Chapter Eleven
Days later Harry was being kept busy by Black, Hagrid and his strange assortment of charges as Severus walked out to his favourite clearing in the forest. Harry and he had been slowly getting to know each other, and Severus was surprised the boy hadn`t run out screaming yet. Not that he`d told Harry everything yet, but enough to make any person reject him as any relation of theirs. His ability to take things in stride just showed how starved for a family Harry really was, and Severus felt he was really lucky that his son seemed to have a very forgiving nature.
Reluctantly Severus had let Black meet Harry at this time, he just hoped the mutt wouldn`t tell him too many stories about Severus` past. Oh well he just had to hope for the best, the man was after all Harry`s godfather and had the right to meet him. Not wishing to spend time with a man he still despised Severus had used the excuse of needing to gather potion ingredients to escape. Harry seemed like he`d have liked to join him but had been persuaded by Hagrid to come meet both his godfather and a herd of unicorns.
Severus actually did want to gather ingredients, it was the one part of potions making that he actually still could perform. The day was calm and quiet, and Severus was enjoying the time to himself as he wandered. Suddenly a voice said "warning human, don`t go further, the Huldra is present and she will enchant you if you enter this area." Curious Severus looked round and finally saw what looked like a carnival mask sitting in the tree opposite.
He`d never heard of the Huldra before, and as he didn`t deem himself susceptible to enchantment he carried on forward. As he entered the clearing the effect was a bit anticlimactic, only Miss Reiks was present and she didn`t seem more enchanting than usual.
"Hello professor Snape, out to gather ingredients or just out for a stroll" she asked as she saw him
"I`m after ingredients yes, this is one of my favourite places to visit as it has a wide ranging supply of interesting plants"
She smiled in a humourless manner and asked "did you anger any centaurs recently by any chance?"
"Not that I am aware of, why?"
"I am part Hulder, which the centaurs knew perfectly. It was they who directed me to this glade, probably knowing that you would visit presently. If there wasn`t for a rather unlikely happening you would have been likely to receive a full blast of my powers."
"I heard a thing in a tree say something about the Huldra, but I can`t see you enchanting me excessively right now" he said in a semi joking manner.
She gave a sigh and told him why
"I`m what?" he said disbelieving
"My mate, I never expected to meet a mate actually, I`m almost as disbelieving as you about this. Somewhat lucky for you, the fact that you`re my mate protects you and since I found a mate my powers no longer flare up. Don`t worry this does not need to change anything for you".
She left him with that, and he remained in the clearing feeling confused beyond belief. He`d heard of other creatures that had a predestined mate, but he`d never expected anyone would ever claim him as their mate. In fact he was almost a bit flattered, he`d never been attractive to the other sex in any way or form. Not that being someones mate was entirely the same business, but...
Note to chapter:
The Hulder is a common myth from Scandinavian folklore, a creature of the forest the female Hulder was often described as a woman that had a cow`s tail. She was thought to attract and seduce human men. My Hulder has some characteristics that are all my own of course.
