Chapter 3: The Third and Final Meeting

Artemis sat across her two followers with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk painting her face. It seems that Daphnis has forgotten this happened seven years ago, she thought to herself, as he seemed to be deeply thinking about having to raise and train the child of his mistress. And Daphnae wasn't fairing any better. She looked like she had heard that Artemis claimed to be the younger sibling causing her to sputter in confusion all over the place.

While they seemed stunned Artemis allowed her mind to wander back to her son. She felt great concern immediately consuming her as she thought about how her son looked. Thin, fragile, scared, and broken were the first words that came to her mind. She recalled the thin, circular wiry glasses he wore, with scotch tape all over them, clear signs that they had to be fixed from the damage they had taken. She recalled James had a similar pair of glasses but his glasses seemed to be of better quality. His hair was messier than a rat's nest. Sticking out all over the place, it looked unwashed and filthy. It was overgrown, it seemed to swallow the small head, she hadn't seen his face but how could she?

This was her child, whom she had long thought dead. She had felt the passing of his parents but by the time she arrived there, she was greeted by the dead bodies of James and Lily Potter. But as she began to search for him by using the godly essence that sat coursed throughout him, she felt that connection cut off. And that had broken her, it caused her to become colder to those she already dislike but come more protective of her hunters, more maternal in a way. She made sure they trained better but she pushed herself further, she encouraged them to build more connections amongst each other, and she had taken to counselling her hunters the best she could. Advising them on their problems, making sure Phoebe and Zoё could do the same for their fellow hunters.

However, Artemis also grew to resent her father, it was his laws that prevented her from being around her son. Perhaps she could've made sure he was still alive, safe and happy. Maybe even prevent the deaths of his parents. But Artemis couldn't let herself live in what if's or maybe's, it would do her no good. She had done poorly with her son, but now she had a chance to help her baby boy. She would make sure he was ready for the life that lay ahead of him. Maybe she would speak with Hecate to help him with learning magic. He would have to be trained before he would have to go to his wizarding school. She remembers the one time she had gotten to see her son, back when he was a baby, she had gotten a series of prayers from his parents thanking her for giving them a child when he had been born.

-Flashback Begins-

Godric's Hollow, West Country, England, Great Britain

Artemis stood outside a small unassuming cottage in the West Country of England. She could see a small sign on the fence, naming the cottage Potter Cottage, with smaller text below stating 'Built by Ralston Potter 1609'. Walking through the gate, she could feel herself enter through some magical wards, clearly designed to warn whoever was inside that someone had crossed the property line. She could feel the godly energy that was permeating from her son, pulling her closer to her son. Not that she knew she had a son, but a part of her was hoping for a daughter, however, she couldn't bring herself to care about the child's sex.

She walked towards an old oak door, a deep pricey looking brown exuding wealth. Knocking on the door she decided to do this the mortal way. But before she could finish, the door opened with a surprised-looking James, "Lady Artemis! Hello. Is there something I can do for you," he spoke while bowing to her.

"I assume the child is born." She spoke neutrally, James looked up at her surprised she had come to their son.

Nodding so much that his glasses shook, "Of c-course milady. He's just upstairs with Lily. He just woke up again and won't go back to sleep." He closed the door behind her, resetting his glasses and directing her up the stairs, Looking around the room, it seemed to be that of a normal family in the 80s if not a little bit more dressed up, and with non of the technology that most mortals had but that wasn't of concern to her.

Walking towards a door label, 'Harry's Room' she raised an eyebrow at the name 'Harry is an unusual name for a girl but maybe it's a nickname' she thought to herself. When the door was opened she was greeted by the sight of a tired Lily rocking a crying baby who appeared to bawl their little eyes out, their small fists waving in the air as tears streamed down their small chubby face.

She caught Lily's attention but Lily couldn't do much with her hands full she was surprised when Artemis took Harry out of her arms. And began rocking him slowly, softly singing a lullaby she remember her mother used to her and her brother when they were young. She'd remembered the lullaby when her mother Leto would comfort her children as they grew into young gods and it was a memory that was etched deep into Artemis' brain.

Artemis caught the surprised looks of the two mortals. But before she could speak, Harry had other plans namely grabbing Artemis' crescent-shaped moon necklace and began to gum it. Causing James to let out a snort, and Lily to look panicked. Brushing over it, she asked the all-important question "What's her name?"

