WARNING: MINOR CHARACTER DEATHS

Last time...

The world around him shifts, and he closes his eyes against the dizzying feeling of what he knows is apparation, though he's not sure how she's managed to transport him without touch or object. Gasps are heard around him, and he chances opening his eyes once more. Dumbledore and that Bones woman are quickly moving towards him, both of their gazes filled with concern, but Tony can only focus on Hera. She'd come for him, and had quickly removed him from the situation, but she was still there. He felt his muscles relaxed, and he was helped up into a nearby chair, various potions soon in his purview to take. He'd never been so grateful for Hera insisting with the Head of the Auror Dept that she needed to keep doses a muggle could take on hand.

"We need to go." Tony insisted, even as he reached for the potions Bones provided. "Hera's in danger. She and her friends came to rescue my ass, and now-"

"Where are they now?" Dumbledore asked, concerned.

Tony's surprised at the lack of benign grandfatherly like nature that the man normally exudes, as in its place is sheer worry, and so Tony answers.

"The prophecy."

Chapter 112

"Now that that's taken care of, let's review, shall we?" Hera asked, misleadingly light hearted, tilting her head slightly as she regarded those in front of her. "Your hostage is gone, your magic is useless, and your underlings are abandoning you as I speak." Indeed, several of them had slowly retreated until they could do just that. "Have I missed anything?"

"It matters not that the muggle is gone, you will give me what I want or your friends will suffer." Nott Sr demanded, shambling forth with indignant fury.

"I already told you there was nothing that could do that." Hera reminded him. "You hold something you were never meant to, and it's killing you even as it gives you power. If you give up the item, you will die from the shock. If you don't give up the item, you will die as it consumes everything that you are. There is nothing in the prophecy that will protect you from that, as it isn't even about you."

"You said I needed the power of a god." Nott Sr insisted angrily.

"I said even gods didn't always take it well." Hera reminded him.

"Then I guess I'll have to take the power of a god." Nott Sr supplied, sinisterly grinning with far more confidence than Hera thought he should have…and then the first sigil began to glow a light blue…followed by the next, and the next, and…

She was jerked backwards before the last sigil could light.

"RUN!" Ron shouted, before turning with her and pulling her away.

Everyone scattered, with Ron hanging onto Hera as she was still a little out of it. There was magic that could subdue a god, she knew that. Being on the receiving end wasn't something she'd expected of that type of magic, however, given that she hadn't even agreed to responsibility until this very evening. She'd given that foul man the clues he needed without even realizing it. Of course, he would be desperate enough to try it; He had nothing left to lose.

A Death Eater lunged forward, and Ron elbowed him hard against the masked face. Yelling filled the air, as well as cries of pain, thunderous crashes as shelves collapsed upon themselves, and a weird echoing chorus of fragments of prophecies unleashed from their spheres. Ginny and Luna soon joined them, running. Something heavy struck her on the side of the face, but she merely ducked and kept going. A hand caught her by the shoulder; a hand which was quickly broken even as Hermione cast a 'Stupefy' at the offender.

Once through the door, Hermione hesitated for only a moment before gasping. "Colloportus!"

The sound the door made was kind of squelching as it shut, which was weird but effective.

"Where…Where are the others?" Hera asked, fighting through the disorientation. Luna and Ginny had been ahead of them…hadn't they?

"They must have gone the wrong way!" whispered Hermione, terror in her face.

"Listen!" Neville hissed, causing Hera to look at him with confusion. When did he get there?

"Jugson, come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter till we can get her back into that trap. You can kill the others if necessary. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left. Rabastan, go right. Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead. Macnair and Avery, through here. Rookwood, over there. Mulciber, come with me!"

…

"What do we do?" Hermione whispered, trembling from head to foot. "She's still disoriented."

Hera was looking a little out of it, likely because he pulled her out of whatever that had been, but Hermione had tried to warn him something like this might happen to Hera during the rescue mission.

"Well, we don't stand here." Ron decided. "Let's get away from this door…"

Ron shouldered Hera's weight as they moved, though she helped keep herself steady. They ran as quietly as they could past a shimmering bell jar with a tiny hatching and unhatching egg, towards the exit. Rows of desks lined the room. They were almost to the exit when they all heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut. As one, the four of them dived under the desks, with Ron pulling Hera with him.

