Last time...

"Brother, if only you would-"

"That. That right there, Thor, is yet another example." Loki snapped, cutting him off. "Were anyone to insult you in such a manner, they would have been made an example of; yet everyone is allowed their insults towards me, including you. You are not even insulted on mother's behalf."

Thor actually looked shocked at that, and their mother decided to separate the two before things could escalate further.

"Thor, you said you mistook her for Loki." Frigga reminded him. "Why?"

"I felt Loki's magic about her." Thor shrugged, as if it were nothing. "Tis odd that she also had a lightning bolt on her forehead above her right brow, the mark of Sowilo."

Chapter 32

"Where did you see her?" Frigga prompted urgently.

"The training arenas." Her eldest son stated, earnestly, though confusion marred his face as to her urgency. "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three sought to teach her a lesson in manners."

Loki snorted, no doubt thinking of their manners towards him.

"You two stay here. If she is who I think she is, I've been expecting her. I just didn't think…" Frigga ordered, trailing off as she left the library for the training grounds. "…so soon."

She heard the sounds of fighting, knew that she was close to the arenas, but she was not expecting what she saw when she arrived. A young girl around her youngest son's age was no longer fighting the self styled 'Lady Sif and The Warriors Three', but against much older trainees. Tyr looked absolutely beside himself with delight at having such a promising young student. When her weapon of choice snapped from the force she'd used to smack one of the older trainees about the head, the young girl did not yield as many others would have. Instead, the girl took a fighting stance, raising her fists to wait for them to come at her again.

Angered as the older trainees were, they no longer bothered with weapons either. They also did not bother with one on one fighting as was the custom. Instead, they attacked her in groups, and still she continued to fight them off. One finally managed to pin the girls' arms behind her, but she just used their own body weight to support her as she kicked another in front of her in the face, twisted her body, and sent the one that had been holding her flying across the room. Many of the young soldiers had been watching the fight with interest, and Frigga could understand why.

The moves the girl used were not taught to such young trainees, and she fought with a ruthlessness that belayed a hard life. The young girl looked shaken as she scanned the arena, but none of the other trainees got back up. Thor's friends had bowed out early, it seemed, watching the young girl with something akin to begrudging respect. When the young girl met Frigga's gaze, her eyes widened as fear filled them. A quiet litany of 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' filled the air, and the young girl backed up against the wall to curl in on herself against it as she slid to the floor.

"Your majesty, I didn't see you there!" Tyr exclaimed happily. "I see you heard about the new trainee. Haven't gotten her name yet, but she's got promise, this one! Such ability I haven't seen in ages!"

"I'm afraid she may not be able to join you, at least not regularly, Master Tyr." Frigga explained. "This one has the mark of Fate upon her brow. Perhaps, if she is amenable, some sort of arrangement can still be made."

The girl was curled up, rocking, still apologizing, but the rune was clear for all to see. Above her right brow was the rune Sowilo. Thor had been right about that. Frigga made her way through the training arena, and knelt in front of the young girl who was still apologizing. Gently, Frigga raised the girl's chin, and dabbed at her still falling tears.

"You've come a long way, Lítit Auðit." She stated, keeping her voice soft and gentle, and something in the girl eased. "Come. I think you and I need to have a talk."

Little Fated

"Am I…Am I in trouble?" The young girl asked hesitantly, taking deep breaths in an effort to try and rein in her sobs, and Frigga was struck by all too familiar and yet startlingly vibrant green eyes. "It was just those four at first, and sparring was even fun, but then the older kids…and I'm pretty sure a few adults…and then I just sort of…lost it…I didn't mean to…I just didn't want to hurt anymore…"

"You are not in trouble, but we should see your injuries tended." Frigga replied, suppressing her frown. Those words, something about those words…this was not a child that had lived a happy life.

The young girl sighed. No child liked to see the healers.

"Madam Pomfrey, she's a healer too, says that my bones are like Swiss cheese." The young girl agreed solemnly, rubbing at her eyes to dry the last of the tears.

"Swiss cheese?" Frigga inquired, standing up as the girl did the same.

"You know, kinda flimsy or brittle, lots of holes in it?" The girl replied with a shrug, still subdued. "I gotta take extra strength nutrition potions every other week. It was every day there for a while, but she thinks the potions have helped correct a lot of the damage the Dursleys did to me, which is good. I'd like to have a growth spurt at some point. Otherwise, I'm gonna be this short forever."

"You've been abused." Frigga concluded, guiding the girl along now.

"You know, it's amazing how many people have acknowledged that now that I've already done something about it." The girl remarked wryly, with no little bitterness. "I don't think I'm to live with them anymore, and I'm getting help to fix what they did. Other kids have it worse than me. I just got smacked around some, missed meals, locked away for a while. Other kids get messed with. That didn't happen to me."

Frigga didn't say anything, having the feeling that the young girl was trying to appear more at peace with her situation than she really was.

"Lady Eir? Are you busy?" Frigga called, as they entered the Healing Hall.

