Last time...

Hera stood there in the arena, staring at the place the portal had been, completely unable to move. An entire timeline, universe, dimension…whatever one wanted to call it…was going to be removed from existence, and there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it. The bald monk as good as confirmed it for her, along with the memories he pushed into her mind. He knew what was about to happen to him, to his entire timeline and everyone currently living in it, and yet his only thought was getting Stephen Strange to safety. She had never felt so powerless, even knowing that there was nothing more anyone could do to save them. All those people…

"Hera!" Tony shouted, pulling her attention to the here and now as he also pulled her into a hug, having rushed over to her as soon as the bubble of protected space had vanished. "Don't you ever scare me like that again! I thought you were gonna die!"

"I did; a few times, actually." She responded, feeling discombobulated. "I…Tony, I…that man…the one that helped me…I think…I think something really bad is going to happen to him."

Chapter 120

Tony had immediately started checking her over for injuries, so it took a few seconds for her words to catch up to his brain. She was worried, that much was easy to see, and then what she said started filtering in. He stopped, holding her slightly away from him by the shoulders as he looked into her thankfully healed eyes. She was already grimacing, obviously now worried about what he was going to say next. He was still trying to process what she'd said.

"You died?" He forced himself to ask. "Like…actual death?…Multiple times?"

Hera hesitated, as if she were debating whether or not to confirm it, but then nodded. The grimace made more sense now.

"…How?"

"Strange...He knew how to create time loops." Hera rushed to explain. "We thought it would be a safety measure in case…well…in case we died, which we did…several times."

He'd been wrong before. This. This is what those boys had meant by her reckless behavior, and her people saving thing. This is what the youngest of said boys had meant when he'd warned that Tony might not be able to handle it; not this exactly, but the complete disregard of her own life when faced with the possibility that others would die. He knew his sister wasn't actively suicidal, but even so the casual disregard of her own life bothered him. It also bothered him how few adults bothered to admonish her for that, as if it were expected of her because of who she was; and if there was to be anyone who should remind her that her life mattered too, it was him.

"I never thought I would ever say these words, Hera, and I can't believe they're coming out of my mouth now, but you're grounded." Tony decided. She went to protest, but fell silent at his pointed look. "Hera, you hit that wall hard enough that I thought you weren't going to be getting back up without medical assistance, assistance I was then assured you wouldn't need, and that was before Mr. Shakespeare-in-the-park showed up."

"But, Tony-!"

"No buts!" He cut off the protest. It is only now that he realizes his entire body is shaking with nerves. "You risked your life, and I get that that's something I can't stop you from doing, but you need to stop being so reckless about it."

"I didn't mean-"

"You have to think, Hera." Tony insisted, giving her a firm shake by her shoulders. It's here that he sees Hera start to shrink in on herself even as her eyes widen, and he realizes how angry he sounds; how angry he is about it all. "I'm angry, yeah. I'm not going to try and deny that, but it's because I'm scared for you."

That seemed to stump her, and she looked up at him with confusion.

"Hera, you died. I lost you, technically, even though I obviously haven't. I don't even know how to wrap my head around that, let alone process it. I just found you. We just started this whole sibling thing, and you…" Tony trailed off, not sure how to say what he was thinking. "You tried to send me away."

"I didn't want…Tony, I didn't want what I thought was going to be your last memory of me to be something as gruesome as my dying." Hera caved. "I didn't want you to be haunted by that too. You've already been through so much."

"You think my not seeing it would have made it haunt me less?" Tony demanded, confused. Hera grimaced again, but nodded. "That's not how that works, Hera."

"You tried to keep me away when you'd been captured." She reminded him. "Same thing."

Tony closed his eyes against the truth of it, but sighed. "I know, Hera. I just…I know."

"Hera?"

Her face twisted in anguish at hearing the new voice.

"You're still grounded."

"I need to see this through, Tony." She stated softly, as she pulled away. "You can smother me with all the over protective big brother instincts you have coursing through you right now, but I need to see this through first, okay?"

