Last time...

"What are Dementors?" Dudley asked, even as Tony herded them into the kitchen with the help of Fen.

"They guard the Wizarding Prison of Azkaban." Both Tony and Petunia replied at the same time, Petunia looking like she'd swallowed a lemon at the admission she knew something of the magical world.

"You can't see them, but imagine a sort of floating skeletal figure in a black shroud, and that's about accurate." Hera nodded, looking out the kitchen windows. "They exude this sort of misery about them, a kind of cold that goes beyond bone deep. People start reliving their worst memories. These things feed on happy memories, and in the worst cases, your very soul. The Ministry uses them to guard the worst of the worst, but what I don't understand is what they're doing here now. Tony, call Snape."

"Why is it every time we run into problems, you tell me to call Snape?" Tony asked, already trying to find his phone.

"You mean other than the fact that I'm his apprentice? Remus doesn't know anything about muggle tech, and though Sirius claims to love all things muggle, neither does he. Arthur is…enthusiastic, but doesn't understand how anything works either." Hera reposed. "Snape is the only adult wizard I know with a working phone."

"Here, you talk to him." Tony insisted, dialing the number before handing her his mobile. "Last time I called, he said he was eyes deep in testing your latest potion, and made some very specific threats against my liver. I know it may not seem like it, what with all I put it through, but I like my liver. I'd like to keep it inside my body, if it's all the same to you."


Chapter 55

"I can't believe you're hiding behind a teenage girl to protect your liver." He hears as soon as he answers the phone.

"Potter? Am I not allowed five minutes peace?" He demanded.

"Real mature, Professor. I'm sure the only thing I interrupted was your daydreaming about trying to poison Neville's toad again." Potter snorted. "We're at Privet Drive. The place is surrounded by Dementors, and I don't know how to cast the Patronus charm. I didn't think I needed it, because the Dementors at the school liked me, but there are so many here, and I'm not sure I can get them all to listen to me."

"How many?" Severus asked, not even bothering to berate her for going back to the Dursleys, or demand to know what she was thinking when she did that.

"Enough that there's already a heavy mist in the air. The house is literally surrounded. I can not stress that enough. They aren't going anywhere else either, or drifting off to feed on the neighbors. They're just…floating there." Potter admitted, sounding as if she were moving about. "I don't understand. Why are they here? Why are there so many? The wards are holding, but only just, and they were never that strong to begin with. I-"

"Potter!" Severus shouted. It got her to shut up at least. The rambling was going to become problematic if she couldn't rein it in. There's a sound like a door closing, and Severus pinches the bridge of his nose again. "Don't tell me you just walked outside."

"Okay."

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Unbelievable.

"Potter!"

"What? You told me not to tell you! I'm going to go see what they want. I have Fen with me. I'll be fine!"

"The number of times you have proclaimed that when it is not true is appalling." Severus drawled with a sigh. "When were you going to tell me you could speak to Dementors?"

"Uh…I thought you knew that already?" She offered. "Didn't Remus talk about how I scolded that one on the train?"

"Yes, but I thought he was delusional until you punched a hippogriff in the face, and then I just figured you were insane." Severus commented, coming do a decision.

There's hissing sounds, and he's already gathering things while he listens to what is hopefully not Potter's death.

"Oh, it's you! The one I grabbed on the train! We were just talking about you! How's Azkaban?…Any particular reason you're…I dunno…not there now?…This isn't about the arm, is it? I did apologize for that…You can't be serious. For what?…Un-be-lievable. Professor? The Dementor says some pencil pusher at the Ministry is trying to frame me because of the whole thing with What's-his-name. Dolores Umbridge? Do you know who that is? Her name sounds familiar. She thinks I'll align with Dumbledore, and wants to take me out preemptively or something."

"She's the Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic." Severus deadpans.

"Can you get Amelia Bones?" Potter suddenly asks. "Also, anyone else who will come and help would be amazing."

"Why Amelia Bones?" Severus asks.

"She dislikes the favoritism Dumbledore gets, treats everyone fairly during an investigation, and she's the Head of the DMLE. Susan says she's on the up and up." Hera replied, sounding suspiciously winded. "If a Ministry pencil pusher is abusing the system, she'd want to be all over that, even if it's a high ranking Ministry pencil pusher."

