The Blessing's Blessing

Luna sat atop her throne, contemplating her position. Sure, the throne was tacky, but her minions responded better to it. Fear and large displays of power were her greatest assets.

As she lounged about, she twirled a knife through her fingers. Conquering the underworld of Knockturn Alley would've been far easier if she'd had magic, but the Trace made it impossible to function with it.

The doors to her throne room swung open, and two of her henchmen escorted her guest to her.

"Lucius Malfoy," she said in a cold voice. Creepy voices were easier for children, for some reason.

"Lady Mars," he said as her minions forced him to his knees. "I bring a proposition from my lord."

"As you did the last time, and the time before that," she said. "My answer remains the same. If Voldemort wants an alliance, he must remove the Trace. Then he'll have his alliance. Until then, Knockturn Alley is mine."

Lucius sized her up, likely contemplating how difficult it would be to take down a 15 year old girl and take control himself.

"Something else to say?"

Lucius said nothing, so she used the one trick she could do without activating the Trace: she reached inside his mind. He was good at Occlumency, but she'd spent the six years since becoming an orphan learning how to fight back. No one's mind was closed to her.

She reached inside and planted the smallest seed of fear in him.

"Remember, Lucius. If you go against me, it won't be you I torture. It will be Narcissa and Draco. For days, all you will hear will be their dying screams. Then, I will cut every string you've got attached to those imbeciles in the Ministry. Finally, I will destroy what's left of your precious life. Only then, when you beg for death, will I grant your wish. Whatever your lord will do to you, I will do worse."

She stood up, her knife, like the others on her person, concealed. She approached him and looked directly into his eyes.

He looked away, and she knew she had him.

"Go and tell your lord that I send him a gift. You. Remind him that I can take anything he holds dear." She reached out her hand, and one of her minions handed her a letter. "Give him this. It explains exactly how he came back from the dead. A little reminder why he must send his lot to make a deal with me."

Lucius trembled ever so slightly as he took the letter.

Luna leaned in closer and whispered in his ear.

"And of course, we both know what happened to poor Bella."

She turned around, signaling that she was finished talking to him. Her minions dragged him out, and she returned to her throne. After they'd left, she got up and went to her chambers. After sealing the door, she got into bed, dreading whatever sunshine-filled life she'd have to live that night. She hated her other lives.

She went to sleep the same way she had for six years. Full of hate, but secure that she would continue to control her own destiny.

Luna woke up and shuddered. She hated her dreams of Mars.

<Moon?> Tutela asked. <Are you alright?>

Luna nodded.

<I just had a dream about Mars.>

Tutela nestled closer to her.

<Why don't we take another look at the intelligence runes? That helps take your mind off your dreams.>

Luna let out a small groan.

<It's hopeless. I can't get it right. We've been trying for weeks.>

<And we're close. I know it.>

Luna stood up and activated her pendant. She walked from her current nest to the river, bathed, dressed, then began her rounds of the forest.

She played with the centaur children, checked on Aragog's declining health, then met with the unicorns.

The unicorns lived together, in a sense, but often they spent their time apart. Their reasoning was that if someone found them, it could mean the loss of their entire blessing. Every part of a unicorn, from their horns to their fur, was magical. They'd learned long ago that staying hidden away from creatures that would be tempted to attack them was the key to staying alive.

Like the other creatures of the forest, the unicorns trusted Luna.

No, my name's not Luna. It's Losha.

Luna was a name from another life, like Moon, Mars, or Venus. She was Losha, guardian of the Forbidden Forest.

She ran alongside a unicorn. He picked up his pace, so Losha hopped on to Tutela. The three of them went deeper into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Losha asked.

"Somewhere special," her friend replied.

The trees gave way to a vast field. They slowed their pace, and Losha got off Tutela. They approached a blessing of unicorns, who gathered around to greet her.

A larger unicorn stood in front. She tossed her mane and whinnied, getting the attention of the others.

"Losha of the Forest. What we bestow upon you today must never be shared with others."

Losha bowed her head in respect.

"The symbols upon your body hold great power. Power that will only improve with special liquids. Correct?"

"Correct."

"Rise and approach me."

Losha did as she was told.

"What do you know of unicorn blood?"

Losha shook her head.

