Welcome back to another chapter of Bad Moon Rising.
In which February 14th has rolled around once more, which means everyone's favorite goddess is back to cause her normal brand of chaos in the life of the Heir to the Hunt.
On with the show.
Nymphadora Tonks, Grimmauld Place, February 14th.
Gamgam Tonks passed away when Dora was nine and had little understanding of what was happening. She was fine the week before, handing Tonks a biscuit with a smile as they watched the daytime soap operas together. Gamgam always found it delightful when Dora would shift into one of the actresses on screen and would laugh and cheer as Dora did it.
But then, she fell ill.
One week she was there with her biscuits and smiles, the next she was gone so swiftly and suddenly that it felt as if it left a gaping void in the Tonks family for years afterward. But as Dora stood by her door, glaring at the goddess currently inspecting her Misfits shirt she had gotten back in her fifth year at Hogwarts with a frown, she didn't see her grandma.
She saw a pain in the arse.
Dora had no idea what she was doing here, let alone how she got onto the islands without that black-eyed bitch not raining down unholy hellfire on the goddess before her. Dora grits her teeth before stepping deeper into her room with her wand in a death grip. The small white feathers scatter in her wake as she walks around her bed to separate herself and the goddess. "What are you doing here? In fact, how the fuck are you even here?" Dora asks, doing her best to swallow back her anger at the goddess in front of her.
"Well, hello to you too, Nymphadora, lovely to meet you finally. Why yes, I do know I'm beautiful and it seems to run in the family," Aphrodite answers back flatly, in an almost bored tone as she tosses the Misfits shirt onto the pile of clothes on the bed before turning to Dora with a smile, seemingly uncaring about the disrespectful tone which Dora had spoken to her in. Dora didn't smile back at her and wished that the goddess in front of her was nothing more than another dark wizard that she could hex, curse, and knock out so she could finally break the stupid curse on Harry. Aphrodite's smile falls into a frown as she rolls her eyes at Dora. "Dear Nymphadora, if you're really going to look at me like that, could you at least not tip your hand about who you're thinking about so easily?" the goddess says before tapping just under her eye.
Dora's eyes widen a bit before she focuses on morphing her eyes back to the deep brown that they normally were. "Much better," Aphrodite says with a chuckle as her smile returns to her face. The goddess then waved her hand at the mess she had made on Dora's bed, sending the pile of clothes soaring through the air as they folded and hanged themselves back in the drawers and closet where they came from before Aphrodite calmly laid down on Dora's bed.
"To answer your question, I snuck in. I'm sure the big bad queen is going to notice me sooner or later but I doubt she will confront me, after all, today is Valentine's Day. The day when my and all the other gods of love power outstrips even the kings and queens of our respective pantheon's," Aphrodite says nonchalantly as she brings her perfectly manicured nails to her face to check for some microscopic imperfection. "As for why I'm here, well, I always come here on February 14th. I have a bit of a personal project here on the islands and I would be remiss if I didn't check on it personally from time to time," she says airily before turning back to Dora with a knowing smirk.
"Harry," Dora says, her grip redoubling on her wand with her fighting off the urge to curse and hex the goddess lying on her bed, it would do her no good.
"The son of Artemis," Aphrodite says while waving her hand. "The poor broken boy from the cupboard that, before me, his heart was untouched by the joys only love could bring," she says as if it was nothing more than a pet project to her, meddling in the life of someone who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. "I'm quite happy with how easily my blessing had taken root in him, being the son of Artemis I thought he would fight tooth and nail to avoid it," she says, a hint of deep amusement to her musical voice.
"You mean your curse," Dore says with venom in her voice as Aphrodite just rolls her eyes at her words.
"You've been spending too much time with Atalanta, you sound just like her," Aphrodite says dismissively. "Sure, you could consider it a curse but what kind of curse forces someone to love, honestly. If it wasn't for me, Harry would be more like his mother than anything else, cold and uncaring," Aphrodite says with a bit of anger in her tone as her face shifts into a beautiful scowl.
"And everyone else around him? Those who get pulled into it and forced to…to…," Dora says, his lips curling as she sneers at the goddess of love lounging on her bed.
"Want to jump his bones and ride him till he breaks you?" Aphrodite says with a knowing smirk as Dora's face burns red with a blush.
"I doubt he could-" Dora begins to say hotly before getting cut off by Aphrodite's giggle.
