Chapter Three
That woman. Why? Why did Shayera just rub Harry the wrong way when she does not know the woman at all? Well, it wasn't necessarily that she rubbed her the wrong way. It was more like there was something about her that had Harry obsessing about her. The resemblance to her mother was uncanny that it was beginning to give her nightmares.
Harry wasn't stupid; she was far from it, even though Professor Snape thought otherwise. They looked completely alike and that was what was bothering her. That and why did she look so much like her mother?
Her hand clenched around the field kit that was in her hand, lost in her thoughts but still very much aware of the intense stare Shayera was directing at the back of her head. Activating her left eye, Harry saw that Shayera was staring at her or rather studying her like she never saw a person like her. Luckily, they were heading back to the Watchtower now where she can escape from the woman who looked like the exact copy of her dead mother, but she was still brooding about her thoughts.
It felt like she was being haunted by her past. Like she was being taunted by Fate. It was not fair that she continues to be reminded of what she lost since that night.
This is your mother, Harry. And yet not.
She was being mocked by some higher power and they were just having fun with her. They were throwing a ghost of her mother in her face and seeing how she would react to it. Since, Shayera was the picture perfect image of her dead mother, they were laughing at her in the end. No matter where she goes, she is always haunted by her past.
This is your mother, Harry. This is what she looked like. Only she's dead.
Shayera looked like her mother, but yet she wasn't. The pain in her pierced her heart so readily and also she knew that each and every time that she would looked at Shayera, she was always going to see the woman who could've been her mother. She wouldn't be able to be near Shayera. Deciding, that she needed to talk to Hermione, she would call her, when she reaches her office.
As soon as they reached the Watchtower, she eagerly fled from them and found her office with the help of her left eye. She still gets lost in the Watchtower if she doesn't use her eye, it was like a maze. She remembered when she first used her eye to look through the Watchtower; she accidentally peeked in the men's showers/ locker room. Boy wasn't that embarrassing, and after that, she was very careful to where she was seeing. Ignoring Dr. Adams, who was busy yelling on the phone, she took out the napkin with Hermione's number written on it, and began dialing it as she wanted to talk to someone who would understand her and her situation.
"Hello?" Finally, Hermione picked up her phone after the forth ring.
"Hermione," Harry breathed out painfully and also in relief as she get to finally talked to someone.
"Harry, what's wrong?" The worry in her voice was quick to come. Hermione was worried that something bad happened to Harry, as she did hear that working for the Justice League and working out on the field was very dangerous.
"I just needed someone to talk to," Harry finally blurted out. Harry was never able to really explain her feelings that well, thanks to the Dursleys.
"…I'm here. What's wrong?" Hermione said trying to comfort her best friend over the phone as best as she could.
Struggling to keep her emotions under control, Harry started to explain herself. At first, Harry did not know what to say, but soon it started to come out.
"There's…a person. Here. That I'm working with," She fought to explain, this was harder than taking the O.W.L.s in her fifth year.
"Harry…?" Hermione was now very confused. Harry knew it as she wasn't doing a good job explaining to her.
"There is a woman that looks so much like my mum, Hermione. Exactly like her. It hurts just looking at her, let alone be in the same place as her, never mind being near her like in the same room as her. And I know there are going to be times where I have to be working close to her, and all I'll be thinking about is how much she looks like the woman who could've been my mum if she hadn't died. Its breaking my heart to know that I will never have a mother, Hermione." Harry explained as best as she could to Hermione.
Harry could hear Hermione sucking in a breath harshly and knew that she understood how hard it was. Hermione thought if she had lost her mother when she was a baby and then fifteen years later; there was a woman who looked exactly like her. She would, too, be in pain from just looking at her.
"Every day, Harry. Staring at a mirror image of your mother…" Hermione spoke quietly and the gravity of the situation crashed down on Harry again, and it took all that she had not to start hyperventilating. She needed to stay calm; there is no point in panicking about something like this. Harry did hear somewhere that there was a twin who is not related to you, out there.
What could she do when all her life, she'd always wanted to have her mother and father by her side, raising and loving her like a parent should do, and here was a copy of her mother walking around her every day?
What could she do? Harry thought. But was soon her thoughts were interrupted by Hermione.
"I love you, Harry. And so does Ron. You know that, right? Just try and remember that, please. She's not your mother. But you have us, and we're your family," Hermione said firmly, quick to compose herself and give her rational advice of what she would do if she was in Harry's shoes right now.
