Connie Potter and the Lightning Thief
Summary: Connie Potter is the daughter of a greek god, this Petunia knows. When Connie returns after fourth year at Hogwarts devistated by watching her boyfriends death, Petunia decides it's time for her to know the truth.
Disclaimer: I own neither Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
"When you've been fighting for it all your life
You've been working every day and night
That's how a superhero learns to fly
(Every day, every hour
Turn the pain into power)
All the hurt, all the lies
All the tears that they cry
When the moment is just right
You see fire in their eyes"
- Superheroes by the Script
Chapter One
There wasn't a lot of things that could bring down her niece. Petunia may not be overly fond of Constanze Potter, but she wasn't blind. Not the way those at that cursed school clearly were. She could see the pale skin of Connie, the way she ate less and she would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night by Connie's screams.
No, Petunia knew, her niece was not alright. And although she had never gotten along well with Lily in her sisters last few years before her death, there was one thing she knew about Connie that that old fool of a Headmaster certainly didn't know. Connie had told her that they thought she had her mother's eyes, a pure lie in Petunia's opinion. Lily's eyes had been emerald green, Connie's were a deep sea green color that changed with her mood.
Petunia wasn't sure what had happened at Hogwarts to change her niece so, but she intended to find out. The sea had been behaving oddly lately, and although Petunia didn't know for sure which god was Constanze's father, she could clearly guess. If she had to describe the feeling she had about Connie, it would be the calm before the storm. Connie was incredibly strong and it wouldn't be long until she would decide to do something about whatever it was that was bothering her.
Connie wasn't one to take a beating laying down.
Petunia waved goodbye as Dudley left to have fun with his friends. Contrary to her niece's thought's, she knew very well what her son was up to and it infuriated her that he would treat other's the way she had been bullied when she was young. But there was nothing she could do, by the time she realized what she and Vernon had done, it was already to late.
Her son was a bully and there was nothing she could do about it.
But she could help her niece whit whatever it was that had made her so different.
Petunia went back to the back-yard where she could see Connie working on pulling up weeds in the garden. There was a bottle of water a few feet away from her in the shadow of a tree and Connie was sitting on her knees with her dark hair up in a low tail on her head. Petunia crossed the garden, determined to not feel bad about her treatment of her niece and ignored the voice in her head telling her she had made a mistake in her way of dealing with the only link she had left of her sister.
"Connie." Connie didn't move, but Petunia could see the seconds her arms stiffen.
"Yes, aunt Petunia?"
Petunia looked at her niece and spoke. "Come inside Connie, there is something I need to tell you. And then we need to have a talk about what's bothering you so. It is impossible to sleep with all your nightmares."
"Yes, aunt Petunia." Connie stood and grabbed the bottle of water before she followed her aunt into the kitchen.
Petunia looked at Connie where she was sitting across from her. The bags under her eyes showed her lack of sleep and against her will, a surge of worry passed through her. Petunia promptly pushed it down.
"James Potter wasn't your father." her tone was blunt and detached.
Connie looked up, shock and confusion clear on her features that was so similar yet different from her little deceased sister.
Petunia continued to explain. "James Potter couldn't have children. He was sterile. One day she visited me and told me all about how she met a man in a bar and how they had a one-night-stand. She didn't mean to do it, she said, but her and James's relationship were strained and she wasn't sure if they were still going to get married. It was several weeks later that she contacted me again and told me she was pregnant. Lily had done a paternity test and the result showed that there was no miracle, James wasn't the father. She never told me who your father was but she did tell me one thing, your father was a god."
"My father was God?" Connie asked disbelieving.
Petunia shooked her head. "No, not God. A god. According to Lily, all purebloods are descendants of Hecate and muggleborns are either blessed by Hecate or they receive the gift from some dead ancestor that married a mortal. Lily said that that was why so many pureblood dislike muggleborns, because they don't pray to the gods and they belittle those who do. Lily was sure your father was a god, but she refused to say who. She said it was dangerous to say their names without a reason and she didn't want her child to be taken away. James was suppose to blood-adopt you, but I don't know if they had time to do it before they died. On your normal birth-certificate, James is titled as your step-father and the line for father is blank."
