Time in Artemis's realm flowed differently, soft, silver, and endless.A year had passed since Harry's seventh birthday, though in this forest where moonlight never waned, the seasons were more song than cycle.
For mortals, it would have been a long year.For gods, it was a blink.For Auron, it was everything.
He had grown into his strength, taller now, shoulders broad, hair streaked with silver and gold. The air itself seemed to move with him, bending to his calm gravity. The Hunt had begun calling him the Silver Guardian, though he never claimed the title. To them, he was still Artemis's son — their brother in all but name, and no amount of divine power would change that.
The Mischief of Harry Potter
Harry, on the other hand, had spent the year perfecting his art of "accidental chaos."
That morning alone, he'd turned Zoe's quiver into a bouquet of daisies, made Phoebe's boots dance off on their own singing "London Bridge is Falling Down," and somehow caused Artemis's silver circlet to start orbiting her head like a tiny moon.
Harry blinked innocently at her."I didn't mean to, Auntie Artemis."
The goddess of the Hunt exhaled slowly, her patience hanging by a thread."Of course you didn't," she said dryly.
Behind her, the Hunt tried very hard not to laugh.
Auron crouched beside Harry, ruffling his messy hair. "That's my nephew, chaos incarnate."Phoebe smirked. "Like uncle, like nephew.""Careful," Auron warned. "I can turn your boots into rabbits next."Phoebe grinned. "Promises, promises."
Days in the Hunt's camp moved with an easy rhythm, arrows flying, laughter echoing through the glades, moonlight threading through leaves like spun silver.
Lily had long since earned her place among them. She cooked mortal meals, mended tents, and somehow taught half the Hunt how to make tea properly ("no, you don't steep it in ambrosia," she'd said). Her wit matched Zoe's sharpness, her warmth softened Artemis's stoicism, and her courage was something even immortals admired.
Harry was everyone's little brother, a whirlwind of laughter and curiosity. He raced wolves through the glade, tried to outshoot Phoebe with toy arrows, and fell asleep beneath Artemis's hounds with his raptor plush, Sir Bite-A-Lot, clutched protectively in his arms.
The Hunt had become a family.A strange one, stitched together by divine accident and mortal heart, but a family nonetheless.
As moon after moon passed, something shifted quietly between Lily and Auron.
It began with small moments shared glances across the firelight, soft laughter after a long hunt, late nights trading stories about the world beyond the forest.Sometimes, when she spoke of the mortal world, Auron would listen with quiet fascination, as though he were hearing a lost melody.Other times, when he told her of the stars, she would look at him as though she could see them reflected in his eyes.
They didn't rush it. Neither of them needed to.Love, in a place untouched by time, did not need haste.
One evening, Lily sat by the lake, the moon's reflection rippling beside her.Auron joined her wordlessly, sitting close but not too close.
"It's strange," she murmured. "I feel like I've lived two lives. The one I had with James, Hogwarts, everything, and this one. Here."She sighed softly. "It feels… different. Peaceful. But sometimes I wonder if I'm forgetting who I was."
Auron looked at her, his tone gentle. "Maybe you're not forgetting. Maybe you're just becoming something new."She smiled faintly. "That sounds like something your mother would say.""She says I sound wiser.""She's biased.""Probably," he admitted with a laugh.
For a long while, neither spoke. The forest was quiet except for the soft murmur of the lake and the distant howl of a moon hound. Then, slowly, Lily reached for his hand.
He didn't hesitate. He only laced his fingers through hers, as though it had always been meant to happen.
From the trees, Phoebe's voice called out, "Finally!"Zoe added flatly, "Took them long enough."
Lily groaned, face flushing. "They've been watching?"Auron smiled faintly. "Always."
Later that night, the camp lay quiet beneath the stars. Harry slept peacefully, Sir Bite-A-Lot tucked under one arm. Lily and Auron rested near the fire, their hands still linked, their breaths matching.
From a nearby rise, Artemis watched in silence, her expression unreadable but her eyes soft.
Zoe joined her. "You don't regret letting them stay?" she asked quietly.
Artemis shook her head. "No. They are beyond the Fates' reach, threads unbound. That makes them precious. My son is proof that love does not weaken divinity."Zoe smiled faintly. "And proof that family makes even gods stronger."
Below, Harry stirred in his sleep. A small spark of accidental magic bloomed above his fingers, releasing a flurry of glowing silver petals that drifted gently across the camp.
Auron blinked awake, watching them fall. A smile tugged at his lips."Good night, troublemaker," he whispered.
And above them, the stars seemed to shimmer brighter as if laughing with the boy, and blessing the small, impossible family below.