This story is a sequel to the one-shot "The First Circle" and will be followed by a multi-chapter novella titled "Ascension."

Things felt different in Limbo. There was still day and night, the body still became tired and hungry, hair and nails still grew, but there was no sense of temperature. Touching others or taking a shower were awkward things without it. Lily could cook a meal and it would be neither hot nor cold. The only way to know if the food was cooked was by the texture. There didn't seem to be sickness either, so when Hermione didn't cook chicken through completely, the only harm was that Sirius and James teased her about it.

If Hermione had been counting days, she would have known that about two months had already gone by. In Limbo, days blended into weeks and into hours, and there was never boredom. Only a stronger urge to watch.

As the main, large pool closest to the Potter's house was always set to watching Harry, that's what they did. They watched in shifts. Sometimes Sirius's Aunt Lycoris and Uncle Regulus, sometimes James's parents Dorea and Charlus. Lily watched the most. In the two months since she'd woken up here, Hermione was making a name for herself as Lily's twin in that regard. She spent long hours, more than any other shift, just staring into the still water. Watching.

Hermione was feeling restless. She'd finally been sent to bed by Lycoris a few hours ago, but she couldn't sleep. So she got up, dressed, and made her way back to the pool. It was dark and quiet tonight. No one was at the other pools. There were only two standing at Harry's. Lycoris was on one side and on the other was the elder Regulus, both watching intently.

Hermione came to stop next to Lycoris. It took a moment for the image to focus, but as it did, she recognised the stone walls and the corridors. "He's at Hogwarts," she whispered. She couldn't see anyone in the hall, so he must have been under his invisibility cloak.

"Oh, good, one of you are here. Go fetch Lily, Hermione. I think it's time." As Lycoris spoke the image changed to a small, spiralling staircase. "That's Ravenclaw Tower," she murmured. She looked up at Hermione who was still trying to figure out what Harry was doing at Hogwarts. "Go, child!"

Hermione looked up at Lycoris and saw how anxious she was. She turned and ran back to the row of houses. She had learned that there wasn't a difference among them. Every house she saw could be the house she wanted. All she had to do was picture it clearly in her mind and open any door. It would always be the house she wanted. Once inside, Hermione shouted into the silent house. "Lily! Lily, Lycoris says it's time!'

She came down the stairs already dressed, James, sans moustache, following. Sirius, Dorea, and Charlus each came out of their rooms at the sound of her voice. Lily didn't wait for explanations, just rushed right past Hermione. Hermione didn't wait for any of the others, either, and followed Lily back towards the pool.

Harry was on the floor in a circular room that Hermione had never seen before; blue and bronze fabric covered the walls. Standing over Harry was Alecto Carrow. Then the witch fell over. Harry said something, stood, and then disappeared. Whoever was with him must have stunned the witch.

"Who's with him, Lycoris?" Lily asked, panting not from the run but from holding her breath.

"Luna Lovegood."

Students gathered around the body of the woman. Whispering to themselves. They all froze in fear and looked towards the door. After a long pause, they all scrambled back up the stairs to their dorms and the door burst open. Amycus Carrow stormed in with his wand drawn.

Professor McGonagall, standing tall and stiff, followed behind him. They looked over Alecto and bickered for a moment, then McGonagall looked around the room as if searching for someone. Hermione felt her eyes prickle. McGonagall had figured out Harry was there. They were bickering again and Carrow moved his face close to hers, snarling and shouting. Then he spat in her face.

Hermione heard Sirius start swearing that if he could only get his hands on Carrow and Lily hushing him.

"Look," Lily said, pointing at the pool. "Watch," she commanded. They did; they watched as Harry slipped out from under the cloak and shouted. Carrow flew backwards, his body arching up and thrashing, twisting in pain before he smashed into a glass-fronted bookcase and fell to the ground.

Hermione's heart felt like it was in her throat as she watched the scene. Watched McGonagall, startled, shocked, and proud as she scolded Harry.

"That was a powerful Cruciatus," a young man's voice said from beside Hermione. She looked up at Regulus, the younger.

"That's what that was? I'd never… I'd never seen it cast on someone else."

He looked at her with pain in his eyes, like he knew how she felt, before he reached out and ran his fingertips along her arm. He nodded back towards the pool and they both turned to watch again. McGonagall was alone in the corridor, which meant Harry and Luna were under the cloak. Professor Snape slipped out of the darkness into their path. Short, terse conversation followed and then they duelled. Or rather, McGonagall attacked Snape. Snape was fast and efficient in his spell casting and even though Hermione didn't like him, his technique impressed her. Then more professors were running up the hall and they all were casting spells at Snape. His eyes widened, only the slightest hint of fear on his face, before he turned and, without hesitation, leapt through a window.

Hermione could imagine the sound of the glass as he went through it. Lily's whispered, "Sev," was the only sound instead.

