Amongst the Hunted Moons

Notes:

Welcome back my lovely readers, after posting the first chapter I fell asleep and woke up to over 200 new emails.

…..holy fuck, y'all jumped on this real quick.

Anyway, shall we talk about some things before we kick this shindig off?

Zoë Nightshade, I see her getting a lot of hate for what she did to Daphnis, good, because other than the Giant spiders, Zoë will be the primary antagonist for this story. But let's clarify why and explain some things, first off: What she did to Daphnis happened back in the BCE times, in a crueler, harder, rougher world than what we live in today, Daphnis is lucky he wasn't just outright killed by Zoë back than and was only robbed of his sight. For those who said Zoë had no repercussions for what she did to him, did you miss the part where she was stripped of her rank before being sent off to hunt alone, it may not sound like much to y'all, but to her, it was a huge blow. She had to earn her rank back while Daphnis was put in charge of the temple on Olympus because he could no longer hunt that well.

Zoë is not going to like Harry, she is in fact, going to hate him. Looking at him will feel like the biggest insult to her and her Goddess she had ever come across for a few reasons, but the biggest is because she hates male demi-gods, with good reason but her taking it out on Harry is unfair, but we need some push is this story and that's why Zoë is around.

The rest of the Hunt isn't gonna like Harry right off the bat either, at first he'll only have three people in his corner, the rest will be suspicious and hostile to a lesser degree to him, and I can already hear some of y'all "but their souls!?" And you are correct, but the heart and mind are very different from the souls. As for Artemis? She will be cheering Harry on, she'll be in his corner, but she will not force the Hunt to accept or respect him, Harry has to earn that himself.

But I have a very interesting way for y'all to tell who starts to see Harry as a member of the hunt I think y'all will like.

But I have prattled on enough, let's get on with the show!

Zoë Nightshade.

It had been a long two weeks for Zoë, they had broke camp the morning after learning of the Heir's existence and had made the journey to Camp Half-Blood, Chiron was surprised to see them with no forwarning but accepted them easy enough, they had only spent a night there and so could not keep up the tradition of winning capture the flag against the campers. They had met with the rest of the hunt earlier the next morning, Daphnis informing their Lady that he had secured a means to travel to England via the open sea. Zoë hadn't liked that one bit, she did not wish to put any of the hunt on the god of the sea's radar, but her Lady had nodded in acceptance before the hunt had moved out to a pier to the south of the camp. Who they had met there surprised Zoë, she was sure it was going to be Triton or Poseidon himself, seeing that this was a deal between Gods, but it was Amphitrite who had met them at the port.

"Greetings Lady Artemis, and to your Hunters as well," The Queen of the Seas says with a bow of her head in respect, she was dressed in dark blues and greens, her dress woven from silk or seaweed, none could tell. Her red hair was done up in a messy bun and captured with a net, she wore strands of pearls and seashells, she was as striking as the realm she helped rule. She stood next to a large sea yacht that looked as if it could host a small army.

"Queen Amphitrite," Artemis greets with a nod, "while unexpected, it is a joy to see you again, I was expecting my Uncle here to see us off," the Goddess of the hunt says, though her passive face did not match the emotion she spoke of.

The Queen of the Sea chuckles, "My husband is aware of how uncomfortable he makes your hunters and did not want to cause any unneeded stress for them, so my King sent me to see you off in his Stead,'' the Queen told the Goddess with a smile, Artemis nods at her words.

"Then pass along my thanks to him for his thoughtfulness, and for the safe passage across his domain," Artemis told Amphitrite.

"Think nothing of it, he's still raving about The Draco that now sits in a place of honor in Atlantis," Amphitrite told Artemis before reaching into the sleeve of her dress and pulling out a stack of folded papers, "The yacht has been enchanted to bring you to the port of London without having to do anything, you will face smooth sailing and calm seas, all you have to do is hand these papers to the dockmaster when you get there," Amphitrite said as she handed over the papers to Artemis who had passed them off to Daphnis open and waiting hand.

"You will find the yacht stocked with food for your trip, which will take a little over a week to make, your hunters will also find fishing poles below deck if they wish to enjoy the bounty of the sea, all we ask is that if you release anything too small or endangered," the Queen of the seas said with a gentle smile.