"If taken forcefully, it will curse you. If offered willingly, but never consumed, it provides great power. For your symbols, I offer you the use of my blood. But only if you swear never to use it to harm the forest or Her creatures."

Losha had the rune in her head before the unicorn matriarch had finished talking.

"I do swear, that with this gift, I shall defend the forest and Her creatures to the end of days."

Losha had long since learned not to imply she was mortal. No "to my last breath" or "until I die". The creatures of the forest wanted her to be a spirit. It meant she'd always be there to protect them.

If only I could stop myself from aging.

"Approach. You may take what you need."

Losha grew claws. With a delicate touch, she made a small wound in the matriarch's flank. It was enough to draw blood, but no more.

Tutela stood behind her and became her eyes. It was far from the first time she'd imprinted a rune with her guidance.

She drew the rune she'd been trying to perfect on the back of her neck. It was more than just something to jump start her mind. She combined it with the rune that would allow her to talk with Moon's friends. It'd be her only chance to add it.

As she drew the final stroke, her mind woke up. Thousands of memories from countless lives erupted inside her brain. She envisioned Toad, fighting a clockwork horror, then smiling at her with such kindness. How it must have hurt him when she avoided him.

I'm not weak anymore.

It was more than that. Memories of Mars ruling Knockturn Alley, Neptune running away on a boat, Mercury running anywhere, Pluto giving up, they filled her mind.

"It is done," she called out. "With this gift, I shall defend the unicorns, the forest, and all Her creatures until the end of days!"

The blessing reared up and whinnied in celebration. The matriarch herself did not, avoiding further injury to herself.

"Let me help you," Losha said.

The runes shifted on her, then she touched the matriarch. The wound slowly sealed itself.

"You are a kind soul, Losha. Take our gift, and know that you have our blessing."

As Tutela and Losha left the unicorns, ideas flooded her head. Ways to help the forest, ways to improve her mum's work. She'd fix it all.

Like her sister, she could fix anything.

Harry sat alone in the changing rooms. His team had long since left after their defeat.

"What do I do, Alavel?" Harry asked the empty changing room. "What do I do?"

He knew they blamed him for not leading the team, for failing to catch the Snitch. Why was everything down to a single player? If he failed, then the team failed.

"I'm the captain. They fail if I fail anyway."

The other two Chasers hated Ginny almost as much as Ginny hated everyone else. Katie had already started pushing him to remove Ginny.

"Maybe if you didn't waste so much time dealing with Weasley, you'd have time to practice!"

Ron came running into the changing rooms and looked around for Harry.

"Harry!"

Ron ran over to him, looking as if Christmas had just come early.

"Ron, I really just—"

"I know how to stop Slytherin from taking the Quidditch Cup!"

Harry looked up at Ron.

"You figured out how Malfoy did it?"

Ron grinned and nodded.

"He didn't cheat, so we can't get the match overturned, but we can stop him from using it against Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw will thrash Slytherin without it, so it's down to Hufflepuff beating Slytherin, which is possible, even without Diggory. Ravenclaw will probably beat Hufflepuff, because again, no Diggory, and Ravenclaw's offence is supposed to be brilliant this year."

"That's not helping," Harry said. "I still—"

"It's the hissing!" Ron exclaimed. "It's just like doublespeak! It's a code, something no one else notices, because they think it��s some sort of intimidation tactic! But when one of the players starts hissing loudly, it's a signal to Malfoy that they've spotted the Snitch! He just needs to pinpoint the person hissing, look where they're looking, and spot the Snitch! That's how he keeps finding it so fast once it's released!"

Harry's eyes grew wide and he jerked his head up at Ron.

"Ron, that's brilliant! How'd you work that all out?"

"Oi! Brain's not the only clever one! Just because I don't have a fancy hair clip doesn't mean—"

"No, I mean that's a big stretch from hissing to… all of that!"

Ron grinned again.

"You think Malfoy thought of that all on his own? He got it from the 1976 Quidditch League, when—"

"Alright, I don't need specifics."

Harry began to assess what he knew about the new Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams.

"You think you can match Ravenclaw's offence?" Harry asked.

"Of course I can! I'm the best Keeper Gryffindor's ever known!"

Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron.

"What?" Ron asked, folding his arms.

"Never mind. I've just got to work the team as hard as Wood worked me."

"I can take it!"

"Good."

