Unexpected Ally

by WeasleyGirl12333

How do you think the Second Wizarding War would have gone if a group of people, who were thought to be dead, came out of the woodwork to aid the light in defeating Voldemort? Pretty interesting. Unexpected powers and strengths, and A LOT of battle and blood shed. Two people turn up at Malfoy Manor one night, and begin their journey of righting 300 years worth of wrongs done.

15. Chapter 15

A/N: Friendly reminder, I do not own anything Harry Potter. I only own the O/C characters and the plot of this story.

I hope you all who have been following my story are enjoying the chapters as they continue coming.

Please R&R!

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It was 6:15 p.m. when they were all finally dismissed from the meeting. The seasoned men had their refresher course of the Death Eater Manors, and they were feeling even more confident thanks to Malfoy and his inside information. The young men were not overwhelmed, they had after all, done dangerous tasks before. However, the only two to have ever snuck into a Death Eater Manor would not be able to accompany them, should they be called upon, which did weigh slightly on their minds.

Harry and Ron looked like they had just sat through Snape's Potions final, TWICE, as they finally walked out of the meeting. Harry had run his hands through his hair so many times, it looked as though Asta had shocked the shit out of him, it was standing up at all different kinds of odd angles. Ron on the other hand, had red rings under his eyes from trying to memorizing the maps he was given, until Cuyler leaned behind Hermione to clarify that everyone would be able to keep them at the end of the meeting.

Hermione on the other hand, looked absolutely peachy as she walked out of the dining room, stuffing her papers in her bag along with Harry and Ron's. She thought the meeting went rather well, for what she was there for anyway. The whole lot of them are very studios and careful strategists, which caught her by surprise given the fact that their ancestors are known for doing the exact opposite.

She couldn't help but wonder if maybe she should try and talk to Harry and Ron, see what they think about possibly letting Asta and Brynjar in on what the three of them are doing. They may be able to help the accomplish their task a lot quicker, seeing as they have no idea where to start now. She knew it would be a long shot, seeing as the three of them still really didn't know the two Viking's well enough to fully trust them. But the whole lot of them seemed competent enough, and intelligent enough, when it came to dark magic and strategy. So, really, what would it hurt to at least discuss it? However, it would have to wait until later, seeing as Harry and Ron stayed back to talk to Abraxus and Malfoy.

Asta had pulled Hermione along with her out of the house, where they were passed by a rush of boys who were running towards the wood line, which was the direction they were headed.

"What on earth are they running for?" Hermione asked as a stream of red smoke flew over their heads, with Cuyler's voice coming out of it.

"You're dead Balder!" Cuyler shouted as he flew over their heads, and disappeared into the trees. Hermione turned and looked at Asta nervously, which made Asta laugh.

"Are you opposed to flying with me carrying you, if it gets us to the fight quicker?" Asta asked with a devilish grin, knowing Hermione might not say no if she knew it meant she could get to Cuyler faster.

"Um… Can you even lift me?" Hermione asked nervously, looking from Asta's petite frame, to the wood line.

"I'll take that as a yes." Asta said flatly, grabbing Hermione around the middle and taking off like rocket towards the wood line.

Hermione barely had time to scream, before her feet hit the ground again. She opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by trees and shade. She was still digging her nails into Asta's shoulders, and clinging to her for a beat or two after they landed, which didn't go unnoticed by the guys.

"Aw, come on!" Arvid whined, gesturing towards Asta and Hermione, as Hermione detached herself from the smaller woman. "I can't even TOUCH that one! This is bullshit!" Arvid added throwing his hands in the air in frustration as the other guys laughed.

"You could, but if you do either one of those girls could kick your ass!" Colborn teased, shoving Arvid one way.

"Or if they didn't feel like doing it, one of their boyfriends can do it!" Gunnar teased, shoving Arvid the other way, before looking back to see Cuyler and Balder just finishing up the symbols for the sparring circle, and rolled his eyes. "Come on! You two ain't finished yet with that bloody circle? Hurry up before we die of old age here!" Gunnar heckled.

"Fuck off! Make yourself useful, and go grab the shields and shit from the tree stand!" Balder barked as he worked on the last section of the circle. Gunnar sighed and walked away to go fetch what they would need for sparring.

Brynjar walked his way over to where Asta and Hermione were, and wrapped his arms around Asta's waist and kissed the top of her head. Asta stiffened slightly, fearing he was going to start asking her questions about what he saw in the pensieve earlier, and was relieved when she heard him put those worries to rest.

"I'm not going to push you to talk about it right now." Brynjar said gruffly, his voice laced with pain as he spoke. "I do want to talk about it, but I won't ask it of you tonight. I just want you to know, that I am sorry you went through all that, and had I known… it wouldn't have continued a single day after I had found out."

Hermione listened to the exchange in complete confusion, she had no idea what Brynjar was talking about. Seeing as he was talking in a low bravado, she knew she had no right to ask what he was talking about either, because his words were meant just for Asta's ears. Even so, Hermione spared a glance over at the couple, and Asta stood still as stone. Her hands draped over Brynjar's, and her face was hard and impassive. It was as though he had not just said such sweet words to her at all!

"There!" Cuyler exclaimed, pacing around the circle as he double checked the symbols to make sure they were right, making Balder groan and tug at his beard.

"You do this every time, mate! They're fucking right! We spar all the time!" Balder exclaimed, looking towards the small crowd and rolling his eyes. "Gunnar! We're losing daylight out here! Come on!" Balder shouted through his hands in the direction Gunnar took off in, before turning back to Cuyler who was still looking over the symbols.

"What are the symbols for? What's the purpose of the circle?" Hermione asked as she walked forward towards the circle. Just as she was about to cross the line of symbols, to look at them from Cuyler and Balder's perspective, a hand shot out and yanked her back. Hermione turned around suddenly and saw the culprit was the darkly dressed blonde girl, Taylor.

Hermione was seeing Taylor properly for the first time, and she was frightful upon first appearance but, honestly, she was a beautiful girl. Her hair was long and layered, the longest layer reaching the small of her back. Her fringe was cut so that it met her brows, but was long enough so it could be swept to the side. She had eyeliner on her waterline, dark grey eyeshadow and thick eyeliner done on her eyelid as well; making her grey eyes glow beneath thick, long lashes. She was dressed in all black, from her shirt to her shoes, everything was black. She had on a black tank top that had three buttons undone, paired with black denim shorts with a studded belt, and she was wearing the same combat boots as Asta. She had on a black chorded necklace, and chorded bracelets along with studded silver bracelets with one light pink leather wrapped bracelet mixed in. She resembled the type of girl that gets bullied on the television shows she used to watch with her mum, but with more of a bite to her than those actors ever had.

"I wouldn't cross that line unless you're prepared to fight your way out." Taylor said grimly, looking from Hermione to the circle with an annoyed look on her face. "The symbols act as a boundary line." Taylor began to explain as she led Hermione away from the dastardly circle, and back towards where Brynjar and Asta were leaning up against a tree. "Once inside the circle, a person has no option but to wait for an opponent to step forward. Then they have to fight until one of them admits submission, or death."

Hermione gasped and turned abruptly towards Taylor, who was watching Gunnar as he emptied a duffle bag onto the ground. Swords of all different lengths, widths and metals fell to the ground, clattering off each other as they hit the ground. A couple different battle axes fell out of the duffle bag, as well as a handful of daggers of different sizes and metals.

Hermione's eyes widened and her face paled, as the different weapons fell to the ground. She couldn't believe Cuyler was actually going to be wielding one of these weapons, and be swung at and most likely struck by one of these weapons! The very thought of him getting cut by one of those blades, made her want to walk up and drag him out of that wretched circle. She didn't want to sit back and watch him get hurt, but if what Taylor said was true, she clearly couldn't get close to Cuyler at the moment.

"I felt the same way the first time I was dragged here to watch Gunnar spar, back when we were dating." Taylor said with a light, barely there chuckle to Hermione as they watched Gunnar hand Balder and Cuyler their shields, and their weapons of choice. "It's not as difficult to watch as you're thinking it is. They do this all the time, so they know their limits and if their girlfriends are watching, they make sure they fight their best. Ooooo!" Taylor exclaimed as her attention shifted to Gunnar, who was replacing the unwanted weaponry back into the duffle bag. "Gunnar! Let me see that dagger, will you? I love Damascus steel." Taylor said excitedly as she pushed off the tree towards her ex-boyfriend. Once she reached Gunnar, she took the weapon from his extended hand with a mesmerized expression, offering him a small smile before turning on her heel and heading back towards Hermione. "Oooo! A six-layer fireball pattern, with a willow handle." Taylor analyzed, turning the blade over in her hand as she leaned against the tree next to Hermione again. "Very sexy."

"Very sexy indeed!" Arvid agreed, as he slid up next to Taylor with a cheeky grin on his face. "I like a woman who knows her weapons, especially one who knows how she likes her steel." Arvid added with a wink, making Hermione roll her eyes at his crude comment.

"Hot, mysterious, and into steel. You're everything a man could want in one tight package." Arvid continued to flirt, leaning up against the tree closely to Taylor who pressed her fingertips to his chest and pushed him away from her without looking up from the blade.

"Thanks." Taylor said emotionlessly as she wiped her hand off on her shirt before touching the blade again, resulting in Arvid mimicking the actions of a fish.

"Wha… I… Gunnar! The fuck did you do? Ruin all other men for her?" Arvid called over to Gunnar as their friends laughed. Gunnar was keeping his distance from Arvid, for Arvid's sake. Before Gunnar got the chance to speak, Taylor piped up and answered on his behalf.

"Yes." She said flatly, her face impassive and unreadable as she looked Arvid straight in the eyes. Arvid had a dumbfounded look on his face as he stared back into Taylor's hard eyes. Both were pulled out of their, unintentional, staring contest by the sound of groaning.

Both of them turned to see that Gunnar had sunken to his knees with a playfully pained expression on his face. He ran his hands down his face before tugging on his beard, instantly making Taylor laugh an honest laugh, and her eyes darken at the memories of him in that position.

"What the fuck are you doing to me woman!" Gunnar groaned, looking at Taylor longingly as she closed the distance between them. Once she stopped in front of him, he had to resist the urge to reach up and grab her hips to pull them to meet his face, like he had done so many times.

