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Atlantis - An Adventure	By : TheLadyMiya Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 20208 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not make any money of this.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Hello everyone! Happy Easter if you celebrate that. I managed to get a new chapter up against all odds. My computer just stopped working all of a sudden (sobs), and since I'm not home, I didn't know what to do. Until my brother, out of the... eh... goodness of his heart (or something) decided to lend me his while he was out with some friends. So here comes an update! I really hope I'll get my computer working in due time. Especially since I'll go home next week and I won't have access to another computer then... ah, well. Thank you are so much for reviewing!

Mrequecky; yay to you too :)

koolgirl18; Well, in JK's story she needs the ultimate bad-guy and make him very very black. I try to make some of him grey, since I think there is a little more to him than killing and torturing. Although, JK does point a little toward it when she writes about his childhood so... well. Although, I don't think there is any part of him that is white and nice... but it's fun to write in different shades of grey! I hope you'll enjoy how he develops in the story!

Soniab; Haha, you wish comes true in this chapter! But things aren't exactly what they seem to be... and about the immortality... weeell, when does things go according to the Dark Lord's plans? Hehe... Enjoy!

QueenRuby; Actually, I'm not the one who made the leap first either, haha. When I first started writing the story I wasn't sure where Atlantis would be, but then I saw a documentary on the TV (the same one I let Hermione referee to now and again) and I thought it would be suitable to place Atlantis under Antarctica! I've also discovered later that there are other people who have made the connection. Have you heard about the SF-serie Stargate? Well, I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but there is something interesting underneath the ice in Antarctica there as well! But kudos to you if you got the idea without outside interference! It really is a fascinating thought! Hope I haven't forgotten anyone... if I have just poke me. Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Antarctica, the dries, coldest, most stormy continent upon the earth. 5, 4 million square mile, almost as big as Europe, covered with ice, ice and more ice. Only known inhabitants were penguins, seals and temporary Muggle researches. However, underneath it all, a whole civilisation seemed to be hidden and it was up to Hermione, Remus, Snape and Voldemort to find it. Voldemort had (to Hermione great happiness) decided that Malfoy wasn't fit for the cold, unfriendly continent and ordered him to go back to England so Voldemort could get a full report when he came back.

The first two days after their discovery had been used to plan and pack. Antarctica wasn't a place you wanted to stay at too long. They would stay on the west side of the continent, on a Muggle research facility which had conveniently become empty. Voldemort had got the best, warmest clothes money could buy. Closest to the body, they would wear close-fitting attire made of dragon-skin. Over that, regular thick clothing and over that, a coat made from fur from a yeti.

The only good thing was that it was starting to get a little warmer. Since it was the end of October, summer was arriving to Antarctica. This meant that it wouldn't be dark all the time. Daytime was short, but at least there were some light.

The first day on Antarctica was spent getting everything in order and starting the search for something magical. Voldemort had made up a plan; they would split into two team and Apparate to the middle of a certain area, different every day, and look for magic. Since the risk they would meet other people was very slim, the only thing they would have to worry about was Apparating into a storm. Hermione was with Voldemort.

No one was surprised when they didn't find anything the first day. However, that didn't stop Voldemort from being cranky. When they got back to the base, he locked himself into the only office and left Hermione with Remus and Snape who was making soup. It was just a large room with coats at the wall, a wooden table with benches around at the other wall and a cooking station in the middle. All the heat in the room (which wasn't much) came from the cooking station.

"Are you cold?" Remus asked her worriedly when he saw her hugging herself.

"Of course she is, we are living in an ice cube!" Snape answered for her. They were all wearing clothes Hermione usually wore when she was outside in the winter.

"It's not too bad," she objected. "The dragon-skin is really warm. Aren't werewolves good at keeping the warm?"

Remus smiled tiredly, he was still looking a little sick since when he was tortured, but he didn't complain. "We are. This may be the only time I'm thankful for that."

