I do not own anything concerning the worlds of Harry Potter or the Dark Hunters.
Chapter One
July 31, 11:55 pm
Harri Potter sat on her dingy little cot in the second bedroom of number 4 Privit Drive, watching the clock and waiting for midnight. Five more minutes til my birthday, she thought to herself. Five more minutes til I can leave here forever. Harri would be seventeen in five minutes, of age in the magical world and no longer obligated to remain under the thumb of the real dark lord. After a bit of research in her sixth year, Harri discovered that Albus Dumbledore, supreme leader of the light, did not kill his long time lover and former dark lord Gellert Grindlewald. It had been fifteen year old Tom Riddle that had done the deed, Dumbledore locked the memories in Tom's head and took the credit while at the same time setting the stage for Tom to become Grindlewald's successor in all things dark.
Three more minutes. Harri already had her things packed and was just waiting for the clock to strike to make her escape from this hellhole. The previous summer, she had received a letter from the goblins at Gringotts saying that she needed to come in to discuss her accounts with her account manager. The gracious little creatures had included a portkey so that no one could actually stop her from coming to the bank. When she got there, it turned out that she had to speak to the head of the bank, and also the head of the goblin nation, Ragnok. Harri was shown a list of all of the transactions from her parents' accounts since the day after they died, there were quite a lot of them for an account belonging to a dead couple and an infant in the muggle world. Hefty sums had gone to the accounts of Albus Dumdledore, the Weasly family, and Hermione Granger.
One more minute, Harri rose from her cot to gather her bags from where she had stashed them in her closet. Shrinking Hedwig's cage, the owl was out hunting and would meet Harri at their destination when she got the chance. Thirty seconds to freedom. Ragnok had also told Harri about the adoption papers in the Potter vault that had her name on them. It turned out that Dumbledore had stolen Harri from her birth parents and given her to the Potters, who couldn't have children due to the unfortunate side-effects of a botched contraceptive potion. At least the couple had been decent enough to adopt the 'poor orphaned child' that Dumbledore had brought them, so she at least still had a claim on the Potter estate when she reached her majority.
The clock struck twelve midnight, and Harri dropped to the floor in excruciating agony. Her body felt like it was on fire and her blood was like lava in her veins. Having the high pain tolerance that she did, Harri stayed awake through the pain, barely, but she did not notice her body begin to float or the glow of white light that surrounded her. After what seemed like hours to her, the pain finally stopped and Harri was able to move again. Looking at the clock she saw that it had only been a few minutes since the pain started, What the hell happened? That could not have been normal. She heard a pecking at the window and turned to see that Hedwig had come back to the house. "What are you doing here, girl? You know what Vernon would do if he caught you, I couldn't lose you, Hedwig. You're too important to me to let that happen."
'Peace, child, nothing will happen to me. I was sent here to protect you, child, by the will of the goddess Athena. You are her daughter after all, did you think that she wouldn't care about your wellbeing?' Harri stared at the majestic bird like she had lost her mind, Hedwig just spoke to me, but that's impossible, animals don't speak. Well actually, if snakes can speak then why can't owls? Harri shrugged her shoulder in answer to her silent question and decided not to freak out about her friend talking to her.
"Wait, Athena, the Greek goddess of war and wisdom is my mother? How is that possible? How did I end up here if I am the daughter of a freaking goddess?" didn't she want me? Who is my father? Didn't he want me either?
'Yes she is your mother, in the usual way that people become parents, Dumbledore stole you from your mother's guard when she was visiting earth with you. Of course she wanted you, she was devastated when you disappeared but was unable to reclaim you or even come to see you because the Potter's formally, legally, and magically adopted you. The best that she could do was to send me to be your familiar when you entered the wizarding world at eleven. It is not my place to tell you who your father is but I can tell you that he loved you with all his heart and soul.'
By the time Hedwig finished answering her questions, even the ones she didn't dare speak aloud, Harri was in tears and wanted nothing more than to see her mother. "How do I get in contact with her, Hedwig? I want to see my mother."
