Ch 14.

Grawp and the Unicorn

They walked in silence for a long time, every so often tripping on branches or being snagged by weeds. Harry looked back and saw Tally and Blaise link arms to keep each other together as to not get lost. The trees were so thick that Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione had only become large black shadows in front of him.

"Hey Tally, remember that picture you gave me for Christmas."

"Yeah..." Tally panted from beside him.

"There is a man in it that looks just like Aiden, but I don't understand how that can be." Tally laughed.

"That is Aiden's father, Derek, and my dad's other best friend. They lost touch with each other when my dad moved to Amer-AAHH!" Tally tripped over a branch and fell, bringing both Harry and Blaise down with her. Hagrid turned and helped them up with one swift movement.

"Try an' not make ter much noise." Hagrid comment before turning around and proceed to walk. They all resumed walking.

"America. Josh and Aiden laugh about it now, though. Saying it was fate that caused them to become best friends on the first night at Hogwarts." Harry nodded and continued. "Harry, who is Grawp?" Tally's voice became very fearful at the mention of Grawp.

"Grawp is Hagrid's brother. I met him last year-er-he's not so bad."

"His brother? But, Hagrid is half Giant!" Blaise exclaimed.

"What? I didn't know that! Does that mean his brother is half giant too? Or something more than half?" Tally cried out. Harry looked at the both of them. Both had the look of complete horror. Harry then glanced at Ron and Hermione who were looking back at them with the same look on their faces.

"Well, he is full giant. He seemed awefully nice though, right? And I'm sure Hagrid has made some progres with him." Harry shrugged and they walked the rest of the way in silence, only stopping when someone fell and to light their wands. Finally they came to the clearing that Hagrid had brought them to last year. Tally, Ron, and Blaise gasped and Hermione whimpered. Grawp was standing tall and looking up into the trees.

"'ello Grawpy!" Hagrid cried happily. Tally gripped Harry's hand painfully when Grawp looked down at them and lowered his head to get a better look.

"Hagger, Grawp hungry."

"Grawpy, do you remember my friends, Harry, and Hermione?" Grawp stooped lower to look at them.

"Hermy. I got a booboo from the horses." Heriome gasped and turned to Harry.

"He remembers the Centaurs."

"Grawpy, these are my other friends, Ron, Tally, and Blaise." Tally smiled politely while Ron and Blaise waved with uncertainty. Grawp suddenly shot his hand out causing both girls to scream. Harry quickly pushed them up against a tree as Grawp's hand grasped the air where they had been. "Grawp, you don' do tha'. Ye know ye can hurt them." Hagrid repremanded him. Grawp starting jumping in anger, causing the ground to shake and for them to loose their balance. The five of them landed on top of another and scrambled desperately back onto their feet before they were crushed under Grawp's large foot.

"How come they no visit Grawp?" Grawp asked Hagrid and pointed to us. Hermione whimpered again and pressed herself against Ron. Harry looked around and saw that Tally and Blaise had moved out of the clearing and back into the woods. They were watching from a safe distance.

"Now Grawpy, ye know tha' they haf been busy." Grawp looked as though he were frowning at them, but then turned his attention back to the trees.

They spent about a half hour with Hagrid's brother. Turns out that Hagrid had made some progess with him as they could hold a conversation with Grawp. Tally and Blaise still kept their distance, but had at least come back into the clearing.

"Alrigh' I think we ought ter be goin' I'll be back Grawpy." They waved good-bye to the Giant.

"Bye Hagger and friends." They re-entered the gloomy dark forest. Hagrid in the lead followed closely by Ron and Hermione. Harry noticed that they were holding their hands, although he wasn't sure if it was because they were afraid or not. Tally walked beside him holding his hands, but had linked her arm through Blaise's again in order to keep him nearby.

"Well, that was definitely an experience I won't forget." Blaise commented, causing both Harry and Tally to laugh. They talked quietly amongst themselves. Hagrid, Ron, and Hermione were quite a ways in front of them, but they could still make out their sillouettes in the thick forest. Tally tripped again and fell hard to the forest floor.

"Ouch."

"Are you alright?" Harry asked while bending to help her up.

"No, I think I cut my face." She turned to look at him, "I'm I bleeding?" Harry put his wand close to her face to see better. Sure enough, there was a gash on her face and blood streamed from it.

"It looks bad too." Harry said. He looked up to found that he could no longer see Hagrid or Ron and Hermione. He felt his heart constrict in panic. Suddenly there was a noise by them. A soft crunch of leaves and twigs cracking. Blaise grapped ahold of Tally's arm and Harry grapped ahold of the other. They started to lift Tally when a Unicorn and her foal came running out and into them. They immediately stopped and watched the three of them caustiously. Harry, Blaise, and Tally went completely still from shock. Normally Unicorns stay hidden and never come in close contact with humans.