"Of course Queen Amphitrite, we thank you for seeing us off," Artemis says with a nod of her head before turning to her hunters and ordering them to load up. Amphitrite dips her head before excusing herself, she and Poseidon were hosting someone in Atlantis, and she had wished to return as soon as possible and vanished in a breeze and spray of salt water.

For a little over a week, the hunt was aboard the yacht, some had to stay above deck with something to settle their stomachs for they had not found their sea legs while others had fished and respected the rules of the Queen of the sea, releasing anything too small or endangered to eat. Zoë herself had caught a shark after fighting with it for over an hour before bringing it aboard the ship and dressing the kill and the hunt had eaten well that night. Somewhere along the way Artemis had found a captains hat and had worn it for the rest of the trip with a smile, ignoring anyone who would not refer to her as "Captain Artemis", but before long they found themselves docked and anchored, and with Daphnis handing the dock master, Zoë was sent out into London to find the first of the wayward hunters she was to collect, the Fetish.

Zoë had found the fetish in a dingy pub in downtown London, she had to…borrow an automobile to get there, but she would make sure it would be returned with only very minor damage. After finding a spot to park, she had walked the rest of the way to the Pub, her Lady had told her the name of the place and told her not to start any trouble, so as she walked through the front door the sound of a jingling bell could be heard and a few heads in the pub turn and glance at her before going back to their business, from a glance she could see the Fetish wasn't waiting for her, Zoë sighs before walking up to the bar.

The barkeep was an elderly man, with white hair and a bald spot on the top of his head, he looks up from the conversation he was having with a hag and looks at her before double-taking at the sight of her silver jacket. He quickly excuses himself from the conversation he was having before walking over to her.

"Good morning, Lass," he says with a smile, "You wouldn't happen to be a Miss Nightshade, would ya?"

Zoë raises an eyebrow, but answers anyway, "Ay, I am," she tells the barkeep who nods.

"Then ya would be here for Miss Atalanta, just give me a moment Lass," he says before moving down the bar a few feet and reaching under before pulling out a bottle of baby blue liquid and filling a tankard with water before placing them on the counter in front of Zoë, "For Miss Atalanta, she told me last night that she be leaving today, and celebrated a bit too hard, the blue stuff is a hangover cure and that's just plain water to wash it down with, she's in room number four," he says with another smile, Zoë narrows her eyes a bit before and taking both items and moving up the stairs.

Zoë ascends the stairs and quickly finds the door to room four, checking the handle and finding it unlocked, she opens the door to find the Fetish still asleep on the bed, splayed out with covers falling off her. Zoë quickly shuts the door to protect what little modesty the Fetish had left before walking over to her sleeping form.

And dumping the whole tankard of water right onto her sleeping face.

The Fetish jumps and falls off the bed with a yelp, "Oh, oh gods, why?!" She moans out in pain as Zoë walks over the curtains covering the window and turns to look at the Fetish on the floor, waiting for her to look around to find the Lieutenant of the hunt looking at her, "Zo-" that was as far as she got before Zoë rips open the curtains and lets the sunlight pour in. Atalanta quickly shuts her eyes with a scream, "Apollo, why!? Why the natural light!?" She moans out covering her eyes with her hands.

"So, not only are you a pervert, but a lush as well, I want to be surprised but I'm honestly not," Zoë says loudly in a flat voice to the moaning girl on the floor.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch?" Atalanta moans from the floor, before picking herself up and leaning her back against the bed.

"Because someone has to keep you in line," Zoë says flatly, "now get up and get packed, we're due to pick up the Heir and meet the rest of the hunt at Kings Cross before ten am," the lieutenant says stomping over to Atalanta before dropping the hangover cure into her lap, "From the barkeep,"

"Oh, Tom, you absolute saint," Atalanta says before pulling the cork out and downing everything in the bottle before making a face at the taste.

"I hope you didn't act like this while training the Heir, the Gods only know what type of a bad influence you were on her," Zoë says, as Atalanta looks up at her with a confused face as she opens her mouth to say something foolish, Zoë was sure, she cuts her off, "five minutes, get dressed and meet me downstairs, we need to go soon if we are to make it in time," before Zoë turns on her heel and heads out of the room and down the stairs.