Hermione smiled at him. The event in Mexico, where she had found herself in a tomb full of bodies had made her incident with Remus seem less frightening. She still felt uncomfortable when he touched her, but she had no problem being in the same room as him anymore. Remus respected her wish for personal space, but tried to show with his actions that he cared for her. She had no doubt she would be able to put the event behind her in due time.

Snape placed two bowls of steaming soap in front of them. "Wait until you have to sleep. Then you will complain too."

Hermione frowned and wondered why Snape seemed so cranky. At Hogwarts he was living in the dungeons so he couldn't be that unfamiliar with cold, could he?

"Yes, about sleep," Remus became a little red. "Maybe we should all sleep together? Help each other keep the warm?"

Right then, Voldemort came out from the office again. He had obviously heard what Remus asked. "Good idea, Lupin. I'm sure you and Severus will be cosy together."

"My Lord, I most protest!" Snape was looking both sick and desperate.

Hermione looked up at Voldemort with a frown. Did he think Remus would try something or, (her heart skipped a beat) did he want to try something himself? It was three days since their last kiss and she had been going back and forth about telling him never to do that again and ask him to do it again. She had no idea what she found attractive about him, but she didn't mind kissing him… well, not so much, she had felt a bit weird about it later. Nevertheless, that didn't mean she would do anything more! So, perhaps it was best to not give him the opportunity.

"Why don't we all just sleep in the same bed?" she asked out loud, glancing at Remus. She didn't really want to share a bed with him, but if Voldemort and Snape were there as well, she would feel safe.

The three men stared at her.

She sighed. "We can transform the coats so they are very wide and then we can just all lie there. I mean, it's just for keeping warm, right?"

None of them could object to that. However, when it was finally time for sleep, it took some arguing about who would sleep next to whom. Voldemort did not want her to sleep next to Remus and Snape didn't want to sleep with anyone at all. Not until Voldemort pointed out that he was skinny and would freeze the most did he give in. In the end, Hermione was sandwiched between Voldemort and Snape and Remus was lying on the other side of Snape. She felt very relaxed with that. Snape had no interest in her whatsoever and she was sure Voldemort wouldn't try anything with the other two there.

"If you tell anyone about this…," Snape threatened.

"Don't worry about it," Remus mumbled. "I don't want this to get out more than you do."

Hermione just chuckled and she could hear Voldemort doing the same next to her. They were both lying on their back and Hermione could feel his right arm right next to her left. She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she reached out and carefully twined her fingers into his. Voldemort closed his hand around hers.

It wasn't until she was nearly asleep she remembered that Voldemort didn't acquire sleep.

A day went by, then two, then three, then a whole week. November came and the whole group was depressed by their lack of progress, the darkness and the cold.

"Perhaps they have camouflaged their magic somehow, so we can't feel it?" Hermione suggested after yet another day of failure.

"How clever of you to state the obvious, Miss Granger," Snape muttered. Hermione had figured out why he was bitter again; he was in pain. Apparently he had been in many accidents and the cold made his whole body ache.

"We are going to find it," Voldemort growled. He was pacing the room, reminding Hermione very much like a big cat in a cage. "Even if we have to melt this whole continent."

Hermione arched her eyebrow. "You can't do that; it would flood the rest of the world."

"The Muggles will probably have melted it soon anyway," Snape remarked. "With all the toxic they let out."

"At least many governments are trying to fix it," Hermione muttered.

Snape rolled his eyes and mumbled something into his tea cup.

"Granger," Voldemort suddenly said. He was looking at some sort of machine which had been standing along the wall since they got there. None of them had bothered to look closer at it. "What is this?"

Hermione stood and walked over to him. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of sonar or radar or something."

"A sonar?" He was frowning.

"Yes, you know bats hunt by sending out very high noises and the echo lets them hear where they can find insects and things. Muggle use the same technique, mostly on boats when they are trying to find things under water," she tried to explain.

"Ah, yes, I read about it in the newspaper during the war," Voldemort commented absentmindedly as he looked closer.

"Which war?" Hermione asked.

"The second world war," he answered.