"She is scared." Tally sad quietly.

"Scared of what?" Harry asked.

"I don't know."

"Us?" Blaise asked. Tally was silent for a moment. She was still perched in a half sitting half standing position with Harry and Blaise holding her.

"No. She senses our saddness. She can feel all of our pain. She trusts us."

"Our pain?" Harry asked

"How do you know she's a girl?" Blaise asked.

"Her eyes are silver, females have silver eyes, males have gold." Harry and Blaise stared at her. She continued as if she knew they were watching her, "I studied all I could about them when I was growing up. I thought they could bring miracles." Harry lowered her to the gound while kneeling down beside her. Blaise quickly followed. The unicorn stood only a couple feet away, watching them warily.

"What did you mean by our pain?" Harry asked again.

"Our past, present, and future. All we have suffered and will suffer. Unicorns can sense when a human has a saddness about them. She trusts us because our pain has only brought out the good in us." They sat there in silence watching the unicorn and her foal as they watched the three of them in return. Slowly the unicorn walked up to them and sniffed Tally, then Harry, then Blaise. A sense of peace overcame Harry when the unicorn was near him. He felt safe and innocent.

There was more rustling in the trees. Humans and creatures alike turned to look. Two men stepped out of the trees and into their path. Both had lit wands and were looking around.

"There!" One said, pointing to the unicorn.

"Stupefy!" The other one said. The jet of light flashed and hit the unicorn, knocking her to the ground. The foal began to run in circles making odd noises.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Harry cried, standing up to face them.

"Mind your business Boy." Tally and Blaise were standing beside him now.

"No, you can't just attack a helpless creature like that. You have no right!" Harry said angrily.

"We have every right. We have been trying to study unicorns for years. Now we have one and we will do what we will to learn from them." One of the men replied. Both men were wearing dark green robes. The one that stunned the unicorn had blonde hair and was the taller one of the two. The other looked to have red hair and was short and bulky. Tally moved to calm the foal and Blaise bent over the unicorn.

"Enervate" Immediate the unicorn awoke and stood.

"STOP THAT!" The short man yelled. Tally whispered to the unicorn

"Run away, run and we will protect you." The unicorn and her foal ran back into the dark black woods without any hesitation.

"FOOLS! That unicorn was ours!" The tall blonde roared.

"That unicorn was no ones. You had no right to try to capture it!" Tally yelled back. The blonde man stepped forward, his wand raised at them.

"We have been working for years for an opportunity like this and you ruined it for us." Harry and Blaise both raised their wands in defense.

"You attack a creature that could not defend herself. That makes you the monster and the one in the wrong." Harry argued back.

"We still have so much to learn from them. They can allow us to create so much from their hairs, horn, and blood. Don't you see, we can end all suffering if only we can learn from them." The red-headed man whined to them. Harry wasn't sure now if he had done the right thing, until Blaise stepped forward.

"No, I don't see. All I know is that every creature has a right to freedom, to their own choices and you were just going to take that away from that unicorn and her foal. If this war and my parents death have taught me anything, it is to value those things that I still have. I will not stand by while people take them away from someone or something else. It would make me just as evil as those I am fighting against." For a moment Harry was stunned by Blaise determination and commitment to fighting in the war. Harry took a step forward.

"You are wrong to try to enslve a Unicorn for you own reasons. I'm not saying your intentions weren't those of noble, but you have been enslaved by need and that has nearly ended the nobleness you have strived for." The blonde man raised his wand high and stood looking dumb-struck at Harry. His eyes locked on his scar. Automatically Harry made to cover it with his untidy hair. Tally grabbed his arm and shook her head no. He could hear her voice in his head telling him to stand proud and allow all to see the love and sacrifice his parents had bestowed upon him. He locked eyes with her and wondered if he was really hearing her voice or if he was just imagining it.

"You're Harry Potter." The blonde man stated, the Red-head's eyes went wide and round in disbelief as his eyes travelled upward to Harry's lightening bolt shaped scar. Blaise snorted and rolled his eyes, which caused Harry to smile.

"I am? News to me." Harry said back sarcastically.

"You of all people should know what its like to want to save as many people as you can if you had the resources." Again Harry felt unsure of himself and the decision he had made. He immediately began to think of Cedric and Sirius. He would have done anything if it meant they would be alive today.

"Yes I do, but I would never force it upon another living creature in order to do that." Harry was looking at the ground as he spoke.

"Then how would you save them?" The blonde man asked. Harry looked up at him, but did not answer, instead Tally did.

"He would sacrifice himself if it meant he could save another. He would, I would, Blaise would. It's why the Unicorn trusted us, we would sacrifice ourselves for another." Tally had said this quietly and mainly only to the three of them, but the two men heard. Both watched them in interest and opened their mouths to continue, but were interrupted by another voice.

