A/N: Okay, here's the start of the second story…obviously lol. However, this was seriously difficult for me to start writing and for me to find a path that I wanted to take Athena down. So, that meant playing the grand and all powerful card of backstory.

p.s. I really wanted to name the Athena and the Giant Nope Rope but decided not to. After getting through the first several chapters I decided I had to take it a bit more serious. Also, I'm really working on my editing skills but if I miss something let me know so I can look for it in the future, many thanks.

p.p.s. little fun fact is that I was a History Major in college, if I can add historical references I will and I will do my best to make it as accurate as possbile. This story isn't the special child, I do this for every piece I write.

Oh…and I don't own Harry Potter or any Easter eggs that may or may not pop up throughout this adventure.

Chapter One: Onward Scottish Tour…

It was July 1st and I felt…actually I didn't know what to feel as I stared at the stone house with the steep gables. Moss covered some of the lower stones and the shingles on the steep steeples were different shades of reddish-orange; the brighter ones were newer ones. The front garden was trimmed neatly and the gate that gave an opening to the little stone fence had had its hinges oiled most recently.

The house was three stories, if you counted the attic steeple. The windows were properly square and the very top ones were scenes in stained-glass. By all accounts, this house was well taken care of and a passerby would not have been out of place to think that the people who lived there cared a great deal for it.

No one would ever guess that the house had sat empty for eleven years and it was under the care of a little hermit man who lived down by the river. If it wasn't for the upkeep of the stone house nor the need for groceries, McGonagall said that caretaker, Walter, would never left his little home dug deep into the side of a hillock.

The only time that the house, called the Teine Cloiche (which was apparently Gaelic for Fire Stone, I think it was for the color of its roof), had any guests was when Bridget and her family came over from Ilvermorny for holiday. Teine Cloiche was located on the outskirts of Castletown in Caithness, very northern Scotland. The house had been a ruin until my grandfather had bought it for a wedding present intended for his son and his new bride; Robert Bruce and Bellatrix McGonagall. This was also the house I'd been born in.

It was the third week of the summer holiday and my fourth day of being with McGonagall in her 'I'll show you Scotland' two week tour. We'd spent the night in Edinburgh, Glasgow and last night was Fort William; a day spent exploring each. I will say one thing about what I'd seen so far…it was so weird to Minerva McGonagall in muggle clothing.

She'd shown up at the Tonks's front door wearing women's cut gray slacks, matching blazer with padded shoulders and a silky emerald green blouse. Oh, and I can't forget the sunglasses nor the well-worn low heeled boots (woman didn't need any more height added to her). At first I thought this very unfamiliar looking woman gotten the wrong house, we were nowhere near the downtown business district. I really couldn't believe this modernly dressed business woman was Transfiguration Professor Minerva McGonagall. Oh, Gran found this very amusing, especially because she had fooled Nym as well.

Turns out that it hadn't taken much to convince Aunt Andy to let McGonagall take me for two weeks of the summer, as long as Jubilee went along (that was the elf's stipulation by the way, I hadn't been let out of the elf's senses (not sure what that means) since Hogwarts let out), and that I took Gorgo with me as well. McGonagall had arrived early in the morning and had a very long conversation with Aunt Andy. A conversation that lasted most of the day that I spent packing the duffle bag that Aunt Andy had given me from the linen cupboard. The duffle bag used to be Nym's and it was Nym who got to help me pack.

…..

McGonagall nudged my shoulder breaking me out of my musings as I stared at the house. I wasn't allowed at Fraochtur because of Fergus. So instead, I was getting to stay at my parents' old home which was deeded to the McGonagall clan for tax purposes. With a reassuring smile, McGonagall (dressed casually in jeans and a sweater) put her hand on my shoulder and led me through the gate of the five foot tall stone wall. A wave of magic rolling over me as I stepped across the property line.

The wards that protected the house felt welcoming. I sighed in relief and felt my body relaxing, something that I was surprised by because I hadn't realized how tense I was until right then; like I was waiting for something to attack me. The house, once inside, had that uninhabited smell that places get, it was stale and lacked something. I was trying to place what it was as McGonagall tapped the elaborately carved trim above the door and Jubilee 'popped' into existence beside me.