James and Lily looked at each other before looking at her, trying to figure out how to approach this subject, "Err, my lady his name is Hadrian James Artemis Potter," Lily spoke nervously, while James looked at Harry, keeping eye on his son's behaviour. Artemis found herself stunned at the chosen name for her child. Before she could ask why Lily spoke again, "We wanted to honour you, my lady for gifting us with a child and we could think of no other way of doing so but by giving our son your name to carry."

Artemis found herself further stunned at the admission of such a detail. But she looked down at her 'son' Such a word felt foreign to her, his bright green eyes slowly changed to match her moony eyes, matching in the details crevices and all, small tufts of black hair and a large gummy grin looking up at her, small hands reaching up towards her face and hair. Readjusting her grip on him, she held him closer, her matching eyes searching over him imprinting every detail of his face into her brain.

She'd imagine her mother would love to meet her first grandbaby from her eldest child. She'd have to find a way to make sure they meet. If anything it would do good for her mother.

"My lady, we were wondering how would we train Harry, we were hoping there was something you would do to help us if it would please you to do so," James spoke his eyes finally landing on hers. Artemis nodded allowing herself to think about this further. In truth, Artemis had thought a lot about how her child would have to grow up, one being away from Camp Half-Blood aware her father in his paranoia or rage would probably strike her child down, and two without her hunters becoming suspicious of this, there was Daphnis or Daphnae but how would she broach this subject matter with them was a thought for another time.

"I will be looking into this matter further, however, I may be able to get my lieutenant or high priestess to assist with training him, assuming you will make sure to be training him in magic when he is old enough." She spoke carefully considering her options and weighing them up in her head. "His training will require him to learn to fight with a range of weapons but also how to hunt. He will also need to train on how to speak with gods if anything just to save his hide. Gods are not kind beings and many of us are vengeful beings finally, he will have to learn Ancient Greek, however, I will be finding someone who will be training him in the aforementioned."

The wheels and cogs whirled in the elder Potters' brains while young Harry didn't take notice of what was happening in the background. Harry seemed more focused on the redhead with bright silver eyes. Reaching up towards her neck his small chubby hands pulling on her hair to get her attention, a gummy smile on his face, as he let out a series of nonsensical 'words' getting her attention as she rocked him, get a delighted series of giggles out of him. Slowly he began to feel tired as his movements slowed down but seemed to fight it to see his second mother, his sleepy moon eyes watching her tiredly as he tried to speak just letting out the words 'm' in a tiredly buzzed sound. "M… m… ma…ma…mama," he spoke before he had succumbed to the realm of Hypnos and Morpheus.

But while Harry had succumbed to his need for sleep, his mother - Artemis and his two other parents shared a shocked silence with all three sharing shocked glances between them. James and Lily seemed especially shocked, "Th-those," Lily started shocked, "were his first words," she said her eyes filling with tears.

Artemis allowed the shock to further fill her, and as a small smile took her, she picked up the sleeping form of her son and kissed him on the forehead as a small smile painted her face. And the same smile painted the face of her sleeping baby boy.

-Flashback Ends-

Artemis was bought out of her thoughts of when she first saw her son as more thoughts of his current condition filled her brain.

His thin frail body was of great concern to her. She could imagine how sunken his face looked, bags under his eyes, a tired resigned look filling them. A look no child should hold in their eyes, they should be full of youthful curiousness, questions about the world fill them to the brim but instead, she could feel fear flowing off him, as he grasped onto her grandmother, Artemis couldn't help but feel jealous. It should be her holding her son but it wasn't and she would work to correct that. Again his hair drew her attention, it just looked so unkempt and overgrown that it couldn't do anything to bring any sense of comfort to her. Though, unlike Aphrodite, Eros and many other gods and goddess, Artemis wasn't concerned with her appearance on a level far beyond appearing professional when she needed to be, in meetings on the Olympian Council, or at her temple she'd make sure she dressed like a leader to her hunters, she expected them to take care of their uniforms and make sure they looked to put together in anything because as her hunters she wanted them to look like a military force as was how they were perceived by many of her fellow deities. Her son would be the same but also he would be different. He was her son and therefore he was as much a part of her as she was of him, they had a duty of care to each other, as her mother instilled into her when she was a little godling with her brother on Delos.

