Title: Hermione Granger and the Centaur Boy
Author: EV /Rhonda Weasley
E-Mail: lady_vader21@yahoo.com
Timeline: future fic, post-Hogwarts years
Chapter Two: Cyrus
Summary: The father of the baby centaur returns to claim his son.
On the second day, the baby centaur got a name, Cyrus. And he spent the next
five years going by that name and identifying Hermione as his mother. She home
schooled him and worked at a Wizard Library. Hermione and Ginny had mostly kept
Cyrus a secret. Only there closest friends knew about him. Ginny had a witch
friend who baby sat for Cyrus when he was really small. One of Hermione's
friends, who was rather wealthy, let Cyrus come down to her estate on weekends.
She let him play with her kids and he got to run and play on her grounds. He
cherished the weekends where he got to run and stretch his legs. Her husband
didn't seem very comfortable with the young centaur being around his children.
Hermione noticed Cyrus' coat began to look more silver than gold as he got
older. He had beautiful wavy black hair and his horse-like body was lean and his
coat smooth. When he ran there was something magical and graceful about it.
With the exception of those weekends, he mostly stayed inside with books. He had
quickly graduated from being read to and now read on his own. He had an
assortment of muggle and wizard toys also. Like most boys, he often left them
all over the house.
"Mum, Mum where's mini Viktor Krum?" Cyrus asked. "He's not on the shelf with my
other figures."
Hermione came out of the bedroom and walked into the living room. She picked up
the toy.
"I thought you were going to be more careful with your rare figures."
"Sorry mum," Cyrus said. "Did you really know him?"
"He was kind of my first date ever."
"I thought that was Aunt Ginny's brother Ron."
"No, Ron was my first love. My first ... a lot of things."
Cyrus smiled.
"Some day I'll have to tell you the entire Yule Ball story," Hermione said.
"Is Ron going to be there, at the Burrow?"
"I don't know," Hermione said.
Ginny entered the room.
"You all ready Cyrus?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah," Cyrus said. "If I could just find my..."
Hermione handed him a cloak. She helped him put on the cloak and it kind of laid
across his back and fell off. Hermione had been dressing Cyrus (at least his
upper body) since he was small. This, along with many other things, worried
Ginny. As much as she loved the boy, she knew his too-human lifestyle would be
more of a hindrance than a help once he was introduced into the centaur world,
where he belonged. The problem was trying to get Hermione to say exactly when
this would be. Cyrus was growing like a weed.
Whenever Ginny brought up taking Cyrus to forbidden forest or some centaur
reserve, Hermione avoided the question or set up some unknown date in the
future.
"Aunt Ginny, you think your mum will like me?"
"Everyone loves you Cyrus," Ginny said. "See you there."
Ginny apparated out of the living room. She, like Hermione, only traveled by
Floo Powder when
apparating wasn't an option. And right now, Hermione had to see to Cyrus. Cyrus
took some floo power and stepped into the fireplace.
"The Burrow," Cyrus said loudly.
~~~"~~~~
Seconds after Cyrus, Hermione arrived in the Burrow. He was surrounded by
children. Mrs. Weasley's
grandchildren. They were all talking excitedly around Cyrus. She greeted many of
the Weasleys with a Hello,
but she found an unexpected face at the edge of the room. He looked different,
almost all his hair was
gone. Well he hadn't gone bald, but it was extremely short. like he'd just come
home from the military.
She missed his fiery red hair. But she certainly didn't miss his fiery temper,
she reminded herself.
They approached each other cautiously.
"So it's true then. Hermione Granger owns a centaur," Ron said.
"I don't own him."
Cyrus hooves were heard as he approached the two of them.
"So you're Cyrus?" Ron said.
"Yeah," Cyrus said. "And your Ron, I guess."
"Never seen a centaur wearing clothes," Ron said.
"Well I'm not like most centaurs," Cyrus said with a smile. Then he turned to
Hermione. "Can I play outside Mum, with the others?"
"Sure Cyrus."
He ran outside with Ron's nieces and nephews.
"He calls you mum?" Ron asked.
"What else would he call me," Hermione said. "I raised him."
"Yeah, but he's a centaur don't you think it's about time he had a home with
other centaurs."
"She's been told a hundred times," Ginny, who was standing nearby, pointed out.
"She doesn't listen. She hasn't even registered him."
"And I wont, he's not a pet, he's a child," Hermione said. "And no muggle has
seen him, only my closest
Wizard friends know I have him, and I'm NOT keeping him."
"Sure you aren't," Ron said.