As though reading his mind, Taylor reached a hand down and stroked down the side of his face. He leaned into her touch longingly, having missed her touch, with a passion. Once she finished the trail down the side of his face, and reached his chin, she pulled his face up to look her in the eye and said, "I always loved it when you would get on your knees for me."

Before he could move his hands to hold her in place, she released her hold of him and stepped out of his reach. Gunnar groaned in frustration, though he couldn't control the smirk that spread across his lips, as he slammed his fists onto the ground before lowering his head onto them. He recognized this game of "Cat and Mouse" she was playing all too well. He wasn't sure what she was playing at, but he knew one thing for sure…. He HATED being the fucking Mouse!

"Bloody Vixen!" Gunnar shouted from his crouched position, as his friends all laughed at him. He saw the lust filled look in her eyes as she uttered that blue-ball tease. He saw her smirk and wink at him before moving out of his bloody grasp, knowing full well what she was doing to him. He hadn't been with a girl since her and she just awoke the beast in him, and walked away like the vixen she is. He couldn't help but grin as he thought of the subtle invitation she was extending, even though it was currently causing an ache in his balls.

"Taylor, you're so cruel." Asta laughed, shoving her cousin playfully before earning looks and coughs from most of the others gathered. "What? Oh don't give me that shit! I didn't intentionally torment him!" Asta shouted, waving them all off as she walked back into Brynjar's arms. "I believe we are here for other reasons."

All eyes turned to the center of the clearing, where Balder and Cuyler were currently going after one another. Balder had a slight reach advantage over Cuyler, what with being an inch and a half taller than him, but Cuyler was quicker.

Hermione watched as Cuyler expertly blocked a slash made at his broad chest, and retaliated with a slash of his own aimed at Balder's arm, landing it successfully. She couldn't suppress the small smile that crept across her lips at the fact that Cuyler just intentionally cut one of his friends, but she was proud that he avoided getting cut himself. She was startled when she heard Asta, Brynjar and a few others cheer and jeer at the action going on.

"Yeah Cuyler!" Asta cheered, climbing her way up into the tree she had been leaning on, before settling herself on a thick branch no more than five feet above them all. "Take his shield out first!" She called from her perch, looking as though she was truly at home in this environment.

"Come on Balder!" Colborn shouted, next to Brynjar, who was laughing at something else entirely. "I bet Eindride ten Galleons on you!"

Cuyler seemed to have taken Asta's advice, and hacked away at Balder's shield, making the wood splinter more and more until significant pieces broke off. Balder flashed Asta an angry, yet playful, look before abandoning his shield completely, earning cheers from Asta and a few others, including Hermione, which momentarily distracted Cuyler. Balder snuck in a slash down the length of Cuyler's chest, causing a bought of cheers from a few members of the crowd, a hiss from Cuyler and a gasp from Hermione.

Cuyler drew back and held his shield in front of where he believed Balder's next strike was coming from, Cuyler's right, but he was wrong, Balder slashed down at Cuyler from the left cutting his side fairly deep.

"Fuck!" Cuyler shouted, stumbling backwards a few steps as he clutched the hand that held his shield to his side, muttering a quick spell to staunch the bleeding. He spared a glance over at Hermione and saw that she was on the brink of tears. "No tears, please, no tears." Cuyler muttered under his breath, spinning his sword between his fingers, before abandoning it completely.

Cuyler quickly abandoned his sword, drew back his arm with the shield attached to it, and swung it towards Balder's dominant hand, knocking the sword both, out of his grasp and out of the circle. Then, Cuyler dropped his shield to the ground before kicking it out of reach, signaling that the spar was on.

Balder kicked his leg out and swept at Cuyler's legs, trying to take him out at the feet, but that was something Cuyler was ready for. Cuyler jumped over Blader's leg and used his left foot to snatch Balder's free-floating leg, and sent Balder flying flat on his back. Cuyler made to pounce on Balder, who was ready for him, and caught him with his feet, throwing Cuyler off onto the ground which gave him time to get to his feet.

Balder charged Cuyler as he saw the man jump back up to his feet, connecting with the slightly smaller man in his torso, and slamming him into the ground.

Hermione cried out slightly, before covering her mouth with her hands to keep the noise in, not wanting to distract Cuyler anymore than she already had. She looked around at the ready of the people watching, and noticed they all were looking at her until they saw her catch them. Then they all turned their attention back to the fight, shouting suggestions at the pair battling each other, except for Taylor, who came over to talk to her.

"The more you gasp and cry, the more distracted he's going to become and the easier he'll get hurt." Taylor said flatly as she pulled Cuyler's shirt off of her head, that had somehow come off. Taylor made a face at the bloodied shirt and handed it to Hermione, who took it from her quickly, before looking over towards where the two men were still brawling about. Balder still had his shirt on, but it was torn in a few spots suggesting one good tear and that would be the end of his shirt. But, Cuyler was shirtless and bloodied from the gashes from Balder's sword made on his chest and side. "Honestly, if you act like you're turned on by watching him be all "macho" he'll DO more damage than he'll take, trust me." Taylor added, before walking around the circle and crouched down before calling into Cuyler.

"Cuyler you better kick his fucking ass. Your girlfriends panting over you right now, because that fucker severed your shirt, and threw it on my fucking head by the way! Now she's waiting for you out here, and there's an Arvid loose on this side of the line…. So, hurry up." Taylor teased before she stood up and made her way back to where Hermione was standing, her face red and hidden behind her hand.

The whole group, except for the two fighting and Hermione, were laughing at Taylor's words and how well they seemed to work. Cuyler was now dominating the fight. Taylor smirked as she nudged Hermione's arm with her elbow, earning her a hiss.

"Oh, come off it. Look! Your boyfriends winning." Taylor said gruffly, rolling her eyes as she pulled Hermione's hand away from her face, forcing her to look at Cuyler's progress. Balder was barely able to hold himself up on his feet to hold his own at this point. Cuyler had him by the throat and had his right hand drawn back, and swung. His fist connected with Balder's jaw and that was the end of the fight. Cuyler had won! "I told you. If you act like them being macho turns you on, they get hurt less."

Cuyler screwed up the symbols that he and Balder etched into the ground, so the others could come into the circle to tend to Balder without getting stuck. They all took their turns congratulating Cuyler on his victory while Asta and Colborn tended to Balder.

Cuyler came out of the circle and walked straight towards Hermione, who looked as though she wanted to hug him, hex him, kiss him and scold him all at once, and he couldn't help but chuckle. He was about to ease her worries about what Taylor said, when Brynjar came over and started talking first.

"Hey, Arvid said he called winner, I didn't think you would be up for it, but figured I'd ask." Brynjar said with a smirk, as he looked between the pair, knowing all too well Cuyler wouldn't spar again while he had the option to spend time with Hermione.

"No, Balder was the only fight for me today. Tell Arvid he can spar with you if he wants." Cuyler laughed, hearing Hermione let out a shaky breath, he was assuming was in relief. He laughed even more when he saw a wicked grin spread across Brynjar's face at his suggestion.

Brynjar spun on his heel and turned back towards their group of friends and called for Arvid.

"Hey Arvid! He said he's not sparring again today, but to put your big boy muscles on because you're sparring with me!" Brynjar shouted as he tossed a shied to Arvid and threw the bag of weapons at Arvid's feet, after having picked one for himself.

"Fuck you mate! I ain't using weaponry sparring with you again!" Arvid shouted tossing the bag away from him, making everyone laugh.

"Don't be such a bitch Arvid! Asta spars against me using swords and daggers, and I go just as hard against her as I do with all you dickheads!" Brynjar teased, tossing the bag back towards Arvid.

"So many jokes… But I want to continue breathing…" Arvid said dramatically, pulling at his hair as he looked between Brynjar and Asta, while everyone laughed.

Hermione looked from the others to Cuyler with a grin, still clutching his shirt to her chest. Noticing for the first time in a while that he was still shirtless, and wounded.

"Oh! Your chest! And your side!" Hermione exclaimed, tugging Cuyler towards the side of the tree she had been leaning against, out of view of the others. "I'm sorry I distracted you! I should have just stayed back at Asta's house and waited for Harry and Ron. Look what happened to you, and your lip is split open again, your eye is cut and bruised, and-"

"Hermione, Love, I do this all the time." Cuyler said sweetly, pressing his thumb over her lips gently so she would stop making herself feel guilty. "I've been hurt way worse, believe me, and in way lower places than my chest." Cuyler continued, raising his brows hoping she would take the hint, which of course she did, and naturally she blushed when she did. "Taylor was right, it easier to concentrate on what I'm doing when I think you're… impressed, by my strength. I know how terrible that sounds, but it's true and it works." Cuyler explained, trying to make it not sound so terrible, even though he knew it was awful.

Hermione took in all he said, despite the fact that his hand was still on her lips and as weird as it sounded, it was sending tingles down her spine. She could understand why it would be easier to focus on continuing to impress someone rather than worry about if the person watching was alright. She was caught off guard by what he said next, she honestly hadn't expected it at all.

"Would you be willing to come with me to my house, so I can get cleaned up?" Cuyler asked, looking down at Hermione with big, wet puppy-dog eyes. Hermione found herself unable to say no to him and those big sad eyes of his.

"Sure." Hermione said with a small smile.

"Thank you. I'll just let Asta know I'm bringing you to my house, so she will know where to find you later." Cuyler said, bringing on of Hermione's hands up to his lips and placing a kiss on her fingers, before turning and grunting in pain.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, gripping Cuyler's arm as best she could with her small hand, and pulling him back to his previous spot. "Don't move." She commanded, as she started rooting around in her bag until she finally removed the bottle she was looking for. Cuyler let her go about her business and watched as she healed his wounds. He was intrigued by the methods she used, and made a mental note to ask her later what methods she used. "There, how is that?" She asked, watching him move his torso around slightly to see how much he could move before he felt any pain.

"Better, thank you." Cuyler replied as he took his shirt from Hermione and pulled it on over his head. "I can take care of my face when we get to my house in a few minutes. I'm going to go talk to Asta now, be right back ok?"

