Retribution

Sweat drenched his entire form as the dawn's rays crept upon the sleeping earth. The first day of training, a brutal one in Harry's opinion. He had been woken up at five o'clock by a bucket of water being splashed onto him by Dustin, and had been rushed into a tank top and athletic pants by Zane. He didn't have time to cut his hair, so Rafaella had to lend him the only head band she had left. It was a pink one. There was no time for laughing though as it was Razmir's time with them. He had first made the run countless laps around the castle with fifty pound weights on their backs, forty for the women though. Either way both genders ended their laps with rivers of sweat trailing down to the ground.

Harry's muscles were already beginning to tighten up, and he groaned between deep breathes. He was currently doing walls sits against the castle in between Draco, to his left, and Zane, to his right. Razmir was pacing in front of them, his eyes scrutinizing. Every once in a while he'd make a snide comment to someone, but other than that he was silent. His red rimmed eyes held such a fierce, war-like gaze that Harry couldn't look directly in his eyes. It sent shivers down his spine if he did. So he just watched as the colors changed upon the landscape, and tried to ignore the pain. He could see Draco struggling next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The blonde stared at him for a second, giving him a tiny smile before closing his eys and leaning his head against the stone walls of the castle.

"Stand," commanded Razmir with authority. The students sighed in relief, standing up. Harry watched as Pansy and Blaise nearly fell trying to stand and Crabbe and Goyle bracing them so they wouldn't fall. Neville and Luna seemed to be getting along better than the others. As for Draco, he stood with his legs wobbling. Harry was feeling the numbness in his legs start to set in. He took hold of Zane's shoulder, the boy shorter than him now by a few inches, and the boy in question smiled a tired smile. "For you newcomers," Razmir began. "This is where the obstacles come into play." With a snap of his fingers, the grounds rumbled and dirt walls rose up from the earth. It started out with a large wall that towered over them and there were three ropes attached to climb up and down on either side. It was followed by shorter walls, about three feet, that were spaced out like hurdles. Then there was a large space that was mostly likely where the students would have to dodge the attacks given by Razmir. The obstacle ended at the lake. "You will climb the wall and descend on the other side. Then hurdles. If you trip there will be pricked vines that will trap you and pierce your skin until I see fit. After that you'll have to dodge my attacks, and then dive into the lake to wipe the grime off." He sniffed the air. "Do they not give you deodorant here?"

Some students slyly sniffed their armpits, looking around as if it wasn't them. Harry was one of them, but he didn't smell at all. He actually smelled kind of sweet with a tad bit of spiciness to it. In fact, he smelled really good and he didn't even put on deodorant since he didn't have time to think of stuff like that when he was being rushed out to training.

"Get into a line," he instructed as he turned away from them. "At the sight of fire, first person shall go."

The students obediently got into a single file line, all of them not wishing to be in the crossfire of Razmir's wrath. They stood in complete silence, and Harry rubbed his shaking hands together. He was getting anxious. For all he knew the man would be sending some time of curse that could kill him. He had seen how brutal the training had been, and to actually take part in it was starting to take a toll on his nerves.

Fire was blasted into the air, and the first student rushed off towards the wall. It was Nick, if Harry remembered correctly, and he climbed the rope like an expert. His movements were fluid-like, and he didn't waver for a second. Once he got to the top, his climbed over the other side and no one could see what happened on the opposite side of the wall. All they could hear was screaming a minute later.

Draco, who was standing in front of him, spun around and stared at Harry with wide eyes. "Are you as freaked out as I am?"

Harry sucked in a breath as the second flash of fire was seen in the air and Crabbe set off towards the wall. "To be honest," he said. "I think I'm going to piss myself."

Draco nodded, completely understanding. He turned around and both of them watched as Crabbe started to climb the wall, and then fall flat on his ass. No one gave him any type of encouragement, and when Pansy tried to, Dustin stopped her and shook his head. "He won't be encouraged on the battlefield."

Once he was finally over the wall, it took five minutes until they saw his body shoot towards the castle. His butt was one fire, and Harry found it hard not to laugh at the sight. Although there was a spike of fear he felt sting his spine. The man was ruthless.

