After their talk, which also included a light dinner for the Knights and their allies, Harry returned to his room to change out of his regalia and into some more comfortable robes, before he met back up with Hermione and, looking to his friends, gave a smile as he explained, "If you'll excuse me everyone; there's a certain Princess of mine who I've been neglecting as of late and I promised her a little trip."
"Have fun you two," Lily smiled, watching as Hermione took Harry's hand and left the meeting hall, Dan, Emma, Neville, Luna, Sirius and Remus leaving moments later, which just left Lily with the Order, the eyes of the Holy Knight of Light watching Sebastian warily before she asked, "How's he been?"
"He's growing up Lady Lily," answered Sebastian, his formality returning around the Knight, "Seeing you has brought out the innocent child I once saw, but he is growing up with every day."
"And are you keeping your word to him?" asked Lily, "Are you protecting him?"
"We are," Elora replied, her own eyes watching her former Lady, "Though there was one occasion when we thought we had failed."
"When was…" Lily began, but her words were cut off when, to the surprise of the Order, Tyler Kingston rose from his seat, inclined his head to the Knight of Light and left the room, Sebastian shaking his head sadly as Lily finished, "…that and what's wrong with Tyler?"
"The event is hardest on him," explained Sebastian, "It was some time ago, but Tyler still feels the guilt: he is young, barely even twenty, yet he has as strong a heart as Lord Harry."
"Why?" asked Lily, "What happened?"
"In a word," explained Dante, "Dumbledore."
Hearing the word was almost as bad for Lily as most of the wizarding world hearing the name of the Dark Lord; facing the Order, the Knight of Light seemed to become the fierce vixen that she had been known for as she commanded, "Tell me everything!"
HPHG
Tyler wandered solemnly back towards his chambers, his mind stuck on the fact that he was finally here, within the walls of Camelot, his Lord and Lady were safe and his Lord had a treasure as great as Lady Hermione back by his side. When the team had begun speaking of the event in question, however, Tyler had felt a familiar iron weight of guilt worming its way inside him combined with a sense of loss and friendship.
Most of all, Tyler couldn't help but think of the appearance-changing witch that had become his friend and been there to aid and protect Harry and Hermione when they had needed it. Being raised to become one of the Order, Tyler had never really known the emotion of love, but he had known what it felt like to be drawn to someone that you would give your life for; Harry showed enough of that.
It was her, the face-changer known as Nymphadora – though she had asked that no-one use that name – Tonks who had helped him overcome the misery of the event that nearly lost them their Lord;
It was her that had helped Tyler understand the friendliness and warm emotions around their Lord;
It was her that had helped him to become more of a friend and trusted brother to their Lord rather than the obedient, loyal soldier;
And yes, the more he thought about it, the more he saw it for what it was: it was Tonks who had started to help Tyler understand the feelings of compassion and readiness;
What he needed now was someone to talk to; someone that could help him understand these feelings even more than he did now.
However, with Harry busy ruling Camelot and the others preoccupied with the tasks at hand, Tyler knew that finding that particular someone was going to be almost impossible.
Unless he talked with her family, Tyler would never be able to tell her how he…wait;
He stopped in the corridor, a small smile crossing his face as he remembered something, 'Her Family,' he thought, 'Sirius is her family; I can talk to him.'
Turning on his heel, Tyler doubled back and made his way to the chambers where Sirius and Remus were staying, his mind still focused on the ever-changing appearance of the girl that, though he couldn't understand the meaning, had captured his attention.
He only hoped that, when the time came for him to reveal how he felt for her, Tonks would understand the feelings of the young warrior more than Tyler did…
HPHG
The stables were located on the western side of the castle, their strong stone foundations and slate roofs making Harry feel like he was walking into an average house. With Hermione at his side, Harry raised his voice before he called out, "Hello: is there anyone here?"
"I'm here," a young male voice answered, Harry and Hermione now peering into the stables to see a young man in his twenties making his way towards them, the eyes of the man – a deep jade green that appeared to become grey at the edge of the iris – widening when he saw who was standing at the entrance. Dropping to one knee, the man spoke with a more formal tone, "Your Majesty, forgive my rudeness; I am honoured to meet you: how may I be of service to the King?"
"Get up," Harry commanded, though his voice was calm as he spoke, "My Queen and I require two horses for a long, private ride through the countryside and for more sociable uses."
"Of course my King," the man replied, bowing his head as he added, "If you would follow me sire."