She had Gorgo's cage and a large duffle with her. The little elf looked around appraisingly and shook her head. She turned to McGonagall and waited almost impatiently, wanting to know where she and I would be staying. Jubilee understood about my nightmares and stayed with me to help me through them when she could. Though it had been McGonagall doing that duty the last three nights.

"Right," McGonagall let out a long sigh and smiled as she picked the larger duffle bag that had bedding and Forge in it, Tiberius had managed to secret himself way with Hermione before she headed off to Cardiff for the first few weeks of summer "we're on the second floor," McGonagall called over her shoulder as she headed towards the stairs.

The house was decorated in rich colors of naturally dark woods, there was a mixture of oriental and Greek style vases about and static (muggle) land and seascape paintings. There were no family photos, not even ones that didn't move and no moving paintings or portraits of past family members. Just more evidence as to the nature of the house now, a vacation home.

On the second floor, down the left hand hall at the end was my room. McGonagall told me it was one of two rooms that were left alone except to be kept cleaned. The room had been my parents' bedroom and the other room, first door at the head of the hall, was Robert's study. Unfortunately, the ministry had confiscated everything that had been in Bellatrix's potions lab when she first started acting the Death Eater.

The bedroom was comfy, the furniture arranged in a pleasing design that didn't disrupt the flow that it created. Just inside the door to the right was a row of low but long dressers, a handsome red wood that housed the pictures that had been missing from downstairs but none of them were older than early 1980.

Along the far wall was a vanity made of ebony with its mirror being covered by a white sheet and next to that was the door for the closet. The four poster bed was elaborately carved but not overbearing. It sat between two windows near the far corner of the room with the window near the wall had about a meter of clearing from the corner. Under that was a bedside table that held an owl's perch. Filled book shelves dominated the rest of the room with a small couch and two plush chair by an empty fireplace.

Besides the pictures there was still clothes on hangers, jewelry littered the vanity with combs and brushes. There was a pair of men's shoes on the floor with side of the bed that faced the room. It was like my parents had just left for the day and were intending on coming back. I stood in the middle of the room and frowned.

"Why did you leave it?" I asked McGonagall, who was looking over the pictures on the dresser "why do this?"

She sighed but did not turn "because it would have been final and I didn't want to let them go, not even your mum. This was my way of holding on," she explained "your granddad tried to convince me to box up what I didn't want to give to charity, like the clothes and such, but I couldn't. I'd already done that for Tomas and my brothers."

"We never did talk about Bellatrix," I said softly "at school after Neville had told me what she'd done."

McGonagall inhaled deeply, held it for a long while before letting it out and saying "that discussion is not one I wanted to have anytime soon," she admitted with her back still to me "but we will, in time," the woman promised and turned to face me "this will be your room while we are here. Bridget and her two youngest will be arriving tomorrow. They will be attending Hogwarts at the start of the new term."

I frowned "I thought the twins were the older ones."

McGonagall chuckled "as it happens twins run in both Ross and Holmes families. Bridget had two sets of twins and called off having any more children, didn't want the hat trick she said."

"Wow," I blinked at her, ignoring the fact that Jubilee had jumped right in on preparing the room for me and her, she'd stripped the bed already and was redoing it with the bedding she'd brought "was it a buy one get one free deal?" Gran about hurt herself laughing.

…..

Dinner that night spent at the little kitchen table. McGonagall, well…Granny or Gran; Grandma was acceptable too, as she preferred to be called now that school was out, made dinner despite Jubilee's protests. Gran (was the easiest for me to stick with) wanted to fix her family a meal, Jubilee blushed and her ears quivered happily to be considered part of Gran's family.

Between the two, however, they agreed that I needed to learn to cook. Gran added that to her to-do list for our visit. Dinner was really good and it didn't include sheep's gut. Gran just laughed when I told her this and she smirked back that she had raised four children without the wondrous help of a creature like Jubilee. The elf blushed again from her spot at the table.

