~**Thanks to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter! I think this is the longest chapter so far and hopefully I explained everything well enough so that it is easily understood. Sorry if I confuse anyone, and if you have any questions please leave them in your review, and I will answer them as soon as possible! Thanks for reading my story!!!**~
After everyone met up in Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room, the group made their way out of the hotel and back to the same portkey point they had used that afternoon. It was eleven-thirty at night, and everyone in the group looked exhausted. Remus handed out the portkeys, assigning one to each group of four. Harry was not too happy with the fact that they would be traveling with Phoenix and Pyrena, but had no choice in their group members. Each group again left within two minutes of each other and appeared in Samos. Once there, they were met by a man named Leonidas Alexandratos who was from the local Ministry of Magic branch office. He ushered them to his car and shuttled them to the Paradise Hotel, where he had gotten them rooms for the next couple of days.
They each went to their perspective rooms, no one really saying much of anything due to their exhaustion. "Ok everyone" said Remus "we all need to try to get some sleep tonight; we're all getting wake-up calls at six a.m., so we can get an early start to the Heraion. Good night" said Remus, and then noticed as Tonks started to follow him. "Where are you going?" he asked, eyeing her wearily.
"We're sharing a room again; well, technically we never used the room in Athens" she said, smiling mischievously. "What's the matter Remus, don't you enjoy my company?"
"I-uh, yeah, of course, it's just that..." Remus tried to finish his thought while his face turned progressively redder than thought humanly possible. Harry laughed and Remus shot him a dirty look, trying to recover from his embarrassment. "Something funny, Harry?" he asked, shooting daggers at his adopted Godson who sat shaking his head no. "Alright, lets get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Harry and Hermione watched as he and Tonks walked down the hall, trying to suppress their laughter at Remus's obvious discomfort. "They'd be good for one another, don't you think?" asked Hermione, smiling at the couple.
"Remus and Tonks? A couple?" asked Harry, as if the thought had never occurred to him. After thinking it over for a minute, he said "you know what? I think they might be good for each other. It would be nice to see Remus have someone to share his life with, he seems so lonely all the time."
As they walked into their room, Hermione took Conlan, laid him in the crib and grabbed her pack. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted" she said, pulling out her nightgown and undressing. She felt his eyes on her and said "why are you watching me?"
Snapping out of his trance, Harry said "sorry, just thinking how lucky I am to have you. Talking about Remus and Tonks just made me realize how lucky we are to have each other and Conlan. I just wish we could live a normal life, away from all of this insanity."
Walking over to him, Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "Hopefully, we can find the scepter of Zeus soon and take care of Lucius and Voldemort once and for all. I would love to be able to spend the rest of the summer at Grimmauld Place with you."
"You want to play house with me, eh?" he asked, a wicked gleam in his eye. "That would be nice; that big old house, just you, me and Conlan. I could have you any time I wanted."
Smiling at him, she asked "well aren't you just a sweet talker?" Giving him a kiss, she let go of him and turned, making her way to the bed. "Are you coming to bed or are you planning on staying up all night?"
Smiling, Harry walked over to the side of the bed and stripped down to his boxer shorts. Crawling under the covers next to her, Harry reached over and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist, pulling her against him so that her back was flush against his chest. Hermione turned to face him and cuddled up against him as Harry whispered "goodnight Love" and was already asleep when Hermione answered "goodnight."
At six o'clock the next morning, the phone in Harry and Hermione's room started ringing, startling the couple awake. Reaching over, Hermione picked up the receiver and dropped it immediately back into the cradle again. They both crawled out of bed and got dressed, both on autopilot since they were still exhausted from the day before. There was a knock on the door, and Harry opened it to a very chipper looking Tonks, who had bubblegum pink hair. "Mornin' Harry" she said "we're all going down to the restaurant to grab some breakfast before we leave."
"We'll be down in five minutes" called Hermione from the bathroom. Harry looked at Tonks and muttered sleepily "yeah, what she said." Tonks laughed, said "see you in a bit" and walked away still laughing.
"She is definitely a morning person" said Harry, disgusted by her perkiness.
Hermione walked out, smiling and said "we're all ready to go." She walked over to get Conlan, who had been babbling to himself in the crib while Harry grabbed their packs.
"Let's go eat" he said, motioning for Hermione to go out the door first and then followed her to the lifts.
