Harry was never one to dwell on attention. Ever since the defeat of Voldemort and moving to America with Andromeda and Teddy, he'd done his best to blend in, live a quiet life, and focus on raising his godson and catching up on the world outside of wizardry. But lately, something—or rather someone—was disrupting that balance.
She was always there.
At the cafeteria. In the hallways. Near his locker. Always sitting somewhere behind him in class, even if it wasn't originally her assigned seat.
She didn't speak to him. Not yet. But her gaze? It burned. Not in the same way other girls sometimes looked at him—those glances full of high school crushes, hope, or harmless curiosity. No, her eyes held the weight of knowing. As if she saw through his every thought and word. As if she knew what he really was.
And today, as Harry walked through the quiet hallway leading to the west wing of the school library—intentionally taking a lesser-used route—he felt the presence again.
Footsteps. Light. Soft.
He stopped.
Then turned.
There she was, pretending to look at a corkboard covered in old announcements. Her long brown hair gleamed under the hallway lights, and even in the school's basic uniform, she stood out like an oil painting in a graffiti-covered alleyway.
"Okay," Harry said finally, folding his arms. "You've been following me for three days."
She blinked and turned around slowly, putting on a small smile that would've made most students melt. "I'm just… new. Learning the layout."
Harry didn't smile back. "You're not new to watching people."
Her smile faltered slightly.
"I don't know who you are," he continued, voice calm but cold, "but you're not a normal teenager. You don't walk like one. You don't talk like one. And you don't look at people like one."
The girl hesitated. For a moment, it seemed like she was debating what to say. But then something shifted in her posture. The human illusion cracked—not visually, but emotionally. She seemed suddenly ageless.
"My name…" she said at last, "is Aphrodite."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Right. Like the Aphrodite."
"Yes," she said, the word like a sigh. "Goddess of love, beauty, passion, and desire."
He raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me a Greek goddess is stalking me through high school hallways?"
She stepped closer, unbothered by the sarcasm. "I came to find out something."
"Which is?"
She looked up at him—eyes shimmering like a sea under moonlight. "Why you can resist me."
Harry stared at her in disbelief.
"I've had kings and warriors, heroes and monsters fall at my feet," she said softly. "Men have gone to war in my name. Fought to the death. The hearts of mortals and immortals alike have belonged to me." She tilted her head. "But you… Harry Potter… said no over a handbag."
He sighed. "I didn't knew it was you."
"It bothered me," she said simply. "So I watched you."
He stared at her, stunned, as she began circling him with the grace of a lioness.
"You're not immune to attraction," she said. "I watched you at the parties. The way girls look at you after. But you never let anyone in. You sleep with girls—but you don't connect."
"I don't owe anyone that," he said curtly.
"I never said you did. But it told me something." She stopped in front of him again. "You're not uninterested. You're… guarded."
Harry stepped back. "So? I've got a kid to raise. I've got responsibilities. I've got scars. I've seen people die. I'm not in the mood to play teenage love drama."
Her eyes flickered with something deeper. Curiosity? Pity? Amusement?
Harry looked away.
Aphrodite's voice dropped, suddenly gentle. "Someone who hurt you?"
"…People I lost," he muttered.
For a moment, there was silence between them. The hallway, the world, the school—it all faded.
"You're wrong about something though," Harry added, voice low. "It's not that I can resist you. I feel it. The pull. The allure. But I've learned to shut things down when I need to."
"You're stronger than I expected," she said, admiration in her voice now.
"I don't know what you want from me," Harry muttered. "But I'm not looking for a divine romance."
Aphrodite smiled again—this time, not seductive, but thoughtful.
"Maybe not," she said. "But you've piqued my interest, Harry Potter. I've known thousands of men, and yet somehow, you're the first one who's made me unsure of myself."
Then she turned.
"Good day, Mr. Potter," she said with a wink, striding away down the corridor.
Harry remained standing there, mind racing.
A goddess was after him.
And for once, even he wasn't sure what to do next.
For two days, Harry didn't see a trace of her.
No haunting glances from behind lockers. No mysteriously familiar perfume trailing in the school corridors. No sudden hush in the cafeteria when she entered. Nothing.
And he thought—hoped, maybe—that she had returned to wherever gods go after losing interest.