…

He nodded, of course, and Hera just knows there was no way she wasn't going to get enough hot chocolate to float her bladder in and then some, along with all the blankets he could wrap her up in to make sure she never did anything reckless like that ever again. Theo stood off to the side, a bundle of nerves already, fidgeting as he saw her move towards him. Hera didn't acknowledge him just yet, going instead to Nott Sr's corpse, carefully picking it up – so much lighter than she thinks the man should be in death – and then gently carrying it over to him. She could have used a spell for this, she knew, but it felt…wrong somehow. Theo, despite everything, had loved his father even when it was obvious that the man cared nothing for him; Theo deserved the respect of having his father's corpse unmutilated and returned to him so that he could lay the man to rest however he chose.

"Theo, I…I tried." The words were broken, but he was already nodding in understanding of them. She placed the body gently onto the stone floor as she knelt; Theo joining her on the other side. "There just…wasn't anything left…"

"I know." Theo sobbed, his hand now gripping his father's tightly. "He hasn't been my dad in years, Hera, long before you ever met any of us…You didn't…You didn't have to do this for him…He didn't deserve it."

"No, he didn't, but I didn't do that for him." Hera informed him, her hand on his shoulder in a bracing grip. "I did that for you."

…

Tony is still shaking, but now it's more because he knows everything is okay. He's still coming down from the energy that anger and worry had given him. Pep and Happy only had the bare bones understanding, what with being newly inundated with the knowledge that magic was real and all, but they'd seen as Rhodey and Snape clotheslined him around the stomach to bodily keep him from running full tilt towards the danger Hera had been in. Speaking of, both Rhodey and Snape were coming towards him, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He decided to turn his attention back to Hera, too afraid something else had happened in the time he'd looked away.

"So…" Rhodey began, but Tony shook his head no and the man fell silent.

"I understand why the two of you did what you did." Tony stated, still watching Hera talk with that boy. He could practically hear his best friend's relief. "I don't have to like it, but I get it."

"How grounded is she?" Snape asked, instead of offering up any sort of apology the way Rhodey had been about to try.

Neither of them were truly sorry for trying to protect him, and while Rhodey would have apologized for doing what he'd felt was necessary, Snape had no such compunctions.

"So grounded." Tony confirmed. "I'm putting her in a tower for sure."

"A tower, Tony? Really?" Pepper chided lightly, still worried, before looking around. "Does…Does this type of thing happen to her a lot?"

"Let me put it this way." Snape began, turning his attention to her. "Her first year at school, she helped smuggle out a baby dragon; a fact I was only alerted to just recently. Before she confirmed it, I had had only the word of my godson to go by. While credible, at the time he'd born a strong bias against her. Second year, she found a hidden chamber within the school, along with the ancient and deadly snake that was guarding it, and Didn't. Tell. Anyone."

"Jimmy." Tony threw out for her, and the light of understanding dawned in her eyes.

"Before the beginning of her third year, she'd already grabbed hold of a being that can literally suck out your soul from your very body. This she did because it was closing in on her friends, and she didn't much care for that. She rounded off that same year by punching an intelligent and fiercely proud creature in the face, because it reacted badly to being talked down to like a beloved pet and was about to retaliate against a fellow classmate." Snape continued.

"Somehow, she tells that particular story both better and worse than what you just did." Tony added as commentary.

"I'm aware." Snape sighed, giving him a long suffering annoyed look before turning back to Pep. "The year just before you met her, she told a dragon to set her on fire, attacked a band of merfolk, and flung her soul across time and space, before rounding off the year by being abducted from within an obstacle course of a hedge maze, witnessing the resurrection of an enemy, reversing the ritual in order to destroy the construct body he'd created, and then offering to free those left from his enslavement. All of that came about simply because she was forced to compete in a death tournament she'd not tried to enrol herself into."

Pepper was beginning to look frozen, unable to react, her eyes wide in shock.

"This year? She acted as spy and decoy, led and underground rebellion that she thankfully managed to use as a distraction to keep the other students safe, healed an obscene amount of people in our local hospital, performed a successful blood eagle as punishment for the torture of children, and then led a group of teenagers to rescue her brother." Snape finished off. "Does that answer your question?"

Rhodey snorted, his head tilted slightly, even as he can't seem to help the half smile that's slowly creeping across his face.

