Guiding Star

'It's a nice park,' said Albus, brushing crumbs from his pastry off his t-shirt as he looked around the sculpted grass, the bowing trees casting lines of shadow in the cascade of mid-morning sunlight. He could smell the river, the Seine's waters rushing on the other side of the nearby hedge, and the three of them were not the only ones to think coming to such a picturesque spot for an early walk was a good idea.

Though he suspected the intentions of the Muggle tourists were less morbid. 'Why would you execute someone in a park?' he added.

'It wasn't a park in 1314,' said Matt a little testily as he approached the steps at the far end of the greenery, the stairway leading to the three pillars and a gated passageway through the wall. 'It was - this was a whole separate island back then.'

'I thought islands remained islands,' mused Albus, and licked sugar off his fingertips. 'I didn't know they merged with other islands.' There was a giggle to his left, and he glanced over to see a gaggle of girls about his age, a couple of them throwing smiles and glances in his direction it took him a moment to tell weren't mocking. He grinned back.

Rose, next to him, rolled her eyes. 'New rule: If we want to be discreet, we don't let Albus go anywhere in a t-shirt. I think his biceps are about to make girls pass out.'

'So it'd be wiser to let me go somewhere shirtless?' Albus smirked. 'I prefer them smiling at me for my biceps than my name.'

'Here it is,' said Matt with impatience, and pointed at the plaque set into the central of the three pillars. He squinted up. 'A cet endroit… in this place… ah. "At this spot", or "in this place" - you get the idea - "Jaques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Order of the Templars was burned on 18th March 1314."'

Albus waited for a sarcastic comment on how this translation had told them nothing they didn't already know, but realised neither Scorpius nor Selena was present. It was a curious sensation; he normally received such comments with apprehensive dread at the clashes it would cause, but in their absence was left having to make a good point more diplomatically. 'What were you hoping to find here?' he said at last.

Matt sighed, stomping down the steps back to them. 'I don't know. Pretty obvious there's going to be nothing here, isn't it? The Grand Master of the Templars was burned seven hundred years ago. Everyone knows this. There aren't going to be any secrets about this park. I thought coming here might... I don't know.'

'Inspire us?' Rose frowned around the park. 'It's a nice place. Hard to imagine a horrible execution happened here. But we're talking about a magical artifact - several, in fact. And these were hidden when Templar assets were seized. Maybe we should be looking to records from after 1314, and also to more magical ones.'

'I don't have many places to research,' said Matt, wincing. 'This isn't my era of expertise. Everyone who reads anything knows a little something about the Templars, but there are so many stupid conspiracy stories around them, from wizards and Muggles alike, it's hard to know what's the truth. If I hadn't seen Badenheim with my own eyes, I would have assumed anyone saying "Templars had the Chalice of Emrys" was pulling my leg.'

'Kerner didn't give us much to go on.' Albus' brow knotted. 'I doubt Thane or this Raskoph had more than that. All they have is "Templar repository" and "Paris". They're going to be as blind as we are. And they're only a few days ahead of us.'

'So we don't look for the Templars, we look for Thane?' Rose cocked her head.

'Maybe, though I'd rather beat him there than follow his trail. I was thinking more that he's going to have to find this place, too. So this is less about where we'd go to look for some hidden Templar cache, and more about where he'd go.'

'Wait a minute.' Matt's nose wrinkled. 'You're right. Except, we don't need to go chasing old records about Templar holdings. We can go looking for much more recent records about where the Thule Society might have been digging or investigating during the Nazi Occupation. It's not like they'd have needed to bother to be discreet!'

'So, Rose, I believe our next step plays to your strengths.' Albus gave his cousin a good-natured grin. 'We'll have to go to the library.'

She rolled her eyes, but looked as invigorated as he felt by the dawning of a promising idea. 'Let's stop by the hotel and check up on the others, first.'

'Agreed,' said Albus, 'and I want another one of those little apple pastry things.' He liked French food, he thought. There was just, so far, not enough of it.

