Disclaimer: Well, considering I'm not richer than England royalty, I don't own Harry Potter.
Story: Harry had always believed his parents were dead. That was half true. His mother was still alive. She's now Hawkgirl and Harry can't find it in himself to let go of the past.
Set as an AU sixth year.
Spoilers: Books 1-7 probably.
Warnings: ?
Pairings: Harry/Ares, Oliver (Green Arrow)/Kara (Supergirl), Wally (Flash)/Raven…
A/n: OHOHO! You people are so awesome! I love you all and all of your reviews! MMM! THANKIES!

Forsake Thy Virtues
Chapter Five: Welcome Home

"I was just wondering…why isn't Hawkgirl assigned to this mission, considering she's Thanagarian herself?" Harry asked Diana, looking up at a Thanagarian painting in the room he was staying in. Diana was kindly helping him with the baby, her mothering instincts coming out.

"Shayera is considered a traitor by her kind because she sided with us when the Thanagarians invaded. For her to involve herself in the negotiations would upset the Thanagarians and bring ill will, as well as provoke retaliation against her," Diana explained, still holding little Elle.

"I see."

It made sense and Harry was in no position to argue against it anyway. He was glad; he didn't really want to be around her in any case. It was too strange and invoked a longing in him that he wished he didn't have. It made things awkward between the two anyway.

He was being called on for help and trade of methods with the Thanagarian doctors, so Diana volunteered to stay behind and watch the kids.

"It's odd to see a kid with so many responsibilities," Bruce appeared at the threshold of the door, amusedly watching Diana tickle the baby while Ace sat quietly on her bed observing.

"Harry's special," Ace murmured, interjecting herself into their conversation.

Bruce frowned at her, "Like I wanted to know earlier, why are you with him, Ace?"

She stared at them blankly, "I ran. After Joker, I walked away. But then I just ran. And I kept running. I didn't want to be brought back to the government and be tested and studied again. I was thinking to myself I wasn't going to let that happen to me, and I sat on a swing in the park swearing that over and over…when Harry came. He looked lonely, tired but lonely. But he still managed to be kind and spend a little time with me. And I was desperate for a home so I practically begged him for a home. He said yes and never turned me away since."

"What about the baby?" Diana asked, tickling Elle.

Ace shrugged, "I don't know. I was walking around the park one day and some force pulled me to her. I didn't want to leave Ellie alone, but it was strange how I found her. She was so quiet, I might not have been able to have found her otherwise."

That worried the other two and both tensed, with Diana pausing at playing with the baby in her hands, eying Elle warily. The baby just looked back before blowing a raspberry.

Diana chuckled hesitantly, "Well, it's probably a coincidence."

"Maybe," Bruce's frown deepened.

"Where's that funny man that keeps stalking Harry?" Ace yawned in boredom, looking lazily at them.

Diana winced, while Bruce smirked.

"He's…" she sighed and gave up. "He probably is stalking Harry right now."

"Thought so."

Which was exactly what Ares was doing, watching Harry explain Terranian medic methods to the Thanagarians, taking notes himself on the Thanagarian techniques.

The god was bored. His eyes wandered outside, and he smirked, seeing a group of Thanagarians watching a spar outside. It was a regulated spar, which was kind of boring. And Ares was already bored. As he had stated. Again. Damn boredom.

Whistling a tune to himself, he gazed at the sparring duo, already feeling his divine powers at work, and he watched lazily in amusement as the two's faces began to warp into ugly angry facades, snarling at each other and attacking the other more ferociously.

"Having fun?" an amused voice sounded behind him.

Ares turned and smirked at Harry.

"Very. You? Finished with the med jargon?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah. But I see you're being kept busy," he waved a wand outside, indicating the now blood bathing spar.

"What can I say? It's me. Comes with the God of War and all stuff," he drawled, inwardly wondering if that would bother his soul mate. "That bother you?" he asked, inwardly anxious.

The other shrugged, "Why should it? I'm not particularly fond of wars and whatnot, but I do admit that sometimes it's necessary. The American and French Revolutions…" 'The fight against Voldemort,' he silently added. "Not to mention, strangely and sadly enough, the economy and technology booms practically with war. Besides, it's a part of you. It's who you are, right? Not like you can change it, you know."

Ares hmmed in pleasure, very pleased, with Harry assuming it was from the remembrance of war and the power it brought the god…when actually, the blond god was reacting from his answer. Not that Harry needed to know that.

"You wanna grab a bite to eat?" Harry asked, yawning a bit.

Ares hid his smirk, "Sounds good. What are we eating?"

Harry grimaced, "I'm not sure I'm into Thanagarian cuisine. We have food back at the ship and a mini-kit in there. I could whip something up for the both of us?"

"Thank the gods. There's no way in Tartarus I was looking forward to the food here."

