In Too Deep

Disclaimer : I own nothing really. Nothing!!

A/N : OK. No flame please 'cause this is my first fic. Actually the idea came from Japan manga entitled 'X Battle 1999' by CLAMP (released as 'Tokyo Babylon' in some regions) I love that manga so much. It contained lots of dark images and I fell deeply in love with Kamui Shirou. Ha... ha... ha... Anyway, I tried to adopt the plot in volume #10 of 'X Battle 1999' which I adore. I think it will sync perfectly with Harmony.

Thank you to Menoin714 and Richard Old for the Beta. They are such wonderful people. Without them this story would never be uploaded.

I beg any critics and reviews. Enjoy!!

Chapter 1 Treading

It was a meadow in the middle of summer and he was standing in the middle of white lilies. The sky was bright and blue. It was definitely mid-day but he couldn't locate the sun although the weather was warm and he could smell the fragrance of lilies around him. The breeze blew through his hair making it stand out at every different direction and making him look more disheveled than before; but he didn't care, because finally, life was normal for him. There was no danger, no threats, and no prophecy looming over him. Finally he felt at peace like in heaven. Maybe he was in heaven after all. He didn't remember much of the final battle or his final fight with Riddle. Did he win? If he was dead, did that mean Riddle won? What happened to the Wizarding world if Riddle won? He tried hard to remember more but the more he tried to remember the more it seemed to slither away. Then he gave up. Why should he think of anything that already happened? He was safe and happy here. He could do anything he wanted without any concern.

He took a few steps forward. He could see that there was a house in the far end of the lily meadow. His heart leapt up remembering that the house looked exactly like his parents' house at Godric's Hollow. So, did this mean he was in Godric's Hollow now? As far as he remembered, It didn't look like this the last time he visited Godric's Hollow; but soon, that thought flew away from his mind as he took off running. A smile formed on his face and grew wider as he near the house. If this was heaven then he might meet his parents or maybe even Sirius. His smile grew into a wide, silly grin and suddenly he felt ten years old again.

Suddenly, as he was ten feet from the house a very bright white light shone from inside the house that sent him flying backwards more than ten feet and he fell hard on his back with a loud thud. The power of the bright light hit him squarely in the chest. He lay there on the ground surrounded by lilies, he could feel the heat on his chest. He lay there writhing in pain for a couple of minutes before he was finally, able to open his eyes.

He watched in shocked horror as a huge ball of flame rose up into the sky, bringing thick black smoke and ashes in to the air. The smoke filled the air around him. His parents' house was no longer there, in its place was a house covered by a huge fireball. Every inch of that building was on fire and the heat seared his lungs making it hard to breathe, but that didn't matter right now as he wasn't even trying to breathe.

"No ... no ..." he mumbled incoherently.

He wanted to run to the house to look for survivors, but he couldn't move. His body was frozen. Part of him hoped that it was just a dream; just as he nearly reach happiness, finally able to hold both his parents, it was taken from him again. He forced himself to believe that the house was empty and that nobody died. Unfortunately, the front door burst open, blowing out more thick black smoke and ashes through the smoke, a silhouette jumped from inside the house and on wobbly legs, walked out.

He watched as the figure held out both hands and unsteadily tottered towards him. It was a man his body completely covered by fire. It was Ron.

"Ha...rr...y..." Ron held out his hands. Harry watched him approach with his mouth agape and his eyes wide open in shock and fear. His voice tightened in his throat unable to say anything as Ron struggled closer and closer to him.

"NOOOO!!!"

When he was finally able to shout, his view changed in a blink of an eye. Now, he was in the middle of a dark room, or at least that was what he thought it was since everything around him was pitch black. At least he could feel where he stood, on a hard floor, a cold hard floor and he was standing there in bare feet. Why was he standing with bare feet? Then the hard cold floor beneath him melted into something more soft and liquid though it was still cold and he started to be able to see his surroundings. He was actually in the middle of a still sea with very small waves lapping at his bare feet.

That time he was aware of something. He gasped in surprise and quickly looked down at his bare feet. There he was in the middle of a very calm sea with the water just covered an inch of his feet as if he was standing on a glass floor with deep blue water underneath. All around him was blue. He was surrounded by blue. The seawater was deep blue even the sky was emanating different shades of blue and again no sun. It wasn't as warm as in the meadow. It was cold but not cold enough to chill him.

