Last time...

"Well, now that that's been decided." Tony chuckled at the incredulousness of it all. "Ministry visit tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah…" Hera sighed.

"Potter!" A familiar voice called from the living room. "My father's a House Elf. What did you do?"

"I swear my life was boring at one point." Hera commented, as Tony started laughing again. "Honest."

Chapter 41

Hera was halfway through the fry up for the Dursleys before she was properly awake enough to realize she wasn't with them anymore. Tony was inexplicably washing the dishes, and didn't bat an eye as to what she was doing. He must have thought her awake before…maybe. Jör was wrapped around her as much as he had been the evening before. When she froze, both seemed to turn to her at once.

"Hera, it's okay. This is a Flat I rented to be close for your school during the Tournament. You got here last night after we went out for Chinese." Tony informed her in a rush, suddenly by her side. "Jör gave us a surprise after a shopping trip, and we need to go to your magic Ministry before we decide on anything. Also, your friend's dad is a house elf. Do you remember all that?"

It took her a minute to realize he was trying to ground her, like someone coming out of a nightmare; an unusual experience for her, as the Dursleys had never cared.

"I'm fine, Tony…What…" She tried, looking around at the stove and everything. "What happened?"

"You just cooked a full English breakfast…in your sleep." Tony answered, gently moving her away from the stove before turning off everything. The food looked ready to plate as it was. "Sometimes I can't sleep well, and woke up early to work on a design for a new weapon I'm thinking of creating. I see you come in around the crack of dawn, and don't think anything of it for a bit until I hear cooking sounds. I come in here, and you're already cutting things up, working the stove settings. Jör is hissing at me something awful, smacking you with his tail and his head, but you're not reacting, which is when I realized you were asleep. I just stuck around to make sure you didn't burn or cut yourself, and let you at it. It's best not to wake someone when they're sleepwalking anyway."

She hears Jör grumbling, but it's not actual words, so she's still at a loss.

"Oh, the best part of the experience was when sleep you decided that Jör's head thump attempts to wake you were annoying, and you took a glob of butter and smacked him right in the face with it." Tony continued, guiding her to the table now, where…

"Just how much food did I make, Tony?" Hera asked, looking at it all.

"Did I mention the now happy people in this building that didn't have to make breakfast? This isn't even a quarter of what you cooked up." He admitted. "I had to call a place and have groceries delivered…a few times."

Was there magic that would open the floor up out from under her? Because that's what she wanted right now.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm fairly certain you made a lot of people's day." Tony insisted, seeing how mortified she was getting. "Now, come on. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, and all that…Maybe apologize to Jör for smacking him in the face with butter."

"Oh good, you're here." He hears, the moment he steps out of the floo. "Maybe you can help me."

"Am I at the wrong address?" Draco asks, not quite understanding. "You are Tony Stark, so…Where's Potter?"

"That's what I'm talking about. In here." Stark nods, motioning for him to follow. "She was fine a minute ago, and then she fell asleep again, and now she's like this. I know you're not supposed to wake up someone who's sleep walking, but…well…"

He saw what the man meant when he walked into what he assumed was where she'd slept last night. There was now a full sized loom in there, and she was weaving on it. Hera was one of the few people he knew of that had a true gift. He'd heard about her asking after Weaving as a form of telling the future. If she was weaving in her sleep…

"Merlin's balls, she's weaving a prophecy." Draco whispered, right before he saw the rather large snake on her bed with a red feather on its…Hold up, that wasn't a normal snake. "Stark, tell me she got crafty in her sleep, and stuck a feather to a rather large python you just happened to have because you're obscenely rich like that."

"Afraid not." Stark replied with aplomb. "This little guy was hanging out in some secret chamber at your school, and decided Hera was his now."

"You're telling me that Hera found the Chamber of Secrets, didn't tell anyone, and Salazar Slytherin's Familiar has decided he likes her now?" Draco asked, with a strained voice.

"That about sums it up, yeah." Stark nodded. "Now, about the part where she's weaving a prophecy in her sleep? She can do that?"

"Obviously." Draco drawled, gesturing to the girl who was still asleep and doing said weaving. "What brought this on anyway?"

"She'd planned her summer like she was going to have to run away from the Dursleys, like she's done every summer since starting at that school, and I don't think she knows what to do now that she doesn't have to anymore." Stark admitted in a rush. "I'm pretty sure she cooked enough of Full English Breakfasts to feed all of…well…England earlier, or at least the building we're in. She was asleep when she did that too."

Draco wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that, but just nodded. "Somehow, that sounds like her. Okay, deal with sleeping Potter first, Draco, panic about Salazar's familiar adopting her later. Hey, do you know how to get a hold of Granger? She's muggleborn. She should have one of those…Fellytones?"

"Telephones." Stark corrected.

