A/n: Monster chapter tonight... Harry's pairing has been decided! Any other pairings may come later if Musey decides they need to break up but its not looking like ti now. Enjoy!


After the prank campaign against Owen Grady, Raptor Alpha Harry worked peacefully on his papers for a whole month, occasionally sending copies to his parents via Gringotts. Raja liked hunting the small animals native to the island while Harry worked or sketched but actively respected the territories (ie. enclosures) of the other carnivorous dinosaurs in the park. The pair was occasionally called on by Lowery to help the squib Veterinarians or to prank Vic who was being an all around bastard again but everything passed fairly peacefully. That is until his parents got his latest draft and found out about the Dementor/Lethifold attack.

Harry was eating at the burger place when he felt a hand land heavily on his shoulder. Instinctively he whirled around, reaching for his wand only to freeze at the sight of his glowering father. From the man's expression the Headmaster of Hogwarts and youngest Potions Master in a century was not happy.

"Dad?" Harry squeaked. Raja making an equally startled sound as he poked out from under Harry's messy fur called hair to see a very angry parent before quickly hiding again with a meep.

"Don't you dad me. You are going to explain how a Dementor and a Lethifold made it into your paper in such a unique manner," Severus snarled quietly at his son.

"Just... let me pay for my food and you can yell at me in private," Harry said in resignation. Severus nodded stiffly as Harry did so. Ignoring the worried looks by the staff he took the rest of his food in a left overs box and leading his Dad to his hotel room that had practically turned into an apartment for him. The moment the door was shut and silencing charms were up his father tore into him.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack when I read that you'd fought a Dementor and a Lethifold! Do you even remember the disaster that was your third year?!" Severus scolded, half shouting. "To say nothing about how the Dark Lord reacted! You're lucky I talked him into letting me come and yell at you for your stupidity rather than him. Once your Tad understood what you had fought he was just as furious."

"Its not like I try to find trouble!" Harry protested in obvious frustration. Before he could flinch he was in his father's arms being hugged to death.

"You have no idea what it would do to us to loose you," Severus whispered fiercely. "Stupid, courageous, Gryffindor, don't ever scare us like that again."

"I'll try but you know how my luck runs," Harry said weakly, relishing in the protective hug.

"Yes. Hopefully it will leave the park standing when it finally culminates in whatever new heroic endeavor you will be forced to perform," Severus said dryly, his grip tightening even further and giving away the honest fear hidden behind his sarcasm. Harry didn't say anything else, he just hugged his father back. They both knew that when his luck decided to act up the results were usually something for the history books... or an adventure novel.

"Lowery, a squib on staff, asked me to help when he figured out it was a magical creature. None of them ever went to somewhere like Hogwarts so I became the local expert when I started doing research on the dinosaurs. We got everyone evacuated and kept the statute. I didn't know that a strong enough patronus could kill them. The squibs on staff had to make sure I got somewhere safe after with how bad I reacted to the Dementor. Neither of them got near me beyond being in the same room while the two patroni I summoned fought them," Harry explained softly.

"Stupid boy," Severus responded gruffly. "Dementors are a XXXXX class dark creature. You've already had an insane amount of exposure to them, you don't need more."

"Thank you," Harry said softly. They stood there hugging each other for a long time before Raja finally chirped at them and reminded them of the outside world.

"So, what have you been getting up to? Aside from risking your life, again," Severus asked as they each took a seat on a hotel provided chair.

"Er, continuing research and my prank campaign... I also sort of accidentally told Miss. Dearing about magic when I was passing out from Dementor exposure but it turned out alright. She signed a Gringotts secrecy contract and when her date went bad asked me to prank the raptor training guy. He seems... nice, if a bit clueless. It took him more than a week to leave an apology in his bungalow for me to deliver. I even made sure not to mess with anything that would put him in danger from the raptors," Harry informed his father happily.

"Oh? And what did my son choose to inflict on this clueless dunderhead?" Severus asked in clear amusement, easily noticing how much Harry was focusing on the other man. A man who he didn't seem to have actually met yet only seen and pranked.

