Next chapter is here, I hope you enjoy!

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 3

Harry awoke to the sun shining into their warm hut. He supposed sleeping in wasn't much of a thing amongst a centaur herd. He looked over and saw Hermione still asleep beside him, he chuckled as he realised, she had made herself a cocoon out of blankets.

He sat up from their blanket nest and looked out of the opening in their hut to see that the meadow was already alive with activity even though Harry new it couldn't be very late in the morning. He debated whether to wake Hermione or not but decided it wasn't worth the risk to his life. Climbing gingerly out of their bedding he made his way outside.

Unsure of what to do Harry made his way awkwardly to the cooking fire in the centre of the village, trying to ignore the looks of surprise and suspicion that were being cast at him from the surrounding centaurs.

He spotted Magorian and Firenze and hurried over. Both seemed surprised to see him.

"Harry, we weren't expecting to see you up so early. We thought after everything that happened yesterday, we would let you rest this morning."

Harry felt surprise by the kindness.

"Oh, well thank you, but I'm an early riser anyway. Can never manage to sleep in" he explained ruefully.

He didn't bother to mention it was due to years of having to get up early and cook breakfast for the Dursley's.

"That will serve you well here" Magorian explained. "We rise early and get our work done in the mornings. The afternoons are for our own pursuits."

Harry nodded in understanding; glad they wouldn't be expected to work all day every day.

Firenze tried to smile at him, but again Harry childishly turned his face away. He felt hurt that Firenze had been the own to suggest their captivity here, he thought they were friends of a sort.

As he stood between the two centaurs, he noticed something he hadn't really paid attention to the night before. The centaurs were tall! Really tall. He logically knew that must be the case but still he was surprise to realise that he only came up to Firenze' chest.

"We have some things to discuss with you, but it would be best to wait until your mate awakens. I do not wish to repeat myself." Magorian explained.

Harry gasped and found himself choking on some spit that decided to go down the wrong way. He started coughing, trying to clear his airways while the centaurs watched in confusion.

"What!?" Harry gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

Magorian frowned. "Your mate? The female who came with you last night."

"Do you mean mate as in friend or mate as in partner?" Harry asked, wanting some clarity in case he was simply misreading the situation.

"Mate as in partner, of course" Magorian stated looking confused at Harry's question. "Who you will spend your life with and breed with in the future, though I must say you are a little young for that at the moment, by human standards anyway."

Harry felt like his face was on fire.

"Hermione is not my mate! She is one of my best friends but nothing more." Harry said, amazed that he even had to have this conversation.

"Oh. I do apologise for the confusion. When you arrived last night you smelt very strongly of each other, she then proceeded to throw herself at you when she awoke, then last night you slept in the same bed, granted I know little of human mating habits but this led me to believe that you were mates." Magorian explained.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck, well when it's put like that he understood where the confusion came from.

"Hermione is just a friend, nothing more."

Magorian nodded in acceptance, while Firenze just stared at Harry intently, not having participated in the conversation at all.

Deciding that he had had enough of the awkward atmosphere he walked over to the two centaurs who were busy cutting up fruits, obviously for breakfast. Both were tall and muscular, like every centaur he had met. One had a sandy coloured coat and the other a mottled grey. Harry took a moment to wonder if hair colour impacted coat colour, it didn't seem to.

"Would you like a hand?" he enquired politely.

Both centaurs eyed him warily for a moment, before the one on the left nodded, handing over a large chopping board and knife with a basket of apples.

"Cut these into quarters and place them on the various platters."

Harry nodded, stepping closer to the table and finding that he was a bit short to use it comfortably. He looked around until he spotted a log, obviously placed to go into the fire at some point. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to do magic here so he dragged the log over and stood upon it so that he could cut more easily.

The two centaurs he was working with didn't talk to him, but Harry found he didn't mind.

Harry looked around as he worked and spotted another centaur walk up to the large pot on the fire and start stirring. It took him a moment to realise what was different about this centaur. It was a female! He wasn't sure why he found this discovery so shocking. He supposed it was because he had never met a female centaur before. He looked around the village and was able to spot a few more, though they were fewer in number then their male counterparts. Actually, as he looked around, he noticed that there didn't seem to be that many centaurs anyway, maybe around 13 with a few foals running around.

'How big was a centaur herd usually?' He wondered but decided that would be something he could enquire about later.

He felt eyes on his back and turned around to find Magorian and Firenze watching him, as well as the centaur who had carried him last night.

He ignored them, continuing to cut up the fruit and placing it on the platters until they were full.