Hermione felt a bit stupid for not remembering how old he was. Not that she did remember exactly how old he was, but he had to be past seventy at least. That was a disturbing thought.

"When is your birthday?" she found herself asking instead.

"I don't celebrate my birthday," he said in a final tone. "Now, do you think we could get this to work?" He made a gesture toward the machine.

"If we find the manual, maybe," she answered doubtfully. "Although, I'm not sure how much good it will do, if the Muggles haven't found anything with this, I doubt we will."

"Hm…," was all he said before he left for the office.

Hermione walked back to the table. Snape and Remus had started a card game. It was the only entertainment they had here. She joined them and they played for a couple of hours and then decided to go to sleep. Voldemort still hadn't come out. Hermione fell asleep and woke up hours later by Voldemort walking toward the door which took him to the entering were he could get dressed to get out. Apparently he was going somewhere. Hermione was still too much asleep to care.

Another three hours later, she was awakened by Snape accidentally putting his knee on her leg as he climbed out of the bed. This time she didn't fall asleep again and was fully awake when Voldemort opened the door half an hour later.

"Where have you been?" she asked and sat up in bed.

Voldemort looked ecstatic. "I thought about what you said concerning the sonar and made up a new spell. We have only used our magic to feel, but now I threw out my magic at a speed of one hundred miles per minute and waited until it found some other magic, at which point I had made sure it would bounce back to me. When it did, I just counted how much time it had taken!"

"And?" she asked, exited.

"And, about six hundred miles towards the opposite coast from us is magical activity! If I remember the maps correctly, there is also a volcano there!" Voldemort dragged her up from the bed. "Get dressed and eat something fast! I want to see what it is!"

xxx

Once upon a time, Atlantis had been a great civilisation. But a curse made their land submerge under the surface of the water and then freeze. Those in the outer village escaped to other parts of the world where they settled down and mixed quite successfully with the people there. The people in the heart of Atlantis hadn't been so lucky. Just to survive, they had had to take retreat to a volcano which kept them warm and made some agriculture possible. But it was not like their old land. At first, the cursed had kept everyone but a few selected people to leave. Although, they always came back. The rest of the world changed. The once so weak people grew strong and many and their knowledge of magic spread. The people of Atlantis weren't anything special anymore.

This scared the Highnesses of Atlantis and a law was written which forbade people from leaving. However, the Highnesses wanted knowledge of the outside world and allowed people to come in. Many of the people that had "gone missing" during time had simply ended up at Atlantis.

Alas, people were still living at Atlantis and they had just become aware that someone was trying to find them. After a meeting, the Highnesses decided that they could be found.

xxx

When Hermione and the others came to the volcano, it was of course covered with ice. But after looking around, they found an opening. When they went through the opening, they found a tunnel. When they came to the end of the tunnel, they found a platform and when they looked out from the platform, they saw a very much alive city under them.

Hermione wasn't sure which one of them were the most surprised. The city was orangey red and Hermione wasn't sure if it was because of the clay-made houses or their source of light which came from the right of them. It was a gigantic fire that seemed to be held alive by the volcano. A river went straight through the city, beginning somewhere right under their feet and continuing to the opposite side of them, disappearing behind a gigantic stonewall. Now when Hermione looked at the wall on the other side, she could see that there were buildings caved into the stone. People were moving around on narrow streets underneath them and they could hear a buzz which had to be their voices.

She didn't know how long they stood there, just staring down at the city, but they all looked away when they heard someone coming from the left of them. Voldemort and Snape immediately pulled their wands out and aimed toward the sound of footsteps.

It was a woman. The first thing Hermione noticed was that she was smiling, but the smile faded a little when she saw Voldemort. Although, she continued walking toward them. She was shorter than Hermione and wearing some sort of silvery trouser-suit which sat quite tightly against her curvy body. Her skin was pale and she had very short reddish hair which reminded Hermione of Ron. She was carrying a basket contenting object shaped like bananas, but they were small and purple. She placed it down about three yards away from them and took a couple of steps back. Then she made a gesture for them to take it.

