Last time...

"'Arry? Wha' are you doin' out here in the cold?" Hagrid asked, already trying to hide the fact he'd been crying. "Don' suppose ye heard tha'?"

"We did." She confirmed, patting his hand when he slumped in defeat. "Don't worry, Hagrid She might not be ready to face that, or it could have come about…badly for her mum or dad, yeah?"

"I hadn' thought of tha'." Hagrid admitted with a sniffle. "When did ye get so wise anyway?"

"I'm a girl. It's built in." Hera chirped.

"You still want ter be seen with me, even though ye know wha' I am?" Hagrid hedged, nervous, looking from Hera to Draco and back again.

"Hagrid, there's no way you're as dangerous as they say giants are." Hera rolled her eyes at him, and then pointed to the bushes. "I'm pretty sure that if one of those fairies landed on you right now, you'd adopt them or something equally ridiculous because you care so much."

Which, okay. Fair. Not like Draco could say that though.

"We should get you two inside, before ye catch colds." Hagrid mumbled, blushing. "'Arry's hands are already turn'n blue."

Except, Hagrid meant that literally.

"We'll go inside right now, Professor." Draco insisted. "Hera, come on. I think someone must have spiked your drink with a colour changing solution or something. Uncle Sev will have an idea how to fix it."

With that he ushered her inside and straight to his uncle, who took one look at her hands and said. "Follow me."

Once inside the office, Draco was surprised that his Uncle Sev started casting simple warming charms on Hera's hands until they turn back to normal.

"Coldest night on record, it seems, and you two decide to go outside." The man grumbles. "Now go back to the party. I've got to make rounds, and I'd rather not worry that one of you will try something stupid, like taking a swim in the Black Lake."

Chapter 27

It isn't until the next day that she begins stressing about the task again. She knows they'll take someone, knows she'll have to swim in the Black Lake, and that the Mermish were in on this somehow. She writes to Sirius, hoping he knows a way to stay under water for an hour, but it's Tony that comes through. He's staying in London till she's out of school, and it isn't like he can't take care of Stark Industries from anywhere in the world. She's not really sure why she writes to him at all, except that the Dursleys never made an effort to know her world the way Tony is doing, and she needs that kind of lifeline.

He starts asking questions, wanting to know as much as he could before giving her advice, and then asks her to measure her entire body. Hermione helps her there, probably having an idea of what Tony planned. A couple weeks later, he sends a package. The bird mail amuses him, he writes, and he now has a healthy respect for Hedwig. Hera's not sure she wants to know, but praises Hedwig anyway for being such a clever girl. She doesn't think an owl has ever looked so smug before.

It takes her a minute of inspecting the fabric before she realizes what it even is. A scuba suit. He's gotten her a skin tight scuba suit made from top of the line stuff, and the smallest breathing apparatus she'd ever seen. He'd designed it himself. It would hold for well over an hour if she needed it. Hera couldn't process what she was seeing, what it meant. He didn't really know her, other than that one day they had gotten to talk, and a smattering of letters. It had been nice, hanging out with him, but it seemed like he cared, and she didn't know how to handle that.

Trying it on in the bathroom she shared with Pansy, Millicent, and Hermione, Hera had to admit it made her look very…sleek? Streamlined? She looked fast, that was for sure. She also looked incredibly tiny. No wonder Madam Pomfrey was still worried about her. Even with an incredibly high metabolism, and a small stature, she shouldn't be this tiny.

Her mind was getting off track though, she realized, and shook her head as if to clear it. She was actually in here to test a theory. She'd discovered she could swim when she was little, around the time the Dursleys had tried to conveniently forget her at a water park for somehow ruining Dudley's birthday by being forced to go with them. Swimming in the Black Lake didn't worry her for that reason, but it did worry her for another. When she got cold enough, her skin turned blue; while so far it had only been her hands, swimming in the Black Lake might exasperate that to the point that her entire body turned blue.

