A/N: I own nothing

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"Stormy," Rae began.

"Wha' now?" came the green-eyed boy's voice.

"I can't sleep…"

"Raven," Stormy sighed; Raven was a child who functioned perfectly well while the sun was up, but at the sign of darkness, her monsters were let loose across her mind, much unlike her counterpart's, whose timidness left him at the sign of dusk and loved the darkness.

"I wanna a story."

"Ya really need a story?" he asked incredulously. "We in the middle o' a fores' wit' all sorts o' splendid animals, such as a-, oh…'Kay, I'll tell ya a story."

Stormy pulled Raven closer to him as she struggled to prop herself up. Now, Stormy may not have been the best storyteller but he could always pick an object out and use it as a focal point. Tonight, he chose the stars.

"See th' stars up there?" Stormy asked. Raven nodded. "Every star's a symbol o' someone who died, but, ta have a star, they must have someone close ta them, believe 'n' know that they were a good person."

"What 'bout criminals?" Interrupted Raven.

"Well, that depen's. The star shows their good qua'ities, if they had none, they most likely wont have one, but if they did…" he left the sentence in the air and saw a figure looming towards them. Raven followed his gaze.

"Sounds like a horse," she said; she was always more inclined to listen to the sound instead of looking.

"Yeah," said Stormy, "But it aint no horse."

"Maybe it's friendly," she said but Stormy could sense her fear that lay shallowly hidden.

"Rae! It's a centaur!"

That it was indeed. The head had white-blonde hair framing a very youthful-looking face, and his palomino body gleamed in the slight moonlight.

"Erm, hello," said Stormy.

The centaur said nothing, but instead scrutinized Stormy, his eyes lingering on Stormy's forehead. "What is Harry Potter doing in the Forbidden Forest?"

Stormy went rigid; churns of emotion swirled in his emerald orbs for but a moment and his eyes went dark. "I don' know o' any Harry Potter."

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Severus Snape hated that twinkle. There was nothing more that Severus hated more except for James Potter, but right now, Severus wanted nothing more than to destroy the little twinkle in the old coot's eye. "But Albus," he protested.

"No, you are the one here to do it."

"But surely, Minerva or even the blundering oaf Rubeus would be more suited to this job," had he had a whining voice he would have sounded like a child, however is rather chilling voice made him sound like a teenager and that only made the twinkle more profound.

He sighed. "Fine." He needed to get away from that stupid twinkle.

"Old coot," he muttered under his breath.

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"But you are Harry Potter; you have the scar and the stars said you were coming here," the centaur persisted.

"I told ya ta wear a hat, but do ya ever lis'en ta me? No," said Raven.

"Ah," began the centaur, his gaze leaving Stormy and falling onto Raven. "Trisha Dursley, cousin of Harry Potter."

This time it was Raven who went rigid and her hands clenched at the sides. "My name is Raven, Rae for short."

"You two were kicked out of your home," the centaur said.

"Was pretty damn mutual," Stormy muttered.

"What's ya name?" Raven asked.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Firenze."

"Stormy," Stormy said introducing himself.

"Beg your pardon?"

"My name's Stormy, not th' Harry Potter rubbish you was talkin' 'bout."

Firenze's gaze looked outward. "Severus Snape," he said.

The two children turned and saw a man in billowing black robes; his hair was a greasy jet-black and framed a very sallow face. The two unconsciously took a step back.

"Stormy," Rae whispered, "he's scary lookin' person…"

"Well Rae…he may not be…" Stormy seemed at loss for words. "Ya know what…I agree…he is a scary lookin' person…"

"Well I could say the same thing about the two of you," said the man in black robes. "Now what the hell are two children doing in the Forbidden Forest?"

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The last place Severus Snape had expected to find the children was the Forbidden Forest. His biggest wonder was how the two children had gotten there; the last time a trace of Potter had been found it was in London.

He took a step towards the children who in turn took another step back. A somewhat sickening odor fumigated towards his nostrils.

"When was the last time you little wretches took a shower?"

"Well, ya see, it aint easy takin' a shower in th' middle o' a forest," the Potter boy shot back.

"It wont do you much good to give me lip Potter," Severus said.

The boy strung together a good variety of swear words. "Stormy! Not th' Harry Potter rubbish!"

Snape sighed; this was going to be a long night.

"Look misters, I don' know 'bout you peoples but we're tired n don' know what ya all are talkin' 'bout. So kindly leave us alone!" Raven yelled at them, her fragile security somewhat hardening over the last few minutes.

She took Stormy by the hand and nodded as they both darted off into the night.

Snape sighed again; this was going to take awhile. "I hate that twinkle…"

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A/N: REVIEW PLEASE! I am very curious to see who likes it. I am also very sorry for the long wait. I'll try to be better in the future.