Voldemort made a gesture for Remus to go and get it and he hesitatingly did.

"Is it poisoned?" Voldemort asked Snape. Hermione got the feeling it was some sort of fruit. It looked like something you would eat.

Snape took one of the fruits and sniffed it. Then he took out his wand and made some quick spells. Hermione was surprised to see that this seemed to humour the woman. Her lips were twitching upwards.

"No," Snape said and opened the fruit. "But I don't think we are supposed to eat the outer layer."

"Lupin, try it," Voldemort ordered.

"Why me?" Remus asked sourly. Hermione couldn't blame him, ever since they were kidnapped, Remus had only been used. Hermione had of course been used too, but at least she had something to say about it.

Now she decided to step in. "Honestly, why would they poison us when we seem to be quite outnumbered?" She took the fruit from Snape and took a bite.

The texture was firm and the flavour was quite familiar, if a bit stronger than she was used to. "It's a banana!"

"Yes, it is," the woman said.

They all turned to look at her.

"You know English?" Voldemort asked in disbelief.

The woman nodded and smiled broadly. "Two of my mates are English. But I had to hear you talk to know how to respond."

"You know many other languages as well?" Hermione asked, intrigued.

"I know all the languages of everyone who has been her for as long as I've been alive," she said proudly. Her accent reminded of the British, but it was still something off about it.

"How old are you?" Voldemort asked.

"I'm not certain," she answered thoughtfully. "We don't count time as you do. But I remember when Charu came and she fled from her home when the invaders that threw fire came. Ricardo later told me it had to be when the Europeans invaded South America for the first time.

Voldemort smiled. "So you are around five hundred years old?"

The woman shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I just came here because I know the most current languages so I could tell you to follow me to the Highnesses."

"What is your name?" Hermione asked.

"Aluga," she answered happily. "Please, follow me!"

The walk from the platform to the city was not easy. Aluga moved easily, like a cat, but Hermione felt like a Hippogriff in a china store. When they were finally down, she was sweating rivers.

People stepped out of their way and Hermione noticed that they were looking at them curiously. It was not the frightened curiosity one could have suspected from a people which had lived cut off from the rest of the world for thousands of years, but a mild curiosity, like they were some sort of new entertainment. She also noticed how different everyone looked. There seemed to be people from all around the world. She saw one man with typical Chines features, a woman who seemed to be from South of Africa, a old lady who appeared to be native from Australia and a couple with typical European looks. But hadn't Aluga said that she knew both two Englishmen, a Native American and someone named Ricardo?

How had all these people ended up here?

They came to a great fountain and turned right to the biggest house on this street. Over the door was some kind of house-shield which she thought looked like a horse, but she didn't have time to take a closer look because the others just kept walking and then they were inside.

It was darker inside and cooler which she was grateful for. Aluga asked them to sit down and served them some water. Remus and Snape removed their warm coats and Hermione followed their exampled. Another woman came and sat down next to Aluga. Some words in a language Hermione didn't even recognise were exchanged and then the woman turned to them.

"Greetings to you all," the new woman said in an accent that was even stranger than Aluga's, but they were quite alike. Both had pale skin and were short and curvy, but this new woman had brown hair instead of red. "My name is Zemuni and I'm the hostess of the Highnesses house. Please, tell me your name."

Of course, Voldemort spook for them, although you could see that he wasn't very used to introduce himself. "I'm known as Lord Voldemort. This is Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Hermione Granger."

Zemuni asked Aluga something in the strange language again and Aluga nodded. Neither of them were smiling anymore.

"It would seem like your reputation have processed you, Lord Voldemort," Zemuni said gravely. "The magic you deal with isn't tolerated here. You'll have to be cleansed."

Voldemort leaned back in sofa they were all sitting on. "I came here to achieve immortality."

Zemuni looked at him from head to toe in a very disapproving way. "You are hardly alive to being with. And the cleansing isn't a request. If you are to learn what we know, you'll have to live under our rules."

