Amongst the Hunted Moons

Notes:

Well, this story is well on its way to a combined 1k likes and follows, and it's only been three weeks or so, holy fuck.

Did I go through a door that wasn't there before? Is the spiral fucking with me?

I'm honestly floored by the response to this, like thank you for enjoying my cringe-ass fanfiction.

As for the one person who had guessed, you're right about one, the other two not so much, keep in mind the themes of the story.

November 6th, Hogwarts hospital wing, Harry Potter.

I slowly drift back to consciousness, I hear the shuffling of people around me and murmuring conversation as I try to piece together where I was and how I got here. The last thing I remember is the Quidditch match, we were supposed to play Slytherin but their team used the excuse that their seeker was still too hurt to play so we had to play Hufflepuff.

A storm had kicked up in the early morning and had only gotten worse, the wind was blowing so hard the brooms were twisting and hard to control.

Cedric was flying after the snitch and I shot after him and I was so close, then… then the icy feeling of bone-deep cold crawled through my veins, the familiar sound of his cupboard door slamming and Vernon's screaming voice echoing throughout the house. As I felt my hands slip from my broom it was a man's voice screaming this time, "Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run!" The voice screamed, "Go!" There was such desperation in his voice. I fell from the broom as my eyes rolled back and the scream of the woman, of my mother, filled my head.

He had lost consciousness after that, and soon the smell of potions fumes, freshly washed sheets, and mud. I was in the hospital wing, of that I was sure of, the worried voices speaking in soft whispers. I heard Ron and Hermione, the twins, Kate Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet all talking about the fall, over 100ft Fred(or was that George?) Said just before I heard the door to the hospital wing open and close.

"Is he still out?" Asks Atalanta in a weird tone of voice, I can't even hear her footsteps as she gets closer, I can only track her by the sound of her voice.

"Who are you?" I hear Kate ask, before Alicia, I think, elbows her and whispers "Silver jacket, it's that hunter chick Dumbledore told us about." Dumbledore did indeed tell the whole school that he had hired an extra guard because of the break-in, that the woman was here for our protection, and we were not to get in her way and she would stay out of ours. That we would know her by the silver jacket she wore, both Hermione and Ron had looked at me when the headmaster had said that, and I had shrugged not knowing what agreement she and Dumbledore had come to.

I hear the hunter answer from my left, "Atalanta, I heard that he had a fall because of those…things." She spits the last word in anger before she takes a deep breath to calm herself a bit. "Not to be rude-" one of the twins begins "But why do you care Miss?" Finishing the other, there's a quiet moment before Atalanta speaks up, "If Harry hasn't told you yet, you'll have to forgive me when I say it's not yo-" but she's cut off by Hermione.

"She's training Harry for a group that calls themselves the Hunters of Diana, supposedly they are a group of monster hunters from the states." She says in a clipped tone. I could almost see the glare she must have pointing at Atalanta.

The quiet returns for a moment as the atmosphere grows tense but Atalanta speaks in a soft tone, "You must be Hermione Granger, Harry said you were the smartest witch of your age. But right now I'm really not seeing when you're trying to pick a fight with me." I hear the underlying tone of danger in Atalanta's voice and decide this is a great time to wake up, so with a groan I finally start to open my eyes to the dark midday sun leaking through the window.

And true to how I saw it, Atalanta and Hermione are glaring at each other before they both break off and look at me, Hermione with a gasp of "Harry!" And Atalanta with a raised eyebrow as if she was asking why I was still sleeping. "Wha-what happened?" I ask in a scratchy voice. This stops the fight I was sure was about to break out as they explained, the dementors coming from the mist and clouds like the old legends of the wild hunt, me falling and Dumbledore saving me before I hit the ground too hard, how Cedric had gotten the snitch and we had lost by one hundred points; how Wood was still in the showers possibly trying to drown himself.

There was some talk about how we could come back from this, but I tuned it out. I looked over at Hermione and Ron, Ron was looking at the Gryffindor team adding in his two knuts about it all as Hermione avoided my gaze and fiddled with a sack.

"Did, did anyone get my broom?" I ask and all conversation stops and they all start to avoid my eyes. It's then Hermione drops the worst news of all time, my nimbus hit the whomping willow and had not made it.

The rest of the team apologizes for not saving it, as I look down at the bag of splinters, I feel a sense of loss almost too deep to put into words. This was my first real gift before Professor McGonagall wrote me off completely, before she figured out I was a fuck up and a failure. I sigh as I lay back down, Atalanta looks at me with a weird look, sitting in a chair right next to me her forearms braced on her legs as she is leaning forward, "You okay kiddo?" She asks me, I don't say anything as I continue to stare at the bag holding my shattered Nimbus.

