Amongst the Hunted Moons

Notes:

Are you ready? We have maybe two or three chapters left in this drama.

So let the curtain rise on this final act!

And on with the show!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Harry Potter, Hogwarts.

"Potter! Stay." The voice of Snape cuts through the class after he had just dismissed the rest of the class, Hermione and Ron look at him a bit worried as Harry hears a few giggles from the rest of the class as they pack up and clean their stations of anything that could be left behind and interfere with the next classes brewing.

As the rest of the class filters out, Harry waves off Ron and Hermione, telling him he'd meet them in the Great Hall for lunch before waiting at his station as Snape collects each sample of the potion they had brewed today before he starts moving to the door to his office and calling out for him to follow.

As the door to the office closes behind them and locks by itself, Harry takes a seat in front of Snape's desk, looking at the desk as Snape takes a seat. It was never good to be called into Snape's office, Harry had no idea what he had done wrong but prepares himself for the dressing down he was about to get, but as Snape takes his own seat, he just looks at Harry not saying a word for a long moment.

Harry fidgets under his gaze, tapping his foot as his eyes jump around the room filled with preserved parts of creatures he couldn't identify, probably used for rare potions and the like. Snape's desk was covered in essays and half-written letters organized in a way that only Snape knew where everything was, bookshelves lined the far wall crammed with books and old magazines that looked like potions monthly and dark magic, if Harry had to guess.

Finally, after a few minutes, Snape speaks, "Potter, we have three pieces of business to discuss before I let you go to lunch and cause whatever mischief you get up to when no one is looking," He tells Harry, "First, is this," Snape reaches into a stack of papers and pulls out a piece of parchment that looked like it was copied from a book and placing it in front of Harry. Most of it was obscured by a charm, he could see it was a list of names followed by a string of letters but couldn't make out any of the letters until he got to his own name.

Potter, Harry: T, T, A, E, A, A, A, E, P, A, A, A, E, E, A, A, A, E, E, A, A, O, A, E, A, P,

Harry looks up to the Potion Master with a confused look, "Umm, … what is this?" He asks.

Snape rolls his eyes before answering, "Your grades Mister Potter, if you were to compare them to the ones of last year, you would find that you went from barely passing to actually passing." Snape tells Harry to his surprise, "You went from one of the worst in your year to slightly better than average, as your grades stand now you would be passing my class with an Acceptable, not counting this lesson and your final exam." Snape says to Harry's shocked face.

Harry reaches out and picks up the parchment with his grade on it, it couldn't be right, He was stupid, worthless, and a waste of space, this had to be a mistake he thought to himself, "This-This is from the Basilisk stuff, right?" Harry says looking back up to Snape.

"I haven't applied those grades yet Potter, congratulations you have managed to…impress me with this turn about," Snape says like they were some of the most painful words he's ever said, "The only thing that holds you back is your written work, it shows that you know what is happening but that you do not understand the why of it all, your essays are short and to the point but lacks the understand and depth I look for in them." He tells Harry, "That being said, I do not expect to see you in my N.E.W.T classes seeing that I only accept those who get an O on the O.W.L's, the classes required a deep understanding of everything involved in the brewing process that you seem to lack." Harry ignores the backhanded insult as he was still trying to understand how he had gotten a higher greater than a Dreadful in, well, anything.

When Harry doesn't speak up or ask any questions Snape moves on to the next piece of business leaning over and opening a drawer to pull out a cloak and placing it on the desk neatly folded, "As I'm sure you're well aware Potter, exams are three days away and soon after the students leave the grounds for the summer, if it was up to me I would keep your cloak till you leave school, but as it is not nor would it be wise to make you leave without it seeing that Black is still out there, Tipsy!" He calls out and soon enough a crack sounds as a house elf shows up in the office.

"What's it's can Tipsy be doing for you Potiony Master?" Tipsy says while looking around the room for anything obvious before Snape holds the cloak out to her.

"You are to put this in Harry Potter's trunk the night before the train leaves, you are also to tell the Headmaster about this order and no one else, am I understood?" Snape says in a surprisingly polite tone to the elf as she nods and takes the cloak before she bows and apperates away with a pop.

He turns back to Harry and sighs at the boy's surprised face, "And now Potter for our final piece of business," he says as he leans back in his chair, "I have finished cataloging everything we have gotten from the Basilisk, which was more then what I could use in three lifetimes worth of experimentation, as per our agreement I will be keeping only the best parts of the beast." Snape says to Harry.