Artemis thought back to her mother with a sad fondness. She hadn't seen her mother in centuries due to Hera's jealousy. Leto for a short while had lived in Colchester living as a caretaker at an orphanage taking care of children who many had grown to view as a mother, and as the Goddess of Motherhood, Hera had been driven into a rage by the fact that Zeus' former lover was perceived as a great mother by those brats, she had forced Zeus into sending Leto back to Delos to live alone away from those brats but more importantly from Zeus' brats, Artemis and Apollo. And for that Artemis grew to forever hate Hera, the old cow had forever earned the ire of the silver-eyed moon goddess.

"Milady… milady… milady!" Yelled out Daphnae trying to get the attention of her mistress.

Artemis shook herself out of her thoughts a little embarrassed that she had been distracted and so deep in her mind, that she had forgotten she was in the presence of her priestess and lieutenant.

Both Daphne and Daphnis seemed concerned at her distracted state, their eyes conveying as Artemis' eyes were waking up from her faraway thoughts.

"Milday are you okay?" Daphnae asked, moving around the desk to be closer to her mistress, while Daphnis poured a glass of nectar for her, matching Daphnae's level of concern.

"I'm-I'm okay," she spoke trying to provide comfort to her two followers, but her voice just sounded tired and resigned. Letting out a sigh, Artemis mentally tried to prepare herself, "I'm going to say this now before we leave, it will not be an easy meeting, my son," she said giving herself a second to think how to speak further, "my son has had a hard life, and will most likely not trust easily. We will have to prove we are not there to harm him. I'm trusting the two of you to prove yourselves, not to me but to him," she finished her voice hardening with the gravity of the upcoming situation. The two picked up hard determined expressions on their face, showing they understood what was expected of them.

- Line Break-

After Artemis flashed away, Phoebe saw Harry's head turn around feeling the bright light tingle against his skin. But unbeknownst to her it was because it felt familiar. Of all the dreams Harry had dreamed about as a child in the Dursley household Harry could only care to remember his only happy one. He was presumably in the body of his baby self, and an auburn-haired silver-eyed person was holding him, rocking him as a baby. It was a dream that Harry used to comfort himself at his worst moments, he remembers one key detail from the dream was when she rubbed her thumb against his chubby baby hand, his right one precisely which built a habit he always stuck to using his left hand to hold and comfort himself. He remember the aura randomly but to him it was just a part of a happy dream, reminding him of the forest, the moon and the night sky.

Eventually pulls away from the hug, turning around quickly wanting to catch sight of what flashed behind him only to be disappointed in the sight of the forest. Phoebe put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head towards her, eyes a downcast silvery green. She let out a breath, understanding his feelings.

"Harry, I guess you know what just happened?" Receiving a small nod from him, she could see a slight feeling of abandonment pouring off him, his insecurities bubbling up, thinking to herself she knew she needed to be quick, "That was Lady Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt. And she is my granddaughter. But more importantly I believe she may be your mother," she spoke carefully observing him, she could feel Harry's eyes harden slightly.

"My mum's dead," Harry spoke plainly. But deep within him he knew that she was speaking the truth, but Harry readily ignore his thoughts. "She died when I was a baby, in a car crash, with my dad." Slowly he could feel anger rise within him, "And even then if she was my mum why didn't she raise me? She left me alone with the Dursleys." He spoke finished with a horrible tone of distaste leaving his mouth. Phoebe internally sighed, he was angry, and his anger was justified but Phoebe truly wasn't prepared to deal with this. It had been centuries since she had to deal with a situation like this. She remembers Leto was of a short temper as a child. Her great-grandson picked up that from her baby.

"Harry," she spoke interrupting his angry thoughts, she cupped his face in her hands making him look up at her, tears of frustration/anger/sadness in his eyes, "Right now, I understand your anger, but I think we need to focus on what we're going to do now. Before she left she pointed in the direction of her temple in Athens. So, I'm going to flash us over there and we can continue from there." She finished looking down at Harry, their eyes meeting intensely in conversation before Harry swallowed his words audibly and nodded agreeing to her words.