"Ok." Hermione replied sheepishly as she watched him strut away towards where Asta was watching Brynjar and Arvid go at each other, without weapons. Hermione smirked at the observation. Arvid must have flat out refused to take part if Brynjar picked up a weapon.

She couldn't really blame Arvid though, the more she watched the two of them go at each other, the more she saw why he would refuse to use weapons with Brynjar. None of the other boys were small by any means, but Brynjar had them all beat no contest. Not to mention his in-human amount of strength he had to go with his size. Arvid was just two inches shorter than Brynjar and his build was smaller by about the same amount. He was holding his own really well against Brynjar, who looked to be in his element.

Both men were bruised and bloodied, Arvid more so than Brynjar, but Arvid still landed some pretty nasty shots himself. Hermione saw Cuyler making his way back towards her just as Brynjar charged towards Arvid, full speed, and her hands flew to cover her mouth. Cuyler saw her cover her mouth and her eyes go wide and spun around to see Brynjar charging Arvid, and couldn't help but stop and watch.

Arvid ran towards Brynjar, and when he was about five feet away from Brynjar, he slid to the ground taking Brynjar out at his feet. Brynjar hit the ground, hard, whacking the entire front left side of his face of the hard ground with a loud 'CRACK'. Arvid jumped from the ground onto Brynjar's back, and wrenched the larger man's arm up behind his back in a painful looking twist, in an attempt to make him submit. Arvid had his knee stuck in the middle of Brynjar's back, and Brynjar's left arm twisted up behind his back in a painful looking angle, yet the man made no noise or movement of any kind.

Hermione rushed up to Cuyler and tapped him on the shoulder, gesturing for him to lean down so she could whisper something to him. When Cuyler straightened back up, he had a shit-eating grin on his face as he made his way over to where Arvid was still holding Brynjar in position on the ground. Cuyler walked over to the side of Brynjar's face that was not in their view, and saw that Hermione was indeed right. Cuyler grabbed Arvid's hand and pulled the man off Brynjar and declared Arvid the winner by KNOCKOUT!

"Arvid is the winner by KNOCKOUT!" Cuyler exclaimed, barely able to contain his laughter at the reality of what he was saying.

Arvid looked as though he was going to pass out. Asta was one of the first people to rush forward to verify that Cuyler was telling the truth. Though, the fact that Brynjar didn't immediately pop up and punch Cuyler in the mouth and call him a liar, should have been proof enough.

"Holy fucking shit mate! How does it feel to be the first one of us MEN to beat him?" Cuyler exclaimed, patting Arvid on the back as the rest of their friends circled around Arvid to congratulate him, except Asta and Taylor, who were both currently trying to wake him up.

Arvid looked as though he had just had a brush with Death, and was expecting Death to come back any second now and finish him off. If he didn't have a cracked rib from Brynjar's massive meat paws, and his adrenaline hadn't worn off; he would have touch the Halls of Valhalla once he heard Brynjar grunt after being successfully awoken by Asta and Taylor.

"Bloody fucking hell…" Arvid said nervously, as he looked through the crowd and saw Brynjar getting his jaw reset by Asta. "He's going to KILL me."

"I thought that was the point of… well, that…" Hermione said flatly, scrunching her nose as she waved her hand in the direction of where Arvid's victory took place. "Why are you not happy about your victory?" Hermione asked sadly.

"Because B is a sore loser, throws a fit and everything, and this isn't even like Arvid made him submit. Arvid knocked him the fuck out!" Gunnar said with a cheeky grin he couldn't suppress. "He's gonna fly off the handle!"

Everyone instantly went silent as they heard movement from where Brynjar was behind them. They turned and saw him standing up, the left side of his face, neck and chest completely covered in blood. He walked over to Arvid, who will never be able to deny the fact that he was shaking like a leaf, and stuck his hand out for Arvid to take. Arvid looked down at Brynjar's hand, then back up and the man himself before finding his voice.

"Oh no, no, no, no!" Arvid said with a nervous shaky laugh as he backed away from Brynjar's hand. "You think I'm falling for that? You think I don't know what will happen? I'll grab your hand to shake, next thing you know, I'm being flung into a tree! Nice try!" Arvid said nervously, keeping his distance from Brynjar, who was laughing at him as Asta poked her head between his arm and his side, shaking her head.

"Arvid come here." Asta demanded, gesturing for him to come towards her and Brynjar with her head, but Arvid shook his head and refused to move. Asta rolled her eyes, and prepared to move until she saw Taylor shaking her head from around the tree Arvid had his back against. She watched as Taylor cast a cushioning charm, to mask the sound of her footsteps, as she snuck up behind Arvid.

Once Taylor was a foot away from him, she leaned her head in a little closer towards his and said, "Don't be a pussy." Arvid cleared the distance between Brynjar and himself, unknowingly, in three steps, before turning around to find Taylor laughing at him with the rest of his friends. Even Hermione was giggling at him, though she was trying to hide it, unlike all the others.

When Arvid turned back around he saw Brynjar standing right in front of him, and he gulped.

"Alright, just get it over with al-" Arvid began, before getting cut off by Brynjar.

"What are you on about mate? I'm not going to hurt you. Ever since Asta kicked my ass, I figured it was only a matter of time." Brynjar shrugged as he pulled Asta into his side tighter. "I just got one question." Brynjar stated, giving Arvid a serious look before pointing dramatically down at his shins. "Why do you all ALWAYS GO FOR MY FUCKING LEGS!? WHY?" Brynjar shouted.

All his friends laughed at his dramatic act, even Arvid before he clutched his side in pain again, remembering his cracked rib.

"Hey, Asta, can you fix me up now? Your boyfriend's meat paws cracked my fucking rib…. Again!" Arvid teased as he leaned up against a tree, lifting his shirt while Asta fished around in her pouch for her supplies.

"Yeah, we may always go for your legs mate, but you ALWAYS go for the ribs." Cuyler laughed as Hermione tugged on his hand, reminding him of his previous plans. "Oh right! Hey, Asta! This time we are leaving, alright?" Cuyler called over to Asta who had already started wrapping Arvid's ribcage, and was scolding Arvid while doing so.

"Keep making those cheeky comments Arvid, you may actually die today-wha- yes! Okay! I will let them know!" Asta called back as she slapped Arvid in the head for another cheeky comment. "You do it to yourself you moron. I'm not grinding on you, you twit! Oh! Cuyler! My father is ordering us to stay the night here, so we are having a bonfire out here tonight! 10 p.m.!"

"Alright, sounds good." Cuyler called back as he led Hermione towards the edge of the wood line, back towards the lot. "They are going to bloody embarrass the micky out of me tonight, I just know they are." Cuyler grumbled as they made their way out of the thicket of trees, and turned right, walking down the dirt road Astrid brought her and Malfoy down to get the Apothecary.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with a smirk, looking up at his battered and bruised face.

"The guys are ruthless when one of us brings a girl around, it's just the way we are." Cuyler said mindlessly as he gestured for her to make a left. "I should have taken it easier on Gunnar when he brought Taylor round us… damnit..."

Cuyler groaned once more before he placed his hand on the small of Hermione's back, guiding her towards beautiful single story wooden ranch style house.

Cuyler opened the front door and held it open for Hermione to enter. "Mum? Mum, are you home?" Cuyler called over Hermione, placing his hands on her waist briefly, as he made his way passed her to check and see if his mother was home. When it didn't appear that she was he made his way back to Hermione, who was standing in the same spot he left her in, smiling down at a naked baby photograph of him waddling around the sitting room. "Damnit! I forgot about that!" Cuyler exclaimed as he slammed the frame down on the table, hiding the photo from view, making Hermione laugh.

"Hey! I had just gotten to that photo!" Hermione laughed as she tried to pries Cuyler's hand off the frame so she could see the picture… again.

"I'm astounded that Hermione Granger actually fibs to people!" Cuyler teased in mock surprise, wrapping one strong arm around her waist and hoisting her up and away from the photo, and towards the sofa. Laughing as she tried to free herself from his grasp. "I saw you smirking down at the embarrassing photo of me, Beautiful. Admit it, and I'll let you go." Cuyler bargained, knowing she was stubborn, and hoping she would refuse so he could hold her close to him a little longer.

"I… argh! Do not know… urgh! What you're talking about… Ugh!" Hermione panted, breaking for a moment to catch her breath so she could make another attempt to break for it. When suddenly, Asta's words came back to her, hitting her like a rogue bludger, 'You know you're a witch right'. She began to struggle in Cuyler's arm once more, making him chuckle and her smirk, satisfied that he was doing exactly what she wanted him to do. While he was distracted by her movements, she quickly whispered, "accio", while picturing the photograph in her mind, and it quickly flew into her grasp.

Cuyler watched as the photograph flew from the table by the front door, into Hermione's hands, with wide eyes. His laughter stopped for a moment, until he heard hers start up, then he spun her around in his arm and tried to snatch the photo away from her. He couldn't help but start laughing when he saw her smiling at him. When he reached for the photo she arched her back over his arm so her hands, and the photograph were even further out of reach. When she arched her back over his arm, she pushed her chest up and out unintentionally, and Cuyler had to bite his lip to hold back the groan of delight from the display.

"Awww you were so cute when you were that… little." Hermione said suggestively as another fit of giggles erupted from her, while Cuyler made another attempt to retrieve the photo. Cuyler gave her a husky look and laughed slightly, shaking his head before reaching under her and snatching the photo away from her. "Wha-Hey!" She whined as she pulled herself back upright in his arm, silently admiring his strength and control to be able to hold her in that position for as long as he did without dropping her.

Cuyler, reluctantly, released his hold on Hermione and walked back over to the table to put the photograph back in place. But not before he conjured small curtains, like the ones Walburga Black had on her portrait, to hang around the frame of the photo to cover the embarrassing scene.

"Big bully… And why did you give me that look and shake your head before you snatched away the photo like a BULLY?" Hermione asked, putting a heavy emphasis on the last word.

"It was an Arvid-like reply to your 'when you were that little' comment, that I would rather not say, for fear of making you uncomfortable." Cuyler laughed, as he removed his shoes and placed them under the table, before standing back upright to see Hermione staring at him defiantly.

