Chapter Text
Chapter 130
Tony could still hear the shouting in his head. Obadiah had known where they were going, though he hadn't been happy about it. The man caught wind of the explosion on the news, put two and two together, and called Tony. His ears were still ringing from it as he went in search of Hera. He'd not asked before, which had helped him play dumb for Obadiah, but Tony sort of figured he should do so now.
"Well, Obadiah's pissed." Tony announced as he walked into the dining room. "He's convinced you had something to do with the explosion, not that anyone else is. The news is reporting it as an early demolition for a building that was condemned anyway. I don't know why he's so mad. It's not like anyone died. No one was even hurt, except a few cars, and some of the surrounding windows."
Hera, who had been resting her head on the table with her forearms wrapped around it, cautiously looked up. "Really?"
"Yup." Tony confirmed, and something in Hera seemed to ease. "What happened anyway?"
"Promise not to laugh?" She inquired.
"No dice." He denied. He wanted his laughing privileges, especially now that he knew they were on the table. "Out with it, Lil Blue."
"It was an accident." Hera tried to explain. Now Tony was even more confused, something that must have been evident on his face, because she kept going. "I found Goméz on the roof, sort of. Easy to get up there if you're willing to brave the stairs."
Tony knew the stairs she was talking about, and he'd not been brave enough to test them yet, but nodded in understanding.
"Well, there's a flat space up there. It's just big enough for a couple of people to stand up there, have a bit of walking room, or if they're particularly inventive…play a game of golf." Hera continued. "When I found him, he was just up there swinging away. That's what all the car alarms have been about. Goméz hit them with a golf ball. He invited me to join the game, and eventually asked me to swing the club as hard as I could…So I did."
"So the explosion…" Tony stalled as his mind began piecing it together.
"Was caused because I struck a golf ball." Hera admitted, grinning just a touch.
The snort escaped him before he could try and hold it back, and before he realized it the pair of them were laughing.
"A golf ball?" He squeaked through his laughter. "Really?"
Hera could only nod as she continued to laugh.
"Who knew golf could be so explosive?" He managed to add, which only added more laughter to the moment.
Things had been quiet ever since Kaecilius had been defeated by the Ancient One. The Eye of Agamotto had disappeared after that, or the Ancient One had sent it away. Wong still wasn't sure which possibility was the correct one, but their leader wasn't worried about its absence, so neither would he; wonder, maybe, but not worry. What he was not expecting was the familiar circle of orange sparks to open up directly in front of him. Wong stood in shock, alarmed by what he saw and heard within the portal.
Sounds of fighting now filled the library, where there'd been only silence and the occasional turn of a page before. He could hear sounds of alarm far off, but he couldn't tell if that was from his side of things or this new one. His own visage stared back at him, covered in cuts and wounds, silent in the chaos. Just as quickly as the man appeared, he began tossing bags through the portal. None of them felt malevolent, but then things like that could easily be disguised.
The form of a man fell through the portal, and Wong barely reacted in time to catch him. They looked familiar but not; as if he had met him, or should have but didn't. A tattered cloak hung about the man's shoulders, moving weakly to tap against him as if to wake the man up. Nothing came of it, however, and the cloak settled as if exhausted. Wong looked to his doppelgänger, who now held what appeared to be the Eye of Agamotto.
"It won't be long before your existence will have to face this too." His doppelgänger declared. "I will do what I can to give you the time you need to prepare."
"What are you going to do?" Wong found himself asking.
His doppelgänger only clutched the Eye all the more tightly for a moment, before replying. "What is needed."
…and then he was gone.
Draco had delighted in getting to know the Addams Family, though he obviously had his favourites. Pugsley was rather inventive with his explosives, and Grandma Frump was a fountain of potions knowledge. Hera and Hermione had tried to explain some of the muggle world to him, but it hadn't been until he'd seen a bit of it that he'd understood, and the Addams Family only added another layer to the complexity of it all. He had not, however, expected to find himself at the receiving end of the wrath of Wednesday. She had been trying to get by him for the past several minutes, and each unsuccessful attempt only made her that much more determined.
"You're making a marked effort to keep me out of a room in my own house." Wednesday noted needlessly, a faint note of being either amused or impressed in her voice. "Why?"
"You know why." Draco reminded her once again, frustrated and annoyed. "I've already told you Hera and Salazar are having a private conversation of a rather serious nature in there, and requested not to be interrupted. How many times do I have to say it?"
