Last time...

"Your writing is atrocious." He noted, unable to read a thing it said, and then looked at what was in her hand. "Is that Moody's eye?"

"Yes." She replied, all but growling the word. "It is."

"And what are you doing with it? How did you even get it?"

"Mapping out the magic. I need something of it to see through things but know they're there." She continued writing as she explained. "I may have tricked him into thinking I destroyed it after he witnessed something he shouldn't have."

"Why?" Draco wondered. "Not that that isn't enough of a reason, but well…We can't help if we don't know what you're doing."

Hera actually stops for a moment; stops moving, stops writing, stops breathing. She's in too much shock, unable to process what he's said even though he knows she's heard it. Anger and protective instincts fuel her actions now, he knows. He's seen it in his mother and father often enough, though they have different ways of going about it, but it's more than that. Hera has chosen a path to follow, and she's already halfway into walking it alone.

It was confirmed for him when she leveled him with a look that rivaled even theirs, as she declared. "You're not going."

Chapter 60

"I realm hop in my dreams, Draco. It's literally throwing my soul through the aether, across time and space, to the last time my soul was as young as it is now. You physically can't go." Hera corrected, before it seemed like she was forbidding them; which she sort of was.

"You mentioned that before, in the kitchen. Sorry about that. Bit hard not to hear when you're on the way for a sandwich; surprised no one saw me. I was passed by several times." Ron rushed through the apology before getting back to his thoughts. "Realm hopping. This is what the potion did, but I thought it was temporary, for the tasks."

Hera and Hermione shared a look, which seemed to confirm it for him.

"It wasn't just for the tasks then."

"No. It wasn't." She admitted, and then sighed. "I was having dreams that couldn't be real but are, have been my whole life. I needed answers, and I couldn't just trust that I could ask. It's too ingrained for me to not. Now when I dream, sometimes I'm also physically in the past as well as here."

"Is that something you can talk about?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"No." She answered almost instantly, before hazarding to add. "At least, not here. Too many chances to be overheard. If you really want to know…(She looks to them all, not one of them backing down)…we can go to the Chamber of Secrets once we get to school. I'll tell you what I can then – everything, if you want – providing your Occlumency shields are strong enough."

"You should know that we're going to help you with this no matter what, so don't even bother trying to stop us." Hermione informed her, before taking a look at her notes. "Hera, these calculations are intense. Also, Draco is right. You're writing is atrocious."

"It helps that it's not all in English." Hera pointed out. They all seemed to freeze at that. "Oh, right. I can fix that! Come here."

Though they all move forward, none of them were quite prepared for Hera to put thumb to forehead, and gently send magic into their brains.

"Congratulations, you can now understand any language. I think what I did only works for the written word, but we can test it out later if you like. All-Speak is a bit tricky that way, and I'm not entirely sure what I just did was in any way legal."

Hermione made a squeaking sound, and suddenly began devouring the knowledge before her.

"Hera, this is…"

"I know, but I didn't realize I was writing in multiple languages until I stopped." Hera insisted, blushing in embarrassment and rubbing the back of her neck in nervous habit. "I think it's part of how the eye was constructed. So…what did you guys want to talk to me about? You lot looked like you'd prepared a speech, or an intervention maybe."

Draco stepped up, and placed a book in her hands. The book felt old, not even taking into account the magic Hera could feel in it. The word jumped out at her as soon as she opened the book; Horcrux. So that's what the locket had been, what the diary had been. She had no doubt what was in her scar was a piece of Riddle's soul, but this is the first time she'd found a word for it.

"Draco…What are you doing with a book like this?" Hera asked, playing on the side of caution. Just because he was handing her a book that had the information about what was in her scar didn't mean…One look from the book to them, and that plausible deniability flew right out the window. "How long have you known?"

"After you came back from the graveyard. We were under the cloak when you told them what had happened. I worked out what you were talking about, and told these two." Draco admitted. "The Malfoy family library is extensive."

Hera went back to flipping through the book for a moment, before murmuring. "There's nothing in here on how to deal with a horcrux that's within a living being."

"No…" Draco acknowledged. "…there isn't."

"There's nothing?" Hera asked, looking back up from the book in shock, unable to believe it. "In the entire Malfoy family library? There's really nothing?"

"I've done a lot of reading this summer." He elaborated. "I can't be certain, but so far? There's nothing."

"I…" Hera began, uncertain how to proceed.