"The first prank on him... I used jello, flour, and chocolate to make a model swamp in a kiddy pool and left it on his porch in front of his front door for him to trip over. It was funny to watch him slipping and sliding around in the blow up kiddy pool as he tried to get out. The next one... I think, was a bit more of a classic with a Marauder twist. I swiped some, not all, of his clothes and left them on his table soaking in honey. The next day I soaked something else in gatorade. By that time I'd realized that I needed to limit myself to one or two pieces of clothing a day so that he'd have something to wear. So on day three I only soaked a pair of his boxers in..." Harry told him as they happily spent a good two hours discussing what pranks had been pulled and what could be done to make them better or incorporate magic without getting caught. Severus left satisfied that his son understood what he'd done wrong and wondering if he should warn his husband and the Dark Lord that Harry seemed to have a crush.

The next day Claire ordered Harry to the raptor paddock with Raja and the message that she accepted Owen's apology but there would be no second date. Harry had no idea that he was being set up by the command crew who had listened to his tale of pranking and observation (ie. stalking) with great interest. None of them, not even Claire, missed how much he payed attention to the man despite the lack of actual contact.

Harry arrives at the raptor paddock blissfully unaware he was being set up by the friends he had made among the control staff. Completely unaware that they were using the security systems to spy on his first true encounter with the raptor squad and their alpha. The only warning he had was a vague sense that he used to get whenever the twins were up to something and were taking bets on his actions or survival. Granted, he didn't really mind the bet taking but that was because of how well he knew the twins and the fact that they made a point to keep it out of his sight as much as possible. This? This felt like he was about to turn the corner and catch the entire Slytherin house betting that he wasn't going to survive something. Like the precursor to another version of the first task of the Tri-wizard Tournament. He really hoped that he wasn't going to have to fight another dragon or a Velociraptor pack in this case.

"So... Why are you here?" a dark skinned man asks, seeing Harry arrive on an ATV. A man that Harry vaguely remember is named Barry and holds the assistant raptor trainer position.

"Playing messenger boy for Miss. Dearing," Harry answers cheerfully, holding up a formal letter on expensive card paper that's still sealed in its envelope and everything. Barry immediately relaxes and Harry realizes that he must have thought it was something bad. Deciding to try and ease the man's worry even further Harry contributes a few mischievous facts. "If its Hoskins you're worried over, yes, I know he's trying to turn dino's into weapons and I loath the idiocy of the idea. I'm not on his side. I'm the one who keeps pranking him. Actually, that's sort of what got me the job to deliver payback for the bad date and as messenger boy for the apology acceptance, or at least I think that's what this is. I haven't opened it to check since I'm pretty sure she's using the cameras to make sure I actually deliver it."

Barry gave a bark of laughter that reminded Harry of Sirius before his voice settled into a low chuckle.

"I think I like you kid. Come on, I'll introduce you to our Raptor Alpha." He told the green-eyed imp that had decided to encroach on their territory. Turning on his heel he led Harry to the air lock style, barred, doorway that led up to the catwalk that Owen was currently standing on while directing his pack in a training exercise.

"I don't know how much you know about raptors so I'll give you a run down. The girls are a modified Velociraptor courtesy of Dr. Wu and the lab techs. They hunt as a pack, imprint at birth, and are highly intelligent killing machines. Never turn your back on the paddock unless you want to wind up dead and that does not look particularly good on our reports. When you think about turning your back on the paddock please think of the mountains of paperwork we'll be subjected to when you die. That said, the girls are intelligent enough to open doors, hunt using strategy, and only obey Owen because he's built a very fragile bond of trust. If you think they're tame or in any way not a wild vicious carnivore you need to leave and never come back," Barry warned as they climbed the metal steps to the platform on one end of the catwalk spanning the paddock.

"From what I'm hearing you say its only a matter of time before someone, probably Mr. Grady, becomes lunch," Harry pointed out wryly as they watched the raptors go through a simple shuffle pattern of movements directed by clicker and whistle before each being tossed a rat as a treat. A chirrup from Raja as he poked his head out from under Harry's hair had the raptors, and subsequently Owen, immediately focusing on them.

