A/N: So, sorry it's been so long. I've had this chapter written for a while, but I haven't posted it because... *Sniffle* I was low-key holding out hope that it didn't have to happen this way. But, unfortunately, the good must come to an end. Maybe I'll one day write a spinoff where James and Lily don't have to die? That'd be nice. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

PLEASE NOTE that this leaves off at a cliffhanger. The next update will take a few months (likely, knowing myself). So if you'd rather wait for that chapter, then do so. Until then, please enjoy! And Happy Christmas!

With Hermes' permission, Sirius and James had informed Peter and Remus that there was a fifth Marauder. They didn't say who—it was only right that Hermes tell them that part himself—but the two were understandably surprised.

"What do you mean there's a fifth one, now?" Remus blinked.

"Our friend, Talon—that's his Marauder name—we've known him for a while, now. It really seemed only right." James explained. "But he's pretty shy, which is why you haven't met him yet. Actually, he's the one who saved my life last year. Remember that incident with the magic-eating spell?"

"He was the one who saved you? How? Even the healers at St. Mungo's couldn't do anything!" Remus crossed his arms.

"He had a very powerful magical artifact." Sirius explained. "It consumed and froze the spell."

"T-that's possible?" Peter gasped. "Wh-who is he? D-do we know him?"

"I mean, you might've heard of him, but he didn't go to Hogwarts... at least, I don't think he did." James mused, a secretive grin on his face that Sirius matched.

"And Lily is just fine with this stranger coming along out of nowhere?"

"Lily invites him over all the time." James grinned. "He practically lives with us part-time."

"I mean, Harry's first word was calling him daddy, right?" Sirius grinned as James pouted.

"His second was calling me dada, so we're even."

"I feel like I'm missing something important, here." Remus frowned. Why was James okay with this other man being called dad by Harry? Shouldn't that have been incredibly offensive? Not to mention the fact that this guy has spent enough time around Harry that the child looks at him as a father. He was missing something. Something big.

"He'll explain it to you when you meet him." Sirius promised. "When're you guys free next?"

"Erm... I was hoping to stop by sometime after Halloween." Remus smiled. "I'll be back from my mission then."

"I-I can c-come too." Peter stuttered, glancing around nervously.

"Are you sure you can't make it for Halloween?" James pouted. He really wanted to show off their costume for Harry. It was going to be adorable!! He couldn't wait to see Hermes' reaction, too!

"Sorry. Dumbledore's sending me to Albania. Even with international portkeys, you know it'll drain me far too much. I should be able to come the day after Halloween though. If you really want me to come that soon."

"I knew I could count on you, Remus!" James cheered.

"You guys realize Halloween is less than two weeks away, right?" Sirius smirked as the two blinked in surprise. Peter paled a bit.

"You'll have to take pictures of his costume." Remus noted.

"Of course." James grinned.

linelinelinelineline

Lily had woken up on October 31st with a sickening feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right. At first, she waited to see if it'd go away, but as the morning continued, she realized it only grew stronger.

"Maybe we shouldn't go trick-or-treating tonight." She decided, despite the fact that they'd gotten Harry into his costume.

"Aw, Lils, but why?" James pouted. "Harry's so cute! It'd be criminal not to show him off!" He gestured to the one-year-old who was happily poking the winged sandals on his feet. Wrapped in a white and gold toga with a small traveler's hat, he looked like a miniature Hermes. Lily snapped several pictures, and sent some to Hermes on a timed message.

"Just a bad feeling." She swallowed, trying to quell her anxiety. She was shaky and antsy, like she needed to be somewhere else.

"Then we'll stay home. The wards will keep us safe. Nothing can break through a Fidelius Charm—not even Hermes could get passed it before we shared the address with him." James assured.

"Perhaps... maybe we should enable the floo?"

"Nonsense." James shook his head. "We'll be fine. Besides, enabling the floo would only open us to more danger."

"You're right." Lily finally sighed. "We're safe here. We'll just stay home tonight."

"He's so cute, though." James pouted.

"I can't wait to see the look on Hermes' face." Lily agreed.

"Didn't you send some pictures to him?" James frowned.

"Set on a timer. Just in case he's running late."

"Oh yeah, he's got that party thing, doesn't he?"

"It's the celebration of Apokries—the Greek holiday of Halloween." Lily explained. "Apparently it's an important gathering that he can't afford to miss. He'll be here whenever he manages to escape." Though she really wanted him there now. Her feeling was getting worse as the last rays of sunlight vanished over the horizon.