Harry bit back a laugh, and led the way to the ship, saying nothing about the hand Ares had boldly placed at his lower back to lead him, while the other was snugly holding onto his arm. Ares added another point to himself.

At the ship, Ares seated himself comfortably at the table and watched as Harry took the frying pan and something…and was doing something…and something else…

Okay, so the god was a little lost and had no idea what Harry was doing.

"Ohhh! Food!" Diana moaned in appreciation, walking into the ship carrying Elle, with Ace and Bruce following after her. Wally sped in a second after, hollering about good ol' fashion human food.

Ares glared at them, pouting inwardly (though he didn't know that he was doing it outwardly as well). In unison, as though they'd practiced and were all plotting against him, they gave him smug looks that were accompanied with a mischievous smile.

In no time soon, there was a lot of food piling onto the table and everyone gazed at it in awe, with Wally having a little drool down the corner of his mouth.

"Enjoy," Harry hmmed, already starting to eat.

Everyone stared at him for a second in disbelief at his calmness and the way he acted like he cooked feasts (in a fast fashion) on a daily basis.

"Harry, you don't cook me feasts at home," Ace pouted.

"Sorry, darling. If you want, I will when we get back," Harry said cheerily, taking a bite out of his simple grilled sandwich.

And that prompted everyone to dig into the food like a bunch of animals, causing Harry to pause in his eating and sweatdrop as he watched them.

Later, Harry was with the others, watching idly as they were negotiating and barely paying attention to it all. He was here for the medic stuff, not the politics. He had enough of that back home. Looking to the side, he could see that Ares was worse off than him, the blond god yawning and looking like he was about to fall asleep at any moment.

He stifled a snicker and decided he would have to tease the god later.

"What is a half-breed doing here?" a voice said disdainfully.

It became quiet and Harry finally looked up, seeing a man in a robotic suit glaring down at him from their leader's side. He blinked and tried to recall the name he'd been given.

Kragger. Right…odd name.

"Excuse me?" he scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion.

By then, even Ares had woken up and was watching the situation carefully, though inside he was boiling with anger at how this idiot was talking to his soul mate.

The man sneered even more, "I called you a half-breed, filth."

Harry raised an eyebrow, not particularly bothered by the man. He was used to being insulted and badgered on a daily basis, and Snape had worse derogatory names than this man could ever come up with. More creative too, now that he thought about it…

"I'm sorry, but both my parents were human. I believe your eyesight's been mistaken," Harry snidely insulted back.

"That shade of green for eyes. There's no mistake you're that traitor's son," Kragger cackled. "Shayera Hol's abomination! And with a magic-user as well! You stink of magic, boy!"

Harry felt himself getting angry, but fought for control. This man had it wrong. He had to have.

"I do believe you should shut up," Harry's British accent came out a little stronger, voice cracking at the end. "I don't think you understand. My parents are dead. My mother is not Shayera Hol. Her name is Lily Evans, and she died protecting me! She didn't live and abandon me!" Harry actually blurted out, not meaning to be hysterical.

This is your mother, Harry. This is what she looked like. Only she's dead.

Kragger laughed even more at him.

"Lily Evans? That was the name she used when she traveled to Earth, before her time as Hawkgirl."

Crack, crack, crack.

The walls shook and the ground began developing cracks. The air became stifling, making the occupants in the room choke and breathe more heavily, having a harder time trying to breathe normally. All eyes turned to Harry, who was staring at the ground, an invisible force crowding around him and making his hair slowly float in the air.

"You're lying!" Harry's head snapped up and he glared at Kragger, just as the windows shattered and the whole ground shook angrily.

The force coming out of Harry was tremendous and the two others with Kragger, Hro Thalak and Paran Dul, held out their weapons to try to mitigate what was no doubt a magical outburst. But surprisingly, for only a millisecond they were able to ground themselves, before the Nnth metal of their weapons failed to keep back the pure magical power Harry gave out and they were blasted back. This was not the typical or average magic they were used to dealing with. Those with Harry were feeling the same force, but since Harry instinctively recognized them as friends, they were not as fiercely fought back against.

Ares stared in awe at his soul mate, visibly impressed with the power he was emitting. He, even though he was a god, was almost as affected as the others. If Harry was turned into a god, would his power increase even more? But that look in his eyes…

Ares frowned and straightened up, forcing back his awe and wonder, trudging through the force that was slowly transforming into a hurricane around Harry. With effort, he reached his soul mate and firmly wrapped his arms around the smaller teen, pulling Harry's back against his chest and nuzzling his Harry's dark hair in comfort. The teen slowly calmed down, dissolving into small and barely there sobs as he turned around in Ares' arms and hid his face into the god's chest, clutching at him like a lifeline. He looked down at his fragile package and saw just how young and vulnerable Harry looked. Diana was right and he silently resolved in reluctance, to take it slow and that he shouldn't rush or force things quite yet.