They were worried, she realized. Ron had a stubborn determined expression, stone still, daring her to downplay this. Hermione fidgeted, biting her lip and rubbing her hands, but she too was determined, and Draco…Draco looked grim, like he'd literally done nothing but his level best to read the entirety of the Malfoy library during the whole of summer, and he didn't like her odds. Still, he was here as they were, as determined as they were.

"I'm not giving up that easily, and I don't think you should either." Hera proclaimed, parroting the words her brother (and it still amazed her that she had a brother, especially one who would stand by her) had spoken.

"Hera?" Hermione inquired, though the actual question wasn't spoken.

"I realm hop in my dreams, Hermione. Maybe they have answers we can't find here, and if they don't-" Hera had to cast a quick muffliato on the room so the adults didn't hear the objections from her friends at that last bit.

"Listen to me." Hera insisted, clasping Hermione's shoulder. "If they don't, that is something I will have to accept. That does not mean I have to roll over, and show Ole' Snort-a-wart my belly."

"Hera?" Ron now.

"If I have to, I will greet Death like an old friend." Hera let go of Hermione's shoulder to grip Ron's. "It is a legend in my family. I've been reading too, you know. Winky and Dobby have been bringing me books from the Potter Family Library over the summer as well, though I doubt I've read as much as Draco. That doesn't mean I'm going to go seeking my death, Ron. I'll greet Death like an old friend if I have to, but if I have to, whoever does me in is going to have to bloody well earn it. I'm not just going to stand there, and let them kill me. That's entirely unsportsmanlike. What would my mother say?"

It must have been the right thing to say, because Draco chuckles, unable to help himself.

"Only you, Potter."

"You slip and call me Hera sometimes, you know. Might as well just stick with that, Draco." Hera countered with a cheeky grin. "This is what you three came to talk to me about?…Wait…How did you two get Draco in here? Do the others know?"

"No…I sort of…" Ron fumbled to explain, having not expected her to just roll with this. "…workedouthowtocreateanillegalflooconnection."

"I'm sorry, you what?" Because even All-Speak hadn't been able to translate that.

"I…sort of…worked out how to make an illegal floo connection."

"…Ronald Weasley, and here I thought I knew you!"

"Afraid we can't stay for breakfast Hera." Arthur stated upon seeing her and the others shuffle down to breakfast the next morning, not looking surprised to see Draco there at all. Tony looked like he was praying to the coffee cup he held close to him, bleary eyed as he was. "Ah, Draco, I'm sure your parents know where you are?"

"I told them I was staying over at a friend's house." Draco confirmed, hinting that he'd not given away the exact location.

"And the reason you're here is because…?" Tony trailed off, eyeing Draco from over the edge of his coffee mug.

"Private business, I'm afraid." Draco countered quickly, not wanting to reveal anything.

"Why can't we stay for breakfast?" Hera interrupted, hoping to sidetrack the two grown men from interrogating Draco.

"Just got word Fudge wants a meeting as soon as possible, and he's cleared his schedule to see that he gets it." Arthur relayed.

"Percy?" Hera inquired, to which Arthur nodded.

"With that being said, you should come along, Draco. I'm sure your father will be there." Arthur concluded, and rushed them out the door; Tony swiftly downing his coffee to follow behind.

...

They did not use the public entrance as she had when she'd come here with Tony, but a little area off to the side. She wouldn't have even noticed it had Arthur not steered them towards it. Draco seemed to know exactly where he was going though, so she assumed this was one of the secret passages throughout the Ministry that he'd bragged about back when they weren't quite friends. One side look at him only confirmed it, considering he'd pinked a bit in the face at catching her glance his way, obviously remembering the same thing she was. It didn't help that Arthur picked up on it either.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't know about this before, Mr. Malfoy." Arthur stated, as they made their way further into the space. "I'm also going to pretend that you haven't bragged about it at some point, should you have somehow stumbled upon the knowledge, as I know your father too well to think he would take such a thing lightly."

Draco paled again, but nodded in understanding.

They came out of the tunnel just behind a rather large potted plant, the wall itself closing behind them, leaving not even a dust trail to show a door had been there at all. Amelia Bones was waiting for them off to the side, standing by another door. Hera barely had the time to register that the secret passage lead almost straight to the Minister of Magic's office. It was a good idea for escape, should one be needed and the apparation wards cut off, but it felt like a huge security risk as well. Inside the office, Percy was flitting about nervously, while Fudge and Lucius Malfoy both looked through folders.