"Why do you sound winded? What are you about to do?" He demanded, not sure why his stomach was tied in knots. Whatever this was, it was bad.

"We're preparing for a siege, Professor. What did you think was happening?"

...

"Hera…" Tony's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hera, what can we do?"

"I…"

What could they do? Surrounded by Dementors, and she hadn't learned the patronus charm. If that Dementor was right, the Undersecretary had sent them after her, either to get rid of her or get her to perform magic. If she did that in the street, it would be risking being seen doing magic by muggles who were not her family, even with all the mist in the air, and she wouldn't put it past this pencil pusher to ignore the fact that she has an exemption two ways over, or the fact that their lives were being put at risk. If the woman was smart, she'd somehow avoid any of this getting tied back to her. What was worse was the fact that no one but Hera could see the creatures that surrounded the place, and if Vernon couldn't see something…Hang on. Now, there's a thought.

"I have an idea." Hera eventually replied, her mind already going through the various scenarios where this would blow up. Still worth it? Nice. "Dudley, how many paintball guns do you still have?"

"Enough. Piers and the others left theirs, and never bothered to come back for them." Dudley confirmed, after a hesitant grimace. "No ammo for them though."

"That's okay. I've got something." Hera insisted, already digging through her expanded pockets. "I designed these after those things they use for banks when someone robs them. They should be the same size as a paint ball pellet. No amount of magic can remove the stains these things leave behind, and the more they try the more the stain spreads."

"Why don't they just use soap and water?" Petunia asked with a sniff, watching as Dudley rushed up the stairs to get the paint ball guns.

"It's the simplest solution. Of course, they're not going to think of it." Hera remarked with a wry grin as she started parceling them out into batches for their use. "These won't stain your fingers, so don't worry about that, but I don't have many of them, so try to make 'em count, yeah? Patent Pending, and all that."

"How are we supposed to hit something we can't bloody see?" Vernon demanded, all but snatching his bundle from her.

"That part's easy too." Hera insisted, adopting what Tony refers to as his 'business face' because it was the only way she could think of to handle Vernon right now. "You try to hit me. You're good at that, aren't you? Well, more like above me, but still. I'll be popping in and out all over, so you just have to aim for where I was."

"So your plan is to make them visible?" Tony asked, even as he accepted both paintball gun from Dudley and new ammo parcel from her, looking like he really wanted to murder Vernon. "Why?"

"Right now, I'm the only one that can see them. So if they leave right now, or get what they came here for, there won't be anyone else to confirm it." Hera replied. "We make them visible, that goes away. They may go away at that point, as their staying risks exposing the wizarding world. I might get in trouble for that, but with the Head of our law enforcement coming to help, I think I'll be okay."

"Why can't you just wait in here with us?" Tony objected, looking very much like he did not want to let her go out there. "You've sent for the others. They'll get here soon."

"The wards won't hold that long, Tony." Hera sighed, knowing he was stalling.

"What about just magicking them away or something?" Tony tried, not quite willing to give up just yet. "Or getting Dobby or Winky in here?"

Both house elves showed up as if summoned, and perhaps that was so. Hera hadn't called them, but Tony's wish for her safety might have called to their magic. However, they didn't look like they were there to stop her; much to Tony's chagrin, she was sure. Dobby snapped his fingers, and her clothes were replaced with armour the likes of which Loki had in Ásgarðr; in the sense that it was all greens and golds mixed into a lot of leather. She looked up from inspecting it to see that Dobby held out the horned helmet, and Winky held up the sword she'd won from the Goblin King, both were wearing matching sheepish grins.

"Dobby, where did you get that?" Hera asked, eyeing the helmet. Dobby just nervously laughed, and Hera realized she didn't want to know. "Put it back. I don't need it, not even sure it would fit right anyway. And Dobby?"

"Yes, Harry Potter Miss?" Dobby asked, still grinning sheepishly up at her.

"I appreciate this more than words can express." She replied fondly. He popped out, and Hera turned her attention to Winky; who upon seeing this, raised the sword higher. "What are you two up to, Winky?"

"That would be telling." Winky answered, her grin turning more sly than sheepish as Hera took the sword from her.