Harry ran through the rest of his roster, then turned his thoughts to the other teams.

"Cedric would've listened, but now I don't know if we can convince Hufflepuff to hear us out."

"You don't have to."

When Harry realized he'd gotten so worked up that he'd forgotten his blindsight, he quickly switched his focus to it. Then he realized he'd lost control of his emotions again, and kept his focus on that as well.

"Princess?" Ron asked.

Sure enough, it was Perks at the entrance to the changing rooms. She looked just as sad as she always did those days. As if she were about to cry at any second, all the time.

Harry took mental note that Ron had called her "Princess".

"Spread a rumor about it," Perks said. "Ron, you can probably just tell Lavender, and she��ll take care of the rest. Or get the entire Gryffindor table talking about it. Malfoy will try changing tactics as soon as he realizes it's been found out, but I doubt he'll be able to come up with a new strategy in time. Slytherin isn't exactly receptive to new ideas."

"Did you know about this?" Harry demanded.

"I used to be the information hub for the entire school. Nothing happened that I didn't know about. I already knew you were using Rose's gifts to play, so I let it go. You won last year, so it obviously didn't matter. Now, you've made it abundantly clear that we're not friends."

"You could've shown house loyalty!" Ron snapped.

Perks flinched and took a small step back.

Harry swore he was looking at the old Perks, from back in their first year. A small, timid little girl that was too afraid to do anything.

"I hate this game," she said. "And even if I had said something, no one would've listened. Everyone has made it clear that they don't care what I've got to say anymore."

Harry glared at her. Thoughts and emotions bubbled inside him, and he felt as though he would burst with anger. Everything about Perks made him more angry. The way she talked, what she said, how she looked. His rage built until he was shaking.

"Get out of here, Perks," he said calmly.

Ron turned and scowled at him.

"Harry, what—"

"You heard me. Get out of here. Now."

Perks took a few small steps away from the changing room. Then she turned and walked off, not quite running, but walking fast.

After she was gone, Harry turned to Ron.

"We'll figure out something tomorrow. Right now, I'd like it if you left too."

"Harry—"

"I want this to be perfectly clear," Harry said, still struggling to stay calm as memories of Perks's betrayal climbed through his thoughts. "Sally-Anne Perks is not my friend. I doubt Lavender wants you hanging around her either. So you've got to figure out whose side you're on."

Ron turned and walked towards the door. When he reached it, he stopped and looked back at Harry.

"Just leave," Harry said before Ron could speak. "I'd rather be alone."

"But—"

"I said leave me alone!"

It took Ron a few seconds to get it through his head that Harry meant it.

When Harry was alone again, he felt Alavel's gaze on him again.

Take the time you need to recover, Lord Skyeyes. You'll do better with some rest.

After being verbally slapped in the face by his best friend, Ron was in a bad mood. Worse yet, he was starting to get why people didn't like Sally-Anne.

He spotted her walking to the castle, and ran to catch up with her.

"Sally-Anne!"

She didn't so much as turn to look at him.

Ron decided on the direct approach.

"You could've told me what Slytherin was doing! I would've listened!"

Sally-Anne stopped walking, but didn't look at him.

"Would they have listened to you?"

"Harry did just now! I told him about it, and I could explain how I knew about it!"

Sally-Anne didn't say anything, nor did she look at him.

Ron waited for her to respond, but he gave up and walked around to face her. He drew a breath when he saw her.

She was crying.

"I—" Memories of Hermione crying at the ball flooded his head. Why was it that whenever he opened his mouth, he made someone upset? He wasn't even sure what he'd done this time!

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," Sally-Anne said at last. "I look so silly, standing here in tears."

She pulled out a handkerchief from her pack and dabbed at her eyes.

"Please excuse me."

She turned and started off towards the Whomping Willow.

I doubt Lavender wants you hanging around her either.

"She's my friend," Ron said. "And I've had enough of watching my friends cry."

Ron trotted after her.

"Sally-Anne, wait!"

Sally-Anne stopped and spun around.

"Leave me alone, Ronald!" she screamed.

He stood there, stunned by her sudden outburst. His thoughts ground to a halt, leaving him to stare at Sally-Anne as she ran off.

Ron felt as he had back in the Forbidden Forest. All around him, his friends were beaten and broken, and all he could do was wonder where he'd gone wrong.