"~What is that?~" the raptor with a dark blue rippling stripe along her body and a scar on the left side of her muzzle hissed. It was clear from her tone that she wasn't quite sure what to make of Harry and Raja.

"~It is too close to Alpha,~" the other one with a brighter blue stripe outlined in white all along her body that started halfway along her eye-ridge said worriedly.

"~Alpha should give us more treats, especially the dark melty sweet ones," the green one with black horizontal stripes like a tiger running down her back chirped happily. This comment earned her a wack from her sisters with their tails. The last one, a lovely teal color with no stripes, opted to snap her jaws at her sister along with the tail smack. Harry had to stifle a laugh at their commentary and antics. Owen Grady's hard eyes never left the intruder, acting as a true alpha of the raptor pack.

"You feed them chocolate?" Harry couldn't resist asking in a mocking tone.

"And how would you know that?" Owen asked calmly, his eyes immediately narrowing in suspicion.

"I've only been stalking you for the last week," Harry calmly backpedaled before holding the letter out in front of him for the man to take.

"I haven't fed them chocolate in over a month," Owen pointed out softly in a tone that Harry recognized. A tone that both his Dad and Voldemort used when the person it was aimed at was in deadly trouble or done something equally idiotic.

"Look, just take the letter from Miss. Dearing and I'll get out of your hair. I'm a researcher, not an employee," Harry said in exasperation as he vainly tried to distract the former military man.

"You don't move like it. You don't stand like it. You're perfectly aware of where each of us are and ready to react," Owen said softly, as if he was talking to either a skittish animal or an upset member of his pack. His stance shifted subtly, changing from pure command to something closer to protective without being overly aggressive towards Harry. It was almost as if he was inviting the other man into his protection, something that paddock workers and raptor pack watched avidly. Would he reject or accept the invitation?

Harry did neither, instead he and Raja distracted their audience. A subtle shift had Raja sliding down his shoulder and arm. A release of the glamour revealed Raja's wings. A flick of Harry's wrist had Raja soaring into the air with everyone's eyes on him. Taking advantage of the distraction Harry slid the envelope into Barry's front shirt pocket before slipping back down the metal stairway, unable to avoid making a racket. He trusted Raja to find him as he made his escape only to come up against the key pad that locked the door they'd passed through to get on the catwalks.

Harry considered using magic for a split second before discarding the idea. He was not going to be the one responsible for letting the raptors loose. Rexy's little announcement had been the only thing that limited the deaths to just the idiot security officer and the lone Dilo the last time. The end result? Less than a second after he decided against using magic to short out the electronics enough to escape Barry and Owen slammed into him. Harry hit the door in front of him hard and didn't fight when they restrained his arms at the base of his spine.

Raja's screech of outrage just outside the door had Harry looking up sharply, just in time to see his familiar land against the door and slip through the bars. The Ancient Venomfang aka Proto Dragon had his mouth and wings open immediately in a threat display. Harry could see him taking a deep breath in readiness to attack before he cut his faithful friend off.

"No! They're just doing their job. Besides dad didn't remember to give me any antidote to your venom. It's alright Raja, let it go," Harry ordered sharply. His two captors immediately froze, recognizing the threat. They also realized at least some of the damage potential that Harry had averted when Raja clearly grumbled but closed his mouth and sulkily closing his wings to glare balefully at his wizard.

"Pet?" Barry asked cautiously.

"Familiar," Harry corrected wearily.

"Thank you for not frying our equipment," Barry said promptly, easing his grip enough that he wasn't hurting Harry anymore but not enough that he could safely rip free or apparate away.

"He was going to fry the electronics?" Owen asked tightly. "Where's the EM pulse emitter?"

"No, he is naturally capable of it. I said thank you because he refrained from doing so and allowed us to catch him," Barry explained patiently. "Most with the ability hide what they are capable of so that there won't be another round of witch trials except with mad scientists thrown in the mix this time."

"Oh... I can respect that," Owen said carefully, still keeping Harry pinned against the inner steel door. After another moment's thought he added, "Don't let Vic Hoskins find out."