At this point, most people had gone about there business and Ginny decided to
slip away and leave
them to whatever argument was coming. She knew how Ron and Hermione could get
and she left them to it.
"He sees me as his mother and he's still a little boy, I'm not just going to
drop him amongst a bunch
of strangers and hope he's okay," Hermione argued.
"So you plan on raising a centaur to adulthood in your home?"
"Of course he won't be with me that long," Hermione said. "Besides--" she
paused. "Look Ron, I didn't
come here to argue with you and I don't have to explain myself. Cyrus and his
future are my
responsibility, you need not be concerned about him."
"Just think about it Hermione, he's a magical beast and there are laws..."
"HE IS NOT A BEAST!!," she yelled sharply. Realizing how she had spoken, she
took a breath. "I'm sorry for
yelling, but he's like my son Ron. Don't refer to him as a beast."
"I'm sorry, I've talked to Ginny," Ron told her. "I know how you feel about
Cyrus. But centaurs are
classified as beast. And it's always how other wizards will see him."
"He's just like those other children Ron," Hermione said. "He eats at a table,
he's never hunted or lived
in a forest. He lives in a house, he has a warm place to sleep every night, he
plays with toys and reads
books. How cruel would it be to take that life away from him?"
"How cruel would it be to let him grow up in a world he can never be a part of?"
Ron said. "Right now he's
at the perfect age to be taught to live as a centaur."
"But he's not like them. I can see it in his eyes," Hermione told Ron. "He's
something unique. I can't
explain it, I mean I know centaurs aren't completely uncivilized beast, in fact
they're quite intelligent.
But that's not the world for Cyrus. That world is so removed from us and our
world is what Cyrus knows.
Just look into his eyes Ron and you'll see what I mean, he's more than what he
seems."
"That's only because you see yourself as his mother. It was like Hagrid seeing
Norbert as some sweet
harmless baby."
"How can you compare Norbert and Cyrus?!"
"Of course they're nothing alike, but Hermione, you need to take him home to the
centaurs and stop trying
to make him more than what he is."
"You'd know a lot about that, wouldn't you, giving up. I don't work that way,"
Hermione told him. "Now
if you'll excuse me--"
Hermione left the room and went outside where Mrs. Weasley was watching Cyrus
playing with her
grandchildren. She seemed quite enchanted with Cyrus.
"He's really beautiful," Mrs. Weasley said. "I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't
actually looking at
him, but there's something almost---"
"Delicate about him," Hermione finished.
"Yes, very much so."
"I've always seen centaurs as intelligent creatures, but with this roughness
about them. Creatures of the earth, but Cyrus doesn't posses that. He seems...
angelic almost"
She scowled at Ron as he came outside. He joined some of his brothers who were
discussing Quidditch.
"Ron still thinks fondly of you Hermione," Mrs. Weasley said. "He ask Ginny
about you all the time."
Hermione didn't respond but she seemed to soften some as Ron turned and his eyes
met hers. Ron came over to where Hermione was standing. Mrs. Weasley excused
herself.
"I'm really sorry if I offended you by calling Cyrus a beast," Ron said.
"I know you're sorry," Hermione said.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"I wanted to send you owls loads of times, Ron said. "I just never knew what to
say."
"Hello would have been enough or how are you."
"You didn't write to me either."
"You made your choice Ron, so did I." Hermione sighed. "I guess this is what
broke us up before, the arguing over who was at fault."
Ron laughed. "We were always good at arguing."
"We were good at other things too," Hermione replied with a smile.
"Yeah," Ron said returning the smile. "So, we've made our peace, can I get a
hug?"
"Of course," Hermione said reaching out to hug him.
They embraced. They'd learned to respectfully disagree a long time ago. And when
things got out of hand, after a few moments alone it was easy to come back and
wave the white flag. It actually wasn't fighting that broke them up. They were
young and trying to find there way in the adult world. Ron joined the squad for
Accidental Magical Reversal. The hours were erratic and it made it hard to plan
anything. Which annoyed Hermione to no end. They spent less and less time
together and then she went to Greece. She asked him to come with her, he
refused, he was happy where he was and didn't want to be uprooted. Eventually
distance got the better of them and there relationship ended.
The evening closed on a happy note. The children had quickly forgotten Cyrus was
anything but another child, or at least they treated him like one of there own.
Everyone was enjoying the evening, eating dinner when there was a knock at the
door. Mr. Weasley answered it.
"Mr. Finnigan, What are you doing here?"
"Seamus?" Hermione questioned silently.
