I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Days Merry and Bright
Her hangover the morning after the solstice was honestly terrible. As soon as the light struck her closed eyelids, she groaned, rolled over, and attempted to buy her face in a pillow.
There was a low laugh from beside her, and a hand began stroking the back of her head.
"'M not getting up," she mumbled.
"I have Dionysus' hangover cure waiting for you, and Bianca and Nico are sleeping just down the hall," Hades informed her.
Without looking up, Chrysa reached out a hand towards him. He placed the bottle in her hand. Chrysa sat up just enough to knock back the potion before collapsing back into her pillow.
It only took a few minutes for the brew to kick in enough for thinking to not be paingul. It took another moment for light to stop hurting.
She rolled over to look up at Hades.
"I'm surprised you didn't send the children in with pots and pans," she said.
"I did consider it," Hades admitted, "but you're vindictive and know where I sleep."
"You know me so well," Chrysa said fondly. She reached up and patted his cheek.
Hades caught her hand and held it to his face.
"I love you," he said. "No matter what happens."
Five thousand years of a relationship – no matter the break in it – meant that she knew what he was getting at despite being half-asleep and hungover.
"Everything's going to change," she agreed. "But I will always love you."
"Until the end of time?" Hades asked with a smile.
Chrysa leaned up and kissed him gently.
"It lasted beyond the end of Time already, and we can last beyond it once again. Everything changes, but who we are, and what we have, is immortal."
Hades leaned in to kiss her again, harder, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer. Chrysa pressed closer, resting her hands on his shoulders as their lips moved together in an impromptu dance.
An hour later, Chrysa was showered, dressed, and ready to see her children again.
She went into Bianca's room first. The girl was sprawled out upside-down on her bed in a position Chrysa couldn't understand how it was comfortable, but Bianca had always slept like that, even as a baby. Nico hated sharing a bed with her in hotels because she contorted so oddly in her sleep.
"Bianca, passerotta," Chrysa said in a sing-song voice. "It's time to wake up."
She woke up instantly. Most people Chrysa knew who woke up as quickly as Bianca did were either soldiers or others who'd been in situations where they had to be able to wake up quickly. Bianca just did it. Chrysa wished she had that ability. It took her ages to get out of bed at times.
"Good morning, Mamma!" Bianca said. "Is this the Underworld again?"
"Indeed it is, my darling," Chrysa said. "I'm going to be headed to Camp Half-Blood in an hour or so for a meeting with the counsellors. Would you like to come?"
Bianca wrinkled her nose.
"Do I have to? I'd rather explore down here instead."
"You're welcome to," Chrysa assured. "I can ask if someone would be willing to escort you. The Underworld is rather large, and I wouldn't want you to get lost. You can't shadow-travel on your own yet, after all."
"Will I be able to?" Bianca asked.
"At some point," Chrysa said. "Other children of Hades have been able to do so, and with my power backing you as well, you'll probably get it much sooner. Besides, with me around, you'll have a proper teacher, assuming I have the time."
"Why wouldn't you?" Bianca asked, looking confused.
"There's a war starting, paserotta," Chrysa said. "My talents are most useful outside of battle; information gathering, counterintelligence, sabotage – that's what I'm good at. It's what I'm made for. I'm the goddess of shadows and secrets, and I'm a most effective weapon behind-the-scenes…which means that I am going to be extraordinarily busy. I'm the spymistress and most effective agent on our side of the war."
"I don't want you to get hurt," Bianca said quietly. "You're…you're Mamma," she said, as if all that she was was encompassed in that one word. Chrysa supposed that, to an extent, it did. Her children might know that she was more than their mother, that she was a goddess and a witch and an assassin (though she hoped that she'd succeeded in glossing over that last bit), but they didn't know. Not yet. And if she could preserve their innocence for just a little while longer, she would.
"I'm very good at what I do," she assured her daughter, running a hand over her silky black hair. While Nico had inherited her curls, Bianca's hair held their father's straightness. "I'll do my best to always come home to you, figlietta. You and your brother are the most important thing in the world to me. Why don't you get ready while I try to find someone to escort you around today?"
"I'll do it, I'll do it!" a voice came from behind them.
Matching emerald eyes turned to the woman standing in the doorway. She looked to be in her early twenties, but Chrysa knew that she was a few thousand years old – even if the goddess was nowhere near her own age.
"Good morning, Makaria," she greeted her stepchild with a smile. "Are you sure you're not busy?"
The goddess shrugged.
"Elysium's just a bunch of parties. I can show Bianca all the cool stuff though!"
"No parties," Chrysa said firmly. "No alcohol until she's legal in the United States."
"Technically, you're still biologically seventeen," Makaria pointed out. "That means you're not allowed to drink."
"I'm her mother," Chrysa said drily. "It's within my parental rights to be hypocritical."