So they walked back across the bridge off the Ile de la Cité, and down the river banks along with the mid-morning traffic of tourism. Central Paris was different to central London, so far as Albus could tell, though he knew himself to hardly be a city boy. London seemed more cramped, more frantic, and while Paris was hardly languid, especially along the central banks of the Seine, there seemed more enjoyment of the surroundings, of the sculpted buildings and ancient sites. Or, he conceded, he was simply bewitched by the novelty of the place, whilst London by now was uniformly grey and dreary to him.

Even on a gloomy, rainy day, he thought, Paris would be sombre, thoughtful, while London would just be depressing.

But it was not a gloomy day. It was a stunning day of late spring, and though the breeze off the river stopped him from feeling too hot, he had absolutely no intentions of putting on long sleeves. Whatever Rose said about his arms being indiscreet. The attention felt fun, for once, instead of making him apprehensive.

The people here didn't know his name, and they wouldn't care.

Despite Rose's protests, he stopped off for another pastry on the way back, and though communicating still consisted more of smiling, pointing, and speaking in a cheerful manner, he was surprised how far that got him. Far enough for another breakfast, anyway.

She looked betrayed when Matt, too, treated himself to another croissant, and grumbled exaggeratedly about boys only being able to focus on food as they wandered along the banks of the Seine. When they got to the large stone markers by an empty stretch of waters, the appropriate bricks were pressed - and then the magically masked bridge to the magically masked Ile des Roues stretched out before them.

'I don't get how they hid a whole island,' said Matt. 'I mean, I know how, in theory. It's just a bit smug.'

'At least they didn't have to bend space-time like Diagon Alley does. As far as Muggle maps are concerned, the two roads on either side of Diagon are adjacent to one another. This is just a patch of river nobody pays any attention to, or takes boats out to,' said Rose.

'I know. Still. Smug.'

There was a curious change of energy when moving from Muggle Paris into magical Paris. Muggle Paris was remarkably well-ordered - Matt had said something about the city being heavily redesigned a hundred and fifty years earlier. The magical district, beyond the main road, was still a tumble of houses into other houses, roofs leaning in towards one another down the narrow alleyways, so close Albus wondered if you could step from building to building with only a gap of inches showing the abyssal drop to street level.

He peered down one such alley as they crossed the bridge. 'So I guess the wizards didn't get the island revamped like the main city.'

Matt gave a wry smile. 'I don't think Napoleon III included the Ile des Roues on his refurbishment plans, no.'

Rose peered at him. 'There were three Napoleons?'

'No,' sighed Matt. 'Just two.' His lips twitched. 'And the last King Louis was called Louis the XVIII. Except only seventeen kings called Louis were ever crowned. Go figure.'

Albus squinted. 'These French are crazy.'

'Yes,' said Matt, 'but it is a nice city, isn't it?'

'And a nice hotel,' sighed Rose as they reached their destination. 'Are we sure we can't do something about Scorpius paying for all of this?'

'Like what? He's right, we need somewhere with privacy, and the moment we're booking hotel rooms in Paris with absolutely no advance booking, we're going to have to rely on his cash,' said Albus. 'And the moment he's paying for it, he gets to pick where.'

Matt gave a sly smile. 'Let's just hope we have to go to more exotic places with fancy hotels, huh?'

Rose swatted him on the arm. 'We can't take him for granted -'

He lifted a hand. 'Oh, come off it, Rose, he loves it and you know it.'

Albus chuckled as he entered the lobby, a huge room of mahogany floors and red drapes. 'I'm afraid to say Matt is right. Scorp was just itching for the excuse.'

Rose rolled her eyes. 'Yes, well, he always -' Then she froze as she spotted the figure stood by the reception desk, and her expression shifted from frustration to pleased apprehension. 'Mum.'

Hermione Granger crossed the lobby to the doors and wrapped her daughter in a warm hug, even if she'd only been away from home for two nights by now. 'I thought I'd skip trying to talk on Floo, and took a Portkey down this morning,' she said, giving them a tired smile. 'You know. To make sure your holiday's going well.'