Hro Thalak sighed, "Kragger, you are dismissed. Leave now."

Kragger snarled, but did as he was told.

Ares was torn between staying with his beloved and going after that bastard. He made up his mind a second later. He glanced at Diana and handed a barely aware and limp Harry to her. There were people he could trust Harry with there, one of whom was essentially his 'daughter'. But no one was going to go after that bastard and make him pay, so he was going to do that job quite happily.

Everyone noticed Ares disappear, following quietly after Kragger's exit moments after the other had left, but no one said anything.

"I'm sorry, but I believe we will have to postpone negotiations," Bruce said stiffly. "If we can reconvene at a later time, to your convenience?"

"Very well," Hro murmured. "Tonight at dusk will suffice?"

Bruce nodded and followed after Diana who was already supporting Harry out, half-dragging the barely conscious boy. In the end, she winced and decided to just carry the unresponsive Harry in her arms. Wally quietly walked beside her, humming a soothing tune and repeatedly threading his hand through Harry's dark locks in an attempt to reassure the other.

Soon, the two Thanagarians were all that were left in the vast room.

"Paran, go after Kragger to make sure he wasn't beat up to death by the blonde stranger. I will be going for a walk and to try to sort my thoughts," Hro wearily began walking out.

"And if he is? Should I fight the stranger?"

Hro laughed mockingly, "I doubt you should. Be wary of that man. Exempting the boy, he is probably the most powerful of the group…"

"Yes, sir."

Then Hro was left to think of green-eyed boys, traitors, and a still-standing love.

Ace watched horrified as Diana brought her beloved Harry into the room, in the deadened state that he was in. The Amazon Princess laid her guardian down carefully on his bed, and Ace barely noted the other two Justice League heroes slip in after, and Ares bringing up the rear. Elle was especially quiet.

"What happened?" Ace freaked out, watching the solemn brigade and feeling her own powers stirring.

"Long story," Wally, so weird the usually laid-back and cheerful man to act so upset, snapped.

"Calm down, Ace. We don't need another power outburst," Bruce calmly stated.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Harry muttered repeatedly. "I ruined the negotiations, didn't I? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be a freak –"

That word horrified everyone and it made Ace snap.

"You are not a freak!" her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears. "You aren't. You're sweet, and you're kind, and –"

'And you need people who care,' her mind reluctantly supplied, watching her caretaker break down, and seeming not to hear her. She fumbled through her mind for the pictures she'd peeked at while Harry was out, automatically knowing who was who just by the vague stories Harry would sometimes tell her, and using the bond she had with Harry to help her –pulling on his memories and thoughts to help her and to help finish and complete the illusions.

"Come on, Harry. Everything's alright. Whatever it is, you'll get through it. I'll be with you," Sirius Black was suddenly there, and Harry froze, his head slowly turning to see his dead godfather. But he was there, in the flesh, smiling mischievously at him.

"Yeah, Harry. Come on! Let's go grab a butterbeer," Cedric Diggory was there, smiling a boyish grin and he was alive.

"S-Sirius, Cedric," Harry breathed out, eyes widening.

He stumbled off the bed and reached out to them tentatively, grasping onto their sleeves with hesitancy before he exhaled in disbelief. Then a genuine smile spread across his lips and he threw himself forward, into their waiting arms as he mumbled things only the two illusions could hear.

Ace sighed in relief, uncomfortably ignoring Bruce's disapproving frown directed at her.

The Apportioners watched all this with knowing eyes, Hecate quietly watching with them with an unreadable look on her face.

"Such magic should please you, should it not, Hecate?" Atropos rasped.

"…Yes, of course," Hecate said lowly. "He is powerful and I have no problems claiming him as my champion, as has been predicted."

"It is amusing to see his magic come so forcefully into play," Klothos hmmed. "I wonder what will happen once it becomes known that he is also the incarnation of Chaos itself?"

Hecate's face paled, emotion finally showing on it.

The last sister of the Fates laughed lightly, her other sisters joining in not long after.

Started 8/29/09 –Completed 8/4/10

A/n: Yay! So you finally know why I have Ace with Harry! Okay, for an exact idea of when this is happening JLU-wise, it's after "The Balance" (hence Wonderwoman and Shayera on better terms now), but before "Epilogue" (because of Ace). However, it's also probably before "Hunter's Moon" too since they're in negotiations with the Thanagarians, and by that episode Thanagar has fallen. Next chapter should go right into some of the mentionings of that episode actually…(I'm probably going to take lots of liberties with the episodes concerning Greek myths because I am going by the original myths rather than the DC mythology, and also some liberties with aforementioned mentionings of "Hunter's Moon" episode.)