"Right, one of those. Granger is Potter's roommate at school. She might have seen this on occasion." Draco suggested. "I…I don't know what to do for this. Weasley would suggest scaring her awake, but that's bad because apparently she has a habit of apparating to the smallest place she can find in a panic. Fred and George talked about that."

"So, call Hermione?" Stark asked, to clarify.

"Yes, call Hermione." Draco nodded.

...

"Granger residence, this is Jean speaking." Her mother greeted, answering the phone. "Tony Stark?!"

Hermione's head shot up from, no longer paying attention to the book she'd been reading.

"Hermione! Tony Stark is on the phone for you." Her mother called out a moment later. "Hera's sleepwalking."

"Oh dear." Hermione sighed, placing a bookmark to the page before closing the book. It wouldn't do to lose the page, not with the research she was already doing. "Coming, Mother!"

"He sounds a bit frantic, Love." Her mother explained as she walked into the room. "Apparently, she's already fed England a Full English Breakfast, and started weaving prophecies."

"Oh, well that's…certainly different…" Hermione commented lightly, her mind reeling, before taking the phone. "I don't know how long this is going to take, Mum."

"That's quite alright." Her mother insisted, kissing her forehead. "We'll talk about those survival guides you're interested in when you're done. Help your friend."

Hermione waited till her mother was out of the room before putting the phone to her ear. "Dr. Stark?"

"Oh, thank God." Is the first thing she hears, followed by a panicked. "Draco, get her away from that window!"

"Draco's there?" Hermione can't help but ask, morbidly curious. "Why?"

"Oh, Hera did something, and now his dad's a House Elf. I suggested he come over this morning so they could work out what to do about it." Stark answered distractedly. "Tell me you have a Floo, and can get here in like three seconds. I don't know what to do. Draco said you were her roommate at school."

"Unfortunately we do not, Dr. Stark. We've never really had need of the Floo before now." Hermione explained, tabling the fact that Lucius Malfoy was currently a house elf. "Tell me what's been happening."

"Everything was fine yesterday, but it was like she didn't believe she was going to be staying with me. She's been planning her escape from the Dursleys since the start of the school year." Stark explained, though it was obvious his mind was still distracted. "I guess with the stress of the year, and everything that happened with – what did she call him? – Snort-a-wart, that I guess she hasn't had time to process. She wakes up sometimes, but it's never for very long. We were going to go to the Ministry today about Salazar Slytherin's familiar that has decided to adopt her, but…well…this happened."

"I have an idea. Give her the phone." Hermione stated, sighing as she wondered just what else she was going to have to table till later, waiting while she heard a mumbled conversation until she was sure Hera had the phone.

"Hera?"

"…Mione?"

"Hera, where are you? I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I…I don't know. It doesn't look the same as before."

"You're in that other place?"

"Yeah, but I can't find anyone. Something's wrong. Why can I hear you? That's never happened before."

"You're sleepwalking in Tony's flat."

"Oh. I was thinking about making fry up later."

"You've already done that."

"Really? In my sleep? That's fantastic. How freaked out was he?"

"That's not important. Where are you now?"

"I'm looking for Eir. No one was in the library. Tyr is not in the training grounds. I'm not going anywhere near Pirate Santa. The Healing Hall. I need to find the Healing Hall. Something's wrong…Oh dear God! Hermione, they…What have they done?…"

Thud!

"Draco, get the…"

"Granger, I don't know what you did, but she's passed out; fully this time, I think, but…" Draco stated, having picked up the phone, before she heard a gasp. "Merlin's beard, they've sewn her lips shut!"

...

Tony held her in his arms, still in the floor, too afraid to move them to somewhere more comfortable. She'd been talking on the phone to her friend, and it looked like it was working, but then…She'd fallen, and by the time he'd started to pick her up, her lips had been sewn shut. Tears streamed down her face even in sleep, and he didn't know how she could have slept through that much pain. He didn't know what to do, and cutting the strings did nothing; They reattached themselves in seconds.

"Shit! Draco, I know your mother is probably worried right now, but could you get that Potions Professor…Snape? Do you know how to get in contact with him?" Tony implored, from his position on the floor, worried out of his mind. He'd managed to get them leaned up against the wall, and Jör was doing his level best blanket impression.

"He's my godfather. He'll know what to do." Draco agreed, before walking out the door. He could still hear the boy. "Try not to worry, Granger, I'm getting Uncle Severus. He'll know what to do. In the meantime, I'll try to get a picture of my father as a house elf for you. How's that?"

...

Loki. Hera was staring at Loki. In all the time she had been visiting this place since taking the potion, she had never seen him, had never met him. He's taller than her, even now, but he looks so terribly fragile as he is; Passed out on a bed in the Healer's Hall, his lips sewn shut. No one seemed to notice her. Frigga was caught up in her grief, and Eir was wringing her hands, but neither of them helped him. Why weren't they helping him?

"Oðin forbade it." Frigga murmured quietly, not even looking away from her son's face. Oh, she must have said that aloud.