"James isn't my father? Some god is? Why haven't you said anything before?" Connie demanded.
"Because your scent is supposed to be very strong and it attracts monsters that want to kill you. When you know what you are, the scent becomes stronger. When you were younger, before Hogwarts, you used to run into all kinds of monsters every other week. How you survived and why you don't remember it, I don't know. Once you even came back with a broken arm, a broken and two cracked ribs and a twisted foot. You had several bloody scratches and your clothes were torn. The next day, you couldn't remember anything and thought you had fallen down a tree and hit your head."
Connie shooked her head and looked at her. "So what does that make me?"
"A demigod and that is all that I know."
Connie looked at her again. "I think they're lying to me. Hagrid told me that my Trust Vault is all that I have and Ron said the same. But the Potter's are supposed to be a Noble House right? Then there must be more, a Family Vault at the very least. When I went to look for a rule book on the Tournament, they were all conveniently gone and I know that Dumbledore can't have missed that Moody wasn't the real Professor Moody when they were supposed to have been friends for years. When Cedric died, they acted like it wasn't a big deal and I should just get over it, even though they knew that he was my boyfriend. I want to go to Gringotts and check my account."
Petunia nodded at that. She could drive her niece to London and then her debt would be payed and the guilt would be gone. She had told Connie the truth, it was out of her hands now. "I can take you to London tomorrow but from there on, your on your own. Just look out for monsters, now that you know, they won't stay away anymore."
Connie nodded and they went their separate ways.
The next day, Connie was up at eight o'clock and ready to go. She had barely gotten any sleep the night before, her mind being occupied with what her aunt told her. James Potter wasn't her biological father, some god was. It was unbelievable but then again, so was being a witch and the famous Girl-Who-Lived.
Connie stared at the duffel bag in her hands and ignored the twitch she felt when she thought about leaving. She had packed her photo-album and Invisibility Cloak in the bag, but that was all she took with her. Well that and a pouch of galleons, she needed to pay for an inn to stay after all. Her dark hair was braided and she wore a cap to cover her scar. The jeans and blue t-shirt she wore would make sure she was ignored in Diagon Alley, after all, as far as she new, no-one cared about a lone muggleborn.
She had spent the night twisting and turning after waking up after another nightmare of Cedric's death, but it was still the best sleep she had had in a while. She did wonder why she couldn't remember the monsters though, she didn't think that was something you could forget.
When Petunia stepped out of the kitchen and was ready to go, Connie quickly grabbed her bag and made her way to the front door.
The drive to London felt longer than it was and Constanze spent most of it staring out the window. She couldn't muster up the enthusiasm she would usually feel at finally being able to leave Privet Drive, probably because she was scared of what she might find at Gringotts. She didn't want to be right, she loved her friends but on the other side, Ron was a jealous prat and she wouldn't put stealing or trying to keep someone else unaware of their money below him. She had still not entirely forgiven him about the way he had treated her for the past year and she could still remember all those things he called her because he was jealous of her.
Petunia dropped her off a street away from Charring Cross Road and gave her ten pounds before she drove away again. Connie lifted her bag and carried it to the Leaky Cauldron. She was pleased to note that no-one noticed her appearance and those that did, ignored her as just another muggleborn. She passed by a few tables as she made her way to the back door and gave Tom a small smile as she passed him.
Walking through the doorway was easy.
All Connie had to do was point at the direct stones with her wand, and she was past it. It was lousy security, but maybe it was more for the flashier part of it. It hadn't really been that long since the end of the semester at Hogwarts, but it had been longer since the death of her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory. They hadn't really gotten together until about a month before the final task, but she had had a crush on him for longer than that. It wasn't that she loved him, she was to young for the eternity kind of love that were in romance novels, but she had liked him and he had made her feel loved and wanted. Like she wasn't a freak.
Like she mattered.