"Why do you think I keep pranking him? He's an arsehole and he'd have me on a slab faster than you can say snicker doodle," Harry shot back with a bitter snort of amusement. "Look just open the damn letter so I can get out of here."

Barry used one hand to pull the letter from his pocket, where Harry had slipped it. Owen took it but neither let Harry up as he opened it. The dead silence that enveloped the trio once the letter was read and Owen had shared it with Barry made the entire situation very disconcerting.

"Well, this is awkward," Owen said with a short humorless laugh.

"What'd she say?" Harry asked curiously, not as bothered about being restrained as he should have been.

"That my apology was crap and that you're my babysitter for the next six months," Owen admitted sheepishly. "She also warned me that if I screwed up with you she wouldn't save me from your wrath, whatever that means."

"It means that she apparently likes to screw with me, I'm now officially on the payroll, you're my assigned station for the next six months, and that I can prank you to my hearts content if you screw up," Harry informed them evilly. He refused to think about suddenly being hired out of the blue for no official reason and instead focused on the perfect pranking opportunity with his nominal boss' blessing.

"Shit!" Owen cursed. They still didn't let Harry go but their handling immediately got gentler. Raja glared at them balefully with his deep emerald green eye and grumbled under his breath about human idiocy and disrespect. They all heard a car noisily roll up and someone greeted Hoskins loudly.

"We are not done," Owen hissed in his ear before they quickly let him go.

Harry immediately cast a replacement glamour over Raja, wandlessly and with the barest whisper of a word to their wide-eyed wonder. He quickly picked Raja up and once more placing the small creature on his shoulder. The Proto Dragon hissed once more in warning before hiding himself in Harry's hair just as Vic approached the door to the catwalk and Barry swiped his card to open it. They walked out casually, as if nothing in the world could possibly be wrong. Harry could hear the cries of laughter, amusement, and congratulations at the act coming from the raptors but studiously ignored the cat calls. He figured that the predators had heard everything and realized that he was the speaker that nearly every reptile on the island had been gossiping about since Rexy had outed him.

"What happened to you?" Vic asked, immediately suspicious the moment he saw them and the ruffled demeanor that Harry could do nothing to hide.

"Tripped into the door gate," Harry replied glibly, his gaze perfectly level and serious.

"Uh huh," Vic murmured doubtfully before his eyes shifted to look at the paddock with obvious avarice.

"Don't even bother. They failed the training exercise today, got distracted mid-way through," Harry informed the man with a snort, failing to inform him that had been the young wizard's intention when he'd sent Raja into the air so they could try to escape. He also didn't actually know that they had failed today's exercise but figured it was as good of an excuse as any to help hold the idiot off.

"Tossing rocks at them hard enough to hurt even through their thick hide isn't exactly conducive to their learning experience," Owen shot back hotly, playing along as best he could.

"If they can't ignore a few rocks then they aren't fit for anything even remotely connected to combat. I've been hearing too many rumors that some idiot is going to try and put them on the battle field so I figured you'd need definitive proof to show any brass that tries to push it. I knew that once I did it I could never get near them again or they'd try to eat me and ignore any order you gave to back off. You, they'll obey but only ever you, unless you can find someone who can literally speak their language and actually talk to them. They're intelligent enough to probably have their own culture and language but that also means that they don't like taking orders from anyone and would make really bad partners without a true bond like you've developed. A bond from birth and any injury or death of the human... well you'd probably have a better chance of surviving a 3 kiloton nuke going off under your feet than a raptor pack that has lost their bonded partner," Harry pointed out scathingly. "Those bonds are also incredibly fragile and can be broken by the smallest misstep in the forming, resulting in an eaten human partner and a rogue pack that will never listen to human authority again. In fact they will eat any human they come across, or kill them and ignore the meat."

"The ultimate insult of a predator, your meat isn't worth eating," Owen agreed with a grimace. Vic watched the impromptu by-play with obvious suspicion but didn't comment as he got back into his jeep and simply drove away.

"That won't put him off for long," Barry warned softly.