The goddess puts a hand to her lips coyly as she laughs. "Oh, granddaughter, a demi-god's stamina doesn't stop at the battlefield, trust me. And those touched by the Hunt tend to take after the animals and monsters they hunt tirelessly," she says, her smile never fading behind her hand as Dora's blush deepened as she caught on to what Aphrodite was saying. "But you are wrong about one thing, the blessing doesn't force anyone but Harry to love. Even then it is a very subtle thing, pushing and prodding the boy to fall in love so he may be loved in return, so he can heal from the wounds on his heart. For everyone else, it merely increases the possibility for them to love him by a small margin," Aphrodite informs her granddaughter much to the woman's confusion.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Dora says angrily, she was beginning to get fed up and tired of the word game Aphrodite was playing with her.
"It means-" Aphrodite says with a sigh as she pushes herself up to swing her legs over the side of the bed to sit in front of Dora, her chin resting on one hand propped up by her knee, "-that while you falling in love with Harry may have been a certainly small possibility, it was still a possibility. My blessing just makes that possibility more, well, possible," she says with a smile. "Does that mean you're destined to fall in love with him, get married, have little baby Potters running around? Of course not. But the possibility of it is there," she informs Dora while her fingers tap her bottom lip. "But I didn't stop by this drafty old townhouse just to talk about the boy who will love, oh no, I came here for something else," she says before standing, towering over Dora by a good foot with a wicked smile on her face. "Someone has been playing with the blessing of the Areia," Aphrodite says.
Dora swallows the lump in her throat as she takes a step back from the goddess, only for her back to hit the wall. "How-how do you know that?" Dora asks because it isn't untrue. Ever since the night that Atalanta had shown up and they had fought in the hallway, she had been curious about the power that not only blocked the hit from Atalanta but had redirected the force of the blow back at the hunter. It would take about a month of trying to get it to work herself to no avail before she finally asked Atalanta to help her, it may not have been what fueled Atalanta's own supernatural feats, but the power was still divine in origin. The logic was to learn how to use it from Atalanta was there, so they had tried to force the blessing out in mock fights and duels.
"Oh, come now my dear Nymphadora," Aphrodite says sweetly and as if she were speaking to a child. "The blessing stems from me, the last remaining vestige of my oldest name," she says and Nymphadora, at that moment, saw reality stutter. It was like the makeup she wore was wiped away and flushed down the drain, an illusion being lifted to reveal what was hidden only skin-deep on the goddess. Pale skin turned dark bronze, emerald eyes became a honey brown and shaggy black hair became curly and cascaded down her front but there was also something so very wrong with the image. The gold and jewels that adorned her were pitted with age and looked to have long lost their luster, the simple white tunic was dirty with grime and blood from an old wound from just under her breast, frayed at the edges and riddled with holes. Then there were the wings, what should have been large and pure white as if she was an angel from heaven, now looked dirty and incomplete; as if someone or something had cut or ripped the wings off at the joint.
Instead of Aphrodite's wicked grin, the battered goddess wore a deep and stern frown with expecting eyes, demanding something nameless from Dora.
And as quick as it came with the muted feeling of bloodlust and the sound of clattering weapons, it was gone. Aphrodite stood once more before Dora in her unspoiled visage of unearthly beauty with her wicked grin falling a bit to a more subdued smile and Dora was able to breathe again.
Aphrodite giggles at the look on her granddaughter's face. "My apologies, my dear Nymphadora. It's not a pretty sight I know, but that side of me likes to poke her head out from time to time when I talk about her so openly," she says, waving the vision off before turning away and walking over to the door. "But back to the point of my visit, The blessing of the Areia is something that can't be simply called up with the right amount of training. The blessing isn't one I pass on normally to any of my children, let alone my descendants so far removed. Only in times of great wars and strife am I allowed to pass it along by the law laid down by the Skyfather and since this is a time of war for you, I've decided to grant it to you," She says as she spins around, her simple white sundress fanning out as she twirls to face Dora once more.
"So, with this in mind, I've decided to help you out a bit with it," Aphrodite says with a small smile as she folds her hands in front of her. "The blessing of the Areia is a blessing created with war in mind, yes. But never for offensive campaigns, thinking of it as another blade, spear, or spell will do nothing to draw it out; it is a shield and wall, made to protect and bring those whom you love under its protection," she offers her granddaughter, who looks at her confused at first before understanding begins to bloom in her eyes. "And secondly, the blessing can not be used fully by those who I do not recognize as my blood, so with that in mind," Aphrodite says with a smirk as she raises her hand and snaps her fingers.
In a flash of blinding white light that forces Dora to shut her eyes and cover her face with her eyes, she feels a tugging at her magic as if something had grabbed ahold of it.
