Authors Notes:

Sorry about the shorter chapter this time. I'm fighting with the plot bunnies again

Last time...

"Stop!" She didn't realize she was the one that had spoken, not till she saw Hades' shocked face. "I…Don't tempt me with seeing them. I don't know if I could let them go. I don't think I…"

Something in Hades' gaze softened, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "My friend, if I thought you were not strong enough to endure this, I would not have considered their request."

Hera's eyes widened as she took in the words. "You mean they…"

"All but demanded they be allowed to visit with you." He confirmed. "Your visits to this realm have become a rare thing these days, despite your activities becoming increasingly more dangerous, and so there has not been an opportunity for me to speak with you on the matter before now. They insisted that the next time you arrived, they be allowed to speak with you. There are very few that are given this opportunity, my friend. Will you not at least meet with them for a moment?"

Hera thought about what he was asking. She could…she could meet her parents. It was true, what she said to Sirius. She wouldn't change how things happened if she could, but she didn't think she'd be strong enough to see them and not want to try and bring them back too. However, she didn't think she could pass up meeting them now, no matter how painful it could turn out to be when she had to leave.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. Hades seemed to understand, and guided her to another room; where he left her to fret as he gathered her parents. It left her with plenty of time to nervously pace around the room, wondering just what the hell she'd been thinking. This was such a bad idea. Her insides felt like they might become her outsides with how nervous she was.

There was the sudden click of the door behind her, and Hera froze. Turning around slowly, she saw two people that looked to be a little older than she was. Of course the man would be tall, she thought with a grimace. The woman was beautiful with a kind smile and eyes that reminded her of her own. They both looked at her with such love and happiness that even if she hadn't known what they looked like, she'd know who they were, and still she couldn't believe it.

"Mum?…Dad?"

Chapter 115

Hera didn't know what to think, what to say. She'd already exhausted her brain just getting those two words out. These were her parents! What did one say when meeting their long departed parents for the first time? She didn't even realize she'd started crying until she was pulled unceremoniously into their arms, and it was quite some time before any of them felt like going anywhere as she had melted into the embrace quite nicely, though they all did eventually make it to the small table and chairs Hades had for the room.

"Alright, now that we're all watered out…" James – her dad! – began, and Hera couldn't help the wet chuckle she gave. "What do you say about getting to know each other a little better? I imagine you have questions?"

Hera nodded.

"Good, because I have no idea what I'm doing." He admitted, causing the two ladies to snort in near unison. "Seriously, somebody else take the lead here."

"He can't. I rescued him." Hera commented without thought, and before she knew it the three of them were laughing again. When things settled once more, she was unsure where to start. "I don't know what I'm doing either. How do I…? I never expected…meeting you, I mean…I…I don't even know if you're proud of me…"

"Hera," James began, reaching out to take hold of one of her hands. So warm! "I never expected to become a father, but holding you in my arms was one of the proudest moments of my life. Watching you grow up? Even if I couldn't be there to experience things along with you, and embarrass you properly as a parent should, I'm the proudest I've ever been."

Hera couldn't speak for fear she'd cry, completely at a loss for what to say.

"It's true. The day we saw you'd pulled the colour changing prank on the whole school, James crowed around the place like a great rooster, telling everyone he could how amazing you were." Lily – her mum! – stated, softly, with a fond smile. "He tells everyone you're our little blueberry."

"Tony told me about that nickname." Hera murmured, a matching fond smile on her face as well, before she got worried. "Is it okay that he…that we…"

"My heart soars seeing the two of you getting along so well." Lily assured her, smiling softly. "I wish we'd made smarter decisions, raised you ourselves instead of…You've had to be brave much too soon, taken risks because no one who should have would do so. That you have Tony in your life as a brother is a gift I cherish."

The tears fell quickly, though she was just as fast about trying to dry them.

"Come on now, dry those eyes, Little Blue." James cajoled gently. "I want to hear stories about your life."

That caught her off guard enough that she raised her head up in shock and blurted. "But you've seen it! All of it! The interesting bits anyway. What more could I possibly tell you?"

"What it felt like." Lily supplied, placing her hand gently on Hera's shoulder. "We saw, yes, but there is a limit to what an image can tell us. What you were feeling, your thoughts, an image can't always accurately tell us those things."

"So come on. Tell us your stories." James insisted, leaning in like he was telling a secret. "I want to know all your favourite pranks."

Hera couldn't help but giggle at that.

"What? That prank you pulled on Tony was inspired." He continued, but then just as abruptly turned serious only to add. "No boys. I don't think I can handle answering questions about older men and what goes where any better than he did."

Oh, so it was going to be like that, was it?