Four minutes later the Fetish joins her downstairs, dressed for the day in rumpled clothes, looking as if she had just climbed out of a sewer. She runs over to the bar and places a key on the counter.

"Thanks, Tom, mind if I get one for the road real quick?" She asks the barkeep.

"We do not have time for you to imbibe in your bad habits, Fetish, we need to go and pick up the Heir, I doubt she wants to wait for you to finish drinking yourself to death," Zoë says with a hint of anger as she watches Atalanta hold up one finger at her before knocking back a tankard that was placed in front of her, Zoë rolls her eyes before turning on her heel and walks out the door to the pub.

By the time Atalanta slams the tankard down and turns to her to ask who the lieutenant was talking about, Zoë had already left.

Atalanta.

The car ride was in intense stony silence, neither Atalanta nor Zoë liked each other very much, Atalanta respected Zoë's hunting ability and the fact she was the Lieutenant of the hunt, but the bitch had a stick the size of Olympus up her ass and Atalanta wasn't sure if even Herakles could remove it, she'd probably have to get King Arthur to try. Zoë didn't like Atalanta for an, arguably, good reason for what had happened that led to Atalanta being a lion for a long time, and the fact she choose to keep the ears and tail, they were cute, so Zoë could fuck right off about it.

So neither Zoë nor Atalanta spoke much during the twenty-minute car read to Surrey other than Atalanta giving directions to the suburban neighborhood, which gave Atalanta time to think. Zoë had called the Heir a she, and Atalanta knew for a fact that Harry was no girl, had Artemis not told Zoë that her Heir was a boy? If she didn't, then that was hilarious, dangerous as all fuck considering Zoë didn't like any male demi-god, but still hilarious. So, Atalanta kept her peace about it all as Zoë drove, the probability, stolen car through London, and before long Atalanta had told her to pull over and park outside of Number four Privet Drive.

"Here?" Zoë asks, confusion plain on her face, "The Heir of the Hunt, the daughter of Artemis lives in such a mundane place as this?" The lieutenant of the hunt asks and turns to face Atalanta.

"Trust me, they hate it too," Atalanta says under her breath as she looks up at the house that housed so many of Harry's demons, "Listen, the Heir isn't too hot on meeting strangers, so why don't you wait here and be ready to peel out, okay? Oh, and pop the boot, they have a trunk," The Lioness tells Zoë, but before the lieutenant can say anything Atalanta leaves the car and crosses the street to Number Four, getting to the door she takes a deep breath and finds her center, she couldn't lose her temper and kill anyone of the other side, heroes don't do that type of thing, even if it's deserved. So, Atalanta raises her hand and knocks on the door.

It didn't take long for the door to swing open to reveal a tall woman with a long face, she had her mouth partly to say something before she got a good look at Atalanta, she was able to look eye to eye with the woman, which was in a way impressive if it wasn't for the fact that Atalanta knows what this woman had put her surrogate little brother through hell for eleven years of the boy's life, so when the woman looked Atalanta in the eyes, she was met with a glare straight from Hades.

"Petunia Dursley?" Atalanta asks and the woman flinches before her eyes flick to the silver jacket and back to Atalanta's face.

"You're here for the boy," Petunia says, it was a statement, not a question, but still Atalanta nods without a word, her eyes flick to the trunk by the door, and then back to Petunia. Atalanta goes to say something rude but is cut off by the sound of feet coming down the stairs as the woman moves to the side and Atalanta sees him.

"Atalanta!" Harry cries out before he launches himself forward capturing the Lioness in his arms.

Atalanta laughs as she hugs him back, "Hey Harry, it's good to see you too," she says before squeezing him into a tight hug.

They break apart, both smiling at each other, before Atalanta speaks, "you all packed kiddo, we don't have a lot of time," she asks slipping her hands into her jacket pockets her eyes flicking to Petunia watching all of it, she could see emotions dancing in her eyes, but Atalanta doesn't comment on it.