-Line Break-

Flashing over to the temple was a different experience for Harry but he quite liked it. It didn't hurt and didn't feel uncomfortable. But Harry was surprised by the sight of the temple in front of him. He expected the temple to be a pile of ruins but it wasn't. It was a beautiful temple which looked like it hadn't aged compared to some of the surrounding buildings. It glowed perfectly in the moonlight, it stood tall and proud, and it had people bustling on the outside, seeing young and old women moving around, conversing with one another and generally a comfortable air around them. The temple had trees surroundings the sides of it, the temple had animals surrounding it, wolves, deer, owls, eagles, and all sorts of different hunting animals.

The temple screamed Artemis. Well to those that knew her or of her.

Harry immediately wished her had more eyes as he tried to take in as many details as possible. His eyes were drawn every wear but what caught his attention was a statue. Of a girl maybe 5 years older than him, wearing a jacket, with a bow drawn in her hand, aiming directly in front of her, she had a wolf by her side, which was snarling protectively at the sight of nothingness in front of it, the girl was dressed like a hunter, a jacket with lots of pockets, trousers with pockets, army boots and hair pulled back into a braid, all she was missing was a flat cap like Harry had seen in the hunting magazines Uncle Vernon had sometimes delivered to Number 4 Privet Drive.

Harry had an amused glint in his eyes, juxtaposing the guarded neutral expression visible on his face, although Phoebe did have an equally amused glint in her eyes and a smirk curling onto her lips noticing Harry's eyes.

"Let's go, Harry," she spoke softly keeping him close to her, "I think we'll see her inside," she noticed Harry seemed focused like he was on a mission. Phoebe could feel a level of concern build within her, she hoped that the meeting between mother and son could be peaceful, she didn't want it to go south. In a short period, Harry had weaselled his way into her heart and she hoped that Harry could be free of the burden that currently held him.

The two walked into the temple together, staying close to one another, Harry's eyes were all over the place as if he was trying to look for escape points but for places he may be attacked from. His hand looked like it was itching to close up into a fist, he was nervous. He didn't know how to approach this.

He was meeting his mother. But he was an orphan. So did she abandon him? Did she leave him because he was a freak? Harry tried to convince himself that he could be okay with that. But he knew he wasn't, the word freak would forever be ingrained in his mind. Did she just forget about him? Or maybe she didn't want him. Despite the doubt that crept into his mind but he clung to the idea that maybe she couldn't find him and spent years trying to find him while he was stuck at the Dursleys.

Harry hoped that this meeting would be good. That he would get to stay with this Artemis from now on. He didn't want to be alone again. He wanted to belong somewhere and maybe it would be at the side of his mother.

Harry and Phoebe were deep in their thoughts as they walked in unison together before they were bought out of their thoughts by the sound of a door being opened near them, turning to look at the source of the noise. They saw who they were there to meet, Artemis. The Goddess of the moon but more importantly, Harry's mum.

She stood in front of an open dark cypress door nervously, her hands were playing with the cuffs of her jackets, and her eyes darted between Phoebe and Harry, before focusing in on Harry. Her eyes, moved from their normal silvery blue to a replica of the moon in all its details, while Harry's went from their silvery-green into a matching pair. Their eyes searched the other as if trying to remember the details of one another. Artemis had a small soft but still nervous smile at the transformation of Harry's eyes, remembering how his eyes changed when he was a baby. Whereas Harry played with the thin hem of his ratty oversized t-shirt, his fingers weaving through the holes in his thin cover. His eyes showed the embarrassment he was feeling in the presence of his mother. Mum? What would he have to call her? Harry had no idea how the situation would perform. But he wanted answers, but the words were stuck in his throat. His lips quivered with the questions, and his body shook slightly in the cold, to which he saw his mu-, no Artemis frown slightly. Artemis flicked her hand and the fireplace nearby radiated more heat, washing over him, Harry warmed up feeling less cold, which unfortunately caused Harry's intrusive thoughts to grow like a crescendo.

While both Artemis and Harry stewed in their awkwardness, Phoebe watched them amused at how they were behaving. A smirk on her lips, and her eyes danced with amusement at the somewhat adorably juvenile behaviour the two were displaying. Coughly loudly she caught the two off guard, evidenced by the two jumping out of their staring contest, as they looked at her both with moon-decorated eyes and red faces of embarrassment. It was at that moment the well of laughter within her broke and she let out a chuckle at her two descendants.