Harry smiled briefly thanking whoever that she has a friend as good as Hermione right then, before saying, "I know. I know…"
Shayera wasn't his mother even though she looks like her. Harry just needs to remember that, even though she saw Lily Potter in her every time she saw her. She just needed to know that. Harry didn't need to go looking for people to go replacing her dead mother and father, when she had family already. A family she worked hard to create, and one she loved with everything she had.
Hermione, Ron, Remus, the Weasleys, and now the recent addition of a new baby, Ellie and Ace. They were now, her family and that's going to stay like that for as long as she is alive. They were all that she needed and she did not need anyone else. Harry ignored the small voice whispering in the back of her head that insisted she wanted a mother and father to take care of her and to love her.
After talking for a few more minutes, Harry decided that she needed to back to work. She said her goodbyes to Hermione and hung up her cell phone, and then she was suddenly aware of the quiet in the office. Looking up, she was surprised and embarrassed to see Dr. Adams staring at her with a concern look on his face.
"I'm sorry, sir. I know that I shouldn't of used work time to deal with personal issues," Harry said awkwardly, hoping that they would fire her over it.
Dr. Adams turned back to his work on his desk and shrugged nonchalantly. But he did have one question that he wanted to ask, so he asked, "Who?"
"Huh?" Harry intelligently asked, wincing at it. Honestly, she was smarter than that.
"Which one of the superheroes or workers looks like your mother?" Dr. Adams asked indifferently. But still, he cared about his assistant and did not want to cause her any pain.
Harry started biting her lip thinking whether or not to tell, but in the end she decided to tell him so she answered, "Hawkgirl, sir."
"I'll assign your work away from her," Dr. Adams stated coolly, shuffling papers and not even turning to look at her. Secretly, he was pleased that she had trusted him with that information. He could tell with the way Harry acts that she had suffered through abuse when she was younger.
"Thank you, sir," Harry thanked her boss. She was surprised that he would do that for her.
"You're a good kid. I'll just assign one of the older and more experienced medics on the missions she's on. She usually takes on harder missions that you're not yet qualified to go on anyway." Dr. Adams explained to her.
Harry was highly relieved at that. She knew that this was just for now and that soon she would have to face it head on. Hopefully, she would be ready then.
"But this can't last forever, Harry. Build up a tolerance. Create a mask. Be indifferent. This is work, kid. You'll have to deal with it if you want to advance. You can't always hide from her. Soon you will have to face her." Dr. Adams told her. Hoping, that she would take his advice. He would hate to see her fail.
"I understand, sir," Harry said as she inwardly cringed. What Dr. Adams said was good advice that she would have consider and work on it.
Dr. Adams sighed and he quit what he was doing and finally turned to face her, offering a weary smile. He told her, "Go home, Harry. Take the rest of the day off. You deserve it. Spend some time with your daughters."
"I can't, Dr. Adams. There's still a half day left!" Harry said wide-eyed. She could not do that, there are still so much work to be done. She could not leave that.
"Look, just take the offer. Get yourself settled and then be ready to work tomorrow." Dr. Adams waved her off.
Harry sighed but gave a grateful smile to him. She gathered her things and made sure that she had clocked out.
(Scene Break)
"Why the sudden interest in roaming the mortal plane, Ares?" Zeus' eyebrows rose high. He had to make sure that Ares would not start another war on the mortal plane, again.
Ares frowned before asking, "Can I say because I just want to?"
Zeus rolled his eyes. "Not good enough," he deadpanned.
Ares snorted. He did not want anyone else know that he has a soul mate. He asked Zeus, "Do you really want to hear the reason?"
"Yes." The answer was simple.
"Aphrodite told me I had to meet my soul mate there and that she was going to bring me happiness. And the fact that no one here can actually find any information on her, and the Dark Family is being highly suspicious about her and they will not tell me anything about her." Ares explained.
Zeus' eyebrows rose higher at what he just heard. He asked so he makes sure that he was not just hearing things, "I…see. Wait, you actually have a soul mate?"
"Yes, I do actually," Ares answered nonchalantly while shrugging his shoulders. Trying not make a big deal in front of Zeus, but yet it was a big deal to him. "I've already gotten used to the fact. Now I want to go there and actually meet and maybe get some answers."
