The Triumvirate of Resolve (Harmione)

Chapter 22 - Turning Point

Author's Note: There is quite a bit of Latin in this chapter. I'm quite sure most of it is grammatically incorrect, so if you converse in Latin over the dinner table, please cut me a break J In general terms, the Latin only describes what you already know of the enchantment. It joins body, mind, and soul, together in a willing eternal union and if anyone breaks it their magic will be destroyed.....it just sounded a lot damn cooler in Latin!

The enchantment cast in this chapter is not entirely my own idea. Although I've made the casting and the phraseology etc. my own...I have to give credit where it's due. I would probably never have come up with this idea or angle to the story had I not read Ebony's Trouble in Paradise early in my HPFF musings. I don't think this enchantment bears a great deal of resemblance to what she depicted, but the overall idea of the trio being magically bound together is hers.

Big thanks to Melissa and Jane for their expert beta-work. Your suggestions were wonderful, and as usual I just "accepted" every grammar change that was made...it's important to know one's limitations.

You will (hopefully) recognize a familiar location in this chapter. You will also bid farewell to at least one canon character - not saying which. As for the end of the chapter...it ends a rather long journey...well over 400 pages of it...as this roller coaster has finally crested the top of the last LONG drop (that will end at the end of chapter 24)...all I can say is this...

Please keep your hands and feet inside the car until the train has come to a complete stop.

VLeigh

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Harry staggered down the stairs and flopped into the squashy sofa. His dreams had consisted of green-clad Slytherins running amok at Number 4 Privet Drive. Dudley, himself sporting the robes of the snakes, had Mark Evans hanging from the ceiling like a punching bag whilst he set upon beating the fire out of him.

The sun hadn't thought to peek from the trees yet. It was only five o'clock in the morning, so the common room was deserted. The house fireplace contained the dying embers of a fire long forgotten. The waning moonlight streamed across the table where his books were piled. Harry, nearly catatonic from a persistent lack of rest, stared at them while attempting to force his body from the sofa to resume his studies. It was well into April and N.E.W.T. exams were approaching at breakneck speed. While Hermione managed to stay atop her studies with her infernal multi-colored homework planner, Harry's had become little more than a paperweight. This is not to say he didn't study - he studied with her, but he also had Quidditch practice and the crushing stress of the prophecy distracting him from his revision.

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back along the cushions. The weight that had taken up residence in his chest months ago grew heavier. He could feel the tension in every muscle of his body and couldn't stop the constant flurry of activity that overloaded his brain and exhausted him. When he was thinking about the prophecy, he felt guilty for skiving off revising for the N.E.W.T.s. When he studied for N.E.W.T.s, he felt like he was signing his own death warrant. Quidditch practice always his mood. He left the pitch after each practice thinking of the time he'd wasted on a game, not preparing for either his exams or his fate. He hadn't experienced a restful night's sleep since the evening of the Valentine's Dance, and on top of that, he couldn't get Dumbledore's words out of his head. He'd named Harry Head Boy and kept his residence among the other Gryffindors, because he felt Harry's leadership would be vital this year. As he lay on the sofa, doing absolutely nothing, he wondered what kind of example he'd set.

His thoughts drifted to the heartening smile where they always ended eventually...Hermione. After the meeting with Dumbledore, Ron walked Merc back to Ravenclaw Tower, whilst Harry and Hermione returned to Gryffindor Tower alone. Hermione didn't attempt to make conversation and Harry returned the favor. Taking advantage of the silence, he contemplated the discussion they'd just had in the Headmaster's office and his refusal to allow the trio to cast the enchantment. The longer he thought about it, the more it agitated him. By the time they'd parted for bed, he'd made up his mind.