Time was passing quickly at Hogwarts. Harry played his first Quidditch match for Gryffindor and had been very proud that he caught the snitch in his first match. The match had been aggressive and fast. The older Slytherins pulled no punches, but the Gryffindors butched up and gave as good as they got. Harry's catch had been a little unorthodox. Hurtling down in a vertical line playing chicken with the Slytherin next to him as they both chased the tiny gold winged snitch. He had almost swallowed the snitch as he pulled up brushing the grass on the floor. The Gryffindors had almost had panic attacks at that move. He won them the game though, and much celebration had ensued much to Minerva's immense joy. Harry had been happy he had justified his place on the team by his talent, not his name.
Severus had been mute in defeat, but a gentleman. His eyes had mainly been on the stands and Harry during the match. As Flint had proven, students were vulnerable in the air. The snakes couldn't fly and there was no guarantee Iris or Dumbledore would have the time to reach them. Luckily nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Severus knew it was only a matter of time. A Quidditch match at the moment would be too obvious. Everyone would be looking. Revenge would be discreet and fast.
He watched the young Gryffindors clapping Harry on the back as the boy grinned shyly. The young boy hadn't been what Severus had been expecting. His father would have been strutting around the Quidditch pitch if he had just done what Harry had done. Harry was introverted. He came alive on a broom, but other than that he didn't seek attention. Severus sighed. He had been prepared to detest the boy, but seeing Lily again had changed him. She visited him in the castle occasionally. She would sit up with him late at night and talk by the fireplace. About the past. The future. The now. He had his best friend back. It made all the difference in the world to him. He was still a stern professor. He never really liked most children, even when he was one. Still, the poisonous bitterness he had felt for himself after Lily's death had gradually left him.
He would always be a taciturn man, but he found he could laugh again with Lily. Her dry wit matched his. She would talk about Equilibrium and the future. He had his mission on Earth, but he no longer had any fear of dying knowing what lay ahead. James had matured enough to let the two of them spend that time together alone without getting annoyed. Knowing what could have been confirmed by Lily herself was initially a source of frustration for Severus, but as time had progressed he accepted that was the way of things. It could quite easily have been James stood in his shoes, trying to protect Severus's son if things had been different.
Quirrell was being lovely and charming to Madam Hooch who was beaming at him. Severus shuddered. Iris had spoken to him about Quirrell. She had clocked him immediately. He thought back to that first week.
'No one is that nice all the time. It's unnatural,' Iris had said to him.
Severus was inclined to agree. He had similar thoughts. They both understood Albus would have his reasons for keeping him here.
'Keep your friends close. Enemies closer,' Severus had told her.
Iris had nodded, 'That's what I thought too.'
They had both nodded wisely to each other.
Severus watched Iris give Harry a big hug on the Quidditch field as he grinned back at her.
Harry and Iris were so different from each other in a lot of ways, but they seemed genuinely fond of each other.
Both of them seemed to see a kindred spirit in each other and because of Iris's abilities, Harry had his parents back. Severus suspected this gift Iris gave him was priceless to the young boy. Harry wasn't spoilt in the slightest. Albus had been worried Sirius would be a bad influence, but in fact, Sirius had proved to be very responsible with raising the boy. Harry valued his mum and dad above everything. They were his treasure. Iris had done that for him. That it was plainly obvious that Iris and her mother was as deep in this as Harry gave them both a bond.
Remus had mentioned to Severus one time that Harry had knocked his godfather off the pedestal he had put him when he was little because of what he had done to his wife and daughter. It was subtle. Harry was never rude, but there had been a definite shift in hero worship. He now saw Sirius as a normal man. Harry loved him, but he saw that he was not perfect and Harry never saw him as such again after he knew the truth. Harry was clear with his beliefs. Your family was everything. You don't abandon your family unless you absolutely have no other choice. Sirius had been given a choice.
Lily had told him James had talked with Sirius about what he had done when it was just the three of them together. Her tongue lashing to Sirius had paled in comparison to what James had said to his best friend.
Severus had raised his eyebrows.
