Chapter 4- Call and Answer

 

          He tossed and turned, his breathing labored and heavy.  He could feel an intense heat from somewhere, but couldn’t wake himself to find out what was happening.  Inside his mind screamed for him to wake, to make sure that the manor wasn’t burning down, but the irrational part of him kept his subconscious asleep.  He could see himself, standing in the dark, surrounded by a thick mist, and he could hear the faint beating of a heart, but whether it was his or not he couldn’t be sure.

 

          <What’s going on!?  Why can’t I WAKE UP!!?>

         

          The roar of a dragon caused him to whirl around, dodging blue fire that blazed by.  It left a blast of freezing cold air behind, and that puzzled him.  He knew that dragons breathed fire, and that fire could be blue, but he’d never known it to be ice cold.  Looking in the direction that the blast came from, he saw nothing but mist, yet when he turned back to where it had headed, he saw what looked like a ring of Cornish Pixies, dancing around something.  When he looked closer, he noticed that there was a symbol floating in the center of their ring, the hottest white fire he’d ever seen surrounding it.

 

          <What is that?>

<Surely you recognize your own Element?> an unfamiliar voice said as the pixies dispersed and a phoenix appeared behind the symbol, perched on a wisp of white light.

<Element?>

<Don’t tell me that you haven’t realized that you hold the power of Mulciber [1], the Ancient of Fire?>

<Mulciber?  No idea who he is, don’t really care, but if you’re going to tell me anyway, I don’t have much of a choice but to listen, do I?>

<Smart boy, and being that I don’t have much time, I’ll make this quick.  Mulciber was one of five of the Ancient wizards, and he controlled the Element of Fire, and was the second strongest of the five.  He was the first to tame the ‘Hell Hound’, Cerberus, which I believe is what you take the form of…>

<How-How do you know I’m an Animagi?!>

<I’ve known since you disappeared with Keya what you are, just as I knew what Narcissa Malfoy and James Potter were.>

<My Mother was no Animagus.>

<You are very wrong Mr. Malfoy, she was, on such an extreme scale that she did not change very often.  Do you recall the creature you saw disappearing into the forest after your funeral? [2]>

 

          Before he could reply, the phoenix let out a wail, and in a burst of flame disappeared, leaving him alone in the mist, staring at the symbol before him.  With a calmness that should not have been, he reached out and cupped the light in his hands, and felt an incredible warmth flow through him.  It was the same warmth he felt when he became the ‘Hell Hound.’  With a smile he pulled the light to his chest, and pressed it firmly there.  In a flash of white, he was sitting up in bed and panting as he brought a shaking hand up to the warm metal that lay at his chest.  Looking down, he saw the symbol from his dream, solidified into an intricate sterling pendant, a red stone set in the center.  Holding it in his hand, he laid back down and fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

~!*^*!~

 

          Harry looked out over the city from his buildings roof, hand fingering the Dragon’s Blade hilt and he felt its power run through him as the dragon holding the diamond stretched its wings.  The diamond seemed to wink up at him as he took a swig of the Absolute in his hand, and as he put the bottle down and brought the matching dragon pendant up to look at it, he smiled.

 

          “Tomorrow’s the full moon… I’ll call you back to me, and you’ll never leave again, so help me God.”

 

~!*^!~

 

          Hermione walked out into the courtyard and looked up at the nearly full moon with tears in her eyes.  With shaking hands she pulled a velvet pouch from her robes and from it pulled out a small glass ball.  In it she could see her greatest Secret, and with a small smile, threw it as high as she could.  Without breaking the motion, she pointed her wand at it, and with a loud bang, it burst apart in a flurry of white light, which faded just as quickly as it had come.

 

          “Tomorrow you’ll be back with the one you swore to protect…  and the circle will be complete once you’re completely his.  Happy Birthday Harry.”

 

~!*^*!~

 

          She looked out over London from her broom, and smiled as she saw the glittering red embers and familiar song of a phoenix flying towards her.  Releasing her broom, she held her arms out, letting the embers swirl around her before heading to their next target.  She looked down at a familiar apartment and sighed.

 

          “You’re the only thing we’re waiting on Harry.  Call him back from the dead and everything will be in place.”

“You think it’ll be that easy?” a small dragon said as it landed on her broom. “Potter may be too far gone to accept the truth.”

“He wouldn’t call him if he didn’t know he was alive.  I think Harry’s known for a long time that Malfoy’s been alive these past three years, but didn’t want to believe it because it contradicted everything he knew he saw.”