The scene shifted enough to see what Harry was seeing as he looked out the window. Severus Snape was flying; his black cloak flapping behind him like great wings. Regulus's chuckle startled Hermione enough to look up at him. "Sev is not a big fan of flying."

"Really?"

"Oh, he'll do it. By broom, I mean. He was even decent at it. Just did not like doing it." He gestured towards the pool. "I've never seen him fly unassisted like that though."

"Why do you call him that?"

"Sev?" he asked. "Because he was my friend and friends sometimes shorten each others' names."

"But Lily called him that, too," she said quietly, unsure. Lily was focused on the scene in the pool and Hermione assumed she was reading lips.

"Sev and Lily were friends before they went to Hogwarts. I think she still has a soft spot for him," Regulus answered.

Hermione's eyebrows scrunched together. "But he killed Dumbledore!"

"And he's done plenty of other despicable things, but he's always watched over Harry."

Hermione felt confusion over that. Snape had always been horrible to Harry. She pushed it to the back of her mind as she turned to see Lily had stopped watching the pool. She was looking around the space with that same intensity she'd had only moments ago. Hospital beds started creating themselves in two neat rows near the pools. More people were coming out of their houses, moving to their usual pools. Finally, when there were ten beds, with lamps to illuminate the space, she stopped. The number of people coming out of their houses was overwhelming now. She turned and Sirius reached out to steady her as she stood on the edge of the pool. She looked out over the amassing crowd.

"There is about to be a battle at Hogwarts," Lily said and her voice echoed out over the crowd like she had used a Sonorous charm. She swallowed and Hermione could see tears starting to form in her eyes. "There will be death. Please, consider taking charge of someone's orientation; they will be confused upon waking. Remember how you were confused once." She stepped down and turned back to the pool.

Harry was in a corridor talking to himself it seemed. Someone farther around the pool started a whisper and Hermione could hear the susurrations as it made its way towards her. "He's speaking with a ghost: The Grey Lady," the whispers said.

Things happened quickly after that. Hermione saw Hagrid and Neville and an old man that looked like Dumbledore and Ron. Harry and Ron were headed up to the Room of Requirement when the first body materialised on the bed. Hermione turned at the disturbance to see Remus Lupin, looking tired and battle-worn but in clean clothes, on the first bed. James and Sirius were the first to act, moving towards his bed to ease with the disorientation.

There was a bright red-orange glow from the pool and Hermione watched as fire, burning hot and fast and consuming everything in its path chased after Harry, Ron, and surprisingly Malfoy and Goyle. Vincent Crabbe was the next body to appear, skin still emitting wafts of smoke but otherwise whole. An elderly man and woman rushed from the crowd to gather at his bedside. Hermione assumed they might be his grandparents.

A third figure materialised just as quickly, with bright red hair sticking up at all ends. Hermione's eyes burned as she looked back into the pool to see Ron and Percy kneeling beside a downed body. "Fred," she murmured as she looked back. Regulus and Cepheus had moved towards the boy as soon as he showed up. Then little Colin Creevy was there and Pandora had gone to him.

The images in the pool were coming at lightning speed, Harry nowhere in sight and Ron following behind.

The next body to materialise was Tonks, and instead of waking up gradually like the others, she woke up screaming. "Teddy!" She sat straight up, looking around in a panic, "No, no, no, no, no..." Despite the crazy scene that was blazing along in the pools, Lily turned and went straight for her. She hugged Tonks and rocked her back and forth to try and soothe her.

Lavender Brown was waking up in the next bed and Professor Vector in the next.

Hermione couldn't keep track as three more people she didn't recognise showed up immediately after that. She worried that they needed more beds, but each of the previous occupants was helped up and taken off to talk away from the noise. Hermione blinked. The noise? She looked around. The entire plaza was filled with people. Although most were whispering there were shouts and wails as loved ones were injured and died.

Hermione turned back to the pool, desperate to see what was going on. She watched Harry and Ron as they watched Voldemort and Snape. She could almost hear Snape's scream as Voldemort commanded Nagini to kill him. She jerked back as the snake attacked, horrified by the amount of blood gushing from his neck. She leaned forward, intrigued by the bluish mist that poured from his mouth, his ears, and his eyes. She watched as Ron dug into his pockets, pulled out an empty sweets box that had been in his pocket for months and shoved it at Harry, who used it to scoop up the blue, floating mist. Then Snape's hand fell to the wooden floor and Hermione was sure she heard it thud.

When she turned to look at the beds, Snape was already there, dressed in his normal black cloak. He was staring at the sky which was still starry and dark. No one had moved to help him. No one. Not a single person in the whole plaza had the courage or the will to go help him. Hermione nodded to herself and took a deep breath as she walked towards his cot. Another body appeared on the first bed that Remus had vacated and the cycle started again.