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Unicorn Prince

Chapter 8: Hunter

Sweaty blond hair fell into silver eyes as the young man collapsed, panting, onto his lover. No words were spoken for long moments as the two recovered.

The blond carefully rolled off his partner, unconcerned when the other wrapped an arm around his chest and rested his head against his shoulder. "Knut for your thoughts." The darker boy said softly, in a whispery voice.

Silver eyes slanted towards him and a moment more passed in silence before he answered, "Dragon has awakened and begun searching for his Monimos."

One dark eyebrow rose, "Do you think he'll find them?"

The blond chuckled humorlessly, "Not if father finds out." Long graceful fingers sought out the dark curls on the other's head before beginning to card through the ebony strands. The smaller boy made a pleased sound as his inky orbs slid closed.

"Will you be informing Him?" The boy queried.

"If I did so, all my plans would have to be rewritten. As things are I only have to make a few minor adjustments." The blond informed his bedmate.

One onyx eye peeked open, "Do you know who it is?"

"Unfortunately that particular detail remains clouded." He drawled, "That's not all either, my pet. A few nights ago there was a build up of magical energy. The Prince is aware now, but our Lord has plans of his own."

The darker boy rose to his elbows and looked down at his lover in slight alarm, "He won't ruin everything, will he?"

The blond smirked before reaching up to kiss the other wizard, "Of course not, pet. This will be His downfall."

Black eyes widened in surprise, "Really? So soon?"

Still smirking, the other breathed, "Indeed." He locked his lips with his lovers once more before pulling back to whisper against the other's lips. "How did you like your surprise?"

IN answer the other boy practically tackled him to the bed. Chuckling, he slid his arms around his lover and returned the kisses passionately.

"I bloody loved them." The brunette panted between kisses.

"Good, I spent weeks tracking them and that last one put up a fight worthy of a cornered hypogriff."

"Is that where you got this?" The other asked, trailing his fingers lightly over the healing wound on the other's left forearm, "It looks pretty deep."

"It was." He replied nonchalantly, before his lips curled wickedly, "But if it's all the same to you, I think you should kiss it better; after all, I got it because of you."

They locked eyes as the darker one complied, placing his lips over the pink, healing flesh, in a chaste kiss. Then his tongue slid out to lap at the smooth, pale skin.

He left a trail of kisses and light nips up the arm and over one broad shoulder to suck gently at the blonds' jaw. Silver eyes slid shut for a few moments as he savored the sensation. Reluctantly he had to put a stop to it. "As much as I would love nothing more then remaining here to continue this, you really must be getting back. Now, don't start pouting. I'm serious; but I will be coming with you. I have a few…words…for your professor. Now, hurry up and get dressed, we haven't got all day."

"Yes, Hunter." The other pouted as he climbed from the bed, causing the handsome blond to chuckle.

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Little under half an hour later Hunter was leaning against the doorframe watching the tall, lank haired Potions Professor stir his latest concoction.

The other man had not noticed his presence yet, not that that surprised Hunter. The potions master had always been able to loose himself in his work. It was one of his redeeming qualities, and one of the reasons he kept him around.

"So, our Lord has given you a new assignment." He drawled slowly, so he wouldn't startle the man and cause some kind of explosion (as amusing as that might have been).

Severus Snape glanced up sharply at the sound of his voice. His face was decidedly pale and his expression was carefully blank. "Hunter." He said, bowing respectfully -if a little stiffly.

Hunter pushed away from his perch and glided into the room, "You haven't forgotten have you?" He asked silkily, fingering one of the chopping knives on the table.

"How could I forget?" The Potion's master replied bitterly, "You have nothing to worry about, I haven't betrayed your master."

The blond young man stepped closer and patted his cheek the way one might a small child, "Our master, dear uncle. Our Master." His smile was cold and slightly mocking as he turned away, his boots clicking solidly on the stone floors of the classroom Snape chose to work in. "Not that it truly matters. His reign will be short lived; he never should have messed with something belonging to Dragon."

Snape blinked in surprise, ignoring his now spoiled potion as it boiled sluggishly on the enchanted flame, "Draco?"

Hunter glanced back over his shoulder, "Oh? Didn't I tell you? Dragon's power's have been released. He's searching for his Monimos even now."

