CHAPTER 5

Neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters associated with him belong to me. They are JK Rowlings. I'm not in this for the money, just for fun!

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The Burrow:

"Bane has a son?" said Rebecca, staring in shock at Firenze.

"Had a son," he corrected her, giving her a sad look. "He died nearly fifty years ago."

She blinked. "Fifty years?!"

He nodded. "That is correct."

"Fifty years? But…Bane doesn't look that old… Well, not as far as I can tell, anyway." In all honesty, because of the Centaurs' beastial appearances, she couldn't really tell any of their individual ages, aside from those like Safyph whose great age had showed clearly.

"I apologise," he said, remembering that despite having been in his herd's company for a time, she did not know a great deal about his race. "I often forget that you humans do not know much about my kind's physiology. Our lifespan is somewhat different from yours."

"Different how?"

"Well, to begin with, it is more extended. While you non-magical humans only live up to between 80 and 100 years, we Centaurs live up to an average of 200, or sometimes even longer. Safyph himself was 204 when he went to join our ancestors."

Rebecca's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. That's impressive. How old is Bane?"

"78."

She blinked. "And…I don't what to be rude, but how old are you?"

"26. Why would you be rude in asking a person's age?" He looked at her curiously.

She blushed. "Well…I didn't want to embarrass you…about your age, you know."

Now he seemed genuinely confused. "Why would I be embarrassed about telling you my age?"

"Well, a lot of people I know are often a little funny about telling anyone how old they are. Not everyone wants people to know that."

"Why on earth would they not?" He stared at her, incredulous. "The older that one is, the greater the wisdom they have gained in their life. Safyph was the oldest amongst us, and he was our most valued herd member. Do you not feel the same for your elders?"

Rebecca paused.

His words made her think of her paternal grandfather. She remembered listening to the stories he had told her of his life, when she was little, of when he fought in World War II, the time when he went on safari, when he met and married her grandmother, and had her father…etc. She remembered being so rapt and fascinated with him as a child, but when she got to her teens, it was like she had cut him out of her life.

She wished she could blame it on people like her former schoolmates, who had all been obsessed with being popular, shopping and gossiping, and had passed those qualities to her, but the truth was, she had been just as bad as they had been. She had been so obsessed with meaningless things that she no longer remembered, like going to the concert of a band that had long since disbanded, or buying some make-up that they didn't even sell any more, or other things that she had since gotten rid of. She had been so hung up on stuff like that, that before she knew it, several years had passed, and one day she had come home to her father telling her that her grandfather had passed away.

He had spent his last few years in a nursing home, and she had rarely gone to visit him. Not that she had been alone in that, since her parents had both been too busy with their jobs and social lives to go visit either, but at least they had had a better excuse than she. They had had their work, while she had been more interested in attending someone's party than going to visit someone who, by then, she thought to be nothing more than a senile old man.

At that moment, she truly envied the Centaurs and their traditions. The way Firenze was speaking of Safyph, in honour and respect, of what a valued Centaur he had been. If only she had been smart enough to treat her grandfather the same way when she had had the chance!

"…Some of us do," she answered him pathetically, feeling ashamed.

If Firenze was still curious then he did not show it, and remained silent for a few minutes.

"What was his name?" she asked.

He looked at her.

"Bane's son. Who was he?"

"His name was Faryn. Named so for his adventurous spirit. I never knew him personally, as he passed away long before I was born. I only know what little Safyph mentioned of him, as Bane does not like to hear talk of him. His very name brings rage to his heart."

"Rage?" She looked up at him. "Why? Didn't he love him?"

"More than life itself. Faryn's Breeder, what you humans would call his mother and Bane's mate, had died in childbirth. Faryn meant everything to Bane."

"I don't understand then. Why would Bane be mad at him?"

"It is not at Faryn that Bane feels embittered, but at the ones who took him from him. The ones who ended his life so prematurely."

"What happened?" She knew she was being nosy, but she couldn't help it, as her curiosity was fanned, and the chance to know anything about the Centaur who, more than any other, had made her stay with the herd a trial, was too good to pass up.

