Last time...

"Nagini told me you stopped her from entering the Hall of Prophecy." He stated, feeling the end of the conversation was nearly upon them. How he knew that, he couldn't yet say.

"I tried to stop her from attacking my friend's dad." Potter corrected. "Snape told Dumbledore that I knew, that you knew, and the Headmaster still felt the need to guard the hall. He didn't tell the others, set them to guard it anyway. Arthur is in St. Mungo's. Snape is trying to come up with an antivenom. I don't know how successful he's been."

"She did mention biting someone." He commented. She looked…worried, he realized; noting with muted annoyance that that bothered him. "I could send some of her venom to Severus. It should help him craft the antivenom he needs."

Her surprise is enough to throw him, eyes wide as she looked at him now. "Why would you do that?"

"Do not consider this my choice made. I have not decided." He made a point of sounding scathing as he said it, causing her to smooth out her facial expression into a more neutral one. "I simply thought this would level the playing field. I did not wish an offence against a potential ally, should that be the route I choose."

"A more even playing field would be good for negotiations." She agreed, but he could hear the relief in her voice; most likely for the life of her friends' father.

"Do try not to drown in hot chocolate, Potter." He replied, not deigning to comment on it further. "I will have more questions later."

"We can go to the Hall of Prophecy together at some point in the future, if you like." She offered with a wicked grin as she began fading away. "We'll see what the Fates have to say then."

Chapter 84

Ginny frowned as she looked over at her dad. While he wasn't having to take the Blood Replenishing potion ever hour anymore, they hadn't quite worked out the exact formula for an antivenom. Snape was still working with the healers to try and come up with something a bit more fortifying. It was the arrival of the original snake's venom that shocked not only Ginny, but Snape himself. Clearly this meant something more than Ginny understood, but it was another piece to the puzzle that she was trying to put together.

Looking to Fred and George, who were no doubt still trying to listen in on the conversation her parents were having with Ron, Ginny asked. "How did we get here?"

"Hera brought us." George shrugged.

"Yeah, but how?" Ginny pressed. Both Fred and George froze. "Hermione quotes Hogwarts: A History enough to where even I know you can't apparate in and out of Hogwarts. It's not a suggestion, or a breakable rule. It's built into the wards. So, how'd we get here?"

"Hera…" Fred frowned, pausing as he tried to work it out. "She…"

"Hera apparated, not only within Hogwarts to get to each of us, she did so to get us here." Ginny stated firmly. "I don't remember using the Floo. Do you?"

"Ginny…"

"Just how powerful is she?" Ginny wondered; and that was the question, wasn't it? Just how powerful was their friend? "Also, there's something else. Whenever she's annoyed about something, I've noticed there's this stench in the air. I couldn't quite place just where I'd smelled it before, but then I remembered your alter…with the rubber chickens."

"Ginny…"

"It's the same smell." She continued to press. "Why would Hera smell of burnt rubber chickens when she's angry? The same smell that you create when you burn your offerings on that alter of yours! Just what is she hiding that she won't tell us, but she will Ron and Hermione, and Malfoy of all people?"

"Ginny, stop." George insisted, more serious looking than she'd ever seen him look, but he isn't looking at her. He's warily watching the rest of the ward, not wanting this to be overheard.

"Fine, what about what she said to our parents?" Ginny asked, switching tactics. "He's back, truly back, and yet Hera isn't worried? She offered him a way out. A chance to get along side. A choice. You heard her."

Fred and George shared a look.

"What if he decides to agree with her, to get alongside?" Ginny continued, glaring at them now. "Is that just something we're supposed to accept?"

"I think…Yeah…I think we are." Fred nodded, shocking her. She went to protest, but he cut her off. "That little black book you mentioned Hera swiping from your cauldron, Ron spoke about it, said it felt wrong to her. That's why she took it, so it wouldn't hurt you."

"A piece of his soul was in that book, and she knows what that feeling is." George revealed. "Hera was able to get rid of it, but who knows what it would have done to you?"

"Before your first year, there was a professor. She had to kill him when he attacked her, said he had You-Know-Who's face on the back of his head." Fred added. "She's protected us all more times than I can count, and if that isn't enough to give her the benefit of the doubt on something as large scale as this, I don't know what would be."

