The Kiss

by Polydicta

Summary:

When curses collide in a magically charged atmosphere, strange things happen to reality.

Disclaimer:

All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.

There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.

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The Kiss

.

The headlines in Edinburgh screamed the unthinkable news:

Priceless Statue Stolen

The Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities today announced that the famous statue, "The Kiss", was stolen today. Police and museum officials are baffled at the disappearance of this sculpture which has become an icon of the art world …

.

Just the day before:

"… and here, ladies and gentlemen is the highlight of our tour. A life-scale sculpture in an unusual flesh-coloured marble, simply entitled 'The Kiss'.

"No one is certain who sculptor or who the models were for this piece, and certainly we are thankful that this incredible work has survived. The fine detail is exquisite, and many viewers expect the sculpture to move.

"The pose is unusual in that the two figures are simply kneeling, and the simplicity of the posing and the dynamic line gives the whole work a sense of two young lovers frozen in time. Indeed, some of our visitors feel embarrassed at seeing the young couple in such an unguarded and ultimately private moment.

"Moving on now …"

Minerva McGonagall left the tour, for this was the single thing she wished to see. She had wondered if it were true, and now that she saw the statue, could feel the statue, she knew that it quite simply was.

Somehow, the marble was undimmed and unaffected by the passage of time. The normal insults and wear from thousands of hand touching the marble simply weren't there. As a witch, she could see the effect of an incredibly powerful Via Aeterna enchantment, though for what reason she couldn't tell.

She needed time to study the thing before her, to understand the nature of the stone.

Her mind wandered back to the Final Battle.

Three voices yelled in unison. "Avadra Kavadra!"

Three bolts of green light simultaneously left the three wands. Hermione and Voldemort's curses collided while Harry's found its mark. The colliding spells in the already magically charged atmosphere interacted violently, and a blue-white maelstrom of magical energy briefly flickered, engulfing the two Gryffindors.

When vision returned, all that remained was a single body and a pair of wire-framed glasses. Tom Riddle, it was agreed, made a handsome corpse.

A monument to the Boy Who Lived and his muggleborn partner was erected where they had stood. In the years of peace since the Final Battle it had become a place of pilgrimage. In fact, there were often votive offerings and prayers left at the feet of the figures. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had become almost deified by witches and wizards who followed.

.

The smoke cleared and the two of them saw that the battlefield was clear of … well, of everything. Everything, that is, except dense forest.

They were in a dank, dark, noisome forest with stunted, twisted trees festooned with grey-green beards of damp lichen. There was no undergrowth, just patches of grass and mud, and twisted tangles of roots. There was no sound of any life, all they could hear was their own breathing. The sky above was flat and grey.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "where are we?"

"I have no idea, 'Mione. I do know where we aren't, though. We're not in the school grounds. And we're further north, I think. It's colder."

Hermione nodded. "Apparate somewhere?"

"No, too risky. Wherever we go may be out of apparation range."

"Good point. Which way then?"

Harry cast a point-me towards Hogwarts. They started walking.

An hour's walk saw them on firmer ground, rising steadily. They crossed through a low pass and saw the familiar profile of the mountains to the north of the school. What they saw, however was not a school.

There on the rocky outcrop, surrounded by heath and scrub, was a broch, a round tower built of dry-stone masonry. There was no sign of human life anywhere in the vicinity.

They approached the tower carefully, wands at the ready.

"What's happened, 'Mione?"

"Harry, this is the original Hogwarts, we must have travelled back in time. This is how Merlin must have seen the school, long before the founders came."

Harry groaned.

The tower was massively built, and when they arrived at the structure, there was no sign of habitation. They explored, finding that the chambers were within the thickness of the walls, and the centre of the tower was a courtyard. There was some evidence of low dwellings having stood huddled close to the outside of the tower.

"It's getting late, 'Mione. Let's set up camp here tonight."

She agreed, and soon they were warming themselves in one of the rooms in the stone structure. A room with one entrance, close to the top of the tower. A small window gave them light and a view of what would, one day, become Hogsmead.

They felt despondent. Harry was fed-up with his blurred vision, so he tried to summon his glasses, but without success. Hermione cast a vision charm on him which would have to suffice for the time being.

"Thanks 'Mione," he said, and hugged her.

They slept huddled together and woke to a brilliant, golden dawn. They became aware of the fetid stench of the bog-land they had slogged through the previous day, and resolved to get clean, as scourgify didn't seem to be enough. The only running water they could find was a pool before a hot spring where in times to come would stand the Hogwarts greenhouses, warmed by the magical waters.

Self-consciously, they stripped off. The teens had lived together in a tent for eight months, and yet had never seen each other without clothes. After their initial embarrassment, they agreed that they liked what they saw, and plunged into the pool to get clean.

A little horse-play became serious activity as they washed their clothes in the pool. As they climbed out, Harry looked at Hermione, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Hermione, we are all alone in this place, more than a thousand years from home, lost in ways beyond measure. We may never see our friends and family again. I can't think of anyone I would rather be cast away with."

He looked worried, but finally said, "I know that here and now it may be a meaningless gesture, but, Hermione Granger, will you consent to be my wife?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Harry, of course I will. With all of my heart and soul. Even though we haven't even dated yet."

Harry laughed. "Want to come to Hogsmead this weekend then?"

She smiled.

Suddenly she was on her knees, and Harry dropped to his too. Their eyes met, and emerald gaze was welded with amber. Unnoticed, their wands came to rest between them.

Tentatively, Harry reached out for Hermione, putting his hand on her shoulder. They shuffled closer.

She put her arms around his lower back, and he enfolded her in his arms also.

Their bodies were almost touching, her naked breasts barely brushing his shirtless chest, their knees almost but not quite in contact.

Hardly daring to breathe, their faces crept closer until their lips touched in their first, tentative kiss.

There was a pulse of magic and where had knelt two lovers embarking on their first journey together, there was a statue of that same pair.

.

The headmistress, had never truly believed that the young couple had been killed, and three years later, she was still searching. The fact that Harry's vault remained inviolate told her that they were still out there, somewhere.

Minerva McGonagall looked around. She cast a confundus on the surveillance cameras and then tapped the statue twice with her wand.

"Finite incantatum."

There was a pulse of magic, and there before her knelt the naked forms of her two former students. Minerva found herself becoming quite embarrassed by the sheer intensity of the couple's tender kiss.

"Ahem."

Harry looked up and did a double-take. "Professor? We've just had the most …"

His voice trailed off as he realised that he and his intended lacked clothes.

"Um, sorry about this …"

He picked up his wand that was on the plinth between their knees and conjured clothes for both of them.

"Professor, you know how time seems to be a bit erratic sometimes?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Well, Harry's kiss seemed to last only a moment, and yet it seemed at the same time to last for a thousand years.."

"I can understand that, Miss Granger, and we can discuss it sometime, but right now we need to get you home to Hogwarts."

"Oh, and Professor? It's Mrs Potter now."