Firenze sighed. "Very well," he replied. "It was in the year you humans call 1950…"

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Forbidden Forest; 1950:

Faryn galloped ahead of his father, eyeing all the trees and flora with innocent curiosity and fascination. They weren't what he had really come to see, but he had never been this far from the Herding Ground before, so every sight and sound was new to him.

"Faryn, stay close!" his father, Bane, yelled to him. "I told you not to stray!"

He came to a stop, looking back at his father with big wide eyes, full of what looked like grief and guilt…something Bane had long since learned not to trust.

"Oh, don't give me that look," said Bane, as he came up beside his son. "You've been pulling that trick on me since you were barely out of your Breeder's womb."

"I don't know what you mean," Faryn replied, never losing his look of innocence.

His father just gave him a slight sneer, and lightly clipped him round the ear playfully.

Faryn was a close likeness of his father, with a body-coat of utter blackness all over him. His horse half was typical for most Centaur foals, the same as ordinary horse foals, with muscle but a little bit of baby-fat. His human half, though, was mainly all baby-fat, due to his young age, only six years old. The one thing that distinguished him from Bane was his eyes, which were a bright brown, the same as his Breeder, and the thing that Bane adored most about him.

"Don't stray from me again," he said seriously. "Remember what we talked about? The Forest is full of dangerous creatures, so it's important that you stay close to me at all times."

"But aren't you always telling me that our race is the bravest there is?"

Bane gave a small smile, but sobered quickly. "Being brave doesn't make us invulnerable, my son. There are many things that share these woods with us that could destroy us. So it's important that we not give them the chance."

Faryn puffed out his chest. "I could fight any beast that the woods send my way! I'll be the bravest Centaur ever, since the elder Safyph!"

Bane tried to hide a smirk. When Faryn had been born, the Fates had revealed to their herd that he would grow up with a brave spirit, full of eagerness and a love for adventure. Those were usually great qualities for a Centaur, but too much bravery and not enough common sense would often be a bad thing. Faryn had, on more than one occasion, tended to act first and think later.

When a new foal was born, they used certain divination charms to glimpse into his future. It would not reveal all to them, but give them some idea of what type of centaur he would grow into, and what the Fates had shown the herd, Faryn was definitely going to be one of those who would cause trouble.

"I'm sure you will," Bane admitted. "But remember, bravery alone cannot save you from an enemy's grasp."

Faryn nodded, though whether he heard or understood Bane's words was another matter. His face, meanwhile, was turned the other way, staring ahead, searching for something.

"Are we anywhere near that place you talked about?" he asked.

Bane frowned. The place his son was talking about was none other than the human school, Hogwarts. That was partly the reason why Faryn had wanted to come with him in the first place. Since his birth, Faryn had had a natural and overflowing curiosity about all things. When he had first heard about Unicorns, Cerberuses, Grindylows, and many other things, he hadn't settled until he saw one of each for himself. That curiosity of his also included humans, as he had never seen one before.

"Not yet," he answered him slowly. "We should be close to the school's borders soon."

He had answered his son's questions about humanity as best he could, or at least as much as he could handle without feeling the need to grimace (Humans were definitely not a favourite subject with him). He had no personal vendetta with them, but their ways made him distrustful of them. They were just so wasteful of nature and its resources, like those fox-hunters he had heard about who hunted for mere pleasure instead of for food, or the way they cut down so many trees, sometimes devouring whole forests, just so they could build more of those ridiculously huge stone buildings, when a mere hut could sustain them.

He had, of course, told his son all this, but all that seemed to do was enflame his son's passion. And, unfortunately, there eventually comes a time when answering mere questions are not enough for children. Faryn had asked and asked, until finally his patience had grown thin, and he had asked, nay demanded, that he see a human for himself.

Bane had refused him at first, but Faryn was nothing if not persistent. Plus, the other centaurs of his herd had told him that he couldn't keep his son at his side forever, as he was at that age when foals usually started venturing from the Herding Ground, to find things out for themselves, just as Bane himself had done so.

The sad truth was, Faryn was growing up, and if Bane just kept refusing him, then chances were he would one day just go out and look for a human all by himself, and Hogwarts was a good journey away, with many places like the Acromantula nest and the Manticore Pride between it and the Centaurs' ground.