Back to just after the mess with the Third Task…

Fred and George had tried to listen in from the door, but the wards weren't having it. Between Madam Pomfrey being as diligent as she was, and Snape being a paranoid bastard, they didn't have a chance. So they waited in an unused classroom, with disillusionment charms cast on themselves, for when the three made their move, and kept an eye on the map. Hopefully, they would talk about what they'd learned in there. It was a stroke of pure luck that they'd chosen the unused classroom that the three ended up using.

They listened as Ron raged against Dumbledore, as he told his friends what he'd worked out. They should have seen it for themselves really, because looking back, it was so obvious! Learning what a horcrux was had not been something they'd expected either, neither was how to get rid of them. It also came with the chilling realization that Hera was…Hera was a living horcrux. She'd saved Ginny who knows what kind of fate when she'd stolen that small black book, but what fate awaited her?

"In order to get rid of the horcrux in a living vessel…you'd have to kill the vessel."

They can't react. If they do, those three would know they'd been spied upon. If they react at all, they'll end up crying like Ron was, screaming in anguish and rage. Hera is a dead woman walking. What's worse is Fred and George suspect she already knows this. There's something about the way she acted, the way she looked at certain things, all of which seemed to fall a little too easily into this new mindset.

His parents had called him towards the bed, having placed a privacy ward up so that his siblings couldn't overhear whatever it was they wanted to talk about. He highly doubted it was anything that would stop the healers from coming and going as needed. His mum and dad seemed to be having a private conversation with their eyes, which was entirely unhelpful. He didn't even know what they'd called him in here for. In all fairness, he was still pretty sleepy from earlier, the excitement wearing down to leave him even more exhausted than before.

"Now, Ron," His mother began, and Ron internally cringed. No conversation with his parents ever went well when it started with the words 'Now, Ron'. "with everything that's going on, we need to know you're going to be careful. Trouble finds Hera whether she goes looking for it or not, and with what she's doing now…giving that monster a chance…"

Now he was awake.

"I thought I'd dreamt that." He muttered to himself, earning him worried looks from both his parents, and he realized that he hadn't said it low enough to where they couldn't hear him. He'd have to explain what he meant by that now. "It was after a Quidditch match. Hera needed to stay overnight in the infirmary, and Madam Pomfrey let us camp out in there since there wasn't another patient and we're Hera's shield brethren. I heard her talking to Professor Snape about what What's-his-name's life was like as a kid, how she'd seen it, how she decided to offer him a choice."

"Do you really think she could get him to-" His father began, but his mum cut him off.

"Shield brethren?"

Ron froze, knowing he was stuck, but it had at least gotten them from asking too much about what he'd heard. Slowly, he rolled up the sleeve over his right arm, revealing the Elder Futhark rune-work tattoo. His mother immediately reached out and yanked him towards her by his wrist, running spell after spell on the tattoo. It was only when it started to hurt that he realized she was trying to remove it. She was beginning to look panicked, seeing that it wasn't working, and he realized what she must be thinking.

"Mum, it's not like the Dark Mark. It's a manifestation of the bond." Ron explained, gently grabbing her hand to stop her casting. She was shaking, near tears. "Hermione started it, thought it would be a good idea to declare ourselves shield siblings, because we're always there for each other when we need to be. It just allows us a stronger way to know when one of us needs help. That's all."

"It's not…Hera has one?…You all have one?" His mum stammered.

"Hera, Hermione, Luna, Draco, and me." Ron confirmed. "You know Hermione wouldn't be a part of something like the Dark Mark, Mum, and Hera wouldn't stand for it either."

Those were the two she knew best, after all.

"But…what she offered him…" His mum stuttered, tears falling down her face. "I just want you to be safe. How can you be when she's offering that?"

"You know what she's like, Mum." Ron cajoled his mum. "She's given him a choice, because she thinks everyone should have one. It's who she is."

Albus checked and rechecked the wards, but what he saw made no sense. There had been no breach, but Hera had clearly apparated in and out of the castle on multiple occasions; and one notable occasion right in front of his eyes. There was no way to weave through them, no hole to be exploited that he could see. It was as if the wards had simply…allowed her to slip through them with or without passengers in tow. He was uncertain what this meant.