"You're his mother." Hera growled, before glaring at Eir. "What's your excuse?"

"The same." Eir admitted, ashamed. "Oðin now wields Gungnir. Once his decrees are given, we can not act against them. A slam of that weapon upon the ground, and we kneel or do as he would command."

"A physical compulsion." Hera realized. "He should never have had the opportunity to hold such a weapon, never mind wield it."

She looked to the two of them, and then to Loki, before coming to a decision. "I have an idea."

"You can't go against the will of the AllFather." Eir declared worriedly, seeing she was making for Loki. "None of us can."

She snorted, unable to help herself.

"My name is Hera Potter," Hera declared, much as she had when faced with the merfolk, before placing her hands on either side of Loki's head as she looked down at him from behind the low headboard. "and Oðin does not speak for me."

The pain is instant, and she can't even gasp, but it works. It frees Eir to start tending to Loki, even as Frigga catches Hera before she falls. Tears fall down her face, and Frigga tries to calm her, recounting what had happened when Hera shook her head but pleaded with her eyes. Loki had set up a contest between the dwarves of Niðavellir and the goblins of Miðgarðr. The goblins had won, but because both parties had promised the gifts to Ásgarðr, the dwarves lost out.

Angry at the loss, the dwarves fell upon Loki. As they were so much larger than him, it did not take many to pin him down. Oðin forbade any to help him, even as he watched his son have his lips sewn for the trickery they felt he'd pulled on them. Neither Thor, nor their friends had helped him. Frigga had tried, but she was pulled away, and Oðin gave the command using Gungnir before she could break free. He would not force her actions in regards to where he himself was concerned, and so she shunned him in favor of being with her son, though she could not heal him. That had been weeks ago, and Thor had not come to visit his brother in all that time.

Loki had not woken in all that had transpired since Hera had entered the room, and Eir was able to heal her, having not been forbidden by Oðin. Hera was by his side in an instant, an absolutely crazy idea forming in her mind. She didn't know if it would help him, god of Mischief and Chaos he would grow to be, but she would give him the blessing of her magic to aid him. He wouldn't be able to resist Gungnir, but she hoped it would give him strength when he needed it most. The lines of the dream memories had begun to blur in places for her, and she could not see what results this had had, if any.

She shook with anger when she was done, and looked to Frigga as she demanded. "Where's Thor?"

...

Thor was sulking in the gardens. His father was convinced that the dwarves spoke truth in that Loki had deceived them, and so Thor thought it must be true. Father was a wise and just king. Loki had tried to plead his case, having set up the contest but not chosen the winners, begging Thor to help him. Thor did not see how Loki could have tricked them, but then they explained that he had assured them that they would win; a trick in their eyes, a talk to build ones confidence in Loki's.

Still, the look of betrayal when Thor did not try to help him as their Lady Mother had, was burned into his mind forever. His friends had tried to cheer Thor up, assure him that his father had been right, but the look stayed fresh in his mind's eye. He could not shake it, and no matter how many times he heard their words, he could not shake the feeling that he had failed. Loki would no longer trust him as his brother. He had failed to protect him as an older brother should, and that was on him.

"Thor!"

The voice had him looking up in shock. How long had it been since he'd last heard her voice? Had it really been decades since he'd seen her last? She looked just the same! She would be disappointed in him, he knew. He was disappointed in himself; for though he did not believe his father was wrong, he had not protected his little brother.

Looking at her now, he could see the anger rolling off her in waves. Her eyes seemed to glow with magic so much like his brother's, it made his heart pang with guilt. Why had Loki set up that contest? He knew where his silver tongue usually got him. There was no honour in his tricks. It's what their father was trying to teach him.

"Lady Hera, what has happened to you?" Thor asked in concern. He could see new scars on her face since her last visit.

"I helped Loki." Hera admitted proudly, chin jutted outward in defiance.

"You could not have. Oðin forbade it." Thor objected, unable to understand. "With Gungnir…"

"My name is Hera Potter, and Oðin does not speak for me." She declared, almost as if it were a vow. In fact, the words reverberated around them as thunder would the sky. "What do you have to say for yourself, Thor Oðinson? Why did you not protect him when you could have?"

"I know I'm his brother, but-" were the only words he got out before she lunged, punching him so hard that he crashed into one of the trees.

"How dare you! How dare you call yourself his brother?! You blithering oaf!" She snapped in outrage. "You no longer deserve the title! What did you do? Ask once, get told no, and then pout because it's probably the first time you'd ever been told no in your whole bloody life?! Spoiled little shite that you are, that's probably what you're really sulking about, isn't it? Daddy said no, boohoo, poor Thor."

Thor pulled himself out of the grove he'd made in the tree, and grunted. "I do not understand why you would take such offense, Lady Hera."

If it was possible, she looked even angrier at him as she growled. "You will."

and then she was gone.