"Alohomora!"

They could see the bottom of the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall."

"Check under the desks."

He didn't have time to say a word, before Hera shot out her hand towards the nearest Death Eater, a red light hitting them; a wandless non-verbal stupefy. The man fell backwards into a grandfather clock, knocking it over. The second Death Eater, however, had managed to avoid the fall out that was the grandfather clock's debris. That one had turned to aim at Hermione, who had crawled out from under the desk to get better aim. Hera's hand shot out once more, this time twisting like she was wrenching something in her grasp; the man's neck twisted sharply until it snapped, and he fell over dead not even halfway through trying to use an Avada.

Both Ron and Hermione froze. Hera had just killed someone. Granted, it wasn't like it was the first time she'd had to do that. However, this had been to save Hermione's life as opposed to a Defence Professor trying to kill her. Hermione shook herself out of her shock, and went to make sure the stupefied Death Eater would be bound by rope as well.

The four began running again, but when they reached the door, two Death Eaters came through it. Hera and Ron were knocked to the side, while Neville and Hermione were knocked backwards off their feet. Neville was thrown over a desk, disappearing from view, but Hermione smashed into a bookcase and was promptly deluged in a cascade of heavy books; the back of Ron's head slammed into the stone wall behind him, tiny lights bursting in front of his eyes, and for a moment he was too dizzy to react.

"WE'VE GOT HER!" The Death Eater closest to Ron and Hera yelled. "IN AN OFFICE OFF-"

"Silencio!" Hermione shouted, and the man's voice was extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out; he was thrust aside by his fellow.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ron gasped, as the second Death Eater raised his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell forward, face-down onto the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move at all.

"Well done, Ro-" But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck silent made a sudden slashing movement with his wand, from which flew a streak of what looked like purple flame. It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless.

"HERMIONE!" Neville crawled rapidly toward her from under the desk, his wand held up in front of him.

Ron couldn't try to stop him, because he was holding Hera up, and the Death Eater would surely see Neville's attempt regardless. Hera looked at said Death Eater, raised her left hand, and then made a slashing motion much like he had done. There was no purple flame, but a sharp green light seemed to slice across the Death Eater just the same from the shoulder of one side to the hip of the other. For a moment, nothing happened…and then one half of the Death Eater slid to the floor. The other half actually managed to stay up for a second or so longer before crumpling in on itself.

"We need to see to Hermione." Hera stated, and he had to walk with her; not sure that she could do so on her own.

She might be slinging around magic like it was breathing, but her legs were incredibly shaky. He helped set her down, and then he was on the other side of Hermione next to Neville. With her eyes closed, Hera moved her hand along the line the curse had gone. The two boys shared a look as Hera worked, neither certain what the frown meant. Hermione couldn't be dead; she just couldn't.

"Neville?" Hera whispered as she worked, eyes still closed. "We're not far from the exit. We're right next to that circular room…If we can get you across it and find the right door before any more Death Eaters come, you could get Hermione up the corridor and into the lift…Then you could find someone…raise the alarm…"

"What are you going to do?" Neville demanded, frowning at Hera.

"I've got to find the others." She answered. "They're here because of me."

"Then I'm going with you." Neville insisted firmly.

"Hermione was bleeding internally, Neville." Hera informed them, finally opening her eyes to glare at the boy. "I've managed to…She's not bleeding internally anymore, but I don't know if her body can take something like that again."

"She'd still want to come with you." Neville continued to insist. "I'll carry her."

"Neville." Hera tried, but then she grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. "Fine. She's stable, for now. If anything happens, you have to stay behind us and keep her safe. Do you understand?"

Neville nodded.

"Alright, let's go."

…

They crept out of the office and back toward the door into the black hallway, which now seemed completely deserted. They walked a few steps forward, Neville tottering slightly due to Hermione's weight. The door swung shut behind them, and the walls began rotating once more. Before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and five people fell out of it. Fred's face was white, and something dark trickled from the corner of his mouth.