Clouds parted in the storm of his mind, and an idea shone through. He had a feeling he'd look back on it and wonder why he ever followed through on such a horrible idea, but he did it anyway. It wasn't hard to find Lav. She always managed to turn up.

"I hope you're not too upset about losing," she said. "I hear Malfoy's been cheating, so you could probably—"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Have I ever told you how much I love hearing you talk?" he asked.

She leered at him and kissed him again. Then she started going on about this and that.

For once, Ron listened to every word Lav said. He didn't care what it was, but it distracted him from his problems with Harry and Sally-Anne, and that was all he wanted.

"You know what I think?" she asked.

"I can't wait for you to tell me."

"I think Perks has been spying on the Gryffindor practices and reporting to Malfoy. She was always spending time with the Slytherins last year. You're not still friends with her, are you?"

"I—"

"Of course, you're not. Who'd be friends with her?"

Lavender continued talking, and Ron forced himself to listen and forget about her question. For once, he was glad she hadn't let him answer, because he didn't know.

Hermione avoided people for the next few days. Everyone was in a foul mood after their defeat Sunday. Harry was quieter than usual, and didn't want to talk to Ron for some reason. Ron was on edge, and Ginny… "on edge" didn't do her justice.

Hermione had never heard Ginny scream as loudly as she had when some poor soul had tried talking to her. After that, people got the message to stay away from her.

No one tried talking to Hermione about it, since no one thought she cared. She didn't, which made it easier for her to avoid it. She was worried about Harry and Ron, but with them avoiding one another, she couldn't figure out the problem.

The traitor seemed worse than usual too, although Hermione couldn't think why. She was supposed to be friends with Malfoy, so she should've been thrilled that he'd won.

Hermione had her own problems. Dumbledore wanted to review her memories from the end of her third year, from when she'd talked with Rose's parents. Rose had told her everything that day. Hermione didn't know what she wanted Dumbledore to know, but she wasn't going to have a choice.

They'd already reviewed the memory of Rose explaining why she hated the idea of extracting someone's soul so much. Even though the Exalted had done the same to Valignatiejir, it hadn't been Rose's decision in the end. Sk'lar and Ozerl had made the choice to lock away his soul, with support from the others and Rose's parents.

She arrived in Dumbledore's office. As always, he and the Pensieve awaited her.

"Are you ready?"

Hermione extracted the strand and dropped it inside the Pensieve. After the rush of blue, they landed in the Forbidden Forest.

"Brain, I lied," Rose said.

"Really?" the other Hermione said. "I had no idea."

"I probably deserved that."

"But you've been so truthful this entire time!"

"You can stop now."

"It's like everything you say is—"

"Do you want me to tell you the truth or not?"

Hermione waited while Rose walked the other Hermione to the conclusion that Rose's parents were alive. That they'd died, then Sk'lar had brought them back to life. She saw Dumbledore's face change when Rose told them the actual limit on her ability to raise the dead.

"She was going to bring back Luna's mum," Hermione said. "That's why Luna was going to leave after the tournament. They were going to move far away so no one would ever know Rose could bring people back to life."

Dumbledore kept his attention on the conversation before them.

"Why should I trust you now?" the other Hermione asked. "How can I trust anything you—"

On cue, a crack appeared in front of them. When it opened up, Sk'lar and Rose's parents stood on the other side.

The other Hermione stared at them while Rose started talking. She eventually snapped out of her state and spoke to them.

Hermione remembered the conversation well. She'd been so angry at Rose, but looking at it now, she couldn't bring herself to be angry. There were so many questions she wished she could ask them.

She wondered what they were doing. Did her family now what had happened to Rose? Did they assume she'd died on the Rowling Plane? Had they been trying to track down Hermione to ask her? Some part of her wished that were true. She wanted answers more than anything.

The gate ended, leaving her and Dumbledore alone with the other Hermione and Rose.

"Are you through lying?" Hermione asked. "Are you through keeping secrets?"

Rose lowered her head, but Hermione knew why. She couldn't say anything about Sylvia or about Luna having some of her memories.

"Goodbye, Rose."

The other Hermione turned to leave. Hermione knew that she had no idea where she was going, so the gesture was pointless.

"I want to be, but I made promises. They're not my secrets."