It wasn't subtle, but it certainly got the message across. Albus gestured towards the stairway that wound deeper into the belly of the hotel, away from the mid-morning passers-by of staff and hotel guests who could easily overhear any conversation they would have. 'Let's head up to the room, then.'

They passed the trip up in silence, and waited awkwardly while Rose fished out the key to let them into the suite. Albus was relieved, as they filtered in, to see that Scorpius was up, about, dressed, and not looking as hideously tired as the day before.

And he was amused to see the flicker of panic as they were followed in by Rose's mother.

Selena, for her part, rose from the futon with a wry expression. 'Of course,' she mused. 'It wouldn't be a crisis without you here to give us a morning briefing, Ms Granger.'

'I thought we'd go back to tradition,' said Hermione, though her voice was clipped with worry. 'It's good to see you all. Rose brought me up to speed on what you know. So I thought I'd come down here and speak in person, for once.'

'Let's all sit down,' said Scorpius, flapping his hands. 'We should have some tea. Tea? Coffee?'

When in doubt and trying to reaffirm a good impression, mused Albus, make a cup of tea.

'Tea would be lovely, Scorpius,' said Hermione, then gave him an assessing glance as she saw his mild limp. 'What happened to your leg?'

'Oh? That? It was nothing. Just a little stabbing. Incredibly inconsequential and very heroic, I assure you,' said Scorpius, and went for the good china.

Hermione seemed to accept this, and waited until everyone had a drink and was sat down around the coffee table before the bay window before she next spoke, her expression pinched in a manner Albus recognised from when Rose was flummoxed. 'As I said,' she began, 'Rose explained everything.'

Rose looked abashed, still. 'We said we would,' she pointed out needlessly.

'We did,' said Albus, voice calming. 'We're being open about this.'

'I know, and I appreciate that,' said Hermione. Her gaze swept across them all. 'And I'd encourage you to reconsider.'

A noise of protest escaped Rose's lips. 'You said you'd support us on this!'

'You are deciding that the best thing to do is chase Prometheus Thane and his associates, professionals all of them, across Europe to try to thwart his plans which are to very probably acquire a relic that could further empower the Phlegethon virus.'

'Yes,' said Albus, jaw setting. 'I think that's something that needs doing.'

'You cannot treat this man lightly -'

'We don't. We've faced off against him and his men before. We know they're dangerous.' He leaned forwards. 'Did you share this information with the Convocation?'

Hermione's expression tightened. 'I confirmed that the sightings of Thane in Badenheim were accurate, and that he had moved on to Paris -'

'Are they going to do anything about this now he's confirmed to be moving across international borders?'

A pause. 'There has been no more progress on unity in the hunt for Thane, no -'

'And isn't the Chairman's election, the best chance of steering the Convocation to wielding its new powers with any degree of decisiveness, still a fortnight away?'

Hermione's eyes turned to the ceiling. 'Yes. But this doesn't mean it has to be you who -'

'Who's it going to be?' pressed Albus. 'A group of Aurors operating illegally abroad? Dad and Ron acting off the books? The moment they're spotted anywhere, the world's going to know what they're up to, and won't believe they're not acting officially.'

'There has to be some other group of private citizens who can -'

'Who?' Albus repeated. 'Don't get me wrong, if you can come up with a more efficient and official way to hunt down Prometheus Thane, I'm all for it. But for whatever reason, he's been protected by certain countries and that means this isn't possible. In two weeks he might have what he wants, or we might lose the trail.'

Hermione faltered again, but it was Matt who spoke next, hands clasped around his coffee cup. 'Why is it so hard to get the Convocation together on the idea that Prometheus Thane is bad news? And surely international cooperation's been the entire bloody point of the Convocation?'

'To fight Phlegethon, yes,' said Hermione. 'And I have been cooperating with task forces across the globe to focus our efforts as a collective magical community. But when it's come to the Council of Thorns' attacks on civilians and government, they're operating in a more strict, cell-based structure. Groups are mostly internal to a country, mostly drawing on that country's particular strand of dissatisfaction to recruit dark magic-wielding dissidents. The Convocation shares information and with that we've been streamlining policies and been able to be far more effective against the Council when they show up. But we've not been fighting them as a collective, because we've not had to.'

