Last time...
"I didn't know what would happen, couldn't leave either of you down there. How was I supposed to choose? My first friends, my firstfriends, and they took you. They took you, and put you down in that lake, and I couldn't…" Hera whispered as she hugged them to her tightly. "What if something had happened to either of you? What if you had died? What would I have done?"
"We weren't in any real danger, Hera." Hermione soothed. "I know it doesn't change anything, but-"
"Something still could have gone wrong," Ron insisted quietly, as he rubbed little circles on Hera's back. "even with all Dumbledore's precautions. There's a reason this is called a Death Tournament."
"I can't lose you, either of you, my first friends." Hera continued. "If anything ever happens to you, if they ever do anything that gets you killed, there won't be anywhere they can hide from me. I'll make sure of it. I'll-"
"…'era?" Fleur interrupted, having been brought over by Madam Pomfrey. Hera plied herself away from her friends reluctantly, but relaxed upon seeing the extreme regret on her face. "You saved 'er, even though she was not your 'ostage."
"I couldn't leave her there. She's a child." Hera explained, shaking. "I couldn't…"
They were interrupted by Professor Snape, who was looking more than a bit bewildered.
"Potter, I've been sent to fetch you." He stated, straight to the point. "Dumbledore claims the mermish want to speak with you."
"Oh dear." Hera sighed. "Best get it over with then."
Chapter 29
She saw Dumbledore standing in the water a ways, talking with the mermish in whispers. It was easy to see how the water affected him, as he shivered and applied warming charms to himself. He looked as bewildered as Professor Snape did, looking over at her every so often before returning to talking with the mermish. The other judges had gone over to their table to deliberate, so she barely paid them any notice, except to note that Percy was once again covering for Mr. Crouch. Finally, she stalked out into the lake, sighing in annoyance as her skin once again began turning dark blue.
"I really do insist on being here. Hera doesn't understand mermish, and so I'll have to translate." Dumbledore explained to Professor Snape, in that grandfatherly genial way of his.
"I had no idea we were on first name basis, Albus." Hera replies innocently, and oh he did not like that.
"Hera, I am your headmaster." Dumbledore admonished quietly. "I don't think it's appropriate for you to call me by my first name."
"You're right. It's not appropriate for either of us to address each other with such familiarity. Perhaps you should call me Miss Potter, as does every other teacher here, or Lady Potter if you really want to stand on formality, Headmaster." She reminded him pointedly. This was apparently the year she didn't give a shite, but wow his shocked face was worth money. "I can take it from here, Professor."
"You do not understand Mermish." Dumbledore objected.
"Actions can be a language all their own, Professor." Hera replied innocently. "Yours have certainly spoken for you far more effectively than your words ever have."
The green bearded merman she'd mainly spoken with when near the hostages turned his head as if to hide his silent laughter, but his shaking shoulders betrayed him, and the others didn't bother hiding theirs.
"Very well. Do not take long, Miss Potter. The other Champions will be ready shortly." Dumbledore stated, trying to regain some measure of authority, before making his way back towards the shore.
"It might not be wise to provoke him, Potter." Snape remarked quietly, still standing just off to her side, shivering slightly.
"Might not be wise, but it sure is fun." She chirped, now thoroughly amused, before giving her undivided attention to the merfolk in front of her. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I have no doubt I will pay for that somehow, but teasing Dumbledore never gets old. At least, he means well…I think? Why did you wish to speak with me? I thought you'd be angry…I mean…You're still bleeding."
She waves towards his wounds as if to prove her point.
"You dropped this." The merman replied, handing something to her. It was the knife she'd lost when trying to rescue Gabrielle, a gift from Sirius.
"You found-"
"And this." He added, presenting her with the spear she'd taken from him. At this she stood at attention, realizing there was something far more significant going on than what she'd originally thought.
"Don't…Don't you kind of need that?" Hera asked stupidly. "You know…to protect your people and stuff?"
The Mermish looked at her pointedly.
"…It's just…" She stammered. "…I'd be selfish if I took it…I don't want to be insulting, but…why would you even want to give that to me?"