After they were through eating, Hermione handed Conlan over to her Mum and got up, grabbing her pack. "Take good care of him" she said, smiling at her Mum and then leaning down to give her a hug while kissing her son on his forehead. Handing her Mum their room key, she said "all of Conlan's stuff is in our room; have fun watching him." Smiling a little sadly, Hermione said "We'll be back soon."
Everyone gathered in front of the hotel and hopped in the car that Leonidas had brought last night for them to use. Phoenix drove and they were there in twenty minutes. As they climbed out of the cramped car, Ron looked around and asked "where is the Temple of Hera? All I see are broken columns and marble pieces."
"That's the ruins of the Temple Ron" said Hermione "and it may look destroyed, but there's more here than the eye can see." Taking off her pack, Hermione dug inside it and pulled out Hera's scepter. The lotus bud on top had an eerie white glow emanating from it. "I'd say we're in the right spot" she said, walking toward the temple ruins. Harry caught up to her and the couple started walking into the temple ruins before everyone else.
"Any idea what we may be looking for?" Harry asked, looking around the demolished building.
"No, but I think I'm going to do what I did in the Parthenon and see what reveals itself to us" Hermione replied, going to stand in the middle of the ruins. Everyone else gathered around Harry, asking what she was doing. As Hermione held the scepter in her right hand, she raised it into the air as Harry said "just watch."
Raising her other hand into the air as well, Hermione closed her eyes and yelled "Fainomai Sas Mystikos!" A golden glow erupted around her once more; the glow was so bright that everyone else had to shield their eyes. A ray of white light shot out of the lotus bud on the top of the scepter and landed on a spot a few feet ahead of her. A golden door suddenly appeared in the spot the light had been concentrated on, and as soon as it was fully materialized, the glow faded from Hermione's body and she collapsed once more onto the floor.
As Harry rushed over to make sure she was ok, everyone else stared at her almost in awe. No one else but Harry had seen her do the exact same thing in Athens and they were amazed at the display of power Hermione had just exhibited. As Harry helped her walk back to the group, Remus said "I guess we need to go through the door?"
"Yes" said Hermione, sounding out of breath "but I am supposed to go through it first while the rest of you follow. I heard Hera's voice while I was surrounded with that gold glow and she said I must go first to gain the trust of the doorway; I'm not too sure what that means."
"Do you think that's safe?" Harry asked, looking from her to Remus. "We have no idea where this doorway leads to, couldn't it be some sort of trap?"
"I don't think so" said Hermione "I'm almost positive the voice I heard was Hera's. I don't think she would purposely put her descendant in harm's way."
"She's right Harry" agreed Lupin. "She can go through first and then you and I will be directly behind her, with the rest of the group following us in." As everyone nodded their head in approval and understanding, Hermione started walking towards the door, with Harry close behind her.
Putting her hand carefully on the doorknob, Hermione turned it slowly and pulled quickly, opening it up just enough to see inside. When all she saw was darkness, she grabbed her wand out of her pocket and said "lumos!" With her wand lit, she could only see a little ways into the darkness. It looked like a room you would see in a museum, with artifacts and sculptures on display. Feeling it was safe to go in, Hermione passed through the doorway and instantly felt the coldest feeling she had ever felt pass through her body, much like when one of the Hogwarts ghosts passed through her accidentally last term. As soon as it was gone, she continued to walk into the room and was suddenly overwhelmed with visions and memories that weren't hers. She tried to stop the show of memories, but it was too much for her and she grabbed her head in pain, trying to suppress the scream that was threatening to escape from her. She felt like her head was going to explode; there was a throbbing pain behind her eyes and then she noticed darkness start to creep into the corners of her vision. Trying to hold on to her consciousness, Hermione closed her eyes tight and saw pictures of a beautiful woman and a middle aged man, both dressed like the Ancient Greeks used to dress. As the woman held her hand out, beckoning for Hermione to follow her, she felt the last traces of consciousness slip away. As she gave into the pain and collapsed onto the floor, she felt the coldness return to her body as the darkness surrounded her and she fell into unconsciousness.
"...ione? Hermione?" she could hear Remus calling her name, but she was having trouble becoming fully awake. "Can you hear me Hermione?" he asked again, lightly slapping her cheek. Using all the strength she had, she cracked her eyes opened and moaned as the bright light invaded her sight.
"H-Harry?" she asked, barely getting the word out. She felt so weak that she didn't think she'd ever be able to move again.
