Title: Hermione Granger and the Centaur Boy
Author: EV /Rhonda Weasley
E-Mail: lady_vader21@yahoo.com
Timeline: future fic, post-Hogwarts years


Chapter One: Abandoned
Summary: An abandoned centaur baby is found by Hagrid and chooses a new mother, Hermione.

author's note 1: Had to make a decision about Centaurs and how quickly they age. Now, as most people know, a horse comes to maturity at a much faster rate than a human, but since a centaur isn't exactly a horse, but not exactly human either, how fast do the babies mature? So I decided that they mature faster than humans' in some ways (obviously they would likely become mobile as quick as a colt), but in other ways they mature at a more human rate.

author's note 2: How fun it is to write Hagrid... not. The problem with Hagrid is trying to figure out how to make his speech Hagrid-like without making him sound foolish. That was the hardest part of this fic. I hope I did a decent job of it.

author's note 3: Just a minor little thing. It is implied Hermione and Ron were together and broke up. And they parted on bad terms. I'm not trying to make Ron look like a bad guy, but usually when couples part on bad terms they see the other persons the bad guy, so Hermione may sound a little bitter on the subject in chapter one.



Hagrid heard a piercing cry in the forbidden forest. A sound of extreme pain. He followed the sound and soon came upon a snarling wolf attacking something small. He managed to scare him away. Then the moonlight revealed an almost human face. A baby human face. But he could see the crying creature wasn't human at all, it was a centaur. He was quite an unusual baby centaur. His coat was almost golden. In the center of his head there was a mark, a quite unusual mark, it seemed to be a birthmark in the shape of a star. And his blood was... he was bleeding. The wolf had bitten his leg. Hagrid took off his coat and wrapped the baby in it. Then he carried him back to his hut. The baby centaur needed rest and to heal before it could be returned to the herd.

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Hermione pulled her cloak tightly around her as she knocked on the door of Hagrid's Hut. The wind was blowing fiercly. She was at Hogwarts to see Professor McGonagall and decided to drop by to see Hagrid. She heard his son was with him and the little one, Rubeus Hagrid III, was surprisingly normal in size. His human half seemed to have been passed on when it came to height.

Hagrid was quick to answer the door, but he seem to be intentionally blocking the entrance. He was acting very odd, the only other time he'd seemed so suspicious was when he'd had that baby dragon. She knew Hagrid hadn't had a proper pet since Fang died.

"Hello Hagrid," she said.

"Good to see yah 'ermione. Ain't seen ya since you graduated."

Hermione smiled. "Well, I was here to Professor McGonagall and I decided I couldn't leave without a hello. I heard your son is here."

"No, 'e's wit his muther. But I got a picture. Wait 'ere."

Hagrid turned to go in.

"Can't I come in?"

Hermione then heard a very human cry from inside the hut.

"If your son is not with you, who's crying?" She looked past Hagrid before he answered. He shifted enough to allow Hermione to see inside (though she could see nothing out of the ordinary from where she was), but he moved and allowed her to come in now that she had heard the cry. She saw, what seemed to be, a human baby sitting on a bed of straw under a blanket, but the shape was odd under the blanket, not human at all. And she saw why as the baby got shakily to it's feet and the blanket fell off. A centaur. An adorable baby centaur with traces of black hair. He was no bigger than a baby goat and his coat looked quite golden. He wobbled as he walked over to her.

"A centaur," Hermione said as she looked into his big blue eyes. "A baby centaur. How long have you had him?"

"Couple weeks," Hagird said getting a bottle and handing it to Hermione. "That's what he was crying for. Give it to 'em. He's use to it now. 'is legs is much stronger, be ready to go back soon."

"He's beautiful," Hermione said as she tipped the bottle to his lips. She was sitting now and his hands were holding her leg as she feed him. He looked up at her and she clearly saw the birthmark on his head that looked like a star.

"A wolf attacked him. Lucky to be alive that baby is," Hagrid said.

"A wolf?"

"In a couple more weeks he'll be ready to go back into the forest."