Makaria made an over-exaggerated pouty face.
"You're no fun," she said.
"I'm exactly as fun as I need to be," Chrysa replied. "And don't cross me. I'll know."
"Because it's a secret?" Bianca asked.
"Because it's a secret," Chrysa said with a smile for her daughter. She bopped her on the nose. "And because I'm your mother, and mothers always know."
Bianca smiled back.
"I'll be good."
Chrysa laughed and kissed the top of her head.
"I believe you. Don't let your sister drag you into anything too crazy. I'd better go wake up your brother."
Nico was much easier, even if he wasn't as much of a morning person as Bianca was. She entered his room and gently shook his shoulder.
"Nico, tesoro, time to wake up," she said.
"Mamma?" she barely heard Nico mutter, face half-smushed into his pillow. He slowly blinked himself awake.
"Good morning, my treasure," Chrysa said warmly. "It's time to wake up. There's a meeting at Camp Half-Blood concerning the larger meeting last night, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come."
Nico's eyes fully opened and he shot up in bed.
"Yes, please!" he exclaimed. "Is Bianca coming too?"
"She wanted to stay here and explore a bit," Chrysa explained. "Your half-sister Makaria agreed to show her around. You can stay here or come with me."
"With you, Mamma," Nico said.
Chrysa smiled at him. He was such a mama's boy. He always had been.
"Your bathroom is through that door over there," she said, pointing to the bathroom. "Your papà ensured that the dresser is filled with clothes that will fit you. Remember that although it's warm down here, it won't be at camp."
"Yes, Mamma," Nico said with a yawn. He began to drag himself out of bed. Chrysa waited until he made it into the bathroom to leave the room. She needed to have another chat with Makaria while Bianca wasn't around, to make sure the goddess didn't show her child anything too scarring.
By the time she was done going over the Underworld-tour checklist with Makaria, Nico had already finished his breakfast in the dining room.
"Are you ready, cucciolo?" she asked. "I apologize for leaving you, but I was having a quick chat with Makaria."
"Sí, Mamma," Nico said. He stood up from his chair and reached for his plate.
"Leave your dishes," Chrysa instructed. "One of the skeletons will take care of them." She reached out her hand towards him. "Ready for another round of terrible travel?"
Chrysa laughed at the face Nico made as he walked over to her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the shadows to Camp Half-Blood. They arrived in the living room, and were greeted a moment later by Chiron.
"Good, you're here," he said in greeting. "I believe it's time for another meeting. We're just waiting on you and Percy, who was telling Grover and the other satyrs something about coffee and Pan, last I checked."
"It's an interesting story," Chrysa admitted. "I suppose it's time for my last confession?"
"More your last revelation," Chiron snorted. "As many secrets as you keep, I'm sure there will be more confession you must make."
Chiron waved for them to proceed into the rec room. The Stoll brothers, Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and surprisingly Clarisse were all there, along with Annabeth, who waved at them. Percy walked in a moment later. His eyes immediately to Clarisse.
"I got news," the daughter of Ares said uneasily. "Bad news."
"I'll fill you in later," Chiron told her with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is that you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"
"Luke is alive," Percy reported. "Annabeth was right."
Annabeth sat up straighter.
"How do you know?" she demanded.
"I talked to my dad last night," Percy said. "He says that Luke and Kronos' coffin are back on the Princess Andromeda."
"Well," Annabeth said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair, "if the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."
Chiron looked gloomy from his position in his wheelchair by the fire. Chrysa felt her own mouth tighten at the reminder of the oncoming war.
"Two years may seem like a long time," Chiron said, "but it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."
"How do you know?" her son asked from beside her.
"Why would he care about camp?" Percy asked, almost at the same time.
"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous…We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but the only guarantee is that they will come. It will not be until summer, at least. This winter will be hard…the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."
"And train," Chrysa said. All eyes in the room went to her. "Percy, you're welcome to use the training room in my apartment. If you'd be willing to help Nico and Bianca as well, I'll be taking them home with me, but I will not be around as often. Annabeth?"
The blonde's cheeks flushed.
"I'm going to try San Francisco after all," she said. "Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titans don't try anything else."
"You'll send an Iris-message if anything goes wrong?" Percy asked worriedly.
She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."
"Excuse me," Conner Stoll said, "but can we talk about the elephant in the room? And by that I mean the fact that Chrysa is apparently a goddess? And Nico and Bianca are Hades' kids?"
All eyes turned to Chrysa and Nico.
She sighed. Confession time.
