Chapter 4: Truce Ends
"I think it is quite clear that my soulmate does not wish for you to touch her. Please refrain from doing so without her consent in the future, sir." Hella says smoothly before smiling at me, "Come on, my dear. Let's spend the rest of the ride together, where you want to sit."
I nod and she pulls her wrist from my grip, choosing to drape her arm around my shoulders instead as I take her back to the Slytherin compartment. We sit where I had been sitting before I was so rudely interrupted by Lily and I lean against Hella as the Trolley Lady arrives. I order a few sweets, a sandwich, and a beverage. She smirks at me before surprising me by pulling out Cherry Coca-Cola, my favorite drink.
"I only managed to convince them to let me carry it this year." she tells me and I smile before paying her and thanking her for the items.
She leaves and I grab the ham sandwich I bought which has mustard, cheddar cheese, and dill pickles on it. I hand half of it to Hella and she gives me a strange look. I look at her and ask, "What, don't immortals eat?" she smiles, looking mildly surprised, and takes a bite of the food. I take a bite of mine and, once I finish the bite, say, "Thank you for punching my father in the face."
"That was your father?" she asks, "But you don't live with him?"
"No, they decided my twin brother Hadrian was far more important than I am, wanted to leach off his fame. Hadrian is fine now, though he was a bit of a prat in first year. My supposed parents sent me away and raised Hadrian instead." I say with a small sigh. "That's one of many reasons I chose to help Lord Loki as soon as the opportunity presented itself."
She frowns, looking at something on my neck. I frown as she gently traces the top of one of the scars that are on my back and says, "You have scars."
"A lot of them." I say with a frown. "Another reason for revenge."
"When this world is taken, after Asgard is mine and Midguard is Loki's, we will make all those who hurt you beg for mercy, but only grant it for them when we grow bored of their cries." Hella whispers to me as she buries her face in my hair; I cuddle closer to her and smile warmly. "Even then, after death, they will never escape torment."
"Well you certainly know how to warm a girl's heart." I tell her before finishing my half of the sandwich as she continues eating. I grab my cola and open it, taking a drink before grabbing the first of my sweets, a cauldron cake. As I'm eating it the peaceful ride is disrupted by James and Lily rushing in, James fuming as he looks around. He spots me and makes his way over, causing me to give him a cold look and ask in an icy tone, "Is there something you need, sir?"
"Your soulmate punched me!" he yells and I flinch.
"We're sorry for making you upset, Iris." Lily says gently.
"Make your soulmate apologize to me, Iris." James demands angrily and I whimper a bit and do my best to make myself a smaller target, hiding my face in Hella's neck. She tenses and glares at James.
"James, you're scaring her." Lily tells him and he falls silent.
He takes a breath before saying, "I'm sorry Iris. Please make your soulmate apologize for punching me in the face earlier."
I take a breath, inhaling Hella's frost and chocolate scent, which reminds me of a cup of hot coco on a cold winter night, before saying, "No, I can't make her do anything."
"Iris, she punched me!" he protests, still making sure not to yell.
"Yes she did. But she has her own free will and I can't make her do anything, the only thing I'd be able to do is request that she apologizes." I tell him. "But I'm not going to because she did it to defend me. You were approaching me when I clearly wanted you to stay back. I was clearly preparing to defend myself from an attack."
"I wouldn't have attacked you." he says.
"You approached me, a female, who has been severely injured by males in the past, at a relatively high velocity as I was preparing for you to attack me after you had snapped at me. I think it was pretty obvious that I was going to react poorly had she not shown up." I say blankly and he looks down, "Can I please enjoy the rest of the ride in peace? I'd like to continue cuddling with my soulmate."
They nod before leaving. I roll my eyes at them as I reach for my next sweet, a pumpkin pasty. I sigh a bit before taking a bite and enjoying the flavor as Hella asks, "How many scars do you have, my dear? I want to ensure the one who gave them to you gets exactly five times more then what he gave you as his punishment for hurting you."
I finish the bite before saying, "I haven't gotten the newest scar count yet, when they were last counted by Madam Pomphrey I was at five hundred and thirty two from Vernon, but I also have one from something other than Vernon."
"From what?" she asks.
"I'll tell you that story another time." I say gently. "I'll tell you the new count after my usual check up from Madam Pomphrey."
"You respect this...Madam Pomphrey?" she asks.
"Yes. She's like an aunt to me, she can be trusted." I say and she nods in understanding. "I probably would have died several times if it weren't for her."
"Will I be allowed to see these scars in the future?" she asks and I feel my body become rigid. I don't respond for a minute so Hella shifts a bit and gently turns my head so I'm looking into her eyes as she gently says, "Seeing your scars will make you no less beautiful to me than you already are. I have waited centuries for you."
I blink before smiling, relaxing as I say, "Not for a while...but eventually, I'll let you see them. Can we stop talking about them now? I'd like to enjoy the train ride."
She nods and I put my book in my bag, which is heavily warded against intruders. I then readjust in Hella's arms and cuddle into her, she kisses the top of my head and says, "Vary well then. What will you do if they try to do something to you again?"
"James and Lily?" I ask and she nods so I consider. "Next time anyone at Hogwarts messes with me I'm going to call off the standing truce I have with the headmaster of the school, which will actually make a decent distraction while you and Lord Loki proceed with the plans that you have."
"What does this truce entail?" she asks and I smirk.