"C'mon." James picked up Harry and grabbed Lily's hand. "You look like you could use a glass of wine and a nice movie."

"And to think you said muggles were boring."

"Their movies are good." James argued with a grin.

But even with a bit of wine and a good sappy film, her feeling ate away at her. Her instincts were going haywire and she triple checked the wards to make sure everything was in place. James was entertaining Harry absently with some colored smoke from his wand, and Harry was trying to steal James' wand—a nasty habit he'd picked up from Hermes.

Eventually, Harry managed to snatch the wand from his father in a moment of accidental magic. James didn't even have the heart to be mad, because the magic was really quite marvelous. Harry waved it like he'd seen his father do, but nothing happened. Frustrated, he threw the wand across the room, earning a shout from James.

Lily was about to say something when there was a knock at the door. The two frowned. Hermes had a key—he'd never knock. Remus was out on a mission and Peter was tending to his ill mother. Dumbledore was an option, but Lily distinctly recalled him saying that he had some ministry business to tend to. James warily retrieved his wand as Lily picked Harry up in her arms. Her feeling tripled as James approached the door.

Before he could even reach it, the doorway exploded, and it was only Hermes' gift of speed that allowed James to dodge the bright green spell. "It's him!" James cried out in alarm. "Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run!"

Her heart raced in her chest and as much as she wanted to take James with her, she knew that Harry was her first priority.

"Hermes! We need you! Please hurry!" She prayed, hoping that somehow, things would be okay.

She ran up the stairs, trying to keep Harry quiet. Lily hung a sharp right and slammed the door of the nursery shut before hastily barricading the entrance. She tried to apparate, but Voldemort must've put up anti-apparation wards.

She was trapped. Their emergency portkey wasn't working, the wards had failed them...

With a sickening feeling, she realized what this meant. Peter had betrayed them. Her only hope was that Hermes heard her prayer and was on his way.

She heard slow deliberate footsteps coming up the stairs. Tears ran down her face when she realized that James was more than likely dead. She couldn't wait. Hermes had explained more than once that some gods simply would not let things be. He must've gotten hung up, and she couldn't blame him.

She set Harry down in his crib and prayed to a different god. One that many would consider dark. She'd planned for every scenario she could think of, and she really hoped this worked.

A presence entered the room. He was tall and dark with ash-grey eyes that shimmered like moving shadows. "Lord Thanatos." She bowed.

He raised an eyebrow. "What business does a Daughter of Athena have with me?" His eyes flickered to Harry for a moment before his attention was drawn to the footsteps. "Begging for your life?"

"No. Not mine." She assured. "I'm here to make a wager."

"A wager?" He let an amused smirk flicker. "Mortals cannot wager with death." His smirk fell abruptly when she held up James' invisibility cloak.

"I believe this is yours. A cloak so powerful it can hide one from even you. I will return this to you, and give my life willingly—so long as you make sure my son survives this night."

Thanatos' eyes sharpened as he considered the options. "I will not bless your son." He decided. "I can sense he's already strong enough without my blessing, and death does not bless." Lily opened her mouth to argue, when Thanatos raised his hand. "However, I can ensure he will not perish this night so long as you hold up your end of the deal." He held out his hand for the cloak, which Lily handed over without hesitation.

The god studied the cloth for a moment. "Very well. It seems... we have an agreement." He then vanished.

For a moment, Lily panicked. Had he tricked her? Had she just handed over the cloak for nothing? She didn't have the time to think about it when Voldemort tried the handle. She turned and picked up her son for what she felt in her bones would be the last time. "Mommy loves you, Harry. Never forget that. So does your daddy and your dada." She kissed his forehead. "I'm sure your dad will protect you—you're the most important person in the world to him."

Her eyes caught the time and she winced. It was no wonder Hermes wasn't there yet—from the time Voldemort had knocked on the door to now, only three minutes had passed. James had been no match for him in such close quarters, and Lily suspected that Thanatos had some kind of time-slowing effect.

She set Harry down in his crib as Voldemort finally blasted down the door. "Not Harry! Please, not Harry!"

"Stand aside girl!" He ordered, and Lily had a brief moment of wonder. She'd never heard of the man attempting to spare anyone. Regardless, she would never stand aside when this man was after her baby.

"Have mercy! He's only a child! Please, take me instead! Not Harry!"

"I gave you a chance. Avada Kedavra!"

The last thing Lily saw was the bright green light of the Killing Curse. I'm sorry.

linelinelinelineline

Hermes was bored. He did not want to be at the Apokries celebration. He also still needed to explain a few things to Aphrodite, because he owed her that from Harry's birthday in July.