Student after student was scent off by the fires. Sometimes there would be only the sound of Razmir blasting spells at the students, other times Harry would hear screams. He watched Rafaella go. She was seen being shot towards the castle from what looked like a blasting charm. Then Dustin went. There was nothing beside the spells being shouted. Pansy went, there were screams and a deafening splash. Goyle followed her and he was also seen running towards the castle with his ass on fire. Blaise seemed to concur the obstacle course, as did Zane since there was no screaming heard. Draco's run went well as well.

It was now Harry's turn, and he didn't know what to expect. The fire flew up into the air, and he ran. The grass beneath his bare feet felt odd for some reason, but of course he wasn't used to training in bare feet. He reached the wall, grabbing the rope and heaving himself into a climb. His body strained as he climbed up the dirt wall, and his lungs started to burn with the stress of the climb. Reaching the top was a relief, until he gazed down. He saw the hurdle, but then he saw the open grass area where Razmir was pacing in waiting for him. There was a whip in his hand, or at least that's what Harry thought when he looked at it. Behind Razmir, though, was the students that had gone through the obstacle course. Some were bloodied up, while the others sat in the lake.

Harry took a deep breath and descended the wall carefully. Once his feet touched the earth, he spun around and ran towards the hurdles. He jumped over them with gazelle like grace. It was soon enough that he was jumping his last hurdle and Razmir started his attack.

The first attack was with the man's whip. Only it was a shadow more than anything. It coiled into the air, and elongated itself when Razmir struck it towards Harry. Harry dodged the attack as he ran towards Razmir to get to the end of the course. The mentor wasn't done though. He sneered at the boy and a ball of fire appeared in his hand. He threw it at Harry, who was retrieving his wand from his pocket, dodged as best he could. The flame grazed his right shoulder, and he hissed at the fire burned his flesh.

"Come on, Boy-Who-Lived," taunted Razmir with a devilish smile.

Harry's eyes flared with anger, and he pointed his wand at the man as he hurled another fireball at him.

"Aguamenti!" shouted Harry. The water shot from his wand and distinguished the fire. He ran and dodged another attack from Razmir's whip before scrambling past him. He felt the whip wrap around his waist, and Razmir pulling him towards him. Harry spun around, his mind scrambling for some sort of spell he could use. "Avis!" he cried and bird appeared out of his wand. "Oppugno!" he yelled and the bird attacked.

While Razmir was distracted, Harry scrambled towards the finish line and jumped into the lake. He stared back as Razmir, watching as the man destroyed the birds, before setting off another flame into the sky. He thanked the Gods that he had paid attention in charms a week ago or else he didn't know what he would have done.

It took another half hour before Mentor Razmir was done with the students. They were all seated on the grass, and stared up at the mentor as he paced. "As much as I can see improvement to the Olympians, I cannot stress the importance of training. There is no such thing as perfection on the battlefield, and all of us know this." He paused, the hateful look leaving his eyes for a few seconds. He cleared his throat. "In a few days there shall be a ceremony for the Hogwarts students." Harry shifted in his spot near Draco and Dustin. "It is a painless ceremony, and we will see which god or goddess as been watching over you. From the time until the ceremony I ask all Olympians to help your new brothers and sisters in the transition." He stared at the dawn for a few seconds before gazing at the students. "You are dismissed. Mentor Chance and Nico will see to you tonight after classes."

As Harry stood, he noticed that the burn on his shoulder was gone. He couldn't help but stare up at the sky and thank Chaos for watching over him. The knowledge of a possible false prophecy was still fresh in his mind, and he wouldn't leave the matter untouched.

All eyes were upon him once he stepped into the Great Hall. He had showered after the workouts, had Luna cut his bangs so he could see, and received altered robes from Mentor Larila. After thanking her she had said it was no trouble, and sent him off with a grandmotherly smile. Now he felt self conscious about the sudden change. The entire hall was silent, and Dumbledore stood from his seat with a fury in his eyes that Harry couldn't help but wonder what made the old man so angry. He smiled at the fury though, and welcomed it. It was nice to see the man showing some sort of expression besides happiness.

