Chapter 11
11
‘Er, the dear was delicious,’ Harry said awkwardly as they sat around the supernaturally crimson fire that Hypnos had the conjured. ‘Thank you.’
‘Tis unseemly for Gods to make offerings to mortals and not the other way around,’ Hypnos announced unhappily, twirling one of his poppy stalks around in an almost anxious gesture. ‘Mine brother Thánatos, did urge me to do this unnatural deed which all Godhood doth balk against, and I have consented, out of the great affection I bear him.’
‘We’re most indebted for his and your help.’ Harry said gratefully.
‘Thánatos is gentle of disposition despite of the dreadful nature of his work.’ Hynos said this with some resignation, as if his brother’s compassion was some incurable flaw. ‘Thus he hath bid me deliver the warnings of the hourglass, and of thy challenges ahead, hardships much unsuited to thy soft bodies.’
Harry swallowed audibly and had to force his next words out. ‘Can you help us find Lucius?’
Beside him, Draco was making small noises of distress. Only Grand Uncle was unaffected by Hypno’s veiled warning and continued to stare longingly at the roasted venison he could no longer eat.
‘Nay, for the Gods are forbidden direct interference with mortals. It hath always been so. As long as ye art not yet dead, to openly hinder or lead aid to your quest wouldst cast doubt on our fragile treaties with the Others.’
‘Who are the ‘Others’ that you refer to?’
The child God’s face became even more forbidding, if that was possible. ‘That I may not reveal to a mere mortal.’
Gods then, Draco mouthed at him, and Harry suppressed a sigh. Apparently death itself was not enough to escape the jaws of political machinations. Perhaps Voldemort had a point in not wanting to die after all.
‘Ah, mine brother corrects me.‘ Hypnos’ expression suddenly shifted gaze turned inward, as Harry had seen his twin do at the caverns of Avernus. ‘-He bids me remember that certain allowances… hath always been made for heroes.’ The god scowled. ‘Which amongst ye dares to assume this immortal label?’
‘Er-’ Harry said helplessly as two fingers, one of which was made of ectoplasm, pointed speedily in his direction.
Hypnos stared at him though his seemingly sightless eyes, and Harry resisted the urge to squirm. ‘Wrought as it may seem to be, it has always been the destiny of heroes to traverse on such roads that doth lead thee to places both wondrous and grievous.’
‘Am not anybody’s hero,’ Harry finally found the courage to refute. He was sick to death of that goddamn title, and terrified of the thought that there may be no escape after death as well.
‘Thy feelings are of no consequence. Only thy fate, and what you choose to make of it is of interest to us,’ Hypnos told him clinically as he drew a poppy flower out of the empty air. A gentle stroke of his white hands had the stalk revolving into a blur, then turning into a red bottle, suspended in the air. ‘This is my reluctant gift to you, hero. Waste a single seed, and I shall know of it and bring my wrath to bear upon you both.’
Draco’s eyes bulged as he snatched the scarlet bottle from the air. ‘Thank you very much, your lordship. Much obliged. What should we do with the bottle when we’re done?’
‘Ye may do as your customs dictate,’ Hypnos shrugged as he disappeared. ‘Farewell.’
Harry expelled a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. ‘If I never meet that creepy, no-eyeball albino again till kingdom comes, it would still be too soon.’
Draco, had not spoken a word for the entire duration, collapsed into a heap on the ground. ‘Christian,’ he gasped. ‘I want to be a Christian when I die.’
‘Why Draco, whatever happened to those vaulted pureblood principles?’
‘Screw principles. I make my purchases with money, not pain.’
‘Not if Pluto has his way,’ Harry grimly reminded him. ‘Merlin, who’d have thought that the afterlife would be almost exactly like earth. So much a well deserved rest.’ He paused whilst untying his bedroll. ‘‘What dreadful work of his brother’s was Hypnos talking about earlier?’
‘Why Thánatos? He’s God of the Dead.’
‘What? Why didn’t you tell me?
‘I thought you knew!’ Draco cried, looking equally bewildered. ‘It was in First Year Syllabus, Harry!’
‘I’d have thought Pluto-‘ Harry scratched his head. ‘Nevermind.’
‘Pluto is the administrative aspect of the Underworld. He’s king, but a large part of that is because Zeus is his brother,’ Draco explained with uncharacteristic patience; perhaps he felt that they might live longer if Harry became better acquainted with his Greek mythos. ‘I don’t think God of Death carries as much weight here as, oh, brother to the King of Gods.’
‘Cronyism?’ Harry scoffed, ‘How sordid.’
Draco however, simply looked speculative. ‘Do you ever notice that we only see Thánatos or Hypnos singularly, but never together? For such a loving pair, they don’t seem to hang out much.’
‘Don’t go there, Draco’
‘It’s worth giving a thought to,’ Draco mused as they both stared at the constantly changing sky. ‘I mean they’re gods after all. It’s possible for them to be two places at a time. Or even two persons.’
‘I don’t want to know,’ Harry shuddered. The very thought screwed with his brains, and his idea of logic had become untenable since the whole sorry things had started.
He pointedly turned his back on Draco and squeezed his eyes shut. Perhaps he’d wake up tomorrow morning in his own gratifyingly smelly bed and find the whole thing had been a dream.
But then, Harry knew he’d never been particularly lucky with wistful thoughts.
*