"Doesn't he work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical
Creatures?" Ginny asked.
"Did one of you--" Hermione began to ask.
"Of course not," Ginny and Ron said together.
"Cyrus," Hermione said. "Go upstairs."
"Yes, all you children," Mrs. Weasley said getting them out of the room.
Mr. Weasley bought Seamus inside. Hermione had a feeling she was the one he
wanted to see and went out to greet him with Ron and Ginny nearby.
"Hermione," he said.
"Yes," Hermione said approaching him.
"I've been informed that for the past five years you have been caring for an
unregistered magical creature."
"Cyrus isn't a pet," Hermione said. "And that's why he's not registered as my...
magical pet." The last few words rolled off her tongue with disgust.
"Even if you believe that, he has to be registered as that for you to lawfully
keep him."
"I'll adopt him then," Hermione said. "Adopt him as my child."
"Adopt a centaur?" Seamus asked.
Ron and Ginny shared a worried glance. It certainly was the craziest thing
either of them had ever heard (then again, Hermione was once on a mission to
liberate perfectly happy house-elves). Still, an inter-species adoption was
unheard of, even in the wizard world where there were any number of known
non-humans with human-equivalent intelligence.
"All I know is you need to register him or you may lose him," Seamus handed her
the registration forms.
"If I sign those papers, I'm saying he's a beast. He's NOT!"
"He's already classified that way. All I'm saying is this way, you can keep
him."
Ron saw Hermione ready to refuse again and stepped up to Seamus and took the
papers.
"How much time do we have on these?" Ron asked.
"Ron--" Hermione began.
"48 hours," Seamus said. "Then the department takes him. Send them by Owl Post
when you're done."
Seamus left the house. Ron turned toward Hermione who looked annoyed that he had
taken charge of the situation, like she was helpless.
"Just fill out the forms," Ron said.
"I won't. I'll adopt him, but he's not my pet, he's not a beast, I won't sign
any papers that say he is."
"But he's not your child, Hermione," Ron said. "No matter what you feel when you
look at him. You can call him whatever you want, but filling out these simple
forms let you keep him. Refusing them will make you lose him." Hermione didn't
answer but kept that defiant look on her face. "But maybe it's best you don't
fill them out. Maybe you know it's time. He does belong with centaurs, because
Hermione he may not be a pet, but he'll never be a wizard or human."
They suddenly heard hooves making a careful decent down the stairs.
"Mother?" Cyrus questioned. "Is everything okay."
"No Cyrus," Hermione said. "It's not. Come with me, we need to talk."
Hermione led Cyrus out the door so they could talk alone. They walked for a long
time in silence. It was dark now, but The Burrow was one of those wizard homes
safely away from prying muggle eyes. So she wasn't worried about the centaur
being spotted.
"Am I going to live with other centaurs now?"
Hermione didn't answer.
"I hear it, you know. People telling you that I'm not human and you have to give
me up eventually."
"Cyrus, when I brought you home, I never planned to love you so much. I couldn't
love you any more if you came from me. But you didn't, so the next thing I do
depends on you. I've told you about centaurs, as much history as I knew. You
know that your kind is classified as beast."
"By choice," Cyrus said. "Not because we're not smart."
"Right," Hermione said. "But for that reason, the only way I can keep you is by
registering you as a magical creature under my care. It's not unheard of, some
Wizards have things as dangerous as Hippogriffs for pets. But you would always
be seen as my pet, by law. And they have regulations about keeping certain
creatures, not that they've ever had to worry about a centaur before. I'm hoping
they won't request anything out of the ordinary, like keeping you in a stable.
But I don't know what regulations they'll come up with. Now, I could not sign
these papers and you would continue to be a free centaur, but you couldn't stay
with me."
"I don't care what any department calls me, I want to stay with you mum."
"And I want you to stay," Hermione replied. "But if we do this, I want you to
know that I've always known you're more than what you seem, more than a beast,
more than a magical animal. I know you're someone very special."
"Thanks mum," Cyrus said and he threw his arms around her.
Cyrus and Hermione returned to the silence of the Weasley home. Everyone who
went home that evening had gone, anyone who stayed had gone to bed. Hermione
decided to stay the night with Cyrus. She sat by the fire filling out the forms
with Cyrus sitting nearby. He eventually fell asleep with her head in his lap.
Hermione stayed awake watching him sleep in her lap. She felt Ron come into the
room, or at least she felt a presence in the room. She didn't know it was Ron
until he kneeled in front of her. He took a good look at Cyrus. Perhaps the
first deep look he had taken.