"If you've been watching, you should know that I already understand all those things." Hera reminded him, mischief in her eyes, stopping Lily from berating him upon seeing it. "Also, who said I was into men? Or only men? I don't think I've quite decided yet. What if I'm not into either, or at least not their fiddly bits? Is that a thing people decide, or do they just know? Ron said he just knew, but Hermione told me she wasn't sure for herself for a while, and Ginny seems pretty comfortable with either or so…Merlin help you, you're a tomato. Pull yourself together, man, your daughter has sex on the brain!"

That did it for Lily, and she began laughing in a way that Hera knew she had been trying to hold back previously. So began Hera's telling her parents about her life. It was strange to her, but they were enraptured by her stories. They'd watched her life, and yet they reacted to her stories with genuine emotions, asking questions and everything. It was…like it had been with Tony in a way.

There was no pressure to lie, to hide anything she didn't want to tell them, even if her father did pretend panic attacks at her mentioning of any encounter that could possibly be construed as sexual. She had a lot of fun poking at him about that, and her mother helped to add to the fun. In return for her stories, they told ones of their own. The experience was vastly different with them being the ones telling the stories, as opposed to hearing stories from Sirius and Remus. It was nice, seeing into their lives from this perspective.

"Now, how long are you going to string those boys along?" James inquired, wiggling his eyebrows comically.

"What boys?" Hera asked innocently. "I thought I wasn't allowed near any."

"He means Fred and George." Lily offered, rolling her eyes with a fond smile at her husband.

"Really?" Hera paused to consider. "The both of them? Wouldn't that be weird with them being brothers and all?"

"I mean, how long are you going to make them wait before you tell them about the fact that you're the child of a Marauder?" James clarified. Hera was stumped.

"What? I have told them." She insisted, but then thought about it. "Haven't I? Wait a minute! Isn't my having been Loki higher on the scale than that?"

"Well yes, but they worked that out ages ago." James revealed. "We're going for shock value here."

"Well, I…I hadn't actually thought about it?" Hera tried. James just looked at her unimpressed. "What? I thought I'd told them, so I didn't think about telling them…Exactly how long have they known I was Loki before?"

"You weren't exactly subtle, Dear." Lily reminded her.

"I know, but I have a sort of bet going on." Hera replied with a bit of a lopsided grin.

"Ah," James hummed in realization, with a matching mischievous grin of his own. "Well then…"

She woke up with a groan, turning over to curl in on herself. Her head hurt, and she wasn't clear-minded enough to magic it away on her own just yet. Vaguely, she could hear Madam Pomfrey fussing at someone in the background. Another voice soon found her, and softly coaxed her into being guided by their actions; a gentle touch to move her into leaning into them so they could help her up, the comforting smell of potions and ingredients as something was placed in her hands. The potion smelled right, and so she downed it without a thought, absent-mindedly noting the pleased hum Snape liked to give whenever she exercised a healthy amount of paranoia.

"I see you haven't taken leave of all your senses, Potter." Snape stated, though his voice was much lower than it normally would have been, but she still winced at the sound. His voice was softer as he continued. "That's to be expected, I'm afraid, the sensitivity you're experiencing. You've endured the worst of it, however, and your symptoms should disappear altogether in short order. What you did, Potter-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Sir. I have been scolded by an Account of the Dead, my parents, Tony's mum, and yours." Hera grumbled, taking the chance to open one of her eyes just a touch. The man had gone stalk still at the mention of his mum. "They were quite specific about how dangerous that was."

"And did your 'Me, Me' explain exactly why you were able to do what you did?" Snape inquired, his tone leading, and Hera paused to consider.

"No; just that I was in not as much danger as others would have been, while also somehow being in more danger than anyone else. I don't…" Hera tried to explain, frowning in confusion. "I don't know what that means."

"Well, at least you're not letting you're newly awakened godliness go to your head." He snorted. There was a clattering sound behind her, and they both turned to see Fred and George staring at her with barely contained curiosity from their beds.

"Newly awakened godliness?" Fred repeated, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard it right.

"You mean you weren't a god before?" George asked, incredulous, grimacing as he reconsidered his words. "Goddess, sorry, but still!"

"Power shouldn't have a gender, so god would be fine." Hera shrugged, before tensing again as she realized what she'd admitted. "Er…"

"Wait, were we wrong?" Fred asked suddenly, looking to George. "Is she Hera Hera, you think?"

Hera barked out a laugh, unable to help herself. "Absolutely not!"

"If she wasn't, then we were right before, and there's no one else she could have been but Lo-" Without a thought, Hera disappeared from her bed and reappeared with her hands over both their mouths, surprising them into looking at her with wide eyes.

"I will explain everything, but you are acolytes, and I'm a little afraid it would alert him." Hera informed them. "He's still alive. What he did, what he chose, sent him back in time to be reborn. Do you understand?"

Fred and George exchanged a look filled with silent conversation before looking back to her and nodding, and Hera hesitantly let go, backing away to go back to her bed. She was not expecting them both to fall before her on bended knee, a hand clinched in a fist at their chests as they bowed their heads in unison. Frozen in shock, she realized in muted horror what they were doing. The atmosphere of the hospital wing felt charged as they swore themselves as acolytes to her. In this moment, she understood that while she'd been a badly kept secret before, that was nothing compared to the complete lack of privacy they had right now. By the end of a breath, this would be all over Hogwarts…for a start.