So here she was in the rather luxurious bathroom, skin tight scuba suit on, and running the coldest water she could into the large tub. When it was filled up, she tested the water with her toes, and sure enough they slowly started turning blue, but she didn't feel cold. It felt lukewarm to her, and she wondered if this was another nutrition thing she'd have to ask Madam Pomfrey about. After swimming around in the tub for a while, because damn that thing was huge, she got out and began toweling her hair; though she noted there was something odd along the crown of her head. Her hands were fully blue now, and both her hands and feet had odd raised line markings on them, thus prompting her to see what her face looked like. Staring at now blood garnet coloured eyes instead of the emerald green she'd been expecting, along with strange markings all over her now very blue face, Hera realized she had bigger problems than she'd previously thought.

...

It was perhaps bad timing that Millicent chose that moment to step into the shared bathroom to check on Hera. Hermione had said she'd gone in there ages ago to test the new swimming gear in private, but that she would be decent, so Millicent needn't worry. Millicent on the other hand, upon seeing the blue skinned red eyed demon standing in front of the mirror, thought that maybe she needed to worry after all. The creature was staring at her own face, with one trembling hand touching it as if she wasn't used to seeing it that way, while the other was touching at the small horns that seemed to make a circlet on her head, but was shocked out of her investigation when Millicent dropped the glass she'd been holding. Millicent was not prepared for the creature to turn towards her in shock, to recognize her.

"Millie?"

She couldn't help the scream that come out of her then, and ran away as fast as her feet would carry her. Some demon thing had eaten Hera, and now it was residing in their bathroom! She had to warn the other girls! She had to tell Professor Snape! There was no telling what would happen if that thing was allowed a moment to gather its wits!

"Professor! Professor!" Millicent shouted, running headlong into his office. "You've got to come quick! There's a demon in the bathroom! It ate Hera, and used her voice to try to talk to me!"

"Calm down, and tell me exactly what happened." Professor Snape stated with a deceptive calm. "What did you see?"

It took several gulps of breath before Millicent could try again. "I went into the bathroom to get a glass of water. Hera was supposed to be in there testing out the muggle swimming gear her brother sent, but when I went in there, I didn't see her. There was this blue skinned red eyed demon! It knew my name! It stole Hera's voice! Please, Professor, you have to do something!"

"Miss Bulstrode, calm yourself!" Professor Snape demanded, before taking a calming breath himself. "What you saw was no demon, but Miss Potter herself. Her skin reacts to extreme cold in an unusual way, literally turning blue. It has never affected more than her hands, however, and it seems that in her attempt to get used to the temperatures like those of the Black Lake, she has exacerbated it."

"I thought…I thought it had eaten her." Millicent mumbled in embarrassment.

...

"Hera? Hera, are you alright in there?" She hears Hermione calling out. "Millicent ran out of there pretty quickly. Do you need help?"

If Millicent had freaked out upon seeing her, Hera realized, Hermione certainly would.

"Don't come in here!" Hera yelled out, panicked. "I'm fine!"

"You don't sound fine." The door knob began turning. "I'm coming in."

"NO!" She shouted, thrusting her hand out, causing ice to cover the door.

The shouting was muffled now, and Hera was in full on panic mode. They would go after the other doors next, but those were quickly frozen over, and Hera's thoughts spiraled out of control. The Dursleys were right! She was a freak! There was no way Tony was going to want to be her brother now! Ron and Hermione weren't going to want to be her friends! The school had supported her for nothing! She was going to have to drop out. No one would want her there!

...

Outside the bathroom, the doors slowly began frosting over. Frost traveled along the walls, on the floor, covering their things. Hermione watched as the frost moved, backing up when touching it began to hurt. Her breath came out in small puffs, also affected by the cold. All she could hear now on the other side of the door was sobbing, no matter how many times she called out to her friend.

"Granger, report." Professor Snape ordered, sweeping into the room.

"She's upset, Sir." Hermione replied, wringing her hands, not knowing what else to say. "I don't understand what happened. She won't talk to me."

"It's my fault." Millicent admitted, in a small voice. "I thought a blue skinned demon ate Hera. I didn't know her skin literally turned blue."

"You didn't hear about her grabbing a Dementor?" Hermione asked, and Millicent blushed in embarrassment.

