Harry Potter; Son of Hestia

Chapter One

~Harry Potter~

I woke up slowly, careful to make no noise, no sign that I was awake. I had long learned that the longer Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon thought I was asleep or unconscious, the longer I had to heal before they forced more chores on me, or beat me again, simply for existing.
A soft hand took mine, and a soft, comforting voice spoke near my side, "All is well, Harry. You are safe here, young one. Please, open your eyes."
Slowly, I turned my head, opening my eyes to see a pretty young woman smiling softly at me, her eyes a light orange, like the color of a fire. Clearing my throat, I croaked, "W-where am I? Who-who are you??"
"My name is Hestia, young one, and you are at Camp Half-blood, a summer camp for demi-gods, half mortal children of the gods. You, yourself, are a demi-god, Harry."
Shaking my head, I stuttered, "I-I-I can't be! My parents were Lily and James Potter! I-my mum and dad loved each other!! My mum wouldn't have slept with anyone else!"
Hestia gently shushed me, "Your parents are your parents, darling, but you also have another parent. You, Harry, are a very special case-there hasn't been a demigod born the way you were in almost four hundred years. Your mother was a witch, your father a wizard-humans blessed by Hecate, the goddess of Magic. There is a ritual, darling, for someone who wants children but cannot have them on their own. Your mother, Lily, was incapable of having children-she was infertile-not because of her womb, but because of her eggs. She used the ritual to ask one of us, a god or goddess, to help her be able to conceive with her husband. I am a virgin goddess, Harry, which means that I have sworn an oath never to have children or marry-and I have not done either, at least in the conventional sense. During the ritual, I merged one of my eggs with your mother, Lilys', egg. Thus, darling, you have two mothers, and a father."
"How-how do I have-how did you-why didn't you come for me sooner?!" The words burst out, and Hestia winced, almost making me regret shouting.
Hestia looked down at our joined hands, and spoke softly, "There are laws in place, Harry, that gods and goddesses are not meant to break. One such law is the law that no god or goddess can intervene within our mortal children's lives-I would have been punished, or worse, you would have been killed, had I come for you any sooner. As it is, Apollo, the sun god, amongst other things, smote you. You are now twice-blessed. Once, by myself at your birth, and a few hours ago, you were blessed again. Our grandmother, Gaia, is not a very kind being, but she used to be, before her own children were deemed monstrous and locked away." She paused, taking the moment to smile reassuringly at me, "I appealed to her-prayed to her for help when my healing no longer worked on you. Prayed that she would help me heal you. She answered my prayer, and told me to bring you to a certain place, a place where she is quite strong."
Hestia drew in a deep breath and continued, "She appeared in her mortal form, a form she has not taken since her firstborn children were imprisoned, and blessed you, and pulled you into a healing cradle-pouring her essence and power through your body, and healing the damage done by Apollo and your positively deranged aunt and uncle. Gaia is, in essence, the embodiment of earth. She is one of the primordial goddesses, and has the ability to ah...Shall we say...Immortalize people?" Shaking her head lightly, she admitted, "You are not immortal yet, Harry, but you will be, eventually. Even if you die, your soul is immortal, and you will simply enter a deep sleep while your body heals, and ascends. Nevertheless, Harry, you will be safe here, and you'll learn to protect yourself. You have a great destiny ahead of yourself, Harry, and you have four years before you need to leave camp to go to the school for witches and wizards. I will periodically be here, darling, as I tend the campfire here, and of course, I would welcome you at any hearth at any time. However," she leaned down, pressing a kiss to my forehead, "I must go deal with the other gods and goddesses who believe they can use my child to control me, or who have secondhand knowledge and believe I have been forced to break my oath by some man. I will see you soon, Harry. Rest up, Gaia and I will watch over you."
Nodding dumbly, trying desperately not to try and keep her here, despite the comfort her presence gave me, I curled into the fetal position as she left in a column of flames, and decided to get some more sleep-if what she said was right, then I would certainly need sleep. Besides, my body still ached something fierce.
I felt something wrap around me, and belatedly realized that it was dirt-mud, something like that.
'Rest well, young one. I am your great grandmother, Gaia. I will keep you safe while you rest your body. The god who smote you, Apollo, his children watch over the infirmary you are in. I am simply making sure none get any ideas to try and hurt you while your mother is away. Fear not, young one, you are safe. Sleep.' The voice spoke in my mind, not aloud, so I simply curled tighter under the earthen blanket, and tried to reply the same way she had spoken, mentally. 'Thank you, Gaia. May I call you Grandmother? I've never had a grandmother before. Both mine are already dead.'
Smiling, I drifted off to sleep, never noticing the earthen hand that gently brushed through my hair until I slept peacefully-lacking the nightmares I'd had all my life.
When I woke again, it was to an uproar of people shouting within the infirmary. 'How is he covered in dirt?!' 'What kind of weirdo is he???' 'Who is his parent and why is he here???!'