Connie didn't think it would be easy to find someone like that again, someone she could actually love. Her life had been complete and utter bullshit with one bad joke after another up to that point, and she couldn't see it changing any time soon.
Connie passed through Diagon Alley relatively easy, she had spotted the Weasley Twins once and had hidden until she couldn't see them anymore, but other then that it had gone well. She walked through the doors to Gringotts with her head held high and nodded to the goblins she passed. She ignored the looks of confusion on their faces and went to the first teller that was empty.
"I'd like to speak with my account manager, please." her voice was firm and the goblin nodded.
"Sharptooth will take you."
She could see where the goblins name came from, his teeth were scarily sharp and pointy, even for a goblin, and he scowled - she thought it was a scowl, she couldn't really tell - the entire way. The maze that was disguised as a bank was seemingly endless and Connie was hopelessly lost just minutes after they started walking. They eventually stopped before an iron door and she watched as the goblin knocked. Someone said enter and the door swung open.
Connie walked in and carefully ignored the feeling of danger that enveloped her when she saw the goblin. He looked older then Sharptooth and he was actually growling at her! To be honest, he was scarier than Voldemort could ever hope to be. She suppressed a shiver and sat down in the chair in front of the giant desk.
"Ms Potter, would you liked to explain why you haven't answered any of our summons?" the goblins voice was hard as steel and Connie suddenly had the vision of the goblin standing in front of a row of wizards and witches with her beheaded head in his hands and a maniac grin on his wrinkled face. She shivered and tried to keep the fear from showing in her eyes. According to Petunia her eyes always showed what she felt.
"I'm sorry, master goblin, but I have never received any mail from Gringotts." straight to the point was probably better than beating around the bush if she didn't want to die a horrible drawn out death.
Connie shivered when the goblin leveled a glare that could melt Antarctica at her. "You mean to tell me that none of our statements have reached you? Even the once after you turned eleven?"
"No, I have only ever gotten letter's from my friends and Hogwarts. Was I suppose to receive statements?" Connie said.
The goblin growled. "I am Badluk, the Potter's account manager. You were suppose to have been gotten account statements since you were eleven years old and officially became the heir to the Potter and Black family."
Connie stared. "I am the heir to the Black family? How?"
"Sirius Black, the current regent of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, blood-adopted you three months after you were born together with James Potter. During his twelve years in Azkaban you should have grown up with the former Lord Black, Arcturus Black III before his death."
"Is there some kind of inheritance test I can do? It seems there are more things missing then my aunt knew." Connie asked.
The goblin nodded and took out a potion and a dagger together with a parchment. "Drink the potion, wait one minute and then cut yourself with the dagger and let the blood fall down on the parchment."
Connie looked at the silver dagger before she nodded. She grabbed the potion when Badluk gave it to her and drank it in one sweep, ignoring the foul taste of it. While she waited, she wondered who her father was. Petunia said she didn't know who it was because her mother never told her. Perhaps the potion would show her.
A minute had passed and Connie grabbed the dagger in a steady grip. She did not want to lose a limb because of her own stupidity. She pressed it to her hand and slit open her palm. Connie hissed at the pain and quickly held it out over the parchment. Her blood dripped down on it and she watched as the parchment soaked it all up. Eventually the goblin gave her a cloth and Connie gratefully wrapped it around her palm tightly to stop the bleeding. When the red letters stopped spreading on the page, she picked it up and started reading.