His eyes scanned his surroundings, ignoring the lustful stares from the women in the hall. He didn't know why they gazed at him so, but the Olympians had sensed his power ever since he had turned into one of them. The women of the Olympians did steal glances to the man in front of them, but said nothing of it. They knew that Eros would grant them with a soul mate soon enough if they were patient. Every night they prayed, all but one of course. The raven haired girl stood from her place and walked up to Harry. She now gazed up at him, a smile on her face.

Harry grinned as he took her hand and guided her towards the Slytherin table where Zane and Dustin were. Rafaella placed Harry near Zane, winking at him before seating herself next to Draco and Pansy. The hall was still silent, that was until a voice rang through the air that could nearly crack glass. Harry gripped at his fork tightly, glaring.

"Harry!" the voice repeated. Ginny Weasley stormed over to the Slytherin table, ignoring the hisses coming from the students. "What happened to you?" she questioned with her hands on her hips.

"Clearly he came into inheritance, Weaselette," Draco drawled the cover story. "I thought you were at least acquainted with the knowledge of that."

She glared at Malfoy before returning her gaze back to Harry. She gave him a twice over, smiling softly. Harry noticed that the hall went back to its noisy clamber, but most were still watching the exchange. "Why didn't you tell me, love?"

"Love?" repeated Harry as Zane coughed on his pumpkin juice he was drinking.

Ginny stared at him like he was an idiot. "Of course," she giggled while glancing at the head table. "You're my boyfriend. Why can't I call you love?"

"Come again?"

"Did you get my present? My brownies?" she asked with a laugh.

Harry gave her a glare, remembering the brownies that had appeared on his bedside table the previous day. He had eaten them since he was stressed, but didn't know what brownies had to do with her being his girlfriend. "What about them?"

"Didn't you have any?" she pressed.

"Yes. Why?" he exasperated. He stood, hands on the table in front of him. The Olympians hid smirks behind their hands. Eros had definitely touched him in a great way.

"Then you know that I'm your girlfriend," she said in a more stern voice. "You've loved me since second year. Ever since you saved me from the Chamber."

Harry stood his full height, looking down at Ginny with arms crossed. His thoughts flickered back to fourth year, and he sighed before looking back at Ginny. "Ginny, I couldn't possibly be in love with you," he told her with a very serious voice. "You have breasts and a vagina."

The whole table was trying to hold back their laughs. Blaise resulted in putting his head in his hands and a few chuckles escaped.

Ginny, clearly confused and glancing over at the head table, said, "Well of course I do. I'm a girl." She kept glancing over at the head table, and Harry followed her gaze. Dumbledore was watching them intently, and he noticed Drennon glaring at the headmaster between bites of egg.

"Must I spell this out for you?" he asked while looking back at her with a frown. "I'm gay."

The red headed girl's eyes widened, and she staggered back. She shook her head. "You're lying," she accused with a laugh. "Harry you're not gay. You're in love with me."

Harry didn't notice that the hall went dimmer in sound, and that Zane was staring at him with his jaw half open in a smile. Harry was glaring holes into Ginny Weasley's eyes. He straightened out his robes, looking very businesslike. "I'm not your boyfriend and I'm not in love with you," he said in a mere whisper to make her listen. "Whatever you did to those brownies, it didn't seem to work." He gazed at his nails with a bored look in his eyes before smiling mischievously at her. "I'm gay, Ginny. I like men. I like cock. I do not like boobs or vaginas. Is that clear?"

Ginny fumed, stomping her foot hard on the stone ground before walking away in a fit. She turned around suddenly, her face as red as her fire hair. "Fag!" she screamed in anger.

Those words stung his soul as he watched her walk away. He sat down in his seat, taking a piece of toast and nibbling on it. Zane bit his lip, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If it helps, and you already know, I'm gay," he said with a meek smile.

"Yeah I know," sighed Harry. He watched as a hand took hold of his and he gazed up to see Rafaella smiling at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What?" he asked suddenly alert.

"3-2-1," she counted down until the owl posts came in. She turned around and he followed her gaze to the Gryffindor table. She was smiling at Ron Weasley who was having trouble fending off the birds from Hermione who was swatting at the birds that were within ten feet. He felt no remorse for his former friend. He, in fact, had to hide his smile.

Then he watched as an owl soared down and dropped off a package in front of Ron. The birds were diminishing and he was spelling away some of them along with the professors. Hermione was then stuck with a bloodied face and rushed off out of the hall. The Slytherins laughed along with the Olympians, and even the mentors were chuckling softly.