"Why do you assume what you were going to say would make me uncomfortable?" Hermione said defiantly, with her hands on her hips as she gave him, what she hoped was, a hard look even though she knew she was smirking which was ruining the effect. Cuyler blatantly looked her over once, before making his way over to her from around the sofa.

"I assumed it would make you uncomfortable because you blush so easily and so much, which I find absolutely adorable by the way." Cuyler began, pausing to kiss one of Hermione's hands to reassure her that he wasn't making fun of her. "That I assumed, if I said what I had been thinking after you made that cheeky comment, I would have a mark on may face exactly this size." Cuyler paused while he brought Hermione's hand up to his left cheek and placed it against the side of his face gingerly, since he still has not heeled his face. "I will tell you if you want to know, I just don't want a dainty read hand print on my cheek after I do." Cuyler laughed, letting go of Hermione's hand as he searched her face for an answer.

Hermione was always the prude, no matter where she went, even now, Cuyler thought she was a prude. But only because she was blushing, not for any of the other reasons the boys at Hogwarts expressed, which she supposed was good. She really was curious as to what he would have said if he hadn't felt that he needed to censor himself around her, then again, there was that old muggle saying. Ah, to hell with it! She wanted to know!

"I think you'll be safe." Hermione teased, rolling her eyes, trying to convince him that she wasn't as innocent as she seemed to be, knowing she was so transparent. Cuyler smirked at her attempt, and decided to play her game and up the ante.

He moved forward and to the side so he was standing on her right, he looked over and down at her, to find her looking up at him with wide doe-like eyes, and her smirked at her. He placed his right hand on her stomach and gently, yet swiftly, spun her into him, so her back was pressed up against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and let his hands rest on her stomach, noting that her breathing had changed drastically within the last thirty seconds. He couldn't help the sharp intake of breath when her backside pressed against his groin, her body melded perfectly against his.

Cuyler leant down towards her ear and said, "I was going to tell you, 'it's not that… little anymore… and that I'd be more than happy to prove it to you if need be'." He heard Hermione's breath hitch and he felt her body tremble slightly against his, and he tightened his arms around her waist. He couldn't help but smirk, knowing that he made her react this way was like, the ultimate ego boost. However, part of him still felt wrong for saying and doing all of this because of their situation not being clearly defined yet, so he pulled his head back and released his hold on her, which was met with a whimper from Hermione. The sound went straight to his groin, and Cuyler instantly lowered himself to the couch in an effort to conceal himself. "Bu-ahem, but," Cuyler's voice cracked from sudden jolt of arousal, he cleared his throat to attempt to cover it up, "like I said I didn't want to upset you. Nor would I actually feel ok about outright saying that to you, when I haven't even properly asked you to be my girlfriend, or even actually kissed you yet. That is why when I think of these replies, I keep them to myself."

Hermione couldn't believe how right he was about how much she blushed. Just at the mention of properly asking her to be his girlfriend and kissing her, she could feel her cheeks heating up. But before she could get a word out, the front door opened and a lithe brown-haired woman entered the house. She turned and looked at the both of them, her eyes were a dark brown color, unlike Cuyler's which were a light honey color, but they were gentle and kind like his nonetheless. Which led Hermione to believe that this woman was Cuyler's mother. She was wearing a floral lavender colored dress with flats to match, and her hair tied back in a manner that resembled Belle from the muggle fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast'.

"Oh, Cuyler! You are home, and you have a friend with you." His mother said in that sweetly-stern voice mother's use in front of company.

"Sorry mum, I didn't know you were going to be out when I brought her here. I was hoping to introduce you two, and maybe get you to repair my shirt for me while I take a quick shower? Please?" Cuyler pleaded, using his eyes to his advantage as he removed his shirt and put it in his mother's hands, before she even answered, waiting for her to say yes as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

His mother looked up at him with an exasperated smile on her face, knowing this game all too well. It was those damn eyes. Her Carwyn could win her over just as easily with those damn moon-calf eyes.

"Yes, alright." His mother said flatly, gesturing for him to introduce her to his friend, even though she already knew who she was, she just was eager to get to speak to the girl who has won over her son so completely.

"Right, mum, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is my mum, Ginevra Svendsen. I'm going to leave you ladies to it, I'll be back in a few minutes, and mum?" Cuyler called before he left his mother alone in the sitting room with Hermione, unsupervised, waiting for her to look at him. "PLEASE don't bring out the baby books!" He begged pressing his hands together in front of him like he was begging for his life.

His mother smirked at his dramatic-ness before nodding her head towards the curtained off photograph. "Remove the curtains on my favorite photograph and I'll think about it." She bargained as she led Hermione, who was giggling behind her hand, into the kitchen.

"I'll remove them when Hermione and her friends leave with Asta and B. She don't need to be seeing my three year old wanker…. not the right age in that photo to want to see it at anyway…" Cuyler trailed off towards the end, earning him a smack upside the head from his mother, before he took off down the hall.

"Cuyler Ake Svendsen, you have been spending too much time with Talbot and Arvid! That was the crudest thing… sometimes I wonder where I got that boy from." Ginevra said with a smirk as she shook her head while examining her son's shirt. "For the love of Odin… They're like animals… So dear, would you like to talk and watch me fix his shirt; or would you like to talk and look at his baby photo's?" Ginevra offered with a cheeky grin at Hermione, who met the offer with a laugh as a drawn-out whine from Cuyler came from down the hall.

"Muuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm!" Cuyler whined from the other side of the house, making both women laugh as Ginevra summoned the baby books.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"What do you mean my victory over Brynjar wasn't a real victory!" Asta shouted at Balder who looked as though he just caught his parents in the act.

"Uhhhhhh, is that what I said? I didn't mean that I meant, uhhh, um…. I… Anyone? Someone, help me out here!" Balder hissed over at the other guys who were laughing at him and shrugging their shoulders.

"Not a fucking chance in hell mate. I wanna see how you get yourself out of this one." Gunnar laughed.

"You dug your own hole mate." Colborn said with a chuckle.

"Sorry mate, I'm not getting involved." Eindride said with a wicked grin.

"Don't look to me for help sweetheart, I LOVE chaos." Taylor said with a wicked grin from her perch on a branch in a tree above them.

Balder groaned in frustration as he watched Asta move closer to him, waiting for him to explain himself. When he heard the crunching of leaves and saw Arvid making his way up the path towards them. Balder internally cheered that someone who could help him!

Just then, Arvid came into view of the clearing with a smirk on his face, which meant he either saw something he shouldn't have, or done something he shouldn't have.

"So I'm pretty sure Cuyler's going to punch me in the face later, I kind of majorly cock blocked him on accident." Arvid said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Arvid! Was Asta's win over Brynjar a real victory or was it because Brynjar got distracted?" Balder asked him quickly, hoping Arvid would be too distracted to look around to see that Asta was standing right there.

"Did Cuyler hit you a little too hard and fuck up your memory? She won 'cause he got distra-" Arvid began then stopped once he saw Asta standing in front of Balder looking furious. Arvid narrowed his eyes and turned them on Balder, "You fucker! You set me up!"

"Set you up for what?" Brynjar asked as he popped up behind Asta, making Arvid jump.

"Great. Now he actually is going to fucking kill me, and this time it's not even my fucking fault, BALDER! You fucking Pussy!" Arvid shouted at balder before roughly shoving him.

"You are what you eat." Balder replied with a cocky grin that didn't last long after Asta got her shot in at him.

"So, you're Alvilda?" Asta asked cockily, stepping in front of Arvid, who, along with everyone else gathered there, was dying of laughter. Balder's face turned beet red, and he looked like he was ready to explode, but Asta cut him off before he could. "I like Alvilda, she's a lovely girl. I'll stop tearing the micky out of you about her, when you just own up to the fact that you have feelings for her." Asta demanded, stunning everyone gathered into silence as they looked at Balder as though they had just found out he had a terminal illness.

"You all think I'm blind to it, but I'm really not, well not… all the time. He's been dating her for a year now, they are keeping it secret because you all are a bunch of assholes. She's been willing to play along and keep it secret because she's got no self-esteem, like me, and he makes her feel happy." Asta paused keeping her eyes locked on Balder, who looked like he was prepared to stun the first person who said one thing he didn't like. "I'll stop tearing the micky out of you, but only if you stop hiding her from everyone." Asta bargained, extending her hand toward Balder, who took it and pulled her into a hug, where he got a warning. "I do not want to hear one word about the mushiness that just took place. If I do I will castrate you, understood?" Asta said firmly, yet with a smile Balder could not see, yet he knew was there.

"Understood." Balder laughed as Asta pulled away from him and faced their friends.

"And you all WILL behave and nice to her when Balder brings her around, or I will drag you to the Shed once he is done with you." Asta warned in a dangerous tone, eyeing each and every one of them with a petrifying look. "Do you understand?" She added, watching as they all shook their heads in understanding. "Good."

"Thank you." Balder gave Asta another squeeze as he looked down at her fondly. "Oh, hey B! Asta knows she didn't technically kick your ass three years ago, she knows you got distracted, but she doesn't know why. I'm going to see my girlfriend, have fun with that issue." Balder added with an evil grin as he jogged out of Brynjar's reach before disapparating away.

Brynjar looked from where Balder had been, to where Asta was and saw she was looking at him with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Brynjar groaned as he ran his hands down his face before tugging on his beard.

"Well?" Asta growled, earning chuckles from the guys that were standing around watching this all unfold.

"Are you gonna tell her or do you want me to?" Taylor asked bluntly, stepping up next to Brynjar, looking up at him with cold unfeeling eyes. Taylor is one girl he truly will never comprehend. One day she is fine, she'll smile to and hug certain people and for the next, what seems like, twelve weeks she is dark, scary, and depressing. He will never understand how Gunnar can get aroused when she seems like she has no pulse, she must be completely different when they are alone.

"I'd speak quickly mate, you know how blun-" Gunnar began, but it was too late, Taylor had started explaining on Brynjar's behalf.

"The day you sparred with Big Boy over here," Taylor started, throwing a wink at Brynjar, adding to the color that was already spreading over his face, "and 'won', was the day after I dragged you out to the shoppes you remember?" Taylor asked while walking towards Asta, knowing none of them would dare go near her right now.