That was all Hera noticed before his knees gave way, though George was quick to grab him before he could fall all the way. Ginny shook her head when Ron made to try and talk, sliding down the wall into a sitting position so that she could better hold onto her ankle. Luna and George appeared unharmed, as did Draco, though all three looked visibly shaken. One look to Ron and he was guiding her to Ginny first, as she was the one with the simplest injury to fix, and they might need the fighting help. Hers was a broken ankle, but Fred…She couldn't make heads or tales of what was wrong with him; it was as if his mind had travelled the Yggðrasil on the back of a comet while his body stayed at home. While similar to what she did, she'd prepped first; Fred had had no such help.

"Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark." Luna explained quietly, and Hera's mind cleared with understanding.

"That was a very dangerous room to be in." Hera commented. "Glad you all made it out…more or less. Shall we?"

"She's in here!"

Ron was helping her up even as Neville lifted Hermione up. Luna smashed through the door ahead, hurrying people through. George followed closely behind with Fred, while Draco and Ginny flung stunners at the Death Eaters faster than they could counter them all. Even so, they barely managed to slam the door shut against Bellatrix. This time, they found themselves in a room with a stone archway on a dais.

They all backed away from the door, knowing it wouldn't hold for long. The whole room began ringing with the Death Eater's laughter. The door burst open, along with several others, as the Death Eaters began closing in on them. They continued backing away, looking around, trying to keep all the Death Eaters within sight. The back of Hera's legs hit something solid; the edge of the dais where the archway stood.

Without thinking about it, Hera climbed backwards onto it. Here, she didn't feel she needed Ron's support. It would allow him better ease of movement for the time being, and she knew they would need that soon. The Death Eaters paused, seeing this, shuffling about in uncertainty.

"Potter, your race is run." the closest Death Eater drawled, pulling off his mask. Rockwood, Hera realized, she'd seen his picture in the Prophet. "Now, come along. You know what is needed."

"I do." Hera replied, a plan already forming in her mind, looking to her friends now. "Let them go, and I'll stay."

"You are not in a position to bargain, Potter." Rockwood sneered. "You see, there are many of us and so few of you…or hasn't Dumbledore ever taught you how to count?"

"Actually, I'm the one with all the cards." Hera informed him, turning her attention to him fully, a sly grin of her own developing. "You see, you may be legion strong, but all I need is a single step."

There was something to this archway behind her. It spoke in whispers, the veil fluttering with no breeze at all. She had the strangest feeling that there was someone just behind it, despite it being a free standing archway. There was such a strong connection to it, that she could swear she knew this person, that they could help her; not just now, but with everything.

"Potter…"

Two more doors burst open, and several people sprinted into the room; Sirius, Remus, Moody, Tonks, and Snape. Rockwood turned and raised his wand, but Tonks was faster still. Hera wondered where the others were, or if this was all Snape had had time to find. The Death Eaters were completely distracted by the appearance of the members of the Order, who were now raining spells down upon them as they jumped from step to step toward the sunken floor: Her friends stood in front of her as they could, raining spells of their own, but it wasn't long before they needed to move, and Ron had to help Hera once more.

A Death Eater had managed to get close enough to Hera without anyone noticing in the confusion. Sirius came hurtling out of nowhere, ramming the Death Eater with his shoulder, which sent whoever it was flying out of the way. It progressed to duelling quickly enough, their wands flashing like swords. She tried to focus, but it was becoming harder to think again. Concentrating, she managed to catch that particular Death Eater with a wandless non-verbal Petrificus Totalus; whoever it was Sirius was fighting, they'd been about to use the same spell that had caught Hermione.

"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, forcing Hera's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew toward them. "Now I want you to get out of —"

They both ducked again. A jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room, Hera saw Tonks fall from halfway up the steps, and Bellatrix laughing as she ran back towards the fray. Fred and George fought like demons possessed; whatever Fred had experienced had clearly not affected his spellwork. Ginny and Luna were back to back as well, fighting like a unit. Her friends were scattered, and she wondered when they'd gotten separated.

"Hera, you have to get out of here! Get the others, and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix.

Lupin quickly jumped in between Hera and the next Death Eater.

"Hera, round up the others and GO!"