The three of us spent the rest of the evening before bed looking through Robert's study. He had tomes upon tomes of spells…or is it had had? That question plagued me as I ran my fingers along the spines of his collection sitting snugly on their shelves. I found one book on a spell called expecto patronum.

I took that one down because I heard Fraser and Kaylee talking about it once. It was the only defense against dark creatures like dementors and lethifold. Neither of those sounded pleasant so I was curious this defense. Gran looked amused as I sat down beside her on the little leather couch, tucking into her side and began to read. She had her own book that she'd found on Robert's desk.

"Bit advanced, don't ya think, lass?" she asked settling an arm around me

I shrugged "meh, if I find big words I'll just ask you…or write Hermione," I deflated a bit at the mention of the bushy haired girl.

Gran raised an eyebrow "and how is Miss Granger? Have you two made up yet?"

Sighing heavily, I cracked open my book "sort of, maybe…I don't know," I shook my head "I think that we could be great friends if people weren't interfering, I mean we were before school started. She left for Cardiff not long after we got back from Hogwarts, I miss my friend but I don't at the same time," I felt guilty about that "I don't miss the wondering if she's lying about something, wondering if she doubts that I'm smart enough to catch it. It's the same with Harry, except he's taking this 'break' thing seriously because he hasn't written me back yet."

"What do ya mean, lass?" Gran asked

I sighed "well, I wrote him several times since we got back. I wanted to see if he was alright because his relatives are ass-hats to him, hey!" I protested when Gran smacked me "what was that for?"

"Language, lass!" Gran rolled her eyes at me "I swear if I hear you use that type of language again, I will wash your mouth out with soap and you'll be frothing at the mouth."

I glared at her "but they are! They're horrible to him ! I just wanted to know if he was okay and if there's anything I could do for him."

Gran shifted uncomfortable "Dumbledore has his reasons for Harry being there."

I snorted "yea, I don't trust Dumbledore's decision making skills," I huffed "but whatever."

"What about Neville?" Gran asked with a chuckle

I shrugged "his Gran got a wild hair and decided to go globetrotting, he wrote me before they took off to Nepal. He'll be back like two weeks before school starts."

Gran laughed at that "that sounds like Augusta."

We went back to our separate books then. The Patronus charm was rather fascinating to read about. It literally meant in Latin 'I await a guardian' and was considered one of the most powerful defensive charms known to magic users. When evoked correctly it produced a silvery blue, fully corporeal animal. If not evoked properly it just created a silvery blue mist.

The patronus was interesting on many levels because it could also indicate what a person's animagus form would be. The animal usually represented a person's personality. I raised an eyebrow at this and looked up at Gran. A slight smile on her lips as her eyes flicked across the page she was reading. I knew she was a cat animagus because she'd demonstrated it the first day of my first Transfiguration class.

"You're staring, little lion," Gran shifted her eyes to me "did you have a question about your reading?"

I nodded "why are you a cat?" I asked, the look of astonishment at such a question on Gran's face was almost comical and it made me laugh "I mean why is your animagus form a cat? Is that your patronus too?"

Gran chuckled as she set her book aside and tapped me on the nose "my form is a cat because that's what I became when I went through my transformation. That's what animal part of my personality identified with and yes, my patronus is a cat."

"I heard that you have to keep a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month with lots of meditation," I frowned "wouldn't that be gross?"

Gran nodded "it was mildly disgusting, aye, but worth it. Do you want to learn how to be an animagus?" she asked curiously

I nodded "I would, I've always wondered what I'd be. I met a lady in China who could turn into a tiger. She said it kept her limber enough to continue practicing her martial arts which helped with her magic. Also, she was soft when she transformed."

"I have some books you can read about it but I'd prefer if you didn't try anything until at least your fourth year," Gran said pointedly "normally Dumbledore would teach you if you wanted to learn the skill but I think I'm going to refuse him this particular student."