"We should swap stories later." Rhodey suggested, amusement mixed with a little bit of worry from before. "I've got some good ones of Tony from our MIT days. It'll be therapeutic for you, if nothing else."

…

"My apologies, Lady Potter, but you're not done yet."

Hera stopped walking, having been headed back towards Tony and the others. Theo was being taken care of, as was his father's body. She'd not thought there'd been anything more to see to, but then Fudge stopped her with those words. Whatever the hold up was, she dreaded it already. After having endured so much in such a short time, all she really wanted was a break.

"I'm not?" She asked, hoping she'd heard wrong.

"You're not…Technically, you didn't undergo the test at all. We found the missing proctor stuffed in a dingy supply closet, I'm afraid, and without him…" He explained, twisting his boiler hat in his hands. "You'll need to stay while everything's been sorted, and do it again."

"I see." She nodded, internally sighing; though she did feel bad for the deceased proctor. "How long will it take to get everything sorted? Will anything be done for his family? Did he have a family?"

"He did, and yes there will be something done for them. Unfortunately, it is necessary for the Ministry to have a fund set up for the untimely death of an employee. It is not always quite the safe workplace that many seem to think it is." Fudge informed her. At least that was something, Hera reasoned to herself, even though it wouldn't even compare to having that person alive again and with their family. "The structural damage is already being repaired, and the invited Masters never left. I'd give it an hour, and they'll be ready to start the test again."

"What about the other proctors?" Hera inquired. "What happened to them? Are they…?"

"Alive and well, though more than a little confused." Fudge assured her. "They're being checked over for magical compulsions and the like, just in case. They should be ready by the time the arena is reset."

"I have a suggestion, if I may." A new voice announced, entering the conversation. Both Hera and Fudge turn slightly to see a rather tall and slender black woman with a kind smile. "Those of us with the ability can aid in the reconstruction efforts, under one condition."

"And that is?" Fudge wondered. Hera was rather curious about this as well.

"Every Master here with the ability gets to test her at the same time." The woman replied with a nod to Hera. "We saw enough to know you can handle everything we could throw at you, so that's we'll do; if you are agreeable, of course. It would be an honour."

Hera's mind falters here, full stop, as she processes what the woman had just revealed. All of them. The woman wants to have them all go after Hera full force all at once. The protective shielding Hera had placed around the arena to keep the power of Soul and Power at least somewhat contained was supposed to have kept anyone from seeing within it as well, but maybe it hadn't. Hera had been so focused on Tony not seeing her death that maybe that's all she put into it. Just what had they seen?

"…Oh dear."

Albus hadn't planned to be there; in the Ministry, certainly, but not the arena. It wasn't used much anymore, but for a few students that wished to graduate early, or…an apprentice testing for their mastery. It wasn't until that day that he learned Hera was still taking her Mastery tests, and had quietly chuckled to himself. When Severus claimed he was going to have her test for every Mastery he thought she could qualify for, he'd meant it; then again, being a newly minted god of magic meant that the young woman could no doubt sit for every Mastery Britain had and then some. He himself didn't doubt for a moment that she had the power to do it.

He'd been in the midst of setting up the paperwork for her to teach at Hogwarts the following school year, along with the various other things that needed updating, when he'd felt – more than heard – the stone groan around him. Finding a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher could wait. He wasn't sure the building would be able to handle another assault from…whatever that had been. It had only been the once, but it had been enough to be worrying. What he found was a sight to behold.

The arena was packed to the rafters, as the saying goes. Lucius Malfoy was speaking with Cornelius, which wasn't an unusual sight, though he had to wonder at how emotive the man was being. Lucius did not show concern or worry openly as one normally would, and to see it as frequently as he had in recent years was a little disorienting. It was easy to see that something had happened, if only in the relief and left over worry in many of the onlookers faces. No amount of looking among the crowd seemed to yield no clues, and Albus was at a loss for answers.

There'd been something that called him to this planet for some time now, something that felt like home. It was familiar to him in a way that Ásgarðr could never be. For all that he loved his home and his family, his eyes had been opened to that fact that all but his mother would never understand him; even she struggled from time to time, though she never stopped trying. The girl in the arena, her magic had called to him so strongly from so far away. He'd watched over her from time to time as she grew, though only for the briefest of moments each time; as he was afraid she might sense him.