"All hail Nymphadora Tonks," Aphrodite's words rang in Dora's ears, "Legacy of Aphrodite and the bearer of the Blessing of the Areia," she said, and Dora could hear the smugness in her voice as she blinked away the stars in her eyes. Aphrodite stood before her with a wide proud smile on her face. "Perfect," she says with a grin as Dora takes a step back and almost trips over her own feet.
Looking down she sees why she was unbalanced, as she was now wearing a pair of heels that could be considered lethal weapons. But that wasn't the only thing that changed. Gone were her work clothes of hip huggers and a Queen shirt. She now wore a new slim black leather jacket, tight-fitting black denim jeans, and a form-fitting blood-red shirt with a large kiss mark across the front in black.
"What the bloody hell?" Dora mutters as she looks back at Aphrodite with a confused face.
The goddess just continues to smile as she inspects her work. "Not bad," she says, mostly to herself. "I don't work with the punk look much thanks to most of my kids leaning more toward mainstream fashion and all that, but I didn't do half bad if you ask me," Aphrodite says before looking up at Dora's shocked face, causing the goddess to giggle at the gobsmacked look. "It's an odd little side-effect that my claiming has on my children. After I claim them, they become the best-looking in the vicinity for a while. It shouldn't last more than a day or two, so go out and have some fun with it if you want," the goddess says with her wicked grin returning full force.
"What the fuck does this have to do with the Areia?" Dora snaps at the goddess with a glare, her wand arm itching to curse her.
"You'll need my claim to fully utilize it, my dear Nymphadora. And do keep in mind that swords will blunt, spears will shatter, and arrows will run out before the walls of Babylon will fall," Aphrodite says cryptically as Dora looks at her even more confused. "But now that is done, I have another thing I urgently have to get to, and sadly, I can't have you running off to warn Atalanta where I'm going," she says, her wicked grin morphing into one far more sly as Dora's eyes widen at what she was alluding to.
"No!" Dora snaps as her wand comes up to point right at the goddess, to somehow, hopefully, stop her from going after Harry.
But it was too late as Aphrodite whispered her next words layered with charm speak and the mist. "Sleep," and Dora's world tilts as her mind embraces the exhaustion in her body and slips into the realm of dreams as she falls onto her bed.
Delphini, Hogsmeade, late afternoon.
It had been a complicated week and a half for Delphini. Ever since Harry and her impromptu visit to Knockturn Alley and the revelation that the gods of old were actually real, something she still had a hard time coming to grips with, she had been given pause on what she was going to do with her life. She couldn't continue with the sperm donor's plan, she just couldn't.
Delphini could give a laundry list of reasons why, and the very first reason that would be on that list was the gods were real and they liked her Pot-Head. She wasn't one to believe a thing unless one waved proof in front of her face, so she didn't believe anything the Death Eater loyal to the sperm donor said about him being a god. She had stood next to the gods, and the sperm donor had nothing on the power she had felt from Brigid, Lugh, and recently revealed Scáthach (though in hindsight, it was pretty obvious). But the list she could give was filled with nothing more than half thought out and weak excuses compared to the real reason that she couldn't-that she wouldn't turn on Harry.
But in the end, it wouldn't matter.
Her plans had changed, and while neither Harry nor Sirius knew it yet, she was going to take Sirius up on his offer to help her. On the last day of the school year, she was going to march her sexy ass up to Dumbledore's office after sending a letter to Aunt Narcissa about the many reasons for her actions and why she was switching sides. She had little to offer Dumbledore in the way of information or anything remotely practical, but she doubted the man would care. All she was going to ask him was not to tell Harry who her father was nor what he had asked for her to do. She will happily leave that skeleton buried in the back of her closet for the rest of her life, where it belongs.
But none of that mattered at the moment, for now she had her own plans to fulfill with her Pot-Head.
"Come on, Pot-Head! We have a whole village to explore by ourselves!" Delphini whined as she dragged Harry alongside her and away from Ron and Hermione who were still exiting the carriages behind them.
"But you've done that before, haven't you?" Harry asks, his warm voice making it even warmer by the amusement in it at Delphini's antics.
The smile that stretched across her face at his words was all natural and full of her own humor. "Well, yeah! But we haven't done it as a couple, imagine all the places we can look for to sneak a quick snog," Delphini says with a grin as she looks back at her blushing boyfriend and wiggles her eyebrows at him. She hears Ron let out a bark-like laugh as Hermione sputters and no doubt blushes at her words as she drags Harry along. Harry's probation had ended only a few days ago, just in time for a Valentine's Day date in Hogsmeade of just them. No Ron, no Hermione, no other tag-alongs, which worked perfectly for what Delphini had planned, something she had been working on for the last month after Harry had shown her the map.