…

I stayed up as long as I could get away with, sneaking the patronus book out of Robert's study with me. It ended with Jubilee taking my book away, shutting of the light and climbing into the dresser drawer she'd claimed as hers. I cuddled in close with the purring pillow and stared at the wall until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.

The chamber was cold…no, not this again…Quirrell's blue eyes held mine…I knew it was a dream but I couldn't escape…then the eyes changed colors as Quirrell's face shifted. His skin became darker just like his eyes. A mask, wait…it wasn't a mask but white face paint that had been done to look like a skull's face…I wanted so badly to get away now that I was thrashing against the hold of the dream and screaming at it.

"Do you really think could really get away, pitit," a smooth and mature feminine voice came from the painted face "nanm ou ki pou mwen, pitit," the woman hissed "your soul will always be mine!" A painted hand reached out from the darkness that surrounded the woman, it was coming at my face.

Something touched me the same time that the painted skeleton hand grabbed my face and I shot out of bed, fighting the covers and whatever had me. I got free of the blanket and the creature that had me and I hit the floor running. Strong arms caught me at the door to my room, shushing my screams as we sank to the floor.

"Tis alright, Athena," Gran whispered as she held tightly to me, gently rocking as my fear started to abate and lessen "you're safe, you're safe here with me," she promised as I turned my face into her and gave into the threatening sobs that burned at my throat "I won't let them hurt you."

"There was a monster after me," my tears were soaking her nightgown "in my dreams and it felt real."

Gran's embrace grew tighter around me as if to shield me from my nightmares. With great strength, or she might have cast a feather light charm on me, Gran rose with me in her arms and carried me back to bed. There she slipped into the bed and promised not to leave me. I motioned to Jubilee to come over, patting the bed next to me; having them on either side of me made me feel safer.

….

Breakfast was a quiet affair the next morning. I didn't want to talk about what I'd seen no matter how much Gran asked and prodded. She frowned when I just pushed the scrambled eggs around on my plate, asking if I could be excused before she made me promise that I'd eat at lunch and only then would she let me leave the table. The house felt oppressive or that could have been the heaviness I felt in my stomach, but I decided to grab the patronus book and headed out to the back garden.

Gran tossed me a blue hooded sweatshirt as I headed out the back door. It was quite cool out and the wind sweeping in off Dunnet Bay wasn't warming the air at all. There was a small tree in the back corner of the neatly kept garden that had low branches. That is where I went and found that from the lowest branch I could see out over the rock fence to be greeted by the sight of Dunnet Bay in its full glory…well, once you looked past the tall dunes at the beach.

With my back resting against the harsh and biting tree trunk and the book in my folded lap, I found that I couldn't tear my gaze away. I was lost to the view. It was peaceful, even with the few boats that came in and out of Castlehill harbor. The gulls squawking here and there over the sounds of the muggle cars passing by.

I wish I could have stayed that way forever. It was so easy to lose track of time and what was going on around me. So much so that I never heard Gran calling my name from the kitchen door nor noticed her making her way cross the garden until she was right beside the branch I was on, calling my name again. She saved me by catching my arm when I jumped and began to fall out of the tree sideways; my book wasn't so lucky and hit the ground.

"Whoa there, little lion," Gran pulled me back into a seated position "I didn't mean to scare you."

"That's alright," I assured her trying to rein in my racing heart "dazed out there for a while."

Gran nodded "that can be forgiven, lass, and I'd leave you to it a bit longer but it's lunch time and you're aunt has arrived."

I frowned and looked back towards the house "how did she get here?" I asked "did I miss hearing a car?"

"Portkey, actually, and they walked from the local owl post station, its Castletown's official portkey location," Gran explained, she was standing to face me with her back to the bay "do you feel up to meeting them?"

Glancing back at the house, I asked "is it just Aunt Bridget and her younger set of twins?"

Gran glanced the same way "mostly, she brought a friend if that's alright; a friend I asked her friend to bring along. Lucile Ball is one of the most qualified mind-healers registered with the IWC, means she can practice her craft internationally," Gran clarified when I gave her a questioning look "Andromeda and I agreed that you needed this," the woman defended herself when I glared at her "the nightmares like the one you had last night will go away if you let her help you, little lion. There is nothing wrong in asking for help."

