~*Wow, two chapters in two days! This one is a filler chapter, but it answers quite a few questions also. Thank you again for the great reviews!!*~
Ron was the last in the line of the members of his group making their way to the Propylaea, which looked to be a pile
of rubble with columns attached to it. As he was walking, lost in his thoughts, Pyrena had slowed down so that she was
now walking next to him. "Not the most fun vacation for you is it?" she asked, smiling at him.
Wondering why she was suddenly being so friendly, Ron said "it's not really a vacation. We're here to help Hermione find the scepter."
"She and Harry aren't the friendliest people, are they?" she asked, making Ron wonder why she was fishing for information.
"They are great friends, if they know and trust you" answered Ron.
"You don't trust my brother and I either, do you?" she asked, stopping suddenly which caused Ron to stop and answer her question.
"Not really" Ron answered honestly. "You two have acted like you're hiding something ever since we got here. We're not the enemy, and if you really work for the Ministry you would know that." Ron started walking again, trying to catch up with the group and realized that Pyrena was once again walking beside him. He looked ahead and noticed how chummy his sister and Phoenix looked. "Does your brother put the moves on any female, or just ones he can use to make other people mad?"
Pyrena looked at her brother and Ginny, walking closely and talking with their heads close together. "My brother is a good guy; he may be a flirt, but when he falls for a girl he takes it very seriously." Looking closely at Ron as if she was sizing him up, Pyrena said "the only family we have left is each other. Our parents were killed on an excavation of the tunnels under this hill. They came too close to finding what they were looking for and were murdered for it. We were fifteen when they died."
"How old are you?" Ron asked, then realizing he'd just blurted out the question said "if you don't mind me asking?"
Pyrena smiled at him as she noticed the tip of his ears had turned red as he asked her age. "I am nineteen years old, and I don't mind you asking." When she gave him her best smile, the blush on his ears spread to his face and she laughed.
"S-so why doesn't Phoenix like Harry?" he asked, trying to turn her attention anywhere but on him. He was getting flustered around her and it was making him uncomfortable. Anyone would be blind not to notice how beautiful she was; she had olive skin with bright blue eyes and he itched to run his hands through her night-black hair.
"It's not that he doesn't like Harry" she said, looking off into the distance. "Can I trust you won't tell Harry if I explain why my brother is acting the way he is?" When Ron nodded his head yes, she said "Harry and Phoenix are similar in a very important way."
Ron looked confused and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out what she meant. "My brother, like Harry, possesses Ignes Venificum" she said, giving Ron the answer before he could hazard a guess.
"You mean, that whole 'fire magic' thing?" Ron asked, shocked. "I thought only descendants of Prometheus could have it?"
"We are descendants" she said "only I didn't end up with the magic he has. I was given a different kind of magic."
"What kind of magic is that?" he asked, watching as the emotions played across her face.
"I am a descendant of Hera; I have the gift of Prophecy and Foresight" she replied. "A descendant of Hera and a descendant of Prometheus joined somewhere down our family line; a set of twins were born from their joining. One twin possessed Hera's power while the other had Prometheus'. Since then, there gifts were passed down through a set of twins in each generation, keeping their powers in our bloodline so that when Zeus's descendant rose to rightfully claim the throne there would be someone around to stop him."
"Hold on, if you're a descendant then how come Hermione is the one with the scepter?" he asked, confused.
"When I found out my heritage, I was inducted into the Order of Hera, a group of followers that worship the Goddess. When you are inducted, you are given an incantation to read; if you are the chosen wielder of the scepter, then a golden glow will surround you after reading it and the scepter will appear to you." Looking crestfallen, Pyrena said "I obviously was not the chosen one. I hoped I was so that I could use the scepter to avenge my parent's deaths."
"But Hermione didn't read any incantation; the scepter found her and called to her in the middle of the night" Ron observed.
"The descendant of Zeus was getting too close to finding out about his heritage. Hera probably made it so that the scepter found Hermione instead of the other way around. That way we were given a head start on finding the scepter of Zeus before Zeus's followers or his descendant did." She looked at Ron and said "Hera and Zeus were brother and sister, but they were also husband and wife. Hera grew to hate Zeus because of all of his affairs with other women. She tried to get more Gods and Goddesses to help her dethrone him, but the attempt failed. It has been an ongoing power struggle ever since."
"They were married and they were brother and sister? That's awful!" said Ron, not wanting to think about it in terms of him and Ginny. Wanting to change the subject, Ron carefully asked "you said you're parents were dead and you wanted to avenge them; I take it they were murdered?" When she slowly nodded her head in affirmation, Ron asked "by who?"
"Followers of Zeus" she replied, confirming his fears. "My parents, like you and your friends, were searching for his scepter so that they could destroy it. That way the ultimate evil wouldn't find it first and use it to gain ultimate power and immortality. Unfortunately, the followers of Zeus will do anything to insure the rise of their new God, which includes killing anyone that gets in their way."
They continued to walk in silence for a while, Ron trying to take in everything he was just told. "So why can't I tell Harry or Hermione?" he asked.
"Hermione must be the one to find the scepter and destroy it; we are not allowed to find it for her. We can help with the search, but we will not find anything of importance. Everything will reveal itself to Hermione only, we are here mainly to help protect her during her journey" she explained.
"What are we even doing here then?" asked Ron.
"We can not let her know she is the only one who will find anything, it will be too stressful on her. She will push herself into insanity and we will lose the scepter for sure" explained Pyrena.
Suddenly, Ron thought of something he had heard Harry and Hermione discussing. "But Hera was immortal; wouldn't that make you and Hermione immortal too?"