'Mum was talking about a multi-national Auror division,' said Selena quietly. 'But that's only if she makes Chairman.'

'Yes.' Albus heard the decidedly neutral tone in Hermione's voice, before she continued. 'And that won't be for weeks yet. The problem is that Thane is the first Council of Thorns target to be operating across international borders. And because he's such a minor figure in the Council, or so our intelligence suggested, fallen out of grace for the loss of the Resurrection Stone, certain nations of the Convocation don't feel motivated to start letting foreign law enforcement officials have jurisdiction in their borders.'

Albus glanced at Scorpius at the mention of Thane losing the Resurrection Stone. He shook his head, and Albus drew a deep breath and looked at his aunt. 'This is why it has to be us,' he said. 'Nobody can accuse us of working for any government. We're as familiar with Thane and his men as anybody. We're all of-age.'

'And you said you'd help us,' repeated Rose in a low voice.

'I did.' Hermione sank back on the armchair and pinched the bridge of her nose. 'And I will. I just hoped I wouldn't have to.'

A tense silence fell, in which Selena shifted her feet and demurely cleared her throat. 'Did you tell my mother?'

'I did not,' said Hermione. 'You're an adult, and I don't think I want the British Representative to the International Magical Convocation either involved in this or breathing down my neck. And it would be hypocritical of me at this point.' She glanced at Rose and Albus. 'Though I'm starting to understand an awful lot more how your grandparents felt in the war.'

'Sorry,' said Albus, and meant it. 'But we're choosing this, Aunt Hermione. We could walk away, we know that. But he needs to be stopped, and he needs to be brought to justice. I know nothing would happen to us if we went home, or just carried on with our holiday. And I know this is a choice you never realistically had.'

His aunt sighed. 'I know,' she said, then reached for her handbag and pulled an impossibly large folder from it, which she placed on the coffee table. 'So I'm about to commit a crime of showing you classified information, and you're about to commit a crime by reading it.'

Selena lifted her hand. 'I've already stolen classified information, I think we're a bit screwed on that count anyway.'

Another sigh. 'I really can't judge.' It was starting to sound like a mantra by now. 'This folder contains everything we have on Prometheus Thane, including background, which isn't much you don't already know or haven't already seen. It also includes our information on Phlegethon, and its changes.'

Rose squinted. 'Changes?'

'Phlegethon was a very slow-acting virus, considering its end goal. Months of transforming the living into Inferi? It makes sense that the Council's intention at Hogwarts was to make a statement, because as an attack in and of itself, it was woefully inefficient. But not any more.' Hermione's expression darkened. 'It's being changed. Improved. The transformation is quicker, the lethality rates are higher. We got to an outbreak in Georgia last week that was only a few days old to find the infected there were almost dead already.

'There is some good news,' she continued, 'in that the Council of Thorns is no longer using rituals the like of which they used at Hogwarts, so there's no perpetual infection, you don't get afflicted by simply being in an area. It's the infected who transmit the illness, currently airborne. But that means no rituals to destroy, and our people can operate more freely in applying the cure.'

She nodded at the folder. 'Technically, we shouldn't be calling this "Phlegethon" any more. The symptoms match, the end result is the same, but this is a self-sustaining virus, and considerably more virulent. The Chad government captured a Council of Thorns operative who infected an area. This new strand of Phlegethon has a new name: Eridanos.'

Matt groaned. 'Of course that's what it's called.'

'I thought that was a constellation?' said Scorpius, eyebrows raising.

'That's Eridanus, though the names are linked. Eridanos is another of the five rivers of Hades. And was supposed to be the river that ran around the world.'

'Much, as I assume, the Council want the virus to do.' Hermione pushed the folder away. 'I don't know if this information is going to be of any use to you, but it's there. I can start to put out feelers for more news on Thane now we have an idea of what he's doing and where he's going. Do you have plans?'