Shrugging ruefully to Hermione, who had given Harry an almost amused grin at the young man's loyalty, the King of Camelot followed the young stable master inside, the sounds of horses whinnying making the Holy Knight of Ocean gasp as she lay her eyes upon them. Many different breeds of different ages, size and colours seemed to fill the stables, the young man who had led them inside now speaking to an older man that Harry assumed was the real master.
"Makes you feel like you're in the real olden days," Hermione reasoned, watching as the older man appeared to inspect the horses before he turned and began walking towards Harry and Hermione, "A master and an apprentice."
"Possibly," Harry agreed, watching as the elder stable master bowed at the waist, his hairline receding with age and experience, his hands thick and callused as he linked them together.
"Your Majesty," he remarked, speaking with a thick voice that rumbled like thunder, "I am informed by my squire that you require horses for riding?"
"That is correct," Harry replied, deciding that it would be better to appear as the strong King that the people were seeing him as, "Why? Is there a problem?"
"No my King," the master explained, "I was just wondering why you did not take a look at the Royal Gardens? That's where the Royal Family's personal stallions and their sires are kept."
"That's my fault actually," Harry admitted, "As you may be aware, we have only been in the realm for all of two days; I haven't really gotten used to the layout of the Kingdom yet: perhaps you could show us the stable?"
The master seemed to be taken aback by the request, before he bowed again, Harry aware of his hand gesturing to his squire, as he had called him, "It would be my honour, my King: if your Highness would allow me a moment to finish things here, I can take you straight there."
"Thank you," Harry replied, watching as the master left his side, the eyes of the King now watching the squire, who seemed even more nervous since the request had been made. Without turning to her, Harry asked Hermione, "Is it just me Kitten or do you get the strangest feeling that there's something about these Royal Stalls that the people are intimidated by?"
"I know what you mean Sparky," Hermione answered, watching as the squire went to work on one of the stalls where the less-regal horses were obviously kept, "I wonder if there's something about our new position, or rather your new position that the Lords didn't tell us."
The master was returning, "I'll speak to Zeus later," Harry remarked, before the man bowed once more to him and gestured with his hand.
"If you would follow me Your Majesty," he led Harry out of the stables and round towards the main building of the castle, away from the main entrance where Harry and Hermione were both surprised when they found a cobble-stone pathway that led through a majestically-beautiful garden: it was decorated in wreaths and streams of ivy and holly, roses, daffodils and snap-dragon flowers growing all around the outer edge of the garden while the greenery of the grass seemed to be kept to perfection. In the centre of the garden was a beautiful crystal fountain that held an image of seven swords set in an almost star-like formation, the tips of the swords spewing water into the pools at the base of the fountain. Two large evergreen trees grew on either side of the garden, the ivy then crossing an archway that led out towards a single building that led out onto the fields surrounding Camelot.
"It's beautiful," Hermione whispered, before she looked to the trees and, when he followed her gaze, Harry understood why: the leaves on the trees weren't green at all, but a gorgeous, almost shimmering mix of gold and red as if the tree was in the autumn.
Pointing them out, Harry asked, "Pardon me Stable Master, but can you tell me anything about the trees?"
"Of course sire," answered the man, "Lord Gaia planted those himself; he calls them Bronzewood trees; a very magical variety that people in the human realm believed to have died out some time ago; despite their appearance, the trees never lose their leaves, which are actually used in the magical glaze that strengthens most magical suits of armour and, indeed, in wandmaking.
'I wonder if Ollivander has heard of this,' Harry commented to Hermione, 'If not, perhaps I'll speak to Gaia and see about getting some wood sent to him.'
'I'm sure he'd appreciate the gift,' Hermione agreed, following the stable master through the arch and out towards the building; two guards, both bearing glaives and – much to Harry's surprise – what appeared to be staffs in their free hand, stopped the man at the entranceway.
"No-one may enter the Circle without the permission of His Majesty," one of the guards exclaimed, before his eyes fell on Harry and both he and his partner straightened up, both of them saluting, "M-my Lord: I did not see you there: forgive me."
"It's all right," Harry told them, "I asked him to bring us here; tell me, does the Circle have any Masters to look after it?"
"No my Lord," answered the guard, "The Circle is protected and seen to by the magic of Lord Gaia, the Lord of Terra; none but Your Majesty has ever entered without permission."
"Really?" asked Harry, now looking to the stable master as he asked, "Your squire, what's his name?"
"Herec, my Lord," answered the master, Harry nodding with understanding as he faced the guards.