"Well, if the two of you are down staring at each other, maybe we could move on to why we're here."

Harry reddened further and began to sputter out in shock, while Artemis took a second to compose herself, before nodding to herself. "I guess we should get started," she spoke stiffly not sure how to proceed. This wasn't within her realm of things she did. Releasing a breath from deep within her, he tried to mentally prepare herself for what could be a hurricane of emotions. Something Poseidon would release if he found that Zeus atomised one of his children.

Another short silence ensued before Harry broke it, "Are you, my mum?" He asked quite bluntly, causing Phoebe to let out a loud laugh, and Artemis' eyes slightly widened. However, Harry wasn't done, "Does that mean that my mum isn't my mum? What do I call you? Why did you leave me at the Dursleys? Is it because I'm a freak? Is that why you left me? Why do your eyes look like that? Is my hair going to turn red? Please say no to that, I like my hair the way it is. Why are you short? I thought you were going to be taller. Am I going to be that short?" As Harry continued to rattle off question after question, Artemis' face went through a range of emotions, the first being unsure, immediately followed by rage at hearing her son call himself a freak and finally embarrassment at the questions regarding her appearance and her rather short height. However, she was amused at his concern about his hair. Phoebe went from rageful to thoroughly entertaining very quickly and had no reservations about laughing outrightly at the young boy's questions.

"Harry. Harry. Harry!" Artemis spoke gradually raising the volume of her voice being careful not to shout, as she strode across the room, crouching down in front of her son, he put her hands on his shoulders to get him to stop rattling off every question he could in the few seconds he had since he opened his mouth. Harry immediately stilled frozen now unsure how to proceed, but Artemis did something that he didn't expect, he raised her hands to cup his face, her thumb stroking his face softly and with the care, only a mother could show.

Harry remained guarded, his eyes slightly softened at the feeling, a part of him wanted to melt in the clutches of the women in front of him but he couldn't he didn't know how the next few moments could play out and he felt vulnerable but not in the physical sense but emotional Harry wanted to cry but he wouldn't let himself, his upbringing made it hard to him to feel as most children around him did and it was always visible to him. However, Harry's guard crumbled as she pulled him into a hug, and for the first time in a long time, Harry cried.

Burying his face in between her shoulder, neck and chest. He could feel his mum's hand weave itself into his ratty hair and another stroke his back, softly up and down in an attempt to bring him comfort. Artemis could feel Harry's shaky breaths on her, along with his hands gripping her jacket as if he was trying to convince himself that what was happening was real. Phoebe's eyes buried into her, watching the scene ahead of her intently ready to defend her great-grandson immediately, a hand kept behind her, clearly gripping onto something if the way her arm flexed meant anything to those nearby.

Harry's cries slowly died down, into small hiccups, as Artemis pulled away, causing Harry's eyes to dim slightly in their teary haze, as she used her thumbs to wipe away the tears from Harry's eyes, looking deeply into his beautifully expressive moon eyes, she allowed herself a smile beginning from a small chuckle to paint her pained face, allowing Harry to gaze at his mother beauty, his eyes studied her face more deeply as if looking for every similarity possible between the two of them.

"Maybe we should sit down," spoke up Phoebe, her face and eyes glowing with humour at the sight of the mother and son duo blushing at her words. "And then maybe we can reassure Harry that his hair won't turn red," causing the two to further blush in embarrassment, as Harry let out a quiet "Sorry," in embarrassment when he saw the look in his mum's eyes.

"Of course grandmother," Artemis spoke quietly trying to push down the embarrassment deep further inside her, she pointed towards the open door, as the trio entered, the two elder beings not willing to let Harry out of their sight, their very beings being filled with the most protective instincts possible. Not being comforted by how small and frail Harry was.

The office itself looked as far removed from the perception most demigods had of her as possible it looked like a war room you'd see in a World War Two documentary, it had a giant board in the middle, which she flashed away as she entered, maps, all over the walls with thumbtacks pointed in different areas, highlighting high monster threat locations, red, green and yellow marking the different threat levels, blue marking places where she had the most access to the moon, purple marking high-risk zones for her hunters and black showing where she and her hunters would avoid. The walls had different hunting weapons, ranging from different bows - ranging from bows, crossbows and a barnet, knives - all different sizes and shapes, and guns - primarily rifles and shotguns but she did have a few handguns. Behind her desk where she would sit help the names of her currently active hunters, with a picture of them above each name and finally another wall held the names of her past hunters deceased or other - again with pictures of them, but also with the length of service and the cause of them with their name.