It hit her like a ton of bricks, the full power she had access to with that sword in hand, even as it shifted into the most wicked looking Scottish halberd she'd ever seen, and she dropped to a knee as the air was knocked out of her. It dawns on her that Winky hadn't touched the hilt with the now orange stone Hera could have swornhad beena ruby before. Why hadn't she noticed the stone wasn't the same as before? Fucking hell, she wasn't supposed to have access to something like this right now. Too soon. Too soon. What had they been thinking?

"Bloody hell, that hurt." Hera rasped as she stood up. "Winky, at some point you and I are gonna have a long talk about this."

Winky gave a nervous laugh, and then popped out.

"Hera, what was that?" Tony asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"Not now. No time. The wards are already starting to fail. Find a window. Be ready." She said, instead of answering his question, and headed for the door. "Fen, with me."

"Hera, wait!" Dudley called out, surprising himself from the look on his face. "You can't go out there. You've got to be mad!"

Hera couldn't help the slow smile that spread across her face as she replied. "Thank goodness for that, 'cause if I wasn't this would probably never work."*


Moments before…

There was a loud pecking at her window, and Hermione rushed to it. Hedwig looked desperate when she let her in, flapping her wings, pecking at the bottle that still held Rita Skeeter. Hera was in trouble, Hermione could guess that much, something that involved Rita needing to see it. Not sure what that could be, Hermione tried to soothe the snowy owl into a more relaxed state. She wouldn't get anything as she was at present.

Hera had surprised her this summer with a gift, something Hermione had been desperately trying to think of; a way to protect her parents. All of Hera's gifts were things that would protect others, or were useful to the person that needed them. It saddened Hermione that Hera had had to think of these things, knowing now that being her friend was a dangerous gamble for others to take. Hera had provided Ron with his own wand, and Hermione had a standing tab at Flourish and Blotts, and that was just her immediate friends. She had been arming and fortifying them all since realizing who she was meant people would come after those she cared about, and those they cared about, in order to get to her.

Because of Hera, Hermione's parents now had the best protection they could have without just up and moving directly into Gringotts. Their home, place of business, and even they themselves were warded. Hera had sent over personally made ward stones to go around her home. There were smaller ones she instructed Hermione to place in fake potted plants or something at the dental office. There were even smaller ones that Hera had made that could be absorbed into jewelry, pocket watches, wrist watches, briefcases, and anything else that her parents may wear on a daily basis. When Hermione could pin that girl down, she'd figure out how she'd made those, as the smaller the stone was the harder it was to get wards to stick; even the car was warded.

When Hedwig calmed down, Hermione lowered her Occlumency shields enough that the familiar could project. Hera was in trouble. Privet Drive was surrounded by Dementors. Oh dear. The Dementors were controlled by the Ministry, at least normally. Either What's-his-name had found a way back to a corporeal state sooner than expected, or the Ministry had sent them. She needed Skeeter to witness, Hermione realized, and quickly penned a letter to both Colin and Luna.

"I'll release Skeeter, but I need you to fly these to Luna and Colin, okay?" Hermione insisted. "More witnesses can't hurt, right? Just make sure there's a magical adult there that can protect them."

Hedwig hooted her agreement, and the letters were sent off.

"Alright, Skeeter, I'll release you, but I have conditions, conditions that will magically bind you to them should you agree. Do you understand?" Hermione demanded, glaring at the beetle still trapped in the unbreakable jar. The beetle's antennas twitched once for yes. "Good. Hera Potter is about to be attacked by Dementors, and there is a possible likelihood that the Ministry is somehow involved. You need to go there, report the story, and get an interview with Hera once its all over. I'm sending for Luna and Colin, but you may want your own camera man there as well. If you agree to never again sensationalize the truth into scandalous lies for your articles or anything else, and print a retraction about all the vile lies you published about us in the next edition of the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly, I'll release you. If not, I'll keep you in that jar, and you'll miss the story of a lifetime. You wouldn't want that, would you? Do you agree to my conditions?"

Another twitch for yes.

"Good." Hermione concluded, and then took the jar outside the wards before opening it. Rita instantly flew out, and appeared in human form once more. "Don't make me regret this."

"You're rather ruthless, you know that, Kid?" Rita remarked as she straightened out her clothes.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Hermione replied, tilting her chin up a touch. If Hera could be ruthless in defense of her friends, she reasoned, so could she.

Rita eyed her for a moment, before agreeing. "You should. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off."