Ron and Hermione waved them off as Delphini and Harry walked into the crowd of Hogwarts students exploring the village and hitting up the various shops for this and that to get them through to the next visit. She and Harry walked arm-in-arm around the village, taking in familiar sites and making comments about each place. Harry seems to relax more and more the further away from the larger crowds they got, which is a good thing in Delphini's books. Her Pot-Head had been more than stressed over the last few weeks as the work kept piling up for his classes as they began to prep everyone for their upcoming OWLs. If Harry didn't have his nose in a book or doing homework, he was either sleeping or training with Professor Árd-Greimne, which was something else altogether.*
Harry had invited her to come down with Ron and Hermione to watch and hang out as he trained with his mentor, and that had opened her eyes to just how terrifying the both of them were. Delphini had sat in the stands and watched as two blurs of motion tried to kill one another with spears and magic. She could barely follow them as teacher and student had fought. It also didn't help that she was mostly distracted by what Professor Árd-Greimne was wearing since she had walked into the dueling arena.
Because Gods be damned! That catsuit was what her wet dreams needed!
It was around one in the afternoon that they decided to get lunch, but agreed to avoid The Three Broomsticks, the Hog's Head, and the creepy little tea shop with waaaay too much pink for either of them. They ended up in one of the few little diners that were on the main street of Hogsmeade to eat privately. It wasn't packed like The Three Broomsticks, but the food wasn't all that good either. Harry had taken one bite of his roasted chicken, and immediately started to scowl at the dish and mutter under his breath about how no one used any seasoning. Delphini had giggled at that, her eyes drifting from Harry's perpetually grumpy face to the steel-silver jacket he seemed to never be seen without. He was, in Delphini's eyes, incredibly handsome even with his grumpy face. Outside of his ex-girlfriend Daphne Greengrass, she was honestly surprised that no one had tried to claim the wild boy for themselves.
Delphini was sure the littlest Weasley would have tried her luck by now from the looks Delphini saw her sneaking at Harry now and then, or at least Luna would have tried to make that "Secret Magical Harem" that she was always on about come true. But to her surprise, no one tried anything with Harry, either due to his reputation given to him by the Prophet or the almost overwhelming feeling of fangs and claws he gave off. Delphini was happy that she didn't have to beat other girls off Harry in a mad fit of jealousy. She didn't want to be that type of girlfriend to him, and lucky for her, Delphini didn't have any real competition for Harry that she knew of.
As her eyes drifted back up to his face, Harry looked up from his food and smiled at her, causing Delphini to blush a bit and smile back. Both of them knew the other was having a good time without speaking a word to the other. They were a lot alike in a lot of ways, almost as if they could have a full conversation with just a look and a smile thanks to how similar their shared childhood was. In those private moments, after a heavy and hot shirtless snog, they would lay on a couch that Harry had conjured and they would talk, swapping stories of their lives and what both of them had gone through as they snuggled with one another. It was nice to be able to share what she had gone through at the hands of Rowle without having to feel shame at her own weakness; to have someone who finally understood it.
It didn't stop the feelings of horror, hatred, and sadness that she felt when Harry had opened up to her about what had happened to him. Delphini had honestly considered looking up how to create zombies just so she could resurrect the animals that Harry called his relatives so she could kill them all over again. Because even now her Pot-Head was still just as affected as she was by the past. It wasn't often, but now and then Harry would get quiet while looking at something, his eyes far away and filled with a sad look that she hated to see on his face.
The lunch had gone by quickly and as they took back to the streets, Delphini started to lead them farther and farther from the main thoroughfare of the village until they found themselves outside of the Shrieking Shack, just where she wanted them to be.
The boarded-up and downtrodden-looking house sat on the very edge of the village and Hogwarts grounds that was stationed under a steep cliff and beside a river that ran from the Black Lake and through Hogsmeade. It was an odd centerpiece of local folklore about it being one of the most haunted places in all of the isles, but had been oddly quiet for the last twenty or so years. The landscape surrounding it was wild and overgrown with half-melted snow and ice that clung to the overlapping roof like broken teeth. As the wind blows a chill across them while they stand outside of the maybe haunted house, Delphini shivers a bit considering what she was wearing, it was all too much of a shock.
Delphini was dressed in her school shoes, black stockings, her skirt, and her Durmstrang coat to try and keep the chill of the Scottish Highlands off her bones. Harry was dressed in what he normally wore when not in uniform, plain-looking muggle clothes, boots, and his jacket. Though even with the chill in the air, Harry never seemed to get cold or shiver.