"That's an odd mark on his forehead," Ron said.
"I know. It a birthmark I believe, but there's something queer about it. I keep
thinking it means something, but then I dismiss it."
"He's unique," Ron said. "Even for a centaur. But he's still a centaur and
eventually he's going to understand that."
"I thought you were on my side."
"I am, okay," Ron said. "But right now I know you see a little boy and he's sees
his mother. You haven't thought about the day he's not a little boy."
"I hear you Ron and I know you think I'm quite mad--"
"No," Ron said. "I know you're not. You remember spew?"
"It wasn't --"
"I know, I know, the thing is I knew why you were doing it. But I also knew the
elves didn't want it. You just wouldn't hear me--"
"I still think that--"
"Hermione!" Ron began. "It doesn't matter. My point is, I know you have a big
heart and you're trying to make a stand for what's right. But I also know
sometimes you don't see the whole picture."
"You're wrong, I asked Cyrus before I decided."
"You asked a child if he wanted to stay with his mother or go into a world of
strangers," Ron told her. "What did you think he was going to say?"
She wouldn't answer, because she knew Ron made perfect sense. No child would ask
to be sent away. Even in the case of extreme cruelty at the hands of parent,
children had been known to desire that parent's love anyway.
"I know he is your son Hermione, in all the ways that matter. But the rest of
the world is never going to see that."
"But you, you do see he's more than just some fantastic zoo animal."
"Of course."
At that moment she didn't care how the world saw Cyrus, Ron saw Cyrus as Cyrus
and that was enough. She pulled him close, careful not to disturb Cyrus, and
there lips meant in a gentle kiss. For a moment the familiar lips lingered
cherishing the long lost touch and then they separated.
"I really did miss you," Hermione said softly. "I'm sorry we didn't speak for so
long."
"Me too," Ron replied.
~~~~"~~~~
Early the next morning, before the house was really awake, Ron found Cyrus in
the yard alone.
"Hey Cyrus," Ron said.
"Hello Mr. Ron."
"Just Ron," Ron said.
"You still fancy my mum, don't you?" Cyrus asked.
"We use to be..."
"I know, Aunt Ginny told me. I was just wondering if you still--"
"Yeah, I still," Ron said.
"You're nicer than I imagined," Cyrus said.
"Why? Did Hermione make you think I was some kind of beast?"
"No, did Aunt Ginny tell you I was one?"
Ron smiled. "You're only five right?"
"I've been told centaurs mature faster than humans. I don't know what my human
equivalent age would be."
"Do you ever wish you were human?" Ron asked. "So you could live with your mum
like a normal boy?"
"Only sometimes, but not because I fancy having two legs instead of four. It's
just that, my mum would be happier. I could go outside no matter where I was, I
could met her parents, she wouldn't have to be so careful, she wouldn't have to
be ashamed of me ever."
"She's not Cyrus," Ron told him. "It's not shame. If only she thought it was
safe and the world would understand, she'd gladly take you anywhere and proudly
tell anyone that asked, that you were her son."
They smiled at each other and then both heard the call for breakfast. As Ron
walked inside past Ginny she handed him a newspaper.
"Hermione's in trouble," Ginny said. She pointed to and article in the Daily
Prophet.
Ron looked down at the page. There was a moving cartoon of a mad witch chasing a
rather wild looking centaur with a diaper and clothing in her arms. The centaur
looked to crazy to be Cyrus and the witch to wild to be Hermione.
The article read:
'Witch to adopt Centaur child
It seems yesterday someone from the Beast division in the Department for the
Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures visited a young Witch named Hermione
Granger. He requested that she register the pet centaur that's she's been
keeping for many years (and adhere to some codes for keeping it). She refused
claiming the centaur was not her pet, but her CHILD.
Now you may think a request like this could only come from a fool. But in fact
Miss Granger (a former top grade student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry) has been called one of the greatest wizard minds of out time.
However, like many geniuses, seems to be quite mad. This is not the first time
she's tried to make a creature act against his nature. She once formed a group
called spew.'
At this Ron had to stop and laugh. He could hear Hermione in his head saying 'not
spew Ron, S-P-E-W.' He continued reading:
'Miss Granger actually tried to cause a rebellion amongst the perfectly happy
and well taken care of House-Elves of Hogwarts. They weren't fool enough to
follow. Unfortunately for the young centaur, he's been brainwashed from birth to
believe himself human. He actually calls Miss Granger mother.
I think it's clear it will serve this beast best interest to be separated from
the witch and this may happen very soon. For the first time ever the centaur
liaison office was used by none other than the centaur boy's centaur father.