"Here, drink this" Remus said, handing her a small vial of clear liquid. "What's this?" she asked, eyeing it skeptically.
"It's a different form of pepper-up potion" he replied "I had Snape make some up for us before we left, for occasions just like this." Nodding in understanding, she drank the liquid and felt a warmth spread through her entire body. Feeling her energy start to slowly return, Hermione lay there for a couple more minutes, letting her body rest a little while longer.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around at everyone mulling around the once dark room, which was now lit by torches that were hung on the wall.
"He is searching through the other room we found" he said. "Once the room was lit, we discovered there was another door at the far end of the room and he went to see if there was anything in there that could tell us what happened to you."
"Are you sure it's safe?" she asked, sounding worried.
"He's fine" Remus replied "are you feeling better now?"
"Much better" she said, slowly sitting up. Remus helped her to stand and she almost felt back to normal. She looked over at Tonks and asked "have you found any important clues to the scepter's whereabouts yet?"
"Not yet" Tonks replied "but we have everyone searching the room, so we're bound to find something." Nodding her head, Hermione said "I think I'll go join Harry in the other room, maybe he's found something there."
"Take it easy Hermione, you don't want to push yourself and collapse again" said Remus with a concerned smile on his face.
"I'll be careful" she said, touched that Remus was so concerned about her. She turned to the far side of the room and saw the door he told her about. Walking slowly, Hermione made her way to the now-closed door and tried to restrain the fear she felt when she reached out to open it. She was afraid she was going to experience those extreme emotions and coldness again. Summoning all of her Gryffindor courage, she turned the knob and jerked the door open quickly. Taking two steps into the room, she looked up to see Harry to her right, wait, who was that...?
"What the bloody fuck do you think you're doing?!" she screamed, almost running over to where Harry
stood...kissing Pyrena! When she reached the two, she grabbed Pyrena's arm and pulled her away from Harry. Not even
thinking twice, she pushed the other girl as hard as she could, slamming her up against the wall. Hermione pulled out
her wand and pointed it right in the other girls face, the wand trembling from the anger that was coursing through her
at that moment. "How dare you..."
"How dare I what?" sneered Pyrena, glaring daggers at her. "How dare I return your husband's kiss?" Pyrena smiled evilly as she saw comprehension dawn on Hermione's face as she realized what the other girl had said. "That's right dear, he kissed me first, so maybe he's the one you should take your anger out on."
"You knew he was married, you little wench! I have the right to be mad at the both of you!" Hearing a noise behind her, Hermione turned to see everyone crowding in the doorway, curious as to what the ruckus was all about. "Go away!!" she yelled, waving her wand towards the door, causing it to slam in their faces and locking them out of the room. Turning towards Harry, she stared at him for a moment, taking in the expression on his face. There seemed to be guilt there, but other than that...she didn't see anything that indicated he was sorry for what he did. Maybe Lucius and Voldemort had gotten to him again...
"Harry, why did you kiss her?" she asked, hating how her voice had broken. He looked at her, and she almost cried when she realized his eyes were their normal emerald color. "WHY DID YOU KISS HER??!!" she screamed, face to face with him now, Pyrena completely forgotten behind her.
"Because I wanted to" he said even toned, which seemed to hurt her worse than if he would have screamed it at her. "What" she whispered, praying she hadn't heard him right.
"I wanted to" said Harry, walking closer to her as she stood there with her wand pointed at him. "Haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss another guy?"
Hermione's wand still shook as she stepped forward and pushed it into Harry's chest, directly over his heart. Thinking of something better, she lowered her wand until it was pointing to his privates. "No, I have never wanted to kiss another guy just to know what it felt like Harry. Is that the best excuse you have, because if it is you can kiss ever having sex again goodbye." Harry's eyes widened at her threat and she felt a wave of satisfaction wash through her at the look on his face. "You kissed Cho in our fifth year; did you feel you needed to compare her and I with someone else?"
"You don't understand" he said, looking nervously at her wand "I had come in here to see if there was something that would explain why you fainted when you walked in, and she followed me in here. We were talking, laughing and she smelled so good; the thought that I might never kiss another girl besides you ran through my head and I freaked. I'm only sixteen, I've never been with anyone but you and I was curious what it would be like."
"So you just said 'what the hell?' and kissed her? Were you going to shag her too? Did you even think about how I would feel?" She fired off question after question, fighting hard to keep the tears from falling from her eyes. She wasn't going to show him how hurt she was by what he did.