"Well there. It's rare to find you around these days." Aphrodite smirked, sitting down beside him with Athena on his other side. Oh, great. They were double-teaming him!

"I covered for you. You owe me an explanation." The blond goddess huffed, crossing her arms.

"And I was forced to help her cover for you, so I'm going to need one, too." Athena agreed.

"Look, I'll explain, but..." He glanced around. There were too many people. Too many ears. Too many opportunities to jeopardize, not only Harry's safety, but the safety of James, Sirius, and Lily too.

"Fine, I know a place." Athena sighed, picking up on his silent cue. She led the two into a smaller side room with a large open window. "Okay. Nobody will overhear us here. Now talk. You've been anxious and flighty lately—more than normal. You've taken a sudden interest in your demigods, and have even started to mature a bit. I don't think I've seen you pull a prank once this month. You've hardly even been on Olympus, spending most of your time on Earth, and you've been in a suspiciously good mood for the last year."

"So explain." Aphrodite finished, giving Athena an appraising look.

Hermes winced. He hadn't thought he'd been that bad at hiding it. "You must promise not to tell anyone. I mean it. If you spill this secret and get him killed, I will never forgive you."

The two women flinched back in surprise. Hermes was rarely serious, and it was an even rarer occasion to find him legitimately angry or threatening. He was typically easygoing, so he supposed he could understand why they were intimidated.

"I swear on the River Styx." Aphrodite finally said, and Hermes nodded, satisfied. He turned to Athena, expectantly.

"I'm not swearing anything on the river." She glared. "But so long as it doesn't put anyone else in danger, I'll keep quiet."

He supposed that was the best he was going to get with Athena. "Fine. The truth is th—"

"Hermes!" Lily's voice rang loudly in his head, panicked and desperate. "We need you! Please hurry!"

At once, Hermes felt his stomach drop. He paled and activated his shoes with little thought. "I'll explain later!" He was about to leap out the window when Aphrodite blocked him.

"Oh, no you don't. You owe us that explanation." She crossed her arms, unable to see the panic in his eyes with the dim lighting of a nearly new moon.

"I don't have time for that." Hermes argued, fighting to keep calm. Lily was in danger. James was in danger. Harry was in danger. "I need to go."

"You just—"

"Aphrodite." Hermes cut her off, a steel in his voice. "Someone I love is in mortal danger. If you will not step aside, then I will make you."

The two women shared a look that Hermes felt lasted far too long. "Fine." Aphrodite stated, stepping aside.

"But we're coming, too." Athena stated, grabbing Hermes' arm.

"I don't have time for this." He muttered. "Fine. Then come." He felt Aphrodite grab his other arm. "Hold on, because if you fall off I'm not coming back for you." He warned before taking off at his top speed.

He arrived at Godric's Hollow to a disaster. The front door was blown in and Hermes felt his pulse quicken. No. He couldn't have been too late! He was the fastest of all the gods! He had to have made it in time!

He rushed in through the front door just in time to see James laying, dead. "James..." His eyes were wide as his head snapped towards the stairs. He took them three at a time, hardly registering Athena and Aphrodite following behind him.

The nursery door was blown open, too, and Lily was laying dead by the crib. He distantly heard Athena gasp lightly, likely recognizing her daughter. But Hermes didn't care as he slowly approached the crib, dread building up inside him.

It was empty.

"Harry?" He called out, looking around desperately. Harry's favorite stuffed animal—the dog that Sirius had gotten him—was abandoned in the crib alongside the stag and ram. Hermes saw a small amount of blood in the crib that he just knew belonged to his son. "Harry?!" He whipped around, storming past the two stunned goddesses as he searched the house from top to bottom, calling out for his son. He sent out pulses of his divinity, but couldn't find him. He wasn't anywhere around, and if even Hermes couldn't find him, then he could very well be...

No, he had to be wrong. Harry was alive. He had to be. "Ha—"

"Hermes." Athena placed both hands on his shoulders, stopping him mid-call. There was a concern in her eye that Hermes immediately felt guilty for. He must've looked bad if Athena was concerned.

Hermes abruptly realized he was in the nursery again, and numbly approached the crib on the dying hopes that maybe he'd missed him. It was still empty.

He fell to his knees. A pain the likes of which he'd never felt had him screaming in rage and grief. There were several clinks as crystallized tears hit the floor.

Aphrodite gasped lightly, sharing a stunned look with Athena. "Hermes, what is going on?"

"He's gone." He clenched his fist, trying to ground himself somehow. "Hadrian... my son. He's gone."

