Preying on You
Authors note: Well, I'm actually surprised how well received this story is thus far! It's much different than any other story I have ever written, I've never gotten inspiration from a music video, and I've never written such a mythically rich story before so I ask if anything is lacking you give me a few chapters to roll everything in. I'm really pleased with the last chapter, even if it's a bit more "light" than I wanted it to be, I figured we needed to start slow and easy before we go down the rabbit hole. Also, I'm planning on keeping this story on a schedule, so that means I'll be trying to post every Wednesday and Friday.
Chapter One: The Horned God
The first thing he noticed when he woke was that it was still dark. The sky was just barely lightening; just the slightest tint of color was touching the furthest corner of the sky. His eyes seemed to be covered with a haze, his hands were freezing, and he couldn't feel them, but he couldn't figure out why until he unclenched them. He let a small sound of distress at the pain that came with uncramping his fingers, but it was nothing more than a soft whimper. He could hear the soft twitter of birds that were sure to be just waking from slumber. The busy patter of rodents making their way around the shed, the concerned coo from Pig and Hedwig, but most of all a deep hiss that he did not recognize.
His breathing caught when he turned his head to see the breath taking man whom had been with him the night before. He tried to sit up, and back himself into the corner, but as he tried to pick his head up there was a great weight atop his head. He let out a startled squeal as his hand shot up and brushed against something hard. His mind short circuiting much like it did earlier. What was on his head?! As he was patting them aggressively looking between the man that was holding his gaze firmly on Harry, and the large serpent that was slowly slithering from his master's arms and toward He was pulling at his antlers(?) which felt like they looked to match the dark haired man that was watching him.
His hands were touching anywhere he could reach his face felt like there was a light layer of fuzz lingering on his face mostly the top part of his face, he wondered briefly if it matched the fur of the unknown man, or if it matched the color of his hair. Though that thought was stripped from his mind when he shuffled backward and noticed the weight of his legs. He froze, eyes dropping from the other person sharing his shed, down to his legs, which were not undoubtedly unhuman. A delicate coat of jet black fur snow flaked with white painted his legs, which now resembled something more like the hind legs of a stag rather than the thin muscular legs he originally possessed.
"What happened to me?" Harry spat, confusion and anger taking over. He couldn't go to the Burrow like this! They would think him a bigger freak than he already was. He couldn't leave the shed; his rack of antlers alone would get him a beating that would rival anything he had ever experienced.
He felt something move up his leg, the nerve endings tried to twitch away, but the weight was too heavy for an escape. Instead he looked down to see the horned serpent slithering up his leg, calming hissing careful words of comfort. Calm, young one, we mean no harm, shhhh childe, my masssster meanssss no harm. The creature was repeating, its voice gentle and thick, obviously male, and its crimson eyes holding no hostility or lies. Serpents didn't need to lie, did they? But what was this unnatural horned creature doing here? In Surrey of all places!
The creature was well over the size of the Burmese Python that he released before first year, almost double the size if Harry could estimate as well as he hoped. The creature looked fierce it was a deep natural green, with scales much like a dragon, the horns curving around the side of its face, framing it much like Harry's own. Harry watched, and felt, in horrified amusement as the creature curved up his body, curling around him in a warm, surprisingly comforting embrace. Still hissing soft sweet nothings about how his "Sweet hatchling" had nothing to fear from him, or the man who he now knew was serpent's master.
"He is correct, child, there is nothing to fear from me." The robed man said in a soft timber, His voice was demanding every bit of attention Harry possibly had at the moment. When the man rose to his full height which was almost two full heads taller than Harry, while he was practically gawking, Avada Kedavra green eyes startled, but he attempted to rein his face into nothing more than a mask. "I have watched your kind for centuries; I have seen them abandon the old ways, betraying the gods and goddesses who had blessed their kind. I have watched as Albus Dumbledore has ruined the minds of Mother Magic's children. And now I have chosen you, Harry Potter, to help me right this right this wrong." He said carefully approaching Harry, gently extending his hand with a warm yet guarded smile. "Will you help me?" He questioned carefully, his face turning serious once more.
"Help you? I don't even know you?" Harry almost cried keeping his fists clenched near his shoulders so his hands wouldn't be useless underneath the serpent whose body had his so firmly wrapped up, and its head resting on his shoulder. "And now can I help? I'm just Harry, now even more "freakish" than I was before!" He spat in a spiteful tone, though he quieted as soon as he saw the stormy look upon the man's face.
"You are not "freakish" Harrison James Potter!" The man rumbled, promptly placing his free hand on Harry's antler and giving it a light push. "You were simply chosen by my kind as a vessel. You weren't Fate's first choice, so she is simply being spiteful. You are a completely normal Faun by any reasoning, though you bear my form because I claimed you first." He said finally reaching forward to take Harry's hand in his own. "I am Cernunnos, more commonly known as The Horned God. I am often confused with Pan, as he is my brother, but rest assured I was birthed first." His cobalt eyes were serious, and Harry could see no lies within them. "And the Serpent trying to become one with your torso is Gaul; he is of Basilisk decent, though he is still but a babe in the eyes of his kind."