Rose sighed. 'Research. Thane thinks the Chalice is still here. So we have to hunt for it, too.'

'Then what can I do to help?'

Matt's expression shifted thoughtfully. 'Resources,' he said. 'Information. We're operating off my bookshelf and maybe some books we can find here in Paris. In so far as my French can keep up with intense academic reading.'

Rose perked up. 'Matt's got a Book of Many Books, Mum. If you could hook that up to a better library than just his...'

Hermione's eyebrows raised. 'I'll see about getting him access to the whole of the Hogwarts library. It's still the best in the country. Now. Money.'

Scorpius raised a hand. 'Sorted.'

'I can arrange to siphon off some of the task force's funds to support -'

'No.' He sat up. 'That's money to help dying people. I have money. I'll fund us.'

'That's your inheritance -'

'You know how much money was given to my family in the war. Money stripped from dissidents and Muggle-borns. You know only a tiny percentage was recovered as most of the time there was nobody alive to claim it.' Scorpius' eyes narrowed. 'Let me put that money to use for a good cause: stopping Thane.'

'And room service,' murmured Selena.

Hermione sighed. 'So be it. I haven't had much time to find more recent, pertinent information, but I'll keep looking. Just stay in touch. If we find something either end, we say. Who knows what could be valuable.'

Albus nodded. 'Agreed,' he said. 'And... thanks, Aunt Hermione.'

'Thank your father,' she said dryly. 'He's the one who stopped Ron coming down here to drag you all back by your ankles.'

'We'll get this done,' he said, chin jerking up a defiant half-inch.

Hermione didn't disagree, but a hint of sadness tugged at her face. 'I know you will,' she said softly. 'I know you're learning how to. That's part of what worries me. This generation was supposed to be the one without war.'

'If it's any consolation,' said Scorpius, 'it doesn't look like this one's the sins of the old generations coming back to bite us. We're just making up whole new problems.'

'You didn't ask me to walk you across the road just to say goodbye,' Rose said to her mother, gaze wary as they reached the steps leading up to the Magical Assembly.

'I could have,' said Hermione, brow furrowing. 'This might have been a lovely mother-daughter moment.'

'We have those. It's called normal, everyday stuff. We don't do forced platitudes, Mum. I'm not saying you don't give me enough fuss, I'm saying that something's up.'

Both women stopped, and Hermione sighed as she glanced from Rose to the front of their hotel, a good way down the street. 'Selena Rourke,' she said at last.

Rose's lips twisted. 'Yes, she tricked us to going to Badenheim - but she's not wrong, this needed dealing with. She might be messed up, but she did lose her boyfriend to this. We can handle her -'

'I'm not worried about handling her. God knows the young lady has every right to be upset, and to want to charge across Europe to string Thane up by his guts.' The frown remained. 'I'm more worried about her mother.'

'Her mother's representing Britain in the Convocation - she's fighting the Council of Thorns -'

'Did you know the Convocation has passed laws which have forced policy changes in how the MLE conducts its anti-Council operations? How Legal Affairs prosecutes them? How Saint Mungo's manages medical issues? Laws voted on by all the countries participating, and these laws are binding to all member states - else the nations pull out from the Convocation, and so lose the Convocation's support.'

Rose watched her mother's expression as she spoke, and decided it would be best to tread carefully. 'Isn't that the point of the Convocation? To coordinate the world-wideresponse to a world-wide threat like the Council of Thorns? So there's the same efficiency all over, the same high standards all over?'

'I'm not denying that. And thus far there have been no problems. But Lillian Rourke has a huge amount of backing in the Convocation, which is fine when she's been championing the right causes, but concerning when she stands to win the post of Chairman in a fortnight.'

'Don't we want someone on our side heading the Convocation?'

Hermione drew a slow breath. 'The Chairman is going to be able to tip the scales on all sorts of votes - yes, including matters like the hunt for Thane. They will be truly influential and be able to seriously push their own legislative agenda. A legislative agenda which has the capacity to overrule a nation's own governmental decrees. As the Representative to the Convocation, Lillian's power is comparable to the Minister's. As the Chairman of the Convocation, she'd arguably be the most powerful woman in the world.'