"I told you all that I was a nymph in my first life. I downplayed myself a bit. I was an Oceanid, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys – the first child of Oceanus and Tethys, in fact. The Elder Oceanides – the original fifty of us, who were born before Ouranos fell – among our number were many who held our own domains as Titanesses, and were eventually counted as goddesses. Tyche is the goddess of luck. Styx is the goddess of oaths. Amphitrite is the goddess of saltwater and sea creatures, and she became the wife of Poseidon. Metis was the goddess of wisdom and good counsel, and she was the first wife of Zeus. I was the goddess of shadows and secrets," Chrysa held up her hand, and a dark shadow formed there, twining through her fingers, "and I was the first lover of Hades. He asked me to marry him," she said with a sad smile, "but I always said no. After I was murdered, as Leuke, my body was transformed into a white poplar tree in the center of Elysium. That tree finally died about a century ago, and I was reborn as Maria Olimpia Amaranta Corona Buonoparte di Savoia in 1913. I already told you how I met Hades in that life, and had Bianca and Nico, and then came to America and died."
"I can't imagine Hades being a god to stick around with his lover and kids for twelve years," Silena said doubtfully.
"Papà loves Mamma," Nico said indignantly. "He always has!"
"Hades has had fewer demigod children than any of the other gods," Chrysa said quietly, eyes fixed on Silena. "In thousands of years, there have only been twenty-one demigods. Bianca is the twentieth, and Nico the twenty-first. Hades has never been one to give in to lust. He only took lovers because of loneliness, and most of the time those lovers looked like me." She smiled softly. "I think even your mother would agree that there's always something about your first love."
Any further conversation was interrupted by the satyr, who stumbled into the room, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a specter.
"He spoke!" the satyr cried.
"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"
"I…I was playing music in the parlor," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"
"Who?" Annabeth demanded.
"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to…I have to find a suitcase."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said. "What did he say?"
Grover stared at him.
"Just three words. He said, 'I await you.'"
That threw the council into an uproar. Chrysa noticed Nico wincing at the noise. She conjured a whistle and blew it loudly, silencing everyone with its shriek.
"Everyone, settle down!" she shouted in the stillness. "Satyr, sit down. You're not going anywhere until you've calmed down."
Alright. She could do this. She'd led a Wizarding War. She'd helped lead a divine war. She could organize a bunch of teenagers to go do something productive, or at least get them to stop worrying about being productive for a little bit.
"Beckendorf, you and your siblings need to start stockpiling weapons," she instructed. "Swords, spears, knives, arrowheads…everything you can think of. Make sure you have the materials for Greek fire laid out as well, but I wouldn't fully assemble it yet. Clarisse, you're in charge of making sure that everyone present at camp has an increased training schedule, though they still need to have time for others things. Silena, Stolls, every single camper we know needs to be contacted with this new information and warned to start preparing. Monster attacks will pick up, so let everyone know that they might need to come back to camp earlier than usual."
The Stoll brothers looked like they were going to protest being sent to letter-writing duty (horrible for all half-bloods due to their dyslexia and ADHD, even if camp letters were written in Ancient Greek) but she managed to quell any arguments with a sharp look.
"Percy, Annabeth, both of you need to pack everything you have with you so I can take you back to Manhattan tonight. I promised you home to your families by Christmas," she reminded them.
While the campers dispersed, Chrysa left Nico in the game room with the satyr while she and Chiron went to the centaur's office.
"This is going to be bad," he said in a low voice was the door was sealed.
"I assume so," Chrysa said grimly. "I'm not starting anything until after the holidays, but I'll probably be near-always in shadow after that. This…this isn't something recent. This has been building for almost a century now. Since my tree died. And they've had thousands of years of hatred to fester in. This is going to be so much worse than the first time."
"You will be hunted," Chiron said.
"I will," Chrysa said.
"Your children?" he asked.
"I will do everything I can to prepare them," Chrysa said firmly. "They…they have their own roles to play. I don't know what yet, but they are there."
"I assume you're taking them home with you, instead of remaining? They would be safest here," Chiron warned.
"I would not risk my children lightly," Chrysa snapped. "I know how to keep them safe."
"Even if Kronos targets them directly?" Chiron challenged. "Percy and Thalia reported that Atlas was working with mortal mercenaries. What if Kronos simply sends mercenaries to their school to take them, or while they're playing outside, or when they go for a walk? You cannot simply keep them indoors for the rest of their lives."
"I can train them so that they can defeat any monsters that come after them, and train them to escape any mortals. There's not a prison in the world that can hold me, Chiron, and I mean to make my children the same way."
"You couldn't be held before, but you're not simply shadow now," Chiron said.
"No, but my…substantiality, I suppose would be the best word, means that I can better train my children, who were also born substantial, how to make the transfer into insubstantial," Chrysa said.
"Children of Hades have died before, from shadow-traveling until they were nothing but shadow themselves," Chiron stated. "You could kill them."
"Those were children of Hades," Chrysa replied. "Nico and Bianca are my children. Leuke's children. I am shadow at my purest. Those born from shadow cannot die from becoming it. Even if they dissipated, I would be able to piece them back together."