"Many would not think twice at taking trophies of battle when offered, yet even in this you set yourself apart." The merman noted, watching her fidget. "Come forward, Hera Potter, and accept the gift I offer."
"I…um…yeah, sure…okay." She replied awkwardly, shuffling forward a bit until he nodded for her to stop.
"Lower your head." He directed, and she did so in confusion. "I give you this, Hera Potter, as an offer of friendship. Rise and count yourself among friends."
He had slipped the necklace of shark teeth around her neck. Shite. There was no way she could leave this as is. Without warning, she started searching her pockets. There had to be something in here she could give him. She wasn't quite sure what was happening, but knew that it would be insulting to him for her to walk away without accepting his offer of friendship properly.
"I know it's not much, but here. Since we're gonna be friends and all." She insisted, unceremoniously shoving a guiding crystal into his hands. "It's always supposed to catch the light, at least a little."
"I look forward to seeing what becomes of you, Hera Potter." He teased, before he and the others began disappearing back under the water.
"Say, what's your name anyway?" Hera called out, causing the merfolk to all turn to her.
"You did not know?" The merman laughed in good-natured humour. "I am Chieftain Kailani!"
Seeing the shocked look on her face, he laughed all the more for it, before disappearing once more under the water. Turning around to make her way back to the shore, she stopped at the sheer number of people staring at her in shock. She had the strangest sense that they understood the significance of what just happened a lot better than she did. Even Professor Snape was looking at her with something close to thinly veiled astonishment. She looked down at the necklace of shark teeth, wondering just what she'd gotten herself into.
"They're not just staring at me because I'm all red eyed and blue right now, are they?" She asked, with a resigned sigh.
"Afraid not, Potter." Snape replied, eyeing her speculatively for a moment. "You have no idea what just happened, do you?"
"I didn't even know who that was till the end of the conversation." She admitted quietly.
"I shall endeavour to explain on the way, after you tell me what was said. The judges are ready." Snape offered. Hera sighed as she nodded, and began trudging her way back to shore, already dreading the long conversation that was going to result from this.
"Mate, I hope you know you're insane." Ron declared, plopping down in front of her across the table in the Great Hall. "Dating Hermione while Krum is? That's bad business, that is, especially with Skeeter trying to make a big stink about you turning blue."
"Of course, I know I'm insane, but what are you talking about, Ron?" Hera asked in confusion over her pumpkin juice. She had a feeling she was going to need a more fortifying drink this morning. "I'm not dating Hermione, or Krum before you ask."
He slid over a copy of Witch Weekly, and Hera was already rolling her eyes. That useless rag wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. She might be biased, of course, having a vested interest in the Quibbler. Looking over the article he'd pointed to, she could see what he was talking about, and began plotting a course of action. She didn't know what Hermione could have done to piss off the reporter, but she wasn't about to let Rita Skeeter drag her through the mud like this.
"Did you know we're dating?" Hermione asked casually, as she sat down next to her, a newer article of the Daily Prophet in hand.
"I had no idea." Hera murmured, and then tried to pull the biggest sad puppy eyes she could. "I wish you would have told me, Hermione. How could you break my heart so?"
"What we had was very special, but my heart longs for another." Hermione replied with all the drama of soap opera, even going so far as to hook her finger under Hera's chin to pull her slightly closer. The kids nearby were eating it up. "Don't worry. According to Witch Weekly, you're dating him too."
The two girls were able to hold each others eyes in smoldering tension for just a moment, before descending into laughter.
"Well, I'm glad you two think this is funny." Ron grouched. "Mum reads this stuff, and she'll think you're both…scarlet witches!"
That just made the giggling worse.
"A scarlet witch?" Hera tittered. "Should we…should we wear red letters next?"
"I am almost scared to ask." Victor remarked, as he strolled up to them, sitting next to Ron.
"Did you know Witch Weekly says Hera and I are dating each other, and cheating on each other with you?" Hermione asks casually, before descending into more giggles.
"Don't worry, I'm already suing them for libel." Draco commented from Hera's left. "They mention me as a jilted lover, as if Hera would have ever left me. I'm too pretty."
That shocked them out of their laughter, and then sent them right back into it.
