Harry Potter, son of the big three: The invisible boy beneath the mask

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.

Chapter 20

Nico grumbled but seeing as everyone else was willing to drop the subject he did too. The rest of the Olympians turned back to their food and their conversations but at the back of their mind the thought of Harry being hurt still stuck. He was family. They wanted to take care of him and had resigned themselves to. That meant protecting him and backing him when needed.

The owlery was chilly. Grey stones surrounded Harry and Hermes as they walked in to the owlery. The windows and large open archways carved into the grey stone provided no protection from the bitter wind. The wooden rafters creaked numerously from strain of the hundreds of eager and waiting owls. Hermes grimaced at the thousands of owl droppings covering the floors surface and swallowed back the bile threatening to rise in his throat when he stepped on a decayed rats skull. 

"You would think with endless magic at their disposal this place would be far cleaner and cared for." The god commented dryly shivering when the sound of bones cracking could be heard once again from under his feet.

"I guess they just weren't bothered. You have no idea how much it gets on my nerves when I see the state of this place" Harry answered looking around at the different owls. 

"Why would it bother you? You just need to use this place when writing to your godfather. Its not like your here often" Hermes asked distractedly kicking a couple of skulls aside.

"Nothing! No reason. Its just creepy. You know?" Harry replied quickly averting his eyes from Hermes's semi suspicious look and continued scanning the owls.

He needed to find one, quick. At least before Hedwig arrived and started hooting angrily at the thought of someone else delivering his mail. Not to mention he didn't want to be caught by another student delivering a letter to home. To be honest he just needed a reason to escape this place. 

Hermes walked forward and to his dismay stepped over another skull. He swallowed nervously and his left eye twitched slightly as the next step he took resulted in another skull being smashed. This continued for a couple more seconds until he decided he couldn't take it any more and with a snap of his fingers, the substantial amount of owl droppings and broken and decayed skulls were history. Hermes gave a sigh of relief once they disappeared. The sound of broken bones coming from underneath his feet had turned his blood cold and chilled him completely. 

Harry turned to him confused, "Did the mess bother you that bad? I didn't think it would bother you of all people." he asked tilting his head to the side secretly happy it was gone.

"Nah... just a bit of phycological problem." Hermes answered waving his hand by his head. "You see... its just as Greek Gods can grow to about twenty feet high if we wanted to. Sometimes we used to show this form to the campers. To demonstrate or convey superiority and dominance. To get attention. It used to be something demigods would enjoy. You'd be in awe over it."

Harry nodded as he continued his search still listening to Hermes tale in interest.

"Then I started to notice things. My kids and some of the campers I used to watch over started getting nightmares. They would always happen after the winter solstice. I had to ask the god of dreams, Morpheus, to pass their dreams onto me. He warned me that they would be disturbing and that I would take my rightful place in those dreams. I told him to give me them anyway..." Hermes trailed of shuddering. Harry now stopped looking for an owl and completely focused on Hermes. Sensing his discomfort, he walked forward and placed a reassuring hand on the gods shoulder. Hermes smiled gratefully in response and continued. " My children were dreaming that I was stepping on them. I was a giant. The kinds children would hide under their sheets from in stories. Unapproachable, untouchable and unreasonable. I was selfish and greedy. My sandal covered foot would come down. They were like ants...ants. Insignificant and tiny. Breakable...just gone" 

A shiver ran down Harry's spine. Hermes looked haunted. His face was pasty white and his eyes wide open and glazed as if living a memory again. "Hey...It's" Harry trailed off not knowing how to continue. He tried to find the right words but nothing seemed appropriate. The feeble words 'it's okay' seemed so insignificant and dull in all honesty. Its okay. But was it? 

Hermes look turned into one of anguish once he noticed the pregnant silence and slid down leaning against the dark grey marble pillar. "I'm a monster." he whispered brokenly. "I don't deserve to have children. They all hate me. They shouldn't have to put up with me."

Harry looked at Hermes and let out a sigh sliding down to sit next to him. "Your not. Your not a monster. Okay? Your children don't hate you. Don't think like that."

Hermes let out a noise that was a mixture of a sob and a bitter laugh. "They do. If you talked to them. You would know. They despise me. Revolt at the mention of me and curse whichever fate decided they were to be my children."

"Then its their problem okay? You... your an amazing guy Hermes. Your funny, smart, kind. A great father. Connor and Travis love you. They practically worship the ground you walk on. There's nothing wrong with you." Harry uttered softly

"You'd be in awe of how quickly your mind would change once you know me. My own son wanted to over throw the gods because of me." Hermes closed his eyes and let a few tears leak out.

"That's not true. Don't think like that. Your not perfect Hermes. No one is. Don't beat yourself up because of a couple mistakes. If everyone started hating themselves for a few mistakes then this world would be even more of a dirty miserable place than it was. Okay? Stop beating yourself up. That's an order." Harry said looking sideways to Hermes and letting a small smile twitch onto his lips.

"Okay." Hermes chuckled softly putting his arms around Harry's shoulder pulling him into a one sided embrace and using the other hand to ruffle Harry's untameable mop of hair making the younger boy pout. "I've spilled my deepest secrets and given you a big monologue on my hearts deepest and darkest desires. Its your turn. Spill. Why were you so bothered with the mess?"

Harry sighed leaning his head on Hermes head. "My relatives...aren't very nice people. One thing they prided themselves on was being clean and pristine. Appearing normal and perfectly respectable to onlookers. To them I was...abnormal. Unlike them. So the idea of living under the same roof and providing for me to them seemed...terrifying and irritating. But they knew they had no choice. Therefore they concocted the idea of me 'earning my keep' as they called it. Everyday they would give me a long and tedious list of chores that they would expect me to complete by the end of the day. It involved an extreme amount of cleaning. No surface could be anything other than spotless. After so many years of living like that, I just can't seem to be in a place that isn't some what clean. It just...makes me feel anxious and restless. I can't stand it. I'm what they call a clean freak." he whispered laughing brokenly at the end, closing his eyes briefly. Cleaning helped. Whenever he was stressed or angry or just needed something to do. He'd clean. Because then he felt useful.

"I get it. "Hermes said softly, "I get it. Living your life in a certain way then when everything moves on you feel like you can't change. Just remember your not alone Harry. You never were. Never will be. There are people who care about you. Even if you don't know it. You just have to look deep inside."

"Thanks Hermes."

The duo sat in silence for a couple more moments. It wasn't an awkward silence. Not the one where you could practically feel the tension radiating and you have the overwhelming urge to run away and get it done with. No it was comfortable. The type where you could sit for hours in each others company never getting bored or tired. Just enjoying the peace. They were jolted out of their thoughts when a white blur came swooping towards them...

Hi! Yay! I'm back. Got this chapter up finally. So just a bonding moment between Harry and Hermes. Can't wait to get the other chapter up. Stay tuned. I have a couple of surprises coming soon.

Anyway hope you enjoyed this little chapter. Next one coming very soon.

Thanks

FantasyTiger123