"You misunderstand." Wednesday corrected. "Why is it you? Why is only you?"
"The rest are guarding the various other entrances to that room." Draco admitted. He'd not said doors, knowing far too well by now that doors were not the only such ways into a place.
"Then your friends lied to you." Wednesday shrugged. "There's only one entrance to that room, and you're standing in front of it…alone. Also, there's no one in there."
Draco faltered, shocked for a moment. Hera hadn't told him of any misdirection. He'd seen her go into that room with Salazar with his own eyes, knew that she was in there. Then again, Hera could create spaces within spaces. It was possible she was both in the room and not.
He also knew that she could ward a space so thoroughly that no one would have ever been able to get in. Even so, she'd asked him to guard this space. It was at this moment that there was a slight stinging sensation on his wrist…where Ron's rune was, and his eyes flicked up just in time to see Wednesday trying to edge her way past him again. Without a seconds thought, Draco sent her flying back with an outward pressing shield charm. His own thoughts had distracted him enough, he decided.
It didn't matter if Hera had used a bit of misdirection, if she had even done so at all. Something told him this was a test of some kind. Whether it was being given by Hera or the Addams Family, he didn't know, but he wasn't the only one being tested now. Wednesday got back up more quickly than he'd expected, but he wasn't too surprised by that. She only smiled before charging at him again.
...
Severus was enjoying a quiet moment pouring over the latest tome he'd been enjoying from the Addams' library. After he'd worked out that they were all a bit like the Monster Book of Monsters, figuring out what made them docile had been easy; though it was never usually the same thing for more than a few of them. Tony Stark entered the room with a bit of a confused look on his face that Severus recognized as one attributed to Hera. Granted, the man always had something of a puzzled expression, but that seemed more due to the fact that he was always trying to solve some problem or other. Upon seeing him, Tony made a beeline for the reading nook he'd sequestered himself in and plopped down on the other side.
"Was it another explosion?" Severus inquired, knowing that the younger man was not likely to be going anywhere for the time being. "It has been rather peaceful of late, suspiciously so."
"No, uh…Actually, I can't find her…or the Addams'…any of them." Tony admitted, looking more thoroughly confused the longer he spoke. "I couldn't even find Lurch."
Severus had a sneaking suspicion what this might be, but Sirius and Remus burst into the room before he could voice his thoughts on the matter.
"Have either of you seen Hera?" Sirius demanded, as he continued his way further in. "Something is wrong, and I can't find her anywhere. The house is giving me the runaround, and I keep ending up here!"
"That would explain why I have had no desire to leave." Severus noted. He casually marked his place in the book with a ribbon, closed it, and placed it on the table before continuing. "We've been gathered here for our safety, I'd wager. We won't be able to leave until it's done."
"Until what is done?" Remus hazarded to inquire. "The other children are still out there."
"Then it involves them as well." Severus reasoned. "Whatever it is, we will have to trust in their abilities to see them through."
"How can you be so calm about this?" Sirius demanded angrily, looking between him and Tony. "Either of you?!"
"Oh, I'm worried out of my mind," Tony corrected, surprising the man. "but Sev's calm, so I'm trying to be too. Until I know what's going on, this is the best I can do. I have to trust that Hera knows what she's doing."
Severus could only stare as he processed what Tony had just called him; It had been a long time since that particular keening had been given to him.
"For the time being, there's nothing to do then." Remus sighed, looking back at the door for a moment.
"Perhaps reading a book would help?" Severus offered.
"No, thanks." Tony immediately objected. "Last time I tried that, the book almost ate me."
"Did it have a picture of a couple on it? Perhaps with swords and the like? Daring adventures and all that?" Severus inquired, to which Tony nodded. "You should have let it take you in. The adventures within are much more…interactive that way. The one I'm currently reading isn't like that, however, so there are other options available to you."
"Wait," Tony stated, perking up. "you mean they're like literal 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books?"
Severus only chuckled as he pointed to a pile he'd already gone through. "How do you think I've been spending most of my time?"
...
Salazar had been confused when Hera asked him to walk with her as she gathered her friends, as she tasked them with guarding entrances he hadn't realized were connected to the same room, as she then set up wards within the room once inside. The room contained only a tall stone structure with a wispy veil that seemed to move with a wind that wasn't there. Just seeing the artefact gave him pause, an aura of dread over the whole thing. So he was surprised when Hera locked arms with him, and pulled him towards it. His shock was such that he didn't even think to resist as she pulled him through it and out the other…side…?