Was she considered a future Headmistress of the school by Hogwarts already? That couldn't be it; even with him being Headmaster, he had to ask the wards to allow him passage, and they had simply…let her through. Was she just that powerful that Hogwarts itself would yield to her? According to several Slytherin and quite a few Gryffindor, Hera had apparated into various dorms to collect the Weasley Children. Minerva had only found out after the fact, and Severus was already at St. Mungo's working with the Healers there. With Dolores demanding answers and threatening to take action, though not specifying what kind, Albus had no choice but to call in Hera's other shield siblings in the hopes that they had some idea what was going on.

As it was interrupting their already started Christmas Break, no one was happy to be there. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy stood with their son, Xenophilius with his daughter, and Minerva with Miss Granger. He hadn't wanted to subject the girl's parents to Dolores Umbridge, as she had loudly expressed anti-muggle sentiment even while within Hogwarts. Dolores stood fuming, while Filius waited patiently. He suspected the Ravenclaw had ulterior motives than simply wishing to stand with his charge.

"Albus, if we could get on with this, the students have already started their holidays." Minerva reminded him, bringing his attention out of his musings.

"Yes, of course. Lemon drop?" He offered. No one took one. They never did, thinking them laced with something. The rumour allowed him to keep his favourite candy to himself, at any rate, so he wasn't about to dispel it. "It has come to my attention that Arthur Weasley was bitten by a rather large snake sometime during the night, just before the break started. His children are with him now. Hera found him, though she couldn't explain how, and brought him to St. Mungo's. It is to my understanding that she then fetched all of the Weasley children currently in attendance, and transported them there. Professor Snape is with them, working on an antivenom, as it seems the snake's venom is particularly difficult to deal with."

"We know this already, Dumbledore." Dolores snapped. "What I want to know is how? Where is she now? What is she doing? Is she planning to overthrow the Ministry?"

Draco snorted.

"Doubt it, do you?" She demanded, turning her ire to the young Malfoy.

"I don't doubt that she could, and do it well, but really. Why would she bother?" Draco countered with snide derision. "I know you think the sun rises and sets in Fudge's arsehole, but I can promise you that you are unique in that regard."

"Draco!" Narcissa scolded. Lucius was surprisingly no help there, having looked away to disguise what had to be a grin at his son's words.

"Back to the matter at hand." Albus directed, though he too had a smile he was glad his beard hid most of. "I can only assume that in her fear and worry, Hera's magic pushed itself until she was able to apparate to where she needed to be. She's been known to accidentally apparate when spooked. I can only surmise this is an extension of that."

"Unless she walks in shadows." Luna offered up. That stalled Albus' brain for a moment, which she thankfully seemed to already understand. "Walking in shadows is easily mistaken for apparating, except for there is no crack of sound. One uses the shadows as a gateway, travelling the paths to the shadow closest to your goal. You don't need to know exactly where you're going to find your way there."

Not many could claim the ability; even fewer did so because of the stink the Ministry tended to make, as it was not a means of travel they could regulate.

"Also, I imagine she is where we all wish to be; at home with our families." Hermione added, in with a clipped air. "If this is what I have to look forward to should I decide to work for the Ministry, I think I'd rather not."

"You could always open a private practice." Draco suggested. "My family's always looking for a good barrister, and we'd hire you on retainer, so you could help all the unfortunates that you like at your whim."

"I would take that into serious consideration, Miss. Granger." Lucius remarked, looking at the young girl. "A Malfoy does not make offers like that lightly."

It's a good thing no one is looking at Albus in this moment. He has no idea what's going on anymore. A Malfoy is shield-brother to a muggleborn. It is not something he thought he'd ever see in his lifetime, and can't help but marvel at it now. A Malfoy is offering a promise of a future business endeavour with said muggleborn, and a former confirmed Death Eater is encouraging it…It's everything he'd ever hoped for, and it came about in a way he never could have expected.

As Hera broke no law, Dolores has nothing to punish her for, and it is clear to him that the woman is seeking just that. Hera's shield-brethren confirm his theories without his having to ask them in any leading way, so Dolores can't even use that. The woman hemmed and hawed a bit more about regulations, teenage rebellion, and undermining the Ministry, but there was really nothing she could do. The woman left in a huff, muttering about who knew what, and Albus thanked everyone for taking time out of their holiday to help him deal with the situation.