The trio approached her desk and made their way to the seats placed around them, but Harry and Phoebe noticed there were five seats, not three. Artemis seemed their questioning looks, she laced her fingers together, allowing herself to breathe out slowly to calm herself.

"I guess I should answer your questions from earlier, Harry?" She asked looking towards Harry for confirmation, getting a slow nod from him, she gave him a tight-lipped smile, "Most important I am your mother, but I'm not your only mother, you see-" Before Artemis could continue Harry was about to interrupt about to ask another question but Phoebe put her hand on his shoulder to get him to stay his question as he leaned forward to readjust himself. "You see back in 1979 your parents used an ancient ritual to summon an immortal being to help them with their troubles and I helped them causing your mother and me to be your mum along with your dad," she spoke somewhat uneasily trying to gage Harry's reactions as he looked down his face screwed up in confusion trying to digest the information she dumped onto him. Harry moved to speak causing her to still but he shook his head, choosing to sit back and looking back up at her, ready to move forward with this odd turn of events.

"Moving on then, you can call me what makes you feel most comfortable, whether that be Artemis, Mum or any other title that you'd feel comfortable using," Artemis spoke slowly unsure how to proceed with answering the next few questions, how could she explain she thought her son was long thought dead. Rubbing her hands over her eyes and brow, her forehead creased uneasily, " I didn't leave you to the Dursleys. You see when your parents died, I felt the passing of three people, and more importantly, I felt the stain of death left by Lord Thanatos, and in my haste, I assumed you had passed because I could feel you as if my connection to you was cut off." She spoke carefully to try to gauge Harry's reaction she could see he looked troubled, his eyes looked to be far away, and she felt his eyes look through her. She walked over to her son, crouching down in front of him to his hands in hers stopping them from fidgeting with each other, noticing his left hand seemed to be rubbing his right hand in a comforting manner, a habit she had herself, which she picked up from her mother. She had a small soft smile built upon her face. "Harry you're not a freak. You are my son. My first child. My heir. Don't ever let anyone take that away from you." She spoke with softness moving towards firmness conveying her rage at her son being called a freak, her eyes met his teary ones cupping his face she kissed his forehead pulling him into a hug, his head on top of his and she rested her chin on the top of his head. "And to your other questions, your hair won't change colour, but your mum had the same hair as mine, if not a bit longer, and I'm this short because I prefer to be, I may look twenty-five now but I'm usually in my twelve-year-old time so being short if anything is something I'm more comfortable with."

"Why do you prefer to look twelve?" Harry asked inquisitively. Phoebe snorted at that, of all the questions that Harry could ask he asked that, Artemis looked like she was caught off guard. She had been expecting a more harsh of question or for Harry to react aggressively or in anger as most boys would do. But Harry was different, he was her some so he'd be better.

"Well, it chooses to remain in this form because it's the average age of my hunters. You see Harry you have sisters in the form of the Hunters of Artemis. They are my loyal followers, who follow me as we hunt throughout the world to hunt down the monsters from stories of old."

"Oh…"

Phoebe just roared out laughing, her eyes tearing up, "Of all the things to say, that's what you say," she said wiping a tear out of her eye, oblivious to how red Harry's face was or how he hid his face in his mum's shoulder embarrassed. And to the smirk on Artemis' face.

"Now we're all settled down," Artemis gave a pointed look to her grandmother, "I believe it's time I let in my two other guests." She waved her hand to the door and in came her two followers her Lieutenant Daphnis and her High Priestess Daphnae.

As they entered their eyes were drawn to Harry, as they stared at him, Harry fidgeted uncomfortably, not used to being stared at. Daphnis immediately turned to his mistress, pointing at Harry, "Milady I thought he was supposed to be an infant," he spoke confused, as Artemis let out a chuckle, Phoebe fell into another well of laughter and Harry just blushed at the thought. And Daphnae kept her eyes on Harry, her eyes analysing his appearance drawing an immediate conclusion about Harry's guardians before he was bought to them here.