"Yeah, so?" Asta said annoyedly.

"You remember that store I dragged you into? The one where the sales bloke kept asking if you needed to be measured?" Taylor asked, looking at Asta whose cheeks suddenly were a flush with color as she snapped her head towards Brynjar, who had his head leaned back against a tree and was just waiting for it to happen. "Well B got all horny and distracted when he saw your thong strap pop out from under you shorts."

"Hey! In my defense! That had never happened before, and I didn't know she wore thongs! AND she hadn't mastered controlling her Veela trait, so all that mixed in with a fourteen-year-old bloke…. Let's all be grateful the only thing that happened was that I got distracted, eh?" Brynjar exclaimed waving his hands in front of him like a mental person, earning him laughs from his friends, even Asta couldn't help but laugh a little.

"I want a rematch though, because now you have absolutely no reason to get distracted by anything you may see, seeing as you've seeing everything." Asta said seductively as she made her way over to Brynjar, who was watching her with dark eyes.

"Alright. You'll get your rematch, though I can't promise there won't be any groping." Brynjar replied cheekily as he pulled Asta into his arms, pressing her back against his chest, kissing the side of her head.

"Asta, your father's coming." Gunnar warned, quietly and in just enough time for Asta and Brynjar to break apart.

The group of young Vikings watched as Asta's father led Harry, Ron and Malfoy up to the clearing where they all were gathered, clearly having finished with their meeting. Abraxus, Harry and Ron were chatting lightly amongst each other, while Malfoy hung back a few feet and walked by himself with his hands in his pockets.

Once the four of them reached the awaiting group, Harry and Ron were stunned to see that the group had started to lower themselves and bow their heads, until Abraxus called them off.

"None of that nonsense." Abraxus demanded, waving his hand dismissively as they all rose to their feet. "Where is Miss Granger?" Abraxus asked sternly, before surveying the group around him and cocking his brow before asking, "Where is Cuyler?"

Asta detected a hint of amusement in her father's voice, but kept that observation to herself. "After Cuyler and Balder's spar, Cuyler took Hermione to meet his mother. Well, they wound up staying until after Brynjar and Arvid's spar as well." Asta said with an uncontrollable grin as she looked up at Brynjar, who crossed his arms and shook his head at her with an annoyed smirk, until Arvid stole their attention.

"Why you got to rile him up? I've been good since I got back, have I not?" Arvid said nervously, though he tried not to show it in front of the King, who was watching the exchange in slight confusion, and he was not alone.

"You have, but did you expect your VICTORY to remain a secret Arvid." Asta stated loudly with a cheeky grin as she watched her father look from Brynjar to Arvid in amused surprise. Asta looked between Harry, Ron and Malfoy, who all looked like their jaws were about to come unhinged at the fact that any of them were able to take down Brynjar.

"They are actually willing to… to go 'round with you?" Ron asked. Completely stupefied by the fact that any of them were brave enough to even fight him.

"Course we are! He's a behemoth! He don't tire quickly, which makes him a good sparring partner." Eindride explained, not looking wholly convincing.

"…even if it feels like getting batted around by a fucking hell-hound…" Gunnar mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck attempting to look nonchalant.

"How'd he get you?" Abraxus asked with interest as he looked over at Arvid who was watching Brynjar intently. Clearly worried that Brynjar was going to pounce on him, in retaliation, without warning.

"Fucking took me out at the legs! They always, ALWAYS, go for my fucking legs!" Brynjar exclaimed. Gesturing down at his legs dramatically, making Abraxus chuckle lightly. "I fell to the ground, since he swept at my legs last minute and I wasn't expecting it, I didn't put my hands out to catch myself in time, and cracked the whole left front of my face on the ground. Knocked me right out cold." Brynjar added as he looked towards Arvid, who bent his knees and braced himself slightly. "Mate! I already told you! I'm not going to fucking come after you over it! Relax!" Brynjar shouted at Arvid as everyone laughed at his jumpiness.

A moment later, Hermione and Cuyler could be seen making their way up the path towards them. Hermione was laughing lightly and smiling triumphantly, while Cuyler looked down at her with a lazy smile, though he tried to look annoyed he couldn't manage it. Hermione caught sight of Harry and Ron and sped up her pace as she made a beeline towards them, leaving Cuyler to trail behind her.

Abraxus nodded his head towards Cuyler, who returned the gesture before Colborn and Gunnar pulled him with them to start gathering wood for the bonfire. Abraxus then turned his attention back to Brynjar who was laughing at Arvid, who still was not buying Brynjar's words and was watching him intently.

"For me, the Seasoned Men always went for my ribs." Abraxus said with a smirk as he looked at Brynjar, who returned the King's look. "It's good to see their sons have a different technique. I'll leave you all to it then." Abraxus added, turning to his daughter. "I have already set up our guests with rooms and I am going to be giving Mr Potter and Mr Weasley a tour of the village tomorrow, before you return back to wherever it is you all are staying after lunch." Abraxus stated.

"Perfect." Asta replied as she turned her attention to Harry, Ron and Hermione. "And you three know that if you don't want to be here at the bonfire, you don't have to be, right? One of us will bring you back to my house whenever you are ready to go back." Asta stated reassuringly, making sure to look between the three of them so they knew she was sincere. They all nodded and smiled at her words, before they begun talking amongst each other.

"Alright, you all behave yourselves and keep the fiend fire to a minimum, please. I would appreciate it if, for once, you would help keep the mothers OFF my back." Abraxus said with a hint of amusement to his voice as he looked at his daughter, who looked at him incredulously.

"Why you looking at me when you say that!" Asta demanded, as she pointed up in the tree above them at Taylor, who was barely visible in the dark atmosphere, smirking down at them like the Cheshire cat. "SHE starts it! Astrid would have my hide if I started throwing fire at him! Fireproof or not!" Asta exclaimed turning to look at Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were watching the exchange with wide eyes. "I get bloody blamed for everything…." Asta mumbled as she walked off towards the guys, who now had a teepee built for the bonfire.

Asta heard her father chuckle as he made his way towards the path back towards the lot.

Taylor dropped drown from where she was in the tree, startling Malfoy who was sitting on the side facing away from everyone.

"You're stealing my bit, you know." Taylor said in a dull tone as she settled down next to him, resting her head against the tree. "Sulking away from everyone else is kind of my thing, along with being a right bitch…. So, what's got you feeling like shit?" Taylor asked bluntly, turning her head to look at him.

Malfoy smirked at her blunt word choice. "I'm realizing quickly that I've made nothing but wrong decisions for six years, and now every deity known to man is making me suffer in one of the cruelest ways imaginable." Malfoy said softly, not really wanting to be overheard being weak by one of the many men gathered on the other side of the tree.

Taylor turned her head back to stare at the line of trees ahead of them once again. Taking in his words, not fully understanding what he was talking about, but she knew of his family and of the stories behind the name 'Malfoy', so she could imagine. She tried to look into his mind, but his occlumency skills were strong. But naturally they would have to be when you had a homicidal maniac living in your house.

Taylor turned her head back towards Malfoy and was about to ask him if he wanted to discuss it further, when Gunnar poked his head around the tree looking for Taylor, finding her looking cozy with the small blonde man. Gunnar cleared his throat, making Malfoy jump and slide himself away from Taylor, as Gunnar crossed his arms and stared down Malfoy.

Taylor pushed herself off the ground, rolling her eyes at Gunnar as she offered her hand to Malfoy, to help him up. Malfoy looked at her with wide eyes, as though she was insane, earning him an eyeroll as well.

"He's not going to hurt you, for the love of Hel!" Taylor exclaimed rolling her eyes, shaking her extended hand so he would take it. "Besides, he dumped me. He's got no reason to act all possessive over me, so come on." Taylor added, pulling Malfoy to his feet. Altogether ignoring the hurt look she was getting from Gunnar at her words.

"Taylor, I-" Gunnar began, but was left in the dark as she walked away with Malfoy in tow, who turned back to look at him with a guilty look on his face as he slumped against the tree in defeat while he watched her walk away with Malfoy in tow.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly as the group laughed and exchanged stories, briefly and gratefully forgetting the struggles they were facing at the moment.

The group of Viking's hailed Harry as the 'Basilisk Slayer', after his regaling of his fight against Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets when he was twelve. Brynjar noticed Malfoy stiffen slightly when Harry talked about his conquests in the Chamber of Secrets, making a mental note to ask him about it later.

Asta, herself, was astounded by his never-ending modesty as he would retell stories of saving the Wizarding world, or the lives of his friends. He would never take all the credit, he always made it a point to point out that Ron or Hermione or his other friends were there to help him, claiming otherwise he never would have succeeded. She found it very amusing that Hermione would roll her eyes every time Harry would talk down his accomplishments, clearly she had a different opinion.

Balder turned up halfway through the bonfire with Alvilda in tow, who was looking hesitant about joining him and his friends. Cuyler had been quick to rid her of that feeling when he walked up and whacked Balder upside the head, scolding him for not being honest with them all and bringing Alvilda around sooner. Which made both, Balder and Asta happy, even though it involved Balder getting hit in the head; but Asta hadn't even threatened Cuyler to be nice.

Despite her fathers request, the boys still threw fiend fire at Brynjar, which made Hermione screech when she saw a giant fiery serpent engulf Brynjar. Harry and Ron had jumped to their feet with their wands drawn, as they watched the live flames fly around as Brynjar walked out of the flames, unscathed. Eventually, both Harry and Ron joined in on the "fun", while Hermione stood next to Asta and Malfoy, who were both leaning against a tree watching them all throw flames at Brynjar, shaking their heads.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The next morning, Asta woke up in her bed with Brynjar lying next to her, his massive arm draped over the curve of her waist holding her tight to his chest. She shifted slightly, trying to wiggle free so she could get up and make herself something to eat, when she heard him groan behind her and push his hips against her bum. She gasped when she felt his lips connect with her pulse point, having assumed he was still sleeping, he caught her off guard.

Brynjar's hand flew up to her mouth, covering it quickly, knowing they hadn't cast a silencing charm last night because they hadn't fooled around last night due to being too exhausted from such a long fucking day. He slowly continued his assault on her neck, while internally debating whether he'd like to torture her by not putting a silencing charm up. It wasn't until a particularly languid grind of Asta's hips in retaliation, that Brynjar broke and put up the charm.