Harry just couldn't believe it. He was chosen by a god? Not only that but The Horned god, why did things like this have to happen to him of all people? He just wanted to be normal, settle down with a man, or a woman that he came to love, adopt a bunch of children and live in a nice house on the coast. But nothing ever went the way he wanted it to, was a few quiet years with loved ones so hard to achieve? He also found it chilling that the creature wrapped around him was a Basilisk of all creatures to have decided it made a nice teddy bear it had to be a Basilisk.
"I don't understand why did you choose me? I'm nothing special!" He said running his hand through his hair, trying to avoid touching the antlers atop his head for fear of setting off in a panic again. He was trying to remain calm, he had no idea what to do, what to think. He knew that the second he let his emotions show on his face he would start to have a panic attack, and he didn't know how he would do calming down in the presence of the one who caused it. He could have his emotional break down when there wasn't a good sitting in front of him.
"That is where you are wrong, little faun. I chose you while you were deep within your mother's womb, just barely a creation. I have been waiting for someone to be born unto my sign for many years, and I knew that you would be perfect for this task." Cernunnos' face was calm again, his eyes sparking with some unknown emotion, affection, his mind briefly supplied. "You are caring, which means your mates will be well loved. You are strong, my forests and all my creatures within them will be well protected. You are powerful, you will produce me many heirs, many followers, many guards for my forests. You are loving, witty, full of untapped potential, and I plan to make you a snake with the muscle of a lion." He said reaching forward once more to pull Harry into a standing position.
"Wait, mates? Are you implying more than one?" He exclaimed suddenly, as if that was the only thing he got out of the small speech; of course he was flushed from the idea, as well as all of the complements. He stumbled slightly, his cloven hooves making it slightly difficult to stand. If he was this bad with cloven hooves he could only imagine what he would be with solid hooves. "How am I supposed to protect the creatures? They hate humans!" He said reaching out for the wall of the shed trying to balance himself as the horned man in front of him led him as one would lead a child.
"Oh yes, I would imagine one of your power will have a multitude of mates." He answered, not going further into detail quite yet, figuring he should help the boy walk before he would explain more crucial things. They only had a short amount of time before the sun would rise and the boy would need to be back to work again. "You seem to forget you are no longer human, dear vessel." He said with a raised eyebrow at the boy in an amused manner, chuckling as he stumbled awkwardly around like a colt, attempting to match the God's strides evenly. "Fauns are guardians of the forest; they are protectors, and mischief makers. I have no doubts that you will fit that role." He said evenly, a small smirk playing across his lips before his brow furrowed and again he seemed serious. "I do not need to warn you that you must be discreet about your change, Harrison. Fauns may be lighter than their cousins the Satyr, but they are still considered dark. The fact that you are now affiliated with me, a master of the darkest of forests all but fuels the ideas that the old ways are dark."
He did not need to finish his thought, because Harry already had an idea of where that sentence was going, Tell anyone but your mates and you'll be attacked first and asked questions later. He shuttered at the thought of being shunned again it was bad enough that it had happened in second year, but to happen again, and potentially killed for it? Harry didn't even want to linger on the idea. He knew that Wizards were almost as bad as most muggles when it came to bias, they allowed fear to destroy their world, they allowed predigest to mold their thoughts, they saw the world as two sided, whereas Harry knew there were more sides to every story.
Harry had gone silent after Cernunnos started his teachings and instructions again, by the end of the lecture he received about being a proper vessel, and learning how to care for the forest he was able to walk the length of the shed and even pivot and jump without his legs getting twisted and he falling over into The Horned God. He listened avidly, learning about the history of Earth Magic, learning about hundreds of things that he had never even dreamed of. The fact that he would need to spend nights in the Forbidden Forest seemed like a pretty terrible and exhausting thing to do, but he knew the god knew what he was talking about.
Having mates was an idea that Harry was pretty unsure about, having more than one was an even bigger stretch. He was comfortable as Cernunnos talked, telling him about mates and how it was a good thing. He would have creatures to love as a large family; he would have everything he wanted, except perhaps the house on the coast. Though Cernunnos assured him that there were plenty of lakes within the Forbidden forest, and none of the dark creatures would dare hurt their protector, especially the god's chosen one. He could have hatchlings and live a happy life. He was sure Gaul could practically feel him giving in to the idea of being the chosen.
Harry briefly wondered if the god was simply sugar coating the process of becoming a "herd leader" or "Alpha" as he kept referring to it as. The term alpha seemed to send a shiver down Harry's back, and he allowed the idea that he would be in control of everything his mates did take root. He loved that idea, he would be the caregiver, the lover, the protector, and his mates would be his. They would love him and his own and only his own herd. It caused a content grumble and a wonderful heat to settle in his lower belly, his herd.