Seeing them, Percy takes one look at them and sighs. "You haven't even had breakfast, have you? Here, I'll-"

He went to either summon a house elf, or the food directly, but Hera stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Percy, sit down. You look like you need a break." She insisted, guiding him to one of the chairs to the side of the desk. "Winky?"

"Little Miss!" Winky exclaimed, upon popping into the room. Taking the scene in, she inquires. "Breakfast?"

"If you would, please, we would all appreciate it. You're a treasure." Hera nodded. Winky snapped her fingers, and what looked like parts of the Hogwarts feast was spread out before them. "Winky…Where did you call this from?"

"Potter Estate is having elves. Winky and Dobby is being go betweens till they can be speaking with you personally. They is not quite understanding days off or payings and uniforms, but they is happy to be having family to look after again." Winky explained, before popping out again.

Hera sighed, suddenly melancholy, looking down at her food. "I had always hoped my grandparents were better about how they treated other beings. If even their elves don't understand why I want to treat them like everyone else…"

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Potter." Draco reminded her quietly. "It's likely they treated their elves better than others of the time, but never thought to push the boundaries. You did."

She didn't miss the look filled with mixed emotions Lucius sent his son, though Draco did.

"Now that we have all been taken care of, we need to get this meeting started." Amelia reminded them, but that just brought up another question.

"What is this meeting about?" Hera asked, as she began cutting into her eggs. Fudge lowered his folder so that she could see the pictures of her fighting the Dementors alongside Fenrir. "Oh."

"Lady Potter, there are only two possible reasons this could have occurred, neither of which are palatable to anyone; least of all myself." Fudge began with a grave sigh. "If it is not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then one of my own people sent them. Madam Bones informed us that one of the Dementors outed my own Senior Undersecretary as the culprit. She has also informed me that there is already an inquiry into Dolores, has been for some time, but only now is there the chance to truly investigate!"

"Because she's being sent to Hogwarts." Hera cut him off. "Because you wanted to raise a stink with Dumbledore!"

"I am aware of my own shortcomings, Lady Potter." Fudge admitted with a slump of his shoulders. "It took time to accept that You-Know-Who had returned, if only for a short moment."

"Since when?" Hera countered, crossing her arms as she leaned back against her seat.

"I believe that may be my doing, Lady Potter." Lucius informed her with a slight nod. "With everything that has happened, I felt it time to inform him of his errors."

"He told me you faked that memory you gave to the Ministry, that you knew I would…How did you put it?…Ostrich? He then shared with me the memory he had of the true events of that night, and I…" Fudge admitted, floundering a bit there at the end. "…Not discounting your intelligence, Lady Potter, but if my own shortsightedness can be so easily predicted by a teenage girl who had never really met me, it is time I take a good hard look at myself. I fear I may not be the right person for Minister."

"No one is ever the right person for the job, Minister. They get that way by becoming what is needed for it." Hera pointed out, stopping the man short. "It is a trial by fire in a sense, and you either come out the other side forged stronger, or you become the ashes. You can not hesitate, or the fire decides for you. Stop. Hesitating."

"Speaking of the right person for the job." Amelia interjected, her eyes flitting to Tony's for a moment before settling back on her. "Are you still okay with going through with this? Though you are the Lady of your House, and Of Age as decreed by Magic, you are still an underage witch who should not have to bear the burden we are asking of you."

"At least you actually asked. Most just tell me it's my responsibility, that I owe them because I'm the Girl–Who–Lived. Besides, you need her kept busy while you all investigate her. Having her at Hogwarts can do that, but if she's the type to send Dementors after a single wixen child in a muggle neighbourhood, then there's no telling what she'd be willing to do to the others. I'm already working on a way to hopefully protect them." Hera worried. "How's Dumbledore taking things so far?"

"He's made his thoughts clear on the matter, believing You-Know-Who is involved." Lucius supplied with derision. "He has not been told what you relayed to Madam Bones."

"Great, so I have to keep him busy too." Hera groaned. "Why am I doing this again? And don't say for the Greater Good. I hate that phrase with every fiber of my being."