"Not yet, but I'm told I soon will be. Is this the one responsible?" Eir replied, rising from the desk Frigga knew the woman took to writing her notes on. "Tyr sent a messenger through one of the other pathways. Come, let me get a look at you. Take off your things, what you're comfortable with, not everything. I need to see where you've been injured, and then go from there."

The girl hesitated, distrustful, uncertain, but began taking off her clothes. It was all Frigga could do to hold in the gasp in her throat. This young child was littered with scars, some fresh, some old, some…didn't seem to belong to her somehow. It was strange how much this young girl reminded her of Loki; same black hair, same pale countenance, strong magic, green eyes. Though her eyes were a brighter more vibrant green, her hair certainly more wild, the girl before her reminded her quite strongly of her youngest son.

"Child…some of this is…" Frigga managed, pulling her hand back before she could touch the scars she saw on the girl's shoulders. "This goes beyond abuse even…to torture…Who did this to you?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you that." The girl objected. "I've seen you in dreams and stuff. You're all sensible, but you cave to the will of Pirate Santa whenever he makes some kingly decree, even if it is a stupid kingly decree; like not telling Loki he's adopted, or that he can turn blue like I can."

"…Like you can?" Frigga inquired hesitantly. Very few people knew of Loki's origins for a reason.

"Yup. First time I did it, a friend of mine thought a demon had eaten me! Can you imagine?" The young girl snickered. "I panicked, because I figured everyone would think I was a freak, but they just thought it was awesome. Wanna see?"

Before Frigga or Eir could answer that, the young girl before them turned into a Jötunn! Her blue skin was like cobalt, and though she was partially covered, Frigga was sure the markings ran the length of her body. Unfortunately, neither woman could hide the slight fear in their eyes when her glowing blood garnet like eyes met their own. Her skin returned to it's normal pale tone, and all her happiness seemed to disappear. Eir continued to heal the girl, but both women were a bit more hesitant than before, and the young girl put her clothes back on quickly in her hurry to leave.

"You know,…" The young girl eventually began, breaking the silence. "this is why Loki secretly hates himself."

and then she was gone.

...

Hera woke up gasping, taking gulps of air in as if she couldn't breathe it in fast enough, Hermione suddenly by her side.

"Did it work?" Hermione asked excitedly. "Did the potion work?"

Hera shook her head, unable to get the words out, waving her off halfheartedly in an effort for space.

"Oh, I wonder where we went wrong!" Hermione fretted, hovering over her friend as Hera tried to recover. "We brewed it correctly. I wonder if-"

"Mione." Ron, somehow suddenly impossibly there Ron (because he certainly hadn't been before), pulled their attention to him. "She can't breathe."

Hermione looked to Hera, instantly ashamed that she hadn't picked up on that. Hera was backing away feebly in an effort to give herself room to breathe, taking in half gulps of air, but nothing was quite making it. Ron was already talking her down, speaking to her clearly, holding her attention, getting her to take breaths and hold them for a little bit before releasing them, and slowly Hera started breathing normally again. She was shaky, but otherwise fine. If one didn't notice the slight hysteria in her eyes, they would have never realized how fragile her state was.

"Thanks, Ron." Hera murmured gratefully, though her voice was a bit scratchy. She looked to Hermione. "It felt like I was really there, but they could see me this time, and-"

"Wait, they could see you?!" Hermione gasped. Hera nodded. "This is huge! Do you know what this means?!"

"No, but I'm sure you can tell me." Hera chuckled fondly.

"Time theorists are going to love this! You being seen back in time means you were meant to be there, to be seen." Hermione insisted ecstatic. "What else? What else?"

"There was a regal woman who called me Little Fated. I think…I think she was expecting me." Hera admitted, hesitantly.

Hermione had never been happier for her friend, but she also knew this meant that Hera was worried about something she thought they might hate her for.

"I…I turned blue…and they didn't take it well." Hera mumbled. "They were afraid of me."

Oh. Oh, that was…not good…No wonder she'd been so hesitant.

"Did you hear any names?" Ron asked after a moment, figuring out some of what the potion was meant to do. "If you're trying to figure out who you were in a past life or something, names you hear are important. You can trace a family tree, and find those people, figure out who you were before based off of names you didn't hear when you heard those others."

"I did, but…I'm not sure I wanna know now…What if it's someone bad?" Hera worried.

"Then it was someone bad." Ron shrugged. "You're you, and they were them. You two did this to train for the third task, right?"

Both Hera and Hermione were quick to nod.

"Then shouldn't you give it another shot?" He suggested. "If they can see you, they can give you advice. Tell them about the tournament. See what they know."

"Maybe wait till you get some actual sleep?" Suggested Professor Snape, standing in the doorway, looking completely unsurprised as to their scheme. "Get to bed, all of you. And Weasley? I'd make it snappy, before I remember to take House Points. Don't. Think. I. Won't."

He was gone in the next moment, robes billowing as he walked down the hall.

"How does he do that?" Ron grumbled, glaring at the now empty doorway.

"At this point I've stopped wondering." Hera admitted sheepishly. "The more epic the thing is, the sooner he shows up to stop it."