Chiron simply shook his head.
"I do not think this is wise."
"My decisions are my own, and I shall make them as I please," Chrysa said flippantly. She stood from her chair. "I'm heading home, and taking my children, Percy, and Annabeth with me. As always, you can contact me if you need me."
"Be careful, Leuke Chrysocomê," Chiron called after her.
The smile she flashed back at him was anything but innocent.
"Aren't I always?"
Percy and Annabeth were waiting with Nico in the living room.
"Are you both ready?" Chrysa asked them.
Both nodded.
Chrysa took off her jacket, pulled out her wand, and cast the spell to turn the former into a Portkey to her apartment.
"Grab hold," she instructed.
The three children did so, and she tapped the jacket with her wand, ordering, "New York."
With a whirl of color and sound, they landed in her living room. Bianca was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the couch where Rhanis was stretched out. Thalia sat on the other end.
"You're okay?" Chrysa asked her sister.
"Basically," the white-haired Hunter said. "Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo came by last night and healed me up, but after Thalia got introduced to everyone this morning, I got told that I was going on vacation with her until after Christmas."
"Lady Artemis said I should spend my birthday with you," Thalia said quietly. "Have a family party again."
Chrysa immediately smiled.
"Well, I supposed it's time to plan a party then," she said. "Percy, you go see if your mom's free. Thalia, take Rhanis out to McDonald's or a diner or something; go have all that ridiculously greasy food that you won't be having in the wild somewhere hunting monsters. Bianca, Nico, you're going to help me decorate."
It didn't take long to throw a birthday party suitable for Thalia's one-and-only since before she'd run away from home. Chrysa was relatively sure she went a bit overboard, but there was little she wouldn't do for her sister – any of her sisters. They were hers, after all.
It wasn't until after Sally and Percy had gone back their apartment and Bianca and Nico were tucked into bed that Chrysa had the chance to talk to her youngest sister. Rhanis obviously noted her intentions and excused herself to the bedroom she and Thalia were sharing, claiming exhaustion due to her recovery.
"It really wasn't about you," Thalia insisted once they were alone. "You're amazing, Chrysa, and you've been a great older sister, even if you have terrible taste in men."
"You can't talk," Chrysa snorted. "You have no taste in guys anymore."
Thalia shrugged. "I never had the best taste anyway, apparently," she said, ducking her head.
Chrysa reached out to cup her cheek.
"Don't think like that," she scolded. "Luke…what happened to Luke isn't your fault. He's the one who made the decision to fight against the gods, to aid Kronos."
"But he was right," Thalia said quietly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "We used to curse the gods together. We hated that we were doomed to a terrible existence just for being born. We hated that they didn't take care of us better, that they sired us and then left us. And then Grover found us, and we made it to camp, only for me to try to die and end up a pine tree instead. Dad couldn't save me, but he could turn me into a pine tree? When I woke up, it was just, I was just…lost. I've been lost since Half-Blood Hill. You tried so hard to help me, Chrysa, and you did an amazing job – I'm sure you're an amazing mother – but a mother isn't what I need. Not in the way your kids do. I don't need to be protected. I've been doing that for myself since I was eight. But as a Hunter, I'm not alone, and I'm not – I don't have any expectations to live up to."
"Thalia, I never meant to," Chrysa began, but Thalia cut her off.
"I know," she said with a small smile. "You didn't. But everyone else did. They expected me to be like, like Hercules or Perseus or Alexander the Great. But that's not me. Everyone had expectations of me, since all they knew about me was that I died on Half-Blood Hill. Everyone just expected this super-amazing daughter of Zeus, and nothing else mattered to them. With the Hunt…I have the chance to start over. To be Thalia. Not Luke's partner, or the daughter of Zeus, just Thalia."
Chrysa reached over and hugged her sister tightly.
"I wish you all the best," she whispered into her ear, "but I'm glad I get to keep you for a few days more. I love you, little sister."
"I love you too, Chrysa," Thalia replied, returning the embrace.
The next morning started off with Chrysa giving Annabeth a Portkey in the shape of a pencil.
"San Francisco," she stated, tapping the pencil with her wand. Annabeth disappeared. Chrysa was so glad that the girl had gotten used to magical means of travel over the course of every vacation she'd taken her on when she was younger.
"Where'd she go?" Bianca asked, sounding shocked.
"I sent her to her family's house in San Francisco," Chrysa explained. "She wanted to spend Christmas with her family. Also, I thought that you'd want to see a Portkey in action, because we're about to take another one. We're going to stay with Sirius and Remus for Christmas."
"In England?" Nico asked.