"I didn't think you would find out" he said, sounding sheepish. Red flashed before her eyes as fury engulfed every cell in her body. Harry quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, which she immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry love" he said, and she snapped. Hearing him apologize after what he had just said, and then calling her 'love' was too much for her. She pulled back her fist and let it fly, connecting with Harry's nose and hearing the crunch of bone.
"Fuck!" he yelled, grabbing his nose in pain as his eyes watered. "what'd 'oo do tat fo?" he asked, unable to talk normally with his injured nose.
"You deserved it you wanker!" she yelled, advancing on him again. She almost smiled when he cringed away from her, afraid she would hit him again. "How dare you kiss another girl after everything I have given up for you! I gave up my dreams to marry you and have our son, I pledged to be faithful to you forever. You pledged the same thing, but obviously you didn't mean your vows."
"I did mean them Hermione, I'm sorry for what I did and I swear it didn't mean anything." She looked at him, finally letting the tears fall as she said "it may not have meant anything to you Harry, but it sure as hell meant a lot to me. If that's the kind of husband you're going to be, Conlan and I don't need you." Feeling her heart breaking, she turned to make her way back out the door into the other room.
"Hermione?" said a voice that was unfamiliar to her. Turning back to look at Harry, she saw that he was gone and in his place was a young man she had never seen before. He had light brown hair, sparkling blue eyes and a wreath of olive leaves on his head. He was dressed in a white robe that looked just like the ones worn by the Gods and Goddesses in Ancient Greece. To the right of him, instead of Pyrena, stood a tall, brown haired woman with blue eyes also and the same white robe as the man next to her. Hermione thought she had to be the most beautiful woman in the world; her skin glowed and her eyes were so bright and clear that you could probably see into the woman's soul through them.
Suddenly it dawned on her who the woman was and she whispered "Hera?" The woman smiled and nodded her head in confirmation.
"Yes daughter, I am Hera, Queen of the Heavens and Wife of Zeus." Hermione noticed the last part was said as if it caused a horrible taste in her mouth to utter his name. Then she remembered what she had just witnessed with Harry.
"Where did Harry go, and why are you here? Am I dead?" she asked, fearing the worst. Hera just shook her head and said "I'm sorry you had to go through that. It was a test to see if you were strong enough to give up the love of your life for what you knew to be right. I wanted to make sure you were worthy of wielding my scepter and I must say, you passed spectacularly."
"Th-that was a-a test?" Hermione asked in disbelief, part of her relieved while the other part was mad as hell. "How dare you subject me to that kind of pain, just to test my character?! What gives you the right to play with my heart like that?"
"My dear child, you must realize by now the severity of the quest you are on. I know where the scepter of Zeus is hidden; I had to make sure you were strong and brave of heart before I could bestow that knowledge upon you. Your travels so far have been easy compared to what is to come; I have foreseen the future and if you do not succeed, you and your family will die and the Earth will be thrown into darkness."
Hermione just stood there for a moment, absorbing everything she had just heard. She knew there was a chance for one of the group to die, but for her entire family to be killed because of her possible failure? She closed her eyes as a wave of hopelessness washed over her, and opened them again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Standing in front of her was the man that had been next to Hera.
"It is not as hopeless as it seems my child" he said in a smooth, deep voice. "Your husband is my descendant and the love he feels for you makes him twice as powerful as any God we've ever known. You need to trust in your love and let him stand by you in your hour of need. Do not push him away, no matter how great the temptation; separation will lead to the death of the Light."
"Prometheus?" Hermione asked quietly, in awe of the God and Goddess standing before her. The man nodded in assent and she smiled at him, liking him immediately. This was the man and God that helped to create the human race; without him she wouldn't be here. Sobering suddenly, she asked "but why choose me? There must be other descendant's besides me?"
"Yes, there are other's I could have chosen" said Hera, smiling down at her "but none of them have the inner strength, heart and loyalty that you possess. Pyrena is also my descendant, but her heart is so full of hate for those who killed her parents that it consumes her. You, you have faced many prejudices growing up, from being too smart in grammar school to being a muggleborn at Hogwarts, and you've never let anything stop you from getting what you wanted. And just now, instead of giving in and forgiving your husband for his transgression, you stood up for yourself and stayed strong. I know they say to forgive is divine, but in this case, you saw how selfish your husband was being and chose to stand up for yourself and your son instead. That is the outcome I was looking for."