"I thought it wasn't true; a crazy rumour, you know?" Millicent sighed. "I'm really sorry."

"She'll understand when she calms down." Hermione promised. "It's okay."

"Try to talk to her, if you can." Professor Snape interjected. "I'll be back in a moment."

When Tony heard the popping sound outside his London flat, he knew something had happened. He'd spent that morning dealing with Rita Skeeter on this side of things. As it turned out, she had contacts in the 'muggle' world that were all too willing to spread rumors about him, contacts he then happily sued for libel. Pepper had been on his ass all morning about the news articles she'd seen, and Obadiah was starting to ask questions Tony didn't have answers for. He'd actually gotten a red screaming envelope this morning from a 'Molly Weasley', and for a solid minute he didn't know how to react, torn between angry and utterly fascinated.

"Tony, you got any winter clothes?" Sirius asked, by way of greeting as he entered the flat. "Hera's in a panic, and you're going to need them. I've tried talking to her through the door, and I still can't get the frost out of my hair."

"Explain when we get there?" Tony asked, already heading for his room. "I thought muggles weren't allowed in Hog's Wart?"

"Normally they're not, but Minerva's agreed to let you in if you can help Hera." Sirius replied, not falling for Tony's bait. Damn it. "…Did you get a Howler?"

"A what?" Tony yelled from his room as he scrambled to put on enough thermal clothes to bake himself in.

"Floating red envelop that screams at you?" Sirius yelled back.

"Yeah." Tony confirmed. "Apparently, I'm ruining James and Lily's good name, and taking advantage of Hera's wish for a loving family."

...

Normally, he'd be all about asking these kids questions. He hasn't sat down and processed everything that's happened yet, not even after all this time knowing about it, not really. He wanted to know everything he could about this world he had suddenly found himself flung into, because he now had a sister who belonged in it. Now wasn't the time for questions though. Right now, Hera's magic was acting up, and she needed reassurances. She needed to know that she was still cared for, that she wasn't a freak, and that if anything being weird should be celebrated.

It was colder than he'd expected it to be, but thankfully he'd dressed for that. Kids huddled together under blankets near fireplaces. Frost edged along the walls, and Tony could tell that it was getting thicker the further along they went. Two girls waited in one of the dorms Sirius had mentioned, both decked out in thick coats and chattering teeth, which he gently shooed from the room. Hera's heartbreaking sobs could be heard from the other side of it, but not much else.

"Hera?" He called out, and the sobbing stopped with a gasp.

"Go away!" She cried in anguish. "I'm a freak! A monster! You won't want to be my brother anymore!"

"Isn't the fact that I'm here proof that that's not true?" Tony countered, deciding to get to work with the small ice pick and chisel he'd stored away. Edwin Jarvis, his father in all but blood, hadn't left him to lay in anguish alone whenever he'd been upset; he certainly wasn't going to let Hera languish now.

"You haven't seen me yet. I'm blue!" Hera huffed indignantly in between sobs. "BLUE!"

"Are we talking Violet Beauregard, or Blue Man Group?" Tony inquired while he worked.

"I don't…I don't know who either of those people are." Hera replied, sniffling, momentarily confused.

"Oh, no. Say it isn't so." Tony pleaded dramatically, causing her to snort. It seemed to be easier to work the ice when she was distracted or amused, so he focused on that. "I keep trying to bait Sirius by making fun of Hogwarts by calling it Hog's Wart, and he doesn't even blink."

"Make serious jokes." She eventually replied, with a small voice. "He can't help himself."

"Serious jokes, like about his name?" Tony asked, to clarify. "Seriously?"

"He'll tell you he's always Sirius." She added conspiratorially, with what sounded like little puffs of breathless laughter.

"I'm going to have to remember that." He admitted ruefully. "But seriously though (pause for her breathless laughter again) What's with naming a school Hogwarts? It sounds like a skin condition hogs get; Hog warts. I was told the town closest to this place was called Hogsmeade. Do Hogs drink meade here? Is that a thing? Are there magic hogs drunk off their asses just rolling around in the mud somewhere, living their best life? There's even a bar called the Hog's Head, and I swear to God if there isn't a hog's head proudly displayed front and center in that place, they're wasting an opportunity there."

