A/N: Okay so MAJOR hiatus. Hehe... sorry guys. I got completel overwhelme and involed in a lot of things and I have just recently gotten my muse back after having a serious writers block (maybe I got it back because of a concussion I got from ironically falling off of my horse and onto my head... .), and he's back with a vengence. Anyway, just so ya know, I no longer lease Moonshine. I now lease a lovely horse named Lego who makes his own special appearence in this chapter.
Harry's truck crept up the long, steep drive to get to Stone Woods. He could see the owner's house on his left and a guest house on the right. The stable consisted of a large indoor arena with rows of stalls on each side. The stalls were interrupted with an entrance to the back of the barn which held cross ties and more stalls and two small paddocks, and a cross tie was next to the entrance to the back. Harry had been there before and had talked to the owner of the stable on the phone. It was the most wonderful thing in the world. There were two large pastures, one for geldings and one for mares. There was also an upper arena with a sand-like footing. Harry made a mental note to NOT to fall off there. It looked like it would hurt.
The barn had a lounge attached to it. A tall brunette confidently walked out to greet him.
"You're Harry Potter then? I'm Rose. I ride here and work here when I'm not at Hogwarts." Harry was dumbfounded. This girl was a witch? She had blue eyes and straight brown hair. She was beautiful, but Harry obviously had no interest. "I'll take you on a tour then. Why don't we get Moonshine out first. Where are my manners?"
"So you're a witch then?" Harry asked, hoping he had found a friend.
"Seventh year this year. I fought in the final battle. You were brilliant by the way. I was the girl who gave Bellatrix a run for her money. She killed my brother." Rose opened the trailer doors and allowed Harry to go in and get his girl. Moonshine held her head high and walked excitedly around as Rose led Harry to the barn. He smiled fondly at Moon's curious antics. She was like this when he brought her home initially. Harry knew it would be a couple days before she settled down. Which was why he had set a private lesson with the owner for three days after he arrived.
"So, your stall is this one here," Rose gestured grandly at the stall next to the exit/entrance to the lounge. "You're in the stall next to my boy. His name is Lego. I've been training him since he was five. He's eight now and is jumping nicely." Harry grinned at her pride and led Moon into the stall. Rose knelt down and helped him take off Moon's boots and halter. "She's beautiful," was all she said.
After exiting the stall, Rose led Harry into what she called the border's tackroom. "You can put your tack here," she said, gesturing to a box with his name on it. Harry thanked her, knowing she would probably become a friend. "One more thing I should warn you about. One of our barn cats, Bowtie, is about to pounce on you. She's kinda evil…" Rose laughed as Harry spun around and came face to face with an aging black cat with a white patch on her chest. She looked angry as she took a well-aimed swipe at Harry's nose. Harry got out of the way just in time and bolted out of the door. Rose followed with Bowtie in her arms. The cat looked quite content to be there.
"How'd you subdue that thing?" Harry asked, amazed.
"I've been here since I was 7. Practice makes perfect. It doesn't hurt that I give her chicken after." Rose laughed and set the cat down with a bit of chicken. "Well my mum's here. I'll probably see you wandering around here. Oh. And be careful. The girls around here are rabid for any guy that rides. Gay or not." She winked and waltzed out the door.
Harry decided to take note of this and walked over to Lego's stall to look at him. Lego was a handsome bay Clydesdale with a blaze and one white sock on his left hind foot. He was a handsome horse. Moonshine was pressed up against the wall of her stall, sniffing at him.
Harry entered Moon's stall and gently rested his head against her muzzle and whispered words of comfort. She was obviously anxious at the new surroundings. Harry was fairly anxious himself. Moon calmed down after Harry stroked her neck for a couple of minutes. Harry closed his eyes and tried like hell not to think of all the shitty things that had happened to him. The flashbacks from the war were horrid, and not even the strongest dreamless sleep potion could help him ward of the nightmares that plagued him. Moon, however, was his cure. She always seemed to sense when Harry began to regress into another time, and she always pressed her face against him and nickered softly. Harry often compared the feeling of being with Moon to that of being in a lover's arms, perhaps because both were calming and made Harry feel safe and cared for.