“Damiana, do you think it wise for me to accompany Malfoy?  I’m not so sure that having the Fire Ancient loose so soon after realizing his power is such a good idea.”
”Riv [3], he’ll just apparate to Harry, and the only danger he’ll be in will be from his jewel-eyed God.”

“I hope you’re right, because I don’t want to be dragged back into another war.”

“This war will be short, the Ancients are stronger than they were before, and there’s much more Light around now that can hold the Darkness.”

“Did you ever think that maybe it’s the Darkness that makes Potter believe Malfoy to be dead?”
”It’s possible, but I don’t know.  You have to remember, I’ve never locked a Dark Lord inside myself.”

 

~!*^*!~

 

          She quickly dressed herself and headed for the roof.  She didn’t care if she woke Ron, he was going to be just as much a part of what was happening as she was.  She quickly grabbed the quiver of arrows and the bow that she kept by the roof door and drew one out.  In one fluid motion she had put a spell of it and cast it into the sky.  It disappeared from view, and as she sat down, suddenly exhausted, she saw the glitter that she knew was coming.  She absentmindedly fingered the pewter pendant at her chest, and she looked again to the heavens, her blue-grey eyes starting to glow white.

 

          “I left Rivendell to find the Ancient of Fire, and instead found my Soul Mate.  How am I supposed to tell Ron that I’m an Elf, not a Witch?”

“You don’t have to tell me Rena, I already knew.” Ron said as he kneeled behind her. “I knew the moment I saw you.”

“Bu- But HOW?!”

“I’m not stupid Rena, I know what Elvish looks like, and I know what the crest on your robes is.  Rhiannon Greenleaf, daughter of Legolas.  You’re also the Ancient of Water.”

 

          She stared at him in mute shock.  Was she that easy to read, or did she give too much away?  She didn’t bother to question it, because it wouldn’t get her any closer to getting to where she needed to be.  She just leaned back into Ron’s arms and took comfort in his arms, as she always had.  He kissed her temple and they sat there, just watching the starlit sky, waiting for it to reveal its secrets.

 

~!*^*!~

 

          Dumbledore walked into his office, parchment in hand, and slammed it on the desk before the phoenix that was perched on the one side.  His eyes were narrow slits of blue, and seemed to spark with anger.

 

          “What the hell do you think you’re doing Fawkes?!  You know that the Elven people haven’t been involved in the workings of man since before the Calling!  I’ll be damned if I allow you to call them into it now!”

<What choice do we have Albus Dumbledore, when the Spirit Ancient is the Elven leader of Mirkwood?  And the Ancient of Water is his daughter, so it’s not like we have much say in the matter.>

“I cannot allow them within these walls, you know that!  Only an Ancient can undo the workings of another Ancient, and I highly doubt that we’re going to get one of them here in a matter of a few days!!”

<Listen to me Dumbledore, for once in your incredibly long life!  I know where all of the Ancients are, and I can speak with them, it is in my nature to do so, but I CANNOT perform miracles!  I have done all I can to set the Circle in motion, there’s nothing more to do but let it run its course.  They will open the doors to the Elven people, and we will come together to defeat the darkness that we feel is coming.>

“It gets stronger day by day Fawkes, there is no way we can prepare so quickly!  Greenleaf will be here in three days, and that is not nearly enough time to get things settled!”

<All will work out, and I assure you, there are already Elves in Hogwarts.  Rhiannon Evans was one…>

“Ms. Evans?  I don’t believe it.”

<She was Rhiannon Greenleaf when she was born, do you not remember?>

“Yes, and it took quite a bit to put two and two together when Narcissa’s son came to Hogwarts.  I knew that there was something familiar about his powers.”

<Narcissa may have been human, but her mixed parentage allowed her quite a bit.  Legolas still grieves her death you know.>

“Strange… Rhiannon looks nothing like her father, or her mother, but Draco is the spitting image of the Elven Prince.  Could it be that she retained some of himself in her?”

<More than likely it was a delayed pregnancy…>

“Oh dear…”

 

~TBC~

  Foot notes (these are becoming quite a habit, aren’t they?)

[1]- Mulciber is the surname of the Roman God Vulcan/Vulcanus, the Fire Forge God.  (in Greek mythology he was the husband/lover of Aphrodite (Venus is Roman))

 

[2]- I’ll explain in the next chapter… I think I gave a little bit of it away in the ending of this.  Not so much an animal, but if you think about Legolas… (note I said “creature” when Fawkes mentioned it)

 

[3]- Riv… where did the Fellowship of the Ring form?  Rivendell, city of the Elves, where else.  Just had to come up with a name for him, and it fit.  Maybe I’ll fit it into the actual story some how… ideas welcome!