"You know everything about me, Rose," the other Hermione said, turning to face Rose. "I don't even know what you've told me is true anymore! How do I tell the difference?!"

Stop yelling at her! She's telling the truth!

"Then let me tell you," Rose said, offering her hand to Hermione. "I'll tell you everything, but you've got to let me put mind blank on that ring."

"The next time you lie to me will be the last time you talk to me," Hermione said. "Alright?"

"Understood."

Dumbledore eyed Hermione, silently asking about that.

"She hasn't lied to me since without a good reason."

After enchanting the ring, Rose began her story.

Hermione and Dumbledore listened to Rose explain who she was and where she'd come from. From the time she'd been born on Thars, to her parents moving to Rontus and eventually Faera, then her parents' deaths, meeting her brother and sister, straight up until the time she'd arrived in the Rowling Plane.

When she finished, the memory faded away, leaving Hermione feeling empty. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed her friend.

"I think we should stop for today," Dumbledore said. "I've certainly got enough information to work from for now. Have you had any luck with spell analysis?"

Hermione groaned.

"No. I can't figure it out. There must be some sort of change, some way of making it visible. Professor Vector thinks Rose might have made her equipment — and mine — resistant to analysis."

"It's possible that the auras respond to a certain magical energy."

Hermione stopped and stared into space. Her mind began to work on its own, running scenarios and grinding information. Like a train starting up, it moved slowly, building speed as it ran.

"Like a sort of radar," Hermione said. "But a different sort of radiation! That's it! That must be it! It's responding to a sort of radiation! Emitted from the eyes, it creates a sort of circuit! Firing the right sort of energy along it must trigger the auras, and it leads back to the eyes! That's how you can see it! If I can replicate that radiation — and I'm sure I can work out how — then I can see the magical auras!"

"Glad I could help."

"Thank you so much, professor!" Hermione ran for the door. "I'll see you later!"

Hermione raced to the Room of Requirement and activated it. She needed somewhere to work, somewhere with chalkboards to write on and stands to put equipment to experiment on. When she entered the room, as always, she found just what she needed. Picking up a piece of chalk, she started scribbling notes on the boards as her entire mind tried to cram its way out of her head. She lost track of time, reviewing everything in her head about radiation. Then she started crafting spells to replicate the effects of it. She would find the right answer, she knew it.

As she scribbled along the board, someone bumped into her.

"Sorry," she muttered, not wanting to take her eyes off her work.

She moved to go around whoever it was, then realized that the person had been writing their own notes on the board.

That was when Hermione remembered she was in the Room of Requirement, which no one else should've been able to enter.

She froze for a second, then faced the other occupant of the room.

Rose stood no more than half a meter from her. Her smirk was familiar, even if she'd changed her form to match Hermione's age again.

"Salutations, Brain."

Hermione stared at Rose, then looked back at the notes the other girl had written. She looked back at Rose, who moved closer. After giving her a kiss on the cheek, Rose winked and vanished.

Thoughts raged out of control inside her head. Hermione wasn't sure she'd been breathing, her heart hammered louder than any sound she'd ever heard, and she felt sick and excited at the same time.

She touched her cheek, then shouted, "Rose!"

Her friend was gone, but she'd left something behind for her.

She looked at the board again. Everything fell into place as she studied Rose's notes. Within the hour, she had a spell to test.

She placed her bracelet on the stand in the middle of the room, then closed her eyes. Equations danced in her head, and she felt her eyes tingling. When she opened them, everything looked about the same.

Except for the pale green glow coming from her bracelet.

Hermione let out a squeal of excitement and looked at her ring. Sure enough, it glowed with a variety of colors, mostly black with a hint of blue and purple mixed in.

"I've got it!" she exclaimed. "Kethé!"

She leapt up and down, then started scribbling notes in her notebook. Everything on the boards went in. She didn't want to lose any of it.

She'd gotten an answer of how to analyze Rose's equipment, her magic, but there was more. Rose hadn't only given her notes on analyzing it. Without realizing it, she'd given her notes on how to replicate it. Hermione could work out her own versions of dispel magic to remove spells from Rose, or reciprocal gyre to throw the energy from those spells back at her.

Yet, another question remained. Afraid to give it much thought, Hermione tucked it away in the back of her mind, but it still lingered there.

Why had Rose helped her?