"Why, out of all my sons, do you seem to be the one who causes me the most trouble without trying?" Zeus said as he sighed. Honesty one of these days, Ares is going to be the death of him.
The blond war god gave a cheeky grin in return. He was just happy that he would be meeting his soul mate soon.
"Alright. Go down there and seek out Diana. As an Amazon, they worship you for being their creator and especially as the father of Hippolyta, their queen." Zeus told him while thinking of a way to keep Ares out of trouble.
Ares laughed nervously before asking, "What are you talking about, Father? Aphrodite created them…"
"Son, I'm not stupid. You created the Amazons with either Harmonia or Otrera…How would your soul mate feel when she finds out that you have plenty of kids running around?" Zeus started grinning mischievously, making Ares wince.
"she wouldn't have to know if it weren't for nosy relatives…" Ares muttered. Hoping, that will never come up or that she would ever find out about that.
"So, it's agreed. Seek out Princess Diana and have her help you." Zeus commanded as he knew that Princess Diana will keep Ares in line and not cause any trouble.
"Amazon worship or not, she might be annoyed with me…I have been messing around the mortal world and trying to cause trouble after all, and she's the one always going to fix my messes." Ares told him while looking sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Your problem, not mine." Zeus told him.
"Thanks a lot, Dad." Ares snapped at him.
Zeus smirked and waved him away, making Ares grumble as he left his father behind. Zeus shook his head and said to himself, "I feel sorry for this Harry Potter for putting up with Ares in the future, but hopefully, she would keep him on a tight leash. I wonder when I am going to meet her."
Zeus walked off to tell the other gods and goddess that Ares has a soul mate. He can't wait for their reactions to this piece of news.
(Scene Break)
"Well, Ares?" Athena suddenly appeared out of nowhere, eager to hear the news.
"Father is letting me go, but I'll have to seek help from Diana," Ares said with a scowled. Hopefully, Diana won't ask too many questions.
"Ohhh, the Amazons. I like them," Athena smiled happily. They were like herself a female warrior.
"Of course you do. They worship you and Artemis, and occasionally Aphrodite when they feel like it." Ares snapped at her.
"They worship her because you tell them to. And now thanks to that, the stupid comics think they can make the Amazons out to worship Aphrodite with awe-inspiring love because the Amazons showed they worship her once or twice and they were caught at it. You know the Amazons only cared to worship her because you were going through that phase where she was all that mattered to you." Athena explained with a smug look on her face.
Ares winced before he whined, "Oh, come on, Athena…"
She scowled at him as she said, "It's true. The Amazons are known to only genuinely worship myself, Artemis, Hera as she's the mother goddess, and yourself and that's all."
"They shouldn't even worship me. They're an all female race and they don't care for men," Ares pointed out. They all knew that was true, but Ares was the main reason that they exist in the first place.
"You're their father and a god of war. Of course they would." Athena also pointed out that little fact to him.
"It doesn't really matter. I just need to go there now," Ares said as he huffed, restraining himself from pouting. If Athena caught him pouting, she would tease him for a long time and tell everyone about it. Ares already has a feeling that Zeus was telling everyone that he has a soul mate right now.
"Good luck!" Athena sing songed as Ares walked away from her. Athena could not wait to tell everyone that her brother Ares has a soul mate and already he was love sick over her. Giggling she went to find the other goddess to tell them this new piece of gossip to.
(Scene Break)
"So…let me get this straight," Wonder Woman, or as everyone else knew her as Diana Prince, started out incredulously. Clearly not believing, what she was hearing out of Ares' mouth. "You want…to stay here for awhile because…you want to atone for your previous actions that caused me so much trouble and so help me in any way you can until Zeus tells you to stop and return home?"
Ares nodded solemnly, though inside he was hoping this would work and that she would believe this little lie. He had no inclination of telling anyone he was there looking for his soul mate, as that would make him look like he's gone soft or for his enemies to exploit a possible weakness. And he did not want to get Harry hurt in any way possible. He wants to keep her safe as possible.
Diana stared at him before stating, "No offense, Ares, but that's a load of bull. I don't believe a word that you are telling me."
He sweatdropped. He should have known that she would never believe that. Diana was too smart for that.
"My people and I are sworn to serve you, though you certainly piss the hell out of me whenever you're here wrecking havoc, so just tell me the truth." Diana told him. She was curious to why Ares was doing here and she wanted the truth to why.