In the end, Bane had just sighed and accepted the inevitable. If his son was so intent on seeing a human, then the least he could do was be there for him and ensure he came to no harm on the way. Besides, maybe seeing a human would be good for him, or at the very least prove some of what Bane had told him about them his whole life.

A loud mournful cry suddenly sounded near to them, making Bane instinctually grab his bow and arrow. "Stay close to me," he whispered to his son, moving in front of him.

The noise had sounded equine in origin, possibly meaning another centaur nearby, as their kind were known to make noises similar to horses when injured or excited. But then again, there were other horse-like creatures in the Forbidden Forest, such as Unicorns.

The cry sounded again, followed by a loud flapping noise, sounding like the beating of wings.

"What is it, sire?" asked Faryn (Centaurs always refer to their parents as sires or breeders).

"The flapping noise is that of wings, together with the horse-like cry," he explained. "That probably means the creature we just heard was that of a winged horse, like an Abraxan, though they are not indigenous to our forest. It's probably one of their cousins, like the Granian or the Aethonan."

"What's wrong?"

"It must be hurt. I'll see if I can find and tend to it."

"I'll wait here until you return!" said Faryn excitedly.

"No," Bane started to say, but Faryn was quicker.

"You'll find the creature much quicker without me slowing you down," he added. "I'll wait here until you return."

Bane was about to object, but the sounds of the injured beast echoed throughout the forest, making him wince.

"Fine," he relented. "But remain here, and under no circumstances move."

None of the forest's more dangerous creatures were close by, so Faryn should be safe here, Bane thought, and he hurried through the thick growth, galloping towards the source of the sounds.

Winged horses were a familiar breed in Greece; the ancestral homeland of his species. Also, because of their link to horses, centaurs were often softhearted towards other species of horse-clans.

Faryn watched him go, and then anxiously shifted his weight from one hoof to the other, excitement already driving him crazy. Especially when he was in a part of the forest that he had never been in before, just waiting to be explored.

As he looked over to where his father had gone, he peered through the thick branches, but saw nothing. His father was already out of sight.

'It wouldn't hurt to just take a quick look around,' he thought. 'If I gallop, I could search all over this place, and be back before my sire even starts back.'

Satisfied, Faryn immediately took off in the opposite direction from his father, trotting forward to that place where humans were…Hogwarts!

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"Are you sure about this?" Michael whispered to his friend.

"Aw, quit whisperin', will ya?!" a large boy with long hair admonished him. "We're in the middle of the forest for cryin' out loud!"

Michael grimaced, but still couldn't bring his voice above muttering. He was too nervous and scared. His friend, Roy, had convinced him to come into the Forbidden Forest with him. Just thinking of doing that was scary enough for him, but what he intended to do in the forest was beyond terrifying.

"Roy, you know we shouldn't be doing this," he hissed at him. "There's a reason why this particular spell is banned."

"Yuir not goin' chicken on me now, are ya?" said his friend. "Cluck-cluck-cluck…!"

"Enough!" Michael hated it when he did that. He'd had enough of it back home, from all the muggle kids who lived near his house. Unfortunately, it was a sure way for Roy or anyone to get him to do what they wanted. All his life, he had been called a coward. He once thought that after he came to Hogwarts, things would change.

He had been wrong. If anything, things were worse, even in their second year, just because he preferred to be careful when dealing with certain spells that could prove hazardous, like the one they were about to try.

"I've been studying this spell for months now," said Roy proudly. "Trust me, nothing will go wrong…not as long as you don't interrupt me."

Michael felt like whimpering, as Roy pulled out his wand.

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Faryn had spent several minutes trotting through the forest growth, not seeing a soul anywhere. He was starting to think he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere when he heard unexpected but welcome voices from close by.

"Humans!" he whispered excitedly. It had to be, as he was nowhere near the Herding Ground.

His curiosity was once more enflamed, and he hurried to where the voices were coming from, eager to see a human for the first time.

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Roy waved his wand around for a bit before reciting, "Fiendfyre!"

