Harry was sweating profusely as he pulled at the offending weed from his excuse for an Aunt's garden. His hands ached. The twelve year old heaved once more at the weed, putting all his weight into it, it finally came free. Holding up the wretched weed in triumph he gave a whoop of joy at his success. He held the plant up to the sun examining his trophy; his emerald eyes drinking in the structure of the plant, delicate veins that ran through the leaves like roads on a map, and the delicate white hairs that grew from the stem, tickling Harry's slick skin. He dropped the plant on the ground, wiping his dirty hands on his baggy hand-me-down pants. He stood, the backs of his legs tingled from the lack of blood flow. He looked back at the prison of a house he would never call home, then out at the road, the heat creating a mirage on the flat surface. Tilting his head, he looked at the sun once more, shielding his eyes from its harsh rays. He wondered when he would get back to Hogwarts or more importantly the people at Hogwarts.
Lost in thought Harry turned his back to the street and walked back into the hands of his relatives. "You are tracking dirt all over my clean carpet," Petunia screeched, Harry rolled his eyes and looked behind his checking for foot prints. Unless her Aunt had eyes had superhuman eye sight (which when it came to dirt Harry suspected she did) there was not dirt. "Out! Out! Out! Get your dirty feet out of my house! You little Freak" the door to 4 Privet Drive was slammed in Harry's face, not that he minded this meant no more chores for the whole day; this was a cause for celebration. It was on rare occasions that Harry got out of chores and it was only morning, this meant he could go to the park just down the road.
Parents stared at the lonely, raven haired boy as he sat on the swing not bothering to give the swing any propulsion. Harry came to the park to the park to escape the chaos of his prison. It was a place where he could mule over the hurtful words and fists that he received in captivity, from his Aunt and Uncle. It was never his intention to be a freak, he doubted it was Dudley's intention to be a big fat glob of useless tissue but he was. Why did his Aunt and Uncle hate him? What did he ever do?
'You did nothing wrong my son.' Harry looked around widely, he jumped off the swing, tripping over his feet and ended up sprawled on the woodchip underneath the swing. He spat out a little piece of wood out of his mouth.
'But that was your fault' he heard chuckling. "Did you hear that?" he asked a mother who was helping her little girl across the monkey bars. Her head nearly twisted off her shoulders as she looked at the quite boy who never spoke, her eyes the comical size of saucers.
"No, I didn't hear anything" she knew this boy had nasty rumours floating around about him. That he was a delinquent with dyslexia and ADHD. He exuded a dangerous aura. She got her daughter and left the park.
Harry sighed, 'This is what it is always like for our family, Harry' Harry jumped, what was going on? He was finally going crazy?
'You're not going crazy' Harry looked around. The air in front of him shimmered.
"Hello Harry, I am your father God of the Underworld, I am Hades" said the strange man. He stood a many feet taller than Harry; rings decorated his fingers glinting in the sunlight. Harry looked up into the pale face that was so similar to his own except for one vital difference, the eyes, Hades' eyes were black all the way to the pupil, while Harry had beautiful emerald eyes. "You may know me better as James Potter."
Harry's jaw dropped this man was an exact replica of James Potter. On closer inspection Harry noticed subtle differences, Hades was taller than the father that he saw in the scrap book Hagrid gave him, and James' eyes were hazel not pitch black. Harry looked down, shuffling his feet, his family was dead, there was not getting them back. Tears began to fall down the skinny boy's face.
"Harry look at me. Please." Harry did not look up, "Harry please" James( or was it Hades?) gently took the boy's chin, lifting the tear stained face to look him straight in the eyes. "I am sorry for all you have suffered. It is my entire fault I was not allowed to interfere in your life. When that meddler Dumbledore took you to the Dursley's on the premise of blood ward, pah! No such thing, I would know I am a God." The rest was mumbled swear words in Ancient Greek.
'I'm sorry but Greek Gods? Hades? Blood wards? What are you talking about?' Harry thought this man, even if he was his father, was completely bonkers.
"Come Harry; sit down on the bench with me." He walked over to the bench and lowered himself onto the seat; he patted the spot next to him. "Do you know anything about Greek Mythology?" Hades asked.
"We learned some basics in primary school" Harry said with not a lot of enthusiasm. He looked around the park there was no one in sight.
"You know of demi-gods?" Hades asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I have heard of Hercules" Harry said looking at his hands. Hades frowned.
"Urgg Hercules, pretentious bastard…I-I mean he wasn't very nice." If Hades wasn't deathly pale he would have blushed.
"Harry, your mother and I loved each other very muc-"
"Stop right there," Harry interrupted with a face, "I believe your my father and I don't want to hear the details, but the God thing…not so much."
"Oh?" Hades smirked. He held his hand out and a skeleton climbed out of the ground on unsteady feet, and bowed to Hades.
"Yes my Lord Hades, Hello my Prince Harry." He was dressed in a Victorian outfit including the wig, it look pretty ridiculous.
"Okay I believe you." He was not the least bit scared of the skeleton, proof of his heritage. Harry looked up at his father and leaned on his shoulder closing his eyes. Hades was surprised by the contact, and tensed. After a few seconds he relaxed. "Do you think I can do stuff like that?" Harry asked inquisitively.
"With practice you can harness your powers" Hades said carefully. "Harry people do not…like me nor my children in Olympus. They think of me as a cruel ruler. I hope you can see that I am not." Harry saw vulnerability in the God of the Underworld that Harry doubted anyone had seen before.
"I want you to do something for me Harry" he looked down at his son, putting a comforting hand on his back. "I want you to go to summer camp, everything will be explained there. It's the only place you will be safe from the monster that will inevitably chase you" Harry nodded.
"How will I get there?" Harry inquired. Looking up at his father, he was slowly becoming comfortable with Hades though out the conversation.
"I will send you there. One more thing before you go. Don't tell people you're my son, I am not well received on Olympus."
"Will I see you again?" Harry asked looking up at his father.
"Of course, you can come down to the Underworld at some time if you like." Hades looked hopeful.
"I will" Harry said with more than a little conviction.
"Okay. It's time to send you off to Camp Half Blood." Hades stood grabbing Harry by the arm and giving him a dagger. It was pitch black, the blade seemed to suck the light away, but it still glittered in the sun's rays."Portus" Hades whisper with a flourish of his hand over the dagger. "Hold on to the dagger my son." Harry touched the hilt; he felt a pull behind his navel.
Harry Potter had left Surrey to become a hero.