"Harry? Wha's goin' on?" Hagrid and emerged in front of them with his cross bow raised and at ready. Both men took many steps back to get away from Hagrid, nearly colliding with the three of them.

"These men were trying to capture a unicorn." Harry said calmly to Hagrid. Hagrid immediately started huffing.

"Oh ye were, were ye? Ye know tha' ain't allowed. Hogwarts has special righ's to this forest and no one is allowed to attack magical creatures in 'ere."

"No, it isn't like that. We meant her no harm." The red head sputtered. Hagrid stepped closer to them.

"Leave and do not come back. If you do, I will personally throw yer lot inter Azkaban." The men rushed off back into the woods in the direction that they had come in without a second glance. "Are ye okay?" Hagrid asked them.

"Yeah, Tally has a bad cut, but nothing serious." Harry said. They followed Hagrid until they reached the path where Ron and Hermione waited for them. Every-so-often Harry would glance at Tally, not sure if he should bring up the fact that he had heard her clear as day in his head.

"What happened to you guys. One minute you were behind us and the next, you were gone." Ron said to Harry as they made their way back to the castle for dinner.

"Tally fell and Blaise and I were helping her. You guys must not have heard us because you kept on walking." Ron looked back at Tally, she had a piece of cloth covering her cut. "We ran into a unicorn."

"Really? How'd you manage that?" Ron asked, his eyes wide as saucers.

"I guess some men were chasing them and they were trying to get away. Tally said that the unicorn trusted the three of us because she could sense our pain."

"How's that?" Harry shrugged.

"I'm not really sure. I think Tally could read her though. Her emotions anyway."

Slowly the month moved into June and the teachers worked them harder than ever for the exams. Harry found himself up late at night finishing all of his homework that the teachers piled on. The DA were demanding more time to work on hexes and curses, while those who were in their fifth and seventh years demanded more study time.

Harry found it odd that Malfoy had stopped his snide comments and kept his famous sneer to himself. Blaise had become a close friend to Harry after the unicorn incident and Ron and Hermione were spending more and more time together.

"I think they will confess their love soon enough." Tally comment to Harry one afternoon while they watched the two of them flirt. "Everyone can see it. Its only a matter of time." Harry nodded in agreement. Tally and Harry were sitting in the common room corner by the fireplace, studying Transfiguration. The following week the Fifth and Seventh years were to be taking their O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S and after that, everyone else was to take their exams.

"What did you guys think about the recent killings?" Blaise asked as he sat down beside them. That morning the morning post brought news in the Daily Prophet about more mysterious deaths in both the magical and muggle worlds. Harry had heard that one of the deaths happened to be the aunt and uncle of a Ravenclaw and a brother of a Slytherin. News spread quickly about the deaths and soon everyone became fearful that their families may be targeted next, including the Slytherins.

"I don't know. Seems so unreal, doesn't it?" Tally replied. Harry remained silent. He knew that Voldemort was trying to tell the world that no one can stop him and that everyone is dispensable

"I guess people are finally understanding that Voldemort will stop at nothing and kill everyone in order to have things his way." Blaise commented, as if reading Harry's mind.

"What's wrong Harry?" Tally asked from beside him.

"I was just thinking of when this will be all over. When everyone finally figures out when I will be ready to fight him." Harry forced the word 'everyone' with bitterness because he still resented their tireless need to keep him in the closet.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Harry. You'll know when you are ready, not everyone else." Blaise commented. Tally nodded her head in agreement.

"Oh look!" Tally exclaimed, pointing at Ron and Hermione. Harry looked and found them snogging. At first he thought he was imagining it because, surely, they wouldn't be snogging, but with Tally's failed attempts to stifle her giggles and Blaise's 'about bloody time' comment told Harry that what he was seeing was indeed real.

"I wonder when that started..." Harry questioned.

"Since their first day here at Hogwarts." Blaise joked, causing Tally to burst out in fits of laughter. Everyone in the common room turned to see what was so funny, including Ron and Hermione. Both were very red in the face. Harry and Blaise in turn, burst out into laughter at the sight of them. Most people in the common room shrugged and turned back to their work or conversations, but Hermione and Ron stood and made their way over to them.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, making Blaise and Harry laugh harder. Tally was the first to compose herself.

"Did you two really just snog?" She asked in her most innocent voice, while trying to keep a straight face. Both Ron and Hermione went red in the face and Hermione started sputtering incoherently.

"It's not....you had no right...it didn't mean..." Tally stood and wrapped and arm around each of them.

"Of course we all knew that this day would come. I'm glad that I was able to witness it. Who's up for a celebration?" Harry and Blaise nodded, but Ron and Hermione had the look of horror on their faces, which caused another bout of laughter. Ginny and Neville walked up to them with curiosity.