"Bloody minx." Brynjar groaned before biting down on Asta's pulse point, making her cry out, and his grip on her hips tighten.

"Oh yeah?" Asta panted in a challenging tone as she spun in Brynjar's grip, pushing him to his back as she kissed him torturously slow to distract him, before binding his hands halfway up the posters of her headboard with magic-proof ropes, so he was sitting upright. "You want me to sing to you, B?" Asta asked in a husky tone as she straddled his lap, stroking his chest with one finger, making him tremble and pant.

"No… fuck… please no…oh fuck… no… not like this… I'll lose my fucking mind…" Brynjar groaned, looking from Asta's lips to her chest, which was level with his eyes. He began pulling against the bonds, and the posters of Asta's bed started cracking against his strength, but Asta put the kibosh to that quickly.

"Ah-ah-ah…" Asta tsked, moving forward unnecessarily to run her hands down the posters as she cast a strengthening charm on them, so Brynjar couldn't break them, putting her chest in his face. "Naughty, naughty Brynjar. I haven't even started singing, or undressed yet, and you're already trying to break my bed." Asta tsked before she started kissing her way down his neck. The action was met with frustrated growl from Brynjar as he tried desperately to break the posters, so he could reach out and touch her. "I think I know just what song you want to hear, B." Asta whispered seductively, making Brynjar whimper and his cock jump.

"I am strong, love is evil; It's a version of perversion that is only for the lucky people." Asta began to sing, watching as Brynjar started struggling harder against the bonds that prevented him from touching her. "Take your time, and do with me what you will; I won't mind, you know I'm ill. You know I'm ill. So hit me like a man," Asta continued, pausing briefly to remove her shirt as Brynjar's struggling increased tenfold, "and love me like a woman. Buried and sad, look me in the eyes I want it."

The veins in Brynjar's arms, neck and temple were prominent; and Brynjar's face was red from struggling against the bonds that were holding him to the bed. He was whimpering and groaning from her words, and the sheet that covered him from his waist down was tented from his erection.

"Love is strong, but I am evil; you are wrong, about me. Take your time," Asta paused snapping her fingers, and her shorts and panties vanished. She watched as Brynjar shook his head from side to side, as she rose onto her knees in front of him, lowering her hand between her legs as she sung the next part. "I'll play with me until-" As soon as her hand connected with her clit, everything happened so quickly, she couldn't have stopped it if she had wanted to.

Brynjar watched as she vanished her shorts and panties and he knew what she was going to do next. He knew the next line, and he watched and listened as she demonstrated and sang what she was doing. When he watched her head lull back and heard her moan in pleasure from the connection, he lost all control he had. The sound went straight to his already aching groin, just adding fuel to the fire.

As soon as he heard those words, "I'll play with me until," pass her lips, he lost all control and pulled so hard on the bonds that he broke the posters of Asta's bed, despite her spell to reinforce their strength. He ripped the cuffs of the bonds off his wrists and he pulled her hand away from her core.

"That is mine to touch." Brynjar growled as he pinned her down to the bed, kissing her neck roughly, trailing down her body towards her core. "That was so fucking mean, you bloody vix-fffuuuuuucking hellll! Wha-what has gotten into you?" Brynjar moaned as Asta turned her head and pulled one of Brynjar's hands towards her lips, taking one of his large fingers into her mouth, treating it as though it was something else, adding to the prominent ache in his groin.

Meanwhile, Abraxus was up and getting ready to show Harry and Ron around the village. It was a dark and dreary day out today, showing all signs of raining and storming, so he was hoping that the pair would get up soon so they could get this done before the rain came down.

Normally his daughter would be up and out here having breakfast by now. However, he knew that Brynjar had spent the night here last night, though he only allows that to happen when one of them is injured, now that his daughter and Brynjar are together he suspect he will have to keep a more watchful eye on them. He could, and should, go and knock on her door to "wake her up". But he shudders to think what he might hear and/or see, if he were to open the door.

Just then he hears the sound of footsteps coming down the hall, and then sees Hermione poking her head around the corner to see if anyone is around.

"Good Morning, Miss Granger. I hope you slept well." Abraxus greeted, gesturing for her to take a seat and help herself to the food laid out before them.

"I did, sir. Thank you. How did you sleep?" Hermione asked politely, as she poured herself a cup of hot water before adding a tea bag.

"I slept well, considering I slept for only four hours, I'm a night owl you see." Abraxus explained as he filled his fork with egg before spooning it into his mouth. "I would like to apologize for the inconvenience of pulling you away from the task you Mr Potter and Mr Weasley are currently working on, I sincerely did not intend on upsetting your work and plans with my own personal issues. I hope you three can forgive me, and do not blame my daughter or Brynjar for coming back briefly, the blame is entirely mine." Abraxus apologized, clearly taking Hermione by surprise with his words.

"It's not a huge inconvenience sir, really. It's not as though Harry, Ron and I are on a strict, time sensitive schedule." Hermione gushed, hurriedly setting her tea cup down. "I mean, obviously we want to complete our task as quickly as possible, but we know we won't be able to do it over night, and you yourself have been a great help. So, we aren't bothered as greatly as it may seem by being whisked away from our main focus." Hermione added as Harry and Ron came walking in, looking between Hermione and Abraxus nervously.

"Good Morning Mr Potter, Mr Weasley. Please sit, have something to eat before we go on the tour of the village." Abraxus gestured towards the table for them to sit and eat. Harry and Ron sat and filled their plates, Ron began shoveling food into his mouth, earning and eyeroll from Hermione.

"Are you coming with us, Hermione?" Harry asked in between bites of food looking hopefully at Hermione.

"No, I've already had a tour of the village, and Cuyler said he was going to come by and steal me away until we leave." Hermione said with red cheeks as she looked between Harry, Ron and the King. Harry and Ron looked crest-fallen, knowing they would be alone with the King without Hermione again. "I'm sorry."

Just then the front door opened and Astrid came strolling in, Cuyler following behind her with a grin as his eyes landed on Hermione. Astrid came into the dining room, clearly looking for a particular person, whether that person was her son or Asta no one was sure.

Cuyler came right up behind Hermione's chair and rested his hands on it, bowing his head slightly in the direction of the King. He looked down at Hermione, who was smiling up at him as she pushed back her tea cup.

"Oh, are you already ready to go?" Cuyler asked in surprise as she backed up slightly, pulling her chair out for her so she could get up.

"I'm ready if you are, yes." Hermione answered with a smile while she straightened her clothes as Asta came walking into the room, only to stop abruptly when she saw Astrid.

Astrid looked at Asta with a stern, motherly look as she made her way towards the young witch, who shook her head and disapparated without a word.

"OH! That bloody girl of yours!" Astrid exclaimed as she turned back around to face Abraxus, who was smirking at the regal woman's outrage. "Oh, you wipe that bloody smirk off your face. She needs to talk about it, Abraxus, she can't just keep it all bottled up and run away from it." Astrid declared as she pulled out the chair next to Abraxus and sat down, leveling him with a look that took the smirk off his face quicker than a slap.

"Do you think I do not wish to-" Abraxus stopped mid-sentence, remembering who they were in company of; offering Harry, Ron and Hermione a diplomatic smile, before turning back to Astrid. "We will discuss this later, now is not the time." Abraxus stated firmly, wiping the corners of his mouth on his napkin before setting it on his plate as he rose to his feet. "Mr Potter, Mr Weasley; let us begin the tour, shall we?" Abraxus offered, gesturing for Harry and Ron to take the lead out of the dining room.

Harry and Ron rose from their seats nervously, looking at Hermione for comfort, but she just ushered them to go. She felt more comfortable around the lot of Viking's than she did around the modern wizarding world. Probably because; Asta, Brynjar, Cuyler and the whole lot of them, had more kindly welcomed her, whereas her classmates had not. Either way, Harry and Ron set off with Abraxus, however forced, leaving only Astrid, Hermione and Cuyler behind in the dining room.

"I tell you, I hope Odin knew what he was doing the day he created that girl." Astrid shook her head as she waved her hand at the various plates and cups, after checking that Hermione and Cuyler were finished of course. "Odin is an intelligent God, HOWEVER, I KNOW he cut that girl from the same bloody cloth as her father. While right now, they are under my care, and are my problem; there will come a day when they will both ascend into the Halls of Valhalla, whereas I will not, and they will become The Great Odin's problem then." Astrid grumbled to Cuyler and Hermione who were now chuckling at the older woman as she continued to tidy up, despite Dagmar's protests and tugs on the woman's skirt. "I guarantee you, after about an hour of them BOTH being in his presence, he will burn that bloody cloth. You mark my words." Astrid stated firmly, pointing a finger at the both of them, before looking down at a what was caught on her skirt. "Oh! Dagmar, I'm sorry sweetheart!" Astrid apologized, taking Dagmar's hand in hers and patting it softly before taking her leave and disapparating.

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Brynjar had just landed in the clearing finding; Balder, Arvid, Colborn and Gunnar already there. 'Perfect, Gunnar I need to talk to you.' Brynjar thought as he made his way closer to his group of friends.

"Well if it isn't the great phoenix himse-wait, what's got you all high strung?" Colborn asked playfully, giving Brynjar a once over as Brynjar walked past him towards Gunnar.

"What kind of shit did Taylor do to you when you two were together?" Brynjar asked bluntly, taking Gunnar and the others by surprise.

"What? Why?" Gunnar asked blankly, looking at Brynjar as though he had just asked him to whip out his dick to compare lengths.

"Because Taylor's the only girl that talks to Asta, she's the only one that would tell Asta tricks. And if Taylor did tell her tricks, I don't think I want them to talk anymore." Brynjar laughed as he finished the last few words, piquing his friends interest as they crowded around him.

Gunnar crossed his arms and smirked at Brynjar. "You know I can't confirm anything if I don't know what happened."

Brynjar groaned at the thought of reliving the painfully erotic bought, so soon after it happened, and in front of his friends no less. But he supposed he had to, and truthfully, he would tell his friends about it eventually. He looked around to make sure that Abraxus wasn't anywhere within earshot, knowing he was giving Harry and Ron a tour of the village this morning. When he saw no sign of the King, he began to tell them about what had taken place not five minutes ago.