"No; Hera felt it was a curse to have to live forever so she cast a spell so that she was the last immortal in her line" Pyrena explained.
"What about Harry, how come he can't know about your brother?" Ron asked, absorbing everything she was telling him.
"My brother is a member of the Order of Prometheus. Being wielders of the flame, they feel threatened by another of their kind. The only way for a fire wielder to be killed is by another fire wielder or a follower of Zeus, since he and Prometheus were enemies" she replied. "Harry needs to learn to trust my brother; until he does Phoenix will treat him as a threat instead of a friend. What is it?" she asked, seeing a questioning look on Ron's face.
"So-so that means that if Lucius doesn't kill Harry he will live forever?" Ron watched her closely, waiting for her to answer him.
"I have tried to see Harry's future, but all I know is that there will be a confrontation between Hermione and Lucius Malfoy. I was unable to see the outcome, but I know that my brother, Harry and I will be there by her side to help her. If Harry isn't killed in the battle, then a descendant of Zeus will more than likely kill him in the future; the far future." Pyrena had a far off look on her face as she was talking, and Ron asked "why do I have the feeling there is something you're not telling me?"
She looked startled by his question, and then a sad look crossed her face. "In my vision, one of us dies. All I know is that it will be either me or my brother."
Ron was shocked; she had talked about her possible death like it was already a given. Impulsively, Ron grabbed her hand, wanting to comfort her. "I can't imagine how it must feel knowing your brother might be killed; it must have been even worse to know you might have foreseen your own death."
Smiling at Ron sadly, Pyrena said "I've already accepted my death. I plan to do everything I can to ensure my brother lives." Looking down at their entwined hands, Pyrena said "you're very sweet, you know that?"
Ron's entire face turned red this time and he was unable to meet her eyes. "Harry and Hermione swear I'm an insensitive git."
"You're far from being insensitive" she said, then leaned down to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I hope we can spend more time together; you're a very good listener."
More embarrassed than he had ever been in his life, Ron could only smile and say "we had better catch up with the others." Pyrena nodded in agreement and they continued to walk, hand in hand.
Harry helped Hermione stand once she had recovered slightly from her ordeal. Reading the sentence burned into the wall
in front of him, Harry asked "what the hell was that Hermione?"
"I-I had found an incantation in Hera's diary that supposedly unlocked her scepter's power and I tried it. All I remember is saying the words and then found myself on the floor." She noticed the wall, reading what was on it and repeated "The light side will turn to the dark." She stood in thoughtful silence for a moment, then said "that's a line from the prophecy I gave."
Everyone was looking at her in surprise. "Are you sure?" asked Harry, unable to recall everything she had said the morning she gave the prophecy. She nodded her head yes and he asked "do you know what it means?"
"I have no idea, but obviously it's something we need to figure out if it was important enough to burn into a wall." Feeling very weak, Hermione slowly walked over to one of the huge boulders and sat down.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked, walking over and putting his hand on her back.
"I'll be fine. That seemed to take a lot of energy out of me is all" she said and bent her head down, resting it in her hand. "Did you guys find anything?"
"Nothing pertaining to Zeus or Hera" replied Tonks, watching her carefully. "Why don't you sit and rest while Remus and I continue searching? Harry, keep an eye on her ok?"
"Alright" replied Harry "how much time do we have until we have to meet up with the other group?"
"We have another hour and a half" replied Remus, checking his watch. "Well, we should continue to look around if we want to cover the entire building before then."
Harry watched as Remus and Tonks walked away, then turned his attention back to Hermione. Noticing a frightened look on her face, Harry asked "what's wrong Love?"
"I-I saw something, after I felt Hera's power surge through me" she said, looking wide eyed and scared. "We were in a very dark room; I saw you, me, Phoenix and Pyrena. Lucius stood in front of us" taking a deep breath, she continued. "V-Voldemort stood next to Lucius, he had his body back again." Closing her eyes, Harry noticed as a tear escaped and ran down her cheek. Grabbing her hand and holding it tightly in support, Harry asked "what did you see?"
"I saw one of us killed" she said, unable to keep a sob from escaping her. "Harry, one of us is going to d-die, but I couldn't see any details like hair color or facial features. I watched as Lucius and Voldemort said some kind of curse at the same time. Each of them had a hold on the scepter of Zeus and we were running, trying to escape. It faded to black and then all I saw was a body laying in the middle of the floor." Hermione broke down, violent sobs racking her body and Harry wrapped his arms around her.
"Shh, it's going to be ok Hermione" he said, rocking her back and forth slightly. "We both know that visions can be changed." Hermione quieted down slightly and Harry continued "nothing is set in stone; we can try to use what you saw to stop anyone from being killed." Hermione clung onto him for dear life, afraid to let him go after what she had seen, afraid it was him lying there.
"I don't want Conlan to grow up without both of us there the entire time" she whispered, not trusting her voice. "I want us all to be a traditional family, without all of these threats hanging over us all the time." She stared into his eyes and said "I just want us to graduate and get our own house. I want to grow old with you."
"I don't think we've ever been normal love" said Harry, trying to get her to smile a little. When she stayed serious, he cupped her cheek with his hand and said "I'm going to do everything in my power to give you you're dream, I promise."
As he pulled her to him in a crushing hug, tears continued to fall down Hermione's face. All that she could think of was that body laying there, fearing it was Harry. 'I pray to Merlin you succeed Harry' she thought, closing her eyes and hugging him to her even more, afraid of letting him go.