Rose narrowed her eyes. 'That's sounding awfully melodramatic, Mum. There was a charter for the Convocation, rules put in place to limit its power and keep its focus on the Council of Thorns.'

'To keep its focus on a crisis -'

'Is this because she's been able to overrule you on your task force's affairs?' said Rose suspiciously.

Hermione straightened. 'She has dictated -'

'Mum, I'm setting off to hunt Prometheus Thane. I don't have time for political power-plays, and this has nothing to do with Selena -'

'This isn't about my ego,' Hermione insisted. 'My point is simple. Lillian Rourke is capable and I believe she's trustworthy but she's also exceptionally opportunistic. She went from being the head of the DIMC to, as I said, one of the world's foremost witches almost overnight. And now her daughter has catalysed the international hunt for Prometheus Thane. If she can wring anything out of you... she will.'

'I don't care,' said Rose firmly. 'She can use us to make herself look good, she can paint us as villains, I don't care. I'm here for Thane, for justice and to stop him. So long as she doesn't get in the way of that, she could be planning on sacrificing a basket of kittens for all I care.'

'All right.' Hermione lifted her hands in surrender. 'But you won't want this hunt to become a political tool. That's all. Selena doesn't seem to want her to know what's going on; I simply encourage you to keep it that way. Now.' Her hands dropped, but only enough to come to her daughter's shoulders, warm and reassuring. 'How much trouble has that young man of yours been getting into?'

'"That young man" - sound more like you're in your seventies, Mum,' Rose scoffed.

Hermione grinned. 'I'll take that evasion as a "plenty", then. You just be careful, Rosie.'

'International hunt for major criminal and a legendary relic! Priorities, Mum!'

'The way I remember it,' said Hermione, voice going lighter, 'life and love didn't stop in a crisis.'

'I don't need to know!'

Her mother laughed, and squeezed her shoulders before letting go. 'I'm saying to not get hurt. That's all,' she said, sobering but still affectionate, reassuring. 'The cause is important - but so's he. You still have to live when it's all over.'

'I know, Mum.' Rose bit her lip. 'I only have to look at Selena to remember how bad it gets.'

Hermione mumbled a curse she wouldn't usually utter before her daughter. 'Of course.' She shook her head. 'You've been keeping up with your training?'

'As much as I can. I don't really have anyone to practice on; I'm not sure the others would be thrilled for me to sift through their brains. But I know what I'm doing, Mum. I've got all your lessons.' Rose gave her a reassuring smile. 'I'll be fine.'

Her mother sighed deeply. 'I have to catch that portkey. But stay in touch. I'm here to help you. You don't need to hide things from me this time.'

They embraced, then Hermione headed up the steps to disappear into the Assembly, and only when she was gone did Rose realise there had been guilt in her mother's voice. And fully understood the words "this time".

At Hogwarts they'd kept secrets from her, secrets they'd not even kept from Professor Lockett - and not just because it had been harder to keep secrets from Lockett. Now her mother had the chance to be their tether to home again, she was hoping to be more open. To no longer be an authority figure to hide the truth from.

It was an effort at redemption, but Rose knew she was being given a display of trust with the hope that trust would be given in return. And on the one hand, it was heartening to see this more equal treatment from her mother, to not be given the impression she was seen as a silly schoolgirl about to do something ridiculous.

On the other hand, being treated as an equal by her mother sounded rather terrifyingly grown-up - more grown-up than hunting Thane. Hunting Thane was a strange, ridiculous impossibility the like of which had only been in her life for some eight months. Nobody else went through that. Discovering how to be an adult and be treated as such by her parents was the sort of mundane experience almost everyone went through.

Somehow its mundanity made it more scary.

She was still ruminating on this as she walked back down the street to the hotel, and so when she found the tall shape of Scorpius on the other side of the door inside the lobby, she almost walked flat into him. Instead he caught her wrist and she gave a yelp of surprise. 'What're you doing?'