Her gift with seiðr was strong already, a fact he could easily discern though he'd only had glimpses of her journey thus far. She loved pranks as he did, though hers were not touched by spite or malice as his had become. Could she be family? They shared such similar features, far more than he with his own brother, and her magic felt as close to his own as it could get. He'd kept visiting in the hopes that he could discover why her magic felt so much like his own, but to no avail.

This would have to be his last visit if he didn't want her discovered by Heimdall. There were few that could hide themselves from the eyes of the nosey gatekeeper, and even that was only if they knew he was looking for them. A young mage such as herself caught unawares wouldn't stand a chance, especially with the gatekeeper always ready to seek him out at a moments notice, something he refused to thrust upon the girl. A gift upon her magic then, he decided, was in order. Young god of magic he could sense that she was, he doubted she'd even need it, but he still wanted to give her every chance in case she was discovered by his father; as the man did not suffer competition well, and it was widely regarded that this realm was a protectorate of Ásgarðr.

Still…it was fun to watch her now. She weaved in and out of reach in an arena filled with combatants who only used the weapons born to them; magic against magic. Only on Álfheimr had he seen such blatant use of seiðr in battle, though not even they used it quite like this. The young girl seemed to float through the air, bending the magics around her to circle around and back to the combatants that sent them. She would concentrate the air itself under her feet so as to allow her movement through it without her having to return to the floor as often as one would normally need when performing such aerial feats of combat.

The other combatants sent to her vines to trap her in, and she returned them with blades of ice and shards of fire and light. He too had a strange affinity for both fire and ice, chaos in duality, and was thrilled to see that she possessed the same. A few of the combatants shifted, changed to various felines of large size and charged her once she finally landed on solid ground, but she just disappeared to the other side of the arena…only to sink the remaining combatants up to their waists by turning the floor beneath them into some kind of quicksand and binding their hands with vines not unlike the ones they'd sent to her. Across the arena, he noted her magic summoning a rather odd herb, something which confused him until he saw the large felines rolling around in it.

The only combatant left standing tried to encase the girl in a rather large shell of stone, only to stop midway when she nearly flooded the arena with clones of herself. A bit of movement caught his eye, and he turned to see a young midgardian man looking at him with wide eyes; strange, as he thought he had made himself unable to be seen by any on this realm. The young man looked a bit like the girl in the arena, also slight in stature and height, but with brown eyes instead of green like his own. Seeing this as his cue to leave, Loki gave a slight nod to the man before slipping through the shadows to return to Ásgarðr. It was a matter of moments to craft the spell to forget what he'd found and those he'd seen on Miðgarðr, and once the spell was completed the only thing he knew was that there was something he'd not wanted discovered, erasing all evidence the spell had even been performed before moving about his day. Perhaps he could prank Thor again; that always cheered him up.

Returning to herself after having been in so many places at once was a little disorienting, and she blinked rapidly to clear the feeling. That had been a mistake. Angered by Hera's escape, the last of the visiting masters' face grew thunderous; a sure sign that he was about to do something stupid in her book. It was worse than she imagined. A dragon. The foolish berk had managed to summon a fully grown – and now rightfully brassed off – Ukrainian Ironbelly.

Thanks to Charlie, she knew most of the usual facts about them. It was a bipedal breed of dragon, most being metallic grey in colour. As it unfurled its wings, she knew she could personally attest to the immense wingspan the breed was known for. Their long talons and rough scales were said to be as hard as steel, though Hera wasn't too keen to test that particular theory out for herself. While she had yet to see every breed of dragon, she knew it to be the largest, and didn't wish to see what it could do when properly motivated as it was now.

This was a being of rage, and it would not listen to honeyed words like the one she'd spoken with in Fourth Year had done. Deep red eyes glared at her, even as all the colour drained from Hera's face. If this dragon breathed fire, even just a little, they would cook not only herself but the masters behind her as well. No matter how strong she thought herself, or how much Magic may favour her, she didn't feel confident that she could cast an ice shield strong enough to withstand the full blast of fire breath from such a being; ever aware that there was always someone or something that could be stronger than she was. Even so, her arms were outstretched in preparation to cast the strongest shield she could.