"Oh dear."

There was a moment of silence, and then…

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming." She heard, and looked back to see Tony grinning at her from his very own bed. He directed his attention to the twins, which Hera can only imagine will end in chaos, especially with that grin of his. "So, boys, how's the temple coming?"

"Still in the planning stages, but we've got a good set up going for now." Fred announced, much to Hera's muted horror, grinning like a loon from his knelt position on the floor.

George too was grinning as he added "Yeah, Hera even invested in its beginnings stages, so you could say we have the patronage and blessings of our chosen god!"

Hera could only hold her elbow as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration as she muttered. "What have I done?"

Back in the corresponding time of Ásgarðr…

Frigga had known for quite some time what her husband had done, and knew that it would come back to bite him where it hurt. She'd originally hoped to change his mind and slowly guide Loki into being the god he was originally meant to be, but then she'd met Hera. She couldn't – wouldn't – risk the young woman's future if she could help it, having long ago grown to care for Hera as one of her own. She'd kept her own council on the matter, gathering information as she was able. It hadn't been a fruitful search on her own, but she was hopeful.

A call had sounded not long ago that made Frigga think the tide on Oðin's hold of power was turning. Oðin had gone into an Oðinsleep…one that had not had the usual warning signs. He was in the Healing Hall now, which was where she was headed. Lady Eir didn't say anything upon her arrival, too intent on her charge, ever the Healer. She would wait to see what the woman had to say, but deep down she knew things were not completely in his favour now.

After getting the okay from Madam Pomfrey, Hera was finally able to leave the Hospital Wing. It was ridiculous that it had taken so long. Fred had gotten out before her. Hermione had gotten out before her, and she'd nearly been sliced in half! Tony hadn't been able to stay, but she knew they'd see each other again soon. That was a welcome part of having gained a sibling, that sense of certainty.

She'd been told by Madam Pomfrey that the Headmaster wanted to see her in his office, but as she hadn't seen him since the whole 'Department of Mysteries' thing, she couldn't imagine what he wanted. She'd been given the password, but the gargoyle moved out of the way before she could speak it, and she wondered about that as she made her way up the steps to the office. Hogwarts had always responded to her, but she wasn't sure if that's what this was. Upon entry, Hera noted the full room of adults, and cursed internally. She really should have brought backup for this.

"Is there a particular reason why there are so many of you in this room?" Hera inquired, already tense as she looked around the crowded room. "You all look like you're about to try and apprehend me."

"I told you it was a bad idea to hold this here, Headmaster." Snape commented, before looking to her. "Potter, you are not being apprehended-"

"Really?" Hera interrupted, pleasantly surprised. He only arched an eyebrow in response. "It's just…I performed the blood eagle on a professor! Killed two Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries! And I'm…not…I dunno…being arrested or something?"

"No. In fact, we are here to thank you, Lady Potter." Fudge declared.

"Please don't." Hera muttered, scrunching up her nose. "That sounds awful."

"Those who do undercover work for us do get a stipend at some point, Lady Potter." Amelia reminded her. "We did discuss this."

"So we did." Hera begrudgingly agreed, accepting the small pouch like it might explode at any moment, vanishing it with a flick of her wrist. "There."

"I'm sure your acolytes will find it…useful." Snape drawled, not even bothering with an innocent air as she glared at him.

"Still can't believe you just stood there and let them do that." She grumbled.

"Technically, I was sitting."

"Yes, well I'm just glad we can put that whole mess behind us." Fudge went on, looking at the two of them with some confusion. "We really should be going, however. There's quite the mess to clean up. Now that Dolores is confessing to her crimes, there's quite a lot more to do. Lady Potter, Albus."

Both Amelia and Fudge left through the Floo after that.

"Well, if that will be all…" Hera trailed off, seeing the look of sheepish guilt on Dumbledore's face. "Oh, come on! Not you too."

The man had brought out a trophy cup from under the desk.

"I couldn't talk him out of it." Snape confessed, though she could see there was some amusement there. "It was either he present it to you here or in the Great Hall."

"I didn't do it for a prize!" Hera hissed, angrily.

"Which is why I offer it." Dumbledore acknowledged. "You did what I failed to, and that deserves acknowledgement."

"Okay, but no surprise points at the leaving feast or anything shady like that, alright?" Hera bargained. "I don't even want you to mention it. Now, can I please…? Being thanked before was always uncomfortable, but it's gotten worse after the whole becoming a princess thing."

"You may go, Potter," Snape allowed with a nod. "though I should warn that you will have many that wish to thank you for what you have done."

Hera's shoulders slumped as she sighed. "I was afraid of that."