Fiendfyre was the fire curse, a spell fuelled by powerful dark magic. It was also banned from Hogwarts, and most of the magical community, as it was too dangerous. Many wizards and witches had perished because they were unable to control the flames spawned from the dark magic, and the flames couldn't be extinguished easily.

Roy was an advanced student in many of his subjects, and had a habit of learning certain spells against Ministry protocols. He was basically one of those people who had a problem with authority. He had decided to learn the fire spell, claiming that it would be a challenge, and also, once he mastered it, it would make a great display at the end of term, better than fireworks.

The moment he spoke, a large flame sprouted from the tip of his wand, and plunged forward, like a flame-thrower. They leaped about, swerving in a dangerous display of uncontrolled blaze.

"Roy!" said Michael, with fear in his voice.

"Don't talk!" his friend snapped. His eyes were half-closed, as he focused his mind in concentration. The flames stopped their furious dance, as they slowly began to take on a more distinct form.

Michael watched in awe, as the fire started to look more and more like their head-master, Professor Armando Dippet.

"See," whispered Roy, his voice low, as he was still concentrating. "Told you there was nothing to it."

"But…" he started to reply, but another noise silenced him.

A chorus of large creaks, from snapped bushes and twigs, sounded from their right, causing both boys to look over in alarm.

"Hello?!" a young voice called out, startling the boys, who saw to their amazement a young Centaur stroll out of the dense thicket.

"Wha…" Roy started to say, but whatever he planned to speak never came out. For the young Centaur's arrival had completely thrown off his concentration.

The fire-made form of their headmaster suddenly fell apart, returning once more to an uncontrollable swirl of blazing flames, as they twisted and turned, bursting and crackling with more power.

"Roy!" Michael cried out, but it was too late. The flames gave another burst of energy, and then there was fire everywhere.

The flames shot forward, like a dragon's fire, consuming everything in its path. The leaves on the trees and bushes immediately vanished, as they were burnt to ash, and the branches were left as blackened pieces of dead wood. And they were not the only things to be left dead.

The flames had come and gone within less than half a minute, and when they were gone, there was nothing but utter silence, save for a few flames still burning, and the smell of smoke and…something else.

The boys stared in shock at the now unrecognisable pile of charred remains of what had once been a young Centaur. It lay motionless on the ground, the stench of burnt horsehair and burning flesh wavering in the air.

"Wha…what have you done?" Michael could only whisper.

His question seemed to knock Roy out of his stupor, and the boy did the only thing a child of his age could do…he ran.

Michael needed no further convincing, and raced after his friend in fear, running from the sight, the smell, and the memory now forever embedded in his mind.

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"Faryn!" Bane called out for his son, fuming.

The horse he had found had indeed turned out to be an Aethonan, a winged horse that was rather popular in Great Britain and Ireland. He had recognised it as soon as he had seen its chestnut coloured coat, which was a sure sign of its Aethonan lineage. Its leg had been entangled in some thorn bushes, but other than a few deep scratches, it was in no real danger, other than the risk of attracting predators with its continuous cries. Bane had released it from the bushes, and it had flown off almost immediately.

When he had returned to where he had left Faryn, he had found the spot deserted. He had told him to wait, only for the foal to deliberately disobey him. When he got his hands on him…!

"Faryn, if you don't get your hooves right here, I will…!"

Suddenly, he stopped, and raised his head up, his keen nose sniffing the air. There was a distinctive scent of fire and smoke.

"Faryn," he uttered, and raced forward, his hooves making huge echoes, like thunder.

Unsurprisingly, he had reached the border of the forest, at the edge of Hogwarts' land, which was where Faryn had wanted to go in the first place, to see a human. Here, the stench of fire was strongest, but there was also another…the stench of death.

Bane didn't stop, and continued racing forward, crashing through more bushes, until he found the source of the stench. Only then did he stop.

"No…" he said, his normally loud voice now reduced to a low whisper.

Before him lay the charred remains of a small beast. At first, he hoped, and prayed that it was nothing more than a common horse, a unicorn, or perhaps another one of those winged horses that had gotten lost. But deep down he knew what it was, as he knew the scent and sight, even a burned one, of his own kind. And judging by the size of this one, it had to be a young foal, which meant…

"No…" said Bane, as he came slowly forward, his hooves now as silent as the grave he was treading on, "No… No… NO!"