"Alright, so I stayed at Asta's last night, which you can't say anything about because we're not allowed to stay with each other unless one of us has been seriously hurt, you know that rule." Brynjar said dismissively waving hand as he pressed on. "Last night we didn't do anything because we were fucking tired from everything that went on, so this morning when she woke me up, I wasn't about to let her get away from me, was I?" Brynjar asked cockily, as his friends chuckled. "I debated casting a silencing charm just to torture her, you know? See how long she can go being quiet, and what not. At least, that was the plan until the bloody minx ground her hips against me just right, and almost made me get us caught." Brynjar groaned, rubbing his hands down his face until they tugged down his beard, while his friends laughed at his expense. "After that I cast the charm around the room and called her just that, which apparently she took as a challenge. Because the next thing I knew she had me on my back and my wrists were tied to the posters of her bed, with anti-magic ropes so I could magic my way out of them." Brynjar stated with wide eyes as he deadpanned at the ground in front of his feet, with a wicked grin on his face.

"I don't feel comfortable listening to this anymore." Balder laughed looking from Brynjar to Arvid who was shaking his head at him.

"Oh shut up! She's like a sister! She's not REALLY your sister!" Arvid lectured before shoving Brynjar playfully. "Come on mate! Keep going!"

Balder rolled his eyes, and Brynjar chuckled as Gunnar motioned in agreement with Arvid for him to continue.

"Alright, so I looked at the bonds and was thinking 'ooooo, this'll show me'. I must've been grinnin' like a bloody King or something, because what she did next made me panic so much, I was pullin' on the bonds to try and break the posters of her bed so I wasn't restrained anymore. She straddled herself on the tops of my thighs, making sure to carefully avoid touching where I wanted her too, bloody minx… She stroked my chest, looked me in the eye and asked, 'Yo-" Brynjar began, but was cut off by Asta who appeared behind him out of nowhere.

"You want me to sing for you, B?" Asta repeated for him playfully, making his throat go dry and his eyes widen, as he turned around and found her smirking at him with her arms crossed. "Well? You want me too?" Asta asked again with a playful glint in her eye that made Brynjar growl.

"N… n… NO." Brynjar finally managed to say, hearing his friends laughing behind him.

"Are you seriously telling them about this morning?" Asta asked, circling in front of Brynjar, before sitting at his feet and leaning her back against his legs, as she unsheathed her dagger and summoned a sharpening stone from her pouch, and began sharpening her blade.

"Yeah. You're not mad, are you?" Brynjar asked, looking down at Asta waiting for her to shock him, or elbow him in the shin, or something to show that he was in for it later. But nothing of the sort ever came, she just looked up at him with a confused look on her face.

"Do you think I'm new? I've been around you all long enough to know you share stories." Asta stated flatly as she returned back to sharpening her blade, before adding, "As long as you don't start sharing images of what we do, I don't care if you share stories, so long as they don't get back to my father. By the way Thor," Asta teased, this time elbowing Brynjar in the shin, making him wince.

"Damnit woman! What the bloody fuck was that for?" Brynjar hissed, nudging Asta in the ass with his foot in retaliation for the assault on his shin.

"-you need to fix my bloody bed you broke before we leave!" Asta ordered from her seat on the ground, pointing her dagger tip up at Brynjar, who couldn't help but grin cockily at her words. "I shut and locked my door, and charmed it so no one can apparate in. That way my Father and your Mum won't walk into my room, for whatever reason, and see my BROKEN BED," Asta punctuated, elbowing Brynjar's shin two more times, "and put the pieces together and come shouting at us."

"Fucking Hell-spawn!" Brynjar exclaimed while his friends laughed, moving away from Asta so she could no longer assault his shins. "You didn't care this much about your bloody bed being broken a half hour ago." Brynjar mumbled, while his friends continued to laugh at the scene unfolding before them.

"I wouldn't have cared about it being broken at the time either." Taylor said from up in the tree opposite the group, startling the five boys. After the meeting yesterday, finding out that Asta and Taylor were related, it made sense. They both had this way about them that, at certain angles, and in certain light, gave off a demonic vibe. Taylor was crouched down on a tree branch, again dressed and made up in all black, clearly ready to jump down to the ground. But the way the light was hitting her in contrast to the shade, and her grey eyes popping out amidst the black and grey makeup, she looked like a creature from Hell. "From what I was told, the whole fucking house could have been on fire and she wouldn't have given a bloody fuck." Taylor added bluntly, jumping down off the branch she was perched on, landing catlike on her feet in front of Brynjar, who was looking down at the blonde with a smirk.

"I got a bone to pick with you." Brynjar said playfully. Catching the teasing look in Taylor's eye, he ran his hands down his face letting one slide down to tug on his beard in frustration. "You bloody tease, you know what I mean. Don't get Asta all pissed off, she's liable to kill you." Brynjar warned right as Asta sent a shock at Taylor, causing her to yelp.

The blonde clutched her backside and whipped around to face Asta, who was smirking at her with a devious grin. Taylor rolled her eyes at her cousin and turned her attention back to Brynjar, who was grinning at Asta.

"What bone do you have to pick with me?" Taylor asked annoyedly, moving to stand next to Brynjar with her back facing the ring of trees, as opposed to her cousin. Lest she be tempted to shock her while her back was turned again.

"What tricks have you taught her?" Brynjar asked, gesturing with his head towards Asta. "And don't act like you don't know what I'm referring to, I know you know bloody well what I'm talking about." Brynjar added quickly, when he saw Taylor was about to act as though she had no idea what he was on about. As soon as he called her on her bullshit, she grinned and raised her hands in defeat.

"Alright, alright you win." Taylor exclaimed, shooting a look over at her cousin, who was red in the face from knowing she was about to be ousted. "Tying you up was just one of the few leaves she took from my book. The little 'massage' is something she's heard me talk about, avoiding touching you where you want to be touched is a torturous trick she's taken from me, but that's all she's taken and used from my book of tricks so far." Taylor said with a Cheshire cat smile as she looked at Brynjar, whose eyes darkened and his cheeks flushed as he snapped his head towards Asta.

Asta's face was beet red as she looked at Brynjar, who was about to call her out when she made an excuse and disapparated away.

"Got to go to the apothecary, catch up with you later. Bye." She said quickly, before she disappeared. Leaving four out of the six people left behind, confused.

"What the… I… I think we missed something." Colborn said blankly as he looked from where Asta had been to Brynjar, hoping he would fill them in.

"That little bloody vixen…" Brynjar said softly to himself, more than anyone else, before turning to Taylor. "So you didn't-"

"Uh, no." Taylor said bluntly, cutting him off in a firm tone with a matching expression. "I come up with a lot of… inventive shit, Gunnar can attest to that, but that is not one of them." Taylor said defensively, looking briefly at Gunnar whose eyes were now dark as they watched her every move. Taylor arched her brow at him playfully before turning her attention back to Brynjar. "Sorry B but, that particular trick she came up with all on her own." Taylor added, patting Brynjar on the chest as she made her way towards the path that led towards the lot.

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Asta arrived at the apothecary, grateful to escape the heated look from Brynjar and from having to have that conversation in front of their friends. She knew he would pester her, and most likely maul her, later over it but she would deal with that later. Right now, she needed to get ingredients for the potions she and Brynjar were almost out of, plus Polyjuice potion.

Asta grabbed a wooden basket and started gathering an abundance of all the ingredients she knew she would need to brew each and every potion. It didn't take her long after walking around to have her basket filled to the brim with ingredients. She walked towards the shop-keep and placed her basket on the ground next to the counter, motioning for the older man to come over and see her basket.

"I won't haggle you on a price, nor will I waste your time having you sort through it and build up a line Mr Swein. Here is a list of what I came in here for, though the amounts of each aren't listed you can see I took quite a lot." Asta laughed, making the older man chuckle at her.

"Would you like me to bill you father later then, Asta?" Mr Swein offered as he waved his hand at the basket, sending all the items floating into a burlap bag with a featherweight charm on it.

"That won't be necessary, sir, I have money for you." Asta said politely as she opened her pouch summoning a large scarlet drawstring pouch. "For the amount I cleaned you out of, I should say 350 Galleons should cover it, yes?" Asta asked sweetly, looking up at the shop keep, who looked at her as though she had gone completely round the bend as he watched her count out the money.

"That is about 150 Galleons higher than I-" Mr Swein began to counter until Asta cut him off.

"I told you Mr Swein, I won't haggle with you on price." Asta said in a sweet, but firm tone as she finished counting out the money, sliding it over to him on the counter. "That and, I heard you and Ingrid are expecting come March, so take the extra for yourselves." Asta said sweetly as she picked up her bag and slung it over her back, offering the man a soft smile.

"You're too kind Miss." Mr Swein bowed with a smile as Asta began to make her way out of the shop.

"You are one of very few who believe so." Asta laughed as she exited the shop, hearing the shop keep chuckle as he called for the next person in line to step up, before running right into Astrid. Both of them stumbled backwards slightly, Astrid regained her balance first seeing as she had seen Asta coming, but had not expected her to walk right into her. Asta took a little longer to recover, when she did, she cursed under her breath and prepared to disapparate, but Astrid grabbed hold of her before she could.

"You cannot keep running from me child." Astrid declared holding firmly on Asta's arm, despite the young girls' efforts to shake her off. "You need to talk about what happened. You need to get it off your chest, to… to lessen the burden on yourself." Astrid carried on, watching the fury continue to bubble up inside Asta as she spoke. "If you let it out you can move on from it, and leave it be-"

"I HAVE LEFT IT BEHIND, DAMNIT!" Asta shouted at Astrid, finally wrenching her arm free of the older woman's grasp, earning passersby attention as she continued to shout at the woman. "I HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT! IT'S YOU THAT WON'T LET IT GO, AND LET IT BE! IT IS DONE AND OVER WITH! SHE. IS. DEAD." At those three words, there was a collective gasp as a majority of the people realized who Asta was talking about. "BUT FINE, ASTRID, YOU WANT ME TO FUCKING TALK ABOUT IT?" Asta asked dangerously and breathing heavily as she stepped closer to Astrid, who for once looked slightly unnerved by the small girl, before sending a shot of light towards a bell by her house to make it sound off. "I'll fucking talk about it, but I'm only doing it once."