"No, but it will give me a chance to explain all this shit to the raptors. I'm a parselmouth and I'm assuming you're a squib since you recognized what I could do earlier and successfully stopped me. Grady will have to sign a goblin enforced non-disclosure agreement but his position is frankly too dangerous and too fucking valuable to keep him in the dark. Dearing found out by accident and Lowery got her signed and explained while I was passed out from Dementor exposure in front of her muttering about saving her arse from the local version of Aurors being called in," Harry explained with a heavy sigh.

"A Dementor? Here?!" Barry exclaimed in shock. He took a moment more to process the comment about a goblin contract before muttering under his breath "So, that is a Gringotts branch set up near the dock."

"And a Lethifold. That's what the whole mess with hallucinating guests was about. I fixed it as the only staff friendly wizard on the island and set fire to the room that got destroyed in the fight. Vic nearly found out but... well, Lowery," Harry said lamely with a shrug, pretending he hadn't heard the comment about the bank branch. Raja peaked his head out to glower at them again before returning to sulking in the black silken strands brushing the top of Harry's back.

"Wu messed with their maturation rate or I'd have had more time to work with them. I honestly wouldn't put it past him to play Frankenstein with far less noble intentions," Grady finally admitted after a moment of observing them.

"He's going to be a nightmare to deal with when whatever it is goes to shit, I just know it," Harry muttered in obvious frustration. "I suppose we could introduce him to the goblins but I'm frankly scared that he'd take the mad scientist approach to anything magical. He's already playing god after all. If he thought of his job less as a divine right and more of a reconstructive effort to heal or a puzzle I'd be less worried."

"I see you've met the man," Barry commented dryly.

"Lowery made absolutely sure I knew where the labs were and generally what goes on in there in case the idiot accidentally finds and birth's a dragon. I'd have to kidnap the egg or baby and get it to a dragon sanctuary as fast as possible and leave behind a reasonable dead body," Harry admitted wryly.

"That makes a surprising amount of sense," Owen reluctantly agreed.

"When did you cast the privacy spell? You're being far to open with our discussion," Barry asked shrewdly.

"The moment Vic drove away," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"You do not fuck with my raptors, you work on security and keeping Vic out of our faces, and you get me that contract as well as the okay from Dearing," Owen ordered softly.

Harry instinctively bowed his head slightly in submission as he nodded his agreement. Barry watched in interest as Owen started treating Harry as a part of his raptor pack and the powerful young man easily slid into an accepting submissive role. Raja nipped Harry's ear in protest but the young man didn't budge, accepting Owen's leadership. A chorus of congratulations from the paddock had them whirling around to find the entire pack watching. It was clear from their reaction that they approved of this new addition to the pack.

"~Are you really a speaker?~" the teal colored raptor asked suspiciously.

"~Yes.~ They must have been able to understand us through the privacy spell because of their bond with you Grady. I found out by accident a couple years ago that Velociraptors are at least partly magical. I'm dropping the privacy spell," Harry informed them reluctantly, having hissed his reply to the teal one's question as he released the spell. His curt reply set up a murmur of excitement from the whole pack.

"Might as well introduce you to the pack," Owen said with a soft laugh before proceeding to introduce them. "The teal one that you probably just talked to was Delta. The green one with black stripes is Charlie, the one with a scar on her muzzle is Echo, and finally Blue, my beta, is the one with the white and blue stripe starting near her eye without the muzzle scar. Girls, this is Harry Potter and he's going to be around for at least the next six months."

They quickly wrapped up the meet and greet with the raptors before moving on to the rest of the raptor staff. Harry found a contract waiting for him when he arrived at the Gringotts branch later that day and correctly concluded that Lowery must have called ahead. How that man did some of the things he did the green-eyed wizard would never know but he was greatful all the same. The contract signing and brief explanation to Owen with Barry's help went off without a hitch. Harry was fined 50 galleons for having to induct two apparent muggles in the span of two months but the goblins agreed that both were in a position that they might need the information. That reluctant agreement was the only thing keeping Harry from facing a goblin run inquiry for both incidents on why it was explained rather than the two being obliviated or otherwise dealt with. All in all Harry felt he'd dodged a bullet. The lonely reptilian screams he started hearing less than a month later told him his luck was running par for the course.