"I thought you were here for Sirius Black?" Kate asks, before explaining "Sorry about being nosy, or whatever, just curious what you're doing with our seeker." Atalanta looks over at her before shrugging "Wasn't the original job, but Dumbledore asked me to help out with it and all things considered, I don't mind." Atalanta goes on to explain that what Hermione said was true, that she was there to scout me for a group of monster hunters, Kate looks impressed but when she asks what she's gonna do to help capture Black, Atalanta raises an eyebrow and says "Capture? Little lady, I'm a hunter. I'm going to put an arrow through his eye socket." Her tone was that of a statement of fact, the conversation stops and everyone turns to look at her.

But it was Hermione that says something, "You're just going to k-kill him?" Hermione is shocked at the casual mention of murder, but Atalanta looks unaffected by all the looks she was getting, "We'll, yeah. I'm a hunter, killing things is kinda what I do. Besides, I figure it's both a mercy for him and making sure he never hurts…" she hesitated here, tripping over her words before finally saying "Anyone ever again." Hermione makes a face but says nothing, everyone looks grim but I feel confused, "Why is it a mercy?" I ask Atalanta, but it was Ron who answers "The Dementors kiss, it's not a good thing Harry." He then goes on to explain just what it is, everyone's, other than Atalanta, face goes pale and grim and I couldn't honestly blame them.

The Gryffindor team drifted out of the infirmary slowly, with the twins being the last to leave with a promise of stopping by again once they had a shower, leaving only me, Hermione, Ron, and Atalanta. The girls go back to their staring contest for a few minutes before Atalanta was the one who breaks it by asking "What is your problem?" To Hermione. "My problem? My problem is that you're lying to Harry, I've looked everywhere I can to find anything about the Hunter of Diana and I can't find a single thing." Hermione says, sounding very cross with Atalanta, the hunter just scoffs at her before saying "I haven't lied to Harry about anything so far. If he hasn't told you yet then that's not my problem."

Hermione doesn't take that well as she turns to me, "hasn't told me about what, Harry?" I gulp as she levels her look at me, I try to smile back but it only makes her glare harder at me. I look to Atalanta who tells me, "it's your secret to tell kiddo, if you trust them I'll back you up." She smiles at me and I look back to Hermione and Ron, the same people who had gone down into the catacombs with me, who helped figure out the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets with me, who helped tutor me so I wouldn't be failing and I sigh, I nod, knowing Atalanta would understand me.

So I told them everything, about me being a Demigod, about the Hunters of Diana, about how after killing the queen of serpents the Goddess Diana became interested in recruiting me for the hunt. They nod along, Ron asking if that was why I was so durable and strong with all things considered, avoiding mentioning my family, Atalanta answers that was probably why but I can feel her eyes on me, practically asking what he had meant by that; I don't look at her. Ron accepts it quickly with a nod saying that it explained a lot about me that he noticed.

Hermione however had a thousand and two questions, I answered them the best I could but it was Atalanta filling in most of it.

"How does the immortality work?" Hermione asks, "If you're asking for the specifics, I can't tell you, not because it's a secret or anything, it's because I honestly don't know. After we take the oaths we become…" Atalanta pause here, thinking of the right words, "We become more than what we were." She tells Hermione in a solemn voice. "And what does the oath entail exactly?" Hermione asks in her classroom voice, Atalanta just smiles and asks "Why? Thinking about joining?" With a raised eyebrow.

Hermione is quiet for a moment before answering carefully, "Not right now, I would want to finish my schooling before making a commitment like that." Atalanta just chuckles and says "it is a big commitment, you basically pledge yourself to Lady Diana, to obey all her orders, to forever remain a maiden, and to forsake any romantic love. Then you stay with the hunt, forever untouched by time and sickness only able to die in battle." Hermione stares at Atalanta for a moment, "if that's the case, then how old are you?" She asks in a quiet voice before gasping "Wait, are you the Atalanta?!" She asks the ageless hunter who just smiles and sly grins before saying "honestly I've been waiting for this one to figure that one out." She says as she jerks her head at me Hermione's jaw just drops in shock.