The ice cracked then, and Tony was able to pop the door open before she could refreeze it. His heart broke at the sight before him. Hera (and wow, she was even more blue than she'd been in her baby pictures) was huddled in the corner, too afraid to even look at him. She was back to sobbing, trying to curl in on herself in the hopes that he wouldn't see her. He made slow careful movements, until he could kneel in front of her, so as not to spook her further.

"We're definitely watching Willy Wonka and Chocolate factory later, Miss Beauregarde. It seems someone didn't stop before they got to the blueberry pie." Tony couldn't help but comment softly, even though she wouldn't get the reference. She peaked up at him from over her arms, hesitant and uncertain, with eyes the color warm blood. "So you're blue. Put you in a Hockey rink, or a foot ball stadium, and no one will think twice. We can say your skin is just like that because you're such a fan of sports, that you went looking for a permanent skin dye, or had your skin tattooed blue in defiance of social norms. We can say you got contact lenses to make your eyes red, no problem."

"I don't…I don't understand…" She stammered. "…You…Why aren't you like-"

"The Dursleys?" He inquired. She hesitated, but nodded. "You know, I've met them, and if that's what normal is, I'd rather you be a freak."

She blinked uncomprehendingly, trying to process what he'd said.

"Hera, that wasn't normal. Those people, that place, how they treated you, none of it was normal or okay. That was suburban hell if I've ever seen it, and I don't know how you made it out of there without losing your sanity. You couldn't get me to live there if you paid me." He continued. "You wanna be blue the whole time? No problem. I'm from New York. We've got all kinds of weird there. We celebrate our weird there; freaks, mutants, all kinds. I'm pretty sure there's a huge magical community there, now that I think about it. Some of the clothes I've seen, gotta be wizards.

Now, I won't lie. There are assholes everywhere, and New York is no exception, but you won't have to hide. I probably should have mentioned this sooner, but I sort of bullied the Dursleys into signing custody of you over to me on the mundane side of things. I really should have asked you first, but I wanted it to be a surprise. You can live with me in New York. I don't see anything wrong with you living there, and still coming to school here if that's what you want, or we can keep living in London. I'm kinda liking it there, though I'd have to move out of the flat I'm in, and probably apply for temporary citizenship. You can teach me the slang, and- oomph!"

She'd practically launched herself at him, hugging him like her life depended on it.

"I thought…I thought if Millie was scared of me, my other friends would be too, and you'd never want to be my brother!" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"That girl thought a demon had eaten you." He tells her quietly, sounding scandalized. She snorted.

"So I over reacted?" She guessed, sitting back against the wall again.

"Eh, you're going through magical puberty. I assume it's filled with hormones, and like a crazy amount of glitter. Magical anything makes me think of glitter." Tony shrugged. "Also, I expect it means you to randomly burst into song for no reason, and call animals to you that can clean your room."

"Why aren't you bothered by this?" She sniffled. "I'm blue."

"My mom had a box of photographs, pictures of you. I didn't know for years, but when your godfather found me, I went looking for that box, and discovered the pictures your parents sent." He admitted. "You were this kind of blue in some of them. They called you their little blueberry."

She was hugging him again before he could think of anything else to say.

"There's so much I want to tell you, so much I can't." She spoke quietly through her sobbing. "It's not about whether I can trust you. I don't know if you can protect your mind like I can. There are people in this world that can pick out your thoughts, search you mind for memories, and you wouldn't even know. They wouldn't even ask if they could, or wonder why they'd even need your permission."

"Then I'll figure it out. I'll figure out how to protect my mind. You're so incredibly strong already. I'll figure out how to be strong too. You'll never be without family again. I promise." He whispered into her hair. Leaning her back a bit so he could look at her, he continued on as normal. "So, I'm cool with you being blue, but can you dial back the ice a bit? I've got frost in my goatee, and that's not a good look for me."