Work Text:
31 October 1981
The Deity’s gaze deepened on her but Lily Evans Potter didn’t look away. The power of it could render any Mortal breathless and helpless, yet the redhead was reckless and resolved.
Eros wanted to discover more things about her. The witch was fearless and he could respect that.
She dared summon him, interrupting his leisure time in his favourite Shrine at Thespiae and he intended to get to the bottom of that.
He moved closer until his sapphire eyes discerned every drop of blood running from the cut on her palm. He studied the Ancient Runes she drew around the crib and frowned.
A Sacrificial Ritual.
So, her act of ultimate love was what invoked him. He heard her prayers from afar and detected her desperation and determination.
Mortals linked him to carnal love and pleasure. It saddened him that few understood the real meaning of love.
His blessing came in all forms and shapes for love was boundless.
Love was first and from it sprang life and all creation. Love was the most complicated feeling. It consisted of different sizes and forms and few were lucky enough to grasp its true meaning.
A mother’s love, however, was faith. There was strength and a blessing so large in it that a child could travel as far as he wished without having to step outside.
It was madness and nobility and sacrifice and looking at the teary emerald eyes, Eros smiled wistfully.
"Are you certain you want this, Mortal? Are you ready to trade all the love your heart contains for your child’s life?” Eros’ voice was low and rueful.
In the witch’s eyes, he saw the answer. Like an autumn leaf, the strength of the join between her soul and the Tree of Life had weakened and soon the wind of death would blow it away.
“I am,” the woman clenched her bloody fists tightly as her green gaze pleaded with him to believe her. “I love nothing in this world more than my Rose. James and I won’t survive the night, I can feel it in my blood. But Rose…Rose deserves to be saved.”
At that moment, the kneeling Lily Evans Potter seemed more impressive than any God he had ever encountered.
How he wished he could land her a helping hand. Alas, that was strictly forbidden. Zeus would have his golden bow and beloved arrows if he dared break the Primordial Rule: Never get involved with Mortals.
“Wing…Birdy…” the high-pitched gasp made Eros turn his head toward the crib.
His sapphire gaze met the wide green eyes of the little girl gripping the edge of her crib tightly and looking at him with awe.
Although he had been to different realms and dimensions thanks to the Portals he had created over the eons, he seldom interacted with toddlers.
Unwittingly, he smiled and strode toward the enormous crib. The girl looked at him in stunned silence and his lips curled in amusement.
Lily’s sniff made him turn abruptly. The innocent action created a causal nexus that would haunt him for years to come.
A golden arrow slid from his quiver and prickled the back of the toddler’s hand.
Eros’ heart banged in his ears and time stopped as a golden light spilled around her, making her appear almost otherworldly.
The dazzling light seeped into Rose’s skin and disappeared and the girl’s eyes shone molten gold for a second. She blinked slowly, looking dazed and he closed his eyes in defeat.
Eros felt a deep well of trepidation overwhelm his entire being. He was not meant to bond with a Mortal, was warned against committing this grave sin.
“That—” he paused to let his heart slow down. “She just…”
What in damnation was he going to do? And how would the Olympian Gods receive the news?
He spent centuries waiting for his Psyche, the other half of his soul; the only woman meant for him. How could he ruin everything in a heartbeat?
“Then my daughter shall not be alone,” Lily’s hoarse voice made him look down at the redhead.
Her eyes were seas of passion, resolved and feral. Sorrow, joy, anguish, compassion, fury, and a hope so powerful that it emanated from her every pore and drowned him.
“Your Reverence,’’ the word rolled off her tongue breathlessly. “The Fates had been cruel. They filled her destiny with uncertainty, death and destruction. But it will all be over one day. Rose will be safe. Everything will be blissfully normal and she will enjoy the life we were denied. Please, don’t forsake her when the time comes.”
Eros sighed. He couldn’t let himself contemplate the alternative. It felt as if he was trying to swim against a sea cursed by Poseidon, determined to drag him down.
Only time would tell if Rose Potter could surmount the trials waiting for her now that she had claimed his love for he was certain that the Gods watching from Mount Olympus had already started devising Epic Tests for his bride.
➽──────────────❥
28 August 1998
Rose Potter’s Gladiator sandals didn’t make much noise as she enjoyed her walk under the shady trees on the cobbled, narrow path.
She couldn’t understand what compelled her to leave everything behind and take a trip to Greece, yet the beauty of Livadeia confirmed the soundness of her abrupt decision.
She could hear the tales of old carried by the swift breeze, the tales of the Thespians who joined Leonidas at Thermopylae and remained to perish with the three hundred Spartans. She could feel the magic surrounding Mount Helicon, even though she hadn’t stepped into the Magical district yet.
She could hear the call of the Shrine at Thespiae…
A small smile adorned her lips as she admired the view and immersed herself in the peaceful tickling of River Herkyna.
She had never been to another country and with her job done in Wizarding Britain, she reckoned it was time she made good use of the fortune she inherited from the Potters and the Blacks.
Most days, she was fine. She allowed herself to believe she was healing from her ordeal.
Some days, however, she was back at Hogwarts Battle, looking at Remus, Tonks and Fred’s motionless bodies.
On these days, the stark contrast that existed between reality and the memories in her head made her understand that there was nothing as full healing.
The years she spent fighting and crying and praying and losing all that she held dear were an ingrained part of her and it was time she accepted her past and lived with it.
It was time she started anew.
She looked down at the back of her left hand and her nerves tingled with awareness.
She knew she was stalling and running away from the inevitable but…
She had to know. She had to find out the truth behind the heart-shaped small scar she had since she could recall.
She remembered sapphire eyes and golden wings from the night she lost her parents. She remembered the soft, whispered words. “We’ll meet again when your trial is over.”