His legs moved back and forth, as the anguish and grief rose up inside him, and he threw his head back, his face held high, as he roared.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRGHHHHHHHH!"

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Present; Burrow:

Rebecca looked aghast at Firenze. "That's…that's terrible!" she managed to stutter out. She had never dreamed that she would ever feel sorry for Bane.

Firenze nodded. "That day when Faryn died, my herd say that a part of Bane died, too. He never speaks of it, refuses to even say Faryn's name. And because of that, he will always loath humanity with all his heart."

"I can't say I blame him," she replied. "Yet, you say he still fought alongside humans when that dark wizard was about?"

He shrugged. "Like I said, Bane has always had a deep hatred of your kind, even more so after what happened to his son. But despite all that, he never lets it consume him for too long. He hates humanity, sure enough, but he would never attack a human foal, as such a thing is unheard of in our kind. And when the dark wizard threatened all of existence, and Harry Potter seemingly sacrificed himself to stop him, while we all just stood around and watched, even Bane could not stand back and do nothing."

"So he overcame his hate, and fought not against humans, but with them," she said, sounding impressed.

He nodded. "Even Bane could not deny the amount of honour and bravery the humans who fought against the dark one had. They impressed even he, but…" He looked sadly at her. "As impressed as he was, not even that was enough to make his hurt go away completely. Although his fury to your kind has calmed somewhat since you last saw him, it still lives in him, as I suspect it always will, and he will take any chance to torment a human."

She chewed her lower lip. "What…what happened with the two boys who killed his son?"

Firenze frowned. "The way some of the herd describes it, nothing. Bane naturally wanted to take vengeance for his son, by hunting down the ones responsible."

"I thought you said he wouldn't dream of hurting a child?"

"He didn't know they were children at the time, but even after he found out… Well, let's just say the justice they received wasn't to his liking."

"How do you mean? What happened?"

"The Ministry of Magic was able to learn who was responsible fast enough. Armando Dippet, the headmaster of Hogwarts at the time, and his teaching staff all investigated their students thoroughly, and eventually discovered who had cast one of their forbidden spells. When they did, the boys were expelled from the school, and they were given a trial by the Ministry, but…"

"But?"

He shrugged. "But nothing. That was all. In the end, the Ministry decreed that the boys were too young to be sent to prison. They were given a criminal record, and had their wands taken away from them, but that was it."

"And I'm guessing Bane was not too thrilled with their decision?" Rebecca deduced.

"It took all the herd to stop him from going straight to the Ministry and beating down their doors with his own hooves," Firenze told her. "Even then he would not listen. For a time, he was even willing to break our law, and hunt down the two foals and give them his own taste of justice. Luckily, the herd stopped him, and over time he was able to calm his ire, but it has never left him in all these years. In fact, over the years it has festered, and turned him into one bitter Centaur."

"I can't imagine the kind of pain that such a loss would cause a person," Rebecca said sympathetically.

"No one can, unless they have gone through it themselves. And no one in our herd has, besides Bane."

For a moment, Rebecca remembered Mrs. Weasley, and what she had seen in her house with the clock, and that old photo of one of the twins.

"Mrs. Weasley lost a son, too, didn't she?" she asked.

Firenze nodded. "Fred Weasley. He and his twin brother George both fought in the final battle at Hogwarts. George survived, but his brother, alas, did not."

"Maybe she should talk with Bane?" she suggested. "She knows the pain of losing a son, so maybe she could relate to him."

Firenze gave a bitter smile. "It would take the whole of the herd to get Bane to willingly talk with a human."

"Perhaps, but it might be worth mentioning it to him some time? Like you said, no one in your herd has lost a child besides Bane. So maybe he just needs to talk to someone who has gone through it."

He cocked his head to the side, in a seeming consideration. "Perhaps…" he finally allowed, but said nothing else. "But that will change nothing in the long run." He stared hard at her. "Out of all the Centaurs in my herd, Bane is the one who will take the utmost delight in making you suffer, should you return to us."