"Yeah, I just need to run upstairs and grab Hedwig, her cage, and my pack, I'll be right back," Harry says before turning and running back upstairs, leaving the hunter and his Aunt standing in silence. It was a surprise to Atalanta when Petunia asks a question she hadn't expected her to ask.

"Will the boy be safe?" Petunia asks, in a voice so soft and low Atalanta almost didn't hear it.

"Why do you care?" Atalanta snarls out in a low tone, "he wasn't even safe here, the one place he should've been," if the question had come from anyone else, Atalanta would have answered truthfully, but not this woman, not in this house. Petunia just looks away quickly, lips pressed in a thin line, and crosses her arms in front of her chest. Before long the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs follows Harry with his owl cage in hand and a black bag strapped across his back that was new to the Lioness.

"Help me with my trunk?" Harry asks Atalanta, and she nods, reaching just in the doorway to grab the handle of the truck and helping Harry lift it as they make their way out of the house, they make it about ten feet from the door before Atalanta is forced to stop, turning around she sees why. Harry had stopped moving and had a look on his face, one of the conflicting emotions he was feeling, he turns and looks back at Petunia, more in her direction than at her before he speaks.

"You, …you know about the, ah, wards?" Harry asks before glancing at Petunia's face, and she doesn't say a thing, just nods.

"The-they have a-a recharge time," Harry says, a sliver of fear entering his voice as he spoke about magic to one of his tormenters, "it's, it's why I had to stay here for two weeks, they'll, they'll be, ah, pow-powerd for another, another year, after that, they'll fall, for, for good this time," Harry had looked away from his Aunt, to his feet, not daring to look her in the eye, like he had been trained to do for years. That thought had set Atalanta's teeth grinding and the urge to kill the woman to raise.

Harry takes a deep breath before finally looking his Aunt in the eyes, "He's not dead, the man who killed them, he'll be back, and when he is, he'll come after everyone I know. Move somewhere else, erase your trail, and have Uncle Vernon take a job elsewhere," Harry tells his Aunt, but she doesn't say anything back, just continues to look into his eyes. After a moment Harry looks away, "Goodbye, Aunt Petunia," he mumbles as he begins to walk away from Number Four Privet Drive for the last time.

"Goodbye, Harry," both Atalanta and Harry hear, but by the time Harry turns back around the door was already swinging close. Harry stands there in front of the house that held so much pain for him, eyes wide with shock.

"Come on kiddo, we gotta go," Atalanta says as she tugs on the trunk softly, catching Harry's attention before he turns back to look at her, and nods before they both head off to the waiting car and load the trunk and his bag in the boot.

Harry Potter.

Harry's hands were shaking when he slid into the back seat of the white sedan, was this it? Was he finally, finally leaving? Or would he have to return at the end of his school year like always. He clenches his hands, hoping to stop them from shanking, it doesn't help.

"...are you?" A voice says, and Harry's head snaps up.

"What?" He asks, confused as he looks into the burning dark golden eyes, anger dancing in them as the olive-skinned girl in the driver's seat glares at him, she had to fully turn around to do so.

"Are you stupid or deaf, boy? I asked who are you?" The woman almost growls out as the front passenger opens up and Atalanta slides in and the woman turns her glare on her, "Who is this Atalanta, I told you to get Lady Artemis' Heir, not some, …dirty, deaf, raggedy, …boy!" She says in a high and resentful voice, "Where is she? Where is the child of our Lady?"

Harry sat in the back seat very confused for a moment, he looks back at Atalanta who was barely holding it together in the face of the very confused, very angry girl, before it hits him.

"Ooooh!" Harry says, catching the girl's attention as her head snaps back to him, "You're Artemis' lieutenant, the one who thinks I'm a girl," Harry says with an amused smirk.

"Lady Artemis!" The girl snaps at him before the meaning of his words sink in, and her face morphs into one of shock, horror, anger, and disgust in such an amusing way that Atalanta couldn't hold on anymore and breaks down laughing at the girl's face, quickly followed by Harry.

"Two weeks! You had two weeks to ask!" Atalanta gets out between her laughs, "Did you just assume that a child of Lady Artemis was gonna be a girl?" Atalanta asks, and by the growing blush on the woman's, she had. "Oh, you did, didn't you!?" Atalanta says before she dissolved into another fit of giggles.