Harry blinks, a bit more confused, "It took you this long to do that?" He asks before he could stop himself.

Snape scowls at him, "It may come as a shock to you brat, but I am a very busy man, especially during the school year, trying to keep you little dunderheads from killing yourselves, so yes. It is finally done." His scowl doesn't lessen as he speaks causing Harry to shuffle in his chair.

"Okay?" Harry says, "Why are you telling me?"

Snape rolls his eyes before looking back at Harry, "Because you little dunderhead, I'm asking what do you want to do with the rest." He says, patience wearing thin.

"Why aren't you keeping the rest or selling it or something?" Harry asks.

"Because there is far too much for me to use just by myself, and it may come as a shock to you Potter, but I am not a man of excess. I do not need nor do I care for more gold that the rest of the specimen will bring, so what do you want to do with it?" He asks Harry.

"Umm, what can I do with it?" Harry asks.

"Final, an intelligent question from you Potter," Snape snarks at him, "You only have two options here, either auctioning it off in private to the highest bidder, which would bring in a fair amount of gold, or opening it to the public market and selling it like that, but you would get less gold off of it that way," Snape informs Harry.

"I don't really need the gold Sir, besides I don't know how to do, well any of that," Harry tells the Potion Master, who just raises his eyebrow in question at him, "I have plenty of gold Sir, I don't need much," Harry answers with a shrug.

Snape finds himself respecting that answer, not many would choose practicality over wealth, Snape dislikes the feeling he has for the boy but moves on with a sigh, " it depends on how fast you want to get rid of it, auctioning It Off will take longer than just opening it to the public market. I can help with both but will take a small cut of the gold for my time either way." Harry nods, it sounded fair enough to him.

"Public market then," Harry says, "I don't really need it or even have a place to put a giant bloody snake," Harry says.

Snape ignores the curse Harry had said but still gives the boy a look telling him not to do so again, before answering "Then you are in luck Potter, an old dorm mate, and father to a girl in your year has one of the largest import and export businesses in both the Muggle and Magic world, I'll write to him and see if he is interested in it, which undoubtedly he will be, do you wish to leave the pricing to me?" Snape asks and Harry shrugs.

"I mean, sure? You'd know more about what it's worth than I do Sir." Harry says and Snape nods.

"And what do you want to do with the gold if you don't want to take it?" Snape asks, honestly interested in the answer.

Harry looks down, what should he do with it? He really didn't need all that gold, he didn't care for it. The Weasleys wouldn't take any of the gold, as proud as they were, Hermione was supported by her parents.

It was when he had thought about Hermione that a thought hit him, he looked back up to Snape and asked

"Sir, is there a program that helps underprivileged Muggleborn students get what they need for school?" Harry's lips twitch as he almost smirks.

Snape couldn't help the laugh that escapes his throat.

Harry Potter, Divination Tower, June 6th

The last few weeks of term have been long, stressful, and weird for Harry, they had won the Quidditch cup and were a shoo-in to win the house cup this year so long as Ravenclaw didn't get sixty points in the next few days that is. After Black had broken into the common room the next few weeks were spent with Ron and Hermione both forgiving him for how he acted and trying to keep him distracted from hunting Black with help of Buckbeaks appeal, which sadly failed, the tri had promised to be there for Hagrid when the DoMC execution shows up to carry out the sentence. But Black and the hunt was always on the back of Harry's mind, he would spend hours looking out the window in the Gryffindor common room that overlooked the grounds and forest, imagining himself chasing down the man and sinking his spear into him or cursing him to pieces. Many late nights were spent like that when Harry was too afraid to sleep because his old nightmares of the cupboard would come crawling back up.

Hermione had tried to talk him into going to an adult again, but Harry had flat out said no this time instead of just ignoring her. It wouldn't help, it never helped, he had done it twice before and no one had done anything and all he got from it was a wrathful Vernon. He had calmed her down by telling her that his-, that Artemis had visited them and fixed the problem, Hermione wasn't convinced but it did placate her to let it go for now. She didn't think going back there was healthy, but all Harry could do was shrug, he had nowhere else to go. He was touched by her concern, he now knew what the weird looks were, she had been concerned for him, he didn't honestly know what to do with that, it was touching and weird when he thought about it, so he tried not to think about it, emotions were hard.

