Chapter 3 – Meeting Charlus

Dumbledore was pacing his office angrily. The portraits of the previous headmasters did their best not to get caught staring outright at the unusual sight, but he knew they were closely watching regardless. He had just come from a meeting with the soon to be ex-minister to plead for the release of James Potter once more and this time she had all but slammed the door in his face. Him! The headmaster couldn't believe the audacity of the woman.

This wasn't simply a case of trying to help out an old friend, though James had always been one of his favorite students. He needed the ex-auror in order to gain control of his estranged daughter. The trial was to be Albus Dumbledore's first attempt to gain control of Hera Cullen… he had always had a Plan B to fall back on, but James had to ruin it by losing his mind at the hearing!

The aged wizard turned his head to the old tome sitting open across his desk. Among those worn pages was a ritual that, while not strictly dark, was certainly not light in nature. It was a blood calling spell that bound a child to a location designated by the parent. It was used on children who had the bad habit of continuously running away from home, (mostly girls trying to escape being forced into an arranged marriage). Any time a child stayed away past the approved length of time, the magic would forcefully bring them back home.

If he had James at his disposal he could tie Hera to Potter Manor via magic and she would be unable to leave until he had James cancel the spell. The headmaster sighed and sat down at his desk. It wasn't anything personal, though he wouldn't mind getting a bit of revenge for that article in the Prophet. All the howlers that followed that travesty had kept him holed up in his tower for two days. Thankfully everyone seemed to have forgotten the nasty article, and he sure wasn't going to be the one bringing it up any time soon!

But Hera Cullen was the prophecy child, and Albus Dumbledore was the Leader of the Light… everyone knew that! He needed control of the child if he was to have any hope of keeping the masses looking to him in these dark times. Albus stroked his beard. He also would like to get his hands on Nicolas' stone and work journals. Hera was an immortal creature… she had no use for such a powerful artifact. And what in the world would the little girl do with alchemy notes?

Dumbledore looked to Fawkes, who had been preening his feathers this entire time. Perhaps all he would need to do was simply ask the child for the items. She seemed nice enough. After a moment of thought he shook his head. "If I ask her and she refuses I would be out of options. I think I'll take a stroll over to Nicolas' island and check out the wards, instead."

"Emmett would it hurt you if I kicked you in the groin," Hera asked her brother point blank.

Every vampire in the house stopped and looked at the little girl, aghast at the question. After reading her mind, Edward tried to hold in his laughter, but was vastly unsuccessful.

Emmett stared between his baby sister and his brother, wondering if he'd heard the question correctly. After a few moments he responded to her inquiry. "Why would you want to kick me in the groin?!"

Hera, who was now wondering why Edward was collapsed on the floor in hysterics, returned her attention to the large vampire. "Oh! Jedidiah says I should be ready to do my Krav Maga testing for the yellow belt in a few weeks, and I need to practice the 'Rising Front Kick to Groin' technique. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to practice on a real person without the kick shield, so…?"

Laughter exploded from everyone but Emmett and Hera, causing the former to glare at the other vampires. "I don't know if it would hurt, Hera… but I'm certainly not planning to find out!"

"Please, Emmett? If it hurts I won't do it anymore! Please let me kick you in the groin!"

"No! Get away from me, you crazy girl!" Stepping over Edward, he put as much distance as he could between himself and the kick-happy phoenix as he could without leaving the room. He made a cross symbol with his fingers in her direction for good measure.

Hera sighed before turning to Jasper with hope in her big green eyes. The Civil War vampire's laughter cut off immediately before he quickly fled the room. Edward was already shaking his head in the negative when her attention moved to him, making the child grumble. "You boys just don't want me to get my belt." She then flashed back to the training room to practice on the dummy.

Edward stared at the place where his mate had been standing. "Why do I feel like I should start wearing an athletic cup around her," he asked, igniting another round of raucous laughter.

Charlus Potter was confused and angry. The auburn-haired boy gazed sadly at the picture beside his bed of his mummy and daddy happily smiling and waving. It was so hard to believe that they were like that only weeks before. His Uncle Siri had taken him to the Ministry of Magic the day before his father's trial, but his daddy wouldn't speak to him at all! He didn't understand why the man was angry with him, but after the visit Uncle Remy had explained that his daddy was just sick from losing Charlus' mother.

He didn't even want to think of his mum. Every time he closed his eyes the sight of Lily Potter exploding replayed itself over and over. Uncle Sirius had been taking him to see a mind healer, but all that woman did was make him keep talking about it. All he wanted to do was forget… why couldn't they just do that? If he could forget that moment then they could all just pretend that it never happened. He knew he would be much happier because he wouldn't keep having nightmares about her death.