But peace was a luxury Harry Potter rarely possessed for long.
It was late Saturday morning. Harry had just finished repairing a broken window pane in the greenhouse when the distant ding of the enchanted calling bell echoed through the estate. The soft chime echoed inside the manor like a whisper, triggering a subtle ripple in the protective wards.
Someone was at the front gate.
Harry wiped his hands on a cloth, stashed his wand into his jeans, and made his way toward the gate, boots crunching on the gravel path.
And there she was.
Aphrodite.
Still cloaked in the illusion of a teenager—perfect skin, golden hair tucked neatly beneath a cherry-red beret, holding a woven basket filled with ribbon-wrapped boxes.
"Good morning," she said, smiling sweetly. "May I come in?"
Harry narrowed his eyes. "…Why?"
"I brought sweets," she said, tilting her head as if that explained everything. "Olympian confections. From my private stash. You might be the only mortal I've ever willingly shared them with."
Harry sighed. "Fine. But no trickery."
"I swear," she said, stepping inside as the wards parted for her presence like a polite but cautious doorman.
Inside the mansion, sunlight filtered through the tall windows, casting soft golden hues across the polished floors. Andromeda was reading in the parlor with Teddy bouncing on a conjured cushion nearby.
The moment Aphrodite stepped into the room, the air shifted.
Teddy turned, eyes wide—and immediately squealed with delight.
"Pretty!" he cried.
Harry blinked. Pretty?
"Children are always fond of me," Aphrodite said gently, kneeling down. "It's instinctual. I'm the goddess of all kinds of love—including the kind between a child and a caretaker."
Teddy cooed and grabbed her curls while babbling in baby-speak. She giggled and tickled his nose with a glowing finger, and to Harry's horror, his godson's hair morphed into a ridiculous shade of bubblegum pink.
Then came Andromeda.
The moment she saw the ornate boxes Aphrodite laid out on the tea table, her eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Sweets?"
"Olympian ambrosia confections. They're completely safe for mortals. I've adjusted the dosage," Aphrodite said.
Andromeda cautiously picked up a rose-petal-shaped piece, took a bite—then practically melted in her chair.
"Oh my stars… I haven't tasted something like this since… ever."
"I'll leave you some boxes," Aphrodite said with a wink. "We're friends now."
Harry crossed his arms. "Enough."
The goddess slowly turned, still smiling.
"Why are you really here?"
Aphrodite blinked. "I told you. I wanted to see your godson, Teddy. I wanted to… see you."
Harry frowned. "No, you didn't. Gods and Goddesses don't even visit their own children. What are you doing here with mine?"
Her smile faltered.
"Harry—"
"No," he said, stepping forward. "I don't care how many lovers you've had. I don't care how many myths sing about your beauty. But I do care that I'm raising a child. And I'm not letting anyone—including a goddess—play with his life or mine."
Aphrodite straightened slightly, her eyes dimming.
"You think I'm here to play?"
"I think," Harry said, voice harder now, "that you're used to getting what you want. That if you wanted me to fall for you, you could wave your hand and make it happen. And if you decided you wanted a child with me, you could take it. You could walk away with it. Or worse, leave me with the child."
She stared at him, silent.
"I already have one child," he said, nodding toward Teddy. "One that I've given everything for. My magic. My safety. My sleep. My future. I can't risk someone else tricking me into parenthood again."
Aphrodite's breath hitched.
Her eyes softened—no longer divine and all-powerful—but sad. Wounded.
"I never thought about it that way," she said quietly. "I've… never asked."
"What?"
She looked down. "In all the lovers I've had. All the children born from those moments… I never asked if they wanted them."
There was a pause—strange and raw. The immortal goddess, embodiment of romance and desire, suddenly looked like a lonely woman grappling with the weight of forgotten consequences.
"Mortals rarely get the choice," Harry said. "And I'm done being a pawn."
Aphrodite nodded slowly.
Then she whispered, "I'm sorry."
She turned without another word and stepped back through the doorway.
Teddy whimpered, missing her warmth.
Andromeda sat in stunned silence, still licking the sugary remains off her fingertips.
Harry watched the goddess's silhouette disappear through the garden path. The wards shimmered briefly as she passed through them—and then she was gone.