Pulling my head down under the earthen blanket, I tried to pretend I was still asleep-I didn't want to deal with the angry people that were in the room.
"Mr. Potter? I believe it is prudent for you to show yourself. Come out from under your uh, blanket, please. We need to speak, and I'm afraid that it cannot wait."
Refusing to answer felt like I was in for a beating, but Grandmother had insisted I was safe with her-surely they couldn't hurt me while I was held within the dirt? If they could have dragged me out of bed already, it sounds like they would have. "You can hear me perfectly fine while I'm lying in bed, I don't see why I should move at all."
"Because you're a child, and you're the only one who can explain why you're here, and how you got here."
Snorting, I shook my head, "I don't have to explain anything to anyone. I want my mother. I want to be left alone to heal until she comes back. I want to be comforted by my grandmother. I don't want to answer questions."
"I'm afraid that's not possible. We need answers-you simply appeared in the infirmary, and there were many hours we were unable to enter the infirmary, and we need answers as to why."
A flash of warmth filled the space around me before Hestia spoke, "I am the reason you were unable to enter the infirmary. My son was smote by Apollo in a bout of jealousy. Gaia helped me heal him, and I did not want Apollo acting through any of his children to stunt his healing or even kill him. I was also worried about many of the other campers coming in and messing with his healing. Now, why is it you're insisting on interrogating my seven year old child? Is it not your normal routine to let the child awake on their own?"
"I'm afraid that we knew nothing of this child, and as such were terribly worried about him and why he was here, how he got here, and also why we could not enter the infirmary. I'm sorry if we offended you, Lady Hestia. However, I must ask...How is it you have a child? Have you chosen to break your oath?"
Peeking my head out from under the dirt, I looked over to see Hestia glaring heatedly at a half-horse man, and a man with purple eyes. Noticing the flames spilling over her hand, I carefully reached out, taking her hand into mine and gently squeezing it. She turned to look down at me, smiling softly for a moment before she turned to look back at the half-man and purple eyed man. "Harry is a special case, I'm afraid, Chiron. You see, his birth mother is Lily Evans, a Blessed of Hecate. His father is another Blessed-from a long, long line of Blessed. Lily was infertile, her eggs were dead. She did a ritual that asked for Divine help in conceiving. The Fates came and forewarned me, and as such, I was prepared when she did the ritual. I merged one of my eggs with her own, and thus, Harry has two mothers and a father."
Hestia smiled down at me for a moment, before she continued in a softer tone, "I obeyed the laws, Chiron, until Harry was in grave danger. The gods each got to have their own firstborn-it was all but written that firstborns were special to each god and goddess. How is it not fair for me to intercede into my first-borns life simply because Zeus, my youngest brother, decided that he didn't want us interfering? He has interfered plenty. Thalia? She should have died. He turned her into a tree, thus interfering. Harry was nearly beaten to death by Lily's deranged sister and her husband. Dionysus, you would have smote anyone who threatened your child, would you not? Or perhaps plagued them with madness. I have not even retaliated against those who harmed my child, other than to curse them to never feel warmth from a hearth, and to never feel at home anywhere. Why, that's practically tame compared to what I've seen the other gods do to those who harmed their underage children."
"Regardless, the laws are in place for a reason, Aunt Hestia. I'm not exactly a rule follower, but even I know that it was for the best that the laws regarding demi-gods were put into place."
"I will not allow my child to be deserted. His parents, James and Lily, were murdered when Harry was only fifteen months old! His aunt and uncle have had him since, and this isn't his first near-death beating!"
"Aren't you worried that Zeus or Hera or even Apollo will strike him down when you are busy attending to your duties? Do you not fear for his safety??" The purple-eyed man seemed angry at Hestia.
Hestia straightened her shoulders, "No, I do not fear for his safety, nephew, because Camp Half-Blood is a neutral zone. There is no smiting allowed, there is no interference allowed between the gods. Should someone convince their child that Harry needs to be hurt or killed, then I will rain hell down upon whoever it was, and rest assured, their child will suffer my wrath. Now! I'm going to call a meeting-I expect you there, Dionysus, and if you are not...I will make you regret it. You are the leader of this camp at the moment, and you will do your duty for Harry and protect him, or I will ban you from my hearth, and if it continues, I will ban your children as well. Do not make me take it out on innocents."
The purple-eyed man nodded, still looking angry, before he stated, "He will be safe here. I will order my two children to guard the infirmary. Chiron will pay close attention as well. Your child will be left to his own devices, for now. However if he is to attend camp, he will truly have to attend. He cannot simply lock himself into the infirmary. There are other injured people who need help."
Hestia nodded, turning to me and bending down to kiss me gently upon the forehead. "Sleep, my son, all is well. You're safe here."