This was all her fault, Charlus mused. Hera Cullen… the true prophecy child. When he was first told about having a twin he didn't believe it. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of another kid coming to live with them and taking half of his parents' attention away from him. Then his daddy had told him that Hera was one that the prophecy was really about and he grew angry. It was bad enough for her to budge into his home life… why did she have to take away his fame too?

He didn't really understand the prophecy, but anything that could make strangers come up to you on the street and just hand you money or gifts couldn't be bad! And then there was all the money from that old witch and wizard who died… it was supposed to come to him, but she got it instead. Charlus sighed and began to get ready to go to the bank with Uncle Siri and Uncle Remy. Hera Cullen had taken everything from him… his home, his parents, his fame, and his happiness.

He hated her so much.

Remus smiled as a little girl with wide green eyes suddenly appeared in the Gringotts lobby in a flash of green flames. He noticed Charlus tense and began to worry again about how the boy was dealing with everything. He supposed it was natural for him to find someone on which to focus his anger, but Hera was truly innocent. She'd had her own share of trauma to deal with and certainly didn't deserve Charlus' misplaced anger. He made a mental note to have a talk with the child once they returned to Sirius' home.

A few seconds after the phoenix' appearance, two vampires he recognized as Carlisle and Edward Cullen flashed into existence, holding onto the international portkey. He knew it was an impossibility, but Remus could have sworn the two vampires looked decidedly ill.

Carlisle straightened from where he had briefly crouched to keep his bearings. "I see now why you didn't want to take the portkey, Hera. That was extremely disorienting," he said, causing the girl to nod in agreement. Noticing the three of them standing before them, the head of the Cullen family smiled and greeted them.

Remus had just shaken Carlisle's hand when he noticed the younger vampire staring at Charlus and frowning in concern. "Is something wrong, Edward," he asked, causing the bronze-haired being to break his gaze.

Edward cleared his throat. "No, I'm sorry. I was just lost in thought."

After Sirius had happily introduced himself and Charlus, he led the group to the meeting room Foulclaw had graciously allowed them to use. He smiled as Hera amiably greeted every goblin they passed in gobbledygook. For the entire trek Edward hovered protectively over the child, as if expecting an attack to come at any moment. Remus knew the goblins weren't any threat to the family, so he couldn't help but wonder if the vampire thought the three wizards were a danger.

Hera was incredibly uncomfortable during the meeting with her biological brother and his uncles. The entire time she could feel the glares of Charlus upon her as if the boy was hoping to kill her with looks alone. It made her a little angry, but mostly sad because she knew her twin was right to hate her. If it hadn't been for his parents' fight to reclaim her, he would still have them both. Finally she sighed and met his gaze. "I'm sorry about your parents."

Sirius stopped talking mid-sentence as Hera spoke to her twin for the first time in her life.

Charlus just scowled at her for a moment before he snapped back, "You should be… it's your fault they're gone!"

"Charlus James Potter," Remus exclaimed in shock. "It isn't Hera's fault. She had nothing to do with any of that." The boy in question refused to look at anyone as his uncle continued. "You should apologize to her."

"No!" Angry tears streamed down the redheaded boy's face. "We were all fine until she came along. We were happy… then she came and ruined everything! I'm not going to apologize! I wish she had died instead of my mum!"

Sirius quickly stood and grabbed Charlus' arm. "Excuse us a moment," he said before tugging the boy outside to speak with him privately.

"I am so sorry about that Hera," Remus told the little girl with a troubled expression. "He's only taking it out on you because he doesn't know whom else to blame."

Feeling sick to her stomach, Hera nodded. She asked her father if she could go see Dreadblade and Tmora and was quickly given permission. Just before she flashed away, Edward pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "Don't take it to heart, sunshine. He's not really angry with you… just the situation."

Remembering once more the sight of Charlus after his mother's death, she decided then that, no matter how many hurtful things he said to her, Hera would try to ignore her own pain.

He needed to heal from this much more than she did.

Foulclaw was working in his office when a crystal orb sitting on his desk began to flash red. He smiled secretly and quickly informed the guards. He'd known Dumbledore would make an attempt to steal from Hera's inherited estate and added an extra ward to the island himself – detectable only with goblin magic. Should anyone succeed in breaking through the other wards, it would activate and the unfortunate thief would then become stuck inside. Apparition, floo, portkey, and even phoenix travel was impossible until the wards were reset.

The island was now on lockdown, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was screwed.

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