"Well, I've always been quite the prankster." I tell her, "In my first year I was pulling a prank at least once a week, Dumbledore got so desperate to stop the chaos and panic I was causing that he made a truce with me. So long as I and any friends of mine are left alone, I would not prank anyone within the wards of Hogwarts." That's when I send a pulse of magic out and we begin hearing screams and cries of surprise as well as a bunch of people whining about their skin, or hair, or clothes. I tilt my head and do my best to keep my face blank as I innocently say, "Oh dear, I wonder what that's about."
Hella laughs and says, "You are a beautiful little fox, my dear."
"Thank you." I say as James comes rushing in, now sporting bright neon green hair with silver streaks in it and a green tattoo on his face proclaiming the words Slytherin Pride I smile at him and innocently say, "Hello James, love what you've done to your hair."
"You have a truce with Dumbledore, young lady!" he says angrily.
"So? What's that got to do with the price of Wolfsbane in Transylvania?" I ask.
"You said that you wouldn't prank anymore." he says and I sigh.
"We go over this every year, James." I say as Lily walks in, covered in green and silver glitter and walking calmly over to us as I smirk at her, "Hello Lily."
"James, come on, you go though this every year, she's not allowed to prank people within the wards of Hogwarts she was very particular about phrasing the truce so she could prank us on the train and other places outside Hogwarts' wards." Lily tells him with a sigh. "Let's go back and sit with Harry, alright James?"
James sighs and they leave. Once he's gone I pull out the notebooks and hand them to Hella who looks at them and asks, "What's this?"
"Plans." I say simply. "The one with the green cover is for Midguard, the other one is for Asgard."
"Thank you, my little wonder." she says with a smirk as the train pulls to a stop. I sigh as we stand and she kisses the top of my head before saying, "What will you do?"
I smirk and say, "I'm your ticket into the school."
We say goodbye and I climb off the train as she fades into the shadows. I ride in a carriage with the only four friends in my year, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Hadrian, and Hermione Granger, when we reach the castle we all walk to the great hall together, talking about our summers.
When we reach the great hall we all separate to go to our tables, the others in our houses sitting as far away from us as possible. I look around the room before the headmaster announces that this year Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament before the other participating schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, make their entrances. I guess they weren't informed about me being excluded for a reason because I end up squished between two large brutes with the famous seeker Viktor Krum sitting across from me. I look up at where Dumbledore is looking at me and scowl, he nods in understanding before announcing that we're gonna sing the school song to the guests.
I sigh before looking at Viktor and saying, "Hope you'll forgive me for sitting this out."
"Is it really that bad?" he asks before the rest of the school begins singing the school song.
Once it gets done, dinner is served. I eat some steak and baked potatoes with chives and cheese on them before getting up to head for the door, not really feeling like having dessert due to me having two brutes crushing me throughout the meal. As I'm walking towards the door someone grabs my shoulder and everyone in the great hall aside from the guests go silent.
A second later the guests go silent as well as I slowly turn to face the person who grabbed me, finding Ronald Weasley and sneering, "Yes, Weasel? Is there something you need?"
"I wouldn't talk to me like that if I were you." he says in a pompous tone, "You're gonna marry me in the future so you need to start acting like a proper lady."
"We aren't getting married." I tell him with a small glare, "James and Lily can't marry me off. Also, I am definitely not going to start acting however it is you want me too, now let go of my arm or the truce I have with Dumbledore is off."
"You should still act like a proper lady." he sneers, grip on my arm tightening, "No man will want you if you don't act like a lady. Not that anyone would want someone as hideous as you anyways."
"Like you're one to talk." I sneer back, "No girl or guy I know would touch you with a ten foot pole, you're only popular because you cling like a parasite to my twin, leeching off his fame. Aside from that, about your comments about men wanting me...I couldn't care less if a man wants me, I hold no interest in the male population."
"What?" he asks, suddenly confused and still not letting go of my arm.
"One, you have three seconds to remove your hand from my arm or I will call off the truce." I tell him tensely, his grip beginning to become painful, "Two, I will never want to date a male."
"You will in the future. You just haven't found the right bloke." he says and I punch him in the face, sending him to the ground and causing my arm to make a loud snapping sound.
I wince, looking at my arm, which is now clearly broken. He jumps to his feet and I glare at him before snarling, "I am getting quite sick of you, Weasel. Do me a favor and bugger off."
"Just because you're a freak doesn't give you the right to hit upstanding men like me!" he snaps and I tense up.
"What did you just call me, Weasel?" I ask coldly.
"A freak." he says and I laugh before kicking him in the gut. When he doubles over I knee him in the face, sending him back to the ground.
"I warned you, Ronald." I say, "You refused to let go of my arm, you broke my arm, in fact. So, as the conditions to the truce have been broken by you, I, Iris Lily Rose Potter, hereby declare that the truce created between myself and the headmaster of this school is now considered null and void. You can all blame Ronald Weasley for whatever I think up this year." I then look up at the teachers table and smirk before saying, "I'm going to have a lot of fun."
"Miss Potter, please see reason." Dumbledore says quickly. "I'm sure he meant nothing by it and–"
"I warned him twice before calling it off, Dumbledore. He broke the truce so this is the punishment. Prepare yourselves for what I have in store." I say coldly before looking around and adding, "In the spirit of keeping things fair to the students that weren't involved in this confrontation, I think I will give you all a hint about my first minor prank...did you know the rules of Hogwarts state that the lessons cannot start until all the students of Hogwarts have sat down in their seats? I found that rule quite interesting." I turn and head out.