Harry jumped as a loud horn blew through the village. Harry assumed it was the call for breakfast because everyone stopped what they were doing and started to make their way over. Harry got shoved aside by a particularly aggressive male who seemed very keen on getting some breakfast. He quickly stepped backwards so he wouldn't be trampled. He thought it would be best to let the others get something to eat before attempting to do so himself, even though his stomach was twisting in hunger.

He felt a bowl being pushed into his hands and looked up to see Firenze smiling at him and handing him a bowl of warm porridge and fresh fruit.

He was saved from offering any kind of response by Hermione barging her way through the crowd to Harry's side.

Hermione was always grumpy in the morning and needed a good 30 minutes to get her bearings before she could properly function.

He handed her the bowl of food that Firenze had just brought him, ignoring the hurt look that flashed across the centaur's face, and guided Hermione over to a soft patch of grass a little away from the fire.

She didn't comment as Harry wandered off to get another bowl of food while she started eating.

Most of the crowd had cleared away by now so he was able to get a bowl without too much trouble, though he was disappointed to realise that most of the fruit was gone as well. With a sigh he scooped up what he could and made his way back to Hermione, both eating in silence.

About halfway through the meal Hermione seemed to come back to herself. Harry could see the moment that her eyes became more focused and her brain kicked into gear.

"We need a plan to get out of here" Hermione whispered, surreptitiously looking around to see if anyone could hear them.

"I really don't think it's going to be that easy" Harry whispered back.

Before they could continue their conversation Magorian and Firenze walked over, both lowering themselves gracefully onto the grass before them.

"Now that you are both awake" Magorian began, eyeing Hermione for a moment. "We can begin."

Both teens listened attentively, knowing that what came next would be important.

"As you are already aware, I am the leader of this herd, Firenze here is my second."

Harry was surprised by that piece of information but just nodded his head.

"For the next year you are a part of this herd. You are one of us. We number 18 including two foals. While you are here you will follow directions that are given to you and show nothing but respect to the members of this herd. If you have a problem, you will come to either myself or Firenze to solve it. We do not abide conflict amongst ourselves, we must stand united, there is already too much in the world against us without turning on each other. We may not have magic like you do but we do have magic. It is more subtle, taking care of us and the herd. You will notice that, everything grows abundantly in our village, you will also find that it is impossible to leave or find your way into this meadow without a centaur present. This is magic similar to the wards you wizards use and keeps us safe from outside dangers. Not only that but due to the old magic that Firenze invoked when he claimed retribution you are bound to our village for the next year. You are unable to leave with or without a centaur present."

Harry felt Hermione tense beside him.

"Unfortunately for you your wands will not work here, though I am unsure about wandless magic, it has been many a year since one of your kind lived among us. While you are here you are expected to contribute, just like everyone in the herd does. Sometimes you will be given tasks to do, other times look around and see what needs to be done. I have already sent a member to speak to your headmaster and let him know what has happened. He will contact your families so that they are aware that you are safe but that they will not hear from you for a year."

Again, Hermione tensed at Magorian's words. But Harry wasn't concerned, he knew the Dursleys would find it hilarious that he had been taken hostage by a group of angry centaurs. They would probably hope that Harry would never come back home.

"We keep mostly to ourselves but do seek out other herds for trade. This usually happens about once a moons cycle, where some of our numbers will travel to another herd or another herd will visit us for trade purposes. We are particularly respected for our weaving." He said pride coating his voice.

"While you are among us you will be given lessons in what you call astronomy, the stars have many stories to tell if one only knows how to listen."

Hermione actually looked interested at this and Harry had to supress a grin at his friend's priorities.

"There is a stream that runs behind the trees to the west that we clean our clothing and bedding in. There are also several large pools that we use for bathing."

Here Magorian paused, obviously thinking about what else he should tell them. Firenze cleared his throat pointedly.

"As you are unfamiliar with centaurs, I think it is also important that you are made aware of the fact, that while we have females, our males can also be impregnated."

Harry's eyes popped open at the words, while Hermione snorted with derision next to him.

"Don't be ridiculous! Males can't get pregnant, that's impossible!"

Firenze frowned at her words and Magorian's eyes narrowed.

"While it is indeed rare, centaurs as a race have great difficulty breeding, hence why we are so few in number, it is indeed possible for a male to get pregnant" Magorian explained, his tone biting.

Harry elbowed Hermione harshly, she rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting further.

"I am putting you both on washing duty for the time being. That means every day you will help wash any clothing or blankets that need it. Granted we do not wear much clothing, but it is still an important task."

Harry nodded seriously while Hermione just rolled her eyes again.

It seemed that the two centaurs had explained everything they had to at the moment and began to stand. Harry took a moment to admire the shifting of strong muscles, both man and horse as they stood.

"Go to your task, you will hear another horn when the midday meal is ready."