As soon as the bell sounded, a platform magically started to assemble itself in front of the Abraxus and Asta's house. A useful charm, even though it was rarely used now-a-days. The whole of the village started to gather in the lot, facing towards Abraxus and Asta's house, waiting expectantly for whatever announcement the King was about to make.

Brynjar apparated up on the platform, and looked at Abraxus with a confused look. Normally, if something required a public announcement Brynjar, Asta and their friends would already be privy to the information. But he knew they weren't announcing the issue of the King's book to the village, so he didn't understand what was going on, that is until he saw the look on Asta's face as she appeared on the platform.

"Damnit, mum." Brynjar growled under his breath in time with Abraxus' own cursing of his mother.

Asta walked into the middle of the platform, mumbling 'sonorous' as she made her way to save her some time. Once she was in the middle she looked out among the crowd, before turning to look behind her to find; her father, Brynjar, Astrid, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy watching her nervously. She gave Brynjar one last nervous, yet angry look before beginning her rant; determined to shut Astrid up, and get her off of her back once and for all.

"I have called you all here to, as Astrid put it, 'lessen the burden' on myself because she believes I need to talk about something that I have put well behind me, and she won't leave well enough alone." Asta added, turning around glaring at the older woman briefly before turning to look at her father, her eyes big and shiny, as though she were fighting back tears. "Yesterday you asked me why didn't I tell you… I did tell you! I told you she was using curses on me, but you just dismissed me!" Asta shouted at her father, her whole body shaking with anger as she looked at her father. "I went to EVERY SINGLE ONE of your men and told them what I told you, and was met with the same answer. 'That's what training is, Lovie.' I knew if I kept going to you and your men complaining that she was hurting me with curses, you would think letting me train was a mistake and that I couldn't handle it and you would pull me from actual training…" Asta paused to take a shuddery breath, as she clenched and unclenched her fists. "So, I just stopped going to you and your men for help. Astrid was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, so I wasn't even going to try my luck by going to her." Asta whipped around and found Vashti and her crew of slags, and narrowed her eyes. "So, I thought I would try going to the girls for help. Thinking at the age of four, just about five years of age, they would be understanding of how frightened I was… but no." Asta said grimly as she walked toward the edge of the platform menacingly, glaring at where the group of girls stood in the middle of the mass of people. Asta turned her head back to face Brynjar specifically before saying, "I don't want to get one ounce of shit for what I'm about to do, because they deserve to see what they caused me."

Brynjar looked at her with an odd look, not fully understanding what she was on about, but his thoughts were cut off by Abraxus' voice as it boomed from beside him angrily.

"YOU GIRLS WILL NOT GO ANYWHERE! I WANT YOUR WHOLE GROUP UP ON THIS PLATFORM NOW! BALDER! CUYLER! GUNNAR! TAYLOR! ROUND THEM UP!" Abraxus shouted angrily as he caught Vashti's clique trying to leave without being seen. "You will stay here until you are dismissed. That is an order." Abraxus snarled as he walked around the group of eight girls that had been rounded up and brought on the platform, fury seeping from his pores at the very thought of these girls refusing to help. Thinking that they could have saved his daughter the pain and suffering that she went through, yet apparently flat out refused. To say he was pissed was an understatement, there was not a word created to describe how angry he was.

Asta had risen to her feet, vanished her clothes except for her bra and panties, which thankfully she chose to NOT wear a thong today. She began mumbling a string of Latin words as she held her hands, palms towards her body, making scars appear all over hear body. The scars would pop up so quickly, it was as though a dozen would pop up every second.

When she was done, she moved her hands from in front of her body, to spread out wide and spun in a circle so everyone could see. The collection of scars that she made reappear from all six years' worth of torture covered her body from head to toe. She heard audible gasps, she heard people start sobbing, she heard people cursing her mother, she heard people start vomiting from the sight of the MANY scars; she heard many things when she had finished, but her main focus was Vashti and her friends, who looked like they were about to be sick.

Vashti was as green as the grass on the ground, she had tears pouring down her face as she looked at Asta. Her whole body was trembling at the sight of what had been done to her. She truly felt bad for her, but they can't really hold her responsible for ALL OF THIS! She was after all only four, just about five years old when she had come to her about this! They were kids! How was she t know any better?!

Asta looked down at her herself, seeing all the scars, though temporary, brought back the haunting memories, and she quickly shut her eyes to will them away. When she opened them again she saw Brynjar staring at her with watering, heartbroken eyes, and she had to look away if she wanted to continue on and get this over with. She set her sights on Vashti, and moved forward, noting how the other girl whimpered as she got closer.

"Am I still a mummy hater?" Asta asked through gritted teeth. "Still think I made up lies about my 'wonderful, nice' mummy? Still think I'm just an ungrateful brat, because I didn't appreciate the pretty dresses she put me in?" Asta spat venomously, as Vashti shook her head unable to speak. "I went to you HOPING that one of you would tell one of your mums and that one of them would manage to catch her and stop her. But you all were just jealous of me for whatever stupid fucking reason you all had, and ignored my cries for help." Asta choked, almost losing her composure, but quickly reigning it back in. Refusing to breakdown in front of the entire village.

"Asta… I… I'm sorry… I-" Vashti sobbed, but was silenced by Asta, who was not done.

"The bitch was crafty though…" Asta chuckled grimly, looking from the group of girls, to the crowd gathered in the lot. "She only used curses she could heal and she only would do this to me when my father wasn't around. She did this to me for six years, and if she was still alive I'm sure she would still try to continue her fun… After I turned eight, she stopped putting a silencing charm around the basement because she said I shouldn't be so weak and pathetic as to scream anymore… I get called a lot of things; cold, heartless, unfeeling, cold-hearted and so on… but the one thing I will never sit back and allow anyone to call me is fucking weak." Asta declared as she slowly walked away from Vashti and towards the edge of the platform with her arms open wide. "Welcome to the Hell I lived in for six years, hope you enjoyed this little chat because I won't be discussing this topic again." Asta turned to face Astrid, snapping her fingers as a fresh pair of clothes came sailing out of her house, and into her hand. "There I talked about it, and 'got it off my chest', now just leave me alone."

With that, Asta disapparated from the platform, leaving everyone there in stunned silence. There wasn't a dry eye in the lot, everyone there was either sobbing or damn near close to it. The King dismissed everyone from the lot, even Vashti and her friends, though he told them all to expect a summons within the next few days, before escorting a distressed looking Astrid into the house.

Harry, Ron and Malfoy moved toward Brynjar, who looked as though he was about to go absolutely mental. His face was red, his veins were sticking out, and his entire body was shaking with rage.

"Where did she go?" Ron asked first, much to Harry surprise as they got closer to Brynjar.

"Is she going to be alright?" Harry asked, watching Brynjar nervously as his body language didn't change one bit while they spoke to him, which wasn't much of a comfort. Harry spun around and found one of the men the King ordered to round up the girls quickly walking heading towards Brynjar, as though he sensed Harry's nervousness at Brynjar's demeanor.

The man rushed past Harry and grabbed Brynjar by the shoulders and shook him slightly, before calling for Cuyler to get Hermione off the platform, just in case. Cuyler rushed up to Hermione's side, barely giving Hermione and chance to ask what was going on before disapparating off the platform with her wrapped protectively in his arm, calling out to them where he was taking her so they would know where to find her.

"B-she's fine! The-Brynjar!" Balder shouted, as Brynjar shook off Balder's grip. His eyes blank and blind with fury and he stared toward the forest, knowing Asta was in there hiding from everyone. He wanted nothing more than to bring her mother back from Hell just to rip her apart with his bare hands, now more than ever before, after seeing the effects what Asta had to endure.

Harry and Ron stood behind Brynjar with their wands trained on him, in case he went berserk on his friend, they could at least help the other man out by stunning him. Malfoy stood off on Ron's left with a wide stance to brace himself, knowing full-well he will be useless if Brynjar goes off and charges him, but he was without a wand. Therefore, his defensive options are limited at the present time.

The efforts to attempt to help calm and restrain Brynjar, did not go unnoticed by Balder, especially Malfoy's feeble but brave effort. Balder expected nothing less from Harry and Ron, they always are quick to help those in need, but he hadn't expected Blondie to be so… brave. Balder threw approving and grateful looks at each of them before he tried to reason with Brynjar again.

"The scars healed! The bitch is dead! She is fine now! You see her every day! You need to relax!" Balder shouted again, putting his hands back on Brynjar's shoulders, making the larger man jerk in his grasp, but he held strong. Out of nowhere; Gunnar, Colborn, Arvid and Eindride, came up one the platform to take Balder's place, startling Harry and Ron.

"What the bloody-" Ron began, until he saw Arvid put a finger to his lips as he came up behind Brynjar, stopping a short distance behind him.

"I'm going to go find her and talk to her, to see how she's doing." Balder stated, watching as Brynjar's eyes widened more at his words, and he fought him more. "You need to calm down before you go near her, or she'll fucking flay you. Just think good thoughts of Asta to calm down or something, you need to calm down." Balder stated flatly before disapparating away, leaving his friends and Harry and Ron, to deal with Brynjar. He came to land next to the stream, where Asta was sitting up against a tree, her eyes closed and her face calm. "Care for some company, Love?"

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A/N: I know this chapter was VERY LONG! Thank you for baring with me! I enjoy writing chapters where the trio is brought to the village, but I'd like to know your thoughts on the trips to the village. I do not plan to make them a continuing habit, I promise!

I also realize I am not great at descriptions, specifically, of characters. I am trying to work on that, because I realized I have no way of describing what Alvilda looks like in this chapter, and I missed my chance in an earlier chapter. I will make sure I find a way to get you all a description, and I will be better about descriptions! I promise! That is my goal!

I thank you all for continuing to read my story! I hope you all continue to enjoy 'Unexpected Ally'! I hope to have the next chapter up before the end of September at the latest. I'm getting Married September 9th so, I'm pretty busy as of late! Please R&R! Thank you!