Lets hope there will soon be a happy reunion between these two creatures, who
were unfortunately separated by a desperate and lonely woman.'
"Have you read this?" Ron asked as Hermione came in the room.
"Yes," Hermione said. "It's all lies or at least the truth is twisted enough to
make it a lie."
"Is it true mum?" Cyrus asked. "Do I have a centaur dad who wants me?"
"Yes, apparently you do."
"So what happens?"
"Hermione just got finish talking with the head of the department," Ginny told
Cyrus. "There's going to be a trial and they're going to decide if it's best for
you to stay with Hermione or go to your father."
"Unless..." Hermione added. "You want to go to your father."
Cyrus looked confused and didn't say anything for a long time. "I'll get my
things, so we can go home," Cyrus said and left the room.
"I'll help you," Ron told Hermione. "With research or whatever. I have to make a
stop first, I'll meet you at your house."
"Thank you," Hermione said and she gave him a polite kiss on the cheek.
She caught a grin on Ginny's face.
"What?" Hermione said.
"The magic's back?" Ginny asked.
"Don't get to excited. You know how we are. Highs and lows, no middle ground."
"Maybe this time will be different," Ginny said.
"Maybe, but lets worry about Cyrus first."
~~~~"~~~~
Ron and Ginny spent most of the night pouring over case files with Hermione. Not
that there was ever a case (at least not one that they could find) of an
interspecies custody battle. Cyrus was sent to bed at his usual time and asked
for a bedtime story, which he hadn't since he'd learn to read on his own. So
Hermione read to him. They all decided to go to sleep and start back on research
early in the morning. Hermione gave Ron some blankets to sleep on the couch and
then went to Cyrus room. She sat in the chair where she had read to him and
watched him sleep. In the middle of the night, Ginny found her there.
"Hermione, you need rest," Ginny said.
"I know," Hermione replied. "Do you think I'm mad, for fighting for him."
"No," Ginny said. "I love him too. But Ron has a point. One day he's going to
grow up. And he can't live within these walls forever. He'll never forget that
you were his mother, but sooner or later you'll have to let him go."
"I know that he'll have to go one day and I fully intend to do so."
"But when Hermione?"
Hermione didn't answer.
"Get some sleep Hermione," Ginny said leaving.
Hermione awoke in the chair in Cyrus's room. Her body was stiff from sleeping
upright. She walked out the room and heard some familiar laughter. She
recognized the voices as Cyrus and Ron. They were shouting commands to Chess
players. She walked to the dinning room door and peeked in. The two sitting
across from each other across the board. She smiled at the two of them. They
hadn't noticed her at all so she slipped away and left them alone.
"Checkmate," Cyrus said. "I win."
"I let you win," Ron replied.
Cyrus laughed knowing he hadn't. "Mum told me you were pretty good at Wizards
Chess."
"Does she talk about me often?"
"About you, Harry, school... wish I was going to Hogwarts one day. It sounds
like it's a place you never forget."
"Well, with all that happened to us there, it's kind of hard to forget."
"Promise me something," Cyrus said. "Promise you'll look out for her when they
take me away."
"Cyrus we don't know that--"
"I know," Cyrus said. "If my centaur dad wants me, they're not going to leave me
with a witch. Especially after that article in the Daily Prophet."
"You're a smart kid Cyrus."
"I'm still scared. I don't know anything about living like a centaur. What if
they never think of me as one of them? What if my dad doesn't like me once
he sees who I am."
"If your centaur father bothered to come to the ministry at all, I'm sure he has
every intention of making it okay for you once you go home with him."
"Thanks Ron," Cyrus replied. "So you will take care of mum?"
"I'll do my best."
"Thank you."
"You don't ever have to thank me for doing anything for Hermione."
Cyrus collected his Wizards chess set and went off to put it away. Ron headed
into the kitchen where he smelled breakfast cooking.
"You've done an excellent job with Cyrus," Ron said to Hermione. "He beat me at
Wizard's Chess, you have yet to accomplish that."
Hermione grinned.
"He'll be okay when he goes back."
"When?" Hermione questioned. "You've already given up on us."
"No, you're son said something to me and he had point. If his proper parent
wants him, why would they let him stay with a witch?"
"Cyrus said that?"
"Yes, and no I didn't tell him to say it."
"I didn't say you did," Hermione snapped.
"Hermione," Ginny said entering the room. "It's arrived," she said handing her a
letter. "It's about the hearing."
-End Chapter 2-
5-25-2003