Harry thought it was over, but he glanced at his new friends that were still watching the table. He looked back at the table, and watched as Ron smiled at the package in front of him. Ron took the box in hand, shaking it with a puzzled expression. Rafaella mumbled something, laughing as she did. It was then Harry found out why she was laughing. Ron had opened the box, and he saw brown critters crawling up the red head's arms.

They were spiders, and Ron was more or less flipping out. His screams pierced the air, and he fell to the floor. The hall turned to chaos. Some rushed to his aid while others laughed at what had just occurred. Harry was one that was laughing. He had never seen something so cruel and justified in his life.

"What's the matter, Weasel?" called Draco. "Spider got your tongue?"

"Oh god!" screamed Professor McGonagall. The laughing and helping stopped as the sounds of gurgling came to all of their ears. Harry's eyes flickered to Rafaella who smiled evilly, and he thought he saw red within her eyes. He gazed around, seeing the Olympians with the same cruel smiles on their faces. He realized the extent of how much they love their gods, and he felt that love within him as well. Even now he could feel that smile spreading across his lips as the professors rushed Ron to the hospital wing on a levitating stretcher.

The left only Dumbledore in the center of the Great Hall with anger emitting off of him. He stared around, his eyes settling on no one in particular. "Who was responsible for this?" he bellowed with such fury Harry had never seen before. No one answered his call. Everyone just looked around, but Harry settled his gaze on Rafaella who had turned back around and innocently sipped her pumpkin juice. He then stared up at Drennon and Natalie whom were whispering in hushed tones. Gabi had a very stoic look on her five year old features that somewhat put Harry at unease. She was usually happy.

"I'm going to ask again," said Dumbledore. He took a deep breath, almost like he was centering himself. "Who was responsible for this?"

Again, no one spoke up. The Headmaster, knowing the culprit wouldn't reveal his or herself, stormed out of the Great Hall, silence in his wake. Once his billowing robes were out of sight, the whole hall turned into a rumor mill.

"What spiders did you use?" whispered Draco.

Rafaella gave him a very dumbfounded look. "Spiders?" She stood up, stretching. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said with a wink before walking away.

Draco groaned, standing up and following her like a lost puppy. "I'll see you later," he mumbled as he followed the raven haired girl out of the Great Hall.

Harry shook his head, taking a bite of toast. He was tired from the training, and he could his muscles becoming sore. He was glad he just had to endure the training in the morning and the much more relaxing was within the evening hours. It was worse than Quidditch practice. In training, he had to worry about Razmir breathing down his neck, and he couldn't voice his opinion without fear of getting hit with something. He was worse than Snape, and that was saying something given how the man had treated Harry in the past years.

Pansy scooted into the place where Rafaella had been seated. She had a frown on her face, but she quickly put an emotionless façade up. There was a box with her, and she placed it on the table, opening it. The scent of chocolate traveled up Harry's nostrils.

"If it helps," said Pansy as she took out a piece of chocolate from the box. She extended it to him, and Harry took it. For some reason he trusted her. "There's something about dear Ginny that not many are aware of."

Harry bit into the chocolate, letting the soothing taste warm him.

"And what exactly is that?" asked Zane who was curious.

The surrounding people leaned in a bit as Pansy smirked and the secret poured from her lips. All through that, the emerald eyes of Harry turned a dark shade as anger filled his being. He glanced over at Slughorn, who was cheerily eating a muffin, and was vaguely aware of Zane's hand rubbing soothing circles on his back.

Hermione sat in a chair near the head of Ron's bed with his hand in hers. Tears strung her eyes as an onslaught of them slid down her face like tiny rivers. Hate was seen within her brown eyes, and her posture was stiffer than a wooden board. Ever since those Olympians had come into the castle they had ruined her master's plans for the year. With all the chaos going around she couldn't spy on Harry for him because of the fact that they were taking all his attention. And that inheritance wasn't what it seemed to be. She didn't believe in the gods. They were just stories for little children to listen to when they were bored or couldn't go to sleep.