"I'm looking for my soul mate." Ares simply stated, hopefully she will not make a big deal out of it and also, help him find her.
"I mean it –" She cut herself off when she saw Ares giving her a look, which she knew that Ares was telling her the truth, she asked, "Y-You're serious?"
"Yes. Her name's Harry Potter." Ares told Diana in case she met her at one point.
Diana gaped before saying, "That's our new Doctor's Assistant."
Ares brightened up when he heard that, so he asked, "So she's here?"
"Well, she should still be working now." Diana said. Still trying get her head around it.
"Then lead me to her right now," Ares grinned, getting excited. Finally, he is going to meet the one who will complete him.
"Wait a second, Ares. You can't just approach her out of the blue," Diana interjected quickly. Diana knew if he did that, its going to cause trouble and chase her away from Ares, who might start another World War in his anger.
"And why not?" Ares asked as he frowned, mood changing quickly. Not liking that Diana was trying to stop him from meeting her.
"For one thing, she's sixteen. How old do you look? And don't tell me you could change how you look when I know you prefer this disguise." Diana pointed out to him.
Ares grumbled and conceded on that reluctantly. Ares knew that Diana was right on both accounts.
"And second, but uh, you know that it would be very weird for her to have you suddenly pop up and declare you're her soul mate, right? Never mind that you don't even know if she's straight or that you're a total stranger. It will probably chase her away from you and you will never get a chance to get to know her." Diana explained as she knew that Harry would freak out about it if that was done.
"Why don't you just introduce me as your father or something?" Ares asked as he glared at her.
Diana stared at him again. She said, "Are you kidding? We don't look related, we look too close in age, and everyone knows I don't really have any family –much less male relatives! And besides, it would not help you at all."
"It was a thought," Ares muttered to himself. "And the truth, of course."
"I'll introduce you as a friend, but you can't be all overbearing. And for Hera's sake, don't blurt out you're her soul mate! The only that would do is chase her away. You don't want that, do you?" Diana told him seriously.
"Okay, okay!" Ares said as he raised his hands as if trying to calm her down.
Diana started leading him to the medical station, straight to the head doctor's office. Diana could not believe that Ares has a soul mate. And that it was Harry Potter; the poor girl won't know what to do if she finds out about it. She has to feel sorry for Harry because her soul mate is Ares the god of war. Finally, they reached the medical bay. Unfortunately, only Dr. Adams was there and Harry was nowhere in sight. Diana did not know whether to be relieved or not to. It was very hard to tell.
"Doctor, is Harry around?" Diana asked after seeing that Harry was not there. Maybe she was in a different place or out on a field assignment.
"No. Sorry, Wonder Woman. I told her to take the rest of the day off. Bad start today. I thought she could use the break and besides, she looked like she needed it." The doctor said as he nodded to them both, still organizing paperwork that was laying on his desk. He finally, has time to deal with it.
"Bad start? Is she okay?" Ares butted in. Ares was worried that she might be hurt or something bad happened to her.
Dr. Adams looked questioningly at him, not knowing why a stranger would be concern about someone that he never met, before hesitantly answering, "She had some…family issues to deal with. So I let her have the rest of the day off."
"You can't say anything else, right?" Diana said as she sighed. She knew that once this was over, Ares is going to be bugging on information about Harry and she was not looking forward to that.
"I'm sorry, but it's not my business." Dr. Adams apologized.
"Okay. Could you assign Harry to my next mission? She's got a good level head and she can think clearly in desperate situations and I was hoping to have her on," Diana requested so she could get Ares off of her back.
He hesitated again as he thought about it and they noticed it curiously, but did not say anything about it.
"Is Hawkgirl going with you?"
Diana frowned at the strange question, instead of answering, she asked, "Does Harry, have a problem with her?"
Dr. Adams flinched but answered anyway, "No, that's not it. Well at least not quite. You see…Harry just saw her today on her first field mission and Hawkgirl looks like her mother. Her dead mother. And it was a shock to her that she was not ready to deal with right now."
"Oh," Diana flinched as well. Thinking that she would have done the same thing if she was in Harry's shoes. "That's the family issue. I can see why she would react badly to that. Do you know how long ago she's been dead?"