Another thing he didn't know how he felt about was Atalanta, and the fact that after this week he wouldn't see her again for who knows how long. He didn't want her to go, he wanted to go with her, he just wanted, well it didn't really matter what he wanted, after this week she would be gone and he wouldn't see her again; orders from Artemis were one school year, and she had done that. It was time for her to return to the hunt.

But that didn't stop training, Atalanta had pushed him harder than ever before, and they had moved to full contact sparring after Black had made it into the tower. It was a rush, nothing was off limits as they moved as fast as they could striking, kicking, blocking, grappling, throwing, and everything in between. Hermione and Ron had come a few times for Hermione to play nurse afterward, and apparently, it had them in awe with the speed they were moving at, Ron had described it as if they were dancing as blurs once in a while Harry or Atalanta would slow down enough or get thrown for Ron to see them but it would only last for a second before they were back at it again.

Harry still hadn't beaten Atalanta, but he knew it wasn't about beating her, it was about getting better than he was. Harry didn't think he could beat someone with Atalanta's speed or experience but the day he could, he was looking forward to that, to say the least.

He had gotten a note from Snape a few days ago telling him that his contract had bought the rest of the Basilisk wholesale and would be selling it to different apothecary's after everything was treated, the buyer was pretty happy and had agreed to keep Harry's name out of it all on Harry's request. The gold was donated to the Hogwarts Muggleborn fund, the donation was made in the name of Lily Evans, his mother, the irony of using the remains of Salazar Slytherin's dead Basilisk that was kept to rid the school of Muggleborns now helping them get things for said school was to rich not to smirk over to Harry, he was glad that Snape had got the joke and viciously approved of it.

But the last few days had been the most stressful for Harry, the final exams of his third year, he went into each one sure he was going to have to repeat the year. But hadn't panicked enough to forget all the rants Hermione had gone on about the classes during tutoring sessions or her advice about skipping questions he didn't know the answer to and moving on to the ones he did know, surprisingly he had remembered more than he thought, the Professors probably fixed his exams to make it easier for him is what Harry thought. The practicals were the easier part for some reason, he had cast every spell asked of him flawlessly somehow and had even impressed McGonagall by the look on her face when she had asked him to try and conjure something, he had, an arrow. She let him go with a smile on her normally stern face.

It was Harry's last exam for the day, and arguably his worst, Divination. In the uncomfortably warm room, he and his classmates were called one by one to look into a crystal ball and try and divine something as Professor Trelawney watched and graded them on their predictions. Hermione had left the class ages ago so Harry didn't have a rant that did end with the word "Hogwash" so as he looked into the orb he had just told her what he thought he saw. Raging Storms and Churning Seas, Fire and a crown, of a wolf and a hound chasing something, and eyes looking back at him as the sky was falling around him.

Professor Trelawney didn't seem all that impressed, patting him on the shoulder and telling him it was a good attempt and possibly next year his inner eye would open, Harry hoped it really didn't.

When Harry was dismissed and told to send up the next person, he had stood to do just that right when he had heard Professor Trelawney gasp, sitting ramrod straight and looking at nothing in front of her but seeing something as her eyes cloud open with a milky white cloud. Harry stops and looks at her, a pit growing in his stomach.

"Professor?" Harry asks, "Are-Are you okay?" He says moving a bit closer to her when she didn't say anything, Harry waves his hand in front of her face, and was surprised when her hand shoots out and grasps his wrist in a surprisingly strong grip, Harry flinches and freezes as his past conjures demons he didn't want to deal with. Professor Trelawney opens her mouth and white smoke escapes her that twists and turns into a form of a serpent before she speaks in a dead, monotone voice.

"It will happen tonight... The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight... the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever before and the Goddess must make a choice, her child to raise or let fall, if she were to name her Heir then the walls will fall, the weave comes undone and the Hearth burns in the darkness, and her Heir will rise to meet the Dark Lord, or his soul will fall under dreads domain, it will happen tonight before midnight….Under the Hunters Moon, the Heir will rise to meet the Dark Lord…"

Harry finally rips his hand from her grip, he could feel the blood drain from his face as he looks at Professor Trelawney, unsure of what to think. The dark lord's servant? Did she mean Black? Which Goddess? What Heir? He doesn't understand and takes a step back as Professor Trelawney seems to snap out of her trance and looks at him.

"Hmm, what's wrong Mister Potter?" She asks, looking confused.

"N-Nothing, umm, are you okay?" Harry asks more than a bit freaked out by this.

"I'm fine dear, why do you ask? Did you see something that I didn't?" Professor Trelawney's eyes were impossibly wide behind her thick glasses.