Once everyone was gone, he thought over the events of the past few days. Albus felt that Draco had a point. He couldn't see Hera having any desire to overthrow the Ministry, though he wisely kept his own council about why. There'd been moments like the one she'd spirited Severus away in, where he'd glimpsed the kind of power she held. If what he glimpsed was but a sliver of her full potential, the Ministry was beneath her.

If she ever chose, Hera could rule the world with power like that. The thing was, she didn't seem interested in accumulating power, though that seemed to just…happen…around her. She was more focused on her people. Like Tom, Hera gathered people to her, but unlike him she was fiercely protective of them. The more she grows up, the more he sees her parents greatest attributes in her, and the more it worries him. He'd be a fool if it didn't.

Hera is a woman of her word. She'd warned him that should he choose not to trust her with what he'd done, she'd go seeking answers on her own, and damn him with what she found. Hera was a protector, of children especially so, and he knew she would not like what she found. Hogwarts offered help to all those who asked for it, but Albus had been selective about who he helped in Hogwarts' stead. He'd used his influence over the school to pick and choose how and who he helped, and it had helped him cultivate a vast network to aid him in protecting the wizarding world as a result, but Hera wouldn't see it that way.

He had not offered Tom the shelter he needed, even knowing what he was sending him back into, already fearing what the boy was becoming. He'd helped Hagrid, but not as much as he could have. The same could be said of Argus, Sirius, Severus, Remus, and so many others. Hera would take exception to that, protective of the children they used to be, vengeful on behalf of the people they never got to the chance to grow up to become. She'd already begun helping those he had not, even before she'd set herself against him.

She revealed to Argus that he had a spark of magic, encouraging him to help it grow, even knowing that he wouldn't be as gifted as he could have been had they thought to use the old tests when he was younger. She'd been instrumental in freeing Black, getting him to seek the help he needed to clear his mind once more. She'd inspired Hagrid to try for wand rights once more, to get himself truly settled as a teacher. Now? Now she was trying to win over the very man that had killed her parents. Albus didn't know if it was overconfidence, wishful thinking, or pure naivety, but he couldn't deny that her track record spoke for itself.

If she truly thought that Riddle was still redeemable, it might very well be possible. Such a thing had never occurred to Albus to even try, not after he'd found evidence of Myrtle's murder. Perhaps it was time and distance that allowed Hera this clarity. She was not emotionally attached to the moments he experienced, so she could see through them strategically. She saw what Tom had done to himself, saw the path it lead him down, knew that he was not an innocent soul; and yet…she offered a choice.

Her capacity to look beyond her own parents' deaths astounded him. She had no true emotional connection to them, having no memories of them to which to cling, only stories told to her when she was old enough that experience had already shaped her perceptions somewhat. She saw two sides of a war, and that was all. She'd offered redemption to those Death Eaters that wished to accept it, and of those that had Albus had not expected Lucius Malfoy to be among them. That she could offer Tom a choice, even as she raged against Peter, told him much.

It wasn't the deed of killing that she viewed as unforgivable, it was betrayal. True betrayal, as Peter had done, created a wound that could never heal. Hera would not forgive the man, because it had been ultimately his choice to choose that betrayal, to choose to sacrifice his friends to preserve his own life. Albus suspected this is why she was able to forgive Severus. The man had given him an overview of what he'd told Hera – of the things he'd done that lead to her parents' deaths – but beyond the initial shock that he had bargained for Lily's life at the expense of her and her father with a man he knew would not honour it, she'd not treated him any different.

It certainly was confusing, as Albus would have expected hatred from her towards the man for the admission. Perhaps…Perhaps it hadn't been quite a betrayal in her eyes. Deplorable, maybe, but not a betrayal. Severus had had no close ties to her or her father, no friendship to bind them. He'd loved her mother, and realized that she would never have forgiven him for what he'd done. The man had sought to save not only Lily, but the entire family as a result. Severus was still a cantankerous person, still a paranoid bastard, but it was possible that she viewed his self flagellation as a far more effective punishment than anything she could have come up with on her own.

Perhaps…Perhaps, it was time for a conversation.