Name: Constanze Clio Potter-Black
Date of Birth: 1990 31 of July
Mother: Lily Marie Potter-Evans
Father: Undetermined, Sirius Orion Black (through blood-adoption), James Charlus Potter (through blood-adoption)
Godmother: Alice Mary Longbottom
Godfather: Remus John Lupin
Lordship:
Ancient and Noble House of Black
Noble House of Potter
Ancient and Legendary House of Slytherin
Ancient and Legendary House of Gryffindor
Noble House of Evans
Ancient House of Peverell
Ancient House of Gaunt
Ancient and Legendary House of Ravenclaw
Properties:
Black Manor (Italy)
Black Residence (Grimmauld Place nr 12)
Black Castle (Unplottable)
Potter Manor (Wales)
Potter Residence (Godric's Hollow)
Hogwarts 20%
Ravenclaw Cottage (North Ireland)
Ravenclaw Castle (France)
Slytherin Manor (Unplottable)
Hogwarts 25%
Peverell Castle (Sweden)
Cadmus Cottage (England)
Hogwarts 25%
Gryffindor Manor (Unplottable)
Gaunt's Shack (Little Hanlington)
Marauder's Den (London)
Vaults:
Potter: Family Vault, Trust Vault, Collection Vault
Black: Family Vault, Sirius Black Vault, Regulus Black Vault
Peverell: Family Vault
Ravenclaw: Family Vault, Rowena Ravenclaw Vault
Slytherin: Family Vault, Riddle Vault
Gryffindor: Family Vault, Godric Gryffindor Vault
Evans: Family Vault, Lily Evans Vault
Investments:
Potter: Daily Prophet 23%, Nimbus Com. 34%
Black: Ollivander's 14%, Zonko's 51%, Tillfot & Tattling's 26%
Peverell: —
Ravenclaw: Madam Malkin's For All Occasions 43%
Slytherin: Gringotts 2%
Gryffindor: Flourish and Blotts 13%, Gringotts 1%
Evans: Evans Publisher 96%
Affinity: Grey
Marriage Contract: Ronald Billius Weasley
Curse: Horcrux
Block: 60% of magical core, 90% of demigod power
Connie eyes were almost bulging out of her head when she was finished reading. She was rich! And for some reason she had a marriage contract with Ron.
She put the parchment down on Badluk's giant desk and watched as he took it and read it as well. By the time he had finished reading, Badluk looked grim and Connie was willing to bet it had something to do with that marriage contract she had never heard of before. Perhaps that was the reason they expected her to get over Cedric's death so fast, because somehow they knew she had a contract already set up. A contract that in her opinion should not exist and she was getting rid of it, or she would leave the Wizarding World. She was not going to be married to Ron Weasley of all people.
Badluk looked at her. "The blocks need to be removed at once and the horcrux should have been removed the second you got it. We will remove everything that doesn't belong to you on your body, mind and soul and then we will go from there. We will discuss the marriage contract when the healer's are finished."
Connie nodded. "Okay. I have nowhere else to be, so lets just get it over with."
The next hour was nothing but a blur to Connie. She met the Healer's, an old wizard named Adam Jenkins and a younger woman whose name was Alexis Kerrie. Both took oaths to not reveal anything they learned without her given verbal permission. After that, she was subjected to a full examination that was mortifying and she wished she could lock out of her mind. Eventually, she was laid out on an altar and three goblins stepped out and started to draw runes on her body in blood. She was just thankful she could keep her underwear on. After that, she couldn't remember anything but pain.
When she came to, the first thing she noticed was how sore her body was. She let out a hiss of pain when she sat up and gratefully took the potion she could now see standing next to her. She could recognize it as a pain-reliever. Connie ignored the pain as she swallowed it in one go, determined to not taste it.
She stood up and put on the clothes on the chair next to her. It was only then that she noticed that she was no longer on the altar and with that came the realization that she felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. For the first time since she could remember, she felt well and truly alive. When her clothes was on, Connie went out of the room she found herself in and sat down on a chair in front of a desk that though impressive, wasn't as massive as the one Badluk had.
Connie started as the door she hadn't seen opened and Badluk entered together with two other goblins.
"Now, Ms Potter we have able to determine that the marriage contract is not difficult to end as you never signed it and Albus Dumbledore is not acknowledged as your guardian by Mother Magic. All you need to do is to channel your magic to your hands and rip the contract apart in half." Badluk stated.
Connie nodded and started speaking. "Give me it and I will do it now. Than I want money to go on a shopping spree. What time is it?"
"It's 3 in the afternoon." Badluk answered and gave her the contract so she could rip it to pieces. Which she did. Gleefully. The poor paper never stood a chance.