I gritted my teeth "there is nothing wrong with my head!" I snapped at the older witch "I don't need mind-healing!"

Gran pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow at me "if you don't want your backside paddled, lass, you'll change that tone," she warned tersely "I will not be spoken to like that," I tried to hold her gaze but it didn't work "now," Gran patted my knee "you'll get down out of this tree and come meet your family."

Grumbling, I waited until Gran had picked up my book and had moved aside before I jumped down and winced. I hadn't realized just how numb my legs and backside had gotten while sitting in the tree. Gran put her arm around my shoulders to help steady me before starting me towards the house; she kept me upright when my knees wanted to buckle under me.

Bridget was the first to welcome me, she'd been standing in the kitchen watching Gran and I through the window. The mini-McGonagall grinned as she bear hugged me, lifting me off my feet and swinging me about before she started kissing me cheeks in an obnoxious way that made me laugh.

"There," Bridget stated happily and put me back down, I noticed that I was certainly a bit taller than the last time I'd seen her "that's better, you wearing a smile instead of a frown," I just shrugged and kept smiling at her "so," Bridget clapped her hands together "the twins are putting their things away with the help of that very eager elf," the woman winked at me "little thing looked absolutely delighted to see more children about the house. Lucy is squaring herself away as well, last room on the right, correct Mum?"

Gran nodded, gently pushing me aside a bit so she could get through the narrow spot of the kitchen that Bridget and I were blocking "aye, that's right," she smiled at me before looking back up at her daughter "I'm going to go check on the twins, make sure they haven't talked Jubilee into anything they shouldn't of."

I watched Gran go, she seemed excited as she bound up the stairs. It hurt when I remembered how cold and distant she'd been upon our first meeting. Bridget and Fergus's children would always know McGonagall as their grandmother and I'd only know her for just almost a year now. To cover the frown that had made its way back to my face, I set my book down on the table and moved to get a glass of water. Bridget watching my every move.

She watched me sit down at the table and pick my book up again, Bridget took the chair next to mine at the roundish table "Mum told me what happened with Quirrell. It was very brave of you to go and help your friends like that. I don't think it should have gotten that far and as a professor myself, I'm very sorry that you had to go through that, Athena."

I shrugged but didn't look up from my book "doesn't matter," I said not wanting to talk about it "Harry's safe, Hermione and Ronald are still idiots but still safe and Tom Riddle failed to get the stone. We usurped the hated snakes of Hogwarts with some well-placed points for breaking the rules. Isn't it that matters?"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bridget raise an eyebrow at me "no, that's not what matters. What matters is that you came out of it alive," Bridget said reaching out and putting a hand on my arm "you matter more than that stone does."

I couldn't help but glance over with a glare before returning to my book, after a moment of getting my jaw to unclench, I finally spoke "can we talk about something else? How was the States? Bryan Adams still tearing up the billboard charts?" I asked "Brooks & Dunn still together? I wonder about them having true lasting power, honestly. That Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Alan Rickman still doing smashing in the cinema? Who won the Super Bowl? Did the Bozeman Stampede take the American Quidditch Cup?"

Bridget just blinked at me "wow, you know a lot about the Colonies, how?"

"That's where we were before Fraser brought us to Scotland and I got my Hogwarts letter," I merely shrugged "he was helping out with a demiguise problem, there was a rogue one that was had stolen several mates from the Oklahoma preserve and were over breeding them," I sighed when I see Bridget's look of concerned disbelief "the thing that makes invisibility cloaks went nuts and had lots of little things that makes invisibility cloaks," I smirked "better?"

I was saved from Bridget's reply when thunder rattled inside the house as two pre-teens came racing down the hall, to the stairs, down the stairs and towards the kitchen; laughing and being chased by Gran in her cat form. The silver tabby slid across the wood floor at the bottom of the stairs, streaked into kitchen and leapt onto my shoulder.