Desperate to be reunited with her friends, she turned to find her friends as Lupin had ordered, but a spell hit the stone at Hera's heel. It crumbled away, and she fell. She rolled to avoid another spell, really wishing that whatever this was would settle down so she could get back to using magic consistently again. Another door opened, this time directly above her. Framed in the doorway, Albus Dumbledore stood, his face white and furious.

Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps before the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there. Death Eaters were scrambling to get away when they noticed the new arrival. Come to think of it, Hera couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Nott. Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival; Sirius and Bellatrix. The man was laughing at her, taunting her, even as she was trying to kill him.

"Come on, you can do better than that!"

The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock. Hera was moving before she'd even realized it, suddenly gaining new strength and stability in her legs. It seemed to take Sirius ages to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

She saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his face, saw him disappear behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind and then fell back into place. She heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing. Only getting to the dais mattered. She reached the floor, her breath coming in searing gasps, but as she reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, her progress was suddenly halted. Lupin had grabbed her around the waist, intent on holding her back.

"There's nothing you can do, Hera —"

Reacting out of instinct, Hera swivelled on her toes. The action surprised Lupin into letting her go. It was all the opportunity she needed to punch him in the face with a solid left hook, knocking him down to the floor. She let momentum carry her back around, and then she was sprinting towards the dais once more. No one else was close enough to stop her, and when she got to the veil…she didn't even hesitate.

…

The fighting seemed to immediately stop. No one looked like they knew what to do, not even the Death Eaters. Ron imagined that was because they weren't supposed to kill Hera, and now they thought they had. Everyone stared at the veil in pure shock. He knew that there was a reason Lupin must have had for trying to stop Hera, but he couldn't think about it.

Hera hadn't hesitated. She'd gone after Sirius as if she knew she could pull him out of…whatever that was. It had to be true, Ron decided. The remaining Death Eaters that hadn't been captured yet seemed to decide that now was the best time to flee; as they were screwed either way. This prompted the Order to spring into action once more, but Ron?…Ron stayed waiting, eventually being joined by the others.

"How are you so sure she's still alive?" George whispered to him, keeping an eye on the adults.

Ron just showed him the shield-brethren tattoo. Hera's rune was glowing. He'd done the reading, they all had after that day. The individual runes of a shield-brethren tattoo only glowed like that when there was great struggle, and turned black when the person it represented died. Hera's hadn't turned black yet, so they knew she was alive and fighting to stay that way.

Suddenly, a great roar of a scream sounded throughout the room, and the rustling of the veil violently increased. They watched as Hera came running out of the veil in an explosion of energy, teeth bared in anger even as she dragged a stunned looking Sirius behind her. She made sure that Sirius was off the dais before letting him go; no one was surprised when she altered her course only slightly to aim her charge at Bellatrix. The woman stood stock still for a moment, as if not comprehending what was happening, and then did the only sensible thing. She ran.

…

Hera Potter was seeing in red. She'd seen red when Nott had threatened Tony's life, when she'd chased after Sirius in…wherever that had been, and she was seeing it now. For a moment, she forgot that she was magic. For a moment, she forgot Bellatrix was too. All she wanted in that moment was to make that foul woman bleed.

…and then she remembered…

"Crucio!"

Bellatrix dropped like a stone, writhing, screaming in agony. It was like music. She'd never heard anything so beautiful, not even when she'd given Umbridge the blood eagle. She held the woman under that curse for what must have been an age, because after a while Bellatrix's eyes began to look panicked.

"Hera, stop!" Sirius shouted, having rushed into the room; panicked, concerned.

"Why?" Hera demanded with a casual air, as well as an edge to her voice.

"I'm alive. You don't have to avenge me. I'm alive." Sirius insisted.

"I let Wormtail live, and look how well that worked out." Hera replied, keeping Bellatrix under the curse for a moment longer before ending it. "Where is the little rat, anyway? Did you leave him in Azkaban?"

"Y-You can't kill me." Bellatrix declared, even as she tried standing up on shaky legs.

"I believe you'll find that I can, though if I let you live, your fate will be something worse than death." Hera countered, confusing the woman. "Your beloved Dark Lord turned his back on you, and now his replacement has done the same. Only…What do you think Nott Sr is going to do to you once he finds out you've failed?"

