Author's Note: Reviewers have brought a couple concerns to my attention. Some of you are wondering how in the world Natalia could be Salazar's granddaughter, being that he lived in the eleventh century and she is only fifteen. There is a perfectly logical (well, as logical as the magical world could get) explanation for that, which will be clarified within the next few chapters. Also, about the issue on how Natalia was muttering "Oh God". She was a pureblood, but do remember that her Father raised her on Muggle morals as well due to his beliefs. She may not have believed in God, but then again, how many of us say "Oh my God" every day without being religious? And really, when you're in a life and death situation, saying "Oh my God" is a lot easier than saying "Oh my Merlin" (hence the double retake of the M's). Less syllables, spoken from the back of the mouth, etc. Anyway, I hope this clears up a few things for all of you. If you have any more questions, feel free to post them on a review or e mail me. Thanks for reading and reviewing! ~The Bard of Skheria



Chapter Twelve: Amicus Reborn



A thick mist seeped through the Forbidden Forest. The mist was so dense that Natalia could not see her warm breath in the cold night. Walking slowly at a weary pace, she trudged along in a direction that she thought would lead to Hogwarts. Her eyelids lay heavily on her eyes, dropping once in awhile and flying back open just in time for her to catch herself before falling. She stumbled through the forest like this for a long while, seeming like a lost mariner being pushed further and further into sea. Her mind was clouded with worry and exhaustion. She had lost the most precious gift from her father, her wand. Knowing that she would not be able to apparate back to the graveyard without being killed, she dreaded the inevitable - that Voldemort would get his hands on her wand and somehow use it against her. Despair settled on her as thickly as the fog had to the forest, making her mind lethargic and unclear.

Natalia had walked for hours when she began to hear unusual noises. Her weary senses immediately came to life, sensing that there was danger amidst. She listened carefully and made out a soft wailing. Someone was crying. Her heart rejoiced. Perhaps it was another lost Hogwarts student, which would mean she was close to being back in safety. She walked quickly toward the source of the sound, and within minutes, she saw a small bent figure by a tree, sobbing uncontrollably. Natalia tried to cry out to the figure, but her parched throat stuck and her tongue was dry and swollen. She slowly cleared her throat, and upon finding her voice, she called out to the other student.

"Hello? Please, I am lost also." She looked down to see if the child had stopped crying. The weeping child had not. She continued.

"Perhaps we can find our way back together. Hogwarts cannot be far now." She bent down, touching the crying figure gently on the shoulder. The child sobbed even harder.

"Oh...I've been lost for such a long time. Who knows when we will get back? We're going to die here!"

Natalia shook her head, trying to get the child to stand up.

"No, we will be back before day breaks. Come, we must be going, the forest is full of things that would be better off not being discovered."

Natalia took the child by the shoulders and stood her up. Upon doing that, the child turned to her, saying,

"Perhaps you have already discovered more than you should have."

Natalia looked at the child, seeing a young girl with a tear-stained face. She held her up, reassuring her.

"I can promise you that we will be safe. We have been so far."

The child laughed a soft chiming laughter. Natalia looked at her and stepped back when the child did not stop laughing. The soft innocent chuckle started to turn into one of a demonic, frenzied cackle.

"Daughter of Slytherin, the Dark World has been expecting your arrival this evening. You have not disappointed us."

Natalia turned to run. Her fears were slowly coming to life one by one. She saw that she was completely surrounded by children no older than the age of ten. Their bodies were small, but their faces wore the mask of insanity. Each of them was gleaming at her, walking towards her as a child does to a dear friend. Natalia froze, unable to move. She tried apparating to another part of the forest, but found she could not break through the circle that the children had created.

"Don't worry about running away. We will get you out of the forest. Into the hands of the Dark Lord."

They all began to laugh manically again, their voices ringing in Natalia's ears. She stared in complete horror as she watched their faces slowly melt off. Their features dripped onto the ground like perspiration, leaving behind a smooth surface of skin. She frantically looked about her. The faceless children came closer to her; some even close enough to touch her. She tried to break through the bounds of the creatures, only to be held down by them, their touch burning her like hot iron. She screamed, all the terror in her escaping by a single cry of desperation.

The air stirred violently as a great pair of wings glided down to the doomed girl. It gracefully flew over the heads of the faceless fiends and sent a great gust of fire down upon them. The faceless children screamed in terror, burning up like oil soaked rags. They ran about in frenzy, blind and blazing. Natalia's wand dropped from the claws of the winged creature into her hands. Albea had come to salvage her.

Natalia ran after Albea toward Hogwarts. The dragon flew rapidly through the forest with Natalia following in a dead run. The screams of the faceless monsters gradually diminished as they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid's hut finally came into view. Natalia's heart settled into a great relief. The pure terror of death had left her, and she began to feel the pain of weariness once again. She stumbled on, keeping Hagrid's hut as her focus point. Each step felt like a heavy tread through eternity.

She dragged herself up to Hagrid's hut, collapsing at the doorstep. Albea flew down next to her and started to scratch against the door.

After a great deal of scraping and cawing, Hagrid finally came, slowly releasing the door from its sleepy hinges. He looked down in the dark at Albea, marveling at the beauty of the dragon.