She shivered a little, but Firenze continued talking.

"And he will not be the only one," he vowed. "There are many in my herd that will use your arrival as an excuse to celebrate, and…well, I assume you remember what my herd were like the last time you were at one of our celebrations?"

"Painfully," she said, moaning.

"Now imagine that last celebration you were at, and multiple it by a hundred times!"

She sighed. "Firenze, I know what you're doing… You're trying to frighten me into staying on the run, so I won't turn myself in."

He paused, staring at her silently.

"While I appreciate your commitment to helping me, it doesn't change the fact that there are people out there suffering because of me. If I don't turn myself in to your herd, the war will escalate."

"It is true, I do wish you to heed my words, and change your mind," said Firenze, his eyes never leaving her. "But that doesn't make my words any less true, and you should know me better by now than to think I'd lie."

She held her breath.

"I did not lie or exaggerate my warning, Rebecca." He took a hesitant step closer towards her. "I meant what I said. The first night you come to spend with my herd will undoubtedly be bad enough, as many will want to welcome you back. But after that, the rest of your life will be spent living in servitude. Your only purpose in life will be to serve my brothers for their physical pleasures, and to produce foals for my entire herd, to double their numbers."

He raised his hands, and gently but firmly touched her shoulders, forcing her to look at him directly.

"Do you understand my words, Rebecca?" he asked seriously, making her more fearful than ever. "If you give yourself up, and return with Magorian and Bane to the forest, your life will be effectively over. You will become nothing more than a whore for my herd, a slave, and what you humans might call a living incubator. Any rights you may have had when you were first with us will be gone. You will have nothing, not even the right to see life beyond the Herding Ground. You will be forever trapped with our herd, as they will take no risks in you escaping again. There will be no chance of escape for you…ever!"

He looked deep into her eyes. "Do you understand what I am saying, Rebecca?"

"What do you want me to say, Firenze?" she asked the centaur calmly. She honestly wanted him to tell her, as she couldn't think of a word to say. She had known from the beginning that if she were to return with him to his herd, it was doubtful her stay would be an enjoyable one. But after hearing him tell her what they would most likely do, she was left speechless.

"I want you to say you will not give yourself to my herd," he told her firmly. "That you will not even consider it, and will do as Harry Potter tells you, and keep yourself hidden and safe."

"For how long?"

At her reply, he kept quiet, which was good because she was still too overwhelmed to say anything else. Her thoughts were a jumble, filled with fear, confusion and doubt.

When she had said she would give herself up to the centaur herd, she had been telling the truth. The thought of a war occurring because of her was too terrible to accept, and she still felt like that, but at the same time she could not stop thinking about all that Firenze had told her. The first and last time the centaurs had assaulted her, had been enough to scar her for life, and if what Firenze told her was true…?

Rebecca stopped herself thinking that. For one thing, Firenze wasn't a liar. If he told her something, then chances are it was true, however frightening it might be.

But what he was telling her was beyond terrifying. Even now, horrible images of all the centaurs ganging up on her, as they did on the night of her halted breeding, filled her mind, only this time there would be no stopping them, no one to save her, and then they'd...

She visibly shuddered, making Firenze pull her close to him, embracing her.

"I don't know how long," answered Firenze truthfully. "But surely it's better than the alternative?"

"For the rest of my life?" she said, speaking into his chest. She didn't pull away. In fact, she enjoyed the warmth of his body, and the soft hairs of his chest rubbing smoothly against her skin. It was comforting. "Am I supposed to pull up stakes and run for the rest of my days, never stopping or resting, and just hope that one day your people will stop hunting me?!"

Firenze sighed. "I don't know. I really wish I could tell you more, but I can only tell you what will happen if you do go with them."

Tears began to escape her eyes, as they poured down her face. She blinked them away furiously, hating to cry. She hadn't cried since she was with the herd.

'It seems the centaurs are once again cause for great grief in my life,' she thought bitterly.

The more she blinked, the more the tears flowed, so she remained where she was, in Firenze's embrace, quietly sobbing into his chest.

To Be Continued…