"You mean to say…" Snape trailed off, not truly wanting to voice his thoughts.

Hunter's lips curled upward in a vicious smirk, "Ironic, isn't it?" He shook his head, blond hair waving with the gentle movement, "Father will be rather vexed. I did warn him, though. By binding Dragon's powers as he did, coupled with his newest mission -he's only served to seal his own fate."

"Do you plan to inform him?"

Sharp silver eyes pierced through the damp dungeon air, "I've already given my warning. He is a fool who shall fall even before his precious lord." Hunter sneered. "Don't forget, Severus. You betray Him, and you wont live to regret it. I'll see to that."

With that he vanished, the shadows wrapping around him like a thick blanket as he seemed to melt from existence.

Professor Snape shivered, staring at the spot Hunter had vanished from.

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Draco woke from a normal, restful sleep absolutely devoid of strange 'Prince' dreams, by the sound of someone entering the room.

It had to be close to five in the morning, so he had no doubt who it was, but he cracked an eye open anyway.

True to his suspicions, Blaise Zabini was slipping into his unused bed in an attempt to keep up the pretence that he slept in the dorm like all the other boys.

The truth was, that in all the years they'd been in Hogwarts, Blaise had never slept in that bed. It disgusted Draco to know that even at the young age of eleven Hunter and Blaise refused to sleep apart.

As much as that bothered him, it also made him wonder. If he hadn't been bound at such a young age, would he and his Monimos be just as inseparable? Would they even know each other yet?

Well, he knew the answer to that question already; of course they would know each other. They would have to. Hunter and Blaise had been together since they were six, and the only reason it hadn't been sooner was because that was when Hunter's bowers became dangerous.

Thinking about Hunter and Blaise started him thinking about his own Monimos. He wondered what he'd be like; hopefully nothing like the small black boy. Draco didn't think he could stand that.

He'd been reading up on the Monimos and learned that his dreams of this Prince were his connection to his Monimos. When he figured out who the boy in the dreams was, he'd be able to locate his Monimos. Unfortunately he would only have the dreams once a week, so he still had a few days to wait before seeing his Monimos again.

It was bound to be a long few days.

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The Great Hall during meal time was always noisy, but sometime's Harry thought Breakfast was the noisiest of all. You wouldn't think so with everyone half awake, but that's what made everyone so loud. Everyone was trying to out-talk the next person, each voice louder and more grating then the last. Well…that and all the sugar present at the tables.

The post came, as usual, to create even more noise. Poor Harry only wanted to crawl back under his blankets and go to sleep. Last night had been just as painfully sleepless as the night before it. He supposed he could have slept in his clothes, but that wasn't very comfortable, let alone hygienic.

Luckily, at dawn he'd been forced from bed to open the window and let in a small flock of owls; all carrying packages. Inside one of those packages was a lovely new -irritant free- bed set. The other packages consisted of clothing he'd ordered and a few extremely expensive quills. It wasn't even half of his new wardrobe, but it was a start.

Hermione's heavy sigh pulled him back to the breakfast table quite effectively. She was staring down the table with a sorrowful, sympathetic expression. "Poor Collin." She whispered.

Harry followed her line of sight to the boy picking at his food a few seats down; frowning he looked back at his friend. "What's wrong with Collin?"

Hermione looked up at him like he'd just asked the stupidest question in the history of stupid questions. "There was a Death Eater attack yesterday." She informed him loftily as she shoved a copy of the Daily Prophet into his hands.

Harry could feel guilt and unease coiling in his stomach at the reminder. He hadn't told Ron or Hermione what had happened at Diagon Alley, but it looked like it didn't matter.

Death Eaters in Diagon Alley

By Rita Skeeter

Harry skimmed the article until he found a casualties list. Over twenty people died and Mr. and Mrs. Creevey were at the top of the list.

"That's not all." Hermione stated primly, "Collin's younger brother had gone with them, an early birthday present I believe, and he hasn't returned yet."

The guilt that had been festering within him reared it's head, threatening to swallow him whole.

He wished more then ever that Snape had not whisked him away from the attack. He could have done something; he could have saved them!

Harry's hand clenched into a fist and he stared down at his plate with blank eyes, his appetite gone.