"Your son?" Athena furrowed his brows.

"Yes, my son!" He snapped. "I have to find him."

"Calm down." Aphrodite soothed, pulling him into a hug. "We'll help you, but you must calm yourself."

Hermes phone buzzed abruptly, and he went for it on reflex, nearly dropping it when he realized it was from Lily. It must've been a timed text, then. He opened it, wondering if she may have sent Harry to play with the Longbottom family.

Instead, he saw Harry in a costume of him, his bright smile made the ache in his heart worse. The message read, "Harry's been waiting for you! Come home soon so we can have some candy. ;) Look who's dressed like daddy!"

His heart broke.

linelinelinelineline

Athena wasn't sure what to think. She'd suspected that Hermes had found a mortal lover—perhaps someone he'd become seriously involved with beyond the typical one-time hook-up. It seemed that this was the case... until it wasn't.

She had never seen the carefree god look so destroyed. The moment he saw the empty crib, it was like his entire world crumbled. And when it finally set in that whatever child was there was truly gone... well, Hermes' scream would certainly haunt her nightmares for a few centuries.

It didn't make sense though. He'd had many demigod children, so why did this one seem to matter so much to him? It took a lot to make a god cry—crying was just not in their biology. Tears of gods were physical manifestations of their divinity—not simply fluids produced by their bodies. The fact that Hermes felt so strongly that his divinity produced tears was staggering. The last time she'd seen a god cry was Aphrodite at Adonis' death.

Apparently seeing him cry was the last straw for Aphrodite, because she looked nearly equally pained.

Learning that Hermes had a son (albeit a very adorable one judging by the photograph on his phone) wasn't a surprise. But learning he had a son with one of her daughters assuredly was.

Unfortunately, Hermes was in no state to answer any of their questions. Instead, they settled in for a long night of looking for his missing son. Something interesting that they found was that Hadrian—his son's name—was being hailed by the Wizards of Britain as their savior for ridding them of Voldemort—the cause of the European war that'd been going on for the last few years.

The evidence pointed to Hadrian being alive, which significantly improved Hermes' mental state. Athena and Aphrodite both breathed a sigh of relief when he'd calmed down at the news that his son was alive and seemingly unharmed.

Even still, the fact that none of them could locate him was worrying. "His divinity should be strong enough to sense..." Athena muttered aloud as they walked down the sidewalk of London. Wizards were out in droves, but the mundane mortals seemed to pay it no mind due to the holiday.

"I gave him an amulet to dampen his divinity." Hermes explained. "It was far too dangerous—he's powerful."

"How powerful?" Athena's eyes narrowed.

"Godling powerful." He said seriously, staring her in the eye as if daring her to try something. Why was he so damn protective of this one kid?

Then his words registered. "He's a godling?"

They were excessively rare. Godlings were essentially mortal-born gods, usually created when too many demigods mixed together too closely. Or, as seems to be this case, a demigod and a god.

Zeus would not be happy. It was no wonder Hermes wanted them to keep quiet. "I guess that changes things a bit, doesn't it?" Aphrodite sighed, causing Athena to reluctantly nod.

Godlings were essentially gods. Very young gods, but gods nonetheless. Even Zeus couldn't deny that. That meant that Hadrian had as much right to stay on Olympus as Hermes himself did. As per the old codes, Hermes would have custody of the child, and any wrongs Hadrian had done would fall automatically upon Hermes until the young god was of-age.

It also meant that, while it was technically illegal for someone to outright kill him, if a monster just happened to find the boy, then it was simply an accident. Athena had no illusions that some of the other gods would kill the child first chance they got simply due to his nature. After all, godlings were oftentimes amongst the most powerful gods due to their mixed heritage.

"Stop glaring at me." Athena huffed, sending a glare of her own towards Hermes. "I have no reason to inform anyone of this child's existence."

"And you've already got my vow of secrecy." Aphrodite nodded. "But you do owe me pictures. He looks adorable!" She gushed. Athena barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Come on. It's late enough as it is. We aren't going to find him by searching tonight." Athena reasoned. Hermes' eyes flashed in something she couldn't quite name, but it was something akin to panic or anger. "We'll continue in the morning." She headed him off before he could start. "There's no sense in running around without direction. We'll grab some supplies from home and pick the trail back up tomorrow."

"Fine." Hermes huffed.

"Here." Aphrodite held out something to Hermes. "You dropped these." She deposited the tears he'd shed into his hand. There were five of them. He clenched them for a moment before shoving them into his pocket. "We'll find him, Hermes." The blond goddess assured him.

"I hope so."