"Hera?" He paused to look around. "…Where are we?"
"You know how every culture has a sort of belief about the afterlife?" Hera countered, not yet answering his question. He nodded regardless, as she usually got to the point after a bit anyway. "Well, imagine that they all met up at one place. From here, there is an access point to every version of the afterlife that you can think of; No matter what you believe, what you hope for, or what you want to avoid. You can find it all here. I think there's even an access point to the Nothing, the Big Empty, or the Void as some like to call it." She was rambling now, not yet noticing that he was beginning to panic. "I can't really think of it as the Void, of course, what with having memories of what the void of space was actually like."
"So you mean we're…"
"In the realm of the Dead, yes." Hera confirmed, turning to see his panicked expression now. "Don't worry. You're not actually dead."
"Not yet, he's not." He heard, only to be pushed behind Hera before he could react.
She had that wicked looking Scottish Halberd of hers in front of them in an instant, and something terrible slammed into it. Salazar could not look away from the sight before him, eyes wide in terror. Hera stood against a being of pure horror angrily bearing down on them both. He couldn't even begin to describe the being other than to note the ancient Grecian styled armour. He was more terrified than he'd been in his life, and it only barely registered that Hera was facing down what could only be death itself.
"You dare?!" The being boomed.
"I warned you what would happen if you attacked me and mine." Hera snarled right back. "Soul just so happens to be protective of me."
"That is the soul of Tom Marvolo Riddle," The being sneered, making to attack again, trying to get to him. "or part of it."
"That man no longer exists." Hera snapped, rebuffing the attack and striking out with the halberd. "Check again."
The being changed, shifted into something more human looking, and glared at him. Salazar couldn't help but stare back unblinking in fear. He knew what the man was looking for, proof that his soul was no longer that of Riddle, but Salazar couldn't say for certain that Hera's words were true. He had not died and been reborn as she had been, yet Hera's tone had rang of truth. She felt convinced of this, and had demanded a second look.
"His soul still reeks of foul magic." The being claimed, after breaking eye contact with him to glare at Hera. "That will need to be remedied."
"We're working on it." She informed him. "Are we good now? Can you get Hades for me? I'd like to see my parents again, and I'm kind of hoping he'll facilitate another meeting for us."
"Fine." The being grumbled as he stalked off. "Personification of death, and I've been reduced to a fucking errand boy."
"Personification of death?" Salazar asked Hera in a hushed whisper.
"Thanatos." She confirmed as she watched the being leave. "Biggest tit I've ever met in my life."
Salazar could only stare at her in wonder and incredulity. She knew precisely who that had been, knew what his role was, and still talked about him as if he were someone of no consequence; as if he were someone she would deal with on the daily. Salazar wonders how much of this is his fault, how she seemed to view danger as nothing at all; as it was due to Voldemort's actions that her path was laid out as it was. Had she had a more stable upbringing, would she be so cavalier with it all? The thought was interrupted when a tall willowy looking man with long wavy black hair made his way into the room. He had a moment to realize the man had a circlet of horns about his head as Hera sometimes did, before they began speaking.
"Do you have to antagonize him so?" The man sighed, though Salazar could see the corner of their lips tick up in fondness.
"It's not my fault he ignored my warning." Hera remarked with snort, before breaking out into a grin. "So, I know this is super short notice, but can we visit with my parents today?"
"We?" Salazar asked, but he was ignored.
"They're already expecting you." The man nodded, before turning his attention to him. "I have seen much of your life, both old and new, Salazar Gaunt. Your journey has been a long one."
"Will it be cut short by that…Thanatos?" Salazar couldn't help but ask. He couldn't see the personification of death giving up as easily as that.
"No, but you are lucky Hera Potter speaks for you. Had you not made the choice you did, he would have found you much sooner than you'd expect." The man warned. A shocked look came across his face then, and he shook his head. "Forgive me. Being outside of time as I am, I tend to forget my manners. I have not introduced myself, nor did I give you the proper chance to do so either. My name is Hades. I am god and Account of the Dead, King of the Underworld, or at least my part in the grander scale of it all. It is a pleasure to meet you. Come, they are in a meeting room waiting for you both already, and I imagine this will be…"
"Awkward?" Salazar supplied with a grimace.