After a few minutes of leaning against Moon, Harry felt that he had enough mental faculties together that he could use to drive himself safely back to his flat, where he would be greeted by nothing but a pile of bills and a harassing phone call from a Weasley. Harry sighed inwardly, knowing that for Moon's sake he should probably stay away from the barn until his lesson with the owner, Sam Prince. Harry paused his train of thought for a moment, a bell going off in his head. There was something oddly familiar about that name. Perhaps a relative of one of the dead? Harry had memorized the names of all who had died for him at Hogwarts. Harry shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He'd better go home before he gave in to the longing to just bunk down with Moon.
The next two days passed in a sluggish motion of daily life for Harry. He was currently unemployed due to his post-traumatic stress as Hermione called it, and his desire to just escape the wizarding world for a while. When the day of his lesson with Sam Price finally came, Harry was energized like he hadn't been in a long time. Well before he should have, Harry rushed out of his small flat and found himself in his truck, country music blaring. Harry sang along to every song, keeping time on the steering wheel during the half hour drive to Stone Woods. He was unreasonably excited for what would soon become a weekly lesson. Harry planned on being out at the barn more than once a week, however. He would do random barn chores and ride Moon during this time.
Upon reaching Stone Woods, Harry walked through the lounge paused to look into the indoor arena. Rose was riding Lego with a man and a very large black warmblood stallion. Harry watched as the man and stallion came trotting by him. Harry looked closely at the rider, scrutinizing his face. There was something scarily familiar about the man. He looked a lot like,
"Snape?" Harry said, thinking out loud. The pair executed a perfect turn on the haunches and looked at Harry. Rose had frozen momentarily, then had preceded to jump off of Lego and quickly move towards the back of the barn where the crossties were. Severus Snape regarded Harry with a stony gaze.
"Potter. I didn't think you were stupid enough to actually think I was a man named Sam Prince. Honestly, your ignorance is matched only by your pride. However, Potter, yes. It is me. Severus Snape. I faked my death. I am not a foolish man. I knew to take an antidote to Nagini's bite. I had hoped to find peace here with my horse, Salazaar, but I see you have ruined that, too" Severus said icily, jumping down from his great steed and slipping the horse a peppermint.
"Why did you let me come here if I was going to 'ruin your peace'?" Harry challenged, folding his arms over his chest.
"Allow me to put it simply, Potter, so that even an imbecile like you will understand. You have potential, and for once you wish to learn. As you know Potter, I am not the evil man you have made me out to be, and therefore I could not turn you away. Perhaps we will be able to set aside our differences, as unlikely as it may seem. After all, I have had the time to make peace with my past and with the terrible things that I have seen or have had inflicted upon me. This includes what your father and mangy mutt godfather tried to do to me many times over the course of our seven years. I just hope you can manage to do the same," Snape finished calmly, moving to take care of his horse. Harry was panicking inwardly. His adversary was going to teach him and Moon. This was not going to end well.
Severus began to stalk back to the back with Salazaar in tow. Rose emerged seconds later and made her way quickly towards Harry, with Lego following at a brisk walk.
"Harry I'm so sorry. I should have told you that Severus was the owner. I had heard about how you guys hated each other but I didn't want you to leave and I thought maybe you guys would get along. You're not as different as you think," Rose said, the panic and fear clear in her eyes.
"It's fine Rose. I probably would have stayed anyway, so don't trouble yourself. Wait, back up, did you just call him Severus?" Harry was shocked. This girl showed no fear of a very scary dungeon bat, and that was a rare thing only seen in slimy gits named Draco Malfoy.
"Oh yeah, I guess I did. Severus is like a dad to me, since mine was a drunk before he took off and left me, my mum and my brother to fend for ourselves, but he's also my closest friend. I came here and Severus taught me everything I know. We also became friends because I guess he thought I was mature and he came to like me. After the war, we talked about everything that happened and it was like therapy for us or something. Now, I like to fancy that I'm his best friend. We get along really well, and I think the two of you would, too, if you could only manage to put your differences behind you. You do have a lot more in common than you think," Rose finished, and Harry stifled a laugh. Rose just shook her head and smirked in a Snape-like fashion. "Wait and see Harry, just wait and see." With that she turned and began to walk the perimeter of the arena, throwing an arm over Lego's neck and leaning against him, whispering in his ear and laughing about something.
Harry shook his head and entered the boarder's tack room. If nothing else, this lesson was going to be interesting. Harry was now bound and determined to prove himself to Snape. He would do whatever it took to convince this man that he and Moon had what it took to be great.
A/N: Almost forgot, Bowtie is also a real cat at the barn. So, review please :) Flames will be used to make horseshoes for the ponies.