"Kinda weird, don't you think?" Delphini asks, turning away from looking at Harry to the slightly lopsided building in front of them.
"What is?" He asks, looking back over at Delphini with his brow raised.
"That the supposedly most haunted place in Britain hasn't made more than a creak in the last twenty-something years," Delphini says, sounding like an off-handed but interesting comment to anyone who heard it.
"Oh," Harry says, looking away from Delphini and back to the shack. "That's because it was never haunted," he says with a shrug as Delphini looks at him confused.
"What?" She says with a bit of a laugh, "How would you know that Pot-Head?" she asks, and watches as Harry brings his free hand that Delphini wasn't wrapped around to leech the heat off of him to scratch his cheek awkwardly.
"Well, it wasn't really ghosts that the villagers heard during the nights, it was a werewolf in the midst of transforming," Harry admits before dropping his hand and looking over to Delphini's surprised face. "One of my dad's friends is a werewolf and when he went to Hogwarts he used to be smuggled out to the shack to transform during the full moon," Harry tells her, smiling a bit at the look on her face.
"Moony, right?" Delphini asks, finally understanding the nickname on the map, and watches as Harry nods before turning back to the house.
"Huh, the more you know I guess," Delphini says, the surprise leaking out of her voice. "So, want to break in?" she asks Harry, him turning back to her just to see the wide smile and wiggling eyebrows.
Harry couldn't help the warm chuckle that escaped him before he shrugged. "Sure," he says as Delphini's grin turns sly. It was pathetically easy to break into the Shack, Harry had vanished the boards that covered up one of the ground floor windows before using the unlocking charm on it to open it up. After giving Delphini a boost to climb in, he quickly followed himself to find themselves in a dusty and trashed kitchen. The cabinet doors were all ripped out and large gouges were taken out of the countertops. They explored the bottom floor a bit with Harry pointing out claw marks in the floor and gnawed-on furniture legs from an adolescent werewolf cub desperate to bite something in the throes of its madness.
After stepping into the hallway that leads to the front door, Delphini swiftly pointed out the rickety stairs that lead up to the second floor. Harry was quick to climb them, even if each step creaked and wobbled under his foot. Delphini, however, followed slowly behind him. Her heart was beating like crazy as she walked up the steps, so much so, she was surprised that Harry didn't say anything. As Harry gets to the second-floor landing, Delphini's wand soon finds its way into her hand as she watches Harry turn to look down the hall with a frown before snapping his wand into his hand. "What is it?" Delphini asks, trying to hide the excitement in her voice.
"I think someone is here," Harry says back as he turns down the hall and starts moving toward the master bedroom. He wasn't wrong, but Harry also wasn't right; someone had been in the shack just this morning. As Harry moves down the hall, Delphini is quick with her wand work, swishing it over her leggings and transforming them into fishnets as her other hand works on the buttons of her coat. Delphini was counting her lucky stars that Harry was obsessive when he was hunting something and got tunnel vision, even if it was kinda hot when his sole focus was on her.
Delphini peaks around the corner to see Harry slowly opening the door to the master bedroom, a smirk finding its way to her face as she fully removes her coat. "Is anyone here?" she asks innocently as she toes off her shoes.
"No, but it looks like they have been staying here," Harry says before entering the room wand first. His body was tense and ready for a fight, which made Delphini smirk in delight as she tossed her coat over the railing of the stairs. She had made sure that nothing was sticking out of the floor the last time she was here as well as making sure the master bedroom was set up perfectly. Delphini wasn't the best at cleaning charms or transfiguration so it took her time and practice to get everything perfect, but she was finally able to do it. Delphini stepped quickly down the hall and peeked into the room to see Harry looking at the large king-size four-poster bed and his back to her, she could almost see the confused look on his face; all scrunched up and cute.
Delphini slips into the room at the same time as she shortens her skirt to something very inappropriate for any school, before quickly, and loudly, she slams the door behind her. The sound causes Harry to jump like a cat and spin around, his wand out and ready with the whisper of a spell on his lips. He stops as soon as he realizes who it is before his eyes drift down; Delphini will forever cherish the look on Harry's face when his brain catches up with his eyes.
At first, he looked confused, as if someone told him he was wearing the wrong jacket or something, and then his eyes went bug-eyed at what he saw. Delphini was honestly surprised that his glasses didn't pop off his face at that moment, and then the blush started to settle in across his face.