The little cat with the powerful body meowed happily and began to rubbing her cheek against mine. The tabby's whiskers tickled and I couldn't but help laughing at Gran's antics. When I was laughing properly, Gran jumped down and shifted back; when she was properly herself again she pulled me out of my chair and hugged me tightly.

Over behind the mother, the twins were laughing as Gran wouldn't let me go. The force of her hug had driven the air out of me. I remembered what I'd done to Nym at Platform 9¾ once; I went limp noodle in Grans arms and the woman grunted with the effort of keeping me up.

"Not fair, little lion," Gran struggled with the sudden weight shift "stand or I'll let you drop!" she warned teasingly.

I shrugged, not standing "I've miss the floor, terribly so! I wouldn't mind be…ah!" I squeaked when Gran let me go and I crumpled to the floor. I just laid there and patted the wood floor "hello, my old friend!"

Gran smirked and pulled me up and made a show of dusting me off. She gently smacking my backside while she was at it which produced more laughter from the twins. I gave the older woman a mock glare before reclaiming my seat, well…I tired. However, I was stopped when Bridget's friend arrived in the kitchen with Jubilee in tow.

"Athena," Gran slipped her arm over my shoulder and pulled me around to face the new arrival "I would like to introduce you to Lucile Ball," the woman was tallish, definitely not short, with red hair that'd rival the Weasley family. It was done up in a retro do from the forties, the top was very curly "Lucile, this is my eldest granddaughter, Athena Black."

The woman smiled with pale features and ruby red lips "hello, Athena," Lucile had a higher pitched voice and raspy but it wasn't ear piercing unpleasant "how are you?"

"Meh…" I shrugged as I shook her hand, even her fingernails were bright red "I'm fine, how are you?"

"Slightly jet lagged but that'll pass," the woman mimicked my shrug.

"What about us, Grandma?" two voices called out in unison "do we get an introduction?"

Gran looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow "eh? You want to be introduced to Lucile?" she teased "but ye've know her all you're lives!" the twins, a boy and girl, folded their arms across their chests and glared at Gran until the woman relented "fine," she groaned and turned me to face the young children "Athena, these are the strays that Bridget felt sorry for and brought along."

"GRANDMA!" both twins protested in outrage, everyone else chuckled

Gran just laughed "alright, fine, properly then…Athena, this is Malcom and Isobel," Gran nodded her towards each one "Mal, Izzy, this is Athena."

"Hullo," I waved stupidly at them.

The twins weren't exactly identical but they were diffidently siblings. They had brown hair, Hermione's was chocolate while theirs was chestnut, so they'd missed out on the McGonagall pitch black. Their eyes were the emerald green though and their features were softer, meaning they wouldn't turn to that hard line the Highlander blood gave them when they got older. To finish off the look was the slap of freckles across their noses.

"Hi," Isobel or Izzy, I wasn't sure which to use; the younger girl must have realized this because she added "you can call me Izzy, and Mal is just Mal, the stinky one."

I raised an eyebrow at the scowling boy, who paused before he lifted his arm to sniff under it; he made a disgusted face "right, hail to you, Izzy and to you, Lord Stinky!"

Mal was torn between liking that and wondering if I was mocking him "I'm not sure if I like that or not, dude, I don't like being confused."

…..

The twins were fun; Izzy was most certainly the brains of the pair and Mal was her muscle. They were also very talkative and excited to meet me; which I found out when Jubilee sat us down to lunch. I was informed that they wanted to continue the family tradition of going to Hogwarts while their older brothers could start new traditions by going to Ilvermorny.

They also talked about how cool it'd be get their wands at Ollivander's; they didn't believe me that that was an overrated experience. The pair kept talking all the way through lunch, I probably shouldn't have told them I was friends (I think I still am if the prat would ever write me back!) with Harry Potter.

Bridget finally had enough and decided to take the overactive children out for a long walk around Castletown. Actually that might have been scripted because once the three of them were out the door, Gran was ushering me up stairs to Robert's study with Lucile following. Gran conjured two fold up chairs, facing each other, and sat me down in one while Lucile took the other.

