Preying on You

Authors note: This chapter is a bit easy going compared the last one, no panic attacks just basic information about Fauns and how to be the Chosen of a god. It also goes into detail about my version of 3rd year, as well as some slight flash backs. Harry also starts to dwell on who his mates might be, and we get some flashes of Possessive! Harry. It's sort of the beginning of the end for Harry after he encounters his first mate. I also want to explain that he doesn't just start stalking everyone; he's like a hoarder when it comes to his mates. He'll cling onto them and protect them all, while loving them equally. But he collects them all one by one, learning each of them before he snatches them up. He'll sort of return to normal during mate searches, but he does get pretty weird at times, so be warned. Also, update dates will be Monday and Friday now, Wednesdays just don't work for me unfortunately, especially during autumn.

Chapter Two: The Garden of a Faun

It took almost an hour to finally get Harry calmed down once again, and really Cernunnos couldn't even blame him, he was taking it better than he had expected him to, but still he couldn't even imagine what was going on through the poor boy's head. He had almost wished he had chosen another boy, just to save Harry from the initial heartache, but he knew in the end Harry would thank him. The human had gotten used to the idea of mates very quickly, and The Horned God could tell that he was almost excited about what could come from the discovery that he would have mates.

In the hour it took to calm the boy down Cernunnos had gone into deeper detail in the process of using glamour, speaking in soft tones but with great detail to the boy who seemed to soak every aspect of his teaching in like a sponge. Gaul had finally slipped away from Harry, allowing Cernunnos to get a better hold of him, in favor of ungracefully "playing" with Pig. Gaul's form of playing was a slightly more intimidating form of tag, but neither Pig nor Hedwig seemed uncomfortable with the snake, so Cernunnos did not put a stop to their play.

Things took a turn for the best when his uncle came pounding on the door to the shed just after the sun started to rise snarling that the happy family was going out for a belated birthday for Dudley, Harry was to finish his gardening, and his entire list of chores before the end of the night or he was going to be beat him until he couldn't see straight.

Harry was very interested in the idea that he technically go out in public, horns and all, and no one would be able to see enhanced features. He would simply look like he had finally tamed his hair, and he had grown out of his baby fat early (though he hadn't ever had much fat to begin with). The only fall back with that glamour was that if someone touched of bumped into him and actually touched him they would still fell his fur and they would be able to see his antlers, thus breaking the glamour and they would be able to see his true form. Another way he could go about it was to call his true self within and he would essentially be normal again until he sat down and called his true form forward. They had both decided that drawing himself within would be easies, and it would give fewer chances for him to be discovered. With some time and a large amount of effort on Harry's part he was eventually able to transform back into his old self once again. With some more teaching and instruction from Cernunnos he was able to transform back into his Faun form fluidly and with much less pain than the initial transformation.

Harry was slowly becoming more comfortable with the idea that his mother was not like they said she was. Cernunnos had stories of her years at Hogwarts, stories that Harry wouldn't have believed for a second if anyone other than the god had been telling them to him. He was laughing once again by the end of an hour, but deep inside he was feeling saddened at the idea that all these years he had been deceived of his mother's true personality, perhaps he would have been different if he hadn't begged the hat to put him in the house of lions.

"Harry, you need to think about contacting the Goblins, as well as the Weasley boy." Cernunnos said suddenly, distracting Harry from alternating between stroking Gaul, Pig, and Hedwig. It was a calming thing that he started to do, holding small hissing conversations with Gaul, laughing at the chilling jokes sense of humor the creature had. Of course it was a blunt burning sense of humor that was dark, and severely old fashioned, but Harry couldn't help but find his honesty endearing. The Horned God was equally as biting, but a little gentler than the snake.

"Do I? What will the Goblins be able to do? They allowed anything to go on for 14 years, what will make them change now?" He asked, his tone was slightly biting, but one look from Cernunnos told him that he needed to remember himself. He immediately adopted a very sheepish expression that fit his Faunish face quite well.

"The Goblins will be able to do many things, if they were allowing any transgressions against you to go on, you can take it to the head Goblin, and they will be judged by Mother Magic." He said with a raised brow. He watched as Harry seemed to absorb the information, he obviously had a lot of things to teach Harry, and very little time to do it.