Hermione could feel Voldemort clenching his fist next to her and since she didn't want to get into a fight she placed her own hand on top of his in hope he would relax a little.

Zemuni saw it, but didn't comment it. "How will it be, Lord Voldemort?"

"How do I know you won't kill me?" he asked coldly.

"We have no interested in killing people," she replied calmly. "I'll need an answer."

Hermione could see him thinking, but then he nodded.

Aluga rose. "I'll take you to the cleansing."

Voldemort nodded and rose too, a moment later he was gone.

"How long will he be gone?" Hermione couldn't help but asking.

Zemuni sighed. "Your friend has made some bad things with himself. It will take some time before we have got all the poison out from him and made him complete again."

"Complete?" Hermione asked, frowning. She guessed the poison she was talking about was all the Dark Arts he had been using.

Zemuni just nodded. Perhaps she was referring to his horcruxes and how he had split his soul apart? Could they really make it complete again? It sounded strange, but after all, these people seemed to be immortal so they must have access to some really powerful magic. Voldemort would probably be fine.

A tall black man came up to Zemuni and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and the man left.

"The Highnesses are unfortunately occupied for the coming hours. You have all been given a room and a guide for your first time here. Please, let your guides know if there is anything you need." As she spoke a door to their right opened and two women and a man entered. The two women were dressed in the same trouser-suite as Aluga had been, but in different colours, red and green. The man was dressed in something very similar to a robe. He was familiar somehow.

Then, Remus gasped and faster than lighting, he had thrown himself upon the man. Next to her, Snape cursed. Hermione watched in wonder as Remus started to cry and the new man cried and laughed at the same time. There was something very familiar with him, but what-

"Black," Snape hissed into her ear.

Oh. Well this was unexpected. About one and a half year ago, her best friend Harry's godfather Sirius Black had been pushed into an ancient veil and disappeared. Everyone had assumed he was dead, but apparently that wasn't the case. Unless they had all frozen to death and was in some sort of afterlife. That thought was disturbing.

"Sirius?" Zemuni asked. "You know these people?"

Remus and Sirius finally broke apart form each other.

"Yes, I do," Sirius said in a voice that Hermione found a bit different. Although, now she understood why she hadn't recognised him at first, he no longer wore any traces of his visit in the prison Azkaban. Back then, he had been so hardened and bitter, now he looked… well, young, healed and happy.

"Remus here is one of my oldest and dearest friends," Sirius continued happily. Then he finally looked in their direction, his eyes landing on Snape. "Snape? Why are you here?"

"Believe me, I'm asking myself that very question," Snape replied dryly.

Sirius pulled his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, I was just surprised to see you here with Remus and…" Now his eyes came to Hermione and his face broke into a smile. "Hermione! My, how you have grown! Does this mean Harry is here too?"

Hermione felt almost guilty when she shook her head and Sirius smile faded away.

"So how did you come here?" he asked.

"Oh, no, first you have to explain why you aren't dead!" Remus said, smiling broadly.

"To take the short version, apparently, the Veil wasn't a gateway to death, but just transportation here! There have been veils all around the world, but most of them have been destroyed now," Sirius explained quickly. "Now you have to tell me!"

Before Remus had the time to say anything, Zemuni interrupted. "That is a story we all are eager to hear, Sirius. But first I think your friends would like a moment to relax and eat. Why don't you escort Remus to the room next to yours?"

"Oh, of course," Sirius took Remus arm and winked at Hermione. "We will talk more later!"

Hermione just smiled at him and turned to the two other women. The one in red had long brown hair and a darker shade on her skin and the one in green had the greenest eyes Hermione had ever seen. She was taller than the woman in red, with paler skin, but had just as long black hair.

"Severus, this is Katja," Zemuni said and the woman in green smiled and nodded. "She will be your guide. And Hermione, please say hello to Naomi." The woman in red nodded. "You will be called upon when it's time to meet the Highnesses. Good day for now."

Hermione and Snape rose and followed the two women out the same door Sirius and Remus had gone through earlier. To her great surprise, Snape wasn't late to start to talk with his guide.