What had that man been thinking when he decided to unleash a dragon on the populace? Had she angered him that much when she'd worked around his earthen cage? Did he think he could control it, or send it back before it could attack him and the rest of the populace? Had he even thought about what could happen if he couldn't? The Ukrainian Ironbelly charged forward, taking a deep breath to no doubt unleash fire, and Hera lost all train of thought as fear pushed at her from all sides.

"STOP!"

Several things happened all at once as her voice echoed with thunder throughout the arena. The Ukrainian Ironbelly stopped its charge in obvious surprise, lowering their head to get a closer look at her as it slowly shambled forward. She was fairly certain the people behind her had stopped breathing, having likely shat themselves upon seeing the dragon in their trapped state, and the people in the stands were oddly silent. Only belatedly does she realize that she'd not cast a localized sonorus to where only the dragon would hear her, which meant that everyone in the arena now knew she could speak to dragons, but she won't think about what that means till later. For now, there was quite the curious dragon staring at her so intently she thought it could see into her soul.

~You are bold, little speaker~ The dragon stated, their voice rumbling low. ~to think that you could order me~

"I thought I was about to die." She admitted, looking up at them, arms still outstretched; deciding to be bold, and arching an eyebrow. "Besides, it worked, didn't it?"

~You left us!~ The dragon roared, hurt and angry. Oh.

"He did not wish to leave, but he would have caused more harm than good if he had stayed." Hera tried to explain, hoping to sooth the clearly upset dragon. "He would not have left if it hadn't been necessary. He wanted to protect you all, to keep you safe from the danger he feared would find you. Please, believe me."

~I do~ The dragon informed her, their voice a low rumble once more. ~That does not make it hurt any less~

…

"Fuck."

It was still odd to Hermione that the Dark Lord turned teenager was now magically kin to her friend and shield-sister thanks to that ritual reversal and a bit of Potter Luck. There were things she couldn't remember, but knew because Hera had explained them after the fact. Salazar Gaunt – as he was called now – stared at the arena, unable to look away. In his defence, his exclamation had been the only thing that had caused her to turn from the scene below. Hera was currently leaning on the snout of the Ukranian Ironbelly, rubbing its scales as if to console the creature; as Hermione had no way to know what was said, even with the ability of All-Speak that Hera had given them, she couldn't possibly understand why her friend felt the action was needed.

"That's going to become a problem later." Salazar muttered to himself.

"Why?" She inquired. "They already know she can speak parseltongue. She walked into the Ministry with a basilisk, for Merlin's sake!"

Salazar turned slightly to look at her, obviously warring with how to answer.

"To speak to snakes is one thing, but while Dragons are related to them after a fashion, they are not the same." He explained, as if instructing a class. "There has been only one in all of recorded history to have the ability, and had she been of his line, there would have been other known dragon speakers."

"She thought the ability wasn't unique, that because the species have so many similarities…" Hermione trailed off as she realized what this would mean. "He was the only one?"

"The only one our realm has known, though I can not speak for the others." Salazar confirmed, before turning his attention back to the arena. "How have none of them worked it out yet?"

Hermione turned her attention back to the Arena as well, while she contemplated what this would mean. The wizarding world as a whole was already in the process of learning what Hera was in relation to the newest title she held. If Salazar was right, and he seemed confident that he was, then they would all soon learn just who she had been. Hermione snorted in amusement as she watched her friend vanish the dragon – hopefully back to wherever it had been summoned from – before proceeding to stomp towards the last of the Masters to give him what for.

"I wish I knew." Hermione replied, unable to hide her fond amusement. "She really is the worst kept secret."

AN: Might be taking a small break so that I can write some more chapters to publish in quick succession later. No worries though, the plot bunny overlords are still invading my brain with ideas. Job hunting is just really taking it out of me.

People reading this as a completed work, this is a mandatory rest stop. Drink some water, go to sleep, and come back in the morning.

Not originally mine, but I saw the idea and thought I'd include it every ten chapters or so. Thanks to katherynefromphilly on Tumblr for the idea!