It took another thirty minutes before Connie had a pouch that was directly tied to her trust vault and than she could finally leave. Connie breathed a sigh of relief when she left the bank that harbored terrifying souls. Goblins defiantly won the price for most terrifying race in her book. The first place she went was the bookstore. She would be staying in an Inn for the night and check out Potter Manor the next night. She had already recieved the portkey's for the unplottable properties that were tied to her blood, and she was just waiting for the other ones that would drop her off outside of the wards.
Apparently she had been a Lady since the Goblet of Fire fiasco had happened that had actually successfully emancipated her. She was officially an adult in the magical world and was free to make her own decisions. She now had seven lord rings and on a silver necklace that the goblins had provided for her. They barely weight anything and the subtle magic on the rings would prevent anyone from looking at them too close.
Connie stepped into Flourish and Blotts and looked around. It wasn't nearly as busy as it used to be but then again, she usually only came when it was time for her to buy what she needed for school. She could now tell what a mistake that was, considering what she had been told, she might as well have insulted someone important and wouldn't know about it until it came back to bite her. This, Badluk had explained, were things she should have been taught since she could walk. It had also come to her attention that she actually had money and there was no reason to stick with Dudley's old castoffs. The second she had time, she was going to muggle London and buying any and all clothes she liked. She would never have to wear those clothes from Hell ever again!
She was now dancing in the middle of the bookstore and no, she would not apologize for knocking over a bookshelf.
She walked away as the store attendant fixed the shelf with magic and picked up a basket to put the books she wanted in. One of the few things she new about her mother was that she was good with charms, which made her wonder why she had never attempted to research the subject before. She strolled passed the few people in the shop with her and went to the section for charms and was almost completely floored by what she saw. There was dozens of books on everything from household charms to minor hexes and jinxes.
She skimmed a few books before deciding she didn't care what topic they were on, she had left her trunk and all her books under the stairs at Privet Drive, a place she never wanted to see again. She grabbed the seven books on charms that she knew Hogwarts used and than just grabbed anything else that caught her fancy. A couple were jinxes and hexes some were on just about anything and than there was those that could almost be called curses.
When Connie was done with the charms section she had around twenty books in her basket but thankfully, it did't weigh anything. Connie continued walking and picking up books as she went, though she spent a longer time than she thought when she came to the healing section. How she had missed that before she didn't know, but these were things that could have saved her a lot of pain these last few years and she was well aware that she was smaller than she should be because of malnutrition. Her magic could only help so much and it might even lead to other problems later on. Hell, she was willing to bet she had bones that hadn't healed properly either.
It made her wonder why it wasn't taught at Hogwarts.
The next place she went to was potion's. It was not gloomy there as she would have thought and there was more books than she was thought there would be. She probably shouldn't have let Hagrid buy that standard Hogwarts collection for first year, now that she thought about it. She picked up a book that was dedicated to how to prepare ingredients, the difference between chopping and slicing, and why certain combinations should never be tried.
The book had never been on any list which again made her wonder why Snape was even allowed to teach. Hadn't he been proved as being a Death Eater?
Connie spent the next few hours buying any book that caught her fancy. When she went to the arithmancy section she was startled at how similar to math it was. And that was grade-school math was thinking about. It honestly wouldn't be hard for her to learn it, she had always been good at math and that was one muggle subject she had kept up with during the summer. Though that was mostly because Petunia insisted that if she was going to learn magic, she was going to learn normal things as well. She had therefore been forced to take summer classes in math, art, physics, geography and a language of her choice. She had, for reasons obvious, chosen latin. However that was also how she learned that Ancient Greek came naturally to her, kind of like parceltongue. She suspected it had something with her biological father to do now that she thought about it.
When she was finished at Flourish and Blotts and after paying an extra five galleons so she could keep the basket, she went to the trunk shop. When she went inside it was filled with different trunks in different colors and sizes everywhere. She almost barfed when she saw a maroon and gold one, the Gryffindor colors. She had always been fond of blue and green and her dislike of red had only grown the longer she spent at Hogwarts. Honestly, it was enough to make one color blind.
