Chapter Fourteen: The Little Unicorn
Severus sat Harry down on top of his lap once he finished changing his diaper and gave him his stuffed dragon to play with before planting a kiss on his cheek as he looked up to watch his niece practice. He was glad that his words of encouragement finally got through to her.
That's when suddenly Harry began to babble happily. "Shh,.." Severus whispered and then kissed his cheek once again.
Stevie started looking around. Even though this was only a tryout, she was rather surprised to see that Harry and Severus were the only ones there, but she still smiled and waved at them nonetheless. Severus smiled back at her but Harry just simply closed his eyes and let out a few sneezes.
"My goodness God bless you." Severus told him as he accidentally dropped his dragon.
"Uh oh." Harry began. "Uh oh." He repeated as he looked down at it.
"Don't worry buddy Snappy will get it." He told him while slowly bending over to grab it and kissing his head softly he gave it back to him. That's when all of a sudden, he looked back up to see his niece mounting her broomstick and shooting up into the air. Her current task was flying through as many hoops that she could.
That is, how many of them that she could actually see since Madam Hooch specifically made them that way since the snitch itself was very difficult to see. Harry's face lit up and a wide grin stretched a crossed his face as he saw Hagrid making his way towards him.
"What? What are you so happy about?" Severus questioned him before looking up and seeing Hagrid sit down next to them.
"Hullo there Harry, where's yer baby sister?" He wondered.
"She's sleeping and back with Lily." Severus replied. "What brings you out here Rubeus?" He inquired.
"Well, I have some good news and I have some bad news. The bad news is that I found a unicorn mare dead out in the woods." He began.
"Really? I wonder what happened to her." Severus said but Hagrid simply just shrugged.
"I dunno. I think she died in childbirth. The poor thing. Anyways, that brings me to the good news. I was able to save her son." Hagrid told him as Severus just simply looked at him for a few moments.
"You mean to tell me that you currently have a unicorn colt inside your hut right now?" He questioned him with uncertainty and disbelief.
"Yeah, he was just born a few days ago. So far you and Dumbledore are the only ones who know about him and I would like to keep it that way. One because if any of the girls found out about him they would never want to leave my hut, and two,.. I want to keep him. For good." He explained before Severus took a deep breath.
"Rubeus, I know you want to keep him and I know that once you've made up your mind it's rather difficult to try and change, but he's a wild animal and sooner or later he has to return to the forest. Do you even have the means to provide for him?" He questioned.
"Well you see that's where I need your help. Since his mother has died, I need to make a potion with all of the correct nutrients that he would get inside his mother's milk. Ya know, a formula." Hagrid told him as Severus just simply let out a sigh.
"Oh alright, I'll try. That's going to be rather difficult to accomplish without any questions being asked though." He told him when suddenly Stevie dismounted her broomstick and came running towards them with a rather large grin on her face.
"Madam Hooch says that I did magnificent!" she exclaimed excitedly as Severus grinned back at her.
"That's wonderful Stevie, I knew that you would." He told her.
"Hullo Hagrid, what are you doing here?" Stevie questioned him while turning her head to look over at him.
"Umm,.. me?" He questioned her back nervously as his cheeks suddenly went bright red. "Nothing. I just came down to watch you practice is all. Well, great job and I'll see you later Stevie." He told her before he got up and started walking away from them.
"That's odd. I wonder what that was all about." She said while eyeing Hagrid suspiciously as he walked away.
"Nothing for you to be concerned about as of right now." Severus began. "Stevie, I have some very important news for you. How would you like to spend the Christmas holiday this year with me, Lily, Harry, and Sarah?" He questioned her with a grin.
"Are you kidding!? I'd love to!" She exclaimed excitedly. "However did you manage it though?" She wondered.
"Don't worry about that, I just want you to enjoy yourself for once." He told her.
"Betta watch out, betta not qwy." Harry said as Severus grinned down at him.
"That's right Harry and you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town." He sung. "Speaking of that, pretty soon you'll have to think of what you want from Santa." He said.
"A puppy." Harry replied but Severus just simply chuckled and shook his head.
"No, not unless it's stuffed like your dragon." He told him before looking back over at Stevie. "This boy loves dogs and dragons like you wouldn't believe. He's always had ever since he was a baby. I think that's due to his stuffed animals and stories that he's heard about them though." He said.
"I love all animals but I'm more into cats and unicorns myself. Mermaids and fairies are tied for second though." She told him when suddenly she realized that his face went particularly pale when he had mentioned this. "Uh, Uncle Severus,.. is everything alright?" She questioned him anxiously.
"Yeah, everything is fine. It's just that I'm thinking that Harry and I should probably be getting back to our room for supper now before his mother starts wondering and worrying where we are." He told her before he stood up and started walking away.