'All you have to do is call for her to appear and she will. Try saying Matera, I call you to human form. That should get her here quick.' Came Hedwig's amused reply.
"Matera, I call you to human form." Please work, please please please work. Harri saw a brief flash of white light before she was caught in a tight hug and felt her shoulder dampen with tears. "Mother? Why are you crying?"
It took a moment for Athena to calm down enough to answer her daughter, "I am crying because I am happy. For the first time in so many years, I am Happy. We need to get you out of here and contact your father, he is in New Orleans Louisiana in America. Oh, my sweetheart, you are so big! Do you have everything you need from here? Good, I will flash you to New Orleans myself. Unfortunately I can't go with you and I need to glamour your appearance, we can't have the humans trying to hurt you because of your ears and tail, now can we?" Athena continued to babble on while Harri watched her in shocked amusement, at least until what her mother had said about her appearance registered.
Harri ran to the mirror that was on the inside of her wardrobe door and stared at her reflection with wide eyes. "I have cat ears and a tail. Cat ears and a tail. Matera, I have a tail!" this exclaimation startled Athena out of her babbling.
"Well, of course you do dear. Your father was a were-tiger and the ears and tail is a way for your heritage to manifest. Now, I can't go with you to find your father but I can send you to a place that can help. It's a club called Sanctuary that is run by a family of bears called Peltier, just tell them that you seek sanctuary and they will help you. Hedwig will be with you and she will guide you when you need help." Hedwig flew to her mistress and held onto the trembling shoulder as tightly as she dared. "She will tell you who can help you find him. I wish we had more time right now but I have to get back to Olympus. If you need me, call out and I will come to you, or at least contact you. Be safe, my darling, and don't worry. I love you, Harri."
The next thing Harri knew, she was standing outside an unfamiliar building in an unfamiliar place. She could see the line of people waiting to get past the bouncer and could hear the music coming from inside. She looked up the building to see a brightly glowing neon sign that read 'Sanctuary'. "So this is the place, right Hedwig?" Harri was nervous about trying to gain entrance until she was sure that she was in the right place.
'Yes, child, this is the right place. Don't be afraid, just do as your mother told you and all will be well.' Hedwig knew that her chick was nervous and tried to sooth her, she didn't think that it worked until she felt the shoulder that she was perched on relax and heard her chick sigh out in relief.
"Good, I just wanted to make sure before trying to get in. I am still underage in this world, it would have been horrible trying to get into the wrong place without any sort of ID." Harri walked to the head of the line, ignoring the grumbles about cutting the line, straight to the bouncer who barely gave her a glance.
"Sorry, kid, but we don't allow anyone underage into the bar. Geez, you barely look like you could be in high school. Better just go on home, kid." Harri bristled a little about the reference to her height, she knew that she was short but that's what happens after years of abuse and malnutrition.
"I am seventeen, thank you very much, and I don't want a drink. I seek sanctuary and was told that I could find it at Peltier House, but if I was wrong then I shall seek it elsewhere." She turned to leave, but felt a large hand on her arm, pulling her to a stop mid-stride. She looked over her shoulder to see a very large man dressed completely in black with long black hair and sunglasses holding onto her arm, and judging by the size of him she wouldn't have even a slim chance of breaking his hold and running away. "I would appreciate it if you would let go of my arm." Mr. Giant-Goth-Man just looked at her from behind his sunglasses for a moment before turning to the bouncer.
"I'm taking her in Etienne. We'll be at one of the tables, send Mama Peltier out to us when she has some time." The deep slightly accented voice sent shivers up Harri's spine. She had no choice but to follow the stranger past the bouncer and into the club, he still had a hold of her arm. The man found an empty table and lifted her onto the high stool before seating himself and just looking at her. "So, care to tell me why you need sanctuary? Or how about why you feel Olympian? And seriously, you could pass for fourteen barely, so what makes you think that anybody will believe that you're seventeen?"
