Hera

{Chapter Twenty-Three}

It was now the twenty-fifth of November, exactly twenty days since the last full moon. Hera could not remember what it felt like to not have the bitter mandrake leaf in her mouth. She missed eating foods that weren't ruined by the bitterness the leaf had caused, but all her efforts weren't for nought.

She only had a few more days to go before she could finally extract the mandrake leaf from her mouth and be freed from the foul taste. Uncle Lucius had already prepared the next steps for the process, and he'd send it over with an owl.

Although the weather was dreary and the clouds were grey, Hera welcomed the cold. The rainy days had stopped but still with the presence of the dementors, she hadn't seen the sun since she had returned to Hogwarts in the first term.

She decided to take a walk to the Quidditch stands, taking her time away from both Elena and Draco. She wanted to enjoy the weather outside before winter came.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were due to play each other in a few days. After the incident with Harry and the dementors during the last quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, a lot of the students were skeptical about playing.

It was Professor Dumbledore who reassured them to not panic as he had them under control. Hera knew not to trust that.

Ever since she entered Hogwarts as a first year, there was not a single year that did not have multiple strange events. Time and time again, it was told to the rest of the student body that it will be under control but it kept on happening. It was hard getting used to it every year.

Was the situation truly under control?

She could hear the Ravenclaw team shouting on the pitch while she walked up to the Slytherin stands. Luckily, no one else occupied it, everyone else spectating the team, sat on the the Ravenclaw stands.

The sat slack on the bleachers, not caring about her posture because there was no one there to see her. She watched the Ravenclaws zipping around on their brooms, passing around the quaffle.

She was envious of them, because they looked so carefree. Enjoying the air that rushed around them as they flew in the sky.

The sound of a bird distracted her thought process, along with the flapping of wings. A familiar bird perched itself on the railing as it cocked its head to stare at Hera.

"Oh my, it's been a while since I last saw you." The Augery didn't make a move as it kept staring at her. With a sigh, she took out the biscuit she had kept in her pocket. Immediately, Crumbs hopped over. "You really do stay true to your name, don't you?"

Hera smoothed out its feathers on its head, petting as it pecked at the biscuit. "The weather must have truly terrible for you be gone for so long."

Crumbs was not one of the prettiest birds, nor did it sound the most the beautiful. The Irish Augery birds were known to be physically unpleasant on the eyes and its crowing signaled the death or misfortune of an individual...yet despite all of this, Hera found beauty within the bird.

She sighed with a heavy heart. It was ridiculous for her to be jealous of a bird, of all things.

It rubbed its head against the palm of her hand, its green feathers tickled her, when she noticed a note attached to one of Crumb's legs. That was strange because she thought of it as a free bird, belonging to no one.

Curious, she detached the small roll of paper.

Why are you letting them dictate your life?

♧

Cassiopeia-Hera made her way back to the castle in a hurry. The message she found on Crumbs was held tightly in her hand. A feeling of uneasiness filled her, someone knew what she was up to, and she didn't know how. The message couldn't have been from anyone at the Malfoy Manor because no one knew of Crumbs.