'I swear. I have never seen James like it before or since. It was over after ten minutes but wow. Sirius needed to hear it. James and Harry are so alike in that regard. Family matters most to James too. Because Sirius has such a complicated relationship with his own family it affected his choice. He'd also had the week from hell, so I gave him a bit of slack. The news about Riddle being Hayley's biological father would have knocked anyone for six at the best of times. Ultimately, he's the one who has to live with this. I think he regrets it now. Hayley though. I don't think she will ever forgive him. The trust is gone. She was adamant she never knew. He didn't trust her. Greengrass women are very absolute about trust. Once broken never regained.'
Severus never once in his life thought he would feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Sirius, but even he had to grimace at that, 'One night of madness and the mutt ruined his life.'
Lily had nodded and then curled up closer to him for a few soothing hours to watch the fire as soft music played on the Wizarding radio. They both enjoyed this closeness. It was like when they were young.
Severus felt a soft smile on his face at that particular memory. Students and teachers were making their way out of the stadium. He made the walk back to the castle.
Days passed in a similar fashion. For a time Hogwarts felt almost like a normal school. The Daily Prophet had indeed had a field day with the news of the Basilisk but as it couldn't actually be proved without actually sending someone into the Chamber the news faded away. Gilderoy Lockhart had yet another new book out with his, some would say, unbelievable adventures, which took over the front page.
The elves had announced after a few weeks that they thought they had finally reached out to all the elves and were now moving permanently to Valinor. Iris had watched Dumbledore and Firenze say their tearful goodbyes in the Hogwarts entrance hall both with promises to meet back up when the Centaurs had settled into their new home. The Centaurs had a lovely forest in Valinor they could gallop around to their heart's content.
The unicorns and the elves had become reacquainted to their mutual delight. They would be spending the future finding others like them in the world.
Many of the elves were still going to visit their friends at Hogwarts and their old homes regularly. Hagrid was blissfully happy. The wards of Valinor would let him in. All they could do was give him a blanket to mop all his tears up. Iris and Harry quietly surmised that Hagrid must have a little giant blood in him somewhere. They kept it quiet. Giants were not at all regarded well in the Wizarding World. Hagrid would continue as Hogwarts gamekeeper much to their happiness. He truly was part of the furniture. Iris loved the evenings spent with Hagrid and his dog, Fangs, in his hut.
There were times she would slink down by herself through the veil and just sit with Hagrid and Fang in the quiet evenings and breathe the fresh air. Hagrid would talk about the Forbidden Forest, the Great Lake and all the animals that lived nearby. She had let Hagrid know of her interest in animals and he was as enthusiastic as her at teaching her what he knew. Her Equi magic soothed both Fang and Hagrid, who was always pleased to see her and Fang would get a lot of fuss too. Iris was gradually introduced to the friendlier animals from the forest.
Humans were not allowed into Valinor under any circumstances. Albus had attempted it out of curiosity and to test the wards, but an invisible force field kept him out. Something that the headmaster was truly thankful for.
It meant no Ministry interference in Valinor.
Iris suspected she would have some joy with using the Astral plane, but she respected the old magic. No humans allowed meant no humans allowed. For good reason. Iris understood completely. The inhabitants of Valinor had all suffered more than enough. Humans had, by and large, brought only misery to their lives.
The weeks moved by quickly. All the students in the castle had by now been made aware of the dangers in the world. Like a jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces had slowly come together for those in the castle who hadn't been fully briefed before. Riddle was preparing his comeback. His agenda had been made common knowledge by Tonks. The students knew her connection to the Black family and trusted the information. It made for a strange sort of atmosphere in Hogwarts.
Tonks had sat the first-year Gryffindors down and explained that some students and families were opposed to this. They hadn't known where to turn. It was being dealt with behind closed doors for now. Riddle's followers were numerous and everywhere in the castle. Tonks told them not to mention any of this and not to mind too much the false faces that were being shown to the outside world. They were all playing the waiting game for now until the masks came off.
It had cheered Harry and the others immensely to know for certain they had more support than they had previously thought at Hogwarts.
Draco seemed to be becoming much more like an actual human being. He spent much of his time with the other Slytherin first years. His mother had contacted him to let him know Grimmauld Place was much more suitable for them both. Daphne ran the show for now in their group and Draco seemed more than happy with that arrangement. He needed time to recuperate. With Nott gone and Crabbe very quiet, they had all grown closer. Goyle had enough sense to keep what few thoughts he had to himself. The silver snakes kept the older years at bay.