Harry takes a step back, swallowing the lump in his throat before shaking his head.

"Well then, you're excused dear, just send up the next person, okay?" She says as if nothing had happened, Harry just nods before quickly walking over to the trapdoor and throwing it open and jumping down, and taking off in a burst of speed because he didn't want to deal with whatever the hell that was, Ron calls out to him as he passes but Harry just wants to get out of there.

He makes it back to the common room, passing by the trolls guarding it in record time and panting just a bit before he collapses into his favorite chair before thinking "what the fuck was that?" To himself.

Hogwarts, Hagrid Hut, June 6th.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid were all sitting around Hagrid's table, each of the tri had a mug of butterbeer in hand while Hagrid had a large tankard of mead. They sat in the hut talking to Hagrid about their exams, trying to take the large man's mind off the impending death of his feathered friend just outside. The tri had each bowed and said their goodbyes to Buckbeak, knowing it was unfair that the noble beast was to be put to death for following its nature had saddened Harry, but he could do nothing but wish for the creature to be reborn the same in the next life and had told it as such.

They had told Hagrid how much they enjoyed the final exam he had, to which he had smiled sadly at before looking over to Harry.

"By tha' way 'arry, Atatolanta came by earlier to talk about ya grade with 'er," Hagrid says and Harry looks up confused before remembering his training with Atalanta was technically a class. As he opens his mouth to ask what she said everyone in the hut jumps as the sound of the stove popping and a bottle falls to the floor with a crash, shattering.

"Bloody 'ell!" Hagrid says, "Damn near scared me out me skin!" He goes to stand before Hermione beats him to it.

"Here, let me Hagrid." She says as she waves her wand and mutters a spell before the bottle repairs itself, she walks over and picks it up before putting it back on the shelf from which it had fallen. She turns around to walk back over to the table before double taking to look out the small open window, "Where is Professor Lupin going?" She asks as Harry and Ron turn to look out the window and sure enough, Lupin was walking into the forest while stuffing something into his pocket and carrying something.

Ron just Shrugs, "His obstacle course was somewhat in the forest, maybe he's going to dismantle it?" He suggests and Harry just shrugs before turning back to Hagrid.

"So what did Atalanta give me?" He asks before Hagrid turns to him with a smile.

"An easy O, apparently she went to Lupin and Snape too, but I'll be adding that to ya grades for this year 'arry," Hagrid tells Harry and it was his turn to smile, and as they all focus back to the table and conversation none of them see Severus Snape rushing into the forest with a smoking goblet floating behind him.

After a while longer with the group talking about summer plans, Harry does not talk during this as he looks at the floor frown on his face, there was a knock at the Huts door. Hagrid looks up from his tankard with a sigh, "Guess it being that time, you three best be going." Hagrid says and all three of them look at him and shake their heads.

"We're not leaving Hagrid, they can take points if they want, but we're staying here for you," Hermione says in a soft voice as Ron nods in agreement.

"You all don't need ta see this," Hagrid tries to argue.

"And we won't, we'll stay inside, but we're not leaving you to this alone Hagrid," Harry says firmly, as Hagrid looks between the three and smiles at them before nodding and getting up to answer the door.

"Hagrid, my good man. May we come in?" Says the voice of the Headmaster as Hagrid steps aside with a nod of his head, when the Headmaster sees them his eyebrows shoot up, "Mister Potter, Mister Weasley, and Miss Granger, what an unexpected surprise." He says in a way that it's not really a surprise to him, but smiles all the same at them. Behind the Headmaster walks in the Minister of Magic and, one of Harry's least favorite people, Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius glares at Harry as soon as he spots him, to which Harry smirks back at him. The Minister greets them and they explain to them why they are here, Hagrid saying that he would be walking them up to the castle well before curfew before Lucius finally speaks up, saying that the beast was waiting and he would like to get this done now, before the group of adults makes their way outside.

The tri waits, listening through the thin walls, they hear the muffled sounds of the adults talking before the thud of an axe, and Hagrid's cries right before the mug in Harry's hand shatter in his grip of how hard he was squeezing it.

"Fuck!" Harry hisses, jumping up before snapping his wand to his hand and cleaning up the mess, and repairing the mug. Harry was angry, like he has been all year, the injustice of a corrupt system that he had just heard, all those eyewitness testimonies, all their research for nothing. "What a bunch of cunts," Harry mutters, and before Hermione could berate him for his language the door to the hut bursts open, and Lucius Malfoy storms back in with rage in his eyes.

