Summary: Harry is raised by a small herd of Centaurs. He was happy and loved, by his adoptive mother and the rest of his half human family. That is until another certain seventeen year old is found in their forest and is adopted into the heard.
Warnings: Swearing, more human centaurs than J K Rowling intended, possible very slight malexmale (not sure).
Disclaimer: I do not own or pretend to own any of J K Rowling's creations and I gain nothing from writing this except experience and the opinions of the wonderful people who are kind enough to comment once they read my works. I make no profits.
Adoptive Brothers?
Prologue
The light was fading from both the physical world and his own little world. He could hear his panting clearly, resounding into his ears and echoing around his head. His eyes finally slipped shut and the chaos of swirling leaves above him disappeared.
Even though his eyes were closed, his other senses were functioning far to well for comfort, could they not just accept the fact that he wanted to give up.
A slight breeze brushed over his face, making his features twinge at the small touch automatically. He could feel the soft carpet of crushed, autumn leaves beneath him and fleetingly felt a 'thank you' flash across his mind; they had cushioned his fall well.
He started to shiver. A sharp pain throbbed beneath his temples and he could feel his forehead blazing but with the chill of the wind came a cold sweat. He was finding it a difficult to stop his panting. His body was floating into the numbing void of fever he had only ever experienced once. He fell into the dark land filled with his ever destructive, disastrous, dangerous and dilapidated memories.
His hair was mudded and soiled, now black from the dirt that nestled there. He had been running most of the night, charcoal cloaked figures lingering in the shadows in his wake as he made for the forest, a place where he could hide.
His muscles were screaming at him, even in his half unconscious state he could feel then begging him to give up, to turn himself in.
His father had come for him at sunset and he had had no other option other than to run, literally, for his life. The forest was not that far from the mansion he used to call home but it had seemed to take forever to get there. His breathing had quickly become rugged and laboured. His legs had swiftly threatened to collapse. His heart had almost immediately begun to pound, ricocheting through his ears and making his ear drums thud.
Now though, with his eyes refusing to open, he felt his mind beginning to leave the world of the awake.
Harry looked up at the stars, again. Hynah was teaching him about the western stars, again. He was starting to feel like he lived up in those stars and had no need to name them and a few examples of their meanings when reading of the future.
"Mother, why are we doing this, again?"
"You are not yet good enough to keep up with our own fouls."
"Don't you have any faith in me?"
"Yes dear, but I'm just being realistic."
"Can I at least take a break?"
"If you must, be back before morning."
"Sure, Mother."
Having said this, Harry sprang up from his lying position and began to job through the forest. Years of living in the forest had given him the ability to see well in the dark. His adoptive brothers had always given him a hard time about not being able to see as well as them, but as the years flew by from childhood to his teenage years he grew used to living in the dark of the forest and his eyes had become almost as good as his family's.
The forest was quiet. Nothing stirred. And yet he felt someone watching him as he slid over a fallen tree. The birds that were usually so cheerful and loud around twilight seemed to be nonexistent as he made his way towards the edge of the forest.
It was not that he cared for or wished to be with his own kind, he was content to stay with the centaurs that had so kindly taken him in, it was more the fact that he was fascinated by the sight of man made objects. They were all so ludicrous and strange, things he knew were not needed to survive. He had lived sixteen good years in the forest to this day and only the odd bug or plant had ever harmed him, although he admitted freely that it had been his own fault.
Upon reaching the edge of the trees, Harry plonked himself ungracefully onto yet another fallen tree. The storm last week had been strong on the outskirts of the forest it seemed. He froze when a movement behind him snapped a twig. Then the wind picked up the slight disturbance of breath. He gulped and fought the urge to jump into the large pile of leaves off to his right.
"BROTHER!" A scream tore from his throat and he fell from his log. He turned stiffly to see one of his brothers flying towards him. Toran was only a year his senior but his size would have led anyone to believe differently. As with the rest of the herd, he towered above poor Harry. His equestrian body was a dark brown, chunky and muscled, like his human half, which was darkly skinned. Mud brown hair trailed down his back. His feline features drew on the eyes, especially to his own abnormal eyes, which were a dark, starlit blue.
"Do you have to be so energetic?"
"I was looking for you."
"The sun hasn't set yet, let alone risen. I don't have to come back yet."
"No, I was wondering if you wanted to spend some time together."
"Not at the moment. I'm busy."
Harry turned back to look out across the wheat fields. On the darkening horizon he could make out the human houses, their windows lit up by a bright light. Hynah had told him it came from 'electricity' and was something to do with science but she did not know more.
He felt Toran's eyes on the back of his head and heard what he suspected to be as an indignant murmur of something along the lines of, 'busy, pah, you're looking at poison.'
His brother came up behind him, resting his hands on Harry's shoulders.
"Peace is good."
"Only when we have it."
"Which isn't often." Harry let out a huff, puffing his fringe out in front of his face.
"Well maybe we would now if you shut up for a second."
"Hey, what's that?"
"I don't want to play your games tonight, Toran."
"No seriously, there, by that tree."
Harry looked to the holly tree his brother was indicating and gasped. Next to it lay a human, no older than himself. In the light available, Harry could make out mudded, pale hair, drying sweat and blood encasing his clothing and the small, defeated rise and fall of his chest.
"I'm going back to tell Mother." Harry heard the beating of his brothers' hooves and he galloped away but was to entranced by this boy, man really, care.
He slowly edged towards the dimly lit figure and knelt over him. The human's eyes were closed. Harry reached out a hand and gently drew his fingers along the pale skin of his neck, searching for the light beating of a pulse. Pale blue eyes opened ever so slightly, slits looking up at him. The breathing of the boy quickened. He seemed to be trying to form words.
"Where…?"
"Lakefield Forest."
"Who…you?"
"Harry." The eyes locked on his for a second before they seemed to mist over. They fell shut as the tensed body relaxed, but not before letting out a breathy identity in little more than a whisper.
"Draco Malfoy."
Thanks for reading. Please R&R. If no one reviews I don't think I'm going to write another chapter 'cos I don't know if people will like it, so please do, even if it's just a 'good' or a 'no' R&R.
Dark Raven 4426