Aphrodite didn't return to Olympus. Not yet.
Her divine steps, though unseen by mortals, carried the weight of a thousand years of regrets. The echo of Harry's words rang in her ears—not because he had yelled, but because he had meant them.
She had never been spoken to like that before. Not by a mortal. Not even by a god.
And she didn't flee back to her marble palace with fountains of rosewater and velvet sheets.
Instead, she went to the only place on Olympus where she ever felt... small in a good way.
Hestia's hearth.
Nestled in the heart of Olympus, Hestia's humble palace was unlike the others. It had no pillars of gold or blinding displays of power. It was modest—a kitchen that never stopped glowing with warm light, tables full of bread, and the scent of cinnamon and honey in the air.
And in the center, always, was the flame. Eternal and soft.
Aphrodite appeared at the threshold, still wearing the illusion of a mortal teenager. Her eyes glistened. Her shoulders drooped.
Hestia turned from the oven, a simple clay apron tied around her waist, and smiled.
"Come in, child," she said gently, as if she'd been expecting her all along.
Aphrodite stepped forward. The warmth of the hearth soaked into her skin like a balm. She tried to speak but her voice caught in her throat. Her knees gave way and she dropped to a low bench near the fire.
"I don't know what's wrong with me," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I'm not supposed to feel like this."
Hestia moved calmly, setting aside a tray of honey-glazed bread and kneeling beside her.
"What happened, dear?"
Aphrodite hesitated. "I went to see a mortal. A wizard. Harry Potter."
Hestia raised an eyebrow, curious. "The one who placed the new wards around Camp Half-Blood?"
Aphrodite nodded. "Yes. He resisted me. Not just my beauty—me. My entire being. He looked at me like... like I was something dangerous."
Hestia's expression remained warm and calm. "Are you?"
Aphrodite blinked. "Maybe."
She took a deep breath, her fingers twisting the folds of her cloak.
"I realized something. Something I've never really... considered. I've had so many children, Hestia. I've inspired so much love, desire... But I never stayed. I never raised them. I left them with men who didn't want children, or who weren't ready to be fathers. Some didn't even know I was with child. And the ones who did, blamed the child. And I—" her voice broke, "—I just kept walking away."
Hestia sat beside her and placed a gentle hand over hers. "You were following your nature. You are love."
"But what kind of love am I?" Aphrodite asked, tears pooling in her eyes. "What kind of goddess inspires all this desire but never once stays to see what becomes of it?"
The fire crackled quietly between them.
"I watched Harry play with his godson," Aphrodite continued softly. "I saw the way he protected him. The way he loved him. And he's not even Teddy's real father. He just chose to be there."
She wiped her eyes and laughed bitterly. "And then I thought—when was the last time I held one of my children? Not a dream. Not a whisper. Not a passing visit disguised as a stranger. But truly... held them?"
Hestia exhaled slowly. She was not a mother. She had taken no lovers. But she knew family.
"You regret not being there," Hestia said simply.
Aphrodite nodded.
"I would give anything to go back," she whispered. "To do it differently."
"There's no going back," Hestia said. "But there is going forward."
Aphrodite looked at her. "How? The pact forbids us from living with our children. Even visiting them risks divine punishment. Zeus made sure of it."
"Then you find another way," Hestia said with quiet conviction. "You do what mortals have always done when love is kept away from them. You wait. You write. You whisper from a distance. You become their unseen guardian. And when the moment comes that you can stand beside them, you take it without hesitation."
The words settled into Aphrodite's heart like embers in snow.
"And this Harry Potter?" Hestia asked, offering her a fresh slice of bread.
Aphrodite smiled faintly. "He said he couldn't trust me. That I might leave him with a child without even asking."
She looked into the hearth. "And the worst part is… he's right. I would have done that. Without even thinking."
Hestia gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "But now you are thinking."
Aphrodite's expression wavered. "What do I do, Hestia?"
Hestia looked at her kindly. "You don't seduce him. You earn him. As a friend. As a woman. As someone who's finally learning what love means beyond beauty and desire."
Aphrodite leaned her head against Hestia's shoulder like a child seeking solace.
The goddess of the hearth didn't speak again. She simply wrapped an arm around her sister's trembling form and let her cry quietly as the eternal fire burned on.
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