One Life for Another

A/N: Alrighty... a couple notes before we get started on this chapter, some related to feedback I've gotten and some just things that occurred to me.

I'm not wanting to reveal too much of the plot, but don't worry if you see the Galahad/Hermione interaction and start wondering how exactly its a Draco/Hermione fic. I think I can safely guarantee that whichever pairing you hope for, you won't be disappointed by the outcome (and please god don't let that be giving it away. lol).

I've told myself so many times that when I write chapters I'm going to write them longer rather than breaking them up... and it just doesn't seem to work out well. Either I get writer's block or the flow is just weird, so hopefully the current chapter lengths won't be an issue. :)

At the moment I'm looking at making Sunday my "update day" every week, so you should be able to look for a new chapter on at least that day every week. And since I just got home from work and its technically early Sunday morning, here we go... ;)

---

Around midday the forest opened up to reveal a small, glistening lake. It was larger than a pond, but not so big as the lake at Hogwarts. The water was clear and blue, the sun reflecting off of it so brilliantly that you could not stare for long at a time. Galahad guided his horse around the lake until they came to a small, shallow pool of water at the lake’s edge.

“Come, Hermione,” he said, helping her down and then bidding his horse to wait for them. “You will see something none but family has seen before.”

He led her closer to the pool and stepped into it. She looked at him strangely for a moment, then saw how the water had altered. It no longer looked to have a muddy floor to the pool. Now it was a set of stairs that went down out of sight. She followed him, trusting him once more, and found that the water did not even feel wet. It was magic, done to conceal the way to the home of a powerful witch, known in this time as the Dame du Lac.

There were only about twenty steps before they came to a door where a woman was waiting for them, a smile on her face. Galahad went to her immediately, embracing her and addressing her as “grandmother.” To Hermione, the woman didn’t look like any grandmother she’d ever seen, but neither did the woman look any age in particular. She was timeless, with flowing blonde hair and brilliant green eyes.

“Welcome, Hermione,” the Dame said to her after Galahad had released her. “Come, we will care for your ankle before anything else is done.”

“How...” started Hermione. “How do you know me?”

The Dame smiled and her eyes lit up in amusement. “My domain is this lake and the forest that surrounds it. I know of everything that occurs in my domain. Come now, my child.”

As the Dame worked about her home, taking down herbs and other supplies to use on Hermione’s ankle, she spoke of what she had seen. Galahad was not present for the discussion, having been sent out to better secure his horse before a coming storm arrived. “You are a warrior in your own time,” said the Dame, “like few women in this time are able to be. I heard the stories you told Galahad, and it excites me to think that magic not only survives so long, but flourishes. I am not foolish or inexperienced as the knight you told them to, I know that with time all things become corrupted. So tell me what it is that you withheld from him, and let me worry over repercussions.”

If there is a way to justify denying the Lady of the Lake, Hermione did not know it, and so began to tell the Dame of just what she had been escaping from. As she told of Voldemort, the Dame’s expression became darker and darker, until Hermione heard the water above them tossing angrily in matching with its mistress’ mood.

“It is not wrong to use Dark magic,” the Dame said finally, “but only if you are well versed in it and understand the consequences. It doesn’t have to corrupt, and only does so when the person is corrupt to begin with. Dark magic... ah, but this is lore that will have died with the last Lady of the Lake by your time. Still, I will entrust it with you if you will give me your oath to protect it well.”

Hermione nodded, and felt magic swirl about her as she spoke a wizarding oath. “I swear to protect what lore you share with me, using it only for right purposes and sharing it in turn with only those who will respect it.”

“Very well, then,” said the Dame. “Dark and Light magic are tied to the world, but in different ways. Light magic is renewable, it is like the air and moves to accommodate whatever we do in its space. Using it matters little, and the repercussions are few. Dark magic, though, is tied strongly with the earth. It is an ancient power with a mind of its own. You can use it well, but to use it too often causes an upset in the equilibrium between light and dark. Without that balance, magic itself becomes unreliable and could be lost if things go bad enough. That is why Dark wizards must be dealt with quickly. They jeopardize all.”

It made sense to Hermione, and put the war against Voldemort in a new light. “But how can you restore the balance?”

The Dame frowned. “Two ways, one infinitely better than the other. The first is time, but that requires a long wait before balance can be achieved and any use of Dark magic sets back the recovery. The second stands before you. The Lady of the Lake is trusted with the task, and it is she that has abilities to balance it. She controls the flow of magic in her realm and the surrounding areas. I can’t block someone entirely from using Dark spells, but I can severely limit the power of them.

“So why isn’t there a Lady of the Lake in my time?” asked Hermione.

“Many things happen to upset the proper course of things,” answered the Dame slowly. “Each Lady teaches only one to replace her, and in so doing entrusts a portion of her power in the one she has chosen. Once done, she cannot train another. If that one fails in any way, then all is over. That is just how it is. The one that it is for me to train has only recently surfaced, and because of their identity I am not entirely pleased with the situation. Before you leave this place, you will understand why the Ladys ceased to exist. Now leave the subject be, Galahad is returning.”

They went back to caring for her leg, and Hermione watched carefully as the Dame took herbs of unknown properties in her time and used them in healing. They removed the pain, and her ankle returned to its proper size. The Dame also gave her a version of a replenishing potion, saying her body and her magic were both exhausted from what had happened. Hermione wasn’t sure how, but she had a feeling the Dame knew she had recently been tortured, something she’d managed to hide from Galahad.

The three ate a hearty dinner that the Dame prepared for them, and as she worked she taught Hermione of what herbs should be put in food to improve taste and improve a person’s magic. It seemed that many things had been lost through time. They curled up next to her fire, a strange thing in Hermione’s mind to have in an underwater home, and soon Galahad had fallen off to sleep. The women stayed up for a long while, exchanging stories and speaking of what must be.

“You should call me Nimue,” said the Dame finally. “That was my name before I accepted my role as the Dame.”
Hermione studied her for a minute and smiled. “That name is known to us as well, though only rarely is it connected to the Lady of the Lake.”

“It is a shame you must return to your own time,” said Nimue softly after another minute had passed. “You would have made a good lady of the lake after me. But in your time there will be no lady, and so I will train you to take up the role then, if you are willing.”

“I thought...” began Hermione, then silenced herself.

“Oh I am pleased with the candidate I have been given, and that candidate is you,” said Nimue in explanation of their earlier conversation. “I just wish the lake didn’t have to go so long without a Lady. I’m sure that you will manage to right things, once you return. Just learn well, and ensure the new line of guardians lasts for many years to come.”