I'm all the more confused and look at Atalanta, "are you famous or something?" I ask just before Hermione goes off on one of her rants "You've met Medea! You sailed on the Argos! You hunted the Calydonian boar! You're a symbol all over the world for females, you proved that you didn't have to be a male to hunt or to fight! That females could be equal to men in anything we try!" Hermione finishes in awe as Atalanta begins to laugh at the star-struck schoolgirl, "I'm sorry im sorry, it's just that when people figure out who I am they jump to me meeting Heracles, not Medea, and that's the first time I've ever been told about that other stuff. So a fan of mine, huh?" Atalanta looks at Hermione with a grin.

Hermione blushes at the grin and sputters out a yes as Ron and I chuckled at her. "It's just you're a symbol for feminism the world over," Hermione says in a quiet voice as Atalanta chuckles, "Well, while it's nice to hear, that wasn't my intent when I did all those things. I did it because I wanted to prove that I could to myself, and in the end, I did for the most part." Atalanta says with a small smile.

"Were you really turned into a lion? Harry says you have, you know…" Hermione gestures at the top of her head, and Atalanta looks around for a moment before taking off her hat, showing off the two large gold cat ears on the top of her head and winking at her before putting her hat back on, "It's not a time in my life that I like to talk about, but My Lady found me again one day and transformed me back so long as I kept to my oaths again." Atalanta says. Hermione fumes at this, "But it wasn't your fault at all, if Hippomenes didn't us-" but she gets cut off when Atalanta raises her hand, "Don't blame Hippomenes for that, he was a poor dumb naive boy who believed Aphrodite when she told him she could help him win the race, he accepted without thinking of what it was gonna cost. She didn't care about helping him, she cared about punishing me for forsaking love." Atalanta says in a soft but stern voice, "we talked before the race, he was a sweet kid with more heart than brain, he had apologized for the race, I was honestly confused about what he was talking about before he had started throwing those damn apples on the path." She sighs at this before shaking her head.

"So, …" Ron starts to ask, getting everyone's attention before finishing "Do you know who it is?" He says as he nods towards me. "Huh?" I ask before finally getting it, "oh, ah no. We don't know who it is, Atalanta thinks it's a god or goddess of the hunt from the islands." I say before looking at Hermione's confused face, "My divine mom or dad." I say. Hermione makes an Oh face before asking "Why do you think it's a Gaelic God?" She asks Atalanta who just shrugs, "None of my gods have been in the UK for a while now, longer than any of you have been born." She says leaning back in her chair and kicking her feet up on my bed. I turn to Atalanta at that "Didn't you say they could be an Olympian as well?" I ask confused for a moment, she had said it when we first met.

Hermione tilts her head quizzically looking at me before turning to the hunter with narrowed eyes waiting for her answer. "Yeah, I said it could be, but it would be a very slim possibility for that." She says dismissively but Hermione is asking why before she can even finish the statement "Well, the main reason is because of how close Harry is to the hunt, the only Olympian god that has control over that domain is Lady Diana, and she Is a maiden goddess, she technically can't have kids because of her oaths." Atalanta says, and as Hermione opens her mouth to ask another question Madam Pomfrey comes from around the privacy screen with a tray of food and a steaming mug of milk chocolate and puts it down at the bedside table before turning to everyone.

"Well, sorry to break up this conversation but visiting hours are up, and I'm going to ask all of you to leave." The Matron says in a voice that brokered no argument while looking at Atalanta, Ron, and Hermione. When they nod and start to get up to leave, telling me that they'll be back tomorrow for a visit as Madam Pomfrey turns back to me. She conjures me a set of pajamas going on a rant about the Ministry sending Dementors and Dumbledore letting them, I just sigh and drink my milk chocolate, silently agreeing with her.

November 7th, Hogwarts hospital wing, two am.

The main door to the hospital wing inches open as Atalanta slips through the gap, as quiet as an owl in the night, she closes the door behind her without making a sound before walking down the ward to where she knew Harry was asleep, she had just come back from sweeping the grounds again for any sign of Sirius Black and had once again come up empty handed, for some guy without a wand he was damn good at evading her.

She sighs out in the almost empty hall as she reaches Harry's bed, she looks over him as he sleeps, and she smiles for a moment seeing the kid she had grown close to over the last few months safe in bed until he starts to kick and twitch, saying things she can't make out in the garbled half spoken way someone talks in their sleep.

She walks to the side of his bed and sits down, frowning not knowing how to help him chase the nightmares he has a way with sad eyes, so she does the first thing that comes to her and runs her hands through his hair, he flinches at first but before long his kicking stops and he calms down falling deeper into sleep.