"Among other things." Hades agreed, before guiding them to their destination. Once there, he stops the pair of them. "I am aware this will be a trying conversation for the four of you. As such, I have taken the liberty of using one of the more well warded rooms. There is nothing and no one that can harm you in that room, but know that words sometimes cut far deeper than any weapon ever could."
With that, the god simply…vanished.
"Hera, what did he mean by that?" Salazar demanded, more confused and uncertain than ever. "Why would the four of us need to have a conversation? What I did-"
"That is precisely why we are having this conversation." Hera stated, cutting him off, glaring at him now. "You wanted to give me a detailed account of how – as Voldemort – you murdered my family, but there are very few places I can have such a tumultuous conversation without possibly risking another's safety. The realm of the dead is one of them. I also figured that if you really wanted to have this conversation, they deserved to hear it just as much as I, and to see who you've become since then."
"This is not a conversation I expected them to be present for." Salazar admitted, before resigning himself to the situation. "Very well."
The entire room was more than a little tense when they entered. James and Lily Potter looked just as he remembered them, though the expressions of confusion were new. Had they not known who they were meeting, or had they expected him to look as he had before? His confusion must have been visible, because they stood and began making their way forward, something that caused him to take an instinctive step backwards. The Potters stopped their approach in an instant, and he noticed Hera looking between the three of them as if unsure of what to do here.
"We were uncertain if we should meet with you, even with what we've seen of your new chance at life," Lily stated, looking between the two. "but it's clear there's been a change more profound than skin deep."
"Do not think me some benevolent light wizard." Salazar snapped. "That is hardly the case."
"Would you hurt or kill someone if you knew it would disappoint her?" Lily countered, arching an eyebrow at him, reminding him far too much of Hera. He grimaced, and she smirked in triumph. "Thought not."
"I can't believe we're having this conversation." James grumbled with a sigh, more resigned than anything else.
"You do realize she's mad at you two as well, don't you?" Salazar pointed out, surprising James with that statement; but not Lily.
"We left her alone." She pointed out, when James looked to her. "You heard that speech she gave Molly, same as me."
"But we-"
"I know, Love, but she doesn't see it that way." Lily explained, a sad smile on her lips. "All she sees are the results of decisions made, and no amount of good intentions can ease that pain. We did what we did, and with good reason, but it left her without us."
"So you're really…?" James looked to Hera; the unasked question trailing off when he saw her crumpled guilt stricken expression, and the tears swimming unshed in her eyes. "It's okay to be angry at us, Hera."
Hera looked stunned for a moment, bewildered as she replied. "…What?"
"We knew what we were doing, talked it out a lot before deciding our course." James revealed, gesturing for her to come closer; walking with her to a nearby table when she did, and when the two sat down he continued. "Your mother and I decided to try for you earlier than we'd originally planned. We were afraid, like many were, that we'd be the last of our lines. When we finally had you, we discussed running away."
Hera looked shocked, injured in a way that made Salazar feel like a knife was twisting in his own chest.
"You changed everything. Our little Blueberry." James insisted, clasping her hands in his own, before taking a deep breath and looking at her meaningfully. "For you, we were willing to leave it all behind."
"Then why didn't you?" Hera asked. Her voice trembled with the words; a mixture of anger, betrayal, and grief. "You could have lived. We could have been a family."
"When I held you in my arms, I decided then and there that I would move heaven and earth to do my very best by you; to be the kind of father you could be proud of." James admitted, though his words didn't sound like an answer to her question; not yet anyway. "I have a question of my own for you, if I may. You don't have to answer it aloud if you don't want, but I want you to be honest with yourself about it."
Hera closed her eyes, a couple of tears slipping past, as she likely realized where this was about to go.
"If we had run away, and raised you in peace…If we had then told you we'd left countless other children to whatever fate the war had brought them, could you have ever again looked at us with anything other than shame for what we'd done?"
Salazar made to slowly leave out the door behind him – even as Hera looked down in defeat as she continued to struggle to keep back her tears – when something landed on his shoulder, and he looked over to see Lily standing next to him.
"You weren't thinking about leaving, were you?"
"This is a private moment." Salazar tried to explain, mumbling, feeling uncomfortable even witnessing it. "I shouldn't be here for this."
"I imagine this is part of why you need to be." Lily reasoned knowingly.
...