Bellatrix began backing up a step at a time.

"You've already noticed a few of the underlings have started disappearing between meetings, haven't you?" Hera inquired with a cruel grin. "He's sacrificing their life force and magic to stay alive, but you've not said anything because you thought you were safe. Do you think you'll still be safe after you've failed him, Mad Bella?"

"You don't know anything!" Bellatrix screamed, throwing a curse at her; one which Hera easily blocked. "The Dark Lord will return! Nott is sure of it!"

"Oh, so that's how he's lying to you." Hera mused, patronising with her words. "I had wondered about that."

"You lie!" Bellatrix shouted. "Avada Kedavra!"

No one was expecting Hera to catch the spell between her hands. The spell writhed and flowed in a bubble of magic. She looked from it to Bellatrix, and decided to have a little fun. Switching the bubble of magic from both hands to only her left, Hera began walking towards the woman. To Bellatrix's credit, she didn't back up but for a step.

"Bellatrix, I think that you need to take your people and go now." Sirius stated, trying to sound calm.
"No." Hera countered. "I want you to take your people and run away."

"What?" Both Bellatrix and Sirius asked, with varying degrees of shock.

"Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Bella Runs Away. I want people laughing outside your cell, because they've found the cell of Bella Runs Away." Hera continued on, casually walking up to Bellatrix until she was standing directly in front of her. The longer she talked, the angrier she became, until her face was twisted with it. "And when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I LOVE is in ANY WAY A GOOD IDEA…"

Thunder rumbled, carried by the sound of her words and faded into nothing, filled with her rage.

She clinched her fist, snuffing out the spell in her hand, and straightened up the collar of Bellatrix's robes, her voice now soft as she can manage while looking the woman dead in the eyes with a smile. "…I want you to tell them your name."

Hera shook, she was so angry, and yet she couldn't help but laugh as she stepped back from the woman.

"Oh, look, I'm angry…truly and honestly angry…That's new." Hera marvelled, grinning wildly though she trembled with rage. "Is this what you call madness?…It feels…extraordinary…I'm not really sure what's going to happen now."

Bellatrix tried to look unbothered, but she didn't quite manage it, as she replied with disbelief. "The anger of the good sort is not a problem. You have too many rules."

Hera's grin became something sharp as she looked up at the woman.

"The good sort don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many." She warned. Leaning in just a touch, Hera added. "I thought I gave you an order, Little Rabbit."

Bellatrix blinked rapidly, caught perhaps by the sheer audacity, so Hera decided to elaborate.

"Run."

...

Sirius hadn't expected it, but Bellatrix got this look in her eyes as she and Hera stared at each other, and then the older witch had turned and ran. He was saving that as one of his favourite memories for when he needed cheering up. Hera hadn't moved, still shaking as she was, making sure Bellatrix was well and truly leaving. He knew she'd given in to the Black family madness, knew it deep in his bones. It was what she'd drawn from when she came after him in that place, and was she was fighting down now.

"I thought you were going to kill her, Prongslet." He commented, keeping his voice low.

"I should have." Hera admitted, before looking back at him. "It occurred to me, however, that killing someone while revelling in madness might not be the best of ideas."

"Come on." Sirius offered, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Let's see how well the others have things handled, shall we?"

She offered up a small smile at that, and nodded.

"Why did you call her little rabbit?" He wondered, when they'd started walking.

"Oh, last second curse idea. Everyone always pictures her as the scariest thing in existence, but you can't get anymore unthreatening than a defenceless fluffy bunny." Hera shrugged, relaxing just a touch. "It won't happen all at once, but I'm kind of hoping she'll be surrounded by her Death Eater buddies when she plays hop along."

Sirius snorted at the mental image.

"So…how does it feel?" Hera asked. He didn't understand, and looked to her for clarification, to which she flashed a wicked grin. "To be rescued by your god."

"I knew it!" Sirius barked out in a surprised laugh. "How long have you known?"

"That depends." Hera supplied. "Is there a betting pool? If so, I want in."

"Like you have to ask." He snorted. "Of course, there's a betting pool."

"Well then…"

AN: Scene inspired by Matt Smith's Doctor, Demon's Run episode.