Chapter Text
Harry loved his twin brother, he really did. Zagreus Potter had always been by his side. His elder twin had always done his best to protect him from Dudley. They had shared every struggle - except for the scrutiny created by the Boy-who-Lived moniker. Even then, he understood Harry like no one else could.
Zagreus, however, had always been a bit weird. It wasn't because of his looks, though is heterochromia had given Aunt Petunia fits on a regular basis and still made some older Hogwarts professors nervous.
No, it was something that went deeper than that. It was the way he knew things before being told, the way he would sometimes think in tangents or attract the weirdest attention from all kinds of strange individuals. It didn’t matter though; because they were together. Harry could go with the flow.
| Prologue: Nyx and Zeus |
“Avada Kedavra!”
The mortal witch fell, dead before she hit the ground. As her soul came untethered, her body still lay between her enemy and the crib where her sons were in danger. Lily’s spirit cried out in shock and anger, watching the tableau in front of her. She lurched forward, trying to attack Voldemort even if she knew it was too late.
A hand, impossibly pale, rested gently on her arm, stopping her while he advanced to the crib.
— Fear not, child. Your son’s destiny is entwined with mine. We shall defend him from that fiend. Let go, and rest —
Powerless to stop the will of the goddess, but carrying that reassurance in her heart of hearts, the shade of Lily departed for the plains of Elysium.
Unable to hear the gentle voice that promised his destruction, the Dark Lord lifted his wand, considering for a moment. He had chosen the half-blood children, certain that if his nemesis was to be born, it would be one of them.
He looked at the green-eyed twin, and the phoenix core of his wand shuddered. Deep in his tattered soul, he recognized the touch of fate linking them together. Without his mind being aware of the reasons for his decision, he aimed at him first, and cast the killing curse.
He never saw his first death coming. A second later, the room lit up in a flash of lightning. The wand clattered to the ground, the sound almost out of place in the heavy silence left in the wake of the magical explosion.
The green-eyed twin started to sob, covering his ears. In the sudden oppressive darkness, a white-haired man with a golden crown shaped like twin lightning bolts materialized for a moment, soothing him with practiced ease. "Hush now, young wizard. This is but your first battle, but with my blessing you have been victorious. We shall keep watch over you, for as long as you keep the favour of one of our family."
When the baby's cries subsided into hiccups, the figure turned to the other twin, holding his gaze for a moment before starting to melt into the ether, as if he had never been there. His words echoed in the otherwise silent nursery.
“Well, Nephew. It was a pleasure to aid you. Maybe when this is all over, we can see about you finally coming to Olympus for a visit!”
The unmarked twin, whose right eye glowed an otherworldly red, seemed to acknowledge the final words of the disembodied voice, nodding with something that approached solemnity before he laid on his back again, keeping watch over his exhausted little brother.