I am almost at 300 reviews…Good Lord…I didn't expect this when I first posted my story, but thank you all so, so much! You're all the best fans in the world!
I am messing with the timeline here. Heads up!
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It took a few weeks for Winter to even know where to start looking. She couldn't even ask Hagrid at first because she didn't know what to ask about. As luck would have it, she got her first clue in Hagrid's hut when she looked over and asked about the front page article on the Daily Prophet claiming someone had attempted to steal from Gringotts Bank, but the targeted vault had been emptied earlier that same day by someone.
Hagrid had let slip that it was 'Official Hogwarts Business that was between Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel' before repeating multiple times 'I shouldn't have told you that. I should not have told you that'.
Winter was a very smart girl.
The moment she had heard the name Nicholas Flamel she remembered reading about his work with Alchemy on the back of Albus Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card. She spent another ten minutes with Hagrid before she bid him farewell and slipped out towards the castle. She could sense Jack somewhere to her left in the Forbidden Forest and wondered what he was doing, but since he wasn't in pain or danger-that she could sense- she headed for the library.
As soon as she stepped inside she started searching the books for any mention of Alchemy or Nicholas Flamel.
Winter was guessing whatever was in that corridor had something to do with Nicholas Flamel since shortly after announcing not to go into a corridor or you'd die, a vault in Gringotts is robbed and she finds out Dumbledore and Flamel are involved.
Winter didn't believe in coincidences.
Hermione walked into the library an hour later calling softly "There you are Winter! What are you doing?"
Winter answered, still skimming the text she was looking at "I'm researching."
"What are you researching?"
"Nicholas Flamel. You want to help me out?"
Hermione was never one to turn down the opportunity to learn, and her friend was asking for her help, so she gave the only answer she could. "Of course. What have you checked so far?"
Winter looked up long enough to gesture towards the books she had read "I've done that section. I still have to work my way through all these plus the forbidden section. We'll see if I can talk Professor Flitwick into writing me a pass in there. Or a pass for the both of us if we can't find anything."
"Sounds good." Hermione sat down and reached for a book.
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Winter stayed in the library with Hermione until lunch at which point she dragged Hermione away from the books, Winter had been denied food too many times to ever miss a meal she could eat, so even lost in the research Winter was able to pull herself away for food.
Hermione was willing to follow her once she realized how hungry she actually was, and the two of them slipped into the Great Hall and headed for the Slytherin Table. For the first ten minutes, Winter enjoyed chatting with her friends and eating whatever she wanted, but it wasn't meant to last.
With her track record, Winter should have known something was going to go wrong.
~WINTER!~ Jack's voice was loud, unexpected and scared.
Winter jerked in her seat and got to her feet shakily she blurted out an excuse and rushed from the Great Hall, headed for the closest exit that no one would see her leave out of.
The moment she was outside the walls she rushed reached for Jack's Magic and rushed for him, pulling out her wand and preparing herself for anything.
When she actually got there, Winter realized she hadn't prepared herself for what she actually found.
Jack was standing next to a bleeding unicorn foal.
Winter took in the scene with horror.
Unicorns were pure innocent magical beings, especially foals. Winter couldn't imagine anything that would willingly kill one. Jack was kneeling next to the foal with his hands pressed against the injury trying to stop the bleeding. The moment he saw her she felt the rush of relief in his Magic and saw it in his eyes. "Winter!" he called her name in a pleading tone and she rushed forward.
The foal jerked, frightened and Winter fought to control her emotions before sending a stream of protective comforting Magic into the blindingly pure aura of Magic surrounding the foal. For a moment the foal continued its attempts to get up and move away before it slowly relaxed and turned its bright silver eyes onto her.
As soon as Winter was sure the foal wouldn't hurt himself in his attempts to escape her touch Winter quickly summoned her Magic and gave it a command "Heal. Mend. Fix." There was no other option for her.
This was a baby unicorn. An innocent pure creature that didn't deserve to die this way. A baby unicorn that Jack had asked her to save by summoning her to his side.
Failure was not an option.