"If we can get the evidence we need on Umbridge, she won't be able to persecute anyone else like she has already." Amelia supplied from her place by the desk. "As for Dumbledore…"

"Keep him distracted with talk of 'fighting the ministry' or whatever subject you wish to choose, and I'll talk to my wife about sending you more of those dark chocolates I know she made for you when you secretly tutored Draco in Charms." Lucius proposed.

"Sold." Hera agreed, while Draco sputtered in denial, reaching out her hand so that they could shake on it. Percy actually looked a bit perplexed by her agreeing so readily. "What? Those chocolates were amazing."

"I need every child still going to Hogwarts to come with me. Now." Hera declared as soon as they were safely within the walls of Grimmauld Place, Draco following along behind with Tony. Her tone was apparently such that no one questioned it, though she pinned Fred and George with a look. "Not you two. You're members of the Order, aren't you?"

"We were looking to be, though maybe the action isn't with them." Fred admitted, contemplative, before looking to his brother. "What say you, Gred? Interested in staying out of the Order?"

"Indeed I am, Forge." George agreed easily, a conspiratorial grin already working its way across his face. "Something tells me Hera's where the fun is."

"Fred? George?" Molly called, having followed her two sons into the parlor where Hera had made her declaration. "Hera, what is the meaning of this? I thought we agreed you'd keep them out of trouble! That you'd keep them safe!"

"No. I vowed on my magic to protect your children to the best of my ability, to prepare them to be able to defend themselves and others. I did not vow to keep them safe, and I certainly didn't vow to keep them out of trouble." Hera snapped, and Molly clammed up. "War means casualties, Molly. It means no one is safe; especially not children."

"Hera, as their mother I chose not to inform them of what's going on." Molly insisted, her face getting red. "You cannot interfere."

"Actually, I can." Hera corrected. The outrage overtook Molly's features in an instant, but it was the work of a simple wave of her hand to insure that the woman did not release her anger as anything other than a silent exhale due to being silenced. "You see, while they are your children, I am not. While you have authority over them, that authority does not extend to me. Therefore, I have every available chance and ability to interfere; and barring forbidding their friendship with me, there's nothing you can do about it."

"If they don't know anything, they won't be hu-"

"Bullshit." Hera snapped, drawing the attention of those around her even more. "I am the focus of his anger, his rage, his goals. Who do you think he will go after to get to me? An adult perfectly capable of defending themselves, or the defenseless child that was left ignorant of the danger they were in? I know he will come for me, as does your precious Order, and yet all of you are content to try and keep us as helpless children; even me."

"You are a child!" Molly objected, having found new vigor.

"I should have been able to be, you're right about that, but that stopped being true when I killed my first man at eleven years old." Hera agreed coolly. "It stopped being true when I was dropped off on the Dursleys doorstep like the morning paper, when I was forced to endure a decade of abuse while wondering what I did wrong. It stopped being true the moment I realized that my parents had to have known how irresponsible it was to have a child when they were both fighting in a war they had no guarantee of surviving, and chose to have me anyway. It stopped being true the moment I realized no adult would ever get up off their lazy arses and do what needed to be done, content to let a child of prophecy solve their problems for them."

"Hera, your parents-"

"Chose to fight in a war, just as you are choosing to do now." Hera snapped, cutting her off. "They chose not to flee the country with me, or to send me away as was the norm. They chose to trust the wrong man. They chose death, and now their daughter walks this world without her parents. That's on them."

Hera stomped over till she was glaring up at the mother of several of her friends.

"Dumbledore had ages to do something about Riddle and his lot. He chose a long drawn out plot that did nothing but cause more suffering and death, and now we are all facing the repercussions of that choice." Hera continued. "My childhood ended the moment I realized that even now you want to defend him, want to deny that he's left his problems at my feet, and cursed me as a child of prophecy. Those tend not to live long; I've checked. If you'd really wanted your children safe, you'd have never let them anywhere near me. I will do what must be done, and your children will be given every chance to survive this war, but know that it is you that cannot interfere."

"I'm their mother!"

"You are," Hera agreed, and her lips tilted into a cruel smile, even as her eyes began to sting with tears unshed. "but what's done is done, and what's said is said. You are the one whose magic accepted my vow; the vow of a child, one of prophecy at that, and the Lady of her House. You can't interfere, or your life and magic will become just as at risk as my own, and you know it. Now unless you want to risk interfering with a vow of magic, I'd suggest you call your little Order meeting together, and give them something to really worry about; like figuring out how to end this war before I have to teach your children how to fight in it."