Connie went to the counter and blinked when the man in what looked like to be his middle twenties beamed at her.
"Good day Miss, what can we do for you?" the man asked.
Connie smiled thinly. "I'd like a multi-compartment trunk with the best security available able to change size. And not in red please."
And so started the walk through the shop as the man tried to sell her various trunks now that he had figured out she was rich after a off hand comment about not worrying about the cost. Eventually hey came upon a trunk with black leather on it that was supposed to be able to withstand extreme heat, fire and water with silver linings. The trunk had five compartments and was password protected as the same time that it was tied to her magical signature. In honor of her godfather that was currently trapped in Grimmauld Place with the rest of that godforsaken order of flaming flamingos, she asked to have the Black Family motto and crest on the middle of the lid in silver.
On the handle there was five emeralds, she was to press down on the one she wanted to open the correct compartment and each one had a different password that she would choose herself. One was a library, there was a study/office and a portable potions lab. There was also a storage where she could pack furniture and whatever else she wanted and a compartment with a master sized bedroom. It didn't take her long to decide that she loved it and arrange to have it finished in two days. Apparently it needed to be special made. To not give away her identity she gave the name Clio Evans. Her middle name and her mothers maiden name. She thought it was fitting and as far as she knew, no-one knew it was her middle name. Mrs Weasley had once called her Constanze Lilian Potter when she scolded her and she came to the conclusion that perhaps her parents had chosen to change her middle name at the last second, or something.
Once she was finished with the trunk business, she went to look for an Inn she could spend the night at. She didn't want to sleep at the Leaky Cauldron, not only was that the first place Dumbledore would look for her at, but the standard was incredibly low and the people she saw there always looked so shifty.
Connie stared at the Inn she had stopped in front of. It was located a couple minutes after walking past Ollivander's, something she had never done before but now was glad to because she had apparently found her way to another Alley called Horizon Alley. The standard appeared to be better and she was quite sure she had seen Draco Malfoy awhile ago in muggle clothes. She wasn't sure, it could very well be a hallucination. Connie walked into the Inn called Lorette's Inn and looked around. It was much nicer than the Leaky Cauldron and there was no smoke from the wizards version of cigarettes or a gloomy aura. It was more friendly and home-y and she wouldn't mind spending the night there.
When she stood in front of the reception, she cleared her throat and the woman that looked to be in her mid fifties looked up. The woman had warm brown eyes covered by thin glasses that only complimented them and when she smiled, Connie could see kindness clear as day.
Connie smiled back. "Hello, I'm Clio Evans and I'd like a room please."
"Sure, dear. How long are you staying?" the woman asked. "My name is Lorette and I own this Inn."
"A night, two at most, thank you." Connie replied and smiled at Lorette. Lorette took out a key with the number eleven attached to a string and Connie gratefully accepted it. At least she wouldn't be forced to sleep outside. The next day she was going to explore this new Alley she had never seen or even heard of before.
She went up a pair of stairs and walked passed by several doors until she came across one with the room number 11 written in gold on the dark wood of the door. Connie opened it and was surprised at how big and welcoming it was. The bed had pale blue sheets and there was a dresser in the corner. There was also a desk she could work on and a darker blue rug on the floor that when she stepped out of her shoes incredibly comfortable.
Connie put away her basket that she had been carrying with her on the desk, happy when it didn't fall apart because of the weight and quickly opened her bag and changed into her pajamas. Connie fell asleep with a smile on her face and anticipation for the next day in her mind. She couldn't wait to see what more this world had to offer and she was a little depressed by how much she had missed.
Oh well, she would fix it tomorrow.
—
This is the result of writer's block, failing efforts to avoid homework, listing to music, reading a bunch of fem-harry HJ/PJ crossovers and watching Fairy Tail.
Review and tell me what you think. If you see a mistake, please tell me so I can fix it.
I hope you liked it, I at least had fun writing it. I have no idea who to pair Connie with, I only know it won't be Percy, so let me know who you think she should be paired with. It can be anyone really, though not Annabeth I just can't see that happen.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.
-FantasyDeath