There was a reason why she was so bloody cold all day, that was because she was wearing nothing under her jacket and stockings. Not a jumper, not a shirt, not a tie, not a bar, and no knickers as well; and with her skirt trimmed so low, Delphini was pretty sure Harry could tell that last part pretty easily.
"Oh, dear!" Delphini says in a low voice as she flutters her eyes at Harry. "It seems I've caught a big, bad, hunter in my little-" Delphini runs her wand down the length of the door, locking and warding it in one swoop, "-trap," She says with a positively evil grin. "Whatever will I do to him?" she asks before letting out a coy giggle as she begins to strut over to Harry, making sure to swing her hips back and forth.
"I'dawhattamatahuh?" was the random gibberish that left Harry's mouth as Delphini walked up to him, his wand arm dropping to his side as his eyes feasted on the sight that walked toward him. As Harry's eyes begin to morph and turn hungry, Delphini has to surpass a shiver at the look he gave her and the near-oppressive feeling of anticipation filling the room.
"After giving me my own little Harry Puppet, I thought long and hard on what to get you for Christmas, Pot-Head, and it may be a bit late but it also works pretty well for a Valentine's Day gift, don't ya think?" Delphini asks coyly as she makes it to Harry, her hands crawling up his chest. She could feel his heart beating like crazy as his breathing became a bit erratic, Delphini couldn't help but love what she was doing to Harry. The normally decisive boy was frozen on the spot, unsure what to do or where to look first. "What's wrong Harry?" Delphini whispers huskily as she leans forward to press against him. "Don't tell me the big bad Hunter is afraid of little old me," she whispers into his ear before biting his earlobe playfully.
It was apparently the right thing to do, for as soon as she did she heard Harry growl before feeling his arms wrap around her waist and picking her up as if she weighed no more than a pillow and slammed onto the bed behind Harry. And as Harry captured her lips into a searing kiss and her legs wrapped around his waist, Delphini knew for a fact that both of them weren't going back to the school till long past curfew.
Aphrodite, just outside the Shrieking Shack.
There are many different things that make a goddess like Aphrodite smile. Finding the perfect pair of Louboutins that goes with a matching dress, a romantic candlelit dinner with Ares in Paris that overlooks the Champs-Élysées, riding the high of several amazing orgasms that were brutally fucked out of her by someone else. But this, this was something else! For after the failure that happened last year between Harry and Daphne, this year that beautiful silver-haired snake pretending to be a lion had done it!
Harry Potter was completely and wholly cut off from his divine mother's hunt.
He was finally losing his virginity and soon, the heartstrings of Eros that wrapped around the hearts of both of the young lovers would soon turn red and bind them together forever more. With those two little facts, Harry Potter would have to live a normal Demigod life and die like a mortal should and Artemis would suffer. That being said, it didn't stop Aphrodite from blessing the two young lovers' union to be as transcendent and mind-blowing as a mortal can conceive; no matter her drama, no matter the tragedy that awaited them, she, as a goddess of love, would grant them this happiness for a short while.
It wouldn't stop her drama, however, and oh she couldn't wait for the end of it.
But this was her victory today and she was in the mood to celebrate as she danced away from the shack that the two lovers commandeered. "Love, the kind you clean up with a mop and bucket, like the lost catacombs of Egypt, only god knows where we stuck it," She sings as she swings her hips back and forth, a large smile on her perfect face as she dances her way into the woods by the shack. She was wondering if Aengus was free for the afternoon, Aphrodite knew he was freed recently, and even now she could feel him connected to the divine domain of Love. Aphrodite was also wondering if she could drag Cernunnos into a little threesome action, she honestly didn't get why the rest of the Olympians were so uptight about the Celtic Gods, they were her kind of people.
"Hieroglyphics, let me be Pacific, I wanna go down in your south seas, but I've got this notion that the motion of your ocean means small craft advisory," Aphrodite sings to herself as she dances through the forest, absolutely nothing could ruin her good mood at the moment. Not even the glaring eyes of the Queen of the Isles who was standing not fifty feet away from her. Aphrodite spins in place like a ballerina before stopping and wiggling her hips with a laugh, she looks over her shoulder to give the Fae Queen a seductive smirk, one she is surprised to see returned to her.
The Morrígan, Aphrodite believed her name was, and my oh my was she a looker. All tall, willowy, pale, and sharp to her eyes. The Morrígan wore a sleeveless and strapless dress that looked like a sheet of elegant darkness wrapped around her shapely form. Aphrodite licks her lips as The Morrígan raises her hand and beckons to her before turning on her heel and walking deeper into the forest. Aphrodite giggles before turning around and skipping after her as she continues to sing.