"Do you mean the mother magic?" he asked, his jaw dropping slightly when he realized what the god had said. "There is such a thing?" He asked, almost shyly, his eyes looking conflicted, pleased that he was correct about his new found assuming, but concerned that perhaps she thought he disliked her because of all the terrible things that had happened in his run ins with magic.

"Of course there is such a thing, little faun." He said with a fond smile, "She is the one who chooses those who receives her gift with great care." He said softly, Mother Magic was a wonderful friend, she was the nameless one, but mother of all, she was one that the old ways had always favored, and has always revered as the creator. She was the sister of Mother Earth, and she always caring, always fair, but most of all she was just. She mourned any child who fell into evil ways. She always remembered a time where creature and mortal walked arm and arm; mates were free to love openly. Children of creatures and humans alike played openly in the streets without fear of ridicule. "Mother Magic is the sister of Mother Earth, they go hand and hand everywhere together. Mother Magic protects the children of magic, while Earth protects the children of the mundane." His voice had slipped back into his teaching tones, never rude, always even and ready to help Harry learn.

Harry allowed himself to think for a few moments, staring at his hands where they say tucked together on his lap, confused about what was going on, but understanding that he needed to write the Goblins, even if they were rude, and the treated him like mud. He was sure that they themselves were often treated the same way, so he couldn't begrudge them that much.

"Now please Harry, write them now, we have much to do today and very little time to do it!" He said, nudging Harry with his hand, watching him scramble for a spare piece of paper that he had stashed underneath a few pots of soil in case he was trapped and in need of potions from Ron or Hermione.

The letter went by with a little bit of a lesson in manners and in etiquette, Goblin etiquette mostly, but etiquette none the less. He learned that Goblins were creatures that worked on respect, they were greedy, but for the most part they were fair to those who did good business. They were also extremely vicious when it came to their higher paying customers, they often didn't let any little thing go unnoticed so the fact that Harry had never heard anything about his accounts. The fact that he hadn't heard anything about his accounts was a very serious thing. It meant that someone was not doing their jobs.

The letter was basic, just something that he jotted up under the close inspection of Cernunnos, eagerly helping him write the first real contact he has ever initiated between himself and the Goblin world.

"Hail Head Goblin,

I have reason to believe there is a discrepancy in relation to my vaults at Gringotts. I am unaware if the discrepancy is by error on Gringotts part, or on my own, but I wish to solve the problem in the most discreet and timely manner as physically possible. I would have attempted to contact you sooner, but I was unaware that I even possessed a multiple of vaults until just this morning.

I ask of you with the utmost respect that we meet and attempt to bring about the end of the situation. I am free until dusk of this day, and I request that if you have but a moment of your time to send my owl back with a response as soon as you are able. Again I request discretion, as this is a situation of a delicate manner.

I thank you for your time and pray to Mother Magic that your gold flows as the blood from your enemies corpses.

Blessed Be,

- Harry Potter, Chosen of Cernunnos, Heir Slytherin, Heir Gryffindor, and Heir Ravenclaw."

The letter was sealed with a red wax seal that seemed to have all of the Hogwarts houses bar Hufflepuff on the crest. He felt a sense of satisfaction knowing that he held claim to all of the houses except one, it was something that made his inner beast purr. He would be able to care for all of his mates, none of them would want for anything, they would be content and well cared for, and that made him feel amazing.

The Letter to Ron was much more blunt and to the point. Simply reading,

"Ron,

The Dursleys never said anything about me being able to come or not, I don't know if your dad still wants to come and get me even though I haven't heard anything?

Let me know,

Harry."

As Harry worked within his garden with Cernunnos he briefly wondered if the head goblin would even read his letter by evening. He tried not to show how worried he actually was, as it would do no good making a huge deal out of it, but he still was sick with worry about what was wrong with his vaults. Surprisingly he had a pretty easy time forgetting with dirt up to his elbows, roses and alyssum letting off a wonderful scent into the air, his garden, something he took the greatest of pride in.