'Stalking you,' he said cheerfully. 'And, er, Al wanted me to watch to make sure nothing happened.'

'Going across the road?'

'Technically, going back. Technically, he also said, "we shouldn't go around on our own". Technically, this was an excuse for me to nip down here and grab you in private.'

Rose's eyes swung around the hotel staff and guests who buzzed in and out of the building. 'Yes,' she said. 'Very private.'

He made a face. 'We're having dinner tonight.'

'Well, yes, one traditionally eats of an evening -'

'You're just trying to make this as awkward as possible.' Scorpius scowled.

She tried to smother a smirk. 'Scorp, I think we're well past the point of you asking me out -'

'I'm trying to arrange a date!' he protested. 'This is a nice thing! Away from all of our fussing friends and our dramatics. You're supposed to swoon.'

'I think I'm also past the swooning point.' But she grabbed his hand and her expression softened, gaze turning reassuring. 'Relax. I think it's a lovely idea. We could do with winding down a bit. I look forward to it.'

'Oh. Crap.' His expression sank. 'Now I have to plan.' But his smile returned after a moment, sincere to off-set his self-effacing joke. 'And if we leave the hotel, it'll be really hard for Albus to lumber in and interrupt.'

'I don't know,' mused Rose, 'I bet one of those three could manage it.'

He smirked, letting go of her hand and stepping away, gesturing to the stairs back up towards their suite. 'In which case,' said Scorpius, eyes dancing, 'I'm going to have to work hard to make sure we have every privacy for what I have in mind.'

Her smile in response was calm, because she fought very hard to keep it calm as she fell into step next to him. But it took a good dose of personal effort, as all of a sudden it wasn't confronting her mother, worrying about hunting ancient artifacts, or being hot on the heels of Prometheus Thane that had her heart thudding in her chest. Just as Rose had thought she had as much as she could handle, it seemed there was some new challenge - and this one was entirely more enticing than the rest.

A/N: Rose, Al and Matt begin this chapter at the Square du Vert-Gallant by the Pont Neuf on the Ile de la Cité, a part of it which used to be a separate island called the Ile aux Juifs and Ile des Templiers. This is, yes, a real place, and the plaque Matt reads is real.

Ruminations on French rulers are slightly erroneous. There was actually a Louis XIX of France, though he ruled for only twenty minutes after the abdication of Charles X on August 2nd, 1830 before his own abdication, and is as such one of the shortest-reigning monarchs ever, and Matt can perhaps be forgiven for missing this rather obscure bit of lore. However, Matt is right that only seventeen French monarchs named Louis were ever crowned - Louis XVII was a son of Louis XVI, the king executed in the French Revolution. Dying at age 10, Louis XVII was never king, let alone crowned, and his title was only bestowed by royal supporters. When Louis XVI's brother took the throne in 1814, he assumed the title Louis XVIII, recognising his nephew's legitimacy and also to imply an unbroken line of kings despite the First Republic and First Empire. So I like to think that Napoleon III acknowledged Napoleon Bonaparte uncrowned son as Napoleon II in a sort of 'take that' retaliation when he became Emperor of France in the 1851. Napoleon III was also responsible for the huge urban redevelopment of Paris, which is why the Ile des Roues looks considerably more dated and Medieval than central Paris - I don't think the wizards let him fix up their island!

Okay, that might not be too relevant to the story. But this chapter doesn't have many notes, so I have to get my amusement somewhere!

The river Eridanos is, yes, another river into Hades, and Eridanus is a constellation. Both share certain mythical routes, and there are all sorts of stories, but the main one is to do with the myth of Phaethon. The son of Helios, the Sun-God, he bargained with his father to drive the sun chariot for a day, driving the sun itself across the sky. He lost control of the horses and when the Earth was in danger of being burnt up, to prevent this, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt. It was into the Eridanos that he ultimately fell, and the constellation is supposedly the path he trailed across the sky.

And thus do we have one of our titular references.