"I'll see you guys in class." He said abruptly, raising to his feet. His new boots clicked loudly on the stone floor as he left, but most people didn't noticed, too caught up in their own lives. That didn't mean everyone was oblivious to his departure. He could feel a number of eyes on him as he exited the room. Ron and Hermione's stares were sure to be full of concern. Dumbledore's was a blend of worry and (surprisingly) confusion that weighed heavily on his shoulders. Snape's gaze was blank, but there. Yet Malfoy was the one he felt the strongest, his eyes bore into him with the interest of a hunter.

Harry paused in the doorway, ignoring all the eyes boring into him, to glance back at his table. His eyes slid from figure to figure, noting the expressions of loss and confusion on more then one face.

Why hadn't he noticed it sooner? What kind of person was he? What kind of Guardian let this happen?

Collin wasn't the only one suffering. Neville Longbottom was also pushing his food around his plate and Lavender Brown looked close to tears.

Slowly Harry's eyes moved to encompass the entire Hall. Every single table held such burdens of pain, and quite a few seats were empty. Why hadn't he seen it before?

Troubled, Harry fled the Great Hall and slipped outside to think.

His wandering feet led him to the lake, just outside the forbidden forest. There he sank heavily to the ground and stared at the water. What was he going to do? He couldn't let this go on; he knew that. But what could he do about it?

'There's nothing you can do about it just yet, Child. Your power hasn't even begun to manifest.' Startled not only by the voice, but the gentle nudge to his shoulder, Harry glanced up into endless pools of shadow. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't see who had spoken…unless…

"You're the Unicorn Maiden from the other night." It was not quite a question; but a slight nod answered him anyway.

'We're only granted human form on the new moon, that does not mean we lose any of our powers.'

"Am I going to turn into a Unicorn too?" He asked before he even knew he had a question to ask.

The unicorn before him gave an odd sort of whinny that made the silvery spots all over his body tingle pleasantly and a warm wash of power spread downward from his horn at the light chuckle that sounded through his mind.

"You have no need to worry about that, young Prince, you are not in danger of being locked into any one form. You are not held by our curse and will be able to shift as easily as you fly."

Harry ignored that for the moment and focused on something else, "Is that why your like that? A curse? I thought you controlled the core of magic, why can't you change back?"

'We only control parts of the magical core and Each Maiden controls a separate part. The curse we are under can only be broken by the core's magic as a whole, and while we can group our powers together, we cannot combine them."

Harry was frowning again, it just didn't seem fair. A lot of things didn't seem fair lately. "Who put the curse on you anyway?" He paused briefly as his mind unearthed a better question, "Why would someone put that kind of curse on you?"

"That, Child, is not a story for this morning. I will tell it to you another day. Now, tell me what bothers your mind and I will seek to ease it." The unicorn laid down beside him and he leaned against her as he thought.

"You know." He began at last, "The wizarding world is rather stupid. They like to think their so far above the rest of the world, then they go and do something dumb -like placing their future in my hands. Not only do I know next to nothing about magic, but I'm only 16!" Harry's voice rose steadily as he ranted, only to be punctuated by a bitter laugh, "You want to know what's really messed up?" He continued in a softer tone, "I actually believe them.

"Sure, part of me is amazed by everyone's stupidity, but a larger part of me feels obligated to save them. Like it's my job to protect everyone. And the most frustrating part of all is that this part of me keeps growing. The feelings keep getting stronger and harder to ignore."

He let it all out in a long breath as he eyes closed, "And now I feel like I've failed them. I should have stopped them, saved them-but I couldn't…I didn't.

"I just don't know what to do anymore." He ended on a shaky breath.

A nudge in the side caused him to look back up, "That's what we're here for, my Prince. We'll guide you and protect you to the best of our abilities. But don't worry, even the Guardian needs someone to watch over him. Your Dragon will give you your shelter. Be patient for he is coming." Another firm nudge urged him to his feet 'We'll talk again later, right now your late for class."

"What?!" With a quick glance at his watch Harry confirmed the Maiden's words. Cursing under his breath he took off in a run back to the castle.

So, what do you all think of Hunter? Any idea's of who he is and what his future role in the story will be? (I love listening to your idea's, expecially when they give me idea's)

Now please

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