Nott and Flint's very early exits made the older years proceed with caution. Iris had mentioned to Daphne in confidence to not push Draco to talk about what he had gone through. If he was ever ready, he would confide in her. Daphne had taken this onboard quietly. One didn't need to use too much imagination to realise the dreadful childhood Draco must have endured. Iris simply said that Gabriel had asked her to trust Draco and his mother. Daphne didn't need to ask any more.
Albus had told Iris the fourth piece of RIddle's soul had merged with the others. It seemed to be content to just lay there. Comatose. Breathing steadily. Waiting. Iris asked him if she could see it and she was told a flat no. It was not quite human, Albus had told her. Iris accepted this with a strange feeling of foreboding.
After some correspondence with nice grandad Gareth, Iris invited Hermione and her family to Greengrass manor for a few days over the Christmas holiday. She would save introducing Hermione to Grimmauld Place for another time. Iris could be tactful at times. Bella still had her moments where she could terrify Ted and the entire Granger family in Walburga's drawing-room may be a bit too much at this early stage for both sets of families. Someone, and Iris knew there were several candidates, was bound to step in it big time.
Hermione had been more pleased than even Iris could have anticipated.
'All of us?' Hermione had asked.
'Of course. I really want to meet your family too and it will be nice for them to meet some of the more polite Witches and Wizards in our world for their initial introduction. You know. Ease them in gently into the Wizarding World. They must worry about you. When they know you have people here looking out for you it will settle them.'
Hermione had bit her lip then. Her buck teeth protruding out as she nodded, 'They do worry. I found it difficult to make friends when I was younger and now I'm here in a world they know nothing about,' Hermione blushed at the admission.
'Well, this will put their minds at rest. Dawn is one of the most respected hostesses in the kingdom. Grandad will be there too. He can show your family the grounds. They can see how the magic works too, but nothing too dramatic,' Iris left the unspoken Grimmauld Place hanging in the air.
Hermione had enough sense to read between the lines. She peered at Iris, 'When will I visit Grimmauld Place?' she asked.
'In time. I don't see it myself, but Gran and Bella can and do terrify a lot of people just by being themselves. Your mum and dad are respectable dentists. Gran and Bella would be the equivalent of them meeting the Kray twins in the Muggle world.'
Hermione gaped at that.
'In the summer, we can show you the burrow where the Weasley's live. The Lovegood family are only over the hill. You can meet Ginny and Luna. They start at Hogwarts next year. It's brilliant there. They have gnomes,' Iris said to her.
'I'd like that. You can visit me if you like. I know it is only a boring Muggle home but it's nice and I like it,' Hermione said.
Iris grinned widely, 'I'd love that. You have to remember for me, it's the opposite. I only ever get to go to magic houses. Unless I'm in the Astral plane and it's not the same. Oh, you have proper electricity. Television. I can catch up with the Golden girls. I used to watch television at our local curry's when it was closed,' Iris hugged Hermione, 'Merlin, I miss TV. We can go to McDonald's. The cinema. We can hang out at the shopping centre and annoy security guards like we're actually normal teenagers.'
Hermione beamed, 'You can watch as much television as you like.'
'Oh, such joy!' Iris was very happy with these plans.
It was Halloween and a great feast was planned for that evening. Iris was in a very good mood as they walked to their next class.
They had to get through Defence against the dark arts first so Iris plastered her most Greengrass expression of polite enjoyment on her face and followed her classmates into the room.
The lesson went as expected. Quirrell had his nice guy face on for the duration. The lesson drew to a close as they packed away their things. Iris thought she saw a glint of a wand out of the corner of her eye, but by the time she turned around, there was only an empty space.
Everyone seemed fine so she put it out of her mind. Charms next. Flitwick was particularly excited when Hermione managed to levitate her feather first. The first years by now paid no attention to this precociousness, although Ron sighed. He wasn't finding his spellwork as easy. Iris lifted her feather with ease. Bella had gone through all of this and more. Even though Ron hadn't asked for her help, Hermione took it upon herself to tell him his pronunciation was wrong and proceeded to tell him the correct way as the tips of his ears went a bit red. He then gave her a withering look and then visibly turned away. It looked like Hermione got the hint as she huffed and returned to her business.
Iris hid a smirk. Ron had finally met someone who could be as tactless as him.
From the looks Neville and Harry gave each other they had both realised the same thing.
Still, the lesson continued to its foregone conclusion as the students finished up.