Tentatively, he took a step forward, and then a few more and the glass floor was still there; so he decided that it was safe to walk on this particular sea. Now he wasn't even sure anymore that this was heaven. He even doubted it was a dream, since he never had such a weird dream as this. Although death still followed him in this dream ... if this was a dream. His train of thought perplexed him more. He had walked far enough yet he didn't see anything or even anything changing. As far as his eyes could see there was water everywhere and the horizon was far away from him. He kept walking and walking without anything happening until a soft voice called his name.

He stopped, startled and was listening for the voice. He heard it again louder this time yet still soft as the flow of water. Squinting his eyes, he scanned the horizon in front of him, and waited for someone or something to emerge.

"Harry..."

There, he heard it again but where did it come from? There was nothing unusual on the horizon. It was as still and as blue as before. Then he felt it. He suddenly felt the presence of someone behind him. His heart beat faster, pounded in his ribcage as he dreaded what he would face when he turned around. Slowly and reluctantly he turned around. His eyes filled with tears, as soon as he beheld the figure behind him. He almost cried as he stepped forward to embrace her.

"Thank God you're safe!" He whispered softly. He buried his face in her wild soft hair. He held her tighter as he tried to manage his emotions. As he calmed himself, he just held her there, unwilling to let go. He drank in the scent of her shampoo as his hands lazily went up and down her back. Once again he felt safe here in her arms. All his troubles seemed to cease to exist anytime he held her like this. It was this feeling that kept him going all this long.

"I thought I lost you Hermione. When I saw Ron ..."

He trailed off unable to voice his fear. At least he had her now. Safe in his arms and he vowed never to let her go. The last time he left her alone something bad happened. He didn't want to remember that and the memory was too horrific to grasp. It seemed to taunt him. He knew it was there, he knew he could remember it if he tried hard enough but every time he came near it, his mind went blank.

It didn't matter, though, whatever bad happened, she was safe now, right? What he needed to do was just hold her tight. He was afraid that if he let her go, or even just loosened his grip, she might just vanish, like his parents' house did, and like Ron did. Then he realized something. He had kept his hand going up and down her back until he felt her warm back become cold and sticky wet. He frowned and stopped to look at his hands.

Red. The palm of his right hand was covered in red. It covered his whole hand. The back of her shirt was drenched with red, blood red. His heart almost stopped beating right then. It hurt to breathe, as if a thousand needles were piercing his lungs as he inhaled. Hermione stayed silent as he hugged her. His hands were shaking now as her body lost it's warmth with the passing of time. He didn't know how much time had passed, yet slowly, very slowly he stepped back.

Blood was all over her, on her shirt, on her face, dripping from her eyes, nose, ears and even from the corner of her mouth. Her shirt and skirt were drenched with red and the blue water around them became red, blood red. Tears of blood still poured from her eyes as she looked at him, sadly as if saying goodbye. He opened his mouth and tried desperately to say something but couldn't get out even a single word. Soon, he couldn't see clearly, through the tears flowing down his cheeks. He made no sound and cried silently.

"Hermione..." he whispered

When he was finally able to get her name out, it was filled with such sorrow that every breath was an unbearable agony.

At that very moment, she dissolved into flowers, as if her body just broke up and changed into hundreds of white lilies in his hands. The flowers flew around him in slow motion, and embraced him as he slumped down, bathed in red; for the deep blue sea had morphed into blood red. And gradually everything went white, pure white, innocent white, so white that it blinded him until he saw himself dissolved into the white, gone to nothingness and becoming nothing.

Excerpt of chapter 2

In reflex, he slapped his hand to his mouth, and resisted the urge to vomit. He looked around the disgusting scenery before him, while he ignored the pounding of his heart that pumped cold blood through his body. Each pulse sent the blood colder and colder until it chilled him to the bone. He began to shiver from the chill and the dreadful images that ran amok inside his head. Yet any images his brain produced were less dreadful compared to the image before him. Body parts, yes body parts, were scattered about at odd places around the room.