"Yes, tesoro. In England. There's a ball at the Ministry for Magic tonight that I'll be going to, along with Sirius and Remus and some of our friends. You four will be staying with some of my good friends and their children, along with Sirius and Remus' children. Tomorrow, we'll have an Italian Christmas Eve, then a British Christmas Day, and then we'll combine the traditions for Boxing Day – St. Stefano's Day. That way we can celebrate both Christmas and Natale," she told her children. She knew that they'd missed the Italian celebrations during their years in Washington, D.C. Due to the war, they hadn't dared to show signs of their Italian ancestry, besides the obvious.
"Will Papà be there?" Bianca asked.
"He said he'll try to come for part of it," Chrysa said. She doubted he'd make it. This time of year was busy for him, even without the approaching war. "But trust me, we'll have plenty of people around. Let's see, there's five of us; six Lupin-Blacks; four Thomases; two, seven, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty Weasleys. That's…thirty-five people in all."
"That's a big dinner," Thalia said, sounding shocked.
Chrysa doubted that Thalia had ever been so involved in a family dinner. Dinners at camp might have more people, but they were separated by tables. All of the children – well, Rhanis would be fine, she'd had worse – were used to small families.
"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had seven children," Chrysa said. "Six boys and a girl. Fred died several years ago, and Charlie's never married, but the others are all married with two kids, except Bill and Fleur, who have three. Sirius never told me, but the Malfoys might also be coming, so that's five more people. Narcissa Malfoy is Sirius' only living cousin, so sometimes at the holidays they decide to ignore the fact that everyone dislikes Lucius Malfoy and Lucius dislikes everyone."
She conjured a length of rope.
"Does everyone have their bags?" she asked. She hadn't bothered packing anything herself. All of her things were already at the Black House, except for her gown, which Fleur and Ginny had teamed up to take care of. They'd cursed her out heavily when she'd contacted them about not being able to wear something showing her shoulders a few days before, but had promised to make sure her gown would be ready for the ball.
Everyone nodded.
"Grab onto the rope," Chrysa instructed, remembering the first time she'd taken a Portkey, when Mr. Weasley had given the exact same instructions, "and whatever you do, don't let go."
Everyone grabbed the rope, and she showed them how to wrap it around their wrists so that they couldn't drop it.
"I'll warn you in advance, you'll probably fall over when we land," Chrysa said. "I almost always do."
Portkeys really were awful ways to travel. It was why, if she was on her own, she much preferred Apparition or shadow-travel. But with a group this size, neither of those were feasible.
She tapped the rope with her wand and said, "Grimmauld Place."
The world whirled around them in a rush of wind and color, and then they were all collapsing into a heap.
"Dad!" she heard Teddy yell. "Papa! They're here!"
Chrysa barely managed to twist in time to magically catch the teal-haired ten-year-old as he tried to leap on top of her. He let out a laugh as he hovered above her, golden eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Wotcher, Amaranth," he greeted.
"Wotcher, Teddy," Chrysa replied with a smile.
She allowed her magic to put him back onto his feet. He reached out to grab her hands, then pulled her to her feet and into a hug before moving over to pull Bianca to her feet.
"Wotcher, Bianca!" he greeted cheerfully.
Chrysa pulled her sisters to their feet while Teddy went over and introduced himself to Nico. His request to go play was halted when Sirius entered the room with Lily.
"Sirius, these are my children, Nico and Bianca di Angelo," Chrysa said, pointing to each of them in turn. "And these are my sisters: Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Rhanis, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. They're both Hunters of Artemis. Everyone, this is my godfather and adopted father, Sirius Black, and his youngest child, Lily. Teddy is his eldest."
"My husband, Remus, has our middle two, James and Albus, in the bath," Sirius said with a large grin. "But it's a pleasure to meet you all. Except you, Bianca, since we met the other day. I've heard so much about all of you. Oh, and Anthie, Cissy and Draco told me to pass on that they'll murder you if you try to use a glamour on your recent injury. Which injury would this be, by the way?"
"It's nothing important," Chrysa attempted to deflect.
"Amaranth," Sirius said in his parent-voice. It had gotten so much better since he'd actually had children of his own.
"Later, Dad," Chrysa replied in the same tone. This was not something she wanted to get into with her children in the room. "Teddy-bear, why don't you take Nico and Bianca on a tour of the house? Thalia, Rhanis, you two can go along or stay here. Just remember, whatever you end up doing, we're leaving in – three hours?" she questioned, looking at Sirius.
"Two hours," Sirius said. "All the women were planning to get ready together – the younger ones at least. Fleur and Angelina have offered their makeup and hair services to help those of you who are going."
Teddy made a face.
"That's boring."
"You'll be with Bill, Charlie, and George," Sirius said. "I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Do I have to take them for a tour?" Teddy asked. "I wanna go play in the pool."
"Isn't it a little cold for that?" Nico asked.