"You mean the more likely it is to explode." Hermione corrected.

Hera just grinned. "That too."

"Potter, you will stay after class." Snape ordered, pinning her with a look to no doubt make sure she complied.

It was to be expected after the night she'd had, and everyone gave her sympathetic glances as they shuffled out the door. He waited till everyone was gone, closing the door before casting a silencing charm around it.

"What were you trying to do last night?" He asked, outright. "Weasley mentioned a last life."

"I don't know how to explain it…I'm not sure I understand it all…but, I've had these dreams since I was little little, and I thought…If there was something to them…If I was someone, you know…before this…things would make sense…" Hera admitted, fidgeting under his scrutiny. "There's obviously something going on with my magic, and-"

"You did not think to ask me, your master, the one with your Blood Inheritance Test results?" Snape interrupted.

"You've not exactly been the easiest person to talk to these past few years, you know. I might have figured out you didn't really hate me, but you can't deny you're an immature bully to school children, and that doesn't exactly boost one's confidence. Neville is still afraid of you." Hera countered, pinning him with a look now. Snape got thin lipped at that, but didn't say anything, knowing she was right. "Beyond that, I…I get that you're trying to be better this year, but I have a little over ten years of ingrained behaviour I'm trying to work through."

Whatever it was he had been expecting, it apparently hadn't been that, as evident by his delayed response.

"…What?"

Hera sighed heavily, and replied. "Don't ask questions."

He looked like he still didn't understand.

"That's the response I got whenever I wanted to know something. Don't ask questions." Hera explained. "Anytime I had a bout of accidental magic, not that I knew what it really was, I got 'Don't ask questions. Magic isn't real. Now get in your cupboard, and pretend you don't exist'."

The professor seemed to freeze, and that was the moment Hera realized she'd never actually explained her living situation to him. She'd never thought about it before, but he'd always just accepted that she was trying to get away from it and the Headmaster's magical custody. That just begged the question of how bad had his home life had been that he wouldn't question a kid's wish to get away from their relatives; not that she would be asking. She could only imagine what he was thinking, but it wasn't like he had a right to get angry either. He had been a bully to her for the last three and a half years, to countless others before that, and to everyone else in Hogwarts currently.

"We are getting off topic, but do not think we will not come back to this." He decided. "For now, we need to discuss what you were trying to attempt last night with that potion. Do you have any idea the risks of the potion you made?"

Hera nodded. "Hermione and I did a lot of research before we attempted it."

"And you thought that possibly having your soul lost in the aether, and traumatizing your friends with your not quite dead body, was better than asking the Dungeon Bat for help?" He added, and she grimaced.

"I…I can see pathways, entrances to places I know I shouldn't travel yet, like a big tree. It's all over the place. Most people can walk right through them and not be affected, or even notice; but there are places even at Hogwarts that I have to avoid, because I instinctively just know how to open them, and I might physically walk into a place I shouldn't without even thinking about it…" She trailed off, unsure of how to proceed. "I didn't think my soul would get lost, because it instinctively knows where it's going."

"And you didn't think to tell me this because…" He asked pointedly, trailing off for her to answer.

"I feel like enough of a freak as it is. Okay?" Hera huffed in exasperation. "I mean…Do you know anyone else with a born ability to shield their mind? Or turn blue? Or not feel the cold like you're supposed to? Sometimes I can want something so much, it just…shows up. I manipulate the magic around me without even thinking about it. I don't even realize I've done it until I catch someone looking at me like they need to rethink their whole life. Fred and George had to explain to me that I've been doing wandless nonverbal magic, and that I've been doing it for years – years! – and I didn't notice. How is it that I didn't even bloody notice? I'm just starting to learn about magic! I'm an apprentice at fifteen! I can't-"

"I understand, Potter. You have more power than most children ever have to learn to control so early. That is not a reason to panic; though your hesitance is understandable, considering who you were left with to raise you." Professor Snape interrupted, and she worked to get her breathing under control. "I am telling you now, that you can ask me things. I am your Master, Potter. You are my Apprentice. That means whenever you have a question, baring public appearances where you must defer to me as such, you can ask me anything. It is my duty to guide you. I may not be able to do most of what you just described, but I can help you learn to make better choices as you figure these things out."

She just arched an eyebrow at him, unable to help herself.

"I do, in fact, have a plethora of bad choices in which to reference what not to do. They're called character flaws for a reason." He pointed out, unimpressed with her silently calling him out on his own. "It's how I can guide you to make better choices than the ones I have made, leaving you free to make entirely new bad choices as you like. Now, is there anything you would like to ask me, considering I have your Blood Inheritance Test results here in my hand right now?"

He did too, even waved it around a little as if to tempt her.

"Is it bad that I still can't bring myself to ask, despite your heavy handed hinting?" Hera hedged. "I need to know, I do, but I…I can't…I can't ask…"

"Then I won't push you to, but we will be talking about this later. Now, off with you. Dinner's started already, and I imagine there's a legion of people waiting outside this door for you." Professor Snape stated, dismissing her from the room.