Lucile smiled reassuringly, for the record I was getting sick of that type facial expression and I stopped whatever she was going to open with by saying "I don't need help," I said firmly "I'm just fine and I'd like to be left alone!"

The woman didn't flinch nor did she seem rebuffed by this, she did send a quick glance to Gran who was sitting on the nearby couch "I see," the woman turned her attention back to me, noting my defensive posture with my arms folded across my chest "your grandmother and guardian think differently, they've told me some of what you've experienced."

"Yea?" I smirked darkly "well, they're tattletales!"

Lucile chuckled, clearly amused "how about I make you a deal? Hmm?" she asked and continued when I didn't reply "how about we just take a looksee through a process called legilimens, do you know what that is?"

I frowned "yea, means you're going to poke around inside my head using a spell, I know that the protection against that is occlumency."

The red-headed woman smiled "Minerva was right, you are smart."

I shook my head "just well read, there's a difference."

Lucile put up her hands so not to argue the subject "point taken, however; and let me explain. Magical trauma can leave scars on our magic just like physical trauma can leave scars on our bodies and emotional trauma can leave scars on our minds. I treat the magical and the emotional trauma," she explained "by using legilimens, I'm able to help a person process with what they've gone through so they can move on from it and sometimes I can even heal the scars I find."

"You won't find anything in my head but rocks and useless facts," I scoffed at her "like did you know that Hercules and Heracles are actually not the same man, not really? Hercules is Roman, they changed his name when they adopted the Greek gods and remade them in Rome's image," I explained and Lucile let me "Heracles is Greek. He was named after Hera to appease her because Zeus was unfaithful again and Zeus was pleading with his wife so she didn't kill the bastard child or his mother. It was Hera who drove Heracles insane so he'd murder his family and be disgraced and it was only the 12 labors that somewhat redeemed him."

"Hmm, I didn't know that," Lucile blinked at me, even Gran was a bit stunned "where did you learn that?"

I just shrugged "I spent time in Greece, some of the older Amazons loved telling stories. They would barrow me from Kaylee in the evenings so they could have someone tell stories to. I just think some of them just liked the hearing the sounds of their own voice."

Lucile chuckled "how about this, you let me poke around in that rock and useless fact filled noggin' of your and I can talk your grandmother into getting you a present of your own choice," the woman had leaned forward, resting one arm across her knee "what do you say, Min?" the mind-healer asked "that sound like a deal?"

Gran nodded and I just shook my head "you're using open ended bribery?" I scoffed "come on, that's a tad bit dangerous, don't ya think?" I asked "I could ask for anything and I find this mildly insulting, you know."

Gran smirked and narrowed her eyes at me, they ignored my comment about this being insulting "within reason, little lion, within reason."

With a sigh, though there wasn't really anything that I was wanting, but wait, I grinned "I want a sword," I grinned triumphantly "like the Amazons but not a Greek one. More like a Bastard sword or a crusader's style and I want to learn how to use it in the proper form."

That caught both women by surprise "that's what you want?" Gran asked skeptically "you want a sword?"

I frowned at her "what else would I want?" I asked "I know about my family, I'm not with Fraser anymore and I don't think a wave of a wand would fix my friendship with Hermione and Harry, it would be illegal to make Ron go away with a wave of a wand and it won't help Neville's parents neither…so, really, I've wanted a sword since Fraser took me to Macedonia."

"What about dueling instead?" Gran offered as a counter "I can teach you that myself and its non-lethal. If you're doing it professional, that is, which I hope is the only dueling you ever do."

I growled softly "that the only offer?" I asked "because I really want a sword, I already have the cape!"

Gran didn't budge "it's the best you'll get, little lion," her face set to stern "and that's only if you cooperate."

Letting out a frustrated growl, I snapped "fine, but next time don't offer opened bribes if you're not will to follow through."

"That, my dear lass, can be arranged." Gran said smoothly and smugly.

Next time on Athena and the King of Snakes: mind-healing and bad memories