A little while later, Lily stood with her husband as Salazar told Hera the story of how he'd killed them. He made no excuses, no pleas for forgiveness. She needed to know that when they'd fully realized their predicament, they'd done as she'd thought they would have; they'd ran, and when they found the borders closed, they'd hidden. She watched her daughter struggle to contain her emotions as Salazar explained how he'd had to hunt them down, how Pettigrew had come to him begging like some disgusting sycophant. It was hard watching her go through this.
"We did the right thing…didn't we?" She whispered quietly, leaning back into him.
"Yeah." James softly replied back, watching Salazar awkwardly hug Hera as she broke down into sobs. "I think we did."
Tony hadn't expected the book he'd picked up to be so…involved, and there was no way he was telling anyone what he'd done in there; though the look on Snape's face told him he knew exactly what he'd done in that book. Something had felt different once he was back in the library again though, and he couldn't help but try the door. They were all surprised when it opened, and they no longer felt compelled to stay where they were. Tony found himself wandering, though to where quickly became apparent. The sound of sobbing told him it was Hera, and it was confirmed when he came upon them all.
Salazar was awkwardly patting her shoulder as she cried, one arm around her. The others were around them, but not crowding in, wanting to be supportive but not overbearing. It clicked for Tony then what had happened, though he didn't know why the Addams' had decided that was the time to test Hera's shield-brethren. Before he knew it, Hera had launched herself at him. Salazar looked more and more uncomfortable and uncertain, so Tony reached out and pulled him in too.
"You did good." He assured them both. "You did good."
The rest of their trip was a bit of a blur. They ended their visit with the Addams', promising to return, and headed back to Malibu. Snape had coordinated with Sirius and Remus to take the rest of the children back to their families, as they no doubt had plans for the rest of their summers. Tony was set on some project Obadiah wanted, convinced that this would smooth things over, to buy them all more time. Neither Hera nor Salazar thought this was a good idea, but they didn't mention it.
"You're not going to be here anyway." Tony pointed out, the one time time she'd tried. "I'll keep him distracted with this new project, while Pepper and Jarvis finish up gathering evidence. I'll be fine. Trust me."
"I heard him." Salazar mentioned. "He wanted you to go somewhere, showcase your newest project for him. Where?"
"…Okay, promise me you won't freak out." Tony hedged; the words making Hera's heart drop. "No. No, that's your freaking out face. You're not supposed to be doing that."
"Too late. I'm freaking out. Tell me anyway." Hera insisted.
"A little help here?" Tony looked to Salazar, who quickly raised his hands as if to say 'Not me, buddy'. "Being ganged upon by the siblings. Damn. I didn't think we'd hit that stage yet. I should have prepared a defence. Jarvis, get on that for me, would ya?"
"I'm afraid you're on your own, Sir."
"Mutiny on all sides, I see." Tony grinned, before gently grasping her shoulders. "Don't worry. I'll be in London before you know it."
Hera was still worried, and she knew Tony could see that. "I just…I've got a bad feeling. What if whatever you're doing goes wrong? What if he reacts badly?"
"It's my responsibility, Hera." Tony stated, still grinning just a touch. "Let me worry about this, okay?"
Hera sighed and nodded, knowing he was right but not liking it. "Okay. I've got to sort things before I head off back to Hogwarts. Promise me you'll be careful, Broðir. Please?"
…
"You know she's trying to warn you away from whatever it is you're about to do, right?" Salazar inquired, having stayed behind for just this conversation.
"Yeah, I know." The man admitted, causing him to frown in confusion.
"If you know…why do it?" He wondered.
"Because…Whatever she's trying to protect me from…It'll be worth it, to make the right decision." Tony supplied, but Salazar was just as confused as before.
"I don't…I don't understand."
"She knows things about my future, because of her last life, and she's trying to protect me using that knowledge." Tony clarified, only clearing some of Salazar's confusion. "But I know that whatever happens to me, it'll be worth it."
"How do you know that?" Salazar wondered; his voice low, not wanting Hera to hear this.
"Because she is."
AN: Alright, everyone, this is it. This is the final chapter for this part of the series. I've been waffling about where to end this one, but considering how long it's gotten, and what's coming next, this seemed like a good place. Please don't hate me, I swear the new sequel will be up soon! ^_^ Thank you all for sticking with me this long, it's been quite the journey, and I can't wait to get started on the next leg of it ^_^