"From now on," he explained, "This area will still be protected by Lord Gaia's magic, but I now place the one known as Herec in charge of the Circle and keeping the area in perfect condition: see to it that he's paid for his services and offer him a place in the town so that he can be close to his work."
"Yes Your Majesty," both guards and the stable master saluted at Harry's request, before the Arch-Knight stepped past them and entered the Circle; it was an amazing stone building with two large stalls and seven smaller areas that Harry supposed would be for the personal steeds of the Holy Knights. However, when he looked in one of the two, a gorgeous sight caught his eyes as standing before him was no horse, but a fully-grown, black-coated, silver-eyed Pegasus.
"He's beautiful," Hermione whispered, before Harry turned and, as he had guessed, he found a second, equally-gorgeous, albeit white Pegasus in Hermione's stall, the Holy Knight of Ocean petting the creature's mane fondly.
"Stallion or mare?" asked Harry.
"Mare," Hermione replied, "She called to me; Pegasi are rare, but their magic is more powerful than we've believed."
"What's her name?" asked Harry.
"She says," Hermione explained, "Her name is Freya and she has existed since the time of our third predecessor; she has sired many, but her loyalty has always remained to us and to Camelot."
Turning away from the white mare, Harry entered the stall of the dark stallion, his head lowered in respect as he hoped that the creature had no reason to attack him: they had covered unicorns in the lessons with Hagrid, but Pegasi, which were a relation to the black unicorns because of their wings, were alert creatures and ones that they were yet to cover.
Reaching out with his mind, Harry felt the mind of the stallion reaching back to him; keeping himself calm, as he felt only strength and an unusual surge of light energy, the King of Camelot spoke with his mind, 'Noble Pegasus, Winged Stallion of the Skies, I am Harry Potter, King of Camelot and I seek permission to ride you.'
'You have it Silverbolt,' a magical, almost musical male voice answered, the use of the word Silverbolt confusing Harry for a moment, but he kept himself calm as the voice continued, 'My name is Raiden, named by Lord Zeus himself and sired in the presence of your fifth-generation predecessor; the Lords of Nature blessed Freya and I with life eternal so that we may always be at the service of His Majesty and his Queen.'
'So Freya came two generations after you?'
'She did,' Raiden answered, 'She is the one who has held my affections since our blessing and I have helped her fulfil our duties to the King and Queen as and when we are needed.'
'So,' Harry decided to go straight to it, 'Now comes the important question: how do we ride you? I don't see any reins or saddle and, not to worry you, but my Queen is a bit uncomfortable with heights and flying.'
'You must put your trust in us,' Raiden explained, 'That will form a shield around us that will stop you from falling and allow you to enjoy our flying experience; if it is your will, Young King, I will take your Queen and you may ride Freya.'
"Harry?"
As Harry turned to Hermione, he actually gasped with a bright smile on his face as he saw her already sat on Freya's back, the eyes of the Holy Knight of Ocean seemingly shining with an excitement that Harry had not seen in a long while.
"You did it?" he asked, almost sounding incredulous as he asked, "You trusted her?"
"She called to me," Hermione explained, "As yours called to you; what's his name?"
Turning to the stallion, Harry nodded, stroked his newfound friend's muzzle, feeling only soft, velvet-like black fur under his touch, "I trust you," he whispered, before Raiden crouched down and allowed Harry to clamber onto his back, the magic that the Pegasus had spoken of seemingly fixing Harry to the back of the stallion as he looked to Hermione.
"His name is Raiden," he explained, before he nodded to the entrance of the Circle, "Let's ride!"
HPHG
The silence in the skies over Camelot was suddenly broken by two loud voices crying out in elation, Harry and Hermione moving, swerving, diving and generally gliding through the blue oceans of the air, the sunlight reflected through the feathers of Raiden and Freya's wings, the two Pegasi moving and remaining as close as possible so that their bearers were able to enjoy each others company.
'This…this is amazing!' Hermione gasped, watching with a sense of wonder as Harry seemed to perform several loops and spirals ahead of her, Freya following suit, giving the image of a black and white corkscrew that spun through the air. 'Harry, I'm…I'm not scared.'
"You shouldn't be," Harry replied out loud, Hermione then laughing when she saw her boyfriend's position; he was gliding on Raiden's charmed back, upside-down over her head, his long black hair tickling Hermione's face as he spoke to her, "I told you once before Mione; I'll never let anything happen to you and anyone who dares to doubt me will bear witness to the power of the King of Camelot and Arch-Knight of the Elemental Order. Mind if I right myself up now?"