The beguiling sound was a pivotal part of her memories she had never let go of. It was with her when she fought, when she cried and when she smiled.
It floated back to her when she was cold and lonely and urged her to persevere.
She watched the silver water from the shadow of trees and knew she had to have her answer.
With his voice inside her head like a pulse, she closed her eyes and imagined the foot of Mount Helicos, where Eros’ shrine stood.
Carpeted with peonies and Olympus Yarrow, the splendor of the meadows surrounding the Shrine washed over her.
Rose smiled and lifted the skirt of her long white summer dress to run through the luxuriant field.
She stopped beneath the shade of an old Olive tree and sucked in a breath.
The scene before her was transcendental.
All around the stark white marble columns of the building, the trees shed their dainty blossoms at the slight breeze. Like snowflakes in summer, hundreds of tiny petals drifted through the air, most of them coming to rest upon the water, covering its gleaming surface.
The murmuring of the waves was hypnotic. They oozed into the clear beach. The palpitating pulse of the sea was steady and peaceful and the plinking of the wave music was a balm to her soul.
However, what made her cheeks burn and her heartbeat skyrocket was the Being standing in the middle of that paradise.
Only children of Mageia and followers of the Vetus Religio were allowed inside the premise.
Nevertheless, there was no way he was human.
Golden columns of light glistened off the corded, tanned muscles that sculpted his naked chest and upper arms. His blond hair tumbled over his wide shoulders.
His piercing, iridescent eyes raved over her body and kissed every part of it at once.
There was sheer delight on his perfect face when he lifted it to the sky as if he was murmuring a silent prayer.
Heart wild, Rose gasped at the colour of the eyes gazing back at her. They seemed to have absorbed the rich blue of the sky while reflecting the emerald green of her orbs. A moment later, they shone molten gold.
Her head snapped down when her oldest scar, the first of her rich collection, started throbbing. She ran her forefinger over it and was intrigued when a faint light came off the heart-shaped design.
“You’re here,” he called out, his voice reeking virility and making her shudder.
“I—“ she breathed ruggedly.
He glided toward her effortlessly, his white linen pants making a striking contrast with his tanned skin.
The blossoms wavered around him in ripples and she filled her lungs with the heady smell of the different flowers mixed with the sea gust.
He offered his hand and her eyes widened when she noticed the matching scar on the back of his left hand.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Rose for seventeen years. The Council of Olympian Gods had forbidden any interaction with you before you finished your trials. I’m sorry, my love. I had to watch from afar while you battled for your life over and over again. At least Thanatos had the foresight to give your forebearers three pieces of his soul; three pieces you collected. You’re Immortal now, Rose. Mount Olympus has no say in our bonding anymore,” he promised silkily.
His voice was the softest breeze on a sweltering day, lulling in its gentleness, calming Rose’s anxious heart.
She looked at his offered hand and spluttered. “But…who are you?”
To her shock and fascination, he grinned and two golden wings sprouted from his back. The silky feathers fluttered up and down in the sea zephyr and her throat cinched around a lump.
She wanted to run away, to apparate and disappear but she couldn’t.
She had fallen under a spell, enchanted by the memories that flooded her head at once.
“I promised your mother that I would take care of you. I am Eros and you’re my Psyche,” he said softly. “I asked Morpheus to never let you forget about me. From this day on, all the love I’m harnessing is yours. “
Rose’s eyes beseeched him to stop for she was holding her composure by a thread. Hot tears burned behind her lowered eyelids and she gulped.
It was him …
The golden-winged Angel from her dreams. She hadn’t been hallucinating like Petunia proclaimed when she spoke of her dreams years ago.
He was real and he was…there.
Eros lifted her hand to his lips and she shuddered when their skin touched. “I’ve been watching over you, Rose. You are a stellar witch and an amazing woman. You deserve to be appreciated for who you are. You deserve to be hugged and spoiled. You deserve all the happiness in this Realm and beyond. You deserve to be loved.”
Rose wanted to freeze that moment and live in her private dream. She wanted to savour the words she had yearned for time and again.
Sunlight cascaded down Eros’ hair as he lowered his head. Despite being 5 ft 11, she was no match for the towering God of Love.
He ran his fingers lightly down her bare arm and stilled when he grazed her Basilisk scar. He reached her hand and his eyes narrowed when he touched the vile words Umbridge forced her to write.
“You are the strongest woman I know,” he murmured, making his much larger fingers thread through hers.
Rose’s body jolted at his tender touch as though he were made of lightning.
She had dreamed so long of someone touching her with so much love and reverence.
She had dreamed that she was loved so passionately by the winged man yet she never imagined how charged with life the real thing could be.
Slowly, thoughtfully, he bent his head forward, parting his full lips. Merlin help her, he was about to kiss her and she was so ready for it.
Unable to resist, Rose watched him until she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face. His tongue slid across her lips just before he captured her gasp with his mouth.
Her spine melted. He pulled her closer and her legs grew weak as his kiss became more passionate.
In the space of each new breath, his tongue searched more longingly, drank her in more deeply, while his arms snaked around her waist, pulling her closer still until she felt completely and utterly consumed by him.
He flooded her senses. She could hear him breathing, and smell the scent of the field that clung to him.
She was being swept away, drowning in the endless waves that were Eros’ passions until she ceased to know herself, and knew only him.
When he finally withdrew, she linked her hands around his neck and slowly, caressed the top of one wing.
Eros groaned and closed his eyes and to her mortification, he smirked. “It’s too early for that, my love. My wings are quite sensitive.”
She blushed furiously and his lips curled into a wide, hungry grin while he drank her face in.
How could she forget for a heartbeat the identity of the God who carried half of her soul?
Their journey had started with a mother’s sacrifice and there shall be eternal love in their grateful hearts.