"From what I gathered, she's been dead since her birth. she's never known her. And I'm not sure she gets along with her current family as well." Dr. Adams explained to them with a tired look on his face.
"Oh," Diana said again. "No. She'll be off on another mission. It'll be myself, Batman, and the Flash on the mission."
"Will it be dangerous? She's only had a couple days experience, most of it spent here. And she's only an intern, so she might not know what to do in a very dangerous situation." Dr. Adams said, worrying about Harry. Dr. Adams will admit that he is going to miss her when she leaves for school, but she promised to be back next year.
Diana nodded as she replied, "I know, but Hawkgirl herself commended her performance today and stated that Harry did a very good job. And with the influx of injured heroes around here, I've heard how excellent her work has been. I'm sure it'll be fine. There is nothing to worry about."
"Very well. I'll have her informed tomorrow. It's going to be a couple days, right? She also has family staying with her…um; they're too young to be left alone. You think that it would be okay for her to bring them along with you?" Dr. Adams asked as he knew that Harry would not leave them on their own for too long.
This he knew because once Harry had her cell phone, she'd plastered a picture of her 'daughters' as the wallpaper and excitedly showed him. The kid was like a new mom, though it was actually like that. Since, Harry did admit to him that she did adopt both of them as her daughters.
"We'll let them come. They can stay on the ship." Diana said after thinking about it for a moment.
Dr. Adam's agreed reluctantly as he hope that it would go okay for her and Diana led Ares away from the medical bay.
"I'll be on this mission, right?" Ares asked excitedly.
Diana paused. She thought about it, it would give him the chance to get to know Harry better and Vic versa and also she could keep an eye on him in case he was going to do something stupid and scare the poor girl away.
"Fine." Diana said as she sighed. Hopefully, all will go good for her.
(Scene Break)
"James Potter," Shayera murmured as she remembers her past.
It's been awhile since she'd allowed herself to even think of that name. The past was too painful to think about and she didn't want any part of it. Not anymore. After that fateful night, she didn't want to remember the daughter she'd lost or the husband she'd loved before his death. It just tore her heart to pieces.
Before the Justice League, she had lived her life as Lily Evans with the Evans family. She'd traveled to Earth frequently and met the Evans family, who had quickly taken her in when she was younger, allowing her to be another daughter since they could not have another child like they wanted to have. Petunia hadn't known any better as she was still too young to understand. Then she'd learned of Hogwarts, and every summer she'd alternate between her home world and the Evans' household. She felt like she was living three different lives then. She grew tired with living three lives and keeping them separate from it each other.
And then she had married James Potter, right after school. She told him about herself even though she was very scare that he would not love her anymore, but he'd accepted her, and soon she was going to give birth to a daughter. Harry was born, and now it was scary how the mirror image of James was working with her and had the same name as her dead daughter. Things quickly spiraled down when Dumbledore told them of the prophecy and how Harry was one of the possible choices for the Chosen One mentioned in it. She was also the most likely that Voldemort would go after because the Dark Lord probably saw something of himself in their daughter. Why the Dark Lord saw himself as a girl, she would never know. Or he probably wished that he was born as a girl or something like that.
Dumbledore had been right and that night she had lost her family and her heart was ripped to tiny pieces.
She'd survived because of her mace, which blocks any magic and since she lost everything that night, she decided to leave this world behind and get away from her past. She wanted no part of it now that she had lost everything. Then she'd became a part of the Justice League, and took up her real name once more.
Lily Evans Potter had died with James and Harry Potter that night.
And so Shayera Hol had been reborn.
But now Shayera Hol was not to sure that Lily Evans Potter had died that night. Thankfully, with the help of one of the people that owe her a few favors. She was able to get her hands on the DNA of Harry Potter and now she was running against her own DNA. She wondered what would happen if it did confirm that Harry Potter was her daughter and what would she do about that.
After waiting a couple of minutes, the results popped up on the screen. Shayera felt like she was going to faint when she read that Harry Potter was her daughter. Dumbledore lied to her. Depression sunk in as she realized that she had missed most of her daughter's life. If she ran up to Harry and told her that she was her mother, Harry would reject her and most likely be angry with her for leaving her.
On the other hand, Shayera was very happy that her daughter was alive. That meant that she would another chance at having a family. All she needs to do now, was find Harry on earth and get her alone so she could tell her, her story and why she was not there for her. Hopefully, it would turn out okay.