"Nah," Teddy said. "We've got an indoor pool."
"Cool!" Nico exclaimed. "Mamma, can we?"
"Only for a couple of hours," Chrysa said after a considering thought. "We don't want to be late. Girls, do you want to go?"
Thalia shook her head.
"Not really smart for me to go swimming, Chrysa."
"You're a Hunter of Artemis now, Thalia," Chrysa reminded. "Poseidon won't touch you while you have Artemis' protection."
"I don't know how to swim," Thalia confessed.
Rhanis perked up.
"I can teach you. I am a water nymph, after all."
They looked over at Chrysa. She waved her hand at them.
"Go ahead. Have fun. The changing rooms next to the pool will provide you with swimsuits in your size. And there are charms to prevent drowning, so don't worry about that," she instructed.
"Wait, Nico and Bianca know how to swim?" Thalia asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Poseidon is usually less vindictive," Chrysa said drily. "And we lived in Venice for most of their lives. It would have been more dangerous if they didn't know how to swim."
"We haven't gone swimming since the hotel," Bianca piped up. "There was a pool there, and a waterpark, but we didn't go very often."
"Probably wise," Mamma said with a nod. "But you'll be safe here. Zeus has sworn not to harm my children, and Poseidon won't do anything to make his wife mad at him."
"What are we waiting for?" Teddy asked. "Come on! Let's go!"
Teddy dragged Nico out of the room, followed by Bianca. Thalia and Rhanis followed as well after glancing to Chrysa for affirmation.
"Let me go put Lily down," Sirius said, giving Chrysa a hard look. "Then we'll talk."
Chrysa dragged her feet on the way to the back parlor. It was difficult to find if you didn't know exactly where it was, and there was no way for the children to come across their conversation by accident.
The extensive silencing wards on the room helped with that.
Sirius arrived a few minutes later, sans Lily and plus Remus.
"Al and Jamie done with their bath?" Chrysa asked casually.
"All three of the younger set are playing in the nursery," Remus said. "Kreacher's watching them. But no deflecting. You were injured?"
Chrysa sighed and pulled down the neckline on her shirt, revealing the still-red and healing bullet wound below her collarbone.
"What the hell happened?" Sirius demanded, immediately moving closer to examine the wound.
"Bullet wound," Chrysa reported. "Nothing major. I wouldn't have called Draco in if I didn't need to get back to the field as soon as possible."
"Amaranth," Remus sighed, "just because you can heal any wound doesn't mean that we're not going to be upset if you get hurt. It is important, even if you don't seem to see it that way."
"It heals," Chrysa protested. "It's not a problem."
"It is," Sirius said. "You heal, but you also feel pain. Do you need to see your therapist again?"
Chrysa winced.
"I…I don't think so," she said. "There's so much going on that I can't talk about with a therapist…"
"Then talk to us," Remus said, almost begging. "Talk to us, Amaranth."
"Please, Anthie," Sirius said.
Chrysa took a deep breath.
"Okay," she said. "Okay. I will. Before we leave. But…not today. We don't really have time to get through everything today, and we can't be late."
"Promise you'll talk?" Remus asked seriously.
"I swear on my magic," Chrysa said solemnly. "Before this holiday is out, I'll talk about it."
"I think we have at least enough time to talk about how you got shot," Sirius said firmly.
Chrysa sighed and sagged down onto a couch.
"We were in…Arizona. No, New Mexico. It was me, Thalia, Rhanis, Percy, and…and Zoë Nightshade. Thalia wasn't a Hunter yet. Zoë was the lieutenant of Artemis then. She was leading the quest to find Artemis. We'd left New York and driven to DC, and then took a train to New Mexico. In New Mexico, we encountered spartoi."
"The skeleton warriors summoned by Cadmus from the teeth of the Ismenian dragon?" Remus asked excitedly.
"The very same," Chrysa said. "These were summoned for the purpose of hunting down the Hunters, Zoë and Rhanis, but they instead ended up hunting Percy instead, since he was attempting to protect the Hunters. They were armed with guns. Due to who I am, I was the only person in our party capable of stopping them. I was in the midst of fighting off the group that had cornered us when I…uh…forgot to dodge."
"You forgot to dodge," Sirius said drily.
"That's my story and I'm sticking to it," Chrysa said stubbornly. "And right after that, we had to jump onto the Erymanthian Boar, because that was our ride to Arizona, so I didn't have time to patch up the wound while we were riding, and as soon as we got off we pretty much got shoved into the gods' junkyard and had to fight a prototype of Talos. Rhanis managed to get inside it to take it down, but I had to shadow-travel inside to get her out and then shadow-traveled to Camp, because we were both a mess after that and needed healing. That's when I called for Draco. You're not supposed to shadow-travel with open wounds. It's too cold. Rhanis and I made it to Camp, and I called Draco when I woke up the next morning."