A waitress set a beer down in front of the man before moving on, Harri just looked at him. "Isn't it rather rude of you to begin your interrogation before introducing yourself?" she turned to Hedwig on her shoulder and said, "And I don't care if he is the head of the dark-hunters, Hedwig, he is being rude and my arm is sore from being dragged across a room by a giant. The least he could do is introduce himself before getting all pissy about my private business. Oh, don't pull that. Matera would be proud that I haven't lost my temper yet, what with all these behemoths calling me short. Hedwig, you know that my height is a touchy subject because it reminds me of what they did to me. I'm not talking about this anymore, besides the stranger probably thinks I'm insane now because I'm talking to an owl. No, sweet, that is not a normal occurance in this world. No, Hedwig, Dr. Dolittle is a fictional character, thus he does not actually exist."
Acheron watched the strange child hold a one-sided conversation with the white owl sitting on her shoulder. When she said that her arm was sore he felt slightly guilty for hurting the girl, he really sat up and paid attention when she said that someone had done something to her to make her that short. The girl was barely 5'2'' on her tip toes, almost a foot and a half shorter than him. He almost shot beer out his nose when he heard her explain to an owl that Dr. Dolittle wasn't real. He managed to stop choking on his beer and looked up to find girl and bird staring at him as if he had lost his mind.
"Don't worry, I've met crazier people than just holding conversations with a bird." Hedwig ruffled her feathers in indignation at the Atlantean's words. "Sorry about the arm and the interrogation, but I have to make sure that Artie didn't send you to trash Sanctuary." Ash watched the girl's reactions to his words. He had caught her use of the Greek word for 'mother' and knew that he had to know more about this girl if she wanted to stay in his city.
The girl had a look of confusion on her face when she asked, "Who's Artie? Well, however it is, I don't know them. Matera sent me to New Orleans to find my father and said that Sanctuary could help me. Unfortunately, Matera rather skimped on the details and was being a bit of a featherhead and forgot to tell me his name. And I can't call her back down for a while because she's busy. My name's Harri, by the way, just thought you should know my name before we moved from the interrogation portion of the program to torture or something." The girl, Harri, didn't really look all that affected by the thought of torture. I guess that gives me a clue of what happened to her, Ash thought.
"Well, who is your mother then, if Artie didn't send you?" If he could get that information then he could stop treating her like a criminal.
"I doubt you would believe me if I told you. And you still haven't told me your name, you know."
"I bet you would be surprised what I would believe. Listen, I just need to know your mother's name. I'll be able to tell if you're lying to me so you may as well come clean and tell me." Ash laid his bluff on the table, truth was that he couldn't hear her thoughts, so he really wouldn't be able to tell if she was telling him the truth. But, his bluff seemed to have worked anyway because she looked tired and weary all of a sudden.
"Fine, you win. My mother is Athena of the Olympian pantheon. I was stolen from her while she was visiting earth when I was a newborn. She couldn't take me back because the family I was given to had formally, legally, and magically adopted me so she had to wait until my seventeenth birthday when I would come of age to the world that had adopted me before I could even call her to human form. Well, today is my birthday. When I finished gaining my inheritance and true form, Hedwig here told me how to call Matera to human form. We spent a bit of time together before she had to go back to the mountain but she didn't want to leave me where I was, so she sent me here to find my father, who is a were-tiger, and is here in New Orleans, somewhere." Harri watched the stranger and waited for him to start laughing at her.
She was shocked when all he did was start talking to her, "My name is Acheron. That actually explains how you can understand your friend there, owls are the messengers of Athena so it only stands to reason that her child could communicate with them. Why don't you come stay with me at my place, it's safer there than even Sanctuary usually is. If you stayed here the male weres would never leave you alone since you're at least part were and are fresh meat for them." Ash watched Harri's eyes grow impossibly round at the implications of that statement. He saw the unadultered fear at the thought of being raped, and he really couldn't blame her for that.
