Harry Potter and Percy Jackson: Dark Waters

Hestia looked slightly uncomfortable, but Helios' presence radiated gratitude to her, and she offered a smile to the statue. "You're quite welcome," she offered, and Harry didn't know whether that was to him, or to Helios.

"Hestia and I are going to cook," Harry told the statue. "I'll be sure to leave you your share!"

For a moment, it felt like Helios' presence hugged him, before receding. Harry stepped away, smiling widely. Poseidon grinned back; he could start to understand what Hestia saw in the boy, and why she was helping him. For once, he was confronted by a mortal who didn't just bow and scrape, afraid of retribution. Instead, he was being treated like a normal living being; rather than as an angry weapon about to go off. It was quite liberating, and Poseidon reminded himself that he should do things like this more often.

Harry waved as the god stepped into the sea and disappeared. Still grinning, imitating many children that came before him, the small boy hopped over the tiny waves that lapped at the shoreline, laughing loudly as he did so.

Hestia's smile turned into a small grin. "Divine teleportation is not suitable for non-gods," she explained. "If you even survived, it would be exceedingly painful. Traveling through fire is something that any mortal or demigod can do with the right tools." She released his hand, and touched his shoulder. "How about, after dinner, I show you how to do it by yourself? I'll even show you some other things, if you want," she offered.

Harry thought she sounded tentative. Did she think he would say no? Who would say no to learning how to travel by fire? Or other things that the Goddess of the Hearth wanted to teach?

"That'd be great, Hestia!" Harry shouted, excited.

Hestia smiled back at his exuberance, and unbeknownst to Harry, offered a minor boon through her contact with his shoulder. It wasn't much, but Harry would probably be pleased with it; the ability to travel through fire and take someone with him, the ability to start a minor fire when fuel was available for it, and a minor ability for fire-gazing. It would help him with the lessons she was planning to give him.

For now, she had promised to cook with him, and she always enjoyed cooking with other people.

00000

"Thank you for taking me to the beach and teaching me to swim, Mister Poseidon!" Harry said excitedly. He hesitated for just a moment, then stepped in and gave the God of the Seas a big hug.

Poseidon, to his credit, hugged the boy back despite his surprise at the hug. " You're quite welcome, Harry," the much-mellowed god replied. Poseidon knew himself and his history well enough to remember that there had been a time he wouldn't have bothered teaching a young mortal how to sim, let alone allow said boy to hug him. He turned away from the baking lasagna and stood up.

"Hi Hestia!" he greeted, giving his favorite goddess a welcome hug. She hugged him back.

"Hello, Harry," the kind Goddess of the Hearth greeted him back. "How was your afternoon at the beach?"

"It was great!" the young boy enthused. "Mister Poseidon was great, and he taught me to swim in the sea, and he told me that I could go and visit the beach any time I wanted!"

Sure, he knew how to swim now, but jumping waves was fun.

Part of him regretted that Mister Poseidon had to leave. Harry understood, though. As God of the Sea, Poseidon was quite busy. He just wished he could spend more time with the god; he'd been great fun and a great teacher.

Jumping away from a small wave, as if afraid that it would catch him, Harry walked up the beach. It was time for him to get back to the temple; he had some cooking to do. Hopefully, Hestia would drop by so he could tell her of the exciting afternoon he'd had.

Finding some driftwood, Harry gathered quite a small pile, and dug a pit in the loose sand. Putting the twigs and branches of driftwood in the pit, he used the skill that Hestia had taught him to light it on fire. The pit would protect it against the wind, and prevent the fire from spreading.

Once the branches had caught on fire, Harry waved his hand. "Harry Potter lives in Mister Helios' Temple," he told the fire. It turned green at his command, and Harry stepped through, immediately arriving in the fireplace of the temple.

He stepped out of the fireplace, turned, and watched the fire turn back to its normal yellow-orange-red colors. He focused for a moment, and found the fire on the beach he had just left. Reaching out with the abilities Hestia had taught him, Harry turned the fire off. There was no sense in letting it burn and cause potential issues, even if he had dug a small fire pit and it was on a beach with nothing but sand.

After changing out of his swimming trunks and into his regular clothes, Harry made his way to the kitchen. Reaching his destination, Harry took out Hestia's recipe book, and flipped through it, trying to determine what he would make for dinner.

Half an hour later, Harry was watching the lasagna bake in his oven. Having become highly attuned to fire ever since Hestia taught him how to make fire and travel through it, Harry heard his hearth flare up. Harry nodded. " That's ok. I understand why she didn't help me."

"She wants to make it up to you, though. Again, not that she will admit it out loud," Hestia said with a small laugh. "She came to see me to ask my advice. She wants to take you to the camp of her Hunters. As she's quite busy, she doesn't have a lot of time to teach you, so bringing you to her Hunters would allow for her lieutenant, Zoë Nightshade, to teach you for longer periods of time."

Harry looked at Hestia. "Really?" he asked, excitedly.

Hestia smiled and listened as Harry told her about his visit to the beach. She hid the fact that she felt sad about how enthusiastic Harry was over a simple visit to the beach, and about how he had been given permission to visit the beach whenever he wanted.

There were times she thought that had curse on the Dursleys hadn't been strong enough. Then she remembered Hermes' advice, and cursing their situation was about the best she could do. Fire would never warm them and no home would ever shelter or protect them. They would be cold and paranoid for the rest of their lives.

Hopefully, anyway.

"So I made lasagna," Harry finished his tale. He checked the oven. "It should be done in another 20 minutes or so. Would you like some?"

Hestia smiled, banishing her darker thoughts. "I would love some," she said. It wasn't often that she had the time to join Harry for a meal, but she loved doing so when she was able. Being the Goddess of the Home, there was nothing homelier for her than to share a good meal.

Noticing the recipe book still open on the counter, she idly flipped through it while the lasagna baked. "Artie came to see me earlier," she said.

"Oh?" Harry asked, his focus on the oven again. "I haven't seen her since Mister Zeus wanted to kick me out."