"But do you know his parents?"

"Not 'xactly."

"What if he's attacked again. Hagrid, he's just a baby. He needs his mother."

"He'll be okay with the herd."

"And you know how to get him to the herd."

"Not 'xactly," Hagrid said. "Centaurs are private folk. Hard to find when they don't want to be found."

The baby centaur finished the bottle and without thinking she began patting him on his back. Eventually he belched.

"You got good instincts 'ermione. Make a right good mother one day." Hagrid sighed and look at the baby centaur. "I been thinkin', maybe I should send Charlie Weasley an Owl, he knows..."

Hagrid kept talking but Hermione's was suddenly seeing the baby locked in a pen, caged like an animal at night, and treated as a circus act.

"I'll take him," Hermione said cutting off whatever Hagrid was saying.

"But 'ermione, you can't..."

"Just until he's old enough to survive on his own."

"He may look a little like a human baby boy, but he's a completely different creature."

"He's not a beast, centaurs chose to be classified as such, you know that. I can take care of him."

"But--"

Hermione already had his blanket and was asking about bottles. Hagrid answered her questions in-between attempts to think up arguments against her taking the baby centaur. He gave up on it.

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"Hermione," Ginny called slipping into the house they shared.

The two had shared a residence since they were on a research team in Greece. When they returned home they bought a house together and had been living together ever since. She stepped into the kitchen and saw Hermione preparing a bottle.

"How did the interview go?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not taking the position," Hermione said.

"Why wouldn't you..." the red headed woman began, but she paused realizing it was quite out of place for Hermione to be preparing a bottle.

Ginny heard a soft tap-tap behind her. It sounded like.... hooves. She turned and saw a baby centaur. He smiled at her.

"A centaur?" Ginny questioned. "Hermione, it's a centaur."

"Yes," Hermione said sitting down. "We're going to be taking care of him for awhile."

He came to Hermione and started drinking from his bottle.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hermione asked.

"He's a centaur. Hermione do you realize how big centaurs get?"

"He's not a pet. We're not keeping him forever."

"He's a centaur," Ginny repeated.

"Ginny, look at him, just look at him."

Ginny came over and took a good look at the little one. He was quite beautiful and unusual, even for a centaur. She too noticed the odd mark on his head and started to touch it and pulled back. There certainly was something special about him, though she couldn't figure out what.

"He is quite beautiful," she said with a smile as he finished the bottle.

"Mama," he said hugging Hermione's leg.

"What did he call you?"

"It's okay."

"Hermione he thinks your his mother."

"Well, I am in a way... don't worry Ginny. The situation in under control."

Ginny looked doubtful. She agreed that the boy was beautiful, but she didn't feel as maternal as Hermione.

"I know what he is, I know he's not my son, but he's a baby and he needs a mother."

"It easier, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Loving a baby. It's easier. I know you shut yourself off after the whole thing with Ron."

"This has nothing to do with Ron!" Hermione said sharply. She calmed herself before continuing. "Listen, he's not old enough to care for himself. And the ministry would cage him and treat him like a beast, because they wouldn't know what else to do with him. Centaurs are only classified as beast by choice, they are as much a being as you or I. They speak and think and learn just as well as any human child. I just want to be sure, in the absence of an adult centaur, he gets what he needs."

"Okay," Ginny said, never as good as arguing with Hermione as her brother was (then again, nobody was). "But we're going to have to be very careful. This baby is classified as a beast. And no matter how cute and human like the little bugger is now, that's what the ministry of magic sees him as, a beast. And wizards with magical pets, especially those classified at the level of--"

"He's not a pet!" Hermione said sharply. "Listen, he's mine to worry about."

"Okay," Ginny said.

"It's temporary," she said stroking the baby hairs on the little centaur's head as he played with the fingers on her free hand.

Ginny could tell by the look in Hermione's eyes, she was far to in love with the little centaur already to let go easy. But she wouldn't argue with her today. It had been a long time since she's seen such joy on her friends face. After all, what harm could come of it. He was just a tiny baby centaur.





5-10-2003