"I would," Hermione laughed, before Raiden swooped sideways, clearly from a mental command from Harry, the two royal Knights now side by side as they began gliding back towards the castle. Beneath them, Hermione smiled with awe and wonder when she saw the courtyards, turrets, bridge-ways and town areas of the kingdom that she ruled at her Harry's side. Moving through the skies above Camelot, Hermione felt her fears being taken not only by the magical protections of their steeds, but also by the presence, both physically and mentally, of her powerful King of a boyfriend.
"Raiden," Harry suddenly commanded, Hermione looking to him as she heard him out loud, "Can you take us to the highest possible landing area in Camelot?"
The Pegasus seemed to reply in the positive as they flew towards the circle of towers that loomed over the castle; however, as they approached, Hermione gasped when she saw it: there, right in the middle of the towers, seemingly linking them together like spokes on a wheel, was a majestically decorated ornate garden filled with different water features and providing a perfect view of the rolling countryside. It was to here that Harry directed his loyal friend, Hermione asking Freya to follow as they made their way towards the garden; just like the take-off, the touch-down was soft and almost graceful, Harry helping Hermione to dismount like the regal knight that he was, before he turned away and added, "You two can return to the stables; Hermione and I can get down from here."
"We…we can?" she asked shakily, watching as the two winged horses seemed to obey their King's request; once they were alone, Harry turned and walked over to the edge of the courtyard, his eyes on the scenery around them as he seemed to be planning some unspoken plan for what was about to happen.
As if he had made up his mind, Harry turned back to Hermione and held out his hand, the Queen of Camelot taking his hand as she looked into the mystical shine that seemed to have taken root within her boyfriend's gaze.
"Hermione," he whispered, "Put your arms around me and then…trust me."
"To do what?" asked Hermione, though she obeyed his request; as soon as her hands were firmly around his athletically-built frame, Hermione got her answer, a gasp escaping her lips as she felt the winds suddenly gather around them, Harry remaining ever-vigilant as he held onto her. Suddenly, before Hermione could say another word, the winds picked up, or rather, picked them up, both Holy Knights now actually hovering a few inches off the ground. Putting her head against the chest of her boyfriend, Hermione whispered, "H-Harry; p-please…"
'Trust me Kitten,' Harry told her mentally, 'I'll never do anything to harm you or put you in danger; wasn't that my promise before I asked you to become my girlfriend?'
'Y-yes,' she answered shakily, her mind and emotions being calmed by the thought and memory of that moment, seemingly a lifetime ago, where Harry had told her that he would keep her safe. With confidence and trust in her boyfriend on her side, Hermione watched as Harry channelled the winds to lift them, the towers now disappearing as they began to float higher and higher, the avionic creatures of Camelot flying past them as Hermione admired the views and the feeling of flying in her boyfriend's arms like he was some kind of magical Superman.
'Can you read my mind?' Hermione wondered, doing her best to keep her thoughts on her boyfriend even though she knew that the answer to that question was yes. She had heard the saying once before when she was young and, lost in the moment, Hermione realised just how she felt similar to that moment. 'Do you know what it is that you do to me? I don't know who you are; just a friend from another star; here I am like a kid out of school, holding hands with a God; I'm a fool. Will you look at me? Quivering; like a little girl, shivering; you can see right through me. Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? Wondering why you are all the wonderful things that you are; you can fly; you belong in the sky; you and I can belong to each other. If you need a friend, I'm the one to fly to; if you need to be loved, here I am: read my mind.'
It was only when Hermione came back to herself that she realised the floating feeling was suddenly very damp, her eyes looking up into the gaze of her boyfriend and what she saw was both awe-inspiring and curious.
Harry was looking into the light of the sun, his face not showing sadness or loss and yet, as he seemed to hold her, he was in tears, those same tears filled with the same silvery essence that Hermione had seen once before.
"Sparky?" she asked, causing him to look at her.
"Yes," he replied softly, before leaning his head down and brushing his lips against hers, "I can; I love you Hermione."
As they touched back down in the central court, Hermione's thoughts were only on the kiss, her eyes closed as she savoured the taste of her boyfriend's lips, his power seemingly infusing with her as he held onto her.
He was the same person that he'd been, yet different and greater than ever before;
He was the wind beneath her wings;
As long as he held her, Hermione knew that she would never have to fear flying or being in danger as he would be there, her Superman, to protect her.
'I love you too,' Hermione replied mentally, the day's presence turning into night as they enjoyed each others presence…