"Oh, oh, that is too good, you didn't even ask what his name was, that would have clued you in immediately, I bet you anything Lady Artemis was waiting for you to ask," Atalanta says taking a few deep breaths, trying to control her laughter, Harry had mostly gotten a hold of himself, "but you never did, did you?" Atalanta asks.

By the look of the woman's face, she wasn't taking this as well as Harry and Atalanta were, it had shifted to the stony, hard, angry glare at Atalanta from the horrifying embarrassment it had been just a few moments ago.

"Well, then," Atalanta says, letting out a few last giggles, "Allow me the honor of introducing you to one Harry Potter, Gryffindor student at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, star seeker of his house Quidditch team, and the son of Lady Artemis," Atalanta says emphasizing on Harry's gender, and a smirk, before turning to him in the backseat, "and this, Harry, is Zoë Nightshade, Lieutenant of the Hunt and the field commander when Lady Artemis isn't with the Hunt," Atalanta says before Harry leans over and puts his hand out to shake hers.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Harry says with a small grin, "Sorry about that, Artemis said it was gonna be a funny joke to play on you," hand still outstretched as the girl looks from it to Harry's face, looking at him like he was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen.

"Lady," Zoë growls out, "Artemis," she says with a glare at him, both Harry's hand and grin drop as he leans back into his seat.

"Right, …" Harry says slowly looking between Zoë and Atalanta, before stopping on Atalanta, "So, where are we headed now?" He asks his adoptive older sister, "Because Artemis didn't really share any details other than we're going on a hunt," but as Harry says that Zoë turns around and faces him, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Are you deaf or stupid, boy!?" Zoë snarls leaning into the back seat as Harry flinches as he hears the words echo in his head in Uncle Vernon's voice and as he feels his own anger rise.

"Don't call me that!" Harry snaps at Zoë, who narrows her eyes in anger.

"Don't call you what, boy? Deaf or stupid, because from what I see both are true," Zoë growls out through her teeth, and Harry gets into her face meeting her glare with his own.

"Fuck-" Harry begins to say but is cut off as he's pushed back and away from Zoë by Atalanta.

"Enough!" Atalanta yells, "Harry, calm down! Zoë, stop your shit and drive, or else we're gonna be late!" The Lioness tells them both of them and Zoë's head snaps to her, as Harry huffs but leans back in his seat before buckling up.

"You don't get to tell me what to do, Fetish!" Zoë snaps at Atalanta before it was Atalanta's turn to get in her face.

"I will knock you upside the fucking head and kick you out of the car and leave you here if you don't stop your shit Zoë, we are going to be late, so fucking drive!" Atalanta says through gritted teeth and the two glare at each other for a solid minute before Harry speaks up.

"I'll help her," Harry says adding his own glare to the mix, Zoë just huffs before turning back in her seat and putting the car in drive before pulling off.

They drive in silence, letting tempers cool down in the car for a few minutes before Atalanta sighs, "To answer your earlier question, Harry, right now we're heading to Kings Cross," Atalanta says without looking into the back seat.

Harry was confused, he had thought the hunt moved on foot, why would they need to take a train, …unless. "Wait, are we going to…" Harry leads off, hoping to hear it from the Hunter herself.

"That's right, Harry," Atalanta says, this time looking back with a smile, "We're heading back to Hogwarts," and Harry's grin matches hers.

Notes:

Chapter done! Two in a row for y'all. I should have a third one done by this Wednesday as well.

Man, Zoë is a bitch, I love it.

Anyway, I'll give you all a guess on who the person Poseidon and Amphitrite are hosting is, it's not important to the story here whatsoever, just thought it was fun to throw in.

As far as I know, Petunia has never called Harry by his name and a regretful Petunia is something I've always had planned because I think at the end of it all, she did regret everything that she let happen to Harry, but knew nothing she could or would say could ever make up for it. The only reason she ever took him in was that he had Lily's eyes, and as much as she loved her sister, she hated the boy who she had died for because she had died for him.

At least, that's my interpretation of it all.