"So if I capsize on your thighs, high tide, B-5, you sunk my battleship, please turn me on, I'm Mr. Coffee with an automatic drip," Aphrodite sings as she follows along behind The Morrígan as the Queen leads her through the forest. Aphrodite wonders where the Queen is leading her as they play chase through the forest, The Morrígan is leading her toward the school she can tell that, but no matter how fast she skips, walks, or jogs, The Morrígan is always miles ahead of her.
"So show me yours, I'll show you mine, tool time, You'll Lovett just like Lyle," Aphrodite almost whines as she sings, she was in a good mood, a great mood even! She wanted to celebrate in the way she loved the most, but the tall goth goddess was playing hard to get with her and it was just so frustrating. "And then we'll do it doggy style, so we can both watch X-Files," she offers in song but frowns as she breaks out of the forest and onto the southern part of the school grounds only just to find herself alone. Aphrodite sighs before putting her hands on her hips with a frown, "What a tease," she mumbles under her breath as she looks around not seeing tall goth and mommy anywhere.
"Please tell me Aengus invited you to the Isles, I would honestly love a reason to punish the boy, If nothing else today," a deep voice asks from behind Aphrodite, the type of voice you want whispering into your ears all night, a type that sends shivers down her spine as Aphrodite spins around to look at the now frowning Morrígan.
"No, but I did plan on swinging by and seeing him before I leave. But if you're looking for someone to punish, you could always punish me," Aphrodite says in her most flirtatious tone of voice and her best bedroom eyes as she twirls a strand of blonde hair in between her fingers.
"Oh, do calm down, your punishment is coming, my dear…," The Morrígan says before pausing for a moment, "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure who to call you, are you Aphrodite or Venus? Or perhaps…Ishtar?" she says, her lips forming a cruel smirk as Aphrodite flinches slightly at the name. The Morrígan folds her hands behind her back, the smile never leaving her face. "You were not invited to my islands, Aphrodite of the Olympians. You are here to meddle in the life of one of the mortals that call my islands home and, do correct me if I am wrong, but your own King, Zeus, had forbid any of the Olympians from stepping foot on these isles," she says angrily to the goddess of love.
Aphrodite just rolls her eyes at the antics of The Morrígan before crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, sooooooooooorry, for being the best wing-woman in the world and getting the grumpy little Hunter laid," she snaps back at The Morrígan, watching the dark goddess lip curl at her. She wonders if The Morrígan was jealous that it was Aphrodite who got the boy laid and not her or if she wanted to be the one to pop that cherry herself. "But if you want to be nasty, and not in a fun way, I think I'll take my leave and go look up Aengus on my way out. In a few hours that is," she taunts before turning to leave.
"Oh, no. You'll be leaving sooner than you think," The Morrígan says with a sneer at the retreating goddess, causing Aphrodite to stop and throw her head back to let out a single laugh before turning to look back at The Morrígan.
"Oh, and who's going to kick me out? Because in case you forgot, today is February fourteenth and we gods and goddesses of love are the most powerful. So, do try, please, and let me show why I was once known as the Queen of Victory," Aphrodite says with a challenge and a glare, but all The Morrígan does is smile at Aphrodite, which greatly unnerves her for a moment.
"Fun fact about Hogwarts, or well, Dún Scaith," The Morrígan says abruptly, confusing Aphrodite. "It is the one place on the isles that I have no authority over. I can not decree or command anything in the wards so long as the queen that calls it home resides in it. And as much as I hate to admit it, I can not simply overpower her and take it. No, Scáthach is possibly one of the only Dé Danann that could rival Manannán, Nuadha, and I in terms of power, crown or not," The Morrígan stats as her eyes drift upwards toward the towers and arches of the castle off in the distance. "So, you may rival my power on this day, but could you rival two?" The Morrígan asks with a raised brow before she takes a single step forward.
Aphrodite opens her mouth to mock the goddess in front of her, to tell The Morrígan that it didn't matter how many she could bring, that on this day of all days, she was boss bitch supreme. But as she does, her breath is caught in her throat as an ungodly presence makes itself known.
Like the Eye of Sauron gazing upon Frodo when he slipped on the One Ring, it looked in the direction of Aphrodite and The Morrígan. Aphrodite's hands begin to shake as her eyes grow wide because she knows this feeling, for it has haunted her for the last four thousand years. It was something that she had hoped to never feel again, and that feeling, that haunting, all-consuming feeling of dread. Her hands move to the spot just below her breast as the past flashes before her eyes.