Both teens stood and walked in the direction of the stream. As soon as they were out of ear shot Hermione started whispering like an angry wasp in his ear.

"Do they honestly expect us to spend our days cleaning up after them! And the only lessons they have are astronomy, I will go insane!" she growled angrily.

"Don't think of it so much as cleaning up after them, but contributing, like you would at home. Surely you were made to do chores as a child?" Harry asked.

Hermione frowned at his words, "sure chores like cleaning my room, not looking after a pack of animals."

Harry frowned at Hermione's words. "I don't think they would like it if they heard you talking like that Hermione, and honestly I don't like to hear you talking like that either."

Hermione fixed him with a beady stare, which Harry met stoically before she took a deep breath and relented.

"You're right Harry, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated and scared" she said wearily, running her fingers through her wild hair.

Harry reached out and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"I know Hermione but insulting them isn't going to make anything better. If what they say is true, we are stuck here for a year, we may as well make the most of it."

Hermione didn't respond, but the stubborn set of her jaw made Harry think that she wasn't just going to go along with what Magorian, and Firenze said.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly before deciding there was nothing else to say right now. There was no point trying to reason with Hermione when she got in a mood like this, he would be better trying again once she had calmed down.

They found the stream easily and followed it along until they came to three centaurs who were busy beating, washing and hanging out a variety of blankets, throws, and other smaller cloths Harry assumed were for washing.

The centaurs paused at their approach and Harry gave a small wave.

"Ah… hello. I'm Harry. We've been sent here to help."

There was two males and one female. They shared a look before nodding.

"I am called Heron" the male on the right introduced himself.

"I am Kyros."

"And I am Aneka."

Seeing as how Hermione wasn't going to introduce herself, Harry did it for her.

"It's lovely to meet you. This is Hermione." He said indicating to the witch beside him.

The three gave her a careful nod.

"You can begin by beating the blankets" Heron explained, lifting an eyebrow as though waiting for a complaint.

Harry just nodded and moved over to where Kyros was already beating the blankets. He handed Harry and Hermione thick sticks that looked similar to baseball bats.

"It is important to really hit them to get all the hair and dirt out before we try washing them, otherwise it ends up making the blankets even dirtier than they were." He explained, his tone patient.

Harry watched the centaur, taking note of how he beat the blankets to ensure they were clean enough to wash. This was probably the oldest centaur he had met so far, he still didn't look very old, but he had fine wrinkles on his face and streaks of grey through his hair. For the first time Harry wondered what the lifespan of a centaur actually was.

After the demonstration Kyros moved out of the way so that Harry and Hermione could begin their work. He watched them carefully to ensure they were doing it correctly, before moving away to sort through the pile of blankets and cloths still to be washed.

Harry found the work oddly soothing. Definitely a good way to burn up excess energy or to work out any frustrations one might be having. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be helping Hermione any, Harry having to listen to a constant stream of mumbled complaints the whole morning. He wasn't sure if Heron, Kyros or Aneka could hear her, but they all acted as though they couldn't and for that Harry was grateful, the last thing they needed was to get into even more trouble.

They continued to work steadily through the morning until they heard a loud horn blast, indicating that lunch was ready. All five of them moved toward the stream, washing dirt and grim off their hands and faces before returning to the meadow.

Harry could admit quite freely that he was exhausted. He collected his food and made his way to a soft patch of grass, collapsing down with a groan.

He heard a chuckle and looked behind him to see the centaur that had carry him in the night before standing behind him.

"Harry, it is good to see you again" the centaur rumbled, and Harry hesitated for a moment trying to recall his name.

"Basil" the centaur supplied with a chuckle, moving until he was seated comfortable beside Harry. Hermione came along a moment later, eyeing the centaur carefully before taking her seat on Harry's other side.

"I know you have only been here for the morning, but I just wanted to check in and see how you are settling in?" the dark-haired centaur asked kindly, and Harry was touched by the gesture.

"Ah, well pretty good, I think. It's all a bit new at the moment, but everyone had been kind so far."

The centaur nodded sagely. "I am glad. I know, perhaps better than anyone, what you are going through. If you ever want to talk, I am here for you."

Harry felt confused, how did this centaur could understand what they were going through? Just as he opened his mouth to reply though, Hermione talked over him.

"I'm not sure why we were given the worst job in the whole village. Those blankets were filthy, I'm never going to get the smell of horse off me." The brunette complained loudly. Harry groaned and looked down at his meal, his cheeks heating at his friend's outburst.

He concentrated on his meal and tried to tune out the rest of his friend's ramblings, desperately hoping that no one would take offence. He knew it was going to take Hermione a while to settle in.