Everyone was looking forward to the feast in the evening. Iris wondered just how spectacular the food was. It was already sumptuous every time. The elves were still preparing the meals. They still had a love for cooking and Dumbledore had arranged to pay them in food for their service while Valinor regained its normal way of life. This would take time to get everything functioning properly. The elves still liked to blitz the castle clean on their way around too.
It was late in the day and the Gryffindors were making their way down to the great hall when Hermione stopped in the corridor and turned a peculiar ashen colour, 'Are you alright Hermione?' Neville asked her when he noticed.
Hermione shook her head, 'I was fine till a moment ago. I feel strange. Sick,' she looked up and saw the girls toilets, 'I'll see you down there. If I'm not down in half an hour send a search party.'
'I can stay with you if you want,' Iris said. Her Greengrass manners kicking in.
'No. It's alright. I really don't want an audience for this. Anyway. Lucas will stay with me. I'm perfectly safe.'
Iris glanced at the swaying snake and nodded, 'Ok. See you soon,' she trotted off after the others as Hermione darted into the toilets.
The students hadn't been exaggerating. The hall was fully decorated. It looked very impressive to the first years.
Harry had looked a little glum at the date earlier that day, but knowing he would be seeing his parents later seemed to perk him up as he delved into his meal with almost as much gusto as Ron.
They had asked where Hermione was as she told them, 'She'll be down soon. I'll check on her in a bit. If she gets any worse we'll get Madam Pomfrey.'
Something was niggling at the back of her mind. It had been a long day. She tried to focus, but the hall was very noisy. She glanced up at the Professor's table. Quirrell was missing.
Seamus was waving his wand over his pumpkin juice in yet another futile attempt to turn it into wine. The swishing motion took Iris's mind back to the Defence against the Dark Arts lesson. Quirrell. Her heart stopped. Seamus's cup exploded as the professor she was fixating on came running into the hall. Then Lucas came slithering towards her at a frantic pace.
'Trrolll atttackk, Herrrmionnee in the toilettsss, Tooo ssstrongg,' Lucas hissed rapidly to her.
Quirrell appeared to be frantic as he waved his arms around, 'Troll in the dungeons. Thought you ought to know,' he wailed pitifully and then made a great show of collapsing in the hall.
Harry froze for a second, then turned to Iris in panic. Ron was staring at the distressed snake in horror as he quickly realised Hermione was in trouble. Iris glanced over at Quirrell. No time to kick the bastard. She pictured the veil which would take her to Hermione. The doorway appeared to gasp's in the room as she ran through. Harry and Ron following her before she had time to close it.
An enormous troll wielding a club gave an animalistic growl as Hermione was hiding under the only sink that hadn't been smashed. Her wand was on the other side of the room. Her hair was already sticking up like she had been struck by lightning. She was filthy. The whole room had been crushed. The stalls were in pieces. Water was flooding the room. The troll stared at Iris, Harry and Ron in astonishment. Then it cried with rage and smashed his club into the last sink as Hermione jumped back into the corner. Too frightened to even scream.
Harry and Ron started throwing debris at the troll to distract it, but the trolls beady eyes were on the wandless girl crouched in the corner. The troll lifted his huge arm to swing down as Iris slid over on the floor and lifted the Peverell ring, 'Protego!' she shouted, her eyes fully golden as white light came shooting out as the troll swung his club down in rage. The club and her arm smashed into each other as they all heard the sickening crunch of bone breaking.
The troll staggered back as the white light hit him and he howled. Iris felt dizzy as all strength seeped out of her left arm as it lay dead. Raising her right hand with her wand she used another Protego as Bella had taught her. The shield seemed to fade as Hermione then wrapped her hand around hers to steady the spell. Iris was dizzy now and seeing double. She felt as if her left arm had ceased to exist. The shield shook as the club came down again as they were pushed into the wall, but it was holding as she saw Harry jump on the back of the troll and shove his wand up its nose to distract him. This made the troll even angrier as he grabbed Harry by his ankle and began to wave him around like a rag doll.
'Ron! Do something!' Harry yelled.
Ron looked on the verge of a meltdown as Iris distantly heard Hermione yelling something to Ron.
'Win...something,' Iris thought as she was about to blackout. The last thing Iris saw as her head spun and silence enveloped her was two Ron's waving their wand carefully and mouthing something before she knew no more.