Atalanta smiles before she stands up, "Rest in Morpheus' embrace Harry." Atalanta whispers before moving to the chair at his bedside, she takes out her multitool and places her quiver next to the chair. She sits down before kicking her feet up onto the bed and leaning back in the chair and closes her eyes to join him in sleep. The ward is quiet as the two inhabitants sink slowly into a deep sleep, but only one is awoken as a voice whispers, "I had thought I told you, you were not to stay in the castle." The voice appears with the moonlight that fills the room when the clouds move from covering it from the storm that had stopped only a few hours before.

Atalanta is on her feet with her bow drawn and arrow notched before the voice finishes her statement, pointed right at the amber-eyed Goddess of the Hunt standing with her back to one of the many windows in the Hospital wing; with the moonlight engulfing her form. Artemis' face remains passive in the face of her hunter aiming at her, Atalanta sighs out in relief before relaxing the taut string of her bow. Atalanta quickly checks on the sleeping boy making sure he's not awake like the last time she was having a private conversation with someone, "The boy is asleep, and will remain so till morning." Artemis says as she sees Atalanta turn around.

The hunter nods to her lady, "it is good to see you again My Lady, how fairs the hunt?" Atalanta asks, Artemis quirks her eyebrow but answers all the same "The hunt is doing well, the younger members had killed a hydra just last month." Artemis says with pride coloring her tone as it often does when speaking of her hunters, "But, pray tell Atalanta, what are you doing sleeping in a castle that I had ordered you not to step foot in?" The Goddess asks, returning to her monotone voice. Atalanta grimaces at her question, but knowing she must answer she tells her, "I was staying out of the castle My Lady, but there has been a complication…" Atalanta trails off, not knowing how to explain it to the Goddess with it sounding like she was close to breaking her oaths. Artemis merely raises an eyebrow as if to ask an unspoken question to her hunter, Atalanta sighs and answers "A man by the name of Sirius Black has broken out of their prison, He's after Harry, My Lady."

"It is Harry now, is it?" Artemis asks with a slight tone of steel in her voice, "do I need to remind you of your oaths Atalanta, and what would happen if you do not keep to them? My father's cur-" but her hunter cuts her off, "I know what would happen, My Lady, nor would I be a fool enough to break them again." Atalanta says quietly, Artemis looks at her as if she was picking out where to land her arrow before nodding, "I sense no lie from you, make sure you keep it that way, I do not wish this to devolve into another Hippomenes situation." Artemis says in reference to the curse on Atalanta, the younger hunter just nods before telling her Goddess it wasn't like that.

"But back to my original question, so the man who had betrayed James Potter and Lily Evans has broken out of a prison, what of it?" The Goddess says in a flat indifferent tone, "the castle has wards and guards I doubt h-" it is the Goddess's turn to be cut off, "He's already made it inside once, he got to right outside the dorm Harry stays in before he could get no further, we don't even know how long he was gone by the time I got the Headmaster's message." Atalanta informs Artemis, frustration and worry in her voice, the Goddess falls quiet, a frown firmly set on her face; she was unhappy, but could not say why.

The Goddess does not speak as she turns around to gaze at the Crescent moon that hangs in the sky, and the twinkling stars that surround it. The ward is quiet as Artemis ponders the feeling in her stomach, why was she unhappy? Was she unhappy with her hunter? No, if she was it would be directed at her, no she wasn't happy with the boy, about the boy? It was like a crawling clawing feeling in her stomach and she despises it immensely.

"Fine," the Goddess says after a few minutes, "Stay inside the castle, watch over the boy, and make sure Sirius Black does not touch him," Artemis tells her hunter, and Atalanta sighs in relief and nods her head.

There, thought the Goddess, the feeling was gone, she had one of her best hunters watching over the boy. He would be fine. Artemis makes a face at the thought, it was almost as if she cared for the boy, she mentally scoffs at this. Caring? For a boy? How unbecoming of her. "Speaking of the boy, how is his training going? Does he know who I am to him?" The Goddess of the hunt asks her hunter, turning around to look at her. Atalanta shakes her head, "No My Lady, I've been steering him to the idea of being a Demigod of one of the old gods of the islands, one who has the same domain as you." The hunter informs her Goddess, and Artemis just nods her head. Good, the boy looking in the wrong places and turning over stones looking for a long faded god was better than him knowing the truth. If he did know and said as much with her father's or brother's name in the same sentence, the consequences would not be good for either of them.