On Private drive there were few things that were important, one was normality, two was having the most money, and three was having possession of the coveted "Annual Most beautiful garden awards". For some reason it was like an all-out war during gardening season just because of how obsessed they were with having the best garden. Though it was useless, the Dursley house had won for the past 6 years due to the relentless care that Harry had for the garden. He would watch every blossom bloom; every flower was in the best condition, every leaf in the perfect position. Everyone always asked Petunia her secret, Petunia would always say it was just good earth, but Harry would always wear a smile anytime he heard people complement the garden, even if it was hollow with jealousy.

The garden was impressive for the small plot that he was given to work, Harry had a feeling that once he had free time at Hogwarts he would be working in the Forbidden forest to rein in the floral life that resided within. He had layers of numerous flowers, and many beautiful bushes for privacy and shade. The butterfly bushes were his favorite; he would sit and watch the insect life flock around it for hours, never missing an amazing. Thanks to the butterfly bush he had also discovered a small colony of pixies that lived in the next door neighbor's weeping cherry tree. They often came to feed on his bush, and he always made sure to leave out extra sweets for them when he had the opportunity to do so.

The colors that swirled around him seemed to always brighten his day, he now knew why, as protector of nature, as Cernunnos' chosen he was one with nature. He was its caretaker and it was important for him to keep his world bright and healthy, he was worried for the plants safety when he stopped returning here. Would the land die? Would the fertility of the land continue because of how long he resided there? What would happen?

As he lingered on that, every now and again speaking in soft tones to Cernunnos about the gardens, and listening to the god's suggestions of what to put in the garden next summer, though Harry was unsure if his inheritance would allow him to leave the forest unattended and without protection. Even now he was beginning to feel a firm tug in the pit of his stomach, he wanted to be in the forest, he wanted to drop everything and run to the forest, regain control over the creatures residing within and try to rebuild the packs and herds of creatures that resided within. He wondered if they would listen to him, he wondered if it would take years and thousands of hours of efforts, or if they would conform, would he need to be forceful? Would he have to be gentle with them?

They were just taking a break for lunch when Hedwig could be seen fluttering over the fence, looking a bit worse for wear. She was clearly disgruntled, and obviously extremely displeased with the task that she had been given, but she landed upon one of the points of Harry's antler, and promptly dropped the letters on top of his head with a flourish before tucking her head underneath her wing and dropping off into a nice little nap.

Harry moved carefully as to not dislodge her as he opened the first letter, was very official looking, and knowing it was from Gringotts opened it as fast as he could.

"Hail Chosen of Cernunnos,

I am displeased to say that the error indeed was on the behalf of Gringotts. We understand the need for discretion, and have not informed a soul aside from yourself about the error. We ask that you please come to Gringotts at your earliest convenience. I have found a worthless traitor in my midst that has come to light due to your letter of inquiry. As tradition you, who have been wronged by him, must be here so he can be tried for his crimes by mother magic.

We will be sending an official letter of apology on behalf of the bank, and we will also be reimbursing you in full. We will discuss the details in full upon your arrival at Gringotts.

When you arrive simply say you have an appointment with me, the front manger will bring you back to my office.

I pray Mother Magic will allow your enemies' quake in fear of your power, and your gold flow in rivers.

Blessed be, young heir.

- Ragnok, Head Goblin of Gringotts.

All Harry seemed to be able to do in that moment was quake slightly and look at Cernunnos.

"Gringotts?" He questioned softly, eyes slightly alight with fear, he would find what happened with his bank statements, what was actually happening with his money, why he would need a full reimbursement…

"Yes Faun, to Gringotts." Cernunnos reached to touch Harry's arm, and with a swirl and a silent crack of light they were gone.

TBC

Authors Note: Just as a thought, if anyone does any fan art or anything along those lines please let me know! I'm hoping that people take an interest in this story, and eventually I'll be able to post fan art at the end of various chapters. counts, random ships that you acquire throughout the story, Harry's faun form (I encourage this one, I really want to know how you envision him!), Cernunnos, anything just let me know and I'll give you credit, as well as feature you in the chapter!