"That's bizarre," Sirius said bluntly. "Anthie, you need to take better care of yourself. It's not just you anymore. It's never been just you. But now you have your kids relying on you. You can't risk yourself so often."
"I have to," Chrysa replied. "Dad, Papa, there's a war starting. And like it or not, I'm going to be on the front lines once again…sort of. I'm a bit more on the behind-the-scenes part of the front lines than I was during the Wizarding War. But the very nature of my domain…the very nature of me, means that I have to participate. Like I told you Dad, I've been part of this for ten thousand years. It's far too late to back out."
Her adopted parents sat on either side of her on the couch and sandwiched her in a hug.
"We love you, Anthie," Sirius said into her ear. "We loved you before you had all these extra memories, and we love you now."
"And we'll love you forever, until beyond the gates of the Underworld," Remus added.
"I love you both too," Chrysa said quietly.
They sat there for a while longer, simply basking in the warmth of family. Eventually, Chrysa excused herself to go play with James, Al, and Lily for the last hour before it was time to leave for the Burrow.
She was dragged upstairs almost as soon as she stepped out of the Floo, which was merely the beginning of a few hours of preparations for the ball.
True to their word, Fleur and Ginny had successfully modified her dress to cover up her shoulder area. There would be no awkward questions about injuries and what exactly she actually got up to over in the US.
Sirius met her at the bottom of the stairs when she was done. He grabbed her hand and twirled her around, making her already full skirt even larger.
"You're more beautiful every time I see you, Anthie," he told her.
She laughed.
"You say that every time, Dad," she chided, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face.
"He's right," Nico said from across the room. Everyone turned to look at him, and he ducked his head slightly. "You look…più bella di quanto le parole possano descrivere, Mamma."
Chrysa smiled warmly at him.
"Grazie, tesoro," she said.
"What did he say?" George asked.
"He said Mamma was more beautiful than words could describe," Bianca translated loudly.
"He's not wrong," Sirius said, leaning in to kiss Chrysa's cheek.
Further conversation was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.
"That's probably the Malfoys," Mrs. Weasley said. She left the room, then returned a few minutes later with Draco and his wife and son.
"This is my cousin, Draco Malfoy, his wife Astoria, and their son, Scorpius," Chrysa told her children and her sisters. "Draco, Tori, these are my children, Nico and Bianca, and my sisters: Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Rhanis, daughter of Oceanus. Both are Hunters of Artemis."
"An honor to meet you," Draco said with a small bow. "And a pleasure, Nico, Bianca. Is everyone ready to leave?" he asked Chrysa.
"We are," Mamma said. "We'd best hurry, or we'll be late."
After that, everything became a flurry of movement. Chrysa hugged and kissed her children goodbye, and promised to be back in a few hours. She told them to tell one of their watchers if they needed anything, and to have fun.
They all Apparated to the Ministry. None of them wanted to risk ruining their outfits with the Floo or a Portkey.
Chrysa's skirts swished to the side as she landed, before settling back down at her feet. Someone tapped her shoulder.
"May I have the honor of escorting you this evening, my lady?" Neville Longbottom asked with a friendly smile.
Chrysa smiled back at her yearmate.
"Where's your wife this evening?" she asked, even as she accepted the arm he offered her. His dress robes were black with gold accent, which meant that he matched nicely with Chrysa's green and gold.
"Bedrest. She's due any day now, but she insisted that I come tonight," Neville said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind me escorting an old friend to the ball."
"Well, I certainly don't mind," Chrysa said, teasing lightly. "You'll give me an excuse not to dance with every pandering toady that decides they want to dance with me. Besides, I know you're a good dancer. Ginny had fun when you danced with her."
Neville let out a laugh.
"My dancing skills as a fourth year should not be a staple of my skills as an adult."
"You're the Lord of a Most Ancient and Most Noble House," Chrysa said drily. "You've been dancing since you could walk."
"True enough," Neville admitted.
They swept into the large ballroom, which was entirely done in gold and white marble, the flooring a warm wood parquet. The ballroom had been modeled after the one in Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, though very few actually remembered that. Chrysa only knew because Maria di Angelo's mother, though she'd been better known as Adelina di Angelo, had been of high enough rank to reminisce fondly about balls thrown at Catherine Palace. Chrysa had always been curious about the Russian palace – it had been too dangerous for her to visit the USSR as Maria di Angelo, as she would have had to travel under her own name, and her mother had been known as a friend of Tsaritsa Alexandra before her death. By the time Maria had legally been Maria di Angelo, Italy was at war with Russia, so it simply wasn't worth it.
Thankfully, this particular ball had so many people that there wasn't an announcer, so it took people awhile to notice that Amaranth Potter-Black was there. By the point that everyone had realized it, Neville and Amaranth had made the rounds through a good half of the room.