"You!" He says looking at Harry, stomping up to him, if it was a year ago, Harry might have backed away from the man, but that was a Harry a year in the past, not the son of the hunt that stood in the room now. So Harry meets Lucius' glare with one of his own, unflinching, "What did you do, boy? Where is the beast!?" He shouts, his cane in both of his hands threatening to unleash his wand.

Harry already had his out and at his side, "What are you talking about? I haven't done anything." Harry defends himself as he hears Hermione shift behind him, moving to his right as he watches Ron from the corner of his eye move slowly behind Lucius to get into a better position with his own wand out, Lucius doesn't notice as he glares at Harry.

As Lucius opens his mouth to say something else, a louder voice calls from the doorway of the hut, "Lucius Malfoy, I will remind you those are students of this school, if you were to do something untowards to any of them, I will be forced to defend them." The ancient voice of the Headmaster says, laced with power so thick one could taste it in the air, you could hear the wood around him crack under that power, Harry could swear he heard the unspoken "So, please do it." In the air.

Lucius slowly puts his cane down as he continues to glare at Harry, "Same sticky end, boy." Lucius says, reminding Harry of the threat at the end of last year, but Harry just smirks at him.

"Who got the stickier end, my mom and dad, or Voldemort?" Harry says without fear as Lucius flinches, "That's what I thought." Harry then turns to look at the Headmaster.

"I'm guessing Buckbeak got away somehow, sir?" Harry asks as Dumbledore nods, eyes never leaving the back of Lucius' head.

"Indeed, Mister Potter, that seems to be the case." The Headmaster says, "perhaps it's time for you three to leave seeing that you won't be able to comfort Hagrid as planned, a shame truly." He says as he steps away from the door and the trio makes their way out, Harry's eyes never leave Lucius' as he makes his way around him and out the door.

As the trio made their way back to the castle, Harry just chuckled at it all, it was funny how everything seemed to work out sometimes, the Ministry going alone with an injustice just to be beaten by the smarts of an animal.

"How do you think Buckbeak got away?" Hermione asks as she looks over at Harry, who just shrugs. He didn't know, but it was Ron who spoke up.

"My bets on Atalanta," Ron says, Harry and Hermione stop and look at Ron before he explains, "I mean it's obvious, Innit? She's a drinking buddy with Hagrid, and who else do we know is fast enough, skilled enough, and sneaky enough to pull something like that off other than the twins?" He asks them.

"She wouldn't," Hermione says as Harry begins to laugh.

No, no, that is one hundred percent what she wou-" Harry begins to say before he cuts himself off as a wind from the forest blows across him, and he freezes.

The last time this had happened to him was the night he met Atalanta in Diagon Alley, with the vampires. He had caught their scent and Harry had frozen with indecision and confusion, he had wanted to run away from them but at the same time, he wanted to hunt them down for the thrill of the chase, and the Hunt. He didn't understand back then, so confused and scared at his wants and fears, but he wasn't the same boy from back then. He knew what he was feeling now, he knew what he wanted.

"Harry…" Hermione calls to him, but she sounds a thousand miles away.

"Mate…" Ron said, so far away as Harry's head snaps to the forbidden forest, nostrils flaring.

He knew the scent of the wind, he had caught it so many weeks ago, it was mingled with other scents, scents that he didn't care for, scents that didn't matter to him, because the scent of his prey was on the wind.

Harry flinches and his head snaps back to Hermione who had put her hand on his shoulder, she flinches under Harry's gaze, eyes slitted with the power of the Hunt pumping through him. She looks into Harry's eyes before her gaze flicks over to the forest, and back to Harry.

"Harry, don't." She says in a soft and small voice, "Please. It's not worth it, Dumbledore is just back at Hagrid's, let's go get him, and he'll deal with Black." She tries to reason with him but backs away as a small growl escapes Harry's throat at the thought of someone else stealing his kill from him.

"Harry, please." Hermione tries one more time, as Ron's wand is pulled from his pocket, he didn't want to do this, but he would if he had to.

But as another wind blows, all rational thought leaves Harry as he turns on his heel and charges into the forest, Ron's stunner bouncing harmlessly off his leather jacket and Hermione's cries falling on deaf ears.

For Harry had caught the scent of his prey, he had caught the scent of Sirius Black on the wind, and the hunt was on, and before this night was done Harry was going to shove his spear right through the traitor's chest.