"Seriously though, what are we going to do?" Ron asked, trying to get them to focus.
"Tony said this is the sort of stupidity that people send death threats for, which is worse for us. We can send curses, poisons, compulsions, all kinds of things through the mail. There's no regulation, and as far as I know, Hogwarts doesn't have anything to block out that sort of thing in the wards." Hera replied, already returning to her plotting and breakfast. "So we'll be going over detection charms in study group. I'm hoping there's an instant return to sender spell that disguises it as another letter, but let's not get too hopeful."
"You and Granger should get toadstone jewelry of some kind." Draco suggested. "You'll be getting the bulk of the letters, and some of them might send…gifts."
"Bloody hell, those are expensive." Ron exclaimed under his breath.
"It's because of how rare they are." Neville shrugged. "There might be alternatives, but none as good as those."
Hera got an idea, writing it down quickly in her little notebook, before pocketing it. Professor Snape was trying to get her into the habit of keeping her ideas to herself until she'd worked out all of the possible problems. Potions was a competitive field, and many stole the ideas of others simply because they'd spoken them aloud in conversation. She had no doubt other fields were similar in that regard. If there was a way to make lab grown diamonds and other jewels, maybe there was a way to apply that to a toadstone.
"Ouch!" Hermione cried out in pain, and Hera looked up to see that Hermione had opened up a letter.
Professor Snape was already making his way down the length of the table by the time Hera had started dabbing the stuff away with a wet cloth, Professor McGonagall hot on his heels.
"Undiluted bubatuber pus." Ron noted, gingerly picking up the envelope Hermione had opened.
"You'd best get to the hospital wing, Miss Granger." Professor Snape stated, running a cleaning charm over her hands. "I'll send a message to Madam Pomfrey to be expecting you. The rest of you need to get to class. The bell will be ringing any moment now."
Victor was already rising to escort Hermione to the Infirmary.
"Don't worry about class. I'll give you a copy of my notes." Hera stated before Hermione could ask about it, and the girl finally allowed Victor to guide her away from the table.
"I warned her not to annoy Skeeter." Ron sighed, watching their friend leave.
"Let me get this straight. Your friend gets attacked because an adult spread lies about them, and your response is to blame said friend. Have I got the measure of it?" Hera demanded, her ire turned to him. Ron had never turned so pale before. "Rita Skeeter is an adult, one who knows the powers words can have, and she used them to stir up trouble for a child. Hermione is hurt because of that, and your first response is blame her, to gloat that you were right?"
"What? That's not…I didn't mean…" Ron stammered. Hera just shook her head at him, and stalked off to class.
...
It was official. Nifflers were adorable, and she totally wanted one. They already shared a love of shiny things. She thought about how shiny New York must be, at least New York City, and decided that was probably not a good idea to introduce a Niffler to that kind of environment. She imagined Tony's workroom alone had lots of shiny things in it. It was hard to give the little guy back, but then again she also had to make sure it didn't have any of her things either. A lot of students had to do that.
"Why didn't you tell me about the gold at the World Cup?" Ron asks her after class. It still takes her a full minute to realize what he'd meant by that. Apparently, they were ignoring his comment earlier; for now.
"I did. At least, I think I did?" She replied, brows furrowed as she thought back on it. "Muggles might not know about magic, but even they have stories about leprechauns. People would go searching for their gold, thinking they could steal it from them, and the leprechauns would always trick them out of it. Of course, they think it's just old stories now. Why do you ask?"
"I didn't know leprechaun gold vanished after a few hours, and I paid you for your gift with it." Ron reminded her.
"Ron, I barely believe the gold in my own vault is real." Hera pointed out. He just looked at her like he couldn't grasp the concept. "Think about it, Ron. If you woke up one day, and got told you were rich, would you believe it?"
"Well, when you put it like that, I guess not." Ron chuckled.
"When I met my account manager at Gringotts and he told me I was rich, the first thing I said to him was 'Prove it', because I didn't believe something like that could happen to me." Hera admitted, sheepishly. "Knowing what I know about goblins now, I'm surprised he didn't just cut me down then and there. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed like he'd never heard anything so amusing before."