"What are you all laughing at?" Neville asked. Harry managed to point at Ron and Hermione, who were still looking highly flustered.

"What about them?" Ginny asked, confusion on her face.

"We...saw them...snogging." Blaise managed to get out in between his laughter. Ginny and Neville both whipped around to look at Ron and Hermione, disbelief written all over their faces. However, Ron and Hermione went an even deeper shade of red that could only conclude that Blaise was telling the truth. Neville started to giggle.

"How did this happen?" Ginny asked. Ron and Hermione could only shrug their shoulders. Hermione sat down and Ron followed suit. With a deep sigh, Hermione began.

"I suppose it all started on Valentine's Day when Ron-er-inadvertantly told me his feelings. Later that day when he came to apologize, I sort of kissed him." Ginny gasped in amusement.

"It happened that long ago? And you've both been keeping it a secret?" Tally asked. Both nodded.

"Why would you do that?" Harry asked. He thought they trusted at least him that they could have told him.

"We didn't know how you guys would react, especially you Harry." Hermione stated. Harry was shocked to hear this.

"What do you mean by that? I am more upset at the fact that you didn't tell me than I would be if you had."

"We weren't sure if you would want us to be a couple. I mean, it's always been the three of us and we didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable." Hermione explained.

"Really, mate, we were thinking about you." Ron added. Harry could only stare at them in disbelief. His best friends thought he wouldn't want them to be happy. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

"I'm sorry you guys felt the need to hide your relationship because of me." Harry said quietly.

"No matter, what's done is done and now you two no longer have to hide." Tally cut-in. She looked worriedly at Harry for a moment before continuing. "I'm hungry, who's up for dinner?" Everyone nodded and stood.

While walking down to dinner, Tally pulled Harry back a little from the group.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Harry only shrugged his shoulders. "Tell me, please, I know it's something." Harry sighed and faced her. Her deep green eyes were full of sorrow and wory, Harry's heart stopped painfully as he looked into them that he quickly turned away.

"I'm just angry that they felt they had to keep it a secret because of me. I mean, they could have just talked to me about it first. Ron knows that I knew he liked Hermione, loved her even. I don't even know how many times I commented them on being a great couple, while they were secretly seeing each other! How do you think I should feel to that?" Harry ended angrily.

"I would be angry too. I'm sure they had good intentions and had you at heart. Just be happy for them in the here and now. You can't change the past, what's done is done." Harry looked at her again, she had a small smile on her face as she watched him.

"Tally, that day in the woods, when we were confronted by those men. I could have sworn I heard your voice in my head telling me to stand proud. Is that possible or am I insane?"

"You heard me? Oh." Tally blushed deeply and quickly ran back to the group without answering his question. Harry was stunned and confused by the days events and his friends.

While having dinner with his friends, Harry allowed his emotions to surge through his body. He was upset that Ron and Hermione felt they needed to keep their relationship a secret from him and he was confused my Tally's reaction when he mentioned her voice in his head.

Slowly the world around Harry dimmed. He was unsure of what was happening as he could still hear the conversations that floated around him and he even heard his name being called. But slowly that dimmed as well.

He found himself in a familiar place. It was cold and dark. Looking around he noticed the Death Eaters waiting for his orders. His spider-like white fingers grasped the wand in front of him. A large snake slithered beneath his chair. Suddenly his cold laughter filled the air,

"Are they situated?" A short, pudgy, balding Death Eater with a steel hand stepped forward from the crowd and bowed heavily at his master's feet.

"Yes my Lord. Everyone is ready. We can begin at your orders."

"Good. Tonight we take on Azkaban and free our Brethrens from captivity." A loud murmur of excitement passed through the crowd. Harry moved to look into the mirror. All of his nightmares stared back at him. A pale face pulled tightly against his skull, large red snake-like eyes with slits for pupils. A large smile sneered across his face.

Suddenly pain filled every crevice of Harry's body. Screaming in pain, Harry awoke to find himself on the floor in the Great Hall, his friends and Professors surrounding him in worry. Harry's scar burned and his eyes water in the pain. Harry staggered to his feet and grabbed at Dumbledore.

"Professor, he's going to attack Azkaban! He's going to attack tonight!"

:EDIT:

A/N:

Ok, this is my third try to get this thing up here....

Thanks again to Esrb99 for reviewing, I always appreciate it.

I just wanted to tell everyone that the next chapter won't be up for awhile. At least not for a couple of weeks. I'm a senior in college and my schedule has become quite chaotic at the moment. Plus I'm extremely sick, which isn't helping me any. I promise to have it up before Thanksgiving, if not long before that.

Please don't hate me or stop reading because of this and I'm sorry for breaking right at the climax.

Remember, I will finsih this within the next couple of chapters, I already have the sequal all lined out and will start that almost immediately after finishing this story.

As always, review, comment, or flame.