Once she was gone, Hermione went back into the house, only to be met by her parents in the living room.

"I think we need to talk about your willingness to keep hostages." Her dad commented, pouring himself a cup of tea, already sitting on the couch in the living room.

"And what else you aren't telling us." Her mother added, putting sugar in her tea.

Drat.


Colin read the letter once, twice, three times, still not believing it. Hermione Granger had trapped Rita Skeeter in a jar, an illegal beetle animagus, and now needed his help. Luna would be over shortly, provided her father didn't have her out hunting for a horned snorckack or something at the time, and would need his help to protect Hera Potter from the Ministry. Wow. If it wasn't for the fact that Hermione was the most no nonsense person he knew, and if it hadn't involved her desire to help her friend Hera, he'd have thought it made up. He looked over at his father, biting his lower lip as he wondered if it was better to tell the truth and risk a no, or go anyway and risk the wrath of a worried parent.

A knock at the door saved him from his moral quandary. Thankful for the interruption, he ran to the door to answer it, only to find Luna and her father standing there. Ushering them in, he wondered what his father would say. Mr Lovegood was looking around at everything in mild interest. While he was no Arthur Weasley, he did have a curiosity that could rival him. Luna just hummed serenely, smiling at him when she caught his nervous glance.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "Daddy is good with people. It'll be alright."

He didn't really believe her, knowing his father. It was fascinating to watch as Mr Lovegood talked to the man, and within five minutes (and no spells), Colin had permission to go out at such a late hour, provided that he stay with the now approved adult. He raced to get to his camera, and hightailed it back downstairs. He may have also grabbed a few bars of dark chocolate out of his stash, knowing they might need them. Mr Lovegood apparated them out almost to where Hera had lived before finding her brother, and balked at the sight before him.

He'd seen the Dementors during his Second Year, knew the affect they had on people first hand, and had kept a large chocolate stash as a result. Hera had been a big help there too, bringing back almost literal mountains of chocolate from Hogsmeade for any of the First and Second Years who'd asked, even though she shouldn't have been able to go. The number he'd seen then paled in comparison to the amount of them he saw here now. Hera's old house was surrounded. It was a good thing they were on the roof of a neighboring home, or else he'd never have seen through the horde.

Hera stood face to face with a Dementor, and wait…He wasn't sure what, but there was something different about her. Was that a giant wolf? Save those thoughts for later. He started snapping pictures, thankful for the charm Professor Flitwick had helped place on his camera some time back that allowed for nighttime shots without the needed flash. She began flitting about, popping in and out of view as she apparated all over the place, and that's when he realized the people inside the home were shooting paintball projectiles that absolutely covered the Dementors; thus exposing them to their view. With the mist dissipating, and the shots stopped firing from inside the home, Hera stopped apparating.

Was she wearing armour? How had he missed that? Where had she gotten the halberd? Hera began attacking the Dementors head on with a swing of the halberd, decapitating them as she went, though he couldn't say for certain just where the heads landed…or if they just turned to mist. The wolf went after arms like they were sticks. Her skin began turning blue like it had during the Second Task, and Colin could make out her blood garnet like eyes and the circle of small horns that now adorned her head; though none are particularly tall, the largest of them were in the back, getting smaller along the sides, and all but nonexistent at the front. Was it a reaction to the cold of the Dementors? What would the muggles think when they saw it?

He watched as several wizards apparated in, only to be shocked by the scene they were witnessing. Maybe it was a good thing it was such a late hour, or else the muggles would definitely be able to see her now. She returned to apparating all over the place again, beheading Dementors every time she did so. The wolf seemed to have no trouble following after her, tearing into Dementors as it went. Colin was unsure she'd even seen the other witches and wizards apparate in. Was that Amelia Bones? The Head of the DMLE was here?! Patroni began zinging all over the place, alerting Hera to the fact that reinforcements had arrived, and she flung out a rope to reel in one of the Dementors before they could flee.


AN: Lot's of updates this week! I close every night I work. Pretty sure my boss is punishing me for making her job harder by requesting my Birthday off, or it could be because I'm a smartass who pointed out that she was a manager and there for chose to work on her own birthday (that's on her, really lol)

But! The good news is that means more updates for you guys! I have tons of prewritten chapters I've been working on for a while, so no worries ^_^

Also: Quote from Jack Sparrow character in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End