seemed to be about how annoyed the ancient vampires had been about being asked to come down to the Pits, and how they could not allow for such an impertinence.

Harry, of course, had been diplomacy itself, even though all of them knew that the Elders were just as happy as they were to be rid of Voldemort. They'd probably rather stake themselves than admit to that, though. Hermione had given up after about half an hour, excused herself and had made her way as far up as she could go. She'd had quite her fill of catacombs.

Footsteps behind her announced a presence, and a glance behind her confirmed her suspicions. She'd been expecting him.

"I wondered where you were hiding," said Blaise, leaning over the stone railing next to her. "Got bored of the Elders?"

"About two seconds after they opened their mouths," retorted Hermione. "Seriously, the way they go on - it's as if the whole 'we are vampires and therefore way better than petty humans' is never going to get old!"

"To them, it probably won't," said Blaise, grinning. She grinned back at him.

His expression suddenly turned serious. "Look, Hermione, I wanted to talk to you about something." She tilted her head questioningly. He started when she met his eyes, seemingly surprised, then stared at his hands.

Hemione turned away, looking sadly at the thick wall of trees further down the hills. He swallowed. "Right. Well, I suppose - at least, I reckon you must've noticed..." He ducked his head. "...but I kind of - "

"Blaise," she said softly, still looking at the trees, "you do know that I'm going to have to arrest you in about twenty minutes' time, right?"

Silence fell.

After a while, she heard him snort softly. "Yeah. I was afraid of that."

She gestured wildly. "It's not that - I mean, I don't know, but I don't think - at least, I suppose, I mean - oh, you know what I mean," she finished lamely, bringing her hands down to the thick granite once more.

To her immense surprise, he turned towards her again. "That, I think, was the most impressive speech I've ever heard you give," he said, a small grin playing around his lips.

She smiled thinly back at him. "Well, I seem to have a gift with words."

His grin grew broader. "That you do."

Hermione rubbed her temples, smile disappearing again. "It's just that - I mean, if it hadn't been me you'd helped, and I was asked if you should be in prison - I'd say yes in a heartbeat. Whatever you did for me, and regardless of what I -" she cleared her throat - "think of you, it shouldn't make any difference. Spy or no, you started out as a Death Eater, and it shouldn't just be balanced out like that."

He nodded, staring at the forest once again. "I understand. Or I think I do, at least." He sighed and turned around, now leaning back into the stone railing. "I suppose there's no chance of slinking away, is there?"

She smiled grimly. "You could try that. Problem is, I'd be the one tailing you, and when I catch up, I won't be happy."

He glanced at her, smirking. "Can't have that, can we."

Hermione arched her eyebrow at him. He snorted and turned back to the forest once more. "Just one more question."

"Go on," she urged when he fell silent, "I won't interrupt again. I think."

He flashed a smile at her, then frowned. "Could you speak on my behalf in court?"

She stared at him, taken aback, then smiled softly. "I can do that, yeah."

"Promise?" he asked, voice suddenly rather vulnerable.

She put a small hand on one of his. "I promise."

Quite unexpectedly, a brilliant beam of light flashed through the now fully dark night. Hermione stared at it in surprise, then looked harder at where it'd come from. "It's from the village downhill," she breathed as another streak of light shot up.

"The vampires probably aren't going to be happy with that," said Blaise, grinning.

She grinned back. "I don't suppose they're really going to care when they still have a castle full of Death Eaters to deal with."

He shrugged, still smiling broadly. "Quite."

She checked her watch. "McGonagall should be here in about five minutes," she said to the world at large, shivering as another flash illuminated the sky.

"Still five minutes of freedom left, then," said Blaise, "are you cold?"

"It's nothing," she said, "we'll go back inside in a minute. I'll be fine."

Blaise regarded her for a second, then unfastened two of the clips of his own cloak, making it fall open. Grabbing one side of it, he put an arm around Hermione's waist, pulling her close. "That should keep you warm," he said softly.

She'd frozen for a second, but smiled at his words and let the tension flow away from her shoulders. "Yeah," she replied equally soft, leaning into him.

Silently, they watched the fireworks.