After they finished rounding the room, they ended up finding some of their other yearmates and chatting until Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had held the position of Minister since the end of the war, announced that it was time for dinner.
The seating arrangement was magically updated, so it recognized everyone when they came in and their titles in order to properly seat everyone at the table.
There were no foreign heads of state this year, so Chrysa ended up the lady of honor and was seated to the right of the Minister. Neville escorted her to her chair and seated her before heading off to find his own seat.
"Been staying out of trouble, Lady Potter?" Kingsley greeted with a small smile.
"Me?" Chrysa asked with a mischievous grin. "Never."
"I'd expect nothing less," Kingsley said with a laugh.
Dinner was thankfully not too painful. There was the usual small talk, but Chrysa hadn't made it to a ball since the previous spring, so most of the small talk was actually informative for her. When Kingsley stood to open the dancing, he offered his hand to Chrysa.
"May I have this dance?" he asked.
Chrysa accepted it with a bow of her head.
"Of course, Minister."
The dancing was one of the more fun parts of the evening. Her dance with the Minister was filled with more small talk. Her dance with Draco consisted of him interrogating her over her injury. Old classmates, DA members, and Order members all spun her around the floor, which provided plenty of friendly faces so that she could avoid the more politically-inclined power-mongers who would have ruined the party for her.
Neville ended up rejoining her as her escort once she'd been dancing for over an hour with various associates. He offered her a glass of champagne. She drained half of it in one gulp.
"Still as popular as ever," he said with a smile.
"Unfortunately," she sighed. "But at least all the people I know means that I can actually just catch up with people while dancing instead of making small talk with random politicians."
"You know most of the random politicians," Neville pointed out.
"Not the foreign ones," Chrysa pointed out. "They just want to gawk over the 'Woman-Who-Conquered'."
"So, more of the people you sue for calling you 'Amy Potter,'" Neville surmised.
"Exactly," Chrysa agreed.
"Care for another dance?" Neville asked.
Chrysa drained the rest of her champagne and left the empty glass on a passing waiter's tray before accepting Neville's hand.
"Lead on," she said.
They all ended up back at the Burrow around three in the morning.
"The kids're all sleeping," Bill reported. "Go home, Amaranth. We'll send them back through the Floo in the morning, though probably not until after Mum feeds them up a bit."
"That's unfair to you, Molly," Amaranth told the woman. "All the other adults are going back to their homes. Why don't you and Arthur come stay at Grimmauld tonight so you can sleep in?"
"That sounds lovely, Amaranth dear," Molly Weasley. "Sirius, Remus? Would you be all right with that?"
"Of course," Remus said. "You offered your house up to help watch our children. The least we can do is offer you a room to sleep off the party before you attempt to reclaim your house."
"Scorpius is sleeping soundly," Charlie told Draco, who was hovering awkwardly by the door.
Astoria had gone straight home; the exertion of the ball was too much for her in her illness.
"He'll be fine sleeping here tonight," Charlie continued. "He and Albus were fast friends, and they're curled up as snug as two bugs in a rug. We can either send him home to yours tomorrow, or we can send him to Grimmauld with Albus until you and Astoria are awake."
"Are you sure?" Draco asked. As many years as it had been since the war, and despite the family connection to Sirius that his mother tried so hard to maintain, Draco was still uncomfortable with Weasleys.
"'Course," Charlie said with a shrug. "We've already got twenty kids. One extra's not going to hurt anything. And getting him up would wake Albus up, and Albus would wake all the others up, and then we'd have a hell of a time getting everyone back to sleep."
"If you're sure," Draco said hesitantly.
"Draco," Chrysa said bluntly. "We're all exhausted. Go home. Cuddle your wife. Tell the house elves not to wake you up. Scorpius will be fine here until he wakes up and has breakfast, and then he'll be fine playing with James and Albus and Lily at Grimmauld until you and Tori are ready for him to come home. Go sleep."
Draco hesitated, then nodded.
"Good night, everyone," he said, before turning and leaving the room.
Chrysa, Sirius, and Remus made their goodbyes as well before returning to Grimmauld Place, Chrysa instructing those remaining at the Burrow that they could send their children over whenever, but they should inform the children not to wake them up and that Rhanis was in charge.
Once back at Grimmauld Place, she barely spent enough energy to say goodnight to Sirius and Remus before heading up to room, removing her dress, and collapsing onto her bed. Figuring out how to undo her magical makeup and hairdo could wait until morning.
AN: This chapter was meant to have more to it, but it got to nearly 8000 words and I decided it was time to cut it. This all takes place during Nico's chapter, because Chrysa decided that she had more to say about it than I thought she did. Most of this chapter is also thanks to my roommates late night/early morning rock habits, so hopefully there aren't too many mistakes running around.