She felt her Magic surge forward in response to the familiar command- one she had used on herself many times after a run in with her Uncle- and flow down into the foal. At first the foal's Magic fought the foreign Magic before is seemed to realize Winter was trying to help at which point the foal's Magic began guiding Winter's Healing Magic for the best and quickest results. Winter worked tirelessly to fix all the damage that had been done, and when her Magic began to flag Jack lent her his. With the added Magic she managed to heal the wound and the foal worked his way up to his feet while Winter sort of collapsed backwards where Jack caught her.
It was at this moment that Winter and Jack realized they had an audience.
A very large audience.
The foal that they had healed gave a happy whicker before he pranced forward and nuzzled the chest of a female Unicorn who nuzzled him back and let out happy little nickers of joy.
Winter felt a little dizzy with all the Pure Magic the Blessing of Unicorns was emitting and was glad Jack was holding her up, because she was sure she would have collapsed if he hadn't been.
Winter and Jack both turned to walk away from the Blessing, but were stopped by the unicorns blocking their path. Both of them paused and scanned the different unicorns surrounding them, curious but not afraid.
Their silent question was answered when the foal they had healed and helped together walked in front of them with a mare and a stallion on either side of him. The two grown unicorns pinned them with twin stares before both walked forward and stopped so close their breath blew Jack's and Winter's hair back from their faces.
Jack and Winter barely dared to breathe as the stallion lowered his head and butted his nose into Jack's chest at the same time that the mare lowered her head and butted her nose against Winter's.
The moment the contact was made Winter felt a swell in the Blessing's Magic and she gasped and staggered blindly reaching out and catching herself on the mare's shoulder since Jack had released her.
Winter and Jack were floored as the deep power filled voice of the stallion spoke to their minds "Thank you. I am Flamehoof and this is my Blessing and my mate Skyfire. We owe the both of you a debt." The shock only grew as Flamehoof lowered his head in a bow which was quickly mimicked by the other unicorns that were surrounding them.
"B-but…why?" Jack managed to voice the question Winter was thinking.
"The two of you have saved our foal Stormheart. We thought we had lost him to the Dark One."
Winter stuttered a bit as she responded "But…We did the right thing. You don't owe us anything."
Skyfire was the next to respond her soft voice sounding in their minds like wind chimes. "None the less Bright Ones, we feel that we owe you a debt."
Winter and Jack weren't sure how to respond to that. If the unicorns felt that they owed a debt to the two of them nothing withier said would change their mind.
Flamehoof pinned them both with the bright silver eyes his foal had inherited as he spoke his voice rushing over them like powerful waves and Winter felt the Magic of the Blessing surge and swell before enveloping the both of them "All who dwell in this forest shall know you as friends to my Blessing. They shall know you as friend to the unicorns of the forest, and they shall know you are under my protection. You are always welcomed among my Blessing." It was here that Flamehoof lowered his head and carefully touched his horn first to Jack's heart and then to Winter's.
Winter had to steady herself again using Flamehoof's shoulder as she felt the Magic of the Blessing settle permanently on Jack and herself and then Skyfire was the next to speak. "Next I offer you this. If ever you find yourself in need of Unicorn blood, hair, or horn it is yours if you ask it willingly given. If ever you have need of us all you have to do is call and we will hear you and come."
Winter and Jack were both floored with the privileges they had been given as a result of doing the right thing and saving an injured unicorn foal.
They glanced at each other and saw the same completely floored look on each other's faces, but despite the shock the two of them remembered their manners and chorused "Thank you." They really didn't know what else to say to that.
Flamehoof and Skyfire both nodded and chorused back "And thank you for saving Stormheart."
Skyfire nudged the little foal who in response moved forward and nuzzled first Jack's stomach then Winter's in a thank you of his own before Skyfire trotted over "He is not yet old enough to create a link to have mental conversations over. Come. I will escort the two of you to the forest edge so you may return to the castle."
Jack and Winter both trailed after the large mare following her towards the Forbidden Forest's edge where she stopped and watched the two of them leave headed for the same entrance Winter had used to leave undetected and they slipped in without being spotted. Winter headed for the kitchens-which Jack had discovered when the Weasley Twins had slipped inside while he was behind them- since she had left near the beginning of lunch and she was still hungry silently glad it was the weekend.
She managed to get inside and get a large bowl of fruit and some made-from-scratch bread from them before she slipped out and shared her food with Jack.