"His training has been going well, I think you'd be…" Atalanta trails off at this, unsure if she should finish it, so she moves on not knowing how her Goddess would react, "He has your skill with the bow, though I think he may prefer the spare to it, he says his magic reacts to the wood in a comforting way, whatever that means." Artemis shrugs at this, not knowing either. "The wood is from a Cypress tree from the island of Delos, it is an old tree, perhaps it has to do with the wands the Wixen use." Artemis guesses before Atalanta continues, "You were also right about him gaining access to the hunt My Lady, he's close to it, dangerously close to it. When he's on the trail of something he becomes faster, much faster, he's even caught up with me a few times."

Artemis' eyes go wide, and she finds herself shocked, while Zöe Nightshade was the best overall and oldest hunter, but she had nothing of Atalanta's raw speed. She was known as the Swiftest in the hunt for a reason, and for the boy to be able to keep up with her, let alone catch up with Atalanta was something to boast about. But it was also worrisome, to get that close to her domain of the hunt for a simple chase either spoke of the lack of control the boy had or just how much more of her power the boy has compared to her hunters.

Atalanta chuckles at the look on Artemis' face, "Yeah, I know. Surprise the hell out of me when he first did it too, had to toss him so he wouldn't be able to tag me." Atalanta laughs softly at the memory and shakes her head. "We went on a small hunt a few days after that, I was hoping for him to get a feel for it, but he had almost lost himself to it, and had to drag him away before he ran head first into an Acromantula colony." She sighs at that as Artemis raised an eyebrow, "Acromantula colony? There's one by the school?" The Goddess asks and her hunter nods "Don't worry My Lady, I have plans to take care of it." Atalanta assures her but Artemis still frowns at this. An Acromantula colony was as dangerous as the size of the colony, depending on the size it could make a good hunt. But how did a colony come to be this close to the school, she knew the magic wards that surround the school would keep them at bay but still, she did not like this. "This may be a good call for a hunt, do you know the size of the colony? How it had gotten there?" Artemis asks and Atalanta shakes her head, "No, My Lady. I know it is large but not how big it is nor do I know how it got into the forbidden forest. I will try and find out then pass it along to you." The hunter tells her goddess. Artemis just nods, before asking a question, a question she didn't really know why she asked. "What have you found out about the boy himself?" Artemis asks.

Atalanta is quiet for a moment, she turns back to the slumbering boy, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Not much My Lady, he doesn't speak of himself much, but when he does is self-deprecating, and I do not think he's joking when he does it. He has mentioned living with Relatives out in a place called Surrey, but hasn't told me anything about them. I've been trying to show him that he is better than he thinks and I think it's working, I've considered getting one of his friends to help, but…" Atalanta trails off making a face showing her discomfort with the idea, "she's smart, and asks too many of the right questions." The hunter says, and the Goddess understands, that if the girl asks the right questions she may be able to figure out the ruse she had set up so the boy would remain ignorant of his true relationship with her. "I've been trying to throw her off the trail by using the Roman names, but I do not know how long that's going to work, all things considered." Atalanta sighs, unsure of that part of the plan.

"Proceed as you see fit Atalanta, protect the boy and teach him, make sure he and his friend remain ignorant of the truth as long as you can. Do not disappoint me." The Goddess of the Hunt tells her, before vanishing into the moonlight.

"Easier said than done, My Lady," Atalanta whispers to her, alone other than her sleeping charge, in the hospital wing.

From a dog who remembers, to a man who has almost forgotten. The shrieking shack.

He awakes with a groan, rolling off the rotted bed and onto the floor. Padfoot must have come out, he had those fuzzy half-remembered dreams from the Grimm's point of view. He was watching a Quidditch game, one boy in particular, twisted and spinning in the face of the cold storm the boy was chasing something. Then the dementors had shown up and the boy had fallen from the sky, poor kid, the only reason those damned monstrosities had shown up was because of him. He remembered the boy who owned the rat and a girl picking up the pieces of a shattered broom, that was his fault too, wasn't it? He feels bad for the boy, maybe he should replace the broom, and get him something nice for all the trouble he was causing around the castle, but he would need to know the boys na-

"Harry, that's what his name will be, Harry James Potter." He remembers a woman telling him that, a woman with fiery red hair and beautiful emerald eyes and a belly swollen with child. But he couldn't remember her name, he knew her and he couldn't put a name to her face. "And we want you to be the-" he shakes his head before James could finish, no. No time for that, Padfoot heard his name, that was it, had to be. Yeah, he'll have to send an owl to Gringotts, they pull the gold from the Black accounts and send the kid a better broomstick, he'll tell them to get the best on the market, should make up for it. Should be there in time for Christmas, yeah, he'll sneak into the school tonight and do it. For Harry.