The skies darkened, the sun was swallowed, and not even the stars shined under the blackness that snuffed out the light. The screams of her people echoed into the sky as fires began to burn the city down, her holy prostitutes begging for a mercy she could not give.
"My Lady! Mother!" her head Priestess, one of her children, screamed from the top of her ziggurat. "Ea-nāsir, The Magician of Nergal has mantled! Please you must-" but Ishtar heard no more, for the pain was too much. The death screams of her fellow gods were far too loud for what her Daughter had said, she fell, her wings ripped from her, and as she looked up to see who or what had done it…
All she saw were bottomless, pitiless, pits for eyes watching her fall.
Aphrodite's form flickers between who she was and who she is as that presence makes its way to them, and in a single bound she stands behind Aphrodite glaring at the goddess who stood before her.
"What are you doing here?" Scáthach says with contempt at The Morrígan, her blood-red eyes boring into the Queen of the Isles who looked unbothered by it. "I've told you time and again that my castle and the town beyond it is off limits to you unless I invite you," the Queen of Shadows informed The Morrígan with hatred in her voice.
"Well, forgive me for the trespass, oh lady of Dún Scaith," The Morrígan says with a curtsy, causing Scáthach to pause and look at her fellow Gaelic goddess in confusion for a moment. "But this was rather time-sensitive and it could not wait to send word to you, I had to act fast, you see," she informs the Witch-Queen before rising from her curtsy. "But allow me to introduce you to our third, this is Aphrodite of the Olympians," she says with a wave of her hand over to Aphrodite who had finally solidified her form, as she stared at the other goddess with wide fearful eyes. Scáthach's eyes flick over to Aphrodite, to most, they would see the blood-red eyes, but she could see past the illusion that was placed over the Queen of Dún Scaith's eyes to the Fathomless Black Eyes that lay underneath.
Aphrodite's pride bristled as the Goddess of Dún Scaith's eyes flicked away from her, dismissing Aphrodite as a threat of any kind.
"I do not care, Morrígan," Scáthach says flatly as she looks back to The Morrígan. "I care that you are at my school, now leav-" the Witch-Queen begins to say, her anger rising, but The Morrígan cuts her off.
"This is the same goddess that cursed my champion," The Morrígan says with a smile.
"Her champ-, oh, shit," Aphrodite thinks to herself.
"And your favorite student," The Morrígan finishes with a grin as Scáthach's head snaps back to Aphrodite.
"Oh, double shit," Aphrodite thinks as she begins to panic.
"So, this is the one," Scáthach says softly as she extends her hand, gathering the shadows till a blood-red spear appears in her hand. To Aphrodite, it was a malignant thing, a curse to snuff out all life and to end all love to such a degree she actually takes a step back as it forms.
"Indeed she is," The Morrígan responds as the ice begins to crawl and claw its way toward the goddess of love. "I propose a truce between us until this interloper is dealt with and ejected from the islands, what say you, Scáthach?" she asks without turning her glare from Aphrodite.
"Ladies, ladies please!" Aphrodite says, bringing up her hands as she slowly begins to back away from the two goddesses. "Surely we can settle this without violence, we are rational deities, are we not? Tell me, do either of you know what tribadism is?" she asks sweetly and with the most charming smile she could come up with.
"Deal, let's get her," Scáthach says just before she and The Morrígan charge the goddess of love who begins to scream in fear.
Chapter done!
Hey everyone, sorry for the late update. Last week wasn't a good week for me so it dragged the story down with it, my apologies for that.
In this chapter, we get a more defined hint on what the Blessing of the Areia does. I will be going into specifics in a few chapters, it is a highly defensive ability that Tonks is going to use to its fullest.
Delphini shows off her cunning** by leading Harry right where she wants him to be and blindsiding him. And yes, they fucked.
I fought with my editor about including Aphrodite singing Bad Touch*** as she was celebrating, for the main reason that the song wasn't released until 2001, and yes, Aphrodite got her ass kicked by Scáthach and The Morrígan before fleeing the Isles.
And before anyone asks what the Olympian god's reaction to this would be, Zeus did tell everyone to stay away from the Isles, but Aphrodite didn't listen, sucks to be her.
Editor's notes
* - Phrasing!
** - that should be spelled with a -y, not an -ing
*** - It's an anachronism and I still insist that I Touch Myself by the Divinyls would have been much better and more in character.
I would like to add that the author, with whom I am sharing my office with tonight, watched me physically arise from my chair and walk about the room before striking the wall with my fist in mirth at the revelation of the architect of the fall of Babylon.