Her hand absently went to her stomach and she fought back tears. She had missed her period, and she wasn't pregnant either since she had gotten tested for it. There was no ailment, and Madam Pomfrey told her that her reproductive organs had ceased to work. She hadn't told Ron either. All he had ever wanted was kids and she couldn't give him that.

"Mark my words," she whispered to Ron with love and devotion in her eyes. "She will pay for this."

Many wondered what exactly happened to the spiders that had attacked Ron Weasley. Hardly anyone knew that those spiders were actually baby Acromantulas that were smuggled in by some of the Olympians during their ceremonies. Thankfully the little babies, or tarantula sized babies compared to their father, had scampered away from the scene before the teacher had caught them. They were now safely in a box within Rafaella's hands. She could hear them talking to one another about the taste of human blood still warm in their mouths.

"Hush," she chided them as she walked to the other end of the castle. It took her forever to ditch Draco. As much as she liked him, she didn't want him getting bitten by them. Until the ceremony, she wouldn't know if she had the affinity for animals like she did.

She passed busy classrooms, the lessons being echoing through the castle. Every so often she would class to her left and right to be sure no one was patrolling. Sometimes she'd look behind herself to see if anyone was following. She knew no one would actually be out at this time of day with lessons going on. It was her free period and the part of the castle she was going to was abandoned that time of day.

The wind rushed around her as she walked out of the castle and towards the Forbidden Forest. She could see Professor Hagrid busy teaching some students about some type of animal she couldn't make out from the distance. She glanced up at the castle, her eyes scanning for any spies. The only one she saw was Draco Malfoy. He was up in the astronomy tower looking down at her.

Rafaella turned away from him. She remembered the plea he had given her about doing a reading as she set the box down on the ground and lifted the lid. Four Acromantulas skittered out, and she stood while watching them carefully.

"Thank you, human, for that delicious meal," one of them thanked in a girl's voice. She was bigger than the other three, the only female.

Rafaella simply bowed her head and watched the four spiders go into the darkness of the forest. With a wave of her hand the box had vanished, and she turned around towards the castle. She gazed up at Draco again, their eyes meeting from the far distance. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew she couldn't. She wasn't a prophetic. Far from one. Even if the twin of her goddess was a prophetic didn't mean she could also carry the gift.

She tore her gaze from Draco and started towards the castle. Persephone must have gone back to the underworld since Demeter's touch was leaving the earth. She prayed to Hades to watch over Persephone with love like she did every winter since she was five. Most would wait until the ceremony to do so, but she wanted to be the first to pray for safety for Demeter and Zeus' daughter. Of course she knew she would be safe given the love that Hades had for his queen.

Rafaella was so engrossed in her thoughts that she bumped into someone, knocking her to the floor. She shook her head, looking up to see who it was. Her wandless defense teacher, Alana, stood before her with a disapproving look in her hazel eyes. The woman was tall and had curves, but wasn't overweight or too thin. Her hair was up in a loose bun, and her midnight robes contrasted with her fair skin. Rafaella hadn't be taught by the wandless defense mentor is over two years. Mentor Alana was there to teach the younger ages.

"Do be careful, youngling," she said in a soft voice. She pulled the girl to her feet. "Mentor Ares could be watching." She left without a word. Mentor Alana was one of the most powerful, yet soft spoken, mentors Rafaella had ever encountered. She was a child of Hermes, and took pride in it.

Rafaella watched her mentor's figure recede into the distance before making her way towards Potions as the bell rang. She wasn't aware of the snake slithering behind her into another corridor to her right.

Lord Voldemort was usually not a patient man, but given the new information he had become a lot more withdrawn from his usual hostile behavior. His followers gathered within his meeting chamber, all of them taking their seats at the table he was seated at. From the head of the table, he gazed as all of his followers with a worried look on his newly acquired features. His hair had grown back to its jet black color, and was thick. He had grown it out and its mid back length was tied back by a green ribbon. His fair skin held smile lines, and crows feet around his red eyes. He was still handsome with his aristocratic nose, and slightly feminine jaw line.

Once the last of the followers took their seats, a man with a wraith like look and black hair, he rolled his knuckles on the wood of the table. "Now what is this I hear about a new, legit prophecy?"

Revenge is a rather sweet thing if you don't mind my saying of course. Tell me what you thought about this chapter.

Thanks and Spanks

Reebs