"Well, hullo ther'."

He did not notice Natalia until Albea used her snout to nudge her awake.

"Goodness lass, ye better'd bring yerself right up in 'ere."

He lifted her like a rag doll and set her down in a chair. Looking at her carefully, he saw that she was covered with bruises and cuts.

"I hope ye don't mind me sayin', but ye look a mess! Wha' were ye up doin' at this ugly hour?"

Natalia's head hung low from fatigue. She could barely feel her body, much less think of what to say. Seeing this, the half giant quickly stood up.

"Lemme bring ye some a' my tea."

With a grubby hand, he picked up an iron teakettle and slowly poured a hot golden liquid into a large mug for her. She took it with heavy hands, thanking him faintly. She gingerly brought the mug to her lips, blowing the steam away. The tea warmed her, bringing some strength back to her body and cleared her groggy senses.

Able to think again, she wondered what she would tell Hagrid. She had never met him before, as she did not have the class Care for Magical Creatures. Debating over whether he was trustworthy or deceitful, she quickly decided that he was definitely the first. She sensed the warmth and friendliness that surrounded him, making those around him feel comforted. It was then that she finally felt completely safe.

But after thinking it over, she decided to not tell Hagrid the complete truth. She did not want to get the Slytherins in trouble, though she would have loved to see Draco feel of Dumbledore's wrath. She would probably be expelled for the incidents that had happened earlier this evening and she could not afford that. Especially not after what happened this summer...No, Hogwarts was the safest place for her now. She looked up at Hagrid, who was playing with Albea and feeding her bits of honey biscuit.

"Hagrid, first of all, I want to thank you for taking me in. I did not want anyone else to see me out."

Hagrid nodded, understanding what she meant after dealing with Harry, Hermione, and Ron for many times.

"Ye should a'least see Madame Pomfrey 'bout yer 'ead. Ye look like ye got 'it by a big ol' bludger on yer fore'ead."

She nodded, glad that the tombstone hadn't given her a concussion.

"I shall go in the morning, I would not want to wake her."

Hagrid laughed a low, rumbling chuckle, finding what she had said funny. Natalia frowned, not understanding what he was so amused by.

"Dear lass, don't ye know it's a'eady almost mornin'?"

Natalia's frown deepened. She had not been aware of how much time had passed. It was no wonder that her body was on the verge of giving out. She realized after a moment that Madame Pomfrey would ask her how she got her injuries. She looked at Hagrid, explaining her newfound excuse.

"Earlier last night, I took Albea out to let her fly around a bit. She went in the direction of the forest and did not return for quite some time. When she finally did, she beckoned for me to follow her. I did so, only to discover a crying child in the woods. This child turned out to be some kind of a monster that had a horrid melting face. There was an entire mass of them that tried to smother me. Their touch felt like hot metal against my skin."

Natalia lifted her sleeve, showing Hagrid her newly acquired burn marks.

"Fortunately, Albea breathed fired down on them, allowing us to run back to Hogwarts."

Hagrid looked at Natalia in astonishment. He inspected Natalia's burns and saw that they were indeed handprints.

"Tha's mighty dangerous! Ye should've got one o' the professors or myself t'go with ye, ye know." he said, giving her a "you should know better" look. He shook his great head.

"Ye could've been killed! 'Ad it not been fer Albea."

He looked at her, puzzled.

"Do ye 'ave TWO dragons? I would've thought Dumbledore'd 'ave sent'em away." He looked out the window and said quietly, "Like 'e did to my Norbert."

Natalia sat in confusion. What did he mean two dragons? Albea was sitting directly in front of him and...

"What do you mean by two dragons? Albea is sitting right in front of you."

Hagrid looked surprised. Looking at the dragon carefully, he said,

"But I'd thought tha' Albea was a lass's name. I guess not."

Natalia looked at him. She definitely thought he was crazy now.

"Hagrid, Albea IS a girl."

Albea squawked in protest. Turning back to Natalia, Hagrid looked from her to the dragon.

"Now, if my eyes aren't failin' me again, I'll 'ave to say that yer Albea's a lad."

Natalia's eyes bulged. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You have got to be mistaken. I have had her for eleven years. I have known her since she was a baby!"

Hagrid shook his head.

"No, I'm pretty sure Albea's a lad, all right. These things are 'ard to tell sometimes. 'Specially with dragons."

He chucked Albea under the snout.

"An' I'm pretty sure yer Albea's a wee bit older than eleven. 'E's got tha' look o' wisdom 'bout 'im."

Natalia sat in a stunned disbelief. In the back of her mind, she knew Hagrid was right but couldn't bring herself to think that she could have had Albea for all these years and thought that she - no, he was a...

She looked up at Albea, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry about that Albea. I guess I am just not good at details, huh?"

Albea chortled his dragon laugh, finding the whole event terribly amusing.

"I guess we can't call you Albea anymore, can we?"

She thought for a while, trying to decide on a new name for her dragon. Finally, her face lit up at thinking of one.

"We shall call you Amicus, for being the most steadfast friend I have ever known."

Amicus cawed happily, nuzzling his snout against Natalia's palm. His face beamed in a dragon's smile.