Hannah (Demeter) was a wise old bat, the animal Ginny used to describe her, and she knew something was up when her heart seemed to ache. It ran through her body like some distant drum, numbing her like some deadly poison. Then she felt the sound of weeping girls in her blessed fields. Quickly, the goddess of the harvest rushed away from Mt. Hogwarts as fast as the summer breeze could take her. She soon got to the small meadow where the sounds of sorrow were coming from. Her heart beat out of her chest as she realized this was where she had sent her daughter for the day.
"My dears, what is the matter?" she asked, fear coursing through her ichor filled veins. One of the girls looked up and her brown eyes widened. Her lips trembled as she thought about what she was going to say.
"Madame!" the girl shrieked and, throwing herself at the goddess, hung onto Hannah's (Demeter's) long chlamys.
Soon the other girls joined in shrieking, "Madame! Madame! Madame!"
"Girls!" she yelled for they made so much noise at once that they sound like a pack of sirens. They stopped, cowering back in fear of the Harvest Goddess as they felt the glowing aura brush against their own, "Tell me, what is the matter, calmly?"
"Hermione!" one shrieked.
"Gone!" another yelled back.
"Swallowed by the pond!" another echoed.
Hannah felt her heart stop; it was her daughter... and she gasped. Tears sprung loose from the waterworks hidden behind her peachy eyelids, "What?"
"Hermione-," the girls tried to say, but Hannah raised a shaky hand to silence them.
The mother goddess dropped to the grass, her legs too weak to try to keep standing, "My baby girl is gone."
The nymphs stayed silent as the goddess, who always seemed to be content, was swept away in sadness and sorrow and was weeping before their feet like some common mortal. One of the nymphs felt pity toward this new childless mother and was brave enough to step forward and place a gentle hand on the goddess' shaking shoulder.
Hannah only cried harder, her body racked with uncontrollable sops. Her cries of sorrow echoing across the land and the crops heard her cry. Then another hand joined the other until every girl had at least one hand on the goddess, each giving her the strength and comfort she desperately needed.
But, there was an extra pair of hands that belonged to an extra body that was not there before. The girls did not seem to notice, nor the harvest goddess, however as soon as they landed on her, all her sorrow was swept away from her mind. She felt healthy and revengeful. It was as if Hermione's disappearance had never affected her. Soon the sun started to set; Hannah stood, the nymphs backing away from her.
"I shall go to Father Harry (Zeus)," Hannah announced to them, her golden eyes still wet from her weeping though her heart held no crack in its finish even though she just lost a daughter, "Maybe he will know who took my darling baby girl," and, without waiting for a noise from them, she was gone.
She raced across the land and everywhere her shadow fell, the once green plants turned to russet, decaying within. In the morning upon the Earth, the mortal farmers would be puzzled, but they knew Hannah must have been angry at them for something. In fact, it was a darker force that had taken over Hannah and controlled her.
Quickly, Hannah came to the entrance to Mt. Hogwarts and the gates burst open, for the Seasons, which guarded their palace, saw something was wrong and hid behind trees and bushes. Their soft winds rusted the branches as they watched carefully from their barriers.
Hannah was a goddess on a mission and all who saw her got out of her road as she ran up to the top of Mt. Hogwarts. Bursting through the golden door, she entered the Throne Room several of her fellow immortals were lounging. She wondered if Harry (Zeus) called a meeting. She must have been so sad that she did not hear his call.
"Father Harry," she kneeled before on him on the marble floors placing a hand on his knee.
The king of the gods looked down at his sister, sensing something was terribly wrong and he had an idea why that was so, "What is it, my dear sister?"
Hannah refused to look up at Harry's green eyes, "My daughter, Hermione, has been taken, my king," Ginny (Hera) glared at Hannah, her jealousy of the old crone became larger with every ticking moment for the goddess had interrupted an important meeting in which, Ginny had brought up marriage vows: wives and their husbands and being loyal. Now, Ginny felt like a minor goddess, a background to everyone else and she was tired of it.
"Taken?" Harry showed his worry well on the outside, but he was smirking.
Hannah nodded, "Yes, my king. By who, I do not know. I only wished to report this and ask for you to do something. Please," the harvest goddess begged, "Please do something. Anything."
Harry chuckled for he had to tell the truth. The game was fun while it lasted, but it was time to be serious, "Oh, my dear sister, I know what happened to Hermione."
Hannah snapped her head up at her brother, her eyes were an unusual color and they stared at Harry with such intensity, "You knew?"
Harry smiled, thinking nothing of her strange eyes, for he was too interested in how Hannah was going to react to the truth, "Our dear brother, Draco (Hades), asked for Hermione. You know how much he has been chasing her," Hannah's anger sparked. Harry continued, nonetheless, "Draco asked from me if he could take her to the Underworld to make her his wife and Queen," Harry glanced at his wife beside him, "I said yes, for I know what it is like, including Neville (Poseidon), to not have a Queen by your side," Ginny was gob-smacked at what her husband had said for she couldn't remember when her husband was ever so romantic. Cho (Aphrodite) must have influenced him, she thought and she scowled mentally. Her feelings were leading her down paths she should have never taken in the first place. Why did I ever marry him?