"No, I won't let that happen again. I'll stay with you, if it really is alright. I don't want to impose or anything." She spoke softly, hoping her first statement wouldn't be heard, but Ash heard anyway and he felt the rage in his heart try to call up his true form to avenge the girl's wounds. He tamped down the urge to find the ones that hurt Harri and rip them to tiny pieces and feed them to Simi, but just barely so his fangs dropped through his gum line and his eyes turned red behind his sunglasses.
When he was calm enough, he spoke, "We can stay at my place here in New Orleans or we can go to my other home. Either way I will explain some more about me than just my first name." He finished his statement with a small grin.
Harri grinned back at him, "Can we stay here in New Orleans? Matera said that my father was in the city somewhere and I would like to find him. You don't mind Hedwig, do you? She goes where I go so if you have a problem with her then I need to make other arrangements."
"I don't have a problem with her as long as she doesn't have a problem with me. My apartment here in town isn't very big so it may be a tight fit." Ash rose from the table and stepped around to lift Harri off of her stool. He took her by the waist and could feel her ribs through her clothes. He set her on her feet and asked, "Are you hungry? We can stop on the way and get some food."
Harri thought for a moment, "Sure, I could eat. I don't know what's around here though, so you pick the place. And don't worry about the space issue, I'm small enough not to be a bother." She replied with a sardonic grin. Ash couldn't help but chuckle at her words, they were certainly true enough. They left Sanctuary and Ash steered Harri toward Café du Monde on Bourbon Street. When they got there, he told Harri to order whatever she wanted, that he was buying. Harri knew better than to order a large meal, as it would come right back up, so she ordered soup and a small salad with a coffee and beignets for dessert. Ash didn't order anything and paid the bill while Harri waited for her food. When they sat down, Ash watched her eat slowly and with small bites while she guarded her bowl with her arm, like she was used to getting food then it being taken away for a period of time then getting food again.
Harri was sipping her coffee after finishing most of her food when she felt a presence approaching from behind her. She remained still as she was and watched Acheron's reactions to the new person. He didn't look all that worried but he had noticed the slight stiffening of Harri's body at the newcomer. "Hey, T-rex. It isn't often that I see you on this side of town. Are you patrolling or just babysitting? I didn't know you took babysitting jobs, I'll have to let Sunshine know."
"Hey, Talon. I'm not babysitting, you jackass. And no, I'm not patrolling tonight. Talon, this is Harri, I met her over at Sanctuary, she's going to be staying with me for a while. Harri, this is Talon. He's one of my former Dark-Hunters but he still does patrols every now and then." Ash watched her look at Talon as if she was assessing him for possible threat. Ash figured the Celt would be more of a threat to her coffee than to her. Harri thought she was doing a great job of not panicking or letting her fear show on her face. She watched this new stranger for a moment before introducing herself properly, if not vaguely.
"Hi, I'm Harri, it's nice to meet you." She held her hand out to shake Talon's, not realizing that her long sleeve had slid up enough for both men to see some of her scars. She did notice the subtle shift in the men's emotions and saw the direction of Talon's gaze, she swore when she looked down and saw her scars plainly visible and jerked her hand out of the man's grasp to cover them back up. Or, at least she tried to. Talon kept hold of her hand, pulling it closer while pushing her sleeve up some more to get a better look at her arm. The Celt saw the girl's arm covered in criss-crossed scars with dark round burn scars thrown in as contrast. He felt his teasing good mood fly out the window and could tell that Acheron's had taken a flying leap, too.
"What happened here? These feel too violent to have been self-inflicted, who did this to you? Do you have more scars like these?" Talon felt like he had to know, when he knew he had no right to ask a perfect stranger about something so private. But he felt like he had to know so that he could tear the perpetrators to shreds. He felt his own and Acheron's rage rising, he looked up from the girl's arm to her face, and saw pure terror in her vermillion eyes. Talon felt his chest freeze at the sight of pure fear on this elfin child's face. "Ash, get us out of here. Get us to Katoteros, and we will see what other wounds she has." Ash could do nothing but obey.
A/N: The first chapter of another story complete. Hope y'all enjoy!