Chapter One; Harry's New Horse

Hermione stood by the window continually watching for Harry's car to pull into the driveway. "That's odd, I wonder why Harry isn't back yet. It's almost time for supper and he's usually back by now." She said.

"Yeah I have to admit that that is pretty strange, but he's probably just working a little bit later." Snape told her when suddenly the phone rang and Hermione ran to grab it.

"Harry where have you been? Everyone's starting to get worried sick about you." She told him.

"I know I'm sorry, but I took a little detour on the way home." He told her when suddenly she heard what sounded like whinnying inside the background and quickly pulled the phone away from her.

"I must really be worried, I'm hearing things. I thought I just heard a horse." She said.

"That's because you did. I decided to start taking riding lessons starting now and every Thursday afterwards. I talked to David about it and he agreed to give me Tuesdays and Thursdays off from now on." He explained.

"Why would you need Tuesdays off?" she asked him.

"So I can go check on my horse." He told her proudly.

"You've got a horse!?" she exclaimed with pure astonishment and disbelief.

"What!?" Eve exclaimed. "That's not fair! I've wanted a horse for ages! Why does Harry get one!?" she cried.

"Because Harry's an adult and he paid for it himself." Her father told her while meanwhile Harry chuckled on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, I couldn't help it. I originally came here for riding lessons. Ever since we went horseback riding out on the campout I wanted to take them, but that's when I found out that Bolt was up for sale and I fell in love. Only now I changed his name to Lightning Bolt due to the fact that he has a little patch of white in the center of his forehead that reminded me of my scar and when Captain Kit used to call me Lightning back when I was a kid. He's a beautiful black Arabian stallion though." He told her.

"Wow Harry that's awesome!" she cried.

"Yeah well I just figure that I would call so you wouldn't worry about me. I just finished my first lesson and I'm on my way home now so I'll see you when I get back. Then maybe this weekend you guys can meet my new horse." He said.

"Of course! I can't wait to meet him! See you when you get back!" she cried before she quickly hung up.

"So Harry's got himself a horse,.." Snape began. "funny, I knew he wanted to get another pet someday. I just thought it would be a dog or a turtle or a snake or something. I never thought he would get an eight hundred pound animal that costs a ton and sleeps in the same place that he makes his droppings. Not to mention it smells worse than a wet dog." He said.

"Let me take a wild guess here," Ron began. "you don't like horses." He said.

"I never I said I didn't like them. I just don't like how much they cost and smell. The only good thing about them is that they're nice to look at." He said.

"What about riding them? Considering that they're one of the few animals that you can ride in both the muggle world and the wizarding world." Hermione pointed out but Snape just simply looked at her for a few moments before turning around and walking back down the hallway.

"I would take that as a no." Ron told her.

"How can Daddy not like horses!?" Heather exclaimed.

"Maybe it's because he hasn't ridden before." Eve said.

"Or maybe it's because he doesn't know how." Teddy said.

"Do you think that's true? What if he doesn't know how to ride? What if he's afraid of them?" Hermione wondered glancing back over at Ron.

"I dunno but it doesn't look like he's in the kind of mood where it would be a wise idea to consider asking him." He said. "He probably just wants to be left alone right now." He told her.

"Alright, right now I'm going to go check on supper and then tomorrow I'll talk to Harry about it when we go see Lightning Bolt." She told him before going back into the kitchen.

…..

"Here he is, say hullo to Lightning Bolt." Harry said before leading them around the corner. Hermione smiled as her brown eyes met his.

"Oh Harry, he's beautiful!" she exclaimed inside a whisper as Harry smiled at her while she reached up to stroke his nose through the bars.

"I know, I told you he was." He said before she slowly removed her hand away from him. "Would you like to ride him?" he asked her.

"Sure, I'd love to!" she cried excitedly while he continued smiling at her.

"Alright, first I need to groom him and then I'll start getting him tacked up for you. You can use my helmet." He told her before he reached in and unhitched the door. "Hullo boy, I've somebody that wants to ride you." He whispered while closing the door behind him. The horse gave a soft little whinny and snorted while shaking his head and stomping his hoof shaking away the flies. Harry slowly approached him and patted his back while he swished his tail around.

Then he quickly got the currycomb and started brushing his fur in rather large circles. "So Harry, why doesn't your father like horses?" Ron wondered while he hunched over the gate.

"I dunno," Harry began. "but I think it might have to do with the fact that he got a concussion when he was a little boy for trying to ride one." He finished.

"So then, he really is afraid of them." Ron realized.

"Didn't anyone ever tell him that he should try and get back on?" Hermione wondered.

"I did but he's never listened to me before and I doubt that he's going to start now. It's just like my mum always used to say, practice makes perfect." Harry told her.

"Speaking of practice, I'm late for my guitar lesson." Ron told him. "I'll see you both back at the house. Then maybe we can work on writing a song for our band this weekend." He said.

"Alright then, see you." Ron told him before he turned around and walked away and then disappeared into thin air.