"How could you?" Hannah (Demeter) shrieked at him, her voice sounding like a siren.
Harry's smiled disappeared; maybe this wasn't as funny as it was supposed to be, "I only did what was right, sister of mine. Understand-," but Hannah would not.
"HOW COULD YOU!" she shrieked again and she stood up from her spot on the floor, "I will never see her again!" anger flower through her like a raging lion and revenge was in her grasp, "For this, I will punish you all!" she growled, slowly backing away from the group and narrowing her eyes at every single one of the immortals around her. Harry stared at her in confusion for his sister would never have threatened to get her way in things, "You will have one week to return her back to me, or I shall plunge the mortal earth below into an eternal drought! Hear me now, my fellow immortals; nothing can break this save for the safe return of my daughter."
With that, Hannah disappeared. Her body seem to be pulled into a swirling vortex that would have left behind a puff of flowers, daisies specifically, but this time they were roses, black like the deepest pits of Tartarus.
Every single god and goddess within the room watched as the last black rose petal floated downward, joining the others that fallen to the floor. It was completely silent. Then the whole Hall exploded in voice.
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The chlamys was pretty in an old fashioned sense and was definitely not something that Hermione would wear. It was pure white, but the bottom fabric was still from years, if not centuries, that it was not worn. Covering the white fabric was a thin piece of cloth that caused it to shimmer. Hermione noticed that it had no sleeves and a gold cord wrapped around and under her breast. Once she placed it on her body and looked at herself within the mirror, she decided she definitely did not like it and the way she felt like she was being strangled by the golden cord.
"Chlamys sure looks pretty on you, my lady," Lavender commented as she walked around Hermione.
Hermione just frowned, "I look like my Aunt Ginny on her rare good days," she glanced behind her at her servant.
Lavender laughed.
Hermione's frown flipped and she smiled, turning to look into the mirror, "This whole Underworld thing is so new to me still and, forgive me if I am intruding, but how did you die?"
Hermione watched in their reflection as the happiness seem to drain out of her, "I-I-I'd rather not talk about it, my lady. I-I'm still no-not comfortable talking about it," Lavender replied as she combed through Hermione's hair, placing small white flowers with black centers within her lush, brown curls, "Maybe, if you allow me to stay as your servant that is, I will tell you my story, but...," Lavender paused as if she was going to say something and Hermione looked at her with sorrow and regret. Whatever happened to her, Hermione knew that it would take time, "I can't. I'm so sorry, my lady."
Hermione simply smiled, "I'm sorry, Lavender, for what you went through and I am sorry that I asked. I was invading your life and I shouldn't have. On a brighter note," Hermione's smile grew wider, "I would love to have you as my servant. You're about the only sane soul in this rotting place."
Lavender smiled at the compliment, "Thank you, my lady. Though, you should know, it is not so bad here, once you get used to it."
Hermione turned around to look back at Lavender once again, "When will I, though?"
There was a sudden knock which interrupted their conversation and, without waiting for her reply, it opened. From the depths of the palace beyond the door, a ghostly figure appeared. He was blonde and lanky with piercing eyes. He wore heavy metal armor that Hermione recognized from the First Wizarding War so many centuries ago, but his arm was missing. Where the limb should have been, there was nothing and the armor just ended in space. Hermione watched as he gave a smile to Lavender before turning to her.
"My lady," he bowed to her slowly, "His Majesty wanted you to know that your union with His Majesty is canceled until further notice," At first, Hermione was puzzled at the king of the dead's sudden change of thought, but she didn't dwell on that thought for very long. Smiling brightly, the servant continued to speak, "Lord Draco (Hades) wanted you to know, also, that you may explore the palace, but do not go outside the palace walls," he bowed again, giving a glance to Lavender, before leaving and closing the door behind him.
Hermione looked at Lavender and squealed, "Yes!"
Lavender smiled slightly, she was actually looking forward to the union of the two immortals. Deep within her, she found that they were perfect for each other. Hermione would have balanced Draco's negatives and Draco would have balanced Hermione's negatives. An added bonus was that they would be a very attractive and powerful couple and Lavender knew that there was nowhere on Earth, the Heavens, or in the Underworld that someone could hide if they dared crossed Hermione and/or Draco. If only they had more time together, Lavender thought, and then maybe they would have realized that.
"Would you like to get out of this chlamys and I can show you around, my lady?" she asked carefully.
Hermione squealed again, "Yes!" she was practically bursting at the seams with happiness.
Lavender just chuckled at her actions and floated to one of the chests around the room to get something for Hermione to wear.