He had also learned that Fauns had a glamour that made their more beastly assets invisible to the human eye until he was ready to be seen for what he really was by his mates. He had been pleased when Cernunnos had conjured a mirror that yes, his lovely raven locks did match the soft layer of fur that took up the majority of the upper portion of his face. The fur was a raven black that was dusted with gentle patterns of dotted white that flowed with his features, his antlers matched Cernunnos' to the tee, along with his raven ringlets being intertwined within the points and with soft gems that apparently the god had put in while he slept. They marked him as the god's chosen and thus protected him from harm within the forest and from any creatures that attacked before actually looking at the god. His ears were slightly pointed, and also held small silver hoops within the elongated lobes, showing rank among fauns and creatures alike.
"Um, well, Sir."
"Cernunnos, Harry. My name is Cernunnos, you are not my subordinate. You are my chosen, and you will refer to me as a friend, understand?" He said, stomping his cloven hoof as if to prove a point.
"Oh, well sorry Cernunnos. But how did I even become a Faun sir? I don't really understand." He questioned with a confused expression, settling himself on the built in guarding bench on the inner wall of the shed. He had been wondering that since the beginning of the conversation, now that he was calmer, more relaxed (though he knew he would likely have a small panic attack later) he was able to voice his concerns to the god.
"Well through your mother of course, Lilly was one of the finest Fauns ever to have watched the Forbidden forest. I must admit though, the fact that pawn James was her mate always disappointed me. Remus Lupin, or even Severus Snape would have been a much better choice, but the fates were against me at the time you see." He trailed off when he noticed Harry's eyes had gone wide. Harry on the other hand had his mind swirling. James was a pawn? His mother was the Faun in the family? How was she a Faun if she was a Muggle born? "Harry, your mother was most definitely not a muggleborn. In fact she was from one of the oldest pureblood lines there is, didn't you know, dear one?" Apparently Cernunnos could either read minds, or Harry had spoken out loud. But the expression he received in response to his question showed that no; in fact Harry had no idea that his mother was a pureblood, which made Harry then a pureblood.
"She's what? How did I never know this! Everyone has been telling me she was just a brilliant Muggleborn, that she hadn't an ounce of Wizarding blood in her! What family is she from?" He asked in a matter of a small number of seconds. Again starting to feel overwhelmed by this information that had been kept from him, he was a pureblood! That means he had to have some form of political power somewhere, he just had to find it.
"Her father was the heir of Slytherin, and her mother was the heiress of Ravenclaw. It was quite shocking that she was sorted into Gryffindor, but she was loved dearly by her parents none the less." He said with a soft smile, thinking about the fiery girl who had thrown Hogwarts for a loop on more than one occasion. She truly had been one of the finest fauns that Cernunnos had ever trained; he had loved her dearly, and had thought of her much like a father would think of a daughter. Perhaps that was why he was feeling such affection for Harrison already?
Did that mean he was the heir of Slytherin after all? Did Albus lie about Harry getting his parseltongue abilities from Voldemort? If Dumbledore lied about this, had he lied about something else as well? Now the panic started to set in slightly, if Lily had been a pureblood, was he even related to Petunia? Was there such a thing as the blood wards? If there were blood wards, wouldn't Dumbles have come by now? There was a real live god sitting in his shed, a man that was likely more powerful than Voldemort and Dumbledore combined and there weren't any alarms going off anywhere? He had been alone with this man for hours now, and no one was even checking on him to ensure he hadn't been harmed, what if the man would have been a Death Eater, what if he would have been Voldemort himself?
He could distantly hear Gaul attempting to calm him, but nothing was working, his whole life had been changed in a simple matter of a moment, and it didn't even hit him until he realized just how much danger he could have been in. Dear Merlin, what if it would have been Voldemort? He would have been dead ten times over and no one would have known.
"Shhhh, child it's alright. I did not mean to startle you. You must be calm now, deep breaths." Cernunnos eventually calmed him enough to pull him into an embrace that rivaled the one that Gaul still held him in. "Good boy, that's it, match my breathing, there we go." He encouraged, taking deep calm breaths to get Harry's lungs in working order again.
Cernunnos was worried, He had watched Harry for many years now, waiting until he could finally teach him the basics and get him set to becoming the chosen one that the gods and goddesses had intended, but now he finds a small confused yet determined boy who had very little to grasp on to when it came to a stable environment. He found a teenager who barely could take news without having a panic attack. It would be difficult for him to come to grasps of how badly Harry had actually grown up. Cernunnos knew very little about how the muggle world actually worked, he knew he had a small collection of those who used him as their god, and that he was still slightly known to the community of muggles who followed the old ways. He knew enough about it to know that Harry's childhood had not been okay, and he knew enough to see that the Satyrs and the minotaur that dwelled in the forbidden forest would have cared for him better.
TBC