"Katja, are from Russia?" he asked in a low voice.

"A long time ago, yes," Katja said and the Russian accent was barely noticeable. "I was a nurse witch to Empress Yekaterina."

"How intriguing. These days we call her Catherine the Great," Snape said.

Katja giggled and then led Snape down a corridor while Hermione and Naomi continued forward. The corridor was rather small and with no decoration other than the notches which all held a candle of light.

"Where are you from, Naomi?" she asked.

"England," she said with a very British accent that surprised Hermione. Naomi saw this and huffed. "I see, you still don't like dark-skinned people."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "I was just surprised because you look a little like my schoolmate Parvati and she are from India and I thought that… well, maybe you are too."

"My mother was Hindi," Naomi said sternly. "But I was raised by my father, Orion Black."

Hermione gasped. "Then you are a relative to Sirius!"

Naomi nodded. "But I was born about a hundred years before he was."

"Oh." Hermione didn't know what to say and Naomi didn't seem too eager to talk. She changed the subject instead. "How do you tell time down here?"

"The fire is lit for sixteen hours and then dimmed for eight, when we sleep" she said. "It's now the ninth hour of the day."

"But you don't count the years?"

"No, but after every thousand days we have a good-bye feast for those who have decided to die." She said it with such indifference that Hermione stopped. "What?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Is everyone here immortal?"

"Pretty much. It's an effect of living too long next to the source."

"The source?"

Naomi sighed. "Look, the Highnesses will probably explain everything later. I'm just here to get you what you need and make sure you don't run off and get yourself hurt."

"Oh." They started walking again and a moment later they turned into a corridor to the left. A door opened for them.

"This will be your room for now," Naomi said and led her in.

It was a Spartan room with a bed on the floor, a couple of candles inside notches and a brown casket next to another door.

"Uhm, cosy," was all Hermione managed to say.

Naomi snorted. "I know you are probably used to more modern things, but as you may have noticed, we don't have any wood here."

"No, it really is cosy!" Hermione objected.

Naomi gave her a "yeah, right" look and opened the door to the bathroom. There was a stone bench with a whole in the middle and stone-bathtub.

"Everything you put in there-" She pointed at the whole in the stone bench. "-will magically disappear. So make sure you don't drop anything you don't want to loose. If you need to wash yourself, you pull that rope and water will appear and when you pull again, the water will stop. But make sure not to wash too long because even if we have a lot of water here, it takes a bit of power to melt it and if a lot of people wash at the same time… well, you understand."

Hermione nodded. "Would it be okay if I washed right now?"

Naomi nodded. "I'll hang up a towel for you. If it thickens, don't worry, it is just absorbing the water. It will thin out as it dries."

Hermione's head had started to spin a little of all information. "Is there any soap?"

Naomi snorted. "The water here is as clean as it gets. You can drink it too if you'd like. But there is a scrubber in the tub."

"Oh, okay. Well, then I'll just…" Hermione made a gesture at the tub.

"Go ahead. Give me your clothes and I'll have them washed for you. There are other clothes for you in the casket," Naomi said without any indication to leave.

"Okay, uhm." Hermione started to remove her many layers of clothes. When she came down to the dragon-skin she hesitated. Then she scowled at herself. It was not like Naomi hadn't seen a naked girl before and even if the woman hadn't been very friendly, Hermione doubted she would laugh if she thought Hermione's body looked strange.

Before she could change her mind, she stripped down and gave Naomi the last piece of her clothing.

"I'll wait in the room," was all Naomi said before she left.

Hermione pulled the rope and water began pouring down from the ceiling like hot rain. She found the scrubber and began to clean herself as she tried to process everything that had happened.

It occurred to her that they had all seemed to be expecting them. It also occurred to her that they had all been separated. But for what? She doubted they wanted to kill them, but what if they were laying out some other trap? What would happen to Voldemort?

A shiver travelled down her spine and she hoped that bad feeling was just her imagination.
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Atlantis - An Adventure