Jack waited until Winter offered him the bowl before touching the food, knowing she tended to react badly if her food was taken without her permission as a left over reaction from the Dursleys.
The two of them silently enjoyed the late lunch before Jack followed Winter into the library where Winter found all of her friends waiting for her. Jack motioned her off as he slipped into the stacks of books to enjoy them. As an added bonus no one even did a double take when they saw a book hovering midair and seemingly being read by nothing when they couldn't see Jack so he could read out in the open or in a chair without a care.
Winter slipped into the only open chair at the table of her friends as Jack slipped into the stacks of books and waited. Hermione was the first to break the silence "What happened Winter? You just…took off."
Winter had thought of an excuse before arriving and she gave if easily "I wasn't feeling well. I rushed off when I thought I was going to throw up. I'm sorry I worried you guys. I spent a few minutes in the bathroom, and then I went outside for some fresh air. It helped since I don't feel nauseous anymore."
Hermione pinned her with a searching look before nodding "Next time tell me why you're rushing off don't just something like 'I have to go I'll be back' and then disappear for hours."
Winter nodded "I will." She meant it. Winter didn't like disappointing people she considered important to herself, and she resolved to tell Hermione what she was doing if she could.
Once Winter managed to calm all her friends and convince them she was fine, she asked them if they knew anything about alchemy.
She got a 'no' from everyone, except Draco, but all he knew was Flamel was an important figure who had something to do with Dragon's Blood and its uses, so he didn't really help her much, though Winter thanked him anyway.
This search would continue until it approached Christmas.
Winter Hermione and occasionally one of the others didn't find anything more as they searched leaving only the forbidden section available. As the winter Holidays approached Winter and Hermione stopped searching for answers and enjoyed the snow that Jack was leaving thickly on the ground finding time to shop for gifts as well. When Winter was asked if she would be staying over the break at the castle she answered 'No'.
Jack had told her he had plans for her, and she was looking forward to them.
As a result she received a few of her gifts early so she'd get them before she left, and she opened them early as well so she could thank her friends in person, giving them their presents as well.
Ron had gotten her a supply of candy after discovering her sweet tooth-which she placed in her pouch for easy access- Hermione, Neville and Draco all got her books. Hermione got her the Lord of the Rings series while Neville had gotten her a book on Magical Plants while Draco had gotten her a book on Rare Magic. All of them were placed in her pouch.
Winter had gotten Ron a poster of the Cannons team he liked and had it Autographed- he had tackled her in a hug after gaping for a full minute- Hermione had received a couple of rare books on Wizarding World Traditions- she had been thrilled to learn more about this new world she was a part of-Neville had received a fully stocked Magical Plant Care Kit with a few seeds- he had hugged her and promised to explain the plants to her later- while Draco had received a book on recent nonmagical discoveries with Winter's hand written explanations in the margins and a large supply of normal nonmagical candies- he had actually been excited to get the book since Winter and Hermione had been correcting his previous views on the nonmagical people and explaining some of the discoveries to him. The look on his face when he discovered nonmagical people had been walking on the moon still brought a smile to Winter's face.
Winter had also received an Invisibility Cloak from an unnamed sender, but Winter had sensed Dumbledore's Magic on the cloak and had wiped it of all spells before she even touched the cloak. She had been excited to discover the cloak had belonged to her father, but it left her wondering why Dumbledore had such a potentially useful thing in his possession since it could have saved her parents' lives. The cloak had been put into her pouch as well along with anything Winter had pulled out during her stay at Hogwarts.
All that was left now was leaving with Jack in the morning and whatever surprise plans he had waiting for her.
She couldn't wait.
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Remember that detention where Harry sees Voldemort drinking Unicorn Blood? Well I don't plan on Winter getting the detention so I replaced that scene with the foal scene.
And the whole Blessing scene?
MAJOR importance later when she becomes a Guardian so PLEASE don't complain okay? Even Jack ties in later it wasn't random I promise. For those who don't know a group of Unicorns is called a Blessing.
It's late, but Merry Christmas everyone, and it's early, but Happy New Year! I'm sorry for any mistakes, it is currently 5 am over here and I am tired (My insomnia was acting up and now I feel the crash approaching.)