"You see, that was always my fatal flaw" a very sad look crossed Hera's face as she spoke "I always forgave my husband for his affairs, thinking that his love for me would be strong enough to stop him from doing it again. When he continued to cheat on me, I chose to look the other way and made a fool of myself. People thought I was weak for not standing up to Zeus and I have to admit they were right. But you, you have proven yourself worthy of my power. Now, you must go to Crete; that is where the scepter is hidden. We have planted false clues for your enemy to find; those will point him in the wrong direction and give you more time. The scepter is in a cave called the Idaion Cave. It is the true birthplace of Zeus and the scepter is incased in a wall of diamond located deep inside the cave. It will be a long, hard trip but you must push yourself to the very end of the cave. No one knows exactly how far down into the ground the cave goes; no one's ever survived to make it that far. But Prometheus and I will be with you at all times, guiding your way and helping as much as possible. Now, it is time to return to your husband and friends. I fear we have kept them worried long enough."
"What do you mean, my friends were just in the next room" Hermione said, confused.
"Not everything is as it seems" said Hera, giving her a loving smile. "Stay strong child and be safe on your journey." Hermione watched as they faded out of sight and then she heard a loud noise from what she thought was the other room. Walking through the doorway, she saw herself lying on the floor in the doorway where she had first entered the mysterious room. She saw Harry kneeling next to her on the floor, holding her hand and smoothing her hair off of her forehead. He had a look of pure sadness on his face; he even had a couple of tears on his cheek. Closing her eyes at the sight of his anguish, she opened them up again to find herself lying on the floor, looking up at Harry who was still holding onto her hand.
"Hermione!" he exclaimed, relief evident in his voice. She looked at him, confused as to how she ended up on the floor.
"Wh-What happened?" she asked, sitting up with Harry's help and looking around at the worried faces of her friends. When she looked at Harry again, she reached her hand out and placed it on his cheek. "Is it really you Harry?" she asked, looking deep into his eyes to see if it was him this time or if this was another test.
"Of course it's me" he answered, bewildered by her question. Looking at her, Harry said "when you walked through the doorway, it slammed shut before we could follow you in. We couldn't open it for almost half an hour, and then it suddenly opened on its own. That's when we saw you lying unconscious on the floor, in the same spot you're in now." Smiling down at her, glad she was ok, Harry asked "what happened when you came into the room?"
"I saw Hera and Prometheus; they put me through a test to make sure I was worthy of the scepter, and it was horrible." Looking at Harry as she remembered how she felt when she saw his imposter kissing Pyrena, she shook her head and said "I'll tell you more about that later. Anyway, I ended up passing the test and Hera told me where the scepter of Zeus is."
Everyone had gathered around her as she spoke, hanging on her every word. Phoenix looked at her and asked "Where did she say it was?"
"It's in the Idaion Cave in Crete. Hera said she planted false clues for the Death Eaters to find. They will lead them to the wrong place to buy us some extra time to reach the scepter first." She looked seriously at the group, her gaze finally landing on Harry. "She said that you and I have to work as a team to get the scepter out of a wall of diamond deep inside the cave. If we don't get to it first, our entire family will die and the Earth will be plunged into darkness."
Harry looked at her, blown away by what she had just said. Recovering a little, he said "well, no pressure on us then is there?" When he saw the reprimanding look on her face, he said "I know how serious the situation is Love, I was just trying to lighten the mood a little." Helping her to stand, Harry kept his arm around her waist as she walked, keeping her close to him. What she said worried him more than he wanted her to know. 'Did she really see Prometheus and Hera?' he asked himself, wondering if it would be a good thing if she did.
Remus stopped and turned, facing the group. "Before we go any further, there's something we need to discuss. Obviously we have to go to Crete; the question is when to go? I could probably go to the local Ministry of Magic and obtain emergency portkeys for us so we could leave tonight. My question is, should we leave tonight, or would you all rather stay the night here, rest up and then leave first thing in the morning instead?" It seemed like everyone tried talking all at once, so Remus held up his hands, silencing the group. "Let's do this; everyone who thinks we should leave tonight, raise your hands."
The twins, Phoenix and Pyrena, were the only ones to vote for leaving that night. "Ok, everyone who wants to leave in the morning?" Watching as the rest of the group raised their hands, Remus said "looks like we're leaving in the morning."